Olympus High School Class of 2000 Alumni Website

As a homeschooler, perhaps it seems weird to write about the first day of school, since we don’t have a timetable like public schools do.  But hey, I figured since my kids don’t get to do the whole “new outfit, new backpack, standing outside in the morning while mom takes a picture” thing, the least I could do was write about our school days at home.  We actually started doing our lessons for this year last week, but yesterday was the first day I actually tried to implement the schedule I hope to keep for most of the year.  It went pretty well, but I was a bit tense by the time it was over.  It takes some fast talking to keep Eli occupied/entertained with what we are doing.  April did some math, Janey practiced her letters, and Eli “wrote” in his notebook.  Then we all sat down on the couch for a history lesson.  I signed April up for a history course, but so far it has been more geography than history.  We have studied the seven continents, including their names and locations on the globe.  Yesterday we learned about different land forms such as peninsulas, islands, rivers and canyons.  We are also learning how to read maps and know directions.  I don’t know how teachers at public schools do it for seven hours or so.  I was tired after two hours.  But, I was also happily surprised when I went to bed last night and I realized that I was excited to see what we would be doing the next day.  Maybe that’s how all teachers (the good ones, anyway) maintain their enthusiasm: keeping the thrill of learning and sharing knowledge at the front of their minds.  It’s fun for me too.  I am actually looking forward to the opportunity of teaching April the principles of subtraction, because I will get to learn it all over again too.  I feel pretty lucky that I get to be the one to see the light bulb turn on over their heads.  Just like any parent helping their child with homework or a school project,  we are all learning together.  This quote seemed appropriate: “Get over the idea that only children should spend their time in study.  Be a student so long as you still have something to learn, and this will mean all your life.”  Happy learning everyone!

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Our first day of school

family vacation 2010 – Del Mar, CA (a little slice of heaven)

delicious dinners

dancing poolside with tate (picture collage stolen from here)

entertaining car rides, thanks to maddie and matt

breakfast/lunch on the deck

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playing catch up…..

It’s about 2 am, I’ve got a few minutes, and I figured I would post a few thoughts.

There was a game we played sometimes as kids in which a new player had to figure out the rules of the game as he went along, without knowing anything about them before the game started. It’s torturous for the uninitiated, because they don’t know what they’re supposed to be doing, and when they try something, they’re told they’re not doing it right — and they aren’t, because, again, they don’t know the rules.

Although everyone around me has been very nice and supportive, I often feel like I’m trapped in this game. Everyone else seems to know the rules, how things are supposed to be done, but I feel like I don’t even know the objective of the game, much less how to achieve it. Learning the rules — where to be, what to put in the note, how to order things, how to dictate, how to operate all these computer systems, how admissions work, etc. etc. etc. — takes so much time that I feel like I can’t work on the game’s objective — what’s going on with this patient and how should I intervene. I’m used to being good at things, and I don’t feel like I’m particularly good at this yet.

The ICU feels like the last place in the world you’d want to be if you’re used to perfectionism. Unknowns abound, and either those around me aren’t considering them, or they’re more comfortable with not knowing. What’s wrong with the patient in room 204? Who knows! Multiple concurrent disease processes to be considered, volumes of history to review, piles of medications to sort through. It’s exhausting. I guess I anticipated that things would be a lot more lucid.

An elderly male patient of mine died last week. He came in Tuesday with trouble breathing, pneumonia, and leukemia. I talked to him for a little bit before he was sedated, paralyzed, and intubated. His family decided that their father wouldn’t want to go on like this. The tube was pulled on Friday afternoon. He died five minutes later. I never talked to him after that first night. We never figured out what caused the pneumonia that ultimately killed him.

A man came in two nights ago after being in a car accident. He has a severe traumatic brain injury. He’s in a coma. The prognosis is extremely grim; many are surprised he hasn’t died yet. He almost did last night. He has a lot of family members here at the hospital, and I’ve found myself reluctant to introduce myself to them for fear of not knowing what to say. I know I wouldn’t be able to answer any detailed neurosurgical questions. I don’t know specifics about his prognosis. If I talk to them and can’t answer their questions, it seems like I wouldn’t be much help. So I read his chart, glance at his vital signs, and walk away, feeling like I’ve failed.

