Valentines Day 2018

Karlee surprised me at work with some treats :)

Ben stopped by on his way home to give me a big box of chocolates :)

I gave him a card and a big bag of gummy worms :)

And oddly enough it looked like this outside for the day.

Despite the cold and wind, rain/snow this year Valentines Day was a good happy day!

1st Weekend in Feb

Started it with  Friday after work meeting with this guy! :)  We got Sara squared away with dropping her off along with a few friends off at Flag High to watch some intense high school basketball games against Coco and Flag.

Then we put gas in my car to make sure I had a full tank for tomorrow's trip to Prescott with Sara.  Then we went to Del Taco to grab some food for dinner and to go back to my place to eat, cuddle and watch some Netflix until he left to go home.

I enjoy and make the most out of every chance we get to spend time together.  We always end up smiling a ton and laughing lots.

 Saturday morning I got up at 4:00 a.m. to get things ready to go so that we could leave by 5:00 a.m. (I think Sara had gotten up around 4:30)  We had to head to Prescott and get to the volleyball location at 7:30 a.m.  This club volleyball is really challenging me to drive more out of town and such.  Prescott I'm okay to drive to and actually it ended up being a straight easy shot getting to where we needed to be, the only thing that was a little uneasy was driving so early in the morning when its still really dark out but I used my brights when I could.  Sara had gone back to sleep while I drove of course, but it was a nice drive and I was okay.

All the parents set up a "camp" for our players to come by and rest and grab food in between their playing and reefing. 

of course there is enough down time for social media.....oh my.

This is their pre-winning game photo.  They said that they wanted to take a "winning" photo to have ready in case they won a game.  This one is a little silly since one of them just wouldn't give up the bagel in her mouth.....

Sara serving....

At one point while the girls were reffing, I went for a walk around the college campus.  It was a beautiful day in Prescott, I think it ended up being 70!  The sun felt so good!  On my walk I found the purple cactus.  It caught my attention with the color, it is so pretty!  

Also I was thinking of Karlee when I saw it, she is into cactus and I wanted to send her a picture to cheer her up some.  She's a little down and out with the pressures of being an adult and living on her own but I talked to her with encouraging words (while praying in my head for the Lord's help) and told her how much I loved her and how proud I was of her and that things will be alright for all of us.  We just have to hang in there, believe and have some faith.

But seriously have you ever seen such a pretty purple cactus!!

Now ironically here is the "real" winning team photos!  We ended up winning our last game of the day!!! It was so great!  The girls have really improved and played really good!

It was a long day and everyone was tired and we had to travel back but it was a good one!

Sara and I grabbed some food at In and Out Burger and headed back to Flagstaff!

Sunday, the girls and I head to the mall, to walk around and browse.  It was nice getting to spend some time with both of my girls.

That is Karlee sleeping on my couch, she spent most of Sunday here at "home".  It all felt complete.

It was an enjoyable weekend, thankful for all the moments shared with my loved ones.

The New Year is in Full Swing

Here it is the 3rd day of February 2018!  The new year is in full swing, we have a month into the year under our belts!

Well we started January off, in fact this on the 3rd of January, so a month ago Kyle rear ended someone after he had a job interview with Walmart.  We are finally starting to order the parts needed to get the truck back together.

Then I used some of a gift card from Amazon that I had gotten for Christmas and got an air fryer.  It is so awesome!  I love it!

Kyle, wow my son is turning more and more into his own person.  He will soon be 18 and he will graduate from high school in May.  This is a picture I grabbed from instagram that he posted when he went on a hike with his buddies in the middle of last month.

This is a my package that I received from Thrive Market.  I tried out a little service of buying grocery/pantry type stuff online and had it sent to me.  It was neat and interesting at first but I will not continue.  Its too much money.  The one I tried offered a discount for a trial order.

We had a brief encounter in January with snow.....I think we still know what it looks and feels like lol....its crazy  how mild this winter here in Flagstaff AZ has been this year.

This is on a day that Karlee wanted to get together and hang out with me.  I love spending time with her, she has blossomed this year with going to school and living on her own with room mates.

Sara and her club volleyball teal with the YMCA.

Yes, even silly 44 year old "girls" still like to play with their hair and try new styles.....

Ended January with changing up my bedding in my bedroom/living room.  I want to bring the outdoors indoors so here is phase one with a new bedspread and pillow.  Its a pretty green, prettier than what comes out in the picture I think.

All in all January was a good month.

The year continues......

onto the next month!

