The thing about living in a house full of boys is...

...when you ask what stinks, EVERYBODY claims it (even if it's not that kind of stink) and it sometimes results in a fight.

My boys wouldn't dream of passing the blame.

We were merely freshmen...

One fall freshman afternoon quickly turned from this:


to this:

Leah was one of my freshman roommates. She was crazy. I loved her. She was always up for an adventure...especially if you want to define adventure as dating a man DOUBLE her age. (Remember when we thought 36 was really old?) She spent a lot of time with him. But when she hung with the rest of the 18 year olds, you can bet fun ensued. She was full of life.

Oh Boy!

Grayden just smeared peanut butter all over the dog's back.

Chief was covered in peanut butter in places he couldn't reach to lick off.

Gray's sticky fingers were covered in peanut butter and dog hair.

It was gross.

The end.

Racing and Pacing and Plotting the Course

She's goin' the distance...she's going for speed.
(Hey Traci...Does that remind you of stake scripture chase? That and pockets full of gummy bears?)

So I ran a half marathon a couple weeks ago. (I use the term run very loosely...it was definitely more of a jog.) I was feeling pretty awesome about myself until I read what my cousins did that same weekend.

I was unprepared. I had planned on running it but backed out because it was the same day Mike was supposed to get married. Then a week before the race I was back in because a friend had to back out and gave me her spot. I had never run more than seven miles in training...and that was just one time. But Abbey and I have been running (again, I mean jogging but calling it running makes me feel cooler) since the fall. I'm not totally out of shape. I could finish seven miles with energy left over so what's six more miles? I decided...why not.

I had THE TIME OF MY LIFE! (Even though it rained for at least nine of those miles.) I forgot how much I love racing. I LOVE IT. So much adrenaline. I never really hit that wall that people talk about. It was 13.1 miles of runners high. It made all the early morning runs worth it. I was starting to think I just don't like to run, but I'm converted. For me, it's not a once in a lifetime accomplishment like I expected it to be. I plan to do it again and again. Next time I'll be more prepared.

And though I certainly didn't break any records, I finished much faster than I anticipated. I now have a time to beat next year.

We're still havin' fun and you're still the one.

8 years
7 trips to the ER
6 moves
5 toasters (Five toasters in 8 years? What is wrong with us?)
4 college degrees (a work in progress)
3 kids
2 lovers (not on the side, I'm talking about me and my love D-Spencer)
and
1 dog
later...

...and still havin' fun.

So about Mother's Day...

If you're in the mood for a sappy, yet uplifting, post on Mother's, you've come to the wrong place.

Following Mormon tradition, the primary kids got up on the stand at church to sing a cheesy song to the congregation. And when I say cheesy I mean like "Mother dear I love you so. Your happy smiling face is such a joy to look at. You make home a lovely place." Right. I'm sure my kids will never utter those words to me and mean it.

Parker even braved it on my behalf and went to the front. I can never talk him into that. And really, I was proud of him for making that effort. But it was of course MY kids that got into a brawl on the stand and had to be stopped by a member of the bishopric.

Sacrament meeting was saved. We had two FANTASTIC speakers. Best I've heard in a long time. Maybe ever. And to top it off...this year's Mother's Day gift was NOT a tacky flower. We got cookies. SCORE!

Then it was time for primary and the kids were SO ROTTEN. I lost it and yelled. YELLED at the primary kids. I told them they were driving me crazy and to knock it off. Yes, those are the actual words I used. I am SO not cut out for this. I get sick to my stomach every Saturday night when I begin thinking about having to go to primary the next day. I was very honestly hoping that one of my kids would wake up sick just so I could stay home. I think I need to be fired from primary. The kids need someone more loving than me.

The good news is, I have 9:00am church. I was home by 12:30 and had the rest of the day for it to get better. I took a pleasant, uninterrupted afternoon nap and woke up to a steak dinner. Spencer really knows how to do Mother's Day right and I was off duty all day. It was awesome.

I talked to my mom expecting her to be having a lousy Mother's Day visiting her 29 year old son in a nursing home. But she was in better spirits than I've seen in a long time. Mike was moved out of his specialty hospital and into a nursing home this weekend. You'd think a nursing home would be rotten, but the specialty hospital was an all around bad experience. The staff at the nursing home have been great. They are really supportive and upbeat. Mike needs that (as do Mom and Lisa).

So in summary: Sappy songs. On stage brawl. Great meeting. Cookies. Yelled at primary. Good nap. Good dinner. Good news from Mom. Off duty. The pro's outweigh the cons. I am a fan of Mother's Day.

Holiday Time in Mexico

In honor of Cinco de Mayo, Spencer and I hosted a little fiesta last night. Including: great friends, delicious food, (virgin) margaritas, sombreros, mariachi music, a little spanglish, dark mustaches, Mexican horse race (Whoof Arted!) and lots, and lots of laughs.