Be kind

"Be Kind. Everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."
-Marjorie Pay Hinckley

Our Amazing Photographer

A couple weeks ago we had our family pictures taken. Our photographer, Eric Harker out of Salt Lake City (ericharker.com), happened to be in town and did a very professional job. He understood my complicated vision of what I wanted these pictures to look like and captured them perfectly. I loved the indoor lighting, the formal clothes, and the classy and elegant location. Of course, we have a million pictures to choose from, but these are 5 I really liked out of 230. I could have posted 20 more. Enjoy.

I would recommend him! Thanks again, E^2.

Tip of the day

Want a great seasonal tip? When you go to make your gingerbread houses this year, instead of making icing that doesn't taste so great out of confectioners sugar, instead buy a normal-sized container of white frosting and add 3-4 tablespoons of cornstarch. You won't taste the cornstarch and you'll be surprised how stiff your frosting will dry. Plus, it's cheaper.
Also, instead of worrying about using knives to adhere all your candies- simply spoon your frosting into some Ziploc baggies and cut a small hole off of one corner. Zip up the top, and you've made yourself a mess-free, less-hassle way to frost your gingerbread (or Graham cracker) houses.

Your welcome!

I wrote this post for you!!

I made the mistake a few months ago of naming specific people who have made a lasting impression on my life. Of course, I didn't name every single person that deserves to be on the list, and because of this, lots of people were offended! So, to all those I didn't mention by name, this post is for you.

I got the idea from my good friend, Lydia. She did a post a little bit ago and without naming people, wrote a trait or talent that each person has. So, thanks for the ingenious idea, Lyd!

If you're reading this, I know who you are, and this is for you.

*You're one of the best friends I could ask for. I know I can always call you about any random fact or just to spill my guts out and you'll always be there to listen. The pizza isn't so bad, either :).

· *If I could describe the word 'loyal,' it would be you. You're practically a sister to me. What I'm thankful for most is having a best friend who gets me.

· *You have so much courage and a great sense of self. You're very honest, sincere, talented, and apparently have a great memory of things that I don't remember happening!!

· *Thanks for always being a good friend and being on my side even when I'm probably wrong. You're one of the best parts about me marrying into this family and I love you!

· * You're a very patient and fun mother who I've always looked up to my entire life. You've always been supportive of my decisions, support I've needed many times from others and didn't get.

· *Essentially, you've always been a good and trusted friend. You make me laugh, you understand why I get irritated, and you have a beautiful gift of music, art, and comedy in general!

· *You're not afraid to try anything! Whenever I hear about a new trendy craft or skill, I'm sure you've already done it.

· *I'm thankful for you because you are as sweet a friend as they come. I liked you even before you broke out of your "shy" stage, and I admire how you look at life and live it to the fullest. You fulfill every single goal you set and are a light to others.

· *Man, sometimes reading about your life makes me tired! You're a very cute mother of 3 and are probably the most considerate wife I've ever known. You're honest. You're also very self-less and I admire your patience!

· *Every time I read your blog posts I laugh! I'll tell you again, please write a book!!

*I don't think you know how beautiful you are. I know it's not fair why some people are blessed in certain ways and others aren't, but you deserve to be happy and to have everything everyone else has. You're a good friend, and you're always very sincere.

· *Some women are born with amazing maternal instincts, some have to work at it (like me!). You are a wonderful mother and never think twice about serving others.

There.

Thank you.

Everything's shaping up for 'ol Erika

Last week was bad. Our car almost died! I was driving home on Friday (Oct. 29th) from the party store when I noticed that our oil light was constantly blinking at me. I called Dustin right away and told him what was happening. He asked if the car was smoking, was making funny noises, or even smelled questionable- None of the above. He then inquired where I was and finding out that I was only about 1 1/2 miles away, he told me just to come home. I was watching the dashboard like a hawk making sure the temperature didn't rise. It was an intence and scary drive, especially since I had Lillie in the car with me.
After I pulled up and got out of the car, I noticed there was a trail of oil down the road I just traveled. I went inside and in a panic-stricken voice called out to Dustin. He went outside and popped open the hood only to find that every square inch of the hood and engine was covered in oil. He even took one of our wheels off only to find more and more and more oil. The dipstick was bone dry, and even after adding 2 more quarts of oil, nothing was registering. That night was the Trunk-or-Treat, so we hurried and blew-up 50 water balloons for Lillie's costume (pictures to come in a later post) and all packed in to the 2-seater pickup to drive a little over 1/2 mile to the church parking lot, don't tell.
Luckily, we found a guy in our ward who specializes in Honda/Toyota mechanics (thank goodness!). We towed our beloved car over to his place a couple days later. A butt-load of money later (which would have been at least doubled at a 'real' place) we got our car back ONLY TO FIND that there must be car-angels out there watching over us. Apparently when that oil light flashes, it means there's no oil pressure at all going to the engine.... and usually when that happens, when an important seal has broken and all the oil has been gushing out of your engine, your engine usually explodes in about 15 seconds- rendering your car as a 2,000 pound paper weight.
You see why there must be car angels? Because I drove the car for a good 6 minutes after that happened. I was even driving it on I5 at a high speed for a good mile.

