Nest Half Empty

Henry got a chinchilla for his birthday!

2010-02-01T14:33:00.001-08:00

Happy early birthday to Henry!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Trying to get back in the habit.....

2010-01-30T09:07:00.000-08:00

So, I'm really looking forward to summer right about now. I still like Alaska, but I definitely like the summer better than the winter. The first snow was great. Loved having a winter Christmas. But now the holidays are past and I want the sun!

I am planning to go back to Arizona to visit in June. My niece Isabella is graduating from high school and my mom will be coming into town from Arkansas.... so everyone that I want to see will be there at once. Many birds.... one stone.

Anyhow. Just got home from work and getting ready to go to bed. One more night and then 4 days off. Yea!!!

Maybe I'll blog more now

2010-01-28T23:14:00.000-08:00

I got this Blogpress app for the iPhone Jason got me for Christmas. We'll see if this helps.... You never know!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Getting Going Again

2009-11-09T18:22:00.000-08:00

Well, I've been gone a long time, haven't I? We are enjoying our first real snow of the season up here in Alaska! Very pretty. I don't think that I'll have any problem getting into the holiday spirit this year.

Back in July Stephi and Ethen visited us here. We went down to Homer and Stephi and Jason went Halibut fishing while Henry, Ethen and I drove around and saw the sights. We also visited the Alaska Zoo and Portage Glacier while they were here.

In August Henry started the 6th grade and we are enjoying the better schools here in Alaska very much. I am seeing great improvements in Henry's Math and writing skills. We also started see a lot of moose in the yard in August and September. Fun, FUN!

Just last week Paul also came for a visit from Diego Garcia. We didn't go do a lot while he was here, but he seemed happy to just sleep in, play W.O.W. and eat some home cooking.

Jason and I are enjoying our new jobs at the Providence Alaska Medical Center. We are both making lots of new friends!

Settling In

2009-06-08T19:15:00.000-07:00

It's starting to feel like home here. We have a beautiful neighborhood and our neighbors are really nice.

I got my Alaska drivers license last weekend. Cool. You'll notice that I edited my personal info out of the pic.... and my weight. Haha!

I am really liking my new job, even though there are a lot of things here that are different and some things that I think would be better if they changed....

I love looking at the native art up here.

Our first 2 weeks in Anchorage

2009-05-25T19:26:00.000-07:00

We have finished our first 2 weeks at our new jobs and we are finally done with orientation. I'm sure it will take more time before we start feeling like were really comfortable in the hospital, but at least the boring part is over. The sunrises from the 5th floor hospital window is beautiful!

The weather has been very nice since we got here. Sunny and in the 60's! A very nice change from Phoenix, AZ. Talk to me again in the winter and I'll tell you if I still like it...

We've planted some flowers and veggies. Some of the stuff that we've planted I wouldn't have dreams of trying to grow in Phoenix.

We are enjoying taking hikes in the woods down by the park.

This past weekend we went to a cabin down on the Kenai River. Henry caught a nice trout and I enjoyed staying in the cabin and spinning and reading.

Finally in Anchorage and all moved in!

2009-05-09T19:46:00.000-07:00

We spent 3 long days on the ferry from Bellingham,WA to Haines, AK. The scenery was beautiful, but the cabin was small and the food was not great.

We were so happy to reach Haines on May 4th and start driving again! The passage into Canada was interesting. The Canadian customs officer tossed the car in front of us (looked like he found some interesting green loose "tea" in a zip lock baggy. We got through without any problem.

We were very happy to cross back into Alaska. Lots of beautiful things to see!

We spent the night of May 4th in a sweet little bed and breakfast called A Mooseberry Inn. We awoke the next morning to the smell of fresh brewed coffee and waffles stuffed with fresh mixed berries!

The afternoon of the 5th we arrived in Anchorage and picked up our mail, new cell phones and the keys to the house. Since our shipment arrive before we did, we set up delivery of my car for the 6th and the delivery of our furniture for the 7th. Here are pictures of our new home and of the homes around us.

Today is May 9th and we are starting to feel settled in. Henry had his first day of school yesterday and this afternoon we went down to Portage Glacier. Henry had a blast tip toeing out on the bits of ice. He did eventually have one of his feet drop off into the very cold water.

Waiting for the Ferry

2009-04-30T10:36:00.000-07:00

Well, we've made our way up here to Washington. We left Arizona on April 21st at 3:30 pm after 2 days of the movers packing and loading our stuff.

We spent the first night in Santa Clarita, CA.

You can see the LOVELY LA smog!

The next day we arrived in Roseville, CA.

Lovely Northern California rain!

We decided that it would be best to be on the north side of Sacramento for an easy departure on Friday morning.

While we were in the Sacramento area we visited with my dad and my little sister Cecelia and then went to dinner with my grandma.

After dinner I met my dear friend Jody for drinks.

I have known Jody since I was 5 years old.

Late Friday afternoon we arrived in Hillsboro, OR and we spent that evening and the whole next day at my friend Michelle's house. I've known Michelle since I was a senior in high school.

Michelle and our traveling gnome.

We departed from Oregon on Sunday late morning and made it to the Seattle area about 3 hours later and checked into our hotel in Lynnwood.

We've had a blast here in Washington these past few days.

We went on the Seattle Underground tour.

A skylight from the surface of Seattle's current streets to where the sidewalks used to be.

Then we went to the Pike Place Market down on the pier.

I could have spent the whole day there! But we had a great dinner that night. We grilled fresh halibut steaks on the grill at the hotel and fresh corn and salad. Glad we have been staying at Residence Inn (kitchen in each unit).

Tuseday I was force to go on the Boeing Tour. Sorry.... no pictures allowed. But it was worth it because yesterday we all went to Whidbey Island and we saw the Meerkerk Rhododendron and Azalea Garden and then to the Lavender Wind Farm.

We took a ferry to get over to the island.

It was so beautiful at the garden!

It was so much fun walking around and seeing all the flowers.

I would have loved to have spent the whole day there.

My new retirement goal is to have a lavender farm on Whidbey Island!

Packing etc...

2009-04-04T14:56:00.000-07:00

Well we listed our house yesterday. Given the poor housing market, it is hard to say how long it will take to sell though.

The cleaning and packing is exhausting...

Just 2 more weeks before we leave for Alaska. I wish I could just click my heels and just be there already!

Last Night at Work

2009-03-30T00:04:00.000-07:00

Well.... last night was my last at Banner Estrella. I will really miss so many of the people that I've worked with the past 2 and 1/2 years. I've made some great friends there.

So now I pack and get ready for the big move. Henry's last day with Connections Academy is April 10th. The movers will come April 20 and we leave on April 22nd. We plan to drive up to Sacramento to visit with my dad and then up to Oregon to see my friend Michelle. After that we go to Seattle. We catch the ferry on May 1st and then it will take 3 days to get up to Haines. From there we drive the rest of the way.

Our jobs at Providence in Anchorage start on May 11th!

And this will be our new home.

North to Alaska!

2009-03-23T21:14:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't posted in months. Lots of stuff going on in my life as always. Jason and I are moving to Alaska. We interviewed for jobs up there last week. It was so beautiful up there!

Paul is now in Diego Garcia. Steph and Randy are still together but still not married. Henry is happy to be going on a great adventure with us. He'll have to stop doing Connections Academy on line since they don't have it up there, but it will be good for him to go to public school there because the schools are SOOO much better there than here in AZ (we are at the bottom of the barrel here.)

Seward, AK

Cook Inlet, End of the Turnagain Arm

Mountains on the Kenai Peninsula

Cook Inlet proper

I'll try to keep you all posted. I will be revamping the blog here soon so that all my AZ friends can keep up with the Alaska adventure.

Talk to you all soon!

I've Been a Bad Blogger

2009-01-04T16:00:00.001-08:00

I'm so sorry that I haven't been keeping this blog up lately. It's been busy around here.

First, let me say that the unwanted house guest is gone. He moved out on Dec 11th. So he was with us for 2 months and 1 day.

I managed to get the tree up the weekend after he left and I just never really got in the holiday spirit. It probably had to do with the residual hate in my heart.

Paul arrived on Dec 21st and I was so glad to see him again. Unfortunately he has since gone back to Pensacola, FL and I probably won't get to see him again until he is done with his year in Diego Garcia, which wont even start until February.

Henry is doing well with his online schooling through Connections Academy. We are still struggling with Math, but I'm seeing definite improvement.

Since Christmas I have mostly been in bed with a very stubborn case of bronchitis. I have been on antibiotics, codeine cough syrup and an inhaler for a week now and still have a cough. I missed work all week and I hope to be able to go back for my next scheduled shift. I'm really just worn out.

Then Why is He Still Upstairs?

2008-12-10T07:11:00.000-08:00

Yesterday he got a uhaul and moved his stuff down to Tucson.

I woke up this morning and his truck is parked outside and the door to the "guest" room is closed.

I'm Still Alive

2008-12-08T02:59:00.000-08:00

I know that it has been nearly a month since I have posted. It has been a hectic time in my house lately. Believe it or not our "house guest" is still here. I hesitate to call him a guest at this point, because that word is usually reserved for someone who is welcome. Believe me... he is not. At least not by me. This man has stretched and broke my Christian kindness, which is a terrible thing to say at this time of the year. Hospitality has never been my spiritual gift and I fear it may never be.

On the upside, Henry has started his online schooling with Connections Academy. It is quite a bit of work on my part (about 4-5 hours 5 days a week) and more work than Henry thought that it would be, I'm sure. But it is working out well and has definitely given me a needed view of what his short-comings are. Henry really has trouble staying focused when something is not interesting to him. So I've been finding ways to engage him during lessons... to bring him back in mentally. So far this seems to be working well.

