Oye Monday!

Almost done moving...the deadline to be out is soon approaching...No couch, no bed, no table, no furniture, no dishes. Just an air mattress {thanks Mom} and a bunch of other stuff {not pictured} that still needs to be boxed and put in storage. Its Monday and I am already feeling like throwing away everything left to pack..We will survive another move because really its only our second move in 2 years...we got nothing on military families. Pizza Monday with a little Hulu {we watched Shark Tank} on my laptop that sat on top of a box. We are that cool!

One Year Recap

One year ago we left the beautiful island of Oahu. We packed up a ton of suitcases and boxes and had a lot of help from family moving across a body of water via an airplane. We have spent the last year in Riverside, CA. I can't believe it has already been a year, but that also means Evs only has two semesters left and he will be done with his Masters {even more exciting}.Since being here we ENDURED a hot summer, a cold, sometimes warm, fickle winter that extended into spring. We have enjoyed many family visits from Evan's family and from friends. We also had many family dinners and get togethers. We have learned alot about each other this past year, about our struggles and about our strengths and weaknesses.We have grown closer through our trials; We are better and more refined individuals. We are thankful for all we have been given. Evan has grown tremendously in his experience, practical application, and knowledge in his future profession {Athletic Training}.He has spent a lot of time working {for free} in different sports and learning more about his professional goals. He is pretty independent with his studies {I tried to step it down a notch from being the nagging smother wife during his undergrad to being the more supportive and get "straight A's" driven wife during his Masters} He has done very well all year is his classes and I am very proud of him. I have had a good year her in California as well. Work was slow this last year, losing one of my jobs didn't help, but it allowed me to struggle and stretch. I was able to find a temporary job for 10 weeks as a fitness coach for Seniors {over 50 years old}. Its a pretty awesome job. I also continue to work as a Behavior Therapist for children with Autism. I am staying busy. Days are long, but I am not complaining as all, I am blessed. We will be in California for at least another year and then we shall see where we are taken with Evan's work. I am sure we have a lot more growing to do and alot more trials to face. We enjoyed our first year together in sunny So Cal.

Fake Easter

We went to my Mom's house for Easter. She had boiled aggs and colored them and she also filled plastic ones for the wee ones that came over to actually find joy in finding the eggs {Rubi & Bria}. They had a good time. Rubi had done it before last weekend or something she had a one up on Bria, but once Bria realized that searching for eggs wasn't completely worthless, it was game on. They ran all around the front yard searching for the eggs, they liked the ones with candy in them {of course}, but werent too sure about the hard boiled ones {boring kind}. It was a nice family gathering. We missed our Oregon family, but we were able to skype with them and they all looked great on Easter {note: my new nephew Jason was recently adopted and had his first experience dying eggs-he is 7}

{And the hunt begins..}

{Excited much? I think so!}

{Working hard for that egg}

{I think Rubi was saying," Good job Bria finding the egg, I will take that candy now}

 

{Happy Easter! Love, the Stubbs}

Real Easter

Easter-a day of celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I see people everyday that are ridden with physical ailments. I work with children with Autism, who are literally in their own world. As I see the world around me as it is, I thank God for giving us chances to serve others and love tohers for who they are.Christ suffered for each of us in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross at Golgotha. But the celebration is that HE LIVES! I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVES! On the third day, he was resurrected in Glory and Perfection. What a great vision to embrace, that we will all be resurrected, every single one of us. We will be healed and be given a healthy healed body.

Good Friday

There is just something about giving others something we have. There is something about seeing their joy. There is just something that happens to the giver that makes you all warm and fuzzy. Who knew that our "leftovers" would mean so much to others in need. Thankful for the opportunity to feel grateful and for the opportunities I have taken recently to "love my neighbor" just as Christ would. Today is a Good day. Thankful to serve.

Spiritual Stretchmarks

When I was at Time-Out for Women with my buddy Shawna, I bought a book called Hard Times, Holy Places by Kristin Warner Belcher. Its an absolutely amazing read! Each day I read it, I feel more faithful and uplifted. I came across the below quote and found it very encouraging and strengthening.

Just when all seems to be going right, challenges often come in multiple doses applied simultaneously. When those trials are not consequences of your disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow more. He therefore gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding, and compassion which polish you for your everlasting benefit. To get you from where you are to where He wants you to be requires a lot of stretching, and that generally entails discomfort and pain.--Elder Richard G. Scott {Trust in the Lord, Ensign, November 1995}

Rubi's 2nd birthday

We all got together to celebrate Rubi's birthday and it was a lot of fun. She got lots of fun gifts and enjoyed all the people around. We gave her a pink & black tutu that I made her and she loved it and danced around in it. She had an Elmo themed party and Britt did a great job with her cake and cupcakes. All in all a great day with the fam bam.

{Above Photo by JenFallanPhotography}

 {He loves pictures can you tell?}

Counting blessings.

I received the following Cable Bill statement today:

Bill Amount     $27.02 credit
Due Date         05/07/2011
   No payment is due.

Not sure why. Not sure how. But I know who.

Tea Party

Today I had a tea party with Rubi. We very-eloquently, of course-used our princess tea set to sip our pretend milk, eat real crackers with {processed} cheese and chat about the news of the day. Oh to be a kid again and play pretend...Got to love it!

{notice how focused she is on the cheese, I wonder what was going through her head}

TOFW

I had the most amazing opportunity to drive to Fresno,CA {the drive wasn't the amazing part} and meet up with, Shawna Brown, one of my closest friends from the Bay area. She texted me about a month ago and said, "What are you doing on April 8th & 9th?" to which I responded, "exactly what you are doing." She invited me to go to Time Out for Women {TOFW} with her. She would drive from Hayward and I would drive from Riverside. The drive wasn't that bad {about 3 1/2 hours}. We booked a hotel and it was like having a slumber party for Big Girls. We had so much fun talking and chatting and catching up and most of all LAUGHING!! There is just something about laughing with your friends that adds to the beauty of a friendship. We had the worst service @ El Torito and @ IHOP. It was ridiculous how bad it was..but we laughed it out and had a good time doing it. We attended TOFW Friday evening.  The speakers spoke on amazing topics. The theme of the event was Choose to Become. It was centered around setting goals on who we want to be as a person, as a wife, a mother, daughter, sister, and a friend. It was about setting goals and trying to find ways to achieve them. It was about finding happiness and holy places amidst hard times, trials, disappointment and adversity. Saturday, we were up early and ate our {FREE} Continental Breakfast {stashed some goods for later}. We headed out for a full day of enrichment and uplifting words. We heard many more talks, personal experiences, beautiful music and we were touched by the strong Spirit that was there. It is amazing how good you can feel when you are able to recharge your thoughts, your energy, and disperse it in such a better way than you had it before. I am so thankful for the opportunity I had to spend the time with my friend that I did. It is something we will have to definitely do again! Love you Shawna Mahana Brown!

Oh ya and how could I forget our little "Miracle" experience. Heavenly Father was really watching out for us..there were literally angels watching over us and our hotel room...{See picture below}

Note to self:

Self,

DO NOT LEAVE the room key in the door the entire night, next time, some crazies just might come and get ya! {Especially the drunken ones from El Torito across the parking lot}

RECOMMENDATION

Absolutely amazing read. Highly recommend it!