My Kids Are Amazing

Tomorrow is our last day working at our current jobs.

I think it's pretty safe to say we have absolutely loved our time working at these jobs.

Tommy has learned a ton about estimating and construction contracting companies and he is a mad pro at excel now too : )

I have spent these past three months getting to know 30+ amazing kids. They are hilarious beyond belief, and I have some things I'd like to share, but sadly, without hearing their voices it won't be as funny, but I'll do my best.

-----

December 5th:

"One of my 5 year olds wrote out his wish-list to Santa today.

He called me over yelling "Carly, how do you spell 'NAKED'?!"
I walked over wondering what on earth he was up to and he explained that he wanted a naked mole rat for christmas.

After we got through that long one [it took the whole 11 inches of his paper], he said in delight, "Great! Now I just need to spell Copper Head Snake!"

This was his finished product:

Naked Mole Rat
Copr Hed Snake
Rat Mouse Tarantula
Bat


Afterwards he drew which type of bat he wanted so Santa would know.
Then he decided to draw a naked mole rat, copper head snake, rat, mouse, and tarantula too.
Just for good measure.


-----

One of my 7 year old girls is currently in love with horses.

She has many of them that she rides around constantly. Imaginary ones of course. She is very passionate about them.

November 28th:

Sabrina made a paper horse today. She came over to me so we could brain storm about names for him.

S:
"I know! His name can be Russell!"
Me:
"Russell?"
S:
"No...What do you think would be a good name?
Me:
"...Asher?"
S:
"You're a genius! His name can be DASH!"


I'm glad kids can take our lame ideas, make them sound awesome and think we are still geniuses at the same time : )

----

Trevor is another one of my 7 year olds. He is adorable, has a smile 24/7 except when he's bummed about something small that happened 1-7 days previous, or when he thinks his older brother is being picked on. Trevor is tiny. He has huge, blue eyes and glasses that make them even larger and much of the time he just blinks up at you with a huge grin on his face.

My boss has a habit of saying the word "Seriously?" a lot when joking, sarcastic, or when she really can't believe something has happened. Trevor has picked this up and now says it all the time. It always makes me laugh.

Example:
He saw another kids shirt and said.
"A shirt with zippers. Seriously?!"


----
About a month ago I went out on a limb and taught the boys the code of chivalry and let them battle each other with paper towel roll centers. It was a pretty big experiment since they get pretty rowdy without my help. Before starting I went over the rules with them again. Especially the "No stabbing anyone in the back."

Trevor said "We won't stab anyone."

Me: "Thank you Trevor. You've been very chivalrous this entire time."

T: "Yeah, I'm feeling pretty chivalrous today."


I'm pretty sure he doesn't know what chivalrous means. But he's got it down pat.


----


Ruth is 8 or 9.
One day she randomly yelled to me from the other end of the table:

"CARLY! DO YOU WATCH BARBIE MOVIES WHEN YOU'RE BORED?!"

Me:
*stunned stare*
"...Barbie Movies?"

R: "Yeah, Barbie movies."

Me: "...I have never watched a Barbie movie in my whole life-"

R: "I've seen ALL the Barbie movies. I watch them when I get bored. I LOVE BARBIE MOVIES."

------

: ) I'm going to miss my kids.

Jobs Galore!

Well Apes, you may have heard. Or you may be hearing here, now, because I am going to tell you.


The Germans Got Jobs.


What?! Yes.

Which ones?! These ones!


This really cute one:




And this cross-eyed drinker [rootbeer!] one:




BOTH OF THEM?? yes. both.




Oh we're just tickled!

Tommy-boy got a paid internship/full time/job thing with a construction company in the area. He sits in a box all day as Supreme Intern Estimator playing fun construction games on the computer and blowing people's socks right off their feet with his mad estimation skills.

It's so supreme, we went out and got him spiffy new [used] clothes from Value Village so that he can look gallant all week long.

I haven't taken a picture of them yet, but judging how good he looks in this, I think you can imagine the rest.




I, on the other hand, will be working/internship-ing in a before and after school kids program for elementary-aged sprites. Thus, I shall be grunging down to fulfill my duties as Frau Teacher-Person in...dun dun dun!.... a bigger box than Tommy's!!

Portables totally beat cubicles : )



So, due to some very lovely people, we will actually have an income this Fall, I will actually get that beautiful piece of paper stating my DEGREE in interesting stuff, and Tommy will get one of his internships done a year early! And that is all cause to celebrate.


We recommend Melanie's cake everytime.



Sincerely,

The Happy Germans

Girl Talk : Girlishness

I've come to notice that many young females bond over hysteria splashed with wit.

It is a language and demeanor constantly filled with and exuding mass amounts of energy.

I think it is the consistency and height of this energy that catches my eyes and mind and perplexes them so much so that I cannot direct my attention elsewhere. It's captivating.

