Sheba's Mommy

INSPIRATION!!

2011-06-04T08:09:00.000-07:00

It has been a long, loooooonnnng time since I have blogged. I suppose I have just felt that there's just not much for me to blog about....weeeellll...I have something to blog about today!

For the past couple of weeks I have been going over to my dear friend Lura's house. Poor sweet Lura was in a terrible accident in Utah and broke many of her ribs. I have been able to go see her periodically and spend some quality time with her. We have watched movies nearly everyday for the past few days. I took over one of my "Little House on the Prairie" discs that has my favorite episode on it. The episode is called, "Silent Promises." The reason it is my favorite episode is because in this one, Laura meets a young man who is deaf, and teaches him Sign Language. This young man in the episode works at the California School for the Deaf where I worked for some time, and I've seen him many many times, so this episode is special to me. Also it is special because I love American Sign Language so much. I have gone to school and have worked at the deaf school on and off a few times. Sign Language is my passion, but I had let it go because I felt that I was not truly accepted into the deaf community. I tried to talk myself into believing that it wasn't really my calling to work in the deaf community, even though inside I always knew I was wrong. Well, yesterday as Lura and I were watching the episode, we paused it for what we thought would be just a minute while we got something to drink. Before we started it again, Lura started telling me about her daughter who had gone to school for Sign Language and went on a Sign Language mission, and even started a wonderful program for teaching deaf children in AFRICA!! The story was absolutely amazing and very inspiring for me!! As we were talking about all this and I started to reveal my desire to maybe get back into the Sign Language field, her daughter called and I got to talk to her personally and recieve inspiration from her too!! I have decided to get back in school and go back to the deaf school to at least volunteer and follow my dreams!

What a wonderful day!!!!! Like Lura said yesterday, I don't believe my going over there and watching that episode and getting into that conversation and her daughter calling at just the right time was a coincidence. I believe it happened for a reason. I believe it happened because I needed to follow my dreams, and honor what I believe is my calling in life!

Thanks Lura for letting me come and spend time with you. You are a very sweet spirit and are of GREAT WORTH!!!!!!

My Sheba girl

2009-05-29T07:06:00.001-07:00

This is my most cherished cat Sheba! I love her with all of my heart!!!!

Sheba is the sweetest cat I can possibly imagine! She will lay in my arms for hours like a baby and paw at my hand and give me sweet kitty kisses.

When I look at Sheba, my heart just swells up with unconditional love!! I can't imagine my life without her!!

Sheba is getting pretty old now. She is at least sixteen years old. I got her in April of 1995, so I've had her for fourteen years, and she was at the very least already two years old. She has been the best cat in the world!! I hope she will be with me for a long time still. She is a dear, dear animal.

Cruise #2

2009-05-21T12:26:00.000-07:00

Well, there were only two of you who responded to my previous blogs, and you both asked for more pictures...so here are some more. And by the way, thanks to both of you who responded! Big hugs to you!!! Above is when were were up on deck as we approached Victoria, BC. We were up on deck early, and it was very very cold, and I then remembered I brought a snow cap with me that I had bought when Aunt Jann and Uncle Ken moved to Big Bear. I'm glad I took it on this trip...cute huh? LOL!! I joke that this was the cutest I looked on this trip, hahahaha.

I sure enjoyed the Butchart Gardens in Victoria!! Sure wish we had more time there!!

My good cruising buddy Bonnie learned that I only want my picture taken from the waist up. I was always glad when she took one mostly of my upper body area and NOT of the hips! hehehe

Here is another "professional" one they took. I liked that I could hide those hips behind this sign. lol!

I posted a pic of myself and our head waitress, but here is one of our wonderful assistant waiter "Art". He was such a sweetheart!! I'll post more in a day or so. There's LOTS of pics!! Thanks to those who come by my blog and leave comments. There aren't many who stop by my blogs and take the time to read and comment. I guess I should advertise more that I'm a blogger! tee hee! LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

Carnival Splendor and Canada

2009-05-18T12:41:00.001-07:00

This past week I went on a 7 day cruise on the Carnival Splendor. I had a wonderful time!!

Here above is our wonderful head waitress Ni from Indonesia. She was the best waitress we could have asked for! She was always all smiles, as was her assistant waiter "Art."

We visited Victoria and Vancouver, BC. They were absolutely beautiful!! We got to go to the Butchart and Butterfly Gardens. This picture was actually taken in Vancouver at one of the stops on the tour.

