Ramblings: I'm Alive

Just an update: We have been "vacationing" in Seattle since Saturday. This is why I fell off the face of the Earth last week--trying to get everything done and everyone packed. And the rest of my time was just spent stressing over if the boys were going to scream the entire 4 hour flight to Seattle.(They were freakishly AWESOME and thanks to the makers of Benadryl, even slept about half the time. DVD players kept Alex and Maddie entertained until the batteries died and then they were forced to entertain themselves with the stuff in the giant backbacks I packed for them. I think the flight back will be an entirely different experience with cranky and exhausted kids, ready to be back to their own house.)

Number of times someone at the airport or on the airplane told us "you've really got your hands full": 17. Seriously. Number of times I fake laughed and said, "yep we sure do": 12. The rest of the time they were being naughty and I said, "Yes, would you like a couple?"

So far we've hit Pike Street Market, The Space Needle (or "Space Eagle" if you ask Maddie), The Children's Museum, and this morning we found a big park along a river where the kids played with nature. They were amazed by all the things they found that we don't see much of in Texas: huge evergreens, mossy tree trunks, signs explaining salmon life cycles along the river flowing with clear cold water, and soft plush grass without fireants. After the boys nap, we're hitting the Pacific Science Center, which is supposed to be really fantastic. I'm guessing Alex might get frusterated that the boys won't think it's as fantastic as he does, and we'll have to leave before he's explored everything fully.

We'll be here until tomorrow and then we're off to the Tri-Cities to meet up with the rest of Jere's family for Alainna and Stephen's wedding on Saturday. We're going to stop on the way at Snoqualmie Falls, where we, and all the other lucky visitors, will get to hear Alex scream the entire time we hike up the trail because he gets really freaked out by stuff like this.

I can't post any pictures because I can't download them to Jeremy's computer, but I'll put some on after we get back. Until then, does anyone know anything else we should visit while we're here? Any hot spots we've missed?

Rave: Baby James

I just wanted to announce the arrival via c-section of my newest nephew--baby James--born this afternoon weighing in at a hefty 8 lbs. 14 oz. I don't have any pictures yet but I hear he looks alot like his oldest sister...
CONGRATS!

Ramblings: Things I did

Things I did this weekend instead of writing my "10" lists:

1. Repainted Alex's room due to a major paint-matching FIASCO (or basically, the lack of any store's ability to match the paint he previously had)
2. Visited mom and ogled her new kitchen--Maddie was super hyper and excited about going to visit Grandma and her "new kitchen." She kept asking me about it and I overheard her talking to herself about how she was going to "play with it all night." Say what? It turned out she thought Grandma got a new toy kitchen for the grandkids and she was less than excited by the new granite counters and life-sized appliances.
3. Refinished Alex's dresser and mirror
4. 7 loads of laundry
5. Went to lunch with Brooke and Greg; Family Dinner was a Cici's outing with Andrea and Spencer
6. Spent 4 hours Sunday afternoon outside with the kids, mostly on death watch because the twins keep trying to reach out and grab the fireman pole from our 10 foot high playhouse
7. Made (and ate way too many) peanut butter chocolate chip cookies
8. Shopped for a new desk chair and floor lamp for Alex (now Maddie says she hates her room and wants "a new room like Alex")
9. Cleaned out and organized the garage---well 3/4 of it at least.
10. Vacuumed four times. I am not kidding. And not because of OCD. Because MY CHILDREN MAKE TONS OF MESSES and ARE TRYING TO KILL ME.

Raves: Friday's Faves

This week I made some impulse purchases on itunes and I've been really loving one album I got called "Supply and Demand" by Amos Lee. It's been out awhile, but I just stumbled upon it. Very lovely, catchy, and mellow but not stuffy. If you want a copy, let me know. Is that legal? Hmmm. Hope the FEDS don't ready my blog...I'm not too worried.





Also, I wanted to rave about these--they are called Fruit Nuggets from Florida's Natural.


They are awesome on a number of levels. First, they are healthier than fruit snacks--made from 66% fruit juice and gluten free (not quite sure what that involves, but it sounds healthy, right?) Second, they taste really good. Third, they look like small pebbles and are not gooey and sticky like regular fruit snacks, which means less mess. The boys can eat these without sliming their hands and faces, unlike when they try to eat regular fruit snacks. And because they're small and not as gummy, I don't worry about them choking as easily. And when they got spilled and stepped on in the car, I just picked them up and they weren't gooey globs ground into the carpet. You can buy them at Target in a bulk sized box for cheaper than the smaller-count boxes.

