Simply Sunday

Today we are "back to the daily grind" of being just us in our house and preparing to grab our schedule and routine by the horns tomorrow. Don't get me wrong ... we have loved the time we've had to spend with our families the past two weeks!! That being said, there is something so lovely about settling back into a routine. Our "normal" has been nowhere near NORMAL for almost 8 weeks now with the whole kitchen debacle!! There is much to be done around here to get the house back into full functioning order, and I look forward to tackling the cleaning, the clutter, the Christmas decor, and even the laundry. Sick, I know ...

We FINALLY got the opportunity to go back to the 9 AM time slot for church. I'm pretty sure the angels were singing when we walked into the chapel ON TIME! It helps that I had been up since 6 AM to see Ed & Pam off to the airport ;) With Steve being in the bishopric, I believe that 1 PM church may have been the worst time on the planet. He would leave for meetings by 7 AM, {possibly} make it home for about an hour (if we were lucky) before having to be back at the church for interviews and such before 1:00 meetings, and then wouldn't make it home after church {which ended at 4} until at least 5:30 or later. Add to that occasional firesides, Bishop's Youth Nights, and home teaching, and you can see our Sundays were often gone without more than an hour together. I'm hoping that our new earlier schedule will afford us a bit more time together as a family on Sunday!! I'm not complaining - really. I wouldn't have it any other way for the opportunity it affords Steve to serve with our amazing bishop and the people in our ward. It is such a blessing to our family to know that he is worthy and willing to serve in such a capacity.

I can already tell I am going to love our new schedule. Not because I'll get to take Sunday naps {cuz seriously ... will I ever REALLY be able to get a nap in?}, but because it opens my afternoon to the possibility to do.more.good. Not that I couldn't have done more of that in the mornings before 1 PM church, but that I usually didn't. I was scrambling to get 4 kids ready, myself ready, a lesson (or handout) ready, etc. Not making the time to just sit, focus, and enjoy the fact that it was a "day of rest." Starting at 9 means those things need to be done on Saturday ... as they should be anyway.

Today I got to spend my afternoon working on plans for our upcoming RS meeting this week, helping my daughters complete goals for their Faith in God requirements, listen to my girls sing at the top of their lungs, attend a scout committee meeting, make dinner for my family, and sit to read from the most recent conference issue of the Ensign.

I want to be better about writing down the things that impress me as I read or study them. To capture just a bit of the whisperings that I feel from time to time. The words of our modern day leaders have a way of reminding me of truths that I may already know while gently nudging me {without to much guilt} to act on those truths.

I was reading Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk entitled "Of Things That Matter Most" and was once again reminded of the need to focus our lives more on the fundamentals of the gospel. He said, "I think most of us intuitively understand how important the fundamentals are. It is just that we sometimes get distracted by so many things that seem more enticing....

...we would do well to slow down a little, proceed at the optimum speed for our circumstances, focus on the significant, lift up our eyes, and truly see the things that matter most....

... Let us simplify our lives a little. Let us make the changes necessary to refocus our lives on the sublime beauty of the simple, humble path of Christian discipleship - the path that leads always toward a life of meaning, gladness, and peace."

It's going to be a big year for us here ... Cougar moved up to "big boy" Primary today as a Sunbeam, Brinley will turn 12 and enter Young Womens in two weeks {her New Beginnings program is actually on her birthday}, and Kendyl will turn 8 in September and be baptized this fall. We are so blessed and I could not be more proud as a mother or feel more fortunate. Did I mention I'm going to love our new 9 AM church schedule?

On the Fourth Day of Christmas ...

It rained.

We started the day early by making a batch of Addiction for Brinley to take to her math class. They could make a recipe for extra credit showing the calculations to double or triple the amounts and then share it with her class ... aren't they lucky? I haven't done hardly any baking yet this year due to the kitchen disaster of 2010. Good news on the horizon, though - countertops go in tomorrow, plumbing will be done Saturday {dishwasher, sink, disposal, RUNNING WATER} just in time for company to arrive on Sunday, and they will be here to finish up and clean the tile (and grout *WOOT*) on Monday!!! Don't worry ... pictures will follow ;)

I headed into Ashton's class to help with some Christmas crafts today. She is a lucky girl to have such cute and sweet friends! I had so many kids come up that were excited to see me ... I love that! I also got to stay and enjoy the holiday feast with her {although I didn't eat - I had a lunch date with my guys right after and Chipotle sounded way better than the ham and tamales they were serving}!

