Two Kids and a Tubal

I am simply amazed at the divorce rate in this country. I am not sure what is happening, but I think it is the simple fact that no one tells you that marriage is work. I have been married for nearly 12 years, and while we have had some wonderful times, neither my husband nor I are perfect and it has taken a good bit of work on both our parts to make this marriage work. I feel like in this day of instant satisfaction we expect that in every aspect of our lives including from our spouse. When the "new" wears off we just get rid of it. Right? With your cell phone company you only have to keep that phone for 2 years and then you can trade it in on a brand new fancy one. When you want information, you go out to the internet and get it NOW. And so it goes instant gratification. Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but when the "new" of being married wears off the work begins. (I have to jump on my soap box now.) When you and your spouse looked at each other you said ...

Today is a day I'd just like to dig a hole and lie in it. I got up extra early today so we could go to school to look for my daughter's book bag. For your information my daughter has a nightly "book bag" that she brings home with her books to read for that evening. It also includes a sign off sheet which we sign and send back the next day to prove she did her nightly reading. When Makayla came home yesterday her books were not in her usual bag. When I asked why, she said it was because she didn't have it. SO we searched the house high and low and uncovered nothing. As I began to think about it I realized it was NOT in her backpack on Friday. So I assumed it must be at school (the reason for getting up early). Even though I got out of bed 40 minutes before I usually do and got Makayla up 40 minutes before her usual time, we were still late out the door. I went in the school with her and we looked all over to no avail. Then I had to talk to her teacher, who informed...

For mindless Monday I thought I would share some pictures I took of some flowers at Casa Loma in Toronto, ON Canada. This is a beautiful place and a must visit. Maybe I should highlight this location for Travelin' Thursday? Enjoy and have a great week!

Our final park is Disney Hollywood Studios. When we visited this park we were focused on riding the two key rides, Tower of Terror and Rock 'n' Roller coaster. Consequently we missed out on some of the other attractions at this park. I will write about what we and visited and I will also highlight some of the things we missed. To start we talked this park counter clockwise, because of the location of the Tower of Terror and Rock 'n' Roller coaster. Both of these rides had fairly short lines upon arrival, so we got in line and once we were done with the ride we went and got Fast Passes for later in the day. I'll start with the Rock 'n' Roller coaster. This is the BEST roller coaster in the Disney Park. You are catapulted through a loop and several spirals in the dark as you listen to Aerosmith. During the development of this ride the engineers worked tirelessly putting the music to the ride. They did a FABULOUS job and this ride definitely ROCKS!! Next we wen...

I often wonder why I feel the need to change my hair, which inevitably results in a style only my stylist can fix. I will just get my hair grown out and then I will decide that is looks “awful” and just needs to be cut. A pony tail is not a style! So then I get an appointment as soon as possible, because I “just can’t stand it anymore” and hurray to the store to get a new hairstyle magazine. I then spend hours going over and over the pictures in the book picking out several that I like. Then I take those to the stylist and ask her which one will work and we proceed to “whack off” what I’ve been working on for the better part of 2 or 3 years! At the end she whirls me around and whal-la all is fixed right? No more “awful” hair. And for that brief moment that is correct. I feel so much better and my hair looks great. Then comes the morning after. I wake up the next day and it begins in the shower, as I shampoo my hair I realize just how much hair I got rid of yesterday. Did I go too far? ...

I thought I would put in one of my favorite pictures of my husband taken at Animal Kingdom during our visit there last December. My husband is simply wonderful. He is a working/stay at home dad. He takes care of everything while I'm away on business trips. He makes me laugh when I'm all "wound up". He picks up Makayla at after school. He does it all!! I can't ever thank him enough. So I post this pictures instead. It shows he fun loving personality.

I just realized I had not thanked Thais for this BEAUTIFUL blog. It is just wonderful and I can't thank her enough! If you need a blog redesign be sure to contact her ( http://olivinadesignhouse.blogspot.com/ ). She takes all of your visions and makes them a reality. I am struggling to get followers and I am not sure how to make this group grow. Any suggestions? I think that is it for today. My grandpa is having surgery on an aneurism, so extra prayers would be greatly appreciated. Happy Friday! Have a great weekend!

This week I am featuring Animal Kingdom. This is a fabulous park. Keep in mind that this is largest (in total area) of all the parks and it has the shortest park hours. This park is divided into 7 areas: Oasis Discovery Island® area Camp Minnie-Mickey Africa Rafiki's Planet Watch® area Asia Dinoland, U.S.A.® area We decided to tackle this park based on the rides we wanted to do and the wait times associated with those rides. For that reason we went directly to Asia, because it has both the Kali River Rapids and Expedition Everest. We decided to go on Kali River Rapids first for two reasons: The wait times can get REALLY long, even though they do offer a Fast Pass. The ride gets you WET and wanted time to dry off. As a side note, this ride gets you REALLY WET. It turns out my daughter does not like to be wet. So, if you have a child that doesn’t like to get wet I would advise against this ride. My daughter complained for hours about being wet. We eventually had to purchase her a ne...

