my sleep-less night of party-ing

So last night we had the privilege of volunteering for dry grad here. If you know me, you know I LOVE me a good party, good food, good friends....and I have ALWAYS thought that going to dry grad again would be a BLAST!! :)


I was all over volunteering us this year, because my two awesome friends, T-dot and PP graduated yesterday! Which made going to dry grad even MORE special!! I have know these 2 for 5 1/2 years now...ever since they were 13-year old little beehives....MAN I'm old, ha ha.


I'm so grateful to have been able to celebrate with them, and see them in their gorgeous outfits, but especially be able to see what amazing, beautiful and gracious young women they turned out to be. I can only hope that my future daughters will turn out to be like them. CONGRATS you guys...I LOVE YOU!!!


Oh, and back to the party. It. was. awesome. Thats it....ha ha...I guess I should write down a few highlights:
-lazer-tagging blindly in the dark, not a good idea, ha ha.
-everyone thinking that WE were grads....double cool, NOT, ha ha.
-racing JD on the obstacle course....he won over and over again....ha ha
-ALL of the amazing FOOD!!
-our booths were fantastic...a fish for loonies pond, a push-up competition and 3 racectracks...the main one being remote control cars....awesome-sauce.
-bringing our little remote control flying duck that you shoot down....it was one of the MAIN highlights...everyone loved it.
-STAYING up LATE with  no kids....well, no kids that were ours at least, ha ha.
-having a lady ask me "you don't have a kid this age do you?" ha ha...NOPE!
-people wondering why the heck we were volunteering...and being surprised when I say that I called and asked if I could do it!! :)

Last, but DEFINITELY not least...
-some little grad girls trying to flirt up my hubby, LOL....I don't think anyone knew we were together, because for most of the night we were at seperate booths...one girl even made him a BALLOON animal...ha ha (nad came by later walking around with a camera, but he wasn't at the booth then....I think she was going to take a picture with him!!! ha ha). I didn't mind...he's HOT...no biggie.


BLOG OUT.

I want to be an adult...

...as I was putting little A to bed tonight he said matter-of-factly, "I want to be an adult, I wish I was one really soon!" (this came after a little convo about why we get to go to bed after they do, and why they need more sleep than us). 
I gave him this long explanation about how fun it is to be a kid, and that you don't have to work all day, or worry about paying bills or big-kid problems. Me: "You just get to have fun and play with toys all day long! Being a kid is way more fun!!"
This was his response to that: "But I have to go to church on sundays, every sunday, and thats NOT fun!" ha ha ha ha....what a guy.

I've never been much of a tear-jerker...

I've never been a crier. When it comes to movies, I never cried at a single one until I got pregnant. Not one. I can remember going to see titanic with a few friends of mine, and that oh so sad part where jack falls slowly into the water....I laughed, yup...until I got death stares from all of my distraught friends :) 

I would get sad at a movie here or there, but it would take a lot for that to happen...and when it would, I would be that...just sad, not teary-eyed...just sad. 

Well, after had my boys I noticed a significant increase ion the teary-eyed-ness, especially during my pregnancies...but other times too. I could recall a story, and get teary-eyed thinking about it....or think about how much I love my boys...and yup...teary-eyed...but usually not full-on tears. 

Well, the point of this is to tell you how much of a not-crier I am. Even at church, I'm not one to even get misty-eyed while I'm speaking...maybe I'm too nervous? who knows. 

So, last night I'm at a wonderful girly get together chatting up a storm for hours (literally)...and THE strangest thing happened. I was holing my friends teenie little guy, and realized how much I DO desperately want one of my own...and I got teary-eyed! Apparently it was enough for everyone to notice, and when I started talking about why, I started crying! Seriously! Like ACTUALLY crying! 

Whats wrong with me? ha ha...I think that I try and avoid thinking about babies, or how much I want one...because it makes this waiting time so much easier. Its easier for me to be patient when I just don't think about it...but oh geez...no more baby-holding for me, thats for sure! ha ha...I hope I didn't embarrass myself too bad being a huge bawl-baby in front of so many women...its so unlike me...weird. Maybe I'm going cazy, ha ha.

oh woe is me....

I have come to the realization that I'm just not the most patient person. Looking back on my life, and all of the trials that I have experienced, specifically since marriage, pretty much all have to do with patience. 
Patience in just waiting out a trial, patience with my kids or husband, patience in waiting for things to happen in our lives....
apparently I haven't learned my lesson yet, because here I am yet again, struggling for patience. 
I would love to look in a little crystal ball and find out what it is that we will be doing in a year or where we will be living etc....
I hate this in-between phase...its exhausting...and its hard to be patient. I know we are on the right track, and doing what we are supposed to be...and I know that if we just continue in faith that something will come up. But in how long? Will it take me years to learn this lesson? Will we still be waiting for "the" job in 1 year? 2 years?3years? Shoot me now...ha ha
Well, I sincerely hope that its not going to take several years for us to find the "right" job, or to wait for the "other" things in our lives that I'm struggling to wait for, oh so impatiently, tee hee. 
Anyways thats my rant....bless me with patience. the end.

