Getting caught up...

                                                          Happy New Year Everyone!

So it's been a little while since I've actually written a real blog post. It just feels like from August to December last year was a blur. November and December were so crazy busy shopping for the adopted families that my moms work adopted for Christmas. There were 8 families to shop for so it felt like we were shopping everyday for hours upon hours. I love to go and help though. It makes me feel a part of it and plus I love shopping for other people. So it's a win-win.

Thanksgiving was nice. We did things differently as it just didn't feel right to do the traditional dinner without grandma there. We did a roast and all the trimmings. Just changed it up a little bit. I'm sure next year we'll go back to our normal traditional food....but we just needed something different this year. We had a full house here. Lot's of family which I love.

Christmas was great. The kids got spoiled which is always fun to watch! Really, we all got spoiled. Mom is too good to us like that. I think we all think we're still little kids when it comes to Christmas! lol I mean, who doesn't like presents, right? I love our traditions that are just ours. I love that no matter how old we get...we still have that child-like love for Christmas morning and being with the family.

For new years, my mom decided last minute that we should take a road trip to Laughlin, Nevada and stay there for the weekend. I'd never been to Laughlin, and I'm always moms partner in crime...so of course I went. Larr's back wasn't doing good enough to go so he stayed back and kept the house safe. My sister Emily, my mom, and I ended up going. We had a good time. The first evening we got there, we went to a buffet for dinner that left you wanting more... lol We walked through a few of the casinos and checked things out. The next day was new years eve. We got out early and went for a river cruise. Went through more of the casinos and checked the places to see who was doing what for the night. We got dinner reservations at 3:30pm for dinner at 4:30pm. Let me just say we all got dressed up for dinner in record time! We got dressed, made up, got a taxi, got to the restaurant with about 4 minutes to spare! We did it! It happened to be the BEST dinner I've had. We had a crab-cake with a scallop as the appetizer, a beautiful filet mignon, and lobster tail that was absolutely delicious. Dessert came and it was a raspberry and chocolate mousse. It was almost too pretty to eat...but I managed to get over that and eat it. lol Boy was it good!

After dinner we went back to our room, got changed for the night, and decided where we were going to start out. We went to a dance club that was playing country mostly. My sister Em and I danced with a gentleman that taught us to 2-step which was more fun that I thought it would be. We stayed there for a little while and then decided to move along and try somewhere else. We ended up waiting in line for a half hour outside a dance club that was bumping dance music. Yes, we dragged mom there! We finally got inside, and found a table. Em and I danced a bit and were out on the floor when they did the countdown and balloon drop. From there we went out and saw the best fireworks show I've probably ever seen. After that we walked mom back to the room as it was past midnight by then and she was tired. Em and I decided to stay out a while longer so we walked around the casino, got some shots, and found a band playing a few last songs before calling it a night. By the time we got back into our room...it was 4:40am. We had a great time!  However getting up at 8am was not quite as much fun!

We left Laughlin and headed for Oatman, Arizona. It's a ghost town that I went to with my grandma and grandpa when I was young. Donkeys roam the streets and you can feed them. We walked around the shops and pet the donkeys before heading out of there and onto Yuma. By the time we pulled into Yuma, it was late and we were hungry and worn out. We ate, and I crashed as soon as we got back to the hotel.

The next day we headed home fairly early. We were all ready to get home and I was ready to get back to my baby! I love my moms spontaneity!

January has come and almost gone already. I can't believe it's half way over! Larr's Birthday was January 9th. We had dinner out and a cake at home. It was just mom, Larr and I. We had a nice evening. My Bday is coming up in 2 weeks from today. The 29th to be exact. I'm trying to get over the fact that I'm getting old. lol

We're planning a trip to Illinois to visit Larr's family in April. We were just going to send Larr as that's all we could afford right now but Larr's mom and dad said they'd buy my ticket to come out as they'd like to see me too. I'm excited as it's been a while since I've seen them all. It's been since 2007 since we've been out to Illinois to see his grandma and other family so that will be nice. Really looking forward to that.

