January 1 - Ken attended the gun show with Brian today...maybe he's coming home with a new toy...we'll see! I guess this is what happens when I buy him a years membership to a gun range! (verdict, he came home practically empty handed...just a mat to clean them...shew!)
January 2 - Blending the old and the new. Graphics and technology have come a long way since I played Super Mario Brothers on the original Nintendo, some 20 years ago! Watching Amanda play the 'old school' games really brought it into perspective for me!
January 3 - I wanted a way to include Amanda in the Project Life adventure as a means for us to have some quality time together doing something we both love...being creative. When I told her we were going to do a year long project together, her eyes beamed with excitement! Today we searched out the perfect album for her to capture her memories, a basic photo album to store the pictures until they make it into the perfect album and a few embellishments to go alone with it! She couldn't wait to get home and start on it right away...love her enthusiasm...it's contagious! (I'll be sharing more ideas on how I'll be helping her achieve this goal soon...stay tuned!)
It all began 20 years ago while I was on summer vacation in California visiting my mother. You see, my mother had a friend, Monica who had a son named Kenny. They thought it would be cute to have their 12 year old kids meet, so one night shortly after I arrived, we met at Sizzler and I was introduced to Kenny.
That first night at Sizzler
We were inseparable those 6 weeks I was there. We played Super Mario Brothers (the original!), watched The Little Mermaid a million times with my little sister and brother, pictures in a photo booth, and even went to Disneyland (where we were tortured into listening to "It's a small world" more times than I care to remember!
The photo booth
Disneyland
Those were carefree moments and we dreaded the day I'd go back home to Alaska. No matter how young we were at the time, the feelings were real. There were tears when I left and we had no idea if we would ever see each other again.
We kept in touch throughout high school, but eventually the phone calls and hand written letters to each other would dwindle away as we went about our daily lives. I never did see him again.
I went on to marry, divorce, marry, have 3 kids, divorce. He went on to marry, divorce, marry, have 3 kids, divorce.
20 years after that summer, we were reunited thanks to the technology, Internet, and a social network site - Facebook.
He had just a couple friends on Facebook as he had only joined the network recently. He started to think back through the years for others he could look for. He thought of me and when a search turned up empty, he started looking for my family...first my mother...nothing...then my sister and there, staring back at him was my name.
I imagine his heart skipped a few beats as he stared back while proceeding to write the first email message to me...
It was titled "Blast from the Past". I'll never forget the feeling I had as the message showed up on my phone. Seriously, I thought? After all these years...oh my heck!! I was giddy as the memories and feelings came back to me.
The "what ifs" started going through my mind. - what if we had stayed in touch? - what if we had lived closer all those years ago? - what if the feelings we had then are still there?
We were reunited in the fall of 2009 and sparks went flying. We reminisced and shared hopes, dreams and just tried to catch up on lost time. We even took a new photo booth picture!
Photo booth
With the Uhaul packed, January 1st, 2010, Kenny and his buddy Richard started the long drive from Wever, Iowa to Grand Prairie, Texas. It was the beginning of a new adventure...one that should have continued all those years ago.
2010 brought us many challenges financially and emotionally, but despite it all we pushed on through and I'm very happy to have married my soul mate this year!
Our Wedding (more layouts to come soon!)
2011 is the continuation of our new beginning and in July, our first child together will be born into this world. I don't know what kind of trials we will face this year and in the years to come, but I do know having him by my side, holding my hand, makes it so much more bearable.
I wonder where we will be 20 years from now? What kind of life will we have shared? What dreams and goals will have been attained?
Time to go make more memories, beginning on this 1st day of January 2011.
Which brings me to a hobby I love so much but haven't taken the time for these last few years. I haven't felt creative or motivated to document my story, it was just too painful to relive the moments that were already stripping pieces away from me day by day.
I'm slowly regaining my passion and desire to share my story again...and it feels so liberating. I have a lot of catching up to do and I don't know how or where I'll begin, so I'll just have to dig in...stop procrastinating and stop thinking about how and just start doing!
