Rainy days and Sundays

I miss Texas the most on Sundays. I've been struggling trying to figure out why, because every Sunday I kind of just have a little pit in my stomach of homesickness.


I think it is the very hardest during church. First of all, I miss walking in to sacrament meeting and seeing Ferg and Bishop Howell up on the stand. I miss that when all of my kids start screaming simultaneously during the meeting and I turn to leave, Ish sticking her tongue out at me and I miss the empathetic looks of a hundred people who love my kids almost as much as I do. I miss sitting next to Sheyenne in Sunday school and exchanging witty remarks with Dario. I miss going to the nursing room to visit Gina (er....change Ivy's diaper I mean). Then I miss being in young women's and our four young women. I miss seeing Betsy at the piano and seeing Lauree's happy face conducting and hearing one of Robin's wonderful lessons.


Then I miss being late to pick up Bentley from nursery because I stopped to talk to every single person I saw in the hallways.

What I miss the most is that I knew every person in the hallways. I knew something about them. I knew what they did at the last talent show. They are people who have seen me at my worst and who love me anyway. They are kind, wonderful, amazing people. They are my favorite people.

And I think the best way to describe it, is that "in a crowded room I feel alone". That's not to say that eventually I won't know and love everyone in my ward (congregation), but it takes time. I hadn't realized how comfortable I was in Texas. I knew the people at the check out lanes at HEB, my banker, the parents at the preschool, my neighbors, my fellow church goers, the librarians. And here I just see strangers.

It's amazing to me you know...when a new person showed up at church in Round Rock they were almost bombarded with people introducing themselves and inviting them to dinner or dessert or something! It was almost hard to sneak an introduction in because they were so busy getting to know everyone. We've gone to our new ward for two weeks and no one has come and sat by me in relief society, no families have really introduced themselves to us in sacrament meeting, it's just so interesting the difference.

So way to go Round Rockians!

I miss you! Especially on Sundays.

Kristi Vs. Wild

Ahhhhh. Nothing beats a late summer day spent at the cabin. A little rock hunting, hiking, pb&j eating, you get the idea. A delightful day, indeed.

We bid our friends farewell and had to finish a few last things before we could go. Change a diaper, get one more refreshing drink from the water fountain, basically stay in the canyon as long as we could because it was such a perfect day. I was heading over to get a drink when I heard some twigs snap. I looked up and to my surprise saw...

A GIANT moose. A giant, hungry, man eating moose, no doubt. See those logs there at the bottom of the picture? Moments before (maybe three minutes?) I was standing on the tallest log and jumping off onto the rope swing (see the rope cutting across the picture?). Frankly, I am amazed that I was not gored mid-flight!

I had a little panic attack since moose are known to be a bit...mmm...tempermental. I scrambled to get the kids in the car and then we were able to watch the majestic moose eat and meander. I thought I ought to take some pictures, lest I be known as the girl who cried "giant man eating moose".

But then he gave me a menacing kind of look.

and we left. Promptly.

The END.

iphoney

Have I mentioned that my phone got washed? As in went-through-an-entire-cycle-of-our-washing-machine washed?

It was sweet really. I was having a hard day and heading out the door and teasingly said to Blaine, "you better finish doing all of our laundry while I am gone." Which was really a joke because I had just done all of our laundry. But good ol' Blaine, he found the clothes I had just changed out of as well as a whole bunch of clothes in a laundry basket (which I had just gotten out of the drier but hadn't folded, but I digress...) to wash.

Unfortunately my phone was in my pants. On the good word of the entire facebook population, I put the phone in a bag of rice and let it sit for several days. But it was too far gone and when I tried to turn it back on it let out a few courtesy vibrations and a couple flashes and then died once and for all.

So I've been searching for a new phone. I've always gotten the basic model. I don't text or do anything fancy. But getting a new phone would commit me to it for TWO years, that's a long time!

And Blaine's dad has this really awesome iphone

and

and

and

internet EVERYWHERE I GO! Google maps right at my finger tips! Plus you just push a button and say "call Ralphie" and it does it. Who wouldn't want that?

Well, I still didn't particularly care but happened to be looking at the att website the other day and navigated away to another page when from across the room Blaine squeeled (screeched? yelled? bellowed?) "WAAAAAIIIIIIIT, GO BACK! WHAT WAS THAT...GO BACKKKKKKK"

and back I went.

