Pictures from March

We surprised my mom at a sports bar to watch the UofA game...they made it into the sweet 16!
She didn't even know we were coming to Cali and then we all got to go to Disneyland. It was a year of surprised for my mom!

We went to the beach the day we got there - windy and cold - but we still had fun and took some pictures.

It has been a long time since we were all together like this!

First ride of the day!

Me and Cathy :)

We took the train around the park

At Tarzan's Tree House...I had never been through it.

We LOVE this ride - no motion sickness in our family!!!

My mom's birthday dessert from a delicious restaurant in Disneyland!

Snow White's wishing well

My sisters with the cute dwarfs behind us

Last ride of the night - Dumbo!

Saying good bye to Disneyland...sigh...

And this is the video from my mom's surprise party for her 50th. Her sister Paulette who she dearly misses came in just for her party and surprised my mom - you'll see her reaction. It makes me cry.

Pills and flowers

I asked my sister about the pictures and the video - she will send them to me soon. Until then I decided to post about my vitamins and supplements that I take. A couple of weeks ago I decided that Ben and I should take vitamins. My gracious husband humored me and started taking the vitamins along with me - and he really likes how he feels with them! I really felt that we did't get enough nutrition in the food we eat and I think our bodies suffer all around from lack of nutrition. So I talked to my cousin-in-law Brent who is a chiropractor and has tons of knowledge about supplements. He has his office stocked with lots of them so these are what we bought. The group on my left is what I take in the morning, the group on the right I take at night. some pills are in both and the bottle in the middle is vitamin D drops that we take 2x per day.

I know that I was the one with the grand idea but I discovered that I do not like taking pills and I don't take them very well. I choke, gag, and have even spit them back out. Wouldn't you if you took this many??? Ben is my cheerleader who says to me over and over "Just do it" "Don't think about it" And he does it lovingly. I was the one who brought them home and he is the one convincing me to take them almost every time! I did discover that if I take them with pinnapple juice I handle it much better than with water. A couple of the pills have an awful taste. I still gag - I think I will always gag. But at least now I am not spitting them out! These are all of the bottles.

I also wanted to put a little post in about my flower garden. I started this yesterday and was so happy to finally have something pretty in there! And I think I will truly appreciate it because it took a lot of work to get the planter cleaned out and new soil in there. I love my pretty purple and white daisies - I just hope they hold up well in the sun...the papers said they would but this planter is right in the sun almost all day. I'll keep you updated with how the flowers grow :)

updates March and April

My blog title "Ever Changing Life" is so appropriate right now. That is partially why I have not blogged in over a month...any time I though oh I should blog about that something new happened and I was busy with that or didn't know how to blog about it. But I thought I should just sit and write. So here I am on a rainy Saturday looking out my livingroom window listening to the falling rain. I love the sound of the rain! I am sipping on my delicious TODDY coffee (http://toddycafe.com) and eating the last of my birthday brownies. I like cake but I LOVE brownies so I asked for my mom's zebra brownies for my birthday this year. SO YUMMY!

Ok so I'm thinking back to my last blog entry....and I told you all that I had my job interview at shc. Well...I got the job! It pays about 30% less than my old job :( and is on call so they don't promise any hours....they told me to expect 2-8 shifts per month (I know what a range)! I am encouraged because most of the other on call workers are in school and I am not so I might be more available than the others to pick up extra shifts when needed. They also like to promote on call workers to part time after a trial run as on call. I hope that I do this job well and that I like it!

I decided that although I got this job I would still try to find another part time job, possibly as a nanny. I interviewed with one mom on Friday and have applied to 2 other families so we will see what happens with that! They pay almost what I was making at my old job so I'm praying that I get interviews with them. I know that God will take care of us - we are learning about trust and responsibility so much right now. I think we were spoiled to start off our marriage with both of us working in semi-good paying jobs. We were making good money. Now...I'm laughing...we are constantly having to watch money in and money out. I'm praying we don't get overwhelmed with it because it is just money.

