Miracles Happen

I was trying to be a responsible adult and ordering my textbooks before the summer session started and I was at AZTI that I logged onto my NAU account and tried to see what I needed. It was at that moment when I realized that I haven’t thought about school since May and that is probably why I am enrolled in the WRONG CLASS!!!!! I emailed the professor that semester and she was all business and wasn’t going to let me bend any rules to get into her class and so I really worried about getting in. I sent her an email and tried to explain my situation. Without this class I have to wait a YEAR to graduate and I have to wait another YEAR to be in graduate school and I really don’t want to do that! So I emailed her in a panic and then waited anxiously trying to decide how I was going to tell Marc that I couldn’t graduate because I enrolled in the wrong class. As I fretted and worried (without any ice cream!) I got the email that saved my day. I got into the right class. I am now waiting for my advisor to enroll me in the correct class and then I can start school on Monday. What a relief! I know miracles can happen and I know this was in answer to my desperate prayers! I can’t even express how this feels!

Siestas

Marc and I were hanging out one day when I said that really hope that there is a nap time in heaven. I really would like a very nice long nap in heaven every day. I then made the following statement, “I really hope that everyone in heaven is Hispanic so that they will have a siesta every day!” Marc busted up laughing and said that he didn’t really thing the celestial language was going to be Spanish but he could be wrong. I told him that I didn’t need it to be Spanish but I needed them to know one word….. siesta. I then spent the next five minutes trying to convince Marc that it was a fabulous idea and just kept repeating the word siesta with several accents. Of course this lead to Marc being silly and trying to have an entire conversation only using the word siesta. “Siesta? SIESTA!!!!” He continued to figure out that this alphabet would only have 5 letters and tried to find all of the words that could be possible. I ignored him and just said that I really want nap time in heaven! It was a very pleasant afternoon!

Silly Texts

My phone uses Swype to send text messages and that is fabulous on how quickly it sends text messages and terrible because of how quickly it messes up my messages. I have sent many ridiculous messages over the past few months but here my most recent one: Marc: You are my hero. Chrissy: You are nine. (Translation: You are mine.) Marc: No, I am 21. :)

Marc and the Polygraph

On June 26th Marc went in for his Polygraph. Marc is the most honest person I know and so I brushed off any possibility that anything could go wrong. They strapped him into his chair and told him to breathe normally. A few hours later it would be known that Marc failed his polygraph and would have to wait a year to reapply with this department. To say that we were both shocked and crushed would be an understatement. I can’t even express my dismay. It would have been one thing if Marc lied but he didn’t, the test just registered that he did. I wish there was a better system or a do-over or something. I think that since Marc has done this once he will know what to watch out for next time but it was a pretty powerful blow. I am so proud of how Marc has handled himself through this whole ordeal and that he can pick himself and move on with such grace and power. He has already started looking for new departments and starting to plan for our future. I am willing to do whatever I need to in order to help him fulfill his dream and I can’t wait for when it is right and really happens for him. Luckily we both understand that there is a bigger plan and when it is right that it will happen. Marc is training harder than ever and I am so proud of him. Please keep him and his future endeavors in your families thoughts and prayers. My Mom reminded me that even when things are right they aren’t always easy. I have some new found respect for Lehi and his family and all of their troubles. This is our current trial and I can only be grateful for the strength that it will bring to our family and how blessed we will be when we get to the other side of this.

Indestructible Salad

In one of my many, “let’s be healthy kicks” over the last year I bought a salad. I then quickly lost focus and this bag of salad just lived in my fridge. By the time I discovered it again I knew that it had been WAY too long since I had bought it and I shouldn’t eat it but I was amazed that it still looked in perfect shape. In fact it was so perfect that I wanted to take a photo of it. Of course I kept forgetting and it continued to stay perfect for MONTHS! I finally cleaned out the fridge a couple of weeks ago and took a picture of our indestructible salad. It finally started to rot but this salad stayed way too green for way too long. In fact, I don’t know that even in my new health eating that I could by this salad…. No I will stick to my heads of lettuce and put my salad together myself! Disclaimer: I have searched and searched and searched for the picture of this bag of salad because I can distinctly remember taking the photo but after search my phone and both cameras... no luck! So please imagine a really gross, rotting bag of lettuce pictured here. THANKS!

