Ethans 2nd Birthday!

Today was Ethan's Second Birthday! It's hard to believe time can go so fast! I was just told last night that I am going to be an Aunt again come November! I'm so excited to have another Niece or Nephew. It's so hard to imagine loving someone else as much as I love Ethan, but I know I will. Anyway- here are some photos of his Birthday party.

Here is his new room that mom painted for him- he loves it!





Ethan being a Ham- ounce again



His new Basketball and hoop!
He does so good :)





His new bed that he got, along with the bedspread that aunt Amy got him to match his room :)
He loves his new bed and will not come out of his room anymore! So all in all i think he had a pretty good birthday. Happy Birthday little man!

Happy St. Pattys Day!

On Friday night i went and saw an awesome band called The monsters of Classic Rock.
They were so good and all of the band members played for big bands such as: AC/DC, Steve Miller Band, Ozzy Osborne and XYZ. Well, we started off the evening with some Pina Calads that I have mastered making :) The stems on the glass change colors.






Jill and I ENJOYED a class or two :)




As well as my co-worker and a friend :)







We all 4 headed out to the TRAC were the event was
being held at where I ran into a friend I haven't seen
in a while.



We all made it home safely and and had a wonderful time together! Hope everyone had an awesome Saint Patricks Day!

Last Update!

I just wanted to share a few pictures that I took from the protest and also a slide show that was sent to me. Please Enjoy! Check out slide show here!

before entering the protest area:














Walking around ALL the bikes!

new camera

Last weekend I got a new digital camera so i wanted to share some of the photos my friend Jill and I took while trying out some new settings.

This is my living room with no lights on- I just have the 2 candles lit and it was 9:00 at night. But i thought the picture turned out so good being i couldn't even see what i was taking a picture as. :)










This is Jill and I having fun :) How Cute!








This Is Jill Crackin Nuts in my Kitchen- she made a huge mess but it was fun!

update on funeral

So if you read my last blog I told you about how awesome our community was to all come together to support our fallen soldier. Here is how cool we are. Yesterday for the protest, 2500 to 3000 people showed up to stay outside and over 1000 were inside for the actual funeral, over 1500 motorcycles were there with all sorts of different groups and only four, yes 4 of them from Kansas. Don't think they will be back. To read the full story you can find it here.

Please check it out if you have time, its an awesome story. Once again, Proud to be AN AMERICAN and from the TRI-CITIES!!

Our Hero

Today was the funeral for a Tri-City Solder that died in Iraq last month! Today I did something that meant so much to me because I support everyone of our solders over there right now, as i have many friends that have been there and are still there! There is a church from Kansas City that goes and protests at the funerals for all our soldiers that die! First of all this makes me so sick to just hear about it. So the family of Sgt. Travis Pfister asked that friends family and our community come together and block the protesters view from being able to see anything. So today i went thinking i would be one of a few hundred people with our American Flags Supporting our troops. Man i was wrong! It took me 30 minuets to get a block from the event (which was being held at the TRAC in Pasco). Not only were there a few hundred people, but alone over 500 motorcycles and a few thousand people protesting the protesters! The highways and intersections were so jam packed you were unable to budge, from the distance you could see 2 huge American flags hanging from cranes and fire Tuck's ladders- it was a sight to see. So I find a parking spot and walk over to were everyone was standing to turn around and find 5-10 of these protesters that came out from Kansas holding digesting signs that read such as.. "God ate our children" "your pastors a whore" "God hates Fags" etc etc... The sings were horrible! Not only where there adults out there, but young teenagers and kids as well. They were yelling at us the entire time, but we were asked by the family to not respond or yell back, but to just simply turn your backs on them and block there view from seeing anything. People were going by in there cars honking there horns at us and waving in support. It was such an awesome feeling to be there i had goosebumps. After being there only a short time, the 5-10 of them got in the car and left as we all chanted the "hey, hey, hey, Good- bye" song and they were escorted out by 3 police cars and a shitload of motorcycles. I don't think they will be stopping anywhere close to town for a while.

Check out this web page: Church

and also this flier

This was the flier that happen today.

RIP Travis Pfister... God bless his family and friends

Will Some please put a stop to this horrible group.

PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!!

