Gadgets and gizmos

When did I become such a tech geek? I would have to say that the path to the dark side probably happened after I married Matt. For a long time I didn’t really care about the newest gadgets and gizmos, but now I am obsessed. So much, that I went and pre-ordered the new iphone 5. I literally almost threw a fit in the mall because we were having issues pre-ordering it and I wanted it NOW. Some of this fit throwing might have been brought on by hunger but at the same time I found myself balling up my fists and stomping my feet! I admit now that it sounds pretty ridiculous saying this all out loud but I cannot wait until my iphone gets here!

Keeping that little voice out....

I have not posted anything in a long time! I started a blog challenge (a few months back) to get pumped about posting and that fizzled out. Life is crazy right now and things are happening but there doesn’t seem to be enough time to blog about them all. I started my teaching program a few weeks ago and it’s amazing, scary, and intimidating all in one ball of crazy. I have spent the last two years doing all my generals and now I am a junior at NNU taking the classes that will help me become an amazing teacher. It’s been interesting these last few weeks and so many emotions have been going through my head. The main one is: can I really be a teacher. Am I really cut out for this? I WANT to be a teacher and I feel in my heart I would make an excellent teacher but at the same time that little voice in my head tells me I can’t do it. I try and shut that little voice up any chance I get, but he likes to creep in whenever possible. When I was younger I loved school. Our lives were so crazy and school became a place to escape all of it. At school it was safe and we had a routine. We were able to eat a hot meal and were surrounded by people who wanted us to be there. I loved learning at school, and reading new and exciting books. I had many teachers who knew what was going on at home even though I didn’t realize they were aware. Maybe that’s why they took special attention to my brother and I. My desire to become a teacher comes from my own experiences as a child. I want to make an impact in a child’s life and be the safe, happy, and loved placed for them. I want to inspire them to be better and do better even with their limited circumstances. I want them to know that the bad things in life don’t define them, they define themselves. Teachers can make a huge impact in a child’s life whether it’s positive or negative and I want to be that positive force. Anyways, I’m excited and extremely nervous for this next year and am hoping I can measure up to all I want to be.

Birds and Omen's

In the last two weeks we have had several bird injuries in our yard and they have been traumatizing to me and the birds. The first bird accident was a couple of weeks ago. I noticed a bird stuck in between the boards in our fence; poor thing was flapping its wings so hard and there was blood everywhere. After running to the neighbor’s house in a panic for help, the bird was removed from the fence. The little bird’s leg was broke and probably not going to live. The neighbor girl took the bird in hopes of fixing its little leg. After getting an update on the bird a week later I found out that they tried to put a little splint on its leg but it flew off onto the roof of our house. Not sure if it made it after that. The second incident happened this past Sunday. I was letting the dogs out when they ran over to the fence and started to paw at something and bite the air. After rushing over, I found a baby bird frantically trying to get away from my seemingly ruthless mutts. After getting the dogs in the house I ran into where my hubby was and explained the situation with the baby bird. I think he thought I was joking. Finally he came outside and picked the baby bird up and put him in a box. His poor little leg was broken too. My hubby put the box in a somewhat safe spot and I hoped for the best. I can’t help but wonder if this is some sort of omen…..

Happy Birthday to ME

Yesterday I turned 29. For some reason turning 29 seems like turning 40 or something. I’m not saying 29 is necessarily old per se, but it feels like forever to me. In my long 29 years of life I have learned a few things: The things in high school don’t matter as much as you think they do and being popular isn’t everything. Be who you are and comfortable with whom you are. Don’t let anyone define who you should be. Love your family because they are the only ones you have. Life is short and precious; make sure the people who are the most important know you love them. Respect your husband and he will respect you. Love your husband’s family and make sure he loves your family too. Don’t rush into adult hood, let it find you, and appreciate being young and irresponsible! When you are finally an adult be a good example to your younger siblings. Invest in your future and do things that make you happy. Work at a job you enjoy not one you have to enjoy. That’s about all I have learned so far! After reading this I sound so wise in my young 29 years of life! I can’t wait to look back on this next year and compare.

It's been a journey

Today is our 4 year anniversary and I can’t believe four years has flown by so fast. Of course we have been together for almost 11 years in total and it’s amazing how much we have grown and changed. I think back to our beginning years of dating and am so thankful we are not just starting out. We were young, immature, and didn’t know how to be in a relationship. Over the years our relationship has morphed into something really, really good. It’s something that I could never have imagined it would be and I feel so blessed to be married to such a kind, loving, and considerate man. Over the years we have had our ups and downs but through it all we have been there for each other. At the end of the day, no matter what’s going on, we realize we’re a team. Things haven’t been perfect but rather a lot of work and it really makes you appreciate the things you work the hardest for.

5. Interesting things about your family.

My great grandpa was in a bad ass motorcycle gang in California.
My Uncle won a large amount of money playing pool....but the money was gone VERY quickly.
I have a cousin named Vinny and when I say "My cousin Vinny" everyone laughs because of the movie.
I almost had a felony on my record...my best friend Misty can back this up. *Misty remember when I tried to get into your graduation party and the cops were called*

4. Habit/s that you wish you didn't have.

Thinking WAY too much....enuf said!

We will miss you

Over the past year we have lost two wonderful people, my mother in law and father in law, Marcie and Cheryl. It has been a rough year seeing them get sick, watching them get sicker, and then losing them both. I have known them for over 10 years and have been blessed to have known them. Both of them have guided Matt in I in our lives and helped teach us how to be better people.

