Tears, Friends and Projects.

Saturday morning I attended a funeral for Louis Damolaris.
You may not know this about me, but I suck at lying, bright cheery words and false hope. A very good friend of mine chose to let me spend this time with her, knowing full well that I'm not the best at cheering anyone up.
You see both her and I, have buried people before. Early deaths, shocking deaths, painful deaths. She and I both know that tender sympathy and kind words are hollow.
Instead I sat next to her and cried.

Afterwards we went up to one of her favorite places and had waffles.

In typical, lets be a brat moment, I had the staff call out for Hot Stuff when our food was up. Her daughter is now embarrassed to be seen with me. (Love you Megan!)

We spent the rest of the day together with my best friend Margie. We ate, chatted, laughed, made fun of people and each other, yelled at traffic and watched Insurgent.
We didn't try to forget or avoid sensitive topics, we didn't try to paint pretty pictures of the future, we just spent the day together.

Sunday started off with a... broken window that we are positive the Wa-Um must have broken. The Wa-Um is our son's imaginary friend/monster. The Wa-Um has been blamed for everything since my son was two years old. Since NO ONE told us that it broke or how, it MUST be the Wa-Um again.
Dang! I really hoped that when we moved, we'd left him behind.

Our chickens are growing quickly and are adorable. So far they are very quiet and well behaved.
My bestie though has taken to calling me the Chicken Epi Lady. While I adore her, I am thinking up future pay backs for this one.

The Kitchen garden is done! We've filled in the dirt, separated the sections, and I finished planting it today! Now all I have to do is weed, water and wait. 

I hate wait.

I have to go now, hubby is calling me to help fix the window and he really, REALLY wants me off the computer! 

Early Easter, Dirt and TMI

Hubby's work once again did the Easter Egg hunt for the kids! We did the 4:30 hunt, but due to how many employees they have, they also did a 5:30 hunt as well.

G'man went nuts and came away with more candy than I think any other kid got - his bucket was FULL.

Prissy was just happy that she got to take a photo with the Disney Princesses!

Both kids have enough candy to make them sick for at least a week! Easter isn't even here and already I'm wishing the candy far far away!

My sister ended up in the E.R today and will be going in for surgery to remove her gallbladder soon.

Prayers for her health, safety and finances are greatly appreciated! 

My kitchen garden dirt (half topsoil/half compost) arrived and needs to be shoveled into the bed area.

We are hoping its enough dirt - if not we may need to buy more.

I think between the pile and the rest of our own compost pile we will have enough. Hubby is slightly worried.

He is such a perfectionist - I don't know how in the world he's managed to be married to me for so long and stay... somewhat sane?

My grasp on sanity slipped years back - if I ever had a hold at all.

I am still working out daily and still losing. Its slow but I'm seeing progress! 

Also in a weird, what the hey, TMI moment I got a new tiny cute torture device called an Epilator. This is a mechanical tweezer machine that rips the hair out of your body. The first minute or so is quite painful - it fades and you are left with incredibly smooth arm pits and legs.

Seriously my body hasn't been this smooth since I was 12.

If you want to have smooth skin for swimsuit season and can handle a little pain, you should look into one!

Cinder Garden and a Lovely Mess

Saturdays always start out rough for me. G'man will come in and wake us up - early. He doesn't know how to sleep in. Hubby once awake can not return to sleep - EVER. I adore this man, but this is a serious failing.
At this point in the morning I always burrow into the blankets and try to pretend the world doesn't exist. I am accomplished at this.
Hubby will make coffee and then return to tease, tickle and finally drag me from the bed. Its our game - don't judge, we end up giggling like kids, while our kids judge us loudly.

Yesterday during the burrow stage I got a message from my friend Sara! They wanted to meet for breakfast!
Hubby knew something was up when I jumped from the bed and started dressing - by choice.
20 min later and we were sitting down to eat with our long time friends Shayne and Sara.

After breakfast we head out to Ikea - today is the day I get a new mattress! Also I don't have photos but my hubby fixed the microwave saving us a few hundred! (Ladies always marry someone handy!)

We found a firm foam mattress and had the two store employees laughing. I guess we aren't the normal type of people who try out mattresses. No one else laid down, rolled over, bounced and kicked each other... some people are just boring.

We headed home much poorer than when we set out, but very happy.

After dumping our old mattress in a dumpster nearby we headed home to attack our backyard projects.

