**she would come to my dad's for Thanksgiving, she was always in charge of the sweet potatoes, and she would always burn the tops of the marshmallows. After awhile, I think she did it on purpose b/c it was one of the things she was known for.**
I lost my aunt yesterday morning. I got the phone call from my dad last night as I was getting home from book club. I knew what the call was about (dad just doesn't call), she had been battling lung cancer and had actually lived longer than was expected.
When I was little, I felt very close to her. When I would go and visit my dad on the weekends or during the summer, we would see her a lot. One reason I loved her so much and felt so close to her was b/c she looked a lot like my mom. I would miss my mom like crazy when I was with my dad, so having someone resemble her would help me to not miss her so much. She was a wonderful women, she helped me during a hard time with my dad, she was always a burst of sunshine whenever I saw her, she seemed to love life and love to laugh. She had a great laugh, one that made her whole body shake. I never saw her "dressed down", she was always dressed to the nines. HIGH heels, beautiful clothes, makeup with her signature cat eyes, beautiful auburn hair and tons of jewlery - she was strikingly beautiful. You could hear her coming with all of her bangle bracelets. The last time I saw her was at a shower that my dad gave for Alyson, but the time before that, I had not seen her in over 10 years. When I left Houston at 13, I stayed away pretty much until Daniel and I were engaged. On one of the visits to Houston, my dad had surprised me and had asked Aunt Linda to stop by. She walked in through the back door, like she always had (remembering from when I was little) and I was just so happy to see her. She was beautiful. White linen pants, all her jewelry, high-heels and thin. I have always thought I resemble my mom, and I still do, but when I saw Aunt Linda that day, I also saw myself in her. She had quit smoking for about 10 years, which is just so sad to think that that is still what ended her life too soon. My grandmommy (her mom) started smoking when she was 18 and died of natural causes in her 80s. Just strange how things play out.
I am so grateful that I saw her that day when she came by my dad's, I have such a wonderful memory of her and I will always have it for the rest of my life. I think she would be happy with that.
I will need to look for some pictures I have of her and post them. One of my favorite photos is of the two of us sitting next to each other and next to me is one of my barbies and we are all imitating the barbies position with our hands straight up in the air.
With death comes acceptance, and I am glad that she is no longer suffering. I am glad that she is now with grandmommy and grandaddy up in heaven watching over us. Please pray for her immediate family especially Uncle Jim (her husband), it would be hard to let go of someone like her, she was a "ray of light". I spoke to her a couple of months ago, after I had found out her fate and my mom and I wrote her a letter around late June. I am glad that I did both of those things, I am glad that I could tell her that I loved her and how wonderful I thought she was. I will miss her alot, but my memories will be what I can think back on.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
RiverView 2011
I love it when this picture finally comes out - it is so fun to look at and to explain to everyone who everyone is; and it is even more amazing to think that we still are missing about 20 more people!
Ok - so here goes the order and explanation - this will be confusing......
TOP MIDDLE, my beautiful grandmother Elaine Koch (her and my grandpa are the ones that started this River tradition)
TOP LEFT - Aunt Betty (daughter of Elaine) and Uncle Jim, Pixie and Ken Koch (son of Elaine), Aunt Carol (daughter of Elaine) and Uncle Larry and Uncle Phil and Aunt Mary (daughter of Elaine).
MIDDLE LEFT - Suzanne, Staci (daughters of Aunt Yvonne), Daniel, Emily, Carrie (daughters of Aunt Betty) Kelly (daughter of Ken)
BOTTOM LEFT - Ben (son of Mary), Jennifer (daughter of Ken), Logan (son of Suzanne), Alyson (daughter of Jennifer), Jacob (son of Suzanne), Mack( son of Kristin), Colton (son of Suzanne), Kristin (daughter of Mary) and Amelia (daughter of Kristin).