As I was frantically preparing food for my Bunco hosting duties tonight, a sweet girl from my ward stopped by to drop off some goodies, a Christmas card, and a darling thank you gift. I didn't feel I had done anything "worthy" of a thank you, but as I read her note I was humbled by her overwhelming thoughtfulness and gratitude toward me. It reminded me that I need to take more time to express my own gratitude for others and the impact they have on me ... not just for the big things that we might normally show our thanks for. It was just what I needed and I will definitely go back to her note when I need a pick me up!!

Then it was off to Bunco! I was invited to be part of a Bunco group several months ago and it is such fun - I had never played before that!! I chose to host in December because it is the one month out of the year that I feel like my house has any style. This was, of course, before things fell apart in the kitchen! Lucky for me, my dear friend Beth came to the rescue and offered for me to use her house ... even nicer since she's not even in the Bunco group!! I convinced her to sub for another girl who couldn't make it this month. We made Cafe Rio salads and fruit salsa along with lots of peppermint goodies and some amazing peppermint oreo brownies that Beth made.

I made a little gift for the girls, too. I had been wanting to make a little something and I knew I also had teacher gifts, office gifts, and friend/neighbor gifts to make, so I worked and created my very first subway art {inspired by so many designs that I had seen online}!! I love the way that they turned out and I can't wait to give them out to everyone else ... hope they like them!!

I asked if everyone would be okay with bringing donations this month rather than bringing gifts to hand out after play. Everyone was on board and I talked with the nurse at one of the local high schools (after being tipped off that there were some specific needs there) about what could be used. We decided to collect lots of hygiene products - pads, tampons, shampoo, lotions, soap, deodorant, combs, brushes, etc. These will go to help students in our area who are homeless, displaced, or without some of these everyday basics. It felt so good to gather everything up in my car tonight and I can't wait to deliver them to the school tomorrow!

While I was at Bunco, Steve attended Brinley's "regular" band concert. She has been playing the french horn for months now and is improving as she practices! She really seems to enjoy it and I'm sure she did a great job!

Holiday Treats

'Tis the season for some of my favorite treats to make their appearance again - WOOT!! Funny thing is I have favorite treats for just about every holiday ;) Candy Corn only tastes good to me in October {and only Brach's brand, thankyouverymuch}, Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs at Easter taste better than any other Reese's product, and I have oh, so many treats that I love during the Christmas holidays!! I'm grateful for the excitement that I feel when I see them in the stores for the first time each season!

I had my first Peppermint Chocolate Chip Milkshake from Chick-fil-a on Friday and it was the perfect reward for my early (before 7 AM), cold (35 degrees) 6 mile run that morning. Too bad someone had to tell me it had almost 1000 calories, but it was worth every one as it was sheer perfection!! I'm sure I will have several more before they leave the stores in January ;)

My other faves include the beloved chocolate/mint combo that I am so fond of, as well! I'm always a sucker for Mint M&M's and was thrilled when they made the "premium" ones {now known as Thrills} available year round after putting them out a few years ago ... divine!! We almost always have a bowl of the red, white, and green niblets on our counter - too bad we don't have a counter this year!! Probably better for my waistline ;) I also bought my first bag of Dove Peppermint Bark this past weekend because I knew the wrappers would be the perfect filler for one of my tall glass jars that I change decor in from season to season. I paired them with some Dove Dark Chocolates and they look so pretty ... and taste even better!!

Not only do I love the store bought variety of holiday treats, but I love to make lots of goodies during the month of December, too! I don't really bake as much for other holidays, but I *LOVE* to bake and make candy during the Christmas holidays. I know it stems from my childhood and the many wonderful memories of spending time in the kitchen with my mom as we put together plates of goodies to take to neighbors, friends, and widows from our ward at church. I still make a lot of the same recipes today that we made when I was young and I love it when my mom comes to visit so we can make them together {or I can have her make them with my kiddos}!! I'm grateful for the traditions passed on and hope that one day my children will enjoy making the same holiday treats with their own children!

Dishwasher

I am trying my very hardest not to complain too much about our kitchen situation. And, for the most part, I've kept a very positive attitude through the past two weeks. Today, however, I really longed for the opportunity to load my sink full of dishes into a dishwasher rather than standing over a well below countertop height, very deep, one bowl temporary sink with no countertop.

