My Twin, I mean cousin Marraya....

Marraya
Originally uploaded by StephyGem.

This is such a cute pic! No, it's not me, it's my cousin Marraya being cute as always. :-) Everyone says we look a lot alike ---- what do you think?

Friday Once Again...

Hey everyone! How are you all? Well, I'm doing fine. I'm just happy it's Friday, even though I have to work tonight at the club. Hopefully I'll make some good money though, Funkmaster Flex is supposed to be at the club tonight to dj for a 3 hour set. Last time he was supposed to be there he never showed up, so we'll see what happens tonight. Anywho, I'm just excited to be able to sleep in tomorrow morning. I have my christmas tree up and some decorations too. I love Christmas, it is my favorite time of year, and I'll make sure to take some pictures to post soon.

Other than that - not much else going on here. It snowed a lot yesterday, If it's snowing today I might take a picture with my sidekick (quality's not so good though) and post it here for you all to see. I don't know how us Minnesotans do it every year. The snow is such a pain, and it's soooo cold. Why we live here, who knows.

I didn't sleep very well last night, and I'm just waiting for it to hit me this morning. I'm waiting to see if I don't have to start work tonight until 10 pm so then I can go home and take a nap before I go to work. Boy, wouldn't that be nice. Oh, I'm sending out christmas cards from Tim and I to everyone too! They are the picture ones, so each of you will have a picture of us, I hope you all like it. I just used a picture of us from our last Vegas trip, it's fairly recent though, and I LOVE the picture. So anywho, if I have forgotten to ask any of you for your addresses, please email it to me and I will make sure to send you one too.

Well take care everyone and I love you all!
Stephanie

Moments that I Cherish...

To often we end up taking for granted what we used to hold so dear. To often, we allow the day-to-day to overwhelm us. To often, we forget what is truly important. This weekend, I realized that it was time to re-evaluate what was truly important in my life. The moments and the people that I cherish so deeply.

To my Timothy,
Your endless immeasurable love for me has taken our relationship to new and exciting heights. I feel so blessed to have someone so special and true to spend my life with. Every moment that we are apart - I spend anticipating seeing you again. You are my best friend is every sense of the word. You are all goodness and hope, you are everything I want to be and more. You make my life more complete and I feel fullfilled knowing that no matter what - I have accomplished the one thing people strive to accomplish their whole lives... being truly, deeply and madly in love --- with someone who actually loves me back just as much. There are no words to really define our love and our friendship, and a lifetime wouldn't be enough to be able to tell you how much I love you, so I must show you as best that I can with the time that we do have.

I know that our love was not dumb-founded luck, or even something we forced, it happened because it was meant to happen. You saved me from so many things, and together we share with each other the one greatest thing that most people fail to see, Our relationship between us and God. I believe he sent us to each other for many reasons, and how fortunate are we that hand-in-hand we carry each other through hardships towards our main goal - reaching Heaven.

May God continue to bless us and all those we care about now and forever,
With all my love,
Steph

From my Sidekick...

Hey everyone, I'm writing this from my sidekick so I hope this works. Just wanted to drop a line 2 c how everyones doing. I worked both jobs yesterday and went to bed at like 4:00 a.m. I have no idea why I'm up right now. Its 9:59a.m. Guess eventually you just get used 2 the messed up hours. Anywho, my cousin christina from texas came to visit last weekend, and she must have brought the warm weather because the day she left it started to snow. I had a lot of fun with her, and I wish she could've stayed longer. That's the problem with vacations, they never last long enough. CHRISTINA-DONT FORGET TO GET MY MOM A JOB AT THE GOLF COURSE. ;-) ha ha (a little inside humor.)

I hope everyone's doing well down there. I really need 2 take a vacation down soon after the new year. Then I'll have vacation time. I'm all out now though. Tims never been to Texas, so I really want to bring him. Oh, christina took a lot of pictures when she was here 2 so I'll post em up when I get em.

Other than that nothing new here. Its freezing outside and it makes me wanna cuddle up with tim and sleep all day. So with that, I'm going back 2 bed. All my love.... GB everyone. Steph

Minneapolis' Finest - Oh and the police.. :-)

Minneapolis' Finest - Oh and the police.. :-)
Originally uploaded by StephyGem.

I really love this picture. Leave it to me to demand a picture with the cops in the middle of all of Minneapolis' night life. It ended up being really cute. (And no - we weren't drunk, just bored maybe!)

Stephanie - Summer 2005

Stephanie - Summer 2005
Originally uploaded by StephyGem.

Me again!

Stephanie & Janell

Stephanie & Janell
Originally uploaded by StephyGem.

Definitely not a good pose for me, but we were having a blast, as you can tell. And a moment is a moment whether you look cute or not! :-)

Stephanie - Summer 2005

Stephanie - Summer 2005
Originally uploaded by StephyGem.

Again, this one looks like a totally different person. But I think it's cute. My favorite part of my outfit is my toes, they are painted in a french manicure, if you click on the picture you can see more close.

