it's so good to see you February

There are two really great things about today
#1-- it's Friday
and #2 it's February!!
We survived the long freezing month of January....


on another note.... today marks my first day of no more carbonation
i'm trying to be more aware of everything i eat and hopefully incorporate more whole foods into our diet.
plus the scale tells all.... the numbers are climbing upwards
gratefully i 'carry' the extra weight well {?} or so i've been told lately
but i would much rather be told how amazing i look.
what better way to start in the right direction then to start with the elimination of sugary carbonated {pepsi} drinks...
baby steps
plus we'll revive our juicing habit
and since i was unable to workout during january due to my graceful fall on my steps..
february is going to be better

i'm curious to see what lbs i'll be able to lose by just eliminating the sodas
{february 1st i weighed in at 136.... I'll keep track every week and hopefully see progress....}
good bye pepsi

ground me to my room please

i don't claim to be perfect at everything.
this week has reminded me so.
mitch woke up monday feeling like he got hit by a train.
scratchy sore throat and achey.
by bedtime i figured it was probably the flu.
unfortunately it didn't get any better the next day...
cough + flu + strep = miserable {for both of us}
poor mitchel has been commuting past the airport for training everyday
and being so sick....
we are glad it's the weekend

the difference between the two of us when sick though ...
mitch prefers to be snuggled at all times.
me? ground me to my bed and leave me alone please.
it poses some issues.
he wants to be miserable with company
and i want to be miserable all by myself.

needless to say i'm far from being  a good wife this week.
i am lacking greatly in patience and some good tender loving care.
hopefully mitch will start feeling better next week
and forgive me for my short coming.
perhaps someday i'll become a better wife when it comes to sick days

thanks for the memories 2012

2012 was quite the year for us. i had high expectations and gratefully the year did not disappoint. it really was my year.

january started out a bit rough.... mitch and i stayed home and rung in the new year playing games and spending time together. cezar injured his leg somehow new years eve and wouldn't use it. actually he could barely walk. a trip to the vet on monday showed no serious injury and seems to have sprained it somehow.  the jetta died on us at the car show mid january and we got lucky with an incredible deal on the Z. i also found out that i had mono on top of being hypothyroid.

february things started to swing upwards for me. i was still feeling the effects of mono and was learning how to deal with my health limits. we celebrated valentines and i managed to surprise mitch with a car full of ballons and a few gift cards to the car wash and his favorite smoothie place. work was showing all the signs of spring. which is undoubtedly my favorite time of year there. grandma holdaway was struggling with her health and we thought we were going to lose her. i was able to extend myself and help out at the house with her and grow to love her in a whole new capacity. i also started practicing yoga and it brought a new balance and happiness to my life.

march. all my spring shipments started arriving. i was feeling a bit better health wise. i located some darling baby silkie chicks which started my desire to have chickens. mitch and i finally conquered our main wall and painted over the not so lovely nutmeg color.

april i tackled more than i could handle. i was busy in the greenhouse trying to keep on top of everything. amy texted me to see if i'd be interested in helping her out again with the boys. i absolutely wanted to do so and figured out a way to squeeze her into my schedule. mitch was hesitant and i felt like i could be superwoman...... i quickly realized that 50+ hour weeks weren't going to be in my favor and that the garden center needed my full attention. not to mention i felt like i was taking way too many steps backwards in my health.

may. the busiest month of the year for me. april showers bring may flowers... and mother's day brings out all our customers. i managed to get my garden started and spent as much time with the boys as i could.

june. we celebrated mitch's birthday. spent time with friends and family. i was finally feeling on top of the world health wise {as much a possible} i was started to enjoy the first of my garden harvest. we squeezed a few hikes in with the boys. abby had my take her and russell's engagement photos too.

july was a busy month for us. we started out celebrating my birthday and having an adventure down in zion's subway. nanna joined us on our vacation along with mom and dad dayley and ashley and brendon. abby and russell got married on the 14th. plus we survived all the smoke in the air from the many many wildfires.

august i was thrilled with being able to harvest lots of goodies from my garden. we added a few new toys to the household - mitch got his fourwheeler and i in turn got a camera upgrade :) we attended the salt lake city farmers market. i got to being the 'photographer' for my cousins wedding. plus we managed to fit in a boating trip with joe and his girlfriend. on top of everything... i seemed to be the only employee that was able to work that month. everyone one had vacations and previous engagements.

