The Cobb Spot

This is for you, Danielle!

2011-01-24T21:17:00.003-06:00

Since I'm fairly certain that Danielle is the only one still reading... and she's previously asked for the "Carson Birth Story" I'll try to recall the details and anyone who stumbles upon this might be somewhat enthused. ... Birth Story... where do I even start?

Friday, September 17, 2010 was my last day of work before Maternity Leave. I was due September the 21 and was planning on being overdue (I really hate disappointment, so I figured I'd go with worst case scenario in this instance). I thought I'd have a chance to relax a little bit, bum around on the couch, maybe put some finishing touches on Carson's room, etc. That night as my last "hoorah" we went to Matt's parents for Mama's Pizza and a movie... although now I can't remember what movie it was. Oh yeah, Date Night! Anyway, this was also not an uncommon thing, we usually went to Matt's parents on Friday nights.

We came home pretty late... and got to bed pretty late as well (poor planning on my part). At about 3:00 am, my water broke. Turns out this only happens for like 15% of women. At first I wasn't sure that that was it. I wasn't having contractions, and I wasn't quite ready to be excited (again, the whole disappointment thing). Matt was pretty confident that it was my water (I mean, what else could it have been? It didn't smell like I had "wet" the bed). After I was convinced this was the case, I called my mom. My dad actually answered and asked for us to call as we got closer to Harris SW. I then called Matt's Mom. This was what I call Grandma Epic Fail. She didn't answer! The entire 2 weeks before that she would answer the phone "Is it baby time?" and THE one time she should've answered, she didn't. Turns out, her phone was still on silent from the movie. So, I then call Mary. Sidenote- Mary is the best way for us to communicate with Matt's family. She answered in a very groggy voice (after all, it was 3 am) and I said, "Mary, your mom needs to answer her phone!" and she responded "**Gasp** Are you serious? Okay, bye."

So after that I took my time a little bit, took a shower, got some stuff together (still no contractions). Even Matt took a shower. Matt made me take one last pic (I thought about posting it, although it's by far THE worst pic of me EVER). I look like a beached whale. Since I was starting to feel some pain, I decided we should head up to the hospital. It was probably about 4 am at this point.

One of our good friends (and awesome Visiting Teacher) is an ER nurse at Harris SW (Barb used-to-be-Meyers Gilchrist). She had informed me 2 days before that she would be working that weekend and hoped to see me. Thanks for the good luck, Barb! So I called up there to tell her we were headed that way and she said she'd meet me out front with a wheel chair.

She did. And I'll never forget when I got up to Labor and Delivery. Barb wheeled me into the room that they had gotten ready and the nurse asked "what is your complaint?"

I'm surprised my pregnant self did not unleash on this poor ignorant woman! I mean, really! I'm as large as a cow, in a wheel chair, wincing every few minutes in pain IN labor and delivery, what do you think my complaint is? That I stubbed my toe? Hello, I am having a baby!

What Barb later communicated to me was that since I told her that my water had broken, she took that to mean that I had wet myself. I had to explain to her that my water broke at home and that I didn't ride to the hospital on a towel because I had already handled my situation! Turns out I was like the 5th person to have their water break in the ER that night and having your water break is somewhat uncommon.

Once I was in my gown and all, my next question was "when can I get my epidural?" Which was a whole new "adventure".

Once the anesthesiologist came in I was relieved. I knew that everyone said that it can be really uncomfortable for the initial needle to go in, but totally worth it. I was okay with that. In fact, I don't remember contracting any of the four times it took him to get it in my back. That's right, FOUR times! After the anesth. came in he tells me that this can cause paralysis and yada yada. Of course I say "I know, I know, just give it to me!" At this point in my pregnancy, I was SO swollen that besides my toes being actual sausage links, my back was (according to the Anesth.) "all wrong for this." The first time he tried I was screaming (because it hurt) but that didn't mean I didn't want it. I just have a really low pain tolerance- hence the want for the epidural, right? He yanked the needle right out and said, "I can't do this, I'm hurting you too bad." I was afraid he was right, but he gave it one more try. All I remember from that was praying SO hard that it would work. And it did!

This was the best part of labor! I slept. A lot! The nurses were in and out monitoring my levels and such, and I did have to be put on some oxygen because the baby's heart beat was reflecting some stress, but that seemed to be about it.

After a few hours one of the nurses came in to tell me that Carson's head was at a really weird angle. At this point I fear that after all of what I have gone through was a waste because they would c-section anyway. But what the nurse went on to say was that she wanted me to lay on my side to see if I could get him to shift because his head was smushed up against my pelvic bone or something. Long story, short, it worked.

You know, your entire pregnancy people tell you "horror" stories about things to make sure you do or don't do. The one I remember the most was "if you feel pain, ask for more drugs"

It was about 2 o'clock in the afternoon at this point and I was feeling pain besides pressure. I wanted to tell them now before it was too late. My doctor had mentioned that with your first it was common to have 15-18 hour labor. I figured I had a few more hours but that I didn't want to wait until it was past the time of getting any more drugs and having to suffer through it "alone".

So the Anesth. returned to give me another dose of this stuff. Just after that, the nurse checked me and said "Oh, it's time to push!"

This put me into a panic! I wasn't ready for this. I didn't want to push but also, I didn't want the baby to fall out of me because my doctor wasn't in the room.

At this point I had a really good nurse who can see by the look on my face that I had no idea how this baby was really going to come out of me! She then asked "did you take any birthing classes?" to which I answered, "no." Her face told me "out of all of the women I've ever helped in delivery YOU should have been the one to take them" but her mouth politely said "it's okay, women do this EVERY day, you can do this!"Matt leaned over and said "Hon, there's another girl down the hall who is using the same doctor, I think we can beat her!"

So the nurses got out these stirrup thingies for my legs so I had pressure to against. However, I was too short to really use them. So at every contraction my mom and Matt would push against my feet. After about an hour of pushing, Carson Andrew was born at 3:04pm on September 18, 2010. 7 lbs, 13 oz and 20 inches long.

That's the condensed version, if you can believe that. But when the doctor took him out, and rested him on my stomach, all I could think was "someone fix his head, someone fix his head, someone fix his head." Needless to say, he has a really nicely shaped head now.

So there you go, Danielle, hope you enjoyed!

What?? We have a blog?

2010-12-28T07:46:00.003-06:00

Good Morning folks (for those of you who still have us on your feed). I happened to stumble across our blog (which I forgot the web address to). SO much has changed.

For starters, ummm, we have a baby. His name is Carson and he is THE cutest thing EVER!!! Also, Matt pretty much quit Tipping the Scale. And... so did I. I miss it a whole lot and would like to get back with it, we shall see.

Matt started his own business and has been doing REALLY well with it! He does Multimedia stuff, corporate branding, videography, editing, etc. and has been working with his sister, Mary (who is getting married in March) in helping her get her photography business going.

I FINALLY got the promotion I've been desiring for a while to the Assistant Branch Manager at one of the locations for the Bank I work for. I'm SO fortunate to have a great boss who, for starters, hired me 7 months pregnant with the hopes that I would return. I did return, but it hasn't been easy. I'll be straight up honest: I couldn't do it without Matt. I've been super fortunate having Matt in my life to get up with Carson each time he cries when I have to get up for work in the morning. Ladies- you can be jealous!

Well that pretty much sums up my life for the past year, that was not nearly as long as I thought it would take. Perhaps I'll get back into this thing... I guess it depends on if anyone else is still reading.

Job Search

2009-11-17T14:03:00.002-06:00

Hey everyone. With "Tipping the Scale" on hiatus, and an unexpected wave of free time, I find myself able to update The Cobb Spot. As some of you may know, the company I worked for was recently seized by a credit union and I was let go in the transition. I am in the process of job hunting and so I thought I would use our blog network as yet another tool. My skillset includes the following, and although I'm looking for a full time position, all of these services are available for hire on a per-job basis.

Photo Editing/Manipulation
Corporate Identity Design
Videography
Editing
Lighting
Directing
Producing
Writing/Scripting
Live broadcast
(some)Web design
Motion Graphics
and Consultation in any of these areas

Here is some of my work:

I'd really like to stay in the television or film industry, but I'm also not opposed to doing manual labor. I won't let my pride keep me from paying the bills if you know what I'm saying.

Please keep me in mind should you happen to catch wind of any work that might fit my talents.

Thanks everyone!

2009-08-11T18:52:00.006-05:00

Hey everyone! I know it's been a long time since we've updated, but that's because we've been working on a special project as of late. We've created a new blog that deals exclusively with Matt and I, and the struggles we have with our health and fitness. (Or more accurately... our complete lack thereof) It's going to be done with video episodes, and we're hoping to do one every week. We've successfully uploaded Episode 1 - part 1 of 3 and the others should be up before tomorrow.

Everybody go check it out and let us know what you think! I'll be the first to tell you that this week's episode is a little dry, but in the coming weeks we have some fun stuff planned. So be sure to stay tuned!!!

Tipping the Scale

The link was incorrect before, but it should be working now... sorry for the mix-up.

From Father to Son

2009-06-21T12:18:00.002-05:00

I was asked to speak in church today and the subject was .... SURPRISE... the influence of fathers. I'm not going to post the talk, but while writing the talk I was struck with a creative bug and wound up writing a poem that I'd like to share. Hope you like it.

From Father to Son…

You taught me how to tie my shoes and say my ABCs

You picked me up when I fell down and tended to scraped knees

You showed me how to treat my mom with love and with respect

My manners and my character never to neglect

You taught me when to hold back tears and put on a strong face

You taught me the important things, never to disgrace

Like family- and baseball- my values- and my God

What big tracks I must follow in, if with you I’m to trod

You showed me there were times when we must look out for the weak

That truly we are slighter than the humble and the meek

You taught me being biggest doesn’t always win the round

That rather it’s the smartest man who goes home with the crown

Clean me up and tuck me in, watch over me at night

Teach me when to stand my ground and ready me to fight

For good- and right- and decent things- that need someone to say

I’ll not back down I’ll not turn back, my dad raised me this way

And now I stand impatiently, in this sterile place

and wait to hold my little one and look upon his face

And tell him of the fun adventures we are sure to have

With him and me and Grandpa, as I learn to be a dad

To teach him how to tie his shoes and say his ABCs

And pick him up when he falls down and tend to his scraped knees

As I try my best to teach him how he ought to be

I’ll think back upon you dad, and the way that you raised me

We're not dead

2009-06-13T13:14:00.003-05:00

Okay... I want to first and foremost apologize to any blogfollowers that we do have. We have fallen off the face of the earth but we are BACK!! Let me try my hardest to do a quick update over the past couple of months.