As we all know paying your bills on time is key, especially for your credit score’s sake. However, I wanted to share a little experience that I had. Our family is a paycheck to paycheck family. Often times I am a little short or waiting for money to come in when a bill is due. At first I sacrificed everything for the bill to be there on the due date, but in the end I usually would pay many overdraft fees on my other transactions just to get the bill paid. Please do not think I am advocating not to pay your bills on time, but if you find yourself between a rock and a hard place these things in mind: Most of the time the late fee on a particular bill is less than the sum of overdraft fees you would be charged from the bank for additional transactions coming in. For example, most late fees are a small percentage (2-5%) of the bill, while overdraft fees are usually $25-$35 per transaction. Late payments are usually only reported to the credit bureau if they are 30 days overdue. So you are ...

The title says it ALL the balance between work and my family is out of whack, and last night topped it off for me. We had our business partner in town for a meeting. They had brought people from all over the globe in for this meeting. As is common for the business world, at the end of the day we all went out for dinner. Since I get to set the schedule, we set dinner start time for 5:30 pm in hopes we would be done early. Well I was WRONG! We didn't leave the restaurant until after 8:00 pm!!! By the time I got home my daughter was in bed asleep. That is when it really hit me. I did not get to talk about her day. I wasn't there to help with homework. I wasn't there to read with her. I just WASN'T THERE PERIOD!!! This really upset me, but I can't see a way to change. I have to work and since I'm in sales and marketing, these dinners and the travel are part of my job description. I guess I am just feeling like I'm missing out on a big part of my kids lives becau...

I must admit that EPCOT is my FAVORITE park. I love learning about all the cultures, eating the food and seeing the performers. That being said here are my suggestions in regards to the EPCOT. When we went last December, we had my daughter who was 5 at the time. If you have a little girl, then the lunch with the princesses is a MUST. You have to make reservations for this and even though we called 5 months in advance, there was only one time remaining on the day we were going to EPCOT. Before you are seated you get to meet a princess, get their autograph, and have a picture taken. For our visit this princess was Belle. We had purchased a princess autograph book for our daughter and a princess pen. She LOVED it and got all the princesses autographs throughout the lunch and during on entire visit at Walt Disney World. While you are eating four different princesses visit your table and pose for pictures. Our princesses were Jasmine, Sleeping Beauty, Alice, and Cinderella. Here is a link a...

Today for Why Wednesday, I'd like to post a poem I wrote called "Why?". My family is going through some struggles right now. Although these struggles are not serious, i.e. health, they are putting a strain on my family and although I know it will all work itself out in the wash, it is not making things any easier right now. I hope you enjoy my poem and that maybe it can help you through tough times as it has me. There are times in life we question why, A loving God makes us cry. In these times the road of life, Is filled with turmoil and strife. And even though the times are hard, We must remember it is in the cards. The good times and the bad, The happy and the sad. Always in our times of grief, The Lord is providing relief. So when the times are more than you can bear, Look up to heaven and know He is there. Waiting for a simple prayer, To ask Him for His loving and precious care. -S. Canfield Copyright 2007

I promised on my first blog to tell you the story of how I got my horse Black Magic. I can't find a better day than today to do that. From the paper work I have on her she was sold at an auction as a 2-year old with a puffy knee. The couple who bought her put her in a pasture with another horse. Some series of unfortunate events occurred with the couple and the man was removed from the location with the horses. It was my understanding that he did most of the work with the horses. The woman was no very familiar with horses and it turns out the Magic did not like her at all. Magic would chase the woman around the field biting and kicking at her. In the end the woman could not take it anymore and put Magic in the paper. The ad said "Free to anyone who can catch her." Thankfully this ad was read by the founder and president of Denkai Animal Sanctuary Floss Blackburn. Floss and her team went to the property and spent an entire day trying to get Magic loaded. They finally did ...

First let me apologize for not getting this post up yesterday. Unfortunately I was sick (back to school germs makin' their way through our household). But I'm healed and ready to talk about travelin' to the Magic Kingdom! This is a HUGE park with SO much to do. We were there from park opening to park closing and just barely got everything we wanted to do in. I would really recommend 2 or 3 days for this park! Here are a few tips for navigating Magic Kingdom: 1. Because the park is so large, do your best not to criss cross the park. Try to ride all the rides in one land before going to the next land. 2. The following rides typically gather LONG lines. Try to either get to them early in the day or get a Fast Pass to come back later: Pirates of the Caribbean Splash Mountain Big Mountain Thunder Railroad Space Mountain Peter Pan' Flight Small World Ariel’s Grotto Note: Small World, Ariel’s Grotto, and Pirates of the Caribbean don't have Fast Pass. 3. Don't be afraid...

I often hear newly married couples being either bugged to have children or they are anxious to start having kids. I am a firm believer in waiting to have children, because children totally change your life and your relationship with your spouse. It is a wonderful thing, but it can be quite stressful and if you have not taken the time as a couple to build a good foundation, you could find yourselves struggling to make it all work. If you are newly married, my advice is it to take a couple of years to enjoy each other. Get out there and do all kinds of stuff. Develop new hobbies together. Take trips (even if they are just day trips). Laugh together, be spontaneous! Learn about each other and how each of you is wired. Not only are you building a foundation for your marriage, but then when you have kids you can talk about some of the stuff you used to do before kids, and have something to look forward to when they leave. ;) I think a coworker of mine described it best. He and his wife used...