Remembering our dear friend Sanjin.

Two years ago today, we lost our friend, son, grandson and loved one. It is difficult to believe that it has been two years already. We remember him as the tall, skinny Bosnian guy that was there for everyone whenever they needed him. He would give you the shirt off his back, or the hat off his head if asked. We all love you and miss you so much, and know you are in a better place now away from the hell of this earth. Raise a shot of Crown to our Sanjin. See you on the flip side! Volim Te Love, Mama, Grandma, Ali and Ali

Big News!

Oops... I've been slacking again. Sorry!

But there is some good news that we have been cooking up. We are pregnant! I am about 10 weeks along, and everything is going great so far!

More to come. :)

cant sleep. im not doing good. up at my mom's grave. it's 43 degrees. i miss her.

Jazz Playoff Game Anyone?

I won Jazz playoff tickets from work. How great is my job? Ya, I know.

Kollin had the awesome idea of riding Trax to the game so we wouldn't have to deal with parking. It was fun. First time that I had ridden Trax by choice, and not by necessity.

We were up pretty high in the nose bleed section. But the good thing was, we were on the first row of the nose bleed section. So not as high as we were thinking.

There were points in the game where the Nuggets were pretty far ahead. In the end, we came through and spanked them.

See the score? (at least I hope you can)

spanked.

And we were there!

He loves me enough to let me do THIS!

hee hee

Birthdays and Bees!

This last week we had a couple birthdays. My dad's was on the 14th, and Gwen's was the 16th. On Gwen's birthday, as many of us that could, got together and went to the Bees game.

The weather has finally been so nice lately, it was great timing to be able to be outside doing something fun. I, of course, ended up getting pretty chilly, so I ended up wearing both mine, and Kollin's jackets. He's such a sweet heart.

It is always so much fun hanging out as a family, and having Kollin there makes it that much better. I love how he is being accepted into my family so quickly. It seems like they all really like him so far. Yay!

Bowling night!

This last weekend, we went bowling with my best friend Reca . It was actually a surprise birthday party for her husband Mike, but I'm bad at taking pictures, and didn't actually get any of the birthday boy. Woops!

Kollin and I have never been bowling together, and little did I know, that he might as well be a pro bowler. The guy has his own ball and shoes, and knows WAY too much about bowling. He says he got it all from his dad, and that whenever he comes into town, it is a tradition to go bowling.

Ya, thanks.

Now I am that much more scared to meet him, in knowing that I will be completely embarrassed when I get my trash kicked by the entire family in bowling.

He was beating all of us so bad, he just ended up goofing around for most of the night. Which was very fun to take pictures of! Enjoy!

Honest Scrap

So I have been given the Honest Scrap Award by my good friend Callie, and have been challenged to list 10 honest things about myself, and then award it to 4 other people.

So here it goes... This isn't going to be easy.

1. I played piano for 11 years of my life. I hated it for the first 9 or so, then grew to love it. I'm sure it had to do with my piano teacher that I switched to right around then. The only thing I regret is quitting when I did. It was my own fault. I was too wrapped up in my personal life, that I never practiced anymore. So ended up just deciding it was a waste of my teacher's time, and my mom's money. I wish I never did that. I'm sure it was disappointing on all three of our parts.

2. I am so scared that my mother is disappointed in me. When she was sick, I remember mentioning to her that I hope she wouldn't be. She said she could never be. But I don't know, now that she knows EVERYTHING. But I am comforted to know she still loves me.

3. I want to go to the Louvre someday. Everyone else in my family has been at least once. I would love to experience what they have, and see where all the roots of their stories are coming from. To be surrounded by so much culture from the past and present... wow.

4. I love to dance. Every weekend, unless I am out of town, you will see me on the dance floor of the club I have been going to for over 12 years.

5. I hated dancing when I was younger. My parents put me in ballet when I was little, and I'd have to say that was one of the worst experiences of my young life. Probably where my self exteem and self image issues stemmed from.

6. Anyone that knows me, knows that I love animals . There was one point where I owned a dog, 6 ferrets, 2 turtles and countless frogs and toads. I've greatly toned it down now, and just have my 1 baby, Chloe.

