The People Along Life's Path

We finally escaped from our house and got on the road late last night. By the time we arrived at our first hotel at 1am I thought I was going to die of exhaustion. Have you ever gotten to the point when driving late at night where you think, if I just close my eyes and wake up in a hospital bed, at least I'll be sleeping.... I know, terrible but that's how I felt. The kids and husband in the car with me are what kept my eyes pried open.

Today we arrived at our first destination. Miserable, loney Ely, Nevada. If you've ever been to Ely you know exactly what I'm talking about. Anytime that I come to this town I get this sick feeling in my gut and just want to turn the car around and not look back. It just has the icky feeling to it.

Today was different. Right when we pulled into town I pulled in front of a sports bar that my mom's ex from when I was a little girl owns. Seeing him did something to me I think. He came out and got to meet my family and had a smile on his face that made my soul feel like it was smiling. I miss him. I miss him and my mom together. When they were together we were a family. I was happy.

I think on this trip this is going to happen a lot to me. I'm backtracking and going to places that are from my past and I'm going to see people and places from my past that will bring back memories and feelings... feelings I really didn't realize I had in me.

How is it possible for people to come in and out of your life? There are so many moments that happen in our life, relationships that we form, and as we grow apart, move apart, lose contact we forget. We forget how much these people mean to us. I think it is dreadfully sad, and I want to make it a goal to stay in contact with the people that have meant something to me. Not just the current people in my life, but with everyone that has had an impact in my life.

I didn't have the privilege of having a father growing up. My dad as I've talked about many time on this blog has never been my dad. But because of this I have had the privilege of having some wonderful father figures in my life. 1 of them met my children tonight. The other will be meeting them in Salt Lake next weekend. Dustin in Salt Lake was never a step-dad of mine, but he holds the place in my heart that a Dad holds in a girl. He is such a wonderful person and did so much to help me out through my teenage years, and I disappointed him. I just want him to know now and always that I appreciate him, and I am so happy that he has such a wonderful family ~ and I'm happy he continues to help troubled teens. I only hope that they realize what a wonderful guy they have there for them.... Dustin rocks and I CANNOT wait to see him next weekend and have him meet my husband, my children and to see that I didn't turn out too bad.

I want to remember the people that have impacted my life. I want to make contact with them all and let them know how they helped to make me who I am today, because that's what happens.... the people in our path of life help to make us who we are.

I Figured Out Why

I read a quote on Twitter talking of how there are 2 important days in everybody's life ~ The day we are born and the day we figure out why.

It reminds me a lot of {this post}.

But more importantly it reminds me that I am a mom, and my life has taken a completely different turn that before and the reason why I live, breathe, eat... everything is for my children. One reason why I am here is to be an example to them. To bring them up with values that will carry on with them throughout their life. To love God and be thankful and thoughtful of what Jesus Christ did for them. To be a good mother to my children, to God's children, and to treat all of God's children with the respect that he wishes we would treat each other with.

It reminds me that I make mistakes every, single day of my life, and I have a wonderful savior that died for me so that I can learn from these mistakes and be forgiven. That there is such a thing as unconditional love, and that I should express this to the people in my life, since it is expressed to me from Him.

It reminds me that I'm not just on this earth to live in the moment of life, but look at the eternity aspect and think of that before my actions. To think before I act, so that I can be proud of who I am and for what I stand for.

It reminds me that I am here for a reason, and a reason that is worth living for, and reason that will have rewards in the next life ~ in eternity.

I found what sleeping in heaven will be like

Last night my husband and I climbed into our bed and both sat completely speechless. It took everything out of me to turn my head towards him and ask.... are you in heaven too?

While I was at Costco yesterday I found that in the coupon book the one thing I've had my eye on lately was $30.00 off.... YES! I've been wanting to get a new mattress, because frankly, mine sucks. I wake up some days with my shoulders and back hurting and complaining to everyone. Frankly, I think they're all sick of it.

So I've solved my problem... I didn't have to spend hundreds on a new mattress and have probably the most comfortable bed I've ever been on IN MY LIFE! All it is is a 3 inch memory foam mattress topper. And if you hurry you can get yours for up to $30.00 off (depending on size) at Costco until Sunday, 8/2/09!

It feels like the mattress perfectly forms around your body, which it totally does.... it's the most amazing, indescribable feeling I've ever felt. I can't

This morning my little Jayden man came into my room got on my bed and came running downstairs yelling, "MOM! Your new mattress is AWESOME!" I cannot wait to go to bed tonight ~ and I'm sad that I'm going on a vacation and will be without it for like 10 days.

You can read other things that people love at {Diaper Diaries}!!

Twitter & Traveling... I'll be doing twitter while traveling!

Boy these days have been flying! I am leaving for vacation in 2 days and am completely unprepared... I know it will all come together! I'm looking forward to this week's Works for Me Wednesday to scoop out travel tips w/kids. It's summer... there has to be some! We are driving from Oregon to Colorado ~ I definitely will be needting tips - so in addition to giving some comment love on my Works for Me Tip below, I would love it if you'd leave some comment love with your best traveling w/kids tip ~ BECAUSE I'M GONNA NEED IT!!!

Lately I've found that something works for me that I'm sure works for a lot of people here in the bloggity world. That's Twitter. I HEART twitter. Believe it or not, I actually kinda boycotted it for a while, because I did not get the point. Who cares if some random person's kid is watching Elmo.... do you really think I care.... now, YES!

Ways that Twitter works for me:

It is the most AMAZING way to receive prayers ~ especially for your sick baby. When Ella drank her heart medicine I posted a quick tweet asking for prayers and was amazed at the response I got. TONS of people started following me and praying for Ella... and their prayers worked! I am now seeing it happen with baby {Stellan} ~ that baby boy is receiving SO MANY prayers ~ (((HUGS))) to his family. These tweetin' mamas have always got your back.

It is a way to get people to come and read your blog. I have noticed that ever since I started using twitter I am clicking more on the links people are tweeting than actually reading the blogs in my google reader. I have many, many more readers just from them finding me on twitter. And I have found some of my favorite blogs on twitter as well, and made great bloggin'/twitter friends.

If you want to promote something, it's a great way! Just tweet about it and ask others to retweet for you!

