Body Talk

I need to get something off my mind and I suppose this is as good a place as any to do it.  

I actually like my post-baby body.

And its not because I have lost all my "baby weight", because I haven't.   And its not because I don't have stretch marks, because I do.

I'm going to start from the very beginning, and you can bet I'm going to rant, so you may quit reading here if you wish.  

The first time I picked up a volleyball was when I was in the 6th grade.  I only went to the meeting about joining volleyball to get out of class.  Is that bad?  Maybe. But I decided to play, and I loved it!  And I kept playing.  When I was in 8th (maybe 9th?) grade, a local family with a daughter my age started a little volleyball club so that we could play year round and improve our skills.  We were awful.  Seriously, so bad.  We just practiced in the gym of a church, and we played in tournaments at least once a month, or so. And if you practice something a lot you get more comfortable doing it, and sometimes even get better!  I was still loving volleyball, and even getting into the whole spandex wearing thing.  I kept playing volleyball with the school team, and my extra practice was paying off.  I was getting more attention at school and was one of two sophomores that dressed Varsity.  (I only actually went in once, when we were winning by a lot.  The crowd cheered SO loud when I was subbed in, probably more because it was a jab to the other team that they were putting in a little sophomore, but I was so proud.  I remember having to choke back a tear or two. Haha!  Oh memories...)  Anyway, I kept playing club ball in the off-season with another club team.  My skills kept improving.  I was making a lot of new friends.  I was gaining confidence in myself.  I was learning life lessons about being part of a team.  You know, good stuff like that.

Region 9 Champs! Senior year.  Photo Cred: Danielle Rich

Senior Night...I think? 

 Because I was athletic I like to think I was more concerned with what my body could DO (ie, how high I could jump, how hard I could hit a volleyball, how long I could endure in a match etc.) and not how much I WEIGHED.  I had really great teammates that seemed to be worried about the same thing.  I don't remember a lot of "body hating" going on.  If there was, I was oblivious, thankfully.  I wasn't especially skinny.  In fact, I was bigger than a lot of my friends, and taller!  But I was in great shape, and that was all I really cared about. Plus, I think it helped that didn't hear any "body hating" at home.  My mom wasn't constantly dieting and making negative comments about her body.  She wasn't refusing pictures of herself, or refusing to go swimming because she didn't want to be seen in a swimming suit!  She was happy, she was having fun! (Of course, I didn't think anything about it then; this is all in hindsight.)

Danielle and I - we were the only two seniors.

I guess I had good habits regarding my body image and they just stuck.  I hardly ever weighed myself, or felt the need to diet.  Brad and I never even owned a scale!

Then I got pregnant.  My doctor told me to keep track of my weight gain, so I did.  For the two trimesters I felt great, and I was on track for whatever the recommended weight gain was so I still didn't worry too much about it. 

Taken at the beginning of my third trimester.

But then in my third trimester I kept getting bigger!  And the bigger I got, the more comments I got about my size, from strangers and friends alike.  And I found that instead of just being happy, because I was feeling good, I was starting to be more self conscious about how big I was getting.  I had to make a conscious effort to not think negatively about my miraculous, baby-growing body.  It didn't help that my good friend was also pregnant, but was especially small as far as pregnant women go and was due two weeks before me.  

Taken while I was laboring at home - its as big as I got!

And THEN I actually had the baby.  And apparently if you have a baby and don't immediately look like you didn't just have a baby then something is wrong.  I was in the elevator at the hospital going down to the NICU to see Henry, and I had a lady ask me when I was due, literally less than 24 hours after I had the baby.  I wanted to slap her because a.) I was especially emotional because my baby was in the NICU and b.) because I was exhausted from having given birth less than a day ago and c.) because we were on the mother/baby floor for crying out loud!  And remember all the hullabaloo about Kate Middleton coming out of the hospital after she had Prince George and she still looked pregnant?!  Ridiculous.  I was starting to feel like my body needed to be fixed.  That I actually did need that special cream that makes your stretch marks disappear, or that I should start a work out regimen that would have me in my old jeans by the time my baby was 6 weeks old.  I started looking for diet and exercise plans on Pinterest for breastfeeding moms, since I didn't want to lose my milk supply in the process.  Its amazing how quickly a little negative thought can turn into a bigger negative thought and, if you let it, become a really big problem. 

