Aaww ...Young Love

we all need hope

Love this site. The idea is to spread hope to everyone out there. I printed out a few, ok a lot of cards and have been leaving them in different places. I hope that they bring a little smile to someones face.
Check it out.
http://www.hoperevo.com/

I'm 29....again!

Happy Birthday to ME!

Well, it happened. No matter how hard I fought it another birthday is here and I'm another year older, maybe even wiser. Normally I wouldn't dare to tell you..the internet how old I am..but I said I'd keep it real, so here it is..(gulp)...I turned... 40. Ok, I said it..it's out there...no matter how much I HATE the idea of that number. I wll tell you that I DO NOT feel 40, I feel like I'm 18 and trying to figure out what I'm going to do with my life. I think I'll just stick with saying ,"I'm 29...again".
Here are a few pictures from the party my sweet hubby had for me.







I love that the bakery actually put this on the cake!








These are some of my best girl friends.
Aren't we all a bunch of hotties!

Goodbye

I am posting the eulogy that my husband wrote about his brother and will be reading today at the service.

A week ago today I received the terrible news—“Todd is gone.” Those words drove me to my knees in shock and disbelief. It was much too soon.
Todd was only 39, but in his short life he experienced quite a bit. He traveled much of the world as a United States Marine, Army Soldier, and Air Force Airman. He probably witnessed things that many of us hope never to see. But Todd loved his calling to protect and serve his country, and he never hesitated at the sacrifice it demanded.
He joined the Marines at 17, eagerly anticipating the challenges of Parris Island. He left for basic training a month before I left for the Air Force, and he still had several weeks left in training after I graduated Air Force BMT. Todd loved to hack on me for joining the Air Force. At the time he didn’t consider the AF as part of the “real” military. (My brother Chris still doesn’t.) Personally, I took more pride in Todd’s service and accomplishments with the Marines than I did from my young career in the Air Force. Todd was always a Marine at heart.
It was difficult for me as I drove around Fort Collins yesterday. I knew this was Todd’s home and he traveled these streets daily. I visited Todd only a few times here in Colorado, but I recognized several of the places we visited and remembered the things we did during those visits…every corner seemed to rekindle poignant memories of him. I’m certain you all are having similar experiences.
I first visited Todd and Dana here during the Thanksgiving holiday in 1993. Todd was so proud of his young family and he was so excited about their future in Fort Collins. He loved being a father to little Andrew, and that pride and love for kids swelled with the birth of Nickolas and Arrionna. He worked hard to provide a good life for his family, and he can be proud of his charge as a husband and father.
Of course, the memories of Todd go much further back in time. I remember him serving humbly and faithfully as an altar boy for years. He enjoyed serving our Lord and was very polished in the role.
I remember him practicing his clarinet in our Florida room, running through the note scales time and again. The clarinet…he wasn’t so good at that. I remember on one of our many lengthy summer visits back in New Jersey, Todd trying to demonstrate to a group of aunts, uncles and cousins how to properly seat the clarinet on his pursed lower lip. It was so funny and we were all laughing until our sides hurt.
I remember him with a bandage wrapped under his chin and around the top of his head, after he sliced open his chin on a sharp edge as we jumped boulders at our aunt and uncle’s house in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He had a hard time keeping his glasses on because the bandage was so bulky. He thought he looked cool, though.
I remember playing hours of wiffle ball well after sundown on our Florida street. Todd was so intent on not making the last out of the game that he refused to swing, no matter how good the pitch was.
I remember him in his Navy JROTC uniform, getting an early start on his military profession. He was proud of his uniform and wanted it to sparkle. Unfortunately, he once took a fateful extra step by soaking his white formal hat cover in bleach. The fabric disintegrated in his hands when he tried to fit it back onto the shell. He was just flabbergasted.
I remember Todd helping me change my bike tire at our neighborhood Hess gas station. As I was working the tire off the rim, Todd started to fill the new tube with air. It took just a moment until the tube ruptured violently, and with the tattered tube hanging in his hands, Todd stated in a stunned voice, “The damn thing blew up on me.” It was hilarious.
I remember Todd’s corny jokes and his somewhat dry sense of humor. Oh, how we loved to share Seinfeld quotes and quips and discuss the scourge of liberalism whenever we got together.
Todd tragically lost his dear mother when he was only a few months old. He was the beloved baby of our entire extended family, and he had a special bond with all of our aunts, uncles and cousins. Todd was so sweet and innocent, and when we moved from New York to Florida when Todd was only four, it was tough on all of our Yankee relatives. They’ll have many wonderful memories of Todd, too.
There are so many memories that paint a mosaic of who Todd was as a person, but I’ll summarize the beautiful portrait this way. Todd was a son who honored his parents, Todd was a proud and protective brother, Todd was a dedicated friend, and Todd was a professional and selfless Marine, Soldier and Airman. Most importantly, Todd was a loving, devoted and faithful father and husband. Dana, Andrew, Nickolas and Arrionna, you have a bounty of precious memories to remember who Todd was to you.
Yet we all loved him dearly, and he will be sorely missed by those who knew him. Even though Todd’s passing leaves an infinite void in our lives, each of you has a collection of memories to help fill that void left by this departed friend, nephew, brother, father, and husband.

So smile when you remember Todd, and know he’s at peace in God’s loving and comforting arms.

You Never Know

Today while shopping in Walmart I got a horrible call from my husband (he was in Hawaii for business). He had just received news that his younger brother had passed away. The poor cashier must have thought I was having a breakdown as I cried while checking out. Todd was only 39 years old and has a 13 yr old son and 9 yr old daughter. Now to hear that your brother has died is one thing, but to hear that he took his own life is another.

Todd was in the middle of a divorce and we knew that he was struggling and had been depressed (who isn't when their life is being turned upside down), but we didn't realize it was that bad. My hubby is having a hard time and feeling like he should have known, seen the signs or something. Todd lived hundreds of miles away so there is no way we could have seen the signs. When someone dies from sickness or in an accident, well I can understand that to a point. To think that someones CHOOSES to end their life is heart breaking. To feel that desperate. It breaks our heart to think that he felt that low.

Depression is something that no one can understand unless you've been there, and I've been there.

SURPRISE!

I flew out to Utah to surprise my good friend Cara for her birthday. Her husband and I had been planning it out for a few weeks and it was a huge success. I arrived well after midnight, so her husband snuck me in the house while she was sleeping. The look on her face when I walked down her stairs the next morning and said hello was priceless!

We spent the next few days in a hotel, getting a pedicure, massages, meeting our scrapbook idol Lisa Bearnson (founding editor of Creating Keepsakes Magazine), eating out, taking a scrapbook class, shopping, and more shopping. A true girls weekend!

Can you believe that this was the first time Cara has EVER had her toe nails painted?! She'll be

addicted!!

Meeting Lisa Bearnson

Enjoying a scrapbook class at Achiever's

Grandparents RUN for the border...

My parents drove 12 hours to spend 7 days with my beloved children. I thought this would be great for the kids since they don't get to spend much time together. I mean who wouldn't want to spend 7 days and nights with a 13 year old teenage boy who is going through puberty, a stubborn as a mule, feisty 8 year old girl and a precious 7 month old eating, peeing, pooping machine? Apparently it was much more than the grandparents bargained for.

We arrived home around 7pm on a Sunday night and my parents couldn't get out of our house fast enough! They left at 5 am the VERY NEXT morning! It left me wondering, "Are my kids that bad?"