This is fun

Rules are, you highlight, bold, or underline any of the following things you have done.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars (ahhh camping)
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a Praying Mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched an amazing lightning storm
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (not something I'm proud of)
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Ran a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice (do the gondolas at the Venetian in Vegas count?)
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise (does a dinner cruise count?)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone (from rock climbing actually)
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House (didn't actualy go inside though)
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Visited Italy

*56 out of 100...not bad. :) How many can you highlight?

Why is it?

*Warning* You should probably know me pretty well before reading the following, or you might truly think I'm going crazy and am unhappy with my life. :) Neither are true...at least not entirely :). Just some venting filled with comic-relief for my own benefit. :)

Why is it that it takes over 12 years of schooling to get us ready for college/real life AND we must go through many additional years of schooling to start a career (in many cases), yet we are just thrown into parenthood (one of the most important and hardest roles on earth) with simple statements like, "parenting is the hardest and most rewarding thing you'll ever do"............ooookaaayyy................what does that even mean? To those of you who don't yet have kids...I will tell you what that means...absolutely NOTHING! Nobody has ANY idea what that means until they themselves experience parenting. No REAL useful training is given before you are thrown into the crazy roller coaster ride that is parenthood. It is pure insanity coupled along with pure elation all at the same time. Scenarios happen every day that make you say to yourself, "what the crap! What do I do with that? How am I supposed to know how to handle that?", followed by an eventual inescapable need to make a decision...and THEN and only then do you find out if your decision worked. If not...well, too bad for the kid who has somehow inhumanely become a guinea pig since, "all you can do is your best". What in the world!?! Does this seem messed up to anyone else? Lately, I've seriously come to the conclusion that I may just not be fit to be a mom, and should not expose anymore innocent spirits to the crazy lab I call my life (as that is what it has truly become). I also have started wondering how in the world so many women do it. How do you do it!?! How do you go through these crazy first years and somehow convince yourselves that you can handle more!?! Since I have always wanted a somewhat large family and will inevitably ignore all the obvious signs that I probably shouldn't, I WILL have more. This being the case, I see a very nice and clean stark white rubber room in my future. :)

"They're coming to take me away ha ha, they're coming to take me away ho ho hee hee ha ha, to the funny farm, where life is beautiful all the time, and I'll be happy to see those nice young men in their clean white coats and they're coming to take me away ha haaaaa...to the happy home, with trees and flowers and chirping birds and basket weavers who sit and smile and twiddle their thumbs and toes, and they're coming to take me away HA HA!" -Dr. Demento

Spring run-off

Steven, Steven's dad, Cody, and I all drove up the canyon to take a look at the run-off this year. It was amazing the power of the waterfalls up there. I couldn't believe it! The run off is incredible right now. The mountains were absolutely gorgeous! The only problem with the drive was that I was scrunched in the tiny backseat of our truck the whole time, and Cody wasn't too happy either. But other than that, it was a wonderful drive!

Well, I know I haven't been too good with updating my blog lately, but there really hasn't been too much going on in our lives. However, we've had quite an interesting week with Steven deciding to make a major career change. He's in the process of searching out new opportunities, which has been a pretty scary concept for me to wrap my head around, but I'm getting there. I trust him. I think it will be a good thing. He's so incredibly skilled in so many different ways, so I don't think he will have a very hard time finding something that suits him. Hopefully a very short amount of time. :)

Cody's doing so good! He's really growing up. He says so many things now, there's no way I could list them all. He's such an independent little thing, I love it! He's really into the movie Cars right now, or as he calls it, "vroom vroom". If I let him, he would just watch it over and over all day long. The one thing he loves more than cars though is being "ouside". All day long he says, "shoes" or "bip bops" (flip flops)..."ouside". It's too cute. I try to take him out as much as possible, but it's never enough. Without fail, he always cries when I bring him back in. He is so much fun!

Well, here are some pictures from our adventure in the mountains. Pay close attention to the violence of the falls in the background (pictures don't do it justice). The rest of the year, it's basically just a trickle compared to this. It goes to show how incredible the run-off is this year. Oh, and by the way, if you look closely, don't mind the girly blue fleece jacket with flowers Cody has on. Ha ha, we forgot Cody's jacket so had to borrow one from his cousin Mickie. Oops.

































Cody having fun in the puddles