Last night after Josh picked me up from work (he sat here patiently and waited for almost an hour while David made me play with his stupid phone) we headed over to Jamie and Cameron's because they have a bunch of stuff we needed to get from them and we haven't seen them in like a hundred years (or 2 weeks).
The boys immediately headed in the back room to play some game about light switches on the computer and Jamie and I started talking. Before we went in I told Josh we could only stay for 1 hour because I still needed to do laundry and bake bread. Somehow we were there for 2 hours before I even looked my watch!
The boys conquered the light switch game and Jamie helped me feel better about the house decision and we talked about babies, immunizations, houses, moving to Washington, jobs, coworkers, and pretty much everything else. I love talking forever like that. I'm old.
Josh and I talked about the house thing on our way home, and while he started helping me make bread. We both decided that the more we think about it, the more we like it. The more we discuss it, the more we think it's right and the better we feel about it. We just have these moments of fear because it's a BIG deal and then we confuse ourselves and freak out. Of course anything can still happen, but for now we're feeling a lot better about it, and I'm much less confused, anxious, and scared. So, here's hoping that feeling lasts and we don't have to cancel the contract! We will do whatever we think is right in the end, but for now it feels good to be there. It makes sense, and it's exciting.
Jamie and I talked about the ability to do more than you thought you could and I've been thinking a lot about it. There are so many times in my life that I truly didn't know how I would make it through one more "something" - like being really sick and knowing that I can't possibly stand one more day of this feeling; or having too many tests, too much work, and not enough time; the moments when you don't know how you're going to pay your bills, much less make it through another month (if you survive this one); being so hurt and sad that I don't know what to do with myself and not seeing an end in sight; physical exhaustion and knowing very well that I don't have the strength to take one more step; knowing that if 1 more person gets married before me, I'm gonna snap!; somehow, though, I survived all of these experiences. Somehow something happened that made me more capable than I am. Somehow my money lasted longer than it should have, my feet kept walking, I kept waking up, I survived finals, I went to 10 more weddings that weren't mine, I made it through whatever was going on. Every single time! Not once have I died over anything! It's amazing to me how many times in my life I've had blessings that can't be accounted for by anything but divine intervention.
I guess I just take comfort in the fact that it will all be OK. Come what may we can do hard things, and we are going to make it no matter what.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Answers to prayers ?????
I'm so confused. And I'm finding no peace, and I'm pretty sure these big decisions are keeping my husband up at night.
So we found the perfect house? What now? Well, we made an offer on it, they countered back, we accepted, and now we're under contract ready to close in 9 days. Yesterday we had it inspected. Nothing surprising found there. Then last night Josh and I met Gabe up there to walk through it. Keep in mind this is only the 2nd time we've seen it. And the first time we walked through the one across the street - so our memories have a right to be inaccurate.
We got there and Gabe let us in. The first thing we noticed was the smell of dog (and garlic which we later decided was Josh because he went to Buca di Beppo for lunch). They have an inside dog, it's been in its kennel every time we've been there, but homes with dogs have a smell. So, we looked at the carpet, and they kinda grossed Josh out. They weren't bad, they just need to be cleaned. "Your husband has the ability and access to a carpet machine! That's an easy fix!" you say. You'd be right because that's what I said too. And then Josh said he was sad because he doesn't have a way to move a carpet machine because he crashed his truck. So we might just pay someone to do that. :( No big deal, all carpets have to be cleaned.
Then we wander through the house, Josh notices that the tub is shallow, which bugs him, but he'll get over it. The "solid surface counter tops" we remembered were from the one across the street. He garage really is as small as we remembered. The 2nd bedroom really is small. Etc etc etc. I was a little worried about this. I knew I fell in love with it, and made it to be PERFECT in my head and it probably really wasn't, and I thought we'd be a little disappointed walking through it again. But, I liked it overall. It's still new, nice, and good for 2 people to live in.
When our agent met the inspector out there, a nice man came to post notice of trustee sale on the door. Which means if we don't buy this home, they lose it at a trustee's sale. I got excited about that and thought maybe we could bail on our contract and get it for cheaper at the trustee sale. I told Josh that, he got excited, we talked to Gabe about it and he said no. Not only does he think it's morally wrong, he doesn't think we could pull it off. We wouldn't save much money (if any) we'd have to come up with $5,000 certified funds to even bid on it, and then fund it within 24 hours. No way is it even possible. Josh was disappointed in that too. In all, it was kindof a disappointing walk through. We both thought so, but it's still so beautiful! It's so much better than what we have and beats renting without even trying!
We got in the car after walking through and talked about how nervous it made Josh. He was all for it until he was walking through again, and then he felt weird about it. I told him I was all for it too, but I didn't feel weird so much.
My problem is that when we were first looking, we saw this unit in Sandy. It wasn't new, or nice, but it had 3 bedrooms and a yard and a bigger garage. It had a bad kitchen (just not what I wanted), and a lot of yard work/landscaping to be done. The fence needed to be replaced. There weren't the neighborhood amenities, it's farther from work, etc. So, we thought the easy choice was the nicer, newer, closer, slightly smaller unit. But I can't get that stupid Sandy house out of my head! I keep brushing it off thinking it's just wondering what might have been. I didn't like the neighborhood in Sandy, but it is closer to our parents, we could grow into it more, and we don't need to live in a nice new house right now. We're good at slummin' it.
As we talked, I told Josh I keep thinking about the Sandy condo, and he said he kinda does too. But the more we talked the less sense it made. This North Salt Lake House is great! And if we have a bunch of babies and have to move soon (like within 3 years) then we'll still be better off than if we rented and we can get into something bigger then. Right now we don't need 3 small bedrooms, we'd rather a bigger living room. That'll change someday, but for now, this North Salt Lake house is great!
So, we talked ourselves in circles and tried to decide if we're scared because it's a big deal or if we're scared because it isn't right. We've been praying to be guided, is this a form of guiding? Or is this normal jitters? Is it Satan tempting us not to do something we should? Or are we being told that it isn't right for us right now? How do you tell the difference? How do we know if Josh is just disappointed because the garage is tiny and he bragged about the solid surface counter tops that are really formica, or if he's disappointed because it's not great for us? How do we know if we bail these people out or if we should hold out for a better deal? I'm bad at making decisions, I always have been, but I didn't know Josh was as bad at is as I am. He keeps saying "we'll just do it." and that's why we're under contract, but then we both come back having doubts! Until we talk about it. Then we feel good. Are we talking ourselves into something that we shouldn't? Arg!!! We're bad at this, and I just don't know how to get around that.
I'm just so discouraged and confused, but excited and I really want it at the same time - adding to the confusion and the vicious cycle begins again. I just need to know if we're really going to go through with this!!!
So we found the perfect house? What now? Well, we made an offer on it, they countered back, we accepted, and now we're under contract ready to close in 9 days. Yesterday we had it inspected. Nothing surprising found there. Then last night Josh and I met Gabe up there to walk through it. Keep in mind this is only the 2nd time we've seen it. And the first time we walked through the one across the street - so our memories have a right to be inaccurate.
We got there and Gabe let us in. The first thing we noticed was the smell of dog (and garlic which we later decided was Josh because he went to Buca di Beppo for lunch). They have an inside dog, it's been in its kennel every time we've been there, but homes with dogs have a smell. So, we looked at the carpet, and they kinda grossed Josh out. They weren't bad, they just need to be cleaned. "Your husband has the ability and access to a carpet machine! That's an easy fix!" you say. You'd be right because that's what I said too. And then Josh said he was sad because he doesn't have a way to move a carpet machine because he crashed his truck. So we might just pay someone to do that. :( No big deal, all carpets have to be cleaned.
Then we wander through the house, Josh notices that the tub is shallow, which bugs him, but he'll get over it. The "solid surface counter tops" we remembered were from the one across the street. He garage really is as small as we remembered. The 2nd bedroom really is small. Etc etc etc. I was a little worried about this. I knew I fell in love with it, and made it to be PERFECT in my head and it probably really wasn't, and I thought we'd be a little disappointed walking through it again. But, I liked it overall. It's still new, nice, and good for 2 people to live in.
When our agent met the inspector out there, a nice man came to post notice of trustee sale on the door. Which means if we don't buy this home, they lose it at a trustee's sale. I got excited about that and thought maybe we could bail on our contract and get it for cheaper at the trustee sale. I told Josh that, he got excited, we talked to Gabe about it and he said no. Not only does he think it's morally wrong, he doesn't think we could pull it off. We wouldn't save much money (if any) we'd have to come up with $5,000 certified funds to even bid on it, and then fund it within 24 hours. No way is it even possible. Josh was disappointed in that too. In all, it was kindof a disappointing walk through. We both thought so, but it's still so beautiful! It's so much better than what we have and beats renting without even trying!
We got in the car after walking through and talked about how nervous it made Josh. He was all for it until he was walking through again, and then he felt weird about it. I told him I was all for it too, but I didn't feel weird so much.
My problem is that when we were first looking, we saw this unit in Sandy. It wasn't new, or nice, but it had 3 bedrooms and a yard and a bigger garage. It had a bad kitchen (just not what I wanted), and a lot of yard work/landscaping to be done. The fence needed to be replaced. There weren't the neighborhood amenities, it's farther from work, etc. So, we thought the easy choice was the nicer, newer, closer, slightly smaller unit. But I can't get that stupid Sandy house out of my head! I keep brushing it off thinking it's just wondering what might have been. I didn't like the neighborhood in Sandy, but it is closer to our parents, we could grow into it more, and we don't need to live in a nice new house right now. We're good at slummin' it.
As we talked, I told Josh I keep thinking about the Sandy condo, and he said he kinda does too. But the more we talked the less sense it made. This North Salt Lake House is great! And if we have a bunch of babies and have to move soon (like within 3 years) then we'll still be better off than if we rented and we can get into something bigger then. Right now we don't need 3 small bedrooms, we'd rather a bigger living room. That'll change someday, but for now, this North Salt Lake house is great!
