Its my time now

I started school last week. Im studying to be an Aesthetician. Ive only gone to school a few days but I am already LOVING it!!! By the 3rd day, we were already hands on. So that means that almost every day right now, I am giving a one hour facial and receiving one. Its absolutely amazing. I lay there and relax and the lights are dimmed and the music is going and everyone is quiet and working or relaxing. I just cant believe this is school. Its fun. I enjoy it. Im excited about what Im learning and excited to go each day. Its a first for me. So this is what its like to be working on something you love. I think its wonderful.

There are 18 girls in my class. Most of them are in their early 20's. Myself and 3 others are in our 30's and one lady is almost 50. Its fun. So far everyone is getting along fine. We are getting to know eachother and its already becoming a comfortable atmosphere where we joke and tell stories. We get two 30 minute breaks and an hour for lunch so its nice that we all have so much time each day to shoot the breeze. Ive been enjoying Tempe again. Its been years since I had a reason to be in Tempe on a regular basis. Today I ate at Dilly's Deli...just as good as ever. It has been years since Ive been there. Im planning on Nello's later this week. I get to go to lunch with new friends and hang out and talk about adult type stuff. I barely think about the kids and house when I am gone for 8 hrs a day. Its a HUGE mental break and it makes me really savor the time I do have with Sam and Charlie.

We are all adjusting just fine. Carl has been super helpful and that has been a very unexpected bonus. He feeds Charlie breakfast and gets him dressed and takes him to school each day. He said he would make dinner once a week and so far he has made Chalupa on my first day of school and Ceviche yesterday...both turning out perfect. He's been picking up and doing laundry and loading the dishwasher. It is sooooo nice to come home and find that I dont have to do it all.

Im just very thankful right now. I cant believe I get to do this.

Where have the months gone?

I cant believe I havent updated this blog in over 2 months. Life has been busy.

Sam started Pre-K at his school this year. His teachers are Mrs. Martinez and Mrs. Klemmer. Sam's friend Will is in his class this year, so that is nice. Will's mom and I are good friends so we take turns picking up the kids from school and letting them play all afternoon. Here is a pic of Sam with his friend Will, on an opposing soccer team.


Charlie and I hang out when Sam is in school. I take him to the park and run errands. He goes to a babysitter here in my neighborhood on Wed mornings so I can have a few hrs to get things done. Miss Lina is his sitter and she is a very nice lady that does child care out of her home full time. She has 3 other 2 yr olds that are always there for Charlie to play with.

Sam is playing his 2nd season of soccer! He is on the Las Sendas league this year so I see all my friends at the games and practices. Its fun for all of us. This year, Sam really seems to understand it more. He actually knows what goal is his haha. He has also discovered that he is a great goalie! So this year that is his job. Its fun watching him, but its a nightmare dealing with Charlie at the games. Man that kid just wants to GO in his own direction.


The kids and I went up to Prescott over the weekend with Leslie who was in town for a wedding. We spent one night up there. It was a quick trip, but nice. We got to go to a pumpkin patch with Kristal and her kids and actually pick pumpkins off the vine! I dont think Ive ever picked pumpkins. Most pumpkin patches in AZ are field with pumpkins trucked in and scattered about.

We are looking forward to the holidays. We are kicking it off with a Halloween party here at our house for our friends and neighbors. Carl has plans to make a haunted house in our courtyard that the kids have to go through to get into the house....he is procrastinating it though, and busy with work so we will see.

Havasupai

Well, Im back from hiking Havasupai in the Grand Canyon. I had an amazing time! Everything from waking up at 2:30am and driving 3 hrs to get there, to the hike, the camping...it was all a lot of fun!! Not having to take care of kids, I felt like a kid again.

The hike in wasnt bad at all. Its 10 miles and the first mile is practically straight down, the switch backs. Then after that, its just a LONG walk. It was a beautiful walk though and I didnt get any blisters at all. Im sure not having to carry our packs made a huge difference.


The campsite was amazing! A large creek running through the middle and lots of little brooks and creeks all over the place! The spot we got was surrounded on both sides by creeks. We were right against the canyon walls and there was a really cool cave right up above us that had 4 tunnels that went back about 200 feet. The water falls were the most amazing waterfalls Id ever seen. They blew anything Id seen in Hawaii out of the water. Havasupai falls was nice, but the 2nd day we hiked to Mooney Falls and wow, it was so awesome! We had to go through this crazy little cave, and climb down latters and hold onto ropes and chains to get down. It really was one of the coolest spots Ive ever seen in my entire life.


Everyone hiked out, but my mom and I took a helicopter out. Aside from waiting forever, it was really cool. When you are in the bottom of the canyon, all you can see is the walls right by you, so the canyon doesnt look as big. But flying out, I saw all the other canyon walls that were set back and I was like, wow this really is the grand canyon! There is a village down at the bottom that 300 natives have been living in for over 1000 yrs. It was crazy seeing houses down there. The only way in is to walk, horse back or helicopter. They all keep their cars at the hilltop and fly in. I cant imagine living down there, totally cut off from the rest of the world. We saw horses carrying mail bags out.

