The big 3-0

This summer I had my 30th birthday. I've been semi-dreading this because I really liked being in my 20s. Also, I had told myself a couple of years ago that I would like to have 3 kids by 30. Elements beyond my control - that wasn't happening. I decided I was going to set a goal to do another 5K. I ran a 5K almost 3 years ago - I think my time was 40 something minutes. I had never run a full 3 miles before then, and I walked a majority of that one.

My goal was to run the full 3 miles, after training for a little while I decided that a run walk would give me a better time than running slow the whole time. I had told my friend Jackie about doing the 5K, she hoped right on board. Honestly, unless she was doing it I probably would have whimped out, Thanks, Jackie.

I made a 5K mix on my mp3 player and I strategically placed certain songs, like "Eye of the Tiger" came up at about 1/2 way when I typically got tired.

So I walked a total of 4 minutes and I finished my 5K with a time of 32:33. I was pretty happy with that. I think its the fastest time of all my practices. Made turning 30 almost worth it... almost.



Here were my other friends that ran with me, Mary Ann and Jackie. It was fun to have someone else come along. Best part was having my hubby and girls at the finish line. I'm now contemplating doing a 1/2 marathon in Utah in May.


As for my 30th birthday, it actually turned out to be pretty good. MaryAnn had called and told me that her and our other friends were going to throw me a birthday get together during the afternoon. I got lots of phone calls during the day from friends and family members wishing me a happy birthday. I would say a lot more than usual. I was talking to MaryAnn on the phone and mentioned that I was on my way to Jackie's house for the party. She said that I couldn't go inside yet because she hadn't decorated. I appeased and sat out in the car talking to my sister, Becky. Jackie comes running out and says that she forgot to get tomatoes and sour cream for the luncheon and if I could run and grab some. They offered to take my kids while I ran to the store, so I went. On the way, Kim calls and we chat for a few minutes until she got to the store where she was going. I got back to Jackie's house and I knock on the door. I hear, "You open it, no you!" I was thinking just open the door.

When they opened the door, there were my friends, the place was decorated and had a huge "Happy Birthday" banner. I was so happy, as I look around I was a bit surprised.

Trav was there and...
My sister, Kim. Trav had flown her in for 5 days for my birthday. Yeah, I cried when I saw her. It was an amazing surprise, and I have a wonderful husband who is very good at keeping a secret.
We had a great time. We worked out, ate yummy and not so yummy food, watched movies, went swimming, ate junk, went to a great restaurant and a movie. I love my sister. I am so thankful for my hubby and hers for making it possible for us to get together like this. It made my 30th birthday very memorable.

I love you, Thithter.

Things I learned from my calling

My calling to play the piano has been very challenging. I feel like I'm getting better, and surprise, surprise I'm starting to like practicing.

Although practicing can get a little difficult with the girls under foot in our tiny apartment. A couple of months ago I was sitting down to practice. I wanted to run through one song just one more time and then I was going to play with my girls.

Rachel stood by me and said, "Mama, mama, mama, mama, mama, mama" and Lauren was on the other side talking incessantly. I hit my limit. I had a shining Mommy moment and I yelled at my kids, "STOP TALKING TO ME!" I put both of them on the couch and told them, "Let me go through this song 3 times and then I'll read you a story." The girls are crying on the couch and I sit down to play my song. I start laughing a little bit to myself as I look at the words of the song I was practicing, "There is beauty all around, when there's love at home." I really know how to spread the love.

Rachel

So I didn't mention 2 year old updates on Rachel. During her appointment we saw that Rachel was 65th percentile for height and 55th for weight.

She is the sweetest little girl. A funny thing about Rachel is that she has a very low voice for a toddler. Sometimes I have to drop my voice to mimic hers. Rachel vocabulary is coming along. After Rachel gets up from a nap she has to have some "snuggle time." Throughout the day she will come up to me, hold out her hands and say, "I nuggle mommy." I love it, its so hard to resist. She loves to snuggle in and press her face against mine.

