It Started with a Lei

Our trip to Hawaii was finally here. Paul was getting married.  We had all our travel plans made with a travel agent and the first thing was to be greeted by a someone holding a sign with our name on it.  I love that, it just makes you feel so important.  Once we were gathered, the lady with him was giving us our Hawaiian Leis along with a hug.  

Every time I see this picture, I have to take a second glance.  Doesn't it look like Paul has a fist over Sarah's head?  He's actually holding the hanger to her wedding dress.  They carried it on to the plane and had it hung for them in the cabin and not down in the baggage.  

We had a big group on our flight, Kev and I, Dick and Kerry, The Barkyoumbs, plus Eric & Gillian, Brad, Panda and the soon to be married Paul & Sarah.  

Cuddling with Avah 2/01/2015

Today was a great start to a new month. Kevin and I went to the hospital to see Avah, who is now in an open incubator and getting ready to go home.  But our whole intention was not just to see her but hold her.  We got there and I was going to pick her up right away and hold her but Kev told me to wait for a nurse and let her hand her to me.  So we sat for a while and I was telling her how I was going to pick her up and hold her and so was her Papa.  Then I couldn't take it any longer, the nurse never came in so I just reached in there and picked her up.  Oh my goodness...she's so tiny!!! But it was so fun to hold her.  I've been wanting to since she was born in November but with her being 11 weeks early we weren't allowed to.  We could only just softly touch her.  So Kev and I took turns holding her and I took a handful of pictures. They are saying she may go home this week some time. She has consistently been gaining weight and is almost at 5 lbs.  

I couldn't resist taking her little beanie off and seeing her cute little outfit.  She is filling out and even getting some little chubby cheeks.  

Day 11 Learning

One of the things I have been saying for a long time is that I need to go to the Apple Store and get some extra info and help with my iPhone.  I've had it for a while but I still know I need to learn what I'm missing.  I did find this post on Pinterest so until I get to the store I may start here. I pinned it, but have not read it yet.  

Day 10 Neighbor

Here's an odd post cause I can't get a picture of my neighbor.  If you are facing my house, the house to the right has new owners in it.  They moved in right after Thanksgiving and we have yet to see them.  Not sure how many people, kids, nothing.  The neighbors on the other side aren't out much either, but we do know them and at least say hello and wave.  They have 5 year old twins and a 9 month old baby.  If I somehow get a neighbor picture I'll post it on another day.

Day 9 Flower

Right now none of the bushes I have in the backyard have any flowers on them.  My gardenia bushes by the front door do not have any flowers on them, and I don't have any fresh flowers in the house.  I thought about opening the container of the flour in the kitchen and taking a picture of that, but then I figured that wouldn't count cause with the spelling, it meant a flower of some sort. So I took a picture of a picture hanging in my living room.  This was a picture that was donated to us for our 3 Day garage sale from Alicia's friend Stacy, and I just really liked it and couldn't part with it.

Day 8 Opposites

Here are my opposites for day 8.   The features on these two girls are definitely different.  One has light hair the other one dark.  One is petite the other one isn't.  It's so fun to see how they are each their own person and different is so many ways.

It's not a picture I took today, but they had come to mind when I was trying to think of something was opposite, and this is a cute picture of them so I wanted to post it.  

Day 7 Key

Right away when I saw this, I thought that's boring, a picture of a key.  So I decided that I would post this quote I had found.  

It has the word key in it, and it has a picture of a key so it works right?  Plus this is something that I struggle with alot...losing weight.  I am good for a while, then slack off and it just is this vicious cycle.  But if you read the find print, that's the key....never give up!!

Day 6 An Addiction

Off the top of my head my first thing I thought of when I read this picture title was Diet Coke.  I love my diet coke.  I think I could say right now that I don't have to have it like I use to.  I use to start at 4:00 am and drink it til I went to bed.  I would quit for Lent and then go through major withdrawals. But I can say now I don't need it like I use to, I just really like it.  I'm currently not drinking it, but I crave one every day.