These two stories, and many others like them, leave me thinking frequently about what success is. Is it keeping people alive overnight? Nobody has died on my watch yet, but somehow I don’t feel successful. Is it figuring out what is going on with each patient? I hope not, because it seems like the ICU in general, and especially at night, is more about keeping patients alive long enough for others to figure out what’s wrong with them. But isn’t that just passing the buck? If I’m caring for this person, don’t I have an obligation to try my best to figure it out?

Maybe success is knowing the answers when the attendings, nurses, and family members ask me questions. I’ve never said/thought to myself “I don’t know” this much in my life. Is success continuing to come in every day? That seems insufficient. For now, I guess it’s continuing to give a crap, doing my best to think critically, paying attention to detail, and trying to learn.

Thank you for your comments, thoughts, and prayers. I’m committed to keep trying.

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Thoughts from the ICU

Today marks the 2 year date of when Riley received his diagnosis. I can’t believe it has been two years. I will never forget that day when the Dr. called us and gave us that news. At 2 1/2 Riley has over come the odds and is still continuing to do well. He has been hospital free for one year now which is almost unheard of especially during flu season. Riley is an incredible example to me of what life is all about. I’ve mentioned this before but Riley has presented experiences in my life that I never would have been able to experience. The most incredible people have been introduced into my life that are such a support to me and my family. We owe Riley’s health and strength to the amazing knowledge and dedication of his doctors, therapists and all the others who help take care of him. Riley is an incredible little person. He’s got it all figured out! We love you Riley, keep growing strong tiny man!

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Two Years!

My first tandem with Arnel

Dingo and Dinguette


Me and Estelle
Estelle kiting…
…while Damien looks on
My turn kiting the small wing. I think Damien’s being a monster or something behind me. Consider it a work of art, up for interpretation.
Andrew’s first time under a paraglider wing in maybe four years? Getting some last minute reminders from Anne before the blast-off.
A little push….and he’s off! Like he’d never skipped a day of paragliding in his life.

Now time for me to try kiting the big wing. After some careful blow-by-blow instructions from Anne, and several failed attempts, I finally got it!
Then at last! Time for the real deal. It was only a sled ride, but it was awesome! Can’t wait to get back out.


Et enfin, a para-base to close out the day.

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April 3, 2010 – Paragliding

As many of you know, I was back in the motherland for a very great day in my life as well as the life of my family. My dear mother, also known as Sweet Jean, was called to serve as the first counselor in the General Primary Presidency. There isn’t a better person for this calling. I have yet to find anyone more caring, selfish, charitable, loving, or tenderhearted anywhere. Not only is she all of these things but she is able to transmit love to all she comes in contact with. A prime example of this was when she and my dad and little brother came to pick me up from my church mission in Brazil. Mom obviously didn’t know Portuguese and they didn’t speak English but the people there flocked to her side and didn’t want to leave. There was a young woman in particular that just kept saying that she didn’t want my mom to leave. That is the amazing gift she has. This weekend was filled with many tears and not a lot of sleep as anyone who knows the S clan won’t be surprised to hear. Yet, as I left to go home at the end of a crazy weekend, I couldn’t help but reflect on what a tender weekend I had had with my family and how the Lord has been so mindful of my parents for the people of goodness and sacrifice that they are. Truly a wonderful weekend.

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April Blessings

If any of you are not familiar with the blog Seriously, So Blessed then you are missing out some serious satire.  It is a hoot to read about this fictional woman and her perfectly perfect life in “Zion”.  Occasionally,  the author has giveaways.  I always enter, but have never won.  Until now!  Here’s the funny thing:  I won a diaper bag.  I don’t really have a huge need for a diaper bag in my life right now.  Maybe I will carry around the one diaper I keep in my purse for Eli just so I can use it!  And, I picked something gender neutral if/when the stork visits again.  Mostly, I am thrilled to have won something that isn’t junk.

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I am a winner!

My little brother, Randy, turned 18 today. It’s actually impossible for me to explain how weird that is. I suppose all big sisters are somewhat protective of their little brothers, but the age difference between Randy and I means that I spent the first five or so years of his life convinced that everything and everyone else in the world was going to harm him. Unfortunately, this made me a very annoying big sister…although I did save his butt on more than one occasion. Now, the country has decided that he’s old enough to protect himself, while I’m still inclined to double check his plate to make sure all of the morsels are adequately cut into bite-sized pieces. Le sigh. I guess I’ve been overruled by time.

