Sunday, January 28, 2007

7 days

I wanted to let you all know that I will be taking a break from my blog and e-mail for a week.

I love my e-mail and blogging so much that I almost feel like it's consuming me. I just need to take it out of my life for a little while and get some perspective on things.

I don't think there is anything wrong with spending time on the computer. In fact, I have built so many friendships through e-mail and I am so grateful for that. Lately though, I feel like certain areas of my life are falling to the wayside. Often I choose to sit at the computer when I know that I should be doing so many other things like; spending time with my children and husband, spending time in the word, getting to bed at a descent hour, starting supper earlier, exercising...and the list goes on. My life is out of balance and I don't like it.

I've decided to abstain from e-mail and blogging all day, but allow myself about 30 minutes to verify my e-mail every evening. I will not be blogging, reading blogs or commenting on blogs during this time.

During this time of fasting, I also want to concentrate on the many areas in my life that need healing.

1) My struggle with food and binging

2) Anger.
I so desperately need God's love to infiltrate every area of my life. I take life a little too seriously sometimes, but...it's more than that. I want to love. I want to be loving and kind. Loving my children is so easy. Loving my husband is easy too, but I sometimes take my anger or frustrations out on him. Loving my daycare kids as I love my own children is a challenge. It's very hard. I'm not sure how or when this has happened but I feel as though my heart has hardened and it's just been more difficult to love lately. I want to love but, I don't know, I get moody and irritable -- often. I want a soft heart. I need more of God's love to work through all of me, and for this, I need to spend time with God. And ultimately I cannot do that if I am always on the computer.

So this is a good thing. I will miss my e-mail, blogging, responding to & reading all of your blogs and comments MORE than you can possibly know.

I'll be back on February 5th!

Love,
Tracy
. . .

1 Corinthians 13

LOVE

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

I'm it!

Lori recently tagged me on this little questionaire. Yeah Lori, that was very nice link love!
. . .

1. What’s the most fun work you’ve ever done, and why? (Two sentences max)

O.k. I have to say that it's what I did a few weeks ago. I (along with a friend) decorated the church for our Women's Night. It was time consuming, and I was a little nervous the entire day, but it was SO much fun! I love decorating!!!

2. Name one thing you did in the past that you no longer do but wish you did? (One sentence max)

Read novels and actual books - big, romantic, interesting ones that make me cry!!!!

3. Name one thing you’ve always wanted to do but keep putting it off? (One sentence max)

Organize all of my photos into a scrapbook.

4. What two things would you most like to learn or be better at, and why? (Two sentences max)

1)I would love to learn more about Holistic Health/Natural Medicine. The more that I learn, the more that I realize that there is SO much more to learn!

2)I wish I were better at teaching and expressing myself.

5. If you could take a class/workshop/apprentice from anyone in the world living or dead, who would it, be and what would you hope to learn? (Two more sentences, max)

I'm kind of rushing now, so I don't have time to look this all up.

1) I would love to sit down with Dr. Dobson from Focus on The family and just ask TONS of questions and learn as much as I can about raising BOYS!!!!!!!!

2)My dream is to return to school and become a Holistic Health Practitioner or a Nutritionist.

6. What three words might your best friends or family use to describe you?

Mischevious, Funny, Thoughtful

7. Now list two more words you wish they described you as…

Well spoken and Spontaneous

8. What are your top three passions? (can be current or past, work, hobbies, or causes– three sentences max)

1)Family & Friends. Just keeping close with the people that I love - whether that be through e-mail, get togethers, cards, phone...I just care so much about my family and friends and I always want to make sure that I make time for the people that I love.

2)Health and Nutrition. I am so passionate about learning as much as I possibly can absorb. I just love it all - ah!

3) Making cards: I love encouraging and loving people through cards.

9. Write–and answer–one more question that YOU would ask someone (with answer in three sentences max)

I don't know. Sorry! (Aerie is waiting to use the computer)

Friday, January 26, 2007

Tip

I felt and saw a cold sore just starting on my lip last night. It was at the stage where you can feel it and it's a little tingly. So right away I cut open a Vitamin E capsule and put some on my lips repeatedly through the evening and then finally went to sleep like that. I woke up this morning and it's GONE! I get cold sores every once in a while & Vitamin E always works for me (especially when you catch it right at the begining stages).

