My Best Friend

I'm not gonna lie. Marriage is the hardest thing I've ever endured. Sometimes it's easy to look at the negative in your marriage. That being said, I was worried 4 months ago today. You see, Rob had shoulder surgery exactly 4 months ago (tomorrow) and that put him at home all day, every day. We have different lifestyles and different parenting styles and, to be honest (again), we're not used to being around each other 24/7. BUT, there was absolutely no need for me to be worried. In fact it strengthened our marriage, making us best friends all over again. He's the first person I go to and is my biggest cheerleader. He contributes to the household, helping in so many ways. He sacrifices and rearranges his schedule so I can enjoy a social life and pursue photography.

Today I was thinking about Rob and all that he gives to this marriage. About a month ago he was given the opportunity to bid a different job in his company. Although it was not his ideal job, included a pay cut and would put him back to work earlier than anticipated, it would put him home every night. So, after discussing it, he took the job. In fact he's offered to work long days and weekends so I can quit my job and pursue photography full time. When I say I want a new photography accessory he's quick to tell me to get it. Tonight he has to go into work at 11 after already working a long day. I had my last photography class (which went MUCH better than Tuesday's by the way) and he could've easily asked me to skip it so I could hang out with P while he got some much needed rest but he never did. Yesterday he started my day with a sweet love note and ended it last night, after working all day, by washing all the dishes that I had stacked up in the sink from making dinner.

With so many troubled marriages out there it makes me really count my blessings. Is our marriage perfect? No. But, it's perfect for us and I'm blessed to be married to my best friend.

2 Different Happenings

I write this with a heavy heart and full of questions. Healthy? Maybe. Inevitable? Definitely. Yesterday 2 happenings took place. The lesser of two evils happened at the photography workshop that I'm currently attending. I've decided to jump into photography with both feet...or at least more than my big toe. By doing that, I have to be open to criticism that helps me become a great photographer but that's easier said than done. You see, a couple years ago I jumped into writing...unsuccessfully. I took a year long class and I was so excited but when it was all said and done I didn't have anything published. Maybe I needed to stick with it more and pursue it but I didn't. Although family was my biggest cheerleader, I put all my stories aside and went back to my comfort zone....teaching. Once again my family and friends are my biggest cheerleaders but I have yet to hear from a professional photographer that I have a God given talent. In fact, last night the instructor (a well published local photographer) criticized my photographs I had presented more than anyone else's (and no, I'm not exaggerating!). It made me question myself all the way home, whether it's right for me to pursue this. Other than teaching, I've always wanted to be a writer or photographer. Now I question it but this time I won't let it stop me. I'm still pursuing all options with photography, hoping to learn and become better as I go.

Now onto the major reason my heart is heavy. A 2nd grader that attended the school I work at, one that I used to have contact with several times a week, passed away last night after a very short battle against brain cancer. He was diagnosed after having a seizure at school and complaining about headaches and leg cramps. This was last Fall. We found out last month that his chemo and radiation was not working and, not only had his original tumor not shrunk, but there were 2 more tumors growing around his brain. On Saturday, while we were bowling to raise money for him, unbeknownst to us, he was in a coma at Oakland Children's Hospital. Unfortunately, he never woke up again. All day I've been thinking about how he was supposed to be in my class this year (His mom works at the school and begged the principal to put him in our class) but that it was better that he wasn't- for many reason. I keep thinking about Sandra and Martene, wondering how they're coping as his parents. I keep thinking about the students at my school, wondering how they'll cope when they come back after break. It just makes me count my blessings that much more. I'm trying very hard not to question WHY? but to accept that Cris is no longer suffering.

So, as you can see, today's been tough. Because of a small thing and because of a very big thing. Times like this makes me grateful for my cheerleading squad, my boys, every blessing I've been given in life. Others aren't as fortunate and that happening hurts.

Oh, What a Day!

This whole week has been busy so it isn't a surprise that yesterday was no exception. I left the house first thing in the morning to go to a photography workshop. A few months ago an acquaintance asked if anyone would be interested in being her 2nd shooter for wedding season. I jumped at the chance so I was excited for the workshop yesterday. I learned a lot as she walked me through photographing an engagement session. It was so much fun and made me get the "photography bug" even more!! Here are just a couple pictures that I took that I liked (They aren't really edited yet).