Besides my blog I use it with my family as well. If something is going on, like the birth of a baby, we can update the progress through twitter... that way everybody is getting to see it. Family gossip also goes well through twitter as well, just make sure the one you're gossiping about isn't reading it LOL

It is like your own virtual party. You can peek in and peek out whenever you see fit. I used to be huge on mommy forums, but am now finding I'm more happier hanging out with my tweeple. I don't feel obligated to always respond or communicate (unless of course it is a direct message or an @anjyldream)

Twitter has become this virtual world, where everyone is joining in to be a part of the new "big" thing online. I can't believe how much I actually really LOVE twitter...I love it so much that I'm constantly checking my Ubertwitter on my blackberry to stay in the loop ~ and my husband has even joined with me!

The support that you can receive from other's is amazing. In so many situations I've tweeted a question and got a great reply from a complete stranger, and a reply that I actually really appreciated.

Twitter is the new thing that's working for me. If you're not a part of twitter I vote that you should be! And once you join you can find me {@anjyldream}

Huge thanks to {Kristen} for hosting Works for Me Wednesday ~ it's one of the best carnivals out there! There's nothing us mama's love more than reading what works for other's.

If inspiration is something that works for you be sure to follow me on {twitter} or subscribe to my {RSS Feed} so that you are in the {know} on Mondays for my inspirational carnival {Just a Motivating Monday}. It's my new baby and I hope to see it blossom like Works for Me Wednesday has. Hope to see you back here on Monday!!

My Little Smarty Pants

Yesterday I walked in the kitchen to catch Ella singing along to her ABC's magnet. I was absolutely shocked when I realized that she was actually getting some of those letters right on and just looked so darn cute doing it! She's not even 2!!! I'm going to have quite the smarty pants on my hands ~ lately it's like Ella picks up everything. She's talking in sentences, using terminology that a 23 month old should not know.... I know, I know, I'm bragging - BUT I CAN'T HELP IT! I am such a proud Mama! So, here she is singing along to her magnet ~ she just melts my heart!

Praying for Stellan - Remembering About Ella

Today my heart has been heavy with prayer for a special little boy. Stellan is fighting for his life, and fighting hard as I type this out. As you all know, I have a cardiac baby. I have sat next to her side as she's been on ventilators breathing for her, because she had been in SVT for so long that her organs began to start shutting down.

The feelings that I felt will never be able to be explained in words. It's so much more than that. When you look at the heart monitors and see that your baby's heart rate is going above 200 and reach highs so high that the monitors can't even read them you drop to your knees and you pray. You pray like you've never prayed before.

I am so grateful that I have not experienced Ella going into SVT for 1 year, 9 months and 2 days. I have gotten to the point where I'm not a mom carrying a stethoscope in diaper bag, because it's been so long since there has been a problem. You can read about Ella's story {HERE}

Stellan can't get out of SVT. His heart rate is 220 + and has been going this fast now for 3 days and counting. How he has survived this long is probably beyond everybody, but he is surviving. I'm sure it has to do with the MANY, MANY, MANY prayers that are going on for Stellan. I have spent my night and day praying for this baby boy, as I know thousands have. You can read all about Stellan {HERE}

I'm taking this moment to say that I am scared to death of what Ella has. I am scared to death that one day she's going to go into SVT and she's not going to come out of it. I recently almost lost her to something so stupid and preventable, what if something I can't prevent happens. You know what, I'd blame her doctors. I do not like my daughter's cardiologist. What cardiologist in their right mind would take a toddler off of her heart medicine to "see" if she possibly doesn't go into SVT. Yup, that's what her great cardiologist wanted to do. Well, now Ella is on a different medication since her overdose and it happens to be the same medication that didn't work for her.

Now I am just another mom carrying a Stethoscope in her diaper bag, praying that I never hear that fast heart beat EVER again.

And now, I'm just another mom praying for Stellan and hoping that my worst fear ceases in him and that he gets out of SVT and that he can give his mom another smile, another laugh, another day, another year ~ I hope she gets an entire lifetime out of him and I hope I get a get a lifetime out my Ella.

This picture is of Ella when she was going through what Stellan is going through right now. It is a picture I sometimes stare at and thank God that my little girl that was once laying lifeless in the PICU is now an outgoing, precious little girl that has stolen my heart in ways that I can't explain.

Mckmama, Stellan & family ~ I'm praying so hard for you. Hugs for another SVT baby family. We're here supporting you 110%.... I know that Stellan will pull out of this, because he is beyond a fighter ~ he is so awesome.

And the winners of BlogNerd are......

The winner of the Custom Embroidered Gifts goes to: Shan @ {Confessions of an unorganized momma} ~ CONGRATS SHAN!!!!


The winner of Scentsy goes to: Rachel @ {The Titus 2 Homemaker} ~ CONGRATS RACHEL!!


The winner of the Bath & Body Works basket goes to: Stefany from {To.Be.Thode} CONGRATS STEFANY!!!

Just a Motivating Monday - Embracing my years

Welcome to the 3rd edition of Just a Motivating Monday ~ If you are just joining us here's the scoop:

-Write a blog post about ANYTHING at all that inspires you, or something you feel will inspire others.

-Please link back to Garibay Soup

-Please snag my Just a Motivating button on your post.

-I hope that we can all go and visit each other's blogs and read what everyone has linked up ~ I hope that this carnival can bring more traffic for you :) So, spread the comment love!


Embracing My Years~

I turned 27 on Friday. I cannot believe that I am 27 years old. I'm almost to the point where I'm not going to be in 20's anymore and I just can't believe that it's gone by this fast.

I know a lot of people, especially women, dread each birthday. They're getting older, and they don't want to. I'm the opposite ~ I love growing older. Every year I discover a little more of who I am inside. I can think back 5 years ago and it's shocking to see what a different person I was. I am pleased with the person that I have become.

I worry less about things that seemed to be of so much importance back then. I treasure things I didn't care about before. I've become a much better mom, a much better wife and I think I am much better person inside.

I embrace each year, because I think with each year I grow; I mature. I learn a little bit more about life, when I thought I knew it all the year before. I learn a little bit more about my husband, when I thought I knew him inside and out. I get to see what beautiful people my kids are slowly turning into. I love each year, I love my Birthday and embrace it all ~ because this is life and instead of dreading we need to be grateful and live it up to its fullest.

Every day to me is a gift, and I treasure every year granted to me just the same. I hope to see 100 and I hope that it's all documented right here on Garibay Soup.

Here's to another fabulous year ~ and hopefully many more. I can't wait to see what I learn and become along the way.

Here's my sister and me celebrating another year of my life!
I'm the one on the right if you're just joining me here @ Garibay Soup
OH and don't mind the quality - it was w/a camera phone :)

ASK A BLOGGER @ BLOGNERD!

