**5 years in florida**

wow hard to believe that as i sit here writing this it has been 5 years in florida. time really has flown by. it has been a rollercoaster 5 years at that. after having mom and dad vacation here a couple times and my sister having the twin boys, they decided maybe it was time for a change; so we packed up and headed on to the south. dad and chris moved here in may to find jobs and a place to live. so mom, britt, and i moved in with my grandma and grandpa for a couple months. once july got here it was time for us girls to start our adventure. the 3 of us drove here, while many had doubts that we would even make it we set out to prove them all wrong, we were not just 3 girls we could handle anything. before we could actually leave my cousin sean took us out to the desert to make sure we were all comfortable with the gun. well that in itself was funny, mom and britt couldnt get the gun cocked but i had no problems with it, but i was the only one not comfortable shooting it. thankfully we never had to use it. after 4 days of driving we finally made it. once we got to the oklahoma/texas border it started to rain and it rained the rest of the way, maybe stopping for a couple hours at a time, and of course 2005 brought tons of rain with hurricane katrina. well our first day in a new city and state, dad sends us girls out to get groceries and power turned on for a second place since the first one wouldnt be big enough for all of us to live in. well once again we set out on an adventure lakeland is nothing like carey, where everything is located on main street. almost every street is either a state name or a fruit, when looking for the power company dad tells us to look for lime street turn make a left turn then turn on to orange street. of course im use to dog alley, or panther lane...lol.. along with learning or way around a new place britt started junior high in a new school knowing no one what a change that was but of course she is so loveable and has such a great personality that she made friends fast. mom soon found a job and has been there the last 5 years, she started off as a supervisor and has quickly moved up to manager. of course chris has moved here moved back to idaho moved here again and once again moved back to idaho and now once again has moved back here. i think he might stay awhile he finally started school. since 2007 this house has been full of school books papers, quizes, finals, and anything else you think of as school related. in 2007 i started the massage therapy program and completed it in february 2008, and passed my national exam. mom and dad started back to school in 2007 as well. 2009 both mom and dad graduated with their assoicates degress i could not be happier for them both what a huge accomplishment for them. just makes me strive for more. since 2008 i have been working on my bachelors degree in manangement learning how to better run my own company. i should be expecting to graduate in 2011. seems like it has taken forever. mom and dad both have decided to continue their educations, mom is currently studying medical coding and billing, and dad is working on his bachelors degree in criminal justice. britt graduated high school june 2010 and is looking at starting cosmotology school. what a great 5 years it has been living in florida, i can only hope that we have another amazing 5 years here, who knows what will happen, im sure there will be more school for all of us. who knows maybe even weddings and babies.........

grandpa's visit and brittany's graduation

brittany and grandpa at graduation

on may 29, grandpa flew into orlando to surprise britt for her graduation, it had been 5 years since we had seen him. i will say it was a great week, and certainly was not long enough. on june 1, chris also flew in to surprise britt for her graduation. this past week has really been a great one and im glad grandpa and chris could be here for brittany's very special day. i cant believe that she is now a high school graduate, i remember when she was just a baby. time sure does fly.

