Happy New Year

Right now I am waiting patiently to head out to PARTY!!!!!!! Tonight we are going to the Dan and Gabriella Crafts home to celebrate the New Year Latin Style. Unfortunately I have been nauseated all day long.
I received a wonderful email from Kerin Alvarez, one of the young men I helped bring into the gospel. He finally got his mission call. He is going to the El Salvador San Salvador East mission.

2008 Angola Family Review
1. Vacation to Nashville
2. Benji started using whole sentences (even though he speaks Spanglish)
3. After a year and a half of trying we are finally Pregnant.
4. Albert got employee of the month 5 months running
5. Benji Survived Thanksgiving.

Well, Not much happened this year. But next year will sure be a doozy.
For those of you planning to do your New Year's resolution just remember this quote:
"New Year's resolution goes in one year and out the other"

Great Grandma Jessie

On Sunday my Great Grandma finally passed away. I say finally because she has been holding on to life by a thread for a long time now. She died at the ripe Ole age of 96. Can you imaging living 96 years?
She was born on October 11, 1912. She was raised right here in the Knoxville area. Grandma had an interesting life, which included an extremely active single life. We had found out recently that my Grandpa, her first son was not my great grandfather's child. My grandmother became pregnant by a sailor and raised my grandpa by herself for 3 years until she met my great grandfather, who adopted him. My biological great grandfather's name is Frank Knot. So if anyone has any Knots in their family, we might be related. So when my grandmother revealed my this to me, my first question was, What were doing with sailors? I shouldn't have asked. Turns out my Great Grandmother danced with a group called Daughters of America. They were a group of girls who would "entertain" sailors while they were in town. I mean entertain as dance half naked nothing else. Hello!!!! Shocker!!!
Even though she had a rough young adult life, I am so happy she overcame it. She married a well, had 3 more sons, too many grandchildren and lots of great-grandchildren and 2 great-great grandchildren.
She outlived all of her cousins, her husband, her brother and sister, and 3 of her sons. She has so many of her close family members waiting for her on the other side that I know she happy to finally be with them. I miss you and love you, Grandma.

I've been tagged

A)The rules are posted at the beginning.
B) Each person answers questions about their sweethearts.
C) At the end of the post, the person then tags 6 people and posts their names; then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment, letting them know they have been tagged.

1.What is your husbands name? Albert Benjamin Angola
2.How long have you guys been married? 3 years 4 months
3.How long did you date? ooh that's a good one....well, we were good friends in the mission (nothing happened, just friends) After we wrote a lot, but in person we were together for 2 months before we got married.
4.How old is he? 25
5.Who is taller? Albert, but before I went to Bolivia I thought I was.
6.Who can sing best? neither, but it works to our advantage when we want to wake up Benji.
7.Who is smarter? UUUm I am....but he is pretty smart too
8.Who does laundry? I do. Albert tried once and used way to much bleach and ruined all of our white clothes
9.Who pays the bills? we both pay equally
10.Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Depends on if I feel pregnancy nausea, I might try to sleep closer to the door
11.Who mows the lawn? Good thing we live in an apartment, but if we had a lawn. Albert would
12.Who cooks dinner? I do. Albert will cook once in a while but it is always some weird creation and Benji and I end up eating peanut butter and jelly
13.Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? we are both to prideful for that. we just stop talking until it passes
14.Who kissed who first? Albert kissed me in the airport not 5 minutes after I got to Bolivia
15.Who wears the pants? I let him wear the pants, but just because his butt looks so good.

I tag--Stephanie, Hailey, Lindsay and Teresa

Benji and Thanksgiving...Is he still alive?

YESSSSS HE IS!!!!!!!! If you read one of my previous post about Benji's Thanksgiving day Curse, you will understand why I was so worried about this day.
Two night ago I had nightmares all day long about it. First I dreamt that Benji ran out into traffic and got hit by a car. When I finally went back to sleep, I dreamt that he was attacked by a dog. After that I decided not to go back to sleep.
Thanksgiving day got here and I was prepared........

