In A Blink of An Eye

Do you have ever have those weeks, months, and what seems like years just pass you by in a blink of an eye? As I laid on the couch yesterday because of a combination of something I ate not agreeing with me and I think pure exhaustion; I had that moment of trying to relive my last few months and wondering what happened to them.

The twins are in Idaho with my mother, Makenzie was over at my in-laws celebrating cousins birthdays....it was just Adrian and I in the house. I am still at the point in our family that it is truly a rare occasion when there is no kids in the house. As we prepared a simple dinner for ourselves and we clattered around the kitchen I finally looked at Adrian and said, that this is our near future...him and I, making a dinner for two.

Makenzie heads off to kindergarten this year, the twins are headed to 6th grade. We still have a lot of years to go but getting to this point thus far as happened in what seems like a blink of an eye.

I will readily admit and not apologize that one of the top reasons I have gone back to school is so that when Adrian and I get to the empty nest phase of our life...we want to travel, we want to have a full schedule of fun activities...we want to enjoy life, not just sit at home going through the motions of life and marriage.

Anyways, my point I suppose is, I wish I could slow down things a little so I can make sure I enjoy this chaotic time and watch my children's lives unfold before my eyes. I look forward to my future and hopefully we get to accomplish plans we have made for our empty nest years.

Reminiscing the past, planning the future, living in the now....that is life, flying by in a blink of an eye.

Why do you have that stupid grin on your face?

Do you see that dorky smile on my face? Well, that dorky smile is pure glee, happiness; joy, bliss; delirium, and euphoria all wrapped up in that facial expression. "HOLY CRAP, I AM AT A U2 CONCERT"!...kindof face. After years of listening to U2 and not being able to go to their concert because of various reasons I finally got to go. I have been a huge fan forever and the concert did not disappoint.

We rode the Trax to the stadium, it was packed! However, I am a professional at riding trains and subways; I have riden on the Washington DC metro's on the 4th of July and these crowds were amateur compared to those crowds.

This was our first glimpse at this gargantuan stage.....This is where that stupid smile first appeared on my face....HOLY CRAP! I AM AT A U2 CONCERT!

This is the man responsible for these tickets; it was my mothers day gift.......Golly I sure do love this guy!

Our view from our seats. The opening band was the Fray, they were very good. The stage was amazing and I can't even begin to describe the size of it. When U2 came out the seats were rumbling, it felt like an earthquake....I definitely had that stupid grin on my face when the band came out.

The screen over the stage was a 360 screen that moved around in circles and had amazing graphics and views of the band singing...

The noise coming from the crowds was deafening but amazing.....

At one point the movie screen rotating above unfolded and came all the way down to the stage and once again had amazing graphics displayed across them. I think this was taken during the song, Vertigo.

Seriously, that stupid grin never left my face the whole night. It was an amazing concert! Only thing I really regret is not taking the twins. They know U2 because I play it all the time and I would have loved to have shared this experience with them. I loved that I saw grandparents taking their kids and grandkids to this show. I loved that U2 in concert sounds just like U2 on CD, Bono's vocals are spot on. I loved that I got to hear edge play his guitars. I loved that they played one song from every one of their albums, even an obscure song from their first album October. I loved that their very last song was my all time favorite U2 song, with or without you. I loved that I got to experience that night with Adrian.

I guess all these things that I loved about this concert explains why I had that stupid grin on my face....

Summertime, Summertime, Sum, Sum, Summertime!

I had my last final at school May 4 and began summer school May 10th and lets just say I have not been thoroughly focused this summer.....I really, really need to focus but in the meantime lets catch up on the last couple of weeks and the beginning of summer creeping up around the corner..can't you feel summer just around the corner..

Summer...ahhh summer...the smell of BBQ. Adrians new toy is an electric smoker that he got a "smokin" deal on. The taste of smoked brisket and chicken is the taste of summer. You know what I love about summer...Adrian cooks all the time, all I have to do is come up with a couple side dishes...I love summer cooking!

Summer movie releases..love summer movies! Nothing better than coming in to a cool theater on a hot summer day. We saw Thor a couple weeks ago..not bad..better then I thought it would be

Bracelets? What does bracelets have to do with summer?...Nothing...I just like bangle bracelets

.........well these kinda have to do with summer...espadrilles...I love espadrilles! They are perfect footwear for summer.

Graduation..is it not the benchmark for the beginning of summer? I spent this last weekend in Idaho spending time with my sister and mom and extended family celebrating my nieces college graduation.

