Random Reflection

Tonight I have taken some time for me. The past month has been hectic--quite the emotional roller coaster. I'm ready for some normalcy in my life, but know that it is not going to happen anytime soon.

2007 and 2008 were the most amazing, self-rewarding and motivating years of my life. Now, it's the beginning of February 2009 and I'm tired, worn and heartbroken.

Last week my grandfather passed away. It's hard to describe the feelings that have overtaken me. My heart hurts. At first it hurt to breathe. Grumps was one of the most important men in my life and knowing I can not be with him is hard. I've heard it all, "it's for the better," "it's just the way life is" etc. I do appreciate everyone's support and condolences but am still extremely sad. Thank you Momma and Chris for the beautiful flowers.

For the first time in many years I was able to spend my birthday with my entire family. Although the circumstances were not ideal, I can thank Grumps for bringing me closer to those that I love and showing me the true colors of others. Samantha, I do want to add that I'm so grateful that we have become so close and I want you to know that I love you dearly and can not wait to spend the rest of our lives being the best of friends. (Including having Brian come install my new big screen!) :P

I have made the decision to have Lasik surgery in two weeks. It's going to take a chunk out of my checking account. but since I loose State insurance in May, I think it is for the better. Wow, May is an entire story in itself! After 18 years of school, I finally graduate! (Not to say I will not enroll again, but its nice knowing I could be officially done!) Enrolling or not, I now have to take the step of actually being an Adult! That means no more mommy and daddy paying for my insurance or being my personal loan center...scary! I am so grateful to have had their suppot as well. I have made the decision not to attend graduation, maybe I'll celebrate with friends and family at happy hour! I would like to save my vacation days for the camping trip at Sheeps Crossing--to take Grumps to wear he requested to spend eternity.

Last but surely not least, Brandon has officially been hired with Gilbert. It has been a long, drawn-out process but it's finally over! In 3 weeks he will be moving to Gilbert with me. It's a scary change--big commitment. But, I couldn't be happier.

Christmas Decorating

So, I had to get some Christmas decorating out of the way while I had time. I wanted Bran to decorate with me, but didn't really have the time to wait. (For those of you who haven't heard yet, Bran is completing the second half of Gilbert PD's Lateral Officer hiring process tomorrow. I've prayed every night the past month that it goes as planned!!!) At any rate, I have some coworkers that are coming up from Sierra Vista for Mandatory training Dec. 6-10, so I offered my house. Why not? I live alone in a fully furnished house that sits lonely.... Ironically shortly after making this offer a friend of mine called to let me know that she and her husband received the bank acceptance letter on a mortgage they requested for a new house and a prospective leaser on their current home. The problem, however, is that the new home will take up to 30 days to close, and the renter needs to move in by the 15th of December. So, of course I offered my house as well! They, along with their 3yr old daughter and 3 month old son will be moving in and spending the holidays with me. :) I really am excited about it.
So here's about all I was able to get done with Christmas decorating....

And of course what would our first Christmas in our home be without our first real Christmas tree :)

And well, that's about all I was able to get done at first because I was interrupted. Gladly though. :) I am proud to welcome the newest Davis addition baby #2,

born December 2,2008 4:16am to Mikee and Kristina

weighing in at 9lbs 7oz, 22in: Harlan Ray Davis.

-And because the world just can't get any smaller than it already is.... born in the room next door to my nephew on Dec. 1, 2008 Brody Samon to his proud daddy Chris, his wife and big brother. Congrats to them as well!

So, back to decorating, luckily I had planned on a busy holiday and finished my Christmas shopping before thanksgiving. So I recruited big brother Jaxon to help decorate using some Garland and the gifts...

Here is Jaxon....



Here is what I came up with...




And apparently he would prefer to be a milkman rather than an electrician (like father like son!)




It was nice having my parents and sister over though. I think this is the first time my dad has been by since June. :/ He had a hard time with me buying a home and moving out.... but He will come around.


Stay safe, Stay Warm and Get Excited for Red-Nosed Reindogs!

