Tuesday, June 28, 2011

The Happiest Place on Earth (well one of them at least)

I want to fight that the happiest place on earth is in fact Sea World not Disneyland! I would actually have to say the Happiest Place on earth is ANYWHERE where my family is, spending time together. This week that happened to be at Sea World.

My family just loves it there. We thrive and relish and LOVE it! A day spent walking around Sea World is a day of family time, joy, laughter and happiness. It was a very relaxing day.

The whole adventure started Sunday night. We went to the airport and my mom, dad, Katy and Lyse got on the flight to California and Ben and I rolled over for the next day. Not ideal - but hey when you are getting a free ride to California - beggars can't be choosers!

Monday we got up at 4 and headed to the airport. We had some time on the plane, in which we tried to sleep and were unable. We then got off the plane, into our car and had a BLAST just talking all the way down to San Diego. It was so enjoyable just Ben and I talking. Our car was small and squirrelly but it did the job!

Once in San Diego we met up with my parents then slowly headed on over to Sea World. It was such a relaxing day. Right before we headed to Sea World, Ben got a call asking him to come to a job interview. He told them he was out of town but would be there the next morning. The prospect of this job still has us both really excited but we will not know until next week...there is a big of sitting on pins and needles at this point!

We are lucky and have Sea World year passes so we weren't stressing getting into ANYTHING in Sea World. We picked out 2 things we "had" to do and that was the ONLY thing on our list. The 2 things were - see the new Turtle Bay and see the new "Shamu Show".

LOVED BOTH!

We did the Turtle Bay first and it was great. Lyse had been wanting a turtle for some time so she finally got her stuffed turtle, Shelly (Get it... cause it is a turtle and it has a shell?!? That is what Lyse said to me when she told me the name...cute little bugger)!

Katy couldn't figure out what she wanted. She hemmed and hawed and spent all day trying to figure it out.

After we rode the ride over by Turtle Bay we headed to the Sea World Shamu show and got some AWESOME seats and sat and waited. The show was great and I like it much more than the last show. Seems more like "fun" and "playing" the entire time! It was GREAT!! Lyse would wave back at the whales when they waved at us. Katy noticed that the trainers gave a hand gesture and the whales did the action. They both were mesmerized by the show. It was VERY enjoyable.

We finished the day by taking the ride across the bay on the Sky Ride then headed out. We had accomplished our list and honestly had an enjoyable FUN time doing so! What a wonderful day. Katy at the end of the day FINALLY found her desired item - a green purse of course and some pictures! Such a little tween we have and love!!

After Sea World we dropped by Cafe Coyote in Old Town for a quick lunch before we headed to Long Beach to catch the flight home. The drive up was uneventful except for the time in which my mom called afraid we were falling asleep cause of our squirrelly car. It really was tossed to and fro with even the slightest bump, wind or it seemed like even pebble on the road!

We got the front row on the way home and it was a great! We got home and honestly I was EXHAUSTED and ready for bed by the end of it all! What a GREAT adventure. I am so grateful for my job. It isn't easy being a working mom. It has been a hard year adjusting and unfortunately I can't do all I want or would have done if not working but we are getting to do some pretty awesome and amazing things because I am working too! We are hopefully creating some great family memories even though financially I don't have a choice but to work.

My family is blessed! My life is blessed! I am grateful for my loving, supporting husband and wonderful, compassionate, happy, joyful children. My life is full because I have them!!!

Oh and by the way - I have a new word for our little day getaways to Cali - Daycations! :)

Pictures to follow...gotta get it all uploaded :)

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Happiness is...

Watching my 6 year old giggle on a warm summer evening as her ice cream drips all over the place

Hearing my 8 almost 9 year old say, "It's too hot outside, can't I just stay inside and read?"

Watching my 10 month old nephew run from person to person with a brush in his hands...he loves to brush your hair!!

Watching your husband do a happy dance!

Hearing the words, "laundry is finished"...

Hiking in the mountains and getting to the "end" of the trail and enjoy the beauty and know you still get to enjoy the hike back down. (Have I mentioned my love for the mountains and hiking...oh I could just live there forever and ever and ever)

Watching your children build sand castles and moats at the beach (could also live on a beach...I guess I need to move to San Jose so I can be 20 minutes from either mountain or beach...that or continue working for the airlines so I get free airfare!!)

Helping someone in need...even if it is a bag full of ice out of your ice maker! Makes you feel good that you could help your next door neighbor!

Love! I believe that the more love you have in your life, the more happiness will be there as well!

