Life's Little Blessings

Well as you can see from my posts previously I was having a bit of an adjustment with going back to work. I want to thank Papa Randy for his wonderful lesson on Sunday. He pointed out that it's the little things that make a difference, good and bad. Subtle is the Devil's friend and lately he has been visiting me a lot lately. Randy also pointed out that the injustices that happend to us are small and immediate and to think big picture and if we just stick to what we are supposed to be doing in the end we will be with God and that's all that really matters. So if someone has hurt your feelings or you feel like you aren't being recognized for your work, or being treated unfairly, don't sweat it. It will all work out in the end. I know it's easier said than done but sometime you just have to push things to the back of your mind and hopefully you can gain a new perspective or forget about it all together.

My darling baby girl is a real source of joy. This morning at 5am she woke up so that meant everyone had to wake up. She talked and played all morning until it was time to leave and then it was nap time. It was really hard to let her go this morning. It made me wish I could see her all day long. My time with her and Steve are so precious. I have to make every moment count. Remember to tell your loved ones you love them and they are important to you everyday or as often as you can. This life is hard but it's the happy and fleeting moments that last and make you who you are.

Get To Know Me!

Q. What were you doing 5 years ago?
I lost my Gram.

Q.What are 5 things on your to-do list for today?
1. Get Sadie ready for Kimmie's
2. Make it to work on time
3. Work
4. Work on our water coolers so it isn't 90 degrees in our house.
5. Eat Steve's delicious Banana Nut Bread

Q. What are 5 snacks you enjoy?
1. Sugar Free Strawberry Jello
2. Wheat Thins
3. Popcorn & Cheese
4. Banana Nut Bread
5. Dry Roasted Almonds

Q. What are 3 Bad Habits?
1. Letting my house getting too dirty
2. Trying to Control everything
3. Popping my knuckles and back

Q.What would you do if you suddenly became a billionaire?
1. Leave my job
2. Pay off my family's houses & buy a huge house somewhere where we will retire.
3. Travel
4. Have more kids
5. Invest

Q. List 5 places you have lived.
1. Bakersfield, CA
2. Etna, CA
3. Fresno, CA
4. Santa Rosa, CA
5. Aurora, CO

Q. List 5 jobs you have had.
1. Document Control Clerk
2. Data Entry
3. Apartment Manager
4. Collection Agent
5. US Forest Service Clerk

Q. List 5 things people don't know about me.
1. I'm a nerd and love sci-fi/fantasy shows especially star wars and lord of the rings.
2. I love to karaoke
3. I would love to have my own photography business with scrapbooking on the side.
4. I am a NASCAR fan - Go Michael Waltrip!
5. I am huge Ninga Warrior Fan!

let me know if you do this quiz so I can see what you say.

Tagged

Ok So I wasn't actually tagged by Carianne but I thought this sounded like fun. Here it goes.....

These are the rules: You must post the rules before you give your answers. You must list one fact about yourself for each letter of your middle name. Each fact must begin with that letter. If you don't have a middle name, just use your maiden name. After you've been tagged, you need to update your blog with your middle name and answers. At the end of your post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and need to read your blog for details.

L - Loving
Y - Youthful Spirit
N - Nice
N - Nerdy

Ok now I tag Mandi and Suzanne! Have Fun!

Quick Disclaimer

ok so I want to apologize for my ranting on Friday. I guess I was just tired and cranky when everything was going on. I've decided I'm not going to say anything about everyone coming back 45 mins late on friday. I don't want to be know as the trouble maker or hard nose.

I am happy to be back to work and I am so blessed to even have a job. I am still going to fight for what I deserve but I'm going to back off a bit for a while. I think I came in head strong and a bit controlling. SHOCKING I know. I realize that it is going to take some time and adjustment for my coming back. I still feel I deserve more but perhaps I should just shut up and show them. You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. Then again the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Ok I'm cliched out.

I'm just going to take a really big DEEP BREATH....and BREATHE!

My First Week Back To Work...

Well I made, but barely. I did pretty good until Wednesday night and then exhaustion started to kick in. Sadie did really well this week and even made a couple of friends that wanted to come home with Steve (Rylie being one of them).

Monday I planned for a leisure morning of getting ready without little momma to concentrate on but ran out of time. I was 10 minutes late my very first day. That should have warned me there. Work has been ok. I'm starting to help out in the Real Estate Dept which is interesting, but I'm still doing the faxes. I thought I was going to be taking on more in the supervisoral roles of the two girls I work with but as it turns out that is the same old thing. Which is ok for now but I'm not willing to settle anymore. I feel like I am not being compensated or recognized for what I do and how hard I work. I just don't know anymore, maybe it's because I was gone for a few months, but I have changed. I feel like if I'm going to be away from my baby girl I'm not going to settle just for any job or I'd just stay home with her. Don't get me wrong I really like MS Walker and I love the people but I guess bottom line is I've changed and I'm not going to settle anymore. I'm worth too much and my time is very precious.

Ok enough of my soap box. I know every new mom probably feels the same way and after a while things just go back to normal which will probably happen with me, but I'd like to think I will stick up for myself more now and not just let things slide. I still have a chance for an interview with Chevron. They haven't called people yet to set up interviews so there is always a chance. I would hate to leave my current job but if the price is right and things don't change here I'll have to really think about it. I love my boss though and that is going to be the hardest thing for me because he has always stuck up for me and tried to get me compensated it's just the system I know he is fighting against.