Just thought I would share my little Herpes tip with you all, he-he-he :o)

P.S. This is a photo taken of Aerie on our honeymoon vacation with a MASSIVE cold sore on his lip. It was a lot worse than it looks. Well, I guess you'd have to know what his lips look like without a cold sore.

I did it!!!!!

Last night was a very special night. I FINALLY did it! At 7:45 p.m., I crawled into bed and watched Grey's Anatomy from 8-9 p.m. But the great part of last night was that Aerie and I were both asleep by about 9:15 p.m. I got about 9.5 hours of sleep last night and I feel AMAZING today! I could totally get used to this. I would really like for this to become a regular thing.

Putting everything aside and getting to bed so early was very hard though, but well worth it. Do you ever feel sooooooooo tired that you actually get a headache? I took a power nap at the table while I was waiting for supper to cook...I was really tired.

Anyway, just thought I'd share that with you. Thanks for reading and have a great Friday and a wonderful weekend!

Love,
Trace
. . .
A note to the Blogger's Guild: I'm sorry that I haven't commented on your comments or on your posts these past few days. Hopefully, after a good night's rest last night, I will have the time this afternoon to spend blogging while the kids are all napping.

Are you proud of me Laura? I think this is my first time getting to sleep before 10:00 since we had our little agreement in November. Okay, three more times and we are going to Starbucks! Yahoooooo! Do you remember your comment? Have you been doing it too?

P.S: Laura, since you came up with the name and all...I think that you should totally post about the Blogger's Guild that we've started.

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Happy Birthday Uncle Luka!!!


Just want to wish my brother in law, Luka, a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY today! We are thinking of you and wish we could be
there to celebrate with you.

We love you lots!

Aerie, Tracy, Ethan & Titus :o)

Monday, January 22, 2007

My home is your home

Do you keep a clean home? Are you a neat freak? Are you a slob? Is your home cluttered, messy, somewhere in between?
Have you ever wondered how people feel when they enter into your home? Welcomed, at home, uncomfortable, uneasy?
. . .

I love having people over - I LOVE it! I love hosting, feeding people, hanging out, and most of all - I love it when people feel at home in my home. I want them to feel relaxed and completely welcome.

I believe there are certain things that we can do to have a cozy feeling home. Atmosphere is a big one. I chose warm, neutral colours in my home, like browns, because they are easy on the eyes and create such a warm feeling - like a cup of hot coco or coffee. I love comfortable furniture, throws & pillows. And lighting...well we all know how candles, a toasty fireplace and dimmed lighting make us feel when we visit somewhere. It makes us feel relaxed and comfortable.

When I am expecting a visitor I clean like mad. Besides the basics like a swept floor, clean toilets and dusting, I tend to get right into those little areas - areas that people will probably not even look at...the closets, microwave, in between the stove and the counter (tons of crumbs), under the sink. By the time I am finished, my house is pretty well spotless. I feel good, satisfied and ready to have the visitors over. Now as people start coming in and making a mess, it honestly doesn't bother me. They saw my clean house and the rest is history. I do notice when things fall on the floor and get out of place, but it really doesn't bother me.

A friend and I were chatting about this whole clean house thing yesterday. She mentioned how one of her close friends always has people over at her place. Her house is always full and people always feel comfortable and welcome. My friend also mentioned that this friend of hers' home is not spotless - it's lived in and messy - a normal messy. I don't know what colour her walls are or whether or not she has candles lit for ambiance, but...I'm guessing not. When it all comes down to it, all those little things that make a warm atmosphere are great and may look nice, but that's all they are. They are not going to make people flock to your place. What I think WILL do that is a combination of many things. I think number one would be - YOU! What warm feelings do you give off? Are you friendly, kind, welcoming, inviting? Do you have snacks and food? What about your house? Is it so clean that people feel like they cannot take one step without feeling as though they messed something up? Do you give people "the eye" when they drop crumbs on the floor? Or do you glance down at the mess they just made?

