2011 in Review

Well it has been a crazy year. 

I know i haven't posted anything in a while but here is how my year has gone... Some things have happened this year that have significantly changed my life.  

1. 30.... Yep that is a scary number and i turned it this year. The Dirty Flirty 30!You know growing up you think that wow 30 is so old.Everyone has been asking me "How does it feel to be 30, Do you feel older, blah blah blah" but it feels just like any other day : ) I wanted it to be a great experience so what did i do... I threw myself a Big Ass Birthday Party! We rented out the upstairs of my friends bar and had drinks then a Party Bus came & we did a little bar hopping. It was a really fun night! I was surrounded by my awesome friends so it sure made my transition to my 30's a lot easier : )

2. I think for me a big thing was telling myself one little quote "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference"I have found that i try to change or "fix" everything and sometimes it's not my problem to fix and i need to just let God handle it and i need to accept it and relax. To help remind me of this i got it tattooed on my left side. I am glad that i got it and love it : )   Here is a picture of it:

3. One thing that i am so excited about is my new little nephew Rylan Grayson! He is such a great baby & is getting spoiled more & more every day. He such an amazing lil guy. I am so excited to be an aunt and to be able to be apart of his life while watching him grow up. I cant wait to see what kind of person he grows into. Here is a lil pic of him too. Such a handsome lil devil:

Also one of my best friends had a lil baby girl and she told me one day that they were naming her after me! I feel so privileged & honored! Her name is Elizabeth Marie. She is such a lil dolly. Now i have 2 lil babys to spoil to death : ) Here is a beautiful picture of her:     

Then Andy brother & sister in-law were blessed with another lil girl as well.. Landyn Jo. Can't wait to see her grow and interact with her 2 big sisters. Its going to be a wild ride : ) 

So there are a few fabulous lil additions to my life that i am super excited about being a great aunt & babysitter for these lil bundles of joy : )
 
4. I guess my year started off a little rough to say the least. On Feb. 7, 2011 i was on my way home & hit a patch of ice and started swerving... First to the left then to the right and then i lost control slammed into a guard rail then went over the guard rail & rolled my vehicle 2 times, landing back on all 4 tires. I never blacked or passed out & remember everything. First thing i thought was where is my phone i have to call my mom. Then i realize as i try to lift my arm that my left forearm is broken (i was wearing long sleeves so i could not see any gross stuff, thank God). I just held my arm close, i also realize that i cannot see very well, everything was blurry. Well when the airbag went off the impact popped my contacts out. I was wearing my seatbelt! I then crawled over to the passenger side of the vehicle and waited, i was so scared because i couldn't get out of the car & i had went down a hill in between the 2 interstates and thought that no one would see or find me. I sat there about 5 minutes when i look out the window to see 3 blurry figures of some guys (still have no idea who they were to this day) walking towards me. They asked if i was ok i told them my arm is broke & my ankle was hurting. They said they called the police & they were on the way. Needless to say i spent the next 2 days in the hospital, had to have surgery on my arm. They put 2 plates & 13 screws into my arm. Here are a few pictures of my blazer to show you how lucky i was:

We had to have it hauled to our house so it sat in our driveway for a couple weeks and i remember looking out the window and just crying. I can't believe that i survived this! Why am i still here?!?! No one should have survived this. I was hurting and confused. I ended up being off work for about a month & a half. Still to this day it sure makes me think and brings a tear to my eye. There were defiantly some angles watching over me. I guess there is a bigger plan for me : ) So i am fine and my body has healed, i am just as onry as ever : ) But with this new year approaching be thankful for your family & friends and to just be alive : ) Love you all and God Bless!

Yummy Salsa

Who loves salsa???? Well it is summer & all the veggies from your garden are poppin up like crazy I'm sure. Here is a very yummy recipe for some great salsa:

Black Bean Salsa
1 Jar 'Aunt Nellies' Corn relish
1 can drained black beans
1-2 cups Pase salsa
1-2 chopped Avacadoes
1 chopped red onion
1-2 dices fresh jalepenos

Mix all together well. Best if sits over night or several hours before serving. So grab some tortilla chips and dig in! Enjoy ; )

New Baby!!!

