IRONIC/BLESSED/CABIN FEVER

Life is really ironic sometimes!!!Just a few short hours after my last post on "Having Hope, Not giving up on the year, blah blah blah" I got a call from my sweet Hubby that he was in the hospital. I could tell by his voice that he was in a lot of pain. Those calls always make your heart race and you start thinking the worse, but when he told me the reason he was in the hospital I had to be grateful he was alive and coherent!

If you don't know what my hubby does, then I guess I have to explain...He is a bread route sales driver for Sara Lee. Meaning he goes to work when most of us are barely heading up to bed.(at least that's my routine)He does the same mundane things everyday and tries to mind his own buisness. Well He was heading into one of his stops (I won't say which store, even though most of you know) and had their 300lb industrial door come down on his head, neck and back and foot. Come to find out, this door had been broken for a month and the store did not get it fixed because it would cost too much. Well for how good our luck had been this year, it just happened to finish breaking the second my hubby walked through it...Long story short, He is out of work and on Workers Comp for maybe 3 months with a Compressed Fracture Vertibrae.

Yes he is in pain from this! The fracture will heal, the compression won't, but we feel so blessed right now that a Compressed Fracture was the only thing he has to recover from! When the door came down on his foot a paralyzed old man that only has use of 1/2 his body that worked in the store lifted that 300lb door off my husband so he could get his foot out. Minutes later 2 workers couldn't even lift the door up. We know Angels were there protecting and watching out for him. A week after the accident he went to a spine Dr. and was told that if his injury would have been centimeters over he would of been paralyzed...It still gives me the chills to think about and I have been so grateful to my Heavenly Father for keeping him here!

I still have to go to work, but my boss has aloud me to go to days for awhile so I can be home at nights to help with the kids and get dinner and all that fun stuff. I have loved being home at night with my family and now I will not want to go back to nights, just because I know what I will be missing out on! Well as I am at work my poor hubby is stuck at home with not a lot to do besides light cleaning, kids until I get home and no lifting over 15lbs. Let's just say the "Cabin Fever" is getting to him and it's only been 3 weeks...He needs visitors or a night out for dinner and a movie to keep his sanity, but with no money to waste we have been stuck home every weekend with the occasional Red Box rental. The Cabin Fever is getting to me on the weekends becuase I have had 3 saturdays off in a row and the most excitement we've had is last week when we picked up a free dresser in the rain and snow with my dad and the kids! Yes that was quite the adventure I don't wish to repeat!!!

We've had a crazy year and I'm sure it's not the last of our trials, but we'll survive! We have had so many prayers and so many good people willing to help us and we have felt so blessed and loved! Thank You to everyone, we Love you all!!!!

HOW TO FIND HOPE IN A WORLD THAT SEEMS HOPELESS

It's been almost a year, but I'm ready to start blogging again...(I know I'm shocked to)
It's 2012 and after 3 days I was ready to toss the whole year out the window. After my "Disagreement" (what we will call it) with my father-in-law in the middle of Macey's on New Years Eve my luck went down hill and just kept rolling. I tripped over a cement wall and scraped my leg up 5 min after the "Disagreement", then I woke up New Years Day with a cold. Then Tuesday I fell down our basement stairs carrying our Christmas village (No it did not all survive) and bruised my ever so Buttox and now have a matching elbow to go with my leg... SO YES I have been having my own little pitty Party and hating this year already!!!

Well as I spent the whole day on my couch Wednesday doing absolutely NOTHING but trying to breath and flipping through the channels, I did some thinking...My cold will go away, my bruised butt and scratches will heal, so why am I giving up already? The answers seem simple sometimes, but as we go through life they get more complicated. I know my whole year won't be bad luck (I hope not anyway), but those few days of crappiness got me down so much and I hated every minute! I have a great life! A husband that loves me, 3 beautiful/heathy kids, A home, food, clothing, an amazing extented family, friends, me and my hubby have jobs and so many others...
It makes you feel like such a loser when you have all these blessings, but after a few bad days you start to lose Hope in your life!

