Counting My Blessings

This evening while doing what has fast become a favorite hobby of mine, blog hopping I happened to run across this blog http://browniemom.blogspot.com/ . Reading about this families loss reminded me of how blessed I am.

Many times I focus on what is missing in my life, and forget to count my blessings. I have an intact family-closer than most really. I live next door to my brother, and though I complain about having to wait for him to work on my computer when I need him, Im blessed to have someone who can take care of my technical needs at all. He does 'little' things that impact my life for the better, like today when he installed the locking mailboxes in front of our houses, or when he handles the remote-skipping all the commercials so that I can eat and watch TV without having to watch them.

Im blessed to have generous parents that are willing to let me live in their extra house and help me out while Im not working. Even 'making' me (yes, insisting) that I drive my Dad's car to my job meeting tomorrow because my tags are expired and I didnt know they could tow your car for that. So now Im driving his car until I get my plates-so that leaves him without a car-just to take care of me. And that of course impacts my mom-now she has to take my dad back and forth to work, on top of meeting me during the week to get his car back. Oooo and even sweeter-today I was looking for some paperwork (no luck!) and my mom saw my giant pile of papers that needed to be sorted and shredded. So she sorted them all for me and took home what needs to be shredded...how awesome is that?!

And then of course there are the little siblings-always good for hugs, giggles and some chattiness.

Im thankful I ran across this blog, I need the reminder to be more thankful for my family.

Sleepless in Riverside

Last night was one of the very few nights I have been alone in my "new" house. It did not go smoothly. I swear the house bumped and creaked enough to give me a heart attack.

It's very strange that I had a hard time being alone in my house 'cause for so long I lived alone...very alone! All by myself in the whole state (well that's how it felt). But last night the house never seemed to settle in for the night so I could relax.

Hopefully tonight will be better 'cause at some point I will be living alone night after night right?

The Fun Part?

Today I found my temporary RN license online (why I couldnt find it before I dont know). So now I have to put in applications. I really really hate that part! Applying for and starting a new job is so stressful. But I really need to get started so I can move on to the 'Ive been working here forever' part.

I put in 2 applications at Loma Linda already, only two positions I was really interested in. Now I need to look at whats available at Kaiser since its so close.

This is really killing my burning desire to do homework....LMBO!

Pound For Pound Challenge Widget

99 Things

I totally stole this from Callie who stole it from " Shannan Teubner's blog " How to play-copy the list and bold the items that you've done in your life.... Just something new and different and fun!!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a Band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new languate
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung Karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Ive done 38...I need to travel more!

My Beautiful "Little" Sister

Yesterday I was showing my mom how my camera will automatically take a picture when it detects a smile so I was using my sister as a subject. Im so glad I did because this is one rare smile for her lately. She's at that age (15) when she really has nothing to say anymore (well unless its about boys!) and doesnt smile as readily as she used too. I think its a normal stage-cause I remember being the same way (minus the boy crazy part). But its nice to see a real smile from her.

Isnt she beautiful?

Disney's California Adventure

Yesterday we went to the Disney parks. Parts of the day were rough for me cause the place is filled with memories that I cant seem to get away from. They are all over CA but some places are worse than others and Disneyland parks are one of the worst.

Anyway-I wont bore you all with details, but here are some of the good pictures of the day.

Me with Sully (there is a lot of memories wrapped up in this one picture). Funny thing was the "guy" (it hopefully was a guy!) wouldnt let go after the picture-"he" hugged me a whole bunch of times, lol


More shoe photography


Andrea and Hilda on the swings




This is Hilda and I on a ride (yes I was on the phone while the ride was going)


Hilda and I on the Swings

*&^#%#$ (No More!)

