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Family Photos Arizona style

Saturday my friend, Sheri agreed to take some family photos for me. We headed over to Freestone Park which is a beautiful park. I had heard of it, but never been there, however, I definitely plan to go back. Anyway, she brought her camera and her daughter and took a bunch of pictures of our family. Crazily enough, it was a windy day (as you will witness with some of the hair) and it was a bit chilly as well. Being that we have adapted so well to the heat here, that means it was probably like low 70s and we were freezing.

Tell me which of the photos is your favorite of our family. I want to enlarge one and frame it for our wall. Let me tell you, between Ryanna looking anywhere but the camera for most shots and Owen being obsessed with watching the ducks and the water and my hair flying everywhere, it was a miracle that we got anything good. Oh, and yes, that is a bruise on Owen's forehead. Don't ask me, I don't know how it happened.

Remember, please tell me which number is your favorite and why, so I can decide which one is best! That means all of you too who never post comments. Don't try and be sneaky. I know you're reading this and not posting. Obviously the other shots are simply for your enjoyment.

Photo #1

Photo #2

Photo #3

When a Good Thing Goes Too Far...

I went to book club the other night. No, this post is not going to promote literacy again. I know you're sick, sick, sick of that, so keep reading.

The friend I sat next to said she had spoken to her sister that day. Apparently her sister was at their mom's house for Thanksgiving. She went through the canned goods and discovered (I am absolutely not making this up) that her mom had canned M&M's.

This is just wrong for multiple reasons:

1. If the bag was unopened, you should've left them alone, that plastic bag was doing just fine.

2. If the bag was opened, could you not just finish them up? Could you not put them in a candy dish and let visitors eat them by handfuls?

3. I'm pretty sure this isn't what the Prophet meant when he said store a year's supply. I mean, it's left vague, so you get what's a year supply for your family, but this might be over the top for me even.

Although, if they were peanut butter M&M's, I might cut her some slack, 'cause dang, those would be a part of my year's supply as well. If you're going to have to survive on whole wheat, rice and some dried apples, you might as well have some dessert. No, fruit is not dessert. Fruit is only a dessert if it is covered in chocolate or assisted in its effort to act as a dessert by being a part of lots of sugar or cream.

Books for Christmas!

So, my wonderful husband sends me articles from the NY Times, so that I can be semi-aware of the world happenings around me. We never watch the news at our house because it is so incredibly depressing and disturbing. The most recent article was about the lack of pleasure reading that is going on among youth and young adults. Click here for the whole text.
Some of the sad statistics that this trend is causing (according to the article):

• Reading test scores are declining.
• Employers are rating workers deficient in basic writing skills.
• FEWER THAN HALF of Americans over age 18 read novels, short stories, plays or poetry. (Okay, poetry???--I rarely read that stuff either unless it's cited in something else I'm reading.)

I don't want to be redundant with my thoughts here seeing that I recently spoke about reading for fun, but seriously, less than half of our population ever picks up a book and reads for fun? Do people just veg out in front of the TV or computer as their sole source of satisfaction? I mean, Harry Potter books, love 'em or hate 'em, brought back a plethora of youth, and adults, to the love of literature.

I just can't believe that parents are allowing their children to play on the computer, or video games or whatever else it is that they are doing without somehow ever picking up a book. Being that I had no siblings to play with during my childhood, books were such a blessing in my life. I would escape for hours on end in the pages and feel the emotions of the characters and let my imagination create scenery and faces from the text. I suppose that most of these youth and young adults mentioned are still reading, they are probably reading various things on the internet, some of it's even worthwhile...like my blog! I just think we should consider stretching ourselves a bit more than a two page internet article.

The article also mentioned that ours is not a society where the love of books is promoted. Seriously, when's the last time you turned on the TV and saw an author (other than JK Rowling) as the main guest on The Tonight Show or any other program that would draw a younger audience. It's really sad too because I belong to two different book clubs and I love discussing the literature and seeing the book from each person's perspective.

We are seriously seeing such disturbing trends in our culture--we're fatter than we've ever been and now we read less. Seriously, what's next...

