365

I know that November is the month that people speak of their gratitude. I've been seeing tons of daily "thanksgivings" on Facebook daily and I think it's awesome.
Thanksgiving is a day that gets shuffled to the back of the line by many, especially retailers, as they prepare for Christmas via shopping, decorating, music etc... I love Christmas as much as anyone does but Thanksgiving is just as important as we thank God for all he has given us.

There are so many things I am thankful for and I will do my very best to hit them all but obviously I'm going to run out of space and time and I'm old so I'll forget things.


~ I am thankful for my children. They have always been VERY special and have grown up to be such unique and sparkling .. adults.. OK *young* adults. I am always proud of them and all that they have and will accomplish in their lives and I am eternally sorry that I missed any of it.

~ I'm thankful for my parents. I always took my family for granted while I was growing up. It wasn't until I was older and saw other people's families that I realized just how lucky I am to have 2 parents who love me and each other very much.

~ I'm thankful for my sisters. This includes the 2 I was born with, the sisters I added when I married Gary and all of the sisters I have "adopted" through the years. Each one is dear to me and holds a special place in my heart.

~ I'm thankful for my brother. He's the only one I have and let me tell you, he's amazing. I'm also happy that I married in to 2 more wonderful brothers.

~ I am thankful for all of my nieces and nephews. This means ALL of them... the ones that my siblings have, the ones I married in to and of course the ones that I have "adopted". Each one is special to me and I love watching them grow up.

~ I'm thankful for each and every last one of my friends. I've met so many special people through out my life. I include the friends from childhood, the ones I met blogging and gaming and well... ALL of them.

~ and... I am thankful for my husband. I truly believe that God gave him to me to provide me with anything that I need. He does just that. As I've said many times before, he may not be perfect but he's perfect for me. He goes above and beyond to make sure that I have what I need. He works his butt off making sure that we have a roof, food and whatever else life requires. He's so smart and I love that. Although it's been more sickness than health, he's cared for me through all of it. He "puts up with me".. he loves me when I'm fabulous and when I haven't showered in a week (ok, it's happened a few times but I had good reasons!). He loves me when I keep bringing more pets home, when I wasn't up to cleaning the house that day, when we had to order pizza because I just couldn't cook, when I'm crying my eyes out for one reason or another because we all know I'm good at that. He is an amazing man and anyone who knows him is better off for it.
He always somehow knows when I need that email or text or phone call to brighten my day.
We have had our "better" and we have had our "worse" and we survived and I KNOW he loves me and for that I am always going to be grateful.

These are some of the things that I am grateful for and I am thankful for them 365 days a year.

Happy Anniversary, My Love...

I thought I'd start this out with a 9 year old picture. We took it shortly after moving to Phoenix which was a few months after we married. This picture makes me feel super, super old!
Anyhow, today we've been married for 9 years. For those who know us, they know it's been 9 years of major ups and major downs. But that's what marriage is about right? Through the good times and the bad?
I'll be honest, there were times I thought it was over and I had lost my best friend but we pulled through, and I'm happy that we did because he's not just my husband. He IS my best friend. Like, the only person in this world that knows everything about me. He can read my mind. He knows my moods and when to back off or give me a hug.
Two years ago I thought I had lost him. I honestly thought it was over. I could deal with not being married but I couldn't deal with not being with HIM. It was a rough 8 months. There were times I had given up but then I decided I was going to FIGHT for him and I did. I'm glad I did. I still get to wake up every morning and see him stumbling around the room getting ready for work and greet him at the door when he gets home every day.

Gary, I appreciate every last thing you do for me. I know you work hard to take care of us... me.. the pets.. our family. You have no idea what that means to me and if I could put it into words I would. I know things have been rough and we'll make it through just like we have every other time. I would do anything in this world for you and I want you to know that I MEAN that and I always will. You are mine forever. I love you so much.

Your wife.


(I'll let him tell you guys what I got him for our anniversary)

And that's that...

So it's the 19th. Six wake-ups til Christmas people!! Are you ready?? I am for the most part. My baby sister flies in on Thursday, my parents fly in the night after. This will bring a sweet wrap-up to a year that I've actually been able to visit my entire family. I got to see Lisa and Dan in September when Gary took me home on the promised vacation and I get to see my baby sister this Christmas.

