Reminicent of that first year... Livin' on Love

The first year I was married, all I could see was Jess. My sun rose and fell around that 6 foot 3" freckled boy. When we moved to Huntington and got real adult jobs I was just shocked that we were expected to spend 9 and 10 hours away from each other everyday, year after year, all in the name of: Work. I could hardly stand it. Night after night we'd lay on our popped air mattress in our one room studio apartment and wonder if anyone else was really this happy and this lucky.

We moved to Huntington Beach the summer of 2002 with $30.00 to our name. No jobs, no food, no electricity. However we did have running water, an apartment paid up for the month, a 1970's Crown Victoria, and a surf board, what more did we need.
"Livin' on Love" was more than a song to us that first year of life.

But, we thought it was fabulous! With no frig, and no money, we ate a lot of .99 cent hamburgers, and I happily gained the newlywed 19 in just under 90 days. This sticks out in my mind because our California wedding reception was three months after we got married, and no, I did not fit that pretty white dress!



But, life was grand. We ate a lot of hamburgers, .25 Homerun Pies, and cereal by candle light, we bought ice for the foam cooler every morning, played at the beach and surfed everyday. Our bed was a $20.00 blow mattress that popped soon after we moved in.


After that first month, this cute young girl living above us came and dropped off a grocery gift card for $150.00. We were so thankful. With tears in my eyes I asked her how she knew, and she casually said, "Oh, I saw your car." What! Who says that? It still makes me chuckle. Where I come from, if you are rollin in something with 4 wheels, you are stoked! So, it made me laugh every time people giggled or pointed at our awesome car in Orange County, it's a strange place all it's own.

After a few weeks Jess was hired by Yakaty Yak in Newport, we got electricity, internet and I finally found a job on the 23 floor of Deutsche Bank. Life began.

That year was: magical, that's the only way I can describe it. We were so charmed and delighted by everything that came our way, especially each other.

Any Moms Overwhelmed by the need to do . . .more?

I have put a few cute or silly videos up over time, that generally are time wasters, but this one is truly a blessing to watch. I feel so inspired and encouraged that I can do, instead of my usually feeling overwhelmed that I can't do enough. I'm posting it for everyone but also for myself, I think it would be a great 3 min. addition to my morning routine this week.

Long...Blonde...

...to short brown in only minutes. It's funny how I didn't think I'd really care. But, 5 days later, I still don't know how to style this do, and I'm starting to really care. I've tried curling, fliping, scrunching, bedhead, and I'm still at a loss. Yesterday I was seriously considering shaving.

Faith.

A sweet friend just came by and showed me this. It's of a little boy calling in on a Christan Radio Station. Just darling.

An Easy Halloween Advent

I haven't put the numbers on them yet. But, I think I'm going to embroider numbers 7 thru 1 on white circles, as a countdown the week before Halloween. And, fill them up with goodies or fun foamy Halloween cutouts to make Halloween Grams etc.

Wishing on Stars

When I was a little girl, I loved this tv show from the 80's called This Old House or something like that. It was about this cute family that all lived together with the grandpa too in this Old House. A Big Happy: with granparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, the full meal deal.

As a child my family, including all extended relatives consisted of 5 people. That was all, and most other families I knew were closer in dynamic to my family than that on the screen. With nothing in real life to relate this show to, it was mostly a sweet fable I'd wish for at night while looking at the stars. "Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight... ending in Amen" It was somewhere between a prayer, and a superstitious wish, that I did religiously night after night until I was probably 12. I think I secretly thought if I was diligent enough maybe it would come true.

So, now when I look at my life filled with people: husband, children, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and friends so dear they may as well be sisters, my heart swells up so big, it leaks out my eyes. Especially on Sundays. There is something about the kindness and genuine love and friendship I feel at church that makes me embarrassingly teary-eyed all through church on Sundays. I can't believe it's all true.

Who knew, wishing on stars really worked! No, I know all good things come of the Lord, and I feel so grateful. Below, are the pictures that inspired this recall down memory lane. How lucky are my sweet children. Here's a picture of the kids having their first sleepover with their cousin Livi. They had an absolute ball, and haven't quit talking about it since!

