Enough is Enough

I have too much going on. Too much to keep up this blog. It makes me sad. I used to love it so much. Now, my time is with other things and keeping it up has become too hard. Life is moving forward at a much quicker pace than I like. I want it to slow down. The school year is nearly over already and it's time for our Summer to begin. I think it was just January, yesterday. How can it be? I know how- it's called organized chaos and 4 children. I will try again if things change around here. There is much to say, that's for sure, just not enough time and dedication to keep it up for eyes to see on this. Plus, I am pretty sure not many people are following along anyway. And that is okay too. This is more for us, so I can publish a book each year about our life. I am behind by 2 years. I will likely not catch up.
So, bye for now. Follow me on my photography page or on Facebook. Much love.

Our crew April 2014

January

Well, January is now over. Can't say I miss it. It was cold. So cold in fact, that my children could barely attend school, therefore, spent more time at home. This is not terrible, but more challenging than you would think. Having to fix more food, since they are home and not eating at school, having to "entertain" in ways other than 1000 movies, is hard. Not that fun, either. It seems we did a lot of sitting around. We all read books, played games, baked treats, and drove each other a little crazy. But, we made it through.
Now, it's February, and guess what?! It's still so cold and snowy, we have had more calamity days! No end in sight, either! Yay!
All kidding aside, it is good here. We are so blessed. We have a great home, filled with love and warmth. No one is sick here. Germs are spreading, but nothing we can't handle. I am getting a better grip on this gluten free life. Everyone else is adjusting. I have gotten to catch up with some old friends, and begin new friendships too. I was recently called as the Primary President in our ward here. That itself is a tad daunting of a task, but I am doing it. So far, so good....ask me again in a few months, days or even weeks!
Valentine's Day is fast approaching, so in good spirits, I set my girls up for their own photo shoot. I will probably not post these on my photography site, for it may look like I lack clients, and use my own for business! So, enjoy these here!

Blogging once a month is just not acceptable, so I will do better. Happy February! Oh, and depending on which groundhog you follow, we will either have 6 more weeks of winter, or an early spring- I vote for the early spring!

Extended Hiatus

Nearly 3 months ago, I posted and promised I would not wait so long to post again. I lied. Sorry.

I have lots of reasons why I haven't blogged, but no real good ones.

Lazy. Busy. Not a priority. Facebook.

There, I said it.

Well, I will be better- but not as it used to be. I have a lot going on, and the purpose of this was to create a book at the end of the year each year. I have made 5 books, and now need to work on 2013. But the program I use is not so fun anymore. Well, it never was that fun, but great quality and great price, if you can take hours upon hours of time to recreate what you did when it crashes. Boo.

Another day, I suppose.

A few updates that I should mention:

2013 ended quite uneventfully-  just the way I like it.

We had an amazing holiday season. With all of our close family nearby, we got to see everyone. We even got to have Christmas all day at our house. That was my favorite. We had just my parents out for dinner and I was never so happy to not have to leave the house and spend it with those I love the most. It was near perfection.

Now it's 2014 and time for new goals and new things.

#1 Get our finances in order. Somehow in the last 6 months we have spent several thousand unaccounted for dollars. How did that happen, you ask? Well, I ask myself, since I am in charge of the money, and even I can't figure it out. It just did.

#2 Spend my time wisely. Too much distraction in my life. Need to refocus. Need to spend more time on the simple things. Less time wasting. Prioritize. Follow through.

#3 Get in gear. Keep in shape. I have lost the 10 pounds I gained when my meds weren't enough. Now it's time to stay this way and tone up. Getting right on that. Going to Zumba and weight toning. Work in progress.

That's it. 3 goals. More than that and I will fail. I know myself. Now, there are other areas I will be working on, but for this blogs' sake- this is enough for now. Thanks for hanging with me. I promise to post more often. Can't say it will be worth your precious online time to read this, but for posterity, I will  press on. I do use this as a journal of sorts, so, I will keep up. Somehow.

My new photography page is up and running. Feel free to check it out if you haven't already.

http://kophotography12.weebly.com/

Business is just where I want it to be. Not too busy, not too slow. I like it that way.

This.is.my.life.

