Day 14- A picture of you and your family



This is my family!!!

As you can see my families look very different. Can you guess which of these

familes I was born into???

My Jordan family is very special to me! The queen being my mother in law.

She's a very sweet and caring woman. She and I have some very indepth

conversations, abou tall kinds of wonderful things and all kinds of difficult

 situations. It is wonderful to know that I can talk to her about things.

My brother in laws (Ahmad and Turhan) are two of the funniest and most

 intelligent people I know! They are brillant in what they do, extremely talented and

 very hard working. It is a blessing to have them in my life.As you can see from

 the picture I have two nephews as well. Ezell and Kenai. They are both wonderful

 kids(although Ezell will be graduating high school soon). They are bothunique in

 their own little way and they each have something that makes them

both special. Ezell is very creative and a musican and heart.

 Kenai is a lot like his dad and pretty athletic!

As we move to my other family you should know that in this photo my step sisters

 Jen and Jessica,as well as my nephew and niece are missing. I have 2 brothers.

 My brothersare something special. Like most siblings I can say that we don't

 always get along, thatbeing said Matt and Karl are both hardworking

 and caring people. They arealways doing what they can to be good Uncles

 to my kids. In this photo are the kids "Aunts"we put a quote around them

because they aren't married to my brothers but they are in the process and have

 been around for a long time....Sherry and Maria are two wonderful girls that my

kids love to be around. They both love the kids like they are their own nieces and

 nephews and for that I am grateful.

My mom and stepdad are in this picture as well. I am so blessed to have my mom

in my life. I am very close to her. When I say my stepdad I should add that he is

 more like a dad to me than a stepdad. The kids call him "Papa" and he's been a

 part of our lives since right after Malik was born. My stepdad is one of the most

open hearted and giving peoplethat I know and he's always doing what he can to

 help someone out.

Now on to the last part of my family and that is "my family". My husband and my

kids! They are my life. Everyday I wake up they are the first thing I think about

and every single day I go to bed they are the last thing I think about. I'm not much

of a party person. I don't go out with my girls, I don't go on girls trips, I hang out

with my family. My husband and my kids are my world. Some people would say

that is an unhealthy attachment, but I disagree. I enjoy being with them and I don't

want to be away from them....

My family is my world and I am grateful for that!!!!











Day 13-A letter to someone I think about a lot

This one is going to be a little difficult. This one is to my grandma Krauss. She passed away on Aug 4, 2005 and I miss her so much every single day! Here is the last photo I have with her and I can tell you that she is so much a part of my soul!!!

Gram,

I think about you a lot lately. Whenever I'm in the kitchen I see you standing there cooking and the warmth you brought to this house. I can't believe it will be 6 years since you where taken home to be with Grandpa. So many times I replay the conversations we had, about how you missed grandpa and about how you hated being alone. I never really understood that much until recently when I started spending a lot of time away from Rashaan.

I think about the day that dad told me you died. I had just gotten home from the hospital with the twins. Due to the complications I didn't come to see you laid to rest and I regret that decision ever single day of my life. I often find myself crying because I didn't say goodbye. I didn't get to tell you one last time how much I loved you...so that is part of what this letter is for.

Not a single day goes by that I don't hear your voice talking to me...telling me how much you and grandpa love me. How proud of me you are. I remember when I saw you at the wedding, seeing you as I walked in made me cry. I cried because I knew you where so proud of me. I remember how you beamed with pride at seeing me, become a family of my own.

So many times I have looked at this picture of us. It was unfortunately the last time I got to see you. You never got to hold you're great grandkids, life kept me too busy and I regret not getting there to see you and let you see them. I know you are holding them now and I know that you are with me every single day but I honestly wish that for just one minute I could hug you again!!!

Until our paths cross again though, pictures and memories are what I have to get me through. My head is full of moments of you and grandpa and I hope as my years progress and my life moves on that those memories will stay with me forever.

Since this is now my chance to say goodbye I will end with I love you and I am so proud to be your grandaughter. You taught me more about love than anyone I know and I am a better person because of you. You are always in my heart and always in my soul!!!

Until we meet again,

Beth

Day 12- How I found out about blogger and why I started one

How I found out about blog....Well one day I was looking at a

friends page. She posted the link to her blog and since the title was

A coaching life by a Coach's wife.....

Obviously for those of you that now me that's a portion of my life

I'm a college football coach's wife! For the 10+ years that I have been with

my husband I have been engulfed in the football world. A college coach

is a full time job, at the lower levels they work 80+ hours a week and the pay....

It isn't anywhere close to the big guy salary...

But I digress....On that particular day I was reading her blog about a recent

 move from one state to another. As I was reading I realized that I too had lots

 of things I wanted to share.So that next day I decided to start my own blog.

 The firstcouple of posts reflectedthe feelings that I had about life, friends,

 people I am around. As I looked around more I decided to add more

 about my personal self. So I added this 30 day challenge!!!!

I hope that my blogging inspires people as much as the blog my friend wrote

inspired me. Since I got two more people to start blogs I think I did a good job!

