Lucky Me...

When you realize who the good people are in your life, you're so lucky...

As we all know life has it's up and downs, but I think I am one of the luckiest people alive because whenever I am having one of those "down" moments I have wonderful nieces and nephews who always seem to know how to cheer me up and to make me smile, and they do it without realizing so.  How lucky can one be?

The other morning I woke up all worried about Brutus (nothing new it seems), when all of a sudden I heard this "ping" coming from my IPhone and it was not even 6:30 in the morning as yet.  Of course it had to be some junk mail so I don't look until about an hour or so.

some of my favorite memories of when they lived in Florida...

Surprise!  It was from one of my nephews.  This morning the smile on my face was due to Sachin. He sent me a little email around 6am, right before taking off for school.  He said, "Aunty Nady while you're here can you come to one of my baseball games?  Come on who can resist this face?  

Not me for sure.  Soon I will be going to visit them all and I just can't wait to have a few days with my sister and her family.  Will be fun.  Of course to Sachin I said YES!!  I just want to spend time with them.  Just being with them, playing video games, watching the same movies for me those days will always be cherished.    Afterwards, Sachin comes back with another email (all before the school bus is due to arrive). He says, "Oh and we can take you to see Iron Man 3"

You tell me is this a good way to wake up or not?  As far as I'm concerned it made my day and all I can think of is seeing them and just enjoying time with them.  Not having children does not mean I cannot enjoy being "mom" to all my nieces and nephews.  I have a total of nine and each one is special and unique to me.

Yes, I know I am a lucky person.  I have love from the ones I cherish the most!

A big part of who I am is just the way I was raised.

Nobody is better than anyone else, and if you really 

work hard, you might get lucky and get what you want.

I did...I am loved!

~Nadiya~ 

Aleah and Michelle...

A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for...

Aleah, born March 22nd to Michelle (Arvid's youngest daughter) and Emil in Norway.

This little girl has already captured all of our hearts.

She has even managed to made Chico, their doggie do exactly as she wants.  Aleah it seems is the boss and Chico loves to watch over her.  Arvid and I have not seen her as yet, but we see every picture posted on Facebook of her.

Looking forward to the day we will see her and able to hold her.

Today Michelle turns 20.  She is the beautiful and proud mom of Aleah.

When you cut your Birthday cake this year, we want you to count your blessings and friends, not the gifts and phone calls you have received. Wishing you a very Happy Birthday dear Michelle.

Wishing you a day filled with love and cheer. May you be surrounded by all your loved ones. 

May this year bring you prosperity, fortune and friendship. 

Happy Birthday to you Michelle...

~Nadiya~

Humor ...

If you could choose one characteristic that would get you through life, choose a sense of humor...

if I had no sense of humor I would have long ago committed suicide... 

One of my Facebook friends posted this the other day and it made me laugh and smile throughout the day thinking about it and realizing how much fun it is to have a good sense of humor and to be able to laugh not only at others, but also to be able to laugh at ourselves. 

I will be the first to say that I love to make fun of just about everything (I do know when to be serious also), and at the same time I do enjoy making fun of myself and having a good laugh at my own expense.  Nothing wrong when it's done in good faith and with no intent to hurt others.  Laughter...a gift we can give ourselves and others.  Hope you enjoy:

The kindergarten class had a homework assignment to find out about something exciting and relate it to the class the next day.

When the time came for the little kids to give their reports, the teacher was calling on them one at a time.

Eventually little Johnny’s turn came. Little Johnny walked up to the front of the class, and with a piece of chalk, made a small white dot on the blackboard, then sat back down.

The teacher couldn't figure out what Johnny had in mind for his report, so she asked him just what that was.

"It's a period," reported Johnny.

"Well I can see that," she said, "but what is so exciting about a period."

"Damned if I know," said Johnny, "but this morning my sister said she missed one.

Daddy had a heart attack, Mommy fainted, and the man next door shot himself."

