Here are some pictures from Reise's Birthday party

Well it has been a few weeks since I wrote. My best friend Angie is now married and on her honeymoon. Wow who knew a wedding that wasnt yours could take so much out of you. It was really pretty and fun. So everything is finally getting back to normal. I am pretty happy that the stress level is now low again. Well not much has happened. I have been working a bunch but today it all paid off. I had applied for a position that is called QA and it is a step up from what I am now. Well I found out today that I got it. I am so excited to start my new journey. Jeff and I are still taking dance classes. We have learned the cha-cha, fox trot and some swing steps. Jeff is still in school and will get his associate at the end of this semester. Cade loves being in first grade and he just started soccer today. Reise just turned 5 and had a fun party. She isn't so sure about kindergarten just yet but hopefully she will like it after a bit. Well that is about all that is going on... Ohh and I found stuff that takes Cat PEE smell out. It is a miracle. I love the stuff but you have to buy it from a cleaning supply warehouse so it isnt cheap. Well love you guys. I will write more later I promise.

Well today started off as a bad one. I woke up late so I couldn't go work out which I really need to do since I have a dress I have to fit in that is the size I was a couple of months ago. I have gained weight and I am really afraid that it will not fit. I don't know what I would do then... I guess suck it in and hope I don't tear the thing. Then we have been having issues with one or two or even all three of our cats peeing in the house. We have not been able to catch them in the act but they are doing it. One pee'd in my shoes that I spent months looking for. Does anyone know how to get the pee smell out of leather shoes? Then they pee'd on Reise's shoe box which holds ALL of her shoes. That is fun since we just had bought her a couple of new pairs. And then our couch that we had made just for us... The couch smells like a litter box but without the crystal clean smell. I do not know what to do. I do not know which one it is. I thought it was Chloe because she has pee'd on Jeff several times so I decided to lock them all up and the next morning I saw little Gracie. I put her back in the room which has a cat door that is broken so we have the pad from the couch that is ruined and a tub of clothes holding it in place. She is skinny so she is able to get out of tight places. Well this was this morning so I didn't think that it was her but then I got a call from Jeff saying that there was pee again where Reise's shoe box is. But he didn't know if it was old or new. So now I am sitting here with 3 cats I love so much a ruined couch, Yucky smelling carpet, ruined shoes and who knows what else they have ruined. Hmmm why do I feel like this has happened before, oh yeah because my dogs ruined everything and we had to get rid of them. Maybe I should just not own animals. I mean it seems to be the ones I pick that cause the problems. Madie is a devil but I didn't pick her out and she isn't as bad as the other animals we have. She isn't peeing everywhere, she did ruin the pads we had under the swingset which I am ohhhhh so not happy about but what do I expect. She is a dog and the wind blew most of them up and away so she just thought they were for her. Anyways I just don't know what to do about my cats. They have made me in a horrible mood the last couple of days and I am ready to just put them outside but then I remember that I declawed them so they would die out there. UGHHH I wish I wasn't such an animal lover! Any ideas on what to do, possibly ideas on how to get the cat pee smell out of EVERYTHING?????

Well yesterday was Jeff and I's 7 year wedding anniversary. He gave me such an awesome gift. It was supposed to be a surprise but I am really nosey and found out about it a couple of weeks early. We were sitting at his computer and I saw on his email list information about dance classes. I assumed that they were for either Reise or were for Cade who wants to take Break Dancing lessons. I kept asking Jeff about it and I wouldn't take no for an answer so finally he told me to read the email. I started to read it and found that he was indeed getting someone dance lessons. I asked him who and he said that it was for me. I was a little surprised because I really was thinking like ballet. I thought to myself how weird it was that he was getting me dance lessons and that I really didn't want to take dance. I told him thanks and he knew that I assumed it was just me taking dance lessons so he told me to read on. As I read I became so excited because it said that we (Jeff and I) would take ballroom lessons. You all know Jeff and the fact that he just does not dance. He hates dancing. He never has liked it, so you can imagine my excitement. I mean come on... He got us lessons to learn ballroom and he told me that if we can afford it we can take whatever other lessons I would like. He knows that I have always wanted to learn swing and the salsa and all those fun dances. So I realized that I would have to think of a present to match his... I am still in shock.. Ballroom dance lessons. Anyways. So I thought and thought and then I remembered a conversation Jeff and I had about my sister L's Blog. She had written 10 things about her husband A that she loved about him and Jeff had asked me why I never have done that. So with that in mind I decided to buy some rocks and Rub-on letters and phrases. I put on the rocks all the things I love about Jeff along with the words love, I love you, happiness and so on. Well this was not a simple task. I wanted to do it all by myself so when my mom offered to help I declined because I wanted to be able to say that I did it all. Well by the 4th rock I was in need of some help so my mom took a rock and started. She is always there for me... I love it. She is amazing. Well back to my romantic story. So I got the rocks together with the words and phrases and I put them in a jar that I had bought. I had put the words Love Notes, Love Letters and Love thoughts on the jar and tied a ribbon that said just a note around the top. In the middle of the rocks I put a little box that said "My heart is yours". I was so impressed with myself. I mean I never come up with ideas like that and yes I do not take all the credit since my sis had the idea of the 10 things that she liked most but the rocks were all me. hehehe Well I gave the gift to Jeff and he was very happy with it. I think that it was the best gift he had ever gotten. At least I hope it was. So Monday came and we had our dance lesson. It was so much fun. Jeff and I learned the cha-cha which is not an easy task for 2 people with 4 left feet. We laughed a lot and the instructor reminded me of a pug dog but all in all it was a fun time. I can not wait for our next lesson. We are going to knock the socks off of him because we plan on practicing and getting it down by next Monday. I think he will be pretty impressed. Next the Salsa!!!!