  

 

Yesterday afternoon we dropped off our taxes then enjoyed the beautiful weather by playing outside. Last night we went to a fundraiser to benefit 2 little boys that are at my school and are struggling with cancer (One is terminal). It was at a local bowling alley and P had never bowled before. So we had a lot of family fun! His favorite part was giving us a High 5 after he knocked down even one pin. :) He loved the game and I remembered how much I missed playing every few months.

All in all it was a super busy and super fun day!!

Calm After the Storm

It's only been 3 days since the last time I blogged?? It seems like forever since I've had a chance to say hi to you. This week has been super busy...at least socially. Rob is my biggest cheerleader when it comes to photography and is constantly trying to help me broaden my horizons. For Christmas he paid for me to take a photography class with a phenomenal local photographer. The class started this week, which has kept me busy. On Tuesday and Thursday night I was immersed in photography until 9pm. Last night the class took a fieldtrip downtown to play with different settings on our camera. Rob had used his bonus to buy me a camera I've been eyeing for awhile so it was fun (and frustrating) to play around with it.

An unedited picture that I took with my new camera

Wednesday night I took a break from photography to meet with my book club. Usually I thoroughly enjoy my monthly meetings with the gals but this week there was something in the air. 2 ladies were in tears and there was a new lady that added a new dynamic to the group.
Tonight I'm happy to say that, after going to dinner with my boys, I've been relaxing at home. I've caught up on my taped shows, played on the computer, chatted with the neighbors, cuddled with my boys and read my camera manual.
Tomorrow morning it starts all over again. I'm going to a 2nd shooter (wedding photography) training session. Then we've got to meet with our accountant to do taxes and go to a fundraiser for a couple boys that are dealing with cancer.
I'm looking forward to the next 3 weeks so I can RELAX. I'm "tracked off" and can't wait to visit my parents and friends, run, do photography and read the stack of books I'm dying to get through!

A Lil Lesson from the South

My wonderful mother-in-law sent this to me this morning and I couldn't help but laugh. I remember-not too long ago-having a discussion with my father-in-law about when he was going to take us to the airport. He said he'd get off work around supper time and would take us then. In my head the word "supper" and "dinner" mean the exact same thing so I thought we'd miss our flight. Ah, the things you learn about the South.....

A possum is a flat animal that sleeps in the middle of the road.

There are 5,000 types of snakes and 4,998 of them live in the South.

There are 10,000 types of spiders. All 10,000 of them live in the South, plus a couple no one's seen before.

If it grows, it'll stick ya. If it crawls, it'll bite cha.

Onced and Twiced are words.

It is not a shopping cart, it is a buggy!

Jawl-P? Means, Did you all go to the bathroom?

People actually grow,eat and like okra.

Fixinto is one word. It means I'm going to do that.

There is no such thing as lunch. There is only dinner and then there's supper.

Iced tea is appropriate for all meals and you start drinking it when you're two. We do like a little tea with our sugar. It is referred to as the Wine of the South.

Backwards and forwards means I know everything about you.

The word jeet is actually a question meaning, 'Did you eat?'

You don't have to wear a watch, because it doesn't matter what time it is, you work until you're done or it's too dark to see.

You don't PUSH buttons, you MASH em.

Ya'll is singular. All ya'll is plural.

All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, grain, insect, or animal.

You carry jumper cables in your car - for your OWN car.

You only own five spices: salt, pepper, mustard, Tabasco and ketchup.

The local papers cover national and international news on one page, but require 6 pages for local high school sports, the motor sports, and gossip.

Everyone you meet is a Honey, Sugar, Miss(first name) or Mr.(first name)

You think that the first day of deer season is a national holiday.

You know what a hissy fit is..

Fried catfish is the other white meat.

We don't need Driver's Ed. If our mama says we can drive, we can drive!!!

Date Night

Last Wednesday we were supposed to go to the Blake Shelton/Justin Moore concert but it got cancelled. Instead it got rescheduled for last night. Rob and I left P with his favorite babysitter and went on a date. We started out with dinner at Outback then headed to the concert. It was a great show with talented (not to mention good looking) performers! Here are a few pictures from our fun date night.....

