Sunshine

Today was gorgeous, cold but gorgeous. We just got back on Saturday from spending 4 days in Bend and I was sad to come back to rain and gray skies. But today was beautiful and for that I was thankful.

After I watched Finn and all the kids were up from their naps, Jana and I took the kids on a walk to the park. It was cold but Maggie  and Finn love to swing and Porter and I had some fun on the 'big' kid's swings. It was a quick trip and dark by the time we got home but I was thankful to get out of the house and enjoy a few minutes of the sunshine!

P.S. I have had a really bad headache all day long and thus the short post. Sorry.

Tacos

We decided to invite some good friends over for tacos tonight and had a great time. I am thankful for friends who agree to an impromptu dinner!

We supplies the tacos and they brought the chips and salsa and beer and we were set. Maggie and Cooper are about 5 weeks apart and Corban and AJ grew up best buds so it is always fun to hang out with them.

Sunday nights are usually a night to get ready for the week but it was fun to do dinner together and have the house cleaned up and ready for the week by 8:30.

This month of November has been full of friends and family interactions and as I have blogged I have been blessed by all those who surround us. What an amazing month! In a few short days I will be celebrating my birthday that is half of 70. Man, that sounds old! I am blessed. My family is blessed.

Thank goodness for yummy tacos!

Flexibility

I am thankful for a family who is flexible. This weekend was not what we had expected it to be or at least not what I had thought it might be like. But we all took it and rolled with the punches. Maggie was sick the entire time we were in Bend. This was the first time we had stayed there since having Maggie and it was a bit rough with all of us in the house and at night. On Saturday morning at 4:30 am, Maggie woke up and would not stop crying. Everyone heard her as the house is small enough. Needless to say, we were all a bit tired on Saturday. But they rolled with the punches and everyone besides Maggie, my mom and I went snowshoeing and had a good time.

My sister and her husband went to visit his sister and his family that was in town as well and while they were out getting their pictures taken someone ran in to their car. Come to find out, they were uninsured. Ugh. The punches kept coming and we stilled flexed around that and made it work.

So as I ponder back on the weekend I am thankful for my family. I am thankful for my husband and all he did for Porter as I was on Maggie duty. He did take Maggie when he could and discovered she LOVES to be outside with the dogs. I am thankful for my sister and her husband and the fun and adventure they bring in to our lives. I am thankful for my parents who graciously hosted us, sick child, dog and all. They played with my kids and helped out when they could.

I am also thankful that when we decided to go home a day early, there were no hard feelings just complete understanding. Maggie was ready for her own bed and slept last all the way till 4:30 which is pretty normal. She is still not 100% herself yet but no fever and not nearly as fussy and for that I am thankful.

Family, thank you for being flexible and for rolling with the punches as they came. Can't wait for next year and all it might bring!

I love a good deal!

My family has a crazy tradition and that is Black Friday shopping. For as long as I can remember back we always would get up as a family and head out to buy some socks, shoes and other good deals that we would find the day before while perusing the ads. It was a crazy thing we did but we always found good deals, had a good laugh at the crazies at Fred Meyer and would come home and nap.

Since AJ and I have been married we have some times both gone or one or the other of us will go, depending on what deals or steals we may be thinking of purchasing. The last two years AJ has gone as I wasn't really wanting to. I do recall when I was pregnant with Porter going and that was a bit much for me. I waddled around but for the most part, I was miserable.

This year, AJ didn't find anything he was dying to have and I wanted to get some stuff at Freddie's so my alarm went off at 4:30am this morning and my parents, sister, brother in law and I headed out. We actually got there before they opened and stood in line for a few minutes and rushed in with the rest of the crazies.

I found a few board games for Porter for Christmas and he will love as he is just starting to grasp the concept of playing a game. I bought the kids some sock (can't go without getting some socks!), a pair of fleece lined Crocs for Porter and the cutest Christmas dress and sweater for Miss Mags. It wasn't a ton of stuff but still fun to share the experience with my sister and laugh at the crazies and dig through piles of socks.

I am thankful for a good deal and am glad for what I got but still love my sleep more. Next year, AJ's turn to go out!

