The Happy Two

Who doesn't want to live this day again? Man it's a shame it only happens once in a lifetime, (or so you hope). What a surreal day. Two years ago at this moment we had just arrived at the temple. My family and I had stayed at the Hilton downtown the night before. I'd been in hysterics that night because I thought I'd lost my temple recommend and for those of you who are not LDS you can not go into the temple without it! So, I was panicking, my family and I searched everywhere high and low for about an hour and a half. I had called Jason, and he was searching in his car and everywhere else he could think of as well. Lastly I thought to call the room where my brother Jesse was staying even though I didn't remember going into that room. The conversation went a little something like this.

Jesse?

Si Señorita ? (in his most authentic mexican accent.)

Can you look around that room for a blue planner? It has my temple recommend in it.

Si Señorita.

(silence for a moment)

Si Señorita.

What, it's there? (annoyed)

Si Señorita.

My blue planner is in YOUR ROOM??

Si Señorita.

I hung up, and ran to pound his door down. He opened it most casually, to find my entire family in a half circle standing around his door, not amused. He had somehow missed out on the chaos and had just casually been watching TV.

The weird part was, I just couldn't stop the hysterical crying. The hysterical crying that deforms your face. I cried, and I cried, and I cried... for about another hour. Cried myself to sleep in fact. Just over the joy and pain of it all. It was much needed. The pressure had mounted, the flood gates had opened. If it hadn't happened then, it surely would have happened the next morning which would have been disasterous. Brides are pretty much insufferable... let's be honest. It's like the worst case of PMS times 100. I think we are pretty lucky to make it to our actual big day, if no one in the family kills us first. Luckily I woke up peaceful as a lamb, though a little puffy eyed, on our wedding day... and greeted my husband-to-be with a warm, tender, not-a-care-in-the-world smile on that most fabulous morning of all mornings.

So Jason my love, here's to us! Who'd a thought we would make it this far?!? (that's a joke... I think pretty much everyone did.) You make me sublimely happy. There are specific reasons I needed you, and so many additional reasons I have been shown along the way since this day two years ago. You are my perfect fit. Peas and carrots. You are the best man I've ever known. You help me and will help me become the most perfect me possible in this lifetime. I can only hope to do the same for you. I love you and admire you more than words can express.

The Twilight Zone...

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- "A planned meet-and-greet for the star of teenaged vampire movie is cancelled after hundreds of fans stormed the entrance to the Stonestown Galleria Mall. People started crowding the front of the mall at about 5:00 a.m. Monday for the chance to buy a t-shirt and get a wristband to meet Robert Pattinson who plays the character of Edward in the "Twilight" movie. That film, based on at least five popular books, is due to open in theaters later this month.

Organizers reportedly cancelled the event because of the crush of fans. Witnesses tell KRON 4's Yoli Aceves the large crowd overwhelmed a list organizers had set up to register fans to meet the actor.

It's unclear if the event will be rescheduled."

The strange thing about this article is that I have a feeling it was not the actor that this mob was crushing each other for. I have a strange sense that it was Edward they wanted. Yes. Hoping for just a moment that this young man was truly a vampire, coming to suck their blood and invite them into immortality.

Ok. Here we go. I have not read the books. I did however see the movie this last weekend, and I enjoyed it. I didn't have dreams about Edward standing over my bed at night, but I liked it. I don't understand why there needs be the opposite extremes with this Twilight business... that people seem to be either unbelieveably obsessed, as in it is taking over their lives and they are leaving their husbands over it or they hate and mock it. I have found a happy medium. Again, I haven't read the books, (so I'm sure you obsessors out there are thinking that's why I haven't joined you) but I am at a happy medium with the premise of them and with the movie.

To the obsessed of you: It's just not fair to compare your poor human husband to a God-like super human vampire. I know, hubbies all do things that are "sooo not Edwardish," but so do we. That's called reality. There has to be a healthy sense of perspective here, and if these fictional novels are affecting your relationship with the hub in the slightest, walk away. Turn away from Twilight while you still can! Stop dreaming of starting your own religion with Stephanie Meyer as your prophetess! Now I don't think loving the books is necessarily an unhealthy obsession, but it is you I am speaking to who have become increasingly more unhappy since reading the books because you are not, and can never be, Miss Bella Swann.

To you Twilight haters: Hey, let them love it. I've seen creepier things when the Star Wars and Harry Potter books and movies have come out... who hasn't? (In fact, maybe you were one of those creepies who camped out all night outside the bookstore with a cloak and wizards wand. P.S. That cloak is not invisible. We see you.) The fact that the books still have so much power over you as to make you abhor them and hate Twilight obsessors means that you secretly want to indulge yourself in the fantasy as well. Come out of denial, or just stop the hate and live your life peacefully among the Twilight lovers, as I do.

So much to tell so little time

It's weird I keep thinking that things are about to slow down. Like relaxation time is right around the corner. But no! I'm seriously gonna be a grannie before I know it... I'll be sitting in my rocker... telling Jason to turn the TV down and turn his hearing aid up... and I'll wonder where our lives have gone. How did the years pass so quickly? Scary. How can anyone with the ability to recognize any ounce of logic in the universe believe that this life is the end? What a sad belief. Or lack of belief.

