no judgement!

no matter which side of the fence you're on, we all get judged, unfortunately.




constantly get bombarded with questions about when I plan on having my next child, and when I tell them the honest truth that I don't want any more, I know the things that go on in their heads - the unspoken comments, unasked questions.  behind all of that I know they're thinking I'm being selfish for choosing to have just one child.  sometimes it bothers me, but it bothers me less and less as michelle gets older.  I always say, I have so much respect and admiration for parents who have more than one child.  I just hope they can say the same with our choice.   

Tahoe, back to back weekends

winter is here!

or is it?

after a really wet december, when we were feeling optimistic about putting a dent to this drought we're experiencing, it stopped raining/snowing this january.  =(  we had made plans to go to South Lake Tahoe using our timeshare with Marriott and then my cousins invited us to rent a cabin in North lake Tahoe for the weekend before our original plans.  Paul is really into snowboarding, so i am sure he'd want the chance to ride as much as possible, so off we went to Tahoe on back to back weekends.

we rented a cabin in Truckee for the weekend of January 9th.  There was a decent amount of snow on the ground and there was enough snow in front of our cabin so the kids could play.  we went to soda springs so the kids can play and also went to a snow park.  we really made the most of this snow trip and it was a great time spent with my cousins.  we plan on doing it every year.

the following weekend, Martin Luther King Jr weekend, we went to South Lake Tahoe where there was hardly any snow, it was truly depressing!  all the places that had snow (usually man made) was crowded and terribly expensive!  i also felt ill one day we were there and spent several hours curled up in bed with a hot water bottle.  despite the lack of snow, it was still great time spent with my loves.

the photo below is my absolute favorite moment in tahoe.  my heart does flips when i see these two together and feel how strong their bond is.  paul said, 'i want to hug michelle until she turns to pulp!' they were not posing for this photo.  they were hugging each other for a long time and i took the picture.  i pray that their bond will last forever. =D

I think Tahoe is one of my favorite places to visit whether it's winter or summer, but not during winters that feel like summer.  =(  tahoe is beautiful any time of the year and since it's a short 3.5 hour drive, it will continue to be on our list favorite weekend destinations.  now if only we can get half the snow that the northeast is getting!

Pope Francis

i was watching news coverage of Pope Francis in Manila and I was moved.  I have so much respect and admiration for this man of God.  I admire his humility, simplicity, and modesty.  He is all about love and not so much about rules which is exactly what Christ wanted us to learn. 


Of course nobody is perfect...no religion is perfect, but we serve a perfect God and He is all we need. 


I grew up Catholic but I'm now a born again Christian.  What's the difference?  That's a pretty long discussion.  =D  anyway, I pray that the Pope's example leads more people to Christ.