It's all good . . .

Busy, busy, busy

I have been meaning to post every day, but life keeps getting in the way.  We have been pretty busy this past week or so, and although it is with good stuff, I am ready to have a few slow days.  I am exhausted.

One of our biggest projects this week has been sorting and organizing our stuff.  We decided to rent one of the garages that our complex offers and use it for storage.  We were so tired of trying to cram EVERYTHING into our apartment, and it is amazing the difference it has made.  We also got rid of a few things, and made room for a few new things (including the cutest table and chairs for Lily - look for pictures in a later post). 

Today I spent cleaning up the mess we created while we were busy organizing.  It is amazing how de-cluttering makes such a huge disaster of things before it gets better :).  So I am officially wiped out.  There a few places left to work on, but they are things I can take care of later. 

I wish I had taken before pictures of everything - you will just have to settle for the after pictures:

 

 

Lily's Room and closet:  Although Lily's room is still in the works - I need to paint her new table, am waiting for her new bed to arrive, and still have to get her quilt finished, I did manage to get her closet revamped for playing and storage.  I also fixed up her bookcase.

 My Laundry Room/Pantry:  It has been such a struggle to figure out what to do with this small space, but now it is finally workable :).

The office:  Last, but not least, and definitely our biggest conquest (other than our outside storage closet).  We packed up 6 boxes of books, and so now our bookcases are no longer overflowing.  It is so much nicer!  If only I had a library, I would have room for all of our books, but you know, beggars can't be choosers :).  Hopefully our organization lasts.

We have been busy with many other things as well, and Kevin has big news from this week, but I am waiting to get the pictures off my old camera so I can post about it.  I can't find the right cord - it has been too long.  I'll leave you with some pics from my latest photo shoot - my friend September's family pictures.  She has four of the most amazing boys I have ever met!  They were so fun to take pictures of!

Because you don't know enough about me already . . .

I was tagged a week ago, but am finally getting to this - because I know how much all of you LOVE learning more about me  - he he!

Jobs I've had: (Many of these I had at the same time)

1. Newspaper Route (8 yrs old until I was 15  and moved away - that was a happy thing to say goodbye to!!)
2. Babysitting (off and on from the time I was 10)
3. Babble's Cleaners (A dry-cleaners I worked at in high school).
4. TCBY - YUM!  (So glad it was 96% fat free :) - I worked there my Senior year and ever summer until I was 21)
5. Frontier Moving and Storage (I was a packer for a moving company)
6. Anderson Lumber (I was a checker)
7. Nanny (not a live-in, but very time consuming)
8. Cleaning and fixing up the rental houses my dad managed (SO gross and hard!!)
9. Landscaping for a neighbor (I would do this at 6am before I went to my other jobs)
10. Canyon Springs Golf Course (Cleaning locker rooms - glamorous, I know)
11. HEB (I was a checker at a grocery store in Texas)
12. 4th Grade Teacher (LOVED it!!  This is why I did all those other jobs, so I could pay for college to be a teacher)
13. Photographer - also so much fun!

Getaways - I'd like to do:

1. Europe with Kevin, especially Germany and Italy
2. Hawaii, to visit Saundra!!  And see Hawaii of course :).
3. New York City and Washington DC (with a stop in Maryland to visit Katie) - to see and do all that they offer
4. Monterey, CA - just because it is our second home
5. Camping in the mountains of Idaho or Nevada - it has been WAY too long

Movies I put on repeat:

1. While You Were Sleeping
2. Pride & Prejudice (A&E version)
3. Old Musicals - they are like an old friend has come to visit
4. High School Musical 2 (I had to put this since the kids and I have watched it 5 times since it premiered last week - he he!)

Guilty pleasures:

1. my camera equipment and taking pictures in general
2. books - I have so many, and always want more
3. treats - whether it is fudge, ice cream, or cookies, I love to have some sort of treat available for whenever the mood strikes :)
4. watching TV shows with Kevin - we have many favorites
5. planning pretend vacations - I like to research hotels, etc, just for fun, although sometimes I actually get to go on the trip :).  (In October we are going to Disney World!!)