This may look like one of the gardens we visited, but it's actually in Vancouver right near the Lion's Gate Bridge. Tulips seemed to be thriving there right now!

One cool thing they had on the ship was proffesional photography on the "Elegant Evening" nights. This is one of the pictures from that night that I bought.

My sweet roommate Bonnie and I had a great time going around the ship and taking pictures.

As you can see we had a lot of fun taking pictures at various areas on the massive ship! We took so many pictures, there's not nearly enough time to post them all.

Thanks to my sweet friend Lura I had this opportunity to take this fun vacation....thanks Lura!!!!!!!

Here was our first day on board. We actually hadn't even left Long Beach yet, but we were ready for some photo ops!! It was a great time! Maybe I'll have to do an additional post and put some more stories and pictures up. :)

CRUISE!!

2009-05-03T20:05:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd put it out there that a week from today I'm going on a 7 day cruise with some friends from church! We're leaving out of Long Beach and the port stops are going to be San Fransisco, Seattle WA, Vancouver and Victoria in CANADA!! How fun is that!!? Thanks Lura for asking if any of us could come! And thanks to my mom for offering to pay for it!! I am sooo excited!! Aside from Long Beach, I've never been to any of those places and I am so thrilled to be going to see them! It's so cool because my friend Lura asked me about going today and we leave in a week! I'm so glad I don't have to wait a long time before going. It's so cool! And Lura was able to get a great deal for me and all who is going. Yay!!!

AAAHHHHH

2009-03-24T10:26:00.000-07:00

Alright, I know it's been like, MONTHS since I've posted. I have just been crazy for some time now. I'm dealing with a lot in my life at this point...good things and bad things...but aren't we all?

But instead of focusing on the bad things, I want to focus on the good things. So from the inspiration of my dear friend Lura's weekly blogs, I'm going to post six things I can smile about, because that's what we should always focus on! So here they are.

1. My supportive family. Especially my mom! She has put up with so much with all of my problems and issues and has held strong. My family never puts me down when I think I have failed, and that is certainly something to smile about!

2. The BEST cat in the world! My cat Sheba ALWAYS makes me smile, even if I'm down in the dumps! She is the sweetest, most beautiful and precious cat I could ever hope to have. I wish she could live with me till the day I die! She is the best!!!

3. An absolutely AWESOME dog!! Our dog Sundance is such a sweetheart! He is such a loving dog and he is just gorgeous to boot! Animals are such a blessing in our lives, especially when we are going through hard times.

4. This should really be at the top of the list. The gospel of Jesus Christ makes me smile, actually, it makes me BEAM! When I truly think of the wonderfulness that is our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost, I get all warm inside and my heart swells. If I didn't have this in my life, who knows what I would be doing with myself!

5. Being called to be the Young Women's Secretary makes me smile!! I've always wanted to have a calling in the Young Women's program, and now I have. And I couldn't be luckier because we have the best young women I could imagine and the best leaders for me to work with I could imagine!!! I am so blessed to be called to this wonderful position!

6. I had the pleasure of going up to Utah this weekend and visiting with family I hardly ever get to see exept maybe once or twice a year if I'm lucky. We only got to spend one day up there. It was a very last minute trip, but I was so happy to have the opportunity to go spend the day with them! It was a thrill!

It's really nice to be able to take the time to count the blessings in my life. There are more blessings and reasons for me to smile than I listed, and I want to always be mindful of them and to thank my Heavenly Father for each blessing that I have.

Holly's baby slings

2009-01-31T14:40:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to help give a little P.R. to my sweet cousin Holly who has started her own little side business of making Baby Slings. I don't know too much about them excpet the Holly swears by these slings. They're apparently much better than regular baby pouch holders. You can hold your baby comfortably while doing housework or other things. If anybody wants to spread the word that would be cool. She's got all the info at her new blogspot at this address:

www.slingalongbabyslings.blogspot.com

Holly's an absolute sweetheart and I don't think you could find anyone greater to do some business with. She's smart as a whip and has a heart of gold.

Love to all,

Chelsea

Auntie Chelsea and her new career path

2009-01-29T20:32:00.001-08:00

Here is my first and only nephew with my Dad (and his proud Grandpa). I am the proud Aunt of my brother Brock's son Thomas Joseph Waugh. Brock is my half brother, my Dad's youngest son. I have another half brother named Brandon. Now I'm an Aunt for the first time ever! Yay!!! He's such a cutie!

