Thankful Thursday

This week there are a couple things to be thankful for that are kicking and screaming and jumping out at me.


This WAS my background on my work computer for a long while......


This is my back ground right now. It's where I met up with Ben last time he was on a trip to San Diego. I had two amazing weeks in Coronado with my husband and kids!

Thankful#1--- In August I am heading to Cali for some training. I'm staying in Laguna Beach, my hotel is right by the ocean, they take chairs down to the beach for you. I'm going surfing. I am SO california dreamin' right now. Sometimes I just sit and stare at my computer, nothing up, just the picture, waiting to be there again.

Thankful#2--- In December I have some more training to attend. Also going is Tiffany!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This time it's off to San Diego. I CAN'T WAIT TO SHARE MY FAVORITE PARTS OF SAN DIEGO WITH HER!!! One of my best friends, one of the best towns, and some of the best mexican food you can get. Does it get any better? Oh yeah it does! It's paid for! SAA-WEET! Hold on for a wild ride Tiff. :)

Passion

My passion of late..... Iced Passion! I am so grooving on unsweetened iced tea. Herbal and fruity and wonderful. There are a few flavors that I like, but the Passion is rocking my world!

And I don't think it's any coincidence that my favorite tea is also purple. Pretty sure they did that just for me.

Why I've been absent....

Between the pain that I feel right before popping these babies and the shakes that I get afterwards I haven't had it in me to think too much. Yup you heard me shakes. From the 65 mg X the 4 pills that I pop at a time. How sad is it that a tiny amount of caffeine......wait tiny amount let me check........ So 8ozs of Mountain Dew has 36mg of caffeine and everyone knows that no one drinks 8ozs of anything at a time. (thankyou pepsi) A double shot mocha, regardless of size, can land you somewhere around 144mg. (thank you energyfeind.com) Hmmmm, I guess I would have to be double fisting 20oz mochas to keep up with my double dosage of Excedrin. Maybe that explains the dizziness. :)

If only two worked than I would have no prob cutting back a little, but sadly even with my fail safe, glory drug, Midol, I have to resort to 4 pills at once--60 mgs of caffeine a pop there. Stinkin' headaches and cramps!


And while I'm at it........
This stuff, has the EXACT SAME STUFF as the migraine formula.......see:


From the Excedrin Website itself.....


EXCEDRIN® Migraine Product Information
Drug Facts
Active ingredients (in each tablet) Purposes
Acetaminophen 250 mg …………………………………………………………Pain reliever
Aspirin 250 mg ……………………………………………………………………Pain reliever
Caffeine 65 mg ………………………………………………………………………Pain reliever aid
Uses
• treats migraine


And then......

Excedrin® Extra Strength Product Information
Drug Facts
Active ingredients (in each tablet) Purposes
Acetaminophen 250 mg …………………………………………………………Pain reliever
Aspirin 250 mg (NSAID)* ………………………………………………………Pain reliever
Caffeine 65 mg ………………………………………………………………………Pain reliever aid
*nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug
Uses
• temporarily relieves minor aches and pains due to:
• headache
• a cold
•arthritis
• muscular aches
• sinusitis
• toothache
• premenstrual & menstrual cramps


And when I went to the Walgreen's site and looked up the 100 count gel-tabs forboth varieties, the migraine style costs 50 cents more. Why? is it because if you have a migraine your that much more desperate? But the poor, poor people with the cramps, muscle aches, arthritis, colds and headaches aren't?


I was trying to explain this to Ben last night. His words....."I don't care what the ingredients say, the migraine works better."



Really? You think so?


If I just handed you a handful of pills would you really know the difference.


(I might. Being the connoisseur of medication that I am. )


But Ben, let's face it, he takes what I buy. I think I see an experiment coming up.

Why is it I can never get a speeding ticket when I desperately want one? You know, like right after I have a not so mild disagreement with my husband.

Mmm Breakfast

Oatmeal with chocolate chips in it. Yum! I just felt right this morning. It came to me as I was walking up the stairs.

It was pretty yummy when I first put the chips in and they instantly got nice and gooey. But now at the end after some scooping and stirring......It's all chocolaty everywhere! I think I need another helping.

Except maybe just a slightly bigger helping of chocolate this time....... :)

Trying to get motivated

A few months ago Ty's room looked like this. The walls were Tiffany blue. And I had this great idea to give him a whole new look. A zebra room. Ty LOVES zebras. I bought the paint, the room is now white. But darn it, it's still missing it's stripes. I HATE white rooms. White walls are the bane of my existence! There are no plain white walls in my house. Near white, but not white.

I think that today I may have stumbled across the kick in the butt that I needed. These are some pictures of Ty's room in our first house. I got adventurous, I had fun. I'm not quite to Brit's level yet...... Maybe some day.

