True Love: The Night-Ani's version

July 1st, 2005 was the night. It started with some dinner grilled out on the deck by Matt. I think we had salmon. Or was it chicken? We ate out there almost every night, and it was always, chicken, salmon, or Matt’s favorite, hotdogs with cheese in the center.. We were sitting around talking when Matt disappeared and we heard Damien Rice, Cannonball come on. Matt came over, and asked me to dance. Dance on the deck overlooking the beautiful moonlit ocean. Of course! So, we danced. My heart was beating out of my chest with the thought that this boy was sweeping my off my feet and I was loving every minute of it.
“I like dancing with you.” I confessed.
“We are going to dance every night.” Was his perfect reply.
I was thinking that this boy could not get any better. I had been preparing myself for the letdown. There had to be a catch to this handsome, romantic, and sweet guy. So when he pulled me into the hammock that night, I told him what I was thinking, “You are too good to be true.” To which he relied, “You are.”
A few minutes later he softly touched my face and kissed me for the first time. I melted. All that, and an amazing kisser too? I was in heaven. I did not want to wake up from this dream. It was perfect. 
Later that night he told me he did not want me to leave. I said I would stay a little bit longer, and he said, “No, I meant Hawaii, I don’t want you to leave me.”

To be continued…..

Taylor's Acres

We had a great time at the Taylor's. We were nervous to drive so far with Kate, but she did awesome.  We had such a nice Thanksgiving!

Here are some pictures from our week:

Grandma, Matt and Kate

Grandpa, Matt and Kate
Grandpa Nigel and Kate really bonded this trip! We left them home and went to the movies and came home to find them fast asleep in bed! So cute.
Aunt Michele and Kate
Kate and Uncle Ryan
Kate and Aunt Jamie (and her boyfriend Nate in the background)
Taylors Acres!
Kate wouldn't nap so we went on a little walk, and she conked out when we got home. Love her little concerned eyebrows in this picture.
Kate watched Baby Einstein while we are our Thanksgiving Dinner. She tried some yams, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie. She loved it!
Us three!
Matt and his cute grandma
Yeah...had to run to the bathroom after this move!
Mattie
Kate and Grandma Pam
Kate's new favorite face to pull. She breathes really fast in and out of her nose at the same time. She thinks so she so funny.
Thanks for the fun week Taylors! 

And thanks for baby-sitting Nig!

Over the River and Through the Woods!

We are headed for Taylor's Acres tomorrow mornin' peeps. Depending on the reception out there, I may or may not be mobile posting!
Hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving! I am thankful for you.
Gobble. Gobble.

Twilight

Since everyone else is doing it, I thought I better.
Saw it this afternoon and I really like it. Some parts were cheesy...(meadow) but overall I thought it was great! I would totally see it again.
The Edward in the movie was not my Edward, but it is a funny thing how he grows on ya!...so funny....

Jenna Grace

This sweet baby girl was born last week. Her mama is my beautiful cousin Kim. There is nothing like holding a brand new baby. Heaven feels close. She is such a little angel.