Halloween Quilt

Playing rookie from church. I feel kind of guilty, taking pictures of my Halloween Quilt instead of being miserable in bed. At the same time I couldn't go to church, hacking up a lung, and spitting out mystery green stuff. right? t.m.i? Well, just enjoy my spooky quilt, then.

To Make a House a Home: A Tribute.

Early in the Spring this year I can remember fervently petitioning help from the Lord to move into a different house. One that would fit our family's needs. At that time we had 2 extra people that we loved dearly living with us and another staying half time, making our small home full with 3 small children and 5 adults coming in and out of the house and needing make shift sleeping arrangments at night. And, at the time we were possibly going to add another, my 17 year old sister, making a total of 9 people in our 3 bedroom house.

If anyone loves a party it's Jess and I, not only were we having fun but, it's fun to be helpful. At the same time our house started to feel like it was magically shrinking. Being disorganized by nature, these circumstances weren't helping me win the war.

I assumed if I was patient, the Lord would provide a miracle and our small house stuffed with a basketball team of people would sell even in a dead market, and we would end up with a roomier home for our family. As per usual, my plan was different than the Lords and I'm so glad it was.

Skip ahead to today, I sat down in our almost finished basement, watching the kids 'Backagon Doggy Show' (right), and felt overwhelmed with joy. Looking back I see how we got here, how a home that started out wrong in so many ways, became just right for our family. Had we of moved at that time we would have left the most wonderful ward we've ever been apart of, we wouldn't be living next door to one of my dearest friends, and we would have left a home that meets the needs of our unique family so well. As I reflect I realize I have fallen in love with all the houses I have lived in, it just takes awhile to make it Home.

Our first married Home was in Huntington Beach, California. It was just like a little cottage enchanted with magic and just a block from the beach, we lived there for our first 3 years, and it's the house I brought my first little baby, Kyanne, home to.

Our second home, and the first one we owned was in Raymond, Alberta, Canada. And, there we got to have a beautiful yard, another new sweet9 baby, Bridge, and could walk to grandma's house. It's the home Bridgey was blessed in, by his dad, grandpa Larsen, and Great Grandpa Bridge, who he's named after.

And, now our sweet home in Calgary. We've been so blessed. Every time I leave one of our homes I cry, and I know when we out grow this home in a few years I will cry again. Homes are sentimental places, that's why I wanted to write this post, as a tribute to these physical dwellings that have provided such wonderful comfort, refuge and joy.

Schools In

Ky is attending the Canyon Meadows Escuela where she is taught half the time in Spanish. And, Bridgey started Playschool, which me and some other mom teach alternating every 5 weeks. He loves it, wishes it was everyday instead of 2 times a week, and of course, like his big sister, packs his backpack before we head out. One of the moms/teachers last weeks said he was one of the most poliet 3 year-olds she ever meet. I was kind of nervous about how he would act away from home. I knew from early on that Ky would be well behaved in public, she's just like that. But, Bridgey is just Bridgey. Enthusiastic, Energetic, and Honest all the time.

Ky thinks school is fabulous. I always knew I would be that mom tearily waving goodbye on the first day of school, holding back the sobs until I got in to the privacy of my car, where I would have a good cry and count the minitues until her return. So, how surprised was I when I felt excited and cheerfully waved back to my enthusiastic Kindergartner on her first day of school.

Actually, I felt guilty, like I wished I could squeeze out a tear or something, but the truth is she was so excited for school! 2 years in waiting. She couldn't wait to ride the bus, line up, and wear a backpack half as big as her. And, I couldn't help but catch her enthusiasm. She's been attending for just over a month now and loving every minitue of it. She loves her teacher, playing kitchen, drawing, singing, and sitting by her friends on the bus. She's come home speaking spanish words with a much more authentic accent than Jess or I. She even has that accent sometimes when she says english words. At first I couldn't figure out what she was saying, but then I realized she's learning new english words at school too from her teacher who has a very strong Spanish accent. It's pretty cute.