Melting Pot!

I have a lot to catch up on before I get to Thanksgiving! So here we go...

On Nov. 20th Brian, Sean, DeAnna, Justin and Sheena celebrated our birthday at the Melting Pot! I love the melting pot... I truly do... It's so good! And I got a FISHBOWL sized long island iced tea.. which, let me say, is like a FISH TANK if you don't drink often, like me. I never drank on my 21st birthday because I had a 5 week old baby to nurse lol.. So now I'm good for another year, drinking just isn't as much fun as I remember it from YEARS passed! LOL!

Anyway, we had a great time! Here are a few pics!

Happy Birthday.. to ME!

Ah yes, so today DeAnna and I turned 22! After a busy day, I could collapse in bed.. but rather than that, I couldn't help but think that I need to wind down first, and what better than to post pictures and blog about my day? I couldn't think of anything better either, so READ on my fellow blog readers!!

I started my day the same way I start every Tuesday, SCRAMBLED to get the kids ready for Women's Bible Study. We got there surprisingly on time, considering I thought we were running super late. Brian wasn't here to help, he's gone hunting for today and tomorrow. Yes, I know, it's my birthday and he's hunting... Originally I was upset, but after he went above and beyond, helping everyone orchestrate my birthday plans, even down to having flowers sent to me and a babysitter lined up... I forgave him. Besides, DeAnna and Sean wanted to go to dinner together and Sean won't be here until Thursday night, so we post-poned our birthday 'date' until Thursday night. We're going to the Melting Pot, and I'm SO excited.

Anywho, following my final day of Bible study in the Psalms, I went home and got the kiddos to take a nap. I think I dozed off for a moment also, but I guess I will never be sure, haha. I got ready and got the kids in comfy clothes to go to my friend Krystle's house. I got them to her house and headed to St. James Tearoom in Old Town. My navigation did a HORRIBLE job telling me where to go, but like they say with most computer operated issues, it was likely me that was doing something wrong, lol.


As soon as I walked in I saw this adorable little gift shop, with a shabby chic/overthetopadorable gift shop. Fully stocked with antique-esque tea sets, teas, boutique clothing, the works! Here are a few pictures I snapped of the gift shop room:

And here are a few pictures of the different Parlors available:

And here are the HATS, we had so much fun picking different hats. DeAnna even has one of those mink type of animals draped on her shoulder, those just creeped me out.

The hallways dividing the parlors:

And OUR parlor! We had 2 different teas that were just AMAZING. I'm a big tea fan!

Me and Mercy, the awesome lady that came up with it all for our birthday! Sidenote: She had planned on taking us over 2 years ago, when I was 9 months pregnant with Caleb. We had reservations and everything, however, Caleb showed up 3 weeks early! So needless to say, a whole other baby later, we've finally made it!

The birthday girl, these were candid.. I swear.. Ok, maybe they weren't.

Following our fabulous tea party, my mom, Grandma and Uncle Dicky took us to dinner at the casino... It was so cute, my mom set up all sorts of decorations and necklaces, tiaras, jewelry to make us feel something that often fades away as we become adults and lose the excitement of birthdays.... feeling extraordinary on our birthday, it totally made my day to have so many people I love, make a fuss about *my* birthday! Ok.... ok, "Our" birthday! ;)



Aww... known her since the womb-days.



I know, this is so unrelated, and YES, Caleb's naked lol, but it cracks me up how much they love those bikes. They sit on them all day lol! Caleb's always trying to figure out ways to tie them together so he can pull Lily on her bike, it cracks me up.

Ah ha, so! My dad got my sister and I these AWESOME necklaces. The top is the minora, the middle is the Star of David, and the bottom is the "Christian" Fish, I KNOW it has a name, but i Can't remember it at the moment!