Missionaries at the Library

So remember how I just said that I am so lucky to have my job? It isn’t always a bed of roses and Monday night was an example of that. Right before the shift change we had a woman report that a man tried to rob her by stealing her purse. At that point my only option is to call the police and I did. The man kept accusing me of being racist and I have learned that it is best to just not to respond. I get so tired of hearing “it’s because I am brown/native” as an excuse for any behavior but I don’t react anymore. The man was acting really sketchy and he kept holding his shirt funny. He either just stole library materials or he was holding a weapon and I wasn’t really willing to gamble which was which. However, I knew that I would be just fine because the missionaries were at the library. I had noticed that there two sets of Elders emailing home that afternoon and I knew that at least one set was only a few steps away. Knowing that I had worthy Priesthood holders within 30 feet of me was all I needed to stay calm. Especially when I tried to call 911 only to find our phones no longer dial that number. Is that even an option? That has since been fixed but it was such a comfort to know that I had the missionaries there with me. I hope that they know what a comfort they were to me and I am grateful that they were in my library at that moment and I felt they were there for me. I hope they come back next P-day to come email home again…. Though we might have scared them off with this last week!

I Love Working in the Summer!!!

Can I just say that my job is AWESOME in the summertime? This summer I have been paid to go ice skating (twice and once was with my husband) and swimming (twice, one is coming up next week) and play rock band, and watch movies, and watch live animal shows, and play with parachutes, and play with LEGOs, and so much more. I mean really??? I am the luckiest girl EVER!!!!

New Eating Habits

So I have finally decided that I am going to get healthy and I mean it. I have people that I report to and I have worked really hard on changing how I live. I eat a protein based salad every day and a very vitamin/health nut fruit smoothie every morning. I am feeling great and have slimmed down quite a bit. I still have a long way to go but I am loving that this is all coming from me and I am finally strong enough to continue with this program. I have never once felt pressured by Marc about my weight gain or felt unloved but I am ready to slim down again and I love that I can truly say that I am doing this for me. I am so grateful that Marc is supportive of me and has gone on this new way of eating as well. I feel like I have more energy and am more confident in myself. I can’t wait to see what other changes come as this continues!

Kiara’s Cooking

One thing that Kiara has always enjoyed doing is cooking, or at least trying to help cooking. Now before anyone thinks I actually let her help in the normal way, her way of helping is sitting on a chair next to me while I cook. She doesn’t ever get to touch the food but it makes her feel like she is included in the process. She does like to yell at me if her chair isn’t there for her but usually I start cooking and she is right by my side in an instant. It is definitely becoming our routine to have her cook with me. However, if Marc is in the kitchen then she is nowhere to be seen. I guess we know who her favorite is :)

I Am Not The Only One Who Likes Slippers

I was getting ready for work the other day when I came across this little spectacle. SERIOUSLY!!! For the record those are the awesome blue monster slippers that I bought in Germany!

Aurora Reaching New Heights

Marc’s birthday present, a.k.a. Aurora, never ceases to amaze me at how high she can jump. Her newest favorite place to hang out is on top of my dresser. I would think that isn’t a big deal! I mean all cats can jump to the top of a dresser! But not she likes to hang out on top of the vanity mirror on top of my dresser and she can do this all in one bound. I yell at her every time she gets up there and she is finally starting to get the hint and is now practicing scaling our closet. Thankfully she is using the shelves as her step stools and not my clothes! I realized looking at this photo again that she must have been inspired by the dare devil on the calendar. Thanks Melissa!

Marc’s Hives

Marc has been getting weird hives lately. It started on his left hand under his wedding ring and I wondered if he was allergic to that. I wore his ring for a few days and the hives went away but then they came back and they started spreading. It seems that Marc is finally reacting to his cat allergy but he is still persistent on keeping the new one. On the positive side to these hives it means that my house is being vacuumed and cleaned all the time and that is a lovely perk! (Especially since I am not doing the extra cleaning!)

Playing Halo

After two and half years of marriage I finally must have loved Marc enough to play Halo with him. He was so excited that I would play with him. We played maybe two rounds and I really I just walked around (mostly stumbled) behind him and pretended to play. But it was like Christmas to Marc so it was worth it! However, I did get a nice headache from playing so I am not sure how soon we will be repeating….

