I am so excited!

My headache is gone!
YAHOO!!!!!!

A Thought or Two

Tomorrow, actually, today I go in for a spinal blood patch. I have been having these massive headaches for a year straight. I have tried everything from getting glasses, a TMJ mouth piece, to every different migraine medication out there. Nothing has worked. I finally went in to a neurologist on Thursday. She told me that she knew exactly what it was. It is a low pressure spinal fluid leak due to my epidural I had when I had Clara. OK, now it totally make sense. I have every sign of it. I cried when she told me. I was so happy that finally I had an answer. The neat thing is that the Neurologist I saw is my Johnny's best friend's mom. I had no idea. I have really never talked to her. I just knew who she was. I told Johnny that I am very thankful for her.
Speaking of Johnny, he had a little incident at school today. Some kid punched him as hard as he could in the neck, right in the jugular. He got in the car and his neck was swollen. It was horrible. I took him to the doctor. Thank goodness, everything is OK. The doctor told me that I needed to report it to the school, so I did. Can I just tell you how much I hate bullies?!? I had one in high school. His name was Tom. Tom is now in my Ward. It is a good thing I am so forgiving. Actually, it is really funny, Tom and I are friends now. It really is amazing how time changes things. He went from making my life _ _ _ _ to a friend... We laugh about it now but then, it hurt.
Today, Clara was sitting on my lap while I was working on my computer. I have a picture of my beautiful Grandma Holladay (Banka) sitting on the top of my screen. She pointed up to it and said "that". "That" is Clara's favorite word. I took the picture down. She put it up to her mouth and started kissing it. How special! It seemed like she knew her. I am pretty sure she does know her. My grandmothers were both so beautiful! They were such incredible women!
Well, I better go, I am tired and it is 1:36 in the morning. I have to get some sleep. I have a big day tomorrow! Wish me luck... I have to be down in bed for three days after... Oh well! I will make the best of things!
Have a great day and until next time... SMILE!!!

Brownies, Hot Chocolate and Water Bottles

I have crazy things on my mind, obviously... I just made brownies. I love boxed brownies. There is just something about them. I make homemade brownies. My Aunt Donna has an amazing recipe. My favorite brownie in the world is in NYC and the cafe in the bottom of the Rockefeller Center. Those brownies are incredible! They are like eating a brownie with truffle inside. Anyway, I made boxed brownies tonight. They are easy. They are filled with chocolate and I love how chewy they are. I thought I would just mention my love for brownies. I actually think they are my favorite food... Am I crazy? I think not!
My dear friend, Lori, and I went to lunch today at Applebees. It was so yummy. She started telling me that she went to our favorite hot chocolate place, Cocoa Cafe'. This was her first time there. She wasn't all that impressed with it. She said it was like eating drinking hot fudge. Ok, so maybe it is. I think that is maybe why I love it so much! Lori isn't a huge chocolate eater. I can't hold that against her... She is one of the greatest people on Earth. So I will forgive her for that. I was sad that she went with out me... She said I wasn't awake that early in the morning. Ok, she's probably right. She knows me really well. Hey, I work until 2am. Don't think I sleep all the time... I don't... Just when my sweet Clara sleeps.
Oh, that brings up another subject. Clara is going through this stage that she can't be with out me. Tonight, I left her with Johnny while I ran into the bathroom. She sat there and cried by the bathroom door until I went out. I am not saying I am sad about the fact she wants me to hold her all the time. I actually love playing with her and making her happy but I have not gotten one thing done in the past two days. She hasn't let me. Lynn asked me tonight what I accomplished today. I told him, I took him to work, held Clara, played with Clara and held her some more. Then I took a break and went to lunch with Lori and Clara. I came home and played with Clara again, went to pick the kids up from school. Tried to go to the bathroom but had my sweet Clara crying at the door. Went to get Krissi. She had a thing after school she needed to go to for her Leadership Team. Clara was down for a nap. I got to sneak away. She woke up. I played with her got her dinner and Lynn came home. Wow. I really didn't get much accomplished... OH WELL!
On to water bottles. I just found out that my water bottle might be toxic... KSL has a report tonight on water bottles. I will quote directly for KSL How do you know which bottles are most at risk? The key is on the bottom. Inside the triangle you'll see a number from one to seven. Most water bottles are a one; chemically, that's not considered a risk. It's the Nalgene containers, with a seven on the bottom, that contain bisphenol A.
SO, I ran to look at my water bottle. Guess what! It has a 7. Yep! My water bottle is toxic... I will wait to freak out until more is studied on the subject. I just find it pretty funny that out of ALL the water bottles in my house, mine has the 7 on it. Only one does... MINE! At least it's mine. I am glad it isn't my kid's. I think for now, I will change my water bottle.
Well, I better go. I need to get back to work. I will write again soon... Until then, have a most wonderful amazing day!

