The Pinales 4

As one year closes

2010-12-31T18:24:00.000-08:00

This year:

• I am grateful for lessons learned
• I appreciate battles lost
• I haven't lost my sense of humor (or sanity)
• I've grown
• I've watched my kids grow
• I've made bad decisions
• I've made amazing choices
• I've tried
• I've fought (for things that mattered)
• I've fought when I should have stayed quiet
• I've missed family, near and far
• I've reconnected with family
• I've set goals
• I've reached other goals
• I've made amazing friends
• I've remembered who I am (again and again)
• I've made mistakes
• I've lost faith
• I've not lost hope
• I found faith again. Faith in the goodness of everything around me.
• I realized I don't have all the answers, I have to rely on help now and then.
• I've played soccer. I never thought I'd do that.
• I've reached limits, good and bad.
• I know I will never give up.

I am so excited for the amazing possibilities and opportunities opening up for me and my family in the coming year. I can not wait to see what comes of the hard work we are all putting in to make our dreams, our plans and our goals come to fruition. The kids are doing so well, I'm doing so well. There is nothing that high expectations of yourself & hard work can't acheive. You just need the belief in yourself, good people supporting you, and a positive attitude. With all of that, there is nothing you can't do! :)

Forget New Years resolutions. Go for New Years gratitude.

The Birthday Boy!

2010-12-27T20:50:00.000-08:00

I seriously am in shock that my BABY is 4 years old today! As of 6:33pm, he's officially 4. Who knew when that little baby was placed in my arms, the adventure we'd have for the next four years! He has been my pure happiness, my ray of sunshine and my reminder that no matter what happens there is a way to be happy. Some of my most favorite things about Bridger are:

• Even when he's fussing about something, he eventually just says "OK" and is completely fine and happy with whatever I am asking him to do.
• For Thanksgiving, he wrote that he is thankful for Lightning McQueen, chicken nuggets and ketchup, the store and his family. He cracks me up!
• He is the best share-er ever. He is alway letting his brother and sister have his things and sharing his treats, even if he doesn't get any in the end. (I always make sure he gets a good treat when he does that.)
• He gives the best hugs. EVER. We've gone from Koala Bear hugs and moved up to Squish hugs!
• He promised me that even when he's all grown up, he'll still let me hug and kiss him. He pinky swore!
• His smile lights up my world.
• He always tells me I'm his best friend.
• He likes to play dragons, and he'll call me Mommy Dragon. He, of course, is Bridger Dragon.
• He makes the best funny faces in this world. He is SUCH a ham!
• Whenever I tell him "I love my little boy!" He'll tell me "I love my girl!"
• He is so kind, sweet and caring. He takes care of everyone around him and is friends with everyone!
• He's one of three of the best things that have ever happened to me in my entire existence!

This morning, when he woke up, he came running down the hall yelling "It's my birthday!!" I've never seen him so excited for a birthday before! It made me smile super big. For his birthday he wanted to snuggle with me in my bed, instead of sleeping in his bed. But when he realized Hunter was in their room all by himself, he said to me, "I want to be in my bed, so Hunter won't be alone. I need to be with him." He just melts my heart. I can't even begin to describe how wonderful this little boy is! He's had some great examples in his big brother and sister, and he definitely has a special something about him that just makes everyone around him smile.

Love you, my Boo Bear!!!

These pictures were taken when he was a few days old.

It amazes me, looking back at them, how much they've all grown in such a short time!

There's one of those funny faces! :)

What would I do, and where would I be without these guys in my life? I don't even want to know, because I am SO happy, SO blessed and SO grateful to be where I am. I owe my world to my kids, and I hope they grow up knowing how much I truly love them.

Another week of giveaways!

2010-12-27T09:22:00.000-08:00

Check out Skye's month of giveaways at Soulographer. If you're a photog, a designer or a lover of all things fun and crafty, be sure to check it out.

Christmas Fun!

2010-12-25T23:33:00.000-08:00

Christmas this year has been amazing!!! I did all my shopping within three days of Christmas. WHEW! That was intense. :) Christmas Eve was a lot of fun. A bit of whining from the kids, mostly about wanting to open their Christmas Eve present RIGHT after breakfast. :S They calmed down eventually. They've all been loving to read each other stories lately, and even when Bridger can't read them, or Hunter can't read the whole thing, they'll make up the story from memory. I LOVE it!

I had fun taking pictures of Mom's Christmas decorations. Santa in the outhouse is everyone's favorite.

We finally opened our Christmas Eve presents. Mom made all the grandkids flannel jammies and robes. They all looked so cute in them!

Before we went upstairs to bed, we set out the milk and cookies for Santa, and carrots for the reindeer. We counted out exactly nine, one for each of the reindeer.

Once we were upstairs, we climbed into my bed and watched some old school Christmas cartoons. We love to snuggle!! :) We were tracking Santa on the Norad Santa tracker. Once we saw that Santa was in Canada, and headed towards us, the kids RAN to get into bed! It was fantastic! I didn't have to beg and plead at all to get them in bed. Well, except for Bridger. That kid NEVER goes to bed. Once Hunter and Alayna were in bed and on their way to dreaming of sugar plum fairies, I snuck down to the basement to wrap their presents. Bridger was playing quietly in bed, so no big deal. I got all the presents wrapped, and Skyler helped me carry them al upstairs.

I went upstairs and Bridger was STILL awake and playing. So after repeated attempts to get him to stay in bed failed miserably, I let him climb into bed with me. We watched White Christmas and snuggled until he told me to turn the movie off, cause he was finally ready to go to sleep. He gave me the best snuggles ever! I stayed up for a little while, but then decided sleep would be a good thing. haha!

6:30am rolls around, and I hear little footsteps coming into my room. Hunter woke up on his own and was all ready to go open presents! We woke up Alayna and Bridger. Alayna was content to stay in bed and sleep until it wasn't dark outside. What kid says that on Christmas morning?!?! Once we got Bridger's eyes open, he was all set to go see presents. They convinced Alayna to get out of bed. As we walked down the stairs, Hunter started jumping in excitement! It was a pretty impressive display, it's true.

As Hardy/Pinales tradition goes, we open presents one at a time, youngest to oldest. It helps avoid chaos. We don't handle chaos well in this family. LOL. I was so impressed with my kids! I was ready for whining. "Why didn't I get that toy?" "When is it my turn?". . . . Things like that. Nope. Didn't get any of that. Hunter was more than happy to hand presents to their owners and they were all just so excited for each other! The toys everyone wanted this year were a pillow pet. Alayna got the unicorn, Hunter the lady bug and Bridger the panda. They each got scooters as well.

As we started putting all the toys together, and playing with them all ( I got a soldering iron! Can't wait to start making jewelry with it!!), Mom started making crepes. I love our annual Christmas crepe bar! Mom and Gregg bought gingerbread pig cookies for us, something that Dad did every year. That was really awesome of them to do for us. Here is a picture of the pig, so you know what I'm talking about. I always get looks of extreme confusion when I tell people about them. :)

Once we ate, the kids played with their zhu zhu pets. They are quite the strange little toys! Hunter tried out his new easel, and we explored Alayna's microscope set. (She's been saying she wants to be a scientist, and also LOVES to "invent" things. SO CUTE!)