A Green Easter Gathering

P is a smart kid but like all 2 years olds, he confuses things. This morning we told him we were going to have donuts with the Easter Bunny. All the way to the mall he talked about breakfast with Easter Clause. He had never seen the Easter Bunny up close so, although excited, he was kind of shy when he went to give him a hug. Breakfast consisted of green donuts, which we had to bribe P to eat (He is so not my child in that regard!). Then he ran around, playing with other kids and not caring about Easter Clause.
We made a short appearance there because we had to get to P's Spring picture appt....another thing he was excited about. He knew he was getting his pictures taken with bunnies and chicks. When we got to the studio he was all excited about the 3 day old chicks....until he had to take his picture with one. Then he started crying, 'Put it back!'. As soon as it was back in its box, he wanted to look at them again. What he really liked was the bunny! He tried to feed her a carrot and kept hugging her. The photographer brought her out twice because he wanted the Easter Bunny to sit on his lap again. I can't wait to see the pictures!!
From there we went to visit one of our close friends. She's on bedrest right now due to her high risk pregnancy so, although we didn't stay long, she was happy we stopped by. We debated about taking P home so he could get his nap but instead we went where Rob has wanted to go since we moved here....the Rocky Mountain Oyster Festival. I didn't try any but he got in the wrong line and ended up with some ground ones on top of nachos. He wasn't impressed. P was though. Impressed with the people, dogs, candy and live band that is. Rob and P danced and then he was in heaven when the band played "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" just for him. 

Now the snow is really falling so we're relaxing around the house, not participating in the St. Patrick's Day craziness.....just the way I like it!

A Toddler's Perfect Day

If you haven't received the memo, let me fill you in.....the world revolves around P. OK, maybe not the entire world but definitely parts of Nevada, California and Mississippi. Today was no exception! Thursdays are currently Father/Son days so when I set off to work (late) this morning they headed to a children's museum. P had a blast building, climbing, running, exploring. After his nap I was told he got his special treat, "Uncle Jay Juice". By the time I finally got off work my stomach wasn't doing well so I didn't want to cook dinner. That meant P got to enjoy a hotdog and McDonald french fries that Daddy graciously shared with him.
After dinner we had so much fun! We played a family game of "Hide-n-Go-Seek". Every time Rob counted, both dogs and P would follow me to wherever I was hiding. On the rare occasion I was able to grab my own hiding spot, P was quick to tell Rob where I was....all the while squealing and laughing. Almost every time I counted Rob was able to get off scott free. Once P fell and hit his head on the wall we decided to play a more mellow game. He asked for bubbles. His idea of playing with bubbles is having me blow them while Ruby tries to eat them. After awhile P mimics Ruby and crawls around, trying to eat the bubbles as well. It's been an entertaining night to say the least. Now our lil man is taking a quick bath before calling it a fun filled day, a toddler's perfect day!

Rollercoaster

I've been MIA for the past week because I feel like our family has been on an emotional rollercoaster that won't slow down and won't let us off. For all the lows we've had, we've had just as many highs....the way life is. Last Monday we found out that our house, which is for sale, is going on to the next phase in the selling process. The buyers upped their offer so that the bank would approve everything. We are sooooo excited to move to the valley where life is more convenient all the way around. Monday was also the day that P was fully potty trained and no longer needed diapers! Monday was also the day we got some other news but I'll tell ya about that in a minute.
Thursday Rob had to take a test for a new potential job. He passed and was offered the job. He'll be going back to work in a couple weeks after being off on disability for 4 months- a huge change for ALL of us. If you read his blog you know that, even though it's not his ideal job, he'll be happy to be home with P and me every night. There is a paycut involved so I need to figure out what I'm going to do next year with teaching and P's preschool schedule.
Friday Rob and I packed up his truck after I got off work and headed to Vegas. We love being parents more than anything in the world but we always enjoy the chance to just be a married couple as well. My parents came to town to watch P for the weekend and spoil him endlessly while Rob and I went to NASCAR races. Everyone had a blast! Rob and I got to stay in a nice hotel, see our favorite race car drivers and have a date night at the top of the Stratosphere- 1,140 feet up in the air! Although we had a great time together, it was nice to be back home yesterday with P. We don't take our time together for granted but like I said, we thoroughly enjoy being parents.
OK, back to the news from last Monday. I have tears in my eyes as I write this so I may keep this short and sweet. As you may know, we've been trying to get pregnant for 1 1/2 years. Last Monday I was convinced with every bone in my body that I was pregnant so I took a pregnancy test and it came back positive. We immediately called our family to share the news we'd been dying to tell everyone for well over a year. Later in the morning I texted only 1 friend that has been my "advice nurse" for the past couple months. She immediately texted back that it could be a false positive due to the fertility drugs, something I hadn't even thought of. I still thought I was pregnant but as the week wore on it became apparent that I wasn't. Today it was confirmed that it was indeed a false positive, which is heartbreaking. After seeing "Not Pregnant" for 18 months we were over the moon to FINALLY see "Pregnant" flash on the stick. But, between you and me, I much would've rather had seen the "Not Pregnant" than to go through this rollercoaster of emotion that we've dealt with.
So, there you have it....our rollercoaster of life!

