Monday, June 28, 2010

It's a bright bright bright SUN SHINEY DAY....

Having a really good day so far - for a Monday!
The sun is out, the birds are chirping and God
is smiling down on our family!

**BLESSINGS** by the buckets right now!
I am 95% sure we found a new home - one that would
be PERMANANTLY OURS! For the first time in our
married life of almost 20 years we would become
home owners!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I cannot tell you the joy
and the relief this brings to me! My heart is very
very full right now.



God is good!

XO

DarlaLOU

Friday, June 25, 2010

Quotes

I have been finding a lot of comfort in quotes lately
A lot of truth too - so here is yet another couple I liked.


-Sharita Gadison "Some friends come and go like a season. Others are arranged in our lives for good reason."



-Sandy Ratlif "A true friend is someone you can disagree with and still remain friends. For if not, they weren't true friends in the first place." f

I DID IT! (All by myself too!)

I have been tinkering with the blogger templates and design pages.
I have worked and played and re-done my page 101 times trying to
figure things out! FINALLY I just got down and dirty and here ya go:

A NEW LOOK ON MY BLOG!

Whooo whoo! Yippee!

IN OTHER NEWS...

I have been bustin' my big ol' flubber bootie this past couple weeks.
I totally slacked off on vacation with foods/fitness and figured
spending hours on my feet everyday in the amusement parks would pay off.
NOT!
So, when I got home, I jumped right on the scales and did a double look
and promplty got "on the ball" as my Mom used to say.
I have just about completed WEEK #2 of being ON PLAN along with
my wonderfully supportive and crazy sister Carlee. **In one week
I lost over 6 lbs! This 2nd week I lost almost 3 lbs!**
I am pushing at 10 lbs in TWO WEEKS! Wow!!!
Feeling good and hoping all my cute summer capri's from last summer
will be fitting me again soon! (like VERY soon)
LOVE feeling good and taking care of my body - results are two fold.
Look good
Feel good

DarlaLOU

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

own it

Today i have been thinking "deep"
when i say deep - well - I guess it is more
of digging deep within myself for answers

The last few months have been a roller coaster
both physically and emotionally
but mostly I have had to do some serious
soul-searching on WHO I am and WHO influences
the person I am and mostly WHO I WANT TO BE

growing up I wanted to be a Mom/Wife/Homemaker
no big plans, just a nice little home and family

I NEVER imagined I'd have this great life that
I am living - and I don't know why I have been
so ungrateful for my blessings - but I know
that all the upheaval around me has been a serious
eye-opener as to what and who makes me happy

I have a foundation - a pyramid I guess you'd call it
of support people in my life and last night while
I was out doing my walk/jog I was thinking about it and
who it is
and what it is
that I really NEED in my life

it goes something like this:

"OTHERS"
OUR NEIGHBORS
MY CO-WORKERS
MY VERY CLOSEST FRIENDS
MY EXTENDED FAMILY and INLAWS
MY FAVE TWO FABULOUSLY GREAT SISTERS
MY LOVING HUSBAND AND WONDERFUL FOUR CHILDREN


so when the rug got pulled out from under me a few
months ago and the middle line dropped out and
dissapeared I felt confused and lost and alone
very very alone - why?
I look now, logically, at this pyramid of love and support
and see how very stable it is even with that line
missing
and most importantly I see with VERY WIDE
OPEN EYES
that the main foundation is in fact not
those closest friends that are lost but my FAMILY!
- my family who loves me unconditionally and at all
times -

***UNCONDITIONALLY***

***AT ALL TIMES***


So why cry over what was lost? Why hurt and squirm
and feel rejected and forgot? Why? I don't know,
but obviously I don't need that middle layer for my
foundation like I thought I did. I don't need that
extra acceptance. I am growing everyday by the hurt
and rejection and finding out how strong I really am.

I can continue to grow and be stronger and a better
person through this experience. I have learned how
NOT to hurt the ones I love and care for and I have
learned who cares the most and who matters the most.

Time for me - my family - the ones who I love the most
and I know love me the most - just the way I am!!!!
Not sure I am ready to open up and say I am 100% healed
and "over the loss" but I am headed the right direction
and have an amazing foundation of love around me.
I am blessed to be loved. I am blessed to love others.

DarlaLOU

*on an extra note*
I love reading my horoscope - sometimes they are very
enlightening...
Here was todays:

Your Daily Horoscope
You're a reasonable, generous person, Libra. Your altruism plays a big part in your life. This is why your friends will be amazed to see you express a lot of personal desires now. When you think about it, everything is getting clearer. You might even want to change a lot of things in your life. And letting your feelings guide you doesn't have to mean that you won't think about your friends.

Altruism (pronounced: pronounced /ˈæltruːɪzəm/) is selfless concern for the welfare of others

how you know you are loved.....

all this just ONE day after Fathers' Day too...
I woke up to this on my FB messages this morning
Pretty special stuff!
**************************************************
Tiffany Black June 21 at 10:45pm
One hundred and one reasons our mom rocks
By: Tiffany and Micheal Black