Lucy hit her four month mark yesterday. I shed a tear of pride and joy. Her most recent discoveries are her thumb (mostly to suck) and her feet... which I assume will also serve for sucking very shortly. She is almost sleeping through the night, but it doesn't even matter because I wake up every few hours to peer at her anyway. I love being a mother. I was born to mother. I had not even a glimpse of how true that was until she arrived!

Jason and I went and spent a night up at the Chateau at Deer Valley last weekend and it was most superb. Topping it off with dinner at Ruth's Chris, it doesn't get better than that! Thank you NorthStar Crew! What a thoughtful gesture. If we'd have known you reserved a full condo, we would have invited you all to come along! I know you meant it to be a romantic getaway but man it was so nice that Jason and I each had our own bedroom. That was the nicest thing you could have done for us. (Just kidding. Sad! haha.) But really this place slept eight people. Crazy.

So, I'm a Jazz fan. Love the Jazz. A couple weeks ago we went up to this signing party with the players. It was fun, but about half way through the event, my feathers got a little ruffled and my pride most definitely crept in. I spent the last little while looking around thinking about what these guys had really done to deserve to be the idols of all these little kids. What kind of fathers are you? What kind of husbands? What kind of moral code do you live by? How kind are you to people when no cameras are around? I'm not saying that all of them live up to their professional athlete stereotype... I'm sure some are good hubbys and dads. But, you catch my drift. Sad about society. Then again I am a participator of all the hype so I guess I can't point the finger. At any rate, when we got up to Deron Williams I gave him a signed photo of me and thanked him for coming. His expression was a little awkward for a moment but I think as he looked over my autographed picture, deep down he felt immense gratitude.

Yo yo yo

I have a little morsel of joy to share with you all. So I have been taking an adult hip hop beginners class with my friend Amanda for the last couple of months. It has been hilarious. We laugh all class long, watching ourselves in the mirrors. I've never taken a dance class in my life, so it's been particularly amusing learning those routines...a little Luda... a little fitty cent. I get to be as ghetto as I've always wanted to be in that class. Now as I've mentioned I have been known to cut a little rug. But routines? oh no. Never been my forte. Ask my sisters. Anyway, Our teacher has Usher moves. She is legit. 2 legit 2 quit. She proposed something quite exhilarating to our class last week, and utterly terrifying at the same time. "The dance studio is doing a recital in January at the Regan auditorium and I wanted to know if you guys want to do a number." Awkward glances were exchanged. Beads of sweat broke out. Ear lobes turned beet red at the prospect. Until my Amanda girl throws both arms in the air, and triumphantly exclaims, "YES!! Let's do it!" We all broke into tears, skipping and laughing as we ran towards each other, crying, hugging. Yes folks, thats the truth- I will be making my big hip hop debut sometime come the new year. (Specific dates will not be mentioned). She is teaching us to C walk. She is teaching us to krump. We are basically gangsters. We will be gettin jiggy wit it in front of a huge auditorium of parents who will be coming to watch their little 4 year old ballerinas. 7 or 8 of us dumpy adult hip hop beginners. I asked her if we graduated after the big performance, ya know.. to like advanced hip hoppers. She said, "More like Intermediate beginners." I said, "I'm gonna go ahead with advanced hip hoppers, but thanks." I can't believe it, all my nightmares are about to come true! (and I know you've had that nightmare, too.) However, just a little too much fun to refuse.

A word on religion and politics...

I was reading in the LA times this morning about the protesting that has been going on at the LDS temples in California with all of the hype surrounding Proposition 8. Quite frankly, it left me baffled. I don’t feel upset by those who are against Propostition 8, those who are for gay-marriage. I understand that it is a difficult and sensitive debate. Regardless of my personal stance on this issue, I do feel confused at how shocked so many are that “a church would get involved in such a matter.” Are you serious?

"Jeff Flint, strategist for Yes on 8, said "I am appalled at the level of Mormon-bashing that went on during the Proposition 8 campaign and continues to this day," he said. "If this activity were directed against any other church, if someone put up a website that targeted Jews or Catholics in a similar fashion for the mere act of participating in a political campaign, it would be widely and rightfully condemned."

Members and leaders of the Catholic Church and other Christian churches were also heavily involved in the campaign to pass Proposition 8. The Knights of Columbus, which is tied to the Catholic Church, gave $1 million, and several evangelical groups gave millions more. But they have not come under the same kind of attack.

Leaders of the No-on-8 campaign said they did not believe they were engaged in Mormon-bashing. "This is not about religion," said Jacobs. "This is about a church that put itself in the middle of politics."

