DEREK'S FIRST BIRTHDAY

I'm I little late posting this. Can't believe that Derek is 1 already.

I am counting the days to get out of here!!!!

I will be so glad to move out of this apartment complex! I moved into a studio apartment last July trying to save money and I have been hating it since day 1. When I first moved in the studio it smelled like smoke. I went to the office and complained and they said we will put a note on the smokers door and let him know it is bothering other people and that he should smoke outside. Well that didn't help all my stuff is now ruined from the smell of smoke, I bought 3 air fillers that run all the time but doesn't help. A few weeks after I moved in, this Samoan moved in right next door and boy did he love to party every night. He would play loud music all night. One weekend before Joe went home for the night, he went and knocked on their door and once they opened he said it was a cloud of smoke and they where doing drugs. He asked them to be quite cuz I had to be to work early in the morning and they just laughed at him. So after that I was scared that they would do something... around 2 in the morning I could see 2 huge guys standing right outside my window and then I got really scared and so I called the police. HUM West Valley Police, I guess don't take stuff like that seriously they never came. After 3 different parties that the neighbor had and I called the cops again and again, not once did the police ever come out. Then it got really bad I started having bad headaches every day and I thought that it was from my neighbors drug parties. I went to the office and let them know what my neighbor was doing. They said that I would need to go Thur the security guard that watches the complex at night cuz then whatever is going on they can kick him out. So the next party I just called the security guy and he came right over and broke up the party. Finally some help here... I had gone into pay my rent for the month and the lady in the office said well your neighbor is in the process of getting kicked out, she said that there was alot more stuff going on, then just drugs. A note was then put on the neighbors door saying that the property had been taking over by the State of Utah and no one could enter... kind of interesting. Then early one morning it was around 4:30 am I was woke up, because it sounded like someone was trying to break into our apartment. Come to find out it was the neighbor trying to get into his apartment by kicking the door in. Finally after that process another guy moved in and he has been really quite. As of lately my other neighbor has gotten really bad. WHen I first moved in I spoke with the girl that lived next door and she said that her husband is never there, but she is and she cool if we are noisy. I thought that was interesting but didnt think anything of it. Then she started having all these different guys come over... interesting. Then around Christmas time there was 1 guy that has been around a lot so I decided that is her husband. It has gotten really bad with them they fight all the time and it is to the point that I cant have anything hung up on my wall cuz they throw each other around and have knocked stuff off my walls. It really sad cuz I know that he is beating her. Its really sad and depressing to live here in this place. I will be glad once we leave. I am just praying that the new place we move into has good neighbors.

IT'S A BIRD!!

So the other day at work I hurd this loud thud... First thing I thought was that someone threw something at the window. This is crazy, it was a huge bird that flew into the window and it left a mark of its face and wing span and you can see its feathers. POOR BIRD! After we took the picture we where thinking that we should of had someone standing by the bird print just so you could tell how big it realy is.

CELEBRATING 365 DAYS :)

Today Joe and I celebrated 365 days together. When Joe and I first started dating I couldn't get him to eat pasta. He said that its tasteless...every time I tried to get him to eat at a pasta place he wouldn't do it. On my birthday I said that we are going to eat at Olive Garden and I promised that he would love it. I know that he was just dreading it, but once we got there and he tried the food HE TOTALLY LOVED IT :) SO Today we went to Olive Garden and we always get the same thing, but today I was like I will try something else. I ordered the Tuscan garlic chicken and Joe ordered his shrimp and chicken carbonara. I took one bit of my food and it was gross! I have the sweetest husband ever though, he took my plate and ate my food even though I could tell he wasn't liking it at all.

After we got done eating Olive Garden, we decided to go to the zoo. It was fun cuz Joe has never been to a zoo before. He is so cute, since he is from Africa he grew up with alot of the animals we where looking at. Joe went to Cape Coast University in Ghana. He said that right on campus are alot of monkeys in the trees. He was telling me how its really sad cuz of the way things are in Africa a lot of the animals are being run out of their homes and they are dying off. He said that alot of the local people eat everything...so basically any animal they catch they eat.

