My Daily Serendipity

The Best Career Choices for Me (According to iVillage.com)

2012-01-07T12:38:00.001-06:00

You would most enjoy a career that allows you to meet new people. You would also be happiest in a career that allows you to be free and flexible, and allows you to be extremely creative. Some careers that would be perfect for you are:

Stockbroker
Secretary
Receptionist
Director
Recruitment Consultant
Politician
Marketing
Human Resources Manager
Religious Minister
Teacher
Lawyer
Advertising
Consultant
Financial Adviser
Financial Planner
GP
Physical Therapy
Occupational Therapy
Public Relations
Estate Agent
Travel Agent
Restauranteur/Hotel Manager
Events Organiser

You are a great leader. You genuinely enjoy being around other people. Your relationships with others are very important to you. You love talking and meeting new people. You are very enthusiastic about work and about all that you do and have in your life. You love being the focus of attention. You enjoy a fast pace. You are very socially oriented. Therefore, you are much happier being with others than you are alone. You crave interaction with others.

You are very spontaneous and often act before you think. You are always quick to answer when you are asked a question, even if you aren't sure of the answer. It is easier for you to improvise as you go along. You enjoy thinking out loud, and are most creative when brainstorming with friends or colleagues. You enjoy being involved in many activities.

You are very easy to read, and often wear your heart on your sleeve. You are never afraid to tell people what you think. You are very empathetic and genuine. You can sometimes be seen as over-emotional or too involved by others. But that is only because you tend to get so involved in the things you do that they become personal. You want to be adored, loved and appreciated. You like to please others and to make sure people are happy.

You trust your gut instincts. You are easily inspired and trust that inspiration. You are very innovative. You analyse things by looking at the big picture. You are concerned about how what you do affects others. You worry about your actions and the future. You tend to use a lot of metaphors and are very descriptive and colourful in your choice of language.

You are very creative, and get bored easily if you don't get to express yourself. You like to learn new things. You don't like the same old routine. You like to leave your options open.

Finding a career that is right for you isn't always an easy thing. However, if you secure a job that is suited to your personality type you will enjoy going to work, feel great about yourself, feel appreciated and look forward to what's ahead.

This test was adapted from C. G. Jung's famous personality types.

OMG the world is ending...

2011-12-10T16:33:00.001-06:00

Two blogs in less than 24 hours? What is going on?

Anyway I don't know what to do. I need some advice and input. Real input and advice. Not just people saying to pray about something. I need logic right now to help me make my choice.

I'm about 16-30 credits shy of graduating with an associates degree. The problem is I don't know what I want my major to be. I've switched it about 50 gazillion times. First it was Theatre, then Music, then Interior Design, then Psychology, then I flirted with the idea of Surgical Tech before quickly switching back to Psychology, and then Speech because I only need 2 more Speech classes to finish my degree in addition to my other course work. I still need to take Comp II, a lab science, and a math class (which math class I need depends on which degree I choose). I already have enough credits to have an associates degree, but none of them combine to make an actual degree.

Even though my Speech degree is closest to being complete I cannot take the last 2 classes I need online so I cannot finish next semester because I don't have anyone to watch my kids while I go to classes during the day (even though it would only be for a few hours a week).

And mostly I'm stalling. I miss the arts. I love psychology and neuroscience but the cost of completing a Ph.D. or a PsyD is staggering, especially since TU is the only local place I could attend for that. And a psychology bachelor's degree is not going to get me much.

I've flirted with going to medical school. I would have to become a surgeon because that is what interests me. I don't want to be heavily involved in patient care... I just think it's awesome to be able to cut someone open and fix their insides. Or possible I'd be a plastic surgeon because it combines art and science quite well. The main problem is I don't think I want to slave away at school that long. Even if I got my butt in gear and finished my bachelor's in two years and immediately got accepted into medical school (and could somehow pay for it all) I'd then have a good 5-7 years for residency and any fellowships so I wouldn't even start to really recoup money for student loans for 11-13 years. I'd most likely be in my 40's and my kids would be about to graduate from high school. And residency would mean lots of time away from home until I was able to work in a non-emergency/trauma setting that didn't require being on call to perform surgery in the middle of the night.

I've thought about law school but if I can't be Matlock or Perry Mason I don't want to do it. I don't want to prosecute for fear of prosecuting someone who is innocent and I don't want to defend for fear of someone guilty getting off scot-free.

And even though I'd love interior design, it doesn't have a steady income and you can barely make any money doing design in Tulsa. I know a designer who made $13,000 one year... that definitely wouldn't cover my expenses in gas, a home office, child care etc.

The surgical tech program would only take 9 months, but then I'm face with the child care issue again.

The problem is I really want a degree and I don't really care what it is in as long as I can be creative in the future, even if my job isn't creative... but I need to be able to afford the degree.

I don't know what to do.

Dainty as an elephant...

2011-12-09T22:00:00.001-06:00

This has been a crazy summer and fall. This summer we finally got Maeve into occupational therapy and speech therapy, as well as behavioral therapy and some physical therapy (though that is on hold right now as her physical therapist had a stroke and retired but someone new is starting at the beginning of January).

With Maeve's extreme anxiety we decided it would be best to have Tripp there with her initially... her therapist recommended that we have him evaluated as well. Turns out he definitely needed speech and also needed occupational therapy as well. Then I started noticing how hyper and out of control he could get, so we had him evaluated at Maeve's psychologist's office. Long story short he more than likely has ADD/ADHD but because of his major delays in speech and a few other things they are not giving an official diagnosis yet as those things can also indicate Pervasive Developmental Disorder, or Asperger's. The psychologist is holding off on the diagnosis until he's completed his year of speech therapy but in the mean time he will be starting ABA therapy.

I started to notice a few similar things with Rudy's behavior so I had him evaluated for OT and ST as well. And even though he is not as delayed as Maeve and Tripp are, because he is the baby and the people he plays with and emulates the most are Maeve and Tripp, we've gone ahead and put him in therapy as well.

Then I noticed Bella exhibiting some sensory issues and a tongue thrust (a speech thing) so I went ahead to have her evaluated... basically I now have 4 children who attend occupational therapy and speech therapy each week.

One of their main issues is sensory processing disorder which basically is a neurological condition that makes them process sensory input in a different manner. Some times they are over sensitive to sounds, sights, or textures... even emotions (in Twilight world Jasper would probably have SPD), other times they need more stimulation than the average person and seek out certain sounds, textures, or sights. Another major factor is coordination. There can be problems with sending signals through the brain that can cause clumsiness. This is important... especially when you consider it is genetic.

Anyway I feel like we have a new lease on life through therapy. The kids are all doing amazingly well and best of all, answers for me are popping up out of nowhere. Normally people with SPD are introverts, but about a third of the time they can be an extrovert... like me. After speaking with the OT I started to realize I do many of the same things and they affect my life as much as they do the kids. For instance I have to wear ear plugs if the dishwasher, washing machine, and music are all going at the same time. It makes me anxious and feel like my heart is going to pound out of my chest.

You may have also noticed how clumsy I am. Turns out thy kids have inherited this from me. The best news is even I can get a handle on much of this. It's been recommended that we get a trampoline and the kids and I jump on it everyday to help with becoming more aware of where our bodies are in relation to other objects in our environments.

When speaking to Danny I could see the light bulb going off and him connecting all of the little dots. It even explains my hypersensitivity to pain. He agreed with the occupational therapist and now things like me freaking out when all four kids are talking to me at once makes a lot more sense to him. It doesn't make it right, but at least we now understand and I am able to preempt it.

So this is taking a long time to explain, and I'm very tired, but anyone who has known me a long time can do a little search about sensory processing disorder or sensory integration dysfunction and learn more about it. I'm hopeful that one day we can all live a bit more normal, happier, lives, with less stress.

New pictures!

2011-08-22T17:11:00.000-05:00

Rudy, Rudy, Rudy

2011-06-05T18:56:00.000-05:00

Bunny nest in our backyard!

2011-06-02T13:58:00.001-05:00

Please ignore my stupidity... I say whatever comes to mind without any sort of filter. We really thought these were rodents at first. My husband is not cruel to animals but we have four young children and he didn't want them to get any sort of disease and he didn't want to spend money to have someone else take care of them.

Part 1

Part2

Why having toddlers is like being at a frat party...

2011-05-20T14:55:00.000-05:00

10. There are half-full, brightly-colored plastic cups on the floor in every room. Three are in the bathtub.

9. There’s always that one girl, bawling her eyes out in a corner.

8. It’s best not to assume that the person closest to you has any control over their digestive function.

7. You sneak off to the bathroom knowing that as soon as you sit down, someone’s going to start banging on the door.

6. Probably 80% of the stains on the furniture contain DNA.

5. You’ve got someone in your face at 3 a.m. looking for a drink.

4. There’s definitely going to be a fight.

3. You’re not sure whether anything you’re doing is right, you just hope it won’t get you arrested.

2. There are crumpled-up underpants everywhere.

1. You wake up wondering exactly how and when the person in bed with you got there.

How to do homework, Naomi style...

2011-03-09T14:18:00.000-06:00

I've lamented on Facebook about my extreme procrastination. People have suggested simply doing my homework early so I don't have to stay up late finishing assignments and so I can iron out any wrinkles that should occur right before I submit my work.

In my defense it should be noted, my best ideas occur at the last minute. I have finished assignments early in the past, only to change my mind and come up with an even better idea a few hours before it is due. I get an adrenaline rush that promotes creativity and focus. Some teachers have suggested that if I could harness that energy sooner and learn to focus better I could excel above and beyond where I am. I've always ended up getting pretty good grades and doing well in other areas where I procrastinate (memorizing lines for a drama competition, writing an original oratory for a speech competition, writing my debates before the debate tournament, etc).

So to show everyone, what it is like to be Naomi, I am writing up the events that have occurred today to prevent me from finishing any assignment early.

1. Take a look at school calendar and blackboard and decide to try and finish study board questions for U.S. History as I was late on post and didn't receive any credit for it a few weeks ago.

2. Decide to peek at Danny's blackboard schedule.

3. Text Danny that he should download blackboard for android so he can keep up with his assignments and not be late.

4. Try to hack into Danny's school e-mail account so I can forward his school e-mails to his phone like he requested.

5. Log onto TCC's website and check out Danny's personal information to see if they listed what his e-mail address would be since it was not the standard first and last name.

6. Realize he has not accepted his financial aid award offer.

7. Go through the whole award acceptance schtick so he doesn't have and doesn't forget.

8. Realize I'm going to be late for the TRX class I take at the gym if I don't get myself and the kids dressed and leave for the gym.

9. Arrive at the gym with seconds to spare.

10. Fall on the ground laughing as my husband suggest to me and another lady that planks are the perfect time to practice some kegels.

11. Decide I should take a shower at the gym as I should get started on my homework as soon as I get home and put the kids down for a nap.

12. Decide I am getting sort of pale so I should tan before my shower in order to wash the sweat off afterwards.

13. Tan

14. Shower

15. Drive home singing educational children's songs at the top of my lungs.

16. Wave at strangers who are staring at me at stop light.

17. Make the kids a quick PB&J sandwich, divvy up a small bag of cheetos and a small bag of snack cookies for the kids (never said I would feed them a nutritious lunch, did I?) and have them sit at the table to eat and suck down a capri sun flavored water.

18. Rush the kids to go potty and then head to their respective places for naptime.

19. Decide even though I'm not hungry I should eat one of my Lean Cuisine Quesadillas so I'm not tempted to snack on the kids lunch treats while doing homework.

20. Decide I should make a huge bottle of water too.

21. Check Facebook while I eat. Also open up a tab to research each topic left on the U.S. History discussion board.

22. Take the laptop into my room and grab my history book.

23. Notice one of the kids have unplugged the power strip we use to charge most electronic devices in our home.

24. Decide my phone charger would be more accessible if it were plugged into said power strip instead of the outlet that is 4 feet from my nightstand.

25. Realize I will have to move our bed a bit to make it work.

26. Try to move the bed.

27. Decide I need to push from my legs if it's going to budge at all.

28. Try even harder while silently praying I don't accidentally pee on myself and simultaneously making a mental note to not drink large sums of water before moving heavy objects.

29. Realize I cannot move the bed without my husband. Decide to plug my charger and other objects in and move my laptop cord to the outlet previous occupied by my phone charger as the laptop charger has a longer cord.

30. Spot two pictures laying on my bed that our 3 year old girl Maeve was playing with.

31. Ooh and aah over how cute my husband and I were when we were engaged.

32. Decide I must find the frames and put the photos back in and display them on my night stand.

33. See a candy cane wrapper on my nightstand from the candy canes I found stuffed in the back of the cabinet two days ago (what? don't judge me!)

34. Decide I would feel a lot better if things were picked up a bit. I'll be able to concentrate on my homework better.

35. See a small keebler elf rainbow snack package wrapper one of the kids must have dropped.

36. Walk to the kitchen to throw them away.

37. Notice the garbage bag is getting full.

38. Take out the trash.

39. Get out new trash bag.

40. See my gym bag laying on the floor next to the washing machine.

41. Decide to do the adult thing and wash my gym clothes right away.

42. Go looking around the house for other dirty clothes to put in the wash.

43. Start the washing machine.

44. Notice the kids shoes and jackets surrounding the table.

45. Hand up jackets and pick up shoes.

46. Decide to hang up my purse so no kids can sneak any gum, or anything else from my purse.

47. Decide to eat some cookies despite my previous decision (what I worked out today, so it's a wash!)

48. Throw away the wrapper.

49. Take a pee break.

50. Realize it's been about 4 hours since I decided to try and do my homework.

51. Laugh at how much I procrastinate.

52. Decide to update my facebook status explaining everything.

53. Realize I could never fit the story into 420 characters.

54. Decide to write a blog about procrastinating doing my homework.

And that's why I don't get my homework done early. I can never focus enough. I get too sidetracked. And now I'm getting pretty tired, so I might take a nap :D

The Paradoxical Commandments by Dr. Kent M. Keith

2011-02-16T09:59:00.002-06:00

The Paradoxical Commandments
by Dr. Kent M. Keith

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.

Gun Safety

2011-02-04T11:55:00.000-06:00

I'm panicking right now. Granted I'm taking some medicine that increases your heart rate and can cause irritability, but my 5 year old was just telling me her friend's dad has a gun.

I'm all for the right to bear arms. I grew up around guns and have used them before (though not in a very long time). I have just realized I've neglected to teach my children about guns at an appropriate age.

She has never been to this friends house, but she has been to other friends homes and I'm realizing she doesn't understand what guns do. We just had a long talk about how guns can kill people. How they are to be used for protection and never played with. I told her how sometimes real guns can look like toys and sometimes toy guns look real and that before she ever plays with any gun at someones house she should ask the parent before touching it or picking it up and she should always tell an adult if another kids has a gun even if she thinks it might be a toy gun.

I know it sounds like I'm going a bit overboard, I just want them to have a healthy respect for the power of weapons. I remember going to the shooting range and shooting rifles when I was four. I'm thinking we might have to take her soon and let her try out a BB gun or pellet gun. My grandpa took me and I'm pretty sure guys throw more caution to the wind than women do as I just can't see putting a real gun in the hands of a 5 year old. Even though I am very glad my grandfather let me use his rifles (always under strict supervision of course).

I guess I'm more concerned about my boys as girls seem to take things a bit more seriously.

Anyway I'm just really upset right now that I hadn't thought of teaching her before. I'm extremely thankful that nothing has happened so far.

Please teach your children gun safety. They need to respect them and understand the destructive power they contain.

Do I stink?

2011-01-15T20:21:00.000-06:00

So I'm still in a lousy mood. ***BEGIN TMI WARNING*** I must be ovulating or something *** END TMI WARNING*** But yeah, I'm in a real crappy mood.

I'm on facebook all the time and see my friends who I've just met in the past few years and friends I've known a long time, making plans to do things with their other friends. Big things, small things, medium things.

Yet I post seeing if people want to go out for my birthday to a $5 comedy show and only one person responded.

I'm chopped liver. It's become painfully obvious. I mean I know it's hard for some people to drive to my house because of distance or their busy schedules, and it's hard for me to go places often because we only have one car and Danny works all the time, but no one ever wants to do anything with me.

It hurts my feelings. So that is my pity party. I suck, I'm a loser, and no one wants to be my friend. I'm sick of hearing about people going to dinner, and movies, and concerts.

I'm tired of trying so hard not to offend anyone or ruin friendships that I offer to pay for stuff etc. It gets expensive.

I need just one good friend who will let me help them and will help me in return. I've offered to take meals to people who've been in the hospital, I've invited people to dinner, I've invited people to movies. I've invited people to come over and I would cook for them, but plans always fall through it seems.

I do get to go out occasionally (like maybe once a month) but more often than not I see people who always profess our best friendship to my face but then never have time when I actually try to plan something.

The closest thing I have to a best friend right now is another mom in the neighborhood who I pay to take Bella to and from school for me.

