The End

Well I made it to the end of the BEDA! OK, so there were a few days where I didn't really write a blog but I'm still calling it a victory. It really is hard to write everyday. This has really made me be amazed with those people who can write in a journal everyday for years. I guess I just get to distracted. I plan on still trying to update this blog at least once a week. I just don't have the energy to blog everyday.

Today after my husband got off work we went to one of our favorite places- Costco. We picked up a few things that we needed, and something that we didn't. We got a big three burner stand up propane camping stove. We have wanted one for a while and had a moment of weakness while there but we are very happy with our purchase. We even came home and had some people over for a BBQ. Yum- hamburgers and potato salad! Not only is it a good thing to have for emergencies (even says so on the box!) but we a so excited to go camping this summer!

I have so many memories from when I have been camping with family or friends. One camping trip that sicks out was from when I was younger, maybe 8 or so, my family was camping and we had eaten dinner and it was time to start getting ready for bed. We got my dad's black shaving bag and walked to the water spout to brush our teeth. When I reached in to get my tooth brush I grabbed my dad's razor on accident. It cut the palm of my hand but for some reason I didn't want my parents to know. I washed it off but didn't even get a band aid for it. I remember it hurt quite a bit and kept me from sleeping for a while. When morning came I woke up to my hand being covered in dry blood but luckily it didn't get on anything else. My family had a big canvas tent that to me had a very distinct smell to it and now whenever I think of that smell it is mixed with the smell of blood and an ache in my hand- but not in a bad way. Sounds weird, but it really is a good memory for me. It makes me think of eating spam for breakfast and thinking it was delicious. It makes me think of helping my mom wash dishes in a pan of water warmed on the camp stove. It reminds me of good times of being with my family.

In Idaho we had some friends that we loved to camp with. One Memorial weekend we went camping in the mountains not too far from where we lived and had a great time. The boys had all brought their dirt bikes and they were riding them all over having a fun time. They found a dead tree that they cut down with a chainsaw and drug it back to our camp tied to a bike. We continued to cut that tree into a nice bench and chairs for us. Then they even took turns teaching the girls how to use the chainsaw too. That night we hooked up a generator, piled into one tent and watched a scary movie on a TV. Really roughing it...I know. We went to bed and found in the morning that it had snowed on us.

Another fun trip we took with that same group was to a place called Pack Saddle Lake. We drove our friends 4-runner down a steep hill made for four wheelers and dirt bikes. The lake was beautiful but freezing. We brought a canoe and a kayak and had a ton of fun on the water. I even went fishing for the first time and then we cooked the fish for dinner. I didn't eat it... I don't like fish at all but everyone else said it was good. We talked all night around the fire, and one of the boys made a "SoBe bomb", which was awesome and terrifying at the same time. In the early morning my husband put on his swim trunks and jumped in the water. We all were laughing so hard at the high pitch scream that came out of his mouth. Later in the day we all ended up getting in the water though. There was a really fun rope swing that you could swing over the water and jump in. When the afternoon came, some hikers and four wheelers came so we knew it was time to go. It was really funny when they saw the 4-runner and asked how we got it there. We just told them a helicopter brought it in. :)

One of my favorite places to camp is in Yellowstone Park. We had a season pass and went all the time. In the evenings at the parks campgrounds the Rangers do little presentations about all sorts of things. From the story of Yellowstone, and some of the best spots to visit, to learning how to tell the difference between black bears and grizzly bears. There are just so many amazing things there. One camping trip there we decided to go on a hike to Fairy Falls. It was a really hot day so we had on shorts and t-shirts. About half way through the hike it started to pour rain. It was warm rain with big rain drops and felt great. Just thinking about it makes me happy. I think being near Yellowstone is one of the main things I miss about Idaho.

So far the girls have only been camping once. The camping here in Iowa (or what we have seen of it) is a little weird. One camp ground was literally an open field with fire rings, picnic tables and maybe seven or eight trees. Luckily we found a spot that was a little better but still not the same as the mountains. The girls did great but the trip was full of friend drama. We can't wait to go out this year. I know my kids will love it as much as my husband and I do. With hope they can start to make some great camping memories too!

Nap Time

One of my favorite times of day is nap time- not my nap time but my kids nap time. Don't get me wrong, I love my girls and I have so much fun with them but having a few hours during the day to either do what I want or need to do is great. I've always enjoyed doing crafts and making things and now nap time is the best time do do any of that stuff. For some reason when I do crafts or other hobbies I seem to only be able to focus on one thing at a time. For example- I have been doing great with my challenge of reading 50 books this year... until I started doing BEDA (Blog Every Day in April) and I have only read ONE book this month.

I had a great friend when I lived in Idaho who was super creative and everything she made turned out so cute! Even now people always ask where I got the ideas for some of the things we made- and it was all her. We would get together a lot and do little crafts. We tried to make a craft for each major holiday, each year. That way it wasn't too expensive and after a few years we had some very cute decorations. She was one of my best friends and when we moved away I was so sad. I miss her a lot. We just had a very easy friendship with no drama, and I really miss getting together doing crafts. Now I have to try and think up things myself and it just isn't the same.

When I was pregnant, and got too huge to work I stayed at home and got really board. One day I decided I wanted to have a new hobby so I went online and looked up embroidery. I made little pictures for the walls of the nursery and I think they turned out pretty cute. I made a few other people thing, and still do it every one in a while. I'm not the best at it but it is really fun to do.

Then there is always reading. I've already talked about my love for reading but apparently I can't do anything else while I'm in my reading "zone" or I get distracted and stop. I hope next month I can keep up with my goal!

