The Hall Family

Viva

2012-01-04T21:20:00.000-08:00

I have a lot to say, and when it comes to saying things, I can usually do that pretty well. But, I currently have a little bundle of girly joy crying for me, and I doubt I'll be able to find five minutes when that ISNT happening. So, this might not be as eloquent as it sounds in my head.

This Christmas, we spent a week in Cancun, Mexico, because my parents love us a whole lot! :) It was great to get to be with everyone, and be phone and worry free, for a whole week. There were a lot of themes to this trip, themes like:
-It's almost free.
-She was wearing a Santa hat?
-Because I'm sunburned.
etc. etc.

However, there was one particular theme to this vacation that has stuck with me more so than the others. Being in Mexico, and the handy fact that my dad speaks fluent Spanish, coupled with the fact that we participated in several once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, the phrase "Viva en la momenta" (obviously meaning 'live in the moment') was commonplace on our Mexican getaway. Clearly, this concept was meant to encompass things like cliff jumping, parasailing, kissing dolphins, etc. But, more importantly, this phrase has stuck with me for other reasons.

You see, the older I get, the faster time seems to go. It feels like just yesterday we were setting up our Christmas tree, and now we're going into the second week of January. It seems like I just barely laid eyes on my hunky husband for the first time, and here we just spent our fifth Christmas together, have been in love for almost six years, and are close to celebrating our fourth wedding anniversary. I feel like I just gave birth to Landon, and he will be three next month. It seems like we just barely felt like our little family was missing someone, and here Adelle is two months old. Time flies, and I realized that I have so many blessings, and I spend so much time looking forward to the good things to come, or lamenting and missing the time that has gone by, that I often forget to "viva en la momenta".

2011 was really an adventure. We (In no particular order):
-Worked
-Studied
-Got good grades
-Got a few not-so-good grades
-Celebrated my beautiful son's second birthday
-Celebrated a third wedding anniversary
-Realized someone was missing from our family
-Got pregnant
-Got very, very sick
-Got my first iPhone
-Welcomed Maylie J. into the world
-Got crazy and decided that I would do summer semester being six months pregnant while I worked and took care of a two year old.
-Realized what an amazing man I married while attending said semester
-Cried when someone I loved miscarried.
-Cried again, and harder, when it happened again.

As if all that isn't enough;
-Dan transferred schools.
-Dan passed the generals test and went full force into his auto mechanic program.
-The world became a little bit more beautiful on November 10, 2011 when Adelle Marie, named after some pretty incredible women, was born.
-My heart broke when I learned of the death of a good friend from High School.
-We survived the semester after having a baby smack dab in the middle of it.
-We got some more good grades.
-We didn't get any more bad ones.
-We went to the Stadium of Fire
-I started a weekly date night with my sweet little boy.
-Landon learned to spell his name, his ABC's, how to count to twelve, and can carry on a conversation better than some adults I know. (He also knows the entire chorus to "Life is a Highway")
-My first little love got himself a big boy bed.
-I learned what a real broken heart feels like when I went to bed in tears after losing my temper with my son for the first time. I'll never forget his face and "I'm sorry, Mommy". Still kills me.
-I learned what it feels like to be disappointed in my sweet child and still love them more than anything when Landon went through his "Shut up, you idiot stupid-head" phase. Sounds funny, but it WASN'T.
-I could have died of embarrassment on Thanksgiving day, when in front of my whole family, Landon said, "Mommy, I only say 'Oh, Goodness' now. I not say, 'Oh, Damn-it' anymore."
-I literally dressed up as the Kool-Aid man for Halloween when I was 9 months pregnant and due any day.
-I realized that no matter how many pictures I try to take of my daughter, none of them do her justice because she is the most beautiful girl on the planet and no picture can capture that.
-I fell in love with my husband again and again probably 500 more times this year.
-I spent almost the entire year pregnant.
-My grandpa passed away.
-My great-grandmother passed away.
-My friend passed away.
-I thought a lot about life.
-I thought a lot about death.
-We put together a will.
-I learned what it's like to have your epidural only work on one half of your body.
-I missed my dog, Lady, a lot...but don't tell Dan. I try to make him think that I hate her...because she is REALLY annoying.
-I realized once again how smart my dad is.
-I was glad when the weirdo family who lived next door and always cook meat at the butt crack of dawn moved out.
-I was annoyed when the group of like forty teenage boys who constantly smoke cigarettes right outside my door and look like they just woke up at 3:00 in the afternoon took the weirdo family's place.
-I was really proud of a lot of people.
-I was really, really disappointed in a lot of people who know that they should be better than they're acting.
-I was brave and independent.
-I ticked a few people off...
-Okay, I ticked a lot of people off, I'm sure.
-I stuck up for a few strangers.
-I kissed a dolphin.
-I stuck up for what I believed in, did the right thing, and quit my job, even though it was hard and even though I cried.
-My husband conquered his fear, and snorkeled with me.
-My husband became second in his class in the automotive program he is in.

And a lot of other things, too.

2011 has been beautiful, tragic and complicated. It has been hard, it has been difficult, and it has been worth it all. I have had wonderful, amazing opportunities, blessings and moments of clarity. Most importantly, though, I have lived. This year, 2012, I want to do more than just live, though. I want to care about my future and the future of my family, but I want to learn to live in the moment. I want to cherish the little things, and enjoy the moments that I'm living in, as opposed to living my life waiting for whatever is next.

I want to:
-Put down the broom and get down on the floor and color with Landon.
-Change the channel when I'm watching TV and Landon asks to watch 'Word World' or 'SuperWhy'.
-Eat more meals at the table with my beautiful family. (ALL of us, Dan included.)
-Move into our new, gorgeous, big apartment.
-Buy a washer and dryer.
-Celebrate Landon's third and Adelle's first birthdays.
-Learn.
-Be silly.
-Keep dating my husband.
-Surprise people.
-Pay off a strangers' layaway.
-Keep saving a crap load of money by couponing.
-Master the difficult art of showing people with my actions, not my words, that I'm understanding, non-judgemental, and kind, all the while making my own values clear.
-Teach Landon to write his name.
-Snuggle my babies.
-Decide whether or not I'm going to grow my hair out.
-Get good grades.
-Be good to people.
-Try to see people the way that God sees them, most especially the people that I don't like.
-Sincerely stick up for the people who annoy me, especially when they also annoy everyone else in the room (that's when it's the hardest to stick up for them).
-Not get annoyed when Dan wants to go work on the car for a while.
-Save a lot more money.
Well, save a little more money.
-Tell Daniel that he is my best friend every single day. And treat him like it.
-Pray more, and thank God for the moments that I'm given to live in (but don't ask for patience again...I learned my lesson the first time, thank you very much).

I guess we will have to see what 2012 will really bring. I never knew all of the things that 2011 would bring me, and I can only imagine that 2012 will do the same. All I know is that I'm going to do my best to not just have moments, but to live in each and every one of them. That means that I'll hurt deeper and cry harder, but it will also mean that I'll love deeper and laugh harder as well.

On my wedding day, I danced with my husband to a song that had these lyrics:
"These are the moments I thank God that I'm alive. These are the moments I'll remember all my life...These are the moments I know Heaven must exist. These are the moments I know all I need is this."
How fitting for how I'm feeling right now? There are moments in each of our lives, each of our years, days, hours, where we aren't forced, but are given an opportunity to stop what we are so busy doing, and actually live. I realized that not only is life a gift, but each of these kinds of moments, the kind that make us realize that there is a God, that he wants us to be happy, that we are blessed to be surrounded by people that help us to know this just because of their mere presence in our lives, these moments are the goodness that makes that gift that is life so sweet.

Viva en la momenta. This year I'll live by living in the moments, and I'll thank God that I'm alive to live in those moments by cherishing each of them.

Adelle Marie Hall

2011-12-16T20:00:00.000-08:00

Landon loving his little sister with some help from Grandma Lisa

The Daniel Hall Family

Daddy and Daughter-Snuggling in the Hospital

Landon was the first person besides mommy and daddy to hold his new sister.

Daniel and his girl

Our little Ellie Belle

Mommy and Ellie

Mom and Adelle seconds after she was born.

Adelle with the new baby doll from her big brother.

Adelle Marie Hall: One week old.

Daddy and his babies

Landon is such a big helper with his sister!

My whole world in one picture!

Daniel and Adelle just after she was born

My babies

Now that you've seen some pictures, and now that finals are over, I have half a second to remember that I should blog about the gorgeous new addition to the Hall family. Adelle Marie Hall was born on November 10, 2011 at 4:39 pm. She weighed in at 8 pounds, 14 ounces and was 19 inches long.

I really felt like I should write out the story of sweet Ellie coming into our lives, and so I decided to do it now so that I don't forget too much of it.

Back in February, my husband and I both really felt like someone was missing from our family. After a lot of thought and prayer, I was still really concerned with the financial aspect of adding another little life to the Hall home. Babies aren't cheap! However, I distinctly remember sitting in church and really feeling like someone was missing from our family. Someone was ready to be here, and all of the financial aspects would work themselves out. So, we decided that it was time to have another baby.

Not long after that, I got pregnant, and not long after that, I got SICK. I had never been so sick, or so grateful to be so sick, in my entire life (see previous post for all of those fun details). However, I know that being sick is a small price to pay to bring a sweet baby into the world, and I'll do it again and again if that's what it takes.

For the most part, my pregnancy went along without too many hiccups. On November 3, 2011, I went to a doctors appointment with Daniel and Landon. During the appointment, my doctor told me that I was in labor, and that I needed to go to the Hospital immediately. We called my mom, and she raced down to the office to pick up Landon. Then, Dan and I were off to the Hospital. We were both a ball of nerves, and we couldn't believe this was happening. We snapped a picture of me right before we walked in, and then we went in. Welp, it was a false alarm. Although my contractions were pretty bad (off the chart, even), the nurses concluded that I was, in fact, not in labor. So, after about five hours in the hospital with them trying to figure out why I was having so many contractions and not going into labor, offering me some pain killers, and then deciding that baby wasn't ready yet, I went home. However, my induction was set for just one week later, so we knew that she would be here soon, regardless. (But let me tell you what, in I'm-Humongous-and-I-Haven't-Slept-or-Walked-Without-Waddling-in-Months world, a week might as well be a year!)

I still kept my fingers crossed that I'd go into labor before the induction day and I did as much housework as I could to try to put myself into labor.

The day before the induction came, and still, no sign of baby Adelle. Daniel went to work that night, and I spent the afternoon and evening soaking up every last second of Landon and Mommy togetherness that I could. However, Landon could sense the change, and he had a hard time obeying that afternoon. I decided we needed to get out of the house, so we went to the store, got some treats and all the ingredients to make pizza, and rented Cars 2. We came home, made and ate pizza, watched our movie and cuddled. It was bitter-sweet. You see, at the time, I knew that I would love Adelle as much as I love Landon, but a strange phenomenon happens when you have your second baby. It's hard to imagine sharing your love with another child, and I was just so afraid that Landon was going to get overlooked, forgotten about, or feel jealous. I felt sad that my alone time with my sweet boy was about to end, and I realized that Landon becoming a big brother really meant that he was growing up and no longer the "baby". Please don't get me wrong, I was extatic for Adelle to get here, but I knew that things were about to change and never be the same again, and I worried for my little boy. Would he miss my attention? Would he be pushed to the back burner by others? Would he be good to his little sister, or would he be jealous?

That night, I brushed Landon's teeth, put on his pajamas, read him a story, said prayers, and rocked him to sleep. Once he was good and asleep in my arms I cried like a hormonal crazy person, and then I layed him in his little bed and began furiously cleaning my house. I did every bit of laundry, scrubbed every surface, and had everything ready to go.

I woke up the next morning, showered, got dressed and woke up Landon. Around 5:30 in the morning, my mom came by to pick him up. He didn't want to leave me, and it made me sad. He kept his arms tight around my neck and begged not to go. I know he knew something big was happening. After a few minutes, he warmed up to the idea, and before long he was so excited to go with Grandma Lisa to have a sleepover. By 6:00, Daniel and I were on our way, bags in tow, to the Hospital.

As per tradition (we stopped last time before I had Landon), we stopped at McDonalds and got breakfast. McDonalds isn't my favorite, but hey, tradition is tradition.

We got to the hospital and got to the doors of labor and delivery. I picked up the phone to ask the nurse to buzz me in. "Hello?" she said. "Um...I'm supposed to have a baby today." was all I could think to say. She buzzed us in and asked us to wait in the small waiting room by her desk while she got our paperwork ready. Dan and I had some small talk, but for the most part, we were quiet. We just held hands and tried to calm our butterflies.

Once we were into the room and settled, the nurse came in and introduced herself. She was great! She got me hooked up to the IV (after blowing a vein and having to start over three times...not her fault though. My veins suck), and then hooked me up to the pitocin to start my contractions. About an hour later, I was really starting to feel the contractions, and the doctor came in and broke my water (yuckiest thing EVER). At about 10:30, my contractions were getting to really be painful, and so I asked for the epidural. Mind you, all this time I hadn't progressed at all. Pitocin makes your contractions really hurt, even if you aren't progressing. I figured it would be a long, long day. That morning, we watched "The Price is Right" and "Say Yes to the Dress".

The doctor came in to give me my epidural, and after one look at him I wanted to say, "Uh, are you sure you're the doctor? What are you, twelve?" However, instead I just asked him, "So, are you good at this?" His response was, "Yes, I'm very good at this." He was right! He was very good at it, even though he looked like a teenager. Don't judge a book by it's cover!

After the epidural, I was feeling great, so both Dan and I took a nap. Then, I woke up at about 12:00 and my whole left side hurt like CRAZY! Apparently, the epidural was only working on one half of my body. They called the doctor back in and he fixed me up nicely, and within a couple of hours, I was feeling a lot better. By that time, it was about 3:00 in the afternoon, and I still hadn't progressed at all! I was only dilated to a two. We started to watch Harry Potter and planned on waiting for long time.

Then, at about 3:30, they checked me again. I was at a three. AT LAST, SOME PROGRESS!

All of the sudden, at 4:15, I really, really started to get uncomfortable. I called the nurse in, they checked me again, and holy smokes, I was at a 7! The doctor came in again at about 4:30, checked me, and said it was time to get ready to push. At this point, I told Dan to turn off Harry Potter, that I was NOT having my baby with Harry Potter playing in the background! We were both so stunned that it was happening so quickly after waiting around all day, that we almost forgot it was even on! At 4:32, I started to push, and at 4:39, Adelle was born!

It was love at first sight for Daniel. From the second she was born, her and her daddy have had a special, sweet bond. She immediately did and still does respond best to her daddy when she is upset. He can calm her down better than anyone. (In fact, sometimes when I can't calm her, and Dan isn't home, I'll wrap her in one of his shirts!)

A few minutes after Ellie was born, my parents and siblings arrived with Landon. Landon came in first and was the first to meet and hold his little sister. He adored her from the first second he saw her. He climbed up onto the bed with me and Adelle and said, "Mommy, Ellie come out your belly?" and held her little hand. He gave her a sweet, soft, pink baby doll. He set it down next to her and said, "Here ya go, Ellie!" Our little family felt complete.

The next two or three days immediately following her birth were somewhat of a whirlwind. Some really amazing friends and family came to visit like (in no particular order) our parents, my grandparents, my brothers Alex and Kevin, my sister Katie, Daniel's sisters Melanie, Pamela, and Angela, Dan's brother and his wife/my sister in law, Shelley, our friends Josh and Diana, my friend Kelly, our friends Brian and Holli, more people that I'm probably forgetting, and most importantly, Adelle's big brother, Landon.

I was so grateful and overwhelmed with appreciation for all of the texts, phone calls, visitors in the following weeks, meals, gifts, cards, etc. We really felt loved and looked after (Especially to those who brought us meals/had us over for dinner and watched/gave special attention to my sweet Landon: Mom, Nola, Holli, Diana, Donna, Grandma, Shelley).

Landon is head over heels for his sister and quite protective. He is my great little helper. He calls her his "Pretty Girl" and refers to her as "his" Ellie. He runs to her and gives her a binkie if she fusses, and he is the first to suggest a bottle when she cries. I couldn't be more proud of him.

Ellie is a light in our home. We can't imagine life without her. We are so blessed to have such a beautiful daughter and wonderful son.

An Update From the Hall Family

2011-10-19T20:20:00.000-07:00

The Hall Family have been very busy the last few months, so instead of writing tons and tons about it, I'm just going to post a million pictures and fill you all in on our lives as of late!!

The Demolition Derby:
A few months ago, we took Landon to the Demolition Derby. He had a BLAST!! He talked about it for weeks, and would act it out with his Hot Wheels at home. I don't know who had more fun, his daddy or him! I was seven months pregnant at the time, and the wooden bleachers were NOT comfortable, but I still thought it was so fun.

Bike Rides With Daddy!

Landon has had so much fun lately going on rides with his dad! And I think he looks adorable! He would say, "Wheee!" as they would ride around. The best part is, Landon is CONVINCED it's a motorcycle.

The Big Boy Bed!

My baby is not a baby anymore...I can't say anymore about it, or else I'll start to cry.

Happy 24th Birthday, Dan!

My sweet, handsome, amazing husband turned the big 2-4 last month, and we had so much fun celebrating for the whole week! First, we had a big Muirbrook family birthday party on Tuesday, spent time with Kenneth and Shelley on Wednesday, went out to eat on Thursday, had breakfast and went up to Sundance with Josh and Diana on Saturday, and even though Daniel had to work a double on Sunday, I still got up early and made him a yummy breakfast, and Landon and I made him a birthday cake to take to work and share. Then, the next Wednesday, we got to go have a birthday dinner and dessert at his parents house!

Landon and Mommy's Date Nights!

Lately, I've been trying to take Landon (or let Landon take me..haha) out on Mommy/Son dates. We have had so much fun, and to be honest I've really been able to create some special memories with my little love that I wouldn't trade for the world.

Going to the Movie:
Landon took me to the movie, and he was a perfect gentleman. He held our drink, held the tickets, and even gave the tickets to the guy at the counter so we could go in.

Out For Pizza:
Landon and I went out for pizza for one of our dates. He was so excited for his "memalade" (lemonade) and "pizza with cheese on it". I think he is the most handsome little man in the entire world.
Happy Meals and a Redbox Movie:
Landon had been begging to watch Rio, so for one of our dates, we went and got Happy Meals and rented Rio. We had a fun night at home cuddling and watching "the blue birdies".

Cradled In Literacy Class:
There is a class provided by Nebo School District especially for toddlers. I have been taking Landon to it as one of our date nights, and he loves it. We have a lot of fun there, together. You take your toddler and for the first hour of the class, they go do activities (blocks, coloring, puzzles, etc.) and have a snack with the other kids while the parent stays in a class and learns about ways to be a better teacher for your child at home, get them ready for kindergarten, help their literary skills develop, etc. Then, for the last hour, you do activities with your child and each week you get to take home a new story. Landon absolutely loves this class! He asks almost every day if he can "go to school" and "play with those other kids." In the first few pictures below, we were doing an activity where we drew pictures of our favorite things (Landon chose a dinosaur, naturally), and practiced using different colors to write about our favorite things. All the while, we worked on the proper way to hold a pen/pencil, and it's so cute to see Landon practicing holding his pencil the right way at home.

In this next picture, Landon had to "read" a book that gave directions about how to make this smiley face PB&J sandwich. He was SO proud of himself for making it. The smile on his sweet face just melts me.
In this picture, he put lots of different fruits and veggies on the felt board, and then he'd put up the letter that the fruit begins with. Landon said to me, "P-p-p-p Pumpkin, Mommy!" I was so proud!!
Getting the Kids' Room Ready:

Daniel made these beautiful signs for either side of the kids' room, and I think they look gorgeous. I took these pictures with my phone, so the exposure is terrible, but you get the idea. Ellie's bedding is pink, not orange, but the exposure makes it look horrible. Don't worry, in person it's really pretty.

Growing Mamma!

I am getting bigger! This picture was taken at about 35 weeks and now I'm almost 37 weeks. Don't mind my sweat pants...I'm all about comfy these days, and I think that's a phase that might last a while. :)My Baby Showers!

My mom and my sister in law, Shelley, threw me a beautiful baby shower. Not only that, but one of my very best friends in the whole world, Diana, threw me another baby shower! I can't believe how blessed and lucky I am to have these amazing women in my life. I was so overwhelmed that people would do things like this for me.

This picture is me and my sister, Shelley, at the shower she and my mom threw for me. (DANG IT!!! I didn't get a picture with my mom!) The few pictures after it are of all of my amazing family who came to support me, and the beautiful things they had out for the shower.

Landon was so excited to go to the party. He got to wear his "I'm the Big Brother" t-shirt, and he thought that was pretty cool!!

The next few pictures are of the gorgeous shower that Diana threw for me. I couldn't believe how thoughtful she was, and I was overwhelmed to say the least; not only with how much Diana did on my behalf, but by all of my closest friends who came and supported me.

(Landon stayed with Grandpa Ladd and Daddy during this shower. He asked where I was, and Daniel told him I was at my baby shower. A few minutes later, Dan found Landon looking around in the bath tub, and when he asked what he was doing, Landon said he was looking for me! Dan did tell him I was at a baby shower!)

Landon and His Puzzles!

Lately, Landon has been OBSESSED with doing puzzles, and he is REALLY good at them! He can put together most basic floor puzzles completely by himself. He loves any and all puzzles, and he will keep himself busy with them for hours! When we watched General Conference, he kept himself busy for each session just doing puzzles. He is a great boy, and I'm so proud of him.

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Well, these are the latest happenings of the Hall family! We have three weeks, to the day, until our sweet Adelle is due. I suppose that means that our next update will involve all four of us!

Books and Looks

2011-08-25T13:47:00.000-07:00

So, I've been thinking quite a bit about this question: is it possible to be beautiful and smart all at the same time?

Your first instinct is 'Yes, of course', right? Mine too. But I have been thinking about it, none the less. Mostly because I'm having a little girl in just a few months (2 and a half to be exact!!) and I wonder what the world will teach her about beauty, try as I might to shield her.

Is beauty glitter and shine?

Are smarts frump and masculinity?

Or, in order to be smart, do we have to focus less on looks, as there are only so many hours in the day, and, thus, become less beautiful?

I mean, I don't know about you, but when finals week rolls around, I'm no beauty queen. As a matter of fact, when school gets crazy, and it comes to my looks, priority one is to be clean, forget the shimmer and FORGET accessorizing.

Then again, is being smart something beautiful, in and of itself? What's considered beautiful? Does it matter what is considered beautiful?

What is smart, anyway?

I saw this article on a different blog that I follow here. She found it at www.good.is, and I just love it. Being an English major, a future English teacher, a lover of books (bound and e, alike!), and a being a mommy who feels very strongly about the importance of books being in my home and easily accessible to my children, I thought this article was really interesting. I will take Landon to story time as soon as the new library in our town is finished, and we read together at least once every day, but it's also important to realize how much you can learn from just giving someone your time and attention. Here is the article:

Like every other taxpayer-funded public service, libraries have been hit hard by budget cuts during the economic slowdown of the past several years. Adding insult to injury, fewer people read, and those who do are increasingly likely to use e-readers instead of print books. Those forces have combined to send many libraries searching for new ways of doing business.

