Toddler + Teenager

Lately I've been going back and forth about whether I even want to have kids at all. I've got Titus and Leah, and they're the perfect blend of Toddler and Teenager.

Like a toddler, I have to keep the floors free of anything I don't want destroyed or anything that they could choke on. I have to bathe them, I have to fix their food for them, I have to clean up their poop. They have to go to the doctor for checkups a couple of times a year. They can't tell me how they are feeling or what they need, so I just have to guess until they seem happy. They like to cuddle with me. They leave their toys all over the floor!

Like a teenager, I don't have to get a baby-sitter when I want to go out. They don't talk to me. They sleep all the time.

Who could ask for anything more, right?

The End of an Era

Well, so long 20s, hello 30s. I'm actually happy to be turning 30. I've been through a lot, and I've done a lot. I feel like I've earned it.

For quite a few years now at each birthday, my sister and I have been choosing a theme song for the up-coming year. I loved the idea that a song can bring to mind a specific movie or tv show, and liked the idea of a song bringing to mind a specific year. And it really does! Choosing a new song has become my favorite part of my birthday. Here's a list of my birthday songs, all but one: the only birthday during the last marriage. I can't remember. Guess I just blocked it out. Anyway, you can see where I was in my life, and where I was hoping it was headed.

30: "Just the Two of Us" by George Benson
29: "The Great Pagoda of Fun" by Donald Fagen (look up the lyrics; it's great!)
28: "My Best Friend" by Tim McGraw
27: "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac (it was the Dixie Chicks' version that first inspired me, but officially I had to go with the original.)
26: "
25: "Why Georgia" by John Mayer
24: "Heartbreaker" by Led Zeppelin
23: "One Day Closer" by Carolyn Dawn Johnson
22: "I Love to See the Temple"
21: "I Hope They Call Me on a Mission"
20: "Dance the Night Away" by Van Halen
19: "Hey Nineteen" by Steely Dan
18: "Barely Bloomin' Eighteen" by Ace of Base (don't laugh- it was 1996)
17: "Dancin' Queen" by ABBA

What's YOUR theme song??

Breakin' Up is Hard to Do

I went to lunch during Fall Break with a friend who is still single, bless her heart, I've been there. There was one day in September when she asked how I was doing and I told her I was pregnant, and she told me that she thought that she had found Mr. Right! But when we went to lunch on Fall Break, I had to tell her that I miscarried again, and she told me that they had broken up. The timing was oddly funny. We were comparing our situations. Has anyone ever considered how similar a miscarriage is to a break-up??? We found so many similarities! She's lucky enough to have someone to blame and someone to be mad at. Who do I blame? Who can I be mad at? My own body? The Lord? Yes, and Yes, but it's not the same.

Consider the similarities, and imagine getting dumped by both your own body and by the Lord. Ouch. At least I have Bryan.

Camping??

For the first time in about 12 years, we went camping. Bryan's family was going for Mesa's very short Fall Break, which happened to be Columbus Day weekend. I didn't want to be the wife who keeps him from going to family events, so I agreed to go. Time makes you forget, and Bryan and I had forgotten the details of camping. We were actually quite looking forward to it.

We had a great time spending time with the family, but yikes was it cold. I did have a good time starting and maintaining fires in an appropriate setting. The s'mores were delicious (thanks, Kimmy!) It's nice to get away from the routine and relax.

But really I was just too cold. It's not really fun when you spend the whole time just trying to keep from shivering. Bryan and I calculated the cost of the trip, which was pretty reasonable because we were all pitching in, but I figured that we could have stayed at a resort for a day or two in Peoria, which is far enough away to feel like we really went out of town for the weekend, but still close enough for a short trip. It would have been warmer, I could have worn makeup all weekend, and we still could have relaxed. Well, maybe next time. Maybe camping is yet another of those things that is more fun if you have kids.

Fabulous Flagstaff

Here we are at the beautiful Grand Canyon. It basically looks the same as it does from an airplane. It was neat to be able to say that we'd been there, but it was kinda over-rated. Does make for a nice background for our pictures, though. Meteor Crater was much cooler.

We're Still Alive

I can't decide if we haven't updated for a while because nothing has been happening or because so much has been happening. Really, back to school is all that's been happening, but it's pretty over-whelming, so that's a good excuse.

