This Weekend

* On Friday, we went to a new place at Station Park, Brixton's (a baked potato restaurant!), for my birthday lunch out with 'The Girls.'
I didn't realize S.P. was such a happening place in the middle of the day - I saw several other people I knew there.
I guess I'll have to 'make an appearance' there more often!  ;)

* The afternoon was spent carting my daughters to and from friends'/parties.

* We went to The Roof with Matt's parents for our "anniversary dinner" on Friday night.

 (they want to take out each of their kids/spouse on an annual basis, so they use their
anniversary date to keep track of who they've taken out and whose turn is next)

* After returning home (and consuming much food & dessert), we thought it prudent to go out in our neighborhood in an attempt to WALK OFF dinner.

* Saturday morning, I did my first (of the required five) turn of being the chaperon/volunteer at the Bye Bye Birdie rehearsal that Katelyn is a part of (and will be performing in November).
Side Note: it was an interesting "study" in human behavior.
Each participant is suppose to sign in with their name and time of arrival prior to each rehearsal.
As background information, there has been a lot of emphasis put on the importance of being at and ON TIME to every rehearsal.  The directors have said that they will be giving out additional parts to those who do well in this area, and taking away from those who do not demonstrate dependability in this area.
One of my jobs is to check in all the kids.  So, when not everyone was there by the starting time, I wondered what those other kids would write down when they finally did arrive....
AND I observed that the majority of the kids (who were anywhere from 1 to 15 minutes late) STILL wrote down the time that the rehearsal started (when they were suppose to be there by) on the sign in sheet.
Hmmmm....See?  Interesting, huh?

* Matt & I took a jaunt up to Snowbasin...

for a Gondola ride and afternoon mountaintop dining,

followed by some hiking.

Apparently, we didn't get the memo about the XTERRA Utah off-road triathlon that was going on up there Saturday!
(notice all those cars down in the parking lot?  Normally, you wouldn't expect to see that AT A SKI RESORT in late Summer/early Fall)
So, we shared the area and our lunch table with that crowd!  (talk about some amazing athletes!)

* I attempted to go donate plasma....and was rejected. :(
The snag? Low protein.  I guess I better start eating more liver and tofu!  Yippee! (not.)

* Matt & I went up to the Bountiful Temple to do a session.

(I did pretty good staying awake this time!)  ;)

* We made sure to end the evening with a treat at Dairy Queen.
A Cherry float always hits the spot.

* Since we have afternoon church, I like to spend the morning reading/viewing things on www.lds.org.

I first read this blog post.

Which led to/referenced this article.
Valuable things to ponder. 

* We did our "yearly measurements" on the kids (height, weight, shoe size, waist/inseam).
It was only about 2 months late, I usually like to get to it in the Summer PRIOR TO going school shopping, but oh well.....
I write these all down and keep it in my purse, so I don't have to keep it all in my brain,
and I can look at it when I'm out shopping.
It's also fun to see how much they've grown from the year before!
Although everyone has grown and gained weight, the most unanticipated are:
Kyle now sports the same size shoe as his dad - a size 12!
Katelyn is just 4 inches away from being taller than I am!  She is only 10 yrs. old!

* Churchy-Church

In Sacrament meeting, we heard from a returned missionary who'd served in New Zealand.
THAT'S where I dreamed of going on my mission back in my youth!

While sitting there, I tuned-in to the fact that Matt needed me to rub his neck - he was not exactly
displaying a great deal of calmness at the moment - because of his first Gospel Doctrine lesson he had to teach in Adult Sunday School the next hour.
He prepared A TON on this lesson - and only taught a small portion of it before time ran out.
(Ya never know how it'll go with the class participation factor)

* After church, I made squash casserole.
(we've still got an overabundance from our garden!)

* We had dinner and FHE at Brenchley's

While talking together afterwards, we had an intriguing conversation about the lesson many of us had had in our Relief Society/Priesthood classes today titled,
 "Beware of Pride."

Bottom Line:  We ALL have it in some form.
(withholding gratitude and praise that might lift another, won't change our mind to accept truth, comparison, fault finding, jealousy, love the praise of man, don't receive correction easily, rebellion, puffed up,  defensiveness, not happy for another's acheivement, etc., etc.)

AND we all need to overcome/repent of this sin!

* I started my [Sunday night ritual] weekly letter to Ryan out on his mission.

A Sure Way to Have a Whole Month Fly By Without Even Realizing It

If time is ever moving too slow for you - just dragging on and you're wondering HOW you can make it go faster.......just GO ON A CRUISE.

