Life...

So tonight was my little sister's sweet sixteen. Yup, little Sarah who used to run around with rosey cheeks and a rosey nose, singing "you aint nothin' but a hound-dog", and lover of all creatures is sixteen! It was an awesome party celebrated with all her friends. They laughed, they joked, they threw food, and chased each other, it was a sight to see. She is sure growing in to a beautiful young lady, and I cant help but think about things she still has left to encounter...falling in love...her first heartbreak (whether she believes me or not, she has not experienced this yet).....falling down and getting back up learning from her mistakes...going to prom...slow dancing....senior year.....college....the future....What a life! It is a lot to think about but in all reality life is too short. An old friend who I have not been in contact with in years had a tragedy happen in her family and she had to cope with the loss of her mother, but she has come out of this whole thing with more in her heart than before. I applaud her, I could not have been so willing to let God take my mother so soon. We all have our bad news, but what makes us stronger is the way we pull through each situation. Recently I found myself in a place where I just asked how it was fair that anything this cruel could happen. How could it be fair to constantly put a state of worry in just one family. I sat with my friend and told her what I was having trouble with, how I did not understand it all. Is it punishment? As she sat quietly I told her that whether someone believes in God or not, they do believe in good and bad things happening to people and so whether you call it praying or just wishing, everyone believes in something more. I said that it is just so hard to know what to pray for all the time, that I feel guilty for believing things can always just be going right, instead of tuning in to what I feel I should say during prayer. Its hard to find the words sometimes, to know just what to ask for and in the end I feel that I always leave something out. I know things don't always go right for anyone, but its hard when it happens to be yourself. And as my friend sat there, I got quiet and so did she, and when she spoke she said that yes, life is tough but if you think about it, maybe its the order of things, such as just now someone, somewhere in the world just passed away, but at this moment there is a baby being born, and somewhere else someone has just been diagnosed with cancer, while someone else has just been deemed cancer free. As hard as it was to hear, she was right, there is an order to things, mother nature waits for no one, its just life and you just have to live it. God wont let you ever do it alone though, which is comforting to think about when the day comes to an end and all your left with is your thoughts.

My Little Home

                   So the deal between Jon and I was that this year we would move into a house that we could pay on and know we will own it. I am so tired of renting, I just want a place to call my own! And although that dream is still in the process of becoming a reality, we are not sure if it will happen this year or next summer. Which sucks but I guess I can wait, however since I might be stuck where I am, I told Jon I needed some big changes to make me love my house, to make me feel at home. So for tax returns, since we have no debt what-so-ever (which feels amazing), we purchased basically all new furniture for the whole house and it looks so different and I love it. I finally feel proud over what I have in my house and I feel like it is a home and not just someplace that I rent.........

So starting in my living room......

This is our new DVD stand......

Our new couch.......

Our new 60" Tv and the stand..........


Then moving on to the dining area (I say area because there is no defined room)

Our new kitchen table.......


Moving to the Kitchen.....

Now our new bedroom set.......

This is our new queen size bed and new comforter set, I absolutely love it!

 This is the dresser that comes with it.......

This is yet another dresser that comes with it........


These are pictures of Autumn's room and our spare room, nothing is new but I thought I would put them up here anyway.....

Her room says a lot about her, what a princess right? These next ones are of our spare room which we use as a play room and a computer room......

There is a little tour of my little home. Its not much but I sure am proud of it!

Birthdays

So today my wonderful husband turned 22. Its crazy the years that are flying by now. They come to us and then leave so quickly. I remember when I first met Jon in band class my freshman year, and I remember when he first told me when his birthday was. To help me remember he told me a fun little fact, which is that he shares his birthday with Dr. Seuss.

 It was helpful at the time because five years ago who knew that I would end up wanting to share the rest of my life with him. At the time all I had on my mind was Friday nights out with friends and him. He sure is one special person in my life. I count my blessings for having found him and at such a young age.

We both have dreams and the best part is that our dreams and our futures involve each other. He wants to be so much more and we hear all the time "your young, be patient" but we really are not the patient kind of people. I mean look at where we are already. We have a beautiful daughter, a wonderful marriage and a home that we love. We did this all when most everyone said we could not.

We had doubters that believed that our relationship would not last, we were just teens, we had people say we were just dumb kids who got pregnant and wont make it, we had people that said that our marriage would not last, that we are too young to know what love is, but here we are still, we have lost friends who we will miss forever and gained others who we hope to always have with us, Its just life and Jon and I have definitely lived it. And the best part is that with us being so young, we have so much more time to experience everything else.

Some people go their whole lives not having everything, but in my book we will, because we not only want it, but we work hard and achieve everything that we are meant to be. Right now I am in school to become a teacher and my wonderful husband is standing right behind me, holding me up because right now my own belief in myself is hard to come by.

I only hope that I can be as good for him when it is his turn to return to college. His lifelong dream has been to join the Highway patrol and we have been working so hard together to help him try out and apply for different law enforcement agencies.

But once he is on it, he does not want to stop there. He wants to return to school and at least get a bachelors degree in criminal justice.