Okay I'm not a Political person, if I was honest (which I am)I would honestly tell you that I can't stand it. But as you all know, you can't run or hide from politics, it's everywhere! I have tried to pay attention lately since the Presidential election is coming up and I should care about who becomes President, But I think I've paid more attention because I'm scared for this country and it's future! The economy is almost non-existent and to me that is scary! My bro-in-law just got laid off for the 3rd or 4th time and it's not because he's lazy! Stores and companies are closing and going out of buisness. Prices are going up and salaries are not. People that have not struggled financially, are. When you look and hear about all this crap it's so easy to lose hope and give up! I couldn't tell you all the canditates fighting for the postion of President, (except what my husband tells me)but I know this country and from the last election, I know they will agin choose wrong! We have a guy who goes to church and believes in God that wants to be president, but we will not vote for him because of his Faith! WHY? Everybody wants freedom of speech, religion, freedom to make there own choices, but our government is ruining these freedoms for us... God created the Heavens and the Earth, he created us and all the other things we enjoy. So why do we not want a man that believes in that GOD to run the country? People voted Obama becuase he was the first black president, people wanted Hilary because she would of been the first women. Hello people, Romney would be the first Mormon...I hope he has a chance, but right now he will be my Hope for this country!

So when we feel like the world is crashing down on us, how do we find HOPE? For me, I have always had faith in the bigger picture. I have always belived that God has a plan for me and even though I have wavered at times I always look back and see that bigger picture...Our lives are on a timeline that has been laid out for us before we even came down to this life and for us impatient people it's hard to wait for those events to transpire. I may not see the blessings at the time, but they come. We've been asked to keep the commandments, to love one another, to serve others, to be parents, read scriptures, pray, get married in the Temple,Not put harmful things in our bodies that will kill us, believe, have faith and hope and to not give up! These things take time and yes they are hard work, but if we look at the bigger picture all these things (if we do them) will be worth it!!!

I've went through Low points in my life that made me hate the person I was! I wasn't happy with anything in my life and it showed. In 2010 I finally decided to do some soul searching and change that unhappy Mindi to Happy Mindi. I lost my job at the beginning of 2010 and even though I didn't know what I was going to do, I knew that I needed to make changes. SO I got off the couch and lost 40lbs that year, I got to be a Non working mom and be with my kids, I got to become a Volunteer at the school and at The Church Distribution center, I found a relationship with my sister-in-laws and even though we got in debt and barely made ends meet. It was the best year I've had in along time!!! It's amazing what happens when you finally get out of your little bubbles and make things happen for you and for others! My hope and Faith really blossomed that year. I'm not saying I don't get discouraged and stressed at times, but when I feel that way I just tell myself "It's hard right now, but eventually things will get better!"

People get into such deep depressions that nothing in their lives seem good! They treat others porely and they don't even realize it...You love those people, but it's hard to be around those people! Those people need HOPE in their lives, but until they get off the couch and decide they want to change, they won't. Our father in Heaven loves us and he won't set us up to fail, but we have to put our hands into his and trust that things "will eventually get better!" I've babbled enough for one post, but my Hope for the New Year is that in these hard and troubled times that I won't Lose that Hope!!! Now to make some goals, Happy New Year!!!!!

I

Disney Slides 1

Here is the 1st slide show of our trip! I had so many more pics, but you can only fit so many. These are some of the highlights though!

'DISNEYLAND WAS A BLAST, VEGAS NOT SO MUCH'

Us in front of the Walt & Mickey statue. you have to get a picture in front of this
jayden & Jason w/the cars cars
Sydni got to set on Cinderellas lap at the Goofy breakfast "It was so precious'
We splurged and did the character breakfast with goofy...it was so worth it.

