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Hallie-isms

2012-01-21T16:29:00.002-07:00

My daughter is almost 3 years old. She has an incredible vocabulary both in English and ASL (or so I've been told by her new pediatrician). Over the course of the last couple of months, she has said some funny, cute, and entertaining things:

In church during sacrament meeting: "No Mama! Put shoes on! Keep piggies warm!" This one got some laughs.
After I asked her if she thought she was going to be on Santa's nice or naughty list, "I going to be on Santa's HAPPY list!"
After I told her she was going to church one Sunday to learn about Jesus: " I like Jesus, he's cute!"
After I told her to stop doing something at the store, "I don't like you!"
"I like your pump mama! It's pretty!" (my insulin pump)
"I wanna say I'm sorry..." after being given the option of going to her room or saying sorry for doing something.
"I NOT a Hallie mama! I a puppy dog!"
"I love you MAMA"
"I like my sparkle-bum jeans!" (referring to her jeans with sequins on the back pockets)
While visiting my parents over Christmas,"Grammy, you got boochie hair!" My mom had just come out of the bathroom with her hair styled and makeup on, and boochie is a crazy old family word meant to say crazy or messy. I about died.
"I like daddy, he's funny!"
"I like Luke, (her cousin) he's cute."
"Mama, I poop out of my bum-bum!" This stems from us trying to teach her about potty-training...it hasn't quite caught on yet.....I know, TMI!
"Oh my goodness sakes!"
"Oh my gosh!"
"Aw, crap..."
"Mama! I tooted!"
When asked what a bull or a rhino says "CHARGE!!!!"
One of her faves "I DON"T LIKE IT!"
Or, "NO MAMA! NO!"

This is just some of the recent things she has said. This kid never ceases to make me laugh or smile.

The Urge

2012-01-21T15:33:00.003-07:00

Pathetic isn't it? I only blogged a few times last year. I could write about so many things. I have been feeling the urge to catch up in some way, though it will never do it the justice of pictures and remembering everything but here's my attempt. So in a nutshell, here's just the surface of things that happened last year.

January: Hallie, Brandon and I were sealed in the old Ogden temple (before they closed it and gutted the entire building) and became a forever family. Tomorrow will mark the 1 year anniversary....
March: Per the verbal agreement made before Hallie's adoption being finalized in December of 2010, monthly visits occurred on previously scheduled dates until the month of March. I decided to end the visits one month early due to the fact that Hallie was used to her new name, and had started saying it and talking about herself in 3rd person. Her bio family is not aware that we changed her name, due to privacy and safety reasons. I didn't want them to pick up on the fact that we had changed her name.
April: Hallie turned 2 years old! We had a very low-key party with aunts and cousins, with cake and presents. It was a fun day!
May: My brother in law came to live with us for a couple of months. Justin amazes me. He is an electrician by trade, but really, he is a jack-of-all-trades. You name it, that guy knows how do it, fix it, solve it, or whatever. Our new home was strangely not built with a door on the lower level that lead to the outside. So, one of the first things we asked Justin to help us with was to install a door from the garage out to the backyard. Another friend of ours came to help us out as well. The 3 guys did a great job. We had cement poured underneath our wood deck in the backyard to make a large patio. We bought some patio furniture for a great deal, as well as a nice new grill to add to everything. Justin assembled the patio furniture for us when it came. He also helped us put in our sprinkler system, and our new lawn (I have never understood how you can buy a house in Utah and then have to pay someone to come put your lawn in for you, I thought that was always done for you, but I am ignorant). We then added some curbing to what hopefully will be our garden with flowers and stuff this year. We got a TON of stuff done in those couple of months that Justin was with us. It really helped our house feel more like home.
July: Brandon and I celebrated our birthdays! He turned 29 and I turned 28. I can't believe that he is turning the big 3-0 in 2012!
August: We celebrated 7 years of marital bliss by driving to Idaho to drop Hallie off with her grandparents and we left the next morning for Bend, Oregon for a 7 day stay to hike, explore, and do all sorts of touristy things. It was sheer and utter bliss. We saw and did things that I will never forget. We had both decided that if there were a stronger job market there, Brandon would for sure be applying. What a majestically beautiful place. We didn't want to leave, but we were very anxious to get back to Hallie. Even though she had just as much fun as we did playing at her Grandpa and Grandma's house, we decided that we don't want to leave her that long again until she is a little older. A BIG thank you to my amazing in-laws for watching her!
October: Halloween was a blast in 2011 because Hallie understood what it meant. I even went against my nature of hating Halloween and had her help me decorate the front door with Halloween decorations. She picked her very own costume....wait for it....a Ladybug! I got a great deal for it because being the horrific procrastinator that I am, I bought it at Babies R Us, 3 days before Halloween. It had wings, a hat with antennae, with a black and red dress. She reveled in the fact that we were able to knock on the neighbor's doors and say "trick or treat" and they would either hand her candy, or let her get some out of a bowl. Some of our neighbors thought that she was so cute that they gave her extra candy. It was a successful night!
November: Thanksgiving was spent with my in-laws in Cambridge, Idaho, where Brandon grew up. It was nearly an entire week of great tasting food. My mother in law is one of those "dying breed" cooks, she makes nearly everything from scratch. She taught me how to make Brandon's favorite pie: coconut creme. There is no temptation there for me, since I am allergic to coconut ;).
December: Christmas was a big deal this year. The first week of the month, the city we live in held a one night holiday event at the town hall. All the trees surrounding the building were decked out in lights, and there was a long line waiting for families to get their kids in to see Santa Claus. The wait wasn't too bad, since most of it was inside. We weren't sure about how Hallie would react to seeing Santa, because you always hear about the nightmarish experiences terrified children have sitting on the Jolly Old Man's lap. When it came to our turn, Hallie was thrilled. Santa opened his arms out ot her, and I told her to go sit in his lap. You know what this girl did? She opened her arms out to him too and walked right up to him saying "HI!". I almost bawled with joy. She was excited to see him. She told him what she wanted to Christmas "presents, and toys", a little too general if you ask me. But then she told him she wanted ponies, cars and trucks, and dolls. Santa asked us if he could take her back to the North Pole with him to be one of his cute little elves. What a fun night. Hallie helped me decorate the house for Christmas. She was so gentle in putting the ornaments on the tree. And generally she was amazingly obedient when asked not to play with the ornaments. I loved the fact that if Hallie was ever misbehaving, I could hold the concept of "no presents from Santa" over her head and get her to be happy or to behave. I asked her at one point if she thought she was going to be on Santa's naughty or nice list, and she joyfully replied "I'm going to be on Santa's HAPPY list, Mama!" If there was such a list in existence, you better believe I know her name would be on it. We celebrated Christmas in Denver this year with my parents. It was great to just be able to kick back and relax. It snowed several inches there before we arrived, so a day or two after we got there, Hallie, her Daddy, Grammy, and Pa and I helped her build her first snow man. We tried sledding, but she wasn't really in to it. There is always next year though! On Christmas morning Hallie got tons of gifts. Her favorite things have been some Little People sets, and a doll that Santa brought her.

This is the recap of last year, and I know this year will be another great year. 2011 was insanely good to us. I am very grateful for that.

The Grand Total

2011-09-13T22:08:00.002-06:00

Over the last fives weeks since I have started couponing, I tallied up my weekly savings and found that I have saved over $225 in groceries! That's pretty good I think for just starting over! Pretty cool to think that just taking a couple of hours during my week to prepare my grocery list, and to print off coupons would save me so much money.

Couponing

2011-09-12T16:17:00.002-06:00

Last year I attended my first class with my sister about couponing. It came with the offer to order several copies of the local newspaper for every Sunday so as to capitalize on savings from multiple coupon inserts. I was really in to it for several months before I lost the motivation to get the newspaper anymore because there were several months in a row where the coupon inserts really sucked butt. None of them were useful. Or if there were any at all, then I only clipped one or two coupons, absolutely leaving me in the hole when it came to ordering the newspaper.

My best friend is a couponing fanatic. She came to visit for a couple of days this summer and let me in on some of her motivating secrets. So I thought I would try couponing again. Except this time I decided to try it without ordering the newspaper at all.....

Just by printing off coupons from the internet, and cutting them up myself, and with a little help from my mom and grandma, I have been able to save an average of $40 a week for the last month! I have been thrilled with the result since I haven't been working as much this last summer and money has been a little tighter than usual. So here's to couponing!

28

2011-07-19T11:25:00.002-06:00

Today I turn 28 years old. Ten years ago I was 18 and in the middle of my second of what would be 5 years of summers spent lifeguarding. Holy COW! Oh how I miss being that tan!

I don't know why, but this age has turned out to feel somewhat significant to me. I can't pinpoint the reason why, it just kind of feels that way. I have a beautiful 2 year-old daughter, a new beautiful home, and a wonderful husband. I have a fantastic family. I have so much in life to be grateful for.

We don't have much planned for today, I'm doing some house cleaning and catching up on some laundry. In a couple of days my best friend is coming in for a visit, and I am so excited and looking forward to it!

This evening is going to be pretty low key, spent with Brandon and Hallie and going out to dinner. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Tulip Festival

2011-05-04T16:13:00.002-06:00

A couple of weeks ago we took our first trip down to Thanksgiving Point for their annual Tulip Festival. Brandon had Good Friday off (thank you Pilot!), so we took advantage of the free time and took a little day trip.

Due to the cooler "Spring" we've had this year not all of the tulips were out but the grounds and what flowers that had decided to bloom were beautiful. Hallie loves being outside and she loved the flowers. We got some fun shots of her, but this girl sure is camera shy so most pictures we do catch of her are totally candid ones!

Needless to say we had a wonderful time. We stopped on our way back up at Zupas. I love their salads and sandwiches! Not to mention their complimentary chocolate covered strawberries!

After lunch we headed to my Grandpa Don's house to pay him a long overdue visit. I will have to post that video in a bit. We were there a couple of hours and wanting to take advantage of the day in Salt Lake City, we went over to Wheeler farm to check out the animals. It was so much fun but because the temperature was dropping we didn't stay as long as we would have liked.

Overall the day was a blast and it felt good to have made the most of it.

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2011-05-04T15:58:00.001-06:00

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Sun Glasses

2011-04-30T12:49:00.001-06:00

Hallie and I went down to the Tulip Festival on Thursday and I stopped off at the store and bought a little bag and some sunglasses. Being the sucker that I am I bought Hallie a pair. She looked adorable and couldn't have been more thrilled!

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Well Hello There Stranger!

2011-04-13T12:06:00.000-06:00

I have become a complete stranger when it comes to my blog. I haven't done anything for so long, I feel like such a slacker. This lazy blog "sabbatical" has been good for me though.

So this blog post is just to let you know that I am still here, still alive, and enjoying it. I am envious of those on my blog list that are religious about their posts. But I am never going to be one of those that blogs every day, I'm just not that creative, or maybe my life is just uneventful so there's really nothing to say.

With the warmer weather (hopefully) on the horizon, I'm sure I will be out and about with Hallie and finding things to take pictures of and to tell the world about!

Until then, see ya!

Sick of Sick

2011-02-04T20:30:00.002-07:00

For the last month, Hallie has had an ongoing cough. It started with the cold and cough that was going around crazy quick about a month ago. I took her to the pediatrician in December just a couple of days before we adopted her. She was given an anti-biotic to get her feeling better. Her nose seemed to clear up, but she never really got rid of the cough.

A few weeks went by..............and still she has had this horrible cough. I walked in to her room yesterday morning to a fountain of green snot coming out of her nose, and her cough was more frequent, and sounded even worse. This morning, I walked in to a similar scenario.

I decided to call the pediatrician again. So we went to our 2:45 pm appointment. She was diagnosed with a sinus infection (surprise, surprise) and the doctor expressed some concern that the cough hadn't gone away. I asked if there was a chance that it hadn't gone away because of the HORRIFIC nasty inversions that we get here in Utah. She said that could be part of it, but her other concern was that a lingering cough could be a sign of the "A" word. ASTHMA. She said that there really aren't any tests that you can give to a little one Hallie's age, but that she recommended I keep an eye on it.

Great.....

I'm not freaking out or anything, but I sure hope this doesn't turn in to something ugly like asthma. I know that Hallie's biological mom had asthma as a kid.

On a side note, the good news was that Hallie has gained over a pound in only 5 weeks! Anyone that knows her, or has seen her knows this is HUGE. She is such a little lightweight (I wish I had that problem) so any weight that she gains is fantastic. Our doctor told me at her 18 month checkup if Hallie didn't gain more weight by her 2 year checkup, she'd recommend a visit to a nutritionist. Ugh.

So please keep her in your thoughts and prayers that her health improves, and she continues to gain more weight!

Catching Up a Bit

2011-02-03T14:31:00.003-07:00

I've been incredibly lax about keeping my blog updated. I let the entire month of January pass by without a single post. It's not like I've been lacking in things to talk about, or to share! So here goes. Soon I am hoping to share some pictures of some of the "goings-on" in my life.

On December 18, we were officially moved in to our new home. The day of the move was busy. We were very blessed to have both family and friends come to help us move. We rented a Uhaul and loaded that sucker up. Of course the weather was less than what we had hoped, it was busy raining and snowing most of the morning when most of the moving was taking place. We're just lucky that no one slipped and broke their neck. When the loading of our moving van was done, I stayed behind with my oldest sister Jenny, her husband Rich, and my brother-in-law Ken to clean up the odds and ends at the old apartment. They went above and BEYOND any expectation I could have ever had when it came to cleaning that nasty old place. I am not a dirty person, but just the things like cleaning the oven, vacuuming under things that hadn't been moved in a while, or mopping were not fun assignments. I don't know what I would have done without the help of my family. I would have been stuck there for hours cleaning by myself. It was just such a relief to be able to sit down in my new and clean home and be rid of what was a terrible property manager, horrible neighbors etc. Being a home owner is more expensive, but it's all on my own terms, which to me is absolutely priceless.

About 4 days after we moved in to our new home, we packed up the CRV and headed for Denver to spend Christmas with my parents, my grandma Dorothy, and my Uncle Steve who we hadn't seen in way too long. It turned out to be just a very low-key holiday. Hallie was spoiled beyond reason when it came to her first Christmas with our family. She was in need of some more age-appropriate toys. I held out on buying any since my mom warned me to bring a near empty car so that we'd have the space to fill the back of it with presents and toys for the way back. Some of her favorite toys that she received were some My Little People sets, some Duplo Legos, and a baby stroller for her baby doll. Brandon and I received some money to help set up house.

When it came to purchasing our new home, there were some builder incentives that allowed us to buy some new furniture for the house. We were able to get a new entertainment center, a flat-screen television, a new bedroom set with mattresses, and a new refrigerator. Can I just say how blessed I am to have all of these new things. I feel spoiled, but excited at the same time to be able to buy a new home, but to have some more "grown up furnishings". I was tired of buying cheap furniture that wasn't very durable or long-lasting. I was able to buy some pieces of furniture that are made very well, match my taste, and will be around for a VERY long time.

I also used some Christmas money to go down to the closest Home Goods store and buy a few things to decorate the house with. I bought a big watercolor modern art piece to hang in my kitchen, some wall art to hang in my new master bath, and some knick-knacks for the display shelf in my new kitchen. I also stopped by Shopko to buy a few things to hang in the house. Overall I got some GREAT deals on stuff for house without blowing tons of money. Now the house is set up just the way I want it. I have yet to decide what I am going to do with Hallie's bedroom since she is about to outgrow her crib, and I will end up buying some new bedding for her sometime in the near future, so I don't want to paint it just yet until I find just what I am looking for. The guest bedroom is also a project that can wait.

Almost two weeks ago this coming Saturday, we were sealed to Hallie in the Ogden LDS temple. It took us a little while to decide on a temple that we wanted to become a forever family in. We got married in the beautiful Jordan River LDS temple, but our experience with interpreters there wasn't the best one that we've had. We considered places such as the Draper temple, the Logan temple, and the SLC temple. But when it came right down to it, we wanted to be sealed in the Ogden temple because as of April 2, 2011, they will start a near total renovation of both the inside and the outside of the building. Ogden is also where Hallie was born, adopted, and where we call home. So we decided that was the best place. We were sealed at 10:00 am on Saturday January 22, 2011. What a special and wonderful experience this was. It was incredible that my family could be there, as well as some very dear friends. Our sealer was a sweet and caring older gentleman, and our interpreter was our friend Jeff Born who we were so grateful to have there with us, and blessed to have him. Everything went smoothly and wonderfully. There was a luncheon after the sealing, in which family and friends just helped us out a great deal with.

The next day on January 23, 2011 Hallie was blessed in our branch where we attend. Brandon gave her a wonderful blessing. It is not a day that I will soon forget.

And that's about it. I have had some requests for pictures of the new house, so when I get around to it, I will post them.

I am so grateful for everything that has occurred in my life these last several weeks. A new home, a new daughter, and a New Year to look forward to. I am so grateful for the knowledge of eternal families, and of the gospel in my life.

Life Is Certifiably Crazy!

2010-12-12T15:30:00.003-07:00

I've been horribly lazy when it comes to blogging on a regular basis. But anyone who knows us, knows that life has been pretty busy lately!

