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 .

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.

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.

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.

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.