Thanks for the Memories! Happy Birthday Mike!

Siblings! Most of us have them or often at least one, and often times looking back over our childhood memories, there is a lot to reflect on. This is the first time, I've had the opportunity to really share a personal side of my life in regards to the relationship I have shared over 40 something years with my younger brother, Michael, who is turning 45 today. (For those of you doing the math, you're correct in guessing my age would have to be at least over 45, but that is a topic for another day!)

Growing up in my childhood consisted of just my brother and I, living with both parents until they divorced when I was 7. I know I was happy with that decision since being around parents that fight a lot makes for uncomfortable living arrangements and when one parent is removed from that, the house is much more enjoyable. So for the remaining years until we both reached 18, we would split our weekends between our parents, living with my mom primarily. However life as a single parent was hard. My mom had to work two jobs to make ends meet for us and that didn't include trips to the movies or out much, that was really just enough to pay the bills and keep food in the house.

So my brother and I were left to fend for ourselves most days while we had a baby sitter. Since this was before the time technology really launched we had to use a time honored device available to everyone, it's called your imagination!! I think we had the best!! We played "restaurant" and would take turns being the waiter or waitress and serve one another lunch or snacks or sometimes dinner if the day ran much later. We created our own layout, menus and uniforms!

We used to take trips with my mom to make deposits at the local bank and would take extra deposit slips for checking and savings accounts to play "bank" with when we got home. Taking turns who got to be the customer along with a hefty supply of Monopoly money to deposit! We used a typewriter to record the deposits and withdrawals in a book we created. We even took the liberty at taping our pens with string to the counter, so people couldn't take them out of the bank.

I think my all time favorite that would literally keep us busy for weeks at a time, was playing with our Hot Wheels. Unfortunately because we were so creative, we found extra wood paneling up in the rafters in our garage that when flipped over, became the perfect place to map out roads and streets for our play town with a permanent marker. We dismantled my brothers extensive railroad set of all the buildings and trees so we could use it to create our town. (My dad was NOT thrilled with this!) We used the cover for our record player to simulate the mall, and made all kinds of road signs with stickers from gum packages back then. We even made pot holes in the road because what town is ever perfect. We could play with that for hours, days, weeks, you name it. Every day, we would start all over again and divide up the cool cars from the not so cool ones to have. And at the end of each night we would put everything in a box and slide the plywood paneling under the couch in the living room to wait for us to play again the next day.



Over the years, as we both grew older, those times of imaginary play went away, but definitely not forgotten. Our summers were spent most days huffing our beach stuff to the bus stop with my brother and few neighborhood friends to get to the beach. We'd stay all day long until the last bus would leave at the end of the day and head back home. Other times we'd walk or take the bus to the mall which was a few miles away. We never really had days where we didn't have something to do.

One time, we spent the day in the riverbed by our house, now they are called sewers, and got frogs. We'd take them back home in buckets and try to make homes for them. We weren't allowed to keep them inside, but at least we could keep them in the back yard. This is how I discovered frogs could not live in a pure water only environment and killed one when he drowned when I left him sitting alone in the water. Ah the joys of living and experiencing life right.

When my brother turned 14, he moved into my dads' house and for the first time, we were apart. We still had an on and off again relationship, but it was different now. We were growing up and doing different things, had different friends, and those times of just being together were no longer.



Now that he turns 45 today, I want him to know how much he means to me and always had. When we would get into trouble for talking too much at night, it was nice knowing I wasn't alone. When we got scared of the dark, we were just down the hall from one another and we didn't have to wake up our parents, we had each other. When life got harder and the situations became more complicated with divorces in both of our lives and the introduction of our own kids, it was nice to be able to throw all those parent-isms back at them. "What are you born in a barn? Shut that door, we're paying for that air!" When we got into trouble with our parents, I'll never forget my brothers hand written pleas written on the backside of the door, perfectly scripted in hopes of springing an early release from our bedrooms. :D

It hasn't always been easy and there were many times we fought worse than enemies ( I still remember your rhyme for my Cabbage Patch kid whose name was Jonathan Bradley, you would tell me, "Jonathan Bradley, he smells badly!", but in the end, my life wouldn't have been the same if I didn't have you, my brother, to share it with. I love you Michael and I know the hopes and dreams God has for your future! You'd better put your sunglasses on, cause from what I can see, it's going to get much brighter!!!

Happy Birthday Little Brother!!!

Happy 17th Birthday Caitlyn

Today, my oldest turns 17 and she's finally driving, and I thought I would share some pictures with you along with 17 of the best things about her. She enters her Senior year in a month and this will be our final year with her as a high schooler. Time sure does go by fast!