One of the most innovative new initiatives comes from the City Centre Library in Surrey, British Columbia, which is scheduled to open next month. Realizing that bound volumes are far from the only source of knowledge, librarians in Surrey will also lend out "living books"—in other words, people. Staff will maintain a list of local residents who have volunteered to share their knowledge of any topic, and other library patrons can make appointments for 30-45-minute conversations.

Librarian Ravi Basi told CTV British Columbia that the Surrey library staff initially imagined the living books initiative as a way to break down barriers between people of different races or religions, but people with interesting careers, life experiences, or academic research topics would make good volunteers as well. The program will certainly give students writing research reports access to information they can't get on Google, though everyone will be encouraged to take advantage. Giving people a reason to come to the library and connect with their neighbors? Sounds like a win-win to us.

On the same blog, I also read this article, which originally came from the Huffington Post and was written by Lisa Bloom (a writer, women's activist and I think a lawyer?? She's pretty smart-but she's all anti-fur, yay-for-PETA, and I'm not much for extremists. Either way, she has something really thought provoking to say here, especially for parents.

I went to a dinner party at a friend's home last weekend, and met her five-year-old daughter for the first time. Little Maya was all curly brown hair, doe-like dark eyes, and adorable in her shiny pink nightgown. I wanted to squeal, "Maya, you're so cute! Look at you! Turn around and model that pretty ruffled gown, you gorgeous thing!" But I didn't. I squelched myself. As I always bite my tongue when I meet little girls, restraining myself from my first impulse, which is to tell them how darn cute/ pretty/ beautiful/ well-dressed/ well-manicured/ well-coiffed they are. What's wrong with that? It's our culture's standard talking-to-little-girls icebreaker, isn't it? And why not give them a sincere compliment to boost their self-esteem? Because they are so darling I just want to burst when I meet them, honestly. Hold that thought for just a moment. This week ABC News reported that nearly half of all three- to six-year-old girls worry about being fat. In my book, Think: Straight Talk for Women to Stay Smart in a Dumbed-Down World, I reveal that 15 to 18 percent of girls under 12 now wear mascara, eyeliner and lipstick regularly; eating disorders are up and self-esteem is down; and 25 percent of young American women would rather win America's Next Top Model than the Nobel Peace Prize. Even bright, successful college women say they'd rather be hot than smart. A Miami mom just died from cosmetic surgery, leaving behind two teenagers. This keeps happening, and it breaks my heart. Teaching girls that their appearance is the first thing you notice tells them that looks are more important than anything. It sets them up for dieting at age 5 and foundation at age 11 and boob jobs at 17 and Botox at 23. As our cultural imperative for girls to be hot 24/7 has become the new normal, American women have become increasingly unhappy. What's missing? A life of meaning, a life of ideas and reading books and being valued for our thoughts and accomplishments. That's why I force myself to talk to little girls as follows. "Maya," I said, crouching down at her level, looking into her eyes, "very nice to meet you." "Nice to meet you too," she said, in that trained, polite, talking-to-adults good girl voice. "Hey, what are you reading?" I asked, a twinkle in my eyes. I love books. I'm nuts for them. I let that show. Her eyes got bigger, and the practiced, polite facial expression gave way to genuine excitement over this topic. She paused, though, a little shy of me, a stranger. "I LOVE books," I said. "Do you?" Most kids do. "YES," she said. "And I can read them all by myself now!" "Wow, amazing!" I said. And it is, for a five-year-old. You go on with your bad self, Maya. "What's your favorite book?" I asked. "I'll go get it! Can I read it to you?" Purplicious was Maya's pick and a new one to me, as Maya snuggled next to me on the sofa and proudly read aloud every word, about our heroine who loves pink but is tormented by a group of girls at school who only wear black. Alas, it was about girls and what they wore, and how their wardrobe choices defined their identities. But after Maya closed the final page, I steered the conversation to the deeper issues in the book: mean girls and peer pressure and not going along with the group. I told her my favorite color in the world is green, because I love nature, and she was down with that. Not once did we discuss clothes or hair or bodies or who was pretty. It's surprising how hard it is to stay away from those topics with little girls, but I'm stubborn. I told her that I'd just written a book, and that I hoped she'd write one too one day. She was fairly psyched about that idea. We were both sad when Maya had to go to bed, but I told her next time to choose another book and we'd read it and talk about it. Oops. That got her too amped up to sleep, and she came down from her bedroom a few times, all jazzed up. So, one tiny bit of opposition to a culture that sends all the wrong messages to our girls. One tiny nudge towards valuing female brains. One brief moment of intentional role modeling. Will my few minutes with Maya change our multibillion dollar beauty industry, reality shows that demean women, our celebrity-manic culture? No. But I did change Maya's perspective for at least that evening. Try this the next time you meet a little girl. She may be surprised and unsure at first, because few ask her about her mind, but be patient and stick with it. Ask her what she's reading. What does she like and dislike, and why? There are no wrong answers. You're just generating an intelligent conversation that respects her brain. For older girls, ask her about current events issues: pollution, wars, school budgets slashed. What bothers her out there in the world? How would she fix it if she had a magic wand? You may get some intriguing answers. Tell her about your ideas and accomplishments and your favorite books. Model for her what a thinking woman says and does.

Not to say that it's not important to tell our daughters how beautiful and perfect they are, but it's also important to let them know that the time we put into the beauty on our face, hair, clothes, etc., should be at very least equal to the time we put into the beauty in our minds and hearts.

July with the Hall Family

2011-07-24T12:42:00.000-07:00

The Hall's have been a busy, busy family the last month or so, and we've had so much fun. First we went to St. George with the Muirbrook side of the family and had a blast, we went to the Stadium of Fire, took Landon to the dinosaur museum on the 4th of July, watched Daniel and Kenneth attempt the 24'' challenge at Sensuous Sandwich, Dan took his big math test, went to our very first Rodeo in Spanish Fork, and all the while balanced school, work and all that other fun stuff!!

ST. GEORGE:
The last weekend of June, we went on a little weekend trip to St. George with my parents and siblings and my Grandma Cherie. We spent time swimming, shopping, saw two plays at the Tuachan theater and relaxing.

Landon loved the water so much. We could hardly get him out of it long enough to get back in again!

We saw The Little Mermaid and Grease at the Tuachan. Landon loved both of them! He loved all the different cars in Grease, but the second day, when we saw The Little Mermaid, he LOVED it. He would clap for all the fish, loved all the pyrotechnics and water stunts, and at the end, when the fireworks went off, he said to me, "Oh, Mommy! I LOVE those!"
Me and Dan in front of the Tuachan
The Muirbrook and Hall families walking into the theater

Everybody playing in the pool at the awesome condo we stayed at. We all had a blast swimming!

THE STADIUM OF FIRE:
The day that we got home from St. George, Daniel and I got to go to the Stadium of Fire with Kenny and Shelley. It was so much fun! I have the sweetest, most amazing husband ever, and he surprised me with tickets a while back. I had really wanted to go, but I figured we should save that money for the baby, etc., so I was SO surprised to get them. Landon had a sleepover at his Grandma Lisa's house that night, and we had fun getting a chance to get out the two of us and have fun with our friends! Brad Paisley performed and the fireworks were AWESOME. We all loved the flyover during the National Anthem, and it was really cool to take a little bit of time during all of our fun to remember that we live in a really amazing country with amazing men and women ensuring our freedom every day. Thanks for the tickets, babe! I had so much fun. You're the best.
Me and Dan just before the Stadium of Fire started

THE FOURTH OF JULY AND THE DINOSAUR MUSEUM:
On the 4th, Daniel had the day off from work and I had the day off from work and school. We decided we'd take advantage of our day off and do something fun as a family. We had planned on taking Landon swimming with Kenneth and Shelley after the parade, but it was raining and windy (even thought it was still pretty warm), and we ended up not even going to the parade. So instead, we thought it would be fun to take Landon up to Thanksgiving Point and go to the Dinosaur Museum. Before that, we went to Dan's parents house and saw Seth, Dan's brother who was visiting from out of town. We had lunch at Grandma Hall's house and then headed off to Lehi. Kenny and Shelley came with us and it was really fun. Landon loves dinosaurs, so he had fun looking at all the fossils, especially the bugs and fish. When we first got there, there was a huge replica of a dinosaur leg and foot. Landon couldn't get over how big it was and he kept saying, "Mom! Look at those big toes!" (He was talking about the claws.) That night, he woke up bawling at about 230 in the morning and was telling me he was scared of the big legs and big toes-woops! Looks like the dinosaur museum scared him a little. But for the most part he loved it! Then, after the museum we went to Shelley's parents house who live really close Thanksgiving Point. We had yummy homemade chips and salsa and the boys got to watch a movie and relax for a while. Meanwhile, I helped Shelley make a cute flag dessert for her family BBQ that night and got to talk to her parents and get to know them better. After that, we headed back down to Spanish Fork to have a 4th of July BBQ at my parents house. It was really fun. We had SUCH good food, and we got to do/watch fireworks outside of my parents house afterward. My dad bought a big pack of glow in the dark bracelets and Landon played with them in the grass for the longest time. It was a great time!!

Landon playing at the Dinosaur Museum
I don't know who is having more fun-Daniel or Landon!

The boys taking a little break from all the dinosaur fun!

Me and Shelley with our awesome flag creation!

THE 24" CHALLENGE:
Just over a week ago, Dan dropped me off and picked me up from school, and when he picked me up, we headed over to Kenny and Shelley's house. Daniel helped Kenneth to do some electrical work and hook up their washer and dryer, and after that we headed over to Sensuous Sandwich. Dan and Kenneth decided they were going to do the 24" Challenge. It is DISGUSTING. First of all, you have to eat 24" of a sandwich within 30 minutes. If you do, you get a t-shirt and your picture on the wall. Kenneth barely made it, shoving the last bite of his BBQ sandwich into his mouth at the very last second. Dan made the mistake of getting a sandwich that had 3 different kinds of meat, cheese, and lots of condiments on it, and had ONE inch of sandwich left when he ran out of time. Dan is determined to make it next time-he'll just have to get his sandwich without all the lettuce, tomatoes, mayo, etc. on it, and maybe just turkey or ham and cheese instead of turkey, ham, roast beef, cheese, etc. They both felt SO sick after it was all said and done, but more than anything, Daniel was just mad he didn't finish it. You can do it next time, babe!

Dan and Kenny taking on their 24"!!

DAN'S BIG TEST:
Daniel had a huge test to take this last week, and he studied so hard for it! He is officially done with any generals, (including, and most importantly to Dan, math and English), and is starting all of his automotive classes in the fall. Now he will be totally done and certified for, like, EVERYTHING automotive (I mean it...you have no idea...) in less than two years. He worked really hard to do well on his test, and it paid off because he got 90%!!! My mom helped him, too (she's a math teacher), and he says he couldn't have done it if my mom hadn't been so good at explaining math. :) I am so proud of him, but most importantly, he is really proud of himself. He took the test in the morning before work, and that night when he got home from work, he made us all go out and celebrate at MIDNIGHT. So, we all went to Denny's and celebrated my genius husband! He is so good with cars, fixing ANYTHING, really, and he is so excited to start his automotive classes in a few weeks. This test was a big hurdle towards getting to that point, and ultimately reaching his/our dream of him opening and owning his own shop, and so I'm really proud of him for not only passing it, but doing REALLY well on it. He's so smart, and I loved that he was able to do so well on something he didn't think he was good at, so that he could see how smart he is, too! College isn't something that Dan ever realized he could do, so now that he is doing it and doing it WELL, his wife and babies COULD NOT be happier for him. He is such an amazing provider, friend, dad and husband, and getting that phone call from him that he passed the test made me so happy that I cried! (Although when he called, he tricked me and said he didn't pass. I said, "Well, that's okay babe. You can take it again. What score did you get?" He told me he got a 90%. I said, "WELL WHAT THE HELL DO YOU HAVE TO GET TO PASS THEN?!" This pregnant lady was about to go give that office a piece of my mind, but he started laughing and that's when I knew he was full of it.)

Dan and my mom studying for the big test!

OUR FIRST RODEO:
I know, I know. Dan and I have both grown up in the Spanish Fork area and we both graduated from Spanish Fork High School, and neither of us had EVER been to a rodeo!! We went last night with our friends Brian and Holli and their kids, and we had so much fun. We started off the night going to dinner, and after that we headed down to the car show. The boys LOVED that, and then we walked down from there to the fairgrounds. The rodeo was really fun, and Landon had a blast watching the "horsies" and the sheep. Landon was clapping and laughing the whole time, but he got sad during the steer wrestling part-he said he didn't like it when they fell down. It was sweet. We all had so much fun, and even though it was our first rodeo, it won't be our last!
Dan and Brian with the kids walking down to the fairgrounds
Dan and Landon at the rodeo. Landon wouldn't take his eyes off the horses long enough for a picture!
Landon and Mommy at the rodeo

All in all, we've had a really great month of July. We are ready for August, though! August means that summer semester is over, fall semester is starting, and it also means that we are one month closer to our baby Adelle being here!

Our Fun Summer

2011-06-26T09:35:00.000-07:00

The Hall Family has spent a lot of time together the last few days, and I realized yesterday that I don't want to forget about these fun memories. I'm so grateful for the place that I am in my life; a mommy of a two year old, happy, hilarious boy and a baby girl coming in November, wife to a husband who works so, incredibly hard and plays even harder, treats me like a princess (and most of the time, I'm not acting like one!) and makes me feel beautiful even though I feel like by the end of this pregnancy I'm going to be as big as a house. I've got some really good, true friends, and lots of family around me. And even though we are DIRT poor trying to save/pay for our sweet Ellie Marie, Landon, regular bills and all that real life fun stuff, we had lots of free, fun things happen the last few days, and we just really had so much fun.

It started on Thursday. We decided to take Landon to 7 Peaks. Dan was at work until 5, so I took Landon around 3 and we played while we waited for Dan to get there a few hours later. When he did, we got some dinner, and after Landon ate all his chicken nuggets, we went back into the water. We didn't stay too long, (our tickets were free so I didn't feel too guilty about it) and decided to head home around 7:30 because the clouds were covering up the sun a little bit too much for my liking. After swimming, Daniel took us out for ice cream and by the time we got home, we were all so tired that we showered, got into comfy clothes and headed off to bed.

Then, on Friday, Daniel had the day off. It was his first day off in three weeks. (That's right-my husband works like an ox...) We decided to celebrate by having a fun day as a family. I went to work in the morning, Dan ran some errands and spent a little bit of time helping his brother with their car, and then around noon we met up at home and had lunch. We put Landon down for a nap, but chose not to tell him about our plans for the day so that he would actually sleep! (The day before, when I had told him we would go to 7 peaks and swim after his nap, he spent an hour in his bed saying, "It's time to go swimming today!" before he actually took his nap.) Daniel got him up out of his bed around two, and Landon snuggled his daddy and tried to go back to sleep for a few minutes. Finally, Dan said, "Landon, do you want to go swimming again today?" and Landon perked right up! We got all of our stuff together, and while Dan put Landon's swim suit on, I put BBQ pork chops in the crock pot to cook while we were gone. Then, we were off to the Spanish Fork Pool.
Landon had so much fun swimming with us! He loved going into the deep end so that he could hold our hands just by his fingertips and swim pretty much all by himself. He liked jumping off the edge of the pool for us to catch him and he ESPECIALLY loved going down the slide. He said to me, "Mommy, me and daddy go down the slide and we go like WOAH!"
This little boy LOVES the water, and something tells me we have a little fishie on our hands.
After the pool, we came home to our house smelling like summer-BBQ! We got showered, ate dinner and then decided to go on a walk. We walked down the street for an ice cream, and came home and sat outside for a while together while Landon played trucks in the front yard of our apartment. We ended the day with Landon snuggling up to his daddy reading us stories in our bed before we all went to sleep. It was really a perfect day.

Then, on Saturday, Dan was up for work at 5:30. Me and Landon got up just after Dan left for work so that we could get ready for work. We went into work for a few hours, and then we came home around noon for Landon to have lunch and a nap.
Side story: While we were at work, Landon had a confrontation with another boy. The boy took Landon's truck he was playing with, and when Landon took it back, the boy hit him. Landon hit him back, and hard. I walked over and told them both that hitting was not okay, and made them both say sorry. The boy said sorry, but Landon was stubborn and wouldn't apologize. I told him that he would need to sit in time out if he didn't want to say sorry. So, since time out puts the fear of all that is evil into Landon, he said sorry, and they went on playing. Later on, Landon was wanting to go down the slide, but another little girl wouldn't let him. I told them to play nicely, and turned my back for just a minute. When I turned back around Landon was bawling, and ran up to me holding his arm. He said, "That girl won't let me slide." Since he was holding his arm, I assumed she pushed or hit him, but I didn't see it and she was too young to tell me what happened, so I didn't feel good about asking her to apologize or to take a break from the slide. I just told Landon it could be his turn now, gave him a hug and sent him on his way. When we got home, I was changing his diaper after lunch to put him down for a nap, and out of the bottom of his sleeve, I noticed dried blood. I lifted up his sleeve, and there was a huge bite mark just above his elbow and the outside of the bite was beginning to bruise a dark purple color. You could see indents of all the teeth and the bite was deep enough that it actually bled down his arm. When I touched it, he winced and said, "Mommy, I got an ouch. I got a bite. Bites are no-no." When I tried to clean the blood off, he would pull his arm away and say, "Mommy, it hurt." I hugged and kissed his arm, and after I put him down for a nap, I called Daniel at work in tears. I was so upset that someone hurt him, and even more upset at myself. I felt so guilty. I felt like he was coming to me for help, and I didn't see it. I felt like he must think that when he is naughty or hurts someone, he gets in trouble and has to say sorry, but if someone hurts him, it doesn't matter to me. I felt awful. But Dan assured me that Landon knows that I love him, and that I'm still a good mom. Kids get hurt, and it's not my fault. I felt a little better, but I still feel horrible. This morning when I woke him up, I asked about his arm and he said, "Oh, that girl bit me. Bites are big no-no."

Anyway, while Landon napped on Saturday, I cleaned the whole house top to bottom and made banana muffins. Then, after his nap, I put him into his swimming suit again and we went over to Grandma Lisa's for a couple hours to play. She has a really cute blow up shark pool that she got him and he was so excited. When we pulled up, she was filling it with water, and he started clapping and screaming from his car seat. She came over to get him out of the car and he said, "Grandma, I want to get out and swim. I want to swim right there!" and pointed to the little pool. He had a blast. Grandma gave him donuts and home made lemonade in the pool (yes, there was a soggy donut incident. Yes, he ate it anyway. Yes, I was grossed out.) and gave him all kinds of toys to play with in his pool. The front of the pool is the head of a shark that juts out from the rest of the pool pretty far, and the top of the sharks head acts like a sprinkler when you attach the hose to it . The water sprinkles down on top of whoever is in the pool. After a few minutes of it being on, Landon said, "Mommy, turn off that raining!"

After the pool, we got all dried off and dressed and came home. When we got home, we had just enough time to make and pack sandwiches, banana muffins, chips and drinks before Daniel got home. When he walked in, he ran straight to Landon, kissed him, then ran straight upstairs to change clothes. Within 3 minutes, we were in the car, dinner packed, and on our way to Thanksgiving Point to see Cars 2 at the theater up there. (We had free tickets for that theater, or else we would have gone to Provo.) We ate our sandwiches in the car, and met Grandma Lisa, Grandpa Ladd, and Aunt Katie for the movie. It was so fun. Landon especially loved that the short film before Cars was a Toy Story short. After every preview before the movie started, Landon would say, "Now Cars? Now Cars?" Landon didn't move once during the whole movie, except to ask for more sprite or popcorn. He LOVED it. He loves the first movie, and he has been so excited to go see the next one. As much fun as Landon had, though, I'm not sure who had the most fun. Daniel or Landon.
We came home, and Landon and I cuddled up and he watched Bob the Builder while I read my book and Daniel headed off for his nightly run. Once Dan got home, Landon helped him do his push ups and sit ups, and it was so funny. Landon loves to sit on Dan's back while he's doing push ups and tries to copy him with sit ups. It cracks us up.

We really had a great few days!! This next week, school starts for me, and then on Thursday we are heading down to St. George with my family for the weekend. We are going to see two shows at the Tuachan, swim by the pool, go shopping and just relax. Then, on Saturday, we are heading back to go to the Stadium of Fire with two of our FAVORITE people ever, Dan's brother and his wife (and my friend) Shelley. Then, Dan is taking the day off on Sunday to go to two baby blessings, and the next day is the 4th of July, and we're taking Landon to the parade. We have lots of fun things coming up, and it all just makes me really grateful for my beautiful, imperfect but perfect for me, hilarious, and wonderful family. We can't wait for Ellie to come and add even more perfect imperfection to the mix.

Meanwhile, I'm listening to Landon play cars before church and sing the song, "I'm a Big Rain Cloud" from one of his favorite shows, "Sid the Science Kid." It's so funny, because he doesn't know all the words, but he knows the tune and the way the words sounds, so he just sings. For instance, "...and there's a whole lot of water vapor..." comes out of Landon's mouth like this: "...and there's a lo lotta lawter later..."
I don't go a day without cracking up at Landon and Daniel. My boys are the best. I love being outnumbered by these guys, but soon Ellie will be here to even up the mix. I have so much, and I'm so grateful for it all!!

Round Two

2011-06-23T11:49:00.000-07:00

It occurred to me yesterday that I haven't blogged much about my pregnancy when a friend of mine brought it to my attention. She was right! I haven't really. I guess I try not to complain, because once I get going, I can REALLY get going, and I hate to admit that to talk about my pregnancy would feel like a string of complaints.

Regardless, I'll get you all up to date on my pregnancy thus far, and I'll try to keep it fact based.I want my kids to be able to look back and see what really happened, and I'll try to keep it from sounding like "woe is me." Please forgive any complaints you may hear, as the truth is I'm thrilled and so grateful for the opportunity to bring another little life into my family. But this is the true story. The good and the bad. Luckily the good outweighs it all by a ton.

PREGNANCY ROUND TWO

Basic Facts:
Currently, I'm about twenty weeks along, which is half way.

I'm due on November 14, 2011

We are having a little girl, and couldn't be happier.

This is the first time I've gone more than 5 days without throwing up. Things are looking up.

The beginning of my pregnancy was horrid as far as sickness goes. Actually, horrid doesn't do it justice.

This Christmas, we will have 4 stockings hanging above our cute little fire place. Yep-family of 4. That sounds so legit and real life to me. I'm kind of scared. And mostly thrilled.

The Morning Sickness
I chuckle when I hear others talk about morning sickness, as I want to tell them that they have no idea. But, alas, when I was pregnant with Landon I thought my morning sickness was bad just because there was about a 4 to 6 week period where I threw up daily, and I'm sure there were others who overheard it and thought, "She has no idea." It got to the point that I was getting dangerously dehydrated, and I was prescribed medicine to kick the nausea, but it just wouldn't ever stay down long enough to help. So, I had to start getting anti-nausea shots in my hips. Well, my hips were bruised and hurting like crazy every time I moved, and let's just also say that said anti-nausea shots were supposed to get me through a few days, but really I'd just get about 4 hours of being able to keep down water or ice. Yep-that bad.

