Monthly Archives: March 2008

So Needed!

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Every other Saturday I wake up, get in the shower and anxiously await what is ahead of me. I go and get a massage from my cousin. It’s a time that’s for me. No kids, no husband, no work, no phone, all there is is me. I love this time. I look forward to it and actually have considered doing it every Saturday. Honestly, I’d probably be happy even with no massage just sitting in this relaxing room catching up with my cousin. We book it for 2 hours so we have an hour of talking and then an hour of massage…. with talking.

Personal time is so important for a mom. Even if it’s getting out of the house and going to a coffee shop to sit by yourself drinking coffee while reading. I think for any mom to truly be happy she NEEDS to get away. She needs time away from kids and husbands. I know there’s a ton of moms out there that beg to differ with me, but if they’d give in and give it a chance they’d be amazed at how wonderful it is. Of course we’re moms, wifes, … whatever! We’re still an individual and we all need time to ourselves. So if you’re a mom, tell your husband “It’s your turn!” Walk out the door and go somewhere for at least 2 hours! Get away and enjoy.

Signed,
A Very Happy Mom Who Just Got a Massage!

ETA: My mom called to inform me that I’m a Mormon advising others to go out and drink coffee and that’s not very Mormon like of me…. you know, I honestly didn’t even think about this. I drink coffee and eventually will at one point in my life not drink coffee. I’m not perfect and am taking things one step at a time. Cut me some slack here :0) – I was inactive for 13 years! I just started going back to church in December and have come a long way in only 4 months ~ coffee will be tackled next.

My Weekly Tips Will Resume…….

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If you come here to read my Kitchen Tips on Tuesday or my Works for Me on Wednesdays – or even my Friday Favorites, I just want to apologize for not having them. With our trip and having company over I have not been able to post on these. They will resume next week, so don’t stray too far away ;0)

Also being resumed next week is my Book of Mormon Journey over at my other blog. So if you’ve ever been curious about the Book of Mormon check over there as I read with a study guide and write about my thoughts and feelings.

Our Trip/Easter in Pictures

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We drove into Sacramento at around 6:30pm. My mom, Sean, Jenna, My sister Jess, Gio & My nephew Vani came to visit us. It was the first time that my sister got to meet Ella. Of course, she loved her! And it was my first time meeting Jenna! It also was the first time that Jenna met my mom, which would be her biological aunt. It was a great time visiting with everyone.

Saturday morning we woke up and drove to Stockton so that Gino’s mom and brother, Gabriel, could meet Ella. Gino’s mom, Alice, was excited to finally meet her first girl. She has 3 sons and 1 grandson, Jayden.


Saturday night we went out to dinner with Gino’s friends Dave, Justin & Rob. We haven’t seen them since we moved in 2007.


Sunday after church we went on a picnic by the river and ate some delicious food! The above are pictures from the day. Ella LOVED being outside. Vani (my nephew) followed Jayden everywhere he went. It was really cute. Seeing everyone was so nice. But I was happy to come home. I realize that when we’re in the city our days fly by us. When we’re home it seems like they last forever. Maybe that’s because we don’t spend half of our lives in the car. I love my family, but I really love living in such a slow paced life. I hope that everyone had as happy of an Easter as we did. This is the first year in a long time that we actually celebrated Easter for what it really is. It felt wonderful to go to church, especially with Jenna and her beautiful family.

And if you want to see the pictures I’ve posted bigger just click on them ;0)

Meeting Jenna Lee

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I got to meet Jenna Lee this weekend. Jenna Lee was born 12/7/87 to my aunt Rayna. My aunt was only 16 years old. She knew in her heart that she could not give Jenna the life that Jenna deserved. So she made the most amazing decision to give Jenna up to a family who could give her the life she deserved.

I had the privilege of meeting not only Jenna, but her entire family. The family that raised her into the wonderful girl she is today. When I hugged her mom I was filled with so much emotion, because I think she’s an amazing person to give Jenna the life she did. Gino, the kids and I went to church with them on Easter Sunday and got to watch Jenna give a talk on the resurrection. It was emotional. It was amazing. She has an AMAZING testimony of this church and I only hope that one day I can have one as strong as hers.

