Thankful...

I have been thinking a lot lately about what I am thankful for and to be quite honest I don't even know where to begin...

This year I am thankful for...

My growing Faith

My wonderful, supportive, gorgeous husband

Our 4 beautiful and healthy children

That Aaron calls me Momma and wants me to cuddle him every night

That Adrian looks more like Alex and the way Aaron loves him

That Andy & Ashley love me and I love them-A LOT

That Andy's laugh is embarassingly annoying

That Ashley can talk to me

My Mom and John for their love and support. I am not sure where we would be without it

The way my Dad looks at the boys like he could burst at any moment

That my in-laws are wonderful and love me

My rock star, courageous, amazing and HAPPY sister

Our small group and the way it is growing

My friends

That Missy & Colleen have been in my life more years that I care to count

That I met Elisa on January 2, 2001

For Beth growing our personal friendship and our families together

For Dan and Collin and all of their love

That I worry about Dan

That Collin is beyond strange

That Abbie is still here even though I try to get rid of her

That I still have hope that Alex will buy me a push present someday (maybe with #3)

For CLOGGING!!!

That we are blessed with Katie Banghoff in our life

That we have a beautiful home filled with love

I can cook breakfast, lunch and dinner for my family

We are able to turn on the heat when we need to

That we have clothes and water and vehicles

That I finally have the courage to pray out loud at night with Alex

For our Sunday School kids

That we have kind of adopted Sam and Allison

That our friend Gallagher is in a good place

That if we ever have a little girl we have a name picked out-Anna Kristen

There is hope that if we have another boy his middle name with be Calixto after Abu (my wish)

That my Grandparents were the BEST in the world without a shodow of a doubt

That I waited until I truly felt I found "the one" before I got married

That I have ten phone numbers in my Verizon account that count as phone to phone minutes

That Aaron is majorly loving

That Steve and Angie are trying for a baby

That we have Denise who I will always swear was my biggest prayer answered

I have been successful at not spending money on anything but groceries for over a month

That I have been given the opportunity to pursue my dream

For Adrian being a happy baby

That Aaron likes to take medicine and is not afraid of the doctor

That my husband tolerates me

That my Mom lives around the corner

That we continue to be blessed with a growing church family

That the Melendez family is joining us again for Christmas Eve

That my whole family LOVES the Monster Trucks

That Missy never forgets anything going on in my life and I can share anything with her

That I am learning to adapt to having less stuff

That Heidi is having a healthy pregnancy

That the kids will be here for Christmas this year

For the fact that my sister plans to move back home

That Alex is my husband

Ahhh! I could go on and on forever and I may continue to add to the list but for now...

Getting close...

One week from tonight I know that I am going to be an absolute wreck. It will be the night before the trial is set to begin. I have so many emotions running through me right now about it. Mostly I am looking forward to attending it and the closure that I think is going to come with it. I think I have been able to rid myself of anger towards Zach and have accepted that it is not me that should judge him. I am thankful for my Faith as I know that is what has helped me get through this. Losing someone you love is never fun, but when it is one of your very best friends before he is 30 it is rather difficult to accept. I miss Don so much, but on the other hand my life has been enriched through the loss. I know that sounds weird, but it truly has. I treasure my family and friends more and have inherited 2 little brothers that drive me crazy (just like Don did). Dan is the one that stresses and worries me and Collin is the one that always says things that he just shouldn't. They are SO SO SO Don and I love that I am blessed to have the opportunity to have them in my life because I still have him in my life through them. I will be holding hands with them next week, fighting my anger and sadness and doing what I can to be there for them...for Don. Please keep Don's famile and friends in your thoughts and prayers through the next few weeks-we are all going to need it.

Don...Golden...I love you and miss you-STILL!

hello world

not much new going on here. just wanted to post since i am trying to be better...

SLACKER!!!

YUP-that is me what can I say??? We have been adjusting lately to this new routine and once we get fully adjusted all hell is going to break loose that's for sure. I took a class to be a STNA and passed my state test. WOoHoo!! That is the first step in this new goal of mine. Next up is starting a job and then school. I am registered for 2 classes for winter quarter and will comtinue to take 2 classes for the next 7 quarters. Slowly but surely I will get there. I am taking the entrance test for the nursing program next month so I will start studying this week. I plan to do at leat an hour every day. It is rather critical that I pass this test when I take it so I am going to have a crap ton of anxiety until it is over and I get my results. If all goes as "planned" (in my head that is) then I will be completely done and ready to take my boards in Spring of 2013-wow that seems really far away but that is OK. I also have the option of extending 2 or 4 more quarters if I need to but I really would rather that didn't happen. So that is that!

Being at home all the time is having its time with me. I know for sure that this is not something that I would want to do forever. I want more time with the boys but I miss working and being out there being "Amy". I am loving clogging again and have been practicing daily to learn the song we have been learning. I want so much to be able to perform at Emmaus and church so I will continue to practice.

Alex is great-when I am not a raving nut job. I know that if I was ever home all the time we would not have a good marriage. I have been rather difficult lately to say the least. I know that I need to be better with my words and actions. He is still going to school taking 2 classes at a time and is really thinking of pursuing his Masters degree so he can teach online. He is super active with the youth at church and has really taken the lead in our High School Sunday School class. He does such an amazing job-he is awesome at it thats for sure! He is at the game today with John and is SUPER excited because his BFF Dave is coming for a visit in December.

The boys are wonderful. Adrian is growing so much. He is 26 inches and 17.5 pounds. He look so much like Aaron but I also see so much of Alex in him. Aaron is obsessed with him and it doesn't seem to be even starting to wear off. I will go as far to say that I think 3 years is not the right number of years apart (for me). I think 2 would be good or maybe 5. Yikes! I am pretty sure that there will be just one more addition to our family of A's at this point. I always dreamed of having 6 so this will get us just one shy. However, with school I am not sure what the plan is and you know that I always have a plan. Aaron is doing gresat in pre-school. His teachers only have good things to say about him and he is a favorite among the kids too. We started Adrian on cereal this week and he is LOVING it. I pray that he is a good eater like Aaron and by good I mean he eats pretthy much anything (with teh exception of mashed potatoes). He will definitely tear up a chicken nugget or hot dog but I am glad to say that they are not staples in our house. Being a Mom is an extremely precious gift that I treasure every day-even though I am pulling my hair from time to time...just being honest.

Krissy moved back to Nashville. She has had a lot of change lately in her life and it is all for the better. She is in a happier place but it was a logn and hard road getting here. I am SO proud of her for setting her mind to her dream and going after it. She is home this weekend and we have seen a lot of her. She will be back for Thanksgiving and then she should be done with her classes in May and be back home again. I love her for sure and really wish that I didn't worry so much about her!!

Well-that is it for now. I wish I could be better at the frequency I have at updating this...Her is hoping!