No Use Directing Doors

Road Trip to LA!!

2009-07-21T08:02:00.000-07:00

In January one of the besties, Jes, packed up her life in LA and moved to Nashville to follow her dreams. I don't even want to talk about the fact that she is gone, I am still trying to convince myself that she will be home any day now, like when she went to Australia. So, when she booked a flight home to California to visit in June, Kendra and I booked a road trip to LA to see her! It was a really great weekend filled with bowling, swim day, relaxing and a lot of I5 and I had a blast!! I love my friends and am so thankful for another set of great memories with them!

Our trip started with an early stop at McDonald's!

Everyone got some lunch!

How cute is she? She is getting so big!

Our first day there we all went to Jes' Mom and Dad's house to swim and just hang out together with the kids! It was a really fun day and the first time we had all been together since last Aug so it was long overdue!

We stayed at Kendra's Mom and Dad's house while we were in LA and Peyton had a blast of course!

YaYa painted Peyton's toes in an effort to hold her still so Kendra could do her hair! She loved it!

On our last night in town we left the kids at home and had a girls night out! Bowling and besties!

It was so good to have Jes home in California!!

We hit the road Saturday night back to Santa Cruz so we could be at church Sunday morning!

Peyton loved the game room at one of the rest stops!

By the grapevine the kids were ready for bed and Kendra and I got some coffee and headed home. It was a really good ride home, kids sleeping behind us, Casting Crowns on the radio and lots of random conversations with one of my favorite people!

On Sunday I we went to church and then to the CLC BBQ where we hung out with friends, ate and played some softball. Amber hung out with her friends too! So cute!

It was such a great weekend and I can't wait to do it again in a couple weeks!!

Lock of Love

2009-07-19T20:30:00.000-07:00

For almost 3 years I have been growing out my hair to donate it to Locks of Love . They are a wonderful organization that takes donated hair and makes wigs for sick children who have lost their hair from some type of a disease and cannot afford to buy a wig. A few years ago my Dad donated 21 inches to them and I was inspired to do it also. It has been a very long road as I needed a full 10 inches to donate my hair and it was only at about my chin when I decided to grow it out. When I decided to grow it out I told Kendra and Jes not to let me cut my hair, no matter what I said and they held me to it! If they had not held me to it I would have cut my hair last summer and about a dozen times after that. It was fitting that when the time came to actually cut my hair Kendra not only came with me but took pictures for the blog! Here they are! I am happily enjoying my short hair now, especially on days like today when it is 108 degrees in this valley!

Before!

This moment was a little scary!

Some kid gets a wig! That made it all worth it!

Now onto some cute hair!

The end result!

I'm Back!

2009-07-19T20:24:00.000-07:00

I know it has been forever since I have posted a blog, but my life has just been too busy! Anytime I think about what to do with a precious free moment I have I seem to find other things on the priority list to do that keep me from blogging. However, no with summer school almost over, and not actual classes to go to I seem to have a lot more time on my hands and I am going to use it to catch up on just a few of the things that happened in my blogging absence. So, ignore the timeline! :)

A Trip to YaYa's

2009-05-17T17:42:00.001-07:00

Kendra and the girls came to YaYa's house to swim and have some girl time! It was a very fun few days. There was swimming, basketball in the pool, long talks with the birds, boat rides, YaYa fell in the pool trying to get a ball for Peyton, we played with my old Barbies, had poolside tea parties and lunches, Peyton found and lost a ladybug and played with some of my Dad's musical instruments, we colored, and when the kids went to bed, Kendra and I worked on scrapbooks and just and a blast!!

Santa Cruz Moments

2009-05-17T17:26:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from a recent trip to Santa Cruz to see the Kertson's. I have noticed lately that I come home with a ton of pictures of the girls and none of Kendra and I...times they change! :)

Someone let a frog in the house! (She makes the noise and everything!)

On the way to church!

YaYa got to pick out Peyton's clothes and hair style. These are her very first little pigtail braids!

Such a flirt! She gets that from her Mom!

So darn cute!!

My name used to be YaYa...we are thinking of changing it to Mrs. Pots!

Tea party with Bubba!

Dress up!

Kendra took this because she was freaking out about how much Amber looks like me!
She could totally pass for my kid!

