Our Life & Times

Thanks to my sister, Sharon, for sending these pics to me! I thought they were so cute I wanted to share them with my blog friends... Happy Monday!

This is a sunset we viewed last week from our bedroom balcony. Brian took this picture. The Colorado skies are beautiful. You know, when we first moved here in October 2000, after being in the Air Force for 8 years, I was excited to live in CO, but a little sad to leave all our friends behind in CA. It took quite a while for me to finally adjust to living here since there is snow, my husband has history here and I don't (I'm from Beaufort, SC), and it was just hard all around for me to make new friends. Our first house we lived in here was an old farm house we rented on several acres, which meant, you guessed it, no neighbors! I finally got a job working in the Hallmark store in the mall, which BTW was a fun job, but still I was a lot younger than the other ladies that worked there and we didn't have too much in common, so still I did not have an outlet to make new friends. Then, we built our house we live in now in Milliken, CO, and I met a few of my neighbors. (I can't say I liked them all, but FINALLY I was meeting some people.) Then, our son came along. I started meeting other kids' moms, people through the kid's sports, and then we joined Milliken Presbyterian Church. I never felt such a sense of belonging as I did when we first started going to MPC. I have made some wonderful Christian friends there. However, we have not been attending as regularly as we used to because our pastor we had come to know and love took another position in Wyoming, and now we are going through an interim time with an interim pastor. We don't feel we are being spiritually fed what we need now, and somehow we have fallen through the cracks. I am in such a pickle as to what to do. Do we stick it out and wait until whenever we get a permanent pastor to see what happens then,or do we visit other churches, I am so confused???? My mom has been telling me to visit other churches, which I am not opposed to doing, but what about the fact that we have been attending MPC since Konnor became a part of our family? He has grown up in that church, was baptized in that church, etc? I have talked to him about the possibility of visiting another church, and he never says anything at all. Does that mean he doesn't care or he doesn't want to or what??? UGH!!! Seriously though, other than attending Vacation Bible School this summer, and my husband's monthly Trustee Board meetings, neither of us have been to an actual church service since May. I feel terrible about it, but we are so confused on what to do. I know deep down what we need to do is pray about it... I would love to find a church which has Christian men Brian's age that he can have something in common with so that he can grow spiritually, and I would love to find a church with a youth program that Konnor can meet kids he has things in common with so he can grow spiritually, AND I would love to find a church where I can meet other Christian women I have things in common with so that I can grow spiritually. A place where we all feel a sense of belonging. I know that we should always find a sense of belonging in God's house, and we used to at MPC, but quite honestly, we don't anymore. What would you do?

Konnor fell asleep lying next to Jazzmyne on my bed.
This is my Boomer boy. I finally took his picture for the blog.
Konnor riding his alligator (which popped 1 day later...)

The heat index is well over 100 today, and it is sizzling out there! Therefore, it was a fine day to have our annual yard sale! (Not!) We did do well though, and got rid of a lot of stuff. My general rule is that if we take it out of the house, it isn't coming back in! What we had left, which really wasn't too much, Brian loaded up in his truck and hauled it to the ARC thrift store. Oh yeah, and an update on Brian's bonus check... It is WELL worth mentioning, and he couldn't have been more pleased, ok maybe he could've been MORE pleased, but we truly are thankful! :-) Konnor is going to church camp tomorrow afternoon, so I have to pack him up tonight. We sure will miss the little booger, but I'm sure he'll have a blast and maybe his dad and I can actually go out to dinner this week without a child hanging out with us, know what I mean??? One more thing, wasps really hurt when they sting you on the finger! We jumped in the pool , after melting in the heat all day doing our yard sale, and I grabbed on to the side of the pool and there must have been a wasp there I didn't see and he bit me! He bit me on the ring finger and my finger is all swollen, I had to move my wedding rings to my other hand. OUCH!!!
Well, I am going to blog once more today to add some pictures for my mom. Her computer is so outdated she can't see my pictures if I email them to her, but she can see them if I put them on my blog page. ****Mom, one day you need to buy a new computer! :-)

