House hunting

We spent our Memorial Day weekend house hunting.  I must say that (for me) it was a stressful and overwhelming weekend.  I am very glad we went as it was a productive despite how hard this weekend was.  But it was money well spent.

I will start off by saying that we have put an offer on a home and that is all the information I can give for the time being.  While we were house hunting we were flabbergasted at how people staged their homes.  The majority of the homes were not clean, were not de-cluttered, and a few of the times the current homeowners were there while we toured the home (which is a major no no)!  Plus, some of the homes didn't have AC, which was awful as it was already 94 degrees at the end of May.  Can you sense my why I was feeling stressed, discouraged, and overwhelmed in buying a home?

Hannah went house hunting with us and she did pretty well.  It could not have been easy for her to have taken naps in the car, only to be interrupted by waking her up so that we could be shown the inside of a home we were looking at.  But, she made it through the weekend and survived and we are very proud of her.

Despite the difficulties in house hunting, there were a few funny things that happened during the weekend.  First, Nathan forgot to pack all of his shirts except two -- the shirt he wore on the plane and his pajama shirt.  He even forgot to pack his suit for church.  So, on Saturday we ended up going to the mall to purchase a few shirts for Nathan.

This is what Nathan wore to church on Sunday, and he HATED it because he was not wearing his Sunday best.

After church and Hannah's nap, we drove around and Nathan showed me where he would be working on campus at Willard Hall.

This building is Old Main.  I actually think this is the back side of it.  Oh well.

And this is Beaver Stadium, where the football team plays.  Apparently, this is the 4th largest stadium in the WORLD!  Yes, it is huge!

The funniest part of the trip (and I literally mean that) was the airport.  I thought that the Cedar Rapids airport was small, but the State College airport takes the cake.  After we got all checked in we went over to security so that we could go through that wonderful process, but we found this:

Yep...the security check point was gated closed.  Apparently, they only open up security an hour before the flight departs.  I couldn't believe it!

After we passed through security (which went really quick) we went to our "gate" and waited.  There really aren't any gates in the SCE airport.  It is just one big waiting room.

This was my favorite part of the airport.  They had books that you could use and read while waiting for your flight.  So funny!

Hannah loved the books of course, and she made instant friends.  She kept taking books to other passengers and showing them her new "treasures."  I tell ya, this kid is a charmer!  In fact, she became friends with pretty much everybody in the waiting room and on the plane.

Again, to show you how small the airport was, this is how you board the planes there in State College.  Yep...there are no jet-ways/air-bridges.  Just the good old fashioned way going up on the steps up to the plane.

Well...that pretty much sums up our trip to State College.

Bonehead

Today marks the 5th anniversary of when Bonehead passed away.  Bonehead was a childhood pet bird our family had, and we enjoyed him for 15 years.  He had such a fun personality and we just adored him when we were kids.

Bonehead could:

Mimic laughing (see beginning of the video)

"Talk" with himself (0:20)

Wolf whistle (0:47)

Whistle the chorus of the BYU cougar fight song -- yes it is true! (1:16)

He also could whistle the charge song (you know the one they do at baseball games), and "here kitty, kitty, kitty," though he doesn't do it in this video.

Bonehead was a perfect pet.  Every time I go back and visit my parents my heart is saddened by not seeing his cage or playground, and hearing his random whistling.  We will forever miss Bonehead.

My latest project

For a few months now I have been wanting to make a "Sunday bag."  I have wanted a bag that was large enough for me to carry Hannah's Sunday toys and books to keep her busy during church, along with my Sunday materials (scriptures, manuals, pens/pencils, etc).

I bought this sewing pattern for large tote bag at a local sewing shop.  I saw the model there in the store and saw how big and sturdy it was so I decided to make it.  I am happy to report that it is REALLY easy to make -- and for me to say that as a beginner must mean that is will be a cinch for experienced sewers.

The first time I made the bag I did not use the interfacing and that turned out to be a mistake.  With no interfacing the bag turned out to be flimsy and floppy, and it couldn't stand on its own. I just wasn't functioning for a Sunday bag so I turned it into my sewing bag to put all of my materials in for storage.

Being back at square one with wanting a Sunday bag, I decided to make a whole new bag.  I also decided to make extra pockets inside with my let over material.  Check out the finished result.

