Personal History - Blurb

This post is about how I do MY personal history. I am a little OCD about it. I can't decide if that's good or bad. Maybe both? Anyway, I have shared with family and friends that I do my big yearly scrapbook through Burb. You would be surprised with how many people ask me what I use, and how to use it! This post is solely for the family scrapbook. They have other options on blurb for cookbooks, baby books, magazines, etc. So I'm hoping this post will help! I'm not an expert on everything blurb can do, but I have a good feel of how to use it. So here it goes!

 

WHY I USE BLURB
I love Blurb, because I can put a lot (and I mean, A LOT) of pictures in one book, without it getting too expensive! The layouts and embellishments aren't fancy, but that is not what I'm going for. I just want our lives to be documented. And even still, the pages are still nice, and the book is fun to look at. I can customize it to how I want, without spending too much time on it. The best time to purchase your blurb book is when they have a sale (obvi), so I usually purchase mine when they have a 25% or 30% off sale. That makes it a lot more affordable!

 

DOWNLOAD
Again, this is just how I do it, so if something else suits your fancy, then great! But for now we're going to focus on this way. For whatever reason, blurb does not have the book version I use under their family portrait download anymore. I did download the bookwright version, and there weren't nearly as many options in customizing. So, if you want what I use, (and I think you might), you have to use the search tool on their website. Go to blurb.com Search, "booksmart download". The download should then pop up in the search. Download it, finish it up, and then get started on your book! Also, I believe you can sync your books through all versions... Not totally sure, but for example, if you started making a book with bookwright, you should be able to convert it to the booksmart version, using booksmart.

 

When you pull it up, it should look something like this (I've lost my blogging touch and can't figure out how to rotate the pic):

 

 

 

 

CREATING YOUR BOOK
The first thing you'll want to do is upload some pictures. Once you've got them uploaded, then make sure you have the "picture layout" selected

 



 

 

This will have all of the options that you can use to place your pictures. The good news? You can switch it up! I do this a lot. Sometimes there are like 4 pictures I want on one page, and I want a good sized text box to talk about those pictures. How do you do that? I'll show you!

 

 

Click "Edit Layout". It will bring to the 'gray page'. From there, you can change any of the layouts, add picture boxes, remove picture boxes, text boxes, header, footer.

 

 

Once you have your layout how you want, you can save the layout. I would recommend doing so, as you will probably use it again. Just nice to have more options.

 

I like to have the same backgrounds on all of the pages that have pictures from the same event or whatever. To customize your background, you click on "backgrounds".

 

From there, you can change the background to any solid color, or you can select the background options that they have, and then change the colors of that to any colors you want.

 

At some point, if you run out of pages, as all books come with 20 pages to start, you can add more! And I think the limit is around 450 pages per book, so add, add away!

 

 

 

I have not used ornaments much, or the themes. I try to just keep things simple as I know I have a lot of pictures to add to each book, and don't want to spend much time on making them look pretty as I do to get the story of the pictures in there. But that's me!

 

Here are all of the books I've done using blurb! I have also used shutterfly, but mostly for special occasion type stuff!

 

 

My first book I made through blurb, I selected the fold over option or something. But I like the "image wrap option". It doesn't have a cover that comes off, it is just the hardcover of the book if that makes sense.

 

Here are some of my pages.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope this helped you on your personal history endeavor! If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. I am happy to help! Thanks so much for reading!

 

Disclaimer: I'm not getting paid by blurb to write this post. Just a friendly tip on scrapbooks :)



It's Been A Loong Time!

Wow. It has been almost 2 full years since my last post... I had just been catching up on some of my friend's blogs, and then looked back at some of my posts, and I miss blogging! So this is me trying to get back into it.. We'll see how long it lasts haha!

I don't think I'd ever have enough time to recap what has happened in the last 2 years, and chances are, you already know via other social media. So I'll just kinda start where we are now.

 

Life is good. We love, love, love our home. We love our new ward, we love Nephi. We definitely have challenges just like anyone, but life is good.

These are some pictures I took of the kids playing in the $8 pool I got at the dollar store. I think Gavin is so over the kiddie pool stuff. Especially since he had swimming lessons.

The happiest face ever. Love this girl.

