Plethora

Various events have taken place in the last few weeks that have influenced my thought processes and the way I perceive the world and the people in it. The past two years have been extremely lively and if I may, comparable to hell on earth at moments. First my best friend, vent companion, left for two years to live in a foreign, desolate, unknown country and to leave me without my goofy, second half. He gets me. I can say something that sounds out of the blue and completely obscure, but he knows exactly what I am referring to. That sounds pretty selfish. He went on a mission to serve the lord and witness to those searching, of the everlasting atonement and of Christ and his glory. He did a good job.

Second, I blew out my knee again, but this event demanded surgery and months and months of rehab….and no soccer playing….awesome. If you even know me even a diminutive amount, you know that above all my skills and hobbies, which are limited, soccer is in my blood. It was devastating and I don’t know how many times Brian held me in his arms as I cried because I just couldn’t play. It was temporary, yes, as all things are, but humans don’t see things as provisional. It was hard to look past.
Third, I changed jobs, started the grueling part of my schooling; student teaching and Brian lost his job. OK that last one was actually three but I thought I would just get them all out in the open. But as I look back, the good over shadowed the bad by a thousand times.
One, I am closer to my younger siblings than I have ever been in my life. We are older, more trusting and connected. We laugh, giggle, and would rather spend the weekends with one another than with our friends. We have had so many breathtaking times that continue to exceed my expectations of what I have always sought after in sibling relationships.
Second, Brian got a job in his career field that has benefited us more than I could have ever anticipated. He is such an incredibly hard worker and as with every job has its difficulties, has seen over them, and knows what’s important and doesn’t let the work drama in every job influence his work, determination and endurance. I am so thankful to have married a man that is such a great provider, example and leader. Also he is going to be a wonderful father. Seeing him with younger children is remarkable. He hasn’t had a lot of experience with children, but as I watch him play, care, and even discipline, he is everything I have ever wanted in a father for my children. Our views are exact on what we expect and understand in child raising.
That brings me to the third and most exciting aspect of the past two years. Children. I always wanted to finish my schooling before having children. It just makes life easier, at least as a women going to school. Brian and I have prayed fasted, prayed and fasted some more for an answer on when the appropriate time would be for us to fulfill our promises to our heavenly father. Once we got our answer, (which is such a pain to wait for, darn patience) we knew it was time. I would be finished with school, Brian had an outstanding job that would allow me to stay home with our child and we were prepared emotionally. I can honestly say I have never felt more prepared and ready for anything ever before in my life after I received this daunting answer. But it didn’t happen as we had hoped. Stupid timeline. I have mine and Heavenly Father has his. I wish I knew his because mine is always off, which tries my patience. Well after months and tears of not understanding his time frame, it happened. We are thrilled, overjoyed and ecstatic. I have always loved children, it’s one of my passions, but when I think of my own, words can’t describe the feelings that overcome me. All the little aspects that I get so excited for are fun. The kicks, the hiccups (which he gets multiple times a day everyday), and the easy pregnancy that I have had thus far makes it fun to talk about. I don’t understand though why others don’t get excited like I do. Especially those close to me. Brian gets ecstatic. I love that. But some don’t. I have a check list in my life. 1 Finish high school. 2 Go to college. 3 Get a good job. 4 Go skydiving. 5 Get married in the temple to a returned missionary. 6 Finish College with my Bachelors. 7 Have a family of my own. Check check check check check check and almost check. I am not trying to brag about all that I have accomplished, but to show that I am a responsible adult and know how to complete the goals I set in my life. Some are fun; some are ones I have worked for my entire life. I am not a failure and I know when the time is right for me to move forward in my life. Each goal I accomplish, I am the first in my family to do so. Each time it’s a new experience for everyone because I am the oldest. New things are scary. But I am prepared and ready, I just hope that others see that and support Brian and me in our adventures. It’s a remarkable feeling knowing that the decision or answer you have been waiting for has been answered. It’s all you can focus on and it’s like a blanket in the cold air. Warm, comforting and safe. It never leaves your side and is always with you.
That was quite the tangent, my apologies. Oh one other thing has happened this year….Max came home. Not only did he come home, but he came home the same…but different. His personality is the same. He has his goofiness, loving, carefree character, but is the best, utmost example for me and more importantly, my younger siblings. They look up to him more than anyone I know and to see what he has done in his life; I know will influence them for the better. It’s amazing, as if he never left. I can talk to him like he has been here the past two years. We vent, laugh, tease and share our deepest thoughts to one another. He has only been home 4 days.
That was a long, mixed up post with a lot of emotions in it. But it’s remarkable at what putting feelings and emotions on paper can do for you. Anyway, there you go.

Sisters

I am lucky enough to have one sister. One sister 8 years younger than me. And we are so awesome! She is amazing. So much fun and eager to be everyone's friend. Lucky for me, I am and she is my only sister and that is something I love to brag about. I claim her, because not many people will....Take a look at the pictures below and get a glimpse into the life of my great and only sister Emily. Love ya.