I feel friendless. It's like my closest friends are virtual and live in my computer. I'm so lonely :(

Blah

2011-01-11T10:59:00.000-06:00

I'm in a bad mood, for no reason, and Maeve has a stomach bug and has already puked 3 times this morning. It's freezing cold outside with hardly any snow. Our fireplace leaks a ton of cold air and I don't want my living room to look even more tacky by covering it with plastic (plus it would make it more difficult to have a fire, and we have a bunch of fire logs we can use right now).
Plus I had lost 7 lbs in the 2 weeks after Thanksgiving but then I stopped watching what I ate and couldn't get into the gym so I gained it all back plus 2 lbs.
I know things will get better shortly but I'm just so tired already. I'm back in school this semester and I decided to go ahead and do online classes. I just couldn't face putting the kids in day care yet. So I'm going to finish all of my gen ed stuff online so I don't have to take them to day care. I'm hoping I will be more comfortable with the idea in the fall. The problem is no matter how annoyed I get with them, I'm just not ready to let someone else take over for any significant period of time.
My kids have never stayed the night at anyone's house (besides vacation and Danny and I were with them). I know I need to let them grow up some, but part of it is that my mom lives so far away it would be a hassle if Bella decided she couldn't handle being at Nana's house at midnight.
Anyway I'm really, really, hoping I'm ready to allow Maeve and Rudy to go to day care in the fall because Tripp and Bella will both be in school and the rest of the classes I will need for my degree will have to be taken on campus. They can't be taken online.
Otherwise I might wait two years and then go back to school. We will see. Rudy starts in Fall 2013... that's not too far away really. And once Tripp is in school this fall I will only have 2 kids at home during the day. That will be a breeze compared to 3 or 4 at home.
Anyway today is just a blah day. Now to go finish getting my classes organized. I don't understand why teachers can't just attach a document instead of creating a webpage with hard to read colors and music playing in the background. I feel sorry for anyone who is color blind and taking History 1493.

Parenting Lessons

2011-01-08T08:58:00.000-06:00

I saw this on a friends facebook page, I couldn't help but laugh.

Lesson 1

1. Go to the grocery store.

2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.

3. Go home.

4. Pick up the paper.

5. Read it for the last time.

Lesson 2

Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their...

1. Methods of discipline.

2. Lack of patience.

3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.

4. Allowing their children to run wild.

5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior.

Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.

Lesson 3

A really good way to discover how the nights might feel...

1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly. (Eat cold food with one hand for dinner)

2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.

3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.

4. Set the alarm for 3AM.

5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial.

6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.

7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.

8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.

9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and be productive)

Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.

Lesson 4

Can you stand the mess children make? T o find out...

1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.

2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.

3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.

4. Then rub them on the clean walls.

5. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it.

6. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?

Lesson 5

Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.

1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.

2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.

Time allowed for this - all morning.

Lesson 6

Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.

1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment.

Leave it there.

2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.

3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.

4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Lesson 7

Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat. Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Lesson 8

1. Hollow out a melon.

2. Make a small hole in the side.

3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.

4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.

5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.

6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.

You are now ready to feed a nine- month-old baby.

Lesson 9

Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street , Barney, Disney, the Teletubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS, the Disney channel or Noggin for at least five years. (I know, you're thinking What's 'Noggin'?) Exactly the point.

Lesson 10

Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying 'mommy' repeatedly. (Important: no more than a four second delay between each 'mommy'; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Lesson 11

Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt- sleeve, or elbow while playing the 'mommy' tape made from Lesson 10 above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.

My Golden Moment

2011-01-01T14:27:00.000-06:00

All my life I have been concerned with what other people think of me. And it has been in an unhealthy manner. I always weighed my actions based on what other people would think of them and how that would affect their opinion of me.

Yesterday I was about to post something that I knew would possibly upset someone and make them think poorly of me even though I felt what I was saying was right a ethically/morally sound.

Instinctively I went to click delete, because that is what I'm used to doing, but before my cursor reached the X, the thought popped into my head "so what? I don't care what they think". And for once in my life that statement was true. It was not self-talk and trying to convince myself to placate any concerns or fears I had about someone no longer liking me, it was a true feeling/emotion. I really did not care what this person thought of me.

It was a beautiful moment. I loved it. It is so freeing to be secure enough in yourself and your belief to not care what someone thinks.

Granted this was not a close friend or a relative, and it will be a while before I am confident enough to truly be myself without fear of rejection, but it is a start.

I hope that my daughters (and my sons, though I think it is more likely to affect my girls) never live in constant fear of other people's judgement. It is a very unhealthy way to live.

Reflections

2010-12-31T10:56:00.000-06:00

I was thinking about the coming year, and reflecting on this past year, and I felt awful. It seems like I've stagnated. I remember saying how I always felt my 27th year would be a significant one. So I went back to read my post

http://mydailyserendipity.blogspot.com/2010/01/expect-it.html

And you know what? I have had a wonderful year.

Some of my goals were:

1. go back to school

I took 12 credits during the fall semester, all online and 3 of the classes were in an 8 week format. I got 1 A and 3 B's and even made the Dean's Honor Roll.

2. I wanted to be smoking hot again

that has not quite happened, but I did lose some more weight and I have gotten a lot of compliments recently on pictures and I'm feeling more like my pre-baby self. So I'll call this a half win :)

3. Get the heck out of Oklahoma.

Obviously did not do this one, but the best part is.... while I still want to move back to California or the DC area, or move to Manhattan, I am happy where we are right now. I am not miserable in Oklahoma. Danny and I have made some wonderful friends (especially the Cogerts, love them!) and I would actually be sad to move and leave my friends behind. We are planning on trying to stay here through out the rest of Danny's schooling. So while I didn't accomplish this, I got something even better, I am happy where I am.

There have been some other important changes in our life. I'm not ready to share some of them, but it has been amazing. I'm so much happier now than I thought I could be. I find that my life has more meaning and more passion.

Most importantly I have realized I am in charge of my life. No one else. I cannot wait for an external force to act upon my life. I can't just hope that things will change. I can't just dream something into being. It takes work, sometimes long, boring, and tedious work, but that is what gets the job done.

I'm looking forward to the future, and while there are always things that could be improved upon, as a whole, I am happy with my life right now. I couldn't ask for a better husband and as crazy as my kids make me sometimes, they are pretty fabulous too, and now I am in school so I will get a little break each day. They are getting older and better able to do the little things for themselves. I know it is only a matter of time before I am lamenting how old they are.

Yes my life is pretty fantastic right now and I have the ability to keep it that way.

Here is hoping that soon I will be able to be even more true to who I am, more authentic, and set an example for my kids that they can follow their dreams, no matter how old they are, no matter what path their life has been on. That is the beauty of the human experience, we make our own way, at any time. We always have a choice.

I wish you all health and happiness and the courage to follow your dreams in the new year!

Happy Holidays

2010-12-26T10:44:00.000-06:00

I stole this from a friend on facebook. I like it lol

"Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best

wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-

stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter

solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of

the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your

choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or

traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or

secular traditions at all.

I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and

medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally

accepted calendar year 2011, but not without due respect for the

calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society

have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is

necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in

the Western Hemisphere . Also, this wish is made without regard to

the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual

preference of the wishee.

To Everybody Else:

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!"

My favorite Christmas tradition

2010-12-24T07:52:00.000-06:00

"Christmas Eve Gift!!!" Those are the words of the day. The sooner you say them, the better. In years past I've been known to call my grandpa at 5 am and when he groggily answers the phone, shout with triumph "Christmas Eve Gift!!!"
So what does that mean? Well it's a bit like it sounds, but not quite. Supposedly whoever says Christmas Eve Gift first out of the whole family (ie myself and my grandpa since no one else ever really cared enough to play lol) gets to open one present on Christmas Eve. Though much to the consternation of my 5 year-old self (oh who am I kidding my 27 year-old self too) the winner (aka me, I don't think Grandpa has ever won, and don't even suggest that he rigs it, I've won fair and square for the past several years...) doesn't actually get to open a present on Christmas Eve. But bragging rights? They be mine!
So you can imagine that when I woke up a few minutes before 7 this morning, even though my kids were still asleep, I snuck out of my room to call Grandpa. He didn't answer (I don't know whether he fell back asleep or if he's avoiding my calls and planning a sneak attack... I'd like to think the latter but most likely he's snoozing in his recliner with CNN on in the background), so now I am waiting to call him again when Bella wakes up, then she and I can shot together "Christmas Eve Gift!!!"

Other traditions we are doing/starting will be, Mexican food for Christmas Eve then baths for the kids and letting them open one present (new pajamas, they do something similar in Danny's family). Then we are making sugar cookies with the kiddos and taking some pictures.

This will be our first year alone for Christmas. Normally we would drive to my grandparents house, but there are 15 of us and my grandpa's living room is sort of small. When I was a kid it would be overflowing with presents. Even with only 7 of us back then, we wouldn't have room to walk. Now that my grandpa is in a wheelchair, and my mom's cousin Mona moved to town (and she needs a walker) and we have 6 kids people are buying presents for, there simply is not enough room and it was becoming hazardous to people's health. And if you know me, I'm in just as much danger of falling and getting hurt as my almost 90-year-old grandfather!
So we are skyping the opening of Christmas presents this year. I'm wondering if we can record while we skype so that everyone can see?
Anyway I still have a ton of gifts to wrap tonight, and I forgot to get stuff for stockings but my mom had them all made for the kids so I'm going to write a letter on the computer in fancy lettering that thanks the kids for the cookies and that says the stockings were left at Nana's house already cause Santa thought we would be there.
So we have presents from my side of the family and from Danny's side of the family, plus some little things we were able to buy (it's super expensive to buy for 4 kids all around the same age... I was very sad we could not buy the oldest 3 a Fisher Price iXL like we wanted too, but I think they will get them sooner rather than later, if not for them, then for my sanity).
So Christmas morning will be pretty magical, even though we have a Charlie Brown Christmas tree (on a side note- I've told Danny and my side of the family, all I want for my birthday is for everyone to pitch in and by me a 9 ft pre-lit tree when they go on sale here in a few days).
I'm very excited, pictures to follow of The Stephen's Magical Christmas!

Me to a T

2010-12-21T11:33:00.000-06:00

I've been compared to a lot of things in my life, among my favorites have been:

A Mary Engelbreit Painting

An O with an exclamation point (O!)

A drama queen

I've been called:

fiery
frisky
feisty
spunky
a spitfire

but I think the thing that describes me best of all would be this quote

‎"I am tolerant, compassionate, and bossy---probably the result of having been lucky all my life. I have, since childhood, always felt the strong support of family and friends---so strong that it has prevented me dwelling on my numerous shortcomings because it's shown me that my shortcomings are acceptable to those I care about."
---from The Cloister Walk by Kathleen Norris

I had a difficult childhood, but mostly I had a lot of love. From my mom, my grandpa, my close friends, and teachers.

I forget sometimes that I am worthy of love. I live in fear that someone, someday, will find out something about me and decide I'm not worth it anymore.

It has happened before, in the past 10 years I thought I was over it. I thought my self-esteem had recovered. It has not.

So I am thankful today for someone posting this quote. It has helped me see that people do love me, otherwise my shortcomings would have made it near impossible for me to have accomplished things in school and at home (though they are rather small accomplishments lol).

Tax Time- written by my friend Austin Mabry

2010-12-06T09:03:00.001-06:00

This was a blog written by my friend Austin Mabry. Austin is a pretty smart guy (sometimes... I kid) Anyway he's a smart guy and I enjoyed reading this. It really puts things into perspective. I am a member of the "we need a flat tax" club. Though I would miss our tax returns (we have 4 kids after all), I think that a flat tax without any deductions or returns would the fairest and least expensive way for our government to acquire a revenue for their budget. I also think it could go a long way in paying off the deficit. We really need to balance the budget and live within our means. Stop spending so much money on frivolous things such as the IRS.

Austin told me that it was written back in 2006, so the numbers may be off compared to 2010, but if anything I believe the numbers would be higher, anyway, I hope you enjoy his post as much as I did,

Tax Time!

A billion seconds ago, it was 1976; the same year Jimmy Carter declared, "Our income-tax system is a disgrace to the human race." By comparison, at the rate our federal government is wasting our money, a billion dollars was just 3 hours ago.

The tax code has reached over 9,000,000 words, or about 60,000 pages. Roughly 40 times longer than the 1,500-page book, War and Peace -- But without the easy reading.

If a speed-reader were to read one page of tax code per minute (forget comprehension), for 8 hours per day, every weekday, it would take him 1.4 years to read the entire tax code. He probably still wouldn't understand a bit of it.

Nevertheless, we continue to add to it. Cuts here, hikes there, refunds, addenda, exemptions, gun control laws, special favors, etc.

The U.S. Treasury Dept. puts the cost of complying with the Tax Code at an estimated $125,000,000,000.00 annually (other estimates are as high as 194,000,000,000,000.00, but what's another $69Billion, right? Lets pretend we trust them, and use their figure of $125Billion. Remember, that is money spent just to get ready to pay taxes. It doesn't count toward actually paying them.

How do we comprehend 125Billion? Well, to give you an idea, 125Billion seconds ago was 1,955 years before Christ walked the earth.

Next time you hear a Democrat complain about the cost of "Bush's war in Iraq", which right now sits at $474Billion (another staggering number), put it into perspective for them. If we took the money which Americans are forced to waste every year in complying with the tax code, and paid it toward "Bush's war", we'd pay it off in a little under 3.8 years. Enough about your "children's children paying for this war"!

And speaking of children...

With $125Billion, you could purchase enough rice to feed every single one of the Seventy-Six Million, Five-Hundred Eleven Thousand, Eight-Hundred Eighty Seven people who are starving in famine-plagued Ethiopia, 3 meals a day for the next 20 years. You could probably throw in steak and lobster every now and then if you were willing to shave off a couple years.

As if the money isn't a big enough waste, we don't just waste $125,000,000,000.00, we also waste 6,600,000,000 man-hours EVERY YEAR. If 125Billion seconds ago was 1955B.C., how long ago was 6.6Billion HOURS? Quite frankly we can't comprehend that amount of time, but for the record, it was 753,424 years ago. Think of the money and products that could be made with that much time. But no, instead we spend that time just filing taxes.

Since we can't fathom 753,424 years, in man-hours by itself, lets get creative.

If the average 1800 sq. ft. home takes an estimated 2,000 man-hours to build; with the hours wasted every year, we could build such a house for every man, woman, and child in Wyoming, Washington DC, Vermont, North Dakota, Alaska, and South Dakota, combined!. And still have enough hours left over to build one for everybody in Pittsburgh, PA. That's 3,300,000 houses!

Literally monumental achievements look like child's play, when compared to such a revolting waste of time and productivity. The American Dream: To try and decipher the tax code... Again.

What could be be doing instead? We could build The Golden Gate Bridge 264 times over, or complete another 942 Empire State Buildings. I wonder how many billion hours we are from discovering a cure for cancer.

I'd like to know how many hours went into the building of the World Trade Center, but all I can find are figures for the cleanup time. The figure is 3.4 million man-hours. We could have done the cleanup 1941 times.

This is probably the only time I will ever say it, but Jimmy Carter was right -- This country's income-tax system is a disgrace to the human race.

A Christmas Ode to My Children

2010-11-29T13:28:00.001-06:00

(To the tune of Deck the Halls)
Get your booty up the stairs
Now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now
I'm gonna pull out all my hair
Now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now
You are acting really bratty
Now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now
So it's time to take a nappy
Now, now, now, now, now, NOW, NOW, NOW, NOWWWWWW

What do you think of flirty women?

2010-10-14T17:41:00.000-05:00

Do they anger you? It seems to me that there is a lack of respect for marriages. When I was single I would have never even imagined flirting with a married man yet I see so many women flirting with guys who have a wife and the women know they it!
It drives me crazy. I want to slap them. It is so disrespectful. I don't care if the guy would never cheat, it is still a skeezy, disgusting thing to do.
I don't care if you "flirt with everyone, even girls". You are still nasty.
I don't care if the guy doesn't respond to your flirting, you are still desperate.
Sure there are a lot of bad guys too, but right now I am pissed at women who blatantly flirt with my husband or I see them flirting with a man I know is married. It's tacky and whorish.

My first Intro to Philosophy assignment

2010-10-12T09:35:00.000-05:00

We were asked to describe what philosophy is and what philosophy is not. Here was my response (it is an online class so it all takes place on a discussion board).

Derived from the Greek words philo (loving) and sophia (wisdom) we have a basic etymology for philosophy as "love of wisdom". Beyond that I think philosophy encompasses many different things.

For me philosophy can be seen as a quest for Truth. Not truth that is subjective to religious confirmation, but Truth that is based in reality, Truth that is absolute and can be proven.

I feel that philosophy promotes humility. Only when we realize exactly how little we "know" can we begin to pursue Truth. One cannot approach philosophy with a mindset that they already have all the answers about God or life, the past or the present. One must be willing to learn and willing to let go of what they once felt was true.

Philosophy can be isolating. Real Truth cannot be denied yet there are many not willing to pursue Truth who will reject anyone who seeks or embraces Truth as opposed to their own personal truth.

