prayers

if you don't mind...

would you add us to your list?

...of things to pray for.

i know this is a very public place to ask...

but we are asking because they, the prayers, are needed.

and for those that do the fasting thing this

sunday--would you mind adding us to your fast?

pretty please...

we hate to ask, when there are so many out there

with even worse going on in their lives.

but WE really need a miracle in our lives with a job.

and for my husband.

and BOTH of us could really have a little lift right now.

and we believe in the power of prayer,

and would love it, if just for a day or two,

you could add us to your list of things to pray for.

thank you.

we love you!

the nielsons

back to the beach...

the next few days in Oceanside consisted of setting up beach umbrella's, chairs and bodies on the beach.

in a glorious daze of sun, sand, water and sunscreen we frolicked daily. we rested, read, ate, gathered seashells, watched sunsets, walked the pier, and played.

the days blended together in a mish mash of sounds and smells and delights. the grit of sand was felt in ears, nose, mouth and teeth. it was found in every crack and crevice, nook and cranny, hair and orifice.

one word described it: DELIGHTFUL

or SPLENDID or FABULOUS or FANTASTIC or....

well you get the picture.

we were lucky enough to meet up with the Egans who were down there (forgot my camera that day) and also the Holts, Seagles and Vances (who were on vacation together down there too).

our kids all played together. the "big boys" AKA josh, ben, and all the dads, spent a majority of time on boogie boards and building sand castles and playing in the waves.

time was not relative, there was no rush to be anywhere or to do anything....it was LUXURIOUS!

we got to sit, and listen, and watch, read and eat and play, to stand in the ocean and breath in the sun. to feel it freckling my nose and burning our toes.

sunscreen was applied, and reapplied and applied some more.

NOTE TO SELF: next time invest in spray on sunscreen for the beach! yes, more money--but OH! so much easier!

jill applied lemon juice to the little girls hair, dt. coke was enjoyed, and day after day the scene was repeated. we were in heaven and asking ourselves, "why OH WHY! had we not done this before?"

stay tuned for the street market and harry potter.

good times people, good times!

need vs. want...

we rarely have "treats" at our house....

one of our favorites is a Red Vines mixed bag.

black licorice for me, red for everyone else.

what we really WANT right now is some licorice.

what we really NEED right now is a big 24 pack of toilet paper.

Having no job sort of clarifies,

QUICKLY, for you NEEDS and WANTS.

TODAY, we want and need toilet paper at the store, the licorice will have to wait.

NEEDS: gas in car, electric bill payments, groceries.

WANTS: going out to dinner and movies, buying snow cones in the summer, licorice.

i am feeling a tad bit blue today (only natural, i hope its ok if i blog about it)

i feel like my 3 new best friends are: fear, worry and doubt.

unlike my other friends,who come and go, they seem to be present at all times now. NO, they are not always dominating my thoughts and mood, but they like to wait quietly in the dark corners of my house, and mind, and then sneak in when they think no one is looking. they linger around and toss bad thoughts at me like rotten apples.

"will kyle ever find another job?"

"no one is finding a job right now."

"how will we pay the bills?" "the mortgage?" "buy groceries?"

"what if someone gets hurt, or sick?" (no health insurance either!)

the truth is kyle and i do everything we can to dwell on the positive, but these sneaky guys are really good at doing just that...being SNEAKY.

so i do the only thing i know how to, and i say a little prayer. i ask my heavenly father to just help me make it through. i don't know how long, or how deep this "trial" will run for us. but i pray for the strength to keep going and to find the joys and blessings in each day.

Someday i hope to say that hope, faith, and love conquered

fear, worry, and doubt.

until then, off to shop for some needs...everybody has 'em.

ours our just a bit different today than they were one week ago.

POST EDIT: oh my! thank you to all the good Samaritans, both known and unknown today! a gal can hardly feel sorry for herself with people like you out there! i am afraid to blog about this continued adventure for fear of what may show up on my doorstep.

although....if i am ever feeling like a chocolate shake, i will be SURE to blog about it!

todays new blessings: people who read my blog and bring toilet paper and licorice.