Jayden Funnies

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Jayden has said some pretty cute, comical things lately so I thought I should make a note of them real quick here:

1.) About a month ago he wanted to make my mom a card. So, I folded up some paper, he drew a picture on it and then he told me what he wanted the inside to say so I could write it on a piece of paper for him to then copy it onto the card. This is what the card said, “Grandma, you are so beautiful. I love you. Love Jayden”

2.) Last night we walked outside and it had been raining and the smell of the rain with the flowers was a beautiful smell. As Jayden steps outside he says, “Mom, it smells so beautiful out here. Like your mom.”

if you can’t tell…. he thinks my mom is a very beautiful person – how much sweeter can you get?

3.) When I was 17/18 and I used to hang out with Gino. I’d go through drive throughs and get us free food just from smiling and asking politely I swear! (if a guy was working the drive through of course) Well, a couple days ago I went through the Taco Bell drive through just to get a soda. I pulled up to the window and asked how much and the guy said “Free” I thank him, pull away and say to Gino “Hmmmm mama still got it.” And Jayden asked what I was talking about and I told him his mama is hot and Jayden says, “Oh no, Mama! You’re not a hot chick. You’re just a mom!” And he thinks my mom is beautiful – she’s a mom! UGH LOL

I know there’s a million more things, but I’ll update later as they pop into my mind.

Tackled! Oh and we’re coming to Sac!

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I’ve tackled the 2 major things I’ve been putting off today and IT FEELS SO GOOD!!!!!!!! We’re packing our family into the car tomorrow and heading down I5 back to our home land. We’re going to see our family. In order to do this, however, I needed to finally head to the DMV and get my car registered, because my temporary pass has been expired since 2/26/08. I finally got my Oregon plates after living here for almost a year. I majored in procrastination if you didn’t already know. The other task I tackled was going to the fire department and getting Ella’s car seat correctly installed. After I saw what it looked like correctly installed I was furious with myself, because for the past 7 months I was putting her precious life in danger. There’s no way she would have been okay in an accident. Now, she’s safe. Jayden’s safe. We’re all safe. We have brand new tires (not done today) and fresh oil and we’re good to go!

I have been panicking about this trip a little. I can’t wait to see our friends and family, but I’m so scared to travel with my kids. Especially with Ella’s heart problem. We’ve been in the clear since the end of October, but what IF something was to happen. Scares the crap out of me. I hate to travel so far from her doctors. It’ll be okay though. Prayers and positivity will get us through this.

My sister hasn’t met Ella yet. I’m so excited for Ella to meet her auntie FINALLY and for my sister to meet her niece. And I can’t wait to get all the babies together for a picture. Jayden is included in “babies”.

The next exciting thing about my trip is my cousin Jenna. My aunt Rayna gave her up for adoption when she was a baby to a wonderful family and I’M FINALLY GETTING TO SEE HER!!!! She’s giving a talk at church on Sunday and Gino, the kids and I are going with her and her family. It’s going to be amazing!!!!!!

Keep us in your prayers please that we have a safe and enjoyable trip. I’ll posts lots of pictures when I get home on Sunday (we’re coming home after we eat on Easter). And I hope that everyone has a VERY HAPPY EASTER!!

Rylie May was born today

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I woke up this morning expecting to be able to watch the birth of my new baby cousin. I went curves, came home and took a shower, got the kids ready and packed our day bag for a day of hospital. I got there and everyone was in the waiting room. The kids and I spent some time in with Jill and her labor was going smoothly and she was numb!

I walked out of her room and not much longer there was a rush of nurses. My aunt Amy was in the hallway crying and I learned out that Rylie May’s heart was dropping. It actually even stopped. I couldn’t believe what was going on. The doctor that delivered Ella was Jill’s doctor and I could see the panic in her eyes as she was running. They wheeled Jill out and everything happened so fast.

They did an emergency C-Section and Rylie May was in this world for an entire 4 minutes without taking a breath. Jill spent hours in recovery and Rylie was in the NICU with breathing tubes. This day that was supposed to be an exciting, joyful day turned out to be every mom’s worst nightmare.

I think one of the saddest parts of today was watching my Aunt Amy (Jill’s mom) sit there feeling so helpless. She just wanted to be with her daughter and she couldn’t. I can’t even begin to imagine how that would feel.

