What a day!

Do you remember the poem by Shel Silverstein, What A Day?

What a day

oh what a day

My baby brother ran away,

And now my tuba will not play.

I'm eight years old

and turning grey, Oh what a day, Oh what a day.

The illustration that came along with this poem was a boy playing his tuba. His baby brother was in the tuba, that is why the tuba will not play. I felt like the boy playing the tuba the other day but my poem would have gone like this...............

What a day

oh what a day

My three year old is puking away,

Ad now my SUV will not start.

I'm thirty-four years old

and turning grey, Oh what a day,Oh what a day.

I thought of this poem last night as I was falling asleep. Aside from the premature graying, which he really should have the doctor look at; everything was fine. His baby brother was not missing and his tuba was not broken. I think when we have days that seem to be an endless assault of mishaps and inconveniences we tend to look to the heavens and say, " what else can happen to me today?" Once we step back from the situation and survey what has happened many times simple resolutions are the remedy. The three year old is recovering, the SUV was towed and it was an inexpensive fix and at the end of the day all those other inconveniences and mishaps seemed to go away. I seem to get wrapped up in the moment and let my frustrations take over for a few brief moments..or hours; depending on my mood. I just need to remember to take a step back and look for the baby brother in the tuba and then I can play.

Dad and Walmart Barbie Galoshes

Our home is the land of women. I have three girls' and a female dog and I if did some investigating and disecting I bet our fish are girls too! Our house is full of dolls, lip smackers; bracelets, hair bands; barbies, stuffed animals; princess dress-up, and pretty ponies. My husband is surrounded by girl fights and emotional outbursts that seem to come out of nowhere. He tries to ignore our estrogen banter and OPI nail polish manicures with his Call of Duty Warfare, Top Gear viewing, and any sporting event that may remind him that there is testosterone out there somewhere.

We stopped by Wal-Mart the other night to pick up a few random things that we needed around the house. We came across a display of galoshes. Galoshes in Utah is not the most practical considering our rainfall amounts are minimal to say the least. Most people use them to work in their gardens in this area. My three year old had received a pair of galoshes from her great grandmother Hope last year for christmas. First of all Makenzie Loves shoes! She will wear several pairs throughout the day. Her Barbies are always naked but they always have shoes on. She compliments other children on their footwear. She saw a shoe display in Dillards that made her utter the words, "aaaahhhhh". She Loves shoes! Anyways; so we see this display of galoshes and I mention Makenzie would love a new pair of galoshes. We began to look through the display and my husband soon finds the perfect one.

They are pink, black,white with polka dots with Barbie logos on them. Adrian announces these are the ones and puts them in the cart. He pulled them out of the sack when we got home and put them by her door so that was the first thing she saw when she got up in the morning. When she opened her bedroom door this morning there was a squeal of delight as she saw her new shoes. She has worn them all morning and she loves them!

I remember a quote that said, "Any man can be a father. It takes someone special to be a dad." It has to be hard to be a father to three girls but a really good dad would know his little girl would love those Barbie galoshes. My girls' are lucky to have someone that special to call their dad.

The Result of MY Choices and Actions!

I was married at 18 years old; CRAZY, I know! My husband was a return missionary for the LDS church. We meet; fell in love quickly and wanted to get married. His family wanted us to get married in the LDS temple but I was not mentally ready at the time for this so we choose to get married at the local church instead. I could see the disappointment and the worry in his parents eyes. I knew that they were unsure of this stranger that had swooped into their son's life and had forever changed it. I was young and head strong and knew without a shadow of doubt that this was the person I was meant to be with. Despite the disapproving glances and the unsureness of the future with my new extended family I knew I was marrying the man who I was meant to spend my life with.
We lived in Utah for about a year and soon because of a job change we had an opportunity to move to the east coast. During that year of living here I never took the time to get to know Adrian's (my husband) parents! I was fearful of what they thought of me and I was young and immature and didn't know how to approach them. We soon packed up our U-Haul and headed out to make a life for ourselves. We had been married for about 6 years when I found out I was pregnant with my twins. Adrian's grandfather offered to help moves us back to Utah so we could be closer to the family. There was no question or second thought, we were going home!
We came back to Utah with two babies and years of independence. It was time to face what I had been so scared of, starting a relationship with my in-laws. They were strangers to me and I was a stranger to them. The miles and distance between us gave us an excuse to try not understand one another and not get to know one another. There was a force that was different this time, it was my first born babies and their first born grandchildren that were making us become a family and no longer strangers.
It was a bumpy road to begin with. It was hard to navigate but as the days went on the path became easier. The bumps in the road began to smooth out and our uneasiness with one another seem to slowly fade away.
I found in this journey that I have amazing in-laws. My father in-law is an amazing man with such a compassionate heart. His belief in his faith is undeniable and strong. His love for his children and concern for their well being can not be expressed in to words. He is truly a pure spirit that I am glad to call my father-in-law. My mother-in-law has the same strong faith that her husband carries. I can truly call her a friend and my mother. She is strong in her convictions and will stand by what she feels and I admire her for that. She loves her faith and she loves her children. She has been an amazing grandmother to my children and I love her!
We do what all families do, we fight; disagree, we say things in the heat of anger; make mistakes, but we also; forgive, love; laugh, cry; at the end of the day we call our self family.
Why am I am posting this blog? I have had made some wrong choices in my time; I have not always acted with the best intent in heart but I have always accepted these wrong choices and actions. I make mistakes and I own them. I have made mistakes with my in-laws but one thing that I know at the end of the day is my true love for them. There is no manipulating or other motives. It is a pure love that I will take with me eternally. I sit here at 34 years old and I am surrounded by a husband who loved me from the moment he meet me; three beautiful girls who I love with every cell of my body. I have an incredible relationship with my family in Idaho; my mother, sister, father. I have the love and support of my in-laws and incredible friendships with my sister in laws. My choices and actions have led me to this place, a place of love and family; I will never be alone! I will never feel like lost soul or maybe as some would say an orphan!