Much like catching a pair of squirrels squabbling high up in a tree, only to find that they're not squabbling, they're just chattering with excitement and then more and more squirrels pop out of nowhere and all of a sudden you have hundreds of jabbering, jumping, perfect-haired creatures, running around hugging each other, squeaking "Oh my gosh!! No way!!" every five seconds!

How do they get this way??

And better yet, how do they maintain it? It's exhausting just to watch!

I think somewhere between shoving my nose in books during first grade reading time and stumbling dazed into summer after my sixth grade year of terror [ahem...school], I was supposed to learn "Girlishness".

Therefore I would have had an effortless transition into late night girl discussions about boys and bras and deodorant with my best girly friends, and I would have bewitched the minds of men with my rocket-paced jabber, and I at least by now would speak and type in shortened phrases of already slanged words, and I would use more exclamation points and be so witty and fearlessly fluent in Girlishness that I could just walk up to anyone and conjure up a friendship in a conversation!


But I missed all of it!
Now how in this world does one make girl friends when people watching is a favorite past time, small talk feels horrendous, butchering beautiful words is criminal, bras are finally understood but aren't really common topics between acquaintances and the only boys I find myself talking about are my husband and God?


Maybe I should climb a tree and ask a squirrel.



post script: My deodorant of late is lovely so you know. Tommy smell-tested the whole wal-mart isle and picked it out for me. It's Degree orange flower + cranberry. Now you can tell me about yours.

Swoon to Honeymoon: A History

The first time I saw Tommy in suit pants, a white undershirt and suspenders; I swooned.

Well, the modern-day version of swooning anyway. I mean, come on, he looked like the sexy, private detective type from the 20's who chases down mob-bosses and probably even does his own cooking.


Anyway, in reality, we were in a super old (and gorgeous) mansion stacking white-picket chairs. He had been hired to be man-labor for the set-up and take-down of my sister's wedding reception. Little did he or my sister know, I had a major crush on him. Hence the swooning.

I could blame what happened afterwards on the suspenders, but to be fair, it's all Tommy's fault. He's just so wonderful.


But first, let me go back.

Approximately one month previous, I had reluctantly decided to do what I had never done before. i.e."put myself out there", "be bold" and "chase down my man". And being extremely shy at the time, I thought I was making wild progress by actually speaking to him on Sundays during church (we both worked in the nursery) and by getting acquainted with his family and even going over to his house to ask craftsy questions of his brilliant mother.

Looking back on it, I can see why he didn't pick up on any of my fearless attempts to accomplish the three aforementioned tasks.

However, this was progress to me and I considered it a major victory when, the day after the reception, he asked me to hang out at his house sometime that week. Which brings us back up to speed on our timeline...

We started a friendship that blossomed around lots of talking, card games, taking walks to the park, late-night Safeway runs for canned pineapple, tours of his high school, and of course, Smallville.

The dating began December 4th 2007.
1 blissful month later I left for college and 7 tough but love-filled months after that he left for Argentina.

I knew I was in love. I knew he loved me. And I was positive if we did everything right in God's eyes, we could be together again.

Mr. Hopeful was sure I'd marry somebody else while he served his mission in Buenos Aires for two years.


Fast forward 24 months and 4 days.


One of the best days of my life thus far: he came home.

He looked like a sunbeam with his tanned skin and his sun-bleached hair and his huge grin. He smelled like dirt mixed with old dirt mixed with foreign dirt shoved in a suitcase. He was beautiful.

The dating began August 4th 2010.

13.04 blissful and packed eons [days] later he proposed. August 16th 2010 in a parking lot at 1am.

7 months and 10 days later we were married and sealed for all eternity in the Rexburg temple. March 25th 2011.

It'll be 5 months tomorrow baby!

We were able to go on a wonderful honeymoon a couple weeks ago. [I'll write and picture-record that later] It was a much needed vacation where we got to do whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted, and had an absolute blast together. It was definitely a wonderful way to celebrate spending our lives together.

People call us newlyweds but I can't hardly remember my life without him, it feels like we've been together forever, and heaven-sakes do we love it that way.

I cannot count the number of times I've swooned or been swept off of my feet (literally and figuratively) by my giant, miraculous, sunbeam of a man.
Nor the number of times I've called him by his full name during our tickle/wrestle/play-fights, nor the number of times I've realized what a huge slice of perfection my life is with him.

Love is love is love is love. Can't get much better than that.

Something Carly Learned This Morning

Shadows don't shed light.

Doubts, mistakes, idiocies cannot be trusted to teach a lesson about light.
Darkness teaches of darkness.
We must know more than where the darkness starts and leads.
We must know where the light beckons and is born.
If we hold the shadows before us to remind us where we've been,
our path is marred, our vision blurred, and steps are sure to stumble.
Render to darkness it's shadows, leave them behind.
Render to light your trust that you can be enough with it, and that your sights don't need to be anywhere else.
Light will show us everything we need to know.