I've been thinking and wondering about this. I wholeheartedly want people to feel so welcome and comfortable at my place, and I hope they do. But I don't know. I think that I need to lighten up on the cleaning. I don't want to be that person who scans the room for messes while people are chatting away at the table...or leans down to pick crumbs off the floor in the middle of conversation (which I did on Saturday!). I don't want people to feel like they have to apologize a million times for the mess they have left behind.

So this is what I'm gonna do. I'm going to have people over and keep it simple. My toilets will be clean, the floors swept up...well maybe...and well, I don't know. It won't be spotless. Ahhh, I am getting all anxious just thinking about that. I don't even know if I can do it.

Well, I will totally keep you posted. In the meantime, what are your thoughts on this whole subject? Do you think that people feel more comfortable in a clean home or a messy and lived in home? Do you think it even makes a difference? What else do you think make people feel comfortable in your own home?

You know what I think? I just realized something. No matter what your house looks like or how messy or tidy you keep it, if you are comfortable in your home - then everyone else will probably be too. You know? If your house is really piggy and you are totally okay with that and you're not apologizing every 2 minutes for the mess...then people will just be like, okay if she don't care, then why should I? O.k. I really have no idea. I probably should have thought this through a little more before posting my thoughts on this.

This is me thinking and processing.

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Fun, Friends and Scattergories...(and cheating)

Last night we had some good friends over - Stuart, Sarah + kids, and Steve, Suzie + kids. We ordered pizza, drank tea (Oolong), talked and talked...and then we sat down to play Scattergories. Sarah played really well - she won! Way to go Sarah! Susie and I tied in bottom place :-(

Our plan yesterday was to go tobogganing together, but it was so cold so we decided to skip the outdoor fun and get together at our place. I must say that these two families are some of the kindest, most thoughtful and nicest families we know. They are a lot of fun and it's always a pleasure to spend time with them. Aerie and I are very blessed to have so many wonderful friends in our lives.

So anyway, back to that game! Ok, I did cheat a little. It wasn't so funny this time though. There are not a whole lot of subtle ways to cheat at this particular game - ESPECIALLY when everyone is watching you like a hawk! Twice during the game Susie had to tend to her children, so the game was put on pause. We paused the timer, closed our books and waited. A few times I took a quick peek inside my book when I thought nobody was looking, but Stuart saw me every single time. I wasn't doing very well, so I needed a little help! Scattergories is not my best game - I've never been great at it.

Anyway! Then the unthinkable happened. Someone rolled the letter "D" but for some reason I thought it was the letter "N". So I wrote my list of N words. I couldn't believe that! And needless to say, I wasn't happy. I knew the game was so over for me. I was in a bad mood after that which brings me to believe that I am a sore loser. I love to win, but I really hate losing; I can dish it out, but I can't take it. It's so true. I've never really been physically strong, but I am tough and I love to fight and start things that I can't finish but as soon as I get hurt - that's it for me. I get upset. What is up with that? Maybe I am still PMS'ing. He-he-he! Can't blame everything on that.

So anyhow, I don't really have a point here.

Oh! I do want to say something else that I just remembered! I need a vote on this one!!! These guys were trying to give me a "thumbs down" on a certain word that I wrote for a LEISURE ACTIVITY. I wrote that MOON WALKING was a leisure activity. Can you believe that they didn't think that moon walking could be a leisure activity??? I know how to moon walk, and I even told them sometimes I moon walk while I am watching TV - like to practice and stuff. I think it was a very creative answer! Maybe they were just upset that I had cheated and wanted to see me lose.

So I need some votes here! Moon walking = Leisure Activity - Thumbs up or thumbs down?


P.S: O.k. One more thing. The highlight of my evening was when we (I) tricked Stuart and put a hard boiled egg in his glass of milk, HEHEHEHEHE! He saw it though...well, the egg was still hot and pretty stinky, so his milk was lukewarm and kind of smelly. Oh that is so funny.

Friday, January 19, 2007

Without the kids

Aerie's mom (Nanny) offered to pick up the boys last night and take them to Cosmic Adventures. The kids always love spending time with their nanny, and Aerie and I got to go on a little date. We've been needing some time to talk so we went over to Starbucks and got ourselves a delicious tea. We both tried one that we haven't tried before, Green Tea - Ginger (highly recommend that one).

