HAPPY HOLIDAYS! (our electronic christmas card :)

Every year around the holidays we like to take a picture so when we get old and wrinkly we can look back on each year to remember special memories and see how we and our family(...one day) have changed. This year we never made it out of the house so our trusty tripod was our photographer :).

Anyway, we hope you all have happy holidays! If a Christmas card never makes it your way lets make this count. I fell upon this quote on another blog and I love it (I am kind of a quote fanatic, they are simple but powerful). It really helps me put things into perspective and helps me remember what I need to focus on this Christmas and every other day of the year. Sara Ban Breathnach said "Both abundance and lack (of abundance) exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend... when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that's present-love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us happiness-the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth."

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND WE REALLY DO HOPE YOU HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR!-LOVE the Barlows

The Hot Soccer Mama's

I have joined an indoor soccer team with some friends and I forgot how much energy you must have to play soccer! However we have a lot of fun and we are awesome! OK, so maybe we are working on the awesome part but by the end of the season we are hoping to be awesome. So together we make up the Hot Mama's. I am not sure because I didn't help with the team name but I think that name was decided on because the majority of the team members have children. There are only a couple of us that don't have kiddos. Here are some pictures from our first game.

Our Team


Huddle!


Hmmm...Sheldon decided to take pictures and get some action shots but this is the only one that was actually in focus. I wonder what Sheldon was doing?

B-Ball...Go Jazz!

Recently we went to a Jazz game with some friends and we had so much fun!!! The game was awesome because the Jazz rocked and there was an unexpected surprise...President Monson was there! He was across the arena from us, and when I say across the arena I mean clear on the other side, but he was easy to pick out because I think he was the only one in the crowd wearing a suit and tie. So luckily I had my camera with me and I used my super zoom to snap a couple shots of him. I kind of felt like a stocker because we took a ton of pictures but it was really hard to get a good shot because he was so far away. Anyway, we had a blast! Thanks Justin and Michelle!!!

Here are some pics...

These were the best shots I could get. Can you find him?

Justin, Michelle, and their little Colby!

CHEESE! Cheering and having fun!

HALLOWEEN 2008

I can't believe October has come and gone....so fast! Well, as exciting as Sheldon and I are this is what we decided to dress up as on Halloween night...............

YES, you guessed it we were Chelsea and Sheldon Barlow! Clever huh? Maybe one day when we have children Halloween will be more exciting for us, but for now we just enjoy a date night on Halloween. At least I wore my orange jacket which is better than nothing! Sheldon always tells me I look like a pumpkin in that jacket so I decided to wear it to work on Halloween so I could at least be a little bit festive for my little ones at work. I even thought about putting a pumpkin face on the back of my jacket but the thought never made it out of my head.

The night after Halloween we were a little bit more festive...not by much though. We went to a Murder Mystery Party my good friend Renee hosted. It was so much fun! The theme was based on an Italian family in the family's restaurant "La Sparenza", which was also the murder scene. Each suspect was assigned a character and expected to dress up as that person. Sheldon was Rocco Scarfazzi a mafia like "tough-talking no-nonsense Italian business man" who was the twin brother of the murdered victim Pepi Roni. I was assigned to be Tara Misu who was Rocco's gold diggin' "vivacious young fiancee". Ha ha I love the cheesy names! Anyway, this is what Sheldon and I came up with for our costumes..........

Sheldon was actually wearing a suit jacket too but he had already taken it off. We looked for a mafia looking hat but all we could find was the one pictured. Because we didn't put too much thought into our costumes I think Sheldon ended up looking more like a missionary with a cowboy hat and I ended up looking like a show girl (with clothes) rather than a gold digger that was supposed to be "dressed to kill". All the other costumes looked awesome and I forgot to snap a picture while we were actually at the party. But, we had so much fun!!! Thanks Renee and Wayne, we had a blast! And shame on you Wayne/Bo, you murder you! :)

I Think Mother Nature is Confused!

Seriously???...we only had 2 weeks of fall! We didn't even have a chance to get pictures of the colorful leaves. We had to really bundle up for our Sunday drive. However, as much as I hate to admit it, it was very pretty so we had to get some pictures.

This one is just dang funny!

A Week to Celebrate!