Then maybe some day go on to be Lieutenant or join the FBI. Big dreams, but I know in my heart we will be there some day!

Valentines!

                     So as a small child my mom made every special event and holiday memorable and I loved it. Now its not so much fun because I have a legacy to live up to and with her creative mind it is hard to be creative and come up with good ideas just like she did for us. But with some help from family fun, I was able to make Autumn's Valentines day unforgettable!

I strung pom poms up with some needle and thread. These were sparkly pink and purple for her. I then attatched them to the top of the door with push pins. This was also all done at night so that when she woke up on valentines she would wake up to the sun hitting these and be completely surprised!

Another View

...and another.....

........and yet again another.......

As much as I would love to take credit for the cupcakes, my mom actually made these for Autumn for Valentines day. They were her present to Autumn and the cupcake stand was her present to me......She still has the magic touch!

However! The valentines that you see under the cupcake stand was all me. I had these in a trail all around the house starting in Autumn's room and leading all the way down stairs to her valentines day card and present which was a purple and pink unicorn pillow pet (there is no picture becuase she would not unhand that thing!)

I loved this card so much so I had to take a picture of it. This was our card to Autumn!

For dinner I prepared a DELICIOUS pot roast, rolls, mashed potatoes and gravy and a salad. This was more for Jon than for Autumn, but she enjoyed it as well. And for myself there in those glasses is Dr. Pepper which is the key to my heart ha ha!

This is another view of the dinner table that night!

I wish I could have gotten a better picture of this, but this was our desert for the evening. This was a simple Great-grandma thing that I was taught and it is so simple yet so good. It is a twist on strawberry shortcake. Instead the cake that you see is actually twinkies. I then chopped up fresh strawberries and mixed them in a strawberry sauce. Top with whip cream and chocolate sprinkles and you have yourself one happy three year old!

I Got A Job!

                  So as if school and being mommy was not enough for me, I decided my plate was not full enough and went and applied at my favorite clothing store of all time, Maurices! Jon and I have been doing extremely well financially but we have plans for this summer for a lot of rennovations in our lives and we wanted to start paying off our Jeep completely and saving up some extra cash! We both decided that I should go back to work at this point, not just for money, but to give me an opportunity to get away from being a student or mother and having some time away. I was so unsure about it at first, not that I dont like to work but just that I guess I was worried the house and family would die without me............I was SO wrong, life goes on, but now I have a happier demeanor and I love coming home and being with my husband and little girl. Not to mention I LOVE working at Maurices. It is like a dream job for those who love clothes, and just ask my closet, I so love clothes. The hard part about this job is going to be trying to bring home a paycheck without spending it there.
                    Working again also means Autumn going back to daycare, which was actually the most hardest thing for her and I to do. This past eight months or so we have been together every day, so it was hard to have to take her to someone else and trust her with them. Luckily my sent from heaven Daycare provider was still available. I do not know what I would do without Elaine. She teaches Autumn so much and she just puts my mind at ease. Plus we run our houses a lot alike so there is no confusion for Autumn. Autumn had a hard, HARD time the first day back and did not want me to leave but once she remembered all her friends there, she begs to go there everyday! I love it.

My Little Gymnast!

                Once again I am so slacking at updating this thing, which is no good because I sometimes forget about what I want to put on here and then my poor blog suffers from that. But anywho in other news we have a lot going on and all of it started just this month!

                My little three year old Autumn is now a gymnast. She started a program that is called gym-n-dance at our Recreation Center here in town and now is a dancin', and cartwheelin' fool! There is thirty minutes of this that is devoted just to dance. The first half of the dance class is tap dance and different manuevers and the second half of the dance class is ballet, which Autumn just cannot get enough of. She loves wearing her little ballet slippers and jumping and spinning all over the place. The first day of this she was so excited and could not wait to get away from mommy and daddy and then about fifteen minutes into the class out came miss Autumn with her teacher saying she was scared. My heart just melted. So I walked her back to her class and did the stuff with her. She whispered in my ear "I thought I was doing gymnastics" I then explained that first she does ballet and then she does gymnastics. Her eyes lit up as she exclaimed "ballet just like Angelina Ballerina!?!?! (A cartoon mouse that does ballet). I said thats it and then she was gone again telling me to leave the class that it was just for girls and not moms. Ouch! Then the second half of the class is all gymnastics. They do tampoline and tumbling and watching all those little preschoolers is the cutest and funniest thing I have ever seen. They all try so hard and they are all popping their little bums in the air trying to flip over and raising their hands over their head with such enthusiasm when they have landed a move! Autumn absolutely loves it, she is getting so many new friends and learning so much just like her awesome nieces Calli and Cienna! And at the end of it all, she finds it "awesome" to get a stamp on her hand and a treat for her hard work!
               

Just a Little News....

So guess what Autumn wanted and begged and pleaded to do all week long..............

Still cant tell...........Keep looking.........

Haven't got it yet......ALL RIGHT! I will tell you..........

Oh yeah, those are real. My little diva wanted her ears pierced and she talked her daddy into them......I think someone is wrapped around her little finger ha ha ha........now we need to talk her 16 year old Aunt into getting her ears pierced!