Exercise is bad for you

First thing on the agenda when Jay leaves is to lose weight and get in shape so that I will look good when he comes home. He does the same thing with usually awesome results. I do this every time with pretty good success and then he comes home and we eat out a bunch to celebrate and it all goes down hill again. So I am taking the moderation idea this time. I am cutting back on fast food BIG TIME. And I am going to start walking. Yesterday with all good intentions I put the baby down for a nap and began a leisurely stroll on the treadmill for 30 minutes. Nothing to hard right. Remember that I was out of commission for three months with leg problems. Only problem with this is that I didn't really have any good walking shoes so I used an old pair that should have been retired long ago. Last night my knee blew up like a balloon. Don't worry I am doing some better today and in a few days I hope to be ready to try again.
I bought new shoes today, but I do think exercise is just bad for you.

Bye, Bye Daddy

Jay is gone now. We had to take him to the airport and ship him off to his ship. Already you might say, that is what we said too. We thought that we were going to have 6 weeks with him, but it ran down to 3 1/2. Don't worry, we are going to be okay. Nathan was fine when I showed him that I had Doritos. They are like a drug to him. The boys were like me resolute. We have done this so much that it isn't easy, but we know it must be done. Sarah was a basket case. She is finally asleep, but it was rough getting there.
Jay will be gone until mid fall. I would love to say where he is and what he is doing but that wouldn't be safe. I can say that his ship is the USS Oak Hill (LSD 51). He will be the Officer in charge of Operations.
We had the BEST time while he was home. There is nothing like having the family all together.

Gratitude Weekly - Music

Music is on my mind this week. Today was the last day for our Primary Chorister who will be moving soon. She has really made the effort and succeeded in teaching the Primary children at church. She has worked on helping them sing better, to hear the notes better, to follow and lead music, to know the behavior that goes along with singing, she taught them to sing in other languages, and many more things that I am sure that I am forgetting. I have never experienced such a music leader for children this age. She only sees them for 20 minutes a week basically and yet has taught them so very much in this time. Her work with them will last them a lifetime. One big example to me of her influence is that Sarah used to not be willing to sing at church and now she sings at church and she sings her primary songs that Sister Johnson taught her all the time. On a side note this wonderful sister taught both Alex and Spencer piano this year and for that I will always be in her debt.
Alex was called up in Primary today as the spotlight child and one of his questions was what makes you unique. He said that he loves music. If the same question had been asked of me I would have replied with the same answer. He had his end of the year band concert this week. He plays the clarinet and he plays it very well. He hopes to add the French Horn to his list of musical interests this summer.
I personally love music and I love to sing. I love hearing my children sing and play, especially the piano. They wouldn't know how much I love hearing them play with the number of times that I make them use headphones, but I love hearing them play. I love that they sit down at the piano so much during the day just for a few minutes of playing time if that is all they have. Undoubtedly I am thankful for music in my life.

Gratitude Weekly - Local Church Leaders

Today at church the wards were rearranged. Ours was only affected minimally and our bishopric stayed the same. While we were sitting there in the gym in uncomfortable chairs and chaos all around I noticed that I had an unobstructed view of the Stake President. The stake president is someone we know well seeing that he used to be our bishop when we lived here before and his son Nathan used to babysit for us too. When he was called a few years ago to be Stake President I was very disappointed that we were moving and wouldn't be able to watch the stake grow under his leadership. As I watched him today I was overwhelmed with how glad I am that he is our local leader. He is a truly good man, he really tells it like it is and expects us listen and then go forth and make our lives better and work harder for the Lord.
The bishops from all the wards and branches spoke and bore their testimonies of the truthfulness of the gospel. As they spoke I was thrilled to realize that all of their messages were unique and that I would be glad to have ANY of them as my bishop. They all said things that needed to be said. Things that were thought provoking and inspirational. I believe that anyone listening in our meeting today couldn't leave there without feeling like improving themselves and sharing that improvement with those that surround them.
Here in Virginia we are certainly being lead by some great men and I am grateful to all of them for their service on our behalf and for the Lord.

