Give Away! Let it be your Lucky Day!

I saw this on my Sister In Law, Tiffany's, blog and just had to do it. The first 3 people to comment on this post will get something made by me! My choice--but just for you. I am so excited because I love to make things and I love giving gifts.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It'll be done this year.
4. You will have no clue what it is going to be.
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.


The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog. The first 3 people to do so and leave a comment telling me you did, will win a marvelous homemade gift by me! Let the games begin!! Oh, and I have to be able to contact you with mailing information!!! I promise it will be something good!Good Luck to all!

Thoughts and Thanks

To all my friends and family THANK YOU for your advice regarding my last post about my son. I have given it much thought and prayer and have decided to let it go for now and just be the best mom I can be to him when he is in my home, and love him regardless of what he does. To fight him will be to have him hate and resent me for years to come.

I am reminded of that quote..."If you love something set it free. If it comes back it is yours forever. If it doesn't, it was never meant to be.

The last part doesn't completely apply to a person that is indeed your child because I have to believe he was definately meant to be. To me it means that I have to have great courage and a strong faith to believe that Jessie will someday see that maybe his choices haven't been the best and maybe he will see that I am there for him and love him no matter what and he will want that in his every day life.

So to all of you who posted comments with your advice, I appreciate you so much for your thoughts and your caring words. Thanks for being such great friends.

Teenage concerns or lack of parenting?

Most of the time I only write posts that are positive. But since this is a way that I can also journalize my life, I decided that I have to write and post the bad along with the good. So this isn't one on the lighter side.

Most of you know that my son Jessie is living with his Dad, my ex-husband, in Cedar City. He has been since July against my wishes and better judgement. But I had no choice. I was told it was in "his best interest" that he live in Cedar City with his dad. It has been really tough on me.

Now I don't intend this to be in any way "Ex bashing", but you must get an idea of what I am talking about in order to understand my concerns. You see, my ex-husband does not have the same value system that I have and the same value system that I have raised our kids to have. His parenting skills are totally opposite of mine. This is extremely difficult especially since Jessie has been getting into a lot of trouble lately.

My dear sweet boy is not the same boy he was when he lived under my roof. Since he has lived with his dad he has stopped attending church, scouts, and young mens. He is failing most of his classes. He has had in-school suspensions. He has gotten himself involved with the "Skater" crowd and, therefore, dresses as such. From skinny jeans that are tight in the legs but still hang down below his rear end, to long hair, and now to ear piercings. None of this I approve of. And this doesn't even count the disrespectful attitude he has towards me, Shellise and other family members when he is visiting.

Now this may all be about him being a teenager and trying to fit in with the crowd. But I feel he is lacking structure and discipline, and of course mothering. His dad's way of disciplining is by "having a talk with him". There are no consequences for his actions. His dad does not see that there is a problem. So while it may be a teenage thing, I see it as also being lack of parenting.

I do not see that it has been "in his best interest" to live with his Dad in Cedar City. But Jessie refuses to come back and live with me. And to get this reversed, I will have to take it through the court system.

Needless to say, I am heartbroken. I feel it is totally out of my control. That I am being forced to watch my son make choices that will lead him down a path that will not end up being very happy for any of us in the future. I worry about him constantly. It hurts so much to see how much he has changed in a short amount of time.

I don't know what to do. I hate the position that I am in. Do I continue to let things be as they are and hope for the best, or do I take this back through the court system and fight him, and his Dad, and force him to come back?

If any of you have any advice or suggestions, I would appreciate hearing from you.

25 Random Things About Me

I was tagged by a friend on Facebook to write 25 random things about me. I just thought I would also post it here. For those of you who need and want to know..... Here it is!

1. This is the 2nd time I have written this because the first time I accidentally hit a wrong button and deleted the work I had completed before saving it.

2. I cost my parents $5.00 when I was born. Of course I was born at an Army Hospital in Colorado Springs six months before my dad left for Vietnam.

3. I managed a pizza restaurant from 15 to 18 years of age. Maybe you knew the place? - U-Bake-It Pizza & Video. It was my family's restaurant.

4. My first car I bought on my own with my own money when I was 16. It was a Maroon Manza Spider. I loved that car!

5. I was engaged on my high school graduation night, got married 2 weeks later, and moved to California a week after that. I know... Crazy huh?

6. I have lived in Colorado Springs, CO; Ogden, Delta, Santaquin, Hunter, West Valley City, Kearns, and Cedar City, UT; Sacramento, CA.