Finally, I wanted to rave about this hair product I've been using for a couple of months now. It's Redken's Anti-Snap leave-in treatment. I color, blow dry, curl, and torture my hair on a daily basis and it was starting to break in the front by the roots. This left me with those weird sticky-up baby hairs when it started growing out. So I tried this and it seems to be working. My hair has not been breaking as easily and the stuff doesn't make my hair feel greasy or sticky or anything. Just smooth.

Ramblings: Funny Tree Monkeys

It's amazing how time changes your perspective on things. Wednesday at Kroger, when the boys thought it was hilarious to squeal at the top of their lungs like pigs getting their toenails ripped off, and then belly-laugh like drunk chipmunks, I was mortified. (Remember? I'm not one to think it's cute when my kids are obnoxious in public.) I tried everything to get them to stop--ignoring them, distracting them, shushing them, cutting off their oxygen supply. (Just kidding--but I can't say I wouldn't have shoved a couple dirty socks in their mouths if I wasn't wearing flip flops). They just kept screaming and laughing--at 4 million decibels--egging each other on for about 15 minutes.

An older couple sort of following us aisle to aisle, giggling and smirking to each other, got a big kick out of the whole scene--while I felt like I had sweat flowing out of every pore. Do you know how hard it is to push a giant shopping cart with a big plastic car bolted to the front (complete with a four and a half year old laying with her legs sticking out one window and her head out the window on the other side) whilst clamping your hands over two wiggly, sticky, chomping, tree-monkey screeching mouths?? I was pushing the 800 pound contraption with MY ELBOWS and trying not to ram Maddie's hanging-out-the-window head on too many Frito displays.

But after a couple of days, when I think back on that whole fiasco, my perspective has changed. I am starting to realize how hilarious the bunch of us probably looked. And the boys were being funny--horribly ear piercingly loud--but funny. And I always get a kick out of it when they're interacting with each other and figuring out their senses of humor--I just wish they didn't have to do it in the middle of a grocery store. But the moral of the horror: time does change your perspective on things.

Today's "10" list: Things 10 years ago I Never Would've Believed Could Sound Fantastically Romantic

1. Let's just order pizza .
2. Grab me the wipes --someone's poopy.
3. I'm on my way home right now.
4. Where's the vacuum?
5. I like you almost as much as I like my body pillows.
6. Don't you think we should take a vacation?
7. Don't worry, I like stretch marks.
8. I'll finish the dishes.
9. I got a babysitter for tonight.
10. Four kids is A LOT.

Ramblings: Rebel or Yankee?

Rebel or Yankee

Take this test and let me know your results. I've lived in Texas for most of my life, but I'm only 48% Dixie. So what does THAT mean? Perhaps it's because I've picked up a little bit of the language wherever we've lived... I can say that I've always wanted one of those awesome accents like people from South Carolina have, but I have too much to say and I think it would seriously slow me down.

Also, an FYI to those readers that I know are out there with great things to say but have not left comments (don't make me name names MOM, GRANDMA, DEE, BROOKE, GREG, ETC) because you're not sure about the account thing--it's easy to set one up. Click on "comment" and then just follow the prompts about creating a Google account. It's fast, free, and easy. Then we can discourse about all the deep, intellectual issues I post about on here. HA!

I'll be back later with my "10" list. We're off to Maddie's preschool's Art Show.

Ramblings: 10 Years in Pictures

Today I received a wedding announcement from Jeremy's sister, Alainna. She and her fiance, Stephen, are smiling back at me and I can't help being excited for them because this photo is one of the first of many to come. And how in the beginning, there's no way you could possibly predict or even imagine what life has in store for you as a couple--all the memories you will make and the experiences you will share as the years roll along. So for today's "10" list, I put together a couple of pictures that remind me of where we were in life for each of the past 10 years .

In doing this I also realized that it is really hard to find pictures of just the two of us---especially once we started having kids. A far more tragic discovery: years and years of really! really! bad! hair! Come on y'all, NO ONE could tell me how bad it really was? Seriously, I'm disappointed in every single one of you because no one was brave enough during my big bang years to hold a hairstyle intervention.

No need to mention, as it will shortly become very obvious to you, that there are several years where we appear dangerously...um, bloated?. Sadly, it wasn't just bad camera angles.

1997--Downtown Dallas, on a double date with Marianne and Lance "slide behind you on a chair" C. a few weeks after we had met. (Sorry Marianne--Kimball may not like this one.)