Getting comfy while she watches Mickey!

Praise Him! When Peyton was this age we used to crack up over her "sleep praise" hands and now Amber does them too! It is even cuter since Amber's middle name means praise!

At the giant artichoke showing off her new apron the my Mom made for her!

Another Target moment! I am thinking of starting a whole set of posts just about Peyton in Target because I always get the best pictures of here while we are there!

The Family Garden

2009-05-17T17:06:00.000-07:00

I am so far behind in my blogging that I have not even talked about The Family Garden yet and it has been over a month long process already! So I am going to combine all about it in this one blog and then try to keep it updated from here on...we shall see! :)

Growing up my family always had a garden! Last year we didn't get our act together soon enough to have a "real" one so this year I was sort of the ringleader about getting a good one started. Well, in my house being the ringleader usually means you have a bunch of work to do before everyone else joins you! So, my job started with turning the earth in our plot out back. This went on for several days and was no fun! One of the things I had to do was kill any snails I saw...well I was having no part of this so my Dad and I made a deal that I collected them and then would go inside and he would kill the snails. I really don't like the sound they make when the are smashed and feel a little bad about killing them. Look how many I found in just 30 mins outside.

After everything was ready we made a family trip to the nursery to get the plants and seeds we wanted.

Even the dog came along!

We got lots of yummy stuff (tomatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, eggplant, cilantro, basil, chives, Italian parsley, thyme, sage, rosemary, beans, and then headed home to plant.

Here are the pictures of Phase 1 of the Jamieson Family Garden!!!!

This is the chair my Dad set up towards the end in order to "supervise" the operation! He had had enough work and just wanted to watch! :) Thanks Dad!

Grades are in...

2009-05-05T20:54:00.000-07:00

I would love to make this post a flowery, emotionally drawn out moment about school and the highs and lows of the situation but I honestly just don't have it in me right now. At some point I will get around to blogging about all the lovely details but right now I just want to scream from the roof that....

I got straight A's for the 3rd straight semester!!!!!!

Wow, it even feels good to type it! :) I am home alone and just found out so I had to share!!

"Blah" Days

2009-04-14T22:12:00.000-07:00

I have had a pretty "blah" day today. All day I have been feeling a bit down, just an over all sense of "blah". Nothing is wrong, no horrible thing dragging me down in life. I have just felt off all day. This morning after I got up I checked my calender and saw that not only was nothing due or schedule for today, there is really nothing of importance this week or even the next. It looked more than a little empty. The day got less exciting from there. With the busy life that I led I am usually overwhelmed with joy to have a few free days, I still have school and work but nothing big is due or planned and that normally brings me joy...not today. Then you add in that my parents left for a few days at the boat to that and you have a "blah" Sarah. (Don't worry this post is not as much of a downer as it is currently seeming!) My friend Jes called today after work and we talked about our days and it was even "blah". She told me her complaints and I shared mine and then we hung up. I sat there thinking that my day seemed less than joyful and asked God to perk it up for me. I am pretty happy, and fun person so these sort of days really throw me. I made dinner (blah), watched some TV (a little less blah) and then I checked my various online sites while deciding if I was ready to consider the day a loss and go to bed. Enter the awesome God I serve!! I had a funny little comment from Jes on facebook that got a smile and giggle out of me and then an e-mail that she had a new blog. I decided to check it before bed and wow did my God show up! Jes' blog was all about surviving. She has given up a lot to follow her dreams recently and she is praising God through all the storms (literal and figurative) that she is facing. Her blog reminded me that everyone has struggles and "blah" days but that if we keep our focus on God and the path and blessings He has for us we can make it through all those things. Yes it was a less than amazing day, but, there is nothing wrong. I serve a God who is much bigger than a "blah" day!

Thank you God for my life and the opportunity to even be here to experience the "blah" days!

2009-04-09T12:59:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I met Kendra and the girls at the Pleasanton Mall to take pictures with the Easter Bunny. This is our half way point and we have met there before to take pictures with Santa. The girls did really well and the picture is so cute! Once we were done with that we went to a very cool park in town and spent a few hours playing. I brought cupcakes that I made for Peyton (and Mommy & YaYa) and some Easter presents and she loved it all!

