When it rains it poors

I recently took on a new perspective (the last 5 months) of life and told myself that I needed to find the positive in all things.  I believe the Lord took that as a challenge.  At the end of January I had a mini-stroke.  In February I found out that I have a small hole in my heart.  In March we had a huge out pouring of, MY-PARENTS immediate family, secrets come out and as of now we can no longer have ALL of my siblings together for family dinner; restraining orders are so awesome.  Along with all the drama, my brother Tyler and his fiance called off their engagement. I seem to be the family peace-keeper so I felt like I was being pulled a million different directions.

Everyone seemed to need emotional support, council, psychology and much more than I was fit to offer. By the end of March I was mentally and spiritually exhausted.  I tried to stay positive throughout.  All I have to say is THANK GOODNESS FOR LEXYPRO.  Around the same time I underwent testing for the hole in my heart, I also underwent a mental evaluation to determine that I was in desperate need of anti-anxiety medication.

For those who know me, I have extreme O.C.D. and can't leave my house until it is spotless.  I got to the point that I couldn't handle having one piece of dirty laundry in the home...so I never left.  I stressed about the smallest things and seemed angry all the time. Apparently those are all great signs of depression, anxiety, and postpartum. After having me take a written test, the Doctor came in the room and asked, "Have you ever thought of killing yourself?"  My response, "Why no...should I have?"  We had a good laugh and then he asked the same question again.  Apparently I scored so high on the anxiety/depression scale that I 'should' have had a mapped out plan on how to take my own life.  In all honestly, I don't believe there is anything so horrible that would drive me to take my own life. Maybe I shouldn't say that.  The Lord will send more crazy tests my way.

April was a semi-restful, but busy month.  I really focused on my Usborne Books and more business, had a few too many home shows and boutiques.  I still tried to put a lot of focus on my family and on my health.  Jarom and I started working out together.  I was eating healthy, exercising...and unbelievably...GAINING weight.  Everyone kept reassuring me that it was muscle. I tried to believe them, but as my pants got tighter, and my bra's seemed to be shrinking, I thought to myself, this couldn't possibly be muscle.  Only fat stretches waistbands and shrinks your other clothing.  After reaching my goal of running a mile without stopping (it only took me 11 minutes...you may be thinking that is horrible, but remember my mini-stroke) I was so proud of myself and started gaining confidence in my running ability. That confidence was destroyed when I stepped on the scale and I hadn't just gained, 2lbs, or 4 lbs, but 6 pounds.  I was so discouraged that I decided...if I am going to gain weight, I am going to eat whatever I want.  I should at least enjoy what I'm eating if I am going to gain the weight...right?  I know that is crazy logic, but it made me feel better.  Thinking positive!

May started out fantastic.  My Usborne Books business was doing awesome, I wasn't feeling exhausted like I usually do.  I weeded my mom's front garden, back garden, and then started digging a hole for my parents 14 foot trampoline.  Of course this took me a matter of 3 days.  In between the pulling weeds, and digging dirt, Xander and I experienced something frightful.


Xander, Lyric and I were all ready to leave for Grandma Tippetts house.  It was 10am and right before walking out the front door, I dropped everything (as I usually do) and thought to myself, "I really should send out an email to my Primary Presidency about teaching Sharing Time and finding Substitutes."  I tried to tell myself to do it later, but I had the overwhelming urge to do it right then. I threw my keys on the kitchen counter, opened up my laptop, turned on a short show for Xander, and started typing away with my email.  Right as I hit the send button on my computer, Xander and I were interrupted by a large explosive noise.  We looked at each other and said, "What the heck was that?"  That is Xanders favorite phrase by the way.  After the explosive noise, we heard gushing water.  I jumped off the couch and went running down the hall.  I didn't make it very far before the panic hit.  The utility door was closed and a flood of water was spilling out from underneath.  I opened the door to turn off the emergency shut off for the water and found that a broken pipe had busted the emergency shut off handle.  Awesome, right?





 

I closed the door as fast as I could, grabbed Lyric in one and and Xander in the other and went running outside to the front office only to find that it was CLOSED.  I ran into our grounds keeper who is from Chili and speaks no English whatsoever.  I'm sure I looked like an idiot as I tried explaining to the Chilean that my apartment was flooding. I said something like, "FLOOD, AGUA, APARTAMENTO, B109." He nodded at me and said, "Si" like I was making some kind of sense.  I obviously didn't get the point across the first time, so I proceeded speaking crazy. I finally said, "Emergency, Laurence...now!" (Laurence is our maintenance man).  The Chilean went running through the court yard and a minute later, Laurence was in my apartment shutting off the water.  He came out of my laundry/utility room soaked.  The majority of the apartment was also soaked.  We had about 3 inches of water in the main bathroom.  When I opened the door to the bathroom, the floor mats came floating out.  My adrenaline was high and I was still in panic mode, but the only thoughts going through my mind were, "This is totally AWESOME!"

