Farewell 2014

This post is going to be one of those "LIFE" posts, nothing really crafty today.  It's a little tribute and reminder to myself of what 2014 had in store for me and my family, and maybe some hope that 2015 will be full of family, fun and some miracles.

Some years I find that I'm glad to leave the old behind and look forward to the new.....this coming year, I'm a little bit unsure of what it will bring. In some ways, hopefully it will be the best year yet....in other ways, it might be one of my hardest yet.

Some highlights from 2014:

                                   My daughter and step-daughter both graduated high school. Yay!!

Ashlie and her friends graduated from Seminary.
                 

My son graduated from the LVMPD, so proud of him!

We welcomed a grand baby into the family.  My step-daughter and her husband had a little boy who just couldn't wait to get here and was two months premie....he stayed in the NICU for almost two months and is now home and weighing almost 8 lbs.  He's a little fighter and such a wonderful little guy! 

 

The first total family picture we've had taken in years and may be the last one where we have everyone together at the same time.

Thanksgiving 2014.  

One month earlier, we found out that my mom was diagnosed with ALS.  It was a pretty devastating diagnosis.  We had a family friend pass away from this disease about 25 years ago and it terrifies my mom to know that this is her journey right now.  We figure at this time she is at least a year into her symptoms.  We don't know how much time she has, how fast she will progress with this disease or how bad it will get.  As of right now, she is still functioning almost normally.  She does have issues with her speech, it almost sounds like she's had a stroke, and it's hard for her, she sometimes stumbles and slurs her words.  She also has uncontrollable sobbing fits, which frustrates and embarrasses her, she also is feeling weaker and fatigue, sometimes has problems with choking and breathing.  She is 65 years young, and the sweetest person I've had the pleasure of knowing.  I wish this wasn't her path, but am grateful for the time we have.  I think this has really rallied our family together, we've always been pretty close, but this just makes the time we have together a little more precious. 

This is only ONE of the many family pictures we took and the only one I have access too, the others are on my daughters computer and she is in TX right now.....but I think this captures us perfectly!!  

We have a pretty small family, just me and my sister as far as siblings go.  I have my two kids and my sister has her four.  We have a possible new member of the family....my son brought his darling girlfriend ( the cute redhead in the stripped sweater) to meet us for the first time and we all really love her and hope in time she becomes a permanent part of the family. We can all be pretty goofy and not take ourselves too seriously, often times we have laughing fits at ourselves.  We are all dorks and we totally embrace all of our dorkiness! 

Also, another somewhat devastating situation is with my sister.  The cute dark haired one on the left....she has what they thought was colon cancer and had surgery, they found out that it wasn't cancer, but a symptom of her stage 4 endometriosis, and she also has possible kidney cancer.  She still has tests that need done and second opinions. Lots of prayers being said for her and her family.  

Two of the most important women in my life and we are facing some hard battles ahead.  My sister is my rock and my mom is just there for me whenever I need anything.  Now, it's my turn to be there for them, for whatever they need and to be strong for them.  I'm SO grateful for our family, for the amazing parents, sister, brother-in-law, husband, kids, nieces and nephews.  

This is what life is all about.  FAMILY.  And I love mine with all my heart.

So, no matter what 2015 brings, with the help of family, God, our beliefs and each other, we will get through and we will be stronger.  

2015 BRING IT!!

#100happydays week 12 recap

Week 12 done and here is the recap!

Day 78 

A picture of my happy space, it's messy, but it's where I can create and creating is a must!!

                                                                          Day 79
 Once again, a FB friend posted a pic that made me smile and brought back some really good memories, Bon Jovi was one of my first concerts, back in the 80's with the big hair, they played in Vegas at the Thomas and Mack Center with Cinderella.  I've seen them 3 times and they ROCK every time!

                                                                       Day 80
               New fun pattern papers from Amy Tangerine and Maggie Holmes, love the paper and happy that they were on a super good sale!

                                                                             Day 81
Ashlie graduates from seminary. Seminary is a 4 year religious program through our church where they learn and study from the scriptures.  Way to go Ash!

                                                                               Day 82

Minion Monday, had to find me a minion that made me smile and I love me some Wolverine, so this one did the trick!

                                                                             Day 83
Was looking through my art journal and found a page that made me smile and makes me want to get back to playing with paint and gettin messy!

                                                                              Day 84
                                    Tropical Smoothie run with my favorite girl.........yummy!

