They're GIGANTIC!

By this I mean my tonsils. Oh my goodness! Seriously...here is an estimate of the space between my two severely swollen tonsil: from here (........) to here. As you can see, this is clearly not alot of space. I know what you're thinking, "You need to have those out!" Yes, yes I do. However, with the women's retreat in a little less than 2 weeks and 4 dramas to perform that night, they must hang out with me a little longer! They don't hurt (THANK GOD!). They're just difficult to eat/breath through. There is slight concern about possible suffocation during sleeping. Hoping this does not happen for obvious reasons. So yeah...there is alot of nursing going on. Any suggestions on how to keep them content for a wee bit longer?

Procrastination!

First of all, this is a very fall-tastic color for my font and I'm loving it!

Second of all, this post is pretty much nothing more than my attempts to find something to do - other than schoolwork that is! It is a lovely day! Chilly, but not freezing, with a big blue sky and a yellow sun. As a result of such a lovely day, I am feeling rather musical and feel like dancing around the kitchen in my socks (it's easier to dance when you're wearing your socks) to all the love songs I recently downloaded for the Women's Retreat. Yet, I can't be dancing because I have a TON of work to be doing. So instead I'm listening to music and fiddling around on the computer and still not doing any of the work I need to do.

Let me just sum up how this is working: I don't want to do anything that needs to be done and I want to do everything that doesn't need to be done; and that is precisely what I am doing. I feel like Paul. "What I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate I do." Just reverse that and you have a perfect description of my current activites.

I kinda feel like writing but I have several dramas and papers that need to be written and I can't really feel justified in writing some nonsensical future book stuff when I have other items that legitimately need to be written. Sigh...it's forever the struggle between fun and work. Work loses that battle about 99.99999999999999999% of the time.

You know what else I want to do? SHOP! It's fall, leading everyday toward winter and I cannot be more excited. I get to buy new clothes this winter because all my old ones no longer cover my stomach. It's weird how shirts do that. The sleeves are fine, but the rest is too small. Anyway, there are shirts and pants and belts and boots and purses and hats and scarves and jewelry and mittens and jackets and about a zillion other things calling my name and saying "Buy me! Add me to your wardrobe! I'll be the perfect addition to your already bulging closet - I promise!" And I am listening to them; and my closet is growing and my bank account (this is just figurative as I don't really have my own bank account yet) is shrinking! Warning: If you already have a shopping addiction, DO NOT go to Europe as this only feeds one's desire for accessories, fashionable clothes and cute hairstyles! Yes, it's true. I fell victim to the European fashion craze. It's the only logical explanation for my spending an hour curling my hair today for the Missionette's sleepover this evening. Crazy I know. It's like I'm girly now or something weird like that. Tomorrow's agenda: Shopping. (I think I need an intervention!)

Anyway, this is a long post as all my posts seem to be. I shall bring it to an end and attempt to get some work done before this evening. It's really not looking good though - I must admit. Oh well. There's always Monday! :D

More than a "wonderful" weekend...

So I had a downright dreamy weekend. :) For those of you who are still out of the loop, I'm currently in a relationship with a boy in Odessa. So this weekend, despite several setbacks, I was able to go and see him. It was absolutely fabulous! I had a marvelous time! Some of the highlights:

• Giants hugs - all weekend long!
• Falling asleep on him during Meet the Robinsons and waking up to find him staring at me with a smile on his face. So sweet!
• Understanding when I'm upset about something and pushing me to tell him what's wrong and being able to spill my guts, tears running down my face while he just.....listens. No interruptions or attempts at advice - just pure listening until I'm all spilled out AND THEN advice. But that wasn't until he felt he actually understood how I felt. I was having trouble putting it into words and he said "That's what we have music for. Think of a song." and when I failed at that, a simple "Can you try to explain it?" Honestly, he's the sweetest guy I've ever met. On top of all this awesomeness - he held me close and patted my shoulder while I cried.
• Being appreciated for little things like making the bed and straightening his room while waiting for him to get off work.
• Meeting his friends and having them at least act happy that you're there hanging out with them.
• Laughing as we tried to decide which NFL football player I should marry. Haha!
• Being allowed to beat him at a video game because he knew it would make me smile! :)
• Meeting his parents, despite fears of being "grilled to death."
• Being accepted by his parents and NOT being grilled to death.
• Getting to pick Sonic for dinner though he doesn't really like it.
• Watching Sunday Night Football on his laptop! Go Colts! :D
• Having him set-up an imaginary match between the Colts and Titans on Madden when the internet broke, just 'cause he knew I wanted to watch the game.
• A gentle "I hate to see you go." amidst a final squeeze good-bye.

Sigh......add to all of that: a TON of laughter at random silly things that no one else would probably understand, the sharing of secrets between us, sneaking glances and smiles, and talk of the future; and you have a recipe for the best weekend ever! Haha it was supremely great! :D

So yeah......