Even though she is off with her friends, enjoying the day at Knott's Berry Farm, I wanted to dedicate this page to her.



1. She was the best baby ever. No crying, well behaved. It made being a first time mom so easy. I hope it is with yours when you have kids.



2. She loves owls. They are her new favorite animal. She loves Christian music and concerts!



3. She has such a tender and compassionate heart. I truly see her in the mission field later in life because she loves people so much.




4. She never carries a grudge. No matter how many people who have disappointed her in her life, she is always forgiving.



5. She is friends with all her ex boyfriends. This is a great example of number 4 even though some of them have hurt her pretty bad.




6. She's a social butterfly and always loves being around her friends and participating in all her school events, dances and field trips.



7. She is a friend to the end. She will be your BFF unless you no longer want to be hers. She has friends from her childhood still.



8. She loves her social networking sites, Myspace, Facebook, and even has her own blog.



9. Her favorite colors are black and purple.



10. Her favorite dessert is dark chocolate and anything made from dark chocolate.



11. She loves thrill rides except for ones that spin around, or drop. Worse yet, ones that spin around and drop in the same ride.



12. She has parents on both coasts and has been a huge survivor of a divorce and some things a child should never have to experience and comes out a hero to many.



13. She only has two class to complete in her Senior year and has a 4.0 GPA and straight A's throughout high school, except for a B+ in her freshman year in Biology. Not her fault if you ask her.



14. She was baptized at summer camp last year and truly has a heart to serve God. She is saving herself for marriage.



15. She loves anything vintage and old fashioned. She loves clothes and fashions from the 30's and 40's.



16. She loves musicals. Mostly the old classics like Holiday Inn and White Christmas.



17. Here's hoping that this truly is your year. You're driving and you are more independent now than ever before. Happy Birthday Caitlyn! You're truly a masterpiece!

My Best Friend!

Today is the start of something special even though it’s just a Monday for most of you and something you are not looking forward to. However most of us can’t get to the weekend without having a starting point of some kind, so for most of us, Monday is it.

This Monday is different. This Monday celebrates the life of my hubby Steven Smith. He is turning 41 today. It seems like he has been 40 forever. Nice rounded off number with a zero at the end and probably one of the best numbers we would like to see before we hit the big 50. Steve and I joked about it some time ago that once you hit 40, you have to begin to take numbers off and begin to count backwards from there. So if that is the case he is turning 39 today.


Christmas Photo at Disneyland

Steve is the youngest of a family of three and had never been married prior to us meeting. I met him when I became his boss as a Service Manager for L.A. Cellular back in 1996. I heard he was going to be the most difficult part of my job in taking on this position because he was the rumored bad boy. Argumentative, hostile, and definitely not a team player.

Yikes, just what was I getting myself into?

Turns out rumors were all they were. He had passion and creativity to want to make things better. However people got in his way that weren’t willing to open up and listen to him. So that is what I did, I listened and let him run wild and free. He created our service bay’s design plans for what would make their work easier. I let him have all the creative freedom. It turned out to be a blessing because I gained his respect and our bay became one of the biggest profit generating service centers in the company. We became the model for what others hoped to become.


Steve and the girls at Knott's Berry Farm 2008.

Yet in the midst of this, I found my soul mate. I was in the midst of a messy divorce and messier child custody battle with my ex. I found comfort in my friend at that time. He was in a long-term relationship at that time and simply became someone who returned the favor, and listened when I needed someone to pour my heart out to. His heart was simply made of pure gold. I often teased Steve to this day, that God revealed his soul to me the day I met him and I saw what others failed to see. I got a glimpse of his soul.

Three years later, we were married. It wasn’t the marriage you dream of. No white dress, no tux for him. Just standing in a courthouse in Lake Havasu City with his parents and Aunt and we spoke our vows to each other. We had our first meal at Carl’s Jr. and I saved the cup that day and wrote in sharpie pen that it was our wedding glass. We got married in jeans and normal clothes that we could wear long after our wedding. We still laughed most days whenever we went out; to wear our wedding clothes since no one would notice but us. Love all those inside jokes.

Steve and Kailee on their date night!

This is an amazing man that so many of us women look for all our lives and only some are fortunate to find. God revealed His plans for us long ago, by interlocking our hearts together that no matter how far we moved away from one another, we eventually find our way home together.


He has an amazing kind and gentle heart. He will willingly do things for others without a second thought. He has helped our neighbors more times than they will ever pay him back. He tried to save the lives of 4 children and a woman who drove their pick up truck into an aqueduct one April and jumped into freezing waters without a second thought that he, himself just might lose his life. He has helped motorcyclists that have laid their bikes down while passing people on dangerous mountain roads and waiting for help to arrive. He said to me once that his dream job would have been a fire fighter and I can see just why. He loves to help people. To me, he already had that job and still to this day remains a hero to his family.


