Silence is NOT the answer

I have been painfully silent over last year... it is a new year though, and I am taking on the whole "new begginings"

I have been waiting for an amazingly epic moment to occur for reason to return to writing. Well, I can't tell you that anything epic has happened, but what I can do is start simple. Sometimes simplicity is the best way to go, we do as a matter of fact have to begin a race with just one step.

Here is my step. And hopefully the momentum will build now and I will be back to writing every once in a while.

To start I will just put a few random things out there about where I am as of late...

-I am job hunting, and learning so much in the process. I have the best resume I have had in my life to date, I think I have got the whole process of hunting, and applying down... next comes the perfection of the interview - one down, who knows how many more to go.

-AND just to pretend as most of you do not know (which probably isn't the case because I am a loud mouth and make myself heard) I am a baccalaureate - yes, that means I FINALLY have a Bachelor's degree, in Social Science, to be precise. I graduated in Dec of 2010. I am proud of myself.

-Speaking of school--I must add to this blog--I was extremely challenged last year. This is one of the largest reasons as to my break from blogging. My mind could not handle much more than life was spewing my way as a Mom, student, and girlfriend who has lots of friends and family in my life!! Yeah, it was craziness...

-And just to put the cherry on top of the School sundae (so to speak), school pushed and challenged my mind in ways I never knew were possible - my beliefs, morals, standards all took a bit of a shift. I was pressed hard, my mind was challenged and at times I felt defeated, even hopeless.

-When fall introduced itself last year I was relieved to put the "tough" school behind me - I had written a 20 page dissertation on Global Poverty, in addition to another 56 pages on other intense "analytical" papers. And I began my Guitar class. It was amazing and priceless...

-I know how to read and play the three basic octaves of A-G and read rythmic patterns. in addition to so much more. Fall semester offered me a great change of pace. To be able to learn music while sitting and reflecting on all of the belief shifts and such that school had introduced. I am feeling better and more at ease with this all now, I know that discovering who I am, and what I am are all a process... the process of life!

-So here I am, Happy and content. I have an amazingly kind, supportive, loving, giving boyfriend who lifts me up everyday. I for the first time in a relationship feel at ease to be me, and feel significant as a person regardless of my flaws. I am a lucky girl!

-AND the best thing in life, the thing that has brought me the most joy, most growth, and the most smiles on my face - is Madilynn. She is a hoot! It has been a challenging year as a mother as well - but a great one at that! Madi went from babyhood to childhood last year: giving up the Pacifier, going from a crib to a toddler-bed, potty training, talking, counting, danacing, hobbying, you name it... she is a little person now, and I love it. We once in a while deal with the power-struggle, but we are both learning and everyday it seems like things are getting better - atleast she doesn't have daily timeout visits anymore! I love her, she is growing into a beautiful girl with personality!

-If I could change one thing about last year it would be the fact that I didn't freely write or journal. I love keeping my thoughts tangible by writing them to reflect at later times... maybe this year will be the year to start recording my thoughts, we'll see.

So, that is where I am at. I'll leave it at that. Taking one moment at a time I am moving forward in this ever increasingly fast paced life - hopefully not in silence.

Life is great

My outlook today is amazing for some reason... I must have woken up on the right side of the bed! it probably helps that things in life right now are going really well, I do love being in a happy mood, I think that I am going to choose to be happy more often!

I am feeling quite inspirational today, and my mind is racing from one place to another with some fabulous thoughts, I just don't know how to get them out in a verbal way, so I will just smile and keep them to myself for once!

I got a promotion, I am officially now the Operations Manager for Groom Construction, I am so excited! I feel appreciated, and I feel like working my little-big tush off for this company!

What-a-Wonder-FULL-Wednesday

So, it has been Days - litterally - since I last posted, and I don't want time to run away from me! I consider blogging awesome in so many ways: keeping people updated on me and my life, processing my thoughts, therapy, as a way to document my life as it happens... I know that one day I will look back and be happy that I did this, hopefully I will be able to print it and create a hardcopy book one day, for Madi to keep :)


Anyway, I have been trying to stay positive and in doing so I want the think of some wonderful things today.

1. I leave for Las Vegas on Sunday the 7th -throught the 10th -with Naomi, a near and dear friend of mine who will be celebrating her 21st birthday that same day, it will be a ton of fun! We will be lounging by the water soaking up the sun, and eating a lot of yummy food! Too bad she won't have her guitar in hand it is always fun to sing along together while she plays!

