Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Day One
That's it. Pretty remarkable, huh? Of course, now in my mind I picture swarms of people faded out around him as he looked up into the crowd at me, and the music swelled as our eyes met for the first time.... But no. It wasn't anything spectacular, but that's what I remember.
Over the next few months, we started to hang out as friends- we saw Pirates of the Caribbean together with a huge group of people from our ward/apartment complex, and one night we went with a mutual friend to Ben and Jerry's (where Jason claimed he'd never been before). At that point I hadn't really been involved in the ward. Jason, on the other hand, was Mr. Popularity. I was always impressed that he knew everyone and was so nice to everyone.
So we knew of each other and that was about it. Then, one fateful September night, my car broke down. The hood was jammed, and in spite of taking it to three different mechanics, I couldn't find anyone who could fix it. Then the battery died. It was the night of ward FHE, and I asked a guy if he could me try to fix my car. He said yes, and suggested that we ask Jason to help because he knew a lot about cars (fast forward to present day: ha! Ha! Ha!) A few other "helpful" guys came along, and all swarmed around my car, each trying to figure out how to get the hood popped. Jason got the hood open and set up the battery to charge overnight. Most of the other guys had lost interest by this point, but again, I remember being so impressed with Jason and his willingness to jump up and serve right away. In my memory he was even sitting on a couch, hitting on another girl, but hopped up as soon as I asked him for help. What a great quality for a future husband!
The next day, we drove to the auto store to buy a new battery for my car. Another guy tagged along, but Jason quickly got rid of him by putting him to work changing the battery while he chatted with me. I told Jason I needed to repay him for all of his help and we dropped off the other guy and headed to the Malt Shop in his car, the Cougar (oh, the epic saga of the Cougar! That is a post for another day).
We ordered cheese fries and two shakes, sat down in the corner booth by the door, and proceeded to have the most awkward, uninteresting date either of us had been on in a long time. I distinctly remember thinking, "Well, he'll make a good friend, but man, let's get this over with!" (In Jason's defense, he says he was thinking the same thing.) So we headed out to his car and he offered to let me drive it. I'm not a total car-girl, but it was shiny and fast, and I drove it up to Bridal Veil Falls. We parked it and sat on the hood and started talking under the stars... and things started to get dreamy.
We talked and talked for hours, and when the night was over, I was enchanted. It was the best last first date I could have ever imagined. I went to bed hoping that Jason felt remotely the same way about me, hoping that he would call me the next day.
And he did.
But that, too, is a post for another day.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Things That Make Us Happy
Packages! Doesn't matter what's inside or who it's from.
Boxes delivered to our doorstep are almost as much fun as playing with the boxes once they're emptied out.
Non-toy toys! At least once a day I vow to myself that I will never buy another toy again- why bother?
Sunny days, our backyard, and our new wagon! Comes complete with cup holders and seat belts- things sure have changed since I was a kid (can't believe I'm actually old enough to write that).

And $2 dollar dress-ups.
We also love trips to the park, friends that stop by to play, and pretend play- mostly that's just Leah, but I try to love her incredible talent for casting roles, dreaming up plots, and including me in her fantasy land.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
The Beautiful Blogger Award

