Benefits of Being an Alcoholic

According to this article, drinking alcohol can actually be good for my health. Apparently, "the lowest death rate from all causes occurs at the level of one to two drinks per day." Therefore, if I want to live longer I should take up drinking??

I'll take mine shaken, not stirred.

Standing Ovation

So, my child will be walking soon. I don't know if I'm happy about that or not. Either way, she's added a new trick to her repertoire.

50th Post!!!!

I thought I'd take a break from my pity party to celebrate my 50th post with some sweet pay-it-forward action.

Here is how it works:

The first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive at some point during this year a homemade gift from me. What it will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise! Though most of you who know me know that I'm in no way crafty. So, don't expect a quilt or framed watercolor painting. You'll probably end up with a batch of brownies or some other yummy confectionery.

The catch is that you must participate, as well. Before you leave your comment here write up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going (or cut and paste..no one will judge you, cause that is what I did). Then come back to leave your comment, sit back, and anticipate the arrival of your gift.

To Move Or Not To Move

My world is crumbling around me. Not really, but some times it sure seems that way...now is one of those times.

For the past 3 years, Ry and I have been living rent free in a house owned by my father-in-law. The house used to belong to Ry's grandparents, but after they passed away, Ry's dad inherited it. We have been living in the basement while Ry's brother and his family has been living upstairs. We've made a pretty good home for ourselves in our little basement. I've grown quite fond of it. But, alas, we knew that our stay here would only be temporary. All good things must come to an end.

Ry's dad is finally giving us the boot. He's been living in a camper for a while now, and I don't blame him for wanting to have a real place to sleep, shower, and stretch his legs. We knew that this day would come and I thought that we'd be prepared for it. I pictured Ry either in graduate school or at least on the payroll for Corporate America, beginning his career. I would be a stay-at-home mom, pregnant with my second child while working on my MS degree in print publishing through Pace University. We'd be living in a cute apartment or getting ready to purchase our own little town home.

Reality check. Ryan hasn't had a single call back or interview with any companies and has yet to take the GMAT or apply for grad programs. I am working about 35 hours a week in the BYU math department, still trying to find the money to pay the hospital for the delivery of our first child. To top it all off, we're preparing to move out...but have no where to move in!

Actually, we do have a couple options when it comes to living arrangements. We can wait til my brother's town home is finished being built, upon which he and his family will move out of my mom's house and leave a vacant room for Ry and I. Or, the Huntsmaniacs have offered to let us crash with them for a while. Ry absolutely refuses to live at my mom's for reasons I'm sure need no explanation. I refuse to live at the Huntsmaniacs for fear that our friendship would be ruined. However, this past Monday night, we sat down with the Huntsmaniacs and went over all the pros and cons about us moving in with them. Since this topic is still up for debate, I thought I'd recreate my pros/cons list to see if I come up with anything else.

Pros

• We wouldn't be homeless
• We could store all our stuff in the Huntsmaniac's shed and crawl space
  
• We'd save gas money by not having to drive down to Spanish Fork to hang out...we'd already be there!
• We could save money by splitting the cost of utilities, household items, groceries, etc.
• There'd be extra hands to help out with chores and babysitting
• We could trade off on cooking meals
• I'd have someone to watch scary movies with
• I'd have access to a piano
• We could finally have camp outs on the trampoline
• We'd be closer to Ry's mom and hopefully be able to see her more often
• Ry would be closer to the shop
• We'd always have someone to hang out with
• Nikki could teach me how to be crafty
• Moku would have a huge yard to run around in
• The babies would have new toys to share
  
• I'd have someone to go on walks with
• Moving would give us a chance to condense and organize
• We'd get to join a new ward
• We'd have better access to a boat
• We'd have satelite/cable again
• I could play Rock Band all night long

Cons

• I'd be far from work and would have to deal with rush hour
• Baby would be at grandma's all day until I was done with work because Ry wouldn't drive up to Provo to get her
  
• I'd be far from LA boxing
• We don't know how long we'd be staying; the Huntsmaniacs might get sick of us
  
• We'd be far from my mom
• Moku might get even more neglected
• Ry's Halo privileges would probably be subject to Jeff's Halo restrictions
• We'd be squeezed in to a tiny room
• Couldn't bring our movie collection
  
