Friday, June 25, 2010

Why I love summer

Summer is amazing! There are so many reasons to love it. These are a few of my favorites.

Days of swimming around in the pool.




















A never-ending bowl of fruit salad.











Sticky, drippy watermelon.



Endless Otter-Pops.











Going barefoot all summer long.











The sound of the ice-cream man coming
down the street.



Playing all day in the shade.











Riding bikes until the wee hours of the night.











BBQ'd food every night.



Sprinklers in the green grass.











Lazy afternoon naps.











The smell of the monsoon's coming.



Days of gazing at the sunny, blue sky.











Ice-cream any time of the day.


I love summer and the time I get with my family. The moments I share with my children in the summer are priceless and I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world. Sometimes I wish summer would never end.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

A Priceless Gift

Everyone knows what they are....most of us have had one or two good ones throughout our lives...some of us have had exceptional ones that we will never forget. I feel like I am one of the lucky few who has and always will have mine forever.

As I was reading through my Facebook wall the other day, it occurred to me how many people have at one time or another been a part of my life. Some of them for only a brief time and others for longer times. Some of them were a part of my life before my family began and some of them arrived after it started. Many of them were childhood friends, while others became friends of mine in my adult life. Whenever the time or the place in my life, they have all at some point been a part of it and I have memories of them.

There is, however, one of these people that stands out to me the most. She has been my best friend through my hardest times, happiest times, and easiest times. She has been my best friend when I felt I had no others and when I thought my world may be coming to an end. She has made me laugh, made me cry, and just been there to listen.

I believe that all of our friends are important and help mold who we become, good or bad. I believe that there are some friends out there that we were destined to know. That we chose them and knew them before we ever entered this world, why else would that bond be so strong that it is nearly unbreakable?

For me, in my life, that friend is Amanda. She has literally been my best friend my entire life. Our mom's were and still are best friends and were pregnant with us at the same time. We have had our hearts broken when my mom, brother, and I made the long move from Washington to Arizona, yet we have still maintained a long distance friendship for more than 17 years. In those 17 years we have visited each other about half a dozen times and when we see each other it feels as though no time has passed.


While she may be just my friend, she is more family to me than she may realize. We may not have the same blood running through our veins (then again who knows, I think we tried that "Blood Brothers" thing a few times). She has always been a part of my life and will continue to be.

Friendships are something that should be cherished. I have had friends in my life that I loved so dearly and then circumstances came along and changed who we were or how we acted and we suddenly had nothing in common anymore. To those friends, it is a loss...but we all grow and move on at some point. Then there are those friends that grow right along with you and you never lose that common ground.

There are probably not two people in this world that are more opposite than Amanda and I.

She is blonde and I am brunette.
She is short and I am tall.
She has brown eyes and I have blue.
She has a sister and I have a brother.
She "doesn't like kids" and I love them!! HAHA
She is great at Geography and I am horrible!
She lives in Seattle and the rain and I live in Arizona and the heat.
She is athletic and I am a mess.
She has an extremely BUSY life and mine is fairly mellow (for the most part).
She drives a car and I drive an SUV.
She lives alone and I live in a zoo!! HAHA.

However many differences we may have, at the end of the day, those don't matter at all because we have so many commonalities and we love each other. Our memories don't go away and our fondness for each other and our families is ingrained in us.


I spoke to her just the other day and we talked about relationships, families, friends, cooking, and surviving every day life. I was there to listen to her and she heard me out. It had been months since we had spoken and she said she called just to "hear my voice." It is amazing that in 27 years we have never lost what we started as toddlers. It has just matured and evolved to something better.

To my dear Amanda, I am so grateful to still call you my friend. I miss you so often but always look forward to that next visit or girls weekend. I can't wait to see you next month and hope you know how much you mean to me and how much I love you!!

Love~ Jess

Friendship is not a big thing~ it is a million little things!

1. When you are sad -- I will help you get drunk and plot revenge
against the sorry bastard who made you sad.

2. When you are blue -- I will try to dislodge whatever is choking you.

3. When you smile -- I will know you finally got laid.

4. When you are scared -- I will rag on you about it every chance I get.

5. When you are worried -- I will tell you horrible stories about how
much worse it could be until you quit whining.

6. When you are confused -- I will use little words.

7. When you are sick -- Stay the hell away from me until you are well
again. I don't want whatever you have.

8. When you fall -- I will point and laugh at your clumsy ass.

9. This is my oath..... I pledge it to the end. "Why?" you may ask;
"because you are my friend".


Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Summer

I'm dreaming of warm sandy beaches. I'm dreaming of days by the pool. I'm dreaming of fun in the afternoon sun, and week after week of no school.  I'm thinking of swim suits and sprinklers, imagining lemonade stands. I'm lost in a daydream of squirt guns and ice cream and plenty of time on my hands.  I'm picturing baseball and hot dogs, Envisioning games at the park, and how it stays light until late every night, and seems like it never gets dark.  I long to ride skateboards and scooters. I want to wear t-shirts and shorts. I'd go for a hike, or I'd ride on my bike, or play lots of summertime sports.  My revery turns to a yearning to draw on the driveway with chalk. It's really a bummer to daydream of summer while shoveling snow from the walk.
I am so glad that summer is actually here!!  
I could not be happier that summer is finally here.  We are now three weeks in and have accomplished so much!  It started out a little rocky but we have really made the most of it. Right after school ended, Toby's older brother, Terry, was injured in an accident and ended up passing away.  It was a huge tragedy for our family and even worse for Toby's parents.  The first week of summer we had his funeral.  During that time we kept Toby busy with all sorts of projects.  He ripped out the carpet and lanolium and replaced it with wood flooring.  It looks amazing.  On top of that project we decided to redo the kids rooms.  Kiley will be starting Junior High next year and really needs her own room, so we put her in her own room and the boys now share a room and bunk beds.  It turned out really great.  It was a good opportunity to clean out closets, under beds, etc.  Now, Kiley has her own room (which is super cute!) and the boys share.  We also redid our yard.  We tilled up the old yard that our dogs had demolished and added a gravel walkway.  Toby re-seeded and it is now growing so well.  Then in the backyard he filled in gravel, added a fire pit and is putting down railroad ties to seperate the grass from the gravel.  We also cleaned out the shed, which was an interesting task.  Our final project was a new security door and vanity for the bathroom, along with lattice work in the front yard for our honeysuckle to climb up.
Hard to believe it has only been three weeks of summer and we have accomplished all of this.  I think we are now ready to relax and enjoy the rest of our summer.  July is pretty booked with vacations, trips, and other "FUN" things.  Kiley has All-Star games in July as well, so it should be a fun summer.  I am looking forward to it.  Relaxation and enjoyment before the year starts up again and I begin working on my Master's Degree.  
I am most excited for our vacation this summer, a West Coast trip to the Redwood Forest and visiting best friends in Washington.  It should be so much for all of us and the kids will get to see a lot of country.
I am so GRATEFUL for being a teacher, especially in the summer!!