Thanksgiving 2011

Nope, no pictures as it has been a weird holiday for me. Maggie has been running a fever since Wednesday night and so taking care of her is exhausting as she is not happy with anything. She doesn't want to be held, she doesn't want to sit or stand or snuggle. This age is a hard age to be sick as I recall with Porter as well when he was about this age and sick. She only naps at 45 minute increments so she doesn't get in to that deep sleep and is SUPER cranky when she wakes up. Poor thing.

AJ has been super helpful and Porter is doing fine so for the majority we are fine. It is just tiring with a cranky fussy baby. And it makes me thankful my babies were never colicky. I can only imagine what that kind of exhaustion must be like. I am sure she will get better and be past this and with colic/acid reflux you never know when the end will come. Bless all you mothers who had/have colicky babies.

So Thanksgiving day we all hung out at my parent's house and in the early afternoon they all headed out to the park so Porter could play and get out of the house for a bit. He had fun but man was his little nose pink and his fingers frozen when they got back. I stayed at the house with Maggie and we just hung out. Shortly after the got back we warmed up Porter's fingers and he headed to bed for his nap. About 2 hours in to his nap it was getting close to time to eat and it started snowing! It wasn't sticking but it was cool to watch so I went and woke up Porter to show him the snow. He was pretty excited but kept asking "why is it not on the floor?" So cute. Trying to explain that it is too warm and takes time to accumulate on the ground before it sticks is a hard one for a two year old. But he enjoyed it none the less.

Then it was time to eat. My grandpa joined us for dinner and we all sat dow to a wonderful meal and prayed and Maggie then proceeded to puke everything all over her highchair. What a way to start the meal! Tobin, who is a doctor and sees much worse felt a little sick as he was sitting next to her but quickly got over it and ate up. We enjoyed the usual fixings and had a good time around the table. It always seems like the prep and build up to the meal is WAY longer than the actual eating part. With kids it is hard to sit at the table for very long and especially with a sick kid, it just wasn't working. We adapted and had fun despite. Grandpa then took a nap before they all headed over to another relatives house for dessert. I stayed home with Maggie as she is just not a social bug with being so sick.

I am thankful for my family and my parents and their willingness to host us to stay at their house. As our family has grown with spouses and grandkids they still graciously offer up their home for us to crash in. Next year we are considering getting a house in Sunriver as my brother and his family is not here this year and that would be pretty cramped with the six of them plus us. But despite Maggie's fever and fussy-ness it has been fun to catch up and play and laugh together.

A very kind offer

I know I have mentioned before that I love my job and am very thankful for it. Well, Wednesday AJ had the day off so he was going to be with the kids and pack us all up to head over the Bend for the holiday weekend. I was going to get off at five and we would head out out town. Well, my coworker who has Wednesdays off offered to work for me. The idea sounded very nice but I didn't want her to have to work the entire day as it was her day off. So we split the day. I worked 9-1 and she worked 1-5. It was a win-win for us as we got out of town and over the pass earlier and didn't have to take a gamble on what the weather or roads at night would be like. And unbeknownst to us, Maggie was coming down with something so it was nice to be out of the car and at my parent's house so we could put her down in her bed versus trying to sleep in the car seat.

So I am thankful for my wonderful friend and coworker, Sara!

Porter's thankfulness

Last night I told Porter at bed time that we were going to have Thanksgiving on Thursday and so each night before we prayed at bed time we would talk about one thing we were thankful for. So last night Porter was thankful for his friend, Bob. And then tonight, I asked Porter what he was thankful for and he said, "Dupa (Grandpa)." And when asked why, "He is my best friend."

I am thankful for Porter and his little 2 year old thankful heart. I can't wait to hear what else he is thankful for the rest of the week.

Amazing

Well, here I am again a day late but yesterday was Monday and was an amazing day!

One of the things that Porter loves is us telling him "story of my day". He loves it when we tell him about the events of his day and what he did from start to finish.

Well, here is story of my day, yesterday.

