110% boy!

For those of you that don't know, I have a son, Pacen, who will be 8-years-old in a month! I can't believe it! 8-years-old! Where has the time gone?! Anyway, when Pacen was born many people assumed he would be a total momma's boy and a complete sissy since he was being raised by a single mother. I just love it when people stereotype. (Sense the sarcasm.) To me it didn't matter...if he wanted to play with Barbie Dolls instead of trucks, then so be it...I would still love him no matter what!

Well, as it turns out he is 110% boy! He loves to get extremely dirty. He loves to play with trucks, dinosaurs, guns (real and fake), and snakes (real and fake). He loves to catch frogs, go fishing, and hunt squirrels (I'm sure someday it will be deer & elk). He loves to put nasty things in his pockets. He loves to make "sound effects" with his mouth (gun sounds, motorcycle sounds, car sounds, etc).

He's not always so active and boyish though...sometimes he is somewhat of a momma's boy. Occasionally he'll still cuddle up with me or picks flowers for me and sometimes he wants nothing more than to have a hug from his mom.

No matter what, he is mine and I LOVE him with all my heart!


Air guitar...
Frog hunting...


"Mothers of little boys work from son up to son down." ~ unknown

True Love

I have never really been a big fan of marriage. Yeah, yeah, when I was a little girl I dreamed of the day I would marry that perfect man in a perfect ceremony wearing the perfect dress, but I grew up and the realizations of marriage came crashing down. It seemed like everywhere I turned people were getting divorces, someone was cheating on their "significant other", etc. After seeing many of those situations I decided I wanted nothing to do with marriage. All I could think was, "What's the point? A majority of people now days are divorcee's or headed in that direction and I don't want to end up like that." I knew that not all marriages were that bad off and I also knew that it wasn't necessarily destined to happen to me, but why take the chance? The last thing I want is to end up as a statistic.

So, I have been living my adult life pretty much avoiding marriage. I was engaged once, right out of high school, but I ended that relationship 1 1/2 years and one baby later. I was only 19...what did I know about love? Since then I have been in a few relationships (a couple have been fairly serious), but I managed to keep them more on the casual side of things.

OK, so you're probably wondering where the heck I'm going with this. Well, at the beginning of the month some friends of mine renewed their vows. They have been married for some 20 odd years (I'm thinking 22, but I can't remember for sure...terrible memory). Anyway, it is quite unusual this day in age to find a couple who has been married for more than 20 years (there are the old couples who have been married for 40 years or more, but I'm talking couples who were married within the last 30 years, not 60-70). My friends are obviously still very much in love with each other and it's just so awesome!

After watching my friends renew their vows, I decided that maybe marriage isn't so bad after all. No, I'm not going to go out and get married right away, but now I wouldn't mind finding my true love and settling down. I wouldn't mind finding that perfect man...the one who will still have love in his eyes when he looks at me after 20, 30, 40, 50, or even 60 years of marriage, the one who will make my heart skip a beat every time I see him (or almost every time), the one who wants to spend the rest of his life with me and who I want to spend the rest of my life with.

My mom always told me I just haven't found the right guy yet, and now I know she's right. I'm still going to be cautious with any relationship I find myself in and, who knows, maybe "Mr. Right" will come along (maybe I've already found him and just haven't realized it). If so, then great, if not, then... whatever.

Here are some pictures of the vow renewal...just look at how in love they are. They were definitely meant for each other. Oh, and yes, they are Irish. :)
"Love is energy: it can neither be created nor destroyed. It just is and always will be, giving meaning to life and direction to goodness...Love will never die." ~ Bryce Courtney

"True love is eternal, infinite, and always like itself. It is equal and pure, without violent demonstrations; it is seen with white hairs and is always young in the heart." ~ Honore de Balzac

Vacation

Wow...it's been a while! I've been super busy!

A month ago I went to Cody, Wyoming with Kurtis (he attended the Cody Hotline School for Lineman) and I got to spend a week shopping and hanging out with a couple of my friends and their kids (wives & children of two other linemen who attended). It was a much needed vacation! I didn't get to spend as much time with Kurtis as I would've liked (the time we did spend together was fabulous though), but I still had a lot of fun with Sunny (one of my best friends), her daughter, Autumn, Tiffany (another good friend), and her son, Colton. Autumn and Colt are so adorable! Luckily I brought my camera along and I got a few good shots of the kids (it was hard considering they are both "on the run").

It was pretty chilly the whole time we were there but we managed to get out on the town every day (mostly shopping and a little partying). We attempted swimming one day (the nicest day of the week) and it was a bust (for the kids). Too cold. The kids lasted around 5-10 minutes and then their moms decided since it was too cold it was nap time. Colt informed me that I had to get out of the pool so I could take a nap. After a little convincing he finally decided it was okay that I skip nap time and swim a little longer. Here's Autumn in her swimming gear...

Here are a few more pics of the kids...I love this expression! So cute!Autumn never wants to smile for me when I have the camera out . I did manage to get one shot of her smiling and, as my luck goes, it came out blurry...so here is one where she is almost smiling. :)
The final night we were there Kurtis and I went out and enjoyed a nice dinner and then decided to take a road trip. We headed towards the mountains (in search of Elk) and drove 30-40 miles until we finally saw herd after herd of Elk. As Kurtis was checking out all the Elk I was checking out the majestic scenery. Here is what much of the conversation entailed when we got to that point of the trip:

Me: "Babe! Look at that waterfall! It's so pretty!"

Kurtis: "Yeah, nice. WHOA! Look at that Bull! He's HUGE!"

Me: "Wow...he IS big. Look at the way the snow is blowing off the mountain...it's so awesome!"

Kurtis: "Uh, huh. I can't wait for hunting season!"

Okay, those may not be exact words, but it's pretty close! At one point we saw a sign warning us of Grizzly Bears and I got way excited and declared that it would be so cool if we saw one! Well, lo and behold, a few miles down the road Kurtis starts freaking out because 100 yards or so from the road is a Grizzly! It stood up, looked at us, and then ran away! It was so cool! We also saw some Big Horn Sheep.

So, there is one terrible thing about the road trip...I, being the airhead that I am, left my camera in the hotel room! The one time I didn't take it along! I was SO mad at myself! Kurtis had even asked me if I wanted to go back and get it (after dinner) and I said, "No. It's clear across town. Don't worry about it." He said, "Are you sure?" I said, "Yeah. Not a big deal." ARRRRRGGGGGGGG! I'm such an idiot! I did manage to get some pictures of the mountains on my cell...not the best quality, but they pretty much give you the picture of what we saw.
"No man needs a vacation so much as the man who has just had one." ~ Elbert Hubbard