New Year Resolutions

We're here in Draper at Brett's Dads. Time is flying and soon we'll be on the road to Blababama.
I have no pictures except for what's on Ron's computer. Blessing in disguise.

I will use them to illustrate our weekend.

We spent the weekend at the Parrydise cabin. It was much fun, but I noticed being inside was much more fun when I had little Marie to play with.
Mike, Steph and the kids came up. We'll be caravanning to the East with them. Good times are bound to be had.
The Smith quote of the week would be from Jorja (age 6?)
Me: Did you miss us?
Jorja: (shakes her head) No
Me: We'll we missed you!
Jorja: I know.
Spencer and Ange have cute kids. Ella has grown so much and is a chatty girl.


Matt came up with Spencer's family. He is turning in to a regular Ron. I asked if he would hold a sleeping Marie and several minutes later he was asleep with her in his arms. I will post a picture later.


John came up with Ron. Ironically, even though I am on Ron's computer, I can't find just a single picture of him. You will have to use your imagination. John had to work and only stayed a day. Ron, being the future Apostle he is, drove up with him late Friday night and drove back late Saturday night. I won't mention the car accident they got in, but I will mention that John is now in Ohio seeing his girly friend. I would post what I know about her but considering she is friends with every Millburn, Jex & Parry relation on Facebook I don't think I need to. However, I will say I like her, and she has the Rachel & Marie stamp of approval. I won't go on because Brett specifically told me, " You can't be the reason they break up." There is a warning if I ever heard one.


We went skiing last night with Matt. (Apparently his mission picture is the only up to date pic on this computer also). Ron was so kind to babysit Marie. I suppose he'll be translated soon. Skiing was fun, and I was the very last off the mountain at 9pm. Marie kicked it with Ron & Max for 6 hours and I wasn't a bit worried about her. Ron has a little experience with kids so I did not fret. However, my main goal was to not break my neck so Marie would still have a mom. I succeeded.


This trip went along with one of my New Year's Resolutions to be a better wife, and a happier mom. Brett and I had a good time together and when I got back I felt recharged and ready to mommy again.
So what are you're resolutions for the new year?



I'm gonna usher in the new year by stating my resolutions online. Maybe I will keep them that way!

Spiritual: Read that BOOK! Every single diddley darn day! 5-15min a day. I can do that!
“I feel certain that if, in our homes, parents will read from the Book of Mormon prayerfully and regularly, both by themselves and with their children, the spirit of that great book will come to permeate our homes and all who dwell therein. The spirit of reverence will increase; mutual respect and consideration for each other will grow. The spirit of contention will depart. Parents will counsel their children in greater love and wisdom. Children will be more responsive and submissive to that counsel. Righteousness will increase. Faith, hope, and charity—the pure love of Christ—will abound in our homes and lives, bringing in their wake peace, joy, and happiness.” (Marion G. Romney, in Conference Report, Apr. 1960, pp. 110–13.)

Intellectual: Read the following books: Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling (recommended by my Dad), "Leadership and Self Deception" recommended by Ron, and Elmo's Home Run (recommended by Marie).

Physical: Oye, this is the hard one. Do I tell the world my goals or keep them to myself and not feel bad if I don't achieve them? Umm no, I will. As said in my favorite movie "You need only to believe to achieve- that rhymes, unintentional." Goal: achieve BMI weight. Good 'nough.

Family: Love Brett, Love Marie. Sounds good.

Anyone else got any good gaols? (see if I spell it wrong someone might comment and eventually someone will share a goal. Or gaol.

update for the sake of an update

Who doesn't update their blog say, "aye." Aye.

I also heard an "aye" from Matt, Avery, and especially from the Blue Triangle. Check that one out. Last updated, one year ago. In fact, yesterday was the one year anniversary since Maysen last posted. So she loses. Unless this is "hearts", in which case she won because she "shot the moon."

We're now in Emmett. We drove here with no incidents. Unless you want to count the sewage leak by the broken elevator as an incident. But we won't.

Marie loves all the attention from Grandma and Grandpa. She shows that pleasure by blowing bubbles with her slobber. She maybe hates her uncles, but we're not sure yet.

