Jeepin'

We went on an afternoon drive today...the girls always think it's an adventure when we take the Jeep. We drove up Squaw Peak, enjoyed the view, took the dirt road a ways, and went for a little hike. Couldn't get any better! This is why I live where I do...I love Provo!

"I don't know."

My mom had one of the hardest years of her life! A year ago they found a "growth" in her colon during her colonoscopy. She went through a horrid surgery to have it removed and then discovered that it was cancerous. Cancer was also found in several nearby lymph nodes. She underwent chemo for six months and also had radiation. All of it...awful...just awful!

She has been done with chemo for about five months now. She went in for her annual colonoscopy yesterday. The area where she had her surgery was red, so they took some for a biopsy. Mom asked, "Why is it red?". Doctor's answer, "I don't know." "I DON'T KNOW"??!! What kind of answer is that??!! He just kept saying, "Talk to your doctor." You ARE a DOCTOR, you A-Hole!!!! My mom went to Hell and back this last year, the doctor can tell her SOMETHING! "It's red because it's still healing there. We've seen that before. It will always be red there. Or. It may be the cancer coming back." My mom is not a child...tell it to her straight!! So now we're all left with, "I don't know." for five days until we find out something.

I'm terrified.

Yucky Cereal Week

I'm sure lots of families do yucky cereal week...at least that's what my mom called it when I was a kid. One day during the summer us kids got to pick out any cereal we wanted, our very own box! The idea was that it would last you a week (a bowl a day), however, depending on how fast we ate it, it sometimes it turned into yucky cereal day. I usually picked out Captain Crunch, that was my favorite. One time I remember picking out Lucky Charms and being very disappointed! That was one downfall, if you picked poorly there were no second chances! I remember trying to trade a bowl with my brothers, "I'll give you a bowl of Lucky Charms for a bowl of your Cocoa Puffs." Ah...good times.

Anyway, yesterday at the store I let the girls pick out a cereal for their yucky cereal week. Haley promptly picked out Trix and Morgan followed suit and grabbed Trix Swirls (I didn't even know that existed). They held their box of cereal the entire shopping trip (you would think they never had cereal before the way they held the box so close to them). Funny girls.

In other news, I'm taking a much needed break from house hunting this week. My realtor is out of town so it was good timing. We put an offer on a house over the weekend but I quickly regretted that decision. It can't be good when I burst into tears while eating at a restaurant, "I don't want to live there!". I really don't know how Ryan puts up with me! He totally thought I was crazy! The whole evening I just hoped that they wouldn't accept our offer...how wrong is that?! I wanted out, but I didn't want to look completely stupid and bail out after they accepted it. But luckily they didn't...they countered, and I ran! I find these great homes (because that house was perfect!) but they're located in areas I don't want to live. So from now on I refuse to look at any houses that are not where I truly want to be!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to two great men in my life!

I love my realtor...

...but I'm pretty sure I'm her worst client! She puts up with so much with me, I'm constantly changing my mind! I'll look at a home and decide there is no way it would work, and then I get home and think about it all over again. I'll call my realtor and tell her I need to see it again...you know, just to make sure. I looked at one home three different times, just to finally decide that it wouldn't work out! I'm going back tonight to look at another home for the second time after telling her that the kitchen and master were too small. But it has an awesome basement, great yard, and huge garage, plus a fabulous craft room! So I have to go back to look at it again...you know, just to make sure!

When I was talking with my realtor last night she informed me that she'll be out of town next week. I was in shock! "What, you leaving me...for a week! What am I going to do without you?!" But I guess she deserves a break....maybe I should take one too!

"Date Night"

I love this time of year, when all the kids in the neighborhood are out and about playing. And I love that my girls are old enough to play out in the front yard by themselves (I keep a close eye, don't worry). Even if we've had some pretty stormy/raining weather this entire week, it doesn't stop kids from getting outside. Some days I'll be working in the house and take a peek out at the girls and there will be several others kids out there playing with them...it's great! It reminds me of when I was little and there would always be someone to play with on our street...there were tons of kids everywhere!

Anyway, yesterday evening the girls were out front riding their bikes and a neighbor girl started playing with them. They played from about 5:00 to 8:00...with not a single problem (fighting, screaming, trouble sharing, etc.). I couldn't believe it!! I made some pizza for dinner and the girls were having such a good time they just ran in and grabbed a slice to eat on the run. They played out front, then out back in the playhouse, then eventually moved into the house. Ryan and I didn't know what to do with ourselves!! It was wonderful!!

During the week Ryan and I maybe have an hour of real good conversation. I see him a few minutes in the morning and then he's home around 6:30, we eat (it's hard to have a "real" conversation with two little kids, let's face it), bedtime around 8:30 for the girls (if we're lucky). And then by that point Ryan falls asleep on the sofa or we're just so tired neither one of want to talk, but rather zone out and watch TV...sad, I know! Anyway, so yesterday we had the first "real" conversation ( never interrupted) for the first time in....well, forever!! This neighbor girl was like a little angel!! I needed that!! I had been feeling very overwhelmed and alone with this house hunting stuff, so last night we finally got a chance to really sit down and discuss it!

That's what you call a very cheap "date night"!

Summer Projects...I'm trying!