MISSING: Joey (son of Mary), Lowell, Aunt Yvonne (daughter of Elaine) and Uncle Bill, Shannon (daughter of Yvonne) & Tim , Alexis, Eric, Cassidy(children on Shannon), Sandra (daughter of Yvonne) &, Rick, Hannah, Claire, Liam (children of Sandra), Doug (son of Yvonne), Sarah, Clint (son of Ken) & Ilona, Nicol, Madeline and Jacqueline( daughters of Clint).
Ok - so here goes the order and explanation - this will be confusing......
TOP MIDDLE, my beautiful grandmother Elaine Koch (her and my grandpa are the ones that started this River tradition)
TOP LEFT - Aunt Betty (daughter of Elaine) and Uncle Jim, Pixie and Ken Koch (son of Elaine), Aunt Carol (daughter of Elaine) and Uncle Larry and Uncle Phil and Aunt Mary (daughter of Elaine).
MIDDLE LEFT - Suzanne, Staci (daughters of Aunt Yvonne), Daniel, Emily, Carrie (daughters of Aunt Betty) Kelly (daughter of Ken)
BOTTOM LEFT - Ben (son of Mary), Jennifer (daughter of Ken), Logan (son of Suzanne), Alyson (daughter of Jennifer), Jacob (son of Suzanne), Mack( son of Kristin), Colton (son of Suzanne), Kristin (daughter of Mary) and Amelia (daughter of Kristin).
MISSING: Joey (son of Mary), Lowell, Aunt Yvonne (daughter of Elaine) and Uncle Bill, Shannon (daughter of Yvonne) & Tim , Alexis, Eric, Cassidy(children on Shannon), Sandra (daughter of Yvonne) &, Rick, Hannah, Claire, Liam (children of Sandra), Doug (son of Yvonne), Sarah, Clint (son of Ken) & Ilona, Nicol, Madeline and Jacqueline( daughters of Clint).
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| River View 2011 |
So....to my Grandma, there are her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren in the photo. To "us" there are brothers, sisters, spouses, cousins, aunts and uncles, nieces, nephews and children.
SO SO SPECIAL~!
Mai Tai's and Yatzee
Have not written in a while.....I don't have much to say - ha ha!
We are having a nice relaxing weekend at home with really no plans - I like those kind of weekends. My dad is coming over to hopefully finish the wood floors projects and I think I will try and tackle putting the study back together. Tonight, I think we will venture our for a good cheap mexican dinner, then tomorrow house work and probably dinner at home and then Sunday, church and we are having some friends over to bbq in the afternoon. Sounds pretty perfect to me.
Alyson is doing great, she is getting bigger everyday and just so so cute. I dropped her off at daycare this morning, which typically Daniel does. The teachers immediately scooped her up and started painting her hands yellow~!! She then made handprints all over a piece of paper and was laughing the the whole time! So much fun, I am really glad we moved her back to her original daycare.
It is a beautiful HOT July Friday, stay cool and be safe :)
-On a side note-
I got home yesterday after picking up Aly from school, got her dinner ready. She ate around 6:30, then I stripped her down and plopped her in the tub. She was fed and bathed by 7pm. I felt quite accomplished and had to pat myself on that back for a minute. Don't worry, I probably wont be able to do that again for another month.......but when you have nights like those, you have to do some congratulating!!
We are having a nice relaxing weekend at home with really no plans - I like those kind of weekends. My dad is coming over to hopefully finish the wood floors projects and I think I will try and tackle putting the study back together. Tonight, I think we will venture our for a good cheap mexican dinner, then tomorrow house work and probably dinner at home and then Sunday, church and we are having some friends over to bbq in the afternoon. Sounds pretty perfect to me.
Alyson is doing great, she is getting bigger everyday and just so so cute. I dropped her off at daycare this morning, which typically Daniel does. The teachers immediately scooped her up and started painting her hands yellow~!! She then made handprints all over a piece of paper and was laughing the the whole time! So much fun, I am really glad we moved her back to her original daycare.
