Work Family

One of the hardest things for me to leave behind in KS was my job. I had a boss that I liked, staff that I could live with, and a great work family. I call my friends at work my work family because if you think about it you spend just as much time with these people as you do your own family. You love them you hate them, you can depend on them (for an ear to chew, for a good laugh, or just a break from the norm). At WSU my work hubs was the hardest to leave. Now don't get me wrong I adored my work hub but we were just friends...besties. We would go to lunch regularly and bitch about the people we worked with, the students, our families, and life in general. It was so different than talking about work with Bret b/c work hub got it and wanted to dish/talk about everything just as much as I did. My work mom was my boss and sometimes an older counselor who thought she was everyone's mom. I cried when I called my work mom to tell her I was leaving and she cried right with me just like a good mom does. She taught me how to show compassion and still manage that employee/boss relationship with professionalism. My work brother was our IT guy that dreamed about his glory days. Made lewd jokes and comments that was even funnier b/c he trusted me enough to know that I would never take offense. Leaving these people behind was really tough and I was worried that I would never find something to fill that void.



But then...a few weeks ago I met some new friends. After only a few lunches I am sure that this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. More than anything else I tend to laugh more than ever when hanging out with this group. Mind you that part of the ironic funniness of this friendship is that are all very VERY different people. Here is a little rundown of my new buds.



IOS Library guy- IOS guy is funny, very intelligent, and is a 30 something that still fits into the college guy setting. He is married to his college sweet heart (who teaches at Univ of Penn) and has no pets or children. Going along with the fact that he has a MLS he also lives up to his nerdy assumptions as he was a WOW player, loves HEROS, and knows a lot of what some would call useless information. A great lunch partner any day b/c he has a lot to say and comes up the most interesting topics. He is also Buddhist, from the upper East coast, and a vegetarian.



Funny, successful mom that looks killer for any age let alone hers- Funny mom has a teenager and another one that is almost a teenager. When she first told me that she was no longer a member of the 30's club I was shocked. She looks great and has a very simple sense of fashion. She has lived all over the country, owned her own business, and is now the director of the fund. Funny mom adds to our group a different perspective and she gives me hope that you can be a great mom, have a good marriage, and a successful career. It also nice to have another girl around.

Artsy guy w/cool glasses- Artsy guy is in charge of the art studio, theatre, and other community activity things that our college does (Director for the center of the arts). He is also married and his wife is prego w/twins. She is also a professor somewhere in NY where they used to live. After she finishes her semester she is moving here and is due shortly thereafter. Wow, that is pretty hectic. In the meantime artsy guy is here on his own living in a tiny apt w/no furniture. He adds a lot of humor, culture, and dynamic to our group.

I think it is funny that all three of these individuals are as desperate as I am for friends and a social outlet at work. I find myself wondering what they are doing for lunch but don't want to seem so desperate and then I get 3 emails with the same question. It helps make the day go faster to meet them for an hour and forget about what is going on back at the office. It has also made me more aware of other areas in the college and appreciate the school as a whole more. IF nothing else I get a good laugh out just about everyday from the jokes they email or something they said at lunch. It is nice to find something I thought I had lost. Don't worry WSU hubs you can never be replaced though. Even though you said that your pocket book and waist don't miss our lunches I know that you do!

Costume Update

A few posts ago I showed pictures of last year's Halloween. We dressed up as the Oz family and were featured in an online story about homemade costumes on parents.com. I knew that this year was going to be a little crazy because I was back to work full time and because we were spending a week at Disney and part of a week in KS. This seriously cut into my costume sewing time. I thought I would update on the progress since I am sleep deprived and can't think of anything else right now besides how I am going to get them done.

Palmer's costume is done. I need to go to Joann's and pick up some Velcro but for all intent purposes his costume is finished...pause for a moment as I do a silent pat on the back and dance. We only had a few mishaps (who knew that shiny metallic fabric frayed so bad, that a tail would be a huge pain in the butt to try and sew around, and that I measured his crotch to shoulder length a little tight and would need to add fabric) but it is really pretty cute (pictures to come). I was so excited to put it on him and have him wear it and was totally unprepared for his reaction. He hates it. He cried and tried to pull it off and would not calm down enough for me to convince him that it was fun. Trying to blink back the tears and remain calm (I kept saying he is only 2 he doesn't understand hurt feelings) I took the costume off and hung it back up.