Have a great day!!!

Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows life delivers.  And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it...

~Nadiya~

Aruba.. On The Beach...

No matter what dreams you are chasing, never get above your raising and let the simple things be amazing on the journey of your life..

With no concrete plans for the weekend except our Sunday outing, it was very nice to just say "let's go to Aruba's".  Aruba's is a restaurant on the beach about a 20 minute walk from us.  The weather was beautiful and the workday was over.  It was time to sit back relax and enjoy Happy Hour and music.

The thing we like is that we can just walk.  No need for a car.  As usual when at Aruba's I do enjoy my piña colada and yesterday was no exception.  Problem is, I only had a half and I was already floating away.  Seems like we have to do this more often so that I can get used to at least being able to have two piña coladas.

A few drinks, some live music and something to nibble on made for a very nice outing.  

 These are some of our favorite outings.  Spur of the moment thing, relaxing and just peaceful.  Every so often something with catch my attention.  Like the sign  "fresh Florida poop".  Makes every outing fun.  Afterwards it was back home to check up on Brutus and to make sure he was OK and not getting in trouble.  He was on my Ipad, so yes he was OK...

Hope you are also having a good weekend..

From the simple things to the luxuries, I'm really just enjoying life...

~Nadiya~

Happy Friday...

Friday. The golden child of the weekdays. 

The superhero of the workweek. 

The welcome wagon to the weekend. 

The famous F word we are thankful for every week..

As the weekend approaches Arvid says to me, "I am really looking forward to a quiet Sunday with just you".  Well could not be a nicer way to start the weekend and who says that one cannot start the weekend at any given time.  It is all a state of mind.   

Since coming back from the Blues Festival, we have been pretty busy.  Combined with Brutus' surgery it has been crazy.  As usual it has been constant visits to the vet.  At least Brutus has the weekend off to also relax and to catch up with getting better.

Not sure as yet what the rest of the weekend holds.  Just know that Sunday is our day to just relax and have an enjoyable time by ourselves.  Whatever your weekend holds make it memorable.

Even though we are hurting because Brutus is hurting, we are always optimistic.  Breaks my heart to see him this way, but I know that everyday that passes he is recovering.  Just for that, the weekend is looking really good.

Wishing you a good one as well!

It's Friday. I'm Alive. I'm Breathing. I'm Living. Life Is Good.

Feeling good, feeling great, cant knock me down. 

~Nadiya~

Rough Days Again...

You don't develop courage by being happy in your relationships everyday. 

You develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity... 

It has been quite traumatic seeing Brutus all bandaged up for a second time.  Worst of all was seeing Arvid also so very traumatized.  This time it was somehow even more difficult for us to see Brutus this way.

What really bothered us was that the did not say a word.  He just came come and laid down on the floor and would not move.  The first time Brutus had surgery he was up and hobbling around withing 24 hours of being home.

All he does now is sleep,  He does not eat nor drink any water.  I use a syringe and I give him squirts every so often.  Seeing him this way is breaking our hearts.  So I took him back to the vet because we are worried.  Turns out he has a fever.  A few more shots and back home we were.  At this point Brutus is pretty traumatized when he sees his carrier.

Goes with out saying that we love Brutus  and that he loves us, but there is something about Arvid that Brutus seems to cling to more.  For instance, I try to talk to him, get him to go to his foodies or to just get up and move.  He just looks at me and stays put.  Then all of a sudden, Arvid comes through the front door and Brutus hobbles to him.

Seeing Arvid go down on his knees to talk, pet and comfort Brutus is all I can ask for.  I really don't understand what is going n with Brutus, but I do read up a lot and from what I have read, I know that he is in terrible pain.  This breaks my heart because there is nothing I can do to ease it.

Today he is supposed to begin laser treatment.  From what I understand, the treatment is painless and it will help him heal faster and relieve some of the pain.  It will also help to reduce the inflammation.  Let's see how this goes.  It all depends if his temperature has gone down.