It is a beautiful HOT July Friday, stay cool and be safe :)
-On a side note-
I got home yesterday after picking up Aly from school, got her dinner ready. She ate around 6:30, then I stripped her down and plopped her in the tub. She was fed and bathed by 7pm. I felt quite accomplished and had to pat myself on that back for a minute. Don't worry, I probably wont be able to do that again for another month.......but when you have nights like those, you have to do some congratulating!!
Friday, July 8, 2011
My Faults
It kinda sucks to know what your faults are and to continue to do them. It has been pointed out to me more times lately by myself what these faults are and I seriously want to take care of them.
First steps - admitting my faults. Since I was a child I has always been fast to do anything, its not like I think I am in a race or anything; it's just that I catch on to what is asked of me and I just do it. This brings up another fault of mine. Because I am fast in getting things done, I also miss out on the important details. It's like that assignment that we all got in 3rd grade where the first sentence says to write a paragraph about your first pet and then the second sentence says instead of writing a paragraph make bullet points and draw a picture. What I would do is read the first sentence, write the paragraph about my first pet, be the first to turn it in; but receive an "F". My last fault (ha - not really I have many more, but these are the 3 that are "raising their ugly heads") I tend to be sensitive and can take things personally in business. This is not to say that I cannot handle constructive criticism, because I can. What I tend to do is take ownership in everything that I do and when something doesn't pan out that I have worked on, I get my feelings hurt. There is more that goes into this fault, but it is hard to describe exactly what I take personally and what makes me sensitive. I am such a complicated person. (ha-ha) aren't we all ~!
So.........since I so badly want to work on these faults, today I have the opportunity to begin to correct them. The third one will be a little harder to correct b/c it is more of a "deep rooted" fault. On to the next "assignment", I am going to slow down, read, ask questions, make notes/lists and hopefully try each day to continue to correct them. My main challenge will be on "D-Day" when no matter what happens, something always goes wrong. I am under the pressure of a deadline and I start to make stupid mistakes. I think i just need to be aware of the "D-Day" crazy's and make sure to especially take my time and cover all of the bases to not miss anything or make mistakes. OH~! There is another one of my faults, I expect perfection from myself and when I make mistakes, especially careless ones I put on the "punching gloves" and get in the ring.
So - HAPPY FRIDAY, have a great weekend. Wish me luck on striking out a few "faults" of mine :)
First steps - admitting my faults. Since I was a child I has always been fast to do anything, its not like I think I am in a race or anything; it's just that I catch on to what is asked of me and I just do it. This brings up another fault of mine. Because I am fast in getting things done, I also miss out on the important details. It's like that assignment that we all got in 3rd grade where the first sentence says to write a paragraph about your first pet and then the second sentence says instead of writing a paragraph make bullet points and draw a picture. What I would do is read the first sentence, write the paragraph about my first pet, be the first to turn it in; but receive an "F". My last fault (ha - not really I have many more, but these are the 3 that are "raising their ugly heads") I tend to be sensitive and can take things personally in business. This is not to say that I cannot handle constructive criticism, because I can. What I tend to do is take ownership in everything that I do and when something doesn't pan out that I have worked on, I get my feelings hurt. There is more that goes into this fault, but it is hard to describe exactly what I take personally and what makes me sensitive. I am such a complicated person. (ha-ha) aren't we all ~!
So.........since I so badly want to work on these faults, today I have the opportunity to begin to correct them. The third one will be a little harder to correct b/c it is more of a "deep rooted" fault. On to the next "assignment", I am going to slow down, read, ask questions, make notes/lists and hopefully try each day to continue to correct them. My main challenge will be on "D-Day" when no matter what happens, something always goes wrong. I am under the pressure of a deadline and I start to make stupid mistakes. I think i just need to be aware of the "D-Day" crazy's and make sure to especially take my time and cover all of the bases to not miss anything or make mistakes. OH~! There is another one of my faults, I expect perfection from myself and when I make mistakes, especially careless ones I put on the "punching gloves" and get in the ring.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Not Guilty
Amazing, I am in shock. Not much more to say about that.
