Saturday, July 4, 2015
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Disneyland - Feb 2011
I'm not sure what it is about Disneyland, but our entire family absolutely loves it there! We returned over President's weekend this year, and once again had the best of times. Maybe it was the rain that made us so giddy (no lines), or perhaps it was watching Kayla fight Darth Vader in the Jedi Training Acadamy show. Or, it could have been the smile on Matthew's face as we rode Pirates of the Caribbean over and over and over again. There is something about that place that is so special for us. I'm sure our love of Disneyland sounds silly to some, but making these happy memories with each other as a family is priceless...and we can't wait to go back again.
Happiest Family on Earth!
Happiest Kids on Earth!
Happiest Family on Earth!
Happiest Kids on Earth!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
One Year Ago...
Wow, I just realized that it was exactly one year ago that we were meeting with a realtor and getting prepared to list our house for sale. We were entering into uncertain territory, with no clear end point that could be seen, and it was scary. But, we knew we needed a change for our family - that was the one certainty in it all.
Now, I can't imagine not making that decision. Our lives are so enhanced by that move, and while it might sound strange to some, perhaps others of you out there can understand.. I'm so thankful for new friends, more laughs, less commute, better schools, happy kids, more space, great neighbors, proximity to family, and the promise of so many more wonderful memories to make.
Another life lesson learned...
Don't be afraid of making those big moves in your life. Big changes often bring about big rewards.
Now, I can't imagine not making that decision. Our lives are so enhanced by that move, and while it might sound strange to some, perhaps others of you out there can understand.. I'm so thankful for new friends, more laughs, less commute, better schools, happy kids, more space, great neighbors, proximity to family, and the promise of so many more wonderful memories to make.
Another life lesson learned...
Don't be afraid of making those big moves in your life. Big changes often bring about big rewards.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Snow Day
Our kids have never seen the snow. So, we decided to take a day trip up to the Sierras for a half day of skiing, and a half day of sledding/tubing. We picked the perfect day to make the trek - 22" of fresh new powdery snow and a beautifully clear day awaited us. Unfortunately, everyone and their third cousins also decided to go that day. Skiing turned out to be a "no go" - WAY too crowded, and no lessons available for our first-time skiers (both kids). So, we spent the day playing in the snow instead. It ended up being a wonderfully fun day for all of us.
Here is the view from our car on the way to the ski resort - a perfect winter wonderland. The snow was amazing!
Here are the kids in the car - finally there after a long drive!
Here is the tubing hill we all thoroughly enjoyed.
Here is the view from our car on the way to the ski resort - a perfect winter wonderland. The snow was amazing!
Here are the kids in the car - finally there after a long drive!
We all bundled up, and the kids immediately had to try and make snow angels.
We took a break for ice cream.
Both kids LOVED the snow, and were so happy to be there. It was so great to see smiles on their faces all day long.
Here is the tubing hill we all thoroughly enjoyed.
Christmas 2010
We spent a wonderful two weeks at the end of the year together as a family. It was a much-needed break from our daily rush, and we had a great time.
The kids were excited for Christmas. Matthew asked Santa for a Pokemon DS game, and Kayla joined with Mom and Dad in asking Santa for a family Wii.
My Grandmother and Aunt were out visiting from Kansas for a few weeks before Christmas, and Andrew's dad came for a short visit prior to the holiday, as well. Andrew's mom joined us for the traditional Christmas Eve dinner at my parents' house, as well as Christmas day.
Here are some pics...
My sister's kids with Matthew and Kayla.
An attempt at a family picture on Christmas morning.
(Clockwise from top left) My mom, Kayla, Me, my Aunt, and my Grandma
Grandma, Kayla, and me.
My Dad and Kayla - he's still going strong 18 months after his ruptured aortic aneurysm
Matthew and Kayla after decorating the tree.
I love this expression on Matthew's face when he sees that Santa has brought us some exciting stuff on Christmas morning.
The kids were excited for Christmas. Matthew asked Santa for a Pokemon DS game, and Kayla joined with Mom and Dad in asking Santa for a family Wii.
My Grandmother and Aunt were out visiting from Kansas for a few weeks before Christmas, and Andrew's dad came for a short visit prior to the holiday, as well. Andrew's mom joined us for the traditional Christmas Eve dinner at my parents' house, as well as Christmas day.
Here are some pics...
My sister's kids with Matthew and Kayla.
An attempt at a family picture on Christmas morning.
