>>SPECIAL BREAKFAST PANCAKES

When I was young, one of the memories that stands out to me is having my grandpa make me pancakes in the morning for breakfast.  And not any old pancakes either.  Special pancakes!  Pancakes that spelled out my name!  I loved it!  It is always something special about my grandpa that I will always remember.

I have always looked forward to the day when I could do this for my kids.  And today was that day!

>>TEN THINGS ABOUT MY PREGNANCY (AND ADOPTION)

1. While in the middle of our adoption process, I found out I was pregnant.

2. I had surgery when I was 4 weeks pregnant. I had no idea I was pregnant, the pregnancy test I took at the hospital the day of surgery was negative....and to boot, the surgery was to help me get pregnant. (We're still paying off that surgery that was apparently not needed at all)

3. I gained 12 whopping pounds during my entire pregnancy. I'm not saying that to brag, but more to say that I was pretty stressed out.

4. I was 27.5 weeks pregnant when Clover was born.

5. Clover spent 2 months in the NICU. I may be one of the few moms that was in the NICU with her new baby while also pregnant.

6. My doctor was actually worried about my pregnancy and the growth of the baby. Towards the end of my pregnancy, I had to get weekly stress tests and ultrasounds done (some were done in Billings where I was with Clover and others I would travel to Thermopolis for).

7. 10 days after Clover was discharged from the NICU, I went into early labor (5 weeks early). I was flown back to Billings, MT for the delivery. 

8. Curtis missed the birth of Henry. I was pretty much all alone (just me and nurse) while I was in labor, and then Henry ended up being born emergency c-section. Curtis was driving (with Clover) from Wyoming to Billings during all of this.

9. Henry spent 2 weeks in the NICU.

10. Curtis and I were married 10 years before having our 2 little miracles.

>>MY LITTLE TURKIES ONE YEAR AGO

Oh my, melt my heart!!!

>>ONE YEAR AGO...

One year ago today I was sitting in the NICU cuddling my darling Clover.  She had just turned one month old.  The doctor walked in and shared some news with me that would forever change my life.  "Clover has Prader Willi Syndrome."  The words came out of her mouth so quickly there was nothing I could do to stop her from saying such an awful thing.  Those words stung my heart and at the same time caused a two thousand pound boulder to drop from the sky right on to my chest.

A year ago today was the hardest day of my life....followed by an equally hard week.  It was a lonely time.  The words Prader Willi Syndrome never left my mind, but I didn't want to talk about it with others either.  At that time, I felt like no one could possibly understand.  Nobody knew what PWS was, and even if I told them, they still didn't really know, nobody could understand the heartbreak I was feeling, no one could understand the fear I had inside me, no one could understand what it felt like to learn your perfect baby has an incurable,  life threatening disorder and there was nothing I could do about it.

I was emotionally exhausted, I was very scared, and I was very, very sad.  (I was also 7 months pregnant).

One minute I was thinking, "okay, we can do this!" followed by a breakdown the next minute asking, "how are we going to do this?"

As time went on, little things would happen that would fill me with hope.  Like the time the therapist said how great it was going to be for Clover to have a little brother to watch and learn from.  Or the time I saw a picture of a little boy with PWS riding on a dolphin during a family vacation.  Or the video I watched of a young girl with PWS walking for the first time.  And meeting other parents just like me who truly understand....whose kids have feeding tubes and oxygen and low tone and a spark in their eyes just like Clover.

I still think about PWS everyday.  It's a part of our lives now and will always be.  And I still have hard times and struggle.  But, I have learned so much this past year and have grown in ways I never knew I could.  Clover has come such a long way too.  She works so hard every day and she has a smile on her face the whole time.  She inspires me and makes me want to be a better person.  I love her so much and am thankful everyday she is a part of our family.

One year ago my heart was broken into a million pieces.  Today, my heart is full and  bursting at its seams.  I am happy and hopeful and very thankful for all that I have.  Today is a good day.

Clover (one month old) with daddy.  

She's had him wrapped around her little finger since the day she was born.

Clover today (13 months old)....and still daddy's little girl.