So, I'd like to know, what on earth is worth a church getting involved in if not politics? Should religion be limited to the light and fluffy, easy things in life like humanitarian projects and taking cookies to new neighbors? What has a greater effect on the citizens of this country than politics? And if it happens to be a moral war that is threatening the security and protection of the family unit, what is a worthier cause to “get involved” in? I’m sorry that the sense of morality is ever decaying in the world we live in. I’m sorry that fewer and fewer seem to have the courage to stand up for what they believe in, but the reality is that every organized religion that claims to believe in the Bible as the word of God should be just as involved in Proposition 8 as has been the LDS church. Should religion be nothing more than a passive influence in our lives that has no direct affect on the secular decisions we make? Or, as Christians, should the gospel of Jesus Christ be the most compelling force in our lives; the very essence of each and every decision each day. If what we say we believe is truly what we believe, and if we have any ounce of conviction surrounding those beliefs, what is more important in this life than defending them?

“In general, the church 'does not oppose civil unions or domestic partnerships,' that involve benefits like health insurance and property rights. The church is not anti-gay. It is pro-marriage between a man and a woman." This is not a civil rights movement.

You have a right to take whatever political stance you choose. Completely your prerogative. But don't tell me that religion has no right in affecting how we feel about this or that political issue; that no church or religion should even be involved. You must think no one possibly believes the doctrine of their religion is true let alone strives to live by it.

La locura en nuestra casa

The other night I started chasing Jason around the kitchen. We happen to have a good sized bar and island in our kitchen, and these things have created an ideal location for husband chasing. Round and around we go. Stop, turn around, start chasing him in the opposite direction, round and around we continue. You might be asking yourself why I was chasing him. However, I feel the more appropriate inquiry would be why he was running from me. Regardless, on about our fifth time rounding the bar, I thought, "Gosh, I'm going to eat it." The very moment that thought occurred to me, it all happened in slow motion. My left foot kicked the chair with unbelievable force at the table. Pain shot through my foot and up my leg. I heard the chair crash backwards to the floor. My frame doubled over, wincing in agony, a curse word may or may not have escaped me... arms in airplane wing position in attempt to regain balance; momentum not slowing, face getting dangerously close to the hardwood floor. And then it happened. Face- plant into the lower part of the refrigerator, body toppling down after me. As I lay there, my life flashed before my eyes. I saw a white light, and I remembered being a small child in our house in Idaho Falls, my older brothers calling me a boy because of my short hair...turning to cry as I fled... I saw myself as a little girl fling that baseball bat so hard into the air and watch it soar and ping Vanessa in the head (accident)... and the horror I felt as she started to cry and my dad came out to see what had happened... I remembered momentarily forgetting Bethany's horrible sunburn and slapping her back so hard, and scrambling to my feet to run the heck out of there before she could catch me... as scenes from my childhood continued to flash... I realized it was the flash of the camera, as my dear husband stood over me, always waiting and ready for an opportune time to capture my finest moments in life.

While the part about my life flashing before my eyes is not exactly true, nor the part about seeing a white light, writing this post has sure made me think of some fun memories. I was positive I broke a few toes, but it turns out I didn't. Surprisingly enough, I am pretty much fully recovered by now.

Did I mention how big of a crush I have? Oh man.

I got it bad for her.




Aimei, these pics are for you, since you were the donator of the shoes.

And Allyson, this one's for you, because I remember you posting something similar of Max. They are meant to be.

Lucia started out as a pumkin yesterday. She didn't look much like a pumkin to me though, she just looked like a little gangster. I tried to spruce it up with clipping the flower on the beanie but it really didn't help much. Doesn't she look like she's from the hood? My sister said the orange kinda looks like a prison jumpsuit. haha.

Jason liked this one more. We found this little "Wiggle Worm" suit at Taylor Made Thursday night, and we couldn't resist. I promise it will get more fun to dress up for you in years to come Lucy. She wasn't really too thrilled with it all. Poor little worm.

Jason thought it would be funny to greet the trick-or-treaters like this, but took the mask off after a family in our ward with their three adorable tiny girls left horrified. I'm not gonna lie I was pretty creeped out too.

For the evening out, our first stop was Dave and Allyson's place. Amazing home made doughnuts and home made root beer. Thanks you guys! Then we went to Stacy and Jodee's party, loved the costumes you guys. So funny. Sadly, Jason's Captain Hook costume was rented almost as quickly as he returned it, so we had to improvise and recycle our Grease get-ups. I felt like Sandy most of the night except when standing next to Stacy, upon which I promptly realized I looked more like RuPaul. See what I mean below. I should have stuffed pillows in the tush and put a little more bronzer on. Dang it! There's always next year. Thanks for such a fun time girls!

P.S. if you were wondering where my personality went on this post, the laundry sucked it right out of me. I've been trying to be lively, but really, I got nothing here. I think the need to simplify my life is ever more present, and here I am with only one baby. How do moms stay on top of it all? From now on I will be rotating the same three outfits and requiring everyone in my household to do the same. Anyway, I am sitting here from our bedroom listening to my husband watch the BYU game in the family room... with every shout he gives the TV, Lucy startles and starts crying, he apologizes over and over again in his softest Daddy voice, gets her calmed down... just in time to yell obscenities again. It's happened 3 or 4 times now. I can't say I'm not slightly amused. I better go rescue her and see what all the fuss is about. Happy Halloween!