So this is apparently the only picture I got of Tanner that day.. He must have been interested in something that I didn't think was interesting haha! I sure love these kiddos of mine. And fyi on Tanner, rarely will I get a picture of him with a clean face. He is so messy!

 

Today, as I read some of my past blog posts, it was so clear just how much I've learned as a mom and person in the last 2 years.. Something I thought was interesting from one of my last posts was what I said about having our third baby..

 

"It takes a lot to raise a family, and to have 3 kids so little, I know will be hard. It is a lot of pressure, because I want the absolute best for my kids, and to give them the attention they really want and need will probably be impossible a lot of the time. My only hope is that since both of my boys will be in the toddler stage, that they will be good play buddies. Going anywhere will be nearly impossible by myself. Finding a babysitter who can handle three little kids all at once will be nearly impossible. Finding time with my husband without any baby interrupting will be nearly impossible. Having a decently clean house, will be nearly impossible. And to add to that, Spencer's schooling is still keeping him super busy this last year (not quite what we were expecting), so acting as a single parent most days will still be likely for a while after we have the baby. These are just a few of the reasons I feel overwhelmed."

 

Everything I said is exactly how things are for us. Except, my understanding is obviously greater now that I've actually experienced it. It really has been my greatest challenge (having three kids so close together). But I've learned so much from them, and they will continue to teach me so much. I am seriously the frazzled mom of frazzled moms. It's a struggle! Luckily though, I am learning, my kids are learning, and things are slowly getting easier. I always thought motherhood would come easily to me. And in some ways it has, but in others, I've really had to work hard, and will continue to have to work hard. I can see part of why this challenge was meant for me. I can see things that Heavenly Father wanted me to learn.

 

Spencer is now a Pharmacist (yay!) and is floating between 4 different pharmacies. He took the job, because when the pharmacist here in Nephi retires, Spencer will take over as manager. We've been hoping that would have happened by now, but it hasn't, and we're not sure when it will. We are anxious for many reasons for him to take over, but mostly because he's still not getting full-time hours, and that is a little frustrating. But we're taken care of, and that's the important thing for now. He is also a lot less stressed now that he's been out of school for a year, and that is a very good thing! He is such a good provider, husband, and dad. We are so lucky!

 

Gavin is slowly getting out of the tantrum stage. He WHINES a lot. I am really trying to work with him on that. And I'm also learning that he is sensitive. He probably gets that from me. I'm trying not to always tell him to toughen up, and to be more sensitive to his sensitiveness. He is also improving a lot on his speech. I feel like most of the time, he is understandable, and can say what he wants to. I'm also trying to slow down and actually talk with him more, because that would obviously help him. He is getting screened for his speech in the next month, and will start Preschool this fall! I'm so so excited for him! I just know it will do him a world of good! He is such a good little buddy to have around. He loves me so much (I hope that doesn't sound like I'm bragging or something ha), and it warms my heart. He is my little friend. He is usually up for anything fun, and gets all hyped up about it. Love him.

 

Tanner I think talks really quite well for his age. He just has a very squeaky voice which can be hard to understand at times. He's very rambunctious, and still demanding. But I love his toughness. I love that he is rough and mischevious and loud (although his loudness does get to be a bit much at times). He is his dad's shadow. He used to be a big mama's boy. And now he is definitely a daddy's boy. Except for when dad gets after him for something, then he wants mom. He also doesn't put up with people pushing him around. He will not be bullied! Which is good, but it tends to get him in trouble as he will fight back.. We probably need to work on that a bit more. One thing I hope Tanner never loses is his want to cuddle. He NEVER cuddled as a baby, but as he's gotten older, he is such a cuddler! And he has the sweetest nurturing side to him. He loves babies so much, and takes care of his sister so well! He will get her sippy cup or a toy for her when she's upset, without even being prompted to. He's just so sweet!

 

Maci is definitely meant for our family. She is just the cutest thing. I love watching her. Everything she does, I think is just the cutest thing I've ever seen. I'm sure part of that is because she is still somewhat innocent, and is still my baby. She is certainly sassy, but she doesn't give me much grief. She thinks she is just as big as her brothers and thinks she can do anything they can. And most of the time, she does! I love getting her dressed, and doing her hair. I love that she snuggles her baby dolls and stuffed animals. I love that she loves to dance with me! She loves to hold my hands and dance.