I got to spend 4 days in OKC with my cousin Melissa! She is getting married in May and wanted help getting everything ready. We spent my time there putting invitations together, addressing envelopes, putting together decorations for the reception, looking at the reception site, deciding how else to make the place spectacular, laughing together, talking about memories of childhood camping trips, staying up til 2am, wine and cookies, seeing her college campus, seeing her cute apartment in Stillwater, going to my uncle's new property that he is going to build a house on, gathering tree branches from the property to make into beautiful decorations, getting unique and delicious bottles of "pop" from POPS on route 66, picking out her china (it is gorgeous!), and most importantly...made countless memories together! I love that even while living so far apart we grew up to be kindred spirits :)

The weekend after this my mom's sisters and I threw a surprise party for my mom. She turned 50 in March :) We had it at my cousin's house in Chandler and my aunt who lived in Dallas came out just for the party. She lived in PHX for about a year and my mom loved having her so close! Now she misses her like crazy. We were thrilled that she came out - and we have the moment my mom saw her on video...it's the best! It was a very fun night seeing my mom and her siblings together....some cousins came too and I like being with everyone :)

After that I got sick. I thought about blogging during that time but I couldn't even think straight. I was on the couch for like 4 days and then could get up slowly and walk a little but was so lightheaded I only stayed vertical for limited amounts of time. I slept, watched movies, and watched daytime tv....mostly dumb tv. It took about a week to be able to be outside and function well.

Right when I started feeling better it was time to go to disneyland again! My dad planned a family trip to Disneyland for my mom's 50th birthday :) She loves Dland and we haven't been as a family in about 15 years. So we all went. I was sad though because Ben had to work and couldn't come with us. March is Discount Tire's busiest month so they rarely let employees take vacation then - I know it sucks. But the 6 of us had fun. My sister still has the pictures I think I'll get those from her and then make another post with pictures.

I got home from that adventure on a Tuesday and Ben and I left for the marriage retreat on Friday....I told you I was busy! We LOVED the retreat. It was up at Khols Ranch just outside of Payson. It was so refreshing to hear about all the wonders of marriage and our relationship with God. I love marriage and how intricately God designed relationships - especially marriage. It is such a wonderful and powerful relationship. I am thankful every second of every day that I married Ben who seeks God's heart. We get to seek his heart together. I know that there are so many things that we are not doing prefectly or even very well right now. But we both know that we have our whole lives together to work on our marriage. We are trying to simply enjoy our time together and trust God and each other more. It is weird to trust my husband with our family...I have a hard time thinking of him as our leader because he has been my friend since I met him. Something that we want to focus on for our second year of being married is our strengths. We want to point out each others strengths and write them down every time we get. We hope that this will help us get to know each other more deeply, bring out what we are strong and weak in while focusing on the strengths, and learn how to encourage each other. I hope this will help us submit to each other strengths and help me see Ben as a leader for our family to come.

We got back on Sunday and I went to Flagstaff to visit my cousin Deja and her sweet family! I love going to Flagstaff! Both Ben and I love it but I just didn't have a job and work was too busy for Ben to take off so I got to go this time. Deja and Brent, her husband, have 2 little girls: Bella who is 3 almost 4 and Macie who is 1 almost 2. I love spending time with them, playing, laughing, and talking. I got to stay in their new guest suite and cook in their new kitchen, and watch a movie in their new man cave with surround sound and a great tv...they just did a major remodel and addition :) It was a short yet fun trip to be up in the cool weather and relax a bit. I also got to see Eden for a whole afternoon. I picked her from her NAU dorm and we went to lunch at the Pita Pit...HIGHLY recommended I love eating there! Then we went shopping for spring clothes/accessories and work clothes for me. I had a great time with Eden!

Whew...almost done...

I had my first of 2 orientations at shc on Monday the 6th. I got a name badge, parking pass, and was cleared by my medical exam to work. WOO HOO I HAVE A JOB! I have my 2nd orientation Monday the 13th...out one-year wedding anniversary!

Tuesday April 7th...my 23rd birthday. I can not believe that I am 23. And even more I can not believe that Ben and I have been married almost a whole year. Ben and I had both of our families over for dinner Tuesday night (our parents, sisters who were in town, my 2 cousins and the two little ones, and my Nana) 13 people total. Pretty packed table but I love having everyone together. We served pizza fondue which was delicious - we will totally do it again. Ben also grilled pinnapple for dessert (along with brownies, strawberries, and ice cream) and for dinner grilled vegetables. We LOVE having grilled vegetables. It was a very fun and yummy night. My parents bought me a power juicer which is so much fun and some luggage because I'm always borrowing theirs :) the Godings bought me a coach pouch and the movie Marly and Me. My sister bought me a shirt I had wanted from AE - she is so sweet to remember me looking at while we were shopping a while back. Ben bought me a clock I saw at Target and comment on it every time I see it there because it is so awesome. I have so many people who love me!

Ok so I think that is a lot of updating for one blog. I will get the pictures from my wonderful month and post those next. Have a great Easter weekend!