My Sweet Mother-in-law

Marsha Jo Fry
(February 6, 1956 - July 24, 2009)

Marsha Jo Fry
Long-time Ballinger resident, Marsha Jo Fry, went to be with her Lord on July 24, 2009.

There will be a visitation and viewing from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday, July 26, 2009 at Ave B Church of Christ. Memorial service is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. Monday, July 27, 2009 at Ballinger High School Auditorium.

She was born February 6, 1956 in Ft. Worth to Joel and Alyne Jo (Klepper) Amyett. Her mother preceded her in death. Marsha is survived by her husband of 32 years, Mike of Ballinger; sons, Aaron Fry and wife, Lauren, of Houston, and Brandon Fry of Abilene; father, Joel Amyett of Grapevine; and sister, Debbie Sandoval of Kyle. Additionally, she is survived by numerous extended family members, all of whom loved her deeply.

Marsha was a member of the Ave B Church of Christ where she was active in all aspects of the church. Her special love was teaching Sunday school to children. Never being satisfied with simple Bible lessons, she was always looking for new and creative ways to share the good news of God's love.

Marsha’s first and foremost love was her sons. Throughout their youth she was their biggest supporter in sports, academics and spiritual matters. She always encouraged them to be the best they could and took great delight in every phase of their lives.

Marsha received her bachelor’s degree from Abilene Christian University and was a high school teacher for 24 years in the Ballinger Independent School District. She loved her students and encouraged them to reach for the greater things in life. Marsha had great respect for BHS faculty and students, all of whom supported her unconditionally through her 1 ½ year battle with cancer.

The family would like to thank you for the support given to us over the past several months. Marsha loved the community of Ballinger. Your love and concern for her has been overwhelming. In lieu of flowers, the family wishes any memorial donations be given to Lifeline Chaplaincy, 1415 Southmore Blvd, Houston, TX 77004.

“If will, grit and determination could cure breast cancer, she would have been cured before diagnosis.” -Dr. Frankie Holmes, Marsha's doctor and friend.

So lucky

Here is a glimpse into the Fry's life lately...

This was when we went back to Ballinger to visit! This is Aaron and I with his beautiful MeMe!




So since becoming a Houstonian I have become a pretty proud Rockets fan. I have gone to many a Rockets game... and I have seriously NEVER paid for a ticket. Haha we just have the hookups. Aaron's boss sometimes gives us his 4th row tickets (we saw the Rockets vs. the Cavs from those seats... I can say that I saw LeBron James up close and personal!!!!), and our really good friends Kat and Matt (aka "Kat in the Matt") have 10th row tickets behind the players bench. That is where these pictures were taken. It was the last home game against the Hornets. We were pretty excited that we won because the Mavs had just lost to the Hornets the night before. :)

Aaron's pretty excited.




This is "Kat in the Matt" and I



The Bush Sr.'s were also there! It was so neat to see them! They were only there until half time, but they donated some money, so there was a presentation of the check! There was a standing ovation for them! It was pretty cool!





This one is for Mr. Marty... Clyde "The Glide" Drexler doing his report after the game.




A few things... yes when someone takes a picture from sitting down, of me with my mom and sister... I look like a giant... and yes they both tan so it makes me look ridiculously white.







Right now the major things going on... we are searching for a car! We haven't completely narrowed down yet so you'll have to wait and see what we choose!

Next weekend my best friend is getting married in Kerrville, Texas. I have never been to an outside wedding... so I can't wait to see how beautiful it is going to be!!! I will promise to post pictures!

That's it for now. I figured pictures would be better than alot of text! :) Thanks for stopping by!

Lauren

PICTURES of love! :)

Here are a some pictures! The first ones are from our anniversary. We are eating the top layer of cake. It was super good! My mother in law did a really good job of saran wrapping it! The other set of pictures (starting from the flowers) are from Valentine's Day! Enjoy!

















Lauren

Music To My Ears

Well, here we are... Year 2009! So far so good! Things are looking good! Aaron and I have started going to a new church, I love my new job and Aaron and I have now been married for a whole year! It is crazy how time flies!

We celebrated our 1 year anniversary on January 5. It honestly doesn't feel like it's been a whole year. I feel like just yesterday I was planning the thing! The anniversary was on a Monday so since we both had to work we decided we would just go out to eat. We went to eat at Benihana's, a Japanese Steakhouse. The food is soo good, and you feel so stuffed when you leave! After dinner we came back to the house and ate the top of our wedding cake. It tasted SOOO good! I have heard so many stories from brides of how awful it tasted. Ours was amazing! My mother in law did a good job wrapping that sucker in saran-wrap! I am such a lucky girl. I definitely have the best husband in the world! I know it sounds cheesy... but loving him makes me a better person. I am so blessed to have him in my life to love me, encourage me and to hold me accountable. He knows, understands and just gets me better than anyone. (sometimes it's even a little scary how well he knows me!) I thank God everyday that he made such an incredible man for me!