This is one of the cupcakes I made with fondant
flowers on it so Peyton could eat the flower!

Peyton and I having cupcakes! I ate the cupcake but
not the flower and Peyton did the opposite!
It was funny because Kendra and I eat like that together too! :)

Here is her line of cupcakes that she ate the flower off of!

Amber chilled in her stroller while Peyton and I hit the playground.

Yes, YaYa is afraid of slides! Peyton wanted to go down it
alone and I didn't want to go down it at all!
I got Peyton a purse, gloves and a hat for
her dress up box and she loved it!
She put her smaller treats in the purse and
tried to open the bubbles!

Not to be outdone by her big sister Amber blow some
bubbles of her own for YaYa!

It was a really fun day with Kendra and the girls and another great memory! It had been almost seven weeks since I had seen them all last which is a long time for us now that they live closer. I drove home that day amazed by how much Peyton and Amber had grown. When I saw Peyton at Valentines Day she was no where near as much of a talker as she is now. She was talking my ear off all afternoon! There were still several times where I had to have Kendra translate for me but I understood a LOT more than before. At one point while she was on the swings a little boy was riding his bike on some high rocks and she turned to look at him and then said "Yikes YaYa, too high!" I laughed at how grown up she sounded at the time but in the quiet of the car ride home I got a little teary over how big she is getting and what an wonderful little person she is turning into. I can't wait to see her again and hear what new things she has to say!

The Blessing of klove!

2009-03-25T23:00:00.000-07:00

While I know that I am WAY behind on blogs I can say that I did VERY well on my midterms! Priorities! So I need to catch up on a ton of stuff but it is late, I'm sleepy and I have yet to workout today so here is the thing that is the most pressing.

I have been so blessed the last couple days by the music on klove! I almost always have my radio tuned there but in the past few months I have been getting stuck on cd after cd and I have not spent to much time listening to the radio. Well, I have a new found love (for the 80th time) for klove and the music. There are two songs in particular that have been really speaking to me and I wanted to share them!

Matthew West - The Motions

From the album Something To Say

This might hurt

It’s not safe

But I know that I’ve gotta make a change

I don’t care If I break

At least I’ll be feeling something

‘Cause just ok

Is not enough

Help me fight through the nothingness of life

Chorus

I don’t wanna go through the motions

I don’t wanna go one more day

Without Your all consuming passion inside of me

I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking

What if I had given everything?

Instead of going through the motions

No regrets

Not this time

I’m gonna let my heart defeat my mind

Let Your love

Make me whole

I think I’m finally feeling something

Take me all the way

This song has just simply blessed my soul! The chorus just hits me and it has become my prayer to God lately. If I am spending time seeking the desires of my heart from God I need to also be spending time making sure I am passionate about Him and what His desires are for me.

FFH - One of These Days

From the album I Want To Be Like You

One of these days I'm gonna fly

Over the mountain

One of these days I'm gonna ride

On the silver lining

One of these days I'm gonna witness

All I've been missing

One of these days

I'm gonna do

All the things that I've never done

I'm gonna finish all the races

That I've run but I've never won

And I'm gonna see a million faces

And recognize everyone

One of these days

Chorus:

One of these days

Gonna see the hand that took the nails from me

One of these days

Gonna hold the key to the mansion built for me

One of these days

Gonna walk the streets of gold that were paved for me

One of these days

I'm gonna see my Savior face to face

One of these days

One of these days I'm gonna say

Just what became of me

On the day that I believed

When you took myself from me

And I believe I will say

What I would have been

If You didn't save me

One of these days

And one of these days I'm gonna talk

With all the saints that have gone before

And in their sandals I will walk

And we will sit upon the shore

And I will learn all the things

That I never knew before

All this and more

One of these days

I'll finally be

In a place where there's no more need

No more pain and no more grief

No more foolish disbelief

And all the joy there will be

When at last we finally see

One of these days

This song is just an amazing reminder of the blessing I have in God! I love the line "One of these days Gonna see the hand that took the nails from me" it makes me tear up every time. It is a powerful and awesome thing to be loved as much as I am loved by God and this song reminds me that the trials and struggles here on earth will be worth the reward that I will have "One of these days"!

