Kira, That Bald Baby

My parents are visiting this week, this morning my mom and Adalin were lying in bed in the dark and their conversation went like this...

Grandma: Adalin, what color is your hair?
Adalin: Blonde.
Grandma: What color is daddy's hair?
Adalin: A yucky blonde.
Grandma: What color is Mommy's hair?
Adalin: A pretty blonde, like mine.
Grandma: What color is Grandma's hair?
Adalin: Brown.
Grandma: What color is Kira's hair?
Adalin: Just skin.

Going Private

I have noticed that some people that I highly distrust are looking at my blog on a regular basis, so I am going to make it private. For all those people that regularly visit that I love and who are my friends, just comment or email me and I will send you an invitation that will allow you to look at my blog whenever you would like. I just want to keep the creeps away! Sorry if this is an inconvenience...

Love Stories

Tara tagged me with this one. I am happy to do it because I love remembering in detail the times when Adam and I dated and got married. I keep up my blog for one main reason. At first it was because it was what all the other med-student wives were doing, a trend, you could say. I realized that I am writing my personal and my family’s history with each post I create. My friend, Tasheena, told me of a company where you can actually publish your blog. Yes, you can make it a book to put on your shelf. So this is my journal. I hope that having a series of books, published at the end of every calendar year, will be a blessing to my posterity. Actually, I know it will be. My kids will love reading about all the funny things they did and said, the struggles that their parents went through, the great times we had. That’s why I love blogging. This history is irreplaceable.

Back to the tag: I would definitely want these things included in my history’s volumes, so here we go…

Who kissed whom first?

This answer will involve more than just saying Adam did. It was the middle of February; I was at his apartment in Provo one night hanging out. He picked me up earlier in his friend, Kent’s car. He didn’t have a car at the time, so as it was getting late, we began to think, as we always did, about how I was getting home. S-Hall of the infamous Deseret Towers was not too far of a walk, so that was an option, though it was “hecka cold” outside, as we used to say. I was expecting Adam to take Kent’s car again to drop me off. He had a different plan in mind. He said, “Let’s walk.” Um, OK. It was cold, but you know, I was a Michigan girl and could handle it. So we did. We wanted to kiss me. That’s why he would rather walk. There would be more time to muster up enough guts to actually do it if we walked. So we are about half way home and he said, “Let’s climb a tree.” Um, OK. So we found one, just south of the Wilkinson Center in BYU’s campus, on the East side of the street that runs in front of it, next to one of the buildings that is only used by the janitors or something. We sat there for I don’t even know how long. My hands were numb, as was my nose, so I couldn’t really feel the runniness of it very well. He finally kissed me up in that tree. I wish I could say that it was a perfect kiss… both of our lips were so numb that we pretty much just touched our lips together for 5 seconds. No puckering going on there. He teases me to this day that it was like kissing a brick wall. Another wonderful detail that was when we “kissed,” our noses touched and some of my snot got on his nose. I am sure that turned him on. What do you expect? My nose was numb, that’s what he gets for walking me home in 0 degree weather I guess. It was cute.

Who asked who out first?

He asked me out. We went to a monster truck rally in Salt Lake. It was a quadruple date and all of the guys dressed up as hicks, wigs, flannel plaid shirts, holey jeans, mesh John Deer hats, you get the picture, I really appreciated his creativeness.

Who said I love you first?

I don’t remember. He just said to me, “I don’t know but I highly doubt it was you.” He’s right, he probably said it first.

Who proposed?
He did, in the same tree that he first kissed me in. We drove around town for a while on a Sunday afternoon, past some of our most memorable places. I knew it was coming soon, suspected he had the ring, and wanted him to ask me so badly. We climbed our tree again (I was in a skirt) and he asked me. I was speechless for an entire minute or two. I wanted to say yes but I couldn’t speak. I worried him and he said, “Are you going to say anything?” Then I said, “Yes!” It was awesome.



How long have you been together?
5 years


How long did you date?
8 months, engaged for 4 months after that.


Who eats more?
About equal, which is really sad considering I come up to his shoulders in height and weigh 80 pounds less.


Who is taller?
Adam is 6'2" and I am 5'2"



Who has more speeding tickets?
Neither of us have one, but we both drive fast. One day we will get slammed a ticket…


Who is smarter?
Hmm, he is pretty dang smart and would whoop me in every subject with one exception: MATH.