I am the type of person that has always thrived in a sticky situation.  How far, and how fast can you push yourself?  How many people and things can you save before the building crumbles? How many marshmallows can you fit in your mouth before choking.... okay maybe not that example, but you get my point.  I was frantically running around my apartment picking books up off the floor, pulling cords out of outlets, ripping towels off their racks to soak up water, pushing furniture out of the way of the water... it was amazing to see how fast I could make my house look like a literal bomb went off.  Nothing of great worth was lost, so I can bask in the moment and think of how truly amazing it was that the apartment was flooded, nothing was ruined and...the most important part...I listened to a prompting.

 

Can you imagine if I would have left my apartment when I had planned, and waited to send the email?  Can you imagine what I would have come home to 5 hours later.  The damage that was done was all in 5 minutes of time. 5 hours would have damaged everything...all of our electronics, computers, couches, beds, tables and chairs...it would have been a true devastation.  I'm not one who is great at listening to the spirit.  I wish I was better.  I am so glad I dropped everything to write an email.  I'm so glad that the Lord was testing me in the middle of the day (instead of the middle of the night) and that I ACTUALLY listened.  I am so grateful that I was safe from harm, my children were not only safe, but thrilled to be jumping in puddles of water, and that nothing of real worth was damaged.

A day before the flood, I was looking through the pictures of the Oklahoma tornadoes and I came across a glimpse of something truly amazing.  There was a disaster zone where all the homes had been flattened and in the middle of all the rubble was a wooden plaque that read:

THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS IN LIFE

AREN'T THINGS!

How true it is!  Thank you to whomever hung that plaque in their home and allowed for it to be perfectly positioned amid the storm.

Anniversary Celebration

This year Jarom and I celebrated our 6th year anniversary.  Yes, I said 6 years.  I can't believe how fast the time went by.  We have definitely had our ups and downs, but I wouldn't want to go through my trials, accomplishments, learning experiences, pains, laughs,...with anyone else.  We have two of the cutest kids in the world.  They have one Dad, and one Mom and we are going to keep it that way.  I love knowing that Jarom is my forever partner, friend, companion... it says a lot these days.  Staying married to the same person doesn't necessarily mean you married the 'right' person.  It means you were dedicated to one another and to the concept that families really can be together forever.  Marriage is hard.  It is how you work through the trials and troubles that makes a marriage worth it.

I honestly believe that anyone could marry a complete stranger and with enough effort, forgiveness, compassion, and communication, those two people could make a HAPPY marriage.  The Savior lived his life teaching us that we have the capability of loving everyone and anyone.  If we look at others the way he looks at us, we can love anyone.  If you are struggling with your spouse, start looking for their strengths.  Start recognizing them for their good.  Love unconditionally.  We are all human, which means we will all make mistakes.  Be forgiving and encouraging.  How many times do you judge a person before you know them?  How many times to you hear something about a struggling individual and it changes your complete view of them?  Take the time to see the good in people, listen to their story, walk in their shoes.  You can learn to love the hardest of people once you know what they went through to make them who they are today.

Back to celebrating our anniversary...Jarom and I had a great time in Logan, UT where we tied the knot 6 years ago in the LDS Temple. We stayed at the Anniversary Inn, in the Hawaiin Paradise room...and it was definitely a Paradise.  My parents watched the kids for the evening, and Jarom and I had an amazing time together.  We watched the new Star Trek movie and then went back to the room and had a huge Jacuzzi bath to soak in.  We ate pizza and cheesecake and partied it up.  I love anniversaries!

My handsome man 2013!

Me in all my craziness 2013

Summary of March and April

The last two months of my life were spent attempting a huge project of refinishing 8 chairs and 3 tables.  Call me crazy...everyone else already has.  I didn't know how much work refinishing furniture could be...especially because Pinterest made it look so easy.  I wish I would have taken before and after pictures to share, but unfortunately I only have the after math.