Well, naturally I didn't see it as a blessing at first. I was pretty upset! It's not like we just have that money laying around for this kind of set-back. All the money we had been saving to go to Idaho for Christmas has now gone to repairing our only vehicle. Another blessing, though, is that with just 90 dollars remaining to our name until the next payday (2 weeks later), I was miraculously able to buy groceries for our family of 4 for only 36 dollars. I bought all the usual stuff and have a dinner menu for at least 15 meals. Coincidence?

Things started shaping up in the most inconceivable way. Not only did the previous 2 miracles happen, but I also received a ticket to Time Out for Women! To make a long story short, My bro-in-law's mother wasn't able to go so she gave me her ticket. I spent this past Friday and Saturday at the convention center in Portland with Tacie and Laura. We even stayed in a nice hotel, ate at Red Robin and everything. No kids, no diapers, no bedtime routine, no accidents, no tantrums. I haven't slept that good in years. The speakers were incredible and with the theme of "Hope," I really did come back home with a renewed importance of my role as a mother- something I have been struggling with. It was an experience I had been praying for and that I really needed.

On top of THAT, I just received tickets for the Mo Tab Christmas Concert featuring David Archuleta! Tickets were so difficult to get that they turned the entire thing into a lottery, with just one entry per address. AND I WON! I've been trying to get tickets to this thing for 4 years now. We're not sure if we're going yet, but just receiving the tickets in the mail made my day yesterday.

PLUS, Dustin is on-call for his work this week. That means he's still working 40 hours a week, but after work from 5pm-7am he has an activated cell phone for emergency maintenance matters. It's a blessing (contrary to what your instincts might think) because all it means is more moo-la. So, maybe we can afford gas to Idaho and back plus a moving truck rental/expenses?! We'll see. Hopefully he gets called in a lot... (he want to, too)

So there you have it. It looks like things are finally turning around!

Can you belive it??

This was our tiny 6 pound 8 ounce Jack when he was just 9 days old...

...and now here's our handsome, happy little Jack a year old already!

The wierd stuff on my mind.

1. I love my family. Dustin and have have been living with his parents and my parents for 11 months now. We've really learned to appreciate the times we have together when it's just us together. We go way out of our way to spend time alone and have "immediate family time." The past 11 months have brought us way closer together. Monday night "family night" seems weird, because every night is family night.
2. I want a place to live. How I envy any and everyone who can afford to live on their own!! 8 months of unemployment and a butt-load of medical bills makes it so we can't right now, but hopefully soon. Be grateful that you don't have to fight over the TV, the thermostat, and who's eating whose cereal.
3. Jack is 1. I know I should have done a blog post (maybe I still will?) about his Happy Day- but it was a tad depressing for me. I really thought that by the time he was 1 I would have had a place to put his crib. For well over a year now, I've had a brand new nursery for him, stocked with brand new bedding, teddy bears, quilts, baskets, a lamp, newborn pictures, his name in wooden letters, and even a vinyl saying for a wall that I haven't been able to take out and put up. I even have paint samples picked out. I know, I'm whining about something insignificant- but isn't one of the best parts of having a baby is getting their room ready and customized? Needless to say, I cried for a long time after Jack went to bed that day.
4. Lillie is 3. And I have a headache.
5. Our stuff is in 4 different locations and it's driving me CRAZY!!!!!!!!!! But not to worry- we're saving up our money to afford a moving truck. The plan is to move everything back when we're in Idaho over Christmas. Sooo excited for that! Well, and also to go to Idaho for Christmas!
6. I need more willpower. I want to lose 7 pounds REALLY bad. Why 7? Because I have a stupid number in my mind of where I want to be. I know I could easily get there, but I'm not committed yet to give up all my treats. I need to eat better. I bet if I changed just my eating habits.......
7. I'm feeling like a horrible mother because I still haven't gotten Jack's 1 year pictures taken. I need to do that, I'm just slacking. And I need to get his 12 months vaccines. That's it. I'm scheduling it tomorrow.

