My baby is 8 today

What I did today

I thought I would share my adventure today:

I decided it was time to clean the backyard up for summer and since the dogs will be staying out there for a week or so while we vacation in Sacramento. I had some old pool toys and stuff that was left over from last summer. They had decayed in the winter weather and needed to go in the trash. The only thing is our city has a very strict trash rule and we have the worlds smallest trash can's. You really can throw stuff away without taking it to the dump, so I cleaned out some garage stuff that needed to go and loaded the back of my new truck up. I drove the kids to the dump, isn't that a great field trip. First the guy at the pay window smirks at me, then the guy at the recycle station smiles at me like cute, helpless woman and then the guy at the dump station looks at me like " lady are you nuts!".  I get out and start throwing my stuff away while the guy stares at me traipse back and forth. Then he comes over to answer a question I had about my old watercooler and decides I need help. He says to me " You really should have backed in." and I said to him " The exercise is not going to kill me." with that I was done.

I stopped at Lowe's on the way home and the kids helped me pick a barrier to put up out back. Our dog's will be staying out there while we vacation since our dog sitter can only come check them at night. We have a Pitt Bull next store who likes to go at our dogs through the fence, so I decided to build a barrier between. We picked our wire and fence posts out and came home to build our barrier. As I was trying to build it the dog was coming at the fence with his teeth and I had to go ask the neighbor to bring him in while I completed my project. Mission accomplished and now I will feel better leaving the boys outside. I didn't want to buy a big kennel and have them be locked up all day, plus they can protect the house if they are free. I am pretty proud of my accomplishment's today and wanted to pat myself on the back for a job well done!

PS if you want to see my crazy small trash can you can click on the post title to view it.

Something to fill the time

My iphoto is currently not working and so I cannot share any pictures of recent events.  I thought I would tell you about this new makeup I found. I heard about it on another website and thought I would give it a try. I guess it is sold at a lot of Target's and grocery stores with all products costing one dollar and up. I decided to order some because they don't carry it anywhere around here. I was interested to see if this was junk or quality. I went to the site and the makeup looked nice, they have a feature that will help you decide colors based on your skin type, coloring, eye color and hair color. I went with the products chosen for me and ordered my stuff, I think I spent about 25 dollars  to start.

My package came and when I opened it I was pleasantly surprised. Things were packaged like a order from Sephora and the product packaging was nice. I really like the product and so far everything looks and works great. I can't wait to order more now and keep trying to justify the need. They have some really nice kits, brushes and bags for sale on the site under 15 dollars. I bought a brush and I like it better than my very expensive Bare minerals brush. If you click on my title you will go to the site. Try it out and let me know what you think, I love to read comments and hear feedback.

Transplant update

I guess it is not so much a update on the transplant but more about the kidney disease. Marty went to the Dr. yesterday and he is down to 14% kidney function and will need to go on dialysis mid May. Please pray he makes it to mid May and will not need emergency intervention of any kind. He will have surgery for a catheter which will allow him to do dialysis here at home, please pray he remains infection free. We are going to Sacramento for a Sergeants training course for Marty, Please pray he is able to complete it and we can enjoy two weeks of solid family vacation before being tied to home.

I am trying to enjoy each wonderful day together, the small things see so important to enjoy. It's like life is a lemon and I am trying to squeeze all the juice out of it. I love my life as it is right now and somedays wonder if it will remain the same, what will happen. I guess we all wonder that, we don't know and it isn't in our control, we are in the hands of God and he knows. I started crying on the way home from bowling today, beautiful Saturday morning with my family in the car. We were listening to our new Trace Adkins cd and this song came on, I feel like it describes me and my always wanting to hurry through life. If I were to sit down and write out how life has gone from 18 getting engaged, 19 getting married and when my kids were young. Here are the words:

"Your gonna miss this"

Trace Adkins

She was starin out the window of their SUV 

Complainin sayin I can't wait to turn 18 

She said I'll make my own money 

And I'll make my own rules 

Momma put the car in park out there in front of the school 

And she kissed her head, and said 

'I was just like you' 

