I know I've been a bit MIA from the blogsphere this past week... That's only because I've been super busy doing some research on what we will be calling our new home. Remember when I mentioned moving to Saint Louis, Missouri awhile back? (No? Ok, well I did... lol) Josh and I have been talking about moving to Saint Louis for awhile now....

And now, it's actually starting to become a reality!

Our good friends who just moved back there were finally able to get their own place in these cute lil townhomes. We took a look at them online... liked the location, loved the pictures, loved the surroundings... so we decided to go for it.

On Tuesday I e-mailed the property and told them our situation and let them know that we couldn't be out there until July. I mainly wanted to know if our dogs were going to be accepted. I know out here it can be hard to find any where that will take a dog over 30 pounds... and even harder, one that will take two dogs! (Not to mention that Harley is still a puppy...) Anyway, I got an e-mail back telling me that we can apply for a townhouse as early as that day! I talked things over with Josh and we applied online last night.

This morning I e-mailed them all the necessary documents and now I'm playing the waiting game. We should be able to find out today if we're approved or not. If we are then we can be put on a waiting list for a 3 bedroom. They don't come up often so we're able to get first dibs if one pops up around the time we'll be moving. If there's none open we'll just move into a 2 bedroom. Both have washer/dryer hook-ups in the units. (Very excited about that!)

Once we have this place secured Josh can start looking for a job in the surrounding area. We might be doing things a little backwards, but I will feel better knowing we have a place to move into... Now he has about 5 and a half months to figure out where he'll be working.

Oh my gosh, we're really doing this... Starting to feel a little bit more real now... I'm so ready though.

 Well, in San Diego county at least. :)

Today Josh and I took the boys to go see snow for the very first time. We drove about 40 minutes east of where we live to the little town of Julian, California. Since we've been having some pretty crazy weather here in Southern California this past week we figured that it probably snowed in Julian. Today the forecast predicted pretty clear skies.... So off we went to find out! About halfway there the snow started showing up....
I started to get excited because I hadn't seen snow in about 10 years. How crazy is that? I live 40 minutes away from where it DOES snow and I haven't driven up here since I was a teenager!









 It was absolutely breathtaking! The skies where a bright, bright blue with very few clouds. The snow was freshly fallen. I just kept saying, "Oh my gosh. Oh! Oh my gosh! How gorgeous is this?! Oh my gosh! Oh man, I have to blog about this..." Josh just kept laughing and making fun of me. I couldn't help it though! It was just fabulously GORGEOUS out there!





Seriously, doesn't this just take your breath away?!












Ok, this could be on a stinkin postcard. AHH-MAAAZING!











First time seeing snow in real life!! They had a blast!












On the way back home I couldn't resist taking a few more pictures...












We tried to bring some back home with us and this is all that managed to make it.











So now I'm realizing what an awesome place we live in. I kinda get why we're paying outrageous rent on a tiny 2 bedroom/1 bath apartment. Today we spent a day in the snow... Tomorrow we could be going to do this: (like we did this past summer....)

I feel like I'm stuck in a rut...


Hmm... Actually, I don't think that's what it is. I think it's more like I'm just really, really bored. Not so much with my life, but with myself. Clear as mud? Thought so. I think I'm just bored with my routine. I need some variety in my life. I need to get back into my hobbies and probably make some new friends/reconnect with old ones.

I used to think of myself as someone who hated change, but I've learned that I actually thrive on it. I love the unknown. I love doing new things and going on new adventures... If I can ever manage to get out of the house. I love learning and trying new ideas. The only problem I have with this is that I never really finish what I start. I love change so much that I don't stick with something long enough to finish it. This mostly applies to my hobbies. (Don't worry, Josh, I'm keeping you forever and seeing this through to the end lol.) Take my sewing for instance... I got a sewing machine for Christmas in 2008. I taught myself to sew, made a few things and then I haven't touched it since. ....I have a blanket that I began knitting back in September and it's sitting half finished on my dresser. ....I have several scrapbooks started, but none finished.

Ok, it just hit me.

