Ken trying to blow out his trick candles.....At the time I didn't know I bought trick candles.

Dang it why don't these candles blow out? lol

Still trying. He did finally get them out.

Jordan played Happy Birthday for Ken.

Ken and his friends.

Ken and his friends at dinner.

April 28th was Ken’s 18th Birthday. The original plan was to have friends and family over for a little cake and celebration. But early Saturday morning Jordan woke up throwing up and continued to throw up most of the day. Ken moved his friend party to the bowling alley and then they all went out to dinner. As you can tell by the photos it appears they had a great time. Then a few of Ken’s came over and stayed the night. I was told that they stayed up til past 2:00am. I remember those younger years that I could stay up all hours of the night. Now 10:00pm hits and I am ready to collapse. Lol

Then on Monday we made dinner of Ken’s choice…….French Dips. Then we had birthday cake for dessert, lemon cake with lemon frosting.

What's in a name?????????????????

Apparently there is another me out there. Let me explain………………

The other day I was sitting on my lap tap bored while watching TV. I decided to start looking up all my old friends on myspace. I found a lot of people and have sent comments and requests to be a friend on myspace. When I could not longer think if anymore names to look up. When I thought for kicks I would look up my name, Michelle Willoughby. I got four pages, with ten people on each page that came up under my name or their name…..hmmm (That’s a whole other discussion) Anyway as I was checking me or them out I came across a me that lived right here in my backyard, Blaine, WA.

You’re thinking that is just crazy…….just wait there is more.

I sent her a comment and requested her to be a friend on myspace. She accepted right away and we have been talking ever since.

Here is her or my side of the story:

She says she always running in to me wherever she goes (on computers). She would run into paper me at Dr's offices, the library, grocery stores and so many other places. She would have to give her birthday so they knew which Michelle Willoughby they had in front of them.

Just wait there is more………

As we have been chatting we found out we even have the same middle name. I know you’re thinking NO WAY THAT IS JUST NUTS!!!! There are two Michelle Marie Willoughby’s. Not only that but they live about 15 minutes from each other.

You all know what I look like, but I thought I would let you see what the other Michelle Willoughby looks like, just in case you happen to meet her. We hope to meet face to face some day real soon. To be continued in the near future..……………….

Two Large Pots

I loved this one had to post it.


Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she
carried across her neck.

One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always
delivered a full portion of water.

At the end of the long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked pot
arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only
one and a half pots of water.

Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments.

But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable
that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the
woman one day by the stream.

'I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak
out all the way back to your house.'

The old woman smiled, 'Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of
the path, but not on the other pot's side?'

'That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower
seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them.'

'For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate
the table.

Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to
grace the house.'

Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws we each
have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding.

You've just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good
in them.

SO, to all of my crackpot friends, have a great day and remember to smell
the flowers on your side of the path!

Spring was here.

This was our yard at the end of the summer, before we or Andy aka Dad planted grass. Thanks Dad for all your hard work on our yard.

This was taken today. This is the view that I see when I come home. I love seeing the green cut grass. The un-mowed section is our neighbors back yard.


This is direct in front of the house. Once again check out the green grass.


I took this close up picture just to show my one and only flower garden. Yes I know I have no flowers in it, so I guess it is just my dirt garden. lol Put there will be flowers in it soon.


Yesterday David and I woke up and got right out of bed and got to work. We started on the outside. It was a beautiful spring day. The temperature was perfect, not to hot and not to cold. The plan was David would mow the lawn and I would take the weed eater around the house. Our weed eater had a different plan. It would start, but was having issues. It would quit when I started to use it. While David worked on that I mowed the whole front yard and a little bit of the back yard. The majority of our back yard is still too wet to be mowed. He got the weed eater up and running. While I did the weed eating David lowered the blade on the mower and went over the front yard again.

After I cleaned up the grass all over my body (weed eating is messy lol) I headed in and started working on cleaning the house. Ken had already started on cleaning the kitchen. He is such a good kid. I worked on the rest of the house. I also did a ton of laundry, even got it folded and put away.

Once everything was done I took a long shower and went out on my deck and enjoyed the beautiful sunshine. I put my feet up and fell fast asleep. Between my yard and the house I was exhausted, but it was worth it. Sitting out on the desk with the sun on my face smelling the fresh cut grass and a clean house inside. It felt good to get it all done. Spring is here, and I love it.

