aaaaaaaaaaand we're off!

we are currently sitting in our living room waiting for dennis's dad to arrive and ship us off to the airport!

let it be known that we super chocked about this whole "government shutdown", it has totally ruined our plans to visit the grand canyon while in arizona. actually it's the whole reason we decided to make a pit stop in the desert to begin with.

let it also be known that i get huge traveler's anxiety the moments before walking out the door and committing to the things i have packed. so here i am, worrying about everything that can go wrong. dennis is sitting on the other couch on his phone, and suddenly lets out a "CRAP!" i, of course, am freaking out that he got some email like all of america decided to just shut down. i am now in a panic asking what! what! what!?????

and in natural dennis fashion, it takes him a few seconds to register and respond.

and this is what he says...

"one of the teams i picked lost last night"

lovely....


please, please, please wish us luck

but first, we must pack

soooooo here's the deal. dennis, willem, and i are jetting of to the great u.s. of a in 13 days (i just counted), and we still aren't packed yet!

now to some of you that might be ok, normal even. well, for me it's bad news. basically, i hate packing. packing a home? no problem. everything gets chucked in a box and goes with you.

but packing for a trip? whooooooooole other story.

1. everything can't come with you. so decisions have to be made about what makes the cut and gets to see the world with you, and what doesn't. basically, you have to pick favorites, you have to look your clothes right in the.... (threads?) and say "you, i want to make memories with you. and you? maybe next time" (we all know that if it didn't make it in the suitcase this time, it never will). dang you airline restrictions, and over the top fees.

2. the "what ifs" kick in. what if i pack something, but then decided between now and then that i actually want to wear it. what if in the rush of getting everything together i forget to wash and repack it? what if the weather report changes and i end up just have to repack everything anyway. what if i don't pack enough stuff, and we get stuck in the airport like over night or something? what if i pack too much and we don't have enough room to bring back the things that we buy? i could keep going, but i think you get where i'm going with this.

3. ugh, it's just hard.

so now that we got that out of the way, i'll go on to tell you what else is making this whole packing thing way more complicated then it needs to be.

you see, my clothing situation as of late has been kinda sad. this body of mine that grew and gave birth to another human being isn't what it used to be, things are just different ya know? so couple that with the fact that pretty much all of my tops are very stretched out, and warped due to the fact that i wore all my regular tops right up to the end (seriously, i did) picking out an outfit i am comfortable being seen in outside of my house is a struggle.

so i'm supposed to take all that, and choose which ones i'm am going to be stuck with for a week and a half, when i'm not even really happy wearing them for half a day at home. what if i change my mind. what if i think i wanted one shirt, but then decide halfway through my trip that i wanted a different on instead, but it's too late to do anything about it? see, it's those "what ifs" again.

the other thing is, our first stop is utah, we are hoping to take in some conference, stroll the beautiful grounds of temple square, and go to dennis' mission reunion. it should all be a good time. then, we are off to pheonix!

now, pheonix doesn't scare me, i plan to be in a swim suit most of the day, and then shorts and whatever thrown over that swim suit for the rest. so packing for there should be easy peasy.

but utah? are you kidding me. it's going to be an endless sea of maxi skirts, chevron prints, top knot buns, and way too many coloured/printed jeans. at least that's what pinterest and blog surfing has taught me they dress like these days. and we can't forget this thing called pattern mixing, oh heaven help me.

i'm just not cut out for utah. i own one maxi dress, but i reserve that for sundays when i just don't want to shave my legs, i don't understand the appeal of chevron anything, my hair is waaaaaay too short for even a pony tail. and coloured jeans? i can't even wear a blue top with blue jeans without feeling like the universe is judging me.

walking around campus in my byui days i felt like i might as well just slapped on a cleaner pair of pjs, and been on my way compared to them.

these girls mean business. they get themselves ready like they were going to... i dunno... some place reeeeeeeeeeeeally fancy.

life is just one big fashion show.

