Valentine's 2012

My Valentine's Day was very eventful this year! I think for sure though, next year, I'm taking the day of and the day after off. It's like a whole other birthday :)~
It began with having to go to work...followed by getting roses, chocolate and a teddy bear at work :D

My husband is adorable. Ya know, it took a few years of deciding how we both felt regarding Valentine's Day to really feel like we had a plan of what we do. I questioned myself....am I the kind of girl that really enjoys flowers and chocolates?....Every year??......Yes. Yes I am. It's not about expectation or outdoing another person's boyfriend story or anything like that. It's just about lavishing upon one's partner and feeling like, as the partner, you have been lavished upon :). I know some girls that obsess about "topping" the year before, or they expect it from their partner. Not me. I am very happy with some romantic flowers, a nice dinner date, and of course, some alone time later. I think it's important to always push for the alone time, even when you have kids and busy schedules. Scratch that, ESPECIALLY when you have kids and busy schedules. Blowing it off only leads to one or the other feeling not important, or that your relationship can always be the thing that gets tossed aside. Not for me. We are the glue. If we are happy, the kids are happy, the family is happy and somehow life just feels more bearable.
So to follow up work, which never should have happened that day I might add, I scrambled with my girlfriends in a fun scheme to enjoy the evening old school style with our guys. Every once in a while, something fun and crazy has to be on the menu!
We decided on a scavenger hunt! It began at our homes. Each of us girls left a verse for our guys and a change of clothes. The instructions said to put on the clothes and meet at Ashley's house no later than 5:40 pm.
of course...they were late. :(
However! We then sent all three on the HUNT!!!!
The first clue was for Owen. It led him to our reception center Chateau Faire for a surprise. In my attempt to get a picture of him opening it, my camera was turned the wrong way and my retardedness got captured...so here you go....

We hid behind a Dumpster to see if we could capture them getting the first clue!... People thought we were a bit odd...

We then RACED to the second destination to prepare for the guys!

This time it was where Ashley and Jake held their reception...we got caught!!

On to where Kevin and Natalie did their dancin!

 We were the Valentine Babe Bandits!!!

Next, it took them to Laser Tag! We figured since we bossed them around a bit, they could get out their anger by shooting at us :) The guys loved it!

In the end, we ended up at the Five Alls. It's old and the motif is Medieval. It was really cool with a beautiful room. It was a little pricey for a steak, but it was yummy and I had a great time :)

I loved this Valentine's Day. And I love my Owen.

Soul Food

Updates Updates. It's hard to know when something is worth blogging about. I read some and am like....yeah I don't know that cleaning your bathroom was very exciting to me, but then I see some magical cleaning agent they share the recipe to and I'm like, YES! Thank you Blogging world for being information and handy.

Anywho, I thought I'd take a moment and update on the lives of our craziness. January was a fun/crazy month. Being right after Christmas, I thought for sure we would have some room to catch up and straighten out our finances. Instead, we had a birthday party for Mitchell, my car registration is expiring which means I need a new windshield and tires, Owen's truck had bald tires and in the (occasional) snow we've been getting, it's been a bit scary. So those had to be replaced. Then the kids were playing with O and his glasses broke, which we found out his prescription was expired so a new eye exam, followed by new lenses and glasses was a must. While we were there, I knew I needed an exam because of the headaches and constant lack of focus of my eyes at work all day staring at my computer screen, so I had an appointment to get checked out as well. After insurance, this visit ended up costing us an arm and a leg plus the guts inside my wallet. Needless to say, my new and first pair of glasses ever will be ready in about a week and a half. The doc told me they are not necessary all day long, but they are necessary for more than reading...so it's up to me....Owen told me once I can see, I'll be addicted to it and never want to go back. I guess we'll see how it goes!

So all in all.....BBBBBLLLUUUHHH!!! (vomitting noise) <--- that's me vomitting out money from my ears and realizing, January is more painful than Christmas and definitely does not come wrapped in a bow. :-s

On a lighter note, February is the month of love. I have decided that based on the fact that I have 30 different moods and personalities, I am going to change my background to reflect the month and possible festivities pertained therein. (I'll use any excuse I can find to decorate something)

LOVE. Amazing to think it governs us so completely some days. I can go an entire day being pissed off at my husband, ready to ring his neck and feed him to the zombies....and look at him and still be able to say I love you. Crazy how that works. Like this little thing you can't control...and it's ok. <3