For the leaves on the trees.......a feater duster comes in handy

Now I just need to get home find my paint brush and give that poor naked zebra room it's stripes!

This Weekend

This weekend was an amaaaaaaaazing sun-filled weekend, of which I have no pictures to prove there was no rain. Not that I didn't take pictures. I started to. My camera died. I think I died a little when it happened. Maybe a lot.

We piled everything into the car and of course had to make a stop or two on our way out of town. At one I basically ripped my finger nail off my poor little pinkie. Back on the road Ben and I had fun pointing at things out the window that the kids couldn't see since we had a cooler and pillows and sleeping bags piled high. I might have laughed inside a little every time they said "where?" Okay maybe that was just me and not so much Ben, but he did a lot of pointing to not enjoy it a little....

It being a holiday weekend we were ready to drive from campground to campground looking for a decent, open spot. The spot right next to the pit toilet and dumpster, not so perfect. As we pull into Staircase all of the on the river pull in spots were taken, we drove around the loop and then went to check out the walk in sites. So there it was, the best spot ever! Right on the river with a great little "beach" on the river bend. We moved in. I wish we were still there.

Ben unloaded the bikes and the kids were off while the two of us set up camp. Once everything was out and put away we were out and about. We took the kids down trail for a little peek at the future days and then back to camp to start dinner. Later after dinner Ty and Ben were throwing a football. I went over to take pictures and then set down my camera to throw a bit with them. And then out of nowhere comes this pissed off random hornet (I'm guessing since I never saw it) flies on up to me and stings me on the leg. What the heck!!!!!!

Smores. Oh the smores that the we devoured. Marshmallows and fudge stripe cookies. SO the way to go! Ben and I were MMMMMing all weekend long over that one!

The next day we went on a mile in-mile out hike. The kids did great! There were so many things to look at and take pictures of, which I did, Until my camera died. I was clicking away happily then went to go take more pictures then it happened. I tried to turn on my camera and nothing. It's dead. So dead. So completely dead. So utterly, completely, never going to breathe again dead. Thank goodness for the American Express Well, at least I could put it away and sort of enjoy may camera free hike. Who am I kidding. I'm still going through the grieving process. I won't quite be the same until I get mine back or the replacement check.......

Oh yeah, the hike. Madison and Ty rocked it! Then it was back to camp for a lazy, lazy after noon filled with lounging, sunshine, and reading, at least for me. The kids played for hours on the side and in the river. Ben made lunch and even roasted my hot dogs for me and brought them to me on the river edge. Oh the sunshine I baked in. The glorious tan that I worked on. Ben's parents came on up for a visit and had dinner with us. Then we had to make his Dad a smore or two.

The next day, we were off for another hike. With sandwiches packed we planed on having an adventure. All you Land Before Time fanatics join in with me now.......it's time to go adventuring, adventuring, adventuring, I want to go adventuring, adventuring with you! Yes, I sang it out loud and in my head as we were climbing over logs. It was a long, fun, sunshiny hike. It even included a few river crossings including me and Ty going for an unintentional dip in the river.

It was nice to get back to camp and relax and settle in for some steak and potatoes. It was pretty yummy after the trek we had been on. Then we went to a presentation by one of the rangers. He was actually pretty good. More sitting around the fire followed. I love fires. Not so much the smoke which seems to love me.

The next morning, sadly it was time to go home. Once again the kids were off enjoying some bike time while Ben and I broke camp.

It was an awesome way to spend our Fourth of July weekend. Family, fire, trees, hiking, food, fun, and good times and memories.

I can't wait for the next camping weekend!

Maybe someday I'll have pictures to show for all of our fun......

Warning--NOT FOR BOYS.....

No really, I meant it. Guys do yourself a favor and stop here.

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Okay Ladies, they had their chance.

So the question running through my head a while ago........

Do you use the same pads/tampons as your mom?

Sorry, now you know the craziness that runs through my head.

A Forever Love

I love this man with all I have. I've loved this man since the moment I met him. Today you get to hear our cheesy, corny, cliche story, as crazy as it is...... or at least my version of it.

Saturday July 31st, 1999-- Second Best Day Ever

I met Ben at a stake dance (church dance). I saw him there that night. A guy I had never laid eyes on before. I thought he was GORGEOUS! I was dancing with a guy friend of mine and I pointed out Ben to him and I said "I'm gonna dance with him tonight." *I found out later that Ben had the same reaction when seeing me through the windows when walking up to the building* I went up to the group that he was standing in as a song was starting. I stood right in front of him and asked if anyone wanted to dance....He jumped at the chance.

And then I was dancing with the coolest guy ever! He was talking and I was soaking it up. All of it. He played baseball. I love baseball. He surfed. How cool is that?!? He loved camping. I loved camping. There was just so much that we had to talk about. I have no idea what song was playing....who cares, I had a pretty promising guy captive for the duration.