Books on Tape

So, I've been getting Derek books on tape to listen to in the car while he drives to and from work. He always has aspirations for reading more, but never has the time to accomplish the goal, so I thought this would be ideal. I also like being the one to pick the books on tape because I usually choose books I've read and then we can talk about the books later.
The first book I grabbed him was called Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi. I haven't read this book in several years, but I did remember that I liked it and the main character was a female dwarf. He enjoyed the book and thought it was well written.
The second book I grabbed him was a book I recently finished called A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (the author of The Kite Runner). It was a very sad book, but so powerfully written. He told me he enjoyed it as well, but that he definitely needed a cheerful novel next.
Well, I didn't get him a cheerful novel, but I did grab him a classic that I love...East of Eden by John Steinbeck. If you haven't read it, you should. I read it after my friend Tina and I absolutely loved the story.
So, I have been doing the same thing with Ryanna. You'll notice my "shelf" of books in the sidebar of my blog and you'll see that it lists The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary. I thought that would be a book a bit above her reading level and would be good for her to listen to as we drove. Truthfully, I didn't know if she'd want to listen, but to my delight, she demands to listen to her books on tape every time we get in the car now.
So, after the first, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, I went to Ralph S. Mouse, also by Cleary. She seemed to enjoy both books and did pick up a bit of the story. I didn't know how well she'd follow because she's often busy looking at the scenery as we drive or daydreaming--something she does a lot. However, I figured even if she gets only tidbits of the story, hopefully, it's enjoyable and she's developing a love of literature.
Our latest book is Matilda by Roald Dahl. I was excited to get it because I didn't grow up reading Dahl. I read Cleary and Judy Blume mostly. My husband had been really excited to have her hear it. I have to say that I've been really shocked at the violence and the language. It's a children's book, but Ms. Trunchbulll (spelling is a guess since it's a book on tape), is quite a villian. It talks about the Chokey where she imprisons children for whole days or hours at a time...and the way she talks!!!!
She calls the children "stupid, little blisters, gobs of glue" (those are the phrases that are fresh in my mind from today's drive anyway). The way the parents treat Matilda and speak to her is appauling. I don't know, I am pretty disturbed by the whole thing really. It's making me worry that Ryanna's going to be afraid of school and start using some of the language that is repeatedly spewing forth from the Headmistress and the parents.
I'm still a little up in the air about how I feel about the whole thing. Not to say that the books I'm intrigued by don't have images that are violent or contain bad language in some spots, but I'm not choosing to read those books to my four year old.
Any of you who grew up reading Roald Dahl, what do you think????

My Sunday Munchies

Okay, I don't know if I'm the only one that suffers from this ailment, but I have to confess that immediately when church is over, I need to eat. I'm not talking about going home and casually perusing the cupboards and making a healthy meal either. I'm talking about, the car comes to a complete stop and it's about all I can do to help my husband get our children out of the car, get myself changed from my Sunday best to my pj's (YES my pj's--discovered the comforts of lounging around in pj's much too late in life and have been desperately making up for it by trying to wear them every Sunday for about six months now), and run like a hunted animal down to the kitchen where I grab for the quickest item that can be shoved in my mouth.


So, I could easily explain away this phenomenon by stating that it happens because our church goes through lunchtime, so of course I'm starving when I get home, but let's be honest, if our church started after dinner, I would still come home and want to shove food in my face. Healthy--not really, Satisfying--in a sick, I have no self-control type way.


I would like to end by confessing that once I've found a certain satisfying object and have inserted it into my mouth, the fat girl rampage ends there, but that would not be honest. Actually, on Sunday my mind tends to go into overdrive thinking about all of the yummy, homemade treats that I could be making. I usually start with either chocolate chip cookies or cinnamon rolls. To my credit, I usually make neither like today. I can't give myself too much credit though because I had a little bit of peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory left, so that was enough for me. I'm not kidding when I say I like dessert and I like it rich!


Anyway, Sunday usually continues on with our whole family eating random items for meals at random times. Ryanna had toast, peaches and a couple bites of my corn chowder soup for dinner. Derek never ate dinner I think and Owen had some chicken nuggets, peaches and one bite of my soup. I hardly ever get to eat all of my own food. It's my new diet called "be a mom your kids will eat half of your food" diet. It's probably saved me thousands of calories by now thus allowing me to eat things such as...well, peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory.
Sidenote #1: The above pictured cheesecake, is not the abovementioned flavor, but it would do in a pinch.
Sidenote #2: Do not be fooled by the frozen boxes of The Cheesecake Factory cheesecakes that are sold at Costco. They don't even come close to touching the flavor and texture of a fresh made piece from the restaurant.
Sidenote #3: You will soon discover that I have a penchant for sidenotes. They just feel good and let you know what I'm really thinking.