I want to be a transformer

Apparently (according to A at least) you can WISH upon comets. I'm not really sure what gave A that idea, but he is convinced that if he can somehow see a comet, that his wish will come true. He then decided to tell me that his wish is that "I can be a transformer! A real one! And our whole family would be transformers!!". hmmm....I'm not sure if I want his wish to come true? But he seems very determined....
Lately if I ask A his opinion on something, he always defers to daddy. Like last night I had a jacket on that daddy really dislikes, and so I asked A his opinion, "yup, dads right, its ugly!" ha ha...and then laughs his little head off. This has happened a few times in the last week or so. When daddy left this afternoon to get some work done A let me in on the secret, I didn't even ask, but he said, "I LOVE dad, I just love him so much! Thats why I always agree with daddy, when I say that I don't like things...cuz I just love him" ha ha....well, secrets out buddy, but I don't mind. 
Oh, and side note: I finished the Hunger Games series! yay! Well, mostly yay to finding out what happens in the end, and for finally coming back to the real world (once I finish thinking about it, that is). 

as I get sucked into panem...

I feel a little out of touch lately...and its all because of my love/hate relationship with books. I mean, I LOVE books....to death...a little too much actually, I think thats where the problem lies. 
Once I start reading a good book series...I mean, a REALLY good book series, I'm a goner. I have a hard time doing anything else but eating, living and dreaming the book-world. 
I never want to go out anywhere, I just want to stay home and read more of the book. When I was single, I literally didn't move off of my bed for hours....7 hours actually once, until the book was finally done. 
Right now I'm in the amazing world of Panem...reading the "Hunger Games" books series...and yes, it IS amazing. A little too amazing actually....when I'm not reading it, I'm thinking or dreaming about it....its like I become the main character. I actually feel the desire to become a great archer, and live in the woods, sleeping in the trees. Unfortunately I can't just sit and read for hours until its done, because I need to wake up in the morning, and make food for other people, not just me. If it were me, I'd probably just pass.
I know it sounds pretty irrational, especially coming from me, one who can't even eat dead deer, and who is obsessed with always eating food :) 
Well....I better go finish the book series, so sometime soon I can rejoin reality...albeit reluctantly. 

how dumb job-hunting is...

just a quick note for today on how ridiculous it is to try and find a JOB in lethbridge...
hubby just applied for 2 REALLY great jobs...which always makes me excited, until we don't get any sort of reply back. This hasn't happened for these specific jobs yet...but he went to both places just to talk to someone, and get his name out there, after he applied online. 
The first job is at the City, and they had 270 applications for it!! The REAL killer is that its only a temporary (3 month) position....250 people for THAT!!! CraZy!!! The city also mentioned that for their ONE labor position, they had 700 applications! man....
The second job is at the U of L, and would be a truly FANTASTIC job....they had 77 applications....still a lot, but not as crazy...but he wasn't able to talk to anyone specific when he dropped by there. 
Getting a good job seems like a never ending uphill journey....so pray for us. Okay, I'm done venting. 
Grateful today that he at least has a really good paying job in the meantime, and we have students....thank heavens!!

I have realized lately, that my blog is so boring! I love reading those cute blogs that always have WAY more pictures than words...it makes the words more meaningful, interesting and lets face it, its just easier to read! I think I need to jump on the band wagon with this one and get me a nice camera to take some cute photos with. 
I think it'll spice it up a little, and make it easier for me to read my own posts, ha ha.
So, as many of you probably already read, my hubby did in fact quite his job last week....friday was his LAST day!!  Crazy pants! He had a good last day, but was really sad to say goodbye to everyone. He works with a LOT of women, and they all pretty much love him. They bring him things to work in their own lunches, and when there are potlucks, they bring stuff for him too, thinking that he is probably too busy with his ids to remember what he's supposed to be bringing (which is usually the truth! ha ha, thanks ladies!). I think they were all a lot sadder than him, to see him go, they even got teary-eyed! What can I say, he's a KEEPER!!
I have a love/hate relationship with being in this LIMBO part of life. I wish that we could have a looking-glass that showed us where, what and when we would be doing...but, alas, we just have to learn patience, and faith. Faith that the Lord knows what he's doing when he gave us this push, and faith in ourselves that we will be able to be guided towards the right path for us. 
Its kind of exciting to be in this part of life, not knowing whats ahead. I LOVE all of my friends here, and love that my family is so close...but I crave adventure and change. Something deep inside me wants us to move somewhere CrAzY! Ireland, Dubai, Brazil, New Zealand, who knows....anywhere really. The best would be able to have a job that allows him to travel cool places for longs amounts of time, and take us with him! ha ha. 
BUT, I also have other desires...that keep me closer to home....hmmm....I am pretty much going baby crazy. Good thing my toddler is sweet and cute and loves to cuddle. Every time I get the crazy baby feeling I just snuggle him tighter.