I need to be better organized. If I was organized and had a weekly schedule I could probably get more done and get myself out of this funk that I'm in. Maybe I could schedule in some of my hobbies on different days of the week... It might take longer to get anything done, but at least I could finish my projects! Better than letting things sit, left untouched for months on end. It will also help me with my need for change. So for example I can knit on Mondays, scrap on Tuesdays, sew on Wednesdays, work on my Cafepress store on Thursdays and work on Looney Girl Designs on Fridays....

Hmm... I think this could work.


Now I just need to tackle my social life...

That is basically the question that one of my blog readers wants me to ask myself. Should I be writing about the issues that are going on in my family right now? ...Sharing it with the public blogging community?  (And also with the people I know in real life... Which by the way, very few IRL friends and family know about this blog.) My response is this:

While I appreciate each and every comment and opinion I receive on the topics I'm writing about, I don't necessarily agree with all of them. This being one of them. Obviously, this is my blog... my space.. where I can  write about pretty much what ever I want to. In this blog I'm choosing to share my life with everyone. It's no secret that I do post a lot about the hard stuff I've gone through in my life. It wouldn't be a fair representation of my life if I just posted about the happy-go-lucky times. That's not me and that's not what I want my blog to be about.

I suppose you could argue and say that it's not the same because I was posting about my life and not about someone else's. Well, this is my life. What my mom and step dad are going through is not just affecting them. It's affecting me and my family too. My mom knows about this blog. She's seen it. She's read it. She knows the web address for it. I've read to her what I wrote about her and my step dad within the past couple weeks. If she had a problem with any of it... If she would have asked me to take it down... I would have respected her wishes and done what she asked. She hasn't done that. (And just to clarify, my mom and I have a very open relationship where we do speak our minds... she definitely would have asked me to take these posts down if she wanted me to.) She knows that I've always written things down as a way to vent my feelings. Before there were computers in our home I've always had a diary... or a journal.  Even though I do write stuff down I don't usually keep my feelings or opinions to myself. When I feel the need to let someone know how I feel, I'll say it to them. In my previous post I talked about how I felt about my mom and step dad getting back together... Before I wrote it, my mom and I had talked on the phone about it. Everything I wrote about... she heard it first. She knows my feelings. She knows that I still love her and support her regardless of everything. She knows that from now on I'm staying out of it.

I don't want to offend or make anyone uncomfortable with my recent blog posts. I'm sorry if I did. I know that I was talking about some rough issues and depressing stuff. If you don't like what I'm writing about I won't be offend (or even know) if you decide not to read it. If you are reading them I still won't be offended (or even know) if you decide not to comment. You also have my full permission to click that little red 'x' at the top of your screen. ;) I promise, I won't get mad.

I wasn't planning on posting anything today, but felt like I should respond. I know if one person thought it, so did a handful of other people...

My mom and step dad got back together last night.

I don't really know what to think of this... She's told me that she never wanted any of this to happen in the first place. She didn't want to get a divorce. He kept telling her that it was over and that divorce was the only way. Friday morning she did what she thought she had to do in order to protect herself and that was to file for divorce...

Apparently, reality set in when he was served with the divorce papers. I'm sure it made him realized that my mom was trying to move on with her life. They spent 6 hours on the phone on Friday night. On Saturday they spent 8 hours sitting in my mom's car talking about everything. He's still giving her a hard time. She's still having to prove to him that she didn't cheat.

Last night she called me to ask what the Sprint username/password were for my account that her phone is under. She wanted to figure out if she could get the actual transcripts of the texts that were sent over the past couple weeks. He was trying to see if her and her co-worker were still carrying on with the "affair". Of course, I'm just guessing at the reason... she didn't actually tell me why she wanted to see the transcripts.

In my not so humble opinion, I think that them getting back together is a huge mistake. He's done and said some really horrible things that I just can't forgive him for. Not right now anyway. He's called my brother a lot of names and said that he's never liked him. He's said some bad things about my sister and her husband. He left my niece homeless for several days starting on Christmas Eve.

(Funny because my mom was trying to tell me last night that despite what I might feel about him, he's a really good grandpa and loves his grandchildren.... Hmm... kicking out your granddaughter and her parents and refusing to let them come back in for them to get her clothes, diapers, food, etc... Yeah, what a great grandpa he is. I don't care if he was mad at my mom or not. No reason to do that to a child.)