Family Pictures

1. Beautiful Krissi 2. Johnny Angel 3. Sweet Zach 4. Clara Joy 5. Clara and Me 6. Lynn Eating NY pizza in NYC 7. Krissi, Zach and Clara in Central Park, NYC 8. Clara picnicing in Central Park 9. Clara's first plane ride 10. Zach and Mary 11. Johnny doing what Johnny does... 12. Clara stylin' her shades 13. Zach and Johnny at the Scream Mammoth in Yellowstone

My Home

Have you ever thought your house was closing in all around you? I come home from my business trips and feel like do we really need this much to live? How come you can go out of town and make it with just a couple pair of pant, shoes and shirts. I came home and my house looked like it hadn't been cleaned in months. It had. I promise. My incredibly amazing friend, Lori Cox, and I have spent many hours going through my house organizing and decluttering it and then redecorating it. We have tackled the bathroom and the kitchen. We are going to be doing my bedroom soon. Lori has so much talent. I swear, she can take a couple things and make a room look totally different. I wish I had just one tenth of the talent that she has. She offered to help me do this because that is the person she is. She would do anything for anyone without even thinking about it. When I say she is amazing, I mean it! I am so blessed to have her in my life!
Anyway, I got my house looking somewhat OK. I need to wash the slip covers and really scrub. My bathroom and kitchen look good... Thank you Lori!
I have to say, as I clean this house, I am thankful. Our home is small, but it is ours. It is cute and it is in a good area. Yesterday, I had to go run something out to a different part of town. When Lynn and I were thinking of buying a house, a lot of thought went in to it. We almost bought a house in the part of town that I had to go to yesterday. The house was twice as big as our home and we would have spent the same amount of money. As I went by the school where my kids would have gone, I became so thankful for the schools our kids are in, the neighbors we have and the fact that my family is so close. I am so happy that we are were we are!
I know I am rambling but I just had to say, I love my home! I am so thankful for it! I can't wait until it is all done being organized and such. Then maybe we can finish the basement. I am working on getting that done by the end of the summer.
Well, I will talk to you later. It is obviously getting late. I really start to ramble when it is late... But that is me and... Oh dear, I am going to sign off now~

Small World

I just got home from Washington DC. I was there for The Adventures in Travel Expo. It was really fun. I do have a fun job. I love the DC promotions because I get to see my brother Bill and Sis-in-Law Tammy. I actually got to see my first lacrosse game while I was there. Joseph, my cute nephew, was playing. He did such a great job! He scored 3 of the 6 points for his team... WAY TO GO! It was actually a really fun game to watch. Bill took us all out to dinner after. He is such a great man! I felt so bad for him. He hurt his knee. I seriously wanted to cry when I saw him walk. I hope he gets it fixed soon. I hate it when my family hurts. It was so nice to see Bill, Tammy and Joseph. I love them so much!
I had so many crazy things happen to me while I was there...
On the flight there, I sat next to a really nice man who loved to talk. I learned all about his life and his eight kids. It turns out that he is the executive producer for Good Morning America. He was really cute and was a very proud dad.
The hotel I was in was really cute. It was The Henley Park. I recommend it! The rooms are small but it is a really nice place to stay. I couldn't sleep the second night I was there. The room next to me had the TV on so loud that it sounded like I had a symphony going on inside my room. I called down to the front desk. They told me that they had called the police and that there was a party going on. I didn't hear a party but I heard the TV. Come to find out, the room on the other side had a party going on. The police came and kicked the people out. The TV was so loud that it drowned the party on the other side out. It was a crazy night. Finally, they told the people to turn the TV down. I got to sleep around 3am, not so abnormal for me.
I got to go to my favorite hamburger place, five guys. I love it! They just opened one up in IAD right next to the JetBlue terminal. How cool is that? I am so excited! I ate there before I left DC. I had the breakfast sandwich. The plane left at eight and I just couldn't bring myself to eat hamburger and fries at seven in the morning.
On our way home, I had a lay over in JFK (New York). I found out that there is a crew lounge there. Janie, a friend who is a reservation agent turned flight attendant showed us. We walked in and Janie introduced us to an other flight attendant who has put herself through medical school being a flight attendant. She has just finished medical school at the U of U and is going on to do her residency. She was so cute and looked really familiar to me. She was working my flight. I asked her if she did OB with Dr. Gravelle and Dr. Ponder. She told me yes about a year ago. We put two and two together and figured out that she was the cute intern that delivered my Clara. What a neat thing and what a small world!
This trip was just a crazy one. Erika Lloyd, my dear friend, is always telling me how small the world is. I have decided, this trip, it definitely is!

Just a note

I am leaving tomorrow to go to Washington DC for the Adventures in Travel Expo. JetBlue is a sponsor of it and one of the great perks to my job is to be able to go all over the country and promote JetBlue at fun events. I have a lot of mixed emotions about it this time. I love this event. It is one of my favorite. I hate the fact that I have to leave my kids and Lynn. It is also hard to know that Lynn is in a situation that is hard to get around and I can't be here to help him. I asked Lynn's mom if it was OK for them to go to her house for the weekend. She said yes. At least I know they will be taken care of. She is a good woman and a GREAT grandmother to my children!


Today, I went over to my mom's house. She is the most amazing woman in the world! I love talking to her. I love being around her! We weren't able to talk for very long because I was in the middle of picking up my kids and she wasn't feeling the best. She fell earlier today and she was really scratched up. It was nice to see her. It is so amazing how just seeing her makes my day go a whole lot better. I hope and pray that I can be a mom like her. She is my hero!

I also went to Laurie and Darryll's house tonight. They are such great friends! Laurie made homemade tapioca pudding for us. I tried it when I got home. I do have to say, it is the best tapioca pudding I have ever tasted! It was even warm. I can't wait until it is cold... We had a neat talk about how blessed we are to have the families we have.

I have to say, I am so blessed to have the family I have and the friends that I do. I love my life! Life is good!!!