He hates this picture. I love it!

So every month after the dance there would be a gathering at my house. Stocked pantry, loaded fridge, surround sound, MASSIVE collection of movies. I told Ben that I had some friends coming over after the dance and asked him if he wanted to come along.......He said yes and I think I started floating a little bit. I knew I couldn't just let him disappear in a trail of exhaust. The next thought that ran through my head--"Crap, my parents are out of town and I haven't talked to any of my friends yet!!!!!!" The song ended and I tried to run off to ensure that I wouldn't be at my house, alone, with some guy I just me and his friend. He wanted to talk some more. I obliged. Then I ran off and told my friends they HAD HAD HAD HAD HAD to come over because I had just invited a boy over and once again, my parents were out of the state.

He came over. We watched a movie. He positioned himself near me. I put my hand right next to his and then......He didn't go for the kill. I swear, if his hand would have just brushed mine I would have taken the lead but nothing, nada, zilch! He didn't hold my hand! What the?!? I put it right there for the taking and he didn't go for it.... I was confused but still sublimely happy that he was there.

I got a phone number. I gave him mine. He left my house and I told my friend Brit that he was mine. I knew it. She was spending the night--trust me that plays into the story shortly....

Eventually we went to sleep.

Sunday August 1st, 1999

Me and Brit woke up and I decided it would be a great idea to give Ben a call. Yup, I called the next day, it hadn't even been twelve hours. I called, someone answered. I asked for Ben. We talked. He was on his way to church. His parents had an unplanned road trip to attend to that day.

We got off the phone and I turned to Brit and said "Lets go find him!" I grew up in Poulsbo, WA he was in Port Orchard, WA. A whole 22.5 miles apart. I had NEVER been in PO. This simple route....Not the one we took.
Brit knew where one of the chapels was in PO so we went there. I saw a lady in the foyer and started describing Ben to her. She told me he was at "the other building" and started spouting off road names and ways to turn. Yeah, I was gonna remember that. Good thing we had a quarter. I drove, Brit flipped the quarter every time we came to a crossroad. We kept on stopping at gas stations and getting more directions. Eventually we found the church. You know what....that quarter was NEVER wrong!!!!!

Once again I went up to an unsuspecting stranger in the parking lot and described Ben to him. he knew Ben, he was in Ben's class. His name was also Ben. He took me to the door and asked if I wanted to go in.....Yeah right, I'm not THAT crazy. Me and Brit waited in the foyer.

I can still remember exactly what he looked like as he walked down the hall towards me. He was wearing cargo khakis, he had his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows and he had on this tie with a yellow background and golf bags. (I think he stole that one from his dad) I'm pretty sure I heard a heavenly chorus. Yeah, there were definitely angels singing.

He smiled said hello and then took me to Young Womens. What? You mean I still have to go to class?!? Hello I just tracked you down and you're sending me to class? Okay. After church we went to his house for dinner.

Ben has a BIG family! NINE kids. Way more than the two I grew up with. A few of them were there that night. Plus me and Brit and Ben's friend Ryan. It was quite a gathering. There was turkey, and stuffing. We all gathered around the table and then Ben asked me to say the blessing on dinner. WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it! I had never met these people before in my life!!!! So what do I do? I pray. We eat. And then we settle on to the couch for another movie.

Apparently Ben's parents learned a thing or two raising nine kids, Ben and his twin being the youngest, Their couch was so narrow there was no way that two people can lay next to each other on that thing. Not that we tried that day, that was like two weeks down the road. (okay, more than that, I think.) Anyway, Ben was laying on the couch one way and I was laying on the section square to that. We were watching Last of the Mohicans, one of Ben's favorites. At one point, I couldn't take it anymore. The boy wouldn't make the move to hold my hand. So I tickled him. And he grabbed my hand to stop me. And I held his.

We talked on the phone multiple times daily. By Wednesday I had sent him an email asking where we were going with this and what he felt our "status" was. On Saturday we had our first real date. And our first KISS!!! It was sweet. We were down on the water at this place called Prospect Point. It was sunset and there was this amaaaaazing double red rainbow. He kissed me. Just a peck. No intimidating, suffocating tonsil mangling, just a sweet simple peck. BEST KISS EVER!

We have been together ever since.

We were married July 1, 2000. Best Day Ever! It has been an amazing, intriguing, roller coaster thrill for nine years of marriage(10 of togetherness). I can't wait for the next one or the next 50!

I love you Ben. Thank you for being an amazing partner, friend, lover, companion, snuggle buddy, personal torturer, alarm clock, taste tester, house cleaner, repairer, father of our children, dish washer, and mechanic. Hopefully I can pay you back for all that someday!

You are my destiny!