Speaking of hated uncles, I visited Skye and Larkin last week. Skye is a funny combo between being super talkative and super shy. It's almost like those two traits can't be combined into one person, but Skye pulls it off. She's very cute and even put Mike into timeout because he threw a toy at her and hit her in the head. I know. Yeah, he did. I know.

Speaking of toys that can be thrown, I got Skye this kaleidoscope. It was pretty and red and shiny, with this liquid ooze that oozes threw the screen and has a compass that tells time. Skye liked it and would carry it around, and when she did throw it, it was only accidentally. Every morning I wake up wondering if Skye still likes it. I'm sure she does because it was pretty awesome. Skye is basically terrified of me...until I leave the room. As soon as I left the room she would talk and talk and ask me all sorts of questions and tell me all of her ideas. If I answered them, she became terrified again. I guess its almost like the Invisible Boy from Mystery Men where he is only invisible if absolutely nobody is looking at him, and if anybody looks at him, he becomes visible again. And it's probably not too much like that, but my point is, everybody should go back and watch that movie because its funny. Take me for example, I watched it yesterday. Mama pajama.

And Larkin is also an awesome niece. She is a baby and wasn't even scared of me. In fact, she seems to be a perfect baby who is always happy and laughing at everything. So it was fun to see Mike and Christen in their Richmond habitat. I even saw Mike in his white dentist coat and Oakley microscope glasses. I "helped" him with a patient. I won't tell you her name, because that would be a breach of the dentist-client relationship. So for our purposes I'll just call her snaggletooth. You should have seen the crap that Mike was scraping out of there. Giant gobs of chicken mcnugget meat, I guess. Plus, the worst part is that when she left Mike forgot to give her her free toothbrush.

Old Man Look at My Life....

Happy Birthday Old MAN! I love you, and you're perfect that's why I prod at your age.

I made Brett this quilt out of old T-shirts. This man has a bigger wardrobe than me, so I got him to shed some old clothes and promised to make a quilt out of them. Take a look, maybe you gave him one of these shirts or maybe he borrowed one and never gave it back.... sorry Matt.


Brett turns a wicked 33 today. We went to Tahoe Joe's and treated ourselves to steak and such. For a gift I got him a Cabrera Tiger's jersey. Though I ordered it weeks ago, it won't arrive until the 10th. Hopefully he won't get traded by then.
After dinner we invited friends over to play scrabble. We are so old. But our friends are good sports. I assumed that playing Scrabble would give me a bigger vocabulary, but I find myself spelling the same words over and over: "taxi," "cow," "OZ," and "revived." I'm still not sure if I'm allowed to use the word "Oz."
I think Brett had a good Birthday. I sure do like him.


Another, separate posting:

All I really want for Christmas is baby compliments. That is why I jumped on the chance to take Marie to UC Davis last Monday to do some "Infant Cognition Testing." It was pretty cool. They did two tests, both of which she sat on my lap and looked at a TV screen. I had to have blindfold on because they didn't want me "influencing" her "answers." I don't really understand what they were testing her on, something about patterns and upside-down happy faces. At one point they put a headband loaded with a mini camera on the end of it so they could track her eye movements.

At the end they gave me this cute T-shirt. Of course I couldn't get her to smile unless she was in the tub, hence the picture.

It's like we want her to be a spoiled princess

While Rachel's mom was staying with us after Marie was born she busied herself by whipping up this dress. I think it is so awesome that Marie may have to re-use it as her wedding dress.

It can be kind of hard to get a picture of Marie without her gnawing on something. We've been meaning to get her a dog bone to gnaw on. But we haven't yet, so...
She gnaws on her index finger. A lefty, perhaps?

She gnaws on her whole fist at once. Who is she, foxy Larry from Groundhog Day?

Sometimes she goes with the fist-blanket combo.

And then sometimes she just eyes the camera, wondering how awesome it would be to gnaw on.

Not Complaining

PSYCH! I'm totally complaining. Brett is going back to Alabama... or Blabablama. I just so happen to hate that state. He's going down for a 5 week training in January. Didn't he already do that last year? I think I can go with him, which is better than being without him- even if I am in the "dirty South."

