The Hodge Family

richardj@hodgefamily.net or meofcourse@hodgefamily.net
Site Last Updated -- July 2007.

Richard and I met about 11 years ago, on 23 October 1996, and it just gets better every year. We met the day we entered the Missionary Training 1 Center in Provo, UT when we were starting our missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We both served our missions in Chile. Richard served in Antofagasta, and I served in Vina del Mar. We became best friends through our missions and ended up getting married on 23 March 1999.

Our first daughter, Faith, was born on 4 March 2000. She was born 10 weeks early but has no problems due to being a preemie, and is now 7 years old and is the size of an 9 or 10 year old. Our second daughter, Samantha, was born 25 May 2004 (which was also Richard's father's birthday). She is now 3 years old and is growing and learning a lot.

We currently live in upstate New York, but we can't wait until Richard is done with school so we can move back to Texas. Although I grew up in New York, I always knew I didn't want to stay here forever. And we all love Texas. Faith loves the snow in New York, but she also loves Texas. And Richard and I don't like the winters here in New York. I do much better dealing with the heat in the TX summer than the cold in the NY winter.

After 6 years, off and on, of college, Richard received his Associate Degree in Computer Science in May 2006. He is currently attending The State University of New York Institute of Technology (SUNY-IT) and will earn his Bachelor Degree in Computer Science in December of 2007.

On the last day of February 2006, I signed up with Career Step for their Medical Transcription program. I originally found the Career Step program about 6 years ago, when Faith was only a few months old. However, I kept making excuses not to do it. Finally last year, we both felt that the Lord was leading me to Career Step again and that we couldn't make excuses this time because it really is the best thing for me and for our family. It is probably the hardest thing I've ever done in my life (except for my mission) but is also very rewarding. I graduated from Career Step with High Honors (97% on both portions of the test) on February 9, 2007 and was hired March 12, 2007 by InHealth Transcription Services in Atlanta, GA. I truly love being an MT!

Faith started 1st grade this year and loves school. Her favorite class is the computer class. She is also riding horses again. She started riding right after she turned 5, but in May 2006 she fell off and broke her arm right near the ball of the shoulder. So she didn't ride for a few months. She did get to take swimming lessons in the summer though, and loved to be in the water everyday. Faith amazes us with her ability to read. She is always learning new words and asking how to spell things.

Samantha is my little cuddle bug. She loves to learn new things. She seems to absorb everything that goes on around her. She amazes us with her ability to talk. She is always saying new things. She loves cuddling and reading books. She also loves to play in nursery at church. She loves to say prayers, and also makes us help her "read" the scriptures.