He had seen over my shoulder that the iphone now has a "rhapsody" app.

and oh my, even I could hear the hallelujah chorus going in Blaine's mind.

It's like his dream, his number one fantasy, has come true!

All of his music, his phone, everything, on one device.

He had to have it. He simply just HAD to have it.

He was willing to get a second job, donate plasma, sell vital organs, ANYTHING to get his hands on this iphone.

And I can respect that, I really can. He doesn't ask for much in life, and have you seen the guys CD collection? I am confident he is musics biggest fan.

So I came up with a plan! A foolproof, happy, wonderful, amazing plan!

See his birthday is coming up in eleven days. So my plan was to tell him that we had to wait until Christmas to get iphones...make sure a few more rent checks clear... get settled in our new place... save some money... blah blah blah.

Then for his birthday I was going to buy some "fake" presents. You know...nice sweater, pocket protectors, corn nuts, the usual.

Then late at night when he thought it was just another birthday, just like every. other. birthday. I would pull out a cute little white package. His eyes would light up like fire. He'd unwrap it and suddenly not only would it be the best birthday EVER, but it would be the best day of his entire life.

And I would instantly become the best wife ever.

It was so perfect! So amazingly perfect.

He is always doing creative, fun, surprising stuff for our anniversary and I am always handing him new tube socks wrapped in wal-mart grocery sacks for all of his special occasions. It's embarrassing really.

So this was perfect!

But GOODnight. The guy would not stop talking about this stinking iphone. It was consuming his every thought. His every waking and sleeping moment was pure torture simply because the world's best gadget existed and he didn't have it.

On our drive up to the mountains yesterday I was like, "so... I've been doing a lot of thinking and" then he interrupted "AND WE SHOULD STOP AT THE ATT STORE RIGHT NOW AND GET MATCHING IPHONES!" to which I scoffed and said, "um no. I'm thinking we should wait till Christmas to get our iphones".

And then it was like world ended. I can only think of like two times I have ever seen him more distraught. Seriously, the blood drained from his face, he put his head in his hands and faintly whimpered, "really?".

And then during the whole campout it was like

"oh man, we are lost, if I had an iphone I could figure out where we are"
"if I only had an iphone I could be writing you love poetry RIGHT NOW"
"if I had an iphone we could watch LOST in the middle of the night while we are camping"
"if I had an iphone we could find better firewood"
"if I had an iphone there would be WORLD PEACE, would you deny the world of world peace? Really, WOULD YOU?"

and it persisted on and on until today I finally just belted out my secret.

And there will be no best birthday ever.

Because he ruined it.

But wasn't that such an awesome idea I had?

Please, validate me : )

Update

Wow blogger friends, it's been a while, hasn't it?

Not much going on here. Well, lots is going on, but nothing good has been going on.

Until today, things started looking up today, so I am peeking out into the blogosphere and letting everyone know that we are still alive.

We've had some struggles since moving to Utah, but hopefully those will resolve themselves. We are moving into a basement apartment in Lehi next week, so that's good. It's a daylight basement so that's even better. I think we will be happy there and hopefully the commute won't be too hard on Blaine or any of us. Luckily there is a park nearby and a trail, and a freeway.

I know you are wondering what I have missed the most while not having my earthly posessions.

There are only two things I miss

*my bed
* double stroller.

How the double stroller did not make it in the "take to Utah immediately" pile I do not know, but that was a grave grave mistake. Same thing with the bed, but that one is more understandable.

It kind of makes me think I could throw everything else away because I haven't missed much else.

The kids are loving being near their grandparents.

I am not liking that already the mornings are cool enough to wear jackets.

Ivy is growing like a weed. She is still as sweet as ever. Oh man I love her.

Bentley is turning two and in honor of that has limited his vocabulary to "NO" , "NO WAY," "NOOOOOOOO", "Don't want to", "let go a' me" and "MINE!". Which is really awesome. I love him too.

Gwen is starved of attention. Everytime I walk by her I hear a plea of "pluhhhhheasssse play with me". I love her too.

Overall our kids are doing remarkably well. What with having absolutely none of their things or their friends and moving about like gypsies, they are in good spirits and health and what more could one ask for.

I ache for Texas, and Ralphie, and Kawaii's, and my house.

But all things considered we are doing just fine.

Hope to be blogging again soon!