You're gonna' miss this 

You're gonna' want this back 

You're gonna' wish these days 

Hadn't gone by so fast 

These are some good times 

So take a good look around 

You may not know it now 

But you're gonna' miss this 

Before she knows it she's a brand new bride 

In her one bedroom apartment 

And her daddy stops by 

He tells her it's a nice place 

She says, 'It'll do for now' 

Starts talkin' about babies, and buyin a house 

Daddy shakes his head 

And says baby just slow down 

Cuz' you're gonna' miss this 

You're gonna' want this back 

You're gonna' wish these days 

Hadn't gone by so fast 

These are some good times 

So take a good look around 

You may not know it now 

But you're gonna' miss this 

Five years later there's a plumber 

Workin' on the water heater 

Dog's barkin', phone's ringin' 

One kid's cryin' one kid's screamin' 

And she keeps apologizin' 

But he says they don't bother me 

I've got two babies of my own 

One's thirty- six, one's twenty- three 

Huh, it's hard to believe 

But you're gonna' miss this 

You're gonna' want this back 

You're gonna' wish these days 

Hadn't gone by so fast 

These are some good times 

So take a good look around 

You may not know it now 

But you're gonna' miss this 

You're gonna' miss this 

Yeaahhhh... you're gonna' miss this...

Happy Birthday Friend Series: Carrie( The First Birthday Blog)

Happy birthday Carrie, it has been wonderful to know you these past 20 years. Since you are my second oldest friend, I think I can write a tribute to you on my blog. So without further ado......


Have you ever heard the saying that at some point a girlfriend stops being a friend and becomes a sister? Well Carrie is like that to me. We never see each other and it has been about 10 years since we last saw one another, but we have always stayed in touch. It has been fun watching her family grow and seeing her as a mother, she is truly a natural born mother and wife.

Carrie and I met the second day of junior high at the bus stop, I had walked there from my apartment down the street. I had this uber cool friend Abbie, she was chic even at 12. Anyways, Abbie says to me " Don't talk to that girl, she is a nerd!" and looks over at Carrie who is leaning against the fence reading Anne of Green Gables. Right then I learned one of the most profound lessons in my life, Never judge a book by it's cover. Being one to always strike my own path, I talked to her because she was reading my most favorite book. We became fast friends, especially because we got put in the same homeroom together. Now poor Carrie got paired with a extremely hyper table mate who was obsessed with New Kids on the Block.

 Here is Carrie's favorite story to tell about that time: One day I told her " Hey come here, I have a secret to tell you" and when she leaned over I screamed at the top of my lungs in her ear and laughed hysterically. I was so wound up that day and had to get my energy out somehow, but poor Carrie she probably suffers from permanent hearing loss!

 We traversed the ugly path of jr high school and even took the most exciting trip of our lives together. We went to Washington,DC for our 8th grade trip, it was so fun to see history together and we both still talk about it to this day. We survived those crazy bus rides to school together and just today she said to me " Hey, when I heard New Kids were getting back together, I thought of you." and " I remember the story of you and Liviu!" she knows the story and I will tell you why.

One of the things Carrie would always do is share her love of Jesus with me. She grew up in a Christian home and loves the Lord, she was always telling me about God and sometimes I wasn't very nice about it.

When we moved on to high school we both had to walk to school. So for the next 3 years we walked to school together everyday back and forth. Boy, that was a experience, one time we got flashed and possibly almost abducted, it was awful!

So the story goes, I would talk Carrie into walking the longer way home so we could follow Liviu home. Poor Carrie, once again she fell prey to one of my hair brained schemes, I am cracking up writing this.

