Just Me!!

  I had a horrible time of it a month ago (sigh...that was only just the beginning, next came a terrible cold where I lost my voice, and then now shingles and intense pain). I somehow felt like my....well I felt very horrible and very depressed. I saw my physician and apparently he said I was broken. That's all the words for my diagnosis. Thank goodness I changed my medical coverage this year because I was indeed broken. Funny how one little thing said or facebooked when someone is broke can change their whole perspective. The above Facebook post did that for me. Pulled me out of being broke, well until the cold and Shingles pulled me back in. Mentally, I am not broke. Just physically. I can work on that. As long as my mind is in the right place! So prior to my Shingles outbreak we went on a adventure with the kids. Our adventure took us to Salem Oregon and to a Tulip Festival that wasn't truly festive because of all the rain they were having. We had fun anyways. We took the ki...

      I've knew I had to start letting go and let her make her own decisions but I didn't realize this started on her 18th birthday. She even said that night that she is 18 now and can even decide if she wanted to get a tattoo and I couldn't have a single say in it. The thing that gives me peace is that I trust her. I trust her to make her own decisions so that next week I gave her her own insurance card, the name of her eye doctor, and the number to her stylist. I even dropped her off at the mall the other day and told her to find a bra all by herself. In every instance she has proven to be trustworthy. She ordered glasses that were cute and reasonably priced, found and fitted herself for a bra, cut her hair to her own choosing and loves it, and plans to wait on a tattoo for now. I definately can't take all the credit for this kid but she is one awesome adult! For her 18th birthday we got her a digital drawing pad that connects to her computer. I love Amazon shopping. ...

I need to blog but I'm so behind I don't know where to start. Let's try Ethan's Birthday. I am so proud of him he raised 650.00 towards the purchase of a new computer. We have always told the kids that if they save for something and show initiative we would help them out so for his birthday we covered the rest of his computer costs so that he could finally get a new computer. It is awesome and is the nicest computer currently in the house! He had a great birthday celebration with Caitlyn and with us as well. I believe mom and dad popped over for cake too.          In February we also had spirit week at Harvard....crazy hair and crazy sock day!    Geralt even loved her hairstyle      Here's the quote that helped me realize that being all worked up about work is totally worthless. My babies and our adventures with them make everything worthwhile. My job is a job. My adventures away from there is my life!  

  The sunshine felt amazing. Mark suggested I work outside a little today and since I had already thought about it I decided to give it a whirl. It took a lot of positive talk and about 2.25 hours of hard work. I weeded, pruned, and prepped my beds for spring. The yard waste bucket was completely empty, and now look at it! I feel like I accomplished something today. These poor weeds, roots, and old vegetables from last year needed to be cleaned up. It was a Great day. Starting to feel like myself again. I haven't even had to refill my RX from Dr Taggart. I also got some help from my brother in law. His funeral program is still on my fridge and today I stopped and read the scripture on the front of it. Psalm 23. Yep, Jesus promises to be with me. WHY should I fear! He is in the business of restoring souls...and mines in need!     

I love my iPhone. It automatically collects faces and places the pictures in a folder for me. Ryan had 64 pictures in his folder right now. His face is the same every time...full of smiles! What a blessing he is and what a true joy he is to watch grow. I love being his auntie and am so proud of his soft sweet spirit and his go getter-I-can-do-anything attitude. We went to his birthday party today. He had a whole bunch of kids from school and then of course his cousins. It was a perfect party. Shannon rented a Xbox party trailer and the kids spent all their time out in the truck. Can't believe He turned 9 already! Happy Birthday Ry Guy!!               

It been a horrible week, probably my worst ever. I've struggled to keep myself together. Even in moments like these where I can't seem to do just that, these help. Pictures from my daughter living her life dreams everyday. She strives and reaches for goals daily and for that I smile amidst all the crazy emotions I've been feeling. All the foreboding I've been feeling makes these moments more of a panic though. I am proud of her. I want to see her grow. She applied to be accepted for a day in the life of a law student. She was accepted and spent the day meeting judges, lawyers, teachers, and listening to lectures at UW. Valerie at UW School of Law Judge for a day