Tomorrow (Friday), Brian is supposed to get a bonus check from his job he's been at since we moved to CO 6 years ago. This will be the first time he has gotten a bonus. I am very excited and very nervous for him , because although it is nice to get any amount of extra money that you weren't expecting, it would be a much better sign of appreciation on the company's part to give a mentionable bonus, you know? Brian works extremely hard and you won't find a more loyal or dedicated person when it comes to working. He often feels unappreciated, and lately has been experiencing some job burn out (he is a production manager for a steel construction and fabrication company.) Anyone who has experienced job burn out knows that they bring their work problems home with them making life at home unbearable at times. Brian has been a BEAR lately, and I ain't talking "teddy bear!" Either way, let's pray that Brian's bonus is something worth blogging about tomorrow night and that he will soon find the appreciation he so much deserves! Love you, Honey!

This week I have come across some inspiring quotes that kind of make you go "Hmmm...."

1.

"Treat your family like company and your company like family."-Paula
Deen

2.

"But you be strong and do not lose courage, for there is reward for your
work."-Chronicles 15:7

3.

"If you would have your son to walk honorably through the world, you must not
attempt to clear the stones from his path, but teach him to walk firmly over
them-not insist upon leading him but let him learn to go alone."-Anne Bronte

4.

"If God brought you to it, He will take you through it."-I read this on our
niece, Rheannon's web page, she is 17.

P.S.-I think I found an answer to yesterday's algebra problem, but my husband doesn't agree with me, so we will find out for sure when I get my paper back on Monday.

Anyone who can solve this algebra problem for me before tomorrow night, I will personally post a blog in your honor....And send BIG cyber kisses and hugs!!!!!

Here goes...

An object projected upward with an initial velocity of 48 feet per second will rise and fall according to the equation s=48t-16t^2, where s is its distance above the ground at the time of t. At what times will the object be 16 feet above the ground?

Our little Jazzmyne came home last night and she is going to be fine. She is in a little pain from having three major teeth pulled and some stitches, but after a few days she should be as good as new! Yesterday afternoon Brian's cousin Shelley and her 3 kids, Tyler, Dustin and Kashley came over to go swimming with Konnor. They had a blast, and Kashley who is only 18 months old was just a little water baby! She loved it!
I am excited today because I just realized all my work for my Colorado History class is done and now I am just waiting for the results. This is our last week, my algebra final is on Tues, Aug. 1st, and then I am done for awhile! Hallelujah! We are going to have a yard sale on Saturday, and Konnor leaves for camp on Sunday afternoon.

Our little Jazzmyne had to go to the vet today. For the last couple of weeks the area underneath her right eye has been really swollen. Saturday I took her to our local vet because her eye was swollen shut. They told us she had an absessed tooth, but could not operate until this coming Friday. So I brought her home with some antibiotics to take twice a day. This morning I checked Jazzmyne's eye and it was so swollen that the skin looked like it was ready to pop! I called the vet before I had to go to school, the vet I took her to on Saturday, and they said there was nothing they could do to help me. I was so upset at that point!!! So, I called our regular vet about 20 miles away, and they said bring her in as soon as you can. I told them I would be there after I got out of school at 10 AM. At 9:45 Am, as I was about to pull into our driveway, Konnor called my cell phone to tell me that Jazzmyne's eye was bleeding. I told him I would be there in just a second, and to be ready to go. The area under Jazzmyne's eye, had indeed popped! We wrapped her in a towel and Konnor held her on his lap all the way to Loveland. The Dr. there, although busy with back to back surgeries all day, met us at the door. He examined Jazzmyne and said he would operate today and she would be ready to go home tonight. That's what I call GREAT customer service and LOVE for animals!!!!!!!!!!!! On the way home, however, I did have a little talk with Konnor to let him know that Jazzmyne is getting older (She is 12), and that someday maybe sooner than later, there will come a time when the Dr. in Loveland won't be able to help us anymore. I think Konnor realizes that the time will come, but like the rest of us, he isn't ready for that time yet.