First we are buying a house. We are moving to West Haven, UT. We should close on the house hopefully Monday or Tuesday of this week.

Second, our little Lady Bug is sick with an icky cold. We are wiping her nose every 10 minutes. She is wanting to be held all the time, which makes the process of packing up all our crap very difficult.

Third, I've been packing. I have an entire wall of boxes ready to be moved sitting in our kitchen. I still have yet more packing to do, which sometimes feels a little overwhelming. I can't get much packing done while Lady Bug is sleeping, because our floor creaks so bad when I'm moving around, it either keeps her awake, or wakes her up prematurely from a much needed nap. (Kind of frustrating)

We have our court hearing this week to adopt our daughter. We will officially announce her name when it's official.

We are moving this coming weekend. I'm very excited about this, but I don't look forward to the moving part at all.

Then next week, we are taking off for Colorado to celebrate Christmas with my parents. Hopefully the weather will cooperate so we can make the trip! My mom has informed me to bring a mostly empty trunk in the Honda as we will be returning home with quite the haul of Christmas toys....Oh my.

So needless to say, I will be looking forward to the settling down period of unpacking my stuff after we move in to the new house and putting our own personal touches on it in the near future!

Countdown

2010-12-01T20:16:00.002-07:00

Today marks exactly 2 weeks until our little girl becomes our DAUGHTER!

Two Days Worth of Gratitude Again

2010-11-19T21:36:00.002-07:00

November 18, 2010: I am grateful for Brandon's and my jobs. In the past couple of years, Flying J Inc went through a difficult yet exciting time. First it started with his company filing for bankruptcy and the announcement of possible downsizing. The next announcement was that they were in the process of a merge agreement with Pilot Corp. Then there were the months of endless waiting for the FTC to approve what seemed to be every, single, stinkin' detail of the merger, during which time several employees at Flying J were given the boot from the company. Brandon's position with the company survived every round of cuts/downsizing that were done. We were thankful for his job, but he was extremely sad to see so many friends/co-workers laid off. It was just a sad time in general. And a stressful one, as one by one Brandon was saying goodbye to his co-workers.

Finally at the end of this summer, the merger of Pilot Flying J was complete. But still more waiting..... we weren't sure if we were going to be staying put here in Utah, or being relocated to Knoxville, Tennessee where Pilot is headquartered. Then the news that came to us just a few weeks ago, that they informed Brandon that his job is extremely stable, and that he is needed very much within the company..as well as the news that we are likely to be staying here in Utah.

While the last couple of years were spent praying for the keeping of jobs, and for answers relating to the stability of a job have been pretty stressful at times. We've had concerned friends and family members asking us almost weekly whether we had heard anything concerning a move out of state, being laid off, or interviewing with other job possibilities etc. So we are grateful for PFJ deciding to keep us around and helping us put bread on the table.

I am also thankful for a job where I work for and with such wonderful and caring people. I've been shown wonderful support in my decision to be a foster parent, and becoming a real parent very soon! I love the flexibility of the hours, the people I meet:both hearing and Deaf. I love that it allows me to learn on a continual basis when it comes to the language, medical field, education etc. I am also thankful that one or two days a week I am able to get out of the house and work to keep my sanity as a mom and wife. Some moms pop pills to keep themselves happy and motivated, so essentially, my work is my pills...

November 19, 2010: Today we were able to go to our adoption attorney's office to sign the legal document petitioning the court/judge to allow us to adopt our little Ladybug! It was AWESOME to be able to see the name that was given at birth, and the new name we will be giving her once her adoption is finalized (LESS THAN A MONTH TO GOOOOOOOO!) in print. We are so excited to finally and officially be able to call this little girl OURS! So I am grateful for the opportunity to be a mommy forever and ever!

Two Days Worth of Gratitude

2010-11-17T12:35:00.003-07:00

November 16, 2010: Technology is something that I am grateful for. I am thankful for cell phones and their capabilities. I am grateful for text messaging (though not nearly on as grand a scale as today's teenagers), email, internet, etc on my phone. All these things help keep me in touch with my loved ones, especially my husband who is Deaf. It's not as easy as just calling my husband to say hello like it is for most people. Though technology and interpretive services have made leaps and bounds just since we have been married, I will still never be able to just pick up the phone without a third party interpreting the conversation I have with my husband. Text messaging has been a heaven sent thing for us. No 3rd party involved.

There was a time where a cell phone also saved my life. So today, I am able to look back and feel extremely thankful for cell phones.

Today: I am thankful for Target. I love that store. I love their shoes, work clothes, baby clothes and shoes, fun jewelry etc. When you shop on a budget, but want your cake and to eat it too, their stuff is cute and affordable. And no, I wasn't paid to type this on my blog. Not everything I post about has to be serious! ;)

Catching Up on Gratitude Again

2010-11-15T15:37:00.002-07:00

I've been lax the last few days on posting what I am thankful for...again. What else is new?

For November 13, 2010: I am grateful for answers to prayers. In the last few months, there were a couple of possible and big "what ifs" hanging over our heads. First, there was a possibility that we could move out of state, either to Boise, Idaho, or Knoxville, Tennessee. Two completely different places, for two very different reasons. When considering the pros and cons of living in either city, we (me at least) got excited just at the prospect of living somewhere completely new and different. As it turns out, we are staying put for a while, but maybe would just like to get the heck out of the house we're in now, just for a change scenery. The other big answer to prayer is that we are adopting our daughter! Two very BIG answers to what were big life questions were what we have been blessed with.

November 14, 2010: I am grateful for Diet Dr. Pepper. It is my favorite soda to drink. Period. It just hits the spot.

November 15, 2010: Today marks exactly one more month until we are officially & irrevocably parents! I am so excited and grateful for this opportunity!

Gratitude day

2010-11-12T20:29:00.002-07:00

I've lost count of which gratitude day it is, but here goes.

I am appreciative of my knowledge American Sign Language. I started taking it in high school (feels like FOREVER AGO) as a freshman, and just kept taking classes. At that time you could only take it for 3 years in Texas, so my senior year I worked as a teacher's assistant in a Deaf Co-Op classroom with 3rd and 4th grade Deaf students. This was a great experience for me though the signed English (signs in English word order) set me back in developing more ASL related skills.

I moved to Logan, UT for college and as a freshman there met several of the Deaf students. I remember being so NERVOUS to approach them, as I hadn't met many Deaf adults. I developed friendships with many of them, as well as dated a few Deaf guys. I took more classes at USU where I learned more about ASL grammar, Deaf Culture, etc.

If I hadn't known any sign language I would never have made the friendships that are still with me today. I wouldn't have met Brandon, my sweet husband. I wouldn't have been able to learn more and more each time I hang out with friends that are Deaf. I wouldn't be able to use my skill to work and do what I love:interpreting. I wouldn't be able to teach Gospel Doctrine in the Deaf Branch we attend with out the use of an interpreter.

I have often been asked what ever lead me to take an interest in learning to sign. Questions asking if someone in my family was Deaf, if I knew someone Deaf, or if I have served an LDS ASL mission. It's none of the above (until I met Brandon of course). It just was something I have chosen to do. It just came naturally.

I am grateful for the knowledge, friendships, experience, and joy that knowing a second language has brought me in my life. The Lord has blessed me in countless ways because I was just too lazy to take Spanish in high school. ;)

Yesterday & Today

2010-11-12T08:01:00.004-07:00

Yesterday was a bit of a crazy day, but I'll post for both yesterday and today!

November 11, 2010: I am grateful for my little Lady Bug. She is such a sweetheart. Like all 19 month-olds, she definitely has her moments. Lately though she is has been so much fun to have around. I am grateful for her presence in our home. She feisty, sweet, imaginative, intelligent, and has the cutest little sense of humor. I love to hear her laugh. She gets interested in something and can focus for long periods of time on it.

There was a very recent time where I thought that if we weren't able to keep her, we were going to stop doing foster care, and I was resigned to the fact I might never be a mommy to a child of my own.

So having her, and having a little more than a month to go before she is officially ours, has me filled with joy and gratitude. I know that the Lord listens to our prayers, and knows the righteous desires of our hearts.

Today: I am grateful for laughter. One of my very favorite things to do is laugh. It lifts my spirits on a tough day, and just makes me feel good. I enjoy making others laugh, especially the people I love most. What a gift laughter can be.

Catching Up on Gratitude

2010-11-10T20:34:00.002-07:00

Today I am catching up on the last few days of posting on what I am grateful for:

November 7, 2010: I am grateful for Sundays. I love going to church, even when the time we go is super non-conducive to having an 19 month old. Then it's great to come home, put the baby down for a nap and relax or plan dinner.

November 8, 2010: I am grateful for my job. I have recently started working part time again, and have found an ideal sitter situation for my daughter. The agency I work for is incredible. I love meeting new people, or seeing people I haven't worked with in a while. It's also great to get out of the house to do something I have always felt is worthwhile: working with people.

November 9, 2010: I am grateful for the temple. Last night I went to the temple for the ASL session. It was wonderful. I had regrettably not been to the temple for longer than I'd care to admit, and because of the generosity of my caring husband, I was able to go. I needed it more than I can say. I had an incredible experience, much too special and sacred to post on here, and so special I will keep it to myself. But I am grateful for the blessings that are ours if we just strive to do what is right. I am grateful for the knowledge the temple provides, the blessings of eternal families, eternal marriages, and just the light it brings in to my heart and life.

November 10, 2010: I'm grateful for our benefits from Brandon's job. We haven't always had the best benefits, sometimes none at all, but right now we are enjoying the new insurance that we have. What used to be a WAY TOO FRIGGIN" high deductible meant we paid out of pocket for just about everything. My monthly prescriptions of insulin, pump supplies, thyroid medication, birth control etc used to cost about $400-$450. With our new insurance, we have co-pays (something that is NEW to us) so you wouldn't believe the look on my face the first time we paid for my medicine and the purchase price was only $30 dollars. Talk about a HUGE savings. We are so blessed. We just better enjoy it now while we can until our idiot President's health bill goes in to full effect.

Gratitude day 4

2010-11-06T19:56:00.002-06:00

Today I am grateful that I was able to go and play some volleyball in the regional tournament for my church. I played with only one person that I knew, and for the first couple of games, I was really inconsistent with playing, but then things really started picking up for me when my sweetheart of a husband came with my daughter to watch me play. Something about having them there helped me get my head on straight and start playing well. We played several games straight, only taking a break for lunch. I couldn't believe how well-behaved my daughter was. It was such a blessing to have my little family there with me. It really meant a lot to have Brandon ask me if he could come watch me play. I didn't play in high school or anything like that, only during my years as a teenager, but I really do love to play volleyball and wish that I had been good enough to play in high school.

We won our tournament! It was a blast to play, but has left me wanting to go to bed early. Really early. So, good night!

Gratitude day 3

2010-11-05T19:21:00.002-06:00

Today I am thankful for modern medicine. If I had lived even about 100 years ago, my diagnosis as a Type 1 diabetic would have been more like a death sentence. Even though there is no cure for it yet, it is treatable, which allows me to lead a somewhat normal life, every day.

Gratitude Day 2

2010-11-04T15:56:00.002-06:00

Today I am grateful for family, in all it's fun, craziness, joy, function and dysfunction..etc.

I am grateful for a loving and increasingly patient man to be married to. He is my best friend, my other (better) half. He makes me want to be a better person. He makes me laugh. Everyone he comes in to contact with never has a bad thing to say about him. He's a goofball, a good daddy, a hard worker, a good friend, reliable, and unshaken in his faith.

I'm thankful for my daughter. We waited until we found out she was going to become ours before we decided to finally call her our "daughter" instead of just "our little girl". She is incredibly loving, intelligent, sassy, and has a fantastic little sense of humor. It is so fun to watch her change and grow.

I am grateful for my parents. I know that in this life, they were meant to be my parents. They also have to be some of the most patient people to put up with the crud I've dealt them over the years. If there's any gray hairs on their heads, it's because of my endless tactics.

I'm grateful for my sisters, for the laughter we share. We are all different as night and day, but when you put us together you'd better watch out!

I'm grateful for great in-laws. We laugh with them every time we get together with them. They raised someone like my husband, so I'm especially grateful to them.

Better Now Than Never...Gratitude Month

2010-11-03T20:11:00.002-06:00

I'm starting a few days late, but I have seen some friends and family posting on their blogs what they are grateful for once a day, every day for the rest of this month.

First and foremost, I am thankful for God. Because without Him, life would have no purpose, no meaning. Everything that I have in this life, I attribute to Him. He gives me life, breath, joy, happiness, pain, trials, family, love, friends...they are endless.

Today and everyday, I am grateful for a God in Heaven who loves me.

Some Pictures

2010-10-08T13:43:00.002-06:00

This little girl has started climbing ALL over the place. Three weeks ago, she couldn't pull herself up on to anything, and in the last 10 days she has started pulling herself up on to our new couches, our bed (once) and the kitchen chairs. She has also figured out how to move the chairs so that she can pull herself up to get a better view of what's on the table. So now NOTHING is safe to leave on the top of the table anymore! She is such a smart little monkey!
I was cleaning the kitchen while our little monkey was playing with her fairly new Mrs. Potato Head in focused silence. She came in to see me, and when I walked her back in to the family room, I found the toy as pictured above. I couldn't resist taking a fun picture and laughing! Silly monkey!

On a side note, I have tried to keep with my commitment to blog on more of a regular basis, but blogger has been making it a little difficult. If I try to post more than 3 pictures, it won't let me do it! So until blogger has an attitude adjustment, I will have to try to get caught up some time soon...hopefully!

Miracles and the Most Tender of Mercies

2010-10-01T12:57:00.003-06:00

God in Heaven works some mighty miracles. As I sit here, I am feeling humbled, overwhelmed at His works in our lives. I have witnessed miracles in people's lives. I have cried with them at the joy of their situations and blessings. I have read of the mighty and powerful miracles in the scriptures. But now it has become my turn to experience one of those miracles. This last Wednesday we attended a critical court hearing in our foster daughter's case. Her parents willingly relinquished their parental rights in order for us to adopt her. We are not going to be only "foster" parents, but we are going to be REAL parents when we adopt her in the middle of December. I'm in awe at the very idea. There are not words to describe how I have felt these past couple of days. Two words keep floating around both in my heart and my mind: MIRACLE & GRATITUDE.

For those of you not familiar with our story over the past several months, I will try to keep things brief, but informational.

As many of you know, we had to think long and hard when it came to deciding to be foster parents again. I guess you could compare it to touching a hot stove and getting seriously burned. You're never in too much of a hurry to want to do the same thing again especially when it comes to the pain and heartache that are very REAL when it comes to foster care.

Earlier in the year, there occurred a turn of events that put us back on the foster care road of emotions running high, stress, worrying, falling in love, joy, and everything else you experience when doing foster care. So when we called our Resource Family Consultant (RFC- meaning the person who gets wind there's a child in need of a home and calls to ask if you'll take him or her) and said we were ready to bring children into our home once again, she was thrilled. (I don't know why, because we are a couple of nuts ourselves, but I digress...get used to it!) But we had some requirements this time. Our stipulations at that time were that we only wanted one child, it had to be under the age of 1 year old, and that we were open to any race or ethnicity. We were told that it was fine to have those conditions, but that we would probably be waiting quite a long time due to the fact that most foster care homes want the younger children, the babies. We were also told that we would wait due also to the fact that most of the time little ones come in groups of two or more. So we accepted our fate due to our self-imposed conditions and decided to sit back and wait..............for 3 weeks! Our RFC called and there was a little girl in need of a home. She explained the weary conditions from which she would have come from, and decided to let us think about it. Brandon and I knelt down and prayed that evening praying hard we weren't signing ourselves up for more heartache, and instantly felt this was the right thing to do.

A day or two later, we drove over to the DCFS office here in Ogden, and for the first time we met and laid our eyes on this tiny, gorgeous, red-haired, blue eyed, long eyelashed baby girl. On the day we got her, she was just 4 days shy of being 11 months old. The day was March 4th.

We walked into a room where she sat in the arm of her great-grandmother. She peered up at us and studied us intently. I got chills from head to toe. Little did I know at the time, but I was meeting my daughter for the first time. It was explained to us when her twice-a-week visits were going to happen, who her pediatrician was, what formula she was on, and which of the baby foods she favored at the time. It felt a little overwhelming, and we were a little nervous, but it felt good. During this brief meeting, she sat in Brandon's arms and studied him. It was a moment I will never forget.

So we brought her home and played with her, trying to get to know her. When she came to us, she was this little serious thing. She didn't often smile, it took some effort to make her laugh, and she was quiet. Her intelligence shined through her ability to study things around her. She was wearing 6 months size clothes, and a size 2 shoe. She weighed 14.5 pounds. (to this day she is still tiny, due to genetics!)

