A really long post about a trip to Colorado, priesthood blessings, a temple sealing, an appendix, and swimming with alligators

Where to begin?
We've been hanging on to life's roller coaster with white knuckles these past several weeks.
In September, we traveled to Colorado to meet our new tenant and situate everything with our previous tenant.  Several days prior to our travels, my husband began to feel abdominal pain.  We weren't sure what it was, we'd tried some new black rice and chalked it up to the new food experience.

On Wednesday, just prior to leaving, he was really in pain and wasn't walking very well.  I called the missionaries from our church, and asked them to give my husband a priesthood blessing of healing.  They came, and gave him a blessing, and we headed for the airport.

At the airport, he was in a lot of pain, and I payed $9 for a tiny bottle of Aleeve.  He took two, and boarded the plane. During the flight, he squeezed my hand and I tried to distract him with a book on tape.  We discussed calling an ambulance from the airport, or driving straight to a hospital in Denver.  When we touched down however, he stepped into the Denver airport and said he was feeling better.  So well in fact, that after picking up our bags, he drove or 3 hours through rain over two mountain passes to our destination in Beaver Creek (one of our most favorite places in the world!).  It was past 1:00 am for our eastern time zone orientation.  We were exhausted.

The next morning, my husband went for a 4 mile run - up the ski mountain 2 miles, then back down 2 miles, and then went for a swim.  We had a fantastic breakfast together at one of my old favorite lunch haunts - the Columbine Bakery (best rolls ever!), and then headed down valley to see our cute yellow house.

We were amazed when we arrived.  The apple trees which had never produced more than 4 apples were full of beautiful crisp apples.  Our pear tree's branch was to the point of breaking due to the excessive amounts of fruit, and the other pear tree that had never given fruit was also laden with tons of pears.  Our raspberries were perfectly ripe (just waiting to be made into jam), and the carrots in the garden were sweet and crunchy.  Our girls didn't miss a moment, and were instantly outside foraging.  It seemed like time had just stood still.   Did I mention how much we loved our yard in Colorado, and gardening?  :)

We walked through our old home, and saw where our previous tenant had stolen our vanity from the wall (it was super cute), and cut holes in the doors for their dogs?, where our last tenants had put up shelving, and we really missed our super cute yellow house.

Because we were so close to the girl's previous school, we dropped by and got to see all of the girl's old teachers.  

Because it was lunch time, our youngest daughter saw two old friends in the hall on their way to lunch.  She ran up with hugs, and joined them in the lunch room at their table, and got to catch up with all of her old friends.  She was in heaven. 

Our eldest daughter was able to see her old teachers, as well as noting much of the artwork still around the school that she had done.

We stopped by our old favorite mexican restaurant (yes, they had horchata bless them!), and saw the same menu, ordered the same items, and then went to meet our eldest daughter's previous teacher who was at a different school.
 
My husband was having a hard time walking and was clutching his side.  So, I called his previous Dr. office and they said they could see him.  I dropped our daughters off at the school, dropped him off a mile away at the Dr. and came back to visit with the teacher.  As we left, my husband called and said that the Dr. office was sending him up to the hospital for a CT scan and blood work.

Blast from the past!  We had a white knuckle drive through Wolcott, in a yucky rain storm (the Bermuda triangle of the Vail Valley) while my husband insisted that he was just fine.  I took him to the hospital.  Yep, where he worked for 13 years.  Where both of our children were born.  One of our old friends was working in the lab and did a double take when we walked in.  The blood work was fine. 
 He had a CT, and while he was waiting for the radiologist to read it, his gums started to tingle, then he broke out with itching and hives all over his body.  They rushed him to the ER due to an allergic reaction to the contrast.


While in the ER, the radiologist spoke with the Dr. and we were informed that his appendix had to come out immediately.  So much for the party with old friends that had been planned for the evening.  We got to have a different party.

Dinner at the hospital

Our friend Joe came to the hospital and gave my husband a priesthood blessing, promising him that the surgery would go well, and that the surgeon would be guided.  They said it would take no longer than 1.5 hours.  We waited, and waited. Finally at 1.75 hrs. the surgeon came out and told me that his appendix had been "reaaallly" large, and had been wedged down into his pelvis.  It had been difficult to remove, and was a miracle that it hadn't burst.  (I believe it should have burst while we were flying, but didn't due to the blessing he'd received just before we left)

We saw him in recovery (even though he didn't remember later), and he sent us back to the hotel (another 1 am night for our kids).  The next morning, we picked up some stretchy old man pants from the store, and he was discharged, so we headed to Denver.

In Denver, our dear friends were being sealed together for eternity in the LDS temple.  10+ years ago, we'd witnessed our friend's civil marriage and were so excited to see them be sealed for eternity.  My friend had asked me to be her guide/escort as she visited the temple for the first time that day.  Unfortunately, the elements, (and appendixes) conspired against us.  Traffic and construction and potty/walking stops slowed us down and I wasn't able to get there in time.  I got my husband situated in a hotel bed, got some pain medication into him, fed the kids lunch, and got them settled down, working on their homework and had a quiet moment to think.  I had a sudden thought, and called the temple and received permission to meet our friends when they came out.  It was truly an amazing experience to be waiting and see them walk through the door, and to hug each other again.

