It's been forever or this ones for you Sarah

    A lot has happened since the last time I blogged.  Those of you who know me know the details so I won't bore you with rehashing it all.
    I have to say that I have learned a lot from this year.  I spent a lot of time feeling sorry for myself a lot of wasted time.  Now that I have really thought about all that has happened I realize how very blessed I have been.  Thank you my wonderful friends and family for always being there for me.
     My only resolution this year is to try and approach all that comes my way thinking that once popular phrase "What would Jesus do?"   So crazy Virginia driver I will try to no longer yell at you and tell you how stupid you are for almost causing three accidents and driving 30 in a 55!  I will now tell myself Jesus loves you too!  I know I can do this!

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?