HI HI HI!!!

Chris is working on re installing my computer, or whatever it's called. Blasted virus has taken away so much of my computer time! ;) How annoying. I feel so behind on everything. Hopefully everything will run smoothly after he's done.

Mom came and got the kiddos this morning to take them downtown to some History thing where people dress up in "old time" clothes and tell stories about history. I'd rather saw my arm off with a sharp tooth pic than endure that crap. But, the kids will enjoy it I'm sure! ANyhoo, then Chris & I got ready to go down the street to a new subdivision being built b/c they were offering free lunch, live country music (not contemporary country but REAL country), games, etc. Well, anytime I can get a free lunch and get to walk through houses, it's a great day. So off we went. We ate our little hearts out and toured the 2 houses they had open. We aren't ready to sell/buy, but it's just fun to get ideas. Then we came home and here we are..sittin around. Me, I'm tryin to stay awake.

While Chris was down making our yummy Saturday family breakfast, I got a lot done in the house. Then shortly after Mom left with the kiddos my energy went bye-bye and the headache rolled in for a visit. Fun! But, not unusual. I'll vacuum later. I told Sadie she's not allowed to move anymore b/c she just sheds everywhere. I tell her this a lot but she doesn't listen.

Switched out the summer bedspread for the winter comforter today. Can't believe it's already that time. Well, to be honest, I don't think it is. But, my hubby mightily disagrees with me. And so on it went. It looks so pretty, whether I'll be sweating my butt off, or not.

Corinne's Gramma passed away on Monday night after a short battle with leukemia, it's been a rough month, as I've shared with you all. I put in a lot of extra hours last week and will work a few extra this coming week, too. No problem, extra cash is good when surgery is on the horizon!

Speaking of surgery, I will have my ultrasound on Tuesday..hmm.

Well, I'm gonna wrap this up. It's a great day outside, perfect weather. It was nice to get out and enjoy it a bit. It's even nicer to have this house all to ourselves. We have no one to entertain or take care of. It's just the two of us!!!! Sometimes it seems like these days will never come. But Gramma Edens assures me that one day it will just be me & my hubby and that there will actually be moments of boredom! WHAT! No way..well, we'll see! :)

Love you guys. Take care of you :) Oh, and pls pray for Chris' Dad, he's having some medical problems..they're running tests so see what's goin on. But He and Aldo are stressed and worn out from so much going on over the last few years.

My computer is still hosed. I'm stealing Chris' for the moment but don't have long! Just wanted you to know that I'm still alive and will write probably tomorrow evening.

Love you!!

I hate this layout..gonna have to go play later and find a new one. It was supposed to be a fall theme but I'm just not diggin it.

Anyway, here's a few pics of my new word vinyl thing. I just put it up today with the help of my loverly husband! He had to help me pull the backing off..was just too hard while balancing on a ladder. I really love the saying and I think it looks beautifficus! If you double click on them, they should enlarge..or usually at least one will.

I'll write more tomorrow. Headed upstairs for now. Oh, and I can't use my computer at the moment b/c I somehow managed to get a virus or something on it..so I have to wait to use Chris' pc in order to post anything. ugh..the woes of life! haha

Love you

Mornin'

You will be happy to know that I made the ultrasound appointment for my cyst yesterday.


This morning, I got to school to volunteer (headache in tow) and found out that they had already finished the task. How they finished it only 8 minutes after school started I don't know..and to be honest I don't really care. I went in to our PTA closet area and cleaned and organized it and went home. When I got home, I cleaned the cobwebs off of the front porch, played with the dog, straightened up the upstairs, threw a load of laundry in, cleaned the closet and came down here with my hubby. My hubby who just got up to make me a loverly breakfast. I sure do love that man.

I'm feeling like I need a nap already..when did this day start again? 40 bazillion hours ago?

Bible study is goin great. We're both having fun with our classes and the books that go with them.