I finally got my new(er) car. My old car was dear to me, but it was also the one Matt used to go to school for three years... it was about 15 years old, had not a/c and no radio. As you can imagine, this made my 40 minute commute very pleasant. In all actuality, I am grateful for it (not that I don't adore my new car). It made me really appreciate things like overpasses. When traffic was really bad and the sun was really shiny, I appreciated the brief time I was stuck under the overpass. Also, it was quiet. It was a good time for me to reflect on things. Or I could sing as loud as and however I wanted to and didn't have to hear someone say "you know, those aren't even notes".

Last month I got a 2007 White Honda Accord Sedan. I know, I'm ballin'! We're fans of Hondas, they've always done right by us so we're loyal. It's nothing special, except that it does in fact have air conditioning AND a radio. It also has a 6 cd changer. Perhaps I'll post some pictures some time. The drawback to my new ride is that my baby girl is (for now) not allowed to go with me. Millie Bear HATES this. She loves car rides and quite frankly, doesn't understand why Daddy won't let her go places with Mommy anymore... Since I'm trying to be a better wife, I respect my husband's wishes and I understand the reasoning behind it, but it's my car and my puppy dog, right?

-----sidenote---- We sold my old car to Matt's cousin Chris. Chris lives in Nebraska. Matt was up that way for business a few weeks ago and brought Chris and his girlfriend back down here so that they could drive the car up there. Umm... Disaster. Matt called his aunt after not hearing from her after that weekend and she proceeded to tell him that somewhere in Oklahoma (i think?) the car broke down. Let's just say it was an adventure.... I still feel really bad about the whole thing. I was pretty sure that car was gonna last forever. Instead, just 250,000 miles. What a disappointment!

Anyway, as I mentioned, Matt was out of town for business for about a week, but luckily was not far from extended family. So it worked out well. He was able to go to church with his Aunt Kelly & Fam and eat dinner there so that he didn't have to break the sabbath while out on business.

Let's see... I've been busy as ever at work. The manager that I assist is still on maternity leave and we're short handed at work so I've been running around like crazy. I feel like there just isn't enough time in the day. The real frustration with all of that is that I'm not allowed to get overtime, but I'm supposed to find time to do 3 people's jobs? Ah well.

Most recently Matt and I have started a new challenge. A summer 90 day challenge. My end result goal is to be more fit. More spiritually and physically and relationshiply (<--don't think that's a word) fit. We started off with a two day fast which apparently caused a lot of controversy for my facebook friends. We did drink water. I know it sounds like a lot. Our bodies were able to do it. I know that we'll be blessed for it as well. I know that we would be blessed for doing a one day fast, but why not ask Heavenly Father for more blessings? He's waiting to pour them out! I really just needed all of the help I could get, our challenge is a bit, well, challenging. It's different. One of the things that we're no longer doing is watching television during the week. I am SO productive! Who'da thunk? I have time to work out, and work on the house, and get things accomplished that we've been putting off, it's great! I recommend that you all should try it for at least one week. Turns out, I don't even really care for tv. I've also (so far) really enjoyed spending more quality time with Matt. My calling at church can keep me pretty busy, and when I'm not so busy, it's nice to spend real time with my hubby. I've also been finding myself more entertained by Millie (i.e. right now she's sleeping and dreaming. She's doing these little half barks and I'm trying not to laugh too loudly so that I don't wake her up). Maybe someday soon I'll post some videos of her. (I find that posting pics and videos can be a bit time consuming for someone like myself that doesn't know how to do it or wants to really take the time to, sorry.)

That seems like just about it for now. Matt and I are just stayin' busy. The week after next I'll be going to GIRLS CAMP! WOOT WOOT! I'm TOTALLY stoked. We have such great girls in our stake! It's really a privilege to go to camp with them.

Also, our anniversary happens during Girls Camp, so the following weekend I'm flying to Utah. Matt has another auction in Park City. He flies out Thursday morning. I really wanted to go with him but I'm taking the previous week off for Girls Camp so I'm flying out Friday afternoon after work and then I'll return Sunday evening. I'm a little bit nervous -besides the fact that flying can be excruciatingly painful on my ears- I've never flown alone. Am I a big enough girl to handle that? Hope so, since the ticket isn't refundable. It'll be our 4th anniversary. Can you even believe it?

So things are really eventful, but good.

I'm sorry I've (we've) neglected our blog. Maybe when Matt's out of town I'll have time to figure out how to post pics and videos. I don't know, we'll see. Well, thanks for your patience, I miss you guys!!

Linds

2009-04-17T20:58:00.002-05:00

Well as Lindsey mentioned in her last post, I have been working very hard lately on something that (for the moment) I am quite proud of.

The company I work for has a strategic partnership with Pfizer, the pharmaceutical company. Along with prescription medication for people, they make a variety of medications/vaccines and other health products for livestock, and we help them promote those products. Along with producing and broadcasting cattle auctions, Superior Livestock has a full service production department which houses a very talented team of video professionals. Because of our relationship with Pfizer, they have agreed to sit down and discuss the possibility of letting Superior be a main source of Marketing for their company. However, we need to do a LOT of convincing before that is even on the table.

So about 2 months ago I was invited to a meeting to discuss what we could do to impress our prospective clients. It was decided that we would create a commercial, and to make a VERY long story short, I took the lead in the pre-production and between me and my co-worker Adam, concepted the entire thing. Then I was asked to direct the commercial and was in effect given the nod to take point on the entire project.

Unfortunately in the last 2 days of the project the entire plan was scrapped in favor of a new direction. So the bad news is that you will not be seeing this version of my directorial debut on a television screen near you, but it's without a doubt my most impressive work to date, so I finished it up on my own time and posted it here so that my friends and family can enjoy it. So without further ado...

Matt "Spielberg"

2009-04-11T10:47:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to take a few minutes and just brag on how great my husband is. I know everyone thinks that their husband is the best, but I know mine is. I'm really grateful for such a wonderful guy who has dreams and aspirations and doesn't let anything get in his way. I know he's been busy, but I know he loves me and that he really is trying to do what's best for our family. I really appreciate all of his hard work (even though I may give him a hard time about it occasionally) and I'm so freakin' proud of him. I'll let him expound on this, 'cause it's always better comin' from him. :)

I love you, Matt!

Conference Confidence

2009-04-06T15:15:00.002-05:00

Hello all! Well after this weekend's conference talks I've had a boost of confidence in my Heavenly Father. Not that I ever lacked faith, but I was just totally reaffirmed. I know that my Heavenly Father really does know what's best for me. I can try all I want to figure out my life and when I'd like major events to happen in my life, but ultimately, it's not up to me. It's up to my Heavenly Father and I trust him. He knows when I can and cannot handle curveballs thrown my way and I've put all my faith in him. He's amazing. I just wanted to share that with you guys. Thanks for reading!!

Re-Finding, and Refining

2009-03-28T11:39:00.006-05:00

(To clarify, this is Matt's post. He was apparently logged in as me when it was written)

In today's atmosphere of constant connection and online social networking, I find myself talking to people that I haven't seen (or even thought about) in years. I have two seemingly conflicting ideas on that subject. On the one hand; it is so interesting to see the paths that people choose, and to then get to see the destinations they've reached because of those paths. It's fun to reminisce on old times, and recall all the reasons that you were friends to begin with.

On the other hand, at some point you very well might come to realize that there was a reason you grew apart. As we learn and grow throughout our lives, we become different people. Ideally... better people. So when confronted with the past, do we readily see that the person we are today will only become bogged down by the relationships of yesterday, or do we allow ourselves latitude to explore what could become a friendship reborn?

Unfortunately I often find that time spent with old friends brings back an older version of my current self. At the time I'm sure I found my thoughts and actions (and maybe even my fashion choices) more than suitable. However, as the man I am today, I look back with a certain amount of confusion. How did I ever think THAT girl was pretty? Why did I always try to act so tough around THAT guy? Why did I make so many bad decisions around THIS group? Did anyone REALLY think psychedelic patterned neon shorts looked good?

So as strange as it might seem... I have been doing some mental/emotional house cleaning with regards to my social life. Interestingly enough, as I do so I am learning that every relationship I have ever had, that is worth maintaining, I have maintained. To one degree or another, I am still close to everyone in my life that matters to me. I might not be able to spend a lot of time with them, or talk to them as much as I'd like, but that emotional bond, that love, and that connection will always be there. Ready to pick back up right where it left off. And most of those friendships that have faded away, or dwindled over time, have done so only because they were weak, petty, superficial, or possibly just unnecessary all along.

On a more playful note, I have made one of the coolest discoveries EVER, and it's right in my own back yard. As soon as I have a chance (hopefully this week) I will take some pictures and post them for everyone to see. So come back soon and check it out. It's worth a teaser. Trust me.

Happy Month Later

2009-03-25T13:15:00.002-05:00

Hey guys!! I know, I know... it's been a month almost and nothin'. lol. Matt and I have been staying pretty busy. He's doing a lot of stuff at work, but most of it he's really enjoying, so that's good. Things are starting to get a little crazy for me. I love my calling, but Girls Camp is quickly approaching, which means more on the brain, but i LOVE it!! I'm also getting busier at work, not to mention, i'm throwing my manager a baby shower on the same day that I have a YW event, but she'll be gone soon and I'm the one to fill in for her while she's out.

The house is good. As you may or may not have seen from my pics (Mandy, I'll try to ... oh, i can email them all to you if you'd like... they're on my phone so it will be several emails, let me know if you're okay with that). We're really enjoying it. Matt's got the garage set up for me to do my work out videos in it, which is nice. Not that i've done it very much, but Mary and I have had a blast... I find it's really awkward when the garage door is open! haha!

Umm... other than that, it's all pretty much the same. Millie's good. :) She loves her big back yard. I'm really enjoying this weather, it's been nice and I don't have to water my plants as often, so that's good.

I really wish Matt would get on here and post something fun and quirky... I miss his writing too! Maybe if you all post that you'd like to hear from him, he'll break down and post! :)

Well that's us for now!! Thanks for reading!

Linds

Domestication!

2009-03-03T21:47:00.002-06:00

Hey guys! this blog is gonna be really short. Basically, I haven't quite mastered the patience it takes me to upload pics onto here. But i took lots of pics on my iPhone and uploaded them to my facebook. My facebook isn't locked

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=507418056&ref=profile

i hope that link works :-/

anyway its lots of pics of my house! i don't think many of you have seen it so there ya go. if it doesn't let you in, create a facebook and look for me. lol. if you don't want to keep it afterwards, then don't...

sorry i guess i'm not really that domesticated if i can't upload lots of pics on here....

happy viewing!

-Linds

my place in this world

2009-02-25T21:23:00.003-06:00

hrm. Bonnie posted a blog a few weeks ago about her feelings and about what a blog really is, and it kinda inspired me (i heart you, Bonnie Jean).

So if you don't want to continue reading, it's cool. :)

I love my calling. I love to serve these Young Women and to see the light they shine. I love it, I love it, I love it. But I suppose I'm in somewhat of a predicament. You know that awkward stage where you're a teenager and you want so badly to be young and hip, but you want so badly to be an adult? I'm still there.

