I know you missed us!

Uggghh…so it’s been two months…I know, I know...you missed us! As I started writing this, I thought about putting something like, “I’m such a slacker…” But you know WHAT? I’m SOO not a slacker. And now that I AM updating my blog instead of just doing one of a million other things I ALSO enjoy, I realize, there is no need for such negativity. So, yes, it has been two months. Why? None of your business. HA! It just wasn’t a priority. Now it is. Ah, the choices I get to make in my life! =)

HOWEVER, I will say that when I wait this long to update my blog, I get kind of overwhelmed because I always have so many pictures and activities to catch up on. I don’t really think, “I canNOT wait to update my blog!!” I think, “AH CRAP. I gotta get ON this ASAP because it’s going to take FOREVER if I don’t do it soon.” What I’ve learned from this: 1. Moderation in all things is KEY in my life. A little here and there of several things in my life makes most things manageable (including the hardest thing for me to manage…my expectations). The 2^nd thing I’ve learned: I am grateful. Grateful that technology provides a way for me to share my thoughts in a way that TOTALLY covers any journal writing/scrap booking urge I have about the “travel log” of my life. I do reserve my journal for how I feel about things that happen in my life, but the day to day experiences and events usually end up here. (Also grateful that I don’t have to pay a boat load to develop pictures that will sit in a box. Grateful again that I can type this. I type WAY faster than I could possibly write, so since efficiency is one of my favorite things, I appreciate my beloved keyboard…except that currently, my backspace key is out of order which is kind of annoying).

So…onto the past two months. I’ll start with the most recent…

We just returned from a GREAT weekend in Lincoln City with some fabulous friends. If I ever get around to asking for pictures from the person that took them, I’ll post them. In this case I WAS a slacker on the picture taking. We had so much fun. The weather was a bit dreary for most of the time, but with such great company, it didn't really affect us. We did some shopping at the outlets, ate AMAZING crepes, sushi, Pad Thai, and biscuits and gravy, (all cooked by friends) and the best activity of all was going out to shoot some pool and doing KARAOKE. Oh, if only you could have seen Dallas sing to Birdhouse in Your Soul by They Might Be Giants. CLASSIC. He was a total hit. However, I have not gone on such little sleep since college. I believe that is the culprit to me currently having a cold. TOTALLY worth the sacrifice though. Fun times. I have few pictures (all taken by Dallas) so here they are:

Um...YUM!!!

Believe it or not, this shot DID go in! I have witnesses!

Introducing Lincoln to the beach at Lincoln City

The night before we left for Lincoln City, we celebrated Lincoln's first birthday. Can you believe he is 1? Insane. We kept it low key on purpose and just let him devour a whole cake. Quite funny. Here is the evidence...

Mother’s day this year was my first official Mother’s day. Although Dallas was very thoughtful last year and honored the pregnant me, this year it was legit. Dallas treated me to an AMAZING breakfast of biscuits and gravy…all homemade I might add, and some yummy eggs and sausage. I was stuffed. I also got sweet cards from him AND Lincoln and he gave me a gift certificate for an hour and a half massage. Heavenly. Here are a few pics of him making his biscuits.

Soooo yummy.

So I’m the Camp Director for Girls’ Camp this year and one of our fundraisers was a Wii Bowling Tournament. It was a lot of work, but so worth it and so much fun!! The girls presold tickets and we included a taco dinner, babysitting, dessert and the Wii Bowling Tournament in the price of the tickets. The girls really took ownership of the night and did a great job facilitating all of the moving pieces. (Of course, Dallas was a HUGE help. He set up ALL the TVs and Wiis and made sure we had everything we needed. What a stud.)

The first weekend in May, Dallas woke me up on Saturday morning and told me to pack a lunch and a jacket and that we were heading out for the day. We drove to Astoria (where Goonies was filmed, FYI- not the reason we went, but cool nonetheless). Here are a few pictures of us at the Astoria Column.

It was really windy up there! I do have to say I was only disappointed with one thing: There is a place called the Custard King in Astoria and I walked over to it so excited to get some custard…only they DON’T SERVE CUSTARD. What the heck? They only serve soft serve yogurt that (and I quote with a high pitched voice) “tastes a lot like custard…it’s reeeally creamy.”

Yeah, no thanks.

After we went to Astoria we decided to hit Seaside. LOVED it. Beautiful beach. Family reading this: Next time you come to visit, we’re going to SEASIDE. Such a fun little town. We walked through several shops, got a TON of salt water taffy that only lasted about a week, and experienced deep fried oreos, cookie dough and hohos…worth it? Absofreakinlutely NOT. They were disgusting. I almost threw up in my mouth uploading the pictures. So gross. Okay, maybe the oreos for a half a second. SO NOT WORTH IT. But, we did have to try it.