Back to Soccer again.........

Don't have any photo's of my soccer injury. I thought I would post a photo that David took last week at the Squaliqum HS vs Sehome HS Soccer team. OUCH!!! Soccer is brutal.

Some people may not know this about me I played Soccer in high school. I made the varsity team my freshmen year. Now don’t get the wrong impression that I was this incredible soccer player. My freshmen year was the first year Ferndale had a girl’s soccer team, so the competition was not that tough. I loved being part of the team. I made a lot of good friends while I played.

When David and I first got married and moved to Arizona I talked him into joining a co-ed soccer team. It wasn’t what I expected. Playing with boys or men was a different ball game….no pun intended. lol I really didn’t like playing anymore. The men on our team were way too competitive for my taste. I liked to have fun win or lose. After I became pregnant with Jordan I just never went back. David caught the soccer bug. He has been playing ever since. He has also been begging….bugging etc to get me play again. The combination of not enjoying playing with men and being extremely out of shape I did not join again.

Well then I decided to run a marathon………yes you read right a marathon. I am going to run with the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. Both Leukemia and Lymphoma have touched me very personally. Last January David suggested that I play on his soccer team to help with my training. I hesitated because like I said I really don’t like playing with men because they can be so competitive. David promised me that the guys on his team are nothing like our team in AZ. I thought what the heck I will give it a try.

Now mind you I didn’t just go out on the field and start playing. I had been working out three –four days a week at the gym for a couple months by the time the session started. I did ok the first couple of games. I was still very sore after each game. After each game it required a long soak in our hot tub and a lot of Ibuprofen for several days after the games. But I was out there doing it and don’t tell David I am having fun. I am very very slow, but still have a little taste of the same skills I had in high school.

At all our games I was playing the same position I played in high school full back, which is a defensive position. Then during my last game I moved up to forward position. I don’t know why this makes a difference; maybe I am just trying to put the pieces together. At one point during the game I had the ball. I turned around and kicked it a little too hard. When I started to run to get it I felt something like a hit me on the back of my ankle, my Achilles tendon area. Then of course in all my grace I tripped and fell. The rest of the game I limped around. Each time I tried to take off in a run the pain would keep me back.

I went home and my wonderful loving husband took care of me. I then proceeded to limp around for several days. By Wednesday I was still limping and getting frustrated, so I went to see my DR. She of course confirmed that I had pulled my Achilles tendon, with a possible tear. Her instructions were to stay off my leg as much as possible and no working out for a while. I asked her if I could start again in a week. She said as long as I did it slow. She said that when I did start to work out to stop immediately if I felt any pain.

Last Monday I went to the gym to do my first work out. Did the stretches the Dr told me to do. I got on the Elliptical, no resistance no incline just simple easy workout, didn’t even push as hard as I always do. I put the timer on for an hour. Figured that I would just try for the whole hour, but if there was any pain I would stop. I went the whole hour and nothing. Until I got off the machine and total pain while I walked going down the stairs was like someone was pushing a nail through my ankle.

I made it home put my ankle up and iced it. Then I proceeded to limp around for the next couple of days. I didn’t work out for the rest of the week. I am no longer limping, but still feel pain when I move certain way or if I move too quick. It is really frustrating. I want to get back to soccer. I also want to get back to the gym. I love the way I feel when I work out. If anyone has any suggestions or knows how long it takes for this to heal please let me know. I want to get back on track to getting into shape. I will try again this week. Wish me luck.

My Mom!!!

This photo is old and worn as you can see. It has been in my dad's wallet. (Thanks Karla)
16 years ago the world’s best mom earned her angle wing. I started the day feeling really down. I had a headache and felt very very alone. I felt like I was the only one that remembers what today was all about. My family and friends might remember that she died in April but not the exact date. I even had one family member surprised that it was in April she thought that it was in the fall. Anyway today is the day. Each year seems just as hard as the last. I am sad and quiet just thinking about my mom. I cry throughout the day. I remember a nurse at the hospital when mom was sick once told me that crying is our way of letting off steam like a tea kettle. If we don’t let it out we would explode. I guess I won’t be exploding today that’s for sure.