At the Turkey bowl I was on that kid like White on rice. I got really nervous when the new family in the ward brought their huge German Shepherd/Great Dane mix dog. I got even more nervous when Benji took off into a hard run straight at the dog. He is a fast little booger.

The day almost turned bad when I was distracted for 30 seconds.

Albert came over to talk to me. I turned around and the next thing I know Albert has a look of terror on his face. 3 large players were going after a football and Benji was right where they were all going to knock into each other. Albert got to him, grabbed him and turned around right when they all collided. Albert received the blunt of the collision with his back turned hovering over Benji. Benji walked away just fine, even a little mad at Albert for interrupting his play, and Albert walked away with a big bruise on his back from the blow. Better him with a bruise then Benji with a couple of broken bones.

The rest of the day went by without any problems And that was what I was most thankful for on Thanksgiving.

My mom

My mom is Robin Lynn. Born to Robert Navarrette of Mexican decent and Rosalie Larson of Chippewa Indian decent. She grew up in Santa Monica, California and then in Fernley, Nevada. While in at Fernley Highschool, she played basketball, softball, volleyball and was on the cheerleading squad. She was also treasurer in the school presidency. My mom joined the church when she was 17 years old and later went to Ricks college where she met my dad.

In her free time she loves to quilt, put together puzzles and spoil her grandkids. She loves going camping and hiking and be in the great out doors. She has taught me to live the gospel and has helped me make good decisions all my life. I am so glad she is my mom

My Daddy!

My Dad was born here in good ol' Tennessee to Richard and Joann. He has 1 brother who lives in Alaska and a sister who live here in Knoxville. His favorite past times are watching and playing football. He says his best friend is Benji. Benji loves to play pillow fight with his grandpa.

Not many people know this about my dad, but he loves to write. He will right articles about politics, religion and life, Although he never gets any published. I think he would be an excellent blogger.

my favorite times with my dad are when we discuss deep church doctrine and battle over it with the scriptures. A couple of years ago, he would always win. Know I can hold my own, and he couldn't be more proud.

I am very grateful for my dad, how he raised me, his love for the gospel and savior and his love for his family. There isn't a better dad on earth.

Honey? Are you Cooking?

Tonight I had to go to a Relief Society Presidency meeting, and when I got home I found Albert and Benji playing soccer. After I yelled Albert for not having Benji in Bed I noticed a smell coming from the kitchen. Albert, are you cooking? I should have known that when he said "aaw dang it" and ran to the kitchen it would not have been good. Then I saw it.......He burnt Ramen noodles. How does anyone burn Ramen noodles??????? Well, he did it.

Benji

I was debating on whether or not I should include him in my blogs about family member. Of course he is the cutest family member but I already blog about him so much already. But since he is so cute and entertaining I might as well.

Benji progressed like a normal baby and toddler, but we have come to find out he is quite accident prone on Thanksgiving day.

Thanksgiving 2006

We were all at the Church's Turkey bowl. I was playing football and left Benji with his very helpful Aunt Chasity. Next thing I know someone from my team threw a hard pass towards the end zone but over shot the receiver by allot and hit Benji right in the face with a football. Chasity was holding him when it happened and didn't even see the ball coming. Benji was so startled and hurt that it took him awhile to actually cry out loud. ( you know how some kids hold their breath before they let out the screams) I felt so bad.

Thanksgiving 2007

We made it through the Turkey bowl and Dinner, I thought we were going to make it through this holiday with no incidents. I thought wrong. Albert was sitting on the reclining computer desk chair when Benji wanted to crawl on his lap. He started to crawl up, when he started to scream. Albert tried to pick him up when he realized Benji had caught his toe in the reclining part of the chair. Benji was screaming, I was holding him trying to calm him down, Albert was trying to pry the chair off his toe, my mom was panicking, Rosie was calling 911 and Jessica and Chasity were praying. He was stuck for 10 minutes. Albert finally was able to pry the chair open. Just then the fireman arrive along with the ambulance. We looked at his toe. It was completely white and Squished. So we went to children's hospital in the ambulance ( we were all to frazzled to drive) At the hospital the doctor told us his toe was broken and he probably would walk for about a week, obviously he didn't know Benji. The next day he was not only running but kicking a soccer ball. He normally kicked the ball before with his right foot but since it was that toe that was hurt, he learned to kick with the left. Now he kicks with both....really well....so well I just know he is going to buy me a huge mansion when he becomes a soccer star.