It was relaxing and nice to just hang out. We went over our agendas for the next two weeks, we chatted, talked about our lists of goals, and then...PLAYED SCRABBLE!

I started the game really believing that I would not cheat. I wanted to win fair and square. Well, sort of. I wanted to try anyway. While I was thinking of a word, Aerie saw Melissa and went over and said hello. The first thing she asked was "Is Tracy cheating over there?"

Aerie was gone for over 5 minutes and I could not find a word. Okay, let me rephrase that - I
could find many words, but I could not find a GREAT word that was worth a lot of points. I was looking for the letter T. I reached in the bag, laughing to myself, and grabbed a few letters...NO "T"...ah! so then I saw Aerie walking back over and I just grabbed a handful of letters. The first thing he said was "You little stinker - you cheated didn't you!" I told him that I didn't (and he believed me). But then it was taking me sooooo long to find a great word so I dropped a hint and told him that I had too many letters to choose from. He didn't get the hint. Finally a few minutes later he glanced down at my box and saw that I had about 30 letters and he flipped out and said, "Game's over - I win!" He-he-he. But I actually won though because the letters that I used on the board were really all of my letters. I never actually used the big pile of letters that I sneaked. So I win, eh?

On our way out Aerie went over and said bye to Melissa and he told her that I cheated. She was the LAST person that I wanted him to tell. Read THIS and you will know why, he-he!



Thursday, January 18, 2007

My odd, little quirks.

So I have been PMS'ing for a few days now and I've been really emotional and moody. I know...gross. This morning Aerie and I were talking on the phone and he was like, "Are you on your period or what???" I felt like talking about me. I had done this really stupid questionaire online and the results really put me in a wacko mood. Click here if you want to test yourself. So I started to ask Aerie tons of questions. He was getting a little irritated by my questions...I must admit that I was being a royal pain...but anyway, he wrote out what he said to me because I begged him to. My mind doesn't absorb what people tell me - I need to see it to remember it. So this is what he wrote:

.

Tracy,

You are a planner. But you don't work well under stress.
You are not spontaneous.
You can't work under pressure.
Everything needs to be "EXACTLY" the way you want - or its not going to work.
You focus on the minute insignificant details more than anything else.

You are wonderful at completing a task, but it takes you 5 times longer than any other person I know.
Your effort is always appreciated, but it is not always necessary.

For example - Why spend 10 minutes fixing the boys hair if you are just going to put a hat on their head?
You can't make a meal unless you know every detail of the recipe - no wingin' it.
You can't let someone in our home without it being "SPOTLESS".
You are almost always late because you can't leave the house unless you are immaculatly groomed.

There are positives and negatives to each of these quirks you have.
I think you need to learn to choose your battles.

You don't need to spend more than 5 minutes getting ready to go buy groceries.
You can fix kids hair when we get there.
People don't care if the floor is washed before they come over to visit.
Some of the best recipes in the world are made by wingin' it.

I love you.

.

Hmmm, I do believe that what he wrote was very true, but now I sort of wish I wouldn't have asked him to tell me. I would like to justify my bizarre behaviour by hearing all about your quirks.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

In His presence

This past Monday was Women's Night at The Life Centre. To add an intimate touch to the evening, each of the women in our Lifegroup wrote out a word of encouragement into a card and gave it to someone. This is what God put on my heart to write. These words were inspired by something I read in my Mom's Devotional Bible.

"Joy is the most infallible sign of the presence of God. But where do you find Joy? You can find it in God's presence. If you want Joy, read your bible, not just the devotional. Read the actual words of God in the pages of the bible - a few small scriptures with your morning coffee. Remember them while you're in the shower, on your way to work, on your lunch breaks, before you turn out the lights at night. Joy comes when you adjust your perspective on life to God's. And that happens by reading his Word and spending time in his presence."

Today I realized something. I am very happy, but I am not joyful - there is a difference. I want to find Joy in all circumstances. I want Joy to bubble up from inside of me and rub off on my kids. For a split second this morning I thought to myself, "Well, how do I get Joy?" And I immediately answered my own question. In God's presence.