Mom n Dad got back (FINALLY) from Maui last night. We got to visit with them for awhile and then they took their pups and went home. But, they came bearing gifts! Chris and I got 2 super sweet shirts (each!) and I got some neato bandito earrings. The kiddos got backpacks shirts and then ankle/wrist bracelets for A and a cool turtle necklace type thing for J. He loves it. He was very sad he couldn't wear it to school this morning. I told him he can wear it anywhere he wants, EXCEPT for school. I just know with the way those dudes play it will either hit someone in the face (it's big and bulky and wooden with a stone type thing on it..I can just see him using it to "kill Goliath"). So he was happy with being able to wear it everywhere else. Good compromise.

Soon I will go down and pick up my new vinyl lettering thing from my lady in Kuna. This one is HUGE. It will take up a 20"x24" area. It will say:

I believe in the sun even if it doesn't shine.
I believe in love even if I do not feel it.
I believe in God even when He is silent.

It's beautiful. I'm going to put it up in the nook of my stairs where the flower arrangement hangs now. I'll take a pic of it when it's up. I'm so excited!! It was fun to work with the lady to figure out the font of the letters and size of what I wanted, the color of the vinyl..I'm addicted. I just love living out here in tiny ol' Kuna USA. Small towns can be so much fun, if you let them be.

OH did I mention that I made salsa the other day? It's good.

Well, I'm gonna cut this short. But, I love you more than you think I do. I think of you more often than you might imagine. And, I smile & send up a prayer when your name crosses my thoughts. You're important, and you're never alone. Remember that!

((HUGS))

I was gonna say that I haven't felt like blogging lately and then I was going to apologize that it had been so long since I last wrote. But then I realized I just friggen wrote yesterday. Wow, how the time flies. Well, regardless, in the last 16 hours or so, I just haven't felt like blogging!! LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!! I crack myself up. As I sit here laughing at myself, Chris sits next to me and says with a knowing look, "It's gonna be a great blog, isn't it." LOL!!! Well, no promises.

Anyhoo..Chris made me a chocolate cake because he's wonderful and he loves me. I smell it, it's calling me. But, I must wait. Must not rush and have hot cake that will make me sick. Although, I'd like to dive into it face first like the baby in A Christmas Story..snorting and laughing and all. Those of you who have seen me eat know that that's actually not too far off from my "normal" eating.

It's been heavy on me lately, the whole people pleasing thing. I know folk who are struggling with it right now. Constantly worried of how they are perceived, how they perceive others..etc. I get frustrated because I can remember being in that pit and desperately wanting out. The main thing for me is that it's not about other peoples perceptions of us. Sure, to a certain extent they are important because we want to be a good example of who the Lord wants us to be. But, at the same time the Lord promises us that man will fail us. And that we are to look to HIM for our approval. I believe once we are looking only to the Lord for our approval that we then begin to change and in turn the way others perceive us begins to change and vice versa. But, it seems to be a very difficult thing to convince people that all they have to do is STOP and look UP above the crowd of BS to see the loving arms of their savior reaching down to pull them up out of the muck and into His arms. That when we truly have our eyes on Jesus, everything else falls away. Anyway, please just keep my buddies in your prayers. I appreciate it.

Work was busy today, Corinne had to stay home with her kids. They have something called the Echo Virus. She thought it was measles at first but the tests came back negative. They feel totally fine. She says they may have gotten it from the water park but there is no way of knowing. Anyway, hopefully they are better soon. Poor lil babies. But, speaking of Corinne, please keep her in your prayers, too. She's been having a really hard time..her life is sooo full, and now her beloved Gramma is dying of Leukemia. They just found it about a month ago and they gave her 4 to 6 weeks to live. Some docs said a little more, some said a little less. She adores her Gramma more than words and is trying to be strong, but she's hurting. She bursts into tears and then I burst into tears (nothing unusual for me!) and we talk about our Gramma's and how we don't want them to leave us. It's just a really hard thing to lose those you love the most.

Mom n Dad come home tomorrow night. WOOHOO! Sheesh they've been gone a LONG time. Excited to see their tan faces.

Gabe's spending the night on Friday night and then he & Chris are goin fishin on Saturday morning..they invited me & the kiddos to go along but I think I might send the kiddos with them and then I can go out for some "me" time with Kristi..if not Saturday then probably Sunday. I do like to go fishin so maybe I'll join them. Not sure yet. I do have to do a lot of baking on Saturday, but I could do that at night..