Over the next several months, we had her first birthday, she got 8 teeth (all within about 5 weeks!), started crawling more, learning sign language (her first sign was PUPPY), she learned her animal signs and sounds, developed a love for books, bath time, blankies, stuffed animals, cuddling, first words, walking, imitating our actions and words, smiling more, even laughing more. She is now climbing up on to things, nearly running, loves to be tickled, points to things, tells us she's hungry and what she is hungry for, tries to sing along with songs, exploring, loves blowing bubbles on the back porch, calls us "Mama, Mommy, Dada", etc. She is now about 18 pounds, wears a size 3 shoe, and is 27 inches tall!

During all of these developmental milestones, the case with her parents went up and down, left and right and everywhere in between (as did my stress levels and emotions). There were times when just the very thought of losing her felt like my heart was being ripped from my chest.

But always in the background of my mind and heart, was a feeling of peace. During the entire case, we prayed for the welfare of her parents, the case worker, etc. We learned to recognize the Lord's hand in the case. At one point during the case, I was feeling extremely overwhelmed with things that were happening, and I knelt down and prayed my heart out, expressing the desire for a miracle. I told God that I would honor Him, no matter what happened. If she was sent back to one of her parents I would honor Him...if she became ours, I would honor Him. I would be thankful for the experience/blessing of just knowing this baby girl, and seeing her grow. I promised that I would love her forever, no matter what. She had already taught me so much, I have been more patient with her than I have been in the past, I haven't freaked out over the small things like I did in the past, I haven't stressed as much as I did in the past, she taught me to love like I have never loved before, and in some ways, that was enough. If she was sent back for whatever reason, the residual blessings were something I was humbled by, and in awe of.

Then the last few weeks happened. We had what is known as a permanency hearing, where the State of Utah (DCFS) recommended to our judge that she remain with us and not be returned to the parents. This was not a done deal though. The parents decided to go for something known as mediation. The dates for mediation and another court hearing were scheduled. Then our sweet judge passed away, thus having our case transferred to a new judge, and new dates being set up, more waiting to be done. Then mediation happened. Then the court hearing happened, and the parents decided selflessly what was best for their daughter. They did a very brave thing, they signed her over to us to be adopted.

I'm going to pause here for a second. Now it no longer matters to me what these parents have done in the past, what decisions they have made, but I know what does matter to me. It matters to me, that in spite of the kinds of lives they lead, in spite of decisions they have made that I could never even being to understand the reasoning behind, in spite of some of the things I have witnessed from them, they stood in a court of law, and made a courageous, trusting, and selfless decision to give their daughter something they couldn't give. They loved her enough to do what they knew was best for her. Her biological father stood in court and told the judge "I have realized that this is no longer about me, it's about my daughter and what is best for her. I have gotten to know the foster parents a little better, and I trust them, I respect them. I know that loving her is not enough. This is the hardest thing I've ever had to do."

In my mind, if that saying or concept of doing a good deed, and in exchange having it erase a not so good deed is true. What these parents did in my eyes supersedes a thousand misdeeds.

The Lord performs miracles. He changes hearts. Not only did He change the hearts of these parents, but He has changed mine. So not only did He bestow what I consider to be a great and powerful miracle upon me, He has shown me a great deal of some of His truest and most tender of mercies. I will be eternally indebted to Him, and grateful.

Baby Clothes

2010-09-18T20:44:00.003-06:00

Anyone who knows me has to be aware of the fact that I love to shop, especially for clothes. For years my ever patient husband has put up with me and my shopping habit.

When I became a foster mommy, I had NO idea how much fun shopping for little kids clothes would be. With the boys we had last year, it was hard not to spend tons and tons of money on cute clothes for them. What was even better was the fact that if you looked hard enough, and knew where to shop, you could find some great deals on cute and well made clothing. I loved shopping for little boys clothes. I'm not all about the trends of making the little people who have come in to my home get dressed up like a rock star. I prefer timeless, classic, and preppy style clothing. Trends in kids clothing that have skulls, guitars, etc on them aren't quite my style, though you might say I love trendy things.

Whenever I went shopping for little boy clothing, I was amazed how small the boy department was in comparison to the girls department. Little did I know what I was in for when Brandon and I got our little Lady Bug! It was a new experience! Now I absolutely love shopping for this beautiful little girl. I shop just about anywhere I can find great deals on some of my favorite name brands, so just to name a few stores/brands: Carter's, Target, Kohls, JCPenny, Shopko, and a recent new discovery:Old Navy!

I'm having to rein myself in when it comes to temptation to buying clothes for this girl!

Jerry Springer-ish

2010-09-17T15:34:00.005-06:00

I had to run to Walmart today for the first time in a while to pick up some children's ibuprofen because Lady Bug is cutting FOUR teeth right now. I started to think about when the last time it was that I went to that "store where you go in with a short list but walk out with more than you ever intended to buy in the first place" shopping center and remembered a situation that I came across while getting the baby and myself ready to go in to the store.

There was a couple fighting in the parking lot. The woman was yelling "I can't believe you cheated on me you (blankety-blank blanking blank)! I'm never going to (blankety blank) talk to you again! Get the (blank) away from me!" Then she started to hit him with her fists as he tried to calm her down and put his arms around her apologetically. She started sobbing and yelling at the same time.

At this point I started to cover the baby's ears and walk faster in to the store begrudging the fact that I had parked out further than necessary to burn a few extra calories in the first place.

To add to the imagination, just picture the fact that the couple were covered in tattoos, body piercings, and looked like bathing/personal hygiene efforts were not one of the top things on their daily-what-to-do lists.

All I could think of was that they didn't seem to care who or what saw them in this argument of theirs. I can't believe some of the things that people just let hang out there for the world to see. In our world of reality (let's show as much skin as we can and blur out the rest of unmentionable body parts) television and racy sitcoms, nothing is sacred anymore. And old memories of the Jerry Springer show came to mind. It was not a pleasant thing to see. There are times when in public that I'll get some twisted expression on my face and Brandon asks me what is wrong, and I just tell him he is SO lucky at times to not have to hear some of the things people say out in public. People can be so dang filthy, crude, and nasty. It's like having a front row seat to an airing of the Jerry Springer show. And that's just plain sad if you ask me!

The Last Few Days

2010-09-15T21:30:00.002-06:00

I have been making more of an effort to spend some quality one on one time lately with Lady Bug. And what a world of a difference it has made! I'm loving it! We've gone to the park to swing, play on the playground, shopping (a fave pastime of mine)etc. We've shared some smiles and giggles, hugs and tickles. Here's to more of it!

It's That Time of Year

2010-09-14T13:36:00.002-06:00

It's that time of year folks! I am getting excited! My two favorite shows are starting up again next week: Grey's and Private Practice! Let the juiciness and drama begin! Yahoo!

Studying to Learn

2010-09-11T22:17:00.002-06:00

I'm one of two gospel doctrine teachers in the Ogden Valley Deaf Branch. I take turns teaching every two weeks with a wonderful sister in the branch. I love to sit during her lessons and learn from someone else's perspective. I am as guilty as the next person when it comes to comparing my teaching abilities with hers, and at times it leaves me feeling inadequate not only in the difference in teaching techniques but making it so that the information found in the Old Testament is accessible in American Sign Language to those that I teach. But I digress.

Since I am a little slow on the uptake at times (more often than I'd care to admit, actually) I have realized that this wonderful sister in the branch often contributes in my lessons as if she's read the lesson before coming to church. I decided to take an early look-see and read tomorrow's lesson. I pulled up the the Church's website and clicked on the links for tomorrow's lesson and also pulled up the scriptural references associated with the topic. Let's just say that Hosea was WAY over my head. So I thought I would try something...I hope I don't get struck by lightning for this...I googled "Bible translation" and pulled up a website that supports a different translation than the King James Version of the Bible, and voila! I was able to read all the references in plain old English. It helped me understand what was actually being said in Hosea. I read all the references to the lesson first, then went back and compared the important points in the lesson and the light came on. I am not dogging the King James Version of the Bible, please don't get me wrong, but sometimes that flowery language makes my brain do somersaults. I am hoping that aside from the straying off the path of recommended scriptural usage, I will be able to fully understand what is being taught, and to learn more about the gospel.

I feel like it's okay to look for a little help when it comes to understanding the scriptures. It totally enlightened me and put me a little more at ease. Now maybe I can look to more than just a couple of resources to not appear to be such a gospel retard when standing in front of a classroom full of people trying to explain something that even I don't get!

It's the Little Things

2010-09-09T13:24:00.003-06:00

Anyone who knows me knows that I don't usually handle stress too well. I'm an emotional person. I jump to conclusions. I'm passionate about things. I cry and cry hard to let stress go. I hold things in until I could emotionally spontaneously combust. I usually imagine the worst case scenario in seemingly hopeless situations, dwell on it, and drive myself and everyone around me absolutely nuts only to later find out the end result was nothing near my worst thoughts as to what could happen. So why do I sit here and post about all this?

The last couple of years have been some of the most difficult of my life. And yet I still sit here with a conglomerate-like pile of "what ifs" and "possibilities" on my life's plate. And though there are definitely those moments of trying to digest one idea over another as to what my life has in store for me, I am currently calm and show no signs of "indigestion".

Again, the 2 people who actually read this may be sitting and looking at their computer screen, wondering "what in the world is this nut-job talking about?"

I'm talking about letting go, and letting God. In the last two years, we have been living by the "what if" concept and at times it has been heart-breaking, disappointing, full of joy, confusion, introspection, and faith-trying.

We have loved and lost foster babies, considered the possibility of a cross-country move, staying put, being employed or not, looking for jobs both in state and out, sworn up and down we'd never foster again (only to be inspired to do it again), and been blessed with an incredibly gorgeous and fun red-headed ladybug. The list goes on and on but the recent epiphany that has come to mind is that over the last two years, through all the ups and downs, God has been with me the ENTIRE time. If I ever felt distanced from Him, or alone, or just downright miserable, it's because I was so absorbed in whatever it was at certain moments that I had absolutely no control over, I failed to recognize either His hand or presence.

Last year, when we sent the boys to live with their grandparents, it felt like someone had died. The loss I felt almost felt like an opened wound that would never heal itself. But then something happened.....time & life. Life came in and went on even when all I wanted to do was curl up and let it move on with out me.

God had something else planned for me though. He wasn't about to let me just wallow in self-pity and a broken heart. He got me motivated to go back to work full time and pursue a higher level of certification in interpreting. Then the possibility of fostering presented itself once again and I thought I was crazy when Brandon and I decided it was something we were willing to try again.

I sit here amidst what could turn out to be a lengthy process of whether we get this adorable little red head. We still don't know if Brandon will be laid off, or transferred. We are anxious to move out of the duplex we are living in for a myriad of reasons (those of you who are aware of our plight, know that's an entirely different post). Yet I have absolutely no control over any of these things. And very recently I let out some frustration over this very thing, but when I started focusing on the things that I do have control over, and the countless blessings that I have, I felt more at ease.

I have opened my heart and my mind to God. I almost always have a prayer in my heart. I am studying my scriptures. I am trying to be more patient. I am thinking more positively. All because I made myself sit back and think about the blessings in my life. And "letting go and letting God".

In Truly Loving Memory

2010-08-20T15:28:00.002-06:00

About an hour and a half ago, my paternal grandmother Darlene Ethel Schow Voorhees passed from this earthly life in to the loving arms of our Heavenly Father. She was 78 years old.

I am grateful for the knowledge of God's restored gospel and for the eternal understanding it brings of forever families. I know that I will see her again.

My grandma was a wonderful lady. She will be sorely missed here by those she left behind. I look at it this way: it is a sad loss by our family, but truly a blessed gain by God, because on this day He couldn't have chosen to gain a better angel.

Shoes!

2010-08-19T11:35:00.003-06:00

At the beginning of the summer, I was excited to buy Lady Bug some sandals. I wasn't able to find any that I loved though. My wonderful Mom went to the Children's Place and found some adorable-will-match-any-and-all-outfits shoes. They were a teeny tiny size 2! They fit Lady Bug perfectly! I pretty much had her wearing them every day. The only thing about them was because of their tiny size that isn't normally meant for walkers, they didn't have any tread on the bottom. I went to Target (my new favorite baby clothes store) and found her some cute white sandals with flowers and a few diamond gemstones. She was able to wear these with everything too.

What I didn't think about was the fact that baby girl would grow out of the size 2 right in the middle of the summer. The entire month of July was spent looking at almost 7 different stores for sandals in a size 3. I was open to just about anything at this point. Everywhere I went there were the fall season's shoes out. I was getting frustrated. My last resort was to buy her some shoes that were more for the fall but realized if they were the right size, I would just be happy to have her little feet covered. I went back to Target and bought her a couple of pairs of shoes. I just really struggled with the fact that when it is still in the high 90's during the day and they have FALL clothes out, in the middle of summer.

So the last few weeks Lady Bug has been wearing these shoes I bought her. They are adorable but then because I am so anal about having shoes match her outfits, I was bummed they didn't match all the adorable clothes that I've gotten her. Someone told me that I should go look at a store called "Kid2Kid" I decided to go check it out anyway. Kid2Kid is a second-hand store full of kids clothes. I will admit I am kind of a "clothes snob" and that I prefer clothes come brand new, but I was desperate. I found a cute pair of size 3 sandals for $3.50. Talk about a deal.

Here's the kicker: last night I was putting away some clean clothes and opened a drawer and what was inside? A shoe box of size 3 white sandals just like the ones Lady Bug had grown out of from Target. I had an epiphany I had actually been smart enough to buy a second pair of sandals in case she did grow out of the first ones! I was thrilled! Now this little girl is stylin' and profilin' with 4 pairs of shoes! I'm thinking that maybe I will go ahead and use the sandals that fit her now and save the other shoes for this fall. (but watch, she'll grow another size in like a month even though she was a size 2 for freakin' ever!)

Blogging Sloth

2010-08-09T21:29:00.002-06:00

I have been slow and downright lazy when it comes to blogging. Every time I go to write something, I lose the motivation. I'm working up the gumption to force myself to sit down and upload pictures of the goings-on in my life. We even bought a new digital camera, and I haven't posted anything. You have my permission to do a cyber slap of my hand.

I will try to do better. I have still been keeping up with y'all's blogs.

So here's to jumping back on the bandwagon, hopefully I don't miss and fall flat on my face!

Domestic Violence 5K

2010-07-01T15:11:00.002-06:00

So I signed my butt up for this 5K and am looking forward to it since it is the first one in over a year that I'll be participating in. My goal is to do it in less than 35 minutes, since I am still not in the shape that I used to be in. I'm running because it's close to home (no driving clear to Salt Lake or Draper like my last two 5ks), and for the cause. I'm excited!

Oreo Pudding+Spaghetti for the first time+14 month old=Quite a Mess!

2010-06-25T14:25:00.004-06:00

What was SO hysterical was this little one would take the spaghetti and rub it on her tummy, then put it in her mouth and eat it. Brandon and I just laughed. She got a big old smile on her face when she realized it made us smile. She has such an awesome little sense of humor.
Not unlike most things she eats, she seems to think that a lot of the food we give her has some miracle skin therapy or hair treatment.
Love this picture! Seriously! Just when we think she couldn't be ANY cuter......

Above is her signature scowl. She has a wide variety of expressions. This is one caught in many pictures!

I had a coupon for a buy one get one free Jello. I bought the Oreo Pudding and when it was made, we let her try it, needless to say she LOVED it!

Our Little Monkey!

2010-06-25T14:13:00.007-06:00

As pictured above, below etc, Lady Bug has turned in to a monkey! She is in to everything, climbing all over the place. She is such a smart little thing. She is curious, astute, observant, and just plain adorable. She is such a little ray of sunshine! We adore her more and more everyday.

Climbing on the ottomans even before she can walk! Such a funny thing.

Sometimes while I am in the family room, she crawls and gets in to things in the kitchen. Usually I can hear her get in to things such as the pots and pans, washcloths and towels drawer etc. On this particular day, she was a little too quiet...hence finding her doing this!

Date Night - Red Lobster

2010-06-21T13:18:00.002-06:00

Last Friday night Brandon and I had a date night all to ourselves. Typically we don't go out alone, we bring Lady Bug with us and call it "family date night". We've had a Red Lobster gift card that we needed to use and so we got a babysitter from our branch and headed to Layton for dinner. We have only ever been to Red Lobster once, and that was during a trip to San Diego almost 3 years ago!

What's funny about me is that I grew up near the Gulf Coast and due to my overly picky eating habits, I have never been one to consume sea food. I am very particular when it comes to food and its texture. I have tried scallops (too rubbery, blech), calamari (again, the rubbery thing), salmon (LOVE IT), clams (nasty), etc. The first time I ever tried crab legs was the first time I ever walked in and ate at Red Lobster. It was a learning experience cracking all those legs open for the meat and I loved it. I was anxious to order it again going there a second time.

We get there and I ordered their snow crab legs. A whole freakin' pound and a half. I started to work on my plate, and dang for some reason I was sorely disappointed. The meat tasted way too rubbery, and got cold too fast. I did a bunch of work and really tried to enjoy myself but I just couldn't bring myself to love it.

On a recommendation from a great neighbor of mine Brandon ordered their "Ultimate Feast" that came with shrimp, crab legs, lobster and something else I can't remember. I tried the lobster for the first time, and again BLECH! I just didn't enjoy it. Brandon liked the shrimp the best, but thought the lobester was interesting. He even helped me finish my crab legs.