Weekends Barely Tolerate Sitting Next to Mondays

It all began with a bachelorette party.

This was my first since getting married, and let me tell you, when you're no longer single, but you've barely smudged off the "Just Married" sticker on your forehead, you sit in never-never-land with a lot of cookies.

Luckily Becca, Lynnea and Alisa Grace didn't shun me because of marriedness, they only jokingly said I should mingle with all the other married ladies in attendance...who I did not know.

I ended up telling these three friends what I've just recently come to know about marriage only to hear an hour later from a 4 year married woman what she knows about marriage.

You know it's funny, I'd pegged her for a reserved mormon wife at the start but by the end of the night she was telling me all about 'snake bats' and how "They don't care if you're tired, they don't care if you're in the garage, or in your parents house, men. don't. care."

Did I die laughing?


Yes naked apes. Mostly I did. Except for the dying part.


It only took me two more hours, and a re-telling to Tommy to figure out that the snake bat she'd been talking about wasn't the toy, flying, blind, echo-location kind, but the toy, baseball-hitting kind. Duh.

Moral of the story is apes, I'm too young, I'm too old, I'm too naive, and I'm too married, I'm not married enough, and I'll understand when I'm older, meanwhile I'm pretty sure I'm older than I was, and I'm certain I've been around three year olds for too long because I'm losing touch with adults.

All well, Tommy's still young :)

This evening I sat in bed with a carton of milk, eating Chocolate Chip cookies from the package, and when Tommy figured out what I'd done, he actually said I hadn't eaten as many as he'd expected and carried on the festivities with me while we started F.H.E.

In case you are wondering, this is reason 2,000,003 why we fit.



On another note, Naked Apes, I'm graduating from college this Friday.

Do you have any idea how weird that is? I don't have a plan after this. A vague one yes, but not a fill-in-the-cracks one. I know I want to read. Deeply. I want to start somewhere really far back in ancient Greece and Rome and work my way up through the greatest thinkers, creators, dreamers, and artists of all time.

Really, I want to start my education. But I'm afraid I'll lose all my gumption as soon as the responsibility sets in of internships and jobs and getting my baby through college. But it's little plans like this that make taking on all of the new roles and responsibilities not so scary. I suppose in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter that I don't feel grown or grown up. It doesn't matter that my recipe box has a total of four recipes in it, or that I don't have a single "woman" outfit in my closet.

Tommy's teaching me life is for living. No one up there ever said the greatest thing we'll ever do is grow up. I figure if I end up a little bit wise, wrinkly, imaginative, awestruck and childlike at heart, I'll have done something right.


Oh Nakies, I've got a long way to go.


p.s. Tommy is sleeping right next to me, and has been for the past 2.5 hours. He is so cute. His toes stick off the end of the bed, he's got a blanket wrapped around his middle, he's snuggled his head into his yoda pillow and his hair is sticking up wildly like sunflower leaves yearning for the light of our bed-lamp : ) I would have taken pictures of him at ten minute intervals this whole time if I knew how to charge his camera. Alas, you'll just have to picture him in your heads. Sweet dreams. Don't forget your prayers tonight, as I've recently re-learned, God loves midnight chats with his children.

Marriage is...

...Like synchronized swimming.


...the discovery of just how much toilet paper YOU use! No one else. Because you are the only girl now.


...Like speaking swaheelee when you don't even know how to spell it and your roommate is speaking latin.


...Like trying to exit a door that has a latch on both sides and your darling re-locks it every time you unlock it because the more you try to come out the funnier it gets to him until you're both laughing and you can see the twinkles in his eyes when he finally swings it open : )


...LOVING your morning dose of chocolate milk because he made it for you and it's perfect and perfectly delicious.


...Stealing all the covers, and losing all your pillows.


...Snapshots of perfection blowing by your face so fast sometimes you miss them. But you catch as many as you can and staple them to the walls to watch the best scene you've ever witnessed.


...Getting super excited to come home and go absolutely nowhere.


...Like rowing crew.


...Constantly remembering someone other than yourself.


...Like balancing with a giant on top of a pencil point.


...Realizing your own inexperience and hopelessly flawed nature and then realizing you can become wonderful together.


...Perfect. Like a dance. Difficult, requiring hours of patience, questions, listening, practice, stumbling, remembering, learning.


...Laughing and giggling and snorting and running around the house screaming and rubber band wars and late night chats and snuggling and tricking a giant into taking a nap with you and talking in your sleep and being a sassafrass and being so in love even if you're angry or tired or frustrated or happier than butterflies with mangoes.


...Life and love however you make it.

This is Where I Vent About Non-Preschool, Preschool Stuff

For those of you who missed my post I wrote a long time ago, had saved for 1.5 months, and finally just now posted...I'm doing a practicum for school right now in which I am one of 7 teachers at the BYUI preschool. We teach 3 year olds. And they are beyond adorable. Truth is, preschool is one of the most fantastic parts of my week.

