Blake officially turns eight years old tonight at 11:46 pm. If he'd held in just a little longer he would have been the New Year baby in Lodi, CA...but we chose a tax break over an article in the paper. He asked us today if he could stay up all night until he's eight and without missing a beat, Chad said, "Sure, as long as you do it in your bed." and in our typical tag team parenting style I added, "With your eyes closed!". I wonder how long until he's asleep?
He was retelling us a joke tonight that he heard on the Fathers and Sons campout earlier this year in TX. Here it is in close to the exact wording:
"So Peter, James and John are in a boat and one of them decides to go back and get something out of the car [uh, huh...he said the car]. He gets out of the boat and walks across the water. Then another one decides he needs something so he gets out and walks across the water. Then the third guy gets out and 'KER POOSH' [that was exact] he sinks to the bottom of the lake. The second apostle turns to the first and says, 'Should we tell him about the stepping stones?'"
It may be a little irreverent, but to hear the mirth in his voice when he tells it you just can't help but chuckle.
Happy Birthday Buddy! I am looking forward to watching your father baptize you on Saturday, and all of the wonderful blessings that will come from that experience.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Our Story: Part 2
I think I have kept you in suspense long enough...and now that Christmas has officially ended I can justify sitting on my keester and typing a little bit!
Where was I?
Ah, yes. The airport.
Karen and I called home when we got to the airport to let our parents know that our flight had been delayed because there was a really nasty storm a-brewin in Dallas, TX...which was where our connecting flight was. Must have been pretty bad because they weren't letting anyone fly in from anywhere. When we called home our parents told us something that would change the course of events from there on out. My dad had finally received a transfer from his company, CNA Insurance to Nashville, TN of all places.
There had been rumors for several months that a transfer was looming on the horizon, but Nashville was a little out of the blue. If I am remembering correctly we all thought it might be Florida in the end. To tell you the truth, when the rumors first started I was waiting to see if I had gotten into BYU, so I wasn't all that concerned that I might have to move anyway; at least not with the family. As it turned out, my application to BYU got there a little too late thanks to our wonderful pals in the Post Office, so at the time we found out it was naturally assumed I would be making the pilgrimage to the deep South as well.
Karen took the news pretty hard. She was still in high school and loved dancing with Troupe, so she was having to leave a lot behind. I, on the other hand had just graduated, had no solid plans for the future, and had just come through quite a stressful year so I was ready to move on to something new.
We were invited to go with a group to get dinner at TGIFridays in the airport, and I jumped at the chance to spend some more time with Chad, er, the Troupees. Karen stayed behind with the rest of the group, but my friend Jenny T. and I had a great time. When we got back to the group I found out, to my embarassment, that people had been switching their tickets around so that Chad and I could sit next to each other. I became Derek McGhie for the flight into TX, and someone else for the one into San Francisco. Aside from the embarassment of having everyone around me play Yentil...I was a little glad because it took some of the pressure off of me. I was never a very forward person, so if people hadn't switched their tickets I would have just followed the rules and stayed in my assigned spots.
Chad and I got to know each other a little better, I learned that he aspired to be an engineer and was a closet Country music fan. He talked a lot. Mostly about himself, which I know now was just a sign that he was really nervous. I was content to listen and put in my sarcastic comments here and there, and I think I may have taken him up on his offer of a shoulder to rest my head on (what a smooth operator he was!). It makes me smile now to think of all this and look back at how incredibly naive I was! It would be great if I could get him to do a post of what he was thinking but I don't know if he can remember back that far!
We finally reached our destination and greeted my dad in the airport. I remember Chad's dad, Von, came up to my dad and talked to him for a while...singing my praises or something. My dad was a little overwhelmed and had no idea what was going on! Funny enough, Chad and I both got lost in the shuffle and never really said goodbye to one another in the airport. I figured I wouldn't be seeing or hearing from him again since he was quite a bit older and seemed to have a life of his own, but for the next few days I talked a lot about him and blushed whenever anyone quessed that I might have a bit of a crush.
We got home Saturday night, the 17th of June. I returned to work on Monday at the rescue equipment warehouse where I worked for Jenny T.'s parents. It was a great job, plenty of time to talk to Jenny as we cleaned the warehouse, pulled rope or other merchandise to fill orders, or did inventory.
