Good Times and The Fight for Light

This past Friday was a day of just utter gorgeousness. It was 70 bloody degrees and sunny! I rolled the window all the way down and let the perfectly tempered air brush over my face and run through my hair. It was so lovely. It felt like little faery hands were running through my hair and massaging my head, making my mood brighten more and more, as the drive went on.

I stopped in at Target, to hunt for some Easter string lights. I ADORE lights, and after Christmas was over, I did NOT want the TV room to go back to just normal lighting. So after we took down the Christmas lights, we immediately put up Valentine's Day lights. WAY early but who cares?! Sandy even sound some plain red string lights that we put in the arch and I fell in love with that too. So when V-Day was over, I immediately found the shamrocks and went hunting for plain green string lights, which were no where but online. But I found lil jelly shamrock lights at AC Moore (craft store). Now that St. Patty's is over, I want Easter lights up. I knew we had enough jelly (you know like the stuff jelly shoes were made of?) egg lights for the archway, but I needed ones for the fireplace. So I went to Target but they had NO lights!

I did get a Dr.Pepper Icee though, and got back in the car and put the window down and blared Miley Cyrus's 'Party in the USA' as I drove over to AC Moore. I figured there was no place else that would definitely have lights, like AC Moore would. SO I was happily sipping away, loving the feel of the wind, when I was also assaulted by wonderful scents you don't seem to notice in the cold weather. The smell of all the restaurant's foods was in the air, almost the way they are at fairs and festivals! I could smell pizza and Chinese food and just yummy scents drifting into the car as I drove along. It was like a delight on all my senses. It just made me smile all the more. And as you know, those smile moments are rare and super precious!

So I got to AC Moore an NO Easter lights at all! What the frick?! Easter is celebrated by way more people than St. Patrick's day, so what is with the lack of light love for Easter AC Moore?!! It wasn't a total loss though, I stopped in at Old Navy and found this SUPER thin hoodie, which is like perfect for spring and perfect for when we go to Florida, in case there is ever a cool night. I really wanted it in the orangey-salmon color but they didn't have it in XL and I wanted it to be roomy. It was a guy's jacket but my bustens (boobs, hello German) do not like the large. But I got the blue at least.

So I went to Walmart, and no lights. I admit, the faeries running through my hair were now gone. The sun was setting and it was getting a little chilly and i had no jacket. But then I thought I had the BEST idea of all time! Who would definitely, without a doubt, have Easter lights? Duh, Wendy! IParty!! The bloody party store! So I drove over there all excited and NO freaking, fracking lights!! Sure they had jalapeno lights and luau lights (note for summer time), but not one bloody Easter light! So I was called up and told get home, 4 places is enough!! So I am not sure if I give up yet. I have managed to get some of the jelly eggs onto the fireplace, there were 3 strings, but I HATE them all matching!! I like different, and I wanted bunnies or duckies! Or jelly beans or whatever!

So now I am in a conundrum...do I continue my search? I do not want to go all OCD and be disappointed again, but what if Michael's Craft store in West Hartford has them? And there is an Old Navy over there, maybe they have the orangey jacket...but aghhh!! I do not want to jinx the whole thing worse.

So the lights were a disappointment, but the gorgeous feeling of the day, up to going to Walmart, was a nice one. That was at least one solid hour of feeling GOOD. Sure that ended really harshly later that night, but for that hour, I felt more alive than I have in months!!

Katie's Picture Book Birthday

Okay, I am going to finally post about Katie's birthday! Which was about a week ago, the 12th. It will be mostly a lot of pictures, I had a lot of fun that day taking photos! (*side note - I do now own Transformers 2, I told you I would own it the day it was available! LOL!)

