2012 ~ 207

I have known Tammy for nearly 18 years. We are the closest of friends. There is nothing we haven't shared. To now Tammy is to absolutely love her! I love her two boys, they are awesome young men.  I love seeing how wonderful they are turning out.

 I think her car sums up who she is!
Delightful1

Second Annual Utah Trip

Sitting at the air port. 

All those people, yet I sat there alone.

 Feeling self conscious, in a sea of  travelers.

I picked a window seat on the plane. 

Watching the people getting settled into their seats, 

all the activity on the tarmac, 

the view from my window. 

I love the feeling you get as the plane

 lifts off from ground, 

that feeling is amazing! 

I love looking out the window, 

watching my hometown, 

finding the places I know and love. 

I flew right over my house, it was cool! 

I have an issue with motion sickness. 

I had to close my window and my eyes.

The couple that sat next to me was oriental. 

They were nice, but they talked the whole time, 

and very loudly. 

The more they chatted the more queasy I felt. 

I thought I was going to toss my cookies.

By the time I got off the plane I was so grateful

 to be on the ground.

Happy for my vacation to start!!

Man of Many Talents

ULTIMATE PROPERTY MAINTENANCE LLC.

Nick Stringham

(623)326-7465

UltimatePMLLC@mail.com

NICK is the MAN!!!

He and his crew painted my house.

Now he has repaired my kitchen sink
and the plumbing. 

You wont find a nicer young man
and he does a great job!

If you need anything done....call or email Nick!!!!

Old Leaky Faucet

New Wonderful Faucet

2012 ~ 208

Today is Cookies last day of school! I welcome summer vacation with reserve. Freedom, through the eyes of our youth, sure looks like too much time on our hands from my vantage point.
Summer school will begin next Tuesday. I inflict this upon my children each year. She is too old for those wonderful work books that are already planned out. And she is past the age for picking a theme.
So I will set this years curriculum as:
Scheduled reading time
Chore Zones
Sporadic Internet Research (on mom given topics)
Cooking Classes/Meal Prep (10+ chosen meals that will be planed, prepped and served)

A Simple Plan! I think it will see us through this Summer Vacation.
 School starts again August 8th, that's 76 days... May the countdown begin.

I am starting Summer Vacation with a trip. Ushering in the break on a Grown Up step!

2012 ~ 209

I watched "The Vow" today.
I loved this line
"MOMENTS OF IMPACT
 DEFINE WHO WE ARE"
I am a firm believer in this. And those moments of impact are not always big. Sometimes they are very quiet. For me, I know that if I listen to how I feel and run with my first impression, my gut instinct, I am truly headed in the right direction as I head down that new defining path!
I love the way they say it....moments of impact! I hope we are all aware when these moments occur, and seize them, taking the opportunity to live the adventure, to find the happy! It's like a save point, a do over, a fresh start!

2012 ~ 210

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEWVwgDnuzE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7ppxF4O130

SO FUNNY! AND YES WE DID COPY IT IN THE TAHOE!

Here in the Bank we are a close knit family. We celebrate, cheer and morn with one another. And we know far too much about each others lives. I love the people I work with. We honestly have the best boss I have ever had, and I have had some amazingly wonderful bosses. We have lost family members to other departments, but we keep tabs on them. Never letting anyone slip through the Discover cracks.
I was out of the office for four days. It was a very nice long weekend! When I got back to work today, I  inquired on any updates or changes I should know about. I was updated, then I was informed that my desk location was being moved. (It's nothing new, the entire pod, team, department, floor and building go through these changes on a regular basis. It helps to restructure, reorganize and to helps me downsize the junk in my desk.) I am surrounded by some of the sweetest, most fun co-workers I know. As I looked around at the changes, my team coach shot me a message on my computer.He knew it may be hours before I wade through all my email to find the updated office chart and I guess he saw the questioning in my look. "Yes" he had kept the boys together! That's all I needed to know! The boys are a group of three gentlemen, all twenty something, that make my job a pleasure. All three are good men, all just older than my own kids. I know about their hobbies, their families and their wacky sense of humor! They are some of the brightest people I know. I am blessed to work with them. But let me just say they are some of the funniest guys you will ever meet! They function extremely  well as a team, and help all of us not only get our jobs done, but also enjoy our work along the way! So, today my desk was emptied, the new one was filled (with less junk), programs where re-installed, and  phone systems where tweaked. The job didn't change, the players were all still the same. And once again at the end of the work day, as I headed home, all the boys wished me well. Tomorrow I will go back and it will be just another day at the bank.
I love the people I work with and I like my new desk too!