Two beauties.

If you don't know, Emily was
 in a movie titled, Ugly Girl Dancing
....She was the ugly girl.

She always takes the best pictures.

Give her a camera and there is no turning back.

I can't help but giggle at this one.
 This is how she really went
 to bed in the Uintahs.

Bwhahaha.

Get out of her way... 

Had to capture the moment.
She is holding Thatcher and he isn't crying.

This was a fun clogging trip.

Shooting

Brian and I have really close birthday's so we decided this year to just do a combo birthday and get each other something we have always wanted. Pistols. They are 22's and we decided we had to take them out for a test run. Kraig also came the second time with his 22 pistol and rifle. 

Brian and I still don't know who shot
this, but I think we all know who really did.  :)

He is so cute isn't he?

Shooting his HMR 17

Kraig looking down range.

Brian shooting his 1911-22.

They were setting up all the shells
 up so they could shoot them down.
 I just thought it was a funny picture.

Kraig looks happy.

Polish your Shield

I feel the need express my gratitude to the life and example the LDS church provides for its members and the lifestyle it instills in our blood. The strength and standards the church helps to construct with in each of its members is a solid, protective shield that we has flawed humans, must continuously polish. I was reading a dreadfully sad article on KSL news today (see below) and at first I was so furious, it almost brought me to tears. Maybe it’s because I am a mother to be or just my pure love of the innocence of youth, but I couldn’t imagine the motive to do something as vile and evil as this mother. I hesitate to even call her a mother. She isn’t worthy of the respectable title. I didn’t move past my furry, but moreover a new emotion took over, gratitude. This woman had a lot of issues, not excuses, because her act was inexcusable, but her life wasn’t picturesque, as none of ours are. Her life makes me thankful for the word of wisdom and eternal families and marriage. The importance of chastity and how one simple mistake can change your life forever. If you are like me, I constantly have a 5 year plan, and the past 5 years have come out to be pretty close to what I had mapped out. One mistake and that plan could have been ruined. Now mistakes are made every day, by me and you, but the mistakes I am talking about are the life altering, consequential judgments that can throw your life into utter chaos. The straight and narrow isn’t always so straight for each of us. There are bumps and cracks along the way, but we can’t veer off of that uneven path after one of our mistakes, otherwise, the detour we take may be demoralizing to our lives and the lives around us.

Ohio mom gets life term in baby's microwave death
May 20th, 2011 @ 1:06pm
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) - An Ohio woman convicted of killing her month-old baby daughter in a microwave oven was spared the death penalty and sentenced Friday to life in prison without parole.
Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Mary Wiseman sentenced China Arnold, 31, of Dayton, who psychologists testified showed no signs of serious mental illness.
Arnold was convicted last week of aggravated murder by the same jury that recommended her punishment. Jurors deliberated about six hours Thursday and Friday.
Prosecutors say Arnold intentionally put 28-day-old Paris Talley in a microwave and turned it on after a fight with her boyfriend. The couple had argued over whether the boyfriend was the infant's biological father.
Defense attorney Jon Paul Rion argued that the evidence pointed as much to the boyfriend as it did to the child's mother, who Rion said was drunk at the time.
Medical experts testified that the baby died quickly after her temperature reached between 107 to 108 degrees Fahrenheit. They said she probably was in the microwave for more than two minutes.
"She died because she was overheated," said Dr. Marcella Fierro, retired chief medical examiner for Virginia. "She was cooked."
It was Arnold's third trial in her daughter's 2005 death. Her first trial ended in a mistrial when new witnesses surfaced just before closing arguments. Her second trial ended in a guilty verdict and a life sentence. But an appeals court overturned the conviction when it found prosecutorial misconduct and the trial judge erred in not allowing a relevant witness to testify.
The prosecutor's office had no immediate comment Friday. Rion did not immediately return a message left at his office. A gag order previously prevented anyone connected to the case from commenting outside court.
The sentencing phase was delayed earlier this week to allow time for a mental exam of Arnold. Two psychologists testified Thursday that Arnold was of average intelligence and showed no signs of serious mental illness.
Dr. Jeffrey Smalldon said Arnold suffered from a "low-grade chronic depressive condition" as well as alcohol and drug abuse. He said he found nothing "that would have justified the death of this child."
In arguing for the death sentence, Assistant Montgomery County Prosecutor Dan Brandt told the jury there were no factors that mitigate the "purposeful murder of baby Paris in that microwave."
Defense attorney Kevin Lennen said that death or life in prison would be a tough penalty, but death should go only to the worst offenders. He pointed to evidence that Arnold was drunk at the time of the baby's death.
(Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=157&sid=15400757

Someday

It was hard for me to believe that life would give me a chance to visit this country. When I arrived at my destination I was entirely overwhelmed with the scene witnessed within my eyes. The lush green fields were more than gorgeous, they were purely picturesque and a sure fire landmark of Spain. For as long as I could remember, I wanted to visit this renowned country, with its deep heritage of the sport. Spain is a milestone in the world of futbol and the fields were more extravagant than I could have ever thought possible. The immense, flourishing greenery was soft, fresh and bewildered my thoughts. The travel to this distant land was encouraging, inspiring and unquestionably not inconvenient.