>>WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

>>SEPT. 11

There are those events in our lives that we remember so clearly....like we know exactly what we were doing that very day.  September 11, 2001 is like that for me.

I woke up and was getting for school, as usual.  Except that instead of watching the news like I did every single morning while getting ready, I decided to listen to a CD.  Then on my drive to school (about a 45 minute commute to Salt Lake Community College), I listened to my CD instead of listening to the radio like I usually did.

I arrived early to school so I headed to the "commons."  The common area was packed with students...usually that early in the morning there would only be a handful of people in there... so I knew something was going on.  Everyone was jumbled together in front of the big screen TV.  I pushed through the crowd and tried to make my way to the TV.  Right then the second plane hit the tower.

I was so confused, but quickly learned what was going on.  I just felt numb inside.

All of my classes were canceled.  On my way to my car, I ran into a friend who had recently served in the army.  I remember him being so upset.  I was still trying to wrap my head around everything that was going on, but visiting with him made it all a little more real.

I was glued to the TV for days.  I wanted to know everything that was happening...who was behind the attacks, how many survivors were being pulled from the rubble,  what was next??

I had never before loved this country so much.

I also felt such a great love for the heroes of that day....the firefighters, policemen, medical personnel and all the ordinary people who did extraordinary things to help others....including all those on flight 93. 

My heart was heavy and went out to everyone who lost loved ones and who was affected by that terrible attack.

I can't imagine how frightening in must have been for those close to the crash....those in the towers...those in the planes....those on the phones with their loved ones before the crash.  I was frightened and sad and shaken up and I was thousands of miles away.  

10 years have since passed.  I still love this country and my heart still goes out to the victims of that day.

The past few days I have been watching footage of that day, listening to audio, and watching documentaries.  Every time my throat gets tight, my chest gets heavy and my eyes get teary.  It was definitely a day I will always remember.

I am so thankful for the servicemen who serve and protect our country.  I am thankful for our freedoms and I truly am proud to be an American.   

>>PROOF

Exhibit A: 

Bowl-cut, oversized sweatshirt, rolled up baggy denim shorts...and don't forget the dog tags!  The lady next to me is my dearest friend in the world.  The clown, well she is a dear friend as well.  Twinkle Toes is her name and she was there for my surprise birthday.  Yep, that's right, a clown at my 13th birthday.

Exhibit B: 

The panda hat...my favorite hat.  I had been anxiously awaiting school picture day because I planned well in advance what I was going to wear.  I couldn't wait to wear the Panda hat.  You think I'm kidding.  I'm not.  And check out the button front jeans.  Totally awesome.

Exhibit C:

Mullet-ish bangs with a side ponytail never looked so cute.  And the dress...yes, I was indeed a fan of lace.

I better see some embarrassing pics posted to YOUR blogs now!!  Go ahead and get right on that...

>>I WAS COOL ONCE

It's true.  In 6th grade, I was cool.

I was so cool, in fact, that I had a bowl-cut.
I know, that amount of coolness is tough
to imagine.

But it's true.

I have no sisters, mind you....no one
to give me any sort of fashion counsel.
When it came to fashion, I was on my
own....and boy did I know what was
cool and what wasn't.

And plus, I lived
with my grandparents and my grandma
thought my bowl-cut was cute.

So, there.

Speaking of being a fashion guru,
during my bowl-cut days, I
also wore clothes that were
3 times too big...and...wait
for it....a braided leather belt.

You are probably wondering
if I folded the end of my belt in
a little knot and hung it down
my waist.

You bet I did.

I could go on, but you are
probably already a bit
overwhelmed with all this
coolness.  I know, it's
hard to imagine....me
being cool and all.

'95 was a good year, indeed.  

>>JUST WONDERING

Who of you thought it was called bolley-ball when you were younger....as opposed to volleyball?

I did.  I remember learning the correct name of the sport and thinking it was the dumbest name ever.  It made absolutely no sense to me.