True Love: Kiss me!-Ani's version

Over the next few days all I could think about was Matt. He started stopping by and I was done acting like I wasn’t into him. I was, oh my, I was!
He came over to wash his car one of those days, and Jenna and Liz shoed me out the door saying, “He is here to see you!” It was fun!
One night we all went up to the Goat House to watch a movie. I was really excited when Matt and I ended up sitting together on a love seat. I don’t remember the movie because all I could think about Matt. About half way into the movie Matt grabbed my hand and started massaging it. I know my face was bright red. Oh my gosh, is he trying to hold my hand or is he giving me a friendly hand massage? After about 10 minutes the massage slowly turned into Matt holding my hand. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t want to the movie to end, or to even move, but I had to go to the bathroom so bad! I was scared that if I got up now, it would all be over. I went into the nasty, humid, worse-than-our-house-bathroom. When I came out, I saw down and Matt put his arm around me and held my hand. I couldn’t believe it was happening!
That night he drove me home, and said, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
The next day we went to Costco in Honolulu together. Jenna and Matt’s roommate went as well. We were having lots of when some girls that were borrowing Matt’s other car called and said they were broken down. They needed him to come to the rescue. I was so jealous! I was sad that the night was cut short. Right as I was going to bed, I got a goodnight call from him. He apologized for having to drop us off early, and said he would see me tomorrow. I was so excited to tell Jenna and Liz that I got a goodnight call. A goodnight call means something. Yes, I was still trying to convince myself that he really did like me. I just couldn’t believe it.
Real World night was at our house. Matt came over, and the only spot to sit was in a chair next to me where I was sitting on the couch. He reached over and held my pinky with his pinky. I was so excited that he was doing that, in front of everyone. It was confirmed now, he was into me, and didn’t care who knew.
We continued hanging out but not kissing! Every night he dropped me off and said “I’ll see you tomorrow”. Every night I was relieved when he said that. When I walked in, the girls were eager to find out if we had kissed! I wasn’t going to make the move!
Everyone was involved at this point, trying to make it happen. Someone suggested we go on a walk. A walk on the beach? At night? Under a full moon? Perfect. I would set it up, but he had to go for it. We walked along the beach, hand in hand, and we talked. And talked and talked. I told him about my family, and my dreams, and future plans. He did the same. Then we were hugging and I could hear his heart beating! It was beating so fast! He is totally going to go for it. I was making it easy. But, after a couple of awkward silent minutes, we started to walk back! Not tonight.

To be continued….

After all that reminiscing of those weeks together, I think we fell in love all over again. 

Your gunna have to wait for the continued story. We were too busy kissin' all day!

True Love: Hammock Lovin'-Matt's version

I kept going over to the house over the next few days, to use to the internet to do some work. I would stop by after work everyday and little by little I would talk to the girls. I wasn’t really into any of them at this point, I was just playing it cool.
Friday night was the summer opening social, and I went with my roommate Jake. I decided to go for the free food and entertainment and to meet the new slew of summer people. We got there and we noticed that the only people we knew were the girls from the Piranha House, so we sat with them. I sat down on the grass next to Ani, and the next thing I knew someone had switched out my mismatched sandals, and then Jenna was taking our picture.
Later that night was the first dance of the summer. After awhile of debating, we decided to go. We showed up fashionably late. Just as I was going in, I noticed that Ani was leaving. I was kinda bummed because I had just gotten there and she was taking off. I offered to take her home, and she declined. We staid for like two songs and then headed over to the Piranha House.
After the dance we all congregated at the P-House. One of my roommates had the idea to go for a quick dip in the ocean. After lots of discussion, and an hour later, we found ourselves at Bikini Beach. I was talking to Ani, while walking down to the beach. Once we got on the sand, Liz jumped in-between us and started talking to me.
We got in the water and we were walking out in-between the two reefs, when someone started yelling that something was stinging. Everyone was screaming, but Ani was pretty cool about it. So we all jumped out really quick. My midnight swim ended fast because everyone got stung and were complaining. We grabbed our towels and headed back to the Goat House. I offered Ani some Advil and some water because I could tell she was hurting. She said, “Yeah, that would be good”. She seemed to be in more pain than the others. It was late and so some people bailed, and we were left with a small group out on the deck. Someone decided we should play “truth”. Everyone shares some secrets and it got more and more interesting. My roommate got his hammock out and set it up, and no one was in it, so I jumped in.
Bikini Beach (my backyard that summer)

I went inside to get some water and when I came back out, this cute little tan girl had jumped in wearing a brown tank and white shorts. I thought, “Hey, she took spot. But this might get interesting. Two people could fit in there.” So I jumped in and we tried to get comfy. At first it was kinda awkward because we were squished in this hammock and we didn’t really know each other very well. We were just started to talk to each other and stuff. I also just had my board shorts on. No shirt. I thought to myself, this is setting up quite nice, but still a little awkward to be squashed in this hammock. My roommate thought it would be funny to serenade us with personalized songs as we swayed back and forth in the warm midnight breeze. My arm was around Ani, and since we had just been in the water, there was sand in her hair, so I picked the sand out of her hair, cuz I thought it would be nice. After about 30 minutes in the hammock with minimal movement, I noticed my bum was twitching. I didn’t want to move to disrupt the situation, but I thought, “Man, this is really uncomfortable to have it keep twitching.” After another 30 minutes of swaying, it was getting stronger and stronger. Ani got up, and we realized that we skimming the deck the whole time with my checks. Unbelievable.
I was thinking, “that was fun, I want to do that again with this girl.” I wanted to get to know her more. I was interested and intrigued with her.

