It's Official, I'm 50 and Have My First Tattoo!

Although I have been celebrating my 50th for almost four months, I officially became half a century old two weeks ago. And to help me celebrate, my sister/bestie visited and we both got a tattoo!!!

Neither one of us ever considered a tattoo, but we started talking about how we might if the right thing came along. And guess what, it did, in the form of a Life Is Good t-shirt.

My sister Stacey and I live over 700 miles away from each other but that doesn't stop us from sharing in each other's daily lives. Besides texting each other the ups and downs of marriage, parenting, working, illness, etc, we have a special tradition of each and every morning sharing two positives from the day before. It's a great way to remind ourselves of how fortunate our lives are and to share that joy with each other.

Once we had decided to go ahead with the tattoo, I made arrangements with an artist. Beforehand, I wasn't 100% sure how I would feel afterwards, but one thing I have learned from rheumatoid arthritis and aging is that you can never count on your body looking the way you imagine it will. With various sized nodules throughout my body, hammertoes, a few other wonky joints, and weight gain, I figured a tattoo could not add any additional harm. Plus, people always say you will regret getting a tattoo when you are old. Ha! We waited until we were old. :)

While getting the tattoo did hurt, it was honestly mild in comparison to a flare in the shoulder. (Those are the worst, right?) But the pain is not what I remember most. What has stayed in my happy place is the energy from the evening. We were joined that evening by a mother/daughter team getting breast cancer ribbon tattoos together and tattoo artists who made the entire evening feel like a party. Music was on, windows opened, and everyone kept checking in on each other to see what progress was being made and make sure the pain was okay. Best Friday the 13th ever!

Afterwards we headed home where my awesome husband had a fire going in the backyard with wine ready to pour. The remainder of the weekend it rained so we didn't get to do some of the activities we hoped to do, but it was nice just hanging out with my sister watching movies, eating, and talking. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday. Thank you Stacey. You are truly my everyday positive.

Now that I have done it, I love my tattoo more than I thought I would. Every time I look down at my bare foot, I am met with happiness.

Our dandelion tattoo represents many things to us:

• most importantly, the positive energy we share together
• our relationship and how we are always growing and encouraging each other to be our best
• our positive nature that we love sharing with others
• a reminder to always find the positive
• a simple life can also be quite beautiful
• life is always changing 

Happy 5th Birthday Izzy

I grew up with dogs, but none of them were ever "my" dog.  Izzy is our first dog as a family but she is really "my" dog.  She folllows me from room to room, she sleeps with me, she greets me at the door no matter how long I have been gone, and she listens to my every word.  She does have a mind of her own though and does what she wants with my words.  She has been by my side through the worst of my rheumatoid arthritis flares and her high energy level has forced me out of bed every day, even when I thought it wasn't possible.  Daily she challenges me to renew my patience as a human as she attempts to countersurf, when she gets jealous that I am hugging Steve goodbye in the morning and acts like a spoiled toddler, and as she barks at bicyclists, UPS trucks, and basically anyone and everything that passes by our house.   Yet she calms me as I sit and pet her, as she runs to the bedroom when I say, "let's take a nap", and as she listens to me when I least expect her to.  I love that in the morning she really wants to bark at dogs passing by our house but muffles her bark when I remind her "the kids are sleeping."  I love that on weekend mornings she greets Steve in bed with a ball in her mouth.  Oh, how I love watching the two of them play.  I love playing ball with her in the backyard and then watching her as your energy explodes and she runs top speed in circles around the yard.  If you haven't seen a border collie run at top speed, you have definitely missed out on a beautiful thing.  I love Izzy for all that she brings to my life.

My sweet Izzy is a New Year's baby.  Today I would like to celebrate Izzy and the joy she brings to my life.


It is amazing how small not only Izzy was when she joined our family at 16 weeks old, but also how small Alexander and Sophia were.  They both now tower over their momma.

Could she be any cuter? I warned the kids when we picked her up that if she wasn't right for us we wouldn't take her home.  The minute I saw her, I knew she was coming home with us.

Right away we switched Izzy from her kibble diet to a homemade raw food diet.  She was paleo/primal before we were.

My hiking partner.

As much as I despise the snow, Izzy loves it.  She loves sitting on the driveway letting the snow accumulate on her body.

I laughed and laughed last winter when we experienced a blizzard.  Izzy ran back and forth in the back yard until she had a path made for herself.  Until the snow melted, she used that path everyday.  It was so funny to watch her ! Oh, and of course she still wanted to be walked, even though the streets and sidewalks were covered in snow.    

