True Friendship

So I have heard that September is friendship month. I have two wonderful friends that I want to share a great big thanks for being who you are.

The first is my husband. I know this sounds like such a cliche! But he is my best friend. I have known this man since he was in the 6th grade and had a mullet!! LOL. No lie I have the picture somewhere!! I had to move away in the middle of the night during my 8th grade year and never got to say goodbye to anyone. Flash forward 3 years later and I have graduated early and have a beautiful infant son. My now husband was cruising main street one night and passed me on the street. In that flash of a moment he recognized me. He pulled me over and sadly to say I had no idea who he was. But once he said his name and I looked into his eyes I knew. He did not run like most guys do when he heard that I had a son. He became my friend again instantly. We talked everyday, hung out every chance we could and easily fell into a relationship. 3 months later he got down on one knee with a 25 cent ring and asked me to marry him. I wore that ring with such pride and happiness. At the time of this post we have been together for 15 years. Through our ups and downs, believe me we have had our share, I have always known that he is my best friend. Even when we do not see eye to eye I know that he has my back and I have his.
I can fart and burp in his presence and he just laughs. He farts and burps in my presence and I tell him how gross he is.....true love huh?
He is the person I want to be like when I grow up. He is strong, funny, compassionate and fair. He stands up for what is right. Holds true to his convictions and laughs at all my stupid jokes. He holds me when I cry and sometimes will cry with me. He can look across a room and know exactly how I am feeling in a crowd. He will rub my feet when I have had a bad day even though I hate rubbing his. He is the father to my children that I wished I had growing up. He is firm but fair. He adopted my son and looks at him as his own. OUR son looks up to him and has never felt separate from him. They even look alike and talk alike. It is amazing.
He is the one that I want to take care of when we are older. I love to do little things that make him smile. It warms my heart to know that he is happy. In a couple of days is his birthday and I think that it is fitting that this is friendship month because he is my best friend. Happy birthday honey! Can't wait to celebrate many more with you!


The second person that I want to pay tribute to is one of the most amazing women I know! I have known her practically my whole life and she feels like a sister to me. I even call her mom my own. I lost touch with her for a few, like 10 years! But once we found each other again it was like we were never apart. She waited a long time to have her two beautiful children and I am blessed to be their honorary Tia Tamara! She always has something positive to say. When I am feeling down she shows me how to look on the brighter side of things. When I need to complain and gripe she listens. If someone has hurt me she is the first to jump to my side and say that she will kick their butts!
All through junior high we laughed together, had silly nicknames and shared our deepest young girls thoughts. She is honest with me. Knows my husband and loves him too. I feel at peace in her presence. I love that we can go for days without talking and pick up where we left off. She is the other half to my sister soul! She teaches me things about myself that I would probably not have figured out on my own. She loves my children as if they were hers. She is truly an amazing person and anyone would be blessed to have her in their corner. I am just one of the lucky ones. We share a past, enjoy the present and look forward to the future. I want the four of us, her husband, her, myself and my husband all in the same old folks home. I want us able to sit on a bench and laugh at our old foggie husbands and always know the comfortability that comes with being next to someone who completely accepts who you are. I want to thank her for that. It is a wonderful feeling to know that you are loved as much as you give your love! I love you much!

May my loved ones always know how much they are loved. How much I appreciate each and everyone of you!

Many Apologies!!

I have figured out that I am terrible at this post thing! I will try harder I promise. As many of you know that life of a working mom is hectic....actually the life of ANY mom is hectic!! But I vow to do better!!

Last week I got my business license and my tax id! So excited. It now seems so official....I am also very nervous and scared. But life without challenges is not the life I want to lead. I want to be a good role model for my children. I want them to look back and say "Wow, mom chased her dreams....I want to chase mine too!"

This morning I was up at 5am to go and take pictures for a job that I am to have completed in October. I want to please the client soooo bad!! LOL! I am also embarking on doing school pictures. I cannot wait to get my business cards so I can start handing them out.

My wonderful husband also started school this last month! He is studying to be an areonautical engineer! I am very proud of him!! He has already completed two of his courses and has gotten A's. Go Honey!

So as you can see life has been crazy but finally it seems like a good crazy. I was told by someone that life's turmoil is not meant to drag you down they are meant to strengthen your convictions! I truly believe in those words. When you are down the only way to go is up!! Life is worth that climb and all the peanut butter and jelly days you can have!! ( I will explain that in another post!!) Gotta go life is calling...(it sounds a lot like my 9year old!!)

Have an amazing adventure today!

Cable has got to go!!

I have decided to follow an experiment...wanna join me? I would love to hear how this effects you too if you decide to do it!!

