Five Years, to the Day

I'd like to say the day started out like normal, but this day was far from normal. There was no French toast breakfast being prepared, no grumpy teenager rolling out of bed at 10 a.m., not even a hint of music echoing in the background. No, because that would be normal. The phone rang; it was about 6 a.m. I remember hearing the ringing and a thought quickly dashed across my mind. It's too early for someone to call. Isn't it still the middle of the night? Must be a wrong number. I rolled over, checked the clock, saw that it really was "the middle of the night" and went back to sleep. Then my dad came in. "Adam's been in an accident. You mom and I are getting ready, we're going down to Ogden." I was tired and it had hardly registered and I didn't understand. I started coming around and asked, "my brother, Adam?" It was too late, my dad was already gone. He and my mom were quickly showering and throwing what they could into duffel bags so they could hurry down the road. I lay in bed, motionless, sobbing. I knew it was my brother and I knew it was bad. The rest of the day was a blur.

Later I found out how bad the damage was. Truthfully, my brother is very lucky to be alive and I know the hand of God was involved in every action surrounding this incident.

Adam and a friend had gone to Las Vegas for a short trip and had to be home (Pocatello -- about nine hours from Las Vegas) early Monday morning to teach tennis lessons. They decided to drive through the night so they would be there in time. Adam was asleep in the front passenger seat and his friend was driving. They were somewhere near Tremonton, Utah when the driver fell asleep at the wheel. The car rolled and rolled and rolled again (I don't know exactly how many times exactly.

The friend escaped with nothing but a broken nose, but Adam wasn't as fortunate. From the accident, he experienced two broken femurs, a skin graft (it was about six square inches of area), multiple cuts and bruises and what I can only imagine as a horrifying memory. His right leg sustained a compound fracture, a severed vein, artery (the femoral -- one of the largest in the human body) and nerve. His left leg was "just" broken, as far as I remember, but had skin removed to complete the skin graft for the right leg. He looked like he'd just come out of a war; it was very sad and very hard for me to see.

After a life flight trip to a hospital in Ogden, multiple surgeries, some upwards of ten or more hours, and the help of Priesthood blessings and competent medical people, he was on to recovery. He spent a month in the hospital, mostly in the ICU and then came home to live with us (Mom, Dad, the Knighton clan and I) for the next phase of recovery (I never went to visit him, but looking back I wish I had. It's not that I didn't care, because I did...a lot...I was just a selfish teenager, going through selfish teenager situations).

When he came home, he had to be in a wheelchair so a ramp was built onto the front of the house and various handicap amenities were made available so he could get around as easily as possible. Luckily my parents built the house with doors wide enough for a wheelchair and had not done anything to spruce up the computer room yet so it was large enough to be converted to Adam's room until he was more mobile (now it has built in cabinetry and counters -- I don't know how well it would work as a bedroom anymore). His girlfriend (at the time), Laura, also came to live with us for a couple months. She stayed downstairs in Alicia's room (she was on her mission). So, if you total up the people we had in the house it comes to six adults (one who needed lots of assistance), a teenager and two little girls. I'd say we had a full house!

His recovery went much quicker than doctors expected. I believe their predictions were that he wouldn't walk again for six months to a year. They didn't account for Adam's personality though. He is not the type to be kept down. He likes to be up and moving. My mom told me that as a baby he was a pill, until he could move. Once he could get around and get what he wanted, he was a happy camper. This experience was about the same. He wasn't grumpy about not being able to walk and be active (he always had fairly good spirits throughout the whole situation) but I could always tell that he wanted to get going and do something. He worked and worked and worked those legs, the right in particular, until he was up and walking. This process took a couple months, but was much faster than the doctor's predictions. Soon after that he was starting to get faster and was back playing sports as much as possible (he even managed to add a broken arm to the equation when playing frizbee one day).

As far as most people could tell, he was entirely healed, although his right leg never healed quite correctly. He had trouble bending it any farther than about ninety degrees due to extra bone and scar tissue growth during the healing process. Even with that though, he was up running around and playing tennis all the time. Then a couple months ago he went in for a corrective surgery to fix his leg one last time and I'm happy to report: Adam has full range of motion with his leg now!!


















Isn't he handsome?! -- I'm allowed to say this; I'm his sister.


