The next morning, we checked out of our hotel, trying to figure out what our next step would be.  We'd originally planned to drive straight to Ut. to see our family and my ailing grandfather.  That didn't seem likely in light of the appendectomy.  We headed to the temple and were able to see our friends be sealed for eternity.  

 It was awesome.  My husband was barely walking, and so we sat on a bench to wait for our friends and figure out our next plans.  An old friend said hello and asked where we were staying.  We told her we weren't sure if we were going to stay in Denver or head back to the mountains.  She immediately offered her home.  After some discussion, we gratefully accepted her offer.  We headed back to the mountains that evening, and barely succeeded in getting my husband up the stairs. 
 He had an awful night due to the pain (his pain meds were causing indigestion problems, so he stopped them).  The next morning we sent our girls to church with our hosts, even though we'd hoped to stop at our old ward a little further down the valley.  I got to play nurse. As the kids got back from church, my dear cousin and his sweet family arrived - we'd hoped to see them, but couldn't make the drive.  They did a 6 hour trip to see us.  It was so nice to see them!  Finished up with a quiet evening, while I silently panicked, waiting for our bank to open the next morning, since someone had stolen our credit card and gone on a shopping spree at Armani in Orlando earlier that day.

On Monday, we had breakfast at Minturn's Turntable (our old post snowshoe gathering point).  While we'd expected to drop my husband back for a nap, he insisted he was fine, so we went up to Beaver Creek where the girls tromped around in the creek, looking for pyrite and faux gold nuggets.   

It was a beautiful day, with gorgeous weather, and we laughed A LOT.  It was so refreshing - we all needed that morning after the previous several days.  We'd been in limbo with where/what to do, trying to gauge my husband's health.  He insisted he felt fine, so we packed up, and headed to Denver.  Checked into our hotel, quick nap/homework, then caught a cab to the Denver Rockies stadium where we watched our favorite team beat the St. Cardinals.  We even got the last two free shirts they were handing out to guests.  Great seats. Great game. Finally found a cab, and made it back to our hotel.  We did laundry, and checked out the next day, and headed back to Florida.  Phew.  It was really nice to get home.

Two days later, my husband went to the Dr.  I pulled out the radiology report and read through it before our appointment.  At that point, I realized just how lucky he was.  His appendix had been 14mm.  According to google, 14 is the highest point on the scale and anything over 6mm is acute appendicitis.  My husband the "Overachiever".  Glad he's still with me.  :)

He ended up spending the next week in Chicago, and our ward had it's fabulous annual primary program, along with an open house afterwards for guests the next week.  The kids were really great - and I loved that we asked questions, and their answers were their parts.  One child knew that Heavenly Father loves him, because He gave him, "dragons, and my brother".  Another explained that the Fall (of Adam), was when Eve ate the poisoned apple (yes, we live close to Disney).

This week, I went for my Monday bike ride, and realized that I was feeling good.  So I turned around and did it again - my first 20 miler ever!  On Wed. I did it again.  On Friday, I noticed that both of our bikes had flat tires (I'd been using the spare after my tire burst).  So, Saturday, I got some new tires, and tubes, and repaired the bikes.  Yippee!!

During the past two weeks I've also been training for a 1000 meter swim across a lake and back - a lake with possible large reptiles (this is Florida).  I invited a friend to do it with me.  She was excited, and mentioned it to her husband (Rowdy Gaines, an Olympic Gold Medalist).  She wasn't super excited about the super early morning swim, but Rowdy invited us to a swim that was scheduled later in the day after his master series swim meet.
So this weekend, I and two friends, along with Rowdy and his wife swam across Lake Cane together.

 Was I the last one to cross?  Yep.  


Was it really hard?  Yep.  Did I see some dark shadows in the water? Possibly.  Did I make it? Barely. 
 But - I DID IT!  Not bad for a girl who could barely swim 50 laps in her pool in February, and who couldn't swim at all when she moved to Florida 2 years ago.
I'm so grateful to my friend David.
He swam the entire way there and back with me.  He encouraged me the entire time, and was really great.  I was a little embarrassed when I looked up and saw the silhouettes of all of the onlookers, and those who'd already finished standing on the dock waiting for me to finish.  Then I heard cheering, and my kid's voices,  
shouting "Go, mom!" "You can do it, mom!" Some of the sweetest sounds I've ever heard.

My next feat - the ward Fall Festival, followed by a month of company, Thanksgiving, and the Christmas holiday season. Cheers
    

Sunday Sept 9, 2013

Today was a good day.
Just before 8:00 am I found out my chorister for primary wasn't able to be there. I realized that the prompting and thought that I'd had Thursday night, as well as Friday morning, had been promptings from the Holy Ghost, and that I'd ignored them.  I'm going to do a better job of listening and doing this week.  Today we'd planned for a full hour of song practice.  I scrambled, and got to be the chorister.
I said a prayer.
Things worked out great. At least I heard one kid say it was fun, and the kids seemed to sing well for me!