1. She is sweet and is always trying her best to make us happy
2. She is cuddly and is always open for hugs.
3. She is very creative and shares her creativity with us.
4. She is willing to give us treats even if we don’t really deserve them.
5. She loves us unconditionally!
6. She trusts us enough that we have freedom.
7. She restrains us from doing things she knows will hurt us.
8. She is talkative and an easy and fun conversation.
9. She is always trying to do her best.
10. She never ever gives up.
11. She is always thinking about others.
12. She thinks of us first.
13. She doesn’t lose her head that often.
14. She is accepting of the animals we love.
15. She isn’t a worry wart.
16. She isn’t afraid to put herself out there.
17. She is really pretty.
18. She is up to crazy ideas.
19. She is welcoming to our friends.
20. She dresses like a super model .
21. She makes an effort to look interested.
22. She speaks to us in a friendly, but not babyish, voice.
23. She is proud of anything we do that we think was good.
24. She believes in us.
25. She is nice and considerate of our feelings.
26. She will get down and dirty.
27. She makes sure we do well in things we strive for.
28. She saves memories.
29. She is fun when it is just one of us with her.
30. She is funny and has a great sense of humor.
31. She wears awesome shoes (that fit Tiffy’s feet hehehe).
32. She is encouraging of our hobbies.
33. She is trustworthy.
34. She doesn’t mind to have a serious talk.
35. She wears her heart on her sleeve.
36. She isn’t a crazy driver, unlike some other people.
37. She is persistent if she wants to be.
38. She doesn’t judge our friends.
39. She has a wild side.
40. She loves kids!!
41. She has her funny blonde moments.
42. She is cute also.
43. She married our dad….
44. (And) she had four kids that we think she loves.
45. She has a good choice of friends.
46. She knows just what to say.
47. She is really smart at a lot of things.
48. She gives honest opinions.
49. She believes.
50. She is a “texter”.
51. She has that mother sixth sense.
52. She enforces her voice.
53. She is an awesome crier.
54. Her music taste doesn’t suck.
55. Her soft side isn’t hidden.
56. Her hard side isn’t hidden.
57. She doesn’t hide.
58. She likes good gum.
59. She is incredibly awesome… (Enough said… but…)
60. She hands down her awesomeness.
70. She talks really loud on the phone.
71. She doesn’t keep dirt on us.
72. She doesn’t tease us endlessly.
73. She is ready to change a plan.
74. She is patient.
75. She thinks the best of us.
76. She loves to show us off.
77. She is easily distracted, but won’t forget about us.
78. She has the all knowing eye… I think.
79. She won’t get to mad that it is 10:36 pm.
80. She will love the fact that we did this.
81. She is very appreciative.
82. She doesn’t make you fell uncomfortable.
83. She has an open heart.
84. She is amazing.
85. She isn’t terrified of what others think.
86. She likes to keep in touch with old friends.
87. She has a good taste in books.
88. She isn’t a terrible cook.
89. She makes yummy enchiladas!
90. She makes boring things fun.
91. She always leaves leftovers.
92. She believes we can earn days off.
93. She is really silly at times.
94. She will get serious.
95. She is our mom!
96. She knows good cars.
97. She will read this faster than we wrote it :P.
98. She will most likely love it.
99. She won’t scoff at us.
100. She loves the color purple.
101. She just plain rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, June 21, 2010

shout

a friend posted on facebook today that it was a Tears for Fears music
kind of day ... made me think

SHOUT SHOUT LET IT ALL OUT

that is my mantra today - if only I COULD just
SHOUT I think I'd feel much better! aaaaaaaack!

Friday, June 18, 2010

cowboys n monkeys and toy story3



OH NO!!!!










...we have this great monkey on our dash of Ed's big Ford -
he is in representation of dear Dani getting her drivers
permit...

Chris and his buddies went to the midnight premier of
TOY STORY 3 and decided to dress up - I think Chris was
thinking Bad Bart - not quite Woody??

and of course because of this we suddenly had a huge
rampage of cowboys (n girls) in our house last night...

CUTE??

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

BitterSweet - LOVE my extended family!




My family is amazing! I love them so much!
My 2 sisters, Lisa and Carlee have been pushing
to get us all jogging the past year or two- last
summer Carlee did the Sawtooth relay with some
co-workers and decided our family HAD to do a team
this year. Unfortunatly (for me) I was on vacation
in Ca during the relay and didn't get to join...
luckily for them, they rallied together some awesome
relay runners from our family to join them!
All in all, they did GREAT!!!

It was 62 miles of
mountain roads - up up up hill and down down down
hill - lots of hard work!
They started at 1a.m. and
went till well after noon! AMAZING!
They had Carlee and her son Ted, Lisa, our cousin's
wife Mamie, and our niece Chrissy and her hubby Jake!
They also took along Lisa's son Jeff and Mamie's hubby
(my cousin) Jim to volunteer and help!
I AM SO SAD I MISSED THIS! They each did aprox 2 sets of
5 mi runs... amazing! I am so proud of them and next year
I WILL SO BE THERE!!!!
We just got home from vacation - a REAL VACATION! We went to LasVegas, Disney, and my favorite - THE BEACH! We spent a whole afternoon at Newport Beach in Ca and it was devine.... devine! DEVINE!
I loved it.
I needed it.
I needed to escape the real world and all the troubles I have had the past few months.
I didin't care how fat I looked in my swimsuit top and shorts, I didn't care my hair was windblown and ratty, I didn't care about what was waiting for me at home. It was so what I needed.
I could have skipped the rest and just sat and basked in the sun and soaked up the ocean air and took hundreds of thousands of photos of my kids (I only took about 300). It was so nice! I LOVED IT!
So here are a few starter photos of the beach - I have so much more to share but for now here is a glimpse!
I LOVE THE BEACH! So here ya go... more to come, I PROMISE!
XO DarlaLOU





Tuesday, June 01, 2010

good quote

"Just as despair can come
to one only from other human beings,
hope, too, can be given to one only
by other human beings."

Elie Weisel