 The next year she joined swimming and got really mad at me because I copied her, I really loved it and I am so glad I copied her. She excelled in school and was the best student I knew, she ended up being our Salutatorian at graduation. High school was a bit rough on our friendship at times and we both went through some really tough things. She was always there for me with my family stuff and really knows a lot about my home life growing up. Her mom who I like to call Miss Nancy really encouraged me to be a good student and attend school ( she once called me because I missed five days with strep throat). Her mom would also give us rides when it rained and opened there home to me more than once. They had such a nice family and a super cool dog Bandit. Carrie joined me in Speech and Debate our senior year and we ended up winning two trophies together.

After high school she went on to college and I went on to working and being in LOVE. She was one of the first people I called to tell I was getting married. She was a bridesmaid in my wedding and saw Conner right after he was born. I was able to go to her wedding and see her start out life with Chase. She is a wonderful wife and mother, very talented teacher and a good friend. I love you so much Carrie and I thank you for being a seed planter in my life. You never turned your back on me and stuck by me even when I didn't deserve it. Happy 32nd birthday my wonderful friend! psst, if you click on my title you can see what she looks like now.

Senior year:


In my wedding:


At her wedding, she was a beautiful bride:

Garden week one day two

We are in the midst of spring garden season, we planted our garden last Monday and things are growing already. We planted Sunflowers of course, Texas Lupine, Phlox, Gladiolas, Marigolds, Zinnias. cut flower mix. Our mystery plant with the purple flowers grew back as did the Gerber daisies.

I can't find my camera charger so I tool the pictures off our iphone. they are blurry but the best I could do for now.

Sunflower number one the biggest so far


Sunflower number two


Sunflower number three


The garden


Elizabeth's garden

Happy Birthday Friend Series: Happy Birthday Carrie ( The First Birthday Blog)

Happy birthday Carrie, it has been wonderful to know you these past 20 years. Since you are my second oldest friend, I think I can write a tribute to you on my blog. So without further ado......


Have you ever heard the saying that at some point a girlfriend stops being a friend and becomes a sister? Well Carrie is like that to me. We never see each other and it has been about 10 years since we last saw one another, but we have always stayed in touch. It has been fun watching her family grow and seeing her as a mother, she is truly a natural born mother and wife.

Carrie and I met the second day of junior high at the bus stop, I had walked there from my apartment down the street. I had this uber cool friend Abbie, she was chic even at 12. Anyways, Abbie says to me " Don't talk to that girl, she is a nerd!" and looks over at Carrie who is leaning against the fence reading Anne of Green Gables. Right then I learned one of the most profound lessons in my life, Never judge a book by it's cover. Being one to always strike my own path, I talked to her because she was reading my most favorite book. We became fast friends, especially because we got put in the same homeroom together. Now poor Carrie got paired with a extremely hyper table mate who was obsessed with New Kids on the Block.

 Here is Carrie's favorite story to tell about that time: One day I told her " Hey come here, I have a secret to tell you" and when she leaned over I screamed at the top of my lungs in her ear and laughed hysterically. I was so wound up that day and had to get my energy out somehow, but poor Carrie she probably suffers from permanent hearing loss!

 We traversed the ugly path of jr high school and even took the most exciting trip of our lives together. We went to Washington,DC for our 8th grade trip, it was so fun to see history together and we both still talk about it to this day. We survived those crazy bus rides to school together and just today she said to me " Hey, when I heard New Kids were getting back together, I thought of you." and " I remember the story of you and Liviu!" she knows the story and I will tell you why.

One of the things Carrie would always do is share her love of Jesus with me. She grew up in a Christian home and loves the Lord, she was always telling me about God and sometimes I wasn't very nice about it.

When we moved on to high school we both had to walk to school. So for the next 3 years we walked to school together everyday back and forth. Boy, that was a experience, one time we got flashed and possibly almost abducted, it was awful!

So the story goes, I would talk Carrie into walking the longer way home so we could follow Liviu home. Poor Carrie, once again she fell prey to one of my hair brained schemes, I am cracking up writing this.