• We'd have to buy a queen size bed
• We wouldn't have enough closet space to house all our clothes, shoes, and my purses
  
• We'd be kicking Keizya out of her room
• I NEVER wanted to live in Spanish Fork, temporarily or otherwise
• There are less shopping and entertainment areas in Spanish Fork
  
• Two babies in close proximity means more crying and more spreading of illnesses
• Past experience shows that living with friends tends to end badly; and when the friends involved happen to be two families already set in there ways...a feud is sure to break out at some point

Can you see the dilemma we're in? I just don't know what to do. I'm not sure yet which list outweighs the other. I really really appreciate the Huntsmaniacs' generosity. And they'd be making just a big of a sacrifice to let us live with them as we would be to move in. But, they're our best friends and it would be fun to play with them 24/7. At the same time, I wouldn't wanna move in, have something happen, and then our friendship be ruined. Now we're right back to the beginning! What do we do?!?!?

AHHHH!!! I am so stressed. I wish I could just come home from work tomorrow and find a check for $500k in my mailbox. Who said money can't buy happiness? I'm broke as a joke right now and depressed. I'm pretty sure if we had the monies, we'd be buying a house, avoiding this whole dilemma, and be a whole lot happier.

el Templo y Ikea

Since I'm at the hospital for one more night, and I've gotta find a way to keep myself entertained, I thought I'd catch up on some blogging.

A few weeks ago, we attended the Draper Temple Open House. I was kind of dreading it cuz we had babies in tow and all of Mom's coworkers said that there were crazy long lines. So we headed up there, ready for a horrible day with crying, screaming babies and achy backs and legs. Turns out, all of Mom's coworkers were liars. We did have to wait in a few lines, and it was a little stuffy in some parts, but things tended to move right along.

The temple was beautiful, of course, and there were some awesome cookies as refreshments afterward. To this day, Ryan is still angry that he didn't grab more cookies. He thought they were divine...probably because he was dying of starvation...we all were.

So with our hunger pains and light wallets, we decided to skip on over the freeway to Ikea for a cheap lunch.Did you know that Wednesday is rib night at Ikea?!?!? For only $7.99 you can stuff your face with a 1/2 rack, fries, and corn bread. Sounds like a caloric nightmare. MMMMM!!!!

Sadly, we were there on a Saturday. So, I settled for the Swedish meatball combo instead. But, as Ryan was pissed he didn't grab more cookies at the temple, I'm still ticked that I didn't pick up a fresh cinnimon roll at the Bistro/Exit Cafe on the way out.

Seriously...I love food...

After what seemed like 9 hours of walking through each 360 sq. ft. living space, rocking on all the see-saws, hugging various stuffed animals, trying on numerous masks, and doning every Chaquita Banana hat...we finally loaded up the cars and headed back home. But not before we dropped $50 on stuff we probably didn't need...like our lucky bamboo shoot!

Ikea is like Walmart; you go in to buy one gallon of milk, and next thing you know, you've dropped $696 on a Better Homes and Garden Lake in the Woods 5 piece patio dinning set. They get you every time.

Suction Tubes and IVs

Many of you have already heard, but Lolli was admitted to the hospital this past Sunday. She had a severe case of RSV and perhaps a bacterial infection on top of that.

RSV is like a really bad cold. But unlike adults, babies are unable to blow their noses, so all the phlegm and mucus clogs their lungs.

Lolli got really sick on Saturday night, coughing hysterically and feverish. Sunday morning, I came home from Sacrament to a little girl who looked like a rag doll. She was completely limp and listless. She had a crazy high fever and could hardly breath. I hurriedly took her to the doctors where they gave her a nebulizer treatment of arbuterol. They sent us home with our own nebulizer and instructed us to give her treatments every 4 hours and to call them back with an update.

The doc had us bring Baby back in when we told him that she was doing even worse than before. Back at the clinic, the nurse practitioner said that Lolli was borderline; we could either take her home and continue to give her arbuterol, or we could get a second opinion. Second opinion please!!

The doctor came back in and said the same thing, that she was borderline. But to be safe, he was gonna send us to the hospital. Well, about 4 hours later, poor Lolli is hooked up to an IV, oxygen, a billion different monitors, and is having tubes shoved down her throat every four hours to suck out all the mucus. I about lost it. It was the saddest, most traumatic thing ever! They had to draw blood and couldn't get a vein to pop up. So, they pricked her like a million different times. And since Baby was already so faint, she didn't even have the energy to fight back. She just laid there and moaned.