Isn't modern medicine amazing?!!

As tragic as this accident was, it has shaped part of who I am today. I am so grateful that my Adam is alive and well. I can't imagine a life or eternity without him in my family. He is funny, smart, talented and an all around amazing person. I love him. Also, this experience has testified to me many times how much our Heavenly Father loves each of us, individually and how He is in control and has a plan for each of us. I know there were angels ministering to my brother during every moment. Miracles happened and continue to everyday. One day, I know a miracle far beyond physical restoration will happen with Adam, as well. I look forward to this day and in the meantime, I do my best to just love him and be grateful that he's still here today!

I'm a Winner!!

A couple months ago, Owen started participating in the contests airing through a local radio station. He won a prize and then had to wait it out until the fourteen-day prize limit was met before he was allowed to play again. Although since you're just not allowed to win for fourteen days, I wonder if you can still play as long as you get the answer wrong...Do you think anybody has tried this? Anyway, back the story. He has played off and on once the restriction days were completed, but has yet to win. I helped when I could (on my school days while driving to Rexburg or when he called me to look up something for him online--surprisingly, even Google can't find the answer to some of the questions...either that or I'm dense and just can't find them...I don't want to know your opinion on which it is, thanks) but mostly this was Owen's deal.
Then the radio station started giving away tickets to see Brigadoon (our local Sound's Choir puts on a musical every year and this is this years). The tickets are expensive ($8 for general seating; $15 for reserved) and I knew I was too cheap to buy them, but thought it would be really fun to go. So, last week I began playing too.

We tried to play every game the tickets were available for, but were beginning to think that we just weren't going to be lucky enough to go. Today was our day though! This morning while Owen was in class, I decided to have one more go at winning. The game was Mystery Morning Trivia (I'm horrible at movie trivia, by the way...I just don't watch enough movies to be very good at it). I heard the clip "Back off, man. I'm a scientist." and my heart sank. I had no idea what movie that was from. Then a split second later, I thought, Maybe I'll have time to look it up!! I tried not to get my hopes up as I sprinted to the computer room (seriously, I didn't know I could maneuver that quickly through the house) sat down and typed away. I googled the quote, saw the top link was for Ghostbusters and began dialing. I got in immediately (I almost panicked and hung up -- I never get in that easily) and then thought, What if it's not Ghostbusters?! I'll feel really stupid guessing that if it is totally off, especially because everybody has seen Ghostbusters...except me, of course. I decided to go with it anyway. They answered and asked for my answer. I was right!!! I won a movie trivia game on a movie that I hadn't even seen!! Impressive, I know.

I won four tickets to see the musical tomorrow...and I am so excited!! And as my little disclaimer: I realize that it is totally pathetic that I have not seen Ghostbusters, but in my defense...the movie came out before I was even born. And I'm pretty sure my parents had a very good reason for not letting me watch it as a child. Now, that I'm an adult, I guess it just hasn't been on the top of my "to-watch" list. Maybe I'll see it one day. But for now, I'm just happy that I won!!

Six Months Till Christmas

It may seem odd (or even obnoxious) to some people to count down the months until Christmas, but in my family it is completely normal, and I quite enjoy it. Every time the 25th day of any month rolled around, we were reminded that Christmas was only *blank* months away, usually during family prayer in the morning. This was my dad's doing, even in January when Christmas was still fresh on our minds (I'm sure my mom loved to be reminded that she only had eleven months to scramble everything together to make the perfect Christmas for everyone).

This tradition has since passed on to me and I find myself pondering creative Christmas gift ideas in February and March as the 25th rolls around once more (I've got to have plenty of leeway to get my thoughts completely together and to ensure I have enough time and money to create my crafts). So, as I now have only six months to go, I have many ideas. Now the only problem is I don't know which families I'll be giving presents to this year (we draw names -- each family/person gets another family/person a gift so everybody gets something nice and thoughtful rather than a bunch of junk). Once I know that, I can narrow down my thoughts and get my projects started! I'll keep you posted...unless, of course, I draw Gina or Alicia's families, because they read my blog, and that would definitely ruin their surprises. :)

Our Story -- The Beginning

It all started at family home evening (FHE) on June 29, 2005. Owen had just moved to Rexburg to begin school on the second summer block. Both of us were already in a relationship with other people and were mostly content with that...or so we though. I don't know how it all got started, but we ended up bantering with one another, and if I remember correctly it was about whose significant other was better. FHE ended and we both went our separate ways. Note: I would not admit for at least two months (yes, even while we were dating) that I liked Owen, although looking back I realize that we both kind of had a crush on one another...thus the teasing. I will say though that I've always thought Owen was good looking and his exact words are "I thought you were hot." Well, there ya have it folks...someone thinks I'm hot...or at least 'thought'.