 

Well, that was a novel of a post, but maybe that slightly catches up on some more details of our life. Thanks for reading.

 

 



Am I Really??

Yep. I guess I am. I'm going to blog about hunting. But, that's not all, so try not to just leave now haha.

 

So, Spencer's big elk hunt started in September. He had from mid August through end of September off from school. So, as a family, we pretty much lived at the cabin, so he could scout during the day. He lived on the mountain (except slept) for over a month. Me and the boys lived at the cabin, with ocassional trips back to Nephi.

 

I'll tell you what. It was not easy! I knew he had waited a long time (15 years to be exact), for this opportunity, so I really wanted to be a good sport about it. But gosh. He left early in the morning, and didn't come home until after dark. By then, the kids were ready for bed, and so was I. And not only that, there just isn't much to do at a cabin with two little ones. We definitely got bored, and on each other's nerves.

Finally, it was time for the hunt to actually start (which just means that the date came where he could now shoot at something, and it lasts about a week). Good golly, I wanted all of his time and mine to be worth it, and I wanted him to get something he'd be happy with.

It's a hard hunt, no doubt. They had hardly any action during the first 6 days of the hunt. I literally was praying/pleading all day, every day that all of our time and effort towards this darn hunt would be worth it. Not only that, but I really think Spencer would have slipped into a mini (ish) depression if he hadn't come out successful. I'm serious. His heart, soul, and passion depended on this. Finally, on day 7 they found what he was looking for!

 

He got himself this monster of a bull. He's very happy with it, and I'm just glad it was a success!! His brother helped him hunt for the first half of the week, and then his friend Brad, and Brad's friend helped for the latter part of the week. Brad and Daryl were the ones who were with Spence when he got his elk. We're very grateful to all those who helped Spence on his hunt.

 

Here are some pics of me and the kids while Spence was out hunting. I love this picture of Gavin, but it makes me sad, too. He just looks so grown up! He's definitely my little buddy, and such a good boy. We get on each other's nerves, yes, but he's such a joy to have around.

Oh, this kid. He's a hoot. He can be so stinkin' serious, then super silly, then SUPER ORNERY! It frustrates me. He gives me such a hard time just about every day, but if I ever leave him with anyone else, apparently he's an absolute angel. What the heck! It's so not fair. I literally can't go pee, or even stand up from the couch without him flippin' a freakin' cookie. Nonetheless, he is my sweet baby, and I'm so glad. He's a cutie I couldn't live without.

Hahaha!! He found a chocolate (wrapped), and got into it. I didn't realize until he had practically eaten the whole thing. But, I had to take it away, because  it still had the wrapper. He was a little upset.

Out taking a walk. Don't mind Gavin's messy face.... But they sure are cute, and make my days so fun.

Fish Lake is a beautiful place.

So, this year was my first deer tag. I had drawn out last year, but had to turn it back in, because I was like 37 weeks pregnant with Tanner, and I wasn't about to wander the mountain! This year, although I was pregnant again, I wasn't as far along. I really wasn't looking forward to it. Haha! I just wanted to get it over with. I don't mind being involved with my husband's hobbies, but sometimes, I just don't want to be haha. Anyway, it actually was pretty enjoyable for me. Opening day (first day of the hunt. Sorry, I am just not sure how much of this makes sense to all of you), we went to the place where Spencer got his deer last year, and were seeing a lot of bucks. My bro in-law ended up killing his that day. ANYWAY, this is not a hunting blog, I don't want to get into that mumbo jumbo....

It wore me out hiking all over that stinkin' mountain. It's way rocky, way steep, and just not my cup of tea to wander all over. But, it was alright. The next day, it was just me and Spence. We took our time since the day before had really worn me out.

We decided to go to a place in the same general area as the day before, and pulled up to this cliff to look over it, and see if we could see anything. Nothing... So we chatted. And I literally said, "I just want to get a buck" (I wanted to make all of the hiking, and babysitter's time worth it, and for my hubby to be proud of me), and right after I said that, Spencer says, "Go get the gun".

We talked about the pros and cons of going for him, as this was the last day I had planned on hunting. We decided the opportunity was too perfect to pass up. So, from 360 yards away, I made the shot and got him. Haha. I was pretty nervous about killing an animal! After I had shot, Spencer says, "I was going to tell you this, but decided against it, but I've never shot an animal from that far." He was pretty proud I made it in one shot from that distance.