Then I also thought of the fact that I get on Facebook every day, and usually several times a day.  I love checking out pictures people post and just keeping up on what's going on.  I think I would miss it alot if I gave it up, so yes that would be another addiction.  

I love to watch TV.  I love to watch certain shows, I love to catch a good movie on it and hello HGTV. I just really enjoy watching TV.  When people say to me that they don't watch TV or they rarely watch it, I call bullshit.  Although it may be true, they just don't know what they're missing.  

And I can't leave out....chocolate.  If I could just eat chocolate every day and not worry about what it would do to my weight I would.  I do like my chocolate.  Actually I'm a sweet eater, but I tend to lean to the chocolate sweets especially.

.  

I'm sure I have other addictions if I sat down to think about it, but off the top of my head these were the ones that came to me first.  

Day 5 Now Playing

Does that mean what I'm listening to on my phone's iTunes account? What's on the tv?  Or how about what's currently playing at the movie theatre?  I guess any  of the above would work but I didn't go with any of those.  I decided that I would go with this now playing.  

We gave Annaliese one of those books that has the different symbols that you hit while reading the story and different music or sounds or voices play.  She was loving turning the pages and just hitting all the different sound boxes. So today, that's what's now playing. 

Day 4 Behind You

I went hiking today and took a few pictures of Alicia and I on the trail, but forgot to look what the photo of the day was suppose to be.  I could have taken some of the trail, or the hills we climbed or even Alicia if I was in front of her, but I didn't.  lol  So I just took this picture of Kev putting the fixings on a grilled hot dog while I was sitting on the couch.  

Note to self, check list or there will be more random last minute pictures like this one.

Day 3 Hair

I thought this was a weird topic and if I had been somewhere that I saw some funky or weird hairstyles it may have been an interesting post.  Instead you get a picture of my hair, which I just finished coloring.  

Day 2 Skyline

I'm not sure, but you might call this a sunrise.  For me this was the skyline shot I got this morning before the start of a 5k run I did.  

January Photo a Day

A few years ago I did a little project of posting a photo a day for a year.  It was fun and even though there were times I fell behind posting I still overall had a picture for each day of the year.  Some of them were random at times and that's cause I didn't know what to take a picture of.  I have seen some different ideas on Pinterest but I've decided that I am going to start with January doing a photo a day.  I have felt like I haven't been keeping up with my blog and I think this will help me stay on top of it and I'll post more because of it.  

This is a list I found that I like and am going to use.  All the different lists I saw had so many ideas but this one stuck with me.  I know today is the 2nd so I have two posts to make to catch up.

I, like many other people, make differnt resolutions or goals the first of the year.  One of mine is keeping up on my blog so I've already posted that picture...lol  Another one is is kind of a combo goal. I really want to stay on top of exercising and losing some weight.  That seems to be one I say every year but I am working hard on it right now and here is something I am doing with Meredith and Dave.

I am not running, but walking.  We are making a team of the three of us and will have to accumulate 2015 miles by the end of the year.  This will keep me on top of doing some walking regularly.  I have been going to Orange Theory regularly so my exercise is on track right now.  My eating seems to be on and off but that's something I hope to get better at as well.  This year for sure I am losing weight!!!!

One other important goal/resolution this year for me is to spend more time being grateful.   This can happen in so many ways, whether it be more prayer/church time, volunteering, having a better attitude, helping others.....whatever.  But God has been so good to me, and I feel like sometimes I do not do as much as I should to be thankful.

So there you have it, day one is posted.  Since I didn't post this til today (Jan 2nd), I will have to get my skyline pic tomorrow which is day 2 as well as day 3's photo.

First Day of the Year

I feel like we had just been in San Diego doing the 3day and now here it is January 1st.  In my mind I have a lot of things about what I am thinking and feeling about this year but that will be later.  For now I want to post this super cute picture of Alicia and I taken this morning at a brunch we went to at Laura & Megan's.  It was really fun and everyone brought something delicious to eat. 

