First I want to say a GREAT BIG HELLO to all of my blog readers and friends!!!! I hope each and every single one of you are doing well.
I am so sorry to say at this time I am still not able to blog and that really bums me out. However, over the last few weeks I have gotten several emails and comments on my blog asking me how I am doing and when I will start blogging again.
To answer your questions...I am doing GREAT!! Actually better than great if there is such a thing! Since my last post in June there have been many, many, many things I want to share with you. Some are just small fun little things and some are great big major things. I also have TONS and TONS of pictures to share with you all.
As far as when I can start blogging again, I'm not 100% sure. It's kind of a week by week kind of thing. However, it also might not be until the middle of January, so please be patient with me and keep checking back for updates. As I've said before I can't really get into it now, but hopefully soon I will be able to explain everything to you all and it will all make sense to you as to why I had to stop for a while.
Know that I miss you and miss blogging so so much!! I check in on all of you every day, but really have not commented all that often and for that I'm also sorry.
Thank you so much for checking back with me and for leaving me emails and comments over the last few weeks it means a great deal to me!!
As I said in the start of this post. I am GOOD, GREAT, and very HAPPY!! I have lots and lots and lots to share with you and I can not wait to spill the beans on each and every part of it.
I hope you each are doing well and I will continue to check in on each of you. Keep looking for updates or for a real post I hope I will be back sooner than 2012!
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
A Break
I'm so sorry to have to tell all of you this, but right now for the next few months I need to take a break from my blog, well actually from writing posts, I will still be reading and commenting on all of yours.
I'm going through something that is making it very difficult to blog. I love to blog, oh I love to blog. However, I feel like my blog is not "mine" right now and I feel like I can not write what I want to write about when I want to write about it. I'm so sorry for being so vague in all of this. Hopefully, by the end of summer or early fall I will be able to get back to blogging and perhaps even be able to share why I had to stop.
I have thought about this for a while now, about stopping posts for a while versus just being selective as to what I write about, but I want to right about things and not have to feel as though I'm "editing" my thoughts or feelings. However, as many of you have noticed I have been posting very sporadically. It's getting harder and harder for me to blog, to write what I want. Blogging has been very important to me ever since I started it in May of 2008. I have met many great people through blogging, it has been a way for me to heal, a way for me to share my thoughts, feelings and emotions. I can not even begin to describe to you how my blog has helped me heal. I hate to walk away from it now because I know this blog has helped people who are going through similar stories to what I have gone through. It really does make be sad and to be honest a little upset to stop, but at this point and time I guess I need to do what is best for me and at this particular time has to be to stop posting for a while.
Please know that I am good. I'm in a good place in my life and I'm happy and I worked my ass off to get to the point where I am in my life today. I'm grateful and blessed for what my life was and I'm grateful and blessed to be to where I am today. Nobody can take either away from me.
Thank you to each and every one of you who have given me support, love and encouragement over the last three years. Your kindness and love has meant more to me than you know. I will still be reading and posting on your blogs, just taking a break from mine. Like I said earlier I hope to be back to blogging by early fall. Also, believe you me, I will be remembering all that's going on in my life both good and bad in hopes of sharing it with you in the near future. I hope I don't lose all of my readers and I hope when I get to a point when I can write again you all will be back.
Thanks for everything and I will be back in a few months.
I'm going through something that is making it very difficult to blog. I love to blog, oh I love to blog. However, I feel like my blog is not "mine" right now and I feel like I can not write what I want to write about when I want to write about it. I'm so sorry for being so vague in all of this. Hopefully, by the end of summer or early fall I will be able to get back to blogging and perhaps even be able to share why I had to stop.
I have thought about this for a while now, about stopping posts for a while versus just being selective as to what I write about, but I want to right about things and not have to feel as though I'm "editing" my thoughts or feelings. However, as many of you have noticed I have been posting very sporadically. It's getting harder and harder for me to blog, to write what I want. Blogging has been very important to me ever since I started it in May of 2008. I have met many great people through blogging, it has been a way for me to heal, a way for me to share my thoughts, feelings and emotions. I can not even begin to describe to you how my blog has helped me heal. I hate to walk away from it now because I know this blog has helped people who are going through similar stories to what I have gone through. It really does make be sad and to be honest a little upset to stop, but at this point and time I guess I need to do what is best for me and at this particular time has to be to stop posting for a while.
Please know that I am good. I'm in a good place in my life and I'm happy and I worked my ass off to get to the point where I am in my life today. I'm grateful and blessed for what my life was and I'm grateful and blessed to be to where I am today. Nobody can take either away from me.
Thank you to each and every one of you who have given me support, love and encouragement over the last three years. Your kindness and love has meant more to me than you know. I will still be reading and posting on your blogs, just taking a break from mine. Like I said earlier I hope to be back to blogging by early fall. Also, believe you me, I will be remembering all that's going on in my life both good and bad in hopes of sharing it with you in the near future. I hope I don't lose all of my readers and I hope when I get to a point when I can write again you all will be back.
Thanks for everything and I will be back in a few months.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Ten Years
May 19, 2001 a day that will always have special meaning to me. It will also always be one of the best days of my life. Ten years ago today I married on of the greatest men I had ever known!
It kind of blows my mind to think about being married for ten years. It seems like such a long time, I guess it is a long time, a really long time, especially when you think about how long marriages seem to last these days or rather don't last. Was my marriage with Shawn perfect? No, not at all, we had a fair share of "issues" but we always worked through them, we chose to work through them and we communicated with each other. Did we fight? No, hardly at all but of course we did, and when we did they were usually HUGE fights. Every marriage has it's fights and it's ups and downs, but we always worked through our issues. More important that anything we loved each other with all of our hearts. We would do anything for each other and we were always there for each other. We grew up together, helped each other grow and change. I would like to think I helped in in areas of his life and I know he helped me in areas of mine. A huge part of my personality is because of him. A huge part of the strength that I have is because of him and the strength he instilled in me. Maybe in some weird way he knew something was going to happen and was preparing me to live without him. Either way, without him I know I would not be who I am today, and I'm so grateful and blessed for how Shawn impacted my life. How he still impacts my life. There are many situations that I think to myself, "How would Shawn handle this?" Or " What would Shawn think of this?"
I remember most details of my wedding day. It was a beautiful spring day, deep blue sky, warm and lots of sun. I stayed the night at my parents house and Shawn called me in the morning and told me how excited he was to have me finally be his wife and how anxious he was to start our life together. The rest of the day I went about my business, hair, make-up, and getting into my dress. The whole day just felt "right". Just before I walked down the aisle my Dad looked at me and asked if I was nervous. I told him only because everyone was staring at me but not because I was getting married. It felt right, it felt really right and there was no reason to be nervous.
I caught Shawn's eye standing up at the alter waiting for me. I saw his smile and totally forgot about everyone and everything else. I was going to be his wife and that was all that mattered. Of course I cried when I said my vows to him. We were really young when we got married 23 and 24 I remember laughing at the line "in sickness and in health" and "till death us do part", nothing was going to happen to us. We were young and had our entire lives in front of us and it was going to be a great life. I'm telling you the two of us had some big, big plans! The rest of the night went off without a hitch. Our reception was while a little on the quiet side but was right for us at the time, nothing wild or crazy. We went to sleep that night as husband and wife and it felt amazing. Little did we know that only seven years later things would drastically change.
Today, at ten years after our wedding I look at life in a totally different way. I have learned to live life to the fullest and love more than ever because you never know what tomorrow will bring. My tomorrow changed in a heartbeat. I have also learned to love in a different way than I did before Shawn died. If it makes any sense I think I love "more" and "harder" because I know for a fact how quickly it all can end. I now say "I love you" to everyone, my family, and my friends and I never used to do that before. I always thought I would have tomorrow to tell them, and well, that's just not the case.
I got up this morning and of course remembered it was the ten year anniversary of our marriage. However, unlike the last two years I wasn't really sad. I took some time and remembered the day and the many memories that Shawn and I made for ourselves. I took a bouquet of yellow roses out to the cemetery and stayed out there for a while. I thanked Shawn for loving me, for letting me be his wife and for helping to make me who I am today. I also thanked him for teaching me how to love someone with all of my heart and soul. Of course I told him that I loved, will always love and miss him. And I did it all without crying or cracking into a million little pieces. I got into the car, turned the radio station and wouldn't you know it our wedding song, "I Cross My Heart" by George Strait was on the radio. I'm not even kidding, the second I got in the car from visiting his grave the song came on. A sign from Shawn, or just an odd coincidence? I have no idea but it gave me goose bumps and made me smile.