I haven't been spending any time in God's presence. I pray, I think of him often and thank him throughout my day, I open my bible while kids are eating, but I have not spent time in his presence in weeks - maybe even months. You see, God wants us to abide in him, not just visit him occasionally (John 8:31). Jesus will actually dwell, abide and make his permanent home in our hearts. His presence will cause us to be rooted deep in love so that we can experience Joy and the complete fullness of God.

My goal is to spend time in God's presence every day - whether it be 5 minutes or an hour.

The nine laws to staying lean for life!

Aerie gets a newsletter for Outdoor Ottawa and this was one of the articles in the newsletter. It's probably one of the best articles I've read on weightloss. Check it out here.
. . .

"Not long ago, the secret to losing weight seemed straightforward: Just give up bread. Not long before that, it was all about avoiding fat. And when those theories sprung leaks, a long list of diet fads was there to fill the holes — cabbage soup, grapefruit, eating for your blood type ... the list goes on and on.

To help you stop diet-hopping, we've peeled away the layers of hype to reveal the core concepts and surprising science behind what really works for weight loss. Follow these nine laws for hitting that perfect number on the scale — and stay lean for life."


Saturday, January 13, 2007

Frosty the Invincible

Now wasn't yesterday (Friday) morning a beautiful day to play outside in the snow?! We all know that snow has to be the perfect consistency to be able to roll into a snowman. When I took a look outside Friday morning, I knew it was the day. It was so mild out...and very wet too.
So we all got bundled up and went outside on one very important mission - to make a snowman. The kids had SO much fun... and I think I had even more fun. This was our first snowman of the year!!! There was very little snow on the ground so we could only make a little snowman. After we finished, the boys suggested we give our snowman a name. Ethan blurted out, "I know mommy - FROSTY!" I suggested a few more original names, but they were really stuck on Frosty. So here is a photo of Ethan, Ty and their new friend Frosty.



Last night we left the house for a few hours and on our way home late last night it was raining. We warned the boys that Frosty would probably be all melted and assured them that we'd make another "Frosty" again when the snow was right.

Well, this morning when the boys woke up and looked outside...............Frosty was still standing!!!!! There was no snow anywhere else. He lost his eyes and smile, but the important thing is that Frosty is still alive! :-) He's like a SUPER snowman (he needs a cape)!!! I wonder if he'll be there all winter...hmmm...Frosty's little stump - I guess we'll have to wait and see.


Friday, January 12, 2007

Happy Birthday Ange...

What is a Sister?

She is your mirror shining back at you with a world of possibilities.

She is your witness, who sees you at your worst and best,

and loves you anyway.

She is your partner in crime, your midnight companion, someone who

knows when you are smiling, even in the dark. She is your teacher, your defense

attorney, your personal press agent, even your shrink.

Some days, she's the reason you wish you were an only child.

~Barbara Alpert~

.

If your sister is in a tearing hurry to go out and cannot catch your eye, she's wearing your best sweater. ~Pam Brown

.

More than Santa Claus, your sister knows when you've been bad and good. ~Linda Sunshine

.

To have a loving relationship with a sister is not simply to have a buddy or a confident -- it is to have a soul mate for life. ~Victoria Secunda

.

Chance made us Sisters, hearts made us friends. ~Anonymous

.

If you don't understand how a woman could both love her sister dearly and want to wring her neck at the same time, then you were probably an only child. ~Linda Sunshine

.
A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost. ~Marion C. Garretty

.

Having a sister is like having a best friend you can't get rid of. You know whatever you do, they'll still be there. ~Amy Li

.

God has blessed me again and again. Always a sister, always a friend.

.

A loyal sister is worth a thousand friends. ~Marian Eigerman

.

A sister is both your mirror -- and your opposite. ~Elizabeth Fishel

.

A sister can be seen as someone who is both ourselves and very much not ourselves—a special kind of double.



May all your wishes and dreams come to pass.
I love you, Ange.

Tracy

Monday, January 08, 2007

I loved my boring vacation

I LOVE vacations! I look forward to them with anticipation. Earlier this year we made plans to go to Florida for Christmas, along with my whole family. My grandpa, aunts, uncles and cousins from my mom's side all live in Florida, and we haven't seen them in years. My grandpa Hawk has never even met Aerie or the kids. Anyway, we didn't make it for various reasons.