So, we talked ourselves in circles and tried to decide if we're scared because it's a big deal or if we're scared because it isn't right. We've been praying to be guided, is this a form of guiding? Or is this normal jitters? Is it Satan tempting us not to do something we should? Or are we being told that it isn't right for us right now? How do you tell the difference? How do we know if Josh is just disappointed because the garage is tiny and he bragged about the solid surface counter tops that are really formica, or if he's disappointed because it's not great for us? How do we know if we bail these people out or if we should hold out for a better deal? I'm bad at making decisions, I always have been, but I didn't know Josh was as bad at is as I am. He keeps saying "we'll just do it." and that's why we're under contract, but then we both come back having doubts! Until we talk about it. Then we feel good. Are we talking ourselves into something that we shouldn't? Arg!!! We're bad at this, and I just don't know how to get around that.
I'm just so discouraged and confused, but excited and I really want it at the same time - adding to the confusion and the vicious cycle begins again. I just need to know if we're really going to go through with this!!!
Monday, December 17, 2007
What's in your rearview mirror?
I feel like I've been through a lot of cars - and while I haven't owned most of the cars I've driven, I have personalized them. In high school it was parking passes. 1 for work, 1 for school, and 1 for another school. In college it was more parking passes, 1 for work, 1 for school, 1 for the street, 1 for my neighborhood (which in all fairness was the same as school, but in Salt Lake you have to have a pass to park ANYWHERE). Somewhere along the way I collected a shell necklace like the kind from Hawaii - in fact it might even be from Hawaii, I don't know where it came from, but it's been hanging from my rear view mirror for at least 3 years - possibly more.
When Josh started working for Redbox they gave him an ugly redbox license plate holder thing that I refuse to put on my car because it would be acknowledging that we live in "the redbox car".
He also started eating at McDonalds an awful lot, and for a while got addicted to kids meals. During that phase he once gave me a little-tiny-kids-meal-sized-teddy-bear that has a bib on it. We decided it was a baby bear and it reminds me that me and Josh will have babies together someday. I stuffed that above my rear view mirror about a year ago and it's still there. For a while there was a pirate thing on which Josh wrote "arg. I love you" with a bic pen. But that has somehow disappeared. The rest of my car is pretty normal I think. Other than the zillions of DVDs and boxes in it 99% of the time.
You know how when you stop at a red light sometimes your head is connected to your brake foot and it automatically turns to look at the person in the car next to you? Like you need to know your surroundings - is this a "race off the white line" kind of red light neighbor? Or a "don't look because I'm picking my nose" red light neighbor? In the morning I see a lot of "zoned out" red light neighbors and I immediately change lanes to get as far away from those as possible. There is of course the "I'm in a hurry so get the HECK outta my way!" red light neighbor easily identified by the tapping of the steering wheel, inching forward, and constant looking around at all of the other lights to watch for the yellow signaling her green coming up. My favorite neighbor is the "rocking out" red light neighbor, and for that reason alone, I often try to be that neighbor I love so dearly.
Today on our way to work, we stopped at a red light (yes, we usually do stop at red lights, but sometimes we don't so I had to clarify.) and Josh looked over at the car next to us. Presumabley to check out our neighbor. He started laughing, did a double take, and then let me in on the joke.
"Is that a.....what are those things called?.......garter?" He laughed
"A garter? Yeah right. Where?" I mumbled as I looked pulling myself out of my trance. "oh my gosh it is!"
"Isn't that what the guys catch at a wedding?" he asked. Proving yet again that he didn't spend the first 21 years of his life watching other people's weddings and planning his.
"Yes. That is what some people choose to throw at their wedding for the guys to catch." I answered. "But I bet that the nice lady driving that car didn't catch it at a wedding."
Now I see a lot of funny bumper stickers, pictures, and words on cars, but I truly think that this if the first time I've seen a garter hanging from someone's rear view mirror. It made me think....if you parked your normal-looking car in the parking lot at a mall, and couldn't remember where it was, and went out to find it, I bet that the simple "personalization" would ensure you wouldn't stick your key in the wrong car.
Generally the things I see hanging from cars are practical. I write myself notes in my car all the time so I won't forget something - perhaps it was acting as a reminder. It couldn't been sentimental. Maybe a dare. Perhaps even placed there for the entertainment value of the "nosey red light neighbors". I guess I'll never know, but I sure laughed this morning. Thanks garter lady!
When Josh started working for Redbox they gave him an ugly redbox license plate holder thing that I refuse to put on my car because it would be acknowledging that we live in "the redbox car".
He also started eating at McDonalds an awful lot, and for a while got addicted to kids meals. During that phase he once gave me a little-tiny-kids-meal-sized-teddy-bear that has a bib on it. We decided it was a baby bear and it reminds me that me and Josh will have babies together someday. I stuffed that above my rear view mirror about a year ago and it's still there. For a while there was a pirate thing on which Josh wrote "arg. I love you" with a bic pen. But that has somehow disappeared. The rest of my car is pretty normal I think. Other than the zillions of DVDs and boxes in it 99% of the time.
You know how when you stop at a red light sometimes your head is connected to your brake foot and it automatically turns to look at the person in the car next to you? Like you need to know your surroundings - is this a "race off the white line" kind of red light neighbor? Or a "don't look because I'm picking my nose" red light neighbor? In the morning I see a lot of "zoned out" red light neighbors and I immediately change lanes to get as far away from those as possible. There is of course the "I'm in a hurry so get the HECK outta my way!" red light neighbor easily identified by the tapping of the steering wheel, inching forward, and constant looking around at all of the other lights to watch for the yellow signaling her green coming up. My favorite neighbor is the "rocking out" red light neighbor, and for that reason alone, I often try to be that neighbor I love so dearly.
Today on our way to work, we stopped at a red light (yes, we usually do stop at red lights, but sometimes we don't so I had to clarify.) and Josh looked over at the car next to us. Presumabley to check out our neighbor. He started laughing, did a double take, and then let me in on the joke.
"Is that a.....what are those things called?.......garter?" He laughed
"A garter? Yeah right. Where?" I mumbled as I looked pulling myself out of my trance. "oh my gosh it is!"
"Isn't that what the guys catch at a wedding?" he asked. Proving yet again that he didn't spend the first 21 years of his life watching other people's weddings and planning his.
"Yes. That is what some people choose to throw at their wedding for the guys to catch." I answered. "But I bet that the nice lady driving that car didn't catch it at a wedding."
Now I see a lot of funny bumper stickers, pictures, and words on cars, but I truly think that this if the first time I've seen a garter hanging from someone's rear view mirror. It made me think....if you parked your normal-looking car in the parking lot at a mall, and couldn't remember where it was, and went out to find it, I bet that the simple "personalization" would ensure you wouldn't stick your key in the wrong car.
Generally the things I see hanging from cars are practical. I write myself notes in my car all the time so I won't forget something - perhaps it was acting as a reminder. It couldn't been sentimental. Maybe a dare. Perhaps even placed there for the entertainment value of the "nosey red light neighbors". I guess I'll never know, but I sure laughed this morning. Thanks garter lady!
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Gina's wedding
My cousin Gina got married yesterday and we were invited to the wedding ceremony in Logan. My grandpa always said that funerals are the greatest meetings in the church, but I think it's weddings. I love them. I always come away loving my husband that much more and remembering how glad I am to be married to him. I love that everybody is happy and beautiful and fancy. It's just a great occasion.
The wedding was in Logan, and we didn't have to be there until 2:30 so I told Josh we needed to leave our house at 12:45. We wound up leaving late, and it took 20 minutes to get on the freeway, I needed to stop at Walmart to buy nylons because mine are holey and it was kinda starting to snow. Chances were against us making it there on time.
Once Josh figured out how late we were he started driving like I wished he was the whole time though. Sometimes he drives like a maniac and sometimes he drives like an old lady. I was trying really hard to just let him drive, but secretly I wanted this to be a maniac time. It finally turned into a maniac time when he realized we had to go 30 miles in 15 minutes to get to the canyon with enough time to make it through the canyon (without stopping at Walmart). He reminded me that the new tires he put on the car are rated to go 140 mph. I reminded him that even though the speedometer in our car has that number, we shouldn't go quite that fast.
Fortunately we made it on time, stopped at Walmart for me, and sped through the canyon, took the scenic route to find the Logan temple (I only know how to get there one way, and it wasn't the right way.), and didn't miss the ceremony. Josh likes to get places just as they are starting. His favorite flight we were ever on involved us running across the airport to get to a shorter security line, then running back to our terminal and the gate, and walking right on the plane because they were already boarding. This is not the way I like to do things. I'd rather arrive early and sit there waiting patiently for an hour than run and not wait at all. Anyway, we sat down for about 2.3 minutes when they took us to the sealing room. Whew! Just in time!
The ceremony was great, and made me think of all of those good things. Why I love my husband, the things that were said in our ceremony, everything good. It was beautiful. When we went out for pictures it was FREEZING. Poor Gina in her beautiful but not warm dress! I'm sure they were dying, but they looked fantastic. We laughed because we saw them come out into the temple waiting room, then they waited for everyone to gather outside, and made sure nobody was walking behind them so their pictures would turn out. From the time someone saw her to the time they stepped out the door was probably 10 minutes. When Josh and I got married, the nice lady said "please walk out quickly and get out to take pictures because there are people behind you." Since I HATE to be "in the way" I bolted out of the temple. We walked out and didn't even wait for people because I know that people tend to pool and visit and that's what they were avoiding. I practically ran out the doors, dragging poor Josh the whole way with my mom right behind me because she couldn't get out before me. It was funny to see the difference.
The wedding was in Logan, and we didn't have to be there until 2:30 so I told Josh we needed to leave our house at 12:45. We wound up leaving late, and it took 20 minutes to get on the freeway, I needed to stop at Walmart to buy nylons because mine are holey and it was kinda starting to snow. Chances were against us making it there on time.