It was Monday and my day off. I woke up and AJ brought Porter down stairs to our room and we snuggled and watched his morning shows together. Maggie then woke up and that is when our day really starts. We do diaper changes and get ready to do breakfast. I made Porter's favorite peanut butter/banana smoothie and I even made Maggie a green smoothie and she loved it!

And we were then off and running. Porter wanted to do this and that and then it was time for Maggie's nap. Nap time for Maggie is nice for Porter on my days off because we get some one on one time and can play with toys that Maggie might swallow and choke on. He decided he wanted to play with blocks and cars and knock over the towers I built. Well, Miss Chunky Thighs, got her legs stuck in the crib bars and woke up after on 45 minutes. She was happy and glad to be free of her crib bars but it wasn't quite long enough for me.

We all started playing with blocks and books and toys and my longtime friend Jen came over and hung out with us and hang out with me and the kiddos. It was sort of chaotic but we were having fun. I also watch Finn on Mondays so then Jana dropped him off and we then had 3 kids, Jen and I and it was lunch time. I started making lunch and then my sister arrived with her lunch. We all sat down and were able talk a little while the kids ate. After lunch it is countdown to nap time for all 3 kiddos. One of my favorite times. :)

My friend Jen decided to head home as she had walked over and it wasn't raining yet and my sister stayed to hang out. I put Finn down and then Maggie and then Porter. Ah, some peace and quiet and mellow-ness. It was nice to catch up with my sis and hang out and catch up on life. She had forgotten her jacket at the medical clinic that she volunteers at and so she left to go grab that and came back with a chai and cinder. Isn't she the best?

At about 3, Maggie woke up and we got some cute Maggie time. Then Porter woke up around 3:15 and Finn didn't wake up till 4. He is an amazing napper sometimes. We then all were hanging out again and my sister decided to stay for dinner since Tobin was working that evening and she could be with us. Jana had brought over one of her freezer meals and we would all eat together. Both JJ and AJ were working till later in the evening as they were then going to have Wednesday off so Jana, Christy and the kids and I all ate dinner together.

But before dinner time, Lori stopped by to say hi as we had not seen her all weekend and she wanted to say hi. About 20 minutes later, Jana showed up and I was getting dinner together and then after 5, Al showed up as well. It was a fully revolving door at my house on Monday. At one point, when Al, Lori, Jana, Finn, Christy, Porter, Maggie and I were all in my house, my doorbell rang and we all looked at each other and wondered who else was going to show up. It ended up being the neighbor bringing over a piece of my mail that had been delivered to her. It was a very sweet thank you card from my friend, Christi. Oh man, my day just couldn't have gotten any better.

Al and Lori left and we all sat down to dinner and enjoyed a yummy meal together. It was a freezer meal made by another one of my friends, Lauren. Christy took off after she picked up all the dinner dishes! Then Porter asked Finn if he wanted to take a bath and so the boys got to have a fun bath and Maggie even got in for a few to get her hair washed and throw a few splashes herself. Bath time was over and Porter let Finn borrow a pair of jammies and they headed home.

It was just the kids and I and it was 6:30 at night. Me and my cuties and a warm happy house. I was feeling blessed. I fed Mags and kissed her and put her down and about 30 minutes later, it was time for Porter to go to bed. What a day!

AJ was home by 8:30 and we sat on the couch and snuggled and caught up on life. Then I talked to my brother for a few minutes and it was time to head to bed. Ahhhhh, bliss, pure bliss.

I was overwhelmed by how God places people, places and things in our lives to bless us. Each and every moment of my Monday was touched by family and friends. I was overwhelmed by all who came over that day and all who contributed to my kids and our lives. God knows my thoughts and feelings and knows just what I need and when.

Thank you all who were a part of my Monday!

Some time away

Tonight I got to go out with two very good friends and catch up on life. We left our kids home with our husbands to have them put them in bed and we went out. We got some time away from the brushing teeth routines and the multiple requests that kids have right before they go to bed in hopes of prolonging the inevitable. We ate, drank and laughed and it was good.

Our time together was refreshing. We all have various things going on in our lives and our kids are at various stages in their lives, but we were able to process and encourage one another in the short 3 hours. I am thankful that God placed these people in my life. 