Paul is currently in Pensacola, FL finishing his training before he heads off to Diego Garcia early next year. He will be home for Christmas on the 21st of this month. Stephi and Randy went to Vegas for her 21st birthday ( I got to watch Ethen overnight one of the days that they were gone!), but they came back still unmarried.

One of the hardest things these past couple of months has been getting to church. This is something that I have been struggling with and feeling so guilty about. As I have been working more hours and nearly every Saturday night, I've just been so exhausted on Sunday mornings and more often than not have chosen sleep over worship. But yesterday was the first early service at Copper Hills. Now they have two Sunday services. One at 9 AM and one at 10:30 AM. So I went to the early one and it was so nice being there and actually still being awake! It was great seeing all the folks that I hadn't seen in weeks! I am looking forward to next Sunday and I feel that God is somehow bringing me through this blue time that I've been having. I'm grateful that He is faithful even when I am not.

So there is the update and I will try to post more often. It should be easier once my 'alone-in-the-middle-of-the-night-when-I-can't-sleep-place' is no longer being occupied by a 51 year old unemployed mooch playing X-Box all night.

Pray for me.... please.

A Long Time

2008-11-15T07:49:00.000-08:00

I know that it's been a long time since I've posted, so I'll give you the quick update. I'm still waiting to get word from the Connections Academy about when Henry can start there. But all of the documents have been faxed in. Paul's visit at home went well and he is now in Pensacola, FL. Stephi is doing well. I spent the day with her and Ethen yesterday. FUN!

Jason's friend is STILL staying with us... it's beginning to feel like he will never leave.

Garfield has returned!

2008-10-25T10:04:00.000-07:00

So, be truthful. How many of you knew that as soon as I got a new cat that Garfield would come home? Yeah...my hubby knew this too. So now I have 2 cats, which is fine with me because I love them!

Paul will be home from the Navy to visit for a week starting on Wednesday the 29th. I'm very excited about this! We still have Jason's friend staying with us, but he is going to Colorado in a day or two to visit his family and to scout things out there. I think that he is thinking that having his house burn down and getting laid off from his job in the same month might be some kind of sign from God that he needs to "get out of Dodge". Hmmm, maybe so.

Henry and I have submitted all of his information to the Connections Academy and are just waiting for the shipment of his books and computer. Hopefully I will have him out of school by Thanksgiving at the latest.

Stephi and Randy are laying laminate flooring in there house this week. I can't wait to see how it turns out. It will definitely be a GREAT improvement over the crappy carpet that came will the house... lots of stains on light beige carpet is gross!

Work is pretty much the same... actually better. They have trained some new people to be in charge... so I don't have to do it as often, which is good. I was starting to get tired of doing it all the time. It is nice to actually be a nurse. Makes me remember why I went to nursing school... I was starting to forget.

Last, but not least, I am becoming an official member of Copper Hills Church! I went to a class this past Thursday to learn more about the church and I am signing the pledge on Sunday. If you are all wondering about the Summit, they voted to dissolve last week and they donated their remaining assets to a few different causes. Pastor Scott was offered a full time ministry position at Copper Hills and I've started seeing a few more Summit folks at Copper Hills.

Life goes on.

Please forgive me

2008-10-17T14:34:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy lately that I just haven't had time to update the old blog!

I decided this week to withdraw Henry from public school and enroll him in a Charter School. It's called Connections Academy and it is an online school. Henry and I are pretty excited about getting started with it.

What a Week!

2008-10-11T10:37:00.000-07:00

Lots of stuff this week. Worked Tues and Weds night. One of Hubby's friends had their house catch on fire. So we have yet ANOTHER house guest. (That's 3 this year, for those of you that are counting.) Luann came down with an upper respiratory infection (a cold) and had me pretty worried on Thursday... so no sleep after work Weds night and I missed small group AGAIN! Then Friday night I saw Neil Diamond in concert with my girlfriends from work and he was "so good, so good, so good!!!"

Is it Friday already?!

2008-10-03T15:01:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can't believe that this week went by so fast. As you may remember from an earlier post... Garfield has been missing. It's been over 2 weeks. So yesterday Henry and I went to the Arizona Humane Society and picked out a new kitty. She is 2 months old and already fixed (I had no idea that they do it that young now), she had her shots, is feline leukemia negative and is "chipped" in case she gets out.

Here she is:

LuAnn!

My Wordle

2008-09-29T09:28:00.000-07:00

These are pretty cool. You can make your own or put in your blog URL and it will make one for you! Check it out at Wordle.

I've been tagged...

2008-09-29T06:53:00.000-07:00

Ok, I usually don't do these things, but I've been tagged by Brenda at The Queen of Good Intentions to tell you all 7 random things about me.

1. I'm on Facebook. So go check it out. Everybody should be on Facebook as far as I'm concerned.

2. After working Saturday nights, I have 2 friends from work who are kind enough to go out to breakfast with me so that I can stay awake until church on Sunday mornings.

3. I have a spinning wheel and I spin my own yarn.

4. I haven't seen my cat in over a week. I think he ran away.

5. I have a serious Diet Coke addiction!

6. I'm going to see Neil Diamond on October 10th.

7. I have lived in California, Nevada, Washington, Colorado, Arizona and Saudi Arabia.

I refuse to tag anyone, but feel free to tag yourself if you want!

The End

2008-09-25T21:53:00.001-07:00

I went to the Summit tonight since I had the night off. I knew that Scott was going to resign and I wanted to be there and I wanted to see my Summit friends again. But I wish I would have just stayed home. It was like witnessing an extended resuscitation on a dying person or like watching an autopsy. It was hard to be there and I didn't feel like I belonged there anymore. One of the people from the Summit/New Life task force even asked me why I was there (since I have been going to Copper Hills for a month now). I said I was there to visit my friends, but I felt like saying "I don't know".

The truth is that I really don't belong there anymore. I no longer have a vested interest in the Summit. Copper Hills is truly my home now and I think going there tonight showed me that. So I guess it wasn't really a waste. I just felt so bad watching this small group of believers that I once counted as family. They are just trying so hard to keep this group together and I think that the tighter they hold on, the more it moves out of their grasp. Please pray for them.

The People

2008-09-25T07:05:00.000-07:00

You may remember from a previous post that many years ago we had "people" come live with us before. Friends of my hubby who were having money problems. That was about 10 years ago and it was the beginning of lots of problems between my husband and I.

Well, a few weeks ago we got an email from one of 'the people' saying that he was separated from his wife. Hubby called him back and invited him to come stay with us for a week and get his head screwed on straight. By the time he got here my husband was talking about how the plan was for his friend to go to school for a few months while he was staying with us. WHAT??!?!?!?!

No WAY!!! Now I don't mind helping people, but I have so many bad memories from when he and his family stayed with us that time before. Plus, this man needs to be with his family... not here with mine. I chose the man that I wanted see across the breakfast table every morning and it was MY husband... not this other guy.

So I didn't keep my mouth shut. As soon as this 'person' sat down to tell me his sad story I put it right out there. This man is a Christian. He says that his wife lies to him all the time and she will never change. I said so what? So what if she never changes? Our spouse is God's greatest gift to us. Sometimes it may not seem like it. But you have to remember what God's ultimate goal is.... to make us more like Christ. And a lot of times, the tool He chooses to use is our spouse.

So a few days later he tells me that he got a call from a friend in Fresno, CA who offered him a job and a place to live as a property manager and he believes that it is a gift from God because he was merciful on his wife and forgave her. Yesterday he returned to his wife and family on an airplane.

Praise God!!

Always nice to know when you make the right choice.

2008-09-22T16:43:00.000-07:00

He Just Loves Babies!

2008-09-19T08:51:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday my sister Megan and her little baby boy, Colby, came out to my side of town and we went shopping and out to lunch. I called Steph and she and Ethen met us at Macayo's for lunch.

Whenever Ethen sees a baby he wants to hold it. So Steph put Ethen and Colby in her lap.

Poor Colby. Luckily he probably wont remember this experience.

You may remember this picture from the 4th of July, when Ethen decided that he needed to hold his Cousin William who is nearly the same size as he is.

He just loves babies!!

Changes

2008-09-16T16:39:00.000-07:00

Well, in case you haven't noticed... I am playing around with layouts again here. All feedback is appreciated.

Where In The World Is Diego Garcia?!

2008-09-15T17:17:00.000-07:00

I found out over the weekend that my son Paul is going to be stationed at Diego Garcia.

Diego Garcia is the largest atoll, in terms of land area, in Chagos Archipelago, part of the British Indian Ocean Territory. The island is located in the Indian Ocean, about 1,600 km (1,000 mi) south of the southern coast of India.[1] (For the complete Wikipedia entry click here.)

So he'll be pretty much in the middle of nowhere, but it looks like a cool place to be.

I Missed a Great Way to Start the Week

2008-09-15T07:05:00.000-07:00

I fell asleep yesterday and missed church. I guess 3 straight night shifts AND cramps were too much. I still feel guilty, though. And I know that this week just wont feel as good as it could have.

You Follow?

2008-09-10T14:44:00.000-07:00

Ok. So there is this new feature on Blogger. You can have "followers". You just click to be added and your profile pic will be added to that blog's followers. Mine is right there on the left. As you can see I have none so far (unless someone has taken pity on me). So you can see by now that this is just my pathetic attempt to gain followers. Not really... it's just that I have had this feature up for over 24 hours and I know people are reading ... perhaps they just didn't notice I have this feature. See... there it is on the left. THE LEFT!!!

