Happy Hibernating Pool

Today is a sad day, the pool is coming down! :(  It makes me sad to think that winter is just around the corner, it is about time for me to head into hibernation!

Anyone have any good suggestions of where I can go to hibernate at for a low rate?!?!?

I see that it is hot in Cali this weekend, I am hoping that some of that warm heat wave will come here for a few more weeks, or months!   With my luck winter will be here by end of next month! :(

Okay enough of that, I hope that everyone has a good week!

The N.E.C.K. club

A very close friend of mine has recently been affected by the economy and downsizing and has lost her amazing job. But, in spite of that, she has made the brave decision to start her own business in this crazy economy. I greatly admire her in this amazing endeavour that she is starting!

Katie, I hope that this new chapter in life and adventure that you are about to embark on finds you nothing but peace and happiness.  I am in awe of this path that you are heading on, and believe that you are going to reap an amazing life from it!

In honor of Katie (and others mentioned in this story), ttonight, I wanna take the time to tell you a lil story about some special people in my life...

Once upon a time, about 27 years ago, I met this young girl (well baby) and we instantly became friends. You see she had a sister who was my age and she was the age of my younger sister.  The four of us young girls became instant friends and so did our parents.  Us four girls were inseparable, we did EVERYTHING together, or so we've been told!

From the time the younger sisters were in diapers, the four of us would play together all day long, with barbies, dolls, ride bikes, swim in the swimming pool whenever we could, play dress up, jump on the trampoline, walk goats on leashes like they were dogs, chase onrie chickens around the yard, play softball, and the list goes on!

A few years after we were all out of diapers, we created a little club in the tree in the front yard of the house that I grew up in, called the N.E.C.K. Club.  Man if that tree could talk, the things that it would say...we had so many conversations about life and boys up in that tree.

The four of us girls spent so much of our growing up years together we often referred to ourselves as sisters, heck we often fought like sisters, but we mostly loved and lived like sisters. 

When we all started high school our relationships started to take us down some different paths...the four of us never really went to the same school (except a brief time in Elementary school), but before high school that had never changed our relationship...somehow, high school did.  I know all relationships change and grow, but looking back now, there are definitely things that I would of done differently during the high school years that probably wouldn't have changed our relationships so much at that time. 

Although things changed in high school we were always there for each other, graduations, holidays, birthdays...anything big happened, you name it, we were all there for one another!  After high school, we all four dabbled in college of different sorts and some of us dabbled in numerous different colleges (and probably will do for the rest of her life lol). 

Although none of us went to the same college (except for me and Liz) we all kept in touch. A few years after college, I was given the opportunity (at different times) to re-strengthen my relationships with my friends and create new memories.  As we got older, it was fun to reminisce on life and what it used to be like, the crazy things we did as kids and how we thought we'd be doing different things.

Today, all four of the girls are still friends and "sisters" and although they don't get together as much as they would like, when they are together, it is like the time apart never happened and they just pick off from where they left off. 

I can't remember a time from my childhood that didn't involve all four members of the N.E.C.K. club. I am extremely grateful for these ladies and for the memories that we have all created together. I love you all and I look forward to creating new memories!

The members of the N.E.C.K club, and where they are today...
N - Natalie is living in southern California with another close friend of mine Heather, working as a youth pastor and in real estate. She is enjoying life and horribly misses having me as a roomie too!
E - Elizabeth (Liz) is living in SW KS with her hubby and her crazy sister and bro-in-law who live a few blocks away.  Liz works at a community college and loves spending anytime she can with her wonderful sister!
C - Charity is living with her silly hubby in SW KS too. She is working as a RN at 2 diff facilities and really enjoys what she is doing. C is growing each day as a person, learning to be still and enjoy her life!
K - Katie is living in southern CA,  teaching part time at community college, enjoying spending more newly free time with her long time love Josh, taking pilates classes and as of the other day starting her own business! But, she horribly misses having her friend Charity around!

day 2 new job

Tonight ended my 2 day work week of my new job...so far so good!

I really really like it. Although it is a small hospital, so far the days have been quite busy, and I have gotten to do alot of different stuff.

It is hard to get out of the mind set of being at "clinicals" versus working as a RN.  I am so used to writing down all of the stuff that we do at clinicals on paper in forms of documentation and journals, and at work you just chart on the computer and alot of it is allready created for you in templates, which is very different.  I keep having to tell myself that I don't have to write down every LITTLE thing that I do b/c I don't have a teacher who is going to grade my assignments from the day.

I'm exhausted and I'm bout to head to bed, hope everyone has a blessed weekend.

Today I'm thankful for a job that I enjoy and love how "natural" it feels to be working as a RN.

