Do you facebook?

I admit, my blog has been a neglected thing in the past several months. I think about it often, but never quite muster the energy to come and blog. Why? Well, the excuses are many, but the one that saps most of my extra time these days is facebook. I love that thing! There are so many useless games like Yoville or Mafia Wars that I find myself checking again and again. Then there are the fun notes passed around. On top of that are status updates, which are my favorite part of it all. I read all of them daily because it's like a little snapshot into the lives of so many friends. So do you facebook? And if you do, are you on my friends list? If you are not and would like to be added, send me an email with your name and I'll be sure to add you. Then I can at least keep updated with your life until I get the urge to get back into blogging a bit more.

In this spot . . .

In this spot you should be seeing MLM (now a week and one day late), but you're not because I still haven't gotten around to it. I want to write a longer post and just haven't had time (doing fun stuff like decorating eggs and cookies with my kiddos over spring break). It will be up sometime this week. Thanks for being patient with me.

In this spot I was going to do an Easter post, showing lots of pics of my sons. But Camden, that dear, sweet, almost 3 year old boy, had some fun with the camera card and our laptop, so said laptop is currently at the computer repair shop where they can hopefully extract said camera card from the card slot on the computer (where Camden jammed it in sideways). The fun of toddlers!

No time

As you can see, I never quite got MLM up yesterday. I had really good intents. I even thought about the post last night as I laid in bed, not falling asleep. As much as I want to, I won't get it up today either or in the next few days. I figure many people did something with St. Patrick's Day (at least I hope), so I will post this week's topic (your greatest adventure) next week. If you have already completed it, post your link next week. If, like me, you haven't even started, you have another week to get it done.

I never knew how hard it would be to work full time and take care of two children. I love my life, but is a crazy hectic life. Between wearing the hats of wife, mother, and teacher, I also wear the hat of mentor teacher and department head at my school. Right now there are lots of deadlines looming in all these areas (taxes at home, ordering new textbooks, completing mentoring paper work, setting up school visits, etc), so this will probably be my one and only post for this week. Hopefully by Monday things will calm back down again and I will be back on track! Thanks for hanging in there with me!

Broken Promises

I keep promising to be blogging again regularly by a certain date, but then that date comes and goes. So I'm not making any more promises, except that I will be back blogging regularly and in the not too distant future. Between deep cleaning my house and readying my classroom for the start of school next week, I have little spare time. And what little spare time I do have, I spend it with the cutest 16 month old I know. He's too much fun and I am soaking in my last few all-Camden, all-day moments I have left. I will be back. Please don't give up on me!

A conspicuous absence

Hello blogger world! Remember me? I'm sorry I've been gone so long. The summer is just slipping away. This is just a quick update.

I really mean to blog, I do. Don't we all? I sincerely apologize for not keeping up on "My Life Monday." I thought I would have more time with not working, but instead I have less. Part of not blogging is the computer is in the room where my stepson stays when he visits. Since he spends a lot of time playing computer games and video games on the TV in his room, I get little computer time and rush when I am on the computer so I don't invade his space. But he leaves tomorrow for his home in PA (has it been six weeks already?!?!) so I will get more computer time again. Part of it is that when Camden is awake and I am on the computer, he LOVES to help type. And you can imagine how helpful an almost 15 month old when typing. Part of it is sheer laziness and business. And part of it is not feeling good. I found out a few weeks ago that my gall bladder is really bad. I've been nauseated off and on for weeks now (no, not pregnant) and the doctors finally checked that. It's being removed on Monday, July 17th. I hope to be back up and running by the following Monday with "My Life Monday." Please don't abandon me completely! I do read your blogs, but don't comment often because of lack of time. I promise to get back on track by the end of July with everything. I miss you and all your stories!

So I end today with a questions on almost 15 month old toddlers. Camden is not walking yet. Should I be concerned? Mark tells me I am crazy to worry. Cam will stand on his own and cruise around everything, but just won't take those steps yet. Did any of you have late walkers? Tell me Camden is normal. :) Also, give me your best toddler lunch ideas. Camden loves grilled cheese, mac and cheese, and quesidilla's, but we need variety. He won't eat much meat, hates potatoes, and I haven't introduced peanut butter yet. Hit me with your best toddler lunch ideas!

Thanks for checking in on me!

My Life Monday - Week 2

Welcome to week two of "My Life Monday"! I can't wait to read how you met your spouse and got together. Please don't forget to add your link and add a comment if you complete today's MLM.

Week 2 - The Story of My Spouse

I moved to my current town in 1998 after graduating college. I got my first teaching job in redneck ville and that facilitated a move. My job out here came to pass in an unusual way (I'll have to tell that story sometime). This was not where I was planning on living and I was very nervous about the move. One day while driving in my car, I asked the Lord why I was moving to redneck town. I felt strongly that I would meet my husband in this town and that made the move easier.