I remember when I was exactly Konnor's age. I was also getting ready to go into the 5th grade, when I went to church camp in the North Carolina mountains for a whole week. I was so excited! I had so much fun! I met a lot of friends there that I actually kept in touch with for the entire rest of the school year by writing letters. There was a waterslide down the side of the hill in our camp that was so fun to go down and one day we went innertubing in the creek and most of the girls lost their shoes! We wanted to make S'mores by campfire when it got dark every night, but as luck would have it, it rained every night when it was dark there, so our camp counselor used her hairdryer to melt the marshmallows and chocolate bars inside our cabin. They tasted the same to me! Our camp was also separated into two different teams, the "Hatfields" and the "McCoys." I was a McCoy. All week long our teams would play games to compete against each other, and we would earn points for having the cleanest cabin or the loudest cheers during dinner. We would actually stand on our tables (after the food was cleared, of course) and we would scream our cheers at the top of our lungs! Oh, what fun!
Konnor has gone to church camp every summer since he was 7, but usually only for 3 days. This year my "little" boy will get to go to camp for a whole week! I hope his camp experiences will always be as special to him as mine are to me.

Angie reminded me today that we should look for the good in everyday, and not worry about the past or the future all the time. This is a big deal for me because I am always usually stuck in the past or worried about the future. For example, I am always worried about what kind of person Konnor will turn out to be, but what I should do is revel in the time I have with him now. Thanks, Angie! Oh yeah, and to pick out something good today, even though I just woke up, I will celebrate that it is FRIDAY!!! I have until 10 pm to upload my research paper to my history teacher, then I have to study for my algebra test for Monday, and then I can RELAX!!! Yea!!

The summer semester is drawing to a close and will be over August 1st, but I still have so much work to do! Here I thought this would be a laid back kind of summer, with only 2 classes to take, and one of them is online! Boy, was I wrong! Then, we have had ear,nose & throat appointments, orthodontist appointments, vet appointments, you name it, we've been there, done that! I am EXHAUSTED!!!!! The things I thought for sure I would have time for this summer, like my Bible study, scrapbooking, yard sales, etc. are just a twinkle in my eye, and almost a distant memory. If I could just have one day where I felt good, I had a good night's sleep, and I could concentrate on the work at hand, I think I could perform miracles! And the Lord only knows how women with more than 1 child manage, but if I had more than Konnor to manage I think I would pull my hair out! I love him, but he wants to be entertained 24/7. I have explained to him that Mom has things she needs to do, but that lasts for all of about 5 minutes. As soon as I get him occupied with something, other than making noise and reading over my shoulder at the computer, and finally sit down to work, the dogs start barking, someone is at the door, the phone rings, I have to make dinner or we will all starve, and Oh! I forgot to buy milk at the store...

Anyone who really knows my son, Konnor, knows he LOVES football! Well, today was probably the BIGGEST day of his life! My wonderful husband does business with a woman named Debbie whose cousin was recently drafted from Colorado University to play Tight End for the St. Louis Rams. Anyway, Debbie asked her cousin, Joe Klopfenstein, to meet us for lunch because Konnor wanted to meet him. Joe, his mother, and Debbie met us for lunch in Aurora (suburb of Denver). He had just spent 4 hours in the morning doing his mandatory workouts for the NFL before meeting us for lunch. He is a wonderful person, very nice, and very TALL AND MUSCULAR!!! I do believe he is about 6 foot 5, 265 pounds! WOW! We had a very good lunch and it was nice talking to Joe and his family. He will be heading out to go back to St. Louis this weekend and we will be watching out for him to be playing in the pre-season for the Rams. Brian has always been a Denver Broncos fan, I am a Kansas City Chiefs fan, and Konnor is a Dallas Cowboys fan, BUT now we will be watching St. Louis and we are JOE fans!!!!

Brian and I were married 12 years ago, June 15th, and we never really got to properly celebrate our anniversary (as usual, too many things going on.) Lots of people tease me saying things like, "How do you put up with him?" Well, I will tell you...

