Looking Back at 2009

It's been a while since I've blogged!! Life sure has gotten busy. I wanted to take some time and reflect on all the happenings of 2009. My goal for 2010 to start a picture blog and post one picture every day. I think that's a lot easier and more realistic than trying to lose weight.



January 2009- Bray turned 11 years old!!! We had a surprise birthday party for her at Posado's Mexican food restaurant. It was so much fun to have all of our closest friends and family together in one place. Bray was totally surprised and had fun shopping with all the gift cards she received.



February 2009- We welcomed a new addition to our family. We adopted a 2 month old kitten named Sophia. Shawn and the kids absolutely adore her. I'm more of a dog person but I do think she's a pretty cool cat.



March 2009- My sister sent me a text that said "Answer your phone Auntie Diva!!!" I was so stinkin' excited that my sister and her hubby were expecting their first baby. Without going into a lot of personal detail, the pregnancy couldn't have happened at better time. After all of the deaths that happened in 2008, it was nice to get some good news for a change. My sister glowed all through her pregnancy and their daughter is very lucky to have such loving parents.



April 2009- Can't really remember anything of great importance that happened during this month. Oh wait....we bought our red front loading washer and dryer!!! That was a huge deal for us since we don't have credit cards and were able to pay CASH for these. Also, got my kids to enjoy doing their own laundry.



May 2009- Shawn bought me the best Mother's Day present-a Kindle from Amazon.com!!!!! I absolutely love this reading device and love to tell all of my friends and family about it. Shawn also went to Los Angeles for a week in May. It was challenging being a single mom for that week. We all missed him and were glad to have him back. May was also filled with a lot of school activities-Field Day, school parties, Choir competition. Oh ya...and the Swine Flu hit that month. Because of the Swine Flu scare, a lot of school activities got cancelled which was a bummber because the kids were really looking forward to being able to take a break after the dreaded TAKS tests were finished.



June 2009-Another busy month for us. Shawn turned 39!!! Father's Day was shortly after and we celebrated our 14 year anniversary on the 24th of June. We bought season passes to Six Flags again this year and had a great time going and riding the fun rides. Brooke got on the Titan for the first time and LOVED it!!!! I was a nervous wreck but she has absolutely no fear. Several of Bray's friends had season passes so we would all load up in the van and take a bunch of kids. I would say the summer was all about spending time with friends. Seems like the whole month of June I had kids over at my house or my kids were at their friend's house. It was a lot of fun.



July 2009-We took our first real family weekend vacation. I decided in June that I needed to just get away for a while. So we booked a room in Galveston and drove to the beach Friday, July 3rd. The kids loved it!! It was very hot and although we didn't get to stay at the beach a lot, it was nice to get away as a family. I'm already trying to figure out where to go next year. It is Shawn's 40th birthday and our 15 year anniversary....hmmmmm.... what to do?



August 2009- WAS HOT!!!! We were busy getting ready for school. I took several days off to get the girls ready for school (haircuts, school clothes, school supplies, etc.) It was also the month that I went back to the doctor and told him I was depressed and needed some serious help. I was dealing with insomnia all summer long. As I told him during my appointment, I have a bad case of the "I don't wannas". I wasn't sad or anything. I just had do desire to do anything. I was totally happy with staying on the couch and doing nothing. So he prescribed me some sleeping pills and an anti depressant and I feel much better. I'm totally off the sleeping pills. I think my family and co-workers really were glad I made that appointment...LOL



September 2009-I turned 35!!!! Ughhhh...that sounds so old. On September 5th 2009, was a life changing day for me. That was the day Shawn took me to the Conoco Station for lunch. The real name of the restaurant is Chef Point Cafe. It is a restaurant inside a gas station. The restaurant has been featured on the Food Network and Oprah. The food is fantastic. We have taken several friends and family members to this restaurant. The chef even prepared a Nigerian breakfast for Bray's 6th grade class. We will forever be grateful to Chef Franson. For more information about this restaurante go to http://www.chefpointcafe.com/. September was also the month that I received my iPhone. I was certain that I would like it and really struggled with whether I would even use all the features. I LOVE IT!!!!!! Shawn did good in picking out my birthday present.