I guess I've always kinda had a problem with fitting in. I would probably consider myself a friendly person, but I'm shy. Heh, can you believe that? It's weird, though. I'm shy around people that I know. It's like I don't know how they take me. Do they remember me? Do they want to talk to me? Do they think I'm stuck up because I'm not approaching them? And by this time too much time has elapsed and it's awkward. I'm no good at awkward which is probably why I don't really have well.... I don't have many friends, or ones that live here and are available to hang with. Sure, there are people that I admire and look up to, but sometimes I wonder if they feel the same about me or if I'm still that annoying little teenager that they hope will one day leave them alone. If that's not the case, then it's these young women where I feel the most comfortable as far as belonging. But then I wonder if they are thinking similar things (except for the teenager and growing up part). I'm in this boat. Either everyone I know knew me as much younger, or I know them now and they have kids. We're like at different places in life. I want badly to have a lot of good friends, but I guess as I grew older I kinda forgot how to become friends.

After a lot of mixed emotions, I realized what was underlying. I have a best friend. A friend that will be there for me no matter what! Who doesn't think I'm annoying or childish (and if I am, he doesn't say so). A friend who cares for me as much as I do him. Does he feel these similar feelings from me? I admire him so much, and he loves that about me. Although this sounds much like my dear husband, it's not. It's my Savior.

Once again, a lot of emotions-- Have I abandoned Him? the weird thing is that Matt and I are on this 40 day challenge. We've been doing well for the past 10 days, and part of this challenge is reading scriptures together and praying together. You would think that these actions would draw me nearer to my Savior. Perhaps most of this is Satan taking my insecurities and trying to make me feel like nobody wants to be my friend. I know that's not true. So I won't let him. It's like I'm trying so hard to fit in, when I was born to stand out. (I'm thinking that's a quote from something but I can't remember what) I know I can overcome this with the help of my Savior. Like I said, he's always there for me.

Don't feel obligated to comment. I'm good. I guess I figure things out better if I can get them out of my head.

ps- I want to be your friend!

7 Things (but not really)

2009-02-23T10:01:00.009-06:00

I won't drag everyone through reading the exact same blog twice so I'll just touch on what went through my head whilst reading my lovely wife's responses.

- We have been in our house for less than 2 months. I have taken out my toolbox at least once a day since we moved in. Tightening this, hanging that, leveling this, shoring up that, installing this, building that. I've drilled, I've painted, I've smoothed, I've buffed, I've mounted, and I've shimmed just about everything inside our property line. And yet my wife still feels the need to say "finally" in reference to me hanging her shelves. Sheesh. I guess she doesn't realize that millions of people live in a house with unfinished (or unstarted) projects all the time, and take no issue with it. LOL

- I need to clarify Lindsey's "organizing"... I believe the word she is looking for is "compacting". Which I consider an entirely different talent. While the ability to fit a large amount of things into a small space comes in handy while packing for a trip... it has the opposite effect when cleaning. I cannot tell you how many times I've opened a drawer and found so many things "compacted" (crammed) into it, that it A: makes getting what I need almost impossible, and B: makes it unlikely that I can ever get that drawer closed again.

- One of the reasons "Don't forget" comes out of Lindsey's mouth so often, is that my #1 thing that I say all the time is "Hey hun, don't let me forget..."

- As for things I love about Lindsey, I love that she had trouble coming up with things to fill all her lists of 7, except the one of things she loved about me. She didn't even hesitate while typing it.

- Finally, I don't want to leave Lindsey's account of my technical endevors unexplained, lest I seem lame and technically ignorant. The problem we had was that our house was not built with a phone jack in the room we use for our office. Since our Mac was built before wireless network cards were standard protocal, it would need a "mac technician" to upgrade some of the hardware and manually change something in the operating system if we wanted to access our home network wirelessly. Instead, I decided to hardwire an ethernet cable through a common wall, into the office. So I bought a terminal for each side of the wall , and hard wired them together, then mounted one on each side of the wall. So instead of having something like this:

We have something nice and clean like this...

However, the in between stages, looked like this...

Don't ask me how.

Week in review + 7 things tagged by Mandy

2009-02-22T22:31:00.002-06:00

Let's see here... this week has been... okay I suppose. We had a party for our Sunday School class which brought way too much junk food in the house for our diets. (yeah, we're back on that) It worked out okay though because Matt's mom took most of it after my threat to trash it all. In my opinion, it's not a waste, I would pay that much to be skinny and we got our use out of it.

Anyway... I also won tickets to the Dallas Stars hockey game this weekend. It was a district wide contest at work and I won. I was a little unsure about going seeing as how Matt's allergies were flaring up again and I had to work that morning, but I thought it would be a cheap cool thing to do, since the tickets were free and came with a parking pass. Boy am I glad we went. The seats were called Platinum or something and basically was like one step down from being in the box. We had a private escalator and our own server. It was cool, so at this point (even after pigging out Friday night at our party) we had to order cheeseburgers. We're both way glad we went. It was neat, even though they lost.

Also, can I just say that my husband is SO handy? I'm so grateful for this! Besides the fact that he's (finally) putting up the floating wall shelves in our bedroom as I type, this weekend he learned by himself how to set up our internet. Okay, I know for most of you that seems like an easy task, but we wanted something a little more complex. We have iPhones, so we naturally wanted WiFi. But, because we have a mac that was made before a certain time we'd have to take our machine to the apple store to get something set up for it. (okay... i'll be honest, i'm not quite sure exactly what it is we needed, I don't get into all the technical stuff, I have him for that, so if you're technologically minded and this doesn't make sense, sorry). So he hard wired the internet to the computer in the office and set up a jack through the wall to the living room for wifi thing (i think...)Well basically, he taught himself how to put this thing through the wall and set it up and works. That's a simpler way of putting it. I'm sure he'll get on here and post how it really is.

So... I can post from my own computer, which I've missed dearly. I've either been posting from work when it's slow or from my iPhone. I love my phone... but posting a whole blog is a little challenging... well, time consuming.

I also wrote a letter to Sean. I put it out in the mailbox a little bit ago so that I wouldn't forget to mail it. (i do that ... a lot it seems. i'll write a letter and never mail it). He's on a mission right now. It was a challenge. I didn't really know what to say. I just remember something that happened to Matt once. Matt wrote an email to a missionary once telling him about things going on and certain events that had been done with him in the past, but basically saying that Matt was filling his shoes in his honor. He found out later that it made him miss home a lot. I'm sure serving a mission isn't easy, and I didn't want Sean to miss home more than he already did. I kinda did a brief run through of how things were going w/ Matt and Me and Millie and that I wasn't pregnant (since he asked in like his first letter home) and told him we were proud of him for serving. So... if y'all have any other ideas of how I could change up my weekly letter to him, lemme know... I don't want it to be a dread that he gets a letter from me.

okay... now for this post. I think Mandy tagged me... there were like for 4 Lindseys on there... so... if I'm not one, I'll feel pretty stupid... so here goes. Oh yeah, Mandy, we're a lot alike in some ways... I think that's cool, 'cause I admire you.

7 things

7 things I can do:

1. Drive a stick shift. Matt taught me in one day. My stomach was a little (a lot) unsettled for a couple hours, but I'm glad I learned, even though I was really emotional about it.

2. Decorate. If given the things I want (heh) I can usually display them in an eye pleasing way. I think this comes from Matt as well. Going to an art school, he's very visual.

3. Give my dog a bath. This may not seem challenging to most of you. Millie is... between 45-50 lbs. She doesn't like to get in the tub. Matt doesn't usually help me with this... hrm.. never helps me with this. I have to trick her. I feel a little guilty at first, but after she's all clean, I don't worry. I have to get the bathroom set up with all of the things I need in advance. Then coerce her as close to the bathroom as possible and then grab her, pick her up, and set her in the tub. She hates it. Preparation for motherhood, I suppose.

4. I don't know that I'd say organize (like Mandy) but I have this weird knack for compacting things. Sometimes it takes about two tries, but I can fit a lotta stuff in an itty bitty space. Not sure if it's the years of camp/efy, family road trips or what. It works out well though when Matt has to leave on business and has no clue how to cram all of his things in a small bag. I guess it's a talent.

5. I, too can remember just about anything. I will say that journaling has helped. It usually had to do with what I was wearing when it happened. However, it most often was recalled at what time in my life it occurred based on the way my bedroom was arranged. It's weird, I know.

6. Know what Millie is trying to say and then verbalizing it for her. Yeah, for real.

7. Love my husband unconditionally. He's a really great guy.... but he is a guy.

7 things I cannot do

1. Sing. or have any musical talent at all. I love to sing, especially hymns or primary songs... but I'm tone deaf (and a word forgetter...)

If I have accompaniment then I can usually carry the tune, but I can't really sing. Thanks, sweetie for putting up with me at church!

2. Deck out my page. I'm pretty sure Matt wants it to be the same just like it is forever and for always, but I'd like to spruce it up all cutesie every now and then... I just don't know how to do it... or really have the patience to teach myself. This layout will suffice.

3. Dance like Carlton on Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Mandy, I'm mostly jealous of Ali and Kristyn because I'd LOVE to see this!

4. Anything Matt's really good at. i.e. Photoshop... handy man stuff... He's offered to teach me when I'd like to do something, but it usually ends up that we're either in a time crunch or he can do it much better so I leave it to him.

5. Go a year without getting my car damaged in some way. This is not always my fault!

6. Try new foods. Every time we go out to a restaurant (for example) I get the same thing. It's usually because when I think of where we're going, I already crave it. I also don't want to order something and not like it as much as I liked my signature item, so I stick with that.

7. Reach any of the top shelves. I have a stool now. And sometimes, if I wear heels while on the stool I don't have to crawl up on something else. ... sometimes.

7 things I say often:

1. You don't even know (this came from Mary)

2. What? :) (when I know I'm guilty of something)

3. No ma'am. Usually when Millie is in trouble, but I have been known to say it to others, like Cheryl, for instance.

4. Buttmunch. No one likes a Butt Munch. (this came from an episode of friends, but a lot of the time accurately portrays how Matt is acting).

5. Don't forget. Sometimes this is in vain. Matt usually forgets anyway.

6. Doesn't tickle. I use this line when I'm tickling Matt and he's not laughing. I figure if he's not laughing, then it doesn't tickle, and I can do it as much as I like. When he does it to me, I always freak out and reply with "DOES TICKLE!"

7. Helicopter butt. hahah... okay... Millie has a really strong and violent tail. She usually ends up wagging her butt instead of her tail, but when she does wag her tail, it's not back and forth. She wags it in a rotating circle like a helicopter. I'd like to see it pick her up and fly her around like on the cartoons.

7 things I love about Matt:

1. See list labeled "things I cannot do"

2. He puts up with me and my whining. a lot.

3. He takes me shopping and can empathize when I want a new pair of shoes. As long as it's not new flats, he's usually in.

