True Love

Saw the pile of clothes.

Brought them to the play room.

Sat on an uncomfortable stool.

Turned on the small TV.

Folded our clothes and

Melted my Heart.

Random Pics

It seems like I've gathered up a bunch of pictures that are interesting to me, but don't seem to fit with anything else, so here are some random leftover pics from the last week or so:

Between our recent Utah trip, our work trips to Corpus Christi, and Brad's work retreat last week, we've used our suitcases more than usual. Ty has taken to using them as special hiding spots.

This picture cracks me up because no one looks like they're having any fun. It looks like a before picture of a backyard pool makeover advertisement. Like at any moment they'll be surprised with a great big, fun, exciting pool--not this lame-o small plastic one, which was even more crowded when I got in!

We found our way to the town of Kirby's First Annual (and possibly final?) Hobo Festival, and Ty got to take a picture with the Hobo King! What a treat! Seriously, though, what is with the Giant BBQ Turkey legs for sale at all the festivals and theme parks and garage sales and any celebration you can think of here? Do other places focus so much on the turkey legs or is this just a Texas thing?

Sara always says that the humidity makes her feel like she's on vacation. That's how I feel whenever I see palm trees, which is a lot.

We happened to notice several children playing in long dresses. Then it registered to me that these must be some of those Polygamist Sect children. It was at a Catholic Children's Home.

Speaking of Catholic, some people may not know that there are several old missions here in San Antonio, not just the Alamo. We visited a couple of them, and were surprised to learn that they still have active parishes. This was an outdoor altar at the Mission Conception. It was kindof interesting trying to explain to Ty why Catholics pray to the virgin Mary.

Ty with the pretty Mission in the background. Another forced grin. Grrrrrr.

Unexpected

Yesterday we had Stake Conference in a big basketball auditorium on the campus of Texas State University. They actually created a new stake and then added wards from several other stakes to make up for the units we had lost to the new stake. Very interesting stuff.

Anyway, as we were sitting in our padded seats that were way more comfy and roomy than the Marriott Center (not a judgement, just an observation), we pulled out our small tupperware container full of treats for Ty (pretzels, Life cereal, etc.). As we were trying to listen, Ty was eating, occasionally putting a piece of pretzel or cracker up to our mouths. Absently, trying to hear the speaker, we would open our mouths and let him feed us. Hey--it kept him quiet, okay?

All of a sudden I hear a whisper, "Sally! Sally!"

I turn and see Brad washing down water from a water bottle, with a look of sheer panic on his face. I can tell he wants to scream, or at the very least bolt from his chair.

"What?!" I say, a little worried that he's about to make a scene.

Only because of his sheer determination, I can tell Brad has calmed himself down and with one last shudder, returns to normal.

"What?!" I whisper again, curious by now as to what caused his little "episode."

"Ty was feeding me little pieces of cracker and pretzel, when I noticed he put something else in my mouth that had a different texture. I ate it, and then asked him what it was."

That was when Ty looked up at his daddy with a big grin and said, "It's a booger!"

Good Read

I know I saw this book recommended on somebody's blog (that's why I read it in the first place), but I have no idea whose blog it was anymore, so forgive me for not giving credit.

If you're looking for a good uplifting read, this is it:

I read it in one day (and night), I enjoyed it so much. It's the true story of a mother of ten children in the 50's and 60's who, with no help from her alcoholic husband, basically raised her family on earnings from jingles contests. Her positive attitude and sense of humor were so inspiring.

I know that a movie has been made about it, and I hope to see it soon, although often times movies aren't as great as the book.

So...go find the book at your library--you will enjoy it, I promise!

If You Can't Beat the Heat...

...Embrace it!

We're spending an increasing number of afternoons in our backyard with the little pool and a big sprinkler ball. We all love it!

In other news...

We had a great trip to Utah, we just didn't take many pictures! Here's one with all but two of the Grandkids on Brad's side.

