Life Changes

Ok folks, I've been trying to figure out the best way to do this, and this is all I've come up with.

Disclaimer: For any of Kirk's family or friends reading this, if he hasn't already told you, I'm terribly sorry you're finding out this way.

For my family and friends, I love you all but I just didn't want to explain this a million times.


Some of you reading this may already know what's happening, but most will not.  This is the only time I'll be posting on this subject, as it's a very personal situation, but this way its coming from me.

Kirk and I have filed for divorce, which sucks pretty bad, but at this point that's where we're at.

Yes, we've tried everything we can. Yes, we were sealed in the temple, but not all temple marriages make it. Neither of us are happy about the situation, and I am the one that initiated it.

I'm not going to go into details, but we just had different goals and ambitions in life that we couldn't make jive.

That being said, and as much as I love you all, Kirk and I both still need some breathing room since this is still a new, painful thing.  I know many of you will have opinions, and I'd lovingly ask if you could keep those to yourself for the time being. Loving words, however, are welcome :)

To those who have already shown so much love and support, thank you so much. I'm so grateful to have amazing friends and family that have been nothing but amazing.

To Kirks family- I love you all so much, and I'm so thankful to have been part of your family for the past several years. Thank you for welcoming me into your lives and loving me as if I'd always been part of them. I'm sure I'll see some of you around :)

I love you all!

Jamberry!!!!

I don't know if you all know, but I LOVE JAMBERRYS!

And because of that, I've decided to be a consultant.

The reason I chose to be a consultant is because Jamberrys are amazing. They can last up to 2 weeks on your fingers, and 4-6 weeks on your toes. One sheet is enough for 2 manicures and 1 pedicure. You use heat to apply them, so there's no drying time which is awesome, cause most my friends are mommies, and we all know you don't have time to just sit around waiting for your nails to dry.

Now, all I need is for some of my awesome friends to host parties. The parties are all on Facebook which is awesome cause that means you don't have to have anyone in your house. Not that having people in our houses is bad, but sometimes it's really nice not have to clean or prepare snacks.  AND you can earn free sheets of Jamberry which is always fantastic, cause free things always rock.

So, if any of you lovely ladies are interested, just let me know!!

Journals?

I'm pretty awful at keeping a consistent journal.

Please tell me I'm not the only one??? 

I was working on my homework and one of the topics being discussed was efficient note taking.

 For some reason that made me think about journaling. 

Maybe it's because General Conference is coming up,

and I think we all try to take good notes during conference. 

And during conference they frequently tell us to keep personal journals. Right? 

I'll hear the instruction to keep a journal, and think "Yes! I can do that!"

Then I'll do it a couple times, and whelp, life happens....

One of those times I spent hours some time on Pinterest I found this

This wonderful lady, Tami Taylor, made a question sheet like this for EVERY MONTH!

How much easier does that make it?

I never know what to write.

This tells you exactly what to do!

I saw this and actually felt like keeping a journal would be do-able for once!

I also read a talk by President Kimball which is fantastic!

It's from 1980 but still completely relevant. 

You can find it here.

Maybe I'll finally have the motivation to keep a good journal.

Anyone else with me on this?

Beauty School Drop-out

That's what I feel like a lot of the time. Although if I had actually gone to cosmetology school, I'd feel a lot better.

Kirk ALWAYS insists I cut his hair, and I always push it off as long as I possibly can, cause I hate doing it.

Womens hair, sure why not. I've watched enough women get their hair cut that i'm pretty good at winging it.

Mens hair, unless I'm cutting all the same length with a razor, I'm really not very good...

Cut to tonight when I'm not able to put it off any longer, and Kirk demands firmly requests his hair be done. Now last time, by miracle, it turned out mostly ok. So this time I figure if I can just do it the exact same way, I'll be alright.

15 minutes later I'm in the bathroom, crying harder than I'd care to admit because I think it looks awful. There are waaaaay too many people that are going to see him over the next couple weeks till it looks a little better again.

I've always been an "emotional" person, but sometimes I feel like I'm excessive. Really? A bad haircut sending me into hysterics? LA-ame.

Now is there anyone out there that's good at cutting mens (and womens for that matter, cause mine is a mess) that feels like taking a Vegas vacation? Free room!!

Whaaaaat!?

Guess what world?

I. Have. Internet.

FINALLY

And with the internet comes with wonderful things like....

