31 POUNDS DOWN!!!

Some comparison shots for such a huge day. I finally made it into the 30 pound region. I'm so excited. The jeans that I'm wearing in the "24 lb lost" pics don't even fit anymore. I decided to try on some jeans the other day that haven't fit in years and I now have 6 new pairs of jeans that fit. I was so incredibly excited. I've been wearing a new pair every day. :)

Rest Stop Retreat

Shauna and I hanging out at the camp fire making some smores.

Shauna and Candice by the creek. We took a walk down there to see where the zip line place is. It's across the creek on the other side.

Silly Heather and the Rest Stop hat.

So proud of Shauna for doing the rock wall!! You go girl!

Heather and Danielle getting ready to brave the zip line. I swear they look like construction workers with all of that equipment.

There's me zip lining. I'm the ball of fear near the tree in black.

Shauna and I getting ready to zip line.

One of my all time favorite pictures from the photo scavenger hunt. We all had to squeeze into a bathroom stall.

God shows his blessings in many different ways. I feel so overwhelmed by his love. If only I could give a 10th of it back.

So, when I heard that there was going to be a 2nd annual Rest Stop Retreat I immediately thought that there was no way that I could go. We seriously are trying to just find money for food let alone extra things like a trip. I'm not sure exactly when it started but I kept getting asked if I was going to the retreat. Mainly by Sherry Mortenson, who is our Women's Ministries and Spiritual Formation Pastor. I seriously have never felt more ministered to than by Sherry. She really has taken time to get to know all of us on the steering team for MOPS by holding a retreat day at her house and other meetings in the summer to get to know everyone. She is very genuine and wants to know how we really are doing. We have all grown so close this summer. Sherry is the one in charge of the retreat. So, she keeps asking everyone who is going. She knows our situation too. At one point Kristin, Sherry, and Danielle came up to Taline and me and told us that we need to go to the retreat. We both quickly told them that there wasn't any way we could afford it. Sherry very quickly said "Is that the only reason?" Um, yes. I would love to go. She explained that she didn't want finances to be the reason why we don't go. So, later that week we had a MOPS meeting and I knew I had to talk to Scott about it. He told me that it seems like she really wants you to go. I kept feeling like that too. Scott said that if we didn't have to pay for it than by all means go. He was more than willing to be alone with the kids for the weekend. So, I went to my MOPS meeting (which Sherry goes to) and she brought the retreat up again to all of us. I told her what Scott said and she was very excited that I could go.

So, about a week and a half later is the retreat. 2 days before I get a text from Shauna that a friend told her about the retreat (and she thought I was going) and if she should go. I couldn't have been more excited. Thankfully there were enough spots available and she decided that she would come after all. Now I'm even more excited! This was the day before the retreat started.

So, 5 of us got into Candice's HUGE truck and drove up to Forest Home. Danielle, Heather, Candice, Shauna, and I carpooled together. We were a little giddy to be going. We were even more excited that Taline decided to come but was coming up Saturday. Nanette was also coming up Saturday too. Then our posse would be complete.

A side note: I had been to Forest Home before but boy did it look different than I remember. Of course I was either in elementary or jr. high when I went there, but still. Quite the experience seeing it all again.

Several of us who went are part of the 12 week weight loss challenge. It was hilarious how we all were either encouraging each other or sabotaging each other. lol Danielle Frank is hilarious. She made comments on our facebook about bringing us sweets and to bring a full appetite. haha Then the first night she brought us both a plate with a brownie on it. Little did she know that we were going to get one anyway. lol So we paid her back and gave her some ice cream the next night. :) There was so much hiking back and forth that it was like constant exercise. Just to get back to our cabin we had to hike this steep hill. We all were so out of breath every time we did it.

We had an amazing time. We chatted, played games, had a scavenger hunt, zip lined, rock walled, rope coursed, and worshiped. It was so much fun. Oh yes, I said zip line. WOW, was that an experience. And one I didn't think I was going to do. But Shauna convinced me to do it. Or forced me. lol haha We even stayed up late playing games (Apples to Apples and Phase 10).

Another amazing thing was all of the wonderful women who were there that I knew from different areas of life and some of the new friends that I got to know too. It for sure was a bonding experience that I will never forget.

And when it was time to pray for one another it was amazing how close we all got to each other. I really believe that God brought us all there for different reasons and that we were all meant to experience this together.

