Sunday, May 19, 2013
Summer, here we come...almost!!
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Thoughts on marriage...
I read an article a couple weeks ago about marriage. Then yesterday, I was having a conversation with my hubby where he suggested that marriage as we know it, is slowly becoming obsolete. I started thinking....and now, you get to read about it...if you want:)
Once upon a time...a time not too long ago...marriage was a necessary part of society. 1) You needed a man and a woman to make a baby. 2) You needed a man to work to provide financial sustenance. 3) You needed a woman to take care of the children and the home (cook & clean).
These days everything is different. 1) Just about anyone can adopt a baby (male, female, single, married, gay, straight). You can also make a baby in a lab and transfer it to any number of carriers. 2) Woman can now work outside the home and become equally as successful as men. 3) With more money coming in, nannies and housekeepers can be employed to rear our children and clean our homes.
Now each of these things is not a bad thing. Actually, most of them are quite positive strides for society as a whole. BUT, working together, they are making marriage less and less necessary for survival in this day and age. Why get married (or stay married), if you don't need it?
So what is the answer? I'm not sure.
I've been thinking though, that at some level husbands and wives need to NEED each other in order to make marriage work. When you feel needed, you are less likely to leave. You are more likely to feel valued and fulfilled. When you need someone, you are less likely to leave. You are more likely to feel gratitude and love. Our world seems to put too much emphasis on finding what WE want and doing what feels good to us, rather than being what someone else needs or even finding what we need.
I hope marriage isn't going to disappear. I love that two people can fall in love and then spend their lives working side by side and raising a family and striving to become better people. I love having someone who knows me, relies on me, needs me, loves me and shares with me. Marriage is a good thing. It can work. I personally think, it is the best way...although, not always the easiest:)
Once upon a time...a time not too long ago...marriage was a necessary part of society. 1) You needed a man and a woman to make a baby. 2) You needed a man to work to provide financial sustenance. 3) You needed a woman to take care of the children and the home (cook & clean).
These days everything is different. 1) Just about anyone can adopt a baby (male, female, single, married, gay, straight). You can also make a baby in a lab and transfer it to any number of carriers. 2) Woman can now work outside the home and become equally as successful as men. 3) With more money coming in, nannies and housekeepers can be employed to rear our children and clean our homes.
Now each of these things is not a bad thing. Actually, most of them are quite positive strides for society as a whole. BUT, working together, they are making marriage less and less necessary for survival in this day and age. Why get married (or stay married), if you don't need it?
So what is the answer? I'm not sure.
I've been thinking though, that at some level husbands and wives need to NEED each other in order to make marriage work. When you feel needed, you are less likely to leave. You are more likely to feel valued and fulfilled. When you need someone, you are less likely to leave. You are more likely to feel gratitude and love. Our world seems to put too much emphasis on finding what WE want and doing what feels good to us, rather than being what someone else needs or even finding what we need.
I hope marriage isn't going to disappear. I love that two people can fall in love and then spend their lives working side by side and raising a family and striving to become better people. I love having someone who knows me, relies on me, needs me, loves me and shares with me. Marriage is a good thing. It can work. I personally think, it is the best way...although, not always the easiest:)
Shortly after we were married, Spring 2000 (Provo Temple)
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Bad Luck Charm
BYU VS UCI
Mike and I went on our very first date to a BYU volleyball game (March, 1999). Apparently, they were undefeated for the ENTIRE season...except for that one game...on our first date. Since that day, Mike and I have watched A LOT of BYU sports games together. I remember assembling our wedding announcements while watching BYU football, sitting in the stands at a basketball game all big and pregnant, and riling our kids up at the excitement that was Jimmer Fredette:) There were some good times, BUT I have to admit, a lot of the games I was actually able to watch, were kinda like our first date...BYU would lose.
This past weekend was the Men's Volleyball championship tournament. We went to see them play UCLA not long ago, and were sent home with a very disappointing loss. But Thursday, Mike took Jordan to the first tournament game and BYU won (of course it was probably because I wasn't there). So, yesterday we took the kids to the final tournament game, hoping for a similar experience....but we forgot, the bad luck charm was there...me.
BYU. LOST. THREE. GAMES. IN. A. ROW.
And, did I mention we couldn't even go to Diddy Riese because it was too busy?!
Sorry BYU, I should have stayed home:(
(Tyson was tired of watching us lose)
(Luckily we had some friends there to keep us from crying)
Thursday, April 18, 2013
This is life
The other day, while driving home, we saw the most beautiful rainbow I've ever seen. It was so bright and so full, that I almost pulled over just to look at it. When we got home, Jordan rushed to get the camera to take a picture. The picture obviously didn't do it justice, but it got me thinking. These pictures are kind of like life....more specifically, life in Los Angeles.