Speaking of school, I have a couple of funny stories about my class this year. I always tell my students that I would rather read than do anything else. Which, for the most part, is true. They were quizzing me to try to find something that I would rather do than read. One girl asked me, "Would you rather read than go to Disneyland?" I paused and thought about it to really decide. It's expensive, I've been there 50 times, and you just stand around in line most of the day. "You know what? I WOULD rather read a good book than go to Disneyland," I told her. She made a face at me and said, "Lady, you've got issues!" That totally cracked me up. I had to go give her a hug so she knew I was laughing with her and not at her. Another boy, who really hasn't had much personality, asked, "Would you rather read than spend time with your husband?" I paused to think about that one and told him, "No. I think I would rather spend time with my husband than read. You found the one thing." How very insightful.

The other funny story is from when we were discussing democracy vs. republic. We talked about how the U.S. is a republic because we elect our leaders to make decisions for us. I asked who the leader of our country is and one girl said, "President Clinton." I laughed. These kids were born in the year 2000. "He hasn't been president since you were born!" I told her, and the children corrected her as to who the president is. A flicker of understanding came to her eyes and she said, "Ohhhhh. That explains a lot. I was wondering why he was supporting Hillary Clinton for president. I thought, 'She's trying to steal his job!'" It was funny that she was so wrong about who the president is, but it was hilarious that she saw it as her trying to steal his job.

Hopefully they continue to be this funny because it sure makes school more fun!

Occam's Razor Need Not Apply

A few weeks ago, the lamp in our family room quit working. Years ago, it used to be a touch lamp, but that broke after only a few months. The reviews online said that was pretty common for that product. So we put it on a dimmer switch to be able to adjust the amount of light it gave off. When the lamp quit working, I thought maybe the lamp had just given up the ghost completely. The dimmer switch has a little light to indicate if you have it turned low, medium, or high, but there was no light showing up on the dimmer switch. So I figured that the connections had gone wrong and it was the switch that had died. Weeks went by and we had no light for t.v. viewing in the family room, which I don't like. Finally, Bryan was getting ready to change everything out, but he decided to try another light bulb before he started cutting wires. He took the bulb out of the lamp and shook it-- sure enough. The bulb was dead. All the lamp needed was a new bulb. Duh! Occam's Razor is the concept that, all things being equal, the simplest explanation is usually correct. Proven yet again, with our lamp!

Poor, Sick Titus

This picture says it all. Just looking at him, you can tell how sick he feels. Bryan decided to ease up and let Titus sleep on the couch (like he used to do before Bryan moved in!)

Thankfully, he's feeling better now, but at the end of May, Titus was so sick. He was throwing up, he had diarreha, he wouldn't eat anything, he had lost easily 15 pounds... I took him to the vet right away. He had a bit of a fever, so they gave him some antibiotics.

A week later, he still wasn't feeling any better. Bryan took him to the vet again, and they gave him a stronger set of antibiotics and drew some blood to run some tests. But Titus still wasn't feeling any better.

We were driving by the vet and Bryan suggested we stop in and see what the results for the bloodwork were. I started speaking to the assistant, and I was trying to be very calm and nice, but the more I talked about Titus, the more upset I got. He is my baby, and he was not getting the help he needed to feel better! I started to get a bit emotional, and a bit worked up. My voice was getting louder. She asked if I wanted to speak to the doctor, and I said, "No! I want some medicine to make him better!" She went and got the doctor instead.

The doctor came out, and I again shared that Titus was not better, and that I was not happy with the service I was receiving. Bryan says I yelled at the doctor. I was so upset and so worried about Titus, I can't remember if I yelled or not. But Bryan said it was well played. Not too mean, just enough to get some results.

And results we did get. Although it was about half an hour til closing time, the Vet said to go home and get Titus and he'd take some x-rays and check him out. Well, come to find out, Titus has Valley Fever. I KNEW it wasn't just a tummy ache! We got the medicine he needed, and after about a week of taking it, he was nearly back to his old self. Now, after about a month, he is as good as new.

A little bit of rage goes a long way.

16 Reasons Why I love Candace

Well I wanted to tell you all what makes Candace so special. Not to mention to show you all why these 16 months will just be a small portion of the actual time we will be together, because she is awesome. So here it goes, hopefully I don't miss anything!

1. Well, most important to me is that she loves me and still wants to be with me.
2. She is my best friend also and I love spending time with her and doing things together.
3. She lets me do all sorts of projects around the house and is always happy to help me out.
4. She bought me a Wii!!!! That right there would be enough but there's even more.
5. She let me buy her a quad to go riding with me.
6. She makes the best Tortilla soup this side of Chili's.
7. She gives the best hair cuts and always makes sure my hair looks the best.
8. She still sleeps in the same room and bed with me, even with my snoring.
9. She let me buy a golf cart. I mean who needs a golf cart, but I have one!!!
10. She helps me with the yard work and picks up the "land mines" from the dogs in the backyard and doesn't even complain about it.
11. Did I mention she let me buy a golf cart, yeah your jealous but just keep reading.
12. She walks to school cause I want to save gas money.
13. She lets me turn up the AC to save some money, and she's home all summer.
14. I get to have the remote when we watch TV.
15. She puts up with all my crazy ideas and even encourages me on some of them.
16. Last but not least because of who she is. She makes me happy and that's really all I need!!