 He's not impressive, but he's my first, and at least I got one, and that it was a good shot. Sorry 'bout the blood btw.... I was nervous to walk up to him, I thought I would feel bad about killing something haha. But, actually as I walked up to him, I had this huge sense of respect for this animal come over me. Weird, huh?!? Haha! That sounds weird, but it's true. The circle of life is a magical thing.. ;)

I shot him from atop these cliffs... And yes, we had to hike down that sucker, and then back up, with deer in tow.

I'm glad we had this experience together. I actually enjoyed it, and Spencer ended up being very proud of me, which is the only thing I cared about anyway. So it worked out.

In case you haven't heard, we're having a GIRL! I'm so happy about that. I thought it was a girl, and at the ultrasound, my nerves were going crazy! Finally, we looked for the gender, and yep! Girl. Yay. So, it makes things a little more exciting. I get to shop for a girl! I haven't bought anything yet, but have looked online, and it is just too much fun.

What's New?

 

This chubba-wubba is now 9 months (on the 6th)! He is seriously huge. He weighs over 20 lbs (not sure of his exact weight, haven't been to the Dr. yet), and has for a few months! Haha. So if you haven't guessed, he loves to eat!! He loves his bottles, but most of all, he loves table food! I really don't give him that much "food", because I still want most of his nutrients to come from his formula. But, he has no problem eating whatever we put in front of him. My hopes are high that he won't be a picky eater like his big brother.

He is EVERYWHERE and into EVERYTHING as most babies are at this age. He has also started standing on his own, and even taking a few steps!! It's crazy to me that he is already trying to walk. Gavin took a long time to muster up the courage to do so. He tries a lot to walk, but won't let us hold his hands while he tries. Silly boy.

He has become quite a chatter box. He loves  to watch and play with his brother. He HATES getting his diaper changed (the only time he is trying to get away from me), and puts up a fight everytime. He is a bashful little guy. When someone starts talking and smiling at him, he will smile, and then hide his face in my shoulder. It's so cute! He wears size 18 month clothes, and can even fit into some of Gavin's 2T sizes. He loves to climb the stairs. He has also become more cuddly as of late, and it is so nice! I'm glad I'm getting some cuddles from him while he's still a baby. He loves to grab at faces. He is such a joy to us. We are so grateful he's in our family! Love you baby Tanner!

This crazy cute boy turned 2 (on the 10th)! I remember when he turned 1, I was dreading it. I just didn't want him to grow up (still don't). But, this birthday I was looking forward to, because I knew he was going to love his presents, and what is more fun than seeing your child happy and excited??
We kept his birthday celebrations simple. After his afternoon nap, we opened presents. As expected, he LOVED all of his presents. He got a toy tool set, a Lightning McQueen car, another car from "Cars 2", the "Cars 2" movie, and a Jobn Deere toy tractor. Explanation of his presents: He LOVES the movie "Cars". He would watch it everyday, if I let him (I try to limit it to once a week). It is the one movie he will sit and watch for the entire thing. He has also recently had a fascination with "Tack-ters" (tractors). He can spot one anywhere, and he also calls trucks, tractors. Well, he didn't have any toy tractors, so it seemed fitting. He has carried his lightning McQueen car everywhere with him since he got it for his birthday. It's so sweet! After presents, we went to dinner at JC Mickelson's, which has these cool little trains that drive around the restaraunt above our heads. Gavin also loves trains. He pretty much loves anything that has to do with transportation. After dinner, we came back and ate his "Basketball" cake, and watched "Cars 2". He seemed pretty happy with how the day went, so that's the important thing!
He is soaking up everything right now. It is so fun to see him catch on to things. A lot of them, I haven't even sat down with him and taught him them. He knows lots of animal noises, lots of different words, he finally calls me and Spencer "Mommy" and "Daddy", he calls Tanner, "Taa-ter". He sometimes gets letters mixed up like for boat, he says "Bope", and for apple, he says "Papple". I love how much he is learning. It's so fun!

 I don't have many pictures of Tanner sleeping, because I'm terrified of ever waking him up! Haha. But, this was a perfect opportunity. I love that fat baby. He is so sweet, and so kissable.