While eating though, we just had to laugh. I was working on cracking open the crab legs and pieces of meat, ligament, or shell went flying across our row of booths close to where we sat. I'm so glad that people were willing to either just smile and laugh with us, or just plain didn't care enough to look our way.

I would go back to Red Lobster again on account of the fact that Brandon enjoyed it so much, but I have to admit that I will play it safe and just order salmon.

Want to Spill Your Cookies? Wear THIS!

2010-06-02T13:36:00.003-06:00

I love this shirt. It's one of my favorite colors. The cut of it and the material make it very ideal for camouflaging some pounds that I've packed on since getting my insulin pump. It was a great deal at JCPenny's etc.

There's just one thing that I can't seem to let go. In the last couple of months since I bought it, I will have just put it on to go out somewhere, and Lady Bug has managed FOUR different times to spill her cookies ALL over me. It's the strangest (and grossest) thing. She's never spit up on me in any other shirt, except this one.

Maybe...just maybe due to the fact that she can't communicate the concept that she doesn't favor the shirt more than wearing a dirty diaper for a while... this is how she is trying to tell me she hates the shirt.

Or maybe it is just a coincidence. Go figure.

Lady Bug in Idaho

2010-06-02T13:26:00.004-06:00

Ever since we've arrived in Idaho for vacation, Lady Bug has fallen in love with her "grandma's" piano. We have found her on several occasions doing this very thing. The thing that is so adorable other than the girl herself is that she doesn't just go to town and pound the daylights out of the piano, but she daintily fingers the keys trying to be careful. I love it.

This was after a meal of strawberries and heaven only knows what else the other night. There should be more pictures to come since I haven't been blogging as regularly as I used to. I'm a slacker, I know.

Feeling Pretty Sexy Right About Now

2010-05-06T16:11:00.005-06:00

So today has kinda sucked for a few reasons.

Several days ago, I was walking down our steps with Lady Bug in tow, and I stepped on a step wrong (no pun intended) and heard a pop. It hurt something wicked, but I have done something similar before and it never hurt like that. But this is something different. I did something really dumb (Me? Do something stupid? NEVER? :)) and went jogging with a friend, and this only made it worse. I woke up Sunday morning with somewhat swollen and hurting foot. Not long after I woke up I went to walk in to my room and it snapped again! I almost pulled a Yosemite Sam scene with a string of profanities...but I digress. I talked to my mom last night and she encouraged me to go and get myself checked out.

I ended up coming home from the doctor this morning with the sexy fashion statement pictured up above.

Then while coming home, I got a low blood sugar of 48, which took me a while to recover from, and a whiny hungry baby to feed. This took all my energy I had at that moment.

Then I tried to take a nap to try and recover and then Lady Bug woke up and didn't want to sleep anymore. So I didn't get the much needed nap I was desperately hoping for.

Then, I looked down and saw my hands, and found the other lovely visual above. Lovely part of being a Diabetic. Dry hands...ALL the time!

So how has your day been? Hopefully better than mine!

I'm looking forward to the "Foster Mom Pampering" night tonight.

I'm done venting now! Thanks for humoring me!

Patience? A Virtue? Well Alright Then....

2010-04-13T20:09:00.002-06:00

Okay so we've had our little red-headed ray of sunshine for about 5 weeks now. Everywhere we go, whether it's people we've known for a while, or complete strangers in a restaurant that come to know that she is our foster daughter have started saying the same thing: "She is so lucky to be in your home, and we sure hope that she stays with you forever".

And while this is all well and fine, I don't let it go to my heart. EVER.

For those of you that know the crazy story of the foster boys we had, and the "heart ripped out of our chests" feeling we experienced when they left us, we swore up and down that we were DONE with foster care. After experiencing a case that led to so many people saying things like "get ready, it looks like they are going to be yours", "we the state are going to recommend the boys stay in your home, and move for the rights of the parents to be terminated" and then being told 6 days before court that the state had changed their position and were sending the boys away to live with their grandparents (which turned out to be a great thing though, in the end) I am not taking any word from anyone seriously until a judge rules something one way or another.

You'd think after those types of things being said and done would have made us wave our white flag of surrender and cry "UNCLE" when it came to signing up again to do this. Through a course of events, we were lead down this path again. We felt that God had something up His sleeve this time. We prayed and pondered deeply the implications of taking that step and calling Utah Foster Care to tell them to add us back to their list for available placements (though there were times we wanted to tell them where to stick it...but I digress).

Some of you might think that we are crazy for signing up to do this to ourselves again. Believe me, I feel the same way at times. I'm not even going to say that this little red head is supposed to be ours, because I'm not the One in control. I spent a couple of weeks stressing myself out over things that weren't in my control, and then realized that I am not going to put myself through the emotional stress that I did last time. I would only be setting myself up for the loony bin again (though I hear there are vacancies this time of year...digression again, I know).

I am switching gears again this time. I am going to give it all up to God, and let His will guide this decision to foster again, wherever it may go. Instead of exercising and stretching the boundaries of my sanity (not that there was much to begin with :)) I am going to ride this out on faith. I am thinking more positively, being more supportive of things, and just loving this little one to bits.

I know that God knows that I am not a patient person. That's why this time around I am not cashing my chips on one hope or another. If patience is a virtue, then well......here goes.

Tagged, It's Been a While

2010-04-06T21:46:00.004-06:00

1. What was the last thing you put in your mouth? The mouth of my Diet Dr. Pepper bottle.

2. Where was your profile picture taken? Here at the house, using my POS digital camera.

3. Can you play Guitar Hero? I've never tried. Not much of a gamer......

4. Name someone who made you laugh today? My sister Jenny, during one of our zany phone conversations.

5. How late did you stay up last night and why? Was awake until 10:30 or so, then struggled to sleep all night. Yay for me.

6. If you could move somewhere else, would you? Yes. Now the question is where? I wouldn't mind Denver, Boise, San Diego, or Salt Lake City.

7. Ever been kissed under fireworks? Nope.

8. Which of your friends lives closest to you on your FaceBook list? Lyndi, or Anne

9. Do you believe exes can be friends? Yes and No. I dated a bunch of worthless buttheads that somehow found me on FaceBook.

10. How do you feel about Dr Pepper? It's the nectar of the gods.

11. When was the last time you cried really hard? Last Thursday, due to a lack of sleep, and the emotional roller-coaster called foster-parenting.

12. Who took your profile picture? Me, myself, and I.

13. Who was the last person you took a picture of? My beautiful foster daughter.

14. Was yesterday better than today? Abso-frickin-lutely. Diabetes hell broke loose today.

15. Can you live a day without TV? Yes, except Thursdays.

16. Are you upset about anything? Just having such a rough diabetes day. Blood sugar was all over the place.

17. Do you think relationships are ever really worth it? Always! Special people are the soft place for you to land on when things hit the fan, or the place to go for a laugh.

18. Are you a bad influence? No doubt. I am a bad influence on my sisters. hehe....

19. Night out or night in? Both.

20. What items could you not go without during the day? Glucometer, pump, cell phone.

21. Who was the last person you visited in the hospital? I'm blessed that way I guess, I don't know anyone recently who has been to the hospital.

22. What does the last text message in your inbox say? I'm too lazy to get off the couch to go looking for my phone to look.

23. How do you feel about your life right now? There's still a few questions that I would like to have answered, it's been a couple of years now living by the "what if" principle. It would be nice to have something concrete occur.

24. Do you hate anyone? Not at all. There are people that I don't get along with very well, or really could live without, though.

25. If we were to look in your Facebook inbox, what would we find? Emails from all sorts of people for all different reasons.

26. Say you were given a drug test right now, would you pass? ummm duh. Yeah.

27. Has anyone ever called you perfect before? Of course not, that's a no brainer.

28. What song is stuck in your head? Beautiful Nightmare by Beyonce.

29. Someone knocks on your window at 2:00 a.m., a secret lover or George Clooney? Neither, it's a fireman telling me to evacuate my house because my white-trash neighbors flicked their cig butts on to our side of the duplex, and it is going up in flames.

30.Wanna have grandkids before you’re 50? At the rate we're going, we won't have grandkids until we're 60.

31. Name something you have to do tomorrow? Brace myself for my sister and her kids to come over for the day! (love ya jenny!)

32. Do you think too much or too little? Too much, I read too much in to things and stress myself out.

33. Do you smile a lot? Yes.

Bonus Round...

34. How many hours a day do you spend on the computer? On average, probably 1-2 depending on the day.

35. If you could be anyone else for a day, who would you be? President Obama, then I would overturn some of the stupid things he has done. Just saying.....

36. Facebook or Twitter? FaceBook all the way, never have gotten in to Twitter.

37. Chicken or Beef? Baby Back Ribs, y'all!

38. Mac or PC? PC

39. Have you ever punched anyone in the face? Nope, but I've wanted too.

40. Last music received or purchased? Lady Gaga

A Little Catching Up

2010-03-17T16:45:00.002-06:00

Here are some tidbits of information to catch y'all up on with what's been going on with us recently:

On March 4th, we became foster parents again to this little ray of sunshine. She is such a good baby, and feel so blessed to have her in our home. She is 11 months old, has red hair, and these gorgeous blue eyes. We didn't think we'd be doing this again, but felt impressed to pursue this roller-coaster adventure again, so we'll see how it goes!

A couple of days ago, I bought one of those John Frieda products for my hair using a $2 off coupon. I brought it home thinking what a great deal I got on their spray conditioner. I got up the next morning and sprayed my hair with it, then started getting the baby ready for the day, when I noticed my hair getting kind of stiff. It still smelled good, but I couldn't think of any reason that a spray conditioner would make my hair feel so funny. Turns out, in another hare-brained moment (these happen all too frequently) I read the label to the bottle a little closer and realized I had in fact not bought hair conditioner, but hair spray. (Enter applause here). Boy, did I feel stupid....

And last but certainly not least, I received some awesome news today: I PASSED MY LEVEL 2 CERTIFICATION FOR THE STATE OF UTAH! I can't believe it! Finally! I am thrilled but feeling extremely humbled right now. God has blessed me beyond anything I can think of.

These tidbits are what is new with us! What about y'all?

My Mini Vacation

2010-02-28T15:03:00.002-07:00

This weekend has been a good one. It started with not working on Friday after a few days of long hours, and hard core interpreting. Friday I woke up and took my sweet time getting ready for the day, and then drove down to see my oldest sister who recently moved to Utah. My mom was staying at her house helping with the move and to juggle the kids. It wasn't a set plan until my mom called me and told me to come down. I hadn't seen my mom since last November at Thanksgiving, so was excited to see her for a little while. I drove her over to my grandparents house to stay as my dad was getting in to town on Saturday.

Instead of driving all the way back to Ogden, only to have to wake up at the crack of dawn to get back down to the South Towne Expo Center at 8 am, I decided to spoil myself a little and book a hotel all to myself. I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express just off of 106th South for the night. I went and checked in to the hotel after dropping my mama off at the grandparents, and got all my stuff unloaded. Once I got all my stuff in to the room, I sat down on the bed and listened to my surroundings and all I could hear in my room with my king size bed was sheer and utter silence. It was pure bliss in that moment. I didn't have to be anywhere, say anything, call anyone, or do anything if I didn't want to.

This was bliss because I was able to relax after what had been a hard week personally. Some of my friends and family might read this and think I was over-indulging myself, but really this was me just taking a self-imposed "time-out" from the stresses of life and having "me" time.

I went over across the street to the South Towne Mall and spent a couple of hours shopping. No big purchases were made: a couple of new bras, makeup, and some skin care stuff to pamper myself with. This shopping trip wasn't made in a hurry while on a break between appointments, or with another person telling me where they wanted to go....it was just me meandering around an unfamiliar mall to stores I wanted to take peruse around in. It was true retail therapy, without buying tons of clothes I may or may not wear. It was also some good exercise as I wasn't just lounging around doing nothing.

This wasn't a trip or evening that lacked a typical "Lisa" moment however. I was making my way to the food court when I realized I didn't have my new coat I received as a gift. I practically had to stand still for a moment to think about where on earth I could have left it. I said a small prayer that I would know where to find it. I nearly ran back to the first store I had been and found my jacket. Thank heavens. If I had lost this jacket, it wouldn't have been the first to suffer the same fate of other new jackets (including a new Gap jacket I lost my first semester of marriage in the Old Main building at USU, but I digress).

I left the mall with Subway sandwich, chips, and sugar cookie in tow and went back to my hotel to relax. I turned on the TV to watch the Olympics a little and eat. But I took a long hot shower first enjoying the fact that hot water doesn't run out like it does at my apartment, then settled in to bed to eat my dinner and relax. Once again, utter bliss. I slept better than I have in ages due to the fact I was able to sprawl out and sleep.

I am thinking that as long as I volunteer at the Expo like I have for the last 3 years now, then I might make this a tradition. It is totally worth the $$.

The expo went well as can be expected, spent some extra time with my mama, met my dad at his parents to say hello, and then drove back to Ogden feeling renewed and refreshed.

The Best Kind

2010-02-03T21:45:00.002-07:00

This post is totally going to come across as corny, but to heck with those few of you that actually read this. I write this for me.

I have been sitting here thinking about the fact that I talked to both of my sisters this evening, and talk to my mom every other day or so.

Thinking about the relationships/friendships with my sisters and Mom, I can't help but smile.

Maybe even laugh.

I say laugh because my sisters' can be relied upon to make comments on my Facebook status' that make me laugh...so hard that my sides hurt, and so hard that my laugh goes silent, and gets louder.

I feel so lucky to have them as my family. They are built-in best friends. To me, that's the best kind.

Funkdified....

2010-02-01T16:45:00.003-07:00

I have been in a blogging funk. I used to do it every 2-3 days, but it's been a while since I have found the motivation to really blog about something. Half of my blog list of people I like to keep up with seems to have gone the same direction as me. I just haven't had much to say lately. I am in a writing/blogging FUNK. I need to get out of it, and hopefully soon. It doesn't help that I see so many people commenting on other people's blogs all the time.

Any advice??

Couponing

2010-01-21T12:34:00.002-07:00

A couple of months ago, my sister Katie and I went to a meeting here in Ogden where a lady taught us about different ways to save $$ in your grocery budget. It included getting more than just one copy of the local newspaper for multiple coupons, and establishing a stash of coupons to choose from. The lady who taught us told us about a website called pinchingyourpennies.com that has women who post lists of great deals EVERY WEEK at local grocery stores. You get better savings on using coupons on things that are already on sale. You can price match as well to help with not having to go to EVERY damn grocery store in your area to get great deals.

The lady said that using multiple coupons on sale items might seem like you were spending more money, but if you stocked up on things, it would save you money in the long run when you went to make your shopping list and realized you didn't need to buy more of something when there might not be a deal happening on a particular item that week.

She stated that since she has started "couponing" she has been able to bring an estimated $1000 dollar monthy budget down to $250 dollars a month (she has a large family). She says that she NEVER buys anything at full price.

She warned us that we wouldn't see near that big of a price reduction immediately. She said that it would take up to 6 months. Initially you spend what you normally do, but maybe you start getting more bang for your buck. I found this to be true.

Every Sunday I sit down and go through the 3 copies of the newspaper that we get and cut out the coupons for products I know we could use. I then organize them into the FOOD and NON-FOOD categories. I like to make the first part of my grocery list with things I already have coupons for, then add the things that you don't get normal coupons for i.e. milk, bread, eggs etc. I have been doing this for about a month now. I find that I don't price match and I don't shop at the local grocery stores. The lady told us that we should support local food stores, but after a week or 2 of shopping at Smiths, or Family Fresh, I just knew that I would save more money at Wal-Mart. What used to take me 45 minutes to grocery shop now takes a little more than an hour, but it's worth it.

In the last 4-5 weeks alone of doing this I have saved $35 dolllars a week, except this last week due to the coupons not being as good as usual, thus I saved $20 dollars. For example, if our weekly budget for groceries is $100 dollars, and since I have just started this, I will still spend that $100 but get groceries worth $135 dollars. One week I saved the average $35 but ended up only spending $85.

So yes, I am that lady in front of you that you have to wait for in line at the cash register because they have to scan my coupons.

Go ahead. Roll your eyes, and exaggerate your sighs of annoyance. I don't care because I am saving money and you're not!

There's just something to be said about the first time you get to the cash register and you find out the total of $139 grocery bill is then brought down to $105 (this is with tax)! Then you realize that you can get toothpaste for free, and soap for 7 cents a bar.

Take that Uncle Sam! You already get enough of my taxes.

Comfies

2010-01-21T12:22:00.002-07:00

When I shop for semi-professional clothes for work, I am all about cute AND comfortable. While I was working full-time as a foster mom, I was all about dressing comfortably in washable clothes due to the fact I became a walking drool bib and snot smearer (aka giant tissue). One of the hardest things about coming back to work was getting used to dressing professionally again. Jeans and a shirt were my former "coming home and relaxing" routine.

THIS IS NO LONGER!