I have been working on listening to God's small voice and little nudges when I should pray about something or someone. And I have been trying to notice God's work in our lives and expecting Him to be a part of it.

I'm glad that we did better than I thought we would watching what we ate and workout out. I managed to maintain over the weekend. woho!

Feelin' Good

This is the picture that I talk about in this blog.

I'm in just a great mood right now. I'm feeling so good about where I am with this challenge and how I just needed this to make a change. To get re-motivated. I'm proud of myself and how I have changed my eating habits and how I behave with food. I really did well this weekend. I didn't have the best food at Disneyland on Saturday, but I did walk a lot and went to the gym that night. I also ate a smaller portion which I rarely do with good Disney food. Then 2 parties. ahh the food everywhere. Once again I was proud of how I handled it and worked out after to justify what I did have. I'm looking forward to weigh ins because I know I have done a good job that week. I really had my will tested when there was a chocolate fountain. I was excited that the cake wasn't really a temptation at all. The taco guy was but not the cake. ;P

I for one, am going by my scale. For the challenge we all weigh in at Roselia's house on the same scale. It makes it fair for everyone to use the same scale. But I for one am not trusting that scale for anything. The fluctuations have been so high that I have no idea where it will be in relation to mine. (And I only have mine to go by during the week to see where I'm at.) I know it's going to weigh me heavier there than home. That's a given. But the amount of difference between the scales is frustrating. I weigh in, in the mornings with no clothes just for myself to know where I truly am. Then I weigh myself with my weigh in clothes on at home to know what my scale says. Then I go to her house and weigh in immediately. The differences between those 2 has been anywhere between a 3.2 and 5.2 lb. difference!!! So, I never know if it's going to be 5.2 lb higher than my scale at home or 3.2 or wherever else. ahhh Since I know I'm not moving my scale around I trust it. Plus, it's pretty new and re-calibrates itself before each weight gets measured. Anyway...as long as I am losing weight, that's all that matters. As long as the scale keeps moving downward is what I care about. It's when I lose 2 lbs at home compared to gaining .2 at her house that just frustrates me. That's just NOT possible. I just needed to get that off my chest. I do love having to have someone to go to in order to weigh in. That keeps me so much more accountable than just weighing myself at home. So, I will continue to go for as long as this challenge is still going.

The competition has been so fun. I happen to know several of the people participating so we have been encouraging each other. Or blatantly sabotaging them. lol Funny little remarks on facebook like...."have some dessert too." :) It's been funny. What's so cool is that this has sparked a new challenge that is going on at church for the staff. They have started a challenge of their own just like this one.

I feel strong and am enjoying the increased endurance during my workouts. It's a great feeling when I can go up a level on the stair machine or up the time I can run (or speed) on the treadmill (or both). It also was a great feeling today when my gym pants started slowly falling lower on my hips from my stomach as I worked out. I kept having to pull them up higher to get them to stay on. I even took a photo at Disneyland yesterday and was pleasantly surprised that my face looked skinnier. Just since photos I had taken in mid August.

A big goal is coming up this week. I believe I will make it. The last time I updated how much I had lost on facebook (or here) was when I was at 27 lb down. During several months I had gained a few pounds of it back. I believe I will hit this first goal this week to get back to the 27 lb. mark. My next goal is to take new comparison photos at 30 lb. lost. I was doing them on the 4s (14, 24) but that just happened because of the initial photos. So starting from 30, I'll just do it every 10 most likely. Then the next goal after that is to get to pre-pregnancy weight with Skyler (18 lb to go).

The incredible camaraderie, encouragement, and support from family and friends has been great. I so appreciate that. I know I have a long way to go so those little encouraging words go a long way. I also love that the pastor calls me his workout buddy. That just makes me smile. I am inspired by all of the wonderful people who are going through this weight loss journey. May we be able to get knowledge and wisdom from each other. And inspire the next group of people who haven't started their journey yet.

Challenge

The challenge has been going great so far. I have already lost a little over 5 pounds. Woho! Getting back on track has been good. I have been keeping an eye on what I'm eating and exercising like crazy. Almost every day I have been going to the gym. And then I'm walking to Courtney's school and back 5 times a week also.