1997--Gotta love those BYU dorms. My roomates got used to having him around...eventually. And he eventually got over his embarrassment in having to walk into the dorms to pick me up.

1998--One of the 1000 rejected engagement pictures--mostly because Jeremy used to smile with his mouth open like he was in the middle of saying something (apparently this runs in the family--his dad and his brother Spencer do the same thing.)

1998--Portland, OR Temple, where I'm holding the possible Guiness Book of World Records winner for "Largest Wedding Bouquet."

1999--This isn't the greatest picture, but apparently we didn't take ANY pictures that year because it was the only one I could find. (This was, if you remember, way before digital cameras were so affordable. This fact will be just as shocking to my kids as one day when I tell them "when we were little there was no such thing as the internet. Or ipods." And then their brains will immediately burst into flames as they try to process life without such necessities.) Anyway, we were living in San Diego for the summer and this was taken on a ferry to Coronado during our one day off .

************WARNING******************

This is the beginning of the years where we appear to be suffering VERY severe allergic reactions manifested in the whole body swelling you will soon witness.

2000--We earned a trip to Hawaii from the company Jeremy and I worked for during the summers. It was a nice break in February from Utah's wintery weather. I think I had to pay Jeremy $10 bucks to wear that shirt to dinner.

2000--December in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Alex was born during Jeremy's first semester of law school exams. This pic was taken right before we were taking Alex to church to be blessed and Jeremy's parents were there visiting. It reminds me of our itty bitty townhouse where we lived for three years. I can't believe we didn't die from clausterphobia...or from paying $2000 a month for the postage stamp we called home for so long.

2001--We couldn't live that close to Fenway and not go support our Red Sox. This was Alex's first MLB game and he escaped without catching any linedrives to the head.

2001--Our street faced the Charles River. We would take walks up and down the river and watch the rowing teams from various schools cruising up and down it. Saturday mornings we'd wake up to the screaming calls from the person that stands up and berates the team so they'll row harder.

2002--At the Boston aquarium. You can tell this was the only 2002 picture I could find, because WHY ELSE would I pick such an atrocious one. Alex looks Chinese, but he was just mad we were making him wear his harness and leash because he was, and is, and always will be, a runner.

2003--This was taken on the steps of our townhouse in Cambridge where we lived next to our BFF's, the Beuses and the Rogers. Jeremy was about to graduate and I was about 7 months pregnant with Maddie. We were surprised by how sad we were to leave when the time finally came. Looking back, we spent the whole time dreaming of when "real life" would begin after law school, and now I wish we could just go back. It really was a fun three years and we made great friends and experiences there.

2003--Taken in December while we were in Washington for a Fielding Family reunion. We were living in Jackson, Mississippi where Jeremy was completing a Federal clerkship and where I was learning that yes, living in Mississippi was just about as bad as I imagined it was going to be. And in the words of Forrest Gump, that's all I have to say about that.

2004--This was taken on Maddie's first birthday in Mississippi--she will always have the claim to fame of being born there and then she'll get to spell every kid's favorite word. M-I-SS-I-SS-I-PP-I. Alex was just lucky to be alive after the world's longest year in an apartment above a lady who stayed home all day, chain smoking on her balcony so that we would have the pleasure of wallowing in the deadly nonstop second hand smoke screen she sent up to our place.

2004--This was taken on the 4th of July after shooting off fireworks and getting stranded in my dad's horse pasture when our Suburban died. We had driven to visit my family and to spend insane amounts of time house hunting throughout every city surrounding Dallas. Luckily we found the perfect house for us and made an offer the next day.

2005--Our first family campout at Tyler State Park in Texas. (I know, right? I'm camping. Me. Camping. Amazing things happen when you have kids and they talk you into doing crazy things like camping in Texas--land of abnormally large insects and other undesireable creatures that could bite your face off while you sleep.) Jeremy was working at the big firm where he started his legal career, and would be leaving it behind for a smaller firm very shortly.

2005--We were visiting our great friends Chip and Jill in Atlanta and they took us out for a night on the town...without the kids. Yippee. We got busted for taking this picture in the famous Fox theater after seeing Phantom of the Opera. We also enjoyed a great dinner where Chip shared dessert with a total stranger---from the same fork. Nothing like stranger spit to make a night complete.

2005--After Atlanta we continued on our first "real" vacation to the beach in Hilton Head, South Carolina and had a blast.

