Few things I thought I would never see in my lifetime...my first 30 years

I'm about to turn 30 in a few months and although I feel like I'm now officially an old lady - I know that in my short 30 years I have already seen so much.  Particularly in the last 10 years.

 

A terrorist attack on our blessed nation I know that many of us will remember where we were on that particular hour of the day.  And how so many of us stayed glued to our tv's with unbelief set in our eyes and our hearts feeling so vulnerable.  Although I did not have any personal connection to anyone on that unfortunate day - I somehow felt connected to each and every person I saw on tv or read about.  And then watching our nation come together to unite, and to show pride in our country, but yet still so many schools do not recite the pledge of allegiance - we are still so divided among ourselves.  

I sometimes wonder - have we forgotten - has that pride left our spirit?

And then the natural disasters around the world that changed many peoples lives.  Hurricane Katrina, the Tsunami just a few short years ago.  Who would have ever 

pictured natural disasters like that occurring.  Living in Florida, we experience numerous warnings throughout each hurricane season...thankfully I have yet to experience one.  But I do risk a chance by staying in this area - that at some point in time, Tampa Bay will win the hurricane lottery...

And then as I sit and remember being in 6th grade and having a vague memory of the gulf war beginning, and remembering a name that seemed to follow me through the next 15 years.  An end to someone who once was one of the most hated men that I know of (Sudam Husein).  But yet we are still fighting a war that I still don't truly understand... It makes me wonder where my life will be in the next 10 years.  I've finally experienced an economic crisis.  Thankfully my job and financial effects are secure unlike so many people in our country.  When I saw gas hit $4.00 a gallon I was so shocked.  That was a turning point for me to better manage my time spent in the car.  I become an adult and no longer a careless and frivolously twentysomething....  

As I watch today's inauguration, I find it hard to understand how we can be asked to pray as a new president is sworn in, but yet again in most school across this country the mentions of prayer is never heard.  This inauguration is another milestone that I wasn't sure I would see in my lifetime.  

            

I will be honest Obama did not have my vote.  But I will respect and hope that he is able to follow through on his promise to change this nation.  A nation that has become so divided amongst itself.  Each day that I step outside my house - I see many circumstances of how divided we have become.  I do hope, that those who did vote our for our new president, voted for his political stand point and his presidential plan for this country - AND NOT for the color of his skin.  Because if that was a reason for just one individual in this country - then we will still be a country divided amongst itself.  I hope to see by the end of the 4 year term, that I as a thirtysomething, will be able to benefit a better life from his plan.  His plan for change.

Maybe it just the fact that I'm coming to such a large milestone for myself or maybe it's just that I feel that I HAVE seen so much in this short 30 years, but it makes me wonder what else will happen...

I now cautiously make decisions because as a parent I now have to wonder what it will be like for my son, when he is about to turn 30.  How many disasters will he witness, will he find pride in his country....or will he feel lost amongst the crowd?  I hope that the next 30 years of my life will be filled with less tragedies and more memorable moments that will help define my life and the life of my child and the children to come....These are just my thoughts from my first 30 years.

Update on Nemo 1

We have had our first fish casualty.  Nemo one was found belly up the other day.  The other Nemo (#2) is still swimming strong.  I don't think Brayden has even noticed that we are down one fish!

I know it's late but....

It seems that christmas and new years were so long ago, but it's only been 3 weeks.  The tree has come down, the lights have been stored away.  And now we are back to a normal pace of life.  Christmas was fun for us this year as Brayden was a little more interested in ripping off the paper to see what was inside.  He did get a couple of sneak peaks when he decided to help himself to a couple of gifts that were set out before christmas day.  I think his favorite gift (from Santa) was his spiderman powerwheel quad.  He was so excited about it that he rode it for about an hour when he woke up.  We had to bribe him to come back inside so we could finish the morning.  

It was a nice quiet day.  We just hung around the house enjoying our gifts and each other.  Thank you to all those who sent their christmas wishes.  We do wish we could have been with each and everyone one of you on the holiday.

One fish, two fish...

We were doing a little shopping at Wal-Mart and we happen to pass by the fish aisle.  Brayden has been obsessed with watching Finding Nemo and has started to recognize most of the characters.  So as we passed the extra large goldfish...he kept saying hi Nemo.  How cute...I couldn't resist, so we picked up a couple and brought them home.  Brayden is taking good care of Nemo 1 and Nemo 2, with mom's help of course.  Brayden loves feeding them and watching them eat.  It's been an exciting thing for him to do when he comes home in the evening.  Hopefully we can keep them alive for a long time!

Dad's Truck...

So Brayden has finally started to recognize that Ryan is a Firefighter and works at a fire station. The only problem with that is EVERY time we see a fire truck Brayden he assumes that Ryan is in it and he wants me to follow it. Brayden loves to go up and see his dad at his station, but we I can only take him on the weekends when Ryan is on duty because it is so far away!

My New Do....

So if you know me at all you know that I am always changing my hair. When Ryan and I first met I was a blonde with cute short hair. Then I let it grow out. Since then I've been brunette, brunette with hightlights, brunette with red highlights (not one of the better ones). So about every 2-3 years I decided to go from one end of the color spectrum to the other. I've also been trying to grow out my hair, but one thing i don't like about long hair is that it never seems to look "done" so a couple weekends ago, I went and had it cut and colored to start off the new year with a new look. What do you think?

Better Late Then Never...

I know I just put up Christmas Decorations but I realized that I never posted Halloween pictures. This year was fun again. We went door to door with our Neighbors Brittany and Jared and their kids Brooke and Caleb. This year Brayden was a little reluctant to put his costume on, but he finally did it after I bribed him with a few suckers and he saw all the other kids outside with their costumes on. He was a little scared of the masks this year, at one point he bolted around a house to escape a Spiderman! Once his bucket was full and our feet were tired we headed back to the house to pass out the rest of our candy. One great thing about Halloween in Florida, you actually get to see all the kids in their cute costumes because no one wears a coat!!! I remember my days of trick or treating and we always had to wear coats, mittens and boots over our costumes!