BUT two things slapped me in the face and changed my thinking forever.

First, this quote. 

I don't know why, but it seriously changed my life.  Well, I do know why, because it's TRUE!  Honestly, we could all be a little more like this amazing woman that spent her life in service to others. And, as a mother, I have work to do!  I have a tiny boy that needs teaching and reading to, playing, singing and dancing with.  He needs a mother that loves herself so that she can love him.  He needs a mother that is more worried about serving others than the size of her thighs.  He needs a mother that teaches him to be happy with himself and his body. After all, I want him to think positively about himself too! (Also, if I'm being honest, I had to edit the quote.  The original had a swear, and I just couldn't post it considering this next part...but life changing nonetheless.) 

The second thing that changed me was an 8 year old girl singing "If the Savior Stood Beside Me" (Words and Music by Sally DeFord) in Sacrament meeting.  

If the Savior stood beside me, 

would I say the things I say?

Would my words be true and kind

if He was never far away?

I just started thinking, would I say or think unkind thoughts about myself or my body "if the Savior stood beside me"?  Then the last verse of the song goes like this:

He is always near me, 

though I do not see Him there,

And because He loves me dearly, 

I am in His watchful care.

So I'll be the kind of person

that I know I'd like to be

If I could see the Savior standing nigh,

watching over me.

  My incredibly amazing, and wise-beyond-her-years friend, Danielle (picture above!) once explained that she didn't care if her body was the same after having her TWINS, because she wasn't the same after becoming a mother.  You would never dream of going back to your pre-baby life once your little ones are here.  And it's so true!  I'm grateful to have had a friend like her.  A friend that makes you feel good for being who you are, not how big you are.  

Now, please don't misunderstand me.  I absolutely believe in taking good care of my body and being healthy!  After all, didn't I already mention I have work to do?!  I need to be healthy to teach my children good habits.  I need to be healthy to play, sing, dance and grow with my kids!  I need to be healthy so that I can be there for graduations and weddings and grandbabies! But healthy doesn't always equal skinny, and that's what I'm deciding not to obsess over.  My body can do a lot of amazing things.  It developed and sustained a baby, delivered the baby, then healed itself, and now continues to feed that baby and sustain my own needs.  I can run, swim, ride a bike, jump, and play! What I can't do is cartwheel...I need to get on that. 

 I want to be more focused on what I can DO, especially what I can do for others. 

Such dreamboats!

Including my own family.

Blessed.

Blessed that some of our family was able to make the trek to SoCal to be here for Henry on his special day.  Blessed to have siblings that drove through the night from all over Utah to be with us.

  Blessed to have family that loves and supports us from a distance.

Blessed to have good friends that had a baby just two weeks before we had Henry. 

Blessed to have blessed the babies on the same day, in the same ward. 

Blessed to have two of the best men as fathers and grandfathers; men of God who teach, by example, the way to act, speak and serve others.  Men who love and respect their wives and lead their families in love.

Blessed to have brothers-in-law (not just those pictured) who also honor and uphold the Priesthood of God and show their commitment to the Lord in all they do, especially in how they love their wives and raise their families.

Blessed to have sisters and sisters-in-law that are examples of selfless, loving, patient and strong women and mothers.

Blessed to have family that loves us, and especially Henry, unconditionally; I wish every child in the world was as loved and wanted as our boy.

Most of all, we're blessed to have Henry in our family.

We're blessed to know that because Brad and I were sealed in the House of the Lord that our family is sealed together for eternity.

So, so blessed.
God is good.

(Blessing Day March 2, 2014)

Things I Thought I Knew

Have you ever had experiences in your life that you still kind of can't believe actually happened?  I felt that way when I came home from teaching English in Kiev, and travelling around eastern Europe for almost five months.  I would look at pictures of myself in Budapest or Prague and think, I really did that?  I really went there?  I felt that way after I married Brad too.  We would sometimes look at each other and be like, "We're married!?  We live in this hilarious, tiny and awfully already furnished apartment together? This is awesome!"  Well, that is kind of how I feel about labor and delivery and bringing our son home.  When we got in the car to come home from the hospital we were like, "We get to keep him? This beautiful, angel child is actually going to live with us?"  We still look at him sometimes and say, "I can't believe he's ours!"  We are absolutely over-the-moon in love with him.    And now that I have been a mom for three whole weeks I am realizing there are a lot of things that I thought I knew...that I just didn't.  