A marriage with love and respect of two people, what more could I ask for? Not a whole lot more. Even though my life and marriage with Shawn was cut short I will be forever grateful for the time I had with him. It was a great seven years, I will never forget it and it will always be a part of me, forever. I'm also grateful for the type of love that Shawn and I had. While it was unique and something special between just the two of us it taught me to love again. Because of the love and relationship that Shawn and I had I realized I didn't want to close my heart off to options of loving another man after his death. It took a long while to get to that point, but I'm so glad I realized that. After a long time I realized I wanted to be able to share the love that I have with another man and create another life of love between a man and a woman. Would a relationship with another man be the same as my relationship with Shawn? No absolutely not! Nor do I want it to be. However, with the love that Shawn and I had I can and I want to share that with another great guy. I am so lucky to be able to share and have that type of love with Ry. Our relationship is different that my relationship with Shawn, but that is ok. I'm grateful that the two relationships are different. I'm grateful that I am able to love, be in love and to be loved back by two amazing men! I am one lucky girl!
I think my facebook status this morning sums it up the best, I wrote:
It kind of blows my mind to think about being married for ten years. It seems like such a long time, I guess it is a long time, a really long time, especially when you think about how long marriages seem to last these days or rather don't last. Was my marriage with Shawn perfect? No, not at all, we had a fair share of "issues" but we always worked through them, we chose to work through them and we communicated with each other. Did we fight? No, hardly at all but of course we did, and when we did they were usually HUGE fights. Every marriage has it's fights and it's ups and downs, but we always worked through our issues. More important that anything we loved each other with all of our hearts. We would do anything for each other and we were always there for each other. We grew up together, helped each other grow and change. I would like to think I helped in in areas of his life and I know he helped me in areas of mine. A huge part of my personality is because of him. A huge part of the strength that I have is because of him and the strength he instilled in me. Maybe in some weird way he knew something was going to happen and was preparing me to live without him. Either way, without him I know I would not be who I am today, and I'm so grateful and blessed for how Shawn impacted my life. How he still impacts my life. There are many situations that I think to myself, "How would Shawn handle this?" Or " What would Shawn think of this?"
I remember most details of my wedding day. It was a beautiful spring day, deep blue sky, warm and lots of sun. I stayed the night at my parents house and Shawn called me in the morning and told me how excited he was to have me finally be his wife and how anxious he was to start our life together. The rest of the day I went about my business, hair, make-up, and getting into my dress. The whole day just felt "right". Just before I walked down the aisle my Dad looked at me and asked if I was nervous. I told him only because everyone was staring at me but not because I was getting married. It felt right, it felt really right and there was no reason to be nervous.
I caught Shawn's eye standing up at the alter waiting for me. I saw his smile and totally forgot about everyone and everything else. I was going to be his wife and that was all that mattered. Of course I cried when I said my vows to him. We were really young when we got married 23 and 24 I remember laughing at the line "in sickness and in health" and "till death us do part", nothing was going to happen to us. We were young and had our entire lives in front of us and it was going to be a great life. I'm telling you the two of us had some big, big plans! The rest of the night went off without a hitch. Our reception was while a little on the quiet side but was right for us at the time, nothing wild or crazy. We went to sleep that night as husband and wife and it felt amazing. Little did we know that only seven years later things would drastically change.
Today, at ten years after our wedding I look at life in a totally different way. I have learned to live life to the fullest and love more than ever because you never know what tomorrow will bring. My tomorrow changed in a heartbeat. I have also learned to love in a different way than I did before Shawn died. If it makes any sense I think I love "more" and "harder" because I know for a fact how quickly it all can end. I now say "I love you" to everyone, my family, and my friends and I never used to do that before. I always thought I would have tomorrow to tell them, and well, that's just not the case.
I got up this morning and of course remembered it was the ten year anniversary of our marriage. However, unlike the last two years I wasn't really sad. I took some time and remembered the day and the many memories that Shawn and I made for ourselves. I took a bouquet of yellow roses out to the cemetery and stayed out there for a while. I thanked Shawn for loving me, for letting me be his wife and for helping to make me who I am today. I also thanked him for teaching me how to love someone with all of my heart and soul. Of course I told him that I loved, will always love and miss him. And I did it all without crying or cracking into a million little pieces. I got into the car, turned the radio station and wouldn't you know it our wedding song, "I Cross My Heart" by George Strait was on the radio. I'm not even kidding, the second I got in the car from visiting his grave the song came on. A sign from Shawn, or just an odd coincidence? I have no idea but it gave me goose bumps and made me smile.
A marriage with love and respect of two people, what more could I ask for? Not a whole lot more. Even though my life and marriage with Shawn was cut short I will be forever grateful for the time I had with him. It was a great seven years, I will never forget it and it will always be a part of me, forever. I'm also grateful for the type of love that Shawn and I had. While it was unique and something special between just the two of us it taught me to love again. Because of the love and relationship that Shawn and I had I realized I didn't want to close my heart off to options of loving another man after his death. It took a long while to get to that point, but I'm so glad I realized that. After a long time I realized I wanted to be able to share the love that I have with another man and create another life of love between a man and a woman. Would a relationship with another man be the same as my relationship with Shawn? No absolutely not! Nor do I want it to be. However, with the love that Shawn and I had I can and I want to share that with another great guy. I am so lucky to be able to share and have that type of love with Ry. Our relationship is different that my relationship with Shawn, but that is ok. I'm grateful that the two relationships are different. I'm grateful that I am able to love, be in love and to be loved back by two amazing men! I am one lucky girl!
I think my facebook status this morning sums it up the best, I wrote:
Friday, May 6, 2011
What I'm Loving....
I've seen the "what I'm loving" posts and thought that I would share some of what I'm loving right now with all of you. (Well, those of you who still read my blog) It was actually kind of hard right now to narrow down the list of things that I'm loving because I'm loving so much right now, but here are just a few things.
Two weeks ago when my brother got married I didn't have time to get my nails done at a salon. I figured what the heck, I would just do them my self. I went to the store and quickly grabbed Sally Hanson's Color Quick Fast Dry nail pen. I did not believe the "fast dry" bit for one second. But let me tell you it's no lie, it does dry fast. The morning of the wedding I didn't have time to do my nails. So I kid you not ten minutes before we walked down the aisle, I brushed on the polish. Not one, but two coats. I am not even kidding it dried in an instant and I did not have one single smudge. Not one! Amazing! Even better it lasted for just about two weeks without even chipping...totally unbelievable! I plan on going to the store and getting a few more colors.
Today I was running errands in town and I was getting a little bit thirsty. I had a Starbucks gift certificate left from Christmas so I decided to swing through the drive through. I was going to get my staple "summer" coffee an Iced Caramel Macchiato but as I pulled up to order I saw the word "coconut" and got all happy. They now have Mocha Coconut Frappucino, it was heavenly! It was a little bit of coffee, (well maybe more than a little bit), yummy chocolate, and coconut all rolled into one summery yummy delicious drink! I can't begin to tell you how yummy it was, just go and try one for yourself. I however did not like the nutrition facts I read on it once I got home. A little scary actually how many calories were in that size small yummy drink that I slurped down in about ten minutes. However as I was looking at their website I saw that they also have a Mocha Coconut Frappucino Light blended coffee. I will for sure be getting that next time.
The next thing that I'm loving is my new gym. A few weeks ago I left a comment on a friend's Facebook telling her what a good job she was doing working out called Seung-ni fittness. Well, she invited me to go with her to a class. I wasn't so sure I could hang there. I have heard lots about this particular place and from what I was hearing it's no easy task. I heard that they really work you there and there is no messing around. However, I have also heard that after only a few classes you begin to see results. So, I decided to suck it up and go with her. OMG!!! What I was hearing was no lie. It has by far been the HARDEST workouts I have ever done in my life. I'm talking dripping in sweat in less than ten minutes into the class. I won't even tell you what I look like after 60 minutes of the ass kicking workout! GROSS!!!
I have done the kickboxing class and the body sculpt classes. The kickboxing was the hardest thing I have ever ever done, but you burn about 1,500 calories in the 60 minutes class. However, I felt like I was going to puke the entire class and it took my heart rate about a half hour after the class was over to go back to normal. (yeah, I'm totally out of shape) I figure I will do the kickboxing class a few times a month. Then the class I love the most is body sculpt...you work upper body for 20 minutes, back and abs for 20 minutes and legs for twenty minutes. It is totally intense and you do a TON of reps, but you get amazing results and fast. Not to mention how great I feel after doing it. On a side not I also have never been so sore in my life! But I guess it's a good kind of sore...in an ass kicking kind of way.
