Blue

I've been feeling kind of blue lately. I guess I'm just frustrated... with my job and constantly getting walked all over, with the fabulous buyers market for houses and the fact that we STILL can't afford one, with waiting for Nick to be done with school so we can start a family, with my weight... It was just all starting to weigh down on me so heavily that I felt like I was going to break, ya know? Then one day I was checking my email and I get those daily gem emails from the church website, and this one was in my inbox:

"Mercies and blessings come in different forms--sometimes as hard things. Yet the Lord said, 'Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things' (D&C 59:7). All things means just that: good things, difficult things--not just some things. He has commanded us to be grateful because He knows being grateful will make us happy. This is another evidence of His love." -Bonnie D. Parkin

Sigh. I think the Lord is trying to tell me something, how about you? I have so much to be grateful for and I need to remeber that more often. So as a start, here are some things I am grateful for:

Red nail polish, hot chocolate, clearance racks, snuggly warm blankets, microwaves, laughing, mascara, the color pink, high heeled shoes, digital cameras, smiling, infectious melodies, Nick, good haircuts, the smell of burbury brit perfume, and hugs to name a few.

Holy New Post Batman!

So I finally found my camera cord in one of the boxes in our garage in our new house. We recently moved from Riverside back to Menifee and are renting a little house. It's so nice to have a backyard again!! So here's the update I've been promising...

I went to a Mary Kay Conference with my sales unit the last weekend in March. It was a blast! Tons of fun girl time and playing with makeup. I roomed with the girls below (from left to right, Jennah, Heather, Me, and Megan)

I went to Disney's California Adventure with Megan at the beginning of April after shoe shopping in the morning. We ate dinner with the princesses, got our faces painted, rode rollercoasters, and took crazy pictures on the CALIFORNIA letters. and now, here is the best part of the post... The REO Speedwagon, Stxy, and Def Leppard concert my brother and I went to!!!!! It was amazing. This is the view from our seats with no zoom. We sat in our seat through REO Speedwagon (they were old and not very good performers) and Stxy (they're awesome, way awesome)

Our seats were really good. We were in the front section in the center row P, so pretty close to the front. But after Styx, we decided to sneak up to the end of the isleway the extended into the crowd to row L. When I stood up I could rest my nose on the edge of the stage. So cool. Then Def Leppard came on and they pretty much rocked my world the way they always do, except this time, I could reach out and touch their legs and see the sweat dripping off their faces. For the most part, the band stayed on the main stage, and only Joe Elliot (the lead singer) came out the edge of the runway. But the coolest part of the whole show was when they set up 4 mic's and the end of the runway and Joe, Phil, Vivian, and Rick all came up and did a couple of accoustic songs. When I was taking pictures of them, I had to lean back to get their whole body in the shot. It was so intense to be standing so incredibly close to all of them. At one point, Vivian was slapping hands of people in the crowd and he slipped Zack his guitar pick :) So cool! Right after he did that, he slapped my hand and looked me right in the eyes and locked eyes with me for about 5 or 6 seconds. Wow. I actually got a picture of him looking right at me (see below)

At the end of the show, my favorite member of the band, and one of my heroes, made his only appearance to the crowd... Rick Allen, the one armed drummer. He is so amazing. The fact that he lost his arm but refused to give up and figured out how to rig up foot pedals so that he could still be the band's drummer after his accident is just incredible to me. True perserverance.

This is us after the show with the stage right behind us. We're still glowing from the awesomeness of our experience. (Isn't my brother a cutie?)This is us with the guitar pics we caught when they threw them out/when vivian handed his to Zack. Best concert ever.

And then there was Mother's Day/prom in one weekend.... there are no pictures of that because there's no way to translate 14 hour work days and dealing with stupid teenagers and their moms into a photograph. I'm just glad its over.

Now I have my anniversary to look forward to :) Its hard to believe that Nick and I have been married for almost a year. We're going on a 5 day cruise that stops in Cabo San Lucas and Ensenada. Scuba diving, sun bathing (or in my case, burning, lol), horseback riding, a formal night... I can't wait. We leave June 14th, and it won't come soon enough. I need a vacation.

Thanks for reading... until next time.