I thought I knew what pain was.  Well, that is kind of a lie, I never felt like I had experienced excruciating pain before.  Maybe a better way to say it is, I thought I knew labor would be painful.  But then I labored for 24 hours and gave birth without medication (by choice) and NOW I know what pain is.  The pain of recovery, nursing and pretty much everything else pale in comparison.  My "pain scale" is totally different now.  More on my decision to deliver naturally later.  

I thought I knew we would go through a lot of diapers.  But seriously, its a little bit ridiculous just how many we go through.  I just. didn't. know.  Now I subscribe to have diapers delivered to my door every month through Amazon Mom.  I love technology!

I thought I knew what anxiety was.  I mean, I've been a full-time college student with a full-time job and a habit of procrastinating long enough to know what anxiety feels like.  But it wasn't until we brought Henry home, whom we had never been able to spend the night with, and whom was always on monitors just in case anything was wrong, that I felt real anxiety.  There were no nurses to watch him, no monitors to make sure everything was ok, it was just us. (Well, us and my mom in the next room, thankfully!)  Henry was in a cradle right next to my bed and I still could not sleep for fear that I wouldn't wake up if he cried, or that he would suffocate, or he would be too hot, or too cold, or he would just stop breathing because SIDS is a thing...and any other awful thing my postpartum mind could conjure up.  I would fall asleep and wake up in a panic 30 seconds later.  Finally I just sat in my rocking chair on the other side of the cradle and just stared at him while he slept.  Oi vey.  See what I mean?  A.n.x.i.e.t.y.  I have a better handle on things now, as my hormones attempt to return to normal levels, but I'm realizing the following statement is also more true than I ever knew.  Having your heart "go walking around outside your body" is sure to produce some anxiety.

I thought I knew that breastfeeding would be tricky.  Tricky.  Hard.  Painful. Stressful. Hilarious. Adorable. Amazing. Weird.  All of those things simultaneously.  You know don't if the baby is getting enough to eat or if he's getting too much to eat and throwing up, if he's latched the right way, if you should wake him up to eat or let him sleep.  Then it hurts when your milk comes in but it hurts when you nurse.  But if you get too full it hurts also, plus you get milk all over the baby and all over yourself because he's fighting you to latch.  Oh boy, I don't know, maybe it's too much information to discuss breastfeeding on my blog, but its a major part of my life now, so what are you gonna do?  I am in complete amazement that my body just knows what to do, that it just produces exactly the nutrients my baby needs and it just showed up when the baby was born!  All I have to do is keep eating and drinking, which I would do anyway.  Amazing.  It's just all amazing...and kinda weird. 

I thought I knew what romance was.  Brad has been known to be very romantic.  I mean, did you see the gorgeous jewelry box that he made me for our 5th anniversary (after he researched and found out that the 5th anniversary is the "wooden anniversary").  He's a really good gift giver, and is very thoughtful.  One time, while we were watching T.V., a commercial came on that showed a room full of men portraying different careers (ie. construction worker, businessman, firemen etc.), and I can't remember what they were doing, or what the commercial was advertising, but there was only one woman in the commercial and she was the waitress, and if I remember correctly, she was quite scantily clad.  Brad said, "Why is the only woman in this commercial the one serving the beer?"  I kissed him right then and there.  It was so romantic to me that he had seen an example of how ridiculous women are sometimes portrayed in the media and commented on it before I even could!  But let me tell you, the things that Brad did for me while I was in labor are some of  the most selfless, kind and romantic things I have ever seen him do.  He literally held me up through some contractions, provided counter pressure to get me through others.  Helped me breathe through the ones I thought were going to kill me. He held the shower head over me for 20 minutes while I labored in the shower to relieve pressure...twice.  He gently reminded me of the goals I had set for myself when I wanted to quit.  He watched the monitor to tell me when the contractions were "on their way out".  He made me laugh (or tried, but remember how much pain I was in?) and gave me numerous pep talks.  He reminded me that I was strong, that I could do this, and that I was amazing!  He never once left my side and he fed me all the ice chips I could have.  He didn't eat or sleep from the moment we got to the hospital and spent all his time and efforts to help me through labor.  He even got me the most beautiful little necklace as a "push present" with Henry's birthstone.  I could go on and on about him, because he was everything I needed him to be and more.


