I turned 30!

Well, not recently ^.^  I turned thirty back in March of this year -- but according to this blog that was only a couple of posts ago so I am not far behind at all!  (Yes, I know that in real life I am behind by...wow.  Okay, a little over eight months.  Very behind.  Oh well!)  So this is one of two "formal" photos I had taken for my 30th birthday.  I was incredibly blessed by a huge gift from my parents - a short cruise to Mexico! I received a few cards, bought a couple of books, and spent the day in pj's -- except I did go out to dinner and picked two slices of cake for my birthday treat.  I know, I know, such a party animal!  : )  I had the most wonderful relaxing time however, and felt very lucky on my birthday/during my celebrations! I did post it on here, but it was almost an afterthought -- my godson's feast day is my birthday which is great!

There are a couple of photos I found that I wanted to include in my last post which I found and am going to add now because I can -- my best friend lived only a few miles from our house growing up; after she double majored in French and English she traveled to France (with her Bachelor's Degree's under her belt she went to study and to celebrate)...and ended up finding her boyfriend/fiance/husband/father of her children!  Luckily for all of us still in CA, they had a wedding ceremony here in addition to the one in France.  And as I have mentioned time and time again, when they had their rainbow twins (a girl and a boy) - they chose me to be godmother to the little boy! Photos are from this past summer...

"Reading" me his picture book

My godson and his twin sister pushing/playing with swings

My godson climbing the mini rock wall so he could go down the big boy slide

Annual summer visit from "my France family"

Continuing on my catching up, I have to do talk about how thrilled I was to get another few weeks in with my godson, his twin sister, and their parents!! Actually, they had a surprise for us...

Mom was pregnant again! (just one this time - girl!)

So we had a family of FIVE visit this past summer!  I have no clue how the days flew by so fast (okay, I know but I somehow cannot find photos from their visit... somewhere I have at least a couple of my godson climbing up the side of the play structure that was built in the backyard while they were gone, but that will have to wait)... It was absolutely lovely having them visit, and meeting their baby girl.  The twins were so cute too, learning how to touch baby "gentle, soft ... careful!" and being told "shh! baby sleeping!" if we walked by her too loudly for their liking.

Mom S. with new baby girl;
Me holding my godson

 This is the only photo of their visit I can find at the moment, it is from their last night in town before heading to LAX in the wee small hours of the morning.  It took two cars to fit everyone, their checked luggage, and their carry-on items -- I am thankful that I was not one of two parents with three infants/toddlers, although I wanted to travel for a visit so badly!  Plus I am sure an extra set of hands the entire trip back would have been welcome!  Perhaps next summer... Until then all of us in CA will love and miss them -- oh, and the twins start school this year!  (In France you start younger than in the USA).

Safely back in France!
(Mom, twins, and baby girl; photo by Dad!)

Catching up

Hello blog world ::HUGS:: Playing catch up with about eight months since I went *poof* from here...

First, my apologies.  I do not have any reasons that are "good enough" for not posting.  I have, however, been following as many of your blogs as often as I could have. Also there have been several major health issues in my immediate family but shall stick to the top three: both of my grandparents, and my only sibling, my younger (well, 26 to my 30 years) sister.

My grandfather had a major heart attack, was in the hospital for a while, then moved to home hospice care (couple smaller heart attacks at home) -- and now is recovering very well!! So thankful, and hospice care has been stopped because he has improved so much!  Able to go ahead and re-schedule his skin cancer removal surgery (on his cheek, under his eye) -- he now only has a tiny bandage instead of half his face covered in gauze!



While my grandfather was ill, my grandmother somehow hurt her back but did not want to "take attention away from my husband" -- well intentioned of her yet she now has a compressed vertebrae which will take at least three months to recover from.  Luckily my relatives have been able to purchase a zero-gravity chair for her which she is able to sleep in.  Apparently she had not slept in her bed for a while and simply declined to tell anyone until asked point blank.  (Really though, how am I to guess the exact questions?  Multiple family members play this "game" and I dislike having to guess to get answers!)  She too is healing which is lovely!

My younger sister found out that she was expecting, and I know she does not understand how blessed she was (and is!!!) with her pregnancy and new son. I prayed and have bent over backwards getting her doctors appointments (luckily with our parents help) and... just so thankful and grateful she only had one tiny bump in the road during the unexpected pregnancy.

(C going on nine months)

(Baby K at only ten minutes old!)

She and the boyfriend (fiance now) were both using substances they should not have - which only increased my anxiety - but both of them (and his family) seemed to only be familiar with the "pregnant equals healthy baby" story and I could not bear to share the stories I know nor connect her with people who have been/are going through so many struggles to get something so very very precious.  Between my own worries and my concern for others online I have waited until now to be able to say that she has a healthy baby boy who was just baptized last weekend!