After a little space from the situation I realized why I was so surprised that he didn't LOVE the costume. This is Emily's fifth Halloween and she always LOVED her costume. Dress up and accessories were/are her thing. Palmer is not Emily. He doesn't really like hats or sunglasses or anything else that he has to keep on. OK so I re-evaluated things are realized I needed a different approach. So I got out his favorite dinosaur and a mirror. We fought to put the costume back on (tears...not sure whose but they flowed) and once it was on I took the dinosaur and showed him in the mirror that he was a dinosaur and we practiced our ROAR! Success...kind of. Palmer got the fact that he was a dinosaur and didn't tug the costume off anymore. He still wasn't crazy about the hood but I think a couple more nights of pretending to play dinosaur he will be fine for the school and that night. WHEW

Emily's dress is still only half way done. The bodice, sleeves, and collar are complete. Tonight I need to finish the skirt and petulum (funny word for the thing that is around her waist). Emily is Sleeping Beauty and the dress is going to be AWESOME. It has actually not been nearly as hard as I thought it would be. Just a lot of pink material but nothing hard to sew so far. As I was trying the top of the dress on Emily to make sure it was going to fit OK I realized that I didn't have the most important part...her crown or a wand. I had planned to get one at some point (I don't know when I was just putting it off until later) and now I have realized that I am running out of time and I don't know when I am going to get it. It is things like this that remind why I hate nights. Not only is Bret totally not available this week he also doesn't have a car right now b/c it is in the shop. So here is a list of things still waiting to be done:

• Stop at Joann's for Velcro, a single bias tape, and something called horsehair (??)
• Run to grocery store for supplies that the kids are signed up for class parties
• put together Halloween treats for kids' friends/classmates
• finish sewing Emily's Halloween costume
• Run to toy store to purchase crown/tiara for Emily
• Dance class Thursday night for Emily

I saw hubs yesterday for about an hour before he left for work and I could have smacked him. He asked what he and I were going to wear and I had had a chance to put something together yet. Need I say more.

Everything will get done...between lunch hours, 5pm-12am, and getting up early it should be no problem. I plan to sleep a lot this weekend.

Only 31 days left!!

Ok, so little known fact about me...I love to get a good deal. Not just a couple dollars off but a great find at an unbelievable good price. This is how I manage to buy nice things for my expensive taste at the budget I am currently living on. I do this in many different ways.

First I shop all the time. Not buy all the time but shop. There is a huge difference (one that has taken my husband years to figure out) in the art of shopping and just buying. I stop into some of my favorite shops and look.

Second I buy clothes for the kids out of season. Last fall I bought Palmer a Nike reversible coat that is adorable (originally marked $80) for $12. I also bought Emily Levi jeans for $4 each. She has to have adjustable waists and these can be expensive. I don't buy trendy thing since they will be out of style by the next season but I do buy the basics and this saves us a ton.

Third I live in the outlet capital of the world. Outlet stores were invented in Reading Pa and is home to some of the largest outlet malls in the world. It took me a while to get used to outlet shopping. The hit or miss when it comes to sizes and having to be careful about buying discontinued styles not rejects that have something wrong in the sewing or something. When I shop for the kids I go to Lancaster. There they have Tommy kids, Ralph Lauren kids, Gymboree, Children's Place, Babygap, Carter's, Oshgosh, and Pottery Barn Kids. All are about 20-50% cheaper than the regular stores with the same quality and cuteness. When I shop for Bret and I, I got to the Premier outlets just outside Philly. Here they have White House Black Market, Ann Taylor Loft, JCrew, Gap, Ann Klien, Liz Taylor, Levi, and many many more. When I get the chance to go to New York I hit the not so secret shops that sell knock off purses that the most fashionable person you know could not tell the difference but my pocket book can.