Turning 18…it’s one of those things that you wait your whole life for, but which is inevitably something of a let down, isn’t it? I mean, it’s not like turning 21, which (if you’re lucky) is an event that you can’t remember the day after, so you have to assume it was fantastic. Turning 18 is just this massive build up and then…nothing. At least, that’s what it was for me.

When I turned 18, I did something that was unusual, but very in-character if you know me at all. I took all the people that were important in my life and told them that I’d be celebrating with someone else. My family thought I was with my friends, my friends thought I was with my family, etc. Then I packed a bag, got in my Jeep, and drove out of state to spend the night in a nothing town where I didn’t know a soul. I had forty dollars in birthday money from my grandmother, but this was the kind of place where that could buy you a hotel room and then some, so I wasn’t worried about getting stranded. What I was worried about, however, was the entire rest of my life.

When I turned 18, I was halfway through my first year of college and I had little to no direction for the first time in my life. I was on the south side of a nasty relationship and all of my other relationships seemed to be rapidly changing (or, in some cases, deteriorating before my eyes) and it was safe to say that I had never felt less like an adult than I did on that birthday. So, as a gift, I let myself run away from everyone I knew and I turned 18 in the middle of nowhere with only my own thoughts for company…or at least that was the plan…

When I turned 18, I spent the night in the company of a man from Wyoming who had run off to this nothing city for reasons very similar to my own. He bought me dinner and we walked around and talked and I even bummed a cigarette, which is the first (and nearly the last) time I’d ever smoked one. Because of the near anonymity, I think we told each other things that you wouldn’t normally tell even your closest friends. I don’t know why, actually. It was just something of a conversational free space.

The day after I turned 18, this person found me in the cafe, bought me french toast, and officially became the first person in my life to ask me to do something crazy just because we could. I said no, got into my car, and drove back to my life. The weird thing is, it was the perfect time to be crazy. I had no responsibilities and no real reasons not to just flip my life upside down. So why did I say no?

Probably for the same reason that I can’t even remember this person’s name…I guess I figured out on the first day of adulthood that suddenly being old enough to do things you’ve never done before doesn’t really mean anything at all when you don’t know what you’re doing. And that, my friends, is pretty much the story of my life.

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Turning 18

Yes. I am alive.

Some people have asked me if I died. Those were some hard conversations. Maybe not for me, but for those that asked me if I was ever going to blog again. For when I said, “i have nothing to blog about” people didn’t believe me.

And they have good reason. I do have things to blog about, but sadly my blog is coming in low on my priority list. I feel a little like I have abandoned part of my life.

And so, in my attempt to get myself back into blogging, I will post this picture from a recent work trip I went on:

The image embodies everything that makes a day work trip to the middle of Wyoming completely worth it

1) Random ride on a old school firetruck. Check
2) Getting to wear a gross, probably lice infected fire hat. Check
3) Having a cool client who had the original idea to take a picture. Check
4) Chubby mechanic getting in the picture. Check AND Check.

If I were to tell you the story behind how we ended up on a firetruck, I’d have to kill you. Just take it for what it’s worth and know I have some cool clients.

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Maybe I'll train to be a firewoman. Or mechanic. I can't quite decide

Gordon D. Smith 1936 ~ 2010 Gordon Drakeford Smith, 73, died of kidney and pancreatic failure following a long struggle with cirrhosis of the liver. Beloved husband, father to (five), and grandfather to (20), and great-grandfather to (17). Gordon was born in Salt Lake City, Utah on May 23, 1936 to Edward Earl and Arline Eunice Holder Smith. He attended Granite and Olympus high schools, and was of the first graduating class from Olympus. It was at Olympus that he met the love of his life, Gay Lambert, and married her on January 28, 1955. Their marriage was later solemnized in the Salt Lake Temple. Married for 55 years, starting to enjoy retirement, Gay succumbed to a massive stroke in February of this year. The last few months have been ones of yearning to be together again with his beloved wife. Gordon was a salesman at heart, and after attaining the certificate of Journeyman Machinist, he went on to be one of the ‘Greatest Salesmen’ in the world. Gordon retired from Scholzen Products in 2008. Gordon was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and held many positions, where he loved teaching the Gospel. Gordon enjoyed the beauties of this Earth, especially Mt. Olympus, sunsets, and sunrises. He enjoyed reading, travel, and the Utah Jazz, and college ballgames. He enjoyed gardening and always maintained his yard with care. He loved music, and especially great harmonizing voices. He possessed a beautiful voice as well. Gordon is survived by his children: Kerry G. (Lanette) Smith, Shanette S. (Clark) Dudley, Lana (Kenney) Prior, Daniel L. (Denice) Smith, and Amber (Mark) Stoknes, and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Also survived by one brother, Sterling Smith, Redding. CA, and one sister, Eunice Jones of Grand Junction, CO. Funeral services will begin at 12 noon on Saturday, May 15, 2010, at the Dover Hill Chapel at 3625 Dover Hill Drive. (7570 South). Friends and family may call at Wasatch Lawn Mortuary, 3401 S. Highland Drive from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Friday night, May 14th and from 10:30 a.m. till 11:30 a.m. on Saturday before the services at the chapel. Interment at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park. – He will be missed -