To be continued…

True Love: Turning Point- Ani's version

I had decided that I was not going to be interested in that cute, cute, cute boy. I over heard some of the roommates saying he was taking them surfing. I was “over it”. When he came over, which was often, I didn’t act any different. I even remembered being annoyed with the way the girls flirted and went in my room to read one day. We quickly became friends with him, and all of his roommates, and we are started to hang out together in a big group.
I might have acted like I wasn’t interested, but I was. I hated it when the other girls talked to him. I wasn’t going to compete and chase after him, but I couldn’t help it. I had a crush. A big one. But I wasn’t about to admit it.
Straight from my journal: “We met some really fun guys. Just in the nic of time! We were starting to get tired of all girls. They way we met them was through Matt Taylor, who use to live in our house. He comes over and hangs out a lot. It is really funny. He is pretty cute. He just graduated from BYUH. Oddly enough he works at the Elementary School with children with Autism. I am sorta interested in him. He is so funny. And so laid back.”
It was the night of the opening social. There was a BBQ out on the lawn for dinner, and I was really excited when I saw him there. I was kind of wondering why he was there, since he was gradated. I tried to act like I didn’t see him, as I was trying to control my butterflies. Then he and his roommate came up to us and started talking. We all sat down on the grass together and I was pleasantly surprised when he sat next to me. I thought he was kinda of funny, wearing really old, mismatched flip-flops. I think Jenna knew I was interested in this cute boy at this point because she took this picture:

As I was smiling, I was analyzing everything. I was hoping he didn’t think it was odd that we were posing in a picture together. I was hoping he wanted to be posing in that picture together. I was enjoying being in close proximity to this boy named Matt Taylor.

We all talked about the dance that night, and he said he would be coming. As we got ready Liz said something about Matt being cute and wanting to make out with him. (Hi Liz, I love you!) My face felt like it was boiling. She didn’t know I liked him, and now she had staked her claim, out loud. She was calling dibs. I was bummed.

We went to the dance and I was in a bad mood. I kept looking at the door, for this Matt Taylor, and he never showed. I was moping. So I decided to leave. I wasn’t having fun and I was over it. As I walked outside he was just arriving. He acted happy to see me, and asked why I was going home. Shoot. Bad timing on my part. Now the roommates had all access and I couldn’t do anything about it.

After the dance they all came home and announced we were going night swimming. I was done moping and decided to go. We drove up to Matt’s summer house, “The Goat House”, and then walked down the trail to Bikini Beach. About half way down he took off his shirt and totally checked him out from the corner of my eye. As we walked down the beach we were kinda talking and Liz squeezed her way between us and worked her cute southern accent. Again, I surrendered. But still a little miffed, I ran into the water and dove, and hit the reef, cutting my arm. I was so glad it was dark. I was so embarrassed.

We all made our way out into the warm, dark water, and were slashing around under the moon. This is why I came here, not for some boy. All of a sudden everyone started screaming. Here was a school of Blue Bubbles and they were attacking everyone. We tried to make our way out of the water, but I fell victim to the terrible burning as well. Looking back now, we must have looked so funny trying to run/swim out for the water while crying/screaming/laughing. Most everyone got stung on their stomachs, legs, or arms. I thought I was lucky because only my finger was burning. Once we got to the beach, and were walking back, the complaints died down, but my finger was hurting worse and worse. (Turns out I was allergic) Matt was concerned and walked back with me. I was secretly really happy, even though I was in tons of pain, and trying to not act like a baby. We got back to the house and Matt got me some Advil and some ice.
Blue Bubble

We staid at the Goat House for a long time that night. We all sat out on the deck and played “Truth”. I started to learn a little bit about this cute surfer boy. I learned he had not had his first kiss until he was 21. Interesting, and surprising. But most importantly, I learned that he did not have a girlfriend.