I know without a doubt that God sent Steve to me. I had completely lost faith that such a man existed and even when I found him, didn’t know what this beautiful man would see in me. When I met Steve, I was broken, battered and completely filled with self-doubt. I met in him someone who saw the person I could become with a little love and a lot of band-aids! With God’s healing hands, Steve made me into the person I am today. He gave me back trust that was robbed of so many years of neglect. He loves unconditionally and is not only my best friend, but also my soul mate and husband all rolled into one.



He loves the colors black and teal. Loves Nutter Butters and Froot Loops! His favorite food would probably be Seared Ahi with salad topped off with Blue Cheese dressing. He loves the mountains and has dreamed of a cabin by the lake as a way to spend our last years on this earth together. His favorite movies are those martial arts films like Hidden Dragon, Crouching Tiger, anything by Bruce Lee and even will admit to loving some chick flick movies like Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail. He loves Bugs Bunny cartoons and simply adores Kermit the frog. He can even do a perfect Kermit imitation if you ask! He can quilt, sew better than I can, and now has his own blog called Gotta Have Faith.



One of the things I love the most about him is that we can speak an unspoken language at times. We share a look and both of us instantly know what the other is thinking without saying anything. No one understands it but us! We are just that in tune with one another.



So I celebrate his life today all 41 years of it, and I can only ask that if God allows it, we will begin to build even more happy memories together raising our two wonderful kids, Caitlyn, his step daughter and Kailee our daughter together.


Happy Birthday Steve! You are the best present anyone could ever wish for! If you want to wish Steve a Happy Birthday, hop on over to his blog, Gotta Have Faith!

16 is Sweet!

July 24 th seems just like every other day to most people. It’s just another day right smack dab in the middle of summer. Today it’s just a Friday and for most of us, that alone is a great thing in itself. However for one person in this household it is much more than just an ordinary Friday in the middle of summer in July. It is her birthday! She has no completed 16 years of experience in a short time she has lived. She has had to grow up much to fast for most teens her age.

She was born at 6:03AM and weighed the average 7 pounds and 8 ounces, like most female babies. We were super lucky she was born healthy! Isn’t that what most parents wish for when their baby is being born? Please let the baby be healthy! She was!

She was the perfect first born for me. As a first time mom, I was looking for easy in raising a baby and that is just what I got. No real crying except for the usual, diaper change, hungry or overly tired. Other than that, perfectly content.

That lasted way into her toddler years. Everyone who met Caitlyn fell in love with all her super cute charm, and she could charm them all. Never had a lack of babysitters or people wanting to take her off our hands for a couple hours or even a weekend. She was fine with commuting long distances and kept herself busy in the car without fussing.

She lived through a divorce but doesn’t remember most of it since it happened when she was 3. For that alone I am thankful. I made a vow that I wouldn’t stand in the way of her happiness ever, as long as it was something she wanted, no matter how much it hurt. For 5 years, I watched her leave every summer, and fly home to her dad in Rhode Island, ripping my heart out each time, but hiding it until she was safely on a plane. Never did I ever let her see how much pain a mother goes through when her daughter leaves. I thought I wouldn’t experience that until she left for college.

However, in her 9th grade year, her dad finally agreed to let her make the decision to move where she wanted and the heavens rejoiced that day, when she chose us. We have been so blessed to have had her these last 2 years. Now she flies home to Rhode Island for the summer and returns to us before the start of school.

She is turning into an amazing woman before our eyes. She has maintained a 4.0 throughout High School and has a life goal of being valedictorian for her High School class within the next two years. She has participated in Track and Field and made it to CIF’s while maintaining all her academic levels and being on the Principal’s Honor’s Roll. She is planning on attending some college classes while completing her Junior year to get her started in her college classes early.


Friends ~ From left to right ~ Heather, Caitlyn and Samm!


She has volunteered at our church with Leaders in Training which helps out the Youth Groups. This summer she is attending a Leadership camp at the UC of Santa Barbara for her ASB class this year as Activities Commissioner. She has also completed 2 years of community service as a Mentor in her school helping developmentally challenged kids with their schoolwork. Their parents have sent glowing letters to the school and us!

Caitlyn in the brown top and her circle of friends!


When you ask her what she sees her future job as, it’s an easy choice for her. She wants to work with children. She sees the future for what it can potentially become and she never harbors grudges even when others have betrayed her trust. She sees things through those proverbial rose colored lens and always sees the best in others no matter what others say.


Caitlyn at Sea World working with Dolphins!