Brian has never made me feel that he was better than me, or that I wasn't good enough for him. He has always worked hard to get us the better things in life, and even when we didn't have much, it didn't matter because we had each other. We have (almost) always supported each other in our thoughts and opinions. Brian will work a 10-12 hour day, typically, come home, have dinner with his family, ask how our day was, lots of times play catch with Konnor in the yard, or coach Konnor's sports several times a week, and still have time to tell me he loves me and how much he missed me during the day. When it snows, and I am terrified of driving in the snow, Brian will make arrangements with whatever he is doing to drive me where I need to go. When I have been sick or in pain, Brian has taken me to the doctor or to the ER and sat with me every minute and even got nasty with some doctors who were not doing a very good job...
When I don't feel like cooking, and I want to be pampered, just a bit, Brian will order out for dinner or he will cook dinner himself. When I asked for a pool, I got one... When I wanted a new car, I got one...When I wanted a camper, I got one... Etc.
Brian and I spent 10 years trying to have a baby, and anyone who deals with the rollercoaster of infertility knows how stressful it can be, and we always grew closer through every disappointment, and not apart. We became foster parents together, grew together as parents, and we were both overjoyed on the day we finally got to adopt our son, Konnor.
I also love that we can tell each other anything, we talk all the time, and neither one of us have a part of our lives that we don't share with the other. There are no secrets. Our lives are open books to each other. We have lived our lives together believing that marriage is not a competition, it is a team effort. So, for all of you who might wonder how we have stayed toegther as long as we have, I hope this has helped to explain it all.

Although this is just two of my four furry friends we have here at home, I wanted to pay a special tribute to them all, because they are my babies. Jazzmyne is here on the right, she is my 12 year old Dachshund. She has had 2 litters of puppies in the past, 8 puppies each time, that equals to 16 puppies! WOW!
Aspen is here on the left. She is our "toddler." She is a 3 year old Australian Cattle dog, AKA Red Heeler or Queensland. Aspen is a great watch dog and is very protective over Konnor and our 2 dachshunds. We also have a 12 year old male dachshund named Boomer, that unfortunately I cannot find a picture on the computer for, who is absolutely the sweetest dog I have ever met and is my shadow. He follows me everywhere and also has to be touching me at all times, either by sitting on my lap and sitting where his paw or something is touching me.
Last, but not least, we have a 7 year old black and white long-haired cat appropriately named "Oreo." She is a little skittish, but loves to get up on our bed at night and rub her head on Brian's foot! (Foot fetish, I guess!) There is a reason I am paying tribute to my animals today. It isn't just because they are mine and I love them, but my sister-in-law's dog, Gizmo, was hurt this week by what they think might have been a raccoon and another aquaintance of ours lost their 11 year old Boston terrier this weekend while camping. It was simply too hot for him and he died. I just don't think we give our animals enough credit for being great companions, watch dogs, and protectors. I cannot imagine life without my furry friends.

Thank God for backyard swimming pools, because this weekend we are sizzling out west! Last night I took Konnor to our VBS pool party from 6-8 pm and it was still so warm outside we came home and swam in our pool until 10! This afternoon we took the boys to a car show at my college and we cooked! Afterwards, Sonics Drive-thru was calling our names OUT LOUD for some cold drinks! We have been hanging out in our cool central A/C the rest of this afternoon (Thank God for that too, because up until this year we only had a swamp cooler) and after dinner, when the sun goes down just a bit, we will spend this evening in our pool, too! Oh yeah, did I mention that in this heat Konnor managed to run the mile in his track meet this morning? He placed third in his heat, with an amazing time of 6 minutes 39 seconds! WAY TO GO! (I would have been so passed out during the first lap!!!)
Stay cool everyone, it's a scorcher out there!

Appetizer: Name one thing nice that you could do for someone else today.
I could take my friend Wendy's children to the VBS pool party since she isn't able to.

Soup: When was the last time you were frightened by the weather?
While we were in South Dakota we got stuck in quite a thunderstorm!

Salad: What would you say is the most useful website or blog that you visit?
Mylittlefella and Carolina Rags because they are so inspirational and the authors are old friends that I love like family.

Main Course: Who was your favorite singer/group when you were a child?
Oh! I had so many... Let's see... Michael Jackson (I know, I know), Bruce Springsteen, Bananarama, Duran Duran, and Pat Benatar.

Dessert: Do you have any rituals? If so, what are they?
Hmm...Blogging. Making sure every door in the house is always locked. Hugging my son and telling him goodnight before bed every night, and always telling him "Make sure you brush your teeth!"