2006--This year was sort of a blur...bottles, diapers, and learning to do things like opening doors while carrying two infant carriers. This was taken in June right before taking them to church to be blessed. It was quite a funny experience to have back to back baby blessings. Jeremy's family was in town on the way back from Paraguay where they picked up his sister Candice from her mission.

2006- The same day. Our first complete family picture since the boys left the NICU.

2007- Taken in Oregon on a trip to celebrate Jeremy's grandpa's big birthday bash. We survived lots of location changes during this week away and the twins' bout with a stomach bug that hit them after going through about 12 others on the trip. It was the first time that we had all been back to visit with faraway family in Washington since 2003. Fun but exhausting.

2007--This was an outtake from our attempts to take a decent Christmas picture. The boys were INSANE by this point and we had resorted to bribing them with dumdums. It may be many, many more years before we have a cooperative picture-taking crew.

2007--Kids, see how easy it is to take a picture, see! One, two, three, cheese. One take and we were outta there. And SEE! After 9 years, Jeremy has almost learned to close his mouth for pictures.

2008--Awesome quality pic (ha ha) via my cellphone camera taken on our recent trip to see Buble. A nice little escape from reality, but where, after years of conditioning, neither of us could sleep in past 7 am.

And that, is the Cliffs Notes picture version of our last 10 years.

Ramblings: A Very Tatooed Woman

10 things I should tattoo on my forehead after 10 years of repeating them
...so that way I could just point to the necessary response.

1. Did you check in the _______? (fill in the blank with the logical or typical location of the missing or sought for item referred to in the prior question, "Where's the/my______?" ).

2. Who pooped?

3. Get off of your brother.

4. Your children are trying to kill me. Seriously. They are sucking the life out of me.

5. When are you coming home?

6. I'd like a Route 44 Diet Coke please.

7. Crayons are not for eating.

8. Ask me without whining.

9. Because I'm the mom.

10. If I pick up one more pair of dirty socks, I'm going to make you eat them.

Ramblings: D.C.=Happiness

This is just more proof of the equation:

Diet Coke=Pure joy



And to prevent my mother from suffering any further irregular heartbeats, No we don't feed the children Diet Coke. Unless there's one little sip left and they look at you with that hopeful puppy dog face and say, "iwansum?" as if it was a question. And yeah, Aidan discovered these sunglasses and wore them for two hours straight. I had to pry them off once we came inside because he kept running into stuff, well, I should say he ran into stuff more than he usually does.



We enjoyed the perfect 78 degree weather between Conference sessions outside playing basketball, riding bikes, throwing around the football. I finally convinced Alex to put shorts and a tshirt on when he started showing signs of heat stroke.




Avery just enjoyed watching Alex and Uncle Spencer shoot hoops. Seventh heaven for that kid.




This was captured minutes before "the accident." Alex convinced Maddie to push him so he could go super speed, and of course she lost her balance when he started going fast and skidded about 3 feet on her hands and knees. 39 band aids later she was back on her Dora bike, so I guess she survived. Probably only one of many times she will get hurt listening to Alex's bright ideas.

Since it was a busy weekend, I gave myself permission to skip my "10" lists. But I will be back later with a new list for the day if the kids don't kill me or lock me in a closet.

Ramblings: The Glorious Boob Tube

Lately I've been whining (or "winding" as Maddie says) about the fact that there are no new episodes of "our shows" to look forward to after the kids are asleep, or at least when they're locked behind closed doors and their screams for water, the toilet, and all other non-blood related emergencies are sufficiently muffled. (Oh, how I love TiVo. He has enhanced (and increased) our TV viewing experience). But luckily, our new shows are starting up again soon so that all day I can look forward to whatever will be recorded while I'm fighting the kids to go to bed, only to be enjoyed later--commercial free--with a cold diet coke, a warm bowl of popcorn, and a fresh box of Milk Duds. (The looking forward all day part just shows you how awesome my daily grind is--a good sitcom episode is the highlight of my day.)

The popcorn/dud combo is a fabulous family secret that I will share with you. Eaten together, it's like a fresh little batch of caramel popcorn RIGHT IN YOUR MOUTH--with alot less work.

Did anyone else watch the two hours of The Office reruns last night in preparation for next week's new episode? The best lines from all four episodes: "I can see the security guard's eyes! I have to do something to his eyes...The eyes are the groin of the head." and "Wanted, middle-aged black man with sass. Big butt, bigger heart."