Because it takes a WHOLE WEEK of pressing preparations before you can even leave:
Laundry
Writing up lists
Shopping
Making an instructions guide for our children's caretakers
Packing
Accomplishing THE LIST
ON TOP OF the extra hours at work that I had to pick up for others in trade to get the cruise week off, and Matt had to work to get all the things done that were needed for deadlines that would come up while we were gone or very shortly after we returned.
PLUS, add a daughter's birthday and party in there with my annual girls' shopping weekend in Park City on the side....

....and pretty much I was going non-stop for that first 8 days of the month.

THEN we made it on our [20th anniversary] cruise!  Aaaaaaaaaaah!!!

 The Allure of the Seas, Royal Caribbean

Relief.

No Responsibility.

Restful.

{Haha.  Matt took this "selfie" on the first evening.  

I was so worn out by the time our vacation actually started, I fell right to sleep waiting for the show to start!} 

 Recreational.

{Yes!  There is a operational Carousal on the ship.} 

Rejuvinating.

 Refreshing.

Royal Treatment.

from our awesome waiters, "Jeff" & "Lito"

 Romantic.

 Rewarding.

Sadly, that week went by way too fast.

Side Note:  My #1 tip for married couples:  Get Away Together (alone) often! (anything from a date night to an extended vacation)  There's really no substitute.....but that's a whole other blog post for another time.

And then we came back home.  Here's another adjective beginning with the letter "R" to describe that experience:  Rude Awakening. 

Not only was is COLD, but I had to now cook my own food, pick up my own towel, wipe my own nose......Oh no!!  

  
(It's been pretty much back to work non-stop again)

So, on MONDAY, I worked my shift all day and had to go to the grocery store for all the, "Mom! We're out of (fill in the blank with anything & everything)! items the kids bombarded me with upon my return.

On TUESDAY, I worked my shift all day and had to catch up on paying bills.  What in the heck was the current status of our bank account?!?

On WEDNESDAY, I worked my shift all day and did the miscellaneous "office" stuff...and finally decorated for Thanksgiving!  With a side of planning our ward's Christmas party.

On THURSDAY, I finally had a day off work, so I got around to unpacking all my luggage.  I also tackled cleaning the stove which appeared as if a 10 gallon pot of an assortment of foods & other stuff had exploded all over it in my absence.  I also slid on in to the Post Office in the nick of time - 4:56 p.m. - to send off this month's missionary care package (a blog post for another time) for Ryan Elder Brenchley.  (It's that time again, already?!?)

So, there's another week that's gone by in a FLASH.  It's November 20th already!?!?!  That means practically the whole month is gone!  And then Thanksgiving week always goes by fast and after that, November's over.  I really can't believe how quickly it went.  Here I am left reeling.

There you have it.
Prep week + Cruise week + Catch up week.....
How to lose a month in 20 days. (but what only seemed like a few)

20 Years Down, An Eternity to Go

THEN:

{9/9/94}

NOW:

{9/9/14}

We've been married 20 years!

*And we haven't changed at all in the past 20 years, have we?!?*

We finally made it to The Anniversary Inn for the first time, after 20 years!

They spoiled us with warm cookies, bottled water, cheesecake, & sparkling cider in our room - and delivered breakfast the following morning...because let's face it, 20 years is cause to celebrate!

Do you notice I keep mentioning, "20 Years"??

20 Years is kind of a BIG DEAL!

I used to think 20 years was such a long time - but it hasn't really seemed that long!

(Or am I just in denial?.....because when someone has, in fact, been married 20 years, it means they're not exactly a "young pup" anymore!!)  ;)

It just so happened, that our missionary son, Ryan, was flying out to the mission field

THIS morning, and he was allowed to call us from the airport, 

so as we were nestled all snug in our bed in The Palace Suite,

the phone rang at 6:50 a.m.!

But, I didn't mind, it was GREAT to talk to him.

(I just couldn't fall back to sleep very easily afterwards.)

THAT was such a huge, important decision to make 20 years ago - it kind of freaks me out

when I consider how young people make that decision (only in their 20's!) - but, for me, it was a RIGHT & WONDERFUL one.  I am so blessed & glad that I did!

Happy [20th] Anniversary, Matt!