Places I've lived:

1. Tucson, AZ (born there, but moved at 3 months old)
2. Sparks, NV (15 yrs)
3. Twin Falls, ID (3 solid years, with many 4 month stints here and there)
4. Provo, UT (a cumulative of 5 years, with little breaks)
5. Jerusalem, Israel (4 mos)
6. Gran Canaria, Spain (3 mos)
7. Tustin & Garden Grove, CA (2 mos)
8. Austin, TX (6 mos)
9. Spanish Fork, UT (1 yr)
10. Seaside, CA (Monterey - 1 yr 4 mos)
11. Savannah, GA (almost 2 years - and the longest Kevin and I have been in any one place since we were married)

Places I've been on holidays (vacations):

1. Disney World and Disney Land
2. Utah - all over - SLC (to visit my Grandma when I was little) Park City, Monticello, etc
3. Las Vegas, NV
4. Florida, all over and many different times
5. Texas (mainly Austin, but also Victoria, Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio)
6. South Carolina
7. California, also all over and many different times (San Diego, Eureka, LA, Oakland, San Fransisco, Sacramento, Carmel, to name a few)
8. Portland, OR
9. Northern Nevada - all over
10. Southern Idaho - all over
11. Seattle, WA
12. Cortez, Colorado
13. Chicago, IL
14. Jordan and Egypt (field trips when I was in Israel)

Favorite foods:

1. Steak
2. Good Texas BBQ (note the "Texas" part - BBQ is different everywhere you go)
3. Fettuccine Alfredo
4. Fajitas

Favorite Deserts:

1. Fudge
2. ice-cream - especially chocolate milkshakes
3. cheesecake
4. Pecan Pralines

First kiss location:

• On the doorstep of the house I lived in at BYU (next door to The Brick Oven).  Kevin was dropping me off after having stolen me away from a ward activity that had been at my house earlier that night.  I remember not being able to sleep that night because I was so happy and in love.

And now I tag . . . . Saundra, Leslie, Angela, and Danielle! 

I was tagged a week ago, but am finally getting to this - because I know how much all of you LOVE learning more about me  - he he!

Jobs I've had: (Many of these I had at the same time)

1. Newspaper Route (8 yrs old until I was 15  and moved away - that was a happy thing to say goodbye to!!)
2. Babysitting (off and on from the time I was 10)
3. Babble's Cleaners (A dry-cleaners I worked at in high school).
4. TCBY - YUM!  (So glad it was 96% fat free :) - I worked there my Senior year and ever summer until I was 21)
5. Frontier Moving and Storage (I was a packer for a moving company)
6. Anderson Lumber (I was a checker)
7. Nanny (not a live-in, but very time consuming)
8. Cleaning and fixing up the rental houses my dad managed (SO gross and hard!!)
9. Landscaping for a neighbor (I would do this at 6am before I went to my other jobs)
10. Canyon Springs Golf Course (Cleaning locker rooms - glamorous, I know)
11. HEB (I was a checker at a grocery store in Texas)
12. 4th Grade Teacher (LOVED it!!  This is why I did all those other jobs, so I could pay for college to be a teacher)
13. Photographer - also so much fun!

I'm so glad when Daddy comes home!

I am finally getting to sit down at the computer to do something other than primary stuff :), and I can finally post.  Kevin got in Friday afternoon, and we were all so happy to see him!   Derek was especially ecstatic, since he is too young to understand why daddy keeps having to leave.

We got home, had dinner, and watched High School Musical in preparation for the premiere of High School Musical 2 that night.  Lily was so excited, but I have to admit, I was more excited than she was :).  Then we celebrated Kevin's late birthday with an orange cake and everything.  (Check out all those candles - we must be getting old or something - he he!)

Saturday morning I sent Kevin off to go golfing while Lily, Derek and I went to our primary activity.  I had been pretty stressed about it, but it went very well and the kids had a great time - which is really all that matters.  We learned about Family Home Evening, made FHE charts, had snacks, and they each got to take home a packet full of FHE lessons. 

When the activity was over, we picked Kevin up at the golf course and went to Sticky Fingers for his free birthday ribs :).  Then we came home and watched High School Musical 2, since we were all too tired to stay up and watch it the night before.  It was so fun!  I loved it, and if I wasn't in love with Zach Efron before, I am now :).  (We have spent the past 4 days listening to the soundtrack and singing and dancing along.  Yea, and I have now watched the movie 3 times - he he!)

Sunday was a good day, but a little wild.  Kevin finally got a calling in our new ward.  He thought he was flying under the radar, but he was so very wrong, and he is now our new ward clerk.  I new he wouldn't be free for long :).  Although it means lots of meetings, etc, I think he is pretty excited about it. 