Future Hairdresser?...Maybe, for Rednecks!

What is that you ask! Is that the family pet? Is that hair?Let me give some background leading up to this unknown mass in the picture. I am the mom of 10 year old twin year girls. The journey with them has been an adventure. I was reminded of one these adventures when I took my three year old for her first haircut the other day. There was a mom in the seat next to ours in distress because her child's hair was no longer the perfect image it once was . This women's child had decided to cut her own hair. She had random pieces chopped throughout her long blonde hair and now the only way to rescue it was to cut in to a short bob. The little girl was all smiles as she received her sucker at the end of her haircut and the mother left with a look of defeat on her face.

This is where the above picture came into my memory. I had just come home for a neighbors scrapbooking party and the twins were about four years old. I walked in the back door and on our kitchen table there was a pile of hair. Not a little bit of hair but a lot of hair! Proof in the picture above. I picked up the hair and knew immediately this came from one of my twins head. My husband meet me with a smile and said, I just put Cheyenne to bed but I think you want to go in and see what she has done to herself. With much hesitation and fear I opened the door and my four year old was now sporting a bad ass mullet. Full on business in the front party in the back, MULLET!

As a mother do you cry or do you laugh when you see this. I did a little of both. Look at that smile on her face in the picture, she was so proud of herself. My next thought was, what about the other twin? Did she cut her hair also? No, Kaitlynn's (the other twin) response to Cheyenne's new haircut was, "You Look Stupid!"

So the next day I was at the hairdresser with distress in my eyes and a look of defeat on my face. Cheyenne was all smiles when she received her sucker at the end of her haircut. At the time I had a funny story to tell and now I have a memory that will live forever.

How do I love thee? Let me make a list!

What Do I Love?

1. My husband


2. All three of my beautiful girls


3. My Idaho family


4. My Utah family


5. Incredible Friends


6. Chocolate Chip cookie fresh from the oven


7. The ocean at sunrise


8. The view from the top of a mountain


9. Good Hair Days


10. A conclusion to the T.V. show Lost


11. I Love Lucy


12. Babies


13. The movie Goonies


14. Eating a beignet at a street side cafe in New Orleans


15. Watching dolphins swim in the wake of your boat


16. My education


17. Elderly couples holding hands


18. My faith


19. Warming myself by a campfire


20. Getting a foot rub


21. My Aunt Wandas laugh


22. The poem "The Cremation of Sam Magee"


23. Rollercoasters


24. The christmas song "Silent Night"


25. Fireworks on the 4th of July


26. Arlington cemetary


27. Dogs


28. Spongebob Squarepants


29. Five Guys Hamburger and Fries


30. Good book


31. Laughing so hard that your sides begin to hurt


32. FlipFlops


33. Mork and Mindy


34. U2


35. Christmas lights at temple square


36. Sunsets in the desert


37. The song "Unforgetable" sung by Nat King Cole


38. Sounds of crickets on hot summer nights


39. What the air smells like after a rain storm


40. Shelby Mustang


41. Solitude

To be continued some other time...Happy Valentines!

Full circle

So here I am 1993 getting ready to graduate high school with no idea what I was going to do with my life or where I was going, I was just happy that I was done with school. The thought of never having to write another paper or see another algebraic word problem gave me a feeling of serenity and bliss. Yes, I will admit I had no desire at that time to move on to college and join a sorority. I was ready to tackle the world and see what it spit back at me. Some would call it naive or youthful ignorance but it was the direction I chose to take.


Fast forward to seventeen years later; life gave me marriage, death; birth, sorrow; laughter,and increased spirituality but there was something still missing. I am not sure if it was the stress and pessimism of our economic times. It could have been the question of whether or not I could be a perpetual housewife.The decision was made between me and my spouse, I decided it was time to go to college. I am now writing papers and doing algebraic word problems but this time there is no impending dread coming over me.

I am not sure why I decided to make this my first post or why I am even why I am writing a blog but I feel as though this time in my life is a transition period. It is a new road with an ending that is going to take me somewhere I have not been yet. I hope my children see the effort and the importance I am putting in my education because they were a huge factor in this desicion.

So there I am 17 years ago with a whole new world ahead of me....I guess life has come full circle because once again ahead of me is new world waiting for me to tackle it.