I returned home from work on Tuesday, the 20th of June and did the usual...a lot of nothing. After dinner the phone rang. I don't think I was the one to answer it, for some reason I think it was Karen. I was called to the phone and after saying hello my heart did that skip-a-beat-poundy thing when I heard, "So, what are you wearing?" I have to laugh here because this is a line I have heard SO many times since then...I guess you gotta use what works, huh? Chad and I had a brief but exciting (at least for me) conversation about possibly meeting up with some mutual friends the next evening to go to dinner and a movie.
The next night my sister, Jennifer, and her husband came over to help my mom give Chad the look when he came to pick me up because my dad was out of town and really isn't all that intimidating anyway. It ended up being just the two of us for some reason, but we had a really good time eating at Thai Basil in Elk Grove, CA and then seeing some weird animated movie that I can't remember the name of for the life of me. In hindsight I probably should have been a little more wary of Chad considering the fact that he is almost seven years older than me and showed up in a beat up looking navy blue van with a license plate that said "My grandkids are cuter than your grandkids", but again I need to reiterate that I was a little on the desperate side at the time. My mom seemed ok with me going out with him because she had also dated guys that were quite a bit older than her.
That night Chad asked me if I would like to go with him to his cousin's wedding that Friday night and since I really hadn't had much of a social life for the better part of a year and the fact that I was pretty enamoured with him I readily agreed.
Friday night he drove up to pick me up and we headed down to Galt (about fifteen minutes away from Elk Grove) to the wedding reception where I met the rest of the family. It seemed a little strange at the time that his Grandma Evans and his Grandparents McGhie all insisted that I just call them 'Grandma' or 'Grandpa'...they made me feel so welcome and like a part of the family even from the beginning. At one point, and I don't remember exactly how he phrased it, Chad told me to get him some punch. I say told because judging by the fact that I told him to get it himself he must not have said please or something!
The next night we arranged to go to a driving range and hit some golf balls and then to a Young Adult dance up in Folsom. The events that unfolded at the driving range are almost a post unto themselves...and since I feel you starting to nod off I will once again just have to leave you hanging.
Sorry folks...TO BE CONTINUED.
Where was I?
Ah, yes. The airport.
Karen and I called home when we got to the airport to let our parents know that our flight had been delayed because there was a really nasty storm a-brewin in Dallas, TX...which was where our connecting flight was. Must have been pretty bad because they weren't letting anyone fly in from anywhere. When we called home our parents told us something that would change the course of events from there on out. My dad had finally received a transfer from his company, CNA Insurance to Nashville, TN of all places.
There had been rumors for several months that a transfer was looming on the horizon, but Nashville was a little out of the blue. If I am remembering correctly we all thought it might be Florida in the end. To tell you the truth, when the rumors first started I was waiting to see if I had gotten into BYU, so I wasn't all that concerned that I might have to move anyway; at least not with the family. As it turned out, my application to BYU got there a little too late thanks to our wonderful pals in the Post Office, so at the time we found out it was naturally assumed I would be making the pilgrimage to the deep South as well.
Karen took the news pretty hard. She was still in high school and loved dancing with Troupe, so she was having to leave a lot behind. I, on the other hand had just graduated, had no solid plans for the future, and had just come through quite a stressful year so I was ready to move on to something new.
We were invited to go with a group to get dinner at TGIFridays in the airport, and I jumped at the chance to spend some more time with Chad, er, the Troupees. Karen stayed behind with the rest of the group, but my friend Jenny T. and I had a great time. When we got back to the group I found out, to my embarassment, that people had been switching their tickets around so that Chad and I could sit next to each other. I became Derek McGhie for the flight into TX, and someone else for the one into San Francisco. Aside from the embarassment of having everyone around me play Yentil...I was a little glad because it took some of the pressure off of me. I was never a very forward person, so if people hadn't switched their tickets I would have just followed the rules and stayed in my assigned spots.