Now for my other news! As of today I have decided on a new career path. Up until now I figured I would probably be a Sign Language Interpreter. For a long while now, I've felt that's not what I really wanted to do with my life. Lately I have felt like I would like to do something I have more experience with, something that was more personal to me. I have decided to go the direction of Psychology. I have dealt with mental health issues most of my life, and I feel like this career would benefit me as well as others. I would like to explore the different career options involved with psychology, but I was thinking along the lines of being a counselor to those with chemical dependency. I am very excited to start my studies in this new field. I am now really looking forward to my life ahead!

It's a New Year!!

2009-01-10T09:34:00.000-08:00

Well it's been since October since I've posted a blog! I think it's about time I posted another, don't you think? lol I thought I would post my main New Year's resolution. I don't usually make New Year's resolutions, because I've never seemed to keep them when I've made them in the past. But who cares, I'm going to do it this time!

#1 Resolution: Lose 50 lbs. this year!

I've lost 170 lbs so far from my highest weight of 389 lbs. When I weighed last Monday, I weighed in at 219 lbs. Last weekend when my family was over at our house, I was saying to my Uncle Kenny how I'm going to try to lose fifty pounds this year. He told me, "Don't say you'll try, say you'll do it. Whether you say you can or you can't, either way you'll be right." I've heard him say this before, but it's so true. We have to have the right thinking. So, I AM going to lose 50 pounds this year! I'm going to try and develop a new lifestyle. I'm going to try and improve myself all around. I have so many flaws that I want to improve on. I will do it!

I have some other resolutions too, but I won't list them here. I am posting a couple of pictures that were just recently taken. Thanks for coming and reading my blog!!

Costume party

2008-10-19T18:51:00.000-07:00

My mom and Nancy and I went to a costume party this past Friday and we had a really good time. I went as a Roman Goddess. hehe

Cousins

2008-10-10T08:49:00.001-07:00

As an only child, I grew up with my cousins being like my brothers and sisters. I was very close to a great many of them. This blog is to honor my dear cousins who have provided me with a lot of love throughout my life! Without them, I would have been a lot more lonely growing up. Above is my sweet cousin Rachel who is 11 years younger than me, but despite the age different, we've been very close...she now is married and has a new baby girl! She is a sweetheart!

To the left is my cousin and one of my best friends in the world, Holly. We were as close as could possibly be while growing up. Holly is five years younger than me, but I was always a little young for my age and Holly was always a little older for her age, so we averaged out real nice! She is now married and has four beautiful children.

Above Holly and I is a picture of my wonderful cousin Jenny (in the orange shirt and sunglasses). There is a THIRTEEN year age difference between us, therefore, while we were very young we weren't that close, but we have made up for that now, because she is now not only a wonderful cousin, but a very dear friend as well. She is studying to be a firefighter and has the best boyfriend named Rick. I love my Jenny dearly!

To the left here is my cousin Cindi, and we grew up being very close friends and cousins. She always lived far away, but she would come out and visit us a lot during the summers and we just loved eachother so much and still do! She is a great gal and is only 2 years younger than me and has a great husband and four pretty little girls!

SO HERE'S TO COUSINS EVERYWHERE, YOU'RE AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finished!

2008-09-24T14:40:00.000-07:00

I am actually done with all four of the "Twilight" books. It's bittersweet. I am sad to be done with them because I will really miss them, yet I am happy because now I know how it all turned out. No more worries there! :D Thanks again Lura so much for introducing me to "Twilight". I loved them so much!!

Six things that have made me smile this past week...

2008-09-15T09:45:00.000-07:00

My good friend Lura posted a blog about six things that made her smile within the past week, it is such a wonderful idea to do such a thing! So, here are mine...

1. My mom's outrageously cute and fun sense of humor! She has made me smile so much with how wonderfully funny she can be!!

2. The fact that my mom has now lost at least 102 lbs!! How awesome is that!?

3. My job has made me smile quite a bit, and I feel so blessed to have such a perfect job for me!

4. School is wonderful, there couldn't be another class I'd rather be taking! It makes me smile a whole lot!

5. Reading the Twilight books, which I have been going through rather rapidly.

6. Just last night on the bus with the deaf kids, one of the girls was playing with a stuffed monkey and was making it use sign language and she was signing back to it, it was so cute and funny, it really made me smile big!

Thanks Lura for the wonderful idea to remember the things that have made me smile this past week...and I'll even add a seventh thing....#7. Writing this blog!

Worried!

