To my Best Friend..

I am so glad that I have a best friend. Someone who accepts me for who I truly am, will never walk out on my life. Loves me unconditionally, through thick and thin. Values our friendship. He is the best friend I have always wanted. I have always known that Mick and I are more to each other than just a husband or a wife, a mom or a dad. We are each other's best friend. I can tell Mick absolutely anything, and I rely on him like no other!
We love being together, we do most things together, and talk on the phone about 20 times a day. I can't wait for him to get home from work and I love knowing that he wouldn't be anywhere else but at home with his family!

This Sat will mark our Marriage of 11 years to eachother. There is no secret that Mick and I have had our troubles, but those troubles have made our relationship 100 times better today! It's hard "growing up" with the person you are married to. We got married when we were "kids," 18 years old, you are almost bound to have issues at that young age..

I have always been told that Mick loves me like no one else has seen. I am very proud for people to be able to recognize that. I hope that they see just how much I love him too! I know how special our relationship is. We have been together for half of our lives. Half of our lives, can you believe that!!

Sometimes I am defined by the songs I hear on the radio. Brad Paisley sings a song named "Then." It's about not knowing how much you love someone, not believing how much you could love someone. About someone being their whole life and world. This song is soo true. Mick is my WHOLE life, and my WHOLE world. I thought I loved him back then, but didn't truly know how much I love him until the past 5 years. (It's the first song on my playlist if you want to listen to it!)

I can't wait to be married to him for 5o years! I can't wait to have grey hair together, to retire and live each day side by side.

He is the most generous person, is always there to help family and friends. Works so hard for his family. Proud of who he is, and how he gets the things that we have, by hard work and determination! He is such an awesome father! Those two kids of ours are spoiled rotten by him, good thing they have me to bring them back to level ground. :) Mick takes Clay everywhere with him, and I mean everywhere! Sometimes I think they act like brother's more than father/son. Michayla is the light of Mick's eye! There is no relationship like that of a Daddy and his little girl!

In just a month we will both turn 30 years old, I can't believe that we are going to be 30. I think back to us just being 18. Mick asking me to marry him in his parents barn in Oct 1997. Finding out a few months later that Clay was on his way, getting married in May 1998 and only being just 19 when we became parents! WOW a lot has happened in what feels like a short time. Can't wait to see what lies ahead in our future!

Thank you God for bringing Mick and I into each other's lives when we were 16. Thank you for all of the trials and tribulations that we have over come in the last 14 years, and thank you for our two beautiful children! I am truly blessed in all aspects of life.

We may not have it all together, but TOGETHER we have it all!!!

Easter and how kids sleep..

This is going to be two posts in one..

Easter & Abigail's present.

This year we didn't do any egg hunts and we didn't go to church. I think our whole family is wore out with Baseball so we just decided to meet at mom's for an afternoon lunch..
Mick and Clay got up early and went to Horseshoe Bend for the Youth Turkey Hunt. It was open to only youth hunters for 4 days. They did find some, but weren't able to get close enough to shoot at them. I guess they are going to try again this Sunday and Mick will be able to hunt this time.
My Grandma was suppose to come up from Homedale but fell sick the day before, so they weren't able to come.
We had a good time, it's different the older the kids get, they aren't as easily excited about things like they use to be and they pretty much have the "Easter Bunny," "Santa Claus" and the "Toothfairy" figured out. I try but it's harder the older they get.
Michayla and I got ready and headed over to my folk's house. We had a great lunch and then hid some eggs. My mom does a great job of spoiling all the kids. They got airplanes to fly, jacks, princess fairies and a couple other things. They each got a gold/silver egg with $1 in it..Michayla smiling like her mother, with her eyes closed, Clay was a little hidden but it's the best I got..











Abigail's B-day was the day before Easter and Mick and I just happened upon a gift for her that she has always wanted. Everytime she would come out to our house the kids would be off riding their 4 wheelers and she has always wanted one of her own. Well we found one and got it for her!! It was so exciting to see how suprised and excited she and her father were when we showed it to them..

I know that she just loves it. Mick had to do some tuning to make it run right, and they came and picked it up. They way Amanda tells it, is that she didn't want to get off of it when she got home. Now she can come out and run around our place with the kids and their 4 wheelers!!






How kids sleep..

