ClubFHE

When I went to the What Women Want Expo several weeks ago (thank you, Marie, for the free ticket!), I found many things to enjoy. I got a great deal on earrings (6 for $10) and splurged away. I found a booth called Ringmasters selling CTR rings and shape bracelets and a Happy Birthday plate (to be used for the birthday person on their birthday) and other great finds. I was brought into a state of nostalgia when I saw a booth for Usana and was reminded of my childhood when my parents were involved. (My husband and I have our first order in and waiting for shipment, and looking forward to feeling healthier in our lives.)

This post, however, is not about any of the above, but about another great find. The ClubFHE booth. This organization has put the brains and brawn behind FHE, and has simplified my life. They have put together 50 weekly family nights- including lesson, materials, and organization. I am thrilled! The very idea blew me away. I bought the whole package right then and there, and very proudly carried the box home with me. Since we were new to this club, we decided to take things a bit slow, and do our first FHE with the club as an intro the club. Basically, we opened the box as a family on family night. I'm no photographer, but here are a few photos:

The front of the box

The lessons in my box were divided into quarters, for each quarter of the year

(You may also purchase them monthly, and the lessons would be sent in monthly boxes.)

This is everything that is included in the first quarter's box. 

ClubFHE manual, white board, FHE part chart, 12 lessons

(divided into individual bags, with the needed hands on activity and parts)

FHE part chart and white board. The white board comes with sticky strips if you would like to mount it somewhere. The FHE part chart is magnetic and can be kept on the white board or put on the fridge or other magnetic wall. It comes with six blocks (one side is magnetic to stick to the Part Chart) and a labeling marker to write names on the blocks.

As you can see, my little one is already having fun with this. He spent quite a while playing just with the Part Chart and blocks. I am pleased with the organization and detail included in this as a whole, and with each lesson. They have a simple idea, with a hands on activity, and more detail for expansion. We are going to be using this to teach our two year old, but feel we will be able to keep repeating the lessons for several years, because of how fun they are, and how we will be able to add to them as he gets older and has a longer attention span with more understanding. 

Here is the ClubFHE website. For anyone wanting to spend more time as a family, and looking for a way to maximize the time, this is a great "Club" to join.

WE'RE DEBT FREE

You heard right- we are completely debt free!

We just paid off the last of our car payment, and we are 100% debt free. Wahoo! We started a year ago- on the way home from a spontaneous trip to Disneyland to celebrate our fourth anniversary- listening to the audio book of The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. We were both impressed, hopeful, and motivated. Then we started the Financial Peace University Course. We dove in with both feet. We had over $50k in medical debt, along with a car payment, and a vacation ownership. Over the last year, we built our baby emergency fund, then dug even deeper and got gazelle intent with our debt. I went from being a full time stay at home wife and mother, to a full time employer at a major financial firm. I didn't realize how much I missed the career route! (Thankfully, a trusted friend and neighbor watches our little boy during the day. It's an all day play date for him with his best friend there.) We sold our vacation home, got on a super slim budget (beans and rice, anyone?), and made a million and a half calls to lower, settle, have dismissed, and even beg down our medical debt. We become full on "ramsey-ites".

We started having budget meetings, communicating about our finances, spending, and our money, and setting goals- big and small- to achieve. It seemed touch, and long, but now that we are here, it was the most interesting and progressive year of our marriage.

And now, here we are. We are debt free. Debt Free. Those two words have so much meaning they can't possibly be expressed in two short syllables. Thank you, Dave Ramsey, for your Bible based, logical, simple, easy-to-follow guidance plan.

Shhh, listen. Did you hear that? That's the sound of our family tree changing.

Baby Step #1 - completed!

Ta da! We did! On this last paycheck, we have officially completed The Total Money Makeover Baby Step#1- the baby emergency fund of $1000. Wahoo for us! We're moving on to Baby Step #2- the Debt Snowball.

Wish us luck. We're gazelle intent and on the move!!!