(Clockwise from top left) My mom, Kayla, Me, my Aunt, and my Grandma
Grandma, Kayla, and me.
My Dad and Kayla - he's still going strong 18 months after his ruptured aortic aneurysm
Matthew and Kayla after decorating the tree.
I love this expression on Matthew's face when he sees that Santa has brought us some exciting stuff on Christmas morning.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
In my dreams...
I am a vivid dreamer. I have very intense, very real dreams pretty much every night. Last night was no exception, and I decided I should write some of these down because they are so random. I usually have several dreams in one night, and they tend to last a long time, although it's possible they are only a few minutes long (who knows). So, here is a summary of what took place inside my head last night. See if you can figure out what it all means, because I have no idea.
I started the night in a game of ice hockey with two of my male coworkers, who were not very coordinated. I was actually pretty good, which kind of surprised me, so I went and stole the puck from one coworker (on my own team) because he was no good at hockey, and shot a goal. Then, I felt bad about it and decided to go play defense and block shots on our net, because there was no goalie for some reason. The other team was scoring like crazy against me, and I decided this game was no fun and it was time to move on to another dream.
The next dream started with me and a crew of other people landing in a space ship on a remote planet to see what was going on with a colony there. The colony had been abandoned so we went searching for all the people. This took about an hour because we had to search through the buildings and structures...It was a little creepy, but actually very cool. We finally find the colonists, or at least some of them, and it turns out that they had split into warring factions and were eliminating each other. We were then attacked by the other group, and were fighting and just trying to survive while trying to figure out what they were fighting about. Suddenly, a "presence from above" - a woman - spoke to us, and granted 5 of us the power of immortality so that we could help these people and end the war. I was one of the 5. I remember walking out into the line of fire, bullets whizzing by, and one struck me, but healed right away. There was a hush from both sides of the fight as they realized that we couldn't be harmed. You see, they hadn't seen the event with the lady that turned us immortal. Unfortunately, in the chaos, the five of us got split up before we had a chance to strategize, and so went off to try and make things right between the colonists. I remember feeling like we weren't going to be able to succeed because we hadn't coordinated our effort, and so I went off to try and find the leader of the group on the front line that was firing at me to try and work things out. And another dream ends....
One thing about my dreams is that they very rarely finish, which is kind of disappointing.
Enter the next dream....I'm at a camp (about high school age) for gifted kids. When I say gifted, I mean gifted in the way that we have certain abilities, like telekinesis, or flying. I'm a flyer. It's just something I can do in my dreams, and I know I can do it, so I fly a lot in my dreams. I'm not very good at landing, by the way, but that's another story. There is a period of time in the dream where I'm going to class, and socializing, and dealing with the usual teenage drama. Then we have free time, so I sit down to chat with some guy who can levitate objects. We strike up a conversation, and he tells me that he can fly, too. He's certain that because I can fly, I can make other objects fly like he can. I tell him that I've never really tried, but it it worth a shot. I ask him how he does it, and he brings out a soda can (diet coke). He tells me (and this is very specific) that he imagines that he is placing a band over the top of the can and attaching it to the can with tiny metal hooks. He then imagines another hook at the top of the band, and concentrates on lifting the can with that hook. And then he levitates the can. So, I give it a try, and it works! I'm pretty excited about this because I have tried to move objects in my dreams before, but never could, and it turns out I actually can do it. I'm excited because this guy has showed me how to do it, and this means that I'll be able to do it in all my dreams from now on. Somehow, I am able to remember that I have these kind of skills from dream to dream.
And, then Kayla came in and woke me up.
I started the night in a game of ice hockey with two of my male coworkers, who were not very coordinated. I was actually pretty good, which kind of surprised me, so I went and stole the puck from one coworker (on my own team) because he was no good at hockey, and shot a goal. Then, I felt bad about it and decided to go play defense and block shots on our net, because there was no goalie for some reason. The other team was scoring like crazy against me, and I decided this game was no fun and it was time to move on to another dream.