BBQing

I just have to say I'm so proud of myself. I decided to try making steaks on my barbecue that i got for Christmas and they turned out so good! I didn't even burn them or under cook them. They had the best flavor i enjoyed them with some garlic biscuits and red wine! Yummy :)

sheet rock

In my garage, i have 2 walls that already have sheet rock on them because they have to have it on all the walls that combine with the inside of the house. But that leaves the outside wall undone with no insulation or sheet rock witch made it really cold in there this winter. One of my co-workers is building a house and had some left over sheet rock and he gave it to me today. The one wall could have cost me a couple hundred dollars to do, an will not cost me next to nothing! I'm so excited to get it finish and to have such an awesome co-worker to help me out. Besides getting the sheet rock for free, my brother used to work for a dry wall company he is offered to help me put it up for just beer :) Who would of thunk my brother could be so nice. It feels so good to be able to have my own place, but its really nice to know that I have family, friends and co-workers to step up and help me! Thanks guys!

my nephew!

Sorry, since i learned how to do this picture thing, its kind of fun! This is my Nephew Ethan last week, he will be 2 in March, Can you believe how big he is getting! They grow so fast and its so sad, but just when you think they can not get any cuter, they do! He is holding a remote control and pretending its a phone... at least he is happy with it! :)

my room!

So i just learned how to post pictures so i wanted to try it out, and I couldn't find anything better to post- so check out my room that my sister-in-law painted for my B-day! I wanted to paint it but I'm not that good of a painter so one day while i was at work she surprised me and had it all done for me when i got home! What a great b-day present!






I love to paint when i first get the idea, but once i actually get started i just wish i was done with it and never started, so it was extra special to have it done and cleaned up for me. What do you think of the colors?

Snow Skiing

I forgot just how fun Snow Skiing was! I was able to go yesterday- and thank God I'm off work today because i really need to rest. It was so empty so we never had to wait in line for the chair lift, and the weather was pretty good. At the very top it got pretty windy, but as soon as you left the very top it was perfect skiing conditions. The snow was really good and the best part... I DIDN'T GET HURT!! I'm still alive and functioning today although i have a horrible cold which yesterday just made it worse, I'm all good.

I Should really try to go skiing more often :)

Don't take for granted......

I go through life everyday with my normal routine of getting up early, take a shower, eat breakfast, go to work, work out, drive home, fix dinner and watch Ellen that was recorded and go to bed to start my next day over.. However the past few days I lost something that I now realized I took for granted. My HOT WATER!! When its 28 degrees outside and you have no hot/warm or anything but freezing water to wash your hands in- it sucks!!! Something happened to my hot water take on Tuesday at some point so when I got home from work, I had to wash my face in COLD water- which wakes you up when all you want to do is go to sleep. Thankfully we have a shower at work that no one uses so I had to get up early and go into work to get ready before any patients arrived. I called our Gas company (who works on the gas water heaters) and they said it would be a couple days before they could get to my house, and it would be between 8am-5pm!! How helpful is that? Today they came and it ended up being no big deal and were able to fix it pretty quick and didn't charge me anything- but the next time you wash your hands and you have warm water- appreciate it! :) I know I do now.

Life is to short
grudges area waste of perfect happiness
laugh when you can
apologize when you should
and let go of what you can't change.

Love deeply and forgive quickly
take chances...give everything
and have no regrets.

Life is to short to be unhappy
you have to take the good with the bad
smile when your sad
love what you got
and always remember what you had.

Always forgive but never forget
learn from your mistakes
but never regret
people change and things go wrong
but always remember
LIFE GOES ON!!!

Sunday Morning Church

Over the past month I have been trying new churches around the area in hopes of finding one that I can relate with and attend on Sundays. This morning I think I might have found the one.... Its called Faith Assembly and is in Pasco about 5 blocks from my house. Today's message really touched me and thought I would share it with you as you all begin to meet up with friends and family and are about to start your traveling...


"What do you WANT from Christmas" was the topic of today's sermon. Hoping that someone has asked you that this year means that you have someone who cares about you enough to want to know you WANT. It means you have friends, family, boyfriend/girlfriend, or maybe a stranger wanting to know what you wish for on Christmas. People tend to get a little greedy during Christmas (me included) that we ask for big things such as expensive perfumes, cloths from famous stores, computers, all the new electronics that come out, your 300th pair of shoes or purse. And when it comes to Christmas morning you open your gifts to find some thing you want, but also find socks, underwear, toothbrushes, stuff you need to live your daily life. We all wish that we could get the daily life stuff all the other times of year and only want the big stuff for Christmas. Well today's message was instead of asking what you WANT for Christmas, Try asking "What do you NEED for Christmas". I started thinking about this and decided to make a list of each, what I Want, and what I Need!