september we celebrated cezar's 2nd birthday. made a day trip to idaho to surprise grandpa hatch for his 80th birthday and visit my grandpa taylor. harvest season was in full swing and i finally got to taste the joy of digging in the garden for the potato harvest. it's like a treasure hunt. finally manged to get back into the swing of yard work. the summer heat had taken it's toll on me and the yard. plus we had a overnight camp trip to the dunes with joe and alyson. it was quite the adventure sleeping under the stars, joe burning his hand on the camp ring and a fox sneaking into camp. it was the perfect little getaway.

october came and so did pumpkinland. the 2nd busiest season for me. {a double dose of birth control} our theme was alice in pumpkinland which was by far the most favorite from all the years. we also made an unexpected trip to idaho to be with family with grandma dayleys passing. we were grateful we made it in time to say goodbye. mitch was also studying for his 66 license exam. gratefully he passed even with all the current challenges. we also celebrated our 3rd anniversary. worked on conquering my fears of snakes and scary movies and haunted houses.... i'm better than i was. and we also traded in the Z for a hybrid. the Z was allergic to snow and we are old people now and enjoy the comfort of a full sized car ;)

november brought new changes to work. sanna left and i became the manager. there was a lot of clean up from pumpkinland to be done and getting ready for the holiday season. yay poinsettias. we went shooting with abby, russell and nanna. i got to try out my new gun. and it was a perfect way to dispose of some excess pumpkins. and of course we celebrated thanksgiving with the people we love the most.

and last but not least december. we had beautiful weather for most of the month. i managed to plant garlic around the 7th. i also got to take abby and russell's christmas photos/we are having a baby pictures. after 3 years of marriage we finally made it to temple square with the dayley family. enjoyed a wonderful dinner and mom dayley said we should offically adopt nanna into the family since she is always joining in on our fun. plus i am tickled to say that we had the best poinsettias sells in the past many many years. at least in the 10 years i've been working. it feels good to see so few at the end of the holiday. we also enjoyed a very wonderful and blessed christmas with each other and our families. and i've finished the year out with the week off and enjoying time with the boys!

2012 had some ups and downs and some health challenges. but i'm so blessed and have truly felt like i have come into my own self. i have to declare that it is the best year yet!! i am sure that 2013 will be filled with it's own challenges and good moments but 2012 has been very good to me. i may just be a tiny bit sad to say good bye to it. thanks for all the memories this year... and here's to the next. may you be just as wonderful and fulfilling!

snow and a sad mister

mother nature gave us a beautiful blanket of snow this weekend.
it was a pleasant surprise.... but it's really really really cold

mitch came home early from training in slc friday
gratefully i was able to leave work and go with him to the doctor
my poor mister was absolutely miserable
turns out he is fighting kidney stones.
a few prescriptions later and two shots in the bum (pain killer and muscle relaxant) we were on our way home.
i'm so grateful for wonderful staff at work and being able to take the time to be with mitch.
i haven't ever seen my sweetheart in such horrible pain.

saturday i worked all day.
mitch was such a trooper and endured a day by himself
i was happy to get a text around 4 letting me know he passed his stone.
there was a cup waiting for me once i got home..... with his stone waiting to be oohed and awed at.
(good thing that is right up my alley)

today he still was feeling miserable.
i kissed him good bye and headed to church.
it was the primary program today.
i'm very lucky to have my class
they are such fabulous kids.
i was able to head home to take care of my mister during 3rd hour

i don't envy my sweetheart
i can't even imagine the pain he has been going through.
mitch has a very high pain tolerance too....
he woke me up from my nap today to let me know he passed another stone.
my poor sweetheart

the last few days i'm incredibly grateful for wonderful family, friends and neighbors
as well as medication to help with the pain and antibiotics.

white snuggles

how precious are my boys snuggling each other?!!
it made my heart melt!!
golly i love my boys.

mitch thinks he has a kidney stone :(

i went to see my NP yesterday.
haven't been feeling my best lately.
ordered a lab to check my thyroid levels.
crazy that it's been a year since i found out i have hypothyroidism.