12 Week Challenge

I feel the need to give an update on my weight loss efforts. A couple months ago I hurt my back. I'm assuming from all of the working out I've been doing. Or at least it was aggravating it. I have been having sciatica for quite a while since having Skyler. And when I workout on the elliptical machines my toes start falling asleep. I have to roll my ankles a few times during exercising to get the tingling to go away. I went to the doc and he said that where I was pointing seemed muscular. So I was to lay off the elliptical machine (my favorite), and the abdominal exercises.

Well, it was hurting a lot and I was on meds to help that and I never got back into the swing of exercising all the time again. I gained back like 8 pounds of what I had lost. BOO! But I am bound and determined to get this weight off. Even my GYN was proud of how much I had lost last year (even with the gain).

My back is feeling better with the occasional sciatica happening. My friend, Roselia, decided to start a 12 week weight loss challenge. I can't afford to be a part of the money aspect of it, but I'm showing up anyway to have her weigh me just like everyone else. It has given me so much motivation. And it really helps to know so many people who are also doing it. Shauna especially, since we are workout buddies. Last Friday was the first weigh in and we exercised together Saturday and Sunday. I exercised by myself last night and she did a hike. I was proud of us. Even if we weren't doing it together we still exercised.

I have meetings tonight and tomorrow night so I'm going to have to fit in a workout somewhere. I think I'm taking today off and working out tomorrow since both of the girls will be in school tomorrow morning.

I have already lost some but am not counting it until Friday's weigh in. I feel different already so that is helping me move toward my goal as well.

Weekend Review (A little late)

*Dodger game! Ellen, Preston, Mindy, Grace, and our 4

*Courtney being adorable with Preston

*San Diego Family Reunion

*Hanging out with Christy (my 1st cousin)

*Meeting baby Stryder
*Connecting with family on facebook that we normally only see each other once a year

*Beach fun

*Collecting sea shells for a craft project

*The girls getting soakin' wet

*Most of the group in San Diego
*Teaching in the Hosanna Children class at church

*Scott going to Summerslam (WWE Wrestling event) with his friend, Don

*The girls and I went to Disneyland to have our own good time

Weekend Review

*Hanging with the Hoopers

*Red Robin with my parents

*Disneyland

*Both girls getting picked for the parade to dance (Sky didn't want to)

*Jonathan's birthday party

*Bouncer, old friends, hanging out

*BBQ with the Hoopers, scrapbooking, Dodger game watching for the guys

*Started 2 new albums of the girls through the years at their birthday

*Made a journal for Skyler so I can write down things about her and started Courtney's

*Disneyland again

*Disney with Ellen, Preston, and Gracie

*Thunder Mountain, Pirates, Matterhorn, Carousel, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride

*Pizza Port is so yummy

*Courtney wanting to ride every ride with Preston :)

*Amazing service at church by Sherry Mortenson (God really speaks through her in amazing ways.)

*A very exciting 3 days of the weekend and very joyful

In Times Like These

We need to lean on the wisdom, love, care, grace, peace, and forgiveness of God.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

God knows what we need before we even ask.

Matthew 6: 25-27
25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

Matthew 6: 34
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

These scriptures were taken from BibleGateway.com and the translation is the New International Version (NIV).

Weekend Review

*Driving

*Lots of dust in the air

*Sickness

*Meeting new cousin Derek

*Smores, smores, and more smores

*Potluck dinners

*Fireside chats

*Volleyball vulgarity

*Shaver Lake fun

*Lots of sand toys

*Re-emphasizing the importance of life jackets to anyone in our party(I don't think any of us will ever be the same.)

*Swimming

*Running uphill to the bathroom with a child

*Fun in the sun

*Courtney getting more sick

*Fevers

*More driving
*Good book

Sickies, Camping, VBS, Good Book

All of the sicknesses can GO AWAY already. I'm so tired of it. It's so draining. Courtney started us all off with her cough starting about 2 weeks ago. Then Skyler got croup for all of one day. Then I got the flu. Then Scott got a lesser version of what I got. Then Courtney got a fever added to her cough 2 days ago. And now Skyler has a fever. Seriously!! This can end already.

We came home from camping yesterday with all 4 of us still sick in some way. Scott is the healthiest of us all and he just got over his. We took Courtney to the doctor this morning because she started having a fever and her coughing was getting worse. Plus it had already been 2 weeks. And now she was coughing up green. Not a good sign. So, we find out she has double ear infections. She also has post nasal drip which is causing her to cough it all up. Plus she has asthma. We thought she had out grown it. We and her doctor thought that. Nope. Darn. I was hoping to not have to deal with that anymore. She was wheezing and had to have a breathing treatment. She's back on her inhaler 3 times a day for right now until she is better. Then down to 2 times a day. Plus, now she is on an antibiotic. Poor thing. At least Scott has the rest of the week off.

