Day 13: A picure of someone/something that has had the biggest impact on you.

I cannot say how much I love these 2 men. There is a saying 'The only man you can trust is your daddy.' I think its pretty true. In my case, I married a man very much like my dad. He is hard working, a gentleman, responsible, and loves me more than anything. All of my dad's friends always say " How did you marry a man so much like your dad?? He fits in so well with our family!" It always makes me feel good when I hear that.

My dad is the greatest person I know. He has always told me there is no limit to how high you can take yourself. There is always room for improvement in my work, my schooling, and my personal life. He has put positive thoughts in my head, I can do anything I want, and be whoever I want to be.

Joey has pushed me to be where I am today, after a hard day, or a not so hard day he always has positive words for me to make the situation better. He believes in me just like my dad does. I am so happy I have Joey by my side guiding me along in life. I love both of these guys more than I can say, I love every minute I get with each of them!

1 Year Old...

I can't believe it has been one year, it just seems like last week that Hayden came into our lives. What a year this has been. I can still remember the first time I saw him, he was so beautiful. He was born at 2:13 a.m. on March 25, 2010. 6 lbs 4 oz, big brown eyes, lots of curly black hair.

I sometimes wonder what it would be like if Britney had not decided to give him up. Would she be in school? Would she still work at Serenity, would she have the same life she has now? We all know she made the right decision and he has such a great life with his parents, they are wonderful people, I can't even say it enough. The 2 days we had with him in the beginning were so great to have, but my mind still wanders back to the 'what if' of things.

I am still so proud of my sister for doing what she did. She could have kept him and raised him herself, she had lots of support around her, but she knew that he needed something else. She gave a miracle to a very deserving family, whom I think are the best parents ever to Hayden. Britney may not be a Mom to Hayden, but he will know who she is and he will know how much she loves him. I will never forget what they said to her when she handed him over to them, they said, "Britney, you are Hayden's Angel Mommy."

Hayden has a cousin who shares a birthday with him, so they decided to share a party as well. It was Jungle Jim's, his cousin is 4 (I think). Hayden was so funny opening his presents, of course Erin and Jordan helped him. He was so into the wrapping paper he didn't care what was under it. he would rip it up and throw it wherever he could. But he did love all his presents when they were opened.

Hayden's aunt makes amazing cakes! She made a jungle cake with all the jungle animals on it, and she made a little hippo cake just for Hayden to eat. He went crazy! At first he was a little cautious, but he totally got into it and ended up throwing cake on everyone in a sugar craze, it was so cute to watch.

He is almost able to walk by himself now, Jordan said that he has taken a few steps on his own, he can walk with toys and along the wall and stuff.. they will be super busy by the time he starts walking! That boy was into everything at the party and he was just crawling around.

I loved seeing all of Hayden's family and being a part of the party, they are all such nice people. And the best part... my parents were in the room together!! It was a great time, we always love being able to see Jordan, Erin and Hayden.

It will be a fun year with Hayden starting to get older, he has the cutest little personality and will definitely be a heart breaker when he gets older :)

Day 12: Someone I didn't want to let go, but just drifted

In Jr. High my best friend was Breanna. We had so much fun whenever we were together. Everywhere we went we would just laugh, even if nothing funny was going on, we had such great times!

As we got into high school we both just drifted different ways, I'm not really sure why, we both just got involved in different things I guess. I saw her in college once, and we said our polite hellos, but nothing more. I was a little upset about that, I couldn't believe that is where our friendship had gone.

We have talked a bit on facebook here and there and just kept in touch on there, but nothing too personal. She is doing great as a business woman, and I'm so happy for her.

Maybe one day we can get together again and have a stronger friendship.

I can't not mention my adopted sister BreAnne.. she is my very best friend in the whole world since I was born! Ever since I moved away from her we don't see each other very much, but we still keep in touch and talk to each other regularly. We haven't really drifted apart but I don't see her as much as I would like. I love you BreAnne, and I miss you so much!

Day 11: A favorite book

I LOVE to read.. there are so many books that I could read 100 times and love just as much as the first time I read it. I'm going to be cheesy and go back to a book I read when I was in Jr. High that I think I really did read about 100 times.

It was by Lurlene McDaniel, called Don't Die My Love.

It was about this young couple in high school, Luke and Julie, who were completely in love with each other, Luke played football and found out he had cancer. It was about his fight against cancer that finally killed him his senior year. I will spare you the cheesy details, but I just LOVE it!