That's it for week 12.....another couple weeks and I will hit 100 days!! Yay.........go and be happy!! :)

#100happydays week 10

Week 10 already...........wow, seriously I can't tell where the time has gone.  They say time goes faster the older you get and I'm starting to believe it!

Here are my moments for week 10 that made me happy, brought a smile to my face, made me laugh or just something I was really grateful for.

                                                                     Day 64
PSYCH!  I just love Shawn and Gus,  I haven't found a tv duo as funny as them for a really long time. I have only watched Psych on netflix and on day 64 got an email saying that season 7 was now available!  YAY!!

                                                                              Day 65
This man, makes me happy.....he drives me nuts, crazy and a little insane, but  I love him and am happy he's mine.  He's been working and staying out of town so it's nice to have him home on the weekend.  This is an older photo of us, but I didn't snap one of him on this day.

                                                                             Day 66
Homemade brownies using my Grandma Jones recipe.  YUMMY, I layered with marshmallows broiled them and then slathered with frosting.  SO GOOD!!

                                                                         Day 67
OH.MY.GOSH!! I was so excited to see this!  I won a $75 prize pack from Faber Castell!! I get to play with gel medium, gesso, chalkboard paint and gelatos! I've been wanting to get more into art journaling and this will be perfect!!

                                                                          Day 68
            Sweet Pork Nachos from Costa Vida....yes please!!!   Not cooking dinner.....yes please!!!

                                                                             Day 69
I did not know they were doing another season/mini season, whatever they are doing of 24....so to find this on hulu, made my night!! I love me some Jack!!

                                                                        Day 70
  So yesterday and the past week or so the weather here has been a lot windy and a little cooler and yesterday we got rain and dark clouds.  A dark rainy day is my favorite kind...probably because we mostly have hot and sunny!  I sat on my front porch this night and just enjoyed the evening and the clouds, it was nice and quiet and peaceful!

There is week 10!! I have to say that some days it's hard for me to think and take a pic of something that gives me a happy moment, even though I have them throughout the day, it's just remembering to photograph and document them. This has been a fun little experiment and I do find myself being happier and more grateful! So, so far the experiment is working!!  :)   

Go and be happy! :D

#100happydays week 8

                                   Here is my week 8 recap for my #100happydays experiment:

                                                                         Day 50
This was a Thursday night, my son and I met about halfway between here and Vegas to drop Ash off so she could spend time with her family in Vegas.  Ash isn't comfortable yet (and neither am I) with her driving on the highway for almost two hours, especially at dusk/night.  So, this gives me the perfect chance to spend a few minutes with my son, it's always a happy moment to see his handsome face!!  He is currently in the Police Academy and all the work and training is paying off, he's getting some pretty big biceps!!   He had to get pepper sprayed a few weeks ago, which made this mom really sad, he said it was the worst thing he's experienced so far.  I BET!!!

                                                                              Day 51
I love my town!! Every year at Easter weekend, we have an Art's Festival, you can see all the white tent tops.......there were 4 rows and it went two lawns deep with vendors selling photography, paintings, ceramics, wood work, jewelry, and all kinds of unique handmade items.  There are some seriously amazing and talented people out there!

           

                                                                         
                                                                                 Day 52
 This was Saturday April 19th and our work has been putting on a 5k race for the past 3 years, when we got done and were heading home we saw this hot air balloon starting to come down and I had to snap a pic....a hot air balloon ride is on my bucket list!! LOVE it! :)

          

Day 53

Sometimes, ya just need a good reminder that no matter how bad the day or how much procrastination happens during the day, you can always start over at anytime!

      

                                                                                Day 54
       It was late, I didn't have my pic for the day yet, but this girl had just gotten home from Vegas and I was more than happy to have her home.  I can understand not wanting to have the pic taken, but had to do it anyway!!  I can be mean like that!! ;)
         

                                                                              Day 55
Ok...so I don't really like pics of myself or selfies at all, but I had to put this as proof and a reminder that working out is rewarding and that I'm always happy when I'm DONE with the workout.  I will grumble and complain before and during, but then I'm happy when it's done.  Trying to get back in the workout habit...since getting married 3 years ago, I've let myself pack on about 30lbs and am going through some seriously not good conversation with myself.  I'm not too nice to myself sometimes and especially when it comes to weight. So not only am I battling with myself verbally, but also physically.  I have to realize that I just need to work hard, take baby steps and make this a life long commitment and not a sprint to lose weight as fast as possible.  Cuz I've done that before and it never sticks................