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Good-bye for now…

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info you probably don't care to know about me

I love Emily Watts books…and her newest one I Hate It When Exercise Is The Answer is just as fun and uplifting as the others I’ve read. She has a knack for seeing the humor in life and motherhood. Reading her stuff is not only spiritually uplifting but makes this crazy life of being a mom seem more in perspective. So in honor of Mother’s Day, I hope you’ll enjoy this excerpt from her book as much as I did.

My children are now all of the age where male-female relationships play a prominent role, and watching them has reminded me how mystified I was as a young adult woman at the seeming insensitivity of the young men in my world.

Now, many years later, I’ve seen the research that suggests men’s brains are structured differently from women’s, and that the connection between brain hemispheres that allows woman to multitask and to process relationships is less developed in men. Their brains are programmed to forge ahead single-mindedly and conquer problems – a significant skill.

To give the men in my life credit, I think they try. Take Mother’s Day in my ward, for example. To start, the men take over the women’s Church jobs so that they can relax and attend Sunday School and Relief Society. I think that’s a great start.

Next comes the gift for the women. I know that the men agonize over what is most appropriate. Plants are a frequent choice, but many members have nowhere to plant them. Cut flowers seem to be out of the question – many men perceive them as a waste of money, although surveys say women would rather receive fresh flowers than a plant. One year I was in Seattle on Mother’s Day, and the bishopric in that ward presented the women Cadbury chocolate bars. I applaud that most heartily, except I know our bishopric shies away from those, too, as unsuitable for diabetics.

Next comes the awkwardness of deciding how to present the gift. It has long been a practice to include all women, not only those who have borne children. The instinct is right, but it’s tough for the single women in our ward to stand up. And the day is difficult for a lot of mothers, too, who don’t feel like they measure up to the “ideal mother” who is likely to be extolled in well-meaning sacrament meeting talks.

The men just don’t want to offend anyone. That seems to be their primary goal on Mother’s Day: it’s not to honor motherhood or even womanhood. Instead, it’s to avoid making anyone upset. This is our fault (the women’s, I mean) for reading the wrong message into everything.

Contrast this with Father’s Day. For many years, we didn’t even observe Father’s Day in our ward, and no one ever complained. Now we have a tradition that during the last ten minutes of priesthood meeting, they gather all the classes from deacons to high priests together in the multi-purpose room and present them with Fat Boy ice cream sandwiches. No one tries to probe for subliminal meaning in the choice of Fat Boys. They eat their ice cream and yuk it up and go home happy.

What would happen in your ward if they tried to give Fat Boys to the women on Mother’s Day? Almost too horrible to contemplate, isn’t it?

So, which way is better, the men’s or the women’s? Neither, of course. They’re just different. I have grown to appreciate my husband’s steady clarity when I’ve gotten emotionally overwrought about a situation. And he seems to appreciate my ability to correctly “read” the emotions in our children. We need both skills in our family, in our ward, and in our world.