Two More Blog Awards

2008-09-09T14:50:00.000-07:00

I must start by stating that feel very undeserving of these. I have not been an attentive blogger these past several weeks. As I have told my hubby... all I do is work and sleep lately. But Brenda at The Queen of Good Intentions has blessed me with not just one, but two beautiful bloggy awards! Isn't that sweet?!

So now I get to pass them on to some of my faves:

1) Jen at The Dust Bunny Hostage

2) Ronda at Ronda's Rants

3) Jen at The Fun House

4) Honeybell at The Bell Pages

5) Mariah at Help I Have a Teenager

6) Hot Tub Lizzy at Journey to the Hot Tub

No Go On The Merger

2008-09-06T09:42:00.001-07:00

For those of you following this story. The vote was Thursday night. I had to work, so I filled out an absentee ballot. I called Scott on my way to work on Thursday night and ask him if he would call me afterwards with the results.

I received the call around 9:30 PM. The vote was 17 to 15 in favor, but not a 2/3 majority.... so no go. Not sure what will end up happening with The Summit. I'll keep you all posted.

My Husband - The Computer Super Hero

2008-09-02T20:42:00.000-07:00

Jason had to replace the internet cable modem and wireless router today. Ours was 4 years old and was getting a little blinky. So a trip to Fry's Electronics was in order.

Of course, nothing is ever THAT simple. While he was in the downstairs office, he noticed that there was some discoloration of the ceiling. Hmmm... what is directly over this area? The master bathroom toilet. Argh!

So next was a trip to Home Depot and a call to American Family Insurance to file a water damage claim. This should be fun.

Thursday thru Sunday

2008-09-01T09:02:00.000-07:00

So, Thursday was probably my last night at the Summit. It was bitter-sweet. It's looking like the merger will be voted down. I can see how this issue has been wearing on everyone throughout the weeks. Especially Scott and Amy.

After a very pleasant weekend at work, I went to Copper Hills on Sunday morning. I'm really starting to feel at home there. Some of the folks from the Summit were there trying it out, which is good to see.

Another Award?

2008-08-29T09:24:00.000-07:00

I have received this award from Ronda at Ronda's Rants!

Here are the rules:

1. Choose 5 bloggers that you feel are "Kick Ass Bloggers"
2. Let them know in your post or via email or blog comments that they have received an award.
3. Share the love and link back to both the person who awarded you and back to http://www.mammadawg.com/
4. Hop on back to the Kick Ass Blogger Club HQ to sign Mr. Linky then pass it on!
My Fab Five are...

1) Jennifer from Dust Bunny Hostage.

2) Mariah at Help I have A Teenager.

3) Honeybell at The Bell Pages.

4) Melissa Lee at Stretch Marks.

5) Crazed Mom at Chasing Myself.

These are 5 blogs that I can't resist reading! Even if I don't always leave comments. I'm bad, I know.

Kabuki

2008-08-27T07:34:00.000-07:00

Let me just say that my hubby has been so good to me this week. I have been so tired this week. For some reason I have not been quick to recover from my weekend at work. He made dinner for us on Monday night and last night he took us out to dinner at this really cool Japanese restaurant - Kabuki.

Jason got sushi and we shared a Love Boat for 3.

Yeah... that's a LOT of food! There's a killer doggy bag in the fridge. Guess I know what I'm having for lunch today!

Tired...

2008-08-25T19:20:00.000-07:00

Can I just say that this weekend of working 3 12 hour night shifts in a row totally kicked my butt. I am so tired and achy! Newsflash::: I am no longer 25!

Due to confidentiality issues, I can't go into detail. But suffice it to say that I felt like I was working in a psyche ward this weekend.

A Fun Day

2008-08-22T08:39:00.000-07:00

I had so much fun yesterday. Stephi and Ehten came by with lunch and afterwards we went to Linens N Things and then to Ross.

We found a shower curtain that matches the tile in her master bath perfectly! Then we went to Ross and I found a great pair of Naturalizer shoes for work. I can't wait to try them tonight. Maybe they will keep my knees from hurting so much. We'll see.

Henry even got his Nintendo 64 in the mail and got it hooked up. Fun!

My wonderful day ended in the most wonderful way. Church! It was a great service. Pastor Scott lead worship and Pastor Brad gave the message. I beautiful mix. I hope that everyone can see how good this will be for us.

This Sunday will be the last Sunday that I will work. Next month I work every Thursday except one. So for me, anyhow, this is a done deal. I will be moving on to Copper Hills next month regardless of how the vote goes. But I move forward with a full heart because of God's Spirit in me. Through this trial I am learning to trust more in God and less in people. God is faithful. He does not change. I'm not sure which friends will be coming and which will not, but I am sure that God "who began the good work within (me), will continue his work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again. - Phil 1:6

Options.... really?

2008-08-21T07:32:00.000-07:00

The meeting last night was probably one of the more painful things that I've ever witnessed. I sat there and asked no questions... I just listened... and prayed.

The different options were laid out before us: Merge with Copper Hills; Hire a "start-up" pastor; Stay in our current location and be absorbed by our current host church and have our Thursday night service turn into a 20-30's video venue; or disband honorably.

The vote has been postponed by another week.

Forgive me if this is all I have blogged about lately. As my fellow bloggers know, we tend to write about the things that are on our minds. This is on mine.

The truth of the matter is that our church cannot survive as it is. We have no longer have an elder team and we have no one in our congregation that would be biblically appropriate to fill these rolls. We have not had a baptism in quite some time. We are not growing. Our tithes cannot support the 2 full time staff that we currently employ.

Evidently several years ago our church was gifted a sum of money by another church that disbanded. Very little of this sum is remaining. However there is some... and now we have to decide what to do with it. Use it to help a growing church with a similar mission (Copper Hills for example) and join them in the work of Christ here on earth. Use it to hire a start up pastor to see if we can revive our church. Or gift it elsewhere in our community and just part amicably.

These are difficult choices and we all have different ideas about what is best.

I would like to ask for prayer on behalf of our pastor Scott and his wife Amy as this must be an especially painful time for them.

Wednesday and Pay it Back

2008-08-19T07:12:00.000-07:00

I got an email from The Summit yesterday that read:

"In order to help alleviate any uncertainty regarding the future of the Summit, there will be a meeting this Wednesday night for the entire church body for the purpose of claryifying where we are at with the merge decision and what other options are available to us. All are invited and encouraged to attend.

Steve Lingenfelter, pastor of New Life Church, will be there to share New Life's perspective as our partner church. There will be time for everyone to ask questions and voice concerns. We want to make sure that every option available to us has a chance to be discussed before voting on the merge. This gives everyone the chance to make an informed choice. As announced last Thursday, the vote will take place on Thursday, August 28th.

The meeting will be in the cafe at 7pm this WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20th. If you have any questions, but are unable to attend the meeting, please email them beforehand so that they can be addressed."

We currently share a facility with another church, as you can see from above. I am glad that we will be exploring all the options so everyone can see exactly where we are and what will work and what wont. So that is where I will be Wednesday.

Also, Ronda from Ronda's Rants blogged about a great "pay it back" idea yesterday--so the first 3 people who comment will get something special from me. Great idea, Ronda!!

... our struggle is not against a human opponent

2008-08-18T07:28:00.000-07:00

I visited Copper Hills Church on Sunday. It was great! Everybody was so friendly and I recognized lots of people. Some had visited our church a few weeks ago and some were actually from the Summit and were visiting to check it out like me.

The message was from Ephesians 6:10-17, the armor of God. It was so timely. It reminded me that the troubles that we have in this world are from Satan and we need to remember that he is the enemy. He wants us to lose focus of that. He wants us to take our eyes off Jesus and concentrate on the problems around us. But if we do that, then we will not be able to stand against the evil one.

"How do you read it?"

2008-08-14T22:28:00.000-07:00

Wow, it was a rough night at church. I could just feel the conflicting emotions in the air. I could look around the room and read the body-language.

Why does this have to be so painful and difficult? I certainly can see both sides of this, but I think that the path set before us is clear. If we are so stubborn about keeping everything we have for ourselves... what purpose does that serve? Is that what God really wants from His church here on earth?

I am trying hard to focus more on what God is teaching us through this and not on the problem or trial itself, but it is very challenging.

I appreciate all your prayers on behalf of our little church. We will be voting on the "merger" on August 28th. Please continue to pray for us to make the decision that will glorify God.

Joy

2008-08-14T07:29:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm sure that you will all be relieved to learn that I won the auction and should receive the Nintendo 64 next week sometime. Henry is overjoyed.

Today is laundry day. Oh, joy. Sorry that this hasn't been a very exciting or upbeat week of posts.

Why?

2008-08-13T07:05:00.000-07:00

Can anyone tell me why a 10 year old boy who has a Play Station 3 with 20 cool games would want an old Nintendo 64 system with 4 puny, old fashioned games? Yeah, that's what I thought! You guys don't know either.

My son, for some reason unknown to me, has been bugging me for an old Ninetendo system for weeks now. So today I put a bid in on one at eBay. I'll let you know how it goes. By the way. If any of you all out there have one that works, let me know... perhaps we can work something out.

Small Group

2008-08-11T21:15:00.000-07:00

Tonight I went to small group and two people that I counted as my best friends at church were not there. I'm afraid that they are no longer going to come. They weren't at church last Thursday either.

However, there was a new couple there. They are members of Copper Hills and they seemed very nice. I hope they continue to come.

