Sunday, May 13, 2012
I Love My Mother
Having my mother be an active part of my life was a great blessing to me especially through my teenage years.
When I began dating I soon learned to give boys certain advice when they were to come to my house and meet my parents for the first time. It would be something like, “Don’t worry too much about meeting my dad. Having raised a family of all girls my dad will just want to have a masculine conversation with you so that he can stay sane. He will appreciate you if for nothing else that you are a male that he gets to talk to for 15 or 20 min. My mother, on the other hand, will mistrust and dislike you from the moment she sees your car pull into the drive way. In order to be welcome in our house you will have to work hard to earn her respect by having me home not just on time but earlier than my curfew, being chivalrous and most importantly never giving me reason to say anything bad about you because she will come after you. Some boys didn’t believe me and had to learn from experience. Looking back my favorite example of this was once a young man and I had taken a walk down to the river that runs through the back of our property late at night. We lost track of time and came back very late. The young man thought it would be best just to leave quickly and quietly rather than disturb my parents and have to apologies for bringing me back so late after curfew. We went to where he had parked his truck only to find that it was missing. He began to panic, freaking out that his baby was gone. My mom then came out the front door with an amazingly smug look on her face. She said, “Your truck knew it was past curfew and tried to head home without you. Start walking and I’m sure you’ll find it!” She had put the truck in neutral and she and my father had pushed it out the driveway and down the road a ways. The boy sprinted down the driveway and never talked to me again. I was furious at the time and thought my mother was out to ruin my life. But really, she was my champion. She helped me to avoid unworthy young men and unnecessary heart break.
The other thing I love about my mom is the sacrifices that she made to insure I had a better life for my spiritual and physical needs.
In A Proclamation to the World it says:
"By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation."
As far back as I can remember my mother worked as a nurse at the local Hospital and as equal partners my father and mother were able to provide finically for our family. My mother balanced her time between work and family with prayer. Never once did I feel neglected and because every decision she made was by resorting to prayer. The spirit abounded in our home. This taught me that even though every situation is different that if the Lord is put first everything will work out. This is a lesson that has saved my life many times over and I am so grateful for my mother teaching me this through her sacrifices.
In 1 Nephi 19: 9 it says,” And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they aspit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving bkindness and his clong-suffering towards the children of men.”
This scripture reminds me so much of my mother. She always told me that if I was in a bad situation and didn’t know how to get out of it that it was ok to blame her and use her as an exit strategy. If anyone had a problem with it, they could take it up with her and she would defend me. I ended up using that strategy a lot throughout high school, making her very unpopular among some of my peers and even sometimes with their parents. However she gladly took the blame. Personally, I cannot think of a better example of Christ like behavior to allow others to think less of her in order to help protect me and keep me out of dangerous situations.
I know my mother spent countless hours praying and fasting me and my sisters. There is no one other woman that I respect and admire more. The things she had to put up with while raising a rude, rebellious teenaged version of me were awful. But because of her patience, self sacrifice and example, I became who I am now. I am eternally grateful to her and know that in pre mortal life she was chosen to be my mother and I her daughter. I love my mother and hope she has a most wonderful Mother's Day!
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Gorilla and Spandex
Atlas was driving me crazy one evening. He’d played with his friends Copper and Cash earlier that day but he apparently still had some energy to get out. So even though it was late we headed out on a walk. I figured I would walk to my sister’s apartment and say hi. That is a long walk and if Atlas wasn’t tried by then I would be surprised. It was getting dark and I was very grateful to have Atlas with me. Something about having a big dog by my side just made me feel so safe. When we got to the Hart Gym, I noticed a group of people standing on the other side of the street. They were all watching the side of the street I was on. I thought it was weird but this is campus we are talking about, everything is going to be weird. As I got closer to the intersection I saw something big, black, and furry moving behind the big pine trees by the building. Atlas saw it too and didn’t like it. He didn’t bark but I watched as his hackles went from being flat to standing straight on end. I didn’t stop, I just kept walking but then the thing that was behind the trees came running out toward us. I stared at it and saw that it was a guy in a gorilla suit. Then I looked at Atlas. His legs and shoulders were square ready to spring; his head tilted forward snarling just enough to show his teeth. If this gorilla guy got any closer I’m sure Atlas would have attacked. It was dark and Atlas blends in so well with the dark that I doubt this guy could even see Atlas from inside his gorilla suit behind the trees or else I don’t think he would have been stupid enough to come charging up to us. But when he did get close enough to see Atlas, he stopped dead, squealed, and ran back behind the trees. I’m almost positive that he wet his gorilla suit. All the while Atlas didn’t move an inch. He was right there by my side making sure that nothing was going to touch me. The people across the street burst up laughing. I guess it had been their friend in the gorilla suit and they were just there for the show (stupid collage students). Can I just say that Atlas is one of the best dogs in the world? I love that dog.
Andrew got a job up on campus! It was kind of a miracle how he got it. We had looked on campus back in October and they said they wouldn’t be hiring till spring semester. Ugh. Andrew started looking elsewhere but I was hoping that something on campus would open up. If you work on campus they only let you work twenty hours a week and work your schedule around your classes. They know that school comes first, so if he had a big test he needed to study for, they let him go home early. He can’t get over worked with the twenty hour limit. It would have been so perfect but he didn’t want to wait for spring to start working. Halloween rolled around and we needed to go out to my parents place for trick or treating. We hadn’t really thought about costumes so I dressed up in Andrew’s gym clothes (big shorts and a bright orange U.F. Gator shirt) and he dressed up in mine (spandex running capris, an UnderArmor tank top, and a zip up hoodie) Ha ha ha!!! Oh he was a sight to see! To top it all off we got Atlas into some basket ball shorts and a hoodie too. We drove out to my parents’ and as we walked up to the door I noticed that Andrew was shaking. I guess it was cold but I was in a bunch or baggy clothing so I wouldn’t really know. Andrew on the other hand wasn’t used to the kind of clothing I normally wear when working out and didn’t appreciate it. Suffice it to say that he was the first one inside when the door opened. To our surprise, we weren’t the only visitors my parents had over. One of my dad’s friends from campus had dropped by. His friend is over the computer help desk and other computerish things. He and Andrew started talking and really hit it off. Then my mom mentioned that Andrew was looking for a job and asked my dad’s friend if he knew anyone on campus that was hiring. He turned and looked at Andrew, (I could have died! This guy could get Andrew the perfect job and here Andrew was in my workout gear with a coordination head band! I was kicking myself, wishing I’d had him dress up like Superman or a successful business man or something more respectable.) Then my dad’s friend turned and as he grabbed a pen and paper said that Andrew should call this guy and talk to him. If he didn’t help, to call this other guy and ask him and if neither of them could help that he would hire Andrew. He handed Andrew the list with the names and numbers and told him to try the next morning. As we left that night I promised myself that we’d never use that idea for a Halloween costume again. The next morning Andrew called the people on the list, went in to meet with them and got a job by that afternoon. Moral of the story: Trick or treating can get you a job.
