Murraytalk

I'm starting out this morning by saying Happy Anniversary to my husband of 39 years. We were 18 in this picture standing in front of the Court House in Tucson, AZ - young and determined to make it on our own.  My entire adult life I've said that my mental age is 18. It took a few courses and me analyzing myself to finally understand that 18 was the age that I found my freedom, and my peace. It would take me writing a book for you to have a clear understanding, but walking out the door of my parents home to live your own life took courage. I found my wings and flew away with my soulmate by my side, and a newborn in my arms.   There's been a lot of growth personally and family size since that day in 1977 - with some bumps in the road, but life would be a boring ride if we didn't have those bumps to teach us some of life's greatest lessons.  I'm grateful, thankful, and blessed beyond measure. I love this life and all that it has to offer! ...

Yesterday was 38 years of marriage for me. If we're friends on Facebook or Instagram I know you saw this selfie of us. Thank you everyone for all of the well wishes and nice thoughts that you sent our way. We are truly blessed! Several people have stated they can't believe we've been together that long, but for us it doesn't seem like that many years have gone by. We just live in the moment taking each day as it comes. I wish I could say that our weekend was all about our anniversary, but that's not how life works for us. We always have a situation that greets us. For example, we went out to dinner Saturday evening to celebrate - when we got home I went out to the side yard and I noticed that my door that enters into the garage was off and just leaning to give the allusion that it was closed. So now we get to play the what's missing game. This is our life!  There's always a bump in the road because we are always dealing with a relapse in our family. ...

I celebrated my 36th Wedding Anniversary on May 31st. I don't know where the years went because it surely doesn't seem like 36 years. We didn't do anything outrageous to celebrate - dinner out and cupcakes from Sprinkles and Gigis from our daughters. Also, a beautiful Bone China salad bowl and plates from my oldest daughter. It was all very thoughtful... we are truly blessed to have such giving and thoughtful children. On Saturday June 1st we finally had the opportunity to visit our son in rehab. They only allow a 2 hour visit so of course we were there right when visitation started. I wish I had my camera ready to capture the look on his face when he came around the corner. I hadn't seen that smile or the happiness in his eyes for several years. His skin looks good, his body is strong and healthy, and he is filled with gratitude. He talked about how for the first time in years he feels like himself again. He remembers once again who his higher power is and he ...

We were at the cemetery this morning for my mom's 2nd Anniversary. Makenna was extremely excited to run to the grave site when we pointed out it was the one with the flowers. It was like she was running a race against herself as she picked up speed to beat no one.      But as she was running she  tripped and slid on the gravel causing some minor bleeding. Actually she barely skinned her knee, ( see the blood in the above photo ) but screamed the entire time we were there and all the way home like her knee cap had been blown off. I'm not going to say it didn't hurt initially, but 20 minutes later... don't think so!                I learned two things today - 1.Makenna can't stand the sight of blood. 2. Always carry bandaids.  Happy Wednesday... have a blessed one!

I mentioned in a previous blog that July is the month that my mother passed away 2 years ago, and that my thoughts would be with her more this month than usual. (you know how memories work) I have been a quote collector for many many years and hadn't put a lot of thought into this quote - it just made sense to me so I liked it, but today when I read it -  it reminded me of my mother since she didn't quite fit the description of what I would have requested for a mother, but she was what I was blessed with and she gave me life. That she didn't have to do - so I'm thankful for the gift of life and I will always love her for that. Once my mom's demons were gone we all were able to experience the real her. It's unfortunate that many years had passed before we really felt love from her, but as a parent I know she did the best that she could with what was going on in her life, and loved us with all she had. In life we have to choose to focus on the positive thi...

Our Church Wedding  Today my husband and I have been married for 35 years. I was thinking last night about all the joy and sorrow that has crossed my path over the past 35 years. I typically don't reflect on the past too much unless something triggers a memory, which obviously my anniversary triggered me thinking of the birth of my 3 children in Tucson, moving to Phoenix, adopting my son and getting pregnant during the adoption process. I can't help but think of how we were two 18 year old kids that fell in love and never thought about all of the obstacles that would cross our paths along the way. We just continued to do what we had always done - work hard and love hard. While most people work on becoming rich, having a title, the best car, biggest home, etc., I work for my family. There isn't a bank account large enough or a material item meaningful enough to me to sacrifice my family. Over the past 35 years I have also experienced some losses - lost both of...