My tree.

Well, once upon a time, I planted a tree. A little pine tree. A pine tree so little that it looked something similar to this:
Then the little tree started to grow. It grew and it grew and it was so beautiful!! Then my brother ran over it with a riding lawnmower and it wasn't so beautiful anymore. In fact, it was something akin to a stick. But my dad worked with it and ended up nursing it back to life! Again, it began to grow. It grew and grew and it was so pretty again!! It was fun to watch the progressive growth...until my brother ran over it with a riding lawnmower again. No more growing going on with that little tree!! Turns out my dad labored over that tree (he helped me to plant it when I brought it home after starting it at school from a seed) and he worked and worked with that tree after Lawnmower Incident #2 and it turns out that the silly thing survived again!!! Here it is now, in all of it's lopsided glory:

Yeah, it is a little lopsided, but so much sweat and agony was put into that tree to save it after two lawnmower attacks that now there is something extra special about it. So, that's my little tree. :o)

**

I think, though, that my brother has a small issue with running over baby trees with lawnmowers. I'm not sure if he's daydreaming while driving the mower around or what, but this darling little tree in the back of the house was another tree that Luke so graciously plowed over with the mower:

It seems to have survived OK and hopefully the thing won't be as lopsided as mine, but only time will tell, I guess.

I've been tagged. :)

So...ages ago, I was tagged by BA Turtle to do a book meme. Here's how it works.

The rules: List five books that you have read in 2007 that you love. These do not have to be books that came out in 2007, but books that you (re)discovered/(re)read in 2007 that have become or are important to you. Link back to the person who tagged you. Tag five others.

Unfortunately, this was not the year of reading books for me! :( I just didn't read very many at all, so it was a stretch for me to find five books that I read this year. Sad, huh? Don't worry...I plan on changing that this next year. :)

Anyway, here are my five books:

1. The Twelve Gifts of Healing - This book is just wonderful. A dear friend gave it to me and I've often read it during my cancer testing and during any days that are just "down days". It's just a lovely book and I would recommend it to anyone.

2. Midwives - I really think that this book is a classic. I've enjoyed it every time I've read it! If you're up for a really good read, this book just may be the one for you!

3. Population: 485: Meeting your Neighbors One Siren at a Time - I enjoy reading this book because it's funny and because it reminds me of home. This author has a new book out, too, but I haven't had a chance to delve into it yet. However, I would highly recommend this book as another good read.

4. Prodigal Daughter - Okay, okay...so this is just a cheesy romance novel, but it was a relaxing read and I really enjoyed it! How was it important to me, though (see the rules of being tagged!)? Well, as I was reading it, I was reminded that, really, everyone has their own story and we really shouldn't judge their experience because we really just don't know what they're going through. I know...I got that from a cheesy romance novel? Ha! ;)

5. The Bible - I read this book often and every time I do, I learn something. I just felt that it was too important not to put here.

And with that, I will tag five other people. I've chosen Amy, Kristin, Leilani, MelBMarvis, and Cheri. Have fun with it, ladies!! :)

Oh, and by the way...we've gotten about nine more inches of snow since my last post so all in all, we've gotten about 15 inches since I've arrived! Yay! We've had such beautiful snowfalls and I wish that I could capture them on video or in pictures, but neither option really does it justice. :(

Snow.

Yes, it snowed here today. We got about six inches!! Boy, am I glad that I came home when I did!! I might be stuck somewhere if it would have been later! :{

Anyway, here are a few pictures of the day...

...Dad is plowing our driveway. Look at the snow piling up!!
...One of mom's winter decorations on the back porch.
...More of her decorations. The poor things were just covered with snow and they were even under a shelter! It was a wee bit windy here today.
A picture of one of our pine trees. I just thought that it looked pretty, but the camera, obviously, does not catch that. If I have time, I will get a picture of a tree in our yard that I planted myself years ago and of how much it's grown. Hmm...I wonder if I can find a picture of when we first planted it...I'll look into that!
I wondered if some of you would be interested in seeing what the area around my mom and dad's place looks like. This picture is looking down our driveway (kind of!) and you can see the tire tracks that curve around the drive and then the road that stretches through most of the picture. I hope it gives you an idea of how wooded this area is! Just imagine all these trees with leaves on them! And then imagine what they'd look like in the fall with orange, yellow, and red leaves...beautiful!! It's no wonder I miss this area in the fall! :o)

Lastly, here is a short video of dad plowing the drive with his favorite toy...his tractor! :)

Friday Fun...

This was an e-mail that I received recently and I can relate to it so much!! What does this mean?!?!? ;)

Recently, I was diagnosed with A. A. A. D. D. - Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.

This is how it manifests:

I decide to water my garden. As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide my car needs washing.

As I start toward the garage, I notice that there is mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mail box earlier.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.

