Anniversary #6

Robert's Mom watched the kids so we could go out. We got our favorite icecreams at the Dairy Keen in Heber, and then we were off to Park City!
Robert really wanted to go on the Alpine Slide--so I agreed. I was scared, but I agreed.
Getting ready to go.

So far I survived the lift ride. . .

See how much more relaxed he is than me? lol
It wasn't too bad, though. I actually really liked it. Just not the price ;D.

You can't go to Park City without window shopping. Loosey Moosey had a makeover since we saw her last. . .

These two look about the same, though.

MMMMMmmmmm. Mainstreet Pizza and Noodle. So Good!

The lighting was pretty good too.

All in all it was a great day. And we went dancing that night--which was a BLAST! But, we don't have any pics of that :/.

I have so much to do

There's so much I want to blog, study, create, clean, that I am paralyzed by the thought of all of it. I need to make a list. This is a good enough place to do it, right?

Complete Independent Study course
Catch up in Journal (I'm 4 weeks behind.)
Blog Trip to Utah
Create Travel Books
Create bathroom sign
Send signs to family
Clean.
Clean some more.
Excercise
Laundry
De-Junk!

Now, where to start! I honestly can't figure it out.

Anything New?

Not really. That's why I haven't been posting again. That, and soon we'll be going on "vacation" for a month (a rotation in Provo), so I probably won't be posting much then either. It will be nice to take a breather. A breather from what, exactly, I don't know.

Since I've been in a really rotten mood lately, I'm a little worried that I'm going to do something stupid or say something stupid--especially on here--so I'm just not going to say anything more for awhile. Here's some pictures. Not even new ones. Just some pictures.

Nana's Birthday. . . still catching up

Catching up on April: Nana Turns 5!

It took me forever to find the energy to throw her a party, but it turned out really nice. We had a Tangled theme. Rapunzel reminds me a lot of Nana: never cutting her long blonde hair--but when she did, it turned brown; climbing everywhere; I used to braid her hair a lot, or it would get into things; she sings really well, and a lot; she also has an evil fake mother and magical healing powers (okay, maybe not those last two, but I AM in love with how awesomely wicked the mother is--such a great character).

I used a bunch of +ups and bought her an awesome tower tent thingy for pretty cheap at Rite Aid. I thought it was perfect. The girls all pretended to be princesses. It looked like they had a lot of fun. Although, one of the girls ate all of Nan's easter candy when no one was looking. That made Nana kind of sad. Poor girl. I was fine with getting the candy out of the house, though!

Things I Want

Okay. It's time for me to be shallow again. I've had a really hard, uh, while. Who knows how long it's been now. So, I'm going to make some goals and some wishes (that have nothing to do with what I REALLY need for a "successful" home life), and see if that cheers me up.

Graduate. With SOMETHING. (realistic estimate: 2 to 4 years)

Have a clean and organized house with no remodeling projects. (realistic estimate: 6 to 12 months--oh, yeah, but then we move)

Learn to sew--a lot better than now. (ongoing)

Get an awesome TV, and a Wii to go with it. (realistic estimate: ask me when Robert gets a paycheck)

See the world before I'm 80. I've always wanted to see the ruins in Belize. (realistic estimate: hopefully before I'm 80, and probably after we get the Wii)

-Goes along with learn a foreign language and use it in a foreign country (Canada or Mexico would not count)

Read more of the classics. (ongoing)

Learn photography better. Maybe break down and buy photoshop instead of using gimp. (ongoing)

Get a real gemstone and look at it under the lights in the big room in the religion building at BYU. (long story--longer realistic estimate)

Get to my goal weight. (realistic estimate: 1 to 60 years--80 is going to be awesome)

Do something new--something cool no one else I know personally has done yet. (hmmmm. . . don't know how to estimate that one)

Take pictures at Time's Square. (1 to 60 years)

Laser procedures (hair removal, lasik, scar removal maybe?) (Again, ask me when Robert has a paycheck)

Be in a choir. And I don't mean ward choir. (This one seems kind of hopeless since my singing gets worse every year, but it would be SO cool)

I guess I'd be okay without most of these. Just not super okay.

Things I absolutely DO need?