Philosophy is the integrity to admit error when found.

Philosophy is not religion, but it can be used to judge the actions of religion. It can judge the intent or consequences of faith.

At one point both math and science were considered philosophy. Math split off into a separate discipline rather early (Pythagoras and his theorem among the earliest) but Science was still considered natural philosophy even into the 19th century.

Philosophy tries to answer the questions that math and science cannot, though like a scientist or a mathematician, philosophers will formulate a hypothesis and set out to prove it using logic and reason.

I think philosophy is not something "known" as people often say with religion, but rather the pursuit of what CAN be known, what CAN be proven.

I believe philosophy is more of a means and not an end.

Frustrated

2010-10-10T22:05:00.000-05:00

I'm so frustrated with my new classes... and they don't even start until tomorrow! Mainly I'm nervous about my Intro to Philosophy class. I feel supremely inadequate. And I have to take proctored tests.
It's amazing how I can research stuff online all day and demolish an argument (if I really feel like it and allow myself to get all haggish) but give me a book and an actual test and I lose my mind.
I'm also nervous about my other two classes but that is mainly cause I don't have all the hardware/software requirements yet and won't until about a week after class (why can't they accept work from a mac? i have office for mac, it can't be that different that Office for windows).
Anyway I hate feeling incompetent and inadequate. I feel like I'm over-reacting but part of me wonders if it's not a healthy does of self doubt.
Anyway I'm really nervous for these next 8 weeks. I can't wait until January and I'm back doing what I know... more interior design, music, and theatre!

Uh Oh

2010-10-09T09:19:00.001-05:00

Rudy woke us up around 3 am because he was burning up with a fever. He was so sad. He wouldn't even take any medicine, not even the chewable tylenol. So we made him a bottle of chocolate milk and put some tylenol in it. He only drank a part of it and he has a fever again. So we got him some strawberry milk (you know, anything yummy enough to make him want to gobble it down) and mixed in some berry flavored motrin. He isn't drinking it though. He is playing a little bit, but mostly snuggling with me and stealing my toast, so at least he will eat. I'm just nervous that it will turn out to be RSV. Ever since we all got it (almost 2 years ago) and Maeve was in the PICU and my grandpa and grandma were both hospitalized with it (and my grandma subsequently died from a hospital acquired case of MRSA while she was there) I've been terrified that every cough is the beginnings of RSV. My grandma at one point during her hospital stay had 7 different types of infections and bounced back from everything but the mrsa. It just showed to me that sometimes the elderly (and young) can fight and fight and have great care but sometimes no matter what you do, it won't be enough.
Now we have the holiday season approaching and my grandpa is in congestive heart failure and is in and out of the hospital and we will be getting together for Thanksgiving and Christmas. We are all worried about spreading even a simple cold to him, but what good is extending ones life if you can't be around the ones you love and who love you?
My thoughts on life and death have changed drstically. No longer am I solely concerned with how I'm living affects any after death rewards, I'm also concerned about how I live my life because of how it affects myself and those around me while I'm here. My grandfather has lived an amazing life. From being born into a super wealthy family with mob connections, to his father losing almost everything when the market crashed, to working on wallstreet when he was 16 with a briefcase handcuffed to him with who knows how much money in it as he would walk to the bank to make deposits. Then after that he joined the merchant marines. He was on ship when the US joined WWII. A man was shot in the stomach and my grandfather had to hold the guys stomach together while the man's wife looked on (this was when merchant marines could transport passengers). Later he fought in Korea. He's walked through minefields and he's seen his ship hit by a rogue wave. Later he and my grandma had 2 little girls. He came home and started working for Dow Chemicals. And when I was born and there was a lot of crazy things happening in my life, he became my number one protector. He taught me how to shoot a rifle (though I know I would be a lousy shot now) and he bought me a slurpie every time I came to visit. To this day I can't see a slurpie machine without smiling :) point being, he has lived a wonderful life. He is a leader, he is kind, and he is strict. He knows there is a time for playing and a time for working, and he expects you to know that as well. I am a better person for having him in my life. I would wager anyone who knows him would say the same. And to me that is what is important. Loving and helping other people. He lived his life by what he could do to help his family and others now, rather than what should he do to set himself up in the hereafter. He is an example of true selflessness. I will be forever grateful for the love he has shown me.

2010-10-07T11:13:00.001-05:00

Music

2010-10-06T16:05:00.001-05:00

Music has always expressed my feeling much more than I ever could. I really miss singing and playing instruments. I was taking a piano class at the beginning of this semester but I had to switch my schedule so I am no longer taking piano.
All my life I have felt so torn between doing what I want to do and with pleasing other people and doing what they expect me to do. I've always gotten a sort of high out of pleasing authority and doing what is asked of me no matter how strict or bizarre or fun. It's probably one of my fatal character flaws and I'm lucky that there was never an adult who took advantage of that at school or church.
Anyway I've lived my life pretty set inside immovable boundaries. Boundaries that I didn't place but none the less agreed to. I never really left that sweet spot, at least not how you would suspect a teenager or early 20 something would do. I sure thought I was a wicked rebel though. It's funny when I tell people stories from being a teenager, especially when they say I was tame or lame compared to a lot of teens.
Even as an adult people will joke around about my naievte and lack of experience.
I was so afraid my entire life of failing. Failure at school, failure in outside activities, failure in friendships, failure at church, etc. I never stopped to really enjoy what I was doing. I was always looking forwards or backwards and never quite learned how to live in the moment. I never learned to be truly thankful for things when they would arrive/happen because I was already planning what course I needed to take next or what went wrong with past plans. I also fail miserably at sticking to a plan. Making and keeping goals has been an issue. As my grandma always said, I have no sticktuitiveness.
It seems like the only real guidelines I've lived by have been those told to me by others. I've never really decided for myself what I want, what I think is right, and what I think is worth fighting for.
One thing I have always been certain of though, is the impact being 27 would have on my life. Whether that is a self-fulfilling procphecy due to my brief infatuation with kurt cobain, or an actual truth I've known my entire life, I am not certain. I have a feeling it is a bit of the former but mostly the latter.
This year has been pretty tame up until the beginning of September. In the past month I have re-evaluated the majority of things I believe about other people, how the world works, and my place in it. I've also started being more faithful to myself and my desires. I've learned to trust my own ability to reason.
I've come out the other side a bit jaded knowing that even not even dear friends who I love and at one point loved me can always be trusted.
I've learned that my husband can always be trusted and that he loves me above everything else. I'm so grateful to have someone in my life who will truly always support me and be there for me.
I've learned that people's perceptions and ideas may be thought more important than someone's feelings or friendship.
I've learned that "truth" can be a dangerous thing, or at least ones belief that they possess a truth that no one can understand.
I've learned that anything goes and promises can be broken as long as "truth" is on your side.
"Truth" can make someone fly a plane into a building, "truth" can make someone refuse to cut their hair, and "truth" can make someone turn their back on a friend.
It's been a heart wrenching journey, one that is not yet finished, and judging my paast instances, may never be.
My personal "truth" is that I am never done seeking truth. Learning is a continual process and when we stop learning we stagnate, stale, and think that we know all there is to know, which is utterly false and absolutely absurd.
Truth may not change but new evidence always needs to be evaluated to see if something is actually true or only supposed to be true because there was no evidence otherwise.
Also truth should not be fear. If it is true, it will withstand scrutiny.
And last but not least I believe that faith should fill in the gaps, not substitute reality. I continue to have faith but I cannot in good conscience deny parts of an equation when trying to reach a conclusion.
Anyway I'm going to finish up school and have decided to focus on music in addition to my interior design degree as music is my best means of expressing the things of my soul. For now Disney will have to do :D

My path has changed and so have I
I've learned to choose and even learned to say goodbye
The path ahead so hard to see,
it winds and bends but where it ends, depends on only me
-Pocahontas II

Update

2010-09-28T10:12:00.000-05:00

So I've been ignoring pretty much everyone and everything for the past few weeks. Pretty much the whole month of September I've been out of the loop. I haven't even been on facebook that much.
I just haven't felt like it. There is a lot of inner turmoil going on right now as I am reassessing how I see the world.
Anyway I have also stopped doing as much cardio as I had been in order to do more weight training. We have been sick off and on for about a month too. The kids have had a stomach virus and some type of virus where they get a fever and it is pretty high but then we give them motrin and the next morning it is gone and doesn't come back.
The problem is that it hits on a different day for each kid.

Hopefully we won't get sick too much more this fall, but I'm not holding my breath.

I've been doing a lot of TRX suspension training lately. It is so hard but it looks so easy. It's very deceptive to just watch someone do it. I sweat as much if I were full on sprinting for a minute.
We generally do one minute of each exercise and then have a 10 second rest if we are switching sides or a 30 second rest if we are switching to a different exercise. About ever 10 minutes we might get a full minute rest to get a drink or wipe the sweat off.

Here is an example of some of the exercises we do. There are probably at least 100 exercises you can do with TRX and it is a total body workout because you need to stabilize every muscle for every exercise. It is a great core workout too.

TRX's website is www.fitnessanywhere.com

My World is Changing, I'm Rearranging

2010-09-13T18:49:00.000-05:00

The title says it all. My life is so much different now than just a few weeks ago. I see things in a completely different light that is refreshing and making me a better person. Some might not believe it, but the internal change I've experienced has made me love myself and maybe more importantly, others, even more.
Life is beautiful!

Imaginary kids and why I'm going to school

2010-08-09T23:08:00.002-05:00

Bella, bless her heart, does not have an imaginary friend... she has imaginary kids. Five of them. I'm about to lose my mind.
Bella's kids must be really tiny because Tripp loves to "snatch them away". Bella will be across the other side of the house and Tripp will just look at her, grin wickedly, and "snatch" at the air with his hands and she starts to scream.
Then he runs around the house, and she chases him shrieking at the top of her lungs, "give me my kids back! mommy he snatched my kids". All the while, Tripton is shrieking with joy and laughter. Then Maeve starts running in circles with them, cause apparently that's the hip thing to do these days... run in circles.
Then Rudy tries to run with them as well which normally ends with him getting knocked down and he starts to cry.
I on the other hand am yelling, Tripp give Bella back her kids. That's right, I get drawn into an argument over a figment of a 4 year olds imagination.
Oh I've tried "snatching them back" alright, but then, even though I tell Bella I cast a magic spell so Tripp can't take them, he will just laugh wickedly and "snatch them" right back. Apparently he knows the key to unlocking my magic spell. If this were Hogwart's I'd be like a Ravenclaw or something.
So it starts all over again. All over 5 imaginary kids. They are freaking invisible.
I could just scream! And I do.
Now Tripp has something imaginary. I don't know if it's a toy or what, but Maeve seeing Tripp be ornery to Bella, has decided to be ornery towards him, and snatch his imaginary object.
This is my world every day and I'm 99% certain that one day I will snap and shave my head bald and start throwing spaghetti.
So while I know Rudy seems young to be going into childcare, but I honestly can't handle it anymore. There are people who hint around that I'm being a bad mom by going back to school, but you know what? I'm still doing it. My kids won't even be gone that long. Depending on how I'm feeling, and how much homework I have to do, that might only be gone 4 hours in a given day. Especially Rudy. I will probably pick him up earlier than the other kids.
So anyway, before you judge me, try chasing after a son who has "snatched" 5 imaginary kids... for 3 hours. That's right, 3 hours. Once you've done that... we can talk.

How to bring sexy back: Week 1 (but sort of week 2)

2010-08-07T21:14:00.000-05:00

Last week (I'm counting weeks as Monday through Saturday) was when I started my quest to finish the race to zion by my birthday. Last week I lost 3.8 lbs and biked around 45 miles.
This week was when I decided to try and finish it by the end of the semester (December 11th) but subsequently decided to only try to finish 1000 miles instead of all 1297 since I had to miss 2 days due to mad cow disease infecting our children...okay really it is hand, foot, and mouth, which is different than mad cow (hoof and mouth) but they are acting more like they have gone mad, so whatever.
So this week I again rode 45 miles (but I did it in 4 days instead of 6, woo hoo me!) but I only lost 1.6lbs even though my diet has been super good this week.
Danny said he had been reading a study that showed the body would go into a protective mode around this time and cling to it's energy stores (aka blubber) and make it harder to lose weight. Supposedly it doesn't last that long, so here's hoping, cause I wanted to lose 2 lbs this week.
However I am down a total of 5.4 lbs and have ridden 90 miles in the past 2 weeks. So that is really exciting for me.
Plus I've already seen some changes in my waistline.

I'm going to do my measurements tonight, and then do them once a week. I will post the differences in my weekly weigh in post, and then under the weightloss tab I will keep a running total of all weight and inches lost.
Please help keep me on track. I really want to lose a total 41.6 lbs by December (which is around 2.01 lbs week now that I've already lost 5.4 lbs)

2 lbs a week is a totally realistic and healthy goal and will put me within 10 lbs of my goal weight.

I'm noticing too that my body composition is different than before I ever got pregnant. I believe that even with 10 lbs left to my goal weight, I will have already reached my pre-pregnancy size of clothes (I'm only 2.5 sizes away right now). It seems crazy to me that I would lose 40+ lbs and only drop 2.5 pants sizes, so that is where my conclusion comes from. Especially since at Christmas time I weighed only 8 lbs less than I do now and I was a size smaller. So I wouldn't be surprised if I lost about 3-4 sizes (though you also have to remember I have this crazy ugly mommy tummy due to my 4 inch muscle separation in my abs so I'm not quite certain).
So forgive me if the majority of my posts relate to weight loss and exercise for the next 18 weeks. I promise to try and throw in some other, more interesting things.
I am planning on finishing my questionnaire for my online friends, and I still have a few more real life friends who need to finish and send their answers back to me.
I'm also going to finally import my blogs from myspace. I will try to do at least one a week and try to give a little back ground on what was happening at that time.

The only thing that stays the same is change

2010-08-06T23:19:00.000-05:00

I've been working real hard this week on getting my 60 miles done. Unfortunately since the kids are sick, I've had to miss two days. It is really hard going to the gym around 8 in the evening after taking care of sick kids all day and staying up late with a crying baby.
Hopefully they will all be better by Monday and we will be able to go to the gym at a normal time and all together.
Since I have only done 34 of the 60 miles, and I'm not riding 26 miles tomorrow, I have re-evaluated the whole situation.
Sure at some point I might be able to make up the 10-16 miles I'll be lacking from this week (I'm not quite certain how far I will ride tomorrow), but there will be plenty of times in the near future when I might have to skip out again. I try my hardest to go, but with the kids enrolling in school/pre-school in the next few weeks, we are bound to have more sick days, which means I might very well get sick too!
Anyway, I will try to make them up, but for now I am altering my goal.
My original goal was to complete 1297 miles before my birthday on Jan 31st. Then I decided to try and get all 1297 miles done by December 12th (the day after the last day of the semester).
Now I think my goal will be to finish 1000 miles by December 11th, and having finished 214 miles already (but we will say 225 since I will probably do 11 tomorrow and that's a nice round number) so subtract 225 from 1000 and you get 775. Divide by 18 weeks equals 43.05 miles a week, round up to 45 and divide by 6 days a week I will ride, and you get 7.5 miles a day. Which might not seem like a huge difference, but it is much more manageable.
I also know that I will probably do more like 10 a day still, but at least I will have a mileage cushion incase I or something else gets sick.
I'm still working on losing those 2 lbs a week and I'm proud to say that I believe I will have reached my goal tomorrow (unless water retention plays a factor... kwim? sorry TMI I know). I have already lost 1.6 lbs since last week and I have lost some inches as well (but only from doing ab work which is tightening my abs).
So those are the changes to my goals.
Even if I only get in 45 miles this week, it will still be pretty awesome to know I've gone 90 miles in 14 days.
Might seem like a short distance when you compare it to a car, but 10 miles on a bike at one time is no joke, at least not to a mom of 4 with back problems like myself.... ok, ok, and I'm a little fat right now too, but I'm changing that ;)
So keep me motivated!

Meet my Besties: The Ashley Edition

2010-08-04T11:31:00.001-05:00

Aren't they such a cute couple? This is Ashley and her awesome husband Tony

I swear this girl looks good with any color of hair, it's been black, brown, blonder, red, multi-color... she's just too cute for words, love her! Can't wait to see you next summer Ash!

1. How did we meet?

Tony and I picked you and Danny and Bella up for church

2. What were your first impressions of me?

I thought you were sweet and that you would be a fun couple to hang out with. I fell madly in love with Bella immediately!

(I was excited too but nervous cause you were so cute and so stylish and I was severely pregnant with Tripp and I had on no makeup that day and I had just brushed my hair into a bun. But you were so sweet!)

3. Are you a early bird or a night owl?

Major night owl!

4. What is your favorite quote?

"All is fair in love and war" -Marilyn Monroe

5. Favorite store to spend $100?

MAC

6. Favorite beauty product?

Currently Clinique all about eyes serum de-puffing masque

(Ooh is that any good? I need something for my eyes since I never get enough sleep. I've been crushing caffeine pills sometimes and using them, but it takes a while. I am also in desperate need of a pore minimizer without sunscreen. Seriously, not everyone buys into the whole the sun is bad theory and I don't want my face to be white while the rest of me is tan. It's sunBURNS that are bad people, not suntans).