Anyway, nothing too exciting. Just a glimpse at my thoughts lately.
I'll post pictures later when I feel like it!!

A Touchy Subject

Here's the deal. About 7 years ago I was terrified of gay people. I was uncomfortable around them and almost even... afraid of them. What the heck?! Why??
Answer: Because that's the way I was raised. My mother never specifically said she didn't like people who were gay, but every time we saw someone who was, she would make this "clearing her throat" sound, look down, stop talking, and quickly walk past them. I'm not blaming my mother, I'm sure she had early negative influences also.

Well, fresh out of high school, I took an intern position at a Theatre Camp (CGST). I will never forget how I felt that first hour or two after I was dropped off. I went in to meet the other staff, only to find that out of the 21 staff members, 11 were gay. I felt awkward and imagining myself there with "those people" for 2 1/2 months scared me.

A funny thing happened, as I'm sure you saw coming. I became really good friends with almost everyone. I was surprised to find out that they were normal human beings. It blew my mind. All this time I thought gay people were weird, horrible people- only to find out that they were just like everyone else in the world! I know, I know. I'm making it seem like I thought they were aliens. Well, maybe I did. That Summer I got a big slap in the face.

Any person who has been or is constantly persecuted usually ends up being nicer, more considerate, and accepting of others. The people I had the privilege of being friends with at CGST were exactly that. They knew how much it hurt to be hated and mocked by everyone, to be judged based on one part of who they were. To be talked about, disrespected, and unwanted almost every day. In spite of that, the people I knew at least, were kind. Even though Mormon's have a stereotype of being unaccepting of gays, they were still nice to me. One friend I had at CGST told me on the last day, "Usually Mormon's don't talk to me. You are the first Mormon who has ever been nice to me." Her words haunted me.

While Mormon's believe that marriage is to be between a man and a woman- we don't believe that having same-gender attractions are fake. We do believe that gender isn't an accident. For more on what Mormon's really believe, check out the following links:

http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?locale=0&sourceId=1aba862384d20110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=e1fa5f74db46c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD

http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=e5cbba12dc825110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD

The point that I'm trying to make is that I'm sick of all this. While I still firmly believe that marriage is to be between a man and woman, I still love those, and am respectful to all those who are gay. I'm tired of all the comments I hear, the jokes, the relentless mocking, the headline news when someone sees 2 guys holding hands. And PLEASE stop with your stupid argument that "I can't understand how it feels because I'm only attracted to the opposite gender." Well, you want to know how it would feel? It's easy. Have everyone tell you that your feelings towards your spouse, girlfriend, boyfriend, whatever- are fake and wrong. See how it feels. Have some compassion. We're taught that Heavenly Father "is no respector of persons" and loves us all equally. I can't explain everything, but please don't be one of those dumb Mormon's who contributes to the bad rep of: "You're the only Mormon who has ever been nice to me."

Really bad intentions

Most time I have good intentions, but they come out the wrong way and end up offending someone. However, there have been a few times that I bluntly did something on purpose that was really bad. I'm sure you have, too.

First Story: For Christmas one year, my little brother Bradley got the computer game called Baseball Pro '98. It was a big deal for a 10 year old. He didn't get very many other presents that year because of how expensive this particular game was. Well, that Summer the little twerp told on me when I took a bunch of quarters from my dad's humongous cup-o-change and rode my bike a mile away to Dairy Queen to get a Cookie Dough Blizzard (that's right, I still remember what kind). I was so furious that he was such a little tattle tale that I went into our office, took out his beloved computer game that was safely concealed in it's case, grabbed a ball point pen, and scratched the crap out of it. I'll admit, it felt good. Sweet Revenge!!
Well, obviously it didn't feel that good, because to this day I feel extremely guilty. Even writing about this incident 12 years later, I can still hear Brad in the back of my mind saying the next day, "Dad? Baseball Pro isn't working, can you please come help me?" Ahhhh! I never fessed up! What the heck would you have done if you were 12 and knew that Baseball Pro '98 was going to cost you $60 to replace- or a good 5 months worth of babysitting every single weekend (at the rate I was paid in 5th Ward)? I wasn't about to do that.
Plus, Brad was perfect. He never did anything wrong- so it's not like I could have gotten back at him by tatteling on him later.

Story #2: I told my supervisor that one of my sisters died just so that I didn't have to work over Christmas. Hahahaaaaa! I even faked crying on the phone and everything. I don't know why I couldn't have just quit like a normal person.

