Stay-at-home Mommy

Well, it is official. I finally gave my notice at work. My last day will be February 20th. I am SUPER excited!!! It will be an adjustment seeing as I have been working for 2 years now, but it is a welcomed change.



I will be watching a few kids to bring in a little extra money for us. This will be good for Emma because she will still have interaction with children her age. Emma doesn't understand the concept of "1 month". So every day she says "it's been 1 month, I am not going to preschool today" and then I have to say "no, you are still going". And then the drama begins. So, it will be fantastic when the day finally comes that I can say "You aren't going today".



Having been a working mother I have gained an appreciation for women who do just that. I have learned that when necessary you do what you have to. I have gained friends and made lasting relationships by working.



I have also gained a greater appreciation for women who have the opportunity to stay at home with their children. What an important role! My desire to stay home with my children has increased and magnified this past year. As Dusty and I have worked toward getting our bills in order to do this I have learned to be disciplined and to have patience.



To all mothers out there, working or not, I say "Kuddos to you!".



P.S. I may also be starting to teach violin lessons. This is something I have been wanting to do for a while now.

Snow Day!!

Today is a "Snow Day" here in Sidney, Nebraska. It has been snowing since Friday, 4 days now. School has been cancelled, the roads are a mess, and even though I just shoveled you can't see it.

Yesterday I had to bring Emma home from church because she wasn't feeling well and had a fever. It seems like she is getting a cold. When she woke up this morning she still seemed a bit under-the-weather so I had already planned to stay home from work. Since I was already home it wasn't a big deal that school was cancelled.

The kids are enjoying themselves; Jacob is playing the X-Box, and Alexis and Emma are playing princess (so much for Emma being sick). And I am taking the opportunity to work on the computer and organize my pictures and update the blog (your welcome Kandy).

So, our plans for today consist of staying inside and sipping hot chocolate to keep warm.

Have a great day!!

Christmas 2008

We went back home to Utah for Christmas vacation this last year. The kids were so excited to see their cousins! We got to Grandma and Grandpa Burke's house on the 24th and stayed until January 1st.

Christmas day was packed full of seeing both Dusty's family and my family. We had Dusty's family party in the morning and then headed up to Riverdale to see my Mom and Paul. We saw my sister Amy and had a great time visiting and watching the family videos that Amy makes.

Next, we headed over to see my Aunt Sherry. We have not been able to see her much since we moved to Nebraska and I was so glad to catch up with her. She is basically the only Aunt I have ever been close with and it doesn't hurt that I was named after her!

We also got to see my sister Julie and her family. The girls went for pedicures and the guys went to Hollywood Connection to ride the indoor rides. Emma went with Dusty and Jacob. She rode the bumper cars all by herself. Dusty said it was the funniest thing he ever saw.

Dusty's brother Jason, and his wife JoDee, invited us over on Saturday night. We played games and laughed a ton. We watched the movie "Stardust" with them. I thought it was a pretty good show. Jason and JoDee's girls were so cute to play with Emma and Jacob. Anna was persistent in teaching Jacob how to play the Wii and she really wanted him to win (it really was so cute to watch her helping him).

We also got the chance to go down to Beaver, UT and spend a couple days with Dusty's oldest brother Todd and his family. We went to the St. George temple with Todd and Steph. Dusty and I have never been to that temple, so we really enjoyed it. Dusty and I like to go to different temples and now we can check that one off our list. Thanks for such a great time Todd and Steph.

Our last night in Utah we got to go to the Utah basketball game. The kids had a lot of fun and they won!! Go UTES!!!

We had a really great trip and were happy to have seen our family. Though, it was nice to come home to our own beds!

Congratulations Dusty!!

This is a shout-out to my husband! He has finished his Bachelor's Degree in Business Management. Ten years ago he began college and in 2000 obtained his Associates Degree. It has taken 8 more years for him to finish. With having children, moving jobs and life in general it took this long. But, he did it!! I am so proud of you Dusty.

What's next, you ask? He is starting his Master's program next week. This degree will take him about another year and then we will see what's next.

Congratulations Dust! I love you.

What's Been Going on with me...

Well, to say the least, I have issues (I know this is going to spark a lot of comments from my family and I am just setting myself up, but here goes).

The issues I am referring to are health issues. I have been feeling terrible for quite some time now, and have had horrible pain on the right side of my pelvis and stomach. We have known that I have endometriosis, and I was able to deal with the pain for a while. But it got so bad that I couldn't walk sometimes and it would just hurt soooo much!

Many people don't really know what endometriosis is, so I thought I would share. Basically, the lining of the uterus is called "endometrium". Sometimes this lining tries to grow outside of the uterus on the ovaries, the outside of the uterus, or onto other body parts. When this occurs, it is the condition called endometreosis.

So last week I went in for surgery. I had my right ovary and tube removed and an appendectomy (my appendix removed). I stayed in the hospital for one night and have been home resting since then. I have three incisions- one on my belly button, one on the right side of my stomach and one down low on my pelvis.

Up until yesterday I was still feeling pretty horrible and having to take the narcotic drugs I had been prescribed. But, today I was able to take regular Ibuprofen and move around more. I go back to work on Monday and am hoping I can handle it. I don't know about sitting at a desk for 8 hours with my body tilted at a 90 degree angle. I do fine when I am laying down, so maybe I can set up a bed under my desk like George Costanza did and work from there...right?