Thanksgiving 2009

My original plan for Thanksgiving was to do nothing. That's right, sit at home all morning, head over to my Godsons to bum some food and watch the game, help clean up a bit and then head back and spend the rest of the weekend doing NOTHING! I have plenty of homework to do, TV to watch, sleep to catch up on and exercise I'm sure I could use here and there. But, my poor honey had to work for Thanksgiving, leaving him alone :( and the drama in my family, well it never seems to fail. Sad to say, this will probably be the last Thanksgiving with my Grandpa. I love him dearly and will always have him near, but its looking to be about that time and all we can do as a family is hold strong and pray for a smooth transition. I do pray every day that his hurt and his pain is taken from him, that he can see his family near him and feel our love beside him. As hard as this is on us, I can't even begin to imagine how hard this must be on him. My uncles have also been ill lately, one being hospitalized over the past week. (My grandpa is living with him so he can take care of him, but with him being ill, my poor aunt has her hands full!) So, I headed up to the white mountains for the long extended weekend, mainly to be moral support and bring some cheer. Honestly, I'm not good for much more than that! :) It was all going to work out because Brandon and I were going to get to spend our first Thanksgiving dinner together.

Last year, we spent it with his parents. I remember it clearly because the day before I had my wisdom teeth pulled out. So his mom made me Lasagna. :) This year was supposed to be with my parents, but he had to work, which is part of his job and we accept that, so my family went to Kristina's and for the first time for any holiday it was going to be just our little family, Brandon, Myself, Mater and His roommate Derek. :)

Since the original plans were: my hands being to be tied in Show Low with family most of the day, and Brandon being at work, Derek was going to stay at home and cook dinner.

-I must cut in and add that strange enough I added a fire extinguisher on my list of things to buy for my new home. I had to do a home inspection at work and the thought crossed my mind, every home needs a fire extinguisher…just incase-

Any back to our first thanks giving. Wednesday, we found out Derek was going to have to work half of the day. That was ok, with Brandon and Derek at work, I had to stay nearby to take care of the Puppy (he had a really hard time adjusting to the cold and the backyard and his new friends. Derek still wanted to cook, and well I was pretty much ok with that. (By the way ladies, Derek is single and makes a great housewife!) Brandon woke up early, made a fire and hot chocolate and we watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade and put together our Christmas cards. Then off to work her went. And I waited and I waited…..around 530 Brandon came home. Derek had text him and said that he wasn’t going to make it home for dinner. L A little frustrating that it was last minute because I could have started dinner, then again it was a blessing in disguise.

Since is was just the three off us, we were going to cook a turkey loin rather than a whole turkey. Brandon and I threw it in the oven, he started chopping the sweet potatoes while I put together the stuffing and green bean casserole. It was nice to have a Thanksgiving just the three of us (Bran, Mater and I….That is until an electrical fire started in the oven. Luckily we were in the kitchen and caught it quickly. I was screaming at him, “Do something.” Of course all he did was turn off the oven and stare at it for a while. “What are you doing Brandon! Stop looking and it and do something.” The metal was hot, sparks were flying and he nonchalantly walks to his closet like nothing is happening saying, “Babe, What do you want me to do about it?” “OH MY! YOU’RE A FIREFIGHTER FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!” lol. Apparently, the electrical breaker is located in his closet, he just wasn’t as worked up as I was. And hey, it worked! He flipped the breaker off and poof the fire was gone! Augh, I was so scared that my puppy and I were a gonner’ and our turkey was ruined!

So, Plan B. Grilled turkey. By now Brandon was thinking we should just warm up some frozen foods and call it a night, but I was not discouraged! Who says you can’t make grilled turkey and microwave sweet potatoes, rolls and green been casserole. The stove-top was still working as well so the stuffing and mashed potatoes were good to go! Ten minutes into it, all going as planned…. Brandon comes inside to inform me that he was out of out of propane. HAHAHAHA.

PLAN C…Cut the Turkey so it fits in a frying plan and make room on the stove! :) By now Brandon was beyond frustrated. I couldn’t help but giggle at how cute he looked. I mean honestly, who’s first Thanksgiving doesn’t turn out this way. And I must say we should always cook out turkeys that way, bake 10 min, grill 10 min, fry 10 min. It was full of flavor and juicy!!! :) And to be honest, the microwave sides weren’t perfect, but they weren’t all that bad either!