I am thankful for our time and the yummy yummy creme brulee!

I am thankful for my daughter.

I am thankful for her smiles and laughter.

Even when it eventually turns to this. She was done with having me take her picture!

Ugh.

So it is the middle of the month and I am dragging. I was on a pretty good roll and now I am dragging. I was driving home on Friday from work thinking, "What am I thankful for today? What am I going to blog about?" Well, here it is Sunday and I never did think of anything and now I am three days behind because of it. Ugh.

I don't just want to write something down to make my goal. I was hoping something would jump out at me. But alas, Sunday night at 10:30 and I can't think of anything. I know all day long I think about different things and I was thankful for family, for a job, for a car and for the sunshine that peaked through the clouds. I was thankful for a friend who shared her lunch with me and I was thankful for 5:00pm and work ending. I was also thankful for the pizza that we had for dinner and that we were able to go out and enjoy dinner together as a family with Al and Lori.

I was thankful for some down time and getting to get caught up on a lot the TV shows I had missed during the week. I was thankful for my couch and for the cozy blanket I was using. I was also thankful for my husband who ran to Wal-Greens to get me some yummy snacks at 9 at night!

My day was full of little thankfulness-es. I was thankful.

Friends

Today one of my very good friends came to visit us. She lives in Portland and we see each other, or try to see each other once a month or so. Thursdays are a good day as I don't work and she doesn't have school. She offered to come this way and it turned out to be for the better as I ended up without a car today. Long story short, I need to remind AJ that it is Thursday so he doesn't take the van. ;)

My friend came for lunch and to catch up on life and just be with the kids and I for our afternoon routine at home. Nothing extraordinary or super exciting. We just did life together for four hours and chatted about our days, weeks, ups and downs, marriages, kids and kid-to-be, rugs, houses and life. It was a wonderful four hours. I dreamed about what life would be like if we could afford to live in Portland and I didn't have to work and we could raise our kids together and form a babysitting co-op. She turned on the laptop and showed me the rug she wants to get for her nursery. I wish I could spend every Thursday afternoon with her.

My friend and I go way back. We had to have a "we like each other and not just because we both know the same person" talk. We have history. We have cried and cried and cried some more together. We have laughed and smiled and laughed some more. We even shared a room for awhile. She was one of the first real friends I made after I moved to Salem, a whole new chapter in my life. She was in my wedding and we have just been through so much. For 3 years before I got married and moved to Vegas, we even worked at the same church. Different ministries but often times we would go out to lunch together, vent in her office and even go on Diet Coke runs to Plaid Pantry!

I wish we lived closer but thankful we are still close enough to visit and catch up on life and be real and authentic with one another. Sarah, I am thankful for you today! And that cute baby bump, well, I can't wait to meet your new little one!

Halloween 2011

Left to right:

Maggie-Cutest OSU cheerleader

Finn-football Player

Campbell-very cute monkey

Porter-adorable basketball player

Cooper-very good looking lion

Talan- cute Army guy

WEDNESDAY!!

I am thankful for Wednesdays because every two weeks after work, my bestie and I get our nails done. Yes, I am spoiled. It is the best hour post work, no kids and I end up with some fun, spunky nails! Plus, I get to catch up and gab with my bestie and laugh, laugh, laugh.

Then I head home to my sweet babies and husband, have some dinner and put my babes to bed. Then it is me time. I do my Bible study, watch some Modern Family and then the dishes come next and finally, I am all ready for my most favorite show of the season, Revenge. And to make the show's hour even better, my bestie and I IM. No, I am not 14 but yes, I do love a good drama and I do love chatting during it. Fun times.

Wednesday, I got you where I want you! If only Revenge was 2 hours long.

The Whole DeBacker Fam

AJ, Porter, Maggie and Maryanne 

Al and Lori

JJ, Jana and Finn

Our amazing and talented friend Valerie Hibler photographed the DeBacker/Avison clan on an clear fall afternoon. We had fun and got some good shots. It is an amazing feat to have all 9 people looking in the same direction with some sort of smile on your face. Porter does not love having his picture taken and Maggie was a bit on the sick side but Valerie rocked it and we got some good shots. Fun times!