2008-09-12T22:45:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know that I've posted a lot of blogs on my feelings about the "Twilight" series, and I feel I must do it again. I am about three quarters of the way through the third installment called "Eclipse". I am so worried how it's going to end because my cousin-in-law told me that she read all of them and she really liked "Twilight" but the rest of them all got worse with each one...so I'm REALLY worried about how this will end! I know I need to relax, it's just a fictitious novel about vampires and werewolves, but I can't help it, LOL. For those of you who have read all of the novels, if you have any words of comfort (without giving anything big away) please send them my way. I'll be on to the fourth novel within a few days I'm sure, so I'll find out soon. So yeah, that's my worrisome babble for now, hehehe. Thanks for listening!

Behunin Reunion

2008-09-08T09:47:00.001-07:00

This was taken at the 2008 Behunin Family Reunion in Mt. Carmel Utah just outside of Zion Nat'l Park. It was a reunion for the descendants of Isaac Behunin, who was the first settler of Zion and gave it its name. I'm proud to be the great-great-great Granddaughter of such a neat man. It was a wonderful reunion with lots of my awesome cousins there...I wish they could have all been there, but it was still fun nonetheless. I am in charge of next year's reunion...I'm not sure what I've gotten myself into! LOL

Better!

2008-09-08T05:07:00.000-07:00

Okay, now I feel SOOO much better about the "Twilight" books again now that I've finished reading "New Moon" (I was thrilled at how much better it got toward the end!!) and I am at the beginning of "Eclipse". I am so hooked to these books. Even when I wasn't thrilled with "New Moon" it still took me just less than a week to finish it. So I guess I still really enjoyed it! LOL I can get youtube here at my house on my internet, but it's so much better at my school library, so I have even been going early for my Sign Language class so I have plenty of time to park and then go to the school library, put on the computer headphones, and watch all the clips from the new "Twilight" movie...blissful!! Thanks to Grammy Staffy for referring her fellow bloggers to come visit my blogspot! It's been great! Thanks for visiting everybody, please come back often!

Ugh!

2008-09-05T11:23:00.000-07:00

Okay, I am over halfway through "New Moon" and I am very upset. I won't say why for those of you who have not read the books and still want to, but I am very unhappy with how this book is going. It's still interesting on some levels, but nothing like the wonderful "Twilight" was! Okay, enough said. LOL

Twilight!

2008-08-26T18:10:00.000-07:00

Okay, this may sound silly, but I went out and bought all four books of the "Twilight" series before I even looked carefully at any of the books. I bought them totally based on what a friend was saying and the little clip she showed me on youtube. I was really looking forward to reading them, and really hoping that I would enjoy them as much as so many people seemed to. Well, I've only read the first two chapter of the first book and..........I'M HOOKED!! I already love Edward, feel like Bella is a long lost friend, and wish I could go to school in Forks, WA. Yeah, I know, a lot of feeling I'm having for only two chapters, but yet, it's true! So, thanks Lura for the recommendation!!

Our beautiful Sunny boy!

2008-08-24T17:19:00.001-07:00

Sundance just got a bath and he looks so gorgeous! We are so proud of our boy! He was so good for his bath, what a sweetheart he is. :)

Dear Nancy

2008-08-21T19:46:00.000-07:00

What a dear friend Nancy is! She and my mom are my best friends!! They've been so good to me!

MY Mommy!

2008-08-21T19:44:00.001-07:00

Isn't she GORGEOUS!? And she is such a sweetheart too! I love my own sweet Momma soooo much!!

My sleepy girl

2008-08-21T19:40:00.001-07:00

As you can probably tell, I woke Sheba up to take this picture. lol She is the best cat I could ask for! She makes me soooo happy!!

Me and my Karate instructor Sempai Frank

2008-08-21T11:38:00.001-07:00

This was at the Karate Banquet where I recieved my first belt and an award given to me my my Karate instructor (shown here) for "Most Improved Student". May 2008

Sundance, Heidi and I

2008-08-21T03:06:00.001-07:00

We love Sundance and Heidi so much! Sundance is ours and Heidi belongs to friends from church. Sunny and Heidi are actually brother and sisters and best friends to boot!

Hello all!

2008-08-20T18:02:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Welcome to my new blog! I am excited to explore blogspot.com! My name is Chelsea and I live in Southern California. I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and I love my ward sooo much!! I am living with my mom and a long time family friend and am going to school and studying American Sign Language and am going back to work at the School for the Deaf. I have two cats, Sheba and Emmy. Sheba is my little pride and joy. She is my baby and I love her soooo much!! My mom is my best friend and the best mom I could ask for! More blogging to come....