And finally I always shop with coupons and look for sales. My husband kids me the most about this one b/c he cracks up at having to check my purse before we hit the register everywhere. When I bought the material and things for the kids costumes I spent $10 on Palmer's costume and $15 on Em's because I bought one cut of material at a time using my biweekly mail coupon for 40% off. I also bought the pattern during their $0.99 sale.

So you can imagine what the most important bargain shopping day of the year would be....BLACK FRIDAY. I said it. I am one of the crazy people who stand in line at 3 am to get the door buster good deals the day after Thanksgiving. I don't mind the crowds or standing in line. I can also clearly show exactly how much I save every year by going out on this crazy day. The savings is just the justification to my husband. I do it because I love it. I love it so much that I subscribe to the websites that post the advertisements for the different stores a month in advance. I plan my morning according to what store opens first, the biggest/hardest/most important gifts to get, and location. Last year was our first BF in PA and I didn't have a babysitter for the kids and Bret had to work. So I only could hit one store. I chose Walmart the mother of all the good deals. I stood in line at 3:30 until 5 when they opened. I was in line, shopped, check out, and back home before Bret left for morning conference that started at 7 am. It was a short day last year but I made out with what I needed and still got my savings. This year my in-laws are in town for the holiday so I have a babysitter (my mother-in-law might actually join me too...we will see) and I have already seen a couple of new adds. I am pumped.

Bret has only gone with me once in 10 years and that was only because he wanted a new TV and I told him that he had to come with to get it. He says he would never go again but I don't' believe him. If he had the day off I am sure that he would go just because he can always find something that he wants for an unbelievable good price. In fact I am not convinced that he is not going to try and go this year before he heads off to work. Only 31 days left!!

Square feet and aging

Age has always been a funny thing to me. I got married and graduated college at 22 and had our first child when I was 23. Compared to most of our friends and the trends in society both of these were at least several years early. I always kind of liked being the young mom or the young boss at work. It was a love hate thing working with parents that felt I was no older than their students but were impressed with the MBA diploma on my wall. (I promise that the full of myself attitude will pass just hang in there.)

Turning 25 was the first time I can remember feeling that sinking feeling of getting older but not being where I thought I would be. Don't get me wrong...I love being married to the best guy ever and I love being a mom (by far the hardest and most rewarding job out there) but my life was not where I thought it would be. I like working in financial aid. Students are great (most of the time), time off and flexibility is great (who else gets a paid week and few days off at Christmas that isn't considered vacation time), and I can cheer for snow days. However, the "real world" sometimes feels like I am missing something (namely more money).

Last year when we moved to PA it was a rough time for me. It took me tons of interviews and job applications to get a job and in the mean time I was a stay at home mom. I loved being home with my kids and this really surprised me. I thought that we would drive each other crazy and I would be bored stiff. Not so. It was fantastic to stay at home and it really made Bret's first year much more bearable. I hated looking for a job and will never spend that much time and energy again. If/when we move I will plan to stay home for an indeterminable amount of time and will find a job when I find a job. We will be in a better financial situation that money won't be so tight and getting a job at that point will truly be optional.

Something I have noticed about Bret and I is that we are old souls. We are traditional in most senses and we tend to gravitate friend wise to people older than we are. Sometimes I think it is because of our kids and having friends that also have kids but this is not always the case as several of our friends are either not married or don't have children. Our friends range in age from a couple years older to 10+ years older. I find it intriguing that we also have found that all of the close friends that we have made since moving here are not originally from here. In fact a lot of them are from the mid west and have relocated here in the last few years too.