Well i am officially an Aunt! Rylan Grayson was born July 26th at 10:50pm. The above picture is me holding him. He is such a cutie! Also my boyfriends birthday is July 26th so now 2 of my favorite guys have the same birthdays : ) I am just so excited to be an aunt : ) I hope i will get to babysit a lot. This lil guy is going to be SO spoiled. His lil momma is doing great & recovering very good. I have not seen him since last Thursday so i am so excited i get to go see him tomorrow evening : ) Here's a picture of the little prince : )


This is his lil Elvis impression ha ha ha... Thank you Thank you very much ; ) Stay tuned for more Rylan pics : ) I wont bombard you all with a ton just a few here & there ; )

Iowa Gals : )

Good girls come from the South, Barbies come from California, but IOWA girls have Hawk-eye fire and ice in their blood! Tough girls come from Iowa, we know how to ride, drive tractors, & still be a princess, stand our ground, & still be a lady. We can drive in the snow, handle the cold, beat the heat, throw a right hook and drink with the boys! We can cook a wicked meal, and if we have an opinion you can bet your sweet little ass you're gonna hear it!

Back to Reality : (

Well it's sure been hard to get back into the swing of things after being gone for 6 days. But man was it well worth it! We had the best time this year at the Abate rally! Each year it gets better & better.... This year was pretty hot. We arrived about 5pm Wed night. As we are pulling in it was already pretty packed. The rally normally starts on Thursday but we go up a day early to get out campsite. We were a little nervous that we wouldn't get it but low and behold our friends from Minnesota had gotten there about 1pm and saved a whole section knowing that we would be back this year : )Here is a picture of me (middle) with Kris & her Hubby Whitey

So we chatted with them and got our camp set up then the guys went to town & got some groceries & stuff while a buddy & I held down the campsite while having a drink : ) We had a good time that night didn't get too crazy (it was the first night, better save some for the rest of the week right?).Here is a picture of the boys (my man is on the far right)

There were so many people there... Last year i think there ended up being around 8,300 or so. I haven't heard the official count for this year yet, but i think we topped that. There are so many different bikes or trikes there. Here is a picture of "Batman" he comes every year... It's pretty funny!
He even blast the batman theme song! LOL So funny.... As you can see he also will dress up as batman too! So many sites to see... Some are not even post worthy lol
Here is a really cool sticker that i saw on a bike:
The weather was ok, could have been cooler. It was pretty hot most of the week. Friday a big storm rolled in and about took our canopy's out. We had to do some fixing on some of them. Here are some pictures of the storm.
They had to go break some branches off some trees to support the canopy. So funny! It looked pretty ghetto. Oh well it ended up lasting the rest of the weekend so it worked : )
Aren't these clouds AWESOME?!?!?! This is what the sky looked like after the storm. It was so cool. The sky was just a yellow/orangeish color. I have never seen it like this. Defiantly glad i took pictures of it : )
Well there are a few of the pictures from our trip. I will be posting some more with some great stories later this week so stay tuned!

Bikes, beer & Badassness

Well its that time of year! ALGONA IOWA RALLY!!!! YIPPEEEE.... This will be the 4th year in a row that i have gone and love it. It's about 2 1/2-3 hours away and we camp out the whole week and have way to many beers : ) After all this flooding fiasco it will be a good week to relax and beer it up with some great friends.
If you have ever been to a motorcycle rally you understand what i am talking about. It is pretty crazy. If you have never been you pry wouldn't believe half of the stories that i would tell you from years past. You hardly get any sleep because there are people revving their bikes all night long. When you hear one bike rev then another and another. It starts a chain reaction. It is so loud and awesome to hear! There are so many bikes to look at and so many cool and interesting people to meet. Some people will look at bikers and turn up their noses but in reality they are some of the nicest people. Here is an awesome poem to remember on your travels over this holiday weekend:

A VERY POWERFUL BIKER POEM

By Anonymous Biker

But, You Didn't See Me

I saw you,
hug your purse closer to you in the grocery store line.

But, you didn't see me,
put an extra $10.00 in the collection plate last Sunday.

I saw you,
pull your child closer when we passed each other on the sidewalk.

But, you didn't see me,
playing Santa at the local mall.

I saw you,
change your mind about going into the restaurant.

But, you didn't see me,
attending a meeting to raise more money for the hurricane relief.

I saw you,
roll up your window and shake your head when I drove by.

But, you didn't see me,
driving behind you when you flicked your cigarette butt out the car window.

I saw you,
frown at me when I smiled at your children.

But, you didn't see me,
when I took time off from work to run toys to the homeless.

I saw you,
stare at my long hair.

But, you didn't see me,
and my friends cut ten inches off for Locks of Love.

I saw you,
roll your eyes at our leather coats and gloves.

But, you didn't see me,
and my brothers donate our old coats and gloves to those that had none.

I saw you,
look in fright at my tattoos.

But, you didn't see me,
cry as my children where born and have their name written over and in my heart.

