Keeping Crazy - I mean - Busy

Life is crazy - that is the usual for us. And that is a good thing. Being busy is good, especially right now because it will help the time to pass. I cannot wait for the end of February! I never wish the holidays away. I LOVE the holidays. I love the decorations and the yummy food and the music and the activities and I love the spirit that people seem to carry around with them this time of year. But this year I'm hoping for all of it to fly by. Because my holiday will come sometime around the middle of February when I get to pick up my husband at the airport.

But for now, I'll post lots of pictures to share with you all and let you all experience the crazy with me. Because I know you all have your crazy lives and I love reading about them and being a part of them. I've tried several times to post on this blog over the past 10 months. But I've been having trouble getting pics to upload and so I get frustrated and say I'll finish later. Later comes and I still have trouble and keep putting it off.
No more.

So the next few post may be random and out of order, but I'll be sharing some of the crazy and the funny and even the rare quiet parts of our lives that's happened.

In case I have trouble with pictures, here is a list of some of our happenings since 2013 started. (If I can remember all the way back to January.)

In January Maya participated in her school Spelling Bee again. She did a wonderful job. I'm so proud of the effort she puts into school and learning. She makes it so easy!

 

In February we went to Hawaii. I swear we are addicted to those islands!

 

In March I made a trip down to Las Vegas for a Fitness Conference and got to spend time with Justin and his family. Always a bonus if I get to see family.

In April my parents flew out for a few days for my niece's wedding. It was a beautiful day and I was so glad that it happened close enough for us to be able to attend.

We had a few nice windy spring days so the kids got to bring Grandma and Grandpa to the park down the street and fly kites.
In May we traveled to Colorado for my family reunion - to celebrate my parent's 50th Wedding Anniversary. It went way to fast! I was so much fun to see everyone and play and chat. It was the best weekend and I hope that we don't wait another decade to get everyone together again.

In June Matt and I were a "Ma" and "Pa" for our stake youth trek. We are so glad we said yes. It was a great experience and I hope that I'll have an opportunity to do it again someday.

This summer was actually pretty crazy. The trek was at the end of June. Then the following week for the 4th of July we made the trip to Utah to see family. Had a great time - marshmallow fights, chickens, water parks, Café Rio. So fun! Then when we got back from Utah we had a week home and then Matt took the kids to Tahoe to see some more family and then a few days after he got back we dropped the kids off at Alan's house and we went to Europe - just me and him! Then a few days after we got back from Europe Matt headed out of town for about 3 weeks for some pre-deployment training. Whoo! Crazy summer. Here are some pics. (I will have to do a post all about Europe. It was AMAZING! even with the lost luggage)

(chickens at Grandma Wilde's house)

(view of Budapest from the citadel)

(Matias temple and the fisherman's bastion)



(View from the palace)

 

Soccer started in August for Maya and Luke and in September for Seth. I love watching them play soccer. Luke's strength is as a defender. He love to kick the ball hard and far away. Maya has been playing as a forward and has even scored a few goals!

Maya and Luke started school in August. Maya is in 6th grade and Luke is in 3rd grade.

Luke turned 8 in September which is a very special birthday. He chose to be baptized and it was a beautiful experience.
I'm bummed because I didn't have a single moment to get a picture of Luke and Matt in white before the baptism. He looked so happy and so bright. A moment I will hold in my heart.
After the baptism we tried to get a picture but the good mood ran out so this is the best we were able to do.

In September I completed another fitness training. I am certifying to teach Body Pump (a weight lifting group exercise class). I passed the training and now I'm preparing to record a video of me teaching a class to be assessed and complete my certification. Along with school and household errands and and soccer 4 days a week and other extracurriculars and working at the gym - we are keeping busy. We are surrounded with friends helping the kids and I while Matt is away. Some of the crazy will calm down in November when soccer ends and I complete my video. Then the holiday crazy will keep us busy.

Matt left the last weekend in September and I'm counting down the days until he is back home with us. Like I said, my holiday, where I will smile through and through, will be that day in February when I pick him up from the airport.
Until then, I'll keep sharing our usual crazy lives with you and also for Matt - so he can read up and see what we're up to while he is away.



New Floors

Ok - so we got new floors back in early November and now it's the end of January. It's about time I posted some pictures.
I'd been telling our landlord since the day we moved in that the floors needed to be replaced. The original linoleum from the mid 90s was still in and very worn and stained and scratched,etc. The worst was the kitchen, downstairs bathroom and laundry room. 
For the first 2 weeks we lived in this house I couldn't bring myself to walk barefoot on these floors. After some serious mopping, I realized even though it didn't look it, the floor was "clean".

Kitchen patch job

Downstairs bathroom

Laundry room

View of the kitchen and family room

 So as part of our lease renewel, the landlord agreed to replace the floors. She had me help pick out tile and has also given us free range to paint the walls whatever color we want (the walls were all in pretty sorry condition as well). This house has come a long way since we've lived here.
With Matt gone, I removed all the kitchen furniture to the front entry and the family room stuff to the living room and the laundry stuff to the office. The tile people moved the fridge, washer and dryer for me. My friends gave me a hard time for doing it on my own and have since learned to call and ask for help. I have fantastic neighbors and friends! What I was hoping was going to be a 3 day thing was actually 5, but hey! I'll deal with it because I'm getting beautiful new floors.

Day 1
Good riddance to the carpet and linoleum!

The tile guys were nice enough. They'd argue like an old married couple all day with each other. My sister Rachel would've gone crazy because one of them chomped very loudly on gum all day long. Burping, farting, and scratching was all put up with because I was getting new floors!!
Day 1 - the floors were easily ripped out and a membrane to protect the tile from cracking was laid down.

