M.A. Ed...Graduation Party

Azusa Pacific University....my alma mater

Candy Bar with all my favorites

  What a fun day it was..surrounded by family and friends...celebrating my Masters in Education!  Thank you everyone who helped me celebrate

gummi bears, swedish fish, peach rings....

 So much Candy......all of my favorites....
Peanut M&M's, Swedish Fish, Gummi Bears, Peach Rings, Runts, Red Vines and Oreos!

The Taco Man was present and the food was AMAZING!!!!!

 Fun with the neighbors....thanks Lyn!

My Uncle Chuck..so blessed!

Forever friends....I have known this guy since we were 15 and in High School Youth Group together!

20+ years fo friendship! 

 CHEERS

Stutler Family!

 Love this lady....Shannon you are amazing!!

My Family!!!  Uncle Chuck, Aunt Karen and Cousin Craig!

 More Family Fun!

 Yet more family fun!

 My Uncle Chuck.....the older of my mom's brothers.....love him dearly!

 My Uncle Paul.....the younger of my mom's brothers....the Man who walked me down the isle and gave me away!  Love you Uncle Paul!

Fun with old roommates.....Love you Shel!

 The Aftermath.....

Once a year updatye to the list.....

Started January 2010 - End...December 2013

This is the updated version of the List...doing good so far..there is still a lot to in not so much time!

1. Go for a hike (February 2011)
2. Take a Pilates Class
3. Run a 5K
4. Walk the Avon Breast Cancer 2 day 40 mile walk
5. Visit Lake Tahoe for a week and show Ryan around  (August 2012)
6. Take a road trip just for fun (April 2013)
7. Have a picnic in the park
8. Build a raised Veggie garden in the backyard( April 2012)
9. Camp in Yosemite
10. Read the entire Bible
11. Volunteer (RockHarbor Arts Team and YoungLife)
12. Cook dinner at home 3 times a week for 3 months
13. Build a dog sized deck for Bozley (March 2010)
14. Take a vacation and not bring my laptop or phone
15. Shoot a new baby session Tayden Courage..born October 28, 2010)
16. Learn about wine (Napa Trip 2010)
17. Go to the dentist twice a year ( Does 4 times in 2 months count?)
18. Plant an Herb Garden and use it! (April 2010)
19. Go Sledding
20. Grow Green Beans( April 2012...they are growing as we read this!)
21. Go fishing with Ryan
22. Learn to surf 
23. Go to my 20 year High School Reunion! Go Lakers!( August 2012)
24. Visit the Museum of Tolerance
25. Spend a week in the summer on the east coast
26. Try a Zumba Class (Spring 2012)
27. Go apple picking and make a pie from the apples I pick
28. Ride a segway
29. Walk in the Memory Walk for Alzheimers and raise over $500
30. Read Art of War
31. Clean out spare room closet (March 2010)
32. Volunteer at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter
33. Take Senior Portraits for niece and nephew (Jake 2011, Megan 2013)
34. Clean out closet and get rid of everything I don’t wear (doing on an ongoing basis)
35. Double my 2009 income (Accomplished)
36. Eat at 10 new restaurants
37. Fly a kite at the beach
38. Eat something I have never tried before ( Oysters...Boston 2010)
39. Make a new friend (Jeff and Anna Dunham , Ryan and April Cannon, John and Amber Fox)
40. Go out on a boat (February 2012)
41. Go camping (August 2009)
42. Send someone a care package( Katie Kirk, Sammy Case, Megan Yount and Taylor Charles...summer 2011)
43. Build a snowman
44. Learn how to roast coffee beans
45. Have a Martha Stewart looking dinner party
46. Buy an antique
47. Move my moms china hutch into our house (February 2011)
48. Go skiing with Ryan
49. Update the look of my blog (Done)
50. Send thank you notes for small, unexpected reasons
51. See a movie on opening night and have to wait in line for it
52. Learn to sew
53. Have a really good Halloween costume (Jovi the Elf)
54. Babysit for a friend so they can have a date night
55. Attend a formal event (Feb 20 2010 and Feb 19, 2011 Front and Center)
56. Make a piece of jewelry
57. Paint my living room ( May 2010)
58. Help my husband build the deck in the backyard ( March 2010)
59. Plant an Orange Tree in our backyard(April 2012)
60. Plant a Thornless Mexican Lime Tree in our backyard (April 2010)
61. Randomly send someone some small item they mentioned wanting
62. Have an adventure ( Lake Tahoe 2012)
63. Plan a couples night to happen once a month (Started Feb 2011)
64. Help Ryan with the removal and remodel of media center in living room (February 2011)
65. Visit family in West Virginia
66. Take a vacation somewhere we haven’t been (Boston May 2010)
67. Complete the 100 push-ups program
68. Watch the sunrise ( Does seeing it when you get up before it for work count?)
69. Spend a night in a luxury hotel(February 2012 - St Regis)
70. Go to an Angels Game and not freak out in the crowds (April 24, 2010...Go Indians)
71. Design Shower invites (Sonia November 2010)
72. Design Holiday Cards for friends (Hornbostels 2010)
73. Go to a USC Homecoming Game (November 2012...with Ryan and Dylan Miles!)
74. Learn to knit
75. Buy golf clubs and go golfing with Ryan ( I inherited a set and have since been golfing)
76. Resurface the French doors in dinning room ( June 2011..all by myself)
77. Plant yummy veggies in the yard and actually eat them(April 2010)
78. Take more classes(still doing)
79. Have lunch or coffee with a girlfriend at least every other month
80. Attend the Theater or Opera  (Wicked, March 2013)
81. Clean garage so both cars can be parked in there. (October 2013)
82. See the monsoons in Arizona
83. Go horseback riding
84. Write in a journal at least once a week
85. Play Paintball
86. Buy an Ipad (December 2012)
87. Go to New York
88. Go to San Francisco during the Christmas Season
89. Sell stuff on Etsy(November and December 2011)
90. Buy something off of Ebay (Harveys seatbelt bag)
91. Learn to shoot a gun with Ryan
92. Learn how to SUP (Stand Up Paddleboard)
93. Vacation in Napa (Augst 2010)
94. Ride in a hot air balloon
95. Drive a sports car
96. Visit a friend I haven’t seen in a long time (Kim ...August 2010)
97. Learn a foreign language
98. Do something for someone anonymously (done)
99. Print a photo of Bozley for the Family wall (Does the front credenza count)
100. Really try to make all this happen!
101. Go back for Masters Degree ( In progress....will graduate in May 2013)

