New Zealand!

North Island.  We'll be living South of Hamilton.

Our new home.  A lot of land, big trees and sheep.

So the word is out (or starting to get out I hear) that the Watson family is packing their bags and heading south, VERY far south to almost the end of the earth to live in New Zealand.  It is true!  Cordell has an opportunity to work in New Zealand in a small town as their Doctor for a few short months.  Short enough for us to be able to return back to our life here in California pretty easily but long enough for the kids to go to school there and get the full experience of New Zealand life.

We are really excited for this adventure and time to take our family to a new place, to learn a new culture and a new way of life.  It will be hard to leave some of our responsibilities and our lives here but this is a once in a lifetime opportunity that we feel blessed to be able to experience.

So I guess we'll see you all later.

Dear Santa,

The bird's been eaten, the pies have been consumed and the pants have been stretched beyond any safety limit so what does that mean? Bring on the CHRISTMAS MUSIC! Get out the DECORATIONS, start eating the TREATS and in my kids case, get your LISTS made STAT!

Walker has made quite the work on this years list leaving nothing behind and I mean NOTHING! I think this kid has been thinking about it ALL year long. "Hmmm, think what do I want...(scribble scribble, scratch scratch as smoke starts coming from his paper). You know that scene from "A Christmas Story" where Ralphy using his decoder to find the secret code from Little Orphan Annie. He's working away so intently with his little tongue moving around and his fingers moving so fast. Ya' that was Walker writing down his Christmas list. And after a little while and days of adding to his list he ended up with 4 pages of items and this is some of what he came up with. I sure hope Santa can deliver. Or someone!

• Harry Potter DS Game
•  T.V. for my room
• Remote Control Shark
• Lawn Darts
• Electronic Chop Sticks
• Fake Mustache
• A Band
• Round Harry Potter Glasses
• Plastic Sword
• Spoons
• Creepy Crawlers
• Church Vest and Coat
• Baseball Bat (not wood)
• Flashlight that never EVER brakes
• Paint for my room
• Colored Paper
• Clown nose, hair and shirt
• Mail box
• Giant bowl of apples
• Target to throw rocks at
• 3 large trees (to plant in the back yard)
• Pocket knife for camping
• Balloons
• Harry Potter Wand (wood please)
• 3 tree houses to put in the trees we plant (see above)
• Kindle fire 
• 500 dollars, 50 or 100

I say that's a pretty good list. With a broad list like this I'm sure he won't be disappointed. This is also coming from the same kid who a few years ago sat on Santa's lap at the mall and whispered in Santa's ear that all he wanted was an eye patch. Guess what he got in his stocking that year.....

On the Up and Up

I knew it wouldn’t take long.  Well, at the time I did but looking back I guess it really didn’t take too long to get out of that sad funk I was in. 

What was it that got me out of it and so quickly?  It was YOU!  A lot of phone calls, texts, sweet visits all from very dear friends and more specifically, a little bit of this:

Thanks for caring.  Thanks for sharing your advice, your music, your time and more importantly your solid heart.  A liquid has been made in to a solid!

I love you all so very much!

My Melted Heart

  Do you ever have those moments when  your heart actually melts  and forms into tears and wells  in your eyes where they sit there all day waiting to drip from time to time reminding you that your heart is till aching and is still melting?

How do you fix your saddened heart?  How do you tell it things will be alright and it’s ok to go back inside where you can protect it again where it can be safe and warm?

I have flowers that my eyes can look at and sometimes that helps.  I have great friends that listen to in hopes that will dry up some of those tears.  Is there a song that will sooth and soften the heart?  A good movie?  Perhaps a good dessert?  Maybe just a good nap?

I feel sad wiping away these tears because they are pieces of my heart that hurt for so many reasons.  Is there a way to keep these tears from falling from my eyes today?  To keep these pieces of my melted heart?

A tribute

 

It’s nice to see where Walker’s heart lies.  As I am sitting here on the computer this very minute, he is sorting the clean laundry singing “God Bless America.”  Either he loves his country or loves clean clothes.

Maybe this is where it started with me as a child (you know about my imaginary dishwasher don’t you) and my love for clean things.

Time Out For Women

Since I’m either to lazy or busy to write up my own post about it I’ll just put a link to my sisters blog who’s already done it.   

http://uzelicious.blogspot.com/2011/03/time-out-for-women.html

I wish this meant I got a free ticket to the event.

Patches, we don’t need no…..

Alright so maybe we do need those stinkin’ patches!

Abby has started girl scouts this year and with that comes the joy of selling girl scout cookies!  I really hope that this new experience will not result in my families one and only girl scout experience my sister had.  You know the one where she sold cookies and when they came her other younger siblings ate all the cookies and my mom had to apologize and pay back all the money.   We just thought the world had give a bunch of little kids the best gift ever,  cookies appearing out of no where just for us!

