I'm good to my house.

This corner was lonely, so I bought it a plant. It was only 10 bucks. I know! Great deal right? I think it looks a little better now.

Now for some artsy wall hangings.

Fall pictures!!

Our community park across the street held an autumnfest this past weekend, and we finally decided to go. There was also a carnival, but we ran out of time for that (plus it was 90 degrees, and none of us wanted to walk around in the sun any more than we had to). So we ate some Navajo tacos, browsed the arts and crafts booths, pet (petted?) some animals, and Jade brushed some butts (see above pictures). We then picked out our pumpkins. Jared almost dropped his, but luckily Doug rescued it just before the splat. That would have been pretty messy, and gross.

My only political post.

It's a vent, really. I don't want to stir up trouble on the board, so I'm unleashing in my safe place. I'm so in shock right now after reading someone's post on the message board I've been a member of for a few years now. (of course a lot of you know that, since you are members there too.) I cannot wrap my head around people (two to be exact) ACTUALLY BELIEVING Obama is the antichrist. The ANTICHRIST? If you have differing views from his platform, fine. But to say a blanket statement like that--well for the love of Pete, pull our head out and start using your brain.That is it, and I will say no more.

*This was a vent, not a debate, and I can just see it turning into one. So, I have disabled comments for this post.

'Tis the end of the depressing blog posts.

At least for now, because Guitar Hero World Tour came out today!!! Doug drove an entire 2 miles to our Walmart to pick up the very last one in the store. This is cause for celebration. Now, I can finally live vicariously through a video game and rock out like I'm Neil Pert. (he's only the greatest drummer who's ever lived people.)

30 is NOT the new 20

The lady who waxed my eyebrows the other day told me I have a wrinkle in the middle of my forehead. How thoughtfully insightful of her.

Why I'd take swingersville anyday over this.

I just got a call from Doug's cousin today. Apparently, we got out of CA just in time. There was a shooting right in front of our apartment complex by a 16 year old KID. He was walking down the street with a gun, at 1 o'clock in the afternoon, and shot and killed an 18-year-old KID. This is all just a block away from Jared's old school. A school! During school hours, no less. I found the newspaper article, and pasted it below for you all to read. Doug's cousin said our complex was completely blocked off for hours. I'm sure the school went on lockdown too. Did I tell you all that last year the school was put on lockdown 3 times within 3 months? Unbelievable.

The best part? The 16-year-old killer lives in our old complex. Soooooooo glad to be out of there.


LANCASTER - An 18-year-old who had been walking with a friend was fatally wounded after three other teens confronted the pair on a Lancaster street, deputies said.
Kwame Addison and his friend ran after a fistfight broke out, but one of the trio pulled out a gun and fired, hitting Addison several times, deputies said.
"This ain't right," said Evette Gordan, a neighbor and friend of Addison's family. "He lived in L.A. all his life, and then he moves out to Lancaster and gets shot. And it was in broad daylight, two schools are close by, and it is a busy street. Who goes around carrying a gun and starts shooting people?"
Within minutes of the shooting, Lancaster deputies detained five males who were spotted standing outside a nearby apartment complex and who ran when they saw the deputies. One is expected to be released as he was not involved in the shooting, deputies said.
The suspected gunman is a 16-year-old, deputies said. He suffered a cut to his head and was examined by medical personnel.
At the complex, deputies said they discovered bloody shorts and a shirt.
Deputies said Addison and his friend were walking along the sidewalk on Avenue K near Sixth Street East about 2 p.m. Tuesday when they were approached from behind by three teenagers, officials said.
When a fight broke out, Addison ran, but was shot at least three times, deputies said. He ran across an adjoining field, then collapsed on Sixth Street East, close to his house, sheriff's officials said.
Addison was found by neighbors, who heard the shots and tried to help him before calling his mother, Latonya Jones.
"I was inside the house when I heard the shots," said a neighbor, who asked not to be identified. "He was just laying there, full of blood. It looked pretty bad."
Gordan said Addison's mother came to her home to tell her what happened.
"She was banging on the door and yelling, 'My baby has been shot!' " Gordan said.
Addison, in very critical condition, was flown to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, where he was pronounced dead, officials said.
After the shooting, more than 20 deputies searched the field looking for blood and other evidence, authorities said. The field as well as Sixth Street East were blocked with patrol cars and crime-scene tape. The apartment house in the 43500 block of Kirkland Avenue was also surrounded with crime-scene tape.
Deputies were waiting for a warrant to search the apartment in which the 16-year-old lived.
Gordan said she was shocked by the shooting.
"He was a good kid," Gordan said of Addison. "You know, he got side-tracked for a little bit, but he was back on. … It is unbelievable. Shot around the corner from his home. Are you serious

Feeling down today.