I have come across some black fleece drawstring pants and a zip up fleece jacket at Target (one of my favorite stores!) for a very inexpensive price! I bought a set right after Christmas with some $$ I received, and after having to wash them a little too often, I went back and got another pair. I am super anal about whether or not the pants are long enough, even with shoes and these are totally just that! I come home and change in to these or something like them. I love that sweats are not the ones our mom's used to wear that are SUPER tapered at the bottom. They make them almost in a boot cut simply hemmed style now that I LOVE LOVE LOVE. I can wear them to go work out, I can throw on a DownEast tshirt under the jacket and go do my grocery shopping.

Maybe some of y'all are totally against going out in public like this, but guess what??

I DON'T CARE!

These new finds are comfortable and warm in these cold Utah winters. Wahoo!

Diabetes Presentation

2010-01-05T19:14:00.002-07:00

Today I went to a local middle school and gave my first ever presentation on diabetes. I spoke to 4 different classes. I was a little hesitant to do this since my only memories of middle school was of hyper, defiant, unruly kids. But to my pleasant surprise, they kids were great. They were very respectful, and quiet....at times almost too quiet.

I had an outline for my presentation prepared, so the first class got what I would like to call the "rough draft". The kids were responsive to my questions, and asked lots of questions in return.
Then.....there was the second class of students. Everything went great, until I started talking about needles/syringes, and then a kid on the class decided to pass out. He totally slumped over in his chair, head fell back, eyes rolled into the back of his head, and color totally drained from his skin. A kid was sent to run to the front office to get some help, and the teacher and I got him to come to, and then offered him a trash can in case he threw up. Long story short, he was fine. He wasn't sure if it was the fumes from the freshly painted classroom or me talking about needles that made him sick.

And ALL I could think of was "oh great, I made him pass out talking about needles!" I wasn't even graphic or anything. He just blacked out. I felt so bad, and silently freaking out that this was my fault. The teacher just reassured me that I wasn't to blame. But how can you NOT feel bad?!!!

I am scheduled to go back sometime in April to the same school to talk about diabetes...I really hope I don't have the same effect on the students!

New Year's Resolutions

2010-01-01T22:37:00.003-07:00

As with every year, and with many people, I have come up with a list of resolutions for this new year. I hope that with some effort I will be able to say next year that I was able to stick with at least one SIGNIFICANT resolution. We'll just have to see how it goes.

Here ya go:
-stop swearing as much as I do
-pray and read the scriptures more often
-becoming more patient
-losing weight
-eating better-
-managing my diabetes better
-managing my time better
-showing more appreciation
-cooking more meals at home
-budgeting more

That's a few of the things on my ever-growing list. Happy New Year!

What I am Going to Remember

2010-01-01T22:30:00.003-07:00

I have noticed that people are posting quite a bit about the things that they will remember about 2009. Here are a few of mine:

-being a foster mom to 2 very special little boys
-witnessing their growth and accomplishments (Bubba's first steps, Hunter talking/signing more etc)
-celebrating 5 years of marriage to my best friend
-saying goodbye to the boys
-going back to work
-traveling to LA for the first time
-flying to Houston for Ben's wedding
-renewing a friendship with one of my closest friends
-transferring back to the Deaf Branch
-learning that I am stronger than I give myself credit for
-recognizing the Lord's comforting hand in my life
-understanding the important of family more than ever

These are just a few of the things that I will take with me in to this new year, and in the years to come.

Oh the Weather Outside is FRIGHTFUL....

2009-12-29T21:07:00.002-07:00

I had a pretty good Christmas with the in-laws (ALL OF THEM :)) in Idaho. We drove up and stopped to pick my sister-in-law Shannon up from Burley. The few days that we were there were fun, relaxing, and full of laughs. Christmas day was extremely laid back, and my MIL is a fabulous cook.

The weather was also bitterly COLD! It hung around 20 or lower while we were there. As a displaced (but still extremely proud) Texan, this was not enjoyable AT ALL. I hate, abhor, dislike, detest, loathe, have an aversion towards, recoil from the cold. I have thyroid disease that makes me all the more sensitive towards the extreme temperatures as of late. I don't like slipping on ice. I don't like shivering. I don't like hands so cold that it's hard to sign for my job. I don't like it when I see my precious puppy dog shivering from head to toe because it's cold outside......

I could go on about reasons why I don't like the cold but as of today I have a new one!

IT WAS SO COLD OUTSIDE THAT A PIPE BURST OUTSIDE OF OUR HOUSE AND PARTIALLY FLOODED OUR SECOND BEDROOM!

If I was much more of a swearing person (than I already am, much to my mother's disapproval) I could have cursed until I was blue in the face. The inconvenience of having to dig out our storage closet in search of the main water valve to the house wasn't enough. We had to clear out everything of value of the 2nd bedroom closet, and move furniture out of the way, and then spend 45 frickin' minutes trying to get water out of the carpet with our wet/dry vac. Oh and not to mention that we were without running water for about 4-5 hours. (This makes it very difficult to use the restroom, TMI I know) So that's the fun that we had today. Both Brandon and I had to cancel work appointments this evening because of the flooding festitivities at our house.

Okay, I am done venting now. I guess we are lucky that we rent instead of own, since it would have cost us money out the ying-yang to repair everything. We still can't move everything back because we have to wait for the carpet to dry.

I guess we could watch paint peel while we wait. Friggin cold.

Lovin' the Huggin'

2009-12-14T10:18:00.002-07:00

It has been about 3 months or so since the boys left us to go live with their grandparents in Ohio. I have not really wanted to talk about it since it was really hard to see them go, though we know they are in a place where they are loved and safe.

I am not going to lie, those first several weeks were some of the HARDEST of my life. It has made both Brandon and I seriously question the thought of ever doing Foster Care again. It entailed much more heartache than we ever thought possible, more than ANY training class could ever prepare us for. We were incredibly blessed to have amazingly well-behaved boys. I have never seen a more obedient 2 year old than Hunter was. "Bubba" was one of the most beautiful little boys I have ever seen and one of the most happy. I can only hope that someday my own kids will be the tremendous joy that these two boys were, and most likely still are for their family they are with now.

One thing I knew for sure as soon as we found out they were to leave us, was that I wanted to get right back to work. I didn't want ANY time to myself sitting at home stewing in my heartache.

I was nervous about getting back in to interpreting. The only real interaction I had had with the Deaf community was mostly my husband, and a few Sundays spent visiting the Ogden Valley Deaf Branch. I felt rusty. I hadn't had my mind process information like it does for interpreting for nearly 10 months. I was terrified at the prospect of losing my skills/talent. I was afraid that my heart wouldn't truly be in it as it had before because I had experienced what it felt like to be a "stay-at-home" foster mom.

My last post included the words "tender mercies" in it. A profound tender mercy in my life is/has been has been the swift ease I have experienced in going back to work. My first week back to work was a little interesting as I worked out the kinks in my mind and coordination of signing and processing information. I prayed my heart out to my God in heaven that I would pick up pretty close to where I left off 10 months before. Those prayers were answered greatly. I got back in to the swing of things with relative ease. One of the coolest things was that clients were actually excited to see me come back. They would tell me they missed me. They welcomed me back. They hugged me. They caught me up on their lives since the last time I had seen them.

While I was thrilled in many ways to get back to work, it was difficult not to think about the boys. The simple human act of someone hugging me became a resonating influence on my broken heart. The Lord knew I needed this type of interaction during such a difficult period in my life. I am still dealing with things that come up that remind me of the boys, and a few tears are still shed here and there but the pieces of my heart are being put together again. For this I am so grateful.

Don't ever hesitate to give someone a hug. You NEVER know how it will affect them.

Tender Mercies, Answered Prayers

2009-11-30T21:22:00.003-07:00

I have neglected to mention how my Savior has blessed me personally in the last few months, and decided it's better late than never.

My grandpa died this evening of heart failure. It was only last Thursday that I saw him and celebrated Thanksgiving with him. He looked so good, even though as a family we knew that the doctors had decided there was nothing else they could do to prolong his life. He was quite talkative, even getting around better than I would have ever known to expect. He talked sports with the male members of our family, even going as far as to joke about his beloved Denver Broncos, calling them the Denver Donkeys for their lack-luster performance as of late.

To be truthful, my relationship with my grandpa was a timid, simple one. I didn't know him as well as I would like to have known him. I remember seeing him as a little girl, making visits with my mom and sisters to see him and my step-grandma who preceded him in death. I know things such as he was an occupational para-trooper soldier in Japan after WWII. He had an 8th grade education, having grown up on a farm with wild brothers. He drove buses to support his family. He loved to play cards. He loved to play bingo. He smoked for many years and quit, which says a lot about his strength of character. He was a very simple person, living frugally, but happily for many years until my step-grandma Jo died when I was a freshman in high school. She was his soul-mate, and now he is with her.

About a year and a half ago, my mom and uncle moved him out to a assisted living center in Denver. During this time, my mom was able to get to know him better than ever. He was never a talkative person, but shared a lot about his life with my mom. My mom considers this time a true gift as she didn't know much about her dad until recently. The residents of the center where he spent his final days loved him. He loved chocolate, and loved sharing it with the staff and cafeteria people. As of late, he enjoyed Hershey's Bliss Chocolate, some of which he shared with me just last Thursday. There are stories of him handing out chocolate to the cafeteria cooks so they would make him omelets for breakfast, or to staff who helped clean his apartment.

I didn't have the ideal relationship with my grandfather, but he was a good, sweet, and caring man. I am grateful for the knowledge that he didn't suffer, and that his passing was a quick one. Prayers were answered that he would not suffer terribly or for a prolonged period of time.

He will be missed by everyone who knew him. I am grateful for what I do know of him, and know that he is finally with my grandma Jo, after all these years without her. I am grateful for the knowledge that the Gospel gives me. I know I will see him again. I know that someday he and I will be able to know one another better, and forge a relationship that we weren't able to have in this life.

My dad said that his passing was a peaceful one. It is this peace that only God and the Savior can provide. Though it is a sad time for my family, my heart is full.

Good Thing My Parents Didn't Name Me Grace...

2009-11-17T15:54:00.002-07:00

This is too funny not to post about.

Last week I went and team interpreted with one of my favorite people at InterWest, Miss Dawn!

The building where we worked together had a secured elevator, the kind where you have to swipe your employee ID card to get both ON and OFF the elevator. This fact was unbeknownst to me because we were in a big group of people escorted down to the room where we would be working, so I didn't notice the escort swipe his ID card. When the appointment was over, Dawn stayed behind to work a little longer, because I had to leave early for another appointment. I pressed the button for the elevator, and the doors opened. I got in and pressed the floor I needed AND.....

NOTHING HAPPENED.

I pressed the button again. NADA.

I tried other floors. The elevator didn't budge, nor did any buttons light up.

I'm not a clausterphobe, but I started to panic. It was hot in the gol' durn thing, and I started to sweat from nervousness, and the fact that it was hot in there.

I tried the phone button to try and talk to someone, ANYONE. I got the stupid "We're sorry, this number had been disconnected or is no longer in service".

!!!!!!!!

What the $#@%?? It's not a phone line, it's a emergency call button to say "I'm stuck!"

My last resort was the alarm button, and by looking at my watch, I had been in there over 5 minutes and little did I realize I was crying! So I pressed the dumb thing and hoped for the best.

Then I heard a ding, and as the door opened I looked to see who my rescuer was, and lo and behold it was Dawn, who saw me with the panicked look on my face, and she started laughing....

Har Har. Go ahead, laugh all you want at my expense.

Then TODAY happened. I was leaving an appointment while walking down the stairs, talking to a client. I tripped over my pants and fell down 4-5 stairs. Unintentionally (I'm still working on this one) a four-letter word escaped my mouth in the process.

Heavens to Betsy, was I embarrassed.

After Nearly 5 Years.....A New Start

2009-11-10T16:34:00.002-07:00

In 3 weeks, it will be 5 years since I have been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Since that time, I have had shot after shot after shot of my life giving insulin every time I eat. I have roughly given myself 4-5 shots of Novolog insulin (the insulin I "shoot up" every time I eat) and 1 shot of Lantus (the insulin I take every night before bed). If you times 5-6 shots daily for 365 days of the year (you don't get weekends off from diabetes :)) times 5 years that is roughly 9,125 shots I have given myself. And you know what? I am ready for a change. I am sick of feeling like a walking pin cushion. I am ready for the funny stares in public places every time I pull out the syringe and a vial of insulin, to stop. I am not ashamed of my disease, seeing as how it is a part of who I am, just ready for a change. Seeing as how a cure isn't in the works right now, the change I am ready for is still a miracle in and of itself.

I am grateful to be a PWD (person with diabetes) during a time of medicine and amazing technological advancements. 100 years ago, the diagnosis of diabetes was more or less a death sentence; now it's not. People with diabetes live in time of hope, meaning a time where diabetes is a very liveable disease and SO not a death sentence. Part of this hope is the change that I am now ready for. I am choosing to start insulin pump therapy. The pump is something that I was very opposed to for a while, but now that I have been educated on the subject, I can't believe that I didn't at least look in to the idea sooner! The pump primarily works to function somewhat like a normal pancreas, and helps with better control of the diabetes. I love that with just a few pushes of a button, instead of shot after shot, I can give myself the insulin to get the energy I need from the food that I eat.

The pump enables diabetics to live a more normal, healthier life. A common myth of people who use pumps is that their diabetes is "serious" or "really bad". This is not the case. The pump just allows people who choose to use it to have a better handle of keeping blood sugar within range to avoid complications later in life.

For the last week I have been using a "trial" pump to see if I would like it. And I can't say enough positive things about it. I feel better, have the control that I have needed for so long, and feel more confident in being able to take care of myself. What more could I ask for? I am on my second "trial" pump right now, testing different types of pumps to see which one I want to get. I have a few days to try it and see how I like it, then I will make the decision. Then the fun of dealing with insurance will come. Hopefully it will all work out!

Here's to a new start with my diabetes.

Apple Pie, Couple of Cuties, and Quacks

2009-11-05T07:58:00.004-07:00

Last weekend I made my first homemade apple pie. I got the recipe from my wonderful mother-in-law while we were in Idaho celebrating my father-in-law's (I call him What's-His-Bucket) 60th birthday. (Oh, I will post some belated pictures of this) And it turned out really well.
I went over to my sister Katie's house last night since Brandon was working late, and I was going to try to help my sister do her hair for her formal dinner that she has this coming Friday night. I was over there for quite a while and was able to spend some time tickling and loving on my adorable niece and nephew. The cutie above is my 4 year old niece Janae. I love this little girl because of her spunk and sweet little voice. Oh and she has one of the greatest laughs you have ever heard.
This is my 6 year old nephew Joshua. He is my buddy. He loves to laugh, play practical jokes, and is just an all around good natured little guy.
Before you jump to any assumptions as to my sanity/state of mind, let me explain. My sister Katie and I are a dangerous duo, but add my oldest sister Jenny in to the mix, and we are just plain nuts. Sadly Jenny wasn't able to be here for our trip to Target last night, but Katie and I subjected the poor shoppers at the Layton Target to quite a show. Probably from about the moment we walked in to the store, we were laughing. We walked around looking at the clothes, when we came to the pajama area and found the ugliest pajamas I've ever seen. Katie joked that they were definitely what you might call "mood killers" or something you would wear if you have no desire for "pillow time". We were seriously laughing so hard I was nearly in tears. Then we walked around to the purse/wallet/scarf department and found some of the BUTT-UGLIEST winter hats and scarves you've ever seen. The hat above gave us some laughs, let alone the stupid goofy expression on my face. Katie tried on the hat below, and the first reaction out of my mouth was that she looked like a retarded Christmas Elf-hence the expression on her face as well. We were laughing so hard I wondered if any store staff would show up to escort us out of the store.
One thing that is GUARANTEED when hanging out with my sister is that you will laugh. It had to have been a combination of being tired, bored, and kidless. I love my sisters. I couldn't ask for more funny, witty, thoughtful, crazy people to be my sisters. Even though we are a bunch of quacks.

Occupational Hazards

2009-11-04T12:00:00.002-07:00

Most people who know me know that I love my job. I don't sit at a desk all day, staring at a computer. I don't have the personality for that. I love working with people and doing something different every day.

And yes, while I love my job....there are some interesting "occupational hazards". One that distinctly comes to mind is having clients that seem to be numb from the brain down when it comes to personal hygiene/cleanliness. I have had one client in particular that once told me the water had been shut off in his/her apartment for the last 3 months, so he/she hadn't bathed since then. This same client picks his/her nose with his/her long nasty nails, withdraws his/her finger to inspect it, then wipes it on his/her clothes. I have had this person more than once and working with this person makes my skin crawl. (typing the gender confusing words is to somewhat protect the client) There are not words to describe the tumult of things my stomach does when smelling, seeing, or interacting with this person. But it all comes down to one thing: this person has just as much a right to an interpreter as the next person who is Deaf. He/she has just as much right to having access to things as you or I do. This just happens to be a client who tests my abilities to be kind and respectful to all of God's children/creatures. Whether a person is appallingly rude to others, smells like what comes out of an elephant's derrier, smokes like a chimney, drinks like a fish, or what have you, it is not my responsibility to judge, just to be a conduit of communication between a hearing consumer and a Deaf client.

