thanksgiving

quick update, since we haven't written a "real" post since september:  as many of you know, we recently moved back to oklahoma city and are settling back into our routines here.  we've both been blessed with wonderful career opportunities, and we are happy to be home.  we'll try to post some moving pics soon.

today is thanksgiving day, and now that our tummies are full of food and our hearts warmed by watching miracle on 34th street, we thought it would be a very nice chance to get back into the swing of blogging by telling what we are each thankful for this year.  

andy: "i have felt so blessed this entire year, it's hard to know where to start.  during our recent move, i was reminded of all the little things i'm thankful for - our home, our car, our stuff, and our friends and family.  on that note, i am especially thankful for the quality of relationships i have with my friends and family, for the effort everyone gives to show love to one another.  i am thankful beyond words for my relationship with gabriele, for our wedding in july, and for the many experiences we have shared.  i am also thankful for her love, kindness, and patience with me when my efforts to help miss the mark.  in many respects, i owe a huge amount of thanks to the many medical professionals that have guided us throughout our journey with RA, and for the folks at roche for developing the medication that has helped gabriele so much this year."

gabriele: "let's see, i am thankful for so many things, it is hard to think of them all.  first of all, i am immensely thankful for my wonderful husband, for blessing me with such amazing love day after day, for marrying me, for taking care of me all the time, and for showing me beauty in each day. i am thankful for all of our friends and family and for all of the fun times that we get to have with them and for the love they show us.  also, i am thankful for my medical "team" and for all of the ways that they take care of me, for supporting me and assuring me when i think it will never get better.  i am thankful for technology, science, and creativity in the interest and development of medications for RA and for the response in creating awareness for such a debilitating disease. and, of course i am most thankful for God's fulfilling love and encouragement in both the good and the bad."

hope you all have had a happy thanksgiving and feel as blessed as we do!

hands-free

admittedly, many will find this post to be a disappointment after us being absent for several weeks.  i assure you that there is better stuff to come.

until then, does anyone know where we can get macspeech dictate for cheap?  it retails for $199, and the lowest i've seen is $120 on ebay.  gabriele is an avid mac user, and options for voice-recognition software are quite limited for users of the fruit.  since she's doing counseling again, she has to type a lot of process notes, and doing so is a real drain on her already weary hands.