Day 2 - tile's going down. The red stuff is the membrane.

This is what they accomplished on day 2

Day 2 went very smoothly. The tile ended up fitting perfectly from wall to wall so very few cuts needed to be  made. Day 3 and 4 were very different because that's when they had to start cutting pieces to fit into all the smaller spaces.

 Since they had the baseboards off, I wanted to get the walls painted to save myself all the taping and careful edging that would've had to be done. My friend, Becca, and her oldest daughter helped me get it all painted. Many hands make light work.

 I love, Love, LOVE my new floors and the new wall color. 

But, my kids like to wrestle and be crazy. Hard tile floors are not good for that. I don't want heads cracking open (even if we do have a neurologist friend living across the street). So, next step - area rug. But it's a big area. No 5x7 will do. So, since November I have been searching for a non-crazy-expensive rug that I actually like.

One idea was to get two 5x7 ft rugs that were really well priced at Costco (and super soft and fluffy - seriously. You gotta get your hands on these.) But the color wasn't right, so we took them back. Gotta love Costco's easy return policy. Luke rode the rugs all the way back into the store and was sad to see them go. The search was still on.
Then I got the idea from my friend to go to a flooring store and by a remnant - have left over pieces binded. So this is what I did. But my sectional is huge and I figured if I'm going custom made I might as well get the size I want. My couch comes out from the wall between 10 and 11 ft. So I went with a 12x12 ft. That is not a remnant because carpet is made 12 ft wide, but it was still much cheaper than buying any other area rug. I just paid per sq ft and they had the edges binded for free and free delivery.
Once I get it, I have to move my big old couch out of the way. Like I said, I asked for help this time. The sectional is hard to hook together because it's been damaged and warped with the couple of cross country moves it's been through.

So my neighbors came over. A hacksaw was brought out because the metal frame of one was getting caught on the other thanks to moving damage and just needed to be shaved.

 Here it is. Tile, painted walls, rug, couch put together, and 3 happy kids who can wrestle and comfortably watch TV on the family room floor.

Everything needs to be jumped on

Christmas Together

More pictures and stories of our adventure to New York will follow, but this is how we spent Christmas with Matt. It's not the same as having him right here, but I am grateful for modern day technology and how that allows us to see each other every day (that the internet is working).

Forever Changed

(This is how I still picture the NY skyline in my mind. When I fly home and the towers are no longer there, NY just doesn't look complete.)

Most adults can pretty clearly remember what they were doing the morning of September 11, 2001. They can remember when they first heard of a plane flying into a tower.

For me, this was a day my life was changed in more ways than one.

I was attending BYU in 2001 and Matt and I had been married for a little over a year. Matt was at work that morning. I had woken up and hopped in the shower. I always have the radio on while I get ready in the morning. After I turned the water off and was getting myself ready, my brain registered that the radio DJ had said a plane had crashed into one of the Twin Towers. I grew up in NY about an hour away from the city. My high school friends were now attending college in the city. Parents of my friends worked there. So I was horrified and confused as to how a plane could crash into the tower. Then they mentioned a second plane had crashed. That's when it hit me: This was no accident. I had to sit down. I can still remember the feeling, the shock. I still get that same pit, that same dropping feeling in my stomach, when I see pictures and hear stories of this day.

I had classes to go to, so in a daze I continued to get ready and head to campus. Everyone was walking around shocked. Every TV on campus was surrounded by students watching the news. No one could look away.

I'm greatful that my family is safe, and that I didn't know at that time that my dad was coming home from a business trip in Boston (where one of the planes had taken off from).

The rest of the day was spent watching everything unfold on TV. I had no idea there were these terrorists out there, that our country could ever be in this kind of danger.

Despite the overwhelming news of this day, my brain, my body and my emotions still knew that my life could be changed in another way. The tragic day could not push out the thoughts that my family was about to change. Matt was half asleep on the couch watching the news while I took the test. He had no idea...I was pregnant.

This was also the day that I found out I was going to be a mother. I told Matt - probably not the best time. Information overload for him, I think. It took him a day or two to register this announcement. So far, the best and the worst day of my life.

When this all happened, Matt was in the process of applying to medical schools. Before this happened, he already had an interview set up at USUHS (Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences - the military's medical school). His interview was October 4th. As soon as 9/11 happened, I was very reluctant; reluctant for him to fly on an airplane; reluctant for him to join the military. I knew our country would soon be at war. (A real fear that made me scared to bring a child into this world)

Needless to say, Matt went, was accepted to the school, and that is the path we have followed. Maya was born a few weeks before Matt left for officer training camp and joined the military. Four years of Medical School, four years of residency, and now a year under his belt as a staff physician. Matt is an anesthesiologist in the Air Force, currently serving in an Army spot, deployed to Afghanistan - 10 years later.

Lots of emotions, lots of changes. My heart goes out to all the families who directly lost someone on that terrible day. My heart goes out to all the families of service men and women who lost a loved one while they were fighting for freedom. My heart goes out to all the families who have spent far too much time separated from their loved ones who are serving overseas. My heart is with my husband. I love you so much! Take great care of the soldiers and civilians who come under your care. Take care of yourself and please come home to us. We miss you so. Thank you for serving our country.

Hi Daddy!!

Hi Daddy! We miss you! Here we are all ready for church and looking nice!

[Yesterday (on my birthday:(...)we woke up very early in the morning and drove Matt to the airport. He's doing a couple of weeks of combat training before he heads on to Afghanistan. He will also be posting his experience there on this blog.]