2012 ~ 211

The Countries To View My Bog Lately
USA
AUSTRALIA
BELGIUM
BRAZIL
BULGARIA
CANADA
ECUADOR
FRANCE
GERMANY
HUNGARY
INDIA
ITALY
KENYA
MALAYSIA
PHILIPPIANS
ROMANIA
SAUDI ARABIA
SOUTH AFRICA
UK
... I'm just the girl next door.
My blog is a combination of journal, therapy and babble!
As always...I hope someone gets a laugh out of it!!!

2012 ~ 212

I am no plumber. But the plumber on Youtube said it was a simple repair. I even bought the tool he said I may need. And up until the final part I was a pro! Then I got out my handy dandy tool that he said to use....and it still wouldn't come out. I think it may have something to do with strength....I need more.
SO....I put it all back together. It still leaks like crazy. But now the water pressure isn't right, and the hot is cold and the cold is hot.
I will call for an expert to come take a look today.
I am no Plumber.

2012 ~ 213

The chores were written out on the white board. 

I told the kids to cross off what they helped out with. 

I set their lunch in front of them. 

Mark reminded me that he may be out of school but he 

is still working. I told him that I work as well, yet I seem

to get all the chores done. To which Cookie replied

"Yes but you have super powers!"

What a HUGE disappointment....I was hoping

My super power would be flight or invisibility!

2012 ~ 214

  

Black slacks, blue button down 

and a black tie. 

Fresh hair cut 

and shaved to just stubble. 

Cap and gown in hand 

and his girl at his side. 

He looks older than is 17th years. 

HIS LADIES

The Fan Club

 Tassel hanging at his ear, 

he walked in with 503 other graduates. 

His mom could not have been more proud! 

                       This is him right here!

504 in the Graduating Class of 2012

Third row from the front, seventh in.

The opening song was from 'Aladdin',

 "A whole new world" how appropriate! 

In his speech the class president said

 "In golf, as in life,

 it's the follow through that counts."   

YOLO

One step closer to being a man. 

My son has graduated high school.

He doesn't have to have the rest

 of his life planned out,

 he just needs to keep moving forward. 

The Graduate and Two Sisters!

Dinner at Manuel's ..... A Family Tradition!

2012 ~ 215

Looking back now, I am grateful for divine intervention. Where I was at the age of sixteen wasn't a good place. I can see now, that the choices I made at 16 not only changed my life, but also altered it positively for forever. As I stood firm on my decision, as an advocate for myself, I was faced to make an adult decision. The options I was given where scary to me. I was young, and I knew myself well enough to know I wasn't ready to be grown up. I will forever be grateful for the my choice at sixteen, to step out of my dysfunctional comfort zone and take a very scary step into the unknown. I passed up the chance to be an adult at 16, a chance to be on my own. I knew enough to see that that choice would not lead me to the life I was hoping for. I had seen enough in my short years to know what comes with that path when you are not prepared for it. I wanted better, for me and for generations to come. I chose the option that scared me the most, but that I knew would let me finish being a kid and would let me finish high school. I figured it was the option that gave me the most opportunities for a happy life later down the road.
I am now grateful for an harsh bishop, whom I had inconvenienced because I was in his jurisdiction, he gave me my options. I am so grateful for the Green family for the safe haven they gave me as I made my choice. I am grateful for the friends who stood by me as my name and reputation where slandered. I am so so very grateful to my Heavenly Father for watching out for me, for giving me the opportunity to choose my path. Little did I know he had been setting the stage, he had been whispered sweet fore shadowing to my heart for over a year before. When I look at the big picture now, I see the path had been prepped since I was 14. How lucky I am to have had someone looking out for me, even though I had felt so all alone.
I was blessed to have the opportunity to enter the foster system. It was the choice I made, from the options I was given. At the time it was an unknown obis. It turned out to be a true blessing, a gift.
My foster family was a family I had know for years. I had babysat for them frequently. I already knew, loved and respected this family. They knew me, they knew my situation even though I was unaware that they did. They welcomed me, they accepted me, they loved me. They gave me not only the opportunity to finish high school and be a kid, but they taught me what it was to be part of a happy family. They gave me the understanding and knowledge of happy. I would attempt to live and strive for in all I pursued from that time forward. I can not tell you the gratitude I have for my foster family. The line between foster and family was invisible. I was part of that family, they were mine. I loved them. I always will.
I was not their first foster child, but I was their last. I should have wondered where the others had gone, but I was busy being a kid. I thought that being part was long term. But I see now, that even the parts that feel so right, fit so right, are so right, often are only meant to last a short time.
I see now that this "Life 101" that I am perpetually attending, started way back before I was aware of it.
I am grateful for the life lessons I have had the opportunity to attend. I am grateful for all those who have played a part in my life, who have taught me what I do and do not what to be. I am grateful for my family, the ones I chose to call mine, the ones I love, most of which do not share my blood.
Again, I am so grateful for divine intervention. I am grateful for my life, I am happy.