Aerie and I both had two weeks off over the Christmas holidays...and we had no plans. Unless you call "relaxing" a plan. Well, I guess it is. Aside from our little Christmas family visits, we didn't really do anything. Oh, we took the boys to Cosmic Adventures three times (their grandparents bought them each a membership for the entire year). Indeed we relaxed. I actually began to find myself bored! When I am on vacation from work, something seems to happen; I take a vacation from everything - from laundry, dishes, groceries, eating properly, exercising, blogging, makeup, cleaning. I have no motivation when I am on vacation. We sleep in until about 9:00 or 10:00 am, we eat breakfast late...so by 11:00 it feels like half the day is gone. I drag my heels all morning. The boys watch TV...play on the computer, play with their toys; I check my e-mail...sit on the couch. I have no motivation whatsoever. The first couple of days is fine...it feels good to just do nothing, but after the first week I really wanted to do something!!! I didn't have the drive to do anything though - even putting my makeup on was hard to do.

So I have been sort of dreading Monday, January 8th for over two weeks now...but now that it's finally here, I'm kind of happy it is. It was really nice to get back into our little daycare routine. Breakfast was all finished by 8:00...and we actually ate in the kitchen, as opposed to watching TV while we eat as we did throughout our vacation. We had our snacktime, sang some songs, learned some letters from the alphabet, had a storytime, played with Playdoh...it was GREAT! And I even got 3 loads of laundry cleaned. I'm excited about this week.

Vacation is so important though. I think everyone needs to take time away from their daily busy life and just rest. It is rejuvenating and it puts everything back into perspective.

I loved my boring vacation, but now I'm ready for everything to go back to normal. I feel refreshed and ready for all of life's adventures and challenges.

It's good to be back :)

Sunday, January 07, 2007

Mimi

I have been thinking a lot about death today. Someone very special to me died this past week - my Aunt Gerry. She is actually my dad's Aunt, but we always called her Aunt Gerry as well.

Every summer my sister and I spent a week at Aunt Gerry's (Mimi) house in Pembroke. Mimi had 3 children - Marc, Luke and Rochelle (my dad's cousins). We always had a really fun time at Mimi's place. Every year we looked forward to our little traditions; walking to the corner store to buy loads of candy, eating velveeta cheese in the box, before bedtime snack of little Normandie chocolate covered cookies, playing in the backyard with Mimi's neighbour Cheryl, sleeping in our cousins, Luke and Marc's, captain beds. Everything was an adventure at Mimi's place. We began our yearly visits to Pembroke when we were about four years old up until we were about twelve. One of our fondest memories was staying up late and playing cards with Aunt Gerry and Rochelle. We loved it!!!

Soon after we turned thirteen, we just stopped going. I'm not really sure why. We started to make friends in highschool and our summers just got busier. Years went by, and we thought about Aunt Gerry, but the busyness of life got in the way.

Over the past 15 years, the only time we really saw Aunt Gerry, Rochelle, Marc and Luke were at really significant occasions, like...funerals. Every few years someone passed away and we saw them. We always laughed and reminissed about the good old days and agreed that we should keep in touch. But years just kept going by and we would again meet at someone else's funeral.

Well, this time it was Aunt Gerry's funeral. Aunt Gerry may have been about 90 years old, but she was full of life. She was fun, mischevious - a little stinker! We really loved her. I still can't believe that she is gone. I sort of thought she would live forever. She was so young at heart.

My whole point here is that time should not have gotten the best of us. I should have made an effort to keep in touch with Aunt Gerry and visit her more often. I chose to let my busy life get in the way and now I am sort of left with some regrets.

I guess what I am trying to say is that if we love someone, we need to make time for them. A Christmas card once a year doesn't cut it for me. I can think of some friends and family members who I haven't gotten in touch with in a really long time, and today I've made a choice that no matter how busy I get, I am going to make time for the people that I care about. I'm not going to let the years slip by - not anymore.



Tracy, Mimi & Angela
This photo was taken the last time we saw her, 3 years ago.
I was 9 months pregnant with Ty.