 The next year she joined swimming and got really mad at me because I copied her, I really loved it and I am so glad I copied her. She excelled in school and was the best student I knew, she ended up being our Salutatorian at graduation. High school was a bit rough on our friendship at times and we both went through some really tough things. She was always there for me with my family stuff and really knows a lot about my home life growing up. Her mom who I like to call Miss Nancy really encouraged me to be a good student and attend school ( she once called me because I missed five days with strep throat). Her mom would also give us rides when it rained and opened there home to me more than once. They had such a nice family and a super cool dog Bandit. Carrie joined me in Speech and Debate our senior year and we ended up winning two trophies together.

After high school she went on to college and I went on to working and being in LOVE. She was one of the first people I called to tell I was getting married. She was a bridesmaid in my wedding and saw Conner right after he was born. I was able to go to her wedding and see her start out life with Chase. She is a wonderful wife and mother, very talented teacher and a good friend. I love you so much Carrie and I thank you for being a seed planter in my life. You never turned your back on me and stuck by me even when I didn't deserve it. Happy 32nd birthday my wonderful friend! psst, if you click on my title you can see what she looks like now.

Senior year:


In my wedding:


At her wedding, she was a beautiful bride:

Transplant update

Long overdue update

Things have changed, we are now in a holding pattern until Marty starts dialysis. The doctor at Stanford would like a cardiac catherization done and they will not proceed with the transplant until it is done. They cannot do the test because the dyes they inject would send him into complete renal failure. So we must wait for him to need dialysis and then he can receive the test and hopefully pass. So until then they will not try to match Marty to any potential organs that become available, but he will accrue time on the list. We are hoping by the time he goes on dialysis that he will be near the top of the list and his time on dialysis will be short.

He went to the doctor when we returned from LA and they said his kidney function has dropped. He is now somewhere between 16-18% kidney function. I have noticed he is really not feeling well lately, very tired and not hungry at all. When he does eat he seems to feel sick. Friday at bowling he was dizzy and his lips looked blue, but he presses on with work and commitments. I am so proud of him my heart feels like bursting. I can't imagine being so sick and continuing on with work, worship team and coaching baseball for Conner.

Good news, his leg swelling has drastically gone down and his face looks less puffy too! They changed a blood pressure medication and we think this made a difference.

We are praying for: short time on dialysis, that he would not have to go on dialysis until June or July, that he will remain infection free once he starts dialyis and that the donor would be blessed during this time.

This month is donate life month, if you have never thought of organ donation I encourage you to take the time to think about it now. Most of us don't like to think of death or dying, it is scary to some, instead think of the people you could bless. I know so many of you love our family and wish we weren't going through this. One way you can help is to become a donor and bless someone else. Here is the website: http://www.organdonor.gov/

Bring the rain

A few days ago I heard about this blog, it is called Bring the rain and if you click on my title it will take you there. It is the story of a family preparing to lose a baby. The father is part of the Christian band Selah which I first heard about through Candace when she met them on a cruise. The story is moving and has caused me to grow in my faith just by reading it, I really felt moved to share about it with all of you. Some of you have been through similar experience's as have I myself, it is very beautiful and moving. Be warned you will cry!

Trying Blogger in draft

This video makes us laugh! I really like these new features that Blogger is working on and might implement.

Where does time go?

Elizabeth 3 weeks, Conner 2 1/12 sleeping with Daddy on a visit to Grandma

Trying out blogger in draft

I think I am getting gray hair

Me: " Marty, I think I found a gray hair"

Marty: " That's okay, I have a few too."

Elizabeth: " That's okay, your still my momma and I still love you"

I think I need a dye job! Maybe I will go back to my old standby red.

Cute story

Marty went to get his haircut and a elderly gentleman sat down next to him. The girl says "How would you like your haircut?" and the man says " I don't know, my barber just retired after 35 yrs and I used to just sit down in the chair and start talking. He would cut my hair." the girl looked stunned and started saying " We have a number one clip, a number two clip..." and the guy says " Look, I don't know anything about any clips, just cut my hair in a way you think would look good on me." Isn't that so cute!