My mother-in-law

Each day I think all day long about something that I am thankful for on that day. Maybe it was the sunshine that peeked out, maybe it was the laughter we had as a family, maybe it was the yummy goodness I ate at some point. Well, today is Tuesday and my 'Monday' but as I headed back to work and my kids headed off to Nammie's house, I was thankful for her presence in their lives and her willingness to watch our kids so that I can work.

AJ's mom watches our kids 3 days while I work. Two of those days she also has their cousin. I watch him on Mondays for about 4 hours and it is tiring. But Lori does this and is so amazing with the kids. She laughs and plays with them. She reads them books and lets them take baths in her huge Jacuzzi tub. She takes them to the park and on walks. They play with playdough, color and do all sorts of fun, amazing things.

Often times, Porter will say something or talk about something and we can't figure out where he picked it up. A few days later I will ask Lori about it and she would say, "Oh yay, I taught Porter that," or "we talked about that the other day." It is awesome to see how she interacts with the kids and pours so much in to their lives.

I am not complaining or saying anything new, but I would rather be at home. Since that is not where God has us right now, I am SO thankful that I am able to work and that Lori is willing to invest in their lives. Thank you, Nammie!

Our cozy warm house

Today is Monday and I usually stay home all day and hang out with my kids. And since I am a homebody on Mondays, I am thankful today for my warm and cozy house. It was stormy and blistery outside but we were cozy and happy inside. AJ has done so much work on our home it truly is a wonderful place to be all day long. The kids have fun playing and they each have a room and a place to sleep and nap and we even now have our own room so when Finn comes on Mondays, he has a place to nap. It all works out beautifully.

Our house was built in the 40's  (pre-installation in the walls era) and it can at times feel a little chilly but for the most part it is warm. The previous owners had a new gas furnace installed so we have forced air which is quite nice and then also new windows installed which makes a huge difference, I am sure. All in all, very thankful for our home and the warm and comfort it brings to us.

The best sister in the world

I am thankful for my sister. For oh so many reasons, more than I have time or space to share. But here are two of the biggest reasons.

She loves me and my kids. She is an amazing aunt and loves to hang out with us. She will go above and beyond to help out so that we can take our kids places not a lot of kids go (ie rock climbing and not-car camping). Her and her husband are awesome. We love them!

And the other reason is for given me the best surprise in my life. And by surprise, I mean full on, never would have expected this to have happened so it was fully out of the blue. (When AJ came home early to ask me to marry him, that was a good surprise too!) Anyways, it was fall of 2009 after Porter had been born and I was wanting some new clothes. I was tired of my limited wardrobe and just love me some Nordstrom Rack shopping. So AJ said he would go with me on Saturday and hang out with Porter while I shopped and then we could do lunch and come home. Sounded like a wonderful plan to me. So off we headed on Saturday morning. Probably a little earlier than I would normally do on a Saturday but it felt good to be out and headed to a morning of shopping. When we arrived in downtown Portland, AJ parked and suggested we head to Starbucks to get some coffee before we headed to Nordstrom Rack. Sure thing. We walked in and it was packed. Porter was in the BOB and I was a bit overwhelmed and trying to figure out where the line was and what I wanted to drink. When all of a sudden, my sister walks up and says, "Hi!" (Quick back story, she was currently living in southern California with her husband so her to be at the Starbucks in Portland was random, totally random.)

I stood there, confused, not quite understanding what was going on. I was fully and completely surprised. I was shocked and thought it was crazy that she would be there when we were there too. I had a million thoughts flood my mind at once and not one of them was that AJ was in on the surprise with her this whole time but he was. Neither of them ever let in on the surprise and it paid off. I was SURPRISED!

My sis is amazing and I am very fortunate to have her in my life.

Bathtime and sweet smelling babies

Tonight, I am thankful for bath time and that both of my kids are in a stage where they love baths. Maggie is a huge splash-er and loves to get wet. Tonight she was pouring water on herself and loving it. So is so stinkin' cute! And Porter loves to squirt all the water bottles in the tub and be silly. He is growing up way too fast right before our eyes. He talks and talks and talks. Today on the way home from OMSI he was looking out the window and kept pointing at things and saying, "I don't know what that is."