Josh doesn't want H to have anything to do with our kids. He doesn't even want to take them over there to see my mom. If she wants to see them she can come over to our house (without him). My mom is upset about this... I'm not going to argue with my husband. I support him in this decision. Not saying it's right or wrong. I just support him. If H wants to talk to Josh about it, so be it. Leave me out please.

Oh and the worst best worst part about all of this is that he will probably be disabled for the rest of his life. (Which is the reason he's still here and never returned to work in Las Vegas.) My mom thinks it's going to be great because he's going to be home all the time now. Isn't she realizing that he's going to be home and making her life miserable? He's going to hold all kinds of things over her head. He's going to constantly be questioning her on where she's going. Who she's going with. He'll be checking her e-mail and her phone records... And my mom will let him do all of it. She wants to keep the peace. She just wants her husband back. I don't think she cares about the price she has to pay for it.

I know that it's her life and I don't get a say it. I know this. I just had to get it all out of my system.

We're probably going to be super busy this weekend (Chargers are playing on Sunday!) and I'm not going to have time to blog. I don't normally post anything on the weekends anyway... so this is a super special treat! Tonight (Friday) I went over to my old friend Alyssa's apartment to pick up our photo session CD. I've been anxiously waiting to get this CD for about a month now. :) I'm soooo excited to finally have it! Hopefully soon I can print them out and decorate our apartment with our beautiful pictures. (My mom let me know last night that it looks like we're moving out because there's nothing on our walls lol.)

So without further interruption here are just a few of the fabulous pictures that Alyssa of Hybrid Photography took for us back in December...

Guess who I got a phone call from about 45 minutes ago? Yup, the woman who was supposed to meet me at the park yesterday. When I answered the phone she sounded a little ticked off.

Her: "Um, so today we were supposed to meet at the park. What happened to you?" She sounded rather snotty which put me in an instant bad mood.

Me: "Actually I was there... yesterday. You said Thursday at 10:30... So I was there. Thursday and 10:30." I was annoyed.

Her: "Oh that's weird I could have sworn I said Friday at 12:30. I wouldn't have said Thursday because I had my son's field trip that day."

Me: "Well, I remember you saying Thursday... I even had you repeat the time and day for me so that I could write it down on my calendar. So I was there on the time and day that you said."

Her: "Hmm... well, I can't believe I did this again." Yeah, you seem like the type... "I'm sorry about that. Next time we'll have to meet at your place so that neither one of us has to drag our kids out some where for nothing." Love that passive aggressive statement. And no we won't be meeting at my place. Knowing you, you'll show up at the wrong time or day and you'll walk in on me in my PJ's looking my absolute worst. No thanks.

Me: "Don't worry about it. We still had fun at the park." I'm such a wuss. lol

She then went on (and on) about her crazy, busy week and how she can't believe we (she!) got the days and times mixed up. I didn't say anything else to her. I was already in a bad mood at this point. I just wanted off the phone. She kept trying to reschedule. I kept on avoiding the subject. Finally she said, "Ok I guess I'll talk to you another time." I said bye and hung up the phone as fast as I could.

I guess I was a little harsh when I talked to her on the phone. I was still annoyed about going to the park yesterday and waiting and waiting without anyone showing up. It also upset me that she didn't seem to believe that she actually said Thursday instead of Friday. I know she said Thursday because I even asked her the date... she told me it was the 14th. (In my head I was thinking.. oh, the 14th, Brady's due date last year... My brother-in-laws birthday...) While I was on the phone with her I wrote it down on my big wall calendar.... Because if I don't write stuff down right away I forget....

It's just a good thing that it's Stake Conference this weekend and I don't have to get stopped by her on my way out the door of Relief Society on Sunday. Then again, maybe I should give her one more chance... I don't know.