Mother's Day- How it has changed for me

It has SUCH a different meaning to me this year. For the last many years, I have hated the holiday. As in, I would give my gifts a week early, and then close myself in the bedroom and spend the entire day bawling my eyes out. It was the one day every year I would allow myself to mourn my son. I know he was happy, and his mom was having a wonderful Mother's Day. But I needed one day per year to be sad and cry, and it was Mother's Day.

This year is going to be wonderful. First, on Sunday DH and I are going to church. My church makes a big deal out of Mother's Day. They have all the women stand and they give them a flower or little gift to celebrate them. This year, I get to stand up as a mom (instead of just a woman- not that they pointed out the difference, but I always felt different), and that means so much to me. Then, after our church, we are going to church with my SIL, where she is going to have her baby (born 5 weeks ago) blessed. That's a big deal for my husband's family, and will be fun to celebrate. DH is getting me something, but hasn't told me what yet. He said he wants to surprise me and plans to take me today. I'm excited. For my mom and MIL, DH and I gave them a moon windchime from us and the baby, and it matches the star/moon windchime in the nursery. I even helped DH get together a gift and card for his ex-wife, so he could thank her for being a mom to his daughters. As for our baby, I am going to be a mommy! That is a wonderful, beautiful, fantastic miracle of a gift in itself!

This Mother's Day is a big deal for me. I am counting my blessings and being grateful for all the wonderful things that are and have happened to bring me to this point in my life.

We're to the "any day now" month

Any day this month, my husband will have a son. Any day this month, we'll be making a trip to the hospital, and bring home our beautiful little son. My guess date is middle of this month, and since babies are born two weeks before or after the guess date, that means he'll be here any time during the month of May. We will become parents together, and bring a child into this world that we will raise together and love together and continue our family together.

We had some maternity pictures done the weekend before last. Not only did we have a blast, but they turned out better than I ever could have hoped. Thank you to Valerie at Photography By Valerie, a friend I've known for years and recently caught up with again, for her excellent photography and photoshop. You will tell by the photos that she is incredibly talented. And, her prices are extremely competitive. She is worth significantly more than what she charges. We recommend her very highly. We've already decided she'll be our photographer from now on, and she'll be doing the newborn photos of our son.

And here's the one Kenn says is his favorite. I'll probably get this, and some of our son, framed to give him for Father's Day.
Soon enough, we'll be making an announcement about the birth of our son.

A message to my baby

eBay makes my life easier

I love eBay! Selo and I have some big stuff going on right now, and eBay is giving some much needed ease.

One of the big moments we are focusing on is his mom's wedding. We're down to two months, and I'm in a planning frenzy. I don't think she realized how much needs to be done between now and then! Thankfully, I got theknot.com going last night, and we got on eBay to get some wedding stuff. She now has a checklist to work from, with daily assignments from me. We have purchased her veil and some wedding glam on eBay, and we are going tonight to look for centerpieces, backdrops, and decorations. I think she's a lot more organized.

And can I say how much fun this is? I never wanted to be a wedding coordinator, but I'm really having a blast! To see her get so excited when I show tell her I can make her veil, or to give her quotes on photographers that I've found, or to see her smile when she shows me her dress. It makes all the work and the chaos totally worth it.

Happy Memories

I uploaded a ton of photos and videos today, and was clearing out folders of ones I had already uploaded. Among other videos that I sent to people that were in them (or their kids were in them lol), I found this one of Selo and his girls. This was the trip we took on my birthday in Oct 08. You can tell the girls were waiting and excited. Their excitement must have been contagious, because even their little sister came running out to hug him!

Speaking of pictures, if you are interested in seeing all the pics from our cruise, they are up on my facebook page. And yes, it took me forever to upload 200 pictures! Click here to be taken to the album. (Viewable by Friends only.)

My nephew's birthday

Now that we are living in Ut county again, Selo and I are getting to spend tons of time with his brother's family. We adore Mike and Sharon, and their two boys. These were taken last night at Texas Roadhouse (can ya tell? lol), where we went to celebrate the oldest's birthday. Have I mentioned how much I love being "Aunt Ree"!