Have you been to Bath and Body works lately? They have a whole bunch of new scents with coconut. Can you tell I have a "thing" for coconut? Love it...love to eat it, love the smell of it...just love it. Anyhow, the Coconut Hawaii Shower gel and lotion is amazingly good. I love the way it makes the entire bathroom smell, not to mention I like how it makes me smell too:)
Okay, these next two little items I'm so loving and I never thought I would have. We all know that the skinny jeans or leggings with a flowy top, paired with a cute little pair of ballet shoes are in style now. Right? Well I for one have always hated flat shoes. I'm not sure what it is about flats but I just don't like them. I guess it's because I'm short and like the pointy toe and high heel kind of look. I also think the whole ballet flat thing doesn't work for me because I'm already short and I think a short shoe will make me "feel" shorter. Does that make any sense? Well earlier this week I decided to bite the bullet, go with what fashion is telling me to do and I got two different pairs of flats
Number 1
Number 2 (except the ones I got are a light khaki color)
I wore the khaki ones today with a pair of skinny jeans and a long t-shirt and I loved them. I don't even think they made me look all that short. I can't wait til it gets a little warmer and I can wear the snake skin ones with a pair of black shorts that I have. What do you all think about the ballet flats? Do you have them, should I ditch my standard flip flops and get more?
I don't have a picture for this one but I wanted to tell you guys that I still love blogging and reading blogs. However, I'm totally 100% loving the fact that my life is so busy and full now that I hardly have time to write a post. I still read all of your blogs every single day, I comment a few times a week. But I just don't have the time I used to to write four to five posts a week. I'm going to try to post two times a week and see how that goes for a while. Hope you are all okay with that and will still read my blog. But life is good and I'm loving that right now.
Two weeks ago when my brother got married I didn't have time to get my nails done at a salon. I figured what the heck, I would just do them my self. I went to the store and quickly grabbed Sally Hanson's Color Quick Fast Dry nail pen. I did not believe the "fast dry" bit for one second. But let me tell you it's no lie, it does dry fast. The morning of the wedding I didn't have time to do my nails. So I kid you not ten minutes before we walked down the aisle, I brushed on the polish. Not one, but two coats. I am not even kidding it dried in an instant and I did not have one single smudge. Not one! Amazing! Even better it lasted for just about two weeks without even chipping...totally unbelievable! I plan on going to the store and getting a few more colors.
Today I was running errands in town and I was getting a little bit thirsty. I had a Starbucks gift certificate left from Christmas so I decided to swing through the drive through. I was going to get my staple "summer" coffee an Iced Caramel Macchiato but as I pulled up to order I saw the word "coconut" and got all happy. They now have Mocha Coconut Frappucino, it was heavenly! It was a little bit of coffee, (well maybe more than a little bit), yummy chocolate, and coconut all rolled into one summery yummy delicious drink! I can't begin to tell you how yummy it was, just go and try one for yourself. I however did not like the nutrition facts I read on it once I got home. A little scary actually how many calories were in that size small yummy drink that I slurped down in about ten minutes. However as I was looking at their website I saw that they also have a Mocha Coconut Frappucino Light blended coffee. I will for sure be getting that next time.
The next thing that I'm loving is my new gym. A few weeks ago I left a comment on a friend's Facebook telling her what a good job she was doing working out called Seung-ni fittness. Well, she invited me to go with her to a class. I wasn't so sure I could hang there. I have heard lots about this particular place and from what I was hearing it's no easy task. I heard that they really work you there and there is no messing around. However, I have also heard that after only a few classes you begin to see results. So, I decided to suck it up and go with her. OMG!!! What I was hearing was no lie. It has by far been the HARDEST workouts I have ever done in my life. I'm talking dripping in sweat in less than ten minutes into the class. I won't even tell you what I look like after 60 minutes of the ass kicking workout! GROSS!!!
I have done the kickboxing class and the body sculpt classes. The kickboxing was the hardest thing I have ever ever done, but you burn about 1,500 calories in the 60 minutes class. However, I felt like I was going to puke the entire class and it took my heart rate about a half hour after the class was over to go back to normal. (yeah, I'm totally out of shape) I figure I will do the kickboxing class a few times a month. Then the class I love the most is body sculpt...you work upper body for 20 minutes, back and abs for 20 minutes and legs for twenty minutes. It is totally intense and you do a TON of reps, but you get amazing results and fast. Not to mention how great I feel after doing it. On a side not I also have never been so sore in my life! But I guess it's a good kind of sore...in an ass kicking kind of way.
Have you been to Bath and Body works lately? They have a whole bunch of new scents with coconut. Can you tell I have a "thing" for coconut? Love it...love to eat it, love the smell of it...just love it. Anyhow, the Coconut Hawaii Shower gel and lotion is amazingly good. I love the way it makes the entire bathroom smell, not to mention I like how it makes me smell too:)
Okay, these next two little items I'm so loving and I never thought I would have. We all know that the skinny jeans or leggings with a flowy top, paired with a cute little pair of ballet shoes are in style now. Right? Well I for one have always hated flat shoes. I'm not sure what it is about flats but I just don't like them. I guess it's because I'm short and like the pointy toe and high heel kind of look. I also think the whole ballet flat thing doesn't work for me because I'm already short and I think a short shoe will make me "feel" shorter. Does that make any sense? Well earlier this week I decided to bite the bullet, go with what fashion is telling me to do and I got two different pairs of flats
Number 1
Number 2 (except the ones I got are a light khaki color)
I wore the khaki ones today with a pair of skinny jeans and a long t-shirt and I loved them. I don't even think they made me look all that short. I can't wait til it gets a little warmer and I can wear the snake skin ones with a pair of black shorts that I have. What do you all think about the ballet flats? Do you have them, should I ditch my standard flip flops and get more?
I don't have a picture for this one but I wanted to tell you guys that I still love blogging and reading blogs. However, I'm totally 100% loving the fact that my life is so busy and full now that I hardly have time to write a post. I still read all of your blogs every single day, I comment a few times a week. But I just don't have the time I used to to write four to five posts a week. I'm going to try to post two times a week and see how that goes for a while. Hope you are all okay with that and will still read my blog. But life is good and I'm loving that right now.
Monday, April 25, 2011
My Little Brother's Wedding
Warning...this post is going to have lots of pictures and I hope you all enjoy looking at them. I was was going to have even more but for some stupid reason some of them came out really small, so I just didn't post those ones. I tried to make them bigger for about 20 minutes and was just getting irritated so I stopped trying. I'm guessing more pictures will be posted in the next few weeks as more come in.
This weekend was one busy weekend. Not only was it Easter, but it was my little brother's wedding! The wedding was a few hours away, where my brother and his new wife Erika live so a road trip was in order. Ry, J.J, Lil Man and myself all piled in the car and left around noon for our two hour road trip. The kids don't exactly like riding in the car for long periods of time so I made sure to stock up on books, car games, coloring books, crayons, DS games, and snacks. We were in the car for a total of maybe twenty minutes, we weren't even out of our town yet when Lil Man started asking "Are we there yet?" I think in the first 45 minutes he must of asked 10 times. Ry and I just looked at each other and laughed. Much to our surprise the kids did great in the car and no getting car sick so that was a huge bonus!!
Once we got there we checked into the hotel and we decided to let the kids swim for a while before the rehearsal festivities got started. They loved swimming in the pool and had a great time. Once again Ry and I wondered how the kids would do with the down time of the rehearsal. I was the only one in the wedding so there was lots of down time for them. However, once again the kids were 100% perfect. However, Lil Man was very upset for about two hours while we were in the chapel. It's kind of a funny story actually. I had to go up and stand in the hall way with the rest of the wedding party so we could practice walking in and down the aisle with our groomsman. Well, Lil Man saw my arm wrapped in his and he totally flipped out. In his little four year old mind he saw me walking down the aisle with my brother's friend and thought I was getting married to him and not going home with him, Daddy, and J.J. We all kept telling him that I was helping out Matt and Erika by being in their wedding and that it was okay, that I was not marrying him, that he had his own wife and baby and that I was still going home with them. However, he did not like it and just kept crying, "No JenJen, don't do it." "I just don't want you to do it, tell Matt no" Eventually after about an hour we all convinced him that I was just helping Matt and Erika out, but he did not like the fact that somebody besides Daddy and him were touching me.
There was only one moment during the rehearsal where I got really chocked up. After our first run through of the ceremony the entire wedding party was standing out it the hall. I saw one of the wedding programs laying on the table so I picked it up and started reading it. I flipped to the back page and saw "In Remembrance of People Who Are No Longer With Us" there, was a list of important people in Matt and Erika's life who had passed away and how they were related to them. Well, on that list was Shawn's name and it said brother-in law of the groom. I'm not sure why, but for some reason I just wasn't expecting to see that and I instantly broke down into tears. Phew...it just hit me hard. I was fine after a few minutes, but god damn did that suck!
After the practice at the church we headed to an Italian restaurant for the rehearsal dinner. Oh was it yummy! Once again the kids did awesome! After the dinner we all went back to our hotel room and crashed!
JenJen, J.J, Lil Man and Ry before our dinner. Out of all of the pictures we took this weekend I think this is one of my favorites. I'm not sure why, but I just love it!!
Lil Man slurping up his spaghetti.