Best Possible Match

Last Thursday I found out that I am "the best possible match for a recipient in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant".
I joined the Dept. of Defense Marrow Donor Program back in August of 2006. An author that I really enjoy was having a book signing on a book about Navy SEALs. She had joined with the DOD to add people to their bone marrow registry at each of her signings. At the time one of the active duty Navy SEALs from Virginia Beach was looking for a match. I had always wanted to be on the national list for Bone Marrow Donors so I managed to register at her book signing.
Back in March I was contacted that I was a possible match for someone. The next step in the process was that I went to a lab and gave them some more blood. I was contacted on Thursday May 8th and told that I am now the best possible match and would I proceed. YES. They sent me a DVD and book to read followed by a phone interview in which the details for donation were discussed. I was asked if I would proceed. YES. Next week I head up to Georgetown University for a Physical with the doctors who will be performing the surgery. Then we wait for about a week for two doctors and the DOD coordinator to sign off saying that I am okay for donation. At current time I am scheduled to donate on June 19th.
All I know about the person that I am donating for is that she is a 41 year old female with prolymphocytic leukemia.
When I signed up for the Donor program it was an abstract thought that I might be able to help save a life. I feel kind of like I have won the lottery.
There are still some hurdles to cross, but we are on our way.

Gratitude Weekly - It's Crazy, but it is true

I hate to say what I am truly thankful for this week. It sounds crazy. I am going to have to say that I am thankful for what I gained from the separation from Jay. Everyday that he is here I am so grateful for him. I appreciate him so much more for having been apart. I can't bring myself to say that I am glad that we were apart, but I am going to say that I have learned from our trials. He walks in the door and I can't believe how happy I am to see him. The level of stress that I feel on my shoulders feels like it has been lifted with helium and is almost lifting me off my feet. Life feels easy. WOW!!

JAY'S HOME! JAY'S HOME! JAY'S HOME!

Jay dropped us off and left us(Spencer's words to his teacher) in Virgina on June 2, 2006 to head for training in South Carolina before heading to Iraq. He returned from Iraq on June 20, 2007. During our summer we traveled and summered with him in Rhode Island. Starting Labor Day we began the pattern of weekends with Dad. He worked all week in Rhode Island and flew home on weekends. It wasn't ideal, but it was a wonderful blessing every week and for the most part no one complained, we were just glad to see him.
Last night, May 2, 2008 Jay finally moved home. I flew up to Rhode Island and helped him pack up his life there and move home to live with us in our little green house. Now he gets to spend all of his at home nights in his own bed with his own family. We are so glad to have him back.

Weekly Gratitude - Good Friends

I am so thankful for my good friends. I am up in Rhode Island today and the reason I am here is because I have a wonderful friend who came up from North Carolina to take care of the children for me to come up here. She was really brave to take this on considering we had no idea if Nathan would let someone else take care of him.

Tomorrow we will say good-bye to Rhode Island and Jay and I will drive home together. But I will be grateful for that next week.

Gratitude Weekly - Our Wonderful Vacation

A few years ago my wise sister-in-law explained the difference between a Vacation and a Trip. A trip includes children, a vacation is time alone for yourself or yourself and your husband. Jay and I just took a wonderful vacation to Houston, Texas this weekend. I don't think we could have changed one minute of our trip to make it any better. Everything was so terrific.

Our dear friend Brad got married this weekend to a wonderful lady who truly complements him. We are so happy for them. Brad and Heather know how to have a party. Every detail was outstanding and they planned the perfect weekend. As far as we are concerned they could do the same thing every year and we would gladly come.


I also had the great privilege of visiting with a friend that I hadn't seen in years. We had dinner Friday night and I got to meet his love, then they came down and had lunch with Jay and I on Saturday. It was so great to finally see Marv again.


We have 10 days left until Jay moves home from Rhode Island.

Gratitude Weekly - Priceless

Spring Break
1136 total miles
Fast food
Cold
Wind
Less than pleasant apartment
Week with Jay - Priceless, and worth every minute.