Another thing I learned online was how to knit. (Well online and from one of my sisters.) I really wanted to make a scarf for one of my sisters for Christmas so I turned to YouTube and low and behold I started knitting. That same Christmas I also wanted to make hats to donate to a girl I met online who was helping people with a illness called Trichotillmania. (They unconsciously pull out their hair) It felt good to do something for someone even if it wasn't anything great. I learned how to make small stuffed animals and there is a lot more I want to learn to knit too- but again I have to be in the right mood to want to. (You can ask my husband- I've started a scarf for him that was supposed to be done for this past winter... oops!)

Of course one of the biggest distractions of all is TV. Again this is a topic I've already talked about in this blog but I like it a lot- and I get consumed by it. Especially when I started watching Lost. It was a little intense.

One thing that I normally don't do during nap time is, well nap. At this point in my life I am for sure a night owl. I love staying up late, and hate the lovely 6:30 wake up call from my girls each morning. Logically I should take a nap during the day if I'm staying up late at night, but I just can't do it. If I do sleep at all during the day it just makes it even harder for me to sleep at night. So I avoid napping during nap time for the most part. However, I do love me a nice Sunday nap every once in a while.

Music Recognition

After another fun night of Skyping with my sisters last night we started listening to songs on my iPod that reminded us of people in our family. I came up with a list of songs that make me think of everyone in my family. If you are in my family and are reading this (like anyone else would read this...) PLEASE do not be offended in any way by what songs remind me of you- I'm just a little crazy.

Dad

The Chambers Brothers - The Time Has Come Today

Steppenwolf - Born To Be Wild

The Mamas and the Papas - California Dreamin

Mom

Monkees - Daydream Believer

The Wonders - That Thing You Do

Carly Simon - You're So Vain

Sister #1

Cyrkle - Red Rubber Ball

Smash Mouth - Beer Goggles

Sister #2

Tommy Roe - Sweet Pea

Celine Dion- It's All Coming Back To Me Now

Sister #3

Janet Jackson - Again

The Bangles - Eternal Flame

Sister #4

Savage Garden- Truly Madly Deeply

Wezzer- Undone

Sister #5

Flo Rida - Low

Kayne West- Gold Digger

Brother #1

Diana Ross - If We Hold on Together

Brother #2

Chumbawamba - Tubthumping

Brother #3

Paperboy - Ditty

Brother #4

Rascal Flatts - Life is a Highway

last but definitely not least...

Husband

Shania Twain - Forever and for Always

Rob Stewart- Have I Told You Lately

and just so his aren't so cheesy...

Avril Lavigne - Sk8er Boi

I listened to all these songs today and it made me miss my family a lot. :) I love them all even if there are some very weird songs that remind me of them!

Simple Yet Great

I had a pretty good day today, even though there wasn't really anything special about it. My husband had the day off work so he got up with the kids this morning so I got to sleep in until nine! It was amazing. After writing my post last night about my teeth my poor mouth hurt from me irritating my gums too much. I took some Tylenol PM and went to bed- so sleeping in was exactly what I needed.

When I did get up my wonderful husband made pancakes for us all, and they were delicious. We hung out for a little before doing the normal everyday cleaning (dishes, vacuuming, picking up toys, etc.). While the girls took their naps my husband went to do some errands and I talked to my Mom on the phone, payed some bills, and did some reading.

The girls woke up in a pretty good mood (which doesn't happen very often... they really don't like to we woken up). After a little some women from my church (visiting teachers) came over and we had a fun talk while the girls played with their Dad. It was really nice to have some girl time. My visitors left and we headed to the store the pick up some canned food for our food storage. We have been running a little low on some things. While we were there we got a take and bake pizza for super cheep, which made the night even better because I didn't have to cook.

We came home, cooked the pizza and watched Survivor. It was a good episode and the people I like didn't get kicked off. The girls got in a little fight over who got to wear the pink butterfly pajamas -but they even worked it out. Then they went to bed with out any problems and stayed there.

Even if nothing really exciting happened, I love days like this. Things go smoothly and makes that me very happy. Here's hoping tomorrow goes as well.

p.s.

I made dentist appointments for next week. :)

Smile

I know it's awful but I haven't been to the dentist in over two years. The last time I went was when I got my wisdom teeth out. Of course they did a cleaning and all that jazz after they took them out but I need to go really bad. This might be too much information but I have a hard time reaching the back of my top teeth when I brush. My tooth brush just doesn't get back there well so it gets skipped sometimes. When I try to brush back there it rubs on my gums/bones and makes them hurt and get irritated. I'm pretty sure I have a huge cavity- I just hope I won't have to get a root canal.

When I was little I sucked my thumb. It really messed up my front teeth. I rode the bus to school in the morning with my sisters and had a few problems. There was a boy who was a few years older then I was and he teased me all the time. His most common taunt was calling me " buck tooth beaver" because i not only did my teeth stick out but my teeth a pretty big. I remember thinking he was so mean. I do however remember my sisters sticking up for me, for which I am very grateful. My third grade picture is just awful. My eyes were watering because of the flash from the cameras while waiting for my turn. That mixed with my huge buck teeth- it truly was awful. I got braces later that year. I had headgear that I wore at night, had the multi-colored rubber bands, and all that comes with braces. I has them for three years and then had a retainer for another three. By the time I was in high school my teeth were just right. One bottom tooth was turned a little but not enough to bother me.

Starting in high school I came to love my big teeth. They are just a part of who I am. I have a big smile and have big teeth to fill it. I really like seeing actors and actresses that have big teeth too. Makes me feel even more confident with them. One of my new favorite person with larger teeth is Rapunzel from Tangled. They aren't quite as large as mine but still large.