Laser Treatment

Right now all we want is for his pain to go away and for him to get better.  Is that so much to ask for?  He is after all our baby.  Everyone wants the best for their baby.
For now he is sleeping again..

 You can check Brutus out on his Facebook page.
Brutus' Facebook Page

When everything seems to be going against you,

 remember that the airplane takes off against the wind,

 not with it..

~Nadiya~

2nd Surgery..

When you feel like giving up, hold on tighter and push through it. 

It will always get better. I promise...

Life isn't fair, but life isn't fair for everyone. That makes life fair...

Our Brutus has had a second surgery on the same paw.  Yesterday he and I woke up very early.  It was heartbreaking to see him wanting to do his regular routines and to have to ignore him.  At least I was able to brush him.

As of 10pm the night before surgery all food and water was no longer available to him.  Not a big deal, but Brutus eats and drinks at any given time because we always leave his food out.  So for him it was a big deal.

On the day of surgery he was up and ready for us to get out of bed even earlier than usual.  He was hungry and thirsty.  I tried to stay put for as long as possible just so that I will not have to see his sad face when he realizes I was not going to give him food nor water.

He carried me to the usual spots.  To where his food should be.  He stood there.  Looked at me and gave a few cries.  Of course it broke my heart.  I was tempted to give him a few food pellets.  His idea of eating is about 10 pellets every so often.

When he realized no food was coming, he took me into the shower where we normally give him additional water as well.  He sat on his usual spot and just waited and waited giving me another sad, heartbreaking look.  You know by now I was completely sad as well for him, but I did not give him any food nor water.  It's for his own good.

We took him to the doctor for 8am surgery.  Brutus was quiet all the way, but when we left he cried.  That was my undoing.  After that it was back home to clean and clean for his homecoming.

Doctors office called at 1pm.  Said Brutus was awake and OK.  We were relieved.  Now just two more hours and he would be home.  Picked him up at 3.  The news was not good.  Seems like the bacteria Brutus has is pretty strong.  The antibiotics he has been using are not attacking it.  This infection could be a recurring thing

A new culture was sent out.  Will have to wait and see.  In the meantime, Brutus will be receiving laser treatments to help him heal faster and to help fight the infection.  Our poor baby..it breaks our heart more than you know.

Because of this both Arvid and I have agreed that this will be our last year in Chicago.  In Chicago it is not that easy to get to a vet daily.  We have no car there and taking a cab is not what we want to put Brutus through.  Hopefully we will be able to spend the entire summer as usual in Chicago, but if Brutus gets sick all bets are off.  He's first.

Now we wait and we hope that this time it will be better.

It is funny about life: if you refuse to accept anything but the very best you will very often get it...

~Nadiya~

Arvid's Birthday...

I love you for the man you are, I love you for the things you do, 

I love you for the things you say. But most of all I love you

 because you love me for the woman I am for the things I do

 and for the things I say. 

I love you Arvid Hvidsten...

Most people look forward to their birthday as a special day.

Arvid being Arvid just wishes it will go away.

Getting him something for his birthday is always a difficult task.  

First he always claims to not want nor need any thing.

I have had a hard time convincing my parents to NOT

buy him anything.  They find it strange.  

I have since learnt that the best thing I could do for him 

is to take him out to a very nice dinner.  Just the two of us...

His birthday dinner was at Kaluz.  

This is soon becoming one of our favorite places.  

Dinner at Kaluz was on Saturday since his birthday is today.  More relaxing

and fun knowing that we do not have to rush back home to take 

care of something....

Immature love says: 'I love you because I need you.' 

Mature love says 'I need you because I love you...


~Nadiya~

Friendship..

Friendship... is not something you learn in school. 
But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship,
 you really haven't learned anything...