October 2009- A month I will NEVER forget. My mentor at work and one of my best friends decided he wanted to move to Florida for a job promotion. I was devastated!!! Not in a million years did I ever think Mark would leave. I was promoted to Sr. Staff Accountant, which is a great thing. I've been with the company for 4 years and have really accomplished a lot with the company. October also was a month of celebration. We had my sister's baby shower at my house and it was so much fun. Have I mentioned how lucky her daughter is to have such wonderful parents????

November 2009- Brooke turned 8. I am truly amazed at how much time has flown by. She just wanted a simple party with just a few family members. So that's what we did. Mark left November 6th and it was such a sad day. I think my eyes are still burning from crying so much. On November 9, the wonderful Betty Finch passed away. Betty was Shawn's grandmother. She was 88 years old at the time of her passing. Ma was a wonderful woman and was full of life kup until the very end. We will all miss the greeting cards she would send on birthdays and anniversaries. She was a wonderful mother, grandmother and great grandmother. My parents came to spend a few weeks with us during the Thanksgiving holiday. It was the first time both of them had stayed with us at the same time. We enjoyed their visit and I had someone to go shopping with the day after Thanksgiving. On November 24th, the girls and I went to see Blind Side with friend. After we got home from the movie, I received a phone call that my sister was in labor and heading to the birthing center. I waited patiently for my family in Granbury to head over to my house and then we headed up north. We arrived at the birthing center about 10 minutes after my niece was born. Around 2:30 am we got to see her. She is sooooo beautiful. My sister is a trooper and had her natural.

December 2009-I spent the majority of the month preparing for Christmas. We decided to paint Brooke's room since she bought a new comforter for her room and was getting a lot of decorations for Christmas.

All in all 2009 was a wonderful year. If I could sum it up in one word it would be FACEBOOK. I have reconnected with so many people through Facebook. Although there have been a few times when I've had to do a Facebook cleansing and redefine who I really want to be friends with. 2009 was a year of meeting new friends and building those relationships. It was also a year that I decided there were certain people I just didn't want to associate with anymore. I probably hurt a few people but I had to do what was best for my immediate family. 2009 was also a year of sadness when Mark left. I really do miss him but it was a great move on his part and I want to wish him well in his new endeavors. I also believe my self esteem has improved since he's been gone...lol love you, Mark.

I want to thank my husband and kids for being there with me through the sad and happy days. Here's to a wonderful 2010....

We Miss You Granny

Tomorrow will mark the one year anniversary of my Granny Ramsey's passing. I can't believe it's been a year since I got the phone call in the middle of the night from my dad saying, "Baby, Granny is gone." Seems like everytime I answered the phone last year, it was a family member telling me someone had passed away.

I miss her so much. She was the rock who held our family together. Honestly, I think she would be rolling in her grave at some of the choices a few family members have made in the last year. But I'm not here to judge what they are or aren't doing. I can only focus on my husband and children and know that I've done right when I go to bed at night.

There are so many memories of Granny that I couldn't possibly put it all in one blog. She was loved by all and loved anyone who came waltzing through her door. She made her home welcome to anyone at anytime. I loved being able to jump in the car on a Saturday morning and drive the 2 hours to her house with the girls and just hanging out with Granny. I never had to make an appointment to visit. Surprising her with my visits were the best.

She was a wonderful Great Grandmother to my girls. I loved calling her on the phone and saying, "So you want to hear a funny Brookie story?" or saying, "So you want to hear what Brailey did now?" I absolutely LOVED hearing her laugh so hard that she couldn't stand it. She was at the hospital when I had both the girls and it meant so much to me that she sacrificied being away from my ailing grandpa to come see her oldest great granddaughter being born.

I know she is having the time of her life right now being able to see Papa, Pee Wee, Eddie, Gloria, Bonnie and all the other people who passed on and were so precious to her.

We love and miss you, Granny!!!

A Tribute to Old Friends

This blog has been laying really heavy on my heart for a couple of days. In my mind I've tried written and rewritten what I would actually post. It's going to be a long blog so grab a beverage of your choice and hopefully you'll enjoy.



First let me give you a little insight as to why I'm writing this blog. The last six months I've been in kind of a funk with life; not a deep dark funk, but a funk nontheless. There are certains things that have led to this funk: job, stress of raising girls that instinctivly draw themselves to drama at school, missing family members that have passed on, missing my family in Washington, missing friends that I've reconnected with on Facebook.