Lately, when she talks she will say things out of order. The other day she caresses my face and says in a soft voice, "I mommy lub. I daddy lub. I noree (Lauren) lub. I cat lub." It cracks me up. We don't have a cat - she was just letting me know.

Rachel also has a bit of a stubborn side. We have tried transitioning her to a big girl bed, she keeps on crawling out and turning on the light. Or she'll sneak downstairs and stand there until you notice her. On the other hand, she is quite easy going when it comes to playing with other kids. She is such a blessing in our house.

Words to describe Rachel at age 2: funny, sweet, snuggly, loveable, stubborn, self-reliant (I do it!), tough, active, & curious.

Lauren

Here are my two birthday girls. These two crack me up. I love that Lauren loves sharing a birthday. Its one of the first things that she tells people when she meets them.


So on their actual birthday we decided that we would go to Chuck E Cheese. Our good friend, Mary Ann and her kids, went with us. It was all worth it seeing how excited she got over everything.

Rachel loved all the rides. When she was playing the game where you roll the ball up into the targets, she kept on chucking the balls every which way.
By the time we left there I was a little overwhelmed. We headed home to decorate Lauren's birthday cake. She wanted a Word Girl birthday cake - Word Girl is a show on PBS. I had grandiose plans for her cake. I was going to do it with fondant, but after a failed attempt at doing another cake with fondant, I gave up that idea. This was what we ended up with.

Lauren liked it, although she asked me where Word Girl was. I told her I wasn't talented enough to draw her on.

Here she is doing Word Girl's pose as she says, "Word Up!"At Lauren's 5 year old check up, I had them check her eyesight without her glasses and then again with. She had been saying that she didn't want to wear her glasses - that she can see fine, "They just make everything big." The original doctor said that she thought Lauren would grow out of the glasses. They check her vision and said that it was fine without the glasses. It was 20/20 in one eye and 20/25 in the other. We decided she would no longer have to wear her glasses. She has been ecstatic about that.

She was in the 98th percentile for height and 75th for weight. Lauren is almost 4 feet tall and gets mistaken for a 6 or 7 year old a lot. Our second Sunday in church the Primary president asked me if she was just 4. I said she was and she said, "Wow, she's so tall." Lauren is usually the same height or taller than most 6 year olds.

Lauren talks almost non-stop. She has heard me say on various occasions, "Let's just have a few minutes of silence." Lauren is so social. She talks to everyone and always wants to invite someone over for dinner and playing. In Arizona, she really got into swimming. We did lessons at the local Aquatic center and it amazed me how quickly she caught on. She can swim totally unaided. Lauren is also very sensitive. She's made the comment, "I don't want them to laugh at me." She can get her feelings hurt very easily, but she also bounces back like a champ. She is my "super helper," she loves to do anything that will help me out. She is so good to her little sister.

Words I would use to describe Lauren at the age of 5 are: sweet, talkative, social, smart, kind, helpful, friendly, active, and inquisitive.

Grandma & Grandpa visit

At the end of June, Travis received an award from the Army. The Army even paid for Travis to have a guest come in, so Trav's folks made the trek down. It was so wonderful to have them.
On this day we had a series of events that we attended including a luncheon where Travis got his award. We were so proud of him. Later that evening we headed off to a Military Ball. I enjoyed this Ball a bit more than other one's that I have attended.

The next day we headed off to a local farmer's market, had lunch in the park and played with Grandma & Grandpa.
We had so much fun with them. We decided to celebrate Rachel's 2nd Birthday. I made her an Elmo cake. I loved that she recognized it right when she saw. You know that is a good sign. She kept on saying, "I see, I see!"


The cheeser of a birthday girl.

Catching up

I've been putting it off, but I figure I better update my blog. We'll see how much I get done tonight - it has only been 4 months ago. We really haven't done much except celebrate 3 birthdays, an anniversary, and moved into our first home. Okay. Let's get started.

Father's Day

I got this idea for a father's day card online. I was pretty proud of it! It was suppose to be a blue shirt with a white background and made to look like a shirt. I made it look like my girls' daddy's uniform. I even put velcro on it to close it up - just like his uniform.