We met through a real estate transaction.  A Norwegian couple and a little girl.  Soon they had bought one of our houses and very fast we became good friends.

Madeline, is just the friendliest little thing.  Not even knowing us she immediately liked us and we her.  She  loves to hug and kiss us and she loves jumping all over Arvid.  Like my nieces and nephews, Arvid is always a hit with little kids. Everyone love him.  Can't wait to see little Aleah and him together.

We have gotten to know them very well and have been seeing them quite often these last few months.  We have introduced them to quite a few of our favorite restaurants and have gone out together to some of those. Now like us they also love Kaluz, Flanigan's and PF Chang's just to name a few.  Together we have been to these, not once but a few times and hopefully will be going out again this coming week.

As for music, they also enjoy the Blues.  As they said, "will have to have our mother-in-law baby sit so we can go out and have a proper evening out".

Yes, we really enjoy their friendship and now that they will be soon leaving for Norway we will miss them.  Friends make your life so much more enjoyable.  Unlike many family members, friends never judge you, get into your business nor want anything from you other than friendship.  Friends don't only take, they actually give as well...

There has never been a time Arvid and I have not had a good time with friends...

Remember, you don’t need a certain number of friends, 

just a number of friends you can be certain of...

~Nadiya~

Difficult Times...

In difficult times, it's so hard to look around and to see what to be grateful for...

We don't realize how good we have it until we see tragedy strike others! Richard and I were in high together. Today he needs all the help $$$ he can get! Please find it in your hearts to help. Anything will help!

Another class mate of mine, Robert asked me to share this with my readers.  I hope some find it in their hearts to help. It goes as follows:

Friends, PLEASE READ THIS. I need your help.

Two days ago in Buffalo, NY, a van carrying 3 adults and 7 children crashed into a city dump truck on the through way (I-90). The driver and his 1 month old son died instantly. An adult sitting in the passenger seat died shortly after in the hospital. The remaining adult and 6 children are in various degrees of hurt. Three of them are in ICU with serious injuries (one of them, 8 years old, still hasn't woken up since the accident). The other 3 are stable with some broken bones.

FOUR of these kids, the 3 in ICU and one in stable condition, are the grand kids of my buddy Richard Rodriguez. Needless to say, the man and his family are distraught. He called me up last night at 1:30am to ask for my help, so here I am, asking you guys to help out and help spread the word so that others may help as well.

Richard has opened an account with Bank of America to collect funds for these children to help with hospital costs etc. Any and all donations can be made to the following:

Richard Rodriguez

FBO Damaris Medina and Children

Acct# 4830-4892-9922

I'll be adding this info to my personal Blog so that my followers there can also help out. If any of you have a Blog I ask you to do the same and provide the info above. I'll also be creating a Facebook page to help with donations. Feel free to share the bank info and the news link below on your own Facebook pages. We have to get support for these kids.

For more info you can contact Richard at 716-986-1048. Be patient if you do because he's been getting phone calls left and right and has barely had much sleep in the past two days. You might not get through right away.

Any little bit helps, so please be generous. Spread the word amongst your own networks of friends. And please keep these kids in your prayers. Especially 8-year old Yamaris who is the most critical of the 6 children.

RIO

Here's a link to the actual news report: 

http://www.wivb.com/dpp/news/local/crash-closes-i-90-east-at-silver-creek

In times of tragedy it is not so much what you say, but what you do.  Words at this time will not mean much because the person is hurting too much.  I know.  I lived it, but your actions will forever leave an imprint.  If you can find it in your hear to donate... please do anything is a big help.

Difficult times show true colors, hard times reveal true friends, and the good will be blessed through the pain...Just let go and let be...

~Nadiya~

Hello Sunday...

Life consists not in holding good cards,

 but in playing those cards you hold well.

I have a good life...

Already Sunday and it promises to be a good day.

Brutus woke up early and is already on his first nap of the day.

Looking forward to spending the day in company of friends.

