Family Night

*write letters of the alphabet down the left hand side of the paper. Write a work or phrase to describe your spouse next to each letter. Be creative and positive.*

I won't mention who's is who's.

A-Awe-inspiring
B-Bonafide Brilliant
C-Cuddly
D-Deliciously Dazzling
e-Eagerly Engaged
F-First Class
G-Galactically Gorgeous
H-Heavenly
I-Important
J-Juicy (?)
K-Kind of Keen
L-Lactose Tolerant
M-Melodic
N-Not quiet*
O-Oh how lovely
P-PERFECT
Q-Quasi (neither of us were quite sure what that meant)
R-Rip-roaring
S-Suddenly Stonemaned
T-Tickler
U-Usual Suspect
V-Victor (in every argument)
W-Wattery (meaning cries alot)
X-Xylophonic Player
Y-Yum Yum
Z-Zoological

A-Abusive when tickled
B-Brightens my day when he smiles
C-Changed my world
D-Dominates any sport he plays (but didn't beat me in bump out)
E-Enamors me
F-Forgives readily (and oh BOY do I need it!)
G-Great teacher
h-Huge heart- the first reason I truly fell in love
I-Immediately trustworthy and reliable
J-Jokester
K-Knows how to make everyone feel comfortable
L-Laugh makes my heart beat
M-My best missionary companion
N-Non-judgemental
O-Obsessed with animals-namely pocket pigs and dogs
P-Person I want to be more like
q-Quiet (compared to me)
R-Reaches goals
S-Sometimes not very good at keeping promises (inside joke)
T-Teaches me what it is to be Christlike
U-Undeviating from the course he wants to achieve
V-Very, very, VERY good looking
W-Wants to buy me a horse someday
X-X-mas can't wait 'til next year! (this year was kinda tough)
Y-You would stare too if he was doing push ups with his shirt off!
Z-Ze hardest worker I know

*some phrases were changed by the author for posting purposes

And I'm not crafty either

The purpose for my unemployment was a chance for me to DISCOVER myself. Here is what I've discovered.

• Lying, stretching, and sweating profusely in a small, heated room of 125 degrees at over 40% humidity that smells like a mixture of expressed bowel movements, salt, and body odor is NOT my idea of becoming "at one" with anything. Especially my body. Goodbye Bikram.
• I'm not very original. I wrote a song for Cole at our wedding, as I've already told you, but I don't like the music and its actually painful for me to play now. But as I've tried creating paintings, music, ideas for Family Night, planning parties, or even a date night, I've discovered I am creatively illiterate. I am, however, AMAZING at copying.
• I really like being spontaneously organized.
• I don't like action/horror movies- they make me anxious. borderline traumatize me.
• Playing the guitar soothes my soul .....and gives me arthritis.
• I'm not a very good cook. Heartbreaking. Or maybe its that I need to stick to a recipe.

I think this might be all the self discovery I can take. I've decided its time to go back to the office.

Anyone hiring?

title

I've been wanting to get into yoga for a long time, but the abundance of mulla that yoga culture requires is beyond my unemployed means. So, to solve this problem my genius sisters say

"Hey, why don't you work for a yoga studio...ya know, two birds, one stone?"

Did I mention they were genius'?

So, here I am, at home, getting gussied up to present myself ready for a second interview, because, OF COURSE THEY'LL LOVE ME.

And then, mid-dress, I ask myself,

What does one wear to ask for a job at a yoga studio???

a. some type of headdress

b. a white tank top (which would require some kind of jacket or sweater), low pigtails, holy jeans and Birkenstocks?

c. what I was wearing: black suitpants and a banana republic while collared shirt?

whatever it was, I had a feeling my current ensamble was dead last.

Fortunately I have a sister in law that knows her stuff- apparently they have better ways of hiring, and its a process that won't require marching in over-dressed. Thanks Brandi!

16 was the score to beat

Mr. Stoneman took me to Prescott Friday afternoon for the rest of the day, and we ate at the historic downtown shops, fell in love with it, decided to retire there, and even went to look at model homes for our future. intermittantly interrupted with snowball fights. He's so fun.

Have I told you how in love I am with Nie Nie? I am. And I love that she calls her husband Mr. Nielson. I wasn't sure if it was to keep him somewhat anonymous, but I found it romantic. So enters Mr. Stoneman. Call me unorginal.

We went to Prescott and as we wound down and got ready to gas up and go home, we saw, like a beacon, standing brightly atop the mountain ahead of us at the gas station, a Marriott. It was magical. And called to us. And it was meant to be. I found our lost $100 gift card to Marriott in the ONLY bag I brought with us. So we enjoyed our stay there for free, and continued to sight-see Prescott.