Another truth is: the class I take in order to be in preschool sucks.

The work is extensive, exhaustive and exhausting. In a word: ridiculous.

Upsides:

If I ever get a job planning the daily schedule for the President of the United States, I'm going to be well practiced.

And if I make it to the end of the semester without giving in to the urge to shake my teacher and shout "THEY ARE ONLY THREE YEARS OLD! The lesson plan does not need to be 10+ pages of insane intricacies!" I will have improved my previously believed levels of self-control and patience.



Ahhhhhhh.
Time to get out some energy doing Zumba.

p.s. Tall, blonde and handsome has been curled up slumbering for a couple hours now beside me while I clack away. He is adorable : )

p.p.s. If you tie a colorful cape around my neck even when I'm in the midst of my lesson plan doll-drums, I can't stay angry. Tommy proved this 3 hours ago.

"Mano a Mano"

Tommy says this is what you say when you're about to fight a dastardly fiend. I would add that your eyebrows should be furrowed menacingly below a black cap and you should be of mexican or spanish decent so you sound legit using spanish phrases. Basically it would be best if you were

Zorro

or Puss in Boots from Shrek


...either way I guess you have to be Antonio Banderas.

Anyway Nakies, today I discovered the answer to two questions. Both of which I have harbored for quite sometime.

1. Do I have a Spleen?
2. If so, why, where, why haven't I ever encountered it before...?


Today I discovered my spleen. It's been saying hello for the past few days, I just didn't realize what it was. So today it decided to show me all of it's ninja moves and then challenge me to a duel!

I said 'ow', went back to bed, and eventually went to the doctor.

After a blood and urine test and x-rays (don't worry I held SO still), the lovely doctor said my spleen and colon are inflamed because I have mono.

Which also explains why my right throat gland thing is the size of a golf ball.

Now I know that I have a spleen, I know exactly where it is, and I'm going to make it so happy it will be working for me without a peep for the rest of my non-senility.

I have to say though, I like my spleen an awful lot. It has saved my life and never even let me get worried for 22 years. That's pretty stinking awesome.

p.s. Tommy is my favorite husband ever. Yes, this includes every possible man I could have ever married. Even Gideon I cannot even begin to list all of the things he has done for me while I've been a sick blob. True love nakies. I'm slowly figuring it out, and caring for sick blobs for days and days because you love them is definitely a beautiful piece of the puzzle.

p.p.s. I ate a 10 lbs. watermelon to make my spleen happy. Try it, it works. Plus it's delicious.

Snorting Makes Marriage Better

I'd say lots of things in fact make marriage better. But right now I'm watching movie trailers and snorting with laughter into my blankets as Tommy-love is taking a power nap on his smudge of the bed. [He claims I steal the bed AND the covers but I don't know what he's talking about. How could I be THAT awesome while sleeping?) Anyway, I'd say this marriage thing is pretty stinking good : )

I realized yesterday that my parents are interested to know details about how my life is going with my 6 ft. 1 boy-man....I really should have seen that one coming since they love me a lot, etc. Then I realized other friends/family might be curious as well, so I'm giving y'all the download.


Pretty much everyday is different, and everyday is fun even if we're tired, tackling grown up responsibilities, etc. It might be possible to write out enough times how much I love our life together so that you could truly see how much it's true, but it would take you a life-time to read, and really, summaries are great inventions.
[Tommy's new desk we found at D.I.]

Tommy is majoring in Construction Management and is taking both a framing and an architecture class this semester. He also decided to pick up a drawing class to work on his sketching skills since that is both fun, and will definitely come in handy later when he's drawing up blueprints etc. He's a smart cookie that one. He's pretty busy between labs, classes, homework, and making me the happiest Carleen Marie Steinkuhler ever. (Windy and I checked, I'm pretty sure I'm the only one in the country according to this site we found online...we were bored this one time.)

Tommy is amazing at making our house feel like home. He likes to unpack our things, organize them around our house, put nails in the walls and ask me which pictures I want where. He built us silverware dividers out of extra cardboard from all the boxes we've accumulated made sure we raided the after-easter aisle of Albertson's for goodies to put in our new Death Star cookie jar (Thank you Windy! We love it!) and was first to test out our Kitchen Aid by making homemade bread. He made 8 loaves last week haha, he's found a new love and calls the Kitchen Aid his baby :)
(cinnamon swirl, cinnamon & chocolate chip swirl, pepperjack cheese & spice swirl, raspberry jam swirl, peanut butter & chocolate chip swirl, & regular). He's figured out how to toss the dough in the air like a pizza pie, catch and release it over and over, spinning it high above his head until it's fluffy and soft. He has to kneel down so he doesn't hit the ceiling but he really loves it :)


He concocts all sorts of dishes, sometimes cooks up Argentine recipes, revamps our vast amounts of leftover soup, invents all of his bread variations, and uses the oven and stove often, keeping them bubbling and happy. So many people I've talked to expect me to be solely in the kitchen, but I'm glad cooking for us isn't just a gender-role ascribed duty, but has become a fun experimentation open to whomever is excited to try something new that day. Tommy often beats me : ) But his excitement is catching and I often sit on a splash of counter and read homework, etc to him as he cooks.