Although I want another child soon, I also appreciate this time that I have with my 2 sweethearts. I am trying to do more things with them, be more involved and show my love for them more. I LOVE them to crazy bits and pieces...and I'm so glad that the Lord loved ME enough to give me the chance to raise these sweet spirits.  

and another one bites the dust...

SO....the BIG news of this week is that JD quit his job. Yup. I never thought he actually would. We've been talking about it for a while, but over this weekend we did a lot of thinking (as well as fasting, prayers and blessings) and we are more than 100% sure that he needs to do this right now. 
The hardest part for him was actually telling the people at his work, because he really enjoys everyone there, and I'm sure will miss them too. They've been really good to him, and they are a great company to work for...just not for him. He will never be able to advance to a position that he would really be interested in, and he REALLY needs to make more money. 
Luckily, doing concrete work, he will make a lot more money, and have a lot more flexible hours. If he needs to take a day or two off last minute, for an interview or to drop off resumes, it will be much easier. 
While during the transition stage for us, JD will be studying for his CFA level 2 exam (which is much needed, as he is super far behind of being ready for it on June 4th). We are also looking at a few different business ventures, which is exciting for us. 
The only problem for us is that we have SO many great ideas....I just don't know which one to settle on. Fortunately for us, we have a slight lack of funds to start anything REALLY huge (which is sort of a bummer for me, because most of my ideas require millions of dollars, lol). 
BUT, we also have some good smaller ideas, that we are looking into. Another HUGE blessing for us right now is that we will soon have 3 people living with us (2 exchange students and one friend), which will really help out as well.
It is SO tempting to blow some our savings and go on some AWESOME trip somewhere during this time off...but JD is a lot more practical than I am, and he doesn't want to blow any of it....bummer...so long hawaii, ha ha.
Hopefully in a short while we will be able to find something REALLY amazing that is perfect for his career...so pray for us! :) We aren;t complaining though, we have been so blessed throughout this decision of ours, and continually blessed by the fact that he gets to work outside doing something he LOVES to do in the meantime (and making more money, which is always a bonus!).
Blog out!!

My wonderful weekend

This weekend started out with a fun trip to calgary, chatting all the way with some girlfriends. When we got there, we listened to some AMAZING speakers....I'll have to write a separate post on the speakers, once I get all of my notes organized. 
After the Friday evening speakers we went to eat at a crazy cool restaurant called the casbah, then we slept at a travelodge on macloed trail, not too far from where the conference was. My sleep was fantastic...not long enough, but with absolutely NO interruptions from children, it was so nice!!
Saturday was full of even MORE fantastic speakers, and I learned so much from all of them. It was truly a wonderful day. Our drive home was really enjoyable, full of a LOT of fun (and interesting, to say the least, ha ha) conversations. 
I came home to my mothers day card being drawn on the side walk, with a HUGE "welcome home mama" all the way down the front walk. Also, while I was gone my hubby installed the new flooring, painted the back door, picked up and installed all the new appliances, and cleaned the house immaculately. WHAT an awesome surprise that was!! I LOVE HIM!!! Although, I would have loved him even if he hadn't done all of that for me, he's just pretty much the best. 
I have had a lot on my mind lately, especially this weekend. There seems to be a lot of decisions needing to be made about moving, staying, where to work, where not to work, jobs on the side etc....we both have SO many ideas, and they all seems so great. Its hard to settle on just one.
Hopefully I'll get a chance today to work on all of these questions that I have, and start figuring some of it out.
In other news, my in-laws are coming home from their mission early! So they'll be here in august! Woo hoo!
And Happy Mothers day to all....I sincerely mean that. A book that I just recieved is entititled "for are we not all mothers?". I think this is so true....whether or not you are currently a mother, birthmother, soon-to-be-mother, or not even close to that, we are still all mothers. So Happy Mothers day!!

a little tumble down the stairs

So R just fell down ALL of the stairs...long long set of stairs....A said that he swung the baby gate, not knowing that it wold hurt R....hhhmmmm....
After R settled down, and A spent a long time in his room thinking about what had just happened...he came out to apologize. He told me afterwards " I was in there, and called Jesus. I said some really special things and asked him to heal R".....how sweet is that? He seemed so remorseful, and genuinely worried about his brother so sweet. 
Just an hour or so before this we were all jumping on the bed ( a daily occurrence for us, I strongly believe beds were meant to be jumped on, :) and R laid his whole body on A, and with his face really close to A's he said "I LOVE YOU!!" so emphatically....pretty much the sweetest part of my day. Well, one of them...they are just pretty sweet all the time. I'm so lucky, and very grateful!!

