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.

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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.

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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):

Becca's Good-bye BBQ

I am not saying good-bye yet! I was just finally able to get pictures of my siblings together, and this will be the last time in a long while.