to my husband,

                                                                 you are here:

i am here:

six years ago we were here:

that was cool.

let's get together and do something fun.

happy anniversary to us.

love you.

birthday love

my baby girl is two today.

one favorite thing of mine that she does is

when she hasn't seen me for longer than a couple minutes

and then she finds me she always says,

"mom, i sought i yaost you!" (i.e. "mom, i thought i lost you!")

she's been potty trained since 19 months old

she loves babies and dogs but cries when others cry or dogs bark loudly

she has always been incredibly sensitive
can't imagine life with out our girl #2

happy birthday my sweet camille

these two

                                              are the best of friends.
                                                                
                                            they have similar interests,

(although camille is a bit more daring)

they both are hams and love to make each other laugh,

and they choose the other first to play with.

if you ask me, the best part about this sisterhood is the love.

jill watches out for camille and always wants to help her.

camille always wants to be by jill's side and frequently asks,

"where's jill?".

i hope it never changes.

Untitled from Alisha on Vimeo.



Untitled from Alisha on Vimeo.

Our roots say we're sisters, our hearts say we're friends.

easter

you know you love it.

i feel like easter is always made better when we get to

listen to general conference the same weekend.

speaking of conference; in light of the most recent holiday
(mother's day) see the following from conference on
easter morning:

LDS.org - Ensign Article - Mothers Teaching Children in the Home

beside the insipration gleened from the apostles we had

a lot of family time.

there was peterson time,

there was taylor time,

and there was cousin time.

eggs were colored

and searched for

it was a weekend of happiness.

Arizona Winters cont.

Urban Hiking from gardiner4 on Vimeo.


we hiked the famous camelback mountain in Jan with some friends.
would i do it again? yes
do i love my Arizona Winters? yes

(credit for video goes to the beautiful hayley)

Arizona Winters

since i've been working this winter i've been taking

advantage of the Arizona Winter on my days off.

jeff and i ran in a few local races.

pushing the girls isn't so easy to run distance

but the weather and euphoria of working-out makes it fun.

i even ran my first 10k non-stop.

the girls enjoyed the kiddo activities while there.
the petting zoo is always a favorite
and jill loves to get beautified.

i took the girls to the Phoenix Ballet.

they were inspired to mimic the statues

outside of the auditorium. 

we became famous with the neighborhood children

for the RED DRAGON.

Arizona Winters make me love it here.

holiday happenings (part 3)

as a child at home christmas was the cat's meow

as a young adult the meow had changed

no more excitment, just happiness to be surrounded by family

as a childless couple the meow changed again

for us, it was a time of prosperity that we had to gift eachother well

now, wtih kiddos around, the meow is back and better than ever 

the girls loved wearing a special dress and getting curls

jillian loved watching the grinch and still talks about him.

camille enjoying playing with the wooden nativity while we told the

story of baby jesus

mostly though, christmas 2009 was special because of two little

faces that we live for.

(not that you can see those faces in the following picture.)

in honor of the Earth

i'm chowing on my favorite chips:

planting "full-sun" flowers

b/c we all know what kind-of heat is just around the corner,

and introducing cool arizona animals to the kids.

HAPPY EARTH DAY
happy to have it
happy to use it
happy to give back to it.

we're packing it up

the home sold

papers are signed

we're packing it up

we're moving on

not sure where

didn't think i'd cry

then i was released from SS

sad to say bye to our first home

and great neighbors

excited for new adventures...

holiday happenings (part 2B)

the snow was coming down.

the christmas lights had to go up.

our attempt didn't last long

but we had fun while we worked.

after the snow was done falling we played and played.

camille was less enthusiastic about packed snow play than the flakes.

jill got a good meal or two of snow in while we were amongst the mountains.

the polar in express:

after cleaning spilt hot chocolate and

soothing overly-tired babies Mrs. Clause finally made an appearance.

olivia and jill were content for a bit until they remembered who we came for.

camille couldn't take her eyes off the big man in red.

jillian was so excited she was the first child on the way back to grab

the mic from the conductor and sing 'twinkle, twinkle'.

(next-up: jeff's mullet and other redneck activities)

holiday happenings (part 2A)

after Thanksgiving the Taylor girls were itching for a dose of Peterson love, mountain air, and Christmas snow. we got what we wanted:

mom performed some holiday tap numbers at a Christmas party and jill fell in love...



Untitled from Alisha on Vimeo.

later in the week uncle brett entertained the girls the best way he knows how:


Untitled from Alisha on Vimeo.

more to come from our fun in the sun...i mean snow.

coming soon...

what

is

this?

holiday vacation to the Peterson's

holiday happenings of the past (part 1)

wonderful second family

awesome husband hair

princess daughter

blindingly bright shirt

connecting with 1st cousins once-removed

chillin with crazy big dogs

Thanksgiving 2009       

2010

i can't wait for the arial skiing, speed skating, snowboard half-pipe, downhill ski races, and everything else!

my love for the winter olympics started as a very little girl watching figure skating with my mom and sister.

my obsession was enhanced when jon went on a mission to jamacia and my family and i got hooked on the movie Cool Runnings.

i see pride.

i see power.

i see a bad a** mother,

who don't take no crap off nobody!

i will use this mantra as i groom my children to become Olympians

so i can fulfill my dreams through them.

live and let die

 i've been picking up more hours at my old hospital. the one i worked at as a new nurse. the one i learned how to start iv's in any vein including the neck, knuckle, and toe. the one that i saw my first "code" aka dead person we are trying to bring back to life. the one that i saw my first dead baby. she was three months old, the prettiest little hispanic baby you've ever seen. full head of thick dark hair. long black eyelashes. beautiful. dead. we couldn't save her. the mother couldn't bring herself to hold the baby let alone even go into the room. i stayed with the lifeless baby in my arms...i just couldn't leave the tiny body alone in the big dark room. i held her until it was time for her to go the morgue. many experiences i've had at this hospital are imprinted into my mind and spirit never to leave me.

the other day i was at this hospital on my lunch break. (i like to step off the floor and get away for 30 mins to take a deep breath and re-group when i can.) in the cafeteria there is a juke-box. i love juke-boxes. it reminds of the pizza hut in fallon. good memories. anyway, i found and played the song live and let die. great song.

i have quite the commute from work to home. 40 minutes on a good day. my stereo in the car is out. these two factors leave me plenty of time to ponder.

this hospital i've been at lately has an incredibly high level of acuity as i'm sure you've already presumed. it's not uncommon to participate in more than two codes per shift and have three other patients that are close to coding. this particular day that i played the song i had really sick patients.

i guess my point to all this rambling is this: are you prepared to live? are you prepared to die? more, are you prepared to see your loved ones die? are you helping your loved ones live? what extent would you want me to work on saving your life if it came down to it? i have a friend that has told me multiple times to save him at all costs. really, you want to live on a ventilator that breathes for you for the rest of your life?

for the record: if i'm brain dead let me go. if i'm on a vent longer than one month without improvment let me go. if my legs were severed off and i'll never Zumba again save me.

some advice: don't take life for granted. it can be gone in an instant. i see it daily when i'm at work. an instant.

more advice: live and let die. if your grandpa is dying and he is 90 and lived a good life, let him go and don't make a scene. if it's your spouse and he's young and healthy, then you can make a scene while i'm  working on saving his life.

remember: death is a part of this life. live great until it comes then go gracefully.

p.s. excuse the randomness. written after 11 hours of helping heal sicko's at the hospital.
p.s. at some point, hopefully soon, i will post of all our happenings at the end of 2009 and all the fun we've had as of late.