We snuggled in my bed and watched Shrek the Fourth. Then we went out and played on the new scooters. Bridger needed help, he was a bit nervous to try it on his own. But Alayna and Hunter took off like old pros!

They were all moving so fast, it was hard to get very many good pictures of them. :)

Then we went in, ate lunch and played a lot of Uno Attack, which was one of Alayna's presents. We had SO much fun! We paired up in teams. Alayna with Nana, Hunter with Papa and Bridger with me. After a few rounds, they all wanted to switch up the teams. So then it was Bridger with Nana, Hunter with Papa and Alayna with me.

That game is FUN!

Then we went down and played on the Wii that Nana and Papa bought for the family. That was a lot of fun, it was the FIRST time my kids have played a video game. They'd never touched one before, so it was fun to see them pick up on it. And good grief, they picked up on it FAST! We played bowling. Alayna was super good at it! Hunter caught on after a while, and I had to help Bridger. His little hand was too small to go around the controller. :) SO CUTE! I challeneged Papa to a round of bowling. It was so funny, he'd hold the controller out after he'd swing, until the ball knocked down the pins. hahaha! Then we played tennis.

We started watching The Sorcerer's Apprentice, but about 2/3 of the way through, the kids decided they needed dinner. Nana made homemade macaroni, ham, tamales and cheesy potatoes. (So random, but I loved it! Well, excpet for the ham. Blech!) It made me so happy that mom and Gregg got tamales too! Another thing dad would always do for Christmas. YUM! The kids had hot dogs, and they always do this thing with their hot dog. They'll cut through it, starting at the midpoint of the hot dog. Then they'll turn it and cut it again until it has 4 "legs". They call it their squid hot dogs. hahaha! Alayna started this a year or so ago, and it cracks me up whenever they do it! After dinner we played with toys some more, I worked on my projects I'm making for my co-workers late Christmas presents. Hunter had a blast punching his Spiderman punching bag he got from Skyler.

Then Adam, Annie and their kids got here. CHAOS ensued! We watched them all open their Christmas presents and then whoever hadn't eaten dinner, or hadn't eaten enough dinner earlier ate. Then Adam, Mom, Meagan and I got into a debate about HCG. Adam said he'd pay for us all to try it, to jumpstart the whole family onto being healthier and losing weight. I don't know. . . I've been against it for a long time. Seriously against it. Adam made good arguments for it, having been against it himself for a long time. But, if he's going to pay for it, I'll try it. See how it goes. :S There's just NO WAY I'd pay for it myself. lol

He sure knows how to take a good picture!

Mmmm. . . tamales!

I love how when Gregg is avoiding having his picture taken, he always ends up having blackmail pictures taken instead. LOL

Flipping me off?

We set a trap for an elf and CAUGHT one!

I am amazed they all stood still for a moment to get a picture. LOL

Once everyone left, and I got the kids in bed, the grown ups played some more rounds of Uno Attack. Game night is so much more fun as an adult when unlimited candy and swearing is allowed. HAHAHA! Just kidding mom. Actually, I think mom swore the most out of all of us. LOL At one point, she had about half the deck in her hand. She was laughing so hard she was crying, or maybe she was just crying. I'm really not sure. Either way, there was a lot of laughter!

Amazing day. I truly love this time of year!!

Proud Mommy!

2010-12-16T17:29:00.000-08:00

When I picked up the kids today, Bridger's teacher made sure to let me know that Bridger wrote his name for the first time today! And he was one of only 2 or 3 kids who was able to do it. I am so proud of my little Boo Bear!!! I can't believe he's turning 4 in . . . . 11 days. Oh my gosh, where did the last 4 years go?!?!?

Contest

2010-11-11T05:43:00.001-08:00

http://www.sassyscoops.com/reviews/only-the-best-for-my-kids-giveaway/

Welcome to the Roberts Zone. . . .

2010-09-16T19:56:00.000-07:00

(Insert theme music here.)

My computer at work is insane. Possessed. There is something that is completely not right with it. It acts of it's own accord sometimes. I've gotten used to it, after our almost 2 year relationship. (2 years, 11 months and 2 weeks, to be exact.)

Well, on Monday, it took being possessed to a whole new level. I'm not talking a weird little quirk like when I minimize something it oozes down to the toolbar instead of zooming right down. (If you're a Mac user, you know what I'm talking about.) Or when I click something, it'll double click itself. No. This was inSANE.

It spoke to me.

I'm not kidding, and I'm not even going crazy on this one. It seriously spoke, and I have two witnesses to back me up on this.

Brooke, my most wonderful, amazingly gorgeous co-worker, the Brooke of Brooke and Brie, my Maverick and my Jerry, sent me a youtube video to watch. But I don't have speakers, so she plugged her ear bud things into the tower where speakers would have been plugged in, so that I could hear the video. (Amazing video, by the way, about the man she and her husband are naming their daughter after.) I watch the video, take out the headphones and carry on my work.

Not for long.

As I navigated to a new screen a disembodied, robotic voice spoke to me. And it was like it was speaking the language of gibberish.

"Blobidy grahsi schmaiels sdjf;ldsjflkdsjf;ls"

Uhhhhh........ God? Is that you?

I had no idea what was happening to me. Brooke, hearing the voice, exclaimed profanities that would make even ME blush in her shock and surprise. (Ok, that's only partially true and mostly exaggerated.) The voice stopped for a while so I returned to work. But then it spoke again.

"blubidy bleghshme firefox hishmeb bleh"

Either I was learning gibberish, or my computer said firefox new window! WTH?! Then it started READING MY FACEBOOK MESSAGES! I am SO glad the message was simply a correspondence about setting up an art class for next summer. (Seriously, it's gonna be uhMAzing, ya'll should sign up for it!) At least it wasn't anything off color or inappropriate for work. NOT that I'd have ANYthing like that in my inbox. . . It kept reading out loud everything I was doing on screen. In another life, I had a boss that was blind and had a program on his computer that read everything to him. But I don't have that on my computer. And it wouldn't stop talking! For the love. It was surreal. I plugged the headphones back in, and the voice stopped. But as soon as I took them out, it would start up again.

After much laughter, and exclaims of WHAT THE HECK IS IT DOING!?!?!, we finally plugged the headphones back into the possessed thing and shut it up.

Too bad the disembodied robot voice didn't feel it prudent to slip me some lottery numbers.

New love of my life. . .

2010-09-09T12:35:00.001-07:00

Well, ok. Not of my LIFE. But pretty close. (In all honesty, it's not hard to make that list. So far, Gain liquid laundry detergent, Martinelli's sparkling apple cider and the monthly shoe club I joined is leading the list :)

BUT! This is the only love in my life that is totally cracking my up on a daily basis. I don't remember how I came across this blog, but I'm glad I did.

So, I implore whoever reads this post to go check it out for themselves. Unless you hate laughing or funny stories in general. Then it's probably not for you.

www.danoah.com

Hope

2010-01-21T22:21:00.000-08:00

I love Dieter F. Uchtdorf. He gives some of my favorite talks!