2012 a year in review...

Sorry no pictures with this post...

A year in review...well sort of:

Ryan and I celebrated 6 years of wedded bliss with a weekend away at the St Regis in Monarch Beach, CA (Laguna).  We love being married and everyday is an adventure for us.

I continued on with Grad school and started my field work (internship) this fall at Brea Olinda High School in the counseling department....I am getting so close to graduating...HURRY UP MAY!!!!

Ryan got accepted in the graduate program at Stanford Univeristy..he begins his classes in January!
FEAR THE TREE!

We traveled to Tahoe for a week this summer to attend my 20 year High School Reunion....wow, has it been that long?  We had a great time while in Tahoe....we jet skied, Kayaked, went sailing, got sun burnt and met up with old friends.  It was quite the blessing!

We finally made it to a USC Homecoming game! That was a fun day!

Ryan bought a road bike and has been enjoying the days on the bike trials.....his goal is to do the AMTRAK century ride. 

I am planning on walking in the Avon Breast Cancer 2 day walk in San Francisco this coming fall....be on the look out for sponsorship opportunities.

We traveled to San Francisco on a business trip for Ryan.  While there we were able to spend time with our dear friends Kim and Jefferson!  We toured the bay on a boat, ate clam chowder and even made a quick trip to Sonoma! 

We bought a Nissan Leaf and have gone green!  No more gas for Ryan as he travels back and forth to work....this car is so much fun to drive!  If you  havent already..GO TEST DRIVE ONE!!!

I continued working with Young Life at Foothill High School.....I love the ministry of Young Life and am blessed to be a part of it still.....can you believe my first Young Life event was in 1988?  Freshman year of high school at the Black Bart Raft Race!  Oh the memories!