My Baby is ONE!!

Today my little boy turned one year old. Technically as I'm writing this, he STILL wasn't here yet. Yeah, he took his sweet time to show up. Apparently my body doesn't seem to understand that the kids need to come out at sometime. I was a week overdue before they would induce me. I walked my butt off for two weeks hoping to get something going on my own, but no luck. I did get several nasty blisters though. However, with only one dose of prostaglandin, my body gets it done! So, to some of you, this may sound gross or too much, but I actually got to see Owen come out. How you may ask? Well, they asked me if I wanted a mirror to see it. My first reaction was no, but then I thought, "I've had an epidural, I'm not feeling any pain, why not?" I figured if it was too much, I'd close my eyes or look elsewhere. Well, I only pushed 7 times and Owen was out. For those not impressed with 7 pushes please remember he weighed NINE pounds when he was born. Seeing him come out was a seriously spiritual experience for me. Amazing.

My first thought after they laid him on my chest (which they immediately did after he was born--covered in blood and such) was "Whoa! This kid looks big to me." He was so perfect though. I couldn't believe I had another baby. I was really worried about having a little boy because I didn't grow up with any brothers and so I thought it would be trickier somehow. So far, he's been such an amazing little boy. He is the sweetest thing. There are so many things I love about Owen...

• His smile--Dimples on each side (just like his sister and neither me nor my husband have dimples).


• His hair--It's very light brownish/blonde and in the back it has little curls.


• His belly--When he is walking around with just his diaper on and that belly is sticking out it is so cute (I'm still hoping this comes back in style for women my age).


• His little bum--There is something so funny and endearing about a naked little bum that is running away from you as you try to catch it to throw it in the tub.


• His chatter--He isn't saying a lot of words (ma-ma, da-da, na-na (for Ryanna)) but he is constantly saying something...I just don't know what it is...probably exactly what he's thinking everytime we all talk.


• His kisses--They are open-mouthed and they are rare, but so sweetly given.


• His honking--One time I made the honk noise when he grabbed my nose and it made him laugh, so we play that game several times a day now.


• His unconditional love--shouldn't we all be more like children in their quick nature to forgive and to want to love everyone around them? Owen loves me so dearly and makes me feel so important when he reaches for me and finds comfort in my arms.


• His backward eye-roll--when he's really wanting to nurse and he finally latches on, it's the eyes rolling back in ecstacy that just makes me giggle, must be a lot like I feel about food.


• His chest--He has a pretty deep chest, check out the picture of him when he was first born...it's funny because his middle name is my grandparents' last name who raised me and my husband swears that our little boy is built just like my grandpa with his deep chest.

Our little family has been so greatly blessed to have this sweet addition. I feel so thrilled for Ryanna to have a sibling that will be close to her age that she can call and talk to. I always wished I'd had siblings close to my age when I got to college. I wanted her to have Owen in her life as much as I wanted him in my own life. I wanted my husband and I to have the experience of having a boy and a girl to raise. It'll be interesting to continue to see the differences. Right from the beginning it's noticeable and I can hardly wait to see how much more evident it will become.

Hallo-Thanks-mas

Yesterday when we were coming home from church, I saw a couple of guys with ladders and tools walking around a neighbor's yard. I thought, "Oh, just finishing up some yard work." After a closer look, I discovered they had been busy, little elves and installed Christmas lights on the house. Christmas lights? Already? THEN...

Today I went on a walk with the kiddos. I've been trying to do that every night to make the time go by more quickly and get a tiny bit of exercise and mostly to enjoy the temperate climate of this time of year. Anyway, walked by the above mentioned house and the Christmas lights were on! Seriously.

Okay, I absolutely love Christmas. It's definitely one of my top two holidays, but it's not even the middle of November yet. I realize the department stores and every other such stores are already bombarding us with Christmas merchandise, but what the heck happened to Thanksgiving?

My poor daughter is so confused she keeps asking me when we're going to celebrate Christmas and I have to constantly remind her that we have to celebrate Thanksgiving first. Then she asks me when we're going to celebrate her birthday (which isn't till April) and I have to remind her it's not for a long time. Yesterday, she told my grandma that she could go trick-or-treating with her. The poor girl has some sort of holiday schizophrenia going on.

