thirty

To the man who:

• tells horribly funny jokes
• puts our babies to bed at night
• makes me laugh silly almost every day
• has to have the same cereal every morning
• loves eating Doritos covered in peanut butter
• says "let talk" but ends up listening
• took months & months to summon up the courage for our 1st kiss
• works hard to support our family
• orders a pizza at whatever restaurant we eat at
• knows how to fix about anything
• supports me in my callings
• always seems to have a little caesars box in his car
• gives "uncomfortably" long hugs
• pays the bills
• frolics at the park with our kids
• excels at getting his MBA
• taught me about the game of football when dating
• puts up with me loosing interest in football since marriage
• cooks delicious breakfasts on the weekends
• loves drawing maps
• brags embarrassingly about me & my crazy ventures
• takes the garbage out
• buys me fresh flowers weekly
• never leaves my side during long labors
• digs out our basement by hand
• journals & reads scriptures daily
• loves reading a good autobiography
• cries with me
• laughs with me
• loves me

A big happy 30th birthday.

xoxo

time traveling in target

Yesterday, after a week of ridiculous pain & staying off my feet...I ventured out.

I am fortunate enough to live close to both mine & bug's parents, and quite frequently I have been known to dump my kids off during nap time at my parents house to run errands. Life not hassling with 2 car seats is bliss when in a rush.

So, in preparation for such a busy week as this I had a few stops. Target is always one I squeeze in there. I had a lengthy list: bug's birthday present, miss a's potty bribe, feet rattles for mr. b to entertain himself at church, supplies for the YW activity, check out cheap kids clothes, say hello to all the people you inadvertently run into (because Target is the place to be), peruse shoes...you know the drill.

My sister called me and upon finding out my location, had me check on a few things for her, which directed me over to the toy section. As I wandered up and down the aisles for a GI Joe...I stumbled upon 1980-something.

I stopped, and the memories flooded back. I remembered way back when at age 3, I had a weird freak accident (involving a wagon & a now penitent neighbor girl)...the end result: getting my only broken bone to this day, my collar bone. I don't remember much else about it all, but I do have one very strong memory. My aunt & cousin gave me my own Rainbow Brite doll. I was the luckiest little girl ever. I was ready to break more bones if this was always the end result.

I had to take a few deep breaths to bring me back to reality, back to aisle 14, back to Target, back to decades later.

I then ventured on, and right next to Rainbow Brite was Strawberry Shortcake. Now I know Strawberry has been back for a little while. But I guess I was still high from my memories, and I'll probably embarrassed myself more than I realize by admitting this next part...but I took a strawberry doll off the wall...and sniffed. Yep, still that same ridiculously sweet smell. More memories came flooding in.

I am probably out of it, and Rainbow has been around some time now and I am just rediscovering her. But I got giddy about my kids meeting my favorites: Rainbow Brite, Strawberry, She-Ra & He-Man, the smurfs...all back when it was actually worth it to get up early on a Saturday morning.

And don't worry, I'll taper back on the pain meds today so there won't be any more doll-sniffing or cardboard box-hugging behavior in the future.

But if a Shera doll comes along my path...all guarantees are off.

the back cracker

It's been a little crazy around here. First off, I have taken some time off from blogland to venture over to facebook world. Thanks for the warm welcome over there. How crazy is it to reconnect with so many from the past?

I also have taken time off from life because Monday night my back suddenly went out on me. For those of you unfortunate to experience it, my deepest apologies. This has been extremely painful. I have to keep reminding myself I survived childbirth twice without the help of an epidural, so I can manage this...but I tell you, the pain is pretty intense. Thanks to the kind souls who have run over to help load kids in the car, brought in lunch, worked on my back for me, and called to check on me.

I did get into the chiropractor yesterday (who bug & I refer to as the back cracker), and he started prepping my back to work on it, icing it, and using electrodes to help "push the toxins out." Then he asked me to lay on my side. A simple task any other day. But it took me a full on 20 minutes to just get from my stomach to a standing position. I asked him "what side did you say again?" and his reply: "um, lets forget about that for today." Yep. He said I was too swollen to work on.

As a side note: I have closely started relating to Mr. B, rolling around on the bed. (viewing actually rolling over as a big accomplishment)

I am not yet 30, but shuffle around like a 90 year old. In fact the other night I asked Bug if we could possibly call one of his grandparents to see if they could spare a walker for me.

The chiropractor said icing religiously might get me back to 50% functioning. So...here's to 50% functioning & hoping.

i joined

facebook friends, here I come.

my goal: to get more friends than Bug. and not to loose myself to facebooking like I have been warned will most likely happen.

any advice for a complete novice?