And by sight-see, I mean we went to Barnes and Noble, Kirkland Home, and Peter Piper Pizza, all the places that make Prescott unique. We ordered pizza and played games, cashing in the $3.00 cash that I had in my wallet. The first game we came to was a basketball game "Hot Shot" I think was the name, and never got any further than that. Neither of us could get past 16 points in 40 seconds, and Cole wasn't about to let us give up after our tokens were gone- he ravaged my wallet for all the quarters he could muster and gave it another go. I decided we're lucky we don't gamble. I won't mention who broke the unbeatable score first, but I will say that Mr. Stoneman looks mighty fine when he gets a little competitive.

Five dollars doesn't get you what it used to....the big glasses I wanted (approximately $.25 anywhere else) would require forking out 875 tickets, and even the sweet tarts were more than we could afford. We stuck with what we always got. Frooties. And the man counted them out to make sure we weren't taking more than our money's worth.

I'm sneaking.

I have four faithful followers of my blog, and I fear I've disappointed them.
I'll make it up to you.
I have to beat Cole up these days or I'll never see the computer, so I'm trying to be very quiet so I have more time to blog.
Kaden had a birthday- Here are some questions you might want to ask yourself before you ask him out: (he's a little shy)

Do you have a car?
Can you drive? (because he can't......receiving eagle scout=license)
Do you like soccer?
How fast can you eat a pazookie?
Can you snowboard, wakeboard, ride motorcycles, or fix cars?
Do you enjoy yard work?

If so, you'll have the time of your life with this kid. I just can't get enough of him. Even in his bratty teenage phase, who, I ask, when the whole family teases him at 16 its time to finally stop wetting the bed, without missing a beat says quietly, "you know that hasn't happened for at least six months."!! The kid is hilarious. Goodness I love him.

Drat. Cole woke up and needs the computer. I'll be back.

25 at 25 pt5

21. When I was 8 or so years old, my friend (not Michael, surprising as it is) and I were teasing my sister on our three wheeler. She would try to get on and we'd drive away. She eventually grabbed the back tow handle and started dragging behind us. When I looked behind and didn't see her anymore, I turned the bike around and ran over her stomach.

22. I've never broken a bone.

23. I have this gift that whenever I say something has never happened to me, it does. Expect a post in the next week titled, "Sticks and Stones I broke a bone".

24. I HATE scary movies. I don't like the feeling I have when I watch them. "Scary" may or may not include the recent viewing of the book turned movie Inkheart. I was cowering the whole time.

25. My favorite daily doings in this WORLD are playing the guitar and singing with my husband on our balcony, going to the temple hand in hand with the man I love, cruiser bike rides (with the AWESOME cruisers give to us by Cole's parents for Christmas!), cuddling, and burning hot showers. And trying to decorate my house.

25 at 25 pt4

16. My sister and I have the same embarrassing moment. It is mine because three of my best guy friends in high school threw my bloody (not from my nose) shorts at each other’s faces, and it is my sister's because I blamed it on her (totally innocent third party- I said they were hers, and acted equally grossed out). They totally bought it.

17. I've swallowed a living goldfish. Varsity soccer initiation. I feel terribly about it, so please don't call PETA on me.

18. When I was little I had a friend named Michael. We once unwrapped all the presents under the Christmas tree and threw them in the pool. We were banned from playing with each other.

19. I hated my freckles most of my life. I think it was because when little kids would draw me, I would be a little stick figure with a huge head, long hair, and covered with spots all over my face. Not so pretty. I wore 20 lbs of makeup in high school to cover them, and would NOT let people see me without makeup on because I thought they were so hideous. Now, I love being covered with spots.

20. Not to dwell on high school, but I was the BIGGEST nerd ever. Not like masking-taped glasses and suspenders ( I WISH ), but was WAY worse. I wanted to be popular more than ANYTHING. I would watch longingly as the beautiful "popular" girls walk by, slam myself against the lockers behind me and think, "Wow, there they go....so perfect and beautiful and the boys just flock to them…….and one day, they'll talk to me, I just know it". They never did. I remained unpopular my entire high school career. I watched TGIF every Friday. I still would if it was on.

25 at 25 pt3

11. My favorite color is black. And no, I'm not gothic. Although if I could get away with wearing black all day every day without being called gothic, I would. I think its classic and timeless.

12. I love animals. LOVE LOVE LOVE them. But I don't want to touch them.

ever.

gross.

I'm not sure when this happened, as I touched animals ALL the time when I was little, even dreamed about being a horse-trainer, rodeo queen, and seeing-eye-dog coach.

13. There is evidence in a baby photo that I may have had 6 toes on one foot. I'm not sure what happened, but I no longer have two pinkies.

14. My biggest dream is to go to Africa- I've ALWAYS wanted to, and swore I would before I go anywhere else in the world.

15. When I'm stressed I pull out my eye lashes without even knowing I'm doing it. And my eyebrow hairs. And I crack my knuckes. Somehow, even with these creepy habits, I'm still married.