Every night before I go to bed, I always go back into the kids' rooms to make sure that they are covered up and usually turn off Sis' fan. She is the warmest person I have ever known. She hates to be hot and therefore she has to go to sleep with her fan on.
Anyhow, the other night I went in there and saw this thing around her head and couldn't figure out what it was.. I turned the bathroom light on that shines in her room and this is what I found:



It is funny that at 8 yrs old Michayla still goes to sleep with her baby blanket. It is very thin, and has holes in it. She rubs it in her fingers when she is sleeping.. I still have my blanket, I wonder how long she'll have hers??


This weekend is again Baseball, baseball. We have a game for Clay Friday night, Sat morning and Monday night. Sis on Tuesday and then I am sure more to come.

I talked to my mom and sister about driving down to the Shoshone Waterfalls on Sat after Clay's game so I think we will take a little road trip and do that. I think Mick has a side job to do and it sounds like my dad is feeling a little bit under the weather.. I will be back to post more pictures then..

Catcher X's two and the #6

Oh how busy it's been with both of the kids in the same sport this year. Now that we have started games, it's not quite as hectic, but we are still on the go every night.

Michayla had her 1st game Thurs and then another on Sat. She is just the cutest little gal! Very excited to be playing, always hussles and helps the coach and other team mates. I honestly didn't think she would like Softball as much as she clearly does. Nick (the coach) thought that Michayla would be perfect in the catcher's position. I was a little hesitant. Anyone who knows her knows that she can be a little dramatic when it comes to getting hurt, and I thought for sure the first time she gets hit by the ball - let the drama begin.. Well she practiced in that spot, did get hit by the ball on top of her leg and did not want to play that position again.. :) After some convincing from her coach and me telling her that she doesn't have to play that position, and watching another girl try to catch the ball, she decided that she was the best person for the job!














When she wants a break from that position she usually plays 1st base. It was too cute on Thursday the bases were loaded and Mick told her if the ball is in front of you to get it and then come back and touch home base and the runner would be out, she was soo excited that she got the ball and then got on her knees touched the home base plate with her knees her hand the ball and mit, it was adorable!!!





We did not plan that these two would get the same numbers, it just happened that they did. I think it's adorable. They could care less, but I love it!! Amanda was at Clay's game yesterday and Abigail is playing T-Ball and she wants to get the same # too. How fun would that be!!

It's interesting to go from one age level to another at the games. Sis' is so laid back, you are very encouraging to the little gals playing, then you come to Clay's and it's up on your feet, encouraging as well, but is' just a whole other type of sport! I love to watch them both!

Finally my sister and family returned from Disney Land, I know that they had a great time. Abigail's 6th B-day was yesterday and we have the perfect gift for her! I can't wait to give it to her this afternoon after Mick and Clay get back from hunting. Yesterday was opening of the Youth Hunt for Turkey hunting and Mick took Clay this morning. I hope that they get one, if not they will be able to go next weekend and both of them can try!
I better get off of here and get ready for the day at my parents house! Happy Easter to all who read this!!

The Sports have begun.*edited w/ pictures*

It seems like all we have done lately is run these kids back and forth to practices for Baseball & Softball. Now the games have begun and hopefully the 2 times on Mondays and every night the rest of the week of practices will stop. I get off work at 2 on Monday's try to get over to the kids' school before they get out at 2:30p to pick them up then go to practice for Michayla at 3:30, **they would ride the bus home but it takes them an hour to get home, so they wouldn't get off the bus until 3:30 and we would be late to Sis practice** then it gets over around 5-5:30 then over to Clay's at 5:30 until 8.. Let me tell you what, that is one long and exhausting day.
Tuesday & Wednesday are Clay's practice nights, then Michayla again on Thursday then Clay on Friday.. We are pretty burnt out on the practices..

Last Sat was Clay's first game. I think that the team did extremely well. Although they didn't win, the boys played awesome. Clay is the catcher again, and did an outstaning job. Mick was the Umpire. We could have forefeited the game due to the other team was the "Home" team and the home team is suppose to have the umpire but being as it was the first game we really wanted to play. Mick likes being involved doing the umpire job, but he really would like to be able to sit and watch a game or two. Last year I think he was the umpire every single game.. It gets kind of tiring..




The rest of the weekend was nice. We did some running around on Sat afternoon. Laura needed a fence put up in her back yard for her little doggies, so we had some extra chain link lying around. Mick went over and put that up for her, while Laura and I headed off to Wal-Mart to do our weekly grocery shopping.
Mick is putting in a HUGE and I mean HUGE garden out back. It is so big he has to put the Corn in a whole nother area.. Anyhow, we are going to have green peppers, onions, beets, icky tomatoes, potatoes, and probably more stuff that I am not aware of, and then of course the Corn, oh I can taste it now!!