I don't know exactly what we'll be doing for Valentine's this year, but it's probably going to be a bit on the small scale due to trying to salvage what little piece of financial dignity we have to make up for January. But if you ask me, it's not about who does it bigger, who does it cuter, or even who does it the "best". It's all about taking a moment out of all the noise, to look right at the person you are with/love/ or admire and say, "I'm glad I'm with you. I trust you. I love to laugh with you and I love to know that you love to laugh with me. I promise I will be here even when the sky is black and everything seems impossibly dark. I know you. and I love you. "

Truthfully, I think being able to say that every day is important, but let's face it, we don't remember to, we don't have time to, we don't have the brain to (especially if you have kids around) or we don't have the opportunity to every day. And that is why Valentine's day exists. Aside from the St. Valentine stories and all that. The truth is, it's morphed into a time to step aside and really remember the reasons why you love the one you love. And I'm grateful for it. Owen thinks it's a fake holiday. But even so, I'm glad I have the time set aside each year to fawn over my dearest friend and let him know I care as much as I do...and it's not cheesy on that day. It's given a license to ham it up! Thank you Valentine's Day for that! :) I wish you all the best on your Valentine's Days and I hope I hear how they all go! Have some fun and do something random :) You'll remember it more that way.

Mitchell

Recently, I have had the pleasure of smiling a lot at my newly 4 year old step-son. He has reached a level of maturity that enables him to think further than he ever has before. Of course, he reaches this before any of us new it, so he continually says things that surprise me completely!! His little mouth saying such grown up thoughts and feelings has to be the most incredibly adorable thing I have ever witnessed.
If you follow my facebook, you already know some of these stories, but if not, here are some just to make you smile like I have:

-Mitchell in Primary, all sad like. I ask, "Mitchell what's the matter?" .... he sadly replies, "I just feel sad about growing up".....
-Later that same church day, we're grabbing his coat. He says it again and I ask him, "why are you sad about that Mitchell?" He thinks for a minute....then replies, "I just don't think it's a good idea".

- Our salt water fish tank holds a lot of pride from us since Owen has pieced it together piece by piece and built the system from the ground up. Each year, for different occasions we add things like a new coral or a new fish. We had 2 maroon clown fish, a big grey tang, a coral beauty, a cardinal, 3 wrays and the newest addition was a neon two toned yellow and purple fish we named Starburst. Since we have owned her, she has killed off the 3 wrayes, our coral beauty jumped out of the tank thanks to her harassment and our newest loss was one of prized maroon clowns. So tragic. So we've basically decided to do away with Starburst. The kids overheard me saying this fish should be flushed or destroyed because she's a murderer. Since then, they have obsessed over how she needs to go away. So Mitchell, watching the tank intently, decides to run up and scare her. He hits the glass with his palm and says very loudly, "NOT TODAY STARBURST!!"

-For Mitchell's 4th Birthday, we decided to do an official Chuck-e-Cheese birthday party. We invited all the fam and friends. Mitchell and Tristan are like best friends. When Tristan arrived, they took their tokens and ran off to play the games. When Owen goes to check on them, he sees them looking at each other worried like. As he gets closer, he sees it's one of those Bonus Ticket machines. The tickets are spewing out by the hundreds. Mitchell points at Tristan and stuttering, he says, "I, I , I put the token in but but but Tristan, he, he pushed the button!! Tristan looks at Owen nervous.....They thought they broke it!!! LOL!"

-Mitchell got to do the Ticket Blaster machine. This means he gets to go in a plastic tube thing and they blow the tickets around and whatever he can grab, he can keep (vouchers for more tickets). Well....this is what happened....I dare you to try not to laugh. Poor Mitchell boy. So tragically adorable.

After this tragic reaction, I went in there with him and we caught vouchers for hundreds of tickets. He was smiling by the end :)

I absolutely love this little boy. His birthday was so much fun! I attempted a daring crafty culinary piece of art. Sometimes I think I am just creative, but when the finished product came out, I had to pat myself on the back for the artistic qualities I can pull out. My sisters are the real artists in the family. I can do music and I have crazy ideas about stuff, etc, but when it comes to works of art, they usually take the cake.... so here's my cake :)

Mitchell Loved his dragon cake! I was nervous about it for a while, but his smile and excitement about this cake made the whole thing worth while!!!

Happy Birthday Mitchell!!! I love you with all my heart and I'm so glad you are in my life :) I cannot believe you are already 4!