Carmel in His Bowl

For Christmas my Dad made me a beautiful rope bowl for the cats. Carmel has taken a liking to this bowl but only if he thinks he is alone in the room. I caught these photos the other day and thought I would share.

Graduation Post with Pictures

I do have pictures of graduation and I figured I would post some of them though I don’t have the group photos. Before the ceremony: My best study buddy: The hat that I sat behind (see crown) and my family found me by (see heart): The balloons from my coworkers: The kitties like them too:

Friday Night Movie

One Friday night Marc and I went to watch our movie and I noticed that all three of the kitties were snuggled in staring out of our bedroom window. I laughed that they were watching their Friday night movie too. This staring out the window continued until one day I figured out what they were staring at. There is a mouse that lives outside my bedroom under the dog house. The cats are fascinated by this little mouse and watch it anxiously daily. Kovu caught and killed a mouse the other day and I worried that the Friday night movies would be over soon but there seems to be another mouse because the cats still watch very intently. Of course they were all looking out the window until I tried to take a picture! Following the mouse to make sure he doesn't get away: We finally caught a picture of the little mouse:

Snuggle Buddies

These two have been inseparable for the past two weeks. Every time I find them napping they are snuggled together. They must like it because it is really hot up here this summer and yet they love to be next to each other.

My Current Treatment

My menopause got extended for another 6 months. The doctor feels that this is the best course of action for me since there are still some things that haven’t been fixed. Honestly this is the best I have felt in over 2 years and I really am not sure I want to come off of menopause. The doctor said it won’t leave any permanent damage and I am grateful for that. I still have my off days but honestly I have more good days than bad days. June was really rough for a while but when I went in to see the doctor she said I was right on track. My body is finally not trying to have periods as often and it is doing better with coping with the cramping. I think a lot of that was due to my change in diet recently but I am hoping for brighter days in the future and that my body will be able to handle more and I will continue to heal.

Feeling Off

Marc and I have just been off this past week. It seems that things that aren’t a big deal seem to cause contention and stress. This isn’t usually how things go in our house and I have been really saddened by this new change. It isn’t like it has been all his fault or all my fault but it seems we are both just off. We reevaluated our life and noticed that though we have been together more that we haven’t necessarily been taking advantage of our time together. We also had been slacking in our scriptures and prayers. We are now striving to do better on both accounts. I was amazed at how much a difference those things could cause. I really feel that it was the scripture study and praying that did us in. A few weeks later: We are now going on like 3 weeks of regular scripture study and prayers and it has made all of the difference in the world! Life is like it used to be and we are peaceful and happy again! I hope to never slack in our studies again and that our marriage will be able to continue on a happy track. As a disclaimer in our being off it means that we went from never bickering about anything to kind of bickering about some things. It wasn’t even like we were fighting but we were just off and seemed frustrated easily. I am grateful that I have a marriage where us being off is just slightly bickering about something and not even fighting yet. I am so grateful to have a marriage that is so peaceful and easygoing.

Funerals and Weddings

This past weekend was an incredibly difficult weekend to face. On June 10th the world lost an incredible man as Jim Bunker died. He has been a hero of mine and I was so sad to hear about his unexpected passing. I do know that if anyone was ready to meet their Lord that it was him and that gave me comfort. I am so grateful for the Plan of Salvation and what it means in our lives. The following weekend I had the opportunity to attend his funeral. It was filled with beautiful music and touching words and was the perfect tribute to the life that he led. After such an emotional morning we left for the valley to attend the wedding of my cousin. It was a beautiful ceremony and I was able to spend the night enjoying Marc’s company. It was fun to dance and goof off at the reception with Mikkel. It was such an emotional day but it was a good chunk of the life cycle. I hope that I can always remember how special my wedding was and that when I die that I will be as respected and worthy as Bishop Bunker was.

Marc’s Job Offer

It has finally happened! Marc was offered a conditional offer of employment by the Flagstaff Police Department. We still have a few hoops to jump through before he really has the job but this is the first step and we are so excited for Marc. He will have is polygraph in a few weeks and then go from there!