Nothing else happened until a couple weeks later (July 13, 2005) when I was at the library working on a group project. When my group walked past the computer section to our group table, Owen was there and said hello. I was shocked! I thought he hated me due to the teasing and picking on one another that had happened previously. I had to do stuff with my group so I couldn't really talk to him then, but my group was done pretty quickly and Owen was still there. I think he hung around on purpose because he just so happened to be done right when I was...coincidence? I think not. I was getting ready to walk home and he had driven and offered me a ride. Rexburg is usually 100+ degrees outside during July, so I gladly accepted and we got to talking.

When we got back to my apartment, the talking continued.....














and continued.......















and continued......














and continued...for at least three hours.

I had been in the middle of a "break" with the above mentioned boyfriend and was feeling quite frustrated with a number of 'boy' situations. Owen had also recently broken up with the girl he had been dating, but was on to another girl...luckily, just a short fling. Lucky for Owen, he got to be the backboard for my ventilation. The talking probably would have continued, but I had a date with his best friend, Ryan, to the Drum Corps Internation Competition, so we ended the conversation and I went to that.


Don't worry faithful readers of mine! The story will continue soon through multiple posts, until the story is complete...or at least until it gets to a happy ending point! But in the meantime...What's your story?

Saturday is Grocery Day

I know, it's probably the worst day of the week to shop...everyone else is getting groceries too. But I like to take my hubby along with me so that it's not so tiring and stressful to me. Today was quite the trip too.

We always buy fruit, but since my first nutrition goal for our Extreme Weight Loss Challenge is to cut out my sweets by replacing them with fruits today was stock up day.














We got bananas, oranges, peaches, nectarines, mangos and even splurged on a papaya (they were on sale and we're going to use it in fresh squeezed juice -- good thing my parents have a juicer).

We we're not planning on getting artichoke, but when we saw how ginormous they were, and decently priced too, we couldn't resist!














We took the picture next to a gallon of milk for size comparison. Isn't this thing huge?!

And one of my most very favorite things ever (Did I add enough exaggeration words there? No? Here, I'll try again...) One of my most very favorite-ist yummy and so good, delicious things ever is

Yogurt! Tillamook brand, to be exact.













They were 30 cents cheaper than usual so we bought enough to last us till the millenium through any sort of freak June snow storm that results in power loss and mass panic for a couple weeks. (We got 31 containers, in case you were wondering).

Mmm...I love grocery day!

I Challenge You...

...to join the Extreme Weight Loss Challenge

What is it?
A twelve week collaborative effort to get healthy and stay that way!

What it involves?
Setting weekly exercise and nutrition goals, doing your best to achieve these goals and encouraging everyone else in the challenge the reach his/her goals too! (We are tracking our progress by taking weekly measurements -- weight, chest, waist, hips, thighs and upper arms -- and weekly pictures...if this doesn't interest you, don't do it! But don't skip out on the fun just because of this).

When does it start?
Tomorrow - June 22, 2008 -- I know, I know! Short notice. But if you can't/won't start tomorrow, that's okay...join us anyway!

When does it end?
Twelve weeks, duh! Seriously though, the twelve week program will run through September 13 (or twelve weeks from your start personal start date), but hopefully the habits and routines started now will last a lifetime!

Who can join?
Anyone! You can join and blog about your progress/experience with the rest of us or you can do this privately and keep your good news to yourself! (If you want to blog along with us, leave a comment with your email so I can add you.)

How did this come about?
I've still got ten pounds of baby weight to lose and I'm not okay having it with me the rest of my life. Owen's got, well, more than ten pounds that he wants to get rid of, for good. We also both have genetic factors that will make our more aged years a problem if we don't make changes today. So, lately I've been trying to devise a plan that we can follow and stick with so we can get on track to living fit and healthy lives! Then, I started talking to my sister-in-law about the plan and she wanted in on the fun too...and of course, the more-the merrier. So, today we've been working on things to be completely prepared to start tomorrow. There may still be a few kinks here and there, but we'll work them out.