My brother Tyler was suppose to be getting married in April, so when March came around I decided it was time to get his wedding present ready.  I offered him and his fiance my table and I told them I would refinish it anyway they wanted it.  His fiance decided to go with the shabby chic look so I did the legs and top in ivory.  If anyone had seen the table before, you know that it SHOULD have been an easy project.  The original table was one of the pine rectangle tables from Shopko and came with 4 apron chairs (yes I have learned the names of different styles of furniture as of late).  It was suppose to be a light honey color, but after twelve years and a family of 6 it had a few dings and blemishes to its name.  On top of being used as a dinner table for 12 years, the last year of its life (in my parents home) it was used as a wood shop table in my dads unfinished basement.  When Jarom and I moved to Texas for Military training, my parents offered the table to us.  I was more than happy to take it off their hands, seeing as to how we hadn't gotten around to purchasing our own table in our 8 months of marriage.  Long story short, Jarom and I treated the table as well as we could...moved it to Texas, moved it back to Utah, moved it to two different apartments,...we added to the dents and dings.  I still loved the table, but it needed a makeover.

It took me two days to refinish Tyler's table.  After sanding, priming, painting and varnishing the damn thing...it was moved to Logan and two very unconcerned men loaded it into a moving trailer and scratched the hell out of it... Excuse the language, but after all that work, I was less then happy to see a big chunk of paint taken out of the top, and a large red streak across the top of it.  Tyler said it still looked fine and he would mend it as needed.  After you put so much time and effort into something, you tend to bond with it.  You don't want someone else stepping in to care for it, but I did my best to let it go.  Less than 3 weeks later, Tyler's engagement was called off and the table was once again moved.  It didn't fair so well on the way back, but it was decided that it couldn't remain Ivory anyway...so refinishing it a second time was necessary.  I felt like I had already put so much effort into it.  I didn't even ask what colors Tyler wanted it.  I  used all the materials I had purchased for two other tables that needed refinishing.  The top ended up being stained black and the legs were painted gray.  It looked masculine and amazing!  So much better then the original refinished job.  I wasn't going to chance moving the table again, so now it sits, unused, in my parents basement.  Lucky for the table, the basement is now finished so it won't be used as a wood-shop table.

I was finally able to start on the chairs and table for our apartment.  I was so excited to have 8 new matching chairs and a table that, after putting it all together, was warped, cracked and not just ugly, but fugly.  I thought it would make a great starting project, and in the end it turned out amazing.  Wood glue, sanding, and a husband with some amazing self taught shop skills....I had a hard time giving the once fugly table away. Yes, you heard it right....I gave the table away to one of the most deserving families I know.  While in the process of prepping the chairs, I was still in a KSL search mode, and I ran across the PERFECT table for our home.  When I say perfect, I mean the shape and size were amazing, but the color and condition needed some help.  ANOTHER refinishing project.  The tables were easy to refinish...it was the blasted chairs that made me want to rip my hair out.  Many weeks of extremely time consuming work paid off.  We have in our apartment today a beautiful table and 8 matching chairs.

Exhausted, but well worth it.  Next time I decide to refinish chairs, someone please break my hands and remind me how much work it was.  I now know why chairs are the most expensive part of a dining room set.

 This would be my beautiful finished table.  Black stained top and gray legs and apron.

Talk about heavy duty chairs....these beasts are not only heavy, but they are put together so that they will never come apart.  We wonder if they came from a restaurant because there was gum all over the bottom of each chair.  It took me a few hours to scrape it off...and there are still a few pieces here and there.

 This was the warped, cracked and ugly table that came with the 8 chairs.  The great thing about this table is that it had the capability of seating at least 12 people.  It had two leaves.  The downfall...no support system in the middle and that is likely why it was warped.  The table was originally light gray stain (watered down paint) on the top, and the legs were dark gray with a brown and black antique look to them.  The leafs were all different shades of gray because they weren't finished together...drives me crazy when people don't do things the way they should be done.

 Tylers table is in the back ground.  I don't know why I didn't take a picture of the final project...probably because I was tired of working on it after two times of refinishing it.  The table in the front is the warped cracked one after much tender love and repair.  I made the legs an off white and fell in love with it.

Off white legs and a stained black top...classic I don't know why stores don't sell tables in this color scheme. 

 These are the chairs that my darling mother-in-law gave me last year.  She picked 3 of them up at a garage sell for $5.00....All three for $5.00...she is amazing at getting good buys.  After receiving them, I re-upholstered the seats to match my chef decor.  They looked fantastic, but they weren't the quietest of chairs.  In fact, every time I sat in one, the noise would rub my nerves raw until I felt like running and screaming out the front door.  Now they belong to the same family that I gave the lovely table to.