But, I'm happy to report that she's been making a great recovery. The doctors say we'll most likely be able to go home tomorrow. They've continued sucking out all the mucus every 4 hours, but they've turned down her oxygen and have disconnected her IV drip.



She seems to be doing pretty well. If we can just get her to start eating, then we're home free. Keep your fingers crossed!

I almost died today...

What do you do when shots are fired? Yeah, you run. And that's exactly what my friend and I did when we heard a gun go off today at Olive Garden.

There we were, munching on soup, salad, and bread sticks when out of nowhere, a gun goes off in the bar area. The couple sitting behind us tucked under their booth while another brave soul went to investigate. My friend had a clear view of the alleged shooter and could see the gun sticking out of his shirt. I looked over and saw the "shooter" freaking out and being really aggressive with the fellow who went to investigate.

The next thing we know, two COPS come strolling in to the restaurant. The couple behind us, still hiding under their booth, collected their belongings and fled. The police officers started talking to the "gunman" and we could see the guy just acting really weird and being all kinds of jittery and crazy...definitely had to be on some type of meds.

Anyways, it was rumored that the gun went off on accident. That the guy had a concealed weapons permit and had a gun in his pocket that went off when he sat down. Either way, we didn't stick around long enough to find out. As soon as the COPS came in, we high-tailed it out of there...just in time to see a news crew pull out their cameras in the parking lot and start recording. (How do those guys get there so fast?!?!?)

All I know is, if this guy did just fire off a round on accident, he's a complete idiot!!! He should have shot himself in the leg. He deserved it! Furthermore, what dumba-- is issuing concealed weapons permits to other dumba--es?! That should be a crime in itself.

Resolutions Recap

So now that we're 3 months in to this new year, I've had a while to work on my new year's resolutions. The following is a progress report. Get ready for a long post. Sorry!

1) Become more involved in the ward

eh...I'm still inactive. But recently, I actually have made a better effort to be on time for church and to stay for all 3 meetings. It's kinda funny, though. Last week in RS, our ward clerk came in and was reading off our attendance numbers for the different meetings. RS and EQ had something like 85% attendance while Sacrament only had like 60%. Well, no duh!!! Sacrament is at 9:00am. Nobody wants to get up that early on a Sunday!!! I thought Sunday was a day of rest. With church starting at 9:00am, I have to get up just as early as any other day of the week when I'm getting ready to head to work!

I also haven't even tried to do any of my visiting teaching. Though, I've tried making myself a lot more accessible to my visiting teachers so they could at least fulfill their callings. No use taking everyone else down with me.

And in an effort to be more involved, I've actually taken kindly to our RS book group. Right now we're reading Sense and Sensibility. I'm not really that big of a Jane Austen fan...even though I've actually read many of her major novels. Still, Sense and Sensibility is actually my favorite Jane Austen, so I've been looking forward to our next group meeting.

Lastly, I really did try to join one of our ward intramural teams. But when it comes to basketball, I'm crap. I'd rather save myself the embarrassment.


2) Run a 5K

This is the one resolution that I thought I'd have the toughest time keeping up on. But, it's turned out to be the one goal that I've actually worked the hardest to meet. Three days a week, I run for about 30-45 minutes. I'm on a running program that gets you running for 60 consecutive minutes in only 8 weeks. Right now, I'm on week 3 and I can run about 35 minutes non stop. I'm pretty proud of that!! And actually, just this past Monday, I finally met my 5K mark. Yup. I ran 3.1 miles. Nevermind the fact that it took me about 45 minutes to do it. It's still a HUGE victory for me.

About 2 years ago, when I was playing rugby, I was running up to 7 miles a day. After I tore my ACL, had surgery, and got pregnant, I did nothing to get back in shape. Now, about 2 years later, I've FINALLY pulled myself out of my sedentary rut and begun running again. It just gets frustrating though, when I struggle to run 3 miles since I was once fully capable of running 7. Oh well, I'll get back there eventually. In the meantime, I'm tentatively shooting to run my first real 5k on May 2nd. Until then, I actually signed up to walk a 5k with Mom, Wikki, and the babes. I'm excited!!