Outside of this, the other day I was interpreting for a client that had me make a rather unpleasant remark to one of their constituents. I've even had to yell at myself because a Deaf person got upset with me for a very trivial reason that was out of my control. I have had to say some of the most unpleasant things to some of the nicest people on the behalf of someone who is Deaf.

With all of this said, here is a disclaimer or two: I VERY rarely have these kinds of situations come up, and in a weird and twisted way, it keeps my job interesting-to say the least.

So with all of these so-called "occupational hazards" I still love my job. Instead of sitting on a bench somewhere doing some "people watching" and watching interesting folks from a distance, I work in an occupation that makes me one of those people that actually interacts with those weirdos or truly interesting people. So bring on the weird ducks, the whack jobs, the complainers, the people who don't bathe but every blue moon....I am strangely grateful for their acquaintances because they teach me and remind me that there truly are all kinds of people in this world.

Nightmare on 13th

2009-11-01T19:22:00.001-07:00

So for the last 3 years we have gone to haunted houses. Being childless as of yet, it's how we celebrate our Halloween every year. I am not big in to Halloween like some people I know. I don't decorate, I don't pass out candy.. I don't do anything. I am your genuine Halloween scrooge. I could care less if there were no such holiday. In Utah, there is an abundance of haunted houses. There are the little kid ones, the amateur ones and the "supposedly" professional ones.

The entire month of October it is impossible to listen to just about any music radio station without hearing about the haunted houses in Utah. The commercials are genius and send chills down your spine, forcing suspicions in one's mind about the scary images one would encounter upon entering the haunt. I have heard awesome things about the Nightmare on 13th in Salt Lake. So we decided to check it out this year.

We decided it had been too long since we have hung out with our friends from college, Gary and Emmalee who are now living in Salt Lake City, and thought it would be fun to go to Nightmare on 13th. We went and had dinner with them at their cute little apartment, and then headed over to the well publicized haunt. We even bought VIP passes so we wouldn't have to wait in line.

Let's just say that after the overall experience, it was dissapointing. There were highlights here and there of things that were optical illusion cool, or things to make you scream here and there, but it wasn't at all as scary as I thought it would be. I didn't even have nightmares. Brandon and I agreed that the Haunted Hollow in Ogden was much better than Nightmare on 13th. But overall it was a fun time to hang out with old friends, have some laughs, some screams, the occasional swear word, and some dang good homemade apple pie. (I made my very first from scratch apple pie, and it was FABULOUS).

Here's my tangent (get this):
Already think I have issues? Here's a real humdinger....I can go to scary haunted houses, but I can't STAND to watch scary movies...they give me horrific nightmares. Movies are so much more realistic to me with the mix of suspense, music, and real-to-life stories that the images are somewhat embedded enough in to my brain to last through the night, not a pleasant experience.

So Excited....I Ain't Hidin' It!

2009-10-27T13:15:00.001-06:00

Different people express their obsessions in different ways. Here's mine:

I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEW MOON MOVIE TO COME OUT ON NOVEMBER 20TH! TALK ABOUT SERIOUS EYE-CANDY!

There. I said it. I'm good now.

FLU SEASON, What Do You Do, Or Not Do?

2009-10-14T21:54:00.002-06:00

About 2 weeks ago I got my flu shot. I was at an interpreting appointment when my client decided to get a flu shot. I went back with her to interpret and the funny nurse turned to me and asked if I had gotten my shot yet. I told her no and went on with interpreting, though the nurse just stood there and gave me this dirty look and said that I needed to get my butt back in there after I was done "doing my job" and get a flu shot. I didn't get one last year (yes, I know that diabetics are considered to be in the priority group, but I still didn't get one) and decided I would go ahead and get one.

So lo and behold about 10 days later I got the flu, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I was miserable. I was dizzy, feverish, coughing, headachey (new word!), lacking ANY energy, blood sugar all out of control 5 shades of crazy sick! It wasn't your run-of-the-mill 24 hour bug. This beast lasted 4 entire days. This is that miss2daysofworksickovertheweekend kind of flu.

This happened a COUPLE of times this past year because of having the boys and those annoying people that bring their kids or themselves to church to share their "love", or GERMS! I can't stand it when people come to church because they don't want to "miss" a Sunday, yet they are sharing just about every other unnecessary thing as well!

Climbing down from my soap box, my question is this: Do any of y'all get your flu shots and get sick, or not get flu shots and STILL get sick? Is it one of those things that you're "danged if ya do, and danged if ya don't" sort of things? What do y'all think?

Rainy Days, Cooler Weather

2009-10-04T15:29:00.009-06:00

The last week or so we have had some cooler temperatures as well as warm ones. I have been thrilled with this! I was all over getting dressed for work in a new long sleeved sweater this last Tuesday in order to go to work. I had the opportunity to do that a couple of times this week. When not working, I was in long sleeves and comfy jeans! In years past I have vehemently decried any appearance of cool weather, but this year the coolness in the air is a welcome feeling. Last weekend when Brandon and I went up to the Wolf Creek resort for a belated celebration of our 5 year anniversary, the weather was a little cooler than usual and absolutely beautiful!This little fox was our personal greeter at the registration office where we checked in to our condo! He was so tame it was amazing.

This was one of 2 possibilities in real estate in the Eden, UT area.
This is the house in Huntsville, UT where President David O. McKay grew up. Beautiful.
This craftsman style home was also in Huntsville, and was equivalent to our dream home. I might have changed the colors a bit, and the front door stained glass window was gorgeous.

This is the 2nd option for affordable real estate in Huntsville, UT. Horses as our room mates included.
There was NO option not to eat here once we found it. The owners are originally from Austin (not NEARLY as cool as Houston) but the food was pretty good. Oh, this was in "downtown" Huntsville which is across the lake from where we stayed in Eden, UT.
This pretty much explains my opinion of pickles in general... they are a complete waste of dirt!
The waterfall at the mouth of Ogden Canyon. Pretty but unfortunately not a natrual one. (See below)
The waterfall sits to the right of this pipeline that ever so eerily hangs above the road which enters the canyon.
My golf-pro of a husband playing some gold at the Mount Ogden golf course.
Texan driver behind the wheel of the golf cart. I drove it like it was a rental car.

Mountains with fall colors somewhere above Eden.

We went on a hike that was right below the Snow Basin Resort and saw all kinds of pretty fall colors!

The trail where we hiked for nearly 5 miles total. The weather was beautiful and perfect for a picnic!

Tripping Over My Words.....

2009-09-29T11:09:00.002-06:00

I don't know what it is lately, but I have been lacking in the mind-to-mouth coordination department. For example, last Sunday in the Deaf Branch I voiced during sacrament meeting, and during Sunday School as well. And try as I might, I couldn't get my thoughts in to coherent words and sentences. I hope this is a just a phase. I get so frustrated with myself when this happens. If my words were my feet, I would be face to face with the ground 24/7.

Hair Woes of Yesteryear

2009-09-14T16:07:00.002-06:00

Last Saturday Brandon and I went up to Brigham City, UT for their "Peach Days" carnival. We didn't actually make it to the carnival, but had a great time at a BBQ with the Deaf Branch we go to. It was a combined Cache Valley and Ogden BBQ. It was really great to see some people that we haven't seen in a very long time! But here's my point to the title of this post:

Like many activities with the Deaf (it's the truth, let's face it guys) the BBQ didn't start anywhere NEAR the time it was supposed to. This was not a great thing for my blood sugar. We get there and an hour goes by or preparation and I start to feel "drunk". My blood sugar was starting to plummet. I asked Brandon to come with me (thank goodness for that!) and we went to the closest gas station we could find. We get out of the car and walk in to the store. Not a minute after we walk in there and the cashier busts out "Oh my GOODNESS who does your hair?" I looked around seeing who she was talking to and realize she's talking to me! I had a sense of panic shiver up my spine because I got my hair cut just the day before. All I could say was "Oh no! Does it look that bad? I just got it cut yesterday and haven't had the chance to look at the back!"

She says "NO! That isn't what I mean. It actually looks like whoever did it did a great job!"

I say "PHEW! I you scared the (censored) out of me! I thought you meant to say it looked terrible!"

Lady: "No not at all, I am just wondering where you got it done? Was it here in Brigham? I have yet to find someone that cuts decent hair!"

Me: "No, sorry. I get my hair cut by the ladies at the Fantastic Sam's on 36th street in Ogden"

Lady: "I thought you were going to say that, I have gotten my hair cut twice here and they always screw it up!"

So this conversation went as such and it reminded me of the hair disasters I experienced. One of the WORST haircuts and colors I ever had done was in Brigham City actually.

It also reminded me of how we get up in the morning and do our hair only to go to the hair salon to have them wash it all over again cut and style it. One of my serious pet peeves about this is that I will go in and they cut my hair and don't blow dry it all the way, even when I try to ask them to blow dry it all the way because the natural wave can quickly turn into a natural disaster if they don't dry it all the way. I hate paying good and hard earned money PLUS a tip to someone that only minimally dries my hair and expects me to be happy!

My question to my readers (again, all 3 of you) is have you ever had a hair freakout over a bad haircut or color? If so, what happened?

Caffeine Free Folks!

2009-09-07T11:16:00.002-06:00

Today marks 2 entire weeks since I have consumed any caffeine. I am a caffeine-free woman! (wishing right about now that I was a fat-free woman)

For years and years I have consumed caffeine in mass quantities since dating a guy in high school who's family drank Dr. Pepper like water. I will admit that I went for a couple of year in college without it. For some reason I started up again and when I found out I had Diabetes, I was more than happy to switch to Diet Dr. Pepper.

This "habit" as my mom likes to call it, really turned into one. I got to the point where I couldn't wait to have my early/mid-morning "hit" of caffeine. I would get up, shower, and the come upstairs to get a Diet Dr Pepper only to take it down stairs with me to drink while finishing my "getting ready for the day" routine.

When we got the boys, it got even worse! Lack of sleep didn't help either. It was the only thing that could get me through the day.... or so I thought.

I started doing things to make sure I got my caffeine for the day. I would wake up in the morning, get ready as fast as I could and throw the boys in the car to drive the 1 mile to the gas station and buy 2-4 Diet Dr Pepper's for the day or next 2 days. Then I realized that I was participating in "addict" behavior! I would get moody and anxious if I didn't get my caffeine.. then the headaches would hit.

When the boys left us, I decided it was time to make some changes. I went to Idaho with my husband for a few days, drank a TON of caffeine, and then during my trip to Denver I decided not to drink ANY caffeine. For those of you that know my family, most of us LOVE soda. So my parents had tons of it, either caffeinated or decaffeinated. I chose the diet decaffeinated stuff to help with this. That was 2 weeks ago! I must say the withdrawals were HECK. The headaches were the worst, on top of feeling extremely tired for the first few days. If those were the lousy withdrawals from only a bad caffeine habit, I can't even begin to imagine the crap people experience with stronger more controlling habits!

So here's to healthy!

Healthy and Conscious

2009-09-04T23:15:00.003-06:00

I have been reading a book that I bought at the Salt Lake Airport in anticipation of my flight to Denver for an entire week. Nearly every book in my house has been read more than once (if it's Twilight, about 6 times.. but who's counting??!!) and I have had enough. I bought a book with a title that might offend some of my blog readers (all 3 of you) but it's called "Skinny B$*&%z". I picked it up out of curiosity and read the back. It sparked my interest when it stated that the authors were bluntly honest about how to eat better and get healthy in the process. Little did I realize that this book was MUCH more than that. If you can stomach some of the inappropriate language of these women, you are able to learn a lot of useful information. I have to say the information intrigued me and really made me think. For example, they talk about the meat packing industry and the government's lack of effort to stop animal cruelty/abuse. They talk about the unhealthy hormones that animals are injected with such as growth hormones, or hormones that make cow's make more milk at unnatural rates, and how this crap ends up in our bodies when we consume animal products.

I have NEVER considered myself a "tree-hugger" or whatever you consider "those" people. I just have to say that I respect anyone who lives what they believe whether I agree with it or not (within moral reason). Being environmentally aware of your surroundings and standing up for it is neither right or wrong for me. While reading this book, I may not be fully adopting the recommendations of these cheeky (British slang folks!) women, their musings have really made me think even more about the kinds of food I consume on a daily basis and how I feel after eating the things that I do. So it comes down to this: I am trying to make better choices about what I eat. I have high cholesterol, therefore I need to consume foods that aren't going to make my cholesterol take even more flight. To start, I am trying to eat more fruit and vegetables, consuming less dairy meaning buying soy yogurt, soy milk, and soy cheese. I am also trying to eat less meat and not eat so many processed foods that contain tons of sodium, cholesterol, and yes people, my other enemy.....CARBS!

And just because I am buying SOY products doesn't mean that I am a "tree-hugger". Let's just say that I am choosing to do so for my own health. Soy doesn't contain ANY cholesterol and is a pure protein without hormones or some crap in it.

I am taking interest in buying more naturally made products that are better for me in general. I am perusing the different natural health food stores for the best deals on naturally made products that aren't necessarily organic. Thank goodness I have a wonderful and supportive husband who was already raised in a home with similar views on food!

So here begins a new point in my life: eating not only better foods, but trying to be conscious of what I am putting into this body of mine.

Idaho Adventures

2009-08-21T15:08:00.002-06:00

We are here in Idaho with Brandon's family and we are having a great time relaxing, laughing, boating and taking jeep rides into the mountains!

We left town Tuesday right after saying goodbye to the boys and came straight here to Brandon's hometown. It felt kind of weird being the 2 of us again, but it is turning out to be an easier adjustment than we thought. Truly this is a tender mercy from the Lord.

We have had some non stop fun since we got here. Wednesday we went to the golf course in Weiser, ID and Brandon, his dad, and brother golfed while I drove the golf cart around. It was so much fun.

Thursday (yesterday) we went to Hell's Canyon to water-ski and eat a picnic. It was a fun and relaxing afternoon/evening. The water was perfect (though Brandon's family says it's too warm) and I was able to go kneeboarding for the first time in a year or so. It was a lot of fun until I totally biffed it in the water. When I surfaced, I was dazed because it happened so fast and it hurt! Thought I would wake up this morning (Friday) with whiplash, but thankfully that wasn't the case.

Today we went in to the mountains in Don's (my FIL) jeep, and ended up hiking a little ways. We drove on some old mining roads that are 50 years old. We had a blast of course! We came to the near top of the mountain and got out of the jeep and climbed up the steep mountain side quite a ways and tossed or rolled some rocks down the mountain to see how far they would go. It was a great work out, but quite slippery in some places. It was the coming down part that really made us stay on alert. I took my sweet time coming down so that I wouldn't get hurt out in the middle of nowhere.

Tonight we are going back down to the lake, seeing as how everyone wants to get in as much water-skiing as possible!

I once again want to thank everyone for your love and support. Be assured that we have felt their influence. We love y'all and hope y'all are doing well! Have a great weekend!

Love You Forever

2009-08-17T22:18:00.003-06:00

It's here, the last night that we have Hunter and Bubba in our home. Today Brandon and I had the opportunity to meet the boys' grandparents from out of state. They are wonderful people. The boys spent the day with them and came back for one more night with us. I sit here struggling to balance my emotions with my thoughts. On the one hand, I understand everything that has taken place and I KNOW that it is for a reason. I KNOW that these boys are going to be okay. I KNOW that the Lord is mindful of them, their grandparents, and us in this difficult time. And yet with all of this new-found knowledge, I am heartbroken. My heart is in a different place than my mind. I feel like there is this gaping hole in my chest that is surely going to take some time to heal. It is this feeling that leads me to the decision of not being a foster parent any longer. I was strong enough to be there for these boys, to care for them, love them, and cherish them when they needed it most. I am blessed more than words can convey to have known these two little ones. I know without a doubt that I will see them and know them in the life to come. It is this feeling that brings me peace. I wouldn't change having them in our home for the last 9.5 months.

I understand that it's okay to be heartbroken. I know that I am going to ache emotionally for a while, and it's going to take time for me to get over this. But I am grateful for the precious joys and cherished understanding that comes with being a "parent". I can now only look forward to the future that will someday allow me the opportunity to become a mom to my own children, whether it's in this life or the next.

Thank you to everyone that was mindful of our situation, for your considerate thoughts, reassurances, and thoughtful prayers for us these last several weeks/months. We have felt them and can not thank y'all enough.

Weber County Fair

2009-08-10T13:48:00.006-06:00

This 2 year old sure loves Brandon. They are best buddies.
Bubba was extremely tired by the end of our afternoon in the warm sun!
We loved the adorable goat mommy and her babies!
Hunter got a kick out of the goats getting a bath. They were protesting the entire time.
Hunter loved the animals. He kept saying/signing piggies!
This was a sweet Kodak moment!
Bubba with his mouth full of chicken nuggets and french fries!
Hunter saying "CHEESE"!

"Hey Sexy" Part 2

2009-07-29T10:08:00.002-06:00

Last Saturday, I woke up not feeling too hot, so my wonderful husband got up with the boys. To really let me rest so I could get up for the later part of the day while he went to work, he took them for a walk at a nearby path by the Weber River. Brandon came home and told me a funny story.

