Nice!

I saw this dish towel in Redbook while I was walking on the treadmill this morning. I think I need new kitchen towels!

http://www.emmabridgewater.co.uk/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=DANC914&cid=BST&language=en-GB

Anniversary Celebration-The good life

Friday we celebrated our 12th anniversary. At 1:00pm my brother came to watch our two youngest kids and Tim and I took off to Salt Lake City. Our friends picked up all the kids around 4pm and watched them the rest of the time. Thank you all for your help! I needed this day sooooo much.

First we went to ACME Burger Company. I had a winter squash bisque and a lamb burger on a sweet potato bun. The soup was incredible, the burger, though good didn't blow me away because I am not a burger fanatic and I don't think any burger could wow me. For dessert we had a scoop of guava ginger honey sorbet. Tasty!

We next went to Tony Caputos foreign market, bought some Chris Blue Chocolate, and two other dark chocolate (70 %) bars (Scharffen Berger and Green and Blacks, to see the differences in flavor, we are still enjoying that, but will finish that tonight. I think we have started a new decadent latenight indulgence in our marriage.)

We also picked up a baguette with some artisan balsamic vinegar, and some cheaper chocolate for the kids.

Next we went to Blue Boutique. . . and will refrain from going into detail about that! Then we went to IKEA. Going places that you usually go with your kids makes for an even more dramatic example of how much easier life is without kids. It was enjoyable and relaxing. Tim and I could sit and talk about plans for rooms and not wonder, where are the kids. . . are they climbing on stuff they shouldn't?

We ended our day together with Sakura, a Japanese restaurant with a grill and sushi bar. We had soup and salad and shared three sushi rolls. It really hit the spot for us.

This experience drove home something for me. That is, that life can be more fun than it has been for me lately. IKEA is as fun as I think it should be. . as long as the kids aren't there. Have you ever had the experience where something sounds like fun and a good idea, then you get there and it is just stressful and not fun? You wonder why your idea of how fun it should be and how fun it was just don't match. I think it is because in my image of the activity it is missing an important element. The reality of kids. That has happened a lot lately to me. I got in a slump thinking life just isn't fun.

I learned from this date, it is just because life with kids adds extra challenges, (extra joys too) but I need to allow for that and know the quality of these experiences will be better as kids get older (and are either more fun to have with or can stay home) I was also reassured that Tim and I can have a good conversation when kids aren't there to interupt and we aren't tired out of our minds.

The question I leave you with is, is it better to just be kind of depressed thinking life just isn't that fun, giving up and giving in. . or being grumpier at your kids realizing that they are to blame for the lack of quality of your enjoyment in a lot of things. I have felt more positive in some ways the last few days, indulging myself more, but have less tolerance for my kids interupting and whining at the same time. Hmmmm. Which is more healthy?

I need to say however,in defense of kids, they can make life more fun too. I remember the first summer Tim and I were married we went on a camping trip. It was a lot of fun, but I was a little jealous of the family next to us with a bunch of kids. They seemed to be having a party with so much fun company of kids. We went camping last summer and it was like what I hoped it would be. I am excited to go on a trip to Washington with our kids and I know they will add a lot of fun to the experience. Kids do add a lot of joy to life too. Just not to IKEA.

On the lighter side. . .

After my annoying day I needed a laugh. Here is a clip of one of my favorite comedians. Brian Regan. He makes me laugh so hard about the annoyances of life and feeling stupid. I love that he is so clean. My kids can listen to him too.

Death and Taxes

I had to call the IRS today to straighten up something I screwed up on on our taxes. Tim did the taxes just fine. It was my little part of filling out the SSN#s that was done wrong. It took an hour and 15 minutes to straiten it all up. After waiting on hold for the next available representative for 15 minutes, explaining the problem being put on hold while they solved the problem, I was hung up on! So I called again, waited 15 mins again, explained the problem again, waited for 1/2 an hour more while they fixed the problem again and that was that. At least the second person had the wisdom to get my phone # in case we got disconnected.

The moral of that story? Don't get your kids' SSN#s off of the copies of last years tax forms. The copy wont show the numbers correctly. It WILL save you time to just look at the actual Social security cards themselves in the long run. The tax guy was kind enough to give me some advice. "To avoid this in the future, make sure you check the documents before sending in the tax return" As if the hour long wait wasnt' enough to drive that one home for me.

13 years ago Today- Part 3

Hanging out in the morris center

Thirteen years ago today I thought I would try to catch Tim at the Morris Center cafeteria and eat lunch with him. I knew he had a class at 1pm so he would be eating before then. I planned it out to be there when he got there. After eating lunch alone and going back for 2nds and 3rds of drink he finally showed up. It all payed off in the end.