In 2010, when I was pregnant with Lanie, I got sick. Really sick. So sick that I did not know what to do with myself. It was awful. I found out, after much testing and time, that I had hypothroidism. Later, it was found that I not only had that, but had autoimmune thyroid. Good times. I am forever on medication for that, as my thyroid itself is slowly dying. No biggie there- just ups and downs with metabolism to send me in a frustrating fury! I hate it. I hate that they don't work together, and that the autoimmune works against it too. It's a delicate balance that I do not love. However, it could be worse. So much worse. And it's not.
Well, as with all autoimmune diseases, you don't get to have just one. Nope. You get more. They told me in 2010 that the next one I am most susceptible to is Celiac Disease. Yay! Lucky me. My whole life I have had intestinal problems, as long as I can remember. But this summer, my pain and tolerance got worse. And worse. So, I ordered the blood test. I waited. And waited for the results. (They take longer, by the way). I had a scheduled appointment with my endocrinologist in August, just after I had the blood draw. My thyroid is still dying (no surprise, and none for the 10 pounds I have gained either!). And the blood test for Celiac was positive. Yep, positive. Wahoo!
I let that soak in at the doctor's office. Shed a few tears. Called Dana. Called my mom. It was a rough day. Just not fair. Not like Cancer, of course, but life altering, at least to me. I had read up all I could in preparation for the test coming back not in my favor. I know what it takes, but man, it is hard. It is not fun. I love baking! I love cookies, and cakes and treats! And really, gluten free treats just aren't the same. They aren't awful, but just not the same.
Then, I had to make an appointment to see a Gastroenterologist. Wow, another doctor! I made it to the appointment, only to schedule to have an upper endoscopy. A tube down my throat. What fun! It was a long 2 weeks in prep, but I managed to have all my favorite bread foods and treats in those 2 weeks! Then, nothing. No more. The procedure was  a piece of cake! (no pun- sad face.) I didn't mind it at all. I have been gluten free for 10 days. I don't feel any different. Most of the time I didn't feel bad. Just sometimes. No rhyme or reason. I am hoping to shed the new weight quickly without my yummy treats. My thyroid meds have increased and will continue until it goes completely. That is fun to keep up with too!
So, please do not bake my or my sweet family any treats. I mean it. Well, maybe every once in a while. Just not my favorites....bake them stuff without sugar and flour and chocolate chips! I know, I know what you are thinking- it is not as bad as it seems....well, it's not, but do not try to empathize with me as you enjoy your homemade yumminess, while I watch!

15 Year Anniversary Trip to Florida

Lucky. That is what we are. So lucky. So blessed. Dana and I celebrated 15 years this past April. I told him that I wanted to get away for a few days with just him. We had not done that since we were married, minus a night away here and there. But to really get away. We have this little savings account that each month we put some into- it usually is withdrawn in December to offset Christmas costs, but for 2 years we had not done that, so we had a little to burn! I did not want to drive anywhere, so I had to find a place (a beach!!) that we could fly to for about $600 or less. Then we needed a place to stay while we were there, and money, of course! Well, we found our destination very easily. We could fly into Ft.Lauderdale, stay at a Marriott (Brand new) in Pompano Beach, then tour Miami with our good friend, Pablo all under our budget. It could not have been better- and it all worked out perfectly. Here is our story, written by Dana on our flight home.

Miami 2013

Aug 3-7        We paid $ 575.00 tickets and $ 510.00 for the resort and then spent $500.00 on food, travel and gifts.

Sat - arrived at Ft.Lauderdale and Pablo Diaz picked us up (he got a flat on the way and was late).

Arrived at our Pompano Beach Marriott Resort & Spa, which had just opened. We were the first guests in our room.

Sat night we went with Pablo & his friend Edna (Colombiana) to Chipotle for dinner and then to the club Bongos, located next the Miami Arena.
It was fun. We  tried to salsa and danced until way late. Some of the dancing was a little loco but we had a good time. First time I have ever been patted down upon entering a club. We got lost on the way home and arrived back at the hotel late around 3:30 a.m.

Sunday- we slept in late and had an awesome breakfast/brunch at the resort. 

We went to the beach for a few hours and then to the pool and afterwards back to our room or a nice nap. 

