Always in the right place...

at the right time :o)

Rick's time tow trucking has been put to good use, again :o)

Last night we were on our way to Subway for dinner. As we were pulling into the lot we passed a car with a flat, and we parked near it... it was right in front of the Subway shop. As we're getting out of the car, the lady with the car is saying, "I think I have a jack, but I'm not sure". Well, of course we have a kick-butt jack :o) So, we're unloading the girls and I ask her if she wants to use our jack... she was totally grateful. Rick brought the jack over and proceeded to help jack up the car and then got the cross lug wrench out... because the guy she was with was using the crappy one that came with the car :o)

Rick was so good about this part :o) He loosened the lugs for the guy, and then stood back and let him change the tire. Not because he didn't want to, but because they guy wanted to... and I thought that was so cool. Rick is so used to guys standing back and watching him change the tire... too many stories about heading out in the middle of the night to change the tire for a carload of 20-some age guys. That would irk me, too LOL

So we load up the jack and wrench, say good night and head into Subway... feeling very happy to have helped the people. About 5 minutes later, the lady walks in with a bottle of wine and gives it to Rick. We're not wine drinkers, but it will be used in a couple spritzers tonight :o)

And she had a baby with her... knowing that he was able to help her out and get her on her way just made my night. AND it showed the girls that lending a hand is a wonderful and welcome thing.

This is the 2nd or 3rd time an opportunity like this has come across since we got to Colorado. Not sure if its the Lord's way of saying that he should go back into tow trucking (which he loved, just not the hours) or if He is just showing us that it wasn't time wasted :o) Either way, its an awesome feeling.

I hope the Lord places someone in 'the right place' for you today :o) Or maybe YOU in the 'right place' for someone else :o)

I have the coolest husband...

he bought us tickets to go see the Newsboys next month. I've wanted to see them since forever :o)

We used to live in San Luis Obispo, CA, and one day, while driving somewhere (we drive a lot) we saw this big white blow-up tent-like thing and there were lights... LOTS of spotlights dancing all over the sky. We had no clue what it was, but wanted to be there. We couldn't be there, but we found out the next day that the Newsboys had put on a concert.

At that point, I wasn't even a Christian. I had HEARD of them, but never HEARD them. Rick, was a fan... he was more bummed than I. NOW I look back and I am so bummed LOL

I was looking for concerts here in town at the Broomfield Event Center, but wasn't finding anything. The very next thought in my head was, "I wonder if the Newsboys are coming to Colorado this year?" I looked, and l0 and behold, they'll be at Cherry Hills Community Church, in Highlands Ranch, CO on March 17th. St. Patrick's Day :o) I mentioned to Rick that I was bummed that we couldn't go... to which he replied, "Why not?" Then he told me that I always ruin his surprises! LOL

He had told me last week that we needed to save about $50 for my birthday/Valentine present. The tickets were my present. He could have just agreed with me :o) But I'm glad he didn't... now I'm super excited! :o)

If you have never heard the Newsboys and are wondering why I love them, check out their MySpace page with your volume on... give it a moment to load the page and their streaming music will come on. I love their new song In the Hands of God... its got a great beat and a great message, too! :o)

Well, I'm off to watch Phineas & Ferb get busted... :o)

Our love story... part deux...

So, I knew I was going to marry him :o)

About this time, his friend (who'll remain nameless, until he or his wife tell you!) was kind of freaking out. :o) See, Rick and I were going out EVERY DAY together. And my little girl was going to all these places with us, because, sadly, there was no one to watch her.

Our first 'date' was a drive down Santa Rosa Creek Road in Cambria... completely terrifying, seeing as I was afraid of driving (or being driven) in the dark, on windy roads in the wind. At times I was, literally, curled up in a ball on the passenger seat clinging to the 'oh shit' handle... near tears! And he came back O_O Kiera was in the backseat asleep. LOL

Another date, we went out on Highway 46 to this pull out that overlooked Morro Rock and took pictures. Kiera was there in her car seat :o) And after we took pictures, Kiera came out to look with us (really, do you think I was stupid enough to let her wander on a pullout that had a busy highway on one side and a cliff on the other?!).