A better plan of action

We went to the neurologist today. And we saw the neurologist himself, Dr Watkins, instead of the PA that was giving us so much trouble. Dr Watkins was wonderful. He was barely all the way in the door when he was asking questions and investigating. He examined Selo chart, including all the history that was in there- the blood work from now back to when he first started on the meds a year and a half ago, the MRI and EKG and everything else from the other night at the ER, comments we've given in each visit. Dr Watkins listened to what we had to say, he let us voice our concerns, and he came up with a plan of action that is not only safe, but also agreeable to us.

Selo will be increasing his new meds a little quicker, until he is up to the full dose that Dr Watkins would like him to be at. Then once Selo is stable on those, and has no negative side effects, he will start decreasing the dilantin more. He will reduce by 100mgs at a time, which will get him off of it much faster. Also, he will continue to have the regular blood tests and neurology appointments he's been having, only this time they will be with Dr Watkins instead of the PA. Dr Watkins even lowered his dilantin slightly right now, because the level in Selo's blood showed that he obviously did not need that much to stay safe, and it was causing such a terrible problem.

We are much happier with this plan. Instead of a four month transition, this will be an 8 week transition. This means that in a much shorter amount of time, Selo will no longer have to deal with the drastically negative side effects of dilantin. He will be on a better medicine, that has less overall side effects, in a faster amount of time. And all the while it will be done safely and under the care of a doctor that cares. This plan is much more detailed, and Dr Watkins made sure we understood it completely and why he chose this plan of action. We felt like he wanted to work together to accomplish this, and we appreciated being included.

I was also impressed with the way Dr Watkins listened to our concerns about the PA, and how we felt so uncomfortable with the lack of caring and the dismissive approach he had with us. Dr Watkins ensured us that we may see him from now on, and will not need to see the PA again. We were appreciative that he was concerned enough about his patient to extend that level of service and caring to us.

Another visit to the Emergency Room

First of all, I want to say that I respect doctors, and their medical knowledge. I respect the years they spent learning and specializing, and the fact that - medically- they know significantly more than I do.

My husband was in the ER Saturday night. We have been in a battle with the PA at his neurologist's office because we felt his meds were too high. The first time we went in, we weren't sure exactly what was wrong, and the PA increased the meds. We weren't happy, but he knows what he's doing, right? The second time we went in, we told the PA we felt the problem was that he was over-medicated and wanted Selo to be taken off the dilantin. The PA started him on a different medication, and said once the levels were stable with that one he would start slowly weaning Selo off the dilantin (a process he said would take a minimum of four months). Again, we weren't happy, but at least there was a goal this time.

Last weekend, things got so bad, we went to the ER. Selo was non-responsive, slurring his words, had blurry vision, dizzy, couldn't walk from one room to the other by himself, and was having trouble breathing that wasn't corrected by his inhaler. After 7 hours, an MRI, EKG, and lots of blood work, they found that the dilantin level in his blood was so high it was toxic. He was being over dosed with his seizure medicine.

The ER doctor- who DID listen to me and take me seriously- told Selo (well, told me, since Selo was out of it and I keep track of his meds as closely as he does) to have him skip Sunday's dose, and call the dr on Monday to find out what to do from there. Yesterday, Selo woke up feeling better, and was showing improvements.

This morning, I called the neurologist's office. The receptionist said she couldn't get the neurologist on the phone, couldn't talk to him, and couldn't set an appt with him. The office manager was out of the office, so she couldn't get permission to do anything. After her very unhelpful speech about her NOT doing anything, I pretty much gave her all my anger and frustrations. She said that either she or someone else would call me back by four o'clock with answers to my questions- all of them.

Thankfully, I did receive a call. Selo is to not take anything today, take a partial dose tomorrow, and we have an appt with the neurologist (not the PA, but the actual neurologist) tomorrow at four o'clock. And the person that called me back was knowledgeable, kind, and answered every question I had.