So, Thanksgiving wasn’t a complete disaster…. (the cardinals got their butts spanked :( but my cowboys won!!!). And I got to spend it with Bran. That really is all that matters, now I look forward to Christmas which will be much better, our first Holiday in our first home! :)

In my opinion...

So, I've kept my mouth shut through all of these politics, scared to death that we are going to elect a president that insist on making us a socialist country. News Flash! No other country has tried it and succeeded. There are a few things I want you to think about when you are out voting this Tuesday....

1. Change is not always good. We can ask for change, pray for change, but what type of change is going to come of it? We don't know until it happens and then what? Are we go surrender with our tail between our legs like many other countries?

2. Over half of the people in the world today have no idea about politics...therefore should put their foot where there mouth is.

3. What happened to the pride in our country? Supporting the men and women that protect us everyday? Working to make a living? Protecting and providing for our loved ones? It's a damn shame that people can bad mouth the President and/or candidates for President, yet we can not take a moment to take responsibility of our own action....

I've come to realize there are 3 groups of majority in this country. And recent things I have read and/or learned about people have caused me to find the need to outright speak my mind....

A. True American's that blood in and blood out go to work everyday.They make the commitment to protect their loved ones and provide for their little ones, no matter what the cost. They have pride in their home, pride in their community and pride in their country. They should have a right to stand up and speak their mind because they are the reason why we exist today. Blue collared, motivated, hard workers who know what needs to be done and aren't afraid to take care of it. Unfortunately, with the recent changes in the economy many of these individuals have been laid off of work...but guess what? They bounce right back, get back into a job and work their ass off (even if it's for minimum wage) because they know what has to be done.

B. True American Families. I will specify that this is a different group, many parent's esp. in the field that I work in have a hard time working because they are raising children (and more commonly children with disabilities). They would love to take a vacation with their spouse, but given the circumstances, can't. They want to dress up on Friday nights to go out to the club, but the babies are sick again. What money they are able to earn must go to providing food and shelter for their children. Often times they explore ways to earn a living working from home (daycare, goods trade, crafts etc). But even that is difficult to find the time to do. The jobs they can take are limited because they put their families first on their list. Raising a family is a full-time job in itself.

C. The rest of you. Yes, those that would like nothing more than to sit on your ass, on the computer or go out all the time at somebody else's expense. A job? Who needs that right? And it never fails, these are the same people who say money is not important. OF COURSE NOT BECAUSE YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO A DAMN THING TO GET IT, YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS LIKE TO WATCH A CHILD IN NEED OR TO SEE AN ELDER COUPLE SMILE AS THEY PASS THROUGH YOUR GROCERY LINE! Money doesn't matter? Then who is paying for your rent, food and clothing, or creating a savings account/life insurance to protect your loved ones future? For those of you who are lucky enough to have the privilege of taking advantage of somebody with money or those of you who are single and healthy, bumming off of the government with no intentions of changing your ways, shame on you for assisting in sabatoging the economy, yet turning around and pointing your finger at others. Maybe your definition of money is different than mine. Maybe when you say clearly money doesn't matter that you are referring to BMWs and weekend resorts. The clarity there would make a little more sense, because if that be the case I'd have to agree. But money does matter, it is how we eat, sleep and take care of one another. I will be very clear and I think that I speak for everyone on my end (esp. those in the public service field) we don't work just for money. What ever happened to the need to help others, self-gratification, actively participating to make improvements in our country for our lives and our children's lives and where the hell everyone's pride? There are people out there that can't physically or mentally have a job. There are people out there who openly put their families first. And your only excuse for not working is your too damn picky and too damn lazy. Thank you for your contribution....

PLEASE REMEMBER WHEN YOU GO TO THE POLLS ON TUESDAY:
1. VOTE WITH AN OPEN MIND
2. RESEARCH ALL INFORMATION (BOTH SIDES OF EVERY STORY) BEFORE VOTING.
3.BE PROUD OF WHAT YOU CHOOSE
4. FREEDOM DOES NOT COME FREE, IF SOMEONE CAN MAKE THAT PROMISE WE SHOULD BE VERY, VERY CONCERNED!

I forgot...

Tomorrow is Adam's birthday... and in Iraq it's already tomorrow, so send him some love! He's getting OLD! He will be coming home next month too. Just thought I would give a brief update on him, only because it's his birthday!