After church, while my husband and daughter were at a meeting, my youngest and I had a heart to heart. She's been struggling for a while with friends, and not very open to hearing ideas or suggestions. Things have been tough. But something that she heard in church today, opened her heart a little, and as she told me about her heart ache, we opened the scriptures and read about the betrayal and heartache that Jesus Christ must have gone through when he was betrayed, and then even denied by his most stalwart companions.
She remembered that I had taught the primary children a month or so ago, that there is no problem in life that cannot be found in the scriptures.  You name it - everything is in there.  And because Heavenly Father loves us, we have scriptures - and can find help and direction through them.
So, as we read together, and discussed what we read, she said a prayer, and found her purpose.

She made some cupcakes (all by herself), and then I went with her to deliver them to friends.  She spoke with several different friends and apologized for wrongs, and asked for forgiveness.  It was seemingly such a simple thing to do. Two words, - I'm sorry.  Followed by, "Will you forgive me?", but oh so difficult to do.

She learned (happily) that when she used those words, and meant them, that friendships could be patched.  That laying out feelings and vulnerabilities on the table, in order to communicate is scary, but that better things can come.  It turned out so much better than she had expected.

I'm grateful to the mom that approached me and told me something was going on, and we probably needed to figure out how to sort it out.

I realized how much I love teaching my children "life skills".  How to get through problems that seem insurmountable.  I know that with God, nothing is impossible.  It felt like "this is what being a parent is about", and I LOVE it!

And now it is super late, and I need to get my game so I'm not cranky tomorrow and ruin this really satisfying day.

I finally remembered

I've been racking my brain all evening. Trying to remember (after my pathetic, I've been too busy to blog, but can't remember why post) why I was too busy to blog the past few weeks.

I've redeemed myself.
I painted two bedrooms.
One each week.
My brother also came into town.
AND I was sick for a whole week.
And I'm in the middle of the primary program throes.

Suffice it to say.
I'm feeling justified. Both for my forgetfulness, and um...for whatever else I was trying to justify, but just yawned, and forgot.

I will post photos. Soon. But we are in the 'decorating' it stage of things with the blood red, vampire wall room.
Yes. You heard me right.  And it was a COMPROMISE.

Blogging blues

I'm trying.
To do better.
To remember to blog.
Sometimes I fail. Or there aren't enough hours.
Or I'm really consumed by my latest Korean comedy.

I've been busy with 'stuff'.  Preparing for upcoming travels and adventures.  Working on getting our Colorado house rented, and everything squared away with that.

Did I mention that school started? Nope. Not even a blog about it. Bad mom. Bad mom. If I did, I just can't remember back that far.
My brain is trying to squeeze too much into it.

Like this morning - last night, traveling back from a stake training (with primary general board persons), we planned an impromptu presidency meeting. Which was good, since our last one was a while ago, since someone went out of town, and school started.  My meeting met.  Then I picked up staple fruits and groceries to hold us over for a while, came home to find a big bag of frozen blueberries thawn (is that a word) on the counter.  Oh yeah, from smoothies I made for breakfast.  After I got kids to school, and then sat down to plan my meeting and work on my agenda.  After the store, I ate several cookies for lunch.  They were really tasty. With pink frosting and sprinkles.  I saved a few for the kids at least.  That's something.

The blueberries are now in the oven. With a dry cake mix and butter on top - a nice cobbler.  To go with the roasting chicken next to it.  I bought some quinoa, black rice, and couscous on Saturday. Going to experiment with those too.

I'm back. Cub scouts was calling my name again. Loudly. As are my children now, and the shower. Yes, now that I'm in a new decade, I don't wake up with immediately oily hair, and can pretend that I've showered, until later in the day when I really do. Really.  I'm feeling like perhaps, I've shared too much. gasp.
And my husband is home.

Suffice it so say. I'm still alive. And will really blog - some day in the near future. Just not the rest of today.
:)

You don't have to be friends to ask...

I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  Sometimes we are called, "Mormons".
I had the blessing to be a missionary in Guatemala for 18 months as a full time missionary.  I fell in love with the people, and language, and culture, and everything Spanish.  A couple of days ago, one of my piano students asked me, "are you part Hispanic?".  My response, "no, but I'd like to be!"

A missionary's life isn't easy.  Imagine, no TV, radio, internet, newspapers or magazines, personal time etc. for 24 months for the men, and 18 months for the women.  Living in strange areas (or countries) for 4-6 months, then moving on to a new area.  Living 24/7 with a companion who you may love, or who you may have to learn how to love.  Doors slammed, rejection, long hours, I could go on and on, but it's a hard life.

And a beautiful life.  Spending every single day for 24 or 18 months talking about, and teaching people about Jesus Christ.  Seeing lives change as the people you teach feel the Holy Ghost, and recognize the truths that you've been teaching them.  It truly is an awesome experience.
 

And then, you go home, where your family (and life) await you.  Suddenly you have to focus on your own problems, not everyone else's.

I know, I know, - you may be asking, "what's the point? where is this going?"

