Meeting Fayth

*Nic had a stuff bear when he had cancer, so it seemed fitting he give one to Fayth.

If any of you are friends of mine on facebook, then you know about my campaign to help Fayth and her family this holiday season.


Fayth is the seven year-old niece of one of my classmates from high school. Fayth has stage 2 Leukemia. My friend was asking people for help to make this holiday season wonderful for Fayth and her family. Be it in the form of money (for bills and gas) or Christmas presents.


As many of you know, Nic had cancer when he was younger, so anything that has to do with this horrible disease, I always try and help. For about two weeks, all my FB status' were about asking for help in spreading Christmas cheer for Fayth and her family. My friend and Fayth's family were touched by my efforts and especially so to learn that Nic was a 12 year survivor.


My friend asked Nic and I to come over so Fayth could meet him and so Nic could chat with the family. We had to move somethings around but we were able to meet Fayth and her family. Can I just say that it was so special. I had to do my best not to cry.

Nic was his charming self and was able to put a smile on every one's face, especially Fayth. My friend told me that the whole day Fayth's mom, Danielle, was really quiet and itching to head to Fresno for dinner. But when Nic got there, just opened up and forgot about her plans. I think it was a relief for Danielle to be able to talk to someone who understood what little Fayth is going through.

After our visit, we were able to take some pictures to remember everything. This was an experience that I will never forget. I'm so grateful for the opportunity I had to meet Fayth and her family. The last update we got is that Fayth's leukemia is in remission, but they are still in need of some financial help to cover the medical bills. If you would like to help Fayth, please email me at: ward_family_2005@hotmail.com (subject line Fayth). Thank you to my friends who help make Christmas a little more special for a little girl and her family.

The slap, kick and punch to my self-esteem

Here's the story that you guys have been waiting for. For all intent and purposes, names of co-workers and place of employment have changed. Though I did not leave there with the best of feelings, I do not want to totally black ball them (especially since their listed with google search).



Here's some history: November of 2007, I left "my previous life" and came to work for Hunter Law. I had met with the head attorney, Mr. Sweet, and he was an amazing man. In December of last year, I had my year review. Within my year of employment I ran the office by myself for 2 months (with "help" from the Mr. Sweet's wife). I worked closely with the (then) litigation paralegal to develop ways for the office to be more effective. I was responsible for the pre-litigation work flow and training new employees. I worked close with the assistant/litigation attorney in developing spreadsheets in Access and Excel to help manage our case flow better. I formatted templates for our most frequently used documents (instead of having to find one that you remember using 3+ months ago), formed protocols for office flow and created an employee "how-to" guide for new employees. I was positive. I was happy. I was enjoying work. I was ready to work. Imagine my shock when I met with Mr. Sweet and he said: "Everything that you've told me is true, but I'm sorry, we just don't have any money. But if you feel you could make that money else where then go ahead. I'll write letters of recommendation for you." Not only was I not getting a raise, nor was he willing to negotiate more vacation time he was pretty much telling me to leave (though you may be reading it and it doesn't sound that way, trust me. It did). I continued working. . .not happily. . . but I continued.


The decision to quit was NOT an easy one. We knew back in July that I should leave. We knew that I should quit my job and be home. Getting our home ready for a child. But anyone that knows me, knows that I am a planner and quitting and doing nothing did NOT make sense to me . We had prayed about it but I wasn't ready to make that kind of jump. Through some experiences in my life, I knew that this was the leap of faith the Lord needed me to take. So, I made the decision to quit.


I gave my notice, and few days later all HELL broke lose and came to surface. Back in April(ish), the receptionist, Mustang Sally, was promoted to Litigation assistant. She deserved it. Most would think a raise would come with a promotion but it did not. Around the same time I gave my notice Mustang Sally received an offer she couldn't refuse. She shared with the Litigation attorney and he went and talked to Mr. Sweet. Mr. Sweet told him that they were already paying Mustang Sally "x" amount of dollars. Litigation attorney went to Mustang Sally, and she told him that simply wasn't true. Litigation attorney goes back to Mr. Sweet. Mr. Sweet goes to his wife (who makes all the financial decisions of the practice) and comes back to Litigation attorney and tells him, "I'm sorry. I was wrong. Georgia is actually making that much." Georgia is another paralegal in the office who has been here a year less than me. The litigation attorney was able to find out that within the last year Georgia has been here she has received THREE raises. One before I asked for mine. Another AFTER I asked for my raise and a third right before what would have (again) been my yearly review. She is making a very (VERY) significant amount more than me a year. If you know how much our adoption fee is, then you know how much.