Goin' Back to Utah

We leave tomorrow for a little trip to Utah. I can't believe it's been just shy of a year since we've been there! In many ways it seems like yesterday that we packed up our huge U-Haul Truck, towing our car (which ended up costing us about five hundred extra dollars at the end of the road because we tried to back the car off the trailer without fully unhitching it, thus bending the frame underneath) and stayed that first memorable night on the road in Monticello, UT.

We spent six interesting and HOT months in Houston, and have finally found a home and ward and community that we love here in San Antonio.

But we're excited to go back to see family; to make fun of the FOX13 news team; back to CougarTown; and most importantly, to see the MOUNTAINS! (Seriously, Texas, you think you have hills here, but you have no idea!)

Apparently it snowed again today, so hopefully we'll get to feel cold again (we haven't had cold weather since January...and let's be honest: it really wasn't even that cold)!

Hopefully I'll come back with some good blogging material. I've been brain dead the last couple of weeks when it comes to blogging!

Final Four

On Friday Brad took part of the day off so we could enjoy some of the Final Four festivities downtown. First we went to the Alamodome and watched the shoot-arounds for Memphis and North Carolina. Since the actual tickets to a game were way too expensive, we were excited that these practices were free.

While there, they annonced a seat in the audience that had won tickets to the championship game. We looked on the screen, and there we were on the jumbo-tron. They announced seat 18, and that was Brad's seat! We were screaming and yelling, Brad saying, "We won! We won!" Until the official-looking guy with the Final Four badge looked a little sad for us as he gave the free tickets to the lady one row up! Ughhh...we really thought for a few seconds that we were so lucky! Oh well. Who needs tickets to a stupid championship game when we can watch it for family night on our awesome 19 inch TV?!? We had a lot of other fun:

Ty was a happy boy, even though it wasn't the most exciting basketball action. Spencer and Sara and their clan joined us for the All Star game, which turned out to be the Not-So-Allstar game. We decided to leave at half-time to check out the "Block Party", or street festival they had going on.

Best Buds

Spencer rockin' out on the Karaoke machine. Watch out David Archuleta!

When we were a bit tired, we just sat for a good 20 minutes and let the kids chase the pigeons. Ty really thought he'd be able to catch one!

Enjoying the beautiful day on a bridge over the Riverwalk.

Macaroni

Things were really good for a few months. No markers on the wall, no lotion all over the carpet, nothing broken or damaged. I admit, I got a little complacent. It felt good to be out of the Toddler stage, where I had to watch him every second.

That's why I was a little baffled when Ty came screaming into my room that something was stuck up his nose. No worries, though, we'd get it fixed. As I went searching for my tweezers, he sneezed, and out came a macaroni. I laughed, and said how great it was that his body took care of the problem by itself, but that he really shouldn't put things up his nose. He laughed, too. I laughed again as I told his dad, in front of him. Daddy laughed.

Hmmm....I guess we laughed a little too much and instructed a little too little.

The next day, same story, second verse: Tyler came screaming to me with yet another macaroni up his nose. (Note to self: when you spill some macaroni in the pantry, clean it up. Today!) He was trying to sneeze, and nothing was coming out, and he was a little panicked.

"It's not coming out! It's not coming out! I'm sneezing and it's not coming out! It's supposed to come out when I sneeze!"

Wait. He did this on purpose, just so he could sneeze it out again and we could all laugh again? (Note to self: laugh more at the positive things he does. Today!)

I got the tweezers. Too far up there, macaroni turned a bit soft, so I only got a portion. Reminded me of the time I got a live moth trapped in my ear and my dad pulled out a single wing, while the rest of the bug was frantically beating against my ear drum. But I digress.

Next I remembered the time my nephew Reed stuck a peanut up his nose. My sister awesomely blew up the unclogged nostril and the peanut popped out. I tried that on Ty. Nothing.

At this point I started to get a little worried. I went back to the tweezers. Nothing. Encouraged him to blow out his nose. Nothing. Blew his open nostril again. Nothing. Held him upside-down by his ankles. That's how my mom saved me from choking on a butterscotch hard candy once. I know he wasn't choking, but give me a break, okay? Anyway, nothing.

Brad came home at some point during all this and Dr. Daddy took over. With the tweezers. He finally stopped when Ty was wailing and thrashing around so much that if this were the game Operation, the buzzer would have been a solid BBBEEEEEEPPP!

