Highlights From the Hitzel Household

Michael Scores!

Michael started playing lacrosse in junior high. He is a junior in high school now, so this is his 5th season playing. He loves the game and every season puts all of his effort, heart, and soul into improving and playing his best at every practice and game. And yet, before this year, he had never scored a goal. Did you notice that I said before this year? His team had their first game this past Wednesday and he scored his first goal with the team! And, I got it on video! Then, they played again today and he scored again! I've always been so proud of the player he is. He is always one of the first to run over and congratulate a teammate when they've scored. It was so exciting to see him at the center of the congratulatory circle. Here's a picture of Michael at today's game and one of the team after the game. They were down seven to one at the half and believe it or not the other team had accidentally scored the one goal for them. They came back on fire for the second half and tied the game ten to ten. Unfortunately, they lost in overtime, but they sure played with a lot of heart.




Janaya's New Ride

Janaya has been working since her junior year in high school. She started at My Big Fat Greek Restaurant as a hostess and moved up to being a server. Then, she moved to Texas Roadhouse where she started as a server and moved up to being a bartender. She goes to school full time, working towards a degree in biochemistry, and works about thirty hours a week. She lives at home rent free, but otherwise pays just about all of her expenses. She set her sights on saving her money for a nice car a couple of years ago and has done a tremendous job of it. About a year ago, she decided she wanted to buy a used Nissan 350Z. She knew just what she wanted. A pearly white one with light interior. She has looked at several over the past year and wouldn't settle for anything less than what she had in mind. One at a car auction was red, not white. Another being sold by a private seller smelled like smoke. She found one at a dealership that was exactly what she was looking for, but despite the fact they'd had it on their lot for a couple of months, she couldn't bargain them down on the price. She was determined not to get into too big of a car payment. Then, this week, she found one online at Larry Miller Mazda. She asked Pam and me to go with her to look at it. It was perfect! It was in immaculate condition and drove beautifully. She had $11,0000 to put down on it and boy oh boy can that girl drive a bargain! I've never bought a car on my own before and was nervous about helping her out. I just sat there and watched her handle the negotiations like a pro. She even threatened to leave at one point. Then, when she had worked them down as much as she possibly could, close to $4,000, she told the salesman that she wanted her dad to come and look at it before she made a final decision. "I'm a girl you know and he's my dad." Joe came and Pam and I left for Michael's lacrosse game. He got them to come down a couple more hundred dollars on the car and to give another $1,000 on the Toyota Corolla she was trading in! She ended up with a very reasonable car payment and a beautiful car. Her twenty first birthday is this coming Wednesday, so it is fantastic that it worked out as an early birthday present to herself. Joe and I are so proud of her for setting a goal for herself and achieving it. Here is a picture with her new car.


Joey's Home!

This week is spring break for NAU and so Joey is home. He looks great and is so happy. He loves living in Flagstaff. It is wonderful to get to spend time with him! He doesn't like his picture taken so it is hard to get a picture of him, so I'll have to post one when I can sneak one in this week.

I Believe

"Believe" is a popular breast cancer slogan. My friend and neighbor, Mary, gave me a beautiful iron sign that says Believe that I have hanging on the wall by my desk. I've gotten cards that say Believe on them. My sister gave me a plaque that sits on my desk that says, She believed she could so she did. So, when I decided to get a breast cancer license plate for my car one of the options we discussed to put on it was I Believe. We checked it out on the website and IBEELV was available. I asked several people if they knew what the letters said and they all knew right away, so I decided on it. While I was waiting for it to arrive in the mail, I spent some time thinking about what this slogan meant to me. I think it is generally meant to mean I believe in a cure, which I do, but I also know a cure is probably still a long way off. I hope with all my heart and am putting all of my energy into beating this disease, but it seems hard to say I believe I am going to beat it. I do. I think you have to believe that, but I've read of or known of too many people who have fought hard and believed they were going to beat it who didn't. So, what is it that I deep down believe? I believe that with all the love and support of my family and friends and of people I've never even met before that I will be able to face whatever awaits me on this journey with dignity and strength and courage.



Till next time,
Love you all tons!
Martha