This

This

And this

Which leads me to the admission of this....

Sorry for blowing up your Pinterest home pages folks. 

After going 3 years without regular internet usage, i'm kind of binging now.

I promise it'll stop. Eventually. Probably.

Till then, enjoy!

California! Which really means Lacy!

The weekend after we went to Wyoming, I went back to California to get the rest of my stuff, but more importantly for Baby Lacys FIRST BIRTHDAY (party)!!!

I drove in with my cousin Breanna and we crashed at our grandparents for a very short 4 days, which wasn't nearly long enough!

Friday morning I went over to see the baby as soon as she woke up, and played with her till naptime, which was the perfect time for grocery shopping for her party. I had dinner with my little brothers, then baked the babys cake and about a zillion cupcakes. Saturday morning everyone chipped in to help get everything done, and make sure the party started almost right on time. I didn't take many pictures cause I was busy and stuff, but here's what I do have.

In her birthday outfit

Thank you Aunt Alesha!!

Saturday after bugs party, I got to go to dinner with my parents and Aunt Theressa and Uncle Bill for my dads birthday. We went to a BBQ joint called Sauced and it was fantastic. Sunday was Dads birthday dinner at Nana and Papas house, and I got to see the other grandparents. I also to go to cousin Lexis piano recital.  She was gorgeous and played so well! She impresses me all the time.

Monday was time to go home :( after a morning with Crystal and Lace. I didn't want to leave, but had to come home and work. Booo...  It was a short but much needed trip.  Now, for all the pictures of Lacy that I'm sure drive every one crazy. 

"Another picture? Really?"

Blurry, but priceless

"Eeew Aunt Nikki..No kisses!"

"Put me down!"

Melts my heart. Love this girl

Wyoming

I thought once we moved I'd be way better at doing this whole blog thing more regularly. I was wrong. We've been here for almost 6 weeks, and things are finally settling down. Now I can rewind and recap the last month and a half we've been here... Starting with Wyoming.

The weekend after we got here, Kirks little sister Brittany got married and Hereford Ranch in Cheyenne. Which means we packed up for a packed 48 hours.

In the 10 minutes it took us to get to the airport I decided we were located perfectly in the city. Minutes from both our jobs, the strip, our church, and the airport makes me a happy girl.  We went to go through security and got randomly picked to go through the express line. No taking things out of our bags, no shoes and belts off, and just a quick step through the metal detector. Let me tell ya. If I flew a lot, I would totally pay for the pre-check! Quick and easy...for everyone except Kirk. In the move he had put his leatherman pocket knife in his bag and forgot to take it out. He had be escorted out of the security area, check that bag, and come back through security. That time he had to through the regular line which meant I was left sitting for quite a while. Live and learn, right?

After a short, uneventful flight, we arrived in Denver. That's right. We fly 2 hours into Denver, then drive 2 hours into Cheyenne. Which makes for a long night when we finally arrived at our hotel at about midnight. After what felt like a very short sleep, Kirk went with his Brother in law and nieces to breakfast while I helped his sister who was a bridesmaid get ready for the wedding.  They left to take pictures and Kirk and I made our way over to the Boot Barn to get our first pairs of cowboy boots. The wedding was at a ranch, we HAD to have boots.........

The ceremony was held by a creek and Kirk had the honor of walking his baby sister partway down the aisle to hand her to their mom. So sweet! The reception was in a barn and was coral, denim and burlap. It was gorgeous and perfect for the couple. It was so fun to see all my brothers and sisters in law, and all the nieces and nephews.  Its very rare that we're all together at once.

Before we knew it the night was over and it was back to the hotel to pack up for our flight the next morning. A text came in from Kirks Mom early the next morning asking if we'd looked outside yet.  So we did, and then I wish we hadn't. We were greeted by about 5 inches of snow that had came down in a matter of about 7 hours. Now, being from Las Vegas via California, we don't own snow anything, let alone brought any! We quickly left for the airport knowing it would take us a while to get there!! And it sure did. Then our flight was delayed 3 times!!!! Augh! All I can say is thank goodness for free wi-fi and laptops.

Our flight home was a little more exciting due to the fact that a man had a heart attack half way through the flight. We still got home safely, albeit a few hours late. It was so nice to land and not see any snow though! It was a short, but wonderful weekend. And now for pictures.

Whirlwind Weeks

Holy smokes, has life been crazy!