He's put up white christmas lights all around our house and living room, drug our mattress into the living room so we can camp out and watch movies, and made sure he can hang up my fort that he made me for christmas whenever we have f.h.e. so we can sit under it and read books aloud to each other that we loved growing up. So far we've read 'The Chocolate Touch' ~ By Patrick Catling , 'First Test' ~ by Tamora Pierce, and are starting on 'Dragon Lance' ~ By Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman tomorrow. It's been really fun reading books that have in many ways shaped who we are today or simply reflect pieces of who we've been.

Becca and Alisa come by fairly often for lunch every Friday and for playing games and watching movies other nights. Dueling with light sabers is not unheard of at such parties.
Tommy also found a friend to play halo with : )




[back when the bed was in our bedroom and not on our living room floor for a never-ending sleep over/movie night]


I am starting my period of servitude with the school preschool as my practicum for my major (Child Development). I spend 2-4 hours in preschool-class or the lab every week-day and the assignments, prep-work and actual preschool haven't even started yet. I must say that even though it was obvious from day-one that preschool was going to take over my semester, I love it already and am ridiculously excited for this Tuesday when the kids will come for their first day. We get a class of 3-yr-olds : ) There are about 19 of them, it's going to be crazy :) Did I mention I'm ecstatic? I am :)


Tommy and I have a DNA class together because I put off my last general-ed science class for as long as possible, and he's a young-in who does things on time :P Also I just really wanted to be able to take a class with him, and this is our last chance possibly ever. It's pretty intense for a foundations class but I survive infinitely better with him by my side laughing and telling me to calm down when I get angry at our very by-the-book teacher for occasionally using different (more exact and ugly) scientific terms than the nice ones used in our prescribed preparation homework. We got to make playdough models of the cell reproduction process of meiosis during class last week and I had to shush him a couple times he was getting so excited. He's fun :) Sometimes our class schedules allow us to meet up and walk around campus for a bit before we have to part ways to get to our separate classes again. This past week I've been pleasantly surprised by the giddy-nervous flip-flop my stomach does when he shows up unexpectedly in my recently-finished classes because his class got out early or I'm just amazingly slow at packing up. I hope I get to feel this at random moments for the rest of time. I love him.



Every day Tommy and I play. We are like two kids who never fully grew up, having tickle wars, light saber battles, wrestling wars, water fights, etc. He makes fun of the way I spit in the shower, enjoys poking and pinching me everywhere, is fascinated by the 1000 different ways my face can be squished, and the funny noises I seem to make as a result of all of these antics. I blow raspberries on his face, tickle him, have been known to stick my finger in his mouth when he yawns, you get the idea. Last weekend we put our new, gold, silk, playboy sheets on our bed (re-gifted to us by his Grandma, don't ask, we didn't), and took turns holding the top sheet in front of us like a toboggan as we ran down the hall and slid across the slippery bed as far as we could go. I skip like a rock 2-3 times until I skid to a stop sprawled out near the end of the mattress. Tommy has it down so well he slides 6 feet past the end of our queen-size bed where he collides into our front door in a laughing heap. Like I said, we play : )


The world is a bit crazy. But having a home I can create and enjoy everyday with the love of my life and God, nourishes me, and gives me hope, strength and better sight than my own to face the craziness inside and out. I don't need anyone to hang a flashing sign or arrow to tell me this is bliss. Life is best when you make it so. Best wishes and all my love to all you nakies

Thoughts

"Sometimes the best thing we can do for a person is remember them."

This thought just arose in my mind like truth rising up amongst mist. I don't know all that it means, or necessarily when it is true, but I feel that it holds something true and important. As though I simply have to experience the correct scenario and suddenly this thought will echo back upon me with all of the clarity and stark relativity that, at the present, I can only believe that it has.

Thoughts dawn on me like this sometimes. When I'm not thinking about anything really. Often when I'm listening to music that delicately twirls my brain into paths I would never have traversed. The thing is, I don't believe my mind invents things. I don't believe it's that clever or wise or fresh or old. It just...stumbles across things that already are. Perhaps they are truths that I've known and then forgotten. Perhaps they are God shedding some kind direction on my wandering soul. I'm grateful for the help.

Bride-zilla

"Do you ever feel you've become the worst version of yourself? That a Pandora's box of all the secret, hateful parts - your arrogance, your spite, your condescension - has sprung open? Someone upsets you and instead of smiling and walking away, you zing them? "Hello, it's Mr Nasty."

