Never say never.....

I thought I would share some things going on in the lives of the Aune's lately. Things have calmed down at work for me a little since my project has gone into production, but it seems everything else has gotten busier. Most everyone knows that our church has been without a pastor for over a year now. We have an interim pastor whom we really enjoy but he does not want the job permanantly. One thing he has done is decided to change a lot of things at our church and Kristin and I have been getting more involved in that effort.

Kristin has taken on the new role of working full time with the 2 - 5 year olds. She creates the schedules and the curriculum each week. It has already been a lot of work but we decided that if we wanted to see things change we needed to get in involved. Also, there has been an effort to start small groups this year and Kristin and I have agreed to host and lead a small group in our home once a week. If you don't know what a small group is..... it is a group of people (usually 8 - 12) that agree to "do life together". That means, birthdays, doctor appointments, ballgames, whatever life entails. For those who know us well, you will know that is a pretty big stretch for both of us... well ok, probably more for me. I have been a very private person most of my life and I can probably count on one hand the people I have opened up to in my life. I am nervous about letting more people in, because most of the time, people disappoint. However, I am excited, because I have seen how we are being changed for the past few months, as people and as a family. I am enjoying being around people more and I feel drawn to get to know people more...... funny how things change.

I am a little sad that it means less time with our extended family for now, but I think once we get things settled we will be able to make the rounds again and of course everyone is welcome to come see us.

It does feel like an answered prayer for me.... I have been telling Kristin for several months that I have been disappointed that I don't have many people I can truly call friends anymore. Maybe God has heard my prayer.

Till next time.... I love you all.

A long time coming

I sit here tonight, the house is quiet, Kyndal is a sleep, Kristin is napping and I am exhausted. The project that would never end finally went into production today. I had many, many days when I thought this day would neve come. I thought several times that this one would get cancelled. If you have never been through it, I can not really describe it to you. My team has been working on this project for 15 months. It has been exciting, frustrating, exhausting and rewarding all at the same time. In that time span I had two full time team members and a contractor quit, and I had to fire another contractor. It has been quite learning experience. I am not sure I knew what I signed up for when I took this job.

All that out of the way, it feels goods to sit here tonight and say that almost everything went perfectly. Two small glitches that were fixed in about 30 minutes and the performance could be better, but overall, I would call it a success. I feel a sense of accomplishment to have it done. I have to admit though that I wanted someone to be excited today and everyone just kind of seemed subdued and ho-hum about it all. I felt like we should celebrate. I even felt like we should celebrate when I got home tonight but to be honest I was too tired. Now I understand why the two bosses I had before me decided it was too stressful.

Don't get me wrong, I really like my job most of the time and I think I am good at it. I am sure others would argue that point, but most days it is pretty satisfying. The big drawback is that I lose out on a lot of time with Kristin and Kyndal and with our extended family. I miss all of you and I hope we can spend more time with all of you this year. Thanks to everyone for understanding that when I have had to say I have to work this weekend, I have really meant it.

Now, I have to say a special thanks to my wife. She has been great through all of this. over the past year, she has taken great care of Kyndal (mostly on her own) and great care of me. Most of all she has been very understanding of my overtime and the extra time I have put in at home. It helps that she has done this before and she understands what it is like, but I am thankful for her patience and understanding.

Anyway, if you have read to this point, thanks for reading and I apologize if I bored you, but I wanted to share.

I love each and every one of you who may read this!

Now off to bed........

Life is about choices and changes

I felt compelled to write a blog entry tonight and forgive me if it is a little all over the place, but here goes.

It is a new year and in the first 20 days it seems there have been several small changes and one large one have and will impact Kristin, Kyndal and I. Obviously, the big change is that we have a new president today. I am excited to see how things change in the coming months and committed to praying for our new president. Regardless of wether you voted for him or not, I believe we should all be in prayer for our leaders and respect the office they hold.

As for the little changes, Kristin and I have been exploring our new hobby (semi waste of time) on facebook. It has been somewhat surreal connecting with people I have not talked to in almost 20 years. Interesting to see how life changes people. We have also been trying to take a more active role in our church. One of the things we have realized is that we are not closely connected with most of the people that we know on a daily basis and that has recently been bothering me. I seem to find myself wishing out loud that I had more people I trusted to provide support, counsel and guidance.

On the work front, the project I have been working on for over 15 months is going into production on Friday. I hope that means less work, but I am concerned it may mean that there are many changes coming. I recently found out a co-worker was quiting to become a writer, simply because he did not enjoy being a programmer. I admire his willingness to try something new, but it made me realize that I am not brave enough most of the time to attempt anything new.

My hope for 2009 is to be a better husband, better father, better son, and make some new friends. If that means stepping outside my comfort zone, I hope God gives me the strength to do that.

Until next time.... Here's new picture, I love it

You just think your in charge......