Once Josh figured out how late we were he started driving like I wished he was the whole time though. Sometimes he drives like a maniac and sometimes he drives like an old lady. I was trying really hard to just let him drive, but secretly I wanted this to be a maniac time. It finally turned into a maniac time when he realized we had to go 30 miles in 15 minutes to get to the canyon with enough time to make it through the canyon (without stopping at Walmart). He reminded me that the new tires he put on the car are rated to go 140 mph. I reminded him that even though the speedometer in our car has that number, we shouldn't go quite that fast.
Fortunately we made it on time, stopped at Walmart for me, and sped through the canyon, took the scenic route to find the Logan temple (I only know how to get there one way, and it wasn't the right way.), and didn't miss the ceremony. Josh likes to get places just as they are starting. His favorite flight we were ever on involved us running across the airport to get to a shorter security line, then running back to our terminal and the gate, and walking right on the plane because they were already boarding. This is not the way I like to do things. I'd rather arrive early and sit there waiting patiently for an hour than run and not wait at all. Anyway, we sat down for about 2.3 minutes when they took us to the sealing room. Whew! Just in time!
The ceremony was great, and made me think of all of those good things. Why I love my husband, the things that were said in our ceremony, everything good. It was beautiful. When we went out for pictures it was FREEZING. Poor Gina in her beautiful but not warm dress! I'm sure they were dying, but they looked fantastic. We laughed because we saw them come out into the temple waiting room, then they waited for everyone to gather outside, and made sure nobody was walking behind them so their pictures would turn out. From the time someone saw her to the time they stepped out the door was probably 10 minutes. When Josh and I got married, the nice lady said "please walk out quickly and get out to take pictures because there are people behind you." Since I HATE to be "in the way" I bolted out of the temple. We walked out and didn't even wait for people because I know that people tend to pool and visit and that's what they were avoiding. I practically ran out the doors, dragging poor Josh the whole way with my mom right behind me because she couldn't get out before me. It was funny to see the difference.
It was so cold outside! But Gina was smart enough to wear sweats under her dress. :)
The sealer talked about how love is not just a feeling, it's a commitment and a something else. He talked about how 2 people are more than just double one. How we need to work together and sacrifice. How sometimes love is work and you don't feel like it, but you do it anyway. He said that love at first sight is sweet, but love at last sight is far more important. He hoped that one would look down at the other as they take their last breathe and think back to this day thinking that they thought they loved each other then, but now they really know what love is. He told them that in the garden Adam listened to Eve and Eve listened to Satan. They both should have been listening to Heavenly Father and he hoped they would do that. He also talked about praying together and how if you work out your differences before praying you'll feel the spirit stronger and your prayers will be more powerful. Both your family and couple prayers. It was great. They asked Uncle Kenneth (my mom's brother) to do the ceremony, and he did a really great job. I'm very glad we got to be there for it.Friday, December 14, 2007
Oregon Coast Aquarium
Tuesday Josh and I had to go to a sales presentation so we'd buy into this package. We walked in the door and our dude started talking and didn't stop for 45 minutes, finally he paused to see how many points we wanted to buy and we told him zero. I have to say I was impressed that he let us go so easily, but as soon as we said no, he let us off the hook. That was nice. In his 45 minute speech though he said that on Monday he loved to sit in his office and look at the whales. He said he saw a bunch of them from his office window. Man, we headed the wrong direction on our excursion! Oh well, we still had fun.
On our last day, we really wanted to go to Oregon Coast Aquarium. That was REALLY cool. When I think of an aquarium, that's not what I picture. I think of a bunch of fish in a tank. But this was AWESOME. It's a zoo, for ocean wildlife. They showed us all kinds of creatures. And tons of exhibits. It was amazing. If you're ever in the area, I HIGHLY recommend this place. I saw and learned so much! Did you know that skates (they look like a sting ray) lay egg pouches? We saw one, and it's like a little UPS package with live babies in it. So there were 3 tiny skates inside this little (maybe 6 inches long by 4 inches high) pouch and they live there for like a year before the grow up and "hatch" out of their paper sack looking egg pouch. We saw jellyfish, sharks, halibut (our dinner the night before) anemones, starfish, sea lions, octopus, diving birds, crabs, lobster, shrimp, anchovies, and yes another gift shop. :)
The greatest part about going somewhere during low travel time is that you never wait for anything. We walked through this place and every staff member/volunteer was excited to tell us everything they knew about everything. Since everything was so quiet, we got a lot of personal attention and details of stuff we wouldn't have otherwise found. I was amazed at how much everybody there knew, and how quickly and easily they answered our questions. "Sea lions eat 1/4 of their weight every day - that's like a 120 pound woman eating 30 big macs a day." "If you touch a sea anemone like this.....you'll feel your hand stick in. If you were a tiny fish, you would've been dead and moving toward it's mouth." "This type of bird can dive down to 120 feet to prey on their food." "A sea cucumber's only defense is to spit out its guts. If they're being attacked, they will spit out their intestines and leave them behind for the predator to eat and just grow new ones." "Skates lay egg pouches like this." "That keychain is $1.50." These people answered every question we had, and then some more. It was COOL. They even had a petting zoo (that's my term, not theirs) and we got to touch starfish, sea cucumbers, pointy things, anemones, and other stuff. That was pretty rad for my childish brain.
There is a display there called "passages of the deep" where you walk through a huge aquarium. There's just a big tunnel and you can see the fish swimming all around you. The tunnel is made out of glass except for parts of the floor you can see everything around you. They have sections of how deep the water is and what fish you would see. So you start with the boring stuff, small fish, then move to the rock fish (which don't have to swim to stay sunk, they have a built in equalizer so they just stop and stay put), then you get to see the sharks and stink ray, and skates, and big scary fish. It was incredible.
After our long visit to the aquarium, we headed to the "undersea gardens" place. Only it was closed. Everything there just closes when they feel like it. Nobody has hours posted on their doors, they just open if/when they want and leave when they want. We asked a few shop owners when they'd be open so we could go back for more stuff and they said "I don't know, I think I'll leave around 4:00 today". Anyway, the other places we wanted to see were closed, so we looked at some lazy sea lions and shopped some more.
MF decided that she wanted to get a kite. So we went to the kite shop, which she says was her favorite store we went to the whole time. They had wind chimes and kites and flags and all kinds of cool stuff. Josh and I found "the hoodie" and one of those ring Frisbee things that Josh wants. He also wanted a cool kite, a really sturdy one that you fly with 2 hands and stuff. But they were expensive and we decided against it. We got a bunch more souvenirs and headed back home again.
On our last day, we really wanted to go to Oregon Coast Aquarium. That was REALLY cool. When I think of an aquarium, that's not what I picture. I think of a bunch of fish in a tank. But this was AWESOME. It's a zoo, for ocean wildlife. They showed us all kinds of creatures. And tons of exhibits. It was amazing. If you're ever in the area, I HIGHLY recommend this place. I saw and learned so much! Did you know that skates (they look like a sting ray) lay egg pouches? We saw one, and it's like a little UPS package with live babies in it. So there were 3 tiny skates inside this little (maybe 6 inches long by 4 inches high) pouch and they live there for like a year before the grow up and "hatch" out of their paper sack looking egg pouch. We saw jellyfish, sharks, halibut (our dinner the night before) anemones, starfish, sea lions, octopus, diving birds, crabs, lobster, shrimp, anchovies, and yes another gift shop. :)
The greatest part about going somewhere during low travel time is that you never wait for anything. We walked through this place and every staff member/volunteer was excited to tell us everything they knew about everything. Since everything was so quiet, we got a lot of personal attention and details of stuff we wouldn't have otherwise found. I was amazed at how much everybody there knew, and how quickly and easily they answered our questions. "Sea lions eat 1/4 of their weight every day - that's like a 120 pound woman eating 30 big macs a day." "If you touch a sea anemone like this.....you'll feel your hand stick in. If you were a tiny fish, you would've been dead and moving toward it's mouth." "This type of bird can dive down to 120 feet to prey on their food." "A sea cucumber's only defense is to spit out its guts. If they're being attacked, they will spit out their intestines and leave them behind for the predator to eat and just grow new ones." "Skates lay egg pouches like this." "That keychain is $1.50." These people answered every question we had, and then some more. It was COOL. They even had a petting zoo (that's my term, not theirs) and we got to touch starfish, sea cucumbers, pointy things, anemones, and other stuff. That was pretty rad for my childish brain.
There is a display there called "passages of the deep" where you walk through a huge aquarium. There's just a big tunnel and you can see the fish swimming all around you. The tunnel is made out of glass except for parts of the floor you can see everything around you. They have sections of how deep the water is and what fish you would see. So you start with the boring stuff, small fish, then move to the rock fish (which don't have to swim to stay sunk, they have a built in equalizer so they just stop and stay put), then you get to see the sharks and stink ray, and skates, and big scary fish. It was incredible.
After our long visit to the aquarium, we headed to the "undersea gardens" place. Only it was closed. Everything there just closes when they feel like it. Nobody has hours posted on their doors, they just open if/when they want and leave when they want. We asked a few shop owners when they'd be open so we could go back for more stuff and they said "I don't know, I think I'll leave around 4:00 today". Anyway, the other places we wanted to see were closed, so we looked at some lazy sea lions and shopped some more.
MF decided that she wanted to get a kite. So we went to the kite shop, which she says was her favorite store we went to the whole time. They had wind chimes and kites and flags and all kinds of cool stuff. Josh and I found "the hoodie" and one of those ring Frisbee things that Josh wants. He also wanted a cool kite, a really sturdy one that you fly with 2 hands and stuff. But they were expensive and we decided against it. We got a bunch more souvenirs and headed back home again.
So many sights, soo little time.