Here's where.  I just had an awesome missionary experience this morning.  AWESOME.

I went to a meeting this last week with all of the missionaries and leaders in our area.  Someone who spoke, said, "you don't have to be friends with people to ask if they'd like to hear what you believe".  That is the only thing that I really remember from that meeting, because I sort of stopped in my tracks and really ruminated on it.  Wait, what?  How do I ask complete strangers?  It was easy as a missionary, people were intrigued by my nametag and Americanness.  Middle aged housewife - maybe not so much now... Huh?

We found some bug remains (carpenter ants it turns out) in a wall when we removed an outlet plate for painting.  I called the bug people, and this morning, had an appointment with the bug lady. .

When I woke up today, I had the thought, "I need to ask her if she would like to learn what I believe".  Then I thought, huh?  How is this going to work?

She came.  She did her job, then was inclined to chat.  She started talking about her granddaughter, and taking her to church.  I am not friends with her, but I stated, "I'm a Mormon, would you like to hear what I believe?"  She said yes, and asked some very specific questions, and we had a fantastic conversation.  She asked where the closest church to her is, and I gave her a map and directions.  I truly felt like I needed to share with her, and she was so very grateful that I'd asked.  She's trying out different churches right now, trying to figure out what she believes, and as we spoke, she felt something, she felt the Holy Ghost confirming that the things we were talking about were true. It was really cool.  Not an everyday experience, but one I hope I'll remember.

I forget to share what I believe sometimes, and worry sometimes that someone will be offended if I do share my beliefs with them.  Today I learned two things.
1. I don't have to be friends with someone to invite them to hear what I believe.  Shocking, but true.
2. It's quite possible that the person I speak with, may be looking and praying, and it may be an answer to someone else's prayers.  God will use use us, if we will let Him.  I know that.

So, if you know me, (or don't) and want to know about the things I believe to be true, message me, or go to lds.org or mormon.org   - consider it an invitation!

  

Health issues

I just want to say that this hasn't been our most favorite year in regards to health issues.

Regarding my husband, we still don't quite know what is going on.  We've been hanging out at the Dr. office a lot lately, and he's donated a ton of blood to the hospital lab, in hopes of figuring something out, and fortunately, my husband is pretty darn healthy.
Unfortunately, he doesn't feel very healthy, and they can't figure out what it may be or why.

This last week he cut out all sugars, white/refined/processed products and seemed like he was starting to pop out of it.  But not quite.  The doctor thinks maybe he's dealing with something similar to hypoglycemia, but we aren't quite sure if that is it. Sometimes he is fine, seemingly normal, but then he'll crash.

If anyone has experience with this, I'd love any thoughts or comments.  Prayers welcomed. 

Things are not always as they appear

Yesterday, we headed over to Home Depot, and attended a interior painting class.
The whole family.
It wasn't very organized and was a little slow, but we learned a few nifty tips and I think the kids learned some creative painting options.
We picked up our paint, and headed home to begin our big painting project.  We've been putting in ceiling fans and overhead lights, and doing electrical stuff, and patching walls, and now we are finally ready to get rid of "electric green" and "robin's egg blue" in the girl's rooms.  That slow to - do list when you buy a new place....
We taped everything up, moved the bed and bookshelves and while my husband looked for the rollers that we haven't used for two years, I started priming the windowsill.
He came in with a nifty gadget and started priming up a storm (what I did in 20 minutes took him two).  We were almost ready to start rock and rolling (get it?)
Just then I got a phone call.
Our church was having a Young Single Adults Conference for everyone (single) between 18-31 for the state of Florida, and part of Georgia.  For whatever reason, some of the anticipated help hadn't worked out, and help was needed immediately.
We appreciated that they felt like they could call on our family to help out in a time of need, and quickly showered, and got on the road.
We got different assignments.  Our oldest daughter helped slice hoagie buns for cold cut lunches today. My husband transferred food between the refrigerated truck, to the rooms where foods were processed (sliced, cut, or whatever) back and forth.  At least I think that's what he did.
The young'un and I got to hang out outside.  We helped get the tables set up, moved a tent to over the water coolers and made tasty beverages....enough to quench the thirst of 800+ people in Florida on a hot summers day.  Not an easy feat I assure you.
It was really hot.  We sweated a lot.  We really appreciated the freezer trailer.  The little one would climb into it for a quick cool down as we needed bags and bags of ice.  Sometimes we hugged the ice as we transported it - momentary bliss.
As everyone began to eat, we manned the beverages, keeping them full and it kept us running back and forth.
While our day didn't quite turn out as we had expected, we were blessed to be able to help and serve so many people.  Our youngest got to help out with "bowling" using pineapples as pins, and coconuts as the balls.  We observed "spearing watermelons", and watched hula dancers and fire dancers as well. Our youngest even got to go up and participate, and she was pretty jealous when she saw the karaoke and dance going on inside towards the end of the evening.