I married a marvelous man, and I'm so happy that we had a day to honor him.

Calling

I got a new calling in my ward. For those of you who don't know, I took about 9 years of piano growing up. I rarely practiced and didn't get very good. There are a handful of church hymns that I can play. About 9 or 10 - that is out of 315 hymns. The Relief Society president asked me if I can play the piano. I said, "Kind of and with lots of practice."

A few weeks later I got called into the Bishop's office. The Bishop asked me to be the Relief Society PIANIST!! I actually laughed then accepted the challenge. I'm about 4 weeks into it. I will be able to play a hymn at home and then at church people start singing and I have a minor anxiety attack.

Things I've learned about myself since I've started... I can play the hymns. I have to take it really slow at first but after a few days I can play it. By the 6th day of practicing, I'm getting close to being able to play it all the way through without any mistakes. I'm starting to enjoy practicing. Something I never thought I would say. I'm enjoying the challenge of learning a song. I really look forward to being able to play hymns if someone needs me. I'm starting to see that if I continue to practice, that could be a possibility.

This last week I had 3 hymns to learn. We had a busy week with Trav's folks in town, speaking in church and attending some military functions. I decided to really practice 1 hymn and just play the top hand on the other 2. The one I learned was "Love One Another." I thought about recording my playing it to post it, but decided against it . On Sunday, I played "Love One Another" without any mistakes. I was so excited. Its the first time that happened. I wanted to jump for joy! The Lord is blessing me as I struggle and learn with this new calling.

Here's just a cute picture of Rachel at the piano.

The Old West

Being in Arizona there is a lot of old western history. A few weeks ago, we headed to one of these tourist sites. They had gun shows, singing shows, train rides, car rides and a carousel. The girls had a lot of fun. The only scary moment is when we were almost there and I realized that I didn't have a diaper or wipe on me and we were a long ways from home. Thank goodness for convenience stores.

Here's Lauren driving the cars. Here's my ride with Lauren. No one should ever let their 4 year old drive!

Rachel even got a chance. Thank goodness the adult got to push the gas or else we would have been stuck at the starting line.

Trav decided to lock the girls up in the jail. Rachel seems pretty intent on getting out.

This is just a cute picture of my little girl and her "nono" backpack. We call it a mono backpack - mono means monkey in spanish.

Lauren didn't like the sound of the gun. Good thing she had a daddy shooting those bad guys.

Look-a-likes

Abby has been requesting more posts. So, my in-laws are in town. My mother-in-law brought a picture of herself a week before her 2nd birthday. Do you think it looks like anyone we know?

Maybe...

Worried

I appreciate all of your kind comments on my last entry. I wanted to give everyone an update and let them know that I'm doing much better.

I figured out what it was. When I move to a new area, I like to invite people over and entertain. Our apartment is just too small for that, it was cramping my style.

This week I feel much better. There were a handful of outings that helped me to get to know some of the other wives better. I had a tough day with my kids one day last week, so I called a few girls and someone went to a movie with me. I needed a girls night out - and I'm starting to make those contacts.

I can still be social even though I can't invite people over to our small, cat-smelly apartment.

Fuur - ends

You have to read the title as if you were Ricki's mom in "Better off Dead." If you don't know that movie then you need to put it on your netflix queue and enlighten yourself to one of the best 80s movies of all times.

Last night our ward had a get-to-know you enrichment. They bounced around to tables and had a list of questions at the table that everyone had to answer. It was an enjoyable evening accompanied with a lot of chocolate. You can't go wrong.

At the end of the evening they had one of the ladies give a little talk on friends. The girl was really funny and reminded me a ton of my dear friend, Katie. As they were giving the lesson I almost teared up a few times. I feel lonely here in Arizona, and I'm really feeling the lack of friends. Trav tried to tell me that I've got him, somehow its just not the same.

On my ride home to my house I was analyzing my feelings. I came to the hard realization that this is going to be my life. Every few years, starting from scratch. Don't get me wrong, there are a handful of things I love about moving. I do enjoy the starting over and starting anew, but I'm having a hard time with it. My sister asked me, "How long did it take you to make friends in MD?" I told her I remember being really depressed the first 6 weeks, but then feeling better once I joined a gym and got out of the house.

