Monday, July 6, 2009

A New Better Michelle

Okay so as many people know I have begun upon a new journey this year. I have decided that I am going to work at making myself the best me that I can. I am doing this for my family (extended and immediate) but most of all I am doing this for me. Those that have known me a while know that I have been bigger all of my life. With this came many problems that I personally wish that I could have been willing to deal with earlier. For many years I ignored so many aspects of my personal life. I have decided however that I am going to take control of my life from this point forward. I am going to stop neglecting myself when it comes to my physical, emotional, & spiritual well-being.
Well now I can honestly say that I am ready.
I am ready to be healthy.
I am ready to lose this chain that is known as obesity.
I am ready to deal with the fact that I am a diabetic (or was anyways).
I am ready to work on my emotional health since that too has taken a beating from the way I feel about my physical self.
I am ready to get back to church and working on my commitment to God and myself.
I am ready to be a better wife.
I am ready to be a better mother.
I AM READY TO BE A BETTER ME!!!
For anyone that wants to follow my progress you are more than welcome. As you can imagine this is not going to be an easy journey but I am ready for whatever may come with it. I welcome the support of all my friends and family as I work my way through this process of improvement. If you would like to track my progress you can follow me at http://maricopamamasmovement.blogspot.com .

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

The Waterpark

So this past weekend Ryan and I along with our neighbor Angela decided to take the kids to the waterpark. We had so much fun while we were there although I have to say that by the end of the day everyone was completely wiped out. We went to Sunsplash which for those of you that dont know is a huge park with slides, a wavepool, a river with tubes you can ride, and so much more. I only went on one slide but my tube tipped over and I got totally freaked so for the rest of the day I stuck with the wave pool and riding the tubes on the river. Ryan, Angela and Nefertiti went on the slides multiple times however.


There was one slide called the sidewinder that Angela and Ryan were supposed to go on but one they got up to the top I guess the story is that Ryan backed out. This slide was probably like 3 or 4 stories up in the air and was probably an 80 to 90 degree drop straight down. After you go down it goes back up, down again, and so forth. So they got their tube (a double) and waited in the line all the way to the top. Once they got up there Ryan looked down and said that he so was not going to do it. Angela said that the fact that Ryan backed out was okay with her because she didnt want to go anyways she just did it so that Ryan wouldnt have to go by himself (I'm afraid of heights).

We did most of the day without eating because the food was so expensive inside the park and you arent allowed to bring food inside with you. We got a snack about 2/3 through the day to tide us over until we left. We decided that after we left we would just go to this place called CeCe's and eat because it is an all you can eat pizza buffet for like 4 dollars.



Overall we had a ton of fun and I am so glad that we got to go. I hope that we get the chance to do it again before the summer is over because it is such a good family activity. We got lots of pictures some of which are included in this post and they are just fun memories to have.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Michelle's Journey

Okay so as some people know I have recently set upon a journey to lose weight and become a healthier better me. This is my own personal journey and I have chosen to keep track of my progress on a second blog that is not linked to other family matters. In the second blog I talk about my dietary, workout, and lifestyle changes that I have made to try to achieve my goal. I welcome anyone that wants to to read and comment on this new blog. I will also be periodically posting updated pictures of myself so that I have a running record of my progress. If you would like to check out what I have been up to lately you can go to http://maricopamamasmovement.blogspot.com.

Update

So okay I can now send messages to blogger from my phone. Let's find out if this helps me to post more often.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

The Graduate!!!











YEAH!!! Okay so this is kinda hokey but I am totally psyched. I finally graduated from Mesa Community College last night and I fell so good. It was a nice ceremony even if it was a little long and all of my immediate family was there. My mom came in from GA for it and my uncle was even there from South Lake Tahoe. These past 2 days have been absolutely awesome having all of my family around again. It has been years since we have all been together. Ryan even held up okay with all the family events and usually they are just exhausting for him. We put my mother on a plane back to GA today and while I will miss her I have to say that it was wonderful to see her and have her here for this.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

MOTHERS Real Mothers don't eat quiche;
They don't have time to make it.
Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils
Are probably in the sandbox.
Real Mothers often have sticky floors,
Filthy ovens and happy kids.
Real Mothers know that dried play dough
Doesn't come out of carpets.
Real Mothers don't want to know what
The vacuum just sucked up.
Real Mothers sometimes ask 'Why me?'
And get their answer when a little
Voice says, 'Because I love you best.'
Real Mothers know that a child's growth
Is not measured by height or years or grade....
It is marked by the progression of
Mommy to Mom to Mother...
The Images of Mother
4 YEARS OF AGE - My Mommy can do anything!
8 YEARS OF AGE - My Mom knows a lot! A whole lot!
12 YEARS OF AGE - My Mother doesn't really know quite everything.
14 YEARS OF AGE - Naturally, Mother doesn't know that, either.
16 YEARS OF AGE - Mother? She's hopelessly old-fashioned.
18 YEARS OF AGE - That old woman? She's way out of date!
25 YEARS OF AGE - Well, she might know a little bit about it!
35 YEARS OF AGE - Before we decide, let's get Mom's opinion.
45 YEARS OF AGE - Wonder what Mom would have thought about it?
65 YEARS OF AGE - Wish I could talk it over with Mom.
The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears,
the figure she carries,
or the way she combs her hair.
The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes,
Because that is the doorway to her heart,
The place where love resides.
The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole,
But true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul.
It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she
Shows, and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!
Please send this to 5 Moms today.
If you don't, nothing bad will happen,
But if you do, something good will:
You'll boost a Mother's spirits.

