Monday, December 08, 2014

It's a life I've decided to live

Once upon a time a very close friend of mine told me, "You may not be exactly where you want to be in life today, but if you look back on your life, even a year back, would you have pictured yourself doing the things you're doing now and making it work?" That has really put life in to perspective for me lately. Life throws some wicked curve balls, no doubt. But if we take it one step, one moment, one day at a time, we can make it!
Taking a four year walk down memory lane, I can't believe how far Zac and I have come, and how incredibly fast the time has passed. When we started dating, Zac lived at his dad's house and I at my mom's. I was, regretfully, a jobless college drop out, and he was relearning to live a life he was in control of again. Not the proudest of times in our individual lives, but it was the perfect time for two imperfect people to come together {and get it together}. 
Life was mostly play that first year Zac and I were together. We accomplished a few things such as moving out of our parents' homes, and I gave the school thing another go. {We'll later learn that was a bad idea.} We spent the majority of our first year falling in love. We were disgusting. Constant mushy texting, hundreds of kisses daily, making it through the week to spend the weekend together, butterflies and holding hands. All of it. It was oh so much fun. That year was one of the best years of my life! 
Another year later I had moved from apartment to apartment, totaled my cute car, quit school {again}, had my wallet {with my freshly cashed paycheck} stolen, and embarrassingly enough blew through three different jobs. How could life be so cruel after having such a wonderful previous year? I honestly felt so low, and felt like something evil was testing me. Through out that hellacious year, Zac stood right by my side supporting my every move {with the exception of quitting school}. He could have easily left. I wouldn't have blamed him in the least. In fact, I felt like I was almost waiting for the last good thing in my life to walk out. Luckily for me, love is stronger than evil. Instead of walking out he pushed me to make the best all the crappy situations If it wasn't for him being my rock that year, I really don't know that I would have made it. 
Later that year, after things slowly started looking up, we took a big step and decided to live together. I moved in with him and his two roommates. Honestly, I was a bit skeptical about moving in to a house with three men, it sounded a bit.. uh... dirty. It ended up being one of, if not the, best decision I made that year. I think we had known if we started by living with other roommates if, for some reason, it didn't work, we weren't contracted to stay.
It only took a year of living together to make the decision to get our own little apartment, just the two of us. Apartment shopping was not the most fun experience we have ever had. Zac was a bit too picky, and I perhaps wasn't picky enough. I just wanted our own space and he just wanted floors that didn't creek. We finally picked the best place, it was our own home filled with our own things. Despite the size and amount of neighbors, it was perfect! We were playing the ultimate game of house. 
In our hearts, we both knew it was only a matter of time before we would tie the knot. {Assumingly} he was just waiting for the "right time", I was just waiting for him to ask. However, things were going so good it was really no rush. Back to the quote mentioned at the beginning of this post, I never would have thought the previous year(s) we would have been living in our own cozy apartment just the two of us, and making it all work. But there we were, content and happy.
Three short months after living in our own place, life threw us one of those curve balls. A cute little curve ball whom we later named Drayze Zacary Diamond. Many stories have been told about how Drayze came in to the picture, the accurate story is another post for another day. ;) It was a bit intimidating knowing we were going to bring another human in to this crazy world, but we knew we could do it. I guess now was the "perfect time" to put that ring on it. Our wedding was beautiful and our child came out perfect! Once again, we found ourselves saying, "I never would have pictured us being here, living the life we're living, and making it work!" 
The point of this long summary of our life is, when we find our negative self inside telling us, "life is too hard, we're never going to make it, we're drowning, what's the point" {we all know that list goes on and on and on and on and on} close your eyes, take another look at life and realize we are making it, life is completely worth it. Try to remember what we do have and how far we have made it. Things tend to work themselves out, and it's not the things that are most important anyway. The bills will get paid when they get paid. The laundry and dishes will get done when they get done. Maybe today there isn't dinner on the table, and that's ok. As long as we stay close with our loved ones and put them first, the rest can wait. Tomorrow isn't promised so why waist today worrying about the stuff? I am forever grateful for my beautiful friends great words of wisdom. I hope those who read this can too be inspired by her words. Take today to realize how beautiful life really is and appreciate how far you, individually have made it in life. You have accomplished a lot, be proud of yourself. 