                                                                                Day 56
A crockpot full of dinner!! That always makes me happy because I actually HATE to cook, I have 20k other things I would rather do than make dinner, I'd rather NOT eat than have to cook.  I'd rather sit on the couch and stare at the wall than cook.....you get the idea.....SOOOOO when I actually have something prepared and cooking and can come home and dinner is done....that makes for one happy me!!  Plus, this is a really good dinner.  It's something that I kinda came up with after eating something similar at a restaurant.  It's a white bean chicken chowder that you eat in a bread bowl!! YUMMY!

 So there we have week 8...it's got my kids, some outside activity, some workin out, and some yummy food.  All of which makes me happy!!

Now, if anyone happens to read this, I challenge you to go and do your own 100happydays and document. If you instagram or blog it, let me know, I'd love to check it out!!   Now .....Go and Be Happy!!! :D

#100happydays Week 5 recap

This week was a little weird...a couple days I put something on as my happy moment which normally really never makes me happy, but they made it anyway.  I will explain with the pics.

                                                                            Day 29
Don't ask!!!  I'm a total dork...I own it and wear it without shame!  ;)   I actually was very happy and pleasantly surprised when my bestie from AZ called me up at work to chat for a few.  We chat on a regular basis, but it's usually through text or FB, so thanks Steph, for a happy moment and it was great to hear your voice!! :D

                                                                       Day 30
The quote pretty much says it all. Coloring and creating are therapy for me, there is just something about making things pretty or creating something out of almost anything.  Granted, I can't draw worth beans, but I sure do love coloring.   These images are from a color along I was doing with Alyce from Kit and Clowder (her button is on my sidebar if you want to check out her site), she is an amazing colorist and I've been taking a class from her. These images are all my attempts to get a coloring done that I am actually happy with.  Alyce says "practice, practice, practice" so that's what I've been doing!!

                                                                         Day 31
This is one of the weird ones I was talking about. People that know me, know that I am not an up close and personal animal lover. I love them from a distance, I find them so cute and enjoy watching them, looking at fun pics and other things and there are a very few dogs that I actually will let up on my lap and snuggle with, but for the most part........NO!  I don't like to be jumped on, licked and drooled on, I don't like animal hair, or having to clean up after them.   These two..........Harley and Gunner are my sisters dogs, she is in town with her family, her two dogs and her three cats.  Gunner, honestly looks like ALF and when I was taking pics, it just looks like he's smiling for the camera....made me laugh and definitely put a smile on my face.

Day 32

Went on a Sunday drive on a new road that connects our town to Sand Hollow Lake and Rec area, the drive was really pretty and seriously the new road cuts off about 20 minutes of drive time to reach the lake.  It was a gorgeous day, some darker clouds and I LOVE cloudy days, we saw this little historic house and enjoyed visiting and enjoyed the view.  I decided we need to take more Sunday drives and enjoy our area a little more!

Day 33

Ok...this day really was a weird one.  I ended up taking the day off work to spend with my sister, but then her husband wanted her to go to the lake with him and the kids...blah, blah, so she was going to try to hurry, put an appearance in, ride on the 4 wheeler and then get back to town so we could  hang, relax and visit....didn't happen and I didn't want to waste my day, nor did I want to go into work when I had already taken the day....so for the first time....I went to the movie BY MYSELF!  I've almost decided that is the BEST way to go to the movie.....on a Monday, in the middle of the afternoon, only 3 people in the theatre....YES PLEASE!  I really enjoyed myself.  And for any Veronica Mars fans.....the movie was a long time coming!  :D

                                                           
                                                                              Day 34
Didn't have any thing that day that really popped as a happy moment, until I saw that Ash had taken a bunch of selfies on my phone!  Well, dear sweet girl, this is what happens when you do that.....you get put on my blog with your bugged out eyes and your open-mouthed sneer!  Love this funny, goofty, sweet girl.  She makes me happy and makes me laugh.

Day 35

Another unusual one for me.  I was trying to get my sisters cats to play.  This sweetie is Peekaboo, she wasn't in a very playful mood, but she did get friendlier and let me pet her before she got spooked and hid under the bed.   I always figured if I were an animal I would be a cat.  They come to you when THEY want attention and otherwise, they want to be left alone.......I'm kinda like that!  And they nap...alot, I don't nap alot, but I'd like to be able to nap whenever I felt like it, I'd find a nice sunny spot on the floor, stretch out and sleep, and if someone tried to wake me up, I'd scratch the crap out of em!