Well, I'm behind on laundry and my back hurts and I wanna go lay the crap down. Have a wonderful night guys.

Love you!

Hello ladies & gents.

So, starting to hear from Houston folk. That's nice :) Our friend Monica that just moved about 20 min away from our old house only had damage to her fence. Friends Rob & Lisa said they're good to go (5 minutes from our house). Friends Kim & Bryan up in Dallas got missed all together (minus rain n some wind), so I assume my cousin Amy is doin great too since she's near there. ANDDD the guy who is in charge of our house says that they are still assessing all of the properties but that everyone is ok and he has only heard of/seen shingle/fence damage, if any, on the houses. So that's great news!! SO glad. Thanks for prayin with us. :) What looked to be a horrible thing, even in our area, turned out not to be "that bad". Although other areas definitely are. I haven't been able to get the livecams for Kemah and Galveston to come up yet so I guess they're either still w/o power (as are most of the bazillions of folk) or the cameras are trashed..or both! But hopefully soon I can see if our fave restaurant is still there. If not, there's another location in Houston..just doesn't hold the same memories as the one in Kemah. I was glued to the Weather Channel all weekend. Anyhoo, everyone is safe and that is a blessing.

The weekend was long and tiring, even though it actually was relatively quiet by our standards. We're all feelin kinda icky still. Well everyone except J. Rockband 2 came out yesterday so we had to bust that out. Matt & Laura stopped by and we rocked out for awhile then later we played online rockband2 with Bruce & Robyn..also fun!

Ash must have turned off her alarm in her sleep this mornin cuz when Chris went to wake J up at 7:15 (he was already awake of course, playing in his room), she still wasn't up! Her throat is hurting her pretty good, too. Anyway, I lay in bed trying to push out the morning. Then J came in and crawled into bed with me and lay there quiet for awhile..until I tickle bugged him. Then it was on! We had fun and giggled, then it was time to go make him some breakfast..but by the time I got done brushing my teeth Chris met me in the hall saying he had just fed him. Sweet! Anyway, took both kiddos to school and then came back home to check up on stuff. Hubby & I made each other a super yummy breakfast.

Now I must go get ready for work. I'm goin in at 1 now, did I tell you that? Well, I am. Which is kinda throwing a wrench in my schedule. I'm a creature of habit..or have become one since marrying Chris. Spontaneity has gone out the window! But, that's ok..most of the time ;)

Seems that some of my blogging buddies are having a hard time this last week. I'm prayin for you and loving you! You're not alone my sweeties :)

Have a great day, love you!

It's been an interesting few days..I've been so exhausted I haven't put much effort into blogging. I could sleep all day but at night I just sit there, staring..still don't go to sleep till around midnight. GRR Oh, and btw, I don't sleep all day so that's not why I can't sleep. In fact I never get naps anymore! waaahhhh it's ok, don't cry for me Argentina.

Our books still didn't come in for the bible study at church..hmm. Maybe I'll check in with them today. They were supposed to be in Wednesday but were never delivered.

The kiddos are doin great, having fun with school and actually getting along better at home, too. It's scary, but I'm going with the flow. heehee

Chris & I woke up this morning feeling a little cold-ish. Threw back the RM-10 and my vitamins, will continue to chug water, and hope to stop the cold once again! :) (we fought this off a week or so ago, this is round 2! TKO is in sight)

Yesterday was 9/11 (duh). I got home and asked the kids what school did to remember those who lost their lives/family members that day, etc. J said, "Nothing." Ash said, "The band walked through the halls playing The Star Spangled Banner and that was it." I said, "No one said ANYTHING?" They said, "No." WOW. WOWWW. I just couldn't believe it. Well, I guess sadly, I could. The country who would "Never Forget" seems to have done just that. The thing is, no matter how or why it happened that day, it DID. And people lost their lives, and they deserve to be remembered. Families were changed forever. Our service men & women gave everything. *sigh*