16 Things I Love About Bryan

Well, yesterday was our 16-month anniversary. I can already hear my sister, Cathie, now: "Anniversary" means a year! But this is a much more important anniversary. Both of our previous marriages lasted 16 months (what are the odds?!) so we are really excited about eclipsing our previous records.

In celebration, I wanted to write 16 things that I love about Bryan.

1. He is my best friend. I love to hang out with him more than anyone else because he makes me so happy.

2. He almost always cries a tear or two when he says prayers with me.

3. He loves Titus and Leah, and Titus and Leah love him. Maybe more than they love me. Which seems like it would be a bad thing, but I love that they love him, even though they were my dogs before I even met him.

4. He lets me color, straighten, cut, and generally fuss with his hair.

5. He is so handy around the house. He builds furniture, fixes things that are broken, paints and decorates, remodels, and makes the place look great.

6. He cleans!

7. He helps me choose which shoes look best with my outfit- and he always makes a great choice.

8. He likes it when I wear a lot of makeup (which I love to do).

9. He is hilarious, and he always makes me laugh.

10. He ALWAYS greets me with a kiss when we get home from work, no matter who gets home first, even when I forget to kiss him.

11. He has no idea what I'm talking about when I wake him up to make him roll over during the night because he is snoring. I have to repeat it several times and basically push him over, but it's funny.

12. He gets along with my family. He goes over there without me sometimes. Even better, they love him! My little brother probably talks to him more than any of the rest of us.

13. He doesn't bother me when I'm into a good book.

14. He is slow to get angry with me, and very quick to forgive me.

15. He brought Tivo into my home!

16. He loves me! Which just goes to show how sweet he really is, to put up with me.

Hooray for 16 months, and here's to many, many more!

"It is no small thing that they, who are so fresh from God, love us." --Charles Dickens

This has always been one of my dad's favorite quotes, and we really felt it on Sunday. We were finally released from Nursery; we had been serving there our whole marriage- 15 months so far. It's a long time to have a calling, it's a long time to be with crying, slobbering, diper-dirtying babies, it's a long time to be taking care of other people's kids when you'd really like to have one of your own. It had been suggested that we ask to be released, but I wouldn't go that far. But this past Sunday, they released us. We celebrated by wearing church clothes that we normally can't wear to nursery: Bryan wore a suitcoat and I wore a wrap dress with high heels. We even brought our scriptures to church! After Sacrament meeting we turned in our tithing and asked where the Sunday School class was. It had moved since we were there last! Everyone congratulated us on our accomplishment of getting released. We were surprised that so many people knew who we were! We sat down in Sunday school but only a minute or two went by before the nursery coordinator tapped us on the shoulder. Apparently, whoever the new nursery leaders are didn't know that they started that day, so she came to ask us back for one more Sunday. Of course, we went back. How do you say no to that?

We went back to the nursery room and a couple of the parents were still in there, waiting for leaders before they could drop their kids and scramble for the door. One boy's mom said, "Oh, good, you're here. Now he'll stay in the room," and then she left. Apparently, when the little boy got to nursery and saw that we weren't there, he ran out the door and back down the hallway saying, "Let's go home!" But once we got there, he was fine and his parents could leave.

Another little boy started crying as his mother tried to peel him off of her shoulder to put him down so she could go. I took him from her and he cuddled into my shoulder. The mom left, and I guess she told the dad to go check on him because he came in. He asked his son if he was okay and held out his hands for the boy to go to him, but he stayed snuggled on my shoulder. The dad was surprised: "He's never done that for anyone but me and his mom!" The little guy rested on my shoulder and sort-of slept for about half an hour then got down to play and was fine. That was when the quote from Charles Dickens came to mind. We might have been ready to be released, but it didn't seem like the babies were ready to let us go.

Hello all!! Well here we are, 16 days left in the school year for Candace. I don't know who's more excited for Summer break, her or her class. As for me, I am sad to see the cool nights leave us for the warmer nights. Hopefully Candace will be able to make it these next 16 days of school before we leave for some fun in Cali.