It's been a busy week for us. I can't even remember the last time I spent the entire day at home. My kitchen and apartment are evidence of this. Dishes piling up. Beds left unmade. Floors haven't been vacuumed. I should actually be doing all of that instead of sitting here on my couch typing this out. I don't feel like getting up at the moment. I'm taking a mommy break while the kids are being good. ;)

Let's get to the reason I'm writing this... we have to back up to Monday morning... I get a phone call from this woman that I go to church with. (She's one of my visiting teachers. If you're LDS you know what I'm talking about.) She wanted to know if I had time for her to come over to visit with me on Thursday (today).

I have to mention that I really don't care for this person at all. She's nice enough, but just not someone who I would normally talk to. She's one of those people who can talk non-stop about anything to anyone. She actually kept me on the phone for a good half hour talking about everything under the sun. I tried my best to keep up with her. Mostly I just said, "Uh-huh." "Yeah.." and "Well that sucks." 

Anyway, she told me that she had talked to my other visiting teacher (who is actually a friend of mine.) and they wanted to come over this Thursday. I told her that it wasn't a good idea to come here because we have an 8 week old puppy at home... I just really didn't want to deal with several kids under the age of 4 going after lovable little Harley. She's a kid magnet. (But she's still underweight from the Parvo and too small to be jumped on, sat on, etc.) So she suggested we all meet at the park at 10:30ish. Sounds good to me...

Fast forward to today.

I'm rushing to get myself and the boys ready for the day. Not an easy task with these kids. They are NOT morning people. I somehow manage to get us all ready by about 9:55am. Perfect. We can all get out the door without rushing. We get to park at about 10:20am. No one is there, but that's okay, we're a little early. I get the boys out of the car and let them run around like mad men. (Thank you to the smart park people who decided to take all the sand out and put in the squishy ground instead! I was prepared for sand and was worried about Brady getting it in his hair, mouth, eyes and diaper.)

10:30am comes and goes.

10:45am... still no one.

11:00am and I'm still not seeing anyone I know. There's a huge mommy playgroup that was meeting there and I'm suddenly feeling like an outsider because all the moms and kids know each other.

11:15am I end up leaving because Camron decided to have a meltdown right in front of everyone. "Mama! My tummy is growling!!! My tummy is growling!! MY TUMMY IS GROWLING MAMA!!!!" He suddenly bursts out in tears and an all out tantrum. Brady, not knowing what was wrong with his brother, bursts out in tears too. Thanks kids... So now I'm holding my crying one year old on my hip while dragging my 3 year old by the hand to our truck. Not my best mommy moment. I could feel all the other moms' eyes burning a hole through my back as we walk away.... Good times, good times...

The next time this woman asks me if she can visit with me I'm just gonna tell her thanks, but no thanks. Some how my month suddenly filled up and I can't possibly fit in an hour visit with her. Maybe next month...

Today was my mom's court hearing for her restraining order. Long story short, the judge granted a 6 month temporary restraining order and an order for H (my step dad) to return her personal belongings by January 21st. (Like her driver's license, social security card, birth certificate, jewelry etc... Yeah, he took all of it.) The judge did make a change to the order saying that there can be contact by e-mail only so that they can talk about the bills, divorce, etc.

I'm so happy that the judge granted her the 6 month TRO. H definitely did his best to put my mom in a bad light. Making it sound like she was the one who went crazy on Christmas Eve. I'm hoping that by the time the 6 months is up H will have had a chance to calm down and look at things rationally. I'm also hoping that they can manage to get all the divorce paperwork over and done with within the 6 months.

I know my mom didn't want any of this to happen, but she's MUCH better off. I keep trying to make her see the positives in all of this... They had no kids together and no real assets to split. (Thank goodness) She can do what she wants with her money. She could go back to school if she wanted to. Take some classes at the adult learning center... maybe learn to play the piano. She has the chance to be taken out on dates again. (Even if you end up not liking the man who takes you out, it's still nice to be treated to dinner or the movies or what ever else you end up doing!) She gets to have another first kiss experience! It's been 15 years since that's happened. She has the chance to fall in love again and get that butterflies-in-your-stomach sort of feeling. She will be okay in the end. I know it's rough in the beginning... hello? I was just there! It gets easier though. Okay and not to mention that she's only 47 years old and in awesome shape. She could honestly pass for about 37... (Seriously, she's a hottie and doesn't even know it.) 