And of course after bath time, you must be slathered in sweet smelling lotion and put on your nice warm fuzzy jammies and get all snugly ready for bed. There is nothing better than sweet soft clean baby hair and warm fuzzy jammies on your little loves.

I heart bath time and hearing my kiddos giggle together while getting clean and even more cute!

Fridays

I am thankful for Fridays because:

It is the end of my work week and I have Mondays off so bring on the 3 day weekend I always get. Woot woot!!

I get to work with my bestie, Jen!

It is casual Friday at work so we get to wear jeans.

Weekend family time is just around the corner. I love having AJ home and so do the kids!!

I can stay up late and I don't feel super guilty.

What isn't there to love about Fridays??

Hearts at Home

Thursday mornings I attend a mom's group Bible study. I take the kids with me and they go to their respective classrooms and have wonderful volunteers watch them for 2 hours. I get to hang out with other moms, make friends, study God's word and have adult girls conversations. This is my 3rd year and each year has just gotten better than the last. Last year after Maggie was born my group was a huge encouragement and support. They brought us meals and loved on us. As a mom we often times make sacrifices for our kids knowing it is better for them and others to not take sick kids to e around other kids. This is the hardest time for me to make that sacrifice because I so want to go hang out with my friends and leader and see and know all that is going on in their lives and chat about potty training with other moms who 'get it'. I am thankful for the friendships I have there and for our amazing leader and for the time we have together each Thursday.

I heart my iPhone

Yep, superficial me, thankful for my iPhone. If I had all the money in the world, we would be a complete Apple family but alas, I didn't win the PowerBall and I can only afford an iPhone. But for that I am thankful. We recently upgraded to the most recent release and I love it. I love how fast it is. I love how nice the camera and video camera are. I love how beautiful the screen is and I even like Siri, the iPhone personal assistant!

I don't spend a lot of time on the computer but I do enjoy spending time on my iPhone. I read my email, check Facebook, play a couple of games (Words with Friends!) listen to Pandora Radio and take lots of pictures and videos of our stinkin' cute kids. Well, more recently as well I have been using FaceTime which is like Skype, video calling and I love it! I have been able to chat with my sister and my parent's. I keep forgetting to try it some time with Porter and my parents. He would probably love it as the kid can get around my phone just as easy as I can and he is only TWO!! That's gotta say something about how user friendly they are.

Thank you, Steve Jobs, for your innovation and creativity. I am thankful.

Smiles, giggles and laughter

I am thankful that my kids are happy.

Just tonight as I was putting Porter to bed, we were talking and laughing and I started tickling him and he had that "if you don't stop, I might pee my pants" kind of laughter. It made me laugh and my heart happy.

Maggie is always a happy camper. And Porter can get her to laugh and giggle like no one else. He can look at her while she is sitting in her car seat from hers and she will crack a huge smile. Very cute.

The sound of the two of them interacting and laughing and talking is sweet. Porter also will comfort Maggie if she is upset or needs some immediate attention and I am not there yet. So enduring. Our kids are happy and smiley (most of the time) and it makes this momma happy as well.

Dishwashers and washers

I am thankful for my dishwasher and my washing machine. One of the things I really wanted in the new house was a dishwasher. Our old house we did not have one and it was just the two of us and we never seemed to find time to wash the dishes. It was usually after 2 or 3 meals and so there was quite the pile. I knew with kids we would be going through lots of dishes and really really wanted a dishwasher.

Well, most older homes do not have a built in dishwasher as they weren't around when they were built. Oftentimes, the home wouldn't have one or it would be a portable one and so it was always in an awkward place. So imagine my excitement when this house had a dishwasher and it was built in. The kitchen is not very big but does have a dishwasher. And man on man, I am so thankful. I notice we go through detergent pretty quickly as we run the dishwasher everyday and on the rare occasion can go two days. I am not complaining at all though. I am very grateful now with sippy cups, bowls, plates and silverware galore.