WOOOOOOOPS!!! I thought that this post was going to automatically post at midnight.... guess I did something wrong. So, I guess for this lovely Saturday we're gettin' this party started off LATE!

If you haven't already introduce yourself {HERE} and leave comment love for a great giveaway

and then you should head over {HERE} and share your blogging advice, give more comment love for another great giveaway

Today's is simple, sweet and to the point.......

ASK A BLOGGER ~ WHATEVER YOUR HEART DESIRES!!! Have you ever wondered what bottles you should use for your baby? How about advise in the kitchen? Are you stuck on a family decision that you would like a fresh set of ears to listen? Write a blog post and link up and let's go around answering each other's questions ~ bloggers helping bloggers

Today's giveaway is..... a surprise gift basket from {Bath & Body Works}.... because we ALL love the stuff!!!!

THIS AND THE OTHER 2 GIVEAWAYS WILL NOW END AT MIDNIGHT ON 7/27/09 ~ WE'RE DRAGGING IT OUT FOR MY BIRTHDAY WEEKEND!!! SO SPREAD THE WORD!

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment For 3 more entries write a blog post asking the bloggers anything you want and then come back to leave 3 more comments for your 3 extra entries Send a tweet ~ leave an extra comment for another entry

~ Here's my ASK A BLOGGER question ~

I am not a coupon clipper. I'm not very frugal when it comes to grocery shopping, but you can read {HERE} how that's about to all change. I want to learn about a good system that I can use to start trying to be frugal. I don't even know where to begin..... I don't know how to organize coupons and all of that..... so bloggers can anyone help me????

Happy BlogNerd Bash - All About Bloggin'

I hope everyone is having fun partying it up at all the Non-BlogHer parties. Today's an extra special Non-Blogher Party day in these neck of the blogs, because IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!!

If you haven't yet, please head over to {THIS POST} to introduce yourself and comment & link up for that prize IT'S A GOOD ONE!!!! And if you haven't hit up the {BlogHop party} ~ you definitely should be checking it out.

There is one thing that each and every single one of us has in common. We are BLOGGERS! I know that at BlogHer they are getting a ton of great information that we're missing out on. Bloggers are uniting to share their ideas, listen to great speakers and so much more that I have no idea about.

I figured we could all act as guest speakers today and give each other the best blogging advice that we have to give. Maybe throw in advice on blog topics to write when you're having bloggity block. After you give your advice you can switch it up and ask the bloggity world advise you need on blogging.

My advice for bloggers is simple. It's what I've done from the beginning is to speak from your heart. The blogs are supposed to reflect us, for who we are, so it's okay to let it all out. It's okay to blog about the things in life that aren't always happy, because sometimes that's what people need to read about. When we read about all of the rainbows in people's world it's almost upsetting to think about the world you're in with the money struggles, the strain on your marriage, the imperfect things you do, the times that your kids are acting a fool and you are ready to FREAK OUT... does that make much sense?

Comment! We all love love from others out there. I try to comment to ALL of my readers, and I know that might be a lot when you have hundreds of readers, but touching base with them and letting them know that you appreciate them coming to support you means a lot. When I first started out and had virtually no readers the first comments from somebody knew gave me so much excitement. We all are here for somebody to listen and knowing that somebody is there makes it worth it. So no matter how small or big your blog is spread the comment love.

Now for my question ~

I am starting to get to the point where I want to review products. How do I get started in this?

Also~ I have been having a totally difficult time getting another sidebar on this blog. I figured it out, but for some reason the sidebar will linger on the bottom instead of the top. I found one thing that told me what to change to fix it, but when I did what I said it wouldn't work... UGH! I am so frustrated, because I have ideas for this sidebar ~ and it will make me feel so much better to have it accomplished.

And Now for Today's Giveaway!!!! All you have to do is leave a comment for an entry

If you link up w/a post giving your blog advise (and you can even ask a ? like me!) 3 more entries ~ but make sure that you leave 3 more comments for 3 more entries.

Tweet about this and you get another entry ~ just make sure that you leave an extra comment

Rachel at {Spangler Fam} sells {SCENTSY}!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE Scentsy. I love walking into my home to most delicious aromas. The best part about it to me is that it's a flameless candle, so I don't have to worry about my toddler knocking it over and burning my house down.

She is offering one of my readers a burner that she has and you will get to choose 3 bars of whatever fragrance your pitter patter heart desires ~ let me just say that French Kiss is my FAV!
I can't wait to go through and read everyone's blogging advise ~ and I hope someone can answer my ?'s :)

THIS LINKUP IS NOT FOR YOUR INTRODUCTION POST ~ FOR YOUR BLOGHOP INTRODUCTION POST GO {HERE} THIS LINKUP IS FOR THE BLOG ADVISE ~ THANK YOU!!

Welcome to the Happy BlogNerd BASH.... Let's Mingle!

Welcome to Garibay Soup!! I LOVE blog parties and LOVE getting to know other bloggers. I can't wait to go through all of the many blogs that are associated with Pity Party, Bloghop & of course, my very own Happy BlogNerd Bash!!! Grab yourself your favorite beverage... whatever it is that you enjoy while mingling with your girl friends, and get cozy... If you're visiting me from either the Pity Party or Bloghop I hope you join in with my very own party going on here. See, Friday is my birthday and I am not at BlogHer. It's a sore subject. But I'm having a giveaway for every day, and great subjects where we are ALL guest speakers, cuz you know all of us bloggers & tweeters always have so much to say!... so I hope to have you join in. Don't forget to follow me on {Twitter} and to subscibe to my {RSS Feed}. That way you don't lose your way back here for all the fun. Since today is the first day of BlogNerd it's the introduction day!! To participate in this Bash for today you just write an introduction post, tell lots about yourself, link to your favorite posts you've written and you should definitely share your favorite recipe, because I will! You can snag my button on the side bar for you post ~ sharing the word that there's a great party going on here. Don't forget to come back every single day through 7/25/09, because there will be more stuff going on... and more giveaways!!


My name is Amanda. I have 2 beautiful children, Ella & Jayden. Ella is my cardiac baby and has given us many scares, but we're so lucky that she's a strong fighter. She's turning 2 in August and it seems like she's already going on 16.... it's scary. My Jayden is going to be 8 this year ~ he's going into the 2nd grade and that all in itself is mind blowing for this mom!

I've been married for 5 years. It hasn't always been happy, because we've definitely experienced our share of troubles, but we've made it through so much, and I don't think there's anything else that we could never get through. We're in it for the long haul ~ he's my best friend, and I'm excited to grow old with him.