Well that's about all that I have for now.

I CAN do it, I WILL do it!!

So I've done it before...I can do it again. I lost all motivation to work out and stay healthy when my grandma was diagnosed with cancer. I turned to comfort foods and anything fattening to "make me feel better". Of course it never makes you feel better, only makes you feel worse because now you're gaining weight and doing what you worked so hard not do! So now I have no more excuses. I'm all out of them. Used them all up...

In fact, now I'm looking toward a new future and a new me. I've seen what I have in me. I've seen what I'm capable of and would like to push that even futher and see what else I'm capable of doing. June of 2012, my goal is to do the San Diego Rock N Roll Marathon. Yes, the WHOLE thing! I will walk and run it, with no time lines. My goal will just be to finish it. My training starts tomorrow. I will get myself walking again and then work on the running part.

I was so much happier when I was working out everyday and eating healthier. Everything feels so forced anymore. I have to work hard on being happy. Who wants to have to work at being happy? Not me! I refuse to go on living like this!

It makes it easier knowing I've been there before so I know I can do it again. I also know that I'm going to have to work at it everyday. Not just till I get there and then slack off. It has to be a life change. It has to be an everything, everyday change. Food, activities, the way you cook...all of it.

So here I go again... Going to tie up the walking shoes and get to it again.

Things I am grateful for

November is always a time to reflect on the year for me. Think about the things I'm grateful for, and thank God for all that He's given me.

It's been hard lately to think about the things I'm grateful for when all I can think about is wanting my grandma back with us. I know it's selfish and I know that she was ready and wanting to go there at the end. I just miss her so terribly much. I didn't realize how much she was a part of my everyday, especially towards the end. I miss everything about her and probably will for a very long time. I kinda feel like I'm on auto pilot and just getting through the days barely. I've got to get out of this funk. How do you get over missing someone so much that it just seems to keep you down all the time? People say, "just give it time" but how much is too much time? Have I passed that time period? It hasn't been a month yet, maybe it gets a little easier each month that goes by...

There are 3 things that I am definitely thankful for ALL the time.1) My family. I have been truly blessed with an amazing family. I am lucky beyond words to be a part of such wonderful and different people that truly love each other and would be there anytime you needed them. My mom is one of my best friends, my sisters keep me young, and my nieces and nephews offer a world of love. Can't beat that! 2)I'm thankful for my husband. He is my heart and soul. He is patient, kind, understanding, loving beyond measure, and everything you want your partner for life to be. He keeps me centered, and knows me better than anyone in the world. 3)I'm thankful for my friends. Each person offers a different friendship and a different view. From my best friend down to a brand new pen pal, each one unique and offers something to my life.

Elizabeth "Bette" Richardson

2-22-22~10-15-11

Gone But Not Forgotten

We sat beside your bedside,
Our hearts were crushed
and sore;
We did our best to the end,
'Til we could do no more.
In tears we watched
you sinking,
We watched you fade away;
And though our hearts
were breaking,
We knew you could not stay.
You left behind some
aching hearts,
That loved you most sincere;
We never shall and never will
Forget you Grandma dear.

author unknown

Flowers

                                                 all photos taken by: Marie D Sisson

In Memory of my dad,

John Jay Brunner

1953-2010

Me & my dad at my wedding 1993

All 9 of my dads kids (L-R)

Charlena, Laura, Ruby, J.J., Zachary, Christine, Tommie, Emily, and Marie

July 18th would be my dads Birthday. July 22nd is one year since he passed. It's hard to believe that it's been that long already. I still have rough days where I cry. I have days that I smile remembering funny stories and memories. I also have been having a lot of days wishing we had been able to have the relationship I dreamed of. I wish things had been different. I wish he had chose different paths. I wish our paths crossed more often than they did. I miss you dad...you are thought of often and are loved very much.