Blog Conference Contest

2010-01-19T18:08:00.001-08:00

Check it out! :)

http://mormonmommyblogs.blogspot.com/2010/01/win-ticket-to-cbc10.html

Pictures from My Outing

2010-01-18T18:30:00.001-08:00

Where I Want To Be

2010-01-18T16:56:00.000-08:00

So, this afternoon, I had a little time that I was able to go to Temple Square on my own and walk around a bit. This was SO nice, because usually I'm so distracted by the 3 small ones that I can't actually take time to focus on my surroundings. I did a fair amount of thinking while I was there.

First I went to the top of the Conference Center, and immediately I made a goal to go there for the next General Conference. This is something I have always wanted to do. I'm going to make that happen this year. I'm SO excited for April!

I stopped at the statues of Joseph Smith and Hyrum receiving the priesthood. The artist who sculpted that captured the peace in Joseph's face so well. It made me think in my own life, how many times have I wanted a blessing and not asked for one? I never asked my dad for one while he was alive, and I am wishing I had. I don't know why I didn't. Was I embarrassed? Prideful? I just don't know. I think at the time I probably harbored a lot of resentment for things he did while I was a kid. The anger I felt for the hurt he caused us. I wish I could have let that go a lot sooner than just before he died. I missed out on knowing so much of who he was. I think the last time I received any kind of a blessing was when I would be set apart for different callings in Young Women....soooo.....that's been about 10 or more years. Yikes. I have been blessed in so many ways by worthy priesthood holders. Through their love and devotion to service, through their selfless work in church callings..... I am so blessed. And so grateful.

I also spent time at the statue of the pioneers with the handcart and the two kids. Everything they owned in the world fit into that little cart. Everything they believed in lay before them, through trial and pain, heartache and hardship. Whether they made the journey with their health in tact or perished on the trail, they fought for what they believed in and didn't care what the world thought of them. They sacrificed all they had for all they wanted to be. My trials are so simplistic and almost laughable in comparison. I can hardly call them trials. No matter what, somewhere in the world, someone has gone through so much more than I can dream of bearing. I have so much admiration and respect for those that continue to fight for themselves and don't give up. There is always hope, there is always strength to be found.

There was a couple there, standing at the reflection pool, staring up at the temple together. They were holding hands, and the guy was stroking the woman's face. They looked so content to just be there with each other. It made me realize that there's a big part I'm missing out on. I know that sounds weird and totally not like me. I've had to be so independent for so long, I've convinced myself that I don't need to be married. I'm better off single. Which, knowing my history with relationships and the guys who seem to be the only ones to pursue me, I am TOTALLY better off single. But, it would be nice to have someone who actually wanted to go to the temple with me. To be a part of my family. I'm sure it's a long ways off still, but for the first time I see myself truly wanting that more than anything.

I've come a long ways. I've got a long ways to go, but I'm facing the right direction. And for the first time in a long time, I'm taking the necessary steps to continue along that path. :)

Christmas Rocks!

2009-12-28T10:23:00.000-08:00

Christmas was so much fun this year! Well, ok. It's fun every year. But with 3 toddlers of my own, my brother's kids and my sister's new baby, it was just awesomely chaotic and full of good times all around. :)

It wasn't as hard as I thought it'd be getting the kids to sleep after Santa came. Bridger, of course, was up late. But even he fell asleep around 10. I let him help me put out the presents I let the kids get each other.

Normally, I wake up around 3 or 4 on my own Christmas Day. As kids, my older brother would always wake me up and we'd go sit by the tree and just stare. LOL! This year, 6am rolled around and I woke up to the sound of my sister waking the kids up! Gah! That's MY job! I was kind of sad by that, but there's always next year. We stayed upstairs for a few minutes and the kids went through their stockings. I put a 2lb weight in each of them, so we can all workout together at home. I also got them each a yoga mat, so they can workout with me when I do the yoga DVDs I got myself. :)

Then it was off to the downstairs Christmas. CHAOS! And lots of fun, of course. There was a good size pile of presents, how could there NOT be with as many of us in that house as there are? lol

Bridger LOVED his longboard. Hunter immediately changed into his firefighter and police dressups and Alayna went nuts over the big horse toy she got. :) They all went upstairs to the playroom later and played their new games they got on their Leapster forever!

Mom made our traditional breakfast of crepes and had all the best fixin's set out for them. Jellies, pudding, cream cheese, powdered sugar..... MMMMMMM! She made baked French toast and eggs too. And my older brother got tamales, just like Dad always had. I LOVE Christmas traditions!

I'll post pictures later.

Here Comes Santa Clause!

2009-12-24T19:26:00.000-08:00

Well it's Christmas Eve, and it's been a great day! I got most of the presents wrapped last night, but had to quit when I ran out of wrapping paper. Talk about not being prepared! lol. Hunter started waking up in the middle of that, and I about panicked because he was still in my bed. Dodged that bullet! We woke up and watched cartoons in my bed until a reasonable hour to go down and eat breakfast. Then the kids played while I cleaned. And cleaned. And cleaned some more. Then we went to Josh's house and picked up Bridger's Christmas present. His awesome longboard that Josh made! It looks so good! I still need to get wheels for it though. :) I forgot I had to do that.

At 4ish, the kids opened their Christmas Eve present. Their new PJs. I wanted to have their ornament for the year for them to open today, but by the time I could get an ornament, I couldn't find any that I wanted for the kids this year. :( I'll just have to get 2 next year. :) Then we made our pizza and the kids played air hockey. I LOVE that we have an air hockey table at this house! :) Then we watched The Dark Crystal. Hunter fell asleep! NOOO! Too early AND Santa was coming over to visit! For once, I was trying to make him stay awake instead of getting him to sleep on Christmas Eve. How backwards is that? ;)

Then Santa came and gave each of the kids a little bag with treats and a small present in it for the kids. My parents put those together. How awesome is that? He told them to look out the window and watch for his sleigh. He drove by with his window open while the kids were looking the other way and rang his bells loudly. The kids went nuts! "Santa" is a family friend that does colonial re-enacting with my parents. That was so much fun! After he left, we got his plate of cookies ready for when he "comes back" after the kids are asleep. And now we're all laying in my bed watching Christmas movies until the kids fall asleep.

I LOVE Christmas! :)

Another Year Over...

2009-12-20T17:30:00.000-08:00

As I sat in church today, listening to the humbling music of our incredible ward choir and the carefully chosen words of the speakers, and as I teared up watching my two oldest children walking up the isle hand in hand to sing Silent Night with the rest of the primary and the choir, several thoughts came to mind. And the more I thought, the more humbled and determined I became.