What was interesting to me though, was that it was a blessing to us to be able to be there.  When we first arrived, were in line waiting for the restroom and I asked some of the people where they were from.  One of the girls was from nearby and I asked if she knew some of our friends who live in their area.  She answered yes, and told me that one of the young men in that family will be heading to California (Long Beach) for the next two years to be a missionary for our church.  I hadn't heard, and was elated to receive this news.  Several of his siblings were at the conference, and we were able to see them and momentarily catch up.  We will visit with them this evening, before he leaves tomorrow for his mission.

We got to serve others, and to see friends, and to find out about this special news and have the opportunity to see our friend before he leaves.

School starts tomorrow and we today we were able to move back into our chapel that was under reconstruction for the past 8 months.  Hooray! And the AC in the primary room works - double HOORAY!  Life is good - even when it doesn't quite turn out as we anticipated.

Oh, and church time moved back to the early time.  That means Sunday naps! 

Light - let there be light!

This past week I've been perfecting my crock pot cooking skills.
Like, almost every night I crock potted.  Scary since we're still only in June.
We had a few crazy storms last week - one waking us all at 1:30 am.  Truly window rattling thunder and lightening.  Our pool was so full, we had to pump it twice.

Due to my husband's slightly tempermental  - "who knows what is going on?" I've been working hard to have dinner on the table when he gets home, and to keep things a little more orderly - just trying to keep down the stress.
He did tell me I needed to pace myself though as we had guests for dinner twice last week.  He's probably right.

The girls are signed up for free bowling at two alleys.  As such - they are bowling a lot - up to 4 games a day!  (What?  C'mon..our pool is malfunctioning and waiting for parts, and it is HOT and humid outside with afternoon showers!)
We watched a bunch of youtube videos on bowling techniques on Saturday.  Can't wait to see how the girls improve.

We got caught in a monsoon downpour on Friday coming out of the bowling alley.  Just running to the car drenched us COMPLETELY.  Came home and snuggled into jammies and blankets and had a family Harry Potter movie fest.

Backtracking to April, my parents were in town and wondered what I wanted for my upcoming birthday.  I asked if my dad could help install some overhead lights/ceiling fans.  He said sure and went to work.  I'd watched some youtube videos and read some books - it didn't seem too complicated.  Except that there was no existing wiring, and he had to wire most of the attic for it.  (Who knew?)  He wasn't able to finish before they headed back home.

Fast forward to now - my husband has been working on the attic wiring/lights campaign now since April.  Everytime he's gone into the attic, he's gotten sick.  Last time sending him to the ER.  So...it has been a little bit of a sore subject.  I wanted to just hire someone.  He wanted to finish the project.   (Need I say more?) So, during the HP fest, my hubby got a little bored and decided to putter around some more.  He went into the attic with a promise that he'd only be there for 5 minutes.  When he came down, he was sick again.  There must be something in that attic!  He would take a few minutes, then putter, then rest a few more, then putter.
However.....Wala!  After 2 months, one ambulance ride, ER visit, Dr. visit, and CT scan we now have working overhead lights in three rooms!  Here they are:

I couldn't take pics of the whole rooms - they weren't finished being cleaned yet.  

 Yay!  Now we can start re-thinking the electric green that came with this bedroom.  

This one is in my music room where I teach.  It SORELY needed something overhead.  I specifically got this one since it has 4 bulbs.  No more students squinting to see the music!

The moral of the story is...contracting with Eddy who would have done it for $200 a pop back when we were moving in, may have been cheaper than just the ER and CT scan themselves.

And the question that begs for an answer is: Who will be installing and wiring our light/ceiling fan for our master bedroom?  LoL  

I think I'm okay taking a sabbatical on the lighting for a bit.  

Our daughter is headed off to girls camp this week, and apparently the cinnamon rolls I handed out last year at the meeting point were requested again. So, I'm off to bake cinnamon rolls and crack the whip for two girls who SHOULD be cleaning their rooms.  

  

A week

It is absolutely amazing how much can happen in a week. 7 days.

We started out last week with some company for dinner and family home evening.
We had our musical Tuesday  - where we are in lessons all day long, my kids either in them, or me teaching them.  The girls and I had some pita chips and hummus and were just hanging out - trying to reload after lessons (aka. 4:45 lunch) when my husband came home from work.
He went up into the attic to do some work on some fans we've been installing.
Came down, asked who wanted to go to home depot.  No one.  So he headed off on his own.
Came back, sat on the couch, and sent the girls to their bedrooms.
Then he collapsed onto the floor and started shaking, and asked me to call 911 because something was wrong, but he didn't know what.  He hadn't been feeling well since Saturday, but had made lots of improvement by Tuesday.
I called some neighbors -   couldn't get hold of anyone until my 5th try.  Really - where were all of my friends at 9:30 at night not answering their phones?  Our neighbor across the street came over, and so did the ambulance and fire truck.
They loaded him up and took him to the hospital.
The kids spent the night across the street with our neighbors.
I headed to the hospital where we hung out for several hours, and did tests.  And then sent us home with no idea of what happened.  We went to the Dr. the next day.  He sent us for a ct scan the next day.
Still no idea.
But, life goes on.  We are chalking it up to perhaps an anxiety attack?