New Job

Wow I can't believe that I totally forgot to blog yesterday! I was a little sidetracked and then remembered sometime today that I never blogged yesterday!

Yesterday I completed pre-employment stuff for a new job and then worked at my evening job.

Today, I started my first shift at a hospital as a RN!  I decided to let go of the home health job because it just wasn't the right fit for me.

So far, I totally love working at a hospital!  I was so nervous going into today, thinking that I didn't remember anything from nursing school, but of course I was wrong.

Most everything came back to me, and the day went pretty smoothly.  I have to drive 45 mins for the job, which kind of stinks, but I think that the experience will be well worth it. 

Sorry this is so short tonight, I'm exhausted! 

On today's journey, I am thankful for a new job that I enjoy, for a husband that is so flexible and for a yummy reheated fried chicken dinner w/salad! :)

"In the next 30 years"

Currently I am reading a booked that is based off of people visiting Hawaii. It is fun when you read a book about a place that you have been and one that actually mentions places that you have been to.

Reading the book also makes me a bit sad. I miss the days when I traveled frequently all over the US and lived life a bit more carefree. I'm not sure if it is just getting older, being married or having moved to KS, but traveling is not really something that I look forward to anymore. I get stressed out at the airport, or feel anxious with all of the lines, people, noise, chaos, etc. 

Reading the book made me remember the times that I have been blessed to go to Hawaii, and many other cool places.  But, it also reminded me of the beach in general...oh how I miss the beach! I miss the messy sand all over my feet and anything that I bring into the sand with me, I miss the sound of the waves crashing, I miss the look of palm trees, I miss eating pizza from the Original Pizza or eating a burger from Ruby's on the pier. I think most of all I miss the bonfires and memories that I had for so many years with all of my friends at the beach! 

Ben and I both used  to like to travel alot, but because of school and other obstacles from the last few years, that has not been as easy for us to do. 

Driving home from Dodge this afternoon, the song from Tim McGraw came on, "In the next 30 years," and I realized that in one week and one day from today I will be 30!  Which then made me start laughing in my car by myself, and I'm sure I looked quite funny rolling into Cimarron with my windows down laughing hysterically all by myself! :)

So, as I felt somewhat "inspired" by Tim McGraw, over the next 30 years I hope to travel more with Ben, spend alot more quality time with loved ones, take Ben to places that I dearly cherish from my childhood/early adult years, and continue to grow and learn how to be appreciative and happy with the live that I have been given!

Side note: There are many other things, but those are the things that come to mind right now...

 

 

A "Honky Tonk" kinda Monday

Today was a good day. I ran a bunch of errands, met a good friend for lunch, went to work and headed home.

There is never a dull moment at one of my jobs, usually some character being an odd ball or always fun and odd conversations going on! :)

This evening, myself, one of the counselors and two other employees were talking about a particular person and how they always bring out the "Honky Tonk" (as this person chose to label herself/himself) in themselves and although their are a smart person, don't know when it is an appropriate time to turn it off, which in turn has made it hard for this person to find a decent job. 

Then, we proceeded to laugh about all of our upbringings and how as we get older we tend to bring up so much of those "personalities" that we established as a young person or how much we are turning into our parents and grandparents.

On multiple occasions Ben has informed me that I am turning into my grandmother and my sister is turning into my mom.  Tonight mom and I were talking and laughing about it because it is so true.  I think that all of us begin to resemble many of our childhood care takers or family members whether we plan to or not. 

So, that got me thinking, what "personalities" do I often resemble from my upbringing, in relation to the area in which I have grown up in? Many people have joked with me that I can be quite red-neck or hillbilly sometimes or can act like a girl from the trailer park.  I've been told from family members from the East coast that I have a CA accent, and just an FYI CA people DO NOT have an accent! :) Recently, I was told by someone that I am starting to have somewhat of a KS accent. I don't think that KS really has an accent (except for when they say Arkansas River and wash), but I have realized that my grammar has become a little more red necked or laxed. 

After contemplating this for a few hours (I need to get a life I know!), I have decided that I am a small town, food loving,  trailer proud, water & desert loving, semi-redneck/honky tonk  (not sure of exact best wording for the final part) kind of girl who still aspires to own an Air Stream (silver twinkie) someday!

I love living in a smaller town (wish it was a smaller town further west). I love cooking and all kinds of food and like to pretend that I can make good Mexican and Italian food. I love my modular home and feel like sometimes you get more bang for you buck with a trailer/modular home. I love having a pool, the ocean or lake and definitely a lake that is in or near the desert (water makes me one happy girl!). And I love having Christmas lights on my modular home all year (if Ben would let me), wearing flip flops or being bare foot all year long, and dancing to the beat of my own drum!