Steve and Izzy on a campout.  Steve is definitely in line as Izzy's second favorite since he is her main playmate.

Izzy was with me during my first week back on prednisone in March 2010.  We hiked a different path every day of my Amazing Week.

She's just one of the family.  She loves new adventures with us.

She loves sleeping in my spot when I am away from home.

If Izzy can do it so can I.  That was my philosophy during our last hike.

Pretty Izzy keeps a watchful eye out for us.

Izzy loves to help in the kitchen.  She patiently waits to see if I drop any food and then cleans it right up!

"Did I hear food?"  Food comes before everything else, even  "ball".

Happy birthday Izzy and happy 2012 to all of you!  I appreciate you taking time to stop by and read about my adventures and I especially love when you leave comments.  Thanks so much!

"Experiences Over Possessions"

My birthday was last Friday. As my birthday got closer, the kids asked what I wanted for my birthday and one day after a walk I made a list of three or four things that I would like to have as gifts. I felt good about the list I made as they were all wants, but also needs. I don't mind those kind of gifts at all. I thought all was settled and I would be able to pass my list along and see what happened.  Then I remembered a philosophy that my friend Hannah often shares on her blog. She says, "I have always valued experiences over possessions." I love reading her blog because she does have wonderful experiences and I have always admired her philosophy. I don't think I have ever been a person that is all about possessions, although of course I do like some of them, but I have never really concentrated enough on the experiences. Sure, my kids are unschoolers which is based upon the idea of the experiences of life being their teacher, but I often put worry with my own personal experiences. Will we have enough money? Is the money used worth the experience? Is it taking away from what others want?

After thinking on what I really want for my birthday, I decided that I want the experience over the possession. So instead of a list of "birthday wants", I told my family I want a day with them either bike riding in a new area (Steve has a place in Wisconsin he wants to take us now that I am riding again) or hiking at Starved Rock so Izzy could join us. Also, I asked that if they really want to give me something, I would prefer homemade cards or gifts. The decision to not have any purchased gifts came from a discussion that Sophia and I had a few weeks back. We talked about how when we think back to the previous year, we often can't remember a lot of the gifts we received for Christmas or birthdays. However, the gifts made by others that we have in our house are always treasured. Alexander and Sophia have always been great at making gifts for me and they always come with fond memories.

After a super busy day on Friday and again on Saturday, we headed to Starved Rock on Sunday.  When we arrived, the experience I had in my head was different than the one I was experiencing in real life.  In July, we went to Starved Rock with my sister and her boys and the day was relaxed with few people.  Of course, it was a humid summer weekday rather than a perfect fall Sunday.  There were TONS of people at Starved Rock.  At first, I felt overwhelmed.  We brought Izzy with us as I had planned to do. The paths are narrow and she easily gets excited by other dogs and people.  I wondered if we should go home and prevent a stressful day. 

We stayed.  Steve volunteered to walk Izzy and keep her close. She did such a great job.  She tends to try to walk next to me no matter who is walking her.  She was so cute.  If I was ahead of her, she would pull hard on the leash to catch up with me .  If I was behind her, she kept stopping to make sure I was still there.  She is a ":momma's girl".  I like that about her.  She did a super job and seemed to enjoy all the new smells.

The day was nice.  I enjoyed the sunshine, nature, and mostly relaxing with my family.  It was a perfect gift. 

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Tuesday was the last day of classes for this quad.  One of the gals that always arrives before me was late to class.  When she arrived she had a big bouquet of flowers in her hands and everyone stood up and started singing “Happy Birthday” to me.  Then we had the usual last day celebration which means lots of homemade Mexican food!   After we finished the food they pulled out two big cakes from a bakery.  One was to eat in class and the other was to take home and share with my family.  They turned out the lights, lit a candle, and sang to me again.  Then they lined up and each one gave me a birthday hug.  They are so sweet!  I felt very special.  This experience is one that I won't forget easily.  

A special thanks to my mom and dad for bringing me into this world, providing lots of great experiences, and loving me for 43 years! 

My Zandyman Turns 14

There are few things in life that bring me complete happiness the way my Zandyman does. Yesterday, May 1st, Alexander (aka Zandy or Zandyman) turned 14. We had a great day!

We ate out. Gluten free pizza.....yummy!

Me with my Zandyman. I am officially the shortest in the family.

Alexander with his new hat, cash and "14 Things I Like About You" note from me.

Gluten free carrot cake we had after going to the movies.

Nicest part of the day was when Alexander gave me a great big hug and thanked me for making his day special. How did I ever get so lucky?