Enough of the mushy stuff... I am loving my job! Right now I am working on designing a website for a jewelry company! I get to edit and write the text and code that is "behind the scenes" of the website! It's so fun! I'm learning how to write in 'marketing style.' I'm used to writing news releases and news stories, and they always teach you in school to 'cut out the fluff.' Well, in marketing, sometimes it's all about the fluff! So that's new for me, and I like that I am still learning stuff and am able to challenge myself!

Another great new beginning for Aaron and I is our new church! I am so pumped about it! Here's the deal about church for Aaron and I. I was raised Baptist, and he was raised Church of Christ. Well, I believe that the man should be the spiritual leader of the family. So I had really prayed about it and this is the conclusion I came to... I asked Aaron a long time ago why he felt that he needed to stay at a COC church. (In my heart I knew that if he could give me a spiritual reason with scripture to back it up, I couldn't contest that. I couldn't contest that because if I wanted him to be the spiritual leader I couldn't put down what he felt in his heart. If I did that, it would belittle him and I wouldn't be giving him the privilege and honor of being the leader.) Aaron gave me his answer, and he definitely had scripture to back it up. That was that. From then on, we have gone to a Church of Christ. My problem, however, wasn't the theology that COC's believe... it was the no instruments. Here I am... this girl raised with a passion for music. Music with instruments. I played an instrument for 10 years of my life. Before I met Aaron I had been singing in the church since I was 5. I had been apart of a praise band since I was a freshman in high school. You can see where I am going with this. Praise and Worship is my passion. You can imagine what was the hardest part for me being in an a capella church. But, I followed my husband with all of my heart, and knew that God would work out the details.

In November Aaron and I started going to a new church called First Colony Church of Christ. I just wasn't happy at the church we were going to at the time, and during this time was when gas was at its peak and we had a solid 45 minute drive to Spring, TX. We decided it was time for a change and something a little closer to home. Our first day at the new church I just fell in love with it. It was still a capella, but the music was more contemporary and there weren't as many older songs that I have never heard of. I loved everything about it... the music, the people and the sermon! I still missed the instruments, but I loved this church. During Christmas break the church made an announcement that was 'music to my ears' so to speak... "Starting February 1st we will have two different services. The 8:30 service will be a capella and the 11:00 service will be instrumental." OH MY GOSH! It was the answer to my prayer that I have been praying for the past 3 years!!! I truly feel that God has listened to my prayers and has blessed my obedience to Him and my husband. It just goes to show that He really does mean... pray without ceasing. He does give us the desires of our hearts!

That's all of my awesome news for now! I hope you are all enjoying 2009 so far!
I promise to post pictures AS SOON as I can! :)

Lauren

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

It's been a long time... I know. So, here goes.

LOTS has happened since I last posted. I graduated, got some AMAZING gifts, got a REAL JOB, oh, and our house got broken into. But, don't worry I will you details on all!

Well I guess I will talk about the thing that happened first! About 2 weeks ago one of my friends called me and said hey, would you be interested in working for a marketing and design firm called First Creative? I said well it wouldn't hurt to do an interview... That was a Monday. I had my interview on Wednesday, and got the offer on Friday! I have a real job!!! I am a pretty blessed and lucky gal considering the two major things I had going against me as a new graduate looking for a job. #1 I am a December grad and #2 I am forced to find a job in the toughest job market and economy since the Great Depression, and definitely since I have been alive. My chances weren't looking too good. THEN I got the phone call! I have only worked there for a day to get my feet wet, and then I will officially start after the holidays. I love it (so far.) It is a small firm so I will be wearing MANY hats! I get to do office management, graphic design, web design and public relations. This will be a perfect resume building job, and I will be more marketable!

#2-- Our house was broken into last Tuesday. I had gone to my internship during the morning and then I decided to go Christmas shopping all afternoon. When I got home at 5 and opened the garage door that leads into our house... I saw, laying on our stairs, our door frame, and all of the lights were on. I will never forget that extremely chilling feeling. All of a sudden all of the hairs on my body were sticking straight up and I was aware of all of my senses. I had a huge adrenaline rush. I turned back around to my car, got in and called Aaron. I then called our apartment office and had the maintenance guy come stay with me until the police got there. I had no idea if the thieves were still inside. Well, after the police checked the place, we were allowed to go inside and check the damage. Besides a little mess they left, all they took was our laptop, the charger and mouse. They were not very bright robbers. They passed up a brand new-just out of the box two days before- Wii, a PS2, a digital camera, a desktop computer and an Armani watch. They went into our bedroom and were obviously looking for cash. They went through our underwear and sock drawers and our "private documents" drawers and lifted up our bed. The watch was sitting on our very clean dresser, and they didn't touch it. They also broke into the house across from us and just took her laptop and wireless printer. I think they were just looking for laptops. Needless to say, I have had MANY sleepless nights, and am TERRIFIED to be home by myself.

