We Have Survived Three Years!

What are the odds?

Well, probably pretty good, because we are so happy! Survived probably isn't even the best word, more like we have loved the last three years together.

I may be a little fatter, Devin may be a little skinnier. I have graduated college and gotten a "real" job (that pays as much as Devin's non-"real" job.) We have moved three times. We have gotten a new car, a new house, oh and a new kid (who is not so new anymore! Hello 18 months next week!). We have what seems like less and less time together between both of us working, Devin going to school, and Devin starting an internship. BUT...we are happy to be together still and love each other more than we did that lovely day three years ago when we tied the knot.

We are content just being with one another, watching a movie and enjoying our favorite treat- popcorn and a smoothie.

We are not afraid to look our worst in front of each other, which for me entails a greasy hairdo, pajama pants, and a way-too-big t-shirt. (poor husband of mine!)

We are not afraid to tell one another when the other smells funny.

We pick up the pieces where the other leaves off. I start the dishes, he finished them. He baths Hallie, I dress her. I start the laundry, he folds it. He mows the front yard, I mow the back. On and on and on. We are a team.

We can still claim that we have never had a fight (I attribute that to Devin completely because he is such a peacemaker. Sometimes I want a good fight out of him and he just won't. Sigh...)


We have our best conversations at night when Devin is dead tired after a long day of school and working (he usually works a 4-midnight shift or 5-1). Despite his wanting nothing more than to sleep, he is willing to stay up to listen to me ramble on about my day.

Now that is love.

Here's to 57634 more years (plus eternity) together! I LOVE YOU DEV!

1 year

In loving memory! "Chris York 1978-2009" It's hard to believe it has been a year since Chris left us. We miss him and love him and know that he is helping us from the other side in all that we do! Chris was such an amazing person and example, he gives us all a reason to work harder to live the kind of life that he did. Watching this video brought back so many memories for me. I cried a little, I laughed a little, but mostly I said a little prayer of gratitude that we have the Gospel in our lives and that we understand that death is not the end. Knowing that Jennifer, Chris, and Sadie will be together again gives us a reason to smile and keep moving forward in life. We love you Chris and miss you deeply!!! (The video was made by my cousin Che'Lyn for his funeral. Didn't she do a wonderful job? I don't know why the music overlaps sometimes during it, you will have to ignore that.)

Gardening

We have been very busy preparing and planting our garden around here. Let me just say...I am no expert on gardening. In fact, the only experience I have with gardening involves being ordered out to weed the garden for Family Home Evening growing up. I don't even remember planting it or harvesting the vegetables.
Luckily, I have a Devin. Devin is a master at all things garden and all things lawn. He knows what he is doing from years of experience. I am learning.

We have massive amounts of garden space in our backyard, so we took full advantage of it. We planted tons of different vegetables and some strawberries. Oh, and see that tree with the white blossoms? A cherry tree! YUM!!!!

I am excited for the garden to give me something to do this summer. I have decided I need to be outside as often as possible. My next plan is to get a bike and a bike trailer so that Hallie and I can ride around town. Fun, eh?

Anyway, I am pretty sure that our garden will be looking like this in no time:

Ha HA...I wish. I will let you know how it goes though!

(sorry for quite possibly the most boring blog post ever. I just had to share cause it has taken a lot of our time and I am excited for the possibilities of eating nothing but green peppers and tomatoes for dinner! Just kidding, I am sure Devin will not love that....)

Odd

Here are some of the items that were searched that led people to my blog, according to the ever trusty Google Analytics:

1) "I am wearing overalls" 2010 (Glad that I am in fact, NOT wearing overalls in 2010. Heaven forbid. Sorry if you are wearing overalls)
2) paige + devin+ gunn + perry
3) gangs (What the what? When have I ever mentioned gangs? Keep in mind this keyword has driven more than one person to my blog. Yikes!)
4) I love primary
5) peed pants (Again. Though I may have peed my pants sometime in my lifetime, I have surely never mentioned it here, right?)
6) plethora of pics7) strobelite or constant (what does this even mean? Help me out here...)
8) young pretty and pink daddy's dream

How's that for a little entertainment? It is always interesting to see what searches are leading people to my blog. There is the ever popular searching my first and last name. That I can understand. But these other weird things? At least they made me laugh.

(P.S. For those that read my adoption blog, I just posted a "deep thoughts by kim" post there. I had to balance out all the seriousness over there with this silliness. I guess I just can't have one without the other!)

No Fun

Here is a rundown of the last few days in our household:

12 temperature readings
10 higher than 100 degree readings
8 higher than 103 readings
8 doses of Tylenol
4 doses of Motrin
6 frantic phone calls
2 loooooong nights
2 lukewarm baths
1 child who refuses to sleep in her bed
0 naps (for mom, dad, or Hallie)
0 meals eaten (On Hallie's part-except if you count the two bites of cereal for breakfast, one piece of cheese for lunch, etc. You know this is not normal!)
6 more frantic phone calls
847 hours of crying/screaming (okay not that many but it seemed like it)
1 trip to the doctor
1 pee test
1 loooong wait (1 1/2 hours) for the child to produce the needed product (pee)
1 pair of wet pants after said product missed the mark
1 husband laughing hysterically because the pants weren't his
1 diagnosis (UTI)
2 parents relieved to have antibiotics in their hands

...well you get the point. Hallie has been sick. I fear she has my bad genes that are prone to UTI's. No good. I realize that we have been very blessed as she has rarely gotten sick throughout her life. This was crazy because she is so out of her element. I am not complaining because I know so many people have children who are terminally ill or who wish to have children period.

