FUN!!!

I had a very fun weekend last week with the Beans and Andrew. They came to stay with us for a bit to take a break from "city" life. A bit of country was the ticket ;) We went to our favorite sushi place in town that Marcus and Christa got us hooked on. Much to our pleasure they agreed it was as good as we claimed. I LOVE sushi.

Unfortunately about a half hour before the Beans arrived...it hit. My monthly bit of H-E- double toothpicks. I pretty much hit a wall and couldn't stand up straight for the next 2 days. Luckily Carillisa was perfectly content relaxing on the couch with me. I will save the details of the agony. I will tell you about the incident in Texas Roadhouse. The Beans had never been there before, so despite my logical desire to stay down I wanted to experience it with them. Everyone walked at half pace to help hide the fact that I had to go slow and they didn't laugh as I half hunched my way through the door. I had been down all day up to that point, so the walk from the car to the door was a first for the day. The walk from the door to the table over did it. As we sat C grabbed the metal bucket to break her peanut shell into. I quickly snapped my fingers and she handed it over. I dry heaved a few times until it finally happened. She was very gracious about handing over the bucket she obviously wanted. It would have been great if I thought I could have made it to the bathroom...unfortunately it was too late especially with the pace that I was going that day. Very embarrassing.

I would love to say it was all worth it, but unfortunately Texas Roadhouse was having a bad day and didn't give them the impression I hoped it would. They were unusually slow and the food wasn't cooked well at all. Oh well, I hope they will give it another shot.

Here is the good news of the whole bit. Because of the trauma I went through, I was much more determined to get this fixed. As of July 22nd I should have a chance to meet with an OBGYN (who is also a surgeon) about getting surgery to fix my issue. I'm also on a cancellation list so if an earlier appointment comes up I should be able to expedite the process. I really hope that will be the case so I don't have to go through this again. Hopefully this will help the infertility as well as the stomach pain. Overall I'm happy to be getting it done!

Cute Project

I stopped my former landlord from taking these cool old milk cans to a yard sale a while back and he let me keep them. I wanted to plant flowers in them and was thinking I would arrange them around the mailbox. Carillisa came over and I told her my plan and she asked if I was going to paint them. I had originally decided not to because I had seen some painted and I didn't really like them, plus I liked the old rustic look. She made a good point though and said if I put them by the front door the red would contrast really nicely with the white house and green would contrast nicely with the red also. I went to the garden shop after work and made a project out of it tonight. I have to say I'm pretty happy about how they turned out. I ended up painting them red, but I mixed some darker paint into it and didn't blend it to keep an old not-perfect look to them.

I’m Grateful to be an American. I thought about the statement being proud to be an American, which I am, but when I think about how I really feel, Grateful is a more appropriate word. I am grateful to live in a place where people can be themselves and live their religion and raise their families in freedom. A place where everyone can vote and have a job. Where people can freely let their voices be heard and stand up for what they believe. I’m grateful to live in a place where people want to come and live because of the blessings we are given here. I’m grateful that I am able to freely pray to my Father in Heaven without fear of persecution.

I love thinking about the 4^th of July with the flags waving and fireworks. The summer BBQ’s with friends and families. Watching drive-in movies and going to carnivals. There are so many things that I love about being here. 3 cheers to those who serve, 3 cheers to those who vote, 3 cheers to those that are grateful to be American.

Memorial Day Weekend

This picture wasn't from the weekend, but we did get to spend some time with both Lee families and enjoyed watching these cute kids. Garrett pulls his play car up to this tree, climbs to the top and is just able to reach the lowest branch. It is just big enough for him to get a nice swing in hanging from the branches. We had a great time at Kenny and Jamile's playing rock band...way fun..they just need country songs :)
Alishia and I fought over who got to hold Libby, I let Alishia have a turn while I helped C make onion rings to go with our fish fry.
Saturday morning while the boys went fishing C decided to spontaneously chop her hair off. Turned out WAY cute.
I got my turn to hold Libby and Charley didn't want to get left out. hmmm...wonder if this is going to be a common picture when I have my own kids.
Richard, Kenny, Beaner and Andrew spent the day fishing at Utah Lake and they brought dinner back for the whole gang. We think this should become a yearly tradition.

Kitchen video and "why we moved here" video

Happy

I have learned from my wonderful husband just how much happiness is a decision. I have had to work hard, but I feel like I'm getting there with help from the Big Man upstairs. (I think prayers from others have helped too ;)) I also have been taking my anxiety pills which helps.

I feel like for the first time in a long time that I'm not waiting for the future to happen to be happy, I am taking life in the moment....not something that I have been very good at. I am happy here in my little house in the country. I am happily married to the cutest "tough" guy. I have my sweet little charlie that has truly been heaven sent.

You know I used to have all kinds of qwerks too. Things that bugged. I used to HATE it when people would smoke on the sidewalk. I used to HATE it when people used bad grammar. I used to think some testimonies on Sunday were....well, embarrassing for them. I had very specific books I liked and movies I liked. There was only one perfect car, there was only one right way to coordinate clothes. I have decided that these things just don't matter....as Andrew CONSTANTLY used to say "why don't you just chill out about it"...Whenever I would go on a tangent and want to express myself he wouldn't respond. (Yes, this really bothered me.) However, by default I have learned to not go on tangents. Living in the country I have lived with a lot of people with bad grammar and I have really loved them, and their bad grammar is part of who they are and I wouldn't want to change it. Most testimonies on Sunday when received with the Spirit have a good message to bring, whether the bearer followed testimony protocol or not.

Coming from a family that analyzed everything and formed opinions about everything (which isn't necessarily bad) I felt like it was very normal. Then I married Andrew....I'm not sure he has an opinion about anything, at least not ahead of time. His family doesn't analyze anything. I don't have to care about the little stuff. I don't have to care about what happens in the future. I only have to keep the commandments and choose to be happy about today.