I never realized just how grateful I was to have a dishwasher until a few weeks ago. It's something I've had most of my grown life. Now, don't get me wrong ... I wash dishes by hand, too. In fact, there are many of my dishes that have never seen the inside of a dishwasher. But keeping up with the amount of dishes that a family of 6 go through is a pain - especially without a counter to place the large amount of dishes on.

We actually picked up our new dishwasher today and I would have LOVED to have hooked it up to start running my first load of dishes! Instead, it will sit in my garage and wait until we can actually get some work done in our kitchen so that it can be installed. Until then, I will reflect on just how grateful I am for the new dishwasher that I do have and the remembrance that my life {and kitchen} could be so much worse. Boy, do I feel like a whiner for complaining ....

Christmas Decor

After waking up early and meeting my dear friend Beth for a 6 mile run {in 35 degree temps}, I came home to get focused on pulling the house together and getting the Christmas decorations up. Steve brought all of the totes in a few days ago but I just haven't had a chance to get it done.

There is just something about Christmas decor that makes me happy. I will be the first to admit that I have no talent in the home decorating department, so Christmas is the one time of the year that I feel like my house looks like there was some thought that went into it. I love picking things up on clearance at the end of the season and then packing them away to be surprised by them when I get out the decorations the next year ... so fun!!

We have a nutcracker collection that has been growing for years now and we make a family outing to pick a new one (or two) every year. We also have a tradition of buying a new ornament for each family member every year as well as buying a new ornament at Disneyland every trip we take ... looking forward to buying a new one next week! We hope that one year we'll have an entire tree full of Disney ornaments :D

I am grateful for the fun memories that decorating for the holidays brings to our family. I love that the girls wait with anticipation as we open each tote and they "remind" me where the different items go. They love to help unpack the boxes, decorate the tree {which the kids did all by themselves this year}, and place decorations in all the right spots. I am grateful for the overall feeling that I have when I see the tree lit up, the large ornaments hanging above my island, and our ever growing row of nutcrackers while the Christmas music plays in the background. I love it!

Family

Happy Thanksgiving!! Today is a day that brings family and friends together to share in good food, good fun, and good times. The big holidays like this are the times when the reality that all of our family is far away and {in the case of my own family} spread out really hits home. We are lucky to have such wonderful families and love the visits that we get with them during the year, but do miss being able to share holidays like this together. We hope they ALWAYS know how much we love them and how incredibly grateful we are for the love and support they have always shared with us!!!

We are, however, incredibly lucky to have our own "local" family. With as many years as we have lived away from our families we have spent many holidays on our own, but we have never *felt* alone because we've been able to make many wonderful memories with friends as we have hosted some and been invited to others. The past few years we have celebrated MANY holidays with the Wilson family ... my dear friend Beth, as she's been referred to several times on my blog. They really are our family here and we love them all immensely - we have kids that "match up" age wise and they play for hours while the grown ups cook, talk, play games, and such. We also had the Hatch family with us this year which was super fun ... they are so cute and we have really enjoyed getting to know them better!

Here are just a few pics from the day. With my kitchen in complete demo mode, we ate at Beth's and it was so nice because the kids were entertained with the swing set and basketball hoop (and the Hatches) outside while Beth and I finished up the food inside ... yes, the kids were playing outside - without jackets. Have I mentioned I love living in Arizona? The weather can't be beat!! The guys were busy watching football and checking fantasy football scores and we worked on a puzzle throughout the day. The Black Friday ads were flipped through, but since I am not a Black Friday shopper I wasn't really looking for anything specific. In the end, we ate WAY too much {good thing I started off the day with a run}, and enjoyed every minute! I am so grateful for our families near and far who are always looking out for us and making sure we are well taken care of ... especially during the holidays ;)

P.S. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the rolls I made (I always volunteer to make rolls because I love them and love making them) were one of my finest batches ... I love when that happens!!!

Online Shopping

It seems funny that this is the first "repeat" from the few gratitude posts I posted last year, but today I am extremely grateful for the freedom that online shopping offers me!! With everything going on in our kitchen right now and the extremely tight time frame we are working in, I love that I can go online, price compare easily, have free shipping options, great Thanksgiving sales, and read reviews of potential contenders for our purchases. Just tonight we have narrowed down and found the best prices for a new sink, faucet, disposal, and dishwasher! Hopefully those will arrive next week before we leave for Disneyland so that the work can be done and they can be installed while we are gone.

