A little Treat

Friday afternoon my dear husband and I took our first trip to the Chicago temple. It never fails that anything we do winds up being more difficult than it's supposed to be. Knowing that it took 2 hours to get there we planned plenty of time (we left at 2 in the afternoon) for our little excursion. Knowing that traffic would start building up the closer we got to Chicago and also hearing reports that there was a big accident on the freeway we opted to take the more scenic route, and scenic it was indeed. I have never felt more like I was on a wild goose chase then I did that day. I think we probably took 20 different roads and dealt with everything from closed roads and road construction to just plain ol' nasty traffic. The strangest thing was the difference that ensued upon crossing the border to Illinois. As soon as we crossed that line it was like mayhem. Thank goodness I do not live there. I think I would go insane with all the craziness and traffic.

Three hours later we finally arrived at the temple. I was already exhausted from all the driving and was not looking forward to the drive back. Is going to the temple supposed to be this stressful? I don't think it is. I have certainly been spoiled my whole life never living more than an hour from the temple. This is going to take some getting used to. Being in the temple was wonderful but as soon as it was over I started to feel stressed out about getting back especially since I realized we told our babysitter we'd be back around 10 and I had forgotten to leave her with a phone (doh!). At the rate we were going we were going to be at least an hour later and we were starving so that would take more time.

We decided to take the freeway on the way home in hopes of it taking less time. We knew that the freeway was a toll road all the way to the Wisconsin border. We did not however know how the tollway system in Chicago works. So we take the ramp onto the freeway and notice that we have to stop to pay the toll BEFORE we get on, OK, fine, we've got cash. Nope, you have to pay with coins since it is not a manned toll booth. What the??? So there we are scrambling to find some change and cars behind us honking and finally we give up and just go knowing that we have just been the stars of a photo session courtesy of the Illinois highway patrol. Needless to say that we were stressed out even more from that moment on. I started frantically calling people I knew would know the Chicago freeway system and luckily found out that we could just pay the toll online. Phew! Like seriously, how is anyone who has never driven in Chicago supposed to know that?

Thankfully we made it home in one peace even though we were both a little on the tense side. (We drove home through road construction, rain and some serious fog) After I got back from taking our babysitter home I went upstairs to bed. I went to lay down but noticed a piece of paper in my spot. It was a sweet note from my even sweeter husband and under my pillow was this:





What a sweet little surprise that made all the stresses of the day seem to melt away. My dear husband who I love more than anything was so thoughtful and did something so sweet (no pun intended ) for me. Thank you my dear Ivan for thinking of me and for being so thoughtful.

Missionary for an hour

So last night I get a phone call from the missionaries in our ward. They wanted to me help them teach a discussion (or I guess they call them lessons now) today. I hesitated. I thought of all the things I was planning on doing today and this just cut right into those plans. I thought about it for a few seconds and reluctantly agreed. I am so glad I did.

Honestly, I didn't think this lesson would happen. The family was supposed to come to the church for the lesson and they live a good 25 minutes away. When I got there a few minutes late and they weren't there I just knew they weren't going to show. To my surprise however they did show (45 minutes late but they showed). We had a wonderful lesson and this family is amazing. It was so wonderful to participate in missionary work again after so long. I was able to share my testimony with them, in Spanish mind you, and it was awesome. Who knows what will happen with this family but one thing is for sure, the spirit was there and it was testifying to all of us of the truthfulness of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

I am so thankful that I didn't let the mundane things of the world prevent me from having one of the best experiences I've had in a long time. I love missionary work. I miss being a missionary and I had forgotten really how much I love the Latino people. I'm just wondering....what was your last missionary experience?

To be 5 again.

Sometimes I really wish I was five again. Life was pretty simple then and making friends was so much easier. I watch my little five year old show up at the park and make an instant best friend with a random kid on the playground. How does she do that? There are no clicks or circles to break into. Just a simple hi and a "do you want to play" and that's it, they are buddies, at least for an hour or 2 at the park. I'm really envious that little kids can do that.

I don't know why it has been so hard for me to make friends here. At first it seemed like I would make some good friends and that life would be great but lately I've been feeling, well, friendless. Maybe I ask too much in a friend or maybe I am over analyzing everything that is done by said "would be" friends. All I know is that it really stinks to be the new person.

I still feel like that new person, no, actually, I feel worse than the new person because I have been here 8 months and technically I'm not new anymore. When I was the "new" person everyone was nice and tried to include me and talk to me. Now, I have just been forgotten about.
And now I definitely see and feel the friend groups and the exclusivity of them.

