I can't do anything right lately. I make everyone mad and I'm crying a lot.
Right now, I want to push everyone away from me. I dont know what's going on.
Can a 31.8333 year old still have hormone issues?

I've been talking/yelling/crying at God a lot. He listens right? Today was one of the days when I hit the wall. So bad even that I couldn't take the stress and had to leave my office and drive away. I broke down the second I closed my car door.

I calmed down (thank you Starbucks) enough to return to the office.
Later in the day I heard this song (I stream KLOVE in my office) and it helped a little.

I bolded the lines that fit perfectly in my heart and tears.



Francesca Battistelli – Free to Be Me

At twenty years of age I'm still looking for a dream
A war's already waged for my destiny
But You've already won the battle
And You've got great plans for me
Though I can’t always see

(Chorus)

‘Cause I got a couple dents in my fender
Got a couple rips in my jeans
Try to fit the pieces together
But perfection is my enemy
On my own I'm so clumsy
But on Your shoulders I can see
I'm free to be me

When I was just a girl I thought I had it figured out
My life would turn out right, and I'd make it here somehow
But things don't always come that easy
And sometimes I would doubt

(Chorus)

And you’re free to be you

Sometimes I believe that I can do anything
Yet other times I think I've got nothing good to bring
But You look at my heart and You tell me
That I've got all You seek
And it’s easy to believe
Even though

(Chorus)


I hear that God brings these hurdles for a reason and that at the end of the struggle, I will be stronger and have clarity or understanding. I can't wait for this to be over. This year started out rough, 3 months into it, I'd like it all to be done already.

Uncle Pete Update

Just a quick update before I head off to work...

Uncle Pete is getting better slowly... well he got a little better and now, well... he's not getting worse. Which I think is actually a great thing!

Still in the hospital though so keep that love comin this way. Thank you for your prayers.

God has blessed us with Uncle Petes improvement and also with family. My Gramma Loli and Auntie Terry came into town on Wednesday from Michigan and Uncle Dino flew in late last night.

Uncle Dino was having a really hard time getting here but thankfully he made it (Thank you Lord) with a one-way ticket. We'll worry about getting him home later... :) So for now we will unify our Valdez-ness and give Uncle Pete our much needed love.

*** and on a Valentine's Day note ***

This is not my favorite time of the year. Yes, while I now have a Jason, he's 1000 miles away and well... I guess... not feelin too much into celebrating "his sweetheart"... oh well... oh bah :(

But Chulainn is going on his first "group outing" tonight with about 7 of his friends. They're all going to see Coraline and I'm going to take Cian. Cian and I are going to sit away from the pre-teens (so Cian loves to call them). I'm looking forward to hanging out with my little dude tonight and he's excited to see the movie. He read the book last year and has been waiting for the flick ever since he finished it!

I'm sure Chulainn's excited too because he gets to hang out with his (just a friend - girl) friend, Alex. She's awkward just like him. Perfect. No need to grow up too fast.

Anyhow, what did you do for Valentines Day?
Keep that love coming for Uncle Pete. Thank you for your prayers.

Love you tons and tons.

Uncle Pete

My Uncle Pete's not feeling well.
Please please pray for him.

Thank you so much.

I will write more later but I'm so sleepy.

Tomorrow the boys will be with their dad so I'm planning on going to visit Uncle Pete after work.
I'll just hang out with him. Even if he's sleeping... I'll just chill with him for awhile.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Love you.
Don't forget to pray.
Love you.

This is my current favorite song! I love it.

Life has been very very busy lately and I've been praying (practically all day) for strength to get through my daily tasks in addition to the extras. I also pray that God reminds me that he's there for me and loves me and that he is mighty and has a plan for us all (so hang in there). With that reassurance and the faith that the Lord's got my back, I can get through it all and keep on smiling!

My current anthem:

Hillsong - Mighty to Save

BY YOUR SIDE

By Your Side - Tenth Avenue North

This is my current favorite song.