Whatever your day holds, make it a good one.

Stay positive and never be shy to share kindness with others.

Today I am happy because thoughts of my sisters are with me.  

Though far apart, they are always close to my heart. 

 I love them all and always look forward to seeing them.  

Memories are something that no one can take away from you.  

Memories I have tons of.  I cherish every one..

Have a good day all...

I have more memories than if I were a thousand years old..

~Nadiya~

Living....

Nobody gets to live life backward. Look ahead, that is where your future lies... 

Good morning everyone.  

Just wanted to wish you all a good day and to remind everyone that no matter what,

life is good.  There is always something to be positive about and something to look forward to.

I look forward everyday to waking up next to Arvid and Brutus.  Knowing that I have loving a loving family and friends.  I always look forward to what the new day holds.

It is not always what we want, but at least we are fortunate to be able to see it and always make the most of it.

Many, will never see a new day.  Like the Boston victims. Breaks our hearts.

So to you I say, live each day like it were your last day.

Enjoy it and remember there are others with much worse circumstances than we are.

So I say to all of you:

"today is going to be a good day"

Live life to the fullest, and focus on the positive..

~Nadiya~

Kimsy...

I never said I was a 'good girl.' I'm not a bad girl...

My picture for the day is my beautiful niece Nirvana Kimberly or Kimsy as I call her.
She's the runway model of the family..took after her mama.
No matter what she is doing, be it modeling, making the honor roll or helping at the homeless shelter,
  Kimsy is always having a good time and always making everyone smile.
We simply love her.

As far as I am concerned, she's more beautiful than any runway model I have seen.

She has a great personality, is kind to a fault and best of all I am her aunt.

I love all my nieces and nephews to death.

When I have time, I'll be a good girl and do my chores.

Right now I'm having the time of 

my life being me...

~Nadiya~

Men and Cars....

I know a lot about cars, man.
 I can look at any car's headlights 
and tell you exactly which way it's coming...

The thing about Arvid is that he can't resist cars nor boats.  Why is that I just don't know,

because as soon as he has them he wants to get raid of them.  Why is that?

Something that always has me intrigued.  His latest:

This beautiful Monte Carlo is looking for a new home.  I am really quite taken by it and would love to drive it around and use it for a bit, unfortunately I don't think this will happen.

The Corvette is also in need of a good home, but for now hopefully we can play around with it a bit.

No matter where we go Arvid is always on the lookout for a classic car.  Many of his friend in Norway also love the same kind of car so in a way we always have a job to look for cars for them.  Makes every outing a potential business deal also.  Could not be better than that.  Having fun and making some money at the same time.  

Wishing you all a good start of the weekend.

Make today ridiculously amazing...

Make each day of the week like Friday 

and your life will take on new enthusiasm...

~Nadiya~

Good Start Of The Day...

The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things...

As usual Brutus and I are awake before Arvid.  Brutus loves company so he just comes to the bed and looks at us, jumps over us and if that does not work starts meowing.  I know it's time for me to get up and keep him company.  It's either that or he will do anything and everything to make noise just to get us up.  Arvid is not a morning person.  I am.  Woke up to a beautiful sunrise.

From four balcony the ocean was very easy to spot today.  Brutus also insisted on me taking him out for a little balcony stroll.  You know that I can't refuse him anything.  

As he was enjoying the outdoors for a bit, I also had time to sit and enjoy my cafe while I watched the remaining of the sun rising.  Was peaceful and we both enjoyed it very much..

Afterward it was time for him to get back in.  He needed some food, his scratching pad, he also had to jump on the cutting board and sniff around his dada's Norwegian goodies.  After all of that was taken care of, Brutus decided it was time to get his dada up.  

So he just went to the bed and sat by his feet until Arvid had to give in.  

Yes it will be a good day for all of us..

Don't waste a minute not being happy. 

If one window closes, run to the next window- or break down a door...

~Nadiya~