So here's to 2011...to capturing the moments and sharing them as we go along so that we can reflect back on them anytime we want or need to. Here's to Project Life, just one way I'll be going about documenting our life this year.
I haven't blogged since May 2009 and I haven't scrapbooked in I don't know how long! To all those who used to enjoy my blog updates, well I'm back! You can look forward to many more this year as I restart my quest to capture the memories and spread the joy of scrapbooking and life!
The most beautiful gift I can leave behind for my loved ones is...my story...my legacy. It's one thing to live it, it's another to share it for future generations.
Happy New Year, from our house to yours! Here's to living life this year and documenting the stories both past and present.
We had just arrived at the Macaroni Grill for dinner and Amanda started wiggling one of her 2 loose teeth.
“Mommy look, it’s really loose!”
“Wow”, I said. “You know what would be really cool? If you would pull that tooth out on Mother’s day, I would always remember when you lost your first tooth!”
(reached in, gave a yank, and out it came)
With eyes real wide, she looks amazed at her talents!
“MOMMY, IT’S OUT!!!” “I DID IT!!!”
She couldn’t stop talking about it, she was so excited she lost it on Mother’s Day!
When we arrived home, we carefully placed it in a container, and headed upstairs to bed. She placed on a plastic part of her headboard, so the pillow wouldn’t move it around too much! Once there, she sat on her knees and started clapping, smiling with so much happiness!
Fast forward to this morning…”MOMMY, the TOOTH FAIRY CAME!! She CAME MOMMY!! And guess what?!?!? She took my tooth and left me $5 dollars!!!!” (when did teeth become so expensive?!)
As she stands by my bed, she seems to be sad all of a sudden, so I ask “What’s wrong?”
“I want my tooth back”, she said
I started laughing, and said “that tooth is gone forever! Time for the next one!!”
The tooth fairies were giddy as they replaced her tooth with money, I told Kevin I was so happy we were both in town for this momentous occasion – so fun!
So there ya have it – enjoy the pics! The one of her eyes real wide is about the same look she had when she realized the tooth was between her fingers and the one where she is smiling wide reminds me of her reaction as she placed the tooth under her pillow.
Often times throughout our lives we lose sight of purpose. It's easy to do. We get caught up in our daily lives with the stress of our jobs, the duties of a wife & mother, and all the other roles we may play as we move along.
Recently, I've been doing some self reflection on my own life. There are so many things on my 'bucket list' that include both short term and long term goals:
* things I need or want to accomplish in my professional career * make the household more efficient and organized * spend more quality time with Amanda and be a better listener * be more aware of finances * healthier meals for the family * get out of the house & meet people so this becomes more like home vs. a place I live * travel more with Amanda both near & far so she can experience the world * visit my long time friend Angela whom I haven't seen since I was a freshman in high school * spend more time in the Word and allow God to lead the way * me time -- where I can be creative, reflect on myself, and work on improving every aspect of my life * grow in my marriage and be a better wife (not that I'm a bad one, but that's always a work in progress, right?!) * share my thoughts with others more often! * master time management skills ....
And the list goes on & on. How do we manage everything we want to do? How do we find time to complete everything that means so much to us? How can we continue to live life to the fullest day in & day out where we make a difference not only to those immediately around us but to others we may never know?
In my recent days of reflection, the above questions are just a sampling of what's been going through my mind. For the past couple of weeks, a radio advertisement for the Breast Cancer 3-day walk has been playing constantly and there is a song that plays in the background. I knew I had heard it before, but I couldn't place it.
I heard it again this morning, and looked it up. As I listened to the words and read the lyrics, it took me back to 2003 when Amanda was a baby and the Crop for Cancer journey began. How much joy was in my life at that time for all the good things we were doing to make a difference. How successful we were with the event and how proud I was to be a part of it.
We all need things like this to give us perspective. Reflecting back on this this morning has brought more clarity to my above bucket list which has led me to post my thoughts and share this song with all my family & friends, as well as those strangers I may never meet.
There is always hope among our daily struggles & triumphs - let this be a reminder to you as it has for me.
