Wicked Women!

Good friends are few and far between is a saying that you frequently hear said, but we don't stop enough to let these wonderful, supportive people know how important they are in our lives.

In my life I have been lucky enough to have been graced to have meet my best friend at the young age of 13 years old. When I moved the Colorado from Utah, I have lucky enough to meet Sandra Totten. We have never had a friendship in which we were attached at the hip, but what is the most wonderful about us is that we can leave each other for long periods of time, check in every once in a while and NOTHING has changed between us. I know that if anything is ever wrong and I need some support or just someone to talk to, she is always there for me...unwaivering and I love her for that. She is more like a sister to me than a friend.

When I moved to Michigan almost 7 years ago, I had a difficult transition because I had left my close knit family, my friends, and everything I had ever known. This is when Laura Gentry made her grand entrance into my life. Laura and I hit it off right away. She was so easy to talk to, understanding, and was the most compassionate person I have ever meet. When I moved to Colorado a few years ago, she was the hardest part of leaving there and I miss her all the time to this day. I am happy to report that she is a huge ski fan and I live in SKI COUNTRY and she will be here shortly for a visit. I haven't been so excited to see anyone in a long time!

The last person I would like to write about is the reason I thought to write this blog. My friend Andria from work is my rock. Anyone who knows me knows that me and my job are NOT like two peas in a pod, but Andria sitting across the aisle from me everyday has kept me sane, but it probably has kept me too comfortable. Recently, Andria applied for and has been offered a new job as a Tax Compliance Officer with the IRS. She kept going back and forth trying to decide whether or not to take the job. Sometimes being a good friend means that you put your friends best interests in front of your own and for this reason I am incredibly excited to say that Andria is going to take the position and grow. I am now motivated more than ever to move from the position that is emotionally and mentally draining and into a job where I feel like I am growing as a person. I have Andria's brave step to thank for this.

Thank you to these three ladies who I have laughed with, cried with, and who have kept me rightfully in check. You have made me the strong "woman" I am attempting to be today!

Shannon

Starting it up

It has been a busy year so far for the Wolford Clan.

Here is an update on our lives thus yet~

Shannon is still working at the IRS, but has made a new year's resolution to get a new job this year. Step one: start applying for jobs. I will be staying with the government because the benefits and job stability are much better than with any other job (a la Huntington...LOL).

I have grown to really dislike apartment living. Our neighbors upstairs have recently become quite noisy (thanks to two new puppies...who are cute as can be BTW) and they have a bird feeder that keeps getting seeds on our patio and it is giving the mice something to snack on while they try to get in my house. If you know me well at all, you know that I am phobic about mice...I don't like them, the don't like me, we choose to no co-exist in the same residence. I recently had to confront the neighbors about the above listed issues and they haven't refilled their bird feeder and they are being much less noisy.

Tom is still working at Lenscrafters, but has now been moved the Park Meadows Mall (which is the busiest store in the state). He misses his 4 minute drive to work, but hopes to get the lab running like a well oiled machine in no time.

Tom and Jim (my brother-in-law) were both going to ride the Triple Bypass this year. Registration last year took a little over 2 days to fill up (they cap it at 3,500 riders), but when Tom went to register less than 1 hour in, it was already full!!!! He was pretty pissed off about that and to make matters even more frustrating, Jim was able to register and wasn't even that intent on riding because he is a tri-athlete and would rather Tom ride the bypass as he would run a marathon that weekend. They have both have decided that Tom will take Jim's place in this years ride. Check out the poster below for information on the ride....IT IS INSANE!!!

Addison is a constant joy....and stress. She is so smart! She can count to 14, but refuses to do her ABC's. She is going to be 3 years old in April and I am thinking that it may be time to introduce her to Chuck e Cheese's! She is very coordinated and I am hoping that I will be able to get an earlier shift at work sometime within the next 6 months so that I can enroll her in some toddler gymnastics classes.

She got the braces for her feet in late December and she is doing great! She wears them about 12 hours a day and doesn't complain. We call them her Super Shoes. The reason she has to wear them is because she has flat feet and it is causing her ankles to not support her well enough. It is amazing to see how much straighter she stands after we take them off her for the night. The braces are working out great, but are severely limiting my options for what I consider to be fashionable footwear :-) We are hoping that she won't have to wear them more than a year, not only because we hope the problem is fixed quickly, but because the cost to get the braces themselves (not including all the appointments associated with them) was $1,500! YOWZERS!