Successful Couponing

After the disaster of last week’s experience I was determined to do couponing properly. We went through the same process again but this time we left saving a bunch of money and a respectable length for our receipt. It was a good experience and I hope to continue learning more and getting better at this whole thing. I don’t understand how manufacturer’s coupons work or anything more than clipping a simple ad from the newspaper but even just doing that has saved us a lot of money

Working With Tucker

A few months ago we started boarding a horse named Tucker. This has been the greatest thing in the world for Marc. He spends a few hours every day out with Tucker and he has really learned a lot about training horses. He knows how to file hooves, teach basic commands, and he will soon be starting the riding process. Tucker is a gorgeous thoroughbred that is so incredibly sweet. I don’t spend a lot of time with Tucker because of work and school but honestly it has been heaven sent for Marc. There is a quote by Winston Churchill that says, “There is something about the outside of the horse that is good for the inside of a man.” After seeing Marc with Tucker I completely agree with that statement.

The New Squeaky Toy

I don’t know how to write this post because I still don’t know how I feel about this new change of events. That night of A.M.O.R. we were gifted with a little kitten. I didn’t want to take the kitten but as soon as I realized that she had R.S.V. I knew that she would die at the pound or would make the other kitties sick. So knowing I had the medicine at home to help her we brought her home and secluded her from the other kitties. It took her a while to heal and the other kitties got a little sick in the process. Soon they were all healed and then it came to figured out what to do with her. I didn’t want another cat and I didn’t even want to think about it being a possibility. Marc kept asking me what we should do with her and I told him I was even afraid to pray about it. All of our animals have taught me something and have come into our lives when we needed them most and I didn’t want to go through that again. Marc kept asking me for weeks and I kept dodging the question. I finally prayed about it and got the answer that I needed to trust Marc. I did and now we have a new kitty named Pascal. She was so sick when we got her that she wasn’t even able to meow and so we named her after the mute chameleon on the movie Tangled. She is the most obnoxious cat ever! I hope that I can learn some patience from her and that we will all be able to live peacefully again. Wish me luck!!

Monopoly

This summer Marc and I seem to be obsessed with playing the game Monopoly. We play all the time and we have figured out a nice system for playing a quick but fair game. We have discovered that whoever owns the Railroads wins or if I have both Utilities then I win. Marc has only “won” twice as of today but that is only because when he starts to win I suddenly find that I have extra money and properties that I didn’t own before. It has been really fun to play with him and I love that we can have time to just hang out during our games. We used to play Settlers of Catan that way in Tempe but this seems to be our new game for this summer.

Kidnapping Children A.K.A. AMOR

Without having kids of our own we are always looking to try to borrow other people’s children. We have offered countless times to watch kiddos while their parents go on dates and we have NEVER been taken up on it. Last week I offered once again and this time they asked if Saturday would be too soon. Marc and I were so excited! On Friday night I was reading the Ensign when I came across an article about Alternative Mothering Opportunities. This woman couldn’t have children and so she went out of her way to find ways that she could be a mother to children that weren’t her own. I talked to Marc about how the next day would be my own opportunity for an Alternative Mothering Opportunity. I exclaimed that we could have to find a better acronym than A.M.O. for these types of situations and Marc came up with A.M.O.R. Alternative Mothering Opportunities Revamped. So the next day we were off for some A.M.O.R. I was expecting something along the lines of New Hampshire to happen again. I was with Melissa’s kiddos all the time and loved it! Can I just say that night taught me how amazing my niece and nephews are and how much I miss them!!! It was a good night of watching the kiddos and having some good teaching moments for me. We had one kiddo that was having a hard time because he usually doesn’t get left with anyone else and he just wanted to be with his whole family again. I sent my mom a frantic text when I realized that he was going to cry himself to sleep and he hadn’t even eaten dinner yet. Of course my mom knew just what to do and the night continued. It was fun to make homemade pizzas and Oreos with the kiddos and we finished off the night with a movie. It took the kids FOREVER to pick a movie and by the time it happened 2 of the kiddos were already passed out. I am looking forward to my next experience and am hoping it has more amor in it. However, it was a true example of what mothering is like and that is what I needed. I wanted a nice, easy, peaceful night but I got what I asked for. So in case you didn’t know, be careful for what you wish for!

