Monday, April 11, 2011

Wow, What a year

It has honestly been nearly a year since I blogged last??!!!??? Really??? You mean to tell me I have been silent for THAT long. WOW!

So what has been going on since last I invaded your internet space? Well, quite a bit. Some I can talk about freely, some I cannot due to matters of the heart.

I'll start with Jakub, he is 7...about to turn 8. He is nearly finished with 2nd grade and has done MAGNIFICENTLY all year. He has made honor roll every 6 weeks but one. He is taking karate now as well. He has earned his yellow belt and at the end of this month he will be testing for his orange. He is growing so fast that his clothes are all too short and too tight. To be such a bean pole he sure is "big". He reads like nobodies business. He constantly has a book in his hand. His major intests are... HISTORY! I know, right? He and his Dad have been practicing baseball a bit. He can really knock the ball pretty far for a kid just starting out. We may let him play next year if he still would like to by then.


Now on to Jack...4 going on 30. Jack is, unfortunately, JUST LIKE his momma. He is strong willed, hard headed and a lover of all things. His favorite activities are tearing up his toys to see how they work and watching and reinacting Star Wars on a daily basis and sucking his thumb while sniffing on his "nasty" woobie. He is the child who likes to dive head first off the bed, be thrown up in the air as high as he can be, and sneaks to push the red button (because it says not to). Yet, he is the most sensitive child too. He is working on learning to spell his name on paper. His Nan stays with him every weekday and she is teaching him a lot!


Jason and I are doing better than ever. He is definitely my rock and I believe I am his as well. He is such a good husband and Daddy to our two boys. He is going back to school in the summer to get his license. He swore he would never do it and he isn't even kicking and screaming over it. Photography is going very well for me. 10 weddings in nearly 3 months is a blessing!

I promise I will write more often. It's a matter of remembering to do it and finding the time to do it as well. I have so much I can talk about though and stuff that I need to share to make you laugh too. So, look forward to it...more to come.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Sugar Momma Status

It's good to have goals. I have never really had them before. So I thought, since I am really excited about having them that I would write them down and see what happens. I take prayers, encouragement, good thoughts and personal cheerleaders for free.

GOALS (these will happen over the next 5 years):

1. Reach Sugar Momma status, I want my family to be able to rely on me to personally bring in my part of the bacon on my own.

2. I want to be turning people away because I am so busy. I want to be wanted as a photographer.

3. I plan on taking classes, possibly getting my degree in photography and making myself better.

4. I want to have a part time/ full time employee working for me.

5. I want to be able to take summers off if I want to, or at least do destination weddings where my family can tag along.

6. I want a summer home in Montana (not saying I have to own it, we can rent it every summer...but owning one sure would be nice).

7. We want to have a church that we call home. Completely engrossed in our spiritual lives so that our children have better parents (not that we aren't good now) to look up to.

8. I want to lose 40 pounds (no biggie, I just gotta get off my lazy butt to do it)

9. I would love for our house here to be paid off.

10. I want to be 100% okay with myself and what I have become. I listed this last because it will be the hardest for me. A great deal of soul searching, personal forgiveness and self esteem issues need resolving.

So there, my 5 year plan is written out. It incorporates everyone in my family, my career and personal growth. So, HERE WE GO (07/25/2010)

Friday, May 21, 2010

Prepping for the weekend

This weekend will be my last one for nearly a month that I will have my Saturday to myself and my family. I have been blessed in the fact that my wedding schedule is booking up. Isn't that crazy... it just astounds me. Thing is, I can't wait till next weekend because I get to test my skills on a professional level again. Sometimes when I look back on the last wedding I did I doubt my skills.

Do you know how hard it is to be THAT person that is capturing one of the most important days of a couples life. What if I mess up... what if they don't like my style...what if everything I have done up till now is a total fluke??? Yes, these are the "what ifs" that run through my mind.