The first thought that came to me was how many Christmases I have had. 25. How many of those Christmases have I spent being in service to those around me? And I don't count the buying of gifts for kids or other people or even making cookies for the neighbors. How much time have I spent in true service of my fellow man? With no thought of gain or reward? Not nearly enough. How many Christmases have I wasted being stressed about money and the possible lack of presents for my kids and friends? As I really listened to the words of each Christmas song that was sung, both in Sacrament and in primary, it hit me harder. Maybe it's having kids of my own now that makes me see things from a different perspective. To truly imagine how it must have been in that stable, knowing what that child was meant to grow up and be. It's not like I have never heard the story of Christmas. I know what Christmas is truly about. What hit me today is that I haven't been living it as well as I should and can.

The other thought that came to me is that my life is not my own. My world does not belong to me. Everything I am, I owe to my Father in Heaven. I was put on this Earth to serve others. It tells me that in my patriarchal blessing. I was given my personality as a gift, to attract those who need help, to make friends to all those around me, to help them find their own spirit. To forget myself and my problems. My Father will not leave me comfortless in time of need. He never has. My own problems will work themselves out. They always do. I owe my very existence to something much greater. My goal for this coming year is to forget myself, and live in service to those around me. To keep patience and kindness in my voice and my actions. To live each moment as it comes, and not take any of them for granted. For moments are fleeting and are gone as fast as they come. My goal is to teach my kids these things that I have come to realize. To instill in them the desire to serve others. To teach them patience and kindness. They are already far beyond me in these areas. My hope is to help them transition from the innocence of childhood into the perils of adulthood with their strength and faith in tact. I want them to grow up knowing that service of others brings far more joy than wordly aspirations.

Another goal is to increase my temple attendance. I can only do baptisms, since I haven't gone through the temple, but there's plenty of work to be done there. :) I can't let other things get in the way of that, as I have the last few months. My goal is to be able to go through the temple this year. I have to prove to my bishop that I am ready for that. I know I can do that this year.

A line in one of the songs we sang in primary today really stuck out to me. "Have faith, have hope, live like His Son. Help others on their way." It's so simple, isn't it? That's all we're really asked to do, when you get down to the bare basics of it all. It all gets so complicated and lost sometimes, in the chaos of adulthood responsibilities and all the different roles we play in this life. But if we strip it all down to what we're asked to do to return to Heaven to live with our Father, forever in peace, it's to have faith in this life, in this world, and that it's all for a purpose. To have hope to return there. And to help others come to this realization and to help them in their need. That's not hard at all. What makes it hard is where our priorities lay.

The true enormity of the Atonement, the sacrifice that was made for me has really come to light for me in a way that it never has before. It was not simply just a one shot deal for us. I have been given so many chances to get it right. And will still be given chance after chance, for I am human and extremely faulty in my striving to live as I should. But by the grace of God, I am strengthened and challenged to better myself, to try harder next time. To learn the lessons I am here to learn. To feel humility as I lean on my Savior and accept His help. Maybe it's that humility I'm finally feeling, deep within my soul, that's making it all so clear to me today. I wanted to write this all down, so that others know what I have learned about myself, and so that if I ever feel myself start to forget or go back to old ways, I can read this and remind myself who I have come to learn I am. I have accepted the Savior's help, and used his sacrifice over and over, without ever fully realizing what it is I am doing. Without ever fully being humbled to the core, to let the pride out and let myself be filled with the pure love of my Father. That is who I truly want to be. Someone who doesn't say things in anger. I want to return to being a child of God, to let go of the world, and what the world has taught me. I read this story the other day, and it has truly stuck with me.

The Room

By Brian Keith Moore

In that place between wakefulness and dreams, I found myself in the room. There were no distinguishing features save for the one wall covered with small index card files. They were like the ones in libraries that list titles by author or subject in alphabetical order. But these files, which stretched from floor to ceiling and right to left as far as the eye could see, had very different headings.

As I walked up to the wall of files,the first to catch my attention was one that read, "People I Have Liked." I opened it and began flipping through the cards. I quickly shut it, shocked to realize that I recognized the names written on each one. And then, without being told, I knew exactly where I was.

This lifeless room with its small files was a crude catalog system for my entire life. The actions of my every moment, big and small, were written in a detail my memory couldn't match. A sense of wonder and curiosity, mixed with horror, stirred within me as I began randomly opening files and exploring their content. Some brought joy and sweet memories, others a sense of shame and regret so intense that I would look over my shoulder to see if anyone was watching.

A file named "Friends" was next to one marked "Friends I have betrayed". The titles ranged from common, everyday things to the not-so-common-"Books I Have Read", "Lies I Have Told", "Comfort I Have Given", "Jokes I Have Laughed At". Some were almost hilarious in their exactness: "Things I Have Yelled At My Brothers and Sisters." Others I couldn't laugh at: "Things I Have Done in Anger", "Things I Have Muttered Under My Breath at My Parents". I never ceased to be surprised by the contents. Often there were many more cards than I expected. Sometimes less than I had hoped.

The sheer volume of the life I had lived overwhelmed me. Could it be possible that I had time in my 17 years to write each of these thousands or millions of cards? But each card confirmed the truth. Each card was written in my own handwriting. Each card was signed with my signature. When I pulled out the file marked "Songs I Have Listened To", I realized the files grew to contain their contents. The cards were packed tightly, and yet after two or three yards, I hadn't found the end of the file. I shut it, shamed, not so much by the quality of music, but more by the vast amount of time I knew that file represented.

When I came to the file marked "LustfulThoughts"; I felt a chill run through my body. I pulled the file out only an inch, not willing to test its size, and drew out a card. I shuddered at its detailed content. I felt sick to think such a moment had been recorded.

A feeling of humiliation and anger ran through my body. One thought dominated my mind: "No one must ever see these cards! No one must ever see this room! I have to destroy them!" In an insane frenzy, I yanked the file out. Its size didn't matter now. I had to empty it and burn the cards. But as I took the file at one end and began pounding it on the floor, I could not dislodge a single card. I became desperate and pulled out a card, only to find it as strong as steel when I tried to tear it. Defeated and utterly helpless, I returned the file to its slot. Leaning my forehead against the wall, I let out a long, self-pitying sigh.

That was when I saw it. The file bore "People I Have Shared the Gospel With". The handle was brighter than those around it, newer, almost unused. I pulled on its handle and a small box not more than 3 inches long fell into my hands. I could count the cards it contained on one hand. And then the tears came. I began to weep. Sobs so deep that the hurt started in my stomach and shook through me. I fell on my knees and cried. I cried out of shame, from the overwhelming shame of it all. The rows of file shelves swirled in my tear-filled eyes. No one must ever, ever know of this room. I must lock it up and hide the key.

Then as I looked up through my tears, I saw Him enter the room. No, please not Him. Not here. Anyone but Jesus. I watched helplessly as He began to open the files and read the cards. I couldn't bear to watch His response. The few times I looked at His face I saw such sadness that it tore at my heart. He seemed to intuitively go to the worst boxes. Why did he have to read every one?

Finally, He turned and looked at me from across the room. He looked at me with pity in His eyes. But this was a pity that didn't anger me. I dropped my head, covered my face with my hands and began to cry again. He walked over and put his arm around me. He could have said so many things. But He didn't say a word. He just cried with me.