I know my announcement of the move was brief and detail-less. Well, I now have time to fill in those details, thanks to a delayed airplane.

At the beginning of the year Kirk decided he wanted to start looking for a new job. He started updating his resume and getting all his things in order. He sent his info to a few companies and quickly had interviews lined up, followed by interviews, followed by a couple offers. Those were local companies, but he still wanted to look a little further, for companies that would be close to somewhere he can go back to school.

He lined up some interviews for Las Vegas and flew out for a couple days.  He liked a couple places, and while he was waiting to hear from those companies, we went to Utah for conference and he had a few additional interviews. The day of his last interview in Utah was the same day he had to give one of the companies in Vegas his decision. I was home from Utah at this point, so after multiple phone calls and his interview we decided that Nevada would be the best opportunity for him. He called the company back and accepted the position, and we started making the phone calls and text messages to our family to let them know. We'd tried to let most people in our immediate families know that he was looking, that way it wouldn't come as a total shock when or if it happened. He came home from Salt Lake the following day, we started packing, and he put in his two weeks the following Monday!

We didn't get to see everyone we wanted to before we left, but man, life was crazy. Kirk had been in our house for 5 years, and I'd been there for 3, so we had a LOT of purging to do since we were going from a 1,800(ish)sqft house to a 1,040sqft apartment! It was two weeks of staying up till 3 in the morning, working all day, and coming home and doing it again. All I can say is two weeks was NOT enough time for us!! We barely made it out on time, thanks to Kirks sister ignoring our "we don't need help, we're ok!"

We got everything packed into a Uhaul, and started the 12 hour drive out. It wouldn't have been so long, but we were pulling a trailer and thanks to Californias traffic laws, we had to go 55 till we hit the Nevada border.  We got there at about 4 in the afternoon, signed all the papers, got our keys aaaand then started unpacking.

Kirk started his new job that Thursday, which was 6 weeks after his interview, and 3 weeks after he accepted the position.  We didn't know if it was going to take weeks or months for him to find the job he wanted, but it happened so fast!

The first Friday we were there I went down to the strip to walk around and go to the mall with my cousin, who also lives there, and seeing as I can't walk like a normal person should be able to, I fell down some steps in front of Caesars Palace. Typical.  The security people had something awesome to watch, and I injured my foot to the tune of not being able to walk for 5 days. Finally last Wednesday I was able to walk, and got almost everything put away! Which meant we had Thursday to enjoy it, before we left for Wyoming.

Which is where I am now. Waiting for a delayed flight. But that's a story for another post.

Ugh.

I forgot how hard moving was.

And the other times I moved were cake compared to this.

I feel like we still have so much to do, but I know we're getting there.

We're both exhausted but at this point I know we only have a few more long nights left before we won't be in our house anymore. This is the house Kirk was living in while we were dating, and the house he bought before we got married. Our house has seen so many up's and down's over the last 5 years and holds so  many memories. 

I know we're going to make new memories, in a new house, it's just going to be different. Not bad different, just different. Thankfully we're leaving the house to people we trust, and I know they'll take care of it, which makes it a little easier to leave our home behind to start this new adventure. 

Is it Monday yet?

Big News!

And no, it's not a baby.

Kirk got a new job!

Which means we're moving!!

In 2 weeks...Yikes.

To LAS VEGAS!

WOOHOO!!!!!!

Packing and cleaning on the other hand..

Booooo......

Life With Depression

Alright people. Today I want to talk about something that no one really talks about. Depression. Not the 'something bad happened so i'm sad' depression, but the Major Depressive Disorder kind of depression. Yup, I'm going there. Chances are, you know someone with depression since approximately 1 in 10 Americans have it. Maybe you have it, and you'll relate to this post.
WARNING: Uhm...this is kind of a long post so I'm pre-applauding you for reading the whole thing *clap clap clap!!!*

First, a few statistics (coming from healthline.com/everydayhealth.com)
-Women are 70% more likely to suffer from depression
-80% of people with symptoms aren't receiving treatment
-60-80% of depression cases can be effectively treated with therapy and/or anti-depressants