Why should I participate?
Even the healthiest of us can always improve and offer advice and encouragement to those who struggle or are just starting out. The more people that get involved, the more fun this will be! So, don't sit by! Join in the fun...and tell your friends too. Today is the day!

Come Live Better For Life!!

The Business of Being Born

Okay, one more child birth/hippie post and I'll be done for a couple months, maybe longer. I just feel too strongly about this topic to not share it with others.

The Business of Being Born was another thing discussed at the Bradley Reunion and as soon as we got home (well we got home late, but the next morning) we had to see this video. We got on Netflix and watched it though the "instant" option. We were very impressed. Many of the problems with today's labor and delivery process talked about in this documentary were things we dealt with first hand when Miriam was born. It was quite the eye-opener. I have very strong opinions (when I have an opinion it is usually a strong one) about childbirth and labor situations and I think that every woman who will ever be pregnant again, or knows someone who will be, needs to see this video (even if you are a high-risk candidate and are only able to spread the word). It is life-changing.

Disclaimer: I am not anti-doctor. I think modern medicine is wonderful, saves many lives and is beneficial in most cases. I do however feel that sometimes we, as humans, intervene a little too often some time, rather than letting things take their natural course and allowing divine abilities take place. Birth is a natural process, and in most cases is not the emergency situation we have been taught to treat it as.

I am pro-midwife...I never thought I'd say that. There once was a day that I, too, thought an O.B. was the way to go and would have never considered birthing with a midwife. Those days have come and gone and I now realize how safe birthing with a midwife can actually be. They are not just a grandma who has witnessed and taken part in many births. They are nurses who are trained specifically in birth and understand many of the problems and challenges that can be presented during the labor and delivery process. As long as the rest of my pregnancies continue to go smoothly and I don't have any high-risk factors, I will continue to use a midwife.

Also...this documentary is not rated but contains actual live births, nudity during the live births and some language (including the F-bomb dropped three times...also during births). The clip I've attached below, however, is mostly clean (a nursing mother and some language...but no F-bombs).

How Crunchy Are You?

The other day at our Bradley Reunion the granola quiz was brought into the conversation. So, when I got home I just had to take it to find out my crunchiness level. I'm Mmm! Love that whole-grain crunch! Okay, so I'm a bit of a hippie...but only a bit. Good to know; now I can die happy (sarcasm intended). The areas I fall way short are make-up, shaving, vaccines and homeopathic remedies. Sorry mega-hippies, I gotta have my hygiene and my health care. I doubt I'll ever let go of these things because to me, they are necessities! Some areas I am quite extreme in (I'm gonna leave this open and let you think dirty thoughts about me for not specifying--although if you know me well then you can probably guess anyhow) and others I'm just moderate or a little radical. But, I'm happy with my "crazy" ideas and they work for me. So now, go take the Granola Factor Quiz and find out how crunchy you are...

Bradley Reunion

As my pregnancy progressed and I was getting into my sixth and seventh month and began to think about labor and childbirth as a real occurrence, I started contemplating the idea of going naturally, without drugs. I knew there was no way I could do this without some preparation and education. I read a little here and there about different methods but eventually shrugged off the idea and decided I was too wimpy to do it naturally and would end up with the epidural.

Then one weekend during the end of October I went to a friend's wedding reception. There I was met by a couple high school friends, some that I had kept in contact with and others I hadn't seen in years. One friend, whom I had actually stayed fairly close with (she got married the day before I did -- to her high school sweetheart, also a friend of mine) and I knew she had recently had a baby. Her baby was a month old and she looked fabulous and somehow we got on the topic of childbirth and how her's had gone and what I was planning on doing with mine (this is actually quite common among new moms and pregnant women). She told me about how she had gone naturally and how amazing it was. I had to know more...it sounded great.