Anyways, the whole trip made me realize how much I need to get back outdoors and starting camping and hiking again. I really enjoyed the rock climbing as well. It was scary but when I was down and saw what I climbed, I was so proud of myself. It was amazing being in a spot where there were no cars, no music, no noise at all but the creek. You couldnt even hear the other campers. It was really neat.

Here is the link to an awesome slide show that Carl made if you want to check out more of our pics:
3sevens.myshowit.com/havasupai2009

Kauai Part 1

My friend John FINALLY uploaded a slide show from the first half of our trip to Kauai in March. Such good times. Such great photography! Its long, over 400 photos, but they are amazing photos that capture every detail of our trip. Ive already watched this many time, feeling nostalgic and wishing I could be back in Paradise. I feel so lucky that my good friend John is such an awesome photographer and made this awesome slide show for us.

http://johnheil.myshowit.com/hawaiipart1

Thanks Audrey

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
James 1:2-3

I was reading Carl's sister's blog, and she posted a verse that really spoke to me tonight. It was just what I needed to read. Thank you.

Life has been hard lately. Everyone that knows me in my personal life, knows this, because I am an open book about my life. I have to talk about it because its what is happening in my life and Im a talker, its therapudic and its who I am.

I am so thankful that we have so many good friends and a lot of close family to help us through the bad times. Every night when I put Sam to bed, he tells me that he wants to me to God Bless all our friends. So I start to do it and the list just goes on and on. We have so many great people in our lives.

Sisters Only Slumber Party

I am so thankful to have sisters. They have been my best friends throught my life. They are always there for me. They know me as only a sister can know me.

Last night, I had the pleasure of hosting our first and hopefully annual sisters slumber party. What a great time! Sam and Charlie spent the night at my Mom's and I got to entertain them here at my house. We went out for dinner at Fez in downtown Phoenix then headed over to a little neighborhood bar called Shady's.


After we got back to my house, we tried to figure out who was sleeping where and no one wanted to sleep alone. Finally we decided that the only way to have a slumber party would be to make Carl sleep in the guest room and all 4 of us gals would sleep in my bed! We sat up in bed, drinking wine and watched What About Bob. It was a fun time, but we all eventually got uncomfortable and one by one moved out of the big bed into other beds in the house. Turns out that Tiffany slept alone in my huge king size bed.

This morning after we all got up, we headed to Last Chance for some bargains then over to Scottsdale Fashion Square where we shopped until we dropped. Had a yummy lunch at Sauce.

What a fun time! It was so nice to spend this quality time with my sisters. Usually when they are in town, its a whirlwind of activity, and there isnt a lot of catching up. This time we got to talk and talk and talk....what sisters LOVE to do. The only regret about the whole night was that our brother Jason's wife, Kristal was not able to come.

a reunion with old friends

This weekend I got to hang out with some old friends that I havent seen in years. Beth flew in from MN and Annie drove in from L.A. My mom had my boys for the whole weekend and I got to entertain my friends here at my house. It was so fun. We lazed around, ate out for every meal and just talked till we were blue in the face. We went to bed way too late and got to sleep in. It was wonderful. I havent had a girlie bonding weekend like that in a long time.

Beth and Annie are 2 of my friends from Kansas City. We all went to Dominion Christian School together when I was there for my senior year of highschool. We recently got back in touch on facebook. It had been 7 years since Id seen Beth and 13 years since Id seen Annie. We picked up right where we left off. We got out pics and yearbooks and laughed at them and talked about our memories. We all had different memories, so it was fun to catch up. I do believe we caught up on 13 years in only 3 days.


Friday night, Beth and I ate at Grand Lux Cafe, then Annie rolled into town right as we finished up. We all headed to Kazmires wine bar and met Annie's husband and his friends for some vino. We didnt stay too long, then came back home and talked into the early morning. Saturday we had breakfast at Maria Maria Cantina. I had Juevos Rancheros for the first time and it was the best breakfast ever. We shopped then went back home and lounged around the house for the rest of the day. We went to AZ88 for dinner and had a blast there. Then we came back home for more talking...till 2am! I cant remember the last time I stayed up talking until 2am. Years!!

Today we went to Crackers for Breakfast and Carl tagged along. Afterwards, we picked up S and C at my mom's and my friends got to spend the day with my family. We hung out in the backyard and watched S and C play on the swing set. They showed off for us all afternoon and kept us entertained. The weather was perfect.