I hope that my Summit friends return to our small group. I have had trouble opening myself up for friendship because of my childhood (we moved A LOT) and even some adult experiences. It really hurts to lose friends for any reason. Sometimes it seems easier and safer to just not try.

I Survived!

2008-08-08T08:33:00.000-07:00

Well, I got through it! I gave my testimony last night at church. I was so nervous. I couldn't get my voice to stop shaking and my mouth even went dry, but I persevered and somehow made it through.

I wasn't sure exactly what I would say, after all if you've read my faith journey (all 9 long posts of it) then you know that I had to really shorten it. Pastor Scott even threatened me with 'the hook' if I went too long. Now, I didn't time myself, but it must have been somewhere close to the 5 minute mark because I wasn't dragged off the stage. I prayed about it a lot this week and I figure that I must have said what God wanted me to say... I'm not sure I even remember exactly what I did say. But it must have been OK because a bunch of people came up to me afterwards and said that they enjoyed hearing it. God is good. Who would have ever thought that anything I ever did would bring glory to God?!

Many others shared their testimonies too (some from The Summit and some from Copper Hills) and I never get tired of hearing how God works in the lives of His children. We even got to hear from Pastor Brad and he told a wonderful story of how his summer sabbatical has given him refreshment of his spirit and how he has learned and grown even closer to God.

I would have to say, though, that my favorite part of the night was meeting my brothers and sisters from Copper Hills and realizing that as Christians, no matter where we go we are part of one great and wondrous family. The family of the Living God!

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! - 1 John 3:1

Grandma's little sweetheart

2008-08-07T21:58:00.000-07:00

With Ethen's 2nd birthday just around the corner, I thought this was the perfect picture from the past for my Thursday Fro' Me To You.

This picture was taken the very first time I ever held my beautiful grandson Ethen. It was the day I fell absolutely head-over heels in love with him and I've been wrapped around his little finger ever since.

The New MacBook Has Arrived!!

2008-08-06T17:21:00.000-07:00

Yes, and I'm using it at this minute! It is truly beautiful. I know, I know....it's only a computer, but I have been without my own for what seems like such a long time!

Anyhow, I still trying to get all "moved in". Synching the ipod and all that. See ya'all later.

Bits and "Peace"?

2008-08-06T07:39:00.000-07:00

I watched Ethen for Steph and Randy yesterday so they could paint the house that they bought. We had fun playing with the puppy. Of course the vacuums were brought out too and after lunch we took a little nap together. He's such a sweet little angel.

After he woke up from his nap, Steph asked if we could drop Ethen of at the new house. And surprise of all surprises, Jason decided to go with me. We got a tour of the house and Jason and Randy even said a few words to each other. Could this be the start of something good?

On another subject. I've been asked to give my testimony at church on Thursday. Of course, I'll have to condense it and keep it under 5 minutes. I'm having trouble deciding what to include and what to skip over. Any suggestions?

Sorry It's Been So Long

2008-08-05T06:45:00.000-07:00

Wow. It was a rough weekend at work. We were very busy. I'm rested up and will try not to go so long without a post again.

On the home front, Henry started his first day of 5th grade yesterday. I spent the evening signing tons of papers. I also plan on calling Steph today to see how the moving went this weekend. Steph and Randy moved into their 1st house.

As for church. We could certainly use all the prayer that you could send up for us. It looks like this is really hard for everyone and I'll definitely post more about it once everything settles down and becomes clearer.

...sorrow and sighing will flee away.

2008-08-02T08:34:00.000-07:00

Thursday night at church was very interesting. If I haven't said so yet, all the comments that you all left for me really helped me. And I could tell that you all have been sending prayers up for me. I went to church Thursday with a positive attitude - that God's will would be done.

Our pastor opened with a song and then a reading from Isaiah 35. Our pastor and the pastor from the other church spoke to us and then took the time to answer all the questions that we had. Towards the end our pastor really opened up and shared his feelings about all this with us. And I could feel how he has been carrying a burden for us on his shoulders and in his heart. That's what I needed to hear. I knew right then that we could trust him to do the right thing for our little group of believers.

So I went to work that night and changed my work schedule so I could have Sunday nights off. Thursday night church will soon be a thing of the past. I have no doubts that this is what God has planned for us.

Jason Ordered My New MacBook

2008-08-01T06:31:00.000-07:00

Yea!!! It will be here in 1 week! I am so psyched! After I get it up and running I am ordering my custom blog design! I can hardly contain my excitement!

Oh How He Loves Us!

2008-07-31T06:22:00.000-07:00

I saw this video this morning on Melissa Lee's blog, Stretch Marks. I was so beautiful and moving it made me cry and I knew that I would have to share it.

Enjoy!

Yea for Pink!!!

2008-07-30T10:01:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited! I've been nominated for an award by Ronda at Ronda's Rants who is absolutely one of my favorite bloggy friends! The deal with this award is this:

Give the Pink Rose Award to those who inspire you or need to be inspired, to those who have encouraged you or those who need encouragement.

Instructions on how to pass this along.1. on your blog, copy and paste the award, these rules, a link back to the person who selected you, and a link to this post: "Pink is my favorite color...". There's a story of Pink Rose Award and other graphic to choose from.2. Select as many award recipients as you would like, link to their blogs(if they have one), and explain why you have chose them.3. Let them know that you have selected them for an award by commenting on one of their posts.4. If you are selected, pass it on by giving the Pink Rose Award to others.5. If you find that someone you want to nominate has already been selected by someone else, you can still honor them by posting a comment on their award post stating your reasons for wishing to grant them the award.6. You do not have to wait until someone nominates you to nominate someone else.

And the nominees are in no particular order:

Jennifer at Dust Bunny Hostage for her encouraging comments that enabled me to complete my faith journey blogs.

Melissa at Stretch Marks because of her painful honesty and deep faith that God is with her always.

Insane Mama at Help I Have A Teenager because this gal has been through it all and keeps on going with amazing strength!

Jen at More Than Words because her's is the first blog I read... ever. Reading her story is what encouraged me to start blogging.

Z's Mom from Zander and Me because if that little boy's cute face doesn't give you encouragement then you are beyond help!

Blue Funk

2008-07-29T13:31:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted much lately. I've been praying and reading the Bible A LOT! I'm still really bummed about the up coming church meeting about the possible merger. I keep coming back to Ezekiel 34:2. If we have trusted our pastor to lead us up to this point, shouldn't we trust him to lead us now? Arrgh!! I have been praying that his motives are pure and not selfish. I'm praying that I will not be selfish.

The iPod Shuffle

2008-07-27T17:46:00.000-07:00

Heres a fun meme that I saw over at Mindless Junque.

1. What would describe your personality? Love Boomerang (4Him)

2. What do you like in a guy/girl? Cover Me (FFH)

3. How do you feel, today? In Me (Casting Crowns)

4. What’s your life’s purpose? I'm Speechless (Avalon)

5. What is your motto? Nothings Wrong (Summit Band)

6. What do your friends think of you? Nothing Compares (Third Day)

7. What do you think of your parents? Every Day (Phillips, Craig and Dean)

8. What do you think about very often? Last One Standing (MercyMe)

9. What do you think of your best friend? Miracle Of You (Steven Curtis Chapman)

10. What do you think of the person you like? Rise Up (Third Day)

11. What is your life story? Wait For You (Elliot Yamin)

12. What do you want to be when you grow up? You Do All Things Well (Chris Tomlin)

13. What do you think when you see the person you like? No Words (Paul McCartney & Wings)

14. What do your parents think of you? You Drive I'll Ride (FFH)

15. What will be played at your funeral? Jesus, Lover of My Soul (Darlene Zschech)

16.What is your hobby/interest? Crimson (Nichole Nordeman)

17. What is your biggest secret? Longing Heart (Jeremy Camp)

18. What do you think of your friends? Paradise (Tree63)

19. What should you post this as? Overwhelmed (Trent Monk)

Part 9: Growing Pains

2008-07-25T08:27:00.000-07:00

For Part 1 click here
For Part 2 click here
For Part 3 click here
For Part 4 click here
For Part 5 click here
For Part 6 click here
For Part 7 click here
For Part 8 click here

After many months of barely attending and 3 full months of not attending at all, I decided that I had to return to church. After all, even Jesus went to synagogue and He is God (and from what I've read, the religious leadership in His day was seriously lacking).

So I searched the Internet and found a church service on Thursday nights, which was perfect for me, since I was working Friday and Saturday nights. The first time I went, I was surprised at how small it was. After all, I had just come from a church of 10,000 plus. But after that first night I knew that I had found the right place to be. It didn't have the fabulous musical production that I had been accustomed to, but the pastor spoke the message from his heart and that is what kept me returning for more.

This second home that I found is called The Summit. The timing of this post can only be attributed to God Himself. Last night after the church service our pastor shared with us that he has received an offer, for lack of a better word, to join our church with a larger church nearby. This prospect fills me and others that I've spoken to with anxiety. And rightly so. We have come to love our small community of believers. While I have only been there for a year, I count these people as my family.

Joining our family to another is not something to take lightly. Our pastor says it will be like a marriage (The Brady Bunch if you will) of churches and I know intimately just how difficult mixing 2 families can be. I think that my greatest fear is getting lost in a large church again. I feel for the first time in my life as a Christian that my faith is growing deeper and I believe that being part of a small group of Christians that love each other and hold each other accountable is what has made the difference. I know that I'm not alone in the fear that becoming a large church would be a step backwards.