Her parents were there and basically took over the conversation from here and told me about the Bradley Method. In my minimal reading of natural childbirth methods, this was by far the one that intrigued me most. From summaries and short abstracts about it, it just made sense. Good health, physical and mental preparation, relaxation and husband involvement...perfect! That's what I want. The conversation continued and I found out that they were local Bradley teachers and were still gaining their accreditation because they had to teach two courses before becoming full affiliates. (Their daughter --my friend-- was actually the one that got them started teaching the courses in our area. When she got pregnant and wanted to do the Bradley Method, she started looking around for teachers. But no one in our area was really teaching this method, so she talked to her parents about it. They, being Bradley parents themselves, decided to look into becoming teachers...and they did!) They were halfway through the 12-week course, but invited us to join anyway, and they would catch us up. We agreed to start coming and I was quite excited for the new journey.

We caught up and finished the course two and a half weeks before I was due. Miriam didn't come quite when I would have liked her here, but she came, nonetheless, and that is what matters. About a month after the class finished, all three mothers had given birth and we all had happy, healthy babies.

Six months later, we were all invited to a reunion. We were excited to go because we loved our class and had become quite close with our classmates over the six weeks we had class with them. The reunion was last Friday and it was so fun. The party lasted three and a half hours and was so fun. We got to share birth stories and see the other couples' cute baby boys.

Supposedly, every childbirth class ends up sharing a common theme throughout their labors (at least my teachers had noticed this with their previous class who all went early -- we were their second class). Our theme was fast labors/births. Good thing, cause I didn't want to be in labor all day. Beth went three weeks early and labored about seven hours. Her baby was almost born at home, but they barely made it to the hospital in time. Lacey's baby came right on his due date and she labored for about eight hours. They had a planned (but unattended) home birth. Everything went well with her, as well. My labor was about seven hours long and we already know that I was neither early, nor on time. I'm glad she's healthy though!

Here's our class and teachers (I realize the quality is horrible, but it's the best we could get under the circumstances)












From left to right: Owen, me, Miriam, Steve, Christian, Lacey, baby Young (they came late and I forgot to ask his name), Valerie, Beth and baby Avenias (his name is Owen -- but I doubt he's named after my Owen)

Daddy's Day

There are many dads who have influenced my life. But today I am grateful for three in particular; my daddy, my daddy-in-law and the daddy of my children (even though we only have one so far). They each have very different personalities and all have qualities that make them so special to me. So, I've compiled a list, an incomplete list, of why I love each of them.

My Daddy is...

• a great listener, even if he doesn't care or completely disagrees with what you telling him, he'll still listen. And I suppose I shouldn't say that he "doesn't care" to listen to something, because he does. There are just topics that he probably cares less about than others, but if that's what is important to me, it is important to him.
  
• one of the smartest people I know, and I know some pretty smart people. I think the key to his intelligence isn't that he is a fountain of knowledge, but that he knows where and how to find information. He is always learning and has fortunately passed this quality on to my siblings and me.
  
• very friendly, although deep down he is quite the introvert. He works very hard to step out of his comfort-zone; he even talks to random strangers in the grocery store or airport. And he's always doing his best to let people know he loves and thinks about them.
• always serving and consecrating his time. He never ceases to amaze me. He says he's old, but he has at least double the energy I do. I know it is God-given and is a gift because he uses his time so wisely to benefit others. I hope to one day be as Christ-like as he is.
• quite talented. He's the only person I have ever met who can read and watch television at the same time. And he really is doing both! The TV is not just noise in the background. Ask him what is going on in either the book or the screen and he'll tell you. And he reads crazy fast. He can burn through a 600 page book in a couple days...while watching TV! Amazing.
• completely selfless and kind. For example, he washes the dishes every night, without fail. My mom never asks him to. She doesn't have to. As soon as he's finished eating, he clears the table, fills the sink and goes to town. He'd say this is because she "trained him well" but I think it's just because he's always trying to ease her load and help however he can.
• MY DAD! I can't count the times he's snuggled in bed with me because I was having bad dreams, helped with homework because I was down to the last line or just been there to support and listen to me.

I love you, Dad!


My Daddy-in-law is...

• not only funny himself, but also has a great sense of humor. He definitely appreciates a good joke when he hears one.
• a sports guru. He always knows which games are going on and who's playing. It is necessary to have one such person in every family so everyone else is informed of all the important games.
• full of random, but very important, information. He can tell you how long your meat is good for, when to change your spark plugs and how to grow tomatoes. And he's almost always available to answer our strange questions so he can advise us on what to do.