I've been feeling this way all week and I'm going to give it a couple of weeks before I say anything at work. And who knows in the mean time maybe I'll get a job interview or get really lucky and hit the lotto. HA!

Speaking of getting lucky...Congrats to Shane and Suzanne who got the house they were looking at in Fresno. I don't know how many of you saw that Suzanne was on Wheel of Fortune on the 3rd. Sadie and I drove up for the occasion and watched with a house full of people as she kicked all the contestants butts!! You Go Girl! She won two trips, one to Spain and the other to the Caribbean (sp) along with close to $20,000 cash. I'm so happy for both of them. And they really deserve this house. It totally fits their personality.

So I'm covering the front desk right now as I'm typing because I thought I'd be nice and offer the receptionist a break from not going to lunch with the office crowd and I just got a text message from the person who drove them to lunch and they are playing on the bumper cars at John's Incredible Pizza. They were supposed to be back 10 minutes ago and they are still playing. AGH! Oh well maybe I'm just looking for excuses now, but I think that is really rude. Unfortunately I know it's not the receptionists fault. Two of the girls that she carpooled with are the ones with no respect. It drives me crazy. I just hope I wasn't that disrespectful when I was 20 years old.

Oh well, it's Friday and I'll be able to spend two whole days with my baby girl and Steve. Hopefully though I'll be able to get some rest. This whole working thing is overated. I miss my Sadie nap times!!

Fun Pictures From Etna!

Sadie's Blessing and Easter Sunday

Sadie was blessed on Easter Sunday, March 23, 2008 by my Dad Ken Hildebrand. It was a wonderful and spiritual blessing. I'm so happy that we were able to go up north and have so many people able to come to participate. I feel like I've waited forever for this moment and it was truly worth it.

Above is Uncle Travis, Grandpa Hildebrand and Charlie Friden. He was the Bishop who married Mommy and Daddy and luckily he was there to be able to participate in the Blessing. (Not pictured Great Grandpa (Papa) Facey and Bishop McGonigal) It was a very special Sunday. Steve, Karina (Steve's Sister) and Niece Alyssa all came to share in the Blessing on Sunday. Then after she was blessed we were all able to visit and catch up with old friends. An extra special treat was my 2nd cousin Joanna was there and able to see Sadie and come to the lunch.

At the lunch we were able to get a five generation photo. (L to R) Aileen Facey-Hildebrand, Valeda Johnson-Facey, Marie Johnson, Sadie Eastlick, Tammy Hildebrand-Eastlick. Marie Johnson is the 1st generation, Valeda Johnson-Facey is the 2nd generation, Aileen Facey-Hildebrand is the 3rd generation, Tammy Hildebrand-Eastlick is the 4th generation, and Miss Sadie Eastlick is the 5th generation.

Before the lunch we did the Easter Egg and Basket hunt down at Uncle Ariel's yard. It was a lot of fun. Above is a picture of Sadie with her basket. Of course she slept the entire time so we just posed her for a quick picture. There were 41 people at the lunch which we had ham, potato casserole, roles, salad and cake. It was a lovely get together. Of course the day before we all went out to the Facey picnic and got to catch up with other family members and play some games with the kids, and of course the egg toss game. Steve was partnered with Shane and they tied with 4 other couples for 1st. Jill and I were team mates and unfortunately I got the busted egg, but it was a lot of fun. Especially having the kids searching for lizards and frogs and freaking Jill out!! Oh and then there was Suzanne showing us all how to hula-hoop. She is definitely a pro!!

I feel bad for Jill and Trav though, everytime they come out to Etna or Bakersfield something happens. This time they almost didn't make it. They barely made it to Elco Nevada before breaking down. (That is only 4 hours from home) But they were troopers and rented a van and drove the whole rest of the way on Friday to make sure they made it. It meant a lot to me to have all my brothers there. We were able to get some good family pictures of our immediate family and also with Papa and Grandma Facey and with Clayton and his family as well. I'll have to upload some photos later, they are on Steve's camera which he left at work.

Now this was just my side of the family trip we were able to have an Eastlick Reunion as well. Steve has three older sisters and they were all able to come out for Easter. This is the first time in 30 years everyone has been together and the first time I got to meet one of his sisters Sandy. Unfortunately with health issues she hasn't been able to come out to visit until this trip and due to our lack of funds we haven't been able to go back to Virginia to visit her.

Poor Melodie was in the process of moving to Hobbs, NM so her truck was loaded down, but she was able to make it for a couple of days before moving on. Karina, Alyssa and Jeff were able to come down from Portland for the weekend and we had a great visit. Of course everyone loved Sadie and they were all anxious to meet the newest member of the Eastlick Clan. We had fun going through everyone's baby photos and Karina spent most of her time scanning picture after picture. After she left I took over. We have some great pictures of all the kids when they were babies and Sadie is DEFINITELY an Eastlick. She looks identical to her father when he was a baby. We got some great pictures of the Eastlick family as well, but as with the other pictures I will have to upload them later.