It's no secret to many that my marriage isn't the greatest. I won't go into detail, but I am fairly good at sucking it up and just dealing with it. I do have my bad days though, and today is one of them. Nothing unusual was done or said; just feeling a little lonely and sorry for myself today, which is weird because no matter how bad it gets I can get over myself and move on with my day. Shoot, I can't even write well. I'm going to continue though, because this blog is therapy for me. I post every once and a while about my personal struggles, but not nearly as much as I admittedly have them. I'm so glad I've made friends here in AZ, and I promised myself I WOULD NOT be known as that girl with the bad marriage who needs a weekly therapy session at Starbucks to release her never-ending marital drama, looking for a tissue and a pat on the back. NOPE. They do not need to know, and they don't need their lives filled with my drama. Neither do you all. But some days.....some days I simply feel I cannot handle it alone. That's why, my friends, I am letting it out for you all to read. My marriage sucks. Plain and simple. It has been pretty bad for years and years. Some days I try my hardest to pretend it's fine, but usually the truth lurks deep down inside. I have a good way of lying to myself in order to keep from completely falling apart, especially for my kids' sake. I'm pretty sure he does not love me anymore and not to sound completely pitiful, but most days I doubt he cares about me at all. To answer your question, right now there is nothing I can do about this. Maybe one day I can, but now is not the time. So for now, I trudge along in the trenches and try to emotionally survive. Most days I can survive, in fact I have actually learned to thrive. But today, I'm simply trying to breathe.

Why Jade doesn't eat her dinner.

"Jade, you need to sit down, right now, and eat your green beans."

"But I can't because I'm practicing my magic spells. Watch...."poke the head of google and goggle". See, I told you I need practice."


I seriously have NO IDEA.

A day at the park

I had to make a post about this because it's the first day since we've been here the temp is below the 90s. It's SO NICE. I actually wore pants today. Not because it was cold, but because I didn't HAVE to wear shorts to not sweat to death. Plus, it's techincally fall, and you better believe I'll wear my jeans in 80 degree weather if I want to!

This just ruined my night.

Jared made a best friend. He lives a couple of streets over, they ride the same bus, and they are in the same class at school. This kid's name is Alex. For the past two weeks, the boys have been inseparable. Alex either comes here, or Jared goes over there. This week, however, I noticed the visits and playdates have stopped. I really didn't think anything of it until last night when Jared brought up something that made me feel like I was punched in the stomach. Alex has apparently been pushing Jared out of their little circle of friends at school. Alex will literally hold out his arm and physically try and stop Jared from playing with them at recess. Jared will invite him over to the house, and Alex will say things like "I don't want to go to your house. It's dumb." Hello! We have the Wii, and those boys have a BLAST playing it in my living room. You know how I know? Because they scream so dang loud I can't hear my dictation, and I yell at them to keep it down. What does he mean our house is dumb? I served him fruit snacks and a Capri Sun for crying out loud!! Jared even let him play with his new Bionacle. Ugh. I am so upset about this. I'm almost more upset that Jared lets Alex tell him who he can and who he can't play with. Jared is so NOT a passive person, and I want him to assert himself, but he won't with Alex. When Alex "prevents" him from playing with the group at recess, Jared walks away and sits by himself. When Alex tells Jared he can't sit next to him at lunch, Jared leaves and sits by himself. That is just SO SAD. Jared was telling me this last night, and I literally had to drag it out of him. When he admitted everything that was going on, I could see tears welling up behind his eyes. I asked him if Alex's behavior was hurting his feelings, and told him he could tell me if it did. He turned away, wiped his eyes and said "no mom. I don't care." That killed me. I just wanted to scoop him up and hold him and tell him I was so sorry his best friend was being so mean. I wanted to cry with him, and I wanted to fix it. Instead, I told him it was important to not let Alex treat him that way. I told him to stick up for himself, and play with whomever he wants to play with . I told him Alex is NOT his boss, and cannot prevent him from playing with other kids in the group. I'm so sad for him. I have to have faith that things will work out, and that Alex is just going through some bratty phase. Maybe if Jared doesn't tolerate this kind of behavior, Alex won't do it anymore. Or, at least that's what I'm hoping. Growing up is so hard. I thought this stuff only happened to girls.