Gratitude Weekly - Many, Many Things

There were too many things to be thankful for this week. I couldn't pick just one. Sadly though I can't remember the beginning of the week so I may be missing something. Over the weekend we went to Western New York to visit Jay's brother Pete and his family. We had a great time with them. If we hadn't had so much fun I would have taken some pictures. While we were there I saw Spencer's smile continuously. It was amazing. Spencer has a beautiful smile, but it has been absent a lot over the last year and while we were at Pete's I noticed that he was smiling so much you would think his face would break.
I am also very thankful that we made the trip safely. The children and I are becoming experts at traveling without Jay, but we don't like to do it. It was a long stressful drive with a lot of non interstate driving. We made it with no troubles at all and much success. Jay also traveled safely to New York to meet us there for which I am thankful.
Last week began our rehiring of a very nice lady to help with the household cleaning. I had been planning to wait to have her come help us until we unpacked, but reality set in and I found that sometimes you just have go ahead and do somethings. The amount of relief I feel in having her assistance is way out of proportion with the work she does, but just knowing that I have some adult help makes all the difference.
Finally, last week I meet a lady in need and stopped to help. It was something that needed to be done and I am very glad that I didn't just keep walking past her. I would want someone to help me if the situation was reversed. I am thankful that I was in a position to offer her my help.
It was a good week and now we are in Rhode Island for the week. It is cold and dark and dreary, but Jay is here and so life is great.

March Recap

Easter Egg Hunts, Spencer's 9th Birthday, Bullriding and the Pinewood Derby were the highlights of our month.

Gratitude Weekly - Relief

It is so easy to say what I am grateful for this week. After 14 weeks of pain and swelling in my legs from something called Erythema Nodosum I am almost pain free. I have suffered horribly during this time and the relief and gratitude is overwhelming. I had two doctor appointments this week and they gave me a couple of medicines to see if they would work and they sure haven't hurt. I don't know if I truly give the meds credit for my recovery though. I would say that prayer is probably more the cure, but I will take the relief in any form and be thankful for it.

Gratitude Weekly - Clean House

Today is Easter and as such there are many deep and thoughtful things that I am thankful for. I am going to express my gratitude however for something less deep or meaningful, yet something I am so overwhelmingly grateful for I must share. My house is cleaner than it has been in several months.
We had the wonderful pleasure of company this weekend. Five adults and seven children shared our small house for the Easter weekend. We celebrated birthdays and Easter and just hung out. It was a great time. Before the company came, we had a major crisis cleaning. The children pitched in and from 6:30-9:00 in the evening we worked as hard as we could to get the house in good shape for company. Now our good shape would probably be considered unacceptable to many, but it was the best we could manage at this point in time.
Now I know that you are thinking to yourselves, she had 12 people in her house all weekend, it was probably trashed by the end of the weekend. You would be wrong. I have the greatest friends, before they left they made sure that the house was in a place that when everyone, including Jay, had gone, I could sit down and put my feet up instead of sit down and cry. I have clean towels, clean floors and a straight house. For me that equals happiness.

Tagged

5 Things I Was Doing 10 Years Ago
1. We were living in Raleigh.
2. I was taking Art History at Peace and hating every minute of it.
3. I suffered from depression severely during this year, which prompted me to drop the above Art History Class.
4. Alex was almost 2 and adorable.
5. I was massaging Lauren's super swollen feet.

5 Things On My To-Do List
1. Buy Easter stuff
2. Balance Checkbook
3. Finish the boys' laundry
4. Grocery shop
5. Vacuum

5 Snacks I Enjoy
1. Cupcakes from Cake Ladies, Inc.
2. Cupcakes from The Sugar Tree Bakery
3. Peanut Butter Passion Ice Cream from Schwans
4. Cereal
5. Cinnamon and Raisin English Muffins

5 Places I've Lived
1. Yorktown, VA - 23 years
2. Provo, UT - 2 years
3. Raleigh, NC - 4.5 years
4. Charleston, SC - 1 year
5. Portsmouth, RI - 2 years

What I Would Do if I Became a Billionaire
1. Be debt free
2. Have a slightly larger home
3. Make sure all my family had a dependable car
4. Travel
5. Have a housekeeper, nanny and cook. Not really, but it is fun to think of having all of those for a week or so, make that a month.