This is a topic that I know can be awkward, or sensitive. My husband doesn't love that I'm so open about it, but I've accepted that I have depression and if my talking about it can possibly help someone else, then I'll shout my story.
I was 'diagnosed' with depression at 16. I suspected something wasn't right before that (when I didn't even want to dance anymore), but didn't know what to do, or how to do it. My at the time boyfriend knew something wasn't right, and talked to my mom. She took me to my doctor, and I listed all the things I was feeling, the best I could. From there I was sent to a therapist. At the time they wanted to see how well that would work for me, and not go straight to medication. I know the thought was "It's just a teenager thing, she probably doesn't need medicine", and at the time that worked for me. I was VERY hesitant to go to my first day of therapy because I didn't know who the heck this guy was, and there was no way I was telling all my 'deepest darkest secrets' and feelings to someone I'd never even met. Turns out that for me, that was exactly what I needed at 16. Kevin listened, didn't judge, and helped me talk out my feelings. I'd gotten really good at hiding everything, from everyone, and it was such a relief to get it all out.
 I had a couple kind of OK years, and functioned pretty normally. Then I moved away from my home to attempt to start my 20's life, and things quickly went downhill. Work was alright, things with friends could have been better, and the love life was non-existent. I was in a 'go to work, come home and have dinner, go to sleep, repeat' cycle, with the occasional 'see family' thrown in there. After a couple months of that, I hit my rock bottom. My parents and grandparents decided I needed to be at home where they could make sure I was safe and taken care of.
Shortly after I moved home I started dating my now husband. Things were good with him, with my family, church, and work. Life. Was. Good. For about 2 1/2 years I was the happiest I can basically ever remember being. Just shy of 2 months before the wedding, I found out I needed surgery to remove some pre-cancerous cells on my lady parts. (You can read that story, plus more here) That surgery caused a huge surge of hormones, and reactions from my body that are yet to go back to normal. THEN came the stress of planning a wedding. After we got married Kirk started studying for a licencing exam that would allow him to progress in his work, and be very beneficial to our family. The only drawback was that I basically didn't see him for 9 months.
By that point of time, that ugly little depression shadow was already making a re-appearance. In my mind I knew what Kirk was doing was a really good thing. Emotionally I felt really neglected. I would tell him "I support you!" then turn around and say "I hate this test! I never see you!". Not only was it affecting my mind, but my body was starting to feel it. I would go to work, and that was about it. I would get a little house work done, but not much, which left Kirk to work, study, and then do all the house work on Sunday, which I hadn't done during the week. Of course at the time, I couldn't see that's what was happening.
At the same time we were trying to start a family. I know, bad idea. Also didn't see it that way back then. 2 years of not getting pregnant, too many doctors trips, thousands of dollars in co-pays, and a doctor that only wanted me to take blood tests and MRI's just wore me down. I cried more about that than anything else going on.
I also stopped working, and for almost 2 years I was home by myself all day, every day. Lets face it. That's not healthy for ANYONE. I dragged myself to church, and to family things, and that was the most I got out of my house. I had people I thought were friends completely bail on me. By the time you take the basic chemical depression, and add everything else, it was ugly.
I basically was a non-functioning wife/daughter/friend for 2 years. I did NOTHING. I was lucky to make it from the bed to the couch. I knew I had lists of stuff to do, and I just couldn't.
I heard everything from "You just need to make the choice for things to be different" to "Go to the gym and you'll be fine". Yes, going to the gym does help, but first you have to get to the gym, which involves so many steps, which to a normal person might seem like NBD but to someone with depression, those are gigantic tasks. Sorry if I sound like a Negative Nancy, but that's just how it is. My poor husband was left to do everything. Kirk would try to tell me what he needed, but all I heard was all the ways I was failing as a wife. Which I already knew, so I would lash out because I just felt criticized. I already knew I was the worst wife in the history of ever, so I didn't need to hear it from him. He has his own views on the whole situation, and I won't go into those, but let's just say it's really hard to understand something like this if you've never been through it yourself.

I found this comic, and laughed. Mostly cause I know exactly how that feels.

Yeah, you know.

It also feels a whole lot like this

You can see the rest over here.

I finally got on medicine at the end of last year and slowly but surely I feel like I'm becoming a normal person again. When something is dirty, instead of looking at it thinking 'I should really clean that' I can just do it. When I don't have to work, I actually do things, instead of laying on the couch all day. I know I've got a while to go, and a little more adjustments to go with the medication, but I'm really excited to be able to see the person I know I am coming out, and it feels so good to feel like I'm functioning like a normal person should.

Whew.... Are any of you aware that I talk waaaaay too much sometimes?

