Dates to Remember

So, I guess this is my plea to my family to help me get my facts straight so that I can be a good sister, aunt, sil, and daughter. I want to be able to remember and wish all of my fantastic family members happy birthday or anniversary on the correct dates, however first I need all of the dates, I have most of them but there are some gaps. Please help me fill them in.

Ok so in the months of January and February it is really easy for me to remember the important dates that occur in my family. My BIL birthday is Jan. 11th my Bro and SIL anniversary is Feb. 21st and my Bro's birthday is the 27th. THEN March starts and I get totally and I am talking totally lost on my dates..... I know my Dad's birthday is Mar. 17th of course and Mom's is Mar. 29th along with my SIL's and my other SIL is Mar. 15th but I know that there are a few others in there that belong to my nephews but I can never keep them straight. Then April again I can't remember the birthdays, I do however remember what should have been my 6th anniversary this year on Apr. 19th. May brings more anniversaries... My sister and BIL have been married for over a decade on May ??? Sorry Jen the family is getting so BIG and my brain cannot contain it all. There is my Grandma's B-day and anninversary on May 1st I think. Then June is for Me and Grandpa... on the same day even and my niece is on the 28th. July is a few on the 1st and 2nd then another birthday but I cannot be sure of the date it is one of two days and I don't remember which... sorry little H. My parents anniversary is July 11th celebrating 30 years this year, YIPPEE. August brings more birthdays for my oldest bro and sis and I can remember those are on the 5th and the 11th. Sept is just for my nephew on the 30th and non in Oct. Nov. is very uneventful and Dec. brings my little sis and my niece on the 18th and the 20th.

So I post this blog to ask my family members to please send me either a calender with all of these oh so important dates on it so that I can keep them straight or at least leave me a note with the information so that I can fill in my own calender and for once have it all straight in my mind. I love all of you guys and wish that I was better with dates, I did ok for a few years but as the family grows my brain does not and so a few things have gotten lost along the way.

All My Bags are Packed... I am Ready to go....

So, as Spring is coming and things are starting to warm up around here I cannot help but start planning some fun and much needed weekend vacations for myself.

First on the list is a trip to Salt Lake this coming weekend to visit my fantastic family. I will visit as many as I can in the 3 days that I am there. If you want my to stop by please send me a note and let me know when a good time is for you. I will get in Friday afternoon and I fly back home on Monday afternoon. I love these trips to visit and catch up. I haven't seen my extended family since the beginning of December, I can't wait to visit.

Next on the list and some are going to think I am out of my mind, I am headed to Barrow AK for a quick trip, I will only be there for about 10 hours. The intention behind this trip is nothing more than I want to go to the most Northern city in USA that I can get to. So I am headed out on March 6th after I get off work to catch the red eye flight to Anchorage and then up farther north. Wish me luck.

Then, I think in April I am going to try to make a trip East to Newark NJ or Boston MA. I am also considering heading to Florida to get some sun, it all depends on what flights I can get and if I can find a place to crash for a night or two without having to sell my car to pay for it. Hotels can be a little expensive so I will just have to see how it all plays out. I guess if I cannot figure that out I may just head to Las Vegas for a couple of day, I have friends and family there that I would like to visit with for a day or so.

In May comes my big trip that my best friend and I have been planning for almost 7 months. We are headed to Yellowstone for a week long vacation. I know that it may not seem to exciting to most people but we are totally excited about it. We have got the condo booked and the rental car reserved. It is going to be fantastic. It will still be a little chilly at night but the days should be comfortable and we will see all of the sights and do as much as we can while we are there. I hope that she is feeling better by then, her morning sickness has turned into all day sickness and has even landed her in the hospital once or twice to be treated. I love you sweetie. I hope you are feeling better.

I am not sure what June will bring but I will find somewhere to go or something to do. I may try to sneak over to Hawaii for a long weekend of camping if I can get a friend to join me. Or maybe Mexico if it all works out for me. I still have time to think and plan something to celebrate my birthday this year, and that is all I am planning on doing in June, going somewhere fun to celebrate my birthday. OH, maybe I will go to LA and visit Disneyland and Magic Mountain.