~ Tom Hanks as Joe Fox in 'You've Got Mail'


Dear Naked Apes, I can relate to this man.

I've been told many a time about "the craze". The craziness that consumes you when you're planning a wedding. I've seen the frazzled couples, their frayed edges glaringly apparent, but I've never known why exactly they'd become so.

However, I've now experienced a handful of melt downs myself. And every time after they're over, I think they're pretty funny. Mostly because they don't always make sense : ) So I've decided to document them here:

- August: woke Tommy up SUPER early by knocking on his bedroom door bawling my eyes out because I thought we might
have to wait until the following August to get married.
Good morning to you too love.

- January: Lost Tommy right after finding out that my little brother took my sincere offer to choose whether he wanted to come to Idaho or not. I realized I really wanted him to come and all I had to do was call him and tell him so. Instead I wandered around campus squishing tears out of my eyeballs looking for my misplaced 6 foot 1 fiance.

- Some night in late February: Tommy dropped me off at the end of the night like he does every night. Except this time I cried.
He tentatively asked if I was PMS-ing. No clue why.

- March: I almost cried in the pharmaceutical line at Broulims when the lady said I couldn't refill my birth control prescription because it was "too soon". She was no doubt confused, but was a darling, stopped asking questions and got me a refill.

- Two days later in March: I opened up my email inbox, and you guessed it: cried again.

Anyone have a baby age 0-2 years? Do any of these behaviors sound familiar??

They do to me.



Therefore I've come to following conclusions:

Society believes that:

woman+accepted proposal = bridezilla



and

Bride+bride's mother OR mother-in-law = bridezilla and queen kongs







and

Bride+ [bride+best friend] = Bride wars




and

bride is to veil as bride is to zilla: the closer the two are the more likely they are to become one and the same.





I also believe:

woman+wedding = flood warning




woman+wedding = miniature army
[Napoleon could have taken Russia with these.]



woman+wedding = baby
[no man needed, just give the girl time and she'll act the part.]





Therefore it's a really good thing women haven't run the world thus far. Because if we were the hunters, scavengers, fighters, conquerors, rulers....everyone would be dead or crying by now.

Today I Skipped Skool

Instead I had a melt-down. A "my wedding is 9 days away and I feel the fire to do things NOW" kind of melt down.

I did a lot of bouncing on my bed as I scorched my laptop with my flying fingers and google-prowess.

I listened to popular songs I don't really like but were of the appropriate amount of edge, tempo, and angsty-gangsta-ness that I needed to hone in my marriage madness mojo.

I left my bedtop to do only one thing:

Pee.


I wielded my cell phone like a saber, calling those I've never dared to call before. And, in a semi-crazed state, filled up at least five sticky notes with categorized lists depending on my means of transportation, various deadlines, and persons with whom I would be speaking. My laptop edge is lined with these beautiful soldiers.

I made sure not to hyperventilate.
However I did give myself possibly my first conscious, self-induced, stress headache.
I would have been proud of that fact had it not been uncomfortable for my upmost appendage.


I ate breakfast around 11, lunch around 4, and finally left the house around 6pm.

Because Becca and Alisa had pledged their allegiance to me and my cause, sucked me for information, formed lists of their own, and demanded I leave the house.

I got as far as subway in Becca's car, bought dinner, and reconvened with Tommy back at my apartment to consume the tasty morsel.

I made a huge delicious mess and did not feel sorry.


Then I went to class.
Not a class I was supposed to go to on a daily or weekly basis,
but a class that my classmates were teaching only once and that I will be teaching on Saturday.
Did I go to investigate their game plan and learn of their secrets? Yes.
Did I eat their homemade chocolate chip cookies? Definitely.
Did I add to their lesson? I contributed my opinion from time to time and asked a question because it was super awkward and silent in there....so maybe?

THEN the best part happened.

Tommy saved me after conquering the world, and took me off on an adventure to discover the perfect mattress.

We finally seized the beast, slew it, and slung it upon our trusty stead, strapping it down with towing cable strong enough to lug a semi and defy the storming heavens.

He took me home, had me close my eyes, and led me into our dim, new apartment which was freshly lit with draped christmas lights and home-making gifts he'd gathered all day to surprise me with : ) It was beautiful : )

We now own a squat little bookshelf, an exercise bouncy ball, a full length mirror, christmas lights, a love seat, coffee table, bed, and a nightstand.

And the best part of all of that is the 'we' part that is almost 100% true : )

8 days from now we get to go inside the temple we drove past on our way back to his place, and I've never felt so good about it. We are exactly where we need to be, and heaven feels like it's brushing my fingertips saying hello.