Then I remembered back to my time in Maryland and it took me almost a year to find "Abbie" (name has been changed to protect the innocent). "Abbie" was always there, its just that I didn't get to really know her until I started reading her inner most thoughts on her blog. I realized, this was the friend I had been searching and praying for. A person that was sincere and doesn't put up a front. What you see is what you get, and I LOVE THAT!

I've been very blessed in my life to have had great friends. I have dear friends from high school, friends that I roomed with at college, "couple friends" with Trav & I when we were newlyweds, friends from TDY, and friends from living abroad, and those from each duty station. I also have wonderful sisters and cousins that have become dear friends. So you friends, I thank you, thanks for being the wonderful people that no matter how long its been since we've talked, it always like it was just yesterday.

I guess I'll just have to bunker down and deal with it until my "Abbie" appears once more. But don't worry, "Abbie" you'll never be replaced.

Arizona

Living on the bottom floor has its advantages. Bringing groceries is nice because I don't have to go up any stairs. Our townhouse in Maryland had the kitchen on the 2nd floor - so I'm glad I don't have to lug groceries up the stairs week after week. Also, we've only had to start turning on the A/C this week and only in the afternoons with the temperatures around mid 90s.

Then again, living on the bottom floor has its disadvantages. Namely this Cockroach:
This Camel spider:

And this Giant Crab Spider:
Luckily Trav found all three and I haven't seen one of them without him around. He caught the camel spider in a cup (ours wasn't quite that big) and wanted me to come and look at it. It was disgusting and I couldn't handle it. Trav assures me that none of the things found are poisonous, but they all seem to be living in my linen closet. It makes me a little nervous every time I open it. I just know its going to be like Arachnephobia and a spider is going to jump out at me and kill me instantly.

Our Road Trip

Well, after 12 days, 12 states, 1 District of Columbia, and over 3000 miles we are finally in Arizona. I didn't think about it until halfway through New Mexico, but I thought it would have been cool to take a picture at every state that we went through. Oh, well.

We first drove from MD down to FL to seem my folks. We had such a great time. We stopped at St. Augustine, FL which is the oldest settlement in the U.S. It was cool to see, and I loved that it was right next to the ocean. While in FL we went to the beach, hung out with the folks and went to Gatorland - which was awesome.

Rachel with her scared face.

Lauren getting eaten alive...

On the train around Gatorland. Rachel threw her sunglasses off the train about 2 minutes after this picture was taken.My MD friends gave me some Disney $$ because we were originally planning on going to Disney World. Our plans changed, instead Travis & I went with my folks to one of the hotels and had dinner. I love food - and this was AWESOME food. My dessert was a Passion Fruit Creme brulee. It was so yummy!

From there we drove and stopped and had lunch with a mission companion of mine. It was great to see her and her family. I have been so blessed to have great friends - ones that even though you haven't spoken in a while, that when you are together its just like old times. Emily is one of those friends.

Lauren and Rachel loved staying in hotels. Luckily we had a few days where they could do that.

2 days later we arrived in San Antonio and stayed with some good friends from MD that got stationed in San Antonio. It was great to see their family again. We tried to go to the Alamo, I think we were there a total of 1/2 hour. Trav really enjoys reading all of the material that's posted, that was cut short by our 4 1/2 & 1 1/2 year old running crazy all over the place. Maybe we'll make it back again in 10 years.

We spent Easter weekend with them and were even there to celebrate their daughter's birthday.
On Monday we headed to El Paso where we had dinner with my cousin and his family. Great food and even better company! The next day we were off to our new home!

Rachel did pretty well on the trip. Her favorite activities were to call my name incessantly. "Mama, mama, mama, mama, mama." One time it happened for about 15 minutes. I was about to scream. Mind you, this is with me replying, "What, honey?" for the first 5 times. Also, she would put her hands on her carseat buckles and say, "All done. Mama, All done!" It was so sad to tell her we still had 3 more days to drive. Whenever we went someplace we put her Monkey backpack on. She loved it and called it her "nono" - we've been calling it her "Mono" which is monkey in Spanish.

