Happy Halloween!

HOPE EVERYONE HAS A SPOOKTACULAR AND HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!

PLEASE BE SAFE TONIGHT :)

3 Years (Almost 5) and still going strong..

Mark and I in the beginning

At a Monster Truck Show

At the now Planet Hollywood parking garage

October 29, 2005...our wedding day :)

May of 2006, on our HOneymoon in Cleveland, OH at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The title makes it sound like I'm talking about the Energizer Bunny, but I'm not, I'm talking about me and Mark! Yesterday was the anniversary of our wedding day, 3 years is really not as long as one might think when comparing to FOREVER, 3 years is just like sticking your pinky toe into the pool of wedded bliss, it's still the getting to know you years and the what the heck did I get myself into years (HIS thought not mine..hehe...if you ask him though he'll deny it I'm sure), it's also, for us, when some really HUGE LIFE CHANGING events take place, as if saying "I Do" isn't big enough. I guess we just needed some fun stories to tell our grandkids some day.

In the beginning, way back in December of 2003, we began the dating, or speed dating process actually, within months we were living together and engaged. He proposed to me during the Super Bowl while snuggled up on our friends couch, just before he went to California for 3 months. He came home every weekend and when he was finally done with the job there we were inseparable. That's the very short version of how we became a "we". There were trying times and fights with friends and mistrusts and ALOT of happy times and laughing and even a TON of cuddling, who knew a big scarey biker boy was a cuddler..hehe...

So let's flash foward to October 29, 2005...Wed had originally planned to have a wedding in April and a reception and all that fun stuff, but one night we just changed our minds and within a month we were on our way to gettin hitched at the Little Church of The West, surrounded by a few friends and mostly my family (his parents joined us via cell phone). We said our I Do's at 12:30 pm and from there embarked on quite the journey. It seems that he and I like to do alot of things in a very short amount of time.

6 months later we were pregnant, well I was pregnant and he just got to enjoy me getting fat and swollen and cranky and panicky and mommyish, I'm sure he was wondering where his sweet wife had gone to. So..ta..da..little Nate is born December 11, 2006...6 months later, we MOVE to AZ. Again with the fast moving of things...will we ever slow down..hehe...2.5 to 3 mmonths after we leave my home town, friends and family behind we get a HOUSE! I now officially feel like a grown up!

So here we are, one year and 3.5 months after the move into our house and I'm still not all the way organized (for those that have known me for any length of time organization is just not my forte), but I have learned alot from my husband and I'm hoping I've taught him a thing or two and while it's only been 3 years (some days I'm sure it feels like 3 million..again, his thought not mine..) I have enjoyed every minute of it, even when some of those minutes were full of sorrow or anger or annoyance. We chose each other for better or worse and I'm pretty lucky to have him. There is no one else on this EARTH that would put up with me, of that I am sure.

So, thank you Mark for being the best dad to Nate, the best step-dad to Elissa and the greatest husband to me! I love you! :)

Happy 35th Birthday Mark!!

Today is my darling husband's 35th birthday :), we are going to celebrate tomorrow because he is working tonight. So in honor of you my dear here are 35 reasons why I love you and what makes you so special to your family....

35. You are a natural handy man

34. You let me watch my girly movies over and over without complaint :)

33. You don't complain when I'm messy

32. You help me with the dishes

31. You sometimes get my jokes :)

30. You are extremely smart (which is sometimes intimidating :p)

29. You know how to push my buttons (not sure how good that is..hehe)

28. You try really hard to put me in a good mood when I'm down

27. You stay close even when I push you away..

26. You don't fight dirty with me (even if you really want too)

25. You REALLY are quite funny (even though I pretend you're not)..hehe..

24. You are gorgeous just the way you are

23. You love coffee with me (or at least you pretend to)

22. You know how to take care of Pudge way better than I do (and I am so grateful for that)

21. You cook!!!

20. You taught me to cook!!

19. You like my family

18. You like to play video games with me

17. And make fun of me when I lose at the video games..haha..

16. You help me when I ask for it, as best you can :)

15. You let me be stubborn (even though I know it drives you nuts)

14. You are so cute when you look at the Hotwheels, it drives me crazy but I love watching you

13. You understand when I need time to myself

12. I love watching Football with you and seeing you get mad when your team that you wanted to win is losing...I secretly laugh inside cause its so cute :)

11. You take Nate outside when I can't stand the heat

10. You do your best to make sure I know I am pretty to you still

9. You are a good son to your mom and dad (no arguing Mom and Dad Bush!) hehe

8. You are a good Uncle and Brother (no arguing Char!) hehe

7. You are a really good husband

6. You are a hard worker and I thoroughly admire you for that

5. Did I mention that You REALLY ARE funny (I figure since I tell you you're not I had to admit it twice that you are )

4. You love me for me and don't try to change me

3. You treat me with respect and love

2. You are a wonderful DAD

1. I love you for you and all your great qualities as well as all your flaws, since it's your birthday I won't mention those :)

Thanks to Mom and Dad Bush for creating such a wonderful man and instilling in him great morals and values. I love you again babe, Happy Birthday!!

