Handy Maddy

David and Jamie's dining room set arrived while I was visiting in May. David was his typical irritated self as we all tried to help him assemble it--apparently he is the only one in the family born with any sense of spatial relations, basic mechanics, or fine motor skills--but the finished product is really beautiful. Kudos to Jamie for picking out such an attractive set! Maddy enjoyed helping her dad, especially when it came time to put the felt pads on the bottom of the legs.

lia sophia conference

So, here I am in my hotel room in Milwaukee (sp?), Wisconsin. I have been very busy at the lia sophia conference, attending trainings/workshops, checking out vendor booths, getting inspiration and "butterfly stories" from other lia sophia advisors, and watching my region kick some serious butt! It is difficult being away from home, and I miss my family like crazy. Yesterday, a woman on my team asked me what I came to conference for. I was a little confused, as I assume we all came for the same reason, to learn and grow. I asked her to be more specific, and she said, "Well, you must have some specific goal or idea to come here, leaving such a tiny baby at home." She is right. I explained that I hope to use lia sophia to change my family's life. I want it to provide for my family, and to help other women the way it has, and continues to help me. I want to reach goals like I see my upline managers achieve. I don't care what my title is in the company, as long as I can make our dreams come true. At our awards ceremony on Wednesday night, I realized just what a special group of women I am lucky to have to help me. Several women from our teams were recognized for personal and group accomplishments. They were so gracious accepting their many awards. I know good things are happening to them for a reason, and I hope to be an inspiration just like them.

I am so thankful for everyone that continues to support me, especially Darin. He is a great man, and I am proud to call him my husband. Thank you for all you do, and for giving me two beautiful kids!

I am writing this now, to be a reminder of this time, of the drive I feel, and of the amazing opportunity I have at my feet. This will serve as motivation, and make me accountable for the success of my business! Cross your fingers for me and look up, cause I'm reaching for the sky!!!

Incredible TEST!

So, I've been playing with Picasa lately on my work laptop. I think I am starting to like it. I haven't loaded it on my desktop yet, which is the true sign of adoption for me. Anyway, I noticed it has a feature built in to blog things straight from Picasa, so I thought I would try it out. I didn't have any new pics of Ashton or anything, which is why I have this image of the HULK. I thought that since the movie is coming out soon it was appropriate enough. Edward Norton and Tim Roth are in the new Hulk movie, I really like both of them. Besides, it has to be better than the first one.

Phoenix Rising

Flypaper, Stories That Stick. Get it here Free!

Nieces & Nephews

Flypaper, Stories That Stick. Get it here Free!

I've been sick this week

So I was home Monday, tried to go to work Tuesday and realized I shouldn't have and came back. At some point during the day yesterday Rikki, Sydney and I were sitting at the computers with Syd on my lap. She wanted to see pictures of Ashton so I opened them up.

You know how you can cycle through the pictures with the image viewer using the arrow keys? Well, I was cycling through these pictures of Ash where I took a bunch of pictures one after another so when we went through them it looked like he was moving his arms and changing expressions. Add some music with a beat from the daddy beatbox and we had a dancing Ashton. Sydney loved it! She was cracking up so hard over it. It had us all laughing. It was a really fun moment, however breif it was.

The Aquarium

Jamie and Rikki and I took the kids to the aquarium preview exhibit during my visit a few weeks ago. The kids were so cute, especially Sydney who was super excited about everything. She ran from display to display and nearly biffed it a few times because her sparkly shoes had no traction on the floor.

The aquarium is still fundraising so they don't have their permanent building yet, but I was impressed with the exhibits they did have on display. We got to pet some stingrays (I won't mention who in the group chickened out on that), and the kids really liked the jellyfish and sharks.

What's in a Name?

(9:40:02 AM) Jake: http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=3365164
(9:40:16 AM) Jake: Turns out 'Ash' is not such an odd name after all
(9:48:13 AM) Darin: i just hope he doesn't have 3 Ash's in his class
(9:48:24 AM) Jake: you know, that's not impossible
(9:48:41 AM) Jake: but eh, it's a good name - he'll be 'Ash B'
(9:49:06 AM) Darin: or Ashtrick
(9:49:18 AM) Darin: but we'll call him * for short
(9:49:35 AM) Jake: lol
(9:49:56 AM) Jake: Hi, I'm *, and this is my uncle @~
(9:50:02 AM) Darin: hehehe

Yard Work

We spent some time in the yard yesterday and this is the end result.

Rikki wanted to get a bird bath and it was going to be her Mother's Day present but we couldn't find one she liked. We'll keep looking but in the meantime I hope this keeps the weeds down in that corner. We also got an umbrella for the back patio. The base for it isn't very big or heavy and makes me nervous to have kids under it but so far it has stayed up. Too bad we didn't have it all done for Ashton's blessing so people could see it. The two bushes were transplanted from the long flower bed. I did one bush two years ago and Rikki's mom helped move the other one during her visit. We appreciate her help and wanted to let her know we actually did finish working on it and didn't just let weeds grow back again.