I saw you,
change lanes while rushing off to go somewhere.

But, you didn't see me,
going home to be with my family.

I saw you,
complain about how loud and noisy our bikes can be.

But, you didn't see me,
when you were changing the CD and drifted into my lane.

I saw you,
yelling at your kids in the car.

But, you didn't see me,
pat my child's hands, knowing he was safe behind me.

I saw you,
reading the newspaper or map as you drove down the road.

But, you didn't see me,
squeeze my wife's leg when she told me to take the next turn.

I saw you,
race down the road in the rain.

But, you didn't see me,
get soaked to the skin so my son could have the car to go on his date.

I saw you,
run the yellow light just to save a few minutes of time.

But, you didn't see me,
trying to turn right.

I saw you,
cut me off because you needed to be in the lane I was in.

But, you didn't see me,
leave the road.

I saw you,
waiting impatiently for my friends to pass.

But, you didn't see me.
I wasn't there.

I saw you,
go home to your family.

But, you didn't see me.
Because, I died that day you cut me off.

I was just a biker,.....

A person with friends and a family.

BUT, YOU DIDN'T SEE ME

I think times are changing but it sure makes you think... : ) Remember loud pipes save lives, Love you all and have a great 4th of July weekend!!!!

Flooding 2011

Well here in Iowa it is getting crazy! We about to be washed outta our beloved city : ( I don't know if you all have heard but because of some melting snow and lack of releasing damns along the way for months, it is now a disaster and the core of engineers are having to release about 5 damns at once. It is/has destroyed many farms and citys here in Iowa.
My Momma lives on the west end of Council Bluffs and we have been packing up her things from the basement and trying to get it all out so her possessions are not ruined. It is so hard to try to decide what means the most to you. This is my mother's possessions for the last 30 years! I am so very proud of her though she has been getting rid of things and "thinning the heard" so to speak. We have been working at her place for about 3 weeks now. I also have other family members that are being affected by all of this.
Here are some pictures of the area:The picture above is looking towards Omaha, Ne which is a hop across the river from us. You can see the Omaha skyline in the top right hand corner.


This is the Morman bridge that goes over into Omaha, Ne from the Iowa side.
This used to be restaurant many years ago. My family used to live about 5 miles from this place. I still had family that lived out by here and now it is all covered with water & they have had to relocate for now.
This is such a tragedy and please keep the MANY families & friends that are being affected by this in your prayers. So far is hasn't crept into the city but if the rumors are correct it will only be a matter of time : (

Chew on this....

Here's a funny little saying that i found and thought you all would enjoy!
People are more violently opposed to fur than leather because it's safer to harass rich women than bikers!

Twitter

Hey there everyone... Hows it going? I hope fabulous.... My awesome sister talked me into trying Twitter. So i caved and am now starting to "Twitter." So please come and follow me. I'm still pretty new so i don't know a lot about it yet, but i am a pretty quick learner ; ) So cruise on by and follow me!

Mermaid or Whale??

I just got this funny email.... It comes at a great time, especially with swimming suit season right around the corner....Hope you all enjoy!

Recently, in a large city in Australia, a poster featuring a young, thin and tan woman appeared in the window of a gym. It said, "This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?"

A middle-aged woman, whose physical characteristics did not match those of the woman on the poster, responded publicly to the question posed by the gym.

To Whom It May Concern,
Whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, sea lions, curious humans.) They have an active sex life, get pregnant and have adorable baby whales. They have a wonderful time with dolphins stuffing themselves with shrimp. They play and swim in the seas, seeing wonderful places like Patagonia , the Bering Sea and the coral reefs of Polynesia .
Whales are wonderful singers and have even recorded CDs. They are incredible creatures and virtually have no predators other than humans. They are loved, protected and admired by almost everyone in the world.

Mermaids don't exist. If they did exist, they would be lining up outside the offices of Argentinean psychoanalysts due to identity crisis. Fish or human?
They don't have a sex life because they kill men who get close to them, not to mention how could they have sex?
Just look at them ... where is IT?
Therefore, they don't have kids either. Not to mention, who wants to get close to a girl who smells like a fish store?

The choice is perfectly clear to me: I want to be a whale.

P.S. We are in an age when media puts into our heads the idea that only skinny people are beautiful, but I prefer to enjoy an ice cream with my kids, a good dinner with a man who makes me shiver, and a piece of chocolate with my friends.
With time, we gain weight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room, it distributes out to the rest of our bodies. So we aren't heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated and happy. Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think, "Good grief, look how smart I am!!!"