These are my favorite moments.

This boy is one of my two reasons worth living!

Handsome boys!

A Thankful Getaway

One again, this Thanksgiving we saw our golden opportunity to take advantage of the long weekend, and go on our {now annual} mini vacation to Mesquite.  Though we caught a little bit of grief skipping out on family time, it ended up being just what we needed for the two of us.  Of course, I wasn't committed to leaving Drayze for the entire four-day weekend, so take it quite literal when I say mini vacation. It was a 2.5 day, two night stay that included three facetimes to my son, countless text, and one small tear shed that last night. Despite missing our boy {probably a little too much} Zac and I were able to enjoy an incredible time together.
During this short trip we found ourselfs laughing more than we have laughed, talking deeper than we have talked, experiencing new/ unexpected things, and loving deeper than we have loved. For me, it felt like like I was dating my husband all over again. I felt silly, smitten, and new. It was amazing.
Throughout the stay we spent most all of our time in the casino playing Texas Hold 'Em, Blackjack, Roulette, Bingo {which I hit once} and in the sports book {zzzzzzz}. Between the casino we hit up the bowling alley, movie theater, and ate our weight at the seafood buffet! The old soul in us couldn't seem to subside when it came to bedtime however. We were in bed no later than midnight each night, which also meant we were up for early bird coffee at Starbucks.
We lost more money than I am willing to admit, and failed at finding our kid a souviner. {Apparently they don't sale things sufficient for a 1 year old in Nevada} We may have  also cut our Thanksgiving time rather short. But at the end of our trip, I grew an even stronger bond with my soulmate and learned to appreciated the fact that I can't go more than a day without my baby boy. It was a successful Thanksgiving weekend if you ask me.

Also, HUGE thanks to my sister Jenilee {and Tyler} for taking care of Drayze over the weekend. I couldn't have picked anyone more perfect to watch after my precious little boy. They are so good to him. He has so much fun while he is there and absolutely adores them! We have chose the best Godparents for little Drizzy! So blessed.

Matchers

Oohh the car ride!

Mesquite greeted us with this beautiful sunset

First night sleepover at "Ty Ty and Jo Jo's" house


Face Time with my boy. I look like hell, it's fine.
Something about a man at the sports book. ;)

This picture only shows half of the huge liquor store we found.

Naturally, I had to get the Marilyn Juice.. It was horrible!


We ate ourselves sick of crab and shrimp!

His best friend while mom and dad were gone.

Another Face Time Session. 

These two have the best of relationships!

Thanks so much to Jenilee taking our monster the entire weekend, we were able to actually relax and enjoy our time knowing Drayze was VERY well taken care of!

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Come out, come out where ever you are!

Seriously, I have had a bad case of writers block the past couple of months. Or, it could be the pure fact that we live an ordinary life which doesn't allow for very many blog worthy topics. But hell, I quite enjoy our boring little life. The past couple of months have been quiet, with the exception of Halloween, Zacary's 29th Birthday, and our two year anniversary. Even these events didn't bring much ruckus.
As always, we celebrated Halloween with the traditional "Spooky Dinner" hosted by Karen, Zac's step mom. She always goes above and beyond, no matter the occasion. We had witches brew, played a spooky sensory game, watched her and Emma make a secret potion, and of course ate a delicious meal. I had spent countless hours making a porcupine costume for Drayze. All that work only to find out he was petrified of it. That being said, Drayze won and I did not force him to wear the costume. Instead, we all dressed up as baseball players. Simple and easy. We are a "team" after all. On Halloween day, however, I did force Drayze in to wearing the porcupine costume. I had worked too hard, and it was just too dang cute to just sit in the closet. After a good 15 minutes of screaming he got over it. I won! We took Drayze around town Trick-or-Treating, mostly just to see his family. It quickly wore him out! We finished the night with the company of a few friends. Holidays become much more mellow and a different kind of fun when you are a parent.