Today my husband and I discussed it and cable has got to go! It was a good friend at first...keeping you company late nights. Making you laugh, cry, or some times just educate you....but lately cable has begun to be a parasite. It saps the life right from you. Hours that you could spend laughing with, crying with or educating your loved ones around you has been lost. Time that could have been spent outside discovering wonders around you is forever gone. Not to mention the money that you shelled out to for that friend cable is gone. Oh sure you had some great times. Mind numbing times to be exact. Not to mention the influence it has on your children. Teaching them great things like how to be a "mean" girl. Or how to be sneaky and mischievous. Not to mention on the clothing fads that it impresses on them or the MUST have it's right now!! OR I AM GOING TO DIE MOM!!!! Oh the memories that we made together.

So we are saying goodbye to the friend.....errr....parasite...
I am excited about the new adventure to come. The possibilities that are going to come. Time enough to do that scrapbooking that has been plaguing me since my children were born. Really sitting down and listening to what those around me have to say. Or just getting off the couch and taking a walk.

I challenge you to try this with me! I would love to hear how you handle the situation. If you have kids what are their reactions? Have you done things you do not normally do? Has it saved you money?

So are you up for the challenge? Mine starts today. Even though we have not canceled the cable yet...my husband needs to call..I refuse to let that friend walk back into my door.

Tarnished Silver

Last weekend I went to my mom's house. While I was there she handed me a box and inside that box was my grandparent's 25th anniversary silver tea set. They celebrated their 25th anniversary in 1979. As you can imagine this tea set is tarnished. But my mom was kind enough to also put in the stuff to clean the silver with. So my project for the last few days has been to clean the silver. This set is really beautiful. As I sit there and I am gently wiping away the tarnish a thought comes into my head....we are like silver. When we first enter into this world we are new, shiny and beautiful but as the years go by and life wears us down we begin to become hidden behind all the tarnish of this world...it is when Jesus picks us up and gently begins to wipe away all the grime that you can start once again to see your true beauty. But even that has it's price. As Jesus wipes away your grime it began to be put on Him. That is why He had to die on the cross.....to pay for the grime of this evil world. Now He gets to gently clean you and I off and we can once again shine....

I will post pictures of the tea set when I am finished.

All things Considered

First off I want to give an update on my mom. She went to the doctor today. They ran a camera up her leg to look at her heart. She was extremely nervous! No doubt....but they found out that her large arteries are in excellent shape. Her small arteries are running sluggishly as they put it. So she needs to be on medication for awhile. That is wonderful news. Praise God!! As some have said my mom will probably out live the rest of us. Thank you to everyone who prayed for her.
This past weekend we went to Winnemucca. For those of you who do not know my whole family is there. My dad lives a couple blocks away from my mom. My favorite Uncle lives a couple blocks in the other direction. We do not go there near as much as I would like but when we do go we try to make it matter. The first stop that we made was at my mom's house. She had put up a pool this year and as we were visiting she asks the girls if they want to swim. Of course!! They grabbed our car keys and took off for the trunk where their clothes were...do you see where this is going? Well they come in and have their clothes. Daddy asks "Where are the keys?" My oldest daughter says "Oh I think we shut them in the trunk but don't worry the car is unlocked." Ok are you with me now on how this is going to go? Lol!! So I calmly walk out there and pull on the car handle...no such love. I let out a little "ohhh you have got to be kidding me!" as my husband walks up behind me. Well here we go...time to be McGyver and figure out how to get into that car. So we get a piece of wood and make a wedge. Grab a hammer, a coat hanger and off my husband went. I followed for moral support. So we get the door jam cracked open and think this will be over in no time....well it was not. My husband tried that for awhile and then he goes back into the house and get 2 half dollar coins, puts them on the end of the wire hanger, wraps them in duck tape plus puts a little eraser on the tip to act as a finger tip and off we go again. Me trailing behind for moral support.....did I mention that it is about 100 degrees outside and we are parked in the blazing heat. My wonderful husband goes at this for 2 hours straight. I asked my mom if my step dad had a slim jim. She said well somewhere in his shop. After 2 hours of my husband getting really close with the wire hanger she calls my dad and finds out where the tools are. 2 minutes later the car is open! After a lot of jumping up and down, I realized that my mom could have done that sooner. I look over at her and she looks like the cat that ate the canary. With this big grin she says "well at least you got to spend a couple hours here this time!" Uggg! If I did not love that woman so much she would have been in big trouble! But the most amazing thing in all of this was my husband and I did not snap once at each other. Well he snapped once...he told me to sssshhhhhh! When I was telling him your getting close, oh you almost had it that time or a little to the left a little to the right! Like I said It was there for moral support! But all things considered it went well :)
I did get me to thinking about how life just throws things at you all the time. It can be as simple as keys locked in a car or as nerve wracking as your mother having heart problems. But you can handle them all in the same way. With patience. No need to get excited, no need to argue, just take it one idea, thought, or pray at a time.
Have a great week everyone I will be on later. Time to walk the dogs!