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I heart Emily Watts… and Fat Boy ice cream sandwiches

I just watched this little video about a woman who was in a plane crash and suffered from burns over 90% of her body.  Before the crash she was just a regular person. Married with kids and just doing the day to day activities of being a mom. She spoke about being comfortable in her skin again and how she needs to remember that she is still the same person even though she looks different from the outside. It isn't easy to adjust to new circumstances in life especially when you don't have any control over these circumstances. It's hard not to compare your life to others and ask why you're life had to turn out so different. It's hard not to be angry and jealous of those who have a life that you feel you were suppose to have. Difficult times is when we need the Lord the most but it's also the time when you feel most abandoned by the Lord. Unfortunately for me I found it easier to distance myself from the Lord and not include him in my life. When Riley was first diagnosed I felt abandoned and alone. I didn't want anything to do with the day to day of life, after all what was the point. I had worked so hard and tried to do the things I was suppose to do and this was my reward. I felt cheated out of my experience as a mother. I stopped going to church because I couldn't handle being around all the parents and their normal children. It took all I had to just get out of bed in the morning and would spend days in my pajamas. I gained 20 pounds on top of the 20 pounds I hadn't lost from pregnancy. I looked terrible, felt terrible and probably smelled terrible too! I would look in the mirror and was so mad at myself for letting life get to me this way. I really need to snap out of it but I just didn't know how. I began to pray for strength to understand why I had been given this challenge and what I was suppose to learn from it. Not too long ago when I was having a particularly bad day my mom gave me some advice. She told me that bad things happen in life and you want everything to stop while you try to figure it out. But life doesn't stop, it continues to move on and you have to find a way to move on with it otherwise you'll wake up one day and life will have passed you by. This is the first advice that anyone had given me that really made sense. This is what I started to pray for, a way to move on. It has now been nearly two years since Riley was diagnosed and I while I still struggle with a lot of things I feel that I have started to move on. Because of Riley I have made new and lasting friendships with the most amazing people that I otherwise never would have met. Because of Riley my eyes have been open to a whole new world that I never knew was out there.  Riley is such an example of courage, patience, faith, hope and the pure love of Christ. It is such a blessing to be his mother. 

I share these thoughts mainly for Brock and Kristin. I want them to know that they are not alone during this experience. I also encourage them to not lose site of their faith in Jesus Christ as I did it only makes the journey harder.

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Lemons of Life

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Thoughts From an ADD Lady

Grocery shopping with Lyvia is always an adventure.

It all starts with the “Lyvia size” cart at Smiths. (Thank you for having these mini carts, Smiths.) She gets her little cart and I get a big cart and we go wheeling around the store together. In the produce section, Lyv usually wants everything to go in her cart. And wants to help count out apples and carrots to put in the bag. She also seems to remember what we purchase from week to week because sometimes she’ll remind me, “What about my bananas, Mom?” or “Do we need some ‘chokes?” (“chokes” are Lyv-speak for artichokes)

After wheeling around the store’s perimieter, we venture down a few of the aisles. This is where I start to lose my angel helper. About the cereal aisle, Lyv becomes tired of counting the veggies and pushing the cart. Now she is ready to run full speed down the aisles and help herself to six or eight boxes of oatmeal into her cart. Now I am trying to push her mini cart and my big cart. Oh yes, I’ve tried just emptying her stuff into my cart. This was followed by a temper tantrum, me leaving the store and our cart ditched in the meat section- still full of our un-purchased groceries. So now I have a plan. I bring treats. I go down those few aisles first. This has worked great!

Until Lyv discovered the age-old practice of product placement. After a particularly positive and helpful trip to the grocery store, I noticed a can in one of my bags. A can of something I have never ever purchased, let alone eaten in my life. A can of something so disgusting I could barely even believe that it was in my grocery bag.

Spaghetti-O’s.

Not just any Spaghetti-O’s but Disney Princess Spaghetti-O’s complete with pictures of Ariel, Cinderella and Belle in their ball gowns on the label. Tinkerbell with her trail of sparkles was blinging up the whole can. They were all smiling over their shoulders with perfectly coiffed hair. I turned to Lyv and said, “Did you put this in our cart?” “Yep. It’s princess food, Mom.”

Well, I really can’t blame the girl. There are sparkles on it, after all.

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Uh-Oh, Spaghetti-O

So I’ve had some lovely comments about posting more food recipes and green smoothie recipes. And since you asked so kindly, I am posting one of my favorite smoothies as of late. You can call this Mango Madness or the Immune Booster Smoothie, whichever sounds more fun for you

add 1-2 cups water

Oh I have a good post about yogurt, the good the bad and the ugly. But it’s not quite ready yet, so in the mean time PAY ATTENTION TO LABELS. 2 big things to look out for: High Fructose Corn Syrup and anything with Hydrogenated Oils. I guarantee the yogurt you are eating has one of them listed. What’s the big deal you say? To put it simply, regularly including these products in your diet has the potential to promote obesity — which, in turn, promotes conditions such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and coronary artery disease. Hmmm not to fun if you ask me! In the mean time avoid those two big mama’s (high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils). You’ll be quick to notice how hard they are to avoid! Then you’ll start looking to the organic foods and notice they (the two big mama’s) have vanished. Anyways, back to the recipe…

add your (high fructose corn syrup – FREE) yogurt to the blender

I am not a chef! This is just how I like to slice and dice my mangos.