3) Manage a healthier lifestyle

This is actually another goal that I've been trying really hard to meet. I've done pretty well with the no soda thing and with drinking at least 8 cups of water a day. (I sure have to pee a lot!) But consuming only 1200-1500 calories a day has been a lot more difficult. What can I say? I LOVE food!!! And don't worry, on the cruise I gained 5 pounds, and over Lâlea's luau weekend I gained about 3. But alas, I've actually worked those pounds back off. So technically speaking, I've lost 8 pounds in the last month!!! I know, not really. Don't ruin it for me.

I also haven't done very well at maintaining a weekly dinner menu or shopping list. To be honest, I haven't even tried! It's hard when you don't know where you'll be at dinner time. Sometimes we don't even make it home til like 9:30pm and by that time, you're too tired to make a meal. Or, we'll be over at someone's house and just eat dinner over there. So, it's hard trying to plan meals. But, I should be better at not wasting food. I've already lost so much fresh produce...sad.

4) Save money

Well, these last few months have been saturated with parties and celebrations. Needless to say, we've spent a lot of $$$$$. But now that all the birthdays and stuff are over for a while, Ry and I have decided to really buckle down.

I've cut up my credit cards and have committed to paying about $50 more than the minimum payment on all my debts each month. Slowly but surely, I'm hoping that those 50 extra dollars will add up and help me get rid of my debt faster.

Ry and I also just recently purchased a whiteboard that we use to record all of our spending. We actually call it "The Board of Sorrow," because it's a visual representation of all the money we really don't have. And it's already dissuaded me from spending money on superfluous things and eating out. I'll be on the way to go buy something, then I'll think of the board, haunting me at home. I feel guilty, so I don't end up buying anything. Money saved!!!

And going back to being inactive...pretty sure I'm gonna fail my temple recommend interview. I haven't been very good at paying a full tithe. Don't get me wrong, I pay it about every other paycheck. So I'm not a complete heathen. But if I don't stay on top of any of my other money saving methods, I really should make paying tithing my #1 priority.

5) Implement more constructive family time

Well, I'm a horrible mother and a terrible wife. I've yet to take Baby on a walk outside, though Ryan did take her to the park last week. And, I haven't done much about helping Ry study for the GMAT. However, the weather is getting warmer and I've been trying to get home from work earlier, so, I think I'll be able to start taking Lâlea on more walks soon. And since none of our job prospects have panned out yet, Ry has started going back to his GMAT class on T/TH and plans to take the GMAT in May.

Also, we've started doing FHE with the Huntsmaniacs on Monday nights. During all the craziness with birthdays, the cruise, and anniversaries, we missed a couple Mondays. But, we're trying to get back on track. Likewise, Ry and I both recognize the need for family praryer but have done poorly to implement it. Now, as we need more help than ever with getting jobs and securing our future, I think we recognize the importance of praying together. So, we'll definitely start doing better. Shoot, during this recession, we need all the help we can get!!!

Reading throught his progress report, it sounds like I've really slacked off. But in all honesty, I think I've done pretty well! It could be a lot worse, let me tell ya!! I've become really obsessed about working out and TRYING to eat right, so things are looking pretty good there. Now, I just need to become obsessed with paying tithing and visiting teaching. Eh, maybe I'll put a hold on obsessive visiting teaching. Let's not bite off more than we can chew.

Police beat for Feb. 25, 2009 Suspicious Activity Feb. 18 A woman at Wymount Park requested that an officer help her get her money back from the male solicitors selling magazines. She said before she realized, she wrote a $65 check for a subscription. The officer directed her to cancel the check. Feb. 20 An employee arrived to her office in the J. Reuben Clark Building to find her month’s worth of mail gone. It is unknown if the mail was stolen or misplaced. Feb. 21 Grounds workers reported students tying a tight rope around the trees west of Bowen Hall. Students complied when asked to leave. Feb. 23 An employee in the BYU Bookstore called police to report a student violating Bookstore policy on the text floor by studying out of a textbook. The male was asked to leave and he refused. The suspect was gone when police arrived. Unfounded Theft Feb. 23 A student reported his scooter stolen, but found that his roommate had moved it.

2009 BYU NewsNet

Oh Daily Universe...I'm so glad to know that you and the BYU campus police are keeping our streets safe from unlawful text book readers and magazine salesmen. I never knew Provo was such a hot spot for criminal activity.