Well, that's my story about my baby boy

Thanks Emily for tagging me! Of course it would be a picture of Benji! He's got his UT Tattoos on his face. What you do is go to your picture files...open your 4th folder... open your 4th picture, and that is the one you post!FUN!

I tag Hailey, Ashley, and Stephanie.

Albert

I have decided to give you a thorough background on every member of my Family. and since Albert is my Husband He is first.

Albert was born on June 22nd in Santa Cruz de La Sierra, Bolivia. His Father is Ricardo Angola who is African Bolivian. And his mother is Teresa Torrez of Spanish decent. He has one sister, Susana Gabriella and 2 brothers Mauricio and Fernando.

Albert had a hard childhood, one so hard that he really doesn't like to talk about his first 8 years. He grew up in a poverty stricken home where sometimes the only food they had for weeks was old bread and what little breast milk his mother could produce. Some of you might think, "eew!! Breast Milk!?" But what would you do if your children were on the verge of starvation and that was the only thing that was keeping them alive?

After he turned 9, Albert's family started doing much better. Albert's father trained in electrical mechanics which in turn brought about $300 a month into their home. For Bolivia, that would be middle class. No longer suffering, Albert started doing alot better in school. He didn't have to hold down a part time job. ( He sold newspapers from 5-8 years old, 6 hours a day) He started enjoying his youth and his mother now claims that maybe he enjoyed it a little too much. (she always says that with a smile on her face) He was no stranger to causing or organizing all sorts of trouble, From setting stink bombs off in his school to accidentally drowning his mother's prized Rooster, (she didn't know this was his fault until he told her the story 12 years and one wife later)

When Albert was 11, their were a lot of killings going on in his town and the only way the bodies were identified was through their tattoos. So him and his friends, wanting only to be identified if something bad happened, got tattoos. His friends went first, getting skulls and other scary stuff tattooed on their arms and backs. Albert being the kind of person he is, innocent and sweet, got Mickey Mouse on his leg above the knee. I didn't know he had a tattoo until I saw it one day. I had to ask what it was due to the fact that now it is stretched out and covered in hair.

Even though Albert's family were members of the church all his life, he didn't get baptized until he was 14 years old due to the fact that when he made a commitment to keep the commandments he would stick to it, and at the time he didn't want to give up playing soccer on sundays.

His last year in "high school" he was named senior class president and organized many activities for his fellow classmates.

At the age of 19, Albert received his mission call to the El Salvador San Salvador mission. He was a senior companion, a trainer and a District Leader. Many families were blessed by him.

A year to the day after he returned from his mission, We were married.

Now, Albert enjoys playing soccer, watching soccer and teaching our Son, Benji, everything he knows about Soccer.

I never knew what love was until Albert came into my life. He is everything I could have hoped for and wanted in a husband and father. He is the man of my dreams.

Faces of Agony

Benji and Gabby in their less than happy moods!











............But they are so cute!!!!!

El Salvador

On September 20, 2008, The Salvadoran people had their groundbreaking ceremony for the San Salvador El Salvador Temple for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is something very dear and special to my heart. Albert served in the west mission from 2002-2004 and I served there from 2003-2004. I am very grateful that the members can have the blessings of the temple in their own country. I love El Salvador and is one of my 3 favorite countries ( you can probably guess the other 2). The people are wonderful and the gospel is thriving. I am so very grateful that the lord chose me to be sent to these loving people. Here is the web site for the Temple. www.ldschurchtemples.com/sansalvador/ It will be beautiful!

Spanish Branch Activity

Tonight we had our Spanish Branch "culture night". There was a ton of food, We gave a small presentation on our respective countries, and we danced. No Latin gathering is complete without dancing! It was so much fun.