What I WANT:

*money *perfume *computer *cloths *digital camera * a roommate *BBQ *a TV *gift cards to anywhere *some movies and CD's * CD player *new window for my car *new pots and pans... The list could go on and on

What I NEED:
*my family *my friends *faith *God *holiday spirit

I have come to realize that there is a huge difference from what I want and need and this Christmas while I'm opening gift I will be receiving great items of all sorts while being surrounded by what I need- MY FAMILY and God!

I encourage everyone to make a list of wants and needs and see how different your two list comes out.

As everyone begins there traveling- please be safe and have a wonderful Christmas with your family and friends! God Bless!

Tri-Cities at Christmas!

Tonight was the best night I have had in a long time! I love Christmas and everything it stands for, so I asked Liz to go look at Christmas lights with me. So she got her wine, (yes I was driving so I stuck with hot coco) and off we went. We started in Pasco where they were having a light project. It was 49 blocks that featured 28,000 bags with candles in each one lineing the streets and sidewalks of the homes!! It was so incredible as your driving down the road (everyone with there lights off of course) and all you see were bags and bags and bags up and down all 49 blocks! The homes were decorated so nice with lots of lights and yard fixtures, people having bon fires in their driveways, dressing up as Santa and yelling "Merry Christmas" to all the passing cars! There were limousines, people walking around the neighborhood and the horse and buggy that you could ride around in. It was so nice to see a development all come together to create this memory for my friend and I and so many other people in the Tri-cities. Each house had to pay $9.00 to get involved but it was so worth it. That in itself makes me want to move to that neighborhood! Thanks to everyone involved to make it a wonderfully powerful evening.

After that beautiful adventure- we headed into Kennewick (just across the river) and went to two homes. They have there lights programmed to a Christmas Music Station so you can sit in your car, listen to Christmas music and watch an amazing light show on the house and in there yard that corresponds to the song on the radio. One home we went to had 40,000 lights in his display. Another home we went to did the same thing, but had a Polar Express theme with thousands of lights and yard fixtures including trains,Santas, and the talking Rudolph reindeer named Marty. They started working on these projects a couple years ago and each week are continuing to add new songs to their light show. They are also using there light show for a opportunity to help raise money for Royal Family Kids Camp, and the other is a drop site for Toys for Tots. If anyone is interested, you can check out there web pages at, www.lights4christ.com or www.loghtanimators.com

If anyone living in the Tri-Cities has a chance, I would highly recommend checking out these homes! They are playing every night until 9:30 on weekdays, and 10:30 weekends.

Hope you all have a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

What's Up With Her?

I got this in an e-mail today and I think its to good not to pass on! You will understand! Amy


What's Up With Her?

There comes a time in every woman's life when she has to take a close look at herself. Not at her circumstance, not at what she did, not how unfair life is, or not at whom made you do it. She has to just look at herself in all her glory and imperfection.

Have you ever admired a woman who has been through changes in her life? Or have you made up in your mind that she is just messed up. Before you make this mistake, take a closer look. A woman who has endured the most unusual life is someone of wisdom, someone who has been chosen by God to go through things that have made her stronger.

Think of all the great women in the bible: Mary Magdalene, Ruth and Naomi, the woman with an issue of blood flow, and Esther, to name a few. Mary was a prostitute, a very uneasy woman. But by the time Jesus was done with her, she was His closest follower. Esther was unfortunate in marrying an abusive man, but by the time God was done with her, she had married one of the wealthiest men in the land.

Women are so quick to beat the next one down instead of trying to hold her up. Before you wonder, "What's up with her?" ask yourself, "What's up with me?" That woman could be my mother, sister, aunt, in-law, stepmother, niece, grandmother, great-grandmother, neighbor, friend, or coworker, etc. That woman could be me. Women are the carriers of life, not the channels of death. Let's build and encourage each other, as did Ruth and Naomi.

Pass this to all the women in your life. Enco urage and Love, Forgive and Forget, and trust that the woman that receives this will be touched in some way.

May peace and love be upon you.

Sorrow looks back, worry looks around, but FAITH looks up.



YOUR ATTITUDE WILL DETERMINE YOUR ALTITUDE



May your troubles be less, your blessings more, and nothing but happiness comes through your door!

This is my challenge to all you girls! I know I don't have very many female friends and its because "we" are all so dang mean to each other and always feel like we have to one up the other. So my challenge to you is to next time, ask "what's up with ME!!"

The best day!