I'm trying to avoid the traditional "end of the year" blog post. I've almost always done one but honestly most of my year has been a struggle filled with wonderful times and bad times but mostly private times and I'm not the same girl I was 7 years ago. The days of "Bitchalicious" and me spewing every detail of my life online are over. All that being said, it HAS actually been a good year even given the crap I've dealt with the 3 years prior to that and with 2010 being the most miserable in my entire life, 2011 has been good. It HAS been a struggle. I made the decision to stay with Gary and work HARD on our marriage and it's brought us so close I dare say it's been the best year for our marriage yet and I'm looking forward to see what 2012 brings.

How many of you stuck to your 2011 resolutions? I know I did. I just went back through my Facebook Timeline trying to find my NY resolution post I made but apparently I was so drunk (which I don't remember...which is weird because I don't drink so you'd think I'd remember being drunk)... anyway I digress. For my 2011 resolution I told myself that I was going to tell someone special to me that I loved them at least once every day of the year. No one in particular but SOMEONE in my life who was special to me... for 365 days and I did it. Obviously it didn't start off being the same people it was by the end of the year. My, how life has changed in 12 (long/short) months. I've been thinking about what it's going to be for 2012. I have a few things in mind but I haven't narrowed it down and who knows? I might do more than one!!!

This post has been sitting in my drafts for about a week now. Mostly because I don't know how to bring it to an end. I don't think that 2011 and I have had our closure and I'm not sure we will so I'm just going to leave it like it is...

Oh look! It's not a recipe!

Where have I been?

Well cooking obviously... and actively avoiding life for various reasons.

1. Going through some shit that involved bills and finances (solved)
2. November/December is the year anniversary of some bad memories.
3. Always have a hard time around the holidaze so I've been (again) actively trying to stay out of Bi-Polar Depression mode. (so far successful)
4. The weather has been downright ridiculous around here in Phoenix so my fibro is screaming at me. This brings fatigue ... lots of fatigue.

Speaking of weather... SERIOUSLY??
It was 32 this morning when I woke up. Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah, I KNOW that's not cold compared to *here* or *there* but this is Phoenix. I'm acclimated to 95+ and honestly no matter where in the country I have lived (and it's been quite a few places) 32 has ALWAYS been cold to me. If you're honestly tired of listening to me complain (mostly on Facebook) that it's cold then I'll stop but I swear to God I don't want to hear a BLOODY word in the summer from you whiners.

Are you ready for Christmas? I AM... I have been since almost August. I mean I have a few things to buy still but I have KNOWN what I was doing since August. I started way early this year because it was planned rather early on for my Mom/Dad/Sister and her family to all come out here for Christmas and I wanted to spend the last 2 weeks preparing for that, not running around like a chicken shopping .. ya know?
I AM really excited though.

This month brings the end of 2011. It started off as one of the worst years of my life (the last 3 years have been contending for number 1). It's ending up to be ... ok maybe not one of the best but better off than I have been the last few so I'm not going to complain. I still have a LOT of CRAP to work through in my head but I'm getting there. :)
I've been able to see my entire family this year, including my brother whom I hadn't seen in SIX years. That was great.
I've been able to finally work on things with Gary without past behaviors looming in the dark corners just putting a damper on anything we've tried to do in the past. It's felt real, it's felt nice. I love him.

And that's all I've got to say about that! /Forrest Gump

p.s. I just saw that my template has somehow messed up and so I'll be fixing it/looking for a new one later. :)

I need your help again.

For those of you who do not know the story behind my recent store postings I'll briefly explain.

My best friend (who I call my sister) Melia, was in a terrible car accident on Feb. 19th of this year. Her 15 year old son (my nephew, Riley) was in a coma for a month. They didn't expect him to live. They didn't expect him to wake up and "be normal". He has defied the odds. He is a walking miracle thanks to all the prayers and thanks to God himself. Her 11 year old daughter (my niece Destiny) was killed.

Since 2-19 I have watched this little family struggle to get back on their feet. I've seen the pouring out of support to help them. Melia is in NO WAY shape or form ready to go back to work. She spends 5 of the 7 days of the week taking Riley to and from his Physical therapy, Occupational therapy, speech therapy, eye therapy ... and so much more. She takes herself to and from doctor appointments.