She is the daughter that everyone wants to be best friends forever with, all the guys want for their girlfriend and ever parents perfect daughter! She makes being a parent so easy even with all her teen challenges; we wouldn’t change anything about her.



Caitlyn and Kailee at Knott's Berry Farm!

Her favorite colors are purple and black. She loves God with all her heart and found salvation early on in her childhood. Her best female friend is Samm Lillard. She loves to run track. Is super excited to be planning most of the activities at her school this year. Hates most math classes. Loves History!



Her first real love was Quinn but now is sharing her love with Jordan for a second time.


Her favorite food is Salmon or Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo. She loves Dark Chocolate, especially from See’s Candies, or even Hershey’s Special Dark Chocolate. Her favorite season is Fall. Her favorite place to buy clothes is Forever 21 and Aeropostle. Her best male friend is Mikey! She loves horses. She spends all of her time, MySpacing, emailing her friends, hanging out at the mall with Mikey, Jordan and Samm. She loves roller-skating. Her dream vacation would be Italy! Her favorite flower is a red rose!


Caitlyn at Magic Mountain with Samm, Mikey and her cousin Josh!


So I would ask one small favor of each of you visiting my blog today, to please stop over at her blog, Dear Craisin and wish her a very Happy 16th Birthday!


Happy 16th Birthday, Caitlyn!!

Happy Birthday Mom!

I have spent the last 45 years of my life living in the shadow of the person I can only hope to be like some day, my mom. So today, being her birthday, I wanted to give her a tribute out on my blogger space. She was born and raised in a small town in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. Her mom past away when she was only a year and a half so she never knew her mom. Her dad worked in the coal mines while her aunt took care of her brother and three other sisters but also her own daughter. Brother and sister raising a family in extremely hard times.

My mom and dad divorced when I was only 7 years old. We returned from a family vacation and found my dad had moved out while we were away leaving my mom to raise two kids of her own alone. She amazed me, and kept us both living in our family home, while she worked two jobs just to make ends meet. We rarely ever saw her except for school mornings where she would make us toast with jelly and hot tea. She was working her second job by the time we got home from school and she wouldn't return home until some time past midnight. Our only other time to see her was Sunday afternoons after brunch. It was the highlight of our week. She would divide all her tip change each day between a jar for each of us. One day, my brother would get what her tip change was that day and I got it the next. Whoever got it on Sunday would really make out because it was my mom's biggest day to make tip money as a waitress doing Sunday brunch.

She worked so hard to provide for my brother and me. We didn't have much but my mom made sure that whatever extra money she could scrape up, went to something fun for me and brother to do. She never bought anything for herself. She put her needs on the back burner for us.

People loved my mom and still do whenever they meet her. I don't know what it is, but she makes people feel at ease. I have never seen my mom lose her temper either. I guess she has managed to hide all that deep inside all these years. Something I still wished I could do but I think I picked up my dad's side of that.

She just semi retired some years ago, and has decided to become a full time grandmother and help my sister, who came along 14 years after me, raise her two kids. So my mom after all these years is still thinking of others before herself. She is the true meaning of the word, serving others first! It's never even a second thought for her.

She is a mother of three and a grandmother of 5 who think the world of her everyday even though she made never realize it. She has made the world a better place, simply just by her being in it.

Here are some questions I wanted to ask her.

1. What is your favorite childhood memory? Going to Atlantic City because it was shared with the whole family.

2. What are your three favorite smells and why? Blueberry because of blueberry pie and we used to go huckleberry picking when I was a child; roses because they are my favorite flower, my favorite color is red rose; Oranges and Lemons cause they smell fresh and clean.

3. What was the one piece of advice you have received growing up? Family is the most important thing in my life and always will be.

4. If you could go anywhere in the world where would you like to go? I would like to go to Hawaii since I have never been there and have always heard some awesome things about it. Second would be back East to visit my family.

5. What is your biggest regret? I didn't stay in the Navy as a career, because there are so many benefits once you reach 20 years for people especially for a woman. One of my biggest regrets was to tell my mother in law off when I had to. I wished I would have had some gumption to say things to her that deserved to be said but I was raised in a time where we had to keep quiet. Now I don't have to just take the things people tell me I can have an opinion of my own.

So in a nutshell, I wanted to thank her for being born and giving me some vital lessons that I have been able to pass along to my own family. She has taught me self sacrifice is a great tool for providing the love to your family and it's something that can never be taken away from you. She has taught me that hard work goes a long way towards selling yourself. It shows reliability and dependability as well as great character and ethics, something severely lacking in today's work place. So Happy Birthday today Mom! We love and miss you when you aren't around.

Love your family!