I thought I knew that I could never repay my own mom.  But after becoming a mother myself, I'm realizing that you're even more in debt to your mom for everything she has ever done for you your entire life than I had previously imagined.  My mom came to every high school volleyball game, and most of my club volleyball tournaments.  She waited up for me after dances and dates.  She encouraged me, taught me, laughed with me, cried with me and always played with me.   After I had the baby and Brad was with Henry in the NICU and I was actually alone in the delivery room I called my mom.  It was so nice to talk to her because she just understood.  She and my sister came to California that very day, and I know she would have been there earlier if it were possible.  Since I have had the baby she has answered all of my question and soothed all of my fears.  She honestly does know everything about raising babies (and pretty much everything else too!)    

I thought I knew what love was.  When it comes right down to it, my heart is more full of love that I knew it could be.  I know its cliche, I've heard every other new mom say it, but it's something you can't really comprehend it until it happens to you.  You think your love is going to be divided between your spouse and your new baby, but its not, its multiplied. I think it even allows you to love others, even strangers, in a way you didn't before.  Because now that you're a mom, you start to see other people has someone's baby, who needs to be loved.  And you start to understand, in the smallest way, the love that our Heavenly parents have for us.  I love this tiny boy, this tiny mixture of me and the man that I adore, so much that my heart can hardly contain it.

It turns out there are a lot of things I thought I knew.  I might as well get used to the feeling, I suppose.  Motherhood is going to be the adventure of a lifetime!  

Meet Henry.

Our handsome boy is finally here!

Here he is only hours old.
He was a perfect 8 pounds, 3 ounces and 21.5 inches long.

Lessons from Strangers

If you have ever been pregnant, or even known anybody that has been pregnant, then you have probably heard that pregnancy warrants unsolicited advice from any and all people you may come across.  From what I hear many women resent it, but I have found it to be an altogether amusing experience!  Maybe it doesn't bother me because nobody told me any truly horrific stories, or maybe because I'm an especially chatty person and have never minded talking with the cashier in every store I go to (because seriously, every cashier wants to talk about it.)  I wish that I had taken a picture with every person that wanted to talk to me about pregnancy and started a blog or Instagram with their advice and/or stories because I have already forgotten some of the wisdom imparted, and how am I supposed to raise my child without their advice?!

Some people are so kind and reassuring.  After all the usual questions like, "When are you due?  What are you having? Is this your first? How are you feeling?" one soft-spoken woman asked me "Are you excited?"  I answered honestly, "We are really excited!  But...also kind of terrified."  She replied with the kindest smile, "Oh, don't be terrified, my parents had 19 children, and we all survived, you'll be just fine!"   Got it. I can do this.

Some people are straight forward.  One young dad at the grocery store told Brad and I as we were checking out, "It's amazing, it really is, but you will never. sleep. again.  Seriously, never.  Sleep as much as you can right now."  Got it. I won't feel guilty for sleeping in anymore.

Some people try to be funny.  One old man walked by, took one look at my very pregnant self, and said in passing, "I give you full permission to deliver those triplets tonight".  I laughed and said, "Hey! What are you trying to say?"  I still had a month to go.  Got it. I'm large and in charge.   

Some people want to tell you their battle stories.  I can't even think of one specific example of this one, there are so many.  "I was in labor for 48 hours and pushed for 3." "My doctor insisted on inducing me early, then I found out later that it was because he was going on a family vacation, not because I needed to be."  "My niece gave birth in the car on the way to the hospital"  I really never minded this either, because I think most people just genuinely want you to know that anything could happen and that maybe something that they experienced could help you.  But I got it.  Labor and delivery is hard but its worth it!