Dance

Today was Lillie's first day of Dance class. Her teacher's name is Miss Carly and Lillie loves her. I've been anticipating this day since I found out I was even having a girl! The best part is that her class has just 2 little girls. Talk about affordable one-on-one attention. The class agenda today was learning how to count to 8, learning how to skip (see the below pictures), doing some footwork with their tap shoes, and learning what left and right means. They also attempted stretching when Lillie got up and started running around the dance floor instead. I guess we'll have to practice that...

Our baby girl is 3!

I can't believe I have a 3-year-old! Lillie turned 3 in August, I'm just a little slow at documenting the occasion. We're a little broke, so we had to get creative. I planned a "Tea Party Birthday" themed event for her. Everyone dressed up in their 'Sunday best' and had tea (apple juice), cream puffs, brownie bites, homemade bread and jam, and some overly frosted pink or yellow cupcakes. I made her Birthday banner out of some construction paper, found her pinata for only 3.75 (what a steal), and used fresh flowers and bright table clothes for the table scape. Throughout the month I went to garage sales and DI and found some cute, real teacups and plates for each party guest to bring home as a favor. Budget wise, I came in at about 13.50 for everything. Most importantly, Lillie loved it. She still talks about it!

For her gift from us, Dustin made her this amazing dollhouse! It's to scale for an 11 1/2 inch doll (Barbie). He even made all the furniture! Because most everything was made out of scrap wood, everything only cost us 6.00. I painted it (with the help of my neighbor, Sue) and sewed the bedding, throw pillows, and curtains. She sure is spoiled!

Don't worry, Jack doesn't turn 1 until October 10 (10/10/10!). However, my niece and nephew's Birthdays are only 4 days apart, and Jack is just 2 months younger- so we had a combined 1st Birthday party for the three 1-year-olds. The only baby that ate their jumbo cupcake was Sayde! Andy and Jack wouldn't have anything to do with it, which is a little offensive means I spent forever making those cupcakes!

"No thanks!"

It's September 10th now, and here is my little Jack! 11 months old, exactly. And, not so little anymore. He's a solid 23 pounds, crawling all around, and starting to get a really playful personality. He's still laid back, but a lot more animated now. Oh, and the fohawk is gone. We gave him a buzz cut about 3 weeks ago. 3/8th's on the sides, 1/2 inch on the top. You should see him in his church outfit, he looks like a missionary!

And here's Miss Lillie Jo. Just happy, and living it up the 3-year-old way.

As for Dustin and I, we're still waiting to hear back about Dustin's job interview at the site. If he gets it, it will still be a while until he gets security clearance (1-6 months). If he doesn't, I'll go out and find a part time job, probably at nights so we can get out on our own. I dread working, but I'll do what I have to do to get by! I refuse to be a freeloader!

In the meantime, Dustin enjoys his job. He's been doing tiling, drywall work, siding repair, plumbing, and bids for his office. So, if we ever need to finish a basement, we can save on labor cost!

What's your thing?

So, I'm not sure why I'm so down about this lately, but I really want to have a "thing." Everybody has a thing. Some people are runners, some people are readers. Some are singers, bakers, or fashionistas, or Thespians, or entrepreneurs. Some are handy-man's (Dustin), or car mechanics. Some people are amazing photographers. I'm feeling like I'm not great at anything. I think I'm good at some things, though. I enjoy sewing, cooking, baking, singing, playing the piano, and running. However, there's already a friend or family member that would be considered the best for that particular talent. For example, I love, love, love to play the piano. I also love to sing. But I can think of like, 11 people on the top of my head that are family members or close friends that can do both of those considerably better than I. So... what is my thing? I'm feeling a little mediocre. I know it's just because I'm being dumb and am comparing myself to others, but even knowing that, I'm still bummed about it. And I know everyone will comment saying, "There's always going to be somebody better, so get over it." (or maybe that's what I would post) but it doesn't change the way I feel.

Where should we end up?

After talking to a person yesterday who has traveled the world doing remarkable things, I felt enlightened. He said, "You're so lucky to be here in the Northwest. You can go to the beach, the mountain, the river, the lake, go hiking, eat at incredible restaurants- everything is at your fingertips." It's true, though. Everybody thinks of Portland or Seattle as cities with too much rain. Well, have you ever visited? Sure, it rains for 5 months during Winter, but because of the moisture, it's beautiful, like, stunningly beautiful for the other 7 months. Plus, just because it's rainy outside doesn't mean it's not sunny! And if you think about it, almost everywhere has a long period of "unwanted" weather. For example, when we lived in Las Vegas it was unbearably hot for 6 months a year. We had to stay inside! In Idaho, it snows for 6 months a year. So, in the NW it rains.
Wow, that was a tangent!