Couponing

Part of my attempting to be a mature, responsible adult was attempting couponing. I finally feel like I am old enough and responsible enough to attempt this “adult” outing. Marc and I planned it all out and we were really ridiculous to watch! We started by getting all of the grocery adds and finding what kind of food we would need. We have been trying to eat healthier and most of our shopping list was fruits and veggies. We had decided to find the best price things and then use Walmart’s price matching to buy it all in one place. I had clipped the coupons and made a nice list in order of where things are found in the store and we headed out for our adventure. We get up to the register and I tell them that I have some coupons and they say they will ring them up at the end. I am a little surprised but that works for me. So at the end I go to hand over my first coupon when I realize a very important thing: Price matching is not the same thing as having a coupon. They had to void everything that had a “coupon” (that was 85% of our cart full of food) and then rescan the items again with the new price. Our shopping list goes from my head to my knees and I am over 6 feet tall!!! It was a little traumatizing to all involved and I felt awful for the cashier who was checking us out! I kept apologizing and promising to do it better in the future. I really wanted to feel grown up and important at the end and instead I felt like a little kid who just messes things up! Marc was pretty much ready to throw in the towel for couponing until I pointed out that we saved over $50! (They couldn’t tell me exactly how much I saved but after you hit $50 then they had to ask a manager to come approve it and we had to have that happen). Wish us luck for future endeavors!

Energy Retro-Fit

Our city has this awesome energy retro-fit program that Marc and I were able to qualify for. Basically they send in a crew that does work on the house and it helps our house be more energy efficient. It is a grant funded program and so all of this work only costs us $25. It is estimated to save us at least $30 a month during the winter. They come and change the water facets, light bulbs, ducts, vents, caulking, water heater, etc. We are definitely getting the better end of this deal and I can’t wait for them to come!!!!

Divine Comedy and Tim Hawkins

When Melissa came to visit she got us addicted to Divine Comedy. They are a comedy group out of Provo and one of their members went to visit the Youth Conference in Jerusalem. Melissa heard about them and was kind enough to spread the word to us on our visit. We would spend a really long time watching YouTube videos. It is now more common to hear us quote things like “to the left” or “I’m the ward dinosaur” or other such nonsense statements! I totally recommend them! However, these videos talk about some of the intricacies of the LDS culture and they are much funnier to those within the culture. They have done some songs that step outside like Firebolt and Halo but most of their videos are much funnier to those who are LDS or who understand that culture. On one of our YouTube nights we branched out to Tim Hawkins and I am amazed at how clean he is. He does a lot of his comedy to music and his facial expressions are amazing! I do have to warn that when you search Tim Hawkins a video called “Christians Don’t Have Curse Words” comes up but it isn’t from Tim Hawkins and I can’t recommend it. These are videos that I have really enjoyed: Divine Comedy - Shoulder Angel - Provo Utah Girls - Merit Badges - Good Talk - Sunday School Tim Hawkins - Things You Don’t Say to Your Wife - My Favorite Bible Verse - Tech Support (Marc’s Favorite) - Girls Vs. Boys - Thank You Captain Obvious

Cleaning the Garage and EVERYTHING Else

After getting back from Grasshopper Point I found out some very upsetting news but it was very good for my house! I finally took the opportunity to clean out the garage with Marc’s help. It looks absolutely fabulous now!!! After the garage the rest of the house got attacked and it felt so good to get some cleaning done and to have such a productive day. The one thing that I did find out is that I seem to really love Christmas because I have SEVERAL boxes of Christmas stuff but I have one box for all of the of the other holidays. Every girl gets to have her favorites, right?

Grasshopper Point

Can I just say that I love Marc’s new schedule! Marc and I had the opportunity to go to Grasshopper Point this weekend. I wanted to go check it out after hearing that my parents had gone there on a date. Marc and I went and got some Mexican food and enjoyed a lovely drive to Sedona. It was a beautiful spring day and the company was perfect. We got to Grasshopper Point and ate our lunch and the decided to stroll to the water. I was amazed at how crowded it was and we continued down river for a little bit until we found a nice place to stow our stuff and hop in the water. IT WAS SOOOOO COLD! I had forgotten what a wimp I was and Marc was quick to remind that it was ice not too long ago. I started barely wading in and it was taking me a really long time to get into the water. Marc was much faster to just jump in and enjoy the water. It wasn’t much later that I witnessed a nice little critter crawling towards me in the water. I was then very quick to move out of the water!!! I hid on a rock until it got too warm. Marc found a perfect rock in the shade on the other side of the river and both of us worked on getting across without finding the new critter. We both made it successfully and enjoyed a nice relaxing afternoon laying on a rock by the river. Can life get any better? I love Marc’s new schedule!!!