Great start to the first day of the year.  And actually I started my day by going to an Orange Theory workout class and then I ended it with doing a 3 mile walk tonight.  Feeling good.  Happy 2015!!! 

Annaliese turns 3

Annaliese was telling me that it was her birthday and that she was 3 years old, but poor thing doesn't realize yet that her birthday is going to be overlooked by Christmas alot.  We celebrated Christmas with presents for the kids and then after that had a cake for Annaliese.  She loved the cake cause it was so cute and it was ice cream.

I tried to get her and Santanah together for a picture a few times but they each were doing their own thing all morning.  Kev managed to get Santanah to sit for a very short time with one of the musical snowmen, but she wasn't really going for it.  

Another Christmas down and another birthday celebrated for Annaliese.  

Avah's First Christmas

Avah got a special visit from Santa since she was going to be spending Christmas in the hospital.

This is definitely a good picture to tell how small she is compared to Santa's hand.  She's still doing good and is even getting fed breast milk every feeding and tolerating it.  That's a good sign.  Next Christmas she'll be sitting on Santa's lap!!

Little Avah

The day after I wrote my post Jessi went into the emergency room with contractions that could not be stopped and after a long painful day they did a c-section and baby Avah was born.  Her due date was February 25th so she was delivered at 27.4 weeks.  She weighed in at 2.9 lbs and 14.5 inches long.  Little Avah is very tiny and has a long road ahead of her.  She will be in the hospital until her February birthday unless she just goes crazy with doing all the things that will help her to develop. She will share her birthday with her daddy, who was born on 12/14/82.

This picture was right after she was born.

Then this picture was later in the afternoon the next day and
they had already taken out her breathing tube.
Which is a good sign, she is breathing on her own.

We will have to just wait and see day by day how she develops and how well she gains weight and can tolerate all the things that are going on with her.  She gave us a couple of big stretches and movements when we were talking to her which was so cute, so she is listening and doing her best.  

12-13-14

It's such an unusual and once in a life time date that I thought today was a good day to finally make a post.  I changed the background to match the season and here I am writing.......about what I'm not sure.  I have not posted since August, and that's just wrong.wrong. I've had alot of things happen since I last posted.

Sisser had gallbladder surgery.
She had been having these stomach pain issues for a while and then finally she just couldn't take it anymore and it got really bad.  She went to the emergency room and right away they knew it was her gallbladder and that she needed to have surgery.  We spent hours waiting for her to have surgery, but then the time came and she was feeling no pain.

This is a picture of her the day she went to the emergency room before
her surgery and then the day she was leaving.  Quite a bit of difference.

Santanah had her first birthday!!!

She was so cute, she didn't know what to do in this pretty little dress.  But then once we gave her her birthday cupcake, she knew it didn't matter what happened to her dress, it was all about the food.

We went camping.  
I was still off work to rehab my knee from my surgery, so Kev and I went up on the rim for about a week.   We got in some cool weather, some fishing and also a few hikes. I was really good about making sure I got my exercises in since I was going a whole week with no PT.

This is one of our favorite places to go hike.
It is an old logging road that is now closed off for animal preservation.
We have occasionally seen some elk back in here,
and it's also where we saw the bear a few years ago.   

I flew to New York.
I guess I would have to say the most exciting thing to happen while I was off was that I went to New York to see Janet's new apartment and to visit her and Diane.  It was so fun, I'm so glad I went.  When Dick, Janet, Diane and Mary drove to NY to move Janet I really felt like I missed out.  So this trip gave me a chance to see where she lives now and also to visit with Diane and see Sean & Lizzie.

I had a great time and we did some fun stuff.  We went down the shore for a few days, went into the city a couple of times, rode the subway, had dinner at Lizzie's restaurant, just all around fun.  Plus again I was not going to PT so I stayed on top of my exercises and walked and used the gym at Janet's apartment.  

World Trade Center

We were waiting for our subway after having a fun day/night in the city.
Jan wanted the practice on where to get on and off the subway.
It was my first time on the NY subway.  