They were walking along the river when a really pretty lady went by with 2 big dogs. Usually Hunter will see a dog and point to it and say "puppy!", this time he associated the dogs with Lexi. So as this beautiful woman walks by Hunter proceeds to yell "Hi Sexy!".

Luckily...the lady had and iPod.

Big & Bananas

2009-07-18T10:57:00.002-06:00

Lately we have been thrilled and exited over Hunter's improvements with speech. He is formulating 3-5 words sentences and is expressing himself more and more. He is one smart little guy.

The other day I scrambled eggs for the boys, served them to them and they started to eat. I walked over and started making myself my daily strawberry and banana smoothie when Hunter chimes in and says "Mama's 'nanas!" I had to laugh at this since he has been kind of sensitive lately and we have all been sick, so I have been going "bananas". He was spot on when it comes to bananas.

A few minutes after this, Hunter was signing to himself, and quite pleased with himself and wanted to show me a newer sign Brandon taught him. So without fail, he gets my attention by saying "Mama BIG!" Once again, I laughed again at this taking it out of context and agreed with him and said "Yes Hunter, Mama's BIG!" (Mumbling to myself right after that I was going to again get more committed to getting my BIG butt out to run!)

Step By Step

2009-06-28T19:11:00.004-06:00

The baby took his first steps tonight! The first video was the longest run of steps and the second is of the very first steps he took! Just thought we'd share! Yay for milestones!

Tuckered Out

2009-06-27T21:23:00.004-06:00

The other day I ran the boys all over the place running errands before we came home for lunch and naps. One of them didn't even care about eating lunch, which is a BIG deal if you know how he gets when he is hungry!

I HEART HOUSTON

2009-06-13T13:46:00.004-06:00

Unlike some people I know who are so timely when posting pictures and stuff on their blogs as soon as things happen, I have only just now been able to sit down to blog about my trip.

As has been the trend over the last few years, I have been making it down to Houston about ever year and a half or so. Not including this recent trip, I expect that now that my parents live in Denver (less than half the drive it used to take to get to Texas) I don't know when I will be going next. I'm not dogging my good friends that are still down there, but let's face it folks trips like that for me are pricey!

The reason for my trip was for my best friend/"brother" Ben's wedding to the love of his life Bella! Before I ever even bought a ticket down there, I knew that I was going to be there for their big day. Since Ben wasn't able to be at my wedding (he was on his mission at the time), I promised him years ago that I would be at his. I also knew that since I don't make it down there very often, I wasn't just going to fly in to town the day before and leave the day after. I thought that if I was going to spend the money on the ticket then I was going to take advantage of the opportunity of being there and doing some fun things.

To make a long story short, the highlights of the trip were going with Michelle to get her tattoo celebrating her mom being a cancer survivor; helping Ben and Bella decorate for their reception, being at their sealing; shopping till I dropped; going to the reception and seeing people I haven't seen in years; lunch with Scott; watching chick flicks with Michelle; going to Galveston Island and eating at Gaido's; walking along the beach; getting 2 henna tattoos; eating kolaches and REAL glazed donuts (sorry Utah, when it comes to donuts, you seriously SUCK); dinner at Barnaby's and apple pie at House of Pies; laying out in the sun by the pool relaxing; and just lots of laughter and catching up with Michelle over the weekend!

Houston will always and forever be where I call home; whether family is there or not. I love the busy city life, the memories there and the wonderful and dear friends that I have known for over half of my life (feeling old right about now). Like some people say "you can give me miles and miles of mountains, but I will always love the beach".

Ignorance is Bliss? Maybe in Most Cases...

2009-06-02T17:03:00.003-06:00

I have to start this post by saying that I know there is no shortage of idiots in the world today. I am no stranger to ignorant people making stupid comments, especially having worked in the Deaf Community as an interpreter, having a husband who is Deaf, and the fact my niece and nephew are inter-racially adopted. My sister has a myriad of things she could tell you about ignorant people's comments to her about her children.

A few weeks ago, my husband, the boys and I went out to Costa Vida, (one of our favorite restaurants) and there was this lady standing behind us in line. We were playing with our boys and trying to keep them entertained as we waited in line and she asked us how old they were. I told her the boys' ages, and she replied that they were so close in age (2 1/2 and 1). I replied saying they were our foster children and that they really do keep us busy. She looked at me with surprise and said "They're foster kids?....But they are so cute!". (What? Are foster kids supposed to be ugly?!!!!!)

Needless to say I thought she was an idiot for making such an ignorant statement. Maybe I shouldn't judge, but seriously??!!!

Koolaid Mustache

2009-05-26T19:02:00.002-06:00

Just a short blog on this one. Do you remember when you were a kid and would drink your Koolaid and get the inevitable "mustache" that came with it? To this day, it must be the way I drink Koolaid because I ALWAYS get one unless it's the pink lemonade flavor.

So this is out there now, I am a woman in my mid-20's that still gets them.

"Growing older is not an option, growing up is!"

And We Have a One-Year Old!

2009-05-23T21:11:00.003-06:00

These pictures are a little backwards so scroll all the way down then scroll up and they will be in order!

Anyway the younger of our two foster boys turned 1 last Saturday and we had a party! I made cupcakes for the first time in my life and they turned out yummy! I ate way too many! I used the confetti cake and frosting from Duncan Hines. We had invited so many kids and parents that we decided to throw the party in our back yard. I went and bought some cute decorations and made it a Mickey Mouse themed party. Several people showed up and the baby got lots of clothes and things for his birthday! You will also see the pictures of the gradual process of him eating his first cupcake! It was fun to watch!

The above picture was him in his "birthday" suit after we washed his hair out from getting frosting in it! Enjoy the adorable pictures as well as the priceless one of Hunter!

Hi Sexy!

2009-05-20T17:12:00.003-06:00

As most people know we have a wonderful little dog named Lexi. With Hunter's little speech delay and in his own special language when Lexi comes in to the room from another room or from downstairs he hollers "HI SEXY HI!"

Or in mimicking me when I holler her name for her to come inside he yells "SEXY"!

Haha enough said.

Ran a 5k? Yeah... Not So Much

2009-05-18T23:36:00.003-06:00

Last Saturday I drove my fat apple down to Draper to the city park to run in a 5K benefitting children who are Deaf. I was really looking forward to it since I have gotten to the point where I am jogging over 4 miles now and doing it comfortably. So I get there and see TONS of people that I know from the Deaf Community before the race. They had announcements and explained how the course was set up for the 5k. They told us that there would be 2 places to grab water as you jogged by. Well needless to say I never saw 2 places to pick up water. They neglected to mention that we had a specific place to turn in order to make the run a giant circle, meaning most of the runners ended up jogging 4.4 miles instead of the intended 3!

I was incredibly fortunate to run in to an old friend of mine from USU. She and I ended up jogging together until the finish line. I just knew as we were jogging that it had to have been longer than 3 miles, and needless to say we found out VERY quickly that there had been a mistake! The only thing I can say about that was that it was great to run a new trail with a good old friend! My time was consistent with my personal jogs that I do a few times a week. I am just so grateful for my iPod, because music is what gets me going and keeps me motivated on my jogs.

So even though I ran much further than anticipated, it was a great feeling to know I ran that far unintenionally! Great day and great workout!

Allergies Issues, What Would You Do?

2009-05-02T13:13:00.005-06:00

I am feeling very bad for a friend of mine that just found out the hard way that her little girl is allergic to peanuts, and even after that when they conducted more allergy tests, they found out her little girl is also lactose intolerant. They had to get her daughter a Rx for an Epi-Pen to have with them at all times.

As a result of this news , it has turned this family's world upside down. My friend is the kind who doesn't handle stress very well (kind of like me) and didn't even know where to start when it came to grocery shopping for her daughter. I know from my own experience that there are things out there like soy milk (I drink it by choice), soy yogurt, soy ice cream etc. Luckily for her in this day and age many food labels have warnings that they contain things such as nuts, gluten (for celiacs), peanuts etc. Too bad for me, all nutrition labels say how much sugar they have but I STILL eat them. Anyway, I was talking to my husband that said my friend has taken the extreme approach that applies to the WHOLE family: no one is allowed to eat or drink normal dairy products anymore. They can't have ice cream, yogurt, or anything. I can definitely understand the shock and stress of being told your child can't eat certain things, and that you would take the most obvious and drastic approach when your knowledge is limited. I understand that my friend wants to make things "fair" for her little girl, but what about her older siblings that aren't allergic to the same things? Do you think it's not being fair to them? What would you do in this situation?

And the Nightmare Continues...

2009-04-28T21:18:00.002-06:00

After this I will save you from the frightening mental images....

Whenever I go to the gym there is this older man, meaning probably in his 50's that really must think he is something special. Or in other words he must think he is quite the "hottie with a naughty body" but oh boy is he wrong! He walks around in skin tight and short tight fitting black biker shorts during his work out. I mean really! It makes me want to spill my cookies just thinking about it! I see him all the time and it makes me just roll my eyes and look the other way.

Do people just honestly have no conscience these days? Since when is it okay to let it ALL hang out?

The only thing I can say positive about spandex is this: it embraces everything from the good, the bad and the ugly! And as of the last week or so, it's definitely embracing the UGLY!

Ugh, Here We Go Again...

2009-04-27T16:21:00.002-06:00

I must have some kind of tendency to seeing things that are quite unpleasant lately.

I took the boys to Wal-Mart today for our weekly trip to the grocery store (which I always spend way too much) and the trip went really well. I buried Hunter in the grocery cart with groceries to the point that I HAD to take him out because it wasn't fun anymore. He was MUCH improved with his mood when I did take him out. It wasn't until the end that I saw her....

I was walking with Hunter holding one hand in to the parking lot and one hand on my grocery cart (filled to the brim including the baby in the cart seat) and saw this middle-aged lady that when I saw her from the side, and looked between her waist and her knees, I swear I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between her gut and her butt. Bless her heart, she looked like a giant basketball with legs. The only thing was that she had the guts to wear black shiny spandex pants, and a black and white striped t-shirt.

Yet another image welded in to my brain..... oh joy.

Jogging Just Shouldn't Be Traumatic

2009-04-22T21:49:00.002-06:00

This is my 3rd post today but I just HAD to mention this because it was so gross!

I am jogging each day in order to build myself up again for the 2 forthcoming 5k's that I am going to run next month. If you want to join me just let me know!

Anyway I was jogging around my neighborhood when I came across a man that was in his late 50's or early 60's and looked to be about 14 1/2 months pregnant who decided to strike a pose while bent over in his garden wearing daisy duke denim cut-offs! (that's a serious run-on sentence but I just had to get it all in there!) So I nearly tripped over my own two feet when I saw this, while also doing a double-take. I don't know WHY I felt so inclined to look twice but I think it was more or less the shock of it all! I am shocked that I am not blind from this! Heaven's to Betsy that is a nasty image forever seared into my brain!

California Livin'!

2009-04-22T14:52:00.010-06:00

The total love of my life and I on the pier!

I have to say that our trip was an amazing one. I got to see the hundreds of wonderful reasons why people love living life in sunny Southern Cali! The beautiful mountains and beaches, the spectacular climate, the FASHION, the flowers and trees. Well, just about everything California.

Saturday was when we were left to ourselves to kind of drive around and see everything. We ended up taking I-5 up past LA to Hollywood and coasted up and down Hollywood Blvd, Sunset Blvd and even driving down the famous Rodeo Drive where all the celebs shop. As I stated below Sunset and Hollywood Blvd's were nothing spectacular by any means. But Rodeo Dr was beautiful. It was also the place that the GAYDAR was roaring out of control. Brandon was driving and said that it seemed like there were a bunch of gay men couples walking around. I said that just because two men are seen walking together doesn't mean they are gay. Then I took a closer look, and YUP there were couples everywhere of both sexes. All I could think was that's not something you often see in Utah! I wasn't very bothered by it, because I don't judge people like that, but it was just something I wasn't used to seeing. Then we passed a store just outside of the shops that was called "Love Connection" with yet another FREE HIV TESTING neon sign and couldn't help but think of the Hillcrest part of San Diego, or the Montrose part of Houston!

We just had a fantastic time and I am thankful to have had the chance to go. We came back refreshed and ready to tackle anything!

HAHAHA oops! We came out on the other side from underneath the pier only to find this sign! (for those of you that REALLY know me, this SO should not surprise you!)
Walking under the pier was a little creepy, but also very cool to hear the water crash between all the wood posts! Oh and there was a million oysters that had super-glued themselves in little colonies on all of the posts!
This was taken REALLY closed to the pier and I just thought it was a little funny.
Funny thing that this incredibly good looking guy came up to me and asked me to take a picture of him! ;) The Santa Monica Pier!

This is the Santa Monica beach! It was an absolutely spectacular day!

This was a neat fountain on the temple grounds! One thing that is for sure is that the Church doesn't hold back in honoring the Lord with such incredible but simple beauty!

I really liked this picture!
More pretty flowers!
It's not every day either that you come upon a freakin' Rolls Royce in a temple parking lot!
I loved these flowers so much I had to take a picture!
We took a turn down Santa Monica Boulevard and without even trying to look for it, we came up on the LA temple! It was huge! I loved it and the grounds surrounding it!

I thought it was cool that we came across the classic Beverly Hills sign! Needless to say the area was absolutely beautiful! I loved the trees and what few homes we actually saw! Oh and every other car was seriously a BMW, Mercedes, Range Rover, Lexus, VW, Hummer, etc.
We came across this store and just HAD to take a picture of it. I thought the name was hilarious but then took a second look at the "FREE HIV TESTING" neon sign. It's DEFINITELY not everyday you see that. All I could think was "welcome to California".

I have to say that compared to all the glitz and glamour that is portrayed as Hollywood Blvd, the real thing is really nothing special. There were many of the regular everyday stores that you see in any other state. But it was kind of cool to see the Kodak Theatre.
I think this is Hollywood Boulevard. There were tons of people. We realized that there was a long line of people camped out on one of the sidewalks waiting to buy New Kids tickets!
I saw this building (notice the all too classic California graffiti beneath) and had to take a picture! Too weird!
Coasting along the Interstate 5 we saw this so I had to act quick to take a picture!
One of our first glimpses of downtown LA. It had some really cool buildings! And we were lucky to never get stuck in what is the infamous traffic!

At the Huntington Beach Pier! It was VERY cold and windy! We couldn't believe there were people surfing and swimming! Luckily the days after this one were much warmer!

Right before we got to the HB pier, there was this artist that could do some of the coolest spray paint art I had ever seen. He did different things in just a matter of minutes. It was awesome!
The giant advertisements in Cali were not something that we were used to seeing!
This is one of the first pictures we took while in Huntington Beach, CA. It was so funny! "brandon coming out of the closet".

Vegas Baby!

2009-04-22T14:24:00.007-06:00

We decided that in heading to California we would take an extra day to split the driving time up. We were able to use our time share and stay a night in Vegas. We left Tuesday afternoon and arrived late in Sin City. We srove through the strip to see the lights, and made it to our hotel. The next morning we took the time to see the Bellagio and Caesar's Palace. Being non-gamblers/drinkers/smokers and seeing the sights in Vegas we were able to enjoy the architecture and beautiful buildings. Someday I would love to have the opportunity to see a cool show in Vegas because that is really the only thing I would do there! The only thing I would have changed is not having to breathe in all that 2nd hand smoke in the casinos. It gave me the biggest headache! We had the time to go to the forum shops to look around, but we didn't really go in to any of the stores. The only two stores I dragged Brandon in to were the Gap and Tiffany's. I LOVED the beautiful jewelry there!

My hottie of a husband! Man how I love him!

I loved this mosaic tile motif in the casino.

I saw this lady bug and immediately thought of my sister who loves them!

This is the garden room of the Bellagio Hotel and Casino. It smelled wonderful and unlike anything I had ever smelled!

Happy Birthday Katootie!

2009-04-06T22:15:00.003-06:00

Today is my sister's 30th birthday! So HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATIE!

I love my sister. She is one of the funniest, goofiest, and loving people that I know. Hanging out with her is absolutely NEVER boring! One of the things I love about her is her spunk, and how I don't know anyone else like her. She calls a spade a spade, and doesn't possess any qualms about telling you so. She has a way of saying things with her own twist on them that will have you rolling on the floor but also you'll find her own wit and wisdom woven in. One thing I will tell the world is that shopping is almost always fun with her, because Katie has great taste in clothes and would never let you buy something that would allow you to walk around looking like a moron. She'll tell you if something looks cute, or if it really does make your butt look big. (in my case it's always the latter!)

So there it is Tootie! I hope you had a great birthday!

Judgments

2009-04-06T21:50:00.003-06:00

God gave me the opportunity to learn something valuable today. I think He knew I needed a swift kick in the pants when it comes to humility and not jumping to conclusions about some things in life.

I have found that I am one of those people that though I try very hard and definitely know better, I tend to make judgments about situations, people, or things that I see going on around me, or happening to me. One thing I know realize now more than ever is that I am undoubtedly, very fallibly and completely human! I used to be worse as a teenager but as I have gotten a little older I have become a little wiser.