With blogging I lay it ALL OUT on the line. I don't hold back, it's my place for my thoughts and hopefully I don't rub people the wrong way, but I tell it like it is. That's what makes me ME. I blog about my personal life, the things I think up in my crazy mind, and things that probably will embarrass my kids someday. But that's why I started this blog. I started this blog to have a record of my life, of me ~ for my kids, and their kids to know who their mom and grandma was. And see our life for what it really was. Life isn't perfect.... and neither is this blog.

I'm an inspiration junkie. I LOVE LOVE LOVE to read anything inspiring. Inspiring quotes can definitely turn a frown upside down, and get you motivated to have a better outlook on things, heck on life! So I started a new carnival called Just to Motivate Your Monday. Every Monday I post an inspirational post and McKlinky is set up for others to write something inspirational to share with others. Or you can always just share you favorite quote. It's a very new carnival... there's only been 2 so far, but I hope to see it grow and flourish, because we all need inspiration ~ it can paint our worlds. So make sure you check in every Monday and link up!! Let's all help each other through inspiration. I hope to see each and every single one of you back here on Monday to give me the inspiration I thrive for.... and I hope that with this carnival I can help you get more followers, because we ALL love to have our feathers ruffled every now and then... right?

If you really want to know random things about me there's always {THIS LIST},

If you're interested in reading about my daughter's heart condition, including the scary accident she just had with her medicine you can read about that {HERE}

If you want to read about my baby that never said hello, and I never got to say good bye to you can read about her {HERE}

If you want to read about how scattered my thoughts can be {READ THIS}! They may be scattered at times, but I do feel strongly about what I wrote!

If you want to see what makes me smile, laugh & cry every day of my life {CLICK HERE} oh yeah and {HERE} as well.

Of course my FAVORITE recipe in the entire world is {ENCHILADA PIE}

Well, I hope I gave you a good glimpse into my very soul, because that's what I try to do here at Garibay Soup.... I didn't link you to the true dysfunction of my family, because I kinda want ya to come back! We'll just save all of that for after you're hooked!

Now for the giveaway!!! I know, I gabbed for too long didn't I? The lady who owns this shop is a great friend of mine. Her son also has the same heart condition that Ella has. So, we've bonded ~ her website is {www.rylidesigns.com} ~ click on gift ideas to see some ideas, but she does custom work. So custom, that I had her embroider Gino's Wifey on underwear for my 5 year anniversary ~ and on the back they said 5 Years Strong... they were ADORABLE If you leave a comment you will be entered to win a $30.00 gift certificate to spend on whatever your heart desires from her.

If you link up on this post with an introduction post linking back to the Happy BlogNerd Bash you may leave 3 more comments for 3 more entries :) Make sure you leave the extra comments if you link up.

If you tweet about the party linking to this post you can leave 1 more comment for an extra entry as well.

WINNER WILL BE CHOSEN BY RANDOM.ORG & ANNOUNCED ON 7/26/09 ~ LINKS WILL CLOSE ON 7/26/09 @ MIDNIGHT ~ YOU WILL BE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS AND ALL OTHER FUTURE PARTY POSTS UNTIL 7/26/09 @ MIDNIGHT.

If you haven't already head over to {BlogHop09} for more party fun!!!! And on Twitter there's the #pityparty by @stop4chocolate and @waymorehomemade


Thank you so much for stopping and by and Don't forget to come back every single day through 7/25/09, because there will be more stuff going on... and more giveaways!! AND MY BIRTHDAY IS FRIDAY, 7/24/09 ~ SO YOU HAVE TO COME PARTY WITH ME!!!

THE PARTY DOESN'T STOP HERE, AFTER YOU COMMENT, LINK UP & COMMENT SOME MORE :) HEAD OVER {HERE} FOR THE NEXT PART OF THIS PARTY... AND IT'S MY BIRTHDAY PARTY!!! WE'RE GIVING AWAY SOMETHING I TOTALLY LOVE.... AND I KNOW YOU WILL TOO!

This is how we eat our ice cream cupcakes!

It's {Wordless Wednesday}....

This is how a girl enjoys an ice cream cupcake from Cold Stone!




On another note......

I want to share one more thing! If you're like me you are missing out on one of the BIGGEST blogger events this week. I'm pretty bummed, especially since my birthday is on one of the Blogher Conference days. So, I'm hosting a {Happy BlogNerd BASH}! I hope you'll join me. It's being launched on 7/23/09 and going through 7/25/09. There will be giveaways and link ups and lots of fun!! So, either follow me on {Twitter}, or Subscribe to my {RSS Feed} so you don't miss out! You can also grab the BlogNerd button on my sidebar to help spread the word!!

I tasted heaven... then had to bathe Ella

It's Wednesday!!!! {Kristen} is hosting the weekly Works for Me Wednesday... head over there for more great tips.

I normally try to share an actual "tip" that will help other mom/houswives out, but today I'm probably going to discourage a lot of people that are dieting.... and I'm SO sorry for that. I too should most definitely not be eating ANYTHING like this, but O.M.G! WOW! Tonight I found a little taste of heaven.

If you've never had Cold Stone ice cream ~ it's DELICIOUS! I've always loved it, and love how I can create whatever, well.... they created something even more spectacular! Ice cream cupcakes. Oh, let me tell you.... THEY DEFINITELY work for this mama! They worked for me and my entire family..... and as you can see, especially for my daughter, Ella. Yes, I had to give her 2 baths! It's okay.... she had a ball bathing herself in cake and ice cream.

So, let me tell you a little bit about this delish dish! They come in a six pack of assorted flavors and they all come in a chocolate hard shell (mmmmmm!!!!). The one I had went a lil' like this..... a Belgian Chocolate Cup, then Red Velvet Cake, Cake Batter Ice Cream, Pink Frosting and Rainbow sprinkles..... here's a picture for you mouth to water over.

So I'm in love. It's going to be a dangerous thing for my figure, but I LOVE IT! And luckily my birthday is Friday and I get to eat them again!

Sorry if you're grabbing your keys, ditching your diet and heading to Cold Stone right now, but I promise you'll thank me once you sink your teeth into this HEAVEN!

OKAY!!! Now that I've shared what works for me, I want to share one more thing! If you're like me you are missing out on one of the BIGGEST blogger events this week. I'm pretty bummed, especially since my birthday is on one of the Blogher Conference days. So, I'm hosting a {Happy BlogNerd BASH}! I hope you'll join me. It's being launched on 7/23/09 and going through 7/25/09. There will be giveaways and link ups and lots of fun!! So, either follow me on {Twitter}, or Subscribe to my {RSS Feed} so you don't miss out! You can also grab the BlogNerd button on my sidebar to help spread the word!!