Sunday, Mick and Clay ran over to Emmett to pick up some stuff for Mick's work and on the way back got a flat tire. So his little trip ended up taking him over 3 hours. He dropped Clay off at my folk's house so that my dad and Clay could go to Kuna to do some more practicing. Clay has to be able to throw that ball consistantly to 2nd base, so he needs some work on getting it to the player each time.
It was like De-Ja-Vu, last year Clay got nailed in the nose at the opening game and ended up with a really bad fat nose. My dad called kind of paniced, Clay had gotten hit in the nose again while they were practicing.. Oh My Gosh... My dad was throwing back to home from 2nd and I am not sure if the sun was in Clay's eyes or what but it nailed him right in the nose.. I am almost sure it is broken, but too swollen to really tell. He's got two black eys underneath.. But one thing about my little man, he is tough!! He cried a little, got home, cleaned it up, took some tylenol then was outside on his 4 wheeler with in the hour.. My dad called about an hour and half after he dropped him off to check on him and Clay said to my dad, "my mom didn't raise me to be a baby grandpa." It was too cute. Although I wanted to baby him and keep him in the house quiet, he wasn't having that at all.
What's funny to me is that I guess I don't see Clay as being a "big boy." But he so is. He's almost as tall as me, can and does everything on his own and will be 11 years old in 4 months!! WOW, it's hard to believe that..
Anyhow, I raked the back yard and then mowed the front and back. It's so nice having a riding mower, I think that is why I always volunteer to mow unless one of the kids beat me to it. We have a well so we were able to turn the water on, and it has made a big difference in the way the grass has greened up.

Well this week we have 4 games, one Wed night, Thurs and 2 on Sat. My horse finally got her feet trimmed and so she's ready to be riden again. I am going to teach Sis how to ride this summer. She wants to try out for some of the mini-princess titles at some of the Rodeo's, so that should be fun!!

Off to get my hair done..

Weekends go by too fast..

We have had a very productive weekend. I heard early this week that the weather on Sat was suppose to be nice and I wanted to get the yard picked up from winter. We have the biggest trees that line our yard but they leave a ton of dead limbs on the ground.

I deligated on who was to do what. Clay's duty is to pick up the dog poop, Michayla to pick up any trash that is in the yard (Tessa loves to chew up the blankets I put out for them), Mick trimmed up the rose bushes and other shrubs and I raked the never ending supply of limbs in the front yard.

Of course it couldn't stop there, Mick had to pull out with his 4 wheeler, a grape vine bush that looked dead, and sis got her 4 wheeler out and hooked on the harrow and disked up the riding arena.

We decided to have a garden this year. We went grocery shopping and couldn't believe the price on bell peppers, cucumbers and other veggies. We haven't had a garden since we lived in Nampa when Clay was in Kindergarten, so Mick is very excited! He goes all out, making some water system with his PVC pipe and other contraptions.. As long as we don't have tomatoes in it I am fine. :) It's a little too early to actually plant the garden, so he bought this thing where you plant the seeds and it grows inside of the house into the plants, then once it gets warm enough he can plant those into the garden. With having fox, skunks, racoons and what ever else roams around out here we will have to build a fence around the garden and I am going to have the kids make scarecrows. I can't wait to have corn on the cob this summer!!
Although Sat wasn't the warmest or nicest at times, we enjoyed hanging out, letting the dogs run around the property and just being together.

Then I woke up to the never ending howling wind. Looked out at the front yard and then at my hands and told Mick that these blisters I have from raking were all for nothing because the yard looks just like before I spend an hour doing that.. Oh well I guess, it'll give me a good excuse to go outside when the weather finally decides what it wants to do.

We heard from our neighbor's that Mr. & Mrs Green are due to be back from California either tonight or tomorrow. Clay is so excited to have them back. They sent the kids a nice gift for V-Day. They are the sweetest neighbors. They are like having my grandparents right across the street. I did see that they have already pulled in, I can't wait to tell Clay in the morning!

Mick did quit his job last Monday. He was able to do his side jobs this past week. He is starting his new job tomorrow (Mon). He will be working for BrenCon, it's owned by Steve that owns STP Concrete, where I use to work about4 yrs ago. Mick has known Steve for quite a while, he use to see him all the time when Mick worked for Masco. So we will see how it all goes. He will be working out at Avimore, the new community/subdivision outside of Eagle on your way to Horseshoe Bend. He will be doing a lot of construction stuff plus Steve will teach Mick how to run their concrete trucks.