7. If you could change any moment in your life, what would it be?

The moment when my stretch marks showed up. If we could skip that whole dilemma that would be fantastic thanks!

(Me too sister... er, my stretch marks I haven't seen yours, though I bet like everything else about you they are super cute!)

8. Who would you rather date, Zach Morris, or AC Slater?

Zach Morris

9. What is one trend that has left you a fashion victim?

Skinny jeans, I mean really, how skinny do you have to be to make these look good?

(I know, they are just wrong... though Bella looks super cute with her little ghetto booty when she wears hers. Hers always fall down cause her waist is so much smaller than her bum lol)

10. Your guilty indulgence?

German Chocolate brownies topped with bear tracks ice cream and caramel...mmmmm;)

11. If you could have any one designer item for free, what would you choose?

Betsy Johnson Mimi shoes in natural/pink

(Girl they are 60% off over at shoes.com and they have a size 6 left... you can wear a six right? that's the only size they have left... go check them out! Have you seen the Risky's? They have the pink sole with a picture of Marilyn on the bottom and a gold bow on the bottom of the arch! So sad they don't have them in my size :( I might have to cry)

12. What is your idea of a perfect day?

One spent with good friends or family doing something outdoors or shopping with friends without kids and a lot of $$ :)

(wish you were here to go school clothes shopping with me... Bella and I are going to have a blast!)

13. Do you have a favorite brand of jeans?

Paper Denim and Cloth

14. What is your favorite memory of us?

All of the late night Wal-mart trips :)

(hah and Danny and Tony would be like, what took so long to get ice cream haha).

15. What is one goal that you have?

To loose 15-20 Lbs by November

(me too haha well actually I want to loose 26 pounds by November)

16. Stilettos or ballet flats?

Stilettos!

17. Favorite department store?

Nordstrom

(Mine too! I so wish they would get one out here... I'm having Nordie's withdrawals!)

18. What is your favorite song?

I hope you dance by Lee Ann Womack

19. Who is your celebrity crush?

Adam Sandler, he always makes me laugh :)

(Funny guys are the best! That's one of the reasons I love Danny so much!)

20. Favorite brand of make-up?

MAC

(Me too! Though I did love Prescriptives custom foundation... RIP now I have to order it online but I don't remember my "prescription" boo and I am more tan now double boo)

Hand, Foot, AND Mouth... oh my

2010-08-03T11:10:00.000-05:00

Both Rudy and Bella have hand, foot, and mouth disease. It is nothing like Foot and Mouth or Hoof and Mouth, or Mad Cow's disease.
Anyway there is the possibility that we will all get it before it is over. One of the symptoms is excessive drooling, hence Rudy's shirt. He has to change shirts about every hour or so. I would just leave him out of a shirt but I can't imagine it feels much better to have running slobber all over your chest.
I spoke with my mother-in-law, Kaylene, and she said she thinks Danny has had it before.
I really hope he has so that he doesn't get it again. It has an incubation period of 2-6 days and then can last from a few days up to 10 and sometimes even 2 weeks. Plus babies are still contagious afterwards through their diapers.
It's going to be along couple of weeks. I just wish that if we are all going to get it that it would hit the kids all at once and then me once they are in school. I can miss the first week of classes as far as I know so I should be okay at that point and then I can just sleep all day instead of trying to comfort sick kids as well.
There is nothing worse than being sick as a mom (well I'm sure there is, but you know how I like exaggeration and extremism, so go with it). There is no one to take care of you because someone still has to work and make money so you don't get behind financially, and someone still has to take care of the kids. Then when Danny gets home, he takes care of the kids so I am generally on my own because that is a full time job to get them fed and to sleep.
I know our husband's would wait on us hand and foot when we are sick if they were able to, but it's when I'm sick that I miss my own mom the most.
Anyway, I'm still going to try to get my 60 miles in this week. I am going to try and do 12 a day so if I do get sick later in the week I will be ahead.
So keeps us in your thoughts, send good vibes that we make it through the hand, foot, and mouth, epidemic of 2010... I can only imagine what putting four kids in school/child care for the first time will bring about. I imagine we will spend August 16th-October in the doctor's office. I just hope they build up their immunity fast so in the next few years they are sick less and less.

Mary, Mary, quite contrary...

2010-08-02T17:50:00.000-05:00

Why do people feel the need to be contrary simply because they dislike you? What purpose does it serve? Especially when it's a stretch to reach a certain conclusion. Thank goodness I'm not alone in my opinions.

When thoughts become actions, goals become reality...

2010-08-01T17:41:00.000-05:00

This past week I've lost 3.8 lbs. I finally started going back to the gym and working out hard. I've also started eating better, mainly because I've found a few healthy things that are very filling, and I love, so I don't feel deprived. Though I don't know what I will do once I've gotten sick of these two meals.

Anyway, I'm doing really well on the Race to Zion challenge. I've done 180 miles since some time in May, which seems pretty lousy, until you realize 77 of those miles have been done in the past 2 weeks and 45 of those miles have been done in the last week.

So my goals are as follows

Lose at least 2 lbs (on average) a week for the next 19 weeks

Run/Bike 58.7 miles a week to reach my 1297 miles by December 11th.

So keep me motivated and accountable!

Meet my Besties: The Brittany Edition!

2010-07-27T09:41:00.001-05:00

She and her husband are such a striking couple!

(probably my favorite picture ever of Brittany, she is such a great mom, and so fun too!)

1. How did we meet? At Zach and Sarah's Wedding Reception. You were so preggo.
(I think there is a bit of confusion here, or I was really fat at the time, though I was only around 13 weeks and had only gained about 5 pounds since it was my first... though I was a lot more pregnant for her wedding... something like 21 weeks so perhaps that is what is being remembered... at least I hope lol)

2. What were your first impressions of me? I felt bad that you had a jerk of a husband. Or at least his friend (Chris/Cree or whatever the heck you call him) was a total jerk. Or perhaps both.

(my husband's friend Chris (though most everyone calls him Cree) lacks an internal filter. Danny had mentioned this girl to Cree, who had wanted to date Danny, and being a 21 year old guy had said "yeah, maybe if she loses some weight first". Obviously not Danny's most shining moment, but Cree thought is was about me, and said so at the table we were all sitting at during the wedding reception, causing my pregnant hormones to go out of control and me to fly off on my broom in a righteous rage. Turns out I know who Danny was talking about, and while I disagree with any guy saying that about any girl, I can see why he said it. It was more because she was annoying rather than looks. Okay I'm doing trying to make excuses for my husband, it was wrong... but again, he was 21)

3. Are you a early bird or a night owl? Early bird, but turning into a never sleeps bird.

4. What is your favorite quote? My name is Inigo Montoya. You keel'd my fadda; prepare to die!

5. Favorite store to spend $100? right now? motherhood. when not preggo? Hmmm I'll let you know after I lose the baby fat.

6. Favorite beauty product? sleep. beauty sleep.
(great answer! how come babies don't come with a surgeon general's warning outlining what lack of sleep can do to a person? I mean seriously, these bags and circles under my eyes have got to go!)

7. If you could change any moment in your life, what would it be? getting into debt.
(me too sister, me too!)

8. Who would you rather date, Zach Morris, or AC Slater? neither. I'd stay single.

9. What is one trend that has left you a fashion victim? I'm not sure....

10. Your guilty indulgence? carbohydrates. All of them.
(Brittany is diabetic and pregnant... I know that must be so hard on her)

11. If you could have any one designer item for free, what would you choose? shoes. I love shoes. Any kind will do.

(I know, shoes always look good on you, no matter how much you weigh, or if you have on any make-up. They even look good when you have black roots showing on blonde hair, they are a now fail, pick me up!)

12. What is your idea of a perfect day? Sleeping in (probably only until 930) being able to eat whatever I want without a high blood sugar. No kids. Shopping and crafting involved. Eating out with Nick.

13. Do you have a favorite brand of jeans? Hmm, I think I like Apt 9 ok from kohls or whatever the name is.
(I'll have to try those out when I finish losing this weight!)

14. What is your favorite memory of us? I have a lot of good ones. Though I enjoyed when we played DDR at Nick's aunt and uncle's house and Bella was just a teeny spitty thing. Thanksgiving I believe.
(I know that was a super fun night with you guys and zach and sarah and nick and zach's aunt and uncle and cousin! We have DDR but it's not very fun playing by yourself, I wish we lived nearby, I bet we could both get the baby weight off with daily DDR challenges!)

15. What is one goal that you have? To get down to 125 lbs.
(similar to my goal to lose 26 lbs my next goal after that is to lose 30 lbs but I broke it up into two goals so I can see success sooner).

16. Stilettos or ballet flats? stilettos, nice and sexy ones.
(me too, stillettos should be called get a man shoes!)

17. Favorite department store? I'm not sure.

18. What is your favorite song? Right now? It'd probably be "What Do You Want from Me?" -Adam Lambert.

19. Who is your celebrity crush? Don't have one. Nick's good enough for me. He's probably better than all those celebs out there combined.

20. Favorite brand of make-up? Cover girl maybe. Not too picky if it does its job.

The Definition of Cruel and Unusual Punishment

2010-07-27T09:23:00.000-05:00

Cruel and Unusual Punishment: Adverb, Verb

The act of only picking up trash 2 days a week (very upsetting to parents who have 3 children in diapers, who poop like it is their job).
The insult of a 6 am collection time when most parents are desperately grasping for those last remaining vestiges of sleep.
The requirement that one must wake at an unholy hour to set out trash for pickup so as to not have their garbage attacked by a menagerie of wild animals
Awakening to a yard littered with yesterday's diapers and Saturday's rotten broccoli.
Forgetting to wake at said unholy hour, resulting in piles of trash bags taking up residence in ones garage, all the while emitting an odor that would make the dead gag.
Opening one's garage door while lugging 10 bags of garbage only to see the trash truck driving away .
The resulting tearing of trash bags on garage door as one chases the truck
The look of superiority given by the man hanging on the back of the truck that says "you should have set your alarm".
The feeling of murderous rage and no way to release it since garbage man is long gone.

Meet my Besties: The Carli Edition!

2010-07-26T12:38:00.001-05:00

(She is a natural red-head folks, gorgeous huh? Just like all of my lovely friends!)

1. How did we meet?
First day of 6th grade. I walked in on you in the bathroom and you called me
Parly for the first week. :)
(I swear I heard our teachers say Parly lol and I thought I was going to die as I sat there peeing and the bathroom stall opened... but it was friendship at first sight haha)

2. What were your first impressions of me?
I always thought you were super glamorous and worldly, teaching me
things like putting vaseline on your teeth to make your smile "brighter" haha.
(Perhaps that is why my dentist says I have the smoothest teeth he's ever seen? I moisturized them haha)

3. Are you a early bird or a night owl?
Night Owl. I'd sleep all day and be up all night if I could.

4. What is your favorite quote?
Smile at a stranger, it may be the only sunshine they see all day.

5. Favorite store to spend $100?
Walmart.com or Torrid.com

6. Favorite beauty product?
Too Faced foundation brush and any non sticky lipgloss.

7. If you could change any moment in your life, what would it be?
There's too many to pick just one. All embarrassing. :)

8. Who would you rather date, Zach Morris, or AC Slater?
Zach Morris then, AC now. Growl.

9. What is one trend that has left you a fashion victim?
Remember my purple stirrup pants at the science fair?
(girl they totally got me too! I think I had more than one pair actually... I vaguely remember a pair of green stirrup pants a green sweater and a pair of green suede shoes... that's right, GREEN SUEDE!!! that sound you hear is me gagging)

10. Your guilty indulgence?
chicken nuggets.

11. If you could have any one designer item for free, what would you choose?
Any of Betsey Johnson's plus sized line from this season. The lingerie is
sooo cute.
(All of Betsey Johnson's stuff is so happy!)

12. What is your idea of a perfect day?
One that I sleep through. I wake up and get dressed up for an early dinner
with friends then we all go out and have a girls night.

13. Do you have a favorite brand of jeans?
Avenue Divine Denim. It has the perfect amount of stretch to hold
you in, but still be able to move in.

14. What is your favorite memory of us?
Gravy chair. hah
(hahahah ok, I so badly want to tell this story, but I won't, it is not my story to tell)

15. What is one goal that you have?
To take over my parents company someday.

16. Stilettos or ballet flats?
Ballet Flats.

17. Favorite department store?
I don't like dept stores.

18. What is your favorite song?
Weak by SWV. lol
(I get so weak in the knees I can hardly speak I lose all control and something takes over me, in a daze it is so amazing it's not a phase I want you to stay with me, by my side I swallow my pride, your love is so sweet, it knocks me right off of my feet, ohhhh off my feet, I can't explain why your loving makes me weak.... truly a great song, good choice)

19. Who is your celebrity crush?
Ryan Reynolds. Yum.

20. Favorite brand of make-up?
Too Faced, Stila, Sephora, Urban Decay...too many to pick one.

Meet my Besties: The Amanda (Mandy) Edition

2010-07-25T07:52:00.000-05:00

Sexually assaulting her husband (they are on of the funniest couples I know, love to hang out with them!)

(some random photo I stole from her facebook account. the caption had to do with chopsticks, perhaps she will enlighten us one day lol. Anyway she is a funny girl, so I'm sure there was a lot of laughter going on when this picture was taken)

1 How did we meet? I moved in with you (tis true, we had never really spoken before. I was looking for some roommates after the 2 girls who signed the lease with me backed out and being 19 I decided to look for more roommates without telling the landlord and I decided to make it mini-BYU and have 2 girls per room. Mandy came along with another girl who we ended up not getting along with very well, but I am thankful cause I met Mandy! And even though I was a hateful hag at times, she wasn't that innocent either, she still let me borrow her awesome Calvin Klein suit jacket... I was haute in it!)

2. What were your first impressions of me? She seems cool (what about that time you told me I was the girl you loved to hate? best compliment ever!)

3. Are you a early bird or a night owl? Night owl for sho!

4. What is your favorite quote? I never said it would be easy, i only said it would be worth it.

5. Favorite store to spend $100? Does the mall count? If not then Ulta :)

6. Favorite beauty product? Paul Mitchel Super Skinny (MMMmmm I could huff super skinny all day!)

7. If you could change any moment in your life, what would it be? The day i let my parents take me out of school.

8. Who would you rather date, Zach Morris, or AC Slater? Then Zach Now Ac

9. What is one trend that has left you a fashion victim? Shoulder Pads

10. Your guilty indulgence? Chocolate milk-shakes from Braums ( YUM )

11. If you could have any one designer item for free, what would you choose? Gucci sunglasses

12. What is your idea of a perfect day? A day i feel fully energized and happy. (wouldn't that be a dream? when did we get dark circles and bags under our eyes? There should be a surgeon general's warning about that on babies)

13. Do you have a favorite brand of jeans? Right now its New York and CO

14. What is your favorite memory of us? When we accidentally forced our roomies to room with each other.
( he he ) (I don't know why they thought we were so evil, they got a long super well too. it wasn't like we did it on purpose, you just started sleeping in my bed... wait that sounds weird)

15. What is one goal that you have? To find a career i feel passionate about.

16. Stilettos or ballet flats? Ballet flats

17. Favorite department store? Target (go figure)

18. What is your favorite song? Paramore Only exception

19. Who is your celebrity crush? Eric Bana

20. Favorite brand of make-up? Tricky question. I wear Too faced eyeshadow, Sephora tinted moisturizer, and some other brand of concealer. (does this concealer work on eye bags and dark circles? I'm at a loss as to what to do)

Meet My Besties: The Beatriz Edition!

2010-07-23T14:27:00.000-05:00

So I stole this idea from Mormon in Manhattan For the next few days, weeks, months, etc (however long it takes to get the surveys back), I'm going to be introducing you to my besties! So far I've only sent surveys to people who I know in real life, but I have a few besties that I've met through cafemom, so I'm working on a survey for them too that will be a bit more techy.

First up: BEATRIZ

This is a picture of Beatriz and I about 10 years ago at a church dance in Ft. Smith. Aren't we so cute? And Beatriz has the most gorgeous hair, I'm super envious of it!

Look at this gorgeous girl! Admit it, you wish your friend was this cute! (ignore the water damage, this photo was scanned).

1. How did we meet?

We met one dark and stormy night. At church...

2. What were your first impressions of me?
Um....you know this...at first I wasn't a fan of Naomi. It took about 6 months or maybe longer for me to warm up to you.
(I was so sad, I couldn't figure out why you didn't like me, but I am so glad we became besties!)

3. Are you a early bird or a night owl?
I'm more of an afternoon peacock...

4. What is your favorite quote?
"People don't sing because they are happy, they are happy because they sing." Don't know who said it.

5. Favorite store to spend $100?
Oh goodness....I could spend $100 in any store...but if I have to pick just one....Target.