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You Asked For More!

So I’ve had some lovely comments about posting more food recipes and green smoothie recipes. And since you asked so kindly, I am posting one of my favorite smoothies as of late. You can call this Mango Madness or the Immune Booster Smoothie, whichever sounds more fun for you

add 1-2 cups water

Oh I have a good post about yogurt, the good the bad and the ugly. But it’s not quite ready yet, so in the mean time PAY ATTENTION TO LABELS. 2 big things to look out for: High Fructose Corn Syrup and anything with Hydrogenated Oils. I guarantee the yogurt you are eating has one of them listed. What’s the big deal you say? To put it simply, regularly including these products in your diet has the potential to promote obesity — which, in turn, promotes conditions such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and coronary artery disease. Hmmm not to fun if you ask me! In the mean time avoid those two big mama’s (high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils). You’ll be quick to notice how hard they are to avoid! Then you’ll start looking to the organic foods and notice they (the two big mama’s) have vanished. Anyways, back to the recipe…

add your (high fructose corn syrup – FREE) yogurt to the blender

I am not a chef! This is just how I like to slice and dice my mangos.

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Immune Booster Smoothie

If I were to tell you that this post is a comparison between the automobiles and heroin you probably would laugh it off and move on to another blog.

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American Overdose

The past 10 days have been a blur! Last Thursday I was in pinewood derby mode when I got a phone call from my dad at about 4:00 pm. My dad told me Grandma was finally on her way to heaven and she might not make it through the night. Without hesitation, I booked a one-way ticket to Arizona so I could hopefully say goodbye to my grandma before she left this life. By 5:30 I was in a taxi on my way to the airport (with a haphazardly packed suitcase). I prayed and prayed that I would make it to Arizona in time to say goodbye to my sweet Grandma. Lucky for me and my family, Grandma held on for 5 days. This wasn’t really a surprise since Grandma was one of the strongest and most stubborn people I’ve ever known.

I never imagined saying goodbye to my Grandma would be a beautiful event, but it was. She was surrounded by her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. We sat around her bedside and told stories. We took turns holding her hand. We all got to tell her we love her (like a million times). We also had a very special moment with her on Saturday when she woke for a few hours. While she was awake, we all got to tell her we love her and we were thankful for all the ways she took care of us. We also told her it was ok for her to rest and we would be ok. It was a perfect goodbye.

I’m glad I took my camera to Arizona to capture a few moments from Grandma’s goodbye party. In case you can’t tell from the pictures, the mood was calm, happy, and sometimes silly (just like Grandma). I flew back to Chicago on Monday night, just a few hours before my Grandma finally went to heaven. Thanks to my super helpful and generous husband, I flew to Arizona again for her funeral. Poor Marshal wasn’t able to leave work on such short notice, but he held down the fort while I was gone.

Here are some pictures from Grandma’s goodbye party:

This is my dad and Grandma at the nursing home.

My dad was Grandma’s baby.

Me and Dad

This is my cute Aunt Judy. She and Uncle Bill took care of Grandma after she moved to Arizona about 10 years ago.

Here is my awesome cousin Tammy. She and my other cousin, Abby, also took care of Grandma. They made sure someone visited Grandma at the nursing home every day.

The boy cousins are so much fun.

This is my handsome Uncle Bill (my dad’s brother, Judy’s husband, and Abby and Tammy’s dad).

My sweet mom came out too because she and Grandma were always close.

I am so glad my mom was there! She has a the most calming voice. I don’t even know how to explain it. I can’t imagine hearing a sweeter voice before going to heaven. My mom is pretty special.

I made Grandma do the peace sign.

Here we are before the funeral

Here we are again (Marshal, Melissa and Kevin couldn’t make it but we can Photoshop them in later)

Ryan and Amy after the funeral…they are so cute!