After living here about six months, I had made a few friends, but wasn't dating. Most of the guys were younger than me and very much rednecks and cowboys. There is nothing wrong with men like that, but they are totally not for me. I was beginning to think I was wrong about my earlier impression about why I moved to this town. But then I met Mark.

We met in a totally cliche way. He was the friend of a friend. We were at an LDS Institute activity one night in March of 1999 when my friend J introduced me to Mark. Right away I was taken by his gigantic-ness - his height of 6'8" tall and his Goliath spirit. We started talking that night and I found out he was divorced with two children. He was older than me and actually cultured - not into redneck stuff in any way! I was gun shy because of some previous dating experiences, so all I really wanted was a friend. I figured I would take the time to get to know him better and see what, if anything, happened.

We formed a Family Home Evening group with a bunch of other singles and started hanging out on a regular basis. Within a week I was totally hooked on Mark. We had so much in common. We could almost complete each other's sentences right away. We became instant best friends. In meeting Mark, my spirit recognized him. I knew that somehow I had known him before. And meeting again was like we had never been apart. I remember the first time I hugged him. In all the guys I had dated before, I always felt something was missing in the hug. It was like I needed something bigger to hug. And when I hugged Mark for that first time, my spirit sighed and said, "This is the size you've been looking for."

We talked and hung out together almost every night. Within a month, we started a relationship. Mark actually kissed me before he ever asked me out (I tease him about that all the time). We started dating, but Mark was very gun shy. He had been through an awful divorce and was afraid of being hurt again. Because of that, he broke it off with me several times, only to start our relationship again. I knew he loved me and I loved him, but he had too many demons to pursue a relationship with his full being. Finally, in June of 1999, Mark came to me and broke my heart for what we both thought would be the final time. He told me he had prayed about it and felt that we were not supposed to be together. I knew that I could not change his mind and that if we were meant to be together, the Lord would have to change his mind.

We remained best friends. We still hung out on a regular basis. I kept falling more and more in love. We both dated other people a bit, but nothing could replace Mark in my heart. I knew that somehow I needed to let him go and move on, especially if he felt it wasn't right. I took all of my feelings and put them in what I called my Mark box. I put all my feelings, hopes, and dreams and locked them in that mental box. There they would stay. I would continue to be his friend, be happy for him if he found somebody else, and move on with my own life.

But life or fate or heavenly powers had a way of bringing us together again and again. One beautiful day in early August, Mark and I went hiking with other friends. It was a wonderful, fun filled day. We went to the temple as a group that evening to top off our perfect day. When we came out of the temple that night, a man was waiting in a car for Mark. I found out later it was his ex brother-in-law. He told Mark that his youngest son, Tyler, had drowned earlier that evening. I will never forget watching that giant man collapse into a puddle of tears in that dark parking lot. (Tyler's death is another blog all together, so I will save the full story for a later date.) I knew I would do anything to help Mark through this difficult time. I made sure he ate, and got to work, and did anything else I could to help him through this tragedy. This was just one experience that brought us closer. A few months after Tyler's death, I went through a difficult time and Mark was there for me.

Even with all that, Mark still felt we weren't meant to be together. In spite of his feelings we weren't meant to get married, we continued to grow closer and become even better friends. I still felt like we were supposed to be together, but never mentioned it to Mark. I knew the Lord would have to smack him over the head to get Mark to change his mind. And you know what? That's exactly what the Lord did. He gave Mark a grand-mal seizure in November of 1999. The doctors could never find a reason for his seizure and he has never had one since. I feel the Lord was sending a clear message to Mark. As a result of his seizure, Mark couldn't drive for 6 months. He had to go to doctor appointments out in Salt Lake, so I volunteered to take him.

On our way out to his appointments, we engineered a way for me to get into his appointments with him. We figured they wouldn't let us in if I was just a friend, so we decided to pretend we were engaged. We even made up a wedding date - July 4th. So all day long as we went from doctor to doctor, we told them we were engaged and I was able to go to all his appointments with him. After all the appointments, we decided to take our joke a little bit further. We went to Anniversary Inn and looked at rooms for our supposed upcoming honeymoon. We found a room we loved and looked into its availability for July 4th of the coming summer.

Driving home that night, my heart was hurting again. We had spent the whole day pretending to be engaged and I loved every second of it. I only wished it was real! I had opened my Mark box and let all those bottled up feelings have free reign for that one day. But I knew that I would have to put them away for good this time and wondered how I could possibly do it. I told Mark that we needed to let each other go for good. We could remain friends, but had to let go of the love. I told him I had been praying for months now to be able to let him go, that if it wasn't meant to be, the feelings would be taken away. He agreed with me that we needed to let this go once and for all.

When we got back to his place that night, we knelt to say a prayer together. Mark prayed that we could let our feelings for each other go and let each other go. Much of what occurred that night is too sacred to share, but after the prayer, Mark told me he knew we were meant to be together. He had a strong impression during the prayer telling him I was "the one." I was kind of in shock and disbelief and afraid to open my heart. I was afraid he would tell me this just to break it off again later, so I wanted us both to be sure. Mark told me that night that he was sure, but it took me a little longer. After a few days of pondering and praying, I knew again he was the one. When I told him that, he dropped to the floor in my kitchen and proposed. We literally went from best friends to engaged overnight without ever dating again. We were married 8 months later on July 7th, 2000 (we got married as close to July 4th as we could).