Lots to talk about, however there are days to come...Love the holiday season so with Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years all coming up hopefully I will post more (my godson and his family visiting, baby K getting baptized, etc, etc) Happy Fall everyone!!

My Godson

 Today, March 19th, is my godsons feast day!
(In case you missed my Pope blog a few days ago, I am Catholic)

LOVE and miss my godson, his twin sister, and their family!

I am so excited and looking forward to their visit this summer!

First Summer Visit 2010

Second Summer Visit 2011

Third Summer Visit 2012

Plus an extra one of him laughing just to hold the place for many future visits and photos!

EDIT: Today is also my 30th birthday -- how lucky I am to have so many wonderful family and friends in my life! Thank God for my parents, my sister, and all of my family and friends! Love from me to you!

Lamb and Mouse

Am missing fun, play-filled days with my godson and his twin sister

::HUGS::

Today I miss

Today I am missing my godson and his twin sister.
(Photo is of "twins" I gave them at the end of the summer -- they loved their mix and match pj's more, but toys were still fun!)

Good night, see you tomorrow!

Recently, looking at the moon, I have been reminded of my godson and his twin sister - particularly how they would look for the moon and say good night... I do not recall if I commented here or not but a house across the street from me has been sold and worked on for the past month or two.  I went by to say hello and although I met a friend of the family of three who is moving in, I have not yet had a chance to say hello to the family themselves. Apparently they will be moving in right at the end of the year (their friend was doing some work for them). Mentioning the new neighbors in this post because it seems that they have a young daughter - did not get a specific age, but the general guess was that she is currently three years old.

For various reasons there is a chance that my godson and his family will not be able to visit CA this June/July as they have been able to in past years.  A Christmas visit would be a first and quite lovely - however it is always expensive to travel, particularly with a growing family at the holidays! So I have decided to try and make new friends with the neighbor girl; also there is a friend of mine who is six and a half months along and she wants me to be very involved since it will be her first child. I am quite lucky to have these two baby/toddler/child opportunities so close (especially when I miss my France family!) because I really do miss being able to play with young children, learn from them, teach them, watch them grow...

Not much to say really, my Monday book post will be slightly different this week but adding it to reading an entire brand new series last week -- no wonder I am ready to say good night and see you tomorrow! Hopefully everyone is doing well and having a good weekend.  Also my favorite holiday is literally just around the corner -- early Merry Christmas to all!

My godson met Mickey Mouse!

My godson met Mickey Mouse (as seen above with his dad) but apparently his twin sister fell asleep and so she and mom are both not in this photo : (

I am both very happy and fairly sad that I missed the first Disney trip (okay, by that I really mean missing ANY and all of their "firsts"!) with my godson, his twin sister, and their parents. It would not have been possible for me to fly to France however, and so I shall wait for an email about their adventure and in the meantime just enjoy the photos and fun that went on!

Also I have not been to Disneyland myself this year (yet? technically a few weeks left) and I would never begrudge anyone who had the opportunity to visit a Disney park! :)


Holiday Ornament Exchange Note:
If you did not happen to read my post yesterday "December 1st!" (or the original in November) you should go and take a look at the results of my first ever blog swap/exchange!  My first daisy-chain holiday ornament giving/receiving was a ton of fun, and I am going to try and visit all of the blogs that participated to read their reveals (however nearly 200 of us took part so I am realistically hoping to comment on a third of the reveals -- no offense intended to anyone, just not enough hours in the day!)

It's Ok Thursdays (October 25)

I have not done one of these lists in a while (and it's Thursday) so...

*It's Ok... That I am very behind on some gifts I am making (right??)

*It's Ok... To be a little sad that I missed my godson and his twin sister turning two and a half years old (after all, it is very expensive to fly overseas -- and they know I love them!!)

*It's Ok... That I have not read too many books recently.  Instead of watching more television however, it would be better if I increased my walks.  Something to work on!

*It's Ok... To feel very thankful for my parents (and that they are both home safely)

*It's Ok... That I have not visited the farmers market every week -- I did make it again yesterday which was great! (Go look at yesterdays post -- first photo of my neat bag I have used for months, I got it from Alyssa's ESTY page. In my photo it's full of goodies so I had to hold it up by the handles to take the photo!)

*It's Ok... To feel frustrated at the doctor who got sick and so my procedure was canceled and rescheduled! (I do feel badly for the doctor, but I was so ready to get it over with!)

*It's Ok... That I have no clue what to get/make/give most of my family for Christmas... I still have several weeks and I can figure it out -- maybe!

