Cheyenne

I have the cutest grand daughter ever!  It is one of the things I miss about living in Virginia not being near her.  I miss being  able to be grandma and play with her and spoil her and all the fun grandma stuff.
When she was born 5 years ago Jared and Raquel happened to live in Virgina about 2 hours north of us.  I was so grateful to be there and hold her right away.  I also got to visit her several times before they moved back west.
Last year when we went to Utah for Sarah's graduation I got to spend a whole week with her then and again when we went for the wedding.  It was so fun to be grandma and she seemed to love being with me.
Cheyenne is such a sweet little girl and very smart!  I am so grateful for her wonderful parents who are doing all they can to help her be the best she can be.

What brought up this desire for me to write this:  Cheyenne called me last night out of the blue.  I think she took her moms phone and decided to call grandma.  What a surprise to hear her sweet voice on the other end say hi grandma I love you!  It was a "tender mercy" moment from the Lord!

My sweet girl

Best Friends!

                                                                                  

                                                                            

My Children

I love my children so much.  OK so I know you all know that about me.  Sometimes I just really miss them.  I don't like the thought of "empty nest."  I had that term hit me square in the face yesterday when I thought about Tyler graduating a year early from High School and leaving us!  Of course when my children leave they really leave and move across country!  I had a friend at work say to me" Mary when your kids leave you don't just push them out of the nest you drop kick them across country!"  I thought that was funny!

I remember the day Jared left for boot camp I thought my heart would burst through my chest!  I think I cried a million tears!  but I knew he was going off to do something great and wonderful for our country little did I know at the time it would involve fighting in two wars!   Then Andrew went away to do the same thing! again my heart burst!  Again I found solace in what he was doing with his life and what a great and brave young man he was.  Sarah left us next and I thought I would die without her.  I missed her everyday but I knew she was growing strong and more independent every day.  Daniel left us next first to go to Utah and then to serve the people of Tonga.  I missed him so much but was so proud of his decision to serve a mission.  His mission blessed our family so much and Heavenly Father comforted me while he was gone.  I was very blessed with Jessica staying home for a year but then she left too.  I missed her sweet personality while she was gone, again I cried! I think it took a week and Sarah coming to finally calm down.   I was blessed with comfort while she was gone with having Sarah here.

I know moving on is a natural part of life.  I just wish it wasn't so hard on mama!  I am so proud of the wonderful adults they are all becoming!  I feel like I have six best friends!  Attention my children don't forget to visit!  

Even the Energizer Bunny needs a rest!

I have been thinking a lot about my life and how it has taken an 360 degree turn since January!  I have always been a go getter life on turbo speed.  I always did things all or nothing.  I was given repeated warnings through my life to slow down especially with my running.  I was told to mix the running up with weight lifting and other low impact exercises I didn't listen for me running was the only way every thing else was boring!  I was the same at work turbo speed every day!  I was even given the name Energizer Bunny by one of my managers a few years ago!  Well I didn't listen and here I am not able to do anything now but upper body weight lifting how ironic.

At first I was really bitter about the whole knee blowing out thing it was so hard to grasp all it meant.  I am so grateful for my wonderful family and their support in keeping me sane and mostly positive through this.

                                                               

There are many things I am doing now that if it hadn't been for my knee surgery I wouldn't be doing.  A few of these reading scriptures( I had sadly let that slip) sleeping ,weight lifting, yoga, writing a blog ( I never imagined doing that) being there for my family, Eating healthy,  reading , growing very long awesome fingernails ( I have never had finger nails this long in my life) there are more but the most important thing not being so stressed out from work.  When I get back to a normal routine I plan on keeping my pace even balanced and in control.  One of the things I am excited to do is take up biking there are so many country roads here that need explored! So.....thank you knee for virtually taking the batteries out of this Energizer Bunny!
          

This is me someday and yes that is Moab!

North Carolina

We recently went to North Carolina for a couple of days.  What a wonderful trip it was.  I was so blessed to spend  time with family members I haven't seen for a long time.   I've been wanting to visit North
Carolina since we moved here.  It is my ancestral home on my fathers side.  In fact if my great great great grandpa hadn't made a bad choice in his life I could of been born there. We visited my great great great great uncle Caleb D. Bradhams (the inventor of Pepsi) grave and drug store where he invented Pepsi ( see Sarahs blog The Sarah and Michael Story for his history sarahandmichaelfaria.blogspot.com).  The drugstore is now a tourist site now with lot's of Pepsi history.  It was interesting the feeling I felt as I stood in the drugstore I felt close to family it was a special feeling. Caleb was a very honorable man who did many great things with his life he stands as an inspiration for our family.  We also decided to go to Kitty Hawk on a whim.  The drive was beautiful. We got to drive over Roanoke Island where the lost colony lived until they were lost lol!  (that lol was for you Emily)  It was weird to drive along and see signs that said watch for bears next 7 miles when you are used to" watch for deer."  We didn't see any bears but I was watching for them.   I'll leave you with the things here I learned about North Carolina;
     The beaches are O.K.   California is still better
     Carolina barbecue is  O.K.  I like the other kind better.
     I have awesome family  (I have to say I do like Coke better than Pepsi sorry Uncle Caleb)
     North Carolina has some really cool cities I want to go back and visit.
     You can go hang gliding in Kitty Hawk and of course Dennis wants to  Hmm I don't know about that!

I want to explore up north next perhaps Vermont.