The next dream started with me and a crew of other people landing in a space ship on a remote planet to see what was going on with a colony there. The colony had been abandoned so we went searching for all the people. This took about an hour because we had to search through the buildings and structures...It was a little creepy, but actually very cool. We finally find the colonists, or at least some of them, and it turns out that they had split into warring factions and were eliminating each other. We were then attacked by the other group, and were fighting and just trying to survive while trying to figure out what they were fighting about. Suddenly, a "presence from above" - a woman - spoke to us, and granted 5 of us the power of immortality so that we could help these people and end the war. I was one of the 5. I remember walking out into the line of fire, bullets whizzing by, and one struck me, but healed right away. There was a hush from both sides of the fight as they realized that we couldn't be harmed. You see, they hadn't seen the event with the lady that turned us immortal. Unfortunately, in the chaos, the five of us got split up before we had a chance to strategize, and so went off to try and make things right between the colonists. I remember feeling like we weren't going to be able to succeed because we hadn't coordinated our effort, and so I went off to try and find the leader of the group on the front line that was firing at me to try and work things out. And another dream ends....
One thing about my dreams is that they very rarely finish, which is kind of disappointing.
Enter the next dream....I'm at a camp (about high school age) for gifted kids. When I say gifted, I mean gifted in the way that we have certain abilities, like telekinesis, or flying. I'm a flyer. It's just something I can do in my dreams, and I know I can do it, so I fly a lot in my dreams. I'm not very good at landing, by the way, but that's another story. There is a period of time in the dream where I'm going to class, and socializing, and dealing with the usual teenage drama. Then we have free time, so I sit down to chat with some guy who can levitate objects. We strike up a conversation, and he tells me that he can fly, too. He's certain that because I can fly, I can make other objects fly like he can. I tell him that I've never really tried, but it it worth a shot. I ask him how he does it, and he brings out a soda can (diet coke). He tells me (and this is very specific) that he imagines that he is placing a band over the top of the can and attaching it to the can with tiny metal hooks. He then imagines another hook at the top of the band, and concentrates on lifting the can with that hook. And then he levitates the can. So, I give it a try, and it works! I'm pretty excited about this because I have tried to move objects in my dreams before, but never could, and it turns out I actually can do it. I'm excited because this guy has showed me how to do it, and this means that I'll be able to do it in all my dreams from now on. Somehow, I am able to remember that I have these kind of skills from dream to dream.
And, then Kayla came in and woke me up.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Next Tuesday
80 charts, 45 minutes, over 200 people in the audience watching me. Wish me luck! I could tell you what it is about, but then I'd have to kill you.
Monday, December 6, 2010
I'm 35...really!
My blog has stated for the last year that I am 36 years old. With my birthday only a few short days away, I've reallized that once again I have shortchanged myself a year. I'm actually going to be turning 36!
I've done this to myself 2 years in a row, and I'm not sure why I can't seem to remember how old I am. I always thought my mom was crazy as a kid when she had to think about how old she was when someone asked.
So, when you hear me tell you that once again this year I am 36, you'll know I'm not starting to shave years off because the 40's are right around the corncer, but rather, I have just totally lost my mind and cannot recall how old I am - or where I left the car keys.
I've done this to myself 2 years in a row, and I'm not sure why I can't seem to remember how old I am. I always thought my mom was crazy as a kid when she had to think about how old she was when someone asked.
So, when you hear me tell you that once again this year I am 36, you'll know I'm not starting to shave years off because the 40's are right around the corncer, but rather, I have just totally lost my mind and cannot recall how old I am - or where I left the car keys.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
The thing in the suitcase
My mom told me a story recently about her friend that just went on a trip from Florida to Scottsdale, AZ a couple of months ago. When she packed her suitcase, she put a layer of tissue paper over her clothes, and then put her nice outfit (for a formal event) on top. As she opened her suitcase to unpack, she took out the formal outfit, and then noticed the tissue paper moving. She immediately closed the suitcase, and screamed for her husband to come over. When he arrived, he unzipped the suitcase and lifted the tissue paper. They both screamed at what they saw - a rather hideous, unidentifiable creature. He yelled to his wife the get the camera, and as he snapped a few photos and leaned in closer for a better look, the creature reared up on its hind legs hissed at him, and ran off. Here is what they saw...let us know if you can identify it, because it looks to us like they've just unleashed an alien species into the Scottsdale ecosystem. And, no, they didn't call any authorities - sorry Arizona.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Excessive Foaming?
We inherited a hot tub with our new house. Now, Andrew and I have no time to care for a spa, but we have good intentions. We visited a pool store to inquire about how to actually care for this thing, and they recommended a spa purging treatment. Now, the instructions say that you should run the jets unless you see excessive foaming. Andrew and I went out after 15 minutes and this is what we saw...
I'm pretty sure we don't have the right stuff for long term hot tub care. Anyone know the name of a good hauling company?
I'm pretty sure we don't have the right stuff for long term hot tub care. Anyone know the name of a good hauling company?
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