the north carolina murphy boys

So here are some pictures from my trip to New Bern.
As you can see, Danny thinks he is a superhero, and Parker likes to have his mouth open as often as possible.

Baby Thompson

So here is the first official picture of our baby. He or she is upside down ...it's ok if you cannot tell what end is what. The baby is about the size of a coffee bean right now. Seeing the baby on the ultrasound made this whole thing seem more real. We could actually see the little heart beating! It was beating really fast. It is still a little too early (8 weeks) to hear the heart beat, but it was still really cool. The doctor said that everything looked great, and that everything was going according to schedule. I was very relieved.
This week the baby's eyelids are forming, the nerve cells in the retinas are developing, the ears are forming, the brain is forming neural pathways, the trunk is getting longer, the arms and legs are getting longer, and the hands and feet are still a little webbed. The whole process is so amazing. I just can't believe that there is a little person forming inside me right now. Well, I can believe it when I feel nauseous and tired. I get overwhelmed sometimes when I think about how my life is never going to be the same, but I feel ready for life to not be all about me.

invisible children

So tonight I saw this documentary called "Invisible Children". Basically these 3 guys from San Diego went to Uganda and filmed their experience there. The story of the children in Uganda has me awake at 1am. There is civil war going on in Northern Uganda. The rebel army is abducting children and forcing them to be in the army. These children are taught to kill, and if they don't kill, they are killed. So thousands of children walk every night to a shelter in the city where they are safer from the rebels. Every day is just another day that they are happy to be alive, happy to not be abducted. These are children!! 75% of the money has come from private donations, and today they are on a countrywide tour to share the story of these children. MTV is now one of the sponsers of "Invisible Children". Please visit their website www.invisiblechildren.com and check out the trailer of their documentary. It is really intense.
The documentary moved me to tears. I immediately thought about wanting to go to Uganda, about wanting to do something to make a difference for these people, these children. But, to be honest, I also wanted to forget. It is such an ugly thing, but when the documentary was over, I wanted to chat with my friends and figure out where we were going for dinner. It was so much easier to forget. I have no idea what I could do to make a difference in children's lives in Uganda, and the sad thing is I probably won't do anything. Maybe I'll give some money now, but this situation needs more than just a little money and in a day or two I will forget. My life is so comfortable and right now in Uganda there are children who are just stuggling to stay alive. Food and clothing are luxuries, they are more concerned about survival.
I hope to remember the story of these children. I hope to appreciate the things I have. Most of all I hope to see the hurting that is happening all around me, not just in Uganda. It has opened my eyes to the pain and suffering in our world. I realize that right here in Atlanta there is plenty pain and suffering, and maybe I can do something to help.

six flags rocks

Well, today we went to six flags over GA with some friends of ours. It was a perfect spring day...cool in the shade, warm in the sun. I love spring, even though spring in Ga lasts about 2 days, and then it's on to summer. But today was perfect. We had a blast at six flags yet again. It is just one of those places that has adults acting like crazy people, screaming and laughing and drooling. We talked our friends into doing the big swing. You slowly are raised into the sky by a cable, and suddenly you come to a stop at about 200 feet where you have to pull your own rip cord that sends you careening towards the ground. It has to be one of the biggest rushes ever. It is one of the scariest things I have ever done, but so worth it. After the initial drop, you just soar back and forth, it feels like your flying. Here are a couple of pictures of Josh, my brother Brian, and me doing the big swing when we were at six flags together last october.



We also rode the new ride, Goliath. This ride is now my favorite. It was so smooth and had the biggest drops. Anyway, I got to thinking today at six flags that I am getting older. It makes me sad. I actually think about the human error aspect of these rides, and how easy it would be for me to plummet to my death. I never used to think this way. It is so great though, to give in to that part of you that is all kid. To scream until your voice is gone, to laugh until tears are streaming down your face, and scare yourself so bad you think you might seriously pee pee in your pants. Today was such a day, today was great!

it's been a while

So it's been 2 months since my last blog, kinda sad huh. My computer is finally safe and sound with me again... and only $100 later. Things have been kinda crazy in the past month or so. I finally finished my real estate class and took all the tests and actually passed. I still can't believe that I passed. The state exam was a lot harder than I thought it would be, and if I had missed 4 more questions, I would have failed. Now I am working with Keller Williams Realty. There is a lot of stuff to do getting my business up and going. I have a lot of training to do, etc. My first house to sell will be my husband's house, so that shouldn't be so bad. Check out my website... http://katie.yourkwagent.com/home.

I really don't know what else to write. It's hard to be completely honest about things on the world wide web log. Things have been kind of hard for me lately. I really can't get into it, but I guess it ultimately comes down to what I am doing with my life and who I am. That's pretty broad, but I feel like I am learning a lot lately. God feels closer to me than he has in a while. That's weird to even say because I don't fully understand what that means. But I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I just feel kinda lost.

Well, enough of the boring stuff. This past saturday, Josh, dogs, and I went to the Talulah Gorge in North GA and did some hiking. We lived in Oregon for a year, and this trail was another disappointment. We are used to having more hiking trails than we know what to do with, and this trail was very far from natural. Part of it was made out of recycled tires. But nonetheless it was a glorious day in the great outdoors. And of course the best dog in the world was there with us. As we drove back to the asphalt jungle, we wound our way through the north GA mountains, and it was truly breathtaking.

a blog

so my brother tells me that I should blog more. It would be nice to blog more if #1 we had internet at our house, and #2 I hadn't dropped my laptop onto our hard wood flloors and smashed it to pieces. Well, maybe not to pieces, but it's definitely not the same. I suck. I have realized something about myself through this whole breaking my computer experience. I don't really think before I do anything. I already know that I don't think before I speak, but now I realize that I just never think. Josh,on the other hand, thinks before speaking or acting. Sometimes he thinks for so long that he falls asleep. He is deliberate, and I love it. If I had been deliberate before I grabbed my computer case, I might have seen that it was unzipped and avioded sending my computer crashing to the floor. But now I am in arkansas and I am using my mother-in-law's computer.
I am in Arkansas with my mother-in-law. She hates Arkansas. Arkansas=hell for her. She has been coming here to Arkansas for the past 8 months or so to have everything in her body killed. Chemotherapy is awful. Right now she is resting after getting poked and prodded yet again at the hospital. When I am sitting in the chemo room with her and looking at all of the other chemo patients I am faced with the frailty of life. A lot of these people are really sick, some of them might not make it much longer. My mother in law is almost in remission, but she still has to go through all of this for a long time. We sat up together last night with our bald heads. We share bandannas, and it takes us both about 2.3 minutes to get ready in the morning. I hope I can show her how much I love her. I hope she knows that, because I think she feels really alone a lot of times.
In 3 days I am going back to Bend Oregon! I cannot tell you how thrilled I will be to be there again. I feel like Bend belongs to Josh and me. I can't wait to see our old friends, eat at our old restaurants, see our little house, and ski! Maybe I will update my blog and tell you about the trip. Ok, this blog is random and long.