So this is my segue to today's "10" list. Over the years there have been shows that are "our shows"--meaning they are only to be viewed in the company of each other, or with explicit permission (say if he's out of town on business all week or if I'm...uh, ok. I'm always here, so no problem there). It is the ultimate betrayal to watch a new episode of one of our shows without waiting for the other person, and the crime is punishable by death. Or one to two minutes of the evil eye, depending on the show.

Since we've been married, there have been many shows we've enjoyed (I'm sure I've forgotten some--but these are the ones that I remembered.)


10 Shows We've Wasted Way Too Much of the last 10 Years Watching

1. Law and Order--10 years ago this show was at it's peak, before all the weird and numerous variations and spin-offs. We'd come home in the afternoon from classes at BYU and watch one (or five) of the episodes constantly playing on TNT. Now Jeremy can't stand any courtroom dramas because he is too cool with all his lawyer-ness and they are "so fake."

2. Felicity--Jeremy will DENY this till the day he dies--but he knew just as much as I did about whether Felicity was on again/off again with Noel and Ben and all the crazy stuff her roomate Megan did. This show was like Saved By the Bell on steroids. Pure! Genius!

3. National Geographic Explorer--During the first summer after we were married, we were living in San Jose (Milpitas, to be exact) in a studio apartment and working together at an atrociously stressful job that consumed every hour from about 6 AM until 11 PM, six days a week. Sundays were our only days off (oh, and half a day on the 4th of July to celebrate all our freedom and all). After church we'd take a nap (ah, those really were the good ole days), take a walk around our apartment complex, then watch a couple episodes of National Geographic Explorer. We'd learn about whacky places, animals, and insects all over the world--but the whole time dreading that in less than 12 hours we'd have to start the week all over again. It's sad that job almost killed our love of nature, and that we did that job for two more summers after that.

4. Everybody Loves Raymond--The best part of this show was that there was something to relate to in every episode. We had either said or done the exact things they were showing between Ray and Deborah. The one where he does a bad job loading the dishwasher to get out of doing it was ON THE MONEY.

5. Survivor--We, like the rest of the world, were obsessed with watching this show when it came out. It didn't last too long for us, though. After loving the first two or three seasons of seeing scheming, emaciated, and unshaven people running around in an attempt to win shelter or peanut butter, it all seemed a bit "been there, done that."

6. 24--We caught onto this show a few seasons after it started. We then joined Netflix for the sole purpose of renting and watching every DVD in the seasons we missed to catch up. Did I mention we are losers? If you are ever in the need of a bodyguard, call Jack Bauer. He has more lives than all cats combined...and not too hard on the eyes, either.

7. American Idol--We have watched this from it's beginnings and of course, the best episodes are where the vocally (and usually socially) challenged audition and sing like they really believe they are the long lost twin of Whitney Houston or Bon Jovi. We never sit and watch the "results" show where they announce which of the final 12 gets kicked off--TiVo is nice enough to fast forword to the last five minutes. Then we watch them announce the name, and after they crush the kid's hopes and dreams, they hand him a microphone and shove him out there crying, to sing the very song that he performed so badly the night before that it got him voted off. Did I mention they are usually crying so hard that their voices get all weird and 'a bit pitchy, dawg.'

8. 48 Hours Mystery--I fully recommend this bit o' real life drama. And I've noticed that there's a remarkably high number of women that when they feel like they could just kill their husbands, THEY DO. It also gives me some good tips on how NOT to get caught, in the hypothetical event I would ever need that kind of knowledge...

9. The Practice--In it's heyday, we waited on pins and needles from week to week for the new episode. Perhaps this is where Jeremy learned some of his cross-examination techniques...Oh, and he LOVED Ellenor (Camryn Mannheim). Every week I had to hear him gripe about why would anyone need 15 earring holes in one ear.

10. The Office--Save the best for last. I've probably seen every episode at least three times, and every time they just get funnier. I've heard they are doing a spinoff show with Dwight in another office. Question: How can this show stay as funny without DWIGHT? Answer: It just wouldn't be the same. True Office lovers will get that.

Oh, and I forgot Arrested Development--the absolute most brilliantly written show on TV ever. Witty and smart and so dang funny. (And everytime we watch it Jason Bateman reminds us of my cousin's husband, Thomas.) But then it died and we are forced to watch the three lonely seasons repeatedly on DVD.

Umm, did I mention we have no lives?

Ramblings: Kinda Smart?