When my wisdom teeth started to come in they moved my bottom teeth a lot. Now they are pretty crooked and I'll have to think about fixing them someday. For now I'll just have to make an appointment with a dentist and hope for the best.

This is what I Did Tonight...

While I should have been blogging I talked on Skype to my sister instead. Too bad this is all you get tonight. :)

Happy Easter

Today is Easter and we had such a great time. So much food and so much fun! Most of our visitors left a few hours ago but we still have Grandma here for another day. I'll write more about all the crazy things that happened today in another post- but today I wanted to write a little about family.

Right now we live in Iowa. It is a nice place and has everything that we need- except our family. Most of my family lives in Washington State and my husbands family lives in Pennsylvania. I have a hard time being so far away from them. When we were in school in Idaho we had family living in the same small town as us and most of our extended family living only a few hours away. We would watch movies, have dinners together, see each other around town, and even just sit and talk. I really miss it. Yes, there is the Internet where we can chat or skype but it's just not the same as being in the same place.

We have a little longer to live here in Iowa, maybe another year or so. There are beautiful things here and great people but I'm excited to move on. I hope we are able to live closer to family the next time we move.

It has been so nice to have family come visit and I'm so happy that my parents are coming to visit next month. I love all of my family and I am so lucky to have them in my life.

Accio Harry Potter

One of my favorite things in the world is Harry Potter. I could go on and on about this topic but i thought i would just write a little. Right now I am watching Deathly Hallows for the first time since the theater. Man it's good. Every time I watch any of these movies I want to reread the books again. I've read them about eight times each...but that's just an estimate because I've lost count. Like most people who are fans I enjoy the books much more then the movies but it is still fun to see them in film form.

My husband thinks I'm crazy for liking them so much but I can't help it. I even consider myself obsessed. There is just something about the story that I love. One of the many reasons that I feel so connected to it might have to do with my life a few years ago. I wasn't in a very good place. I was very depressed and needed to find away to escape my life even if it was for short periods of time. I found that escape in reading Harry Potter. It allowed me time to focus on something other then myself and what was going on in my life.

I'm not saying that it pulled me out of depression but that it just helped me through some of the hard parts. Now if I ever need a little distraction I know exactly what to do. It also is just a fun story- with a entire world created around it. It might sound funny but I don't even know how to put into words why I love it so much.

I get really excited when I find out that other people are Harry Potter fans. Talking about the characters and small details of the story is so much fun for me. The world that Jo Rowling made is amazing. There are themes through out the books hat aren't always obvious at first such as peoples names being connected with stars, constellations, and flowers.

Like I said I love Harry Potter so much and could talk about it forever- maybe I'll do another post about it again sometime but for now the movie is about to get to a really good part so I'll say goodbye for now!

Family Fun

We have been doing so many fun things all day! Today is earth day so the botanical center has free admission so we went and checked it out. They had some amazing and beautiful things. The kids liked looking the koi fish and the turtles. It was nice to just walk around and talk and look at pretty things. We stopped at a really cool Chinese building that has some sculptures around it. It's fun to see things like that near where we live. Keeps it so we don't have to do the same things over and over again.

We came home and made some sandwiches for lunch. The wii was turned on and we played a few rounds of American Idol- really fun and entertaining because we aren't the best singers. We even ended up singing the same songs over and over to see who could get the highest score. Let's jet say I'm a little sick of two of the songs and will be OK without hearing them for a while. After talking with one of my sister in laws and watching some YouTube videos we all went to the mall. The kids played and were being really funny. One of my girls got mad at me for telling her not to climb on the seats; so she told me that she was " not talking to me". Sheesh- I'm an for sure going to have my hands full when they are teenagers.

After getting hungry we cane home and made some delicious pizza! Yum! The kids ran around and played with their uncles, aunts and cousin. My husbands youngest sister gave my girls some sock puppets that they just love! It's so cute seeing them put their tiny hands in the sock and make them talk. They were thrown around and laughed so hard- but before we knew it it was way past their bed time. So we cleaned up and put the kids to bed.

Now we are just relaxing and watching so really weird alien movie. I love having family come visit. It can make even the smallest things so much more fun. I can't wait to see what we do tomorrow!

Again...

So I'm going to wuss out on this blog again today. I haven't thought of anything to talk about today but we did a bunch of stuff. The rest of my husband's family came to visit today for the weekend and we are having a really fun time so far. I promise to have some fun things to say next week. Goodnight!

My Girls

We had a great day with grandma today. We went to the zoo and saw some animals. It was fun but right now they have a ton of the exhibits closed because it was cold, and there is a lot of construction too. It was still fun and as always it was just nice to get out of the house. When we got home it was time for the kids naps and Grandma and I talked for a while but we were both exhausted so we took a short nap too. When my husband came home we went to Costco to pick up a few things and then went out to dinner. Came home again and played with the girls and then watched a bunch of videos of the girls from when they were little babies. The videos are so cute. I don't see the girls growing as fast as other people do because I see them everyday. Yet when I see the videos and pictures from when they were tiny it blows me away at how big they really are.

Coming up in a few months they will be three years old. That sounds so big! I know it's cliche but it really seems like they were born just yesterday. They can make me so mad and so happy at the same time. I try to be positive even when they do things that make me super upset. When I was pregnant my sisters gave me some advice with part of it being to take pictures when they do something awful because later it will be funny. It is so true- and now they are some of my favorite pictures. They still are doing very naughty things (they are two after all) and I continue to take pictures.