Hang in there, mom! In the words of Wilson Phillips:

But you hold on for one more day and

Break free the chains"

My baby boy turns ONE today! My gosh, I can hardly believe how big he's grown in these 12 months. At 5 months old he was sitting up and got his first tooth. At 6-7 months he was crawling. Eight months old he was standing. Nine months old he started walking. Now he's a year old and already thinks he can do all the things his big brother does. 


I didn't have this blog when he was born, but I did post his birth story on my old blog. I'm reposting it here in honor of his first birthday. :) Happy birthday my Monkey Boy!


Late morning on Sunday, January 11th I felt the first contraction. It was some time around 10am. I really didn't think anything of it because I had been having contractions all along... so I figured this was just some more annoying Braxton Hicks. About 45 minutes later I felt another one. A short time later another one. I mentioned to my mom that maybe we should start timing these as a just in case. So we timed them.... 30 minutes apart, 13 minutes, 40 minutes, 25 minutes. They were all over the place! The only thing that made me think they COULD BE the real thing was that they were getting more intense. I had to actually stop and breath through these ones! From 3pm to 5pm they were 14 minutes apart... FINALLY some kind of pattern! I called everyone who needed to be called just in case this was the real thing. I still wasn't entirely convinced.
I called up Lizz and told her what was going on. I needed her to take me to the hospital since my mom just got out of the hospital and my dad had left that weekend on a trip to Mexico. She was really excited and was convinced that this was the real thing. 

To pass the time I made dinner for me, my mom and Camron. In between making dinner I had to stop to sit down during every contraction. They hurt so bad! 

Shortly after I finished making dinner Lizz decided to come over. At about 8:30 she convinced me that we should go to the hospital to get checked. Couldn't hurt... 

At 9pm I was at Balboa with Lizz by my side. My grandma and grandpa were on their way. When the nurse checked me I was already 7cm!! Holy crap! I was completely surprised by that because my contractions were still about 10 to 14 minutes apart. Hospital policy is that you are not to come in until they're 5 to 10 minutes apart.

They admitted me to the hospital and took me to my labor and delivery room. I told the nurses and doctor that it was my goal to not get the epidural. I wanted to try to do it all natural since I had already made it to 7cm with no help. Shortly after making it to my room my grandparents showed up. 

After an hour or 2 the contractions were getting closer together and coming on harder and harder! Close to midnight the doctor checked me once again. I was STILL only 7cm. I was gonna go nuts when I heard that!! I thought for SURE I was close to pushing. 

After that check things started to get really intense. The contractions were getting almost unbareable. My whole body was shaking. I was hot. I was going out of my mind! I BEGGED for the epidural! I kept saying that I couldn't take much more. FINALLY the doctor came in after what seemed like forever... I was shaking even worse... She told me I had 2 choices. I could get my bag of waters ruptured and deliver this baby or I could get the epidural. I wanted the pain over with right then and there so I choose to have the baby! Plus I knew there was no way I could sit still long enough for the epidural to be put in. By the time the bag was ruptured I was 8cm and unfortunately there was merconium in the water...

As soon as my bag was ruptured things moved VERY quickly! Right as the nurse left the room I felt the urge to push... From here things are kinda fuzzy for me. I was out of my mind with pain... I couldn't control the urge to push. I remember my stomach contracted and I felt myself pushing and a gush of water came out. (Ew! lol) I think Lizz and my grandma were freaking out because the nurse wasn't coming back and they weren't answering the call button. 

After what seemed like forever a ton of people filled the room. I was screaming from the pain. Like screaming on the top of my lungs. My body was pushing the baby out and I couldn't stop myself! The stupid doctor kept yelling at me not to scream, to stop pushing and she kept shoving the baby back inside of me! I guess they were worried about him coming without the pediatritian there. She did this about 5 times. Lizz was ready to kick her butt. They started arguing and I asked them both to stop. 

FINALLY I was allowed to push. I think I pushed maybe a total of 5 to 7 times and he was out. As SOON as he was delived I instantly felt normal again. It was amazing! I felt like super woman. I did it! I did it all on my own! Oh my gosh. I just kept saying, 'I did it!' over and over. 