From week 6-10 I lost 12 pounds. From week 10-13 I maintained the loss of 12 pounds (didn't gain, didn't lose). After week 13...well, don't worry, I gained it all back and then some.

It sounds dramatic, but in the throws of it, there were a few times where I was so dehydrated and lethargic that I didn't know what was going on around me. For example, my dad came over and he and my husband gave me a blessing, and I don't even remember him being there. I would wake up and think it was Monday and it was Wednesday. Things like that. A few times I actually thought, "This can't be pregnancy symptoms...I must be dying." The crazy part of it all is that one day, you wake up and you can eat a piece of bread. And the next day, you can get dressed. And the next day, you can clean your house...and pretty soon, you can function in between bouts of nausea and throwing up. Not to say they go away completely, but the ability to function through them has really made me grateful for the things I CAN do now.

My husband couldn't quit his job, obviously, to take care of me 24/7 so I'm also really grateful for my mom for all the times/days that she would come over in the morning, get Landon dressed, make me eat ice chips, take Landon with her for the day, bring him back bathed and ready for bed, make me eat more ice chips, and come back the next morning.

And I'm also grateful to my friends, like Diana who brought her pregnant self to my house and watched Landon one morning while I threw up/tried to shower. She also picked up my living room. It sounds so simple, but it makes me cry to think about it.

And my sweet husband who would help me do anything and everything, would make sure there was a garbage can by the bed, who wouldn't cook anything without making sure the smell wouldn't make me sick, who took over the housework, meals, and childcare whenever he wasn't working. It's important to remember that during the point of my pregnancy when I was so sick I wasn't even sitting up for days at a time, (I'm not kidding.) it was just as hard on my husband as he was not only working full time, he was taking care of all my responsibilities as well as taking care of me. He truly did everything.

The Hernia
So, long story short, I have a hernia brought on by the pregnancy and possibly the constant weeks of throwing up. And said hernia hurts a lot. And said hernia will just get worse as my stomach gets bigger. Luckily it's on my belly button so it's not super huge and disgusting, it just looks like my belly button popped out from being pregnant, as lots of pregnant belly buttons do. But I sure can feel it. And it sure does hurt. But then I'll have the baby and they'll fix it and it won't hurt anymore. So, I'll be fine.

It's a girl!
Dan knew she was a girl long before the ultra sound. I thought he was right, too, but I was pulling for another boy. The fact is, the thought of having a little girl scared me a lot. But, after we found out, I couldn't have been happier, and neither could Daniel. He is so thrilled. He keeps telling Landon how he will be such a good brother to his baby sister, and Dan even picked out and bought her a little dress. Something tells me that this little girl is going to have her daddy wrapped right around her finger.

Dan also picked out her name. He wanted her name to be Ellie, and we decided that will be short for Adelle. I'm in love with her name also. Her middle name is Marie. It sounds so beautiful, doesn't it? Adelle Marie Hall. Our little Ellie.

In her ultrasound, Ellie was sucking her thumb!! (Landon sucks his thumb too, and we are trying so hard to get him to stop!) She also had hiccups, and with each hiccup, her little thumb would pop out of her mouth, and she would put it right back in until the next hiccup would pop it out again. She had us cracking up.

The Big Brother
It has been really, really important to me to include Landon in all of the excitement. It's so easy to get caught up in it, but Landon has such an important role as a big brother. I get very protective that people will forget that he is just as exciting and important to us as this new pregnancy. I know that people won't forget about him, and I know he's too outgoing and hilarious to ever be overlooked, but the protective maternal instinct in me has me very conscious of it, anyway.

He kisses my belly every day and says, "I love you, baby.", "I love you Ellie.", or "That's my baby sister." to my stomach. He has stories about babies, and he gets so excited to read them and talks to me about the babies in his books all the time. I work at a daycare and he comes to work with me. There are dolls there, and a few times I have caught him holding, patting and hugging the little babies. I know he will be the best big brother in the whole, entire world. I'm so proud of him.

Regardless of how exciting this pregnancy is, Landon is and always will be my first little love. Our family is growing, and I couldn't be happier. But there is a spot in my heart, and not a small one, where my love for Landon, my time with just the three of us, and the bitter sweet ache of watching him grow out of his clothes, learn to talk, and get older, will always reside. He is the greatest joy in my life, and I know that Ellie will just add to that. However, he and I, as well as he and his daddy, will forever have a special connection as he is the one who first brought that greatest joy into our lives.

Sometimes, I look at Landon, and I know that he is an angel. He is so perfect, so innocent and so good that I know there is something angelic and heavenly about him.
It's funny, because the second the nurse hands you that bundle of joy, you feel like you couldn't ever love anything more than you love that baby, in that moment.
But then, they snuggle you in the middle of the night while you're half awake feeding them, and you love them more.
And then, they learn to roll over, and you love them more.
And then, they say "Mama" and "Dada" and you love them more.
And then, they crawl and walk, and you love them more.
And then, they say, "I love you, mommy." and "Thank you, Daddy." and "Landon a big boy." and "I love baby sister." and you love them more.

Every Day Things:
Well, my hernia hurts me a lot, my back feels like someone used it as a punching bag, I get really, really, really tired, I don't fit in any of my clothes, I look like a joke in a swim suit (yet, I'm still taking Landon swimming...don't ask me why) but I couldn't be happier.

I keep telling Daniel, "It's going to be a long road to November." But the fact is, I'm really finding joy in the journey (Especially now that I'm vertical). I'm enjoying this time, as I'll never, ever again be pregnant with Ellie. I'm also enjoying the stages Landon goes through, as he'll never, ever again be the way he is this day, this moment, this minute. He changes and grows and learns so much, so fast. Too much, even, for me to explain. I'll never, ever again have this time, these days, this summer with my husband and Landon, and come November our lives will change (for the better) forever.

So, this is what I am: I am enjoying it, I'm happy, I'm scared out of my mind, I'm protective, I'm more prayerful than I've ever been, I'm worried, I'm planning, I'm loving, I'm thinking, I'm hesitant and leery about the world that awaits my children, I'm demanding, I'm giving, I'm conscious, I'm a perfectionist, I'm a mess, I'm ridiculous, I'm realistic and above all, I'm grateful.

Baby Girl

2011-06-06T23:23:00.000-07:00

I don't actually know how to start this post. I keep thinking I can start with things like, "I became an aunt again on June 2nd" or "My best friend had her beautiful, tiny, miracle baby this last week"...but nothing is doing justice to how I feel about this sweet, perfect little girl.

From the second I walked in and saw her, she had my heart wrapped around her little fingers.

I take that back. From the second that her beautiful mommy came to my house and pulled me into my room where nobody else could hear us talk and said, "Lyss, I'm pregnant", and we sat there and cried like babies ourselves, I was wrapped around her little fingers.

And when I got the call at the butt crack of dawn (I don't mind, Maylie-girl...your mom is one of very few I'd answer the phone to that early-she knows I don't do mornings) saying she was on her way, and I was pacing my house until I knew she was here safely, that was a clue that I would be quite attached.

And when I got to the hospital and first held her, I knew I could have held her forever.

And when I watched them poke her little feet to test her blood, and I realized that I was tearing up right along with her mommy, and found myself wanting to tell the nurse to stop, I knew I was hooked.

And when I watched my husband stand over her with her daddy and listened tearfully as they gave her a special blessing, I knew she would have a spot in my heart forever.

And when I broke down sobbing in the hospital room with her beautiful, brave, strong mom when the nurses told us she would have to spend the night in the NICU, I knew I'd be loving this little girl for as long as I lived-and probably longer.

And when my sweet Landon kissed the top of her tiny head, and later on said, "Bye, Maylie! I love you!" I knew she would have a stand in 'big brother' for as long as she lived-and probably longer.

And when I realized that not long ago, she was probably playing right along with my sweet little girl (That's right-we are having a girl!!) I knew that there would forever be a link between the Anderson's and the Hall's...our daughters will make sure of that.

Diana, I am so proud of you. Your daughter is beautiful, strong, brave and loved just like you are. The way you have loved, taken care of, and been part of my baby's life has made it automatic to be in love with your little one. You keep saying, "Thank you for all you've done...blah blah blah.", but you forget, Landon came first, and you started it. You were there through my pregnancy with Landon, my struggles afterward, you were there on the sleepless days after he was born when I needed someone to help me get dressed, hold him while I showered, etc., you were there all the times after his birth when I was a mess and you had to see lots more than you thought you'd see when you came over to hold the baby, you were there for the most important day of our entire lives: our sealing, you gave your beautiful testimony and Josh stood in the circle at Landon's blessing, you have been there for all of his birthday parties, (He's only two, so you think there would only have been two...but OH NO...), all the times you babysat him when he was tiny and I didn't trust anyone else except my mom and you, all the times you've babysat him now that he's big, you've come over and played with Landon while I slept/showered/threw up during the early weeks of this pregnancy, etc. etc. It's an honor to be there for you guys now. Maylie is a blessing to us all. Thank YOU for letting us be a part of her life.

And my little Maylie-girl, I couldn't love you more. I really, really couldn't.

Aunt Lyss, Uncle Dan and Landon with Maylie

Aunt Lyss and Baby Maylie

Perfect

Uncle Dan and Maylie Jean...She has him wrapped right around her finger, too!!

We can't wait for our little girl to come in November and be best buddies with Maylie! Landon will be a great big brother and make sure that nobody picks on the girls, the moms will talk until the dads get sick of hearing us, and they'll go look at the engine of one of the cars or start fixing stuff. It will be perfect! It already is!!

Thinking About My Babies

2011-05-17T20:15:00.000-07:00

I have been feeling a lot better the last few days/weeks. I've still been nauseous but no more shots or IV's until the baby comes (that's the plan anyway). However, I woke up in the middle of the night last night really sick...I felt like I was 8 weeks pregnant again and I couldn't keep much down at all today. Landon was sad and he wanted my attention, so we got into my bed and cuddled up under the covers and we read stories over and over. I read to him, then he'd "read" to me...it was sweet.

Being pregnant with my second has been reminding me of when I was pregnant with Landon and when I had him. I thought maybe I'd tell the story of when my sweet boy came into this world.

Landon was born on February 28th, 2009. He wasn't due until the 8th of March, though. He was only about a week early, so it wasn't incredibly surprising to go into labor, but it still felt surreal.

The day before he was born, on the 27th, it was a Friday. That was going to be my last day of work so that I could spend the next week getting ready for the baby. I had a doctor appointment a few days before, and everything was looking good. The last week or so before his birth, I was having contractions every single night. The doctors told me to do a few different things, and if the contractions didn't stop, to come into the hospital. Well, every night, I'd follow their advice and the contractions would stop.

Friday, I woke up, got dressed, went to work, and realized around noon that I couldn't remember feeling him move at all that day. I got scared, and called the doctor. They told me to go into the hospital, and that my Dr. would order a stress test and try to see what was going on. Well, I wobbled myself into the part of the hospital where I was to take the stress test, and they strapped me up to the machine. It wasn't scary at all, they just had me strapped up to a belt that made noises and annoyed the baby until he moved around. Turns out he was fine...just sleepy. He must have known he'd be making his debut later on and he was just resting up!

That night, I went home, went for a walk with my mom, and vacuumed the house. Daniel got home from work at around midnight, and we went to bed. I woke up around four in the morning feeling the usual nightly contractions. I tried all the tricks, and around four thirty, they were getting stronger, closer together, and not easing up like they had in the past.

I decided to wake Dan up. It was pretty surreal.

I had always planned to wake up the husband, have him make me something to eat, I'd shower and dry my hair as to not be hideous in the post baby pushing pictures, and we'd be off like a giddy, happy couple about to become parents.

ha. ha. ha. nope.

My hair was in a bun/braid on the top of my head and I couldn't stand up straight long enough to even brush it out. I brushed my teeth, threw on some shoes, grabbed a pillow and all but shoved Daniel out the door. We were sure they'd tell us to come home and come back in a few hours, or walk around the hospital for an hour and then come back. I'd only been feeling contractions for about half an hour, and they say to stay home longer than that before you head to the hospital, so we didn't even worry about grabbing the bag we packed in advance.

By this time, it was about 4:45 in the morning, and we were on the freeway. I was hugging the pillow hard waiting for the heater to warm up the car. It was dark outside, and I remember I could see Daniel's breath freeze as we drove. By the time the car warmed up, the contractions were getting bad, and I was getting more and more convinced that the next time I'd be in the car, I'd be a mommy.

Right before we pulled up to the hospital, I remembered that if they admitted me, I wouldn't be able to eat until I had the baby. What if I was one of those people who was in labor for 14 hours?? Nobody likes a hungry Lyss, so we pulled into McDonalds.

We parked and Dan helped me into the hospital doors. Before we even reached the lobby, a contraction hit so hard that I wanted to scream, but nothing would come out. I dropped to the floor and completely forgot to breathe. A few seconds later, I was back on my feet and trying to hurry to the maternity ward before another one hit. I wasn't quite so lucky. Then, as I was signing in, I had another one and dropped to the floor mid signature.

They brought me into my room, asked me to change into a gown, and checked me. I was 90 percent effaced, and at a four. She told me to hang in there, and then said they'd be back in an hour to check me. AN HOUR??!!

That felt like the longest hour of my life. At 6:00 in the morning, the blessed nurse came back in and checked me.

"Wow...you're at a six. Two centimeters in an hour. We'll keep you."

Dan called our parents, and by seven my family was in the room with me.

They checked me again. "You're moving right along. You're at a seven."

I was in more pain than I even knew what to do with. My mom kindly reminded me to breathe through them, and I realized I hadn't been doing that at all so far. I kept thinking, "When will they give me the epidural? When can I have it??!"

Finally, I asked the nurse.

"Whenever you want it."

Wow...I'm stupid. I didn't know I had to ask for it. I thought they'd just tell me.

At about 7:30 or 8, I got my epidural. The next time they checked me, I was still at a seven. The epidural kicked in, and I slept for two hours. During that time, Dan ran home, fed the dog and grabbed our bag. When he came back, they were getting ready to break my water. This was about 10 in the morning.

Right after they broke my water I started to move really quickly. Within forty five minutes, they told me that they were going to call the Dr, and that it was time to get prepared to push.

At 11:00, the nurse had me start pushing. Dan looked like he was going to pass out...he was as nervous as I was. By 11:15, the Dr. still wasn't there, but the baby was coming. They actually told me to stop pushing, and for about 5 or 10 minutes, the contractions alone were pushing the baby out. The Dr finally arrived, and within about two more pushes, Landon Daniel was here.

The very first thing I did was count his fingers and toes, and then I cried.

I had a few complications after that...things I'll spare you all from hearing about. But pain and discomfort that I thought would never end were all of the sudden over, and we were a family.

Plus' Positive, Minus' Negative

2011-04-27T09:50:00.001-07:00

Well, the last couple of months I suppose I have had a lot on my mind. Things like this:

-School
-My cute husband
-My cute little boy
-Having a baby in November
-Being really, really sick while incubating said baby

...and I guess that I have just kind of stopped worrying about blogging. For a while it was because I wasn't ready to talk about being pregnant, then for a while it was because I was so sick with my pregnancy that I didn't want to even sit up, let alone blog. Then it was trying to catch up on school before finals...

And now I guess I'm just kind of burned out and the effort of writing seemed like a chore instead of cathartic.

But I realized that lately I've had something specific on my mind and I thought it was something I'd like to write down so that I might hopefully remember it, or be able to look back on it when I inevitably forget the sudden resolve I've had to do better or be better.

I've been specifically thinking a lot about the power of positivity. I've been thinking about the way that we all treat each other and how we play so much into gossip and hate. I've really been thinking about the idea of a positivity purge. I'm afraid that it's time to get rid of the things in my life that bring about negativity.

Ok, I'm not completely neurotic. I know that I sound kind of ridiculous right now, but I really feel like when we allow things into our lives and our homes that bring us down, or things that when we walk away from them, we are less, we are doing our families, ourselves and our children a disservice.

For example:
-Why do we watch trashy TV shows? We are that starved for entertainment? What happened to reading a book?
-Why do we buy magazines loaded with gossip and hate? Are we that insecure? We really need to feel better by witnessing people we don't know bring down and be hurtful towards people we, again, don't know?
-Why do we talk about people we don't like or find annoying when we get around certain others? Are we that incapable of just keeping our mouth shut. Did we forget to say nothing when we have nothing constructive or kind to say??

I just think we should all be a little bit nicer to each other. I know that I feel better when I have positive things around me, and make the conscious choice to ignore things that are negative or hurtful to anyone.

I hope that my children will know that even though I'm so flawed and so imperfect, I do care about things like this.

Love/Hate

2011-03-06T21:38:00.000-08:00

If you know me, you know I oh-so-love lists.

Things We [Dan and Lyss] Love:
-Eating chips and salsa on a Sunday afternoon
-Watching car shows
-Frozen pizza
-Making no-bake cookies...twice in one day....don't judge us.
-Putting the kiddo to bed early and snuggling up to a movie
-Reading stories to Landon in our bed
-Knowing each other well enough to finish each others sentences
-Being on the same team
-Mexican food
-Loving each others friends
-Hanging out with couples we love (Josh and Diana, Ester and Scott, Kenneth and Shelley, etc., etc., etc.,) who don't mind that our two year old tags along...that means the world.
-Family parties...(we actually like them!!)
-Playing 'The Question Game' via text when our lives have been so busy we haven't seen each other for more than ten minutes in three days.
-Being proud of each other
-Dan tickling me and letting Landon "rescue" me...it's hilarious. He thinks he is so strong.
-Falling asleep to music
-Loving all the same shows (yep, I even watch Orange County Choppers and Overhaulin' with him!)
-Date nights
-Oreo's and milk
-Watching Bones, Friends and One Tree Hill
-Back scratches
-Knowing each other so well that we don't have to ask what the other one wants at any restaurant-we already know!!

Things We Hate
-When Dan farts on and/or around me and hurries and says, 'I love you! You're beautiful!' before I get mad at him...makes me furious
-When Dan farts when he's stressed
-When Dan farts when he's nervous
-When Dan farts when he's excited
-Basically just when Dan farts
-When Lyss leaves her bobby pins all over the place
-When Lyss gets so mad at Dan that she cries and then he gets all nervous and starts farting and she gets even more mad.
-When we don't get to see each other very much
-When Landon gets sick
-When we have too much homework to go on a date
-When we finally got our homework done but we don't have a babysitter to go on a date, so we take the kiddo and he has a tantrum
-When one of us is sad
-When one of us ate the last of the waffle crisp
-When one of us is sick

Basically, we're two peas in a pod. We're pretty much BFF

Mirrors

2011-03-03T13:16:00.000-08:00

I recently had a discussion with someone about mirrors. Said person was frustrated, and feeling a little blue. She wasn't at the top of the self confidence chain, and she didn't like what she saw looking back at her in the mirror.

She let that reflection define her.
Have I mentioned before how I hate when we, as people let the wrong things define us?

If not, this is me mentioning it.

I can relate with this person. I'm a girl, and all girls, if not all people, have this insane love/hate relationship with the mirror. The mirror can be the biggest boost on a good day, or the biggest slap on a bad one.

Let me just tell you my thoughts on the subject.

Mirrors lie. A lot. Every day.

Sometimes multiple times a day.

Mirrors cannot be trusted.

Mirrors are liars by omission.

The mirror omits what really counts, and I think we could all do a little bit better at remembering that. The mirror omits the kind of person you are, and the way you treat others, the way you handle situations and the way you overcome the hard times. The way you react to a bad situation when you have every right to have a tantrum, the way you treat someone who is, by the world, considered 'less' than yourself, the way you treat people who treat you badly...those are things that show character. And the mirror omits character, too.

"They won't remember what you said to them, but they will remember how you made them feel." -unknown

I know that I might not have a lot of merit, but I want my son to know what I think is really beautiful, and that it's not always what the world tells us is beautiful.

------------------------------------

730 Days

2011-02-28T22:26:00.000-08:00

Two years.
Twenty four months.
Seven hundred and thirty days.
One million, fifty one thousand, two hundred minutes.
Sixty three million, seventy two thousand seconds.

That's how long I've been a mother.

All of these years, days, seconds, they've been filled with so much. So much happiness, so many trials, so many tears, and a lot of laughing. They've been filled with diapers, bottles, sippy cups, late nights, milestones, you name it. And today, my son turned two.

I realize that my son's second birthday shouldn't be about me. I realize that by discussing my time as a mother as opposed to my son's time as a human sounds selfish. But it's not really. Okay, maybe it is.

Oh well.

The last two years of my life feel like my entire life. In a good way.

This is the day my son was born:
This is my son now, two years later. Two years old.
The changes in my boy are obvious. Obviously he's bigger. Obviously he has grown and developed. He can talk to me now, and two years ago he could only cry. He can tell me what he wants to eat, if he is sleepy, if he is excited, what movies he wants to watch. He can ask me where his daddy is, his Uncle Josh or his grandma. He's grown, he's changed. It's obvious. You can see it just by looking at him.

Me, on the other hand, I've changed even more. Except, when it comes to me, you can't see it just by looking at me. I look relatively the same, minus the fact that maybe I look a little more tired, and I tend to love the sweat pants attire more than I used to. The changes in me are hard to explain, and to be perfectly honest, I don't intend to try right now. I just intend to say that I've noticed, just today in fact, that while my sweet son has grown so much physically over the last two years, I've done some growing of my own.

I hope to make him proud.

And just LOOK how cute he is with cake everywhere!! This is Landon and his daddy after he attacked his Toy Story cupcakes.

This is Landon blowing out his candles for the third time, accompanied by some of his favorite people in the world.

Who was I before Landon? I mean, I suppose it's safe to say that it's dangerous to let something or someone define you. Do I let Landon define me? Nah. But the things that do define me, well, Landon makes all of those things better. I was able to define who I am once I had him and realized who I wanted to be. And all of the things I want to be are things that make me a better mommy, wife, and person.

He makes me a better person, and that makes me love being a mother. Not only am I celebrating the second year that my son has been alive, not only am I celebrating that I have survived it, and not only am I celebrating what an INCREDIBLE father Landon is blessed with, but I'm celebrating that we, as a family, are a little bit better because of Landon.

Seven hundred and thirty days. That's a lot of days. Yet, it's goes by in the blink of an eye.

Of Consequence

2011-02-22T13:13:00.000-08:00

I tend to avoid blogging until I feel like I have a legitimate story or something important to say.
I tend to feel awkward about just "updating" the world about my life.
I tend to feel like my life is pretty average and boring.
I also tend to blog a lot less come mid terms, and blogging is virtually non existent around finals.

This week is mid terms. Hence, the lack of updates on our normal, boring life.

I don't even know how much traffic this humble little blog gets anyway, so I wasn't too worried about it. I figured the whole point is to have something for my kids to look back on, and as of late, not much of consequence has really happened in our lives. Just normal happiness. We had a great Valentine's Day (Dan really spoiled me!), we are excited for Landon's second birthday, we are having fun planning a trip next month for just Dan and I, and we're trying to get through this semester (which is feeling exceptionally long).

One thing that is of consequence lately is how amazing, adorable and IN LOVE I am with my little man.