 I'm So glad Friends and family Came. And Rachel's Birthday was this last week too!!! Happy Birthday to the birthday peeps!!!

Ashley, Will and Lincoln. Lincoln is getting so freaking big!! And wow they look like their momma :)

The Way Life Lives Itself

So to make up for the mockery that is my last post (phone's fault...not mine....), I have decided on a random glimpse into my life as of today. Pictures tell a thousand words, but sometimes, those words are nice to analyze and enjoy personal meaning out of.
When I was 14, I took my first plane ride ever. I was going to New York City with my dad. He had a business trip there scheduled for the week and my dad decided it would be a great experience for me. My aunt lived there and the plan was for me to hang with him at night, shop around and read while he worked in the day but then hang out with her one day and let her show me around Manhattan. We did everything! I went into the Two Towers (rest in peace), we saw Les Miserables on Broadway, we shopped til we dropped and had great food. When I got back from my trip, I took my film to my mom and wanted to go get it developed right away. I was excited to see the random dude in a kilt I snapped shots of while crossing a street, the poses next to Ursula and Ariel my aunt and I made in the Disney store, the colorfully tattooed people making out at Virgin Records and the illegal shots I took with my flash off of Les Mis. When my mom took the film in, the photos came back blank. The film got exposed somehow in the developing process. Everything gone. I was crushed. The only thing I have left is a little wooden saying I bought from a random rack on the street which I'm sure involved drug trafficking and money laundering in some form or another (this is my sheltered side coming out), that stated the following: "A heart that has lost the will to sing is like a butterfly with a broken wing".

Years later I realize, looking at that quote, that little wooden plaque is the only thing I need to remember what I experienced there. A taste for a life I always wanted.

Now don't get me wrong. I love my family. They are kind, they are loving, they are fun... but the feeling I get when I taste the air of independence and change makes me come alive. Something about the air in big cities (minus the instant lung cancer) brings a feeling of freedom.

I love music. I went through a time in my life where I thought everyone knew me and what I wanted. I made the mistake of surrounding my life in everything BUT music and paid the price. I feel like I wallpapered away into the crowd. My husband never knew me to do music, so when I started doing it, it was a change for him. My family never knew me not to do music, so when I was married working 3 jobs, they didn't know me anymore either.

For the past year, I have been making some drastic changes in my life. I got another office job for one, but this one is positive. The environment is good and the people are interesting to me. I don't mind the work and I don't feel abused by the end of the day. I got married to the funniest, cutest, weirdest guy I know. (coming from the queen of the weirdos). I can't explain my feelings for him some days. It's just a feeling. Something pulling me. I realized that even though I was not planning on marriage for quite some time when I got divorced, I knew I didn't know how to live my life smiling without him there. I could live, but it wouldn't have been as special. We got married in June and even though that may have been the most stressful time of my life, it was beautiful. It was special, and we pulled it off. Right after the wedding, I made a decision. Music. It has to continue in my life. It is always in my heart, hence the surprise when people don't know this about me. But one has to live their passions for people to see and classify them as a *insert professional talent*.

So I started taking guitar again. I have started writing again. I contacted a dear friend of mine and we have started a new band. My songs. It's so refreshing to not be singing backup in a band anymore. While that was fun and sated my need for the time being there for a couple years, it's far past the time for me to have my own show.

Each one of the people in my life that I love and hate contribute to my musical creations. I have to say thank you. Strange to realize I'm thanking people I hate, but in truth, they reveal a reality many people cannot explain. That's why music exists. To express the seemingly inexpressible. I will list when I start performing around town. It will be in the next 2 months. Wish me luck everyone. Love you all. And thanks again for everything you have all contributed. ~

Christmas 2012

I've decided it's hard to feel the Christmas spirit as an adult naturally. It actually takes work to remember the meaning of Christmas through all the buying, budgeting, planning, and stressful days. But through it all, somehow, you can't help but feel love and happiness when your 3 year old says something like, "He ate the cookies mom!!!!! I KNEW he was real!!!" so stinking cute! We went to the festival of trees and saw Santa where Mitchell asked for a dragon. They got face Christmas stamps too.
We had a party at great grandmas where Santa visited, partied christmas eve night where we let off our balloons to Santa and then opened presents Christmas morning. The rest of our vacation was loads of fun and full of giggles :-)

I posted this one from my phone. The pics are a bit differently shown and they got shuffled, but hey, use your imagination and enjoy the fun!