Reasons I hate Alabama:
1. Fried everything. Blah.
2. Tornados
3. Judgmental Christians
4. Racists
5. Boring military base
6. More fried food
7. Southern Accents
8. Nobody I know!


Can't relate? Ok then, think of the worst time you had in all of 2008. Then pretend that you are about to relive that horrible time again! I have one month to mentally prepare for this endevour.

So here's to looking on the bright side...

I can see the Smiths. This should be a bigger deal, but they (my inlaws) live more than 2 hours away so I can only see them on weekends. That leaves 4.5 days of "killing time." And last time we didn't see them every weekend because I was so tired from being pregnant. So hopefully this will be different.

I have my baby goose who will keep me busy. We are just going to miss our friends here! Waa, waa waa...

Also a big huge part of my discontent comes from not having all my "stuff" with me. That means living minimally. This kind of living is refreshing, however, I find that I am buying more "stuff" to keep up with my daily routine (make-up, spices and food condiments, any forgotten clothing, etc).

Waa waaa waa. Wa.
Ok so I need some sympathy here. So please sympathize. Maybe Stockton will write me a poem about Alabama.

Things that are good if I get to go to Alabama with Brett:
1. I get to be with Brett. :)
2. We can see the Smiths
3. The winters are very warm
4. The workers at Subway aren't ever stingy on the "fixings"
5. I will appreciate California more (and that's good after the recent political showdown)
6. I might learn to like Alabama. This is the most important. Brett says I failed the "test" the first time around, so that is why I need to go back. I say to him- "BLAH! I HATE FRIED GREEN TOMATOES!!!"

Oh well at least there is Lek's Railroad Thai. And maybe we can see family on the drive back.

Feel free to share your feelings about the South. Is there something I am missing?

Picture Fest

Today BYU lost to U of U. That is how I will define this day. Brett is sad.

In other news, I took pictures of my baby. I'm getting better at this picture taking thing.

I love the dress here. It was given to Marie by my friend Jen. She's got good taste.

This is pretty much how our days are spent, Marie just putting up with me.

We went on Marie's first hike. She liked it.

Marie is really filling out. Look at the difference 3 months makes!

"How Much You Bet I Can Throw A Football Over Them Mountains?"

The Winner Is..... no one!! The correct answer to my problem was "tell your land-lady to fix it."
And I did. The maintenance guy came by and did some weather stripping. I believe this is what a couple of you were trying to describe to me. I almost risked buying the materials and installing it myself, before I realized I live in an apartment!!!
So I thought the fair thing would be to take all the names of people who responded, put them in a hat and have Marie pick out the winner. She's really good at grabbing things these days. The name she picked was..... Zack! Congratulations Zack you are getting a Milky Way in the mail. Mostly because I want you to report back and tell me if it melts and arrives to you mis-shapen.

Marie was quite the grumpy goose while picking out the name. In fact, she's been pretty grumpy today and yesterday. I think it's one of two things. 1) She could be a little sick or 2) She's becoming more "aware" and needs more attention. When she doesn't get one on one - in your face attention she gets pretty annoyed.


In semi-related news, I do like our apartment complex we live in. One reason is because it is around the corner from all the shopping outlets you could ever imagine, but also next to a little private school and across the street from an empty lot of trees. I always thought it was just that- a bunch of trees and over-grown bushes. However that is not the case. I was walking Marie near there when I realized it was actually an abandoned orange grove (of sorts). There were old roads running through it making it a perfect little place to walk Marie. Even little clementines were growing off the trees! I was examining a clementine while walking and suddenly I realized I had almost just walked into a campsite! A tent was pitched and there were clothes strung about. Underneath an overgrown pine tree which is right next to the road mind you- was a home for ... well ... homeless people. Right next to my house- which is right next to Target and the rest of civilized society. Anyways, I got freaked out and ran me and my baby right out of there. To bad, it seemed like a nice place to get out of the house. I'm sure they are fine people, however I wasn't about to put my Marie in danger to find my own "Uncle Rico." California is a weird place.

Tie Loose Ends- I Knew I was Preachin' to the Choir!

BRACE YOURSELF! It's a prop 8 post! Dun dun dun!!! I know I said they would be over... but I just have to tie up a few loose ends.