I can not believe it is 2009 already. We had a great Christmas. Some quiet time at home, then days with both sides of the family here in TN. It has been great to be home more these past two weeks. Kyndal got so much new stuff. I learned a few valuble lessons this holiday season.

1. Nothing is more valuable than family and good friends.

2. Time goes by so quickly, enjoy it as much as you can.

3. Adults can enjoy the holidays too,

4. It is possible to love and child and want to trade them in at the same time.

5. Just when you think you are in charge....... you realize quickly that you are not, as evidenced by my "Man Room"

If You Don't Believe......

I am sitting here tonight and thinking about my life and one phrase keeps running through my mind....... Do you believe? See, I have realized that people will only exert energy or spend time on things they believe in, when they have a choice. So, I thought I would list a few things I believe in;

1. I believe I am blessed. All I have to do is look to my left as I write this and that is evident. I love you Kristin. I get to enjoy my little girl every day (it is never enough time but I would not trade it for the world). I am thankfull for all of my family and if I don't tell you very often know I love you all.

2. I believe my brother and sisters know I love them and they love me even if we don't get to be together very often

3. I believe you sould not make excuses in life. Who you are and what you are your responsiblility. It is no one elses fault if you don't like what you have or who you are... Every Day is a new day. You may not like the limitations or obstacles in your life that you did not put there, but only you can choose what you do with them.

4. I believe God has a plan for me and I hope I am strong enough to do what he wants me to do.

5. I believe that wether you like the election results or not, tomorrow we will wake up in the greatest country in the world, so be thankful!

6. I believe Amen and Sorry are two of the most powerful words in the English language.

7. I believe the best job in the world is being someones Dad.

8. I believe Jesus died for me and He changed my life on May 22, 1988. If you don't believe or understand that, ask me some time and I will explain it to you.

Long Time No Blog....

Ok, Ok, I know it has been forever, and I also know I need a new picture for my page. I have not forgotten this blog, I simply have let other things get in the way of time to post here. And my wife has done a great job of keeping everyone informed. Anyway, I had a good weekend and I thought I would blog about it......

Kyndal and I left here Friday afternoon to go to Kingston and see Nana and Papa Kennedy. Mom was nice enough to let me use her ticket to the UT - UAB game. We made it in time Friday to see Chris play for the Roane County High School team. I have been out of high school so long it seemed strange to be there. It was fun to see some high school football. Although I wish they would throw the ball every once in a while. Even Pee Wee's throw the ball sometimes..... Kyndal was great, she sat in our laps and actually seemed to have a good time. When we got home she went to bed easily and slept all night. I was concerned about her being away from home without mommy but she did great.

The next morning she woke up and we went to breakfast with nana and papa. Then they drove me to the game and dropped me off. It was fun to be there by myself for a while and walk around to take in the tailgating and the smells of all the food. Finally, game time. I got to spend the afternoon with my great aunt Doris watching the Vols, it was a lot of fun. The first half was rather boring and it was very hot, but the second half was better. The important thing was we won. Kyndal did great without me and everyone was nice enough to come back and pick me up. Thanks Mom and John for taking the time to do that..... The last leg of the trip was to drive back home. I was worried Kyndal would be restless, but she actually slept all the way home. Everything went great! Now back to work for the week.

THEN vacation Whoo Hoo! We have not had a vacation in about 2 and a half years, so we are really looking forward to an entire week together. We decided last night to go to Charleston for the week. We are going to spend a few days in Folly Beach and explore Charleston and Savannah. I will just be glad to spend some time with my girls. I can not wait, stay tooned!

One House Family Again....

It has been a loooooong time since I had some time to post here. We have been very busy. We have been in our new house now for several weeks and have been trying to sell our other house in the interim. There were days when we felt like it was never going to sell. Thankful our realtor and friend Virginia was a voice of reason assuring us that it would sell. She was right...... we closed on the sale of our other house today and it is a great feeling to know we are back to one mortgage and one house to take care of.

We have learned a lot during this process. First, we are very blessed. So much is said about how bad the real estate market is right now and we worried that it may be months before our house sold. God has really taken care of us. We stepped out in faith and made this move that normally would have been against every logical plan we could have had. But we both felt like it was time to move and that God would take care of us. I will admit there were nights that I wondered if we were doing the right thing but all has worked out to this point and we have no reason to believe that will not continue.

Second, children are very resilient. One of the things that we worried about was Kyndal being able to adapt to the new house and how she would handle the move. She has done great. She loves the new house and her new room. I think she has adjusted better than we have. Our favorite part of the new house is early in the morning we can hear the pitter-patter of her little feet crossing the hard wood floor on the way to our bedroom. She comes into the bedroom each morning calling for mommy and daddy it is so cute!

Three, moving is stressfull. but it has been worth it.

To all of you who have been concerned and prayed for us. Thank You! We love you all very much.