6. Favorite beauty product?
Really? Have you seen me recently? I don't need products to make me beautiful. (This is so true, Beatriz is a haute momma!) Although I do like to wear perfume.

7. If you could change any moment in your life, what would it be?
Oh gosh....there are too many! I would say...a moment I had in a hot tub one time...I'll just leave it at that.

8. Who would you rather date, Zach Morris, or AC Slater?
Man...this is a hard question....I would have to go with Zach Morris...for two reasons. 1. He had an AWESOME cell phone! 2. He didn't have a jerry curl mullet!

9. What is one trend that has left you a fashion victim?
Um....I don't know. I don't think I've ever really embraced any trends.

10. Your guilty indulgence?
Twilight...

11. If you could have any one designer item for free, what would you choose?
A L.V. purse

12. What is your idea of a perfect day?
My kids letting me sleep in and then when I get up, the house is all clean and my children are angels and do what they are asked to do and don't fight and listen! That would be the perfect day! (wouldn't that be wonderful? me too girl!)

13. Do you have a favorite brand of jeans?
I used to like getting my jeans from Lane Bryant, but now they've gotten all funky on how the sell them...so I don't know

14. What is your favorite memory of us?
Man that's a hard one...I think it would have to be just about every time we get together. I always laugh and have a good time with you! (Okay someone is forgetting our impromptu ballet/lyrical interpretation of "My Heart will go On"... I mean, that's the stuff legends are made of people.)

15. What is one goal that you have?
To finish school and to be an awesome Mom and teacher.
(I have no doubt she will do this, she is already an awesome mom, and she's super smart too!)

16. Stilettos or ballet flats?
Shoot....ballet flats....I'm almost 6 ft tall...I do not need any shoes to make me taller!

17. Favorite department store?
Does Target count?

18. What is your favorite song?
I don't think I can pick just one because I have too many....I never get tired of hearing Let It Be though... (love that song!)

19. Who is your celebrity crush?
Does Edward Cullen count? Not Rob Pattinson...I'm talking about the actual character...I less than 3 him!!! (Team Edward LMAO)

20. Favorite brand of make-up?
I don't wear make-up so I don't have a favorite brand.

Blessings

2010-07-23T13:53:00.000-05:00

I'm so blessed, seriously, I am.
I was paying bills today and checked and we had already paid our electric bill that was due on Aug 5th. So I was happy that I wouldn't have to put any of this paycheck towards that bill since the next time we will owe something will be around September 5th. Then I noticed it said account balance ($94) so i called PSO and asked what that meant since our bill said our total due is $0. She said we have a $94 credit on the account! I guess what happened was we had a huge bill and I asked about the average payment plan so I could budget our utility expenses more easily and when they did that they credited us for the previous month. Everything is on the up and up and we have a $94 and something credit to go towards september and our average payment plan is only $89 so we will even have $5 on our October statement.
Yay for not having another PSO payment until around October 5th!

And then today at the gym one of Danny's clients who is super awesome and fun to talk to, gave me two huge Hefty bags full of clothes for Maeve and Rudy (some of the stuff might fit Tripp and Bella too, but most of it will be for Rudy and Maeve). And it's all super nice stuff, some of it still has tags on it. And it's all Janie and Jack and Baby Gap and Gymboree and even some Crewcuts stuff (J. Crew Kids). So I won't need to buy a lot of fall/winter clothes for Maeve and Rudy. And because there is so much stuff (for Rudy especially) and because all of my babies thin out between the time they start to walk and around age 2, most of the stuff will fit Rudy next winter as well!

It's been such a great day, and Danny gets done at 5pm! Yay!

Dear random D-bag at the gym

2010-07-22T19:34:00.002-05:00

I know it's cool to have an iPhone (though being a Crackberry addict, I have to say it's not quite as cool as it could be), however, if in the future, you would refrain from talking non-stop on your iPhone(cause really, it only ups the d-baggery quotient) then perhaps you would expel more sweat while working out, than tanning. That's right you grosser! You thought you were so cool (ironic considering you were wearing burgandy sweat pants on July 22nd with a heat index of 103 and humidity hovering around 80%) that you could leave your puddle of stank on the lay down bed.
Seriously, where you raised in a barn?
Call it my mothering instinct but I have a huge desire to put your stanky arse in time out.
Love and Hygiene,
Naomi

Run to Zion

2010-07-22T11:42:00.007-05:00

Some women and I are having a "race" to see who can walk/run/bike/exercise their way across the Pioneer trail. I believe everyone that is participating is LDS (mormon) but anyone is welcomed to join.

Background:

"THE MORMON PIONEER TRAIL

Few years in the Far West were more notable than 1846. That year saw a war start with Mexico, the Donner-Reed party embark on their infamous journey into a frozen world of indescribable horror, and the beginning of the best organized mass migration in American history. The participants of this migration, the Mormons, would establish thriving communities in what was considered by many to be a worthless desert.

From 1846 to 1869, more than 70,000 Mormons traveled along an integral part of the road west, the Mormon Pioneer Trail. The trail started in Nauvoo, Illinois, traveled across Iowa, connected with the Great Platte River Road at the Missouri River, and ended near the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Generally following pre-existing routes, the trail carried tens of thousands of Mormon emigrants to a new home and refuge in the Great Basin. From their labors arose the State of Deseret, later to become the Utah Territory, and finally the State of Utah."

The Rules

Walk/Run/Bike/Exercise your way across all 1297 miles of the Mormon Pioneer Trail. Anyone who makes it is a winner.

Each mile or every 15 minutes of exercise count towards this goal (as most people can generally walk a 15 minute mile).

Me So far:

Nauvoo (Start)

Sugar creek (7)

Richardson’s point (35)

Chariton River Crossing (80)

Locust Creek (103)

Garden Grove (128)
Mount Pisgah (153)

(7/31 180.02 miles so far!)

Nishnabotna River crossing (232)

Grand Encampment (255)

Council Bluffs (265)

Winter Quarters (266)

Elkhorn River Crossing (293)

Platte River (305)

Loup Fork (352)

Fort Kerny (469)

(9/22 476 miles)

Confluence Point (563)

Ash Hallow (646)

Chimney Rock (718)

Scotts Bluff (738)

Fort Laramie (788)

Upper Platte (Mormon) Ferry (914)

Red Buttes (940)

Sweetwater Rive r(964)

Independence Rock (965)

Devils Gate (970)

Martins Cove (993)

Rocky Ridge (1038)

Rock Creek (1048)

South Pass (1065)

Green River: Lombard Ferry (1128)

Fort Bridger (1183)

Bear River Crossing (1216)

The Needles (1236)

Echo Canyon (1246)

Big Mountain (1279)

Golden Pass Road (1281)

Emigration Canyon (1283)

Salt Lake Valley (1297)

It would be great if I could finish by my birthday

(January 31st) but that would require 44 miles a week. If I

were to commit to 4 miles a day 6 days a week, that would be

24 miles and leave another 20 miles a week. I might be able

to do it on the bike, but I'm not making any promises.

Rewards:

At 250, 500, and 1000 miles we will have t-

shirts that say something along the lines of

Run to Zion 500 mile club.

At 1297 miles we will have shirts that say

something along the lines of, " I Ran to Zion".

Of course there are many more valuable

rewards. Being healthier, having more

discipline, being happier (exercise always

produces those feel good endorphins), and a

smokin' hot body is a plus as well!

Target Diapers

2010-07-22T10:53:00.000-05:00

We have 3 kids who are in diapers at the moment. At this point we go through approximately 82 diapers a week. Rudy being 1 needs more diapers than Maeve (2) or Tripp (just turned 3).

Maeve can will always tell us when she needs to go poo but will consistently pee on the floor. She hasn't figured out how to "turn on" her pee, if you will. Tripp on the other hand can pee in the potty pretty much on command. However he requests diapers when he has to poo. I don't know why. I think he might be embarrassed. I don't want to push him because I have heard of kids getting even more embarrassed and then developing chronic constipation issues etc. So I don't. Tripp gets a diaper at nap time and bed time (cause he seems more comfortable pooing in privacy lol). He also gets one during the day if he really whines for one cause I know that means he needs to poo.

Bella has been wearing pull ups most nights because she is a deep sleeper and doesn't wake up easily to go pee. She would have maybe 2 dry nights a week, even if were stopping fluid intake around 6 pm (she goes to sleep around 8:30) she would still have problems, even going to the bathroom right before bed.

However recently I ran out of pull ups and decided to give it another try. We've had 4 nights in a row that have been dry! Hooray! And last night she had a full cup of milk right before bed time! I'm contemplating not buying any pull ups for her when I go to the store later. We will see.

Anyway, that is neither here nor there. This is supposed to be a review of target diapers.

I've been a loyal Huggies user since Bella was about 10 months old.

When Bella was first born we used Pampers swaddlers (and I love how soft they are and the mesh that keeps stuff away from the skin). We used pampers because that is what they had in the hospital. So we continued to buy them. But Bella has super pee or something because diaper would always feel damp on the outside. MOIST even (lol that was for you Ginanne).

Plus we were super poor at this time. So I thought, let's give the wal-mart diapers a try. We bought the White Cloud diapers and loved them. They had these cute John Lennon designs on them and they never felt damp like the pampers did. Then White Cloud changed the design and they sucked. We were so sad. We preferred them to the most expensive diaper when it came to performance, and they were a ton cheaper.

During this time I had a friend whose daughter was the same age. She always used Huggies. The ones that come in the red and white package. At that time they had The Lion King on them, but now they have Mickey Mouse.

I thought they looked cheap, even though they were more expensive.

I don't know why Huggies doesn't use more color saturation on their cheaper diapers.

Anyway we started using the Winnie the Pooh Huggies diapers cause I thought they looked nicer and had cute polka dot and striped designs (at the time we started using them, they have since changed).

So we used them for a long time, occasionally trying a new diaper to try and save money since our kids get a lot of leaks at night time.

Eventually we started lowering their fluid intake at bedtime and Danny would check their diapers a little before 5 am as he leaves for work.

Recently I heard that Target brand diapers had gone through another change. So I thought we would give them another try.

Man I am so glad we did! They are amazing! They hold leaks as well or better than huggies ever have, they look super cute with their polka dot design, they have super stretchy tabs and best of all we can get a box of about 82 diapers for about $14 (size 4).

Estimating our diaper usage from the time Bella was born (and figuring that newborns are sometimes changed 10+ times a day) I have concluded that we have used 25,575+ diapers since October 16th, 2005. At an average cost of $0.28 (when you figure that the huggies we normally bought were $.033 a diaper but sometimes we bought the cheaper brand) a diaper we have spent $7,161 on diapers.

If we had bought only Target Brand diapers, we could saved around $2,794, but I didn't like the old version of target diapers as they were just like the parent's choice at wal-mart and the aldi's brand diapers.

Even though I am late in the new Target diaper game, I will still save about $4 a week on diapers compared to the huggies (and I only get $3 coupons for them occasionally and they are not always on sale either).

Anyway, I love the new polka dot Target Diapers. They are in a yellow and white package and called Up & Up.

Go get some today!

(note this is not one of my kids, but when I did a google search for target diapers the majority had a baby in them. Hopefully since the babies face is not in the picture the mom won't mind. I was just too lazy to get out my camera at the moment).

just a few reasons I hate summer

2010-07-09T14:10:00.000-05:00

because I like to be modest and I like to be fashionable and it's quite difficult to do in 100 degrees and 80% humidity
humidity and frizzy hair
air conditioning bills, in winter you can pile more on, but you can only take so much off
and most importantly... when my fruit roll ups stick to the wrapper leaving me looking like a crazed grizzly bear mauling the wrapper trying to get my 50 calories of blissful goodness

ugh

2010-07-09T12:54:00.001-05:00

I have once again succumbed to the cafemom monster :( What a loser I am... no discipline whatsoever lol

Bella answering questions about Me and Danny

2010-07-08T14:07:00.000-05:00

1. What do I say to you the most?
"to not hit each other"

2. What makes me happy?
"to listen"

3. What makes me sad?
"not listening"

4. How old am I?
"uhh 27!"

5. What is my favorite thing to do?
"you use the computer all the time"

6. What am I really good at?
"making noodles when I'm hungry"

7. What is my job?
"Your job is to help Daddy"

8. What am I not very good at?
"your not very good at working at no gyms"

9. What is my favorite food?
"Rice"

10. How do you know I love you?
"by listening and taking turns" then I explained it better and she said "um because you are always nice to me"

1. What does Daddy say to you the most?

"be nice"

2. What makes Daddy happy?
"to listen"

3. What makes Daddy sad?
"not listening"

4. How old is Daddy?
"um he's uh, he's 27"

5. What is Daddy's favorite thing to do?
"go to work and work"

6. What is Daddy really good at?
"he's good at singing lullabies"

7. What is Daddy's job?
"His job is to go to work and run"

8. What is Daddy not very good at?
"he's not very good at um, um, fixing broken backyard doors"

9. What is Daddy's favorite food?
"cereal"

10. How do you know Daddy loves you?
"he brings me things"

Finally going to make the kids beds... or at least in a few months I am

2010-07-03T10:04:00.000-05:00

So I am planning on building loft/captains style beds for the kids. This will be the basic structure (minus the headboard).

Then I am going to attach espresso stained beadboard on the ends. Then underneath part will still be open for a play area. I'm planning on having them in an L shape in the corner of the room and in between the beds will be a big square box that is about two feet taller than the beds. Again it will be covered in beadboard and the top will have a thick covered cushion. I imagined it will be about 39 inches by 39 inches and it will make a great place to play and read. If there is a way to cut open and archway type hole in each side under the beds I would like to do that so the boys can crawl around through there. However I think that might be beyond my skill set. I still think the kids will have a great time playing and hiding.

I want to build something similar for the girls (only with white beadboard) however Bella already has a beautiful intricately carved white headboard and a full sized bed. And the girls room isn't shaped right to do the L shaped thing. So I have no idea what I will do.
We have a "spare" room which is really just a large closet inside the girls room. More like a storage closet. It is finished except it doesn't have any vents in there so it can get cold in the winter and hot in the summer. I thought about just setting her bed up in there for the time being but I don't know.
I do like the idea of the mini loft beds for them as well. It's not as fun to not have the reading nook, though maybe I could have one behind each of their beds. Or maybe I'll build a "window seat" with bookcases on either side for of their beds. Though that would delay things quite a while I would imagine.
There is also the possibility of doing a double sized loft and then sticking a smaller mattress below for Maeve.

Anyway, that's going to be my project for the next year or so. I'll make sure to take pictures and update my progress.

Eclipse

2010-07-03T08:54:00.000-05:00

Okay so last night I got to go see Eclipse.

Pros:
The acting is getting better, especially Kristen Stewart.
I like the new Victoria a lot better than the old Victoria and I think they are similar enough in features that I wasn't going, whoa, who is this?
Really enjoyed seeing both Jasper and Rosalie's back stories
The Vamps skin looks better.
Riley is probably the best looking vamp I've seen so far. He comes the closest in the skin department.

Cons: (most of these are for the other movies as well)
What the heck is up with their hair?
Carlisle looks like he put a banana peel on his head. Why can't they get a natural blonde color? There are all sorts of natural looking blonde colors.
Esme has dark dark brown hair now instead of the auburn color she used to have and it's all sorts of crazy looking every time we see her.
Poor, poor, Jasper... it's like they scalped a Chucky doll or a mangy orange cat and put it on your head. Seriously, Jasper is supposed to be blonde... he is blonde in Twilight... how come he has red nasty hair in eclipse?
um why did Edward have curly bangs? It was wrong on so many levels that his hair curled under on his forehead... just wrong.
How about Alice's hair? It's nasty.
What about their eyes? Their eyes look fake. I think when she describes their eyes she often mentions golden or amber. I always imagined something more like this

Now let's talk eyebrows... whose in charge here... really... is it Summit entertainment, or is it the eyebrows...
Edward's eyebrows overpower his face (I think real life Rob looks nice but with the vamp makeup it's too much, way too much).
Rosalie is supposed to be a natural platinum blonde... how come she has black eyebrows? Seriously it looks tacky. You can bleach your eyebrows. It's easy, I've done it before. Then maybe a light, light, brown eyebrow pencil and you are good to go. I can't believe this hasn't been addressed. Nikki Reed looks so different with brown hair and blonde hair. She is gorgeous (I prefer her with brown hair) however I think she would look more like Rosalie if she had blonde eyebrows. The black is distracting.
Dakota Fannings eyebrows are practically non-existent and have no shape to them at all. Plus her eye makeup looks awful.
Are the producers forgetting that vampires, even the bad ones are supposed to be gorgeous?
How about things that were different from the movie...
Edward's car
Edward's bedroom
the bedding
the shirt they took from Bella
these are simple things that didn't need to be changed. I don't understand why the producers couldn't be more true to the book. It's like re-inventing the wheel. There was no need to change those things, they worked.
How about the fact that Bella never actually cuts herself in the book? How about the fact that Jacob and Edward never argue about Bella hearing the story of the third wife?
How come Bree Tanner wasn't tied up? That was a major flaw when you consider Bella cut herself. A newborn who isn't being restrained by anyone is able to withstand the blood of the person she's been trained to sniff out? If even Jasper had a hard time when Bella was cut in New Moon how would a newborn be able to with stand that?
It's just little things like this that annoy me. You could take a good movie and make it great if you actually lived by the natural laws that are set forth in the book.
It's not like they don't have the budget to make this a good film. I really hope they correct some of these things for Breaking Dawn. Plus they keep making Kristen Stewart look prettier and prettier... how are they going to vamp her up?
It's just frustrating to see really little and even inexpensive things that could be fixed. Like colors of hair (just get a different color wig), the bedding, the eyebrows... It would be the same cost as what they already spent. It just blows my mind that those things are overlooked.