25 at 25 pt2

6. In 5th grade I had a crush on a boy that called himself M-Dog. I was TOTALLY in love with him, but didn't want him to ever find out (OBVIOUSLY), so I wrote all over my folders, EVERYWHERE

I (heart) K-9.

Man was I clever....I'm sure he never knew, because he never once teased me, stepped on my feet, OR tried to trip me that year, nor did he ever ask me out in the years to come. I'm sure it was because he never knew I loved him and had nothing to do with the fact he was probably smarter than I gave him credit for and was quite honestly freaked out. (I also named a star after him- Markus Laninius- romantic, right? or more creepy.)

7. I have recently discovered a love for reading. I love Chronicles, but what I love most are true stories of inspiring men and women throughout history, that perhaps we know little about. Most recently I have become fascinated with the story of three 14 year old LDS boys who defied Hitler in Three Against Hitler and of a family who saw the terrible action of the Nazi's as unchristian and helped people escape in The Hiding Place. I absolutely love to close a book aspiring to be more like Christ, and be a leader for good.

8. The first and only song I ever wrote on the guitar was for Cole at our wedding dinner. He cried. Mission accomplished.

9. I'm terrified of being above water in an ocean or lake. I don't like not knowing what's underneath me.

10. I first saw Cole at my seminary graduation, thought he was married, fell in love and dreamt about having a husband like him, and then he showed up at my door for a blind date.

25 at 25

This might be limited to 5 day. My goal is to be interesting enough to bring you back for more.

1. I once owned a sugar glider- Do you even know what that is? Its some type of flying squirrel. I used to be obsessed with animals when I was little and just recently discovered (this weekend) that I can still name almost any dog, horse, or living creature I see. anywhere. send me a picture. test me. I dare you.

2. My heroes are my husband (he soars above all others), Alvin Smith (still trying to convince Cole that Alvin could be a cool name for our boy....I'm not convinced myself but I just love him), Clive Staples, Stephanie Nielson (I hope one day I can love like her, and write like her), Corrie Ten Boom, Rudi Wobbe, and my entire immediate family.

3. My husband is teaching me to love music. I prefer silence to sound. Makes me intentional.

4. I am obsessed with anyone over the age of 75 that wears pip hats and reebox, any couple that still hold hands, and any man that publicly cries.

5. I love being able to organize, clean, play the guitar, grocery shop, experiment with dinner, create, and anticipate my husband coming home from work.

What do you get

...when you mix a belgian, a quarterhorse, cacti, a beebee gun, a devasting loss, a romantic (dashing) husband, 3 Amigos, 6 shooter ice cream, and newfound unemployment?

The best birthday weekend of your life, that's what.

And oh man did it feel good.

I've never been one to make a big deal of birthdays, mostly because as we grew up they got less and less exciting. No more sleepovers, hummer limousines, horse birthday cakes, or scavenger hunts. I also had roommates in college that had birthday "months", in which we were expected to acknowledge and celebrate their birthday every day for 30-31 days of the year. You get it.

Well, to be COMPLETELY honest, I have to say I've never been a big fan of ANY holiday. Don't judge me. My only defense is this: WHY do we have to have one day in a YEAR to bring our mom breakfast in bed? One day in a year to take your spouse out to relive the honeymoon experience? To "be nice to your brother, its his birthday"? To celebrate the birth of the Savior or be nice and wave to people on the streets and let them cut you off in traffice because its "the holidays"? (now stepping off the soapbox, thank you for continuing to read)

A year or two prior to my 21st, my birthday fell on the same day as my grandfather's funeral, and so I got embarrassed when people would remember it was my birthday, thinking that there were more important things to acknowledge and remember.

My roommates knew that I had pretty much given up on birthday celebrations, and so they made sure that we had somewhat of a party (the angels that they were). Each of them gave me something, and on that same day I got a package from my parents with a little note from Kaden. I cried at the overwhelming kindness everyone showed me all in one day. I started to like birthdays, and began to realize that not everyone else felt about them the way I had.

So when Cole said he had a surprise, I was ecstatic. He had planned out the best weekend ever. Time with him, time with our family, and time with horses. What else could a (horse) girl ask for? It was a dream of a birthday.
I daresay it was one of the best. I wish I had better pictures, but unfortunately for both of us to be in a shot, our only options for a photographer were the tv, night stand, or trash can. Enjoy.

he feels the same way I do on horses

safety first!
the sunrise from our room

Mr. Marriott paid for dinner
Our favorite place....sitting next to a fire pit listening to live music for hours

How you feel after you make bad choices, ie eating breakfast at a place with less cars
in the parking lot than Waffle House

on the way to sacrament meeting that can didn't stand a chance

Cole suggested we needed a change.

So, here's to change...I've never been a pink girl. Here goes.