I Miss Ta-Ta!!!!

I miss Ta-Ta! I found some of my nieces items in my toy bin from when they were here. Let's see their necklaces and the ducky puppet. Our friends Heather and Kenny came over with their son Wyatt for dinner tonight and they found the ducky. Which made me think about Talia and how much I miss her. I'm thinking during the summer's in the future I could be one of those cool aunts that takes the kids for a week or something. :) What do you think Ed & Les?

Here's a picture of Ta-Ta that I love. It was taken at her Grandma's up north.

A life lesson

"No matter how empty you think it is, never try to cut a spray paint can in half with a machete."

I received this text from Jared yesterday afternoon and just cracked up. I asked who's idea it was and he responded...

"I'm the genius and I just spent 15 minutes scrubbing my face."

I could not stop laughing. When he got home he explained everything again and I laughed again and again. He said the paint can would not spray anything anymore so he decided he would cut it open. A life lesson was learned yesterday.

Craving's at 10pm

So yesterday my back was hurting so when I got home I crawled in bed and laid there for about 5 hours. I rested on and off once Jared laid down with me. Something about having him there makes me relax yet I don't always like sharing the bed with him. Anyways so that's about 5 hours of no eating also. Jared asked me while I was still waking up what I wanted to eat for dinner and I just was too out of it to even tell if I was hungry.

I finally realized I was hungry at about 9:35pm and so I grabbed a yogurt. I was still hungry so I looked through the fridge for quick easy food and found nothing. I was so frustrated. I didn't want to spend 30 minutes or even 15 cooking something when it was time to go to bed. So I asked Jared if we could go pick something up. And of course living where we live at 10pm means your options are only one place or driving 15 minutes to the next town. So McDonald's it was.

On our way back to the house Jared tells me that this counts as running out for a craving which I disagreed with but I will give it to him. I finally had a craving for something and made us leave the house at a very late hour (at least for us).

Time To Walk!

It is so gorgeous outside. I couldn't stand the thought of staying inside all day after church. So I sweetly asked Jared if we could go for a walk or a bike ride. He said he was game for a walk. We decided to go to the park in town and take a loop down to the river. We had Olga with us who ran the trails during cross country so we took some trails we hadn't walked yet. It was nice to find some other places to get into the river at. We also found a bike park that would be perfect for Jared's race cars.

It was nice to get out in the sunshine and enjoy the beauty of God's creations. I am so grateful for the area that we live in and the magnificent beauty of everything. We liked the trail a lot so I am hoping we will continue to walk it. I need the exercise. :)

1st Blooms of Spring

I walked out to my mailbox this morning to put a few things in the mail. While walking back I decided to look over my yard that is looking lovely since I weeded everything and got rid of all the dead stuff everywhere. To my surprise and delight I saw two crocus' blooming! I ran inside and grabbed my camera and my phone. I took a few shots with the camera but since the ground was wet I wasn't willing to lay down and get some better shots. I took one with my camera and sent it off to Jared.

SPRING IS HERE! It's early and I will take it.

Our plum tree started to blossom Saturday too!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

This year was a little more low key than in the past. I usually like to do some big huge fancy thing for Jared. I've done lots of puzzles and treasure hunts. :) I have fun putting them together and enjoy doing something for Jared. I'm not sure if it's just because it was on a Sunday or I've realized Jared likes things low key or I was lazy. Whichever it was we had a wonderful day together.

I got up this morning and made pancakes and scrambled eggs. I threw some blueberries in my pancakes since Jared is not a fan of them and I am trying to be good and eat more fruits and veggies whenever I can. After breakfast Jared ran to his one morning meeting as the rest were canceled (whoo-hoo). I got ready and waited to be picked up by him. We went to church and sat alone today which isn't normal.

After church we came home and had a snack before playing some video games together. We had a really, really, really good time!!! I went upstairs to take a nap and then had a craving for bread sticks. And not just any bread sticks...the best bread sticks. Allyson's Bread sticks! They are so good! So then I had to figure out what to make to go with them for dinner but I wasn't sure what to do. I debated for a little bit and landed on making chicken nuggets with a side salad. I asked Jared to make the nuggets. They are from scratch and SSSSOOOOO AMAZING!!! My taste buds feel like they've died and gone to heaven!