Someday. Not yet, but someday.

Where I am From

My energetic, unique, skilled, near flawless sister is incredible. She recently won MVP (which to describe her is an acronym for most vivacious person) for best all around cloggest…(that’s a women clogger, yeah, it’s made up) at nationals over thousands of girls….and she did this all while having an asthma attack.... incredible I know. She dances, perfects every instrument plausible, teaches piano, cheers and is a date-a-holic. And she does all this while maintaining a perfect 4.0. I am not sure where she gets this overdose of skill, but I like to think of her as the talent hog hiding it all in a cave below her bunkbed. We always have had a relationship like non other. We think the same, speak the same and act the same. The only difference….we are nothing alike hobby wise. But there was always one thing I took pride in over her….I can write….at least I like to think I can. I give her beef and hassle her for her ability because she somehow manages to persuade my mom in writing poems and other assignments for her. Then, she whips this out. This amazing, true beyond belief, remarkable poem that I plan on fixing up in a frame and presenting it to the world on my wall. If you have had the opportunity to really get to know my siblings and me, you will know the truth of this poem. Yet only we will really know the truth, amazement, and memories that are concealed within the words of these lines.

Where I Am From

I am from a single piano key

            from George and Chef Boyardee.

I am from the one red-walled room,

            warm, cozy, and homie

            always full of laughter.

I am from the roses hanging upside down in the laundry room,

            the smell of freshly mowed grass

            on a warm summers day.

I’m from camping and sarcasm,

            from Max and Sarah.

I’m from the horrible singers and proud of it

            from, “Don’t wipe your hands on your pants!”

            and, “Could be worse, could be raining.”

I’m from having Family Home Evening every month with my whole family.

            the lesson, the laughs, and desserts

            which are my favorite part.

I’m from Ogden, Utah and England,

            and “Puff n’ Stuff” and homemade icecream.

From the movie making madness

            and the bum shuffle on the floor.

            walls covered with pictures of us,

            showing how much we care.

            we never get sick of each other.

I am from those moments that will

            follow behind me as a shadow,

            as I grow on this family tree.

-Emily George J

And after a little of my editing....there you go. Perfection in words. Love it.

Anticlimactic

Well I am 18 weeks prego today and it’s been pretty boring. I am starting to get the, “you are defiantly pregnant” comments now which is reassuring. It means I don’t look fat anymore. I found out Brian and I were pregnant while I was student teaching and was praying over and over to not get sick and low and behold, it was a fairly uneventful 1st trimester. I kept hearing these horror stories of women that would be puking 3-5 times a day and couldn’t gain weight, but I had no issues with that. Especially the gaining weight part. There were a few days were I was sure I would vomit, but I have this problem of not being able to throw up. I would be a terrible bulimic. At times I wish I could, but thankfully that only happened maybe 3 times during the first trimester. We found out we were having a boy about a month ago and Brian was overjoyed. We had our big ultrasound yesterday and it’s still a boy and he is doing superb. Growing like a champ and kicking like an all-star soccer player. It was really weird to see because he is to the stage now where you can see his fingers and toes and for some reason that really got to me. He starting sucking his thumb and you could see his face. His face really got to me too because I know he is in there, but to actually see him, that was unbelievable.

After our appointment, we went home and I was doing laundry while the tv was on. There was this chick that was doing unimaginable things to earn money, while she was prego and continued to do after she was prego. She kept saying she does these things for her child, but all I could think about is how in the world someone gets that selfish that they are incapable of providing and thinking of their child first. I am not even a mother yet and I was getting irate about it. I told Brian to turn it off because it was making me sick to see her sit and brag about what a great mom she was when in reality, there was no responsibility in that women’s blood.

On Mother’s day we spoke to Max. Next time we speak, it will be face to face and I am having a hard time waiting. It’s amazing how you can go so long with out speaking to someone and when you finally do, it’s as if no time has past. I have friends like that, but this was even more different with my brother. First 3 minutes on the phone, we were laughing and cracking up and he didn’t even know what we were talking about. We answered the phone o-lo (if you have seen Megamind, you will get it) and he replied it’s hola. We then had to explain it to him. Then out of now where, cause he was in another room, Brian came in and realized Max was on the phone and shouted across the room O-LO! Haha it was so funny. We have made movie and music lists for him. It will be so fun to have him home. One fast Sunday left.