Some people just have to reminisce about their own days of parenthood.  Brad ran in to the grocery store for just a few things, and I was looking at the magazine rack waiting for him at the front of the store.  One man was walking by on his way out of the store, and out of the corner of my eye I saw him stop.  I could tell he was looking at me, so I looked over at him and he just said, with kind of a twinkle in his eye, "I have four sons."  I smiled and said, "Ohhhh We're actually having a son too! It's our first."  Apparently that was just all he could take, because he chuckled and came over at put his arm around me in an awkward side hug and said, "God bless you!  They grow up so fast!"  I asked him how old his boys were, and he said they were all bigger than him.  He smiled and walked out.  I think he may have been slightly intoxicated, but I thought he was sweet nonetheless.  I think I got it.  Enjoy it while it lasts.

Some people are just confusing.  While waiting at the doctor's office a couple of months ago, just sitting and minding my own business, one woman seated across from me said, "I take it this is not your first."  I replied, "No, actually it is."  Embarrassed, she said, "Oh, just disregard that", then quickly started talking to someone else.  What??

I never understood women that gave random advice like, "Don't worry, you won't be pregnant forever".  Um I know that...wierdo.  But these days it feels like I really AM going to pregnant forever, and suddenly I'm grateful that that old woman at Costco stopped to tell me that.  Got it, my babe will be here before I know it.

The only thing that bothers me is people that say, "You're HUGE!" or "You look like you're about to pop!"  It doesn't matter if they preface it with "I'm sorry, I just have to say it.." or "I don't want to be rude but...".  So let me tell you this: Even if she is the size of Violet Beauregarde when she turns into a blueberry, even if she is your sister, or best friend, or a complete stranger, don't ever, ever, ever tell a pregnant woman how huge she is.  Trust me, she knows, and there isn't a dang thing she can do about it!  I would be three times the size I am now if it meant a happy, healthy baby.  This is what I signed up for! I think its miraculous that my body can DO this! Why remind pregnant women that they're huge, or even that they're tiny?  Instead, try reminding them that they're a walking miracle. Got it?

T minus 6 days until D Day. I got this.

(Pictures by Tif Photography.  Taken in November - I was about 30 Weeks.)

I don't always blog...

...but when I do, its because I'm putting off doing something more important.  

I always get the urge to blog when there are other things I should be doing instead.  I must have at least 6 blogs half-written that I started during finals weeks, when I should have been studying. And right now I should be cleaning my house but I just. don't. want. to.  So, I'll blog instead.  Just don't come over, because my house will not be clean.  

Since I missed all of 2013, here are our Top 5 moments of 2013 in no particular order... 

1. I finally graduated.  You would think that I would have my Master's Degree by now, since I have been in school for so long, but I just finished my Bachelors degree in Geography. I'll tell you what, you learn a lot more from school than just what you learn in the books...and I learned a lot!  I've said it before and I'll say it again - if you put your spouse through school you automatically deserve an honorary degree yourself.  He knows more about Geography than he ever cared to... 

2. We found out we are expecting our first baby! It was the most wonderful surprise, but the timing could not have been more perfect.  More on this to come later...  3.  We bought our first ever brand new car.  Neither one of us has ever owned a new car, and we figured its worth doing at least once in your life, right? It's a 2014 Mazda CX-5 - we LOVE it! 4.  We celebrated FOUR years of wedded bliss by vacationing on Catalina Island.  I got SO sick on the way over, and it was freezing all weekend, but we had the best time!   5.  Brad grew a mustache of epic proportions (Yeah, it's list worthy.) He grows it every year in honor of "Movember", which helps to raise awareness about Men's health issues.    There were a lot of other amazing moments in 2013 too, like seeing some of our favorite musicians in concert, going to Disneyland with friends and family members, going home to Utah to visit, sporting events, live theater, weekend getaways in sketchy B&B's and hearing our baby's heartbeat for the first time. Yeah, 2013 was a good year for us, but I have a feeling 2014 is going to be EPIC.

Summer Bucket List 2012 + Bonus

 After I graduated from High School I felt like I also graduated from having awesome summer vacations.  So, a couple of summers ago I decided I would make a Summer Bucket List so that I didn't get to the end of my summer and realize that I hadn't done a dang thing all summer except work and go to school. It worked! I found that if I made a list of even the fun things I wanted to do, I got things done.  I'm highly, highly motivated by the act of crossing something off my list, can you tell?  So, here is my Summer Bucket List of 2012.