I also remember learning that Meryl Street was indeed Meryl Streep.  Streep?  Really?  That was weird too.

my first business venture

I never really did the whole lemonade stand thing....although I always wanted to.  I just wasn't cool enough, I guess.  Perhaps I was too afraid no one would stop and I would be stuck there alone on the front lawn with a pitcher full of watered-down lemonade.

I did however start a mini Mentos business in 5th grade.  You remember Mentos?...the fresh maker??


Here's how it worked.  My mom would take me to Kings (remember Kings?) where I could buy 3 packs of Mentos for $1.  I would then sell them to my friend, Mike at 2 packs for $1.

It worked out splendidly.

He would give me 5 bucks and say, "next time you go to Kings, buy me 10 packs of Mentos."  With 5 bucks I could buy 15 packs...10 for him and 5 for me.

It was awesome!

My friend knew he could go to Kings himself and buy them 3 for a buck, but the difference was...his mom wouldn't take him to Kings and mine would.  So, it was a win/win for both of us.


Sure I got paid in Mentos, but in 5th grade, there's nothing better that an overabundance of Mentos.


What were some of your first business ventures...

did you know . . .

Yesterday morning while lounging around, Curtis said to me, "I can tell you something right now about myself that you don't know."

"What's that?"


"When I was in 5th grade, I played the violin in the school orchestra."


"How did I not know that?"

How in our 8 years of marriage and our 16 years of knowing each other, did I not know that my husband played the violin????

So then I said to him...

"Did you know that when I was in 4th grade, my class had a "mock trial" because something came up missing in our classroom.  I got up on the "stand" and totally lied and said I saw someone steal the missing item."


"I did not know that," he said. 

Interesting what we learn about each other over time.


What don't I know about YOU?

a story of triumph

I was eighteen years old and in my first semester of college.  I was driving to school when I heard an advertisement on the radio about U2 performing that night in Salt Lake City.  The radio station was going to be giving away 2 free tickets before the show to the contestant who put together the best U2 poster.  The concert was sold out...so these tickets were a hot commodity!

The requirements for the poster were as follows:

It had to have the band's name somewhere on the poster - U2
It had to have the name of the radio station (KISN 97 - pronounced Kissin' 97)
It had to say something about a rocket

Not sure why the rocket theme, but it probably had something to do with their tour.  It was their Elevation tour, so I guess that makes sense.

I decided at that moment that I was going to make a poster and win those tickets.

All day during school I was contemplating just how I was going to go about winning those tickets.  I had formulated in my mind the poster.  I knew it had to be good if I were going to really win.  In my mind I was picturing a giant rocket with the words U2 and KISN 97 on it.  Perhaps U2 and the radio station could be riding on the rocket??  I was scheming.  ALL. DAY. LONG.

After school I had to head to work.  I told all of my co-workers about my plan.  They laughed and thought I was just being silly.

"I'm serious," I told them.  "I'm going to win those tickets!"  

One co-worker stepped up to to the plate and agreed to help me win the tickets.  I told him all about my idea with the giant rocket.  While I worked, he got busy finding some cardboard boxes.  He then proceeded to cut the cardboard into the shape of a giant rocket.

After work, I rushed to the store, bought some spraypaint and some battery operated Christmas lights (it was November after all).  I then met my co-worker at my house and we frantically finished up the rocket.  We spray painted it, wrapped it with lights, cut out lettering for U2 and KISN 97 (being oh so creative and using red lips for the KISN).

And WAHLAH.  We had our "poster."

The rocket was big...at least 5 feet in length.  We then attached it to a wooden dowel so we could hold it up high in the air...you know...like a rocket.

We threw it in the back of my grandpa's old rusty Toyota pickup and headed to SLC.

We arrived just in time.  We saw our competition with their puny little posters parading around the streets chanting, "U2, U2, U2."  My co-worker, who is at least 6'5" tall held the rocket high high high in the air and we joined in on the chanting.

"U2!  U2!  U2!"

We did this for about 30 minutes until someone from the radio station came over and presented us with 2 tickets to see U2 that night.

Score!

I will always remember this story.

I knew in my mind that I could win those tickets.  Even when people doubted me or laughed, I knew I could do it.

And I did.

And it was epic! 