He didn't get the memo: Bad Attitude Sucks

When you think that you have your children figured out they throw you for a loop. For the most part my son, Jayden, is very well behaved. The manners this kid owns put people from the olden days to shame. He has this soul about him that makes people wonder about him. I am not a believer of pasts lives, I feel like we get one chance on this earth, but it's almost like he's been here before. The way he talks is so meticular (I don't even know if this is the right word to use here, but it's what comes to mind) and it will stop you in your tracks.

My son holds a very large part of my heart in his tiny, little hands. I feel protective over him, because he has a sweet soul. He's not a very grimy, bug searching little boy. He washes his hands throughout the day on his own, does not like to be dirty and will notice if my car is a bit out of sort.... and makes sure I know it. There's so much of him that makes him HIM and I love it!

So when you have a little boy that for the most part listens and behaves and he switches it up on you for a day, how in the world are you supposed to handle that? Today is just a complete off day in our home. Jayden is doing every, single thing I tell him NOT to do. He kept knocking on my door (while it was open) and I asked him to stop. Did he? NOPE! So I threatend to take today's swimming trip away if he knocked 1 more time - he did it! The kid completely tested me.... so no swimming trip. Well, since there's no swimming trip, now he decides to go and knock on EVERYTHING in my room - including me, my pillows, everthing he could knock his little hand on.

It made me feel like I wanted to put a pillow over my face and scream as lousd as I could. WHY is he acting like this? Nothing different is going on in our home, I just don't get it. After things cooled off I went up to his room to talk to him and he said he couldn't stop himself. He had to knock. Does he have OCD or something?

I know that everyday is not suppposed to be perfect. I know that my son will soon be changing and developing attitudes, become more secretive about things and it all scares me. The attitude I've watched slowly trying to sneak into his soul is scaring me to death about what's to come. Being a parent is such a gift, but boy does it have it's trials!

**The picture here I took last night of him holding his new baby cousin, Paxton.

Just a Motivating Monday - Positivity

Welcome to the 2nd EVER Just a Motivating Monday! If you are just joining us here's the scoop.

-Write a blog post about ANYTHING at all that inspires you, or something you feel will inspire others.

-Please link back to Garibay Soup

-Please snag my Just a Motivating button on your post.

-I hope that we can all go and visit each other's blogs and read what everyone has linked up ~ I hope that this carnival can bring more traffic for you :) So, spread the comment love!!!

With that being said......

Last week I gave away a copy of the book The Secret. The reason why I gave away a copy of this book was mainly because it has inspired me more than words can describe. I have ALWAYS looked at the negative side of things. Before that book came into my life I thought negatively, I spoke negatively, I lived negatively. Guess what... my life became quite negative.

When reading the book I thought, there is absolutely no way that just changing the way I think will bring upon different results in my life. If I'm tired, it's because I'm tired. I can't change that by thinking about being awake. So, I tested it one day. I was so unmotivated, exhausted and saw no hope in me getting off the couch, away from my movie and cleaning up the mess of a living room my kids made. So, while my mind was thinking how I couldn't do it, I decided to stop dwelling on the fact that I was too tired, and started thinking about how wonderful it was going to be to have my living room clean. I got this jolt of energy, had it done quickly and was motivated to move on from there.

I promise, it works!

This book also explains the importance of gratitude. If you're not grateful, what makes you think the universe (or God in my eyes) will grant you more wishes? Wake up grateful everyday for the things you have, and not dwell on the things you do not have. You may think this is easier said than done, but I'm doing it now, and that's HUGE!

I feel like I have changed my life, my family, my marriage, my financial situations all because of positivity and this book. When I'm not feeling right, or being depressed I instantly change the way I feel and watch myself transform right before my eyes.

The mind is the most powerful thing, and we have power over our minds. Use them for the better, change your ways to positivity and be grateful.... see your life transform right before your eyes!

A few of my favorite quotes out of the book:

Bob Doyle: The emotions are an incredible gift that we have to let us know what we're thinking.

Therefore, if your emotions aren't positive I can pretty much guarantee you that you aren't attracting anyt-hing positive into your life.

Robert Collier (1885-1950) "See the things that you want as already yours. Know that they will come to you at need. Then let them come. Don't fret and worry about them. Don't think about your lack of them. Think of them as yours, as belonging to you, as already in your possession."

Regarding that quote... this is something that my husband does ALL THE TIME. He even got a Chrysler 300 this way.... he visioned, knew it would happen and one day I just went and traded my car in for it ~ he got his wish... and it was a surprise. The car is his dream car, and all he did was put it out in the universe.

Charles Hannel "To acquire love... fill yourself up with it until you become a magnet."

I hope this inspired you ~ and I can't wait to read what inspires you!

On another note, if you won't be attending the BlogHer conference I'm holding a Happy BlogNerd bash here! Please join me on 7/23/09-7/25/09 for some fun, and giveaways!!! You can snag my button on the side to spread the news.

I am Simply Blessed

I love it when I find carnivals that has a purpose for something I like to write about. Today I stumbled upon a blog called {Simply Blessed}. The carnival that she hosts is something that I was going to write about today anyways, and this just gave me an idea to spin it off in another direction.

My husband and I have been married now for 5 years. We have lived together for going on 9. From the time I turned 18 my husband and I have been together. Choosing to spend your life with someone at such a young age can sometimes lead to unhappiness, divorce, trials..... or you could just be lucky and have truly found life's bliss.

I didn't find life's bliss at such a young age. I found that love is nothing like the movies. I found that fighting can pierce your heart. I found that happiness doesn't exist every, single day. I found that becoming parents at such a young age can put so much pressure on your relationship that you forgot how you even liked each other to begin with. I found that keeping house is downright impossible especially when it wasn't just me to keep up after. I found that silence hurts, that screaming relieves, that breaking phones releases. I discovered what it was like to hate, I think he discovered this as well. I found that sins are easy to make, and take a long time to heal.

So how is this all a blessing? Because despite the above we stuck together. We made it work. After changes to ourselves and for each other we are happy. We love each other. It's not like in the movies, but it's our love. It works for both of us and I go to bed with a smile on my face almost every, single night.

My marriage is a blessing. I couldn't be more thankful for my best friend and the heart of my soul. He has grown into a man that I am proud to say is my husband. A man that I am proud to say is the father of my children.