I wonder about people who make friends so easily. What's their secret? I thought that I made friends easily but I think I am mistaken. It used to be easy in college anyway. I think it's that I long for friends who love me for who I am and who accept me as is. For friends that I have things in common with, things that are important to me. So far I have yet to find anyone who is into homeschooling, home birthing, healthy eating and alternative medicine. That's not to say I couldn't be friends with someone who wasn't into any of that stuff, just that all of that is a big part of who I am and I don't feel like anyone accepts that about me.

I suppose a five year old is not as complicated as us adults are and perhaps that is their secret to making friends in an instant. That, and they are OK with making a friend for an hour and then saying goodbye. I am not. When I make a friend, a true friend, I want that friend for life.

The first day......

Today marks the beginning. The beginning of a new chapter in my life. No excuses anymore, I have to start what I've been putting off. Yes, this is definitely the first day of the rest of my life. Sure it's an old cliche but it is one that fits me right now.

For as long as I can remember I've had a love hate relationship with food. I love it, everything about it. OK, I don't love liver but most everything else yes. Who doesn't? Food is something that makes me feel good. It's something to drown sorrows in and something to celebrate with. Ahhh...yes...glorious yummy food. I hate it because well...not all of it makes me feel good and even worse, it's making me fat. So it's time now for me to take control of what has been controlling me for the past few years. Of course I'd like to think that it was me who has been doing the controlling but no, it's definitely the other way around.

So today marks the day. My new regimen. My new way of looking at and thinking of food. I've done it before and can do it again however difficult it will be. This is not all about food though. It's about me feeling good. Feeling good about myself on the inside and out. I truly believe the old adage "you are what you eat". Right now I am a pint of ice cream and a Hershey bar. I hope to turn into a nice head of broccoli instead.

Thus far I have embarked on my daily doses of supplements and my lovely breakfast of scrambled eggs (mmm....protein!) This also includes my daily helping of green drink which I have yet to muster up enough courage to take. The only sad part will be not being able to eat all the yummy melons I've planted in my garden (I can't have sugar...of any kind, long story for another blog entry).

So I'm off. Wish me luck, I'm gonna need it. Now, to go down that spectacular green drink.

Apology

I have been hearing complaints about me not writing anything in a while. All I can say is I'm sorry. I've been in a little bit of a funk lately but I have resolved to come up with something decent to write about at least once a week. I guess I just get to feeling inadequate about my blogging skills. It's much easier to blog when there is something to blog about. Somehow I don't feel that writing about being stuck inside when it's minus 30 is a very exciting blog post. I guess it could be though if I made it that way.

Anyway, I will try to get this thing updated as soon as I can because well, life is what it is and even though I may not find it exciting I'm sure some of you might. Hmm.. that didn't come out right. See what I mean, definite lack of blogging skills.

Pictures of the House

I finally have a minute to post some pictures of our new place. We love it out here.






The Barn





Grandpa came to visit!


Lili calls this her park!

And We're Back!

Hip Hip hooray! We finally have a computer up and running and connected so I can actually tell you all what we've been up to the last month. I can hardly believe it has been that long since we left our beloved Utah. Maybe that's because we were pretty much homeless for the first 3 weeks. Now we are safe and sound in the place we will call home for a while.

Ivan is loving his new job and I couldn't be happier for him. Today the girls and I finally visited his place of employment to check out the studio and meet some of his coworkers. I have to say that it was pretty cool. The girls had a blast riding some prototype bikes around. I enjoyed the "museum" of all the bikes Lance Armstrong rode during his wins at the Tour de France. Speaking of the Tour de France, Ivan's first real design is going to debut at the next one. So look for Lance's really cool bottle cage =) designed by my dh.

As for me, I'm so beat after just one day of unpacking. The movers finally came with our things yesterday. We had been camping in our house for about a week. I learned though in that time that life is so much simpler without all that stuff. I have to admit though that I missed my bed, my couch and my computer the most.

I feel so blessed to be where I am. I have felt homesick a few times but for the most part I love being here. It is beautiful and the Lord has seen fit to bless me with all that I ever wanted and more. Sometimes I am brought to tears just wondering what I did to be given all of this. I truly see His wisdom now and waiting as long as we did was just so He had time to prepare the perfect place for us.

I do have to tell you all about where we are living. I will have to post some pictures later since I don't have any yet but this place is amazing. The town of Lake Mills Wisconsin is like something out of a movie. What every small town wants to be. It's like stepping into a Norman Rockwell painting. And the house that we live in, perfect, for me anyway. We found a farmhouse on 3 acres with a treehouse/playhouse. It is quiet here and there is so much room to run and play. I can't wait until the spring when I can plant my garden and get my chickens. The best part is that we are only 9 miles from work so Ivan's commute is about 12 minutes. We are making friends and enjoying missionary opportunities already.

I have so much to blog about but very little time since I still need to go vote and unpack and make dinner. I will try to update again very soon, and there will be pictures.