And, then onto hurricane Ike. As many of you know, we still have our house in Houston. Investors are in control of it and renters are in it. The investors are responsible for it and have insurance on it, but it is still in our name. It's too difficult to explain so I'll just leave it alone. Other than to say, it's in one of those deals where you see signs on the side of the road for lease to own houses..or "we buy houses"...it's that deal. The lease dudes are in the house and have been for a few years but have yet to be able to purchase it for whatever reason. Anyway, we still have a lot of friends down there and are sad today, not being able to be there to help them. Although, I can't say I'm sorry to miss the storm! There are just so many of our favorite areas that as of tomorrow morning will be under water. Breaks my heart. Texas is "my home" even though we only lived there for 2 years and I couldn't wait to get back to family in Idaho, Texas will forever be in my heart. You know the whole, "I left my heart in San Francisco" deal. So, please just pray for everyone involved. If there's one thing we know, Texans are strong and can get through anything. Chris is working hard with his team, preparing for disaster recovery (he works at Hewlett Packard) with Houston. We know how the streets and neighborhoods can flood just from a normal Texas rainstorm, so the hurricane will obviously be capable of causing much more havoc. And, with HP mainsite preparing for disaster I can't help but think..umm..mainsite is less than one mile from my house in Houston. Anyway, Chris is on call right now, too, so, it's gonna be a busy weekend. Please keep him in your prayers, too, that he'd be alert and able to work quickly to do what is required..and that he would have a calming effect on others through the storm. ...I remember most today the day we went down to Kemah with Barbara when she was visiting and sat in the Pappadeaux restaurant (my favorite) overlooking the bay. It was beautiful that day and we had such a good time. According to the surge/storm reports, that restaurant will most likely not be there anymore come Saturday morning. Or, if it is, it will be out of commission. *sigh*

Mom n Dad n Carolyn are still enjoying beautiful Maui. Just got more pics this morning. Glad they're getting this break, they all need it.

I'm now the co-coach for Junior Bible Quiz at church. This is the one that J will be involved with, we start Sunday. I think Chris might end up helping with Ash's Teen Bible Quiz team. Might as well since the kids and I will be at church an hour early on Sunday's! Plus, Ash would like it if he could. Our first competition meets will be in October. J's will be in Nyssa and I think Ashley's is in Meridian. But her schedule isn't sitting in front of me..

Well, I know I'm rambling..have a wonderful day. Love you guys

I had quite a bit of fun on http://www.yearbookyourself.com/ tonight! It's a site where you can put your face into a picture they already have..And the best was saved for last! I just have to say, that is NOT my double chin! Yes, I have one, but that's not it! LOL Anyhoo, I thought you'd enjoy seeing them. A few of 'em ain't bad!

Was a busy day today..work was interesting. Some changes goin on. Good on my end, not so good on others'. But, what can you do. At any rate it's a bit stressful.

Hubby took us out to El Gallo Giro (my fave mexican restaurant here) for dinner tonight. Gosh I love it there. Then we came home, fed the kiddos some dessert, played with the dogs, read our book and then sent J to beddy bye (he goes a half hour earlier than A). Then Chris, A and I all sat in the office listening to music and finding super sweet tunes that we all can enjoy. We found quite a few..then we sent her off to bed, too.

Then I sat here and chatted with my Myspace buddies (What's that? You have a myspace and we're not friends yet? Let me know!) for awhile. Then ventured over to my crappy Facebook account and that ended my enjoyment. Good GOD whoever created that site needs a good beating. Everyone interested in this type of site should be on Myspace and that's all there is to it.

Well, my shoulders hurtin me (no, not the part that requires surgery..just the part that requires a massage or adjustment!) so I'm gonna go up to bed. Gotta work early anyway. Have a great night and know that I love you!

OOPS, I forgot I was supposed to put the 7 Odd Facts About Me thing on my page! Sorry, Joni!

I'll post 7 odd facts and then you all are supposed to do the same on your blog, k? :)

1. I love my Dads dog, Nezka, and I often daydream of ways to kidnap her. Dave suggested that maybe I tell him if he'll give me the freezer in his garage, I'll give him Nezka back when he returns from Maui. Otherwise I'll be forced to hold her hostage. hmm..it's a good idea. I may have to try it. But, in all truth, I could never take my Dad's baby from him. I would forever feel guilty b/c I know how much he loves that sweetie.