 Well, another week down.  I'm finding it fun to find the little happy moments throughout the day.  Some days it's more of a challenge, but most days I can find something pretty easy, and I'm finding that I'm a little happier by looking for things to be happy about!

Hope you all have a happy week!! :)

#100happydays-Week 4 recap

Man, the weeks are just flying by, I can't believe we are almost at the end of March!  Time needs to slow down just a little...especially because I've got less than 2 months before my Ash graduates...I'm really not ready for that!

Here is a recap of my happy moments caught and recorded for the past week.

                                                                              Day 22:

This day, I was SO grateful for.  I got a phone call last Tuesday from a guy that is part of The Exchange Club and said that Ashlie was nominated as an Outstanding Student of the Month for March, and to please come to our award breakfast where she will get the award and a scholarship.  Amazing!!  We had no idea what kind of scholarship and was completely shocked when Dixie State awarded each of the kids selected to receive a One Year Paid Tutition!!!!  AWESOME!!  I felt a huge weight just lift  from my shoulders that I didn't know I was carrying...but trying to figure out how to pay for college is pretty dang stressful.  SO grateful!

                                             

                                                                                 Day 23:

I finally worked out.  I have been so lazy lately....it's terrible, but this day, I worked out hard, felt muscles that I didn't know existed and felt like I had accomplished something major for the day!  Now, I just need to do it more than once every 3 months!! ;)

          

                                                                         
                                                                             Day 24:
We had a BBQ at my parents house on this day, Ash and her friend and their dates were there for Preference and we planned to feed them, grilled up some burgers and hot dogs, made some salads, chips and drinks.  I took this pic of my parents backyard.  I pretty much grew up here and have a lot of great memories, my dad had just trimmed up the tree, but usually it is full and gives some awesome shade.  LOVE it!!

                                         

                                                                            Day 25:
My parents!  This day was their 46th wedding anniversary....HOLY COW, that's like ......FOREVER!  They are too cute and have been such a great example of what love and commitment looks like.  They are the most helpful and service minded people I know, they serve with love and compassion and they put each other first.  They are patient with each other and they say they are sorry if need be. They don't keep score or hold grudges, they just love and forgive and love some more.  Love you both! :)

     

                                                                              Day 26:
This day ended up being a Monday, I think Mondays will be Minion Day....they make me smile, pretty much no matter what, and that's a lot to be said of Mondays!!

 

                                                                           Day 27:
See above......these are a couple of my crazy friends.  I love them! They help keep sanity when it seems like insanity is going to win!  We laugh, we vent, we cry..(well, not really, but we do have some very serious conversations ...so we almost cry), we go to lunch, we go on drink runs, we sometimes get together and make crafty things.  They definitely help my work days go by much faster, and are much more enjoyable!  Thanks girls! :D

                                                                           
                                                                             Day 28:
Going into Michael's for 1 copic marker with a coupon and finding some yummy goodies on a super good clearance deal!! Glitter and cheveron and gold....OH MY!!!   :)

 Well, there is this weeks recap...

I actually just sent all my days up until now to Walgreens for printing!  Now I get to put them in my PL or maybe I will get a smash book just for my #100happydays!! 


 Any suggestions?  Should I do PL, Smash them or                          do a mini album????   

                                                                  Thanks for any input!!

#100happydays-week 3

                       Another week has flown by and I'm here with a recap of my happy moments.  :D

                                                                            Day 15
Steve and I at dinner with my parents at Texas Roadhouse.....can't beat a great dinner and  not cooking!

                                                                                Day 16            
       Winning a new adorable stamp set from an awesome company (SugarPea Designs) at their release party!!

Day 17

Books.......LOVE to read, have been spending alot of time lately in books and kindle, can't live without books!

Day 18

A gorgeous Sunday afternoon walk.  LOVE where I live! 

                                                                             Day 19
                                      This is me EVERY MONDAY!  Minions make me smile! ;)

Day 20

Ash's messy bed, I'm actually happy to see this mess, it means that she is home! She was gone for 10 days over spring break when her step-mom had a baby.

                                                                            Day 21
                                                    Guilty pleasure! Arrow...YES PLEASE!

There is week 3 down and done, it's been fun capturing little moments throughout the week that bring a smile to my face and a lift to my heart!  

Go and be HAPPY!! :D