2. The weekend following Vegas, Madi and I will be heading up to Walker, MN to see Dan and Shirleys cabin. They have accomplished so much since we were last up there! I am thrilled to see how far it has come along in the building process. Dan designed it, it is amazingly elegant, and oh so functional, probably more so than any other place you have seen! He is so talented...

3. I will be moving into my new HOME! Yes, my own Home! I am thrilled, and blessed and soooo excited. I feel like I have been given so much, and I am so thankful, God has been so good to me! My new address as of June 24th 2009 will be: 7075 Blaine Avenue Inver Grove Heights, MN 55076. I cannot wait, it is beautiful and perfect!

4. I will be having a sleep study done in June sometime as well, and I am hoping that they can figure out why I am so exhausted all of the time, that is something I am looking forward to taking care of.

5. Madi is growing like a weed! Her molars are coming in, there are 4 poking though. poor little thing! She loves to chat, and hold the phone to her ear while doing so. She loves to run around, and to play peek-a-boo. Her little grins that expose her gap-filled teeth make me smile. Her fits are becoming intense, especially when in public, and I am discovering that the pacifier is going to be a LOT harder than I thought to take away from her! When she is tired she lets me - and EVERYONE else - know, by her loud screeches and crabby attitude. Overall she is a blast, always going full speed. I no longer will take for granted the age of a newborn, although they wake up a lot and eat a lot, they are Much easier at that age than Madilynns 14 months of age, I wouldn't trade it for the world though, it is sooo fun!

June is one busy Month for me, I was going to attempt to go to the Family Reunion in California for my Moms family but that fell through, but it is okay, we have another one next year. I was hoping to be able to go as well to see my Dad's family, but hopefully that will happen later on this year!

Overall things in life are going great, life is a bit stressful, but it isn't anything that I can't handle although it does feel overwhelming at times...

I think I learned to appreciate and treasure each day,

because you don't know how many you're going to be given.

~Sandra Day O'Connor

A proud Auntie Becca, that is who I am!

Summer has arrived, and we definetly soaked up the rays that the sun threw down!

Memorial day weekend was busy, and great. We - Mom, Albert, Aprils oldest 4 kids, and myself - went camping with a group from church; went to church on Sunday; I caught up with an old friend; I went rock climbing; went to the Como Zoo for Parkers Birthday; and last but not least visited the Nubies ♥ -yep, Aprils babies have arrived!

We welcomed Abby Jo and Avery Stephen on May 20th at 4:15pm. They were both admitted into the NICU, and stayed there until Sunday 5/24. They did great latching on and breastfeeding right away, they had minor issues such as their glucose levels being off, and not being able to stabilize their temps... but other than that they seem to be doing great, what little troopers! Today they are 1 week old :) and very cute and little I might add! They are both weighing in at around 4.5 pounds each.

I feel so blessed by all of my family, memorial day I was reminded of how fortunate I am to have such a great, loving, Compassionate, tight-knit family! We are so blessed to have one another!

Madi is growing like a weed and she is so much fun, a handful too :) She is running all over the place, she is fearless, that little girl! Her favorite thing to do right now is to explore, especially the places that she knows I don't want her to explore, like the toilet for instance! She is a little chatter box, and she is quite opinionated, and vocal about her feelings. High energy, and hungry all the time . We had no problems taking the bottle away, we actually just gave her the option one morning of the bottle or the sippy cup, and she chose the latter, which is nice. It probably came easy because I never gave her a bottle in the crib, although I must admitr, I am sad seeing them go, because it means my baby is growing up!

Welcoming 2009

What a fabulous week! God is good... as simple as my life may seem, it is amazing to me, and I am completely content, when I am holding my little girl in my arms. Dan is seeming to be more amicable as of this last week, which has been great. So, other than this cold that I have, 2009 has been great so far! Madi and I had a fabulous 4-day weekend with out-of-town guests. Lots and lots of fun... here are some pics; meeting a couple newbies that have just entered the world Isabella and Kaedyn (sp?); going to the Science Museum; The Fabulous Mall Of America; ringing in the new year with family and a HUGE Christmas dinner; lots of games; and kids galore; and last but not least the Vikings playoff game today at the Legends Club in the Metrodome (thanks JB):