7. I spent 4 weeks in Berlin, Germany in 1987. A year before the Berlin Wall was torn down. What a wonderful, historical experience that was.

8. I am the eldest child in my family and the eldest grandchild on my mom's side. I have 2 brothers and 2 sisters.

9. I play the piano, although I do need to practice more often.

10. I worked as a Chiropractic Assistant for 2 years.

11. I have 2 children, both are adopted.

12. I own every single book (hardcover) ever written by Danielle Steel.

13. I have paraglided off the point of the mountain and LOVED IT even though I am deathly afraid of heights. I will do it again!

14. I traveled to Seattle, WA with my High School DECA Club.

15. I was married for 22 years to my former husband.

16. I was a successful REALTOR for over 7 years.

17. My son Jessie is also my 2nd cousin. Remember he is adopted. He is my Uncles, ex-wife's, daughter's son. Did you get that? :)

18. I was in a truck that slid down the side of a snow covered mountain during deer hunting several years ago.

19. I killed my first deer on my first deer hunt trip. It was a spike and ended up being female. Which is very rare and wierd. I call it my "Horny Doe".

20. I met my recent husband on LDS Singles.com. A match made in HEAVEN! :)

21. I am currently a licensed Private Investigator.

22. My luck number is #7. Wouldn't it be yours if your birthday was 7-7-67?

23. I have watched the soap opera "Days of Our Lives" for over 28 years. Although, I don't get to watch it much anymore.

24. My very special and supposed luckiest day ever was on my birthday in 2007... 07-07-07. I say supposed to be lucky because I sure wasn't lucky in Vegas on that day!

25. I have 4 grandchildren. Even though my kids are only teenagers can you believe it???? Well Ok... they are my step grandchildren and I have not even met them yet! I can't wait.

Have I told you about my beautiful daughter?

I am the luckiest mom in the world to have such a beautiful, smart, witty, fun, loving daughter. She is such a wonderful young woman I just have to brag for a bit if that's ok.

First of all, I don't know how she fits everything she does into her schedule. She is so involved with so many things. To give you a small idea...Her schedule goes a bit like this: Besides her regular school schedule, she is involved with the academic games as the president of the presentation team. This requires her to stay after school everyday and travel to different schools for competition on Tuesday's. She might have an hour after that to eat and head to the church for Mutual and doesn't get home until 9:00 pm. On Wednesday's she goes straight to Granite Youth Symphony right after school and doesn't get home until 5:45. Afterwards she has just barely has enough time to change clothes and grab a bite to eat before heading over the Hunter High School for Softball Clinic, which lasts for 8+ weeks. This is so she can get conditioned for High School Softball tryouts which is coming up soon. She doesn't get home until 10:00 pm. She is also going to be creating/designing the set for the school play of "Aladdin", this is also another meeting she has to stay after school for once or twice a week. She also tries to participate in whatever sport the youth at church are playing at the time. Right now its Basketball. But trying to fit that into her schedule is sometimes difficult. When she is home she still has to do homework and practice her viola everyday. The sad thing is she isn't taking any dance classes this year, which has done since she was 5 yrs old. She would like to get some dance classes in, but where would she find the time?

She is "so-not-like-me". And I am glad. I was so shy growing up that I never would even think about getting involved in any extra-curricular activities... until I reached my Junior/Senior year then I came out of my shell a bit.

Just thinking and writing about her schedule wears me out. And she still wants to fit more things into it. Some days I really have to put my foot down and say "enough is enough". Between my work schedule and her schedule, there are days that we only see each other in passing. Is this what teenage life is all about? She's only a freshman. Does it get crazier in High School?

And since we are on the subject of High School.... she will be taking courses in High School over the next 3 years that will count towards college credit... so that it is possible for her to earn her Associates Degree by the time she graduates. Can you believe that?

She also turns 15 in April and reminds me on a daily basis that she needs to start learning how to drive. Ugh! I keep putting it off because I am just not ready for her to be that old.

I miss my babies. I miss the times when they needed me to help them more. I miss holding them, reading to them, helping them get dressed. So if you still have small children...Enjoy every second you can with them, because the time goes by so fast and before you know it they are gone.

Anyway... I just want to say that I admire Shellise so much. She is so much more smarter than I ever will be. She teaches me so many things on a daily basis. I am so grateful for her.

I just have one wish..... That time would slow down!