So how "big is your butt" ha ha ha..... Have a good day everyone and remember to enjoy life and don't get stressed out with all the pressures of life..... : )

NEWS!!!!!!!

Well i have some exciting news... I am going to be an aunt!!!!! By the picture you pry thought that it was going to be mine... LOL My lil brother is having a baby boy... This will be the first lil one in my immediate family. My mom & dad are going to be grandparents. Man that sounds so weird ha ha ha...
It has been such a crazy couple of years in my family but we are all doing pretty good. I think my brother is going to be a good father to this little guy. I'm sure he will teach him #1 how to ride a bike #2 about cars and then all the other boy stuff that he needs to know. He loves riding his bike. He did some BMX stuff in Jr. high & high school and is very talented. He can do some pretty crazy tricks : ) Here is a picture when he was younger of him jumping my sister who is only 4'11 1/2 ha ha... He made it with no problems... I think my sister was a little nervous : )

Here is a picture from last summer getting some sweet air: )

His dream was always to go pro after high school. He will now have to hold off on that because he now has a new dream, to raise a little one. He & his girlfriend have a rough road ahead of them but they both have an amazing supportive family that is backing them in the crazy journey : ) I know it wasn't their plan but i believe that things happen for a reason and whats done is done and we will all be welcoming this little guy July 30th 2011. I hope they can just keep their heads up and ignore what people are saying about their situation. I ran across this quote and thought that it fits pretty well:

“We can never judge the lives of others, because each person knows only their own pain and rejection. It's one thing to feel that you are on the right path, but it's another to think that yours is the only path.”~Unkown

I think sometimes people tend to talk about other people's lives because it might be different or not the "norm". They are both great kids and they will get through this. All we can do is be there for them and dust them off if they stumble a little : ) I just hope this little guy doesn't take after our side and fall to much : ) We (my mom & I) can be a little clumsy sometimes ha ha... I will keep you all updated on my new adventure as an Aunt as it unfolds : ) Until then keep the paint up and rubber down!

St. Patrick's Day Fun

A tough looking biker was riding his Harley when he sees a girl about
to jump off a bridge so he stops.

"What are you doing?" he asks.

I'm going to commit a suicide," she says.

While he did not want to appear insensitive, he didn't want to miss an
opportunity he asked "Well, before you jump, why don't you give me a Kiss?"

So, she does.

After she's finished, the biker says, "Wow!

That was the best Kiss I have ever had. That's a real talent you are wasting.
You could be famous!

Why are you committing suicide?"

"My parents don't like me dressing up like a girl......"

LOL ha ha ha.... SO be careful next week on St. Patrick's day, you better watch "who" your kissing : )

Miracle

Well the last few months have flown by. A lot has happened in the last 6 months.... I guess i am just thankful that it is over & that i am alive....

Right before Christmas we were in a wreck. No one was seriously injured but my boyfriends truck was totaled. It was really scary but that was nothing compared to what happened to me Feb 7th. I don't share all of this to scare you or feel sorry for me but to let you be aware and be more careful. I was involved in another car accident. It was an icy road n lost control, i swerved a couple times the hit the guard rail head on and then flipped the vehicle twice & rolled down an embankment. When i wrecked the airbag came out & when it hit me it popped out my contacts. I am almost blind without my contacts so that was a little weird. I never did black out or anything, it just happened so fast. My first thought was to find my cell phone which i could not then i realized my left arm was broke & my right ankle was hurting. I then thought to try to get out and walk up to get help. But i was trapped, the doors wouldn't open. About 10 minutes later 4 guys walked up & asked if i was ok? I told them i though my arm was broke and that my ankle was hurting... They said the police were on their way. Sure enough a police officer arrived & then the Paramedics came and i got a wonderful ride in the ambulance to the ER. Everyone who helped me was so great. I had to get x-rays from head to toe and they said i would have to have surgery. I wasn't able to get into surgery until 7:30pm...I had to wait 18 hours : ( But it wasn't all bad i got a little thing called morphine so i was feeling pretty good... It just made me sleepy. Here is a picture of my x-ray of my arm:Pretty crazy huh? Well thankfully it was my left arm... Here is a picture after surgery with the plates & screws in it: Well needless to say it was defiantly some experience that i would never like to relive again.... I was off work for only 2 weeks then started back 1/2 days for 2 weeks then to full time again... Thankfully my job has been very understanding : ) I had to do therapy on my ankle and am doing therapy on my arm now. So just thought i would share a very scary experience with you all. I am so thankful to be alive and glad that after only about 2 months and a couple sweet scars (makes me look tough right ha ha ha) i am just about back to my normal self : ) Well take it easy and take care!