Well Spring Break is over. The kids had a lot of fun going to the Boys & Girls Club last week. They moved into a new building it's right next to Meridian Elementary School. It is really nice. The kids went to the movies and swimming during the week. They also dressed up for a give away for a new computer, but neither won. Oh well. The B&G Club is where the kids will be going this summer as well.

My sister is trying to convince Jason to get a dog. Sat morning I found an 8 month old Golden Retriever and sent the link to my sister, she responded to the lister and then tried to arrange a time to meet and look at the dog and the lady never responded again. It was a bummer for them, but I was on the hunt again. I found a few different puppies, and one litter in Kuna. We went and looked at them, of course adorable!! Now the hard part is to decide if they want to spend the money right now and buy one. **Puppies aren't cheap, even with a down economy.** I love GR, they are the nicese most generous, calm, easy going dogs out there. Everytime one comes into the clinic I just love on them. I think that breed will be a good breed for my sister's family. They leave for Vacation next week, of course I have offered to babysit. We will see what Amanda convinces Jason of tonight. The lady that has the puppies is moving to Oklahoma this weekend, so she has a short time to decide. I'll keep ya posted..

Till then~

Back at it, more focused..

I will be starting my 4th month in April, since I have started working out at the gym. I had a lapse for about 2 weeks, I still ate well, but just was feeling exhausted and not going to the gym. I had wore jeans that I hadn't wore in probably at least over a year, and feeling pretty good.

But watching the Biggest Loser on Tuesday and seeing my dear friend Aubrey go home and her home diary, I suddenly realized that could be me, I have a tendency of losing weight then thinking I am ok not to keep my routine going. I felt terrible when I saw in 3 days how she gained 9 lbs back. How scary is that. A few weeks ago, I saw Mandi at the Sprotsman's Show, she looks terrific, almost the same as I have always known her. I never really saw her at her biggest. I asked how Aubrey was doing and she says that she struggles because she doesn't enjoy working out and doesn't make herself a priority. Now I can't imagine having 5 kids, a husband, house and a full time job to take care of.

Ding Ding, went the bell in my head. I have to make myself a priority. Not in a selfish way, but in a way where I make the time when it's available to put myself first. I work in a business where all I do is cater to the needs of other people, their animals and the needs that they have. I take care of both my kids and hubby, and my own animals. I need to remember that if I don't take care of myself that I won't be here to take care of them.

I am in no way looking to lose all this weight to make an impression on other people. Just me! I am not doing it so that I can be the cutest mom out there, I am doing it so that I can enjoy all of the events that my kids want me to take part in, and just to be in good health because as much as I don't want to admit it, I am only getting older. Darn it..

So tonight I went and spent 1 1/2 hours at the gym. I have a feeling every time I leave that gym that is almost indescribable! I feel re-fueled, energized, and more confident in myself!
I have about 50 lbs to go. It's not about a size or necessarily a number, but I know that with my height I should weigh a certain amount and if I can get within 5-10 lbs of that goal, I am ok with that. I won't dwell about it, I will just continue to try hard to achieve it.

I want to reach this goal by my 30th B-day and it's only creeping closer everyday. But the count down begins today: 10 weeks, 71 days.. Here we go!!

6 1/2 inches..

Two posts in one day, this has to be good, and trust me it is!!

Michayla has been bugging me about getting her hair cut. We attempted to do it yesterday but we couldn't get an appointment anywhere. I promised her that we would do it today. So after getting up and ready for the day we headed out and were able to get right in to a hair dresser.
We went back and forth, trim it up, cut it short and here is the final decision.


Before:















After:













She absolutely love it! Mick and I adore it too. I think it makes her look older, not that I want her to. She already acts likes she is 16!! I have been told that she looks even more like me than before! I will deffinately take that compliment!

Anyhow there is our suprise for the day!!

Busy with Life..

I think it always gets busier as the warmer weather comes. We have been so busy! I have been working really crappy shifts this month. A lot of closing which makes it hard to spend time w/ the kids after school and Mick at night. Some nights I am not home until 7-7:30 and that's hard when they go to bed at 8. I did bring it up to my manager and hopefully next month will be much better.