This past week was a stressful, but good one! There were a few reasons to celebrate! ***WARNING VERY LONG POST***

CELEBRATION REASON #1: I finished my first sewing project! It was hard work and I am glad it is done, but I learned so much. It all began months ago, in March to be exact, after I found out my dear friend Krista was pregnant with baby boy #2 (ok so we didn't know it was a boy at the time, obviously she found out later). Soon after I found out about Krista's pregnancy one of my clients who had just had a baby walked into my office one day with her infant baby wrapped in a beautiful quilt/blanket. I fell in love with it and immediately thought of Krista. I knew I wanted to make one for her; she is such a special person to me and has been the greatest friend. She is like a second sister and I love her and her family so I knew this endeavor would be worth it. So after all these years that is what inspired me to start sewing-thanks Krista! After I had made this decision my mother-in-law and sister-in-law invited me to join a quilt blocking class with them at a local sewing store. The timing was perfect because this helped me get motivated to start the blanket. Thanks to the help of my sister-in-law Stephanie who showed me some darling fabric and my mother-in-law who seriously walked me through the WHOLE process, it is finally done! Ironically the finished project looks nothing like the inspiration quilt/blanket from what I can remember but I am pleased with the way my first project turned out. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU Carolyn for coming to my rescue again, I couldn't have done it without you!

Enjoy Krista and Jakob, I love you!


CELEBRATION REASON #2: This one is the most important of them all! Jakob Matthew Johnson finally arrived on October 7, 2008! I was so excited to see the little man I had made the blanket for and to give it to Krista! Of course Jakob is so sweet and adorable, just like his big brother who he looks a lot alike-I think! Congrats Krista, Kent, and Sawyer on your new family member. We love you.





CELEBRATION REASON #3: I passed my clinical licensing exam!!! Talk about relief. This exam is the last exam a social worker must pass before they enter the field of clinical therapy practice. It is 4 hours long and dreadful. I have been dreading taking this exam since May when I graduated. I spent the whole summer studying for it but have never felt prepared to take it. I was even scheduled to take it in September but then rescheduled my testing appointment until today because I was so fearful and felt so unprepared. After all if you don't pass the exam the first time you have to wait 3 months before you can re-attempt and lets just say the pass rate is not ideal for first attempts. I have been so stressed that earlier this week I even told Sheldon that I was considering rescheduling it again. Luckily, he knocked some sense into me and confronted me on my avoidance. So after approximately 2 weeks of high anxiety-to the point I have been sick to my stomach, intense studying, and sleepless nights (because of both the anxiety and studying) I am finally done! The education chapter of my life has officially closed. No more papers, tests, studying, and school! YIPEE!!!!!!!! I have finally reached one of my major life goals.

I must say however, I know it was not all my doing. Sheldon has been the biggest support of me and my education. He has never treated his education as more important than mine. He has been supportive of my decision to take this journey and at times pushed me through it because he knew it was important to me-cheesy I know but it's true. And most important of all I have my Heavenly Father to thank. I am nothing without him and I know that I only made it to this point because this is what he wanted and expected of me, so he helped me. Thank you to everyone who was so happy for me and expressed care.

Sheldon gave me congratulation flowers, so sweet.

Sheldon and my mother-in-law congratulated me with suprise decorations and a ton of treats, thanks Carolyn.

And my cute little nieces made and hung up a "Good Job" banner. It was so long I couldn't even fit in into one camera frame. Thanks Taylor, Jaedi, Autumn, Kaydee, and Madison!

FYI...

October is domestic violence awareness month!

For a moment I am letting the social worker in me take over blog posting, however this is one of the most important posts I can make. October has been designated as Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Despite what some think domestic violence affects people of all races, ages, religions and socioeconomic statuses. Domestic violence scars people physically and emotionally when it doesn't kill. It is likely that you currently know someone who is being affected by domestic violence, most importantly it is possible that someone is a child. It is considered neglect when children witness domestic violence! It is extremely unhealthy and detrimental to a child's development when they witness domestic violence; this is manifested to me on a daily basis with my clients. James Baldwin stated it best when he said 'Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.'

Help promote awareness of domestic violence in your area this month. You should be able to Google "domestic violence awareness month" followed by your state and area to learn about promotion efforts local to you. In Northern Utah there is a 5K in Layton park October 11th and a supplies drive for Safe Harbor Domestic Violence Shelter. I will post detailed information about these events and more.

If you know someone who is a victim of DV encourage them to seek help. If you know a child who is in a violent home seek help for them. For help call 1-800-897-LINK (5465). The LINKline operates 24 hours per day, seven days per week. The Utah Statewide Domestic Violence Info-line will LINK you to free help. They can refer you to counseling, shelter and other services. You can also call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) if you are outside the state of Utah.

Let's work together to reduce the violence. THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR VIOLENCE!!!

The BEST way to watch "So You Think You Can Dance"....