There is no bigger blessing to be able to say that this marriage has overcome some things that people get divorced over and we're still growing strong. I truly am blessed, and madly in love.

On a different note:

Join me on Monday for my carnival Just a Motivating Monday it's an inspirational carnival, where we as bloggers share things that have inspired us, or things we think will inspire others. And on Thursday 7/23/09-Saturday 7/25/09 for the {HAPPY BLOGNERD PARTY}!! It's for us nerds not making it to BlogHer and to celebrate my BIRTHDAY ~ GIVEWAYS WILL BE HAPPENING!!!!

Because we won't be at BlogHer

This year I'm missing out on 2 things. The first is my Wildtree convention in Florida and the other is the Blogher convention in Chicago. Oh how I would LOVE to attend both, but they are both on the same days and I had other arrangements that prevented me from attending either.

BlogHer seems like such an amazing thing to be able to attend. I could only imagine the inspiration that people will leave with. The joy they'll feel finally being able to put a voice & name w/a blog. I know I'm not alone, so I decided in honor of my birthday and Blogher I'm having a BASH!

My birthday is on Friday 7/24 and it's a day most bloggers will be attending the Blogher conference. So, I hope you'll join Garibay Soup from 7/23/09-7/25/09 for the Happy BlogNerd Bash! It's for us nerds that aren't able to make it to BlogHer ~ yes, we're nerds for not putting more of an effort to make it!

There will be a giveaway each day, link ups and topics that we'll be discussing (we will all be guest speakers!). The first day 7/23/09 will be a day where we introduce ourselves, get to know one another & get ready for the party! The other days are SURPRISES!!

If you don't yet, follow me on {Twitter} or subscribe to my {RSS Feed} so you don't miss out on the prizes or the fun, and snag the party's Button off of my sidebar to display on your blog.

Hope to see you here!

I call it stupidity... who would've thought

I come from a snobby family, well not all of them, but a couple of us are. I've picked up their traits and probably created a bunch of my own.I've changed into things I never was before, for the better, since I moved to Oregon. One thing I have yet to let go is where I grocery shop. In Sacramento if you go into a cheap food store it's so ghetto you want to disinfect your food before you bring it into your home.

So, I was always a Safeway shopper. In my eyes we were getting amazing deals! I didn't have to deal with the grimy feeling I felt when going to the less expensive stores. Then we moved to Oregon, where we remained a Safeway shopper, later discovered Fred Meyers, which was like 10x better than Safeway, because it was like having Target and Safeway combined! Yes, it was a dangerous thing, since we always ventured in to the fun part of the store and bought things.... things that are still sitting in my garage waiting to be used. Basically, Fred Meyers was sucking my bank account and I thought I was making out, because I didn't have to drive all over town for the different things I needed.

I never understood why people would shop at places like Winco, Food 4 Less and other ghetto looking places. Haha, I know what you're thinking.... what a snobby little biotch ~ just stick with me here.... a rare occasion is about to happen!

Last night my friend Brittany (she's my new nephew's mom) needed to go grocery shopping. Being that her baby is so new and the entire thing is just new to her she needed a helping hand to make sure it all went smoothly. I had no intention on buying a thing, because we were going to Food 4 Less. I walked in and it was like a light shone in my eyes and I heard angelic music. THIS STORE WAS AMAZING! The prices were completely unreal ~ it wasn't dirty, sure there were some trashy people there, but I was more in awe over the store than being concerned with them! How could the bread I buy for over $3.00 a loaf only be $1.89??????? What in the fricking world was I doing shopping at Fred Meyers?

I spent less than $50.00 and got quite a bit of stuff! They even have organic and natural sections... you can buy brown rice by the pound! The milk is a whopping dollar less than Fred Meyers....... the mayo ~ don't get me started I can't believe I ever paid more than what I did last night on the stuff.

I think my husband is a bit relieved that his wife who thought she was too good for a good deal is over herself. I'm relieved that I'm over myself, because I'd rather not spend what I spend on groceries. It's ridiculous! I'm anxious to sit down, menu plan for next week and head to my new found, glorious store to discover what's down those aisles, and have the prices sing to my heart!

I AM NOW A

GIRL

I'm still sappy - oh, and a bash is coming soon!

I'm still pretty much in shock at what happened with Ella. I really feel like it's given me a different outlook on my life. I've stopped fretting the small stuff, and while I know this won't last a long time, I sortof hope it does.

The other day while we were driving Ella dumped popcorn all over her, the next day it was lemonade. Before I'd be so frustrated and dwell on this, that it would effect me. Now it doesn't. It's not that big of a deal that I'm going to have to clean something up ~ thank God she's here so I can have something to clean up. What would my life be like if she wasn't? I'd probably be praying for her to spill that popcorn a million times if I could just get one more smile, one more hug, one kiss.

I promise the depressing posts will stop soon, but for now I'm lavishing in the fact that my daughter is okay.

I'm going to say that I don't blame myself for what happened, because I honestly did not expect her to get up on the counter and get her medicine, but the fact that it was me who put that medicine on the counter puts a little bit of a blame on my shoulder. I'm not going to dwell on it, I'm going to use this as a learning experience. I've learned that bad things can happen to my kids, and unfortunately all it takes is a couple of seconds and they could be fighting for their lives. This scares me. Life is so scary. I hope that my story will help other moms out there realize that it can happen to you.



On a completely different note.... I'm announcing something that's coming to Garibay Soup from 7/23/09-7/25/09 ~ it's a Happy BlogNerd Bash! It's happy, because my birthday is 7/24/09 and it's BlogNerd, because it's for us nerds that aren't able to make it to Blogher this year.

Stay tuned for more details and a button to share on your blog :) Also feel free to start tweeting and sharing the word that Happy Blognerd is coming to Garibay Soup 7/23/09-7/25/09 ~ if you don't follow me on Twitter you can do so {HERE}

Things I Love Thursday - Grapeseed Oils

Things I love Thursday..... oh boy, there are so many things I LOVE, but I'm going to share one of my favorite things right now ~ {Wildtree's Grapeseed Oil's}.

I LOVE Lemon flavored things. Cheesecake Factory's Lemon chicken is OH SO DELICIOUS, and I found a way to have something just as delicious at home. It's a lot less money, and it makes my taste buds SING!

A regular meal in my home is Lemon Rosemary Chicken and it is easily made using 2 of my favorite products. {Lemon Rosemary Blend} and {Zesty Lemon Grapeseed Oil}. I mix some of the blend w/some of the grapeseed oil, doubling the directions on the Lemon Rosemary Blend.