Yesterday I went to the movies with some friends. It was great to get out of the house and just LAUGH so hard I was crying and snorting. Some of this laughter came because the movie was so funny, but mostly it came from watching and listening to my friends laugh. I realized that one of the things that will help me out of this funk is to keep hanging with friends that make me laugh. Everyone has problems and issues and just spending a couple of hours with friends can really help cure a person's funk. I also recently read a book called "Firefly Lane" by Kristin Hannah that was about a friendship that lasted over 30 years. It really got me thinking about all of my junior high and high school friends who I've reconnected with over the last year.



Last year was a very hard year for me because I lost several family members in a short period of time. Now I did get to reconnect with lots of family members who I had grown kind of distant to and that was great. My kids now visit their cousins on a regular basis. I talk to my sisters more often and I absolutely LOVE the relationships that I have with them.



This year has been all about reconnecting with friends. I joined Facebook and have reconnected with old friends from Washington. I really have enjoyed keeping up with their lives and it's very interesting to see what journey they're on through life.



I would like to pay tribute to some of those friends who I keep up with on a regular basis through email, phone calls (okay-maybe not through phone calls because I HATE talking on the phone), text messages, and Facebook. If you're not mentioned in this blog, please do not take offense. I love you all the same.



Tanya-WOW!!! Where do I start with Tanya? I have known her since 4th grade and we became best friends in 8th grade. She has stood by me through thick and thin. I have so many childhood memories of Tanya and her family. We could get into a lot of trouble together but somehow I ALWAYS GOT CAUGHT!!! I love her family like they are my own. Tanya came to Texas about 9 years ago for my birthday and I will never forget that birthday. The amount of jello shots that were consumed one evening still amazes me. She held my head while I killed the yard after those jello shots were in my system-grass still won't grow there. A little over a year later she came back to Texas after Brooke was born. I still thank her from time to time on getting Brooke hooked on pacifiers. And in return, when she was pregnant with Kyle, I bought her a case of pacifiers. Tanya has turned out to be a wonderful wife and mother to Patrick, Kyle and Shane. I absolutely enjoy seeing this phase in her life where the boys are participating in sports and school activities. She has always called me crazy for being on the go and I kept telling her, "Just wait until your boys are old enough. You'll understand." Thank you Tanya for always being there. I can tell you everything and anything and I just hope everyone can have a friend like you. I could do a separate blog on our friendship. I do hope that my girls find their "Tanya" and have a friendship that lasts as long as ours has.



Jenni-We did not hang out a lot in school and unfortunately I don't have a lot of school memories of Jenni. That however has not kept us from forming a friendship now. Jenni is such an inspiration. She recently completed her first marathon. What true dedication and hard work this was for her to train and prepare for. Jenni trained so hard for this event, but from what I can tell never lost focus on being a wife and mother. Last year when I was doing Weight Watchers, Jenni was my cheerleader. Every week I would post a blog about my weight loss, or sometimes my weight gain, and she would normally be the first to comment on my blog. She encourages me to get my butt to the gym with no excuses. I often laugh and say I have the bobblehead doll that looks just like her on my shoulder. Jenni encourages me to be a better wife and mother. Jenni, I can't wait until I come back to Washington for a visit and we can hang out. I look forward to meeting your beautiful family.



Keri-Keri and I had a lot of business classes together in high school. We were in FBLA together and rocked at our annual FBLA convention. Keri was always the person I could go to for advice. She was the mother of our group. She always took the Christian approach on how to handle situations. I didn't appreciate it then, but I sure appreciate it now. Keri NEVER strayed from what she believed in. When I reconnected with her on Facebook, I was thrilled that she and Tim got married and have been together for a very long time!!!! She has two beautiful girls that I'm sure she is raising with good Christian values. When I'm having a bad day and post something on Facebook, Keri is usually the first to send me a great big hug all the way from Washington. I also look forward to seeing Keri next time I'm in Washinton. I look forward to seeing Tim again and meeting her two beautiful daughters. I hope they know what a great wife and mother they have.