I had to get up early on Saturday to get to the salon to get my hair done with the rest of the girls in the wedding party and Erika. Ry got up, took the kids to breakfast and then went swimming with them until I got back to the hotel around noon. I so wish the pics of me getting my hair done came out. I'm telling you they were some funny pics! I totally loved my hair! I told the guy to do something and I quote, "Crazy, freakin, fun with it!" Well, needless to say he totally listened to me and I had rockin hair!! Most people really liked it and a few said it was just way too much.
Once we got to the chapel for the wedding everything went off without a hitch and the ceremony was perfect!. Once again I had lots of pics of us getting all around but for some reason they are not loading "regular" size on here. So I just posted what I could get a nice size for you all. Like I said I'm sure I will be posting many more wedding pics in the next few weeks.
Ry, Lil Man, J.J, and myself after the wedding.
Such a cute little boy in his big boy suite.
Pretty girl!
Totally love this picture of the four of us too.
Sisters!
The entire wedding party.
Yes! Can we say height and volume to my hair! Ry said it was like a huge tidal wave of hair!
The happy couple in the limo on the way to the reception.
Once at the reception we all ate dinner, ate tons of candy at the candy bar (great idea by the way) and danced til our feet hurt. The kids LOVED dancing. J.J even got a pen and paper and dedicated a song to her family and the four of us all went out and danced together. So sweet!
Lil Man and I slow dancing. He asked me to slow dance for every song. I didn't even get to dance once with Ry, because Lil Man always wanted to.
Can not even begin to tell you how much I love this picture. It makes me want to cry every time I look at it. Ry loves his little girl so much! Precious!!!
JenJen and Lil Man slow dancing to the last slow song of the night!
The kids did 100% terrific the entire weekend! Ry and I were so proud of them.
So far I have about ten pictures that I know Ry and I want to frame and put up from the weekend and those are just the pictures that we took. Matt and Erika had a great photographer and I know he took some awesome pictures of us too. It's going to be hard to narrow down what we really want.
Like I said I'm sure I will be posting more pictures soon. Hope you all liked the little preview. Well, I'm still tired from the weekend so I'm off to bed.
This weekend was one busy weekend. Not only was it Easter, but it was my little brother's wedding! The wedding was a few hours away, where my brother and his new wife Erika live so a road trip was in order. Ry, J.J, Lil Man and myself all piled in the car and left around noon for our two hour road trip. The kids don't exactly like riding in the car for long periods of time so I made sure to stock up on books, car games, coloring books, crayons, DS games, and snacks. We were in the car for a total of maybe twenty minutes, we weren't even out of our town yet when Lil Man started asking "Are we there yet?" I think in the first 45 minutes he must of asked 10 times. Ry and I just looked at each other and laughed. Much to our surprise the kids did great in the car and no getting car sick so that was a huge bonus!!
Once we got there we checked into the hotel and we decided to let the kids swim for a while before the rehearsal festivities got started. They loved swimming in the pool and had a great time. Once again Ry and I wondered how the kids would do with the down time of the rehearsal. I was the only one in the wedding so there was lots of down time for them. However, once again the kids were 100% perfect. However, Lil Man was very upset for about two hours while we were in the chapel. It's kind of a funny story actually. I had to go up and stand in the hall way with the rest of the wedding party so we could practice walking in and down the aisle with our groomsman. Well, Lil Man saw my arm wrapped in his and he totally flipped out. In his little four year old mind he saw me walking down the aisle with my brother's friend and thought I was getting married to him and not going home with him, Daddy, and J.J. We all kept telling him that I was helping out Matt and Erika by being in their wedding and that it was okay, that I was not marrying him, that he had his own wife and baby and that I was still going home with them. However, he did not like it and just kept crying, "No JenJen, don't do it." "I just don't want you to do it, tell Matt no" Eventually after about an hour we all convinced him that I was just helping Matt and Erika out, but he did not like the fact that somebody besides Daddy and him were touching me.
There was only one moment during the rehearsal where I got really chocked up. After our first run through of the ceremony the entire wedding party was standing out it the hall. I saw one of the wedding programs laying on the table so I picked it up and started reading it. I flipped to the back page and saw "In Remembrance of People Who Are No Longer With Us" there, was a list of important people in Matt and Erika's life who had passed away and how they were related to them. Well, on that list was Shawn's name and it said brother-in law of the groom. I'm not sure why, but for some reason I just wasn't expecting to see that and I instantly broke down into tears. Phew...it just hit me hard. I was fine after a few minutes, but god damn did that suck!
After the practice at the church we headed to an Italian restaurant for the rehearsal dinner. Oh was it yummy! Once again the kids did awesome! After the dinner we all went back to our hotel room and crashed!
JenJen, J.J, Lil Man and Ry before our dinner. Out of all of the pictures we took this weekend I think this is one of my favorites. I'm not sure why, but I just love it!!
Lil Man slurping up his spaghetti.I had to get up early on Saturday to get to the salon to get my hair done with the rest of the girls in the wedding party and Erika. Ry got up, took the kids to breakfast and then went swimming with them until I got back to the hotel around noon. I so wish the pics of me getting my hair done came out. I'm telling you they were some funny pics! I totally loved my hair! I told the guy to do something and I quote, "Crazy, freakin, fun with it!" Well, needless to say he totally listened to me and I had rockin hair!! Most people really liked it and a few said it was just way too much.
Once we got to the chapel for the wedding everything went off without a hitch and the ceremony was perfect!. Once again I had lots of pics of us getting all around but for some reason they are not loading "regular" size on here. So I just posted what I could get a nice size for you all. Like I said I'm sure I will be posting many more wedding pics in the next few weeks.
Ry, Lil Man, J.J, and myself after the wedding.
Such a cute little boy in his big boy suite.
Pretty girl!
Totally love this picture of the four of us too.
Sisters!
The entire wedding party.
Yes! Can we say height and volume to my hair! Ry said it was like a huge tidal wave of hair!The happy couple in the limo on the way to the reception.Once at the reception we all ate dinner, ate tons of candy at the candy bar (great idea by the way) and danced til our feet hurt. The kids LOVED dancing. J.J even got a pen and paper and dedicated a song to her family and the four of us all went out and danced together. So sweet!
Lil Man and I slow dancing. He asked me to slow dance for every song. I didn't even get to dance once with Ry, because Lil Man always wanted to.
Can not even begin to tell you how much I love this picture. It makes me want to cry every time I look at it. Ry loves his little girl so much! Precious!!!
JenJen and Lil Man slow dancing to the last slow song of the night!The kids did 100% terrific the entire weekend! Ry and I were so proud of them.
So far I have about ten pictures that I know Ry and I want to frame and put up from the weekend and those are just the pictures that we took. Matt and Erika had a great photographer and I know he took some awesome pictures of us too. It's going to be hard to narrow down what we really want.
Like I said I'm sure I will be posting more pictures soon. Hope you all liked the little preview. Well, I'm still tired from the weekend so I'm off to bed.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Oh How I Love My Bo
I had a post all lined up in my head today that I was going to write about but then I checked my email and got an email from my Dad with super cute pics of Bo. So I decided to do a Bo post instead. If you read nothing of this post just skip down to the last picture, it will make you laugh. Every time I look at it, it seriously cracks me up!
My Dad went up to our house in Traverse City earlier this week and wanted to take Bo with him. My Dad totally loves Bo and the two of them love spending time together, so I decided to let Bo go and have some fun for a few days. Apparently the two of them are having a great time. They were supposed to come home tonight, but my dad called and said it would not be until Friday now since the weather is nicer. I kind of think the two of them might try and push it until Saturday. The first night they were gone my Dad (who recently has retired) sent me an email...a long email about what the two of them did during the day. Bo remembered right where all of his toys were kept from spending the last two summers up there. He has a darn good memory!
This morning I woke up from another email from Dad, but this time it was a slide show of about 20 different pictures of my Bobo complete with little captions. (Perhaps Dad is a little bored now that he has retired) Ry and I joked that he should think about getting a little Boston puppy of his own to help occupy some his time. Then Bo would also have another play buddy!!!
In all other Bo news he is doing great! He totally loves Ry (I think even more than me) and he loves J.J and Lil Man tons too. He also loves going over to Ry's parents house. They have a huge fenced in back yard, so he can run for hours chasing balls and squirrels. They also have a Boston, named Rocky and they love playing together as well. His allergies still bother him almost all the time. We are getting to the hard part of the year so we will see what this spring does for him. He is on an adult Benadryl two times a day now, so I'm hoping that will help. I'm hoping to avoid the biweekly trips to the vet this spring for allergy shots. We shall see. Oh the things I do for my little baby. Other than that all is good with Bo, he is one happy little boy! I love him more every day....he is my baby.
Now are you ready for some pictures of the handsome little guy?
My Dad and Bo stopped off at one of the local ski hills on the way up to Traverse. Bo loved getting out of the car and walking around the hill with Grandpa.
Bo's all time FAVORITE activity...catching tennis balls. Seriously, if there is a tennis ball anywhere in our house he will find it and you MUST play with him. God help you if it's nice out, expect to be out all day with him.
