It's Nate's Birthday!

 Happy birthday, Nate! 

If you have a couple of daughters, you kind of just have to roll with it when you end up with 34 pink candles on your cake. It was an awesome cake, no matter what color the candles were! We love you, Nate!

This is what Ryan thought of me baking a cake that was not the red birthday cake he has been asking for.  If you ask him when his birthday is, he'll say, "August 20th for my trains presents. I want Sir Handel, Diesel, and James!" We're up to three trains now. The list keeps expanding. We have a couple of cousins' birthdays coming before we get to his. I'm not sure he's going to be able to handle it.

Preview of my old age

Well, maybe this is a little of what I'll look like when I'm 85. I was sanding the walls in the bathroom today, and this is actually after I had cleaned up a bit. Even my eyelashes were completely white. I was going to just do it with the wet sanding sponge, since they say you should avoid sanding the mud if you want to prevent lung cancer, but there was no way I was going to spend a week going over the walls with that tiny sponge. Bless my husband's heart for buying that electric sander! I really think mudding is an art, and I'm not that good at it. I took it on as a challenge to see if I can actually get the walls smooth in our bathroom after removing the wallpaper. The verdict is still out. If I end up texturing the walls anyway after all that sanding, I'm going to be so frustrated.

4th of July

I didn't get a single picture of our celebrating this week. But as I was finishing off my peach pie for breakfast this morning, I thought that the true test for me of whether my holiday celebration was any good is determined by the food. In that case, it was a great holiday!

Nate decided on Sunday that he was in the mood to grill, so he grilled some honey shrimp, corn on the cob, and fresh vegetables. So yummy! Then we had peach pie and liquid homemade vanilla ice cream. We were pretty much out of ice, so Nate dumped what we had in the bucket of our ice cream maker and added ice packs and bags of frozen peas and spinach around it. Didn't work -- but tasted great anyway!

Garner always has a big party and fireworks show on July 3rd in order to not compete with Raleigh's shindigs. We have really wanted to go these past couple of years but it's hard because it seems silly to drive about a mile in the terrible traffic and parking to get to it, but it also seems silly to walk a mile with a stroller and no sidewalks in 95 degree weather. When Ryan decided not to take a nap, we decided it wasn't worth it to take him. We laid him down and Nate left around 9 pm to walk with the girls down to the park. They camped out in somebody's yard and enjoyed the fireworks, avoided the traffic, and were home by 10:30. Perfect!

Our church here in Garner has a great tradition of having a breakfast on the morning of the 4th, and once again the food was fabulous, the company was great, and Nate even got in a game of tennis. He didn't have a water bottle, so a guy playing on the court next to them gave him one. He said he was an EMT and didn't feel like having to resuscitate Nate on the holiday.

Later in the day we went to Mike & Sherrie's and I got to see their new house for the first time, which is great. Had some more great food, and then we went out on the boat. When we saw three bright streaks of lightning come down together right behind the trees, we headed straight for the dock! There was only supposed to be a 20% chance of rain, but we sure got hit by the storm. It made for a great adventure, though. Of course when we got back to the house we ate again. :)

We got home late, and I just threw Ryan's pajamas on him and put him in bed. At about 5 a.m. I heard, "MOMMY!! MOMMY!!" I ran into his room, and he said, "We didn't brush my teeth!" What?! No matter what I tried to do, he would not lay back down or give up until I had taken him into the bathroom and brushed his teeth. He wanted the light on and I told him I couldn't turn it on or it would hurt our eyes. He didn't believe me, so I turned it on and after we were both blinded he asked me to turn it back off. So stubborn! About halfway through this escapade I heard from the girls' room, "Ughhhhhh." My feelings exactly!

Even if I did lose a little sleep because I didn't brush Ryan's teeth, I am still grateful for the 4th of July. What an amazing country we live in. I am just so grateful to be here, and I always will be no matter what happens in politics or our society. I feel very blessed that my ancestors made the effort to come here and build successful lives, so that I can have all that I do today.

It's never too late...

I know we're on to another holiday, but I wanted to make sure I put this on the blog. For Father's day Nate got breakfast in bed, but we slept in late so he actually had to get back in bed, after getting mostly ready, to eat it.

Thanks for all you do for us, Nate. You are a great father, and life is so much better when you're home. We love you!