Then He got up and walked back to the wall of files. Starting at one end of the room, He took out a file, and, one by one began to sign His name over mine on each card. "No!" I shouted, rushing to Him. All I could find to say was "No, no", as I pulled the card from Him. His name shouldn't be on these cards. But there it was, written in red so rich, so dark, so alive. The name of Jesus covered mine. It was written in blood.

He gently took the card back. He smiled a sad smile and began to sign the cards. I don't think I'll ever understand how He did it so quickly, but the next instant it seemed I heard Him close the last file and walk back to my side. He placed His hand on my shoulder and said, "It is finished." I stood up, and He led me out of the room. There was no lock on the door. There were
still cards to be written.

How many cards do I have that He's had to sign his name to, over my own signature?

I will never be perfect, but I can definitely try harder. There is so much hurt and bad feeling to always let go of. I feel I have done a pretty good job of letting go of a lot. Obviously there are still things yet to let go of to help me become who I want to be. I feel that will be easier as long as I continue to move in the right direction, to hold to the rod and follow the narrow path that will lead me home. All things are possible with faith and hope.

Delayed Trip Report

2009-08-01T19:12:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to write down all about our trip to Texas. Now seems as good a time as any....a month later! :)

I can not even express how nervous I was to be flying solo with all three kids! I don't even take them to the movies by myself, and here I was about to take them 30,000 feet in the air. I'd talked to them for months, trying to kind of prep them as much as I could for it. It seemed to have worked. We got to the airport and everyone was so helpful! I had the 3 kids, one big rolling suitcase, one little one, my purse, the kids' backpack of activities, 2 booster seats and a car seat. That was intense! A lady at the security checkpoint opened the ropes and let us into an empty lane and we got to skip the whole line entirely! Alayna told her that she was very nice, and that made the lady smile. lol!

We ended up getting to our gate about an hour early. The kids loved watching the planes coming and going. I was watching them thinking, I hope we're not in one of those little ones! Aaaannnd...we ended up being on the little one. Go figure. It wasn't too bad though, I guess. Amazingly enough, I got the kids boarded, seated and settled on the plane without incident. WHEW! That was my next biggest worry. Being the passenger on the plane with kids that everyone is mad at. The kids were so good though, I didn't have to worry at all. They were so excited for take off!

It wasn't a bad flight. 2.5 hours or so. It went quickly. The kids got all kinds of stocked up on cookies and juices. There was a lady that sat in front of us that got a kick out of all of them. She kept turning around and talking to them and tickling Bridger's toes. He thought she was hysterical.

Landing was a bit rough. It was very turbulent. I was way freaked out, (but still secretly loving it too) but the kids got the biggest kick out of it. They said, "This is just like driving!" The lady in front chuckled at that one! Once we stepped out of the plane, the San Antonio heat and humidity hit hard! Holy cow, that was a shock to the system. As we walked out of the terminal, Alayna said, "Hey, this is where we just were!" There was a group of flight attendants and a pilot that heard her and they just cracked up.

We found my cousin without too much incident. She drove us to her apartment in San Marcos and we hung out there for a little bit. The kids played with her puppy, Mingo. Then she drove us to the B&B that my uncle Phillip worked for, doing massages. The cabin we stayed in was so cool! There were paths that wound through a ton of cages full of turkeys, chickens, pigs, peacocks, llamas and goats. There was a big, wooded pen that came right up to the cabin that was full of llamas and goats. The kids were dying! We fed the llamas grass while we waited for my uncle to get there. A long piece of grass got stuck in one of the llama's noses, and he kept trying to sneeze it out. It finally did, and went straight into his mouth and he quickly ate it. EW!

When Phillip got there, we decided to go out to eat. They took us to this great Mexican place. Can't remember what it was called. Phillip was impressed by the kids, who ate the salsa that he wouldn't touch. I didn't think it was all that hot myself, but Phillip said he couldn't handle it. I was shocked! And a bit proud of me and the kids, let's be honest. lol! ;) After dinner, we went to my grandpa's sister's house down the street. She gave the kids otter pops and a stuffed animal frog that they found there. Random. I met my dad's cousin too. Then we went back to the B&B and called it a night.

I can't remember much about the order of the next few days. Phillip drove us around San Antonio and San Marcos and New Braunfels a lot, showing us all the places he and my dad went to as kids. The watering hole they fished at, the same one my grandpa hunted and fished at as a boy. That was in Martindale, where the house that my grandpa was born in still stands. We went to the malt shop and ate lunch where my grandpa always took them. He showed me their schools, and told me stories about all the shenanigans they got themselves into. We went to the wetlands at the Aquarena center. It had been an amusement park years before they converted it into the wetlands center for the university to research biology. When it had been an amusement park, my grandpa would take the family there for outings. There's a picture of my grandpa, kneeling in the grass with my dad, Phillip, and my other uncles David and Michael that was taken there. Phillip took a picture in almost the same spot. That was really cool!

Phillip also showed us the land that he's trying to secure to start his health spa. He wants it to be one of those retreat type places that people go to for a week to cleanse. He wants an organic farm, to make his own aromatherapy things, have a veggie café, and have a fitness center. How awesome would that be?

On Monday, my aunt Martha drove us to Sea World! For YEARS, I wanted to be a killer whale trainer there. LOL! We got there right as the park opened. We walked through a few of the exhibit things first, then went to the Sea Lion show. A walrus did crunches. Which really put things in perspective for me. I mean, if a Walrus can do a crunch, anyone can. We got there late, so we weren't anywhere near the splash zone. The kids REALLY wanted to get splashed. I did too! Then we went to the Shamu show. Made me want to abandon graphic design and go train whales. It'll never happen, but I thought about it! :) Then we went to the dolphin show, and FINALLY got into the splash zone. AND DIDN'T GET SPLASHED! Tragic! It was an incredible show though. The trainers did all kinds of acrobatic tricks and jumped from WAY clear high into the tank. It was absolutely stunning! We decided to take off after that, it was just so hot! We were all dying!

Phillip drove us into San Antonio again the next day and showed us downtown San Antonio. The Alamo, the riverwalk. We didn't really get out, it was more of a driving tour, but he did have me jump out at the alamo to take pictures while he drove around the block. We'd been there once before, with dad when he brought us 10 years before. It was so surreal to be there without him. It's still surreal to be anywhere without him!

When we got back to Martha's house from that drive, my cousin Carina wanted to take us to the San Marcos river to swim before we left for Amarillo. It was so gorgeous there! There was a restraunt that sat above the river, and a huge waterfall that came down around the restraunt and into one end of the river. It was really shallow in that area, it only came up to my waist at the highest spot. My cousin Deana showed Alayna how to swim, and she thought she was all kinds of cool after that! Deana held Bridger so his tummy was in the water and he was flapping his arms and legs around thinking he was swimming. He kept telling Deana to let him go, he could DO it! Haha! Too cute. We stayed there for a while, then went back to Martha's house to shower and get ready for our long overnight drive.

We left about 10:00pm. The kids fell asleep fairly quickly. Uncle Phillip talked and talked (definitely what he does best!). The whole trip he talked to me about my dad and him growing up. The stigmas attached to growing up Mexican, and how that affected who they were as people. My dad never talked about stories from when they were growing up. I feel like I don't know a big part of who he was. But hearing the stories from Phillip helped fill a lot of gaps for me.