Loves...loves....loves catching the ball.
So sleepy after catching and running with the ball all day. Try to take the ball from him and I guarantee he will wake up.
I can not believe he went into the lake. Dad said there was ice in it when they woke up that morning. It wasn't even hot up there. Bo does love the water though, he probably couldn't wait to take his first dip of the season.
Oh goodness, this makes me cold just looking at it. I think I remember telling my Dad not to let him go into the lake because it was too cold still. (Yes, I treat my dog like a child...is that wrong?)
Ok...are you ready for the cutest picture ever? The first time I looked at this I laughed out loud. It seriously is damn funny and if you "know" Bo and his personality it is even better!
"I said...I don't want to get out of the water!!!" Really, do you see his cute little tongue sticking out? What a priceless picture. I'm going to the store tomorrow and getting it frames. Seriously love it!
Well, there you have it, a few new pics of Bo. Oh how I love my little Bobo!
My Dad went up to our house in Traverse City earlier this week and wanted to take Bo with him. My Dad totally loves Bo and the two of them love spending time together, so I decided to let Bo go and have some fun for a few days. Apparently the two of them are having a great time. They were supposed to come home tonight, but my dad called and said it would not be until Friday now since the weather is nicer. I kind of think the two of them might try and push it until Saturday. The first night they were gone my Dad (who recently has retired) sent me an email...a long email about what the two of them did during the day. Bo remembered right where all of his toys were kept from spending the last two summers up there. He has a darn good memory!
This morning I woke up from another email from Dad, but this time it was a slide show of about 20 different pictures of my Bobo complete with little captions. (Perhaps Dad is a little bored now that he has retired) Ry and I joked that he should think about getting a little Boston puppy of his own to help occupy some his time. Then Bo would also have another play buddy!!!
In all other Bo news he is doing great! He totally loves Ry (I think even more than me) and he loves J.J and Lil Man tons too. He also loves going over to Ry's parents house. They have a huge fenced in back yard, so he can run for hours chasing balls and squirrels. They also have a Boston, named Rocky and they love playing together as well. His allergies still bother him almost all the time. We are getting to the hard part of the year so we will see what this spring does for him. He is on an adult Benadryl two times a day now, so I'm hoping that will help. I'm hoping to avoid the biweekly trips to the vet this spring for allergy shots. We shall see. Oh the things I do for my little baby. Other than that all is good with Bo, he is one happy little boy! I love him more every day....he is my baby.
Now are you ready for some pictures of the handsome little guy?
My Dad and Bo stopped off at one of the local ski hills on the way up to Traverse. Bo loved getting out of the car and walking around the hill with Grandpa.
Bo's all time FAVORITE activity...catching tennis balls. Seriously, if there is a tennis ball anywhere in our house he will find it and you MUST play with him. God help you if it's nice out, expect to be out all day with him.
Loves...loves....loves catching the ball.
So sleepy after catching and running with the ball all day. Try to take the ball from him and I guarantee he will wake up.
I can not believe he went into the lake. Dad said there was ice in it when they woke up that morning. It wasn't even hot up there. Bo does love the water though, he probably couldn't wait to take his first dip of the season.
Oh goodness, this makes me cold just looking at it. I think I remember telling my Dad not to let him go into the lake because it was too cold still. (Yes, I treat my dog like a child...is that wrong?)Ok...are you ready for the cutest picture ever? The first time I looked at this I laughed out loud. It seriously is damn funny and if you "know" Bo and his personality it is even better!
"I said...I don't want to get out of the water!!!" Really, do you see his cute little tongue sticking out? What a priceless picture. I'm going to the store tomorrow and getting it frames. Seriously love it!Well, there you have it, a few new pics of Bo. Oh how I love my little Bobo!
Monday, April 4, 2011
WaTeR PaRk FuN!!
This past weekend was super fun! Ry, J.J, Lil Man, myself and our friends with their two kids went to an indoor water park. It was spring break and we all wanted to do something fun without spending an astronomical amount of money. Our solution was to drive 45 minutes away and hit one of the indoor water parks. I was a little nervous about this at first because J.J and Lil Man don't know how to swim all that well and the thought of all those pools scared me a bit. However, I had nothing to fear the kids did GREAT!!! All eight of us had TONS of fun and it was so nice to get some to spend with our friends while the four kids were splashing around. Just so that you know, us adults did our fair share of splashing around in the pools and water slides too. I'm not lying when I tell you I took over 50 pictures. Don't worry, I'm not going to show you all of them just a few that I happen to like the most.
We got to the park a little after 12:30 in the afternoon on Friday. By 1:00 the kids were all in their suits and ready to hit the pool. We played in the park from 1:00 until 4:30 when we went back up to our room to get ready for our dinner out. We really had to talk the kids into getting out of the water to go and eat. After three and a half hours the adults were kind of ready for a break, but the kids just wanted to stay and play. However, the adults won out and we all went back to our hotel room and changed for dinner. By 6:30 we were back in our room and the kids were back in their suits ready to swim and go down the slides. We stayed in the park until 9:00 and then got the kids ready because we were all starting to get a lot sleepy.
We went back to our room, ordered pizza. Yeah, I know we had already eaten dinner but swimming that long makes a person hungry! After the pizza three out of the four kids crashed and were out like lights. The adults watched a movie on TV and sat their talking. Before we knew it all eight of us were out! Every single person in the hotel room (we all shared a family loft) was fast alseep by 11:30. We were all exhausted from all the swimming!
We were all starting to wake up by 8:30. Well all of us except for Lil Man, he was still out like a light! We needed to be down to eat breakfast, in our jammies (the kids thought this was great) by 9:30. After a very yummy all you can eat breakfast buffet we headed back to our room, changed into our suits yet again and went back to the park until 4:00 when it was time to check out of our room and the hotel.
It was a quick over night trip but everyone had a blast and we are already talking about doing it again next year. Now...are you ready for some pictures??? I know you are:)
Here is a picture of some of the lazy river. It was so nice just to sit in a tube in the nice warm water and just float. J.J loved pulling me along in my tube. The little stinker would go under the big stream just to get me wet...she loved it!
Here is a picture of the two "big" water slides that the park had. I had never been to a water park before and had no idea how fast you zipped down that thing!!! Boy was that fun. Ry and I went down a few times on the double tube and then Ry took Lil Man down a whole bunch, he loved it! J.J said she wanted nothing to do with going down something that went that fast. The rest of us thought it was great fun.
Lil Man zipping down the "famous" purple slide. This slide was all he was talking about. In a matter of 20 minutes he felt comfortable enough to go down the slide without his life jacket. He would hit the water, stand up, wipe his face and head to the end of the line for more!
J.J and Lil Man in the hot tub! We all loved the hot tub!!
J.J floating down the lazy river.
J.J and JenJen. I tell you it was a brilliant idea to wear mascara to the water park. NOT! Pardon the black smear running under my eyes.
Lil Man totally zonked out in the morning. I took this right before I woke him up. He was not so happy with me. Then he remembered where he was at and was all about getting up and going swimming.
This picture was taken at breakfast. Like I said we all ate breakfast in the hotel restaurant in our jammies and the kids thought that was the coolest thing. A few of you who I am friends with on FaceBook commented on you liking my hair color. I have to tell you that made me laugh hard. My hair in this picture had not been washed in a day and had been curly, wet, dry, curly, wet, and dry about ten times during the day. Not to mention I slept all night on wet hair. I got up in the morning and could not even get a brush through it because it was so tangled. So I gave up and just put a clip in. Thanks for the compliment, but it made me laugh...so not a good hair day at the water park!!
Daddy and J.J
Love, love, love this picture of Ry and J.J.
Here is one of the four of us. J.J and Lil Man wanted us all to be sitting on the alligator, but lets just say it's meant for only little bodies.
We all had a great time, but we all came back totally 100% exhausted and wore out. We did nothing but lay around Saturday when we got back. As a matter of fact, it's now Monday and I'm still just as tired. Swimming and playing in the water for a day and a half really takes it out of you. But it was so much fun and I'm so glad we all decided to go on a little get away
We got to the park a little after 12:30 in the afternoon on Friday. By 1:00 the kids were all in their suits and ready to hit the pool. We played in the park from 1:00 until 4:30 when we went back up to our room to get ready for our dinner out. We really had to talk the kids into getting out of the water to go and eat. After three and a half hours the adults were kind of ready for a break, but the kids just wanted to stay and play. However, the adults won out and we all went back to our hotel room and changed for dinner. By 6:30 we were back in our room and the kids were back in their suits ready to swim and go down the slides. We stayed in the park until 9:00 and then got the kids ready because we were all starting to get a lot sleepy.
We went back to our room, ordered pizza. Yeah, I know we had already eaten dinner but swimming that long makes a person hungry! After the pizza three out of the four kids crashed and were out like lights. The adults watched a movie on TV and sat their talking. Before we knew it all eight of us were out! Every single person in the hotel room (we all shared a family loft) was fast alseep by 11:30. We were all exhausted from all the swimming!