Andrew got a job up on campus! It was kind of a miracle how he got it. We had looked on campus back in October and they said they wouldn’t be hiring till spring semester. Ugh. Andrew started looking elsewhere but I was hoping that something on campus would open up. If you work on campus they only let you work twenty hours a week and work your schedule around your classes. They know that school comes first, so if he had a big test he needed to study for, they let him go home early. He can’t get over worked with the twenty hour limit. It would have been so perfect but he didn’t want to wait for spring to start working. Halloween rolled around and we needed to go out to my parents place for trick or treating. We hadn’t really thought about costumes so I dressed up in Andrew’s gym clothes (big shorts and a bright orange U.F. Gator shirt) and he dressed up in mine (spandex running capris, an UnderArmor tank top, and a zip up hoodie) Ha ha ha!!! Oh he was a sight to see! To top it all off we got Atlas into some basket ball shorts and a hoodie too. We drove out to my parents’ and as we walked up to the door I noticed that Andrew was shaking. I guess it was cold but I was in a bunch or baggy clothing so I wouldn’t really know. Andrew on the other hand wasn’t used to the kind of clothing I normally wear when working out and didn’t appreciate it. Suffice it to say that he was the first one inside when the door opened. To our surprise, we weren’t the only visitors my parents had over. One of my dad’s friends from campus had dropped by. His friend is over the computer help desk and other computerish things. He and Andrew started talking and really hit it off. Then my mom mentioned that Andrew was looking for a job and asked my dad’s friend if he knew anyone on campus that was hiring. He turned and looked at Andrew, (I could have died! This guy could get Andrew the perfect job and here Andrew was in my workout gear with a coordination head band! I was kicking myself, wishing I’d had him dress up like Superman or a successful business man or something more respectable.) Then my dad’s friend turned and as he grabbed a pen and paper said that Andrew should call this guy and talk to him. If he didn’t help, to call this other guy and ask him and if neither of them could help that he would hire Andrew. He handed Andrew the list with the names and numbers and told him to try the next morning. As we left that night I promised myself that we’d never use that idea for a Halloween costume again. The next morning Andrew called the people on the list, went in to meet with them and got a job by that afternoon. Moral of the story: Trick or treating can get you a job.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
New member of our family!
Three days till we can move into our apartment! I’m so excited to have that social aspect in my life again. Don’t get me wrong, I love living out in the country but with gas prices limiting the amount of time I can go into town and see my friend, I feel somewhat exiled. It’ll be fun for Atlas too. We are moving into the same complex as our Godpuppy, so he’ll be able to play a lot more. There are more dogs in town that I’ll let Atlas play with than out in Hibbard. There is one dog out here that I’ll set up play dates with and even then every time Atlas comes home from playing with Jack (an enormous black lab) Atlas is hurt somehow. The other dogs out here are very untrained, too small, too old, or too grumpy for Atlas to play with. It is so surprising to see what Atlas learns from each dog he encounters. Jack has taught him how to play fight like an adult dog instead of a puppy. Travis (a small mix breed that doesn’t realize that he is so small that Atlas could fit Travis’s whole head into his mouth and still have room to spear.) has taught his to be more agile. Atlas could run very fast but only in a straight line. If the thing he was chasing turned a sharp corner it would take Atlas almost a minute to turn around. Playing with Travis is almost like a corners boot camp and Atlas is getting a lot better. Then with Cash (our Godpuppy, a little five month old black lab) Atlas has learned that water isn’t bad all of the time. Now it’s only when I’m trying to give him a bath does he hate it.
As we are getting ready to move out of my parent’s house I’ve been trying very hard to get the yard into shape. It doesn’t help that only one set of sprinklers works like it should or that Atlas like to lounge in and all over the flower beds as I weed them; but whatever, the key is that I’m trying to fix everything up. As I was weeding the other day a random kitten appeared through the flowers. I figured it was homeless due to state of its coat and how completely starved it looked. So I named it Momo right then and took it into the garage to feed it. When it was finished it came back out to snuggle. Atlas and Cash had been playing in the field when Momo showed up and now saw him for the first time. Both dogs ran up to this small kitten and started sniffing and licking it all over. The kitten didn’t react like I expected it to. Momo just sat there and took it. He even seemed to be enjoying the attention! Any cat that can handle itself with a puppy Great Dane and a puppy lab at the same time is worth keeping! I text Andrew a picture of Momo and informed him that we were keeping it. Sadly our neighbor girls don’t seem to like Momo. They were outside yesterday and Momo wandered over to see what was going on. A while later I saw them trying to throw the kitten into a tree. I rescued Momo and took him back to the garage so he could eat lunch. That evening I heard the girls screaming outside. I went out and they were holding Momo in their sprinkler! Oh my gosh! Crazy children! I Grabbed Momo and got after the girls. Wow, I was upset. I took Momo back into the garage and tried to dry him off. I think the only way to stop them from abusing this poor kitten is to talk to their mother about it. I’m so glad I have a dog and a cat instead of a child right now.