Anyway. I stayed awake for a while, I think it was about 1am when I finally drifted off. I'd wake up every half hour or so. I woke up and stayed awake about 7am, just as the sun was rising. The fields, barns and silos were illuminated by the pure golden light that the sun was casting down. It was stunning! I looked over at my uncle, who looks so much like my dad, and it took me back to a few months before my dad died. It was Christmas morning, and he picked me up from work at LDS hospital, I had to work the whole night before. We drove down to Payson together to pick up my siblings from my mom's house to go back to Farmington so we could celebrate Christmas together. As we drove, the sun came up over the mountains and it was incredible. I looked over at my dad and said "Awwww, we just made a memory!" I said it jokingly, but I hold on to that memory dearly now.

We got to Amarillo, and went to my aunt Martha's mom's house for breakfast. She's a sweet, wonderful lady! After that we went to my Grandma's house, but the door was locked and she didn't answer. We went over to the hotel my Grandpa got for us and Phillip dozed. Then we went back to Grandma's and got there just as Grandpa did. We hung out together for a while that day. My Grandpa has been putting together our family history for me and he showed me a lot of pictures of my grandparents and great grandparents. That was SO cool to see. I was always told that we were Mexican, Italian and Native American. But no one knew what tribe or anything. My Grandpa thinks that we came from the Apache Indians. I can't remember the last name of my great great grandpa, but that's where it comes from. And we're not Italian. We're Sicilian. :) I can't wait until he gets it all typed up and copies of the pictures made to send to us! Grandpa took us to Ihop. He takes my uncle James there a lot to get him out of the house. (James has MS.) All the waitresses there knew him, and he wanted to show off his granddaughter and great grandkids. lol! That was fun. Then Grandpa took us over to James' apartment so we could say hi to him. I hadn't seen him in 10 years. He's changed a lot. It was a shock to the system at first, but he's the same old James. It was so good to see him. Uncle Michael didn't say a whole lot while we were there. But he was so tired and sick from dialysis that he probably wasn't feeling up to a whole lot.

The next day we were all hanging out at Grandma's house and we heard the news that Michael Jackson had died. What the!? Phillip was so weirded out by that! lol. He's emailed me since, and he's STILL weirded out by it. haha!

We left that evening to start for home. Grandma didn't want me to go. I wish I could have stayed with them longer! I miss them so much! But, it was getting late so we had to take off. We made it to Cheyenne but 6am and had breakfast at a truck stop. Then we went to the hotel Phillip got and he took a nap while I took the kids out. I found a map thingy in the hotel office and saw that there was a botanical garden. So I got directions and we went out exploring. We got to the gardens and lucky us, it was FREE! We like free. ;) It was gorgeous too. There was a wetlands pond, and a peace garden with fountains and a rose garden with a swinging bench that you could sit down and enjoy the gorgeous view. It was fantastic! After that we went to the mall so I could get a car charger for my phone. I thought I left my charger in Texas. (We go home and I found it in my suitcase. LOL. Totally like me, right?) We ate lunch and walked around a while. They had a great play place that the kids would NOT leave. So I sat and chilled while they wore themselves out. :)

We went back to the hotel, where Phillip was napping. He decided he wanted to take off again, so we left again. There were a LOT of rainstorms between Cheyenne and Rock Springs. I was a bit nervous, I'm not gonna lie. :) It was pretty intense. We made it to Rock Springs at about 5. And stopped for dinner. I haven't been to Rock Springs since I left it 7 years ago after my first semester of college. Interesting memories in that place. It was a little weird being back there. We didn't stay long, just long enough to eat. :) It was still raining hard as we made our way through the rest of Wyoming. And it was raining even harder as we made our way into Park City. But we made it home by 10:00 that night. It was good to be home, but I was missing my Texas family. :( Phillip stayed the night and hung out for a while the next day. But then he left to continue his trip to Washington.

It was a really awesome and really hard trip for me. It brought a LOT of memories back about my dad. Which is good. But man, I miss that guy!

Sunday Outing

2009-06-14T20:21:00.001-07:00

So, after thinking we'd be stuck inside all day, what with the thunderstorms and all, I finally made the executive decision to brave the elements and get us out of the house. Cuz we were all pretty much going stir crazy!

I had no plan though! I love winging it!

We got into the car, piled the kids' bikes into the back and headed out. We ended up heading towards Bridal Veil Falls. The kids and I love it there! As we approached the turn for the falls, I saw the turnoff for Squaw Peak. I've never taken the kids there, and thought that they would LOVE the view. So we made our way up the mountain. I've never driven up there myself, I've always been the passenger. So it was a little nerve racking. But I stuck it out. I'm terrified of heights! lol! As soon as the kids got out of the car, they were so excited that they could see the WHOLE city! It was so fun seeing them so excited at the view! I was so glad to have brought them there. Of course, they were nervous about being so high up. And they would not let me take pictures with them, thinking I was going to let them fall. Sadness!

I did manage to sneak a few in though!

After that we went up to Bridal Veil and the kids rode their bikes along the trail to the falls. It has rained so much the last couple weeks that the river was so high and moving so fast! It was incredible! Alayna had a hard time pedaling up the hills, so Hunter would either stand behind her pushing her up or in front, pulling on the handlebar trying to help get her up the hill. It was adorable! She kept pushing on, because she really wanted to see the waterfall. We are not quitters in this family! :)

All in all, it was such a great time! I love that we're getting out more as a family! It's a lot easier now that the kids are a little older and not tiny babies! lol

2009-06-14T19:45:00.000-07:00

I completed my first open water swim. In a wetsuit! I fit into one! hahaha! I was nervous about that. ;) It was incredible though! It had been stormy all day, so we weren't sure that we were going to go out and swim. (We being my tri team.) But the storm cleared just in time for us to head out to Lindon Beach. It was absolutely stunning out there! The cloud formations were simple incredible! Big, white puffy clouds mixed with low, rolling, dark clouds. The sun was shining behind a few clouds and sun rays were bursting out from behind them. The light was pure golden and made everything it touched glow. Over to the east, in front of the mountains was a full, bright, double rainbow! The tall grasses framed the lake and it was just picturesque!

We marked out where we were going to swim to, and I was completely nervous! It was so far! They told me, since it was my first time in the open water that maybe I should just swim back and forth in the bay. I considered it, but being me, I had to prove I could do it. So we took off. The mud at the bottom was so squishy! I don't even want to think about all the stuff I was walking through! The water wasn't too cold. A LOT better than I thought it would be. Until I bent my knees and let the water come up to my shoulders. Once it started seeping through the zipper in the back of my wetsuit, it felt COLD! But it didn't last long. Yay for climatizing! I attempted to swim with my face in the water. But it was so murky I couldn't see where I was going. So I stuck with keeping my head out of the water. The closer we got to the buoy we were heading towards, the further it seemed to drift! But we eventually made it! Now for the swim back! There were two other women who were doing their first open water swim too. One of them started having an anxiety attack! But she made it to the buoy. Once there, though, she was having a really hard time breathing and just wanted to get out of the water. So Kyle, the owner of SBR Sports (the triathlon gear store that's sponsoring my team) and McKenzie (one of the women who started the team) helped her get back to the water. The current had picked up and was helping push us towards the shore. That was nice! :) A huge pelican was flying overhead. I'd never seen a pelican like that before! At least outside of Tracy Aviary or the zoo! lol. Another bird was floating in the water and squaking at us. It was probably mad we scared the fish away. haha!