My brother is doing his Zoolander face in this picture

I love you, sweet Grandma! See you soon

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The Perfect Goodbye

I haven’t blogged in about a week. In fact, to be totally fair, it’s been longer than that since I “really” blogged and didn’t just put up some photos or video or a short link. I’ve been really having to drag myself to the computer lately. I think part of the problem is that it’s gotten nicer outside and part of it is that I’ve been unusually busy and my online time has been cut in half, if not more. On top of all this, I’ve been really pushing myself to stay on the wedding blog, since it’s still a one-woman show and it’s turning into something of a three-ring circus over there. So, those are all my excuses for not blogging.

I really need to blog, though, because part of the purpose of this blog (outside of sharing incredibly personal information with strangers and people from law school who never really liked me anyway) is to keep my long-distance friends and family up to date on our little life. Because I’ve fallen behind, I have a lot to update everyone on. In fact, it’s safe to say that I have more to blog about right now than I have in a really long time. (And no, this post isn’t focused on my hair.)

There have been a ton of changes with us lately. I hate change, by the way. Is there anyone who really likes it? I’m always really reluctant to change too at once, especially if I don’t feel like I have control over anything, even if the changes are good ones. All of our recent changes have been good, but they make me want to roll over and take a big fat nap.

Anyway, updates and changes in no particular order:

• No, not pregnant. I feel like people are going to be looking for that from now on, but (as a heads up) I won’t be telling anyone even if we do get pregnant because I’m understandably more cautious these days. It will be a “Oh, we’re pregnant! And it’s a boy! And I’m having him in about four days!” kind of post, but we have a good couple of years before that’s going to happen. So no holding of the breath, please.

• We made a decision about the house thing. I really can’t commit to buying right now, since I can’t commit to anything that permanent, so we’re going to rent an apartment. We thought about renting a house or townhome or anything with a bit more room, but we’ve decided that we don’t want to have to maintain that much while it’s just the two of us. Plus, whatever we save on our rent goes towards our future mortgage. However, although many people made good arguments about scaling down to a one bedroom apartment, we’re getting a two bedroom in the Cottonwood Heights area because sometimes we really just need to be able to retreat to our own spaces so we don’t strangle each other. (Hopefully that doesn’t say anything terrible about our marriage!)

• Our car got totaled when a woman hit Kyle in the city library parking lot. We’ve actually got two cars, but one has been broken since we got it in August and since Kyle takes public transportation a lot and I’ve been working at home, we’ve just been sharing my trusty old Jeep. Luckily, Kyle wasn’t hurt in the accident but Baby (my Jeep) isn’t going to make it through the summer, so we’re going to take the insurance money and get something else soon. I’m on the hunt right now for a car dealership that isn’t going to rip us off. I’m sad about my Jeep, just because I’ve had her forever, but there are worse problems in life than having the opportunity to buy a new car.

• I got another job. Now that I’m officially not going to be worried about maternity leave or daycare for a long time, I didn’t really have an excuse not to go out and work. Plus, although the freelancing is working out nicely, I actually have a harder time organizing my day if I don’t have to do anything, so I needed an outside responsibility to balance things out. So, I’m now a nanny forty hours a week for a pair of doctors who have a two year old son. Yes, I’m probably the most overqualified nanny in the world, but I needed something that was semi-flexible so I could keep up my freelancing and other projects. I work two to four really long days and have the rest of the week off, so that works out nicely for me, and they’re paying me much more than they probably should. Plus, I just hang out with the kid all day and he takes three-hour naps, so I have time to work even when I have him. The other benefit is that it’s definitely curbing my mommy urge. He’s about the cutest kid in the world, but I’m pretty relieved to leave him at the end of the day so I can get the stickiness out of my hair. I never realized how much work it is just to make it to the grocery store or the bank when you have to worry about diapers and car seats and temper tantrums.

A trip to the zoo, where we watched the same elephant for an hour
because a certain someone had no interest in the rest of the park.
An hour.

That’s about it. There are other exciting things in the works that I might be sharing in a while, but right now we’re just worried about buying a car and getting ourselves moved. It really is like we’ve been on hold for a long time and now we’re moving forward, even if it’s not in a direction I thought we’d be taking. It might be lazy, but I’m sort of looking forward to just laying low for a while, with minimal responsibility and lots of saving up for bigger things in the future. As crazy as this life is, I’m still so grateful that I’ve ended up in a place where Kyle and I have lots of time to spend together and we don’t feel pressured to do anything we don’t want to. Sometimes, I think we really couldn’t have asked for more right now.

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Changes