We raised a crap ton of money in February and March to help cover medical costs and funeral costs and help Melia pay normal every day bills on top of EVERYTHING else she's been smacked with since then. However, she's been hit with something else now.
On Thursday I went with her and Riley and her oldest daughter Hailey (who was not in the car) to the funeral home. I had to watch my sister pick out a headstone for her 11 year old baby girl. It was heartbreaking. We cried all day long. I cry every time I think about it. I'm crying now.
It was honestly a lot cheaper than I was expecting but it's still $2600 that she just does NOT have laying around.
This is where we come in. I'm asking.. no I'm BEGGING for just a little more help.
Our dear friend Jan drew the most gorgeous rainbow in honor of little Destiny back in February. We've taken that rainbow and put it on tee shirts, sweatshirts, magnets, notepads, note cards, mouse pads, mugs... just about anything we could think of and put it all in this little store.
She gets $3 for each item that is purchased so if you see anything in there that you'd like I'm begging you to help us out. If you don't see anything but still want to help out we have a Paypal account set up. You don't need a Paypal account to donate, you can just use your debit/credit card and make your donation. Every little penny counts. If I get $5 from each of my friends that raises $955. How many friends do YOU have? I'm just dreaming of the possibilities.

If you can't help out financially can you help out by sharing this Facebook note or the link to the blog post I have made? I'd appreciate it SO much, you have no idea.

Here is the link to our store: http://www.cafepress.com/Team_Melia

Here is the donation link to Paypal:

Thanks again,
Rachel Doyle

I put off True Blood for this!

Well, HBO Go is loaded on my computer right now. The first 2 episodes of True Blood season 4 are ready to play however I WANT to update this blog once a week because my mom doesn't use Facebook so I try to keep her as up to date as possible since we can't always talk every week.

One thing I remember about my childhood is my mom always made sure that I had books to read. She either packed all 4 of us up and took us to the library or sometimes she would buy books for me. The series I remember the most are the Trixie Belden books. Trixie Belden was a 13 year old "detective" and what I didn't know until recently was the series started in 1948 and lasted until about 1986. There are 38 books in all.
Anyway, I got off track. My mom started getting these for me sometime starting around 3rd grade I think. I LOVED THEM. I connected with Trixie Belden as much as a little girl could. SO, when I found the first 9 books as a set on eBay I was blown away. I HAD TO GET THEM right away for my niece. She turns 11 in less than a month and I'm 100% convinced she is going to love them as much as I did. (The set was actually missing book 5 so I purchased that one separately and it BETTER get here before I mail these out for her birthday!) When I got my grubby little hands on them a few days ago I started flipping through the first one and each page I skimmed across I was thrown back in time. I KNEW what happened next! I'm pretty sure that my mom has most of the books she bought me as a little girl in her attic and since we'll be home in September and it won't be 12030253 degrees up there I'm going to drag Gary up there with me and search every box until I find them because Gary and I will be driving from my mom's house to Lily's house a few days later and I'd LOVE to show up with the rest of them. Man oh man, I really hope she loves these books, and with 3 sisters in tow I'm hoping each and every one of them gets to enjoy them as much as I did.

As far as what happened this week it was pretty mild. I had sedation last monday to get the last set of injections on my back. This time he went into the nerves and heated them up and I'm telling you, even sedated the tears were rolling down my face. It hurt so bad. AND they could only do one side of my back (the right side) so on 7/11 I have to go back in to get the left side done and I'm dreading that pain so much. Other than that I pretty much relaxed all week. My energy level was low so my house is looking like a bomb hit it. I did spend Friday with Melia and Riley running some errands with her. Saturday night Gary and I went over to their house to set up her new computer and eat some pulled pork sammiches. I however, forgot the power cord so it's all set up but you can't turn it on. I'm going back on Tuesday to remedy that little problem.
This coming week is packed full of little gems. I had a bunch of doctor appointments that I had to schedule but I specifically skipped this coming week. I really need a week off from being poked and prodded and questioned and xrayed and blood drawn and yeah, I just need a break. I planned a ice cream date on Monday with my "nephew" Lane and a Starbucks date with his sister on Thursday. I like taking Sandra's kids out on outings, I just can't handle all 3 at a time so I split them up and that way I get some one on one time with them and it's great fun all around. It was really cute when Lane found out it was his turn. He comes up to me and says "Rachel, I really don't want to go to Starbucks". (That's where I take his sisters) and I just said "Lane, you silly goose we can go WHENEVER you want!" so he picked Baskin-Robbins.

