Here I Go...Look Out!!!

Okay, it's official!! I have been scrapbooking and cardmaking for some time now, but until now I had yet to put my work on display. That is all changing today. I decided that I am going to showcase some of my stuff on my other blog: www.sinceresimplicity.blogspot.com as well as on galleries in the stamping arena so I can finally get some feedback and figure out what my next crafting step will be.

I have always wanted to potentially make some money at my hobby (just enough to support the habit) , and I think this will help me achieve that goal.

Soon enough, I will also be opening an Etsy store (it's a website where all kinds of handmade items are bought and sold), and I will let you all know when that happens.

In the meantime, just think good thoughts for me.

Thank God for Fevers and Phone Nurses...

So the other day Steven and the kids and I were at our friends' the Silva's house for dinner. After dinner (or before I can't remember because it seems these days that I have short term memory loss...) Alecia began snapping pictures of Jackson. This girl has amazing talent (and her own portrait studio might I add) and in the matter of minutes she had taken some darling pictures. Then she went into her office, did some editing, and this, my friends is the outcome. It is really wonderful having such amazingly talented friends!

Which brings me nicely to the other reason for this post. Lots of people say that blogging is kind of like journaling and someday when years have passed, you can look back at the things you've blogged about and remember the stories of your life.... Some blog entries are funny (like the things our kids say or do), some are sad (like when a family member or dear pet falls ill or passes away), and some are straight from the heart because they "just need to be written"...

To have a friend like Alecia is a blessing. Simply stated, the time spent together is easy and fun and makes us both laugh. It also seems to offer the safety for feeling comfortable enough to cry, and open up about the burdens on our hearts.

This has not always been the case, however. There have been times when "life happened" to the two of us, hearts have been broken, and the distance between us has been cold and far. In those times, I tried to rationalize with "well some people come into your life for a time and then life moves on..." However, there was not a day that went by that I didn't think about her or her family and wonder if things could have (or should have) gone differently. In fact, at the risk of sounding a bit "stalker-esque" I even drove by her house once with fresh made chocolate chip cookies, wondering if I should just "stop in and chat". But I didn't, I drove home and ate the whole batch myself....

Anyway, one fateful day (about 18 months into having not seen or spoken) I got a call on the nurse triage line where I work as a phone nurse. As soon as the person on the other end began to speak, my heart threatened to beat out of my chest....I recognized that voice....it was hers. It was Alecia, and she was calling about her son who had a fever. I am not someone who gets nervous as a rule, but I was nervous in that moment. I knew who she was but she didn't know it was me. I identified myself, gave her the option of talking to another nurse, and she graciously declined saying she trusted my medical judgement and wanted to hear what I had to say.

So we talked about fever and what to watch for, and then we just talked....

The conversation was not at all like I had hypothesized it would be. It was calm, and collected and extremely pleasant. I couldn't talk for very long seeing as I was at work, but we did talk for a bit and we got caught up on what had happened in our lives in the last year and a half.

To make a very long story short, Alecia and I got together a few more times to talk about things, and the growth that she and I had both made personally in our time apart, continues to astound me today. True, feelings had been hurt and hearts had been cracked, but that was not enough to keep us from figuring it out and putting the pieces back together. It truly felt as if something larger was at play, because the reconnection (although very emotional) was somehow seamless...

I love Alecia and her family with everything I have, and I appreciate more than she will ever know the part that she plays in my life. I am saddened when I think about all that we missed in the 18 months of our lives that we were not speaking, but I am looking so forward to the fact that now we have the rest of our lives to share...

****

Thank God (really) for fevers and phone nurses. And truly amazing friendships.

Christmas 2008

Visit www.moblyng.com to make your own!

Happy Birthday, Babe!!

Just about fifteen years ago, I was lucky enough to meet the man of my dreams. Fifteen years ago I met the person who was put on this earth to be my partner in life. The man who would be with me and bear witness to all of my most cherished memories, and the man who would make it his mission to hold my heart together in the times it felt it would break into a million tiny pieces. Fifteen years ago, I came face to face with the man who would give me three of the most amazing children. What a lucky girl am I to have met him so long ago and shared so very much. My husband, Steven, is a wonderful man, and the half that makes my heart whole.