We were all starting to wake up by 8:30. Well all of us except for Lil Man, he was still out like a light! We needed to be down to eat breakfast, in our jammies (the kids thought this was great) by 9:30. After a very yummy all you can eat breakfast buffet we headed back to our room, changed into our suits yet again and went back to the park until 4:00 when it was time to check out of our room and the hotel.
It was a quick over night trip but everyone had a blast and we are already talking about doing it again next year. Now...are you ready for some pictures??? I know you are:)
Here is a picture of some of the lazy river. It was so nice just to sit in a tube in the nice warm water and just float. J.J loved pulling me along in my tube. The little stinker would go under the big stream just to get me wet...she loved it!
Here is a picture of the two "big" water slides that the park had. I had never been to a water park before and had no idea how fast you zipped down that thing!!! Boy was that fun. Ry and I went down a few times on the double tube and then Ry took Lil Man down a whole bunch, he loved it! J.J said she wanted nothing to do with going down something that went that fast. The rest of us thought it was great fun.
Lil Man zipping down the "famous" purple slide. This slide was all he was talking about. In a matter of 20 minutes he felt comfortable enough to go down the slide without his life jacket. He would hit the water, stand up, wipe his face and head to the end of the line for more!
J.J and Lil Man in the hot tub! We all loved the hot tub!!
J.J floating down the lazy river.
J.J and JenJen. I tell you it was a brilliant idea to wear mascara to the water park. NOT! Pardon the black smear running under my eyes.
Lil Man totally zonked out in the morning. I took this right before I woke him up. He was not so happy with me. Then he remembered where he was at and was all about getting up and going swimming.
This picture was taken at breakfast. Like I said we all ate breakfast in the hotel restaurant in our jammies and the kids thought that was the coolest thing. A few of you who I am friends with on FaceBook commented on you liking my hair color. I have to tell you that made me laugh hard. My hair in this picture had not been washed in a day and had been curly, wet, dry, curly, wet, and dry about ten times during the day. Not to mention I slept all night on wet hair. I got up in the morning and could not even get a brush through it because it was so tangled. So I gave up and just put a clip in. Thanks for the compliment, but it made me laugh...so not a good hair day at the water park!!
Daddy and J.J
Love, love, love this picture of Ry and J.J.
Here is one of the four of us. J.J and Lil Man wanted us all to be sitting on the alligator, but lets just say it's meant for only little bodies.We all had a great time, but we all came back totally 100% exhausted and wore out. We did nothing but lay around Saturday when we got back. As a matter of fact, it's now Monday and I'm still just as tired. Swimming and playing in the water for a day and a half really takes it out of you. But it was so much fun and I'm so glad we all decided to go on a little get away
Monday, March 21, 2011
Long Time No Blog
Geez oh man it's been a long time since I have picked up the computer to blog. I can not believe that I have only written ten posts so far for the year of 2011. Yikes, I'm such a bad blogger these days. I don't really know what my deal is. Actually, yes I do, it's work and a new found social life that is leaving me no time to blog. Before I started working I would sit down at my computer every single day, write a post and read blogs for hours. Now I just sit down and read blogs. Yes, I still read blogs every single day but really only comment once or twice a week. So, my excuse for not blogging is work. Plain and simple working four ten hour days is just getting in my way of blogging. Too bad I couldn't figure out a way to get paid for blogging, then everything would be just perfect. ;)
If I have to be totally honest with my self and with you there is also another reason why I have had few and far between posts. There are actually two reasons, but at this time I can still only share one of them. Hopefully within the next few months I will be able to share the other reason. The first reason, since I have met Ry I have been introduced to so many wonderful new people and friends. Ry is a very social person and knows a ton of people. In turn I have been introduced to them and now have a huge group of friends that I did not have when I first moved back to Michigan after Shawn passed away. Probably two nights a week, not including weekends Ry and I go out someplace and meet up with our friends for a while. It's great and I totally enjoy the time I spend with Ry and our friends, but late at night was the other time I would sit down and write a post.
I hate to say it but while blogging is still super important to me and I want to keep blogging really bad I guess it has kind of taken a "back seat" as my life has gotten busier and taken a different direction the last six months or so.
I still love to blog, and read blogs and like I said it's a part of me and important to me and I have greatly missed doing it, I just need to figure out a time to fit it in, which I'm going to try much harder at doing. I hope I can stick to this and find time to write more because I have a big ole list of stuff and topics I want to blog about. I assure you, there is no lack of "things" in my life to blog about.
For the rest of this post I'm going to do just a little random list of thoughts and I promise I will get back to regular blogging soon.
*Okay, so who is watching Dancing With The Stars? I'm not actually watching it right now, but you bet that my DVR is recording it! I love that show, but it's so much better to watch them dance and fast forward through all the mumbo jumbo that people don't really care all that much about. Even without watching a second of this season I'm going to go out on a limb and pick the final three. Third place will go to Chelsea Kane (no idea who she even is, but she looks cute and looks like she will do pretty good) Second will be, Kendra Wilkinson (providing she isn't as dumb and flighty as she is in her t.v show) and First place will go to Hines Ward. Usually all football players do really well and lets face it. There are no fans like Pittsburgh Steeler fans, so I'm guessing if he is even semi good he will take home the famous mirror ball trophy. Who are you all picking?
*The weather here in Michigan last week was so nice. There were three days when I even got out the flip flops. Unfortunately, the forecast for this week is not looking so good. We are supposed to get snow showers and ice in the middle of this week, and it is supposed to only be in the lower 30's. I am not happy! I need SPRING, SUN, and WARMTH to get here fast!!
*Next Friday Ry and I are taking J.J and Lil Man along with our friends and their two kids to a local water park for the weekend. We ended up getting a great deal and we are all excited to go. I'm actually not sure who is more excited the adults or the kids. I'm sure we will all have a great time. Watch out, pictures of the weekend will follow.
*Is anyone reading any good books? I really love to read but haven't been able to "get into" any book in a while. Maybe it's just because I'm so busy and when I sit down to read at night I just end up falling asleep. However, I love to read and would really like to start reading at night before I go to bed. If any of you have any good book selections or ideas please share.
* I haven't written about Bo in a really long time, so I thought I would give you a little update. He is doing great. He still has horrible allergies, but I guess we are both learning to live with them, poor little guy has no fur behind his two front legs because he itches so bad but other than that he is doing great. He loves playing with our little kitty Toby, the two of them have become the best of friends. I'm also about 99.9% sure he know loves Ry more than me. Every time Ry walks in the door he gets all excited and freaks out. Then he goes up to Ry and kisses him all over his face. I walk in the door and he just walks up to me, waits for a treat and walks a way. Go figure. I can't wait for it to get warmer outside so we can all go for walks, runs and play ball outside. Boy oh boy does Bo like to play ball!! A few weeks ago he crawled up next to me on the couch and buried his little self underneath a mound of blankets. I looked over at him and only saw his big brown eyes and little nose sticking out. So cute! Love, love, love my baby boy Bo.
No idea why that picture is so small. For some reason it won't let me make it any bigger, but if you really want to see the cuteness up close and bigger you can click on the picture and I think you can see it better.
Well, I guess I will wrap it up for now. I promise I will try and get better at blogging. (I know I will say that, but I really do want to try for you and for myself! See you all sooner than later!!
A BIG BIG p.s......
Since I posted this last night I have gotten a ton of emails congratulating me on being pregnant. Just to clear up something...I am NOT pregnant! I repeat...I am NOT pregnant!! Nor do I want to be. Thanks for all the congratulations though you guys are cute and thoughtful!!
If I have to be totally honest with my self and with you there is also another reason why I have had few and far between posts. There are actually two reasons, but at this time I can still only share one of them. Hopefully within the next few months I will be able to share the other reason. The first reason, since I have met Ry I have been introduced to so many wonderful new people and friends. Ry is a very social person and knows a ton of people. In turn I have been introduced to them and now have a huge group of friends that I did not have when I first moved back to Michigan after Shawn passed away. Probably two nights a week, not including weekends Ry and I go out someplace and meet up with our friends for a while. It's great and I totally enjoy the time I spend with Ry and our friends, but late at night was the other time I would sit down and write a post.
I hate to say it but while blogging is still super important to me and I want to keep blogging really bad I guess it has kind of taken a "back seat" as my life has gotten busier and taken a different direction the last six months or so.
I still love to blog, and read blogs and like I said it's a part of me and important to me and I have greatly missed doing it, I just need to figure out a time to fit it in, which I'm going to try much harder at doing. I hope I can stick to this and find time to write more because I have a big ole list of stuff and topics I want to blog about. I assure you, there is no lack of "things" in my life to blog about.
For the rest of this post I'm going to do just a little random list of thoughts and I promise I will get back to regular blogging soon.