The "Plated" experience

Plated is one of those meal planning services that you can have everything you need, fresh and ready for you to cook with a recipe card and all.  Its neat and the idea is great but its rather costly.  I was able to enjoy the service for 5 meals due to my boss at work making a mistake in his delivery time.  He goes back and forth to Phoenix and Flagstaff, every other week between the two businesses.  He scheduled his service to deliver the week he was going to be in Phoenix.  He called the office at work, I answered the (because thats what I do lol) and he said that he had an odd question to ask.  Then he asked if I would be willing to go to his house to pick up the box and take it home and cook and enjoy the meals that were inside the box.  I was surprised and excited and said sure I would do that.  

There were 5 meals in the box.  I ended up cooking three out of the 5 meals.  I have to say it was fun!  It also was great to come home and pull out the bundle of ingredients right from the fridge, ready to go and then prepare and cook it.  I didn't have to go to the store, I didn't have to plan it.  It was great!  I felt like a real "chef" lol.....I learned new techniques to prepare the food or chop and item.  I learned new ways to combine different seasonings to get an amazing flavor in the dish.

This was the first one I made.  I even "plated" it before serving it to the kids.  I liked this one the most and the kids didn't mind it.

The last two the kids were not very fond of but they tried it at least and that made me happy.  The meals were a little on what I would say the "fancy" side.   It was wasn't your normal idea of an every day meal for a family.  I did enjoy trying the new recipes.

Well I helped out being able to enjoy the service for that week but I it did wear me out too.....all that actual cooking :)

I enjoyed and would love to take advantage of a service like that but it is expensive so its not something I can do at this stage in my life.  I recommend trying it out if you can, even if its just a one time gift to yourself go for it!

My light did not go out

Post written December 29th 2017

Don't let someone take your light and blow it out, leaving darkness.

My faith, hope and who I was - lost in that darkness.

Break free, leave it and move from it.

Re-light your light with hope, help from others, family, faith and God - God's strength.

Through all that and His strength I've been able to re-light my light shining brighter and brighter each day.

Finding me again along the way, re-discovering who I'am - my likes, dislikes, passions, connections with lost friendships, and exploring new relationships.

My light is shining brighter!
Renewed and refreshed, shining bright and brighter with each day!

My light will shine on......

(taking a moment to get caught up with things I've written but not shared yet, I think its important to continue to share my journey as things have started to wrap up from the last two years and move forward in a healthy and positive way  now, so thankful and so blessed)

I can't help but think of the little song that we teach our children and I once knew by heart so well too.  I hope it sticks in your head and plays over and over!  :)

A little bit of January

I'm really feeling good about myself and feeling me again.  I'm happy and gaining confidence again.  Its been such a journey these last couple of years but I feel it and know it that this year will be different.

Ben and I went to a friend's son's 4th birthday party a few weeks ago.  We had fun bowling.

lol this is Sara and Marlee "playing" with extra goody bags we brought back from the 4 year old's birthday party.  It doesn't take much to entertain these silly teen age girls.  Whose being the little kid now.....

Ben and I relaxing before we went to a party for New's Years.

Ben and I at the party.  We had a nice time.  We left to go home when everyone else was leaving to go watch the giant pinecone drop. 

Ben and I brought in the new year together.

Kyle's bumper.  Yes its off of the truck....all in one day we experienced the ups and downs of life.  He had a job interview at Walmart, was hired and then a few hours later he calls me and says "mom I'm sorry, I tried to stop" he hit another car from behind.  All I could do was laugh.....

With some of my gift card money on Amazon I bought this air fryer.  These fries are the first things I tried in it.  They were so yummy and simple and quick!  No oil at all!  Since then I've done, bacon, french toast, chicken wings and pork chops.  I'm loving my new air fryer!!

Karlee has been quite the adventurer,  her friends, Abby and Payson all went to Horsebend for the day and took some amazing pictures.  They had a picnic and enjoyed the afternoon.  I love seeing Karlee explore life!

Okay it did it again.....it actually snowed again!  This time leaving a little more down but not for very long.

As quick as it came it went.  Started with rain then went to snow, at least we got some moisture.  Thankful for that and the many little things of life, even the ups and downs.

Christmas Time

I'm a little behind on posting, I've written in a notebook lately and just haven't gotten to post lately so they next few postings will be to catch up on things.

I wrote this on December 22, 2017

Christmas--

growing up was always a happy time

Over the years I always did my best no matter what

was or wasn't going on at the time, a little or a lot --

always tried to make sure Christmas time

was a happy time for my kids.

Over the last couple of years my kids have made 

sure it was a happy time for me.  It's funny how things can switch for a moment or two.

Its a time of bringing us together as a family.

Sharing moments together to make happy

memories for the season.

Christmas happiness

short, needed, begin again

until the next Christmas.

Anyways those were some thoughts that were in my head while I was sitting at work on a slow afternoon prior to Christmas, just thought I'd share.

The next one that will post is a reflection of 2017.