For the record if you felt like in the last month that I was trying to convince you (you being any reader of this blog) about Gay Marriage (which from now on I will refer to as Garriage)- you are misled!

Any postings done on this blog were not official "Rachel Campaign" actions. I just used this blog to iron out arguments and facts that were boggling around my head. I was using my readers to give me support and help me understand all the facets of Garriage. In the last 3 months I have been so innundated with information it was hard to know exactly what information to give to the right people.

In the end I think I only really had to convice one person of the realities of Garriage- but even she was not really a California registered voter. Just Mormon gone.. well.. I have no idea where she is or if she will ever really talk to me again. But whatever. I love her and hope she "gets it" someday.

In fact, really none of you are registered California voters.. so i'm sorry but your feelings matter to me.. but not that much.

The real campaigning we did consisted of vote surveying, sign waving, door knob hanging, "Yes Voter" call reminding, and having a good old bumper sticker on the butt of our car.

If you are wondering what basics were talked about in my LDS ward campaign meetings I only came away with two urgent thoughts:

1. The Prophet wants us to warn our fellow man not to be in homosexual relationships- lest God will seriously smite California. So we need to warn them.
(Just a thought: when same sex marriage was legalized in June I recall that the "fire season had never been worse" (I know fire gets bad every year, but still!) and that it took the Goverment over two months to solidify a budget for the state. Alot of government workers lost their jobs, and alot of people who needed government programs (like the mentally handicapped) sufferred.)
We specifically discussed the very last paragraph in the Proclamation.

2. The second (and less important than the first, but still important) was that if Marriage was legalized it would mean a slew of lawsuits for the church. Apparently there were (in July) already a few lawsuits waiting in the shadows- but my bishop did not specify what/when/who/how.
According to Matt M. there are some lawsuits trying to be put against the church for "using their free speech" anyways. I have no idea whatever that means but just goes to show people don't care for the church. My dad always said, "people leave the church, but they will never leave it alone."

Here are some thoughts I shared with my cousin about Garriage:

...A close friend "came out" and that made me question why God would make someone gay. What a hard thing to be judged for! Well I didn't know what to think, but I knew I had to ride on my parent's testimonies and parrot their answers until I did. I had to assume God was right, before He let me know why He was right.
It took no less than a year before I was able to come across all the material and experiences that would help my testimony be as strong as it is today. One thing that always sticks out to me is an article I found on the "Rights of Children." Along with basic things like the right to food, shelter, love, and innocence was the right to a mother and a father. It was years ago that I found this article, but if I run into it again I will make sure to post it.

Anyways, God was gracious and gave me the information I needed as I showed faith.

That first experience was about 5 years ago. I'm happy to say that this newest opportunity to show faith (being on the Yes on 8 campaign) has helped me realize more reasons to encourage a society that supports traditional marriage. The latest one that sticks with me is a realization of what our joy will be in the next life. As I raise Marie I realize that my joy in the next life will be the continued joy of having children. However, what about someone who maintained a same-gender relationship in this life? Sure in the next life they could accept the gospel if they hadn't done so here. But what if they spent 70 years on earth loving someone who couldn't help them complete their joy in the next life? Even in their bodies most perfect form they would not be able to have children (let alone be with each other) and would be denied that ultimate joy.
I would feel horrible if I didn't do everything i could to prevent someone from making that mistake. "


WHEW! Alrighty, I just wanted to clarify that I already knew I was preaching to the choir when I was posting stuff. It probably didn't feel like that to some of you though. It was just a great place for me to contemplate, vent, and vent some more. Also, I came out of the experience with a great poem about a lady who smokes.

Also, the election was two weeks ago- I just got the memo.

Notable Notables

Marie got her Hib shot today. She cried for two minutes so loud that everyone seemed really alarmed. Maybe I didn't notice the other kids crying, but man Marie sure made herself known. I could hear people commenting on her scretches as we walked out, so I guess other people noticed. Then I changed her diaper and she started laughing. Maybe she thinks it's funny I had to change her diaper after I put her through so much pain. Naw, she's too nice. Getting this shot was not as bad as last time.