I also like to shop for clothes online. In fact, as I've been trying to piece together outfits for upcoming family pictures I've had SEVERAL packages arrive on my doorstep ;) I order enough to get free shipping, keep 1 or 2 items, and then take the rest back {all of my orders have local stores}!! I'm pretty sure the people at Old Navy are tired of me walking in with my arms full of return items! I do not like to try things on at the store. Period. I also find that a lot of places have "online only" items and typically have my size in stock more often and for a lower price! Since all of the *good* malls are at least a 45 minute drive I find that online shopping is way more convenient for this "anti-try on in the store" girl ;)

Oh, and I recently got a smokin' deal on a Garmin Forerunner 205 GPS watch to use in my running thanks to Amazon's Deal of the Day and a tip from my girl Kasey - WOOT - Happy Birthday to me!

Online shopping saves me time, money, and the headache of wandering the stores with kids in tow ... how could I not be grateful for that? And no, I am not a Black Friday shopper - Cyber Monday is WAY more my style :D

Kitchen Update: We got our estimate back yesterday and had another contractor come out today to give us another estimate. We should hopefully hear back from our insurance claims rep on Friday or Monday to see if the estimate has been approved so we can move forward. We have a contract written up and ready to fax to our contractor of choice so as soon as we know that money is coming from our insurance we can get moving on getting things back to normal!! We are going to get a few granite estimates early next week and hopefully make that decision before leaving town so they can fabricate our countertops while we are gone so they are ready to install as soon as we arrive home!! We need to get our sink here so that they can measure everything correctly so we're crossing our fingers it arrives early in the week. It's nice that in the midst of the chaos I'm finally able to feel a *bit* excited for things to be shiny and new ... and slightly upgraded ;)

Christmas Music

There is nothing that will get me in the mood for the holidays faster than my beloved Christmas Music {well, holiday candy gets me in the mood, too, but that is another story for another day!!}!!! I just love this time of year and the sounds of the season! I actually left all of my Christmas CDs in the car all year and even admit to slipping one in every now and then over the past 11 months ;) I broke out one of my all-time favorites on Sunday as we drove to church and was reminded just how grateful I am for the songs that help us remember the reason we celebrate this time of year. While not all Christmas music is spiritually based, I love that almost all of the songs have uplifting messages and reminders of all of the good things that the holidays bring - family, snow (unless you live in AZ, thank heaven), service, kindness, love, food, celebrations, Christ.

I love the Three Kings album by Eclipse ... the harmonies are amazing! You can actually listen to all of the tracks HERE. I got it a few years ago and it is the first one I listen to now. I have several others that I love and look forward to buying a new one CD every year. Feel free to offer your suggestions!

On another exciting note, the tree goes up tomorrow ... 2 days early! A bit less exciting, I also decided that we won't be sending out Christmas cards this year - try not to be too disappointed. With the mess in our kitchen and the expense involved there, an upcoming week long vacation, procrastinating getting a photo session set up, and plenty of other programs and parties in the mix, I just felt like it was one.more.thing. I actually feel relieved to have made the decision so early so I can just enjoy the rest of the holidays without feeling the guilt of not having my cards ready! We're planning to have photos taken after the new year and will likely send something out in the spring ... won't it be a fun surprise when it arrives?

Kitchen Sink

I had no idea when I started blogging about the things I am grateful for that my kitchen sink would be included in my list. It is something that, until a few days ago, I used consistently without any thought or appreciation for. Boy, has that changed!!! I never realized just how many "quick trips" we make to the kitchen sink every day! Wiping off faces, cleaning countertops, dropping crumbs in the basin, rinsing fingers, stacking dishes, getting rid of uneaten food, filling water cups, supplying our ice machine ... apparently it serves a lot more purposes than I imagined. While the kitchen destruction has been annoying and the fans have been loud, I think the hardest part has been to be without our beloved sink.

Today they installed a temporary sink for us {and removed the 3 fans and 2 humidifiers that have been running non-stop since Tuesday - YAY!!}. The kids are completely intrigued by it. It is flimsy and made of plastic and makes a hollow sound when you run water in it, but there is a sink in my kitchen and I COULD NOT be more happy about that!! Now if I can just get used to not having a countertop next to my sink for drying dishes that I am washing by hand ....