Pure self indulgence

I thought you might enjoy watching these with me:




The video that started it all, I was 11 years old in the summer of 88' sitting at home in Fullerton. I was watching MTV and this video came on and the world stopped, I spent the rest of the summer trying to wait for the video to come on. This is my first favorite New Kids song:

Finally, I can relive my awkward jr. high years

I am so pumped about this whole New Kids reunion thing, much to the disdain of my husband. I am so excited to be able to go to a New Kids concert after 17 years of waiting for another. My junior high days were spent wearing New Kids tee's, plastering every picture I could get out of Bop,Teenbeat and every other magazine on my wall. I used to wear these huge button's everyday, no wonder no boys ever liked me. Anyways, I have been made fun of for years about this and it hasn't stopped me yet. I even liked a boy for 5 yrs because he looked and acted like Joey Mac. I hope this blog brings you much laughter and head shaking, I am serious though people!

Fascinating

I am seriously fascinated by this story of a man giving birth. At first I couldn't believe that it was true and the read that it was a transgender man. He is doing this for his wife who could not give birth.Very interesting, opinions?

Sisters

I have been thinking about blogging on this subject for awhile now, I put it off but I think it better to explain things since I always am alluding to it. I am the middle of three daughters in my family, I have a older sister Kim who is 39 and a younger sister Carrie who is 29. My mom gave birth to Kim at the age of 17 much to the disapointment of her parents, it would be 30 yrs before the whole story would come to light. She then married my Dad and gave birth to Carrie and I two years apart, much to the enjoyment of all grandparents.

Carrie and I grew up rather close, in fact we had our own language when we were little. We fought mainly because we are very different in many ways. Also, with Carrie being the baby of the family she is used to getting her way or the highway. We spent much of our teenager years engrossed in the alternative music scene going to at least 1 concert a weekend. She broke my heart when she decided to move in with our dad in 1992. I cried for a week straight when she left home and missed her all week long until we spent the weekend together. When I met Marty and married him our relationship started to become distant and strained because I was growing up.

One weekend in 1995 my family sent me to be the messenger of a message for Carrie and from then on things would never be the same. She really has nothing to do with me, I have tried and tried in vain to make things right but eventually you realize it's a two way street and you can't rebuild the bridge on your own. I chased after her until I could no longer chase and eventually let go. Things have been good recently and I know someday their will be restoration in our relationship, I just don't know when.

Kim and I were never close, she was 8 when I was born and really hated the fact I was born. At the age of 13 she became wild, promicious and uncontrollable. Our house was always in some sort of uproar due to her behavior, there is a lot of mental instability there. She would come in and cause problems and then just leave, happy that she got whatever attention she needed. She also became a mother at the age of 16 and left her son to be raised by my Mom until he turned 17. I never really cared for Kim's behavior and always had a strong dislike for her treatment of me. About 10 yrs ago she was able to persuade me she had changed and that we needed to be close. We were married one year apart and ended up having kids 4 and 6 months apart.

 When we moved to Visalia it took about three days to realize she hadn't changed at all, in fact in some ways she was worse. I tried for five years to have a relationship with her but it caused me physical and emotional distress, I decided four years ago to shut the door on that relationship. It has been very hard but so worth it in many ways, my kids are the biggest benefactors since they don't have to grow up with that stress. It also has saved my marriage since Marty put up with so much himself and I was always putting my sister first instead of my family. Sadly, I wish I could tell you she has changed or will ever change but I don't see that happening now.

It's a complicated mess fueled by divorce and a broken home. My parent's finally have come to terms with my decision on Kim and now see why I have made it. They wish things with Carrie and I would change and hope that someday it will. We were all together for the first time in four years, two weeks ago and I know they enjoyed that. I hope this helps clear up some of the mystery surrounding my lack of conversation regarding my siblings.

A/N These are my opinions and feelings which I am entitled to. This isn't meant to slander anyone but simply share my feelings and side of a situation that has caused me pain and anguish.