I am thankful for Tara because...

1. She works real hard trying to raise Hunter, do photography, and a little work at Bath and Body Works.
2. She can encourage me and make me feel like a million bucks.
3. She cleans, cooks, and does many other household chores while watching Hunter.
4. She is so persistent and talented at photography. It makes her so happy when she is capturing such incredible images.
5. She tries to stay fit and and sometimes dresses nice for me.
6. Tara loves to snuggle, and I just love snuggling while watching movies or just to talk.
7. I love her smile, and it really lights up my day.
8. I like it when she defends me and my awkward ways. I feel that she really loves me for being me.
9. She has a great memory for movie lines and is fun to listen to when she quotes humorous movie characters.
10. She has a sharp wit and can be very funny.
11. Tara has a passion for doing things well and with attention to detail.
12. She loves kids and babies. Her interaction with my nieces and nephews is amazing and they all adore her. Hunter loves her to death and is a mama's boy.
13. She can be so much fun when she plays games. She is competitive like me and can talk some smack when she has a good chance of winning.
14. I love it when she supports me when I am playing basketball, football, or other things that I enjoy.
15. Tara is a talented cook. She is careful to follow the recipe perfectly and she makes dishes that look great on the table.
16. Tara is great with works and can make a written compliment sound so nice that you'd think that person had just been knighted.
17. She has such cute mannerisms that I miss them when I am away for business.
18. She can be an incredible listener and can be very sympathetic. She can make me feel calm or relieved when she puts her mind to it.
19. Tara likes to tease and enjoys practical jokes. She does so without thought of them getting her back.
20. Tara has an eye for style and always looks beautiful no-matter what.
21. She is very talented with technology and enjoys figuring new things out. I often have to ask her to help me if I can't get the computer to do what I want.
22. Tara is adventurous and likes things that are exciting and on the wild side.
23. Tara is fearless when it comes to thrill rides and heights.
24. She is so cute when she is scared. I love it when she tries to hide from things and snuggles into me.
25. She is so fun to tease. She is so adorable when she laughs at some of the silly things she does.
26. She loves working in flowerbeds and gardens. She lights up when she see's the wonderful things she can cultivate.
27. She has been so good lately at spending very little and being frugal even though she wants to buy so many things, mostly for Hunter.
28. She is good at clipping coupons and finding the best deals. She can buy groceries at a fraction of the normal cost.
29. She does a good job planning things. Vacations are a blast when she gets her mind going. She has many ideas and knows how to implement those ideas.
30. She watches many of the movies I enjoy.
31. She is OK getting a burger at Burger King and is unafraid to eat fries and a shake.
32. She loves swimming and traveling. She likes getting out and doing things outside the home.
33. Tara can grab my hand when I am frustrated and smile at me. That calms me and feels so wonderful.
34. She has a caring heart for the less fortunate and sometimes cries when she sees them struggling. She gets such a lift when she helps them.
35. She is understanding of my diet and watches out for things I shouldn't eat.
36. I just love it when she asks Hunter to say "Dad."
I know that sometimes I get distracted with some of the menial things in life and forget how much she does for me. I love you Tara and can't imagine my life without you. Thank you for loving me so much!

Thankful Tuesday

Since this is the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, I better make sure that I post something!

I am so Thankful for Bubba. Last week I talked about Sam, and how thankful I was for him. Today, I am thankful for Bubba. No one makes me feel more important in this life than him. He makes me smile every time I look at him. Even when he's being a pain. ;-) He is in a stage now where he will give hugs, and "big squeezes" that will melt your heart. He loves to say hi and bye to people, and will flirt like nothing else when a cute girl is around. He is starting to say more and more, and is showing so much of a personality.

He was worth every second of the long wait.

I am so thankful to have him in my life. And I can't be thankful for that without being thankful for his birthmother, my WONDERFUL friend who I consider a sister, Crystal. She is an AMAZING person, who has the biggest heart in the whole world. I am so thankful for my relationship with her, and that we are able to have an open adoption so that Bubba can be a part of her life. With her in his life, he will definitely be a better person. And I am SO eternally grateful for her and what she has done for us. Crystal, you are such an amazing person. We love your guts!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone! I will be enjoying it with family who will be coming into town. I can't wait!