My Weekend in Santa Cruz

2009-02-19T12:05:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I got to spend some time with Kendra and the Family in Santa Cruz. I have not had any alone time there since Amber arrived and I was one very excited "YaYa" to get to spend a whole weekend there! Here are some of the pictures from the weekend, we had LOTS of fun and LITTLE sleep but it was a great weekend with the girls!

Peyton was excited to see YaYa too! The first thing we did was have some quality time at Target so Kendra could get some shopping done.

Peyton and Amber got a new stroller from Brandon's parents and Brandon put it together while Peyton was in bed so she was very excited to see it in the morning and wanted her "drink" while she sat in it and watched Wiggles!

Amber was trying to stay awake for all the fun! It is hard work being a baby.

Smiles for YaYa!

What was planned as a quick walk to the store with the new stroller ended up as a 2+ hour walk all the way to the beach! They loved it and Kendra and I were happy to be back before the rain got heavy.

Snuggles with YaYa...she is so precious!

Wide awake and ready to play...to bad YaYa was not as awake!

We went to Old Navy on Heart-day and they painted Peyton's face for her!

Then my Valentine and I have chicken nuggets and blueberrys for dinner while Mom and Dad went out!

My other Valentine in the famous "Date Night PJ's"! When Peyton was a baby we used to have date night once a week while Brandon and Kendra went out and these were my favorite pj's on her so they became the "Date Night PJ's" and Kendra would make sure they were always clean for that night! Now Amber gets to wear them!!!

"Bubba, can we just take one cute picture together for Heart-day Date Night and then you can go right back to Mickey?" -YaYa
(as you can see that did not work out, but I like this one better I think!)

A Starbucks Drive-Thru Surprise

2009-02-10T12:57:00.001-08:00

I had the most delightful surprise yesterday while in the drive-thru at Starbucks. There was a VERY long line of cars and it took me about 15 minutes to get up to the window and receive my coffee. I was willing to wait in the long line because this was my “before night class pick me up” coffee and (this is perhaps more honest) I was already in line and could not back out over the cars behind me! So I was a little annoyed but not too bad about the long wait. One of the benefits of always trying to be early to everything is that I usually have time to spare in these situations. Anyhow, as I reached the window I had my $4.00 ready and was very eager to receive my peppermint mocha when the girl opened the window and informed me that the guy ahead of me had bought my drink for me! How lovely! I was so pleased that I was a bit speechless for a moment. Once I came back to reality I asked if I could buy the persons drink behind me then. She smiled and said “Sure, I love when this happens. That will be $2.10”. While I did end up saving a dollar (I gave the tip jar the rest of the .90cents in an effort to spread the joy) what I really got was a smile and a new outlook on my day. I was so pleased with the little surprise that I almost drove off without my coffee. As I sat there thinking about how much it had just blessed me that someone had bought my coffee I was excited for the person behind me to have that same feeling. I hope she thought the same way I did and kept the chain going. Who knows, perhaps someone bought the coffee of the guy who bought mine. It is just such a wonderful random act of kindness! Sure it is not something big, but it is a great surprise that instantly erased any annoyance I found in line and sent me off to class with a smile on my face! So next time you are in the Starbucks drive-thru and you have a few extra dollars…start a new chain, you never know when you will be on the other end of one!

Congratulations Mom & Dad!

2009-02-03T11:23:00.001-08:00

CONGRATULATIONS MOM & DAD!!

Today is my parent’s 29^th wedding anniversary! They are off on a much deserved vacation celebrating and I am thinking about how lucky I am to have them. My parents were high school sweethearts and well over 30 years later are still very much in love. They have been an amazing example of love and marriage for me and are to be credited with the high ideals I hold when it comes to forever with someone. I am blessed to have grown up with such a display of what marriage can be, and I am so very proud that they are my parents!

I love you both!! Congratulations!

2009-01-21T15:04:00.000-08:00

Kendra & Brandon had a new baby on January 13th. Her name is Amber and she is beautiful!

2008 Favorites

2009-01-03T18:34:00.000-08:00

Here are my 2008 favorites...