Now for dessert I was very excited to make this little treat I had decided on at least 2-3 days prior. So I did have some forethought and made some plans. I have this heart shaped cookie pan that I hardly ever use. So I bought some sugar cookie dough, cream cheese frosting and fruit! To make a fruit pizza in a heart shape. Does that not say Happy Valentine's Day??!! While making the fruit pizza I was thinking about Iron Chef and plating and came up with something fun to make for the ladies I work with at church. We shall see if I actually make it on Tuesday...I really want to as of right now.

Here are some pictures of the flowers that Jared got me. I got them on Thursday. I am such a lucky girl. He let me pick them out myself. He was going to get them for me regardless and I kind of messed with his plans by coming into the office this week and asking to go to Costco for groceries. I wasn't expecting it to happen this early and I was certainly not expecting 2 dozen. Jared really does spoil me a lot!!!

I Want To Be A...

I just finished watching Julie & Julia. It was a cute movie that I thoroughly enjoyed. There were a few parts that stung awfully close to home but I am not going to dwell on those points. I had a few thoughts during/after watching this movie about life in general. What do I want to accomplish in my life? What do I want to be known for? How many people read my blog? Just things of that nature.

I want to be a writer, which actually I already am...I found magazine's from college that I am published in today while cleaning. I want to be a mother which is well on it's way to coming to fruition now. I want to be a famous musician. I want to do and see so many things and the only person that holds me back is myself or time in some cases.

I've been thinking about writing a book for several years and recently it has come to the forefront of my mind yet again. Maybe it's time to dive into writing. Maybe it's time to dig deep within myself and ask my Heavenly Father to help me write on a subject I feel I need to write on for healing for myself and for others in the world. What's held me back for so long? Fear? Myself? Doubts? Fear comes from Satan and I don't want him to have any control in my life so it's time to move forward and pursue a dream.

Straight A's...The American School System

We got Olga's grades on Friday and she has straight A's with a GPA of 3.85. We were very excited and impressed. We pushed on her a bit to get her final grades up since one grade in particular was being affected by tardies (it's hard to get to class on time apparently first thing in the morning).

I've been thinking about her grades here and her grades I had seen from back home in Spain. She was a C average student back home. So why is it that now she is a straight A student? A few thoughts came to mind...

1. English is not her first language so she studies more to ensure she understands the material.
2. She doesn't have friends like she did back home to hang out with all the time. She has friends here that she does hang out with but she goes out only 1-2 times a week.
3. Since she is here as part of an exchange program she must realize she has to get better grades.
4. The American school system is easy! Our school system is not as challenging as her school back home.

I am leaning towards a slight combination of things but the major item I feel is #4. The education system here is so poor. If you want your child to get a good education you have to push them yourself to take advanced classes (that still fall short of a real challenge) and help them to desire to study things on their own. I had a conversation with a parent last night of one of my young women who said her daughters school load is not going to leave her free time to come to activities. :( She is behind in school for reasons I am not aware of but the school has told them to not even bother trying to graduate in time to walk with her class but just put it off until later. I was outraged! The schools should be there to support, push and help the students along to succeed.

When I moved to Idaho I had a similar experience. My grades didn't transfer perfectly into their system so I was behind in credits. Their school starts about a month before schools do in Washington so I was behind in classes. The school did not want to give me a full class load and said I could either graduate later or make it up over summer school I think. My mom was outraged! She said you give my daughter a full class load and let her try. Mom had faith in me that I could pull it off but the school was very reluctant. It was my first real taste of the lack of faith the school teachers and members have in students. I had no issues getting caught up in my classes (some teachers just wrote off what I had missed) and others gave me the past homework assignments and I went to it. I didn't have any friends yet so doing homework wasn't an issue. I needed something to do besides look at brown dirt everywhere with an occasional green spot. ;)

I could go on for awhile about this subject (especially since I am stuck waiting for my work laptop to finish doing updates). I am very passionate about it more than I realize sometimes. I want to be a teacher of music. I had some great music teachers and some not so great ones. One thing I wish that any of them would have asked of us was to learn things about the music we were playing and the composers. I would be a better rounded musician if they had pushed us to do this. So when I am a teacher I am going to require papers also that will count for a portion of their grades.