4. He makes me a better person.

5. He's so freakin funny. Pretty much why I married him. My patriarchal blessing mentions someone who will bring me much joy and laughter. You can't argue that that isn't Matt!

6. He bought me a house... which i LOVE!

7. He's a worth priesthood holder. This is such a blessing in my life, and I'm grateful to be sealed to such a wonderful guy!

7 favorite foods.

1. Spaghetti. Angel hair pasta with meat sauce. I like some restaurants' but I prefer my own.

2. Steak. Usually the most expensive one on the menu. It's really good. I love Saltgrass.

3. Chocolate Chip cookies. mmm mmm

4. Chocolate Chip cookie dough! mmm mmm mmm

5. Matt's tacos or quesadillas. They're both really good!

6. Cheeseburgers. I try to not like them, but I can't.

7. BBB. Brownie Batter Blizzard. Well, now it's Chocolate extreme blizzard, but I get the extra brownie pieces. Mm DQ

7 people I tag

1. Matt... although that might get old as a post

2. Sis Brown

3. Lindsey Taylor

4. Jenny!

5. Cheryl (who should make a blog)

6. Evelyn

7. Anyone else who'd like to... since I can't remember everyone who follows our blog. :)

Belated Valentine's!

2009-02-16T09:56:00.002-06:00

Well, I know I'm a bit late, but in honor of my sweet Valentine I'm going to make a list of 14 memories that Matt and I shared.

1. I met Matt when I was 13 at a stake youth standards night through a mutual friend. I then proceeded to talk to him on AIM using pink and purple colors and Curlz font. not annoying at all!

2. When I was 13, he offered to fix my "stereo" (boombox, heh). It didn't work, but I appreciated the effort!

3. When I was 15 and my boyfriend at the time broke up with me, He and Claudia came and brought me a root beer float.

4. When I was 15, he invited me to help him with his ward variety show. This was the first time he ever walked me to my door. He also told me later on that this was the time he looked at me and thought "wow, she's beautiful!"

5. Matt and I went on a "date" ( I may have been 16) and went to see a movie at Movie Tavern. Leighann and Katie B. were at his house and wanted him to come home and hang out. He told them that he'd already had plans with me so they were outta luck. He told me he'd do the same for me.

6. At a later date, Matt did have plans with Katie B. but decided he'd rather hang out with me. (yeah, he didn't do the same for her, but I was okay with that)

7. I went to Matt's house the night I knew Claudia was breaking up with him. He wanted me to stay and hang out so he wasn't alone.

8. When I had just turned 16, I asked a guy on what would be my first date. He was unable to go so I was obviously devastated. Matt called and asked if he could take me out on a date. He was my first date and he even brought me flowers!

9. When I turned 17, my boyfriend at the time wouldn't come see me on my birthday. Matt came by and took me out to 4 star.

10. We tried to date once. We went to Denny's (a good place to sit and eat) and afterwards, we had decided it was just weird.

11. From our first REAL date, we knew we were going to marry eachother.

12. After almost every stake conference I would go to Matt's house for the rest of the day. It was tradition!

13. When Matt and I were dating we went to a Tim McGraw concert. His car got lost amongst the pick-ups. I was really frustrated, but looking back, I can see how he thought it was funny.

14. And my all time favorite memory of Matt was the day that we were sealed together for time and ALL eternity on June 24, 2005. I will never forget how happy we both were looking into eachother's eyes with pure joy!

There have obviously been a great deal of memories since we've been married. I just thought I'd pull some outta way back when! Happy belated Valentine's!!

Head above water

2009-02-05T08:30:00.002-06:00

I'm going to try something different today. Normally I will write my blogs while listening to music, but I think it influences them more than I realize. Sometimes what starts out on a positive note will end up being kind of depressing, or vice versa. So today I'm writing while wearing noise canceling headphones (that aren't playing any music). In fact I can't even hear my fingers hitting the keyboard, so it's already a little interesting. I guess we'll see if it affects my writing style at all....

The Blessings-

Our house is so wonderful. How could I ever complain about such a huge blessing? In decades, housing prices and interest rates have never been so low. Lindsey and I both happen to be making more money than we ever have before, and the potential for career growth is still there despite our struggling economy. And yet I still find myself in such a funk about the whole situation. Maybe it's the stark realization that I have big boy financial commitments now. Or that every time someone at work critiques my performance, I have a little panic attack because I know I desperately NEED this job (that I would leave immediately if I could). But nonetheless I still appreciate having my own space and all of the wonderful things that made it possible.

The Struggles-
There's no good way to say this, but it's something I need to get off my chest...

I sometimes feel like a fraud. Especially in matters of spirituality. Sure I make it to Church most Sundays, and I'll teach my lesson and make comments in class. But here I am, receiving SO MANY BLESSINGS, and I can't even tell you the last time I read my scriptures for 5 days in a row. Or even 3. I constantly re-commit myself to living a life closer to the savior and I constantly fall short of that commitment. (Which makes me feel like I never really committed at all) The part that really bothers me, is that I feel in my heart that I am a good member of the church, and that I have a strong testimony, but when I examine my actions, they very rarely reflect that feeling.

I don't want to give the impression that I am some evil worldly hooligan outside of church, but as a lifetime member, struggling with doing the basics, just doesn't seem normal to me. When I leave Church every week, I remember the joys of the spirit and the wonderful peace that accompanies it, and on Monday morning, I say "well I'm pretty tired, I'll just read my scriptures tonight" which of course I almost never do. I even find myself resenting Lindsey when she reminds me which is completely and totally unfair to her. When I have the spirit with me, I never want it to leave, but when it's gone I lose all my motivation to get it back, and that is a crapy cycle to get stuck in.

I don't really know why it is that I felt I should write about this struggle I have, but maybe putting it all down will help me in getting past it. I hope that it does and that I look back at this post in 6 months or a year and laugh at how silly I sounds. However at the same time I have a deep fear that I will look back and still relate to these same subjects.

Who knows, maybe this post wasn't for me at all. Maybe it's for someone else who shares in my trails and they need to know that they are not alone. I hope this didn't bring anyone down, because writing it has actually made me feel a little bit better. I hope everyone has a great day. Thanks for letting me vent.

name them one by one

2009-02-03T15:41:00.002-06:00

Well I have a lot to be grateful for. Besides my awesome husband, Matt and my adorable Millie bear!

Recently at work we had a few layoffs. I guess they tried to stick it out as long as possible, but along with everyone else, ... the economy.

It put things in a bit of perspective for me. For quite some time I'd been frustrated w/ my 40 minute drive. I liked my job okay, it was really the bit of exhaustion that "commute" brought on. Yes, I'm aware that many of you may travel just as much if not longer to your job and don't consider it a career, but I'm used to going home for lunch. I usually work that close to home. So this is a bit of a readjustment. I took this position to further my career and it was a promotion.

Anyway- My mentor and dear friend who has been more help than she'll know, got let go the other day. Also, another teller at her branch was laid off. What if I were still there? hrm.

Matt's doing well at his job. He's traveling now, which is kinda a bummer on my part, but at least he's got a job.

I'm grateful for our new house. I'm grateful for the means (Mom) to decorate it into a home.

I'm grateful for my ancient car that safely gets me to and from work (for now) even after all it's been through in it's 240,000 miles.

I'm also really grateful for my calling the Stake YW Presidency. It has been really neat. I love working with these Young Women (Ann, Jenny, & Linda) as well as the girls and leaders throughout the wards. Camp is quickly approaching so I'm SUPER STOKED about that as well.

Things are going really well for us, inspite of daily wordly troubles. I know that my Heavenly Father loves me and watches out for me. It's interesting to look back and see the Lord's hand in my life. It strengthens me in my times of trouble to know that there is a reason that I'm dealing with what's going on. I love him. He's pretty cool to do that for me!

So, my challenge to you is to look back throughout the past few months or years and think of some of the things that were really trying at the time, and to ponder on how Heavenly Father was actually helping. It's probably personal, but you can post if you want. :)

Wow...

2009-01-30T13:38:00.002-06:00

Well, I guess Matt doesn't intend on ever writing here.... I suppose he's too busy watching hulu.com to do anything else. I'm sure it doesn't help that we don't currently have internet at home, so his only opportunities (like mine) are at work. However, this is pretty much the only thing that's not blocked (yet *crosses fingers*) so.... during times where we're slow I like to blog hop. And i noticed it's been a while since my last post.

Some updates.... Sean's at the MTC. Matt and I didn't go, but supposedly nobody cried. Bonus points for Cheryl :)

I had a birthday, shout hooray! I'm 22 now... which for some reason sounds ridiculously older than 21... so that's kinda weird.

Speaking of 21... Matt was 21 when we got married. We were SO young!!! I can't believe how quickly time has passed. My goodness.

Other than that, we're staying busy at work. I fortunately did not get laid off (some 50 people in our district did) so yay for jobs. Matt's working harder than ever. Hopefully it will pay off soon!

Matt and I are just really blessed right now to have so much support of friends and family that live so close. We're really enjoying life. And hopefully I'll get a new car before summer. So if you know anyone who needs a car for their teen mine's kinda for sale.

Well thanks to all for reading. Sorry not a whole lot is going on.

Maybe Matt will soon surprise us with a post? Maybe?

hrm...

2009-01-14T07:53:00.003-06:00

well, I haven't posted because Matt was adoment about making this next post his... well he took too long, don'tcha think?

Well we've been REALLY busy, I guess you could say. We moved into our house this last week! Yeah, it's great. We had some bumps along the way, though (our fridge fiasco).

I'm working dilligently to get everything unpacked and organized so that we can get some pics up here! Meanwhile, Matt's out of town in Denver for work. Yeah.... this WHOLE week.... hrm..

Things have been going great. Sean leaves this weekend for his mission! Can you believe it, he's so BIG! We had his farewell party a few weeks back so that his college friends in town for the holidays could join in the fun of his Spiderman bouncehouse. I know you expected nothing less of Sean. It'll be really weird when he's gone though, I'll admit.

Millie's doing well. I haven't noticed any more of her UTI symptoms. She also really likes her own backyard but still enjoys GrammaGrampa's (Matt's parents). I will say she is quite the protector. I took a few days off at the end of last week to get things situated, start unpacking, make utility phonecalls, etc., and when any sort of service guy or anything came over (since it was just us girls) she went nutzo. I've never her seen or heard her bark so scary. The hair on her back would stand straight up (which i thought was only a feline trait) and she was on the look out. I'll admit it was kinda comforting, especially since these guys coming by could obviously see I was home alone. I think it's kinda sweet.

And... let's see what else, well, Matt's car is finally in the shop. It hasn't been inspected since December '06, on account that the check engine light won't let it pass. So, after we paid a lump sum in ticket fines for it, we figure it might as well get fixed..... so we can pay double for it to pass. yeah.... being a grown up with responsibility is not as cool as I used to think.

