Day 10: A whole year tribute

A New Year is upon us. And though it happens every year, at this same time, it still takes me by surprise when it gets here.

A funny thing about a year. When it is happening, it feels like some days take forever. Like I once heard, a day seems like it lasts a year, but a year only lasts a moment. So I thought it would be good to go back and look at how much has happened and how much the kids have a changed.

So here you go - a look at our year. (There are a couple that are blacked out for privacy reasons - ya know - can''t really call and ask for permission)

January 2010
I started my last semester of school - student teaching
February 2010
Grandma got sick
March 2010
Noah's 2nd Birthday
April 2010
Lost Grandma - Finished Student Teaching
May 2010
Bri's Birthday
June 2010
Summer started! Had lots of big plans
July 2010
K's birthday
August 2010
My birthday
September 2010
Lost K- started subbing
October 2010
Nothing that I can think of...
November 2010
Moved to Arizona
December 2010
Disneyland and Christmas


Well, that's it. 2010 started with a lot of promise but had a lot of downs. In fact, just thinking back over the year and everything that has happened, I have to force back the tears. My heart is still broken over the loss of my beloved grandma and K...but I know that time is the only healer of those wounds. I believe that the world is in my hands and I control my destiny. This year has to be better....lol...it can't be any worse then the last at least!

So here's to starting a New Year! I refuse to make a resolution - but I do plan on making the most of my days here. Loving more, laughing often and cherishing my babies. I wish you all these things to as we slide into 2011.

Day 9: Not a Whole Lot

Not a lot to say today! I have a ton to do and not enough time in the day to get it done! But I will mention that it is uber cold here! Okay, not cold like back home in Wyoming cold. But cold anyways. We turned the heater on for the first time since we moved here and broke out the comfortable winter pants. I love my comfy purple pants! It's like wearing a blanket!


So while I work on some writing things I need to get done, Bri and I rented a red box movie. Well, I rented a couple, but right now we are watching Vampires Suck. It is so ridiculous. I've never been a fan of spoof movies. At all. But being a huge fan of the Twilight Series (yes, I know - Shh) I figured it might be funny to watch it totally made fun of.


Not going to lie - I've laughed some. But over all - not worth it! Glad I only paid a dollar! What do you guys think of spoof movies?

Day 8: Information Overload!

In case you were wondering what I was doing right at this very minute, literally as I type this, I am playing Villian's Monopoly with the monster bean. She is winning - as usual. She has an uncanny ability to roll doubles. Legitimately.

Now, I know you are all dying to hear about my day. Well - it was rainy. Yup, that's it.

Okay, not really! Here is my beautifully cloudy drive to work.

And the stairway as I walked to my future!

Basically - today was a Lot of information and project overview. I am so excited about the projects I am going to be working on - starting as soon as I call time on this Monopoly game! My boss, Mr. David Fagan, is extremely respectable and a bit of a genius about marketing and business. You can check out his website - here - and read more about what he does and the products he has.

I'll keep you all posted on projects and new things that we have coming out as they develop! But right now - I need to roll the dice and process through my new assignments!

Day 7: The Night Before....

Work! Yes, I am starting my new job tomorrow. It is super exciting and the most amazing career for me....but I don't wanna talk about it here until I've actually gone and checked it all out. So we'll discuss this tomorrow!

Today - the kids and I enjoyed our last day before I start work by sleeping in. Then we got up and headed out to the Harkins 25. Amazing movie theater with a gourmet menu and awesome stadium seating and sound.

I've never taken Noah to a movie theater before I moved here. Then we went to see Despicable Me at the cheap seats with a friend. Noah did horrible! I vowed to never do that again. But then Tangled came out and Bri and I really wanted to see it. So never turned out to be like 2 weeks. That time Noah did amazingly awesome. So third time is a charm right? Yes, yes it was. He did awesome today - even though the movie wasn't right up his alley.

We saw Tron. Bri and I both had wanted to see it, after hearing so much about it's release at Disneyland. We did indeed watch it...not in 3-D, for Noah's sake. I really liked it...Bri kind of liked it. Noah - well - he liked his hot dog. And we will be headed to the movies again soon to see Cars 2, Rio, Gnomeo & Juliet, and Never Say Never.


In other news, I finally got the enclosure up on the trampoline. Bri says it's like a jail and Noah thinks it's like his own personal playroom that bounces. They both still jump like mad people on it.

And finally - the sunset was beautiful tonight.

Day 6: Dave

I'd like to introduce you to Dave. Dave is my new boyfriend. He's slick and handy and full of useful information. Dave is my GPS. I've spent most of my life being convinced that GPS systems are ridiculous waste of money for overindulgent people. But I also didn't live in a big city where I didn't know where anything is.


Obviously, that has changed. And now I have Dave. If I want to find a store - I can push "Search Near me", type in the name of where ever I want to go, and it will find the closest one to me. If I want to go somewhere and I know the address, I can type it in, and away we go. I love it - and It's still cool enough that the novelty hasn't worn off.

In other news - I thought Wyoming had the best sunsets. I was wrong. I LOVE Arizona sunsets. They are so incredibly beautiful - and they are incredibly beautiful almost every single day. Here is the start of today's - but - as always - pictures don't do it justice.


And finally, I put Noah in time out today in his room for hitting Bri. And when I came back in to talk to him - this is what I found:

Day 5: All about Noah

Today was really a day all about Noah. Bri was gone most of the day - so Noah and I went out to breakfast, went to Wal-mart to let him pick out the last of his Christmas presents, hung out and played trains with trains....for hours. He was in such a great mood and it's safe to say today was an awesome Noah day.