2012 ~216

I can not tell you how wonderful it is to have my Tahoe back! 
Life without a vehicle was very very hard, 
Physically, Mentally and Emotionally, for me and my kids. 
I felt like the teenager who was grounded and didn't remember what for, but also couldn't see the end of the punishment tunnel. 
I am so very grateful to my dear friend who took the time to not only fix what had killed my truck, but to put it back together properly, ensuring I would not have problems down the next two hundred thousand miles of road! 
I want to go joy riding, take a long road trip, go cruising! 
                          I AM SO SO SO VERY HAPPY!!!!

2012 ~ 217

I am taking a trip! 

I Googled to help me plan out my itinerary

Lots of great things to see and do

But nothing hit me as a 

 "I HAVE TO DO THAT!!!"

So I came up with my own!

..o0O0o....o0O0o....o0O0o....o0O0o..

See faces I know and love

See new faces I will love

See lots of old beautiful buildings 

Find Purple Irises

Do some soul searching

Do some evolution of beliefs

Enjoy the weather

Eat wonderful food

Stay up far too late

Wake up early and enjoy the view

Search for answers to deep questions

Find treasures

Fall in love with my life all over again!

Sounds Perfect!

2012 ~ 218

http://www.scvngr.com/

I got a new app for my iPhone.

It's called SCVNGR. 

It looks pretty cool. 

Where ever you are,

 you can find local spots and check them out.

Go Places      Do Challenges      Earn Points

It looks like fun! 

I am taking a trip with a friend next week, I think this will help us plan some fun adventures. 

I also think it will be fun here at home! Plus you can earn rewards, discounts and such! 

If you have a smart phone, 

download the app, it's free!

2012 ~ 219

Mothers Day......
A day to celebrate the best job in the world!
I get to be in love with my kids everyday for the rest of my life....it doesn't get better than that!!!

2012 ~ 220

I attended a funeral today.
I met this man 25 years ago. He was always so kind and funny. I have grown to know and love his family over the years. Listening to them speak of him today made me smile and cry. His family loves him very much.
Even though they are grateful for his passage on to a healthier place, letting him go was hard. They each spoke of the man they knew, the man they loved. Sitting in that room with all his family you could feel the respect, the love, the joy that his memory brings. I am glad I went, I am glad I got to silently send him well wishes on his adventures ahead!
I think when it is my turn to be wished well on my adventures beyond, I would like to have a lovely party. The kind where there is too much noise and lots of laughter. The kind where you feel good to be there, good to be with the ones you are with. Call it my Twinkling Party! Celebrate the things you learned from me, laugh with me! As I felt the love for John Paolacci in that room today, I hope that is the feeling that will be felt for me.

2012 ~ 221

My son works at a movie theater....
what a cool job to have at 17!

2010 ~ 222

Ebelskivers (Dutch/Scandinavian Pancakes)

2012 ~ 223

I have learned alot about myself in the past few years. 

I have learned alot about life as well.
Some lessons have been small 

and some have been monumental.
Some lessons have been quiet 

and some roar like thunder.
I plan on sticking to this Life101 learning plan.
I like the evolution of ME.
Here are a few things I have learned along the way.....

~Life is only as happy as you make it.                                                                                                             

~The lessons you teach your children will be interpreted 

  in as many ways as you have children.

~Reading is a great way to cleans your mind, like a slice of apple to the pallet.

~Friends are vital for your sanity.

~Eliminate those in your life that bring you down and are a negative.