We went camping in Shaver Lake. Oh....I miss it already. We only had one day at the lake. And I'm sorry but that wasn't enough. Even if I was exhausted from coughing a lung. lol We had a great time at the lake and camping with family and friends. But I'm glad we are home to relax a bit. It seemed a little weird though because a lot of the regulars weren't there. I really missed seeing a lot of my cousins who have since gotten married. It doesn't always fit into everyone's schedule anymore. Plus our site was away from everyone else. That just sucked. We had to pack up all of our stuff just to go over to the other sites for dinner and campfire. We need to get them all together next time. That's much more fun that way.

Today for some reason I'm still not feeling well. I've been coughing a lot and I think it's wearing on me. I feel like I need to lay down. Or be resting at the very least.

The girls had their first VBS experience at our church last week. They had a blast. They couldn't stop talking about it. They loved it and didn't want it to end. I felt so bad I couldn't volunteer because I just got sick the night before the first day with the flu. I tried on Thursday to go in to help but I could barely make it to the playground to drop off the kids. I was so weak still from being so dehydrated. Thankfully they understood and had counted me out for the whole week. I felt so bad that I couldn't be there helping.

On the way to camping and home from camping I read a book titled "Multiple Blessings" by the Gosselins. I got the book as a gift and I wasn't sure what to expect from the book. I hadn't really known much of the family and had just been curious in weeks past to watch their show. I now have a new understanding and appreciation for them and all they had been through up to that point of publishing the book. I've since watched a few more episodes too (of "Jon and Kate Plus 8"). The book was really good. It was nice to have so many bible verses quoted in there too.

Summer would be so much better without us all being sick. Don't the germs realize it's SUMMER? :)

10 Year Anniversary

I have been so blessed to be married to Scott for 10 wonderful years. We have known each other for 23 years. (We met when I was 8 and he was 10). To start off our anniversary celebration we went to a movie and saw "The Proposal". Very good date movie.

Then we headed down to the Huntington Beach pier to have lunch at Ruby's Diner. The diner is at the end of the pier. It was a beautiful view out our window. We had a wonderful lunch.

Then we started walking around the pier and the vendors on the beach.


The beach was sooooo crowded for a Friday.

Kissing my sweetie.

I was very proud of this picture. That's our reflection.

Then we headed to DCA (Disney's California Adventure) to go on Toy Story Mania. It was a little nuts cuz they broke down while we were almost to the front. They had to have techs come in and also had a medical issue at the same time.

We had such a late lunch that we had dessert for dinner. Yummy!

We headed over to Disneyland to see the fireworks and Fantasmic.

Here we are waiting for the last Fantasmic show.

We had a wonderful time celebrating together. The girls were at their grandparent's house for the night so it didn't matter when we got home. We had a blast just being alone together. I really am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband. I can't believe it's been 10 years already.

Fun Week

A new week and so many fun things to do.

**Skyler's swim class started this week. I'm waiting for pics from either my mom or mother in law since I am in the water with Sky and can't take any myself.

**Picked up my new contacts. Arg..they are still blurry. This has never happened before and now with this one set it's happened twice. So, I go back tomorrow to have them retest my eyes and get the prescription right.

**Friday is the day that I'm looking forward to most. It's our 10 year wedding anniversary. Ahh...10 years to my wonderful husband. We are still trying to figure out what we are going to do. The kids have been begging for a sleepover with either grandparents. So, why not combine the 2? lol They are staying over night with Scott's parents. It will be so fun not to have to get home early or go to bed at a decent hour or anything. I'm looking forward to it. It will be so wonderful to spend time with my honey. I love him so much and cherish every moment.

**Saturday my friend, Sunshine (and Ken) is having her baby. So, we will probably go to the hospital to go see them. We are so excited to meet little Harmony Faith.

**Also on Saturday is my friend, Patty's not turning 40 party. How hilarious is that?! I'm glad you're hitting it and not me. :P hahaha

**Sunday we are going to be having fun at Boomers with our Sunday School class. Boomers is a place that has Laser Tag, Bumper Boats, mini golf, rock wall, etc. It's a lot of fun.