And FINALLY... I GRADUATED LAST FRIDAY!!! It is such a great feeling to know that I am finished finally!!! It was so great to have all of my family come in! It was nice to have them come to me for a change. Everyone got to see my home, and just hang out in the place where I live. Don't get me wrong, I have quite the destination spots to visit (Naples, FL and Las Vegas) but still it was nice to have them here. Friday we did graduation in the morning, and oh man was it a nasty morning! My mom and I both straightened our hair that morning, and by noon it was curly! After graduation we went and ate at one of the top steakhouses in Houston-- Perry's Steakhouse. It was AWESOME! They had our own room for us and everything! I also got some amazing gifts for being the graduate! I got the nicest watch imaginable... trust me IMAGINABLE, I got a new camera that I wanted. It is a Nikon D60 Digital SLR. I got my first set of pearls (necklace and earrings.) I got a new pen. It isn't just any pen-- it is a WATERMAN pen! It writes like heaven. Every graduate needs one of those! I got the cutest ornament that has the mortarboard hat with an attached diploma that says "Class of 2008." I also got this beautiful ring that has a topaz stone, which is my birthstone. Last but certainly not least, I got this beautiful cross to go in my house! I am very blessed with people who love me and are proud of me!!!

I am sorry that this post doesn't have any pictures. A. all of the pictures are on my old digital camera and I think my sister took it home on accident. B. I figured this post was long enough without the pictures. So, they will come later.

Sorry this post is long... it has been awhile! I hope you've enjoyed my whirlwind of a few weeks! If I don't post before Christmas... MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Love,
Lauren

The Birthday!

Well, I had a great birthday-- up until the massive beating Tech received in Norman. It's going to be ok... there is still a chance we could go to the Big 12 Championship. What will save us is that we beat UT and OSU. Here are the perfect scenarios... #1. The easiest would be if OSU could beat OU this weekend. Which could happen because the game is AT OSU. Then there is #2 if OU does beat OSU then our hope is that since they were playing a ranked team, and UT didn't-- they will hopefully skip UT in the rankings... and even though with this scenario we won't be going to the Big 12 Champ... neither will UT. That's pretty much what I care about if OSU doesn't beat OU. Why do I care so much do you ask? BECAUSE WE BEAT UT FAIR AND SQUARE. They wouldn't have truly earned that #2 ranking! They barely beat OU and OSU. (I know OU slaughtered us, but we slaughtered OSU. UT didn't.) I told you... I am a very passionate Red Raider! :)

Now, on to more exciting things! For my birthday, I did what I said I was going to... I decorated my apartment! I wasn't able to put my tree up because I was too preoccupied by being a true Tech fan and watching the game to the very very bitter end! BUT, I totally made my first wreath! See what you think!



It was so great to listen to Christmas music all day, and decorate! I loved it! Of course everywhere I went people would ask me "Are you having a good day ma'am?" and I would say "Yes I am! It's my birthday!" I like to let everyone know it's my birthday! After I got finished picking out all of my Christmas decor I went and picked up Aaron from work. Then, we went to the mall to get my new purse!!! I had originally picked one out online that I really liked, but when we went to see it in the store the strap was WAY to short. It was seriously up in my armpit. I just couldn't force it. Then I found the perfect one! I love it! Thank you Aaron for my purse! :)



Even though I already have my decorations up for Christmas... I am so ready for Thanksgiving!!! Yesterday at church it really hit me. I have been so worried about all of the food and people that are going to be at my inlaws and how I was going to be able to help-- and I completely forgot to stop and think about what I am truly thankful for. It just brought me to tears because I have so much to be thankful for. I think through the past year the thing that I have been the most thankful for is my mom. Being a wife has taught me so much about the sacrifices my mom made for my sister and I that we totally took for granted and didn't thank her for. She really did alot for my sister and I whether it was making dinner after working her 8-5, or making our birthdays sooo special, or working lots of odd jobs on the side so my sister could do cheerleading and to make sure we were never wanting. Don't get me wrong, my dad did alot for us too, but I think what our moms do for the family is completely underrated. So, here is to my mom-- Thank you, and I love you! :)

I hope everyone has a very Happy Thanksgiving! Remember to stop and think "what are you truly thankful for?"

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Lauren

CHRISTMAS!!!

Yay for the Christmas spirit! I am so excited! I have decided that this weekend I am going to decorate our apartment for Christmas! (Even though it will be TOTALLY against Aaron's wishes! He says that I should wait until after Thanksgiving) But, hey-- Saturday is my birthday and I can do what I want!!! So I started by making my blog look a little like Christmas!

Know what else is around Christmas time?!?! GRADUATION!!!! Holy smokes I graduate a month from tomorrow!!! I can't wait! I am so excited about all of my family coming in to be there! I am the first grandkid to graduate so everyone's comin'! Jordan, Mom, Marty, dad, Dina, the kids, Uncle Todd, Grandma, Honey (my GREAT grandmother) that's just to name a few. Oh, and of course my in-laws! :) Another great thing about graduation is-- that it's my dad's birthday! I get to walk the stage on his birthday! That's pretty exciting for me!

Well, that's all for now, I'm off to give my final presentation!!!! That's crazy! My last presentation of my college career!

Saturday is my birthday and if the Red Raiders could win one for this incredibly passionate fan... that'd be great! Thanks & Wreck 'Em!!!

-Lauren