Halloween

Well, I missed trick or treating with the girls tonight... I know they were fine, but me, I wasn't! I so wanted to be there, it's so much fun to watch them and Faith gets braver every year going to the door on her own. Stac took this picture tonight with his phone and sent it to me. Morgan is an Army pilot (she flys the Apache Longbow which is the attack helicopter) and Faith went as a witch... yep, I talked her out of being a cat (it would of been the 3rd time in a row!) They both look absolutely adorable!

As for me, I am struggling like holy heck with school right now. This would be the reason I didn't make it out there tonight, along with the training for the new job (which I still absolutely LOVE!) and... I had a friggin screw in my tire this morning.. so on my way home tonight I had to get that taken care of. It was one of those days that you wish you could have just slept the day away. Anyways, I could go on but just know... I think I am getting the concept of this friggin statistics class, my paper is done and actually not as bad as I thought it would be, my tire is fixed for now, I'm 99.9% positive the girls had a great night, and I'm still breathing (I did have a total melt down tonight). Things are looking good... so I am off to bed because I need the sleep. Thanks for reading and listening to me whine! :)

Making Strides for Breast Cancer

This year, I am participating in MAKING STRIDES FOR BREAST CANCER

I am hoping to raise at least 500.00 and would love to exceed that amount! Not a day goes by that I don't think about Paula and wish that she was still here. I miss her sometimes more than I ever thought.

I look at Morgan and Faith and realize they will never really know what an incredible, warm, and loving woman she was. I look at them and can only hope that they will know... THEY were her reason to LIVE! She loved them more than life itself. I look at Faith and I remember her last words to Paula... "Mom, I have to tell you something". Paula looked at her and asked her what. Faith said "I love you". Faith was 4... Morgan was 6.

I'm 34 years old and the thought of losing one of my parents kills me to even THINK about it. They are now 9 and 7, and they have lost their mom.

If you would like to help support me, in Paula's memory, please do so. The link is on the right side (Making Strides) and it will take you to the website. From there, click on find a walker, type in my name, Jennifer Hoy and you will see my personal web page for the walk. I have hope that we will find a cure. Hope is all that we can have. Without that hope, we have nothing.

Thank you for your always continued support with this cause. A cause that has touched my life in such a way that I now have a goal... to make a difference.

Flicka

Well Friday night the girls spent the night! By the time they got here, they were pretty exhausted and ready for bed. Anyways, the next morning we went for breakfast and then met Dara and Madeline at the park. The girls had a good time playing and for some reason, rolling down a grass hill always seems like the best idea. My favorite part was when we got in the car and all I heard was... I itch, I itch, I itch! I remember those days!!
Stac ended up picking up Faith and Morgan and I headed to go get our hair done. I had mine colored and styled and Morgan got hers styled. She is really starting to grow up! We went to see the movie Flicka after our hair appointment and... when we walked out she asked if I cried. I told her I did and she said, I almost cried too!
I had really missed them! It had been 2 weeks since I spent time with them and we had a great time. (Oh, and the reason Faith did not go to the movies with us... she said Flicka was boring! She is definitely still into cartoons... I can't wait until she is past that stage!)

Race for the Cure

Here are some photos from Oct. 8 at Race for the Cure in downtown Phoenix. We got together again to celebrate Paula and what and incredible impact she made on all of us. You can see that this year, Morgan wrote on her "In Memory of" thing that we all wear. She even drew a picture of Paula... Yes, had tears as she did it!
As we were leaving, Stac noticed a woman with her husband and their young daughter. The woman had no hair and we bothed looked at each other and related to their situation. We do this walk each year so that the girls know how much we loved their mom, but to also make others aware that even though there are more and more survivors, this disease still gets to the ones that we love. Hope to see more of you out there with us next year!

i say this... because i can

Ok... the best thing is... this is my blog... so all I have to say tonight is...........

I HATE WRITING PAPERS!

That's all... this paper is seriously going to be my worst one yet. Oh by the way... you are going to see this post quite often, especially on a Tuesday night... because class is on Wednesdays which means papers are usually due then!

New Job

Well today was the first day of my new career! We had an all day orientation and it went rather quickly. There were about 100+ people in orientation and they covered the general information of University of Phoenix, our FREE tuition, benefits, and payroll. At the very end, we broke up into small groups for our 3 weeks of training. Yep... 3 whole weeks. I am very excited though. I've been worried wether or not I would be able to do the job. Change is scary and sometimes will make you question your abilities. But you know, I know me, and if I put my mind to something... I can do it. I totally believe in education and so why wouldn't I do a good job??? Anyways, I have a paper to write for class on Wednesday night and some things to read for tomorrow... Thanks for reading my blog and staying interested in my life.
xoxox

Why I Love my DAD!