I look forward to many, many, many more years of love and happiness in my life. I am so grateful for what I have been blessed with. Ben and I have been together for 10 years now (we started dating and were engaged within a month of him getting home from his mission in June of 2001). I am soooooo grateful for my love and the journey we are on. Ben brings and gives me more happiness than I could ever have imagined! Thanks for the last Decade love...I look forward to many, many, many more!!!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Iron Infusion

To try and start getting on the mend with all my iron stuff, I decided to have an iron infusion.

Basically you go in and sit in a chair for 4-5 hours while you wait for the iron to slowly drip into your blood.

Few things I did not know before:

1. It takes about 10 days for it to start helping :(
2. It causes you to have flu like symptoms for 2-3 days following :(

The nurses were great! My veins, however, were not! The first one rolled when they put the needle in and then it collapsed when they got it. They had to go to the next area. The next one they got in but while doing prep stuff the lead into my vein moved, I could feel it was wrong and fixed it. The nurse was trying to add the equipment to get the machine hooked up to me and she moved the lead back to the position it was in before (the one I could feel was going to cause problems). Before I could fix it again, my vein to collapse. The clinic has a 2 poke rule so the next nurse came over. She got into my vein and before she could do anything, I once again felt it collapse. I thought 3rd time was the charm but not in this case! The nurses had 1 more chance then they call in an anesthesiologist.

For the last one they tried to keep it to an easy one...they put it in my hand. I HATE hand IVs...they hurt so BAD but I was also really tired of having my veins collapse - that hurts more!

After that they do a trial of the iron (takes about 45 minutes). As long as you can tolerate it and not go into shock they start the full bag. Everything went fine with the trial so they then gave me 2 tylenol and a bag of benadryl (didn't know about this part either and it took about an hour). Finally after being there for 2+ hours they started the iron bag (which in and of itself takes 3 1/2 hours).

It was a LONG day at the Dr. office. I did get a nap in for a while (after all Benadryl puts me under with just a little dose and this was a much larger dose!) and some chatting with some nice women that were having chemo.

Today I am having the "flu like symptoms" they spoke of! BOO!!!

Yesterday I once again was reminded how precious life truly is. One sweet lady next to me was having Chemo for breast cancer. She has 5 children and 9 grand children. She is my mom's age. She work a cute little hat to cover that she no longer had hair. She was on her 3 of 6 chemo treatments. Her sweet kind husband sat next to her while the liquid poison was dripped into her veins. A poison she was hoping beyond hope would save her life!

This whole blood thing could have been that for me! I could have ended up with cancer and chemo and no hair. I am grateful that my trial right now is not that!

While I have so many trials right now, I hope and pray I will come out on top smiling and with growth! Ben's unemployment, my working full time, my being sick, hospital bills that have monthly payments for the next 10 years and so much more...I am blessed. I have my life! I have my loving husband and 2 beautiful children. I have the gospel. I have a home. I have a car. I may not have as much as many around me but I can't look at their lives because it does not help. I may not have all that I have dreamed and worked towards but I DO have everything I need plus more in the things I do have. Everyone has trials in life and no one gets out of them but how we grow and learn in our trials is the important part.

I am looking for happiness in the small things each day! Today small blessing in life that I am counting as big is my patio area that holds my kids play house! They love the playhouse and having an outside area to play in during the summer. I love that they have somewhere they can play.

Monday, June 6, 2011

It's kind of a funny story...

Cause if you can't see the humor (which I am trying REALLY hard to) then life is just miserable.

Got a call from my wonderful sister this morning. She is having some MAJOR struggles and my heart breaks often for her. So she calls to tell me her hubby was pulled over this morning and sited for having tags on an unregistered vehicle. Turns out Jiffy Lube did not do the paperwork right but charged her right. According to the DMV, she committed a felony for putting tags on an unregistered vehicle. Luckily she has receipts and credit card statements showing she did pay and it was Jiffy Lubes fault; however, she still has to deal with it all.

As we were talking she was like "well if I don't find the humor in all this I guess I will just die cause this could be the straw that breaks the camels back if I can't laugh".

I NEED that! Oh how I need that! I need to laugh at life because honestly life is not easy and I don't think it ever truly is!

So here are my laughing stories:

A little bit ago we found a good weather day (surprise surprise...I had started to think we lived in Washington State not Utah with all this rain). We have been DYING to get out and hike a bit so that is what we did...we went for a hike! It was a WONDERFUL hike up Bell's canyon to the little reservoir at the top. Bart and Debbie came along with us and it really was fun. I LOVE the mountains, I love hiking. I am soooo grateful that season is coming back because I NEED it!

Anyway, so as we were hiking back down we did a side track to do a little geo caching (which this one was REALLY fun to try and find). Once we found the geo cache, we had the short switchback to hike back down. Lyse started running fast down the trail. I yelled at her to be careful and slow down and she yelled back, "The mountain is pushing me and my bones won't stop moving".