Yesterday Andrea and I were talk and she mentioned that she has been meaning to (or trying to) talk more lady like, in other words, lose the cursing. I laughed and said I needed to work on the same thing. My mouth never used to be so foul, but lately it seems like everything I say is inappropriate. So we decided to work on our vocab together. Last night was a practice run we tried soooo hard not to slip with even one. I think we each slipped up about twice. And now today we are working on it again-the plan is if we dont say any at all we owe each other a drink. Andy slipped once this morning...I dont think I have yet...but we are working on it! I think at the end of the day we will owe each other a drink either way! LOL

Kayla Day

Today Kayla came over for a few hours and she finally got to open her Christmas presents from Kim and I (Pooh, Play-doh, and kitchen pots/pans). Here are a few snap shots I took throughout the day.


Kayla was a little confused about what the spaghetti scoop was for (what is the name of that thing?) So I got out my big one and showed her that I have one too. So of course she wanted to play with it too. Here I was trying to get her to hold them together so I could take a picture...and I ended up with this silly looking one.

Okay some of you (okay a lot of you may think this one is strange!) but I think this one is so funny. I HATE it when little kids have snotty noses and if they cant blow their nose well they get the booger sucker! After Kayla's nap today she asked me to use it on her cause she had boogies LOL


Cooking with her new pots and pans (we had chicken nuggets a million times, cause she didnt 'have' anything else...lol)

The fun part about the Play-doh was putting it in the tube, over and over.
All in all, it was a fun day :)

Busy Busy Busy

Today I spent the day either being Roxie's taxi (lol) or working for my brother.

He called me asking if my offer to help him out today at the shop was still good so I ended up going down there about 2 and staying until 6:30, then coming back and helping out for another hour. We were laughing that I chase off all the customers because when Im there it seems to be a lot slower. Even if it was he said it helped him out a lot to be able to go in the back and just work on computers. Though I have to bother him a million times to ask him questions.

I told him not to worry about asking me for help cause I actually enjoyed the work. Its so different from anything else Ive done. Kim was really worried about leaving me, if it would be too much work for me to handle since a lot of the information is in her head. I told both of them not to worry about it stressing me out because once you have lives in your hand...computers arent anything to stress about...seriously! I told them yeah I dont know their business that well but I know how to take a message and get the answer then call the customer back so no biggie.

Well...thats my blog for the day-Im off to take a hot bath!

Oh yeah...tomorrow is a Kayla day! Yay!

"Brandon's Hot Sister"

Yep that's what I heard today. A few of his friends came by the shop and one of the guys said "thats Brandon's hot sister". I just stopped in my tracks and said "WHAT??"

I hadnt really thought about it until then but its been a long time since a guy told me I was hot/whistled etc. Guess up north really just dont act like that so I got used to it and hearing it so bluntly like that took me back for a second. I wasnt insulted or anything, but I thought it was rude that this guy that I dont even know his name apparently regularly refers to me as 'Brandon's hot sister'. My brother even said he told his WIFE that! What the hay??? What kinda relationship puts up with talk like that? I cant imagine it.

Anyway, other than ringing phones, questions I couldnt answer, talking to a guy who said "word"every other word, and rude customers...that was my day.

26!

Birthdays have been a day I could do without for many years now. Every year it starts out okay and then by the end of the day Im in tears. For some reason Im okay as long as Im home alone but whenever I get around other people I start to feel lonely. Its really getting old for me, and Im sure everyone else around but no matter what's going on nothing seems to change it. I felt really bad when I broke down this year, at least only my mom saw it.

This leads me to my one and only new years resolution... in the year 2009 I plan to spend my birthday completely alone-without even my phone on. Im thinking about going to a spa or something for the night, anything really to just be alone. Then I wont have to feel bad about making other sad for me, and I also wont have to fake it.

Even with all of that it was still a nice birthday-my mom even set up the table with Princess stuff which was sweet.

My Loot:
Camera from my parents (yay! Its a few models newer than the one I have (same camera though) and I hope its much faster!)














Ped Egg from my little Brother














Hershey from my little brother (guess I have a reputation)














Card from Kim/Brandon (including Brandon's silly first letter only signature *something like Happy Birthday Love Your Big Brother With A Big Truck*)














From my sister-a card with 'pampering money'