XOXOX

Third Time's the Charm

Matt & I FINALLY made it on our "real" vacation this year....on our 3rd try.
{definition of "real" = not work related, no kids, no cell phone/connectivity, no rigid schedule, no cooking/cleaning and includes sleep, relaxing, lounging, reading, leisure, recuperating, clothing optional (did I say that?), play, laughing, massage, walks on the beach, and service with a smile.} 

After our failed attempt in February.

And after our forced cancellation in April due to a debilitating injury Matt had.

ALTHOUGH, it almost looked like we wouldn't make it on THIS vacation either, when at 3:40 p.m. on the day we were supposed to fly out, (we planned to leave at 9:25 p.m.) we got a phone call from our babysitter having to cancel!
A HUGE THANKS to Mike and Mandy and Dean and Jennifer who all insisted we couldn't cancel our vacation - it was our 19th Anniversary, after all, AND I had chopped 15 inches off my hair in anticipation of Cancun's humidity - so we pieced enough coverage together between them all to still be able to go at the last minute.

Here's the Photo Story of Cancun 2013:

We kept seeing a lot of the same people throughout our stay....and me, always the people watcher, took notice of them.  Matt did too, and we started to name them, and then when we'd see someone, we'd inform the other, "There's cardinal lady" or whatever...

We shared our vacation with:

"My brother, Mike"
"My sister, Beeb"
"Catherine Zeta-Jones"
"Sleepy guy at the bar"
"The decoy couple"
"Red bikini flasher"
"Medusa man"
"The Illinois groupies"
"The bingo girl"
"Tall, skinny couple"
"The shuttle peeps"
"All the single ladies"
"Jennifer Gee" (a girl I went to Elementary & Jr. High with who now happens to be my sister in law's sister in law!)
"Shauna Bushey" (someone from Farmington)
"Twice his wife's age guy"
"The teenagers" (it was an adults only resort, how did they get in?!?)
"The Odd couple"
"The pink shirt guy's wife"
"70's feathered hair"
"The reverse polygamist"

What "characters" they were!

Now, I wonder?  Did others "name" Matt & I, as well, unbeknownst to us?  Nicholas Cage and Bonnie Hunt perhaps?  ;)

{circa 2007.  Matt was asked to play Nicholas Cage in a "Hollywood Squares" game/adult party we had at our church.}

Sweet Sixteen!!

Look who got married 16 years ago today....

It is Matt & I in case you couldn't tell...I realize the blonder hair, fewer chins, whiter teeth, bronzed skin, and several pounds ago might fool you! ;) I guess that's what 5 children, 5 jobs a piece, 4 places of residence, 8 vehicles, 1 Bachelor's degree, about 20 church callings, 60 trips, 1,825 sleepless nights, and 0 pets will do to you! :)
Here we are on our 1st Anniversary. We went to the Pinecrest Bed & Breakfast Inn that year. I was already pregnant with Ryan. We've gone many places for our anniversary over the years; hotel or B & B stays in Salt Lake City, Ogden, Cache Valley, Heber City, & Park City. We've also gone on anniversary trips anywhere from Lake Powell to Las Vegas, from San Diego to New York City. On years that I've had a nursing baby, and we couldn't swing an overnighter, we went out to a nice restaurant for dinner. THIS YEAR, we're going out to dinner also, BUT my baby is 2 - and she's NOT nursing! What is wrong with this picture? It's called Fall Sports and School. Matt has to coach our daughter's soccer game tonight and has team pictures, the kids (& our "nanny" - my 18 yr. old niece) have school tomorrow and then Kyle has to be at his football game at 10:45AM Saturday morning, so that ruins staying over somewhere if we'd have to get up at the crack of dawn to come home! Matt even won a getaway to a hotel in Midway, but we'll have to wait to use it, I guess! :(

Matt & I met while attending Utah State University in a Japanese class Fall Quarter. (That dates us - we used to have quarters, not semesters in College!) We were both Returned Missionaries from Japan (Just so you know - DIFFERENT mission, DIFFERENT time - people always ask!) and were taking an upper level class that was full of RM's from Japan - ALL boys except for me! :) Even though Matt had been home from his mission for OVER A YEAR, he did not take this class until '93 when I got home and I also enrolled. You see destiny working here? hahaha. He had to meet me! :)

Let me backtrack a little. That year was my Senior year in College, so I was starting to think about REAL jobs post-graduation. I was visiting the Career Center on Campus on a regular basis checking out the job opportunities and met a Career Counselor who got to know me and she started to keep her eye out for possible jobs for me. She gave me a lot of different references in my field - and they were all over the United States and even some International ones. It was exciting to think of all the different possibilities in the work force and places to live. I was free to go wherever, after all, since I was single and had no obligations anywhere. Out living on my own, earning an REAL income - one could daydream about that for hours! ;)