Since Monday was supposed to be only "partly cloudy" instead of "mostly cloudy" (thank you weather.com) we decided to spend it on the beach, whale watching, lighthousing, outside stuffing.
We went to the whale watching place that I found online and set up an excursion for noon. We had some time to kill so we hit a bunch of the shops in downtown Depoe Bay. MR is a big shopper, she had to bring back something for each of her kids, and likes to have souvenirs from places. So we had plenty of shopping to do. There were tons of little trinkety stores, so we shopped. She found stuff she wanted, and we all found stuff we didn't know we wanted.
Finally it was time for whale watching. Our captain said that this is probably the worst time for whale watching because it's not migrating time. Oh well, we still wanted to go play so we did. We went out and LOVED the boat ride. The weather was beautiful, we saw dolphins or porpoises or whatever they're called, and a ton of birds, and other cool stuff, so we were happy. We really had a great time.
We went back to Yaquina Head lighthouse to see their information center. That was really cool, tons of stuff to see, and of course a little gift shop. My dad wanted to see tide pools, and the rest of us didn't really know what they were, but we were game. So, we went down a couple of hours before low tide and looked at what the water left behind. Tide pools are where the water was, and the creatures stay. We saw anemones, starfish, barnacles, zillions of mussels. It was beautiful. The park gates closed at 5 minutes after sundown, (4:41) so we had to make sure we left in time. The girls were ready to go, but the dads were still playing with the creatures. Finally we made them go back up to the car and get us out in time. On our way we saw a bunch of little black dots in the ocean. We stopped to see if we could find out what they were, and finally realized they were surfers. There was a whole group of people surfing in that water! They were crazy, I'm sure of that. We made it out of the gates in time and headed home again.
Oregon days are so short! The sun seriously goes down before 5:00 and if you're there on vacation, I still don't know what you do for fun after dark....we hung out in our beautiful hotel room, watched movies, played games, and looked at/listened to the ocean.
We went to the whale watching place that I found online and set up an excursion for noon. We had some time to kill so we hit a bunch of the shops in downtown Depoe Bay. MR is a big shopper, she had to bring back something for each of her kids, and likes to have souvenirs from places. So we had plenty of shopping to do. There were tons of little trinkety stores, so we shopped. She found stuff she wanted, and we all found stuff we didn't know we wanted.
Finally it was time for whale watching. Our captain said that this is probably the worst time for whale watching because it's not migrating time. Oh well, we still wanted to go play so we did. We went out and LOVED the boat ride. The weather was beautiful, we saw dolphins or porpoises or whatever they're called, and a ton of birds, and other cool stuff, so we were happy. We really had a great time.
We went back to Yaquina Head lighthouse to see their information center. That was really cool, tons of stuff to see, and of course a little gift shop. My dad wanted to see tide pools, and the rest of us didn't really know what they were, but we were game. So, we went down a couple of hours before low tide and looked at what the water left behind. Tide pools are where the water was, and the creatures stay. We saw anemones, starfish, barnacles, zillions of mussels. It was beautiful. The park gates closed at 5 minutes after sundown, (4:41) so we had to make sure we left in time. The girls were ready to go, but the dads were still playing with the creatures. Finally we made them go back up to the car and get us out in time. On our way we saw a bunch of little black dots in the ocean. We stopped to see if we could find out what they were, and finally realized they were surfers. There was a whole group of people surfing in that water! They were crazy, I'm sure of that. We made it out of the gates in time and headed home again.
Oregon days are so short! The sun seriously goes down before 5:00 and if you're there on vacation, I still don't know what you do for fun after dark....we hung out in our beautiful hotel room, watched movies, played games, and looked at/listened to the ocean.
Newport's friendliest ward
I grew up in Utah, and when people talk about how church is different outside of Utah I sometimes don't really believe them. I can understand the concept, but sometimes don't comprehend how different it can really be. The church is the church is the church you know? We have all kinds of members here, and all kinds of members everywhere else.
Sunday morning we got up and drove 20 minutes to Newport for church. There was a sign pointing to the LDS church which made me laugh only because if there were signs pointing to LDS churches in Utah they wouldn't be much help because on every corner they'd point in ever direction. When we walked in a cute little family said hi to us and asked where we were from. Turns out they were from Fillmore, and knew somebody my mom knew.
My mom happens to be the queen of "six degrees of separation" game. The first thing she does when she's meeting someone new is ask where they're from, where they went on their mission, and if they know _____. Invariably she makes a connection withing 10 minutes. Before we sat down in the chapel, 3 or 4 more people told us they were glad to have us with them this week and hoped we enjoyed our time there. All in the 20 foot walk from the doorway to the chapel.
About halfway through their sacrament meeting, Josh nudged me and I looked over and wished I had my camera. We were sitting at the end of the row and every one of our parents were asleep. All in a row, all with their heads up, but starting to nod. We laughed and listened to the speaker reverently. We're such good examples. :)
After church (and my mom making 6 new very close friends) we decided that since we couldn't go back to our room (we had to switch rooms) we'd go see some lighthouses. Yaquina Bay Lighthouse was first on our list and was really pretty cool. That one isn't functioning, but used to back in the day. Now it's just an old house that they've set up like a museum. After getting our fill there, we headed up to Yaquina Head which is the tallest lighthouse in something - Oregon, the US, something. We walked up to the top of it (114 steps) and saw the light. It was incredible. The prisms and stuff were so cool! Then we went out to the beach. We were all still in our Sunday duds, and my nylons were torn from a mishap at the temple, so I was barefoot and stuck my toe in the ocean. I wanted to really get in, but it was SOO cold! Oh well, maybe next time. Instead of uploading pictures one by one here, here's the link to the album, or you can go to photobucket for ALL of the pictures.
Before long it was dark and we headed back to our hotel. Looked through DF's spotting scope at the ships off the shore and hung out. All in all it was a great day.
Sunday morning we got up and drove 20 minutes to Newport for church. There was a sign pointing to the LDS church which made me laugh only because if there were signs pointing to LDS churches in Utah they wouldn't be much help because on every corner they'd point in ever direction. When we walked in a cute little family said hi to us and asked where we were from. Turns out they were from Fillmore, and knew somebody my mom knew.
My mom happens to be the queen of "six degrees of separation" game. The first thing she does when she's meeting someone new is ask where they're from, where they went on their mission, and if they know _____. Invariably she makes a connection withing 10 minutes. Before we sat down in the chapel, 3 or 4 more people told us they were glad to have us with them this week and hoped we enjoyed our time there. All in the 20 foot walk from the doorway to the chapel.
About halfway through their sacrament meeting, Josh nudged me and I looked over and wished I had my camera. We were sitting at the end of the row and every one of our parents were asleep. All in a row, all with their heads up, but starting to nod. We laughed and listened to the speaker reverently. We're such good examples. :)
After church (and my mom making 6 new very close friends) we decided that since we couldn't go back to our room (we had to switch rooms) we'd go see some lighthouses. Yaquina Bay Lighthouse was first on our list and was really pretty cool. That one isn't functioning, but used to back in the day. Now it's just an old house that they've set up like a museum. After getting our fill there, we headed up to Yaquina Head which is the tallest lighthouse in something - Oregon, the US, something. We walked up to the top of it (114 steps) and saw the light. It was incredible. The prisms and stuff were so cool! Then we went out to the beach. We were all still in our Sunday duds, and my nylons were torn from a mishap at the temple, so I was barefoot and stuck my toe in the ocean. I wanted to really get in, but it was SOO cold! Oh well, maybe next time. Instead of uploading pictures one by one here, here's the link to the album, or you can go to photobucket for ALL of the pictures.
Before long it was dark and we headed back to our hotel. Looked through DF's spotting scope at the ships off the shore and hung out. All in all it was a great day.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Portland baby!!!
So after our snowman was sufficiently built and standing, we headed off to the airport, got there in plenty of time, checked in, got all of our parents on the same flight as us and waited. Airports are just one of those things about life, where you get there an hour early just in case it takes longer than you expect, and then you wait for an hour because it doesn't take as long as you thought it would.
It's funny to see the difference between my parents and Josh's parents. And even funnier to see their similarities. Mom Fugal (or MF as we will now refer to her) and Mom Reilley (MR) stopped at every restroom and kept their feet on the imaginary brakes the whole time. When we got to Portland we got off the plane and headed straight for food. We drove in the general direction of the airport, and happened to see a Chile's so we stopped. My parents have NEVER (I mean never) been to a Chile's before in their lives, so it was a new and exciting experience to them. I kindof had to laugh because I remember my first years at college and even in high school every time my friends would go somewhere - even simple places I'd ask how to go there because I'd never been. Ordering pizza, Wendy's (before I was 17 I could count on one hand the number of times I'd eaten at Wendy's.), Dee's, anywhere. I kindof forgot that my parents never lived with roommates and are still right where I was. It's funny now to hear someone say that, but I remember very well that feeling.
Our second item of business was going to the temple. Which was no small feat. When Josh and I went to the Portland last year around this time, we discovered that just outside the distribution center was a restroom. A big one. We used it to change to our "street clothes" or "Sunday duds" as we call them in my family. Since we were just 2 of us, and we both changed at the same time, it took us maybe 2.3 minutes to complete this process.
When our parents asked if they should wear their Sunday duds on the plane, I told them that sounded awful to me, and that they could change this this public restroom just outside. So, we pulled up, and then I realized that we really weren't going to go in 2 at a time to change. Then I realized that when you have 6 people changing 1 at a time in the only bathroom, it takes a long time. This was the first moment that I realized it's different to travel with 6 people instead of 2.
After a lot of shivering, shaking, and commenting on how funny it was that both of our dad's forgot their ties, we headed in. I LOVE the Portland temple. Everybody knows it's the most beautiful temple on the planet. Even though I'm partial to Mt. Timpanogos because it's where I got married and grew up, I'm willing to admit that Portland is probably the most beautiful temple on the planet. Of course we had to stop for a photo opportunity, but we wanted to do that before it got dark, and only MR took the pictures, so I'll post some when I get them.