What a perfect weekend. Im sad to see my friends leave. Im excited to rekindle such old friendships and I look forward to more visits someday. This weekend has been so uplifting and it was just what I needed. :)

Buying local benefits everyone

For the last 2 weeks, Ive been to the farmer's market here in down town Mesa. At first when I drove up I was disappointed because I only saw 3 tents and figured they wouldn't have much, but I was wrong about that. They had sooo many veggies! Just what I wanted. Check out the white eggplants and the yellow tomatoes! I love getting veggies that are different colors than what we usually see. A reminder that there are lots of species of fruits and veggies that we don't get to see so much in the boring grocery stores anymore. Id like it if these things made a comeback.

Recently I read a great book that has really changed how I feel about the food that I feed to my family. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver is about her and her family's commitment to give up conventionally grown foods, and for 1 year, only eat what they grow for themselves, or can get locally...or learn to do without until the next season rolls around. Seasons, remember those? It used to be that we could only get certain produce at certain times of the year. But now that we can ship things from across the Ocean and have it in our grocery store within 5 days of picking is pretty amazing. Except that it uses a lot of fuel for our food to jet set around the world like that, and its not good for our environment, or our dependency on oil. It also doesn't help to support our local economy when we don't buy food from our local farmers.

Since I cant really grow much myself...I decided to do what I can. I am making an effort to feed my family with as much local organic food as I can find. I also want to try to use produce when its in season, because it tastes better when its in season, and it has up to 60% more antioxidants and vitamins when its in season. Well, I was happy when my friend Elisabeth told me about this farmer's market. All of the food is organic, and its all from Arizona and they have a huge variety! Since we live in such a warm climate, its open all year long!

My 33rd Birthday

This week was my Birthday. I have to say that I had a great Birthday this year. I woke up and Carl had a gift all ready to go for me, wrapped up in a little blue box and everything! He never wraps anything, or has it on the actual day he should be giving it to me, so I was super excited that he had gone out ahead of time and bought me a present. He gave me the coolest necklace ever. I love it and its exactly what I like. I could wear it every day. :)

So my day started out so nice like that, with my necklace. I couldnt stop grinning all morning. Sam had preschool that morning and Charlie napped good, so it was easy for me that morning. Then in the afternoon when Charlie was napping, Carl went to the gym and took Sam with him and let me have a nice little break!

At 6pm my mom came over to hang with the boys so Carl and I could go out for dinner. She brought me some flowers, 2 cast iron skillets, and a cast iron Dutch oven. I wast thrilled! Ive really been wanting to get into cast iron cooking lately and now I can!

Carl took me to AZ88, one of my favorite resturants. It wasnt crowded, and it was just the 2 of us. We had our new camera with us and were taking lots of pictures. Everything there was fabulous as always. We got the St. Petersburg Potatoes, which is my favorite appetizer EVER. I am definitely going to have to try to recreate that for myself somehow.

We had a great time. Thanks Carl for making my Birthday really special this year.

The Playgroup

Tonight I had a really nice night out with my good friend, Kristin. We did dinner and a movie and got lots of good conversation in. It was just what I needed. :)

I met Kristin on a day that I was having a hard time as a new mom. Sam was 3 months old and I was a new stay at home mom. I felt isolated, not knowing any other moms to hang out with. I decided that I needed to meet other moms. I knew of a few that lived very close to me, because Id seen them outside with their babies so I decided to go meet one of them. I knocked on 2 doors and no one answered. The 3rd door was Kristin's. She was home and invited me in. I desperately introduced myself and told her that I lived around the corner and was looking for someone to hang out with that also didnt work. She had Tori, who was just 2 weeks younger than Sam. Tori was napping, so we exchanged numbers.

Soon we got together and started hanging out, going on walks and having short playdates for the jrs. She knew a couple of the gals in the neighborhood and so did I, so we made some calls and got a small group together one day at DeeDee's house. We were all new moms that had babies close in age. We started meeting weekly and that was almost 3 yrs ago when our playgroup started. All of our kids became friends and so did all of us moms. In that short amount of time, we have mourned the loss of 2 babies, Nicholas Cerasoli and Ty Stoddard. And we have all been pregnant and had our second children together. We have become great friends and we get together as often as we can, for play dates and girls nights out. We have also all moved out of that original neighborhood but still live close by.

I guess I just feel really lucky to have this great group of girlfriends. I think they are all really great moms. My kids have a bunch of great little friends. We dont get to meet as regularly as we used to since all of our schedules are pretty busy now. But we have great fun when we can. Earlier this month, we had a girls all nighter at the hotel Valley Ho in Scottsdale.

This post is for all of my good friends. Thanks for being there!
And just so I never forget all the names cause the list is still growing:
Kristin, Tori and Kacy
Lindsay, Sawyer and Walker
Elisabeth, Andrew and Matthew
DeeDee, Quade and Sofia
Michele, Addison and a boy on the way
Michelle, Madelynn and Karly
Carolyn, Carter and Berkely