Thought:

"I will love you for you,

Not for what you have done,

Or what you'll become....

I will love you for you."

~song by JJ Heller "What love really means"

Brandi Carlile - Red Butte Gardens - Aug 21, 2011

Mirror Lake Hwy / Wall Lake Hike - Lazy Sunday Afternoon

I had one of the most romantic days of my entire life. Randy knew he would have the Sunday alone with me and despite a few last minute changes to our plan due to my daughter being home instead of with her dad, he remained calm. Randy is the sweetest! He told me he would be there to pick me up at 9 am Sunday morning. We didn't end up leaving until about 10:30 because Mckelsie had some issues with her dad and he just brought her home. I needed to ensure she was ok and then we were off. I had no clue what he had planned but he told me to where shorts and tennis shoes, bring a backpack with bug spray and sunscreen and my IPOD. We started driving up to Midway. On the way he asked me to read the newspaper to him and be in charge of anything we listened to on the IPOD. He previously also downloaded some new stuff to his MP3 player for us to enjoy as well. After an hour of driving we came up to the Homestead and went in to eat their Sunday brunch. It was sooooo good. They had live piano music playing the whole time and the little place was like you'd stepped back in time and reminded me of the movie with Christopher Reeves, "Somewhere In Time". It was very beautiful and romantic. Then we went driving up to Mirror Lake Hwy, made our way to an amazing waterfall. It is one of my favorite places to be, in the middle of the forrest enjoying the scenery all around me. After exploring the waterfalls and taking some pictures we went to our final destination, Wall Lake. I still didn't know any of the plan beyond our current destination. We actually had to hike into Wall Lake and Randy had packed (on his back, attached to his backpack) a tent, blanket and pillow. Once we found a spot not far from the water, he pitched the tent and we climbed in. It was truly a very sweet moment and one I'll never forget. Randy always takes the time to make me feel special and to share his feelings with me.

First Day of School

Hallelujah!!!

School is in!

So Jayden is starting a new elementary school this year.  He'll be going to Rose Park, that is nearest our house instead of the one Mckelsie had been assigned to for Special Ed. He's very excited and I'm hoping he'll be able to make new good friends that are close to home. He's also excited about the thought of riding his bike to school...not sure about that yet.  

Mckelsie is beginning 10th grade.  She is estatic about being a sophmore and to be with her friends every day.  It was so nice this morning to have the kids up and getting ready and not even fight me a bit!  Whewwwwww.....I'm glad school's back in! 

Sleeping....

Practically upside down.... fast asleep!

Lagoon 2011

I LOVE this picture!!!  Randy took it just as we were going down on the Collosus at Lagoon. 

Hahahahahaha........

Keith Urban; Come Out and Play

New song I heard....very pretty.  It's by Keith Urban.

You keep it hidden in the most peculiar way
And far be it from you to ever let your secret stray
But I'm not a thief in the night,
I only called to say,
That you're beautiful
So come out and play.

I know you're still making payments
On the price you paid so you sit and stare out the window
At the front gate and wonder what it would be like
To feel the sun upon your face
Well, you're beautiful
So come out and play.

Oh it's a shame a crying shame that you should sit home all alone
Take my hand, I'll help you stand and together we'll walk down that road

You believe what you get is what you give away 
Well, dry your eyes baby and have a little faith
The first step is the hardest then it's easier day by day
And your beautiful
So come out and play.

Oh it's a shame a crying shame that you should sit home all alone
Take my hand, I'll help you stand and together we'll walk down that road

You keep it hidden in a most peculiar way.

Gateway

Randy and Rebecca

The melodic music from the near by street band played through the busy outside shopping mall.  The warm summer air permeated our exposed skin and wrapped relaxation around us. We perched ourselves in the same place we previously sat during our second date, against a small wall on the warm concrete floor in between the jewelry store and Applebees resturant, so that we were far enough away from the amped speakers to hear each other converse.  This time was much different than the last though, as I had developed a fondness and caring for Randy over the last few months.  The second date was full of anxious nerves and curiosity with a few awkward encounters of a leg or hand as they would brush by the others on accident (or perhaps not always on accident).  No, this time my body, legs, arms, hands and lips touched and intertwined each of his constantly throughout the evening.  My eyes willingly told a story all by themselves of understanding and love toward Randy.  We talked, smiled and laughed until the street band had cleared it's equipment from the pavement and most of the careless evening walkers, who provided some "people watching" entertainment to us, had gone.  We now were enjoying the quiet that accompanied the empty shopping mall and continued our conversations. 


An Applebees employee that had already walked by several times stopped his stride in front of us and said;
"That is the most beautiful thing I've seen in a long time, two people chillin in the middle of everything, enjoying each other.  So beautiful!"


Sweet to know that others see what we're feeling....

A few random pics....

Thoughts:

Difference between school and life:

In school your taught a lesson then given a test,

In life your given a test and then taught a lesson.

Fort Jayden

This is what happens when a 10 year old is grounded from the TV and video games:

He builds forts!

Car Wash

My kids are struggling this summer with nothing to do! They don't have any friends in the neighborhood and they hang out at my parents all day while I'm at work. There aren't any little kids on my parents street either. I've been trying to get the kids outside doing things and thought it would be good/fun for them to wash my car. I realized that it most likely wouldn't be the best wash job ever but at least they were outside and not watching tv. Mckelsie lasted only about 10 minutes and Jayden was left to finish off the job. While I was busy painting inside my car was piling up on hard water spots! I love my kids! I love them, I love them.....

I LOVE THEM!

I even ventured out against my own rules and allowed them both to walk to Smiths together, buy some strawberries, potatoe chips and a coke (a written list I provided them) all by themselves. They did great! I was so proud of them. I think I only called Mckelsie twice in the 30 minutes they were gone.

Bathroom Redo

So, I've been wanting to repaint my bathroom for awhile now and finally decided this was the weekend. Now, I usually paint to relieve stress or at least that's what seems to happen every time I paint. This weekend however, I had pre-decided that I was going to do the project. Just so happens...... my little 10 year old Jayden provided the stress.

I've never tried painting "RED" before but saw it in some magazines recently and decided to try it. It takes so many more coats than any other color and it's hard to make my "no tape" lines look like I used tape! Uggghhh.... It all smoothed out though and I'm really happy with it. I painted the light fixture black to match the towel and toilet paper holders (been meaning to do that for a long time now!) and installed a handle on the little cupboard along with some hooks for towels along the one wall.

It's amazing to me how much work went into such a little, tiny, small, itsy bitsy room! Took me forever!!!!! But, it was just as well because of the ordeal I'd had with Jayden Friday night! Please tell me boys are not always this difficult! Anger issues and breaking things is not something I can relate with at all!!!

Thoughts:

"Happiness consists not in having much, but in being content with little."

~ Marquerite Gardiner

________________________

"Do everything to love as much as you can, it may hurt but it helps us grow.

Give all you have.... you may be poor but you will be content.

Always forgive, your heart cannot afford not to.

Teach what you know and learn what you don't.

Stay open to it all."

~author unknown

The "Up" House

We went to the Parade of Homes and the house from the movie "Up" was apart of it.

It was so cool with every little detail and I actually could see myself living in a house with a similar floor plan. The kitchen had appliances from the era of when the home would've been built in the movie and there was a bookcase at the top of the stairs that opened into a secret room that Jayden really liked. I can't even imagine how much money it cost to build that one!

I would highly recommend going to see it! Sooooooo cute!

Dinner with Rachael