Let's be real

Let's be real here...

1. I hate Dick's Market in Bountiful. I used to love it but now that they've gone and re arranged everything and basically flip flopped the store and made it look like Albertson's which I HATED. The store closed for obvious reasons! Why are you trying to re-create it? I have to admit that I do like that they have self check out now. Because let's be honest I only run over there when I need to grab a couple things from the store. I do all my "real" shopping at Smiths Marketplace.

2. I'm getting fat. And for no other reason than me and my couch have become like BFF.

3. I can never EVER remember how to hard boil eggs. I have to google it every time. Every. Time.

4. I chose the worlds most worthless degree. I mean seriously worthless. Ok it might be like one step above an art history major, but not by much.

5. Is it ok that I am almost 26 and still have zero idea what I want to do in life?

6. Here are all the the jobs I wish I could do in life

• pharmacy technician (pharmacists have way too much responsibility, no thank you)
• Nurse
• ASL interpreter
• personal trainer (i'd have to stop getting fat)
• wedding planner
• professional cater (which of course would be run out of my house in my gourmet kitchen)
• web designer
• children's book author
• school guidance counselor

7.  Mindy Kaling is my ultimate celebrity role model. Do you know much about her? She is amazing. She is smart, funny, crazy talented. She's a writer, director, producer, actor, author, and Ivy league grad. Have you watched The Mindy Project on Fox? HILARIOUS. You need to watch it. I might have a bit of a girl crush on her. She is amaze-balls.

8. Dang right I just said amaze-balls.

9. This youtube video makes me laugh every time

10. I'm obsessed with this Miranda Lambert's new song Mama's Broken Heart and the video is pretty great too! About 1000 of it's views are from me.

I never know how to end these kind of posts.

soo...bye!

Every time I log in to blogger and try to blog. I get a brain freeze. I seriously stare at my screen and my mind goes blank. Hence my complete lack of posting. My last few posts have been about Izzie so I decided it was time to blog about the first love of my life.

my incredibly sweet husband. We met 5 years ago this month!

You guys seriously, he's the best. Hands down. I don't care what any of you say. Even if your husbands climb Mt. Everest, make millions of dollars, knit scarves and rescue kittens. Troy is THE best.

He makes me laugh like no one else can. Even if I'm in an incredibly bad mood. He puts up with me, tells me I'm pretty, does the dishes and the laundry.

He's an incredible dad. When we were dating I would watch him in awe with his little nieces and nephews. He loved them so much (and still does) and they love him right back. I thought I knew by that what kind of dad he would be and honestly he surpassed my expectations by immeasurable amounts. He's the kind of dad who gets down on the floor to play and makes everything a game. He gets up in the middle of the night when Izzie cries and is totally fine with all of the yucky parenting stuff. Poop. Pee. Barf. Boogers. And I can see how much Izzie loves her dad. She never wants him to leave for work and is sad she has to be stuck with me.

He spoils me rotten. He's a way more thoughtful gift giver than I. Right now he's currently working extra shifts to earn money for some top secret anniversary gift. Our anniversary is not for 3 more months. He also does little things that I don't think he realizes how much I appreciate. He holds the door open for me and always takes the shopping cart back. He never lets me do it even when I offer. In the winter, he clears the snow off my car before I go some where. He works so hard and always puts our family first.

I could seriously write a novel. These few short paragraphs don't even begin to describe the amazing-ness that is my husband. He has so many qualities that I didn't even know existed in guys. I never imagined I could be so lucky.

I hope he knows how much I love and appreciate him!

Troy you are my best friend, love of my life, soul mate, whatever! I love you!




And in case you were wondering...yes, these pictures were taken last year.  I should grow out my hair again yes?

Izzie is TWO!

I wrote this post about a month ago and for some reason never published it... So here it is one month later.

Is she not the cutest thing ever???

My baby is officially no longer a baby. I believe that a one year old is baby. A two year old is an official not baby.

We celebrated with a small gathering of just family. Is a gathering of 20 is small??? It certainly doesn't feel small in our itty bitty house.