But, I DID want to marry one day, too. So, then I began to worry about if I would be able to meet anyone if I just took off any ol' place to work. To be specific, I needed to marry a good, LDS man and, realistically, the further away from "home" I went, the fewer LDS prospects there would be. I definitely felt less confident about being able to meet someone if I started a career out of state. But, I didn't have any prospects at that moment, either, so I didn't want to jip myself out of an awesome experience just because "something might happen." I thought it would be stupid to wait around for Mr. Right, too, who may or may not come! So, I was troubled over the subject. I went back & forth with my thinking...Should I stay or should I go now?


I did some major analyzing of my life goals and priorities. And then one day I prayed real sincerely, "Heavenly Father, I AM READY. I am now ready to meet my future husband. And after that I will make some career decisions. It is in your hands. Please show me the way."

And then I went on with my regular College Life. And you know what? I started to run into that Centerville boy in my Japanese class everywhere. Like EVERYWHERE! I'd never known or seen him before and now he was popping up all over the place! I'd be walking down the crowded corridor of the Student Center and I'd hear this, "Hey!" and I'd look and there was THAT ONE BOY smiling at me. I'd be in the Institute building and I'd feel a tap on my shoulder and I'd turn around to see HIM. I started to notice other students who were wearing a USU Soccer team shirt, and I'd think to myself, "Hey, that's the same shirt that one boy wears a lot." I saw HIM walking across "The Quad" on campus. I saw HIM studying in the Library. I was sitting in the Logan Tabernacle waiting for Stake Conference to start and I looked up into the balcony, and there HE was again! So, then, with so much exposure, one naturally starts to have THAT BOY on one's mind, "I wonder why I see him so much?" "Is he following me?" "What was his name, again?" "Too bad he's a 'Viewmont boy' though." "I give him 'bonus points' for going to S.C. on his own!" "I wonder what he's like?" "I better find out!!" "Is this Heavenly Father showing me just like I asked?" "Yes, I believe it is!"

And so I started to sit by him in Japanese class - EVERY day (it was 5 days/wk.) And we started to talk in class ("We" being used very loosely here! More like I talked, he nodded, and gave 1-3 word answers.) We did our assignments side by side. Then we started to talk after class - and walk to our next class together. On days we didn't have another class following Japanese, we'd talk out on the sidewalk, or go to the devotional over at the Institute, or get one of those yummy, big hunks of cinnamon bread at the Aggie bakery. But, he always had to "excuse himself" at lunch time, since that boy can NOT miss a meal! "I'd love to keep talking to you, but I'm hungry!" And NO gorgeous USU co-ed could stop him from eating! ;) hahaha. Eventually, we got to the point where we had lunch together sometimes - at my apartment. I lived closer to campus than he did and when his starvation started taking over his ability to think straight, he'd blurt out, "You got anything to eat at your place?" But, still no "official" dates.

Then there was that one time when my old roommate and I were out walking (for exercise) and we just happened to get super thirsty when we were right by his apartment, so, naturally, we stopped for a drink! :) He was very curious as to how I knew where he lived! I have my ways! Innovative & resourceful, I am!!

I may have also had my cousin call him one Sunday evening (my resourcefulness comes in handy at finding phone numbers, too!) since I was just curious as to what he was up to and how he'd spent his weekend. She never identified who she was, just started shootin' the breeze with him - and then after several minutes, I think it'd been too long for him to feel comfortable asking, "BTW, Who is this?" But, at least I found out he'd had a dateless weekend - YES! The next day in class though, he tells me, "I got the weirdest phone call last night...it was this girl...and we talked for a while...I have NO IDEA who it was!" And I was like, "REALLY? Yeah...that IS weird!" :)

I finally decided I'd "force" him to take me on a date. We made a little wager on a Japanese test. The deal was whoever got the higher score, took the other one out to dinner. Of course, there was NO WAY I was going to get a less-than-perfect score on this test! I studied and studied and studied. I knew the kanji forward and backwards. Test day came, I knew every answer - and I felt good about my performance. I could smell our first date!! And then we got our tests back the next day. I got 100! Yes! He asks what I got. I ask him what he got. He tells me to go first. I tell him to show me his. He does. He got a flippin' 105! He did some sort of extra credit something or other. You've got to be kidding me! With a smirk on his face, he asks where I'm taking him to dinner. I was miffed. I demanded a recount! :) He laughed and told me he'd "release" me from our deal - since I did get a perfect score, I didn't have to take him to dinner. But....wh...wha...what...what about our date?