Chad and I got to know each other a little better, I learned that he aspired to be an engineer and was a closet Country music fan. He talked a lot. Mostly about himself, which I know now was just a sign that he was really nervous. I was content to listen and put in my sarcastic comments here and there, and I think I may have taken him up on his offer of a shoulder to rest my head on (what a smooth operator he was!). It makes me smile now to think of all this and look back at how incredibly naive I was! It would be great if I could get him to do a post of what he was thinking but I don't know if he can remember back that far!
We finally reached our destination and greeted my dad in the airport. I remember Chad's dad, Von, came up to my dad and talked to him for a while...singing my praises or something. My dad was a little overwhelmed and had no idea what was going on! Funny enough, Chad and I both got lost in the shuffle and never really said goodbye to one another in the airport. I figured I wouldn't be seeing or hearing from him again since he was quite a bit older and seemed to have a life of his own, but for the next few days I talked a lot about him and blushed whenever anyone quessed that I might have a bit of a crush.
We got home Saturday night, the 17th of June. I returned to work on Monday at the rescue equipment warehouse where I worked for Jenny T.'s parents. It was a great job, plenty of time to talk to Jenny as we cleaned the warehouse, pulled rope or other merchandise to fill orders, or did inventory.
I returned home from work on Tuesday, the 20th of June and did the usual...a lot of nothing. After dinner the phone rang. I don't think I was the one to answer it, for some reason I think it was Karen. I was called to the phone and after saying hello my heart did that skip-a-beat-poundy thing when I heard, "So, what are you wearing?" I have to laugh here because this is a line I have heard SO many times since then...I guess you gotta use what works, huh? Chad and I had a brief but exciting (at least for me) conversation about possibly meeting up with some mutual friends the next evening to go to dinner and a movie.
The next night my sister, Jennifer, and her husband came over to help my mom give Chad the look when he came to pick me up because my dad was out of town and really isn't all that intimidating anyway. It ended up being just the two of us for some reason, but we had a really good time eating at Thai Basil in Elk Grove, CA and then seeing some weird animated movie that I can't remember the name of for the life of me. In hindsight I probably should have been a little more wary of Chad considering the fact that he is almost seven years older than me and showed up in a beat up looking navy blue van with a license plate that said "My grandkids are cuter than your grandkids", but again I need to reiterate that I was a little on the desperate side at the time. My mom seemed ok with me going out with him because she had also dated guys that were quite a bit older than her.
That night Chad asked me if I would like to go with him to his cousin's wedding that Friday night and since I really hadn't had much of a social life for the better part of a year and the fact that I was pretty enamoured with him I readily agreed.
Friday night he drove up to pick me up and we headed down to Galt (about fifteen minutes away from Elk Grove) to the wedding reception where I met the rest of the family. It seemed a little strange at the time that his Grandma Evans and his Grandparents McGhie all insisted that I just call them 'Grandma' or 'Grandpa'...they made me feel so welcome and like a part of the family even from the beginning. At one point, and I don't remember exactly how he phrased it, Chad told me to get him some punch. I say told because judging by the fact that I told him to get it himself he must not have said please or something!
The next night we arranged to go to a driving range and hit some golf balls and then to a Young Adult dance up in Folsom. The events that unfolded at the driving range are almost a post unto themselves...and since I feel you starting to nod off I will once again just have to leave you hanging.
Sorry folks...TO BE CONTINUED.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Christmas Cheer
I haven't had much time to post lately, but I came across this today and had to share it with the world. I have been feeling a little Un-Christmasy today and it really just gave me the pick up I needed to get me back in gear. I just hope my little bro isn't too upset that I have shared his snappy moves with the public. I might just have to get him a better gift...maybe some dancing shoes?
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Our Story
I came to the realization this morning that I have never written down the story of how Chad and I met. I know my boys will want to read it someday and share it with their families. It is not your usual 'girl goes to a dance at the Wilkie at BYU, falls in love with RM and is married two months later' typical Mormon story. No, I like to think that ours is a little special. There is not much in my life to set me apart from other people, but I hold this story close to my heart because, not only does it do just that, but it is something that belongs to just us. I have come to rely on this blog as a journal of my life, so it is only fitting that I write about it here.
I graduated from high school in late May of 2000. My Senior year had been a very rough one, and without the help of a few key friends I doubt I would have made it through with the amount of sanity that I did!