These days Izzie's got spunk. She loves being silly and "sneaking" around. She is also a DRAMA QUEEN. When she gets angry or upset she runs to her room and slams the door. No joke. Where did she learn that? She enjoys testing her mama's patience. She rolls her eyes at me.

She loves babies. That is the understatement of the universe. That girl can spot a baby anywhere within a 100 foot radius. She gives them hugs, kisses and is so soft and sweet. She's obsessed with cats or as she calls them "meows". In fact, most animals names are whatever noise they make. Except puppies. She knows the word "puppy".

She calls me mommy. Another thing I'm not sure where she picked up. Neither Troy or I refer to myself as mommy. She calls her dad "Twoy".

A few fun things she says...

"be-dah"- Thank you (she's been saying this for-ever and no idea how be-dah became thank you)
"mommy whas dees" - mommy whats this?
"Where's gicky? Where'd he go?" - Where's Nicky (she's always looking for uncle Nicky)
"bobo!"- elbow (she's obsessed with finding people's bobo's)
"bapa"- grandma/grandpa
"go da go!"- go dad go! she loves to cheer dad at basketball
"bo ball"- football
"peesa!" - pizza (and always said with gusto)
"She-shos"- cheerios
"meow all in war"- meow fall in water. (it's from the movie Homeward Bound when the cat falls in the river. It was traumatizing for her the first time she watched it. She talks about it a lot)

She of course says many other things but I think those are the some of the funnier ones.

Some of her favorite foods
pizza, tomatoes, cheese, quesadillas, any kind of fruit, fruit snacks, crackers, mac and cheese, ranch dressing, cheerios and pancakes

Izzie pretty much hates all meat and most vegetables. Depending on her mood she'll try a bite or two of either but they usually end up being spit out.

This video cracks me up!

a bit behind...

I'm blogging. That's weird.

I've been MIA. Here's what you missed...

Thanksgiving happened. I started off my morning nice and early at 3:30am to direct the Thanksgiving Day Race. It went awesome. It was our largest race to date. Then I napped and had Thanksgiving dinner which was ok. I was tired and surrounded by 30+ people I barely knew. That's the sucky part of parental re-marriage. "Family time" isn't always with your family.

A few days after Thanksgiving my mom had brain surgery to remove her tumor. It was a very looong surgery. It made for a very looong day. And a very long 4 days while my mom recovered in the neuro intensive care unit at the University hospital. I cried a lot. And in case this is news to you... I didn't really tell anyone. That's how I deal when presented with stressful situations. I pretend they aren't happening. Bad I know. The surgery went awesome. They were able to remove all of the tumor. The tumor was benign. And my mom's recovery has been stellar. She goes back to work next week.

Then came christmas and Izzie was spoiled rotten by her grandparents. In fact, her two favorite toys she got this year were from them. She takes her baby and her "meows" (kitties) every where she goes. She is the best little "mommy". She feeds her baby, changes its diapers, puts her down for naps, etc... She will make a great big sister! One day... ONE DAY. Definitely not an announcement.

We spent New Years Eve with friends. Lot's of laughs, games and inside jokes.

And here we are in 2013. Troy's graduation year. FINALLY. Granted he doesn't graduate until December but I'm sure it will be upon sooner than we think. Don't years just get faster and faster?

Izzie turns TWO next week. Seriously? Well here is a video of Izzie rocking it out with her baby to Guitar Hero for your viewing pleasure.

Is this Real Life?

Last Saturday one of those scary life things happened. I was at work going through the storage room (aka the dungeon) and had no cell service. When I surfaced from the dungeon my phone beeped that I had a voicemail. I was busy setting up stuff for work so I didn't really think much of it. I kept thinking I should check my voicemail. Even though I HATE voicemails. Really, please don't leave me one. I usually never check it for weeks.

It was a voicemail from my mom's husband Blair telling me that my mom was taken to the Emergency Room at Riverton Hospital.

