2009 Memories

As 2009 makes it's close and 2010 is creeping closer, I decided to make a TOP TEN list of all the great accomplishments from 2009...(well, I use the word "accomplishments" VERY lightly) okay, here it goes:

10. Survived planning a wedding. never. do it. again.--Jan/Feb/Mar 2009
9. Went to ER for first time. Also will never. do it. again.--September 2009
8. Started to cook...I have a very understanding husband--April 2009
7. Attended infamous Bryce Canyon (and survived)--February 2009
6. Baby KC joins our family!--September 2009
5. Baby Kade (my nephew) born into the world--March 16, 2009
4. Family Reunion (California sunshine + seafood=happiness)--July 2009
3. Christmas in Utah (blog post to come soon with LOTS of pics)--December 25, 2009
2. Birthday weekend to Sedona/Prescott (horseback riding!!)--May 26, 2009

and for #1......


1. Getting sealed to my sweetie--March 21, 2009 :)

All in all, it has been a very eventful year. So much has happened and I am sad to see it go. I have many goals for 2010 and I am so excited to see what is in store for our little family...new jobs? New home? New baby? I don't know for now, but am happy to have Chad by my side. He makes life so exciting and wonderful! 2010, here we come!!

Make A Wish

This 3yr old boy might not see 2010, so Santa came early and gave him a car and took the whole family to Disneyland! It was an awesome feeling helping grant Kolton's wish!!!

Make-

Kinder Chronicles

Teacher: "Kids, what is this picture?" (looking at the picture, completely confused herself)

Student 1: "It's that thing you put your boobs into!"

Student 2: "It's a bra!!"

Oh boy.

The Metz Family Photo

We just got a gorillapod (mini tripod) so we set it up and took this funny pic of our family of 2+. Katie and I are such Christmas freaks that we set up our tree the Saturday before Thanksgiving! We switch families every year for Christmas so this year we will be in Utah with my family last year when I proposed we were with the Cox family. I slept on a lazy boy that year it was great, until the back and neck started hurting. lol. I just didn't have it in me to leave Katie and her family's place on Christmas eve. The best part about Christmas last year was surprising Katie with an engagement ring. She thought I was going to propose on New Years Eve which was my original plan but I just couldn't wait and her sister Tiffany wouldn't have been around for all that fun! Katie really had no idea it was coming so when she saw the ring she was so overwhelmed she started to cry but I on the other hand was so proud of myself tricking her I started to laugh. Oh man, good times!

"You're Beautiful, Mrs. Metz"

I think everyone should get at least one compliment per day--including those from Kindergartners who decided that "Mrs. Metz is beautiful". :) On a side note, BLACK Friday is coming very near...after 24 years of life, I've decided to brave the dreaded day and get some Christmas gifts! Wish me and hubbie luck....I just hope the next time you see me isn't on a YouTube video with screaming women trampling over me in hopes of getting a memory foam mattress pad.