The kids' Baseball/Softball season has officially begun! I am excited about Michayla playing this year. She really wants to be involved in some kind of sport. Though I think she would prefer to be doing chearleading/gymnastics, we went with Softball. Maybe next year we will do the other events. We will just see how this Season turns out.
She did get to participate in a Cheerleading event through the H.S. Cheerleaders. She was exstatic! Everyday it was her in the living room trying to do a cart-wheel, or a backwards flip, some kind of cheering thing. A few times we all thought she was going to break something.. Thank goodness she didn't. Michayla was excited that Abigail was going to be doing the clinic as well. It was a 2 hour practice at Abigail's school gym. And then they were invited to the H.S. where they preformed during the half time break.


They aren't the best pictures, but it's as good as I could do.. It seemed like the girl that was in the center was always right in front of Sis and I couldn't get a great picture. Oh well, I think she's been bitten by the cheerleading bug, so I am certain this isn't the last time I will have this opportunity!

Clay's Baseball has started this year as well. My Dad is his coach and of course Mick is an Asst Coach of some sort. I remember my dad always coaching my brother's team's when he was younger, and he came religiously to Clay's practices/games the last 2 years. I know that my Dad wants to see every child do the best they can during these games. My dad will deffinately bring structure to the team, and I think it is well needed. Clay was bumped up to Minors AAA League. Although Clay may not be the best at this league, I think will the constant training he gets here at home & with my dad and all the practices he is going to do very well this year! He loves to be "involved" in the game. He doesn't like being an outfielder, so he's played catcher's position the last year and loves it! I can't wait to watch his games this year!!

Mick's job! Well it's been here and there. We don't really know which way it's going. They gave everyone a pay cut, and really don't have much going on besides the Prison. He's had some other job offers so we'll see what he decides to do. I am not sure if he will take the Donnelly job, he knows how important it is to be here with the kids, and he really doesn't want to work out of town. He's going to talk with someone this week about a new job, so we'll keep ya posted. One thing I know about Mick, he works his butt off doing "whatever" it is he decides, and I know that he will make the right decision! One good thing, he's had about 4 phone calls on side jobs. So he's going to be doing those this week and that kind of extra money always helps out!!

We decided not to do 4-H this year. Everyone has raised the prices on buying pigs and feed has gone up, and honestly we don't think that their will be very many people buying at the sale this year, so we decided not to do it and hopefully next year things will look up for the economy and both kids will be able to show. It has taken a load off our shoulders not doing it this year, that would just add more to the schedule and it gets pretty hectic sometimes..

Hope everyone that was reading before hasn't given up on me. I am sorry it's been so long since I last posted. One last thing I would like to share is that I have lost 15lbs, and I am just so excited that I am on my way to losing more!!

Take care~

Changes

Gosh it seems like it's been forever since I have blogged. I have been either too busy working, taking care of kids or just plain too tired to get on here and type.

So many things have been going on, and maybe my brain is just to the point of exhaustion that I can't comprehend exactly what all is going on..
Mick has once again been laid off of work, this is his 2nd week he's been home, it wouldn't be too bad but his un-employment is about ready to run out and we aren't sure if he can get the extension, so that is a little stressfull. In the mean time, he has been offered another job. The only catch is it's in Donnelly. He met a guy who owns a Const. business and he has got jobs in Donnelly, for a new airport, boat park, and 3 subdivisions. It is a great opportunity for Mick, better pay, able to move up within the complany faster. But, it's in Donnelly, and I absolutely LOVE living where we do and I don't want to move. It sounds like it is a job that will last for 7-10 years, so Mick has talked about moving up there so he doesn't have to travel back and forth. I can understand, why not move, it's close, we can still visit down here. Here are my issues, I wonder what kind of sports programs they have up there? What about 4-H? What school's are good? Will I really be ok living away from this Valley, the only place I have ever lived? By moving, will I lose contact with my friends that are here, will they come see me up there? I love my job, I mean I have never liked a job like I have this one, and I am worried that I will leave this job and totally regret it!!
I think it's just hard to change, although I have always said that I love change, I wonder just how much I like it???
They are talking of starting the job the first of April. We of course wouldn't make any drastic changes until the kids are out of school and Clay is done with the Fair. So we are looking at late summer.
The kids are very excited, they want to move now, but I am not sure if they really get what it all intails. Anyhow, so there is our delima, or opportunity however you want to look at it.

Last weekend we took a trip to McCall, our friends rented a cabin and invited us to come up. There were 14 adults, 3 kids, and 3 dogs, WOW might not quite be the word to describe how it was.. We did have a good time. We didn't get up there till late Sat, Clay had Baseball tryouts then we left after he got home. Sunday we went and visited Mick's Aunt who owns the feed store in New Meadows, then we went to the Gold Fork hotsprings again, this time at night. That was so awesome, so different then in the daytime, we loved it! Then we came home Monday (I had the day off). We were able to look at some houses up there and get a newspaper to look in their classifieds for houses to rent. That step might be a little premature, Mick might just take the camper up there and live in it until we decide what we are going to do.