 We moved Gavin to his big boy bed! He has done pretty well! (Notice he has his cars, he takes them everywhere!) There has been times, when he wasn't winding down very well, so he would get up, and wake up Tanner to play. One night, I just let them play since I did put them down a little earlier for bed. Well, when I decided it was time for them to calm down and go to sleep, I walked in (which, I had the monitor on, listening to them playing. Giggling up a storm, they both were. So fun), and found that Gavin had taken all of the clothes out of the dresser, and put them in Tanner's crib! Haha! That's what was so funny to them! All in all, he does well to stay in his bed, and go to sleep on his own.

 I'm sure you've heard, but we're pregnant, and this is how we announced it. We posted this on facebook. In the past, I have first texted my close friends and family before we make it "Facebook Official" or whatever, but this was just easier, and with the way we announced it, I wanted everyone to see this as our announcement (I don't have a cool phone to be able to send this in a text).

 See? Cuddles. It honestly never happened for the longest time. He's finally starting to more, and I had to document it. Ignore my bum look alright? I've had no energy since I got pregnant this time.

Taking an "arranged" picture of my kids has got to be the most frustrating thing ever. I wanted him closer to the hoop, so we could see how much he's grown. He would not stay put, and decided it was a game to creep forward as I was trying to take his picture. Still cute though.

 My boys are already best friends, I LOVE IT! They play together a lot now, and it is so fun. They've recently started rough-housing, and wrestling together. They're both pretty rough on each other, it's kinda fun to watch. Sometimes, Gavin doesn't know when he is hurting Tanner though, even if Tanner is screaming bloody murder. Eh, it's good for them right? They're boys, I want them to be as boyish as they can. And wrestling is a great start ;)

 Just some more pics of them going crazy on Gavin's bed. That blanket hanging by the window usually covers the window, but I took it down so I could let some light in as I took pics of Gavin by the hoop. (Just felt like I needed to explain myself on that one. And if you're wondering why I don't buy some drapes or something, it's because I haven't found anything that matches, and I don't like to spend much on decorating, when I have so little to spend in the first place. Haha!!)

 

Other than all of that, not much else is new. Spencer has a 6 week break from his rotations. It's his off-block, which worked out wonderfully for him since his big elk hunt is during it. So, we'll be spending a lot of our time up at the cabin for the next month or so.

As far as pregnancy goes, nothing new. I'm starting to feel like I'm getting some of my energy back, and feeling sick is less often as well. Here's to hoping it's a girl! ;)

I Know What You're Thinking...

If you haven't heard, we are pregnant again! "Ah!"-that's what you're thinking isn't it? See, told you.

Here's the scoop if you want to know: It's suuuper long. Sorry, a pregnant girl has lots of extra feelings she needs to get out.

After we were blessed with the surprise of Tanner (which he was less of a surprise than this one, because, well... I wasn't on any kind of birth control, and we actually thought about trying around the time that I did get pregnant with him), I really just wanted time with our boys. I wanted to wait AT LEAST 3 years before we had another one. So, I got the IUD. I hated the pill, so an IUD which was hormone free seemed perfect. And it was! I felt practically normal through every cycle. It really was so nice. I would do it again if I hadn't gotten pregnant on the IUD!

So. Since I got the IUD, I was not keeping track of my cycles at all. I wasn't worried about it. Then one month, I was thinking my period was supposed to show up soon. So I waited. It never came. My boobs started to swell some, which doesn't happen even around my periods, so then I just knew I had to be pregnant. Uh yeah, I was freaking out, but it just seemed like an impossible thing to happen, so I tried not to freak out too much until we knew for sure. One monday morning, Spencer picked up a test for me. Took it. Yep, positive. I brought it in to show Spencer, and as I was walking toward him, tears were filling my eyes, and he said, "Negative?" like he thought I'd be disappointed if it was negative haha! So, I just showed him. He didn't say much, but asked how I was. At that point, it was obvious I wasn't doing okay haha. So, then I had to call my mom. She didn't answer. And after 3 times of trying to get a hold of her, I called my dad. He answered, so through my bawling, I told him. His response was, "Well, sometimes my dear, the Lord has other plans for us". Which, once the test was positive, I was sure that this was supposed to happen, but still the thought was absolutely overwhelming! Finally, my mom called back, and her response was the same as my dad's.