This is just a quick run-down of either things we did together or "inside" things that Gunner, alone, will understand and laugh at down the road:
Drag races. Super Comp. Swimming. Camping in Estes Park. Fishing. Rodeo at the Greeley Stampede. Fighting with Konnor. Driving through the wonderful and adventurous state of Wyoming (NOT!). Visiting Mt. Rushmore, Go-Cart Racing, Sitting Bull's Crystal Cave, Old MacDonald's Farm, playing games like UNO, Sorry, Yahtzee, and "Scrabble", Red Racer, Bear Country USA all while camping in South Dakota. More swimming. Bike riding. RC cars. Flying RC planes. Quoting lines from the movie Scary Movie 2. Going to the movies to see Pirates of the Carribean Dead Man's Chest and to see Click. Vacation Bible School. Crystal. Playstation2. "Charlies" from Uncle Brian. Chicken. Kathi, Kathi, Kathi!!! Logan and the Romans. More Drag Races. And More Swimming!

Well, that about sums up the month that Gunner has been here from PA. Sadly, he will go home on Sunday and he will be missed. We hope he has a safe trip home and that he will always carry fond memories of his time in Colorado with his Aunt Laura, Uncle Brian and cousin Konnor. Hurry back now, ya hear!

Our Church is having a "Fiesta" this week in VBS! Gunner and Konnor have been attending everyday, and having a great time! Gunner is 15, so he is actually a helper and he helps our pastor with the Bible story skits, and is doing a great job with them! This is Konnor's last year being able to participate since our VBS only goes up to 5th grade, after that you have to sign up as a helper. :-( That makes me sad because my little boy is not so little anymore! Anyway, I will have some pics to post after this week, since I am the VBS photographer! We are having a program Thursday night where we will have a slide show of the pics I have taken, and then Friday night is a Pool party at our local pool. So, with my school and papers to write for my classes, VBS, and other things that pop up here and there, we are having a busy week! (BTW-Gunner and a girl from our church have a little "budding romance." Too bad Gunner is going back to PA on Sunday, though! )

What do you want on your tombstone? I hope there will be something nice said about me on mine. I can't imagine a tombstone that says something mean, but hey it could happen, right? Anyway, what I am leading up to is sharing some of our past vacation pictures to Tombstone, Arizona where the west is still wild. A co-worker of my husband, Brian, wanted to see them, so here goes! Hope you go there sometime, Sandy, and have lots of fun! :-)

Ladies and Gentlemen...We have some rain falling in these parts this morning and it is truly a miracle! The crops, lawns, trees, and plants are soaking every last drop of the rain in and hopefully it will go on all day! Usually I can sleep on rainy days like this, but here I am at 6:30 AM on a Sunday morning, wide awake... Even my animals are still asleep. I get something going in my mind and then it starts a snowball effect until there is no way I can sleep because I am thinking about too many other things. I really hope to find a job soon that will be compatible with my internship with United Way, my school schedule, and my home life. That seems like alot to ask, I know, but what can I do? I have alot going on in my life these days, and somehow it has to all work. Like I posted the other day, God does not give us more than we can handle. If I was truly living by this then why can't I sleep? Why do I feel I need to worry?

Konnor's first ever track meet was June 17th, he ran the mile (which he placed 1st in, and the 800, which he only got like 8th place in. ) We have had a couple of weeks off since then, but tomorrow Konnor will run in Denver. He thinks he might also try the high jump. Konnor really likes track, but of course football will always be his first choice. Which reminds me, football registration is right around the corner... This will be Konnor's 3rd football season. He gets better and better every year. It is so fun to watch him play, and I think when he is in his uniform on that field he feels his best. I hope he will always keep his interests focused on sports, and all things good. You know what I mean?

I want to take a moment out of my busy day to appreciate the rare, but peaceful moments that God sometimes provides us so that we can catch our breath and gain some strength to carry on. He will never give us more than we can handle. Although sometimes that seems hard to understand, it is true. Everyone struggles with their own problems, no one is safe from problems. One of my weaknesses is trying to get that through my hard head that I am not the only person in the world who has been thrown some curve balls my way... It is how you decide to deal with those curve balls that makes all the difference in the world. Everything in my life could change tomorrow, so what am I doing today to make it special?

Boy, we sure had fun camping for the 4th of July weekend in South Dakota! We went to Mt. Rushmore, Bear Country USA, Sitting Bull's Crystal Caves, Go cart racing, and even to Old MacDonald's Farm! We saw lots of wildlife from little gophers to deer and antelope. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy the pictures!