I've learned a lot this past year at the Summit. I've learned that I can share my life and my troubles with others. I can reach out for help when I need it and I can be there to help others that need help too. I've learned that being a Christian is not something you do alone. Yes, it's a narrow path, but there's still room to walk it with someone by your side. I've learned that trials are an opportunity for our faith to grow. I've learned that there is a difference between happiness and true joy.

Life will be filled with conflict, but you can't just give up or bail out when it gets a little tough. We are the net effect of the seeds we have sown in our lives. So this week I will be praying because I've learned that praying is what you do first, not what you try as a last resort.

Part 8: Dark Night of the Soul

2008-07-24T10:55:00.000-07:00

For Part 1 click here
For Part 2 click here
For Part 3 click here
For Part 4 click here
For Part 5 click here
For Part 6 click here
For Part 7 click here
I was so happy to be home. Paul was happy to be home. Henry was happy to be home. But Steph was obviously suffering from "clipped wings" having us home again. She was used to going where she wanted to and when she wanted to go without really checking in with Mom.

One evening I went into her room to say goodnight and she was on the phone crying. I thought, "Great! She finally broke up with her boyfriend Randy." Now maybe things with get back to normal around here. Wrong!

A week after Christmas I came home from work and she and Randy were there waiting for me. "Mom... I'm pregnant." I still don't remember what I said to her. I was in shock. My perfect Christian girl! How could this happen?! We talked about sex. She was adamant about waiting for marriage. And it wasn't like she was stupid or naive. She knew what to do to protect herself. She even took her friend to Planned Parenthood over the summer to get birth control pills after she had a close call.

She assured me that she would finish her senior year and that she a Randy would get married. But that wasn't what I was worried about most. I was already dreading the long distance call that I had to make to Jason in Saudi.

Jason must have been in shock too. I suspect this because for the first time ever - he was speechless. I was relieved that he had nothing to say, but I knew it wouldn't last long and I was right. The next day he called me and let it all out! He told me that he knew that she was having sex and how I shouldn't have let her stay out so late. He told me how Randy promised him that he wouldn't keep Steph from going to college and succeeding in life.

Jason came home about a month later and never return to Saudi. He was very sick with diverticulitis (which has a big stress component) by the time he arrived home. I was stressed to the max also. I had refilled my Zoloft and started taking it again. I was having chest pains from the anxiety and my doctor put me on Ativan. Jason and I were at each others throats with blaming one another.

In February Steph moved in with Randy. She transfered to the alternative school in the district so that she could work and finish school. She graduated in May and Ethen was born on August 13, 2006. Steph and Randy have not married yet, but they bought a house together. Jason and Randy still do not speak.

After all this, I stopped going to church. I felt ashamed of what had happened in my family. I had gone to Saudi because I thought God wanted me to be with my husband - but we fought the whole time, so I came home. My daughter got pregnant half way through her senior year and was now living with her boyfriend. My husband, who was supposed to be a godly man, couldn't even find it in himself to forgive Randy.

The sad thing is that I didn't feel I could share these feelings with anyone that I went to church with. Sadder still is that nobody at my church even called me to find out why I stopped going. I'm not even sure that anyone noticed. I had definitely entered a "dark night of the soul". I even stopped reading my Bible. I was scared of walking away from God, but I just didn't know how to make it better. I felt empty.

Part 7: What was I thinking?!

2008-07-23T14:28:00.000-07:00

For Part 1 click here
For Part 2 click here
For Part 3 click here
For Part 4 click here
For Part 5 click here
For Part 6 click here
I'd heard horror stories about getting through customs in Saudi, but I had no problems. I had packed everything that I thought I would need in our suitcases. Clothes, toys, books, my art supplies, my spindles and fiber..and my Bible (that is what I was really worried about). But we had no troubles there. After we passed through customs, Jason was there waiting for us. He looked so happy and relieved that we were finally there with him.

He drove us from the airport in Dammam to the ARAMCO compound in Dhahran. It was a bit surreal passing the machine gun nests as we entered the 10 square mile compound. Jason was excited to show us the house that he had prepared for us and the car he had bought and fixed up so that we would have transportation. I was so exhausted from the 24 hour-plus trip to get there, that I just wanted to sleep. But when I went to bed that night I just cried. I missed Steph and Paul so much. Everything was so different there.

Henry loved it there. There was a park right across the street from our house. The compound was kind of like 1950's America. Women stayed at home and went to club meetings. The kids were in little league. We got Henry registered for school and were amazed to find that the class sizes were small. There would only be 15 kids in his class. He and Jason got to come home for lunch every day.

I didn't even have to clean house while I was there because we had a house boy. All I did was read, paint and spin. They even had church services there (on Fridays... the weekend was Thursday and Friday there). But I was miserable and I was making Jason miserable.

I can look back now and remember the good things about my time in Saudi, but when I was going through it.... it was terrible. I felt so guilty about leaving Stephi and Paul. Steph seemed fine when I talk to her on the phone, but Paul. Oh, talking to Paul made me feel so bad. He was as depressed as I was. He missed me, he missed his sister, he missed his friends. Jason kept telling me that they would be fine. That if I stayed I could travel home for holidays and for 3 months in the summer.

I knew that God wanted me to be there with Jason, but I became less and less sure of why. I was so sad. Jason and I argued all the time. I thought for sure that there was some great purpose for me there... but I never learned what it was. I complained and complained until Jason couldn't take it anymore and we came home in November, less than 5 months after I got there.

Jason came with us and we had a great Thanksgiving with our family and had lots of interesting stories to tell. Jason returned to his job in Saudi a few weeks later and I started job hunting at home. I thought that I had made it through the toughest time in my life - but my greatest trial was just around the corner.

Part 6: Saudi Arabia

2008-07-22T17:04:00.001-07:00

For Part 1 click here
For Part 2 click here
For Part 3 click here
For Part 4 click here
For Part 5 click here
After Jason went back to work at the Cardiac Cath Lab at the hospital and I went back to work at the SNF, I think Jason started to worry about money. I mean, we had enough. We were making it OK, but it wasn't like when he was in sales.

He met a guy at work who had worked overseas and had made a lot of money that way. So Jason looked online and applied for a job with ARAMCO (that's the Arabian-American Oil Co). A month later they called and he went to Houston, TX to interview for the job and long story short, he got it.

That was in the summer, but with all the paperwork, the passport, the work visa... Jason finally left for Saudi in
October. At first we were all going to go, but we learned that the schools on the ARAMCO compound only go to the 9th grade. Paul was a sophomore and Stephi was a junior. We looked at boarding schools and we found a nice Christian one in Oregon. The kids were excited about it. It was only 3 hours from my dad in Northern California and 1 hour from my friend Michelle in Oregon. So we went to visit it. It was great! The kids applied and they were accepted.

The months went by and our visas were not approved... because I was taking Zoloft. Of all things!

Jason said that the first few months over there were the hardest for him. We talked on the phone every few days and after the New Year he was able to come home for a few weeks. It was so hard to put him back on the plane, but he told me that if I stopped taking the Zoloft that he knew he could get me cleared to join him finally. So I weaned myself off (painful, and really deserves another post altogether) and I filled out the visa forms again.

In April, Jason told me that he finally got me approved to join him. Only now Steph and Paul didn't want to go to boarding school. Argh! Steph was starring in the spring musical - she was popular here. She had a boyfriend and would be starting her senior year in August. And Paul didn't want to go without her.

So I made plans for Steph and Paul to stay. My family and most of my friends didn't understand why I thought that I needed to go to Saudi to be with Jason. Before I became a Christian I probably wouldn't have, but I knew that God wanted me to be with my husband.

The kids were supportive of my choice amazingly. I found a nice, young, Christian woman who was in college and working at the church nearby to stay at the house with Stephanie (who would be 18 in a few months). My brother who lives in town said that Paul could stay with him, but he would have to change schools.

On July 11th, 2005 Henry and I got on a plane and flew to Saudi Arabia.

My First Award

2008-07-21T08:10:00.000-07:00

Thank you to Karla from Zander & Me for giving me my first award!

Once an award is received, the rules are as follows:
1. Put the logo on your blog.
2. Add a link to the person who awarded you.
3. Nominate at least seven other blogs.
4. Add links to those blogs on your blog.
5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog.
Ok, now for the people I nominate in no particular order:

1) Crazed Mom at Chasing Myself for her never-ending commitment to finish nursing school and share that experience with us.

2) Hot Tub Lizzy at The Journey to the Hot Tub because I love to hear the stories about her and Mr. B!

3) Judy at Coffee Jitters has the most beautiful pictures on her blog. They make me want to jump in through my computer screen!

4) Ronda at Ronda's Rants because she makes me think and I need to do that more often.

5) Kristen at We Are THAT Family because I have a THAT family too!!

6) Tammy over a Greek GRITS because she is a fellow nurse, a fellow Christian AND she's from the South!! A triple threat!

7) And last, but not least...Flower. I love her kitties and her garden. Plus, she's a grandma like me!

Also welcome to all the SITStas out there in bloggiland!

Part 5: A Wise Woman Builds Her House

2008-07-20T03:30:00.000-07:00

For Part 1 click here
For Part 2 click here
For Part 3 click here
For Part 4 click here

"A wise woman builds her house." This is what Hannah told me I was doing by staying home. I really did focus on my family that year when I was home with them. Jason had been worried that Stephi was growing up too quickly. She was 15 and had been hanging out with a boy that Jason really didn't like, and I was finally starting to see things that way my hubby did.