Drayze and Kallen
{baseball player and bat}


Having fun with the Witches Brew


Team Diamond


Finally a Porupine


A silly Porupine!


TRICK OR TREAT!


Cousins Trick or Treating at Papa Randy's


The cousins came to Trick or Treat!
{left to right}
Myles, Malcom, Ashton, Avery, Maylen, Maddie


Pitt's and Abby also came for a visit!

Best costume award goes to CRAZY EYES!!
Jenilee nailed it with this one!! I wish we could have seen her in person!

Zacary's birthday this year landed on a Thursday. It felt a little backwards him being at work and me having the day off. I find myself enjoying his birthday far more than I enjoy my own each year! It's so fun for me to come up with different ideas to make sure he feels special. This year, I made him some "coupons" and {started} a mini scarp book album. I made sure the house was "perfectly" decorated with balloons, streamers, and banners. He got his traditional birthday dinner and cake {complete with 29 candles.} I gifted him with exactly what he had asked for, house slippers and the first season of True Detective. With the exception of spending most of the day at work, I'd say it wasn't too bad of a twenty-ninth birthday. I can hardly wait for next year, the big "dirty-thirty." You know I will be going all out for that one!

29 candles takes help!


My boys!
They look like twins in this picture to me! They're the same with the exception of the hair color!


OH MY LOVE!




Happy Birthday, Husband!

Then there was the two year anniversary. A happy little milestone in the lifetime we plan to share together. That morning, Zacary woke up extra early to go get me flowers and coffee. The flowers were absolutely beautiful, but the note, the note is what I loved more than anything! It read, "I still have a crush on you." This made me smile from ear to ear. Early in our relationship, before we had even lived together, Zac sent me flowers to the school I was attending at the time. On the card it too said, "Because I have a crush on you." So, receiving the card with the same message a few years later was the cutest thing! It really reminded me how much we do love each other and how that crush has not faded through time. In a sense, it lit that flame that had started to dim.
We spent our anniversary up north simply adventuring around. We both took the day off work, so instead of going out and having a "romantic" eventful day, we decided to just take it easy and leisure about. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. I do believe I have the sweetest husband and am blessed beyond measure!





Our life is quiet, ordinary, and somewhat boring. We have the same daily routines, and often do not have "big events" on our agenda. We can spend hours sitting in the silence. Some nights we spice things up with take out and a movie  we can agree on. Other nights, we go through our routine just to wake up and do it all over again. The point is, life doesn't have to be full of entertaining events to have a good time {or be "blog worthy"}. We make plenty of memories in the comfort of our own home. In fact, our best memories are made behind those walls in the presence of just each other. It's a good {simple] life.

Typical day in the Diamond house


Making memories


The dude LOVES the chestnuts!




     

Tuesday, September 09, 2014

Fish Lake

Ahh.. How refreshing it is to escape the typical day, adventuring far away in the mountains. Surrounded by millions of trees, the calm of the lake, peaceful sounds of wildlife, and the love of your family, there really isn't much that can top a weekend of such. What a perfect time we did have at Fish Lake. It was the best way to say farewell to Summer and welcome Fall.
It was a two {and a half} day, two night adventure. We rented a cozy rustic cabin tucked perfectly in the forest just yards off the lake. We built camp few rock steps below the cabin. The days were spent fishing, boat riding, walks to appreciate the scenery, and welcoming the wildlife that came in and out of our camp. As the days grew dark we sat around the fire visited among each other sharing many memories and even more laughs.
It was a bummer when the weekend came to a close. We had such a good time making memories. It is our best intentions to make this an annual end of summer trip.



Our "rustic" home

First catch

Momma's boy

Just a couple of cousins camping

I LOVE this! Our little fisherman

Playing with worms, what little boys do.


Such a happy camper

The only family picture we took, saddly

Just a boy riding in the truck with his dad, doesn't get any better.

LOVE.

Jennika, Emma, Kallen, Karen, Rocky
We rented two boats so we could all go out on the lake together.

On our boat; Me, Zac, Drayze, Randy

Doing what we do,





Dad's play the best!




 
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