On today's journey, I think we should all be proud of where we come from and not be ashamed to let our true sides come through!

Sunday

Today Benjamin and I stayed home, relaxed, ate a nice brunch together, went to a movie and dinner.  It was a nice end to the weekend. 

Sorry I haven't written alot this weekend, I've been in a funky mood. 

Tomorrow will be a better post.

TV Day!

Today consisted of 6 loads of laundry, sleeping til 830 then nap from 930 til 130, food in the crock pot and watching Netflix all day!

Hope every has a good weekend!

Its friday!

This week is finally over! Well the work week for most, for me just the week. I haven't worked much this week, which to some degree has been nice, but to another, it would of been nice to work more.

This week was a week full of lots of emotions...alot of friends needing prayer.

I hope that everyone has a good weekend!

Truthful words from a hairdresser

The truth....something we are all expected to accurately tell from a young age. Most of us are taught that we are supposed to tell the whole truth, not the partial truth or the complete opposite of the truth, a lie.  But, yet on a daily basis we all tell ourselves and other people partial truths and lies.  We like to think that we don't, but we do. 

Growing up, we think that our parents, grandparents and virtually all adults tell us the truth, but there are many cases where they just tell us partial truths or even little white lies.  While growing up, we also like to think that we tell ourselves the truth, but honestly how many of us really do, especially during the teen years?!?!

I like to think that I tell myself the truth about myself (if that makes sense), but in the last year or so, I have come the realization that perhaps I don't always tell myself the truth. In fact, I think there were many years when I told myself, or let myself believe, what I wanted to be the truth, and not what the actual truth was. 

Don't get me wrong, there are things that we think that we want in a moment, and perhaps we really do, then we get or accomplish what we want, only to find out that what we wanted doesn't make us happy. I don't always think that this is "lying" to ourselves, but rather something we thought that we would really want, and in reality we didn't. Or, that it is something more along the lines of an idea or a fantasy that we were in love with and not the actual thing itself.  I hope this all makes sense, kind of a bit of twistage of words tonight.

I find it funny, when I came to some of the realizations about what I was "lying" to myself about, there were a number of close people in my life who were like "DUH, we knew that allready, you just had to figure it out." And that is right, I think we often lie to ourselves or convince ourselves that we are okay about a particular topic in order to protect ourselves...which is a part of growing and maturing and of not dealing with issues until we are ready to do so.

For years I knew it would be difficult for me to get pregnant and come to find out years after being married it is hard on both of our ends.  This was a topic and Ben and I were open about from the beginning, I didn't lie to him about what I knew about myself because I felt like he needed to know. There were select friends (a good amount of close girlfriends) that knew my problems and the possible struggles that I was going to face.  As a couple trying to get pregnant, we shared with a few close friends the struggles that we were having and I know that I more openly talked about it than Ben did. 

There were many dark days during our journey of trying to get pregnant, surgery, massive amounts of needles, tests and hormones and yet to only be told what I allready knew to some extent and honestly suspected myself.  When one is trying to get pregnant you become very in tune with your body, so when Dr's tell you stuff, it isn't usually a huge surprise, just a reconfirmation of what you allready suspected to be true.  Through those "dark days" I had amazing family and friends for me to lean on, and some how through it all, I was able to become more honest with myself and hte situation and accept it. 

I don't think that it is something that I will ever 100% accept, and something that will never be easy to deal with, but it is now something that I can usually talk about without bawling or feeling bad for myself. 

I'm sharing this information because this is my blog, this is my place for me to talk freely...many people reading this is no new secret.  Please if you are reading this, please don't think that this is me looking for a pity party, or a place where I am whining.  This is a post about how I feel today, and how this topic has affected me lately.

Today, I was holding a friends sweet sleeping little boy while she got her hair done, and a sweet hair stylist said, "better be careful or your bound to end up with one of those." Then out of now where I smartly said to her, not in the cards for me. Once the words came out, I wanted to open my mouth and insert my foot, because I felt like I came across quite snide. Then to my surprise she retorted, "you don't EVER know that, I was told I wasn't going to be able to have kids and I have a wonderful daughter."  From my little snide comment the look on the woman's face told me that she knew exactly what my comment was about, what the pain I feel is like and to not give up hope. 

On today's journey, I am reminded that I need not lie to myself that the doctors will have good news this time, I need not lie to myself about what my future will look like with 3.5 kids and I need not lie to myself that I've had enough pity parties. Instead, I am reminded that I need to continue to have hope and faith, that there are tons of people out there who know exactly how I feel and that not every day will be an easy one, and that there are days where it is okay for me to have a good bawl or pity party.

First day out in 48 hrs!