Noah and I went to this breakfast buffet we had heard lots about. It wasn't really it was hyped to be - but Noah thoroughly enjoy dipping his syrup-covered french toast in ketchup. Like really. He ate the whole piece like that.




After we were done playing trains, we went to pick up the Breeze. Noah was in a great mood and I actually got to catch a little video of him being his crazy self. For some reason, the minute a camera comes out, Noah gets super serious. So I hardly ever get great pictures or videos of him. It bothers me sometimes because if you were to judge by pictures, Noah would seem a truly miserable child. But in reality - he is the goofiest, craziest little kid I have ever met. He makes us laugh non-stop. Like right now, he's going through this dinosaur phase. He gets this crazy look on his face and starts chasing us like a dinosaur with rabies. He thinks it hilarious...Bri doesn't think so, most of the time.

Well, that's about it for now....how was your Christmas weekend?

Day 4: Christmas

To start off today - I should say Merry Christmas to you that are reading. We celebrated Christmas yesterday because Bri is spending Christmas with her dad, for the first time in many many years. Noah and I are enjoying a marathon of Mythbusters, with intervals of trampoline jumping in between. Here are a couple of the highlights from our Christmas.

(Santa came to say hello to us at dinner)

(Santa brought a toy for each kid)

(Noah just really liked Santa's beard)

(Bri wanted it to be a surprise right up until the end)

(Loving her presents - super into Barbies now)

(She made out pretty good this year :) )



Alright - well, that's our Christmas. Hope yours was great!

Day 3: Projects

Today was the day to complete some projects. (I'm posting early today because we have plans for tonight). The first project to get finished today was one that has actually been going on since Tuesday! It's been a lot of fun but I'm glad we are done.


As you can see, we started with lofty expectations for the amount of things we were going to do.
'
And after days of baking, the cookies were finally frosted and we were ready to make our Christmas presents: Baked goodie trays!


Each tray includes:
Pretzel Turtles
Butterscotch Haystacks
Rocky Road Fudge
Maple Walnut Fudge
Peanut Butter Fudge
Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
Sugar Cookies
And, a Gingerbread Cookie.

Now, the other Project for the day is actually one that makes me proud! I built it all by myself! Well, with a little help from my munchkins - passing me springs and counting.

My parents actually bought this as a Christmas present for the kids and had it shipped to us via the internet. When we woke up this morning, it was actually sitting in front of the front door. It's a good thing we were expecting it in the next few days - cuz I never even look out the front door. I had decided I wasn't going to even try to put it together without help, but Bri is leaving for her dad's in the morning and I felt bad that she wouldn't get to try it out. After reviewing the instructions, I decided I could possibly, maybe give it a shot.


And well, as you can see - I built it! The kids have been jumping on it on and off all day and so far it appears that I even did a good job. My hand is killing me from pulling 64 springs into place - but it was totally worth it!

I personally haven't taken a jump on it - the weight limit on the instructions is way low - so I'm afraid I'll take one big jump and crash through the middle or something! But for now - the kids are having a blast!


It's amazing the things you can do when you put your mind to it. One thing that I am learning being down here in Arizona is that I can do anything I want to do. I feel renewed and strong and independent again, something I really felt I lost (or got sucked outta me) back home. I think that I got so used to asking for help, that it became a crutch for me to not have to take care of myself. And in the process I started losing myself to. I started to feel ashamed of the person I was, the things I liked, the way I lived.

But it turns out - I really like myself and who I am.

And building a trampoline by myself, as silly as it is, reminded me of exactly why I came here and renewed my resolve to be me...and only me...for the rest of my life.

Day 2: Toilet Paper Everywhere

Today's topic: toilet paper.

My son is hopelessly obsessed with toilet paper. No matter where I hide the toilet paper, he finds it and unrolls is. Top of the closet, in the bathtub, under the sinks, in the closet, etc. When you ask him what he is doing, he quickly replies, "ummm, makin choo-choo train track".

It was funny for about three days, but now it's borderlining obnoxious. But since I am documenting my life for a year - this is currently my life.



Little piles of toilet paper...all over my house.

Holy Guacamole!

I totally forgot about my blog! The chaos of everything that has been happening the last few months has completely eaten my brain! So, thank you to my beautiful cousin, Jordan, whose blog you can see here, reminded me today about how much I love blogging! AND she introduced me to Project 365. You can read more about it here. The idea is to take a picture every single day. It becomes a beautiful work that you can look back on over the year, as well as a way to find what things are important in your life.

I think I am up for the challenge, so I've decided to give it a shot. Starting today. December 22, 2010. A day I would normally despise, considering the amount of even numbers. Yes, I hate even numbers, don't ask me why.

Here is my first - the beautiful storm /slash sunset we've had. The weather in Arizona is completely and wonderfully heaven. Granted, I don't believe in heaven...but if I did....the weather here would qualify. I know in a couple months it will be hotter then hell (hahaha, pun intended) but right now we are loving it.

Now the other part of Project 365 is taking a picture of yourself once a month. To chronicle how you change as well. So here, my unfortunate readers, is a picture of me, today. Don't worry - I won't do this to you again until next month!

Alright - so that's it. That's my new goal - to write and upload at least one picture of something important to me, beautiful to me, intriguing to me - to chronicle my life for a year. I have to warn you - my mind borderlines on dark..sometimes twisted...completely random...and sometimes goofy. So, if you go on this journey with me - hang on tight - it's going to be a ride.