Crying....

We all know that I inherited my tear ducts from my mother. Good old mom. Cries at the drop of a hat. It's a standing family joke that you know you gave her a good birthday or christmas or mother's day gift when she starts to cry. If she doesn't cry - well, better luck next year. My brother-in-law, Josh, and some of my cousins start a count-down to see how many seconds it will take for the tears to start flowing.
Now, as much fun as it is to make fun of mom, I don't stand a chance. I am just as bad, if not worse!! The biggest problem I have is what I like to call "empathetic or contagious crying." I may not be happy or sad or whatever the emotion may be that causes someone else to cry, but as soon as tears well up in another persons eyes, for some reason those little tears of mine decide they don't want to miss out on all the fun. In an instant I could be crying just because I see someone else crying. It's almost like contagious yawning. You see someone else doing it, you just gotta. Most people don't suffer from contagious crying. But I do. The only time in my life I seemed to have been in remission from this nonsensical crying was on my mission - and that is honestly because I prayed like you wouldn't believe that I wouldn't be a bawl baby as a missionary. I knew that if I was ever going to be able to teach an understandable word, I would have to be able to hold it together for heaven's sake! So, those tear ducts dried up for a little while - but man, as soon as that nametag came off, it was over.
Anyhow - why am I jabbering on about crying? The reason is that sometimes I am grateful to shed a tear or two - like a release valve is being opened up or something. This morning I had a surprise attack when I opened up big sis's blog to read what was new in her life. (since I last read it yesterday!)As I read of her ah-ha moment I felt completely overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude, joy, inspiration, and love. And, what do you know- the tears started to flow (as they are now by the way!)I have seen many miracles in my life- mostly small ones, but some big enough to change my life. One of those is to watch someone so close to me as my sister go through ridiculously difficult challenges in her life and not only survive, but inspire everyone she meets. I am so grateful for her strength that helps me to be strong, and for her trials that help me to see God's hand in all of our lives.
Sometimes I am amazed at the wisdom and grace of our Heavenly Father and His decision to send us here to earth as families. I can not think of a better way to spend this life and the rest of eternity than with those you love deeply and those for whom you would do anything to ensure their happiness. And to know that now I can create a famiy of my own to do the same... it is just amazing. To all of my family- I love you, I am grateful for you, you inspire me, you amaze me, you are a part of me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOVERLY!

Today is Clint's birthday and I of course had to tell the world. Even though he is getting older... I still think he's pretty cool. No really though, I am so grateful to have such a wonderful, loving, hot, handy, creative, and CRAZY husband. What more could a girl ask for? I love you loverly... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Adventures in WYOMING

Awww... cute....




Well, when I saw that tone tone had created a blog I thought, "why not?" Half of my friends and family have no idea where I am or what I am doing at any given moment. Life has taken me so many places that I can hardly keep up with where I am and what I'm doing. I just wish I would've done this sooner to document our adventures in good 'ol WYOMING. Really, that could have been serious entertainment. It's not everyday a little California girl trades in her flip flops and perfect beach days for cowboy boots and days in the crazy Wyoming wind. It certainly has been an experience of a lifetime though - mostly that means I would never do it again - once in a lifetime. Just once. No, but really I have learned a lot this summer that I most likely wouldn't have learned staying comfy in cali.

Some highlight experiences:

1. building my first couple of walls with handy mr. clint- I was pretty proud. He was pretty embarrassed.

2. the evanston county fair - wowee. I have never seen so much poop in my life. (nor did I ever want to!)

3. cub scouts. oh cub scouts. hold on- this one has a few good stories. Clint and I were called to be den leaders for the wolf scouts (7-8 years old). What a bunch of rascals. Like the other day, they ganged up on Clint - one nailed him on the side of the head with a ball and while he was in a daze recovering from the blow, the other knocked him over the head with a baseball bat. Those kids are lucky they aren't my kids. And then the latest was the enormous slaughtering I took at the ponds yesterday - they put me in a defensless little paddle boat with 3 little kids while all the rest of the scouts were in canoes (with oars - weapons of mass destruction in a pond). Let's just say it's a good thing I was wearing my beautiful yellow scout leader shirt OVER my WHITE t-shirt. Little varmints. Oh yeah - one more. One of our scouts accidently did a sommersault into a pile of dog poop the first time he ever came. Ha! That was funny. (2nd time I've mentioned poop in this blog... hmmm....)

4. Learning how to use a sander to build our desk - I took a little chunk out of my finger, but besides that... I'm a natural. With power tools in general - kinda scary.

5. My first rodeo EVER. I really was pretty entertained. I think there were two funny things worth mentioning - first - the rodeo queens. Freak shows on a horse. And they have princess crowns on their cowboy hats. And jeans with no butt pockets. Hilarious. The other thing was the chicken wrestling - they get all the little kids out there in the dirt and let chickens run around like crazy while the kids run around like crazy trying to catch them. Also one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

6. The craziest Lake Powell trip in the history of the world... car wrecks, sand storms, major rain, our dog going insane, and a stop at the funny farm (Clint's grandparents house... that's a whole 'nother story) just to name a few things. But I did get pretty good at water skiing and I also jumped off the big cliff with all the boys. I'm tough.

There really is too much to mention - it has been an adventure I will never forget. Yet, I am still anxious to kiss the ground in beautiful California.

Speaking of that blissful sunshine state, we just found a place this week for when we go back to San Diego and we are getting sooo excited. It seemed like the day would never come when we would get to go back to normal life... our own place, our own lives, THE BEACH, etc. Anyhow, we will be in an apartment in O-side as Clint likes to call it (Oceanside) and we feel like it will be a good change. I really wanted to go back to Fountain Valley as it is a little piece of heaven on earth... but if we ever want to buy, this is a smart move for us. Plus, we are excited to be close to family and our best friends. This place seems perfect (although we have actually never seen it)! But, I sent mom, and I figured that since she approves, then I can definitely live there. She is much pickier than either of us. It should be a sweet deal... 2 bedrooms, 5 blocks from the beach, a garage, a patio - all for less than what we paid in our tiny little 1 bedroom in Fountain Valley. Someone's looking out for us. It looks like we may try and come home sooner than we had originally thought - probably around the 5th of September - that's coming up quick! YEEEHAW!


Here is our little Diego... isn't he the sweetest? Yeah - I've turned into one of THOSE dog owners. How can I help it when he looks at me like that? No worries- he doesn't wear clothes or ride in purses.