New Stuff and advice needed!

So as it turns out, I do just have allergies, which actually really stinks, because that means they don't go away like a cold would have! Oh well, thats what I get for moving out to the middle of a dirt pile called the desert! So a few new milestones have been occuring in Nate's little life, he is learning how to use the potty!He is so funny, he has to get completely naked most of the time to use it! I haven't put him in pull ups yet, we're still working on getting him to tell us when he has to go, he does about 40% of the time. Another milestone is his use of words, he still has lots of baby babble, however he is using more and more new words almost everyday, which for me is a little scarey because I now have to seriously sensor myself, which is a good thing since I don't need to be using cuss words anyway. He loves to talk on the phone, and he thinks that every person that I talk to on the phone is daddy! He will walk up and try to grab the phone from me and say Hi Daddy! the whole time I'm talking..its quite hilarious.. He has also learned how to count to 3, when I change his clothes or get ready to pick him up or if he's walking down stairs or up the stairs, he counts every time, sometimes he forgets to say one and other times he'll say three two, but everytime he does I feel a swell of pride in my heart and I get so excited about his little brain absorbing everything..my little sponge!

So now for advice, has anyone out there ever done a yard sale? Mark and I are going to do one in a few weeks and I don't think either one of us has ever done one, I helped my grandma do one but all I did was set up and tear down I didn't deal with money or customers..so any advice is welcomed in regards to how to do one, the best way to price things and how much cash should we keep on hand since we live in BFE, remember big pile of dirt, middle of desert..hehe :) It's not very easy for us to get to an ATM machine! I will thank you in advance for any helpful tips!

Colds and an ear infection...blah :(

So this last week has been one of the hardest with Nate, last Monday after a walk outside he got a stuffed up nose and watery eyes, it was pretty windy so I thought maybe its just allergies, no such luck! My poor boy ended up with a very nasty cold, his nose was so stuffed that the only way he'd sleep is if either myself or Mark was holding him in a mostly sitting position, so after 5 days of only 2-3 hours of sleep a night for me and after doing everything I could possibly think of to alleviate his discomfort i.e. plugging in a vicks vaporizing outlet, rubbing vicks on his chest, giving him saline drops in his nose and trying to sucker everything out (which was SO fun!-NOT!), taking him into the steamy bathroom, giving him Benadryl once- which didn't work, NOTHING was working so I called my pediatrician and spoke to the nurse, at this point he was running semi-high fevers every 4-6 hours so she said sounds like an ear infection and sure enough it is! Good old antibiotics, he is now doing about 98% better and sleeping soooooo much better! But alas I now feel as though I have caught the cold portion of his sickness, since ear infections aren't contagious! Keeping my fingers crossed..maybe its just allergies?! :)

A wonderful family weekend!

This weekend my Uncle Sam (my dad's brother) drove up from his new home in New Mexico to share his 60th Birthday with us. We were so happy to have him here, I made him a very yummy spaghetti dinner and we topped the birthday off with even yummier homemade carrot cake cupcakes :). He claimed it to be the "best 60th birthday dinner ever!" and I quote :).

The next day he took us out to dinner at CHili's and Nate made a girlfriend through the glass partition, I wish I had remembered to bring the camera these two babies were too cute, they both kept standing up and looking at each other and giggling and waving and if one sat down the other would stand on tip toes to try to see the other, I asked Nate if he thought she was cute and he said "Uh-Huh!" and then giggled and turned red! So sweet!!! He was really good at the restaurant, sometimes its hit and miss with him, but with the little beauty keeping him distracted and unbored he was on his best behavior! Maybe he was trying to impress her..hehe..

Nate also took to his Great Uncle really quickly, by the end of last night he was hugging and hanging out with him without prompting. It was so awesome being able to hang out with my Uncle, I learn so much from him about my dad and what he was like growing up, it's a blessing to me to have that knowledge.
Today was a lazy day as is usually every Sunday, football and naps or now its Football and go out into the heat and take a walk, I keep hoping that maybe I can bring the Fall temps faster if I go out and communicate to Mother Nature that we are done with 100 degree weather :) and to please make it nicer so we can walk more and actually ENJOY it :).

So with that I conclude my tale of this weekends events. Some cute pictures to enjoy :)

The House That Ruth Built

Yankee Stadium has closed its doors after 85 years of some of the most amazing and magically historical moments in baseball history took place there. It's a place where legends were made, Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Lou Gherig, Yogi Beara, Joe Dimaggio and Derek Jeter just to name a few... The closing of this part of history for me signifies a dream that will never come true...