*Okay, so who is watching Dancing With The Stars? I'm not actually watching it right now, but you bet that my DVR is recording it! I love that show, but it's so much better to watch them dance and fast forward through all the mumbo jumbo that people don't really care all that much about. Even without watching a second of this season I'm going to go out on a limb and pick the final three. Third place will go to Chelsea Kane (no idea who she even is, but she looks cute and looks like she will do pretty good) Second will be, Kendra Wilkinson (providing she isn't as dumb and flighty as she is in her t.v show) and First place will go to Hines Ward. Usually all football players do really well and lets face it. There are no fans like Pittsburgh Steeler fans, so I'm guessing if he is even semi good he will take home the famous mirror ball trophy. Who are you all picking?
*The weather here in Michigan last week was so nice. There were three days when I even got out the flip flops. Unfortunately, the forecast for this week is not looking so good. We are supposed to get snow showers and ice in the middle of this week, and it is supposed to only be in the lower 30's. I am not happy! I need SPRING, SUN, and WARMTH to get here fast!!
*Next Friday Ry and I are taking J.J and Lil Man along with our friends and their two kids to a local water park for the weekend. We ended up getting a great deal and we are all excited to go. I'm actually not sure who is more excited the adults or the kids. I'm sure we will all have a great time. Watch out, pictures of the weekend will follow.
*Is anyone reading any good books? I really love to read but haven't been able to "get into" any book in a while. Maybe it's just because I'm so busy and when I sit down to read at night I just end up falling asleep. However, I love to read and would really like to start reading at night before I go to bed. If any of you have any good book selections or ideas please share.
* I haven't written about Bo in a really long time, so I thought I would give you a little update. He is doing great. He still has horrible allergies, but I guess we are both learning to live with them, poor little guy has no fur behind his two front legs because he itches so bad but other than that he is doing great. He loves playing with our little kitty Toby, the two of them have become the best of friends. I'm also about 99.9% sure he know loves Ry more than me. Every time Ry walks in the door he gets all excited and freaks out. Then he goes up to Ry and kisses him all over his face. I walk in the door and he just walks up to me, waits for a treat and walks a way. Go figure. I can't wait for it to get warmer outside so we can all go for walks, runs and play ball outside. Boy oh boy does Bo like to play ball!! A few weeks ago he crawled up next to me on the couch and buried his little self underneath a mound of blankets. I looked over at him and only saw his big brown eyes and little nose sticking out. So cute! Love, love, love my baby boy Bo.
No idea why that picture is so small. For some reason it won't let me make it any bigger, but if you really want to see the cuteness up close and bigger you can click on the picture and I think you can see it better.Well, I guess I will wrap it up for now. I promise I will try and get better at blogging. (I know I will say that, but I really do want to try for you and for myself! See you all sooner than later!!
A BIG BIG p.s......
Since I posted this last night I have gotten a ton of emails congratulating me on being pregnant. Just to clear up something...I am NOT pregnant! I repeat...I am NOT pregnant!! Nor do I want to be. Thanks for all the congratulations though you guys are cute and thoughtful!!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
ABC's Of Me
I know several of you have probably seen this floating around the blogging world the last few days. It has been fun reading other bloggers ABC's, so I thought you guys might enjoy reading mine. So here it goes..
A. Age: I turned 33 in November
B. Bed size: Queen
C. Chore you dislike: I HATE cleaning out the litter box. Possibly the nastiest job in the entire house.
D. Dogs: Boston Terrier Bo. Oh how I love him, he is my baby!
E. Essential start to your day: I really hate getting up before 8, but my job forces me to get up at 6:00 am. I know YUCK! I don't really leave myself much time in the morning and I don't necessarily have an "essential" start to my day.
F. Favorite color: blue
G. Gold or silver: Silver
H. Height: 5'4
I. Instruments you play(ed): I briefly played the flute, but gave up quickly because I could never figure out how to read the damn music.
J. Job title: Lead Infant Teacher in a childcare center.
K. Kids: Collin- One baby in Heaven. I am extremely close to both of Ry's kids.
L. Live: Michigan
M. Mom’s name: Beth
N. Nicknames: Coin, Jen, JenJen(that's what Ry's kids call me)
O. Overnight hospital stays: I have never had to stay in the hospital over night.
P. Pet peeves: People who are back stabbing, people who wear black and navy blue at the same time.
Q. Quote from a movie: Oh there are so many great quotes from movies, but one of my favorites is from Sweet Home Alabama when at the very end of the movie when Jake asks Melanie "whatcha wanna me married to me anyhow?" and Melanie says,"so I can kiss you anytime I want " Oh, how I love, love, love that movie.
R. Righty or lefty: Right
S. Siblings: Sister who is four years younger and a brother who is five years younger
T. Time you wake up: 6:00
U. Underwear: Odd question...yes I wear them. I share a lot with you but not going to tell you what type of underwear I wear.
V. Vegetables you don’t like: Green peppers. Although, Ry made dinner tonight and put green peppers in it and I actually liked it. Maybe my tastes are changing as I get older.
W.What makes you run late: Me forgetting things OR my OCD kicking in and I having to check and double check stupid things.
X. X-rays you’ve had: Teeth, hip, ankle, uterus
Y. Yummy food you make: I've been told I make the best chocolate chip cookies and home-made mac and cheese
Z. Zoo animal favorites: Monkeys
A. Age: I turned 33 in November
B. Bed size: Queen
C. Chore you dislike: I HATE cleaning out the litter box. Possibly the nastiest job in the entire house.
D. Dogs: Boston Terrier Bo. Oh how I love him, he is my baby!
E. Essential start to your day: I really hate getting up before 8, but my job forces me to get up at 6:00 am. I know YUCK! I don't really leave myself much time in the morning and I don't necessarily have an "essential" start to my day.
F. Favorite color: blue
G. Gold or silver: Silver
H. Height: 5'4
I. Instruments you play(ed): I briefly played the flute, but gave up quickly because I could never figure out how to read the damn music.
J. Job title: Lead Infant Teacher in a childcare center.
K. Kids: Collin- One baby in Heaven. I am extremely close to both of Ry's kids.
L. Live: Michigan
M. Mom’s name: Beth
N. Nicknames: Coin, Jen, JenJen(that's what Ry's kids call me)
O. Overnight hospital stays: I have never had to stay in the hospital over night.
P. Pet peeves: People who are back stabbing, people who wear black and navy blue at the same time.
Q. Quote from a movie: Oh there are so many great quotes from movies, but one of my favorites is from Sweet Home Alabama when at the very end of the movie when Jake asks Melanie "whatcha wanna me married to me anyhow?" and Melanie says,"so I can kiss you anytime I want " Oh, how I love, love, love that movie.
R. Righty or lefty: Right
S. Siblings: Sister who is four years younger and a brother who is five years younger
T. Time you wake up: 6:00
U. Underwear: Odd question...yes I wear them. I share a lot with you but not going to tell you what type of underwear I wear.
V. Vegetables you don’t like: Green peppers. Although, Ry made dinner tonight and put green peppers in it and I actually liked it. Maybe my tastes are changing as I get older.
W.What makes you run late: Me forgetting things OR my OCD kicking in and I having to check and double check stupid things.
X. X-rays you’ve had: Teeth, hip, ankle, uterus
Y. Yummy food you make: I've been told I make the best chocolate chip cookies and home-made mac and cheese
Z. Zoo animal favorites: Monkeys
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Two and a Half Years
Dang! I was on such a roll blogging there the end of January and the beginning of February, and then it all just tanked and I have not written in two weeks. Damn! I hate it when I do that, just ran out of time and a few nights last week I just didn't feel like posting. Oh-well, there is nothing I can do about it now besides to post now, so read on for an update on the latest.
Overall things are good. Actually, things are really, really good and I really could not be happier right now. Life in general is good, much, much better than it had been that is for damn sure. I'm happy, smiling, going out with friends, having fun, living life, being loved again and in love again. All of which I'm so incredibly grateful for you have no idea. Then one night last week while I was at home alone I went to pay a bill and looked at the date. Then a small little "wave" of emotion hit me. It was February 20, a date that has no specific meaning to me. Then, all of a sudden it dawned on me, February 18, 2011 had come and gone without me even noticing, without me even giving the date a second thought. My stomach hit the floor, February 18, 2011 marked two and a half years since Shawn's death and I didn't even realize that it had passed. I felt awful. When Shawn first died I counted every hour, then every day, then every week. It moved onto me counting months, then years. At every six month mark I remembered the day and then at this last six month mark, I did nothing. I didn't even realize that it had passes. It made me mad feeling, a little guilty feeling, and a little ashamed feeling. I sat on the couch and talked myself out of a major meltdown. I turned on the T.V and watched some major trash to get my mind off of the fact that I did not acknowledge the two and a half year mark. I went to bed later that night and told myself that it was "okay" that I had not acknowledged the day.