So getting back to God kicking me in the patootie....

In my life both as a foster mom and having worked as a full-time interpreter, I have been able to meet and greet many new people. There are those people I would meet before interpreting appointments that I just knew they had a history or interesting story that made them who they are. Then there were the clients that I must admittedly say I was glad that I only ever met them once. As a foster mom I have gotten to know case workers, family advocates, etc. And today I got to know an incredibly brave person who shall remain anonymous, but who inspired me a great deal. This person taught me to not "judge a book by its cover". I now firmly believe in that dumb old cliche of not judging someone until you have walked a mile in their shoes. I have learned also that I have absolutely NO right to assume anything about someone because there is so much more underneath who they are or what they look like.

I also would like to say that I have had the wonderful privilege of reuniting with an old friend in the last couple of months. This has also taught me what I have mentioned above. I have found myself becoming a more loving, understanding, and forgiving person because of both of these situations and people. How much better life would be if people could just love one another unconditionally and without judging one another. This old friend of mine is very quickly becoming once again the best friend they once were to me. I absolutely adore her for the person she is, and the person she is becoming. She is also one of the bravest people I have ever met.

I can only hope that I will have these experiences as a gentle and reassuring reminder that I will go through life just loving people for who they are, and take the time to know them.

LA Here We Come!

2009-04-04T19:02:00.002-06:00

Since the Utah Men's Basketball team did so well at their tournament in Seattle they earned their bid for the National tournament in Anaheim, CA. Originally we had planned that Brandon would probably fly out for that weekend, but plans changed about 2 or 3 weeks ago and I haven't posted anything about it yet!

Brandon and I were talking about his trip one evening after the boys were in bed, and as we got to talking he asked me if I wanted to go! Any chance at all of me going would entirely depend on being able to find what is called Respite Care for the boys. The foster care system recognizes that just as regular parents sometimes need a break to themselves on occasion so do foster parents when caring for foster kids. For every month that you have children in your home, you earn one day of "paid" days of respite care. Basically the boys are going to be left in another licensed foster home for a few days while Brandon and I take off for his tournament! I have already talked to the other foster mom and we are going to meet them some time this week to introduce the boys to her and her husband. We are super excited about this, and really hope it works out.

Some people might be thinking that we have only had the boys for 4 months and that I shouldn't be asking for respite care this early, but really, this whole thing has been overwhelming at times and I simply would just really like to be able to go and support my husband and his team, AND get the chance to go to my 2nd favorite state!

Reflections...

2009-03-30T17:11:00.004-06:00

When Brandon and I decided to get involved with the foster care system, we knew it meant there would be the potential for both heartbreak and joy. So far, we have experienced both. We have been blessed with the privilege of seeing these boys thrive and move through milestones. I love hearing Hunter tell his baby brother he loves him. I get that great thrill when I hear the baby laugh. I love seeing their eyes light up when I walk into their room every morning. It is fun to have little shadows following me around the house during the day. I have seen the baby reach the point of pulling himself up on to everything that will let him do so. I love seeing Hunter sign with his little hands. I could go on about the joys that I have seen and experienced with these little guys.

For a time, I have had some selfishness seep into my mind. There have been time where I have thought about how much we would love to keep these little guys forever. But that isn't the reason we got in to foster care.

But I have finally started to again think about the reason that we got involved with foster care in the first place. We wanted to be able to give kids a safe haven from the terrible circumstances they were removed from. We wanted to give them the love and support that they would need when coming into our home even though they didn't know us and we didn't know them. We knew that we would be open to adopting if the opportunity would arise.

I have come to a place in my own mind and heart that things will work out the way the Lord wants them too. I am at peace with the fact that though every day we get a little more attached, there is a very real possibility that they may go back to their parents. People ask me all the time if we are going to adopt these boys or not. I basically tell them that it's still too early to tell. I also add that if they go back, then I am okay with that. I know that when children come into our home there really aren't any guarantees. People often just look at me and say that they couldn't do what Brandon and I are doing. They couldn't help raise little ones only to see them sent back to their families. I have learned that I am stronger than I give myself credit for, and that I know it will be hard but the Lord lead us to this, and He will bring us through it.

Whatever happens, I will accept it, and be at peace with it, because I know and understand the Lord's tender mercies.

Catching Up

2009-03-23T15:20:00.002-06:00

It's been a little while since I last posted anything, but want to thank y'all for leaving the encouraging (mostly encouraging) comments to help me keep blogging.

Lots of things have gone unblogged about that I don't want to forget mentioning.

I can't believe that it's already been a month since my wonderful Mama came in to town for a short visit! It was great having her here. She spent the first couple of days with my sister, and then came to meet the boys and stay with us for a few days. There is one thing that I can honestly say about my mother. She is one of the greatest joys in my life. She has one of the kindest hearts of anyone that I know. She also has one of those personalities that is just contagious. One thing that I actually have in common with this incredible lady is that we both laugh VERY easily, and this is one of my very favorite things about her. She and I had many good laughs while she was here. Another thing that happened while she was here is that I learned a lot from her in how to take care of little ones, because I mean hey, I have only been doing this for about 4 months. She had a LOT more patience with the boys than me and she just knew how to take care of them as much as she knows how to breathe in air. I hope someday that I can be that way. I am grateful that she is my mother, and one of my very best friends.

Another fun thing that happened about 2 weeks ago was that I went down to Salt Lake one night to go to my good friend Amber's 27th birthday party! It was mostly supposed to be a girls' night out with the exception of a couple of guys that came, but it was SO much fun! It was just what I needed... a night to myself surrounded by some very good friends. I hadn't seen some of the people that were there for a very long time so it was an awesome opportunity to be able to catch up with them. Amber is one of the finest people that I know in my life. She has an incredible faith in God, and that just radiates from her any time that I am around her. I am grateful also to have her as a friend, and am glad to know that it doesn't matter how much life and time pass by, she is still a wonderful friend!

This past Saturday night we had a couple of our friends from college come up for dinner, Gary and Emmalee! Brandon and Emmalee both work for USDB as Deaf Mentors and had an all day conference they attended up at the main campus. After they were done there, Gary drove up from Salt Lake to meet us all at the Costa Vida in downtown Ogden. As always the food was delicious and we watched the indoor surfers and indoor skydivers. That never gets old. We had a great time talking it up with our friends and enjoyed their company. The boys were very well-behaved too which made our lives easier.

Lastly I got an email from my Diabetes support group leader, and she said that there wasn't really a topic being taught for tomorrow night, and asked if anyone would be willing to teach or talk about a certain topic. I emailed her back and said that I wouldn't mind helping out, so we will see how that goes! I need to do some research and stop blogging! So that's all that has been going on with us lately, but it sure has been fun and memorable!

Should I? Or shouldn't I?

2009-03-12T10:29:00.002-06:00

I love to blog, and of course read everyone's blogs to catch up on what's going on... but I am thinking about stopping my own blog. I kind of feel like I am just talking to myself out here in the blogging world, because people have stopped leaving very many comments. I don't say that to get attention, but it's just how I am kind of feeling at the moment! Any suggestions? Maybe if there is a lack of comments that will be my answer!

Hunter Being Hunter

2009-03-03T15:17:00.002-07:00

Recently, our 2 year old foster son Hunter started doing something really sweet all on his own. He came up to me about a week ago all on his own to give me a "leg hug" and told me he loved me. This really meant a lot to me. We have always told him and his brother that we loved them. Hunter has also started showing a much sweeter side when it comes to affection with his younger brother. He tries to comfort and hug his brother sometimes when the baby is crying. He hands his younger brother toys when he drops them and gets upset. Now that they share a room, if the baby is crying, Hunter stands up in his crib and tells the baby that it's "okay". It has been a lot of fun to see this happen.

Hunter really is just an all around sweet kid. He of course has his moments, as we all do, but I am just really thankful for the spirit he brings into our home.

Diabetes Expo

2009-03-03T15:03:00.002-07:00

Last Saturday I volunteered at the Salt Lake City Diabetes Expo. I worked in the registration and had a great time. The Expo is held every year at the SouthTowne Expo Center and is a pretty bug event. Compared to last year, the turnout was huge! I remember that when it opened last year, it was busy, but there wasn't a line of people waiting to get in like this year! It was really cool. Some of us volunteers were talking about why this happened and some of the ideas expressed were that in the last year diabetes has become more and more of a prevalent health concern here in the USA, mainly Type 2 diabetes; the owner of the Utah Jazz Basketball team Larry H. Miller passed away recently from complications of Type 2 diabetes in which he openly admitted that he never took care of himself; or maybe the American Diabetes Association put out more flyers than last year. I personally think it is probably the first two options.

Our society seriously seems to revolve around food. I didn't really think about this until I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. We honestly live in a commercialized society that advertises food left and right! I know that pre/post diabetes I was more likely to attend events where there was food made readily available! Now it just depends on the kind of food as to whether or not I will attend! It just makes me sad to see so many overweight kids getting Type 2.

The second reason that is so interesting is about our local celebrity/icon of Larry H. Miller. He was the "poster child" for what can happen when you don't take care of yourself. This man had access to the best healthcare in the country, and he STILL didn't take care of himself the way he should have. He stated that he never ate the way he should. Taking care of oneself is something only we can decide for ourselves.

But a more positive thing about attending this event was that it was a great reminder of the awareness that is reaching people everywhere. More and more people are starting to understand what diabetes is in its many forms, and they want to do something about it, or help improve the lives of those already living with the disease. (Now I just wish that insurance companies would do more of the same!)

Computer Conundrum

2009-03-03T15:02:00.001-07:00

It's been quite a while since I posted anything because our Dell Laptop's hard drive failed on us. We have yet to try and access the files on it through other means, so wish us luck!

Making A Fool of Myself is SO Worth It If This Is the Outcome!

2009-02-15T21:29:00.005-07:00

Brandon ran and got the camera while I was doing this to make the baby laugh! I am a complete moron in it, but you'll understand when you see why!

Hunter Getting His Groove On

2009-02-15T21:14:00.004-07:00

We let Hunter stay up a little later than normal and boy did we have fun! This was a little clip of the dance party he had! This is what makes foster parenting so much fun, when we are able to make memories like this to help us always remember things like this.

Diaper Duty

2009-02-11T12:00:00.002-07:00

The last three or four days have been horrific when it comes to messy diapers. Who knew that poop could be a possible weapon for mass destruction?

Yes I was THIS bored!

2009-02-06T14:16:00.005-07:00

I saw this on my friend Tammie's blog, and thought it would be kind of fun and I was also a little bored....so here ya go.

1. Real name: Lisa Renee Dopf
2. Nickname: Lis, Weezer, Pee Wee, Stinky, Leeser, Lisa Marie
3. Status: Happily Married
4. Zodiac sign: Cancer
5. Male or female: Female
6. Elementary: Palmer Elementary
7. Middle School :Lake Olympia Middle School
8. High School: Elkins High School
9. College: Utah State University
10. Hair color: ah hell, it depends on the light I am in, but somewhere between light and dark brown
11. Long or short: short
12. Loud or Quiet: I can be both!
13. Sweats or Jeans: Jeans
14. Phone or Camera: I don't get this question, I have both
15. Health freak: Trying to be
16. Drink or Smoke: Nope
17. Do you have a crush on someone: Brandon
18. Eat or Drink: both I love food and Diet Dr Pepper
19. Piercings: Ears
20. Tattoos: No but if I did it would be a Diabetes tattoo
21. Music: Anything except for hard rock and rap, and for some reason country has started to annoy me
22. Comedies or Horror: Comedy, I get nightmares from horror

FIRSTS:
23. First piercing: My ears when I was 12
24. First best friend: Scott
25. First award: Most Valuable Swimmer when I was 8
26. First crush: Haha, Jason Burke or Scott Smylie
27. First Boyfriend/Girlfriend: Kyle Revell
28. First pet: I had 2 fantail goldfish named Sebastian and Ariel
29. First big vacation: My family went to Disney Land when I was 3, but other than that, probably going to San Diego with Gary and Brandon
30. First big birthday: when I turned 18, let's just say it was a serious girl's night out
31. First Car: 1991 Honda Accord I named Shelby because I like Ford Mustang Shelby GT500's
32. First Favorite Song: Tonight, Tonight, Tonight by Genesis
33. First phone: It was a maroonish color phone that was my older sister Jenny's
34. First Surgery: Knee Surgery at 17 for torn cartilage
35. First time on an Airplane: I have no idea, probably as a baby when my parent's moved back to the states

LASTS:
36. Phone Call: My sister Katie
37. Instant Message: Tanya on Facebook
38. Text Message: Brandon
39. Song you listened to: the Cars Movie music
40. Time you cried: two weeks ago

CURRENTLY:
41. Getting on your nerves: being fat, and the baby screeching instead of cooing
42. TV: American Justice, but I am not really watching it
43. Drinking: bottled water with cherry crystal light
44. Hair: straight
45. Wearing: Jeans and a t-shirt for cleaning house
46. Eating:chocolate chips for a little treat
47. With: my dog Lexi cuddled up next to me while I type this
48. I'm about to: start dusting once I get this done
49. Listening to: the dryer
50. Plans for today: get the house clean, fold laundry, and go grocery shopping

YOUR FUTURE:
51. Want kids: absolutely yes! I want some of my very own, but my foster boys are such a joy!
52. Want to get married: happily already for 4.5 years
53. Careers in mind:hopefully going back to interpreting someday, being a mom
54. Place of Residency: Utah, but would be happy anywhere
55. Car or Truck: I drive a Honda CR-V that I love!
WHICH IS BETTER:
56. Shorter or taller: I have always been taller than everyone else so I guess taller
57. Romantic or spontaneous: definitely spontaneous
58. Sensitive or loud: Sensitive
59. Serious relationship or casual dates: Relationship
60. Trouble maker or hesitant: depends on the mood I am in ;)

.HAVE YOU EVER:
62. Lost glasses/contacts: Nope
63. Ran away from home: Yes
64. Hold a gun/knife for self defense: No
65. Killed somebody: No
66. Broken someones heart: yup
67. Been arrested: nope but I have family that has
68. Cried when someone died: Yes
69. Kissed a stranger: yes
70. Had someone ask you out and you said no: I laughed in the guys face (mean, I know)
71. Laughed until you cried: Yes
72. Met someone who changed your life: there are too many to name
73. Fallen in Love: Yes
74. Found out someone was talking about you: Yes
75. Been Cheated on: Yes
76. Cheated on anyone: No
77. Lost someone special: Yes
78. Broken a bone: nope (knock on wood)

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:
79. Yourself: most of the time
80. Miracles: absolutely
81. Love at first sight: not quite sure about that one
82. Heaven: Yes, thought that's not where I am going (hehe)
83. Santa Claus: No
84. Holding Hands on the first date: Sure
85. Kiss on the first date: heck yes!

RANDOMNESS:
86. Righty or Lefty: Lefty
87. Last time you saw your Dad: Last Thanksgiving, sadly so
88. Do you like the snow: I could care less, I much prefer sand
89. Whats your favorite season: right between Spring/Summer
90. Can you swim: Yes, grew up living at the pool
91. Ridden a horse: Yes, and I have a butt as big as one
92. Ridden a bike: Yes
93. Photogenic: heck no
94. Have siblings: 2 older and beautiful sisters
95. Beach or Mountains: definitely beach
96. Hot or Cold: I prefer hot

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY:
97. Is there one person you want to be with right now: Yes
98. Are you seriously happy with where you are in life: yup
99. Do you believe in God: 100% Yes
100. Post these 100 truths and tag at least 5 people.

I now tag Katie, Jenny, Arren, Rachel, and Lauren!

Finally!

2009-01-30T10:28:00.004-07:00

For the last 2 weeks or so, I have slept on the couch because I wasn't getting ANY sleep with the baby sleeping in our room. The reason the baby was in our room is that the Utah Foster Care foundation says that you are allowed a little one under the age of 2 in your room. Since we have a 2 bedroom duplex, Hunter was in the other room as we got settled in to a routine, and the baby sleeping in our room became part of that routine.

There was just one problem... the baby wasn't sleeping through the night, and is a VERY restless sleeper. He was waking up once or twice a night for sometimes no reason at all, and would make just enough noise in his sleep that would keep me awake or wake me up in the night. This was NOT my idea of an ideal situation. So I was reading through the foundation's rules that said that two siblings of the same gender could be in the same room together. I thought this was wonderful except for the fact that the baby not sleeping through the night would not be a good combination to waking up a 2 year old. So I decided that sleeping on the couch was the best answer to this until I was for sure the baby was used to sleeping through the night. It wasn't easy to not go pick him up when he cried at night, but I was far enough away that with some earplugs, I could stay asleep if he woke up crying.

Last night after I bathed the boys, I decided to move the baby's bed in to the other room, and get everything set up and rearranged so his bed would fit. I ended up putting the baby down first for bed and then 1/2 an hour later I put Hunter in his. Let's just say that my first night back in my own bed was GLORIOUS! I slept really well for the first night in weeks! Hallelujah!