2. I love beans. I love eating refried beans and nothing else. Just a bowl of beans. Chris thinks I'm crazy. I love bean burritos for breakfast. When I'm sick, I want a bowl of refried beans with sour cream and cheese and salsa in it. I just LOVE beans!! In fact, Jaden did a school project last year where he had to write a poem to me and in the part where he had to fill in the part of something that I (me) love, he wrote "BEANS!" Good boy.

3. I love blankies. I cuddle in blankies all year round. Doesn't matter if it's 20* or 110*. I love them. And if it's summertime, I complain about being hot. Chris says, "TAKE OFF THE BLANKET!" I say, "NO!"

4. I have a sick obsession with my dog. I could watch her allll day. Everything she does is so stinkin cute (unless it's not). She's fluffy and soft and cuddly and loving and never shows sign of aggression. She just loves.

5. I can't hardly stand meat. The smell of it..the look of it..the texture of it..oh sick. I just hate it. I force myself to eat it. The smoker is helping.

6. Hair on the bathroom sink makes me want to go postal. I HATE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So disgusting to go to the place you are to get clean and find filth in it. GRRR

7. Trash on the floor. WHY should trash be on the floor? It shouldn't.

Hi :)

So I totally forgot to tell you that we got to go see Chris' Gramma Bea on Saturday! Sometimes I question my brains. Anyway, she looked great. Tired. But great. She said her hip is still hurting her, but she is having PT everyday and hopes to be able to put pressure on it soon. Renee and Troy were out there, too. Poor Troy is working himself silly. He's a good man. And, the bathroom and ramp looked awesome. Uncle Bob & the kiddos went out back and picked us a ton of veggies and cantaloupe from the garden. We were chatting our little hearts out and then realized how late it was! CRAP we were gonna be late to Dave n Amber's! So we left. It was good anyway cuz Gramma was looking pretty worn out. She hadn't slept well the night before. Says it takes her 2 days to get used to being back in her bed. So hopefully by now she is well rested! Told Uncle Bob that she was going to need to take 9 of the RM-10's a day and just 1 of the Primal Defense Ultras/day for her Lupus. He didn't look too sure that she would be willing to take 9 RM-10's. But, I hope she will. She will feel so much better. Anyway, Grampa was sweet as ever, making sure we had chairs to sit in and smiling from ear to ear. I sure love him.

Well, yesterday was GREAT. The london broil turned out great (and I hate cow meat!), and so did the jerky. The corn on the cob that we smoked, however, turned out like camel anus. It tasted like corn that you would get in an old diner filled with cigarette smoke. I HATED IT. Chris and the kids loved it though. After dinner we all went upstairs and hung out, played with the dogs..watched a little DOG: The Bounty Hunter (woohoo, Joni! heehee), and Chris read last night to me & the kids. I was too tired to read. We're in the middle of The Pilgrim's Progress. My Mom used to read it to us in the summer when we were kids. My kids are loving it, too! And, even cooler, we're reading from the same book. It's all old and some of the pages are loose. It's fun though :)

This week so far looks like it will be quiet, which scares me. What's coming that I've forgotten about!?! ;)

Have a great day guys. Love you!!!

Good afternoon folks :)

I'm just sitting here in my office (ignoring the ugly paint I chose for the walls), enjoying my music (currently Stephen Curtis Chapman's I Will Be Here).

Church was great this morning. We're watching a video series called "When Life Hurts Most". It's awesome. It's a 4 week (or was it 3) series that we'll be watching. Can't wait to see the rest. We continue to all melt happily into this church family..and for the first time in a long time, actually REALLY look forward to going to church. That's a nice change after getting lost in the massive abyss of a huge church for so many years. But, sometimes we go through phases where we need/want to just go to church, have our time and go home without anyone noticing. And, that is fine, too. To everything there is a season.

Today we are enjoying a quiet day with the kids. We're smoking jerky and a london broil and maybe a few other things should we get the itch. I made some guacamole which I will try not to gorge on later, but you know me. Ash has her meeting later from 3-5:30, but other than that we're just having fun catching up!