Anyway, the point is, after that conversation I haven't been able to stop thinking about all the choices I have. Dustin and I have the agency to raise our family wherever we want. We've been assuming that Idaho Falls is the perfect place for everyone to grow up. Now I'm not so sure.
First of all, before I start offending all the South-Eastern-Idahoans, I do have to say that Idaho Falls is a great place to live. For starters, there are tons of lakes, camping sites, beautiful mountains, and the best perk- our families. Our closest friends and family members live there. Lillie and Jack have cousins galore to play with on a regular basis! It's an amazing circle of support.

My only complaint is the lack of diversity. While I love being surrounded with people who have the same values and beliefs as I, I secretly miss all of the crazy, sometimes weird liberals that Portland has to offer. It's a breath of fresh air to go to a restaurant and observe how the world is (and also be the only table not drinking). I feel like there are plenty more opportunities to "stand out" and speak up about when I believe in. I love the idea of living in an area packed with more culture and hilarious bumper stickers than Idaho Falls. Plus, out here sidewalks and curbing come standard- a rare feature in SE Idaho.

Now, this doesn't mean we're moving to Vancouver, Washington for life. It doesn't have to be here. It could be Georgia, or Long Island, or DC, or conveniently Seattle. The only state I wouldn't consider is California (for reasons that WILL offend certain persons).
Obviously I will go wherever the work is. Currently Dustin's job is primarily located in Portland and we're residing in Vancouver. And, right now Dustin is waiting to hear back from 2 job interviews that are both located in Idaho. I would love for Dustin to get either job in Idaho- but if he doesn't, then we won't live there right now.

The truth is, I'm afraid of settling down. I feel like there are so many other places that would be fun to live in, so why Idaho?
But then again, why not Idaho?

The Flour Inncident

The day after arriving in Vancouver, I ran out of the room for about 2 minutes and came back to find this. Only 5 lbs of white all-purpose flour for me to spend the next 2 hours cleaning up. Enjoy!

Oh boy, it's a long one.

I thought you all would be interested to know that Elmo is getting potty trained. Because of his interest in this feat, he's also getting thrown in the washer quite often.

June was busy. I'm anticipating July to be even more packed with various events. June consisted of a few Birthday's, our anniversary, camping, Brycen's blessing, swimming, getting 2 teeth, Father's Day, and the never-ending trial of potty training. Here are a few (well, a lot of) pictures. The descriptions will be below the photograph.


To start June off, I found out that Jack loves getting his head scratched. Like, drools and zones out for minutes at a time. Here's Angie doing what Jack loves best.

For Julie's Birthday Party, Alli and I got together and made these cupcakes. Julie eats popcorn almost everynight and is an incredible bowler. The mini popcorn cupcakes are made simply out of white and yellow marshmallows. The bowling pins are a regular-sized cupcake with a mini cupcake stacked on top, then a doughnut hole stacked on top of the mini cupcake. To get the smooth finish we melted white frosting then dipped the assembled cupcakes.

For our 4th anniversary, we dropped both kids off at Aunt Dana's house for the night and took off camping. We both love camping, and both loved the idea of not spending hardly any money for our anniversary. Let me tell you, it was memorable. We were able to go see some waterfalls in Swan Valley, make s'mores, go shooting, and hike to some natural hot springs in the river around midnight. The more negative parts were coming in contact with the following: a million red carpenter ants, a snake, some ground squirrels, 15 mosquito's in my face at all times, a bat (that flew into me then flapped its wings in my hair), a very close skunk that Dustin threw a rock at, and a hiking trail-o-beetles. By the end of the night I was bawling.

Shootin' the 22.

Did I mention that we forgot firewood? After searching for a few minutes, Dustin took off his shoes, crossed the stream, and climbed up a cliff to retrieve a dead tree. What a man.

Here's the hot spring we soaked in for a while. It was pretty awesome.

To make up for the crizzapy camping attempt, the next night (Friday) we went to a quaint little restaurant in Idaho Falls called The Snake Bite, then met up with Eric Harker (who happened to be in town) for a night of bowling.

The top score is Dustin's, then Eric's, then mine.

Jack is always really happy and smiles on command. Here he is after a delicious dinner of peas and applesauce.

And... Jack finally got his first tooth at the late age of 8 months! Then 4 days later he got his second one.

