Friday Five Faves - vol. 14

I love that it's Friday again. I think you could say that I live for Fridays. Not just because I love me some weekends, but because it's a time to spend with N and my girls.

This weekend is going to be extra fun. There is a girl's night out planned. Oh yes it does include a martini.

In preparation of the weekend, here are my top 5 for this week. In no particular order.

1) Political debates. I know there have been some already, but with a 20 month old in the house, unless they're debating at the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, I miss out. Last night was different. I got to watch (for the most part) the vice presidential candidates debate. This one is my favorite because you hear the presidential candidates talk ALL. The. Time. You hardly ever hear from the VP candidates.

Because of the 20 month old, I missed the National Conventions too. This is the first time I've heard Sen. Biden and Gov. Palin speak. I was proud to see it was civil and, at times, humorous. It was also the first time I thought Sen. Biden didn't come across as arrogant (based upon my newspaper reading).

Here's the thing that cracks me up with these political races (warning, I may get a little political myself). Especially when they include Senators. I love that they point the finger toward the current president. Doesn't the president need the Senate's approval for the laws and changes that are made? Quite frankly, Gov. Palin is the only one who could point fingers because she's not in the house or the senate. I love irony.

2) I love that it's autumn. Time to pull out the sweaters and tennis shoes. Not to mention Greenbluff is open for fall now. That means fresh apples, pumpkin patches and corn mazes. Last year Zoe got sick and puked in the corn maze. I'm hoping this year is memorable in other ways for her.

3) Breast Cancer Awareness Month. My aunt is a survivor, although she did have to sacrifice two parts of her to say that. I think it's just a fabulous cause. I love all the pink. Which is why, when they did a fund raiser at our office I joined in.

We all had pink hair extensions put in. Isn't mine so cute?



4) Sunrises. With the new autumn weather, it's time to watch the sunrise as I head to work. Yesterday, this was my view on the way to work.

Isn't it beautiful? God sure can paint the sky.

5) The age of 31. Today is N's birthday. He's finally caught up to me. Poor guy has a cold though. Nothing like being sick on your birthday.

N, here's to another great year together. Thanks for walking this walk with me. I feel so blessed to have you in my life. I hope your day is full of many blessings. Happy Birthday. I love you.

With that, I'm off to celebrate a birthday and prepare for a girl's night out. Have a great weekend all!

Prunes and Polish

In my mom' s kitchen she has a cabinet. It is where she keeps her phone book, cereal, popcorn and baby food. Some of the baby food is in glass jars.

Zoe loves to play in that cabinet. Not only can she open it, but everything (except the phone book) is at her level. It wouldn't be uncommon for her to bring us a package of popcorn and expect us to make it for her.

One afternoon this summer, I was at the sink and Zoe was playing in the cabinet. I heard a thud followed by screaming and crying. A glass jar of baby food was lying on the floor.

Obviously Zoe had dropped the food on her foot. When I picked her up, she curled her right leg into me and just wailed. Which is unusual for her because she has a higher pain tolerance than I do.

I'm positive it hurt. A glass jar full of pureed prunes sounds like a deadly weapon to me. In several ways.

After about 20 minutes Zoe finally calmed down, but she limped the rest of the day.

As I was giving her a bath I noticed the cuticle bed was blue. At first I didn't think too much of it. Then I realized. She injured her toenail.

Which totally freaks me out. I know it's going to fall off. Fortunately our pediatrician said that baby toenails take awhile to grow and to keep the nail cut really short so nothing snags it.

Not a problem. I can handle cutting her toenails more frequently. I cannot handle a toenail hanging on for dear life.

Fast forward to last night. For the first time in months we can see white nail growing. This is both good and bad. Good because she'll eventually have a normal looking nail. Then we can start painting her toes again.

Bad because that new nail is pushing out the black part. I guess, medically speaking, this is good. It just freaks me out. Because she has little toes. All this pushing will more than likely happen sooner rather than later.

I present you with the toe that freaks me out.

Wish me luck. If you don't hear from me for awhile in a couple months you'll know I passed out and hurt myself because of a hanging nail.

Die Hard

This week has been a bit turbulent. I'm coming off The Best Birthday EV-AR, so I don't have a fair view of what this week should look like.