A few weeks after graduation my sister, Karen, and I departed with the song/dance team we were a part of (Troupe Cabana) for what was to become our last "working" tour. This year it happened to be a cruise to Grand Caymen and Cozumel. We left on a red eye flight June 11. Our group was so large that year (over sixty people) that we had to split into two different flights. The guys all went on one flight to Florida, the girls on another. I only mention this because it seems important that we weren't all together until we reached our destination.
I can't tell you when I first noticed Chad. He had been dragged along on Tour as part of our tech crew, though if you ask him he was a chaperone. It was a good thing he was there and has such a technical brain because he was instrumental in putting our sound equipment back together after Customs took it apart. We didn't really talk until at least the second day out on the ship. I do remember that my first impression of him was that he was sad. I think that may have been what drew me to him. He was obviously older than the other guys I was around in Tro
upe. Our joke now is that he had to wait so long to get married because he needed me to be out of diapers! I found out later that he had just started coming back to Church and had given up some "habits" that I would never have been able to look past had he still had them.
On the cruise we had a lot more down time than on other tours. We performed several times on the boat, including doing one of my favorites for that year, "Aquarius" in the cruise's talent show. My friend Jenny and I spent a lot of our free time playing UNO, and Chad seemed to participate in these g
ames more often than not. I was assigned to put show makeup on his brother, Derek, and I had also known their other brother, Skip, for several years and ended up partnering with one or the other of them for at least some lifts. Their parents were on that tour, in fact, the reason Chad was there was mostly because his mother guilted him into coming; telling him that he didn't spend 
enough time with Derek. Little did he know, she had to fight to get him on that ship because our director (understandably) showed some apprehension at having a 25 year old, single, good looking (if I do say so myself!), guy hanging around a bunch of 16-18 yr old girls!
I doubt that anyone could have seen me as the one to break any rules, not that I did, it is just funny to me that I, who was probably the most proper and obedient gal there would end up falling for the bad boy image that he projected! I don't think it was the image, more like I saw a little bit of the sadness in him that I was feeling myself at the time. When we first met I used to think he looked like Jack Nicholson, he had a very sarcastic and cynical outlook on a lot of things. I am no stranger to a bit of sarcasm myself, so I found him fun to talk to.
One particular day that we were out to sea all day a bunch of us ended up playing UNO in one of the little cafes. The next table over was a group of guys from Troupe and Chad was among them. I confess I was eavesdropping on their conversation and was a little surprised when Chad started to describe what, to him, would be the coolest honeymoon.
His idea was to get married (duh), have the reception and upon leaving head to the beach to camp out. Not only would you be camping on the beach, but all of your friends would be there too! You would travel down the Pacific Coast, camping along the way with your buddies, and when you hit the border of Mexico you and the "little woman" would continue on your way alone, leaving the buddies behind.
I was apalled at what I thought was the dumbest idea I'd ever heard, and even though I wasn't even at their table I turned around and told him just what I thought about his idea. He looked a little surprised at the amount of, well let's just call it "spunk" that I showed, but didn't really even bat an eyelash when I ended my tirade by saying, "Good luck ever finding a girl to go along with THAT one!"
Ok. So would you like to know what we did for our honeymoon? We started out at the beach in San Simeon (in a hotel) and ended up in Pismo on the beach (in a hotel). No, his buddies didn't follow us (at least not that I saw), but the similarities to his original plan are still kind of funny.
Back to the boat...So long story short, people started noticing the amount of time the goodie two shoes was spending with the mysterious tech guy. We noticed that situations were being arranged so that we could spend time together. I started to really look forward to being with him, and would get disappointed when he would go his own way or I would miss him in the crowd.
By the end of the cruise I think word had gotten around. Little did we know that quite a bombshell was waiting for us when we got to the airport and phoned home.
To be continued...
I graduated from high school in late May of 2000. My Senior year had been a very rough one, and without the help of a few key friends I doubt I would have made it through with the amount of sanity that I did!
A few weeks after graduation my sister, Karen, and I departed with the song/dance team we were a part of (Troupe Cabana) for what was to become our last "working" tour. This year it happened to be a cruise to Grand Caymen and Cozumel. We left on a red eye flight June 11. Our group was so large that year (over sixty people) that we had to split into two different flights. The guys all went on one flight to Florida, the girls on another. I only mention this because it seems important that we weren't all together until we reached our destination.
