Chad and I have been very blessed to have the friendship of the local chiropractors in town – Dr’s Mario and Lara Milani. They were a great source of help as a sponsor for Chad, especially while he was training for the Triathlon World Championships. They have two year old twins as well, and have been a great source of help in that regard! Their older daughter, Natasha, suffered from Mitochondrial disease, and I just learned that she passed away yesterday. Her life was so short, but so inspiring.

Isabella, our little prophet, has been very curious lately about heaven. She asked me the other day if my parents dog, Puff, who died a few months back, got a new body in heavan – Puff was very old and fragile. She talks all the time about what her own body will be like in heavan – she understands that we don’t take our bodies with us – they are earthly. I can only imagine what precious Natasha is doing with her new body right now!

She always seemed so happy – so content, even though she was stuck in her wheelchair and had almost no use of her own body. I see her smiling, and running and dancing now, and though I am crying as I write this because of the pain I know the Milanis are going through, I am overjoyed to think of what sweet little Natasha is doing now.

We love you Lara and Mario.

I’m usually not much into material things, but after working at Pier One doing displays for a year, I developed a little bit of a fetish for ceramic plates and table settings.  I absolutely love decorating the table every year for the holidays!  I kept this years table settings somewhat simple, as I did not have as much time (since I am taking care of newborn twins!).  Here’s some pics……

Of course, my biggest fetish is my fish plates collections.  I’ll add those pics later if I ever get the Christmas stuff off my table.

“Life isn’t about finding yourself.  Life is about creating yourself.”  -Anonymous

I know I haven’t written in a shile, but if any of you don’t know, I have been alittle preoccupied over the past 2 months.  I got put on bed rest 7 weeks ago.  Got put in the hopsital 4 weeks ago, and will be here for a while.  So, now I have transformed into the Human Incubator, so really everything that is going on in my life right now applies more toward my other blog http://www.nikazytwins.wordpress.com

Check it out.  Don’t worry, I’ll be back to my usual ramblings soon enough.

I have this hanging on my refrigerator door, and read it every morning.  Enjoy.

Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your piece of mind.  Look at the sunny side of everything and make your optmism come true.  Think only of the best, work only for the best, and expect only the best.  Forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.  Give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.  Live in the faith that the whole world is on your side so long as you are true to the best that is in you.  -Christian D. Larson

Maybe its this nesting thing all my pregnancy books talk about, or the fact that I am no longer working 60 hours a week, but I have been in over drive trying to get everything organized. I am finally getting all our pictures archived and all the new software for the new camera downloaded and figured out. This would have been alot easier if I had done it gradually, but I guess its never too late to start. Here are a few of my favorites from the new camera that I finally got downloaded!

Windy!

So Happy!

Priss Pot

Daddy’s Girl

Priss Pot!

I’m not the biggest Oprah fan in the world, but this article which I have had hanging on my refrigerator since I came across it  almost 5 years ago, may just explain the importance of living life to its fullest that I have ever seen.  It has been a while since I read it, but as I did today, I was reminded of how this simple article has helped me make some tough decisions over the past few years.  Hope you enjoy as much as I have.

From “O” Magazine; Oprah Winfrey, July 2002, p. 196

I’ve never been a white water raftin’, bungee-jumpin’ kind of girl – that’s not how I define adventure for myself. What I know for sure is this: The most important journey of our lives doesn’t necessarily involve climbing the highest peak or trekking around the world. The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams.

Maybe you’re like so many of the women I’ve talked to over the years who have suspended their deepest desires in order to accommodate everything and everyone else. You ignore the nudge – that whisper that often comes in the form of emptiness or restlessness – to finally get on with what you know you should be doing. I understand how easy it is to rationalize: Your mate and your children need you; the job you admit makes you miserable demands so much of your time. But what happens to your spirit when you work hard at something unfulfilling? It drains you. It robs you of your life force. You end up depleted, depressed, and angry.

You don’t have to waste another day on that road. Right now you are one choice away from a new beginning – one that leads you toward becoming the fullest human being you can be. Starting over begins with looking inward. It means ridding yourself of distractions and paying attention to that inkling you’ve been ignoring. There are times when, with three different people pulling me in five different directions at HARPO, I literally walk into my closet with all of my shoes. Sit on the floor, and go still as a stone. When I walk out, I am centered on what’s most important and can make decisions based on what’s right for me – not on what everyone else wants or needs. I’ve learned that the most stressful and chaotic things are on the outside, the calmer you need to get on the inside. It’s the only way you can connect with where your spirit is leading you.

Be prepared – when you finally summon the courage to cast a vote for yourself, you can expect obstacles. The whole world will rise up to tell you who you cannot become and what you cannot do. Those around you will be threatened as you exceed the limited expectations they’ve always had for you. And in moments of weakness, your fear and self-doubt may cause you to falter. Remember that you can’t get rid of the fear or doubt; you just learn to live with it, to ride it’s wave. As someone wise once said, Cowards behave because of fear – but the courageous behave in spite of fear.

One of my favorite gospel songs is by Donnie McClurkin, and it has a refrain that gives me strength: We fall down, but we get up. The true measure of your courage is not whether you reach your goal – it’s whether you decide to get back on your feet no matter how many times you’ve failed. Having the courage to stand up and pursue your dreams will give you life’s greatest reward and life’s greatest adventure.

Izzy and I have been at Vacation Bible School at our church, Brentwood Baptist, all week, and we have both had a BLAST!  I thought I might as well volunteer to help out since I would be driving her all the way to Brentwood everyday, and gas is like a million dollars a gallon it seems.  I sure am glad that I did – I think I have learned more from the second graders I had than I learned from 10 years of daily bible classes.  It is amazing how much these 8 year olds can take in, and the questions that they can come up with to ask.  I started to write down some of the comments and questions they asked, so that I could explore them more on here – and maybe one of you can enlighten me.  So stay tuned for a few of those posts in the next few weeks.  I’d do it today, but Izzy is signing at church tonight and we gotta get ready!

Chad was nominated for Best Personal Trainer in the Tennessean’s Best of Nashville competition!  Pretty cool since he only does training part time.  I am so proud of him!

http://data.tennessean.com/v2/bin/toast/category.php?cat=62

My hormones are raging.  I’ve been throwing up for weeks.  And today I find out that all of the blogs I have done for almost 5 months, including all of the ones about my precious twins, are GONE.  After Chad calmed me down, I got to thinking about it – I could try to remember every word and get it all back down, or I could start recapturing all of the things that really matter.  So, for all you family members and friends who have been begging for pics of this trip or that, pictures of Izzy, etc. – yeah, I’m talking about you Cathy, it all starts today.  I started a separate blog just for the twins, so you better check that out, too (I am putting the pics in here, too just cause they are so cute).  I figure, what else am I gonna do with my time for the next 5 months – I’m already being threatened with bedrest, and the joint and ligaments in my pelvic bone have stretched so far that I can’t hardly move.  I may as well do something useful with my time.

Nikazy Twins