Take a Look, It's in a Book...

• This morning I went to one of my favorite activities--book club! I actually belong to two different book clubs, one made up of women in my new ward and the one I went to today which is composed of women from my old ward. It used to be one of our interest groups for the ward, but was removed as an interest group...not a subject I like to discuss.
  
  The last two times we've gathered we've done a brunch theme where each of us brings a brunch type item and we talk about life, kids, etc. and eventually discuss the book as well. It's a lot of fun to hear people's perspectives on the book that month--what they loved, what they didn't like, how they felt about the characters, the symbolism they found in the book.
  
  Seriously, how can you not love to read? I know there are people out there who don't read. Why? I admit that I don't read a lot of self help or hard science type books, but I do love to read pretty much everything else. Admittedly, there is a lot of trashy literature out there, but there is so much interesting and thought-provoking material as well. I never understand how people can't get into books. I think I average reading a book about every week and a half.
  
  I always get really excited when I finish a good book, I want to share it with other people. I love to talk about it and see myself or my life experiences in the book. I love to learn about the author and see how their life is reflected in the book as well.
  
  I have a lot of areas in my life that I need to improve and that includes reading certain books. Some of the books I haven't read, but want to get around to are:
• Anna Karenina and War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
• The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo (We're reading it for this month's book club!)
• 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriela Garcia Marquez
• For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemmingway
• Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote (Did you know he wrote this? Did you know he grew up with Harper Lee who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird--already read it.)
• Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

So, what other suggestions do you have out there? I have read a lot of books, but am always looking for more suggestions. Feel free to leave yours.

Say it isn't so!

Many of you seem to be aware of the strike by most of the writers who write anything worth watching anymore. Well, I wasn't too concerned until I heard that the Office is only going to have one more episode and then be done because Steve Carrell refuses to cross the writers striking line to return to work.

Now, I totally understand him wanting to support these writers and honestly, The Office isn't much without a great dialog since it's so character/dialog driven. I don't know what those writers are asking, but GIVE IT TO THEM!!!

Here are some of Creed's Thoughts and Dwight's Web Log from the website to tide you over until tonight's episode:

Time Encapsulated
Hello internetizens. I have returned from my web logging hiatus. You may be asking yourself, “what happened to Dwight all summer?” Shut up. It’s none of your business. Just focus on the present. In this case, the present has two meanings. In its first usage, it is temporal. The present is the here and now. It is also being used to mean “a gift.” This web log is a present from me to you, the reader, because you do not pay for it and I am giving it to you. Enjoy your present (both meanings).
This weekend, while my cousin Mose was aerating the soil in the East Field, he came upon a metal box labeled “For Dwight. DO NOT OPEN UNTIL 2005.” Luckily, Mose is not nosey and brought it to me unopened right away.
As it turns out, the box was a time capsule that I had left for myself in 1985. It was quite interesting to see what 1985 Dwight had left for 2005 Dwight, even though 2005 Dwight forgot it was there and had to be reminded by 2007 Mose two years later.
These are the contents of 1985 Dwight’s Time Capsule:
1. A dehydrated beet sculpture of myself holding a very small metal box meant to represent a miniature version of the time capsule. I was very much into beet miniatures when I was teenager. I did not, however, know my “BeetDwight” would shrivel into dehydration. That occurred because of science, not intention.
2. A friendship bracelet. They were all the rage amongst agricultural teenagers in 1985. I was susceptible to fads back then. This has since been corrected.
3. Half of a Twix Bar. It must have fallen in.
4. A letter to myself. It said: “Hello Dwight. If you’re reading this, then you are not dead. Good. If you are not Dwight and you are reading this, be aware that this letter is cursed and the ghost of me will haunt you forever. Dokken Rules. Dwight.”
5. A letter to my wife. This is a sensitive subject as I am unmarried and have obviously disappointed my former self.
6. The carcass of a vole. At first I thought it had either fallen in or been trapped while attempting to retrieve the Twix bar. After careful thought, however, I remembered that this was the skeleton of my neighbor’s pet. I despised him and kidnapped one of his voles. Unfortunately, the vole perished before I could return her, so I threw her into the time capsule so there would be no evidence. This serves as my confession. If any authorities are reading this, I willingly accept any punishment bestowed upon me, although I believe the statute of limitations on vole manslaughter has run out.
This “blast from the past” has cast an interesting shadow over my week. It has provided cause for great self-reflection. In truth, however, I am proud of who I have become and regret nothing. Now I must make a time capsule for 2025 Dwight. I hope he is alive when he opens it. And married. And running a large paper company. And a beet magnate or mogul, whichever is most powerful in 2025. Additionally, I hope he has created a way to keep miniature beet sculptures hydrated over long periods of time, thus making himself very rich yet unburdened by the pressures of being overly wealthy.
That is all,
Dwight K. Schrute