I am sitting here thinking of how wonderful my family is. I mean my mom is fabulous. She always is willing to help me even when I say I do not want it. She helped me throw a bridal shower for my best friend and she did all this work for it without saying anything. I realize that she has always supported me throughout my life. She may have not agreed with my choices but she always supported me. I hope I can be this kind of mother to my kids. My mom gave me this book when I was moving to Nebraska called the places you will go by Dr Suess. Well I have this book and at the time I didn't really understand why she had given it to me other then the fact that I was a troubled teenager who was moving away in hopes of becoming a better person. Well I read this story now to my kids and I cry thinking about the places I have gone and I finally am able to understand the reason behind giving me the book. It really is an amazing thing to have someone love you so much that they are willing to do anything for you. I think about my kids and I do not know what I will do when they put me into the situations I put my parents in... Hopefully they wont but like my Aunt D said.. Paybacks a bitch. hehehe She is another person that means the world to me. She took in a teenager who was doing things that she shouldn't even though she also had young kids who could be influenced by my troubled ways... Yet she took me in with opened arms and she took care of me. We had our issues but truly when I look back I realize that all she ever did was care about me and if she got upset with me it was because she loved me and didn't want to see me hurt. I could go on and on about the amazing people in my life. I mean I have a wonderful Father, Amazing sisters 4 of them that is, a fantastic husband who loves me and has given me 2 amazing kids, my mom who I already talked about, I have amazing nieces and nephews that I think the world of and 4 wonderful brother in laws. I have amazing aunts, uncles, cousins and a fabulous Grandma... I have been so blessed to have all these wonderful people in my life and I am really not sure what I have done to have such amazing people in my life. I just want to say thank you to all of you for the support, love, help and faith that you have all given and shown me. Thank you for always being there and standing by me. I love all of you!

Well today has been a very busy day. My best friend Angie is getting married this month and I have been helping her with her wedding for the past 5 months. I feel so worn out yet so excited for her day to come. She had asked me once how I liked being married. I grinned and said ummm its ok. Well when I think of that response now I feel that I set her up for failure. As I sat there watching her today at her shower I felt this urge to hug her and tell her that marriage really isn't ok... That instead it is an amazing adventure that will have windy roads that can lead you to dead ends but all you need to do is ask for directions and work together to get back on track. I look at my marriage and I see the paths I have taken, I see a lot of dead ends with tents that are blown over and abandoned. I realize that I camped out at the dead ends I came to, hestitant to ask for directions. It has taken 7 years of marriage and plenty of dead ends to see what a perfect road I have had all along. I am sure this does not make a lot of sense and I am sorry. I guess what I am trying to say is that I have discovered that even though the road I am on has bumps and cracks that it is still the road I want to be on. All I need is a little tar and faith and I will be able to keep on moving.

Staying In Touch

My kids, yes even the hairy one is my kid.

Finally have a picture of the swingset we built. It has been stained now so it is a dark color. The wind has been horrible here so the colorful pads you see have since blown up and the monster dog has eaten them.

Here are my little critters... So grown up!

Well hello there... I seemed to have lost my writing ability. Well a lot has been going on but I will not bore you with those details. Everything is going good. Cade is in first grade now and Reise started kindergarten yesterday. When Cade started kindergarten I didn't even get a tear but yesterday I cried like a baby. I mean it is my little baby. Yes it was sad when Cade started but I still had Reise who was huge but not in kindergarten. I realized that these are the years that everyone talks about. The ones that go by way to quickly and without much warning. Soon she will have a "No Trespassing" sign on her bedroom door and Cade will lose his pretty singing voice. Well I am not about to let that happen. I think I will lock them in their rooms and only let them out to be with Jeff and I. Dreams........ Well hopefully tomorrow Cade wont be asking to borrow my car and Reise wont be wearing dark eyeliner. I will have to post some pictures of them so you guys can see what I am talking about.