As we are getting ready to move out of my parent’s house I’ve been trying very hard to get the yard into shape. It doesn’t help that only one set of sprinklers works like it should or that Atlas like to lounge in and all over the flower beds as I weed them; but whatever, the key is that I’m trying to fix everything up. As I was weeding the other day a random kitten appeared through the flowers. I figured it was homeless due to state of its coat and how completely starved it looked. So I named it Momo right then and took it into the garage to feed it. When it was finished it came back out to snuggle. Atlas and Cash had been playing in the field when Momo showed up and now saw him for the first time. Both dogs ran up to this small kitten and started sniffing and licking it all over. The kitten didn’t react like I expected it to. Momo just sat there and took it. He even seemed to be enjoying the attention! Any cat that can handle itself with a puppy Great Dane and a puppy lab at the same time is worth keeping! I text Andrew a picture of Momo and informed him that we were keeping it. Sadly our neighbor girls don’t seem to like Momo. They were outside yesterday and Momo wandered over to see what was going on. A while later I saw them trying to throw the kitten into a tree. I rescued Momo and took him back to the garage so he could eat lunch. That evening I heard the girls screaming outside. I went out and they were holding Momo in their sprinkler! Oh my gosh! Crazy children! I Grabbed Momo and got after the girls. Wow, I was upset. I took Momo back into the garage and tried to dry him off. I think the only way to stop them from abusing this poor kitten is to talk to their mother about it. I’m so glad I have a dog and a cat instead of a child right now.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Oh Toothpaste! :(
Ok so here is the deal. I wrote this humongously long blog about what has been happening in our lives this past three months. It took forever to write and when I was finished I read it to Andrew and all I got for feedback was a very disregarded “that’s nice.” I read it again and Andrew was right, the blog was so boring that it could have killed someone (mainly me). So I did the only thing that was to be done in that situation, I deleted it! It was a bitter sweet feeling. I had spent so long on that retarded blog but at the same time I loathed it because of how long it took me to write. Oh well, it is gone now! I will give you the highlights of the past three month then I will get to the good stuff on here and now.
Andrew’s Dad came up and we randomly went to Montana.
Andrew and I got a Great Dane puppy and named him Atlas.
I thought about killing Atlas for peeing in his bed.
We had a puppy shower for Atlas.
I thought about killing Atlas for pooping on the floor and leaving it for me to step in. YUCK!
I went on a blog writing strike.
I thought about killing Atlas for peeing in his bed, for the millionth time.
We bought a car and named it Smaug.
Atlas pooped in Smaug .
We sold Toothless
We got invaded by skunks.
We killed the skunks.
We got invaded by snow flees. (They don’t get on animals or people; they just eat the bacteria off of the snow. I’d never seen them before and freaked out.)
We got released from teaching primary. (Angels singing in the background!)
Atlas hadn’t had an accident in the house for a week straight.
The snow melted and we got invaded by mice and voles.
I dubbed Atlas potty trained!
Andrew finished a really hard semester with really good grades.
Andrew and I had our one year Anniversary. (I’ll write more about that later.)
Andrew’s mom cane up for a visit.
I was a Bride’s Maid for my good friend Julie’s wedding.
Alright time for the here and now! Or at least I’ll start at the first of April with Andrew’s and my one year Anniversary. When we got married we both had the winter semester off so now with Andrew on Fast Grad our anniversary now falls right on finals week. Bla! I prepared myself for a very minimal celebration. April 1, 2011 was, as I expected, a normal day aside from the superb weather. When Andrew finished studying we went outside to enjoy the sun and just got itching to clean up the yard. So we busted out the rakes, shovels and the wheel barrel and went to work! I know I’m a nerd, but this was so much fun! The music was blasting and Andrew and I were absorbing vitamin D from the sun for the first time since the end of November! The temperature got up to 60 or higher! I was amazed! Although as the sun set the temperatures plummeted back into the 30’s. All in all Andrew and I had a wonderful day. The odd thing was that it was the week after that that Andrew started to act sneaky. He told me not to book any appointments in the salon for that weekend and wouldn’t say anything else. I love secrets and surprises but when I’m the one being kept in the dark I go flat out crazy. Andrew wouldn’t budge. I tried everything but I couldn’t even get a hint out of him about what was going on that weekend. To make things worse my sister Sarah even seemed to know more about what was going on than I did! Friday finally came and Andrew relented a little bit. He told me to pack for swimming and an outdoor activity that had the potential to get our clothing muddy. I was completely lost when he started packing up Atlas’s stuff. It turns out that Andrew had planned a trip to Lava Hot Springs for the weekend! He’d found a puppy sitter, made reservations at the Lion Gate Manor, and called in some favors so that we could go horseback riding! I was floored! Andrew is the most thoughtful person I’ve ever met! When we got there we went straight to the hot pools. Oh I want one to take home! Too bad that doesn’t work… It started to snow and I thought I was going to die on our walk from the parking lot to the pools. Andrew and I went to the pool with the least amount of kids. It was like magic, every stress, all inhibition dissolved as soon as we were submersed into the hot water. I never wanted to move…ever. It turns out we went to the hottest pool and the water was around 112 degrees. Andrew and I needed to move about twenty minutes after we got in, but we didn’t want to. I just moved up a step and laid there in an inch of water with the snow creating a white out. It felt so weird! I’ve never had acupuncture but I imagine that’s very close to how it would feel! After three hours of this it was time for check in at Lion Gate Manor. We drove around a bit looking for it then up on a hill I saw a mansion. It turned out that this place was actually some guy’s house that he put theme rooms in. It was AMAZING! We stayed in the Phantom of the Opera sweet. K, this was the coolest place I’ve ever seen in my life! We enter through a secret door behind a book case and went down a spiral stair case to the Phantom’s Lair! It had everything from in the movie, from box five (the surround sound movie room with an organ and its pipes as the TV) to the music box. The Jacuzzi tub had lighting in it that changed color of the water. The water that filled it fell from the ceiling! It was just amazing… I really don’t know what else to say about it! In the morning we went up stairs for their five star breakfast. We were a little late and the table is by the bookcase we come out of. So the other guests that were already there about jumped out of their skin when the bookcase folded open and Andrew and I popped out. The looks on their faces were so funny! After we checked out we went back to the hot pools and soaked for two more hours. Awwww I really want one of those in my back yard! The friends we were going riding with had to bring the horses down from the upper fields so we needed to wait till three. When we got there Andrew and I were still in our swim suit with bathrobes over them. Ha ha I asked Andrew to go knock on the door to see if it was ok if we changed in their bathroom. I felt so bad for the girl that answered the door. There was Andrew in his bathrobe and his swim suit under it but he looked like he was naked under there! I would have been totally freaked out if I’d have been her. When we got out to the horses it was snowing and blowing pretty hard. They gave Andrew a very mellow horse we affectionately nick named slow white. My horse had much more sprit but was super mellow compared to the horses my family owned when I was younger. We started to ride off and I looked to either side of me and Andrew was nowhere to be seen! I turned around and he was still back at the hitching post just sitting there. He kept tapping the horse’s sides with his heels and saying "Ya! Mule!" but the horse wouldn’t move. He finally got going and we had a fantastic ride in the snow! What an anniversary! Andrew is so amazing; I could not have asked to marry a better person!