I am deeply saddened that our future children will not know these two people. I imagined Marcie and Cheryl holding our baby and now this will not happened. It makes me so sad.

I feel horrible that Matt has lost his two parents at an early age. It makes me worry that he will always have a hole in his heart that will never fill up. Its hard to see Matt and his siblings having to deal with the aftermath of their parents death.

I will always miss Marcie and Cheryl and I am upset about all of us not having them in our lives but at peace that they are together in heaven.

Me and my mom

My mom came this past weekend and we had a blast. I don’t get to see her very much and when I do I cherish the time and the moments we have together. My mom is a great person with the biggest heart. Its been weird to see my mom get older and her thought process change. When I was younger my mom was more of a free spirit and has since turned into an old lady.

                                     

Me and my love

Matt and I were bored and were messing around!

I love hanging out with my wonderful husband. With his new schedule we don’t get to hang as much as I would prefer but we are making it work and trying to be creative.

#3 Nicknames you have and why you have those?

I have had many nicknames over the years but these are the ones that have stuck.

Shell Bell – I was given this name by my Aunt Christina and she is the only one who still calls me this. There was also this song that went along with it. The song went something like Shell Bell full of gel……

Smelly – Matt thought of this one and I can’t honestly remember how that one came to be.

Ricky Roonie – yet again, where did that came from?
These are just a few. My husband and I are big on nicknames so we are always coming up with something goofy.

#2 What is your worst memory?

I have mentioned before that my step brother, Daniel was killed a year ago this past December. He is my step dad’s only son and he left behind a daughter, Taylie.
The day I got the call I knew something was wrong. I didn’t answer the phone and let the call go to voicemail. I still didn’t listen to the call until the next day when my brother Randy finally called me at work.
He told me that Daniel had been in a wreck and was in the hospital in Indiana. I didn’t know what to say. I had him repeat the words again and they still didn’t make any sense. I knew Daniel was in Indiana but I couldn’t understand how it had all happened. I asked my Randy what happened and he recanted a story that didn’t’ make any sense.
I went out to my car and called my mom. She was a wreck and just kept rambling on about her last conversation with Daniel.
Out of the three of us kids he was the one with the most problems. He was the one that needed more attention from our parents and he was the one who seemed lost.
I guess Daniel was planning on coming back to Idaho and had asked my mom if he could stay with them. He asked her if he was welcome at their house. My mom explained to him that all of us kids were always welcome back at home.
My mom new that day, Daniel wasn’t ever coming home. The hospital was waiting for my step dad to get there so they could remove him from life support. It took my step dad a day to get there but he made it to say his final goodbyes.
We are still unsure how this all happened and justice has yet to come, but we know Daniel’s in heaven. The hardest thing is to see Daniel’s daughter Taylie, struggle with his death. It’s sad to know she will never get to fully know her father and they will not be a part of each other’s lives.
Getting a call that morning that Daniel was in the hospital is a memory that will haunt me, always.

A question a day

Matt and I went to Barnes and Noble on Saturday to look around. He likes to look at all the books and grab a few to sit and read. We didn’t have as much time as we wanted  but I ended up finding this Q & A a five year journal. After looking it over I thought it was sort of interesting. Each day it asked you a questions and you keep doing this for five years. It would be cool to see how your answers change. I showed the book to Matt and he thought it was a good idea too. Since we are almost done with January it will be hard to remember what we did on some of those days to answer the questions but we have started to fill it in. I think this would be a good gift for anyone and I might have to start getting my friends and families one.

Getting Fit in 2012

My fitness has been slacking to say the least. So after much complaining and excuses, I finally started to do something. I am going to start going to Nampa Fit Studio and taking some of their classes. I did one on Tuesday with my mother in law and today I can barely walk. I’m going to try and go twice a week and do another class at work on Mondays. I took some before pics this morning and those were so depressing but I figure it will be a good motivator when I look at them.

#1 Who am I?

Such an interesting question! It’s like the first day of school when you have to introduce yourself and your voice is shaky and your palms are sweaty.

I am 28 years old, almost 29 and was born in Nampa, Idaho. We moved around a lot when I was younger and never really settled in one place for very long. I have a step brother named Daniel and a half brother named Randy. I met my best friend Matt when I was 18 and we fell for each other hard. We got married in 2008 and have been together for almost 11 years but married for over 3. Not long after we got married we bought our first house in Nampa. We knew it was our house the moment we walked into it. About a year after that we got a dog, a little Pekingese mix named Cid. In 2010 we both decided to put the kid thing on hold and go to school. It was a great decision as far as bettering ourselves and our family but we are both ready to have kids and now have to wait a couple of years…

The best way to describe me is: loyal, loving, and compassionate to those who deserve it; not to those who don’t. Honest to everyone. As I get older I realize the importance of family and I appreciate the relationships with close friends. My family has come together during tough times and my friends have been there to support my decisions and celebrate my accomplishments. I will give you complete respect and expect the same from you. When that is ruined all bets are off.

I love my relationship with my husband, and thank God everyday for the enormous amount of love Matt shows to me and the incredible respect we have for each other. Growing up the relationships I witnessed by adults were not great models and I wasn’t sure I would ever have a “good” relationship.

And… that’s who I am, or at least the stuff I want you all to know!