Typically I like to celebrate my birthday for the entire week, so by those standards I should be sitting home, scrapbooking, hanging with N, playing with Zoe and not having to lift a single finger.

That's not realistic, unless say we won the lotto or I had a great uncle I've never met who left me millions.

I have better odds of contracting a flesh eating bacteria.

I'm just sayin'.

It just seems like every few months I have a check point with God. Like it's my turn through the buffet line and He keeps piling things on my plate. I know He'll help me with those things. He's promised not to give us more than we can handle (Phil. 4:13). However, sometimes I just feel like He has higher hopes for me than I care to realize.

This plate of mine. It is full.

We're on a new budget now that N is in school. He's been needing new tools for his courses. For those of you who know nothing of tools. They cost as much as a closet full of Manolos. While that creates a financial stress, N LOVES school. He comes home most nights with a new metal thing he's created. He keeps begging me to read the tool catalog like it's full of shoes or the latest fall trends.

I know how much the thought of school freaked him out. Yet this program is feeding his passion. The only thing I've ever wanted for him was to have a career he's passionate about.

Our house in Puyallup isn't selling. With the market being all freaked out by this lack of bailout decision, the housing market is the first to feel it. I got an e-mail from our realtor talking about renting it out or having the house foreclose. Neither of which are an option right now. The hope I had for this house to sell becomes less with e-mails like that. Yet I know God has a buyer for this house.

Then if that wasn't enough, my car died. It wouldn't even act like it wanted to start. I rubbed the steering wheel and totally knew how it felt. There are days I don't want to start either.

There is something about car trouble that freaks me out more than anything. Maybe it's because it usually starts with about $400 and some mysterious part no one has ever heard of. Maybe it's because when it comes to cars, my knowledge is limited. To the extent that I know where the key goes, the gas goes and which ones would look oh-so-cute in my driveway.

Fortunately, after some inspection and jumper cables, it was determined to just be a dead battery. Which is about the same price as a tank of gas. In the big scheme of car maintenance, that ain't bad.

I'm standing in the automotive center, almost a little teary with one more decision I have to make, staring at all the battery options. The only thing I know about Die Hard is that Bruce Willis always wins.

As I watched the mechanics put the battery in my car, I got to thinking about all that's happened this week. How much faith and trust I have to put in God to get through the next hurdle. How much my own desires and wants have to die hard to His desires and wants.

Ultimately, His desires for my life are far better than anything I could imagine. It's just this road is dark, winding and unknown. I'm having to find His light in all of this. Somedays that's easy. Others it's not.

Thankfully today, despite all that is happening, His light was easy to find. She's about 2.5 feet tall. She wrapped her arms around my neck and gave me a kiss. Despite all that I have on my plate, she always seems to help me find the strength I need to start each day.

It's a bird. It's a plane.

I was laying on the couch, just relaxing. When out of nowhere came this:

The best birthday EV-AR

So yesterday was the day of my birth. 31 years ago.

No matter what age I turn, I love my birthday. I love getting older. My twenties were for learning from my mistakes. I'm really hoping my thirties teach me something about the person I want to become.

Here's a glimpse of my day. Since I'm know you're all dying to see what possibly can be the best birthday EVAR to a 31 year old.

Because I'm not as spry as a 20 year old, you start the day off at Starbucks with someone special in your life. For me, that's my hubs, N. All decked out in biker attire because I got to ride on his bike. For. The. Very-first. Time.

Because it's cold out in the morning, you get a hot drink to warm your hands.
Then we went to lunch at Red Robin after church with the family. Zoe is mastering straw art. It's a skill that requires total concentration.
My nephew Micah even came to lunch with his parents. When I told him how old I was he was in shock. Because I don't look anywhere near that ancient.
Then I rode off into the afternoon heat with N. He told me that I was the Sandy to his T-Bird life. He apparently reads the blog.
Thanks everyone for making my birthday so awesome. I am truly blessed.

Friday Five Faves times 20 - vol. 13

I actually hit my 100th post yesterday. Who knew I had so much to say?

Alright, no one is really that shocked.

In honor of doing 100 posts, I thought I would include 101 facts about me. Or, if you're a math wizard, it's like 20 five fave posts in one. Plus a bonus.