When I found out that I was having twins there of course was a little panic that I wouldn't know how to take care of two babies. When they came it really just felt natural to have two. I always say that being a first time mom is hard no matter if you have one baby or two. I do think there are benefits and negatives to both sides. With twins they can play together and entertain each other for a while so I can get things done, but they don't get the one on one time that they would get if there were only one of them.

I love my girls and I can't imagine not having both of them right now. They balance each other out so well.Sure, they can be very naughty and some times it seems like they plot against me, but they also can be so sweet and make me laugh all the time. I do miss them being little tiny babies but each stage in their lives is exciting and I'm so happy to have them in my life.

...now if I could convince my husband to have more...

Grandma

Today was pretty exciting! I picked up my husbands grandma from the airport. We haven't seen her in a few years and she met my kids for the first time! She will be here for a week, and we are planing on doing a bunch of fun things.

Tomorrow we are planing on going to the zoo. My kids love to go, and they will have a great time showing grandma all the animals. Grandma is very adventurous and is really into celebrity gossip. She cracks me up telling me about the facts she knows about what actors. She is German and sometimes can be a little hard to understand but we have fun just hanging out.

Later this week a bunch more of my husbands family is also coming to town.They come twice a year, Easter and labor day, I am so excited! I've been waiting for Easter to come for months. With it coming so late in the month this year it felt like it would never come. I love when people come to visit because then I have more people to talk to. Don't get me wrong- I like Iowa but it is just too far away from family.

Before everyone comes I always stress out that I won't know how we will all fit in my little house. I also worry that I wont know how to entertain people and they will get board. Yet every time things work out just fine and we have a great time. I hope this week and weekend go the same way.

Hyper

When I was in elementary school I was a very hyper kid. I remember a day in fourth grade where I was jumping around being very silly. A friend of mine commented that I was too hyper and I should go splash some water on my face. She then told me to hug a tree to calm down. I can't remember if I had a large amount of sugar that day or why I was acting so crazy but I was out of control. I'm sure that a lot of kids are like that, but I haven't been around kids that age for a while. The older I got the more I settled down. The reason I was thinking about this tonight is because I watched my kids run around and around playing where I was tired after only a few minuets.

Kids are amazing. They have endless energy, can be absolutely fearless, and are so creative. Growing up we played for hours in the trees at the park across the street from my house. We would drape material from them and play like we were fairies or different animals. We would write and put on plays and skits for our families and the neighbors. One great memory is dressing up with my sister and some friends dressed up and went door to door fourth of July caroling. Let's just say we were very creative kids.

Another thing I've noticed about kids is how they can play outside in cold without it even phasing them. They are always so happy to just be playing. I wish that I still had the stamina and drive that they have. If I did have their energy maybe it would be easier to keep up with my kids everyday.

Be Still My Soul

For today's post I thought I would just share one of my favorite church hymn.

Be Still My Soul

Be still, my soul: The Lord is on thy side;

With patience bear thy cross of grief or pain.

Leave to thy God to order and provide;

In ev'ry change he faithful will remain.

Be still, my soul: Thy best, thy heav'nly Friend

Thru thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: Thy God doth undertake

To guide the future as he has the past.

Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;

All now mysterious shall be bright at last.

Be still, my soul: The waves and winds still know

His voice who ruled them while he dwelt below.

Be still, my soul: The hour is hast'ning on

When we shall be forever with the Lord,

When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,

Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.

Be still, my soul: When change and tears are past,

All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

This is one hymn that really just speaks to my soul. It seems to comfort me whenever I'm going through a rough patch in my life. I'm not sure why but my favorite line is from the second verse- Be still, my soul: The waves and winds still know. His voice who ruled them while he dwelt below. I love the way it sounds when it's sung. If it were up to me I would sing this song in church every Sunday.

Nothing New

I spent most the day today cleaning the carpets in my living room. Next week we have a lot of family coming for Easter. I am really excited but there is a bunch of stuff that I want done before I have all those people here. I really don't mind cleaning carpets and couch but I just wish that it was a sunny day so I could have opened a window to help it dry faster.

So after I did the cleaning I took a break and started watching Prison Break- so far I really like it. I even restarted watching it so my husband could see it from the beginning. I like watching shows with him, it makes it watching something a little more interactive.

It really way just a lazy Saturday evening. Most weekends my husband has to work but he gets off a little earlier then during the week. We don't go out very often and when we do the kids normally come with us. Every once in a while we go out just us,and we have fun,it just doesn't happen as often as I would like. A lot of weekends are spent at home watching movies which I have no problems with.

It's getting late and I need to put the girls in their pajamas. They start getting s little cranky this time of night- which makes me pretty cranky too. Until tomorrow.

Help

My husband and I watched a documentary about the lost boys of Sudan tonight. I really enjoy watching documentaries like this but it always makes me feel awful afterwards. The idea that some countries can have such hard things happening everyday. Not that the United States doesn't have it problems and people suffering in places too. I just find it hard to see people who have so little and the things that I take for granted like clean water are life changing things for them.

With so many crazy things going on in the world like earthquakes, floods, and wars I always wish there was more I could do. I sit in my apartment watching my huge TV, eating until I'm full every meal, driving my car, and still feeling like I don't have everything I want; while people don't have a place to sleep, food to eat or water to drink, and really are in need.

The other day while wasting time on Facebook I came across the blog of a girl that I went to high school with. She joined the peace corps and has been living in Africa for around two years. I read all the posts on the blog and I was amazed at not only the amazing things she has has a chance to experience but the wonderful things she has done for other people. I think that it would be so amazing to do something like that- but I know it isn't realistic for me right now.