NEEDS & WANTS filled today!

bless you,

thank you,

from the bottom of our hearts.

and back to plasma....

i guess this is mostly for my journal keeping, or myself (deep breaths and letting it all out).

or my parents to "check up" on us everyday...

or just because i like to hear myself type....

or to document our way through unemployment...

the plan for today: donate plasma!

this week kyle can make $80 (more grocery or gas money). if i had the nerve, i could add $80 to that (i may just have to "suck it up" as josh would say!) i sort of have this fear of really big needles, and plasma needles are of the extra HUGE variety. i feel dizzy just typing that.

anyway, my point is OBVIOUSLY we are not making the same amount of money as when kyle was gettting a paycheck. BUT there are little ways out there, if you just look, to bring in SOME cash.

the thing is, SOME is better than NONE.

he's off to get his plasma sucked.

sidenote: often kyle and i talked about a ("hopefully it would never happen to us") day when he could loose a job. he ALWAYS said over and over, "i would do ANYTHING i had to while i was looking for a job to help support my family!"

good to his word, he has! i am grateful that is one promise he has been willing to keep.

without complaint.

another blessing.

from plasma to poop...

so, mr. nielson has gone from sucking the plasma out of people, to sucking the poop out of porta potty's!


(...say that 10 times fast!)

one more blessing in our life (and we mean it!) josh's best friends dad, let kyle tag along today to earn some grocery money.


he (the friends dad) actually has a VERY successful business doing this. Sucking poop out of potty's.

Who knew?


(could it be that no one else really wants the job?)


kyle learned one more new skill today to add to the resume.

i think he can certainly be called a "jack of ALL trades" now.


PLUS, he has some really fun stories to tell at family bbq's.

Silver lining in the face of joblessness....you can actually earn money shovelling other people's s.......tuff!
(i know you thought i was gonna say another word!)


Come on now, let's hear your best poop jokes!

dripping...

i seem to be dripping from all of my orifices today....

the leakage does not stop with my eyes, those darn tears.

my nose, the snot resulting from the tears.

my heart, dripping, DRIPPING, with gratitude.

now while i would probably trade the situation we are in(gladly and willingly)...

i would be remiss if i did not thank those who have stepped forward...

to love,

and give,

and support.

WOW! the world is certainly filled with good people.


from the bottom of our DRIPPING HEARTS,
we LOVE you-

The Nielsons

we interrupt our regularly scheduled program for a brief service announcement....

upon returning from possibly our greatest, most relaxing, vacation as a family.

which we never would have taken had we had a tiny glimpse into the future. Ever...

money is too precious of a commadity for us at the moment.


my husband called with the devastating news that he had lost his job.


we are both shocked, and numb, and did i mention shocked?


there was no foreshadowing. there was no warning. there was no time to prepare.


it has been a day of many tears. (which in my case leads to migraines and lots of vomiting...TMI?)


so we ask, any who read this, to pray, if that's what you believe.

to light a candle, if that's what you believe.

to send some good, "working" vibes our way, if that is what you believe.


at some point, i will continue with "life is a beach, parts 3 through 8", until then....


word of mouth and prayers are appreciated.

kyle has already had one, very real, offer to help josh's best friends dad (you got that, right?) scoop poop. (he owns a very sucessful porta-potty business...and hey! someone has to do it)

nothing is beneath keeping food on the table and our home.


Please, just keep the Kyle & Dorien Nielson's in your prayers....


Thanks to all those who have called to express love, for really, that is the greatest blessing in itself--to know we are loved when the chips are down.

And if anyone has any extra coupons, send them our way...my frugality will now be tested and taken to a whole NEW level!

Life's A Beach...Part 1

Well here is Day 1 of our Southern California Trip....all the pictures are in the wrong order and upside down (from end to beginning), but I was too lazy to reload everything again! So, here you have it!

Well, only Part of "IT". Kyle informed me I had taken over 478 pictures on this trip *blush*.

I am certainly not downloading all of them HERE! LOL!

We left on Friday the 10th of June and drove to Primm, Nevada. We stayed at Buffalo Bills that night (EWWW!). The hotel was pretty nasty, but we survived. Snoopp Dog was in concert, we passed. The huge rollar coaster tempted Kyle and Grace, they rode. (remember Josh was ALREADY in Cali. at this point). The heat was HOT, we melted.

Saturday AM, we awoke with high hopes and the rest of our drive to Oceanside. Smooth sailing and not much fighting. As the hours passed, the palm trees grew more prolific and the temp's kept dropping ...108, 97, 85, 75--the ocean was in sight.

I was pretty sure I had died and gone to heaven. We checked into our humble abode for the week. The condo was clean, and small, but boy oh boy, was it worth the view!! Out the doors, and over the balcany, we woke up and went to sleep to what you see above for 7 days!