Its been a busy year with a lot of ups and downs.  Through it all we have grown closer together and closer to God.  We are looking forward to 2013...knowing it will be filled with all sorts of fun adventures!  Stanford, Graduation, turning 39 and 36, Young Life, with any luck a vacation, fun time with Bozley. 

an update

I have no pictures to post with this post as this is a hard one for me.

Its a post about my mom...it has been a rough month or so for her.

3 weeks ago, mom was rushed to the ER because she had a Seizure.  Her first one..that we know of.  It was scary for me....not knowing the details of what had happened.  They drew blood, ran urine samples, did a chest x-ray and x-ray of the stomach.  Everything came back fine with the exception of a UTI.  Not uncommon for LAte Stage Alzheimer's patients to have UTI's.  In fact I would have been shocked if her results came back negative for a UTI.  They released my mom and gave her a prescription for an antibiotic.

About a week ago I got a phone call from the hospital telling me that the urine sample they took grew another bacteria and that it was resistant to the previous antibiotic.  So mom went on another antibiotic.  The thing you need to know about late stage alzheimers is that most patients dont respond to antibiotics.  The body is giving up and more than likely will not heal.  We still dont know if the infection has cleared up.

Then this weekend I get a call from her caregivers telling me that the nurse took a  look at mom and heard fluid build up in right lung.  It could be the start of Pneumonia or could be nothing.  Not wanting to rush my mom to the ER or Urgent care I opted to wait to have her doctor see her.  her doctor will be there sometime tomorrow.

This is where I am having the hard time.....I have decided that I do not want my mom to go on any other antibiotics.  I want nature to take its course.....I want the pain managed, but do not want to prolong this any further.  I feel like a horrible daughter.....I just want my mom to be at peace.  I want the Lord to usher her home....I long for the day when she is no longer suffering.

I feel alone in this decision....as it is my decision to make.  I am her only child.  I wish this burden didnt fall on me solely.  But it does......I have my husband to help walk with me through this.  Ihave God ( although he feels distant right now..I know he is here with me)  I know I have the support of my moms siblings....I just wish it didnt fall on me.

Tomorrow I meet with the doctor....No antibiotics...that is my decision.   I want to discuss hospice care and pain management....there is so much.

I miss my mom, although she is here physically...she is not here.  She cannot speak, she cannot care for herself ( thank goodness for her caregivers), I want to know that I am doing the best thing for her.....

God I fully trust you! Help me make the right choice!

Stanford University

My AMAZING husband recently gained admission into The Stanford University Graduate Program.  His classes begin on January 7, 2013.  For all of those asking...no, we are not moving!  Ryan is doing all of his course work online! 

In the mean time.....I am now cheering for The Stanford Cardinal.....breaks my heart to root against USC..but it has to be done! 

FEAR THE TREE!   GO CARDINAL

So Proud of you Ryan....you are going to do great things!

Most wonderful time if the year!

Most would say that the holiday season is the best time of year.....while I agree to an extent...USC Football Season is the most wonderful time of year for me! 

We are looking forward to a quick road trip mid September to Palo Alto to watch the TROJANS beat the farm!!!! (Stanford)

FIGHT ON!!!!!

North Tahoe High School Class of 1992 - 20 Year Reunion

What a fun weekend....all planning and preparation, paid off!  It was so good to see so many friendly faces and to see that my fellow classmates are doing well!

I went into this weekend nervous and anxious...at one point I didnt even want to go.  Some of the memories I have of High School are not the most fun!  Needless to say we had a class just like everyone else....we had the cool kids, the jocks, the band geeks, the nerds and everything in between!  There were those guys that made your life a living hell....the ones that you never wanted to see again.  Yet they showed up and it wasn't that bad...actually it was nice to see them! 

I am looking forward to the next reunion...hoping it doesnt take another 20 years!

Went to Tahoe to celebrate my 20 year High School Reunion!   

 

 

Dinner at Hacienda Del Lago

Liquid courage

Old friends are the best ones!!!

Go Lakers!