Finally we were on our way. Until we remembered that we wanted to find a grocery store and get some snacks and food for the trip. My dad has probably never eaten breakfast at a restaurant, and to be honest, he makes such great breakfast food, he'd probably be disappointed if he did. So, we got breakfast ingredients, and a LOT of snacks. I looked at the cart which had about as much food as Josh and I will eat in 2 months, and had to take a leap of faith, trusting my moms that they knew how much we'd eat. Finally we really headed to the coast.
I laughed that all of the adults were impressed with my ability to follow an online map, and then decided that they just didn't know how great google really is. Turn by turn directions are nothing short of a miracle.
It's funny to see the difference between my parents and Josh's parents. And even funnier to see their similarities. Mom Fugal (or MF as we will now refer to her) and Mom Reilley (MR) stopped at every restroom and kept their feet on the imaginary brakes the whole time. When we got to Portland we got off the plane and headed straight for food. We drove in the general direction of the airport, and happened to see a Chile's so we stopped. My parents have NEVER (I mean never) been to a Chile's before in their lives, so it was a new and exciting experience to them. I kindof had to laugh because I remember my first years at college and even in high school every time my friends would go somewhere - even simple places I'd ask how to go there because I'd never been. Ordering pizza, Wendy's (before I was 17 I could count on one hand the number of times I'd eaten at Wendy's.), Dee's, anywhere. I kindof forgot that my parents never lived with roommates and are still right where I was. It's funny now to hear someone say that, but I remember very well that feeling.
Our second item of business was going to the temple. Which was no small feat. When Josh and I went to the Portland last year around this time, we discovered that just outside the distribution center was a restroom. A big one. We used it to change to our "street clothes" or "Sunday duds" as we call them in my family. Since we were just 2 of us, and we both changed at the same time, it took us maybe 2.3 minutes to complete this process.
When our parents asked if they should wear their Sunday duds on the plane, I told them that sounded awful to me, and that they could change this this public restroom just outside. So, we pulled up, and then I realized that we really weren't going to go in 2 at a time to change. Then I realized that when you have 6 people changing 1 at a time in the only bathroom, it takes a long time. This was the first moment that I realized it's different to travel with 6 people instead of 2.
After a lot of shivering, shaking, and commenting on how funny it was that both of our dad's forgot their ties, we headed in. I LOVE the Portland temple. Everybody knows it's the most beautiful temple on the planet. Even though I'm partial to Mt. Timpanogos because it's where I got married and grew up, I'm willing to admit that Portland is probably the most beautiful temple on the planet. Of course we had to stop for a photo opportunity, but we wanted to do that before it got dark, and only MR took the pictures, so I'll post some when I get them.
Finally we were on our way. Until we remembered that we wanted to find a grocery store and get some snacks and food for the trip. My dad has probably never eaten breakfast at a restaurant, and to be honest, he makes such great breakfast food, he'd probably be disappointed if he did. So, we got breakfast ingredients, and a LOT of snacks. I looked at the cart which had about as much food as Josh and I will eat in 2 months, and had to take a leap of faith, trusting my moms that they knew how much we'd eat. Finally we really headed to the coast.
I laughed that all of the adults were impressed with my ability to follow an online map, and then decided that they just didn't know how great google really is. Turn by turn directions are nothing short of a miracle.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
In the meadow we can build a snowman
Saturday morning my parents got to my house almost 45 minutes early (yes that's right, write it down) and since there was a TON of snow outside, my daddy and I started building a snowman. It's not that cute, but it was fun. We were all ready to get on the plane and go, but don't you worry, we took a few minutes to build a snowman.
One quick picture with our finished sad lopsided lumpy snowman and we were off to Oregon.
One quick picture with our finished sad lopsided lumpy snowman and we were off to Oregon.
Kudos to Mike
Sometimes I feel like I don't know anything about things that most people know about. For example, I remember the first time in my life I ordered pizza all by myself - I was 20 years old, and I was scared of doing it. I remember the first time I was on a plane, I was 17 and it was for a school trip. I remember finding out that you could buy syrup at the store and that not all families made it from scratch. I'm still learning things like that.
This year I learned that The Forgotten Carols was not just a CD. I liked the songs, but didn't think that it was that great or really understand all of the hype. In fact, some of the songs I didn't even like that much. "I CRYYY!!!! the day that I take the tree down...." seems like a stupid song to me. Anyway, this year Josh told me he wanted to take me to The Forgotten Carols, and I said they just have a choir sing them all? I'd rather listen to the good singers on my CD at home. That's when he told me that it's a play. Like there's a story line to it and it has actors and everything. I got kindof excited.
So Friday was the big night and we got to go the play. It started snowing earlier in the evening, we got all dressed up and went over to the high school. By the time we got there the roads were slick and snow packed. We went in to the concert which was AMAZING. I was very impressed. Michael McLean was hilarious, and I know everyone says he can't sing, but I love his voice. I LOVE it! The whole play was fantastic. I laughed, and I TOTALLY cried. More than once. It was an amazing play. I can't believe my whole life I didn't know there was more to those songs. now I love them more than I did before, and that's a pretty good thing. I'm SO glad we got to go and so glad Josh took me. It was amazing.
This year I learned that The Forgotten Carols was not just a CD. I liked the songs, but didn't think that it was that great or really understand all of the hype. In fact, some of the songs I didn't even like that much. "I CRYYY!!!! the day that I take the tree down...." seems like a stupid song to me. Anyway, this year Josh told me he wanted to take me to The Forgotten Carols, and I said they just have a choir sing them all? I'd rather listen to the good singers on my CD at home. That's when he told me that it's a play. Like there's a story line to it and it has actors and everything. I got kindof excited.
So Friday was the big night and we got to go the play. It started snowing earlier in the evening, we got all dressed up and went over to the high school. By the time we got there the roads were slick and snow packed. We went in to the concert which was AMAZING. I was very impressed. Michael McLean was hilarious, and I know everyone says he can't sing, but I love his voice. I LOVE it! The whole play was fantastic. I laughed, and I TOTALLY cried. More than once. It was an amazing play. I can't believe my whole life I didn't know there was more to those songs. now I love them more than I did before, and that's a pretty good thing. I'm SO glad we got to go and so glad Josh took me. It was amazing.
Friday, December 7, 2007
The power of suggestion
This morning I got a call from a guy that used to work with us and now he doesn't anymore. He made some observations about my boss (the one with all the money) that kindof concerned me. They weren't new concepts to me, but they hit me harder today for some reason. The man I work for is scary. It's scary to work for him because he has zero loyalty and zero conscience. He is heartless and ruthless and working for him makes me nervous. He sues past employees and anybody that influences his decisions in any way. So, I've been content where I am in the company because I don't have any power or authority with him, so I figure he can't sue me. I'm just a secretary and he doesn't rely on me or my "expertise" for anything.
Today when Gabe called ranting and raving about the greed of David I asked what we were referring to. Gabe said that David is throwing people under the bus and it makes him nervous. I told Gabe I agreed and that's why I don't ever want to be in his position or Kim's because they have risky jobs. Gabe said that he is going to find another millionaire to play with and get out of this position as quick as possible because he hates the lack of ethics, morals, and the ability to maintain a relationship. I agreed and kindof laughed at his ideal of the "moral-millionaire" and he said they're out there and he will find them or become one. And when he does he will tell me where he is and take me with him. I told him that sounded great and I'd leave in a heartbeat. That was probably a bad thing to say, but I did anyway. And it's true.
When I was looking for jobs with the church this job suddenly became unbearable. I couldn't handle the people I worked with, the job I did, the lack of communication, the mean-hearted cruelty and the horribleness. Then when I found out I didn't get the position and suddenly my current job wasn't so bad anymore, I could totally handle it. I even liked it some days.
Enter Gabe.
One comment about how HE'S uncomfortable and suddenly I'm ready to cry and tear out my hair again. I HATE the way things are run here. I HATE the dishonesty, the griping, the whining, the whole thing. I HATE the egos and the greed and I desperately want to get out of it. I can't handle it any more - right now, at this moment I'm ready to storm out the door, break a statue, say a lot of mean words and tell them all exactly what I think and how much I despise this shifty shady business. I hate that we refuse to provide things to tenants, I hate that we go into a contract with every intent of breaking it. I hate that we want to just not define it and pretend we can't figure out why they thought we'd do what we said we would.
However, I'm trying hard to remember about being nice, forgiving 70 times 7, patience being a virtue, and seeing others as He does. So, today I'll do all I can to do all of those things, but oh man, it's taking everything in me!
Today when Gabe called ranting and raving about the greed of David I asked what we were referring to. Gabe said that David is throwing people under the bus and it makes him nervous. I told Gabe I agreed and that's why I don't ever want to be in his position or Kim's because they have risky jobs. Gabe said that he is going to find another millionaire to play with and get out of this position as quick as possible because he hates the lack of ethics, morals, and the ability to maintain a relationship. I agreed and kindof laughed at his ideal of the "moral-millionaire" and he said they're out there and he will find them or become one. And when he does he will tell me where he is and take me with him. I told him that sounded great and I'd leave in a heartbeat. That was probably a bad thing to say, but I did anyway. And it's true.
When I was looking for jobs with the church this job suddenly became unbearable. I couldn't handle the people I worked with, the job I did, the lack of communication, the mean-hearted cruelty and the horribleness. Then when I found out I didn't get the position and suddenly my current job wasn't so bad anymore, I could totally handle it. I even liked it some days.
Enter Gabe.
One comment about how HE'S uncomfortable and suddenly I'm ready to cry and tear out my hair again. I HATE the way things are run here. I HATE the dishonesty, the griping, the whining, the whole thing. I HATE the egos and the greed and I desperately want to get out of it. I can't handle it any more - right now, at this moment I'm ready to storm out the door, break a statue, say a lot of mean words and tell them all exactly what I think and how much I despise this shifty shady business. I hate that we refuse to provide things to tenants, I hate that we go into a contract with every intent of breaking it. I hate that we want to just not define it and pretend we can't figure out why they thought we'd do what we said we would.