The first thing I do is take my veggies and roll them around in the mixture (asparagus are the best) and then I take my chicken and dip the chicken in the mixture. I then saute the chicken in Zesty Lemon Grapeseed oil and YUM!

These oils are very {healthy for you} and are infused with delicious flavors that flavor your food just right.

Do you want to share something that you love? Go over to {The Diaper Diaries} and share.... or read other people's :) Plus she has a pretty cool giveaway going on!

Welcoming Paxton - sharing the Easy Schedule

Yesterday my nephew was born. He was 6lbs 15oz. and 19 inches long. Talk about 1 adorable, precious baby boy! His name is Paxton Richard ~ and here he is - isn't he absolutely adorable?!?!?!?
So, my Works for Me Wednesday is a repeat, but I'm repeating for the new mom!


The EASY Schedule for your baby ~

I have done this with Jayden and Ella. I got the idea from Tracy Hogg's book {The Baby Whisperer} My Grandma bought me this book when I was pregnant with Jayden and tried her tactics and THEY WORKED!! Here's how the EASY Schedule works:



E stands for Eat
A stands for Activity Time
S stands for Sleep
Y stands for You Time

So, here's why this schedule works WONDERS with me. Your baby wakes up from a nap and you instantly feed him/her. You do not let them fall asleep while eating. After they finish their bottle you give them activity time. For a newborn this can be a bath, staring into the wondrous world before them. Just time for them to be awake and not be sleeping. Then when they get fussy, guess what! They're not hungry!!! You instantly know what the deal is. They're tired. So you wrap them up, rock them and put them to sleep....then you get YOU TIME (time where you can sit and hear the peace, that is if you don't have other children or the other children are in school!!) You can even schedule out what you're going to do for each You Time!!! Ella's at the age that during activity time she likes to get in her jumparoo and jump jump jump and that's my internet time. My You Time is USUALLY spent working or doing my housework.

This schedule has not failed me through 2 kids now and I love it. I always know what's next and so does Ella (she's my current baby) I'm a WAHM and it's nice to know that things are not out of control. It's easy for us and I know that I can tell someone when I will be calling them back, because according to Ella's schedule I know when she's going to be tired.

OH! And w/this schedule, Jayden never relied on a bottle to fall asleep. Therefore, when he turned 1 - I threw all of his bottles away on her b/day and we had NO ISSUES!!! Straight to the sippy cup like a big boy!

And the exciting thing today - she's sleeping right now, and when she wakes up she gets to eat baby food for the first time!!! Stay tuned for pictures!!!!

Hope this works for you like it's worked for me!! I highly suggest reading her book :)

For other things that work for other's head over to We Are THAT Family and enjoy yourself!

As for Brittany, the new mom of Paxton, I am buying you a copy of this book!!!! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. You did a wonderful job yesterday and I LOVE my nephew!!!!!

AND THE WINNERS ARE...................................

The winner of the cookie pops bouquet goes to: {The Gosfam}

The winner of Announcements by Farrari Angel goes to: {Kristen}


The winner of the book The Secret goes to: {Jessica}

The winner of Posh Petals goes to: {Ashlee}

The winner of Just Poppin goes to: {We Are THAT Family}

Congrats to all of the winners! I hope you enjoy what you won!!!
I will contact you via email and if I do not get a reply within 72 hours I will choose another winner.

I enjoyed the launch of this carnival and hope to see everyone back next Monday so we can motivate & inspire each other!!

Winners will be announced.......

Either tonight or tomorrow. I'm at the hospital waiting for my nephew to be born :)

Just a Motivating Monday LAUNCH!!!

I have been anticipating this launch for a while now!! I'm really excited to bring an inspirational blog carnival to our bloggy world. I was scared that after all the hype I've given about this launch that we wouldn't be able to do it due to the recent accident that happened with my daughter. It was a SCARY event and you are more than welcome to read about it {HERE}. That post in itself can be an inspiring post. It's a post where I share with other moms how I have learned through my daughter's accident to not fret the small stuff, because in the end it all doesn't matter as much as the safety and health of our babies. I am happy to say we are home and Ella is doing wonderfully. So, we get to have our launch party!!

I announced last week that I am starting a new carnival called Just a Motivating Monday. Every Monday I will host this carnival where we can share inspiring words with one another and help motivate each other on the hardest day of the week to get motivated!

The people who have participated in our giveaways are offering some great things for my readers!! The best part is there is multiple winners, and multiple ways to enter. At the end up my inspiring message I will announce all of the prizes and ways to enter.

PURPOSE

Do you have a purpose? Why is it that you are doing what you're doing? If you are living without knowing your purpose you are merely just existing and not truly living.

My purpose:

Life is definitely not meant to be easy, but I have found through my experiences that I can find the joy in most things, because I have a purpose. Sometimes being a stay at home mom, actually just being a mom, you can get frustrated and discouraged by the many things that you do repetitively throughout your day. How many times do you have to clean the living room, because your toddler's ambition in life is to see how many times mommy can have to clean it in one day? With all of the frustrations, you have to stop and ask yourself. What is my purpose?

I am pretty focused on what my purpose is. Of course our purposes can change day to day, but for now, these points are my main purpose.

1. Be able to stay at home with my babies, even if I am working at home - I want to be the one that's home with them
2. I want to be a good wife. I want my husband to be proud of who he married.
   
3. I want my children to have a stable childhood, to know what's coming in their lives and to have a secure feeling always
4. I want my children to have morals. To know the difference between right and wrong and to carry these morals with them all throughout their lives
5. I want my family to live in an organized, clean home - because having the opposite causes stress, and I'd prefer not to have that in our home
6. I want my family to love God and live by the gospel of Jesus Christ
7. I want to be a good example to everyone around me ~ especially my kids.
   

So, when I'm frustrated with the continuous cleaning up, or the constant whining, or the millions of questions, or the 3 hours of walking the halls at church on Sunday, I have to focus on my purpose, otherwise I might break. It's what keeps me strong, it's what keeps me focused and it's one of the most important things in my life besides my family.

If you have not discovered exactly what your purpose is, you have one. Sometimes it takes sitting down, looking at the things you are doing, figuring out why you are doing them and in turn figuring out what YOUR PURPOSE is. If you find that you're not happy with your purpose, then maybe the things you're doing aren't what you really want to be doing. Maybe it's time to sit down with what you want out of life, and figure out the things YOU should be doing to make these things happen.

