12 Years!!!!!!

Okay so I am REALLY late this year. You would think that with only 1 blog post per year that I should really be able to make that happen in a timely manner... but being about 3 weeks late is really more consistent with my actual personality. I'm always late for everything. For some reason it's just very difficult for me to get anything done on time or to get anywhere on time. It drives Jay crazy. But I'm happy to say it's successfully driven him crazy for 12 years!!! Longer than that if you count our dating time, but I think that maybe while we were dating I maybe made an effort to try to be on time for things. You know... kind of like how Jay used to make an effort to eat Mexican food. These are the kind of things that people do when they're dating. I do not remember the last time Jay and I ate out at a Mexican restaurant together... I also don't remember the last time I was on time for something. Oh well.

Well this year I am excited. Like really excited. If you've read any of my anniversary posts you would know that the one thing I mention like every year is how I envisioned Jay and I spending our anniversaries in a tropical paradise in beautiful warm weather while all of our family and friends are stuck miserable in the frozen tundra of January/February with the inversion and the snow. So far, it hasn't really happened. But this year it's FINALLY HAPPENING!!!!! That's right... while ALL of you people are stuck here in the frigid 68 degree temperatures, dealing with the cleanest air I've seen in 5 years and watching the flowers and buds start to bloom in February, Jay and I are going to be hanging out in the blissfully warm 75 degree temperature range. That's like 7 degrees warmer than all you stuck here in Utah. I know, you are all totally jealous right? I mean I went outside and ran today in a tank top and capris. Next week on my vacation, I'll be able to wear a tank top and shorts....
So I guess it figures that this would be the nicest, warmest, cleanest winter I can remember here in Utah. I mean for the last 18 months I've been holding it over the heads of my co-workers that I'm going to Hawaii and they're not. I actually won our airfare from a raffle at a work party so it's been so much fun to remind them about it daily. And sure like 3 people have quit since I've been talking about it non-stop but I'm sure they had other reasons. All last year when it was in the teens for like WEEKS on end with horrible inversions, I secretly (and by secretly I mean loudly voiced to my co-workers) relished in the fact that in one year I would be warm on tropical beaches while everyone else was suffering. And I was excited. So I'm pretty sure that I single-handedly brought on this beautiful weather here. Whatever. We'll know for sure if the temperature suddenly drops dramatically as soon as we get back.

But yes, we are going to Kauai next week!!! Without kids!!!!! Here is the view from the condo we rented:

This is exactly where we will be so if you look at it after next week you may see me walk by enjoying my cup of coffee while appreciating the ocean view. I also want to apologize in advance for how many pictures I'll probably post of this. Keep in mind we haven't been on a vacation like this in a VERY long time. When I broke the news to the kids that we were going to Hawaii and that they were not, Jamison said "Well I guess we're even then because we went camping with Grandma and Grandpa last summer without you guys." ...... Yep, totally even now! Everyone enjoy your 68 degree gorgeous Utah weather, you're welcome! Also, Happy 12 year Anniversary (3 weeks late) to my favorite husband ever!!! Even without the Mexican food.

11 Years!!!!

It's our Anniversary!!! I can't believe I've been married 11 years, technically that's 1/3 of my life! This last year has been a great year; I used to worry when I hear people mention the 7 year itch or when I look around and see the high divorce rate amongst people who have been married for a long time. And let's face it, I'm not exactly easy to live with. I bring a rather high percentage of drama and stress into our lives and combined with feeling like our family is busier than we've ever been, it's amazing that I love my husband and relationship more every year instead of growing apart like I've always worried about. Jay does make me coffee every morning though so that might have something to do with it. I REALLY value coffee in the morning and if I could go back and somehow incorporate this requirement into our vows, I would.

I looked up my topic from last year, (good thing it's my last blog post, makes it easy to find) which was my Favorite Vacation. Due to the long distance dating thing, we did some pretty amazing vacations before we got married, so I'm just going to count vacations from since we've been married. Which really, we pretty much stopped taking vacations after our Honeymoon. Jay started school pretty much right when we got married, I spent 1/3 of my life traveling for work (or as they call it "all expenses paid vacation"), then we had Jamison, more school for Jay, and I think right around the time we had Gianna is when we actually went on another vacation. As anyone who knows me might guess, traveling with me is usually not a smooth process. Our first two days of our Miami/Bahamas cruise was without luggage (not my fault but that stuff tends to happen to me). That being said, having Jay with me does seem to counter the chaos somewhat. Since we have only been on a handful of vacations in the last 11 years, my selection comes from our Honeymoon in Cancun, 2 trips to Mount Rushmore, a cruise to the Bahamas, 2 trips to the Oregon Coast and Disneyland. Right away, the first two stand out as potential favorites because 1) we didn't have kids with us and 2) they were tropical, warm (in January) and 3) we really had soooo much fun! I mean, how can you compete with this? It is the middle of the day and we were doing nothing but relaxing in the sun on a private island while everyone else we knew was stuck in the horrible inversion and freezing temps back in Salt Lake.