If you want to read Mark's version, check out this post.

So that's the story of us - how we met and got together. I love Mark more than ever. He is the best father and the best husband. I'm grateful he is in my life. He and Cam are truly my greatest blessings.

I can't wait to read your stories! Post when you have yours done and I will check it out. And for week 3, your topic is: My parents named me __________ because . . . Tell us about your name. Do you like it or dislike it? Would you name yourself something else? Does your name fit you? Share all your thoughts and feelings on your name. If you prefer to keep your name anonymous, be creative. I think names are fascinating to learn about!

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My Life Monday - Week 1

Ok, we're kicking off the first "My Life Monday!" I am very excited to read your life stories! Please put your site in the linky thing below if you complete the MLM. Lolly made these lovely MLM logo's for us to use. Feel free to copy one or both to use on your site.

Week 1 topic - My Most Memorable Childhood Experience
(or how I got my own bedroom)

Growing up, I lived in a two story, 5 bedroom house with my parents, my three brothers, and my one sister. We lived in an ordinary house in an ordinary residential neighborhood. My sister and I shared a bedroom in the basement. It was a nice, big bedroom decorated in a lovely Strawberry Shortcake theme - red carpet, Strawberry Shortcake curtains, etc (It's still decorated that same way today!). My older brother shared a room next to us. The rest of the basement was a big open family room. In the front area were the TV and couches. The middle consisted of the the fireplace and bathroom. The back consisted of our bedrooms. It was a wide open area which made for lots of fun and mischief. Upstairs were three bedrooms, plus the rest of your basic house stuff. My parents had their bedroom upstairs, as well as my two brothers who shared a room. The remaining small room was my mom's sewing/junk room. I tell you all this so you can hopefully picture the scene.

On a stormy fall day in 1984, my sister and I were downstairs in our room cleaning. I was nine and she was seven. Our three brothers were out in the family room watching TV. My mom was upstairs canning fruit and my dad was at work. My sister and I were folding clothes into our respective drawers when all of a sudden there was a thunderous crash. A noise similar to a million firecrackers going off at once deafened our ears for a brief moment. I glanced immediately out to the family room near the fire place, where the noise seemed to have emanated from. As I did this, the family room turned an eerie shade of brilliant blue. A massive fireball of red, orange, and yellow appeared in mid-air in front of the fireplace, rolled once through the room, and disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

My sister and I looked at each other, shrugged, and went back to folding clothes. Yes, we had just heard a booming noise, the room had turned blue, and a fireball had just rolled through our family room, but we went right back to cleaning. I was sure my three brothers had done something stupid which had caused this whole experience, so I just waited for my mom to start yelling at them. Sure enough, we quickly heard my mother's voice drifting down the stairs. But it wasn't to yell at my brothers as I had expected. She was yelling for us to get out of the house.

We all rushed outside where my mom met us. Once there, she told us our house had been struck by lightning. We sat in our car waiting for the firemen to arrive. Once they came, they went through our house quickly and assessed the damage. After they gave the all clear, we went back into the house to observe the damage for ourselves.

The damage was actually minimal. The lightning had traveled through our chimney pipe. Our chimney pipe went through a closet in the upstairs, where my brother's metal baseball bats were also stored. The lightning used the metal bats as a conduct to an electrical outlet. It traveled through outlet to my mom's sewing machine, which it had blown apart. It also burnt a hole in the carpet beneath the sewing machine stand. Downstairs, we discovered the fire place had been moved six inches off its foundation, which is why we heard the loud noise and saw our cool fireball. The firemen told my mom if anybody had been standing near the fireplace, they would have been hurt and if they had been touching the fireplace, they probably would have been killed. We were all very grateful that we were all safe.

Because of the damage in the sewing room to both the machine and the carpet, my parents decided to repaint and redo the sewing room. But they didn't want to put in all that work only to make it another sewing/junk room, so they said it could be my bedroom. I got to help pick out paint colors, carpet colors, bedding, and all sorts of other fun things. Sure it was the smallest room in the house, but it was all mine. I moved in as soon as it was completed, leaving my sister in the basement Strawberry Shortcake redness.

There was no real explanation as to why lightning chose our house. Our house wasn't any taller than other houses. The explanation the fire department gave us is that we were using a lot of electricity and that may have attracted the lightning bolt. For a few years afterwards, my mom would freak out when it would thunder and lightning. She would make us turn out all the lights and sit on the couches with our feet off the ground.

This is probably my favorite story to tell people - how our house got struck by lightning and how I got my own bedroom as a result.

Ok, now I get to read your stories! Post when you have yours done and I will check it out. And for week 2, your topic - The Story of my Spouse - how we met and got together.

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