(you know, utah is the number 1 state for prescribed antidepressants... ya'll just need to chill out down there)

if we were just going down for a visit, seeing the sights, hitting up some outlet malls i wouldn't be worrying about what to wear, i'm basically living each day just to make it one day closer to a warm sunny day by the pool.

but since we are going to a mission reunion i feel like i need to step it up a but, you know like put on makeup or something. we all know that reunions of any kind is just a way for people to get together and compare their lives to everyone else around them. no one will ever say it out loud, but we all know.

so what do you pack when you know you're going to a place where everyone is in competition with each other, yet look exactly the same?

i dunno

but apparently i'm going to have to figure it out before next thursday.

wish me luck.

and dennis, because he is the one that is going to have to deal with me until then.

actually forget me, just give it all to him.

i'll cope.

What the crap did I just watch

does anyone else wonder what happened to tlc?

the tv network

not the girl band

well, i do.

yesterday, i spent the day down at my parents.

while willem was napping, i decided to flip on the tv, and check out what telus has to offer lately. i was scrolling through and came upon tlc

 i thought "perfect!"

i used to loooooove tlc.

saturday mornings growing up cassie would want to watch cartoons, andrew's choice was fishing, but mine was aaaaaaaalways tlc.

sure you had to wait through a few episodes of a baby story, and a makeover story, which was tolerable.

but then!

then came the good stuff

trading spaces!

                    ... oh paige davis...

clean sweep!

moving up!

overhaulin'

                  ... my dad would even watch this one with me...


and then to top them all off


what not to wear!

                             ... i very seriously considered dressing like a hobo for as long as i needed to, to get on that show...
                       

now that was good tv

but you know what the line up was yesterday?

crap, mostly

but to be more specific, i wasted 2 hours of my life watching this train wreck of a television show called "cheer perfection" it was aaaaaaawful!

it's about this tweeny bopper age cheerleading team.

actually, that's not right.

it's about their under fulfilled, over bearing, "once upon a time i competed in beauty pageants",  "i live vicariously through my 11 year old daughter", crazy mommas.

it was the most ridiculous thing i have ever watched.

i hated myself for every second i couldn't peel my eyes away from that mess.

now, there are still a few good shows on the network.

like..

cake boss (atleast, i think that's still on..)

say yes to the dress (makes me want to get married all over again every time i watch that show)

um.... yup that's about all i can think of

it honestly breaks my heart to see what has happened to tv, and makes me so happy that dennis and i never really watched it, and now that we have moved, don't even have cable anymore.

when i used to watch the old tlc shows i really felt like i learned something, and even gave me some valuable life skills.

trading spaces taught all the different things that could be done with just a little imagination, paint, and a really good carpenter in your back yard to just whip up what ever the heck you wanted at a moments notice.

they also gave the world ty pennington, who has since moved on to bigger and better things.

and this kind of thinking...

hey, it's called extreme 

clean sweep was probably the most informative of them all. purge, donate, keep.... purge, donate, keep... purge, donate, keep....

very valuable life lesson


and what not to wear? i mean, what couldn't you learn from watching that show.

the others were more entertainment, but still had very good content.



but now our only choices are reality momma dramma messes like what i watched. or shows like toddlers and tiaras. honey bobo something. i saw a commercial for a show called breaking amish? what the what?

i even caught a few minutes of one called extreme cougar wives.

there really are no words.

none whatsoever.

i went home last night feeling sad.

sad that the shows i used to watch and love, just don't seem to exist anymore.

sad that this is what my children are going to be subjected to as they grow up in this world

sad that paige davis isn't apart of my life anymore

sad this is what passes as good tv now.

but mostly sad that sherlock isn't going to be on netflix for like what?

forever pretty much

if you haven't watched sherlock, go on netflix RIGHT NOW and watch it.

if you don't have netflix, just borrow your parents password like we do and GO WATCH IT RIGHT NOW

so there is good tv out there

just not on the northern american continent

oh and tlc? you should know that i am never ever watching you again. like ever

(read as if you're taylor swift, it makes it so much better)

the one thing

i really have been so blessed with willem. he is a complete angel, and a dream of a baby.

but no baby is 100% perfect right?

right.

you see, we have this little issue. it's more of a laundry issue then anything else, but somedays it drives me a little bonkers.

so, spit up.

it's bad

and by bad, i mean a lot.

it's crazy somedays

when people ask how he is as a baby, i say how wonderful he is, and follow up with "but spits up like you wouldn't believe".

and of course i always get the reply of "well all babies do, that's why they wear bibs".

yeah yeah, i know i know, all babies spit up, it's just what they do. blah blah blah.