Below I have drawn (using only clip-art mind you) me and my co-worker with our stellar poster.

Moral of the story: You can do anything if you put your mind to it!


Now, who's up for a little With Or Without You?!?

but once a year . . .

Today is the day that only comes but once a year.

My birthday.

My 27th birthday, to be exact.

My how the years fly by. I swear it was just yesterday that I was writing my 26th birthday post. Surely it hasn't been 365 days since then.

You know what my favorite thing is about my birthday?

I share it with my grandpa.

My grandparents helped raise me...so I was close to them growing up.

I've always thought my grandpa was the best.

His name is Joe...grandpa Joe.

He would wake me up in the mornings by singing...

"It's time to get up, it's time to get up, it's time to get up in the morning...everyone knows when the rooster crows, it's time to get up in the morning."

Then he would cook me breakfast. Pancakes in the shape of my name j e n n y.

Then while I was eating, he would sneak into my room and staple my shirt sleeves together.

Then my grandma would get mad at him as she removed the staples.

Then he would hide his orange peels in my shoes.

Then when I walked into the room, he would sing...

"there she is...miss America."


I think I'm sorta like my grandpa....kinda quiet, sensitive, don't like being in the spotlight, would rather hang out at home than go "out," secretly mischievous and love macaroni and tomatoes...just like him.

Since I was young, I have always thought it was the coolest thing in the world to have my birthday on the same day as my grandpa's. I still think it's the coolest thing ever. I love sharing my birthday with the best grandpa in the world.

happy birthday, grandpa!

operation: memory recall

A Sofa Story:

[sometime in 2004 or possibly 2005]

Curtis and I were moving our old sofa out of the house to make room for our new one. The plan was to haul it to the in-laws so Curtis' brother could use it at his home. We carried it out the front door and loaded it in the truck.

"Don't we need to secure it with tie-downs?" I asked.
"No, it will stay," replied Curtis.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
"Even with the tail-gate down?"
"Yeah, it's fine."
"Are you sure?"
"YES."
"Ok" (said apprehensively)

So, with the sofa in the back of the truck (just sitting there...with no tie-downs...and with the tail-gate down) we headed down the road.

So far, so good. Then...we reach a busy intersection and get stopped at the light. The light turns green and we take off. That's when I looked behind me to see the sofa falling out of the truck.

thump, thump.

There our sofa is sitting in the middle of the intersection.

We hurry and get out and try to put it back in. I am laughing too hard to be of much help.

A guy pulls off to the side of the road..."do you need help?"

"No, we're fine. Thanks though."
"Do you need straps?"
"No, I think we're good."

This time we put the tail-gate up and rest one end of the sofa up on the tail-gate.

We get back in the truck and take off again.

Just then, I look back to see the tail-gate drop down and the sofa fall out...again...same intersection.

This time I'm really of NO help at all. One just doesn't have the strength needed when trying to hold back the laughter all while being stared at by passersby.

Same guy shouts from the side of the road..."are you sure you guys are ok?"
"Yes, we're fine."
"I have straps you can use."
"We're really fine...thanks though."

Again, we lift the sofa into the back of the truck. This time Curtis makes sure the tail-gate is securely latched.

We get in the cab, and ever so slowly hit the gas.

I look back....all is good....tail-gate is still up...sofa is still in place.

I laughed my head off the entire drive (about 20 minutes) to the in-laws. I couldn't help it. I kept envisioning the sofa falling out of the truck...twice...and then I kept replaying our conversation of me asking Curtis several times if we should tie down the sofa. He just laughed with me.

Oh, the memories.

>>OPERATION: MEMORY RECALL

I know, I was totally stylin'

my grandma will get a kick out of this one . . .

Year: probably somewhere in between 1991-1994
Age: 8-11 years old
Memory: made-up give-a-way

One day on my way home from school, I got the idea to do my very own door-to-door random give-a-way. Me and my friend (sadly, I'm not even sure who was with me) randomly stopped by some of our neighbors houses and told them that we were doing a give-a-way and if their name was drawn from our bag of names, they would win a prize.