7. I am quite the shoe junkie. I have way too many pairs of shoes, that I don't even know what to do with them. I haven't even been able to find room in my new house for over half of them. They are currently in 2 of those huge bright orange garbage bags in my garage.

8. I am adopted, and proud of it. I cannot imagine the strength and love that my biological parents had for me to be able to give me up to complete strangers. That they knew that they could not provide the life that they wanted for me, and that I got that life with my wonderful family!

9. Oh ya, that mole that was removed? Came back negative and normal. So I am completely (mostly) healthy! w00t!

10. I am happier now, than I have been in probably the last 15 years. My life is finally starting to get back on track. I have a job that I enjoy, I have a stable home, and I have found the most wonderful man that is my other half in every way. He has been one of my best friends for years, and I can't believe I am dating him. He takes care of me, he supports me, and he loves me almost as much as I love him (although he will argue who loves who more).

Now I would like to award the Honest Scrap to:

Erika Earl

Elizabeth Marsh

Katie Hutchison

Andrea Cannon

Have fun!

Pizza! Gourmet style.

Last night, we went and hung out at my dad's place and had a pizza cook off. My step-cousin, Jeremy, who, by the way, is a gourmet chef, came into town, and was cooking up a storm. We made the pizzas from scratch, and they were yummy...

I miss his face. He needs to come into town more often! *hint hint*

Goodbye Redness, Hello Ouch to the Chest.

I had my dermatologist appointment and lived. Barely. He gave me a couple prescriptions for the lovely red flaky stuff on my face, so that should be going away soon. But now I have a whole new worry. While I was there, I figured I'd have him check out this freckle, or mole, or whatever you want to call it, that I have had on one of my breasts for almost as long as I can remember. I never thought anything of it, but thought it was a good idea to have it looked at. He said that it was pretty large, and an abnormal shape. Which I knew... but I just thought that happened as my breasts grew. Well, he wanted to shave it off and send it in for testing anyway. That part actually wasn't so bad. The nurse numbed me up really well, and the Dr. had this crazy sharp razor, and literally shaved it right off the top. Didn't hurt one bit. Also, being the morbid person that I am, I had to make them let me look at it. Ya, it was pretty gross, but it was still cool. Now, of course, being the worry wart that I am, I'm most likely going to be a wreck for the next week or two that I'm going to have to wait for the results. It's not as if abnormal cells in my cervix that go away, then come back, then go away, then come back, then try to turn into cancer, then go away, not sure if they've come back yet are enough. I also possibly have to have something wrong with the other girlie area of my body. Nice.

I feel better!

A day or so ago, I started falling into one of my little ruts. Most of the time, I don't know why I'm not feeling happy. I am just glad that these don't happen too often, and they don't even come close to controlling my life. Overall, I am a happy, bubbly, annoyingly chipper gal.

This particular rut was the "I'm not pretty" rut. It's been kinda building since we got back from Hawaii. I have these red spots by either corner of my mouth. I've had them for years, and they've never really bothered me. Ever since we came back to this dry climate, they've been spreading and flaking like crazy. Needless to say, they were really tugging on my self esteem.

So, what I did, is I made an appointment with a dermatologist for next week. I also decided to get my hairs did for temporary boost until then. I called up my friend Alicia, and she had an opening for me at the salon she works at.

This is the blah of Ali's hair before today.

I love love love love her! Look what she did to me!

I feel better, and it's just going to go more up hill after my appointment next week to get rid of these red spots crap. Yay!

Whale watching anyone?

Well, it is our last day here in this tropical paradise. I'm about ready to cry. Why do we have to go back to the real world?

Today was a good last day. We went on a whale watching cruise, and actually saw a lot of whales! I wasn't thinking that we would really see any, or even that close. But we ended up seeing about 8 or 10 humpback whales all together. There was even a mommy and baby.

One even swam right under our boat. (the bright blue in the water) They boat crew said that's not too common.

After that, we had Carl's Jr. for lunch.... and it cost us almost $20. At least I'm glad I'm going back to where the prices on things are normal.

Now we are back at the house, and going to pack everything up so we can catch our red eye flight out of here.

Good bye Hawaii. You have been so good to us. We will be back soon!

Aquarium, the Lazy Person's Way to See Stuff from the Sea Without Getting Wet.

Not much to say, other than FISHIES!