He came and sat by me. His friend sat with us too and he was a talker. I wished he would stop talking so I could talk to Tim. Nice guy though. He invited me to go to the ward Temple trip and to eat lunch together before hand. I was so excited, when I got in the elevator alone I jumped up and down with glee. This was only two days after meeting and he asked me out. It wasn't my imagination, he had enjoyed our meeting as much as I had.

What neither of us knew was that noone else would show up for that temple trip. What he meant to be a casual get together with friends turned out to be a regular date. . . to the temple no less. Talk about your interesting 1st dates.

Mother's Day and So much more.

Today is both Mother's day and our 12th Wedding Anniversay. Since I don't want to spend this special day on the computer but I do want to commemerate it on my blog somehow I will just post some pictures and call it good. In honor of my Mother I would also like to point to a previous blog I wrote about her, for anyone who might have missed it.

http://uff--dah.blogspot.com/2008/04/lessons-from-my-mom.html

The beginning of the best 12 years of my life.

Those who call me "Mom"

13 Years Ago Today- Part 2

Tim and I at BYU Homecoming Fall 1995
13 years ago today it was Open house at Deseret Towers (BYU Dorms.) This meant the girls could go to the boys dorm rooms for a few hours or the boys could go to the girls. I decided that this week I would visit with some guys I had met the week before. They had invited me to watch "Sliders"with them that night. One of those guys is still a very good friend of ours. I went to the boys' dorm a little early and thought I would go and visit this Tim Stanley guy who I had met a few days ago. He seemed very nice. I checked the map to see where he was living and it turned out to be the room I had met the boys in the week before. For some reason he wasn't there that time.

I went with my friends, they gave me emotional support and it seemed more like we were just roaming the halls and less like I was coming just to see him. He seemed happy to see me but then he excused himself to go get his laundry. My friends left too. I was kind of relieved. I looked at his music collection and saw a lot of my favorite music. He wasn't gone long. When he came back I asked if I could look at his music collection. That got the conversation going. Already we had something in common. Talking to him was so incredible. It was so easy and he was so interesting. Even better he seemed to find me interesting. I left an hour and a half later on cloud 9. There was chemistry and there was no denying it. That night in my journal I wrote about our meeting: "It was magic!" A year and a day later we were married. The magic and chemistry we enjoy together still amaze me.

Electromagnetism Sucks!

Today while I was doing the dishes, Sam was in the living room, out of my sight. I could hear him getting really agitated about something and would get really fussy every few seconds. I wondered if he was stuck or something. I didn't check for a few minutes, not because I am a neglectful mother, but because I REALLY wanted to finish my dishes and I recognized his cry as one of frustration and not real anxiety. Besides he kept starting and stopping every few seconds. I finally went to see what was the matter. This is what I found.

What brought this sadness upon my poor little boy? Sam was playing with Joe's Magnetix (Magnetic building toys.) He was getting really frustrated when they wouldn't stick together because he was putting the wrong ends together. He was trying to make a long string of them at first and that sometimes worked, sometimes didn't and it was making him "kind of T-Od!"

Then he was putting them on their ends and trying to pick them up. Some of them of course picked up and others that had the wrong end up were just pushed over. I showed him how you have to use the right ends together or they push apart instead of sticking together. Unfortunatly he was frustrated when I left again to do more dishes and wanted me to continue to"fix it". Yeah I wish I had that much power over the laws of physics.

Poor guy. This world can be a frustrating place with all it's laws and rules! I don't know if he could be a scientist really, he gets way too emotionally involved. Sounds like the makings of great mad scientist though.

"Twilight" Teaser Preview

Ok "Twilight" fans. Here is a teaser for the upcoming movie. It looks great doesn't it? I think they did a great job casting Bella and Edward. I wouldn't have thought Cedric from Harry Potter could do it, but I stand corrected. He is quite perfect. She looks a lot like I pictured her too. The music, for the preview anyway, sounds a lot like "Unbreakable" and that makes me like it even more. Thanks for sharing it Lis!
Twilight

13 Years Ago Today

Tim and I studying outside at Deseret Towers, in the first month or two of our relationship

13 years ago today I was sitting in the Morris Center( Deseret Towers dorm's commons area with tv lounge, help desk and cafeteria) , about to eat dinner with my friends when a nice (and cute) guy sat down next to me on the couch and introduced himself as Tim Stanley. I wrote in my journal that night: "A guy named Tim flirted with me" I was cocky wasn't I? I guess that was one of the things I have liked about Tim from the beginning. I have always felt confident and likable around him. Everything I ever dreamed for my future family started happening that day.