Last night Dave & Amber invited us over for dinner and board games. I was stunned. Sat silent on the phone for a second and then asked Dave to repeat the invite b/c I wasn't sure I understood what he was saying. Our relationship with each other has dwindled to nothing more than seeing each other at the kids' birthday parties & a phone call here or there from Dave and emails from Amber showing us pics of the kiddos. Have I mentioned we live 2 mintutes from each other? Life just gets busy, I suppose...or something. Anyway, we had a really great time and enjoyed hearing their new stories and seeing the 2 little kiddos (the older 2, Cody & Andrew, weren't there, but we see them regularly b/c they live down the street part time with their Dad). Had lots of laughs and great food. Dave made a delish meatloaf and some fantastic mashed potatoes with chives. We brought over some potato rolls and ice cream. Amber had made some chocolate zucchini coconut brownies with frosting earlier in the week so we put the ice cream on those. It was DELISH!! Although, I ate it too fast (who, me?) and got an ice cream headache. Oh well..details. Ash was out flocking with her Teen Bible Quiz team from 8 to around 11:30, they dropped her back off at Dave n Amber's and then we wrapped up Risk and went home. And by wrapping up Risk, I mean I knocked all of my dudes over & told Chris that they had all contracted leprosy and died and so I thought he probably won. Amber was cool with that, so we called it quits. We'd been playing for 3 hours..that's long enough!

Been revamping my playlist again. Finally found some songs I'd been wanting for a long time but they didn't have. Now they are here! Woohoo :)

You may be wondering if anything else has happened with Buerre (Mom's dog) since my chase the other night. Well, you'll be happy to know that she's been a little angel. She is either sitting here by me or cuddling with Ash or laying in her bed. She now jumps into my lap so I can brush her hair. In fact, last night after I dropped Ash off for her night of flocking I came home to let the dogs out real quick and accidentally opened the garage door, not remembering they were all in there. Immediately I started punchin on the garage door opener remote thingy trying to get it to shut before Buerre escaped and made me run again. Lord knows I hate running. The good thing would have been that all the neighbors were still out when I was pulling up so at least I would have had a lot of help chasing her down! But anyway, she squeezed out of the door just as it was shutting..I shoved the car into park (only half way into the driveway) and jumped out of the car..she was starting to bolt but Sadie ran down and got her (I love my Sadie) and brought her back (she only went barely into the street this time) and I was able to call them all to me and grab her w/o any incident. AHH..."Thank you JESUS," I said.

Well, I'm gonna wrap this up. Have a beautiful weekend. You are loved more than you'll ever know by the Heavenly Father, and me too! ((hugs))

Oh, and welcome home Gramma Jo! I'm so glad you had a great time, and that you made it back safe & sound. Thanks for taking me with you through pictures and story. It was just the break I needed at the end of my busy days. I'm ever so thankful for you and all you've brought to my life. :)

Well, hey there.

It's been a few days I suppose. Have had a few irritating moments..folk doing inconsiderate things w/o thought to how it would affect someone else's day..u know. Fun things like that. So, I thought it best I didn't blog to just complain. :)

On to bigger and better things. Oh wait..this week has been so crazy it's been hard to have a lot of exciting things! But, Monday we had a nice quiet breakfast together. Chris really outdid himself. The kids and I ate until we almost blew up! Then later that night after our family time was over Matt came over and we had dinner together, the smoked pork loin we had had in the smoker all afternoon. It was SOOO yummy. We relaxed and chatted and played some Phase 10 (card game) while Matt smoked jerky..it turned out so flippin good. I'm gonna be making more. This might be the part where I should insert that you can find a smoker easily and for not an exorbitant amt of money..AKA just like the bumper sticker on the trucks say, "Yes, I have a truck. No I will not help you move." My official bumper sticker is, "Yes, I have a smoker. And Cabela's sells one for YOU, too." ;) Have I mentioned I'm PMS'ing? Anyhoo, then at some point that evening I saw Andrew (my nephew) sitting out on the sidewalk on the side of our house by himself, eating snacks out of a bag. The boys had come over earlier in the morning and we had to tell them "Not today guys, it's our Anniversary." But, I figured what the heck..the day's almost over anyway. So, I went out and asked him what he was doin, why he was all alone..if he just needed alone time. He said, yes, that he was just having some quiet time..but turned out he wouldn't mind going to get Cody and coming back to play for a bit. (heehee) And, so they did. They stayed for awhile and played outside and then we sent them home and sent the kiddos to bed..and Matt went home. I made Ashley's lunch for the next day, crawled upstairs..oozed into bed and began snoring. It was a DAY I tell you!