Jeremiah 29:11

To Do

I've been super busy lately.
Life has a way of doing that.
But I'm going to take 5 minutes (and I'm timing myself)
to blog a little and share our life
I'm doing this while watching John & Kate Plus 8
The boys are at their dad's house for the evening
I got home at 9:45 pm after a little Christmas shopping
But before that I went to my divorce class
at Faith Bible Chapel in Arvada
It was Mexican Night in the Church Cafe
and I ate tacos and chocolate pudding
with my 60 year old friends

The snow is powdering sugar outside and it's so beautiful

This is my To Do list tonight (no order):

* Organize all gifts
* Wrap all the gifts
* Organize Christmas Card list
* Address cards
* Take some Emergen-C in a little while
* Do some laundry
* Hang up my coat, vest, scarf and gloves (yay snow!)
* Start the book I just bought in Boulder
* Try again to comment on Mom's blog (couldn't do it this morning)
* Publish my blog
* Upload Thanksgiving pics
* Go to bed

I bet I can get at least 5 of these things done tonight.

I lost track of time. Oh well. Blogs over. Love you!

What's on your To Do list?

Makes me smile each time

It's silly but I love this song and video...

Makes me smile each time I see it.
Enjoy and smile with me!

A Celebration on Cian's 8th Birthday

Cian was born on my Gramma Loli Valdez's 72nd birthday, so this year, when he turned 8, she turned 80! Neat huh?

Cian is such a cool little dude.
He always has so much on his mind and inquires about the most interesting things. His Gaelic name actually means ancient and he certainly acts like and old wise soul.

He's also a talker like his dad! Once you start the conversation, you better be prepared! Conversations with Cian are actually one of my favorite things in life. His vocabulary and perspective on life always amaze me. From topics on bubble gum and to his infamous "What if/what would you do" questions, it's always a treat.

Here are some photos of his birthday, September 19, 2008:

Cu Chulainn (12) is an incredible artist with a gift of humor through illustration. He's spends many nights at the dining table drawing away.

This year Cu Chulainn gave Cian a birthday comic strip that Cian absolutely LOVED! Can you tell?

Here they are reading it together

"THANK YOU CHULAINN"

Cian also loves Japanese food!

For the last two years, I've given him the option to have a party or have a special family dinner at a favorite restaurant.

Last year I surprised him with Benihana's and this year he picked Benihanas again!

I think it's going to become a family tradition. YAY!

And the meal begins...

He's just too cute!

Here Cian's drinking his Ramune Japanese soda!

These are so much fun to drink. They have a clear glass ball at the top and in order to open the drink, you have to actually push the ball into the soda!

You can find them at most asian grocery stores!

Try it sometime and let us know what you think!

And the kid sure loves his rice (just like his mom)

Here is Cu Chulainn.

Tonight was also sort of a combo celebration...

For Chulainn, it was to acknowedge his fantastic grades and excellent reports from his teachers during fall conferences. I told him since he did so awesome, he could get whatever he wanted so this is his first surf and turf! YUM!

Isn't he getting so big (and handsome)!

And for me, this dinner celebrated my promotion to management! It was quite a journey, but through hard work, patience and perseverence, my efforts were finally recognized.

Being able to take the boys here for Cian's birthday really meant a lot to me because it wasn't long ago that I couldn't afford an extravagance like this. But because of the promotion and through God's blessings of intelligence, ability and work ethic I was able to celebrate my awesome boys and treat them to dinners like this!

I sure love them!

Happy 8th Birthday Cian!!

I love you!

Blogging: Starting again

Ok, I have been inspired (again) by my mother. She started a blog and to be cool like her, I have commited to making sure ours is updated.



Here's a picture of my mom, sister Lauren and me in May.




This is the first blog since April, but from here on out, you can keep up with the lives of my little boys and me. If I'm behind, email me and hold me to it (pretty please).



More to come!

Lemonbars

I ate too many lemon bars today. They were left over from a catered meeting our clients had yesterday. They had more come in for their meeting today - a WHOLE tray of them.

One of the guys brought one to me and I just had to eat it. :)

Lemonbars remind me of my dad. They are his favorite so when I eat one I smile.