Early in April, we flew out to Utah for Dallas’ 10 year mission reunion. I really enjoyed meeting some of his companions from the mission and hearing the great stories they had to share. Dallas still talks about his mission like it was yesterday and I love it. I was excited to be a part of such a great memory for him. He lights up when he talks about the Taiwanese people and the message he shared with them about Jesus Christ.

While in Utah we got to reconnect with quite a few friends we haven't seen in a few years. It was awesome. One of my roommates from BYU, Mary Clark is a photographer, so we had her take some pictures of us while we were in town. Here are a few of our faves:

After the reunion I went to California to be with my sisters while my parents went to San Diego. Timing actually worked out great because my great grandmother stayed with us for that week after having been in the hospital. It was such a blessing to spend that week with her. Lincoln has a great, great grandmother!! Oh, if only you could all know Vada Boyer. She is PHENOMENAL. She is the most fit, positive, classy, genuine woman, who will rock your world at golf (seriously) any day of the week. P.S: she’s 89 and has bigger bicep muscles than I do. Lincoln and I were blessed to spend so much quality time with her. I sadly didn't take any pictures of him with her. Grandma probably appreciates it though since her hair wasn't done. :)

Sometime after Lincoln and I got back from California, we all went with the Harris family to the tulip festival. BEAUTIFUL. Just fields and fields of tulips. I think we’ll have to make that a tradition for sure.

Well Folks, that's the last two months. Phew...hopefully I can do this more frequently moving forward. Until next time, be well!

How I See It...

I’ve been thinking about motherhood a lot recently. It’s a lot of work. But I think back to different experiences in my life that have prepared me for it and all I can be is grateful. I have two sisters that are 10 and 12 years younger than me. Although I was still young when they were born, I felt like I was really able to be a part of their early years before I moved away to college. Doing the babysitting thing, trying to handle them when they were hysterically crying and I was about to lose it, but also teaching them things like how to wave away a compliment and say, “Go on…” when someone would say, “You’re so cute!” I thought it was pretty funny at least.

I also think about my days in China and teaching English to the sweet little children there. They were so eager. So sweet. So determined. And SO SMART. We don’t give children enough credit for how incredibly intelligent they are. I learned so much about the importance of being prepared for class with these kids. Being an “on purpose” mom is also so important. Obviously not every one of my days is planned out and segmented, but I find myself realizing that the days where I have some structured learning going on, I am much more at ease and Lincoln is much more interested in the design of the day. Not all learning should be left to default.

Additionally, I think about my most recent work history. This has helped me a ton. I was a recruiter for 3 years before having Lincoln. I’m sure other professions are similar, but I appreciate the similarities I find in being a recruiter and being a mom. When I was working, my job was never done. Ever. No matter how late I stayed (and I stayed LATE OFTEN), there was always a client order that I didn’t get to, or a resume I hadn’t yet reviewed that I just KNEW would be the best candidate for the job I was trying to fill. Sometimes no matter how hard I tried to find that perfect fit, and even when I thought I found it, sometimes it just wouldn’t work out. Each day I had much more to do than there was time for, but had to answer to someone whose expectations remained the same, usually regardless of my circumstances. Coworkers and other departments made demands on my time no matter what my reason was for not being able to get everything done in their time frame. Over time I got pretty good at applying Stephen Covey’s time management principles and categorizing my priorities into quadrants.

It makes me laugh as I read this because every day, no matter how late I stay up there is something that I would like to accomplish, something that didn’t get done, or someone that I feel like I need to reach out to or talk to, but there are only so many hours. Sadly, no matter our efforts there will always be someone in our lives we cannot please, no matter how hard we try. But I catch myself as I write “sadly.” It’s not sad. Not at all. How awful would life be if we lived it only to please other people. Serving others, pleasing God, yes, but "pleasing" others is different. Granted as moms, there is a certain amount of this, but this is the ride we chose to be on! As I sit and realize that it’s time (even with just one kid) for me to prioritize and categorize different goals and efforts in my life, it is freeing. To know that I had a choice. I chose this life. I chose to create it (Lincoln I mean), I am choosing to nurture it and to experience all the things that come with it. And because I chose this love, I am now loving my choice. I feel like I’m a glass-half-full kind of girl. I just need to transfer that to a to-do-list-half-done kind of attitude. Not focus on what is incomplete and as my mom always so lovingly reminds me, “Enjoy the journey.” Instead of dwelling on what is wrong, looking for what is right. Instead of comparing and judging, counting my blessings. Being grateful is my point. It’s all a choice. This is how I see it.