We had a nice dinner by the pool (Kelly had a delicious salad and I had a grilled chicken sandwich on a pretzel bun). Muy Rica!

We relaxed the rest of the night and walked the beach together before falling asleep watching Megalodon on Shark week. I also got to flip back and forth and see my Braves beat the Phillies on Sunday night baseball.

Monday- we had the breakfast Buffett again but due to some confusion (we were told one price the previous day and another on Sunday night) and we ended up paying 19.99 plus 20 % tax plus tip! 

Luckily they did not charge us or Sunday amidst the confusion. 
We went to the beach and pool again and had an awesome time. It rained a little but we stayed out under an umbrella by the pool. 

We stopped by the budget inn across the street and bought some salt & vinegar Pringles and ice cream and that was our lunch for the day. 

That night we followed the beach down the road to the nearest strip of stores/ restaurants. We walked the pier and saw some men fishing right near some swimmers and got to see a big sting ray swim by. 

Kelly got a pedicure for $22.00 and we ate dinner at a nice new restaurant next to the canal. Sunset catch - I had a lobster BLT and she had chicken Marsala with mushrooms in linguini pasta. Our server was excellent and we tipped him well.

We walked back to the hotel and shared an Oreo ice cream from the budget inn for dessert. We saw a ton of geckos that night. I guess they are all over Florida.  
More walking the beach and shark week and bed.
Tuesday- kinda a crazy day. We woke up early anticipating Pablo picking us up early after getting off of work. He works the overnight shift at another Marriott hotel in Miami. But he had an emergency and was unable to get us until after 12 pm. We did get to visit the beach one more time and visit our favorite budget inn for breakfast (pop tarts) and the rest of the day more than made up for our slow morning.

We went to lunch at Pamela's restaurante Chileana. The food was great and brought back a bunch of great memories.

We started out with some pan and empanadas de queso y de pino.

Kelly had Lomito, a pork sandwich with avocados, tomatoes and mayo.

Pablo and I both had el pastel de choclo- corn, chicken shephards pie type dish.

And if that wasn't enough we shared two desserts with lucuma and manjar.

We did not eat again on Tuesday. Shocker!
We went with Pablo to one of his favorite beaches near south beach and we relaxed and swam in the ocean. 
From there we traveled to the South Beach strip and walked up and down Collins street and did a little shopping as well. 

We also had some Italian gelato or ice cream for dessert to keep us going. Before calling it a night we walked famous south beach and took a few pictures for posterity.

We arrived back at Pablo's late and his brother Esteban was generous enough to let us stay in his room and we crashed for the night. 
Wednesday - we had breakfast Chilean style with the whole family. 
Who by the way are amazingly sweet people.
We talked about plans for a joint trip to Chile someday among other things and wished them all goodbye with hugs and kisses before heading off with Pablo.
Before we left his house Pablo gave me two gifts (an autographed Florida Marlins hat for Alex and a Marlins shirt for me). He had noticed that I was looking at them in a store the night before so in Chilean fashion he gave me one of his prized possessions for my son and his brand new shirt. 

It is hard to express my love for the Chilean people and how blessed I feel to still have opportunities to spend time with a family like the Diaz family.
Kelly fell in love with Pablo's little sister, also named Kelly and we bought her a my little pony doll from build-a-bear and we gave it to Pablo at the airport when he dropped us off.
So back to our final day in Miami. We visited another beach ( imagine that ) this time one located across a bay from Enrique Iglesias house. I made sure to get a few pictures.

We then went to a local mall (The Falls) and had our last meal with Pablo at a the corner street cafe (a Panera type place) and did a little shopping.

He dropped us off at the airport and we thanked him for everything and as he drove off we found out our flight was delayed for 2 hrs. Wonderful!
I took a little nap in the airport and we checked our email an stuff on the iPad and began to miss our babies while we waited.

We made it back safe and sound. We are so grateful for my mom who watched my kids and took care of our home while we were gone. Also, my sweet aunt Lori who took Celeste to Conneaut to visit my Grandma and then took a day off of work to watch the girls. They love her so. My parents do so much and I am forever grateful for all her love and thoughtfulness. She is amazing. 
I hope we don't wait another 15 years before going away again- we really needed it and had the time of our lives. So in love with this guy. So in love with our life.