All joking aside, I am very glad to be feeling better. The doctor is hoping, and so are Dusty and I, that this fixes my pain. There is always the possibility of the endometriosis transferring over to my left ovary, which would result in having it removed, which would lead to a hysterectomy. But if that happens then we will deal with it.

I think it is funny how things work out. We started out our married life backwards. We started having children very young. At that time we did not know that I would develop this and have these problems. So, I feel very blessed and lucky that we started our life together the way that we did. Though, it was hard being so young and having children, if we had waited we may have not been able to have any children. We have made it this far and have 3 beautiful children here on earth to cherish.

So on this Thanksgiving day on want to express my gratitude for my health. There must be good with bad, and I am grateful for being alive and well. I am also thankful for technology and the medical world and the advances they have made. I am thankful for my wonderful husband who has put up with me whining and crying while in pain. I am ever so grateful for the people in our ward who have been so thoughtful and giving. Not only was I home recovering from surgery, but Dusty and all 3 kids came down with the stomach flu (talk about a fun week!). I just want to thank those who brought us meals, folded my laundry, took my kids after they were better, and those who went to the store for me. I am grateful for the gospel and for Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for me. Lastly, I am grateful for our family. We have so many family spread throughout the U.S. (New York, Ohio, Nebraska and Utah) and I am grateful for every one of them. This list could go on forever, so I am going to end this before it gets too sappy.

Bye for now,

Happy Thanksgiving.

The New Addition to our Wall

It was a crisp 14 degrees when I woke up to the alarm at 4:00 a.m. at deer camp. I rolled out of bed and put on all my camo clothing. As I was getting dressed I was listening to the beautiful sounds of the Coyotes singing to each other across the valley.

Once Dressed, I went out and started the truck to warm it up. Following the warm up I got in and embarked on the hour long drive to Crescent Lake National wildlife refuge. I pulled through the gate and headed to the hunting spot that I spent a day at last year and came eye to eye with a buck but did not get a shot off.

I sat in the truck for about 10 minutes until I felt as if it was okay to get out without disturbing the wildlife. I was the only vehicle out there that I could see or hear. It was dead silent other than the beautiful Nebraska wind. No coyotes were singing either.

I then began to walk, blindly, as the sun had yet to begin to make its appearance. I walked maybe a mile until I could start to see without the flashlight. I looked at my watch and it was quarter to 6 a.m., which shooting time was 6:08 a.m.

I turned around to see just where I was at in comparison to the truck and my heart went into my throat. I saw 5 deer not more than 150-200 yards from the truck. Due to my poor "twilight" vision I could not see if there was a buck in the group. I immediately got down on one knee and began to glass them to see what the situation was. As I looked through the binoculars I saw what was my buck, although I could not make out how many points it had.

So, I then began to crawl on my hands and knees what seemed like 700-800 yards towards the deers. When I was within 150-200 (my range with the 30/30 open sights) I glassed again to count the points. He was a 4x4 mule deer, so I decided to take him down. I quietly loaded the Winchester 94 and brought it up to aim. By now the deer were aware of my presence and I knew my time was short.

I got the buck in my sights and pulled the trigger. At the same time I heard the gun go off I heard a loud thud and noticed the deer fall to the ground, but I could not tell where I hit him. He staggered a few yards as his girlfriends ran off out of sight. I stayed on my knees and watched him. He didn't seem to want to fall down. So, I made the decision to put another bullet in him. So I shot and heard yet another distinctive thud and he was down. I waited another 10 minutes as he did not get back up.

After the second shot I looked at my watch and it said 6:44 a.m. After giving him time to die, I slowly walked over to him and when I came upon him he was gasping for air. I noticed that I hit him in the neck but the first shot was not visible. I was so excited I took 3 pictures and then backed off so he could die in peace. Within seconds he was a goner.

I then walked the 200 yards or so back to the truck to retrieve the tools necessary to field dress the deer. It took me what seemed like an hour to gut this deer. Being it was my second time doing it, and first time doing it alone, I took my time and made sure I did not cut any of the bowels or stomach.

After I got the deer dressed, dragged back to the truck, and loaded I decided to take a break and sit on the tail gate. I was looking around and noticed another group of deer, I counted them and there was at least 40. I got my binoculars out and saw at least 10 very large mule deer bucks, much bigger than mine. I was kicking myself for not being patient, but reminded myself that you have to take it when you can get it.

It was a great day and I was home by noon. I look forward to the back straps and ground venison for tacos, venison chili and jerky.

Happy Fall

As many of you know, Fall is one of my favorite times of year. I love Halloween, pumpkins, the smells, and the feel in the air. So, we headed out to pick pumpkins at a local pumpkin patch. I thought it was awesome because every pumpkin was $1, no matter the size. They have a little mailbox set up and you go out in the field, pick your pumpkins, and leave your money in the mailbox. We had a great time and got LOTS of pumpkins!!

Click here to see the rest of our pumpkin picking pictures...

http://picasaweb.google.com/slburke7780/PickingPumpkins#