Welcome 2018

What a difference a year makes! 
2017 was such a 180 degree turn around from 2016!

Husband finished his radiology program and graduated 1st in his class! He finally got a job doing what he loves and I can relax for a minute  and not be so uptight and clenched about finances and money issues etc.

We got to see PAUL SIMON in concert!  That was a bucket list music event for both of us. What a great chance for us to see one of our favorite musicians, and he did not disappoint!

This year my youngest surpassed us all in height..where did my baby go?

 We were fortunateto live right near the totality zone for the Solar eclipse. We were able to go to my brothers house and watch one of the most amazing celestial events I have ever been blessed to witness. It was very spiritual and almost Primal (is gthat the right word). It spoke to all of us on a deep and personal level. It was enough to make you teary eyed. Youngest son said "That was unexpectedly emotional for me".

I got to cross another bucket item off my list...World of Coca Cola in Atlanta.  What a cool museum!

 We went on a Carribbean cruise for our family vacation. It was a celebration of Hubby graduating, Son#1 turning 17, Son#2 turning 14 and starting high school and hubbs and I reaching our 20th wedding anniversary.   We went to Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Mexico and Bahamas.  Sun and fun- we ALL needed it!!

And best of all I GOT TO GO TO ITALY!!!  I have a dear friend who lives there and it was SUCH an amazing opportunity to go and stay with her and have her as the worlds best tour guide. I am doubly happy to have taken my mom with me. It was a trip of a lifetime and SHE NEEDED IT!  We went to Venice,  Burano, Verona, Padua, Vicenza, Illasi, Brendola, Soave, Nove and more.  I absolutely fell in love with Italy and am so glad I had the chance to get there. I MAY be planning my next trip....

 I also got dental work done that needed to get done (yay wisdom tooth extraction,  root canal and crown),  I pulled my kids out of public school and started homeschooling them, I went to the temple more, I made sure that I helped others where I could, but didnt over extend myself.

In the end I made more money, I am happier, healthier and READY FOR 2018!!!

2017

2017....I welcome you with open arms.

2016 was ROUGH.  I lost my dad. I lose my grandmother.
  I lost David Bowie and Prince and Alan Rickman and Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds and George Michael, and Prince, and, and ,and, and...  like seriously 2016, WTF?

I was forced to choose between Dumb and Dumber in the presidential elections.

I spent the last 4 months of 2015 and first 2 months of 2016 helping care for my dad, who was bed-ridden and dying. I suffered major depression and heartache. I gained back a large chunk of weight I had lost because I basically just didnt give a s*** anymore. My dad was my biggest champion and supporter, he told one of his best friends that having a daughter was one of the greatest blessings of his life and he was so proud of me.  I felt emotionally drained.
  I recently had a dream that I opened my front door and he was standing outside, down the walking path. I ran to him and we hugged and I cried and cried and cried and told him how much I missed him.  He told me he loved me and that he was proud of me and that he was ok and not to worry anymore.    I woke up in tears, yet strangely calm. I believe my dad visited me because I truly needed it.  I believe in the ministering of angels and my dad was one.

We didnt have a vacation last year.  Charles and I spent 1 1/2 days in Charleston SC for a mini getaway,.  It was fun, but not nearly long enough to recharge the batteries. I was physically drained.

I was called as 1st counselor in Relief Society at church.  This is a calling that has really stretched me and forced me to be more spiritually in tune.  I never realized how much of a load the presidency carries. I have realized that there is a heavy burden placed on the shoulders. You learn things about people and you really struggle with them and pray with them and for them and want to do all you can to help these women that you have grown to love and sometimes it is hard to turn that off.
You want to help them, and it hurts when you sometimes see them making bad choices and doing things that dont help their situations.  Some days I felt spiritually drained.

SO triple threat. Emotional,. Spiritual/Mental. Physical.

I have decided that first things first, I have to take care of Sarah.  Dentist, Pap Smear, Mammogram.
Eat healthier, exercise more.  I cant take care of others if I first dont take care of myself.  That is SUCH a hard lesson to learn, isnt it?

I have to respond to spiritual promptings immediately. I cant let it get away from me. I cant say "Oh later". I have to be better about listening and following those feelings and inspiration and thoughts.
I have to put myself in a more spiritual healthy environment.  I need to be better at reading scriptures. I need to be better at journaling. I need to be better at saying my personal daily prayers.  I need to be more spiritually prepared to combat the fiery darts of the adversary who tells me on a daily basis that I am worthless and that I cant do anything right. He tells me I am not good enough.  He tells me I am fat and lazy and so and so is a much better person than I am.  I have to do a better job at remembering who I am and remembering that I am the daughter of a king and I need to straighten my crown and  say Get Thee Behind Me Satan!
I need to go to the temple more often.