Who is more sensitive?
It depends. We are both selectively sensitive. I am the cuddly one, but it takes him longer to get over an argument and he is a little softer with the kids, not that I’m not, but he gives into Adalin’s wants easier.


When there is a fight who usually wins?
We are both stubborn. He usually gives in first, but typically holds his opinion and we end up having the same conversation a week or month later.



Who does the laundry?
I do, usually, but when I get behind on it he does a few loads and catches me up.


Who does the dishes?
Mostly me, but we both carry that load as well. Who sleeps on the right?When lying in bed, I am on the right.



Who pays the bills?
I do.



Who mows the lawn?
He does and loves doing it. That’s what he does during his study breaks when its warm outside.


Who cooks dinner?
Me and I love to.


Who drives when you are together?
Usually him.



Who is more stubborn?
We are both pretty dang stubborn.



Who has more siblings?
He does. He is the youngest of 8! I am the second of 4.

A Good Daddy

Here's my Dad and Mom with my girlies.

I was sneaking chocolate chips out of my baking cupboard this morning. There are not many things better than chocolate in the morning before breakfast. I was walking around with the chips in my palm and they began to melt. This little event prompted a childhood memory of mine to resurface. The human mind is amazing. I haven't thought about this childhood memory for a long time, but it is still in there! I thought that I would write it down before I forget it for good.
When I was little, my Dad and Mom managed a storage facility in Allen Park, MI. So that is where I grew up! The houses that are usually above or next to a storage facility's office are the manager's housing. I spent my days until I was 11 at Stop N' Lock on Enterprise Drive. I have fond memories of this place, from rollerblading endlessly around the property, building snow forts on top of 10 foot snow piles created from the snow plows plowing the isles, watching fireworks on the roof, my German Shepherd, Edgy, who we raised from a puppy and was the guard dog of the place. He would pull me on my roller blades, it was fun.
There was a candy machine in the office with M & M's in it. I acquired a quarter, put it in the machine and got my M & M's. I ate all but one light brown peanut M & M (back when there were light brown ones). My dad had been outside for a long time painting a building, so I thought that it would be nice to bring him a candy. I held it in my hand, clenched, all the way over to where he stored his painting supplies. I opened my hand to reveal a mostly-melted M & M. He looked at me like, "Hmmm, I guess you want me to eat that." He did. That's a good dad. He knew not eating it would have hurt my feelings... Love you Dad.

Spring Fever

I love Saturdays when I get a load of things accomplished. I vacuumed upstairs right after I woke up and knew that it was going to be one of those very productive Saturdays. I proceeded to spend 3 hours outside (in the almost freezing cold) basically detailing our car. It was very satisfying. Our car's interior was covered in filth. There was still some trash in it from our Christmas trip to MI and back if that tells you anything. I began by just getting all of the garbage out of it, then vacuuming. After a good vacuum job, I noticed that the carpet in there was more than dirty. It had 3 years of dirt sunken into it. I borrowed an upholstery/carpet cleaner from my friend Tara and went to town on the filth. It felt good, let me tell you. The solution getting sucked into the dirty water tank of the machine was opaque, brown dirt. Ewww. I cleaned the seats and the carpets with this amazing machine, wiped down the dash and all plastic components.
Our neighbor walked past as I was doing it and said, "looks like you have a little bit of spring fever huh?" Yep, exactly. I am so sick of the snow, ice, rain, cold that I think I am resorting to pretending that it is spring. I ignored the fact yesterday that my hands and nose were numb b/c I didn't want to admit that it was really too cold for cleaning out cars. I am SO ready for spring, it isn't funny. It feels like it has been 3 months since Christmas, not half that. Hopefully the next 4 or 6 weeks won't go by as slowly as the last 7.
Then Adam and I decided to rearrange our house. This is something that I have been doing ALL winter. People come over to my house and say, "Oh, you switched your living room around (again)." Yep, I most certainly did. What else is there to do inside when it is too cold to even step outside? Well we did it again. We moved the computer into our room, the bookshelf that was in our room to the dining room/kitchen area, and the phone table out of our room to the same place. Satisfying. I just love having a new look in my house. Using what I already have and making it all look new and fresh again.
I also began re-upholstering our piano bench, but have yet to locate my staple gun that I loaned out to someone (I forgot who) so I can finish the job.
This is what you call Spring Fever. Projects, cleaning or crafty, being initiated all the time.

