10 years later and it just keeps getting better.....

10 years ago this past Friday, September 26th, Steve and I were married. Our wedding turned out beautifully, as did the weather outside that day, even though it had been a stressful several days before the wedding where we were being predicted to get hit by a hurricane the day of our wedding. I remember an Uncle and Aunt heading down to Florida and saying it felt strange to be about the only people on the road heading south as most people were heading north out of the path of Hurricane George. We just kept on planning and praying and it all worked out.


Friday afternoon I was doing transcription at home and the door opened and Steve waltzed in (literally) carrying these beautiful roses and singing "I can't get enough of your love baby". (He would kill me if he knew I just posted that:) He then said that when we went out that night for dinner to celebrate he could envision me wearing a cute black skirt and a nice pair of black shoes which he started describing. I looked at him puzzled because I couldn't think of a pair of shoes that sounded like that in my closet. He then pulled out a box and a bag with the skirt and shoes in them. They both were very cute and fit me great and he did a great job of picking them out.


That night, after leaving Connor with a babysitter and Bryce at the Huff's, Steve and I headed out to our favorite restaurant we go to for celebratory events, the River House, and had a very nice dinner. Afterwards, we went and spent the night at the same hotel we spent our first night as husband and wife 10 years ago to the day.

When we were checking in, the guy behind the desk asked if we were their for business or pleasure. When I related to him the reason for our stay, his mouth dropped open in shock. About 20 minutes later Steve and I were relaxing in our suite and there was a knock at the door. There stood the man from behind the desk with one of those photo bags (see below) filled with all kinds of snacks, bottles of water, cans of soda, etc and a note he had written on a card giving his congratulations and thanking us for coming back 10 years later to celebrate at the same hotel. It was pretty cool.

The next morning we had breakfast in the beautiful atrium of the lobby. There is a bunch of nice foliage, a little "river" with a bridge, a waterfall and two gorgeous white swans swimming around.
We had a picture taken before we left. It was really nice to go back to the same place 10 years later.
I recently added these words above our wedding portrait that hangs in our bedroom. It is a phrase from our wedding song we sang to each other and is exactly how we feel about each other, more so now than ever before.
Happy 10th anniversary Baby!! I am so thankful and feel so blessed to have you in my life and to have the marriage and friendship we have. I love you!

Uppercase Living and other sorts of stuff....

If you read my sister Mary's blog then you will see all about words, saying and things and how we got into Uppercase Living. It is a really neat company and I especially really like the personal, meaningful touches you can do or the fun things you can do with them.

I have a few more things on order that I am very excited about, but here is what I have done so far.

First when you walk in our front door, there is a large mirror on your left and on the bottom, it now says........

Here is a closer look.

Then in the laundry room, we just had plain white cupboards, and now it says....

My favorite one is the next one. Steve and I sang the Shania Twain song, From this moment, to each other at our wedding and I took a phrase of that song and special ordered it and now it is over our wedding portrait in our bedroom.

A closer view.........In three weeks, Steve and I will be celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary, so this makes it a nice addition to our wedding portrait and it also puts our wedding song in our minds, constantly! I now go around having it run through my head and singing it all the time.

When my other things come in and I have them up, I will share those too.

On a different note.....

My parents have tried to make it a tradition that when any of us girl's husbands have a birthday, they take out that couple for dinner, but it seems like our schedule's don't always work out or things come up, etc. so this year they decided to take all four couple's out together at the same time and it was a nice. My Mom paid for our babysitting and my Dad paid for our meal and we had a nice two hours at Outback. We had a couple pictures taken as we left.

On another different note........I tell Bryce all the time that he is a very good big brother to Bryce. Bryce asks a lot of questions about Connor and I try my best to explain to him why Connor can't understand and play like your typical 5 year old, and Bryce seems to understand it pretty good. If Connor is sad or upset and crying, Bryce tries to get him to stop by being silly or will go run and get one of Connor's favorite toys to play with to distract him, etc.

Recently, Connor has become fascinated with watching Bryce play his Nintendo-DS. I have come out from the laundry room or my bedroom several times to find Connor watching him intently and now, whenver Connor hears the music or sees Bryce playing it, he will go running to sit beside him or watch over his shoulder. Over several different times, I have snapped some pictures because I just think it is so cute to see Connor getting into what his brother is doing and several times I have seen him give Bryce these adoring eyes, as you will especially see in one of the pictures below. It is also very exciting for me to see him interact like this, because he is in his own little world often, and this gets him interacting with Bryce. He now is really getting into playing with Jackson, our dog. Connor will throw Jackson's toy and Jackson will go fetch it and come running back and then they play tug of war with the toy. Connor loves this whole thing. It is so neat to see, but back to the pictures......

These are two of my favorite's. The boys had no idea I had my camera and were just all caught up in the game.

Giving adoring eyes to his big brother.