- the sad start that January 1, 2008 brought to my family (in crisis we always grow stronger)
- FINALLY getting Tessa home with the family
- football watching with Lauren while our parents sailed to The Blues
- the day on the lake honoring Larry (even if it was bittersweet)
- Peyton's first birthday party
- March Maddness with the family & my Mom turning 50 on Easter
- Ray-Ray with Jes in Vegas & the roadtrip home
- being in school despite the challenge
- watching Interventions with Kendra (that she tivo-ed & saved for me) in pj's together
- hearing "YaYa" for the first of MANY times
- learning a new Kertson was on the way (I was scared at first for Kendra - admit it!)
- GGW 2008 in Napa Valley (good work K!)
- the time spent in Monterey with Peyton while Brandon & Kendra interviewed in Santa Cruz
- reading the text from Kendra "We got the job!"
- having a bestie so close now!
- the trips Jes made north to come see me
- helping Kendra get unpacked in their new home together
- phone dates with Kendra
- the not one but 2 Raiders games I got to attend
- Girls weekend in Santa Cruz for my birthday
- Thanksgiving weekend as always!
- singing again
- S.F. bus trip with my family & friends
- straight A's baby!
- Christmas in Belize!

I know the moment I post this I will think of a dozen more but these are the ones that came to mind first. It was an amazing year filled with love and laughter. Living at home again turned out to be not so bad. I love my family, The Girls, and life more and more with every passing day and I am one VERY blessed girl to have the life and year I do and did!

The past few weeks...

2009-01-02T19:03:00.001-08:00

Sorry it has been so long since my last blog...it has been a busy few weeks for me! There were the holidays, finals and a WONDERFUL vacation that took all my attention! So the end of 2008 was lost as far as my blog goes...so here comes the update!

First there was Thanksgiving which is also know as "All Family - All the Time!". We spend the entire weekend all together doing everything from meals, movies, sports, bowling and oh yes...there is wine! This year we even extended the weekend by a day so we could all go to a Raiders game together! It is always a great weekend together and is really the only time the whole family is together so we really love the time.

Then the first few weeks of December are a blurr of holiday parties, concerts (both as a audience member and a performer), school papers, cousin lunches, shopping, finals and one great bus trip to SF that I remember almost all of! It was a great few weeks with family and friends and as always reminds me how blessed I am to have all the amazing people I do in my life! There was a lot of planning and hard work but it all paid of - the school part even landed me straight A's this semester!

Then on December 17th my Dad, Mom and I took off! We decided to spend the couple weeks I had off from school on a family vacation. So we packed our bags and headed to Belize for some quality family time in the sun! My parents have been going to Belize for a couple years on a fishing trip/beach time with another couple but this was my first time there and I am officially in love! It was beautiful there (once I get my act together I will post some pictures) and it was unlike any place I have been before. We had an amazing time together and got a tan in the process. I got to see a bunch of places I have been hearing about for years, I went snorkeling with my Mom, Nemo fish an sharks. There was a Ray that was stalking me in the water and that is not me just being me - my mom can validate the story! I sat on a beach and read a book or two a day for almost two weeks - it was wonderful!!! There was one book in particular that I will blog about later that I am officially in love with! Thanks for the book Kendra! Thanks again Dad and Mom for my Christmas vacation/present in Belize!

We got back on the 30th and I got to meet up with Kendra, Brandon and Peyton at our hotel in San Jose and catch up and hand out gifts! As always, quality time with the Kertson's is one of my favorite things!

We were so sleepy from our trip that no one in my family was awake when the ball dropped on New Years Eve but it was a small price to pay for a great trip.

So I have a few more days of vacation before I start my next semester, which I am NOT looking forward too. There are 5 units of math alone...it is not going to be fun!!

So as 2009 starts and I look back on the past few weeks I am blessed and very excited to see what this next year holds!

Sick Thoughts!

2008-11-24T16:41:00.000-08:00

I have been sick for the past few days and thought the haze of medicine, Kleenex, and orange juice I have done a lot of thinking. Most of it was about weird stuff that does not bear repeating and I am blaming on the medicine, but some of it was worth the blog. So here are a few of the random thoughts that made the cut! :)

· I am blessed: I spent a lot of time thinking about the great birthday that I just had and the blessings I received and then I moved on to how blessed I am to have those people in my life. I have the greatest friends and family any girl could ask for. Not only did my friends do a lot to make the time special – so did my family. My Dad and Mom cooked all my favorite meals the week of my birthday, let me pick things like what tv show to watch together, and let me do just what I wanted to for my birthday! It was a really special time and I am just very thankful for it. While I am always thankful, this year had even more meaning because last year was just short of a bust (thanks for saving it Kendra) as my family was all out of town and my friends could not make it at the last minute. So, as I turned 27 I was very thankful to spend the time with the people I love the most in the world!