After we had collected the names, we decided who we wanted to win . . . no need to randomly draw the name from a bag. It was this old couple who lived a few blocks away. I had no idea who they were, but I remember feeling bad for them because they were so old, so I wanted them to win.

The prize, you ask? After searching my room trying to find something for the prize, we settled on my old walkman radio that I didn't use anymore.

We walked back over to their house and announced them the winner and gave them their prize.

I think they liked it...even though they seemed a bit confused.

>>OPERATION: MEMORY RECALL

For a long time now I have been thinking about posting random memories I have from my life. After one of my good friends did this last week on her blog, I decided it was time to finally document some of these memories. I will call it 'operation: memory recall.' These posts will consist of a random memory I have from when I was just a youngster to memories I have from last week. We'll see how it goes, shall we?


Year: somewhere around 1995-1996 (7th grade)
Memory: rollerblading / fetching movies

Rollerblading was cool back in the 90's, right? Maybe it still is today, I don't know. What I do know is that I used to love to rollerblade. That is how I got from point A to point B.

During my 7th grade year, I spent a lot of time with a wonderful family down the street, the Goughs. Many times, I traveled to their house via my rollerblades. Guess who else used to spend some time at their house? Curtis. Curtis was best friends with Justin, one of the Gough boys.

I kind-a, sort-a thought Curtis was cute back then so it was fun when we were both at the Gough's house at the same time. One such time, Curtis and Justin were hanging out in the Gough's front yard as I rolled up on my handy-dandy rollerblades. They knew that I had a lot of movies at my house (VHS tapes) and they insisted that I go pick them one of the movies and bring it to them to watch. Wanting to impress them, I played a long. Looking back, they were probably just teasing me and laughing at the fact that I was rollerblading back and forth from their house to mine fetching them movies.

Nonetheless, how it worked was they would tell me which row to pick the movie from and how many over. For example, they would say, "we want whatever movie is on the 4th shelf, 5th movie over." I would then rollerblade home, find the movie, and then bring it to them. I don't know why I remember this, but one of the movies they picked happened to be Road House staring Patrick Swayze, which also happened to be RATED R. Being the good girl I was, I rollerbladed back to the Gough's without the movie. Curtis and Justin tried their best to convince me that they really wanted to see Road House and begged me to bring it to them. Really, I think they just wanted it for the "adult language, adult situations, NUDITY and violence." I knew I couldn't be responsible for corrupting their innocent minds (yeah right), so I forced them to pick a different movie. I think the next movie they picked was also Rated R, so we quit the game after that. (This shows the kind of movie collection I had at my house...ha ha.)



In retrospect, I can totally see that Curtis and Justin were just goofing around and seeing if I would actually rollerblade back and forth to get them movies. It doesn't matter though, because at that moment I felt cool because I was hanging out with 2 of the coolest guys I knew.

looking back

Sometimes I think back to my past and I wish I would have done a lot of things differently. I think about the stupid things I did, the things I missed out on, the mistakes I made, my school experiences, my actions, my stubbornness, my clue-less-ness, etc, and I wish I could change a lot of things. But, then I think about how changing my past could change my future...change where I am today. The truth is, there is no place else I would rather be today and there is no one else I would rather be with. So, I guess in retrospect, maybe I did everything right. Even the stupid things.

confession...

I am a huge procrastinator

I hate group projects in school...hate them!

I love Pink (the singer, not the color)

Curtis has picked up swearing since moving to Wyoming. He tells me the kids at school says he has "shit for brains." [That is a direct quote, so don't get mad at me about it]

I'm a big slacker

Sometimes I wonder if I picked the right degree in college. I loved my courses but what am I really going to do with this degree??

I think I've dumped as many boyfriends as have dumped me

I think Stewie on Family Guy is pretty funny

I like to watch plastic surgery tv shows

I wish I was a hippy...or at least more hippy-ish

I really want a tandem bicycle and I want to ride on it with Curtis all over town

I don't like most fruits. I want to like them, but I just don't

I want to have a baby even though I'm super scared about being a good mom

When I was in elementary school, I told all of my friends I was left-handed. I even tried to write left handed during class to prove to them I really was. I'm sure my teachers couldn't read many of my papers.