We ate some good food, In and Out. Walked the Pier, sifted sand between our toes and enjoyed a sunset on the beach. We fell asleep to the sound of the waves crashing and so it began!

More to follow, stay tuned!

i should have stayed away from Google this morning....

I shouldn't have touched the button. I should have just left well enough alone. But my fingers were itchy and I just HAD TO press "enter" on my keyboard.

We sent Josh on a little adventure this week...

We could blame it on Cy Holt for making the call.

OR we could blame it on Wayne and Libbi(minus Libbi), who were ALREADY driving to California this week for ANOTHER reason.

But the call was made, the Nelson's van was heading south and so the adventure was decided upon.

This year Cy and Josh (well mostly Cy and a few other friends, Josh just got invited along for the ride, and a good ride it was to be invited along for) decided to do the EFY (Especially for Youth) in Southern California (University of California at Santa Barbara to be exact) INSTEAD OF the BYU campus.

I mean really, was it ever even a choice?

Kyle just happened to have a cousin driving there, so the boys could be dropped off (no airfare) and we just happened to be coming down to get them at the end of the week (the start of OUR vacation...which if you do the math right tells you Josh gets TWO FULL WEEKS in California!)

The bags were packed, best wishes were bestowed, Josh made his obligatory phone call upon his arrival in Southern Cal.

I was glad he was alive and well, and somehow after hearing words like "perfect", "75 degress", and "walking on the beach", my mind went into a funk.

This morning I was awake bright and early, checking emails (mostly junk), ebay sales(two--yippee!), and facebook updates (one from josh, still alive!) when I decided I needed to google the campus where Josh and company were staying all week.


So I bravely went into a "google" image search...and found the Santa Barbara campus.

It is pictured below.

Folks, I have one thing to say...

Next year, I AM going to EFY in Santa Barbara. Do you think it's too late to apply as a dorm mother? a speaker? the lunch lady?

I think that one week nestled against the blue skies and ocean waves are calling me.

Ode to Wipers...

In preparation for our long drive to California, the car went to visit Dee. If you DON'T know Dee, and have a car...well, lets just say you need to make his acquaintance.
In the world of engines, combines, turbines, water pumps and wheels, he is da bomb!
He worked on fixing the creaks, rattles and jiggles (and fixed a busted water pump as well). My seemingly ancient*(see footnote), and well loved, mini (as in VAN, and not COOPER) is now in working order.

With one SMALL exception (which caused me to kick my car mightily, curse and re-break my toe ...ok, none of that is true except the extra broken car part!)

The thing is, my windshield wipers have ceased to function properly. Oh sure, they are such a small thing you say, just 2 little ole wipers resting quietly on the front of my car.

BUT they are such a big thing too--think of all the dead bugs they must remove, all the rain they must slosh away, and the snowflakes they must push. (hopefully snow will not be encountered on this trip, I'm just sayin'!)

They are central to a survival plan should emergencies arise on the long drive. One must be able to peer from one's own window without distraction. (Certainly more than enough distractions will be coming from INSIDE the car....3 kids, long drive...you get the picture)

So one more thing on my list of things to do...fix the wipers!

Off to my backyard to pluck some more bills off of the money tree...didn't know we had one did you?? (And don't any of my neighbors come looking for it either...you need "magic glasses" just to see it!)

*ancient: term used to describe mini vans made before the day of auto slide doors and standard issue dvd players. Thus causing mine to fall into this catagory.

I guess in my hurry to get to the tree, I have forgotten to "ODE" my wipers....

hmmmmm, one must stick with what one knows...

$*!&*$#)($&* wipers!

there you have it...my ode to wipers!

page turner....

I sighed as June leapt past us, and quickly turned into July.

One month down...and how speedily it marched on by.

Now on to sparklers, fireworks, beaches, and apple pie.

God Bless America, parades, baseball, and sand castles.

I feel myself inhaling and exhaling and watching my little ones grow big.

Not so much left in the little catagory anymore.

AC/DC, EFY and CTR...all in the same breath.

Coming and going quickly, sometimes TOO.

I want to pause and grab them, the kids, my children and soak them up.

As I watch the summer rays soak the lingering drops of rain.

And yet another day melts into another...

Turning and passing by.

I am not sure what the end of the story will be,

so I keep turning the pages and watching the story unfold each day.

I find myself wallowing knee deep in the joys of mothering this summer.

It is a good time to be a mom.