What this Blog is All About - Our Life

We have started a blog. Why? To share our lives with the many family and friends who don't live near us. Seems over the years everyone has scattered. (Or rather, we have scattered) Shane's Family in Idaho and Ginger's Family in Wisconsin. There are also the wide range of friends, all over the country, we have made through TurningLeaf seminars. We thought this would be a nice place to keep the world informed of our lives. (Those who dare, anyway!)

Stuff... and Wedding Plans!!!

Ginger Writes "Over the last few blogs Shane and I have posted, several people have mentioned that they have been unable to leave comments on the site. If anyone is interested in leaving a comment they must have a google account, which is free. (there may be some other ways, but I am not sure of them) After you have a google account you can sign in and make comments. You can also follow our blog by clicking on the link in the middle of the right side of the page under "Followers".

Shane and I have been doing well. We have been really concentrating on paying down our debt. It has at times been frustrating as we think of our families far away and want to visit more often. However, in the long run we will be able to make those trips more often if we get our butts out of debt. I am personally about 6 months away from finishing some mutual debt I have with Chris (My Ex Husband) and then a few months out after that to have ALL my debt paid off. We have finally decided to wait on getting a new car to replace the NEON until it completely, 100%, dies. In the mean time we are saving for the down payment for when that time comes. I can't even imagine what it is going to feel like to have no debt at all. Although it won't last for long (Shane has a mortgage I will take on with him when we get married and then a car payment unless the NEON lasts forever or we save enough to just pay cash before it dies. Highly unlikely but definitely ideal.)

OH, Did I just say... When we get married??? Ok, it is pretty well known for many that Shane and I have been in the process of setting up a wedding date. Although it is not official (Because Shane is being responsible about the purchase and so the ring is not on my finger yet... I did get to pick it out though) We have set a date for September 25, 2011. We are planning to get married in Long Beach, CA and will be taking a cruise to different parts of Mexico immediately after. We have played with the idea of waiting to post a blog until it is "official" but we want EVERYONE that would like to come to have enough time to save so here I am writing about it. We will be getting more information out about this event within the month. I have been gathering addresses to send it out when we have it. SOOOOO, if anyone has not yet gotten us their address please email it to me or Shane, send a Facebook message or text. I have put a few posts up on Facebook asking for addresses. Thank you to everyone who has responded!

So, that is it for right now... I hope everyone is doing well. We love hearing from everyone and what is new in your lives, so send us a message!"

The Simple Things in Life -

Ginger Writes "About to start my work day but wanted to blog about a very simple act of kindness this morning that MADE my day!!! This story starts on Saturday when I spoiled myself by purchasing a CD (Regina Spektor – FAR). While I made my drive up to Cedar City late Saturday night I listened to the whole CD. In fact it was perfect timing that as I pulled into Shane’s Driveway that the last track (#13) was finishing. Well, this morning, I got into the Jeep to head back down to St. George and as most CD’s do in a car player, it continued to play. #14 started to play and I thought “ I thought this CD only had 13 tracks…” a bonus track was starting to play and I was thrilled!!! What was very very odd was the song “Somewhere over the rainbow / What a wonderful world” by IZ was playing. While I listened to the song I was remembering a few weeks back how I told Shane I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this song and that I loved IZ. I smiled as I listened to the song and it brought back memories of my trip to Hawaii with my Girls Laura and Anne in 2005. It was very aweseome. BUT then the song ended and another song by IZ came on! I thought to myself… how weird that Ragina would put IZ on her CD as bonus tracks. But then simply thought nothing more of it, other than that I hit the jackpot with this purchase considering I loved both of these artists. The CD then stopped and so I started it over again, thinking I was going to rehear the entire CD. What happened instead was another IZ song came on. I drove for a few minutes really, really confused. I started to realize this was not my Regina CD, but a different one. I pushed the eject button and out popped IZ – Facing Future Album. My eyes started to tear up as I realized Shane must have snuck the CD into the Jeep and coordinated it just right to start playinig on track #14, my favorite song by IZ. There is no way Shane could have know I had just purchased that other CD and that this other CD only had 13 tracks. I called him immediately and thanked him for the nice surprise. It is the little things in life that bring me great, immense joy. And also the weird coincidences like track #14 being my favorite song that make me appreciate this amazing life and the amazing people who are in it, especially Shane who has completely surprised me by showing me I deserve to be loved unconditionally."