Here are us girls, they are all such sweet gals! Had fun..

Over all, things have been going good for us. My niece Syndey came to town last week, so on Wed I went and picked her up after I got off work and took her over to my parents house so we could all enjoy the visit with her. I can't believe that she is 19 almost 20.. Goodness where has time gone??
Over the weekend Clay convinced us to get another cat for Chloe to play with. Well this will be day 3 and they aren't getting along. I don't know if we will keep her. She is super sweet, a lot calmer than Chloe, but Chloe is having hard time liking her. Anyone have any suggestions as to how to get them to like eachother?? We will give it a few more days, but I think it's stressing them both out..

Alright well I have been sick all weekend, and today I feel a little better. I have a fever that I just can't shake, it's awful to sit up straight, so I think I better go lay down. Thank goodness for Mick, he's taken care of everything this weekend, from the kids, to the cooking to even the laundry. I am very greatful to him!!

McCall Carnival, Snow mobiling..

It's been quite a while since I have updated my blog, just haven't felt like it lately. But I have done so much in the last two weeks, that I thought I better update and share..
Typically my girlfriend Laura and I go to McCall for the Carnival every year and this year we invited 3 other gals to go with us. We rented a cute hotel room and left Sat morning, it was a lot of fun. I think I just enjoyed getting away and the fresh air!







We had fun, ate dinner at a great restaurant, went to the best hot springs Gold Fork, where we happened to run into my sister and family as we were leaving. It was just nice! Those girls were great fun!!
Came home that evening and Mick had been cooking all day, some of our friends came over for the super bowl, I am not really into football, but definately thought the game was well worth watching.
We've been working working working and fitting the gym in, in between.
The kids have been signed up for baseball & softball for this spring, we have try out's for Clay this Sat. I hope we can arrange to get them both to their practices and games.. I know we'll run into some conflict with having games at the same time, but I hope that it can be worked out.
My parents invited us to go snow mobiling/sledding with them on Sunday, that was so fun. It just amazes me how well Clay can ride a snow mobile. He rides so good and doesn't show off or drive irresponsible. He is really awesome on his sled and Mick's too. We went out past Pine, there wasn't a ton of snow but enough that we all had fun!






All has been good, we are approaching a spot where we feel like we are stuck between a rock and a very hard place. Any prayers to help us would be greatly appreciated! I'll add more to that in a little while..

Sharing...

I made a life altering decision at the beginning of the year. I didn't want to "blog" about it, because I wanted it to just be MY thing. I didn't make a big deal about it because I wanted to be successful as well, and I didn't want to say anything because I wanted to feel confident in my decision without feeling like a failure if I didn't succeed.
I realized when 2009 started that in 6 short months I will be turning the BIG 3-0! And it gave me a huge wake up call. My baby has just turned 8, and my oldest will be 11, ah!! And I am in the worst shape of my life!! I definitely can't say that it is just baby weight anymore. :)How scary is that?
So on Jan 3 I took the plunge and for the how ever many-ith time I have joined the gym. It is a cute little quaint small gym that doesn't intimidate me in the least! It's 3.5 miles up the road and I HAVE to drive by it every single day to and from work, so it is a constant reminder for me to go there.
Before I have always said that I have tried to eat well and work out, but I honestly don't think I ever took the actual steps to make it successful for me. It is so different this time, I am eating better than ever, 5 meals a day: 3 regular size and 2 snacks. I eat breakfast every morning, and make sure to get in all my snacks. I go to the gym and work out on the elliptical for an hour to an hour and a half, burning 500-650 calories per workout and I am going 4-5 times a week!! My girlfriend Laura is my workout buddy and she hopes to get me into the spinning classes once our endurance level is up to par!
I am proud to say that I am down 7 lbs and hope to lose at least 50 lbs by my 30th B-day. I am making an honest effort to make this a part of my life. I am keeping my family involved and changing the way we are all eating. Although Mick hasn't gained what seems like a pound since H.S., he is the MOST supportive person encouraging me to reach my goals. He went grocery shopping last week to buy the food that I specified, he can eat ANYTHING and not gain an ounce, and I look at it and my butt grows an inch! He was so great to not buy any "junk" food. He does have his own junk, but it is always the food that I don't care for, so we are safe there.
My biggest weakness is Pepsi and Coffee, and I am proud to say, I stopped cold turkey the day I signed up for the gym and have been going strong w/out either one ever since!