Here are some of the thoughts that I had going through my head today. I just wanted to share a little bit with everyone about my mother.
For a majority of my childhood my mother was a stay-at-home mom. All my friends called her mom. My mom grew to the full height of 4’ 11” inches……I know dad and a ½”, for a little lady she had a huge heart.

When I became a 6th grader I joined our church youth group. My parents became our youth leaders. My mom had some crazy ideas to keep us teenagers busy. One year as a fundraiser mom had us go thru our neighborhood knocking on doors. The first house we would say we are with the Custer United Methodist Church Youth Group and we are getting ready for Easter. Could you donate an egg to our cause? Some would donate one and some would donate a whole dozen. Then the next house we would say the same thing only we would ask them to buy our egg or eggs for a donation. I remember that everyone was receptive….they all knew my mom. I don’t remember what kind of money we made. I just remember we had such a fun time doing it.

Every year our youth group would go to convocation. It was a youth retreat at Central Washington University. We would go there for a three-day weekend and stay in the dorms. One year my mom brought a couple dozen bags of marshmallows. That night our floor had a marshmallow war in the halls. I remember laughing so hard I almost wet my pants. lol

My mom was one hell of a cook and baker. I picked up some of her baking skills, but not so much of her cooking skills. She always seemed to have enough food for anyone that just happened to stop by at dinnertime. I have no idea how she did it, but we never ran low. My cousin Galen called my mom “The Goddess of the Kitchen” I happen to agree. She could smell and spice and know it would go good with what she was cooking. Thanks to my Auntie Clara, fabulous piecrust recipe, she made pies that would just melt in your mouth. I am still trying to figure out her pumpkin pie recipe. She had a lot of secret ingredients she would use in recipes.

My mom also taught me the proper way to TP a house. She was the pro of pros when it came to doing the deed. lol On the day of her funeral my cousin Anita and I went out and TP’s a bush at each one of her friends. It was good therapy that day.
My mom could make anyone laugh. She was quick with a joke. My daughter Jordan reminds me of her, with her quick wit and humor.

My mom was always giving herself to anyone that needed help. She had a talent to make beautiful flower arrangements. She would offer her services to anyone that needed an arrangement at no charge. You bought the flowers she would arrange them. She did countless weddings for friends and family.

In March of 1991 mom was diagnosed with Large Cell Lymphoma. She went through six months of chemotherapy. After that she was in remission for two maybe three months. When the cancer came back it was throughout her entire body. The Dr’s tried hard to rid her body of it, but it was just too powerful.

As I grew up my mom was always there for me. Yes we did fight as any teenage girl does with their mother, but I knew I could always count on my mom. I was 22-years-old when my mom died. I was almost old enough to start the next stage in life that mothers and daughters go through where they become friends. I wish we had to chance to get to know each other on a whole different level. I loved and enjoyed my mother growing up. I know we would have been best friends as adults.

My daughter Jordan reminds me in so many ways of my mom. She has the same quick wit and humor like my mom. She has the same color eyes as my mom. It was predicted that Jordan would be lucky if she grew up to be 5’ tall. The Dr said and that would be on a good day, maybe it will be 4’ 11 and ½. I see my daughter being the little women like my mother with a huge heart too. I wish she had a chance to meet her
grandmother. My mom would have spoiled Jordan rotten with hugs, kisses and pure love.

My husband David never got the privilege of meeting my mom. I know that if they had ever met we would never stop laughing between the two of them. I also know we might not be safe from the jokes they would think up together. They would have been fighting for the last sarcastic word or last laugh. David also reminds me of my mom. When things get stressful and tense my mom would try to say something funny to lighten things up. That is David.

My Dad came through for me today. He called to see how I was doing. His call reminded me that I was not as alone today as I thought. He and I spent the afternoon together. We went and got some beautiful flowers and took them out to mom’s grave site. He held me while I cried. We both miss her very very much. Thanks Dad you really don’t know how much today meant to me.

Mom I know you are up there taking care of God’s children. I am sure you already know that you are still very much loved down. I miss you more than anyone will ever know. Thank you for being the greatest mom a girl could ever possibly have. I know that someday we will be together.