~Taking trips = GOOD THING!

~Trying new things can lead to Happiness

~Changing your mind should be done on a regular basis.

~Revisiting the things that where important to you 

   as a child, helps put you back on the right path.

~Always view the best in others, it will make everyone look better.

~Respect others, live a life that you respect, and don't judge others.

~Love your kids,

  even when you are sure they are *%!_&#  @* 

~When you are forty something and single, you have an "E ticket to Grownup Land" Enjoy!

~Learn to like yourself, you get to live with you all your life!

Co Pays and Prescriptions

My Cookie has been fighting this upper respiratory thing for about a week now. As I finally come to the end of my forever long issue with Pneumonia she is just getting into the yucky stuff. Today the school nurse called. Cookie was having a tough time breathing and her chest was tight. I texted her dad and he said he would get her from school. I made the doctors appointment and he took her. He paid the $30 copay and I paid for the $60 prescriptions. I wont go into how medical care is screwing me, but I will say that my baby now has two meds to fix her upper respiratory infection, a note for the demon PE teacher and a doctors orders to stay home from school! I am grateful for the outcome of the day. I want my sweet little family to all be healthy again!

2012 ~ 234

Senior Project!

Mark did his presentation today.

He is a Boss 

at the program he presented!

He has lived this program 

for the past four years. 

It is a passion of his. 

He knew the material and presented

it with ease today. 

Again, a proud parenting moment!

(Wouldn't he make a really 

amazing teacher!!!)

HOT!
(makes me think of the words to that song   "You don't look a day over fast cars and freedom...")

2012 ~ 235

Home work and breakfast for dinner! 

Welcome to Monday at my house! 

mmmmmmmm......BACON

2012 ~ 236

"Who ever invented Rocky Road ice cream

 IS A GENIUS! 

He should run for president, 

everyone would vote for him!!"

                           

(Conversation over ice cream for breakfast!

No bowls, just the carton of Rocky Road,

Mark, me and two spoons!

I told him he should be in charge 

of Sunday breakfast more often!!)

2012 ~ 237

Out to dinner with Laura!

She drove in for the weekend to see her sister!

Thought it would be fun to show her this Phoenix spot! 

No..... we did not order the BIG UNIT.......

But we grinned about it!!!!

 I had the 'Tom Brady Burger' and Laura tried 

'Marge Simpsons Maniac Mac and Cheese'

Good stuff and Good company!!

2012 ~ 238

MY SON!

 He has 6 school days left! 

Then he graduates high school! 

I am so proud of this young man!

He may not be an academic genius,

 he may not be that state all star, 

but I can tell you that this young man

 is one of the very best young men

 I have ever known. 

Is he thoughtful and caring? Yes!

 Is he level headed and kind? Yes! 

Is he giving and hardworking? Yes! 

Is he the funniest person I know? Yes!! 

I don't know anyone that doesn't like him. 

He is a friend to everyone. 

If you know him, you love him! I like all his friends.

 I love the young woman who has his heart! 

I like just about everything about this boy.          

Nearly 18, and has been growing

 a full beard for years now! 

He will always be my "Boy"! 

He has his momma's heart! 

I love you PJ!

2012 ~ 239

 Being sick has been hard on me, physically, but mentally also. Today I needed to get out!
 So I went and saw Alison for hair and eyes, Love being around her!!!
 I ran some errands, blasted my music in my son's car, and bought some cute new clothes!
The Mexican bean dip is ready for the work potluck tomorrow.
A field trip with my BFF is planned for tomorrow night!
Secret plans are in the works for Saturday evening.
Taking my Cookie to the movies this weekend!
And it sounds like I have a date with my favorite mechanic and my Tahoe on Sunday!!!
Definitely time to feel better!

Had to have this.....

I have a thing for  Mason Jars, this is just way cool!!!!

Oh My Gosh Hot

And I still say there is nothing sexier than a man taking care of a baby. 
Now I know that a man taking care of a grandbabie is just 'oh my gosh hot'!!!!!!

2012 ~ 240

"The Tower Heist"
http://www.towerheist.com/index.php

Super great cast,
super great plot,
super great movie!!!
I recommend it!!!! 

2012 ~ 241

Week 5 or is it six? Third doctors visit Third co pay Second set of X-rays Second steroid inhaler Fourth antibiotic I'm sick of being sick! Pneumonia Suckes!