So many things to do to this house: fix, improve, paint, add, clean...the list is endless! However, I made a conscious decision to get some things done this summer. So among my everyday things I do: my sick obsession to utahhomes.com...(serioulsy, I check that site continually because you never know, there could be something new or something that I might have missed the first dozen times I checked it that day!)...and running around touring some of these homes, the sporadic rain storms we've had (where do I live...Seattle?!), my own errands to run, and of course my flat-out laziness, I did manage to accomplish painting the playhouse this week...yeah!
Okay, so I still need to paint the inside and a few spots here and there on the outside, but whatever...it's a start! Haley had decided a while ago that she wanted to paint it green. And I really wanted to have a red door. So I risked the chance that it may look like a Christmas Cottage and went for it! I think it turned out pretty well! They love it, and that's what counts! Now next week...the inside of the playhouse!

Also, I forgot to mention it...I finally finished reading The Story of Edgar Sawtelle a couple of weeks ago. I had checked it out from the library and I had to renew it like a billion times! They won't let you renew over the phone so I had to bring it in every time...so embarrassing! "Yes, it's me...I need to renew this book AGAIN. But this will be the last time...honest!". Okay, maybe it wasn't that bad...but almost. I only read a bit in the morning while the girls are still sleeping and also in my defense that book had like 600 pages! Anyway, bottom line...I really enjoyed it. I would have had a different ending though. But still, a very good book!

I Heart Provo

After living in Provo for the last 5 1/2 years I have to say we have really grown to appreciate this town. And quite frankly after touring NUMEROUS homes all over Utah County nothing really feels like home to me.

Some things we love about Provo:
-It's a College Town...which makes me feel young.
-BYU Creamery...need I say more?
-Burgers Supreme...where else can we go for a cheap meal and the chance to dine in a restaurant still sporting 70's decor?
-Rock Canyon. A favorite hiking spot.
-The river trail...we love taking family bike rides up to Vivian Park.
-Love all my doctors/pediatricians.
-It's still close to my brother's house.
-My parents will soon be living here...I hope, I hope, I hope...soon.

Anyway, after a lot of thinking, I think we belong somewhere in Provo. Granted, my feelings may change if the right house comes along, but for right now, that's how I feel.

I'll leave you with a couple of photos of the girls. They were being extra sweet with each other this morning.

Getting Discouraged

So my mission in finding the perfect house is getting extremely frustrating! I have seen so many houses they are now just blending into one big tangled mess. When I'm talking to my mom on the phone trying to explain a particular house I saw I start to forget the simplest details. "The laundry room was in the....uh....well, it was in the basement. No wait, that was another house. Lets see the laundry room was...uh...it was near the...uh...hmm, I can't remember." Also, I'm really good about walking into a home and falling completely in love with one single feature that is has, and I'm willing to throw everything else to the wind. "I don't care that the master bedroom doesn't have a bathroom...LOOK at that yard, it's BEAUTIFUL!!! Let's buy this house!". Luckily, Ryan is there to occasionally knock some sense into me!

The funny thing about this whole house hunting thing is that I really really want to find that perfect house, however, I don't want to move. I love our house, and I love our neighborhood! And the thought of leaving is really difficult for me wrap my head around. Although, at the rate I'm going, I may be here for a while longer! But, we do need more space...that I know for sure! So the hunt continues...

Happy Birthday...cont.

The kids LOVE birthdays! Doesn't matter who's it is...they love them! They love everything about them: decorating, cake, candles, singing...everything. But then...who doesn't love all those things?!

We didn't have a huge party or anything (maybe this weekend we will), it was just our little family celebrating. The girls helped make a sign for the door. And then Haley insisted that each chair have a picture hanging on it (it was her way of decorating). She dug out an old Spiderman coloring book we have because daddy needed a boy picture hanging on his chair. Everyone else had princess pictures.

I managed to make the tacos without burning myself from oil splatter (yay for me) and brownies for dessert. Ryan's favorite yellow cake with chocolate frosting I'll save for the weekend party. He'll get to blow out candles twice...lucky him!

Happy Birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYAN!!!!

I have become obsessed!

"We can just take our time and see what happens."

This is something I have said...but in all honesty in holds no truth. I'm referring to our decision to look for a new house...to just "see what's out there". But really, I have become OBSESSED with it! I am not one to put something on the back burner...when we decide to do something, it consumes my entire being...it's all I think about! I'm having flashbacks to using the same exact phrase when we decided to have a baby. Every month that I realized I wasn't pregnant was shocking to me..."What, how can that be?!! "We did it like a gazillion times!!!! How can I not be pregnant?!!!!". For our first baby, it took us a whopping two months to get pregnant. And for our second it took...*gasp* a whole THREE months!!! So you see...I'm not one to just "see what happens" or to take our time with something, which I'm not sure is a good thing right now. I have become a very distracted mom lately.

So with the house hunting, I am on a mission!! The right house has to be out there somewhere...right?! We have see several (one that was amazing!) but each was lacking things that we definitely need to have! I can't compromise on these things:

-Large kitchen!!! My house may be small right now, but I have an awesome kitchen! And the houses I've seen are bigger houses, but their kitchen are tiny! What's up with that?!

-The kitchen needs to be open to the family room. I want to be a part of things when I'm cooking.

-Large yard. We have two dogs, two kids...we need space for play!

-Bigger master bedroom. I refuse to buy a home with the same size master that I have now (which is small).

-Mud room or big laundry room. I have two dogs and two kids...enough said!

-Huge porch. Okay, I guess this isn't a necessity, but I love the idea of sitting on the porch watching the sunset...or something like that.

-Shorter commute time. I added that one for Ryan.

-Close to a canyon mouth. Either American Fork Canyon or Provo Canyon.

-Big garage or space for a shed. If you have seen our garage now, you would know why!


Picky...maybe a little! But the house IS out there, and I WILL find it!