Finally, the inspiration came to Dr. Daddy: Neil's Nasal Cleanse. This baby has been known to flush out pieces of infection and gunk that were soundly lodged deep in the cavities of the sinuses. Its powerful stream reminds me of our trip to Yellowstone to see the Old Faithful Geyser.

After reassuring Ty that this would not hurt, Brad let that deceptively benign-looking contraption do its thing. Out popped the half-dry, half-soft macaroni into the sink. Cheers were heard throughout the neighborhood.

"Are you ever going to stick anything up your nose again?"

"No Mommy. I guess sneezing doesn't work everytime."

"Nope, I guess not."

Walls

We've lived here for five months now, I figured it was time to do something about our empty walls. We've still got more than our share of bare spots, but at least this helped a little.


I like to do art that means something personally to me, so I end up with a lot of photographs. These are ones that my dad and I took on the Oregon coast. I turned them to sepia on my photo software, then uploaded them to Costco.com, where I picked them up less than an hour later!

I know the wall quotes are a bit cheesy, and a lot of people do them, but hey--this is my home and I should put things in it that I like, right? I've always been a quote lover and collecter, so these fit me well. The top two I got at a site called Wall Chatter, but there are lots of sites out there. The bottom one I found at Target! It's by a Provo company called DCWV Home.

Easter

Tyler's First Suit

This morning I had an eight o'clock choir practice, followed by church at 9, so in order to celebrate all the Easter Bunny festivities, we would have had to wake up pretty early (for our household, anyway).

Thankfully, the Easter Bunny came through for us. As I told Tyler, we got an e-mail from the Easter Bunny on Friday, saying that evidently more people were believing in Jesus and His Ressurrection this year, so he had more people to visit. Since we had church early in the morning, would we terribly mind if he came then, istead? Tyler thought that would be just fine, so for us, it was great fun coming home to see that the E.B. kept his word and came during
church (Sunday School, in fact! How do I know that? Hmmm...just a guess.)

We're Not in Utah Anymore

One thing I have really enjoyed about San Antonio is its diversity. People of all colors, backgrounds, religions and lifestyles seem to mesh pretty nicely here.

But the other day we found ourselves in a situation where we realized we were a bit out of our element. We noticed a new clothing store had opened up in a strip mall that we often drive by. (We should have known better since it was in the same neighborhood as Sara's Haircutting Adventure!)

The first thing I noticed upon entering is that we were the ONLY white people in the whole place. And we weren't just white this day, we were pasty white: Brad, with his BYU gear on, looking all preppy, me--the suburban housewife in capris, Ty wearing OshKosh...Anyway, as I walked down the aisle toward the kid's section I took a look at the clothes on the racks, all with name brands that contained words like Urban, Phat, Gangsta, and Warrior.

Some cute outfits for me:

A couple pieces for my man:

And we can't forget the baby:

I was looking for a nice Easter outfit for Tyler, but after sorting through racks of what we dubbed, "Chikeziewear," (if you saw his orange suit on American Idol, you know what we're talking about) we realized this was probably not the place for us.

Trying to look perfectly at home, we sauntered back to the front of the store, avoiding stares the whole way. (You'd think they'd never seen a white person before!)

I didn't think too much of it until I heard Obama's Racism Speech today. He talked about how racism is still alive and real--from both sides. He said, "If we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges..."

Maybe we shouldn't have walked away so quickly. Pehaps if we'd spent a little more time there shopping , we could have helped to bring everyone together and fill the chasm that exists between the races. Then again, maybe not!

Great Resource

It's preschool enrollment time, and I have had the hardest time finding an affordable preschool for Tyler! All the ones I found had huge enrollment fees, supply fees, and tuition costs in the $200/mo range, all for a 2 day/wk, 9-12 time block!

I even got on the phone to call places that didn't have websites (big step for me, as I hate calling people on the phone!) but the prices were still high! The cheapest place I could find was $140/mo, which is still more than I want to pay!