Friday Night Confessions

Here they are. Sorry they are late. :-(

• I am realizing more and more how important my family is to me. Even extended family (aunts, sister/brother-in laws, uncles, etc.) I am learning that they are the most important thing on this world. I need to treat them as such. And I don't think I ever want to do anything to any of them to destroy that relationship. They are one of the only things that I will be taking with me when I die. As stated in the Proclamation on the Family, they are what we are sent here to do. Families are THE MOST important thing in this world. It's sad that we live in a world where that is taken for granted, and people will do anything to destroy that relationship. That is just sad.
  
• I am not much of a business person. I HATE confrontation. Absolutely despise it, and try to avoid it whenever I can. I am finding that I have to be more diligent about my rights, and making sure that those are protected. Unfortunately that means major changes to my business. But, if I expect my business to grow and be what I want it to be, you do what you have to do.
  
• I don't like when Bubba misses his naps. He gets onry, and he get's crazy. We took him to the store when he hadn't had a nap, and I about went nuts. So we are going to try VERY hard to make sure that he gets his nap every day. :-)
• We have been trying different children shows for Bubba. LIttle Einsteins, My Friends Tigger and Pooh, Handy Manny, and Jungle Junction. But still, nothing compares to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He will get mad sometimes if you try and put anything else on. I think I know all of the songs off of that show..
• We have Stake Conference tomorrow, and I am very excited. :-) I actually like Stake Conference. I am excited to learn new things, and it's just kind of a pick my up. I can think of everything I can to be more Christ-like, and I absolutely love our Stake Presidency. They are amazing. The only thing I am not so excited about, is chasing Bubba around the building, cause he still won't sit still. Haha.
  

Ok, I think I am going to end there. Thanks all for reading!

This is a month to be thankful

I am a new author on this blog and am lucky that Tara is trusting of me to post some thoughts here. I just wanted to say that I am grateful for ancestors who stood up for what they felt was right. One of my ancestors that came to the United States belonged to one of the most wealthy and powerful families in England. He was dissatisfied with the newly formed church of England and the direction it was taking with so much power given the King and the thought that the King was divinely appointed to be king, and even dictate the affairs of the church. He followed a movement called the "puritan movement." He ended up losing his inheritance, his home, and was so persecuted that he left the country and came to the United States to live with people who believed the way he believed.
The new colony in the America's was only a couple of years old and had suffered many hardships and privations. When he arrived he found that there were some disagreements, some people were ostracized, and there was some discrimination toward the Native Americans. He picked up a couple of years later and followed Roger Williams to Providence, Rhode Island to start a new settlement. I know that took a lot of courage. He changed his name to Winsor so that he would no longer be affiliated with the family that was not only responsible for some of the pain he faced, but responsible for much of the pain the colonials felt as a whole.
Even though he was not on the ship with those that we call Pilgrims, his story is one and the same. He knew them, suffered with many of them, started a new community, and followed his heart to do what was right. He was a part of the group that was first to actually purchase part of a swamp from the Native's. Now that area is a flourishing city called Providence. His children and his children's children were also great people. They served in their community and were invaluable in the growth of the American Colonies.

Thankful Tuesday

I admit, it's hard to think of these, and this is only my second week! Not that there isn't much to be thankful, because there is a TON to be thankful for. I just have a hard time thinking of them. :-) So here we go.

I am thankful for a wonderful husband. HE takes such good care of me. He always rubs my back and shoulders, even when I don't ask. He does it just to make me feel better. He wakes up with Bubba in the mornings when he is here, so that I can sleep in. He sits by me while I work on my computer and watches me work, and tells me what a good job I am doing. When I go out and work, I come home to him making dinner. I don't cook all that much, he does. And he makes dinner so that I don't have to worry about it. He changes dirty diapers when he is home, without much complaint. He encourages me on what I am trying to pursue in life. He snuggles me at night, or when I am having a bad day, he will just sit and hold me and let me cry. He does laundry when I forget. And he travels 2.5 hours to work every week and works all weekend, long hours to try and support us. I am so lucky to have him. I have no idea what I would do without him. He is my love, my life, my all. And I am SOOOO eternally grateful for him. I love you Bub.

What's That? Confessions?

Right, Confessions. I'll get right on that.

• I took a nap today with Bubba. I very much enjoyed it. The only problem with taking naps, is that they give me headaches. And I don't particularly like the headaches, but I sure like the naps. :-)
• I love Dr. Pepper. Very very yummy. I don't drink too much of it. I don't because, if I did I would have to drink it multiple times every day, and I don't want to. Haha. But whenever we go out, I order it. And I have a couple of 2 Liter bottles here just in case. Haha
• I really want to go somewhere that I have never been. Someday I know I will, but I would like to take a vacation to somewhere new. As long as it's away.
  