So, on Kat's birthday, she decided she wanted to go down to the beach. She knew it was now too cold to swim, but she really wanted to go. Just to be there. So we packed up extra jackets and towels in case we sat on the beach, etc. And then we made the hour drive to the one beach still open to the public, Hammonasset beach. We had so much fun. Okay, the girls and I did. My parents either walked around or, if you were my Dad, sat on a bench and just stared out into the ocean. The girls and I all rolled our pants up to our knees and walked along the coast. We picked up pretty seashells, and it was just perfection. It was so serene and we were almost the only ones there, so it was like we had this paradise to ourselves. Katie was so happy, she would come running up to me with a new seashell she found for me or Sam, etc. She was just like a kid. After awhile the water didn't even feel cool, it felt soothing. It was like all our cares and troubles went out with the tide as we walked along the water. I don't think I have felt such a moment of quiet peacefulness like this in a really long time. It was so special. I didn't want to leave at all. But my parents were getting really cold so Katie MADE me go to the bathrooms to get my feet washed off.

We convinced Katie to go to her favorite restaurant, well one of them, Olive Garden. We are still getting advertisements for the Never-Ending Pasta Bowl, so that excited Kate but they weren't offering it AND we are still seeing the commercials. So she ordered her favorite normal one and got gypped. It was like they ran out of ziti, so they gave her half a portion, but charged full price. My Dad let the waitress know it was Katie's birthday and that we expected a song and dessert, and she gave us our bill and left. That made me SO mad, I made sure I went up to someone and said something, that was so wrong! I hoped they would offer something and I could give it to Katie because she figured out what we did and then...nothing!! How sad is that! Luckily we had 2 apple pies at home for her birthday "cake", but still, she helped MAKE them the day before, so the singing was to be special! Grrr to Olive Garden in West Hartford!!

We went back to the house and Katie opened her birthday presents! I KNEW she would love mine! I got her My Life in Ruins, she loved it so much, and she loves all Nia Vardalos movies! Look this was her face when she opened it!

Sam got her this gorgeous jeweled sparrow necklace and a gift card. My parents got her many gift cards, as Kate likes to pick things out herself, stuff for her bellydance bag, a Skelanimals hat, a harcover book, Golden Girls Season 2, some other little things and her first Ipod, a purple Ipod Nano, which has a video camera and FM, sweet! Plus they got her a full Ipod kit, with excercise band and car chargers and speakers, etc. She was so happy, she is constantly borrowing my Ipod or Sandy's (sadly mine needs a new battery, sucky Apple battery!!...sorry needed to vent! LOL). So I also hooked her up and let he pick out any music from my Itunes and transferred it to her Ipod. So now she can have all her bellydance music and songs she just enjoys for fun!

She chose her birthday movie to watch that night, and of course I told her, she would NOT end up wanting to see Betsy's Wedding (thank goodness, I have overseen that) and I was right. We watched Nia's movie! It is SO funny, those who haven't seen it still, rent it!! Poupi Kakas!! ROFL! Ahhhh, so good. And then we sang to her with her pie and she had much pie. And that was Katie's birthday. And here are some of the best pictures!!

This is the purple sand!! It was just there, on one section of the sand! Click on it, seriously it was purple!

And my Halloween-y trailer!!

Oh It's a Good Day....

Well I did it, I got through church and even decided even though it made me a nervous wreck, I want to go at least once a month. That way if I get used to that, then it can turn into every other week, and so on. It could take awhile, I am not quick at changing things, but I feel it is right for me. My Dad's talk was really good, it is funny though, he used our Florida experience (click here) as his basis for his talk on revelation/inspiration, but he sure does remember things differently. When he mentioned Wendy would stay if we chose to and be okay...I was like yeah I would have stayed, but I told them I would not finish school and I'd be an ex-Mormon. Church felt so wrong there, so not what it has always felt like, even when I stayed over a friend and had to go to their ward, church still felt like church. Not in Florida though. Something was...off about it. So I got to see Naomi again and I hugged her as she leaves at 6am Monday and went home. I'd been home 5 minutes when I got a text from her, saying I didn'y say goodbye and I had to go over and see her tonight. I was like, Uhmm nooo tonight is your family BBQ, silly girl. And she said Mom said to remind you that you guys are family. So I was like, is your mom sure? I don't want to show up and it be weird. She texted back Mom says you are family and are always invited. Awwww. It was at 3 though and Mom wasn't sure because she wanted a nap, and I laid down after I said I would be there, and slept til 3:30, I couldn't believe it! I wanted more sleep, but I was going. Mom decided she'd go for awhile and since she said yes, Dad said he'd go for awhile...Sam said she oesn't go out in the daylight, LOL.