Missionary Moment

Katie and I are ward missionaries and are loving every minute of it! Well, except for when the weekly correlation meetings go long. haha. We love getting the random phone calls from the missionaries asking us to help teach a lesson on a Saturday morning or they need to eat and their next DA appointment canceled on them so they are gonna come over to our place. It's such a blessing to have the spirit of the gospel in our lives. We love teaching and testifying of Christ. I also have the chance to teach temple prep to a few select families in our ward and it's sweet to watch them grow as they prepare to get sealed...
So on Monday I started my 2nd job and I got done early so instead of going to work at CPS, I came home early. Not by coincident I ran into the assistant property manager at our complex as I was walking our puppy KC. I noticed that our property mng was trying to do a drug inspection of our neighbor who was going to baptised on 11/7/09 but that is a different story for another time. I explained to the property manager (Chris) that our friend was going to join our church but obviously is not now due to her substance use. We belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints I said, and we believe it is God's will (and for our own good) that we obstain from all drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. As we continued to talk about other things Chris said to me, It's funny that you mention that you are Mormon because my 13yr old son and I were talking about religion last night. My son feels that we are not good people since we do not go to church. We are going to my fiances parents church this Sunday but I want my son to be exposed to other faiths. Chris then stated that she had a bad experience with some Mormons a while back being exclusive but does not know much about the Mormon religion. At this point I am trying to hold back the perm-a-grin and boisterous excitement within me. I explained to her that I would love to bring some materials by and that we could discuss things and if she and her family were still interested that we would send over the missionaries! I explained a couple of our beliefs by quoting a few articles of faith. Then I explained that the center of our church and the center of all our beliefs is Jesus Christ. Just think if there were more stories about Christ, I told her different lectures on faith, hope and love. What if another book that spoke clearer about where we came from, what we are doing on the earth now, and where we go after death was out there? Well, there is another book, I said that does not add or take away from the Bible. This book is called the Book of Mormon, this is where we get our nickname the Mormons! The BofM is a compilation of many books written by prophets just like in the Bible just in a different land. Since she still seemed interested after that I told her about how the youth of our church have great morals and that it would be a great social experience for her son to mingle with other kids his age. I explained mutual, wards, stakes, and the reason behind 3 hrs of church. Chris seemed excited but said that she needed to talk with her fiance first before Katie and I could come over. So I made a tentative appointment for tomorrow 11/5/09. I explained to her that once she tells people about our conversation that she might hear some weird stuff about our church so I told her that people are afraid of what they do not know and the people who spread false beliefs about our church do not really know the truth. I bore testimony of the happiness and freedoms that this church has provided to me. Chris then stated that she is glad that I am representing my church in such a positive light because even before she knew I was Mormon she said she could see what a good aura that I had and open friendly accountance (I was grinning ear to ear for an hour after this compliment)...Can't wait to see what happens tomorrow!

Better Do It Now

So my blog has decided to be ESPECIALLY slow today. I have more Halloween pictures to post, but I better just do one now and try again later....I wanted to hurry because I'm already excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas!! (Hence the Christmas music on my blog...)

Here's Cap'n Hook, Peter Pan, and lil' Tinkerbell!

Extra Halloween Pics

Fall Festivities

In case you didn't hear--it's Fall in Arizona. (Finally) Now, when I say "Fall", I mean that it's not 100 degrees anymore, there's a slight wind in the air, and we can finally go outside at nighttime! haha..actually, it's been colder than that and all of this fall fun has made me want to BAKE! I've made pumpkin chocolate bread (YUM) and caramel apple pie (still baking it right now...). I am all sorts of excited for the cute Halloween treats I'll be making this year as well. (side note: Jill, you are totally at fault for all this excitement--you and your Halloween list) Isn't Fall the best?! It's a little late, but I guess better late then never!!

Child Protective Services

For those who don't know I'm a level III investigator against child abuse for for the state of Arizona Department of Economic Security division of Child Protective Services (CPS) in Pinal County, AZ.

My duties are many and I work with numerous agencies and individuals. I'm contractually obligated til May of 2010 to stay with this mediocre bureaucracy and idle administration. CPS is a reactive system filled with limited resources and poor funding. As a social worker I am held back from truly helping needy and oppressed families due to state finances and policies. I feel at times that my hands are tied in advocating and taking action for children and families. I instead find myself passively investigating abuse reports. I would leave CPS however, CPS/State of Arizona paid for my in-state graduate fees and tuition at ASU and now I am pain stakingly paying the state back with a two year commitment to CPS.

To give you all a scope of CPS's network here is a list of advocates, providers, source reporters and workers with whom I have contact with on a pretty regular basis: Foster parents, group home case managers, residential treatment centers, assistant attorney generals, defense lawyers, guardian ad-lit ems, city of Mesa police, city of Apache Junction police, Pinal county deputies and sheriffs, detectives, victim advocates, news reporters, policy makers, the Mexican consulate, immigration control enforcement ICE, professional interpreters, CPS court liaisons, court appointed special advocates aka CASA's, a panel of foster care review board volunteers, facilitators for team decision making meetings, adoption agencies, parent aides, case aides, CPS secretaries, forensic interviewers, mental health and behavioral health professionals, medical personnel, drug testing labs, judges, bailiffs, juvenile probation officers, teachers, nurses, medical social workers, intake workers, individual in-patient and out-patient therapists, psychologists, nurse practitioners, marriage and family therapists, prisoners and inmates, social workers, substance abuse counselors, AA & NA groups, primary care physicians, pediatricians, psychiatrists, vocational rehabilitation specialists, Native Americans and tribes, anger management specialists, crisis teams, juvenile detention personnel, department of developmental disabilities case managers (DDD), respite and habilitation workers, EMT's, public defenders, family assistance administration workers FAA, welfare specialists, mediators, adult protective services APS, temp agencies, child care and day care workers, preschool workers, head start workers, healthy family specialists, out of state CPS workers, Arizona's early intervention workers, principals, school secretaries, school social workers and school counselors, domestic violence shelters, homeless shelters, housing authorities, resource specialists, community members, jaded co-workers, a callused boss, angry parents, bitter ex-spouses, dysfunctional families immediate and extended, oh yeah and abused or allegedly abused or neglected kids from birth to adolescence.

