Looking forward to a New Year!!!

2011 was such a blessed year for me. Now it's time to write my year-end blog and share with everyone what's happened to me in the last year, and what I'm looking forward to in 2012.

I started out the year of 2011 as a single woman trying to find her way in life.  I had returned to the Globe-Miami, AZ area after living in the Tempe and Mesa area for 2 1/2 years.  I decided to go back to school and try to finish my education.  I quickly found a job and got registered for school. By my 33rd birthday things had already made a turn for the better.  I was living with my best friend Stephanie in Miami, and on the night of my birthday things REALLY changed in my life. After going out to eat with my parents and Grandma Cothrun, I returned home and my roommate suggested we go out for a birthday drink at a local bar in Globe.  I wasn't too interested in it, but decided to go anyway. I figured I might be able to have some fun visiting with friends on my birthday at least. It was karaoke night at the Drift Inn and I figured we would go.  We got there and karaoke was cancelled, so we went to another place where we knew there was free pool.  At least I could shoot some pool. I love that.

So we went to the other bar, and were visiting with friends and playing pool when the unexpected occurred. We were out on the back patio when a friend of my roommate's came outside. He worked at the restaurant next door and had just gotten off work and decided to come out back and see who all was hanging around. My best friend knew him and enthusiastically introduced us.  His name was MARK BENITES. Little did I know that night how much this man would change my life.

Well the months passed by and alot of things happened in my life.  Mark became my best friend and he stuck by me through some pretty tough things this year. There was amazing chemistry and we decided to patiently let our friendship develop.  Mark wanted to leave Globe, so he wasn't interested in dating at the time. I told him I didn't want to stay in Globe either, and we discussed the possibility of me moving with him. My parents met him and they were very impressed with him. When the time came for us to move to Clovis, my parents offered to tow my car and take us there.

We got to Clovis on July 30th and moved into a motel.  My parents met his parents the night we got there, and everyone got along famously. It wasn't long after we moved that Mark finally asked me to be his girlfirend.  On August 22, 2011 Mark got down on one knee and proposed to me.  We were married October 1st at our church, Faith Christian Family Church, and life has taken off since then.

So many wonderful things have happened this year in my life.  I am so blessed, and happier than I ever thought possible! I am looking forward to many amazing blessings in 2012. We are going to the Lighthouse Mission where we will celebrate New Year's Eve surrounded by many friends. And at the stroke of midnight we will celebrate 3 months of blissful marriage together.

May all my friends be blessed and happy in 2012! Love you all!

<3 Amy

Marvin Family Memorial - Phoenix, AZ

We just had a wonderful memorial for Mark's grandparents on December 5th with lots of fun with family. Mark's mom is one of 11 children, and spending time with his family was so fun. Here are a few pictures from the event.

We listened to a recording of Mark's grandpa singing while we prepared to send off the balloons. Each balloon had a small amount of the ashes from both of Mark's grandparents in them, so that was their family's way of spreading their ashes. Kinda cool.

This picture has everyone from Mark's immediate family that attended in it. His mom & stepdad, 2 sisters, brother-in-law and 2 neices and nephew all together. It was a really great experience for our family.

Up, up & away!!!

You could see the balloons from miles away. They looked like stars in the daylight once they got up so high. It was neat.

Two of my beautiful neices - Joy and Marisa.

This picture is blurry but I love it. My neice Joy & nephew Matthew. I love this picture because it really shows off their personalities.

Me & Joy

Joy being silly with the elk.

This is my father-in-law, Mark's stepdad Randy & 2 of my sisters-in-law, Shelly & Courtney

Two of Mark's little cousins

The kids all had a blast playing outside on this beautiful winter day. I love this picture of my nephew in action.

So very thankful for family!!!

I LOVE MY IN-LAWS!!!
This Thanksgiving is my first time sharing the holidays with Mark's family.  We are so blessed to have 4 sisters and several neices and nephews! I am so grateful for them in my life! My sister and brother in law and their family have returned home from Georgia and will be home through the holidays and we are so excited! Mark's sisters and family have come from Phoenix for Thanksgiving! Yay!

Starting to exercise again...

Now that my pain levels have decreased dramatically, I am starting to exercise again. I've been walking quite a bit on the treadmill with only slight soreness afterward. Last Friday I started using a set of 2 lb. hand weights on the treadmill and I must say, I did have a bit more soreness over the weekend. But nothing major. So today I begin strength training. I will keep you posted on my progress.  I did take an NSAID this morning before leaving for the gym, so hopefully that will keep down any extra inflammation. It's important for me to remember that even though my pain has decreased dramatically I still have RA and Fibro, and I must remain conscientious of this fact. But I am taking steps forward to get in shape! I am hoping to get pregnant within the next year and I need to lose weight for my body to function better and give me better chances at conception. I know that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! So onward and upward!

