Their biological dad, my first husband, Darin, died in an accident on December 26, 2003. Devin was four years old and Dracen was five months old at the time.
Grief is by far the fiercest monster I've ever gone up against. But, by the grace of God, the love and support of an amazing family and a few precious friends, I made it through the storm. I came out the other side a stronger person but forever changed, in many ways for the better.
I found my now husband, Charlie, on Yahoo (yes, I'm serious!...you can find anything on the internet if you put enough hours into it) in December of 2006 and married him in June of 2008.
In addition to Devin and Dracen and Charlie's two adult sons and one daughter (in college), we have two long-haired Dachshunds we adopted from a Dachshund Rescue in 2009. They were given their Andy Griffith Show character names, Brisco and Charlene Darling, by their foster family, but I mostly call them Big Boy and Li'l Bit or The Darling Wieners.
I have a crazy obsession with wiener dogs that I blame on Dixie Dog, a stubborn little longhaired wiener who was in my life for fourteen years before she died in 2009. As God as my witness, I will never be without more than one wiener in my life at a time again.
We love wiener jokes around here. I've been a mom of ALL BOY boys for fifteen years now so I finally decided that "if I couldn't beat 'em, I'd join 'em!" Except for the peeing-in-inappropriate-places-outside thing. I know my limitations.
I once took an online personality test that told me I have a calming effect on those around me and that I have some mad staying power in relationships. I've also been told I can be hard to get to know at times.
Maybe that's true though I don't mean to be. Once I do get to know you and love you, you are pretty much stuck with me for life.
But don't be afraid to stick around because I don't mean that in a crazy, psycho stalker kind of way. I promise. ;)