Also a few weeks ago I went to an activity for my church where we focused on women around the world. A women spoke to us about all the different places she has traveled to and different groups she has worked with. She did everything from learning to be a midwife in Belize to working to stop human trafficking in India. She talked about how no matter what you do, even if it is very small, to help anyone, it is still something.

I wish I had gobs of money to give to people in need. Even though if I had more money I think in real life most of it would be spent on more stuff for me. I think a good place for me to start is simplifying my life. If I take a step back and see what is a "want vs. need" I will be able to make simplifying much easier. When I know what is just a "want" I will have more resources to help others.

I imagine that my husband and I will be able to help somewhere somehow. If it be giving money or supplies, or even just our time to volunteer somewhere, I hope that someday I am able to help better another persons life.

Rexburg

Sorry about the cop-out of a post yesterday. My sister-in-law was visiting so I wanted to spend time with her. She is on her way back to school in Idaho. She goes to the same university that me and my husband met at.

We met at the start of my second year of school. The school doesn't have any normal sports teams but they do have both intramural teams, and what they called the competitive leagues. The competitive leagues you have to tryout for and if you make it you are placed on a team and compete against the other five or six teams. That semester I was on the "thunder" volleyball team. Each team name has both a girls and boys team. We often would practice with the boy thunder team.

I didn't really know many of the boys because the season had just started but one Sunday a group of boys stopped by my apartment. I'm sure they were just planing on going door to door to meet all the girls in our complex ( which boys did all the time) but I happened to live in the first apartment. They came in and we talked and played some games. I teased and flirted with one very cute blond boy. It turned out that he was in some of my roommates classes, and he was also on the thunder volleyball team. We also went to church together so soon we were seeing a lot of each other. He is a very fun loving guy so it was normal for a lot of girls to want to hang around him, for a while he even had a girl friend.

I had a huge crush. I would talk to my roommates about him all the time and would get so giddy when I knew he was coming over. Soon we were hanging out everyday. Any free time we had we were together. I was very young but I was in love. We started dating and I knew very soon after that he was the one I would be with for the rest of my life.

As very big shock to my friends and family we got engaged only a few months after we started dating. We were engaged for five months or so and on a cold Saturday in January we were married. That was seven and a half years ago now. We now live in Iowa where my husband is getting his masters degree and we have two beautiful daughters.

Whenever we go to Idaho to visit friends and family who still live in the area, it feels like going home. I have so many wonderful memories in that small town. Going to school there made it so I could meet the love of my life.

Sorry

We have family in town tonight and I totally didn't plan anything for a blog but I promise that I will make a better blog tomorrow of all the fun things that we did! I just love having people come and visit. Makes life a little more exciting and mixes it up.

T.V.

Tonight I thought I would talk about something that I spend way too much time doing...watching television. When I think about how much time I spend watching TV it makes me sad because I could spend that time doing so many other things. At the same time- television is a great source of entertainment and there are some great shows out there.

Through the years there has been a few shows that I loved. Law and Order is one that I will never get sick of! I also started watching Smallvile from the very first episode and didn't miss one for two years. When I finally did miss one it was the day I had my wedding open house in Washington. After that my husband and I moved to Pennsylvania and didn't get the channel that is was on. I lost track of what happened and eventually just stopped watching it. I saw the pilot episode on yesterday and it made me remember what a fun show it is. I wish they had it on the Netflix stream- that way I could watch all the seasons when I had time.

Another show that I have been watching for a few years is Survivor. I defiantly haven't watched it from the start in 2000 but I have watch about eight seasons. Sometimes I have a hard time watching because the people I like get voted off. I think it would be fun to do the challenges they do but I would never be on the show because I would not like having so many people watch me (and I don't think I would be very good either).

Then right now there are a lot of shows that we watch but don't really mind if I miss them. Things like Glee, The Big Bang Theory, The Office, Parenthood, and way too many others. This is the area where I really should trim some of the time spent watching out. I have been trying to cut out some of the time spent watching TV with the kids too. It is really hard in the morning with the girls. Like I said yesterday I don't do well early in the morning. My kids wake up around 6:30 every morning. I don't function well at that time so they spend some time in the morning watching TV or a movie. Then they usually watch a little more when I make dinner as well. Kids should only watch two hours or less of television a day ( according to my kids doctor). I really want to make sure my girls are spending time using their brains for more stimulating things then Dora the explorer.

With that all being said there are still some shows that I want to watch that I haven't yet. I think that things like hulu and Netflix are awesome. The fact that you can watch a show when you want to is great. I like that I can watch shows when my girls are napping on whatever day I want. It's also more rewarding for some shows to watch without a week in between episodes. I watched all the seasons of Lost this way and it was great! On my list to watch is Prison Break. I've heard that it is a really good show.

I see nothing wrong wanting to spend some time watching as long as it's not too much, and that you balance it out with other forms of entertainment, such as reading, listing to music, and of course going outside.

Sleep

Blah. It's only the eleventh of the month and I already don't know what to write about today. Today was good other then the lack of sleep from last night. The girls took turns waking up and crying pretty much all night. I guess it wouldn't have been too bad but because of my wonderful nap yesterday it took a long time to even fall asleep. Then once I finally did sleep I was woken up by the girls. I was fine through the day but my kids kept falling asleep, now I hope they sleep tonight.

Sleep is one of the things I do miss from before I had kids. I've always been a night owl. In my teens I had insomnia so I didn't sleep much. I would stay up all night and wake up early for school then next morning. I would do that for a month or so and then have a weekend where my body would finally crash and I would sleep all day. For the most part my insomnia has gone away. I still like to stay up late but if I could I'd love to sleep in until at least 9am. I just don't do 6:30am very well.