On the last day of June, we picked up Alyse and went to the splash park in Rexburg. The girls had fun chasing each other around, Jack was very focused on the water, and I attempted to get a tan.

On July 1st, we packed up and headed off to Washington for a little while. Although we missed the Freedom Celebration in Idaho Falls, we had a very entertaining show put on in the cul-de-sac by our neighbor, Eric. After several unsuccessful attempts to blow out the street light with roman candles and large explosives, we sat and watched the guy get a little drunk and yell out each name of every firework about four times. The finale was entitled, "Kings Ransom! King's Ransom! King's Ransom, everybody! King's Ransom!!"

Age

I was married when I was only 19 years old. I met my future husband 2 weeks after I turned 19 and just knew he was the guy I wanted to be with. There was no reason to wait! Sure, I didn't talk to him about every single detail of my life, and no, I didn't learn about every single detail of his- but I knew what was important to me and he met all of those specifications. I didn't go to BYU-Idaho to get married. In fact, I took a 4 credit Mission Prep class at 7AM M-F because I've always desired to go on a mission. I had no plans on marrying anytime soon. However, after I met this one Dustin Miller my whole life instantly changed. It came as a shock. I never imagined myself getting married so young. Your life never goes the way you always thought it would- it ends up being better.
Since the day we were married on June 24th, 2006 (4 years ago) our relationship has only become stronger. Dustin's better than I ever thought he was and I don't think anyone else could make me happier. Dustin is smart, easy-going, humble, and very realistic. He doesn't care about material things and is a very hard worker.
I'm sure some people may have looked on our short, 4 month engagement and thought I was stupid, or that I was making the biggest mistake of my life. But no, YOU WERE WRONG. I listened to the spirit and made the most important decision of my life. I've never doubted my decision to marry Dustin.

I had Lillie in August of 2007. We both wanted lots of kids, and Lillie was the biggest blessing we've been given. I was only 20. Was I too young to be a mother? Was it a stupid, immature decision to try to get pregnant? No. Because unlike some of my other friends, I never thought living the cool single-life at a University where all I have to look forward to is getting a degree in something I won't want to do in 10 years and figuring out how I'm going to pay for my 7 dollar martini's that weekend. You can't say that a 4 year bachelors degree is better than the incredible responsibility of raising children. I'm not discouraging education by any means, but I often hear the false opinion about how if you have kids before you graduate that you're throwing your life away.
Well guess what?? I guess I threw my life away! Actually, I'm only 23 and though I have absolutely no idea what I want to "do" for a profession for the rest of my life, I've always known I wanted to be a mother. So until I narrow my majors down from culinary arts, English, music, or teaching (or maybe something I haven't even realized I enjoy yet), I'm going to try to be the best at the most influential role I can ever be, a mother. After all, I only get to do this for about 1/5th of my life. I'm going to put everything I can into it, enjoy it, and savor it. I've never heard anyone looking back on their life say, "I wish I would have worked more."

No. Age doesn't matter. If you don't get married until you're 45, then great. If you think that waiting to have kids until you're finished with your schooling and 3 years of experience is the responsible decision, than wait. Do whatever works for you. I did what works for me. I love my husband, I love my two beautiful children. I love being a mother. I'm only 23 and feel so blessed to be where I am right now.

33rd Place!

Yes friends, I finished. After a couple of months of training, I ran the Teton Dam Half Marathon on Saturday, June 12th at 7:30AM. It was about 5o degrees, 9 mph winds, and a lot of hills. I ran the 13.1 miles in 2 hours and 9 minutes- averaging 9 minute and 51 second minute miles. My goal was to finish between 2:15 and 2:17, so I was pretty shocked to find that I finished in only 2:09. My placeing was 33rd out of 77 for my age division (20-24 female).

I have the best husband. He woke up at 6:30, got himself and the kids ready (and fed), then drove up to Rexburg to cheer me on all morning. I saw him at mile marker 5, 7, 10, and of course the finish line. Lillie cheered really loud for me, too. I loved it. Unfortunately, I forgot to charge the battery in our camera, so I have no real pictures of me actually running. This could possibly be a good thing, because I'm not sure I look so great in my running action shots! The following pictures were taken about 3 minutes after I finished. Thanks Dana for bringing a working camera.

As you can see, my sister Dana ran it with me (or I ran it with her). She's so fast, even after having 5 kids she still pulled in a time of 1 hour and 51 minutes! She placed 3rd in her division. I'm so proud of her! We didn't really train together (obviously) due to the fact that she runs a lot faster than I can, but she still motivated me to even attempt this feat.