The Daddy of my children is...

• sensitive and caring. He is careful to not hurt someone's feelings, but in the event he does, he is quick to apologize and ask forgiveness. He hates to have people mad at him.
  
• always willing to help. It doesn't matter what I ask him to do, he'll drop anything to help me. I love knowing that he won't complain and that I can always count on him. Diapers, dishes, laundry, dinner, etc...you name it. He even helped with his own Father's Day breakfast and dinner because I was drained after being up with a teething baby three nights in a row.
  
• super snuggly and tender. He especially loves to cuddle with Miriam (even when she doesn't) and is just so cute with her. He's a great dad. He likes to cuddle with me too and I like to cuddle back during movies and when I'm cold, but that's about it...poor cuddly guy married a non-cuddler.
  
• a fantastic cook. This is probably what won me over and is also probably the reason our waistlines never seem to get any smaller. Oh well, at least we eat yummy food!
• always able to make me smile and laugh...even when I don't want to. He is still so funny to me and I love that we are able to pick on one another and that it's okay.
• very patient, which is a very good thing when working with me. He is always level-headed about things that stress me out and he helps keep me grounded.
• all boy. Switching to construction has been such a good change for him. He is so happy now learning about all this 'boy' stuff...and he gets to work with cool toys and power tools.
  
• my best friend. I can talk to him about anything and he always listens and helps talk me through things when I'm stressed or worried. I love being married to my best friend!
• a fantastic dad. He has always been great with kids (just hang around when the nieces and nephews are around -- they are magnetized to him for some reason -- they even like him more than they like me) and is wonderful with Miriam. He always wants to make sure she's happy and feeling well.
  

I love you, Owen!


















Miriam at two days old with Daddy

Contacts, It Is

...and pony tails too (once it's long enough, at least).

About a month ago, Miriam started to become very agile with her hands. She mastered putting in and taking out her pacifier (but she only does this when she wants to -- try to get her to put it in at bedtime when she's playing around or take it out when it's time to eat...forget it...she's definitely got a mind of her own), grabbing and holding onto her toys and, you guessed it, pulling my hair and my glasses off my face. Nice, huh? I know, I know. I'm sure every mom has throughout all creation has experienced this, but now it's my turn. So, I've resorted to wearing my contacts and I'm growing my hair out so I can put it in a pony tail. The end.

All is Well, All is Well

I had a graduation scare earlier this week. Ya know, one of those moments of panic where the power to the light at the end of the tunnel suddenly goes out, leaving you with a black out. It was stressful and frustrating. Here's the run down of events.

Registration for fall semester opened last Monday...and I forgot about it. My mom told me it must have been another case of Mommy Brain, and honestly, she's probably right. So, this most recent Monday while I'm sitting on campus hurriedly trying to finish my assignments for class, Owen was kind enough to remind me that registration opened last week.

What?! Last week!! Oh boy, this could be bad. Um, why didn't you tell me last week?! About two seconds later I was logged on to my student account and frantically searching through my course codes to register for my last three classes (excluding my student teaching). Hot diggity dog, math methods is still available!...click...class successfully added.! On to assessments...phew, a couple openings there too...click...class successfully added. Two down, one to go. Senior practicum...FULL!! Ahh!! It can't be full...I need this class! What am I going to do?!

It was bad. I can't remember the last time I was this worried about school. All this work, two semesters to go and I might not finish because the class is full! Grr...I was ready to write a letter to the editor, one to President Clark and another to whomever would listen to me whine, gripe and complain. I ended up not writing a letter to anybody, but rather complaining to my sister-in-law, Gina, because it just so happens that she is a great listener reader (we communicate through google chat). I went to bed Monday night worried, but not quite as frustrated after venting to her.

I woke up Tuesday morning a little happier about the situation. All along I knew it would all work out, but I didn't know how, and the faith aspect was not working so well for me at the time. I emailed the professor of the section that would work best with my schedule. He said I had to sign up on a waiting list for the class. Are you kidding me?! A class that has to be taken the semester before student teaching doesn't have enough room and even has a waiting list?! This is crazy!! Shouldn't the school already know how many students will be student teaching during the winter and therefore know how many placements they need for the senior practicum?!