Anyhow, I decided to share with the encouragement of some of my friends. I have been told not to step on the scale again until the end of Feb, so I may not post about my progress until then. Finding the time to workout hasn't been a challenge, I typically get off work at 1 or 2 and go straight to the gym after work before the kids get home, it's working out wonderfully.

I applaud all of the other co-worker-outers, it's a constant struggle. I just tell myself that I need to take it one day at a time, and that no matter how hard I work it isn't all going to come off in a week. AND, I am not going to lose weight like the people on the Biggest Loser, so I should be discouraged! Good luck, and good job to everyone who takes on this hard task in life!

With success comes failure, and if we didn't have failure we wouldn't have success..

Roller Skating Madness!!

I think the idea to go roller skating was one of the best ideas ever! We ALL had a blast. There were more than 20 of us in attendance for Sis' B-day party, and just about everyone got out and skated.. After getting everyone through the door and then all of the presents stashed and blah blah, we were out in the skating rink.. I saw Mick and Clay out there first.

Mick said he was a little nervous too not having roller bladed since he was a kid, but he got out there and did a great job. Ash really wanted to skate, so Uncle Micky took her out there and had her skating between his legs in no time.




Mick's mom even got out there and skated, that was great! My poor friend Jennifer was going around w/ her daughter and fell, oh it looked so bad, I felt terrible..

It was a little difficult trying to manuver around on skates, to get all the gifts to the tables and presents and then gathere everyone all at the same time. Michayla recieved a lot of generous gifts from her family & friends! She is very thankful and had a great time.

Her little booty is hurting her this morning, as she fell a few times yesterday. I am sure there are a few other little one's who are hurting too. I was very nervous, having broke my legs a few years back I was just sure I would biff it and break it again. Michayla kept asking if I was going to skate and I told her I would attempt it. I did get out and skate, and did NOT fall at all, it made me feel like I was 10 yrs old again. TOO FUN!!
They had a race, Clay, Michayla, Kayla, Kaitlyn, Kimmie, Jessica, Jake, Cole, Mick, Jason D., Laura & I all raced around. That was fun too..








My sister posted a good picture of all of us adults for the race, Jason Dawson won and I think Mick was second, I of course was last, but atleast I got out there and did it.

We had a terrific time, and it seems like all of Michayla's friends did too. I can't wait to go back and just skate around with the kids again, it's definately a family outing now!!

Happy 8th B-day!!

I can't believe that Michayla is 8 today. Where has the last 8 years gone? I am so very proud of this little one. From day one she has been an utter joy in our lives. She was a terrific little girl, she slept well (some say way too much), she wasn't ever picky about food. Always was a happy baby. She is smart way beyond her years. Potty trained herself before 2 yrs old, started reading before she was 5. Once she got in school she absolutely loved it. Asked the teacher for extra homework to come home with. Loves to read and pretend like she is the teacher. Has always been the little motherly friend. Follows the rules and likes to keep things in order. Very helpful to her little cousins, sometimes too much that they don't like it.
She wears her heart on her sleeve, if you talk to stern to her she is crushed. Always wants to help clean, cook, organize, or whatever she can to keep things straight.
Mick and I adore her more than anything in this world. We definitely got two different ends of the spectrum with our children. We love them both for their individuality's.
Happy B-day my love, I hope you have a fantastic day at school. Can't wait to celebrate with our family and friends roller skating Saturday!!!

I...

I AM a wife to Mick and mom to Clay & Michayla.
I KNOW that my family is FOREVER..
I WANT to succeed at my goal.
I HAVE to get the rest of Michayla's B-day party in order.
I WISH I could take a family vacation right now.
I MISS my grandma.
I FEAR losing someone close to me.
I FEEL lucky to have what I have.
I LOVE listening to music.
I SMELL Scentsy warming.
I CRAVE ice tea.
I SEARCH for a good deal on anything I am looking for.
I WONDER how my grandpa is doing.
I REGRET some mistakes from the past.
I LOVE my family!
I AM excited for Michayla's 8th B-day tomorrow.
I THINK it's funny when people read about your life but keep their's private.
I ALWAYS hug and kiss my kids goodnight.
I BELIEVE miracles can happen.
I DANCE to music mainly in the truck, sometimes when I am being weird at home.
I SING in the car with the music up so loud. I love a good song.
I DON"T know what the future will hold for us, but I'm excited to see.
I ADORE this life I have.
I TRULY am a Cowgirl.
I CAN"T wait for our "Girl's Weekend" to McCall at the end of the month.
I WIN playing Aggravation, it's a cute marbles game.
I AM proud of my children.
I THINK it's funny when the kids pretend to be people they aren't, when they are playing.
I CAN always depend on MICK.
I AM not scared of anything..
I NEED to keep focused and stay confident.
I KNOW I am happy when I'm with my family.
I TRUST having a friend that takes you for exactly who you are (Thanks LauraBell)