I can't tell you when I first noticed Chad. He had been dragged along on Tour as part of our tech crew, though if you ask him he was a chaperone. It was a good thing he was there and has such a technical brain because he was instrumental in putting our sound equipment back together after Customs took it apart. We didn't really talk until at least the second day out on the ship. I do remember that my first impression of him was that he was sad. I think that may have been what drew me to him. He was obviously older than the other guys I was around in Tro
upe. Our joke now is that he had to wait so long to get married because he needed me to be out of diapers! I found out later that he had just started coming back to Church and had given up some "habits" that I would never have been able to look past had he still had them.On the cruise we had a lot more down time than on other tours. We performed several times on the boat, including doing one of my favorites for that year, "Aquarius" in the cruise's talent show. My friend Jenny and I spent a lot of our free time playing UNO, and Chad seemed to participate in these g
ames more often than not. I was assigned to put show makeup on his brother, Derek, and I had also known their other brother, Skip, for several years and ended up partnering with one or the other of them for at least some lifts. Their parents were on that tour, in fact, the reason Chad was there was mostly because his mother guilted him into coming; telling him that he didn't spend 
enough time with Derek. Little did he know, she had to fight to get him on that ship because our director (understandably) showed some apprehension at having a 25 year old, single, good looking (if I do say so myself!), guy hanging around a bunch of 16-18 yr old girls!
I doubt that anyone could have seen me as the one to break any rules, not that I did, it is just funny to me that I, who was probably the most proper and obedient gal there would end up falling for the bad boy image that he projected! I don't think it was the image, more like I saw a little bit of the sadness in him that I was feeling myself at the time. When we first met I used to think he looked like Jack Nicholson, he had a very sarcastic and cynical outlook on a lot of things. I am no stranger to a bit of sarcasm myself, so I found him fun to talk to.
One particular day that we were out to sea all day a bunch of us ended up playing UNO in one of the little cafes. The next table over was a group of guys from Troupe and Chad was among them. I confess I was eavesdropping on their conversation and was a little surprised when Chad started to describe what, to him, would be the coolest honeymoon.
His idea was to get married (duh), have the reception and upon leaving head to the beach to camp out. Not only would you be camping on the beach, but all of your friends would be there too! You would travel down the Pacific Coast, camping along the way with your buddies, and when you hit the border of Mexico you and the "little woman" would continue on your way alone, leaving the buddies behind.
I was apalled at what I thought was the dumbest idea I'd ever heard, and even though I wasn't even at their table I turned around and told him just what I thought about his idea. He looked a little surprised at the amount of, well let's just call it "spunk" that I showed, but didn't really even bat an eyelash when I ended my tirade by saying, "Good luck ever finding a girl to go along with THAT one!"
Ok. So would you like to know what we did for our honeymoon? We started out at the beach in San Simeon (in a hotel) and ended up in Pismo on the beach (in a hotel). No, his buddies didn't follow us (at least not that I saw), but the similarities to his original plan are still kind of funny.
Back to the boat...So long story short, people started noticing the amount of time the goodie two shoes was spending with the mysterious tech guy. We noticed that situations were being arranged so that we could spend time together. I started to really look forward to being with him, and would get disappointed when he would go his own way or I would miss him in the crowd.
By the end of the cruise I think word had gotten around. Little did we know that quite a bombshell was waiting for us when we got to the airport and phoned home.
To be continued...
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Nine Years Down...
...and an eternity to go!
Chad and I are celebrating our 9th wedding anniversary today. Nine years on the 9th! At this time nine years ago we were nervously getting ready to be sealed together in the Oakland, CA temple. Time has certainly flown by!
As far as celebrating, we went to dinner and a movie last Friday night (something that is a very rare occurence). Tonight Chad has tithing settlement until who knows when, so I will patiently wait for him and then maybe we'll break open a bottle of good ole Martinelli sparkling cider, for old time sake.