Eventually we made it back to shore. McKenzie and Kyle estimated that it was about 1200 meters that we had just swam. I have never swam that far before! I was so excited!!! I just wish I had brought my camera to take a picture of how the lake looked. It really was just amazing. Especially considering it was yucky Utah Lake! ;)

Random Saturdays!

2009-06-06T14:01:00.000-07:00

So last night Raleigh took Hunter to my ward's Father/Son camp out. He brought Hunter home early this morning, cause he had clients scheduled at the gym. But they cancelled, so he and I went and worked out. We did the 50 reps of everything again. I thought he was gonna have a coronary! haha! :) Or that I just really wasn't working hard, cause man! The sounds coming out of that man! :D Then we went swimming. I set a goal of 16 laps. We did 8. Raleigh got a cramp. :*( And he had to go. But I ran into a girl I went to high school with. Turns out she trained with Raleigh too, and also wants to be a trainer. Elle was there in the pool too. She and I are going to meet up on Monday and work out together. Yay for gym buddies! :)

After we left the gym, before we hit the freeway, I heard on the radio that there was a free festival at Utah Lake. So I decided that sounded like a lot more fun than going home. So we went down and checked that out. It was pretty fun! The kids got a hot dog and we played duck shoot and had a boat race. They turned a couple of rain gutters into the race course and had a little boat inside and the kids made the boats go by blowing at them through a straw. There was a fish pond and Hunter COVERED me in the stickers that he got from that. Then we stood in line for over half an hour so the kids could have their face painted. Alayna is a kitty, Hunter is a puppy and Bridger got a little koala bear on his cheek. I'll post pictures in a bit.

Bridger would NOT let me put him down, so holy cow! My shoulders and back HURT after the whole day!

But I beat Raleigh at swimming, so life is happy. muahahahaha!

2009-06-04T19:38:00.000-07:00

And some from a photoshoot that Raleigh did. :) Yay for having friends who take pictures!

2009-06-04T19:34:00.000-07:00

H

Here's a couple pics from a photoshoot my friend Leslie did.

June 4th

2009-06-04T19:15:00.001-07:00

Oh man, last night was HORRIBLE! And yet, amusing at the same time. Bridger and Hunter fell asleep in my bed, with me squished in about a foot of space inbetween. Good thing I'm smaller! haha! At about 4 in the morning, I woke to a loud crash. Bridger had rolled right off the bed. I wait a minute, hoping in my half asleep state that maybe he'd crawl back into bed himself. Not so much! I leaned over and he was just sitting there, looking around like "what happened?!" It took over an hour to get him back to sleep. I can wake up at 5 just fine. But to wake up at 4 is just TOO MUCH! So I decided the gym could wait until after work today and went back to sleep hoping to stay that way until 7.

Not so much.

Alayna comes walking into the room at 6, wanting to go downstairs and see who else was awake. For the love! So I resigned myself to getting up anyway. Still didn't go to the gym until after work.

I realized today though I probably need to add calories to my diet. lol! Being generous in my counting of the calories, I only got to about 1100-1200. I'm thinking I should probably be at about 1400-1600 with the amount I exercise. But I'm not hungry in between meals, so maybe I'm fine. It's a fine line, I think.

Tomorrow will be fun!

Oh man i hurt!

2009-06-03T18:51:00.000-07:00

So, to continue on writing updates.... 10 minutes later! lol!

On Monday, I worked with my trainer Raleigh. Coolest guy ever! He'll kick your butt for sure! I tell him he kicks my glutes. hahaha! Gym humor. :) He had me do 50 reps of each main muscle group. Biceps, triceps, abs, shoulders, thighs, and calves. Holy cow and for the love! It's Wednesday, and I'm just barely starting to feel not sore from that! Probably didn't help that I ran Sunday night and Monday before we jumped into the 50 reps. It hurt good!

I missed yesterday. I couldn't drag myself into the gym. Forget drag, I could barely stand! It paid off today though, for measurements! It's totally addicting, once you really start seeing the weight and inches come off, and feeling the muscle tone building! Today I swam 16 laps this morning and another 12 this afternoon. I couldn't face the weights today. I just couldn't do it! My arms would hate me for life if I had! lol!

People keep asking me how I keep from cheating. It's simple, really. I simply made up my mind that I wasn't going to eat things that are unhealthy. Maybe when I reach my goal and I'm just working to maintain I'll eat more things like that on cheat days. But I made up my mind that getting in shape was what I wanted, and NEEDED to do. Once that clicked, it's easy saying no to treats and all things junk food. I don't drink soda or even juice, and haven't since the first of the year. There's just too much sugar in most juices.

Anyway. That's been what I've worked on this week.

Training

2009-06-03T18:17:00.000-07:00

Ok. I'm gonna start posting more of my training stuff on this blog. Track my progress online! lol :)

Today I got measured. Haven't done that since May. I can't remember my exact numbers, I'll try and get them tomorrow. But I believe, if my quick, at a glance math is correct, I've gone done 6-7" and 15 pounds since May 1!

I changed up my diet since then. For a while I couldn't get past a certain point with my weight. I kept yo-yoing between a few pounds there. So I doubled my exercise, taking it from 1/2 hour 6 days a week to 1 hour 6 days a week in the mornings and 1.5 hours 3 times a week after work. (The kids LOVE going to the gym playroom, so I use that as a good excuse to get my butt back in the gym. :) My exercise routine consists of a half hour running on the treadmil. Doing intervals of 2 minutes slow, 3 minutes fast. Then I do 10 minutes each working on legs, core and arms. 3 sets of 10-12 reps on each area. Then I finish off with a half hour swim. I try to get between 14 & 18 laps.

I completely changed my meal plan. A friend at work started this "Kristi Approved" diet. I did the first 2 weeks on it and dropped 9 lbs! In 2 weeks! It was awesome! I couldn't afford to get the groceries for the 3rd week, which is this current week. So I'm improvising with what I have on hand, but following the same basic principle. 5 small meals spaced 2-2.5 hours apart. So this week I've done a protein shake in the morning when I wake up at 5. Then when I'm done at the gym I'll have either a bowl of oatmeal or 2 egg whites and 1 egg with 1 tablespoon of salsa on a wheat low carb tortilla. For lunch I have brown rice, steamed veggies and a gardenburger. Plain, no bun or condiments. It tastes good with the brown rice! :) I know, I'm weird. For a snack I have either a string cheese and a fruit or a South Beach Diet meal replacement bar thingy. (Like my technical terms? haha!)