Hmmm, yup that's pretty much it. A few movies Gary and I wanted to see came out this weekend but we decided to wait a week or two to skip the crowds. We ran out this afternoon for some quick errands and ended up at Ah-So. It's a teppanyaki grill close to our house. I remember as a kid my mom and dad took me and my siblings to one and we all threw a fit because we just wanted hamburgers and probably embarrassed the crap out of my parents who really thought we'd enjoy watching the food get cooked and now it's one of my favorite places to go. Sorry Mom!

My life isn't as exciting as it used to be. It makes for a boring read, however I'm happy so .. meh.
This concludes this weeks boring update. =D

I'm a millionaire!

A few years ago... 2 or 3 maybe, my niece Lily sent me a dollar bill. She was 8 or 9 and my sister told me that a dollar from Lily was serious business. She's a huge saver and the fact that she felt it in her heart to send it to me was tugging on my heart strings. This wasn't for my birthday or anything at all, it was just a card from my niece with a dollar in it. What a sweetie.
So, what I did was write her name on it and put it on my fridge and it's been there since the day I got it. When people visit me and see it they always ask me about it and it gives me a minute to brag about her and what a sweetheart she is.
Now, most of you know that my husband is in the military and I'm a disabled housewife. We're not rich. We're not even close to rich. We have a nice roof over our head, reliable transportation, food on the table and my pets are all fed and happy. We both have what we'd like to have within reason and please don't misunderstand, we're not lacking for anything and both of us are happy.
That being said sometimes when the checking account is running low or an unexpected bill rolls in and I'm a little stressed I can always stop and look at the dollar bill on my fridge and know that I have the equivalent of a million dollars in the eyes of a little girl stuck on my fridge with a little magnet. It always seems to ease my mind. My sister has done a marvelous job raising Lily and all of her other children and I'm blessed to be able to call them family. :)

What a weird week...

Between Gary's horrible schedule this past week and my uncle passing away it's just been a really weird week.
He did take me to lunch today. We went to one of our favorite Japanese restaurants called Ah-So.
This was our chef. (It's a horrible picture with my cell phone and their bad lighting) ... he was great though. Very entertaining and the food was delicious. He did all the typical habachi grill things like the smoking onion and throwing food at the patrons (Gary caught both broccollis in his mouth!)

Notice the people in the background? They were the only other people at our table. It appeared to be a man, his wife and one of their mothers. Let's focus on him.
He looked like a cross between George Wendt from Cheers and Peter Griffon. The holier-than-thou attitude was unbelievable though. He was one of the most neediest people I've ever had the pleasure of sitting next to in a restaurant. While shoveling food in his face he managed to call the waitress over about 15 times for water, wine, appetizers, more appetizers, butter for his lobster. He spoke to her as if she didn't understand a lick of English. He had the personality of a pet rock. Even our lovely chef said that he was just going to entertain US because THEY weren't even acknowledging his presence. Just a real piece of work. I did manage however to put all this aside and just enjoy a nice lunch/dinner with my husband. We really did have a good time just joking around and relaxing. And the people at Ah-Sos? They gave me a pretty red rose on the way out the door. How sweet is that??

Then we went to Barnes and Nobles so I could find some things for my nieces' birthday in July (yeah I wanted a headstart) and hit the jackpot. I love that place.

Now, to talk my husband into finding me a hugemongous pile of chocolate from somewhere because I NEED IT NAO!!!

On a side note: My sister (and husband and one of her babies) and my mom and dad are all driving to KY for my uncle's funeral. There is still a lot of flooding and road damage in KY so if you could just keep them in your thoughts and prayers that would be really nice.

Special Days are special

This is my Dad and my sister (Lisa) and 2 of her 4.5 children.. actually that's really 2.5 of her 4.5 children... but I digress. Why is this picture on my blog?
BECAUSE IT'S HIS BIRTHDAY AND IT'S FREAKING EXCITING THAT'S WHY!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Dad! Love you tons and tons. (and I'll call you ...later today rather than at midnight which is tempting.)