Tongue in Cheek

So my dad read about this in the news and referred me to this satirical blog that supposedly some "Mormon mommy" in Utah started up.

http://www.seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com/

Check it out if you've got a minute. It's hilarious! I can't believe the time and effort someone is putting into a joke, but unfortunately, she's a little bit too dead on at times (from the skimming I did in just a few minutes). And yes, I know I'm part of the phenomenon. And it's okay. Can't take ourselves too seriously, can we?

Safe and Sound

We made it back to Oregon. Our trip was smooth sailing, and after a few days of adjustment, Eliot is happy and perfectly content to have ample room to roam and play. Some of you may already know that we are house sitting this year for a couple in our ward who are on a mission in Hawaii. Needless to say, we are making quite the adjustment to so much space! It's going to be an amazing blessing to be in a house, even if it's just temporarily. We are loving the gorgeous view and yard, and it feels super strange to have more storage space than we can use! One of the great perks of staying in the house is that we have space for visitors. We already have people lined up to come see us, too, which makes us look forward to the weeks ahead! My sister Mary will be out in just a couple weeks, and then my parents are planning to come out for Labor Day. Hopefully a few of Grant's sisters will be able to make it for his fall break in October, along with others who are yet to "set a date"!! The fun visits from family and friends should hopefully make the year go faster (at least for me . . . I don't know that the visits will affect Grant too much, other than he'll be wishing he could be home with our visitors and not stuck at school for long hours!). It was definitely hard to leave family again after our very restful summer break. We had such a wonderful time in Utah, though. Grant's internship/clerkship could not have gone better, I was able to make some great accomplishments with piano lessons, getting my photos/scrapbooking organized, and also getting back into "running" shape, and Eliot had a ball being spoiled by grandparents and all of his adoring aunts. We'll miss ya, fam and friends! Come visit soon!

Healing My Heart

I made a huge first step this past week and made it back to the temple after over a year. Not only has having a newborn, nursing baby, along with a law student family schedule made it difficult to make it to the temple, I've also had some anxieties about going that resulted from some very painful and heartwrenching experiences. My feelings about the temple have not been the same this past year, which has been heartbreaking for me. I remember when I was first endowed, I would go all the time -- alone, with other friends preparing for missions, with anyone who would go with me. Because I had been endowed prior to my mission, Grant and I had the privilege of attending the temple together during our courtship and engagement, which was one of our favorite dates. That habit carried over into our marriage, and we have loved every opportunity we could go. When we would vacation, we would try to make a point of attending the temple if there was a temple nearby our destination or along the way. I felt like that safe haven was taken away from me over the past several months, and I wasn't sure what my experience would be like when I went back. Well, it was heaven. Simply stated, heaven. It was peaceful, perfect. I had prayed and prayed to have an experience to help me feel at ease and to feel reassured that my Heavenly Father knew my heart and my feelings, and that experience came in a sweet and simple way. It was so wonderful to go back. So wonderful to allow that part of my heart to be healed.

Family Pictures

We got family pictures done last night with the Grant's side of the family. We used the same photographer that did our wedding, who we just love, and we can't wait to get the official photos! The weather held out and wasn't too hot, and the backdrop was just beautiful (shot in the Riverwoods in Provo, for those of you familiar with Utah!). This is a "contraban" picture my sister-in-law took . . . a sneak peak of the real thing!

Mommy Moment

A recent sweet (and slobbery!) moment with Eliot. He's typically a pretty independent little soul with his own agenda these days, and does NOT like to be interrupted from discovering and playing, but every now and again, he satisfies his mommy with a sweet kiss or two! (Forgive the sideways video . . . though it made me feel better that my sister-in-law did it this way. At least I'm not the only one who forgets there's no such thing as "vertical video"!!)

Has Anyone Seen My Background?!

Yeah, so I added a background to my blog a few days ago . . . and it disappeared. Anyone know what might have happened?! Please, more experienced bloggers, help me out on this one. The "Page Element" with all the HTML coding is still there, right where I left it, and all of the changes I made in Blogger (fonts, colors, etc.) are all changed, too. Help this not-so-blog-savvy girl out!

Freedom Run 2008!!

Eliot and I had a fun new adventure this morning -- we ran Provo's Freedom Festival 5K together! There were SO many people there this year (well over 3,000), which makes it exciting, but at the same time presented some challenges for running with a stroller. With only one minor "incident" (for which I have no one to blame but myself), the race went pretty well. I even made my goal time, which was rewarding after weeks of training and even a couple of minor setbacks. My sister Mary ran it with me, and Grant's sisters Melissa and Tori weren't too far behind! Great way to start out our 4th and a fun family tradition. Eliot didn't even seem to mind getting woken up early to go, but he did keep looking at me pretty confused about the whole thing! What a sweet little jogging buddy he is!

Me and my running partner Eliot! (If you're confused about the background, we're actually at the BYU Creamery on 9th, the only place we could meet up with Grant and Mary's hubbie, Louie, because all the roads were blocked off for the race. Darn runners.)

My sister Mary and I. Mary's the "real" runner in the family. Just finished a 1/2 marathon up by Bear Lake a couple weeks ago. She's amazing!

Insomnia and Face Lifts

I'm going on about three weeks or more of not being able to fall asleep at night. Which isn't new for me. I did the same thing during the months leading up to my mission. Doesn't matter how tired I am, what time I go to bed, if I've worked out that day or not. Just can't shut down my brain. I think and think and worry and think, and it drives me crazy. My used-to-be-habit of getting up at 5/5:30 a.m. to go to the gym has happened maybe twice since we've been in Utah because I am exhausted in the morning since I can't fall asleep until one or two in the morning (if I'm lucky).

My most recent restless night brought about the face lift on my blog. I've wanted to add a background for a long time now, and thanks to a friend's secret tricks of the trade, I spent over an hour of my sleepless night giving my blog a "new 'do." I hunted and hunted through pages of backgrounds online, found one, tried it, didn't like it, tried again. And then once I found one, I of course had to dabble with my fonts and colors, and then change my mind about the background and start all over again . . . Sound familiar to any of you other bloggers?!

At least I wasn't tossing and turning in bed, going over my budget in my head or planning for the umpteenth time what I'm going to do the next day, or deciding at what point I'll turn off my alarm because there's no way I can get up to put in rigorous cardio on three hours of sleep. I know, I need help. But at least my blog's cute.