The next morning I woke up and was in a great mood. I went to work and did my day to day routine. I got in my car on my lunch break, turned on the radio and heard the song by Faith Hill from the Pearl Harbor Soundtrack, "There You'll Be" That song totally reminds me of Shawn, the lyrics are my life. I then sat in my car and bawled. I was missing Shawn plain and simple. Don't get me wrong. I think about Shawn every. single. day. I repeat...every single day I think about him. I will always, til the day I die think about Shawn every single day. But for some reason that day I was thinking a lot about him, even more than I normally do. It was a feeling that I just could not shake for some reason.
I got back from my lunch break and got back into my classroom where I proceed to feed a few babies, put a few babies to sleep and then rock another one to sleep. While rocking her I sat in the chair with a few left over tears streaming down my face. I was wishing that I could see or talk to Shawn again. If even for one minute I wanted to have Shawn wrap his arms around me. I wanted him to hold me, just for one more time and tell me that everything was going to be okay. I wanted to be able to smell his skin, feel his skin. I wanted to be able to look into his eyes and hear his voice. I just wanted to be with him. I know this will happen from time to time and I'm guessing it probably always will. No matter what happens in my life, or how happy I am, I know that I will always miss Shawn. I also know that sometimes the grief and sad feelings will hit me when I least expect it.
People around me had no idea of my feelings. I have gotten really good at being "strong" and not letting on to people when something is bothering me. Only two people knew that day that I was off feeling and they were Jennie and Meg. I ended up texting both of them because I was just that sad feeling. As usually both of them were 100% supportive and understanding. They both told me that days like that would still happen. Which I know, and I have also come to accept that waves of emotions come when you least expect them too. I have learned that grief hits you when you don't really think it will. I've also learned that is when grief likes to take a bit out of you...when things are going good. I think it does that just to mess with you. Not like becoming a widow at 30 doesn't mess with you enough. Grief sucks! It always will!
I really only felt like this for a day and a half. It wasn't like I was constantly sad, or crying, or in a funk. It was more like I was sad in the back of my mind if that makes any sense at all. I still went about my day to day life and like I said, nobody even noticed.
I have also learned that it the two and a half years since Shawn has been gone that life does get better. That is something I for sure did not believe in the beginning. It's something I did not even want to believe. However, it has and I'm so blessed and grateful for that. I'm so happy that I have found Ry and that I have him and his two amazing children in my life. I'm happy that we have made our own little family even though it's not the "traditional" family. I'm happy that I have met an amazing group of new friends. I'm happy that I can now once again look forward to my future and what it has in store for me. I have also realized that I'm incredibly lucky to be able to love two great men. Two great men who also love me, two great men who have each taught me different things about life. I love each Ry and Shawn so so much.
I have also learned that even though I love Ry and my "new life" and "new normal" it does not mean that I will EVER stop loving Shawn. At two and a half years I've realized that it is okay and will always be okay to miss Shawn and to have days where I want him back.
Two and a half years has gone by. I still remember the day of August 18, 2008 like it was yesterday. Details of that day are forever etched in my mind, they will always be with me. Even though it feels like yesterday in another way it feels like way more than two and a half years. In many ways it feels like 100 years. So much of my life has changed, nothing is the same in my life as it was that day. A lot has changed for the better and I'm so grateful for that.
Two and a half years has gone by since I have lost the one and only man I thought I would ever love. But because of his love and what he taught me during our time together and the type of relationship that Shawn and I had I am able to now love another amazing man again. Loving another man is something I never thought would be possible.
Two and a half years...seems like yesterday...seems like a lifetime ago...
Overall things are good. Actually, things are really, really good and I really could not be happier right now. Life in general is good, much, much better than it had been that is for damn sure. I'm happy, smiling, going out with friends, having fun, living life, being loved again and in love again. All of which I'm so incredibly grateful for you have no idea. Then one night last week while I was at home alone I went to pay a bill and looked at the date. Then a small little "wave" of emotion hit me. It was February 20, a date that has no specific meaning to me. Then, all of a sudden it dawned on me, February 18, 2011 had come and gone without me even noticing, without me even giving the date a second thought. My stomach hit the floor, February 18, 2011 marked two and a half years since Shawn's death and I didn't even realize that it had passed. I felt awful. When Shawn first died I counted every hour, then every day, then every week. It moved onto me counting months, then years. At every six month mark I remembered the day and then at this last six month mark, I did nothing. I didn't even realize that it had passes. It made me mad feeling, a little guilty feeling, and a little ashamed feeling. I sat on the couch and talked myself out of a major meltdown. I turned on the T.V and watched some major trash to get my mind off of the fact that I did not acknowledge the two and a half year mark. I went to bed later that night and told myself that it was "okay" that I had not acknowledged the day.
The next morning I woke up and was in a great mood. I went to work and did my day to day routine. I got in my car on my lunch break, turned on the radio and heard the song by Faith Hill from the Pearl Harbor Soundtrack, "There You'll Be" That song totally reminds me of Shawn, the lyrics are my life. I then sat in my car and bawled. I was missing Shawn plain and simple. Don't get me wrong. I think about Shawn every. single. day. I repeat...every single day I think about him. I will always, til the day I die think about Shawn every single day. But for some reason that day I was thinking a lot about him, even more than I normally do. It was a feeling that I just could not shake for some reason.
I got back from my lunch break and got back into my classroom where I proceed to feed a few babies, put a few babies to sleep and then rock another one to sleep. While rocking her I sat in the chair with a few left over tears streaming down my face. I was wishing that I could see or talk to Shawn again. If even for one minute I wanted to have Shawn wrap his arms around me. I wanted him to hold me, just for one more time and tell me that everything was going to be okay. I wanted to be able to smell his skin, feel his skin. I wanted to be able to look into his eyes and hear his voice. I just wanted to be with him. I know this will happen from time to time and I'm guessing it probably always will. No matter what happens in my life, or how happy I am, I know that I will always miss Shawn. I also know that sometimes the grief and sad feelings will hit me when I least expect it.
People around me had no idea of my feelings. I have gotten really good at being "strong" and not letting on to people when something is bothering me. Only two people knew that day that I was off feeling and they were Jennie and Meg. I ended up texting both of them because I was just that sad feeling. As usually both of them were 100% supportive and understanding. They both told me that days like that would still happen. Which I know, and I have also come to accept that waves of emotions come when you least expect them too. I have learned that grief hits you when you don't really think it will. I've also learned that is when grief likes to take a bit out of you...when things are going good. I think it does that just to mess with you. Not like becoming a widow at 30 doesn't mess with you enough. Grief sucks! It always will!
I really only felt like this for a day and a half. It wasn't like I was constantly sad, or crying, or in a funk. It was more like I was sad in the back of my mind if that makes any sense at all. I still went about my day to day life and like I said, nobody even noticed.
I have also learned that it the two and a half years since Shawn has been gone that life does get better. That is something I for sure did not believe in the beginning. It's something I did not even want to believe. However, it has and I'm so blessed and grateful for that. I'm so happy that I have found Ry and that I have him and his two amazing children in my life. I'm happy that we have made our own little family even though it's not the "traditional" family. I'm happy that I have met an amazing group of new friends. I'm happy that I can now once again look forward to my future and what it has in store for me. I have also realized that I'm incredibly lucky to be able to love two great men. Two great men who also love me, two great men who have each taught me different things about life. I love each Ry and Shawn so so much.
I have also learned that even though I love Ry and my "new life" and "new normal" it does not mean that I will EVER stop loving Shawn. At two and a half years I've realized that it is okay and will always be okay to miss Shawn and to have days where I want him back.
Two and a half years has gone by. I still remember the day of August 18, 2008 like it was yesterday. Details of that day are forever etched in my mind, they will always be with me. Even though it feels like yesterday in another way it feels like way more than two and a half years. In many ways it feels like 100 years. So much of my life has changed, nothing is the same in my life as it was that day. A lot has changed for the better and I'm so grateful for that.
Two and a half years has gone by since I have lost the one and only man I thought I would ever love. But because of his love and what he taught me during our time together and the type of relationship that Shawn and I had I am able to now love another amazing man again. Loving another man is something I never thought would be possible.
Two and a half years...seems like yesterday...seems like a lifetime ago...
Monday, February 14, 2011
Happy Valentines Day
I used to be like this...
Then I met a girl...
She was like this...
Together, we were like this...
I gave her gifts like this...
When she accepted my proposal, I was like this...
I used to talk to her all night like this...
And at the office I used to do this...
When my friends saw my girlfriend, they stared like this...
And I used to react like this...
But on Valentines Day,
she received a red rose from someone else like this...
And she was like this…
And I was like this…
Which later led to this...
and this...
I felt like doing this...
I started doing this...
GIRLS!
My friend Meg sent me this the other day and I thought it was kind of funny, so I thought I'd share it with you. Hope you all have a great day spent with the ones you love the most!
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