After talking to my parent's, we decided that it would probably be best to call the Dr's office to let them know what was going on in case something needed to happen. The Dr I would normally see was booked that day, so I saw another Dr. When we arrived, and she came in, she immediately jumped to taking the IUD out. We weren't expecting that, so then we asked if she was told that I got a positive pregnancy test. She was not told. Awesome. So she decided to take the IUD out anyway, which made me a little nervous, because it can increase the chance of miscarriage. But I knew that whatever happened was supposed to happen. They did an ultrasound that same day, and saw nothing there, but I didn't need an ultrasound or blood work done to know that there was a baby growing inside me. Before they did any blood work, we told them that we were just going to wait it out, and see what happens.

3 weeks later, I called the office again and told them the story again, and that I was still pregnant, and wondered if I should just go ahead and make my first pre-natal or what. They wanted me to come in that same day, and they would check things out to confirm a pregnancy. So, first we saw the Dr we will see throughout the pregnancy, and then they sent me down to get an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed that there was in fact a baby in there with a healthy heartbeat, measuring 7 wks 1 day.

I'm now 12 weeks, and have my first real pre-natal appt in a few days. This baby, and Tanner will be 16 months apart. I'm due March 2, 2014. We will have 3 kids 2 1/2 and under! It seriously scares me to death. I can't even handle the two I have, how can we add another baby?? I also know we really are so blessed, and there are a lot worse things to go through. I'm not sure why, or what I'm supposed to learn, but I know this is what His plan is for our family. That is what gets me through the times that I feel really overwhelmed about everything. I'm really trying to have faith, and to rely more on the Savior. Oh boy... It'll be rough for quite a while, but it is what it is, and even though it's scary, we are happy!

Also, this pregnancy has been so different than the other two. I actually FEEL pregnant (extreme exhaustion, nausea, headaches, bloating). I'm not going to be shy about it, I do hope it's a girl! We absolutely love our boys, and will love this one just the same whether it's a boy or girl. But, it would make it more exciting if it were a girl haha. I'm hoping that because my symptoms are much different than my boys' that it means it's a girl. Which, according to old wives' tales, it does mean it's a girl. But, that's enough of that.

Spencer is funny. He was actually kind of wanting another one somewhat soon. I always said once they were both out of diapers, but he was like, "that's too far away". Haha! I am always surprised by some of the things he says. He also said things like, "We might as well carry on the tradition, and have a baby every year of Pharmacy school", which this is his last year, so I guess you got your wish Spence!

One thing that has been weighing on my mind are the friends and family I have that have been trying to get pregnant for a while. It is hard to know what to say to them when they learn I am pregnant, and got pregnant on an IUD. It's not fair. I wish so badly that everyone who wanted a baby of their own, could have one with little to no trouble. It's something we may never understand, but for some reason, some people get pregnant with ease, and others not. If you are one who is struggling to get pregnant, you're in my prayers. Truly. I pray very often for people who want babies, to have babies. I've only had a taste of what it's like to go through that, and I can't imagine how some people might feel. It's never my intention to one-up anybody, or to make others feel envious. please do not mistake me for that type of person. My love goes out to all of you!

In the end, I'm just grateful for my true friends. It's not easy finding and keeping a true friend, and so I'm grateful for those of you who sincerely care about me and my family. You all mean a lot to me. Thanks for all of your support! I don't want this post to sound like I don't want this baby. That's not it. It's that it takes a lot to raise a family, and to have 3 kids so little, I know will be hard. It is a lot of pressure, because I want the absolute best for my kids, and to give them the attention they really want and need will probably be impossible a lot of the time. My only hope is that since both of my boys will be in the toddler stage, that they will be good play buddies. Going anywhere will be nearly impossible by myself. Finding a babysitter who can handle three little kids all at once will be nearly impossible. Finding time with my husband without any baby interrupting will be nearly impossible. Having a decently clean house, will be nearly impossible. And to add to that, Spencer's schooling is still keeping him super busy this last year (not quite what we were expecting), so acting as a single parent most days will still be likely for a while after we have the baby. These are just a few of the reasons I feel overwhelmed. I just wanted to clear some things up as to why I am "freaking out". It's not because we don't want this baby. We just did not plan on this. Anyway, I better go before I put you all to sleep! But thanks again friends and family for all you do for our family!