If anyone knows how to get chocolate out of hair, let me know. I fell asleep on top of forty Fun Size Milky Ways last night and now I’ve got nougat everywhere. I already tried peanut butter, but that just made my hair into a different kind of candy. I’ll make you a deal: you get it out of my hair, you get to keep it.
Parents always freak out about crazy people giving their kids apples with razorblades hidden inside for Halloween. Those parents are idiots. If you’re getting a free razorblade inside your apple, you shouldn’t be complaining. And if you really want to impress me on Halloween, give me some licorice. That stuff hits the spot.

Stake "Torture" Conference

Our Stake Conference was today. Also known as the dreaded day without Primary or nursery for those of you who speak in LDS terms. It was a double whammy for me because Derek was out of town until this afternoon, so I was going to have to brave it alone.
Imagine it if you will. Let's put it into one of those movie preview voices. You imagine the music in the background while I narrate:
Hold onto your scriptures because here it is, the most anticipated spectacle of the year! One woman...(dramatic music inserted here and flash my face without the stress zit that popped up on my chin the other day) two children under the age of five (more dramatic music and pictures of my kids running)...face the daunting task of: Stake Conference!
They said it couldn't be done... (show pictures of people mocking) this woman barely out of her youth (I'm adding that phrase to make me feel younger here, just go with it okay.) handling these two children during a conference where adults speak for TWO FULL HOURS without stopping!!! (flashes of speakers at the pulpit).
She'd have only one opening hymn, a couple of releases and sustainings and a rest hymn to help her survive (more dramatic music). Was she up to the challenge? Who would come of conquerer--the young mother or her two, fatherless children? Coming to a theater near you!
Well, I'm happy to say that we survived the entire conference and I actually did feel the Spirit while I was there. Our stake president reminds me a lot of my last stake president in his down to earth, let's be real approach which I really like. I was really blessed to have some friends of mine, who don't have any children, come in and sit right behind me and the wife pretty much served as my nanny during the whole thing.
I really do have to wonder about the whole stake conference idea...I think it's a great idea for all of us to come together as a stake, but it's really, really difficult to have your children endure that much sitting for that long. I realize Ryanna is old enough to do okay with a fair amount of coloring books and Benadryl injected straight to her veins. Owen is not able to do it (I can't seem to get the dosage right yet...) and I am not alone in this either as I saw zillions of other parents roaming the halls with their brood trying to keep them quiet. (Before someone turns me into child protective services, I am totally joking about drugging my kids up okay?)
Even harder is the Saturday night session which my husband and I have never attended since we've lived in Arizona. In our last ward, all of our friends had small children like we do, so it wasn't fair to ask them to miss stake conference so we could go. For those with family nearby, it's was no big deal. Frankly, after serving in Young Women's in the prior ward, I don't know that I would've trusted many of the youth to watch our kids.
Seriously, can you imagine the day before microphones? Can't you just see the families? Here's a probable pioneer family discussion in preparation for attending stake conference:

Mother: June!!! Do you have the gunney sack full of treats for young Henry and Eliza?

June: Indeed I do mother. I have packed some of our tastiest smoked jerky and a whole jar of raspberry preserves with a loaf of that wonderful bread that Sis. Pierce brought us a fortnight ago. (I knew I could get the word fortnight in an entry if I wrote enough of these blog things!)

Mother: Bless you June. I think you may also want to grab some sticks and rocks that they can throw at each other to keep them entertained as well.

June: I already thought of that mother. (you'll notice in corny books written in this day and age, the children always say "mother" instead of "mom.")

Mother: I do appreciate your help with all of this. I can only hope that we don't sit next to that noisy Petersen family. They are what I'd call a lively group.

June: Yes, and have you heard? The town's all a flutter with news that her husband has left her to study abroad for a time and she'll have to care for the young things all by herself.