That's about it for now, we still don't have the internet at home, it may be a few weeks, we have to upgrade something about our Mac for it to run WiFi, which is a lil bit frustrating, but ah well. At least Matt hooked up my TV and my kitchen radio before he left.

Well that's about it for us! :)

...and we're off....

2008-12-30T08:10:00.002-06:00

well... not off work, or at least yet, just off to being busy once again. I won't bore you with my daily schedules, but a few things that are going on in January include: New Year's Day, Sean's going away party, us moving into our new house!!!, Sean going to the MTC, and my birthday!

Christmas was awesome! I got everything I wanted... Matt's So great!!!
I got my KitchenAid mixer (which I'm totally stoked about)
A Shark Steam Mop
An under cupboard mount Radio/cd/DVD player for the kitchen
waffle iron/sandwhich maker
Digital timing Crock pot....
Silicone pans/kitchenware

is there a theme here? I think my husband wants me to stay in one area of the house....

no, I begged him for this stuff. I love being in the kitchen and baking and coming up w/ new delicious concoctions. Matt knows if I get more cool stuff that that only encourages it and he reaps the benefits!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

I'm also totally stoked about our HOUSE! can you believe it? well, you probably can, but I can't! I had the almost final walk through yesterday and as the builder was talking to me I was looking around out our HOME! I'm SO excited!! Heavenly Father has truly blessed us! I'm excited to move in and take pics and invite y'all to our housewarming part-ay! I'll keep you posted.

Other than that, I'm still busy as ever, but I am trying to take more time to see God's hand in my life. He really does know what's best for me and I appreciate that.... a LOT, mainly because I can be dumb sometimes... a lottta times... but He's there for me to turn back around on my correct path.

Happy New Year!!

CHRISTmas

2008-12-17T11:18:00.002-06:00

Can you even believe how close Christmas is? Well, with all the hustle and bustle going on, I know I've been extremely busy, but I just wanted to bear my testimony to you about my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the reason that we celebrate His life this time of year.

I just wanted you to know how much I love Him. I also know that He loves me. I know that he sacrificed His life for my sins and afflictions, and because of what He's done for me, I can return to live with Him and my Heavenly Father again. I'm grateful for this sacrifice, that through him I can become like perfect. What a tremendous blessing that is. Perfect. I'm grateful for His life and his ministry and his gospel. I know he knows me personally. I'm trying to live my life in such a way that I may truly know Him when I see Him. I'm trying to know him better personally. I'm grateful for His birth and His whole life. For the examples that He's set for me. I'm grateful for the true love that He has for each of us. I'm grateful for my Savior, Lord, and Redeemer.

Merry Christmas

La-Dee-Dah

2008-12-09T12:24:00.002-06:00

Well it's me again, guys! Wow, I feel like I've been so busy, well, probably because I have. Let me try my hardest to sum up what's been going on (and by sum up, I pretty much meant explain in detail!).

Well it all started LAST sunday (Nov 30). At church we got a schedule of Christmas-y things to do in the metroplex along w/ dates and cost, etc. When I was younger I remember doing a LOT of Christmastime things and how fun it was. Mind you, I was like 10, so I wasn't as busy. Let me also state that I LOVE CHRISTMASTIME! I liken it a little bit to Disneyworld (I can say that now) in that you can pretty much be a total kid about things and enjoy it to its fullest potential and people don't think you're THAT weird. (eh, and if they do, then Bah Humbug to them)

So... since we're living w/Matt's fam, I talked to Cheryl about this list of activities and which ones that were free that I'd wanted to go to. So we pulled the calendar off the wall and sat at the table and scheduled our Christmas activities. I was so excited!

So, last Friday night we had originally planned to go to Waxahachie and go to Bethlehem Revisited. A church on Main street down there puts on this little market place thing and it's really neat and then after a while you can go into the church for carolers and Hot Cocoa. It's neat, but we ended up not going. I was a little bit sad about this, but I ended up working later that originally scheduled because someone was sick. So I was pretty tired. I did force myself to make Christmas Cookies. Oh yeah, and last Wednesday I had a Stake YW presidency meeting and then Thursday I invited Cheryl to come w/ me to my mom's RS Enrichment night (which was SO awesome, thanks Kirsten for your preparations!). So... i was pretty tired.

Then Saturday morning was our ward's Christmas party. We had a breakfast so as to not interfere with the serveral parties going on. It was good. Then we headed to Arlington for a HUGE nativity display. Folks bring several nativities that they've collected from all over the world or whatever. It's pretty neat, and it kinda brings the meaning of Christmas back around. And, because I wanted so badly to enjoy Christmas we planned on going to the Burleson Parade of Lights and the Tree lighting. heh, Cheryl, Matt, Sean and I made it for about 3 floats. But we saw Santa, and Sean yelled and waved and Santa looked RIGHT at Sean. How cool is that? lol... So we decided to go to Golden Corral and then we went and ran a few Christmas shopping errands.

Sorry, I'm probably exhausting you by typing all of this, so if you need to, you can take a break or a nap and finish later, I won't be offended.

Sunday we tried very hard to sleep in. It never really works out that way. Matt did get my presents wrapped and under the tree (FINALLY!) so that was good. We went to Church (at 1pm... that's all about to change :-/ eh). We got home from Church and ate dinner and it wasn't long before Matt's new calling needed us at the Stake Center to prepare for the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. Matt's new calling is basically helping out with the Media Services at the Stake Center. He LOVES it! He gets to prep the Satellite stuff for broadcasts, and the translator devices for meetings. He even gets to help DJ the dances (which I'm at anyway). It's cool, but it takes more time for those sort of thing. Although, I will say, I feel like I pay more attention because we don't just watch it at home. It's good. And after the broadcast, well of course we stayed and chatted w/ some friends that we don't see as much anymore and yada yada, but we went by my mom's to get more presents that had come in so that I can wrap them.

Yesterday on my way home, I had to stop by the vet to get some pricy meds for Millie. Her super resistant UTI is back again. And we'll have to take her back in eventually for x-rays to make sure she doesn't have a stone (pray for her, please!?). After I got home, Cheryl was so nice and waited for me to take the pups on a walk. So we did that and then ate dinner and then at about 7:30 decided to go ahead and make these SUPER cute cookie baskets for our visiting teachees. I'll have to post pics of them. I made sugar cookie trees (homemade from Cheryl's mom's recipe) and Cheryl made her famous Chocolate Chip cookies....there aren't any left overs.... well there were a few... :-)... but not anymore. We did have enough to prepare cutsie bags for Matt to take some to his co-workers.

Tonight I have to close at work, and then I have to go straight to the Stake Center to have YW/YM/ Stake Presidency meeting. So who knows when I'll be home. But that's okay, I'm glad!

Tomorrow, Cheryl and I will go deliver our cookie baskets. And then we'll probably come home and bake some more. Not necessarily for our Christmas Cookie families, but she and I have Enrichment and signed up to bring something on Thursday.

Friday I have to close as well, but it's also my work Christmas Party at Cheddars.... MMMmmm! Cookie Monster!! (look it up, it's SO good).

Saturday morning is available... at the moment, but I'll probably REALLY end up baking cookies. That's okay w/ me. I like to do this. I like to make cute little trees w/ festive sprinkles. This is fun for me, I'm weird, I know. And then that afternoon we're going to Holiday in the Park.

Sunday, after church is the Stake Music Festival, Matt might be needed for the prep on that as well. Then Monday Matt and I are going to my parents house. We'll probably go out to eat for my brother's birthday which is ACTUALLY this Wednesday but we don't have time this week. Also, my mom and I are going to dip cinnamon bears and candy orange slices in dark and milk chocolate for Christmas treats! I'm really excited about that, it's a new thing she and I are starting. Mainly because my grandma makes all of the Christmas candy and such, we thought it'd be neat to make and bring something different.

So... that's my next week's worth of schedule. Busy, right? lol... that's not even necessarily matt's... he's still doing Tae Kwon Do on Tuesdays and Thursdays... so he stays about as busy as I do... not to mention we teach Sunday School to 16-17 year olds.... oh geeze. but it's good. We try to fit it all in.... but we probably won't plan for 3 things in one day this weekend after the crankiness and tiredness from last weekend.

So how bout y'all? doing anything exciting for Christmas? Let me know! Merry Christmas to all of y'all! Kudos for makin' it to the end! lol!

2008-12-02T14:51:00.003-06:00

Lately I've been having trouble finding the time or the motivation to blog. I usually like to blog about specific or interesting subjects that I've been thinking about but the last few times I've made an attempt to turn one of those thoughts bloggy... it just wouldn't come together. So in the interest of stick-to-it-ivness I'm going to just start typing and when I get tired, I will post it.

I've had the chance recently to talk about the gospel. A LOT. I have a new office mate. His name is Adam and he is a fairly nice, very intelligent, and extremely curious fellow. He likes to talk too. Anyone who knows me has most likely already guessed that between his talkative nature and mine, not a whole lot of actual "work" gets done in here. Well you're wrong! Because my slacking started way before he came to work here! :-) Seriously though, he is Methodist and he has been asking me all kinds of questions about the church. At first this was a little unnerving, because he has very strong opinions, and I was hesitant to talk about religion in general let alone deep conversation A) because this is a workplace and B) because I didn't want to risk offending him and start out on a bad note with a person I had just met and knew I would be spending a great deal of time around in the coming months. However I made a commitment to myself that before I answered any of his questions, I would always do a H.G.C. (Holy Ghost Check). If for some reason I had let the spirit drift from my presence I always made sure to invite him back before continuing.

This accomplished 2 things. First it helped me to remember how great it is to constantly feel the spirit and to rely on him throughout every day, and be conscious of his gift. Second, it kept me in a frame of mind, so that in almost every instance, our conversations stayed friendly and respectful. With a little help from lds.org and a TON of help from the Spirit, I have been able to answer all of his questions about the Church with what I would consider to be more than adequate responses.

Unfortunately Adam has no interest in joining the church. His questions are more intellectual curiosity, than a heartfelt desire to find truth (although, he of course doesn't see it that way). Still... the opportunity to share Gospel truths with him has been good for me, as I always struggle with finding opportunities to do missionary work.

On a completely unrelated topic... I am SO EXCITED to close on our house after the 1st of the year. For so long, Lindsey has wanted a home of our own, and I am so happy to finally be able to give it to her. I also feel so blessed that we have very little debt and that our mortgage payment will not be a financial burden. So many times I fought off envy as my friends bought fancy homes, expensive cars, and huge televisions only to later see them struggling to afford them. It makes me proud and at the same time humbled that we have been given so much and yet still are able to live within our means. I would be remiss if I did not testify that the principles of Tithing and Service will bless your lives exponentially as you practice them to greater and greater degrees.

Geeze- there is just so much in our lives right now that I don't know where to stop. I promise that if anyone stops reading right now, I will not be offended, because I'm getting a little long winded, but if you really wanna know.......