Valentine's

This Valentines day was unique. Talking to my friend Ruth Tuesday, she offered to babysit my kiddos. What! What about your Valentines Day? She gave me the excuse that her husband works Thursday nights so they wouldn't be doing anything anyway... Hmmm, how could I turn that down? I made her swear that they didn't have any plans and that having extra kids wouldn't put a damper on their special evening. If you know Ruth, of course she said, "Of course not!" So we did it, dropped that chillins off at the Goughs to play, paint, eat, run around like wild monkeys. They had so much fun there! What did we do? None of your business. Kidding... I made a special dinner and we ate it by candle light in a quiet house. Even the dogs were quiet. It was great. We had Red & Green Lasagna, Home made whole wheat bread, Caesar Salad and nice juice and sherbet floats that Adam thought of at the last minute. It was nice. I really wanted to make an appetizer and a nice side dish to go along with dinner, but you know, it would have stressed me out to prepare all that food, so I passed. Adam and I have been arguing for weeks whether we are going to get a Tohoe/Yukon or an Expedition when we get our next, bigger vehicle. We have been test driving each for a few weeks and there are things that each of us like about both vehicles. It has been a contentious point around here... we finally decided that we are going to nix both ideas and get a Toyota Sequoia. We thought that Sequoias would be way out of our price range, but we found that if we get a 2002 or 2003 with 60-80,000 miles or so on it, then we can afford it. We drove one of these babies earlier this week and we LOVED it. It drove better than both of our previous options. We trust Toyotas too. We have a Camry now and it has been a great car. Why do I share this in my Valentine's Day post? Because after dinner we both crowded around our computer and looked at Sequoias online. We were having fun, browsing the Internet for our dream vehicle without kids at our side. Lame, I know. We had fun though. It was nice to finally agree on a car! We went out for a few more calories at TCBY. Adam got a waffle cone with white chocolate mousse soft serve and I got a chocolate and Butterfinger dipped waffle cone with Rocky Road ice cream. You can tell who is more calorie conscious out of the two of us. Him. It was delish. And the ice cream there is like 97% fat free. I don't feel too guilty. I always find a way to justify eating lots of ice cream. We picked up the stinkers and had some good conversation with a few of our good friends. It was a good Valentine's day.

It's Official!

Our house is under contract! We signed the real estate contract Thursday night, so March 17th the deal will be closed! I can't tell you how much of a blessing it has been for us to have the house sold so soon. We are so grateful that we won't have to worry about if it is going to sell or not all the way until we move. It will be done and over with and we won't have the stress when we will be packing up and finding a new place to live in Michigan. The couple that are going to buy it are 3rd years here at the med school. He is doing a fellowship this year, so they will be here for at least 2 more years for rotations. We made a deal that in 2 years when we come back for graduation, that we will be able to come and see the house again. The whole thought of selling this house is something that I don't like to think about. It makes me really sad actually. In 30 days, this won't really be my house anymore. It will be someone else's and I will be renting it. It will be weird. That's why I choose not to really think about it, because I have a lot of mixed emotions about it. This is the first house that we have purchased and we have loved it so much. We have absolutely no regrets buying it and living here. It will be a really hard, sad day when we pull out of Kirksville on July 23rd for the final time, looking at the house in our rear-view mirrors. I will cry, hard, guaranteed. I am glad we have a few months left until that day. I will cherish every day, though I am really excited to move. Like you can see, I am back and forth about it all the time...

Adalin is 3!

Adalin's Birthday was Saturday! It was an awesome day! We woke up and all had Whole Wheat Blender Pancakes with Fresh Strawberries and Homemade Cinnamon Syrup. It was way good. Then we put-putted around the house, getting ready for Adalin's little birthday party that was held after her afternoon nap. She chose a Tinkerbell theme months ago and Grandma was so awesome to send from Michigan every Tink party necessity for the event, including plates, cups, napkins, balloons, a Tink banner and hanging Tinkerbell decorations, a Tink cake topper. I found Tinkerbell cupcake baking cups at Walmart, score! Adam had to remind me that the amount of lvoe we have for Adalin was not measured by how many Tinkerbell items we had for her. He's right. It was so fun though to be completely obsessed with Tinkerbell for a day. During the party each girl made fairy wands out of dowels, Styrofoam stars and ribbon. It was a really fun little craft! You can spot the wands we made in some of the pictures. We played Pin the Star on the Wand and Do as I'm Doing, with the leader wearing fairy wings.