Here is what the outside of the bag looks like.

Here is the inside with all the pockets.  It originally is supposed to have 2 big pockets, but I added 5 more smaller ones for my phone, sunglasses, sippy cups, etc.

And here is what it looks like with all the necessities inside.

I must say I am pretty proud of myself.  A few years ago I would have never guessed I would have made such a thing.

Mother's Day -- from bad to good

Mother's Day -- May 13, 2012

This Mother's Day was a hard day for me.  I knew that I wanted to journal about what feelings I had today, but I debated on whether to write my experience on my personal private blog (my journal), or to post them on our public blog.  In the end I decided to do this post on our family blog.  I don't know exactly why, but I had a strong prompting to do so and I decided to follow through with that prompting.  So here it goes.

I woke up today feeling exhausted.  We have been traveling the past few weeks from Iowa, to California, back to Iowa, and to Nauvoo (and we loved every minute of our travel--except Hannah's cranky moments).  We had a long day with Nathan's graduation yesterday where I had experienced all kinds of emotions: happiness, pride (for Nathan), sadness, overwhelmed, frustrated, and elated.  I know...those emotions are all over the spectrum and I don't know if I necessarily get it either.  However, that's what I felt yesterday and I can see how all of these past two weeks events are starting to catch up with me and make me so exhausted.  Not to mention that our family is going through a MAJOR change here in the next few months with moving.

Today, Hannah got up at about 6:30 am.  Nathan took her and let me sleep in for which I was extremely grateful.  What a wonderful Mother's Day gift.  When I got up and got ready for church though, Hannah was excessively clingy and needy -- for what seems like the 7th day in a row.  The only solution I can come up with for her moods is teething.  I started to get really frustrated with her and within moments I was wishing that someone would take my child for the day because I didn't want to see her.  And then I checked myself "What a horrible thought to think of on Mother's Day."

As I was singing the opening hymn in church I felt like I was quickly called to repentance.  We had just finished singing the first verse of Home Can Be a Heaven on Earth.  The last stanza says "making home a part of heaven, where we want to be."  I thought that my attitude from this morning did not fit that description.  I stopped singing to try and hold back tears, I bowed my head and asked my Heavenly Father for forgiveness.



Church continues to proceed and after the Sacrament was passed we heard from our speakers, who all did a phenomenal job!  The topics today focused on mothers, as they should considering the national holiday.  As the talks proceeded I felt like I was called more unto repentance.  A few of the speakers said that motherhood is not easy, but it is the most noblest of callings and we should cherish it.  Well, that is something I definitely did not do this morning.  I did not cherish motherhood this morning -- at all.

Again, I felt really humbled and repented.  As church progressed I felt much better.  When we came home, Hannah took a nap and I told Nathan that the best Mother's Day gift he could give me is some Rachel time (plus it's doesn't cost any money!).  I just wanted to be by myself for several hours today, uninterrupted from Hannah.  I realized that over the past 2 weeks I haven't had much personal time.  So I locked myself in our room and started to catch up on some of my journaling.  There have been lots of things happening in our life and I wanted to record them.

About an hour after we put Hannah down for her nap I heard her start to cry and fuss.  Ugh...a short nap!  I go and get her up because Nathan was asleep on the sofa and I wanted to make sure that he was able to take a nap.  Shortly thereafter he woke up, and after sitting with Hannah and Nathan for a while I decided to go back into our bedroom to finish my personal time.  Hannah was a little fussy and I decided I needed to make a quick departure as my emotions were still on edge.

I went back to my computer, journaled for about a half hour and then talked with my Grandma over the phone.  It was really nice to talk with her.  We hung up after a few minutes as she needed to finish making her rolls, and I went back to work on my computer.  After an hour and a half of Rachel time, I decide to take a break from my machine and go spend time with Nathan and Hannah.  I was caught up on things much more than before, I was feeling recharged, and my emotions and nerves were much more at ease.  As I walked out of my bedroom, I noticed several red hearts all over the house.  There were 10 of them and each one has message written on it.

*A drawing from Hannah.
*You are one hot Momma.
* Mommy love...the best kind.
*All 5 of us agree...what you do is very important (this heart was posted on the picture of the First Presidency.  With those 3 men, Nathan, and Hannah it makes a total of 5).
*Together forever (posted on the picture of the Los Angeles Temple).
*It's about time you felt appreciated (posted on a clock).
*We love you!
*Thanks for all you do for us!
*We love you Mommy!
*Hop you had a GREAT Mother's Day!