1. I was born in Spokane, Washington in 1977.

2. It will always be home to me. The city, not the year.

3. My mom is a single mother, who always had time to play with me, read to me and be a leader for every group I was in.

4. She is my hero. I know we all turn into our mothers. I'm extremely excited about that. She doesn't require much sleep and I will need that skill later on in life.

5. I watched Grease as often as possible and could recite the entire movie by age 4.

6. When not watching the movie, I would listen to the soundtrack on record for hours.

7. I had no idea then what that movie was about. I just knew it would be so cool to be Sandy and make Danny fall in love with her. Then sing about it.

8. It was probably the only girly thing I did while growing up. Besides tap class and wearing make-up to the recital.

9. I much preferred He-Man to Barbie and mud pies to playing house.

10. Although I hated when my hands got dirty. I would need a hose close by while making mud pies to wash my hands off immediately.

11. I still hate dirty hands.

12. I have some of the same close friends today as I did in Kindergarten.

13. There is a group of about 12 of us that went through school together. Anytime we see each other, it's like a day hasn't passed.

14. I was a Camp Fire girl for most of my childhood.

15. Our group was almost like the movie "Troop Beverly Hills." We didn't camp well. We were the only group with a griddle for pancakes in the mornings at campouts.

16. These were the only times I didn't sleep at home.

17. My grandparents lived close to us while growing up. I would spend my summer days at their house while my mom worked.

18. They had a pool table in their basement and a flower bed in the backyard that they kept empty for my mud pie factory.

19. My grandma would take me to bingo with her and my grandpa would let me put make-up on him. They were saints.

20. They also let me play with steel-headed, lawn darts and hand-held weed wackers. My grandpa would give me the keys to the Buick so I could turn the wheel while pretending to drive.

21. I got away with murder at their house.

22. I always threw that in my mom's face when she wouldn't make me pancakes on a weekend morning the size of a quarter. With it's own little dab of butter.

23. She's planning on getting me back for that.

24. I've always been a bit of a late bloomer.

25. I didn't really start enjoying the social aspect of school until 6th grade.

26. I was on drill team, student government, the volleyball team, a summer softball team, AWANA and Camp Fire.

27. Then I went to junior high.

28. I still can't see that school without getting queazy.

29. Although God is good. They put me in a full-year art class rather than a half-year art class in7th grade. So I missed out on P.E. my first year of junior high.

30. Then when I did get P.E. for the rest of my school years, it was always the last period of the day or the one right before lunch. Which is like gold.

31. My one year of tap-ballet combo at age 8 served me well in high school. I was placed on the tap line of a musical they did my freshman year.

32. It was the only thing I enjoyed about my freshman year.

33. We moved far away from my friends, but my mom lied about our address so I could go to the same high school.

34. That meant an extra 10 miles one-way to school that she had to figure out transportation.

35. Getting my license at 16 was not only "totally awesome" for me, but for my mom, my personal taxi.

36. I spent most of my high school time with the youth group rather than school friends.

37. That's where I met N.

38. He was a geeky band guy who had a major crush on me.

39. We went to some dances, but it totally freaked me out when his parents and his sister told me we would get married and have cute babies.

40. Then we went on a real date to the movie "The River Wild." He insisted on holding both my hands.

41. Then he kissed me!

42. I broke up with him the next day.

43. Have I mentioned that I was a late bloomer?

44. Then, my senior year, I got a supporting role in the year's biggest musical number, The Doll Shop.

45. Our school did this production every three years. I was lucky to do it my freshman year and my senior year.

46. My senior year I played young Betty. She was a hussy. She kissed a boy on stage and slapped that boy.

47. My mom told them initially that I wouldn't do it because of the kiss.

48. That's one of the reasons I accepted.

49. Andrew Gibson was the boy. He was so sweet. I still feel bad about all the slapping.

50. And the inexperienced kiss.

51. I went to Western Baptist College in Salem, OR.

52. While I loved the thought of college, I had more rules there than I did at my house.

53. However, the boy I had a crush on for most of my high school life came to the same college.

54. I really thought it was a sign from God that we were meant to be together.

55. I was crushed when he left school half-way through our freshman year because of school politics. I thought my college years would be totally unbearable without any chance of my happily ever after with him.