Things have been pretty busy since summer started. Been keeping busy with volunteering lately. We volunteered at the San Diego Rock N Roll Marathon in a medical tent. Since my mom works at a hospital she was able to find a doctor interested in helping as we needed at least 1 doctor and 4 medical personnel. I'm neither, but I do all the activities with this group of people from my moms work so I joined them for this as well. I had the BEST time ever! I didn't think I'd have as much fun as I did, but those runners are amazing and so inspiring!! We were at mile mark 24.4 so they didn't have much farther to go from there...and most were pretty worn out as well. There were runners from Kenya that were in first through third place that came by us at 2 1/2 hours into the marathon!! Can you imagine being able to run 24.4 miles in 2 1/2 hours!?! Crazy!! We got to be cheerleaders for the runners as well as pass out water, salt, give massages if needed and whatever else we could do.

I got so inspired by the runners and walkers that I have decided to do the Las Vegas Rock N Roll 1/2 Marathon in December! I have been training for a little while now. I made a horrible mistake and stopped walking/jogging everyday for almost 3 months so when I got back started...it was like starting from scratch again. Ugh...frustrating! Right now I'm doing about 7-8 miles a day split in 2 walks. I usually go out first thing in the morning at 5:30am and then somewhere between 6-7pm for my evening walk. My morning walk is always longer as I love the quiet of the morning and the smells. The air isn't filled with smog from cars yet so it's nice. =) I'm going to walk most of the 1/2 marathon. I'll have spurts of running/jogging between the walking....but I could never run 13.1 miles straight! You could offer me a million dollars and theres still no way I could do it! lol I'm just excited to be doing it. The marathon is in the evening and you run down the strip!! How beautiful that is going to be! I'm looking forward to it.

We also volunteered for a Neighborhood Restoration Project. Twelve houses participated and we gave them new looks and yards. We were assigned to one house and we painted, built, weeded, extracted a tree, pounded out brick, we did a LOT of work on this house. Do you know that when the owner finally came home she complained just about everything that everyone had done. Who does that?? She wasn't even there to help or anything and then has the nerve to be so ungrateful. I'll tell you...she turned everyone off to the point that we all walked off her yard and went to a different house. Who wants to work on someone's house that is So rude! We didn't let it kill our spirit though. We were there for a reason, and we helped make that neighborhood look really nice! So many people were thankful and even children were proud of their street. So that was nice. Makes it all worth it!

We've all been finalizing our plans for New York. We leave the end of September (29th) and come back October (8th). I'm really excited! We all got to pick things we want to see and do and then we sat down and planned out the days as to what we all want to do. Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Top of the Rock, The MET, Brooklyn Bridge, Soho, Greenwich Village, Central Park...oh the list goes on and on! We will spend 3 full days in New York City. From there we will head up to Howes Caverns and do the tour of the Caverns there. Then we will head up to Binghamton to do family research and visit graveyards that have family buried there. From there we head to Niagara Falls in Canada! We will be there for 3 days and will fly home out of Buffalo. This is going to be a fantastic trip that I will remember forever!

We have a Family Reunion later this month. We're all going to be camping out at the site as well which is kind of fun. I'm looking forward to spending time with my cousins that I don't see that often. Unfortunately our family seems to be getting smaller. Today we just lost my Uncle Paul (RIP). He was 94 years old though and lived a wonderful life! He missed my Aunt Kay and just wanted to be with her again. I know they had a beautiful reunion in heaven this morning!

In Augus we have the Relay For Life which is a 24 hour event where someone from your team has to be walking at all times. It's for cancer. We did it last year as well and loved it. Being that we get to sleep on the Embarcadero in Seaport Village it's something special that not anyone gets to do. I'm looking to log at least 20 miles this year. Last year I logged 18.25...so we shall see. We also have a Family Picnic for my moms hospital. I always help with them. They have pretty much adopted me as part of the hospital family.

Life is good and I can't complain.