Today it was nice to get out of the house after being cooped up for the last 48 hours!  I got to enjoy lunch with some girlfriends and their cute baby boys, run errands, pedicure, cuddle with babies and then work.  I worked later tonight than usual to make up for being out on MOnday and b/c there was stuff for me to do, so over all great day! :)

On my way home from work tonight I spoke with my 8 year old nephew on the phone, since yesterday was his Bday and the bad auntie that I am didn't call him until today! He told me all about his presents and about this book he was reading, then when I said well I'll let you get back to your book your reading he cutely and quietly says I love you okay bye!   Melted my heart! Then I got to talk to Nani and papa and that is never a dull conversation! :) 

So, I've still been working out each week, but not nearly as dedicated as I was before, I've let little things in life become excuses...once I started to think about this today a good friend texted me about a 5K and more, so starting tomorrow I'm back on track!

On today's journey I find myself re-encouraged to attempt this 10K plan and become a "runner", I love the fact that my shirt smells like yummy babies, I'm thankful for fun phone conversations with cute little nephews and amazing grandparents!

Nasty Flu

Hey all, sorry didn't post yesterday I was making out with the porclein thrown!  And still not feeling tip top today.

HOpe everyone has a good day!

Happy Birthday Bertha!!

Happy Birthday Heather!

Today is Heather's 30th bday, which means mine is now in 2 weeks, YIKES!

I have been blessed to have Heather in my life for the last 18+ years and I hope that I continue to have her in my life forever!

I was trying to scan some old school embarrassing photos of us from middle school, but darn scanner doesn't work anymore, so you got lucky!

Thanks for being my friend through thick and thin, for loving me for the crazy person that I am, for all of the crazy adventures we have taken together and for being an amazing constant in my life! 

On today's journey, I am thankful for a life long friendships, for a friend who reads maps upside down on road trips, for eye-liner tattoos, for Mexican pizzas from Taco Bell (even if they lead to sore thumbs), for crazy adventures in Hawaii and for "Ashley cooking burnt eggs!" 

Happy Birthday Bertha! Love you, Big Mamma!

Death by rotten tupperware

Today while running errands with Liz & Ryan, I kept smelling this awful, musty, sweaty smell in Liz's new car. I kept asking them if they were sweating or what was going on. 

About 30 mins later when I was driving Ryan says to Liz why do you have a Tupperware in here. She said where? He said here under the seat. Then...he OPENED it!  And it was AWFUL! Liz and I started to gag so badly!

We instantly rolled down the windows...but after a few mins of the windows being down the smell got worse, and Liz and I couldn't figure out why...until Liz turned her head and Ryan was hold that darn Tupperware container up and open near our heads!!! I saw a dumpster right at that moment, slammed on the brakes, pulled into the drive way and made Ryan throw away the Tupperware! The weirdest thing of the entire thing, he kept smelling it while walking it to the dumpster!

Turns out Liz had eaten cereal out of that Tupperware earlier in the weak, rinsed it, but the milk smell stayed and fermented. Not sure why Ry kept smelling it, but he sure thought it was hilarious to make us smell it!

On today's journey, I am reassured that God didn't give me a brother because he knew I would of seriously hurt him if he pulled junk like Ryan did on us today! Yuck I can still smell that smell hours later! People, do NOT leave Tupperware in your car!

A "mushy" moment!

I've been thinking allot lately that I have enjoyed this blogging thing allot more than I thought that I would. At first I was afraid it was going to turn into a whine-fest or something that I would eventually not look forward to doing, but so far I look forward to blogging each day.

Certain situations today reminded me of how thankful I am for the family that I come from...

Growing up in the O'Leary household you never wondered how one felt towards you or what another person was thinking. We shared our emotions all of the time, and "love" was something that was said on a daily basis, sometimes more than once.  Perhaps we over shared our emotions on a daily basis, it took 10 minutes to answer one question that was originally a yes or no question or we had Philippians 4:32 sung to us because we were being a bit to onrie with one another, but there was never a doubt in ones mind that they were loved. 

The older I become, the more I realize that not every house was like mine, not every household shared openly about their feelings and discussed everything from what they had to eat for lunch to what their bowel habits had been like that day!  This "realization" caused a lot of frustration for me and for friends growing up. I have now realized that I had "expectations" of other people because I thought it was what everyone was like. It took me a long time to realize that not everyone was comfortable knowing what I had for lunch or what my bowels had done that day, and that not everyone shared when they were annoyed or upset with one another. 

Today, I greatly appreciate the household that I was raised in and in the ways in which I was raised. Although I may talk too much from time to time, and perhaps share to much information, I am extremely thankful that I am comfortable sharing how I am feeling and talking about my life. 