I have gotten a promotion at my day job which has inspired me to quit my night job. The extra workload meant that I had very little time at home and I really felt that it was HFs way of telling me to take things back a notch and concentrate a little more on my wife and family.

Even though I was just promoted, I have been getting job offers left and right. For now I don't plan on leaving my job, but should the right opportunity present itself, things could REALLY start changing.

I've been thinking more and more about being a dad. (No Lindsey's not pregnant) And the more I think about it, the more it scares the crap outta me. And the more scared I get, the more I realize that this must be what everyone feels like before they have a kid. Lucky for us, we have a wonderful support system around us, that is more than I could ever ask for, and DEFINITELY more than I deserve.

Christmas. It's here already. I don't know about yall, but I was pretty sure we just had a Christmas. Couldn't have been more than say... 11.5 months ago. Don't get me wrong. It is without a doubt my favorite holiday, and I am ecstatic that it is that time again. I just cannot believe how quickly this year flew by. It's crazy to think what will happen between now and next Christmas. Only time will tell I suppose. However... one thing I have decided, is that 2009 will be the year I learn to dance like Justin Timberlake. Watch me pop it!

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

ah, well...

2008-11-24T11:38:00.002-06:00

So, as you may have noticed, I've been blogging.... ah well.... I've been waiting for Matt to do the next post (he said i'm a Post stealer) but he doesn't ever blog (hopefully he doesn't have one he's working on right now). It's okay, I wanted to post my gratefulness. I know recently I posted a thankemony of alot of things but being in the Thanksgiving season I figured I'd post a few more. Matt can still post this too, he may have some that differ....

1. My mom. My mom is awesome. If you've ever met my mom, then you know. She's ALWAYS there for me when I need her, and of course, even if I don't. She's probably the most charitable person I know. She doesn't think twice about giving to people or doing things for them when she can tell they need it most. I'm grateful for this example of Christ Like Love that she displays. I love you, mom!

2. My husband. Where would I be without him. He's my anchor. He tells me things that I need to hear especially when I don't want to hear them. He truly is my very best friend and my partner. He's perfect for me in every way, I love you so much, Matt!

3. Millie Bear. Yup, My dog. And yes, you can put her on your list, too. She's pretty cool, but mainly, the sweetest loving thing EVER in the whole wide world!!! If you've met her, you know.

4. My Calling. If you don't know, I currently serve in our Stake Young Women Presidency, and I L-O-V-E it! I'm grateful for the challenges that it brings, I'm grateful for the people that I serve with, and for the opportunity to build great relationships with people I love so much (YW!).

5. My Car. Even though the A/C can't stay working (which reminds me, I'm also grateful that summer is over) and I have a short somewhere which in turn makes my radio not work, I'm grateful for my little 14 year Honda. She just keeps chuggin, which is really helpful since we're trying to save up money for our house......

6. Our almost done home! yeah.... It's supposed to be done the first week of January, and I'm SO excited! Mainly for our own space again....

7. DisneyWorld! I'm grateful that we had the opportunity to go. It was such a fun vacation that Matt and I desperately needed.

8. Temples. I'm SO very grateful for temples and everything about them. I'm truly blessed to be sealed for time and for ALL eternity to my wonderful husband. I'm grateful for the spirit that I can feel there, and how much I can feel my Savior's love when I'm there.

9. Pies. yeah... especially the chocolate ones... :)

10. Family. I'm grateful for such a wonderful support group. My immediate and extended as well as Matt's immediate and extended. I love them all SO much!!!

11. My job. I'm grateful for my promotion as well. I like my job, it's worth the drive (on most days). I'm grateful for the opportunity I had to advance to supervisor and to do something I'm good at.

12. Lisa Coonrod. She'll probably never read this, but I'm VERY grateful for her. She's such a great mentor. I'm so fortunate to have had a manager like her. She's great!

13. A Living Prophet. I'm grateful for Thomas S. Monson. I'm grateful to have someone to help lead and guide our church under the direction of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I'm grateful the modern and continuing revelation we have and for the testimony building it does.

14. Christmas! I'm grateful for Christmas and how quickly it's approaching. I, of course, like getting gifts, but I really like the whole spirit of the season. I like to give gifts. I like the Christmas Music and the occassions and just everything about it.

15. My Dad. I'm grateful for my dad. He's such a hard worker and does everything he can to provide for my family. (Well, I'm not at home anymore, but things are still provided :) )

16. Jesus Christ. My Lord and Savior. I am SO very grateful for him and for the atonement. He provided a way for me to become perfect like he. He is allowing me to return to my loving Father in heaven and I am so so so grateful for that.

17. Heavenly Father. I'm grateful for a Heavenly Father that really loves me. I'm grateful that I know I am a child of God. I'm grateful that I can pray to my Heavenly Father and that he will answer my prayers in the best way, because he really knows what's best for me!

18. Friends. I'm grateful for my friends and for the support and love and happiness they give me. Thanks y'all!

Well, this is obviously not my WHOLE list of thankfulnesses.... but it's a start. Count your blessings and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

BLESSINGS GALORE!

2008-11-03T10:05:00.003-06:00

Well I just wanted to take a moment (even though I'm sick) and just post up and grateful blog.

First of all, one thing that I'm MOST excited about is that I've been called as the 2nd Counselor in the Stake Young Women's Presidency. I'm totally stoked. I'm the counselor to Ann Milne whose 1st counselor is Jenny Sturgill! That makes it EVEN more exciting!!!

Also, my little brother Dustin (Dewey) was ordained to the office of Elder after Stake Conference yesterday as well. I'm SO proud of him. I'm also really grateful that both he and Sean were able to stand in on my setting apart. That was really neat. I'm grateful that I also have a husband who honors the priesthood who was able to stand in and that fully supports me. He's spectacular!

AND, this past week, Matt met with the builder of our home. We found out that prices had dropped $4500. And since we signed in at the house at a certain price, we couldn't get this off, however, they are paying $4500 of the $5000 closing costs for us. That's good enough for me. That means that pretty much all of my savings can actually go towards the house, instead of closing costs. What a blessing. Patience really is a virtue.

I'm also very grateful for all of you (my friends) and all that you do to support Matt and me!

But most importantly, I'm grateful for a wonderful, loving Heavenly Father who, no matter how much I think something is right for me, always shows me the way that's best for me! He's marvelous! And I'm so grateful for His son, Jesus Christ and the great sacrifice he made on my own personal behalf. I'm grateful for the Plan of Salvation and knowing that my husband and I are not just "til death do you part" but that we are sealed together for time and all eternity with a bond that won't break at death.

I have a lot to be grateful for, and this isn't half of it, I just needed to share my thankimony. I hope you all have a blessed day!

Pumpkin Carving Part-ay!

2008-10-28T22:19:00.016-05:00

Well, originally I think this blog was supposed to mainly Matt's. Mostly because he's better at words than I, but he's been so busy and I have not, well, you get it.

(AND... I know I promised pics of the Wonderful Disney World, but we have two memory cards of pics & movies so I'll need more time to sort through.)

About two weeks ago Matt and I decided (well, I decided to include Matt) that we would carve jack-o-lanterns for Halloween. For those of you who don't know, since Matt and I have been married we've been living in an apartment which does not allow for the proper displaying of Jack-O-Lanterns. So, this is a positive to living with Matt's parents (which reminds me that I also need to post pics of our house- it's really coming along). ANYWAY... so Saturday night we went to WalMart and got enough pumpkins for all of us (Matt's parents and siblings included) to each carve a pumpkin.

I know I keep getting side tracked, and that this part is irrelevant, but I'm so proud that I had to post it. Matt and I have recently been called to teach Sunday School for the 16-17 year olds in our ward. So to appeal to them, and utilizing my talents, I made an edible plan of salvation. Teenagers like food. And yes, the sprinkles on the 3rd one represents spirit paradise (so hope ya love sprinkles).

Okay, now that we've got that out of the way.... (yeah, they were delicious) onto our pumpkin carving FHE. Now, for those of you who have ever met, read about, or heard about Matt, you may know that he likes tools. a lot. Also, he doesn't get to use tools on a regular basis or really at all, so he takes advantage of EVERY opportunity he gets.

Now this next one is a photo of me trying to take my top off. Heh, that's right. And I have been deemed (sp?) the master pumpkin carver. I also have to note, that in the ABOVE picture Matt is about to try carve the lid of his pumpkin off with that nifty tool.... I did mine faster manually.

Now this next part is my favorite. Apparently it's everyone else's least favorite.

It's weird, I know.

There's just something about the feeling of the pumpkin goo and seeds between my fingers that I like. So Matt was oh so generous enough to use this as an opportunity to get me to de-seed-ify his pumpkin.

Also, I feel it necessary to give kudos to Mary for emptying her pumpkin, especially since Sean told her that she had to because it was part of the pumpkin carving experience. He then proceeded to ask me to empty out his goop. It's okay Sean, I'll forgive you.

Now this is Matt trying again to make his power tools work better than my talent. He's carving a ghost, I'm making a cute face!

Needless to say, his carving tool was WAY messier than mine!

The follow picture should require parental approval (if I could figure out how to block it from kiddos I would). This is Sean's. I am showing you a picture in the light because you can't see the knife in the dark.

Now you haven't seen any pics of Mary's yet. Her's was the most complicated. It's super cool, and probably least expected from Mary. But with her big brother's help (the only time it was beneficial to use power tools), she was able to display a scary pumpkin.

(Left to Right: Matt-Mary-Sean-Linds)

Well that's my first blog with pictures. It wasn't as difficult as I had anticipated, but it is very late, so I must retire to bed. Well, Happy Halloween, and to all a good night. ... wait a minute... i mixed those up. ... TRICK OR TREAT!

see? cute face, right?

The Real World

2008-10-20T09:19:00.004-05:00

Well as much as I'd LOVE to continue living in a wonderful Fantasy Land, it's time to get on with life. Our "honeymoon" was so much fun!! I'd never been to Disneyworld, and if you haven't, I highly recommend it. Although.... it is a work out. We did a lot of really neat things, but towards the end (besides the fact that I got sick) I was ready to be home.

We took a lot of pics and video, but Matt's the expert at all of that, so we'll have to wait for him to load all of them up.

Also, Matt's great! I know I say that like every time, but he really is. He put up with a lot from me this week, including but not limited to me getting whatever it is that I wanted. And also, on the way home we spent well over an hour at baggage claim hoping to go home soon, but some how Matt's luggage didn't come in until 5pm. He's a trooper. I, on the other hand, would've been freaking out.

Anyway, as for the real world, they've done SO much to our house that I hardly recognized it. It looks like it might be big enough, at least for a while. lol. They've got the solar board decking on the roof and the insulation on the exterior walls. It's starting to resemble a liveable space. We've got some pics of that as well.

Oh! and more importantly, Matt's brother, Sean, got his mission call. *Drum rolls, please* Elder Sean Cobb was called to serve in the Idaho-Boise Mission. (yes, just like the movie, Singles Ward).