So we got this new tooth paste and holy smokes! If you brush your teeth too long the powerful mint numbs your mouth, mainly your tongue which makes talking a challenge. I found this out the hard way. I was rushing to get out the door for a salon day that was completely booked. I was brushing my teeth as I was getting everything ready and didn’t think a thing about it. Then while I was in the salon I tried to talk to my clients but everything that I tried to get to come out of my mouth didn’t come out like I thought it would. Words were jumbled and slurred together. After three hours of sounding like a cave man with grunts and odd noises emanating from my mouth I realized that my mouth was still just as minty fresh as when I spit the paste out. I couldn’t fell my tongue though…. That was it! It was the tooth paste!!! I was so excited that I’d found the culprit that I blurted out why I was having such problems talking. Sadly instead of words it came out, again like a cave man, in grunts and slurred garble. Darn that toothpaste!!!
Well I think I over came my three almost four month writers block! I’ll really try to keep up on the blog this time!
Andrew’s Dad came up and we randomly went to Montana.
Andrew and I got a Great Dane puppy and named him Atlas.
I thought about killing Atlas for peeing in his bed.
We had a puppy shower for Atlas.
I thought about killing Atlas for pooping on the floor and leaving it for me to step in. YUCK!
I went on a blog writing strike.
I thought about killing Atlas for peeing in his bed, for the millionth time.
We bought a car and named it Smaug.
Atlas pooped in Smaug .
We sold Toothless
We got invaded by skunks.
We killed the skunks.
We got invaded by snow flees. (They don’t get on animals or people; they just eat the bacteria off of the snow. I’d never seen them before and freaked out.)
We got released from teaching primary. (Angels singing in the background!)
Atlas hadn’t had an accident in the house for a week straight.
The snow melted and we got invaded by mice and voles.
I dubbed Atlas potty trained!
Andrew finished a really hard semester with really good grades.
Andrew and I had our one year Anniversary. (I’ll write more about that later.)
Andrew’s mom cane up for a visit.
I was a Bride’s Maid for my good friend Julie’s wedding.
Alright time for the here and now! Or at least I’ll start at the first of April with Andrew’s and my one year Anniversary. When we got married we both had the winter semester off so now with Andrew on Fast Grad our anniversary now falls right on finals week. Bla! I prepared myself for a very minimal celebration. April 1, 2011 was, as I expected, a normal day aside from the superb weather. When Andrew finished studying we went outside to enjoy the sun and just got itching to clean up the yard. So we busted out the rakes, shovels and the wheel barrel and went to work! I know I’m a nerd, but this was so much fun! The music was blasting and Andrew and I were absorbing vitamin D from the sun for the first time since the end of November! The temperature got up to 60 or higher! I was amazed! Although as the sun set the temperatures plummeted back into the 30’s. All in all Andrew and I had a wonderful day. The odd thing was that it was the week after that that Andrew started to act sneaky. He told me not to book any appointments in the salon for that weekend and wouldn’t say anything else. I love secrets and surprises but when I’m the one being kept in the dark I go flat out crazy. Andrew wouldn’t budge. I tried everything but I couldn’t even get a hint out of him about what was going on that weekend. To make things worse my sister Sarah even seemed to know more about what was going on than I did! Friday finally came and Andrew relented a little bit. He told me to pack for swimming and an outdoor activity that had the potential to get our clothing muddy. I was completely lost when he started packing up Atlas’s stuff. It turns out that Andrew had planned a trip to Lava Hot Springs for the weekend! He’d found a puppy sitter, made reservations at the Lion Gate Manor, and called in some favors so that we could go horseback riding! I was floored! Andrew is the most thoughtful person I’ve ever met! When we got there we went straight to the hot pools. Oh I want one to take home! Too bad that doesn’t work… It started to snow and I thought I was going to die on our walk from the parking lot to the pools. Andrew and I went to the pool with the least amount of kids. It was like magic, every stress, all inhibition dissolved as soon as we were submersed into the hot water. I never wanted to move…ever. It turns out we went to the hottest pool and the water was around 112 degrees. Andrew and I needed to move about twenty minutes after we got in, but we didn’t want to. I just moved up a step and laid there in an inch of water with the snow creating a white out. It felt so weird! I’ve never had acupuncture but I imagine that’s very close to how it would feel! After three hours of this it was time for check in at Lion Gate Manor. We drove around a bit looking for it then up on a hill I saw a mansion. It turned out that this place was actually some guy’s house that he put theme rooms in. It was AMAZING! We stayed in the Phantom of the Opera sweet. K, this was the coolest place I’ve ever seen in my life! We enter through a secret door behind a book case and went down a spiral stair case to the Phantom’s Lair! It had everything from in the movie, from box five (the surround sound movie room with an organ and its pipes as the TV) to the music box. The Jacuzzi tub had lighting in it that changed color of the water. The water that filled it fell from the ceiling! It was just amazing… I really don’t know what else to say about it! In the morning we went up stairs for their five star breakfast. We were a little late and the table is by the bookcase we come out of. So the other guests that were already there about jumped out of their skin when the bookcase folded open and Andrew and I popped out. The looks on their faces were so funny! After we checked out we went back to the hot pools and soaked for two more hours. Awwww I really want one of those in my back yard! The friends we were going riding with had to bring the horses down from the upper fields so we needed to wait till three. When we got there Andrew and I were still in our swim suit with bathrobes over them. Ha ha I asked Andrew to go knock on the door to see if it was ok if we changed in their bathroom. I felt so bad for the girl that answered the door. There was Andrew in his bathrobe and his swim suit under it but he looked like he was naked under there! I would have been totally freaked out if I’d have been her. When we got out to the horses it was snowing and blowing pretty hard. They gave Andrew a very mellow horse we affectionately nick named slow white. My horse had much more sprit but was super mellow compared to the horses my family owned when I was younger. We started to ride off and I looked to either side of me and Andrew was nowhere to be seen! I turned around and he was still back at the hitching post just sitting there. He kept tapping the horse’s sides with his heels and saying "Ya! Mule!" but the horse wouldn’t move. He finally got going and we had a fantastic ride in the snow! What an anniversary! Andrew is so amazing; I could not have asked to marry a better person!