Lightbulb

I'm getting bad at this blogging thing. Sometimes I love it, sometimes I don't. Right now, I love it so I figured I might as well post something. I usually don't love it because it takes so long. So, today it might be one of those 'trying to get my deep thoughts' out there kind of posts. If that's not your thing, that's okay. But, I do a lot of internal thinking, and sometimes like/feel the need to share it.

Today, I got on Pinterest on my ipod (am I so behind the times or what? No smart phone for this girl) and scrolled down. One of my friends repinned a video of Elder Holland, and the caption of the pin was something like, "A great video to help moms reconnect on the hardest days". Seeing as I have had very little patience lately (hubby has been so busy and out of town a LOT lately, it's rough on me), I thought I should probably watch this one. First of all, if you watch/listen/read general conference, you know Elder Holland is a powerful speaker. He just hits ya right in the heart every time.

This time was no different. It hit home hard for me. It reminded me that, sure, maybe so and so has so much time to do this and that, and has the money to do this and that to her house and herself, and I can't do any of that. BUT I am doing God's work. I have been trusted to raise his children, to love them, to protect them, and to lead them on the right path. There isn't a more noble career, there isn't anything out there that I should/could envy, because I am in an "eternal partnership with [God]", because I was "given such a responsibility that is everlasting evidence of the trust [my] Father in Heaven has in [me]".

Why do I care so much that I'm not a size 2, and that I can't cook a gourmet meal every night (or even once a week for that matter)? Why do I care that my clothes aren't the most trendy, or my hair has some majorly ugly regrowth? Why do I care that I don't have time/money to do projects and decorate my living space beautifully? Why? I don't know! All I need, and the only thing that really matters is my children. My husband. Our family. I need to learn to let a lot of things go, and just focus on them as much as I can. I will never have the most beautifully decorated house. I will never be the most fit girl, who can run whatever race she decides. I will never sew beautiful quilts for each of my kids, and husband, and some sweet gift for every girl I know that gets pregnant. I just won't! And the main reason for that is because I know my most noble duty is to be a mother, and that is my focus. That is what I believe the Lord has planted in me to do. That is where I will shine (hopefully) when I see Him again someday.

Sometimes, to be honest, I get embarrassed that my kids are so close in age. I feel like people are thinking, "An accident? Honey, don't you know what causes pregnancy???" After watching that talk by Elder Holland, that was completely erased. Who the heck cares what other people think about my circumstances, rather, my blessings. My Heavenly Father is the only one I should fear. Fearing what other people, who by the way, are just as imperfect as I, is such a waste of time and emotion. Instead, I should be fearing what my Heavenly Father thinks of me, and doing what I can to please Him. I know that is the only way I will be truly happy, and at peace.

I wrote down a few quotes from the talk so I could place them somewhere where I will see them for a reminder.

In speaking to young mothers,
"Do the best you can through these years. But whatever else you do, cherish that roll that is so uniquely yours."

He shared a letter from a young mother, and I like what she had to say,
"I am doing God's work. I know that my motherhood is an eternal partnership with him."

And again speaking to mothers he said,
"The very fact that you've been given such a responsibility is everlasting evidence of the trust your Father in Heaven has in you."

"Rely on Him. Rely on Him heavily."

"Daughter, be of good cheer. Thy faith hath made thee whole, and it will make your children whole as well."

HERE is the link to the talk. HIGHLY recommend it!

Half Marathon

It has been a few months, and who knows if anyone even reads my blog anymore, but here it goes anyway!

 

I did it! I ran the Salt Lake City Half Marathon!

I'm going to babble some (I actually mean a lot). Forgive me.

Training sucked. Not going to lie. I hated having to work a run into my schedule. There was never a good time to run. In the mornings, I had to do it before the boys woke up, which was fine, but it also meant I had to do it on the treadmill since Spencer has to leave so early to drive to school. Well, I hate the treadmill, so that was kind of rough on my consistency. Or, I had to run during naptime, which meant I had to go all morning without showering, and then run, and shower in the middle of the day, and not get any housework/other things done during naptime. OR.... I had to run after the kids were down for bed, which cut into my relaxing/me time. Essentially, it was difficult to find the time and motivation to run. But, nonetheless, I did, because I paid that darn $75 and I was running that half marathon. I had no choice. Which is exactly why I signed up to do it in the first place, because I knew it would force me to get some exercise! Oh, ps. I ran my long runs on Saturday's when Spencer was home, so that helped, because I just can't run more than 4 miles on the treadmill.