As I was doing this blog, I turned around and this is what they are doing again right now. This time Jackson is trying to get some of the attention though.

I love these three boys!!

Part three

I know I have already blogged about her twice, but I had to do at least one more. I was so impressed with Sarah P. speech last night, and of course there was especially one point which made me cry and dance all at the same time. I loved her whole speech and cheered for her many times, but below are just a few things she said that I just loved! Anything in italics is my words.........

This was as she was introducing her family...........................

And in April, my husband, Todd, and I welcomed our littlest one into the world, a perfectly beautiful baby boy named Trig.

From the inside, no family ever seems typical.

That's how it is with us.

Our family has the same ups and downs as any other — the same challenges and the same joys.

Sometimes even the greatest joys bring challenge.

And children with special needs inspire a special love.

To the families of special-needs children all across this country, I have a message: For years, you sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters.

I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House.

What a beautiful picture!! I just wanted to reach into the television and take this little guy into my arms. He is so precious!

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I was just your average hockey mom and signed up for the PTA because I wanted to make my kids' public education better.

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I came to office promising major ethics reform, to end the culture of self-dealing. And today, that ethics reform is the law.

While I was at it, I got rid of a few things in the governor's office that I didn't believe our citizens should have to pay for.

That luxury jet was over the top. I put it on eBay.

I also drive myself to work.

And I thought we could muddle through without the governor's personal chef — although I've got to admit that sometimes my kids sure miss her. I came to office promising to control spending — by request if possible and by veto if necessary.

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In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers.

And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change.

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Our nominee doesn't run with the Washington herd.

He's a man who's there to serve his country, and not just his party.

A leader who's not looking for a fight, but is not afraid of one either.

Harry Reid, the majority leader of the current do-nothing Senate, not long ago summed up his feelings about our nominee.

He said, quote, "I can't stand John McCain."

Ladies and gentlemen, perhaps no accolade we hear this week is better proof that we've chosen the right man. Clearly what the majority leader was driving at is that he can't stand up to John McCain. That is only one more reason to take the maverick of the Senate and put him in the White House. My fellow citizens, the American presidency is not supposed to be a journey of "personal discovery." This world of threats and dangers is not just a community, and it doesn't just need an organizer.

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While I think Sarah and Todd's whole famly is beautiful, this little girl, Piper, and of course their youngest son Trig, just stole my heart. Piper was definitely in her element with waving at the crowd and getting right in there with no shyness.

While her Mom was speaking, in case you missed it, she wanted to hold her little brother and her Dad passed him to her. I love that they got this bit on video. For a 6-year-old, she handles this little one very well and looks like a little Mommy in the process. See the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GliQjmuf8_s

S. P. versus B. O.

This is a piece written by Gerard Baker, US Editor and Assistant Editor of The Times of London. Email: gerard.baker@thetimes.co.uk

September 01, 2008

Sarah P vs. Barack O

By Gerard Baker

Democrats, between sniggers of derision and snorts of disgust, contend that Sarah P, John McCain's vice-presidential pick is ridiculously unqualified to be president.It's a reasonable objection on its face except for this small objection: it surely needs to be weighed against the Democrats' claim that their own candidate for president is self-evidently ready to assume the role of most powerful person on the planet.

At first blush, here's what we know about the relative experience of the two candidates. Both are in their mid-forties and have held statewide elective office for less than four years.

So much for the similarities. How about the differences?

Political experience

Obama: Worked his way to the top by cultivating, pandering to and stroking the most powerful interest groups in the all-pervasive Chicago political machine, ensuring his views were aligned with the power brokers there.

Palin: Worked her way to the top by challenging, attacking and actively undermining the Republican party establishment in her native Alaska. She ran against incumbent Republicans as a candidate willing and able to clean the Augean Stables of her state's government.

Political Biography

Obama: A classic, if unusually talented, greasy-pole climber. Held a succession of jobs that constitute the standard route to the top in his party's internal politics: "community organizer", law professor, state senator.

Palin:A woman with a wide range of interests in a well-variegated life. Held a succession of jobs - sports journalist, commercial fisherwoman, state oil and gas commissioner, before entering local politics. A resume that suggests something other than burning political ambition from the cradle but rather the sort of experience that enables her to understand the concerns of most Americans.

Political history

Obama: Elected to statewide office only after a disastrous first run for a congressional seat and after his Republican opponent was exposed in a sexual scandal. Won seat eventually in contest against a candidate who didn't even live in the state.

Palin: Elected to statewide office by challenging a long-serving Republican incumbent governor despite intense opposition from the party.

Appeal

Obama: A very attractive speaker whose celebrity has been compared to that of Britney Spears and who sends thrills up Chris Matthews' leg.

Palin: A very attractive woman, much better-looking than Britney Spears who speaks rather well too. She sends thrills up the leg of Rush Limbaugh.

Executive experience

Obama: Makes executive decisions every day that affect the lives of his campaign staff and a vast crowd of traveling journalists.