I love it, Dad, GOOD JOB! ;)

My favorite things... Everyone got me things I LOVE that I'd NEVER get myself. I love the SewStylish magazine I got... I always flip through them, but never buy them for "myself," I also love the Office calendar, it's RAD, the body lotions (I use these SO much, it's something I always NEED), Scrapbooking embellishments, makeup, and you can see my flowers as well... I love everything I got, I can tell everyone put so much thought into these things, and I love the family and friends I have... Awww ;*)

Edited to add:

I forgot to tell you about my Kenny G cd!!! OMG... I seriously LOVE it. I have been looking for some relaxing Christmast tunes, and since the kids and I listen to Music Choice, "Traditional Holiday Music" I was dying for some Christmas music with instrumentals only... and I realized I preferred saxaphone above piano/etc.... So I looked in a few stores, but didn't find anything worth while... then, Mercy got me Kenny G's Holiday album. It's not pictured above because it is now dwelling in my car for the next 2 months :) I abolutely love it.

Pictures:

By popular demand, lol.. Here's Brian's 'fixerupper' lol

'89 VW Golf

I snapped a few pics of the kiddies at my Mom's of Tots group at church, we go every Thursday morning. These particular classrooms are also where Lily is every week (4 times a week) and where I volunteer, (though Lily isn't in my class yet, she's in the younger class)

Miss Lil

Now, this is Caleb's kind of fun. Climbing.

While Lily spent most of her time in the tunnels!

Awbigushywooooshy... I love that little girl.

Yesterday, Caleb got a haircut. And he NEEDED one. His hair grows so fast and he looks so much younger when it's long, so Brian and I let it grow out... but it was getting long in weird spots and NEEDED a little TLC.. So we took him to the trusty "Supercuts" Brian goes to, to get the shape fixed a bit. Here are his before/after shots:

Before:

After: (he was thrilled about the bay-oooon 'balloon')

Ok this pic I just took because I made that shirt and I was proud lol.

Now for my Monkey's pictures; with her FIRST Pony-tail with her SUPER fine hair:

(Mommy and Lily goofing around, what "Lily's" do best!)

Oh yes, the famous "Lily" grin, teeth and tongue out!

Before she notices the bow...

Oh wait, it looks like Mommy lost something in my hair again..I better take it out and give it to her...

And then she hands it to me... Boy she can make faces just like Brian!

And for good measure, a diaper shot... Because they'll never let do this when they get older! lol!

Another year older...

I'll be 22 next month. When I sit down, stare at that number, it seems so small to me considering the lifetime I've packed into it. Married, 3 kids, soccer mom, stayinguptil3inthemorningmakingnewoutfitmatchingbows mom... I can't but help be proud of the person I've become. Although, all the thanks for the person I am and will continue to try to be, can only be given to my Father, (in Heaven that is ;) sorry, dad!

In this last year, I've experienced some of my greatest joys and more tragic sorrows... Experiencing a whole new journey of 1sts with my daughter, Lily, interacting and understanding my onry 2 year old, Caleb... Mourning the loss of time with my beautiful step-daughter, Alexxa... and coping with the emotional woes attached to losing relationships with an entire family. Our lives have been forever changed by this trying year... from 21 to 22 has been the most testing period of my life.. And through all the gaping holes and slashes and losses I've undergone, God has filled my wounds and lifted me when I felt I had no hope or strength left. There was a time I was literally on my hands and knees, begging Him to fix the hurt I was feeling. I kept repeating, "Lord, fix this, fill me up with YOU, Lord, comfort me..." and in that moment, at 2 AM, as I sat in my dark and lonely living room I felt Him, I heard Him, as he told me, "Just wait, Give it time, Just wait..." and immediately I felt relief. It didn't make my problems go away, it didn't make me forget the still very real battles I knew I was going to face, BUT, it reminded me that God IS faithful. God DOES hear me. GOD.. is all I need.

So as I look back at this past year, I continue to mourn the losses of relationships, learn the lessons God brought me and piece together where to go from here... I've learned to accept the bad as I accept the good. I've learned that as hard as it is to put down my pride and apologize for the wicked things I've done, it's that much harder to apologize upon deaf ears... I've learned to prioritize what is important in my life, especially not to let go of what is important to me in order to appease everyone. I've learned that no matter how tempting it may be to give an unworthy person their "next" chance to redeem themself, sometimes it serves a greater purpose to walk away and pray for them, but not allow myself or my children to be hurt by them again.

