Another November

November is such a weird month. The end of the year is so close, but with the short days and cold weather it seems to take FOREVER! Plus, all the anticipation for Thanksgiving and Christmas make it seem even longer. Although I'm looking forward to Turkey Day and Christmas, I'm much more concerned with the end of the semester, which is December 9th. December 9th also happens to be the day we are moving back to the valley. I'll get to that later. This semester has thoroughly kicked my butt. I didn't want to say butt... Every morning I wake up and think please, please let this effing semester be over! And it's not. But, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel... Just a few more weeks! Shall I list the things that will be better when the semester is over? 1. I will finally be making money again. I love staying home with my kids, but my self-worth increases when I make money. I don't really care how shallow that makes me, it's important to me. Plus, I will still be staying home with my kids, so it's a win-win! 2. No homework for about a month and a half. That's going to be so awesome I don't even know if I can handle it. 3. We'll be moving home to the valley. Now, that one is kinda tricky. I'm looking forward to being home and closer to family. On the other hand, we're going to be close to family... lol! I will let you translate that one on your own. I'm not really looking forward to going home to the cliques. There are cliques everywhere, and that's no big deal. I just don't feel like going home to the valley cliques. It takes a lot of energy for some reason. But when it comes to going home, the good outweighs the bad, which is why we are leaving Fort Morgan. Until then, rest assured every minute of the day I am thinking "December 9th, December 9th, December 9th!"

Summer, it's been real...

Summer 2012, one for the books! It's been a great summer! Mitchell turned one year old in August, it's been a crazy year since he was born! I remember sitting in the hospital wondering where I would be in a year. I was sure glad I was at the park celebrating his birthday, and not in the hospital. I'm extremely curious where I will be a year from now! James has grown a lot this year, he'll be turning 3 in a couple of weeks. He's turned into such a little boy instead of a baby! Looking at pictures from just a year ago, his face has really changed and he's not such a baby anymore. I love his sweet little spirit! He's so helpful and he loves Mitchell so much. He loves to play with his cousins and any new friends. He's gone camping and fishing a few times this year and he's pretty excited about it. I can't wait to get back to Northern Colorado and show him all the cool stuff up there! Pioneer days was awesome as always! The boys sure had me worn out over the weekend but it was great to see my cousins and aunts and uncles. I hope that our cousins always come down for the 24th. We have such a big family and it's not always easy to keep in touch but I love them all! I have LOVED being able to hang out with my sister this summer. It's been great to have our boys together and let them get to know each other. No lies: it's gonna suck when I go back to Fort Morgan and can't go down to her house at any time. We have had such an awesome, crazy, busy summer! The boys have grown so much and I'm so glad they have been able to spend so much time with family. I am looking into a pretty busy Fall! I'm taking 12 credit hours, online. Michael will be in school full time again and he will probably be working. Our 4 year anniversary is coming up and we'll hopefully do something fun for that. Then we've got hunting seasons coming up so that means a couple of trips home. We're thinking about spending Thanksgiving somewhere other than the Valley... we'll see how that goes. I can't forget to mention the Broncos games baby! I'm so stoked for football season I can hardly stand it! I hope to go to at least one game, and you know I will be hitting up at least one playoff game! Woot woot! I never know how to end a blog... then end? haha

Bloggity blog blog

As I'm sitting here, Mitchell is unwrapping a tootsie roll with this teeth. Meh. I'd stop him, but the rest of the people in the house are asleep and his screeches would probably disturb them. Summer has been SO busy! Michael had an internship and a job waiting for him in the SLV this summer, so we've been living with family all summer. First we stayed with Romero's for about 6 weeks. Yeah, 6 weeks....... We are staying with my sister now and it's been nice. The upstairs of her house has plenty of space for us and enough privacy. I'm going to go home for a week and enjoy my own bed and privacy and HOME and then when we come back, we'll stay with my mom and that will be nice too. I few of the highlights: Michael's little sister got married in June in the Denver Temple. It was a good time. Lots of family came down and it was nice to see everyone. Pioneer days was a success as always. Parades, family meals, carnival rides, the cabin, reunions, LOTS of fun! Mitchell and James are growing so much. I think they're going to miss the Valley when we leave. The 4th of July was fun. We went up through Pagosa and then down to Chama for the fireworks. We went to Treasure Falls and stopped in Pagosa to eat. The drive was beautiful! And the fireworks were awesome. I've had a good time seeing my old friends and seeing their kids. There are some things I really miss about living here, but I'm really looking forward to going back to Fort Morgan. I'm interested to see how I feel when we decide if it's time to move back or not!

I feel like Frodo

With only 2 weeks left in the semester, Michael and I are both feeling tired and overwhelmed. We have lots of tests and papers and quizzes this week and finals coming up. The boys got sick this week. Then we got sick. I had the lesson in YW today. Then we were asked to speak in sacrament meeting. Then I was asked to sub for a primary class. I'm glad Sunday is over. I'm glad this week is over!



I'm looking forward to summer time. BBQ's, parties, Memorial Day, birthdays!, MOUNTAINS, food, family, sunshine, concerts, Pioneer days, rodeos. Dang I love summer!

We have been doing a lot of fun things lately. Hit up a Rockie's game, went to Cabela's, we do a lot of exploring and picture taking. I have very much learned to love the landscape of north eastern Colorado. Yes, even without mountains! The farmland up here is ridiculously beautiful. I could drive around the plains all day now. It's even better now that it's greening up.

That is all for now. Until next time...

Privileged

I'm feelin' a little country tonight, so if you're so inclined, you're gonna read another down-home blog from me.