Blogs

Ironic to blog about being grateful for blogs? Probably, but I am. As you can see from my screenshot, I am WAY behind on my blog reading ... I've been a bit "out of the loop" this week with the whole kitchen thing - go figure.

I love blogs. I love to read blogs written by friends and family so I can keep up with what everyone is doing. I love reading blogs for project ideas, creative inspiration, and design ideas. I love all of the things that I have learned from blogs - fashion tips, make up and hair tutorials, up and coming technology info, product reviews, etc. I have over 100 blogs in my Google Reader and continue to add them regularly. I don't comment on many of them ... I used to be good about that and I need to be better about it again because I know how much I love when people comment on mine. I can only hope that someone finds something beneficial from my "hit and miss" blogging every once in a while ... even it it's just an update on my family!!

Kitchen Update:
We still have fans blowing but they should be gone tomorrow - YAY!! We had a contractor come out today to take measurements, photos, and assess damage so that he can put together an estimate for the insurance company. He said we should have his estimate by Monday and then we wait for the insurance company to approve it so we can move forward. Thanksgiving will put a glitch in things but hopefully we can get things moving before we head to California. The bright spot of his visit was that he actually noticed damage to our countertops and included complete replacement of our countertops in the estimate!!! They will only reimburse for laminate since that is what we have now, but we can use that money to go toward an upgrade to something else ... which we will likely do! The silver lining to our cloud is getting a little brighter!! Now if we could just get a temporary sink in our kitchen ....

Photoshop

A list of gratitudes wouldn't be complete without including Photoshop. Really? A software program? YUP!! It's become an almost daily staple around here over the past 3 years. What started as an interest to learn more about editing photos and getting my many years worth of digital pictures organized has become a creative outlet I never expected.

My desire to improve my photos ended up growing into a passion for digital scrapbooking which lead to doing creative team work for a few designers and websites, becoming a creative team and design team leader, and then into the world of hybrid digital design. I am grateful every day for the things I have learned about Photoshop and the opportunities that have come into my life because of it!

UPDATE: Here is a picture of our kitchen today - YIKES!! We have no wall, lower cabinets, sink, or dishwasher right now in that portion of our kitchen. They also had to remove a large chunk of drywall in the laundry room. We will be without a sink until they can get us a temporary one ... hopefully by the end of the week. We have fans blowing in both rooms and will until Friday. We have filed a claim with our insurance company and are now waiting for an adjuster to come and assess the damage and give us an estimate for repair. The holiday next week may slow us down a bit, but we're hoping to have it put back together before our company rolls in to town for Christmas ;) The good news is that things should look just like they did before this mess ... unless we decide to upgrade our countertops while it's already torn apart - nothing like a good excuse, right? We actually feel incredibly blessed because things could have been so much worse. We feel confident that those who have been referred to us are looking out for us and doing all they can to make this experience as quick and painless as possible - we could not be more grateful for that!!

Opposition

Today has been a less than perfect day. In fact, I've had a hard time trying to be grateful today ... makes me feel so, well, ungrateful. Not a good feeling.

After a great workout at bootcamp I sat down with my bowl of oatmeal and discovered what looked like dirt on the outside of my kitchen cabinet - figured one of the kids had spilled something and failed to wipe it up {as usual}. Upon closer examination I found a 6 inch high band of very apparent water damage. Ugh. After emptying out all of the lower cabinets we discovered extensive water damage throughout all of the lower cabinets along one wall. The damage even went into the laundry room and turned the drywall into mush. Double ugh.

I immediately felt overwhelmed with the mere idea of where to start with what was apparently a large problem. We had never seen any water under our sink or in our cabinets so had no idea where this mess could be coming from. I called a friend who works with home warranties (which we didn't renew - yup, we're good like that!). He recommended a general contractor who is in our stake to come and check things out so we would know what our plan should be for repair. He generously offered to come by tonight to take a look.

I spent the day feeling sidelined; derailed. I went through so many damage/repair scenarios in my head imagining how much it was going to cost, whether we would have to file a claim with our homeowners insurance, and how long my kitchen would be torn apart. Rather than recognize the many things that ARE fabulous in our life I was consumed by this huge road block that had been placed in my way. I ate too much cookie dough and pizza. I felt awful.