Then it dawned on me...(don't you love those light bulb moments?)...my science teacher is the Education Department Chair!! And he's a super nice guy!! And I'm one of his more favorite students (there are advantages to being a participating and overachieving student...other than the learning and good grade, of course). I suddenly felt loads better, even though I knew he was only allowed to do so much squishing students in and bending of policies, I knew he'd somehow get me in. I just knew it was going to be okay.

Today I went and talked to said teacher about the practicum class and how there weren't enough spots...a fact that he was already well aware of. He had even opened up a new section for it and students from the waiting list were already added to it...if they requested the Monday, Wednesday class, that is. I, of course, always seem to make things difficult and need the Tuesday, Thursday class. Luckily, I, and one other student, are the only two on the waiting list who need the class these days (there were fourteen students who needed the other class days). So, he said he'd squeeze us in!! And there you have it! All is well, all is well.

Seriously?!

This is what we woke up to this morning...
































It is June, right?! That's what I thought, but around here it keeps acting like January! At least it's supposed to be super nice this weekend. I could use a little sunshine about this time of year. Hopefully it will be nice on the Fourth of July too (my favorite holiday) even though it has snowed on this day before...even in my lifetime...I remember it (I think I was six)! And our little tomato plants appear to be alive still (we're still crossing our fingers) so all is not lost yet.

Oh, and I saw this on a couple of my friends' blogs recently and we thought it was pretty funny, and true. I didn't know that a day or two later it would hit so close to reality...in June.

• If your local Dairy Queen is closed from September through May, you live in Idaho.
• If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you live in Idaho.
• If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you live in Idaho.
• If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you live in Idaho.
• If 'Vacation' means going anywhere south of Salt Lake City for the weekend, you live in Idaho.
• If you measure distance in hours, you live in Idaho.
• If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you live in Idaho.
• If you have switched from 'heat' to 'A/C' in the same day and back again, you live in Idaho.
• If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you live in Idaho.
• If you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both unlocked, you live in Idaho.
• If you carry jumpers in your car and your wife knows how to use them, you live in Idaho.
• If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit, you live in Idaho.
• If the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph -- you're going 80 and everybody is passing you, you live in Idaho.
• If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow, you live in Idaho.
• If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction, you live in Idaho.
• If you have more miles on your snow blower than your car, you live in Idaho.
• If you find 10 degrees 'a little chilly', you live in Idaho.

My Thirsty Girl

Now that Miriam is getting a little older, Owen and I have started introducing her to new objects and foods just to see what she'll do with them. When we put new foods to her mouth, she usually gives us a look like, "you people are so weird" or "um, I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to be eating this yet" and the foods never move beyond her lips. When we give her a new object, sometimes she'll hold on to it for a second and maybe put it in her mouth to test it out, but usually she just throws it across the room. This is what happened when we tried out the sippy cup too.

So yesterday, when I handed her my camelbak water bottle to see what she'd do with it, I figured it'd get tossed like everything else. Boy, was I wrong! She immediately latched on and started sucking. When water started coming out, she stopped, gave a surprised look for a second, but then kept sucking. I was amazed. I let her continue for a minute or two, then took it away, and she held her little arms out to grab it back and never took her eyes off it. Well, wha'd'ya'know, she just might like a food source other than Mom! I gave it back later and she was so excited. She sucked away on that bottle and drank an ounce or two of water.



















Isn't she cute?! I haven't decided yet whether it's the water or the drinking through a straw that she likes. Maybe it's a combination of the two. Either way, she loves it!

Disasters...Naturally

Owen is currently taking a natural disaster geology class. It seems to be pretty fun for him. And yesterday, as part of the class, he got to take a field trip to some of the nearby natural disaster sites. He went to...

The Teton Dam Site (which failed and resulted in a ginormous flood on June 5, 1976 -- my Dad helped place sandbags along the banks of the Snake River when this happened...if I remember correctly)

This is what is left of the Teton Dam













The area it first washed through before flooding Rexburg and surrounding South East Idaho areas















Madison Slide Site (a massive landslide of 80 million tons of earth killing 28 people in 1959 caused by the 7.5 magnitude Hebgen Earthquake)















Cabin Creek Fault Scarp (also caused by the Hebgen earthquake, resulting in a 18 foot displacement across a normal fault)

It's hard to tell from the picture, but this is really 18 feet















and Upper Mesa Falls (which was caused by one of the biggest volcanic explosion in the United States -- 1.3 million years ago)

It's not Niagara, but it is 112 feet tall



















He got to see many others, but these were the highlights to him. And he even saw snow in June...Idaho has crazy weather!