Matt went and lay in the hammock while we listened to some of the boys playing the guitar and continued chatting away. About an hour later, Matt got up and went in the house. I was getting tired, and the hammock was looking really inviting. So I got in. The best decision of my life; thus far. Matt came out and acted surprised when he saw I had stolen his place. I said I would get out, but he thought we could both fit. So, he sat down next to me. It was a little uncomfortable and we were laughing trying to get comfortable until we ended up lying side by side. A little awkward to be that close, but I wasn’t complaining. As the minutes wore on, we got more and more comfortable and my heart was beating faster and faster. What was he thinking? Did he like this? Does he know I like him? Does he like me? What are the roommates thinking? How lucky am I that I go in the hammock when I did. Then he started to run his fingers through my hair. That has to mean something. At this point, his roommate started to sing to us while playing his guitar. My face turned bright red as I heard him make up a song about Matt and Ani, lying in a hammock, under the moon, overlooking the bay… I like that way all of that sounded.

We were in that hammock for hours. I certainly wasn’t going to end it. My hand was totally asleep, and therefore my finger felt fine. I didn’t realize how late it was until everyone started to talk about watching the sunrise in a few hours. Matt said he had work in the morning. It was almost morning. Since he wouldn’t be watching the sunrise, why should I? I willed myself up. So he drove me and my painful, sausage-finger back home.

I could not fall asleep that night. I replayed every second of that night in the hammock, with the cute boy with the dimples.

To be continued…

True Love: The Beginning-Matt's Version

I had graduated from BYU-H and working with children with Autism. I was busy trying to apply to get back into school to get my teaching credential. I had already taken the PRAXIS, and was waiting for my scores to see if I could start school.
I was carefree. I was single, saving lots of money, living in Hawaii, and keeping my eye out for a cute catch.
I was living in the Piranha house with my friends, and our landlord made us move out every summer and moved in girls so they would clean it up. So, I was in the process of moving the last final items, surfboards, etc., and that is when the new summer girls were moving in. I was moving out at a slow pace so I could check the new girls. I figured with 8 new girls coming in, I couldn’t go wrong with sticking around.
Tuesday morning before work, I had to stop by the house and get my surfboard. I pulled into the driveway house, got out of the car, walked into the house to get my board and put it in the car. Just then I noticed a girl jogging toward me. Then she slowed down, so I knew she must be one of the summer girls. She said, “Hey, I am Ani.” And I said “Hey, I am Matt.” I thought, “Hmm, this girl is cute and fit.” Then we went inside and she dropped her shoes and got sand everywhere. I had just cleaned the previous day, so I thought, “Oh man! You gotta be kidding me, I just vacuumed.”
After surveying the scene, I thought I might stop by there after work.

To be continued…

True Love: Love at First Sight-Ani's version

Ever since I was 16, my heart belonged to a certain boy. We had big plans for our future together. The certain boy went on a mission and I faithfully wrote him for 20 months. He was due home in October, and I was thinking I need one last adventure. Hawaii sounded relaxing, fun, and certainly I would have a tan to welcome him home with. Application was sent, acceptance was received, plan tickets purchased, and housing arranged. Off I was to Hawaii, to spend 2 and half months laying out with my friends.

My best friends that I went with. Jenna and Liz.

We arrived at midnight to our nasty little "Piranha house". It felt like girls camp, only the realization that I would be there for more than a week quickly set in. Without taking our sandals off our feet for fear of the unknown, we got ready for bed, and got the 411 from our new roommates who had gotten there the day before (that we did not know). We found out that our house, was in fact nasty, even more so in the daylight. We found out the house had rats. We found out that our house was previously occupied by cute boys, and that one of them was still in the process of moving his stuff out. They said this one was "hot". Silly, boy-crazy girls.

We went to bed and I laid awake in my humid room thinking and planning the next day that would start our semester/vacation. I woke with the sun, bight and early. It was a little too early to get ready for school, so I decided to go for a run. White tank, teal running shorts, and my gray New Balance shoes. My no make up rule was starting now.