Brother and Sister Rodriguez



Dan and Gabriella Craft (Benji's future in-laws)




Brother and Sister Rodriguez



Gabriella and Benji dancing (My son seems to be attracted to the Craft Women)





Grace Craft ( Benji calls her "My Gracie") Dancing with her Dad and Ignacio Garcia

The Difference between an apple and an onion

Benji has recently been learning words for fruits, so when he saw that delicious red thing in my hand he couldn't resist. He grabbed it, and sunk his teeth into it. At that moment my poor son learned that not all red things were apples. He bit into an onion. A picture says a thousand words.

Bolivia-*please pray*

This post is more of a favor asker than anything. As most of you know my husband is from Bolivia. I was married there and lived there for a year. I feel like Bolivia is my home. We have family there and so many wonderful memories. Right now Bolivia is in a political crisis. For reasons only known to the many people involved, my second country is on the brink of being torn by civil war.
2 days ago the church took out all the North American missionaries out of Bolivia and has sent them to Peru. The US embassy has been thrown out and the US government is flying out American Citizen by charter plane and helicopter. The worst part about that is, if we had stayed in Bolivia, I would have been on the plane and have had to leave my husband. I wasn't the only American citizen married to a Bolivian there, I cant imagine the pain of that separation.
I cant even describe how much it hurts to hear about the violence that is going on there. Or worse, when I see my husband worried and crying over the family we left there.
So at this time I ask for your prayers. Not only for the Angola family in Bolivia but for the church members, the people who have lost loved ones already and for the government. We would greatly appreciate it.

Death Road

I Have wanted to share this video for a long time now. It is one of the places Albert took me for our honeymoon. It is the road that leads to the little town at the top of the mountains where is dad is from. Only after we got back did he tell that the name of the road is Death Road and there are more deaths per mile on this road than any other road in the world. Averaging about 25 deaths per mile in one year.

Elder Bednard and Benji

I just got back from Stake Conference with Elder Bednard. It was amazing. Just being in the same room as an apostle of the lord makes you feel the Spirit. He gave an excellent message but that is not what I wanted to right about. Like always I want to write about Benji and his experience with an apostle. Obviously he didn't listen intently to the messages, but afterword Albert and I, with Benji went to shake Elder Bednard's hand. When we got in front of him. Benji reached his arms out to him like he wanted to be held by him. Albert was holding him and was speaking to Elder Bednard so he didn't realize what Benji was trying to do. When Benji realized that he was going to be held by him he settled for touching his face. Now, anyone who knows Benji knows that he is not a touchy feely kinda kid, and especially does not like to be held, but As we spoke to Elder Bednard, Benji touched his face, and his hands. It was like he knew or he had a stronger testimony of who this man was than any other person in the room and he just had to be near him.

Survivor

My one weakness in the world is reality TV shows. Actually I'm only a fan of 2, Survivor and Biggest Looser. Last year I played the survivor Fantasy game. It was a lot of fun.
So here is my question or invitation.....if you are a survivor fan and would like to join my team leave me a message letting me know you are interested and I will tell you what to do. It is all Free and in the unlikely possibility that we win, unlikely because their are over 100,000 teams. We win a trip to Gabo, Africa! So let me know yall!!!

Our Anniversary

Albert and I have the fortune of being able to celebrate 2 wedding anniversaries a year. And when we get officially married here in the USA, we can celebrate 3. (The United States does not recognize our Bolivian wedding.)

Our first anniversary is on August the 19th. That was when we were married civilly. Bolivia's government does not recognize temple weddings. It was a great party. It really didn't mean that much to me because I was REALLY getting married when we went to the temple. But it was fun planning stuff, the DJ, the Dancing, the dinner. Our Civil wedding and reception started at 8pm on a Friday night and didn't end til 7 am the next morning. Albert warned me about the Bolivian parties but I realized I had no clue. It was so much fun. But I was zonked the day after.

Our 2nd Anniversary is the 23 of August. That was when Albert and I were sealed for time and all eternity. I might be a little partial but the Bolivia Cochabamba temple is the most beautiful temple in the world.