So this week coming up I am going to mentally prepare myself (work myself up, more like) for the coming weeks. I am going to prepare my equipment, I am going to breathe deeply and I will put on my game face. I will try and be chipper and act like a leader even though I don't feel as though I am either of those things. I know, once I get there and get started, that it will all come naturally... at least it did last time. So if you don't mind... as you say your prayers this week... include me in them.

Also, to touch on my last blog... Church. We are going to attend at First Pres this Sunday. So if there are any of you first Pres folks out there that can give me a heads up on what we are walking into... it takes the edge off a little for a person coming into a new church. Why is it so hard to go somewhere new and feel comfortable????

When you go into a new church there are several things a newcomer wants to do/know... Is there a program for the children...if so where is it and how do I get there. Can you please point me in the direction of the bathroom BEFORE church starts because if there isn't a children's program my kids are 99% likely to need to go to the potty... it's a fact of life. What time does church begin? Please don't tell everyone I am a visitor... PLEASE. Just let me sit back and enjoy the service without drawing attention to me and my awkwardness. If you tell me your name when we shake hands please don't expect me to remember it, I am panicking at the moment and what you are saying to me is going in one ear and totally out the other. Also, the music is probably playing and I am nearly deaf in my right ear...I probably can't hear you, I apologize before hand. Also, while I am panicking I tend to forget my manners... as you are shking my hand, telling me your name, I just smile and nod and try to hide the panic behind my eyes. After I sit down I totally kick myself for forgeting to tell you my name or introducing you to my family. I think sometimes I am socially "special"...*sigh*. So with all of that said, please don't base your opinion of me from our first encounter... You are going to think I am a "female dog" or a "social short bus rider". I promise I am neither. In fact, I am kinda fun when I get comfortable.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Trying to Blog

I have totally fallen off the blog wagon in recent months. With our huge move back, searching for a home, work, establishing this "business", doing free lance and being wife and mommy it has been kinda difficult to find the time and to figure out what to write about. If you know me well then you know how totally scatter brained I am. Sometimes it's hard for me to form a complete sentence anyway...now, what was I saying?

I keep wondering what YOU would actually be interested in reading about. My life most certainly isn't a "superstars" life or anything that would keep the tabloids rolling. In fact, I...we... are really simple people.

So I suppose I could talk about my journey to become more like my good friend Sharon Palmer. I want to be one of those people who are considerate and caring. One of those people who never sit, are always up doing...one of the people that everyone admires because they care about their fellow man so much that they would quickly jerk the shirt off their own back to clothe them. I want to be a person who doesn't complain, who doesn't seek out the negative and who, at any given time when given a bushel of lemons, can make tons of lemonade.

I could discuss how difficult it is to start up a business. My dream is to one day be able to make a living on my photography. I want to travel the world... have a winter and summer home and give my kids all the opportunities that I NEVER even thought of as a kid. This is NOT to say I want my kids to be those spoiled rotten brats that feel like they have to have everything RIGHT NOW. In Fact, my kids are going to be those kids that drive the green car named "booger" because Mom and Dad think its IDIOTIC for them to drive $30,000 SUV's at 16. But thats for an entirely different day I think.

I could discuss the fact that we are looking for a home church. There are several we have visited and several more we plan on visiting ( Waldron Street Christian and First Presbyterian ) in the next few weeks. We want somewhere that we feel comfortable, that we feel led and that we believe would be the place we worship till the day we die. I am tired of not getting what I need spiritually. So we have become pro-active in our search.

For now, I believe that's a good start. So tell me... what do you want to read about?

Monday, April 5, 2010

Diary of a Schizophrenic cat

I thought that this hilarious journey that we have had so far with Abby could be funny. Of course everything we have been through so far hasn't really hit our funny bone yet, but I am sure we will look back a laugh soon. So I am going to share a few of the back and forth e-mails so fat that we have had with the shelter.