My dad and younger sister are very "mushy" from time to time and it can make me feel a bit embarrassed or uncomfortable. Although I am an open person and "in touch with my feelings", I still get uncomfortable and don't quite know how to deal with an overabundance of praise or "mushiness".  But, on here, it is easier to be "mushy" like Liz & dad are, maybe not as "mushy" but way easier to do on a blog than in person or over the phone.

So, here goes my mushiness...Dad, thanks for always being a constant and strong man in my life who was not afraid to tell me how much he loved me or how proud he was of me. Mom, thanks for always having a calm approach with me and all of my hair brained ideas and shenanigans that I pulled, thanks for listening to all that I have to say and not over reacting when I try to get your goat and for being there for me at the drop of a hat. Sally, thanks for being an amazing big sister, for all of the advice you continually give me and for being a strong example of an amazing mom and wife. Liz, thanks for being a great little sis and for dealing with my daily bossiness and control issues I so distinctly have as being a big sister and for continually expressing how you love me even if it makes me uncomfortable (lol). 

To my "extended" members of my family who were always around growing up and many who continue to be around still to this day...thank you for accepting my family as your own and for loving all of us as much as we love you. Thank you for all of the amazing memories you have given me and continue to give me.

To Ben...thanks for loving me despite all of my goofy quirks, thank you for laughing with me on a continually basis and for making me feel safe and loved and thank you for providing me with an amazing life!

And to the "newer" members of my family...thank you for accepting me into your lives and for loving me just the way that I am!

Today on my journey, I am okay being "mushy" on here because sometimes you just need to tell those close to you that you love and appreciate them and are thankful for them beyond words!

No more crazy bread, EVER!

Last night Ben brought home the rare treat of pizza. He was in Garden City for work, and thought that he'd stop and get a $5.99 pizza and some crazy bread. I was so stoked.  When he was in the shower I stupidly ate at least 6 pieces of crazy bread (probably more) and OMG was that a HUGE mistake! I don't think that I have felt that sick in years. I thought that I was going to puke most of the night!  I didn't, which was nice and finally fell asleep around 230, but I swear I am still having remnants of the garlic from the crazy bread all day! 

Not sure what the weather is like for everyone else right now, but it is freezing here! Well I guess not "freezing" but sure is cold! I wore scrubs with long sleeve shirt on underneath my scrub this am.  Then, when I got home, I put sweats on and a wool sweatshirt!  It is only like 60 outside, but still feels like it went from 100 to 60, too cold for this girlie!  Tonight is going to be 41, not sure if I'm ready for this, I think it might be time to hibernate!

So, while at work this morning the child's grandma was there helping me, and she cracked me up. She hardly spoke English, and I was a bit intimidated to speak Spanish to her, didn't want to be disrespectful. But, even with the language barrier we had a fun morning, that was full of lots of laughter! 

This week I have been blessed to have gotten to hang out with a few girlfriends and their little boys.  And after working with this wonderful grandma today, I am reminded that the saying reins 100% true, that it takes a village to raise a child. Although I may not be blood family to the children in my life, I realize that I am a part of the "village" that it takes to raise these children, and for that I am truly thankful!

On my journey today, I have realized that I will never ever (well for now) eat crazy bread again, that it isn't smart for anyone to eat 6 pieces of crazy bread, I'm thankful for the cooler weather (for the crops) and the rain we got, that even with language barriers a child's needs can be met with a good laugh along the way!

Thanks Melissa

I started out this morning, just not in the best of moods. I decided to go to the gym, and not run outside today. I am trying to transition into running on the treadmill again since apparently winter is quickly creeping in on us. :)   So, exciting to say, I ran for 4 whole minutes without over exhausting myself today and at a pretty decent speed.  I have been doing like 2 mins on of running and 1 off, well I got really into a song on the mp3 player and next thing I knew it had been about 4 mins!  Then I rode the bike for 20 mins on a cross training setting, my new fav setting, but OMG so hard!  I was covered covered in sweat. It takes you from like 1 to 10 in intensity and all over the page, but good work out. Then I did some weights, which was nice.  Anyways, sorry for the ramblings of my workout routine for today, but my point is, the workout did lift my spirits some.

Then I come home and find a wonderful text from a friend and we agree to meet up before I go to work for a few mins, make some breakfast and sit down to watch Chopped. Then, I log on to FB and a friend on FB posted  this verse today and although she may of not been posting it for me, that verse is exactly what I needed!

Philippians 4:6-7, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Right now I am in a weird place, full of alot of anxiety and uncertainty. I know that this is life, and that we all have it. Its not a feeling that comes over me for an entire day, rather something that comes and goes on a daily basis.  It isn't an all consuming feeling, but still something that frequently plagues my mind. 