Well, I had better go and get this posted before more happens that I want to add.  I'll leave you with some Sunday pictures of the kids.  I can never get enough of how cute they look for church :).  (Derek is wearing his Scottish bow-tie, and I always love doing Lily's hair all fancy.)

Adventures in Atlanta

So I mentioned in my last post that I had made lots of plans to kill the time while Kevin was away, but I didn't mentioned what they were.  Well, it is a very long story as to why it happened, but the best part of my plans were a trip to Atlanta with my friend Suzanne and her two kids, Zachary and Emmalyn.  Her husband is deployed, and mine was gone, so it was a perfect break for both of us.  We had such a fun time!

On Tuesday morning we got up early and were on the road by 8 am.  We made it to our first stop, Zoo Atlanta, in 3 hours 45 minutes - which was amazing, considering that we had a 1, 2, and two 4 yr olds in the car.  We only got lost a few times, and we never had to stop (I guess we did have to pull over the one time when Lily unbuckled herself to reach a dropped pretzel, but that doesn't count.).

The Zoo was very fun, and almost empty because it was so VERY HOT outside.  Of course, we had to choose to take this trip during the middle of a heat wave :).  The highlights were:

• Watching them feed the animals - we got to see the orangutans, gorillas, and the elephants get their lunch.  So cool!
• Derek trying to climb into the gorilla cage - unsuccessfully, thank goodness!
• Lily's (and Zachary's) excitement at every animal they saw, including stray squirrels or a random caterpillar.

After the zoo, we went and checked into our hotel, and let the kids take a nap before searching for a place to eat dinner.  After wandering around for a little while, we literally stumbled upon the Hard Rock Cafe.  Suzanne had never eaten there, and since it was her wedding anniversary, we decided to have fun.  Plus it had the added bonus that it was so loud that people couldn't hear our kids :).  After dinner we went swimming at the hotel and then tried to get our crazy kids to sleep.

Wednesday morning we got up early to go to the Georgia Aquarium (the largest in the world), but after we parked, we were told that it was opening late, and so we took the kids across the street to Centennial Olympic Park - which was so awesome!  Not only was there a great playground, but there were these beautiful waterfalls, the 96 Olympic torch, and this amazing fountain that the kids could run through.

After playing for a while, we went back over to the aquarium.  It was also not busy at all, because of the weather and that school had just started in Atlanta.  Because it wasn't as busy, the volunteers really took time to tell us about the animals.

Lily's favorite thing in the world are aquariums, and so she was in heaven.  The coolest thing there was the tank that was as big as a football field, with huge whale sharks swimming around in it.  There was an underwater tunnel you could walk through, and we stayed in it for 15 minutes just watching the fish swim above us.  It was so peaceful and beautiful!  (It made me miss the Monterey Bay Aquarium - we used to go there all the time when we lived there.) 

Aquarium

After the aquarium, we went to IKEA, which was so much fun!!!  I bought a bunch of great toys to give the kids for Christmas, and a few other random little things.  Then, after a long drive home, our adventure was over, but it was worth it :). 

Fighting a war . . .

against the negative.  Sometimes I feel like I am constantly struggling to stay afloat and be positive.  Usually I win and am able to stay happy and positive about things, even if it is a struggle.  Today was definitely one of those days where I was really fighting off the sadness and such.  Today is when I lost the war, and so I decided to have a little pity party for myself, since I don't usually let myself indulge in such things.  Feel free to ignore my ranting/venting.

On the bad list:

• Kevin having to work a 24 hour staff duty shift the weekend before he left us for a week of training, and knowing how much the kids are going to miss him - not to mention myself.
• Kevin having to leave us for a week and be alone on his birthday - and having to leave so early, all I can remember is a quick kiss good bye.
• Losing the birthday card I bought him, and so I didn't even get to slip it in his luggage like I wanted.
• Being completely exhausted, and knowing that it is my fault for staying up too late.
• Having to throw out 8 unopened bags of flour, because even though they were stored in a rubbermaid container, the Georgia bugs still managed to get to my food storage.
• Being frustrated because I am not in control anymore in my calling - it is silly, but I really miss knowing everything that is going on and being able to fix the problems.  I am learning to sit back and take direction again, which is a hard transition, but I am trying.  It is still frustrating me though.
• Being so quick to be angry at my kids because all these other silly things are bothering me, when at the end of the day, they (and Kevin) are all that are really important, and the silly stuff means nothing.
• I haven't worked out in a month.  I may not look any different, but I feel completely unhealthy.