I started making Steph and Paul go to youth group at the church. At first they weren't very keen on it, but after a while they enjoyed it. They became invoved in the teen small groups at our church and Stephi even sang for the teen worship service. That year Steph and Paul really blossomed into a couple of nice, clean cut kids. And I felt good that I was finally giving them the kind of parental guidance that they deserved.

I really felt God working in our lives. Jason and I found a great small group also. There was even a gal in our group that used to practice Wicca like I did. I really connected with her and we felt that God had put us together for a reason. He showed us that we didn't have to be ashamed of who we used to be because now we were His.

So, we grew together as a family that year and we were all baptized as well (except Henry because he was too young.) I started volunteering with the kids youth group and even read through the Bible for the first time.

But my time at home with my family didn't last forever. Eventually Jason stopped selling Xray equipment because the market dried up and he was forced to return to hospital work. This meant that I had to return to work too. I was surprised to see the Christian nurses that I used to work with at the skilled nursing facility(SNF) at my church one Sunday. I didn't know that they went to my church! They were so happy to learn that I had changed my ways and told me that they had been praying for me. I told them that I had been off work for about a year, but that I was looking to return and they said there was a night position open at the SNF.

So the next day I applied and 2 weeks later I was working there. Just 2 nights a week. It was perfect. I'd probably still be there if Jason hadn't have been offered the job with ARAMCO in Saudi Arabia.

Part 4: A New Creation

2008-07-17T23:15:00.000-07:00

For Part 1 click here
For Part 2 click here
For Part 3 click here

I prayed and accepted Christ as my Savior and the horrible feeling inside me went away and it has never returned. I was so excited that a told everybody that I knew! Hannah did a Bible study for new believers with me and recommended a good Bible translation for me. She told me that she would pray for me to find a good church. I hadn't even thought of that. A week or so later my hubby asked his friend next door where their family went to church. We joined them at church the next Sunday and found our church home!

When I told Sally that I became a Christian she was kind of quiet. I gave her all of my tarot cards, books, candles, oils etc. I didn't want any of that stuff around any more. Slowly over the next few months she completely stopped talking to me. Even now we still don't talk. We have a few friends in common and I pray for her a lot.

I had a friend from high school that I talked to via email weekly and when I told her that I became a Christian she asked me about it. She wanted to know exactly how this change happened. I emailed her my story and she asked more questions about Christianity. I started printing out the emails and bringing them to work with me for Hannah to read. Together we would go over them and she would help to answer the questions that my friend had. I learned a lot that way. In the end nothing I emailed to my friend made any difference to her. Not so far anyway. But I pray for her all the time too.

One day the Nurse Manager saw one of the emails and came unglued. I had written to my friend about when I first came to work at the clinic and how I felt it was the right place because the Nurse Manager was interested in paganism too. The Nurse Manager took me aside and told me that she was not a pagan. She also told me that she did not want Hannah and I talking about Christianity at work because it was upsetting other employees. I didn't know what to say.

Later when I told Hannah about this meeting with the Nurse Manager she told me that I should rejoice. After all, I had done nothing wrong. The Nurse Manager read an email that was on my desk and that Hannah and I had only spoke about our faith to each other on our breaks. So I was actually being persecuted for my faith and in Matt 5:10 God promises a blessing for those that are persecuted for His sake! It got worse though...to the point that I couldn't even wear my cross pendant to work.

Later on that year I received a wonderful answer to prayer. I started to feel so uncomfortable at work that I started looking for a new job. The day that I was offered a new position as a Case Manager for an insurance company downtown, my hubby asked me if I would like to just stay home with Henry instead. Henry was 4 and Jason was working as an independent sales rep, selling Xray equipment for GE. He was making enough money for me to stay home and I was more than happy to!

Part 3: Back to Work

2008-07-17T11:04:00.000-07:00

For Part 1 click here
For Part 2 click here

When Jason came back home we began to rebuild trust and things became good again. We went to Vegas and we went on a cruise to the Caribbean. It was like a second honeymoon.

I found a great new job working at a skilled nursing facility in Sun City. Even though two of the RNs that I worked with were Christians, I was very vocal about my paganism. Sally and I actually had turned our essential oil products into a nice little cottage business and sold enough homemade soaps, lotions and incense to give us money to support our hobby. I read tarot cards for other nurses and CNAs on my breaks. It was great fun!

After I had been there for a year, the management decided to change the RNs to 12 hour shifts and I couldn't do this due to daycare issues so I took a job across the street at an HMO clinic. The Nurse Manager and I got along great. She was interested in a lot of the same things that I was. It seemed like a good move. One of the part time RNs there taught me how to spin my own yarn with spindles and wool and another RN there taught me how to knit.

Early the next year one of the part time RNs left and we began to use registry nurses. That is when I met "Hannah". I liked her and offered to read her horoscope and tarot cards. She said that she wasn't interested in that, but she really liked the homemade soaps that Sally and I made. In February she was working with one of the other nurses in the treatment room and I heard her telling a beautiful story of a queen named Esther and how this was related to a holiday called Purim. When I went into the break room during her lunch time I saw her reading the Bible.

One day when I was working the triage phone I saw some books sitting on the desk next to me and I asked her about them. She said that they were a really great series, but that she didn't think that I'd be interested in them because they were Christian fiction. She told me that she had brought them for another nurse, but she wasn't there today. I picked up the first book, Left Behind, and read the back cover. Hmm, it did seem like an interesting plot. I told her that I would read it. After all, I was nothing if not open minded. So she loaned the first 2 books to me.

I did read the first book. When I got to the end I was intrigued. I decided that if a bunch of people disappeared off the face of the earth I would become a Christian. But every time I thought of trusting Christ.... just the name of Jesus gave me a terrible sick feeling inside. How could I become a Christian if I couldn't even think of Christ without that sinking feeling in my gut?!

The next day I talked to Hannah at work and told her what I had been thinking. She said that there was a spiritual fight going on within me. That Satan didn't want to let go of me. Even if I thought that what I had been doing was harmless "White Magic", it had opened a door for evil to enter my life. I went home that night and prayed for the first time in a long time.

The Big Blow Up

2008-07-15T23:51:00.000-07:00

For Part One Click Here

So it was about a week before Easter when Jason told me that he wanted a separation. I knew that things were strained between us, but I had no idea that this was coming. I was devastated. We had only been married about 3 years at that point and Henry had just turned 2. Before I married Jason I had been a single mother for 7 years, raising 2 kids. I just could not imagine going through that again. And with another small child to boot!

I asked him if there was someone else and he denied it (of course). But with some not to difficult detective work on my part, I figured out who she was and made a little visit to her at her place of employment. Did I mentioned that this was also where my husband had been working just a few months earlier?

I found her and introduced myself to her and asked her (strongly suggested, rather) that she follow me outside to talk. We sat at a table on the patio and a calmly took out pictures of my children and told her the names of each one and suggested that she remember them since they would now also be a part of her life. She told me that she thought Jason was already separated. I explained to her that could only be true if she considered the 5 hours since he pulled out of our driveway that morning a 'separation'.

Right about that time Jason arrived. Evidently one of his former co-workers called him and gave him a heads up to what was going down. He looked so angry at me. I stood and yelled at him and asked him, "How could you do this to me? You told her we are separated!?!" And he look right at me and said, "We are." I couldn't believe it. I came unglued. I spewed a stream of obscenity at him and hit and punched him repeatedly. By then the hospital security (that's right...they worked at a hospital) was on the scene and I was escorted from the premises. I left humiliated and called my Wicca friend(lets call her Sally) who consoled me.

That was a horrible summer. Jason told me that he was moving in with his friend Mike, but he actually moved in with 'her'. I spent our 3rd anniversary alone. Mother's day alone. My birthday alone. I sent my older kids to spend time with their dad and I spent most of my time with Henry and Sally. I wasn't able to work. I couldn't eat. I couldn't sleep.

So Sally and I started spending a lot of time working on our Wicca. I even cast a spell to get Jason back. Later that summer he did return home and somehow I forgave him (as best I could). Even though he disliked me practicing Wicca and was quite verbal about it, I continued to study and practice Wicca with Sally for another 2 years.

The Past

2008-07-15T14:40:00.000-07:00

I was watching What Lies Beneath today. And it brought back memories of when I first saw it. Jason and I were separated at the time and I was practicing Wicca.

I have thought about doing a post on this part of my life, but I'm not really sure how to start. I suppose that this is as good a way as any.

Jason and I had been married about 2 years and Henry was just 1 at the time that "The People" came to stay with us. That's what I called them when I talked to my work friend anyhow. They were Jason's friends from when he was a teenager. They were having some hard times and came to stay with us. Them and their 3 kids. It was just too much having them in the house along with me and Jason and Henry and Steph and Paul. I remember spending hours in my bedroom just to have some alone time.

I had always been into astrology and I had a friend at work that gave me a set of tarot cards. The next thing I knew I was reading tons of books about tarot cards, Wicca and candle magic. Even after The People moved out I continued with my fascination with it all.

My friend and I started meeting on the full moon to draw a circle in the backyard. We would burn candles and incense and cast simple love and money spells. We felt it was harmless and fun. But that all changed in November. My friend and I invited a coworker to join us. She wanted us to cast a spell on our boss because she was having a problem with her. We said sure, why not. That was on the full moon 2 days before Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving evening we learned that our boss's husband had died and she would not be returning to work.

That's when we really realized the power and the seriousness of what we were dealing with. I started spending hours researching spells and writing them in my own leather bound book. I collected tons of tarot decks and would do readings for anybody and everybody and my friend and I started making our own oils and incense and candles. We were consumed.