Since we arrived at night, I was unsure of where the beach actually was. I could hear it and I could smell it. So I started running toward the palm trees. A few wrong turns, a few strange (looks after asking where the beach was), and a few minutes found me running down Temple Beach. I felt free and happy and excited for this new adventure. From Temple Beach to the point of Hukilau Beach and back. I took off my sandfilled shoes, stretched out and walked aross Kam Highway toward my dirty little home.

As I rounded the corner, I saw a white car in the drive way. Must be that boy. He appeared from the house carrying his surfboard, those girls were right when they said he was good looking. He was gorgeous. I got this sudden panicky feeling that he would get in his car and drive away, and I would never see him again. I started to run again, this time barefoot, down the sidewalk, and over the street to catch this surfer boy. I came to a cool walk just as came to the driveway and into his view.
"Hey, I am Ani!"
"Hey, what's up, I'm Matt."
And my life would never be the same again. My heart now belonged to this surfer boy, and would for eternity. I just needed to make him feel the same way!
We made small talk as we walked back inside. My roommates were all up at this point, struttin' around in their beach attire, excited that the cute boy was back in our house. They were on the prowl. I dropped my shoes down, and sand flew everywhere and I remember feeling so embarrassed. Matt laughed and then the girls began to flirt. And flirt. And flirt. I gave up. Whatever. I have a missionary anyways. I am not going to compete with these girls.
My cute roommates

But I went to bed that night thinking about that cute boy with the long shaggy hair, and the cutest dimple I had ever seen...

To be continued.

Beet Update

Matt here. If some of you were wondering about the effect of beets, yes, it was red.

ps.

In case you are wondering my husband is not Dwight Shrute.
-ani
ps. m.t. is so proud of himself for that post. comments. please.

Guest Blogger: Matt

I remembered how much I like beets tonight. My wife bought beets in the open market this afternoon and when I got home from work, I was surprised to see beets on the counter for dinner. My wife asked, "how do we cook beets?" I said I think we boil them for awhile and then eat them. Sure enough, we boiled them for a long time and then my wife somehow peeled the tough skin off the top. We dabbed them up with some butter and they were delicious! I remembered how much I liked them. Almost like candy. I told my wife that and she laughed. But then the best part of the night was when she asked if we will have different color of poop and we just laughed together. Only time will tell...stay tuned.

UnBirthday!

We celebrated this morning with half of a candle in some bananas! She loved it.

Today my baby is 6 months old. My how the time flies by! I cannot believe it! She has changed our lives forever! She sits up like a champ, laughs tons, is teething, constantly drools, loves to chew her hands, bite her toes, "sing" along when we are singing to her, wakes up every night (again) for a bottle and snuggle with her Dad, spends a lot of time in her excersaucer, is finally starting to fit into 3-6 sized clothes, eating rice cereal, sweet potatoes, squash, and bananas.
When Matt was trying to win me over in Hawaii, he would twirl me around to Damien Rice on his deck over looking Bikini Beach. The other morning Kate was watching Baby Einstein, and Matt grabbed me and we started to dance to the background music to her video. I stepped on a squeaky toy and then caught our reflection in the mirror. 7:15 am, in our PJs, circles under our eyes, hair askew, and our baby watching us over the top of the computer screen. Our world has changed, and I like it!

Seems like this was yesterday:


But really, this was yesterday. How could we not love this smile..Or these rolls and fuzzy skin...
Or how cute you look in a bow...
or being greeted like this in the morning...
Kate,
Your Daddy loves you.

Your Mommy loves you.
Happy 6 months baby girl!

Weekend Report

This picture cracks me up. She started making funny faces when I get the camera out. Look at those eyebrows!

Friday night we took our little girl out for a date. We went to the Fish Market and to MoJo for dessert! Doesn't get yummier than that.
Saturday we had a mellow day. We went down to the beach at sunset, and it was beautiful. It was warm, clear and breezy.
Then we got to go out with Mops (my grandma) to the Fish Market, yet again. Then she came back to the house and we got her to play Wii. She loved it. It was so funny!

Sunday night Kate gave us a run for our money. She went to bed at 7, woke up at 8, and then 9, 10, and 4. Phew. I think her teeth were bothering her. It sure is fun once she falls asleep to rock and cuddle her.