I lay my car keys down on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first. But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my check book off the table, and see that there is only 1 check left. My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of Coke that I had been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Coke aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over. I see that the Coke is getting warm, and I decide I should put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye--they need to be watered. I set the Coke down on the counter, and I discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning.

I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers. I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly I spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table.

I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I will be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor. So, I set the remote back down on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill.

Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:
----the car isn't washed,
----the bills aren't paid,
----there is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter,
----the flowers don't have enough water,
----there is still only 1 check in my check book,
----I can't find the remote,
----I can't find my glasses,
----and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.

Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day long, and I'm really tired.

I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail.

Do me a favor, will you? E-mail this message to everyone you know, because I don't remember to whom it has been sent.

GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY. GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL. LAUGHING AT YOURSELF IS THERAPEUTIC.

Whew. I made it.

Well, after a 45 minute delay on the first flight and a 35 minute delay on the second flight, I finally made it to Wisconsin. Ugh. I was not impressed with Northwest Airlines today!!

So, just that little update for now! I'm already having a good time and I have already eaten a lot of cheese, too! :) Yum!!

Oh, and if Sandy S. is reading this...I've already played two games of Scrabble (in my first evening here!!), too, so watch out! I'll be ready for a re-match with you!! :p

What I did last night.

So, I really enjoy the music of Lorie Line. She's just a fantastic piano player and she puts on the most amazing shows (we're talking costumes, dances, skits, etc., in addition to the piano playing!)!! Anyway, this year I wanted to go and I talked my good friend, Monique, into going with me. I wasn't disappointed! The lights, the costumes, the music...it was all fantastic!! Here's a picture of the stage before the show got going:
At one point, Lorie called all of the children up on stage and they helped her with the song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas". It was hilarious!!!! I'm not kidding!! Monique and I both laughed so hard that we had tears! Why? Well, these kids did a tremendous job, but there was one little swan that was not impressed to either ... a) be a swan, or b) be up there. We couldn't tell. But he just sat there with a frown on his little face and would barely do a thing!! It was a riot!!! The man playing Santa Claus really ribbed him about it, too, so that made it even funnier! Anyway, at the end of the song, the show took this picture of the kids up on the stage and we were allowed to download it for free today. So, here it is and it's another picture, too, where you can see the lights and set up of the show. Pretty neat!
Lastly, here is Monique and I! We asked a kind gentleman to take a picture of us together so that we can have another picture to remember the evening by and I, personally, think it turned out really nice! Notice the nice little christmas tree behind us? They had really pretty decorations at this concert hall! I just thought that it was tastefully done! (Sorry about the man over my left shoulder (to your right when you look at it! ;)...there were a lot of people around, so I don't think we could have avoided not having other people in the picture...unless we wanted to make a big spectacle...which we didn't!! :)

All in all, it was a very nice evening and we had great weather for traveling, so that was nice! I just wanted to share the evening with you, though, and to let you know that if you enjoy piano music, you should check out the work/show of Lorie Line!! She does a wonderful job!

Okay...off to good 'ol Wisco tomorrow!!! Yay!! I'm very excited to be going! I should be able to update my blog while I'm up there, so I will do my best to keep you all posted about my days! If anyone else out there is traveling, too, please be safe!

Woohoo, Koltyn!!!!

See the little gal in the blue sweater in the middle of the picture? Yeah. She was able to sing "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" at the women's basketball game last night. In front of 3,297 fans. Wow. But she did SUCH a great job!!! And guess what....

...SHE WON!!!!!! She had the most fans screaming for her to win and so she beat out three other kiddos to win the grand prize!!!! Woohoo, Koltyn!!!!! I'm SO proud of you!!!

So, of course, I had to show a picture of her little family so that you'd know who she gets her sing-songy lungs from! :) Left to Right: Her sister, Katelyn; mom, Megan; Dad, Rich, and then, of course, Koltyn. :) I know this little family because I worked with Megan for about a year when I was at my other job on campus and she & I have remained friends even though we've both gone to other jobs.

It was a fun little competition and we were so proud of her!! Congratulations, Koltyn, for being SO awesome! :)

What a Wonderful World.

I was driving to work this morning and heard this song on the radio and it made me smile. I hope it does you, too. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtPF9M3nIHs&feature=related

Whew. What a day.