56. Then I met Steph. She invited me on a trip to PetSmart to return a fish that had committed suicide. He was under warranty for 30 days.

57. Then I met Jamie. She was against the rules of college like I was.

58. It turns out that, while college wasn't the experience I had hoped for, I did make some really amazing friends.

59. Then I moved back home for my first real job.

60. I was a service person in the retirement industry. I made $27,000 a year. That was like handing me the key to the mint.

61. My first purchase was a leather peacoat. Which I still have.

62. My second purchase was season tickets to Spokane Chiefs Hockey.

63. I sat with my sister and her family.

64. She let me be very active with my nephews. Due to some medical issues, it would be hard for me to have children of my own. Spending time with these, wonderful boys allowed me the opportunity to deal with my own issues and have a relationship with some really cool boys.

65. I have four nephews on that side of the family. Three are here with us, one is in heaven waiting for us.

66. While my sister isn't a blood relative, she's the only person in my life that has ever treated me like a sister. I love her like one. She's one of the strongest, most amazing women I know.

67. On a rare, lunch time trip to Macy's, I ran into Bev (my future sister-in-law). She invited me to dinner at her house because N was in town.

68. I found out his parents were going to be there too. I had flashbacks to high school comments about "making cute babies together" that I lied and said I had to work late and wouldn't make it to dinner.

69. I ate some Honey Nut Cheerios for dinner that night in hopes it would give me courage to get through the night.

70. Then I saw N as I walked through the door and my first thought was, "he's hot."

71. A day later I tricked him into asking me out. The rest is history as they say.

72. He is the only boy I've ever loved.

73. I moved to Tacoma to be with him in newlywed bliss.

74. I got a job with Russell Investments, which turned out to be the first job that I ever truly had passion for.

75. We decided to try for kids right away due to the fact that I would probably have a hard time getting pregnant.

76. 3 months into trying, we were expecting. So much for medical science.

77. N has two daughters already, so I was really hoping for a boy since that's the one thing I could give him that he didn't already have.

78. Apparently God only planned on him having girls.

79. He wanted to name her Zoe. That's not my first choice. We settled on a family name for her.

80. Because I have fears about her real name being on this blog, N gets his wish to call her Zoe. If only just in cyber world.

81. A month before she was due, we went to Hawaii for New Years with N's family.

82. She was really active while we were there. It's the first time I could tell where her head was because it practically jumped out of my stomach.

83. Little did I know I was contracting.

84. A month later I would be in the hospital, gravely ill and Zoe would be in the NICU struggling to survive.

85. The NICU staff referred to her as "2 pounds of attitude." I think that could still describe her.

86. Holding her for the first time was the best and most terrifying experience of my life up until that point.

87. Two weeks later I would be in an operating room having a chest tube put in. I would code on the table and feel myself suffocating to death. The only thing I could think to do was to pray to God to take care of her. Then it's like He kissed me and breath returned to my body.

88. That was the most terrifying experience of my life.

89. 7 and a half weeks later she came home. My life has been complete ever since.

90. She cracks me up on a daily basis.

91. There are times when I can see myself in her and times when I can only see N. Then there are times when she's just her. Completely sassy and sweet.

92. I love to see her with her sisters. It's a bond that I never had growing up and I'm so thankful that she will have that experience.

93. Being a step-parent is one of the most rewarding and most politically difficult roles to play in life. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

94. I now have a job that I love the most. I'm passionate about what I do. I love the people I work with.

95. I also have time to scrapbook. Which has also become a passion of mine.

96. I hope when Zoe takes her first tap-ballet combo class, I can take an adult tap class too.

97. I also hope to run a marathon before I die.

98. I'll have to get an iPod and load it with The Beatles, Metallica, Linkin Park, Usher, Justin Timberlake, old school DC Talk and anything else that has a beat.

99. My music and movie stylings are very diverse. I prefer independent films to others. Although I'm still a sucker for a comedic chick flick.

100. I love shows like The Hills, Fabulous Life Of..., I Love the 80's/90's on VH1 and Inside the Actor's Studio.

101. I seriously think once my acting career takes off, I could be sitting with James Lipton. I do practice his famous questions.

Eat your heart out Mary Kate