In the end:

I'm proud of myself. My left knee hurts. But, I accomplished something that I didn't realistically see myself ever doing. The last time I've ever ran 13 miles was with my good friend Michael Holt... and that was almost exactly 5 years ago. The training was hard (not gonna lie), but not impossible- just hard to get used to at first. I worked hard, woke up early, and pushed through it. It's hard to find time to run with 2 kids around!

I also have some people to thank: First of all, My Husband for his unconditional support. At times I was slightly offended when he almost forced me do my runs during the week, but he knows I'm a natural quitter. Couldn't have stayed motivated without him! Plus, he so willingly watched the kids for me, and even has driven out to find me about 1/2 hour into my long weekly runs just to bring me water.

Second, my sister. If she can find time to run with 5 kids, then I can.

And third, the cast of Glee. Couldn't have done it without you, all!

So.... I challenge all of YOU to make a goal and work hard to accomplish it. YOU can do it. While I was running around mile 11 or so on Saturday, I started thinking about what I was doing 6 months ago. Nothing. Jack was 2 months old and I specifically remember not working out and not even being able to run one mile. I mostly just sat around all day and considered my exercise walking around at Winco once a week, or nursing.

Moral of the Story:

Do it.

La-dee-la

So you would think with Dustin being unemployed that I have all this extra free time, but it's not true. Everyday has something different to offer. I'm in the middle of potty-training Lillie (which isn't as easy as I was hoping it would be), Dustin's spending a large portion of each day looking for work, I'm still training for this 1/2 marathon on Saturday (which takes up quite a bit of time), plus the regular day-to-day things that just need to be done. On top of that, Dustin has been fully maintaining his Grandma's yard plus the past 6 weeks. Also, Dustin and I have been doing huge "jobs" around the house in order to earn gas money to get to the family reunion in July (Pacific City, OR). We recently cleaned out the disgusting back garage. That took 2 days. We found disturbing amounts of dead mice, a couple of bird nests, cat pee, and risked disease by cleaning out the huge bird aviary room that, might I add, hasn't even been occupied by any birds for at least 12 years- yet had about 3 inches of bird seed on the floor covered in bird feces. Oh my gravy- it was disgusting. It's all nice and sanitary now. We ended up taking 3 loads of crap to the dump.
This past week we spent many hours scraping off the paint, then repainting this wooden canopy thingie in the back yard. It used to be white, but now is a pretty burnt orange color. It looks really clean and new especially with the pretty greenery behind and flowers all around.
We're also painting the trim and doors for the entire upstairs next week! It'll be hard work, but we've been tight on spending money and really needed to find a way to pay for this family reunion trip. It's nice to be independent and not have to rely on money from anyone else! Even at our poorest, we've always found a way to pay for every single bill and expense. Whether from me working, us selling plasma, selling items we don't need, doing odd-jobs, or whatever it be- we've thankfully never needed or asked for money from anyone else. I'm a firm believer that there's always a way to get more money if you really need it.
Besides that....
We never thought we would be unemployed for 5 months now! I guess you could say that I'm more than ready for Dustin to find work. He's putting in a lot of hours in the job search. He's applied to over 400 jobs in the past 5 months. He's getting frustrated and a little discouraged when he calls to check on the status of the application, only to hear from the HR rep that they've received over 200 applications for that one particular job posting. Ahhh! Whatever, he'll find something! He's been applying all over the country, too-- so if you hear about anything.....
Tomorrow's my big day! I'm running in the Teton Dam Half Marathon in Rexburg at 7:30AM. I'm a little nervous. My knees and ankles have been a little sore lately. My goal is to finish and to run the entire time. We'll see how it goes!

GLEE Volume 3

I haven't told very many people, but I'm running the Teton Dam Half Marathon in 2 weeks. I started running in February, did Insanity in March and April, then started running more seriously starting in May. I'll admit, I'm slow. But, I know that if I keep it up my pace will pick-up. Right now I'm running 4 days a week with 1 day of cross training. I usually only run 3-5 miles, then on Saturdays I run 8-11 miles.
Anyway, it's hard. I'm slow. But I really want to accomplish something grand in life, and this is my first step (well, besides getting married, having a beautiful family, and being sealed to my family for all eternity). I've decided that if I can do it, anyone can.
And how's the weight loss going?? I tried Insanity and ended up gaining a flipping 7 pounds. Retarded. But, I did increase my push-ups from a whopping 2 when I started to 25 when I ended. With running, however, I've lost 2 pounds. I need to lose about 12 more to be at the weight I was when I got married. However, I was only 19 when I got married, and I have had 2 kids since then... not sure if 10 pounds is in the cards for me, but whatever. Running is a great and fun activity and I currently have a perfect blood pressure score. Plus, I've almost got the latest Glee soundtrack memorized already. So even if I don't lose any weight, I'm still doing it.