And yet here I am realizing how grateful I am for challenges like this. They have a tendency to make me stronger, allow me to learn new things, and prove I have more to be grateful for than I recognize at times. The contractor came tonight and, while it won't be an overnight fix, we have a game plan and will take it one day at a time. We HAVE homeowners insurance and are grateful for that. I'm sure I'll learn more patience through this process. I don't have to worry about cleaning my kitchen floor for a few weeks. This may be just the excuse I need to finally paint my laundry room orange.

I find that the bad days make the good days that much better and while I know that life can't be made up of all good days {darn it}, I can try to find the silver lining in whatever gray cloud may come my way. I'm grateful for the opportunity to learn from the opposition that I am blessed with.

P.S. We'll know more tomorrow about the total extent of the damage and what the repair process will be. For now we know our dishwasher has been leaking - for how long we don't know. It will need to be replaced and won't be covered by insurance. They will remove the cabinets and countertops along our outer wall tomorrow and assess any damage to the wall {which we are expecting based on the wall in the laundry room}. Then we wait for an insurance adjuster and start taking baby steps to put things back together. I'm really hoping we can get it finished up before we head to Disneyland in a few weeks!! What a relief that we don't have company for Thanksgiving this year - we normally wouldn't be glad for that but this year it is a blessing ... see? Silver lining ;)

Kleenex

I'm sitting here in a Benadryl induced "coma" ... my nose has been running like a faucet most of the day. Literally dripping on my kitchen floor {and other places} - YUCK!!! The watery eyes and the sneezing are no fun, either. Being in such a state reminds me of how grateful I am for Kleenex ... more specifically Puffs Plus with Lotion. I know this is extremely trivial, especially on a Sunday when I was hoping to keep the focus of my gratitude posts on things of a more spiritual nature.

I suppose this has been on my mind today because we are actually OUT of my beloved Puffs Plus with Lotion and I am having to use old school Kleenex. It feels like sandpaper on my nose and face and I am looking like Rudolph with the redness that is taking over. What a blessing to live in a time where we have things like tissues with lotion in them, baby wipes, antibacterial wipes - all kinds of things that make life easier and more comfortable!!

I'm sure I'll look back at this post in a few days and realize how incoherent it is, but for now I'm counting the hours until I can get to Target for some Puffs Plus with Lotion and will be even MORE grateful for them tomorrow!!!

The Beach

* All pics are from our Fall Break day at the beach in San Diego - October 2010

I am grateful that we live close enough to get to the beach. It's funny, really ... my parents have lived in California for years now and we didn't start taking the kids to the beach until last year, but it has quickly become a favorite day trip on our vacations to Cali.

About 2 1/2 years ago I got to reunite with some former roommates in the most charming beach town in Florida {Seaside ... you really must go}. This trip reignited my love for the beach. I'm sure the company, the weather, the food, and the shopping (and lack of children) heightened the experience, but I found that the feel of the sand in my toes and the sound of the crashing waves were the perfect way to relax and rejuvenate.

Fast forward to June 2008 when Steve and I escaped to Hawaii for 10 days ... again without kids. It was our first "real" vacation away from the kids and it was AMAZING! We fell asleep with the windows open every night and were completely relaxed as we fell asleep to the sound of the waves and the breeze blowing through our room. The only worries we had were where we were going to eat, what time our next excursion was scheduled, and which beach we were going to that day.

Now we've taken our kids to the beach 3 times and I must say that it has been such a great thing for us! No phones, no work, no computers, just sand, waves, sun {except on our last trip to San Diego ... it was gray the entire day and it was still amazing}, shovels & pails, shells to collect, beach chairs, lunch in a cooler, and no agenda. My kids absolutely love it!! They run the beach, climb on rocks and hills, splash and play in the water, build sandcastles, bury each other, sit on the blanket to watch the waves, make up games, and soak up every minute!

I think the thing I am most grateful for about the beach is the ability that it has given us to disconnect from the world and connect as a family with the most simple of things. I can literally feel any tension or stress that may be in my life vanish as I walk along the beach collecting shells with the girls, sit on a blanket and listen to the surf, or chase Cougar into the waves. We look forward to MANY more beach trips and we can't wait to discover more of the beautiful beaches that we are lucky enough to live close to (and hopefully some that we don't live so close to)!