This probably gave you a headache just reading the list. Now you know why I am overwhelmed and eat a lot of comfort food just to get through the day, not including getting through my paper trails!..Below is a really good article from the press that is surprisingly optimistic not negative and blaming.



CPS workers excel despite scant support

by Todd Schwarz - Sept. 23, 2009 Special for the Republic

Recent events got me thinking of a conversation I had with a co-worker a while back. He had served on a jury that was deciding whether to take five children away from a mother who neglected them and allowed others to abuse them. It was one of those hard cases with no good option and no good news.
My friend said there was really only one witness who stood out, one person who tried to make the best of a bad situation: the caseworker from Child Protective Services.
We hear about CPS caseworkers every time we hear about abused children. They are ones who get all the blame and no praise. Have you ever thought about what their jobs must be like?
Average CPS caseworkers handle 30 cases at any given time.
They are required to visit every child in their caseload at least once each month. The typical visit calls for separate interviews with the child and the family with which they are placed.
An inspection of the living areas including bedrooms and play areas also is required.
Most cases require an interview with the child's parents in order to assess whether reunification is possible. Every visit requires caseworkers to record their notes and findings.
Then there are the intakes and investigations of new cases. Caseworkers are required by law to make an on-sight investigation within 72 hours of being assigned a Priority 2 case. Unfortunately, layoffs and office consolidations frequently result in cases not being assigned for more than 48 hours. Not enough staff, not enough time - and the added fear of breaking a law.
You would at least expect that they would have a nice office to go to work on their notes, make phone calls and plan their visits. Maybe a place to unwind, de-stress and recharge.
Not in Arizona.
As budgets have been cut, offices have been closed. The number of caseworkers in the average CPS office has almost doubled this year. With the increase in staff at each site, there is a shortage of office supplies and waiting areas for clients. Computers slow down or crash.
At one office, toilet paper runs out by midday.
Can you imagine working in an office that runs out of toilet paper by 2 p.m. every day?
You'd quit.
Well, you would if you didn't (a) have a strong sense of public service to your clients and (b) live in a state with 9.2 percent unemployment.
So, the next time you hear about the death of an innocent child and your state legislator calls for releasing confidential personnel information about the caseworker, or calls for budget cuts to punish Child Protective Services, stop and think. Ask yourself why CPS caseworkers can't stop all of the abuse. Ask yourself why we shouldn't fund an agency that gets it right 99.9 percent of the time.
Call your legislator and ask why CPS caseworkers haven't gotten a raise in three years but instead have had their stipends taken away and aren't allowed to work overtime due to budget cuts. Ask who would do this work for so little appreciation. Then ask your legislator why, if he or she truly believes "children are our future," it is more important to cut taxes yet again rather than adequately fund an agency that works so hard to give kids the future we hold so dear for them.

6 months of bliss!

I suprised Katie with a red rose arrangment from Catus Flowers last weekend for our 6 month wedding celebration. Then I took her out to eat and to a Rodger Clyne concert at Chase Field for a little anniversary 1,2,pow! Kaite and I sang along and danced, it was a blast. One of our favorite songs and a song that was in our wedding video is "Maybe We Should Fall In Love". We were way stoked when they played it!

Here's a beautiful shot of the sunset with my gorgeous girl in downtown Phoenix!

Our handsome young KC! His eyes aren't blue it was the camera flash

I made some fun desserts for my brother-in-law's 19th B-day. Homemade strawberry pie and below Magnolia's Pudding. Katie, thought they looked really good so she had to take a pic!