The only thing that kind of bugs me about having older friends is that they tend to be just a little bit more settled than we are. Bret is still in his residency so it feels like college in a way. He gets paid but about 1/5 of what he will get when he is done. We live in a tiny apartment (this is by choice kind of) and are still striving towards true financial stability. When it comes to our older friends it feels weird inviting them over to our home since we live (all four of us) in a tiny two bedroom apartment. None of our friends would care and we have never let it keep us from having huge birthday parties, dinner parties, or holidays but it still makes me pause. I hate to admit it but it is almost like I am ashamed and I hate that. I am proud of what we have because what we have we have earned. Bret and I have been financially independent from our parents since we finished college and even in college we were more independent than most. This was not always easy since med school cost a lot and we were on one income. Having kids so early was also not easy but we managed. We could probably afford a house but it would make things tight and I hate that. Instead we have chosen to live in hospital owned apartments that are subsidized (i.e. very cheap, close to the hospital, safe neighborhood, and well taken care of) and use the extra money to pay off debt (like the mortgage size amt of std loans). This is the choice that we have made but every now and then it bugs me when I make new friends and pause just before I invite them over for the first time. In the mean time some of our friends who have houses so big you could fit our entire apartment in one bedroom seem to enjoy our company, good cooking, and getting out for the evening even if we are squeezed in pretty tight.

Sugar and spice or snips and snails?

So everyone knows that we went to Disney not to long ago and most have heard about Palmer's new thing for Ariel (or as my husband likes to say...redheads). The most recent development of this is that Palmer has a new doll.

When we were in KS my mom bought Emily an Ariel doll which was very cute. Emily loves Ariel but for whatever reason completely lost interest in this new gift shortly after she got it. HOWEVER, Palmer has found a new love. He held this doll the entire way home from KS (17 hours) and has slept with her every night since we got home. The thing I found so interesting about this is how he interacts with the doll is completely different than the way that Emily does or would. He drags her around by the feet and usually only wants her when it is time for bed. Last night was the first time I really noticed the fact that he searched for her at bedtime and then laid her on his pillow (feet up with her head under the covers). When Emily plays with dolls it is in a very role playing way with her being the mom and the doll being a "real" baby. Palmer doesn't play with her he just carries her around and has her close to him.

Surprisingly Bret is cool with it and thinks it's pretty cute actually. He still thinks it is a strange attraction to redheads. I find it interesting that out of the hundreds of dolls that Emily has this is the only one he has ever even touched.

I remember taking a women's study class at KState as an undergrad and having a lecture about the conditioning we received as children (whether consciously or not) on what it means to be a boy or girl. I don't think that Bret and I have ever told either of our children to not play with each others toys or guided them towards one gender relevant things than the other. But I suppose we must have at some point because our children are as all girl and all boy as they can get. Emily is the princess with makeup, dress up clothes, Barbies, and dolls. She also plays basketball (or attempts to), carries around Palmer's matchbox cars, has a weird thing for bugs, and loves to watch/play football with her dad. Palmer is rough (he has a chipped tooth, had a serious concussion, and will be sure to break a bone from falling from the crazy places he climbs before he is 5 I am sure), he is fascinated with balls, dinosaurs, and especially cars. He also is a cleaning fanatic, loves to help in the kitchen, loves shoes of all sorts, and has an Ariel baby doll.

I think what is interesting about this is that some parents are worried that if their little boy plays dress up or their little girl want to be a football player they will end up "not normal". A friend of ours even told us that we need to nip that doll in the bud and get him a football to carry around. As supportive and open minded as Bret and I are I wonder what our limits might be. What if Palmer decided next year that he wanted to be Ariel for Halloween? Honestly if he wore it around the house I would think differently than him wearing it to school or out trick or treating. It's not that I think this would make him gay (not that gay is something I wouldn't want him to be or not be) but I worry (admittedly too much) about what other people would think or say and how he might be treated or thought of. Luckily for me kids this age are very easily swayed and change their minds by the minute. I guess this is where the conditioning comes in.

Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You...

I love birthdays. I love birthday parties, cakes, themes, decorations, and of course presents. I am not speaking solely about my birthday. I love the idea of a birthday. This should be your day. At my house my husband jokes that it more like your birthday week sometimes maybe even your birthday month. There is something about the fact that this is your special day and the lifetime of memories that this creates. You should be able to do whatever you want to and get a pass to not do things you don't want to.