Anyway I still feel that it is the best of all the Twilight movies so far. If you liked Twilight and New Moon, you are almost guaranteed to like Eclipse.

Who is the hottest male Disney character?

2010-07-02T15:36:00.001-05:00

A friend and I have been "arguing" on facebook about who is the hottest Disney man... I say Shang, she says Gaston. Thought I would put it to a little vote. Who is your favorite?

Shang

Shang's hobbies include: defeating the Huns, working out, and looking all sorts of fine.

Gaston

Gaston's Hobbies Include: Hunting, drinking, and staring at his reflection in shiny surfaces.

Prince Eric

Prince Eric's Hobbies Include: Sailing, playing fetch with his dog Max, and rescuing damsel's in distress.

Prince Philip

Prince Phillip's Hobbies Include: Horseback riding, singing in the woods, sneaking up on 16 year old girls.

Prince Charming

Prince Charming's Hobbies Include: Trying to get his Dad to chill out, dancing, and forgetting to ask people's names.

Snow White's Prince

(don't know why but he reminds me of Angela Lansbury)
The Prince's Hobbies Include: Chillin' with his homeboys Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Bashful, Sneezy, and Dopey, Fighting off his Wicked Step-Mother-in-Laws advances, and forcing himself upon sleeping maidens.

Aladdin

Aladdins hobbies include: stealing things, running from the law (hey it's great cardio), and putting on airs.

Hercules

Hercules' hobbies include: tripping and breaking things, hanging out with satyrs, and reading self-help books

Tarzan

Tarzan's hobbies include: Climbing trees, eating bananas, and picking lice from his gorilla friends.

John Smith
(another one of my favorites)

John Smith's hobbies include: Target practice, convincing Radcliffe there is no gold to be found in Virginia, and long walks on the beach.

Prince Adam (The Beast)

Prince Adam's hobbies include: not a lot... he's still trying to stop snarling at other's. Sometimes he will pick up a book, but generally that is only so he can take his frustration out on it. Dude has serious temper issues.

And for those who want to see the modern day Disney Princes modeling some BVD's click here
***Beware, they contain bulges lol***

What's with the dreams?

2010-07-02T09:28:00.000-05:00

Last night I had another crazy dream...
In this one Danny was dressed like he thought he was Eminem or a gangster or something. We were arguing when he said, "You haven't been trying very hard to lose weight, you still look the same" (or something along those lines). I just stared at him in shock, so hurt that he would say something so out of character (Danny is so supportive of me and has never made me feel bad about how I look after having kids). Finally I said, "We need to get a divorce, I will not be talked to like that". He said he didn't want a divorce but if I did we could get one.
Then I called my mother-in-law to see if she could talk some sense into him and I told her we were getting a divorce and she said, "That's good" and was like volunteering to help get the paperwork together and stuff. I was floored.
Then Danny and I were in the car and we were leaving a park and I could see Tripp was still standing next to the parking lot. I was telling Danny to stop because Tripp wasn't in the car but Danny wouldn't. He wanted to leave Tripp. So I opened the door and rolled out so I could go back with Tripp and then I saw Maeve was with him too.
Then we were at one of his clients houses and Danny had volunteered me to babysit their newborn while she went to her job as a nurse and all the guys where watching a game (probably the world cup lol). And Beatriz was calling me cause I had promised her friend I would watch her 2 kids while she and Beatriz went to the movies and I was freaking out, how am I supposed to watch 7 kids by myself? And no one would help me and I was all alone.
It was such an awful dream that when I woke up I was sad and I have been sad for the past 2.5 hours.
But I am thankful that my life isn't like that. I'm blessed with such a wonderful husband. I texted him and he was like, of course I wouldn't do something like that. Then he made a joke about getting rid of the kids lol. But I'm so thankful for a husband who loves me and a mother-in-law who does too. I don't know where these dreams are coming from, probably from myself and my own insecurities about myself.
Lately I've learned that I can't trust everyone and that maybe those who seem like my friends are not. I hope I am wrong about the situation but really I have no way of knowing and it's so hard to blindly trust in this situation. It's been breaking my heart cause I honestly love them and want them in my lives.
Loyalty is so important to me, without it I can't really have a friendship because I will always be second guessing myself.
It's breaking my heart cause I feel that in the future I might have to end friendships in order to extricate myself from a toxic situation.
I'm a mom and I have kids to take care of, I can't deal with high school issues of she said this or she said that. I can't worry about people who were supposed to be my friends talking about me behind my back to other friends. And I know people are speaking the truth because I've had more than one person confirm it. There's been 3 people actually.
Anyway I really want to find a different way to deal with the whole situation but in my heart I am scared that I'm just setting myself up to be betrayed. And I know it's ridiculous to expect people to only be friends with me.
Anyway I'm so thankful for the many friends I have near me. I'm so glad to be in such a loving ward and to have things to do and friends to do it with. I'm so thankful for loyal friends like Beatriz who I know will always be there for me.
At the same time I mourn the friendships that might not flourish as well as they could have. I just hope that I'm able to handle everything with class and that I am indeed doing what is right. I don't want to let my feelings for anyone cloud the choices I make. I also hope that people can see that I'm trying to do what is right. I'm not trying to start some petty fight. I don't have time for that in my life.

One Crazy Dream

2010-07-01T10:47:00.000-05:00

Okay so I've been reading some books that talk about vampires (not Twilight, these are called The House of Night). They are set in Tulsa and mention many familiar landmarks and the story line is pretty good, though a little bizarre. Anyway in the past few days I've read the first 4.5 books.
So I can only guess that is what influenced my dream last night... or perhaps it was me looking at ghost pictures and looking at pictures of things on display at the Mutter Museum (they have a bunch of medical/anatomical related displays including fossified skeletons and tumors, and slices of the human brain).
Anyway last night I dreamed that Jim, from the TV show The Office, was beheaded. It was super creepy and that's about all I remember except for the bad feelings it evoked.
It was super crazy... okay back to reading House of Night book number 5... once I start a series I see it through.
And they really aren't as gory as one would think, they are actually pretty good in my opinion.

I look forward too...

2010-06-30T07:52:00.000-05:00

1. waking up my kids instead of them waking me up.
2. no longer changing diapers, or at least have only one kid in diapers
3. no longer chasing kids from the kitchen
4. taking a nap without fear of my kids or house being hurt
5. going out to lunch with my friends or husband.
6. grocery shopping on a weekday.
7. volunteering in the kids classes
8. showering at the gym instead of rushing to get the kids from the kids club.

High school called, it wants it's pettiness back...

2010-06-29T15:50:00.000-05:00

i totally got sucked back into the cafemom drama machine... even though i swore I wouldn't... so here is the beginning of round two... I'm back on the wagon.

Seriously?

2010-05-27T17:54:00.003-05:00

So a lady fell asleep on a late night flight from DC to Philly (really? It's like a 2.5 hour drive...) Any she fell asleep and the airline crew failed to see and wake her up so she could get off the plane.
The plane landed at midnight and 4 hours late the cleaning crew woke her up.
She is suing the airline... really? Seriously? That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard! It was an honest mistake and it's not like you were banging on the doors trying to get out. You were asleep! Seriously it's ridiculous. Should the airline give her a complimentary roundtrip ticket some place? Probably. Getting millions of dollars for false imprisonment? Absolutely not!

This is just so beyond ridiculous I don't even know what to do. I just want to put her in time out for being a brat...

And a good time was had by all...

2010-05-22T21:29:00.000-05:00

Today we took the kids to Woodward Park and the Tulsa Rose Garden.

We brought the antique quilt my grandma made 50 years ago, and had a picnic overlooking the roses.

The kids loved to run and play. And Tripp even tried to catch a squirrel. It was a great day.

I figured this would be a good post for the grandparents, so they could see everyone (well everyone but me, I'm a behind the camera type of gal myself).

No Words

2010-05-21T20:20:00.000-05:00

One thing I've started to pay attention to about myself recently, is how quickly I get started on a project, how ferociously I work on it, and how long it takes me to burn out.
Blogging has never been something I burn out on. In fact if you check out my old myspace blog you will see I used to blog all the time. However for the past 18 months I've gotten sucked in to the world of cafemom. I made some wonderful friends there, however I am realizing that I have other friendships that are suffering because I am on cm so much. I've also stopped posting things on my blog, because when I had a thought, I would end up posting it on cafemom.
Today I cut the virtual cord. I didn't delete my profile or leave any groups, I just took cafemom off of my bookmarks toolbar. Unfortunately it is still in my most visited sites on my new tab screen (on mac's when you open a new tab in the web browser it shows little screenshots of the 12 most visited websites) so I have to fight the urge to go and get back in the fray.
I admit, I have lurked a few times today, but I am hoping to make cafemom a weekly thing.
In a group I am in, I am responsible for posting a positive thought of the day, and posting a question of the day. I feel like researching those things is a spiritual boost, and being responsible for the post on that one day gives me a deadline to do something.
I need deadlines in my life.
In fact i just promised a friend the other day that I would contact my old institute teacher to request a blessing within the week. My days are running out, and knowing me, I will call him the last day.
I've always been that way with a deadline.
Anyway I've realized that I've posted all my thoughts on CafeMom, and not here. I miss blogging and I need to distance myself a bit from the craziness over there at the moment. It's like a big huge family of sister's and sister's in law have gotten together for Christmas and we've all started over staying our welcome.
Not that anyone isn't welcome, but things have started to get so catty and contentious, like we have been around each other for too long.
I'm hoping that I can reset my attitude by stepping back for a while. There are women there that I absolutely love, many that I like, and a handful that sometimes get under my skin. It's just like real life and the best way I know how to deal with an intense situation is to step back and let it deescalate.

So here are the things i'm hoping to accomplish while being away from CM
nurture my friendships with Brittany, Ashley, Tammy, and Amanda (Beatriz I talk to all the time anyway)
finish my novel, it's been sitting half finished since the end of november
figure out a daily routine (that includes 24 hours in the space of 12 :D)
and start taking more pictures again
there is probably more that I need to do, but that is all I can think of at the moment.
If anyone wants to prod me along, feel free!

Even more government regulations?

2010-03-12T08:09:00.003-06:00

Privacy Experts Shun Black Boxes

"WASHINGTON — Some safety and privacy experts are reacting with apprehension, others with all out condemnation over a recent ruling by the National Transportation Safety Board(search) to require electronic data recorders or "black boxes" in all new cars manufactured in the United States.
"I take offense that this personal property of individuals is now being designed by the federal government," said Jim Harper, privacy attorney and editor of Privacilla.org.
Black boxes (search), or "EDRs" have been fitted into every General Motors car in its 2004 line and is in a number of Ford models — about 15 percent of all vehicles on the road today, according to road safety experts.
EDRs are certainly not new. Information gathered on black boxes — typically everything from speed, brake pressure, seat belt use and air bag deployment — has already been used in determining guilt in criminal and civil cases across the country...."

This is just part of a longer article, but I'm wondering where the media was when these black boxes were put into cars. Was I just to caught up in getting married to pay attention? Or was this something that was just sort of slipped in without a lot of fanfare?
As far as I know black boxes record audio as well (though maybe that's just on a plane), how long until these are used to spy on people?
Worst of all? Now I sound like a freaking conspiracy theorist/whack job! I hate the whole concept of OnStar and this too. I have nothing to hide, but you know what? I want to be able to fart in private, ok? I don't want people hearing it. I also want to pick my nose in private (so no video cameras allowed either). I also want to sing my heart out, off key, if I so choose, without worrying that someone at some point can hear it.
Are these minor details? Sure. Does the majority of the population do these things in private and so anyone listening should be mature enough to over look them? Sure. Does that mean that I want these private moments to be seen/heard by someone else? Heck no!
I'm not a threat to my country or government. I love America, and if I ever have any suspicions about someone promoting terror I would turn them in... heck I call 911 if I see someone swerving on the road as if they are drunk. I'm a law abiding citizen, who looks out for the welfare of my family, friends, and fellow americans.
Do they really think black boxes will give us more data about car accidents? Maybe more criminal information to use in court (as the article states), but really, how are accidents caused for the most part? Carelessness? Drunk driving? The accelerator thing is very rare from what I know, and the knowledge is being spread by people who have experienced it, and by the media. We know about these incidents without black boxes.
So they want to pass legislation about installing black boxes in cars when we already have another government imposed requirement... the NHTSA, who hasn't issued a recall in something like 31 years!!!
It's the automakers who are issuing recalls due to consumers being outraged and fear of profit loss. To me the NHTSA seems superfluous, as do the black boxes.
Regulations cannot replace common sense and prudence, and no law can motivate as much as the threat of the loss of cold hard cash.
Wanna balance the budget? Get rid of NHTSA and let the market control itself.

Going Rogue

2010-01-14T17:45:00.000-06:00

yes I just made fun of Sarah Palin, but most importantly it's true. I'm gonna be a rogue momma. I put up all the toys the other day except for about 3 things a piece and my kids haven't even noticed. There's be no crying, no weeping, or wailing, or gnashing of teeth. All is peaceful... and pretty clean in the Stephens home.
So I am going to try and sale a bunch of toys on craigslist, give away the ones that don't, and throw away the ones that are missing pieces or are broken.
Then we are going to buy little steam trunks/foot lockers for each of the kids.
I'm going through their clothes too, and anything clothing, shoe, toy, wise that doesn't fit in their footlocker, is getting sold, given away, or thrown away. I'm sick of the clutter.
I'm always getting rid of our dishes. I used to justify keeping a bunch of dishes in case I ever had a dinner party, but really, let's be honest here. As much as I would love to have a dinner party, I'm probably not going to find a babysitter to watch all of my kids, and Danny won't let me do parties anymore cause I get so stressed out that I don't enjoy myself. I'm too worried about centerpieces etc. Just ask Danny about the Thanksgiving we hosted for about 8-9 people, or the time I introduced missionaries to water goblets lol. I go overboard.
With our family we can easily do two loads of dishes a day. It's crazy. So paper plates it is. I'm getting a new stainless steel water bottle that's insulated, it's pretty awesome, I bet Danny will be dissatisfied with his once he sees mine, and we are keeping 1 bottle and 2 sippy cups, and one small cup (for Bella).
Oh and I'm keeping my flatware cause it's so cute and that's easy to wash.

I'm just really trying to get down to the bare basics here. I realized that my kids have a ton of clothes (as do Danny and I) yet we always end up wearing the same things over and over while they dump out their drawers and toy baskets.
No more. Well played Toys R Us, but game over, you lose. Same goes for you Woodland Hills Mall and Super Target and Crazy8.com
This momma is fighting back.

hmm

2010-01-14T12:04:00.000-06:00

Well apparently, without even trying to, I have caused a controversy. I just wanted to say, that was never my intention. I'm still not telling anyone who this person is, because as much as I dislike her (albeit for petty and selfish reasons) I've never wanted to hurt the feelings of anyone, not even her.
Cause no matter what talk I talk, at heart I just want everyone to get along. I try to avoid arguments and contention, which is why since the first time I met this person I have steered clear. And as I mentioned before, I have no place in judging this person. Judgement belongs to Christ.
I was just venting my feelings because this person has hurt mine many times, probably unknown to her. Or perhaps she did know and didn't care. And this being my blog, and the likelihood of this person seeing my blog is about 1%, I think I'm safe. Anyway it doesn't matter though because I'll probably only see her a few more times my entire life, and really that's just a drop in the bucket, isn't it?
So as one of my favorite Bishops used to say, onward and upward. I'm moving on.

My Christmas Present From Danny

2010-01-13T16:46:00.003-06:00

The night before we were going to leave and go to Maryland for Christmas, Danny mentioned he had some gifts for the kids inside his filing cabinet at work. He said we needed to stop by and get them, so I said sure. He gave me his key to the filing cabinet and said they are in the third drawer down, will you get them for me.

So I go inside, thinking how nice it was that he thought to go out on his own to get Christmas presents for our kids. I go inside his training room and put the key in the lock. I unlock the filing cabinet and reach for the handle on the third drawer down. I open it and immediate realize that it wasn't presents for the kids, but rather a present for me. Before I see COACH written on the top of the boxes, I see the legacy stripe pattern on the shopping bag, and I start laughing/crying.

I couldn't believe Danny not only got me a Christmas present, after we had already discussed our vacation to Maryland being our gift to each other, but it was also something he knew I would love. I felt so loved to have a husband who cares enough about me to pay attention to what I like and then actually get it for me as a surprise.