For me and my friends birthday (which is in two weeks) we decided to just spend the day hanging out instead of buying each other crap we don't really need. So we started off the day at a nice little coffee stand getting our normal Mocha's and then of to Reflections where we enjoyed an hour of wonderful foot rubbin pedicures! They had the big comfy black chairs with the massage, and the hole ten yards. So after having pretty feet, we went back to my house where we enjoyed the last two pieces of chocolate cake I got from work for my birthday on Thursday and had some wine. Wine at 12:30 is not against the law (especially if your having cake!). A friend who is in massage school came over and we each got to enjoy a nice hour long full body massage. I think EVERYONE needs to treat themselves to these more often! I felt so good after that I didn't want to even move off the table.... But I managed to pull my self up and get dressed up a little (meaning I curled my hair and put on some makeup, with cute sandals to show off my cute toes) and went to a new restaurant in town call Bonefish Grill! WOW~ What a wonderful dinner that was! We each got a martini which for me was called a hypnotic martini that had a blue glow stick in it (and yes I brought it home with me) and my friend enjoyed a raspberry Martini, although she enjoyed mine much more :). We got some Salmon and halibut and shared half and half with each other to enjoy a few more things on the menu, along with potatoes with 5 different types of cheese, fresh corn cut right off the Cobb with bacon and butter, and fabulous bread with oil dipping sauce!! What a great dinner, thankfully I can enjoy it all over again tomorrow when I heat up my leftovers :).

From there we decided to go shopping at Victoria's Secret, which we did not buy anything although we were tempted. We had to walk off some of our dinner and what better place than the mall being its 30 degrees outside with a nasty wind! From there we decided we better keep drinking so we went into a local bar and had a drink to just relax (some more) and look back on our wonderful day we just spent together. What more can two friends really want :)

From there out time together was over as she had to return to being a mom and wife, but thankfully since I live by myself, I decided I was not done spoiling my self yet so I put on a nice radio station with romantic love songs, poured myself another glass of wine, and soaked in a nice hot bubble bath for a while! At this point, I think I can be done for at least another month..... But next month I might just have to do this again!

Anyway, thanks to Liz for spending our birthdays together today (which in case you were wondering we did sing "happy birthday to us" several times through out the day!) and just enjoying each others company. After 8 years of friendship, sometimes that's all that's needed to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US!

Why are we such good friends?

"Why are we such good friends when all we do is fight?
Why are we such good friends when I'm not the one you like?
You said you always loved me, you said you always would,
but why are we such good friends when you never could?
You said you would meet me at 10, You said you would meet me at 5
but why did you ever say that when you never showed up on time?
You never call to talk to me, you never know I'm gone,
why do you say were such good friends when you know that's wrong?
Now I've realized why it turned out this way, I figured it out only this way:
You have so many other friends, and that is good for you,
I know why I am left out, I'm not as good as you.
You may say that I am jealous, and that may be true,
But I am not jealous because I'm not like you,
I'm jealous because I want a friend....The friend I am to you. "

-Amy


I wrote this poem in 5th grade and never had the guts to share it with anyone.... But found it today in an old box of mine and thought I would share it. To all my friends, and my 2 best friends- THANKS for being the friend I "try" to be to you!!!

R.I.P.

I received this quote the other day and felt like it needed to be passed on:

"I always feel sorry for people who think more about a rainy day ahead than sunshine today."
-Ray Foley

I think so many people are so busy trying to "plan" their future life that they forget about what's happening in the world TODAY!! I wish that people could stop worrying about if they are going to get married next year, if they are ever going to have kids, what color there wedding is going to be, if you will graduate from school, if you can fit into your shorts by next summer......Etc.. And just be happy to be alive today!! I am really trying to encourage people to be happy where you are at right know, cause you never know if you will ever live long enough to make all your "future plans" happen. This comes because, as you have read in my past blogs, some young people in the Tri-Cities have died unexpectedly. Well, another one has happened. A young guy who graduated the year behind me, leaving him at 22 died in a car accident on Saturday night. It is so sad to see this happen to these young people- and to think that he had his future planed out and now he is not alive to accomplish it. I hope that he was happy with his life and where he was at that day!- as I hope for everyone out there, that if you were to die tomorrow, you died a happy Man/Woman!!! God Bless!!! ( RIP Chico)

ELTON JOHN!

I just wanted to share with everyone that I am taking my mom and grandma up in the morning to Portland to see Elton John in concert. That is my mom's all time favorite singer so for her birthday Dad and I went in and bought her a ticket. So we are going up a day early to do some shopping (I know, kind of dangerous!!) I will try to get some pictures and maybe post about it when I get back.... In the mean time- I hope everyone has a FANTASTIC weekend!!