I LOVE how much fun it is to be a mommy of a little boy who loves cars, trucks, Buzz Lightyear, baths with bubbles, pizza, Finding Nemo fruitsnacks, and reading stories.

I love how my little boy gets excited when his shirt has buttons on it, or when he asks me to put my iPod in the dock and turn it up so he can dance to the music.

I love that Landon gets to go on dates with me and Dan and that he copies everything his daddy does.

I love that he got his daddy's good looks :)

I love being outnumbered by all the awesome boys in my house. Especially since they're both so handsome.

So, it's true that there might not be too many super exciting things going on in the every day happenings of the Hall home, but we are so happy, we are good parents, we are very in love, we are enjoying watching our little love grow up, and most days all of that happens with a smile (most days...).

I guess all of those mundane, normal, boring happenings might just count as being something of consequence.

I sure hope so.

Bad Mood

2011-02-06T10:43:00.001-08:00

Alright, so I woke up in a bad mood.

Yes, I like my cute little apartment. But the neighbors were cooking early this morning, and so the whole complex smelled like fried chicken-and NOT in a good way.

I could hear Landon yelling for his daddy. (his daddy left for work at six that morning.) I looked over at my alarm clock-it was blinking 7:02 am-on a Sunday.

The Hall family has colds, so I woke up with the gross sticky eyes-dry throat-unable to breathe out of my nose phenomenon. I silently cursed Nyquil for their misleading slogan. Best sleep you ever had with a cold medicine?? I think not.

Landon was being relentless. "Daddy! I want pancake and syrup! Daddy? Pancake!...Pizza?!"

Another glance at the clock read 7:08. Alright, alright. I'll get up.

Walked into his room to find his entire face, hair, hands and shirt covered in green. Reminder, we all have colds. You get the idea, yes? Lovely.

"Morning, little love."
He held out his arms in confusion. "Where's daddy?"
Yeah, nice to see you too.

The stupid fried chicken smell hit me again. The mere fact that it could permeate through my cold infested stuffy nose just gives you a small idea of how strong the smell coming from the neighbors was. The other fact that it was seven in the morning gives you a small idea of how inappropriate this smell was. Who eats fried chicken at seven in the morning?

A few minutes after I fed Landon his dang pancakes and syrup, I went in to find Landon some clothes for the day. After I found his clothes, I realized it was quiet. Too quiet.

I found Landon in the bathroom, holding a mascara wand, his cheeks covered in streaky black from said mascara wand, his hands, nose, forehead and forearms covered with a gorgeous dusting of A Dream Come True MAC eyeshadow, and a huge smile on his face. He was so proud. I was furious.

This was my breaking point. When I get really mad, I cry. Believe you me, I cried.

Landon, in his onesie, one Toy Story slipper, one Spiderman slipper and his lovely new makeover, came over to me while I was crying and scrubbing mascara out of the bath mat.

"I sowy. No, no, no. I sowy."

I had to laugh.

After his bath, and after all the makeup was cleaned up, I told Daniel about Landon's encounter with the "colors" as Landon calls them.

Daniels first response, you ask?

"I'm sorry, babe!" No, not that.
"Are you okay?" No, not that one either.
"I'll be home soon." Nope, not that one.

He said, "HAHA! Did you take a picture?!"

Hmph.

I'm making him buy me more eyeshadow. And maybe earrings or a shirt too.

Wake Up Call

2011-01-28T09:16:00.000-08:00

It was a late night last night.

Not only did we not get home until very late, but my home was such a mess that I couldn't go to sleep until I cleaned it.

So, I went to bed in the wee hours of the morning.

My son, however, was up at the butt crack of dawn. As usual.

Half dazed and half asleep, I got him bathed and dressed.

I slid him into his high chair and put his plate of breakfast in front of him haphazardly. He had been talking about how hungry he was since the moment he woke up, so the fact that he wasn't attacking his little bite sized pieces of breakfast in front of him surprised me.

"Go ahead, buddy."

Then something incredible happened.

My little boy folded his arms, closed his eyes and mumbled something to the affect of "Bless, bless, amen."

Then, he picked up his little fork and started to eat his breakfast.

Wow. Talk about a wake up call.

"Men are what their mothers made them." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hmmm...guess I have a pretty big job ahead of me

My Own Kind of Speechless

2011-01-25T21:54:00.000-08:00

On this very day, two years ago, my body was housing a little miracle. I would have him on February 28, 2009 in the late morning. My whole world was going to change. From that second forward, I was no longer the same person. Something innate, divine and remarkable changed inside of me. A rough, brazen albeit sensitive soul had spent nine months being shaped and refined into a mold worthy of the name 'Mommy'. That day, I was entrusted with a gift. This gift was unlike any I had received before. I was given a soul. This soul was my responsibility to shape and feed with wisdom and knowledge-attributes that, ironically enough, this new little soul would be teaching me. Heaven sent me a gift.

Heaven sent me an angel. I named him Landon.

I wish that I had words in my vocabulary to even come close to describing what it is like to be a mother. I've never been one to lack eloquence, but my angel of a boy is the one thing in my life that has rendered me speechless.

I love him, not only because he is my child, but because of who he is. He is a good, good person. He recognizes when someone's feelings are hurt, and he is the first to hug them. He knows when I'm sad or not feeling good, and without asking him to, he'll bring me his teddy bear or his blanket. He kisses his Buzz Lightyear and Woody toys goodnight each night. He tells me about Jesus, and that we should be soft in His house. (Reverent at church.) He knows how to kneel down and fold his arms, and he knows that before he goes to bed, he is to say his prayers. He is polite, and says "Please" and "Thank You" without being told to. (His nursery leaders rave about how polite he is...I just love that. I leave beaming with crazy maternal pride!)

Aside from those and countless other beautiful attributes my sweet son has, one of my favorites is that he is an incredible judge of character, which is a testament to the people in his life that he loves. (Believe it or not, there are people in this world whom he doesn't like, and he remembers them...)

Here are just SOME of the people my little two year old miracle talks about, sings about or otherwise asks for on a daily occurrence:

The following is a picture of Landon with his Uncle Kenneth and Aunt Shelley. He loves them! Whenever we're around them, all he wants to do is sit on Shelleys lap. We have so much gratitude for them. I couldn't be happier that they're such a big part of my son's life. Eternal families mean so much to me, and knowing that these two, great people are a part of mine is such a good, good thing.
Next is a picture of Landon with his Aunt Diana and Uncle Josh. This picture was taken when Landon was almost 24 hours old, although Diana was there by my bedside in the hospital within hours of his birth. (Maybe sooner-I was a little loopy.) I wouldn't have been able to get through the first few days of his life without her. (My sweet hubby had to go back to loooong work hours the day we brought him home.) She helped me nurse him, she took care of him while I showered, she babysat him for me when I had to work (I only trusted her and my mom for a LONG time...) Anyway...He literally asks to call, go see, talk to, look at a picture of, etc., these guys EVERY SINGLE DAY. We will be driving in the car, and all of the sudden, Landon will burst into song about Josh and Diana. (Ninana and Dosh) When he catches a glimpse of a picture of them, he will kiss the picture over and over. It's hard to describe how meaningful it is to have people in your child's life whom you'd trust with anything. These are those kind of people.

My boy loves his daddy. I could go on and on and on about Daniel and the incredible Dad he is, but anyone who knows him, knows that he in one in a million. Just today, Landon came to me and said, "Mommy, Daddy give Landon deeyah." It took me a while to figure this one out-but then it clicked. Just yesterday, while I was sick, Daniel made Landon a quesadilla for lunch. Landon remembered it a whole day later. (Landon can't quite say quesadilla...so he calls it a "deeyah.") They have this sweet little bond. (Funny enough, so much of it revolves around food...)Landon loves his Grandparents. When we pull up to either of their houses, he gets so excited! He claps his hands and kicks his legs until I let him run to the door. When he goes to Grandma and Grandpa Hall's house, the first thing he does is look for all the teddy bears she has. Once he gets his bears, he watches shows with her and eats crackers. He knows where they are at her house, and he always goes to the cupboard and asks for them. He loves when Grandpa Hall takes him out to see his truck and play with the dog. When he goes to Grandma Lisa and Grandpa Ladd's house, he sits on his Toy Story chair, asks for juice and candy, and feels right at home. He likes to sit in the office chair and spin, drag Grandpa Ladd downstairs to watch football. He loves to cook with Grandma in the kitchen, and begs her to make him strawberry milk. He also loves his aunt Katie, and sometimes even wakes up asking for her in the morning!
(I can't believe it, but I don't have a picture of Grandma Hall with Landon...We MUST do something about this!)

Can you believe, that despite all of the words scrawling from left to right across this page, I might still feel speechless in regards to my feelings about my son?

Well, I do.

I am in awe of him. I am in awe of my Heavenly Father for the mere creation of such a being as my sweet son. My love for him, regardless of anything that I might have the creativity to type, has rendered me my own kind of speechless.

Peace.

I Hate To Brag, But...

2011-01-25T11:44:00.000-08:00

Alright, so I hate to brag, but there is a time and a place for everything, right? And now is most definitely the time and place to brag about the love of my life.

Landon and I have been sick this last week, and my sweet husband has been so amazing. He has taken care of us, made the meals, done the laundry, ran errands, worked, went to school, put up with me (I'm a cry baby when I'm sick...), and done it all with a smile on his face and without a single complaint.

Dan came home from class yesterday morning at around 10:00 and said, "I'm not going to work today. I'm going to stay home and take care of you." And he did! He took complete care of Landon, including bathing, cooking and feeding, etc. He took Landon with him and went to the store for me and brought me back popsicles and medicine. He did dishes, laundry and kept up with all of Landon's toys. I mean, seriously, this guy is SuperHubby. He all but forbade me to go to work or school, and just let me rest and feel better.

I am one very lucky girl.

And when I was crying because I had to miss class and just wanted to feel better, he didn't hate me for being so annoying.

Plus, he's so handsome. :)

I'm so grateful to have him in my life. Not everyone has a husband as understanding, kind, and thoughtful as mine. I'm very lucky...I often don't deserve such goodness in my life. He is my very best friend in the whole world. I'd rather spend my time with him than with anyone else on the planet. He's so funny, and we have so much fun together. I'm so glad that I found him. I'm so glad that I was working in that stupid restaurant when I was 17 years old so that I could be his waitress and fall in love with him.

Wow, how mushy was all that? Sheesh...

Content

2011-01-13T10:58:00.000-08:00

"What do you want to accomplish, besides being a wife and mother? What dreams and goals do you have?" -Jena

As I thought about this question seriously, my thoughts hovered around school, passing math, graduating, etc. As I realized what a boring subject that was, my thoughts then turned to keeping my house clean (My husband already says I'm OCD-but I already knew that.), making more home cooked meals, keeping up on the obscene piles of laundry, getting to bed earlier, etc.

Nah, that's boring too.

And then it hit me.

I thought about yesterday, when I walked down the stairs and saw my son, surrounded by a pile of DVDs. For the third time that day, he had pulled all of the movies off the shelves, proceeded to take the disc out of it's case, and put the disc back into another random case.

(For example, we go to watch Bob the Builder, and we find The Blind Side in it's case. Landon asks for Toy Story, BUT NO! I see Finding Nemo where I should see Buzz and Woody.)

As I walked upon this scene, already overwhelmed and stressed with math homework, my messy house, and a million other mundane things, I burst into tears. Naturally, Landon felt awful.

"Mommy, I sowy. I want Buzz. I sowy."

Remembering this scenario, oddly enough, reminded me of what it is that I really want to accomplish.

Yes, I have dreams and goals. I want to make a difference in someones life. I want to teach my children about what is right and honorable, I want to buy a house, I want to travel....

But as for right now, what I really want is just to survive.

I want to wake up in the morning, get me and Landon out the door in one piece, and preferably without eating breakfast in the car.

I want to drop Landon off with his Grandma while I'm at school and not feel quite as guilty about it.

I want to let Landon watch Toy Story and Finding Nemo four hundred and forty five million times a day and not get annoyed with him.

I want to spend time with my husband, go on dates, and not be worrying about work or a deadline for school the whole time we're out.

Frankly, I need to chill out a little bit.

That's what I want to accomplish. Just survive, live, be happy, and wake up each morning ready for the day and grateful that I get to experience another one. I want to teach my children. I want to be known as a good person. But mostly, I just want to get through each day knowing I tried a little bit harder than the day before, I did a little bit better, and I'm a little bit farther towards my goals.

Helen Keller said, "Everything has it's wonders. Even darkness and silence. I have learned, whatever state I am in, therein to be content."

Good thinking, Helen.

I want to survive. I want to be content.

The Holidays

2010-12-31T14:05:00.000-08:00

I have been away for far too long...

Christmas this year was amazing. We spent a lot of time with both families, and made sure to spend some quality time just the three of us as well.

It was still dark outside on Christmas morning when Dan nudged me awake. At first I was still tired, but then I realized what day it was, and I was up in a flash. We walked across the hallway in our new pajamas and socks and woke Landon up out of a dead sleep. Dan went downstairs in true "Dad on Christmas Morning" fashion, turned on the tree lights, turned on the music, and stood at the foot of the stairs as me and Landon walked down. Watching Landon's little face light up when he realized that the treats, toys and gifts were for him is something I'll never forget.

The presents really don't matter. In a few years, none of us will really remember what we got, except for maybe things that were especially meaningful or thoughtful. But the look on his face, the way that the tree lights reflected off of his eyes, the vision of him sprawled out on his tummy in his footie pajamas, surrounded by a pile of new Legos and stuffed animals, hearing him tell me, "Thank you, mommy", that's what I'll remember for as long as I live.

This year, I learned how wrong everyone is when they say that Christmas is all about the kids. I now know that Christmas is a million times more incredible for the parents of the children. Christmas isn't for the Children. It's for everyone, because of the children.

My sweet husband was so thoughtful this year. In reality the presents that he gave to me are SO much fun, but they really don't even come close to measuring up to the thought that he put into them, and how much that means to me.

(For example, those of you who know Daniel know what a huge deal it is that he. went. into. a. bookstore. and proceeded to have a discussion. with. the. bookstore. owner. about the type of book I wanted, and a little bit about it (He had forgotten the title), all because one day in passing and just one time I mentioned that I'd like to read that book. Let's just say, when I opened the box and saw that book staring up at me, all the work I know he'd put into finding this for me came flooding to the surface, and I cried like a baby.)

Needless to say, it was a very special Christmas.

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My lovely friend, Jena, (who happens to be a VERY good writer...you can find her here. She's hilarious.) suggested a writing topic for me. (LOVE IT). Said suggestion is in the works, and coming up soon!

Soon, as in, as soon as I finish my laundry...

Writers Block

2010-12-22T15:51:00.000-08:00

To say that I have had writers block the last few days would be an understatement.

To be completely honest, I guess I just feel like I don't really have much to say.

I mean sure, we're busy with the hustle and bustle of the week before Christmas. And we're relieved that finals are over for the semester. Yes, I've had a lot going on with family parties and getting together with friends.

But I just don't feel like writing about any of that.

(It's crossed my mind that I'm subconsciously boycotting anything scholastic due to the break from school, but I quickly dismissed the thought. It was ridiculous-I don't normally place writing and the pain in my butt that is school in the same group.)

And so, due to my writers block, I'm taking a suggestion from a friend. What would YOU like me to write about? What is interesting to YOU, the person who is actually reading this?? (I told said friend that there were only like 5 people total who read my blog, but oh well.)

I ditched the 30 Day Challenge-the last questions didn't really tickle my fancy. Maybe I'll come back and finish it during another bout of writers block.

So, in short, gimmie some ideas. What do you want to read about?? Your wish is my command.

Peace.

Pop-Pop? Not So Much...

2010-12-16T12:22:00.000-08:00

Today is my last final of the semester.

I was downstairs studying (*cough* talking to Madi on Facebook *cough*) for said final, and Landon was upstairs playing with his trains in his room.

I heard his little feet scamper across his room. He was laughing incessantly and I could hear the muffled thump thump thump of his little body jumping up and down.

"Mommy! Open! Help! Open, Mommy!" I heard his tiny voice say in between stairs as he half bounced half scooted down the stairs.

"Come down on your tummy!" I reminded him as I got up from where I was sitting to see what he needed.

"Open!" He yelled again.

I assumed the little man found some candy or a package of crackers from his diaper bag that he wanted me to open for him. I made my way across the room to meet him at the bottom of the stairs.

"Pop-pop, Mommy! Pop-pop!" He said referring to his favorite frozen treat. By this time he had made it to the bottom of the stairs and took off in a dead run for me.

Pop-pop? I thought. We don't even have any popsicles.

Then he rounded the corner, and so blinded by his excitement, crashed right into my legs.

He sat there on his bum, with a huge smile on his face. With his arm extended as far as it could go, he cried out one more time, "Pop-pop! Open!"

In his chubby hands he held a tampon.

Nice.

"It's That Time of Year...

2010-12-16T09:41:00.000-08:00

...When the world falls in love. Every song you hear seems to say, 'Merry Christmas. May your new year dreams come true!'"

Frank Sinatra perfectly describes how I feel about the month of December. Listen to the whole song here.

Frank was right. You see, I have proof.

Three years ago today, my sweet husband got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife.

Yeah, I'd say that's proof. "It's that time of year, when the world falls in love..."

Here is the story. (Copied from a post from just a few weeks ago)

By far, my favorite memory of this Christmas was when we went to see the lights at Temple Square in Salt Lake City on December 15, 2007.

We had walked around for quite a while, and then we decided to go watch the nativity. After watching it about a MILLION times, I finally begged Daniel to take me to the car-I was freezing to death! He kept stalling and stalling and stalling, and finally he said we could leave, but told me he had a question to ask me first.

"Ugh. What?!" was my reply. Sweet, I know.

Then, he slid off the bench, in a fashion I could only correlate with passing out. (He'll tell the story differently. You ask him, he'll tell you he got down on one knee with not problem at all. You want the real story? Then keep reading.)

I assumed the man was sick or something.

So, I got down there with him.

"Honey, are you okay!? Are you sick?!"

Then it hit me.

I sat back up on the bench. "Alyssa Lynn Hall," he began, "Will you marry me?"

He slid a gorgeous ring on my finger, and I said "YES! YES!"

With the lights of the temple illuminating his face, he picked me up in his arms and in true movie star fashion, spun me around and kissed me. The other people walking around to see the lights stopped and smiled at us. Young people clapped, little kids pointed and grinned, old couples snuggled closer to each other, as if they were remembering their special day, too.

It was perfect...

Peace.

Day 22/Happy Birthday!

2010-12-09T11:14:00.000-08:00

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARY!!!

Today, my good friend Mary is having herself a birthday! I've known Mary for a long time, and I'm so glad that she's been part of my life. Me, Madi, Mary and Chels all have a really awesome friendship, and Mary has a special part of that. We all love Mary, and we're so glad she's part of our friendship. We love her quirky-ness, her sentimental crying-ness, the way she gets when she's really, really mad, the way she can't eat Bajio or Cafe Rio, but most importantly, we love that Mary is such a good friend, and that we can count on her. We've been through lots of ups and downs, and I'm grateful for Mary. Happy Birthday!!Here's me, Mary and Chels at Madi's wedding almost three years ago.

Here is Chels, Madi and Mary during one of our infamous girls nights. Only those pictured knows what's really going on here-too funny.

Los Hermanos!!! This place is our place! (Madi, Chels, did you know they've moved?!) We have had a lot of really great memories in this place! This picture was taken probably 4 years ago.

They're ridiculous. I love it.

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Well, now onto day 22:
What Makes You Different From Everyone Else?

Frankly, I don't know how to answer this and not sound self-deprecating, which I don't think is ever a good thing. So maybe I won't answer it.

What do YOU think makes me different from everyone else?

Peace!

Day 20/Day 21

2010-12-06T22:53:00.001-08:00

Day 20: Someone you picture yourself with/marrying in the future

Well, obviously, I'm already married. I considered just skipping this question, but then I realized something. I haven't always been married ya know. But, I always loved the thought of marrying Dan when we were dating. I could see myself with him, and I knew he'd make me happy. Here are a few pictures of us BEFORE we got married.

This picture is of us right after we ran through the sprinklers at North Park-one of our favorite summer past times!

This picture was actually taken BEFORE we were even dating! Dan snapped this picture with his phone when we were hanging out in High School...That seems like a lifetime ago!

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Day 21: A picture of Something That Makes You Happy

There are a lot of things that make me really happy. In the spirit of the Holiday coming up, I decided I'd talk a little bit about some of my favorite Christmas memories growing up. When I think about that, I get really, really happy. We had some really fun times!
This is actually a picture of my Christmas Tree, but when we were little, setting up the tree was a BIG deal. Each year, my mom and dad got each of us a new ornament for the tree. The ornament was supposed to represent our year, and what we'd done/accomplished. It's one of my very favorite Christmas traditions, and Dan and I have continued it with Landon.

My mom would have treats for all of us to much on while we set up the tree. The end tables around the living room were cluttered with boxes of cookies and tins of home made chocolate covered pretzels. Little dishes of red and green M&Ms and bottles of sparkling cider would be carried down the stairs to join the rest of the treats. My dad would turn on the Neil Diamond Christmas CD, and slowly, carefully, we'd pull the ornaments out of the box one by one. We'd take the tissue paper off each one, and unwrap the small memories. The glass ballet slippers, the little girl playing a ceramic piano, the rhinestone covered Elvis from the year I went to Graceland, the countless music inspired pieces; each ornament held a special place in my heart and represented special moments and milestones.

So, pictures of Christmas trees make me happy because it reminds me of all of those great memories.
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This is all of us kids one year before Christmas. In this picture, I was in the 7th grade. I'm in love with my little brother's Pokemon shirt in this picture! Everyone is so happy and obviously excited for all the fun things going on. I remember that this picture was taken on a Sunday after church-probably a week or two before Christmas.

This picture makes me happy because you can see that we're all having fun. I think that as we grow up, we forget to be simple, and we get caught up in the stress of every day life. This picture reminds me of letting things stay simple.
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This is my brother, Kevin. I have lots of awesome memories of my brother at Christmastime. One of my favorites is when Kevin was really, really little. My little sister, Katie, got a toy cash register for Christmas that year. But when Kevin saw it, all he wanted to do was play with her toy. He didn't even open the rest of his presents-he didn't care! He just loved that cash register. Another great memory of Kevin at Christmastime was just this last year. We draw names for the siblings in our family, and Kevin had my name. As a joke, he got me the most HIDEOUS rooster towels, and acted like he was really proud of them and that I'd love them...Uh, no. (Don't worry, he gave me a real present after that.)
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This is my brother, Alex. This guy is a riot at Christmastime. Every year, the kid has to take a sleeping pill on Christmas Eve because he's so excited and can't sleep otherwise. When we were little, he used to get up really early before the rest of us and sneak into the living room to see all the presents. Eventually, my parents started setting traps. They'd close the door and rig jingle bells so that it would make a lot of noise if he tried to sneak in.
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I have so many memories of my little sister, Katie, at Christmastime. When we were little, we'd start right after Halloween, and make chains to count down the days until Christmas. We'd have about a million links on the chain, and it would go all the way around our room. After we finished the basement, and I had my own room, we'd make two chains-one for each of our rooms. It would take us HOURS. I also remember sharing one twin mattress on the floor of my brothers room on Christmas Eve (We'd all sleep in the same room.) and neither of us could sleep all night long.