A Rough Ending to a Rough Week

Yesterday was the culmination of a crazy busy and tiring week at our house. Here's a Reader's Digest play-by-play:

The week actually didn't start too bad (I count Sunday as the beginning of a week) because Sunday's usually go pretty well around our house. We were late for church though, which always seems to make me cranky. I will admit that it was my fault though. I was still prepping the lasagna for dinner and I got a little behind schedule. We made it though and all was well.

Monday and Wednesday always seem to be somewhat lousy days because we are at school all day. Miriam doesn't sleep well outside her crib and so we get home with a tired, whiny baby. Not to mention the fact that she was already being slightly cranky from her new tooth. Then to add pain to misery, it was midterms...grumble, grumble. Again, we survived. And, I'm happy to say, Summer semester is now officially halfway over! Six weeks to go!!

Tuesdays seem to go right along with Mondays and Wednesdays because they are smashed right in the middle and end up being super busy. I find that Tuesday is my recover/catch-up day. I do laundry and dishes and try to get as many things ready for Wednesday as possible. It wears me out, for sure!

Thursday was our out-of-ordinary day this week. One of my thoughtful teachers scheduled our class midterm in the Testing Center for Thursday through Saturday. Not such a big deal for in-towners or people who have school every day of the week...but for me, this was inconvenient, to say the least. So, to save on gas (which is $4.00/gallon, by the way...it makes me nauseated every time we fill up...sad, sad) I went with Owen in the morning for his 8 a.m. class. This means 5:30 wake up in order to be out the door by 6:50 (and also, major road construction has now slowed down our commute to Rexburg by at least 15 minutes -- in normal conditions it takes 40 minutes...with construction and random stand still traffic, we're now up to an hour most days...lovely). So, I studied and played with Miriam while Owen was in class, then I took my super long, half essay exam. By the time we got home, over half the day was gone, and I was exhausted.

Friday turned in to a double-duty day due to my wasted Thursday. I went grocery shopping, did dishes, washed five loads of laundry and cleaned the kitchen sink, counters and floor and made a cake for the ward party that night (which was a really fun date for Owen and me -- my niece Amber is such a great babysitter). This left me with the bathrooms, sheets, towels, vacuuming and dusting for Saturday. "I can handle this," I thought! And I did. Saturday went fine and I got lots accomplished. Unfortunately, Owen was gone all day (from 5:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m) because he had a school project and a field trip, so we were lonely and didn't have his help with chores all day! (I seriously don't know how single moms function...I would be a wreck!) He got back just in time to help me clean up puke...that's right, puke. As I was getting Miriam ready for bed, she must have decided her tummy hurt because she threw up right after her bath. I thought everything was fine after that episode, so we went to her room and continued with the rest of the bedtime routine (nursing, rocking and singing primary songs). And it happened again. But this time was much worse. I didn't now a little baby girl could even have that much food to lose in the first place! I was soaked, she was soaked and I was ready to crawl in a corner and die (okay, so it wasn't really that bad...but it was gross!) But, Owen came home and saved the day. We got Miriam down to bed and had the rest of the night to clean up the mess and relax.

Now it's Sunday again!! A new day, a new week and a new beginning. Thank goodness! Today has been so refreshing. We were early to church, and everything is set to go for this week. I'm looking forward to a fantastic and fun routine week...just how I like them! :)

She's Got a Tooth!

Either that or she's sprouted a razor. Man is that little bugger sharp! But she's been drooling like a faucet for a couple months now and for the past couple days has been CRANKY!! So, today while I was bored in Sunday School I decided to shove my finger in to see if she'd made any progress. What I found was a jagged little stump that just about poked a hole in my finger! I was pretty excited. This means that my baby is not just cranky and not sleeping well for no reason...now I can blame it on the tooth!

Sorry, no pictures yet! It's still really small and it would be hard to see clearly in a photograph. Not to mention, it's nearly impossible to get a five-month old baby to open her mouth long enough for a picture without sticking a finger in to get sucked or chomped on first. Hopefully I'll get one soon though.