I would always dream about who I would fall in love with when I got older, I had a super crush on Luke, he was the perfect guy. Sadly, I have lost the book in all the moves I have made, maybe its in storage somewhere and someday I'll look for it and read it again and go back to my little 13 year old self and swoon over Luke again. :)

When Joe and I started dating and I found out he liked to read, I showed him the book and he read the back and said it was the stupidest book he has ever picked up... dumb boy, he likes those scary Steven King books.

Day 10: My top 10 pet-peeves..

I have A LOT of pet peeves.. but it changes daily. Sad I know, but I am a very particular person.

1. Loud chewers.. if I can hear you smacking around whatever is in your mouth I'm going to smack YOU!

2. Liars.. Just tell the truth already! The more you lie the more you dig yourself into a deeper hole. Just get it over with and tell the truth, whether its good or bad.

3. Waking up early.. If I have to get up before the sun is up.. don't even think of talking to me.

4. When my electronics don't work.. Its the new day and age, brand new things should work!

5. Clients who no-show.. at least call if your not coming, then I can put someone else in your space.

6. Traffic.. Utah drivers are the worst!

7. Bread crumbs.. I WILL break Joe of that one day..

8. People who pick their toe nails.. its called nail clippers

9. One uppers.. the ones who always have a "bigger better story" than you

10. Bills... Its just never ending!!

Almost 1 Year Old!

I love this kid.

Day 9: Something I have to forgive myself for.

Its hard being a kid and growing up. But its even harder trying to mesh with new people to trying to form a new family. I was only 15 when my parents separated, which started another roller coaster ride in my life. Of course my parents weren't going to just be alone for the rest of their lives.

Its hard seeing your parents with other people, especially at first. I had a really hard time adjusting to that. I wasn't very nice to the people my parents introduced to Britney and I, especially my dad's now fiance, Tonya and her kids.

I now know that every family has a different way of living, and our families were totally different in that aspect. I'm not very apt to change, I love having a routine and knowing what to expect each day, and when our families combined into one house, that was very nerve-racking. I was torn out of my house that I grew up in and put in a new home with new people who I didn't even know. I reacted in a very negative way towards them and my attitude got the best of me.

So what I have to forgive myself for is not being the nicest person to those people, and I know they have forgiven me, but I just have to forgive myself for it, too.

Day 8: A picture of you and your friends

In our lives we will have hundreds of friends that come and go. But there are friends who will never leave your side. It was really hard deciding what picture I should put up for this certain blog post! These 5 girls I have known since 7th grade in Jr. High and we have had so many great times together! This is one of my favorite pictures of all time (We don't have the real one yet.. but I'll change it as soon as I get it!) All 5 of us got maried in the same year and we had a blast going to each others weddings. I love seeing how each of us have branched out with our lives, meeting the wonderful guys we have married, and I'm looking forward to how all our kids will turn out. Sinda, Lindsi, Kayla and Roxy... love you girls!

Day 7: Have you ever thought about giving up on life?

There have been plenty of times where I have given up on things.. jobs, projects, food, relationships, etc. But there is one thing that I will NEVER give up on: LIFE. There are lots of times when I get stressed and worked up over something and I just think 'I give up!' Life can get hard sometimes, but you can never just give up, you don't get anywhere in life just 'giving up'.

There is only one time in my life where I actually thought I couldn't handle anything anymore, 2003. It was the worst year of my life. The year my parents divorced, my dad moved out and we had to handle going back and forth, deciding who to live with (I know it doesn't seem like much but to a 15 year old, its pretty tough), meeting new boyfriends and new girlfriends, it was just a lot. I went to my Aunt Wendy for advice all the time, we spent plenty of time over at Doug's playing with Ethan and hanging out with Wendy, going to Smith's 12 times in one weekend with Doug. November that year was when Wendy died. My whole life and family fell apart that year. That was my breaking point. I just thought 'I'm done, I can't handle it anymore.' That when when I really gave up on life. What was the point when there were so many negative things happening and nothing was going right?

We all have ups and downs and we just have to remember that we all have great people in our lives to fall back on and help us out with our problems. Nothing is worth quitting, ever. You will get through your problems, you just have to put in a little effort.

A New Beginning..

I have to take a break from my 30 Day Blog Challenge. I have such great news! Joey found a new job! He is so excited to work for this company, its called Shamrock Plumbing, it will be the biggest plumbing outfit he has ever worked for. He is all about being in charge and being a leader, but with this company he will have to work his way up in the chain, and for right now.. he is okay with that! He told me he is excited to just go to work and be with a team that works together and have people to go to when he has questions. Hopefully this will be the place for him.. we'll just have to wait and see how it works out, cross your fingers!