When we decided to move to LA, I was scared. I pictured us living in between skyscrapers and The Hollywood Sign or something. Once we got here and settled in, I realized that there was nothing to be scared about. We found great schools for our kids, we have made wonderful friends, our ward is fantastic, we have found outstanding sports programs for our kids etc., etc., etc. But, there are still "power lines". There are still things that I hate about it. We don't get seasons here (which to many might sound wonderful, but I REALLY miss them), we have to permit into the good school (which makes going to the same middle school and high school questionable), we only get to see extended family once a year, we will most likely never buy a home here, we don't really have "roots" here etc., etc., etc.
Life is interesting. No matter where you live, there are power lines. Do you try not to notice them? Do you embrace them because of their usefulness? Do you find a place to live where there aren't quite so many? I'm not sure, really not sure.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
I didn't intend to get a puppy...
...but sometimes I think that is exactly what I got. When we picked out Peeta, we asked for the most playful kitten in the litter. Now, I'm not quite so sure that is what we should have asked for:) But, regardless of his "active" personality we sure do love our little Peeta!!
Miley, feels differently than the rest of us though. She HATES Peeta...seriously is there a stronger word than HATE?! This picture is the one time EVER that Peeta actually left Miley alone. He hopped up onto the bed where she was sleeping and just curled up beside her. Normally, this would not happen. Normally, he would pounce on her.
Or, here he is sniffing her while she was sleeping. Yeah, she was pretty mad when she woke up. Mike has a video on his phone to prove it.
It has been tricky to teach Peeta to stay off the counter. He just wants to go in Kya's lunchbox, what's wrong with that, right?!
After Peeta got "fixed" we decided to start letting him outside. He wanted to go out SO badly...you'd think he was a caged animal or something!!
Once we started letting him out, we would find him in a big dirt pile rolling around until he looked like THIS:
Then he started climbing trees...and getting stuck in trees, then climbing the neighbors' trees, then getting stuck in the neighbors' tress. It was all kind of embarrassing.
Regardless of how many times he climbs the curtains, chews up someone's flip flop, hides under the neighbor's car, or eats a bumblebee, he's still our kitty and we love him (well, all of us but Miley)! Actually, he kind of reminds me of a little boy I once knew who was always getting into mischief:)
Monday, April 8, 2013
The Bright Yellow Shirt
I have a confession to make; I have been a little annoyed with the hubby lately. I'm not sure why, but as you married folk should understand, he's just been a little under my skin. Today as I was doing laundry, I tossed in a an xxlarge yellow shirt and thought of my sweet husband and smiled. Then I came here, to write this post.
Being married is tricky...period. I'm not saying I don't like it, because truth be told I really do love being married and I love the man I am married to. But,there are ups and downs. There are times when you understand each other perfectly and everything runs like clock work and then there are times when it seems that what comes out of your mouth and what is being heard are completely opposite.
One of the reasons I married Mike is because he makes me laugh, and although he tells me as the years go by it is harder and harder to get a laugh out of me, he still can make me laugh like no other.
About a year ago, we went to a church service project at a local park (Mormon Helping Hands). Part of our job was to do some painting, so they provided shirts to protect our clothing from the paint. I took the kids to get our painting supplies and opted not to wear one of the paint shirts. A few minutes later I spotted Mike, walking across the park in a giant YELLOW shirt. It was the most awful, giant, hideously ugly shirt I had ever seen. I could not stop laughing. At the end of the service project, we were supposed to turn in the paint shirts, but in true Mike fashion, he forgot. He hopped in the car wearing the yellow shirt. Now every once in a while, Mike will come downstairs wearing that shirt...and every time it makes me smile (if not laugh hysterically).
I am a lucky girl. Sometimes I just need to see that bright yellow shirt to remind me:)
Being married is tricky...period. I'm not saying I don't like it, because truth be told I really do love being married and I love the man I am married to. But,there are ups and downs. There are times when you understand each other perfectly and everything runs like clock work and then there are times when it seems that what comes out of your mouth and what is being heard are completely opposite.
One of the reasons I married Mike is because he makes me laugh, and although he tells me as the years go by it is harder and harder to get a laugh out of me, he still can make me laugh like no other.
About a year ago, we went to a church service project at a local park (Mormon Helping Hands). Part of our job was to do some painting, so they provided shirts to protect our clothing from the paint. I took the kids to get our painting supplies and opted not to wear one of the paint shirts. A few minutes later I spotted Mike, walking across the park in a giant YELLOW shirt. It was the most awful, giant, hideously ugly shirt I had ever seen. I could not stop laughing. At the end of the service project, we were supposed to turn in the paint shirts, but in true Mike fashion, he forgot. He hopped in the car wearing the yellow shirt. Now every once in a while, Mike will come downstairs wearing that shirt...and every time it makes me smile (if not laugh hysterically).