Palin:Makes executive decisions every day that affect the lives of 500,000 people in her state, and that impact crucial issues of national economic interest such as the supply and cost of energy to the United States.

Religious influences

Obama: Regards people who "cling" to religion and guns as "bitter" . Spent 20 years being mentored and led spiritually by a man who proclaimed "God damn America" from his pulpit. Mysteriously, this mentor completely disappeared from public sight about four months ago.

Palin: Head of her high school Fellowship of Christian Athletes and for many years a member of the Assemblies of God congregation whose preachers have never been known to accuse the United States of deliberately spreading the AIDS virus. They remain in full public sight and can be seen every Sunday in churches across Alaska. A proud gun owner who has been known to cling only to the carcasses of dead caribou felled by her own aim.

Record of bipartisan achievement

Obama: Speaks movingly of the bipartisanship needed to end the destructive politics of "Red America" and "Blue America", but votes in the Senate as a down-the-line Democrat, with one of the most liberal voting records in congress.

Palin: Ridiculed by liberals such as John Kerry as a crazed, barely human, Dick Cheney-type conservative but worked wit Democrats in the state legislature to secure landmark anti-corruption legislation. Former state Rep. Ethan Berkowitz - a Democrat - said. "Gov. Palin has made her name fighting corruption within her own party, and I was honored when she stepped across party lines and asked me to co-author her ethics white paper."

On Human Life

Obama: Devoutly pro-choice. Voted against a bill in the Illinois state senate that would have required doctors to save the lives of babies who survived abortion procedures. The implication of this position is that babies born prematurely during abortions would be left alone, unnourished and unmedicated, until they died.

Palin: Devoutly pro-life. Exercised the choice proclaimed by liberals to bring to full term a baby that had been diagnosed in utero with Down Syndrome.

Now it's true there are other crucial differences. Sen Obama has appeared on Meet The Press every other week for the last four years. He has been the subject of hundreds of adoring articles in papers and newsweeklies and TV shows and has written two Emmy-award winning books.

Gov Palin never appeared on Meet the Press or on the cover of Newsweek, prior to her nomination. She presumably feels that, as a mother of five children married to a snowmobile champion, who also happens to be the first woman and the youngest person ever to be elected governor of her state, she has not really done enough yet to merit an autobiography.

Fortunately, it will be up to the American people to determine who really has the better experience to be president and/or vice-president.

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On a side note, and these are my own words here, I heard today on FOX news that as someone in the McCain camp was warning Sarah P before the news broke about her being the VP pick, that her family would undergo intense scrutiny and that there would be a lot of mud slinging and things said about her and the family and she just smiled and kind of laughed and said...

"We have a saying in Alaska....you know what the difference between a soccer Mom and a pitbull is? Lipstick"

I LOVE THIS WOMAN!!

S. P. - You Go Girl!!!

I had never heard of Governor Sarah P until John McCain chose her as his V.P. Once I heard about her and heard that she had a child with special needs, I was immediately interested in learning more about her. The more I learned, the more I liked. We have a few things in common.

We are both a member of the NRA and enjoy shooting guns and we both like doing a wide variety of other "tomboyish" activities, while still being a lady and looking nice.
We both have beautiful families that we love very much and will support them through anything. And we both have a special needs child that we never even gave a second thought of aborting, and doing anything and everything for them and we both feel that our children were a special gift from God and feel blessed that He chose us to care for them.
Now I know that some people don't agree with doing the job she is doing and possibly become the Vice President of the United States since she has young children, especially one with special needs, and instead should be at home taking care of her kids.

While I agree with that to an extent, and think that even though these kids may get the best of care with nannies or therapists, there is still nothing quite like a Mother's love and care.....on the other hand, I can't help but be thrilled to see a woman like this get the nomination. The attention she could bring to special needs children and the way she could advocate for those that need that special care. The way she is a nice looking, classy woman with a family who obviously are close and supportive of one another. The way she handles herself and the things she believes in. The experience she has and the things she has dealt with and the way she has dealt with them. The more I learn about her, the more I like her.

I know her 17 year old daughter is pregnant and unwed and I know that people could say that is partly Sarah P's fault for not being there for her daughter more, but that is not necessarily true. My Mom was a good Mom, but she didn't know half of the stuff I was doing as a teenager and I went through my stage of rebellion where she had no control of me or knew what I was doing. I admire the way the Palin's are handling this situation and I hope for the best for their 17 year old daughter and the 18 year old Father of the baby.

All in all, despite some of the down sides, I still have a lot of admiration for Sarah Palin and I just have to say "You Go Girl"!!!!

Before she was chosen as the Vice President candidate and soon after having her special needs child, Glenn Beck, a news anchor and a Father of a special needs child himself, did this piece on her and I really liked it. Here is the link........

YouTube - Glenn Beck on Gov Palin