We like living so close to where we spent those beginning exciting courtship days. Numerous times we have gone to the old spot right outside the girls dorm where we used to hang out and. . . snuggle, to celebrate our anniversaries. Unfortunatly, they are in the process of tearing down Deseret Towers. Sniff. We were there one day when there was a pile of building rubble. Tim grabbed a few peices for sentimental reasons. One small brick is in our master bedroom. Another bigger corner piece is in our garden. It is our Deseret Towers Memorial. Are we sentimental fools or what?

The Deseret Towers Memorial. It looks nice with all the foliage around it doesn't it? Kind of like old ruins. (Sp?)

Warning: Pictures of cute kids being sad here-in.

I think childhood receives a lot of undeserved glory. It isn't all bad but you put up with a lot of things as a kid you just don't have to worry about as a grown up. I am not one of those parents who watches my kids and wishes I was a kid again. I love being an adult. I guess the one exception is when I tuck them in at night and I wish I could go to bed at the same time but can't because I need to do a bunch of other things first. YAWN!

Adulthood means getting to stay up when you want to (and when you don't) spending your money on stupid things you can't afford, taking a lunch hour and eating at your favorite resturaunt (once in a while), having your own place your parents don't tell you to clean up all the time, etc etc.

Here are a few things I thought of that I don't miss about being a kid:

1. Being sent to bed when you aren't tired- I am still rebelious and love to stay up late. I like telling myself when to go to bed. Despite my sediment above.

2. Being told your haircut looks stupid-Joes classmate told him this. The worst thing I have to worry about is noone saying anything after a haircut...that kind of says it all. If someone does say somthing rude I know they are just jerks. Kids might not know that.

3. Getting shots (4 at a time) without much of a warning while your mom holds you down. Lincoln delt with that one today, poor kid.

4. Teething and diaper rash- What a rude way to be welcomed to the world.

5. Falling off your chair during dinner-usually not a problem for me.

6. Knocking your head into door knobs-I just don't deal with that anymore.

7. Being told what to eat-Having to take what your parents serve every night. Like it or not.

8. Puberty-need I say more about that?

9. Soap and water in your eyes: I have figured out how to avoid that for the most part. I try to teach my kids but they don't always cooperate. Tear free isn't necessarily so..at least according to my kids. I havn't rubbed it in my eyes to prove them wrong yet. 10. Teenage infatuation - Oh the unquenchable agony of it all.

Granted there are a lot of less fun things about being an adult (I may write another blog about the pains of adulthood too so be patient if this entry disagrees with you) but all in all, in my opinion, adulthood is better. So do your kids a favor and don't tell them these are the best years of their lives so enjoy them. Life usually gets better. Make sure they know that.

Adventures in Shaving

Shaving my legs had lost its thrill. (Maybe if I had a deck that over looked a lush green forest then it might be more fun. Nah... shaving is shaving.) I still do it every other day, but it used to be when I shaved I had super silky smooth legs. I remember as a teenager telling my big brother David, "You will never know the feeling of clean shaven legs against cotton sheets." He responded, "Oh yeah, well you will never know the feeling of really hairy legs against cheap polysther sheets." (I dont' know about really hairy legs but I know the cheap sheets with unshaven legs.) But I havn't had that silk on silk sensation in years. I thought it was just part of getting old and living in the desert. I was wrong. It is part of getting cheap.

You see, years ago, I don't know how many, I decided to stop buying shaving gel and just used my body wash as a lather. I had read on one bottle of body wash at least, that you could do that so thought why spend the extra money? Friday I was on a spending spree for pampering myself a little, bought myself another body mist, a new shaver because my disposable razors had run out and some shaving gel for the first time in years. Who knows, maybe the razor has something to do with it too. I got a more expensive razor this time, a kind I used to use, but stopped a year or two ago. I realized I could use cheaper razors and they actually didn't cut up my legs.

This morning shaving my legs was a totally different experience. I used my shaving gel and new razor and the razor glided across my legs! There wasn't that feeling and sound of razor against my legs that I am used to. I thought, "This can't be working, is this a faulty blade or something? Did I take the cover off the blade?" Well, it worked and my legs felt as smooth as they used to in the good old days that I so fondly remembered from my youth. I guess it pays to pay a little more doesn't it? Shaving gel, how do I love thee. . . ? I know a lot of you already knew this but it is a huge relief to me that the days of satin soft legs are not over.

Family Pictures.

Here is a family picture from last December. Tim was just playing around with his camera after church. Poor Sam got the sun a little too directly there.
Here are Eric, Me, and David in California a year ago.


This is Eric and Angie on their wedding day last December.

I hope my brothers and sister don't mind me posting their faces on my blog but I wanted to share with those who havn't seen us in a while some recent pictures and wanted to show off my new sister in-law. She is awesome!