However, I'm trying hard to remember about being nice, forgiving 70 times 7, patience being a virtue, and seeing others as He does. So, today I'll do all I can to do all of those things, but oh man, it's taking everything in me!
Thursday, December 6, 2007
This morning I love my house
Do you have phrases you steal from places and use all the time? I'm a phrase stealer by nature. I steal from people, movies, tv, books anything I can. Things like "you'd better believe I did!" "mmmhmmm (with the lips)" "Oh it's been br-oghten" "come back to bed bert!" most of these I don't even know where we picked them up, but they are filler words in my conversations. I say them every day every day. (ooo, there's another one! Often used with "all the live long day".)
One of these is "today I love you". That one is from "The Prestige" which, by the way, is an excellent movie. In that movie it's sad, but in our life it isn't. In that movie some days the husband doesn't love his wife and she calls him on it and it make you cry. But some days he's madly deeply passionately in love with her ("madly deeply passionately" is a phrase we stole from one of Josh's classmates before we were married...) and she can tell when he is and when he isn't. When I saw that movie I thought it was the saddest thing in the world, but there are some days that I truly am madly deeply passionately in love with my husband, and other days that I just love him. So, I guess it's OK. Anyway, on those days/moments when we are really REALLY in love with each other, we say "I love you today." not that we don't love each other on other days, just that in that moment it's a particularly strong feeling of love.
This morning Josh said that to me and it seriously just made my day. I'm giddy and whooped and all of those good things now just because today he loves me.. This morning he also said he loves our house today. He loves the idea of moving there, he loves the way it looks and feels, and he doesn't even hate the paperwork and the money aspect of it. I think it's payday for him, which makes him feel rich....so I'm sure that feeling will change again before we actually close on it, but today is a good day. Today we are in love with each other and our decisions. And that's a good feeling.
One of these is "today I love you". That one is from "The Prestige" which, by the way, is an excellent movie. In that movie it's sad, but in our life it isn't. In that movie some days the husband doesn't love his wife and she calls him on it and it make you cry. But some days he's madly deeply passionately in love with her ("madly deeply passionately" is a phrase we stole from one of Josh's classmates before we were married...) and she can tell when he is and when he isn't. When I saw that movie I thought it was the saddest thing in the world, but there are some days that I truly am madly deeply passionately in love with my husband, and other days that I just love him. So, I guess it's OK. Anyway, on those days/moments when we are really REALLY in love with each other, we say "I love you today." not that we don't love each other on other days, just that in that moment it's a particularly strong feeling of love.
This morning Josh said that to me and it seriously just made my day. I'm giddy and whooped and all of those good things now just because today he loves me.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Baptisms and inspriation
You know things in the church just seem to work out and happen at exactly the right time sometimes.
This whole house thing has been more than a little stressful at our house. Josh is freaking out because it's a lot of money, and he worries about money anyway, so committing to that much money is terrifying to him. He also has a hard time committing to things, especially financial things. Naturally this is a hard thing. It's not as scary for me, and I'm not sure why. On one hand I'm scared to death, and on the other hand I just think it's part of life. Yes, you go into huge amounts of debt to buy a house, and then it pays off when it appreciates and you're good to go. So, I need to be more understanding and stressed and he needs to have more faith and trust.
The other conflict here is about documents, signing, the whole home buying process. Working for David I've seen all of these documents before, I've prepared and reviewed them before, so it isn't so hard for me to look at something and know what it says. But, all of this is new to Josh. So, I hand him 26 pages of "loan docs" to look at and sign and he kinda gets overloaded. It doesn't help that he is doing this, thinking about it, and reviewing numbers in the middle of the night because he's not home or available any other time. So, last night I pulled up the documents, printed them all up and had Josh sign them. Then he started asking questions. I was incredibly frustrated because I've kinda felt like he's dragging his feet and doesn't really want to do this, and I don't want to force him to. Argh! Anyway, we started to go through it, and he immediately fell asleep - adding to my aggravation. I gave up, I stopped answering questions, and just got mad and went to bed. This morning on the way to work we talked about it more, and I told him that he was making me crazy and he just needed to decide! He said he would by next week when we walk through the home again. So, hopefully it will be better then, but until then he's stressed out and I'm going crazy because of it.
In the middle of all this, we are trying to recognize and appreciate that the rest of life goes on. We still have jobs, school, and church. We're trying to keep up with it all, but it's a little overwhelming at times...the missionaries came over tonight and told me that we have a baptism next week in our ward. It's exciting, but it means I have a lot of coordinating to do. So, I got out my missionary book to make some phone calls (schedule the church and the font filling guy) and my book fell open to this article that Mom-Reilley gave us about marriage. I started reading it and it was all about understanding and commitment and patience and love and all that jazz. It was a great article, and it made me remember why we got married and that we don't have to fight about money and houses because we still love each other. So, tonight I am thankful for the missionaries and thankful that I left that article in my missionary binder AND I'm thankful for Aubrey who is getting baptised next Wednesday (assuming I can take care of all the scheduling).
Since we're still deciding about the house, it's hard to be too excited about it; mostly because I want it SOOO bad that I don't want to sway my decision. I still struggle so much with recognizing the different between a "no" answer to prayers and satan trying to dissuade you from making a good choice. So, I don't know whether to take all of this stress and worry as a prompting or sign that we shouldn't do it, or to just recognize that it's a big step that is bound to bring worry and stress and push through it anyway. Life is hard sometimes.
This whole house thing has been more than a little stressful at our house. Josh is freaking out because it's a lot of money, and he worries about money anyway, so committing to that much money is terrifying to him. He also has a hard time committing to things, especially financial things. Naturally this is a hard thing. It's not as scary for me, and I'm not sure why. On one hand I'm scared to death, and on the other hand I just think it's part of life. Yes, you go into huge amounts of debt to buy a house, and then it pays off when it appreciates and you're good to go. So, I need to be more understanding and stressed and he needs to have more faith and trust.
The other conflict here is about documents, signing, the whole home buying process. Working for David I've seen all of these documents before, I've prepared and reviewed them before, so it isn't so hard for me to look at something and know what it says. But, all of this is new to Josh. So, I hand him 26 pages of "loan docs" to look at and sign and he kinda gets overloaded. It doesn't help that he is doing this, thinking about it, and reviewing numbers in the middle of the night because he's not home or available any other time. So, last night I pulled up the documents, printed them all up and had Josh sign them. Then he started asking questions. I was incredibly frustrated because I've kinda felt like he's dragging his feet and doesn't really want to do this, and I don't want to force him to. Argh! Anyway, we started to go through it, and he immediately fell asleep - adding to my aggravation. I gave up, I stopped answering questions, and just got mad and went to bed. This morning on the way to work we talked about it more, and I told him that he was making me crazy and he just needed to decide! He said he would by next week when we walk through the home again. So, hopefully it will be better then, but until then he's stressed out and I'm going crazy because of it.
In the middle of all this, we are trying to recognize and appreciate that the rest of life goes on. We still have jobs, school, and church. We're trying to keep up with it all, but it's a little overwhelming at times...the missionaries came over tonight and told me that we have a baptism next week in our ward. It's exciting, but it means I have a lot of coordinating to do. So, I got out my missionary book to make some phone calls (schedule the church and the font filling guy) and my book fell open to this article that Mom-Reilley gave us about marriage. I started reading it and it was all about understanding and commitment and patience and love and all that jazz. It was a great article, and it made me remember why we got married and that we don't have to fight about money and houses because we still love each other. So, tonight I am thankful for the missionaries and thankful that I left that article in my missionary binder AND I'm thankful for Aubrey who is getting baptised next Wednesday (assuming I can take care of all the scheduling).
Since we're still deciding about the house, it's hard to be too excited about it; mostly because I want it SOOO bad that I don't want to sway my decision. I still struggle so much with recognizing the different between a "no" answer to prayers and satan trying to dissuade you from making a good choice. So, I don't know whether to take all of this stress and worry as a prompting or sign that we shouldn't do it, or to just recognize that it's a big step that is bound to bring worry and stress and push through it anyway. Life is hard sometimes.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Some nights productivity slips away from me....Monday that somehow escaped me. I was so proud of myself at the end of the night when I went to pick up Josh. I knew I had done a great job, but when I actually talked to Josh and started to report my evening activities, I suddenly lost all I had done. I realized that I didn't do the dishes, the ENORMOUS pile of laundry, make the bed, get lunch ready for tomorrow, NOTHING. Not 1 single thing that I intended to do...
On Sunday we had a lesson about journals and history and keeping a record and I got all excited about typing my grandpa's mission journal again. So, on Monday I did that, entered some bills for Gabe, took care of some other minor work projects, and then something happened to my night, I don't know what it was, but it simply vanished.
Tonight has been better so far - in fact I'm already blogging! Not bad eh? Maybe this night will be a success.
On Sunday we had a lesson about journals and history and keeping a record and I got all excited about typing my grandpa's mission journal again. So, on Monday I did that, entered some bills for Gabe, took care of some other minor work projects, and then something happened to my night, I don't know what it was, but it simply vanished.
Tonight has been better so far - in fact I'm already blogging! Not bad eh? Maybe this night will be a success.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Better days
Well, after a pretty scary week, I had a surprisingly good weekend. A couple of weeks ago, Jamie and I decided that we were going to have a pretzel dipping party and we sent out invitations and everything. :) Good times. We also decided that while we dipped pretzels our husbands could play 007 and other Nintendo games. In the mean time we found out that Josh started "clinic" for school AND he got himself a job hanging up some dude's Christmas lights. So, I was bummed that he wouldn't be able to play at our party. And Cameron was bummed. I love that they get along, and they've been missing each other a lot lately, which is really cute. Anyway, since he scheduled that job, I've been praying for snow on Saturday. As it turns out, I prayed hard enough - plus maybe a little extra because is seriously snowed like a foot. And it snowed ALL DAY LONG. So, Josh went to school in the morning, and played pretzel party with us in the afternoon. It was TONS of fun!