Would you believe that Rick & I didn't have our first kiss for almost two weeks?! If you know ME, you know that this is odd. He brought me Reese's peanut butter cups and daisies... I HAD to kiss him! LOL Little did he know that those were both my VERY favorites, and still are to this day! :o)

At some point, after spending all this time together, Rick asked me to go to Monterey for the weekend with him. Kiera included. (This was about a month and a half into us 'dating') So we headed off for a weekend in Monterey... we hardly left the hotel room, except to venture out to Cannery Row for a few hours. :o) It's odd having your kid underfoot, but I'm thankful that she was only 8 months old by this time! LOL

After this wonderful trip, we had plans to go out the next day... so he kept the car seat and stroller in his car. From what I've been told, his friend completely freaked. I couldn't tell you the exact words, but suffice it to say I was not this guys favorite person LOL (I am now though!)

October 4, 1999 (1 month, 19 days after we met) ~ I was sick as a dog, with a bitch personality to match. Rick drove me out to Cayucos one rainy afternoon... one of our few moments without Kiera. I was just too sick to enjoy it, so he drove me home. We got to my house (I was living with my mom still), and he got out to open my door. Not an odd occurrence for Rick, he was just raised that way. :o) As he opened my car door, he got down on one knee. I pretty much told him to get up and get out of my way, I wanted to go inside. (Oh yeah, I REALLY had that bitch part down that day! I am very ashamed of this now...) He wouldn't get up :o) and to this day, I'm grateful that he didn't :o) I wish I could remember his words, all I know is that he ended with "Will you marry me?" My answer? "Yes, now will you please get up so I can go inside?" Seriously, that is what I told him :o( Not very romantic of me... I'm actually surprised he didn't say 'never mind'.

Later that day, I was standing in the kitchen and my mom was making dinner.

"Rick asked me to marry him."

(not looking at me) "Did you say yes?"

"Of course"

"Good. You're very lucky he asked you."

Huh?

Seriously, this is the general consensus in my family... I am lucky that this wonderful man asked me to marry him. Was I really that much of a heinous bitch that no one thought I deserved him?? Both my aunts like to remind me how lucky I am that I have him.... like I don't know this! Everyone in my family LOVES my husband. I get the feeling they like me, too. LOL

End of October ~ This is one of my most favorite parts of our story!

I was going to meet Rick's parents. That's right, I hadn't met them yet... and better yet, they had NO CLUE that we were engaged! O_O Rick drove Kiera & I to Victorville to meet his parents and siblings (minus one, she didn't live there). When we got there, his dad was still at work and his siblings weren't there either. His mom welcomed Kiera and I easily. When his dad pulled up, his mom grabbed Kiera and said, "Let's go say hi to grandpa!" Really, she did that, and she still had no clue! :o) His dad came in carrying Kiera (9 months old now). He went to change out of his work clothes... he comes downstairs wearing a sweatshirt that says "#1 Grandpa" I swear! :o) That night, after dinner, we dropped the bomb LOL They took it well.

There was a worry about my not being a Christian, Rick is... he was raised that way. His parents were incredibly worried about him 'yolking' himself with a non-believer. He set them at ease, letting them know that he KNEW in his heart WITHOUT a doubt that I was 'his Eve'. Awwww! :o)

Kiera & I moved in with Rick in November 1999. Shock & chagrin... we weren't married O_O :o)

There will be more... I think 2 more... right now I have to go enjoy time with my girls :o)

Our love story...

Tomorrow is Rick's birthday, he'll be 39. Personally, I don't think he's changed a bit since the day I met him! :o)

KLOVE, my very favorite radio station, is having this awesome contest right now. You send in your love story in 250 words or less and if they choose it as the winner, Matthew West will turn your story into a song and sing it to you! I love Matthew West! :o) So I entered. I think we have a great story, but honestly don't think they'll even pick it to read on air... just my luck :o) But that is okay with me because its still our story, and our kids and grandkids will love it :o)

In WAAAAY more than 250 words, I'm going to share our story... this way it will be written down for all eternity :o)