First off the kids (mine and ALL the neighborhood kids) decided to help paint. We will need to repaint the lettuce box and pull the pink paint from Patches face (the girls got him).
Our neighbors are moving, they had TONS of cement retaining wall blocks in their driveway for a project they never got around too - to make a long story short we helped them clean up their driveway and we got the blocks!
Hubby is making a new kitchen garden for the small veggies right next to the kitchen!
Dirt for this area will arrive Monday afternoon!
Yes, I am spoiled. No I will NEVER find someone who spoils me as much as he does.

I adore project days! Also I LOVE the new mattress! Its hard but still comfortable.
I am still at 208 but am getting loser in my clothing so I am sure that once again I am exchanging fat for muscle. My arms are sore right now from all the lifting. Each one of those blocks weighs between 80-100 pds EACH.

I have to run now - I have dishes, a quick run to the store and then a friend is coming over!
Let the good times roll!

Chicken Coop and Fun

It will be after 8 pm when I'm done writing this post - and I've finally sat down for the first time since 10 am!
If I hadn't been working out for the past two months there is NO WAY I would've made it through today!

Last night my daughter had a sleep over, at which of course no one slept. This morning we hit the ground running!
Thankfully I made a filling breakfast of scrambled eggs, turkey bacon and toast. Oh and COFFEE!!! Massive amounts of yummy Cherry Chocolate Coffee!

First off we finished adding the chicken wire to the chicken coop, made their ramp and then brought the little buggers out of the house and outside for the first time!
After that we ran off to Lowes for more supplies. At this point they should just give me stock in their company.

We aren't fully done with it, but its fine for spring/summer. We may add a second set of laying boxes on the other side and we will be adding windows to it tomorrow.

A few months ago Hubby and I found the most amazing cull lumber at Lowes (returned or damaged items for WAY cheap). We were able to buy two massive cart loads of cedar 6 ft. fencing for 22.00!
Now we are building the outer fence for the chickens with it! We have two sections up today and will finish one wall tomorrow.
This way they will have a day area for them to range, play, and eat in, as well as, an inner safer area for nighttime.
I never ever thought I would be a chicken lady, but hey life's an adventure right?

Not mine, not mine, not mine, not mine, mine and mine - top large ;)

At least these guys think so! 

They had a ball playing together today! The girls decided to use chalk to make them... something.

One girl wanted to look fierce, another pretty, colorful, hilarious... each to their own.

They were together, they were playing and they were enjoying life! What else needs to be said?

Goals and Catching Up

I know that its been almost two years since I've blogged regularly. So what happened? Well if you followed me for a while or read through my, Path to Me, posts you would know that I've been working on finding me again.
The snarky, feisty, loudmouthed trouble maker that I missed terribly, but had become to tired and depressed to be.
Two years ago I WOKE UP.
Fully and completely.

Around the same time my husband went in for gastric bypass surgery and started to have seizures. He has dropped from 365 pds to 209!!!

Hubby when he's bored and missing me at work

He is still having seizures - they are growing more frequent and terrifyingly we haven't been able to determine the cause.
Thankfully he is on a medication that has minimized the effects of the seizures and has stopped them from being severe.

Due to his amazing progress in weight loss my darling hubby put money aside so that I could go in for the surgery as well. When he went in I weighed 236 pds. This Jan. I've finally managed to reach 216 pds.
Twenty pounds isn't something to be sad about, but still in a year in a half I wanted more progress so I agreed to undergo surgery.
HOWEVER - while I may be fearless about many things, I'm a HUGE chicken butt when it comes to hospitals!
The next day after agreeing to meet with a doctor for surgery I started HARD work on the treadmill. Starting with 60 min a day. After a week moving up to 90 min and now I am at 100 min a day.
I am down to 208 pds. and will continue to work my BUTT (quite literally) off!

I would rather cut out junk food, soda and work hard then have invasive life altering surgery. I have also agreed with my over clever husband that if I slack off and stop - I go in.
He is afraid for me. He is afraid that something could happen to both of us. Which coming from a long family line of heart issues on both sides of my family, I have to admit, his fear for me is valid.

The best thing about getting my spark back? My sense of fun?
I have more energy. I'm more creative. More active. My life the past two years has been FILLED!

To add to the fun list of things I need to catch you guys up on, my husband spent a weekend a few weeks ago and built a chicken coop from scratch. (Yes, he really is that good)
We have 9 chickens at the moment living and stinking up his office/my workout room. Tomorrow we will finish the outside fence of the coop and get them outside!
(You have NO idea how happy I am about this!)
I will post photos soon. Maybe even tomorrow but I can't make promises.
We will be hard at work getting the outer fence up, as well as running a power line from the back of the house to the coop so they won't freeze at night.