Then my washing machine is nothing amazing or high efficiency but it works and gets our clothes clean. Our dryer is hot and our clothes get dried quickly. 2-3 loads of laundry a week and then there are the weeks that it just never seems to end.

I am thankful for our modern conveniences and all my appliances.

Jammies, snuggles and days at home.

I am thankful for Mondays with my kiddos.

Mondays are my true day off. I don't have anything I am committed to doing so we can stay home all day and just be. Porter is a sweet child after my own heart and would prefer to keep his jammies on all day. He did take them off for a short period to do some painting. Again, a child after my own heart and doesn't want to get paint on his clothes.

Since I work three days and then I we go to a morning Bible study on my other day off, a commitment-free day is welcomed sight. I do watch my nephew in the afternoon for about 4 hours and 2 of them are while he is napping, plus he is just a part of the family and chills with the rest of us.

Today was a great day. We played, painted, laughed, chased each other, played Ring Around the Rosie, read books, napped. played golf and ate lunch. I even managed to have dinner cooking when AJ arrived home. I was feeling very domestic and wishing in a weird way that every day was Monday.

Mondays are all that bad.

Husband, my husband.

I am thankful for my best friend, my knight in shining armor, the guy who makes me laugh and is an all around handy, amazing, nerdy, smarty, hottie kind of guy.

I met AJ 10 years ago. We started dating shortly after my 25th birthday. (Wow, easy math and now you know how old I am and I can't believe I am admitting that.) He actually was at a birthday celebration that my friends had put together. It was sort of random at the time but cute to think and talk about now. He barely knew me!

AJ has supported me through so much. He has been my biggest cheerleader on this journey calling wedded life.  He loves me no matter what and he loves to make me laugh. He knows so much about the most random things but that comes in handy so many times when I wonder about something, he has the answer. I love it!

Now that we have two kids, he is also an amazing dad. When all didn't go the way we had planned for the birth of Porter, AJ stepped right in and as I was in recovery, held our son minutes old skin-to-skin till I was able to be in the room. Be still my beating heart. And then after Maggie was born, he was strong for me and was the protective father for Maggie. He was by her side every step of the way. At one point after they had gotten her stable, he stood next to her and just laid his hand on her belly. I didn't see it but Lori told me. Again, wow, amazing.

The other cool thing about AJ is that he is so good at learning new things. If he wants to build something, he researches it. If he wants to install a window, he reads up on it and asks his brother-in-law. If he wants to try to dry his wet iPhone, he watches a YouTube video. He has done so many projects on our house and built with his dad the most amazing chicken coop. Yep, he is pretty much amazing.

I love you, honey!

If I have to work...

I am thankful for my job. When AJ and I moved back to Salem, I had just graduated from beauty school and I started looking for a job at a salon so I could start building my clientele. I found a salon that hired me as an hourly/commission employee. This sounded ideal as I was just starting out. So off to work I went. At the same time, AJ and I were trying to start a family and AJ was working as an instructional assistant at North High School. I had to work the weekends and into the evenings. I was loving what I was doing but I just wasn't seeing any results on the paychecks.

My father in law was looking for some help in his office so he hired me on a very part time basis and I started working in the insurance field. I was just doing basic office things and then I decided to go ahead and get my insurance license. January of 2007, I decided to start working full time for Al and cut back to very part time at the salon. I decided if and when we had kids I wanted to be able to have my evenings and weekends with them and our family. I didn't want to have to worry what my paycheck would look like every month and I really wanted way less drama and tension in my life. Working at a salon or the one I was working at was pretty high stress!

That was almost five years ago and I haven't looked back. I ended up quitting the salon January of 2009 a few months before Porter was born. I decided to do hair on the side on my own time. Then after my maternity leave with Porter I went back to work part time, 3 days a week. 

I love my boss, I love my coworkers, I love my hours and the dependability of my income. And I love being able to leave work at work.

No socks, please.

I am thankful that I don't have to wear socks everyday. Random, right? I have discovered I don't like socks. And I have two things that I can pinpoint in time as to why I dislike them.