Now, like I said before, I respect the PA's medical knowledge. I respect the fact that he went to school, studied and learned, and is probably good at what he does. However, when we have gone in there several times telling him something is wrong, and then still end up in the ER for the very thing that he was told was wrong, I am NOT a happy wife. I am furious. This is my husband's health. And not just a bump or a booboo. This is serious stuff. I am ticked off that we had to go to the ER before getting help, when we had three appointments in two months to get help for this. And I'm ticked that my husband has to live this way because the PA decided not to take us seriously and make some changes. I am hoping that tomorrow when we see the neurologist he will be more sensitive and know that although I don't know the medical ins and outs of the brain and seizures, I do know my husband and I know when something is wrong. This is the last chance this office has. If we don't feel comfortable walking out tomorrow, we will find a new neurologist.

*groan*

I feel like I woke up from the dead. I am sick, with a capital S-I-C-K. Head cold, stuffy nose, headache, body aches, sore throat, watery eyes, sneezing, I've got it all.

Thankfully, I also have a wonderful husband. He was feeling better yesterday, so he made food for us both when I got home. He put me on the couch to wind down from work, and then put me to bed full of NyQuil. I slept from 5 pm yesterday until 10 am today. And I've been off and on since then.

I am very blessed to have the husband that I have. He is a wonderful man, great employee, excellent father, and the best husband. I count my blessings daily to have him in my life.

(Anonymous, you can take a flying leap. You do realize I'm not going to post anything demeaning on my blog. And if you don't, you're as pathetic as your comments are. If you aren't brave enough to put your name when leaving nasty comments on my page, then I have no reason to take you seriously. Go do something useful. Search for equestrian apparel next time and leave me alone.)

In other news, my step-mom has cancer. She had a portion of her tongue removed on Friday and the biopsy came back today. Bad news. So she has to have another surgery on the 24th, and have more taken out.

Still no news about my aunt that was kidnapped.

Selo is bringing me juice and some food. Until he gets back home, I'm going to go wait in bed.

Stop answering the phone

I already hate talking on the phone. But I'm learning that I need to quit answering it altogether. Every time I do, it's more bad news.

Yesterday was my step-mom's surgery. She had a lesion in her mouth, and had to have part of her tongue removed. The surgery itself went well, and she was sent home to recover and heal.

A few hours later, she was taken to the ER and was admitted into the hospital. The bleeding had not stopped, but had gotten worse. Even more scary, her tongue had swollen so much that the medical staff was concerned about it blocking her airway.

As of this morning, she is doing better. The bleeding has stopped, the pain is being controlled by morphine, and the swelling has gone down. She has finally been allowed to eat, and has successfully had breakfast. She was told if she continued to improve, she would be released later today to go home.

We are hoping for improvement, and for her full and complete recovery.

At least the state is paid

Today, I paid our state taxes. Yay, it is over.

We still have our fed taxes to pay. That will be the one that really hurts. But we are saving up, and making progress.

I'm glad to have at least the state paid. One less thing to worry about.



Grandpa went home from the hospital, and is doing well in his recovery.

My BIL is hanging in there. There will be a small, private service held for his father this Saturday.

My step-mom's situation is worse than I first heard. The doctor's are suspecting cancer. Her surgery is on Friday, and we are hoping to be told it was just nothing.

No new info about my aunt. America's Most Wanted showed the picture of the accused murderer on TV last week, but no leads came from it. AMW will be doing a full profile and airing a full segment on this situation. We are hoping for some leads from that.

Dealing with crisis

Yesterday was a bad day for my family. All sides of my family. Every time I called another family member, I found out more bad news.

First, my step-mother is having a surgery to remove part of her tongue. The doctors are not sure what the mass inside her tongue is, but are concerned enough that they want it gone right away. It will be biopsy-ed once it is removed to determine what it is and the risk it posses.