· I love me some Peyton: Kendra has the cutest kid, maybe ever! Peyton calls me YaYa. It started when she was about a year old and she could not say Sarah so she said YaYa, we went with it and now that is officially my name. The weekend that Kendra and Jessica came to see me I had a concert and at the last minute Kendra brought Peyton with her and that kid stole the show! As I walked on stage with the other 60+ members of my choir, a not so small voice yelled “Hi, YaYa!” from the audience. This continued for most of the show! :) While people around her perhaps were not so thrilled and Kendra eventually had to take her into the lobby, I can say I was one proud YaYa! It was adorable to see this little girl, who I have loved and shared so much of her life thus far, calling out to me in a crowd. It was a sweet moment and a story I will tell the rest of my life! I got to spend the rest of the weekend with her and I have to say “I love me some Peyton”! She is such a sweet girl and it is amazing to me that she is so big already and that there is another one on the way. She is the closest thing I have to true love on this earth and I am thrilled to be her YaYa!

· Thank goodness for Thanksgiving: For some families Christmas or Easter are the big family events. In my family it is Thanksgiving! My family comes from as far as New Orleans and as close a few blocks away for an entire weekend of fun! They have already started arriving and by Thursday morning there will be about 25 of us ready for turkey and fun. Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday because it is about my family, being thankful, and very yummy food. There is no worry about presents, no hassle with church schedules, or chance that people can’t come. You don’t miss Thanksgiving in our family! To me it is the perfect holiday and I love having the time with the family to re-connect and just enjoy our blessings. This year I am most thankful that in all the selfishness of our world that we still take a day out to be thankful for all that God has blessed us with! I can't wait for the weekend to start!

· God’s timing: I saved this one for last because it consumed the majority of my sickly thoughts over the past few days, and even before. How is it that I can still be amazed by God’s timing after a whole life of it? (Someone should try and answer that for me if they have a good idea!) As I was thinking about life the common thread in my thoughts was His timing. When I look back at the past I am amazed at the doors He opened, the parts of himself He revealed, and all in all His perfect timing throughout. Looking back 6 months, last year or even 5 years ago I can see how perfectly He was directing my life. It is something that is always fun for me to think about. It reminds me that the burdensome part of His timing that I am facing currently will eventually reveal an amazing plan, which gives me hope. There seems to be a new season in my life coming up, as I transfer, move again, deal with Jes being a long flight away instead of a long drive, let God and maybe even Kendra direct me to my “soul mate”, and just overall move forward. It is a little scary but also really fun because I know that in the journey I will be directed by God’s perfect timing!

Well, those were the best of the random thoughts. I also had dreams about cats, a happy football moment thanks to the Raiders, my Dad's chicken noodle soup, missed a lot of classes, a few phone calls that I srota remember and one good cry about being sick! All in all - it was a rough week but a productive few days of thinking!

Is it redundant....

2008-11-17T17:24:00.000-08:00

Is it redundant to say that I have the best besties?

I am sure Brandon will comment and let me know if it is, but for now I am saying it! I just spent the weekend with Jessica (who drove on at least 12 freeways) and Kendra(who did Santa Cruz to Mo-town and back in less than 12 hours) celebrating my birthday and I am blessed! I have the best besties ever and as soon as I get around to it there will be a better blog with photos to show just how great they are! Love you girls!!

November 5th!

2008-10-27T17:06:00.000-07:00

I know I am a Poli-Sci major and all but I can't wait for November 5th!!!

Things I will not have to deal with after November 5th:

1. Watching TV without ads for Prop 2 or 10
2. Driving down streets with lawns decorated with leaves not signs
3. Having every conversation be about politics
4. The news being about campaign updates not news
5. "Who are you voting for?" being asked 20 times a day

Things I will have to deal with starting on November 5th:

1. "Who did you vote for?" being asked for weeks
2. "Well ___________ is not my President!"
3. The potential for the vote counting to go on till Thanksgiving
4. The political spin that will start immediately
5. The joy of starting all over again in about a year at the rate we are going!