Today I dedicate this blog to Albert. He is the most wonderful person I know. I couldn't have chosen a better father or husband. Not to mention outrageously gorgeous! I am so glad I get to claim him forever!

Twilight Saga cont.

I finished the first book in 2 days. Wow! I absolutely loved it. I couldn't wait to have the second book so I drug Albert out on Tuesday, I didn't want to ditch him because it was our 3rd anniversary. (celebrating on Saturday) I Bought New Moon. I finished that book yesterday.
Now I know what you must be thinking "Gosh, Katina is completely ignoring her responsibilities" But I really am not. I read during work! Right now in my department we have no assignments, we just have to be there in case we have a call come through. Which we have about 30 a day, but we also have 15 people. So I would take my calls when they came through and then get back to reading.
Honestly I liked the first book better, but I still loved the 2nd book. I felt bad for poor Jacob at the end. Leave me a comment about the book if you read it!

Twilight

So I have been hearing so much about the Twilight series I just had to check it out for myself. I was never really into the whole vampire fiction thing, but I have to admit. I have only read the first couple of chapters of the first book and I love it. I left the book at work and wish I hadn't. Benji is a asleep and there is nothing more I want to do right now than to get back to the book. I love it. I just might even get one of those stickers that says "My heart belongs to Edward" Then again that might give people the wrong idea. Why couldn't Edward's name be Albert?!!?!

The Angola's go to a Baseball game

Last night We went to a smokies Baseball game. It was Albert and Benji's first time. Benji had more fun entertaining the people around us rather than watch the game. His favorite part was eating the nachos and licking the cheese sauce off his fingers. His least favorite part was the fireworks. They were super close and really loud. All-in-all we had a great time.

Our mini Vacation

Albert is working on getting his Green card renewed, and to do that we had to go to Nashville so they could get his fingerprints . Well, we just decided to turn it into a vacation. After being in the office about 30 min. We headed to the Temple. When we got their Benji kept saying, "Jesus house?" He was so cute. After that he started saying "Hi, Jesus!" As we were leaving he started to say "chau, Jesus"

When then went to the Opry Mills Malls and had lunch at the Rain forest cafe. Benji had mixed feelings about this place. He loved because there were tons of things to see and lots of motion animals but he was terrified at first of the gorillas. After awhile he finally got used to them but would have nothing to do with the elephant.

All in all it was excellent family time that we much needed.

Benji and Gabby

Benji and his cousin Gabby are best friends. All week if they havent seen each other Benji says "I want Gabby"and Gabby says "I want Benji" When we finally take Benji to see Gabby, he runs in, runs towards Gabby shouting "Gabby, Gabby!" And Gabby runs towards him and shouts his name. They hug and start to play. Not 10 minutes later they are fighting. Benji tries to take her toys, she screams at him and runs and hides. But as soon as its time to go they both cling to each other like it will be last time they see one other. As Benji leaves he waves bye and Gabby Cries. I hope they stay this close all thier lives. Gabby is going to need a friend like Benji. She has already been through so much in her short 2 years. But she is also one that shows love to everyone.

We took them to the park today so they could play on the motorized motorcycle Aunt Ro got Benji for his birthday. Without even encouraging them Benji climbs on and starts patting behind him to Gabby saying "sit down" she climbed on behind him and held on for dear life as they go around Victor Ashe Park.

a new camara

Ok so I finally got into this century. We bought a digital camara. We were so upset about what happened at With Benji's B-day party we decided it was time. I was taking pictures left and right for his birthday the next day I realized the film had already gone out. So we didnt get any pictures of Benji's party. So this is the very first picture on our new digital camara!

Ok now leave me a comment on what you think Benji is trying to say here. My guess would be....."mom, I am trying to get into stuff I am not supposed to and you are totally messing with my routine!"

Memories

Hey yall, I just read this post from Lindsey Rose and thought it was a good idea. Here are the rules:1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.Happy Memories to You!