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Those are some memories that make me really happy. When I think of all of us kids growing up, and all the fun times we've had on Christmas, it makes me so excited for all the memories my kids will have. It really makes me grateful for the example of parenthood that my parents set for me. If I can be half as great as they are, I know that my kids will have incredible memories.

Peace.

Christmas' Past, Present and Future

2010-12-01T23:03:00.000-08:00

Side Note: Not many people know this, but my blog is a requirement for my major. A "journal" or "blog" of some sort will be required that showcases my writing style of choice...So feedback is much appreciated. But, if you critique my spelling (which is and always has been awful) or grammar, that will just annoy me. You're not my professor. (Except for Pam...she's the exception. Critique away, sis!)

Day 19: Nicknames and Why You Have Them

Well...I have lots of nicknames.

Lyss-This is what everyone calls me. Some people (who shall remain nameless) actually thought this was my REAL name for a long time, and were shocked to find out that no, my mother actually named me Alyssa. Pretty much everyone knows me as Lyss, though. Dan's entire family ONLY calls me Lyss because that's what Dan calls me. I like it though.

Lyssie (Or upon embarrassing circumstances, Lyssie-Lou-Lou) -This is what my family called me when I was little. Dan calls me it now just to be funny. I don't hate it, though. :)

Lyssa-Lou-Only one person calls me this, originally, but I think it's rubbed off on a few people. My hubby's best friend, Brian calls me Lyssa-Lou and nothing else. I like it though-it's something I can count on. ;) I think it originated from him teasing me when we were in high school for the whole "Lyssie Lou Lou" ordeal, but I'm not sure. I'll have to ask him.

Grouch- Dan calls me Grouch. I deserve it. I'm grouchy.

Crazy- Dan calls me Crazy. I deserve it. I'm crazy.

Well, that about does it. Those are the most common ones. I don't dislike a single nickname I have. To me, nicknames are a term of endearment.

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On a different note,

Christmas is in the air.

Oh, how I love me some Christmas! I've been thinking back to the Christmas' that I've had with Dan, and I thought I'd share some pictures of our past Christmas' and some of my favorite memories from them. (Starting with last year, and moving backward.)
Caption below the picture:

This is last year; Christmas 2009.
This was Landon's first Christmas, so obviously I loved that. Some of my favorite memories about that were watching Landon devour his first Christmas cookie, taking him to the mall to see Santa, and the way he looked at the lights on the Christmas Tree. He got a walker toy from my Grandma Bonnie, and it was the first time he could actually "walk" somewhere. I've never before or since heard him laugh the way he laughed when he first got going. It was beyond adorable.

Another great memory from last year was having our first Hall Christmas at home. We went over to my parents house in the morning, but we slept at our own house on Christmas Eve, and woke up to see that Santa had found us at home! It was a really fun experience, and we've decided we want it that way every Christmas.

oChristmas 2008
These two pictures are of our first Christmas together married. I was almost 7 months pregnant with Landon and that's why I'm fat in these pictures, just in case you were wondering. I remember that on Christmas Eve, we woke up FREEZING, and when Dan went to go see how warm in was in our house, the thermostat read 43 degrees! The heater in our house broke during the night, and we were so cold. Luckily, Dan's super handy and he fixed it up ASAP.

Another memory from that Christmas that I'll never forget was our Christmas Tree. Here's the story:

I'd been telling Dan how much I wanted a tree long before the season started. We decided that we'd wait until after Christmas and buy one for really cheap. I was happy to be saving the money, but sad for the lack of pine and lights during our first Christmas married.

The day after Thanksgiving, I had to work. Dan decided he'd do some Christmas shopping while I was working, and told me to call him on my way home so he'd have time to finish wrapping/hide anything he'd bought. I called him as I pulled away from work, (I only worked about 5 blocks away at the time) and was home in a flash.

I pulled up to the side of our small house, and put the car in park. Tired from the work day, and irritated that the car hadn't warmed up before I got home, I took a deep breath, grabbed my purse and headed for the front door. I'll never forget, as long as I live, what I saw when I looked up at our house.

The shades were drawn from the large front window, and warm and inviting as a magazine, I saw the most beautiful illuminated Christmas tree I'd ever seen in my entire life. Barren of any ornaments, and missing a star on the top, I was in love with this little tree. I ran inside as fast as I could and slammed the door shut. I looked up and saw my sweet husband standing by our tree. Not bothering to take of my snow covered shoes, I ran across the room and grabbed him in a huge hug. When I pulled away, I saw tears in his eyes. His explanation was more beautiful than my tree. "I just love to see you so happy."

Christmas 2007
This was our first Christmas together. Dan and I weren't married yet, but we were engaged, and he stayed at my parents house that night to spend Christmas with us.

By far, my favorite memory of this Christmas was when we went to see the lights at Temple Square in Salt Lake City on December 15, 2007.

We had walked around for quite a while, and then we decided to go watch the nativity. After watching it about a MILLION times, I finally begged Daniel to take me to the car-I was freezing to death! He kept stalling and stalling and stalling, and finally he said we could leave, but told me he had a question to ask me first.

"Ugh. What?!" was my reply. Sweet, I know.

Then, he slid off the bench, in a fashion I could only correlate with passing out. (He'll tell the story differently. You ask him, he'll tell you he got down on one knee with not problem at all. You want the real story? Then keep reading.)

I assumed the man was sick or something.

So, I got down there with him.

"Honey, are you okay!? Are you sick?!"

Then it hit me.

I sat back up on the bench. "Alyssa Lynn Hall," he began, "Will you marry me?"

And the rest, folks, is Hall History.

Another great memory of that year, was that after Christmas, Dan drove me to Logan to pack up all of my things from my apartment there, and move home. (The top snowy picture is of the gorgeous Sardine Canyon on the way to Logan.) I left behind Utah State, lifelong friends like Lizzy, Ester, Logan (The man, not the city...), fun roommates like Linds and Airs, great friendships, the best Village Inn in the state of Utah, a terrible mall, library bagels and juice....but I left them all for my Dan, and I've never regretted the decision.
Anyway, on the way up there, I started to feel sick. We dropped off my friend Ester's late Christmas Present and by that point I was REALLY starting to feel sick.
When we got to my apartment, I knew what was coming...And then I got to see just how much my sweet husband-to-be loved me, as he held my hair while I puked my guts out.

Classy ending to the story, eh??

Well, these are some of my favorite memories from the Christmas' I've been lucky enough to share with my sweetheart.

I have a feeling this year will hold even more incredible moments that I'll never forget. I'm a lucky lady.

Peace.

Goals Plus a Shoutout!

2010-11-30T21:11:00.000-08:00

Day 18: What Are Some Plans/Goals/Dreams You Have?

I really want to write something poignant and beautiful. I want to reach deep down and pull out words that will really mean something. I want to talk about things that are important and will benefit someone. I want to impress someone with my dreams and aspirations.

But the plans/goals/dreams that I have right now, you ask? Well, I won't lie to you.

Do the damn dishes.

Lately, I feel like I've been living day to day; moment to moment, even. It's like I have to give my all to finish a simple task, and then I can begin to think about another one. I don't like that. I like when I can have my whole day, week, month, year, life all planned out. And nobody better mess with my plan!!

However, sometimes live throws a monkey wrench into our plan.

Enter: Some home boy from the hood stole my car.

(Sorry...one day I'll stop complaining about the stupid car.)

This could quite possibly be the most unchronological, irrational, unorganized pieces of writing I've ever created.

Okay, back to the point. I want to come up with all of these incredible dreams and goals. But, right now, all I want to do is clean up my house, balance the checkbook, take a shower and get into bed. I mean, of course I want to be a good mom, graduate from college, be a good example to others, blah blah blah. But ultimately, the mounds of dirty dishes in my sink seem so much more important to me than any of that.

I'm just sayin'.

Now that THAT is out of the way...I think it's about that time...time for a shout out...

This is my Grandmother Bonnie. HI! Could she GET any more gorgeous?? Why, yes. She can. She is. My Grandmother is kind, strong, and thoughtful. I'm a better person having known her. So many times, when crummy things happen in my life, I think about what Grandma Bonnie would do, and something graceful comes to mind. She's taught my mom so many incredible things, and because of her, my mom has taught me those things. I just hope to one day use them and make her proud of me.

She is always encouraging us, reminding us about the good inside of us, complimenting and building on our strengths; she has a knack for making the people around her feel loved and good. She makes everyone want to be better.

She treats everyone with dignity. But she goes above and beyond that. So many of my friends think of her as another Grandma. She's thoughtful, selfless, and good. She's so good.

I would truly, truly, love nothing more, than to one day be able to do what my Grandmother Bonnie can do now. I hope to look out at the family that I've built, the lessons I've ingrained, the memories I've created, and know that I've done well, and that the world is a better place because I was in it.

I'm in awe at the strength she posesses, not to mention the strength she's used.

The world is a better place because of my Grandmother Bonnie.

So, that's my shout out of the day...

Sometimes...

2010-11-30T13:37:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, I feel like If I have to watch "Finding Nemo" ONE MORE TIME, I might. just. DIE.

Sometimes, I love how Landon curls up to me and plays with my hair.

Sometimes, I wish dishes would magically do themselves.

Well, if things are going to magically do themselves, why stop with dishes? Homework? Yes, please. Laundry? Well, you all know I'm blogging to avoid doing that, anyway...

Sometimes, I get so excited for Christmas that I want to jump up and down like a five year old.

Here's a little glimpse of the beginning of our Christmas Adventure 2010:

Dan and Landon just finished putting the star on the tree.

Landon hanging his "Baby's First Christmas" ornament from last year.

Our sweet boy.

This year, we're not really doing too much presents wise, but I'm SO okay with that. With the stress of the car being stolen, and a few other unexpected bumps in the road, the Christmas fund had to go to other things. But that's okay! We got some goodies for Landon...and that's all that matters when it comes to presents. What I'm most excited for this year is spending time with my family, taking Landon to see Santa at the mall, going to see Christmas lights, all that fun stuff. We're enjoying the traditions we started when we got married-some passed on from my family, some from Dan's family, and some of our own-and we're excited to see Landon's face on Christmas morning.

It's going to be a GREAT Christmas.

Now, onto Day 17: If You Could Switch Lives with One Person For a Day, Who Would It Be?

This was a tough one. First, I thought of successful people or celebrities that I admire. Then, I realized who I would want to change lives with FOR JUST ONE DAY (I like my own life enough to keep it for forever, thank you very much). This is who I decided on:

If I had to trade places with someone for one day, I'd pick this handsome guy, right here. The reason is, I think it would be really interesting to live a day in my husband's shoes. He works so hard, goes to school, puts up with me, puts up with a lot of other annoying people who shall not be named, and does it all with one of the best attitudes I've ever known. He is a really good person, and my best friend in the entire world. I'd like to see what it's like to go to his classes, do his homework, do his job at work, all of the responsibilities he has...I think it would be MOST interesting.

Who would you trade places with??

Peace.

Day 16/Thankful

2010-11-25T10:55:00.001-08:00

Day 16: Another Picture of Yourself

This picture has double meaning. First of all, it's the question of the day. Second of all, today is the one year anniversary of my temple sealing to my family.

Going to the temple with my husband and my baby was the. best. decision. I. have. ever. made. The blessings of the temple have truly touched my family. We've received blessings we didn't even know we were missing out on. Now that we have them, I can't imagine a life without the comfort and blessings of the temple.

In addition, HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!

I'm so very thankful for a lot of things. But today, I want to talk about timing. Specifically, the Lord's timing.

We've been kicked in the face with a few things lately. Some are kinda tough, and I'm not really ready to talk about them. But one of the worst was that our car was stolen just the other day. Someone broke into my husband's car while he was at work, and drove away with it. The police found it-correction-found what was left of it-the next day. However, it's not driveable due to all the damages that the people who stole it inflicted on the car. I could go on and on about what they did to it, but let's just leave it at this: It's pretty bad.

The worst part? Our insurance isn't covering any of it.

I kept thinking about how the timing of the theft was just terrible. Why now? Why this time of year? Why right before Christmas??

Then, I realized something.

Enter
The Lord's Timing.

I realized that if our car was going to be stolen, now, of all time, is perfect. It's the perfect time of year for these things to be happening to us, because although there are tough things going on, we're being forced to think about all the things that we have instead of dwelling on the crummy circumstances we've been dealt.

The other night, through my tears, I told my sweet husband that I really just didn't want to learn this lesson right now. But the fact is, all these things are for our good, and we'll be better because of them. I realized that if someone is in a position to steal a car, they're probably a really sad person, and we've been praying for them, and for us-that we might forgive them.

Guess what? It's working.

I'm not nearly as bitter, I'm not nearly as sad, I'm not nearly as angry.

So, in true Thanksgiving fashion, Dan and I decided to make a list of the things we're grateful for. Among family and the like, Dan listed things like the cool mixing bowl with the little spout thingy, hot chocolate, toilet paper and that we still have one of our cars. I'm grateful that my parents are still together and in love, I'm grateful that my son wasn't in the car when they took it, and I'm grateful to know who my true friends are-the people who have really been there for me the last few days. Diana offered us her car, brought me candy and a drink, and let me cry to her. Madi remembered my temple anniversary, (BIG POINTS) and let me vent to her from far away in Alabama. I could go on and on mentioning the people who have been so kind to me and my family while we're dealing with these things, and I'm forever grateful.

So, now, I'm going to load my sweet family up in the one car we have left, Jell-o salad in tow, and head off to Thanksgiving dinner. I have so much to be grateful for. I ask that we all think about those who might not have as much as we do, and remember them not only this holiday, but throughout the year. Somehow, I doubt the people that stole my car have such a wonderful family, and such wonderful Thanksgiving surroundings. That makes me sad. I think it's important to remember that we're all in this together. It's a shame that we hurt each other. Let's all do better.

Happy Thanksgiving.
Peace.

First 10 Songs on Shuffle

2010-11-17T19:20:00.001-08:00

Day...Something
Put your Itunes on shuffle and list the first 10 songs.

I put my Itunes on shuffle...here are the results!

1. Bad Medicine-Bon Jovi

2. Next to Nothing- Breaking Benjamin

3. Defying Gravity- Wicked

4. Turandot- Pavarotti

5. Somebody Like You- Pop Evil

6. Strong Enough to Break- Hanson

7. Pie Jesu- Requiem: Andrew Lloyd Webber

8. Wasted- Carrie Underwood

9. Over and Over- Three Days Grace

10. Crash- Twelve Stones

Ha!!! I can't believe what a random list of music came from putting my Itunes on shuffle. It's a pretty accurate representation, though!!

Just a thought I'd like to throw out there: Let's all try to be a little bit kinder to each other, yes?

Peace.

My Amazing Family

2010-11-15T07:36:00.000-08:00

A Picture of You and Your Family

I have a big family...so there's going to be a lot of pictures.
There isn't a rhyme or reason to the order of the pictures, these are just some pictures of my amazing family. Enjoy...

This is my moms side of the family. This includes my Grandpa Tug, Grandmother Bonnie, Aunt Lindy and her family, Aunt Jill and her family, Uncle Mark and his family and my parents and siblings. This was taken in the fall of 2006. Grandpa Tug is a riot. Truly, he's crazy, but we love it. I love hearing his stories. I'm forever grateful that he's taken such care of my Grandma. Aunt Lindy is equally nuts, and I love it! She's so much fun to be around. Jill and Garrett are great parents, and Jill is so thoughtful. She has let me come and stay with her multiple times, and she took such good care of me when I was living in Logan going to Utah State. Mark and his family are awesome. They have adorable kids, and he's really so funny.

These are some of my sisters-in-law and nieces. From right to left is Pam, Jessica, Jordan, Allison, Michelle, Me and Shelley. This was taken in February of 2010 at the bridal shower I threw for Shelley.

This is my dads side of the family at my wedding. Pictured is my Uncle Brad and his family, my Uncle Eric and his family, Uncle Matt and his family, Uncle Nathan and his family, Aunt Marcie and her family, Aunt Krisha and her family and my parents and siblings. My Muirbrook Aunts and Uncles are really amazing. I'm so glad to be part of this family. My Uncle Brad is my dad's twin brother, and I have a really soft spot in my heart for him. I asked him to say the prayer before my wedding as well as say the prayer before the blessing of my son. He's a great person. My Uncle Eric is a riot. He can get the whole family laughing. His wife, my Aunt Erin, is awesome. She threw me a bridal shower before I got married, and helped me so much for the wedding. She's funny and crazy and thoughtful, and I love her. My Uncle Matt and his wife Brindi are great. They're awesome parents to their adorable kids, and we hate how far away they live!! Nathan and his wife, Jen are great. They have two kids, one of which is almost exactly the same age as Landon. Nathan is really funny, and Jen is so thoughtful. My Aunt Marcie is such a good person. I have a lot of great memories of her. She let me come stay with her for a week one summer when I was in Jr. High, and she was so much fun. She is a great mom, and a great example of patience and kindness. Her husband, Brett is really funny. He's a hard worker and he always has such a great attitude. I have a special place in my heart for my Aunt Krisha. She's so thoughtful and kind to everyone. She's a great teacher and she has such a good energy. She is able to just draw people to her, and she's so easy to talk to. I remember when we called to tell her I was getting married, she immediately wanted to talk to Dan and get to know him. That meant so much to me. Whenever she calls, she's so thoughtful in asking how I'm doing, and I can tell she really cares to know. My grandma Cherie is an amazing woman. She's lost two husbands, and that alone would do me in. She's very talented, and she is always creating something. She raised a great bunch of kids, all of which are active in the gospel. She did a good job. My Grandpa Bob passed away when I was little. I was the only grandchild when he passed away, and I remember him. I remember him staying with us in our house in Modesto and I remember sitting on his lap. He was an incredible man, and he set an incredible example for my dad.

This is my Hall family. Angela is my sister in law. She's the best. Everyone loves Angela, and everyone goes to her for advice and help. She's a really good person, and I just love her. Next in the picture is Seth. I don't know Seth very well because he lives the farthest away, but he's really funny and easy to get along with. Next is Charlie, my Father-in-law. He's great, and he always grows the best fruits and veggies in his garden. The next person pictured is Miss Ema. I will forever have a place in my heart for Ema. When I was in High School, I worked for Ema. She introduced me to her little brother, Daniel, and the rest is history! To the right of Ema in the picture is Adam. I really appreciate Adam. He's the oldest of the Hall boys, and he's set a really great example for my husband. Next to Adam is Kenneth. Kenneth is one of Daniel's best friends in the world. He is such a good example to Dan, and he's a great husband to his wife Shelley. Shelley isn't pictured, but she's a Hall, too! She's one of my best friends, and I'm so glad I'm able to know her. To the right of Kenny is Carla. Carla is a great person. She's a mom of two, and she works so hard to keep her kids safe, healthy and happy. She's so generous. On the bottom row starting at the far left of the picture is Melanie. Melanie is the oldest Hall child, and she's a great person. She has been through a lot, but she shows up with a smile on her face. She's very appreciative of the things she has in her life, and she's a great example to me of perseverance. Next is Nola. She's a great mom-in-law!! She can sew anything, and I mean anything!! She watches Landon for me once a week while I'm in school, and I'm so grateful to her for that! Landon loves playing at her house, and she's so sweet to him! She always makes him his favorite foods to eat and lets him "help" her sew! Her kids love her so much, and I know she must have raised them with a lot of love for how protective and appreciative of her they are. It's no easy task to raise ten kids, and she did a great job. Next to her is me and Dan, but you know us! Next to us is Joyce. Joyce is great! She is a really good mom, and always wants what's best for her kids. She teaches them respect, and she's a great example to me of that. I had the opportunity to be there when she was sealed to her family in the temple, and it was an incredible experience. I'm so glad I was able to be there. And finally, there is Pamela. Pam is a really great person. She's a single mom, full time student and also works full time. She has an incredible affinity for family, and I've been able to learn so much from her about forgiveness, family, and unconditional love. When I think about Pamela sometimes, I truly get teary eyed. I believe I've been able to see and learn about Pam in a way that some of her siblings haven't, and in a weird way, I feel blessed because of that. I've seen Pam in a different light, and she is truly a miraculous person. I have a special spot in my heart for Pam.

This picture is really special to me. This is my Grandma Bonnie reading a story to me and my cousin Carrah. Carrah is not only my cousin, but one of my best friends. She's a good person, and she's always had such a good heart. From the time we were really little, Carrah has been so thankful and sweet to everyone she meets. I'm a better person having known her. My Grandmother Bonnie is amazing. When I think of her, I think of grace. She's a good, graceful person and she exudes character.

This is my family. I feel so proud and happy typing that. This is my family. My family.

Mine.

This is the Muirbrook family.
My parents have raised us well. My dad is a great man. He is as honest and hard working as they come, I truly mean that. He has integrity and wisdom, and I know that when I go to my dad about something, he's going to give me the very best advice. I trust my dad more than anything, and I'm so lucky to have him in my life. I love you, Dad! You've done a great job! My mom is incredible. She's overcome a lot in her life, and she's accomplished even more. She's a hard worker, and good mother and one of my best friends. I'm really proud of my mom, and I love spending time with her. Aside from my husband, I'd usually rather hang out with my mom than with anyone else. That's when you know you have a great mom!

These are the Muirbrook kids. This picture was taken when we lived in California. I love this, because it reminds me of when we were little and we were all so happy. My little sister Katie is sixteen years old now. SIXTEEN! I can't believe it. She's the best. She comes to my house once a week and watches Landon for me while I'm at school. She has so many great qualities, not to mention she's GORGEOUS! We have so many fun memories of growing up, and I'm glad I was blessed with a sister like her. I think of us having sleepovers, throwing oranges, making her clean my room, etc. I was lucky to get her for a sister.

This is a picture of me and my brother, Alex holding Kevin and Katie when they were newborns. I can't believe how small the babies were! Kevin is also sixteen. He is a really loyal person, and that's such a good quality to have. He cares about people a lot. Kevin can be really, really funny. Every once in a while, he'll just come up with something hilarious, and it catches us all off guard. Kevin is such a good friend, and I love him to death! I know that I can count on Kevin, and that means a lot.

This is a picture of my family on Halloween when we were little. This was before Kevin and Katie were born when it was just me and Alex. My little brother, Alex and I have a really fun friendship. He's a funny guy, and I can really have a blast with him. Some of my favorite memories of Alex are when we're on family vacations. He gets along great with Dan, and the three of us have a lot of fun. Alex is a hard worker, and he knows what is right. Alex is smart and thoughtful. He can make me laugh so hard.

This is a video of me and my siblings when we're on the ferry on our way to see the Statue of Liberty. My dad took this video candidly, and I love how it just shows us goofing off.

Well, there you have it. These pictures fairly adequately represent my incredible family. From Muirbrooks to Magees, Bennetts to Halls, and everywhere in between. I am so blessed to have the family that I do, the siblings that I do, the parents that I do, the in-laws that I do, the cousins and grandparents that I do, Aunts and Uncles, the list goes on and on. The topic today has made me realize how blessed I am. I'm so grateful for my family.

Peace.

Day 13-What Has Hurt Me Lately?