Second, Selo's grandfather had heart surgery. He was taken to the ER Tuesday night because of chest pain, and it was discovered that his heart kept stopping. He has had a pacemaker put in, and is expected to recover well.

Third, our (Selo and I) brother-in-law's father was found dead on Wed, after having frozen to death. (For those of you in Utah, this was the story on the news about the man and woman found near the Oxbow jail.)

And last, the most scary at this very moment, my aunt has been kidnapped. She worked at the jail where a double homicide suspect was being held while awaiting his trial. They were seen together in her personal van shortly after his escape, but neither of them have been seen since then on March 21. The story is on the America's Most Wanted website and it was aired last night on TV. We are very scared for her safety, and the police are not giving much hope of a safe return for her.

So if I'm not writing much, now you know why. I sleep with my phone next to my head, and I'm constantly consumed with updates and contact. I've been numb since the first phone call, and during the short moment that I think I can feel emotion again, I find out that I'm emotionally worn out. These are the things that you think will "never happen to my family", but now, they are happening. What caused this to happen? What were they thinking? What is the next step? Why is this happening? And sadly, we just don't have any answers yet.

Last Weekend

Friday night, we hung out at home and just relaxed. I read an excellent book called Against Medical Advice by James Patterson and Hal Friedman. That book hit home for me. It's about a boy that suffers with OCD, anxiety, and Tourett's Syndrom. I don't have tourett's, obviously, but I deal with OCD and anxiety. It was an eye opening experience to read about how he lived with and eventually overcame these things. I feel that I finally got my anxiety and OCD under control, and then my hormones got all out of whack and unbalanced everything else. I'm on the downside of it now, and my hormones are getting back into balance. This book was amazing to read. It made me grateful for the strength I learned. (I wasn't the only one that loved it. Check these reviews out.)

Saturday, Selo and I went down to the Smiths'. We met Jim at the Timpanogas temple and did an endowment session with him. Then went back and had dinner with everyone. The girls are getting so big! It was so much fun to play with them. Selo and I are even more baby hungry now. After dinner, the girls went to bed and the four adults ate Doritos and ice cream and watched The Illusionist. Cris and Selo had a long talk about Jim's business website, and came up with some ideas to improve it. (Jim is the attorney we had represent us in the child support case. He got it all straightened out, and got us back all of our money!)

Have I mentioned how wonderful it is that the weather is starting to creep towards warm? I'm so anxious for summer I looking at outdoor furniture just to pretend I am warm.

Sunday we went to church with them and kept the girls while Jim and Crystal spoke in sacrament meeting. They did an awesome job. I especially like a part of Crystal's talk where she spoke about showing the love of Christ others, and being able to see them and love them as Christ would. Selo and I handed the girls off the Cris' parents as soon as the talks were over and dashed up to our ward to meet with our bishop. We wanted to go to the Draper temple dedication and had to get our special recommend for it. Once we got them, we stopped at our house long enough to grab the makings for dinner, and then went back down to the Smith's. Jim, Selo and I, and Crystal's dad and brother, all went to the dedication. It was the first one I've been to, and it was amazing! What a beautiful experience. After the dedication, we went back to the Smith's (her dad and bro went home) and had dinner. Mmm it was good. They watched Star Trek while I made dinner. It was nice for Cris to have a break lol.

After dinner, Selo and I went back home. We had a good weekend. It was long, but we had a lot of experiences we will never forget.

Celebrating in Las Vegas

We have had a great weekend!!!

Thursday, I went and got my hair cut again. You can read about it and see pictures here.

Friday, I got a promotion at work. I have been working hard for it, and I was so excited. I am now the Seminar Administrator for my company. We have two week long seminars per month, and I am in charge of them. Putting them together, scheduling the food and catering, helping clients when they want tickets to local shows, games, ect, handling all the stats- basically, I do everything from start to finish for it. I am SO excited. It's going to be a great position.

That night we left for our big anniversary weekend. Selo had booked for us a concierge room at the Venezia, which is the private tower of the Venetian. Can you believe that?