With some hope I'll have an epiphany and think of some fun topics for upcoming posts but for now- good night.

Today

Yet another beautiful Sunday . I had two very grumpy kids today who didn't want to sit an listen at church. My husband was very busy today working on homework ( his semester for school ends this coming week). When we finally got home from church the girls were crying again and it made me feel like crying too. So we all took a much needed nap! It was a warm day so I napped with the windows open on the big bean bag. It felt really good because I don't nap that often.

On the way home from working on his paper my husband got in a small car accident. Nothing too dramatic but never a fun thing to deal with. After looking at the damage and being outside for a little we decided that the breeze was perfect for flying a kite so we headed out to the park! When we got there, two young girls ( I'd guess about ten years old) were trying to fly a fish kite without much luck. With very little effort we had our $3 barbie kite in the air. It was so cute to watch my tiny girls hold onto the kite. There were a few times when it looked like it was going to pick them right up. After a while the girls became restless and wanted to go play on the swings and other playground toys do they went with their dad to go play. As I was about to go the two girls shyly asked me if they could fly my kite for a minute. I let them both fly it for a while and I just enjoyed watching them get so much joy out of something as simple as flying a kite.

A little later I found my husband and girls on the playground. They love to climb everything right now. They had a mini rock climbing wall and both the girls went up it like pros. They went down the slides and went on the swings. They also fell down a lot but they were tough and just kept playing.

We came home and skyped some family and watched the Duck Tails movie. Now as I type this we are reading books together and are about to go to bed.

Other then the car accident and the melt downs earlier in the day- I'd call it a pretty good Sunday.

Dream On

In one of my college English classes the teacher loved reading papers about weird stories. He didn't want to hear about you wining or achieving a goal but when you lost and failed. For that class I found myself searching for weird things about myself or things that have happened in my life that other people would think are odd. I have most of the papers I wrote for that class saved on a broken laptop. Someday I like to get them all off just to have.

One of the papers was about an quirk in my personality. Most people who know me know that I have a very odd phobia: Lepidopterophobia or the fear of butterflies. Well, Lepidopterophobia is actually the fear of moths, butterflies, and dragonflies etc.(all three give me the creeps). The weird thing about it is I know that it is completely ridiculous to be scared of something like a butterfly, but I still flinch every time one comes near me. In the English paper I wrote I tried to think of the reason of why I developed this phobia. I think it all started with a dream.

I was born I Utah and lived there until I was six. During the six years I lived there I started to have a reoccurring dream:

I am sitting on a trolley type train- think Mr. Rodgers neighborhood. We are driving through a rain forest or jungle. As we drive along a bunch of monarch butterflies start flying around inside the trolley. I remember thinking that the butterflies were very pretty and most the people in the dream are excited to see them. There is a girl sitting across the aisle from me,I seem to not know her but she starts doing something that is very disturbing. I sit in horror as she reaches up over and over again grabbing butterflies and puts them in her mouth and eats them. I yell at her to stop eating the butterflies, and that's when I would wake up.

After my family moved to Washington I had the dream a few more times. Even though the dream stayed the exact same I now knew who the girl was who ate the butterflies. She was one of my next door neighbors, and later became a very close friend. She looked the same in both dreams I just didn't know who she was yet when I had the dream in Utah. Weird- I know. By the time I was eight I stopped having the dream but I think the damage was already done.

I never really had any butterfly encounters until my family went on a trip to Mexico my sophomore yeah in high school. We went to a butterfly house, and while my family marveled at the beautiful things, I was freaking out. People stood with their arms outstretched hoping a butterfly would land on them, I literally ran through in fear of having one touch me. The rest of the trip my dad and brother would stand outside my hotel room window and flap their arms up and down slowly to mock me.

I'm not scared of cartoons butterflies, or butterfly jewelry. I think they are beautiful from far away but if one comes too close I have the same reaction that most people reserve for spiders and bees. At one family reunion my brother caught a moth in a little box and had a great time giving me a small heart attack pretending to open the box in my direction over and over again.

This lovely fear is one of the things that I do not want to pass onto my kids. For their sake I try to not show my fear, and say how pretty they are. As a family we have gone to another butterfly house but no matter how hard I try I can't go near them and I always have to leave before everyone else.

Let's just say my weird-seeking English teacher loved the paper.

We Don't Need No Education

Today I helped my husband with a school project. Well he did most the actual work, I made a chart. I started this morning and finished mid-afternoon. I even stayed in my pajamas all day because by the time I was done working on it, and started my normal daily chores it wasn't worth getting dressed. It really reminded me what school is like. I haven't been in school for about six years now. I miss it sometimes but then I remember homework and tests. I really enjoy the actual in class part of school, just not some of the other stuff. In high school I just didn't try. I did what I had to, just to get by. Once I got to college I realized that learning was fun and I started to care about my grades and wanted to do well. I think that someday I would like to go back to school, maybe when my kids are older or when my husband is finished with all of his schooling. I'm not sure if there is a degree or anything that I would want to go after or if I would just like to take some classes for fun. Either way I know that continuing education/learning is something I would like to do. Who knows- maybe I'll change my mind after my kids start school and I have to help them with homework and papers. As for right now, I'm kind of looking forward to it.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

I am very glad that winter is finally over. Warmer weather means more time we can spend outside at a park. Even if we don't go anywhere just being able to have the windows open is fantastic. Not having to bundle up to go to he store, no more shoveling the driveway, and no more melting snow dragged into the house from my shoes. Besides all these awful things ending- even in the spring there are pretty yucky days.