Today we woke up and did NOTHING all morning long, it was amazing. I LOVE lazy Sundays! There just aren't words for the stress relief that it brings. :) So, we had a great lazy Sunday, came home from church, put on our grunge pants, and went to Lindon for my Dad's birthday. It was great - I have to say I really do miss my mom's cooking. She's amazing. Everyone came over, and we had a grand time. Food, memories, games.
It was also Ryann's (my niece) first birthday last week, so Katy made a video slideshow of her. It was pictures, video, music and it was SOO precious! I can't believe she's already a year old. Anyway, the video turned out beautifully highlighting everything from the day she was born, to her first camping trip, hike, photoshoot, steps, it was great. I've kindof always thought that video cameras were kinda lame, but that totally made me change my mind. It was so fun to see her and how much she's grown just in a year! Exciting.
Fortunately the weekend was paced slow enough that I got nowhere near a snowcoaster moment and I feel ready for another real week of work. So, off to bed I go so I can really be ready.
Today we woke up and did NOTHING all morning long, it was amazing. I LOVE lazy Sundays! There just aren't words for the stress relief that it brings. :) So, we had a great lazy Sunday, came home from church, put on our grunge pants, and went to Lindon for my Dad's birthday. It was great - I have to say I really do miss my mom's cooking. She's amazing. Everyone came over, and we had a grand time. Food, memories, games.
It was also Ryann's (my niece) first birthday last week, so Katy made a video slideshow of her. It was pictures, video, music and it was SOO precious! I can't believe she's already a year old. Anyway, the video turned out beautifully highlighting everything from the day she was born, to her first camping trip, hike, photoshoot, steps, it was great. I've kindof always thought that video cameras were kinda lame, but that totally made me change my mind. It was so fun to see her and how much she's grown just in a year! Exciting.
Fortunately the weekend was paced slow enough that I got nowhere near a snowcoaster moment and I feel ready for another real week of work. So, off to bed I go so I can really be ready.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Snowcoasters, nakedness, and ms wichawds
I remember a Sunday dinner at my mom’s house where her old college roommates came over and we sat around and talked and I think I laughed harder that night than I ever have in my entire life. My mom has some pretty dang cool friends, 2 of them used to be her roommates and I was probably 13 years old before I realized that they were 2 separate people who had 2 separate names. “Marilynbetty” was actually “Merilyn –n-Betty”.
As a side note, I love words like that. A nice lady in my ward said she remembers her son asking her what a “shamenno” was because when they’d sing primary songs they always sang “by this shamenno (shall men know) ye are my disciples.
Anyway, MerilynBetty were the coolest people I knew. They were roommates with each other, and both were teachers in the Jordan School District. Merilyn was a principal and Betty was a history teacher/student council person. This particular Sunday they were sharing stories of the outrageous awkward student moments when they really just didn’t know what to do with their students.
Merilyn talked about one mentally challenged student in her school who found it freeing to remove all of his clothing, and this was not a small person. One afternoon, they followed the trail of clothing out into the middle of the street, where they found him sitting Indian style, rocking back and forth, fumbling with his hands in a small rubbing motion, saying over and over again “Ms. Richards. Ms Richards. Nathan hurt my feelings. He hurt my feelings Ms. Richards.” The sentence isn’t as funny unless you hear somebody say it, but the R’s were W’s, the “th” was a “f”, and the words came out in varying speeds. So it sounded more like “ms.wichawds, ms.wichawds! ….. nafun-huwt my feewings.” She somehow talked him back into the building and back into his clothes for which we were all thankful. Please don’t think me inconsiderate for laughing, but at the time it was a hilarious story. While we were by no means making fun of this poor boy, or making light of his hardships, the mental picture we found was hilarious.
This story naturally lead to one of my all time favorite breakdown stories. A friend of mine had one of those mom’s a superman mom. She worked during the day, made cookies before her kids got home from school, was RS President in her ward, PTA leader lady, Room mother, and always looked well kept. She was always nice to everyone she saw and everybody counted her as a good friend. One day, her teenage daughter came home and found her rocking back and forth, muttering something about dinner, naked in a snowcoaster (you know those plastic round sled things? Snowcoasters?). This phrase “naked in a snowcoaster” has become my families catch phrase meaning that we’re emotionally unwell. We’ve snapped and we just can’t handle anything anymore.
I’ve often wondered how old I’ll be when someone finds me naked in a snowcoaster. This week I was borderline snowcoaster crazy. On Wednesday at work I truly felt like I was losing my mind. I couldn’t focus on anything, I’d re-read the same simple e-mail 3 times before fully understanding it, I couldn’t remember what I’d already done and what I hadn’t. I couldn’t look at a list of things to do and work through them. I’d walk upstairs to the printer and not remember why I was there. I seriously felt like I had lost it.
Josh made me drive home (he does this because by the time he comes to get me he’s usually been driving in rush hour traffic for an hour and the thoughts of any more of that make him sick. So I drive because I love him, and he asks me to because he doesn’t want us to die on our way home. On the way I started crying and couldn't stop. I seriously thought I was going crazy, and I'm inclined to say that Josh didn't disagree. He patiently taught me how to breath (I do this really annoying thing when I panic where I stop breathing...purely out of choice...100% mental instability) and held my hand and tried to make me sane. When we got home I just got worse. I took one look at my house and realized that no matter how hard I tried, no matter how long I lived, my house would never be good enough, my laundry would never be caught up, I would never work enough hours, cook enough dinners or wash enough dishes. I would never be OK. And that's an overwhelming thought, so I freaked out some more. I cried and breathed and breathed and cried. Josh went to school and I tried to do anything productive, but it wasn't pretty.
Thursday morning was like the biggest hangover of all time. Have you ever had a crying breakdown hangover? I have no idea what a real hangover is like, but if it's anything like that, I don't know why people drink. I called in sick and spent the day watching "The Office" (Which I am now 100% addicted to) and cooking and cleaning and tying ribbons on my Christmas presents. I now have all of the presents wrapped, tied, and ready for Christmas. But I'm still behind at work, laundry, church, and the rest of life. Thursday was a much needed day of rest and relaxation.
Poor Josh, who is doing 1 1/2 routes this week for work preparing for finals next week, going to his normal classes, starting his weekend clinics, putting up other people's Christmas lights, and truly not even setting foot inside our house between the hours of 8:00 and 11:30 pm. When he gets home he studies for a while, tries to find food, and sleeps. I feel bad for him, and can't wait for Christmas break from school and our trip to Oregon, he needs some time off, that's for sure! As for me, next week I'm going to try to work all day every day and have zero emotional breakdowns. Wish me luck!
As a side note, I love words like that. A nice lady in my ward said she remembers her son asking her what a “shamenno” was because when they’d sing primary songs they always sang “by this shamenno (shall men know) ye are my disciples.
Anyway, MerilynBetty were the coolest people I knew. They were roommates with each other, and both were teachers in the Jordan School District. Merilyn was a principal and Betty was a history teacher/student council person. This particular Sunday they were sharing stories of the outrageous awkward student moments when they really just didn’t know what to do with their students.
Merilyn talked about one mentally challenged student in her school who found it freeing to remove all of his clothing, and this was not a small person. One afternoon, they followed the trail of clothing out into the middle of the street, where they found him sitting Indian style, rocking back and forth, fumbling with his hands in a small rubbing motion, saying over and over again “Ms. Richards. Ms Richards. Nathan hurt my feelings. He hurt my feelings Ms. Richards.” The sentence isn’t as funny unless you hear somebody say it, but the R’s were W’s, the “th” was a “f”, and the words came out in varying speeds. So it sounded more like “ms.wichawds, ms.wichawds! ….. nafun-huwt my feewings.” She somehow talked him back into the building and back into his clothes for which we were all thankful. Please don’t think me inconsiderate for laughing, but at the time it was a hilarious story. While we were by no means making fun of this poor boy, or making light of his hardships, the mental picture we found was hilarious.
This story naturally lead to one of my all time favorite breakdown stories. A friend of mine had one of those mom’s a superman mom. She worked during the day, made cookies before her kids got home from school, was RS President in her ward, PTA leader lady, Room mother, and always looked well kept. She was always nice to everyone she saw and everybody counted her as a good friend. One day, her teenage daughter came home and found her rocking back and forth, muttering something about dinner, naked in a snowcoaster (you know those plastic round sled things? Snowcoasters?). This phrase “naked in a snowcoaster” has become my families catch phrase meaning that we’re emotionally unwell. We’ve snapped and we just can’t handle anything anymore.
I’ve often wondered how old I’ll be when someone finds me naked in a snowcoaster. This week I was borderline snowcoaster crazy. On Wednesday at work I truly felt like I was losing my mind. I couldn’t focus on anything, I’d re-read the same simple e-mail 3 times before fully understanding it, I couldn’t remember what I’d already done and what I hadn’t. I couldn’t look at a list of things to do and work through them. I’d walk upstairs to the printer and not remember why I was there. I seriously felt like I had lost it.
Josh made me drive home (he does this because by the time he comes to get me he’s usually been driving in rush hour traffic for an hour and the thoughts of any more of that make him sick. So I drive because I love him, and he asks me to because he doesn’t want us to die on our way home. On the way I started crying and couldn't stop. I seriously thought I was going crazy, and I'm inclined to say that Josh didn't disagree. He patiently taught me how to breath (I do this really annoying thing when I panic where I stop breathing...purely out of choice...100% mental instability) and held my hand and tried to make me sane. When we got home I just got worse. I took one look at my house and realized that no matter how hard I tried, no matter how long I lived, my house would never be good enough, my laundry would never be caught up, I would never work enough hours, cook enough dinners or wash enough dishes. I would never be OK. And that's an overwhelming thought, so I freaked out some more. I cried and breathed and breathed and cried. Josh went to school and I tried to do anything productive, but it wasn't pretty.