Needless to say I was a little upset. I'm not mad at Georgia. She is a fine paralegal, but do her abilities supersede mine? Not at all. We're pretty fairly matched, though my being technologically savvy saved the firm money. They didn't have to hire an outside cameraman to interview Dr's for a big case. I was able to do that. When a family friend, of a big case, dropped by a video of them before the accident I was able to extract and reformat the video clip. We didn't have to send it out (and pay more money). When the firm needed photos for the web-site, they didn't need to hire a photographer, I did it.


I did A LOT of things for Hunter Law, but apparently they didn't think they were important enough. After I gave my notice Mr. Sweet's wife didn't talk to me at all. She didn't even ask me what my plans were for Thanksgiving-she asked everyone else. Now, I'm not asking her to be my best friend, but at least show a little professional courtesy. *Sigh* All is well. Over and done with and I am a free woman.

However, there are a few things that I would like to tell Mr. Sweet's wife. They are as follows:
1) Medicaid and Medicare are to completely different insurers. Their policies are procedures are COMPLETELY different. I've explained this to you many times. I'm glad I don't have to explain it to you again.

2) When you save a scanned document, you're not saving it to Word Perfect. You're saving it to the computer. It's not even in Word Perfect format.

3)You know that twitch that your lip starts doing when you get upset? It drives me crazy. There have been times that I've wanted to hit you to make it stop.

4) When you stick your nose in files when you have ABSOLUTELY no idea what is going on and go complain to Mr. Sweet, you cause unnecessary drama.

5) If "nothing has been done" on a file, it's because nothing can be done.

6) Though you hail yourself to be a good "Christian" you're greedy actions and behavior say otherwise.

7) I do not wish harm on people, but I think I'd be okay if a house landed on you.

I am free woman people!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

The BIG 3-0!

This handsome devil turned 30 in September. Since it was a milestone birthday, we celebrated really big. I did "30 Days of Nic." It was really fun coming up with things to do for him. I had wanted to buy him a present for every day, but due to the whole in my pocket (i.e. no dinero) I bought him some big gifts and did small things for him and cooked some of his favorite meals. One thing I planned was a kickball game to remember the days of yester-year. We played at the field area in front of our subdivision. I went and got dinner and had Nic meet me. We were enjoying our meal when some friends of ours pulled up. Nic said: "Hey, look who just pulled up." I told him they must just be coming to the park for FHE. Next thing we know the kids come running out with big happy faces: "Are you ready to play kickball?" Nic looked up at me and said: "Kickball?!" "Happy 30 days of Nic!" More friends came and it was a fun time.

Some of the big gifts included a grill (too bad he won't be able to use it until next year), a video tribute, Metallica tickets (I bought them back in April-I almost gave them to him for Father's Day) and a book of stories that I collected from his friends and family. It was really fun getting everything together. Some of the stories were funny and some were really tender.

The day before his birthday, we had a surprise party for him. Bless Nic's little heart he almost found out about it, but when he saw the invitation on a friend's fridge he backed out of the kitchen and said he could not go in there. Saturday morning I went over to my friend Sarah's house to get everything going. Nic was away with the scouts for a camp out so it worked out perfectly-however he got back earlier than I had expected so I had to ditch Sarah and come home. I hurried to get ready and we went to a movie with the excuse that Sarah had invited us over for dinner and that we needed to be at her house at 7pm (on the invitations I said the guest of honor would be getting there at 7 SHARP!). The movie ran later than I had expected and we didn't get there until 7:30. I felt like such a loser. I'm kind'a anal when it comes to gatherings starting on time and the fact that it was my own party and I was late kind'a made me sad. . .all is well. Everyone had fun.

I also had a SUPER yummy cake made-no lie! It was the best cake I've ever had. I lady in our ward makes cakes. She did a fantastic job!

I found a cake design I liked and she went for it. The colors were exactly what I wanted and the flavors were DELICIOUS!! The top of the cake was a two layer white cake with a chocolate pudding filling and the bottom was THREE layer (yes 1-2-3 layers) chocolate with raspberry filling. I am not a huge chocolate and raspberry fan but it was sooooooooo incredibly yummy! The fondant was good too-it was marshmallow fondant. If you live in the Boise area and need a cake you need to get in touch with Mayona. You will not regret it! I'm trying to think of another reason I would need to get a cake from her.

I know I've taken to our blog a lot to say how much I appreciate my husband but it's so true. He is everything I could have wanted in a husband. He helps me and encourages me. He makes me laugh and helps dry my tears. He works hard. I love him so much!

Happy Birthday babe! I hope it was a great day for you.

p.s. When I posted the note about being a bad blogger, Nic felt kind'a sad that I didn't post anything about his birthday (which was before I even posted that). Sorry babe :(

Summer Lovin'

had me a blast! Summer lovin' happened so fast.


Summer came and went (and yes-I'm just barely blogging about it). I started out training for a triathlon but my knees and hips (read right knee and hip) did not agree with that so I had to stop. Majorly bummed, but I went and supported my two friends that I had started training with. They did AWESOME! But it made me super depressed that I couldn't compete.