Some people call me crazy...

...but I love being a mom.

Mother's Day 2010

Dustin's Gun Fund

Dustin has been in love with some fancy gun that he says is "the finest piece of weaponry known to mankind." It's an M1A. About 2 months ago he started a gun fund (a jar that says "Gun Fund" with a pic of the M1A on it) and has been saving up money via selling plasma. I'm so proud of him, after his Birthdaya week ago, he's successfully saved up $630! I'll admit, I didn't think he could do it, but he's proving me wrong. For being unemployed and finding other various sources of income for this fund, he's doing a great job. The gun is $1499 brand new, and about $1000 used, so he still has a little bit to go. I'm just so proud of him!

And BTW- my last post was aimed at noone who reads my blog. There was a bit of discrepancy about it, and I just wanted to officially clear it up!

To Thank or Not to Thank

Did your mother teach you to send out thank you cards? I find it not only appropriate to send them for wedding gifts, shower gifts, but sometimes for Christmas and Birthday gifts. It seems like this practice is lessening. I was always taught to send a card for every significant gift given and to do it as soon as I could. I think it's a nice gesture of appreciation, and though I'm not giving a gift to receive a thank you, I still think you should. Don't we all like receiving a nice card in the mail to know that the recipiant appreciated it? A 25cent card that takes about 1 minute to write out and mail is the least one could do to say thank you to someone else's thought and time. After all, I'm sure their generosity took more than 1 minute towards you.

I once met a lady in our Stake in Las Vegas that, while laughing, told me and a group of ladies that she's never sent out one thank you card her entire life, including her wedding and both wedding and baby showers and gifts. Her "hilarious" excuse was that she directly told some of the givers thank you for the gift(s) in person or texted them, and that the people shouldn't be giving to receive a thank you card. Can you believe that? The other ladies I was standing with all glared at her- one even spoke up and said, "That's very rude."

Obviously not every gift is in need of a hand written thank you card. I'm not suggesting you buy a costco-sized box of stationary and write out thank you's to people who hold open doors at the mall or let you borrow a movie, I know I don't. But I'm sure we can all agree that sending a thank you card is never a bad idea, and that when in doubt, send one.

I know writing out and sending thank you cards is tedious and tiring, but it's just what you do. You don't text, facebook, call, or worse off, assume that by saying thank you at the time you've done enough- you send a thank you card. We're all busy, but atleast someone wasn't too busy to go out, spend their hard-earned money, and buy you a gift!

Want to learn more about Thank You Note Etiquette? Check out the link.
http://www.thank-you-note-samples.com/sample-thank-you-notes.html

We have some exciting news!!

Nope, we don't. I just thought that maybe you were sick of all my million blog posts lately that you wouldn't read my blog unless I tricked you.

Anyway, the real post title should say, "Another 5 more pictures." I guess we've been busy this month or something, only to get busier. Dustin turns 28 tomorrow! That will be another blogpost.

I read a certain friend's blog (you know who you are) and got inspired to check out the Idaho Falls Zoo. It wasn't bad! First of all, 3 and under are free and adults are 5$ a person. We paid 10$ for our whole family to come in. Plus, we packed a lunch. The zoo isn't big, by any means, but it has all the cool animals and it's the perfect size for a toddler that has a short attention span. We'll go again, for sure.
Here's my Jack again. I'm obsessed with this little guy. He's just so happy and squishy. He's sitting up now!
Alli's baby's quilt. I should have just said, "Brycen's quilt." Anyway, I liked the way it turned out. I used a pattern this time and learned how to bind! I fell in love with it and was seriously considering making another one for Jack.

Here it is inside, and you can see the back fabric.

Tonight we had 2 of Lillie's cousin's over for a sleepover! Alyse and Lillie are both 2 and are best friends. They boss each other around and tonight they even insisted on sleeping in the same bed. After 1/2 hour of hearing them giggling they finally fell asleep.

So that's it for now, friends! I promise I won't trick you again unless we really do have some exciting news.

Oh, and that job Dustin had an interview for: Dustin was placed #3 out of 5. The first guy turned it down, and they're still waiting to hear back from guy #2. If guy#2 doesn't take it, then Dustin will have a job! We'll just have to wait and see.... but keep praying please.