Dez Newcomb:

Is Abby Rose still available? She is a beautiful cat, just what we are looking for!

Shelter:

Yes she is, let me know if you want me to put her on hold.


Dez Newcomb:

Really!?!? YAY!!! I would love to adopt her! My family and I are looking for a cat. She is beautiful. We just moved back here from Montana. I do not have an established vet yet. What can I do to get you a "vet reference"? Do I need to contact the vet I am planning on using? Will you be open tomorrow, if so can my children and I come and look at her? :0)




At this point the lady at the shelter calls to inform me that we can come and we set up a time to meet on Friday. We go and pick up the cat, who presents itself as the sweetest kitty on Earth... HONEST to GOD she hugged me. We were won over and we took her back home. We made a stop at PetSMART and got her a collar, tag and all the kitty stuff you have to have... The next day...

Dez Newcomb:

Was Abby abused? It is pretty apparent that she went through some sort of abuse. She is such a sweet cat, but so far tonight she has lashed out by biting, viciously so (and luckily it was my husband and I who got the brunt of it). It will help us to help her if we knew her background.

We think we have figured out her trigger. Both times our hands were raised slightly higher to reach out to pet her (we figure it looked like to her that we were going to strike her).

So far, she has fit in really well. Her ride home was great, she loved on everyone and was very calm. When we got home she felt the place out. We showed her where her food and litter box were going to be. Then she hid for a good 3-4 hours under the bed. We know that will be normal for a while.

She is incredibly loving when she doesn't feel threatened. It is going to be a patience thing. I have warned the kids about raising their hands high to pet her... get down on her level. We are hoping when she realizes she isn't going to be abused by us that she won't be so quick to attack.



Through the night...

Dez Newcomb:


She slept with Jakub and I... right on our heads. We had a petty bad thunderstorm here last night that woke us all up. I had to get the dogs into the garage. When I got back I found that she had tinkled and pooed on my bed. I have done research this morning and it says cats might do that under stress.

Jack (the little one who wanted a cat so bad) was loving on her this morning. He was being very soft with her, not loud in the least and she bit him on the back of the neck as he laid his head down beside her.

It isn't loving, playful biting at all. It is very vicious and intended to cause harm. We are going to give it another day or two. If it continues we are going to HAVE to bring her back just because she is unpredictable and I am scared she will hurt the kids.

It is just crazy how loving she is to have her "snap" like she does.

Dez



Shelter:

OMG this is not behavior that we have seen. By all means if it contioues we will take her back. as for her background we no notheing.. I am so sorry that it has turned out so difficult. Please be assured that we had no idea that this kind of behavior was in her. Is your son alright? Anything we can do to make this right let us know.



Dez Newcomb:

We had no incidents yesterday. She bit my mother-in-law today but didn't break the skin. I think I am the only one she has "gotten good".

She seems to be mellowing out a bit. She had no accidents today or yesterday, she is using the litter box. I am also keeping her contained to the living room and kitchen till I am certain she won't do her business on the beds anymore.

I really don't want to give up on her. She can be so sweet at times. I hope maybe once she realizes we aren't going to hurt her that she will calm down a bit more. I am going to give it till this time next week and let you know. I really think she is going to be fine.




Shelter:

Dear Dez.
It's wonderfull that you are willing to give her a chance to adjust. I am so glad that there were no incidents yesterday. It sounds as if you are doing everything right. All I can add is a little prayer for her. Please keep us informed as to her progeress.




Dez Newcomb:

Can you tell me when she was spayed? She still seems a little sensitive on her tummy. That may be par tof the problem too. If she was spayed in the last few weeks she might still hurt... heck, I know I would if I was in her shoes.

By mid week we are going to open the doors to the rest of the house to see how she does. I feel like I am writing a "Diary of a crazy, sweet, loving schizophrenic cat". She cracks me up.

I will send pictures soon.






So this is how we are doing so far... I am certain more will follow.