...is definitely LIVE! Thanks to Michelle who picked up my ticket for me I was able to go the concert tour and it was AWESOME! We really didn't know what to expect but the show exceeded my expectations. It was so much different than watching it on TV. I know I am a little obsessed, maybe too obsessed, but it sure is dang good entertainment. Unfortunately, we didn't get pictures during the concert but we snapped some after for memories sake. And poor Sheldon, he missed out on the whole thing! (ha, ha)

Cruise Vacation

We finally were able to take a MUCH needed vacation (ahhh)! It was quite an adventure and we had SO MUCH FUN!!! Thanks to our traveling buddies-well we are friends even when we are not traveling, but you get my point-we never had a dull moment. We had so many laughs and good times despite our major cruise disappointment (read below). So here is a run-down of our trip with some pics.

SAN DIEGO
Sheldon and I decided to spend a night in San Diego, where our cruise started and ended, so we left a day early. We went to La Jolla beaches, visited the beutiful temple, and explored the city. I also must comment on our hotel-it was amazing! I love interior design and architecture so I didn't want to stay in a cookie cutter hotel when we were in SD; I wanted to stay in a hotel that was unique. So I chose The Bristol, it is a historic building with a lot of architectual detail but with modern interior design. Before we actually arrived Sheldon was extremely paranoid because the hotel is known for being trendy and unique, so it attracts the same kind of people if you know what I mean. Sheldon repeatedly told me he wanted to stay at the Hilton-boring! But he was pleasantly suprised!

3 1/2 DAYS & 3 NIGHTS AT SEA!
The next day we met up with friends and went cruising! Our cruise was scheduled to go to Cabo San Lucas and Ensenada. The disapointment was that we cruised all the way down to Cabo and were told we could not get off the ship becuase of a "dangerous tropical storm"-oh ha Carnival! So we didn't even get off the ship for 3 1/2 days! The plus side is we still had a blast. We past the time by going to the cruise line activities and shows, playing basketball and volleyball, laying out under the sun, swimming, playing cards, and of course eating and sleeping!

ENSENADA
We finally got off the ship in Ensenada where we spent about 10 hours. Ensenada was awesome! It definitely made up for Cabo. We were literally the first ones off the boat we were so excited to be on land. In Ensenada we rented 4-wheelers and drove them on the Mexico highway (I know we are crazy! I still can't believe we did that and that it is legal!) all the way to La Bufadora. It took about 45 minutes for us to get to La Bufadora on the quads but it was SO worth it! The views were breath-taking and the blow hole was pretty cool too. We did some shopping and ate some real Mexican food. We also went off-roading and drove to the top of a very large mountain where we were able to see for miles-it was so beautiful. Later we rode back to Ensenada and spent some time at the beach.

target="_blank">

Despite missing Cabo our trip was a success! Justin and Michelle and Missy and Jared were exicited to get back home to see their kids, but Sheldon and I could have stayed on vacation forever. We miss it already! Thanks for the fun friends!

Happy Birthday Sheldon Ray!

Sheldon is 25! We celebrated the whole weekend and had lots of fun. On Friday I took Sheldon to our favorite Thai food restaurant downtown SLC and then we went on a 4x4 drive up to Bountiful peak, which was beautiful! On Saturday we went to Lagoon and rode the new ride WICKED; that was quite the adventure, a scary adventure. Finally, on Sunday we had a get together with family.

This year I decided to make Sheldon 2 homemade cakes because he had picked them out of one of my cooking magazines a month ago; this was quite an adventure too! One was a butter pecan cake which I was not a fan of, but Sheldon loved it. The second was a strawberry cream dessert, which was actually pretty good. I was just glad that Sheldon liked them both and had a good birthday weekend. Here are some pictures of our activities :)

Silly Sheldon!

The other day Sheldon was running and when I walked into the room to talk to him this is what I found....

He had literally cut the sleeve off his T-shirt and put the sleeve on his head for a sweat band. HAHA

I was laughing so hard, and he was pretty embarrassed. This is how dang funny Sheldon is. This is half the reason why I married him. He can always make me smile and laugh even on the gloomiest of days!

Farewell Rebecca, we will miss you :(

Despite all our differences, my sister and I share one passion-social work. This past weekend Becca moved to New York to pursue her Master's degree in Clinical Social Work at NYU.

***

As sad as we are to see you go, we wish you the best of luck. Your journey will be hard and long but we know you can do it! We will miss you and love you very much. MAKE US PROUD!!!

The Adventures of Packing Rebecca...if you knew her you would understand but she always seems to make sense of the chaos!!! haha

Saying good-bye at the airport :(sniffle, sniffle):