Do you know how Jesus made water? (courtesy of A)

...He found a piece of ice, put it in His hands and then water dripped out. Then he put it in all of the sinks, He tested it and it worked!

What we've been up to...

Besides the amazingly hilarious nights of t-ball, the fun playgroups and even funner swimming lessons...we've been up to a lot!
We're getting another exchange student at the end of the month, and my wonderful friend N (who's getting married by the way, eeek!) is going to be moving in as well, just for a month. I had already decided that our house needed some serious organizing, and due to a clothing exchange happening for our RS tonight, I figured now would be a great time to de-junk. 
I ended up ridding myself of 3 ENTIRE garbage bags full of clothes!! Yay for me! That equaled an entire dresser-ful, so we were able to clear out the dresser from our bedroom, so N would have something when she stays with us. 
When I was finished getting rid of clothes, my hubby turned to me and said "do you have any clothes left?" ha ha....well actually....I still have an entire closet full, you probably wouldn't even notice that I did get rid of all those clothes. PLUS, I'm getting more great clothes form this exchange, so who knows, I might end up with more than I started with! ha ha. 
We are also re-doing some of the top floor. We picked out new appliances (like a stainless steel Bosch evolution series that lasers your dishes to see if they are clean, and keeps cleaning until they are perfect! :), can you tell I'm more than a little excited about that one? I also picked out a nice smooth top stove, and a fridge with a freezer on the bottom. 
Once we decided to do this, it seemed like the lino in the kitchen/dining room looked even older than  it usually does, so we decided to replace that as well. I'm SUPER excited about the flooring I picked out. Once the whole thing is done, I'll be sure to post some before and after pictures. We are still waiting to pick up the floor and some of the appliances. 
Like I said previously, one of the things keeping be busy, is my friends wedding! Which I am over-the-moon excited for. She finally found the an of her dreams, and I couldn't be me thrilled. If you are interested in all of my fantastic decorating ideas for this event, check out some of these links! :
http://shopruche.blogspot.com/2010/12/diy-wonderland-decorations.html
(I love the awesome yarn balls, and make sure you scroll down and check out the "mixed media streamers"
also, this:
http://wrbarndance.tripod.com/ (the AWESOME reception location)
http://hudsoncakery.com/2011/02/buttons-ruffles-wedding-cake/
(the cake will be kind of like that, but with more vintage looking buttons, and some ribbon around the base)
We also picked up some super cute bridesmaids tops (kind of flowy blouses), still looking for a grey pencil skirt....if anyone knows where one is, lemme know!


Well, thats about it for us! Besides aquafit, which I started up a while ago, and am really enjoying! We are definitely keeping busy!
BLOG OUT

I want to be an astronaut...

So we've known for a while that little A wants to be an astronaut, or space ranger as he sometimes calls it. A while ago he saw dirtbike racing on TV, and decided he wanted to that instead....until the airplane racing came on, and then we wanted to that. At the end of the day he decided it would be best to do all 3. 
The question of what he wants to be when he grows up, seems to get brought up a lot. Ever since that day, its always been back to being an astronaut....with a few other ideas inter-mixed. One day it was "do what daddy does!" which is??..."talk on the phone with people all day, I love talking on the phone"
Just last week we were watching an episode of barney at the firestation...and he turns to me and says vehemently "I don't KNOW what I want to be when I grow up, I just don't know!!". He looked so upset, so I reassured him that he didn't have to make that decision for a very long time, so there was no need to worry so much about it. 
We have talked a few times about the reason that our daddy goes to work (to make money for rent, food, etc.)...so he knows how important an occupation is.
Well, this brings me to the most recent talk we had about this...."Mom, do astronauts make money? ya know, space rangers....do they make money when they fly in rocket ships and visit planets and stuff?". He was satisfied once I told him that they definitely did, and I asked him why he was so curious..."ya know, I need to make money too." He was SO serious, like he'd thought about it a thousand times. He is such a little thinker, and so sweet!!