*It's Ok... To induldge my chocolate craving even though it is after 9pm and I have only eaten two meals today.  That candy bar can just be a snack right? :)

10.11.12

Four photos of sunsets taken during some of my walks the past two weeks:

The colors blend so effortlessly -- the sky reminds me of a watercolor

 
Am glad the clouds came out so well in this photo

Got this one in at the end of one walk but was too tired to stay outside and see how the sky kept changing, instead I grabbed more water and sat down!

***********

One of my oldest friends sent me an email yesterday that made me smile and made me sad at the same time -- she is back in France with her family, and my godson and his twin sister apparently miss me and have asked for me by name! (Other family/favorite things from CA also, but I particularly loved and missed the four of them when I read about them asking about me... I am so blessed to have my parents, grandparents, family and friends -- I lost so many when my health turned my life down a different path but being online has brought some friends back into my life yet so many live far away now and there are just some days I feel an absolute need to have my godson/his sister/other young kids give me little kid hugs. Wrapped up in their games and able to see the world through the eyes of a child, even for a few minutes, helps so much. Walking more is hopefully helping "fix" the various health things I have had recently, but my emotional health got such a "high" being able to spend days at a time with them! Miss working with infants/toddlers too...)

Pretty Moon

The moon looked very full, bright, and pretty late last night when I went out into the backyard around 2am.  (Yes, another night of not going to sleep at midnight, but luckily today was not busy so it worked out -- plus I had accidentally fallen asleep for about two hours in the late afternoon!)... The past few days I have been trying to focus more on positive things although I realize there are several people I am missing -- yes, that includes my young godson and his twin sister :)

The photo I put into the post yesterday is really a great one -- I think the combination of nature, the night sky, and how the trail did not end but continued to curve out of sight -- it was a good reminder that enjoying things is alright and at the same time when there does not seem to be an end to a road there is still more road to travel and things to hope for.  Although some days hoping does not bring any type of "happy ending" so I do not know...

Last week I started to really get into television shows again (I am still reading of course!). If I had to pick just two shows that I really love still they would be "BONES" and "Revenge" -- yet I realized there are perhaps six or seven shows a week I try to watch!  I have been slightly better about walking the past couple of weeks and while I still need to do errands and/or walk every day, I do see it as a good thing that I keep trying to improve at least a bit every week.

Oh!  Last note -- went for a massage today! Had not gone in... a very long time - it helped my muscles relax which was needed!

Saint Patrick's Day, Paolini, and more...

Shall start off with my frustration at my internet - I had several different blogs to write this past week but the internet kept going out!  Oh well.  Shall try and summarize the highlights of my week here...

Since Sunday I spent my free time re-reading "Eragon" "Eldest" and "Brisinger" - staying up quite late most nights but enjoying immersing myself in the fictional world created by Christopher Paolini.  He has one final book coming out (hopefully quite soon!) then the story will be completed - I finished the last one around 1am this morning : )

Finished two projects and took a couple of quizzes this week; have washed several sinks of dishes but aside from that (oh, and laundry), I have not really done well with working on chores; overall I have been eating healthy food still - although last night I was surprised with a stuffed crust pizza with black olives which was nice for the first Friday in Lent!

This week I finally got to spend some time with my neighbors new baby girl - she is sooo cute!  Wednesday I did not get to see my cousins as usual, but Thursday I picked up my seven-year-old cousin from school and spent some time with him (didn't get to see my six-month-old cousin, she was asleep in the car when my aunt arrived)...

St. Patrick's Day is always celebrated in my family, and this year my mom cooked dinner, the wonderful traditional corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes that I always enjoy! I did stick with mostly cabbage and meat, but I did have some of the tiny potatoes and cut them up into pieces to spread them out a bit.  In general I am doing pretty well keeping up high levels of fruits, veggies, and proteins.  Most of my carbs come from high fiber whole wheat bread (as sandwiches, toast, etc) included daily.

I also received a lovely bag in the mail with extra "goodies" created by Alyssa which was fun - I bought the bag which is very comfy and holds most of whatever I am carrying around during the day (book to read, water, small purse, etc) but the extra "goodies" were a nice surprise : )

Today is (technically "was" not "is" since they are in France) my godsons' first feast day!  This week I received a couple of videos of him and his twin sister and they are growing so fast!!  I can't wait to see them when they come to CA to visit this summer.  I also got an email from France today which was great but made me miss everyone more if that's possible!

This evening I have three things to attend to, and there is a guarantee that I will see babies at two of them so that will be fun!  Hope everyone had a good week, I need to get moving if I am to walk out the door in half an hour!  Glad the internet held out long enough for me to finally write a blog entry... Considered calling various friends this week, part of me is feeling a bit lonely, but I know everyone has their own lives which can get busy at times.  Perhaps this next week I shall try to get in touch with some of you...

