Highlights

We just passed our 1 year anniversary in our new house. I can't believe it! I still love our home and feel incredibly blessed for all the ups and downs we have experienced since moving here. Here are a few highlights of the past year (in no particular order).

Our first "Real" Christmas tree. Yes it is crazy to have a real one in Las Vegas and yes it died before Christmas.... but I so loved the smell.

Girls Dance Recital

Hosting Thanksgiving

Boys after dinner nap

Camping at Pismo Beach

Deer Hunting

Sea World

Awesome rock climbing feats for the girls

More 4-wheeling trips

La Jolla

The Blog Will Live On

Was it seriously August since I last posted? I'm sitting here thinking I should just end this sad blog. I don't ever post and rarely check in with fellow blogger's awesome posts. But before I act, I am reminded of all the many times a thought or idea passes through my overactive brain along with an urge to commemorate it somewhere and ultimately decided - the blog will live on. To kick off the blogs triumph I decided to make a list of all my favorite things right now.

A record of celebrations.

Here's to: early morning runs and watching the sun rise; playing Just Dance and Super Mario Bro's with my girls; Friday night dates with Joe, even if it is just going to the gym together; Tony Sly's voice that never fails to move me; a really hot shower; watching Downton Abbey on PBS and Man vs Wild on Netflix with Joe and the kids; discovering awesome YA books and adding to my list of crushworthy fictional characters; my new calling teaching Relief Society; finishing the Book of Mormon, again; planning home decorating projects thanks to Pinterest; the sound of all my kids laughing and playing together; sleeping; watching the sunset off my balcony every night.

I won't lie....challenges and discouragement are plentiful but life is so so beautiful.

Guilty as Charged

I don’t like when cops hide their cars on a street behind bushes or in blind alleys awaiting unsuspecting speeders. I know they are just doing their jobs and trying to enforce the laws but I wish they would just park out in the open. They would still be able to pull over speeding cars and fill their ticket quotas for the month. But when they hide I immediately feel like a hard criminal. I slam on my breaks ready to throw my hands up in the air like a suspect in a well orchestrated stake out.

Airing of Driving Grievances

Not many things get me worked up but for some reason when it comes to driving....particularly other peoples driving abilities, I get all bent out of shape. If you are guilty of either of the following I advise you to change your ways!

1. Driving with your dog on your lap. I mean seriously! All this talk about not using cell phones while driving, well this to me is way worse. How can you possibly pay attention to what is going on around you with another living thing moving around and sharing the steering wheel and drivers seat with you.

2. Speed Bumps! I hate hate hate when people come to a complete stop before passing over a speed bump. Sure the point of them is to slow you down but it is not the same as a stop sign. And the worst part about it is I don't even think the people who do this are worried about being cautious to their surroundings, I think they are somehow protecting their cars. Please, I think your car is a little more durable then that.

Opposition in all things

I have been sick for two weeks. It started as a cold and turned into a nasty sinus infection. I am really stubborn about going to the Dr. I hate going. I'd rather do just about anything else. But when I woke up last Monday with a pounding blinding headache, snot so thick and green it seriously looked like slime from the Ghostbusters movie and a neck ache so intense I was positive I had meningitis, I swallowed my pride and dragged myself to the quickcare to get some drugs. I've been miserable all week as I've taken it easy to let my body get better. The problem is I sort of hate doing that too. It makes me anxious. I like to accomplish, to be motivated. And I missed out on probably the best week of the entire spring of perfect running mornings. So this morning when I finally felt good enough to workout, it felt awesome. Though I'm still fighting through the end of my infection it was such a drastic difference from how I felt a few days earlier. I came home elated. Happy. Satisfied. The scriptures tell us more than once that there must be opposition in all things. And for some reason though I've had sickness before this experience made me appreciate this concept in a way I never had. I'm so grateful for the trials to more fully appreciate the joys.

Tender Mercies

It has been nearly six months since my last post. I won't even attempt to recap all the details that have occured in our lives except to say that the majority of this time was spent house hunting, buying a house, packing and moving. Any creative archiving was devoted to internal debates about whether or not to hold onto my pre-baby clothes that I swore I would fit into by now, (but of course do not!).
I will say however that I love my new house! I am so happy in it. Many little events took place to make this move possilbe for us. Gerald Lund just wrote a book called, "Divine Signatures" and it is about how sometimes Heavenly Father gives us blessings that are so individual it feels like they are personally signed by him. This is how I feel about my house. It was a tender mercy from him because he knows me personally and knew how much I needed and wanted this. I feel like this house was tied with a big red bow at the top and signed by Heavenly Father at the bottom.
I'm sure any readers have long wrote me off as a blogger but I am officially back in business. I don't know that I will use it the same as before (so don't hold your breath for pictures or updates), but more as a sounding board for all the crazy thoughts that are constantly running through my head.

Rain Rain Go Away

No we aren't enjoying a day at the river, this is actually what the street in front of my house looked like today. The rain has been crazy. At least we are all safe and no harm done.