Steven, I love you more than you will ever begin to know. Thank you for all you do and all that you are. I love you, Babe. Happy 31st birthday!!

Colton is 5 years old!!!

On September 4th, Colton Lane Finnegan reached a milestone....he turned 5 years old. I could not be more proud of the five year old that he has become. He is the sweetest son, brother, grandson, nephew and cousin any of us could ask for. The way in which he looks out for his brothers, and the way he loves on his new cousin, is AMAZING!

He is in preschool again this year (his early September birthday causes him to miss the kindergarten deadline) and he is a learning machine. He looks forward to going to school each day, and can't wait to tell Steven and I what he learned when he gets home.

He would like everyone to know a few of his favorites at the ripe old age of five, so here goes...

1.) Favorite color: White, because "it's just white" (doesn't get any simpler than that folks)

2.) Favorite thing to do: go to school, because "I like to play on the swingset"

3.) Favorite thing to eat for dinner: Brocolli chicken, because "I like brocolli"

4.) Favorite person: Aidan, because "he's my brother and he's fun to play with"

5.) Favorite thing to play: IronMan, because "it's what Aidan always wants to do"

6.) Favorite TV show: Batman

7.) Favorite place to go: Disneyland and Legoland (this child, thanks to having grandparents in Southern CA, has been to Disneyland twice already and is going again in 4 weeks)

8.) Favorite sport: football and soccer, because "I love to kick and run and it makes my energy go"

And last but not least....

9.) Reason you love your beautiful mother so much, because "hmmmm, let's see.....I guess because you play in the playroom with us sometimes?" Thanks, bud. :o)

Anyway, to my sweet Cole a few weeks after your birthday...

I love you more than you will ever know and I am so proud of the boy you are becoming. You are smart, and funny, and you have a strong ability to share your love for others even at just five years of age. Your little brothers both look up to and cherish you. You are such an inspiration. I look forward to all the years to come and all of the accomplishments Daddy and I will be witness to. You are a wonderful boy. Happy birthday.

Welcome to the World, Baby Taven!

I am an Auntie!!!! My youngest brother, Trent and his wife Andrea (the world's greatest sister in law) were just recently blessed with the birth of their first child, Taven Ross Clancy. Taven was born on September 13th at a whopping 5lbs 15oz. He is beautiful and probably the tiniest baby I have ever held. I took Cole, Aidan, and Jackson up to visit the Thursday after he was born, and none of us could get enough. My parents were in town from California to welcome their fourth grandson (can you believe all the boys?!!) and they were on Cloud 9. Steven came up as well, after work on Friday, and we all spent the weekend just being one big family and showering Trent, Andrea, and Taven with love. It was wonderful. Trent and Andrea are spectacular parents and I can't wait for all the memories "the cousins" are all going to have together.

Jack is a big boy now...or at least he looks like one!

So both Cole and Aidan had their first haircuts right around 12 months of age. Jack, on the other hand, had not had one at all until a few days ago. I don't know if I was holding off because he just doesn't have all that much hair, or if subconciously I knew that it meant he was growing up. The hair that he did have would curl up in the back and around his ears and was darling....In this picture, however, it is not so darling. I had an awakening the other morning....my baby was developing a mullet. A very thin and uneven mullet, mind you, but a mullet none the less.

So out came the clippers and Jack was strapped into his highchair. Let me just say this is one of the most mellow and happy kids on the planet...he smiled the whole time...even when there was cut hair on his face, in his mouth and under his shirt. What a trooper.

Truth be told, I did tear up a little when it was all said and done because my sweet baby of 14 months suddenly looked (to me) like he was a a big boy, with a big boy haircut! He has always resembled Colton and Aidan, but now I see a whole new level of similarity between the three of them. I don't know how it happened so quickly but it seems I am the mother of three (very handsome) very "big boys"...