That's enough of that.  I just needed to vent.  Now for the good list, because I am not completely ready to give up on this fight . . .

The Good List:

• Waking up when Kevin kissed me good bye this morning.
• Lily leaving a message on Kevin's phone of her singing Happy Birthday :).
• A phone call from my mom - which was prompted by Derek accidentally calling her on my cell phone - which although it was random, it was just what I needed.
• My wonderful and amazing friend Kristi taking me to pick up our car at the airport, and then coming to play at our house afterward - which really helped distract me.
• Finishing Eclipse last night, and having it be wonderful!
• Finishing The Glass Castle on Saturday - which was amazing - so I could start reading Eclipse :).
• Having Kevin make it safely to Maryland.
• My best friend Katie and her family taking care of Kevin on his birthday (They live in Maryland) by picking him up at his hotel and dropping him off at the golf course so he could play on his b-day.  Then having him over for dinner afterward.  THANK YOU KATIE AND TONY!!!
• Getting a 20 minute nap this afternoon while my kids both decided to fall asleep.  (Lily doesn't take naps, and she usually the one who keeps me awake when I try to nap.)
• Making dinner, and having the last bit of flour that wasn't infested with bugs, be just enough for my recipe.
• Kristi inviting us to swim with them, and having a great time in the water with my kids.  I was so tired I had almost canceled, but I felt so much better afterward, that I am so glad I went.
• Having plans for every day that Kevin will be gone so that I stay busy instead of missing him too much.
• Kevin calling to wish us all goodnight.
• The pan of fudge in my fridge that I made this afternoon . . . which I am about to go enjoy :).
• And finally, my amazing husband and wonderful kids that love me so much.

Hmm, I think maybe I won the war today after all :).  Good night, I am going to go eat some fudge . . .

Finally!

Look what finally arrived today!

I preordered my copy of Eclipse on-line  forever ago, not realizing that I would have to wait an extra 3 days for my book!  Ahh!  At least I saved $10 :).

An added bonus was the fact that I had ordered another book I wanted, Fairest, by Gail Carson Levine (author of Ella Enchanted).  I had completely forgotten about it, and so now I have even more fun books to read.  Yea!

Little Daredevil!

Two nights ago, I was in the middle of cooking dinner, when Derek decided to move a chair over to the sink and pretend to wash the dishes - and although I am not a big fan of his doing this, I was very busy with dinner two feet away, and had glanced in the sink to make sure it was safe.  Since there was only one little bowl in the sink, I went back to making quesadillas. 

About a minute later, I turned around to see Derek reaching for something on the counter and falling right on his face.  It was awful looking and he screamed, so I picked him right up.  It was about a minute later that I discovered that my shirt was covered in blood!  I had thought it was his lip, but looking more carefully, it was his thumb.   It was bleeding terribly, and I soon discovered the source of his cut - the cheese grater that had been sitting on the counter by the sink - and the thing he had successfully grabbed before falling.  Crazy kid!

Well, we bandaged him up, gave him some medicine for the pain, and got him to sleep.  We also got this to keep him out of the kitchen from now on:

Why I love Idaho . . .

I enjoyed a beautiful sunset like this every night we were there.  I know that the sun sets everywhere, but there is something about the wide open space in Twin that I love.  I remember coming home to visit when I had been away at college, and loving how far you could see and how the sky seemed to stretch forever. 

Our trip was wonderful, but rather crazy, and so I found these brief moments of peace even more wonderful.  I am going to write in detail about the whole vacation, so I thought I would break it up into parts, but it will probably still be overload.  Oh well, here goes nothing :) . . .

Idaho Trip Part One: Playing with the Browns

The night before we left, Kevin and I spent cleaning the house so that it was spotless for when we got home.  I had everything ready and was finally settling down to try and sleep before we had to get up at 3:30 am, when at 10:30 pm I got a phone call from the airport.  They were changing our flights, and our departure city - which, as stressful as it was, actually worked out better for us since we were able to fly out of Savannah instead.

DAY 1:  So, at 4:30 we got to my friend Kristi's house, and she took us to the airport.  The flights were good, and even though we were late taking off from Atlanta, we still made our very tight connection in Salt Lake because our ex-fighter pilot Pilot flew as fast as we could possibly go :).  He was pretty hilarious. 