Not too much happening around us as of lately. Which might be the reason for no blogging. No fun pictures of us out on our quads since we haven't had a chance to go. We have been spending lots of time at Candace's parents' house cleaning out the garage and then preparing it for epoxying. Hopefully I can get to it this week and finish it up. It will be super nice when it's all done. I've also been helping her dad get the pit ready to be usable for storage and what not. He's putting a big awning on it that is 24 x 60. So with my allergies, it's been super fun working outside with everything blooming. Luckily there is good drugs out there that help with keeping these things in check.

This past weekend would have been my dad's 57 birthday. My mom took some of his journal entries and made each of us copies and then we all read them out loud. It was fun to read them and see things that he went through. It was also very hard to read them, I only made it through half of my page before I handed it to Candace to finish for me. But it was a good birthday and we also celebrated Tony's birthday also which was yesterday. We went to Pizza Mart to celebrate his birthday.

Well I don't know what else there really is going on with us currently. Just hanging out, watching American Idol and our Monday night shows. Walking the dogs, neglecting our house work. Which we'll get to some time this week. The laundry is done, the dishes are clean, so were good. Seacrest out!

Terrific Two's!!

It may be terrible two's for human babies, but for puppies, it's the terrific two's!!! Two is the magical age when Boxers calm down (somewhat) and totally change into mellow dogs0]. When Titus turned two, he was like a whole new dog. And he was pretty nice to begin with. Leah has always been more mischievous than Titus. She's definitely an outside dog, she thinks she's part Terrier and digs up the yard, and she's destroyed way more stuff than Titus did as a baby. Well, that or I've just forgotten more of what Titus destroyed. Anyway, I've really been looking forward to Leah's second birthday, March 18, so she could grow out of this crazy puppy stage. She has been much better behaved. We bought a harness to go around her chest to hook the leash to instead of her collar. She really seems to like that better. I think she feels more secure, like babies do when you wrap them up tightly. She is our protective guard dog and such a lover-girl. She'll do anything for loves. Here's pictures of her on her birthday.

My wife is funny!!

So on Saturday Candace and I were coming back home and stopped at Taco Bell. I know, not the best for you, but super yummy. So we got one combo meal and an extra burrito. Which means we got one drink. Candace usually gets Dr. Pepper, but decided to share with me and got Mountain Dew instead. Now I usually don't drink much soda, but I thought a little was fine and I love MD, so why not. So we returned back home to eat our little lunch before continuing our Saturday cleaning. We cleared off a space at the table and began eating our lunch. I took a drink and set the cup down. Candace picked it up to take a drink and thought I was drinking too much. A few minutes later, I picked up the cup and slid the straw up so that it was at the top of what was left inside the cup. I took a drink and it made the slurping sound you get when the drink is empty. Candace looked up with both a panicked look and an I'm-going-to-kill-you look. She was not happy that I just finished the drink. I knew what her reaction was going to be when I did it. But the funniest part was that it was still half full! LOL. I was laughing so hard I was starting to cry. She was ready to get up and go to Circle K to get her own drink that she wouldn't have to share with me. It was great!! Silly Candace!!

Busy Busy Busy

Well it seems when you start one thing it seems to spawn other things that need to get done. We started off Saturday cleaning up the garage. We had some things that needed to go to the goodwill and to school with Can. So once we had those items dropped off, it cleared up lots of room in the garage. Course the reason to clean the garage was to bring over our quads and trailer. The week before last we got a good deal on a quad for Candace. So we brought them over to get them ready for some riding before it gets too hot to go, Candace is pretty excited to have a quad. But its just nice to have a clean garage again. Still more to do, but getting closer!!! Today we decided to add an extra shelf in the closet to double our storage space in that closet. We also decided to go ahead and paint the closet now rather then later. So off to Walmart to get some more white paint to make it nice and bright. Course as you can see from below when you're trying to clean it makes a mess somewhere else. As soon as it's dry, all that will go back in the closet in a nice, neat, organized way to help us use our extra storage. All in all, we got lots done today, not to mention we went grocery shopping and Candace found time to make some home made bread, some delicious enchilada soup, and totally clean up the kitchen. She needs more days off!!!!! Well hopefully on one of those next days off when she's in town we can head to the desert and do some riding. Hopefully we'll keep getting some rain so it will be nice and muddy.

Bangs or No Bangs???

Okay, I need your help. My bangs have grown out a bit, so now I'm in limbo-- do I cut them short again, or do I work on growing them out? I like both ways, but I think we see ourselves differently than we really are, so I'm not really sure what looks best. Please cast your vote on bangs or no bangs. Here are a few pictures to help you decide.