Day 11-Another photo of me and my friend

This is me and my bestfriend! I am lucky because my bestfriend is also my cousin...

As long as I can remember she has been a special person in my life. I remember when I was a kid that I wanted to be just like her. She's 4 years older than me and I wanted to be like her in all ways.

She's always been someone I can go to for anything. She's been someone that can hold my hand and will listen withouth being judgemental, trust me in my family that's big deal. I remember being a kid and having a sleepover in her room, how we use to just talk and laugh about stupid stuff...I give her credit too because she never once got annoyed by me bugging her, although she did nickname me bug???

She is my bestfriend and for most of my life the closest female relative that I had. People have asked me before if she is my sister because we look similar and I always have to say she isn't my sister by blood but she is my sister by love.

It's such a special thing to have a person in my life as wonderful and loving as she is and I miss her so much more than anyone can know. See she lives in Kentucky and I live in NY and those miles are so much more than just hundreds...they mean we only see each other once a year and that is far too little for someone I love so much....



Day 10-Songs I listen to

Okay so day 10 says to use songs I listen to when....

I'm happy....That would be..

Crazy In Love by Beyonce

.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViwtNLUqkMY

How can this song not make you smile...it's the ringtone on my phone
"Got me looking so crazy right now."

 

I'm sad....That would be

Unbreak my heart by Toni Braxton
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2Rch6WvPJE
This song makes me be able to cry when I'm sad.
"Uncry these tears I've cryed so many nights"


I'm bored....That would be
Yeah by Usher
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiXbRBS5Z58
This song makes me want to dance....gotta love Usher
"Yeah, Yeah,Yeah"


I'm hyped....That would be
Lose Yourself by Eminem
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_FzrqxfZ9U
If you where not hyped before you heard this you will be.
."If you only had one moment...would you capture it."


I'm mad......That would be
You don't know me by T.I.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WL-lErac8Cc

This is the song I stick to when people judge me without knowing
"You don't know me"

Day 9-Something I'm proud of in the last few days

Something that I'm proud of in the last few days.

I am proud of ........

I'm proud of my good grades in college. I  love being back in school but it is very hard. I decided to tak 16 credit hours this semester. I did it because I wanted to cut down the number of years that I will be in school. So I am taking 4 classes at one time. My professor told me that is like a full time job and trust me it has been so far.

I have done very well. I've gotten some grades that aren't perfect(in the 80's) but I am proud of myself because I have done the best I can do. I'm doing well overall. Mostly all A's. I'm staying on top of the enormous coursework.

I am hoping that as my classes progress that I will be able to do just as well as I have now. I know that this will be an incredible challenge for me. It isn't easy to be a mom and a college student. I've got other things on my mind, like finding a house and moving, but I have been really working hard to keep myself on task and to remind myself that this is all for a good reason.

Day 8-Short term goals for the month

What do I hope to accomplish by the end of this month????? This shouldn't be too hard since I actually have a premade list of things that need to get done this month...most people think that I am not very organized(becasue I'm not a neat freak in my house) but I actually do have a pretty established system for getting stuff done.... So here is a list of some of the things I need to get done this month.......

1. Get an apartment/house secured for us to move into. We are trying to be patient and find something that fits our needs but we do need to find something soon. It has been a little frutstrating because the couple of places that we have called have waiting lists for the 3 bedroom units that we need. I just hope we can find something soon...

2. Celebrate Malik's 8th Birthday. It's hard to believe that my baby will be 8 this year. Doesn't seem possible that he is that old already. Where have the last 8 years gone. Most of it is a blur. He's been such a good trooper about how much we've had to move and he's very sweet. I want to make him feel very special this year. Hopefully I can plan something very very special for him.

3. Get Makiah to sit through a professional photo and maybe(dare I say it) get an updated family photo taken. Anyone with kids knows how hard it is to get all of them looking at the camera at the same time...I need a family photo though so I am going to attempt to get this done.

4. Various school assignments that are due this month. I have a lot of school work that is due this month and several research projects. I don't remember college involving this much work when I attempted it the first time....All I know is that I have lots to do in that

5. Start packing, sorting and downsizing stuff. I am not really a packrat...I don't keep a lot of stuff. I do however like most people have more stuff than I need. I am attempting to declutter our lives. I'm trying to minimalize our clothing(this is proving to be a challenge). I'm also trying to see what needs to be thrown out because its useful life has passed.

6.Plant some spring flowers...Since I live in WNY this is going to depend more on Mother Nature ending this impossibly long winter and allowing me to be able to plant some flowers. I can't wait for the pretty colors that accompany the vibrant flowers.

7.Kick up my workout routine. I've been slacking a little because of the getting use to school thing so I have to try to kick up the routine a little bit. I'm going to enjoy getting back to being healthier. I'm trying to get myself ready for the summer season....

This is a little bit of some of the list that I want to accomplish this month!!!! Hopefully I will have a productive and lucky month....Then I can get everything done I need to!!!!