Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Time to re-light the fire!

My how time flies! it's now 2011 and I think my last blog was in 2009 after an outstanding trip to Alaska to visit my sister in law, Jennie. Things have changed more than ever since that last trip and I'm ready to get back on the blog and start updating about the things happening in our lives.


January 2009 brought the adventure of growing my own business. I fell in love with the opportunity when my neighbor introduced me to Shaklee. The idea of earning money and free vacations while helping others sounded like something I could totally get on board with! I had started using the products in 2007 as I started introducing them to my friends and family as we were planning our wedding and working on the house. Once we decided we wanted to start a family I got serious about my business. I was in love with the products and knew I had my hands on a good product that others NEEDED in their homes so I got busy sharing.

May 2009 I spent the month in Alaska. Joey was there with me for the first few weeks and then it was just Jennie and I taking AK by storm! Such a fun month!

December 2009 was filled with excitement! It brought us back up to Alaska for some dog sledding, hot spring swimming and all around goofy times with Jennie again. I LOVE it up there and cannot express how it feels like a part of me will forever be on the glaciers and mountains we hiked. Something about the way AK makes me feel will be alive in me forever.

I'd have to say thought that the biggest adventure to date started in December - a baby on the way! I thought remodeling our house and having our dog kept us busy - WRONG! This is the best adventure yet! Our daughter was born in September 2010 and we have been adjusting to life with a baby in the house, just like any new parents do. Those sleepless nights are becoming more of a memory now (thank goodness) and we are settling into a routine that makes more sense now. We are even working on her schedule now instead of her telling us what it is. Ok, you caught me, she still gets the final say in when she will sleep and everything in between but we are trying :)

December also brought us to the end of my husbands job as an electrician. To date he is still searching daily for work. So much so that I had to pry him away from the computer just so I could write up this post. It was amazing to have him around during the pregnancy. He was able to go to every doctors appointment & ultrasound with me. Best of all he was able to keep the house clean and get dinner on the table as I grew to an unbelievably large size. Do you know that when I went to the butcher last week the woman said "Wow I haven't seen you in a long time" when I commented that I didn't think I have been in since I was pregnant she had a lovely thing to say "Yeah I don't think so because I remember my Mom and I watching out the window as you TRIED to get into the car"... Awesome! Everyone was kind and told me I looked great during my pregnancy - bunch of liars! The truth is coming out now that I've shrank back down again and they are starting to tell me what they really thought and we look through pictures and just laugh.

As a new mom, business owner, wife and overall free spirit I feel that I will find plenty to share with you folks. Things I'll need to clear my head about and adventures that we encounter. I'm working on getting my body into the best shape I've been in since HS, staying in touch with friends, replacing my husbands income and raising a well rounded human being. I look forward to getting back to this and hope you will join me on this adventure as I get back into the swing of things!

Thanks for checking in... until the next adventure.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Mom's 50th Birthday Celebration (6/20/09)

Mom turned 50 on the 19th of June so on the 20th we celebrated with a 10K and a party!
To draw as much attention to her Birthday as possible Mom wore a tiara I borrowed from Mollie's girls and a sign on her back to let everyone know!
We all ran in party hats with noise makers
Thank you so much for the idea Heather - this really made it special!
and wore signs on our backs that said "Helping Jan run over the hill - Happy 50th Birthday"

BIG THANK YOU to Dad for helping to make these signs we all wore! They were AWESOME!~
Heather, Mom & Marge walking towards the starting line
We saw this turtle mascot guy so of course we HAD to get our picture taken with him!
The race begins...
Some of the people in the race... You can see the signs and party hats in front of me, LOL!
This is about where I lost them, LOL! They all ran the 10K while Aunt Jeanne and I ran the 5K to beat our personal best times!

Congrats Aunt Jeanne for beating your time!!
Brooklyn pouting b/c I busted her putting this down her dress - I just wanted a picture - she was so cute!!
Mollie & her girls showed up to meet Mom at the finish line! It was so awesome to have the 4 of you here - Thank you for coming!
Madison giving it her all to make the noise maker work!
Here they come...
Almost there Mom WooHoo You can do it!!!
Finishing strong!!!
Awesome job everyone!!! It was HOT out so we all did an awesome job by finishing!!!!
She sweat her sign off but the tiara stayed!!
A-Frame sweaty hugs, LOL!
Family!
Two beautiful sisters!
Walking to the pool to see where we finished
The girls and I went and put our feet in the water to cool off a bit - it was so refreshing!
Mom & her friends that came for the run! Marge, Mom, Heather, & Mike!

Thank you all for coming out - this was a blast and I was so happy to get to meet you!
Singing Happy Birthday to Mom! Since it was 11am we had a berry cobbler for dessert!
Andy watching Mom attempt to blow out her candles
Yes, I realize there are only 18 candles on the cake... I didn't want the house to burn down, LOL!
They were trick candles so she didn't even get one blown out on her first try, lol!
Mom is looking a little defeated and after a 10K I can't blame her - so Aunt Jeanne is trying to help out! What a good Sister!
Here are the banners we made for Mom & Grandpa! Mom turned 50 on the 19th and Grandpa's Birthday is the 22nd so we were going to celebrate both!

We missed you Grandpa - get well and we can throw you a proper 80th Birthday Party!!!!!
Carol came out to help celebrate! Thanks for coming!!

Mom with her sign
We love you Mom!! Happy 50th Birthday - this was such a fun day!!

Thank you to everyone who helped to make this day so special!!

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Drive to Hope (5/6/09)

The drive to hope is one we didn't know we were taking... see we wanted to go to the Whittier Tunnel since we heard a rock slide blocked the tunnel and wanted to check it out since it was close to the conservation district... apparently we missed the turn off and if we hadn't been low on gas I believe we would have gone all the way down, LOL!

Along the way we pulled over for a hike
and found this amazing river
It was a very steep hill down
This is the shot looking down
I love how the snow looks like it's floating along the edge
Joey climbing down to get a closer look
Since Jennie and I can slip and fall pretty much anywhere we thought it would be best if we stayed up top where it was safe, lol
another shot looking down
Pretty waterfall across the river
Jennie showing us Bear Hair

"Give me the camera" lol

Joey's pictures from down below
The climb back up to get to the car...
Why are there bullet holes in the sign? The next place we stopped talked a lot about the town of Hope and the gold rush and things like that... we thought we might be going the wrong way... it wasn't until we saw the sign saying "Whittier 33miles" that we KNEW we had long passed our destination, LOL! A good map sure would have solved this... maybe we should get one!
The view of the river from this lookout point
I didn't feel like reading all about this stuff at the time so I took pictures to read later...
More bullet holes - I feel safe!

Another fun day!