These pictures are from Halloween. I know, I'm a freak about Halloween.

Ok, I have a question for anyone that can answer it. I will send you a candy bar if you solve my problem. We live in an apartment where there is a slight space under our front door. Spiders have been coming in that way all Summer and now cold air is our newest guest. If you can tell me a way that I can fix this you will win. I saw a commercial on tv for some sort of contraption to fix this, but I forgot the number and what it's called.

It's official, Proposition 8 passed- Good job California! And just in case you've been living under a rock for the last 6 months, Obama is our new President. First African American is pretty darn notable. Though maybe I don't like his politics (I don't like most peoples) I will officially get behind him and not be Debbie Downer. Officially will stop talking about politics on this blog until the Prophet tells me to blog about it again. Who knew the Prophet would ask me to blog?

It's my blog, right?

So I got a hair cut today. I wanna look good for when Hell freezes over tomorrow. I kid - I kid. Actually the good news is that whatever happens is that nothing in my house is gonna change. This whole Prop 8 dealio has just help me sort out how I am going to approach Marie & future kiddies about same gender attraction.
Now, I have to preface the following by saying I'm a Libra. Libra's don't really care for confrontation, so discussing an emotional issue has been interesting for me. I know I was given strength beyond my means to do all the little things I was asked to do. And now that voting day is upon us I can feel my desire waining, and I am slowing to care for my new blog. It's been good though, replying to the comments. Rachel and The Devil... I mean Chad ;) have kept me on my toes and I hope will still do so in the future. Because however the outcome on the 5th I feel like I want to keep my new blog current. I have alot to say on marriage and families and it will be a good way to keep me reading good books and help me be a better writer. Even though, alot of the things posted I have taken from other people.
Speaking of which... I want to take a second and publicly embaress.. I mean THANK all the people that have been so encouraging... especially:
Christen- you rock. Keep the east coast real.
Matt & Bubs- The Indpendent Elephant makes me feel sane.
All the Youngbergs- Thanks for being such a rad family. We freakin' rock. And p.s. sorry I kind of abandoned editing our family site. I've been a touch busy... but I love your blogs.
B Man- thanks for voting Yes on 8. I like being married to you.
And most importantly- everyone that donated to YES on 8. I see the commercials you help pay for and it really makes my day. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

Ok so the rest of this posts is for you super conservatives out there. It's been a rough time, so I think we could all use a good laugh.

Here is the very first commercial yes on 8 commercial featuring Mayor Gavin Newsom. He has been the butt of many good jokes in our home. So good infact, I wanted to dress up as him for Halloween and walk around saying "Whether you like it or not!"- however I refrained.




Enjoy this little gem:


And lastly, (hopefully I have lost all my undedicated readers at this point) I DID end up writing Joe Biden a letter saying he owes me 5 bucks. I didn't want to offend anyone (I know like 60% of the people who view this blog are voting for him tomorrow) but Brett wont stop bugging me until I post it. I think I will wait until he wins though. Than 60% of my readers won't be annoyed, and 100% of Brett will be happy.

Marie My Favorite Chick

"Hmmm... this is warm."

"What has my life become?"

Of course, when she smiles the camera goes blurry!


Marie: The Cozy Chick

Birds of... well, yah we don't match at all. But hey- we're all birds!

If your looking at this picture and thinking, "Weren't Rachel and Brett birds last year?"

The answer is: yes.

The reason: I'm lazy. And also Brett agreed to be Big Bird for the rest of his life. He wasn't joking.

The top picture was not posed. I just realized that we had a similar one taken the year before with my nephew.

Lucked Out!

Sadie & Marie

We are so lucky to have met another couple here to hang out with.

Sam, Sadie, & Allison

Origionally they were going to be military people for Halloween. But Sam already is a military person (he flys planes!) so I bullied them into matching Sadie's kitty outfit. I know, I'm so bossy.

Bad Picture City! I just couldn't help myself, Marie's arms say it all.

Ode to the Pagan Holiday

Dad- Are you serious?... not again with the dress up

but... this giant hand promised me candy

So all I have to do is dress up...? I can do that!

Yes, she is "working on it" in this one. My little ballerina bear!