8pm


10pm

I wanna be more like him

Matt and I are currently serving in the Spanish Branch in our stake. We are really loving it. There are a lot of things that are different, but it is the same church, no matter what language is being spoken.
We came in during the opening song, and I was so excited to see Simon sitting in the pew across from us. Simon use to help my dad out with our yard. He is a dear man. His family lives in Mexico. From what he tells us, he has an awesome family. They have all served mission, and have been married in the temple. He is such a hard worker. I don't know his current living situation, but he use to sleep on the floor of an apartment that he shared with a few other families. Each night he would walk to the corner market and use his calling card to call home. He goes home for a few months once or twice a year I think. He sends almost all of his money home to his family. One day we picked him up and he has a piece of paper he was eager to show us. He had been taking English classes, and finally felt prepared to take the test to make him a citizen. He had passed and was so proud of himself. (I just looked it up, I would have failed terribly)
My dad would pick him up in the morning, he always looked sharp. Showered, hair combed, button down shirt on. He would change into his work shirt once he got here.
When we would take his lunch out, I would watch though the window as he carefully washed his hands, and then knelt in prayer for a looong time.
Today I watched him again. I watched him pull out his own hymn book that he had a plastic cover on. I watched him flip through his worn and tattered pages to find the hymn. I watched him sing with all of his heart. Then, I watched him write small notes next to the song we sang. I watched him as he listened, never taking his eye off the speaker, unless he was taking more notes in the notebook he brought.
I want to be like Simon. This man has the light of Christ.

What is going on?

While Matt and I were falling in love in Hawaii, we sat and watched the sunset one evening at Turtle Bay. We dreamed about getting married and living right there on the sand in a little hut and teaching our children to fish, climb for coconuts, and learn to dance like the islanders. That simple/protected life is sounding pretty good these past few weeks.

Last night Barbara Walters had a special on called, "What is a man, what is a women?" What? I can't believe that kind of story is necessary. As I watched it, I got more and more concerned for my child and the world she will grow up in. It is changing fast. And that is the scary part. I have seen huge changes in this country in the past few years. Not all for the better.

In the interview with Thomas Beatie (previously 1st pregnant "man", is now pregnant with #2) he said, "The face of families is changing". The makes me feel uneasy. Honestly, I want to hightail somewhere that my little family.
They had birth certificates changed to read:
Parent:_____ and Parent:______
instead of
Mother:______ and Father:__________

Applicant A, Applicant B; ring a bell?

I just want to be a bride, a women, a mother. And I want that to remain sacred. Just as a man, and a father is. There is a definite distinction of the two, and Heavenly Father made it that way.
I don't want to be "Applicant A". I am more than "Applicant A", I am a wife. I am more than a parent. I am a mother. Matt is more than a parent. He is a father.

I can't believe we are fighting to define what a male and female are. What is next? Seriously, what is next?

I know that people say they feel they were born the wrong gender, and change that. I know that people who are gay, are going to be gay. I know that trans-gender families are going to continue having babies. I have accepted that. We live in an ever changing world.

But why do I have to agree with that?

I don't.

My tiny person

This is my tiny person. I love that she is my tiny person.
She is my best little friend these days. We spend every waking hour together.

I think I get her, and I think she gets me. We are getting pretty good at this relationship thing.
She takes, takes, takes, but now she gives, gives, gives as well. A midnight feeding, but also a midnight snuggle. A dirty diaper, but a smile of thanks for a clean bum.

She may just be a tiny person, but she is my tiny person.

And I love her.

I am soon to be the Dairy Queen! I know it!

Currently trying all of the following to help my milk:Herbal Tea
Lots of prayer
A bottle of vitamins that set me back $25

Malt. Le Leche League said it worked....

Also drinking tons of water. Nursing constantly. I think it might be working. She didn't fight me today!
Next up: Beer. ;)

What I know for sure

A few weeks ago my best friend, Bree, wrote about what she knew for sure, and asked in return, "What do you know for sure?" I have been thinking about that question ever since.