Vacations, vacations, vacations...summer is time for vacation...not this summer. We have taken two amazing vacations this year and the hubby just started a new job so no vacations for a year. However, shhhhhhh...see that cruise ship up above......that might just be me on that cruise ship in an exotic location sometime in the near future....mabye.....just maybe...details to come at a later date.

In the meantime; an outdoor concert with the most amazing band ever is a great way to start off the summer.....May 24 I will spending my evening with Bono and Edge..and an added bonus of an overnighter at a hotel with my hubby...what a spoiled girl I am.....

Plans for the summer include the twins spending some time with grandma in Idaho, me making a road trip to Idaho to get the twins, 4th of July festivities with my sister and family, Lagoon, zoo, children's museum, many more movies, concerts, camping and so much more...and oh wait...somewhere in there I will squeeze in my studies...somewhere?

Really?.....I Mean Really?

Mothers of twins may live longer

First read the link I posted above and then I want to explain why I think whoever did this study has (A) Never been Pregnant With Twins! (B) Never had Twin Toddlers Living in Their Home! (C) Has Never had Pre-Teen Girl Twins Living in Their Home!.......We have a longer life?! Ha I say....hahahahaha.....since the moment I was pregnant with twins betweeen stress, worry, and aggravation, they have at a minimum, taken at least 10 years off of my life.

Lets begin with pregnancy with twins. First of all the minute you hear it is twins, that is at least 6 months off your life due to your heart stopping briefly and doing irreversible damage. Do you have any idea what being pregnant with twins does to your body! Your body morphs into a Macy's thanksgiving day float by the 4 month. Your belly measures at full term and your butt also measures at full term by the 5th month,ughh, the stretch marks alone, I don't even want to go there. The unborn babies are fighting for space and are at constant battle with one another so that means they are always moving and one will have a foot in the rib while the other is sitting on your bladder, and when they both move from the outside it resembles an Alien movie, and you are just waiting for something to tear right through your belly button . My twins were born preemies, little itty bitty preemies. The stress of the NICU and all the medical tests alone were at least 5 years off my life right there.

Twin toddlers..are you kidding me! Think about the damage and all the work a toddler is let alone two. You can't believe the things they think up, and the trouble they get into. Potty training was at least one year off my life. Any day outing with twin toddlers causes enough stress to at least equate to three months off my life. Traveling with twins...twins who will not sleep in the car....."shudder"......the toddler years were at least three years off my life.

Pre-teen girls...hormonal, angst ridden, sensitive...pre-teen twin girls. The fights, oh the fights that take place. The fights over clothes, computer time, homework, friends, bra shopping...I swear they are chipping away at my mortality and we have not even hit the full on teen years yet. I would say they have taken at least two years off my life through pure aggravation.

At this rate I say might live to be 65 if I am lucky. Mothers of twins live longer..HAHA...I needed a good laugh today.

The Music of My Life

Do you ever listen to a song and it brings up certain memories? Adrian bought me tickets to a U2 concert, I have listened to U2 forever and I am so excited to be going to one of their concerts. On our first date we went to a U2 laser show, at what used to be Hansen Planetarium. I had been to this laser show a few times but this time...this time was different...the songs that I had listened to for years were now associated to me falling in love for the first time.
Back to the first date with Adrian....In between going to dinner and the laser show this CD was playing the whole time in his car...I love everything about this album and I still play it all the time...this album just makes me happy.
First time I heard this song was when Adrian and I were driving into Baltimore in our U-haul. We were moving from Utah, starting our new life. The songs on this album remind of this time in our lives. We always had this album in our CD player in the car as we drove around the east coast exploring all the new places we had never seen.
The Wallflowers album reminds me of our time in Florida. We had only had lived there for a short time when a change of job took Adrian back to DC but I was not able to move right away with him; I had to stay in Florida for a few months. I drove up to see him in DC (a 12+ hour drive) and I played this CD over and over while I took this long drive. When I hear these songs now I think of that commute and the distance we had between us.
No Doubt...they are second to my U2..I love No doubt. No Doubt reminds me of our time spent in DC. What a fun time...what an incredible album.
There has been so many more albums since and artists that I love. I currently listen to this Zac Brown album a lot, it is an album that seems to be our go to car CD when we are traveling somewhere.When I was thinking of all the albums and artists I love, I found a common theme among these albums....all these albums have memories with Adrian involved with them....

17 years ago we went to a U2 laser show together...two kids going on a first date...17 years later we are going to a U2 concert...a married couple of seventeen years and the proud parents of three amazing kids....so I suppose you could say that music that is special to me, is precious, because it is connected to love.