Entire Family

Things have actually been going very well for us even though they have been extremely busy. I have been getting ready for graduation and attended my convocation ceremony this past Sunday. It was fun for me to be included in something like that although I should have listened to Ryan and gotten a babysitter for Laiken. All he wanted to do during the entire ceremony was to run around so Ryan was out in the hallway for most of it. Angela did the front of my hair in two french braids and then that morning I did the back of it in spirals so that it was hanging down my back. Our friends Chris and Randi were able to come and see me get the certificate that was presented so that was cool. None of the other family was able to make it because it was just not enough notice. We tried to get pictures as I walked in and as I got my certificate but all of them turned out blurry and you can hardly see me so I will not include them in this post. Hopefully I will get better ones at convocation since I will have more people there and I know of at least 2 that are going to be bringing their cameras.
















I cut Laiken's hair so his hair is now as short as Ryan's is. It is so cute because the night that I cut it Ryan had me cut his as well so that they had matching hair cuts. Once Laiken's hair was short though man he looked so much like Ryan that it was scary. His hair grows as fast as Ryan's too because it is already starting to grow back. I have to say though that I will not be cutting it this short again. It was good for me to see it like this and I liked the break from having to comb it but I really miss his curls; he just doesn't look like my baby boy without them. He is finally getting used to being without them however so that is the good news. He is just getting so big and having such a close cropped haircut makes him look like such a little man. I can not say how many people told me how much older he looks since he got his hair cut off.





Other than that everything has been good. Ryan has been working all of his usual days. I am trying to get through the last of my finals and then I get a small break until I start summer school in June. I am only taking on class however and that is online so I will not only have a lighter schedule but after July 2 I don't have anymore classes until the 24th of August so I am excited about finally getting a break. Well that is about it so I will write again once there is something new going on.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Okay so the end of the semester is here and I have to say that it is quite a relief. The next couple of weeks until the 15th of April are going to be my busiest yet. I have several research papers due and still have to study for finals but I am breathing easier now than I have over the previous couple of weeks. There is something that is reassuring when you get to the end of the semester and you are so close to it being over. At this point I have to say that while my grades are not as high as they were last semester I am still passing so that is definitely saying something. I have managed to take a full load, take care of Ryan, Laiken, and myself, and while all have suffered somewhat nothing has completely fallen apart.



I look forward to the two week break before summer school. Finally I am going to get to spend some real time with my hubby and my son without having to worry about homework or what else I am neglecting to do it. I think that Ryan is going to enjoy it too because I have to admit that he has gotten the bulk of the neglect this semester since he is the grown-up and able to care for himself.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Our new playground...AKA our backyard

Okay so I am going to try once again to post the pictures of the backyard through the stages of the landscaping process.

Okay so these first two pictures (above) is the day that they came to do the curbing. I was actually hoping to be there but they were gone before I got home from school. As you see we went for the standard and the only thing back there was the trampoline. It actually turned out really nice though although we couldn't go out in the back yard for like 2 days afterward while it dried to avoid any accidents that may have ruined the job.


Now about a week after they did the curbing they came out again to do the actual landscaping. Because of my allergies all the plants that we picked had to be ones that wouldn't bloom. So Ryan and I decided to go with a hopbush for all of our shrubs (pictured far left) we put 2 sissoux trees in the far corner of the yard (center picture) and inside the curbing we decided to go for a giant sandbox for Laiken. We figured that since artificial turf was so terribly expensive sand would be the next best thing so that we could be sure that he didn't hurt himself on anything. We also had the landscapers move the trampoline to the far northeast corner of the sandbox to make room for the swing set that we were planning to put back there. I have to say that it was actually kind of interesting watching the guys do this part and I am really glad that I was home for the bulk of it.

Of course the last pictures of the yard have to be the finished product. I personally feel that the company that did our yard did an excellent job. I am happy that we chose them. But then again you have to check it out for yourself so here it is.
Around the outside of the curbing is all rock and shrubs with 3 stepping stones for Laiken to walk on. Now that we have that all finished and the swing set finally arrived Ryan and I decided to brave attempting to put that together this past weekend. It was definitely not an easy task. There was so much wood that our living looked like a lumber yard ad first.