We went about spending quite a bit of time together, but never "dating." One of the Elders from my mission happened to live right next door to me and he was my good friend, too. One day I asked him for "boy advise." He knew about Matt & my situation, and he assured me that if I wanted it to go any further, that I would have to tell Matt that I liked him - and wanted to date him. My friend said that guys don't always know these things. He was sure that Matt probably thought that he was just another one of my friends since I was very social & friendly to a lot of people and I hung out and talked to guys all the time. He promised me that it would turn out well - that any guy would be flattered to have me say that to him. (See - he was a good friend!) In his opinion, THAT is what is was going to take.

So, equipped with the confidence my guy friend had given me, I started up a I-like-you-and-want-to-date-you conversation with Matt one evening when he was at my apartment. I was totally prepared for his Oh!-I-like-you-too-how-about-a-date-tomorrow-night response that my friend had led me to believe would happen.


Not so.


Instead, he paused for WAY TOO LONG. (I know now that he ALWAYS pauses after questions because he's thinking, but back then I didn't know this!) Then he hemmed and hawed for a minute before he started to talk in real words.
Oh no.
I was so wanting to recall my previous confession statement.
He finally started by saying, "Well, let me tell you about my situation..."
And then he proceeded to tell me about no fewer than 10 girls who were from his past and he still had a "thing" for, who were in his "hopeful dating pool," who he'd gotten "rain checks" from, who were due to come home from her mission in the next 6 months, etc. etc.
I. WAS. MORTIFIED.
Can you say humiliating? Can you say ZERO social etiquette? (He now admits this and cringes at the memory!) I had NOT expected THAT! Can I please push rewind? What happened to what my guy friend had told me?

Feeling as stupid as can be, I used every last bit of pride, raised my head up, looked him in the eye and declared, "You GO AHEAD and date all those other girls, BUT LET ME TELL YOU ONE THING; once you start dating me, YOU WON'T WANT TO date ANYONE else!"
And he replied with a "Hhmmm...OK."


And you know what? From that day forward he never did date anyone else but me!

And 10 months later we were walking hand in hand out of the Logan Temple following our marriage ceremony....

I said it that day back on 9~9~94 and I still agree, "It was the Happiest Day of my Life!"

And you know what's so ironic about that statement? A ton of things went totally wrong! I could NOT find my only set of car keys for the longest time to drive up to Logan to get married (they were in my brother's pants pocket - WHY? I don't know.) I had a sleepless night the night before. My dad got a speeding ticket on the way up (the I'm-on-my-way-to-my-daughter's-wedding excuse didn't work!) They were having a super, crazy busy wedding day that day in the temple and there weren't any attendants to help me. After the ceremony, we couldn't find my dad - come to find out, he was sick and laying down in the car and throwing up. The wind was blowing so hard - my veil is either coming off or standing straight up in some pics. We left the temple without our marriage certificate and had to go back for it. My brother who was speaking at our Wedding Breakfast had to make a detour and was late. When I got to my parents' house for the reception (it was in their yard) NO ONE was there and NOTHING was set up! This was back in the day before cell phones, so we could only wonder.... Matt & I started to set up and move all this stuff and got all sweaty - and then my photographer showed up and I was in my shorts and a T-shirt and all disheveled. I did a quick change and didn't feel sufficiently "ready" at all! - NOT what a bride wants on her Wedding Day, GOODBYE to any dreams of looking like a princess that one day in your life! And then I went out to get my pictures taken in that state. My family did finally come home - their car had broken down on the way home from Logan and they'd been in the shop all afternoon! The bakery failed to deliver the cake and when we called, they didn't have a driver, so my mom's friend had to go pick it up and balance it in the car. The wedding decoraters were a "no show" and had to be called, too - they were "running behind" from another event. My dad, still sick, about dropped the T.V. when he stumbled down our stairs while carrying it outside to show our wedding video. We were missing family members for the family pictures. The guests started to come and we were still being photographed, etc. etc. (Remember how I've always said Murphy's Law rules my life?!?)

It is amazing to me that even with all the "disasters" I was happy! Really, really happy. It was like magic! I wish I could be more like that all the time!


So, back to TODAY...

Happy Anniversary, Matt! Kokoro kara ai shiteru!!!