So in the quick brief bit I managed to write out - I'm awake, alive, causing mayhem and getting projects done!

Tickets? Pentatonix and Kelly Clarkson

My best friend and I... what can I say? In some ways we are identical to the point of it being scary!
However, there are a few things we are polar opposites on! (food, movies, books)
Music is our one in between.
We like several of the same artists, adore and sing many of the same songs, but when it comes to concerts.... we DON'T.
16 years of BFF craziness and not one concert. We've sung in the car, on campus, around people, at people, clubbing and the odd random moments in the grocery store.
I've gone to TONS of concerts. She has gone to TONS as well.

So this year when my all time favorite group Pentatonix came into Orem, Ut. (still quite far from me) I didn't go.

However, when they announced they were joining up for a summer tour with Kelly Clarkson.... well my BFF might have gone nuts!

One of her favs and my fav's together? HECK YES! Not only did we score some amazing tickets! (Row G) but she became an exclusive member of Smith Tix, just so we could get them 4 days earlier!

Now the big question is what are we going to wear? I highly doubt that my hubby will allow me to make a shirt that says, "Property of Avi, return if lost."
Nor do I think I could get my BFF to wear a matching shirt... Good thing we have until Aug. 8th to figure this out!


Also for my long time readers I have been working out daily for 2 months and am losing the weight. FINALLY!
So I won't be buying any shirts for the concert until its closer since I am hoping to drop a size or two!

I would also like to thank our two amazing and sweet husbands who have put up with our craziness for years and will continue to do so with patient and loving smiles!
You two are both NUTS for putting up with us - but we adore you both!

Dear Me

Moving through the internet lately has been #DearMe. Where you give advice to younger women by saying what you would say to your younger self if you had the chance.
As always mine will be a bit different, but then again I'm not normal so here goes.

Dear Me;

Remember in Kindergarten when you counted the dots on the ceiling (loudly) to get out of time out? Remember the principal coming down? And how you spent the rest of the year visiting him in his office for 10 min a day? (and every day for the next 4 years)
Thank you! Those times ROCKED! I also have such great stories!

Remember in Third grade when you stood in front of the bulldozers and encouraged at least 45 other students of various ages to stand with you? Remember how they ran when the principal came over?
Remember how he had to erect in a 6 ft. fence around the entire "old" playground, to keep YOU out?
Thank you! I LOVE and adore how you were fearless!

Remember in the Seventh grade when your science teacher, vice principal and principal would rather believe you were a math and science genius to have figured out the rockets trajectory so that it would hit the vice principals car, than believe it was an accident?
Thank you! Evil genius does have a good ring to it!

Remember the first day of High School? First class Drivers Ed? Remember the look on your Drivers Ed teacher's face, when we were bumper tagged by our guy friends? (at least 10 guys in two cars - one in front of us, one behind.) How he asked if you were a cheerleader? You said no and waved at the guys, thanking them for embarrassing you and for being the best guy friends in the world!
Thank you! People still don't believe that one!

Remember moving to Phoenix? Your roommates? The year of both hell and growth. Of friendships that you still have?
Thank you! I can't imagine my life without that!

Remember being up for anything? Like randomly going to a College Swing Club?
Thank you! I met my BEST FRIEND of all time there, plus learned to dance!

Remember getting kicked out of Trolley Square Mall for playing laser tag? Or playing roller blade laser tag downtown SLC at midnight and getting yelled at by the Circus for moving their traffic cones?
Thank you! I look back and KNOW that I LIVED life to the fullest!

Remember Wil? The guy with the UGLY sweater and the corduroy pants?
Thank you! For giving him a shot! This April 27th will be our 13th anniversary!

Thank you! You made great choices, lived life and enjoyed every second! We didn't do anything that the media thinks teens do. We never drank, smoked, did drugs or had sex outside of marriage.
I was never arrested, never involved in crime and AMAZINGLY I look back on my life with happiness. I LIVED.
I have memories of adventure, friendships, camps, activities, sports and love.
I am still trying to be that brave spontaneous person. Still living, still enjoying life and all that is around me. I refuse to fall into a rut and become bored with the life I live.
Thank you! Because you were fearless, so am I.





I am also raising my children to enjoy life's quirky moments - Midnight Recyclers