We have had some spectacular birthdays in my family. Emily has had a beach party (of course we had a beach ball cake, and sand pails with sunglasses, blowup beach balls, etc for favors), Nemo (cupcakes decorated to look like one giant Nemo and our first pinata), Tinkerbell (fairy costumes for the girls and pirate stuff for the boys, buried treasure in the sand activities, and the most yummy fairy wands made from white chocolate dipped pretzel sticks baked into sugar cookie stars that we frosted and decorated), and last year we had lady bugs (with real live actual lady bugs that got loose everywhere because the bug houses that was our activity were not very well sealed...it was a little crazy). Palmer's first birthday was John Deere tractors and yes he had an actual tractor cake.

Bret is not as crazy about birthdays as I am but he humors me and after ten years of birthdays I am finally starting to convert him (I think he is at least starting to enjoy it and tries to make my birthday special too). He usually just wants to do something simple and since it is HIS day I concede. We usually have dinner with friends, cake, and presents. Last year we went to Atlantic City for the day without the kids and it was a lot of fun and he really enjoyed it. I am getting better at accepting that his idea of a great day is not the same as mine. If this means beer and sports on TV with the guys or a poker party that I am not invited to this is OK too. We always celebrate his birthday a little together later...of course I mean dinner, cake, and presents with the kids. This is a family blog :).

My birthday is always a little tougher because lets face it..I can't throw myself a party every year. Bret usually gets me what I ask for or a couple of standby gifts that are good for last minute occasions (I collect Willow Tree figurines, I love books, candles, and jewelry is always a winner). The cake is always a tricky spot. Most years he buys one but has attempted to make a mix a couple of times. I love Bret because he tries. Even though he has had some real failures he puts himself out there and tries because he loves me. Last year he tried to make breakfast in bed and holy cows I had no idea you could have such a disaster. I am not trying to be mean here. He forgot to defrost the sausage so it was still frozen in the middle and burnt on the outside. He got one pancake from the batch that wasn't completely burnt, and the eggs he tried to scramble in the pan so they were like egg crumbles. In his defense he tried to have the kids help and this is added stress when you are not that sure in the kitchen to begin with. My birthday is always on or around Thanksgiving so the real present is in a simple act he does without complaint every year. We put up the Christmas tree and decorations. Bret hates this and I know it but he knows that I love doing this as a family so we do it as a gift to me.

My best birthday was a couple of years ago when I was very pregnant with Palmer. We went to my parent's house for Thanksgiving and that Friday was my birthday. We shopped Black Friday at 3 am and then had plans to head to KC for the evening. My mom kept the kids and I had been wanting to go to the Melting Pot down by the plaza after/before we walked around and looked at the lights. Bret assured me that we had reservations because I had hinted a long time in advance that I wanted to go there and we would need them. Long story short he never really told me what time our reservations were just that they were later. It wasn't until we had walked around for a while and checked with the restaurant to see if they had any cancellations did I find out that our reservations were not until 11pm. In our "younger" days this would not have been that big of an issue but in my 8 month pregnant state this sucked. He felt horrible and confessed that he had called that Monday thinking that a week was plenty of time not realizing how popular the Friday after Tday would be. In the end we had a wonderful romantic time. The food was great, he got me flowers, and dinner was just us. I also got a nice shiny piece of jewelry that helped to stave off my starvation. Besides it made the night something to laugh about later.

This birthday blog comes b/c today is my fav sister-in-laws bday. Happy birthday Kyla! This month is also both of my mom's bdays. Happy birthday mom & Rosalee!

No place like home

I preface this entry by writing that I enjoy going home because I get to see our family and friends. That and the few places to eat that are not available in PA are the only things I enjoy about going back to KS.

There is never enough time to see everyone and no one is ever happy about that. We literally run from one get together to another and try to squeeze in seeing everyone possible. This becomes very stressful and an emotional roller coaster.


This trip was no different in fact even harder than most trips home. We try to go home for at least a week so that we are not running around like crazy as much. This trip was on the heals of our Disney adventure and right before the holidays...not ideal but there was a wedding that we couldn't miss. So out of the four days we were back for 1 was spent with the wedding.