That next April Jason told me that he wanted a separation and I learned that he was having an affair.

Nothing to say?

2008-07-15T12:03:00.000-07:00

I just finished my 1st full time week. I worked 3 in a row of 12 hour shifts for the 1st time since 1996. I am so achy! I feel old.

So today is my big house-keeping/laundry day. We'll see how many times I can go up and down the stairs before a collapse in exhaustion.

The Big Read

2008-07-13T01:40:00.000-07:00

I found this over at Chasing Myself:

Apparently, the Big Read (a program of the National Endowment for the Arts (sic)) guesses that the average adult has only read six of the top 100 books on this list.

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Underline (or mark in a different color) the books you LOVE.
4) Reprint this list in your blog.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma- Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown (Never in a Million Years!!)
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility- Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery (en francais)
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

So I suppose I am above the average. And I've read the Bible more than once so that should count for something. I couldn't figure out how to underline or change colors.

No photo finish this week.

2008-07-11T10:33:00.000-07:00

The lap top is still not working and all of my photos are trapped in in. Well, not all of them. I do have some in the computer upstairs and stored in the camera, thank God. I'll get the camera out next week and take some more.

We had a real monsoon last night, finally. It has been threatening for over a week now, but until last night there has only been clouds and wind. When I left church last night it was really storming. The rain was coming down hard! Thankfully someone was kind enough to drive me to my car in the parking lot. It was a slow drive home on the freeway. Down to 35 miles per hour at times, but thankfully I made it home safely.

So this morning I am making my rounds to the blogs I read and then I have to shower and go to bed because I work tonight. I was supposed to work on Wednesday night, but I was cancelled (one of the wonderful and terrible things about working as a nurse). I work Fri, Sat, and Sun night this week and hopefully that will remain as my set schedule for some time. Up until now I had been working only 2 nights a week, but now I will be working 3 due to the economy and all. There are bills to be paid! And now I will be saving for a new laptop as well.

Sunset on the Arabian Gulf

2008-07-09T22:30:00.001-07:00

This picture was taken 3 years ago. July 2005 on our way back to Dhahran, KSA from Bahrain. The sunsets were spectacular over there.

Stephi is in the Paper

2008-07-08T19:20:00.000-07:00

Well, after Steph left our place on the 4th, her and her friend Megan went to the celebration at Litchfield Park. The fireworks were cancelled due to high winds, but the girls still had fun dancing. Here are the pics from the West Vally View:

Water on the Laptop

2008-07-08T15:28:00.000-07:00

Well. I hate to admit when my hubby is right. But he told me that I shouldn't let Henry use the laptop and he was right. Last night he spilled water on my laptop. I've taken the keyboard off and opened it up. Used a hair dryer. I can only get it to work for about 5 minutes at a time and then it shuts down. Hopefully it will dry out in a couple of days and will finally work. Until then I am forced to use the computer in the office (the one that Henry should have been using). I know that I should be happy that we actually have more than one computer in this house, but...

The "Mean Vacuum"

2008-07-07T14:41:00.001-07:00

When Ethen comes over to visit his grandma (thats me) he always goes for the vacuums. He even calls the Swiffer a vacuum. I believe that he will make some woman very happy someday if he continues to love vacuuming. See Above.

Anyhow, today when he got them out, Henry decided to plug in the steam mop. Ethen just about freaked. The sounds that this thing makes when it steams is evidently very scary to a toddler. Ethen nearly crawled up my leg like a little Koala and begged me to save him from the "Mean Vacuum". He would not get back down until Henry unplugged it and put it away.

Great New Pics of the Kids!

2008-07-05T13:34:00.000-07:00

Smile!

SMILE!

Henry, SMILE!!

Get closer together!

Ok... One more.

Thank you!

It is so hard to get a pic with all of them together. I think that the 2nd one ended up being the best, but the others are cute and funny. They definitely tell a story. We had a happy 4th and we had a surprise visitor. My dad was here from Sacramento! He has been ill lately and it was so good to see him.

Happy Independence Day!

2008-07-04T00:59:00.001-07:00

Here are a few pics from our trip to Arkansas last July. I was the first time Henry had ever been able to set off fireworks (we can't do it here in Arizona). It was fun picking them out and I even let Henry set off the smoke bombs and sparklers. The most fun, though, was watching the guys set off the big stuff that my cousins brought down from Tennessee. Have a Happy and Safe 4th!!

When I Finished Nursing School-Fro Me To You

2008-07-03T15:20:00.000-07:00

These are not good quality photos and are not in the family photo album.

After passing our finals in December of '95, my classmates and I gathered in the Superstition Mountains at a campsite to light a bonfire and burn our Student Nurse Uniforms. They were a polyester blend and stunk and smoked terribly. I haven't worn ceil blue since. As much as I was relieved to finally get out of nursing school, I look back on those days fondly. They really were some good times.

For more Thursday "Fro' Me to You" click below:

Paul is home!

2008-07-02T22:53:00.000-07:00

I picked Paul up at the airport tonight. Of course he was home less than 10 minutes and he was playing his guitar. Now he's on the his cell phone calling his friends. I'm noticing some definite similarities between my two sons.

Wordless Wednesday

2008-07-02T11:23:00.001-07:00

Home at Last

2008-07-01T14:39:00.000-07:00

Well,we've been home less than 10 minutes and here is Henry sitting in front of the PlayStation3. Occasionally he leans over to give the cat or the dog a hug. I got one hug in the airport. Normalcy has returned to our home.

The Pot and the Kettle

2008-06-30T14:15:00.000-07:00

Well, I decided today to dig the NutriSystem food out of the closet. There are almost 3 months worth in there from when Hubby and I decided to diet together at the front of the new year. He lasted 1 week and I quit a week after that.

You see, I was up at 2 am having an ice cream cone (low fat, mind you) when my hubby came down stairs to get a drink of water and discovered me. I often get up in the middle of the night, since I work nights. It's hard to go back and forth between a day schedule and a night one. Anyhow, he says to me "Are you not going to stop until you weigh a thousand pounds?" It couldn't have been a question... it was definitely a comment. I felt the need to defend my choice of snacks. After all, it was low fat!

But now in the light of day (as I look at the reconstituted cardboard that I am actually considering putting in my mouth!) I am thinking that he actually has more weight to lose than me! What is it about this world that makes it more ok for men to have extra weight on their bodies than women!?

Boy I Miss Henry!

2008-06-29T19:36:00.000-07:00

This after noon I got a call from Henry. He has been at Grandma and Grandpa Wolf's for just over 2 weeks and is scheduled to fly home on Tuesday July 1st. He sounded so homesick on the phone. Of course that made me miss him even more.

While Henry was gone, my hubby traded in his X-Box 360 (that has broke twice) and his Wii for a PlayStation3. So that should keep Henry busy for the rest of the summer.

I can't wait for him to get home!!

Friday Foto Finish -

2008-06-27T09:36:00.001-07:00

This is one of my favorite pics of Henry. It was taken last year on the 4th of July at my mom's house in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. He had so much fun! Since we live in Arizona, he had never got to set of fireworks before and he especially liked the smoke bombs. We had spent the morning making our own tied dyed t-shirts and the purple of the smoke bomb really brings out the colors in the shirt.

For more FRIDAY FOTO FINISH FIESTA click here.

The Zoo

2008-06-26T17:50:00.000-07:00

This is my Fro Me to You. This pic was taken in 1991. I was recently divorced and starting nursing school. I was dating a very nice young man who for some reason did not want to get serious. Looking back on this picture I now understand why.

This picture says it all in so many ways. It was taken at the zoo. But my whole life was a zoo back then. The nice guy lasted a few more months before he bailed. I finished nursing school a few years later and met the love of my life at my first nursing job.

Cody

2008-06-25T14:16:00.000-07:00

On Monday we took Cody to get fixed. This picture was taken shortly after we got him home. Poor baby. He still looks very high from the drugs.

Well, today I was talking to my sister on the phone and she asked me if the vet had offered us "Neuticals". I told her that I didn't know what she meant. She went on to tell me that many vets were now putting testicular implants in dogs after they neuter them so that the dog feels more normal and less ashamed of their altered state. I thought she must be joking. But if you click on the link above you can read all about it.

Am I the only one who hasn't heard of this? Am I a cruel and callous woman to think that my dog is lucky we care enough to get him fixed in the first place? I mean, we could just let him roam wild impregnating all the dogs in the neighborhood, adding to the dog population and putting his own life at risk. With the cost of food and fuel increasing daily, you can bet that I'm not going to spend an extra $300 to help my pet with his body image issues. (Actually that does sound a bit callous.)

What do you think about this? Go ahead... let me have it!

Tackle It Tuesday

2008-06-24T11:47:00.000-07:00

Today I decided to put the border up in Henry's room. I've had the stuff to do it for at least a year and a half. I just had to get the wallpaper from the top of the fridge, the scraper from the garage and the primer from the box that Jason had hid it in.

So I gathered the supplies:

Here are the before pictures and you can see how Henry had started peeling off the old border.

Here is the after picture.
I can honestly say that if not for Tackle it Tuesday I would probably have put this off for another year or more.

What are you going to tackle?

I Made The Grid

2008-06-23T21:49:00.001-07:00

This is the picture I submitted to The Grid: an online, interactive art project involving artists from all over the world. The link to get there is on my side bar. Check it out.

Unconscious Mutterings

2008-06-23T17:35:00.000-07:00

Goodbye :: Hello

Cage :: Nicholas

Buddy :: Love

Magic words :: Abracadabra

Library :: Card

Fall in love :: Why do fools?