Saturday, we went to breakfast in the breakfast room. It was beautiful. Then we hung out in our room and watched some movies from the complimentary DVD library with our complimentary popcorn. We could borrow as many as we wanted and have as much popcorn and drinks as we wanted. I was in heaven.

Saturday night, we got dressed up and went to dinner. We started at a B&B Ristorante. Unfortunately, we didn't stay there long. The ambiance was incredible and the service was fantastic, but we just aren't duck and lamb people. So we made a graceful exit. We opted to stop instead at a little deli and grabbed something a little more . . a little less exotic. After our food (which was yummy!), we went to get in line at to see the Phantom of the Opera. Oh yes, wow, he took me to see Phantom. It was an incredible show. I recommend it to anyone and everyone. Worth savings pennies for, if you have nothing else.

After the show, we went back to the room. In the room, a romantic bath had been set up. Rose petals, apple cider with wine glasses, chocolate covered strawberries, romantic music playing. I couldn't believe my eyes., and Selo was just grinning at me. Isn't he amazing? Here's a quick video of our suite and the romantic bath.

Sunday, we again enjoyed breakfast in the breakfast room. It was such a luxury. Then we took our time packing. Here's a pic I took of Selo looking out the window of our room. Isn't it a cool picture? The concierge had a bellman come get our bags so we didn't have to worry about them at all, and prioritized our car so the valet would have it ready when we got downstairs. It was so incredibly easy! We stopped for lunch at our favorite chicken place- one we don't have at home- called Raising Cane's. Mmm so good. We've decided we have to go there anytime we are in or near Vegas, because there's just no comparison. We stopped at Fry's, because you just can't go near one without stopping, and Selo got into a video game match with another kid there. It was fun to watch them and watch the challengers. Then we got on the freeway and headed home. There was this fantabulously beautiful lamborghini.

It was a truly amazing weekend. I've never been treated like such royalty from everyone around me. Selo planned such a beautiful and romantic getaway weekend. It was the best weekend either one of us have every had in Las Vegas and best anniversary for both of us. Happy 2nd anniversary to us, we've got plenty more to go.

Easier than a dentist visit

I had the Mirena taken out yesterday. It wasn't that bad! I was expecting a lot more pain. I mean, my uterus has been wrapped around this little device for four years, there has to be a lot of pain, right? Wrong. It felt like a pinch and tug, and it was over. You know that feeling you get at the dentist when you are getting a numbing shot? It was that same sensation, but not that painful. Afterward, I cramped a bit. It was like very mild period cramps. No bleeding at all, which was also a very pleasant surprise.

The doctor confirmed what Selo and I thought about the IUD- although it is wonderful and has worked like a charm for me, the hormone level in it has been dropping these last few months and that's why it didn't seem to be working as well.

My doctor was really nice, and he was funny. He was excited for us to be having the IUD taken out, it's a big step. He told us we "should get pregnant tonight!" We laughed and told him we weren't THAT ready- I haven't even had a period yet! Honestly, I am looking forward to starting my periods again. I haven't had one in over three years, and I'm looking forward to knowing I'm female and able to bear children.

I was a little concerned about a lot of different hormones messing me up so we couldn't have kids. But he said something that really comforted me. He said he has more cases of women coming in that got pregnant from missing a pill or two, than he has cases of women that go off birth control and struggle to get pregnant. That made me feel a lot better.