So we got this new tooth paste and holy smokes! If you brush your teeth too long the powerful mint numbs your mouth, mainly your tongue which makes talking a challenge. I found this out the hard way. I was rushing to get out the door for a salon day that was completely booked. I was brushing my teeth as I was getting everything ready and didn’t think a thing about it. Then while I was in the salon I tried to talk to my clients but everything that I tried to get to come out of my mouth didn’t come out like I thought it would. Words were jumbled and slurred together. After three hours of sounding like a cave man with grunts and odd noises emanating from my mouth I realized that my mouth was still just as minty fresh as when I spit the paste out. I couldn’t fell my tongue though…. That was it! It was the tooth paste!!! I was so excited that I’d found the culprit that I blurted out why I was having such problems talking. Sadly instead of words it came out, again like a cave man, in grunts and slurred garble. Darn that toothpaste!!!
Well I think I over came my three almost four month writers block! I’ll really try to keep up on the blog this time!
Monday, January 24, 2011
Little girls, little girls, everywhere I look I see little girls...."
What’s wet, squirmy and fury all over? If you can’t get this one, you need to review elementary school humor. The answer is a puppy who doesn’t really want a bath. The back ground of this joke starts with two Saturdays ago. I had agreed to do a scary movie night with Andrew and some friends. I really hate scary movies. I just get so freaked out by them afterwards. My imagination just takes it and runs with it. But somehow Andrew likes them. He’s been bummed because ever since we started dating that he hasn’t seen a scary movie. I consented to watch The Grudge with him and ended up staring at the pop corn the entire time. I still got bits of the show, at least enough to scare me. That night I couldn’t sleep. At about 2:30 in the morning I woke from a nightmare that the grudge girl was coming after me and that noise she makes was getting louder and louder. As soon as I woke up I realized that the noise I had heard in my dream was Andrew snoring with his congested nose. As punishment I made him walk me to the bathroom. There was no hope for sleep after that. The rest of the evening was spent watching The Importance of Being Ernest and Skyping with my mom about Cambodia. I finally got back to sleep around five or six. Andrew didn’t have to go back to school till Tuesday due to Martian Luther king day, so I was fine till then. But after I dropped Andrew off at school I didn’t want to go home. I went and worked out till eleven then had nothing else to do. I didn’t want to go home and be alone because I would easily get spooked and have an awful rest of the day. So as I was driving home I turned toward the nature park and went to the animal shelter. I had gone there once the week before and played with the puppies. They had about fifteen with more on the way. They were so cute and playful! But they smelled like poop. When I got there on Tuesday I asked if I could take a dog for a walk. I took this really smart lab named Jr. and when I got back I still didn’t want to go home. So I asked if it would be ok if I gave the puppies a bath. They told me that I’d be their best friend if I’d wash up the puppies. Wow! Lots of work! Some dogs didn’t care about getting a bath and just stood there while I washed them. Others went crazy! They jumped and wiggled so much that I got wetter than they did! It took forever! The younger ones were covered in poop and pee because they don’t know how to handle their bladder yet. When I started to rinse them off, the water that flowed off of them was yellow. Yuck! One of the younger ones got so frightened by the sound of the bath tub she peed on me. By the time I finished all the puppies were fluffy and clean (unlike me) and I felt good. I was glad that I could make a difference even though it was small and would have to be re done a few days later. It took all afternoon and I was a half an hour late in picking up Andrew. When I got to him I ran up to give him a hug, but he said that I stunk and to wait till I changed to hug him. Lol no, puppy pee will never make it as a perfume.
I went back again the next day so I could clip the puppies over grown toe nails but this time I took back up! I convinced a friend of mine to come along with me and I was so glad that I did! Some of those puppies did not like us messing with their feet. It took one person to hold the pup while the other person tried to clip the nail without hurting it. Again it took all day but my friend and I had so much fun! With ever puppy my friend held, she asked it if she took it home would it hold still and pretend to be a stuffed animal when her manager came around for clean checks. Lol! A growing stuffed animal, it’s a better idea than chia pets! We were almost finished when I got a text from Andrew saying that he needed to stay late and finish some homework. He said he’d be finished around five. It was almost three so I still had time to burn. Allison (my friend that I brought) and I asked if we could borrow two puppies and snuggle with them as we watched a movie. I think if anyone one else asked, they would have said no. But since I’d been spending so much time there they knew me and said that it would be fine. We were so excited! We wrapped the two puppies in towels, put together a crate for them and dashed off to Allison’s apartment. When we walked in one of her roommates came out to see who had come home. She saw the puppies and gasped in shock or excitement and dropped everything she was holding. The three of us proceeded to play with the puppies and tried and keep them from destroying the living room of the apartment. “Dipstick” had a taste for TV cords, shoes, car keys, socks, feet…. Really anything that was on the floor that would semi fit in his mouth.”Bear” on the other hand really just wanted to chew on Dipstick. So together they rolled around on the chewing and crashing into everything. Suddenly, Dipstick lunged at the TV cords, opened mouthed and ready to eat the cords like spaghetti. Thinking fast Allison grabbed another toy to get Dipstick interested in and dove to protect the TV cords. It was a great idea in theory, but as she dove she slid into the cords unplugging a lot of them. The TV went blank and Dipstick was off eating something else. BA! It took Allison about ten minutes to get everything in where it was meant to go. Finally we got to the movie and the puppies fell fast asleep. Half way through they woke up. Puppies are like most humans when they wake up. They either want food or to pee right away. I should have thought this through a bit better and brought leashes so that we could take them outside to use the restroom. Still not thinking we set them down because they were getting too wiggly to snuggle with. Two seconds later they both squatted and went pee. AH! It was chaos! I ran to get a towel, Allison ran to pick them up to go outside, and the other roommate ran to get carpet cleaner. All they had was Windex, so we drenched the carpet with glass cleaner. The movie was all but finished so we thought it best to take them back to the shelter before they decided to go number two on the carpet. Ha ha what a day! Next time we borrow puppies I will be sure to be better prepared.