1. Take my last required in-residence general education class.

I took "Gender and Globalization".  It was really interesting. It dealt mostly with how globalization affects women's lives. I learned a lot, it was really eye-opening. I didn't agree with everything that was taught, but for the most part I enjoyed it.

 

 

Check.

(And, just for the record, I got an A. Woot!)

 

2. Spend as much time in Utah with my sisters as possible. 

Some of you may know that my family is spread out across the nation, with one on a different continent.  But for a few weeks this summer, we closed the gap and were able to spend a couple of weeks in St. George (except for our Missionary, and we missed her!)  We had so much fun talking, laughing, swimming, playing games and spoiling the kids rotten.

It was good for my soul.
 

 

Check.
 

3. Go tubing down the Virgin River in Zion National Park.

While I was in Utah I was determined to go tubing down the Virgin River.  What I really wanted to do was go camping or hiking in Zion, but tubing was as close as I could get.   I had done it once before, while I was in college in Utah and had a blast, so I made my siblings come with me.  They were glad I did, we laughed the whole way down the river and decided that someday we would need to bring the whole family to do it. 

 

Check.

 

4. Sew my niece a quilt.

I have been wanting to make another quilt, and since I made a quilt for my nephew when he was born I decided to make a quilt for my niece.  This is the only picture I have of it, and it's not completely finished here, but you get the idea.  It wasn't the pattern I had intended to use for her, but when I got to Utah I realized I had brought everything to make her quilt, but I was missing some pages from the pattern I was going to use.  So I went online and found one for free that would work with the materials I had.  I really love the way it turned out!

 

Joss decided to do a little crafting of her own while I was working on her quilt. I'm sure her mom appreciated me letting her play with pins...

 
Jossie with her finished quilt top.  I think she liked it.

Now it's out of my hands, being quilted! I'll post the final product!
 

Check.

 

5. Finish the various projects I started throughout the year.
I made this cute monogram board, which I got the supplies for months ago. 

I made this curtain to hide all the crap that we have to store under our bathroom counter because we are officially out of closet space. It's nothing fancy, but it serves its purpose!

I made this simple, but ridiculously comfy blanket with minky fabric that I got at a going-out-of-business sale for dirt cheap.  I love it but I never want to sew with minky again, it's such a pain, and all I did was sew around two pieces of minky put together!

Check.
 

6. Read at least two leisurely books.
Putting reading on my Summer Bucket List really just my way of making myself feel good about sitting down and reading for hours on end and not feeling guilty about it because there are so many other things I could be doing.  Hey, I'm just trying to cross one more thing off my list, I'm not being lazy... Plus, I desperately needed a break from text books. Lucky for me, I was able to squeeze in more than two!

The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak was my first choice, and my absolute favorite. I highly recommend it.

Fablehaven, by Brandon Mull was the second book I read, because my neighbor and her husband love the series, and let me borrow her copy.  It was kind of a fun story, but I didn't love it and I don't plan to read any of the others.  I'm just not into fairies and such, but it's always good to read something that you might not have ordinarily chosen.

The Unwanteds, by Lisa McMann was another fun one.  The cover says it's like a mix between the Hunger Games and Harry Potter, but I'll tell you right now, it's nothing like Harry Potter - nothing is.  It is a little Hunger Games ish, but there's a little magic thrown in so it's different enough. I love the young adult books!

 

I was also required to read Half the Sky for my class, so it doesn't count as my leisure reading, but I really kind of liked it.  It can be a little much, because they tell some really sad stories about violence toward women, but there are also some amazing stories about some very resilient women.  Plus, it talks about how we can make a difference in the world. Yeah, girl power!

 

 
Check.

7. Get more organized.
This is mostly in reference to the paperwork that comes in and out of this place. I wanted to have a more organized way of dealing with bills, receipts, budgets and stuff like that. So, I did some research online to check out some of the ways that people organize their lives and found a way that I hope will work for us. It's nothing complicated, and I don't have a picture, but it's clean, crisp and filed nicely in hanging folders with a place for everything. Woot! Too bad when I organize one thing, I immediately see all the other things in my house that need to be organized. One step at a time...

Check.