Chad outdid himself this year as far as gifts go. When we moved to Texas last year we gave our bedroom furniture away because we couldn't fit it in the moving truck (it had seen better days anyway). So for the past year I have been struggling to cram our clothes in plastic storage drawers, which means that most of our clothes just get hung up...kind of hard since we moved into a much smaller house than we are used to and have smaller closets. I think I hit a nerve when I transferred his socks into a plastic comforter bag and so I could use the two drawers they were in to store tupperware lids in the kitchen. I figured a comforter bag was good enough for my socks, so why not his? The next day he came to me and said that he was thinking that for Christmas and our anniversary we should get new dressers. Yippee!
It is a little bittersweet considering that I have to give up two holidays for them and their main purpose is a representation of the amount of work I do around here (namely, folding HIS underwear), but I am still thrilled and will probably give them a nice big hug...when nobody is watching. This is why my advice to any young person getting married is: DON'T get married, have a birthday two days later and Christmas two weeks after that. Men tend to want to lump all three together to save themselves the trouble of coming up with separate gifts...I am not complaining this year though because these are some really nice dressers. Just you wait, that post will be coming and you will be impressed.
For now, I just have to say that I am a very lucky woman. Despite some skepticism by some over whether or not we would remain married, we have made it through many trials and I am sure we can probably weather at least a few more. I can honestly say that I love Chad more today than I did nine years ago and I look forward to spending an eternity with him...even if it means bashing my head against a wall when he frustrates me!
Chad and I are celebrating our 9th wedding anniversary today. Nine years on the 9th! At this time nine years ago we were nervously getting ready to be sealed together in the Oakland, CA temple. Time has certainly flown by!
So much has happened in these nine years that I could almost write a novel. We have been blessed in so many ways it is hard to count, I mean, I only have ten fingers and ten toes! A post like this would not be complete without a few highlights though, so here you go. In the nine years of our marriage we have:
- moved six times
- gone through 27+ months of pregnancy
- given three very special spirits their bodies
- managed to keep those spirits alive despite their tendency for dangerous stunts
- graduated from college (at least he has...I should get an honorary degree for just supporting him through it!)
- been in the emergency room at least three times, and countless times in Urgent Care
- gone through gallons of antibiotics for ear infections, bronchitis, staph infections, etc.
- been to Florida twice
- been to Hawaii once
- swam in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans
- faced certain death on the Ocoee River rafting trip
- laughed together countless times
- cried together a few times
- bought five cars
- yelled at each other (at least once or twice ;) )
- prayed together
- worried together
- loved each other.
As far as celebrating, we went to dinner and a movie last Friday night (something that is a very rare occurence). Tonight Chad has tithing settlement until who knows when, so I will patiently wait for him and then maybe we'll break open a bottle of good ole Martinelli sparkling cider, for old time sake.
Chad outdid himself this year as far as gifts go. When we moved to Texas last year we gave our bedroom furniture away because we couldn't fit it in the moving truck (it had seen better days anyway). So for the past year I have been struggling to cram our clothes in plastic storage drawers, which means that most of our clothes just get hung up...kind of hard since we moved into a much smaller house than we are used to and have smaller closets. I think I hit a nerve when I transferred his socks into a plastic comforter bag and so I could use the two drawers they were in to store tupperware lids in the kitchen. I figured a comforter bag was good enough for my socks, so why not his? The next day he came to me and said that he was thinking that for Christmas and our anniversary we should get new dressers. Yippee!
It is a little bittersweet considering that I have to give up two holidays for them and their main purpose is a representation of the amount of work I do around here (namely, folding HIS underwear), but I am still thrilled and will probably give them a nice big hug...when nobody is watching. This is why my advice to any young person getting married is: DON'T get married, have a birthday two days later and Christmas two weeks after that. Men tend to want to lump all three together to save themselves the trouble of coming up with separate gifts...I am not complaining this year though because these are some really nice dressers. Just you wait, that post will be coming and you will be impressed.
For now, I just have to say that I am a very lucky woman. Despite some skepticism by some over whether or not we would remain married, we have made it through many trials and I am sure we can probably weather at least a few more. I can honestly say that I love Chad more today than I did nine years ago and I look forward to spending an eternity with him...even if it means bashing my head against a wall when he frustrates me!
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