Why I Race

I walked the race for the cure this morning. They always do this race right before mothers day. I made a personal promise to myself that when my mom was going through treatment for breast cancer I was going to do this race every year. I was unable to be there with my mom when she was going through her treatments, surgery, and recovery. I was not there to see it first hand on a daily basis so this is my way of remembering, my glimpse into those who have survived breast cancer and to share a day with those who lost someone they loved to breast cancer. It is amazing to see all these people coming together, celebrating life and memories. I go to celebrate my mom.

When I walk this race, the song I posted above flows through my mind:

I run for hope, I run to feel
I run for the truth for all that is real
I run for your mother, your sister, your wife
I run for you and me my friend
I run for life.

Today I walked for my mom, for my friends, for my daughters...I walked for me so I will always remember.

and exhale.....

5:55 am Wednesday morning I woke up and held my breath..waiting to see what the day was going to bring me .........

On my check list for the day
1. Husband being offered a job after 2 months of unemployment
2. Finishing my last math final....my very last..never again...math final
3. And the least important but critical to the good energy flow for the day ...haircut!

First on the agenda haircut....so I have very thick, frizzy hair that needs a precise haircut so my numerous calics do not run rampant. My hair is cut in an A-line but my issue is once it starts growing out, it gets to thick behind my ears area ( That is the technical term..behind the ears area ;)...) and because it is thick, it begins to get a mind of its own and it starts to rebel and starts doing things that are uncalled for. Anyways, my hairdresser figured out a way for it to fall like I want it to...take the bulk out.... we thinned it...we cut lots of layers..and the result was what I was looking for. I was going to include a pick but my laptop decided it was going to download any pictures for me...so the actress Claire Danes will be my stand in because we look like twins anyways...well kinda...well a little...okay, so not at all, but her hair looks just like mine

So anyways enough about my hair...I like her hair color...oh wait...enough about hair. On to the important stuff. So Adrian was laid off his job at the end of February. He drives truck and was trying to find something local because we didn't want him going on the road but no local jobs seemed to be available. Monday a friend of a friend called and said his company was looking for a driver and we were coincidentally already in Salt Lake so we headed over to the company, Adrian did an interview and they asked him to come back Wednesday for a ride-along. So he drove one of their trucks Wednesday morning and they offered him a full time job with much more pay then he was making before.........you have no idea the amount of stress at that moment was lifted off our backs...well you probably have an idea but you know what I mean. It is somewhat local but he will be home for the most part and that's what matters.

My last thing off my checklist, calculus test.....ughhh....have I mentioned before how much I hate math, how much I suck at math, and how happy I am this was my last math class. The test...well i did it....I would like to say I conquered it but we will call it a draw. The most important thing I want to emphasize it was my last math test EVER...and that is enough reason to celebrate.

At the end of the day I looked at my checklist and wouldn't you know, everything went as I hoped it would, so I finally......exhaled.

P.S. Back to my hair...I got my pictures to download...see you couldn't tell me and Claire Danes apart if you tried..well maybe if you are legally blind... :)...........

And the next thing I know.......

I tell my four year old that she has a trap door mind. What I mean by that is, she can go from one subject to another without a breath taken. A thought will travel through her mind and suddenly this thought falls through a trap door in her mind and then she is on to a new subject.....I think she inherited this trait from me...my mind is always moving from one subject to another especially when I should be concentrating on something in particular. I am studying for finals, searching google about the effects of global warming and the next thing I know I am looking at pictures of Kate Middletons dress. First of all I was not the least bit interested in the wedding but I will say she looked beautiful and her dress was stunning.

I am searching google for solutions on linear inequalities for calculus and the next thing I know I am on Etsy looking at jewelery. Isn't this necklace adorable...dainty...pretty ...springy!

I am searching google for politicians lack of scientific knowledge and the next thing I know I am wishing I had the time and space for chickens, plus someone that will clean out the chicken coop. Not normal old boring chickens; I want a chicken that looks like this...I would name her Gertrude..she looks like a Gertrude.

I am searching google for the decay formula for carbon and the next thing I know I am jotting down a recipe for some scrumptious rolls that come from a local Provo restaurant. They use Rhodes Rolls and anytime I get to use Rhodes Rolls I am all over it.

I am searching google for exponential growth of humans and the next thing I know I am looking at those pretty chickens again...I think I would name this one, Duchess...she looks like a regal duchess......

I am searching google for gram positive bacteria and the next thing I know I come across an OCD dream. I can hang up flip flops? These were made from regular old wire hangers...hmmm...first of all I do not have the closet space for this but I want to make these for someone who does just so I can hang up their flip flops for them.....

I am searching google for renewable resources and the next thing you know.... I am blogging.