No, really, I mean it. Please post a comment and say bangs or no bangs. Even if I don't know you, or you think I don't want your opinion, or whatever, you can still let me know which you like better. It's a pretty important decision. ;) Maybe not, but I'll be stuck with them for a while if I do cut them, so I need to make sure.

Oh, and please be nice. I'm only asking for help with my hair. I can only do so much with the rest of me. Thanks a bunch!

Coordinated Bryan

Okay, I shouldn't say that we did nothing for our anniversary. Friday, February 1, Bryan brought home two bundles of two dozen roses, so 4 dozen total. He's a sweetheart.

I love to post the funny things Bryan does and says. He's really quite a riot. This morning, we decided to go for a bike ride. It was a little chilly, so he put on a blue long sleeved shirt under the t-shirt he wanted to wear. He had on brown shorts. He looked down at his out-fit, and started changing his shorts. I asked him if he thought he was going to be too cold to wear shorts, and he said no and held up the same style of shorts but in blue. I laughed and asked if he was changing shorts to match better. He said "Of course!" Then, to top it all off, he picked a blue hat! I didn't realize we had to dress up to go on a bike ride! Here's a picture of my coordinated Bryan.

So after the bike ride, we went out back to clean up our "snow." Leah had destroyed a pillow and the stuffing all over the yard looked like a first snowfall. So today we "shoveled" the snow, but really we used a rake.

Happy Anniversary

We've had some complaints that we haven't updated our Blog recently. I just wish there were something to write about! It was pointed out to us that we had our first anniversary last week. Apparently that should have been a big deal, but it wasn't to us. Bryan said, "Everybody makes it a year. Talk to me at two years." I'm just looking forward to being married 16 months. Bryan and I both ended our previous marriages at 16 months, so I figure if we can beat Not-So-Sweet 16, then we're in the clear. Just keep rooting for us!! :)

New Year's Resolutions

Ever wonder where the idea for New Year's Resolutions came from? Well, I don't know, but I've been thinking about it. I figure, people tend to take a lot of pictures at Christmas time, and one year someone saw all the pictures of himself and decided to make a goal to lose weight, then the idea just caught on as New Year's Resolutions.

Thankfully, there weren't too many pictures of us this year, but Bryan and I have decided that we do need to lose some weight. So once again, we're going to try to start our own Biggest Loser Contest. ((Hooooraaayy!)) We tried it with Bryan's family last year, and it kind of flopped like a belly-flop in the pool, so we're going to try it again this year, but open it up to whoever would like to participate. Here's the rules:

1. Official weigh in is Wednesday, January 16 at our house. Just stop by in the evening. Email us if you need our address.

2. Each person will contribute $50 dollars to the prize money, to be paid by January 31 or you're out of the contest! There will be a 1st prize of 75% of the pot, 2nd prize is 25% of the pot.

3. We will do weigh-ins every other week to keep track of progress. The winner will be determined by whoever loses the largest percentage of their starting weight--so it's fair for everyone.

4. Final weigh-in is June 1 at our house again, so get ready for a marathon, not a crash-diet.

**Pregnancy is the only way to get out of the contest and get your money back. Unless you are pregnant and not married. Then it's tough luck. Sorry Cathie and Sharon and Kimmy and Kristy and Marie and Jennifer. :P

If you are long-distance, and would like to participate, you have to send full-body swimsuit pictures, a photo of the scale when you weigh yourself, a signed statement by a witness who saw the number on the scale..... just kidding. Those are Bryan's ideas. We'll just do the honor code.

If you are long-distance, and would like to participate, just email us and let us know. We do want your money, and we need a way to keep track of weight lost, so we'll set something up. (Bryan wants a money order, but I think a check is fine.)

We'll post the percentages lost on the blog so we can all keep track and stay motivated. Bryan's even gonna take pictures, but I don't think we need to share those with all of cyber-space.

Okay? Everyone in? Hooray! Email if you have any questions! :)

Bless This Mess

Happy New Year!

I'm still on Winter Break, but Bryan went back to work today. I felt like practicing for when I'm a stay at home mom, so I made dinner tonight using Aunt Judy's cook book. Bryan requested chicken fried rice. Okay, we've got some teriyaki chicken frozen, so that should be easy. She's a great cook, so I trust the recipe, but I don't cook much, so I don't trust my skills. As I was setting the bowls of food on the table, I said, "I hope this turned out okay. If it sucks, I'm going to Taco Bell." Bryan volunteered to say the blessing. It was nice until the very end: "Please bless this food to be good so that we don't have to go to Taco Bell."
Amen.

P.S. It turned out good, but needed a little extra sauce. He said, "I guess my blessing worked 'cause it's freakin' good."