We had such a good time in Disneyland!!! We left Saturday the 24th (Taylors B-Day) and headed to Vegas, because we didn't think the kids would last that long in the car... Next time we're going to drive straight through or fly. Vegas is not a place for kids. I felt like I needed to blindfold them just walking through our junky Hotel. Okay I found the cheapest one I could since we would just be sleeping, in our case NOT sleeping! Since we couldn't go do much, the kids got really bored in the hotel. Then there was some loud show outside the hotel that we could hear until after 11pm, plus Ethan had to sleep in between us and in the middle of the night he started crying for his crib and then he kept needing drinks. it was not a great night for sleep, when you have a 5 hour drive ahead. We did get to see Emily & Mike and the kids which was great.
So we woke up and was out of Vegas by 7:30, which wasn't quick enough. We got to our hotel about noon, but they talked jason into upgrading rooms, but it wasn't going to be ready until 2 or 3, so we headed into Disneyland. and Holey Canoley's it was B.U.S.Y. There was so many people you felt like cattle on a cattle drive. We pretty much just walked, waited, went on a ride, then did more walking and waiting. By the end of the day I could barely walk. (I really should of got in shape before I went) The kids were having a blast though and half way through the day we totally alomst ran into
SELENA GOMEZ..AAHHH. It was so Awesome. My niece Taylor almost touched shoulders with her. She was in a hurry and you could tell she didn't want people to notice her, but we did... Out of all the Disney Stars she is one of my favorites. We were so bummed the rest of the day, because we didn't get a picture & autograph, but it was still cool.
Sunday they had the fun Celebration parade and the fantasmic show, which I was so bummed jason didn't bring the camcorder back when he checked into the hotel. It was cool, even though me Tay and the kids had to wait over an hour to save a decent spot. I tried to record the show with my camera and there's no sound. I should of just took some pics, but it was probably to dark anyway. So after Fantasmic me figured we all had about as much as you can waiting and walking. so we went back to our Hotel (which was so nice). it was a suite and it was so roomy, they even brought us a crib to our room for free. (Eth appreciated that, so did me and jas). Tay even got her own bed. It was amazing how fast everyone would crash at night, even me. I would try and read, but it wasn't happening. the second night I even fell asleep in the tub for over an hour.
The second day I didn't wear socks with my shoes, mistake. I had a blister on my heal and calasses on the bottom of my feet. (which was why I got in the tub) it was still pretty busy on monday, but not as bad as Sunday. We decided to go into California Adventure for a couple of hours on this day. To be honest I wish we would of spent more time there. It wasn't as busy and it was so mush fun. I loved every ride and show that we saw. On our last day we spent more time in California. I even got on California Screamin' with Tay and definetly figured out why it is called that. Wow that rides fast!!! The new Toy Story ride was so awesome to, i would of went on that ride a couple of times, but it was the only ride that actually had a line. Since Syd and Eth wasn't old enough to ride most of the rides, we just had to take turns entertaining them while 2 people went on the ride then we would switch. I would love to go back soon, but I think i want to wait for them to be tall enough to ride all the rides.
All in All it was a great trip! The kids did farely well in the car and the parks. They loved seeing all the characters and they loved having breakfast with goofy and his friends. That was worth the money!!! We didn't see everyone, but the kids didn't care, they were just glad to see who they did. We were so glad Tay came with us, especially Eth, he was her little buddy most of the time. She was a great help, I don't think we would of done as well without her. Wednesday we went into downtown Disney to buy our soveniers before we headed back to Vegas, which none of us was excited about. I made reservations in the same hotel, because it was even cheaper the 2nd night and yes we were on the same side as the loud show, but closer down this time. so it was even louder, but I must have been really tired, because i crashed before the show was even over. So after 2 days in Vegas, 3 days in Disneyland we came home with $35 bucks. (we took $1,000) That is so sad, we even bought snacks and drinks before we left and we would take a cooler with us everyday with water and juices and a backpack with snacks. It saved us a lot, but then sometimes the snacking wasn't enough so we would have to buy stuff from the parks, but it would always be $30-$50 bucks everytime. Then we spent in between $300-$400 on soveiners, $16 bucks a day to ride the shuttle, $90 to rent the 2 strollers we used (worth the money though). Who knows where the rest went! This was definetly a learning trip, so next time I will be well more prepared. I'm going to try and do a slide show, because i took over 200 pics. Hopefully no one fell asleep reading this!!!

Tuckett Clan