2010-11-12T16:00:00.000-08:00

Day 13: A Letter to Someone Who Has Hurt You

I'm not opting out of this. A lot of people have, and I understand why. But I'm not. This isn't going to be a letter, though. I'm just going to talk about it.

The thing that's hurt me the most lately is suffering.

I have tried putting it in different words, calling it anger or hate or intolerance. But all of those things are just the bullets. The pain, the suffering, that's what's really hurt me lately.

I've been really emotional as of late because I've been thinking a lot about all of the people suffering. Some of my friends are suffering. Some of my family is suffering. Sometimes I'm suffering. To be honest, suffering can't really ever end. It's a necessary evil. It's a pain that we have in our lives, and without it, we wouldn't be able to recognize and love all of the happiness. I get that, I really do.

Okay, so I get that. Then what's my problem, right? If I understand why there's suffering, why am I whining about it?

Because, where is our compassion?

I see people around me, their hearts breaking, and mine breaks too. But, did I do anything about it? Did I help them? Did I let them KNOW that I was suffering with them?

I was taught growing up to mourn with those that mourn. I was taught to comfort those who need it. But am I doing what I was taught? Well, yes, I'm sad when my friends or my family is sad. But I believe there's another aspect:

Did I let them know I was mourning, too? Did I ease their burden?

When I think about all of the pain inside of the people I love, it literally brings me to tears. Yet, how dare I cry for them if I'm not willing to help them, to ease their burden, to cry WITH them, instead of just FOR them.

The suffering of the people I love is what has hurt me recently.

Now, I will write my letter.

Dear Friends and Family,
I notice when you're sad.
I owe you an apology for all of the cards I meant to make, the dinners I should have brought, the texts I should have sent, the calls I should have made.
I'm sorry for all of the good intentions that I had, that frankly meant nothing because I didn't act on them.

I will try harder.
I will be a better friend.
Love, Me

Why Do The Hall's Have a Blog?

2010-11-12T15:34:00.000-08:00

Day 12: How You Found Out About Blogger and Why You Have One

Well, I found out about Blogger...I have no clue. I really don't remember. But my reasoning for having a blog is because I want to print it out once a year, bind it, and have a family journal that my kids and grandkids can look through and remember things. It's my own little family history. Because of that, I try to discuss things that pertain to my family, my son, my husband, our lives, our trips, our everything. I want my children to remember our lives, learn from our history, be better than I am.

That's my ultimate goal.

If Landon can grow up and be a better person than I am, a better friend, a better child, a better teenager, a better student, a better spouse, a better parent; well that means that I've done my job.

Blogger is just another means of trying to teach him that.

I want nothing more than for him and the rest of my children to grow and learn from my mistakes and be better because of them. Maybe having a written history will be a stepping stone towards that. I hope that by reading these entries, my posterity will see what is most important to me. I hope they will see how much they are loved. I hope they will see how much I love my husband. I hope they will learn from my ignorance and mistakes.

Day 11/Gasoline

2010-11-10T21:24:00.000-08:00

Day 11-Another Picture of You and Your Friends

This is obviously a picture of me, my mom and my sister. I know that they're family, but they've become some of my greatest friends. We have so much fun on our shopping trips, going out to lunch or just talking.

Now that we have that out of the way, it's story time.

Today, before Dan left for school, he asked how much gas I had in my car. I told him that it was on empty and that I'd forgotten my wallet yesterday when I was out, or I'd have filled up. Him, being the sweet guy he is, said he'd run and fill up my Tahoe for me before he left so that I wouldn't have to do it.

I noticed he'd left his cell phone on the table.

An hour later, he still wasn't back.

It does not take an hour to put gas in the car.

Long story short, Dan ran out of gas on the way to fill up (yeah, we were THAT empty...), had to run a mile to the gas station, pay 16 stupid dollars for a gas can, fill up the dumb gas can, run a mile back (He was running because he had to go to class), put the gas in the Tahoe, and then drive it to the gas station to fill it the rest of the way up. He didn't have his cell phone, and the gas station wouldn't let him use their phone!

The funniest part?

Some of the section of road he had to run across was really loose gravel.

And he was wearing his slippers.

I can just picture it.

He missed class.

Slacker

2010-11-10T13:52:00.000-08:00

I'm a slacker.
I haven't blogged in FOREVER. We've been so busy!

Dan and I are tired. We're working our bums off trying to keep up with school, work, Landon and each other. I've said it a million times, so I'll spare you all a huge complain fest...let's just say we can't wait for the end of the semester.

One of my goals right now is to finish my Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving. My reason for this is because I really, really, really don't want to have the Holiday's tainted by the stress of trying to get things together for Christmas. I want to have it all in order, ready to go, and just enjoy the season. The people who know me well aren't surprised by this at all...but I just thought I'd share.

I've been slacking on my 30 Day Challenge. Instead of trying to catch up on like 5 days, I'll just keep going from where I left off and just do one a day.

To be honest, I'm kind of getting irritated with this 30 Day Challenge. I don't think, at this point, that my kids will even care to know this stuff about me. I feel awkward talking about myself so much. Nobody really cares, frankly. Oh well, I started it, so I gotta finish it.

Songs I listen to when I'm bored, happy, sad, mad, hyped.

I'm so freaking busy all the time, I don't even know what bored means.

When I'm happy, it usually means my house is clean, homework is done and dinner is made. And my cleaning/cooking music is usually John Mayer, Sarah McLaughlan, some of the slower Shinedown, chill stuff like that.

When I'm sad I don't listen to music. It's weird, I know. But when I'm sad, I want everything quiet.

When I'm mad I listen to loud stuff. Breaking Benjamin, Three Days Grace, Linkin Park, stuff like that. I listen to that when I'm hyped, too. And happy. I listen to that all the time.

When it comes to music, I'm all over the page. I like a little bit of everything. Everyone says that, but usually they don't. I really do. I love listening to Classical music and Eminem. I like Tim McGraw and The Backstreet Boys. Elvis and CCR. Bon Jovi and Broadway Musicals. I like everything.

Back to more homework...
Peace.

Day 8 and 9/Weird

2010-11-05T08:54:00.000-07:00

Day 8: Short Term Goals

My short term goals are simple.
1-Clean My House
2-Pass My Math Test
3-Pass My Psych Test
4-Get My Christmas Shopping Done Before Thanksgiving
5-Survive This Semester

Day 9: Something I'm recently proud of recently
I'm really proud of my sense of humor recently. For example, note the following story.

Weird

The other day in class, I overheard some girls talking about me.
"She's really weird.", They said.
Funny, right? I mean, I had seventh grade flash backs from when she-who-shall-not-be-named would say mean things about me behind my back. At first, when I heard their conversation, I was slightly hurt.

Why would they say that? I thought.
They don't even know who I am.

Then I realized something.
I AM WEIRD. I'M SO WEIRD.

-I wear my pajamas to class.
-I shower twice a day. (It grosses me out to go to sleep without a shower-what with all the product I use in my hair. And then I feel like I can't get ready in the morning if I haven't showered.)
-In class, I eat a little zip lock baggy full of cereal for dinner. (I have night classes.)
-I hate water.
-I'm obsessed with vacuuming.
-I love Elvis.

I mean, clearly, I'm weird.

So I'm not hurt by their comments anymore. They were right. I appreciate their honesty.
I'm weird.
I like it.

Impact

2010-11-03T11:15:00.000-07:00

A Picture of something that has had the biggest impact on you...

When I think of the word impact, I think of "all of the sudden" or "fast and hard". Like the impact from a car accident, or the impact of a bad storm. You get the idea.

There are a lot of things that have come into my life that have "changed" me. The gospel, obviously. Getting married. Being sealed to my family. Moving away from home for the first time. Learning how to take care of myself. Becoming independent. The list can go on and on...but those things seemed to be more slow moving, more gradual. I changed, yes. But all at once? Not really...

But there is one thing in my life that really impacted me. I changed, and I changed fast. I adapted, I formed to the mold required, and it was SO HARD...yet, I did it willingly. I became what I needed to become. But, did I become something different, or did my circumstances require me to expand and blossom in what I already possessed? Did my impact require a difference in personality? Or simply a building upon a foundation that was formed over time and within past experience? Regardless, it impacted me. It was fast. The impact was unexpected, although the change was not. That is the point, I suppose.

An impact is just what I needed.

My greatest impact saved me.

I'm Basically a Chef

2010-11-02T22:40:00.000-07:00

Everyone who knows me knows what an INCREDIBLE cook I am.
I see, quite often in fact, that other people post their yummy recipes on their blogs. I see all of their creative, home made, gorgeous creations and I'm always wanting to try their ideas. Then something occurred to me.

Hey, I can do that!

And so, I've decided to. Here are some of my favorite recipes. These are my families favorite things to eat, and I make them quite often. (Try to keep up with the instructions, they can get a little tricky if you aren't careful.)

This is Chicken Viola
Instructions:
Open a bag of frozen Chicken Viola
Put it in a pan
Cook it until it isn't frozen anymore

This is Lasagna
Instructions:
Take the foil off of the frozen lasagna
Put it in the oven until it isn't frozen anymore

These are my famous cupcakes:
Instructions:
Open a box of Betty Crocker Cake Mix
Mix it with eggs, water and oil.
Put them in a cupcake pan.
(Here is the tricky part)
Make sure you don't fill the cupcakes too full of batter
Cook them until they aren't batter anymore

These are my Rice Krispy Treats
Instructions:
Oops, I'm sorry, I can't divulge that information. These are a family secret! But I'll be happy to make you some if you ask nicely!

I'm basically a chef.

Peace.

Day 6/A Good Cry

2010-11-02T11:10:00.000-07:00

Day 6: Favorite Super Hero and Why?

Well, that's easy. Anyone who knows me at all knows that Spiderman is my FAVORITE super hero. He always has been. In fact, for my high school graduation, my husband (then boyfriend) got me a spiderman blanket, lamp, bed spread and sheets. I was THRILLED. And I took it away to Logan with me when I went to Utah State, and I was the coolest roommate ever because I had a spiderman bed. I have spidey Undies, coloring books, t shirts, blankets, socks, you name it. He's right up there with Elvis to me.

Okay, well now that we've established my love affair with Spiderman, today has been SUCKY and it's only noon. Here is why:

I. Am. Stressed.
I. Am. Overwhelmed.
I. Am. Tired.
and guess what else?
I. Am. Being. A. Crybaby.

Yes, that's right. I'm having a pitty party for myself.

It's not working.

I need a kick in the butt...so I'm going to do what I always do when I'm starting to feel sorry for myself.

I'm gonna get out the rubber gloves, scrubbers, bleach and lysol and I'm going to clean my house until is sparkles. Then I'm going to do my homework, all the while trying to keep Landon from messing up my newly cleaned house.

And I'll study. And I'll hope he doesn't cause World War Three in the living room while I do so.
And when he does, inevitably, mess it up, because he will, I'll be upset.
I'll be overwhelmed.
I'll be tired.

And it'll all start over again.

It's kind of funny, really.

Day 5-Somewhere I've been

2010-11-01T10:56:00.000-07:00

Day 5-Somewhere I've Been

It's hard for me to choose just one place. I've been so many places, at so many different times in my life with so many different people. I've only been on this earth 21 years, and I've still had so many opportunities to see things, experience things, be part of something that's different than what I'm used to on a daily basis. These are just a few of them:

I have been to Graceland. I was on a choir tour, and my mom came with me. This was important to me because my mom and I got a lot closer on this trip, and we have memories that will last forever.
I've been to Camden Yards to see a baseball game in Baltimore with my family.
I've been at the gates of the White House in Washington DC

I've been at the beach on my honeymoon with my sweetheart just after we got married.

I've been to Disneyland with my husband on our honeymoon just after we got married.

I've been to Disneyworld in Florida with my amazing family. (Including Landon-not pictured.)

I've been to a Giants game with my dad when I was little. It was such a little thing, but growing up I've realized what it means to take your kids to things like that. I realize that it's not free, it's not easy, your kids fight, you wonder if it was even worth it, they get bored and want to go home, but the fact is, it matters. And this place, this picture represents that. It matters.
And lastly, I've been to the temple to be sealed to my sweet family. It was the best choice and best experience I've ever had.

So, those are some of the places I've been. I've been to a lot of other places, also. I've seen Wicked on Broadway in New York City, I've stood at the top of the empire state building, I've seen ground zero, I've been to the Boston Harbor, I've been to Niagara Falls, I've been in the room Joseph Smith was killed in, I've sung at Liberty Jail, I've sung 'Joseph Smith's First Prayer' just outside of the Sacred Grove, I've been caught in a tornado warning in Atalanta, I stayed with a purely Spanish speaking family in the middle of Mexico for a week (without my family), I've toured Alcatraz, I've been on the Golden Gate Bridge, I've walked down the aisle in front of my family and closest friends, I've been in a hospital bed and given birth to a perfect baby boy and I've done all of those things in just 21 years of life. I've also been to some places that aren't so great. I've been alone, I've been scared, I've been in big trouble, I've been disappointed. I've been disappointING. I've been stuck, but I've been okay. I've survived.

There are a lot of things I still want to do. There are a lot of things I should have already done, but I've lived, and I've been places. Good places, bad places, physical places, mental places. I've been places.

Day 4-Habits/Halloween

2010-10-31T18:22:00.000-07:00

Day 4: A Bad Habit
Well, I'm sure I have lots of bad habits. Dan says my worst habit is that I leave my bobby pins laying around-but I don't think I'm that bad at it. ;)
I'd say my worst habit is being critical. I'm very, very critical of myself. I hold myself to a standard that really isn't realistic, and when I don't reach it, I tend to beat myself up about it...which isn't good. I've been really trying lately to be nicer to myself.

Another bad habit that I have is that I get really tense. I stress-a lot. Sometimes I'll catch myself being so tense that my jaw and hands will get sore because I'll go hours without relaxing them. Ridiculous-I know.

Well, aside from that, we had a SUPER fun Halloween. We went to Grandma and Grandpa Hall's house and went to the Trunk-Or-Treat for their ward. Landon LOVED seeing his cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandparents. Everyone was dressed up so cute, and I loved watching Landon. He would go up to the different cars and we'd tell him to say "Trick-or-treat" and he would stick out his hand and say it, waiting for his treats.

Here are some of the pictures we took:

Landon and Daniel all dressed up for Halloween-Landon was a puppy and Dan was the cookie monster. I was Oscar the Grouch...fitting, I know.

Here's Landon with his treat bucket trying to take off his puppy costume.

Landon and his loot!!

Here's a little video of Landon after we got done Trick-or-treating. He's too funny.

Day 3-Friends

2010-10-30T14:59:00.000-07:00

Day 3: Picture of Me and My Friends
This is no easy task. This will involve a few pictures...
First of all, my parents, my grandparents, my aunts and uncles and my siblings are my friends...but for times sake, they're not getting pictures. :)

This is miss Ester. I've known her since I was like a Sophomore in High School. She's truly one of the best people I know. No matter how long we go in between seeing each other, we can pick up RIGHT where we left off. I'll love her forever! (And our husbands get along!!! That's just a bonus!)

Wow, when the 4 of us get together...it gets crazy. Nuff Said.

You know you're good friends when you go see the BACKSTREET BOYS together!!!

No caption Necessary...

My maid of honor. This is Carrah. She's been there my whole life. She's amazing, and anyone who knows her is better for it.

These are some of my greatest friends in the whole world. This is the day we were sealed as a family. Kenneth and Shelley are amazing. Kenneth and Daniel are brothers, and they are also best of friends. Shelley and I get along so well, and I'm forever grateful that she's my sister now. Mary and Casey are some of our great friends also. They are really good people, and we're glad to know them. Lizzy is the best. I've known her forever, and we were roommates at USU. She's such a great example of what it means to do the right thing, and I love her for it. Madi is my girl. Everyone knows it. Josh and Diana are some of our greatest friends in the world. We'd be lost without them. Diana has been my safe place to fall too many times to count, and Josh and Dan get along so well!! We love being with them and their family.

This is us with Josh and Diana at Landon's baby blessing. Josh stood in the circle with Daniel along with Dan's brothers, my uncles, my grandpa and our dads. Josh and Diana are family to us, and we would be lost without them!

Brian and Holli are just like family to us, also. And the 4 of us sure know how to party!!! We love them so much, and no matter how long we go without seeing them, we pick up right where we left off. They are the kind of people that we know, right or wrong, they'll have our backs. And the same goes for them.

And this man, right here, he is my BEST FRIEND on the PLANET. I cannot find the words to explain how much he means to me, or how much fun we have together. When nobody else knows what to say, he does. When nobody else knows what to do, he does. When nobody else can make me laugh, he can. When nobody else understands, he will. I love him more than anything, and knowing he is mine forever is all I need.

Well, folks, these are my friends. (Minus kelly, she doesn't let me take pictures of her...And my mom, but I assume there will be a family question. I'll save her for that.)

I love them all very much, and they all have a very significant part in my life.

Day 2 and Halloween Fun

2010-10-29T22:54:00.000-07:00

Day 2:
The Meaning Behind Your Blog Name

This question is ridiculous. I'm actually not even going to answer it because it's so ridiculous.

Today, we had some awesome Halloween fun! Grandma Lisa came over and took Landon to the pumpkin patch. He chose his own "bumpins" and it was beyond adorable. Then, we got all dressed up in our costumes and went to a Halloween party at Josh and Diana's house. Landon LOVES "Aunt Ninana", and had a blast!! So did we; they are great hosts'. Pictures from that to come tomorrow, along with Landon's first trick-or-treating update. We're going to a Trunk-or-Treat with the Hall's tomorrow, followed by some real deal Trick-or-Treating with Aunt Diana and Cousin Izzy. It should be a blast.

After the party, we swung by Grandma Cherie's house to see some family. I've mentioned it before, but I'm so proud and lucky to be a Muirbrook. I love my family. There is a picture of my late Grandpa Bob up in my parents house, and whenever we pass it, I tell him who it is. Today, at Grandma Cherie's, we walked past a copy of the same picture and Landon pointed to it and said, "Bamba Bob!". I was beaming with pride. :)

Until tomorrow...

Alright, Alright...I Give In

2010-10-28T13:41:00.000-07:00

Okay, okay. I'll do it. This has been floating around the blogging world for quite a while now, and I guess I'll jump on and join the trend. Hey, my kids might get a kick out of knowing these things about their mom one day down the road...who knows. Anyway, I'm by nature awkward and feel stupid when I talk about myself (I know, hard to believe). I do better when I'm relating myself to someone else or an experience that has meaning...but I feel awkward when I just TALK about MYSELF for no reason other than to TALK about MYSELF...I'll have to incorporate others a little bit here so that this doesn't get annoying. We'll just have to see how this goes...

Here's the agenda:

Day 1-Recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself
Day 2-The meaning behind your Blog name
Day 3-A picture of you and your friends
Day 4-A habit that you wish you didn't have
Day 5-A picture of somewhere you've been to
Day 6-Favorite super hero and why
Day 7-A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you
Day 8-Short term goals for this month and when you'll accomplish them
Day 9-Something you're proud of in the past few days
Day 10-Songs you listen to when you're bored, happy, sad, mad, hyped
Day 11-Another picture of you and your friends
Day 12-How you found out about blogger and why you have one
Day 13-A letter to someone who has hurt you recently
Day 14-'A picture of you and your family
Day 15-Put your ipod or shuffle on-first 10 songs that play
Day 16-Another picture of yourself
Day 17-Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why
Day 18-Plans/dreams/goals you have
Day 19-Nicknames you have and why you have them
Day 20-Someone you see yourself marrying or being with in the future
Day 21-A picture of something that makes you happy
Day 22-What makes you different from everyone else
Day 23-Something you crave for a lot
Day 24-A letter to your parents
Day 25-What I would find in your bag
Day 26-What do you think about your friends
Day 27-Why you are doing this 30 day challenge
Day 28-A picture of you from last year and now-how have you changed?
Day 29-In this past month, what have you learned?
Day 30-Your favorite song

Alrighty, folks.
DAY ONE:

Well, I'm a mommy so I spend most of my camera time snapping pictures of my kiddo. And I'm sorry, I'm just gonna throw this out there...I feel SOOOOOOOOO ridiculous taking pictures of myself. Take a picture of myself when there's somebody with me? No problem. But just me??? What am I trying to prove? That I'm having a good hair day? I don't know...I'm a brat. Anyway, this is the best I could come up with. It was a while ago, but oh well...

This was me last summer about to walk into a concert with my friends. I'm a dork...whatever.
15 Interesting Facts:
I'm not very interesting but here goes:
1. I was married and had a baby before I was done being a teenager.
2. I'm a student at UVU majoring in English/Journalism
3. I am married to a really great guy-as we speak he's doing the dishes.
4. I'm crazy when it comes to managing money. I'm super exact about writing down every dime I spend, double checking it online, etc.
5. I can EAT. I mean, I can EAT. I out eat my husband sometimes...which is really saying something.
6. I love to shop. Sometimes, even if all I buy is a tube of chapstick, I get a little adrenaline rush from just BUYING something.
7. I have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. No, really. I was diagnosed. That's why I'm crazy about money...and dusting. I HATE dust.
8. I tend to turn even the most serious of issues into a joke. Usually, and VERY inopportune times.
9. I am most relaxed when all my homework is done, the house is spotless, (I mean SPOTLESS), my child is napping and I'm reading a good book. (This rarely happens.)
10. I'm the oldest in my family-which is probably why I'm so bossy.
11. I'm really honest and blunt. I'm not rude, though. (at least I try not to be.) I try to say what needs to be said with tact and class, and if it's not nice, I try not to say it. However, if you ask my opinion...I'll tell you. And I'll tell you the truth.
12. Along with that, if you offend me, I will tell you. But I'll tell you politely. (For example: "Would you mind not calling later than midnight? I know you're super busy and you're up late, so you probably didn't notice, but my little boy goes to bed before that, and my phone rings loudly." - Yes, this happened last week.) (Side note: Those of you who are allowed to call me any time of the night know who you are.)
13. Me and my husband wear the same kind of socks. I say they're unisex...technically they're man socks.
14. I price match at wal-mart.
15. I'm a beast when I'm hungry. Most of my fights with my husband happen when I'm hungry. Now, when we start getting irritated with eachother, he'll toss me a granola bar or something. I can take a hint.

I feel awkward-like none of that is going to interest anyone. Oh, well. Like I've said a thousand times, this is for my kids...maybe they'll think it's interesting.

Peace.

Where Were You?

2010-09-11T21:15:00.000-07:00

One day, my son will look up at me and say something to the effect of “Mommy, you were alive on 9/11. Do you remember that day?” This is what I hope to tell him.

I don't remember much of anything about that morning before my mom got the phone call. My Uncle Eric called to tell us what had happened, but I don't even really remember the phone ringing. I just remember her face, and the tone in her voice when she said, “Turn on the TV.” Her voice was steady and stern. Ironically, I wasn't scared. I was just curious.

I'll never forget what I saw when the TV flickered on. I saw the two towers, both still standing, and I saw one of the planes sticking out of the first tower.

We were late to school that day. We were never late to school.