Sunbeams this week went very well. They are getting better at sitting through singing time and as long as they have animal crackers they will sit through a short lesson. One of the younger girls needed to go to the bathroom. On our way I started to panic. I can handle it with puppies, but kids are a whole different story. I would vomit for sure. There was no other woman around that I could pawn the kid off on. The week before that one of the girls sneezed all the buggers out of her nose onto her face and I was seconds away from losing my lunch when the bishop’s wife swooped in and saved me. She took the girl to the bathroom and washed her up returning her sparkly and clean. I think she earned her spot in heaven that day. This week though, there was no one to save me. I walked into the bathroom with the girl, stopped by a stall and told the girl to “go for it.” She just looked at me. “Suck. I’m really going to have to do this.” I thought disgustedly. I went in to the stall praying that she would just have to pee. She sat there for a second with this look of deepest concentration on her face then she let out the worst gas I have ever smelled. I had no idea something that vile smelling could come out of a little human girl. I nearly dropped her in the toilet as I tried to cover my nose. To my great relief all she had to do was stinker and she was done. I handed her some toilet paper. She wiped then tried to hand it back to me! Good grief! Had this girl ever gone to the toilet alone?! I told her to put it back in the toilet. There was no way in heck that I was going to touch that! It was at this point that I realized that Miss. Hannigan off Annie wasn’t crazy or evil; she was just trying to cope.
We were teaching the girls (we have three 3yr olds, and two 4yr old girls, no boys) about Heavenly Fathers plan for us. It was a super deep subject for kids that young but somehow we got through it. Then as they were coloring pictures that had to do with the lesson one of the girls randomly blurts out, “I heard an owl in my parent’s room last night.” She kept talking about this owl and I was sitting there trying not to bust up laughing. At first Andrew didn’t get it, then he saw my face and put together what else could sound like and owl in her parents room at night. HA HA HA!!!!! Oh that right there made the rest of my day!
I went back again the next day so I could clip the puppies over grown toe nails but this time I took back up! I convinced a friend of mine to come along with me and I was so glad that I did! Some of those puppies did not like us messing with their feet. It took one person to hold the pup while the other person tried to clip the nail without hurting it. Again it took all day but my friend and I had so much fun! With ever puppy my friend held, she asked it if she took it home would it hold still and pretend to be a stuffed animal when her manager came around for clean checks. Lol! A growing stuffed animal, it’s a better idea than chia pets! We were almost finished when I got a text from Andrew saying that he needed to stay late and finish some homework. He said he’d be finished around five. It was almost three so I still had time to burn. Allison (my friend that I brought) and I asked if we could borrow two puppies and snuggle with them as we watched a movie. I think if anyone one else asked, they would have said no. But since I’d been spending so much time there they knew me and said that it would be fine. We were so excited! We wrapped the two puppies in towels, put together a crate for them and dashed off to Allison’s apartment. When we walked in one of her roommates came out to see who had come home. She saw the puppies and gasped in shock or excitement and dropped everything she was holding. The three of us proceeded to play with the puppies and tried and keep them from destroying the living room of the apartment. “Dipstick” had a taste for TV cords, shoes, car keys, socks, feet…. Really anything that was on the floor that would semi fit in his mouth.”Bear” on the other hand really just wanted to chew on Dipstick. So together they rolled around on the chewing and crashing into everything. Suddenly, Dipstick lunged at the TV cords, opened mouthed and ready to eat the cords like spaghetti. Thinking fast Allison grabbed another toy to get Dipstick interested in and dove to protect the TV cords. It was a great idea in theory, but as she dove she slid into the cords unplugging a lot of them. The TV went blank and Dipstick was off eating something else. BA! It took Allison about ten minutes to get everything in where it was meant to go. Finally we got to the movie and the puppies fell fast asleep. Half way through they woke up. Puppies are like most humans when they wake up. They either want food or to pee right away. I should have thought this through a bit better and brought leashes so that we could take them outside to use the restroom. Still not thinking we set them down because they were getting too wiggly to snuggle with. Two seconds later they both squatted and went pee. AH! It was chaos! I ran to get a towel, Allison ran to pick them up to go outside, and the other roommate ran to get carpet cleaner. All they had was Windex, so we drenched the carpet with glass cleaner. The movie was all but finished so we thought it best to take them back to the shelter before they decided to go number two on the carpet. Ha ha what a day! Next time we borrow puppies I will be sure to be better prepared.
Sunbeams this week went very well. They are getting better at sitting through singing time and as long as they have animal crackers they will sit through a short lesson. One of the younger girls needed to go to the bathroom. On our way I started to panic. I can handle it with puppies, but kids are a whole different story. I would vomit for sure. There was no other woman around that I could pawn the kid off on. The week before that one of the girls sneezed all the buggers out of her nose onto her face and I was seconds away from losing my lunch when the bishop’s wife swooped in and saved me. She took the girl to the bathroom and washed her up returning her sparkly and clean. I think she earned her spot in heaven that day. This week though, there was no one to save me. I walked into the bathroom with the girl, stopped by a stall and told the girl to “go for it.” She just looked at me. “Suck. I’m really going to have to do this.” I thought disgustedly. I went in to the stall praying that she would just have to pee. She sat there for a second with this look of deepest concentration on her face then she let out the worst gas I have ever smelled. I had no idea something that vile smelling could come out of a little human girl. I nearly dropped her in the toilet as I tried to cover my nose. To my great relief all she had to do was stinker and she was done. I handed her some toilet paper. She wiped then tried to hand it back to me! Good grief! Had this girl ever gone to the toilet alone?! I told her to put it back in the toilet. There was no way in heck that I was going to touch that! It was at this point that I realized that Miss. Hannigan off Annie wasn’t crazy or evil; she was just trying to cope.
We were teaching the girls (we have three 3yr olds, and two 4yr old girls, no boys) about Heavenly Fathers plan for us. It was a super deep subject for kids that young but somehow we got through it. Then as they were coloring pictures that had to do with the lesson one of the girls randomly blurts out, “I heard an owl in my parent’s room last night.” She kept talking about this owl and I was sitting there trying not to bust up laughing. At first Andrew didn’t get it, then he saw my face and put together what else could sound like and owl in her parents room at night. HA HA HA!!!!! Oh that right there made the rest of my day!