Becoming a Yankee fan was not something I thought I would ever do or be, while being a fan of baseball seems to be in my blood, it was my moms dream for me to be a San Francisco Giants fan, just like her.... I'll never forget the day I told her I had fallen for the Yankees, I believe she called me a traitor..hehe.. Growing up I never really knew what it meant to feel passion for a sports team, I saw all the baseball memorabilia that my mom and step dad had collected over the years and every year on opening game day for either of their favorite teams the house would erupt with cheering and hollering and look out if one of their teams made it to the playoffs or World Series, pandimonium would ensue in our tiny house.. Finally however in 2001, I completely GOT it. I believe that after 9/11 alot of people fell in love with New York, it became this place where a long forgotten brotherhood and sisterhood re-emerged and since the attacks happened during baseball season, the playoffs no less, many sought a sort of refuge in going to Yankee Stadium and also in the Yankees themselves. What better way to try to get back a small piece of peace and normalcy than by enjoying America's favorite past time.

What sealed the deal for me and reall made me LOVE the New York Yankees, the Bronx Bombers, was during Games 4 and 5 of the 2001 World Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Prior to this I had always known that the Yankees were not loved on the Westcoast however for me seeing the magic that happens in THAT stadium with those boys that love what they do so well I might add, still to this day I get goosebumps when I think about October 31, 2001- Game 4, at Yankee Stadium, the score is tied it's a full moon and the captain Derek Jeter takes the plate and hits a walk off home run in the bottom of the tenth to win the game and as his feet touched the home plate the clock struck midnight and he became Mr. November.

November 1, 2001 Game 5 of the series at Yankee Stadium it's bottom of the ninth and the score is 0 to 2 in favor of the D-backs, Posada gets a double taking him to 2nd, a groundout and then a strike out and THEN the magic happens, Scott Brosius hits a HOMERUN and ties the game! It goes 3 more innings with Chuck Knoblauch scoring in the bottom of the 12th, with Scott Brosius's sacrificial bunt! Final score 3 to 2 Yankees!

Witnessing those 2 magical nights that are a part of Baseball history, the aura and mystique of the Yankees and Yankee Stadium are undeniable, even though I wasn't there physically the energy of all those fans made the Stadium pulse and come alive, you could just feel all the emotions of those fans thousands of miles from where I was, but at those moments I might as well have been standing right there in the middle of it all. As wonderful as it is to enjoy the Yankees what saddens me the most is that I will never get the chance to walk the halls of the House that Ruth built....

My wish for the new Yankee Stadium is that it will allow for the tradition of the famous aura and mystique created by the New York Yankees to continue on...

Follow the "foil brick" road

So his road didn't go very far, I happened to catch him just in time. I did learn though that I really can't turn my back for even 2 seconds or I need to grow eyes on the back, sides and top of my head. Maybe its just in their DNA, but boys seem to just KNOW exactly what to get into and when. I don't remember Elissa doing half the stuff that Nate does, but that was 9 years ago, so I suppose I have forgotten or I have selective memory loss :).

Searching for the light in the dark

It's been 2 weeks and 3 days since my mom passed..I keep riding this roller coaster of emotions hoping at some point that it will slow down. I have been trying so hard to get a grip on my emotions, however just when they seem to be in check its as though they ripped right out of my grasp and all I can do is try to hold on for dear life and ride it out..I wrote a poem for my mother the other night while cooking dinner, sometimes its strange places when inspiration strikes...

When night falls and I'm alone with my thoughts
inevitably they turn
to you..

I think of days gone by and I feel
overwhelmed with emotions
Wishes for one more conversation,
one more laugh,
one more I love you...

Life goes on around me in slow motion
it seems..simple tasks
searching for gifts at Hallmark, a nail file catches my eye
"Home is where Mom is"..the world spins
I begin to cry

The words echo "Home is where Mom is"
Yes, you are home and I am left behind
searching for light in the dark...

I miss you mom, so much it hurts...

Happy Birthday Brit!!

To my dear sweet wonderful cousin Brittany...Happy Birthday to you!

I truly hope your day is a wonderful one and I love you and miss you very much!! So in honor of your 23 years on earth here is what makes you so special...To me..

23. You were born! :)

22. You are one of the sweetest people I've ever known

21. You are a great listener

20. You have a wonderful sense of humor

19. You make everyone around you smile

18. You are beautiful inside and out

17. You love without conditions

16. You never judge

15. You're stubborn :)

14. You have wonderful values and morals

13. You're talented

12. You can laugh at yourself :)

11. You can DANCE!

10. You're a great MOM to little Jakers!!

9. You're a great sister!

8. You're a wonderful wife to Ricky

7. You inspire others (especially me) to be better people

6. You're more intelligent than you give yourself credit for

5. You love to share the Gospel :)

4. You're an inspiration for moms everywhere to get skinny! :)

3. You're an awesome Pilates instructor

2. You are my cousin and best friend

1. You are one of life's rays of sunshine in a world that can be dark sometimes

So Thank you to your mom and dad for creating such a wonderful woman, I am so proud to call you family and friend :) Love you Britt!!!