Today it rained. I love the rain most of the time but when you mix it with naughty kids who are in the mood to climb everything in sight, it makes for a rough day. I understand that this is pretty normal for two year-old's but some days it just wears me out! Today was one of those days. I really wish we could have just gone outside to play for a little while and it would have helped a ton.

So here is hoping for sunshine soon. Don't worry in no time I'll be whining about how hot and humid it is.

Hold On

A couple of days ago I wrote about sports in my life. In that post I mentioned a very embarrassing in incident. In fact, it is the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to me.

My main event in track was pole vaulting. I started my Freshman year with my sister and some friends from the gymnastics team. We were a very close group who were extremely lucky to have the best coach in the state. My coach was so good that I was the only freshman girl to letter. Even though I was pretty good for a freshman at the time, I was still a little freshman who was in awe of the seniors, especially the senior boys.

I remember waiting for the bus to come to take us to our meet at Liberty high school. As we waited we had every type of weather possible. It was an normal overcast day in Washington and as normal it started to rain. After it rained for a while the temperature seemed to drop and the rain turned to snow! When the bus pulled up the snow stopped and the sun came out and made it a nice sunny day for a meet.

We arrived at the school and things went pretty normal. I don't remember how I did at the meet- probably mediocre. I do remember that the schools pole vaulting pit ( the big foam mat you land on) we very old and when you landed you would fall in-between. You would also get completely soaked every time you landed because of the rain and snow earlier that day.

After I finished competing I was walking back to the bleachers to find my bags and probably talk with my friends when the head coach waved me down. He asked me to get a relay baton ( the medal stick that the relay racers pass to the next person to run- for those who don't know). I wasn't a big deal to get it until he told me who to get it from. Tyler- the best looking senior boy. ( for the sake of my embarrassment we will only use his first name)

I looked around a little and found Tyler sitting at the top left corner of the bleacher. I jogged up feeling happy for a reason to talk to him. As I neared he I saw he was sitting with a few of his gorgeous friends. Trying to be confident I walked up to them and asked Tyler if he had the baton. I remember being intimidated but I didn't want to come off that way so I tried to address them like we were close friends. He told me he had it and pulled it from his bag handing it to me. Looking back on it he probably didn't even think twice of the exchange but I was pleased with myself. I turned around to bring the relay baton back to the coach when I slipped.

The medal bleachers had some water on them from the rain and snow. Had I just slipped a little and fell down it wouldn't have been that bad- but no. I slipped and fell down the ALL bleachers face first. All. The. Way. Down. Don't worry, I wasn't hurt and I even managed to not drop the baton. People were coming over to make sure I wasn't hurt, but I stood up quickly red in the face but fine. I started to laugh because I didn't know what else to do. The bleachers were full of teammates, coaches, patents, and those beautiful senior boys. I wanted to get away from there pronto. After waving some reassurance to some friends that I was fine, I went to take the last set of stairs until I would be on the track. From the field, to my horror I heard the head coach yell as loud as he could "Hold on this time!" I felt as though the whole stadium was looking at me. I grabed the hand rail and went down and handed the baton to the coach and run back to the pole vaulting area totally mortified.

I was lucky that my fellow pole vaulters didn't see it but everyone else did. For the next three year every time we had a track meet at Liberty high school one of my fellow classmates would relay this lovely story to the whole team on the bus. I wish I could say that was the only time I made a fool of myself in front of Tyler but it wasn't. The last time I ever saw him was years later at the airport. I don't know if he even knew who I was but I sure remember who he is.

BFF

I've always been a person who loves to have a group of close friends that I can talk with or hang out with. In my life I have has some friends who are amazing people- even if we are not in contact anymore. Sometimes when my friends are really busy I have a hard time because I feel like I need someone to talk to. Now don't get me wrong- my husband is really my best friend and I am super lucky to have him in my life but sometimes I just need girl time. When no one is available to hang out and my husband is at work or school I am so happy that I have awesome sisters.

They are always willing to listen and talk to me on the phone, even when we don't really have anything to talk about. I have five sisters who don't live near me so I don't get to see them as often as I would like. I love hearing about what is going on in their lives. I also am so lucky to have a sweet sweet mother who doesn't mind if I call her everyday. She is always happy to hear what funny things my kids said that day or listen to me complain about feeling sick.

At the end of the day I am so blessed to have the family I do. From my funny and sweet husband and wonderful kids, to my beautiful sisters, awesome brother and caring mom and dad. Even on the days where I feel a little lonely because I don't have anyone to do something with,I always will have my family!

Book Worm

One of the ways that I like to spend my free time is reading. I am a huge Harry Potter fan, I love the Hunger Games books, I've read almost all of John Grisham's books and I really enjoy finding new authors.

Considering how much I like to read it is surprising that I absolutely hated reading all the way through high school. I read very few books the whole way through up until collage. The fist book I ever remember reading by myself and enjoying was The Giver by Lois Lowry - and to this day it is what I consider my favorite book. I read it in my sixth grade language arts class. Mrs. Copp was the teacher and I hated the class, but I am glad that I got at least one thing out of it.

Last year I set a goal for myself to read fifty book in 2010. To some this is a very easy thing to do but I am a pretty slow reader and I can only read when my kids are asleep. I started out last year doing ok but quickly fell behind. After that I felt like I was spending all my time worrying about reading. I stopped keeping track of my books in the summer and was totally ok with it. I wanted to be able to do other fun things in my free time like do some crafts or watch a TV show ( ok, ok... I wanted to watch Lost!). When January came around this year my goodreads account ( online book lists, reviews and such) asked me what my goal was for this year. At first I wasn't going to set a number goal but just "read more", but then I gave in and I am going after the fifty books in 2011! So far I am doing really good! I am actually ahead of schedule!