I don't know that I have mentioned this before but my parents are getting a divorce after almost 30 years of marriage. They have been separated for several months and although I think the divorce is going to be a good thing for them it took 30 years to create this life of theirs together it is inevitable that pulling it apart will be difficult and unavoidably ugly. More in a later post.


This was our first trip home since they have officially separated and I will be the first to admit it was really hard. There was not going to be very much time to spend with my side of the family and now that time was split in two again. My dad has had a difficult time keeping up with the house on his own so it was in shambles and not a good idea to stay there. So we stayed one night with my mom at my aunt's house and two nights at two different hotels.


On an up note Emily did a great job as a flower girl and Bret was a dashing usher. On Friday night after the rehearsal dinner we went to the casino and stayed in the hotel using my mom's player club points with some close friends from Wichita. My mom stayed and babysat all 5 kids while we went and played for a while. Besides the wedding this was the highlight of the trip. We really miss these friends and it was a reminder why they were our closest friends. Out of everyone we go home to visit I can honestly say that without a doubt the work the hardest to see us and never complain. Their attitude is just tell us when and where even if it means that they have to drive hours to visit us even for just a dinner together at Old Chicago's. I hope that they come visit soon.


Sometimes it frustrates me that our family has a hard time making it out to see us once a year. There isn't time off from work, it costs too much, etc. There is only one or two of them and there are four of us. Yet we can make it home 3 or 4 times a year. We take the time off and pay for it ourselves. I bring this up because Bret and I have seriously contemplated not going home for Christmas this year. Bret has to work the week of Christmas but gets the 10 days off over New Year's. After pricing airline tickets we would probably have to drive home. I think his sister and her fiancee are coming for Christmas even though he is working for part of the week. We are going back to KS for a week in June for their wedding. We are so torn here. There are so many pros and cons for either decision that we don't know what to do. I know that not going would be really hard for our family but I don't think they have any idea how hard going home is for us. Stay tuned as we are far from a decision.

Why we drive to KS

With a 17 hour drive to KS looming in the near future many people have asked why just don't fly. There are many expected reasons ($$ as it costs our family of four about $1000 to fly versus $400 road trip to drive) there are also some not so expected reasons. We have flown to KS from Philly about 6 times. 3 of those times we were stuck overnight at some hotel in a connecting city. The other 3 times we flew direct (again more $$) and still were delayed. It actually took me and the kids 18 hours one time to get home and 14 of those hours were stuck in an airport waiting for the next flight to go out. Kids in an airport for extended periods of time is stressful and exhausting. Also when Palmer was a baby it was hard b/c most of the diaper/wipes/food supplies were in the luggage which was who knew where that was. So if the trip is going to take most of a day anyways we choose to spend that time differently.

Our typical trip has us scheduled to depart by 4pm. Bret takes the first shift to get us off the PA turnpike until about 7 pm. We usually start the trip for the kids with a new DVD. (This trip we were excited to get Sleeping Beauty.) We stop and grab dinner, use the potty, and get gas. I take the next shift until I am sleepy. By this time the kids are snuggled in for the night. They are in their PJ's already, have snacks, drinks, and loveys for the duration. Pop in a second DVD and they are out for the night. I drive until about 11pm or so. We again stop for potty, drinks, gas and Bret takes over. I snuggle in for the night and Bret turns on comedy radio or something else I don't care for. I sleep for several hours until Bret is too tired to drive which is usually around 4am. I then drive most of the rest of the way. Sometimes on the way home I am tired too so Bret has a third shift from 6am to home.

The fact that Bret can't sleep in the car actually helps us a lot as he is pretty good at staying up all night (aka doctor) and the years of driving a tractor for 12 hours a day on the farm helps a lot too. I also like the time to talk for Bret and I. We have all the time in the world to talk about things we don't have time for in our everyday lives. There is no stress....we will get there when we get there. I also can pack a little easier. At Christmas time the thought of trying to get clothes and presents into one check on and one carry on for each of us makes me nauseous. As the kids get older we will see how well the road trips will continue to work for us but for now I don't mind the trip as much as you would think. It is just part of going home.