grandpa relaxing

mom and grandpa

mom, grandpa, and chris

chris and grandpa

chris, britt, and i

mom and i

dad and i

chris and i

brittany and i

grandpa, britt, chris, dad, mom, and i

grandpa, brittany, and billy

mom, dad, and britt

brittany and billy

sunrise

after living in florida for five years i some how forget that i am surrounded by water! although living in central florida sometimes its easy to forget there are so many great beaches to visit and just relax on. this week has been spring break for schools around here so this AMAZING friend of mine picked me up and we headed for jupiter florida. what a great 3 days we had. tuesday morning we got up and got everything ready to head to the beach. it was an beautiful 75 degrees with a light breeze. so we layed out in the sun while her niece and nephew splashed in the water. it was great to start working on my tan already, hopefully by summers end ill be nice and dark. tuesday night we cooked dinner for her family and they were all very thankful for the having someone cook it was great. wednesday we decided to get up at 6 am to go sit on the beach and watch the sunrise. it was pretty amazing, i have seen the sunrise over the mountains but can honestly say i have never just sat on the beach and watched the sun come up. the AMAZING colors of the sunrise and the sand and water just BEAUTIFUL. it was a perfect start to the day. after watching the sun come up we went and had breakfast and headed back to her parents house. after getting back her sister asked if we wanted to join them in going to the park so once again we loaded up the car and headed out to enjoy another 75 degree florida day. rather than staying in jupiter we headed for palm beach only 30 minutes away. the park was amazing. it had plenty of shade trees, tons of play areas, sand boxes, and even a section with a water playground so the kids could cool off after running around all day. i cant wait to go back and spend more time on the beach hopefully we can plan another trip soon.

*my flowers*

since i have been a major slacker on here since the summer i figured i should post a few more pictures of the flowers from my little garden this summer. the following are a few of my favorites that grew beautifuly and the pictures turned out great.

*school update*

school has been such a rollercoaster for me the last few months. i was so ready to give up and just fail my statistics class and take it from a different teacher and on campus rather than online. my statistics class took every thing i had to make it to the end. i had to get a tutor which i hated, and he was horrible at helping, i failed everyone of my quizes, but that didnt surprise me. statistics even gave me stress induced chest pains..... even with all that i didnt fail i actutally passed with a B... i was surprised by my ability to pull through and make it to the end. this term i have no real desire for any of my classes but i keep pushing forward knowing that the end in getting closer and will be worth all my hard work in the end.

*october*

october has always been a busy month. especially the first week. chris celebrated his 24 birthday on october 10. chris has been living in carey for the last few months and seems to be loving his job finally. it seems he has made great new friends, although chris has never had a problem making friends. with someone and sweet and kind hearted as he is, how could you not be his friend. brittany my not so baby of a sister turned 18! on october 8. hard to believe she is 18 already a senior in high school and thinking of what kind of career she wants to have. trying to decide on colleges. where has all the time gone. i remember the day she came home from the hospital. actually i remember events that happened before she came home. we were living in picabo, i was a second grader, and the grain elevator caught fire. my mom was very much 9 months pregnant with brittany and running around making sure people were safe, and that chris, irene and i were all sent with vee and her family. my oh my how many years that was ago. then brittany came home and that exact same day chris was taken in to the er for a go cart accident. only a kindergardern and already accident prone although this was not news to us about chris and his many accidents. honestly its a blessing he has made it to 24. 12 years ago on october 6 my oldest sister irene brought my beautiful, full of attitude niece in to the world. almost a teenager and attitude to back it up she is still just as beautiful and growing more and more into a young woman every time i see her. well of course birthday don't stop there. no no no that would be too simple! my best friend gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on october 18, 9 years ago, hard to believe that vanessa is already 9 and growing so fast. then last year my 'baby' cousin had a bouncing baby boy on october 18 as well. well i really wish birthday's stopped there but of course they dont. on october 22, 2 weeks before their scheduled c-section my oldest sister once again brought in 2 beautiful baby boys. they are now 7 and still if not more of a handful, but fun nonetheless to be around watching them grow, learn, and become respectful young men. as october slowly comes to an end its great to know that i made it throuh all the birthday madness for another year, although birthdays are not over yet for this year at least i know i only have a couple more.

*moms birthday*

well this past saturday (may 30) was moms birthday. she actually had the day off and was able to enjoy the day. what a great surprise when my sister and the kids showed up. we all went to the pool and spent the day in the sun since its the first full day of sunshine we've had after 14 days of rain. well every time mom goes to the pool she is always asking did i get any sun? well she no longer has to ask that she is red! burnt to a crisp! lol, she seems excited, but i think the main joy is she got to spend the day and even the night with the boys, who picked out flowers for her and a cake.

he's an angel when he is sleeping

poor guy was worn out from all the swimming

the flowers the boys picked for mom

they did a great job picking these flowers