I am on a big young adult literature kick right now. I've found some really fun books. I also hope to branch out a little more and read some classics and some things that I normally wouldn't pick. I am in a book club with some friends and I love it. They are super sweet girls and even if we spend a lot of time talking about things other then the book!

I hope that I can help my children learn to love reading. I don't want them to be like I was and avoid reading growing up. Reading is a fantastic way to use your imagination- even for a twenty-seven year old.

Sunny Sunday

The sun found it's way out today! These are the types of days that I really love. I got to spend all day with my little family just relaxing and having fun. After it snowing last week I thought I might just go crazy if spring didn't show up soon. It got all the way up to eighty-four degrees today!

With it being the weekend my husband got up with the kids this morning so I slept in until nine, which was wonderful! I came down stairs to be welcomed by one of my girls running up to hug my legs and say "hi mommy!". We lounged around and watched the movie Tangled for the millionth time this week. (Yet somehow I'm still not sick of it yet!)

Then while the girls played with their toys, my husband and I did some much needed sprig cleaning with the windows open. I don't min cleaning when I can have fresh air flowing through the house. We have a bunch o family coming to visit at the end if the month so my house really needs a good scrub. We got everything in the kitchen nice and clean!

Today was my churches general conference. They hold it twice a year, and we get a chance to hear from some wonderful speakers and the leaders of the church. The talks were fantastic and I just love the feeling that I get during conference; it's a feeling of wanting to be a better person. After the first session of conference the girls took a nap while my husband and I watched a movie. The second and final session of conference was next and we listened while the girls played on the deck and ate frozen berries for a snack.

It was much to nice a day to pass up going to the park! We went to a close park that was very busy but managed to do everything we wanted. My girls just love swinging! If I didn't make them get off we would still be there! We watched some people flying kites, and then went home to try fly our own pink barbie kite. We were having fun until the kite broke and prematurely ended our fun.

My husband made dinner and we called some family on skype. Now it's almost time for the girls to get ready for bed. Today has been so nice and I wish every Sunday was like it. I am so thankful for my family and for this wonderful warm day!

March Madness?

Sheesh- I think I need to start making a list of things to write about or April is going to be a long month. Tonight I was trying to think of what to write about but nothing was coming to mind. My husband has the final four basketball game on and it has given me a random subject for tonight's entry.

Sports.

In high school I would have labeled myself as a jock; everything I did seemed to revolve around sports. It was how I met my friends, how I spent most my free time and even why I passed my classes. In the fall I played volleyball, the winter I did gymnastics, and the most important of all, in the spring I did track, namely pole vaulting. At the time my sports were everything. I figure that writing down stories and memories is a good idea so my kids will get to hear them and their kids after that. I'm not sure if anyone will ever care but it was a big part of my life then- so here are a couple of brief highlights.

Freshman year gymnastics: My coach convinced me to try a vault that I didn't really feel comfortable doing. (it was a very simple thing to do but I just wasn't ready.) I ended up falling- spraining my back and bruising my tail bone. After hurting myself so bad I still competed in two more events that night.

Junior year track: After only jumping my starting height at the state track meet, for the second year in a row, I took off my spikes and threw them down the field. I was a little mad.

Senior year volleyball: On September 11th 2001 we had a volleyball game against our rival school. We played the game even though no one really felt like playing. I sprained my ankle by landing on another girls foot that was under the net. I re-sprained that injury at least three more times and it can still case me problems today.

Freshman year track: I fell down the bleachers in front of a crowd. More on that story another day.

Senior year track: Again at the state track meet; I finally did OK and placed second. One of the first people to come and talk to me afterwards was my older sisters boyfriend (who pole vaulted with me before he graduated). He walked up to me, put his arm around mt shoulder and said "Amy, second place is the first loser." Obviously he was just joking- but I'll never forget it.

It really does seem like a lifetime ago. I now spend my days playing with two toddlers and grocery shopping. I don't consider myself a jock anymore- in fact I think I'm a pretty big nerd. It's amazing what ten years can change.

BEDA

I've never been much of a writer but I want to try doing BEDA (blog every day in April). To get a fresh start with this goal I started this new blog. I would like to use this blog as a journal as well- so among other things I want to include memories, cute things my children do, and whatever else I think of.

The name and address of this blog comes from the song "Name" by the Goo Goo Dolls. It has for a long time been one of my favorite songs. The lyrics are wonderful and can mean different things to different people.

**********

And even though the moment passed me by

I still can't turn away

Cuz all the dreams you never thought you'd lose

Got tossed along the way

And letters that you never meant to send

Got lost or thrown away

And now we're grown up orphans

And never knew their names

We don't belong to no one

That's a shame

But you could hide beside me

Maybe for a while

And I won't tell no one your name

And I won't tell 'em your name

And scars are souvenirs you never lose

The past is never far

Did you lose yourself somewhere out there?

Did you get to be a star?

And don't it make you sad to know that life

Is more than who we are

We grew up way too fast

And now there's nothing to believe

And reruns all become our history

A tired song keeps playing on a tired radio

And I won't tell no one your name

And I won't tell 'em your name

I won't tell em' your name

Oooh, oooh, oooh

I won't tell em' your name

Ow!

I think about you all the time

But I don't need the same

It's lonely where you are

Come back down

And I won't tell 'em your name

**********

The song can be sympathetic, hopeful, and always helps me relax. I'm hoping that writing on this blog will also become a way to help me relax and organize my thoughts. It will take some practice but I hope to improve my writing along the way! Until next time!

Amy