Primary Songs "The Office" Style

Question:
Heavenly Father, are you really there?

Answer:
Yes

Question:
Do you hear and answer every child's prayer?

Answer:
Yes. Even your's Rachel. But seriously you need to calm down, take a nap or eat a piece of fruit.

Continuing...

I know that Heaven is far away

Yah, far far away from California.

But I feel it closer as I pray.

True DAT! I have the best family ever!

So my previous post is about how way mad at Joe Biden I am. Mostly because I had these awesome signs that say "All Four Candidates Agree on Traditional Marriage" that I am to mail out to people.
So would it be alright if I just put an X over his face and wrote a note "flip flopped on 10/27/08, but I already made these copies... so that was inconsiderate on Bidens part."

Anyways, I am a part of something good here. I have friendships on shakey ground. But that just means I need to work harder to get people to understand.

Peace out.

www.marriagelogic.blogspot.com

Joe Biden- You don't win... win the contest of ruining my day. I worked hard on prop 8 today and even though you went on Ellen and totally Flip-Flopped (you butt kisser you) YOU DON'T WIN!
I had a good day because:
I slept in because my husband is very quiet at 6am so I could sleep.
My husband took me out to dinner because he knows I like it.
My daughter is GORGEOUS. She rocks my world and is a million times cooler than you.
Plus, I get to see her every day! And I can turn off the TV when you are on it so that is definately a plus.

However, since you are probably a lame-o everyday and my family is awesome everyday we'll say that stuff doesn't count.

What counts today is that when I was sign waving a 18 year old baggy-pants, long-haired kid walking by asked if he could sign wave with me and my group. I wasn't sure if I could trust him "Are you gona tear up the sign and walk away?" I asked him. "No," he said calmly, "I just want to help." He had two "homeboys" behind him who claimed to be his entourage just hung out listening to their ipods. This boy got sworn at more than any of us (I guess people don't have the guts to cuss out girls and kids) and he stood calmly and strong holding his sign.
He was so cool. He stood there for a good forty minutes before everyone had to leave. Just a cool kid, walking by, standing up for American's rights, trying to help others understand.

I'm so hurt by the media controlling people's point of view, but I will try to remember:
An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it. ~Mahatma Gandhi

MarriageLogic.blogspot.com

Hey Everyone! thanks for all your support. I have such great family and friends!
I'm finally done with my new blog. It's super "emo" and hopefully will appeal to the cool kids/beatnicks.

After another day of sign waving I will leave you with a poem entitled:
"Ode to the Mother in the SUV"

Ode to the Mother in the SUV
Children in the car
Yet you smoke, curse, and frown at me

Ode to the Mother in the SUV
My sign is Yellow, my smile is calm,
Yet you yell, gesture, but can't we all get along?

"Why can't Gays get married?" from afar you shout
I dare say, you don't know what this issue is really about
The TV ads you watch, by the media you are controlled
In a sense, you are only doing what you are told

But I admonish you lady, in the SUV
to study the issue, and you'll understand
I'm not kidding when I say
It's really about the Economy.

So put down that middle finger
Don't shout in front of your kids
While you're at it, stop smoking,
and think about buying a hybrid

And dear woman, dear mother, in the SUV
please stop shouting, stop yelling,
and understand the truth... soberly.

Please enjoy my first post about Gay Marriage's affect on the Economy at
www.marriagelogic.blogspot.com
PLEASE spread it around and share the "obvious logic" with everyone you know. Heck, you can even tell them you thought if it yourself!

Gay Marriage Vs. Real Civil Rights Movement

Reply:

Need I say more??? Well.. yah, because I like the sound of my fingers typing.
I met Brett in law school and I recall his interest in the power of the Supreme Court and his disapproval of how much power they hold.
I didn't know what he ment then (I was like "whatever you say hot guy"), but now I do. As I struggle with the thought that I must take my own daughter out of public schooling because they have infringed on my God given (literally) right to unbiased-taxpayer-supported schooling.