 

This was my first race EVER. The week before,I had ran 11 miles, but I only ran 4 miles the week of my race haha. I knew I'd be okay, but that's about how my training was too (not very consistent, therefore I probably didn't train the BEST). The night before the race, I was so stinking nervous! I was just so afraid I wouldn't be able to do it. AND I knew it was supposed to rain, AND aunt flo decided to pay a visit (tmi, kinda sorry), so I just didn't know how I was going to handle all of that. I am a big whimp of the cold, so I was expecting me to just hate the entire race, and never want to race again.

 

The next morning, me, my sister Amy, and my sister-in-law, got on trax at 5:30, I believe? Can't remember exactly. Anyway, it was raining, and freezing, and windy, and miserable. The ride on trax was nice, because we were the first passengers, so we got seats, and got to get nice and warm while we rode them to SLC. At each stop, tons of runners loaded the train. It was so exciting to me to see all of these people heading to this race! I was getting really nervous at this point.

Finally, we arrived at U of U, and it was raining, and cold and windy still. Poop. My sweet sister bought me a poncho, so I was very grateful for that (thanks again Am!). We only had about 20-30 minutes til the race started.

 

We knew we didn't want to start when the actual race started (your time doesn't start until you cross the start line), because there was going to be so many people, you'd be running foot-to-heel for quite a while. So we watched the huge crowd take off instead, and that was so fun to see! Holy cow, there was so many people!! This picture, honestly does not do it justice. It was crazy! It looked like this for several minutes. We think we heard there was over 7,000 registered! That inclusdes the half and full marathon, which all of the runners started at the same time.

 

It rained the. whole. time! Some times it was just a light sprinkle, other times I was having a hard time seeing, because so much water was dripping down my face.

It was so cool to see all of these people who had trained for this race. I saw a guy at one point, who had to be at least over 300 pounds, and he was running the FULL marathon! Amazing! Good for him, right? I also saw a father running while pushing his son, who is confined to a wheelchair, and his shirt on the back said, "I Run For Bart". Little kids were running! I'm bad at age estimates, but maybe 9 or 10 years old? So cool. Old ladies and old gentlemen. I mean, it was a very diverse group, and it was honestly so inspiring to see all of these people running!

 

My sister and I stayed pretty much next to each other the entire race. We just both had the same comfortable pace, so it worked out. Shana though, is so speedy, we lost her after the first mile! We couldn't find her after the race either, to take a picture.

 

Surprisingly, I felt great pretty much the entire race. The only thing was the rain and cold. Physically and mentally, I felt awesome. I was just having so much fun, which sounds weird considering what I was doing, but I was. Plus, it went fast! I wasn't like dreading the next mile, or the next 6 miles, it just went pretty fast.

 

Spencer came up to see me finish, and I'm so glad he did. He was a great support through this. If there were days when I just really didn't want to train, he held me to it. He also helped me out with the boys, so I could get some training in. Thanks a bunch to my hunny!

So, as I was nearing the finish line, I was looking for him, and luckily I saw him right as I was passing him, or I would have felt sad that I didn't get to see him as I ran the last few yards.

I look funny, I know. Whatev.

 

We did it!! Again, it was so awesome, and if you have considered running, do it. I hated running, but now I have learned that it is something that does me a whole lot of good in so many different ways. Honestly. I feel great.

After the race, I was pretty dang sore. Walking down stairs was a killer. My knees felt like they might just pop off or something. They hurt. I was still in awe/shock that I actually did it, and better than I thought I would, too, btw. Under 2.5 hours. I was planning on running it in 2.5 or longer. I'm slow, don't judge. Which brings me to my next point: I am going to run another one this fall or late summer. My goal is to run it under 2 hours. I'm not sure which one I'm going to do yet, I'll let you know ;) My sister is probably going to run it with me again, too, so I'm excited about that! Anyway, yay for running and meeting goals. What a high.