My first period class was English. It was Mr. Buck's class, and I remember my friends Madi and Keaton were in that class with me. At this point, I still didn't realize what a huge deal it was. I likened it to the Oklahoma City Bombing where maybe a few hundred were killed. I had no comprehension of Al Quaida or terrorism at all, for that matter. I didn't understand it. My naivety was possibly to my advantage at this point, as had I known what was happening to our country, I don't know if I would have been able to handle it.

One of the most disturbing things to see were the people jumping off the top of the building. This really affected me. I couldn't understand why they didn't try to get out. I've later come to understand what shear panic can do to the human brain.

At this point, I started to liken it unto Pearl Harbor. I didn't think it was quite as bad as that attack, though. (as far as fatalities go.) This just goes to show how much I really didn't understand.

I was in my second class when the second tower fell. I watched it fall on TV. It was Mrs. Poulson's Drama class. I'll never forget what it looked like watching the tower fall live. I could and have seen it multiple times replayed on TV or History Channel specials, but there is nothing like watching it live and knowing people were still inside. When I watched it, I remember thinking that it almost looked similar to the sight of the A-Bomb in Hiroshima. I know that they were different. I know that it's comparing apples to oranges. But that's what I remember thinking. I find that ironic.

One of my teachers, later on in the day, told me to write it down in my journal. He told me that it was a big deal, and that I'd want to remember where I was when this happened to our country. At this point, I realized that I would grow up telling my children about this experience.

I remember that the Pentagon was also hit, and one high-jacked plane landed in a field. I remember that nobody's cell phones in New York would work because everyone was trying to call their families all at the same time.

I was touched when I found out about all of the people who turned on their phones on the airplane, knowing they were going to go down with the terrorists, and they called their families to say 'I love you' and 'Goodbye'. I know they were thinking about their babies, their wives, their husbands, their parents. You can't help but put yourself on the plane hypothetically. It's heart wrenching. If I were on that plane, what would I leave on the answering machine for my son? What would my last words to my sweetheart be? I'd like to think I'd tell them to have soft hearts, not be bitter, love and hold and take care of one another, and to be good, respectful people. But maybe all I'd say was 'I love you'.

Another thing that really got to me was all of the people who survived the collapse of the towers, but were stuck beneath the rubble. For weeks, New York Fire Department and Police Department were digging through the shrapnel and pulling survivors from their potential terroristic graves. I remember the news showing the state of New York City on the days that followed. I remember seeing a sign held by an older, heavyset woman. The sign read, ”Pray For Stacie.” I don't know who Stacie was, I don't know if they ever found her. But I never forgot that. I never will.

I believe it was March 17^th, the March after the attack. I remember because I think it was just a few days after my birthday. I was at the ice skating rink with my church group, and my mom was there. I was wearing a purple shirt.

I knew that President Bush was speaking to the country that night. My mom called me over to the side of the rink and I left my friends for a minute. She told me, “The President just declared war.” I knew I'd never forget that moment. I thought back about the time, when I was about ten years old, that President Clinton bombed Iraq. That night I was walking home from a friends house who lived just down the street. I looked up at the sky, almost thinking maybe I'd see the bombs flying across the stars. When I didn't, I was relieved, and I thought everything was fine. My feelings, back at the ice rink, were similar. But this time, I knew it wasn't just looking for bombs in the sky. I knew that people were going to die. Correction; More people were going to die.

September 11^th changed the makeup of this country.

It changed the way we travel. You can't even take nail clippers on an air plane with you.

It changed the way we discriminate-as I think all times of war do. In WWII, we set up camps for the Japanese-Americans. I'd like to think we're a little more civilized than that now, yet when some Americans see a middle eastern man or woman walking down the street, they tend to be scared. Call it reflex, I call it ignorance. Either way, Muslims in America now deal with a terroristic subtitle.

It changed our very every day lives. Be it economically, morally, spiritually, or what have you. America is fundamentally different. I understand what a blanket, bold statement that is. But I stand by it.

Right now, at this moment, on this day, the war is still raging. I know soldiers who have left their families, wives, children, friends, etc. to serve our country and combat the War on Terrorism. There are people I love dearly fighting for my freedom and my safety. They're sacrificing their lives to keep my son safe. Landon sleeps in his bed right now, silently, peacefully and most importantly safely. I will lay my head down tonight, and I won't be scared about walking down the street tomorrow. I won't be scared to go go the store, or to open my windows. I won't be worried about breaking laws by disagreeing with our government, and I'll honor that freedom and liberty by disagreeing with all the respect and esteem in the world for the offices and government positions.

My son, my husband nor I have ever had to fight for our American liberty. Good, selfless, honorable men and woman leave their homes and lives to do that for us. They do that so that we might spend our days pursuing our happiness. How disrespectful, how downright ignorant of us to forget that?

These are the things that I will tell my son. And I hope he never has to witness something so horrific and morbid in order to fully appreciate what he was born into. He was born without a fight. September 11^th reminded me of that. So no, I'll never, ever forget where I was the moment I saw those smoke filled towers. I was home. I was safe.

Summer Lovin'

2010-08-01T14:00:00.000-07:00

Landon wants to be just like his daddy.
That is just fine with me.

I love my boys! :)

I'm Too Young

2010-07-20T20:37:00.000-07:00

Today was one of those days where my age slapped me right in the face.
I'm 21 years old.
By the time I was 18 I was living on my own and was engaged to be married.
By the time I was 19 I was a wife and a mother, and had dealt with some of the heaviest things I thought I could handle.
By the time I was 20 I was an expert at changing diapers, doing laundry, keeping house, cooking meals, making bottles and singing lullaby's...and I had dealt with even heavier stuff than before.

And then today, I thought about what a "normal" 21 year old girl might be doing, thinking about, etc.
Diapers or dates?
Grocery shopping or parties?

You get the idea.

And I started to have a pity party.
And I started feeling like I missed out on a lot.
And I started feeling like the grass was greener on the other side.
And I started feeling like I should have experienced more "life".

And then Landon, with his perfect innocent timing, climbed up into my lap, rested his cheek on mine, and put his sweet little chubby hand on my face and said 'mama'.

You can't experience any more life than that.

I have it all.

Freedom Days

2010-07-16T12:30:00.000-07:00

This year, for the 4th of July, we spent the whole weekend celebrating with family. Since the 4th landed on a Sunday, the fun started on Saturday. We went to watch the fireworks with Kenneth, Shelley, my mom, dad, and little brother Kevin. We had treats and games and loved watching Landon play in the grass before the fireworks. On Sunday, Kenneth and Shelley came to my parents house for a BBQ. Monday morning, following tradition, we went out to breakfast and went to watch the parade with Kenneth and Shelley. Landon LOVED the parade, and he wouldn't leave Shelley's lap, except to kick her out of her chair and sit in it alone!

It was a great weekend, and I was happy to have a reminder of the freedoms we take for granted every single day. I'm grateful for the people who fight for our country. We're so thankful for them. One of Daniel's best friends, Cody, is over seas right now sacrificing for us, as well as Dave (We love you, Heather!!). We can't thank them or their families enough for what they're doing. It's very fitting that Provo city has dubbed that weekend Freedom Days.

Landon cuddling up with Shelley during the parade.

The Hall Family after the parade

Dan and Lyss

Landon pointing at the horses.

My 4th of July cupcakes. :)

Landon and Mommy's Weekend

2010-06-27T13:30:00.000-07:00

Saturday:
Yesterday was the kind of day where you throw on your favorite sunglasses and roll the windows down. And I did.

Landon and I slept in, naturally. After we laid around for a while, we headed off to the pool!! With suits on, and beach bag in tow, we ventured out to pick up Madi and Kimber.

Landon LOVED the water. His favorite part was to stand on the edge of the pool, count to three, and then jump into the water. (with me catching him, of course.) He's such a little fishy-I dare say we'll have to put him in swimming lessons next year. He was FEARLESS.

Taking a break from the water and eating a churro. :)

He LOVED the water spraying him right in the face. It was hilarious.

Kimber and Landon couldn't WAIT to go get in the 'wah-wah'.

Landon showing us his muscles. He's the funniest kid I've ever seen.

Then we got home right about when Dan was pulling in from work. Perfect timing! :) Landon was so worn out from swimming all day that he walked inside, laid down on the living room floor and fell right to sleep. It gave me a chance to get showered and make dinner. After dinner, I gave Landon a bath and my sweet, amazing hubby did all the dishes! (MAJOR points.) Then we took Landon for a walk and got snow cones.

Needless to say, it was the PERFECT summer day.

Plus, I got a tan.

Holla.

And that brings us to today!
Sunday:

Daniel has to work during the day on Sundays. It's hard for me to go to church alone, and I won't lie: every Sunday morning I lay in bed and consider blowing it off. Then I think about Landon and I decide I need to be an example to him-or something like that. So we go.

Today we walked in and it was PACKED. I couldn't find us a seat and I struggled with holding onto Landon and unfolding a metal chair to sit at in the back. It was really awkward-I could feel all these eyes full of pity on the poor girl at church alone trying to unfold a chair and hold onto her son. You see, we haven't been in the ward long, and we don't really know anyone. I know that everyone wonders where my husband is every week and why I'm there by myself. I swear-not five minutes goes by without me reminding myself AGAIN:

It doesn't matter what anybody thinks. You're at church for yourself and for your son.

You see, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know when you're being judged...One day I'm going to show up with a huge sign around my neck that says:
"ATTENTION ALL WARD MEMBERS: I AM NOT A SINGLE MOTHER. NOBODY NEEDS TO FEEL SORRY FOR ME. MY HUSBAND IS NOT A DEAD BEAT-HE IS AT WORK. HOWEVER, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO HELP ME UNFOLD THE METAL CHAIR NEXT TIME, INSTEAD OF JUST WATCHING ME DO IT. ALSO, PLEASE STOP JUDGING ME WHEN I LET MY SON EAT FRUIT SNACKS THAT FELL ON THE GROUND, AND I APOLOGISE IN ADVANCE FOR ANY TANTRUMS THAT MAY OR MAY NOT BE THROWN ON ANY GIVEN SABBATH. THANK YOU, AND SORRY FOR ANY INCONVENIENCES."

Just sayin'.

And today was no exception. Landon was having fits. He kept shaking his finger and saying, 'No, no, no." to the old man next to us and every once in a while he'd spit out his half chewed up fruit snack and walk over and show it to him and laugh. By the time the closing song came on, Landon had HAD IT. He was exhausted, ready for a nap, hungry and bored.

Picture this:
I'm holding him in my lap, waiting for the song to start. He's arching his back and wiggling like crazy, causing my dress to inch up. This causes me to try to hold onto him, keep my dress down so I don't flash said old man next to us, and open the hymn book to the right page.

Enter hymn. "Where Can I Turn For Peace?"

Hilarious.

I'm trying to sing the words to the song, hold onto Landon, cover his mouth to keep his screaming to a dull minimum, ignore the irritated/pitiful looks from those around me, decide if I should just take him out, strike that-decide if I should just LEAVE, and all Landon wants to do is stick his fruit snacks down the front of my dress.

I'm singing the words to the song and I just can't hold it in anymore.
"Where can I turn for peace? Where is my solace?" It's laugh or cry, laugh or cry, laugh or cry.

I bust up laughing.

Happy Sunday, all.

The Manti Pageant

2010-06-25T10:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we went to the Manti Pageant with Josh and Diana. We honestly had a BLAST! It was so much fun. Diana and I are lucky women to have such amazing husbands-what with Dan thinking he's a ninja and Josh knocking old ladies out of the way with his homeless backpack. (Kidding-we love them!)

But on a more serious note-the pageant itself was really amazing. I was really hit hard when they showed Christ appearing to the Americans after he was resurrected. The part where they said, "He blessed their children." really got to me. I realized something: After all that He'd been through, before He went back to His Father in Heaven, He wanted to serve these people. It was first and foremost a really great example of service and what it means. But MORE than that, I realized that one of the biggest acts of service that Christ could do for these people was to bless their children. I'm not sure if that makes sense to anyone else, but to me it was really amazing. As a mom, all that really matters when it comes right down to it, is the comfort, experiences, health, etc of your children. The scriptures don't say, "And Christ blessed all of them." It says, "He blessed their children." I'm sure that a lot of that has to do with the innocence and love Jesus has for little children. But I like to think that it also had something to do with what those blessings would mean to the parents.

Also, at the very end when they had the temple all lit up, I kept thinking about how grateful I am that I get to be with Daniel forever-and all of that is because of the temple. To me, the strength, beauty, peace, purity, and solidarity of the temple represents what our family should be. The temple makes it possible to never have to be alone. I love that.

All in all, it was a great night and a great experience with great friends.

The beautiful Manti Temple

Diana, Landon and Me.

I love this girl!!!

The Hall Family

"When the great pyramids are nothing but sand, the family will still be standing."

BSB

2010-06-24T00:10:00.001-07:00

Those who know me know that I have a deep and integral love for ALL MUSIC-old, new, rap, country, blues, pop, gospel, classical, alternative, hard rock, metal, classic rock, you name it. Now I've been to a lot of concerts-most of which are the kind that I have to be sure to wear close toed shoes so I don't get smashed, and I come home with bruises from pushing my way to the front. However, I am VERY proud to say that I, along with two of my favorite people, attended one of the greatest events ever. I went to a Backstreet Boys Concert-and had the time of my life!! I could go on and on about the concert, but instead I figured I'd just list a few of the highlights:

Best Friends.
Thirteenth Row.
Psycho Homeless Men Who Sing Billy Jean.
"I should have brought my knife!"
Cameras In Scary Places.
I Almost Got In a Fight...(Someone grabbed my butt...just sayin'.)
The Gay Man Behind Us-Who Was Hilarious and In Love With Brian
The REALLY Great Dancer In Front of Us (note my sarcasm)
Learning Not To Stand On Chairs (no matter how excited you are.)
50 in a 65
"Are they gonna sing Bye Bye Bye?"
Humiliating Myself in a Very Large Crowd of Drunk People
"It's assigned seating, you don't need to rush."-girls with bad seats "MOVE IT!"-us

And...
Songs including but not limited to:
"As Long As You Love Me"
"The Call"
"Bigger"
"Everybody"
"Larger Than Life"
"Incomplete"

It really doesn't get any better than that.
I love you guys. (And Diana and Emily, I love you guys too.)

The Backstreet Boys!

Diana, Em and Me

I'm getting ready to walk into the same building that The Backstreet Boys are in!!

I had the time of my life!! I'll never forget it! I love you girls!

(and in case you're wondering how we acted during said concert-note emily's excitement. Pretty much sums it up for the 3 of us!)

Remember This?

2010-06-21T22:20:00.001-07:00

Let me paint a picture for you:

Remember when you were growing up and it was bedtime? Remember brushing teeth, saying prayers, getting that last glass of water, and being tucked into bed? (If you were lucky, you got a story.)

Remember laying there, and hearing muffled noise from the TV? Maybe your parents chuckling a little bit here and there? Or watching the blueish colors from said TV bouncing off the walls just outside your bedroom?

Remember being unable to stand it?

So you slink out of bed and tiptoe to your door. You stand at the slightly opened door for a few minutes, breathing ever so carefully, and listening to what kind of magic might be going on outside your room. It was the mystery of bedtime. WHAT did they do once they put you to bed??!!

So you walk outside of your room, rubbing your eyes. And there they were. Those traitors. They were watching TV, probably a 'too mature for little ears' sitcom or something like that. They're sipping soda!! Unbelievable. They're eating ice cream!! All of this is done without you. You better hurry...they've seen you and they're sitting up a little straighter.

"What do you need? It's past bedtime."

THINK FAST!! They're gonna send you back to bed! Your chances of watching the show and getting some of the 'adult' ice cream is slipping right through your fingers. (Why is it the adults get ice cream with candy in it? Or strawberries? Kids have to have the cheap vanilla...it's just not fair.) Your mind is racing. Your heart is pounding. You know if you don't hurry you'll have to go back to bed empty handed and pride bruised.

"Um, I had a bad dream."

You went with the bad dream excuse?! Ugh. Smooth, kid. Real smooth. Alright, the excuse was planted. Best run with it...

But it's no dinero...They didn't buy it.

You get a hug and a kiss. You get another 'last' drink of water. Dad checks for monsters and you get back in bed.

Fail!!

Remember that? Remember being that kid? Remember those parents?

Well...

Haha...Now I'm the parent. It's 11:30 at night and I've got my bowl of ice cream, my Law and Order re-runs, and I'm sipping my caffeine filled Dr. Pepper out of a crazy straw. And there's nobody telling me I can't. I'm the mom now!! And I'm loving it. I earned it from all the nights I was laying in bed, jealous of mom and dad!

Oh, dang. I better go. I have to get up for work early in the morning. Daniel says it's time for bed...

Fail!!

Worth

2010-06-18T23:02:00.000-07:00

"There's something buried in the words." -Breaking Benjamin
Inspiration at the present moment:

"You are the trip I did not take.
You are the pearls I cannot buy.
You are my blue Italian lake.
You are my piece of foreign sky."
-Anne Campbell

This little boy is SO worth it.

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"I'm standing here until you make me move. I'm hanging by a moment here with you...And I don't know what I'm diving into. I'm hanging by a moment here with you."
-Lifehouse

He's stood by me through more than any of you will ever know. He never flinched.
He is MORE than worth it.

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"I once was lost. But now I'm found...Now I see."
-Amazing Grace

Forever? Worth it.

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"Come and take my breath away, but look me straight in the face. Because you know it's over."
-Breaking Benjamin

The tough stuff? I'm tougher. I don't look like much, but I'm a fighter. Bring it on.

I hope I'm worth it.

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"Give me a sign. There's something buried in the words."
-Breaking Benjamin
What's worth it to you?

What is grace?

2010-06-18T13:59:00.000-07:00

Today is my Grandmothers Birthday. This woman is incredible. Her story is the ultimate triumph, and her and my Grandpa's love story is nothing less than adorable. She is one of the strongest, kindest most graceful women I've ever known. My Grandmother is the epitome of grace.

These are the memories Dan and I put in her surprise birthday scrapbook:

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When I think of Grandmother Bonnie, a lot of different memories come to mind.

Pearls, polka dots, silk flowers, the color blue, the smell of clinique makeup, Dove soap, coconut cupcakes and home made gravy are just a few of the things that remind me of her. But I have a few favorite memories.

I remember living in California and Grandma and Grandpa flew into town for my baptism. I remember thinking it was so cool that they would fly all the way to Hilmar to be part of my baptism.

I loved when Grandma would take us on walks. She would tell us about her mom and her grandmother, and I loved hearing about my mom when she was little. She was always telling us how important it was to get an education, and that we'd better not get married too young!!

I love that at Christmastime, I can always count on going to see The Nutcracker with Grandma and my sister. It's a tradition I look forward to every year, even if it means watching it on VHS in Grandma's basement!! (To be honest, that was probably my favorite year!) My favorite part of the outing is just knowing that I get to spend a night with my sister and my grandma.

Another of my favorite memories is getting married wearing Grandma's pearls. Whenever I see pearls, I think of Grandmother Bonnie. She gave me my first pair for Christmas one year and I always think of her whenever I wear them.

I love how on our birthdays grandma always calls us and sings 'Happy Birthday' It's something we can always count on, and I love it!! It's my favorite part of my birthday.

Grandma is such a great example of grace and kindness to me. I'll always remember the time that she told me, “Doing what you don't want to do, and doing it gracefully builds character.”

Happy Birthday, Grandma. We love you so much!!!

Love, Alyssa

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My favorite memories of Grandma are when she bought us a magic bullet for our wedding, when she included me at Christmas before Lyss and I were even married, and when she calls Grandpa 'Ovid' when she's mad or embarrassed by him. I love when I get to spend Sunday dinners with her. She always remembers my birthday and she makes Lyss happy. Thanks for making me feel like your own. Happy Birthday!

Love, Daniel

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We love you, Grandma. Enjoy this year. YOU HAVE EARNED IT!!!

Game Over

2010-05-22T09:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I was inspired by Nintendo. Dan's a big lover of Mario Cart...always has been. I, on the other hand, lose terribly every single time.
My issues with Mario Cart are as follows: -I get stuck going around and around in circles and can't, for the life of me, get my little man to go straight ahead. -I know that I'll get more points if I jump over stuff, but when I try to jump, I always land in lava or on top of a fire ball or something. -Everyone always laps me when we're racing, so I get discouraged... -The list goes on and on...but I'm not really in the business of making a fool of myself today.
Well, in true Alyssa fashion, I got to thinking.
I realized, as Mario Cart is, such is life.
Sometimes we get stuck going around and around in circles. We can't get ourselves on the right path. And sometimes we try to get more points in life by doing bigger and better things, but then we fail. And sometimes it feels like everyone around us is a lap ahead of us. That's pretty discouraging, and frankly embarrassing. Sometimes we just make complete fools of ourselves in front of everyone.
And one minute, you're racing around, you're snatching up coins left and right, you're jumping over lava pits and clearing oceans of water in single bounds; I mean you are on FIRE. And then...you just didn't see that banana peel coming...GAME OVER.
I was talking to Dan last night about this. You know, life is so short. Are we living it the way we should be? How easily could I crawl into my bed tonight and have a massive blood explosion in my brain and then its GAME OVER for me. Did I live my life in a way that left something beautiful behind? Did I contribute?
I'm okay with GAME OVER, because I know that it's not really OVER for me. My husband and I are stuck together for all of eternity. And so is Landon. And one day, he'll get stuck to a lovely lady...(I'm not sure I'll handle that well. She won't know how he likes his eggs...)
I'm going to snuggle with Landon more. I'm going to let him take longer baths and play with the bubbles. I'm going to write more love notes. I'm going to paint my nails more. I'm going to dance around the living room with Landon more. I'm going to try to really APPRECIATE the beautiful life that God gave us.

Because, frankly, those banana peels can come out of nowhere...and then, it's GAME OVER.

"...It Is Still a Beautiful World."

2010-05-20T12:53:00.000-07:00

Watch the inspiration for this post here. (So you'll know what I'm talking about) For those of you who just don't want to, it's a news cast of Miss America vs. Miss USA and what they stand for-especially in light of recent crap from Miss USA. Okay, just watch it. It's like 3 minutes...

"With all it's sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world."
I wanted to write about this because it's something I've been thinking about a lot lately. Not pageants, but beauty. And when I ran across this video, all my thoughts sort of came together. Like I've said a million times, I decided to blog for my posterity...so that they'll have a history of my family and my values to look to after I'm gone. And that's part of why I feel like this is such an important thing to talk about.

Frankly, I know next to nothing about pageants. With all do respect, I don't really care to, except that one of my best friends was pretty involved, and I support her. Other than that, I really only like watching the singing parts of the talent portion of Miss America. (And watching people butcher the interview parts-seriously...stupidity is another post entirely.) But I want to mention one more time, this isn't about pageants. This is about what beauty is, what it is to the world, what it is to me, and what it SHOULD be.

Okay, okay. So it's common thought that 'beauty comes from the inside' is just something that ugly people say. And I'll give it to you that sometimes you just can't help people that won't help themselves. (i.e. brushing of teeth, combing of hair....hi, BATHE MUCH?! We all know these people.) But let's put all of that aside for a minute. If you will, dig a little bit deeper with me, just for a few minutes. Block out the homework you should be doing, the dishes festering in the sink, the kids pulling at your leg-block it all out for just a moment, and dig deeper. Go somewhere deeper. This is what beauty is to me:

Beauty is confidence, even when there's clear reasons not to have any.. It's beautiful to me when someone can hold their head high in the face of hardship. We would be wise to "...nurture strength of spirit to guide (us) in misfortune" and to remember that "You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars, and you have a right to be here." Confidence is beautiful.