Where I'm from is considered an under-privileged area for various reasons, mostly concerning average income.
Being away from home for the last six months has been a lot of things for me. A good experience for me, good for my family, and fun. At the same time, it's been lonely, boring and stressful. Such is life I suppose... One thing that I have missed the most is high school basketball games. Now, anyone who knows me knows that I didn't care for high school. At all. And, I don't care for basketball that much to be honest. But I very much miss seeing familiar faces. It doesn't matter which side of the gym I sit on. I'm either staring at familiar faces on the other side, or I'm talking to a familiar face sitting next to me. In fact, at the last game I went to, I sat next to someone new but after introducing ourselves and talking for a few minutes, we realized that we're related. Not an uncommon occurrence.
This isn't limited to basketball games of course. I miss driving somewhere, anywhere and having every car wave to me. I miss passing by the cemetery and thinking about loved ones. (Does that sound creepy? It's not supposed to...) Country people love their animals, and I even miss seeing that old mule who is never fenced in and wanders around town. In Fort Morgan, it's funny to run for a pop and it only takes a couple of minutes. I miss going into the store and stopping to chat for at least half an hour with an old friend; or a new friend for that matter. What's really funny is that we don't seem to need to go on as many pop runs up here.
I don't want this post to be misunderstood. The people of Fort Morgan are literally some of the best people I have ever met. The kindness and friendliness we feel here is amazing. But it's not home.
There are specific people at home who hold a special place in my thoughts and my heart. They guided me through my youth and set the example I am still trying to live up to. They're the men in suits who juggle careers, family, and a full-time calling. And they do a dang good job. I look up to their wives who sacrifice time with their spouse for the advantage of their community. They fill in the cracks seamlessly and do it with joy. They do it with joy. I see them occasionally and even after years, they give me a hug and ask how me and my family are doing and if we need anything. The best thing is that it's not just talk, their offers for help are valid.
By the world's standards I am from an under-privileged area, but I feel pretty privileged.

Snow day!

Here we are in February! I am always happy to have January over with because it seems to drag on forever, but this year it flew by without a second thought. I think it has something to do with the mild winter we have had this year. The month really didn't hold anything exciting. Just a lot of homework, I got a short cold, normal church activities, Michael's parents and sister came to visit, we went to the movies... and that's about all the high lights I can think of. I know, you envy my glamorous life. HA!
February promises a little more excitement. Today, for instance, we have a snow day! Michael's boss drives about an hour on I-76 to get to FM and he decided it wasn't worth the risk today so the shop is closed. MCC is also closed today so we're pretty much home for the day. I have some grocery shopping to do, but at least I won't have to take the kids. I can't wait to take James out in the snow! Some of my favorite childhood memories are playing in the snow. One thing that Michael and I are not accustomed to is shoveling the sidewalk. We live in town and it's against code not to shovel it. I understand why we have to do it, but I can't wait until we move back to the place where we don't even have sidewalks. We will be visiting the Valley twice this month. Once to see Michael's little brother play some basketball and once for my sister's baby shower! I'm so stoked for both events. Living in Fort Morgan I have really missed high school basketball. And planning the baby shower has been fun so now I can't wait to carry it out and see all the little baby things and actually get to see my pregnant sister! We are also planning a trip to Denver, kind of a little family get away.
James is growing up so much! He talks all the time and puts sentences together pretty well. I would say that he has a touch of the terrible twos. He doesn't like when Mitchell slobbers on his toys and he often uses the word "MINE!" But he is so sweet most of the time. He always says please and thank you and he loves his little brother. And Mitchell loves him! Mitchell looks at him like he is the only being on this planet! He is getting so close to crawling, I can tell he really wants to keep up with everyone.
To whoever reads this, I hope my blog finds you well. Have a happy February!

A new year!

I'm not much for new year resolutions, but I would like to take the opportunity to start blogging again, faithfully, hopefully haha...

It's been a long time since my last post, so I will just start by reintroducing the Romero's.
We moved from Sanford to Fort Morgan, Colorado in August so that Michael could go to school to become a Physical Therapist Asst. There are three schools in the state for PTA and this is the one Michael got accepted to. So here we are in North Eastern Colorado. I NEVER saw myself living here. It's a lot different from what we're used to at home but, we are learning to love it. The Fort Morgan ward is AWESOME! I recently got called to be a Beehive adviser in the Young Women program and I'm super stoked for that.
Michael is doing well in school and he'll be done in May 2013. I'm also taking classes online and on Morgan Community College Campus. I hadn't been in school for almost 5 years, so this is a change!
We were blessed with a wonderful little boy, Mitchell, on August 1st 2011. He and James are best friends and they bless our lives so much!
James is learning to talk and sometimes I can't get him to stop! He loves Mickey Mouse and his dog Camo.
2011 brought some unexpected hardships for me (are any hardships expected?), but we're moving on and hoping for the best in 2012.
Someone once told me that a goal that isn't written down is just a wish. So, even though I don't care for year long resolutions, I would like to set some goals for January.
1. Be Organized! --Clean clean clean. Throw away or donate anything we don't need/use. Store things we'll need for later. Utilize space!
2. Keep up with laundry. --Ugh. Doing laundry sucks bad enough without the kids growing out of their clothes every week. I will accomplish this goal by accomplishing goal number one!
3. Home made dinners. --More often, early in the evening.
4. Magnify my calling. --I could go on all day.
5. Do well in school. --Organization, time use, focus!
6. Less TV time. --It takes a lot for me to put this down because the TV is such a darn good babysitter :p