5 Bad Habits
1. Eating Sugar
2. Not exercising
3. Worrying about things that I can't control.
4. Not picking up after myself.
5. Not following up on things that I need to do.

5 Jobs I've Had
1. Making cotton candy, drinks and snow cones at Water Country USA
2. Dancer in Kiddie show at Water Country USA
3. Selling dresses
4. Grocery Checkout Girl at Harris Teeter
5. Cashier at the BYU Bookstore

Some things people don't know about me ...
1. I love to take hour long bathes with the water up to the rim of the tub.
2. I read myself to sleep almost every night.
3. I have a totally irrational fear of ticks.
4. I am afraid to go outside in the dark. I do it, but I have to talk myself up to do it even as an adult.
5. I love state fairs, rodeos, bull riding and all the things my husband considers to be redneck.
6. Jay and I are tax fanatics. (Emily, that's for you)

Spring

I am so grateful that Spring is on it way. The official first day of Spring is coming up this week on Thursday, March 20th. Spring is my favorite season. It was the season that I fell in love with my husband and every year when I start to see and smell the beginnings of the season I am overcome with the same feelings that I felt when I first got to know my love.


My favorite tree is the Bradford Pear and right now they are in their glory all around.




My favorite spring flower is the Hyacinth. It's fragrance is what Spring smells like to me.

For those of you not experiencing the wonders of Spring, please don't hate me because I am, just come visit.

Domestic Goddess

Today, I was plunging the toilet, (isn't that a great way to start a blog) when Sarah comes in the bathroom and stops to watch me work. She is making faces and I thought that was bad, but then she started to express her views. Here they are.

*THAT is the most disgusting thing I have every seen.
*I am never doing THAT when I grow up.
*When I grow up my husband is going to do THAT so that I don't ever have to.
*If my husband is at work THAT is the only time I would ever do THAT.
*I am going to marry one of those husbands who works at home so that if THAT ever happens I don't have to do IT because IT is disgusting.

I am doing something wrong?

New Starts

I know that I am a week behind on sharing my thoughts about what I am grateful for, but it really seemed to defeat the point of looking for my blessings when I say that I am grateful that this week is over. That could go for this past week or the week before. I have been sick or someone else has been sick or all of us have been sick for so long that I can't remember what life used to be like. Throw a bunch of personal crisis in for each of my children and it seems like I live in a tornado. But when I thought about the fact that it is Sunday night and the last week is over and a new one has begun I thought about why Sunday feels like such a relief, and this is what I came up with.
I love having a new start or a clean slate. This feeling comes from taking the Sacrament each week. I apply the new start feeling to other areas of my life, but the main one is, on Sunday when I go to church and renew my covenants with Heavenly Father by partaking of the Sacrament then I know that as I go out into my week I can go forward into a better week. I can do my best to forget the mistakes of last week and try again in the week to come. It helps me to focus my goals back to my ultimate goal which is to live my life for Heavenly Father and put forth my best effort in the places that matter most.
So today, Sunday night, after a great day at church I would say that I am grateful for the new start. Ultimately I am grateful for the Atonement of Christ.

Valerie Has A Blog

This week I am greatful that my dear friend Valerie now has a blog. We met Valerie and Cannon in Charleston, SC while Cannon and Jay were going through Neclear Power School together. Valerie has twin boys who are two months older than our Sarah. Now she has four children and is expecting her fifth. We saw their family while traveling through Utah this summer and it was so great catching up. Please go check out Valerie's blog. You can even wish her a Happy Birthday as she turns 8 (she may only be 7, but Jay says 8) tomorrow on February 29th.
http://neslen.blogspot.com/

I'm Happy

That's what I am grateful for. I'm Happy. I love my life. I am trying very hard to live in the moment and not look to the future for my happiness and what do you know. . . I am happy in my present. There is a song out by Trace Adkins right now called, You're Gonna Miss This, and it has really helped me to realize how much I am enjoying my life.

You're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna miss this

I already know that my children are growing up too fast and that though every day is very hard, I love it. Every day there are new and very frustrating things that happen, but I wouldn't miss it for anything.