Dressing Your Truth

 A few months ago a friend introduced me to the Dressing Your Truth program. First of all, let me just give the disclaimer that it's an expensive program and the lady who created it is quite the saleswoman. I know many women who are already comfortable with their style and wouldn't need to invest in the fashion part of it. I do think her energy profiling would be interesting and beneficial for anyone. But for me, even though I cringed at paying the money and was even embarrassed to admit I had paid for it at first (maybe I still am a little bit), I am really glad I did it. Here's why:

• I've never known what my style should be. Should I go for trendy, classic elegance, earthy, etc.? I just didn't know what was me.
• I've never been able to shop by myself. I always wanted someone else to come with me and tell me what looked good, what colors I should pick, and since I don't live with Julie anymore I just couldn't do it on my own. I would always come home from hours of shopping with maybe one shirt that I would end up hating after wearing it once or twice.
• When I would try something on and it didn't fit, I would think that if only I could lose a little weight, or if only I was taller then I would be able to find something cute to wear. The problem was always my body.
• My hair? I can't even begin to describe the drama I have gone through with my naturally crazy hair. I remember coming home from getting my hair cut most of my life and crying in the bathroom as I looked in the mirror. I would always tell the stylist that it was fine because what can you do at the point when they hand you the mirror at the end if you really don't like it? One time I actually gave the mirror back to the lady three times, and finally her coworker beside her stepped over and finished it. I didn't tip her at all, but I still felt bad because it wasn't all her fault when she had just my hair to work with. A couple of years ago I came to the conclusion that I was just going to have to straighten it for the rest of my life, but it was still hard to find the right style for straight hair on me.
• Makeup? I would go with mostly just black eyeliner, powder, and lip gloss or chapstick. How could I begin to decide what color to use for eye shadow, blush, or lipstick?
• I had no jewelry besides a couple of small studs and a few thin silver chains up until this past year when I decided I should do jewelry. I had a home party and got a few different things, but it was so hard to know what to pick. Then I had to try to match what I got with the outfits I have -- ugh!

Okay, is that enough complaining? I was completely lost in the fashion world, and I think the real problem with it is that I blamed myself for it. I felt inadequate. So, along comes Dressing Your Truth and just cleared up every one of those issues I just listed. I went shopping at a thrift store the weekend after I got this program, and I had so much fun! I've never liked shopping at thrift stores because it takes forever to go through the racks just to find one or two gems. Not this time -- I quickly scanned the racks for my colors, then checked the style lines, the fabrication, patterns, texture and found several things very quickly that I wanted to try on. Most of it worked really well, and the stuff that didn't fit I didn't worry about. I didn't feel like my body had to be different to find clothes that worked for me. It was stress-free, and I don't think I've ever felt like that while shopping. I found some great shoes, too. :)

Hair -- well, DYT also addressed how to do curly hair. I thought I would give it a try, and it was pretty amazing. I got called Shirley Temple again for the first time in a long time. People at church thought I had permed my hair because they had never seen my curls before. :) I actually like my curls now. I don't think I've ever been able to say that before. I still need to get some highlights to cover up the grey that is starting to creep in and just give my face a brighter look.

So, that's the fashion and appearance difference it made for me, and it does make a big difference to be comfortable with your appearance. But it's interesting because it addresses a lot of emotional things as well. The program is kind of like a glorified personality test, but it's better than any personality test I've seen before. She calls it energy profiling, and it takes into account all aspects of ourselves -- our facial features, skin type, thought processes, behavior, mannerisms, etc.

It turns out that I'm a Type 1, which is a bright, animated person. My movement is upward and light. At first, I passed right by the Type 1's looking for what else I could be because they are described as the life of the party. I've always been the tag-along, not the life of the party. But everything else about a Type 1 fits. I think it's been kind of liberating to look at some of my natural tendencies, take the judgment off of them, and just accept that this is who I am. We all have strengths and weaknesses to work with. There is nothing wrong with me just because I can't concentrate on all of Nate's detailed explanations where he repeats himself a couple of times to make sure he thoroughly gets his point across. My mind travels to three or four different places and then comes back to him just as he is finishing up his thought. It's also nice for him to understand that I'm not bored or ignoring him -- we just think differently.

Type 1's like to have fun and be spontaneous and random. Chuck Little is the perfect Type 1 in my book. He is so fun to talk to. He brightens up any room he is in, and life is just more fun around Chuck. I've thought about Mom, wondering what type she would have been, and I think she was probably a Type 1 that was forced to live life as a Type 3. I think that often made her feel tired. I think I have tried to live like a Type 4 because I didn't want to come across as silly. I didn't really grow up in a Type 1 family, and I was very concerned about what my older siblings thought about me. So, I need to learn to have more fun.