but seriously, it's to the extreme with my kid.

it's been confirmed to me many times by the many witnesses to his projectile explosions.

and it can't be explained away by the fact that he is formula fed, even when i was breastfeeding he was quite explosive.

so, here are a few things that i have learned when it comes to dealing with an up-chucky baby.

when burping the baby, it is best to relocate yourself, and him, to a floor that is hard, and will not allow for liquids to soak in. this makes it much easier to clean up. and gives you a reason to give the floor a good scrub. 

after the feeding is done, and you think all the burps are out, tummy time is still a bit of a gamble. there is still a large risk of a burp, spit up, and face plant. followed but extensive clean up, it gets in the mouth, up the nose, squished into the eyebrows. and if you're really lucky and miss when it happens, there also might be some rubbing around in it, and then it also finds it's way into the ears. overall, it's a real good time. 

and sometimes, even three hours after he is done eating, if you're really lucky there might be a little surprise left in there yet! "little" is really just a figure of speech in this case. 

so wear durable clothes that can handle being washed over, and over, and over again. 

keep stocked up on laundry detergent.

always have multiple receiving blankets around that now double as burp cloths 

(i like to call them drop cloths)

keep many changes of shirts at the changing table, and never put the one you actually want him to wear on him first, that one always get ruined. 

but mostly, i've learned there's just nothing you can do about it. 

so just love, hold, and sqeeze (but not too hard because that also results in up-chucking) that little guy, and know one day you won't have to change your clothes, and his, multiple times a day. 

when it has almost been a month and you can't think of anything else better to do....

you post pictures!

it's ok though, because my kid is way cute

costco totally jipped me! i was shorted an egg. should i now feel justified opening the package at the store to make sure i get all the eggs that they are charging me for?

all things new and exciting!

you guys, it's been wild for us this past month.

crazy busy kind of stuff. not like, holy crap i'm going out of my mind busy.

just more like, blogging? ain't nobody got time for that, kind of busy

you see, dennis FINALLY graduated last month.

praise the high heavens!

it feels like all of our married life has been building up to this one day, and you know what happened?

i got in an accident

that morning

not a bad one

but it still happend

in my defence, it was either that or certain death, sooooooo in the end i think it turned out ok

but back to dennis...

he did it!

he wore that cap and gown. stood so we could all take pictures of him. sat (and so did we) through three hours of people talking about nursing. then he proudly walked across that stage, and he didn't even trip. now that's something to be proud of.

most of his family and mine was able to come out and watch our boy in his great moment of accomplishment.

graduate.

not trip, that was just an added bonus.

and even though it was painfully long, it was all so worth it.

good job dennis!

next on the list.

i gave a talk in church

as a youth it seemed like i was giving talks all. the. time. and it was no big deal. but you see that was about 5 years ago. and i haven't peeped one word up at the pulpit since then.

so the weeks leading up to it, i was going a little out of my mind. not with the anticipation of standing infront of a group of people, that's a piece of cake (just don't actually look anyone in the eye and it's ok), but trying to figure out what to write was enough to send me right of the edge of sanity. i had one of those topics that seems meticulously specific, yet way too broad to make any kind of sense all at the same time. how is anyone even supposed to work with that?

anyway, i spent 2 weeks avoiding and worrying about it. then one week stressing and writing, crumpling, and the rewriting.

i say crumple, because i actually hand write everything first, then type out the finished version.

we went through a lot of paper, and i heard dennis tell me i'm too old fashioned many times.

well sunday came, i stood up and rocked that talk, sat back down and wondered what all the worrying was about. i'll probably remember next time.

you know when you are anticipating the arrival of something that you really don't want to happen, and all you let yourself think about to keep perspective is that exiting thing that is going to happend AFTER the thing you don't want to do?  

well i had one of those things.

remember that compulsive need for change that i have?

well that itch has finally been scratched.

WE MOVED!!!!

we finally have some more space, a lot more sunlight. a basement to help us out on those crazy hot summer days. a big beautiful yard. a huuuuge garage. bigger kitchen. two bathrooms. laundry room, complete with a full sized washer a dryer. and a few other goodies

you really just never know the value of these simple luxuries until you've lived three years without them.

so ya, there was one little minor set back there.

but mostly, things are really lookin' up for us lately.