So I feel like I need to blog, but I don't feel like I have anything to blog about. Nothing exciting is really going on right now. :/ It's just the same old stuff that goes on everyday. My life seems to be a neverending flow of school and work. Don't get me wrong I absolutely LOVE my job and my adorable kiddos; we just haven't done anything that exciting lately. Ellie's about to start potty-training so I'm sure I'll have some exciting details to post about that before long. :) Plus I'm getting pretty excited about the Women's Retreat coming up in November. It's gonna be A-mazing!!!! (Yes, I did just use 4 exclamation points. I'm serious about it.)

But other than that, there's not too much going on. Well, I get to go see my darling boyfriend this weekend which is super exciting. At least, I hope it'll be. Haha. We're gonna watch football together on Sunday. I'm pretty excited about that.

Hmm...maybe I had more to be excited about than I thought. I guess I just needed to think about it. Well that's cool! :D Okay, now I must quit procrastinating schoolwork and take my test on Homer! I know, I know...Lord be with me!

Can I just say....

Hooray for new months that bring about renewal of cell phone minutes! If you don't think this is a thing to celebrate try hearing these words from one of the only people you talk to on an hourly basis: "I only have like 15 minutes to last me the rest of the month....so I can't really talk or text you...Sorry." This was about a week ago! I have been one lonely/crazy/slightly more angry than usual/supremely understanding person this week. But Hallelujah - it's OCTOBER!!!! :)

All Smiles...

Exactly one year after the dreaded breakup, I am once again all smiles! This last year has been such a time of blessing for me. I've learned so much about myself and received so much love from God and other great friends! I've lost some friends and made some new ones, I've laughed and I've cried, I've danced and I've pouted. But most of all, I MADE IT!!! I am still alive and life is better than ever! Maybe I'm not exactly where I thought I would be this time last year, but I'm definitely where God wants me and where I'm supposed to be right now. Who knows what the future holds??? All I know is I'm looking forward to it with sparkling eyes once again!

PS It's a little easier when you have a secret that makes you giggle randomly. Haha! :D

My First Embarrassing "Mommy" Moment

(This post is dedicated to Lori Sullivan -

The Queen of Embarrassing Mommy Moments :D)

So Monday I agreed to watch Ellie and Grayson at the church for DeLana because she had Fall Council all day. Everything was going okay until lunchtime, where Ellie proceeded to scream and cry, while Grayson spit up all down his clothes and had to be carried around in front of the missionaries in just his diaper. Not to mention that all of this took place in the kitchen in front of some rather prominent women of the church. I definitely had an "oh what they must think of me!" moment.

Shortly after this, I take the children home to nap. All was well during this time, and my sanity returned. As we were preparing to go back to the church so I could drop the kids off with their Mamo for the rest of the evening, Ellie brought me a book. I promptly instructed her to "please put it back on your shelf so we can go see Mamo." She chirped an "okay!" and trotted off down the hall. I returned my attention to Gray's onesie when I heard the 2 sounds every woman dreads - SMACK, followed by horrific screaming.

I immediately run into the bedroom to find poor Ellie sprawled on the floor holding her cheek. I pick her up and she buries her face in my shoulder. When I inquire as to what happened I got the muffled "iiiiiiiiiiiiii ffffffeeeeeeelllllll aaa aaanddd hhhhiiitttt my ccccchheeeekkkk." When I finally got her to let me see, I found a small scrape and a quickly darkening purple cheekbone. The poor thing must have tripped while running to put away her book and hit her cheek on the bookshelf. :(

She informed me she needed a band-aid and medicine so I took her into the bathroom and found a band-aid. It was neon green and rather large. Let's just say it stretched from nostril to ear! She looked so cute. I knew we needed to ice her cheek or else it was going to be huge so I found a plastic football ice cube and handed it to her with the instructions to "hold it on there." Then I put her on the couch so I could finish getting them ready to leave. She didn't want to hold the football on there because it was cold so I tried to find something to put it in. In an ideal world, this would have consisted of a washcloth or towel or something to that nature. The only thing handy was daddy's sock on the back of the couch. So yes - that's what she got. We finally arrived at the church and Mamo inquires as to what happened and why her granddaughter has a ginormous neon green band-aid across her whole face. Ellie is acting supremely pitiful as together she and I relate what happened. THEN Mamo proceeds to tell her friend Rita (Bro. Dubose's wife) all about Ellie's fall and why she has a green band-aid. AND she chooses to disclose the information about the football ice cube and sock. I wanted to die! (Oh what she must think of me - screaming children, half-naked children, and a black-eyed child with a sock ice pack!) Promptly after the conversation, I went to clean the nursery.

So yes, I have officially had a "Lori" moment! That's what I thought of immediately after the chain of events - "I feel like Lala right now." (You know I love you Lori and I am honored to feel like you as you are a supremely excellent mother!) Ellie is okay by the way. She has a black eye and cheek, but she's not permanently damaged. That's the only reason this story is somewhat humorous. :)