Anyway, Kellee did a better job on her blog writing about the personality aspects of this. My post is already too long, and I can't keep my mind on it anymore!

Sneak Peek

I've almost finished tiling my laundry room and bathroom. I just have to seal the grout on Monday, but I'm not ready to upload before and afters because we have to take care of the walls and the fixtures in the bathroom before this project is complete. Oh, and put the doors back on after we cut them. But here is my little cutie in front of my masterpiece. Yes, that is lipstick on my son. I really didn't care. I'm just so grateful for my daughters who have helped so much this week while Nate was out of town and I was playing with the tile saw. At least they didn't break out the fingernail polish.

You're gonna need an ocean...

... of calamine lotion!

No joke! Whoever wrote those lyrics probably went through a couple of weeks like Nate and I have. So I've been reading on the internet about poison ivy, and I have realized that there is a reason I haven't been very good at identifying poison ivy. There are so many different varieties of it. This picture has leaves that are almost smooth, others have jagged edges. Some are a reddish color. It can be a vine, a bush, or a plant. Some have three leaves, but then there is the Virginia Creeper that has 5 leaves. So there goes your "leaves of three, let it be" right out the window. As I have looked at different pictures online, I think I have recognized just about every different kind right in our yard. I also learned that you really need to wash off the oil within 10 minutes of touching it to avoid getting a reaction. Think you're immune to it? Well, just get into it enough times and you'll most likely eventually break out in the rash. You might also get a worse reaction to it each time you run into this monster. Nate was smart and went to the doctor for some steroids. I didn't think mine was that bad -- until he went out of town. Then there were several days in a row where I considered calling JW for some help, but I never did. Finally today the swelling is going down in some areas, and I haven't needed to use the anti-itch cream Nate got very much. It's called Sarna, and it is awesome stuff! Anyway, I think I'm just going to sit in my house and let this stuff swallow my yard. I don't want anything to do with it anymore!

A Man's Work

I've started a little project, and JW let me borrow some of his tools to complete it. When I saw he included his drill in the box of stuff he gave me, my first thought was that we already have a drill. But then I picked his up, and realized that he has a DRILL compared to our drill. Is there something wrong with me that I was having fun when I started using it?

Nate told me a story the other day about this guy he works with. His wife is home right now because they just recently had a baby. That afternoon he had to leave work early because a guy was coming to fix their hot water heater. Nate said, "Isn't your wife home?" This guy said she was there, but he had to take care of it because that was "a man's work." Are you kidding me? Little did Nate know that when he got home from work that day he wouldn't be able to park in the garage because I had taken out the toilet, the sink, and the cabinet in the bathroom. I guess I'm a manly woman since I like doing a "man's work." And I just have to say that I SO appreciate that Nate is manly enough to do the dishes and laundry or whatever I need when he sees the need for it to be done. That is the work of a good man!

Nikki's Baptism

It's hard to believe she's grown up so much. Nikki's baptism was yesterday, and it was really beautiful. I wonder if her face hurt today from all the smiling she did yesterday. She was so excited and loved every minute of it. Thanks to everyone who has supported her and has shown so much love to her.

Our claims to fame

Our neighborhood is just down the street from Scotty's neighborhood. Man, now I wish I had actually struck up a conversation with him a few times in the grocery store. We had a lot of fun watching the American Idol finale, although there were a few parts that weren't quite family friendly. My two favorite parts of the night were when Hannah said J-Lo's outfit looked like a molting swan (I'd post a picture but it would be a little inappropriate for my blog -- she lost a few too many feathers), and then when Scotty and Tim McGraw sang together on stage. I do like Tim McGraw. Nate saw this picture and couldn't believe that Tim could be on stage in an old T-shirt, a hat that covers his eyes, and a huge belt buckle, and everyone still loves him anyway. :)



Nate's first cousin is Lynn, who is the mother of Faith in this video. Elder Oslund is now serving in Mike & Sherrie's ward, and he came and gave a fireside for our youth last Sunday. Nate had fun talking to him. He was really charismatic, and he has a great story. It was great to see his love and enthusiasm for the gospel. He was being recruited by San Diego State when he was a senior in high school to be a quarterback, but then he blew out his knee. So, I guess that's no big deal if you can just play baseball instead. He will be finishing his mission in a couple of months, and he said that as of right now the Detroit Tigers may be drafting him in a couple of weeks. However, his plan is to turn them down and go back to BYU. It was really neat meeting him and hearing his testimony.

Okay, so maybe we're not famous, but it is fun to rub shoulders with people who are. :)