The girls are enrolled in a free bowling program this summer, so we bowled on Friday night, stopped by the pool shop - (where we found we can get a salt cell for our pool for $200 more than we can find it on Amazon), and then we went to a wedding reception for our friend's daughter.  They had a cookie bar - I sent my sour cream sugar cookies with roses on top.  It was fun to walk into the reception and find some of our friends (one who we'd met as a missionary in Colorado) there.  We didn't know we had the mutual friends.

At the reception, we ran into a friend who has offered to teach us surfing - once the waves are right.  We headed out early Sat. am to meet him - and while the waves were rough - our youngest was able to get up in the white water a couple of times.  Spent most of the day at the beach, and then my husband and I had a father's day shopping date.  Bath and Body works semi annual sale - where I had a coupon and gift card so it cost us $0.00.  Then we found some dress pants for my husband for work.  Amazingly, we found a pair of pants on clearance $19.99 stuck in with the $149.99 pants.   While we were sure it was wrong, we jumped at it!  We asked if they had any more, and they weren't sure, so we went back in and found a couple more pairs, but only one that he wanted.  It was a score though!

And then we fed my husband's addiction.  Wings.  Yep - he loves them.  L O V E S.  The kids don't though, so it's a great date.  My favorite part is watching him try to towel off all of his sweat that breaks out while he's eating wings.  He literally DRIPS.  It's pretty gross, but so funny - cause, who does that?

This week we've got bowling, hopefully no hospital trips, maybe some beach, some families from our ward for dinner a couple of evenings, and a much put off visit to the post office.  

Pictures and walls

When my husband and I were first married, I came across this print, and my father in law built a frame for it from an old playhouse that my husband and his brothers had helped build as children, as a surprise for my husband's birthday.

During our last move (and probably all of the others in between) - (yes in October), the frame was damaged.  We propped it against the wall in our formal dining room, (where it reminded us on a daily basis), and it has waited very patiently to be addressed.

Today was a lucky day.
I pulled out my Kreg Jig.  It's a tool thing.  It's really cool.  If you don't have one, you should get one.  I've used it to fix lots of things.  Including this picture frame.  It is made specifically for joining pieces of wood together - things like picture frames.  

So I pulled out my drill.  I pulled out my kreg jig. I pulled out my staple gun, paper towels, and glass cleaner.   I found all of the pieces, and went online and watched a tutorial since it had been a while since I used it.  Then....drumroll.....I fixed it!

Yep, good as new.  Er - as new as a frame made from an old weathered childhood playhouse could be.  Sturdy.

Granted, while this in itself really isn't very exciting (I can acknowledge this), what is exciting, is that after finding a home for this picture, I was able to find homes for a bunch of photos I had enlarged and framed last week, as well as a painting from Guatemala that waited 9 years to get framed and on a wall.  Yep - almost a decade.  

We've been looking for a specific painting - zealously - since December.  We know we will find it someday. In the meantime, our walls have started to look like we've finally sort of moved in.

Update from my sabbatical

Today after church a new friend told me she'd found my blogs and had been reading up on our lives.  I chuckled as we drove home because I realized she may know me/us better than most of the people from church just from reading my blog!  Hah. 

Then I wondered, 'just what in the heck have I blogged about recently?', and then I got home and checked (just before falling into a sleep coma) and realized that I've blogged about nothing for almost three months.  How is that possible? 

Then the thunder woke me up.   Awesome, house shaking thunder.  Which I'm very disappointed, that it hasn't accompanied any rain yet.  But since it is Fast Sunday, and since dinner isn't for another 30 minutes here's my 3 month catch up. 

• Spring break (while daddy worked) in Tarpon Springs, Florida.  Such a unique place - a complete Greek fishing village.  We enjoyed sight-seeing, taking a boat tour to Anchiote Island, our first Deep Sea Fishing (it was amazing) excursion where our youngest cleaned up on the fishing, and a little Easter dress shopping. 

• Easter - with our traditional taquitos and trifle.  And yes, Easter was back to back with a birthday - totally not fair on the parents!  
• 3 birthdays (happy birthday us). 
• Oh, I hit the big 40.  Now I can complain when my body starts falling apart - there's a reason to pin it to.  :)
• That living healthy challenge - I lost 20# between January and April.  Go me.  
• 2 straight weeks of house guests/company.  4 different families came to visit us.  We loved spending time with them - but would thank the airlines to kindly space out their amazing pricing better through out the year so we can enjoy everyone one at a time.  
• 3 Disney trips - one for my birthday with my parents, one as a chaperone to my daughter's school's chorus group (chaperoning 12 kids and dealing with a bus that forgot to pick us up made for a long day!), once with two women who I work with at church just for fun - and it WAS fun...
• 2 weeks where I sort of started to grieve and really struggled with a deep depression.  Very unlike me, but whoa was I in a funk.  I think it was the first time I really had to maybe begin my post miscarriage grieving process, when I finally had a window when I wasn't running crazy everywhere.  Regardless, I'm glad to be re-surfacing after that.  It was pretty miserable.  
• 1 crazy week of organizing a string group to play for my daughter's school, the last cub scout pack meeting of the year pot-luck, organizing a community & ward bike ride/run/walk, taking care of sharing time at the last minute, family and their in laws for dinner, planning Memorial Day activities for the ward breakfast, my daughter's birthday, party, and last day of school all on the same day.   