I know other people who have depression, but we all experience it differently. For me I feel numb or angry. I smile, but I wouldn't say I feel happiness (with the exception of Lacy). Someone I know feels like she's outside of her own body, moving through life. If you think there's a chance you might have depression symptoms, you can take preliminary tests online. Talk to your doctor. Don't be too scared or proud to ask for help.I can confidently say I wish I'd gone on medicine years ago.

I saw an article posted by a friend on Facebook, that listed things you could do to support someone who suffers from depression. Here are a few items listed.
-Fix them a healthy meal. If we're not getting out of bed, we aren't eating till we're starving. Then it's something easy, which isn't always the best. Eating disorders are frequently connected to depression.
-Hug them. They might be doing or saying things that make you not want to be around them, but chances are they just can't express how they're feeling, and it just comes out all wrong. Please do not pull away. They need hugs and touches to reassure them that you're there and you love them.
-Talk to them. Listen to them. Not only will it be good for them to talk about their feelings, it might help you understand what they're going through a little better.
-Frequently people with depression turn to self-medicating instead of going to a doctor. If you learn that your loved one is doing things like drinking, doing drugs, cutting, or other things out of nature for them, you may want to make a doctors appointment for them. They might not realize they need it, or it might just take more effort than they can give at the time.
-Encourage them to keep praying and reading their scriptures. Likely, those things will be difficult for them. A lot of feelings of worthlessness come with depression, and they need reminders that Heavenly Father loves and is there for them. (Not in the article, but still important.)
You can read the whole wonderful article over here.
ALSO you can read, or print to give your loved one Elder Hollands talk from General Conference Like a Broken Vessel. Ah-ma-zing. 

If you need help trying to understand how they might be feeling, search Depression Quotes on Pinterest. You'll find things like this, that describe it.

 

And of course, the best description I've every read of what it feels like is written by Allie over at hyperboleandahalf

Adventures in Depression

Depression Part Two

I think that's the longest and least happy post I've ever written, but it's time we get over the stigma of Mental Illness and just start helping people. We'd all be so much happier! 

Viva la Vida

You thought you knew Coldplay.

But you haven't heard Viva la Vida until you've hear it on a 

6-String

Electrical violin

By world renowned violinist

Tracy Silverman.  

WOW.

But I digress.

One of our Young Women Advisers is a Professor at Delta College and 

she got us tickets to the Stockton Symphony concert featuring Tracy Silverman.

 So we gathered all the youth (and by all I mean the 2  that showed up.

out of the 8 that rsvp'd) and headed over to the theater.  

It was one of the best performances I've seen, and I wish he'd just played the entire time. 

Let me tell you a little of what I learned about Tracy Silverman.

At 16 he started attending Chicago Music College.

He went to Julliard and was named a Distinguished Alumni.

There was no such thing as a 6 string violin..

Till he made one.

He also figured out a new way to use the bow.

And he plays a fretted violin.

(I didn't even know those existed.)

He does this thing where as he's playing live, he records himself

for like 12 measures and sets it to play on a loop. 

Multiple times.

So it sounds like there are 4 or 5 of him playing.

Ah-maz-ing. 

Here is a totally awesome video of him playing Led Zeppelin. Check it.

I'm in love, and I don't care who knows it!

Let me tell you about the new love of my life.  Her name is Lacy, and she's probably the cutest person on the planet. (Sorry everyone else who thinks their baby is the cutest, it's just not true.) Ok, so technically she's not my baby, buuuuuut she is the closest I have. I love her enough, and that's what matters.

   
   

  

  

  

1. First Baby-Sitter 2. Hangin' out with Bailey 3. Smiles! 4. "Eh, maybe I'll kind of smile" 5. "Meh" 

6. "Dang, I'm wearing the same outfit!" 7. "I like Aunt Nikki's pink hair!" 8. Squeals 

9. Cuddles! My favorite part of the day!!  10.Exersaucer 

11. Yeah, Relief Society can be boring 12. Church Time 13. Selfie time! 14.It's a serious Christmas

15. Christmas Day! 16. Happy New Years!! 17. I mean come. on. She's adorable

Hellooooo 2014!

It's been about 6 months since you've heard from our little piece of the world, and I'm sure you're very uninterested curious to know what we've been doing.