Although working out aided in the mood change, the bible verse aided in a wonderful sense of peace that came over me the minute I read it. I know that God hears all that we have to say, but sometimes the patience of waiting is so tough! 

Thanks Melissa Navarro for posting this verse today.   I hope that the verse aids others in their journey of today! 

Remembering...

11 years ago today I was sleeping in my dorm room at Simpson University when the phone rang early in the am, and a friend said that we had been bombed. Being in college I thought that it was a prank call and I hung up. Then again, the phone rang and my friend Heather said again we've been bombed. At that moment I realized who it was and that she wasn't joking.  We quickly got off of the phone because I immediately was attempting to get ahold of my older sister Sally to see if she and George were okay since another plane had hit the Pentagon, where George worked at the time.

My roommates thought I was crazy at first turning the TV on and calling people like a mad woman because it was so early, but they quickly figured out what was going on and we all were in shock.  I don't remember what time we all went to chapel that morning, but I remember that classes were canceled and there was a chapel that we went to. I remember that one of the students from Simpson's grandmother was one one of the planes that had crashed. 

I remember talking to friends and family and finding out that they were all okay. I had a few friends whose parents traveled alot and flew alot of the routes that had been involved in the plane crashes on a regular basis. 

I like to think of myself as a care free person most of the day, but I think that 9/11/01 was the first day that I truly experienced anxiety as an adult.  I remember being extremely anxious flying for the holidays the Christmas season of 2001, so much so that I changed a bunch of flights around for that holiday season. I flew a few days before Christmas up to Seattle, and was supposed to fly back from Seattle into LAX, but changed that flight into Sacramento and drove home from there. I guess I thought that Sac was a safer airport to fly into than LAX.  Then for some reason I changed my flight from flying into BWI from LAX or Ontario (can't remember which one) to wait and until a few days after Christmas.  For some odd reason I felt that it was safer to fly after Christmas.

Luckily no one close to me was harmed during 911, and no one that I personally knew went to New York to help with everything in NY.  I do know that a couple of close people to me were quickly shipped out, as they were in the military, to God only knows where right after 9/11.  Again, we were lucky, and all of those people made it home safely when their tours were done. 

For me, 9/11 changed my view on humanity in a number of ways. For the first time, I began to experience fears of people that I had never experienced before. But, on the other hand, in the days to follow with all of the amazing people that you saw and heard off heading to NY and other areas to help clean up, assist medically, etc., I began to have a different outlook on people and was amazed at what some people did for others.  A huge part of me wanted to be like them and give everything up and head to NY to help out, but I was young and afraid of the unknown, plus I'm pretty sure I would of been disowned for dropping out of college after my parents spent so much money on it! :)

Today, my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone that was greatly affected by the events that took place on 9/11. Today, I am also grateful beyond words to all of those people who assisted with  9/11  and all of the aftermath and to all those men and women who left our American soil to keep us safe in foreign countries. 

On my journey today, I am humbled, thankful and blessed beyond measure!

Oppss...

Sorry about no post yesterday. Benjamin and I overslept for church accidentally and ended up staying home all day. Well, I cleaned the house top to bottom last week, so no housework for us to do and he'd finished the yard on Sat. So...Ben was literally on the computer from the time we ate breakfast until we ate supper with Liz & Ryan and I didn't get a turn. :(

I'm not sure how that boy looks at the computer all day or find enough stuff on the Internet to look at all day long, but he sure can keep himself busy with it!

Well, no work again for me this morning...I work tonight but not this am again.  So off to a Dr. apt with a friend to be her moral support while baby gets shots. :(

This last week has been quite the emotional roller coaster....patience is not something that I am very good at, and there sure has been going on allot that has been trying my patience.  A lil prayer would be greatly appreciated for Ben and I as we are trying to make some major decisions.

Hope everyone has a good Monday, only 4 days til the weekend!

The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away... Job 1:21

Job 1:21 says that the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away...blessed be the name of the Lord.  This is a verse that many of us have grown up here, but in most recent times many of us have heard it on the family show 19 kids and counting by Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar. 
While watching the episode where they lost their most recent child I was amazed at how reverently they quoted Job 1:21. If I were in there shoes, I can't honestly say that I would be quick to quote scripture almost in a way of saying we don't like it God but we understand that it is your will. 

That scripture came to mind this morning when I received a phone call from a close friend of mine who shared that a friend and her husband lost their baby boy to SIDS yesterday.  My friend was quite upset on the phone, and I was just in complete shock.  After we hung up from our phone call, I then myself cried for a few moments. I don't know the family personally, but I know that losing a child affects everyone.