A hard day

So I just got off the phone with my mom. She has been attempting to have a hysterectomy for a about 2 weeks now but they keep rescheduling due to some complications in her tests. She had to go back today and do a stress test. The test has shown the doctors that she has had a heart attack. My mom tells me this laughing. She says that sometime in the last two years she had a heart attack....so nonchalantly. They need to do some more tests to see what the damage is she said. I felt like I was listening to hear through a cave...very far away and an echo.

That is my mom though. Once when she was have a severe allergic reaction to benadryl...she was having seizures on the bed....we were waiting for the ambulance..in a snow storm I might add! She was shaking all over the bed. Right after she finishes having one she turns to me, I was 15, and says hurry hon! If you get some ice cream and milk I will make you a milkshake with the next seizure!! Oh brother!!

So back to the hear and now..it has got me thinking on how our parents get old way too fast! I mean there is the time when you are little and you look at them and think WOW! They know everything and are going to live forever!! Then as a teenager you look and say Oh they don't understand anything and they are ancient! As an adult you begin to see the wisdom in their words and want to have them around as sounding boards for you.

SO today I feel like the wind has been knocked out of me. I know this is a selfish way to look at things but I want her here. I want to see her 90years old, cranky with a walker! LOL. If you are so inclined to do so please pray for my mom. Please pray for me. I am not ready to even think about this world without her.

If you still have your mom around give her a call..tell her you love you, appreciate her, or just call and share a laugh. If you don't have your mom here then take a moment and just reflect on the things she left behind. Lessons taught, sayings that you hear yourself say to your own children, or just sit back and remember. Because life is too short to leave things unsaid or hurt feelings lingering. The past cannot be changed, the future is unsure but you do have this moment. Make the most of it.

Mom, I love you. We have had our ups and downs. Our ins and outs. Just like a carousel.. remember?? You are not the cookie cutter mom but you are the mom that I was blessed with. Thank you for showing me what to do in life, what not to do and letting me make my choices....

Have a blessed night everyone.

About Me

Hello again! I thought that I would take some time to tell you about me. My name is Tamara. My grandma named me. I am the middle child of 7 kids, that includes a half brother, a step brother and 2 step sisters. I am my mother's youngest and was raised as an only child. So as you can see I grew up in the average American home :). I have been married to my best friend for 13years and we have been together for 15. The first time I met my husband was in the 6th grade. But that is a whole other story! When we found each other again he was a senior in high school and I had already graduated as a junior. I had a son who was at the time 18months. You would think that would make any teenage kid run for the hills...but my son and now husband bonded instantly and when my son turned 7 my husband adopted him! In the first year of our marriage we found out I was pregnant and 6 months later my second son was born...he lived 14 hours and went home to heaven. Again that is a whole other story! After that we were blessed with 2 beautiful daughters..they made our family whole.
My passions in life are God, family, love, laughter and photography. I love the outdoors. There is no where I would rather be then out on an adventure with family and friends.
This last February I was in a car wreck. I thank God that I was by myself and no one else was on the road with me. I hit black ice and flipped my lifted truck end over end twice and ended up on my side. I walked away with a few scratches and a broken neck. It was a wake up call. It is one of those moments that make you say "hmmmm....if yesterday had been my last day here would I be proud of what I left behind" For the most part the answer would be yes! But there are those things that I have been hum~hoing around for years. The big one is photography. I have always loved taking photos. On a past family reunion I took over 500 in 4 days. I love capturing those moments when people do not think they are being watched. Or the ones of little kids when they know that they are. All pictures tell as story. I love capturing peoples stories. That is why I am embarking on the adventure of photography as my job. It is more than just something to do it is what I am passionate about. I have tons to learn but I am eager. I believe that you learn more every day. I look forward to tomorrow and every day that ends I want to be able to say that I laughed, loved, and lived passionately.....

New Beginnings

2010 has been a tough year......but I believe that through tough times you grow....unfortunately you also have to have growing pains. This year is full of them. But with this being my first blog I will keep it short and sweet. I am embarking on a new adventure of photography. I am really excited and nervous! I have an amazing husband who is supporting me completely! He has also stepped up to be the equipment guy and carry everything for me! Thanks babe!! I have three wonderful children. They are the light of my life....the reason I keep going....and keep trying every day.

This new beginning is for them as well as for me. I am ready for the next step and excited that you want to take it with me!