My Benji

Right now I have a ton of thoughts going through my head about my dear baby. He will be 2 years old tomorrow. He has so many of mine and Albert's qualities that it makes us laugh sometimes. Albert and I are both pretty stubborn and it looks like Benji is going to be the same way. He also has a really sweet and caring side that I saw tonight. Albert dropped a glass bowl on his toe and it started to bleed. He was sitting on the couch trying to recuperate and Benji stayed by his side giving his foot kisses and saying "you ok, papa?" He then started to hug Albert and even offered Albert his Pacifier. I cant imagine a stronger love than that between children and their parents.

America

The other day at work I had a conversation with a woman who said "I cant stand the United States, there is not one good thing about it" I had read an article by Glenn Beck a couple of days earlier and sent it to her. It was a good article, so here it is.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A few days before the Fourth of July, I read a column in The Philadelphia Inquirer that said America didn't deserve to celebrate its independence this year.It claimed that all of our so-called atrocities have shamed the memory of our founding fathers and, as a result, we should cancel our parades, put away our fireworks and all sit quietly while we atone for our sins.I guess that was one way to go.Another way to go would be to fire up the grills, bring the kids to the beach,and gather the family on a blanket to watch as your tax dollars ignite into colorful bursts.I'm guessing that most of us chose the second option.But just because I had fun with friends and family doesn't mean that I believe America is perfect. It just means that, for one day, I chose to celebrate the fact that America is still closer to perfect than any other country in the history of the world.For 364 days a year we talk about high gas prices, crooked politicians, and how much people from one political party allegedly hate everyone from the other. But for 24 hours we get to put it all aside and marvel at how a few brave men risked their lives to stand up for what they believed in. Of course, I would prefer we celebrate that every day, but for now, or at least until that Inquirer columnist gets elected president and bans it, I'll take the one. As someone who works in the media in New York City, I'll admit that I am part of the chorus of people who talk about our problems. But there's nothing wrong with that, so long as you also occasionally take the time to talk about the other side. And that's what I want to do now by asking the question that never seems to be of interest to the mainstream media: What's right with America?Let's start with our much maligned economy. I'm not trying to sugarcoat it, times are definitely tough for an awful lot of families right now. But you know what? We've made it through a depression; we've made it through wars, oil shocks, and major terrorist attacks and we're still standing. In fact, we're not just standing, we're towering over the rest of the world.Our economy is almost as big as the next four largest economies on Earth (Japan, Germany, China and Great Britain) combined. The state of California alone has an economy as large as the entire country of France. Illinois has the same GDP as all of Mexico. New York matches the entire GDP of Brazil. Florida's economy is as large as South Korea's. Texas has a GDP roughly equal to Canada's. Michigan's economy is as large as the entire country of Argentina.It takes a lot longer to turn around an aircraft carrier than it does a dinghy, but the problem we have is with our ship's captain -- the pea-brains in Washington -- not her crew.What's right with America? How about the way we educate our children. Sure, I complain a lot about left-wing professors and how some wealthy private universities hoard their billions while charging obscene amounts for tuition, but the truth is that our universities are always ranked among the best in the world.Students aren't fleeing America to go to college in Japan, India, or China -- it's the other way around. We open our colleges and universities to more than 80,000 foreign professors, scholars and educators a year and we have more students in college right now than those three countries combined.What's right with America? Our world-class universities don't require you to have an elite family name or Rockefeller-type wealth to get in. We don't care about your race, gender or nationality. You just have to be smart enough and work hard for it. What a concept, huh?What's right with America? How about the way we treat the less fortunate? With no help from our government, Americans gave a record $306 billion to charities last year alone. We give twice as much as the next closest country and, relative to the size of our economies, we give 1,000 percent more than the French.What's right with America? It's not just the wealthy who are generous. Two-thirds of American families making under $100,000 a year give to charity. Compassion is ingrained in our culture like no other.What's right with America? How about our supposedly third-world health care system? We spend more on health care per person than Switzerland, Germany, Canada, or any other country you can think of. Do we still have problems? Absolutely, but don't fall for "the grass is greener" crowd; every country has health care problems.What's right with America? We love our country. World Values Survey found that 77 percent of Americans are very proud of their nationality. That puts us in a first place tie with the Irish. Australia was next and no one else was really even close.I could go on and on, but my point is that we don't need the so often wished for "change" in this country, we just need perspective.While most of us inherently know that we've won the lottery by living here, we don't often think about the reasons why.So, for at least that one day, let's just remember that America still leads the world in the principles that matter most: The rule of law, freedom of religion, equal rights, freedom from an oppressive government and, fortunately for the Philadelphia Inquirer, freedom of speech.The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer

Big Swim/ Big Hurt/ Big Dad

It has been a little over 7 hours since I reached the shoreline at Anderson county park after doing a 6 mile swim. I am barely able to keep my hands on the keyboard. This was the hardest thing I have ever done. I think it would have been easier had a couple things been different. First of all, after getting to the park to start the swim, I tried to put in my contact lenses. Well, one was missing, later to be found on my living room floor-hard and missed shaped. So during the swim I couldn't see a thing. This is bad for many reasons, I am scared to death of what I cant see. and for this very reason I was imagining all sorts of animals right under me. The other reason it was bad was because I couldn't see where I was going, which my the trip seem so long. I was about ready to give up when, as a team, we decided that I should follow right behind a red kayak which I could see. This helped so much, yet damaged me as well. It helped because now my focus was on the red kayak and not the unknown beneath me. I even started to play a game with my self where I would try to touch the kayak. This is the part that killed me later on in the swim. I was trying so hard to touch the kayak, which would ALWAYS stay a couple feet ahead of me, that I was swim pretty fast for the first 3 miles. I even left behind the rest of the group. At the half way point I was exhausted and my shoulder started to hurt. The last 3 miles I was still focused on the red kayak but I gave up my game. The last mile was what really did me in. As the waves from nearby boats would rock me, I would find myself helplessly rolling in the water onto my back. I could barely think and by now my arms were either in excruciating pain or numb. The last 50 yds, Kathy, my red kayak guide, told me to look to the shore line. There was my dad, cheering me on, telling me how great I was doing, and telling me just a little more to go. My dad saved me. How did he know? How did he know that I was just about to give up? How did he know that at that very moment I was hopelessly lost? His presence and encouragement gave me the last little bit of gas I needed to make it to the end. When I was finally there he came to the waters edge, pulled me out and helped me sit down. He didn't stay next to me to comfort me or anything like that because he went back to that spot I saw him from and started cheering on my mother. Being another lifesaver. I don't know how he does it, but every single time I have needed my dad the most he has always been there. I don't even know if he knows all the times he has saved me. So even though my dad cant swim very well, He was the best lifeguard ever!

Belly Dancing

I went to my belly dancing class tonight. I love it. I am sure when I am skinny and actually look good doing it I will love it even more. The most amazing part about my class is the instructor, Sandy. She is 56 years old and looks like she is 30. We did a "sensual" dance to cool down. and in part of the routine those who could could go into a full split. I obviously went to one knee instead but this 56 year old woman went into the full split. I was shocked. This is a fantastic class. I encourage all to give it a try. After every class I feel so refreshed and invigorated.

Loving a child

I have decided that I am not very good yet at this blogging thing, but I am inspired by some blogs I have read from Alice Gold and Lindsey Rose. Life experiences are always something that should be shared. I had one today. Before I tell about it let me give a quick update. My Parents now have custody of my niece who will be 2 in October. She never sees her mother. Today I went over to my parents house to watch her for a couple of hours. When it was time to leave, she started crying and calling me mama. It broke my heart. I look at Benji and I think how lucky I am to be a mother. I wouldn't trade it for anything. But how many women out there take their calling as a mother so lightly that a child can be confused about who there mother really is. If I could be the mother of every unwanted child in the world and let them feel real love I would in a heartbeat. Aside from Albert, Benji is my world. Sometimes I cant help but stare at him for hours and it is never boring. So to my son...I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I live, my baby you'll be.