So we went and Mom was in German potato salad heaven. And Dad loves brotwurst and sauerkraut...I am such a BAD German, I don't like any of that and the steak was so bloody that basically I ate a LOAD of potato chips. After awhile Naomi and I went off alone and really talked. I mean really, really talked. She is going through some huge things back home, things she is not looking forward to confronting, and we talked about it. She was so truthful, she was just the old Naomi I have known all my life. There were no walls up or anything, she just spilled her guts and I listened and gave my opinion. She did create the situation she is in, she admits it, but she is one of my BFF's, and I will always have her back. And she is in pain, and I don't want her being jerked around and being hurt continuously. I think she should leave Idaho and move back home. She has no support system out there. Her only friend is moving to Boise. She has no family she can turn to there, and church out there has made her so uncomfortable, she is doubting her faith, and she has always had such strong faith, she served a mission in Brazil, etc. And she went to church today and she said it was fine. It felt like church, which I think says a lot. I think here, where she has her parents, her baby sister, her big bro in New Hampshire and tons of friends and church where she feels right, is where she needs to be right now. And she said it felt so good to be here this last week. Selfishly, I want her home because I miss my friend, but what is going on out there, sounds unhealthy for her.

Anyway, my parents left and I said I would be home real soon too. I wasn't sure I should leave Nao just yet, if we were done or if she needed me still. Plus I love the whole family, so I was having a good time, laughing at stories ans stuff. Aunt Debbie and Uncle Dave left and then Weezie, Zak and his brother. So it was Judy, George, Naomi, Matt and his wife and three kids, plus the sister missionaries. And there was going to be a fire and S'mores...I haven't had a s'more in more than 3 years, and I haven't had a REAL one, with marshmallows over a fire in like 12 years!! So I ended up taking a bunch of pictures. It was so fun. Judy bought these ginourmous marshmallows that the kids toasted and it took 2 entire graham crackers and almost a whole bar of chocolate to make a s'more with them! Then naturally it being Matt, he started throwing firework in the fire and George set up a whole bunch to go off at the bird feeder....no birds inside thank goodness!! I ate three s'mores...oh my gosh I was SO bad!! I am a Diabetic and the surgery makes it hard to handle sugar, but they were amazing...well the first was ehhh. I had forgotten HOW to roast a marshmallow, how SAD is that. It was like black so I figured it was all cooked and gooey. WRONG. The other two were sheer bliss. And I felt fine...until I said goodbyes and was driving home at 8:30pm. Then I felt icky but I was okay. I have decided, 3 years for 3 s'mores....yup I am justifying it like that I am, I am!LOL! It was a good day! I haven't had many lately so I am UPBEAT right now! I did get a little depressed tonight, my Mom said it is to be expected when you talk at great length about a bad/sad situation, but it was basically a great day and I am so happy I got to spend more time with my friends, the whole family (well sure Seth lives with his wife in Cambodia, Alex is in North Dakota and Milla is in Utah, but half the H clan was there!), I love them so much!

Check out this marshmallow Matt has, and it isn't even half cooked so it gets bigger!!

This is what the GIANT S'more looks like, No is going to be in sugar high land all night!!

Abs also made one with a giant PINK marshmallow...yeah she is crazy!!LOL!

And Luce was not to be outdone, she also made a huge one, but she shared...with Gamma and her clothes!! Isn't she adorable?!!!

This is the fireworks house...so lucky it didn't catch on fire!!

And this is Naomi with her niece, she loves this pic, I have to send it to her!!

Night all!! I am tired!Oh wait here is a pic of the floor. I know how exciting!!