I know that I am a child of God. I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true, and by learning of Him, following His teaching, and doing what He asks of us, we can return to Him one day.
I know that prayer works. I know that with all of my heart. He is there listening. More importantly, he is there waiting for me to pray.
I know that I was born to an awesome family. I know they love me, and would do anything for me.
I know that I married the best man for me. There is never a day that goes by he doesn't make me feel special, appreciated and loved. I know he is a good man and will make me happy for eternity.
I know that I love being a mother. I am living my dream. I know that my daughter is a child of God, and I feel the responsibility to raise her to be a good and righteous woman. I know she will be.
I know that the best feeling to me, is walking into her room every morning and being greeted with big, brown, starkly, and happy eyes, and a huge smile. I know that she loves me.
I know for sure, that I would do anything for that girl. Anything.
I know that when I am struggling or feeling down, I need to go back to the basics: prayer, scripture study, service, eating healthy, and exercise. It works.
I know that the ocean is healing for me. I go there when I am broken, and leave renewed and hopeful.
I know that for me, the best way to spend a Saturday is a day at the beach; warm sun, good company, T-street snack bar and an interesting book.
I know that DVR is my favorite technology.
I know that money does not make me happy. Being safe, with my family, and being taken care of is all that matters.
I know I have solid friends that I can go to at anytime with anything.
I know that I have a love of photography and can spend hours looking at it.
I know that my favorite salad has spinach, crasins, avocados, feta, apples, and Dorthy Dalton's salad dressing. It makes me happy.
I know that traveling makes me feel free and appreciate where I come from.
I know that I will never be "rich" in the material sense, and I am OK with that.
I know that I will be a great photographer one day (soon).
I know that having cold feet or wearing jeans that are too tight make me grumpy.
I know that Rainbow sandals will always be my shoe of choice.
I know that Matt still gives me butterflies. And I like that!
I know what my potential is, and I work to exceed it everyday.
I know that I have a great life, a wonderful husband, the most beautiful baby.
And I know what it takes to keep the life great.

For now, this is what I know for sure.

Why I blog.

There are many types of blogs. There are photography blogs, there are technology blogs, cooking blogs, question blogs, brag blogs, kid blogs, celebrity blogs, rant and rave blogs, and news blogs. The list could go on and on.
Sometimes as I am writing about how cute Kate is, or how fun our weekend was, I hope I am not sounding like "Seriously, so blessed!" (Which, if you don't read, you should. So funny.) But, the truth is, I chose to blog about the positives, the fun. That is my type of blog.
So, why do I blog?
I blog for myself. I blog to remember how I was feeling today. I blog to keep a record of the adventures we are on as a family. I blog for journaling purposes (but I also have a private journal because I realize you don't want to know everything about me). I blog for fun. I blog and read others blogs to keep in contact with friends and family. I blog for advice.
I blog, for me.

For the 51,518 hits that my little blog has had so far, I say: Thanks for visiting, please come again.

Patient to Nurse

The only upside to being sick is being taken care of and getting a little guilt free break. I realized this morning when Matt left for work, that I am now a mom, and moms don't get breaks. I was, however, watching the clock and counting the hours until Matt came home, and I could be patient again.
Matt called from work and said he was not feeling well. Please no. Then he called again and said he threw up. Crap. And then again. My plans to get in bed early and read down the toilet. He walked in the door around 4 and was as white as a sheet. Poor guy! (But still poor me!) But as any good wife would do, I got him settled, took his temp (101) and am trying to play nurse with my little energy, while wishing someone would play nurse to me still!
Poor Matt. Poor me.
ps. Don't worry Pam, I am taking good care of your boy.

I cannot believe how fast this little peanut is growing!


She is now officially sitting up!

Weekend Report

We had a nice weekend! Saturday morning we went on a "hike". There use to be a nice little trail behind our neighborhood, but now there is a new neighborhood back there. The view from the top was nice though!



On Saturday night we drove out to my sister's house to have a night out with them, and for the primary program that she was putting on.
On the way out there. Kate has her Giraffe (thanks Brooke) in her elbow. She also has Mr. Sassy in her hand. Binky in. She did have that blue thing in her hand at one point as well. Such a baby. I love it.

We put Kate down and Danielle had a babysitter come over. We went to their favorite Sushi place for dinner and Pinkberry after!

Kate and Addison in their matching dresses thanks to Aunt Danielle.