I think that's about all that needs catching up on, I should probably start to work today and get back in the groove. Have a Happy Day!

Vacation Mode

2008-10-10T09:51:00.002-05:00

G'Mornin' all! Can I just tell you HOW ready I am for our vacay? This morning I'm working in the drive thru (I work at a bank) waiting for my part-time teller to arrive and it's SO slow. I'm left to blog surfing and thinking about going to DisneyWorld. My weekend's pretty busy already, tonight I'm helping Mary get ready for her Super Sweet 16 party, and then at some point I need to do laundry, clean our room and pack everything. And by everything I mean for both Matt and me. Matt's gotta work tonight and tomorrow, which leaves me alone for packing. I'm okay with it. In fact, it's almost better like this, now he's not in my way. Also, as a good wife, I can ensure that he has everything he needs (y'know, guys forget little things that are still very important, i.e. toothbrush, deodorant... stuff like that).

However, I'm going to miss my Millie Bear dearly! A few weeks ago we took her to the vet with a suspiscion of a bladder infection or a urinary tract infection. Turns out she did have a UTI, so they put her on antibiotics and finished the extensive urinalysis. Well we heard back from them a couple of days ago and she happens to have an extremely resistant string of bacteria. I'm glad we had the urinalysis done so that she can be properly medicated and properly heal, I just feel so bad for her. Being sick is no es bueno, and being sick without your mommy is even more no es bueno.

But I am going to try to not worry about her, and I'm sure I'll be fine next week without her, I'm going to DISNEY WORLD.

As for the rest of our lives, Matt is working his butt off saving some moola for our trip/house. He's having a better time now that he's finally got his bike out of the shop (which, by the way, is SUPER FUN). He'll also be testing in a couple of weeks to advance belts in Tae Kwon Do. I'm very proud of him!

Also, for those of you who don't know (or haven't seen our facebooks) they poured the foundation for our home! The house looks itty bitty, but it'll be all ours (or at least after 30 years). And we got a phone call from the builder with more information as well. They'll start framing it like this weekend. So most likely, by the time we come back we'll have a frame on our home. That's also exciting. Oh, and the estimated date is January 7. This works out well. I REALLY didn't want to move in right before Christmas and not be able to get in spirit by decorating. This way we'll have time to have shindigs at our house next holiday season.

Well I should really get back to work. I just wanted to give y'all an update on our lives. Matt's been so busy lately, I don't think he's even had a chance to think about blogging. Thanks for reading!

It's Linds again!

2008-09-29T10:06:00.002-05:00

Well, I'm a little bit bored at work right now, and Matt's so good about posting, so I figured I'd put my two cents in. My main excitement is our Honeymoon!! I know, we've been married for just over three years, but I'm FINALLY getting my honeymoon.

When Matt and I were getting married, his dad was really sick. The doctors were very much certain that he had pancreatic cancer. He went in for surgery the Monday after our wedding. He was in surgery for about 7-8 hours and the procedure wasn't a cure for pancreatic cancer. It would extend his life, at most, seven years. Matt and I thought it best to stick around in case something happened. Also, we didn't really think we could afford it at the time (which is true).

We'd had plans to do fun things around the metroplex that we didn't normally do. Palace of Wax, Fort Worth Zoo, Rangers game, Dallas world aquarium. Things we would do if we were coming to Fort Worth to honeymoon.

We did go to the zoo, and then out to eat at chili's. .....

Well, with a long surgery, comes much monitoring and recovering. Cheryl (Matt's mom) was up at the hospital like every day. She really needed our help at this time. Sean and Mary needed someone responsible to be with them through all of this, not to mention, they needed help moving.

Matt's parents were separated for several months before our wedding. They were moving back together but wanted to wait until the wedding schedule calmed down. So all of their things were being moved back up the street from their rent house, but before much of that was done, we painted Mary's room.

Well, let's just say, it wasn't something that I minded... so much... just not really ideal for a honeymoon.

Matt's a sweetheart. Valentines day of '07 he tried so hard to make it all better. We celebrated Valentine's at home the weekend after. I left to go get my meal of choice (you guessed it- Spaghetti) while Matt finished his surprise for me. I came home to see something covered up sitting on the coffee table. That was the first thing that Matt unveiled. He removed a towel and I saw 2 goldfish (Cosmo & Wanda) swimming in a bowl.

"Cute!" I exclaimed.

Then he brought down an arrangement of our decorative candles with pictures of celebrities taped to them. This is where I was pretty sure he was crazy. Next I saw several stuffed animals displayed almost like a kid thinks. For example- A monkey hanging from the wall, a tiger behind a kiddy/doggy gate, and a penguin on a blue and white "icy" looking blanket. He then turned on a Wii (which he'd borrowed) and turned it to the baseball game. Last but not least, he brought down this poster that he'd colored. It was a picture of paint buckets and brushes with a big red "no smoking" time circle over it.

He then looked at me and it really was THE sweetest thing, he said, "I wanted to do everything with you that we didn't get to do on our honeymoon."

As much as I really appreciated all of it, and like I said, it's the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for me, I had for so long been excited about going to DisneyWorld on our honeymoon.

So in two weeks, that's where we'll be. I appreciate my sweet sweet husband for making ALL of my wishes come true. I'll be sure to post pictures. And for those of you who have been and know some cool little quirks that Matt may not, feel free to post so we can look for them!

Love you all!!!!
-Linds

Just another Saturday

2008-09-27T09:59:00.004-05:00

I don't really have anything super fun to talk about today. But just so that I don't get out of the habit in updating I'll bring everyone up to speed.

Construction on the house began last week. It's not major or anything but it's a start. As much as I want to have my own space again, staying with my parents hasn't been too bad, and I'd kinda like them to build slowly so that we can save up more money. As it is we'll barely make the minimum downpayment. Our plan was to triple that. Oh well... it is what it is. On another note, our builder is not very considerate of other people's schedules. He called me at work yesterday and said that he needs to meet with us on Tue, Wed, or Thur (and I was thinking, well those days are all horrible for me, but maybe I can make it work somehow. Then he said, either 10am or 1pm. What kind of ghetto time frames are those? Either way you're looking at having to take almost a full half day off of work. Shouldn't a home builder assume that you're busy MAKING MONEY during those hours so that you can afford their overpriced houses?! Okay that's all on that subject.

My grand scheme for saving money by selling my car and buying a motorcycle has backfired and actually cost us WAY more than it would have saved. The bike broke down a week before I took my training class, and it is STILL in the shop (I should be getting it back Tuesday), the repairs have been expensive and I had to appoligize to Lindsey for making such a poor finicial decision. After beating myself up over it for 2-3 weeks she finally told me that she is glad I bought the bike. She's noticed that over the past 3 years, I VERY rarely spend money on things I want, and that this was a perfect opportunity to go do something because I wanted it, and not because it made sense. Apparently there are entire groups of people who use their paychecks to go out and do fun things and buy toys.... who knew? ;-) So all is well on that front and I'm just anxiously awaiting a phone call to tell me the bike is ready for pickup.

I picked up a second job which is a decent commute away. I work there 3 nights a week editing video. The other 2 nights of the week I go to my martial arts classes. So I usually get home between 9:30 and 11:00 most days. The money is good and they're already talking about finding a position for me full-time. That would be very nice considering my current work envioronment is hostile at it's best. They've hired in a "consultant" which I have decided comes from a latin word "poopooface" meaning: ignorant manipulator. Enough said.

It wouldn't be correct to say that Lindsey and I had a pregnancy "scare". Even though a baby would be a big challenge at this point in our lives, I don't think fear entered into the equation. It might be more accurate to say that we had the possibility of an "untimely parental suprise". But everything worked out there too, and we get to maintain our DINK status for a little while longer.

Lindsey has REALLY settled in to her supervisory position now. It was a challenge at first, but we are so glad that she got the job. Plus she's awesome at it. Loving what you do for a living is so critical, and I think she really really loves what she's doing now.

That's really about it for now. Hope everyone is well.

Lindsey Posting

2008-09-22T20:11:00.002-05:00

Well, wow. Matt's always asking me why it is that I don't post like he does on here. I told him that it was because I kept a journal of things that were perhaps a little more personal to me, but I suppose a bigger reason is actually that he's a MUCH better writer than I.

I've VERY recently had an experience that has taught me SO much in such a short amount of time, AND since Matt's working at his other job, I figured I'd make a post. So if you're used to Matt's humor then maybe you can grin and bear this.

After staying up way too late last night, when I got home and ate dinner I decided to take a nap so that I could be awake when Matt got home (which is like 10:30-11:00pm). Very shortly in my nap I got a call from my dad. He and my mom were at the vet with my cat. He told me that he didn't know how it happened, but that she had a hole in her side and that he was at the vet if I wanted to go up there. Being half asleep I told him okay and that I was almost napping. I didn't end up going up there.

I got my cat, Nicki, for Christmas when I was eight years old. I loved her very much. She was my baby. Well as time went on, I was engaged to the love of my life who was allergic to cats. So Nicki stayed at my parents house. Within the past year she also had to go to the vet because she was very sick and she has some sort of thyroid problem. I know that she may have been a burden on my family because I was not or could not always be there to take care of Nicki.

Matt finally called me and told me that my parents were trying to get a hold of me to ask me what I wanted to do. I know I am weak. I wasn't trying to cop-out when I asked Matt to call my parents back and to assess the situation and to make a decision that he thought was best. I knew that I would get emotionally involved and could make a decision that was purely selfish.

The neat thing is that just a few weeks ago, Matt and I had a conversation about pets and quality of life. Matt called me back and told me the bad news. He told me that Nicki was 16 years old and had lived a good life. She's had a lot of love in her life and brought much joy to my family. She's still dealing with her thyroid issue. They could perform surgery for a considerably large sum of money and even then it was no gaurantee. Matt and I both realized that it would be more inhumane to put Nicki through surgery when her chances of continuing on a good and happy life were very slim. Please don't get me wrong. I loved Nicki very very much. And yes, had she been my daughter I would obviously have done the surgery. But that's the difference. Nicki is a pet. Her job was to make me happy. It would have been selfish to put her through a series of operations to keep her alive just for me.

Now to the point (sorry, i can't summarize things very well).

I've learned a lot in the past 2 hours of this. Once I got off the phone with Matt I, naturally, was in tears. This was my learning experience. I learned that I'm extremely thankful for my parents who are still there for me and love me very much. I couldn't have done that on my own, I don't think. Also, that this was a very difficult time for and My Savior is ALWAYS there for me. After a bit of crying to myself and hugging Millie and hurting inside I realized that I don't need to hurt. My Savior already hurt for me and it was now my opportunity to take advantage of the atonement. I could be comforted and relieved of my pain with a just a few words to my Heavenly Father. And it worked. My faith in the miracles that my Father in Heaven can perform has been so strengthened.

So, that's my blog, sorry it was REALLY long. Feel free to comment if you'd like.