Brayden had to be cleaned off right after delivery so I didn't get to see him right away like I wanted. Lizz got to cut the remainder of the umbilical cord. (The doctor did the first cut since he had to be rushed over to the table.) While all of this was going on the doctor was stitching me up... taking her sweet time. I swear she did it on purpose! 

FINALLY I got to hold my baby! I put him straight to the breast and he he started breastfeeding like a champ. Nothing like Cam! It was so awesome. 


He was 7lbs, 3oz and 20" long. He arrived at 1:42am... very early morning on Monday, January 12th, 2009. :)

When I was ready to go to my recovery room Lizz (plus her family) and my grandpa went home. My grandma stayed with us. 

Well, that's my birth story. Nothing like Camron's, thank goodness.

They really do. I can't help it... I just can't stand the general public. They're slow. They say stupid things. They go way to fast and cut you off on the freeway. They don't use blinkers. They're rude and pushy. I could go on and on, but I won't because I'm sure you get the picture.

I don't usually talk like this... I've just been in an awful mood lately.

It could be because it's just that time of the month.

It could be because I have a terrible cold and so do the boys.

It could be because I haven't eaten in 2 days.

It's probably because of all those things. After my terrible, horrible, awful day yesterday I just have to vent.

To the driver of the white minivan - was it really necessary to pull out in front of me and then go 10 mph under the speed limit?! There was no one behind me. You could have waited the 5 extra seconds it would have taken to pull out behind me. You were obviously in no hurry judging by your speed. I'm convinced you did this to make my day just that much worse.


To the truck in front of me who was turning left into the bank - Are you kidding me? You could have gone like 4 or 5 times already! Like right there... and there.... and there! Don't be chicken. I promise you, that car that's coming towards us at 25mph won't be crossing your path for another 20 seconds. Just go!

Now for you, Mr. Black Jeep... Didn't think I'd leave you out, did you? As I'm waiting behind you in line at the drive thru ATM I started to think something was wrong. The line behind me is now about 5 or 6 car lengths long. Are you ok? Did your car break down? Are you injured? I haven't seen you roll your window down yet. I can see movement though so I know you're not suffering from a massive stroke or heart attack. Ok the line is getting really long now... My kids are getting whiny and restless. Wait! What's this? The window rolls down! Oh thank goodness you're okay Mr. Jeep. I was about to get out of my truck and beat the crap outta you getting really worried about you. Thank you for holding up our day a full 10 minutes because you decided to do your finances in the car.


To these guys:


Do you really think your cars are so nice that you have to park them sideways and take up FOUR SPACES between the two of you?? You're shopping at Walmart for goodness sake. Get a life.

To the woman behind me at the grocery store - Thanks for pointing out how sick my children look. Thanks again for commenting about how tired they look and that their mommy should be getting them home asap. If I had the choice to leave them home I would have. If I didn't absolutely need the few groceries I bought I wouldn't have dragged our butts out of the house. We're all sick and I didn't want to be there... But sadly, my kids have to eat. I haven't gone grocery shopping in 2 weeks which is why I only bought the essentials. Thanks so much for making me feel like a craptastic mother.

Ok, I think I'm done venting for now... Thanks to anyone listening. I'm off to go hide under my covers til we all feel better....

I've been meaning to write about our new puppy for about a week and a half now. Her name is Harley, she's a Llewellin Setter, she's about 8-9 weeks old right now and she's driving me absolutely INSANE! It's like having a newborn baby in overdrive... minus the nice neat diaper to hold in the mess.

We ended up with her because Josh just couldn't resist her cute wittle puppy dog eyes. I didn't want her. I really didn't want her. I knew a puppy would be a lot of work and a lot of added stress to our family. We took her in with the understanding that she's Josh's dog and he would be the one taking care of her. I should have known better... I'm the one home all day... The majority of the work is done by me. Yay.