I tag anyone who reads this blog to post this on your own, it's pretty fun!! Read those two words of each sentence and see how much of a postitive attitude you have when you are done! I love it!! Feel free to change any of them for yourself..

Tonight I am sitting over at my sister's watching her kids, well I should say, Mick is entertainging them with the Wii and well I am really not doing much. Ocassionally Ash will come over and try to bug me, she is such a little stink-pot, right now I have told her 3 times to put the keys back that she keeps getting out of the laundry room where Amanda & Jason hang their keys. HOLD PLEASE.. Ok got the keys put away, I don't think they would appreciate Ash locking the doors to the truck and then losing the keys or setting off the alarm in the garage, or whatever it is she could do w/ those things. Then of course she wants a snack, so now she is running through the living room making the announcement that we are having popcorn... I tell you, it is very different tending to a litte one. I think I am so spoiled with my kids, it sure seems they have grown up so fast..

Talking of that it reminds me of Sis B-day coming up on Thursday. I can't believe that my baby will be 8 yrs old.. Goodness, where has the time gone. We are going to go Roller Skating for her B-day, she can't wait. I didn't think I wanted to have another slumber party, although it was fun, I opted for her to do something else this year.
Amanda made some really cute invitations this year:


I can't wait to go skating, I can't remember when the last time was that I did that. It had to have been quite a long time ago because it was at Skate world that is no longer on Cole rd.. This will be an experience in itself.. I just hope I don't break my leg or something. ;)

I just can't even belive that this year I will have an 8 and 11 yr old and that Mick & I will hit the big 3-0!! I truly do adore this life that I have and all of those that share in it with me~

My friends on the Biggest Loser...

About 6 or so months ago my friend Aubrey told me that she and her sister had made some semi finals for the biggest loser and they were going to Colorado to see if they made it.. I never heard back from her if they had or not. Mick told me while I was still at work that some gals from Meridian were on the Biggest Loser and I asked if it was Aubrey and Amanda, but he didn't know. When I got home we started watching from the beginning and sure enough there they were!!! I am so excited for them both. I have know them since 6th grade and in middle school and early high school was really close friends. Amanda and I use to play Basketball together and Aubrey and I kind of use to get into trouble... Well lets just say we were always there to be eachother's "backup." I am so rooting for the girls in the yellow shirts!!! They came in 2nd in the competition for imunity and just barely lost it...

So keep the girls in yellow in your corner, they were both really big athletes in school and I know they will kick butt this year!!!!!

CRasHEd

What do you do when you have lost ALL of your pictures from the past 3-4 yrs on your computer?? You cry like a BABY... This past week my computer said I needed to do some updating on it, so I downloaded the updates (which I typically do) and then restarted the computer. When it came back on it just kept flashing this black screen and wouldn't come up with my normal screeen. Impatientially I kept turning it on and off to see if it would reset itself, and it wouldn't. I see a screen that says press F10 to do a system recovery. I of course thought that would fix everything. It did - in a way - it reset to original settings when I bought it and erased everything else that I had!!
I seriously cried, I couldn't believe that this happened. And of course I had been ignoring the little pop up screen that kept telling me to backup my picture files... I have been googling all different ways to see if I can get those pictures, I could care less about anything else on my computer but pictures are very important, they tell a story all by their selves.
I do have a guy that says he could probably find them on my computer, so I am going to take it over to him to see if he can find and copy them to a disk for me this week.
So, word to the wise. Back up your pictures or put them on a disk. I probably lost over 2-3000 pictures... It makes me sad talking about it again.. I should have learned when this happened to Cassie and taken the appropriate steps to avoid this, but I didn't.. Bummer...

2008 in review

I can't believe that 2008 is already gone. We had a terrific year last year, I have put some pretty memorable pictures together. I can't wait to see what pictures I get next year!

Hope everyone has a fantastic New Year in 2009