My younger sister Megan is studying to be a teacher and I am very proud of her for going into that profession. She has only a year left!!! I hope Megan that you don't lose sight of why you became a teacher. It's not to get rich! It's to help future generations have a desire to learn and improve the world and make it better than today!

Muscle Spasms

So I am feeling movement within me more and more. My little Benjamin is getting stronger and more active. Which I am loving! The way I would describe his movement though is more like muscle spasms then a fluttering or tickle. Which is maybe why it took me so long to feel things. On top of my placenta being in the way.

Last night Benjamin was moving and I tried to get Jared to feel him but he stopped. I encouraged Benjamin but he decided he was done for the night. Poor Daddy no kicks for you.

Gardening/Weeding is Rejuvenating

Friday afternoon after I finished working I decided to tackle the backyard and clean up the garden. It was a gorgeous afternoon and I was tired of looking at dead decomposing plants. So I went and grabbed some gloves and a garbage back and went to work. I got the garden cleaned out and found two sections already growing chives and something else. I cleaned out the tomato planters, cleaned out the dead strawberries which is already growing new life and cleaned out the dead flowers on the back of the house. Next up for the garden is adding compost and mixing it all up. I had made pico de gallo before going out so Jared could have a snack when he got home and I thought to myself I can't wait to make it fresh from the garden again.

Saturday afternoon I had some free time on my hands and it was again a gorgeous day so I went and weeded the front yard. I got the whole front yard completely weeded and was able to free my daffodils and crocus that are starting to come up. I can't wait until they bloom especially the crocus! They are my favorite. We also found that our snapdragons seem to be growing again. Which is strange considering they are an annual. I am excited to see if they grow again on their own. I'll be buying more because they are a gorgeous flower to watch bloom during the summer and fall.

I felt so good working with my hands in the garden and yard. I accomplished a lot and just felt rejuvenated when I was done. It was a lot of work but it was worth it and the weather was perfect both times. I really like how everything looks. Now I just need to get my garden ready and mow the back yard and weed the side of the house.

Nostalgic Moments

Last night when I went to bed I opened up our window the whole way for fresh air. It was a breezy evening which is one of my favorites. I love to listen to the wind whip past our house and through the trees. It's such a peaceful and relaxing feeling to me. When I can watch trees dance in the wind I love to do that too but it's hard at night when it's dark.

We were watching a show on the food network (I know don't die for some reason I like the food network now...Jacki mentioned to me it's because it's clean and wholesome) about food in lunch boxes. The guy went to different factories and one of them was Wonder Bread and talked about the smell of homemade bread and how nostalgic it is. Which made me start to think about things like my mom's baking while growing up and other things. I always loved it when I would come home from school and you could smell something cooking in the kitchen. I knew my mom was home and I knew she loved me. I love the smells of homemade bread, pumpkin pie, orange and cloves, and chocolate chip cookies.

I was also reminded of laying out in the summer on the grass and looking at the clouds. Picking out shapes of objects, animals and things. I would see dragons, horses, planes, windows, ice cream with whipped cream and so many other things. I miss the days of just laying in my yard. I hope I do it with my son and just take time to enjoy the moments instead of thinking of the never ending to do list.

Kick Me!!!

I had a headache again yesterday so I went to lay down and rest. Jared let me be for awhile and then eventually came in. He asked me if I could feel the baby moving? I said no. He laid down with me and put his hand on my stomach. It was maybe 30 seconds before he goes did you feel that. I was like feel what?! I waited a moment and then our son just went to town on kicking me!!! We were so excited to actually feel him again and again. I've felt some things off and on my favorite was Saturday night I felt like a heel toe motion.

It's really cool to start to feel him move. It's so exciting!