I think I mentioned I was busy this year...this wasn't even the start of it.

I love my kids!

My most recent pictures of my cuties were taken way back in March.  I feel like such a slacker, but that is what happens when you run a crazy, busy life.  Enjoy these cute faces.  I will do my best to post updated ones in the next couple of days.  Lucky for us the weather is suppose to be fantastic starting tomorrow, mid day.  We are planning on tilling Grandma's garden.  Those should be some fun photos...considering Xander is terrified of the outdoors now that the wasps and mesquitos are out, and Lyric...well...anyone who knows Lyric knows how much fun she can have outside; climbing, jumping, playing with and eating the dirt, chasing chickens, and trying her best to torment Charlie.  Tomorrow is going to be so much fun!

 This little girl LOVES carrots!  Of course I have to watch her carefully because she attempts swallowing them whole.

 These two cuties are best friends.  I often catch Xander reading to Lyric or singing to her.  They are always cuddling, laughing, crying, and wrestling together.

 Lyric and Xander made a slide using couch cushions.  We covered it with a sheet so that we wouldn't smash chips and vegetables all over the couch.  Xander decided it was photo shoot time, so he went and changed his shirt and told me to take 'mold' pictures of him.  I think he wanted model pictures.  

 This is my handsome 'mold' boy.  He cracks me up.  Xander comes up with the funniest things to say.  He really is smart.  He thinks way beyond his years and often stumps me with his questions.  He was watching National Geographic a few months ago and it happened to be a two hour special on the Life of Tigers.  After watching it in its entirety, Xander comes up to me and explains that Tigers have a very short mating season and that is why there aren't lots of Tigers.  After explaining there mating process in more detail than necessary, Xander asks me, "Mom, when is the human mating season?"  Of course after putting my eyes back in my head and picking my jaw up from the ground, I couldn't control my laughter.  Xander continued looking at me with a very serious face and said, "I asked you a question.  Aren't you going to answer it?"  I told Xander he would have to wait for the answer until his dad got home from work because mommy was uncomfortable answering such an adult questions.

Xander loves taking pictures.  He told me that he could take better pictures than me so he went and got my little camera and took these beauties of his sister.  After taking them, Lyric and Xander sat on the couch together looking and laughing at the captured memories.  Lyric does everything that her brother does.  When he cries, she cries...unless of course she was the cause of his emotional break down. When that is the case, she laughs and runs away.

 Here is the fun fort!  Xander loves taking all the couch cushions from the couch and making the coolest fort ever.  I really have to restrain myself and my O.C.D. tenancies.   As my kids are laughing hysterically, I am constantly rehearsing in my head, "Let them be children. A clean and tidy house will come later." After a few days of having the fort recreated in the living room, I came up with a brilliant idea.  We made an even bigger, better fort in Xanders bedroom.  He has a bunk-bed and now I know why children love them so much.  We strung blankets all around and created a small opening for a door.  We stacked books inside the fort and used flashlights to create a 'cave' fort.  We left the fort up for weeks, and each night Xander, Lyric, Daddy and I would cuddle in the fort and read a story with our flashlights.  Talk about fun!

 Inside the living room fort...Thank goodness for a camera with flash or we wouldn't see anything in the pitch black. I am so grateful to be able to stay at home with my kids and enjoy these times of creation, but more importantly be apart of their memories.  There is literally nothing better than being a mom.

FREE BOOKS are the best!

For those who don't believe me when I say how awesome the benefits are with Usborne Books and More...over 80% of the books on the floor were FREE for me.  The other 20% only cost me $15.00 (This was my March month).  Best job ever...I think YES!  The best part is that my friends can join me anytime and get the same amazing benefits. May has been my best month so far.  I received $240.00 of books for FREE and then I only paid $40 for an additional $200 in books.  I can't wait to become a Team Leader.  The benefits only get better from here.

To all my readers...

In the event that something fatal happens, I wanted to create a website for those who care about me; a site that they can go to and read my thoughts, remember my personality, my likes and dislikes...

This blog was created for those who might miss those special times in my family members lives (since we can't all be everywhere all the time).  This is for sharing photos and keeping a timeline.  It's for spreading the word to those who want to take the time to listen.

If I write things that may be inappropriate, if my spelling is wrong, or my sentence form is not how you would word it, please remember this is my page.  It isn't perfect.  It represents me; all that I was, all that I am, and all that I will ever be. :)