Request Day

I am an obliging person. And lately I have received several requests when it comes to the blog. So...here I am to fulfill your wishes.

First up, Request #1: Chels, here's a collage of Mr. B. Love this little guy. Now as I look back over the past several posts, I see he doesn't make it in here as often as his cute little self should. I will commit to do better. He is unbelievably easy-going. I love the picture of him closing his eyes, since I think I have a zillion pictures exactly like that of myself. We love our sensitive eyes around here. Also pictured: this boy upgraded to a crib. He is now room-sharing with his big sis. She is absolutely delighted. I think she was having a hard time that Mr. B got to sleep in mom & dad's room every night while she was solo down the hall. Good thing she wanted a roomie...not much choice around here.
Request #2: We want to see where you blog/craft/work from. Shame on you. Here it is in ALL its glory. Down in the dungeon of a basement. I didn't straighten a stitch for the picture either. So this folks, really is it. Don't let this visual of clutter kill you. Rather I would hope you gain some respect that I attempt writing humor while surrounded by this chaos.

And request #3: I have had some interested in a rundown of places I have had the pleasure to work. So without further ado, here is my resume of sorts as a social worker. (Misspellings done with full intentions)

• Local School District working with the youth in custody, both at a high school, elementary school, juvenile prison, and main office.
• LDS adoption agency
• Vally Mentll Health-Forenscs Unit (worked with Bipolar, Schizophrenics, Domestic Violence Offenders, & Drug and Alcohol addicts)
• Ut State Prison: worked with the men who were flagged as primarily having drug and alcohol addictions.
• Home of Hope: worked with women who were court ordered for treatment due to drug abuse.
  

One of Bug's favorite things to volunteer me to do is tell my most "interesting" work stories in social gatherings. Bless him, & apologies if you have been detained due to such ramblings.

Well, folks. There you have it. Your top 3 requests...okay, okay. Make that your only requests.

As an added bonus for humoring me, I will remind you all to set your DVRs for this Sunday at 8 to channel 7 to watch Masterpiece's rendition of "The Diary of Anne Frank." Of if you are way old-school like us, we'll have to watch it live since we live DVR-less.

Happy weekend to all.

top 10 from the weekend

We enjoyed a great Easter/conference/getaway all rolled into one happy weekend. We spent the time up at Bug's uncle & aunt's cabin. (the same family members associated with lighting our car on fire when we were wed) As you can imagine, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

And so without further ado, here are my 10 most memorable moments from Easter weekend:

01. the BIG hunt (although it wasn't so much hunting as it was shoveling the many goodies into the buckets)
02. loading up on the drugs so my kids could sleep through the night. You're right. Who am I trying to kid? It was so I could sleep through the night.
03. what sleep I was able to catch, it was spent on a lovely king-sized bed.

04. lots and lots of time spent playing in the snow. Miss A squealed with delight as she sped down the hill on the sled with her dad. 05. Miss A not wanting to go upstairs Sunday morning to see if the Easter Bunny came because, well please view the following picture of Miss A with her grandma at Breakfast with the Easter Bunny...

06. a good game of Settlers

07. watching a great movie Friday night

08. catching some great messages from General Conference
09. tasting Cherry Dr. Pepper for the first time...and LOVING it.
10. spending good one-on-one time with the Yoho cousins. Miss A had a blast with so many 2nd cousins around, and Mr. B was in heaven with all the attention he received.

And now we're back, I am brimming full of projects and major under-takings. But that's another post, isn't it?

your welcome

On this day of tricks, I thought I would play opposite and post a favorite family recipe. One that is most requested above all other cookies. When you bring this little buddy with you to a get-together, you'll come home alone. I swear. And you're going to die with how easy these are.

Ingredients:

1 cake mix (lemon is always the hands-down winner, but you could try devils food for chocolate...)

3/4 cup shortening

2 large eggs

That's it. Just mix together with a wooden spoon so the dough is sort of gooey. Then round into balls. My mother made sure that when we each got married we each had our very own 1-inch melon baller to make these cookies on our own. If you own one, these cookies will be a cinch.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool.

Frosting:

1 & 1/2 lb. powdered sugar

8 oz cream cheese

1 cube butter

1 tsp. vanilla

Pretty average frosting recipe...but it "makes" the cookies. So no skimping.

Oh, and some other helpful hints (mainly from my guru chef of a sister):

Freeze the cookies before hand so you can make them ahead of time.

Put the frosting in a ziploc bag, & snip the corner for easy frosting time.

And my mother would tell you to twist the cookies together when assembling, instead of simply smashing together to make the frosting perfectly goo out (if that makes sense)

Like I said: your welcome.