My flight left this morning and just because... my dad made me breakfast in bed.
I missed him the moment I went through the security gates at the airport.

so I thought I would share some of the
reasons why I love my dad...
I Love him because... He makes me breakfast in bed. He makes up random, silly, songs. He is devoted. He watches football. He watches the military channel or CNN. He tells me stories about his life as a kid and when he was in Vietnam. He loves his family. The way he just stands and thinks. He drinks Diet 7-up. He gets excited about the smallest things. He loves me unconditonally! Thanks dad... for a great week! I Love You!!!

a little something

I found this today too... and I bought it! I couldn't resist... where I will hang it... I have not decided but it is my favorite quote.. "Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away."

i saw a MOOSE!

Ok, so today, I was driving... and driving.. oh, and driving. As I was driving around I looked down a random road and standing in the middle of the road was.... A MOOSE! Well there were two... I had to turn around quickly and go back to the road and they were still there! I was so excited by the time I got my camera out they had moved off the road so the only part you get to see is the Mooses' butt!

Random Photos

The North Pole

I liked this tree with the berries on it...

This is a pond in North Pole... I just thought it was pretty

Fairbanks, Alaska

I'm a dork.. took a photo of myself at the lookout that looks over Fairbanks

North Pole, Alaska

Santa's House...
Faith told me if I saw the "FAKE" Santa... she would be mad! Lucky for me, Santa was upstairs... when I was little, my dad told me Santa lived upstairs and didn't come down until Christmas and therefore I would not see him. I've always loved coming to Santa's house.. but for some reason, it's not quite the same as when I was little. But it's still fun... just to believe....

Starbucks

So.... I went to Starbuck's and got a hot chocolate...
I so wish I liked coffee... any ways
I wanted to share
The Way I See It #92
on the starbuck's cup...

You are not an accident. Your parents may not have planned you but God did. He wanted you alive and created you for a purpose. Focusing on yourself will never reveal your purpose. You were made by God and for God, and until you understand that, life will never make sense. Only in God do we discover our origin, our identity, our meaning, our purpose, our significance, and our destiny.

-Dr. Rick Warren

Author of The Purpose-Driven Life.

Alaska

Thought I'd share some photos I took. The deck photo is my first morning here after a light snow fall. The snow was gone soon after the photo was taken. It has been rather nice, in the high 30's to mid 40's. At night it gets colder. The duck photo is just random ducks that migrate outside my dad's. He has a place right off the Chena River in downtown Fairbanks. Finally, the photo of my dad. He looks so much better than the last time I saw him. It has been great to just hang out with him and spend time together. The older I get, the more I enjoy my time with him!

I made it... AND... so did my luggage!

Well I made it here and the flight wasn't as bad as I anticipated. My flight was late leaving Phoenix, which got me to Seattle at the same time my connecting flight was leaving. The gates were right next to each other and I luckily made it.
My luggage... did not. Luckily they put my luggage on the next flight and it made it to Fairbanks 3 hours later.
Did you know... I had flip flops on? Why wouldn't a girl from Arizona wear flip flops to a state that was 23 degrees? Yes... for those of you wondering, I packed other shoes in my luggage (which I'll remind you was LATE!).
So my first night here... it snowed. Just a lil bit. But... I saw the snow flurries come down. There is not much snow on the ground, but it is COLD. I love it though! I took a picture Sunday morning so those of you, like me, who wonder what snow is... will know. :)
That's all for now... xoxox

Packing for Alaska

I am packing to leave for Alaska tomorrow to spend a week with my dad!

I couldn't help but take a quick picture of what I go through every time I pack to go somewhere. Howie ALWAYS has to climb into my luggage. He's completely insane!

(E... see the longhorn hat in my luggage?)

Anyways, I packed a few t-shirts and then realized I was going to Alaska... did you all know it's cold there? Apparently it is so I threw in sweaters and jackets... just in case I might need them! ha

Off to sleep before the long friggin flight tomorrow! G'nite

Kelsey and Becky

I had to share this picture of Kelsey and Becky making silly faces at my going away lunch today! I will miss you both so entirely much. I mean honestly, how can you not miss faces like those!

Last Day at S. ETC

So today was my last day working at Scrapbooks, ETC. What an incredible 8 years I have had there. It was definitely a bitter sweet feeling as I left. I'm excited to start a new job and venture out to a new world, yet at the same time, I am sad that I am leaving behind such an incredible "family". No worries though... I will come back and visit!

The pic above is Ang, Amy, and I. It was taken a year or so ago.

I'll miss you all!!!

very first post EVER!

Ok, so this is my very first post to my very own blog. WOW! Bare with me as I learn all the little tricks. I wanted something where I can share with friends and family what is happening in MY world as well as the world of Morgan and Faith.
I hope that you can sit back, enjoy, and laugh at the random things which will come across here.
xoxox
Jenn