Day 1 in LV - Saturday

We left the house at 6am for the airport. I wanted the dishes done (at least in the dishwasher and ran) and the bed made before we left. While I did the dishes, here's how Selo made the bed. Isn't he cute? Teresa, Andy's sister, picked us up with Beka and Andy. We grabbed McDee's for breakfast. on the way to the airport. I love sausage mcgriddles. We got to Las Vegas, got our bags, and got in line to get our rental car. That was a mess. Instead of getting the price I was quoted, they charged us more than double. I was livid. But their reasons- although way over priced- were legit and legal. I will certainly be on the lookout for that next time. While at the airport waiting, we met the Rochester kids. I found out the term "Rochester kids" was so not literal. They weren't kids, they were our age! I was expecting Barbie style teenagers. Not even close. (Oh, how I was embarrassed.) Danielle was this tall, beautiful, spunky chick that was so friendly. Nicole was a pretty little chicka with great long hair and a quick smile. Isaac was tall (taaaaaallllllll) and strong and polite. What a pleasant surprise. Anyway, as soon as we (the Utah group) got our car, Danielle, Nicole, and Isaac took off for some time on the strip so we could have some time with Sue. Kristine and Sue in one car, Selo, Andy, Beka, and I in the other. Check out this video. This is Andy and Selo doing the dancing in the rental car as soon as we got it. OMGosh we laughed so hard.

Then we headed for Hoover Dam. We stopped at a view point, and got this picture.

We kept on and drove over the dam several times. Beka got some good pics of it. Then we stopped for lunch, and tried some of the homemade peanut butter Sue made. Not too bad. After the dam, Kristine and Sue took off to find out about the Stratosphere, while the four of us went and checked into the resort. This is where we stayed. Isn't it simply incredible? We had a three bedroom, two bath condo. Full kitchen, balcony, w/d in the condo, all amenities. Oh it was amazing. I cannot tell you how wonderful it has been to be owners with Worldmark.

Okay, after the checking into the resort, we all met at the Stratosphere. And it was then that I made a very brave move. I rode the Big Shot (the one pointing straight up). Danielle, Isaac, Selo, and I rode it. It was . . . invigorating. I've never had an experience like that in my life. Wow. Then the other three rode the Xscream (pic) and the Insanity (pic). I will have pics of them on the rides as soon as I get them off my camera. Even Sue ran off behind all of us and jumped on it herself. Have you ever seen a 70 year old woman volunteer to be dropped off the side of a building?

After our very long and exciting day, we were all exhausted. We went back to the hotel and crawled into our wonderfully soft and comfortable beds.

Not too shabby. Not too shabby, at all.

Things are going pretty good right now!

We are going to Las Vegas one week from tomorrow. I am so excited. It will be wonderful to get away for a week. We are planning to relax, play in the pool and the hottub, visit the Las Vegas temple, go on a fancy date, spend time with Sue and the Rochester gang, do a ton of sight seeing, touring, and shopping, and just plain enjoy our break in Las Vegas away from the norm. We reserved our car, and we are splurging just a bit on it. Because of the fantastic deal we get from our timeshare club, we were able to get a fun car for the same price as a regular car. We get to drive a Chrysler Sebring convertable or a Ford Mustang convertible. Don't they both look like fun? I can just see my sexXy husband driving down the strip in Vegas with the top down on our date. Makes me giggle like a school girl with a crush.

Plus, Beka and Andy are coming, too. They just found out they would have no other conflictions, and Beka was able to rearrange her time. So they are flying down there with us, and flying back on Tuesday. I am almost as excited to have them go, too, as I am to just be getting away.

Our car is finished being worked on. It turned out to be better than we thought. They only had to replace the lock cylinder in the driver side door, and they keyed it to fit our existing key. Plus the price was only half of what we were expecting. We will be going to pick it up tomorrow. They are also going to look into getting us a keyless entry for it, to make our lives even easier.

And, work is going a lot better for me, too. I have been given a couple more responsibilities in a couple more divisions of the company. It's made a world of difference for me. I am busier, and I feel so much better. Sitting around doing nothing is just not for me. And I was thinking about the people I work with. I love it here. The people are good people. They aren't drunks or druggies or crude/rude or pushy. I work with professionals, who know what's personal and what's not, know how to set and achieve goals, know when to cross the line and when not to, and know when to be laid back and when to be business. The atmosphere of my work is amazing. I have an awesome boss, a flexible schedule, a good salary, and great people. Honestly, what more could I ask for? I love my job.