Seperation Anxiety

So its official. Today my little brother joined the ranks of the United States Army. My parents dropped him off at the recruiters office this afternoon at 1:00 pm. He will stay at a hotel of their choosing tonight and then tomorrow fly off to Georgia for training until November sometime. We had his going away party on the 4th of July - which was cool for him because his party got to include fireworks - but brutal having to say goodbye to him. My whole family is impossibly close. I talk to my little brother nearly every day, and he was only an hour away if we wanted to hang out or visit. To have that end so abruptly is really hard to deal with. Everyone's first response is to tell me not to worry about him, that they are beginning to pull troops out of Iraq etc...when in reality it isn't really that that I am worried about. I literally just dont want him to be all the way in Georgia. Ah well, I suppose my situation isn't unique. It probably isn't easy for any sibling to see their brother or sister leave for the service - or parent for that matter - but it seems all the harder because we are so close now. Anyway just thought I would vent to get a little bit of it out. Hope my mom does okay today, she will definitely be drinking tonight though ;-)

Hell hath frozen over

Well now that all of the important people have been told, not to say that you aren't all important (actually I think there are only 6 people that check this and they already know lol), but family and friends come first heehee. So here it is, despite all my planning and precautions, and probably against God's plan lol, I am going to be a mom. Yup me, the one who has always said that she was never going to have kids, is pregnant. We found out last week, I am 7 weeks (almost 8) and the estimated due date is January 7th. Mostly the information and reality is still sinking in, Caleb is so excited he can barley contain himself. While I have not reached quite that level yet, the idea is slowly becoming a reality and its is easier for me to be excited about it. So ya...hooray for a great big new update lol. Hope everyone elses' lives are much less eventful. Have a great Memorial day weekend!

New Toy

I am so excited I can hardly contain myself. My birthday was last week, and my entire family chipped in to help me purchase my brand new toy!!! On Friday i will be the proud owner of a Canon Rebel XTi. I have wanted a canon rebel all of my picture taking life, and now I will finally have one. It is being shipped to me as we speak and I am following the FedEx tracking number like a fiend. I also purchased several new lenses as well as a camera case. I will officially have a "real" camera! I am also going to put it to good use. Last year I took my little brother's senior pictures, and now that his graduation announcments have gone out I have 4 other people to take senior pictures for next year! Hooray!!! If anyone needs pictures taken for any specific reason (family pictures, senior pictures, whatever) let me know!!! :-)

Defender of the sister

So I have started playing Halo 3 quiet a bit lately. My younger brother, brother in law, boyfriend, and several guy friends have it so its a fun way to do things together despite the distance. Usually we party up so that no one can hear what we are saying outside of our little group of players, however, lately we have been leaving out mics open. This has creating an interesting reaction toward me. Usually all the other guys immediately start telling me how sexy I sound, and asking for my name etc...honestly it just proves how starved they are for attention, I sound just like every one else. They also all assume that I am blonde. Why is this people?! Anyway, lately the response to my presence in the game has been more derogatory.
So last night all of us are on (8 of us total) and we are getting ready to start a match and I said something over the mic...I don't even remember what is was. And this random guy just goes off. Calling me an f-ing bitch and, well it just got worse. So my younger brother (he is 18) gets totally pissed. I think he was more upset about it than I was. The idiot guy and my brother ended up on a team and my lil bro spent the entire time killing him (in the game) and yelling at him for disrespecting me. It was awesome!!!
My twin sis and I are the oldest kids in the family, so we never had a big brother to be our "protector." After last night I think I know what it would have been like to have a big brother.
Moral of the story - guys don’t talk shit to girls on video games unless you want to get yourself ganged up on in game, and then get booted off for violating the code of conduct rules!

My Niece!!!

My twin sis just had her baby. She was born on 12/30 at 12:04 pm. Her name is Kiari and we are all completely smitten! I will load lots of pictures soon!!

Time to reflect

Its been a year to the day that a huge part of my family left us forever. Try as I might I can't not think about it. So much has happened since then, so many things that they would have loved to see. My sister is going to have a baby in January, but they wont be here to hold her and shower affection on the newest member of their family. My great grandma would have loved to hold her first great-great grandchild and my great uncle could have showered her with affection. But they are gone, and all we can do is take comfort in the knowledge that maybe they are watching over us, standing beside us through this hard time and giving us their strength. I think the hardest thing has been trying to help my grandma through this, knowing that there is nothing I can say to make it easier for her to bear the lose of her favorite brother. I can tell that it is taking all of her willpower not to breakdown and scream and cry today. Losing great grandma was easier on her, easier on all of us, because she was 94 and had lived a long full life. But Uncle D was supposed to come home to Colorado to be with his family before he passed away. He had cancer so we knew it was going to happen one day, but we thought he was going to be here with the family when it happened, not alone in the hospital in Reno. No matter what today is going to be a hard day for our family. The most we can do is be there for each other, and know that each day, month, and year will get easier. This one is just hard because its the first.

Should have been inside

Yes I realize that I probably should have been inside, but who could pass up a chance to take pictures of a tornado that is right across the street from your house...