And NOW.... it is summer.  We went to the beach yesterday - a friend said he'd teach us how to surf.  But the water was all wrong, so we enjoyed the sand and the sun and watching colonies of tiny mussels or clams or something burrow into the water and re-surface over and over again.  We helped a friend move, and then took our kids to a Chinese buffet (because we love our kids, and they love Chinese buffets), and because today was Fast Sunday.  We enjoyed church, and naps after church, and I have enjoyed my absolution of having caught up on my blog in a mere 20 minutes, and thus highlighting our most recent, and previously undisclosed adventures.

Our summer plans you may ask?  Well.... they mostly involve bike rides, children bowling for free, swimming in our pool, and as much stress as we can avoid, oh, and don't call on Tuesdays.  They are our lesson days - mine and the girls'.  I'll be teaching alot that day with 6 new students, and fitting in lots of playing during the rest of the week.  

21 on the ACT

Our daughter was identified as brilliant.  Well, they noticed that she aced the state mandated tests last year.  So, she was offered an opportunity to take the ACT - just as a practice if she'd like.  To get her ready - you know for when she takes it in 4 or 5 years. 

She really is brilliant.  She scored a 21.  Her English and Reading were way above first year college student scores.  The question is - what happens now?  

Her math and science were low - but understandably.  She hasn't even had algebra yet, and had never heard of most of the science stuff.  

Here's what I found online from the Princeton review about acceptable ACT scores: 

The Higher, the Better

The national average for the new SAT is 1500. For the ACT, it's between 20 and 21. If you are close to these averages you will likely be accepted into a considerable number of colleges and universities (as long as you have decent grades), but may not be considered at more selective schools.

We knew she was a smarty pants.  The school kind of gasped and sputtered when we told them.... 

Moving on

A little heartbroken, but it has been a week, and we are slowly beginning to heal.
What is the hardest part of a miscarriage?

Maybe the part when I don't know what to say.
Some people know.  I haven't kept it a secret, but then I didn't announce it on FB either.
Phone calls about cub scouts - people with needs, and having no desire to meet any of those needs, rather than just curling up in a ball and letting everything go on without me. I wish it were like that.
People who do know who don't know what to say.  I could just keep going.

The hardest part of my miscarriage has been layers.
Not knowing what to expect - at all.
Having a crappy doctor who has been super crappy.
Having my husband stay home from work for three days, to nurse his bronchitis and a sinus infection.
Wanting to be babied, but having a sick husband who wants to be babied, and kids who still need lunches and rides and to get to school.
The whole world continuing to spin and not knowing the depth of my pain while I wish that time would stand still.

That probably sums most of it up.  And adding insult to injury, blood draws every other day to make sure that my pregnancy hormones are diminishing back down to zero.  Slap to the face that one.

There's my rant.  Thanks for your indulgence.  I try not to pity party, but if I can't now, I'm not sure when I could.

On the bright side, (I find a new doctor) I don't think the doctor can be quite so hasty in slapping that big red INFERTILITY diagnosis stamp across my name anymore.  We did it without the reproductive endocrinologist's help.  Worst doctor ever.

Also, not knowing what to expect, I was surprised that that's all it was.  I was down for one day (mostly from fear), and then up for a bike ride and most normal functioning (except for a few naps and taking it a little easier than normal) the next day.  I've had way worse before - was surprised that that was a miscarriage.

Sinus infection and bronchitis are almost better. Kids are resilient, and I once again have the post Sunday bomb awaiting me with open arms.  Dishes to do, and laundry to fold and put away.  I've got a bright new week ahead of me.

 

Story with an unfortunate ending

I've been waiting for this post for a couple of weeks.  Unfortunately, the ending of this story looks like it is taking a much different path than what we'd hoped and anticipated.

A couple of months ago, I went to an endocrinologist to try and figure out what is going on with my homrones.  After some minor tests, they did a test where they injected me with a dye, and watched where the dye went. They wanted to see if I had any blockage.  Nope. 

They did find some polyps on my uterus though.  And said they'll need to be removed.  So, I was waiting for somethings to happen so that I could schedule the polyps removal surgery.  They didn't happen, and didn't happen.  So the dr. office did some blood work, and said - just wait a little longer...any time soon.  

It still didn't happen, so I took a home pregnancy test.  It was positive. 

The dr. did a pregnancy test.  It was positive.  Two days later they did another to confirm an increase in the hcg.  There was an increase, but only of 30 (it should have almost doubled).  

The dr. put me on some other drugs because my iron is low and my progesterone was too and told me to have more blood work done on Sat. 

The labs were closed on Sat.  

I went to the lab this morning at 6am.  They gave me the result after 30 minutes.  Instead of doubling and tripling, a number that was at 358 dropped to 70.  

I'm devastated.  Waiting for a miscarriage now. 

I know that this will pass.  It was so out of the blue - we were afraid to hope.  