This summer we spent some time at the lake (see previous post) with friends and it was fun. I love spending time in the water, it makes me feel at peace. We also went camping with Nic's family this year at Hell's Canyon, but it was so BLOODY hot that I never took my camera out but on an over-cast day when Nic and I went for a drive. Totally uncomfortable. Rumor is next year we are heading to Florence, Oregon-I'm totally down for that!

Instead of a mid-summer trip to California, we went at the end of August for my 10 year high school reunion. It was a blast. But the trip was too short and I didn't get to spend a lot of time with my family. Bummer. The nice thing though was that Nic and I FINALLY decided to take our time getting there. We stopped in Reno and stayed at Circus Circus on the way to Cali.

The day before the reunion (Friday) we had a gathering at a local park-a pack and play. We encouraged people to come with food and their kids. We didn't have as good a turn-out as we would have liked but it was still fun. I was able to catch up with my brother from another mother (at least one of them-he's s twin) and it felt just like yesterday we were running through the streets of our neighborhood playing ditch and home-run derby. The next day (Saturday) was the actual reunion. Which had a couple of surprises.

Surprise #1: Nic working the bar. Yes the bar where they serve alcoholic beverages. The actual bar tender somehow convinced Nic to help him tend. At first it was just water. Then wine. Then beer. Then mixed drinks. I expected him to start spinning and flipping bottles by the end of the night. The plus? He go tipped out. Surprise #2: We had enough food for everyone. We thought we would run out. But there was plenty left over. And the final surprise. Surprise #3: I was taking pictures of everyone having a good time and dancing the night away and then I hear cheering. Then I hear: "Elaine! Elaine! Look! Take a picture!" I figured it was one of my fellow classmates tearing up the dance floor. I look over and guess who it was? Yep. Nic! *Sigh* My hubby. . .

The reunion was really fun. Hopefully for the next one we will have a larger turn out.

I'm a bad blogger :(

Well, what can I say. I try and try and try to keep an updated blog but it's just so stinkin' hard. Our life really isn't that exciting. We're boring people. We pretty much work, come home, cook dinner and go to bed. And then it starts all over for us. Boring, huh? I will be posting in the next couple of days though so stay tuned (if any one even reads this anymore).

Remembering 9/11

I posted this last year, but I decided to post it again.


It was a Tuesday. I was lying in my bed listening to the radio, debating whether or not I wanted to go to class that day. All of a sudden the song cuts out and the morning show DJ says: "We just got a call from a listener that said an air plane just crashed into the World Trade Center. Please stay with us as we try to verify the details." I immediately shot up in bed and started thinking 'Oh my gosh! If there's any truth to it, it will be on CNN.'

I ran upstairs to our living room and turned on the TV. And there was live footage. I couldn't believe my eyes. Smoke was coming from the North Tower. As I was struggling to make sense of what was going on, I saw the second airplane crash into the South Tower. I couldn't believe what I was seeing; I could feel the tears start to swell up.

My roommates are amazed at me being up and seeing me glued to the TV. I hear them asking me questions, but I ignore them hoping that they will glance at the TV to see what's happening. I'm frozen, still trying to make sense of what I'm seeing. The next thing I see are the towers crashing and people running in fear. I'm no longer able to hold back the tears. Why is this happening? Who would do this? Why? Why?? Why???

After watching live footage, for what seemed like forever, I finally peel myself away from the TV and head to campus. The feeling on the BYU-Idaho campus that day was one that I will never forget. It was so somber. As you walked on campus, it was so eerily quiet. No smiles. No laughter. You could feel there was a sense of loss that day. You knew that no matter our circumstances, we were all changed that day.

The President gave an address that night and I listened. He said that those horrible acts my have shattered the steels of those buildings but "they cannot dent the steel of American resolve." We as a nation united that day. Policemen and Firefighters became super heroes. Young men made the decision to put their life on hold and rise to the special calling of defending the freedom of our nation. My freedom. Your freedom.

That week on campus it was homecoming. One of the last homecomings for the school but instead of celebrating with the big razzle dazzle, it was filled with moments of silence and the singing of the song "(I'm proud to be an American) God Bless the USA." As we sang that song, it brought a sense of pride. One that I had never felt before. The chorus of that song took on a special meaning that week:

"And I'm proud to be an American,
where at least I know I'm free.

And I won't forget the men who died,
and gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up! next to you
and defend her still today

'Cause there ain't do doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA."

I was changed that day. From that day forward, I cry every time our flag is raised and our National Anthem sung. I'm not going to stand here and say whether the war is a good thing or bad thing but all I know is that these men are defending my freedom. On this day, I would (again) ask that we do not criticize our President's decision to send our men off to war but that we stand beside them as they put their lives in danger to defend our very freedom and help rebuild a nation.