LORI NEED'S

Go to google and type in (your name) needs and write down the first 10 things you read.

1. Clearly Lori needs a gelato machine ** LOL WHAT?? What is A gelato machine?
2. Lori needs to vent.
3. Lori needs help.com
4. Lori needs to be aware of her own anger and how its affecting her.
5. Lori needs to let herself off the hook.
6. Lori needs friends.
7. Lori needs magic.
8. Lori needs life of joy.
9. Lori needs a diet.
10. Lori needs a team.

MY ABC'S

A- Attached or single: Very much attached!
B- Best Friend: Joe and Lupita
C-Cake or Pie: Cake
D-Day: Sunday
E- Essential Item: Flat Iron
F- Favorite Color: PINK
G-Gummi Bears or Worms: WORMS
H-Home town: Huntington, UTAH
I- Indulgences: HUMM LETS SEE
J- January or July?: July for sure (It's WARM)
K-Kids: Yes hoping very soon
L-Life is incomplete without: Family, friends, and laughing
M- Marriage Date: October 11, 2008
N- Number of Siblings: 4 Brothers and 3 Sisters
O- Oranges or Apples: Oranges
P- Phobias or Fears? Someone Breaking into my house
Q- Quote: Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable ~Sidney j. Harris
R- Reason To Smile: Tons of things...
S- Season: Summer
T - Tag: Lets see
U- Unknown fact about me: I love Lemons
V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: I am Vegetarian, just cuz I cant stand the texture of meat
W- Worst Habit: spending to much money
X-Rays or Ultrasounds: X rays of my teeth just went to the dentist. Last Ultrasound was the night before Brian and Aimee got married I ended up in the Emergency Room and they did an Ultrasound.... Fun times
Y-Your favorite food: Love Pad Thai
Z: Zodiac Sign: Libra

MY NEW BEGINNINGS

A few years ago I went through the hardest time ever. I was living in Hawaii and was far from my family so I felt like I had no support at all. I had found out that my husband at the time was cheating on me and also very mentally abusive. It was really tough and deciding to leaving him, was the hardest choice I ever had to make... I was to the point that I thought that I would never be happy again and that my life was ruined. I have a really good friend (Tesha) that gave me a card the night I left Hawaii to move back to Utah.

It says Things are hard right now, but TRUST IN YOURSELF to make a new beginning. Sometimes life leads you in a new direction. And even when you don't feel prepared, or when you don't want to change, you are forced to start over. Life is like that...there are no guarantees. It makes you feel scared or anxious or sad. But after you've shed your last tear~ just when you think everything is out of your hands~ you take a deep breath and finally realize that you have complete control! Survival is about reclaiming your "self" It is about learning to love who you are. It is about making wise choices, setting goals, and finding out what really makes you happy. It is about rediscovering those things you always wanted to do. Happiness is something that has to come from within. Nobody can provide it for you. You are a beautiful, caring, wonderful person. You are worthy of all good things. I know life is hard right now, but please know that I am always here for you. THIS IS YOUR NEW BEGINNING!!! I cant wait to see what you do.

* I have this card framed and I read it often. I can now look back and see how hard it was to go thur all of that, but I am also thankful to for the change brought upon me. I have in a sense had a complete change in my life. I moved back to Utah and having my family close by and all the strength and support from them that helped me get by. I went back to school and I actually enjoyed being single (which I was dreading). I have now remarried and I couldn't be happier! Joe is amazing and every day I thank God that I with him. Joe is such an example to me he is so kind and thoughtful. We work crazy hours so I don't get to see him much, but he is such a sweetheart he will come to the salon and sit there just so we can spend more time together. He has dinner ready for me everyday when I get home from work. He does little things like the dishes, he makes the bed every morning. I feel spoiled! He has so much faith and is always positive. He has shown me how important prayer is and how we need to have more faith. He works nights so he will call me just before I go to bed and he will say make sure that you pray :) He was raised in Ghana and so he lived a very simple life and he didn't have much growing up, but out of that it has made him the person he is today.