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It goes all the way back to my stepdad being HORRIBLE with computers! :o) I was a 20-year-old, single mom (my daughter was 7 months old) and I had moved home with my mom, stepdad and little brother. My stepdad somehow DELETED his modem... and expected me to fix it. So I called our internet companies tech support at like midnight one night to see if they could help. I got a tech named Chris who was TOTALLY helpful, and sorta hitting on me LOL He said I had a great phone voice (how sad is it that even when I was 13 I was being told that I could be a phone sex operator? WAIT! Now I know how to bring in extra cash! LOL *kidding*) and he'd like to keep chatting... so we started IMing through AIM. We'd chat, but mostly I'd send him jokes; funny ones, not funny ones, mostly dirty ones because they are the ones that make you laugh the hardest! Unbeknownst to me, he had told his friend about me and my jokes.

(according to Rick's memory) "You have to talk to this girl, she has the best jokes."

August 14, 1999 - Chris and I are chatting and he says he has to go to the bathroom, "Chat with my friend, Rick. He's visiting from Victorville." So he and I start chatting and after a while he logs off Chris's AIM account and into his own. He logs on as SilverSurfer. Now, I'm digging talking to this guy, so I try to impress him with my 'vast' (read: absolutely NO) knowledge of comics. "Silver Surfer? Like the comic book guy with a surfboard?" I know this only because YEARS earlier I had found a Silver Surfer trading card on the ground. I liked it, so I kept it. Eerie, right? I sent him my website link, so he could see my picture of me & Kiera at her christening. We chatted online for a bit and he busts out with, "Can I call you on the phone?" Like I said, I'm digging him... so of course I gave him my number. :o)

We talked on the phone for HOURS. It is now August 15th VERY early morning. I have to get up to be at work by 9A. I told him as much and he asked if he could call me at work the next day. Seeing as it was a Sunday and always a very slow day at the pharmacy (I worked for Cambria Village Pharmacy in Cambria), I said yes.

Sometime during the day, Rick called me at work and told me that he needed to run some errands and would call me to actually talk later. "...but call before 4P because that is when I close up." Fast forward a few hours. A customer called and was upset because there was no pharmacist. There was NEVER one on Sundays :o) She was threatening legal action, I was frantically running around the store looking for whatever it was she needed. A man came in and stood at the counter.

(out of breath) "I'll be right with you sir!" as I run to the backroom

*nods his head, says nothing*

"Okay. Now how can I help you sir?"

"Well, I figured that since I had seen your picture online that I should come in and show you me."

(according to Rick) My jaw just about hit the floor. LOL Bestill my heart, he had me at hello! :o)

He stuck around while I closed, and when I walked down to JJ's Pizza to meet my mom, he came with me. That night Rick met my daughter, mom, stepdad, little brother, older sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew! And, believe it or not, he came back the next day! :o) Shocking, I know!!

Turns out he had moved up to Morro Bay from Victorville. He came to see me every day!

About 2 weeks after we met, Rick & Chris picked me up for lunch. We grabbed sandwiches from Soto's Market and headed down to the beach. Sitting on the beach, after eating lunch, I was doodling on my paper bag with some charcoal. He asked what I was drawing.... it was cheesy LOL I had been doodling a house with a tree and standing next to it were me & Kiera. "Where am I in that picture?" Oh, right then and there I KNEW I was going to marry this man! :o)

I'll write more another time... that is enough for now :o) Plenty more though :o)

My husband IS the milkman!

A while back, my husband was looking for a job that was better than the one he had... he stumbled upon Longmont Dairy. Not only do they have cows that they milk and bottle said milk, but they do HOME DELIVERY!!! I didn't even realize that milkmen still existed, let alone near Denver!

So now my children really do look like the milkman :o)

And if you are wondering, it is a VERY hard-on-the-body type job... and quite cold (since they drive with the truck door open, even in -15 degree weather!). BUT so far the tips have been awesome... he brought home Belgian chocolates and Hillshire Farms stuff this morning!! MMMMM...

The suckiest part? He leaves the house at 8P and doesn't get home until after 9A on some days... then he sleeps all day. On the plus side, I'm still able to get the girls' schoolwork in! :o)

Merry Christmas!