But I actually think my favorite vacation was the Oregon Coast. Our second trip there which was with Jamison and Gianna in August of 2012. We towed our trailer out there and camped along the coast. It was amazing. I know that as a mom, I'm supposed to love having babies and cry over the fact that I don't have kids in diapers anymore, and I did love that time in my life but for me, THIS is so much better. I had so much fun on this trip and it was the first vacation with my kids that I felt like we spent time doing things that we all enjoyed. There was none of the work and weird logistical issues that came with vacations when the kids were younger (i.e. naptime, age limits, strollers, etc) and I truly just relaxed and enjoyed every minute. Camping worked out wonderfully since we were never confined to the space of a hotel room and relaxing by a campfire might even get higher ratings then a hammock in the sun (well, in January it's really hard to think that). Instead of taking the kids to things only they would enjoy while we watch, we went horseback riding, rode jet boats in the river, hiked the Redwoods and drank coffee/took naps on the beach by the ocean (well, me and Gianna took naps, that's not really Jay or Jamison's thing). Awesome trip and I hope to get to do it again! It almost makes me want to include the kids on the vacation to Hawaii that I'm currently planning for NEXT January.... almost. :)

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY JAY!!!

Some pics from our trip:


My anniversary posts started as a way to answer all the questions I most frequently get asked related to Jay or our marriage, but I think I've pretty much covered them all. In keeping with my once a year blog post though, I DO still need a marriage-related topic for next year. If you guys could all start asking me more questions so I can have topic ideas for future years, that would be GREATLY appreciated. But for now, next year's topic.... Planning Our Wedding

10 YEARS!!!!

We've been married 10 WHOLE YEARS!!!!! I can't believe I've been married that long, it sort of makes me feel old. I realize this post is a day late but I feel like it still counts. For the last several years (once I realized my dream of tropical getaways in January just aren't meant to be at this stage in my life), Jay and I have been trying to embrace some winter activities. We've tried tubing, snow shoeing, swimming in the 'cave' at the Homestead and last year we went skiing. Some have been more fun than others... But this year, we did the ultimate in winter activities. Shoveling. LOTS and LOTS of shoveling. Seriously, we must have had at least 2 feet of snow fall this weekend.

Here's a shot of Jay shoveling on our anniversary:

So, on my post from a year ago I asked the question, "What is my favorite date?". I tried to ask Jay this question and he actually said the previously mentioned snow shoeing date. It was a lot of fun, but I think I'm coming to realize that winter sports just aren't my thing. I really dislike being cold. I've been trying to remember some of our dates from our pre-married life but the truth is, we had sort of a strange beginning seeing as I lived in Utah and he lived in Minnesota. We did a lot of fun things during that time though. We hiked to the top of a mountain overlooking a little city in Spain, explored European castles, camped on the beach next to the ocean in Corpus Christi, walked the Riverwalk in San Antonio and I introduced Jay to Vegas for the first time. Then I moved to Minnesota and later he moved to Utah and dates went from drinking coffee in Madrid to dinner at Olive Garden and a movie. Still fun...

But my favorite 'date' that I've had with Jay probably wouldn't be considered a date by most people. It was about 4 years ago and with two kids, any outing without them is considered a date to us. Whether we're shopping at Costco or eating at The Melting Pot (which we did last night on our anniversary in between the shoveling). My favorite date was our first Ragnar back in June of 2009. Not very romantic I know (we were in my van with 4 complete strangers for a good 30 hours), but it was so much FUN and one of my favorite things we've done together. And ever since then, a common date for us (well, as common as ANY date is) is to go running together. And then out to eat. I also love food and even though Jay and I disagree on the place Mexican food has in our lives, he's usually a good sport about going to Mexican restaurants.... even if he does order a hamburger when we're there.

So, what is everyone's favorite date they've been on? After 10 years, we need ideas! I'm looking for something in between shoveling the driveway and touring windmills in Europe. :)

Next year... favorite vacation!

9 Years!!!

It's our 9 year anniversary! It's also apparently the 1 year anniversary of my last blog post...

So in keeping with my tradition of forecasting my anniversary blog post, last year I said I would post about what our song is. I must be running out of topics relating to me and Jay or something because I have no idea what our song is. I don't even know if we have one. I'm not sure why I would have decided on that for my topic for this year. I asked Jay what he thought our song was and he broke out with a (pretty spectacular) rendition of Macy Gray "I try to say goodbye". It's not as 'mean' as that sounds though; about 11 years ago, we went on a trip to Spain together. That song was pretty popular at the time and we must have heard it a million times. I joked that it was our song and apparently he still remembers. Seriously, of all the things he has chosen to remember from our dating history... Our first song we danced to at our wedding (and consequently the last song we have EVER danced to since it turns out Jay hates to dance) was "Love of My Life" by Michael W Smith. If I could choose our first (and only) dance again, I think I'd choose something by Bon Jovi. Maybe "I'll Be There For You". We've been on a LOT of road trips over the years and 80's 'rock' bands seem to be one of the few music choices we can agree on.