Joyce-Oh my sweet little bubbly Joycee!!!! I will never forget starting Bethel Jr. High a little late in the year after moving back to Washington from Puerto Rico. I'm standing in the hall outside of our computer lab and this bouncy girl comes up to me and goes, "Hi Dara. Do you remember me? I'm Joycee?" I think I looked at her like she was a freakball. But we became great friends all through Jr. High and High School. I had some great times hanging out with her and her family. Joyce was always at my house. I remember going to numerous concerts with her at the Puyallup State Fair. Lots of hairstyles and hair colors were experimented with Joyce. I actually reconnected with Joyce long before Myspace and Facebook. Haven't seen her since high school but it's been great to follow her along her journey. She has a wonderful and adorable little boy. After some heartbreak with her now ex-husband, she has found her true love and soulmate. One day I hope to visit South Carolina to visit her and meet her family. I believe Shawn and Chris would get along great. Joycee, I want to wish you well with your upcoming marriage. I wish you all the happiness and joy and can't wait to follow you on where your life takes you over the next few years. I hope and pray that you and Chris are happy and keep that love alive.



Elizabeth-What great memories Elizabeth and I had growing up. We were neighbors all through school and hung out together all the time. Due to the recent death of Michael Jackson, Elizabeth and I have talked a little bit about our childhood memories. One memory is our love (infactuation) that we had with Michael Jackson growing up. She actually had the red leather jacket with all the zippers. I remember being sooooo jealous of her. Elizabeth was at my birthday party when my mom made me a Michael Jackson cake. I had a sleep over and we all stayed up late to watch the Thriller video. One memory that I will never forget is thinking it would be a great idea to get a couple of cans of whipped cream and spray her mom when she came into the house from gardening. YA---didn't really work in our favor. One great memory I have of Elizabeth is going to Disneyland with her family. Getting up at the wee hours in the morning to get Arsenio Hall tickets. Again, a plan that really didn't work in our favor. We still had a great time. Elizabeth has such a zest for life that it is contagious. After reading her Facebook status, I often tell myself, "I really need to find that passion and get a more positive attitude." She is loved by all in her community. Her parents have always been go-getters and leaders and they did a fantastic job with raising Elizabeth. I see a lot of Harriet's tenacity in Elizabeth. One of these days I would like for my family to make a trip to Austin and visit Elizabeth and her family. She has two beautiful children and I hope they realize what a great mother they have. Elizabeth, please know that you are always in my heart and I look forward to your positive affirmations on a daily basis.

Christie-Oh what memories I have of Christie in Mr. Pearson's class. I remember our class discussions of Fibars and Band Aids. I would like Christie to know that I have outgrown Band Aids and have upgraded to gauze...LOL. Christie and I could fill up the room with laughter. Loved riding in her first car/boat. It's been great catching up with Christie. Life wasn't always great to Christie growing up, but she made the most of her life and came out ahead. Sounds like she is happily married and has a wonderful son. I would also like to see Christie next time I'm in Washington (I feel a mini-reunion coming on).

Teresa and Bobbi (Berta)- I hung out with Teresa and her older sister, Berta, during Jr. High and some high school. If I remember correctly, Tanya actually introduced me to Teresa and Berta. If the four of us got together it was TROUBLE!!!! I have many great memories of going to Olympia for the FHA convention in Jr. High. With Berta being the older sister, she loved to torment me and Teresa. In turn Teresa and I loved to harass Berta, but we did look up to her. Teresa married her high school sweetheart and has 3 beautiful children. Berta is married with two sons. I would love to reconnect (in person) with them one of these days and meet there family. It's been fun having weekly Bejeweled competitions with Berta and Teresa. I think Teresa has learned some of my tricks because she is giving me a run for my money each week.

As a parent to two beautiful girls, I'm am always praying that they find that one special friend who they will remain friends with for life. My oldest is having a hard time with girl drama at school and I keep assuring her that that one true friend is out there for her. Luckily, I have found several true friends and I am blessed to know each and every one of you. Even if you're not mentioned in this blog and you're reading this, please know that you do have a special place in my heart.

I look forward to making new friends and memories throughout the years. Whenever I'm in a funk, I just need to call a girlfriend up and go hang out with them.

I hope everyone has enjoyed reading this blog. I enjoyed writing it.