Glorieta, New Mexico - Prayer Garden

Glorieta had so many amazing things as part of their church facility owned by the Southern Baptist Church. They have used this area for youth camps, women's conferences, men's conferences and many more things throughout the years. One of the most amazing things about this place is how spiritual it is. They have created areas throughout the Christian Conference center to help you get closer to God. This Prayer Garden was so amazing. One could spend hours here and never want to leave.

As you enter the garden, you can see that the trees have been planted around an ascending staircase that features a well at the top, which runs down a center spring into the lower well at the bottom. This time of year the fountains were not running, but I could imagine how beautiful and serene that must look during the summertime. Paths on each side of the water feature gave opportunities for prayer and pondering at each level. It began with these signs....

These were some of the features they had along the way up...

My good friend Loana in front of the cross at one stopping place along the path...

The water feature was lined with beautiful flowers on both sides...

And this is the view from the top well looking down...

This is such a beautiful place. It has been in operation for over 60 years. It is so sad to know that as of November 1, 2011, Glorieta will only be open during the summer for youth camps and other special events. If you would like to learn more about Glorieta, visit http://glorietaconferencecenter.org

Glorieta, New Mexico - Fall Colors Pictures

I thought it would be nice to post some of my pictures from Glorieta, New Mexico. This is where I attended Women of Destiny and received some amazing healing...my first experience of this magnitude. I took some amazing pictures while I was there.

None of these pictures have been edited in any way. No photoshop needed. Just nature in its truest beauty needs no touch up. Here are some pictures of the main chapel where they had the neatest entrance to the building. Built around the US Flag and NM flag the flags were in the shape of the NM symbol, and each flag had the name JESUS on it, and above it, one of the many names He has been called. See here....

The chapel looked amazing at night.

Probably one of the neatest things I've ever caught on camera.....This was taken the morning of my healing, right after leaving the chapel. It felt like there were angels in the room as hundreds of women were slain in the Spirit and freed from fear, anxiety and physical problems. Outside it looked like there was an angel in the sky as you can see in these pics.

Almost a month now....Pain Free!

I have been living in awe for nearly a month at the goodness of God. I have been raised all my life to believe in His amazing miracles that He can bring into a person's life, but have wondered for nearly 3 1/2 years if there was any way that I was going to EVER be free of the chronic pain that inflicted every second of my life! With diagnoses of Fibromyalgia, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Ankylosing Spondylitis, and Sjogren's Syndrome I had lived every day with the most excruciating pain! I was so tired of hurting and there was NO light at the end of the tunnel.

On October 14th & 15th I was blessed to attend Women of Destiny in Glorieta, NM with the women of my church. On Sunday a wonderful woman who had been cured of Stage 4 cancer gave a talk on healing. We took communion and she had us form an anointing line for physical healing. As I stood in this line I was praying for deliverance from the captivity my pain had put me in. In my mind I could see two of my guardian angels standing by my side...on my right my beloved Aunt Mary Teresa Cothrun, who fought a courageous battle against Hodgkin's Lymphoma, and who I cared for until the day she finally left this earthly life.  My Aunt Teresa is my hero...she never lost her positive attitude, even until the end. She has always inspired me. On my left I could see my Grammy, Betty Cook, who lived every day with the pain of arthritis. She has always been another one of my heroes. I never could understand what kind of pain she was in until I had to live with it myself. Now I could see these two wonderful women standing next to me, and as Barbara came along the anointing line and commanded me to partake of the healing Christ offered me through his stripes, I felt a rush of warmth spread through my body. Although it was not instantaneous I knew that some healing had occurred.

Now nearly a month later I am in awe at how the pain has LEFT my body. If I overdo myself I still feel normal twinges of pain as any other person does, but the widespread pain that debilitated me every day for over 3 years is now gone. I have been able to start working out again and doing things I haven't been able to enjoy for years! The miraculous thing is that I am now off ALL the medications I once took (at one time I was on 16 different medications). I now only take my insulin for my diabetes, and an occasional muscle relaxer in the evenings if my restless legs start acting up, but that is only maybe 3 nights a week now.

I feel so blessed to have experienced this healing! My faith, which has always been strong, has been strengthened dramatically since I began attending Faith Christian Family Church here in Clovis, New Mexico, where my husband and I were married. Christ still works miracles....I am living proof! Praise the Lord!