I am simply saying that there is nothing harder than watching your child not feel well and not knowing what you can do to help. Sunday night when she first starting feeling sick, she was so clingy and wanted to be rocked and held all the time. This is so weird for Hallie. I couldn't keep myself from crying because I wanted so badly to take her pain away.

I totally admit that amidst the crying and refusing to eat and being up all night, the thought crossed my mind a few times "I didn't sign up for this!" And then I would have to remind myself, "Yes, you did." I can't expect being a parent to be easy all the time. I can't expect life to go my way every time. I know this is so small scale, but it made me think a little bit about how grateful I am for what I have. I think I will be just that much more aware of the good days and enjoy her for the happiness and laughter that she brings into my life.

You gotta admit, she is pretty funny. Oh and cute. See below.

She's rockin' the roll-o-way glasses courtesy of the dear eye doctor after he so rudely dilated our eyeballs (not Hallie's, just mine and Dev's)

Classic hair-do. She still insists upon this one quite frequently.

Hallie in her Easter dress this past Sunday. She sure looked pretty, but this was the beginning of her yuckiness, therefore, no smile.

Here's to wishing that this too passes quickly!

Love This

Camille showed me this video a while ago and I just love it! If you haven't watched it, you need to. It makes me just feel like there is hope and happiness out there in the world, even if what we hear is mostly devestation. I have watched it at least once a day since she gave me the link. It is simple but inspiring!

Enjoy.

(P.S. Please don't be offended by the title of the movie. It is worth the watch regardless of what it is called)

Mullets

I think mullets are just funny. How can you not laugh at pictures like these?

Lately, Hallie's hair has also taken on a real mullet-like quality. I think it is a combination of the fact that her hair just isn't growing on the sides, the long chunk in the back, and the top that often looks crazy because she won't keep it done. I think she currently has the perfect hair to be an 80's rocker. I bet she can be highly successful singing her versions of "Old McDonald" and "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" !
Regardless, you gotta admit that that is darn near the cutest mullet you have ever seen. Pretty sure it is for me!

Top 10

We had an exciting weekend around here. I have no pictures (until I steal them from others) because I was lazy, but here are the top 10 exciting things that happened around here:

10) We learned a new game. Card Monopoly (is that even what it is called?) and Devin and I won the first two games in a row. We played while Che' and Landon, Carlie, and Mike and Lara were here yesterday for our very own Fam Easter Celebration. So there Idaho Family. Later, Mike and Lara (my brother and his girlfriend) played Devin and I in spades. They were ahead by like 200 the entire game but we came back to beat them. We are so awesome.

9) We dyed eggs with Camille, Kylee, and baby Jayda on Friday. My eggs were highly professional. Camille's were highly HIGHLY professional. She is a perfectionist. Hallie had fun by throwing eggs in dye when I wasn't looking. Good times had by all.

8) Devin and I went to the eye doctor on Friday for the first time in two years. Too bad I didn't check earlier to find out that our insurance covers it 100%. Darn it. The best part? We got our eyes dilated and got to wear these awesome roll-out sunglasses for hours. I had to go into work for a short meeting right after and the first person I saw said, "Whoa! Your eyes are really brown today!" Also, my boss has serious eye issues so the two of us together were a bad combination. Running into things, groping our way around... you get the picture.

7) Hallie got to go swimming on Saturday with Grandma Lisa at the hotel pool. Let's not mention the part where she ran off the edge of the pool into Grandma's supposedly waiting arms and instead fell to the bottom of the pool. Yes, my heart stopped for a second. She came up laughing though, so it was fine. Note to self: Do not let Hallie near any water unless she is wearing a life jacket, arm floaties, and a tube.

6) Easter dinner was fantastic. Che' and Landon brought homemade lasagna which was delightful. Added to that meal the Easter candy, brownies, ice cream, and popcorn later and we sure had a good eating day. Onto the diet today.

5) Home videos. Hours of entertainment I tell you. My mom's constant wearing of this hideous red bathrobe, my sister and I with our combed out perms, our homemade clothes, the numerous plays that we put on....etc. etc. etc. Quality.

4) Saturday night, after the pool incident, Hallie and I went to dinner with my mom and then to the mall to exchange some shorts I had gotten for Devin for Easter. I thought they looked good at the store. Turns out, they were actually man capris (you have to remember that Devin is really tall so they kind of looked like they would be shorts for him. Not quite). Yikes. Devin wasn't having any of that. So our second shopping trip was much more successful because my mom was able to chase Hallie around the racks of clothes while I picked out what I needed instead of having to grab at whatever looks decent but actually turns out to be a huge fashion faux pas for poor Devin.

3) Camille and I made sugar cookies. Instead of baking them, we accidentally broiled them. We didn't figure it out until the last batch. Whoops! They came out flat as a pancake and looking like they were boiling. So much for the pretty Easter colored frosting we had made to put on them. We had to settle for dipping the flat pieces into the frosting. Just FYI, broiled cookies are not as good as baked cookies. Lesson learned. Not as bad as the time we substituted powdered milk for flour on accident one time in high school. That will probably always be the worst we have ever done. But this was still funny.

2) I mentioned it before, but I got to see Kylee and her baby Jayda (who I had never met!). I haven't seen Kylee since November or something ridiculous like that. It was awesome just to spend time with her and Camille and chat. I only wish we could have spent more time together. Boo for that. Oh well, I will take what I can get.

1) General Conference was great as usual. I really look forward to every 6 months when we can hear the prophet and apostles speak. It is so fulfilling for me. I used to really dread conference and now it is the opposite. It is as if I can't get enough. I am excited for the May Ensign to come out now so that I can go back and read the talks again. I think the overall theme for me was being a better parent. I too often give into the excuse that Hallie is young and doesn't know what is going on anyway, so I don't take the time I should to teach her Gospel centered topics. I have new resolutions to do so after listening to conference.