We all have a purpose, and without truly knowing what our purpose is and being in control of it, you are just existing and not truly living.

I HOPE THAT WILL PARTICIPATE BY LINKING UP TO A POST ON YOUR BLOG THAT YOU WRITE FOR THIS CARNIVAL THAT IS INSPIRING FOR OTHER READERS. IT CAN BE A QUOTE THAT HAS INSPIRED YOU, OR WORDS FROM YOUR EXPERIENCES. OR WHATEVER YOU FIND INSPIRING. LET'S GET EACH OTHER MOTIVATED ON THIS DREADFUL MONDAY ~ THE DAY WE ALL DREAD! PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU SNAG MY BUTTON FROM THIS POST TO USE ON YOUR POST!! PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU LINK BACK TO GARIBAY SOUP ON YOUR BLOG POST!!!

GIVEAWAY PRIZES:

1 winner will receive a bouquet of {COOKIE POPS} a little bite of heaven on a stick ~ need I say more? I'm addicted to these and it's probably not in my best interest to have the creator living less than mile from me!

1 winner will receive a copy of my favorite inspirational book {The Secret}

1 winner will receive their choice of hat & headband from {Posh Petals} they are absolutely beautiful on any girl ~ small or big and my Ella is working on her own Posh Petals collection ~ WE LOVE POSH PETALS!!!

1 winner will receive a $50.00 gift certificate to {Custom Announcements by Ferrari Angel} Farah does an amazing job on her announcements ~ I hope you'll all check her out for your future announcements

1 winner will receive a $10.00 gift certificate to {Just Poppin} they do fundraisers!!!! My kids and I have a major addiction to popcorn! ;)

To enter in the contest you can leave a comment ~ for multiple entries you can:

Twitter about this contest (1 extra entry)
Participate in the blog carnival by linking up (3 extra entries)
Subscribe to my feeds {HERE} (1 extra entry)

To ensure you get your extra entries make sure you leave extra comments for every extra entry you do ~ I will be choosing my winners from random.org using the comments. This giveaway will end at 12:01am 7/14/09 ~ so you have until midnight to get all of your entries in!! I will be announcing the winners on 7/14/09. I will then contact the winners via email along with announcing them on my blog. If you win and do not contact me within 72 hours I will then choose another winner.

Welcome to Just a Motivating Monday!! Good luck on the giveaway and I hope to see you back here next Monday as well..... as well as every other Monday after that!!

When Life Throws You a Curve Ball

Every morning we as moms wake up to start our day. For the most of us these days follow our typical schedule and by the end of the day we are laying in our beds thanking God for one more day on this earth, for having healthy children, and for all of the many blessings that we are blessed with. After these prayers we snuggle in tightly and and wake up in the morning to repeat. However, during the day there were many moments of frustration over bills, housework, dinner, and the little every day things of life.

I am one of these moms. I have a cardiac baby, but nothing that has caused any issues since she was 12 weeks old. I wake up every day grateful for the blessing of being able to have a typical day. Being able to snuggle in my bed at night thankful for every blessing that I am blessed with. The only worry I am faced with is how crowded my bed has become, because a certain little toddler girl doesn't agree with me on the fact that she should remain in her toddler, princess bed at night ~ even if it is literally RIGHT NEXT TO MOMMY.

Yesterday my day started out just like any other day. I woke up and had no idea what major turn my day would be taking. Ella has a condition called Wolf-Parkinson-White syndrome. You can read all about her story with that {HERE}. Ella is on a medication to regulate this heart problem called Flecainide, which is a powerful drug that regulates her heart beat. It keeps it from going fast.

Little Miss Ella decided that she was going to pull out the drawers and climb up to get her medicine off of the counter. Her child proof medicine cap is not on it. It's a blue cap that you can pull the top off to put the syringe in to make it easier to fill it. Now, I will refuse this easier cap. She drank her medicine. We don't know exactly how much, but pretty quickly she was out of it and having a hard time keeping her head up and eyes open.

We jumped in the car and I drove about 90 to the hospital while my husband kept slapping her face to keep her awake. I was praying and praying and praying that she would be okay. We went to the hospital in Ashland, because it's closer than Rogue Valley. Once they got the IV in they had an ambulance show up to transport her to RVMC where she could be in the PICU. Her BP was low, her HR was low, but we were all thinking that maybe she just needed to sleep this medicine off and she would be okay.

Boy, were we all wrong. Upon arrival to RVMC she finally woke up and sat up and was crying telling us, "All done! All done!" while doing the sign language for all done as well. I literally could feel my heart aching inside of my chest for my precious little princess. Right then she started to throw up, and in the middle of throwing up her eyes got big and bulgy and it seemed like she wasn't breathing. The nurse grabbed her and I FREAKED! I ran out of the room crying hysterically, dropping down and praying like I've never prayed before. All I could hear was "CALL IT! CALL IT!" then CODE something being called. Then my head started spinning and in my mind I knew she was dying at that moment.

At this point I was sitting behind the nurse's desk with my head in my hand praying for God to just please not take my precious baby girl away from me. I didn't want to move, because I didn't want to feel the pain that was going to hit me the minute I realized she was gone.

They had a lady from social services and come hug me so tightly and tell me that she's breathing on her own. Her HR is low, but she's breathing on her own. They were trying to get me to slow down my breathing because I was on the verge of hyperventilating. I'd never been more happy when they told me, "Mom, she's waking up and she needs to see you right now." I went over and I could tell that she recognized me, and when she said, "All done!" I was so relieved that the seizure didn't defeat her!

After this we were informed that Ella would be mediflighted to Portland where they can keep an extra close eye on her heart. This medication messed up the rythmia of her heart and things were just not looking great.

At 2am the Panda team from Portland had arrived and Ella and I got inside of the ambulance and loaded up on a tiny airplane and got to Doernbecher Children's Hospital around 4am. Ever since we've been here she's gotten better and better. As of right now we're planning a morning release. She had another EKG done and we haven't received the results, but I'm praying that everything is back to normal!

Moments like these make us stop and appreciate what we have. Sometimes I might take everyday for granted, because I wake up and do the same thing every day. My days run together, but when life throws you a curve ball like this, you clutch your heart and thank God for every second you have with the ones you love. You NEVER know when you wake up in the morning what events will take.

Instead of complaining and getting stressed about the bills, the house, the mess, dinner..... just take a deep breath and be thankful that you are having one of those days when you're doing the same thing you do every day, because it could be so much worse. You could be having to pray for the life of your child.