My family vacationed every other year in southern California. We would go visit my grandparents and we would always go to Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm or some other amusement park. As a child, my parents wanted us to always wear comfortable walking shoes when we would spend all day at the park. They had our best intentions in mind but I always wanted to wear sandals or flip flops. For some reason I was just mortified that I had to wear sock and tennis shoes with my shorts.

Then when I attended beauty school for a year and a half, they had a dress code. What, really? Aren't we all adults? Well, sadly in beauty school or at least the one I went to had to have rules and lots of them. Unfortunately, one of them was that we had to wear socks and closed toe shoes. Ugh, socks, every day 5 days of week. And if you didn't wear socks or had open toes shoes, they would send you home to put them on. I lived 30 minutes away from school, so I followed the rules and wore socks, until I got Ugg boots for Christmas. You can't wear socks with Uggs because your feet will get way too hot. So I would wear my boots and no socks and it was a slice of heaven in beauty school.

Fast forward to today. I get to make my own decisions and don't have a dress code I have to abide by so I choose not to wear socks ever. I love leggings. I love my Ugg boots and slippers. I love my new Barefoot Merrills which means I don't even need to wear socks now when I wear my running shoes! I love ballet flats and high heels. I love getting pedicures during the winter and showing off my "summer" toes.

I am thankful for where I am at in life that I don't have to wear socks!

(Side note: Maggie refuses to keep socks on her toes at this stage in her life. Not sure where she got that from. :)

I just can't believe it is November

I am sitting on the couch tonight and my toes are freezing and I have my slippers on! I am cold all over. And here I sit in a short sleeve shirt and wonder why I am so cold. Oh wait, it is November! What, November? What happened to October? Summer didn't start till August so it feels like October was a bit of more summer/fall than just fall. Which brings me to what I am thankful for today. No, not fall.

I am thankful of the state I live in. Yes, I am thankful for Oregon. We don't have extreme weather, we experience all four seasons, albeit some are shorter than I would like and the valley where I live now, is amazing during the fall and spring with all the trees, leaves and blossoms. Salem is a hour and a half from the coast, a hour from the city that AJ and I love visiting (Portland) and two and a half hours from Bend where my parents live and tons of stuff in between. We love hiking, we love snowboarding, we love seeing Aunt Christy and Uncle Tobin in Corvallis so Oregon fits our lifestyle.

I heart Oregon.

It's November, therefore, I blog...

Well, it's November 1st and I always have really good intentions of getting back on the blogging wagon. But how many times have I said that? How many times have I said that is for another post? So I am committing again that for every day in the month of November I will post. Last year I did this for the first time and it was a great exercise. I posted random things and it was good for me. I was pretty pregnant and so having something else to focus on was a relief.

This year I have decided I want to do a thankful post each day. I know, so original, right? Well, I keep coming back around to this idea and I haven't ever done something like this. Some people are doing this daily on Facebook. I just feel like this would be a good idea for my current place in life. Perspective.

So here is my first one.

I am thankful for the deep, deep love of Jesus. I have had the words to song "How Deep the Father's Love For Us" running over and over in my head all week. I was reminded of this deep, deep love the Father has for us as I attended a memorial service for a good friend's dad. Just because we have heartache and hurt in our life, God still loves us like nothing else. His love is not dependent on what we do, who we are or the current circumstances in our lives. He loves us without any strings attached. We can't even truly fathom how much love He has for us. Another line in the song states "how vast beyond all measure." Our worldly minds are not capable of measuring but all I know it is amazingly deep.  Blows me away.

During the service his son sang a beautiful praise song and a line in that song caught my attention. "Before even time began, my life was in His hands." God knew where He was going to take this man and his family on this journey of life. He knew what was in store for each of them. God's love in their lives is evident in so many different ways. His love was and still is deep in their lives. What a truth they can hold on to.

I have been processing a lot of things since my daughter's traumatic birth in January and one thing I know for certain is that no matter the ups, the downs, the highs, the lows, the pain and the triumphs, God still and will always love me. He always has my back and I can always run to Him. 

So today I am thankful for that deep deep love.