Some things Adalin is doing now that she's 3:

- She seems to be the Alpha girl around here. She is always herding up her friends and telling them what to do next. She is definitely a leader. Sometimes she is a little too bossy...

- She loves her baby dolls, especially Baby Sara, her water baby that Grandma Allen got for her for her 1st Christmas. She carries that baby around like she is very real, feeds her, changes her diaper, holds her over the toilet on days when she is potty trained, puts her down for naps, goes to the imaginary store with her... you name it.

- She loves her (real) baby sister, Kira. It jsut fills my soul with happiness when they play together happily. You can feel the love that these 2 have for eachother. It is so cute. Adalin, of course, lets Kira know of everything that is coming next in their schedule throughout the day.

- She is a good little babysitter too. Sometimes when I need Adalin to go see where Kira is or to make her stop fussing, Adalin in on it. She loves to help.

- She still loves water. She loves playing in the kitchen sink, the bathtub, the shower...

- She says the darndest things. I need to write more down here. Some of the thigns she says are just hilarious. "Hilarious" is actually her newest word obsession. She says everything is hilarious. I keep reminding her the hilarious means funny, but she still uses it grossly out of context. It's hilarious sometimes.

- She loves her friends. She talks about them all the time and always wants to get out of the house and go over to a friend's house, or have a friend over. It's cute.

Rosebud Substitute

We were all on a giggly mood last night eating dinner and Adalin began talking about her body parts. You know, just how she has arms and legs and the usual things that normal people have attached. I asked, "Adalin, do you have rosebuds?" ("Rosebuds" are what begin to appear on the chest when a girl begins going into puberty. She obviously doesn't have these yet but, like I said, we were all in crazy, fun-loving moods.) She looks at me, utterly confused (because she doesn't know yet what rosebuds are) and says, "No, but I have butt cheeks!" Well, my almost 3-year old daughter, I guess that that will substitute you not having rosebuds just perfectly.

In Memory

The beloved prophet of my church passed away last night. Gordon B. Hinckley was a wonderful man. I loved him so much. He helped me through all of my teenage years and inspired me through rough times during the first few years of marriage as well. I have listened to his voice countless times in General Conference and other meetings, live or broadcasted over many miles. He always gave me hope that I could be a little better, a little stronger and a little closer to the Savior. He was so uplifting and inspiring. He is the perfect example to me of love, kindness, generosity, humility and hard work. He was such a good man, more than a good man, an extraordinarily wonderful, amazing man. I sustained him many times in my life as a prophet of God, I know he was and I pray that he will find peace and joy as he reunites with his sweet wife, Marjorie in heaven. I will miss him so much and will always read his words and remember him with great appreciation and love.

He gave us his testimony, "I hope that all of you will remember that on this Sabbath day you heard me bear my witness that this is God's holy work. The vision given the Prophet Joseph in the grove of Palmyra was not an imaginary thing. It was real. It occurred in the broad light of day. Both the Father and the Son spoke to the boy. He saw Them standing in the air above him. He heard Their voices. He gave heed to Their instruction.
"It was the resurrected Lord who was introduced by His Father, the great God of the universe. For the first time in recorded history, both the Father and the Son appeared together to part the curtains and open this, the last and final dispensation, the dispensation of the fullness of times.
"The Book of Mormon is all that it purports to be—a work recorded by prophets who lived anciently and whose words have come forth "to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations" (Book of Mormon title page).
"The priesthood has been restored under the hands of John the Baptist and Peter, James, and John. All the keys and authority pertaining to eternal life are exercised in this Church.
"Joseph Smith was and is a prophet, the great Prophet of this dispensation. This Church, which carries the name of the Redeemer, is true.
"I leave you my testimony, my witness, and my love for each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen." April 1, 2006, Sunday morning session of the 176th Annual World General Conference

I know also that the things that this amazing man spoke are true to the core. I will miss you President Hinckley.