We had just come from dinner at Lizzie's restaurant and what a sight,
the Empire State Building at night.  

Once I came home from NY it was almost time for me to go back to work so reality was starting to set back in.  My 3 month surgery vacation was coming to an end.  

Kev Geocaching

Kev hunts at the same time of year every year with a couple of guys he's been friends with since high school, Mark & Twig.    He hesitated going this year cause I was at home recouping from my knee surgery, but he had everyone checking on me and I told him I was fine and didn't want him to miss out.  He'd check in a few times a day with a call or text plus he'd send me a pic here and there.  He told me the hunting sucked so they were geocaching from time to time.

So he comes home and I'm talking about the whole geocaching thing and he says, yeah Barb, (who is Mark's wife) was questioning our caches.  And I said, why,  was she surprised you were doing more of that then hunting?  And he was like......you didn't notice that each cache is the same?  lol

I fell for it....I honestly thought they just kept finding them, but no they were just randomly taking pictures holding up the same thing.  I didn't even look to see what they found, they were so clever taking pictures in different places it really never came to mind that they were just screwing around. And Kev says, you really thought we found a cache in someone's boat?  And I told him I thought that was a little weird but still had no clue they were messing with me.  Bunch of jerks, but funny right?

Janet & New York

Remember a few months back when I talked about the whole thing with Kev putting in for a transfer? Well around the same time Janet had applied for a new job as well in New York.  First hers fell through and then ours fell through and so it was going to be that we all just continued to do what we were doing.

But then Janet got a call again about the New York job which was being the head of the Math Department at Manhattan University.  They wanted to know if she was still interested, and she said yes.  So now the time had come for her to pack up her entire house and load a truck of what she was going to take to her new apartment and be on her way.  She wasn't going to sell her house in Flagstaff but was going to rent it so it needed to be empty for whoever the new renters were going to be.  

Everyone had gone up to Flag for the few days before the move and was helping her pack and get stuff moving.  I had seen a few posts of Dick & Kerry & Pam being there, Barbara & Tommy, Mary & Diane, Nic & Beka......basically everyone but me & Kev.  And let me tell you I didn't like it, and for a couple of reasons.  It looked like everyone was having fun and I was missing out.  After a couple of days of them all working so hard Janet was no longer going to be living in Flagstaff and both Kev and I were going to miss spending time with her for days, sometimes weeks at a time.  And then I wasn't going to be seeing her before she left. It was all hitting me and I found myself just crying at random times through out those couple of days.  Finally on Sunday morning of the pack & move weekend, I couldn't take it.  I was crying again once I got up so Kev said let's just go up for the day. We can leave now and come back tonight, so we did.  

I was so glad I did.  I really couldn't do a whole lot of anything to help, I had just had my knee surgery 10 days before so I was still pretty sore and not moving too quick.  But I was there.  I was now part of the fun.....lol  Not sure if everyone doing all the work would have called it fun, but just being with everyone was for me.  I still did alot of crying here and there. Part of it was the fact that I just had surgery and was having that after surgery cry about everything going on, and another part was the fact that Jan was moving and I was going to miss her so much.  

But it was a great day.  We stayed til early evening and came home.  I was sad leaving but still so glad I went.  I was going to miss out on the road trip with Dick, Diane, Janet & Mary driving to New York but I knew that was something that I would never be comfortable with having my new knee put in so recently, but I was ok with it.  

Hello Pippy

Paul and Sarah got  a puppy.  Ever since Sarah has been here she kept saying she wanted a dog and Paul kept putting her off.  Then they found a rescue puppy and fell in love.  She is really a good dog. She doesn't jump up or bark or run around like crazy, she is just a sweet mellow puppy.   She did have a bad leg and off and on would hops around on three legs.  The vet tried a few different things, but nothing really seemed to help.  

Last week she had surgery on her leg and so far she's doing good, but they still need to see how she does after all the healing is done. The cone was to keep her from getting to where she had her surgery.  They had to put a metal splint in her back leg that she's been avoiding walking on, and then she got a pretty pink booty cast.