I need to work harder at being a better mother. I need more patience and kindness towards my children. Teenage boys are tough, and so is being the mother or teenage boys.
I need to do a better job of preparing them for the real world. I need to do better about teaching them laundry and cooking and cleaning. I need to help them save their money and remind them to pay their tithing. I need to be a better example to them. I need to spend more time with them one on one. Listen to them and what they want, need, think .  I need to get to know my kids better,.

I need to be a better wife.  I need to rely on my husband more. I need to trust that he can do things without me nagging and always going behind him and re-doing things. I need to reassure him daily that he is a great man and that I appreciate all his love and hard work, loyalty and dedication, I need to be more open and less stingy with my affection. I need to help him fulfill his potential and not be so protective of our time together. I think I hold him back in some ways.

I need to be a better friend. I need to let people know that I love and appreciate them on a more regular basis. I need to be the good example and the one that people know they can always turn to, talk to, rely on etc.  I want people to know that I wont judge, that I will do my best to listen and show compassion and help them in any way that I can.
At the same time I also need to learn to say NO.  I think sometimes we overextend ourselves. We say yes to everything and then it leaves us with very little in our vessels for ourselves and our families. I need to do a better job at balancing my life, organizing my time and prioritize my needs and wants.

I feel that 2017 is going to be a great year for me to expand my horizons, stretch my wings and fly.
baby steps, Sarah. Baby Steps.

8 months until vacation!!

It has been booked. I am so excited!!
8 months until we leave!!
While looking online and reading reviews, I came across this cruiseline I hadnt heard of. MSC. It has been around since 1960 and is originally out of Italy/Mediterranean. It is the 4th largest cruise company in the world and the ships are the mega type luxury liners.  They have been in the US, competing in the US cruise market for a short time.  Reviews have been good, the price is right and we decided to take the plunge!

REASONS TO CELEBRATE:
20th wedding anniversary
Hubbs graduating his radiology program!
Pete-man turning 17!
Finn starting High School!

So for all those reasons and more I decided to indulge in a balcony room to boot!!

                                               So, WHERE ARE WE HEADED TO??
Ocho Rios Jamaica

Grand Cayman Islands

Cozumel Mexico

Nassau Bahamas

Cruising here we come!!

Now is the frantic time of saving money, of watching weight so we dont have any fatty fatty cruise photos, of making sure we can find passports!

Now is the time to start scouring tripadvisor and shoretrips and all those sites to figure out the best excursions and prices.

I cant even tell you how much I am looking forward to sun, sand and snorkeling!

This is going to be a crazy long 8 months. I can feel it.

Rico The Cockapoo and his new shop

Over at Ricothecockapoo  I mentioned our new e-tail store through Facebook.

Banner for the store

Here are just a few of the tutus we have listed for your furry friends.

"Dorothy" 

Pink Princess

White Wedding

Check out the Store!! HERE

Like, share, rinse and repeat!!

I miss my dad

I needed to write this out . As I am typing the tears are flowing. I cant believe my dad is gone and I miss his so very much.
The past 8 months have been so stressful and hard for me, and I need to release all the pent up anger, frustration and sadness before it eats me alive.

IT BEGINS:
Back in June 2015, while the family was at the beach, he was complaining of severe back pain. He couldn't enjoy himself, could hardly walk, sit, or spend time with his family comfortably.  It was a shame, because Nags Head was his favorite place.  When he got home, he went to his doctor who sent him in for an x-ray (thinking it was a fractured rib or slipped disc or something).  What they found were lesions, which was indicative of Cancer. After further testing it was revealed that he did indeed have Multiple Myeloma (blood cancer).
At first They were very optimistic and started Chemo and bone strengthening treatments."This can be managed. This is something you die with, not from"  The first few weeks went well, but the treatments quickly started to rear its ugly head.
He couldn't eat or drink without gagging, lost his appetite, was tired and nauseated all the time. He lost weight...a lot of weight. He had to use a cane to walk, He would get winded and exhausted very quickly.
A few months later he was hospitalized. A host of issues were fighting within his body. Dehydration was causing his heart rhythm to get out of whack, which caused things, which caused things, which caused things. A month or so later his kidneys started shutting down and he was put into ICU and immediately started on dialysis.  Dialysis wasn't helping, seemed to be getting worse, then they realized the plasma in the blood was thickening up like a gel in the kidneys causing problems. They started a new treatment, plasmapheresis, that seemed to help.
Then in November, right before Thanksgiving, he contracted Cellulitis on his legs, which put him back in the hospital for quite a long time.  By this time he was so skinny and weak he couldn't even get out of bed. He was in constant pain. His treatments were causing issues that his body couldn't handle.

My sweet dad in the hospital .  This is what the frustration of the illness looks like.  #cancersucks #multiplemyeloma #dad

A photo posted by Sarah Koch McBride (@sarahkochmcbride) on Nov 27, 2015 at 3:30pm PST

Be there or be square

in 6 months from now I will be THE BIG ONE. You know, FOUR-OH. yikes.