I laughed and giggled at that perfect little analogy of what it feels like when hiking DOWN a steep trail. She later said, "Stop it Bones, I don't want to run right now!" Oh how love that kid and the joy, happiness and laughter she brings into my life! After the hiking trip was over, I was FULLY spent. It wiped me out COMPLETELY. Even the next day I slept more than I wanted, my body was just fully wiped out. Although it took more time to recover and everything, I still feel JOY from that little excursion. I feel JOY from those moments. The weakness and extreme tired eventually recovered and the memories of that day become even brighter. I was able to laugh and giggle at life.

I am so grateful for my children. I know I have not been the most patient mom. I know I am hard on Katy and Lyse about their homework and being responsible. I have lots of mom guilt ALL. THE. TIME.

I am so grateful that I get to experience joy because of my children. We are currently reading "The Witches" by Roald Dahl and I love how my girls get so into it. Lyse even remembered that they have blue spit and Katy can tell you how to spot a witch from a block away. I love that we have that imagination together as a family in the book.

I am grateful we have scripture time in which Lyse can express - "This is REALLY BOOOOORING" while reading about the Olive Tree in Jacob. To which Ben can laugh and reply, "Nope not to easy to read that is for sure" but then he goes on to try and explain on their level so that it won't be so BOOOOOORING ;)

My Katy bug. Oh my wonderful, happy, shining Bug. She brings a smile wherever she goes. She is the best friend anyone could ask for. She always steps up to help and does a great job at not shirking her responsibilities. My heart breaks as I have seen this last year and how hard it has been on her personally. Breaks my heart to see her "grow up" and so much of her simple happiness is gone. However, then she snuggles into my arms and says, "I love you momma" and I know she is still in there because she has never called me mom or mommy...I am her momma!

Joy is not given it is found in the small moments all around us. Laughter and Joy is what I want more of in our home and in my life!

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Spring was in the air...so of course that means cleaning and organizing right?!?

I love the feeling of a clean, put together house.

Lately my room has been DRIVING ME BATTY! It has been a hodge podge of items that had no other home, so we would find a place in my room. I work from home, so my room is also my office, so add in that to the mix and seriously I wanted to scream at night when I went to bed. The room wasn't dirty, just really, really cluttered.

At night I would lay in bed and sometimes the claustrophobia of it all would get to me and I would end up on the couch downstairs. Not that I don't love snuggling my hubby or prefer my bed but it was like the clutter was screaming at me in the darkness.

I have had sometime off work (it seems so odd and refreshing). I have had several doctors appointments as well as trying to get some rest but yesterday with the sunshine, it felt like spring (although it is almost summer).

I opened the window and cleaned out a bit. It took me a lot longer than intended cause well my energy level isn't super duper high. It did get done though and last night as I climbed into bed, it was so refreshing.

I now have an office "space" in my room! YAY! I also have a the room organized so it doesn't look like a cluttered mess!

I also managed to get 2 LARGE bags of clothes and other miscellaneous items in the trunk of my car to be donated to DI. Oh how I love the DI and that they are willing to take my well-cared for junk that I no longer need/want!

It feels nice knowing my house is put together. I have a few odd and end things to do (such as get Ben to take the load of stuff to the storage shed) but overall I have managed to de-clutter our place in one fell swoop. After all, when you are grabbing items for DI it is addictive! I found items that I have been debating in each room of our home finding a new place in those DI bags. I seriously wanted to cry tears of joy as I took those bags out of my house!

Now my house is not spotless. I still have ceiling fans that could use dusting, hardwood floors that could use mopping and windows that could use some washing; however, my house is fairly clutter free and honestly when clutter is gone, cleaning is so much easier!

Today the sun is shining inside my house as well as outside. I love the light, happiness and joy I feel once again in my home!

As some side notes:

First - Ben is now working for FedEx. I am so grateful for inspiration. Ben had a feeling to apply, a feeling to go to the meeting, a feeling to get these things done on a set day. He got an interview same day only to find out the person interviewing was going to be leaving town and that was his last day interviewing for at least a week. Because Ben followed those promptings we have been greatly blessed. I am so grateful for a hubby that listens to the promptings of the Holy Ghost and I am even more Grateful to our Father in Heaven for giving those promptings and truly watching out for us. We are blessed.

Second - My weight. I know I know. Not what you are wanting to read about but since this is the last paragraph you can skip if you would like. I was getting really excited cause I was back down to 136 and hoping to move back to my liked 132-134. Instead I was at 136.9 today. Gotta cut out those bon-bons I guess ;) Actually I just need to add a LOT of water back in!