Within reading the first heart I started to cry.  It was the perfect Mother's Day gift ever!  After reading them all I went over to Nathan and gave him a hug.  I then gave Hannah a hug.  I had missed my family and it was nice to "be back."  After several minutes we decided to go on a walk in our neighborhood.  We came back in and I listened to the message that my mother-in-law had left me for Mother's Day.  It was a sweet message and I appreciated it.  Then, my father-in-law called me and also wished me a happy Mother's Day.  He said something that I really needed to hear.  He said "I am so glad that you married my son.  And I am glad that you are in our family."

That made me feel so great, and it was nice to hear that reassurance because earlier today I was not feeling like a good wife, or like a good mother.  Thank you LaMar for boosting my self-esteem.  Thank you Roz for the sweet message.  And thank you Nathan for the personal time, and for the red hearts.  They were perfect.  My Mother's Day started off poorly.  But things turned around as I was given great great gifts, and I felt much better!

Graduation

The title post pretty much says it all: Graduation -- it happened!  At times I am tempted to pinch myself because it is so surreal to me and I'm afraid that I'll wake up from this dream.  As far as I know, this dream has come true!

The ceremony was great!  They even recognized the spouses and family members in the audience by standing as we have helped support the graduate students during this tedious process.  Yes, even I got a moments glory during the graduation.  I wonder if that means I'll get a "wife of a graduate student" diploma in the mail.  My guess is probably not.

It was so neat to see Nathan hooded by his advisor during the ceremony.  I can't believe that after 6 years this day has finally come and gone.  I am so proud of Nathan with all of his hard work.  What a trooper.

Before the picture overload begins I need to express my gratitude for our friends, the Standers and the Wards, for taking care of Hannah.  We could not have done this without your help, and we are so grateful to have such wonderful friends.
Now onto the pictures.

**Warning: Picture overload (we promised Nathan's parents we'd take lots of photos for them as they were unable to attend).**

This photo is of Nathan's advisor, Al, and his wife (who both LOVE Nathan).  I asked Carol if she comes to graduation every year with Al and she informed me that she hardly ever goes. Carol came this year though because she really wanted to see Nathan get hooded.  I almost broke down in tears when she told me that.  It meant so much to me that she came to see Nathan graduate.  What a sweet woman.

Here is Nathan coming down the stairs during the Processional.  Look at that cute smile.

This picture is of Sally Mason, the President of the University.  She is wearing the Presidential Emblem that was specially made for the President, and it has been worn by the University President since 1964.  I zoomed my camera in the whole way so that I could get a picture of that emblem.  I thought it was neat because she was the only one in the building who was wearing that.

The part that we were all waiting for--the hooding ceremony.  These shots are of Al placing the hood on Nathan.

What an accomplishment!

Look at these smiles.  I pretty much had the same smiles on my face too, but I didn't take any shots of me because this was Nathan's day! 

And here is the Recessional when Nathan left the floor.

After the ceremony, I had to take some pictures at Old Capitol.  I was afraid this place would be mobbed, but thankfully it was not.

And here is Nathan pulling out his suit pockets showing the world that we are totally broke!  After all, it is now time to start paying off those scary student loans!

And here are a few shots with Hannah.

And here is Nathan displaying the back of his robe and hood.

Congratulations Doctor!

Navuoo Part II and Carthage Jail

The second day of our trip started off with my parents going to the temple.  When they returned, we checked out of our vacation condo and saw a few more sites around Nauvoo.

This picture of Heber C. Kimball is hanging in the replica of his Nauvoo home.  It was Heber C. Kimball who helped convert one of my Dad's ancestors.

After Nauvoo we drove down to see the historic Carthage Jail where Joseph and Hyrum Smith were martyred.

This painting here may look familiar to some of our blog viewers because of this post.  The man who painted this was home taught by my Granddaddy (my Granddaddy is posing as the "thinker" in the middle of this painting).  This study painting is hanging in the Carthage Jail visitor's center.

When we finished touring Carthage Jail we all loaded up in the van and drove back up to Iowa, where we pretty much crashed and burned due to exhaustion from our trip.