We realized (not quite a big surprise) Lauren loves to talk. There were a few times that Trav and I would beg her to be quiet for just a little bit. She mainly kept busy with a new Barbie that our neighbor gave her before we left. Its the Diamond Castle Barbie and when you press her hand it sings 2 songs. Thanks, Laura, those songs didn't get old at all. ;) ... "I feel connected..."

Why couldn't more of the trip been like this:
The day we arrived, we got right into our apartment. The apartment is REALLY small - that and it has an odd smell. A little musty, a little like urine. With my passive-aggressive nature, I didn't say anything. I'm just suffering through everyday. We try and have the windows open everyday - I'm hoping that's helping and that I'm not just getting use to it.

The weather has been nice. We've been in the 80s or low 90s lately. I'm thinking we lucked with the location (although its not close to the pool) it does face Northeast ( I think). We get the morning sun, and we just close our blinds in the afternoon and our apartment stays cool. We haven't even had to turn on the AC yet.

On Trav's first day of class, he found out that another LDS family, who was here last time we were here, are here again. They weren't in Trav's class, but the class before us and she cut my hair. Really nice family - we're looking forward to getting to know them better this time around.

Lauren is officially registered for kindergarten which starts at the beginning of August. SUPER EARLY! She wasn't able to go to Primary on Sunday because she had pink eye which Rachel now has. In the meantime Lauren will start swimming lessons in May.

As for myself, I joined a gym and working out has helped me feel much happier with our situation here. Trav and I are currently trying to figure out where we want to go next and how we want to do it. We would love to go to WA and there are lots of options that could get us there - many of them include deployments. - The key is some deployments would be longer and/or more frequent than others.

Trav started classes on Monday. Its been awesome, the latest he has been home was 4:30. That's about 2 1/2 hours earlier than MD. He just called and said he is on his way home... its 2:30. I love it!

Rachel

Rachel is the cutest little girl. She is starting to throw fits and hates getting dressed, but she is so sweet when she isn't doing those things.

Rachel says, "No." to everything. Even when she means yes. "Rachel, do you want some food?" Her reply, "No." I mean really this girl is my child of course she wants food. I'm trying to get her to say yes now. Now she will say "Yeah" but she adds a fist pump with it. Also if you ask her anything she'll say, "Huh?"

When Rachel tries to say Lauren she says, "Nonee" The cute thing is that I have her stick her tongue out to try and make the "L" sound. This is what happens. The second video is just to show you how talented my 20 month old is. She can roll her tongue. Enjoy!

Ella & Lauren

When we moved here 3 years ago, we moved to the same area as 2 of my cousins. Woop-dee-do you may say? Its huge - my cousins are from Idaho and Wyoming and we all end up in the same area on the east coast. Alisa, the girl cousin, is only a year younger than me. We hung out at Ricks way back when - and here we were together again. Our kids are only four months apart. They get along pretty well. Here are some pictures of Ella & Lauren through the ages.

This was at Lauren's 2nd birthday party. I adore this picture.



This was the next summer when the girls were about to be 3.
Recently, we had a sleepover as a big farewell for the girls. We picked up Ella and went to Chuck E Cheese. Neither girl had been and they loved it. They played games, ate gross pizza, and won tickets. Travis had the camera with him in Utah so this was the only picture I got.


We came home from Chuck E Cheese and made some carmel corn and watched High School Musical 3. At 8:45 I took the girls up to bed, we set up a tent in the guest room and layed out their pillows. The girls finally went to bed at 11:15 that night. From downstairs, all I heard was lots and lots of giggling. The next morning we topped it off with chocolate chip pancakes and a long bath. I'm so glad that Lauren found such a good friend!

As for myself, tonight I had to say goodbye to my dear cousin and friend. I'm so glad that we got to move here so that we could get to know you better. You have been such a good friend to me and my family. You took such good care of me while Travis was gone. You are one of the reasons that makes it very hard for me to move. I love you, Alisa!