He knows I love surprises, but has rarely ever been able to pull one off because I love to try and figure things out. It was an amazing moment that's for sure. It wasn't a super large bag, but that was perfect because I had been telling him how I needed something little since I never carry around all the stuff I did before I was married.

I also mentioned want a wristlet to carry my phone, iPod, lip gloss, and debit card into the gym, so it could all be contained when I place it in the cup holder on the treadmill. So he got me one of those too.

I'm so very blessed to be married to Danny, there could never be another guy who could complete me the way he does. At times I feel like God made him especially for me. He is my prince charming, and my dream come true.

Here are a few pictures. I was trying to take some as part of my 365 project so that's why they are so artsy looking. I think I might photograph the shopper bag since I didn't think to get it the other day, then I will post it here too.

Really $130 for this?

2010-01-12T12:15:00.001-06:00

So I was checking out my favorite place for Valentines decorations (Target of course) and they had this heart shaped knife block listed for $130. I'm sorry Target, but you've failed. This is the creepiest thing I've seen in a long time. Unless you are going for a Freddy Krueger Valentine's I suggest you scrap this and go back to the drawing board.

why does it bother me?

2010-01-08T12:55:00.002-06:00

So Oklahoma is in a major cold spell right now. At some points today/tonight we will have 40 mph winds with the temperature being around -5 below and wind chill factors in the -30's.

Yah, it's very cold for Oklahoma. Most years oklahoma has maybe 1-2 single temp days, and that's generally at night or early morning. Most of the time you can wear a jacket instead of a coat and be just fine. I personally never wear a coat when I'm just going out to the car. It's not like we are in an Urban Jungle and have to walk every where. Most people I know just wear a sweat shirt normally (unless they are students living on campus somewhere and then they will have coats to walk around outside.

Now there is a girl that for some reason does not like me, seriously she almost rolled her eyes that last time I saw her. I don't know why she doesn't like me, but I really dislike her for it. It's like she doesn't know how to be nice to anyone who isn't in her little clique. And she is really immature. She is always making fun of people or things that don't live up to her standards. And to quote one of my favorite movies "Bride and Prejudice" "There is nothing wrong with having standards, as long as you don't impose them on others". Anyway I've seen her make fun of people who are less fortunate and make fun of their possessions because they weren't very nice or they needed to be repaired.

It's honestly not very Christ-like the way I feel about the person, I need to change my reactions to her behavior. I imagine one day she will have a very lonely life when she has alienated herself by her words and behavior.

Though, who am I to judge?

Anyway the thing that really annoyed me is she was bashing Oklahoma. I can't stand Oklahoma, I want to leave. But more because I grew up here and I feel like I've grown all I can without leaving to go someplace else. She on the other hand moved here and has been complaining about the weather and the terrain. I guess it made me sort of feel like I'm Oklahoma because neither of us can live up to her expectations.

Why should it bother me? Why should I care what she thinks? We don't hang out with the same people. In fact I rarely, if ever see her. For all I know she is one of the kindest, sweetest, service giving people around, but I don't know because I've only observed her from a distance. I believe I have only spoken about two sentences to her and when she dismissed me like I didn't even exist, without so much as even a smile I decided she was not the type of person I wanted in my life.

Maybe she was having a bad day? Who knows, I just know I can't stand her, and it really makes me mad that she is speaking poorly about Oklahoma even though I do it all the time. Sort of like, I can talk bad about my family but you can't, type of thing.

I need to work on my attitude towards her I know, but it is quite hard.

Perhaps that should be my New Year's resolution, to be more kind to her... although I have a feeling that I would start being kind to her just to piss her off. I would turn it into a game to see if I could annoy her to death with kindness and service :D Perhaps I will hold off.

I'm hopping on the bandwagon

2010-01-08T11:45:00.001-06:00

I've decided to do a 365 project, and in homage to The Randy Disher Project, I've named the new blog The Naomi Stephens Project. Go check it out if you are interested, though this is only day one.

expect it!

2010-01-07T10:36:00.002-06:00

I've decided that this year is going to be my year. I turn 27 in a few weeks and since I was a kid I always thought that the year I turned 27 would be significant for some reason.
I still feel that way. I feel like one of those giant rocks on india jones that rolls towards him and there's no way to stop it, you can only get out of the way. I'm the rock. Nothing will stop me from making major changes this year.
I'm finished having kids, I've already lost the majority of my pregnancy weight from all four pregnancies, I'm getting things in order to get back to school and take a few classes, and I'm looking at different areas to move.
This year you should expect:
That I will be smoking hot again
That we will get the heck out of Oklahoma
And lots of fabulousness

This year is going to be my year. So expect some big changes in our lives.

I'm so thankful for how well 2009 went (for the most part), but I am tired of a normal average life. I've never been normal or average, and I'm sick of settling for that. I have a wonderful family, both my own and Danny's, and 4 of the most amazing kids ever, but I'm of just being wonderful, I'm ready to be extraordinary, phenomenal even!

So watch out or kick my butt, whichever you need to do.

If only I had a few grand to spare...

2010-01-05T14:14:00.001-06:00

I would totally ask the guy who made this computer to make me one as well! It's awesome!

Now more than ever

2010-01-05T12:13:00.002-06:00

I want to live in a walkable city. I don't care if it's New York or just a small TND like Daybreak, Utah or Maple Farms, Maryland, I just need to be able to leave my house in the daytime.
Danny's work was upset because the general manager who took over after Devin left didn't inform one of the higher ups that Danny would be gone on vacation. The owner knew, because Danny trains him, in fact the owner, his wife, and several other people came up to us at the Christmas party telling us to be safe since we were leaving that night around midnight and there was a blizzard in the works for the DC area.
So while we were at my in-laws the guy above the GM called Danny asking why he was gone etc and saying no one knew when in fact they did. Danny explained yet the guy was still being a jerk about it, even though the owner of the company knew and my husband helped them make almost $60,000 more this year, even in the economic collapse we've experience and he has only taken one vacation in the almost 4 years he's been with them.
So today the higher up guy is at the club danny works at and he was still being a jerk about things and so Danny had to stick around and console him and soothe his bruised ego because he was left out of the loop, through no fault of Danny. yet Danny took the brunt of the anger. So I couldn't go to the gym this morning with the kids. I had them all ready to go and sat waiting for almost an hour before I could even talk to Danny. And then it was too late because the kids club has already closed for the morning and danny won't get off work in enough time for us to take them tonight.
I long for a gym a few blocks from my house. Really anyplace that I could walk would be fabulous. Going to the gym is the only time I get out of the house during the week, and my kids need it since there is not a playground near our place. They to be able to go and play on a playground (even if it is indoors) and I need 2 hours to myself where I can focus on me so I can come home and have the energy to be a better mom.
I wish we had a library within walking distance, I wish we had museum within walking distance, or even just a community center so my kids could take ballet, or karate, or be on a soccer team. We miss out on so much and cars are just so expensive.
I spoke with my SIL's friend and she lives in Queens which is actually a lot nicer than people give it credit for, and she and her roommate rent a place that is only a few hundred more than what we pay in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Plus I know Danny could get a training job in New York and make a ton more money, because there is a higher concentration of wealth in that city. Most of the places charge at least $20 more an hour there than they do here. Hypothetically we could keep our car at my in-laws house and since we almost have it paid off we could use the car payment for the extra amount of rent, we could let my SIL drive it if she paid for the insurance (otherwise it would just sit except for a few days out of the year), and the money we save on insurance and gas could also go towards the increased cost of living and unlimited monthly metro passes for danny and I which would be less than we pay on gas in Oklahoma.
And if we lived in brooklyn we could walk to the children's museum, a library, and a gym. And the gym there has a kids club that is open 7am to 10pm instead of being closed for 4 hours during the day. Not to mention the fact that I love anything artistic.
I just want to get out of this town so bad. It's not a bad place to live, but I've always wanted to live in a large city, I feel like I'm stuck here though and will never get to leave.
Danny has been planning on going back to school in the fall to be a crna, and we have been planning on moving to springfield in may, but now I'm having doubts. And Danny has so many certifications etc but no one out here understands the usefulness of them so they are sort of just bragging rights. In a larger city he could get more clients and get more money (although he makes a killing for being a trainer in Tulsa). He only wants to go back to school so he can make more money, he's sort of at the top of his game in Tulsa. We've just outgrown the area for what our goals are.
I know there will be people who will think that I am acting like I'm too good for this area, but that is not true. Perhaps I'm just a plant or flower that grows better in a certain climate and Tulsa is not the climate I need.
Anyway, I'm just sick because I want to do so many more things than I am capable here. I feel the need to grow and I'm seeking out a better place to do that in... please say a prayer that we will find it.

cars that drive themselves? no thank you.

2009-12-08T10:30:00.002-06:00

Am I the only person who thinks a car that drives itself as in Minority Report is a bad idea? Talk about laziness. Sure it would be nice to be able to sleep and not worry about where you are going but to me that is really dangerous. Someone has to control the car. Whether it be the company that designed the computer program or someone using a gps type system to make your car follow coordinates. Call me crazy but I don't want to blindly put my trust in someone else to get me someplace. It's a little different on mass transit where you have several hundred people going to the same destination. I feel like being in a car that is driving you somewhere would make me feel totally powerless.
I already hate the concept of onstar. Sure it seems like a convenience but they can locate you through gps, if you are in an accident the authorities are automatically called, even if it's nothing but you hitting a light post and you and the car are okay, because hey you might be drinking. And if they can hear you through a microphone in the car when you "call" them, who's to say that they can't listen in at another point? Sure there are laws but I'm pretty certain that laws only work when people agree to follow them, criminals, thugs, dictators, etc generally do not. I will not have on star in my car. You notice how they are advertising it as this great feature, that comes standard on a car? Pretty soon all cars will probably have something like this and people will be able to be tracked.
My husband thinks I'm crazy, but give me an older car than can be worked on and fixed by pretty much any mechanic and one that can't track my every movement. Not that i do anything illegal but i personally believe one day there will be laws against things that I believe and I'm just preparing for that time. Especially since I do not believe in a rapture that occurs before tribulation like most Christians do. I believe that we will be here for all the tribulations and in fact i believe a lot of it has occurred already but things will get much worse. The specific thing I am thinking of is when free trade will be restricted and Christians won't be able to buy things on the open market.
Yes I'm a conspiracy theorist, and perhaps paranoid but I do not like the way new technology is headed.

Rudy has his first upper respiratory infection... yay?!?

2009-11-19T18:12:00.002-06:00

So my 7 month old Rudy started getting watery eyes and a runny nose a few days ago. I wrote it off as allergies (I've had the windows opened a lot lately), gave him a little tiny bit of benadryl (per doctor's orders, I'm not drugging my child) and carried on. Late last night/early this morning he started getting really fussy. He was so congested he couldn't breathe through his nose and there was no way he would release his death grip on his pacifier. So I pulled out the trusty bulb syringe and sucked most of the snot out. He did not like that at all! I think if you could translate crying into words that there would be a good chance he could make a sailor blush. So I got him all fresh and clean and snuggled with him some more when he started coughing. I sent Danny a text telling him we had to take Rudy to a doctor. I figured it was nothing but allergies but after Maeve's fight with RSV last year I decided to not take any chances. The doctor looked into his nose and said he had an infection but nothing in his ears. She said it was upper respiratory but she didn't listen to his breathing or anything so I don't know if that is accurate or just a guess. Or perhaps upper respiratory infection is code for sinus infection. That's what I think is going on anyway. I think his allergies got really bad and since he is a baby who spends a lot of his time sleeping and loves to sleep on his side and tummy, that things weren't draining properly and got back up into his sinus cavity (don't worry I won't charge you a co-pay for that piece of wisdom, and Harvard, you can send my honorary medical degree to Naomi Stephens P.O. Box I'm so freakin' smart cause I'm a mom Intuition, Ok)
Anyway so he is on some antibiotics now and while generally being very agreeable and happy, is starting to get fussy now. I believe he is getting too congested again and more than likely a little sleepy.
I was supposed to go see New Moon tonight with some girls from church but I don't feel right about leaving a sick baby at home with Danny when he has to get up at 4am. Plus I had plans to go see it with another friend on Saturday afternoon so i won't really be missing too much. It was just nice to get invited to a girls night. It was the first time I've been invited to anything like that since living in Tulsa... I know, it's been 3.5 years. I felt sort of special.
I imagine there will be lots of snuggling with Rudy tonight, and I will probably be up late anyhow working on my novel.
Yep that's right, if you missed it, I am writing a novel. I never said it's going to be a good novel, or that it will have proper punctuation or grammar, but it will at least be novel length. I'm pretty happy with it so far, but I am a little embarrassed to mention it to people. I realize though that I need to get it out there so that people ask me about it and then I have more motivation to finish and submit it one day. Some of it is sort of personal because I draw on personal experiences to write it. It's still different enough but the emotion is very real and it's put me in a not very happy place today. Thank goodness I am almost finished with this part and I can carry on to the happier parts. I have no idea what to classify it as. I would say chick lit but I'm not so certain. There hasn't been much funny yet and I generally consider that a major part of chick lit, although that could be due to the fact that I read so much Sophie Kinsella. I just want it to be something I'm proud of, and something that people enjoy.
Now the crying begins, I better go get this little boys all snuggly, it's going to be a long night!

NaNoWriMo

2009-11-18T23:01:00.002-06:00

After seeing a post on cafemom about the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), I decided to give it a try. The goal is to complete a 50,000 word novel by the end of November. Since I only have 12 days left, I better get on the ball! I don't know that I will finish it in time, but I am definitely doing to try and accomplish this. I'm even thinking of upping the ante to 100,000 words by my birthday (Jan 31st) which means I have to write on average 1369.86 words a day. So far today I've done 1183 or about 2% of the NaNoWriMo goal of 50,000 or 1% of my goal of 100,000. I'm so excited. i think I have a good premise, but I will be anxiously awaiting the time when I can pass it to someone to read and critique for me. I've always wanted to write a novel but never actually thought I would do so. Then last night I was laying down trying to fall asleep when a concept popped into my head. I was too lazy to write down the concept so I just hoped it would stay with me until today. I put a few words down on paper and didn't think much more about it until I saw the post on cafemom. I had never heard of NaNoWriMo until about 9:45 pm this evening. Now I'm hooked. It all seems so serendipitous, which is why I felt it appropriate to share on my blog :) I'm so sleepy though because I took benadryl earlier to help me get to sleep not knowing I would have a sudden inspiration to write. It's amazing how the human mind works. How I started out with one concept and now it is evolving into something that is not completely different but still far off from my original intent. This is a wonderful process... no if only I could figure out a way to get paid for this... hmm.

seriously? stirrup pants? again?

2009-11-16T16:16:00.002-06:00

Wow, I can't believe I have lived long enough to see a trend return... I can't believe people are wearing stirrup pants again... I feel so betrayed by the fashion industry. Can't we just leave 6th grade where it belongs? 1995? I refuse to wear stirrup pants again. It's become a part of my core principles... I don't drink, smoke, or wear stirrup pants. However a closely related trend that I am willing to give a try... leggings. I like the idea of wearing uggs this winter since my flip flops don't work in cold rain or snow, yet uggs can still be worn without socks so I don't feel like I'm suffocating my feet as much as other forms of shoes that require socks. However uggs look ugly in general and super ugly when you try to stuff wide leg pants of any form into them. I have a lot of capri length legging type pants for working out but then you see about 3 inches of skin before the boots which makes my legs look either super short or like someone cut them off and I'm floating over my boots. Problem being, I absolutely hate tight pants that do not have a wide waist band, every time you sit down the top flips over or rolls down, or it leaves weird red marks on your skin (don't act like you don't get them, even skinny girls do). However, I can't find any long leggings with a wide waist band for less than a can of formula or one and a half boxes of diapers (that's the currency in our household, for those of you who don't speak baby, that's about $25). I can't stand spending money on clothes right now. I hate the way I look in clothes, and thus I like to be a slob and wear comfortable, sloppy, gym type clothes. Oh trust me, in about a year Danny will probably threaten to divorce me because I'll be buying so much clothing, but until I get all the baby weight off and keep it off for at least 3 months I'm not going to buy too much clothing.
My mom was here this weekend and we went out looking for coats for the kids, she kept trying to get me to get some clothes (maybe because I was wearing the same blue t-shirt I have worn at least twice a week for the past 4 years), but I just can't see spending money on something that won't fit me for long, and that I might not wear more than once if I get a good glimpse of myself in a mirror (naomi got back, and thigh, and hips etc, et al)
So if you know of a place that has long leggings that are black (cause I need all the slimming tricks available) and that are around $15 please let me know. I would like to try this trend out so my feet aren't cold and wet, or suffocating. Please, I beg you.

Have you ever felt...