I'm sure I'll post pictures of the many events of this week soon.

Weekend Review

**going through a million pictures
**photoshopping presents for the dads
**hour and 40 minute drive to Corona
**birthday party fun
**water play
**getting the kids to leave is nuts
**more photoshopping
**running out of ink, Costco is closed to print it. ahh
**church
**disappointment
**oh the drama
**bbq fun at our house
**sprinklers
**exhaustion
**lots of picture taking

Fishie Update

THEY'RE STILL ALIVE!!!! How exciting! Almost a week now. :) They have their own little corner in the kitchen out of the way of the early morning sun that comes through the window there. I seriously have to change the water every other day. It's pretty gross. The water gets all cloudy. eww

Fishie Love

And oh the drama. Yesterday and today have been a whirlwind of emotions. Yesterday was our church's big groundbreaking ceremony. One of the picnic events was a fishing game. The prize was winning a goldfish. Both Skyler and Courtney won a fish. They were so happy and proud that they did it. And excited that they had their first pets. They immediately named them. Courtney picked Hannah, who was an orange and white fish. Skyler picked Nemo, who was an all orange fish. We probably should have waited til the end of the game to get the fish. But we didn't. We had them for a couple hours outside in their little bag.

So we went home and put them in a little fish bowl. It was a bit too small. Then we headed to Petsmart to get some goldfish food and a bowl and net to catch the fish just incase. Oh and tap water de-chlorinator and all of that. So, we get home thinking we did a great job. We even got some cute rocks for the bottom of the bowl so it wasn't totally empty. I rinsed out the bowl, got the right temp water in it, rinsed the glass rocks and put them in. Then we moved the fish to the bigger bowl. They seemed more happy in there. That is until the girls were so exhausted that they both fell asleep on the couch and during the nap one of the fish died. Poor Nemo. When Skyler woke up I waited a little while to tell her, then told her and she didn't even really seem that sad about it. She just was happy that we still had Hannah. So, we said goodbye to Nemo and flushed him.

We were pinning all of our hopes on Hannah. In reading some stuff from friends on Facebook, we discovered some things we could do. So, as soon as we could wake them up we ate dinner and headed over to 3 different pet stores. All of which were CLOSED. This is probably one of the only bad things about living in a Quaker city on a Sunday evening. I swear everything is closed down early on Sundays. So, we knew we would have to wait for tomorrow so we went to my parent's house still to go in their spa and then back home. The kids were so anxious to get inside and check on Hannah. Sadly, she died at some point while we were gone. So sad. Courtney seemed more affected by it. Maybe because they were both gone, or because it was hers this time, or just the loss in general. And I felt so bad for both of them.

So, Monday rolls around and there are plenty of people telling me that their fishies also didn't make it. I mean, I know they die easily, but it felt like we did everything right (minus them being in the bag a while). We told the girls that we would get them some new fish. So, I rinsed off everything again in the bowl and all to have a fresh start. I even left the new water in the bowl for most of the day so that it would be at room temp by the time we got them in there.

You would not believe how many times a kid can ask when we are getting the fish. ahhh So, we got to Petsmart (cuz it's the closest one). The guy there really didn't seem like he was sure about much of anything. Trying to sell us a 5 gallon filter for our 1 gallon bowl. It felt so confusing. They didn't have the Oxygen pellets/tablets that a friend was telling me about. So, we decided to go to Petco, because that's where she got them and it would be easier. We get to Petco and there is an actual fish guy there. What a concept. He then gives us opposite information than Petsmart did about goldfish. He also told us that they didn't have Oxygen tablets, but had CO2 tablets for the plants inside a tank, but they don't put oxygen in the bowl/tank. He said we shouldn't need to add anything to our bowl for the little fishies. He thinks they died because of them being in the bag so long. Oh, and the instructions on the fish food could not be more vague.

So, we got 2 new fish. One is bigger than the other. The bigger one is orange and almost yellow. That one is Skyler's and "her" name is Hannah Montana. Not just Hannah. She kept correcting us. lol Skyler insisted on hers being the "Hannah one". Courtney was ok with that. She got an orange and black fish and named it Miley. LOL....so we are all about Hannah Montana/Miley with our pets right now. lol It's funny that Miley is the one with black because Miley has dark hair. So it makes it easier to remember which is which.

The girls are excited and the fish are swimming very happily and are STILL ALIVE!!!