July should be fun, I am planning on joining my parents in Victoria Canada for a few days. The plans for that trip have changed a little bit recently so things are kind of up in the air but as soon as the dates are firmed up I will be taking the time off and heading up there. I also have a friend there, a great girl that I met at one of my many training classes for work and over the last 3 years our friendship has grown into something great and fun.

So, that is my next few months in a nut shell I guess. A few trips planned and some great things to look forward to. I love that my job allows me to do as much traveling as I can handle. I am lucky to have people that love to travel with me or at least love to have my visit them when I decide to travel.

Single Awareness Day.... Feb. 14th

So some may ask why I refer to this blessed holiday as "Single Awareness Day" well let me start by telling you that it is not my fav holiday either way. I am not a fan of Valentines. I never have been even when I was married I did not enjoy it.

Now the reason why I call it what I do..... It makes those of us who are not in a relationship more aware of the fact that we have no one to send us flowers or take us out to dinner to buy us nice things. I know that it is about more than celebrating love with a husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend it is also about celebrating the love in other relationships. I do enjoy my family and friends and I love them all. But do we really need a holiday to justify spending tons of money on flowers or candy or stuff like that. I guess if you are going to spend the money than you should be spending it more often than just once a year.

SO.... now everyone out there knows how I feel about the holiday that it upon us. For those of you out there that will go and celebrate have a great time, please remember those of us that will be lucky to get a heart shaped cookie.

Thoughts I had this week.

So, I spent a lot of time in the last week with my family and quite a bit of time just by myself. I spent a lot of time reading and thinking about things.

So I thought that I would put some things out there, share with my family and friends.

I was reading the "Twilight" Saga this week and as I was finishing the last book "Breaking Dawn" last night something struck me as kind of spiritual. I am not sure how many of you have read the books and how many of you are still reading the books so I am going to add a disclaimer right here and say that if you haven't read them and are planning on it stop reading because this will ruin the end of the story for you.

So back to my thought. As I was reading and the end of the book came and they were preparing for the face off with the Volturi, Bella was changed and she was figuring out how to use her POWER.... Something struck me... we all have the power to protect our minds and bodies from the advances of Satan. Some of us I believe have strengthened our guards through trials and tribulations and some of us have strengthened them through other things in out lives. I also think that some of us have the ability to lend a hand to our family and friends by sharing our guards when needed and help them through the hard times. Just like Bella was able to flex her shield out to protect her family and friends against the advances of Jane and Alec during the face off. It is amazing to me how when we are going about our lives just like normal and all of the sudden something that we never would have seen or maybe something that we have seen before strikes us on a different cord and teaches us something that we may not have been expecting.

I also had some thoughts about where my life is going and where I want it to go and how to change the path so that I can get headed down the road that I choose instead of the one that seems like the easy thing to do. So I am working on that as well. It is a little bit more personal so I am not going to share those thoughts with you guys just yet, I am not ready to put all of that out there for the world. I will let you know when I get there though. I am going to be staying in Boise after all, I was looking forward to a chance to move back closer to family but it just is not the right timing I guess. So, I will stay here and continue to work and play and build a life for myself. Who knows maybe what I thought was the Lord telling me to go for it was really just me doing what I wanted instead of what I should have been doing. I do that sometimes.

So, life is not what I was expecting it would be right now but I am going to make the best of it. I am also going to keep thinking about what struck me in that book when I was reading it and try to figure out how to flex my shield to do the work that the Lord would like me to do. I want to be able to help those in need and to share the things that have happened to me, in hopes that someone may hear my story and learn from it and be stronger for my mistakes and lessons. I love you all and want all of you to know how wonderful you are and how grateful I am to have each and everyone of you as a part of my life. I am truly blessed to have such wonderful family and friends to share my burdens and blessings with.