Beauty is love. Love for others, love for yourself, love for God, love for life. I'm constantly learning to not "...feign affection and neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, love is as perennial as the grass." How about that, huh? In the face of hell, love will always come back. Sometimes it might not be in the way we want it to, but it'll be there. The love our Heavenly Father has for us is infinite. We can try all we want, but there's no arguing that point. I have been trying so hard to love my flaws lately. I hate my stretch marks from having Landon. I don't really have very many, but I still don't love them. And lately, I've been trying to think of them as reminders of my pregnancy. They're marks left on my body from what happened when I carried my son around inside of me for 9 months. I'm beginning to be proud of them, and grateful that I was blessed enough to have a baby. Stretch marks are not beautiful, but I'm trying to love my flaws. To love, especially when it's hardest to love, is so beautiful.

Beauty is humility. "Speak your truth quietly and clearly, and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story...Take kindly the council of years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth..." Right?! I mean, how hard is it to just be kind?! Humility, kindness, grace; that is beautiful.

Beauty is peace. Be at peace with your life. Be at peace with your home, your family, your friends, your enemies. To me, it's beautiful to wake up in the morning to a clean house. That makes me feel peaceful. It's beautiful to surround myself with things and people that bring peace and continuity. My faith, my prayers, my Heavenly Father...those things also bring me peace. And when I'm not at peace, no amount of makeup, hairspray or cute clothes can make me beautiful. It's written all over me and it darkens me. Peace is beautiful.

Children are beautiful. What the bolded part SHOULD say is that innocence is beautiful. But innocence and children are synonymous to me. Heavenly Father has told us to be as little children. My son is innocent. He's next to perfect. That's beautiful.

Beauty is responsibility. "Do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness." Seriously, get off your butt. (I say this sitting on my butt, blogging. haha.) Do something that's WORTH something. Do something that benefits someone else. Responsibility, motivation, charity. That's so beautiful.

Beauty comes from inside. That's just something that really, really beautiful people say.

I've been full of confessions lately. Here's one last confession. Sometimes, when I'm really feeling down on myself, I just say to myself, "Lyss, you're a beautiful person." Sometimes, it's not true, but it helps me out a lot. It's stupid, but it works. Try it.

Stephanie Nielson, (she's amazing...look at her blog here. Or even better, her incredible story and video here.) said in her video something that truthfully made me cry. She said that 'Motherhood and beauty are the same thing.' That woman is TRULY beautiful. I want to be as beautiful as she is. (I met her once...:))

So, what does all of this have to do with Miss America and Miss USA? Well, those who know me probably know how I feel about the whole scandal. It actually just motivated me because it gave me one more thing to think about when it came to being beautiful. Beauty is respect for yourself, your family, your posterity, your God, your spouse, your name. Beauty is respect. That's what it all boils down to for me.

I'll peace out with my favorite quote. (I've been quoting it the whole post.) It's fine if you skip it...but it inspires me. It's long, so find it here.

So...What's beautiful to you?
Credit for the poetry quotations goes to Max Ehrmann's "Desiderata" If you don't know it, you should read it.

Confessions Aren't Always Good

2010-05-19T20:53:00.000-07:00

For the record, Dan found out that sometimes I leave Landon in the car with the baby monitor and he is MAD... He said that this is a "very bad idea. Some big, burly man could come and get him!" I'm not allowed to do this anymore. So, I won't...

I'm not a bad mom...I promise!! I would be right by the window!! I could totally see him.

No more car naps. I actually feel pretty bad about it.

However, he's still probably going to eat fruit snacks after they fall on the ground. Don't you dare judge me...

Confessions

2010-05-16T13:14:00.001-07:00

I have some confessions to make.
(If any of you use these against me in the future, we are no longer friends.)

Sometimes I let Landon eat his fruit snacks after they've fallen on the ground.

Sometimes he falls asleep in his clothes...so I put him to bed in his clothes...and then he wakes up in his clothes.

Sometimes it's day 3 before he gets a bath. (Okay, that's a lot of the time, actually.)

Sometimes his breakfast is a frozen waffle in his car seat while I'm driving to work.

Sometimes I let him scream in his bed while I take a shower.

Sometimes I skip pages while I'm reading him stories. (Come on, he really doesn't even know what's going on in the story anyway.)

Sometimes, when the weather isn't bad one way or the other, and he falls asleep in the car, I leave the baby monitor in the car with him and let him take his nap out there.

Sometimes he doesn't eat a single vegetable all day long.

Sometimes I know he's pulling all the tissues out of the tissue box, tearing them into tiny pieces, maybe eating a
few of them, and throwing the rest around the room...and I don't stop him.

Sometimes I laugh at him instead of disciplining him when he throws a tantrum.

Sometimes he eats dog food. (For the record, I wouldn't let this one happen. He just does things...)

Sometimes he'll fake cry and then open one eye to make sure I'm watching.

Sometimes I watch just to see him open one eye and check.

Sometimes I let him run around naked after his bath just because I think his tiny little butt is so funny to watch while he's running.

Sometimes I let him eat m&m's until his whole face, hands, shirt and sometimes even his feet are blue, green, red and brown. (One at a time, people. I wouldn't let the boy choke.)

Sometimes I put him down for a nap before he's ready because I want a nap.

But I'm still a good mom. I don't know about excellent. Definitely not perfect. I make lots of mistakes when it comes to this whole parenting business.

But I really love him a lot.

All the time

These Small Hours

2010-05-13T21:38:00.000-07:00

"Our lives are made in these small hours. These little wonders, these twists and turns of fate. Time falls away, but these small hours still remain...It's the heart that really matters in the end."

-Rob Thomas

That song has been on my mind a lot. I've really been trying to focus on surrounding myself with positive people and positive things. Doing so has helped me realize how quickly time goes by, and how its our place, no, our responsibility to remember the moments...even if the time is long gone.

Right now, I want to remember the moments that made up this last weekend. It made me want to step back and think about how quickly time goes by, and I'm really going to try harder to treasure the people and the time spent with them that mean the most to me. That means my family, and the people who might not be related to me, but might as well be. (you know who you are...)

This last weekend was the best one I've had in a long time. We celebrated our anniversary on Friday and Saturday, and then Mother's Day was on Sunday.

Friday we bought curtains for our kitchen (which we just finished re-doing...pics to come soon) and went grocery shopping. Then, Saturday, while Grandma Lisa watched Landon, Dan and I went and got a couples massage, went to lunch, came home and got all beautiful (like that was really all that difficult for us...I mean come on! *That was said in such sarcasm-you should have SEEN me after my massage. Talk about a hot mess!*), went shopping, ate cupcakes, went to the Mayan, played at an arcade, got ice cream and saw Iron Man 2. Quite the day, right?!? It was so much fun to just be together. It reminded me of when we were dating. We were just able to goof off and play. He's my best friend in the whole world. Dan seems quiet and shy, but for those who know him well, he's really, really funny and he cracks me up. We laugh so hard when we are able to go out and just be Dan and Lyss instead of Daddy and Mommy (BUT WE LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE being Daddy and Mommy!!! TRUST ME! Sometimes, you just need a little break.) But, by the end of our FANTASTIC day, I was so excited to see Landon I couldn't stand it!

Speaking of Landon, the next day was Mother's Day, and I got SPOILED. First of all, Dan got up really early before church and got landon bathed, dressed for church, did his hair, everything. Then Landon came into our room and woke me up carrying a rose! It was the sweetest thing I've ever seen. He hit me with it, pulled a few petals off, and then he gave it to me. Of course, he wanted to crawl in bed with me after that...and I sure let him! Then, we got up and Dan made us breakfast. Since Landon was already ready for church, I was able to just get ready and worry about myself which was so sweet of Daniel. After church, Dan and Landon took a nap while I finished up all the Mother's Day presents and then we were off! We made a stop at a very special Aunt of Landon's, and then we went to Grandma Nola's house. Then we went to Grandma Lisa's and Landon had something special for his Aunts there, too. (and Grandma!!) Dinner was great, company was great, the whole weekend was great. I couldn't ask for more.

Mothers Day flowers from Dan, Kelly and my Dad

Trying to get the little stinker to smile!!

Mothers Day right after church

My pancakes from Dan :)

Landon about to go wake me up. :)

Getting ice cream

At the ice cream shop

At the Mayan for dinner

"Time falls away, but these small hours still remain."

Privacy, please...

2010-05-06T22:23:00.000-07:00

So I'm pretty sure I'm going to make my blog private.

If you'd like to read it still, leave me your email address in a comment.

I stalk blogs...everyone stalks blogs...don't be embarrassed. Just give me your email and if I don't think you're a psycho, I'll add you.

Peace.

Oh, wait. How cute, huh?

You Brought Me Here

2010-05-05T15:33:00.000-07:00

"I don't get many things right the first time.

In fact, I am told that a lot.

Now I know all the wrong turns and stumbles and falls brought me here.

Where was I before the day that I first saw your lovely face?

Now I see it everyday.

And I know that I am the luckiest."

-Ben Folds

I've made a lot of mistakes in my life. Ones that I won't bore you with. Ones that I've learned to through my faith to leave as past and move onto bigger and better things. But last night, as I was talking with some of my very best friends, the topic of regrets came up. That topic lead me to think back on some things that I'd do differently. After a while of thinking back on things I'm not proud of, I realized something. I'm pretty hard on myself. I'm my biggest critic.

But of all the things I've done wrong, and of all the 'hard way's' I've made myself take, I realized this last night:

Landon is the thing I did right.

Florida and Easter 2010

2010-04-29T22:15:00.000-07:00

Wow, I suppose it's high time I update my blog about all the fun the Hall family has been having! The month of April has been an absolute blast-which also means absolute CHAOS!

First, we had so much fun with Landon for Easter. He is beginning to really understand a lot more, and so this year for Easter, he had so much fun finding eggs and playing with the toys that the Easter Bunny brought him! (Naturally, he really didn't care about the ADORABLE spring outfit that the Easter Bunny was so excited for...boys will be boys!)

Right after Easter, we headed off to SUNNY FLORIDA for spring break with my parents and siblings. We had so much fun. I can already tell that it'll be one of those trips we'll be talking about for years and years to come! One of the coolest things I did on the trip was I got to swim with sharks! My little sister Katie, my little brother Alex and my dad all did it with me. The rest of the family was too chicken!!! But I thought it was amazing! The water was freezing, but it was worth it. The sharks stayed pretty far away, but the fish were swimming right up to me and it completely freaked me out! We also got to go on some of the craziest rollercoasters I've ever been on! I never get scared on rollercoasters, but there was a point durring one of them where I turned to Dan and said, 'I dont want to do this!' I legitimately wanted OFF! But that made it all the more fun! We had so much fun spending time with our family, and I think we all saw a side of my dad we've never seen before! It was one of the funnest things we've ever done as a family.

Treats from the Easter Bunny and Landon hunting for eggs at Grandma Hall's house

Outside of Universal Studios-Orlando

Dan and I in front of a car that was in the movie American Graffiti

I don't know what we liked better-watching the fireworks, or watching Landon watch the fireworks.

Landon loved riding that thing!

Me, Landon and my beautiful sister at Disney World

Landon loves to drive things-guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, eh?

All tuckered out at Disney World-note his adorable sunglasses in his hand. :)

All in all, it was such a great month. This coming month Daniel and I will be celebrating our 2nd Wedding anniversary. We're pretty excited. Once you get married, you realize what a milestone each year is, and you come to understand why it's such a cause for celebration. You're able to spend a day remembering the first best day of your life, and you also get to give eachother a little pat on the back for not stabbing eachother in your sleep on occasion. :) No, I'm kidding. Marriage is SUCH hard work, but I am being completely honest when I say that I wouldn't trade the last two years with Daniel for the world. He is truthfully one of the BEST people I know. One of my best friends told me recently that the thing she loved about Dan is that he'd give anyone the shirt off his back, no questions asked. Well, that's true, and I love that other people see in Dan what I see in him. I'm excited for our 2 year mark coming up in a few days, but I'm more excited for the fact that I get to be with him FOREVER. (haha, I remember when we went to the temple to be sealed as a family, we were walking in and I said to Dan, 'Well babe, here's your last chance. After this you're stuck with me.' Well, he went through with it, luckily for me:))

Here's to April!! Now onto the excitement of May!

The big 2-1!

2010-03-20T13:35:00.000-07:00

Well, I had an amazing twenty first birthday, that's for sure.

The week started with my mom having my annual family birthday dinner. My mom is an amazing cook, so it was perfect! My mom gave me a ring that her mom gave her on her 21st birthday. It's gorgeous-diamonds and rubys. And my Grandma Cherie gave me a really pretty white hand bag that was her moms. (my great-grandmas). Plus I got lots of other great presents!! Then, the next day, Dan took me shopping and out to breakfast. Then I had class and Dan had work so we just decided to celebrate it more on another day. When I got to class, my friends there had some really cute little gifts for me with a cute card. Then, on Tuesday I went to lunch with my buddies Liz and Mary. (We missed you Mads and Chels!! Los Hermanos wasn't the same without you!) Wednesday, Dan and I decided we'd finish celebrating my birthday together. So we went to dinner at Brick Oven and when I got there, all my friends were waiting for me!! Dan had organized a little surprise for me, and it was SO FUN!!

To say the least, I was very overwhelmed with all the sweet gestures and nice things people did for me for my birthday. I felt very loved, and I'm grateful to have such amazing people in my life! I love you all!!

At dinner with Kelly!

On a different note, we've LOVED the warmer weather coming our way. We took Landon to the park for the first time this last week, and it was adorable how much he loved it.

One

2010-02-28T23:31:00.000-08:00

One year ago today, I gave birth to the joy of my life. Landon Daniel Hall was born on February 28, 2010 at 11:23 am. He was 19 inches long and weighed 7 lbs exactly.

I was holding him today (he's really sick with a bad ear infection.) and all he wanted was for me to just sit and rock him. I held him for hours today. As I was holding him, I started to think back. I remember the first night of his little life. The nurse came in at about 3:00 in the morning and woke me up. She told me that Landon was very sad. He wasn't hungry, he didn't want to be held, he didn't want his binkie, and he didn't need his diaper changed. He just wanted his mommy. He just wanted me to hold him. How ironic that exactly one year later, there I was, with my little angel just wanting me to hold him.

Then I got to thinking again...you see, he really didnt want me to put him down and I had a lot of time on my hands. I got to thinking, and I realized that one day, this little angel who just wanted me to hold him, would grow up. He would start talking. He'd go to pre school. He'd go to kindergarden and get embarassed if I wanted a kiss. He'd be ordained a deacon. He'd start High School. He'd go on his first date. He'd do all of these things, and the older he got, the less he'd want me to just hold him.

The day that I had Landon, I remember sitting there in the hospital with him in my arms and thinking that I was the woman in his life. I was it for him. But one day, someone else would take my spot. I'd have to step aside. Would she take good care of him? Would she know how he liked his eggs cooked? Or what to do if he got upset with something?

I'll cherish these days that he's little. They'll be gone too fast. I'll just sit here and rock. I'll soak up every minute. I'll memorize his chubby knuckles and tiny socks.

I'm happy to just hold him.

My Name

2010-02-28T23:08:00.001-08:00

There's a lot on my mind tonight, so bear with me as I run through it all!! Forgive me if all of these thoughts are unorganized-my head is spinning with everything that's going on right now.

One of the things that has been mulling around in my head lately is my family. The Muirbrook's to be specific. I've been thinking a lot about that side of my family and about my grandpa Bob in specific. (Again, forgive me for the disoranization of my thoughts here. I'm just kind of spewing it all out.) You know, as you grow up, your family seems to grow bigger and bigger. Not just with births and unions, but with knowledge and appreciation. It grows with the love you have for your friends-the ones special enough that your kids call them 'Aunt' or 'Uncle', when there's no blood line connection at all. It grows with the respect you have for your own parents as you realize what they've done and sacrificed for you, all becasue you're beginning to do and sacrifice for your own children. Your family seems to grow with your maturity as you start to respect your name and where you came from. It reminds me of the day of Landon's blessing. Daniel specifically blessed Landon with respect for his peers and honor for his name. I'd like to think that Landon's name includes my maiden name. The Muirbrook's have been on my mind a lot lately. You see, we're an exceptional family. All of us. There are so many of us, its ridiculous. We keep growing and growing. Births, marriages, friends, respect, all of it. It's all part of what makes the Muirbrook's exceptional.

I am so very proud to be a Muirbrook. I'm proud of my cousins and the love they all have for me. I'm proud of my Great Grandma Marcella Muirbrook and that she's lived to see her first Great Great Grandchild (my son, Landon). I'm proud that she's never forgotten my birthday. (or my husbands, and now my little boy's!!) I'm proud of the legacy she's left. I'd be honored to look out at my family one day, see the joy, the influence of the gospel, and the traditions that she's been able to leave for her children, and be half the woman that she is. I'm proud of my dad. He's a rock. If you know my dad at all, there's a level of respect that he carries with him, and it's noticable. I'm honored to be his daughter. I'm proud to be Bob Muirbrook's granddaughter. I feel a connection to him, being his oldest grandchild and one of the few grandchildren who remembers/knew him. I hold onto those memories and often tell Daniel the same stories over and over, if only to keep reminding myself. I'm proud of my Grandma Cherie. She's been through so much, and she's kept such a positive attitude. I can't imagine losing my sweetheart, and she's kept such an eternal perspective. I'm proud of my aunts and uncles that have put up with me durring my awkward days and especially durring my rebellious ones.

Muirbrook's are special people. They're honest. They work hard. They care. A lot. I am a Hall now, and I love them a lot too. But I'll always have Muirbrook blood running through me, and I couldn't be happier about that. I hope to live my life in a way that will always bring a good light to my name.

LOVE

2010-02-25T21:02:00.000-08:00

I have to be quick tonight. I have to get to bed quickly so I can get up early. Tomorrow is a big day! First I have to work and then we're taking Landon to Build a Bear for his birthday. Then tomorrow night is his birthday party!!Our Valentine's Day was a blast!! It started off a few days before Valentine's Day, I planned a special Valentine dinner for Dan. It was fun, and it definately surprised him. I also gave him some candy and got him a painting we've had our eyes on for a while now. It's of the Salt Lake Temple at Christmas time. (It's our favorite because Daniel proposed to me at the temple at Christmas time, and on the anniversary of the day he proposed we go to look at the lights every year.)Then, Dan brought me home roses and a HUGE teddy bear for me and Landon to share. He also took me out on a lovely date and surprised me with a GORGEOUS diamond necklace!! It is so beautiful and I can't believe he pulled it off.

A few days after Valentines Day was Kenneth and Shelley's wedding. I was honored when Shelley asked me to be one of her brides maids. I'm so excited and thrilled for them, and I'm stoked that Shelley is my sister now!! It was such a beautiful day and I was so glad to be a part of it. Dan was Kenneth's best man and we had a blast decorating their car and such.

Well, updates to come soon, seeing as Landon's birthday party is tomorrow. I can't believe he's going to be a year old!!!

Nostalgia

2010-01-30T22:31:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer: I'm notoriously nostalgic.
Always have been.
Always will be, I presume.
Last night, Dan and I stayed up unreasonably late reminiscing. Our stroll down memory lane caused a list to form in my head. So, now, (for the sake of my posterity, remember) I'll blog that list.
I'm also a notorious list maker.
(I make lists for the lists that need making.)

Ode to Awkward Teenage Love and High School Sweethearts

1. Puddles in the park
2. Refuge perfume
3. Running through sprinklers
4. Those damn bon fires...
5. JamisonParker
6. "I'm here for her."
7. Office Aid
8. The yellow shirt
9. Tuneskies
10. River bottoms
11. Enya and Rob Zombie
12. Shooting Stars
13. Sparkling Cider explosions
14. Roasted Starburst
15. Some things shouldn't be burned in a bon fire...and sometimes you learn this the hard way
16. White Roses
17. "Ema's hot brother was there-I don't remember his name but I think he likes me."
18. 11
19. Wendy's
20. "Wait, does this mean you're my girlfriend?"

"I chronicled the days you made me want to live."
"Memories are pain that lost their meaning over time."
-JamisonParker
I think one day, I'll make another nostalgic list and it'll be things I do all the time now. Why don't we treasure those things? Why don't we cherish them NOW? Maybe I will. Here's my top ten.
ODE TO CRAZY

1. Waking up to a baby crying

2. Cupcake runs

3. Tuesdays and Wednesdays

4. Our little, tiny, ghetto apartment

5. "Find Don Miguels Beef!"

6. 3 am. Frozen pizza. Chocolate milk straight from the carton. Guitar and love songs. All at the same time.

7. Crazy.

8. DEL to the TACO

9. Ground Chuck. I'm not eating it.

10. Walks for penny candies

These things mean nothing to anyone but me, huh?

I'm so lucky.

Quarantined

2010-01-29T14:09:00.000-08:00

The last few days have been so crazy!
First of all, Dan asked me out on a date for Tuesday night. (He works Thursday-Monday from 2:00 pm until about 1:00 am. So Tuesday and Wednesday are weekends to us!) I was so excited but all day at work on Tuesday I really wasn't feeling well. So after work I came home and took a nap, and woke up feeling worse! Anyway, we had to cancel our date, but decided we'd have a night in. We rented 'This Is It' and bought popsicles (since my throat was KILLING me) and put Landon to bed early. Honestly, the movie wasn't as great as I had expected. We ended up just playing UNO during the movie, and had a pretty good night. But I went to bed early because I was feeling just awful!

Then, on Wednesday, I still wasn't feeling too great, but I was bound and determined to feel better so that Dan and I could go out for a REAL date. Grandma Lisa babysat for us and I sucked it up and we went out. Dan took me to Red Robin and then we went and saw The Lovely Bones (scared the heck out of me...but it doesn't take much to scare me.) We came home and I went straight to bed. Thursday morning, I finally buckled down and made an appointment with the doctor.

Alyssa has strep throat. And a sinus infection.

Thus, I'm blogging. Because I'm quarantined. It's been so hard not to kiss my baby and my hubby! But I don't want anyone else to get sick. I'm actually feeling a lot better today, but Doc says I gotta wait 24 hours before I'm not contagious anymore. Which will be in exactly 34 more minutes. (but who's counting?) I can't wait to get out of my house! I have been stuck in here since Wednesday night (except for my SUPER fun trip to the doctor's office!)

Side Note-WHAT IS UP with the people at the doctors office looking like they walked out of a magazine!? You're at the DOCTOR. Where are your sweats and why do you have makeup on? Ridiculous.

I've been scrapbooking, cleaning my house and blogging...and I'm ready to get out of here! But I guess it's a good excuse to get caught up on all three of those things. I've made a goal to be better with my blogging, because I'm planning on printing it out and binding it in a book each year as our little family history. I think one day we'll be really glad we have it. I can just imagine one day when Dan and I are old and saggy and our little grandbabies are reading all of these old posts, and the thought really makes me happy. :)