Then I found a site called Mamasource, where you sign up for free and just have an opportunity to ask things of local moms. I asked them about inexpensive preschools on my side of town, and by the end of the day I had eight responses giving me suggestions. One of them turned out to be a really good school for only 80/mo, so I went and checked it out today, and it seems really great.

Anyway, just thought I'd pass that site along. I think they have it in all areas. It's very helpful, especially being new in town!

Another Meme

Carlye tagged me this time.


10 Years Ago...
I was serving my mission in Branson, MO. I had just found out that our first baptism there still had a smoking problem but was keeping it from us. We also met a Bible Basher that day who was totally in our face and rather than just walk away, my foreign companion tried to engage her in a scripture war. Duh.

5 Things on my T0-Do list today...

• Mop floor
• Clean up house
• Play with Ty
• Make dinner for missionaries (is it bad that I always experiment with recipes when the mishies come over? I always think, "They're missionaries--they have to eat anything!" Tonight, in honor of St. Patty's Day, I'm making a new recipe that I found here of corned beef and cabbage.)
• Practice our choir Easter music (I missed the last two practices because of camp meetings but the director said I could still sing with them if I practice at home!)

Things I would do if I were suddenly a billionaire...Ohh...I try not to let myself think too much about this--I start getting covetous! But I would definitely pay off our mortgage and student loans, probably move to a still-modest, but a little bit bigger home, save the majority, and use the rest to be able to travel wherever and whenever I wanted, with whomever I wanted! (Let's all go on a Cruise on me!)

3 of my bad habits...

• Not calling people back (I really dislike the phone)
• Procrastination!!
• Forgetting to switch the load from the washer to the dryer, and having to run it all over again.
  

Jobs I've had...

• Helper at a Child care facility
• Aid at a Nursing Home
• TCBY yogurt artist
• Office Temp
• MTC teacher
• Plasma donor (yes, that provided about $100/mo when we really needed it!)
• Nu Skin secretary
• Junior High Teacher
• And my current job, Household Executive!

5 Things people don't know about me...I'm really shy on the inside. Although I love extreme weather, whenever it gets a little stormy I worry a little that we'll get hit by a tornado. I love reading autobiographies. I hate mustard and pickles. I don't really mind cleaning toilets, but hate unloading the dishwasher!

I tag anyone who wants to be tagged!

Spring in Texas

Lots of things to do:

Riding the Train with Friends

Playing at the Park

Walking with the Cousins

Tenting in the Backyard




Presenting at a Families Supporting Adoption Activity

and much more, I just didn't have my camera. Like:

Winning our Ward Basketball Game

Camp Meetings

Playgroup

New Garage Door Opener

Ward Activity

Yardwork

Don't Ya Just Love Spring?

Camp Name

I've been called to be a leader for the YCL's (Youth Camp Leaders) at Girls Camp this year. I'm excited--I love Girl's Camp, and this stake seems to have a really good one!

I have to come up with a camp name for myself, though, and I don't have a clue. Any suggestions? Others have names like Oreo, Sparkle, Uno, etc.

So don't be shy. Let's have a brainstorm!

Here's to Good Days

Acted Sweet; Lots of Loving Words and Hugs

No Tantrums

Brad Traveled Safely to and from Houston for Work

Found Some Good Deals at the Supermarket

Made Arrangements for Date Night
(thank you Spencer & Sara!)

What a Beautiful Day!
(And still dry here in San Antonio.

Brad said it was pretty humid in Houston. )

Life is Good!

A Break

Sometimes it's good to switch gears. I've been (and still am!) in political gear right now, and I'm sure it's annoying to some of you who read my blog. So sorry about that, it's just that for the first time in my life I'm asking myself what I really think about these issues, not just what the party I was born into says I should think! It's quite interesting. And confusing. And I'm finding that there aren't a lot of cut and dried answers out there.

Anyway...in an effort to take a little time out, here's a clip of Tyler at the Obama rally. I'm not sure if he's making up a new dance move, or pretending to sing, but hey, it kept him occupied for a little bit of the three hours we were out in the sun.

What a Difference!