So it's 7 days left until election. That means I will be crankin' out the posts. Even though most people that read this blog don't live in California I want to keep you abreast of things.

these titles never seem to load quick enough

FYI- i finally updated MOST of the blog links I have. If you see someone I don't have let me know! -chances are i don't know they have a blog.
Also, sadly the restaurant Merchant and Main has been taken off the fine dining list at the bottom of the page. The prime rib was "sub-prime" last time we went.

Miracle Blanket

As far as learning how to put a baby down to sleep, Brett and I are no pros. We really don't know what we are doing (or are going to do). However this blanket from Grandma Great is a miracle.
We have wrapped her up in it almost ever since she was born right before she goes to bed.
This way she can sleep anywhere, her bassinet, her crib, the couch, our bed, the floor, under the kitchen sink... Kidding!- and she is "signaled" that it is time for beddy-by.
So even though we don't know how to put her to bed it's like Grandma Great is tucking her in every night. Being wrapped in this blanket is like getting the best hug ever!
We love our Grandma! Her blankets are pure magic!

I looked out the window

I looked out the window and what did I see? Rachel B waving a yellow prop 8 sign out on the busy street corner. What a good trooper. I was driving home from work and there were about 15 people from our ward holding signs at an intersection. Rachel was there with her big, cute smile, waving her sign, and waving at me. I know it was hard for her, and she wasn't looking forward to the birds and the cusses she would receive. Yesterday she told me she'll just play a game, and count the flip offs, and when she has been flipped off 6 times it means she can go home.

Anyway, I'm really proud of her. I'm so lucky I married somebody who takes seriously the council of the church leaders and prophets and has such a strong testimony. We've been asked by the First Presidency to donate our means and our time to this campaign. We've been asked prophets, specifically Elder Ballard, Elder Bednar, and Elder Cook in an address to California members to work on this campaign 4hours per week. They encouraged us to blog and email about this, even to those outside of California. Rachel has done a much better job of this then I have. I know she's just trying her best to do her part to make sure society doesn't go to hell in a handbasket.

In other news, here is a picture of me and Marie watching BYU get dominated by TCU. It was pretty terrible. Marie was pretty upset at their defense, as you can clearly see.



Also, can't we just all agree that ice-cream cakes are way better than regular cakes? We had Midnight Delight from Coldstone and it was...wait a second...wait a second...okay, I'm back. I ran and got a piece. Where was I? When is that? Whatever. I got to go, this cake is awesome.

Happy Birthday To Me!!!

I've been "tagged." Also, today is my birthday so it's fitting I list "7 things about me" today.

#1

I love being a mom. When I was younger I was so afraid to grow up. I had no idea how fun being married and having babies would be. Every time I think I have reached the pinnacle of happiness, life gets so much better.

My life, my love, my 3 am alarm clock.

Marie is my best little buddy.

#2 I love this man!

He's my best friend. Ever since we met it feels like we've always been on the "same wave length." One of his friends, Charles, said while we were dating that it seems like we've always known each other. And its true. Also, I once told my dad that as I get older, the crazier everyone I know gets, except my husband. I think alot of us feel that way.

And he always puts up with me!

#3 I have some cool brothers:

Nigel: Hilarious, super handsome (always thought he should model), and loves video games!
Marcus: Always makes you feel good, peacemaker, produces really cool music- just got back from Peru! Hope he got me something good.
Malcolm: Very persuasive, stylin, just graduated high school
Jesse: Super Super Nice, has a cool wife and baby girl, recently diagnosed with Diabetes (and doing well now!)Heck I have an awesome family, including in laws. … I’m not just saying that!

Families can be Forever! High Five!

#4


Cool shows I like are Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, The Dan Ho Show,
The Office (holla!), Good Eats and anything about food or weddings. I know a lot of you gals can relate.




#5 I had a childhood crush on this guy... and never missed an episode of Magnum P.I.

#6 I love making Brett laugh.

# 7 I'm self aggrandizing. Hence I will finish this awesome post with a picture of myself.... in a wedding dress... that I am wearing right now... haha I kid- I kid... but I should wear my wedding dress every year on my birthday to celebrate myself. Next year I'll start that tradition.

I now tag THE ENTIRE SMITH FAMILY! Thats RIGHT- the whole fam.. or at least all the kiddies! Also Matt, Avery, & Rachel A.

I'll be waiting!