Just a Reminder

Bret and I have been together for 10 years. To some people that seems like a long time while to others that is just a blink in time. Depending on the day it feels like a lifetime or a blink of the eye to us as well. Sometimes I get so caught up in our daily lives that I don't have time to think about anything other than the fact that Emily has basketball practice tonight, Palmer has a cold that we need to watch, I need to get laundry done tonight so I can start packing this week, and on and on. These daily things on top of worrying about money (with Disney over, a trip to KS coming up, a ton of birthdays, and Christmas around the corner), working full time, and crazy long term uncertainties (when we are going to have another baby, is Bret going to do a fellowship and what will that mean for our family, where are we going to live in 3 years, etc), and with the impending divorce of my parents after 30 years of marriage, it is needless to say I have had a lot on my mind especially with a short trip to KS coming soon.

So this weekend when the kids were taking a nap and my post-call husband was trying to "get my attention" my mind was on another planet. He then asked the infamous question "what's wrong". Much to his dismay I proceeded to vomit my unrelenting mind wandering thoughts all over him (while of course doing the ugly cry). I am not one to bottle up my concerns in fact much the opposite could be said about me. I tend to wear my feelings on my sleeves but too much had been going on lately and I have had very little time to feel my stress let alone bug Bret about it. I think he was a little surprised and thought that maybe I just had a headache. So much to my surprise Bret listened, sympathised (surprising I know), and talked about all of my worries (crazy and otherwise). It's not that Bret doesn't care because he does, it's just that he has always wanted to fix things. If there is a problem let's fix it. Even though we have talked about how listening can be just as important it was like he had his lightbulb moment and understood that I wanted to be heard, held, and listened to. It is almost like once we talked about everything my mind got quite and things could go back to normal immediately. I still don't know where we are going to live in 3 years but Bret knows that I am concerned about the uncertainty and I know that it is hard for him to. That is enough for now.

Marriage is such a funny thing. Bret and I don't always like each other but we will always love each other and will try to find ways to continue liking each other. This talk was just a reminder as to why I really do love my husband.

The Most Magical Place on Earth

We are back from our vacation to Disney World and I have to say that Disney lived up to it's infamouse reputation. We met the characters, saw the shows, rode the rides, and waived at the parades. Although trying to squeeze everything into four days was a lot we enjoyed every minute and made a lifetime of memories too.

My all time favorite moment of the week was when Emily first met some of the princesses. The look on her face was priceless and hard for me to even begin to describe. She is at an age that these really are the people she has watched, played with dolls of, and loved for a while now. She new everyone's name and all about "their story". They too were everything she could have hoped for. They were magical, beautiful, and very sweet. The thing that amazed me was that although there was a line waiting to see them they took their time and talked to the kids, took a ton of pictures with them, they held Palmer, and danced with Emily. Those five minutes totally revolved around the child right in front of them and no one else existed at that moment. Palmer had a thing for red heads and fell head over heels in love with Aerial. She plopped a big lipstick full kiss on his check and you would have thought he had died and went to heaven.

Bret and I got to ride the rides and found that they two were a load of fun. This was the perfect time of year to go. There was no rain, it wasn't too hot, and the parks were pretty empty. The longest ride we waited in was 15 minutes and that was only once or twice.

The worst moment of the trip was when we lost Emily. We left a big show and headed for a bench on the parade route. It took about 10 minutes max to reach the bench and when we did we realized that Emily was no where to be found. I ran back to the last show we were at and started to panic because she was no where to be found. I turned to go towards the nearest employee and found Emily standing next to that employee who was on the phone. Emily was scared but not crying. The employee told me that I had a very bright young lady. Emily went straight to that lady and told her that her name was Emily Heskett and she couldn't find her mommy and daddy. She also told the lady our names and that she is from PA. I don't remember having a conversation with Emily about what to do if we were seperated.

Panic moment aside everything went really well and we had a perfect trip. We are here for about a week and half and then off to KS we go.