Today was wonderful : )






Hope yours was too nakies : )


p.s. Happy St. Patrick's Day. Kiss people. They could be Irish ; )

They'll Call Me Freedom

Well peeps, it's been about three hours and I'm sure I'm not going to sleep until at least noon so I'm giving up. Besides I've been inspired.


Today I'm 13 days away from entering into a covenant with God and the man that I love. That's a promise that I'll hold for the rest of eternity. It's endless. And it means that if I hold out faithful, God will honor his side of the promise. I'll be able to go home someday to my God, holding the hand of my best friend and love.

Now to be perfectly honest with you, I'm scared of the weight of this promise. I'm scared of my own weaknesses and imperfections. But I have come to know of the eternal importance of such a promise, the blessings that God rains down, and of the great love that God has for each of us. This is our greatest freedom. To not fear the death of our bodies or of our spirits. To not fear loneliness or abandonment. To know that there is more than this life, that there is a greater light than the sun and moon and stars. There is a greater purpose to our existence than suffering, confusion, fear, trial, heartache, and getting caught up in the distracting things of this world. There is a greater gift that extends past the bounds of this life, and smaller gifts that God wants us to open now all the time because he loves us.

This past week we discussed angels in one of my classes. Most people have heard of heavenly angels even if they don't believe in them. But we talked about mortal angels. People on this earth, living with us right now, who bless our lives every day. People who touch us, help us, guide us, love us so much that we know: we could not have been more blessed had God sent down angels from heaven. I've thought a lot about the people who have been angels in my life. People who I've thanked and not thanked. I may not have even known them, but my gratitude for what they have rendered me is great, and I would be hard pressed to put it into words. Yet I know I must try because they deserve to know.

Beloved people in my life, who are your angels? I know they are in your lives, they touch your lives, think on them for a moment and perhaps you will see them for what they truly are. Perhaps you will discover what I have; an overwhelming feeling of debt and gratitude and wonder at such beings with such love.

There are so many moments, the closer I come to viewing eternity, where my spirit feels freed. There are little bursts of light amid the mundane things of life, and I want with all of my heart, to give them voice.

- Sue Bagley signed our wedding license a few days ago. She is beautiful. She works all day in an office in Rexburg Idaho, but she is an absolute pleasure to be around, even if it's only for ten minutes.
-Tommy and I spent hours yesterday exploring a ranch store, D.I., and peering in the windows of a furniture store we will never be able to afford items from. It was a piece of heaven to skip and walk around with him and just enjoy being together, talking, drooling over cameras, movies and video games we can't afford, testing horrible colognes, looking at adorable bunnies and chicks, testing out mattresses and dog beds, whacking each other with ropes and whips and plastic tubes and bouncy balls. Designing our lives together in our minds.
- I get to see Tommy every day.
- It was warm on Thursday. I wore a dress.
- My family is coming soon :)
- On monday I got over myself and made friends with a girl I've been secretly mad at for absolutely stupid reasons.
- I sleep ALL night, every night.
- I finished a round of tests and papers this week.
- I met my visiting teacher in the check out aisle.
- My friend just got engaged to a great girl.
- I wrote poetry again last week.
- I LOVE TOMMY and I know that he loves me back.
- I get to read my scriptures anytime I want.
- God wants us to ask him for good things and expect to get them. To work for them and trust that he knows us and has heard us.
- I haven't felt nauseous or achey yet.
- My sister is coming to see me :)
- Windy Dawn reminded me of the song "Wavin' Flag". Watch it here, and don't be afraid to bump up the volume.



In it, it says "When I am older, I will stronger, they'll call me Freedom, just like a wavin' flag."

I love that.

To be called freedom to me means you are a Being closer to heaven and light than most of us dare to be. It would mean that you remember love, forgiveness and charity so often it's become a part of you, and your spirit calls out to those around you like a fresh breath of air. It would mean that you see angels all around you and don't forget who they are by calling them anything less. It would mean that you see the light at the end of the tunnel all of the time because you know this life is just a necessary and beautiful passageway onto the next. It would mean you've seen God for who he truly is. You've taken the time to find yourself, forget yourself, and find yourself in God. Figure out how it feels to be near him and to be far away from him, and you've decided for yourself which you like better. Freedom to me means truth. It means understanding. It mean boundless from the laws and walls of man. Freedom to me means seeing and believing in the capability of others. Freedom means loving someone past all of their weakness and your weaknesses, freedom means you've given up being free from others, you've given up being independent, freedom means you've trusted someone else enough to acknowledge that you can't do everything on your own and that is good. Because you know you have to be vulnerable by letting the right someone into your life so that you can grow stronger together. You let people act as angels in your life and you know you have something to contribute in the lives of others.

Freedom means you fall. Freedom means you fly.


When I am older, I will be stronger.

They'll call me Freedom.