Nags Head North Carolina

Uncle Calebs drug store where he invented Pepsi

I got to spend time with Cheyenne one of the highlights of my trip

Therapy

O.k. I know many of  you read the title and said it is about time!   Sorry to disappoint its not that kind of therapy LOL!.  It's therapy for my knee.  I went with great anticipation knowing that the therapist would say how wonderful I am doing!  Because I have been doing everything the doctor said and I am  tough so I know the therapist is going to praise me for doing so wonderful.    No chance, she said I have had a set back.  What the heck! No way she did not say that!  Happy Valentines Day!  (that was all my random thoughts going through my head plus a lot of screaming)  I am calmed down now.  I have always been able to bounce back quickly from every challenge I have been faced with especially physical!  Maybe the therapy isn't just for my knee maybe it is for my life perspective.  This therapy will help get my knee back over the next few weeks but I think more important it will help me rethink the rest of my life and what  direction I need to be headed in and the important things I need to be focusing on.

Funeral Insurance

Before my body started falling apart last year I used to think of myself as one of those people who always felt younger than I was supposed to be my mantra was the song "Whats my age again" by Blink 182  not all the stuff in the song just the theme of it.  But lately since the knee surgery I have really been set back and now I feel older than I am.  Just ask Sarah I have been complaining enough about it, my hair my weight everything is on a downward spiral.  So I had my pity party for most of last week and yesterday I was starting to feel a little better about things, then it happened the mail came.  In the stack of letters was a letter from a company saying I qualified for funeral insurance and that someone at my age should seriously consider it so my death wouldn't be a burden on my family! Yikes!!!  Am I really that old?   Here I go again the pity party is now on once more!!!! Funeral insurance really?

A father like that

I am a very lucky women.  My whole life I have been surrounded by good men who are very good fathers.  Starting with my own dad.  He has always been there for me and continues to be.  He had four daughters, no sons.  I was the oldest and I guess I got to be his "buddy" a lot of guy stuff I know I learned from my dad.  I can't say I enjoyed it all but I guess it made me a little tougher than I would have been.  The next very amazing father I know is my husband Dennis.  I am so grateful to have him as a partner in parenthood.  Like I said I was the oldest of four girls, I have been blessed with four sons and two daughters.  The girls I understood and we had a lot in common.  Boys I had no idea what to do with them!    I have watched Dennis through the years so many times rearrange his schedule do what ever it takes to take the boys hiking, camping,biking,snowboarding and so many other things ( I started thinking about it because today with 5-8 inches of snow on the ground Dennis is taking Tyler Backpacking.)   There is no way I could do that!  I've seen him worry,pray and stay up very late many nights trying to figure out how to help our children through so many trials in there lives. He has been an awesome father for our girls as well.  Bringing them a long on a lot of the activities he does with the boys and doing girl stuff (NYSNC concert comes to mind) and not to forget  the driving lessons and any and all nerve wrecking activities with the boys and girls.  I know a few neighbor kids who have benefited from his fatherly care as well.  It takes two and I am so glad he is my other half.

First time I did something daring with the family

Snowboarding one of the favorite activities Dennis likes to do with the chidren

Winter drive Dennis and Andrew did

Why the Title?

I thought I would spend this post explaining why I chose "Life is Just a Song" for my title, It helps explain a little about me.  I have many loves in my life and music is one of them.  I can't play an instrument although I have tried through the years, the clarinet in 8th grade,piano in college and the occasional times I have picked up the guitar and realized my fingers are just to darn short.  Singing abilities I have none enough said.  What I do have is an ability if you want to call it that to listen to and love music ( I know that is not a talent ) but it seems I always have a song running through my head.  When I starting thinking of a title for my blog the first thing I went for was lines from some songs I was listening to that night.  The CD was Weather vanes by Free Lance Whales ( an indie group I love right now) I had really cool titles from lines in their songs like "This is me starring in the strangest nightmare" and "Seven miles from my front door" both titles were immediately shot down by Sarah with hysterical laughter!  So then I started thinking about how much I relate to music and there was the title which was met with approval from Sarah.

Music has helped me through some tough times in my life and has given me some of the best times.  The one thing I will always be grateful for is music has given me an connection with my children. I decided early in motherhood I would try to understand my children's music interest's.  What I found out is I really liked the music they were listening to.  Most of it I wasn't suppose to like because of my age I've been told! oh well I guess that's were the term guilty pleasures comes in.  What was nice in return they liked my music as well.  Who doesn't love the Beatles.  I will always treasure the time when Daniel would follow me around playing Blink 182 songs on the guitar and I would have to guess the title,I love that my children can all play instruments one of the best things is when they play songs for me whether it is on the guitar or piano. I love discovering new bands with Andrew and Tyler,singing at the top of our lungs along to songs on the I pod or radio with Jessica and Sarah.  Trying to love country music with Jared, still working on that one!  and last but not least the times through our marriage when my sweetheart sings to me mostly John Denver songs and I love it. So thats how I got my title.  The song in my head right now is Good day Sunshine!  have a good day friends!

A few pictures of my musical children:

Tyler and his beloved guitar

Michael and Sarah playing  Beatles Rock Band!

Andrew and Breeann looking very punk for Halloween !

Daniel and Jessica rocking out!

Andrew playing guitar in Seattle

Jared and Family not doing anything musical here but had to add it cause I love them!

January 22, 2011

So it has finally come to this.  After days of TV,reading,crossword puzzles and taking up crocheting here I am blogging wow!  This is a big step in my life because it forces me to learn how to use the computer other than checking emails, Face booking and looking up random subjects on Google.  It  gives me an outlet to share my thoughts on what is happening in my life.  Friends I am going to apologize up front for my  errors in grammar and spelling sorry I will do my best.  Well here it is my first blog kinda of scary and exciting at the same time.  Now I have to get Sarah to show me how to upload pictures!