Finally be okay with past hurts. REALLY believe in God. A good relationship with my kids and spouse--especially spouse. Aaaand, maybe it sounds shallow, but a paycheck would be nice.

Oops

Somehow this photo was deleted from the last post. My sister Jenny and her husband showed up for the baptism, too. It was a nice surprize, and so fun to see them!

Catching up. Again. Uhhhhh. . .

This is all roughly from March.

Levi is so adorable. As you can see . . . This is what Enoch's hair looks like in the morning--on good days. I've had a few baby showers, and a few diaper cakes. This was the first time I tried a guitar. It was pretty flimsy. I'll have to work on that.
We went on vacation spur of the moment to go see my brothers and their families down in North Carolina. The kids loved the dogs. They talk about them all the time. Even though Enoch usually looked like he was getting trampled by a bouncy ball of fur.

Nana fell in the pool. I wasn't happy. Daddy thought it was funny--guess who was watching the kids when it happened. Rachel took really good care of us. I want some more of that bread!
We went to the park. Levi had to bundle up, but the weather was infinitely better than Erie! The kids all milked a goat at my brothers' friend's place. It was neat. It was the first time the family met Levi. And it might have been the first time Brandon and Rachel met Lolly, but I'm not sure.
Katelyn had her baptism while we were there--part of the reason we decided to go. The night before we left we walked around town. It reminded me a little of Park City--without the hills. When we got back to Ryan and Carolina's place, we played Just Dance 2 on the Wii--now I want one. It was SO much fun. We went to church with them just before we left--There meetinghouse is right next to the temple. The live so close!

On the way home we stopped for a rest stop. The bathrooms were closed, but we saw this really cool bridge. We would have walked closer, but I REALLY needed a bathroom!

We always have to hold our breaths and make wishes when we go through the tunnels in Pittsburgh. We must be at the end of one here, because Robert looks like he's about to pass out!

St. Patrick's Day. I know I still look pregnant, but Robert and I started a "March Madness" weightloss thingy, and so far, I've dropped almost 15 lbs! (Oh, and I totally beat him, so he had to arrange a babysitter and plan a date.)

Growin' Up Gangsta

He's not just my snuggly little newborn, any longer.

Random Things I've Smelled Lately

My laundry detergent smells like my dog shampoo--which simultaneously grosses me out and makes me miss my dogs.

I'm debating calling the number on the back to see if they'll give me a refund (I've only used it for one load), but I just called the company yesterday to replace a swiffer sweeper that broke before I could use it. I don't want them putting me on some sort of black list ;D.

I threw away some dirty dishrags that could NOT get clean. I don't think I need to explain the smell. But first, I used them to clean up the drain in front of the washing machine. THAT smell is a little more unique. Something is stuck down there, so every time I do the wash, it backs up and this black, chunky gunk comes up with it. It smells like something inbetween perm chemicals and a poopy diaper. I check my kid's almost every time the smell hits.

Went to the dentist yesterday to fill cavities. If there ever was a time to have a stuffy nose . . . Well, the smell of disintegrated tooth more or less made me choke, but I couldn't cough because I'd be coughing directly in their faces. Ah, good times.

We've never been much of a perfumy family, but after so many trips to Rite-Aid, I have quite a few room fresheners. I started using one in the kitchen after the kids cooked all of the grease and meat out of a few hot dogs in the microwave. Unfortunately, Robert now associates the smell of the freshener with the smell of the obliterated hot dogs. I think it smells a little like men's cologne--which is kind of weird for a kitchen scent, but I like it well enough. I plug it into the wall when Robert's not home to help cover the smell of the laundry and yesterday's cooking.

Robert's been gone on a different rotation--a MUCH busier rotation. So, I have to actually cook dinner every night (Robert's awesome and cooks and cleans and all that--with a few limitations). I've discovered that I like cooking mostly for the smell--if my food tasted as good as it smells . . . oh, heaven. However, the smell of beans cooking in the slow cooker never was my favorite, but paired with men's cologne air freshener. Well, it pretty much turns my kitchen into a frat house--especially if I'm washing a dog down in the basement at the same time.

We actually took a family picture!

Even though it's not at the quality I would prefer, it was a Mother's Day miracle that they were all looking at the self-timed camera without me having to photoshop their eyes open ;D!