Now, I hope for the next year that I will continue grow closer to the Lord, praising him and leaning on him often throughout my day, everyday. :)

Did you know?

Since I have SO much to say with very little to do with eachother (ie, randomness) I'm going the "Did you know" route:

Did you know?....

• That Brian got a new car? Well, actually a very OLD car, but a *new to him* car. It's an '89 VW Gti, he LOVES it... Like... seriously, LOVES it. He's really wanting to make it a project car in the future.
• Lily has an attached upper frenulum! You know, that little flap of skin that connects your upper gums to your lip? Her's extends so far that it goes between her new top teeth and onto the roof of her mouth... Everything I've read online is pointing to her having to have it snipped... ::Sigh::: I'm not thrilled, but if it's gotta be done, we'll do it! :(
• Caleb talks!! A LOT! Not real sentences, but he has complete thoughts. Lately I've been hearing a lot of his personality through his talking! He says things like, "HEY!!! Not nice, Mommy/Daddy/Lily!" or "Mommy!!! Lily is crying! Where's her bottle?" "Oh no!! What happened?" "Are you okay?" It's just super cute... he's always concerned! And still a handful!!
• I got new tires today, woo hoo! I needed them SO bad! My mom helped us out with getting them, (THANKS MOM!!!!!)
• I need a vacation.. like seriously bad!! I'm thinking the Bahamas would do me some good! I love the weather, but the dark days make me all gloomy. I'm actually considering putting all my Christmas decor up to cheer me up... but until I reach the "socially acceptable, Day after Thanksgiving 'black friday'" I ordered some Christmas-y wax tarts to get me in the "cheerful" mood. I'm also looking out for a good deal on Christmas CD's, (I'm into saxophone tunes this year, lol! I don't know why...)
• I have AWESOME friends. Claire... Hailey... I love you! ;)
• I've been volunteering in the 18-24 months class at church for over a month, and I really like it. I "work" with a super cute/sweet girl, Jordan, who reminds me of myself so much when I was 18. She's just such a sweetheart, I'm having fun! The babes in our class are getting easier and easier, we are now serving them snack with a movie, then doing a lesson which is working out great!
• I am starting to make "adult" clothes now!! For the last couple years I've been strictly making kids clothes... then I started buying fabrics *I* liked, and drafting up some designs *I've* always wanted clothes like... so far it's been fun!! I call them my, "Sierra Marker Originals" LOL.
• I've officially run out of EXCITING Marker news.. Stay tuned I 'spose! ;)

Pretty accurate!

I just did this stupid Dr. Phil quiz (email forward) and I was suprised it was ACTUALLY pretty accurate... This is what it said about my score:

> 31 TO 40 POINTS: Others see you as sensible, cautious,
> careful & practical. They see you as clever, gifted, or talented, but modest. Not a person who makes friends too quickly or easily, but someone who's extremely loyal to friends you do make and who expects the same loyalty in
return. Those who really get to know you, realize it takes a lot to shake your trust in your friends, but equally that it takes you a long time to get over if that trust is ever broken.


Atleast that's how I think people see me lol, I guess I can't be completely sure. But I know I don't make friends easily, I have a hard time opening up to people, even though I'm really friendly, it often doesn't go passed a first conversation. I have so many numbers in my phone from women I had good intentions of following up and making plans with, but just can't summond the courage, or possibly even desire to do so... It's so exhausting sometimes making friends, and I feel bad making friends with anyone without kids because my kids totally dictate my life, and I can't just meet up with my girlfriends at a drop of a hat... Anyway, I thought this was a cool little quiz answer. :)

Shooting...

SO since Brian is going hunting this month, we decided to take his guns out to play with to make sure they were all working properly. My mom watched the kids so we could drive out to the mesa and shoot some target practice.