Where did she come from you ask? Well... My aunt works at a pet hospital. Right before Christmas a man took Harley in to her work and asked them to put her to sleep. Why? She had Parvo. Instead of putting the puppy to sleep they treated her for the disease. She starting recovering from it the next day. This man was called to let him know that his puppy was going to be fine. He said that he didn't want her because he thought she'd never be the same again.

Christmas day when we were all over at my Grandma's house my aunt mentioned this puppy to us. She was trying to find a good home for her. I said no. Josh said he wanted to see her and research the breed. So we went home and looked up Llewellin Setters. We'd never heard of them before, but the more we read about them the more we both fell in love. Ok fine... Let's at least see her.

Who can resist a puppy?! We took one look at her and instantly fell in  love. (Dang it.) My aunt talked us into keeping her over night to see how we liked her and to see how she fit in with the kids and Bella... (Dang it, again.) She ended up staying.

Thankfully she's a really smart dog and is learning really fast. The first week we had her was absolute hell... My poor living room carpet. (We're buying a steam cleaner because doing it by hand is just not my thing.) She's getting better as time goes on...

For Christmas and our birthdays Josh and I got 6 movie tickets. Last night my mom watched the boys for us so  we could go out on a date to see a movie. (We haven't been on a date since before we got married.) We ended up seeing Nine... I really didn't care for it. I'm just not in to musicals and especially musicals with an awful story line. Anyway, we still enjoyed ourselves. We spent waaay too much on snacks and drinks. $20 on popcorn and soda and we snuck in $20 worth of candy from The Sweet Factory. Last time we went out to the movies together we were on our first date. (He was so nervous that he had a hard time even holding my hand... Later that night was a different story... Our first kiss... Best first kiss EVER! lol)

Now to the strange phone call. Ronnie (my ex-husband) called me last night on our way to the movies. Weird. I never get phone calls from him. He had called to thank me for the pictures that I sent to him on Monday. He apologized for not calling on Christmas. Weirder. (Said his phone was shut off for not paying the bill.) He was actually nice to me and was being super friendly. Weirdest. I was able to ask him about dental insurance for the boys and I was also able to ask him about getting my name taken off the car loan without him biting my head off. It was kind of an odd conversation too...

Me: I know you're still in Japan right now, but when you get back to the states do you think you could work on refinancing the 4Runner so you can take my name off the loan? Maybe refinance with New Wife's name on it?

Him: Yeah of course. I don't get back til March though... and yeah... probably not with New Wife's name on it. No more co-signing for me. I swear, by the end of my life I'm gonna have eight or nine ex-wives.

Hmm... very interesting... Trouble in paradise? That or he doesn't want me to think too much of their relationship. He does that all the time though. I know him all too well. He'll brush off his relationships to other people as if they're nothing, but then to that person he'll shout his love from the roof top. (As long as no one else can hear of course.) Poor New Wife. I wonder if reality is setting in for her yet...

Moving on... Our date ended at 9:30pm when we picked up our sleeping boys from Nana's house. She asked me not to have her watch them while they're sick... Um... wasn't aware that either of them were sick. I do, however, remember you mentioning that you thought you were getting sick as I dropped them off. So yes, now I have a sick 3 year old. Fun stuff.

Who knows when we'll make it out to the movies again. I hope the gift certificate we got doesn't expire any time soon!

I am so glad that 2009 is over and done with. Don't get me wrong, there were many happy times... but there were some bad times too. It's amazing to me how much things have changed in just 12 months. I had a baby. I got divorced. I got married. Geez... It takes most people many years to accomplish all of that.


2010 has the potential to be a great year for all of us. I'm looking forward to this year and all the things we hope to achieve as a family. There will be lots of changes in the near future, but this time they're all for the better. We have a few road trips planned... Paying off our debts... Moving to Missouri... I'm looking forward to all of it!

As promised, here's some pictures from Christmas... (We also got the boys... ok, ok, Josh... a new puppy. More about her at a later time.)

Well, that's all for now. I'm hoping to be able to find more time to blog soon. With two boys and now two dogs it's kinda hectic around here. Having a puppy is like having a newborn that runs, jumps, bites and pees every where. Like I said, more on here later.... I need more hours in the day! Hoping to catch up on everyone's blogs soon. I have a LOT of reading to do.