A Condo...

I have been thinking about my first big purchase. A condo. I bought the house in 2006. I paid a hefty sum of money for my 1600 square foot peace of earth. This home has brought me more grief than any other person or thing EVER. I have always had the feeling I should keep the Condo. Keep paying for something that I will never get a "return on my investment". As I sit here tonight with ruined credit and hopes and dreams smashed I was starting to think, "What has this house done for others?" rather than, "What has the house done for me?"

For the first time in 3 years, I think I finally understand why I needed to keep paying for the Condo even when times were really tough for Stephen and I. You see, the condo is located in Gilbert, Arizona. I am located in Albuquerque, New Mexico. When Stephen and I moved the market was just beginning to crash. We probably could have sold it then and not have been too far off the mark. That was three years go. The Condo is now worth less than $100,000. I paid double that and more.

"What has the condo done for me?" Ruined my credit. "What has the condo done for others?" This house has been a home to many people in the last 5 years. To name a few...

Julie and Stephen.

Chelsea and Denni. These two were our first roommates. Chel as going through a difficult divorce and needed to seek refuge. She came to me and the Condo.

Deena. Deena moved in right after her divorce. Sadly, she was killed in a tragic car accident a few months later. (Lesson here, don't drive when sleepy. PERIOD!)

Pattie. My Mom moved in for the summer while she was going to ASU.

Wade. Wade was my roommate when Stephen moved to OKC. He lived there until he married my sister, Sharla.

Sonya and Jeremiah. These two lovebirds moved in right as I was moving out to head to NM. They moved in twice.

Various Tenants.

Maybe this home wasn't meant to be a huge blessing for me. MAYBE this home was meant to be a huge blessing for others who were in need of a cheap place to live. Maybe this Condo was their blessing.

I am truly grateful for the opportunity to be a home owner even though it has ended in a complete disaster on my end; however, there are many lives who were helped by this great place to live. I am incredibly sad to see it go. A life lesson was learned on my behalf and I am grateful to share my little peace of earth with all of you.

Good-Bye 4149.

T-W-O

Happy Birthday, Edward!

We love you more and more each day. We love watching you grow in to a little man. You are so curious about everything. Edward is 29 pounds and 34 1/4 inches tall. You can count to five and knows almost all of the colors. You love to read any book but mostly books about cars, trucks, and tractors. You run, jump, sing, and, of course, you love anything and everything to do with cars, trucks, and tractors. You are an amazing little man and we love you to pieces!

Yes, that's my baby drinking from a bottle.

I forgot a name...

Do you ever just have one of those days where you want everything to happen perfectly, even though you know it is impossible?

Let me take you back to 2 pm yesterday... Edward awoke from his nap and started crying... a lot. I gave him a bottle and was just going to rock him for a while. He fell asleep and so did I. We woke up at 4 something. This is completely out of the ordinary for us. Edward NEVER cuddles. NEVER! I should have known something was up then, but I thought he was overly tired because he had skipped his nap two days in a row (not by my choice).

Anyhow, I finally got both kids to bed around 9 last night. Nolen is getting sick, or should I say, IS sick so he had a harder time falling asleep at 8 than usual. Stephen came home from work around 10 and I drifted off to sleep only to be woken up by a screaming soon to be 2 year old. UGH!

I had a whole day planned today filled with fun activities for Edward. I had arranged for his cake to be ready at 8 AM this morning (it wasn't ready) and then a big birthday party at Chuck E Cheeses at 11. In between that time I had rehearsal for "La Traviata". It was going to be tight, to say the least.

Edward was up all night with, yet, another EAR INFECTION! This time I had drops and was ready with the pain killers. Why is he getting so many ear infections? Also, going back to my previous statement, Nolen is sick. SO, Nolen was up all night, too. This meant Stephen and I probably got around 2 full hours of sleep... total. BUMMER.

Sleep? I can do without that, but TODAY of all days, is Edward's birthday! I wanted it to be so special. I wanted to have his favorite breakfast and then take some pictures, pick up his cake, go to rehearsal, spend lunch with his friends, then come home and take a nap, THEN go swimming.

NONE of that happened the way I wanted it to happen. I took a shower around 7 after giving Edward more medicine and a bottle (yeah, I know he is 2 now but he is keeping that bottle until I am ready to get rid of it). Then I rushed through breakfast, fed Nolen, and jumped in Stephen's car to find it was COMPLETELY out of gas! UGH! I filled up and ran in to Smith's to pick up the cake. NO, it was not ready. Of course!!! I drove to rehearsal and used any and all energy I might have had, singing my guts out and trying to sound good doing it. Rehearsal ran over so I ran to my car and drove back to try and pick up the cake. (At least they gave me a discount because the lady could tell I was about to cry.) I made it to Chuck E Cheese and then sat down, had some pizza and started introducing people.

Here comes the best part... I have known Adrianne for over 3 YEARS! Yes, I called her Aubry. UGH! I hate that. I am so selfish. I hate not knowing people's names. That is one of the most inconsiderate things a human can do... and here I am... doing my own biggest pet peeve. SO SO SO sorry Adrianne. NO, she doesn't read my blog, but boy, if she did she might understand.

We sang happy birthday, Edward was sort of sad through out his party, he didn't open his presents, we didn't say thank you, and then we left because Edward was crying. Pathetic.

I am truly grateful to all of my friends who came out to celebrate with us. THANKS a MILLION! I owe you big!

Now that the hardest part of the day is over, I want to try this day again. AND too bad, I can't. I know Edward will never remember this... but I will.
I think I have crammed too many things in to a small space and it is exploding all over the place. Time to gather up what is left of my stuff and try to cram it all back in again.

And you know what? My life is amazing. I am living my "happily ever after". I love it. No matter how chaotic. My friend had a life altering event happen to her on Valentines day... and I feel so selfish. I want to share my happily ever after and it seems impossible. I wont share her news with you, but put a little prayer out there for my friend, Elizabeth.

Happy Birthday, Edward.

Love, your crazy and spastic mother.

3 Months!

Nolen, my sweet and precious baby, is 3 months old today. He is 23 (or more) inches and a little over 16 pounds. All of this is according to my calculations and wow, he is big! He hasn't rolled over yet; however, this baby LOVES to sleep. He slept ELEVEN hours straight last night. He did NOT wake up to eat. WOW! WOW! I just love this little man. He is so precious and so cute! He talks a lot and loves to be held. He seems to have the same tummy issues Edward has, but somehow, he can sleep and he doesn't cry. We love this little man!

Turning Two...

Edward is turning the big "2" this Saturday and we wanted to invite our blog readers to join us for some pizza at Chuck E Cheeses. So, if you are bored and need a place to take your kids this Saturday, February 19th, at 11:00. Stop on by. We are buying the pizza.

10510 Coors Blvd Bypass Northwest
Albuquerque, NM 87114-4958

And the winner is...

Kami Robles!!

I will email you with detail to collect your prize! Thanks to all who entered and stay tuned for more awesome give-aways from CSN!

He Speaks!

Gymnastics for boys...

Are gymnastics just for girls?

Giveaway!!!

That's right, readers! Another awesome giveaway from CSN stores! You can look through the hundreds of sights including swing set and baby items! To enter, just write a comment including your email address so I can contact the winner. The winner will receive a $35 dollar gift card to use at any of the CSN store websites! The contest ends Saturday, February 5th!