   August brought a visit from Kirk's mom and one of his many brothers, Christopher. Thanks to their trip to California, we all got to take a trip to the water slides in Sacramento, which was a blast. While the two boys were running around going on all the insane slides, there was some serious mother/daughter(in-law) time happening on the lazy river. Like hours worth.
   We also went on a cruise of the Stockton Delta with some of Kirk's friends, and learned all about the Port of Stockon.


   In September my baby cousin Bailey went to live in Hawaii for college (ok, so she's really not a baby) and I got to spend 10 days with her younger siblings so my Aunt & Uncle could take her. They got to enjoy a week and a half in Hawaii with their oldest, while I got to practice being a mom caregiver with a 16, 12, and 5 year old. The first 3 days were great (can you say 3 day weekend?), and as much as I LOVE my family, things went slowly downhill every day. 10 days is a long time to have someone who isn't your parent(s) in charge of everything. 10 days is also a really long time to have 3 kids, when you're used to having 0 and sitting alone in a quiet house every day. We did make sure to have fun though! Memorial Day Swim Party/BBQ, I took each kid on a date (Icees, Ice Cream, and the Greek Festival, from youngest to oldest), and Kirk built and slept in a couch fort with the youngest two. We had our ups and downs, and we'll just say that EVERYONE was elated with Mom and Dad got home.
   One of the best things that happened last year is that we got to attend the wedding of a co-worker of Kirks, and the following day he was baptized. Kirk has worked with Danny for years, and was involved with blessing Danny and Marias baby. They got married in a beautiful Beauty and the Beast themed wedding, and we were so excited to celebrate with them. The following morning Danny was baptized, and Kirk and I were both able to give talks and welcome him into the church. And now Kirk isn't the only LDS person at his work, which is a nice plus.
   Have you ever camped in the rain? We did, and it's not fun. My brother-in-law David came down from Utah, and we went camping at Yosemite, which sounds like it would be wonderful. Kirk and I both checked the weather the day before we left, and it said 5% chance of rain so we thought "Oh it's not going to rain, we'll be just fine". Famous last words, right? Saturday morning we got up and drove a hour to the Redwood trees. Just over halfway into a hike it started sprinkling, and we figured "Oh, it's just light, let's keep hiking." Well it only stayed light for about 20 minutes, then started coming down a little harder. Then harder. And harder. By the time we finished our hike and were back to the car, we were pretty wet. There was a scenic overlook as we got close to our camp, and the boys, thinking it wasn't raining that hard got out to take pictures. In about 5 minutes they ran back because the rain had started POURING. At about that time it dawned on us that our dinner was to be made in a dutch oven, and depended on fire. Surely it couldn't rain for that long, right? Ohhhhh wrong.  It rained for 8 HOURS. Seriously. Walking around in our tent felt like walking on a water bed. So naturally I stayed warm and dry in the tent leaving the boys to figure out the foodstuffs. They hung a tarp and somehow managed to start a fire, successfully making dinner. In just a bit longer than it was supposed to take.... I was oh so happy to get in the truck and drive home the next morning!!!

One big thing that happened in September, is that Kirk and I were called in serve in the Spanish ward in our stake. This was a big surprise and a BIG change. You may not know this, but I speak absolutely fluent Spanish. BAH. That's a big lie. Actually, I speak NO Spanish. Except what I learned on Dora, and that doesn't really help me at all in this situation. Kirk however served his mission in Mexico, and while he'll say he doesn't speak Spanish well anymore, I disagree.  Thankfully, they have an English Sunday school class, and my calling as Young Women Secretary keeps me in an English class. Kirk is serving as Ward Mission Leader, and while I'm sure it's a lot of work for him, I'm having fun. Our ward has 4 companionships. 8 missionaries! We try to have one set over a week for dinner, and I love that we have a set of Sisters because that means I can have them over even when Kirk isn't home. And they're adorable. While it has been a big change, it's a great ward, and the girls are fantastic. I love being in Young Womens, so I'm happy.

Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas went down like every other year, full of family and good food!

I started working in November as a full time baby-sitter. (I say Nanny. It's 50 hours a week so I think it deserves a better title.) I have 2 adorable little girls who keep my day full, and allow me to get out of my house. They also have cable and internet, which lets me watch the shows I can't record, and do some pinning. Yes!

Well, if you stuck around through that too wordy post, you now know what happened the last 6 months of last year. And now that I have more internet access maybe I'll post more frequently?