Lauren nominated me for the Beautiful Blogger Award. Thanks, Lauren! So sweet, and timely, as I am quite happy with my new blog look myself.
As a recipient of this award, I must:
As a recipient of this award, I must:
1. Thank the person nominating you for the award.
2. Copy the award to my blog.
3. Place a link to their blog.
4. Name 7 tidbits people don't know about you from reading your blog.
5. Nominate 7 bloggers.
6. Place a link to those bloggers.
7. Leave a comment letting those bloggers know about the reward.
So, for my 7 tidbits...
As for my 7 blogs, I'm going to list 7 blogs that I enjoy reading (in no particular order)... in case you need more Internet-suck ideas.
1. Asking Jane- mother of 11 answers mom's questions.
2. Not that you asked- mother of 2 young kids reflects on motherhood hilariously.
3. Young House Love- adorable couple I love to hate with a great sense of decorating style.
4. Bloom- kind of a catch all motherhood/homemaker/crafty blog.
5. EnSTLYEpedia- my freshman roommate- inspiring mom fashionista.
6. Snippets of Wonderful- real life home decorating ideas.
7. Sense to Save- young mom's financial thoughts.
And I actually had to scrape to come up with those 7 blogs- how do I spend so much time online? Happy reading everyone!
So, for my 7 tidbits...
I love American chocolate. Most people think European chocolate is much better, but what can I say? I'm an American girl!
*
Which brings me to the fact that I was born in Alabama. I pull out the twang once in a while, but I generally keep it to myself.
*
I washed the dishes with my Gloveables on tonight... and I liked it!
*
I am a bit of a water snob. Or maybe the water here is just gross. Either way, I've started stocking up on bottled water, and I like that, too!
*
I use the little water sprayer at my kitchen sink to blast caked-on food out of the kid's clothes- try it! It works so much better than the measly drip in the bathroom.
*
I am a fairly recent first time owner of a Dustbuster, and I honestly don't know how I lived without one for so long. I use it to suck up the bugs that make their way into our house. The flies here are so lazy, I can even suck them up!
*
Over the last 4 years (read:childbearing years), I have gained and lost over 120 pounds, and expanded and shrunk through 5 pant sizes. My clothes are now organized into 5 sections- maternity, postpartum/nursing, nursing, weaned-but-still-eating-like-it's-for-two, and completely-independent-of-another-human-being-until-the-next-comes-along! I've given up giving away clothes that are too big or small because, chances are, they'll fit some time in the next few years!
*
Which brings me to the fact that I was born in Alabama. I pull out the twang once in a while, but I generally keep it to myself.
*
I washed the dishes with my Gloveables on tonight... and I liked it!
*
I am a bit of a water snob. Or maybe the water here is just gross. Either way, I've started stocking up on bottled water, and I like that, too!
*
I use the little water sprayer at my kitchen sink to blast caked-on food out of the kid's clothes- try it! It works so much better than the measly drip in the bathroom.
*
I am a fairly recent first time owner of a Dustbuster, and I honestly don't know how I lived without one for so long. I use it to suck up the bugs that make their way into our house. The flies here are so lazy, I can even suck them up!
*
Over the last 4 years (read:childbearing years), I have gained and lost over 120 pounds, and expanded and shrunk through 5 pant sizes. My clothes are now organized into 5 sections- maternity, postpartum/nursing, nursing, weaned-but-still-eating-like-it's-for-two, and completely-independent-of-another-human-being-until-the-next-comes-along! I've given up giving away clothes that are too big or small because, chances are, they'll fit some time in the next few years!
As for my 7 blogs, I'm going to list 7 blogs that I enjoy reading (in no particular order)... in case you need more Internet-suck ideas.
1. Asking Jane- mother of 11 answers mom's questions.
2. Not that you asked- mother of 2 young kids reflects on motherhood hilariously.
3. Young House Love- adorable couple I love to hate with a great sense of decorating style.
4. Bloom- kind of a catch all motherhood/homemaker/crafty blog.
5. EnSTLYEpedia- my freshman roommate- inspiring mom fashionista.
6. Snippets of Wonderful- real life home decorating ideas.
7. Sense to Save- young mom's financial thoughts.
And I actually had to scrape to come up with those 7 blogs- how do I spend so much time online? Happy reading everyone!
Scooter
Adam has started scooting! He has only rolled over on that one night, but he has started getting down on his belly from sitting up and then scoots himself backwards until he runs into a wall or, in this case, refrigerator. He started up by the phone and scooted himself all the way back to the fridge.
Hard to believe another month has gone by. We're headed into baby-proofing, crawling, and increasing my fears of falling down the stairs. We're also increasing our food budget, since Adam is still eating like a champ. He has little interest in baby food, but will eat and eat and eat any table food he can get his chubby little hands on-Cheerios are still the favorite, followed by pears, peaches, carrots, and pancakes.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
We Were So Poor...
When Jason and I were first married, we were poor. At least, we thought we were poor. Now that we have one income instead of two and two extra mouths to feed, I've realized that "poor" is a relative concept.I had graduated from BYU and thus lost my student job, and Jason was working at the MTC while going to school full time. In addition to my student job, a few months before we got married I took a job as a housekeeper for a mother of 4 young children in Provo. Once she realized what a poor cleaner I was, but that I was great at playing with her kids, she hired someone else to clean her house and I played with the kids and did light housework- laundry, dishes, and the awful task of cleaning out their minivan. They even gave me a raise after I graduated because they though having a Bachelor's degree in Sociology makes you worth an extra buck an hour.

(Hermano Morales heading into the MTC)
Her husband was a lawyer, and they were so impressed with my child care and cleaning skills that they offered me a job in his office as a legal assistant. Makes sense to me even as I type it out...(?) But they wanted me to work at home and at the office, so after our wedding, I split my days between caring for the kids, answering phones and typing memos in the legal office, and driving to Mapleton (20 minutes or so south of the office) to care for the files of the older, senior law partner. Maybe that sounds like a good set up, but it wasn't. It was an embarrassing use of my college degree, and I quit after a week of juggling the three jobs. I didn't have another job lined up but I had to quit that job. I quit on a Friday, the next Monday I had an interview with W.W. Clyde, and I started what would be my 2 and a half year job as an administrative assistant with them the next week (the bulk of my married life BC).
(Making the big bucks at WWC)We were so blessed, and definitely not poor after that... although I'm sure we still lamented over not having all the money to do everything we wanted to do... funny how your perspective can change so much once you're 3 years into graduate school!
But! In that first week or so of marriage, when we were combining our finances- debts and assets- with no real steady source of income from my part, the numbers were adding up quite meagerly.
*We had to count up all of our change to go buy a half gallon of milk from the grocery store. I'm guessing that it was only because we chose not to use our debit card, but doesn't that just sound poor?
*You already read about our bed (which we bought with a credit card), but we put our kitchen table and chairs on LAYAWAY because we couldn't afford to buy them out right and didn't want to charge something so frivolous and unnecessary. I don't think stores even offer layaway anymore.
*When we did finally get the table and chairs, I can remember sitting down and having a decision-making conversation about tithing. We decided at that table that we would pay our tithing no matter what. And we always have. And we've always been blessed. Since we made that decision, I've never really felt "poor" again.
And we had so much fun as poor starving college students! But more on that later...
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