• I belong to one of the GREATEST communities ever. The Photography community. There are some awesome photographers in the area, and I am lucky to be able to call them my friends. It makes it fun. It makes me feel like I'm not trying to do this alone. Granted there are some bad apples in the bunch, but overall, it's seriously amazing.
  
• I go through phones like I go through shoes. I love technology and I love being able to try and figure things out technological wise. Our phone carrier came out with a new phone, and I am dying to try it out. But by the time I actually am able to get one, there will be a better one out there that I would want instead. Such is the technology world.
  
• I had a bad week last week. I am happy to report that this week was much better. :-)
• Sam's computer broke, and it is driving me NUTS! He has now taken over my computer (luckily no games yet) but it drives me nuts that I don't have my computer when I want it. And it's hard.
  
• I think these are my shortest confessions every. Haha. Enjoy
  

Thankful Tuesday

So, I am on a kick to try and be more positive. I used to think of myself as a very positive person, I was always telling other people to smile and be happy. But I have found that I am not really all that positive. I am always looking at the bad in all situations. I also look for the bad in people, and not the good. Well...I want to change this. I am not going to promise that you still won't hear me complain, because there are always going to be bad days. But I will try to not dwell on them. In the effort to help me with this, I am starting something similar to Friday Night Confessions. It is Thankful Tuesdays. This also makes me write on my blog more often. Haha. So every Tuesday, I am going to try and write about something/someone that I am thankful for, and why I am thankful for it/them. So here we go.

I am thankful for my family. I know it's a broad one to start with. But really, if it weren't for my family, I wouldn't be where I am today. My family has taken us in. We currently live with them, because things weren't going to hot. We were only planning on staying for a couple of months. We have been here for 10 months. They take care of us without much complaint. And as everyone knows, it's hard having two families living together. Especially when you don't agree. We haven't been the easiest to live with. We have a 1.5 year old little boy who gets into everything, that they probably watch more than they want to. They drive me to places I need to go, they feed us. We are probably a bigger burden on them then they portray. In fact, I KNOW we are a bigger burden on them. And it makes me feel so bad. But I am thankful for everything that they have done for us, and I hope to one day pay them back for everything that they have done. They are some of the best people in the world. I just hope I can make sure that they know that they are very appreciated and that we aren't trying to take advantage of them. We love you guys!

Friday Night Confessions

Confession time, confession time, how I love confession time..

• I REALLY wish I was in Oregon from now until forever. Bubba's aunt just had her baby today, and my good friend Mandy is expecting in 9 weeks. I wish I was there to be with them, take pictures of them, and just be around them. I miss them.
  
• I snorted smarties as a child. Actually, a teenager. I don't know why I did it. And I look back on it, and wonder HOW I did it. It stung like nothing else. It hurt my lungs, and it turned my snot colors. (lovely, I know, but hey..it's a confession) Luckily I didn't continue this trend. And luckily I didn't get into other things. But I will never look at smarties the same..
• I taught my son the word "crap" the other day. Granted, I am glad he didn't pick up other words, but I am still shocked that he picked up this one. How did he pick it up? I was playing Mario Kart on the Wii, and when it wouldn't drive correctly, I would say "crap". After a couple of rounds, my dad looked at me and says "hear what you taught your son?" I listened and sure enough, I would say "crap" and he would say it right back. Oh laws..what have I done.
  
• I am scared to go back to work. I am scared to be away from Bubba. I am afraid of messing something up. I like being able to do my photography, because I know what I am doing. I don't want to work. I like being a stay at home mom. I wanted to be one for so long. Now that I am one, I have to work. It just doesn't seem fair.
  
• I really don't like being made to think that everything is my fault. If you did something wrong, and you KNOW you did something wrong. Please don't try and make me see that it was somehow my fault too. Just apologize and get on with it. It makes me a lot more mad when it is turned around to be my fault. If I did something wrong, I will apologize.
  
• I HATE sleeping alone. I know, I know. This is like a confession every week. But it just so happens that the day I do confessions, are usually the days that Sam leaves for work. So it weighs a lot on my mind.
  