So if you’d like, please help a little girl out and order away!  I promise I’ll keep them out of reach of her younger brothers.  Feel free to leave an order under the comment section or email us at rebeccauwatson@gmail.com  .

With each order she will personally include one free hug.  Unless that makes you uncomfortable then she’ll just give you a high five.

Thanks to all and here’s to the best season of the new year.  I think is should be an official holiday season, Girl Scout Cookie Season.

Love to all,

Abigail and mom Watson

BUZI all the way!

So if you haven’t already heard me talk about, write about or just plain met her yourself then you are missing meeting and knowing one of the coolest girls ever…..my SISTER!

How cool is she you ask?  Well I’ll just let you take a looksie yourself….  Go on, I’ll wait.

http://www.themormonbachelor.com/2011/01/date13-kristy-uzelac.html

See.  If you don’t believe me then check out what they say here…

http://realitymormon.blogspot.com/2011/01/date-13-kristy.html

Now if you agree then vote for her to go on a second date.  Just click the “like” button on the mormon bachelor page and while you are there make a comment to support this chick.

Good luck sister!

From Rebecca to Juliet

Dear Juliet,

My name is Rebecca.  The Guernsey Literary Club probably hasn’t mentioned of me since they have never met me.  I too am new to their society as I have just learned of it through their correspondence with you.

Like the members of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society I feel my life has also been like theirs during the occupation.  Not in the way that the Germans are taking over but in the sense that I have allowed other things to take over my life the past 20 yrs.  Occupied by things of the world that I haven’t been involved in any literary works other than Super Fudge.  I think they would laugh at me if I were to take a turn during their society meetings to talk about such a simple book.

What I have learned through the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is like them, I have a new found love for reading.  The way it has taken my mind places that it had otherwise never been.  The adventures, respect for other’s opinions and experiences and the way the words on the page can change my emotions in an instance is miraculous.

I admire you and hope your new journey takes you places you thought they never would or wouldn’t have wanted.  I know my journey has and will continue to do so.

Respectfully,

Rebecca

p.s. Thanks for your great book, “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.”  Now I can mark that one off my list.

Another bit of change

Continuing on from the last post lets talk about number 2.  No, not THAT #2 but the second thing I don’t like that is changing in me.

I have always hated is purses.  Just the word itself is a little silly to me.  I like the way they look, people look good with them but I’ve never been one to carry a big over the shoulder purse (did you think I was going to say something else?  You’re silly.)

Well it wasn’t until my sweet sister shared something with me that she is sharing with the world.  Her face and her story.

It started with a bag called the Miche Bag.  I hadn’t heard of it before but it’s amazing.  They made a bag in support of cancer and in doing so they have asked cancer survivors to be a part of it.

My sister is a cancer survivor and after a few photo shoots her tag was made.  A tag that comes with the purchase of the Hope bag.  It is being launched this month and if you haven’t seen the bag I encourage you to check it out.  Or check me out because I’ve been sporting it all around town and people love it.  Plus I have her tag hanging on the bag as well so naturally people do ask.  Here she is..

The bag is amazing but my sister is more amazing!

So because of my sister, what better reason to start carrying a bag.  Yep, I still refuse to call it a purse!

A New Year and a New Me

Many of you may or may not know the real me.    I have pretty good opinions on things I like and don’t like and for good reasons too.  It may just be things that are odd and annoy me or they could very well be things that go deeper that have been rooted in my soul from a very young age.  I won’t share them with you for fear I’ll probably offend some if not every reader in some way.

Among this list are two things that are changing me as we speak.

First is READING.  Here is where you either really know me or you don’t.  I hate reading.  I don’t read.  Don’t care for it, don’t enjoy it and don’t like being around people that do it.  Maybe it’s because I had a relative that read her way through her entire adolescence and never socialized with us.  I’d rather be out playing in the sun, making mud pies, laying in warm gutter water, laying on the hot cement to dry off after swimming and finding things in the field across from my house that I swore belonged to the pioneers.

I have a list, a very short list of the books I have read.  The Book of Mormon and Super Fudge.  Told you I don’t like to read.

BUT something has changed in me.  I guess I’m getting old.  I have a desire to read.  I used to say “why read when you can just watch the movie”.  My new goal is to read before watching the movie.

With that I have just finished “Secret Life of Bees” and tried to read “Hunger Games”.  I’m starting to read “Water for Elephants” and that’s just the start.  My sister and I set a goal to read one book a month and start my own little library of good books. 

Here is my list so far based on recommendations from people I trust and not just because the book cover looks cool:

 

Crossing to Safety

Geurnsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society

I Captured a Castle

The Screwtape Letters

The Help

Little Bee

The Alcheimist

Three Cups of Tea

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

In Defense of Food

 

Any other suggestions?

Stay tuned and I’ll give my review on what I’ve read from a new readers perspective.

Oh and I’ll post about the second thing on my list too….