My face has been through a lot today. Between the marks left on it from being taped and glued to a bunch of wires for a sleep study last night (how anyone can sleep with that many wires, I don't have a clue) and getting sunburned today, (yes, I think it's my first ever February sunburn) I'm feeling a bit splotchy.







You know who's not splotchy? (Yes, I know, not my best segue ever, but here's a hint: he's standing behind me in the picture) Barack Obama!


For our second installment of the Presidential Hopefuls Series, Sara (I mean my anonymous companion) and I pulled some Grandpa Lake maneuvers and found ourselves on the fifth row front and center at Obama's Town Hall Meeting in San Antonio today. (In case you're not familiar with Grandpa Lake's ways, let's just say he wasn't always the best at waiting in lines )


I don't know how our two experiences could have been more different! While Hillary's rally was exciting, it seemed strained at times. Obama's rally had a genuine undercurrent to it that wasn't forced; it was calm and confident.

So was Obama. He was smart, and real, and funny! He didn't do the fake "point and smile" like Hillary, he didn't just give lofty intentions. He spent well over an hour talking real issues and taking questions from the audience. I found myself really wanting to believe him, hoping that he really could accomplish all that he has set out to do.

I know I don't agree with him on all the issues, but I do agree with him more than I thought. I also like that he seems to be a uniter, and that he won't mess around with all the lobbyists and corruption that Washington is so famous for.

I was also happy that The Star Spangled Banner was sung, and an invocation was given. Both of those things were missing at Hillary's party.


So...we saw him, we heard him, and we had NUMEROUS eye contact moments, being on the fifth row and all. :)

Final Judgement: Pretty Darn Impressed!

Look--it's too early for me to be decided on the November election. I'm not a democrat, so I have no say in Texas' primary. But if it turns out to be a McCain/Obama race in the national election, McCain's gonna have to have something pretty special up his sleeve to impress me as much as I was impressed today. Game on!

A Big Adventure

In an effort to educate ourselves and be a part of history in the making, a "companion" and I braved the westside streets of San Antonio, uncomfortably drove through a throng of protesters with pictures of aborted babies, strutted our stuff by the press hoping to get interviewed, and cut in line in front of a fraternity of college kids that were just happy not to be carrying a baby--all to see Hillary Clinton in person.

We did feel a little like we were crossing over to the dark side. I wondered if this is how non-members feel when they visit our church for the first time. I tried to blend in, and merely said I was undecided as the 50ish Latina sitting next to me carried on about how Hillary is a "woman of the people." My companion, on the other hand, (who wishes to remain anonymous lest her family think she has turned into a pot-smoking, granola-eating, tie-dye wearing liberal) cheered wildly-- to the consternation of all around her--when one of the pre-Hillary speakers asked if there were any Republicans in the house!

Luckily, the baby saved the day. Many oohed and aahed as she danced along to the theme song, "Taking Care of Business," while it played over and over to dull the pain of waiting for "her majesty" to show. Some people must not have heard the "I'm a Republican" cheer, because a lot of them kept looking at the baby, saying things like, "Oh, we have the youngest Clinton supporter right here!" We just smiled a bit and tried to change the subject.

My anonymous partner in crime and the dancing baby.

The whole evening was targeted toward the Latino community (acually the majority in San Antonio), so naturally there was a mariachi band. Of course Hillary had to mention that it was here that she got her "passion for Mexican Food" back in 1972 as a person that went door to door signing up Hispanics to vote.

Apparently, Hillary missed going door-to-door, because that's what she did in the neighborhood around the arena before coming to see us. Only no one else knew that, so the leaders would get everyone excited and cheering, so as to let Hillary know that "Texas is Clinton Country," and then nothing would happen. After about 23 times of the roaring excitement ending in disillusionment, her real entrance was a bit anti-climatic.

We saw her, heard her, and my companion swears they made eye contact.

Final judgement: Not all that impressed.

If fact, we were more impressed with the process and just thankful that as Americans, we have the freedom to rally and support whoever we think will do the best job. We were impressed with how hard she works, and that she has led the way for other women to follow. But I don't see myself voting for her if she makes it past Obama.