I tried watching my wedding video to see if there were some songs on there that I clearly picked due to their sentimental value, but as it turns out there weren't. I am, however, very surprised by a few things on my video. First, the video quality is HORRIBLE. HD Video really is a great thing. Second, I got married in January, and there was no snow that year as well. Third, I am really surprised at how young everyone looks! Not that you all look old now... And finally, it reminded me that I LOVED my wedding. I loved planning it, I loved my dress, I loved the ceremony, I loved having all my best friends in my wedding (who by the way are STILL my best friends), I loved the music (awesome Carolyn, Chaz and Becca!), and I loved having a big fun reception and a limo. And I really loved wasting a lot of people's entire day to be a part of it (thank you all so much by the way for coming!). Seriously, one of the best days of my life, I'd do it again in a heartbeat (with the above mentioned Bon Jovi changes). And after 9 years, it makes me so happy and I feel so BLESSED to have such an awesome husband, marriage and family!

For anyone who does not remember, here's a clip from it:

If any of you have a song, what is it and how did you pick it? And for next year......... which by the way will be 10 YEARS!!! What has been my favorite date?

8 Years!!!

Technically, I'm a day early but tomorrow marks 8 years that Jay and I have been married!!! And this year, our anniversary is 1/11/11 which I'm sure will make the day somehow more important.

It looks like last year I made it until about April until I stopped blogging. I'm not going to make any promises for this year since clearly I'm not really cut out for timely updates on my blog. But my (very) few posts from last year did make it much easier to get to my blog entry from our last anniversary which made me realize a few things:

1) January is not really a great time for travelling in any year, especially by plane.

2) I did this exact same thing last year reflecting on my 6 year anniversary.

3) Although I came up with a question for this year, I promised my sister I'd come up with another but then I didn't so she'll just have to deal.

Which brings me to my question for this year, "Why do I put up with Jay?" This year's question is pretty easy to answer since there are so many reasons why I fell in love with, married, and continue to 'put up with' Jay. It would be harder to come up with reasons why I would have to 'put up' with him. So, maybe I should change the direction of this post a little bit and do that instead. After all, I'm not really very good at the gushy stuff, especially on a blog that will be read by at least 2 other people... So here we go, my reasons for needing to put up with Jay:

1) Jay does not like massages. And more importantly, because he hates them so badly, he can't imagine why anybody else (like me) would want one.

2) Jay beats me at almost every game we play. Whether it's MarioKart on the Wii, cribbage, bowling, iPhone Scrabble, running, poker, etc. He even beats me AND Jamison at Uno every time. And really, it doesn't even stop at games. He's better than me at most things. But FINALLY, I have found the one thing that he does NOT excel at (not to be confused with Microsoft Excel which he is very good with). And that one thing is: Tubing. Like snow tubing down a hill. Saturday, Jay and I went up to Soldier Hollow in Midway and over and over (and over) again raced down their hills on tubes. Not only did I beat him down every time, but sometimes he couldn't even make it all the way to the end and had to stand up and walk the rest of the way. So sure, yeah he can build a deck, run, drive, spell, cook, work, follow directions, etc better than I can, but on a steep downhill slope with a giant tube, I AM the champion every time. Here is a nice shot of Jay riding up the tow on his tube.

3) Jay does not like Mexican food.

4) I'm not positive, but I think there's a very good chance that he thinks I'm crazy.

5) He will not comment on this blog entry.

Well, that's it, I'm out of reasons. Luckily (for me), it's pretty easy to look past all this. Unfortunately for him, I'm pretty sure he got the short end of the stick when it comes to our relationship. Jay is an insanely good father, husband and person and I really am blessed to have had 8 amazing years (so far) with him. Happy Anniversary Jay, I love you!!!!!!!

And for next year..... What is our 'song'?

Weeds and Popcorn

I love all this warm weather, but every time I look out my window, all I see are weeds. I hate weeds. Jay and I have killed 6 trees in our backyard and we can't seem to keep flowers alive, but the weeds seem to have no problem. If anyone knows of a good way to get rid of weeds, please feel free to share.

So a couple of months ago, I had to go out of town for work. While I was gone, Jay and Jamison made some popcorn to eat. Jamison found an unpopped kernel of popcorn and told Jay that it was a seed and that they should plant it and grow some new popcorn. Rather than tell our son the truth, Jay said 'sure' and got him a little cup and some dirt from our backyard and they planted the popcorn kernel, watered it and put it in the window to get some sun. Well, about a week later, a stupid weed grew in Jamison's cup. Jamison was SO excited that his 'popcorn plant' was growing and he took his popcorn-watering duties very seriously. And how can we tell him NOW that his daddy lied to him and that there was never a possibility of that weed turning into popcorn? Meanwhile, the weeds in my yard are running amok and here I am growing one in my kitchen. After a few weeks of taking care of his popcorn plant, Jamison decided that to get some popcorn growing, he needed to transplant it outside. So he did. We actually went outside and found like the only spot that didn't already have a weed growing in it and planted his weed in that spot. He goes outside every day and waters it and fortunately does not seem too concerned that the whole popcorn thing hasn't happened yet. And did I mention that I blame Jay for all of this.... :)

American Idol?

So, I've got my plans for Gianna to be on 'So You Think You Can Dance' in about 15 years. For Jamison, it looks like he'd be better suited for 'American Idol'.... :)