On Saturday my mom got a migraine so severe that it messed with her frontal lobe and caused her to lose her short term memory. She couldn't keep facts straight or anything. My mom's husband took her to instacare where they immediately told her she needed to go to the hospital. She was admitted to the emergency room immediately and was given a CT scan to check for possible stroke.

Luckily, there was no sign of stroke but they found some abnormalities in her blood vessels. So the doctor decided to proceed with an MRI. The MRI showed that there was deterioration in blood vessels to her brain. The MRI also revealed a small mass in her brain stem. She had to be transferred to a larger hospital that had neurologists on staff. After being admitted to St. Mark's hospital she was kept over night for observation. In the morning her short term memory had returned. But she didn't remember much of Saturday except Blair leaving for work and then waking up at the hospital wondering how she got there.

She met with a neurologist who informed her that the medication she had been taking was restricting blood flow to her brain and had caused her severe migraine and memory loss. He prescribed her new medications, physical therapy for her neck (from a previous injury) and recommended a neurosurgeon specializing in that particular part in the brain. She was sent home that night. And has made a 100% rebound. My mom has already submitted her CT scans and MRI results to the University of Utah neurology department and she should be hearing back from them within the next week or so.

As much as it should make me angry that doctors can prescribe medicine that restricts blood flow to a persons brain. I'm so grateful that it happened. Without this horrible reaction occuring, my mom may never have found out about this tumor until it was too late. Fortunately, the doctors are saying this is a very slow growing tumor.

The whole thing was pretty intense. But I felt nothing but comfort through out this whole ordeal. It's hard not worry sometimes. I just don't think I could handle being 25 and having already lost both of my parents. That's the worst part about being an only child. When you lose a parent there is no one else there dealing with it like you are. It's just you. Of course my husband would be a great support but I just don't think it would be quite the same.

My mom has such a great attitude about everything. She says she knows everything is going to be alright. Plus she has already tried to pull the "brain tumor" card on me.  I guess she figures if she can beat cervical cancer and kick ulcerative colitis in the butt (who needs a colon anyway?)... a little brain tumor is nothing, right?

I'll let you know more as I know more.

songs

I teach the 6/7 year olds in my wards Primary. This past Sunday in sharing time we were practicing for the Primary Program that is this coming Sunday. One of the songs we are singing is, "I'm Trying To Be Like Jesus". And I just about lose it every time we sing it. My kids think I'm nuts since they are bored off of their behinds from singing this song over and over. But how can you not get emotional every once in a while when listening to this sweet simple message?

I’m trying to be like Jesus;
I’m following in his ways.
I’m trying to love as he did, in all that I do and say.
At times I am tempted to make a wrong choice,
But I try to listen as the still small voice whispers,

Chorus 
“Love one another as Jesus loves you.
Try to show kindness in all that you do.
Be gentle and loving in deed and in thought,
For these are the things Jesus taught.”

I’m trying to love my neighbor;
I’m learning to serve my friends.
I watch for the day of gladness when Jesus will come again.
I try to remember the lessons he taught.
Then the Holy Spirit enters into my thoughts, saying:

Chorus 
“Love one another as Jesus loves you.
Try to show kindness in all that you do.
Be gentle and loving in deed and in thought,
For these are the things Jesus taught.”

Hair Today....

I need a change. My hair is driving me nuts. It has reached hippie status. It's to my waist and the ends definitely need a trim. My long hair is becoming a burden. It's constantly getting in my way and in my food. Gross. I know if I cut it I will be sad because it's looong and taken me awhile to get this looong. But I need CHANGE people! CHANGE!! So What should I do?....

I know this isn't the most flattering picture of me. However, I entered a contest to win a makeover and I needed a picture where I didn't look fabulous but not so hideous that I didn't show potential... I feel like this picture says both? Maybe? Or maybe it just says "scary". You choose.

Maybe I should keep my hair long but put more layers and add some bangs like this....

Or perhaps this medium length....

or maybe I can get some serious guts and just chop it all off...

Tell me what I should do. one, two, three.... GO!