I think they overall are just excited to have pets. And I think they take comfort in knowing that a lot of their friend's fishies also died.

July Issue of Oprah Magazine

This is the magazine cover for the July '09 issue.

This is the first picture in the spread (2 page picture).

This is the second page (pg 111). Courtney's the little girl in purple.

Trying to get what I could on my scanner with not much luck.

The second half of trying it this way.

So the July '09 issue is THE one. We kept looking at them. You know how long it takes to look through every single page of an Oprah Magazine??? A lot. It's pretty thick. And not cheap either ($4.50). I was so excited to see that it was a BIG picture. I wasn't sure what to expect. It could have been a tiny little picture and we might have barely even been able to see her. I was pleasantly surprised that it was a 2 page spread. Mainly of the picture. Sooo cool. And the article it's for is on the front cover. So exciting.

So, there was some serious photoshopping going on. First of all we knew the dog would be edited in. The dog wasn't cooperating so they had to take pics of the dog after our shoot. And they completely axed the other little girl from the shot completely. So they either chose an early shot where she wasn't even in it, or they edited her out. At least she still got in the magazine. She's the little girl on page 121. She must have taken those before the other shoot because she was crying during the other one (and that's why she wasn't in it). PLUS, I don't remember them taking ANY photos of Courtney with the woman she's with. Unless they took it really quick before they changed models. They switched the blonde and the far right of the shot to be the "mom" holding her hand. But I guess they liked the other lady better. So they either took a quick photo which I don't remember or photoshopped her in. Plus, the background was totally edited in. lol Doesn't it look like a nice, sunny day? It was so freezing and overcast. Ah the wonders of editing. They didn't even mention that they were recreating the painting. Maybe it's just so famous that they don't need to.

How exciting! I'm glad it's finally out so we can see it and get copies. Who knows why they would pick a picture of her where she's not smiling is beyond me. They even told me that she did smile. Maybe they just wanted a more serious look to match the little girl in the painting. Regardless, it's just fun that she's in a magazine. It's even more cool that it's in O Magazine. What a cool first job.

Courtney loved to see it and was staring at it. Then she said, "That was my first job." She also told her sister that she wants her to do this too so she can have fun too. :)

Big Weeks

This week is a big one. It's Courtney's last day of preschool tomorrow. Then we have a play date with Jenna and Alyssa after school. Then Thursday Courtney has a party at her school so we are going to that. Sky will be at the McClure house again. Then after the party we all are going to Sherry's house for a while to hang out and go in the pool. The kids will LOVE it. Courtney already has a countdown going of when we get to go to Sherry's house. lol Then Friday is Courtney's Pre-K Graduation at Calvary Baptist in Uptown at 11am. Then on Saturday I'm a part of my friend's Open House. There will be lots of vendors at her house and I'm putting up my PartyLite display for everyone to enjoy. That's going on from 10-3. I have directions if anyone is interested. :)

Next week is going to be not quite so busy, but still. Sunday is the "Groundbreaking" at WACC. 10 years of waiting for the permits from the city to finally go through. So we are all bringing our shovels for that. That will make for great pictures. I bet one day we will look back and remember when it looked like it does now. Then we are making a meal for someone on Wednesday. Thursday I'm having a PartyLite/Mary Kay party. It's at my house at 7pm. My friend Margaret is doing the Mary Kay part. She is actually a PartyLite consultant too and we are in the same team in PL. She decided to start up MK too so we are doing a combo party. I needed to do a PL party anyway. :) Friday is my Grandma's birthday and a big event at church. Saturday is a birthday party in Corona. And then Sunday is Father's day. ahhhh

Weekend Review

MOPS Retreat at Sherry's house
Girl talk
Hanging out with friends
eating way too much food
Alicia's
Rollos
BBQ at the end of the day
Losing in a new game
Singing it out on Rock Band
Rocking out playing guitar on Rock Band
Game night
El Chollo for Sunshine's birthday
Nice surprise getting our lunch paid for
Leading our Sunday School class
Challenge this week for "Fireproof"

Twilight's New Moon Trailer

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON trailer in HD

Something New

I felt the need to change my blog. I was wanting to have a picture as a header so I challenged myself to figure it all out. I'm happy with it. I'm still trying to figure out how to put my Twitter feed on here. All of the app ones seem to not work or give you everyone I have followed on the feed also. I just thought it would be fun to add that, but I haven't figured that one out yet. Enjoy.