It all worked out though because our neighbor was actually putting a play set up for his son and when he was done he actually we so sweet as to come over and help us get ours going. So we actually worked out a really good system where Ryan and Jarod did most of the physical work and I read them the instructions that were in the manual. These pictures are from day number one. This is when Ryan and Jarod were trying to piece together the first wall of the fort. They actually had a difficult time with this until they found out that they were using the wrong board (did I mention that none of the wood was marked) for the center support. Once that actually was figured out most everything else went pretty smoothly.




Below if you want to see kind of what was going on I have loaded up the first video that I shot that day. I promised Ryan that I wouldn't videotape the whole time so I have little bits and pieces from various stages of the process. After two straight days of working on this we finally got most of the set together. The only things that we still have to complete are the monkey bars, the picnic table and the toy box. When I get home I will be posting an addendum to this blog so you can see the play set as it is now with what we have gotten completed. So far I think that it was totally worth all the work that it took to get it together.


Saturday, March 28, 2009

Time To Go Outside

Okay so this is happy post. I am so excited because our backyard if finally going to be totally complete. We got the actual landscaping done when we got our tax refund and today we started putting up Laiken's new swing set. We actually had a neighbor that was in his backyard finishing up the one that they just got for their son and when he got done he was actually nice enough to come and assist with ours. Now this swing set is so cool. Ryan and I decided to get on that is all wood and it came with 2 slides, a swing, a glider swing, a trapeze bar, a picnic table, a club house, monkey bars, and room for a little sandbox underneath. Now the sandbox really isnt necessary be when we got the yard done we decided to make approx. 55% of the yard a giant sandbox as it was. Anyways tomorrow we may actually get done putting it together so Laiken will have his own little playground in our backyard between that and the trampoline. I have pictures so that you can see the process that we have been working on for so long now.

Okay so I actually had pictures of the stages of what the yard started as to the finish product and it included a video of Ryan putting the playset together. But blogger is giving me a hard time tonight so I am going to put them on myspace probaby tomorrow. It works out though because there was other pictures and video that I had to put up anyways so all is well. Let it be known though that I am very happy with the say things have gone the past couple of weeks. Life is just so good right now and I wouldn't trade this time in our lives for anything.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Picture Day!!!

I have to say that today was a really nice day. Ryan and I took Laiken to get his 18 month pictures taken and we went to Target to do the rest of the shopping that we needed to do for Easter and the Easter egg hunt that we are hosting here. Laiken of course was a little turkey making us run around in circles just to get any good shots of him so that we would have a selection to choose from. In the end though they are just darling. It suck though because we weren't able to get any extras of this particular shoot. Next time I get paid for babysitting I am going to have to go to Walmart and get some more 18 months taken so that I can make sure that everyone gets a copy who wants one. As for these I am just going to have to make sure that all the family who is interested has the link that way they can get online and order their pictures directly.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Short and Sweet Update

Okay so I found out that I am really bad with keeping up with this blog thing. I just have so much going on that when it comes to getting online and actually writing everything down it is next to impossible for me to get this done on a regular basis. So here is a recap from the past couple of months when I have have not written a word.

I have been really busy with school. I am taking 5 classes this semester and I just transferred to Arizona State University. I am finding that the community college didnt really prepare me for the university atmosphere but somehow it is all working out. I have started a regular workout program and and working with a couple of my friends to try to lose weight and get healthier for me and my family. This was going really well until recently when I have actually gained back one of the pounds that I have lost even though this fancy smancy scale that we bought says that my body fat percentage has actually gone down...explain this to me. Well I am actually going to be updating more about that when there is more to tell so just keep watching.

Laiken is huge. He is learning to talk and he is just so independent it makes me sad and I wish for the baby days back. He loves the new daycare that he is in and gets along with the other kids too. He is now just over 26 pounds and while he isnt especially tall he is already wearing a 3T when it comes to clothing. He is actually going to be having an easter egg hunt here at the house this year and so I am looking forward to getting lots of pictures with him and the other kids. He is used to having his own way but show me an only child that isnt; overall i am surprised that he is not a lot more spoiled than he is. He is still my little joy and I cant wait for those of you that havent seen him in a while to get the opportunity again.

Ryan is the same old Ryan that we all know and love. He works a lot trying to take care of Laiken and I. He is such a good dad though you should see him and Laiken together. When he gets home from work in the evening Laiken is like his little shadow. For someone that openly admits he never thought that he would have kids Laiken couldn't have asked for a better role model.

Well that is basically all that is going on with us out here. We finally got the backyard done on the house so that is one project that is complete. Laiken has a new swingset that should be arriving any day now. Ryan and I are about to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary and I am totally hyped up about that. Overall life is good and I couldnt even dream of better. While we do have our share of bumps that we encounter it is getting through them together that makes me know that all is okay. Well that is it for now and it is time for me to go to bed before Ryan rolls over and tells me that the light is bugging him.