So that's what I've been doing to kick my butt into shape! (Other than round!) Hopefully I can remember to post updates here for anyone that cares to follow. :)

Have a great day!!!!!! Make it good!

Oi Vey!

2009-01-21T19:05:00.001-08:00

It's been a crazy week for sure! We finally got everything unpacked at home. Well, okay. My dad got everything unpacked. hahaha! I attempted to help, but kids kept stealing my attention. Work has been wild and vastly unpredictable, but it's still fun, so woo hoo!

Bridger's 2nd birthday party is on Saturday, and I'm way excited for it. I didn't do anything for hi birthday when he turned 1, so I feel really bad about that. It'll be fun to see the friends coming down for it!

I'm getting my trip to Texas all planned out, and I'm so excited to go! The kids can't wait to ride an airplane!!! I can't wait to see my Grandpa, Grandma, uncles and cousins!!! It's gonna be a blast!

And I've got nothing else for today. It's been so chaotic, and yet nothing is really happening. What a strange combination....

Whoa

2009-01-04T08:16:00.000-08:00

Ok, so it's been a while. :) Between Christmas and moving and all things crazy, computer has been the last thing on my brain.

We're in our new house now. It's awesome and huge and incredible far away from work now! We're in Highland. Woo Hoo! Closer to Salt Lake and all things fun. haha. The kids LOVE having their own playroom and beds and bedroom. And I LOVE having my own room again and feeling like a grown up. :) : ) : ) I'm really looking forward to decorating!!!

Scribble It GIVEAWAY!!!!

2008-12-16T22:09:00.000-08:00

I saw this website on another blog and fell in love. Holy cow, these are the cutest vinyl things ever!

Scribble It GIVEAWAY!!!!

Pictures of Maryland

2008-11-30T14:34:00.001-08:00

Maryland

2008-11-30T14:12:00.000-08:00

I had a blast in Maryland this last weekend! I've never traveled that far before, and definitely NEVER by myself, so it was a totally different and awesome experience for me! My work flew me out there to demo the Cricut® Expression™ which was only 2 hours out of the whole weekend!

I got there about 4pm on Friday, and my car rental totally fell through! I called the hotel who sent a shuttle to get me. lol! I stood outside in the freezing Maryland cold and waited, cause I didn't want to miss him! Then it started snowing! My weekend was already off to be an adventure! haha! I finally talked myself into opening up my luggage and getting out my hat and scarf. When the shuttle got there, it was driven by a very friendly older black gentleman who was listening to disco as loud as it could go, I swear! He rocked! When we got to the hotel, the front desk guy was looking for my reservation and taking a while. I asked him if he found it and hopefully it hadn't disappeared, and he said he found it and even if it had dissapeared he would have found something for me after what happened with the car. haha! He was awesome. He gave me a Chinese takeout menu after I asked if there was anything good to eat around here. I went up to the room, ordered and climbed into bed. Here I am, lost in Maryland, no car, and it's only 7 and I'm in bed. Well, really it was 5 for me with time change and all. The food came, and the Chinese guy took $2 from me! I gave him a $20 and asked for $4 back, which would have given him a $5 tip already. He gave me $2 back, smiled and took off. lol! I figured $2, whatever. But then I tasted the food and it was HORRIBLE! Oh my gosh! You'd think Chinese food being delivered by a Chinese guy would have tasted good. I started to get the feeling that if it wasn't seafood then it couldn't be cooked out here. haha! But I was starving so I ate it.

Can I just say I LOVE hotel beds? So soft and squishy! I stayed in bed and watched tv till I was finally tired and then I was out.

On Saturday I woke up and got ready and walked around my parking lot. The hotel I was in was part of a strip mall that had the store I was going to to do the demo. I wandered around the stores until it was time to go to the store. That took 2 hours, then my awesome cousin Risa came and got me. She lived about 40 or so minutes away. She and her husband cooked salmon for dinner. Now, I'm not a fish eater. In fact, I hadn't eaten fish since I was 7. So this was testing my ability to try something new. lol! But I psyched myself up and ate the fish no problem. :) I was pretty proud of myself. It actually didn't taste too bad. But I don't think I'lll be a regular at Red Lobster by any means. I played with her girls while they finished up making dinner and they are the cutest little girls! They were a ton of fun! Afterwards, Risa and Collins took me on a drive around DC where they stopped a few times to let me out and take some pictures so I wouldn't miss DC while I was out there. That would have been sad! I had been excited to go there, but without a car I didn't want to chance missing my plane the next day by depending on the public transit system. :) And my serious inability to find my way around places. The took me around the Mall, which I came to find out wasn't a shopping center, but all the monuments and cool places in the loop around DC. haha! I'm a dork. It was really cool seeing all the buildings lit up at night. I have to go back there sometime and spend time IN the buildings! :) We stopped at Collins work for free hot chocolate that was really good. He works at a law firm in downtown DC. Then he took me to my hotel.

On Sunday, the hotel front desk girl, Laura, that I made friends with the day before picked me up with her husband and took me to Fell's Point in Baltimore. We ate breakfast in an Irish pub whose owner has a love of European soccer and opens at 6am to play all the games for his fellow soccer lovers. Laura's husband was from England and he's a bio chemist. She's in her PhD program for pharmaceutical research. Way smart people, and very artsy too. She's my Maryland sister now! :) We walked to a place that has the yummiest gelato ever. Mmmmmm! It was so good! Then we walked around the harbor a bit and did some shopping. We went into a place called the Courdoroy Button that was this adorable children's shop. I ducked into this awesome eclectic furniture store and fell in love instantly. Then Laura dropped me off at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore and I walked around a bit. I didn't have time to really do anything but look there either, so I'll have to hit that place again when I go back to DC sometime. I did manage to get some fun pictures.

I got myself on the light rail system and got picked up at the end of the line by the hotel shuttle then they took me to the airport. I ate dinner at the Ram's Head Tavern and had the biggest hamburger of my life! And the best onion rings ever! Yay for beer batter! hahaha! I jumped on my plane and was on my way home. My awesome friend Josh picked me up from the airport and took me home. It was an awesome weekend! I totally missed my kids though! Which is what brought me to my previous post. I'm gonna take the opportunity to travel all over with them. I want them growing up seeing the world! It'll be awesome!

I Have Made A Decision...

2008-11-30T14:08:00.001-08:00

Now that I've had my taste of traveling...I'm saving up and taking the kids out next year! My first trip I'm planning is to go see my dad's family in Texas. I miss them so much!!! It'll be awesome, between the family, Six Flags, and Sea World, this is gonna be one rockin' vacation! I'm dragging my sister along and we're going in June, for our birthdays. And Alayna's and my cousins birthday. They're all within that month period. We'll have one big shindig! :) It'll be awesome! I'm so excited!

I think later in the year we'll try for Disneyland or somewhere equally cool. hahaha! I know I know. Big plans, right? :) If anyone can pull it off, it's me! :):):):D

I'm so excited for next year!

Here We Go Again...

2008-11-29T16:35:00.001-08:00

So my last blog got screwed up, so I'm starting over cause I'm just not smart enough to fix it. lol!

Take Two.