The greys are seaping in

2008-09-11T07:35:00.005-05:00

I don't have a lot of time today, but my mind's been heavy as of late and I wanted to share.

We have become a nation of know-it-alls. And for the most part we're right. I have become more and more aware of the fact that facts, are becoming a thing of the past. Used to, if you had statistics to back you up, people believed you. If you were an expert on a subject, your conclusions were respected. So whether we're wrong on a subject or not, we can always appear right, if you know how to. This society of a... let's call it "subject to interpretation" mentality, wears thin for people who hold strong convictions.

I was discussing politics with a friend of mine, and I was explaining how a reduction in taxes during the Bush administration actually increased the federal tax revenue. I was going to go find some stats on the matter to illustrate and I realized that even statistics can be argued over. No matter how cut and dry, how obvious it is, or how many people agree with you, there's always an "expert" that will interpret the same data differently.

Bear with me, I promise I have a point...

The same thing applies to science. There is more disagreement in science than ever before. To the point where people are more concerned with taking sides of a theory, then actually testing that theory. Case and point: Global Warming. Half the scientist say it's our fault, half think it's natural, and ANOTHER half (that's right... 3 halves) don't even think it's warming at all.

We no longer live in a world where you can trust what a person can "prove". We're asked to judge the personalities and intentions of our leaders, of whom we know more about than their closest friends, and at the same time, don't know them at all. And everyone's got to have an opinion or you're not "plugged in". Well I'm definitely plugged in and it's becoming more and more apparent that my opinion means squat... EXCEPT...

There still is one subject that I consider NOT up to interpretation. The gospel is my safe haven. Our church leaders are wise beyond my comprehension and I am thankful that they have always advised us not to argue or debate the elements of our faith. It is because of that wisdom that I can lean on my faith that I have a loving Heavenly Father, and that I am his son.

When others look at issue like drug use, abortion, and gay marriage and get caught up in the "interpretation" of those principles (this includes many mainstream Christians as well) I can look to modern day revelation and know with a surety that these things are wrong.

I had someone ask me once, "What makes you so special that you can judge what's right and wrong for everyone else?" and I'm glad to say that I don't have to. The judgment has been made regarding our time here on Earth and what we are to do with it. All I have to do is let the Spirit guide me and the truth of right and wrong will always be made clear.

So here's to black and white. May it withstand all the greys of the world.

HwOoh!

2008-08-31T17:49:00.008-05:00

Well this weekend has been pretty intense. Saturday was our last day in the apartment. Even though we've been living with my parents for a couple of weeks now, we've still been slowing get the last few things cleaned/vacated/repaired back at the complex. It was also the first of my 2 day MSF (motorcycle safety foundation) course. Here in TX, it's not required to take this course to get a motorcycle license, but it helps expedite the whole process, and definitely is a money saver for bike insurance.

Our trusty steeds!

Anywho, the class was long, and it got so hot out there today riding around, that my black helmet actually had glue seeping out of one of the seems because it was softening in the sun. Crazy. Needless to say, I got a good bit of sun out there. BUT, I got my certificate of completion so it was all worth it. Sometime next week I'm going to take a day off and head down to the DMV and hopefully I'll leave with the coveted "M" on my license from now on. WHOO HOO!

--Funny story: When I first got my bike, everyone I showed it to said "Hey man, that looks like the Bat Bike!" (It's all flat black with glossy black accents) and that quickly became it's nickname. So the first day of class, we were all walking around picking our bikes, and I looked down and saw this on one of them...

I figured it was a sign that me+that bike=destiny.

My lovely bride spent her weekend cleaning the apartment, and then cleaning our room, and THEN doing laundry. What a trooper!!!

For Labor Day we had tickets to a Ranger's game, but we were both tired and didn't feel like going, so we had a nice at-home date night. Got a couple movies and ordered pizza. It was REALLY REALLY nice. How was everyone else's holiday weekend?

Cynic

2008-08-14T13:53:00.003-05:00

I've always considered myself to be a pretty positive person. And by that I don't mean to say that I'm positive that I am a person (even though I am). No, I mean that I usually have a good attitude and like to stay hopeful. I have noticed as of late, that the more bills I pay, the more bitter I become. And every time I stub my toe, I become a little more skeptic of magazine subscription salesmen, who are "supporting a good cause". (I think buying myself a PS3 is a good cause too)

Recently I have been totally cynical about a new advertising campaign by Microsoft dubbed "The Mojave Experiment". It's purpose is basically to tell people, that the 90% of the tech world that doesn't like Vista is wrong, and that those who believe the thousands of negative reviews, are just falling for the negative hype. The solution: Positive hype. See for yourself...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igSlM3tl2zE

See, all those anti-Vistas were just... well we aren't sure what their motivation is, but they're lying to you! Don't believe them, or we'll make you look stupid on TV.

So after seeing this commercial umpteen times, I decided to send an email to Microsoft's corporate office. I thought I might share it with you.

(ps- for those of you who don't care about computers/techy stuff, I won't be offended if you scroll past the letter. There's real blog further down, I promise)

Dear Microsoft,

I feel I should tell you that your new marketing campaign comes off as arrogant and insulting, not to mention gives an educated consumer the suspicion that as a company, you are having issues with self actualization.

I have no problem with Microsoft and it has been my native platform for years. I have used Vista in multiple stages of updates, and on a range of machines, and while beautiful, I have absolutely no plans to upgrade any time soon. However, your so-called "Mojave experiment" is nothing short of shameful propaganda.

Your straw man approach to dealing with unsavory Vista reviews leaves me to believe that you are either blissfully ignorant to Vista's real problems, or you are purposefully ignoring them in hopes that you can fool people into investing in an inferior product.

I haven't heard anyone complain that Vista is ugly, lacks features, or has a hard to use interface. But that seems to be all the points touched upon in the "Experiment". A real experiment would be to have each person bring in any hardware of software they had lying around, and let them try to install it, on a machine with Vista, without the assistance of a technician.

In a controlled environment, with pre-installed hardware (or hardware that has already been checked for compatibility) and a few hand picked applications to test drive, of course you can make it a good user experience. However as most Vista users will tell you, easily installed hardware, and compatible software are few and far between.

If you are truly convinced that Vista's bugs have been worked out, why not give it to an office full of average users for a month, and videotape that? Maybe with the latest patches and updates, it would show a much more friendly and amenable experience. At least the test would be an accurate gauge of Vista, instead of a pre-designed dog and pony show.

I honestly feel that your best course of action should be straight forward, and honest dialogue to your customer base. Admit that Vista had issues, and then work to gain back the trust lost from releasing a faulty OS. If Vista really has been fixed then tell us that it has been fixed. Your current strategy of fixing problems, then acting like there never were any, then trying to make us feel stupid because of it, it not winning you any points.

Telling your customers that their fears and concerns are ridiculous and unjustified, doesn't make them more comfortable, it just makes you seem oblivious. Best of luck, Matt

On to less techy things!!!

My sweet bride and I are almost done clearing out the apartment. We just have to find places for a few more things like my guitars, and other things that I don't want in a hot storage unit.

We finally got our bed moved into my parent’s house, so we're officially living there now. Millie is having some trouble adjusting to her new home. I think she thinks she's being punished all day, and that Lindsey and I are secretly going back to the apartment without her. Poor kid, we really should take her to a park this weekend and let her play.

I think that if we really work at keeping our room clean, the amount of space we have should be enough. We have things set up pretty well, and there's plenty of function with a little bit of style. Oh the joys of living like a teenager again. I'll post some pictures later tonight if I get a chance.

But for now I should really get back to work. Later!

Changes

2008-08-01T10:04:00.007-05:00

There are times when as a whole, I feel like I have a pretty good handle on things. Every once in awhile I find those little moments of pride, when I look at my life and say "I really have it all together". This week has not been one of those times.

Home-

As many of you know, Lindsey and I have started building a house down in Burleson, near my parents. Well rather than sign another lease for our apartment, my folks offered us their spare room to stay in, during the transition. (pretty cool of them I think)

So even though our house will not be ready until early next year, Lindsey and I find ourselves already cleaning and packing. We've been going through all of our things and asking each other, "think you'll need this any time in the next 5 months?" and it's a game that is quite a bit harder than it sounds.

Work-

A lot of you probably already know that in the summers, I work an average of 75 hours a week. This starts the beginning of June, and carries through until mid-September. It becomes a real strain on me physically and mentally. More serious though, is that it strains our marriage. It's hard to maintain a close relationship when interaction is limited to: "What's for dinner" and "good night".

To add to the stress, Lindsey recently received a long over-due promotion. And while it is a blessing, it comes with a 35 minute commute that she is currently un-accustom to. So combine our hectic work schedules, with having to move, and things can get pretty volatile.

Transportation-

Since we got married, Lindsey and I have been very blessed in regards to our vehicular needs. Our cars have, for the most part, been cheap and reliable. Lately this has not been the case. Both of our cars are in need of some TLC, and we have been doubting their longevity. So we prayed about what to do, and (as he tends to do with us) Heavenly Father told us that Lindsey's car should go. He told us back letting an Infinity Q35 slam into the back of Lindsey on her way to work this week.

So with her car out of commission, we went back to a previously discussed plan, and I went and picked this up:

Which, unintentionally, has made my life much more complicated. Now I have added "buy helmet", "sign up for instruction course", "schedule and take course", "get license", to my ever increasing To Do list.

So that's about it for now. We're going through some pretty big changes lately, but I think in the end, they're all for the better. New things, new experiences, new blessings.

2008-07-05T11:50:00.000-05:00

My friends, family, colleagues and random internet surfers; I have been elected by the good people (Lindsey), to ascertain, create, and manage a blog. So here it is.

Some of you may know me from such blogs as www.myspace.com/gobanana316 and www.facebook.com/theycallthemnotesforsomereason. Okay that last one was a joke. But basically we figured with all the exciting things going on in our lives, maybe complete strangers would like to know about it. And if a relative or two happens to stumble over, then all the better. Let's start out with the Holiday weekend!

We've been so busy lately that I was really thankful that I somehow managed to get the 4th off. As some of you know, my company makes the majority of it's income between June and September, so that means I work a lot of 12, 14, and 16 hour days, and almost every weekend. Plus Lindsey's long awaited promotion is in the final stages of applicability (<- new word?) so she's been running crazy. But anyway, needless to say, we've been quite busy, and yesterday we had some much needed good times together. We had Dustin (Lindsey's bro.) over on the 3rd, and we stayed up late playing Wii. Then her other 2 brothers came over in the morning and I made breakfast burritos. Which of course meant Millie had a nice Holiday breakfast too. We took our time getting going for the day. I didn't get dressed until about 2:30, and then it was only because Lindsey made me. We went to her cousin David's homecoming party for awhile and then headed down to B-ville for fireworks.

(Mille- chillin' out, maxin')

(My grrrrls)

All in all it was a nice day. Although next year I hope to end it on a better note.