In the past year I have known a few people who have lost children, and I can't even begin to imagine the pain and loss that they have gone through. 

So this morning, I stopped to pray for this family with their recent loss, all those around them who are affected and for all of those people who have lost a child or loved ones themselves...and I hope you will do the same. 

Love this Life because it is a short one

Lyrics from another song, "love this life because it is a short one"...

Today's post is short and simple. Today was a much better day. A day filled with love and laughter. I got to talk to a couple of wonderful friends on the phone, have coffee with a close gal pal and supper with another.

On tonight's journey home, the lyrics to this song reminded me that life is short, and I love my life, the good and the bad days!

Thanks to all who make my life so wonderful and thank you God for all of these wonderful people!

"Just one of Those Days"

Today an old song by Monica comes to mind as my anthem for the day, "Just one of Those Days"...

Today was just one of those days, not a bad one, but not necessarily a good one, it was just one of THOSE DAYS! I'm sure you all know what I am talking about. 

After I got home this afternoon I thought that cleaning up the house would put me in a better mood...well house clean, charity crabby.

Then, I thought working out would put me in good mood...ran 10 mins on treadmill + 40 mins on bike = crabby charity.

Eating a impromptu lunch with the hubby (he was hauling to Cimarron) at home...happy hubby w/full belly & crabby charity.

Head to Dodge to run errands and help lil sis with something, treat myself to coffee...coffee trolley closed @1 (apparently they have new hours) = and even crabbier charity!

Splurge and eat a cheeseburger and coke from McDonalds = stale bun, nasty burger, flat coke and crabby crabby charity.

So, I decided to watch a new release on instant on Netflix when I got home, "A Little Bit of Heaven" with Kate Hudson in it. Well, I guess I should of read the reviews about it, because Kate Hudson has terminal cancer in the movie and I end up bawling my eyes out for practically 2 hours. Yah, I know why not turn the movie off, because I was hooked from the first 5 mins!  But, oddly enough, crying for 2 hours put me in a better mood! Guess I just needed to have a good ole cry, go figure! :)

Lesson learned on today's journey, when you are having "just one of those days", skip the cleaning, coffee runs, McDonald's and just pop in a good ole movie that will make you cry (and maybe have a pint of Half Baked from Ben and Jerry's) and get the crying over with and move on with your day! :)

Vacation Our Way

Well we are back from our mini-vacation...

We left on Thursday early am from Garden City and flew into Tucson. We spent Thurs through Sat traveling throughout eastern AZ (Northern and southern) and then spent Sat night through Mon late afternoon in Scottsdale/Phoenix area. 

We left for vacation with somewhat of a plan, but allot of it we played by ear, which is not always the norm for us. We usually travel with some sort of a lap top or access to Internet, but this was our first trip without, so it made for some interesting days!  We navigated our ENTIRE trip using a good ole trusty paper map! :)

We had a rental car booked and a hotel booked for some of the nights of our trip and not for some.  We decided to tour all around eastern AZ, as neither of us have spent much time there.  We got to see true "old west" towns like Tombstone and Bisbee AZ.  Tombstone was a tourist trap to say the least, we were approached by so many people trying to sell us stuff (mine tours, horse back rides, horse carriage rides, tours, etc) that it kind of made us want to run into stores just to get away from them.  And some of the characters approaching us, sure were not your ordinary people you would expect to approach you!

We were walking along the main street area, and a guy who was smoking and had not many teeth was leaning against a pole and started to talk to us in a sort of a whisper. Then he asked if we had seen one of the mines, and we told him no. Then he got excited and said oh you should see this one...blah blah blah..turned out he worked for them and was trying to sell us on going there. I didn't see that coming from that gentleman, but I guess it was part of the "rustic" charm of tombstone!  Tombstone was pretty, but we didn't stay there very long.

After Tombstone we ventured onto Bisbee, AZ, and it is a beautiful old town.  We ate lunch in old Town Bisbee at Screaming Banchee Pizza. It was a delicious gourmet pizza place, and we got to sit on the patio and people watch. It was fun seeing Benjamin and all of his faces he made when all different sorts of people walked by. I enjoy people watching, but especially with him. I think being from southern CA I am used to seeing all kinds of characters and not allot surprises me anymore, but it is fun with things surprise him.  During lunch I still was dealing with an annoying cold, and was stuffed up and couldn't hear his whisper, and when I answered back I thought that I was "whispering", but apparently I wasn't and so we ate allot of our lunch in silence with the occasional odd l0ok at one another. :)

After lunch I got a delicious coffee from a Cuban coffee shop and we walked the streets of Bisbee.  We came to this Honey shop and tried all sorts of unpasteurized local honey. These bee ladies don't breed (if that's the word) their own bees, the get called out from people all over AZ to come and remove bees from buildings, farms, etc., and in the mean time they harvest the honey from those bees.  It was delicious, and I am not much of one to enjoy honey in the raw form.  There was one honey that was a cinnamon honey that we tried with pretzels, AMAZING!  The shop that this lady sells from is in the tiniest space I have ever seen, I think that most people's closets are larger than her shop!