Mother: Well, we can only hope to set a good example for young Sis. Petersen. She does try her hardest after all.

I am still thinking of creating a petition to begin an even earlier nursery than currently exists. You know how they have CTR A and CTR B or they used to anyway. It would be Nursery A. My guidelines would be:
1. Child must be mobile ('cause before that you just have to deal with them--sorry!)
2. No biting allowed (one bite and you're gone, no fair to make other parents hate your kid)
3. Run by responsible married couples without kids (this will serve two purposes: give the parents of the child a break and make the married couple running the nursery realize how much they want a baby or how they are not yet ready to be parents--bonus either way)
All joking aside, I love church even if it is difficult with kids. I know that the only way they will be able to learn to sit quietly is if I keep giving them opportunities to do it. It's just fun to poke a little fun at my own struggle to deal with it. I am grateful though that I have my husband by my side to help out. There are special blessings for all you women that have husbands sitting on the stand.

This is the Halloween that does not end...

So, when I was growing up, each year I celebrated Halloween one time, one day of the year. It seems to me that in everyone's attempts to make Halloween wonderful for our children, Halloween gets done multiple times a year anymore. For instance...
Halloween #1: Our ward's Trunk or Treat where we were able to have chile (I made a really yummy white chile that I took) and hot dogs and drink root beer. The kids walked around and got buckets full of candy at this event as well as winning little prizes at the various booths.
**Sidenote**I do have to ask though, whenever my grandma makes rootbeer, she always puts dry ice in, to keep it cold and probably for entertainment value as well. This rootbeer was that "left on the counter too long to be good and cool" temperature. Doesn't homemade rootbeer need dry ice or is that one of those myths that I've created from my upbringing? I'm looking to find out if I'm abnormal or do the rest of you do dry ice too?
Halloween #2: Ryanna's pre-school did a small little Halloween where we moms each did a little activity with prizes for the kids. I did the cupcake walk. Ryanna helped me decorate the cupcakes. They were strawberry with cream cheese frosting.
Halloween #3: Our community where we live held trick or treating the night before Halloween because I guess in past years our subdivision got slammed pretty hard and some of the residents were upset that their own children didn't get any candy because houses would run out before kids who live here could get any. I really liked this because it allowed me to meet my neighbors. It's hard in this day and age to meet your neighbors because people work so much and when they come home, they don't go out. I met a lot of people and really enjoyed myself and the kids came home with loads of candy.
**Sidenote**NO Owen's costume is not him being eaten by an alligator as I got asked TWICE. Seriously, that's a little out there for me to even think of. He was a dragon. It's not my fault he wouldn't wear the head piece. Doesn't he know I'm trying to get good photos here? Those Anne Gedes & Tom Arma photos where the kids are in cute animal costumes--don't believe it for one second! Those kids were doped up on Dimetapp or something to get them to grin and sit still and not try to yank the head piece off and give an Indian war cry in your face. At least my son would never go for it.
Halloween #4: Ryanna helped me to pass out candy to the kids that came to our house on Halloween night. We didn't get nearly the crowd I thought we would because so many people turned off their lights and didn't participate on the real night because they had done the community trick or treat. I thought it was a good chance for Ryanna to give since she had received so much. I think she might've enjoyed the power of distributing the candy more than she did getting it even.
Wow! That's enough Halloween festivities to last a lifetime...or I guess till next year anyway!
**Last Sidenote I promise**Due to the amount of times Ryanna was able to dress up, she was a Princess for some activities and a cow for others. Her choice.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart

I just wanted to let you know that I married the most wonderful man (hopefully you all feel the same about your own husbands).

I really feel so blessed to have a hard-working, intelligent, athletic, spiritual, HOT man in my life. The more I hear about some of the guys that are out there, the more I realize how lucky I was to find Derek. If you feel like you're married to a man with great qualities who treats you well, offer a prayer of thanks because you have a huge blessing that some women would die to have.

Serioulsy, how easy is it to bash your husband's faults rather than to acknowledge his differences and celebrate how your differences and his are what make your marriage wonderful? I know that if Derek were just like me, we'd drive each other crazy...and be really, really FAT. You can't have two people obsessed with junk food like me and be healthy.

He's such an example to me...I love him!!!

Derek, I wish that you were able to be home today to celebrate with us, but know we're thinking of you.