Disneyland - New Experiences

Oh what a day! This was a momentous trip to Disneyland. BOTH of the girls grew to the new height requirements they were getting closer to. So we got to ride new rides (to them).

Skyler grew to 40" so she now can ride everything at Disneyland but Indiana Jones. Scary! When did my little dare devil get big enough for that? Today. She grew about a half inch since the last time we measured her. Her new rides she can go on now (at Disneyland..and not including DCA) are; Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, and Star Tours. We opted to try out Splash and Big Thunder today for her. She LOVED them. She was laughing so hard when she would get air on Big Thunder. She also loved getting "soakin' wet" on Splash. Every time she got wet she would say something about loving to get wet. I have a feeling next week when we go to DCA that she will be trying the new rides she can go on over there like Soarin' Over California, and Tower of Terror. We'll see about that one. But she seems to want to do it. We are just so excited for her that she doesn't have to miss out anymore. So now she can go on almost all of the rides. How exciting.

Courtney grew to 46" so she can now ride Indiana Jones at Disneyland. So now she can ride EVERYTHING at Disneyland. That's just nuts. She's so old. :) We warned her about the snake so she could hiss at it instead of being scared. She said it still scared her a little bit. We also warned her about the big rock that rolls toward you. And to not be scared because you go under the rock. She's so cute. She was wondering if she would have to duck to get under it. :) She said her favorite part was going under the rock.

What a fun weekend this is starting out to be. Last night we hung out with my cousins, the Hoopers. We ordered pizza and hung out. We even made sundaes. The kids LOVED that! The guys got to even both be happy while watching a Dodger/Angel game. (One likes the Angels and the other the Dodgers.) We are doing a bbq at our house with my in laws tomorrow. (Still have to clean for that one.) :) Then Monday we are going to a picnic.

Courtney's kindergarten assessment is this Thursday to see what class she will be in. More advanced or beginning. Hopefully she will be in the advanced class so she can be encouraged to read more instead of basics like what sounds letters make. She has been doing great at reading sentences here and there. We're proud of her.

Skyler is going to be starting preschool in the fall. How fun for her. She loves going to drop off/pick up Courtney at school. She wishes she could play on the playground when we are there but they can't have non-school kids play due to policies and insurance issues. The only time she gets to is on a family party night at school. Then she gets all excited to play. She will LOVE it and is so ready to be in school.

Here are some pictures from today.

The girls getting to take a picture with Jasmine.

Courtney making the mark for Indiana Jones!!


Skyler and I in line for Splash Mountain

Scott and I in line for Splash Mountain...gotta do something in a line that long. Next time we are getting a fast pass for that one. We waited about an hour and 15. The fast pass people waited about 5 minutes at the most.

Skyler measuring at Splash Mountain! How exciting. Skyler was so excited that she was a big girl.

After Splash Mountain. We were sooo wet. A hug wall of water came up and over us all.

The whole front of me (shirt, head and pants were so wet)

My sweetie pie!

Sticky hands from cotton candy!!

So excited that they went on Big Thunder Mountain

Losing My Dear Friend, Monica

This is one of my favorite pictures of Sol and Monica. This was in June, 2005.

This one's really old. lol It's from 2004. We were watching the guys play paintball. That's little baby Courtney in there.

This was just a couple weeks ago 4/23/09. This was at the MOPS Tea and Testimony meeting. She came to have some fun and tell everyone how much MOPS has meant to her with their support. This is the last picture I took of her.

This was at Skyler's birthday (Jan 2009). Sunshine, Monica and I hanging out. (And Scott, of course who always manages to get behind all of the pictures. lol)

This was from Courtney's birthday party 2008. This is one of my favories of us. Ahh that smile.

I have thought about writing this several times but haven't actually started typing anything. I think I wasn't ready for it. And now that the service is over it feels like time.

First of all, this has been a really rough couple of weeks. My friend, Monica Rodriguez has been battling cancer (angiosarcoma) for 18 months and lost her battle last Monday. She went into the hospital on the 1st of May. We were able to visit her on the 2nd and she seemed completely normal. Talking about the house that they might get and about Kai. She was a little teary, but that's it. She was able to tell the lady from the hospital (a social worker there) many things that had gone wrong in her stays there. It seemed to ease her mind that something might be done about it. Then the next day I went back to see her and she was completely different. Her pain had gotten worse over night and they needed to heavily medicate her to ease her pain. So when I got there that day it was very dark inside and she seemed to be sleeping. Her family had been called to come and her sisters and parents were there as well as her niece. It was comforting to know that they were all there with her. As soon as the doctor came in or nurses she opened her eyes a little to talk to them. Apparently she was just closing her eyes and it really was just the medication making her look asleep.