Good news I start my new part-time job as a crisis intervention specialist in October. I will work on-call on the weekends and on holidays. It's a two man team that goes out to distress calls made to the crisis line in Pinal county, AZ. Katie will start babysitting a ward members friend in October as well. She can't wait to hang with Harper (1) for a couple hours on the weekdays. Our puppy is potty trained now at only 10 weeks. He is way good on going outside. Yeah! Besides that Katie and I have been volunteering at Make A Wish Foundation. We just did a free cold stone event to raise money for the medically fragile kiddos!

I love this pic of Katie flashing the peace sign! What a cutie!

That's my Katie-girl!!! PEACE!

New Trick

Here is a video of our crazy little guy KC. (Chad reminded me that we need to spell his name KC because it's short for Katie and Chad..haha) This is his new trick!

High Fives and Long Prayers

So yesterday while making sweet pork salads (yes, they are BETTER than Cafe Rio/Costa Vida's wanna-be salads), it dawned on me that all day we had ZERO accidents from a certain puppy. I was SO proud of myself. I said, "Honey, we've had no pee today! Yay-high five!" and continued to give a loud high five to my husband. We were so thrilled with ourselves. It's got to be some sort of a record, right? Less than a week and already potty-trained? We were pro's.
As dinner was on the table and Chad had said "I'm hungry. Is it ready?" like 5 times, we were about to say a prayer. Chad had already put food on his fork and was half way to his mouth, when he closed his eyes and asked me to say it. Now, being the brat that I sometimes am, I decided to say an EXTRA long prayer. I thanked God for everything, even Chad's saliva that seemed to be falling from his mouth.
After the extensive prayer, I smirked and said, "golly, I just had to do it!" and then looked down at our carpet. Our little angel had decided to take a leak on our carpet while we closed our eyes and prayed. I gotta hand it to him, he's smart. Too smart. I yelled out, "What the pee?!" and hubby just smirked and said, "That's what you get."
My lesson? No more high fives or long prayers.

Baby Casey!!

Here are some pictures of our new baby--CASEY! He was born July 11 and came home to us August 29. He is such a sweetheart and we are in love already!!

A marvelous picture to a beautiful birthday weekend beginning! We went up to Payson, AZ for a heat retreat. Katie bought me a raft and fishing gear for the 29yr old fart. The views and climate were absolutely spectacular!!!

Katie's Poker FACE! She's not bluffing about the popped air mattress in the back though.

Our camping parking spot in the picturesque Ponderosa Pines!

Like a glove!

The Mongolian Rim above pre-occupied tourist below.

I'm trying to tie a good fishing line. We forgot to take the camera out to the lake but it was pretty funny our oars broke and I paddled with my arms all the way up a windy lake. Also, Katie took a little nap in the raft and got a nice rosy sunburn on her legs. It was the only spot she didn't put on sunscreen ;-)

Santa Rosa, Sacramento, San Francisco...where you at!

Grandpa Green's backyard in Sacramento

Uncle Wes's place in Sac-town. He painted the picture behind us and decorated his whole place from top to bottom. He installed the different tile in his bathroom and shower and put in his own fire place. His floral shop is very unique and decorated even better than his house...

Katie and I chillin' at the fountain! We did a session and then my mom and I sealed her maternal grandparents and my great-grandparents at the Sacramento Temple. Good Times

Bodega Bay 30mins SE of Santa Rosa and 1.5 hours NW of San Francisco and quite chilly for July
Katie is doing her best Chariots of Fire run down this stretch of beach

Redwoods in Armstrong Forrest, CA. Huge ol' suckers aren't they! They are around 300ft tall and 12-14ft in diameter. Katie and I loved the peace and comfort the woods afforded us; we couldn't of asked for better day. Perfect temperature & climate!

We stayed at the temple so long we got locked in so we had to jump over this fence. I shot this quick pic of my mom as she so graceful jumped over it! haha.

The Oakland Temple is one of the most beautiful exterior temples I have ever seen. I love that the twelve apostles are engraved in stone and the scriptures engraved in gold. The view is also spectacular you can see most of Oakland and even into San Francisco.

My mom and dad were sealed for time and all eternity in 1977, in this temple. My mom had not yet been back so it was cool to be with her on her first time back down memory lane.

Boy does she love her Oysters, Crab, Prawns, and Shrimp. Whoa!

Lombard street, SF.

The Japanese Gardens in Golden Gate Park.

The Metz crew!!!

The happy ending to our summer vacation...(Katie + Chad)