 

8. Go paddleboarding.
I have been wanting to get out more and be more active, but I basically hate the idea of just going for run, I get bored just thinking about it. I would happily get my exercise though, if I was actually doing something like hiking, playing volleyball or paddleboarding.  I have been wanting to try paddlebaording for a long time, and Brad and I decided we would go this summer...but we didn't.  However, it wasn't a complete fail, because we didn't buy a Groupon for Paddleboard lessons and a two hour Paddleboard rental so we WILL be going on the next available Saturday.

 

Fail.

9. Clean the carpets.
I have nothing else to say except this just did not happen. We have lived here for 3 years and our carpets really need a little extra love, despite my constant vacuuming. We planned on renting a carpet cleaner but, well...we didn't.

Fail.

BONUS!
I feel pretty good about accomplishing most of my list, although I have a nagging feeling that I'm forgetting some...oh well. Here are some things that I didn't plan on that turned out to be amazing.


We went to Lehi, for a week to spend time with Brad's family.  While we were there I made about two dozen bottles of Salsa with fresh ingredients that we picked out of their garden the night before.  Every single thing, except for the cilantro and garlic came from the garden.  (I'm more determined than ever to have an awesome garden someday.)  Brad's mom is the canning QUEEN and graciously shared her wealth of knowledge with me.

1. Bottling Salsa and Blackberry Jam
The salsa, by the way, is absolutely delicious. Even though we had already put a lot of work into making Salsa, Brad's mom also let me make Blackberry Jam with, fresh Blackberries from their garden too! I don't have any pictures of that process but it was seriously so much fun! I loved everything, from smashing the berries to pouring it in the bottles. I kept saying "Oh look how pretty it looks in the jar!" or "It just smells SO good!". I'm pretty sure Kay, my mother-in-law thought I was a little ridiculous, but it really was so pretty and did smell so good!

 

2. The Hogle Zoo
We also went to the Hogle Zoo!  I was a little nervous because it really bothers me when animals live where they wouldn't naturally live, like an elephant living in Salt Lake City, or a bird that can't fly, or big animals that live in small spaces.  But the zookeepers were very educational and made me feel better, and assured me that they're better off where they are, because they would not survive in the wild.  It was a lot of fun, I'm glad I went, maybe now I'll be able to face Sea World...

 

3. Olympic Women's Volleyball
Did you know that Anaheim is the official home of the USA Olympic Men's and Women's volleyball teams?  I didn't until a couple of months ago!  Well, the women's team was playing a match against Bulgaria at USC, so Brad surprised me with tickets because he knows how much I love volleyball.  It was literally their last game before they got on a plane to go to London!  We had a blast, and it was fun for me to be in my element and teach Brad a thing or two about the game I love.  Oh, and of course, they won!
 

4. Watch the Olypmics 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
We got cable for the sole purpose of watching the Olympics, and it was basically on at all waking moments.  I love the Olypmics.  Did anyone else get a little obsessed?

5. U.S. Open Surfing Competition
My friend, Jyl, invited me to go to the U.S. Open Surfing competition at Huntington Beach with her, and I was glad she did, because that was another thing I have always wanted to see since I've lived here...and I'll probably never do it again.  It was very Spring Break-ish, there were tons of teenagers that creeped me out big time by writing "Free Hugs" on their stomachs or "I want kisses" on their lower back.  That's creepy, right?  Plus, it was just wicked crowded.  But definitely worth seeing once!

6. My sister came to California to visit.
I was planning on spending time with my sister in Utah, before she went back over seas, but it was an especially fun surprise to have her and my mom come here!  I took her to an Elvis themed Mexican Restaurant, the beach and, of course, Disneyland!

7.Watch every season of Parks and Recreation.
This is literally our new favorite show.  Since we don't have cable (unless its the Olympics) we watch all our T.V. on Hulu and we haven't been able to stop watching this show.  I'm pretty sure we have now seen every single episode.  Anyone else love Parks and Rec?

 
Ron Swanson is our favorite.

8. People I love and don't see enough of in general.
I got to see and catch up with a lot of good friends while we were in Utah, both times.  I wish I had thought to take more pictures of them, even if we were just meeting for lunch. 

Overall, it was an absolutely fantastic summer!  I am fully rested and rejuvenated to start my busiest semester yet, with a clear mind.  Summer, I love you, it's been fun. 
And heelllloooooo Fall!