I didn't get to buy any honey cuz I didn't know how I would get it home, but we enjoyed interesting (to say the least) conversation with the bee lady.  The most interesting part of our convo with her was when she said that AZ has the best honey because their queen bees are lesbians, and then she stared to say more about how that makes for the best honey, but she was using terminology that made me very lost. We kindly smiled and nodded and when the conversation was over and we went along our way. We asked each other what she was saying, but realized that she lost us both towards the end of the conversation.

Overall, Bisbee was a very fun little town, I would definitely go back again.

Saturday we drove through most of North Eastern AZ, and it was so gorgeous!  There were "mountains" in west AZ when we lived there, but the Mts and rock formations in NE AZ are some of the most beautiful things that we have ever seen. I took a few pics, but kind of forgot that I had my camera with me until the end of the trip! 

While traveling through all of these towns, it sure made for interesting moments when we were trying to decide who was right in reading the map! Perhaps a GPS would of been nice to have settle the score a bit! :)

On Sat, one we were heading towards Phoenix we didn't have a hotel booked...so we decided to go to a verizon store.  I distracted the sales people with silly and dumb questions while Ben hoped on one of the minilap tops or IPads (not sure which he used) and booked us a hotel room online on one of those sites where you get it cheaper.  I kept trying to look over at him to make sure he wasn't getting caught, cuz we were sure that we were going to get thrown out. Once he text me when he was done and with the hotels address, he came over to me and we together asked some more silly questions to the sales people.  Well, to Ben they were silly questions, but in all honesty I don't know much about smart phones so I was really asking questions I didn't know the answers to, but shh don't tell Ben! :) 

After "borrowing" Internet from Verizon we then took an hour to find out hotel because hubby swore he knew where it was at, once he looked at the map and realized that I was right that we were a tad bit too far north, we turned around and found our hotel.  The hotel was gorgeous!  It was an older "resort" in Scottsdale but so well kept up. It was on a 40 acre plot, with a number of pools, and had many amenities.  We settled into our room, and went to dinner across the street.  

The next day we swam all morning, and then in the afternoon headed to our second hotel for the weekend (which we had booked ahead of time). Looking back if we were smart, we would of canceled Sunday night's hotel and stayed at the one from Sat for 2 nights. We attempted to swim sat evening in the new hotel's pool, which was a "resort" too ,but it was like an apartment complex all cramped together with way too many people.  Monday am, we woke up, put on swimsuits, and snuck back into one of the pools at the resort from Sat.  There were showers in the bathroom near the "villa pool" that we were using, so we cleaned up in those showers and headed to Tucson late Mon afternoon. 

Along the way to Tucson, we stopped in many different parts of AZ that I had never been to.  While in Chandler, we decided to find a Panda Express...we called 1-800-FREE-411 and got an address, and after searching for about 10 mins found a different Panda Express that was a few doors down from a Trader Joe's.  So, we ate lunch, and then I got to take Ben to a Trader Joe's. Needless to say he was not nearly as excited about it as I was. I LOVE LOVE LOVE trader Joe's. I think their prices are about the same as a regular grocery store, but such better quality of food. He thought it was just another "healthy and organic" store. But, for those of us who have picky tummies and like to cook Trader Joe's is a very accommodating place to shop (just saying)! :)

Along our  journey through AZ without any form of Internet, a paper map and not much of a plan, we learned that we probably should venture into getting smart phones soon since most of the rest of the world runs off of technology, that we still enjoy vacationing together, that neither one of us is always right (and we sometimes have to admit the other person is right), that you have to laugh when plans don't always workout, and most of all that AZ is home. 

The moment we landed in AZ we both were very excited to be back in AZ! At first I think we both thought that we were just so excited because of having a vacation together, but once we were in Scottsdale floating the pool we both admitted to one another that we just feel like we are at home!  For me, home has always been where Ben, family and friends are (which is all over the US). But, for the first time (I think) since we've been together being in AZ on this trip felt like "home" for us as a couple. Perhaps its because its where we fell in love, got married and began our journey of life together.   I'm not exactly sure how and when we'll get to be back "home" in AZ, but I truly believe it is where our journey will someday will take us again.

Pool at the resort we snuck back into on Monday!

I miss palm trees, aren't they so pretty!

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