Oh to be called such a thing. To know that we don't need to age to be stronger, but still knowing progression is where we are headed. To be called a being who loves, forgives, trusts, falls, repents, trusts, sees eternity while still confined to this mortality, knows of the truth of God, a being who acts boundlessly to improve in everlasting virtues and isn't afraid. Isn't afraid to ask for help and give up a piece of our pride because they know two together achieves more than one. Freedom: to not fear but act in faith. To rise again and again in light. Towards greater light.

Freedom in it's truthfulness is never a solitary state.
Free are spirits who have reached out and in and up so many times, they are not confined by their body, they are empowered by it and exude it's frame at every chance that their light is strong enough.


Friends, you are, and have to power to be, angels. I know that to be true. I hope you know you are stronger than you think.
And most of all, I hope you know God lives and that you have even an inkling of how much he loves you.

Let them speak truth when they call you Freedom.



p.s. This video is long, but it is beautiful. It's about the temple that was recently dedicated in Kyiv, Ukraine. The gathering of youth is amazing. Please watch it, pass it on. These young people have light in their eyes. I'd call them freedom.

WARNING: DO NOT SWALLOW

I'm a fan of white teeth.
So over a year ago I starting experimenting with:



I didn't like them. They tasted funny, they wanted commitment out of me for like...12 days for two half hour periods of no eating, smiling, happy swallowing or talking to any other living soul. BUT...

I'm a fan of white teeth and on the packaging they say you can combine the two half hour periods together by taking one pair of strips right after the other and I thought GREAT! I could do that during my late hours before bed when I'm evading sleep by doing everything else in my life...

And I did it for maybe 7 days and stopped.

It looked like it was working and COME ON with the inconvenient taste already. But to my dismay, 3 days later my teeth returned back to their normal lack-luster selves.

So I recommitted.

I gave it 5 whole days, bought a new package, gave that one 4 days, and spit my way through a couple more days whenever I felt like my teeth were slipping back into their old ways. And it worked for about the next 8 months..

Which brings us to the past 4-6 months when I've been meaning to use the rest of my crest whitening strips, but couldn't ever seem to find an hour in my day or night when I didn't really want to be eating, smiling, happily swalllowing, sleeping, and/or talking to this very attractive other living soul.

Until Friday, March 11th, 2011.

I put on a pair of strips, a calming face mask, propped myself up in bed and proceeded to listen/watch Elder Perry deliver a fireside talk.

The talk was 32 minutes, the strips needed a half hour, my face mask needed at least 20: I thought it was perfection.






Four and a half hours later I woke up from a dream in which I was convinced I was both Frodo Baggins (we watched Fellowship last night) and chewing bubble gum. How strange! my deaming self thought, I've never had a dream before that I was chewing gum, this bubble gum tastes kind of awful, something is weird...it isn't gum, it isn't gum, why isn't it gum? what is it? what is it? CRAP WAKE UP!!!



I woke up, and remembered, looked at the clock, remembered more, yanked the headphones out of my ears, remembered Elder Perry, shoved my laptop to the side, felt the shriveled up plastic in a sea of saliva in my mouth, and exploded out of my bed. I spat into the first thing I could find (our bedroom garbage aka a propped open brown paper bag full of tissues), spat out a wad of plastic strip, and barreled on to the bathroom sink and mirror spitting more into the first sink and then again into the second.

I saw my face and almost freaked out again, oh yeah, I have a face mask on. Then remembered reading the fine print of the crest whitening strips well over a year before: DO NOT SWALLOW STRIP. DO NOT SWALLOW STRIP. DO NOT SLEEP WITH STRIPS IN. DO NOT SWALLOW STRIP.

I had to know if what I'd spat into our garbage was one strip or two stuck together. I retrieved the bag, picked up something that looked like a freshly flung loogie, and unrolled a single whitening strip.

I ran back to my bed to google whether or not I was going to die from sheer and utter stupidity and found out from several sources that you are really not supposed to swallow the strip. Really. So good to know. One person gave numbers for poison control, and everyone else who said anything past DON'T DO THIS YOU IDIOT, said I wouldn't die, I just might experience a stomach ache and nausea.


I was relieved. And yet still nervous.
I could feel the other strip inside my body somewhere around the center of my sternum.
And yes, somewhere in all of that I wondered if I should stay up, change my clothes, and go for a run because I never see this side of 7 am having slept and then woken up. However I figured if I'm probably going to be aching inside and nauseous, running might not be the best idea. Being semi-conscious might be really great however, so if I can coach my nerves down to sleep I will.



Hey naked apes, don't swallow whitening strips. It may not be convenient to use whitening strips, but it's never convenient to swallow them and await the effects. Seek the satisfying whiteness in your waking hours. And hey, I'd really love it if our teeth could get whiter by us eating white things...because if coffee etc. stains your teeth, the opposite colored foods should apply, so could one of you invent a way to make that happen please?


Thank you.
And if I don't see you,

Good Morning,
Good Afternoon,
and
Good Night.


You're beautiful Nakies,
you're beautiful.