Tense :: Past

Work! :: Day

Empty :: Full

Heat wave :: Phoenix

Wanna Play? Click here.

Ok, Ok... I'm awake!

2008-06-23T16:39:00.000-07:00

I spoke with Henry this afternoon. Like most boys he does not like to talk on the phone. He did talk to me once last week for a few minutes. “I’m busy Mom. I’ll be home soon. Bye.” I got a few more words out of him this time. He asked how Cody is doing. So I told him how we took him to get fixed today and how he looks kinda stoned still. He asked about Garfield and I told him how hot it is outside and that Garf has been spending more time inside because of that. He told me about all the stuff that he’s been doing with his cousins and that they are going back down to the lake after dinner. He must be missing me a little bit since he actually talked to me a bit longer this time.

Thinking About Going Back to Bed

2008-06-23T08:51:00.000-07:00

I always feel like this on Monday mornings. After working Friday and Saturday night and sleeping half of Sunday, it seems that I have difficulty turning around and being a 'day person' for the rest of the week. I suppose that it will be even more difficult when I go full-time in a few weeks. The reason I am up right now is that we took the dog to the vet to get fixed this morning. Yeah, I'm tired... going back to bed for an hour or so.

Changes

2008-06-20T22:44:00.000-07:00

Please bear with me as I try to make my blog look the way I want it. All comments welcomed.

Through the Years

2008-06-20T06:18:00.000-07:00

My Friday Foto Finish Fiesta:
2001 - 2007

These are my favorite pics of the kids together. Hopefully Paul will be home from the Navy for the 4th of July and I will get to add one more!

Saudi

2008-06-19T06:19:00.000-07:00

My Thursday Fro' Me To You is about this picture.

In October of 2004 my husband decided to take a job with ARAMCO in Saudi Arabia. What can I say...the pay was REALLY GOOD. The original plan was for the whole family to go. Then we learned that they didn't have school for the (at that time) teenagers on the protected compound, only up to grade 9. I talked to the kids and we looked at Christian boarding schools. They finally decided that they would rather stay here in Arizona. Stephanie (nearly 18 at the time) stayed in our house with an older Christian girl from church and Paul (still 16) stayed with my brother. By July 2005 Jason had finally got me and Henry approved to join him in Saudi.

It was very difficult for me to leave the teenagers behind, but I knew that I'd be back to visit in 3 months. I just felt that God wanted me to be with my husband. It was a tearful goodbye at the airport for all except Henry. He was so excited to be taking this adventure. But when we got up in the air and he looked out the window to see the city and houses below, he started crying which made me cry again too.

It took us more than 24 hours to get to Dhahran, KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia). We went from Phoenix to Denver to Frankfurt to Dubai to Dhahran. It was late at night when we arrived and Henry and I had to go through customs before we could get through to the area to meet Jason. We had brought 4 suitcases packed with clothes, shoes, computer games, books, art supplies, toys etc. I was so worried that they would confiscate my Bible, but they didn't even open our suitcases. What a relief.

After customs we finally saw Jason. He looked so happy that we were finally there. All the way to the ARAMCO compound he was telling me about the car he got so we get around easier, the house they assigned him and how we could decorate it, trips we could go on, etc. He was clearly so excited that we were finally there with him. But I was so tired and miserable (I had weaned off my Zoloft before this trip). Once we got to our house I couldn't stop crying.

The next morning we went to the Dhahran Mall so that I could get an Abaya. They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

I look back on our time in Saudi Arabia fondly now. I never thought I would.

Wordless Wednesday

2008-06-18T13:15:00.001-07:00

Tackle It Tuesday

2008-06-17T09:12:00.000-07:00

When I was a teenager I used to spend a few weeks in the summer at my Aunt Joyce's house, watching my little cousins Jen and Becca. My Aunt had an AWESOME guest room! It was stacked high with yardage, yarn, patterns and trashy romance novels. She always apolozized for it, but I thought it was cool. I spent the summer making the kids freezer pops, breaking up fights and reading Harlequin romances.

Little did I realize at the time how this experience would rub off of me. NO... not the trashy romance novel part. The spare bedroom full of junk.

Before Stephanie moved out I had the office downstairs full of my art stuff. Slowly but surely the kids took it over because the computer was down there too. So after Steph moved out I took over her room. See Above.

Where I thought that my Aunt's room was cool... I find my room cluttered and unsettling. This room became my first thing to tackle on my first "Tackle it Tuesday"!

Here are the after pictures:

Here is what has to go. I'm thinking of taking the books to the used bookstore down the street. The stuff in the hamper will be tossed.

What are you going to tackle?

That's a Fish Story if I've Ever Heard One!

2008-06-16T21:06:00.001-07:00

Henry called me last night and told me how he caught this HUGE fish and he was so excited about it! Well today I got the pic in my email and it really is BIG!! Sounds like he is having fun in Texas. He even got the BB gun that he's been wanting. So he's been shooting cans, boating, fishing, swimming, etc. I guess Grandpa even has a cool computer game that Henry likes to play. Believe it or not, I miss him already.

Testing the Mobile Blogging Feature

2008-06-15T20:50:00.000-07:00

Here's the most resent pic of my grandson Ethen. He will be 2 in August.

Shopping Aimlessly

2008-06-15T20:08:00.000-07:00

After I woke from my Sunday nap (I worked last night) I decided to go shopping. I had money. I had plenty of time. Henry and Jason are still in Texas, so I didn't have anyone to tag along with me complaining the whole time or anyone to nag at me and tell me to not spend too much money. So I wandered from Ross and Michael's to Border's and Barnes & Noble. I eventually found a book, but I also discovered something. For some reason it's more fun shopping when I have to sneak off to do it. Who knew? I pick up Jason at the airport tomorrow afternoon so my enjoyment of the shopping experience will soon improve. Henry will be staying with Grandma and Grandpa until the 1st week in July, after that I'll really go shopping!!!

Breakfast for Dinner

2008-06-14T10:27:00.000-07:00

You know, when I was growing up it was a treat to get breakfast at dinner time. I never got up early enough as a kid to actually eat breakfast in the mornings (except for the rare summer spent at grandma's house... who would dream of missing HER biscuits and gravy?) This morning when I got off work a few of my co-workers and I went to the Waffle House a few miles from the hospital. So it was actually breakfast time... but it was dinner for us because we were all going home afterwards to sleep. It was fun. And I never get to do it because I usually have to come straight home to make sure Henry isn't alone since Jason takes so much weekend call at the hospital. I did forget one thing, however. The dog had been in his kennel for over 12 hours while I was working, and the extra 2 hours I spent eating and chatting with friends was evidently just too long for him to hold it... soooo.... I spent another half an hour cleaning the dog and his kennel. Now he is safely in the backyard with his food and water dish. I'll let him join me for a nap later before it gets too hot outside. Tonight I'll have to call the neighbor to let him out around 10pm to do his business. Usually Jason is home to take care of this. I guess this is the price I pay for that moment of silence I enjoyed yesterday.

Silence, Sweet Silence...

2008-06-13T11:34:00.000-07:00

I just received a text from Jason that he and Henry are on the airplane and set to take off on time. After staying up until 3am, I was up at 830 (and feeling very sleep deprived, I might add) so that I could drive Jason and Henry to the airport.

After the drop-off, I stopped-off at Walgreen's to pick up my Zoloft prescription. I've been working at weaning myself off Zoloft AGAIN. The last time I did this I was taking 100 mg daily and had to go off it so that ARAMCO would approve me to go to Saudi Arabia (a long story). After returning from Saudi and Stephi getting pregnant half way through her Senior year in high school, well, the stress was too much and I started taking it again, but after a few months settled down to 50mg daily. But that was over 2 years ago and it is hard to lose weight while on SSRI's. So I am weaning myself off again. I'm down to 25mg daily and about to go down to 12.5mg. So far I haven't had the horrible withdrawal symptoms that I had last time. No nausea, headaches, dizziness, 'zapping'. Of course I had been on 100mg daily for 7 years. This time on 50mg for 2 years. Here's hoping.

I also picked up some Alli at Walgreen's. That should help with the weight loss as well. I'll keep you posted.

So, back to the silence. It's so nice, I almost hate to go to sleep. But since I have to work tonight, it's not a good idea to stay awake. Off to bed for me.

My first blog entry.

2008-06-12T08:33:00.000-07:00

How's that for a title? It seems that everyone is blogging, so I thought, "Why not me?" Surely I have at least as much to say as the next person.

Tomorrow Jason and Henry fly to Texas to visit Grandma Linda and Grandpa Jerry. Henry is looking forward to getting a BB gun and shooting whatever Grandma Linda lets him. Jason comes back on Monday and Henry will be staying until June 29th. There will be tons of cousins to play with. He should have a blast and perhaps my house will stay clean.

Paul will be done with his training in Great Lakes, IL sometime in August. Right now he's not sure where he will go next. We're hoping for San Diego, but it may be Virginia or even Mississippi. We really miss him though. He's been gone since last October and we missed seeing him on his 19th birthday.

Steph and Randy are currently looking for a house to make an offer on. They really want to stay in the Westgate area because those home are most likely to increase in value in the near future. Of course, that is assuming that our economy EVER recovers.

And finally an update on me. I have been working only 2 nights a week since I started at Banner Estrella almost 2 years ago. However, the week of July 6th I will be working 3 nights a week. I am pretty excited about this because I will finally have paid time off! Plus, with the price of gas and food going up, we can really use the increased income. Jason and I forget how blessed we are sometimes. At least we work in health care which tends to be very recession proof.