Well, we certainly whooped it up on my birthday! There were 16 of us, including myself, that gathered for a potluck lunch to celebrate my 27th birthday. We had such a grand time! After lunch, we sat around and visited and played some games and just enjoyed the day. It's just lovely, I think, to meet for Fellowship in the morning and for that fellowship to continue throughout the day. Nothing is better! :)

Here's a picture of my delicious cake! Seriously...it was absolutely delicious. And Taylor...he had to get in on the decorating of the cake! Look at how fancy the sides were! Whew!
Joe and Mark were enjoying some visiting. I think that they were talking about hunting stories when I took this picture. :)

And, someday, I hope to be as lovely as these two ladies...first off, Joe's mom, Miriam, whom we call "grandma". For the longest time I couldn't remember her first name, so I just started to call her Grandma. Well, it seems that everyone calls her Grandma now! It's cute! And she's cute! :)

...And then there's our lovely Wava. She just becomes more lovely and wonderful every day! She's very special to many of us!! :)
Pretty soon, though, lunch was ready and we were to get to the table. I wanted to take a picture of everyone sitting at the table, so when they were settled in, they looked at me and smiled and "snap!", I took the picture. When it came up, though, this was what greeted me on my viewer. *sigh* Oh, dear Crystal. ;)
So..."let's try this again," I said!! Yup...much nicer this time, Crystal!! :)
Lastly, our meal was finished up with...can you guess it!?! Homemade Ice Cream!!!!! Thanks to Warner & Crystal, we were able to feast on this and it was Y.U.M.M.Y.!!!! :o)
One last picture of the cake, only this time with the candles burning. I didn't bother to turn the cake around because I didn't think about it. Then, after the pictures were taken I thought, "Oh, I can just flip the picture around when I load it onto Snapfish!" Unfortunately, when I did that, it looked like there was nothing but cake falling from the sky!! Ha! So, this will have to do. But you get the idea. ;)
All in all, I had a fantastic birthday and THANK YOU to everyone for making it such a wonderful day! My one wish for the day was to just spend it with people that I love. I feel like I got that and, really, so much more!

Today.

Today is my birthday. And I'm 27. And that just makes me smile today. :)

Happy Birthday to me. :)

It's going to be a good day! :o)

I'm done. Thank goodness. :)

Well, I just finished my final exam about an hour ago, so I'm done with classes for the semester. I think that this spring semester I'm just going to take one class instead of two. I am so behind in things that I enjoy doing (writing letters, reading books/magazines, visiting friends...you know...the simple things. :), so I want to just relax. I'm going to take one online class, though..."Fundamentals of Counseling". I have heard good things about the class and I'm VERY excited about it, so I think that if I take just one class, I can really focus on it and give it my best, you know. It means that I might have to take a summer class, though, but if it eases the load so that I can do my best in each class, then so be it. :)

Anyway, just an update. NOW...it's time to get my Christmas shopping done. :) And it's time to get this stupid blog format figured out so that I can have my cute snowman picture back!! :) Little things for awhile...nothing major. I'll be leaving for Wisco in a little over a week and I'm very excited about it. And, thank goodness, my parents have entered a new era and purchased a computer, so I won't feel completely shut out from everyone when I'm visiting them. :)

Here's a little humor for your Monday. I have seen it before but it makes me laugh every time. My brother will be able to relate to this as it seems that our cats always did this to him. :)

Good days. :)

Whew. It has been a busy week. But, I've had good days at our Special Meetings so that's been wonderful. For those of you that don't know what Special Meetings are, it's just a day where my little church group listens to our traveling ministers. These ministers share what speaks to them from the Bible or from life...they just share whatever is laid on their heart. It truly is special days and I don't know that I've experienced anything like it. :) Now this week, the Special Meeting will be in the town where I live and I will get to enjoy two nights of having the workers (aka, the traveling ministers) come and stay with me as well as experiencing another day of Special Meetings on Sunday.

Anyway, while that is going on, I'm also trying to finish up this semester of school. Wow. I always think, "Oh, taking two classes won't be such a big deal." But it is. It's huge!! I still am working full time but trying to finish my degree quicker than if I were to just take one course at a time, but I think I need to slow it down again! It just wears me out and I find that I'm stretched too thin. I really don't know how people do it in addition to being married and having kids AND working. People that manage to pull off lifestyles like that have my respect. It's not an easy task. So, in addition to finishing up this semester, I'm in the BIG DEBATE about whether I should just take one class this spring or take two classes again. I feel a need to take BOTH classes that I'm currently registered for and get them done, but I just don't know if I want to be that busy again. Decisions, decisions. :)

So, things are busy and I'm lacking in sleep, but all in all, life is good. I will be traveling in two weeks for the holiday season, so that is an anticipated trip. It will be good to get up to good 'ol Wisco and enjoy some time up there. :o)

All for now! Just thought I'd pop in and let you know how things were going right now. Talk to you soon!!

Memorial Information

I'm going to steal this from Amy and post it here as well.

Many have heard of the recent tragic motorcycle accident that killed Gary Benjamin. He leaves his wife and 3 children, ages 17, 9, and 7. Just wanted to pass on some information in case there would be those who would like to assist the family. This can be done anonymously.

The Gary Benjamin Memorial in care of:
Addison Avenue Federal Credit Union
Attn: Ewa Rossbach
3400 E. Harmony Road
Bldg 1 MS 83
Fort Collins, CO 80528-9599

Ewa Rossbach, Member Service Rep., can be reached at 970-282-6308.
Checks can be made to the Gary Benjamin Memorial.

Please feel free to pass on to any you might know who would be interested.