I finally got to see Jill at 6:30pm. She was in good spirits. I had already seen Rylie in the NICU and I felt horrible that I had seen her before Jill had. Jill told me how she actually felt the surgery and they ended up putting her to sleep. As I left the hospital I saw the doctor in the hallway and she told me that they had just removed the ventilators off of Rylie. She’s breathing on her own!!

I know I’m reaching out for many prayers right now, but please pray for this precious new soul in this world who has had such a horrible start. I will post pictures once I get some.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYLIE MAY

This Man is Miraculous

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While Norm really is in his final days he has bounced back yet once again. Today is his 85th birthday. I called him this morning to wish him a happy birthday and he was in good spirits joking around. He’s going to be released from the hospital and it was intended for him to go to a care center as he just continues in his stubborn state of mind that he can walk by himself and falls and hurts himself. Instead of going to the care center he will be going to stay in a motel room of his at his casino. That way he will be taken care of by his staff and won’t have to deal with being in a home. That’s the update on Norm. It’s an amazing thing. I won’t be shocked if he lives to be 100.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NORM

Friday Favorites

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Friday Favorites!!! Hope you enjoy and please go check out these girls’ blogs!!

The microwave in my house gets dirty quick. And it’s always kinda difficult to clean for some reason. I just read on Squibs and Crackers that you microwave a bowl for 5 minutes w/part vinegar in it and part lemon juice. After the 5 minutes is up it’s an easy wipe off. I think I might go buy some lemon juice and try this out tomorrow.

I throw my heels of my bread away. I don’t like them. I read on GreenStyleMom today how to make them into breadcrumbs! Whole wheat breadcrumbs at that. Put the bread in the broiler for a few seconds – just to dry out – then put in your blender or food processor then put in jar and use as bread crumbs! SCORE! So using this technique.

Do you LOVE baked potatoes? I do. I love potato anything. I learned from Beans & Rice that if you wash your potato, poke holes in them and then wrap in foil you can place them in your CROCKPOT (MY BEST FRIEND) and cook on high for 2 1/2-4 hours or low 6-8 hours and you will have perfect, moist potatoes…. how perfect is that?

Have a Cup of Jesus has a great idea!! Olive Oil for make up remover and skin moisturizer. Just might have to try this one too!

Norm

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20 years ago a man came into my life that has forever changed who I am. A man that took my family on as his own. Loved us as his own. He has always been a workaholic. It didn’t matter if there was a blizzard outside, or if it were Christmas or he could barely stand up due to being horribly sick. He was out there digging ditches for new sprinkler system that he was going to install, because he had an idea. Or changing the light bulb down at the casino because “Damnit, nobody can do it right like I can!” Those are his words 🙂 His ideas built him a dynasty you could say. The stories I’ve heard are amazing. He actually raised chickens for the government during WWII and that way he didn’t have to go away in the draft. He knew of a city of gold. I hear it’s still there and wonder what came of it. He never biologically had one child. Yet, he fathered many. He took care and loved us all like we were his own and he has grown a special place in each of our hearts. He is a father, a grandfather, a teacher and idol of mine.

For as long as I can remember he has had leukemia. It’s never stopped him, never held him back just pushed him to fight harder. He is a miracle soul and teaches and touches every soul he comes in contact with. Now, he might not be nice while teaching, but you’ll definitely learn something after having a conversation with him.

How he has lived through such deteriorating health is beyond any of us. I personally believe that it’s the green barley drink that he drinks every single day of his life and God seeing that he does so much good for people in this world…. why would he want to take somebody like that away?

When I was young I remember when my uncle was graduating and we made a comment of how it would be amazing if Papa Norm was still alive to see me graduate. You know what? He did one better I had the honor of him walking me down the aisle on my wedding day and giving me away to the man I love.

Right now he is laying in a hospital with pneumonia and not doing well at all. We’ve all seen him on his death bed many times to learn the next day that he was completely fine and going home. This time it doesn’t look like he’ll be going home after all.

I’m asking if you pray if you’ll please take a moment and say a prayer for him. Please pray that he overcomes his sickness and if it’s his time to go then it’s his time to go and to please have God take him peacefully.