Don't get me wrong I am all about the process. I love it! I find it interesting, exciting and over all amazing but even I am over it now! This election has been going on FOREVER! The Democrats started a full year early this time around and I feel like someone should have been giving their first State of the Union by now. The ads, speeches, he said / she said is all just driving me crazy at this point! I want peace and quiet and maybe even a new major. Okay, that last one was too dramatic even for me but I felt it would get my frustration across. I am just saying... I have been ready to vote for months, let's just get this show on the road already and move on!!

Raiders Baby!

2008-10-20T22:50:00.000-07:00

Sunday I was at the Raiders game with my Dad and some friends and it was a blast! Not only did our boys WIN, I met a new friend (we bonded over mimosas), there was a semi shady (aka authentic) Mexican food stop, and just an over all stellar day! I was very proud of the Radiers for pulling out the win. In a moment of fear I may have sold my lasting affection for Sebastian Janikowski for a 57 yard field goal. The thing is, I have never really been a fan of his. I get that he is a great kicker but for some reason I am always watching when he misses and so I have a built up overall suspicion of his ability. My Dad would say it is unfounded but I think while he is great, sometimes he has a problem working it out. So, after he missed a kick earlier in the game (see what I mean) I was really concerned that he would miss again and then we would be giving an experienced QB a shot with enough time to do some damage or at least end in a tie. I in a moment of fear I promised him my lasting affection if he would just make it…alas…I may be forced to get his jersey! Ugh! This will not be my favorite thing and could have been avoided had we just got a first down at the end there. Oh well, the important thing is….we got the W!! I get to go to another game next month with the whole family which will be great and we are playing KC who we can clearly beat so it should be another stellar day! I can’t wait!!!

The spot where I sold my lasting affection!

Who gave me a camera phone and mimosas?

Heart to Heart

2008-10-17T15:11:00.000-07:00

I just finished what is commonly referred to in my house as a heart to heart with my Dad. Now don’t let the sweet title fool you, these can be brutal! I mean, crying, yelling, and clashing opinions, lack of understanding, not even close to a form of communication brutal. That is not to say my Dad does all that – normally I am the drama and he is the cool headed (yet VERY passionate) one. But we are both emotionally driven people who have strong wills, so you do the math.

This heart to heart occurred almost out of thin air. I came home from a lunch with my Aunt and my Dad and I started talking about life and it just sort of lead there. There have been some things in my life that have been being ignored and some responsibilities that have not been being taken care of and it was time to address them. This may seem strange for an almost 27 year old to be having these talks with her Dad but in my life it is the norm. Outside of Kendra, my Dad is the next best person to speak truth into my life. I don’t take direction well from many people and they both know that and somehow still manage to direct me. It is a God thing I am sure!! But I digress. So we hashed it out – tears and all. There was a noticeably absent amount of drama and only a few tears to be honest (all mine) and then it was done and over. Almost as quickly as it had begun, it was finished and I was left sitting in a chair with ruined make up and a MUCH lighter heart. The thing is my Dad is great at two very important things during heart to hearts. The first is not letting me turn into a sniffling mess who can’t articulate my feelings and thoughts and the second is not holding onto it for hours, days and weeks after. We used to be much less healthy when these events occurred but we have both grown up a lot in the past ten years. So now I am living my life out loud with my Dad and he has encouraged a new direction that I will take and life’s little mess will be untangled knot by knot with his help.

While I have a lot of work ahead of me now, I had to take a moment, with ruined make up and all, to marvel at how great it is to have a Dad who even wants to sit down and speak heart to heart with me in the first place!

2008-10-14T19:21:00.001-07:00

Well All, it is time! I have to move on from the myspace/facebook world and admit that I am a grown up. Wow - it is SO not all it was cracked up to be! So while I will still have my myspace/facebook (I hear it is not healthy to quit cold turkey) this is now the place that will hold all those lovely posts that you have grown so fond of. This blog may only be read by The Girls and my Mom but it will at least let me feel a little more grown up as another birthday approaches!