Tim says all feet are ugly, true... but at least mine aren't that bad. - for feet. ha ha

Janell - Summer 2005

Janell
Originally uploaded by StephyGem.

Janell looks so cute here to (like always!) I love her shoes and the necklace was perfect for this outfit. This picture really makes me want to get my butt back into the gym too!

Stephanie - Summer 2005

Stephanie - Summer 2005
Originally uploaded by StephyGem.

Okay, It's funny - everybody tells me I always look so different, guess the proof is in the pictures... this one doesn't even look like me.

Janell - Summer 2005

Janell
Originally uploaded by StephyGem.

Here's a cute pic of my girl Janell. Isn't she cute! I love that outfit.

Belinda

Belinda
Originally uploaded by StephyGem.

Here's a sweet picture of my cousin Belinda, her daughter Lauryn (left) and my cousin Rachel's daughter (Belinda's Neices daughter) Madison on the right. Aren't they adorable!

Ouch!

So I guess I have some good stuff to talk about and some bad stuff to talk about.
Good - My boyfriend Tim surprised me with a gift certificate to get my teeth professionally whitened! I was so excited, and the procedure was pretty quick, and the results were amazing! I love my new whitened teeth, they look really good - now I'm smiling even more!

Bad - I got a root canal as well two days ago. My jaw is still in pain from it, and the temporary they put into my tooth is sooo annoying. It feels like a piece of gum was rammed in there, I can't wait to get the crown put on.
(Is that TMI?)

Bad - My insurance only covers 50% for crowns so it's going to cost a lot to get done.

Good - My cousin Christina from Texas will be here this evening! She is visiting, and I am sooo excited! I haven't seen her in a really long time.

Bad - Still miss my puppy Jeddie. Went over to my moms the other day and she gave me Jeddie's collar. I miss her a lot and it was weird going over there and her not being there. My mom and dad left her water dish and food bowl where it always is though. Sad.

Good - Tim and I are going out to dinner tonight! Yeah! I love spending time with my honey. "He's fun!"

My Jeddie

On Thursday November 3rd, 2005 My Puppy, "Jo Jedda - a.k.a. Jeddie" was put to sleep in the arms of my Mother and Father. She was suffering from seizures and was in a lot of pain. She lived a very long life, about 15 years with us. In her lifetime she brought us so much joy and love and laughter. She pranced around like a little Queen, and was always willing to give kisses. She was a cuddle buddy at night and an alarm clock in the morning. She was my little snowball and I miss her very much. I will forever cherish the wonderful times I had with her for the rest of my life.

I miss you Jeddie.

Love Stephanie

IMAGINE

Imagine with me for a moment,
That we stood at the gates - you and I,
And our hearts started beating within us,
As those gates suddenly swung open wide.

Can you feel the excitement around us?
Do you see all the things that I see?
All the saints on their feet and they're cheering,
With a welcome for you and for me.

See the tables, they're set for a banquet,
With the finest of linen and gold,
In the air there's a sense of rejoicing,
And this feeling will never grow old.

Is that Paul who is coming to greet us,
Saying, "Beloved, you've finished the race!
You have fought the good fight and been faithful,
Now come rest in His Love and His Grace."

Have you noticed the beautiful music,
And the Angels all gathered around?
Have you noticed that on all these faces,
There isn't a tear to be found?

Do you feel what I feel at this moment?
All my fears have begun to subside,
And there's nothing that can be remotely compared...
To the peace that I'm feeling inside.

Wherever I look there is beauty,
And all of the Saints know my name,
And because all my Sins are forgiven,
I can face them without any shame.

And then suddenly... a hush falls upon them,
And they slowly start moving aside.
Do you see what I see in the distance?
Moving toward us, a beautiful light!

I watch as the light moves in closer,
Now my joy I can hardly contain.
It is JESUS! He is walking right to me,
And He is calling to me by my name!

As His eyes look directly at mine,
With His arms He is motioning "come,"
But I fall to my knees and I tremble,
For my body is suddenly numb.

So He smiles and then gently He lifts me,
And He holds me up close to His heart,
Now my mind looks for something to tell Him,
But my heart doesn't know where to start.

And before I can utter one word,
I hear His voice speaking into my ear,
He says, "I've waited so long for this moment,
Now my child you are finally here!"

So I struggle to say, "Jesus Thank-You."
"It is only because of you that I'm here."
But again, in His arms as he holds me,
I feel the warmth of his voice by my ear.

He says, "Daughter, I knew you would make it,
That is why I've prepared you a place."
As I stand to my feet and I face Him,
He is gently caressing my face.

There are no words to express what I'm feeling,
And there's nothing worth giving this up,
Yet, I can sum it all up in a moment,
With a word that we both know as "LOVE"

-Don't just imagine... do what you must to get there.
Jesus will be there, I want to be there, how about YOU?

Worry doesn't help tomorrow's troubles, but it does ruin today's happiness.