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Sandpaper
So as I sat down to write this, I heard a random grunting noise and saw my husband’s feet flying past my face. This didn’t make any since to me, since we were working on our laptops side by side at Andrew’s homework desk. It turned out that he was leaning back on his chair (you know the way we always tell little kids not to do because they’ll fall and crack their skull) and he thought that his knee would catch on the desk and stop him from falling backward to his doom. Unfortunately he largely over estimated the catchablitiy of his knee. As he was falling to the floor he twisted around and put out his hands to stop himself (thus the grunting noise I heard) and though he was able to stop his upper body from crashing to the floor his lower body kept going (and we have his feet flying past my head). All in all, he somehow didn’t die and landed upright in his chair with me trying to get a breath in between my laughs.
Andrew and I have had so much fun over this Christmas break. Since the last break we had from school he started playing Diablo II with some of his friends from back in FL. I thought that it was good that he kept in touch with his friends from home but after a while I became jealous of this stupid game and how much time he was taking in “keeping in touch” with his friends. At the end of the break I warned him that if he spent that much of his time over Christmas break playing that game that I would crash his computer (I can wreck any form of electronic just by touching it, it’s a gift I guess…) He knew that I would hold true to the warning and he and I have found more crazy adventures to go on this break than I thought possible! It’s been so much fun! Like the other day I was getting stuff for the salon in my distributor store and I saw that they had a Tan Towel gift set that included the Tan Towel Original, the Tan Towel Exfoliator , and the Instant Tan Spray. My mother in-law had introduced me to the Tan Towel Original while I was in FL and I saw really good results with them. I would just rub this towelette on my skin and it was tan! Not orange but tan. I bought the gift set and figured Andrew and I could try it the next day. We have both lost all pigment in our skin due to the below freezing weather and lack of time to hit up a tanning bed. The next day I skimmed the step by step instructions and went to work. First was the exfoliator. We were supposed to rub this towelette all over the areas we wanted tanned to remove the top layer of skin so that the tan would sink in better. I went first. This towelette was like grade 8 sandpaper! I think I was rubbing a little too hard because some parts of me arms looked as if I had been a scratching post for cats. Then I helped Andrew. I think I rubbed a little too hard on him too because he started screaming and jumping away from me. By the end of the exfoliation we found that the instructions said gently rub skin with towelette, not grind away till you see bone. Andrew was pretty bitter at me for missing that minor detail. Next was the Tan Towel Original. We were to rub this towelette on our skin in circular motions to insure an even tan. I went first again and this towelette felt much nicer than the last one, although it did smell vaguely of beef jerky. Andrew handled this better too and it put us both in the mood for steaks. And last was the Instant Tan Spray. I had gotten bored with reading instructions by this point so I just went at it. I started squirting this stuff all over my body and to my horror I looked as though an angry Chinese food place had attacked me with soy sauce! I franticly rubbed it in and found that I was no longer white but a beach body bronze. WOW! It was amazing! I squirted Andrew down and I hardly recognized him. It was beautiful what this stuff did to our skin! Then I looked down at my hands… In hindsight I should have washed my hands between the Tan Towel I had used on myself, the one I’d used on Andrew, the spray I had used on myself, and the spray that I’d used on Andrew. My hands were now three times as tan at the rest of my body! BA! I scrubbed for twenty minutes and finally got my hands to match the rest of my body. But holy cow were we tan and so in the mood for some red meat!
A few days later Rexburg was hit with a freak snow storm. We had at least six inches of new heavy wet snow in our driveway. There was no way were going to be able to get Toothless (our car) out. We were snowed in or snowed under, take your pick. Our neighbor who normally plows us out in times like these was out of town. So Andrew called them and asked if he could borrow their four-wheeler with the plow attached to the front to clear out our driveway. They said yes and Christmas started all over for that man. He jumped on and went to work clearing out the neighbor’s driveway so that they could get in when they came home. I grabbed a snow shovel and shoveled off their walk way. By the time I was done with that I was ready to be finished with the shovel for a long time. Another neighbor was storing my dad’s tractor in their barn. Not to brag, but I’m amazing on that thing. I’d have our driveway cleaned out in no time flat. I called up my neighbor and had Andrew drive me over on the four wheeler. For some reason when we got to their house my neighbors didn’t think that I could handle such a heavy duty piece of equipment and wanted to clear the driveway out themselves. I was in shock. This offer would have been nice if I was an idiot city girl who didn’t know how to maneuver a tractor. But I’m freaking pro on this thing and really wanted to have fun moving the snow around. I assured them that I knew what I was doing and with much reluctance they let me leave on the tractor. Not after they told me a million times that if I had any problems to call them. I just had to smile, they had no idea how much time logged on this thing. I knew it better than they could despite being a girl. And I was off! I scraped out the driveway so clean and fast that I was sad that there wasn’t more to do. Andrew and I had a muscle contest with the four wheeler and the tractor. He started way back on the road and revved his engine, then shot forward ramming a pile of snow and shoved it into the snow bank. Then I started at the same spot. I lowered the front loader and charged a pile of snow. I shoved it clear up to the snow bank, lifted up the snow bank and moved the whole thing about three feet and dropped it. I think we both agreed that I won. It was such a fun day!