Thursday morning was like the biggest hangover of all time. Have you ever had a crying breakdown hangover? I have no idea what a real hangover is like, but if it's anything like that, I don't know why people drink. I called in sick and spent the day watching "The Office" (Which I am now 100% addicted to) and cooking and cleaning and tying ribbons on my Christmas presents. I now have all of the presents wrapped, tied, and ready for Christmas. But I'm still behind at work, laundry, church, and the rest of life. Thursday was a much needed day of rest and relaxation.
Poor Josh, who is doing 1 1/2 routes this week for work preparing for finals next week, going to his normal classes, starting his weekend clinics, putting up other people's Christmas lights, and truly not even setting foot inside our house between the hours of 8:00 and 11:30 pm. When he gets home he studies for a while, tries to find food, and sleeps. I feel bad for him, and can't wait for Christmas break from school and our trip to Oregon, he needs some time off, that's for sure! As for me, next week I'm going to try to work all day every day and have zero emotional breakdowns. Wish me luck!
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Today I love my job. And this is why:Josh came up to bring me lunch because he loves me. But instead of going to get lunch I made him just bring it to me and eat with me because it was already like 2:00. So he brought up Subway and we started to go out on the back porch to eat. Then David comes and says we need to eat on the front porch where it isn't so cold (due to the sun/shade factor) and we can see the view, maybe even make out. We laugh, and decide to take advantage of the front porch. David escorts us to his front porch and brings out his kitchen chairs and sets up the lawn chair as a table. We laugh a little more. Then he brings out the plant that was on his table and sets it down for our centerpiece and we really laugh. Then he brings out a candle and tells us he'll try to keep the paparazzi away. I said something about how I wished I had my camera and 2 minutes later there he is taking pictures of our romantic lunch date on his front porch. :) Seriously, this guy is funny when he wants to be! So, we ate our candlelight subway on the porch with the view of the city....today I love my job.
As a side note, I JUST got the rejection e-mail today saying they didn't hire me for that other position with the church - there's a shock! But it's all good, because today I love my job!
Christmas time is here....
I love my tree - last year I hated it and was totally embarrassed by it, but this year I love it. It's a little crookedy on top, but who isn't? You know? I love sitting on the couch and looking at the lights, and yes, even feeling their warmth from across the room. :) Someday it will be better, and cuter, and I'll have a fancy nice tree, but for now I love my tacky-too-many-lights-tree. This picture just doesn't do it justice, but I can live with that. Now it has the skirt, the presents beneath it, the angel on top, the whole thing, but for now I'll just soak in the light.
Blessings
I remember a time when I was probably 7 or 8 years old going to tithing settlement with my family. While we waited in the foyer for our turn to tell the bishop we were full tithe payers, they handed us our records of all the tithing we had paid for the whole year. I remember my mom showing me where the total was and me realizing how rich I was $8 is a lot of money to an 8 year old! It wasn't until later that afternoon that I finally dared ask someone "when do we get our tithing settlement?" I thought that tithing settlement meant they give you the amount of money that was on the paper. I didn't realize that it was how much we had given to the church. Then my daddy sat me down and explained that the really big number that said "total" next to it was only 10% of what I had earned that whole year. Back then I don't think I comprehended what a year was - or what $8 was. But I remember thinking that was a LOT of money.
Tithing settlement has never stopped amazing me. Every year I'm shocked to see that total number and realize that I made 10 times that much in 1 year. Then I always wonder what happened to all of that money, because I don't usually have much to show for it. This year was no different, except that number reflected 2 incomes, and blew me away twice as much as normal! At this time of year, I think one of the blessings of tithing is taking a look at all that you've been given in a years' time. We are so lucky to have good jobs, and to be able to support ourselves. For that reason, along with a lot of others, I'm thankful for tithing.
Tithing settlement has never stopped amazing me. Every year I'm shocked to see that total number and realize that I made 10 times that much in 1 year. Then I always wonder what happened to all of that money, because I don't usually have much to show for it. This year was no different, except that number reflected 2 incomes, and blew me away twice as much as normal! At this time of year, I think one of the blessings of tithing is taking a look at all that you've been given in a years' time. We are so lucky to have good jobs, and to be able to support ourselves. For that reason, along with a lot of others, I'm thankful for tithing.
Do you ever have those moments when you realize how different 2 people can be? And then you realize you're married to someone who is about as different as possible? I had one of those on Sunday.
I LOVE living close to our family and friends, I love that we get to visit the people we love all the time, and I LOVE that we don't get lonely. However, I am one those people who just gets close to a few people and is content with that. I never had a ton of friends, just a few really good friends. That's the way I like it, I'm uncomfortable in crowds, I like knowing somebody really well, and I'd far rather hang out with 1 person I know VERY well and love dearly than a group of people I get along with just fine. Josh on the other hand gets anxious when he's not doing something or going somewhere or talking to people. He loves to get a big group of people together and play games until nobody is having fun anymore. He loves to watch people interact with each other, and he loves to have 20 conversations/activities going on at 1 time. I think it supports his ADD.
Sunday was our last Sunday that was ours for the next month and a half. From now until we move we have plans EVERY single Sunday, and most of them are Christmas parties or Birthday celebrations. So, I was thrilled that I could cook us dinner, hang out, play some 2 player games, and just enjoy each others' company without having to worry about going anywhere, getting home late, or anything else that's stressful.
Josh really enjoyed the morning like that, but we'd only been home from church for an hour when the whining started.
"Are you sure there isn't somewhere we should be right now?" He asked
"No, we have tithing settlement in 45 minutes, but that's all today."
"Isn't' it somebody's birthday?"
"No."
"Are you sure Jamie and Cameron don't want to come and play?" Before church when he realized we had no plans, we both got excited and decided we'd force Jamie and Cameron to come play games with us. We even put bottles of water in the fridge in preparation (Jamie hates Utah water, and only drinks bottled water). We were so prepared. Then I remembered they would be in Washington, or on their way home from Washington, or unpacking from their trip to Washington. I told Josh that we weren't allowed to bother them within the first 3 hours that they were back. He was sad.
"I'm not sure they don't' want to come play, but I'm sure we're not going to pounce on them the second they get home! Sometimes people just need some time to recover from a trip, and we have to let them do that."
"Do we have any other friends?"
"Nope. Looks like you're stuck with me today." I joked - mostly.
"OK. Wanna play greed?"
So it went, for the whole afternoon. He kept asking if we could call Jamie and Cameron, I kept saying no, then we'd decide we're going to be lost when they move to Washington and we'd better learn how to make some new friends, just in case of emergencies like this.
I crave that kind of time with Josh, just the two of us hanging out, nowhere to go, no responsibilities, no distractions. He hates it, he goes crazy, gets bored, doesn't want to do anything, can't handle doing nothing, it's bad. We wound up going to bed pretty early because he was so stir crazy and can't handle being awake with nothing to do. Poor kid - I hope that once we have 10 zillion kids running around out house that will satisfy his need for something to be happening at all times.
I LOVE living close to our family and friends, I love that we get to visit the people we love all the time, and I LOVE that we don't get lonely. However, I am one those people who just gets close to a few people and is content with that. I never had a ton of friends, just a few really good friends. That's the way I like it, I'm uncomfortable in crowds, I like knowing somebody really well, and I'd far rather hang out with 1 person I know VERY well and love dearly than a group of people I get along with just fine. Josh on the other hand gets anxious when he's not doing something or going somewhere or talking to people. He loves to get a big group of people together and play games until nobody is having fun anymore. He loves to watch people interact with each other, and he loves to have 20 conversations/activities going on at 1 time. I think it supports his ADD.
Sunday was our last Sunday that was ours for the next month and a half. From now until we move we have plans EVERY single Sunday, and most of them are Christmas parties or Birthday celebrations. So, I was thrilled that I could cook us dinner, hang out, play some 2 player games, and just enjoy each others' company without having to worry about going anywhere, getting home late, or anything else that's stressful.
Josh really enjoyed the morning like that, but we'd only been home from church for an hour when the whining started.
"Are you sure there isn't somewhere we should be right now?" He asked
"No, we have tithing settlement in 45 minutes, but that's all today."
"Isn't' it somebody's birthday?"
"No."
"Are you sure Jamie and Cameron don't want to come and play?" Before church when he realized we had no plans, we both got excited and decided we'd force Jamie and Cameron to come play games with us. We even put bottles of water in the fridge in preparation (Jamie hates Utah water, and only drinks bottled water). We were so prepared. Then I remembered they would be in Washington, or on their way home from Washington, or unpacking from their trip to Washington. I told Josh that we weren't allowed to bother them within the first 3 hours that they were back. He was sad.
"I'm not sure they don't' want to come play, but I'm sure we're not going to pounce on them the second they get home! Sometimes people just need some time to recover from a trip, and we have to let them do that."
"Do we have any other friends?"
"Nope. Looks like you're stuck with me today." I joked - mostly.
"OK. Wanna play greed?"
So it went, for the whole afternoon. He kept asking if we could call Jamie and Cameron, I kept saying no, then we'd decide we're going to be lost when they move to Washington and we'd better learn how to make some new friends, just in case of emergencies like this.
I crave that kind of time with Josh, just the two of us hanging out, nowhere to go, no responsibilities, no distractions. He hates it, he goes crazy, gets bored, doesn't want to do anything, can't handle doing nothing, it's bad. We wound up going to bed pretty early because he was so stir crazy and can't handle being awake with nothing to do. Poor kid - I hope that once we have 10 zillion kids running around out house that will satisfy his need for something to be happening at all times.
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