I am a lucky girl. Sometimes I just need to see that bright yellow shirt to remind me:)
Sunday, April 7, 2013
My New Best Friend
As much as I complain about my kids growing up so fast, there are perks to the ages they are at right now. Since Jordan goes to middle school in a different school district as the elementary school, we had separate spring breaks; one for the little kids and one for the "big" kid. Since my sister was in town for part of the little kids' break, there was much fun to be had. When it was time for Jordan's spring break, we still had school for Kya and Tyson, and no visitors in town, so we had to entertain ourselves. Good thing Jordan and I like to do a lot of the same things....like shop and eat out...and we fit in a few work outs too.
Shop
Jordan could shop all day, every day, even if she didn't need to buy anything. I, on the other hand, hate shopping UNLESS I have something specific that I need (and it's not groceries). So, luckily, I had a long list of somewhat "fun" things to buy.
Cotillion dress shopping started out fun. We found a huge selection of party dresses at JCPenny that we fell in love with. After trying on a handful, we soon realized they were all way too SHORT (oh, and strapless, but we though a shrug could solve that problem). So disappointing. After 3 hours of searching, we came home and ended up ordering 2 online. Hopefully they will get here in time and they won't be too short!!
Swim suit shopping was fun too (because it wasn't for me). We found a lot of cute ones, but when we got them home (they were for Kya), we soon found out they were all a size too small. Jordan ended up giving hers to Kya and we went back to return Kya's.
We were successful in finding a new vacuum though...which I have been wanting for years, yet I have still not taken it out of the box:)
Restaurants
Jordan has been waiting patiently for her first trip to The Cheesecake Factory (although, I swear she has been a couple times when she was little, she just can't remember). Since Jordan and I are the only ones in the family who actually like cheesecake, I thought spring break was a perfect opportunity (sorry Lisa, I sill wish we could have fit it in while you were here!!). We shared a sandwich for lunch to save room so we could each order our own cheesecake, but by the time we finished our lunch, we were getting kinda full. We (I) decided we should just share a piece of cheesecake. This made it near impossible for Jordan to pick a flavor!! We ended up with the Tuxedo cheesecake and it did NOT disappoint.
Work Outs
I downloaded an App on my kindle that is circuit training program. Ever since I told Jordan about it, she has wanted to try it. The first day of spring break we did it. At the end, I was beat red and sweating and she didn't even look tired. I am claiming it's because she did "stretching" for half the strength training stations!!
We also did "Just Sweat" on our "Just Dance" video game. I'm sure if someone had seen us, it would make for a fabulously embarrassing YouTube video, but luckily they did not:)
Everyone is back to school Monday. I will be anxiously waiting for summer break. I love hanging out with my kids...especially when they aren't fighting!
Jordan and I at a BYU Volleyball game...yesterday
Shop
Jordan could shop all day, every day, even if she didn't need to buy anything. I, on the other hand, hate shopping UNLESS I have something specific that I need (and it's not groceries). So, luckily, I had a long list of somewhat "fun" things to buy.
Cotillion dress shopping started out fun. We found a huge selection of party dresses at JCPenny that we fell in love with. After trying on a handful, we soon realized they were all way too SHORT (oh, and strapless, but we though a shrug could solve that problem). So disappointing. After 3 hours of searching, we came home and ended up ordering 2 online. Hopefully they will get here in time and they won't be too short!!
Swim suit shopping was fun too (because it wasn't for me). We found a lot of cute ones, but when we got them home (they were for Kya), we soon found out they were all a size too small. Jordan ended up giving hers to Kya and we went back to return Kya's.
We were successful in finding a new vacuum though...which I have been wanting for years, yet I have still not taken it out of the box:)
Recognize this dress anyone?!
I wore it to a school dance in Gr. 9...don't worry, Jordan will NOT be wearing this to cotillion, she just wanted to try it on and laugh at it:)
Restaurants
Jordan has been waiting patiently for her first trip to The Cheesecake Factory (although, I swear she has been a couple times when she was little, she just can't remember). Since Jordan and I are the only ones in the family who actually like cheesecake, I thought spring break was a perfect opportunity (sorry Lisa, I sill wish we could have fit it in while you were here!!). We shared a sandwich for lunch to save room so we could each order our own cheesecake, but by the time we finished our lunch, we were getting kinda full. We (I) decided we should just share a piece of cheesecake. This made it near impossible for Jordan to pick a flavor!! We ended up with the Tuxedo cheesecake and it did NOT disappoint.
This was HALF!!
Work Outs
I downloaded an App on my kindle that is circuit training program. Ever since I told Jordan about it, she has wanted to try it. The first day of spring break we did it. At the end, I was beat red and sweating and she didn't even look tired. I am claiming it's because she did "stretching" for half the strength training stations!!
We also did "Just Sweat" on our "Just Dance" video game. I'm sure if someone had seen us, it would make for a fabulously embarrassing YouTube video, but luckily they did not:)
Everyone is back to school Monday. I will be anxiously waiting for summer break. I love hanging out with my kids...especially when they aren't fighting!
After a (glow in the dark) silly string fight
Sunday, March 31, 2013
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