• I spent 6 years trying to have a child. Bubba came to us just before our 6 year anniversary. I have spent over 7 years trying to get pregnant on my own. I am infertile. We have been through 8 months of clomid medications, 4 rounds of Intra-Uterine Insemination, and 3 rounds of In-Vitro. (Not sure what these are? Just ask. ) We have had 1 confirmed miscarriage, and as the 3 year mark comes closer to when that miscarriage was (Christmas Day 2006) I have been poked more times then I care to. (3 shots a day during In-Vitro, plus all the bloodwork) And I have NO modesty anymore when it comes to the subject, or seeing doctors. We were told that we have a 1 in a million chance of conceiving on our own. There is a cycle to Infertility. Different stages that you go through. There is anger, there is denial, there is depression/grieving, and there is hope. You go through different stages throughout the whole process. And you go through them over, and over, and OVER again. And the only way to make it through, is to recognize what stage you are in at that time, and live with it. I am currently on Birth Control to try and make my body normal again. This leads to my angry stage. I feel mad that I can't get pregnant. I have so many friends who have beat the odds and gotten pregnant through some miracle, and others that can get pregnant by LOOKING at their husband :-). And I am SOOO happy for them, believe me I am. I have NO hard/negative feelings for them, and do nothing but scream in joy when I find out. But I feel mad. Why can't that be me. Why can't WE beat the odds? Why, when we have been told we have a low chance of getting pregnant, do I have to be on Birth Control? Doesn't that seem just wrong? What am I doing wrong? Because I MUST be doing something wrong. Anyway...this is a long confession. I just know that some people don't know our story. And those just happen to be my feelings right now.
  
• I love when Bubba belly laughs. I try to make him belly laugh at least once a day, because if I can get him to do it, my day goes so much better, and I feel like I can get through it. I sure love him.
  
• I love Chick Flicks. I watch action movies ALL the time, because Sam likes them. But I really don't care to see them that much. I would be much better off seeing a chick flick that I want to see. Too bad I haven't seen a chick flick in the theater since "Charly" came out all those years ago. At least that's the last one I remember...

Have I made this long enough?
Glad I could come up with these all on my own..my mother and sister were NO help on this matter.
Except Tanielle.
Apparently I am supposed to confess that "I stink".
Thank you Tanielle,
Thank you.

Family Pictures and Halloween

Can I tell you that I LOVE our family pictures? Scott Jarvie did AMAZING on them, and I really love them. So here is a sneak peak to those to read my blog. So here they are. THANK YOU a million times over Scott. We love them!

Our cute family

Bubba and me

Me

Bubba and me again

Us (LOVE this one!)

Love the sun flare in this one as well

Aww..

My handsome hubby :-)

Bubba liked this for a minute...then he started crying. Haha

Look how good he looks. LOVE this one

Another family one


Oh, and then I thought I would post a couple from Halloween. apparently Bubba was sick of being in his costume. Haha

Cutest little dragon I have ever seen!


Thanks for reading my blog. LOL I know I don't do much with it. Haha. I will try to fix it. :-)

Missing?

I know what you are thinking. "Has she gone missing?", "Should we be worried?", "What happened to her?". And if I wasn't living with my parents, I am sure I would have had many a phone call by now checking up on me. But alas, I am still here, and luckily, still able to blog. ;-)

So, let's see. It's been 2 weeks since I've last posted. WOW. I have missed 2 weeks of confessions (which really, no one is missing out on much there), and 2 weeks of blogging.

What has happened in those two weeks? Well..for starters, I have been sick. I have a sinus thing that I CAN NOT kick! I feel great for a day or two, and then miserable again. Ugh. I think I want to trade my nose in for a new one. Any idea on how I could do that? Just let me know. :-) I have started my new calling as a Librarian, but have only been able to do it one week because of the sickness. We did Halloween, including carving pumpkins, trick-or-treating, etc. Bubba was a fun dragon, who ended up being carried most of the time just so we could speed up the process. As it was, it still took over 1.5 hours to do. And other little odds and ends I guess.

So what's going on with you people? I will try to get back on board with the writing of posts and posting pictures, but I have been CRAZY busy doing a bunch of things. So we will see what I can do.

One of the main reasons I am posting right now, is because November is National Adoption Month. We FULLY support this month! If you can, wear a white ribbon to honor it. I will be posting a lot about adoption, hopefully, so if you have any questions, PLEASE leave me a comment or shoot me an e-mail, and I will do my best to answer it! Adoption is such a WONDERFUL, and AMAZING miracle, I am proud to be a part of the adoption triangle. We love Crystal to the ends of the world, and are amazed at her strength, and her love. And we will try to do whatever we can to spread adoption awareness.

I was going to post a picture, but it isn't working. So. HA. Hopefully I can get it going tomorrow. Night!