Our youngest daughter is completely devastated.  We cry together.  

We know that we will heal and that life will move on.  But for this week, I'm so very sad.  

Several days ago, I let go of the steering wheel and asked Heavenly Father to take over, and have been praying to be able to accept His will.  I'm oddly comforted, because I know that He is aware of my pain.  As I was reading my scriptures last week, I came across 2 Nephi 10 in the Book of Mormon.  There were several verses which seemed to be written for me.  One verse said, why should we let our heads hang down... another said, lift up your head, and be of good cheer.  If ever I needed to hear words of love and comfort from my Heavenly Father, it has been during this time.  

   

Pretzels and Eternal Marriage

I've been having trouble sleeping.  This morning I was up at 3:00 am.  I should be tired.  I did some cleaning in the kitchen.  Looked at some cool recipes on pinterest, and then went back to bed at 5 hoping to at least get 30 more minutes before my morning walk.

No such luck.  So, I walked for an hour, made breakfast (well, two of us had oatmeal - the other two wanted cold cereal).  It was one of those days when for whatever reason, we actually had time to read scriptures in the morning at breakfast (we normally read at night before bed).  My husband got out the door to work on time (miracle), and lunches were made and kids were ready early today too.  I wish I could take any of the credit.  Time just seemed to slow down a little bit this morning.

One of the perks though was that I had planned to make a church visit this morning, but got a text cancelling our visit.  As such - I postponed my shower (I knew there was a reason why I didn't shower right away this morning) and I was able to get in my 10 mile bike ride this morning.  And I'm stoked because I can ride 10 miles in 58 minutes!  Yes - slow for some, but that's fast for me!  And it was - as always at this time of year...beautiful, crisp, fall like weather.  And a bonus because I'm eating sugar today (my once a week day sugar day).

So yesterday, my friend had her day off from work and we usually try to go shopping, cook something new, or hang out a little bit at least together.  We accompanied each other to some appointments, then went to Hollerbach's Willow Tree Cafe in Sanford, Florida.  If you like German food - this place is for you. If you love really big pretzels - this place is for you.  If you love live German bands on the weekend - with German food and really big pretzels - this place is REALLY for you.

                             

We like the really big pretzels. :)
If you aren't into sausage - might I recommend the pretzels?

On a more serious note - I've had some things running through my head lately.  I've been asked to speak in church on Sunday (kind of like giving the sermon since there is no paid clergy in our church).  I was asked to speak about President Monson's talk on Temples from the October 2012 general conference.  Here's a link to the talk I will be referencing my remarks from: http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2011/04/the-holy-temple-a-beacon-to-the-world?lang=eng&query=temple,+(name%3a%22Thomas+S.+Monson%22)  So.

On top of speaking in church on Sunday and thinking about temples, yesterday, one of my best friends in the world contacted me and told me that she and her husband will be sealed together for eternity this fall in an LDS temple (actually, her husband told me, but she confirmed it).  I spoke with her last night - and I am so excited for them - and so sad that I won't be there with them.

As I was collecting my thoughts on how to post my thoughts about this, I wasn't sure how to explain how important temples are to the Mormon faith.  Here's a wonderful link (if you aren't familiar with our faith)that clarifies our beliefs about marriage and temples - which they explain much better than I do.  http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/mormon/marriage/ 

In thinking about my talk, and my friend, I recalled that over 10 years ago, I was asked to be the Relief Society President of our small mountain branch in Colorado.  This means a religious leader over all of the women who lived in our geographic area - to assist with needs, mobilize the troops, and help care and watch over everyone.  Many of the women in our church spoke Spanish, and many didn't speak English.  There was a huge cultural gap and it was quite a challenge.

When I received the list of ladies that I was responsible for the watch care of - there were so many that I didn't know, and had never met, much less heard of.  I started going through the lists, and made phone calls introducing myself, and asking if I could come and visit and meet these ladies.  Sometimes I didn't have a phone number, so I would find an address and stop by their home.  Sometimes people yelled at me and asked me to never call again.  Sometimes people had moved or numbers were disconnected.  I worked so hard, as did the ladies who worked with me.  Sometimes, a tenure is long, sometimes it is short.  Almost exactly a year later, I was released from this calling (my responsibilities), and given other opportunities to serve.  I felt a loss and wondered why I hadn't been given more time.

In reflection this morning, I realized that in that small window of a year, I made an eternal impact on three women and their families.  My best friend who will be going to the temple soon, where she will make eternal covenants with Heavenly Father, and then be sealed to her husband.  Another very close friend who hadn't responded to me at the time, but I later met, and became a very close friend to, came back to the church after many years away.  After a time, her husband was baptized and her family was later sealed.  This was at least five years after my service as RS president.  Another friend who had been away from the church for almost fifty years slowly made her way back over an eight year span, and has gone through the temple again.  I love and cherish these women.  I can now stand back in hindsight and see that my efforts had an impact on their lives and on the eternities in that short year that I loved and served them as their leader.

I don't understand a lot of things.  Especially about life and people.  But, I love that I can look back and understand things differently, and know that I may have made a difference in someone's life.