It's Official!!

I received my AA degree!! :)

Beautiful Sunset

Church Winter Camp

Megan and Tasha were scheduled to attend Church Winter Camp last week! As the crew were loading up the vans and getting more and more excited, the church camp up in Big Bear called the church to cancel the camp due to bad weather. All roads leading to Big Bear were closed! The kids were so disappointed. I was a bit nervous after all the rain we had all week if it was safe to travel up over the Grapevine and on to the San Bernardino Mountains. Even with the sad faces, the youth pastor invited the kids to stay and have pizza and movie after they got the call! We will try again next year!

A Full Week of Rain!

Wow, did Bakersfield have the rain last week! It rained all week long! In between storms I was able to capture some amazing pictures......enjoy!

Winter Formal

Andrew attended Winter Formal on Saturday, January 16th!

Happy 75th Birthday MOM!

On the weekend of January 15-17th, my mom turned 75 year old. My mom wanted a Mother/Daughters Weekend out at the coast.

The weather was beautiful! The temperature perfect!

We had lunch at the Indigo Moon in Cambria. Wine, cheese, fruit, greek salad!

We walked around to a few shops. Enjoyed some special time together. We played games at night! Watched movies.

On Saturday night, my mom enjoyed lobster by the seashore. It was delicious! With a special Italian Lemon Cake for dessert!

Book 4 Finished

I just finished my 4th book out of 50 for 2010! Take Two by Karen Kingsbury

My favorite line in the book: (I texted this to Mark the moment I read it!)

"The key to life isn't looking for safe sameness with every passing season. Its learning to enjoy the ride, whatever the next turn in the road might bring. Believing in God's driving, and He'll get us home safely - however bumpy the trip!"

Updated book list 2010

Here is my update list:
Mary's 50 book list for 2010
1. My Life in France by Julia Child and Alex Prud'Homme 363 pages
2. Bed Of Roses by Nora Roberts 368 pages
3. Southern Lights by Danielle Steele 336 pages

2010 book list

Here is the website where I am going to keep track of my 50 books of 2010! If I forget to add my books on my blog I will definetely be adding them here!


http://www.shelfari.com/groups/10773/discussions/173195/Marys-50-book-list-for-2010

This is great.....

Mark decided to go out and grab a quick snack/bite to eat around 230pm today. Since the high school was getting out we also picked up Andrew and noticed that Ryan was walking home with the girl that he likes...... We followed them. We stopped Ryan and asked him if Cassie and him wanted to join us. He said he would ask. Again we watched him walk over to her and she nodded. Ryan comes back to the car says she would like that but would have to ask. We again, followed them walking down the street together to her house. So picture this, Mark, Andrew, Briggor and I are in the car.........following Ryan and Cassie as they walk down the street. You think they would have jumped in the car for a ride to her house? But, no! Can you say that we looked like a Stalker???? LOL After a quick conversation with her parents....off to BJ's Restaurant we went for a afternoon snack.

We had a wonderful conversation at BJ's Restaurant and got to know Ryan's Girl/Friend. She is sooo pretty, quiet, beautiful smile. Ryan informed us that they have so much in common. Ryan and Cassied spent some time coloring and laughing quietly together and they also participated in our chat. We chatted, laughed, listened as Ryan and Andrew teased each other, enjoyed each other's company.

We headed home and had to drop off Ryan's girl first. We were so surprised that Ryan jumped out of the car after Cassie. He said to us "I'm staying with her!"....... He walked her to the door. I guess Mark and I provided the quiet moment that Ryan needed to seize the moment and asked Cassie to be his girlfriend. :) Young love is so sweet......

So....it looks like the Winter Formal is a MUST at this moment? right? :) Guess when it is................NEXT weekend?!?!?!?!? LOL

Start the checklist: money, tickets, suit for Ryan, corsage (do they still do that?), ride to and from, pictures.....?????? This is so wonderful!!!

PERSONAL CHALLENGE

I decided tonight with help from this website for book clubs....www.shelfari.com .

I have decided to accept the challenge to read 50 books in 2010. I will do my best to keep tabs in here and also on the website.

1. My Life is France by Julia Child and Alex Prud'Homme
2. Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts

How I feel when I don't get enough SLEEP.......

Well, ask anyone who lives under this roof with me and they will say that I am unapproachable, cranky, b*tchy, irritable, short fuse.....I'm sure there are more adjectives. LOL There are days that are so long it feels like I have been on my feet for more than 24 hours. There is always something to do around the house, errands to run, something the children need, laundry, cleaning, bills to pay, organizing, driving places, kids asking questions (that is a big one - think about this for a second.....8 kids and if they all ask just 5 questions...which is NEVER the case...I am dumbing that down a bit.....do the math...that's 40 questions that my brain has to process and reply to) . By the end of the day, I just want some peace and quiet!

Sleep is something that I treasure deeply. I need it to keep going everyday. I need it to renew my body so I can start again. About a week ago, I had a few nights that I just couldn't relax and sleep. It was probably do to the post holiday stress! They were the WORST nights! Have you ever had nights where you think you are sleeping but you never totally REM sleep. Like you are sort of awake and resting all night. Don't like those nights at all! That's the kind of sleep that I slept last week. There is so much going on in our everyday life that I constantly am thinking about it. I just can't shut it off at night and sleep.

I now am in favor of the drug Xanax! It is a great relief to me that one little tiny pill can totally relax me and let me fall asleep! The two nights last week that I didn't sleep was when I didn't take the pill because I was out! LOL

Without my sleep I am not a happy person to live with. I need the sleep to keep the family moving forward and in the right direction.

How the Mendenhall's celebrated New Years Eve 2010!

Our family had a blast staying home on New Years Eve. As you can see by the pics....some of us played games, danced to the music, drank and everyone made midnight!! As a family, we toasted in the New Year!! Good times, good memories......on to a new decade!!

Fall Semester Grades!!

Well, my grades are finally in for my final semester at Taft College. I took 2 classes to finish my AA degree in Liberal Arts. I received an "A" in Health and a "B" in Alegebra!!! WHOOooooHOOOooo! So glad that is over! I now can check the AA degree off my to do list! It has only taken me 20 years to get there. Better late than never, right?