Happy 24th Anniversary

We continued our tradition of going to Ruth Chris's Steak House to celebrate our anniversary. This year they gave us a free dessert on a plate that had "Happy Anniversary" written on it. The waitress then offered to take our picture. I can't believe it's been 24 years. I remember when we celebrated our 1st year and we knew people celebrating 5, 10 or 20 years and us saying we can't imagine what that will be like. Well, I can tell you, it is truly wonderful. I'm glad the Lord blessed me with such a wonderful man (cause he knows no one else would be able to tolerate me). Love you Sweetie!

Time Out for Women

On Saturday May 16 I attended the TOFW conference in Cincinnati. I can't tell you how wonderful I still feel! The only disappointing thing is I wasn't able to attend Friday night and didn't realize that Sheri Dew wouldn't be presenting until 8:15pm. I could've still left after work and made it there on time. Oh well, I'll just have to go to another one.

My all time favorite musical person is Hiliary Weeks. She is beautiful,down to earth and has a wonderful voice. I brought her new CD and have been listening to it non stop.

Liza Ortman, Teresa Perry, Rebecca Altman, and Holly Stowel were the women that I met up with on Saturday. When I arrived I called Liza and she told me Rebekah Anderson and Carlie Dean was there also (from our ward). As I was leaving the parking lot I ran into Rebekah Anderson! And I saw Carlie when I went in. I also ran into Tabitha Miller (from our ward) and Melissa from Cincinnati (who is Alicia's friend that attends the shopping trip) was there.

There was several powerful things that was said by the speakers but the one that has stuck with me is something that Kim Nelson (he's a guy) said. He was talking to us about how great we are as women and stuff and this is one thing that he asked us.

"If we saw a woman treating her daughter the way that we
treat ourselves, what kind of mother would we think she is?"

Hmmm. He then proceeded to tell us how we are Heavenly Father's daughters and just as we would not treat our daughters the way we treat ourselves, He doesn't want us treating ourselves that way. Okay, remember, this is not a direct quote but you get the idea. I think of the many times I do something wrong and I think about what an idiot I am. Or if I "fail" at something, what a loser I am. If Danessa says anything negative about herself, I am always jumping in telling her it's not true. Why do I treat myself that way?

I am so grateful to Heavenly Father for inspiring the people who came up with the TOFW conferences. They are so badly needed in a world where we are constantly under pressure to be, act or look a certain way and they are there to remind us that we are "Wonderful in the eyes of Heavenly Father."

"It's seasoned with the dust from the pilars of heaven"

Okay, what does that mean? Here's the background.

A couple of years ago, my boss told me about this really nice steak resturant called Ruth Chris's. Well, our bank has these reward points and as I was looking to redeem some points, I saw we could get a $100 gift card! So I ordered it and we went for our 21st wedding anniversary. It was awesome. We still ended up spending about $20 but it was the best money we spent!!! We loved it so much that I ordered another gift card for last year and ordered one for this year. We decided to go early because they had a promotion for Mother's day. Mom's get a $25 gift card towards their next purchase. So our meal was basically free!!!

Well, Brian and I went to the resturant on Saturday night. We were enjoying these wonderful steaks and I wondered out loud what they used for seasonings. So with a mouth full of steak and a look of wonder on his face he says,

"It's seasoned with the dust from the pillars of heaven."

I almost fell off my chair laughing. He said he just came up with it. We told our waiter who laughed and told other staff. By the time we left, the manager had even came over to laugh with us. Brian said he should hurry up and patent that saying before they steal it from him!!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL YOU WONDERFUL MOTHERS OUT THERE

Hocking Hills

I've been "advised" that I need to update my blog so here goes!

Brian and I decided to go on an overnight trip to Hocking Hills. We rented this really neat cabin and we hiked the Cedar Falls trail on Monday and the Old Man's Cave trail on Tuesday. It was one of the best (relaxing) vacations I've ever had. We are planning on going back and renting the cabin for 2 nights for our anniversary.

It's amazing because we've lived in Columbus about 10 years and have never been there. It's only 1 to 1 1/2 hrs away and is a good way to spend a Saturday. So that is our goal this summer. We will not lay around the house on Saturday (remember we can do that because we are empty nesters!) and we will go hike some trails!

On to pictures.
This is our first view of the cabin. I fell in love with it right away. Isn't it cute?




Here are pictures of the inside.



And a picture of the picnic area beside the cabin.


We chilled out

Hiked


And enjoyed the hot tub


Wanna know how much I enjoyed the trip? This is a picture Brian took of us outside the cabin as we were leaving. Look at how relaxed my face is! (Brian calls this my vacation face:)

The Inauguration

I have been in such a good mood (as good as I can be!) since Tuesday. What a blessing to be able to see such a great part of history unfold. Think of the questions our grandchildren will ask about that day! As I've watched or read all of the follow up regarding the inauguration, one thing seems to jump out at me all the time.

The Obama's really LOVE each other!

Okay, let me explain. I've seen them together many of times but for some reason, when I watched them at the ball, the two of them dancing, I really got the sense that Barack and Michelle truly love each other. Did you see the interaction between the two? That is not scripted. When I looked at them it made me feel really good. I didn't see any phoniness, I saw 2 people in love.

How do I say this without seeming like a jerk? When I looked at them, I saw my relationship with Brian. Not that we're perfect or whatever, but I have the feeling when they are together, they laugh. I believe they actually enjoy being together. I know Brian and I enjoy being together and we laugh and have fun. Not just when other people are around but all the time. When I saw the Obama's, I realized that if they were in our ward, or possibly even stake, Brian and I would probably be good friends with them. I can see them hanging out with us on Saturday night watching B movies and laughing.

I feel like the Obama's are portraying to the world what a truly loving couple and what a loving family they are. When all is said and done, isn't that what life is about?

Families.

My family over the years

I decided to get professional updated family pictures since I had the whole family together. I went to the Walmart on Georgesville, which is just down the street from us. Even though I called and made an appointment 1 1/2 hrs before hand, we get there and the person tells me her camera has been broken for 2 days and the central people shouldn't have scheduled it. So she calls the Stringtown road one and we go there. I think the picture turned out good. The only bad thing is Stringtown is really out of the way for me. Oh well. Here's go.

1999

2005

Jan 2009

When I was growing up, the only picture my mom had on the wall was of me & my 2 brothers. Later, I had a picture of the me, my sister, 2 brothers, and nephew taken for my mom for Mother's day. She really loved that picture. I'm not sure why there are no family pictures. One of the things that drew me to the church is the emphasis on family. That is something that I didn't have growing up. I am so proud of my family. We may have our ups and downs and different personality quirks but when all is said and done, as Sister Sledge said from the 80's, WE ARE FAMILY!