2 years ago as I realized that I was fat and tired and unhappy I decided to take control of my life and my eating and my health. I lost 70 pounds, yet I was still 20 away from my goal weight. Things were going great, I was feeling well, I was looking great. I was able to wear clothes I hadnt fit into in years. Life. Was. Good.

Little by little some of that weight I had lost started to creep back in. Little by little my healthy eating habits fell by the wayside as I stopped by McDonalds on my way home from work. Little by little the excuses for not running started creeping into my brain and my thoughts and my words. Little by little did my portions become a little bigger, a little less healthy, the food I had eschewed working its way back onto my plate.
As I stepped onto the scale this morning I realized that the past 9 months I have undone a chunk of all that hard work.

So I decided to get back in gear. No more excuses.
 I have decided that in order to do that I have to do something big.

So in about 6 1/2 months I will be posting my big reveal. No excuses.
I need to do this to keep accountable. I need this challenge in the back of my mind egging me on to do what I need to do.
I dont want to embarrass or humiliate myself, so I think this will help me work harder.

July 20-  Be there or be square.

Greatest American Hero Reboot

Ok, so when I was a kid, one of my FAVORITE Television shows was Greatest American Hero.
I watched it religiously for all 3 seasons. I LOVED it. I loved the theme song. I loved everything about it. I loved the fact that a regular Joe Schmo could become a super hero and not be very good at it, that he just kind of fought crime by accident.

Premise of the show:  A public school teacher named Ralph Hinkley(William Katt) is given a red suit by  Aliens and told to collaborate with FBI agent Bill Maxwell (Robert Culp) to help solve crimes. The Attorney who handled Ralphs divorce, Pam Davidson(Connie Sellecca), sometimes accompanies the boys on their adventures.
 The Red suit gives Ralph super human powers when worn, unfortunately, Ralph hates the suit and loses the instruction manual. He can fly, but has no skill at landing (so every flying episode usually involves him crashing unceremoniously into a heap). The powers tend to kick in randomly often with comedic results.
As the show progressed we find that Hinkley was not the first to be given a red suit (another agent had but used the suit selfishly so he had it taken away), and that the Aliens (whose own home planet had been destroyed)were trying to protect the Earth as it was one of the only remaining Garden States.

This theme song became a HUGE hit, peaking at #2 on the Billboard Charts and staying on the top 40 for over 18 weeks.


So I heard a  rumor that they were going to remake this classic show, and I don't really know how I feel about it,  It was a GREAT show when I was a kid, can it really translate well into todays mindset?  Here is what I think the biggest hurdles will be with this reboot- (please note I am not saying I have anything against climate change, military personnel, nerds, the gay lifestyle or liberal vs conservative agendas. This is just what I think they will do because to be quite honest most producers have very little original ideas left in their brains and many of todays shows are all the same)

Protect the "Garden State"- Can the producers do it without relentlessly harping on the whole "Climate Change" and "save the Earth" and "Humans are the biggest Threat to our Planet" theme that they throw into EVERY movie now. I, for one, just want to watch a show or movie that doesn't have some sort of underlying political agenda.

Cast of Characters: Can we keep the characters kind of the same without injecting the whole overdone/overused Hollywood equation into it?  Please don't turn Ralph from a Special Education teacher into some sort of Uber- Brainy/awkward  College Professor of Astronomy or something like that.( And they will probably rename him something "nerdy" or "brainy" like Sheldon or Leonard, or Howard or...oh wait, wrong show).  Don't make Bill Maxwell(probably now called Rob or Ryan) some sort of Jack Bauer/Homeland/Counter Terrorist Unit guy with a chip on his shoulder and something to prove after returning home from a useless war over oil in the Middle East. I can see the flashback scenes now...
, Pam Davidson (Attorney at Law) is now  Pete Davidson and he has a secret crush on Ralph.  Peter probably handled Ralph's divorce and has been harboring feelings all the while trying to get Ralph to reciprocate. Oh, and he will also be the sassy friend to help spruce up the Red Suit. ("mmmm red spandex is Soooooo 1980's. It's time for a makeover!!" )
Can we just keep it as close to the original storyline? Is that even possible?. Sadly this country is a different time and Era from 35 years ago so my beloved show will definitely get mutilated and revamped beyond repair to mirror more closely todays sensibilities
(And I swear if you get They Might be Giants or Bare Naked Ladies or someone like that to do the intro theme song-I'm out. )

WHO WOULD I CAST??  If i am trying to keep it as close to the original as possible(based on looks from original Casting, here are my picks.)

Jon Heder as Ralph. (Mostly I thought of his Napoleon Dynamite hair).  But he is a goofy charming sexy in his own weird way.

Timothy Omundson as Bill Maxwell.  He has been Detective Carlton Lassiter on Psych for many seasons now and has the whole "FBI thing" down.

Sarah Lancaster as Pam Davidson. She was Ellie Bartowski in Chuck.

 Who would YOU choose in the new reboot??