future

well, i took another job today. i am a journeyman lineman and i've always taken alot of pride in that. knowing that i have the ability to do what alot of people wouldn't even attempt to do. working 30 plus hours straight, extremely high voltages, all kinds of weather. i have rode out a hurricane in my bucket truck in louisiana, ive been dropped off on a bundle of energized conductor by a helicopter, ive rode a spacer buggy across canyons, transferred alot of energized conductor, restored power after hurricanes, ice storms, and tornadoes, and done all of that in just about every state you can think of in the u.s.a., and i am very proud of all of that. so, it was with great hesitance that i accepted this job. im going from working on 345,000 volts to 120 volts. despite the dangers involved with the high voltage, it was something i loved doing because of the challenges it provided. when the job was all done, it was a good feeling to look up there and say "i did that". i will sure miss that part of the job for sure. however, i won't miss being away from my family for 20 days at a time, or working every single weekend. there is nothing more important to me than my family and i guess sometimes we make sacrafices to ensure our family gets our very best. although i will miss being a lineman, the reward greatly outweighs the sacrafice. nothing is more important to me than being around to enjoy all the moments my son brings me. he is only little once, and you never get it back. so, here's to the end of a road and the beginning of another.

Big Day!!

At 2 yrs, 7 months we officially have a potty trained toddler! Yesterday I took him to get ice cream and he dropped his pants right outside the ice cream parlor (in front of 3 firemen and God) to "water the rocks". BUT, he went accident free without a pull-up!! This morning he went more than pee in his little potty...a first! Then we put a pull-up on him to take him to the train museum. No need. Rob and I were talking when all of a sudden Rob saw that P had dropped his pants next to the tracks and was "watering the rocks". This afternoon I took him to run a few errands...without a pull-up. He did an awesome job!!! He used the portable potty I carry in the back of my Yukon. Then he used his first public adult toilet at Walmart. He used the toilet in my classroom and "watered the rocks" on the way home. We are so proud of him!! After procrastinating for a couple months on potty training it's all worked out. No more "baby to kid" milestones to reach. Our lil man is growing up!!

On a completely different side note....we got 2 bits of great news this morning only to find out later in the day that both may not be what we thought. So, if you're a praying person, we'd appreciate your prayers. Thanks!

No Bodie

 Rob suggested we drive to Genoa yesterday so I could take pictures. I suggested going (what I thought was) an hour further to Bodie, an old ghost town in California. I've been dying to get there to take pictures. Since we haven't had much snow this Winter and because I didn't think it was a state park, I wasn't thinking about whether it would be open or not. Well, let me save you the trip....it's closed!

 After driving over 3 hours with a potty trained toddler, who is fascinated with peeing on the side of the road, we came to a "Road Closed" sign. I was beyond disappointed, not just because I wouldn't get any pictures but because Rob and P went on a long drive for nothing. I did take a couple pictures of things along the way there and back (A toddler taking pee breaks is a good chance for me to take a photography break) but all in all it was an unproductive road trip. :(

Best of Both Worlds

When you find out you're having a baby, you immediately start having aspiration for your unborn child. When he or she is born it becomes fun to see how your child looks and acts. This has been the case with watching P the past few years (Has it been that long already??). EVERYONE talks about how much he looks like rob and I joke that he can look like him as long as P has my personality. In reality P has the best of both of us, in my opinion. He's social like me but passionate like Rob. He loves to read like me but I'm hoping he's also good at math like Rob. His imagination is huge like mine but I don't want it to get him in trouble like it does with me. He mimics both of us when it comes to our personal hobbies/passions. My dream for him, regardless of his occupation, is that he'll have a true heart for the Lord and will enjoy life to the fullest. I have a feeling that he'll have no problem living up to our expectations because he seems to have the best of both of us!

Late Start

I like our district's 2 hour snow delay for many reasons. Yesterday I liked it because it allowed P and I time to go on a photography date. He pointed out the animals and what he thought I should take pictures of. I have to say, after looking at the shots he requested, he does have an eye for photography. :) Here are some of our Winter Wonderland pictures from yesterday......

P was so excited to see a coyote up close and personal on our way home from the mailboxes!