Thankfully I was able to see her one last time on Wednesday. The doctors had figured out her medication and she didn't have as many side effects. She was talking and up and walking and everything that day. She was off and on delusional, but that was to be expected with the meds. It was nice to see her like herself again. That was the day she got released from the hospital. She was able to go to her specialist appointment and had a plan to start chemo the following Monday.

On Mother's Day (that next Sunday) she was having a hard time breathing so they called an ambulance. They found out after that it was good that they did because they didn't think she would have lasted another hour if they hadn't. Sadly, she had to be intibated and put under because of all of the problems. She wanted to fight and chose to be intibated. She had so much fluid in her lungs and tumors. She later on Monday was determined to not have any brain activity and they decided to turn off the life support. I just happened to be talking to my friend (and hers), Sunshine all day and kept getting updated. It was hard knowing what was going to happen and not say anything to anyone since it wasn't on the blog yet. We just kept praying for peace for everyone. That night I created an album of photos of our time together on facebook. It made me feel a little better doing something constructive.

The Wednesday after (2 days later) it was ok to have visitors so we went over. It was so nice to just be with everyone again. We were looking through Monica's thousands of pictures. Then a bunch of us went to the Uptown Festival to have dinner and let the kids play. It was a good mood uplifter and was nice to get to know Monica's sisters a little better too.

Saturday the 16th was Monica's memorial service at WACC (Whittier Area Community Church). It was a really beautiful service. At least 700 people were there. Probably more like 750. The place was packed. What an amazing show of how much you have touched so many people's lives. And on a side note, it was hard to think of people who didn't know her in order to watch the kids. Scott (my husband) ended up being one of the speakers at the service. What an honor. Scott did such a wonderful job too. Everyone did. It was so nice to hear about all of the different walks of life she was apart of and how all of those people loved her so much too. Sol (her husband) even got up there to talk about his wife and their love story. He put together such a wonderful slideshow. The slideshow is also on their website if you would like to view it. I'm never going to be able to hear the song "Better Is One Day" without thinking of Monica.

After the service it was nice to talk to so many good friends. I have been so blessed during this very difficult time by my friends who have poured their love to me. Calling me to see how I'm doing and seeking me out to give me hugs. You don't even know how much that has meant to me and what an amazing show of God's love that has been to me.

Losing my dear friend has been so hard. I miss her so much. Seeing pictures of her makes her seem so alive and sometimes I literally have to remind myself that she isn't here anymore. She's dancing with the angels and hugging Jesus. Her amazing faith before and during her fight with cancer have been an amazing testimony. I am comforted by the fact that she is no longer in pain and is really doing better than any of us here on earth.

We had so many good times together and it is hard to think that she won't be here anymore. She really had amazing strength and I really admire her in a lot of different areas in her life. She definitely was a person to look up to and to model. And we all are better for knowing her.

Now we are all charged with the journey of being there for her wonderful husband, Sol and her almost 3 year old son, Kai. The coming months are going to be a hard for them. Between their anniversary, Kai's birthday, and Monica's birthday all there. I can't even imagine what Sol is going through. Or precious little Kai. I know when we told Courtney and Skyler about Monica Skyler looked like she had no idea what I was talking about (and she's 6 months older than Kai). Courtney on the other hand was very emotional and sympathetic about Kai. She was worried about him missing his mommy. Since Courtney and Skyler knew Monica, we knew we had to explain it to them.

Seeing what an impact she has made on all of the people around her makes me think about my legacy. The lives I touch and relationships that I have. I really hope to share God's love for everyone in my life and to hopefully let them know how important they all are to me. I hope I can share the joy that I have with others.

Oh ya, and how cool that we have the exact same middle name. Hardly anyone I have ever come across has the exact same spelling. We thought we were cool.

There are so many other things I could say, but this would be more of a novel than it already is. I really loved her and will truly miss my dear friend.

In Memory of Monica Lynne Rodriguez July 3, 1976 - May 11, 2009 (32 years young)