Here are some pics from the weekend. We had a wonderful time in Dallas with Brim, Aylin and Tyler and then also up in the Fort Worth area celebrating Daniel's mom and aunt's bday. I am tired and our house is somewhat of a mess. It is always a trade off when you go on weekend vacations b/c when you get home you have piles of laundry and I feel like I am always playing "catch-up". This weekend we will be celebrating Daniel's sisters bday. End of July and early August are always our "expensive" months :)
Just on a side note, to let you in on the lives of Daniel and I, I feel the need to talk to you about the shows that we record and like to watch on t.v. This is just an insight into our world b/c I feel it is interesting.
I am glad that Daniel and I share our views on what we like to watch and what is appropriate for us to watch. We used to watch one show on HBO and the first season was good, but as we got into the 2nd and 3rd, we decided as a couple that it was not something that we should be watching. Bad examples for us to be "de-sensitized" to. So what we watch now as a couple.......Deadliest Catch, we love this show - it definatley has some language, but I guess you have to take it with context. Do you expect a crab fisherman to not have a potty mouth? I don't think so. Ice Road Truckers, the first couple of seasons were really good......these past 2 have been ok, but we like to watch it. House Hunters International, 1 for the scenery and 2 b/c we like to guess which house "they" choose and see if we are right or not. My show that I am watching now is Without a Trace. I am big into detective, mystery, law, police shows; don't know why, but I have always loved them.....and I think I have a mini obsession with Jack Malone, the main character. I love his raspy low voice. (ha) Daniel's shows that he likes to watch and I will watch with him or retire to our room to read my book are: Swords (Sword fishing show), Whale Wars (Hippies trying to prevent Japanese fishermen from illegally killing whales for profit), Swamp Loggers (some backwoods people (think Deliverance) that "fish" for logs for profit, and AxMen (same as Swamp Loggers, but on land). So there is an insight into our world. No Jersey Shore, 16 & pregnant, Housewives of Orange County..........
Here are some pics from the weekend. We had a wonderful time in Dallas with Brim, Aylin and Tyler and then also up in the Fort Worth area celebrating Daniel's mom and aunt's bday. I am tired and our house is somewhat of a mess. It is always a trade off when you go on weekend vacations b/c when you get home you have piles of laundry and I feel like I am always playing "catch-up". This weekend we will be celebrating Daniel's sisters bday. End of July and early August are always our "expensive" months :)
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| Our Little Lady and her long legs~! |
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| Swimmin in the pool and blowin zurburts! |
Just on a side note, to let you in on the lives of Daniel and I, I feel the need to talk to you about the shows that we record and like to watch on t.v. This is just an insight into our world b/c I feel it is interesting.
I am glad that Daniel and I share our views on what we like to watch and what is appropriate for us to watch. We used to watch one show on HBO and the first season was good, but as we got into the 2nd and 3rd, we decided as a couple that it was not something that we should be watching. Bad examples for us to be "de-sensitized" to. So what we watch now as a couple.......Deadliest Catch, we love this show - it definatley has some language, but I guess you have to take it with context. Do you expect a crab fisherman to not have a potty mouth? I don't think so. Ice Road Truckers, the first couple of seasons were really good......these past 2 have been ok, but we like to watch it. House Hunters International, 1 for the scenery and 2 b/c we like to guess which house "they" choose and see if we are right or not. My show that I am watching now is Without a Trace. I am big into detective, mystery, law, police shows; don't know why, but I have always loved them.....and I think I have a mini obsession with Jack Malone, the main character. I love his raspy low voice. (ha) Daniel's shows that he likes to watch and I will watch with him or retire to our room to read my book are: Swords (Sword fishing show), Whale Wars (Hippies trying to prevent Japanese fishermen from illegally killing whales for profit), Swamp Loggers (some backwoods people (think Deliverance) that "fish" for logs for profit, and AxMen (same as Swamp Loggers, but on land). So there is an insight into our world. No Jersey Shore, 16 & pregnant, Housewives of Orange County..........
Friday, July 1, 2011
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