working everyday.
making progress in pumpkinland cleanup
looking forward to the holiday season and poinsettias

looks like winter is arriving today
horrible wind, rain and hail mix this morning
mitch is still commuting to slc for training...
he said the weather was worse
maybe we'll end the day with snow.
i know the boys would love to play in it

verbal vomit

sometimes i'm beyond exhausted when i come home from work and can barely manage to do anything. tonight being one of those nights. it is also paired with zero patience/tolerance for anything. i'm not the nicest wife when those are combined...... all i want to do is lay still and not be bothered. the tiniest thing will set me off. i'm sorry mitchel for snapping and having my attitude drive you downstairs. i'm pretty sure i could fall asleep right now. however it's only 7:40 right now. the poor boys could really use some time out. since mitch is in training in slc right now and i'm working all day, i feel like the boys need more time out and about as well as time with us. sigh.

last night we got invited to go to some castle of chaos mystery something or another by joe. i totally bailed on the idea after giving it a minute thought. i had no desire to spend our halloween out on the town. instead i wanted to curl up in bed and hide from the trick or treaters. i'm definitely an old fart. i did make it up to mitch by watching a scary movie with him. {he really wanted to go with joe and alyson} grateful the movie was along the lines of zombies and it was horrifying. rather intriguing surprisingly enough.

today at work i enjoyed the quiet that immediately arrives with november. good bye october. it was fun. i probably won't start missing you until next year. i think it has to do with the thousands of children i see all through pumpkinland. it's appalling how poorly behaved kids are these days. if i ever tried to pull half the crap they do, i would have gotten a good spanking. thank you mom and dad for teaching me manners and how to be a good person. october also acts as a double dose of birth control. we are 3 years married and i'm still not ready for children. abby however is 3 months married and is so excited that she found out she was pregnant. i'll be an aunt again. abby will be an incredible mother and i'm so happy for her. this is exactly what is wants.

i've just about doubled if not tripled the amount of caffeine i need to manage my days over the last month of two. it's not good. but it keeps me going. i need to get back in to a exercise routine as well. especially since the store hours have changed to 9-5 for the winter months. my tummy would appreciate some toning up again.

we've lived in our home just over two years now and i'm finally ready to 'polish' it off. i'm craving new furniture. charming decor. curtains for my office. more pictures for our walls. a new table for the kitchen. matching bedroom dresser to our bed.

perhaps i just needed a few minutes to just vomit my thoughts out here. its therapeutic.  

a second wind

it's amazing what a little chill in the air can do for me.
i feel like i finally caught my second wind for the year
summer is slowly fading away
my annuals are starting to look spent and the weeds are taking over....
i'm feeling a strong urge to get out in my garden and tear everything up
plant fall flowers and bulbs.
perhaps i'll be successful in getting things accomplished during september

i juiced the other night
amazing how much better i feel after a good dose of fresh veggie juice
i even made it to pilates the other night
and tonight i'll make it to yoga.
big deep breath....
i'm feeling good in my skin right now

props to my hubby and a day in bed

there is something absolutely charming about drinking from a pint jar. i'm treating myself to a little pepsi this afternoon. it's been awhile.... but since it's the end of july and this week is going to be fabulous {hello 3 days of work!} today called for a treat.

i'm beyond proud of my hubby. friday night he got the crazy inclination that he needed to build us a big gate for our back yard. {granted that it will come in handy} so our lovely friday evening turned into errands.... saturday i headed to work and left mitch to his own devices for the day. he's never really built anything by himself {if i'm correct} so i wondered how it would turn out. i had confidence in him though. mitch has really showed me how handy he can be since becoming a home owner. a trip with him to the hardware store on my lunch break, a little lunch and back to work we both went. i have to give mitch serious props for this project. he did a fabulous job and from scratch no less. no plans or anything. i have a feeling there is more behind the sudden gate building then he leads onto.... {four wheeler anyone?}

yesterday was a bad day for me health wise. i managed to sleep in some, love on the boys, eat some breakfast and keep a headache at bay. mitch was in charge of teaching our primary class but i helped out with a story and activity. i'm very grateful for the opportunity i have to serve in a calling with my spouse. it's by far the best way to serve i've decided. church was wonderful and our class went well. unfortunately i felt like my blood sugar was incredibly low since i felt super shaky. after church we came home and i snacked a bit and mitch was a sweetheart and encouraged my nap - for as long as i wanted. i felt slightly better when woke up after 5..... i made us a super delicious cookie bar for a treat and then crashed on the couch. and that is where i spent the rest of the evening. i barely managed the energy to cook dinner but glad i did. it's funny how bad health days sneak up behind you and bite ya hard.