2009-11-02T21:36:00.002-06:00

Like someone was just stringing you along? Have you ever realized that someone had no intention of following through on something they promised... and then worst of all you find out through the internet? Yah, that's what just happened to me. I feel like I've been slapped. Not a good feeling. Also is it wrong of me because I'm happy that a bunch of fake people are leaving? Sooo excited about that. Though sometimes I don't even know why I try anymore to do everything and be everything. Honestly I can't even keep my laundry clean and put away... I need to have a little me time. I want to be selfish... I've gotten myself in way over my head with all of my kids. I love them dearly, but they are a lot to handle at once. I'm hoping it's easier. I wouldn't give up any of them, but sometimes I feel like it would have been more prudent for me to only have 1 or 2 kids... then I could be a better wife and mom.
I'm super excited for Christmas, and I can't wait to go to Maryland... I keep saying we are going hoping that by saying it, it will magically happen, but honestly right now I just feel so blah that I don't think it will.
And I want more than anything to go to the gym tomorrow so I can run, but I need to go to the chiropractor's office... but if I do that I won't have time to go to the gym... I'm thinking of running home from the chiropractor but I'm a little nervous because I don't want to be without my phone... even though it will be in broad daylight and on busy streets I just feel like I'm inviting trouble if I don't have my phone with me. I guess I could always stick it in my bra strap but I imagine that running might make condensation build up inside my phone from the heat of my skin compared to the air... I don't know... guess everyone will find out tomorrow. It's somewhere between 3-4 miles from Dr. Fuh's to our house. It's not that far, I've gone a lot farther than that before, but I'm normally on a treadmill. The last time I was outside daily for exercise was over 5 years ago when I was a nanny. What I wouldn't give to be back in Ellicott City and have the Trolley Trail to jog on! Also when I lived on campus at OU I was able to walk several places. I miss walkability. Tulsa needs more trees shading the roads and more sidewalks that are wider. I'm thinking that maybe I'll start running home from Dr. Fuh's on Tuesday's and Thursday's so that when the older kids are in school soon I can just get a jogger and run to the gym, then lift and shower, then have danny drive us back... I just have to get a new jogger and figure out an easy way to attach it to the roof of the Jeep.
Anyway I'm back to the gym and losing weight again, and since I can't have anymore children, hopefully by my birthday I'll be back to my pre-pregnancy size. That would be awesome. I'm determined to make the year between my 27th and 28th birthday the best one yet!

so much to say, yet my mind is blank

2009-10-23T17:23:00.002-05:00

well we finally got off our lazy bums last night and drove to okmulgee to have brett replace our hard drive. Could have done it a month ago but we just want to eat dinner and go to sleep by the time danny gets home. Last night he canceled his last appointment of the day so we could drive down there. It has been almost a month since I've had regular access to a computer. I had been trying to do everything on my blackberry and boy was that a chore. Our apartment seems to be the only place in town sprint doesn't work. It's very spotty and the exact sweet spot changes from day to day so i would always be wandering around the apartment trying to load a webpage on a 3 inch screen on a phone to pay bills etc.

Anyway thank goodness for brett! He found out that it's not our hard drive we just need a new cd/dvd drive and we can live without that for a while. So once he got the dvd out everything worked again! Yay! And mandy made taco soup and the kids played. it was very nice to see them again. it had been almost 6 months!

This past month I kept thinking of things I wanted to blog about but I never wrote them down. The way my mind goes blank all the time now don't be surprised if the next time you see me I have a sharpie and post it notes in my hand and my room wall papered in cork board with tons of stickums all over! I can't remember anything anymore. I'm starting to wonder if it's being a mom that causes the tiredness and memory loss instead of it being an age thing. Would I still feel this way if i had no kids? I'm only 26 but I'm thinking about checking myself into a nursing home. I'm exhausted all the time and there are never enough hours in my day to get everything done... so I procrastinate and mess around on the computer :D I will post new pictures soon and give some more updates, it has been forever!

Some Audrey Hepburn quotes I love!

2009-08-20T00:12:00.002-05:00

I believe in manicures. I believe in overdressing. I believe in primping at leisure and wearing lipstick. I believe in pink. I believe that loving is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles.

-Audrey Hepburn

Pick the day. Enjoy it - to the hilt. The day as it comes. People as they come... The past, I think, has helped me appreciate the present - and I don't want to spoil any of it by fretting about the future. -Audrey Hepburn

“I was born with an enormous need for affection, and a terrible need to give it.” -Audrey Hepburn

“I love people who make me laugh. I honestly think it's the thing I like most, to laugh. It cures a multitude of ills. It's probably the most important thing in a person.” -Audrey Hepburn

random quiz

2009-08-18T13:42:00.002-05:00

Your background and influences. 1. Name? Naomi 2. Age? 26 3. M/F ? Female 4. Highest grade of school completed? Some college, but going back once the kids are in school. 5. College major (or what you would like it to be)? I would like to do auto-cad, interior design, and possibly be a high school teacher. 6. Current occupation (if you work). I take care of four kids every day, that's more work than most real world jobs! 7. Are you religious? If so what religion/denomination are you? Yes, I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints many people call us Mormon. 8. What is one thing about your religious beliefs that other people misconstrue? That we don't believe in the bible, that we don't believe in Christ... some believe we grow horns when we pray, seriously, I'm not making this up people! A lot of people confuse us with the FLDS (the fundamentalists of our religion who split off after Joseph Smith was killed). There are too many to name. Ask me if you really want clarification to some of the absurd rumors spread about us! 9. Do your religious beliefs influence your political leanings? Yes, I'd be lying if I said otherwise. Although I am constantly amazed at how many religious people disagree with me... I always figured that religious people would be more liberal because of the love and compassion we are taught to have for others. 10. If so, how? I believe they make me more liberal and in more favor of social programs because I feel like it is our responsibility to take care of those in need. 11. Do you consider yourself, conservative/moderate/liberal? And why. Hardcore moderate... (I do believe I invented that term... can I get that patented?) because I am so middle of the road on most things. I can see both sides too easily so I am always going down the middle. Plus I don't like discord (except for in music... sometimes it's eerily beautiful). 12. Do you watch the news? If so what network? I try to catch the news if I wake up before my children I will flip back and forth between CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC. I also like to watch the Today show and Good Morning America... however I can't stand CBS for some reason... heck, I don't even know what their show is called. 13. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Extrovert for sure. 14. For the area you grew up in, what economic class where you considered? (ie: lower, lower middle, middle, upper middle, upper) Lower Middle but I think some people thought we had a lot more money than we did. 15. What do you consider yourself now? Probably lower middle to middle... danny makes decent money, but we have four kids and I stay home! Random 1. Favorite Color? Why? Kelly Green, it makes me happy! Every time I see it I smile! Plus it looks awesome on me! 2. Favorite Number? Why? I don't really have a favorite number anymore, although I prefer non-prime numbers that are divisible by five (I know, crazy huh?) 3. Vanilla or Chocolate? Dark Chocolate! 4. Pizza or Pasta? Pasta! Spaghetti with Marinara or Chicken Parmesan (from the Cheesecake Factory, delicious!) 5. Ice cream or Popsicles? Popsicles! 6. Car/Truck/Suv? SUV, I totally want a Toyota Seqouia and a Range Rover 7. Favorite drink? Dr. Pepper or Water with Sonic Ice 8. Something (song, quote, poem, whatever you can think of) that describes/reminds you of your past? Every long lost dream led me to where you are Others who broke my heart they were like Northern stars Pointing me on my way into your loving arms This much I know is true That God blessed the broken road That led me straight to you I think about the years I spent just passing through I'd like to have the time I lost and give it back to you But you just smile and take my hand You've been there you understand It's all part of a grander plan that is coming true 9. Present? I can almost see it That dream I am dreaming But there's a voice inside my head saying "You'll never reach it" Every step I'm taking Every move I make feels Lost with no direction My faith is shaking But I gotta keep trying Gotta keep my head held high There's always gonna be another mountain I'm always gonna wanna make it move Always gonna be a uphill battle Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose Ain't about how fast I get there Ain't about what's waiting on the other side It's the climb 10. Future? Dear Mom and Dad, I'll send money, I'm so rich that it ain't funny. Well it oughtta be more then enough to get you through. Please don't worry cause I'm alright, I'm stayin here at the Ritz tonight, Whaddya know we made our dreams come true! And there are fancy cars and diamond rings, But you know that they don't mean a thing, Well they all add up to nothin compared to you, Just remember me in ribbons and curls... I still love you more than anything in the world Love, Your Baby Girl 11. Sporks... genius/stupid? Genius! 12. Chopsticks... love 'em or hate 'em? Love 'em! 13. For women, do you wear high heels? For men do you like women in high heels? The taller the better (well at least they will be as soon as I get my back fixed!) 14. Any names you hate and cringe when you hear them? Why? Tonya... just cause 15. Hate someone? Why? meh... probably because they think that what they say is more important than their boss. 16. Desktop or Laptop? hmm... both have their benefits and drawbacks... but I'm gonna say laptop... can't sit in the recliner at a desk :D 17. Pens(fine point/medium point/thick point?) or Pencils (.05mm/.07mm/.09mm?)? Medium point pens, .07 for pencil lead. 18. iPhone, Blackberry, Flip, or Candybar? Gonna have to say blackberry solely because it has the keyboard, but I still think the iphones are pretty awesome! 19. Spiral notebooks or loose leaf paper? 20. Mac or PC? Mac! Introspection 1. Where do you hope to be in 5 years? Back in school and hopefully living in California/Boston/Utah/DC (one of those places) and Danny will either be in med school or have his own studio. 2. Did your best laid plans succeed or fail... or somewhere in between? somewhere in between, on the most important things I've succeeded, but on the things I want for purely selfish reasons I've failed more. 3. One habit you wish you could break? Biting my nails 4. One habit you wish you could start? more diligent in personal studies and prayers 5. One character flaw? I tend to hold grudges (I know that's a surprise huh ;D) 6. One thing that makes you awesome? Nothing makes me awesome... I just am! 7. If you had to live without one sense, which would it be and why? ( smell, sight, taste, touch, hearing) I would have to say... smell, even though I love the way my husband smells, then I wouldn't be so tempted by yummy smelling food either (plus it affects taste so it would help me stay skinny). 8. Alzheimer's or loss of mobility? Obviously neither but I think I fear the loss of my mind for than the loss of mobility. Although both would suck something awful! 9. Who do you want to live longer? You or your spouse? I'm selfish... my spouse... I don't think I could live without him... but he better not get re-married, or I'll haunt him and his new bimbo! 10. Do you practice what you preach? Not nearly enough!

I just want to cry!

2009-08-09T03:47:00.001-05:00

I hate not being able to sleep. It happens more often than not, and it's so frustrating. I just want to be able to have a normal sleep cycle... what I wouldn't give to be able to fall asleep anytime, anywhere, like Danny.

"You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance." -Franklin P. Jones

2009-07-16T08:37:00.002-05:00

Things I tell my children not to do but if I'm too tired or it keeps them quiet I will sometimes pretend like I don't see:

1. Climbing on top of the table.

2. Jumping off of the couch.

3. Hitting each other (don't you judge me!)

4. Bella or Tripp sucking on a pacifier they found.

5. Playing in the toilet (again don't judge me! I have the clorox tablets in there so at least they are playing in bleach water!)

6. Unrolling a whole roll of toilet paper, paper towels, or pulling out every single baby wipe we own till it looks like a paper factory of some sort exploded in our living room.

7. Throwing food on the floor

8. Coloring on the wall (don't worry with both the food and the coloring on the wall I turn them into a learning lesson for the kids and make them clean up after themselves, I think only a few more times and they will have learned!)

9. Sneaking cookies

10. Playing with the trash can.

You know you want to send me a Mom of the Year award huh?

Go right on ahead!

Naomi Stephens

P.O. Box I need to get off my lazy butt and do something

McLazyville, Ok

12345 (cause I was too lazy to come up with anything more unique than that lol)

Glad to know customer service still exists!

2009-07-15T16:20:00.002-05:00

So within the past few days I bought a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos... these are mine, to be consumed by me only unless I am feeling particularly generous with my children and give them 2 or 3 chips of their own (and I literally mean 2 or 3 chips, no more!) They are my addiction, I love licking the seasoning off both sides before eating the chip, then when I'm done with my little bowl full (I have to put them in bowls or a cup so I don't eat the whole bag in one sitting) I get to lick the seasoning that has accumulated on my fingers, so delicious! I've always been that person who prefers salty to sweet. In fact there are two candy bars sitting on our counter that a friend gave me, that are just waiting for Danny to get home because even though I'm hungry I would rather not eat than to eat a candy bar. The closest I get to a candy bar is a huge bar of dark chocolate that I will break a piece or two off of occasionally and I don't know if dark chocolate quite counts as candy or not. Anyway so I open this bag of doritos last night expecting all sorts of ranchy goodness but they tasted burned. Yuck! I was all prepared to get on here and call the company Frito Lame or call them Lame Ranch Doritos but I decided to call the 800 number Frito Lay provided. I was expecting a long wait or even no one to answer since it says they close at 4:30 central time and it was 4:14 when I called but I wasn't even on the phone for 30 seconds when a very helpful and nice sounding lady answered. Apparently the proper term for what I was tasting is scorched and after giving her a few numbers off of the bag and the location where they were purchased along with my name and address I was off the phone and eagerly awaiting my coupon for a free bag of Cool Ranch Doritos! Yum! They are my favorites. Now to trick Danny into picking some up on the way home from work while making him think it was his idea... hmm Anyway so there is no need to call them Frito Lame because they are quite good at customer service, they deserve $4 of my hard earned money (well Danny's hard earned money) every week. They probably just bought themselves a customer for life as well as a customer for life for an as yet unknown cardiologist, but that is another post all together (and hopefully about 40 years in the future!)

Things that give me panic attacks...

2009-07-14T17:20:00.004-05:00

When a number shows up on my caller ID that I don't know. Seriously if you want to talk to me you should totally text me first to announce who you are so I can program your number into my cell. Otherwise I'm not picking up. It's been a long time since I had a debt collector call me and heck I don't even have any credit cards anymore, but with the fraternal order of police (aka fraternal order of "we're gonna guilt you into giving us your last $100" which would totally better be used on pampers in my house or if we are being honest a pair of oversized sunglasses, a beach hat, and cute flip flops) calling my house at all sorts of times not only including the memorial day and labor day holidays, and political campaigns running all the time not only 2-4-and 6 years (seriously I'm not voting on the school board election my kids aren't in school so don't call me) I get calls all the time. Those sneaky bastards are always using local numbers to trick me into picking up. It makes me so mad. Not to pat myself on the back or anything but I seriously have a heart of gold (if only I had a money tree too I'd be set) and I can't deny people when they are in need. I can't watch telethons or save the children commercials cause I will literally start hyperventilating because I don't have enough money to adopt them all. And I didn't have very good money management skills when I was younger so for these reasons I don't answer the phone if I don't know who you are.

2. The thought of trying to get medication for pain from a doctor. Ever since I was little I have had a fear being accused of something wrongfully whether it be something as simple as accused of lying when I'm telling the truth or as heinous as being accused of murdering someone, I've always feared this type of situation. It has made it very difficult to get help for pain I've had because I'm scared to be pushy because I don't want my doctor to think I'm a drug addict. It doesn't help that I am forever klutzy and always getting hurt or finding out I'm allergic to something (today I found out I have developed an allergy to latex, who knew?) and a lot of time I end up doing something like fracturing my elbow or breaking a toe or who knows what and then the doctor acts like a tylenol should suffice... hello I've taken so much tylenol that if they were to take a look at my liver they would guess it belonged to a 78 year old drunken hobo! I need something stronger cause my abuse of tylenol/advil/and aleeve cannot continue!

3. Clowns- Coulrophobia

4. Velvet and chenille fabric (certain fabrics- Textophobia)

5. The sound of metal on teeth such as forks or dental tools (Sounds- Acousticophobia.)

6. Ventriloquist's dummy- Automatonophobia

7. picking out fresh produce at the grocery store... seriously I start sweating trying to find apples that are blemish free, bananas that are at the perfect ripeness so they aren't too green to eat that day but that aren't so yellow that they spoil within a day or two. Also strawberries, I always try to find the freshest and if I see a single bad spot I have to start looking again. It's awful, I try to have danny get the produce for us cause the decision making process leaves me in a panic.

I'm thinking I might need to ask the doctor about some xanax but then I would be afraid of #2 again.

Free Photo Shoot Give Away!

2009-07-03T17:38:00.005-05:00

I'm giving away three in each category to the first people who leave me comments. Remember as said in my previous post you must be in the Tulsa area or be willing to pay for traveling expenses. Each session will be for up to 2 hours and limited licensing rights to at least 25 photos. You can get prints from snapfish very inexpensively!

Children

1. Tony and Jack

Families

1. The Goodman Family

2. The Luette Family

3.The Sohl Family

High School Seniors

1.Jordan Luette

2.Courtney

Engagement/Couples

1.Marla/Matt

Bridal Portraits (not weddings, just a bridal shoot for now, I also have a great hairstylist/make-up artist I can refer you too. Then if you like the bridal shots we can talk about the wedding)

1. Marla

Maternity Portraits

1. Amanda Hill