Rain is in the forecast for the next couple of days, hope everyone gets a chance to enjoy nature and friends this week!!

Versatile Blogger Award

Yay!  Apparently I have people reading my rather random, very rambling blog because Nathalie has tagged me in her "The Versatile Blogger" post!  (This is the first time I have ever written a blog, so although I was able to save the image, I am not sure I have created the correct link to her post - let me know if there are problems/if anyone has questions for me please??)  Continuing with ramblings now...

Here are the rules for the award:

Tell your readers ten things about yourself that you might not have divulged before, and pass the award on to seven new people at blogs that are fairly new to you.

So 10 things about myself that I haven't divulged before:

1) I decided to title my blog "Rose Rambling" because (obviously!) I ramble; including "Rose" as part of the title was also an obvious choice for me though.  I spent several summers as a camp counselor/junior camp counselor and we were able to pick our own "Nature Names" instead of using our "regular" first names.  I rarely react to someone calling out the name Rose now, but every now and then I still turn my head, especially if it is a child calling.

2) My profile photo for this blog was taken mid-summer 2010, the day that I donated my hair for the second time to Locks For Love (a great program that takes donated hair and creates wigs for those who have had cancer).  My first time I donated almost exactly 12" of hair; however, this past summer I was able to donate just over 15" of hair!  Not only did it feel great to donate to a great cause, but I also got a fun summer haircut and my shower time was drastically shortened!

3) When I was younger (roughly ages 0-8 years) my family and I would visit friends in Mexico, or they would come to visit us, every single summer.  So thanks to my family [and family friends] I am able to speak Spanish - although I have not been practicing anywhere near as often as I should!  I think my communication ability has unfortunately dropped to simple conversational skills, but I do still understand much more Spanish than I am able to speak.

4) I have taken several semesters of American Sign Language (ASL) for fun, and although my lack of practice (again!) has caused me to lose my fluidity, I can still manage reasonably well when communicating with hard-of-hearing or Deaf individuals.  I should start getting back into Deaf Culture, it was fun learning a new way to communicate.

5)  I do not drink coffee (even though I do tend to enjoy the smell of it).  I tend to drink tea (sometimes with sugar, never with milk) or hot chocolate when I am cold or feeling under the weather.  As for "regular" drinks I usually stick to flat water or juice; occasionally soda or chocolate milkshakes find their way into the mix.

6) I really dislike scary/horror anything - books, movies, music, you name it.  I turn into a huge scaredy-cat and I want to take this opportunity to blame part of my family (even though I love them all!) - especially my two older cousins and my mom - for this dislike.  My cousins would hide then jump out at me/grab at me and my mom never liked anything scary/horror so growing up it was natural to follow her lead.  This past Halloween was the first time I willingly attempted to watch a scary movie and to continue my honest streak, I had nightmares off and on for a couple of weeks.

7) I don't want to "waste" a number here by mentioning things that have come up in my previous blogs, so I am going to try and cram in the most important points into one number (hopefully I am not cheating too much)!  I really love to read, spend time with family and friends, be in nature, and volunteer/work with kids.

8)  One summer when I was in elementary school I won an award for bowling - but I think it was part of the six-week-long bowling camp my parents had put me in, it likely had nothing to do with my bowling abilities : )  I do enjoy going bowling when the opportunity presents itself though!

9)  I decided to start a blog partially because I had never blogged before.  I had bookmarked an old roommates blog a few years back and followed it that way; after I joined facebook I noticed more friends who had blogs.  I have started to followed their blogs, their friends blogs, or other blogs that I find interesting for one reason or another.  (For example, one blog I am following is an anonymous teacher who spent every single day of last school year eating, taking photos of, and commenting on the food in her cafeteria.  The exact same food most of her students were forced to eat she secretly voluntarily ate and commented on - I found it quite interesting for various reasons).  I hope that no one has found me to be unwelcome or bothersome by me choosing to follow them - I do hope that in return everyone feels more than welcome to read/follow my blog!

10) Save the best for last, right?  Okay so my favorite thing that I have not shared yet? This past summer I became a godmother for the very first time!  My best friend had twins in the spring (a girl and a boy) and I became the godmother to an adorable little boy!  I miss the family so much right now because they do not live in the USA, but I am looking forward to them visiting California next summer!  (So that might just be the best for me, but still.  My blog, my ramblings, right? *grins*)

Okay, so Nathalie said I am to pass this award onto seven other people, but I don't have anyone following my blog officially so I am not quite sure how to pass it on.  I am going to steal her words in lieu of knowing how to tag people, so... "If you're reading this though and would like to join in, please do! Leave a comment to let me know so that I can read it too."

Thanks for reading and I hope everyone has a wonderful week!