We were so happy when we finally landed in Twin Falls.  There waiting for us at the airport, was not only Kevin's parents and my sister Holly with her kids, but MY parents - whom I hadn't seen since Derek was 2 days old.  They had returned home from their 18 month mission to Scotland the day before.  It was so wonderful to see them, and while Kevin and his parents took the kids home to get settled, I went out to lunch with them.  Later, Kevin brought the kids over to play with cousins for a while, and then we spent the rest of the evening with his parents, trying to Derek-proof their house.

DAY 2: Today began Derek and Lily's adjustment to the time change, which did not come fast enough, because they woke up at 3:45 am, and continued that for another few days before they were okay.  Since we were all up anyway, at about 7:30 am, Kevin and I loaded the kids into a wagon and took them to Thompson park, which was just around the corner.  It was very fun, and the kids were hilarious as usual.  Fun times!  And of course, we had lunch at 9 Beans :).

That afternoon, Lily spent quite a bit of time playing "Don't Break the Ice" with Grandma Valerie.  Then Kevin and Dennis went to play golf in Dennis' twilight league, and since Valerie wasn't feeling well, I went over to my parent's house.  Lily and her best friend/cousin, Austin managed to completely cover themselves in mud.  They can get into so much trouble together, but it's all good.

DAY 3: We had so much fun with Kevin's parents today.  Between Kevin and Dennis playing Disc golf at the park, to dinner at Maxi's, and the kids getting to play in the "White Trash Hot-tub," it was awesome.

  The highlight for Lily, however, was her date with Grandpa Dennis.  He took her on his motorcycle and they got ice-cream and played at the park.  I love it when she gets to build great memories like that - and she looked SO CUTE in her helmet!!

PS. I can't neglect to mention Kevin and Valerie's trip to Smiths at midnight to buy 3 copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - they each needed a copy to read on their trip :).

Idaho Trip Part Two: Crazy Preparations

DAY 4: Today was sort of a sad day, because Kevin and his parent's left for Washington DC for Kevin's award ceremony.  I was very excited for him, but sad for him to have to leave us during vacation.  Needless to say, I spent all my time with my sister and my parents while they were gone.

While I was with them, I tried to help my sister finish things in her new house, so it would be ready for our family reunion the next week.  My brother Preston was also working on the house, and it was so wonderful to see him and his family!!  I even got to have dinner with them, and it was great to catch up, even though Derek tried to reak havoc on all their unpacked boxes (They just moved to Twin).

DAY 5: Sunday was a nice day.  Derek slept all through sacrament meeting, and then I went to Nursery with him - which was really fun actually.  They have such a great nursery, that it made me sad he doesn't get to be in it every week.

That night I put the kids down to sleep, and my dad watched them while I went and took family pictures for my sister Holly.  Derek woke up while I was gone, and somehow, being the amazing man he is, he got him back to sleep.  The pictures turned out pretty good, although it is quite hard to get a 6, 4, and 2 year old to look in the same direction, let alone smile at the same time :).

Day 6 & 7:  Monday and Tuesday were a crazy whirlwind of last minute preparations for the reunion - shopping, cleaning, putting new beds together in Holly's house, and trying to unpack both my parents and Holly's stuff.  It was crazy and exhausting, but I was glad to help. 

We also went to a ward party, where I got to catch up with a few old friends :).  Lily and Derek were so tired, that we left early, which broke Lily's heart - you see, there was a dunk tank and she wanted to play with it so much!  Letting her throw a ball at it with nobody inside just didn't suffice for her.

 Day 8:  Kevin and his parents got back from DC, and so we met them at his Aunt Susie's house in Paul, ID.  Lily loved it, since it was on a farm with huge tractors everywhere.  We got to see Kevin's Grandma Mona, which was very nice.  And the kids had a great time swinging, playing on the trampoline, watching the hummingbirds, and running around in circles :).

   We spent the rest of the day relaxing, since we were all exhausted.  And I was able to stop by my parents to say hi to my brothers and sisters that were starting to arrive for the reunion, which takes us to part three . . .

PS.  Although Kevin didn't get INSCOM linguist of the year, he got a beautiful plaque and got to give input to some pretty amazing people.  And hey, Dennis got to shake hands with a General :).