I get a stomach ache almost every day

Last week at a school event, I mistook coffee for rootbeer. I was pretty bummed about it. The thought of homemade rootbeer sounded so good.

When I was younger I played softball for about 5 years. I was the catcher and I would always taunt the batter. "Here batter, batter....swwwwiiiiiinnnnng batter, batter." I can't believe it, but my team still won the sportsmanship trophy probably 3 times.

I love teenage love movies. One of my favorites is A Cinderella Story.

I deny every fart I do in front of Curtis. Yep, I straight up deny it.


I probably better stop here before I divulge too much information.

[Doesn't this look like fun? Just look how happy they are.]

[Note: Only 10 days til graduation! WooHoo!!]

the final countdown...

I have less than 2 weeks left of school. I am finally seeing the light at the end and I am jumping with joy. Literally.

To be honest, I never thought I would make it back to school. I took several years off after getting married and although I always thought about going back to school, and wanted to, ...I really wanted to... I thought I would just end up working and then eventually have a baby and never make it back to finish my schooling.

After leaving our lives in Utah and beginning our new adventure in Wyoming, I realized I needed to go to school now...or I never would. Curtis was already in school....we lived so close to the University....I had the perfect work schedule that would accommodate my school schedule....it was the perfect opportunity!

I was 24 when I applied to the University of Wyoming. Boy was I nervous to go back to school. I was apprehensive about being older and being in classes with 18 and 19 year olds.

What if my classmates don't like me?
What if they sit in their little groups and laugh at me?
What if my teachers don't like me?
What if they're mean?
What if I get called on in class and I don't know the answer?

These are things I worried about...really.

I was worried about balancing my full time job with my full time school schedule. I was nervous about my assignments....after all, it had been a very long time since I've written any kind of school report. I had no clue was I was doing.

Well, here I am, 2 years later and just days away from graduating. I made it! And guess what? Everyone was really nice to me. I even made friends. Lots of friends. And my teachers were nice. I love them. I'm going to miss them dearly.

Moving to Wyoming was the best thing we've ever done. I'm glad Curtis had the idea to go to law school. I'm even more glad he didn't get accepted to the U and that we were able to have this great adventure. We've experienced life in a new way here in Wyoming. We have met extraordinary people and have made life-long friends. My knowledge has grown, my appreciation for hard work has increased, my heart is fuller and I think overall I'm a better person for the experiences I have had here.

lyric mishaps....

I found out this morning that the song by Culture Club that I thought went like this...

"come on, come on, come on, come on, come on comedian"

really goes like this....

"karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon"

huh, I never knew.


It reminds me of a funny story involving my mom and brother.

There was a commercial on TV a while back that played the song, Rock the Casbah by the Clash. My mom started it singing it as "Rock the cat box, rock the cat box," Then my brother cut in and said, no, it's "rock the CASH BOX."

Curtis and I couldn't help but burst out laughing. They both thought they were right, but really, they were totally wrong.

I'm sure many of you have heard of my Elton John lyric mess-up. For the longest time I thought the song Tiny Dancer was tiled Tony Danza. I thought it went like this...

"Hold me closer Tony Danza."

Tony Danza or Tiny Dancer....I love the song!!

Speaking of Elton John...he came to Laramie last week. I would have loved to go, but tickets were super expensive. The day of his concert, someone was selling their tickets on craigslist. I called and made my very first offer ever. Sadly, it was rejected. I got all worked up about making an offer (a lowball offer), only to be turned down. Boohoo.

Ok, one last lyric mess up. I use to think the song Linger by the Cranberries went like this...

"I'm searching food for you" rather than

"I'm such a fool for you."

Oh, good times. I can envision it now....

me...high school...driving around in my blue Chevrolet Corsica....radio turned way up loud.....me singing super loud (and off-key of course)...I'M SEARCHING FOOD FOR YOU....DO YOU HAVE TO....DO YOU HAVE TO....DO YOU HAVE TO LET IT LINGER.

Oh, the memories. I guess high school wasn't all that bad after all.