Andrew and I have had so much fun over this Christmas break. Since the last break we had from school he started playing Diablo II with some of his friends from back in FL. I thought that it was good that he kept in touch with his friends from home but after a while I became jealous of this stupid game and how much time he was taking in “keeping in touch” with his friends. At the end of the break I warned him that if he spent that much of his time over Christmas break playing that game that I would crash his computer (I can wreck any form of electronic just by touching it, it’s a gift I guess…) He knew that I would hold true to the warning and he and I have found more crazy adventures to go on this break than I thought possible! It’s been so much fun! Like the other day I was getting stuff for the salon in my distributor store and I saw that they had a Tan Towel gift set that included the Tan Towel Original, the Tan Towel Exfoliator , and the Instant Tan Spray. My mother in-law had introduced me to the Tan Towel Original while I was in FL and I saw really good results with them. I would just rub this towelette on my skin and it was tan! Not orange but tan. I bought the gift set and figured Andrew and I could try it the next day. We have both lost all pigment in our skin due to the below freezing weather and lack of time to hit up a tanning bed. The next day I skimmed the step by step instructions and went to work. First was the exfoliator. We were supposed to rub this towelette all over the areas we wanted tanned to remove the top layer of skin so that the tan would sink in better. I went first. This towelette was like grade 8 sandpaper! I think I was rubbing a little too hard because some parts of me arms looked as if I had been a scratching post for cats. Then I helped Andrew. I think I rubbed a little too hard on him too because he started screaming and jumping away from me. By the end of the exfoliation we found that the instructions said gently rub skin with towelette, not grind away till you see bone. Andrew was pretty bitter at me for missing that minor detail. Next was the Tan Towel Original. We were to rub this towelette on our skin in circular motions to insure an even tan. I went first again and this towelette felt much nicer than the last one, although it did smell vaguely of beef jerky. Andrew handled this better too and it put us both in the mood for steaks. And last was the Instant Tan Spray. I had gotten bored with reading instructions by this point so I just went at it. I started squirting this stuff all over my body and to my horror I looked as though an angry Chinese food place had attacked me with soy sauce! I franticly rubbed it in and found that I was no longer white but a beach body bronze. WOW! It was amazing! I squirted Andrew down and I hardly recognized him. It was beautiful what this stuff did to our skin! Then I looked down at my hands… In hindsight I should have washed my hands between the Tan Towel I had used on myself, the one I’d used on Andrew, the spray I had used on myself, and the spray that I’d used on Andrew. My hands were now three times as tan at the rest of my body! BA! I scrubbed for twenty minutes and finally got my hands to match the rest of my body. But holy cow were we tan and so in the mood for some red meat!
A few days later Rexburg was hit with a freak snow storm. We had at least six inches of new heavy wet snow in our driveway. There was no way were going to be able to get Toothless (our car) out. We were snowed in or snowed under, take your pick. Our neighbor who normally plows us out in times like these was out of town. So Andrew called them and asked if he could borrow their four-wheeler with the plow attached to the front to clear out our driveway. They said yes and Christmas started all over for that man. He jumped on and went to work clearing out the neighbor’s driveway so that they could get in when they came home. I grabbed a snow shovel and shoveled off their walk way. By the time I was done with that I was ready to be finished with the shovel for a long time. Another neighbor was storing my dad’s tractor in their barn. Not to brag, but I’m amazing on that thing. I’d have our driveway cleaned out in no time flat. I called up my neighbor and had Andrew drive me over on the four wheeler. For some reason when we got to their house my neighbors didn’t think that I could handle such a heavy duty piece of equipment and wanted to clear the driveway out themselves. I was in shock. This offer would have been nice if I was an idiot city girl who didn’t know how to maneuver a tractor. But I’m freaking pro on this thing and really wanted to have fun moving the snow around. I assured them that I knew what I was doing and with much reluctance they let me leave on the tractor. Not after they told me a million times that if I had any problems to call them. I just had to smile, they had no idea how much time logged on this thing. I knew it better than they could despite being a girl. And I was off! I scraped out the driveway so clean and fast that I was sad that there wasn’t more to do. Andrew and I had a muscle contest with the four wheeler and the tractor. He started way back on the road and revved his engine, then shot forward ramming a pile of snow and shoved it into the snow bank. Then I started at the same spot. I lowered the front loader and charged a pile of snow. I shoved it clear up to the snow bank, lifted up the snow bank and moved the whole thing about three feet and dropped it. I think we both agreed that I won. It was such a fun day!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
The New Year Approaches.
Hard to believe that 2011 is here already. So much has happened this year, and they’ve all been great! Here’s a quick recap of the year:
January:
I flew back to Idaho to continue dating Erin… ahem, I mean to work while off-track.
I asked Erin’s father if we could get married. (They actually never gave me a straight “yes.”)
The next day they left to Cambodia on their mission.
We were officially engaged on Saturday, January 30, 2010, 10:40:46 AM
February:
A wedding date was selected and we began planning.
Erin agreed to be my Valentine every year for forever.
March:
Erin turned 21.
Erin’s Parents flew back from Cambodia.
My Parents flew from Florida.
Erin went through the Temple.
April:
We were married for Time and Eternity on April 1st.
Went on a short Honey Moon to Idaho Falls.
Everyone flew home.
School started up again.
May:
I turned 22.
June:
Our block classes finished.
We drove 40 hours to Florida for our real Honeymoon.
We sold Fireworks to pay for our Honeymoon.
Erin almost died.
Erin almost died.
Erin almost died.
…. It happened a lot in Florida….
July:
We finally were able to enjoy our Honeymoon.
Went to the beach and a lot theme parks.
August:
We drove another 40 hours home to Idaho.
September:
School started again.
October:
Hmmm… Halloween? And school…
Oh, I white washed Erin after a snowball fight.
November:
A wonderful Thanksgiving at the Judkins
December:
School ended.
Our first Christmas together.
Went snowmobiling in our back field.
There’s a lot more than just that that happened to us. Pretty much every day we have some sort of adventure. But all in all, it’s been a really great year.
January:
I flew back to Idaho to continue dating Erin… ahem, I mean to work while off-track.
I asked Erin’s father if we could get married. (They actually never gave me a straight “yes.”)
The next day they left to Cambodia on their mission.
We were officially engaged on Saturday, January 30, 2010, 10:40:46 AM
February:
A wedding date was selected and we began planning.
Erin agreed to be my Valentine every year for forever.
March:
Erin turned 21.
Erin’s Parents flew back from Cambodia.
My Parents flew from Florida.
Erin went through the Temple.
April:
We were married for Time and Eternity on April 1st.
Went on a short Honey Moon to Idaho Falls.
Everyone flew home.
School started up again.
May:
I turned 22.
June:
Our block classes finished.
We drove 40 hours to Florida for our real Honeymoon.
We sold Fireworks to pay for our Honeymoon.
Erin almost died.
Erin almost died.
Erin almost died.
…. It happened a lot in Florida….
July:
We finally were able to enjoy our Honeymoon.
Went to the beach and a lot theme parks.
August:
We drove another 40 hours home to Idaho.
September:
School started again.
October:
Hmmm… Halloween? And school…
Oh, I white washed Erin after a snowball fight.
November:
A wonderful Thanksgiving at the Judkins
December:
School ended.
Our first Christmas together.
Went snowmobiling in our back field.
There’s a lot more than just that that happened to us. Pretty much every day we have some sort of adventure. But all in all, it’s been a really great year.
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