Then Tuesday I worked on J's room all morning, gutting it of trash, and toys that had become useless. Finally painted & hung his coat hanger for the wall thing..u know, the long board with lots of hanging pegs on them. I painted it camouflage. It's cool. Then I rushed into work and worked HARD for 3 hours. We were swamped after the holiday weekend. Then after work raced down to Macaroni Grill to take Jess out for her birthday dinner, FINALLY. Then we went and got some things for a baby shower she's throwing and then to Starbucks for tea/coffee and a treat and then just chatted and laughed and screamed and vented the night away. It was GREAT, and much needed.

Today I worked all day and now am home just long enough to eat and hear Ashley's memory scriptures for her Teen Bible Quiz team thing and then rush off to Wednesday night church. We're starting our separate classes tonight for 4+/- weeks. The ladies are covering the book How To Stop The Pain (in our book club for this month should you be interested) and the men are doing Why Great Men Fall: 15 winning strategies to rise above it all. Should be really good. I'm looking forward to it.

The little ... ANGELS are upstairs screaming bloody murder at each other. Aww, that's my favorite. Always brings joy to Mommy's heart.

Now I just got to yell..ahh a little release. Quickly replaced with anger and wonder as to why my son now has gum in his carpet. Mostly b/c he's not allowed to have gum. Deep cleansing breaths Sarah, deeeeep cleansing breaths..

Tomorrow morning I'm going to help Jess clean a house and then go to my normal job. Then, THEN, THEN!!! We actually have a night off..but only b/c an appt cancelled. We're turning off the phones and dead bolting the door and turning off the lights and whispering at a low level as not to be found. ;)

Friday I will clean all morning and then run some errands and then go to work. After work Kristi is comin over to cut our hairs and color mine! HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a great way to end the week.

Then the weekend will be busy, too, but we plan to hermitize (is it a new word? I try) as much as humanly possible. Since school has started, family time is precious and hard to find. But, there I go whining again! Ok, I'll stop.

Mom and Dad are enjoying their time in Maui..said they went to on a beautiful 45 minute walk this morning. I'm imagining myself there right now. Eating mass amounts of the dark chocolate covered strawberries of hugely unusual size..the kind that only Hawaii can offer.

OH another cool thing, we got a coffee table and end table from our neighbors this weekend (they were renting, but just bought a house a block away) for FIFTEEN DOLLARS!!!!!!!

Well, I've got to go clean the gum out of the carpet now before we have to go. Have yourselves a great night! Find time to decompress and enjoy the evening, I plan to, too. :)

**A FEW HOURS LATER......turns out there was no gum in or on the carpet..just big sis trying to get lil bro in trouble for what she "thought" "looked" like gum. And begins my singing chant.."Peeeeeaaaace like a river, flows through me"

Happy Anniversary to my favorite giggling, silly, fun times honey!

Thirteen years of marriage! Woohoo! And, they said we'd never make it ;) Well, I think we thought that a few times,too..but in the end our stubborn streaks (and the Lord!) won out and here we are, happier than ever.

I love you, I love you, I love you. I know I tell you that probably 500 times a day, but it just never gets old..and always seems like the first time.

I still get butterflies when think of you, your kisses are still brand new everyday, your voice still makes me smile and your hugs still bring safety and warmth. Your stupid jokes and stories still make me laugh and your breakfasts' still make me long for more!

You're the bestest friend anyone could ask for, and I'm glad to call you mine.

You are wonderful and, yup you guessed it, I LOVE YOU!

xOxXOooXXxOOx

P.S. Notice our songs are playing!! :)