Jeremy (not to be confused with this Jeremy Fielding) got an email from an attorney at another firm he had worked with on a settlement agreement. In it, she called him "kind and smart," which caused him to jokingly moan and groan a bit about how I never tell him he's "kind and smart." My reply: "Did you say kind and smart, or kinda smart?"

10 Reasons why that guy I married is kind and smart (in no particular order)
1. He married me. Ok. That was in order. It was both kind and smart.

2. He craves learning. He likes to learn about anything--so if you are a proclaimed or perceived expert on a subject or skill, he picks your brain until he knows as much as possible about it. **

As an added bonus at work, he has to have a clear knowledge of whatever is at the core of his cases. During the last few years, he has been tutored by experts in blood sepsis--its causes and treatments, neurology and MRIs, Sammy Davis, Jr., the scrap metal trade business between US and China, and how wind energy is produced, moved, and used--just to name a few. He loves this aspect of his job--I think he gets a taste of doing all those things by learning about them.

**(However, my dad artificially inseminates cows and horses as a "hobby", but I haven't heard Jeremy asking too many questions about THAT.)

3. He's smart enough to recognize how emotionally and physically draining it is to stay home with four young children all day, every day; and kind enough on bad days to shove me in my room, lock the door, and take over running the circus.

4. His ambition, brains, and competitive drive have gotten thru BYU with honors, Harvard Law, and to his current job--where he is definitely in his element. He gets to paid to strategize and be combative, to negotiate and persuade, and to problem solve and WIN! MUST WIN!

5. He has the freakish ability to recall pretty much anything he has read or studied---ever. Even the littlest facts, names, dates, battles, etc. (Sadly, this memory does not transfer to other areas like "Things I am Supposed to Buy at the Grocery Store" or "Where I am Supposed to put Dirty Socks when I Take them Off."

6. He is not picky about most things. I could fix raw chicken with a side of soggy corn flakes for dinner (which I've almost done, on several occasions), and he'd be like "Wow, this is soaked to the perfect sogginess. And what a great idea to build our immune systems by testing them with a little salmonella." And if I convinced him that hot pink would look really awesome painted on our bedroom walls, he'd probably go buy the paint for me and matching throw pillows.

7. This ties into number 6, but he is the Eternal Optimist and unfailingly supportive, probably to a fault. If I told him I thought, I really thought, if I flapped my arms hard enough that I could fly, he'd be like "well, let me turn the ceiling fan off so you don't hit your head. And while you're cruising around, get down the three balls the kids threw on the ledge way up there."

But I fear the kids are slowly draining the optimist out of him. Like in August when in a drunken Diet Coke stupor, he supposed that perhaps the kids would be good on our four hour flight to Washington, and maybe they'd even sleep through half of it. At about hour three, the optimist in him got pummeled, scratched, and pounded into submission and left cowering in a pathetic, defeated puddle under his tiny airplane seat.

8. He doesn't begrudge my earring-buying obsession, constant redecorating, or my cleaning OCD. He even cleans Alex's toilet which is a BIG deal--all of you that have potty-trained boys know what I'm talkin' about. Occasionally during one of my rabid cleaning sessions, he may offer a major eyeball roll, but he is immediately forgiven due to his aforementioned cleaning of one very nasty pee-palace .

9. He is super-duper complimentary. This is a great quality for the guy you live with to possess--especially in those post-partum months..errr.. years when you feel utterly disgusting and overly flabby. I truly believe if I gained 4000 pounds eating cotton candy and had to get around on one of those motor-scooters, shaved my head, and styled my leg hair into dreadlocks he would be like "Ooo, I really like how that new mu mu accents your hot legs. Is it new?"

10. He lets me warm my cold toes under his legs at night. Which is obviously very nice, but smart too, because thanks to growing up with my abusive older brother, I can punch freakishly hard.

Ramblings: 10

My goal is to make of list of "10" things everyday since this month is our tenth anniversary. I missed yesterday because Aidan was sick, got a fever, insisted on being held, and then barfed during Alex's soccer practice while Avery (knowing he was virtually untouchable as I sat 10 feet away cradling a sick, half-sleeping Aidan) tried to kill himself on the playground by the soccer field. The kid has no fear.

The funny part of the otherwise gruesome day is that Avery saw Aidan throw-up--I could tell it was about to happen based on some moaning and excessive salivating and managed to lean him over some grass. Let me tell you--that is the way to have a kid puke. Nothing to clean up. He didn't even get a drop on him. I'm getting better at my ability to steer puke in the direction most-easily cleanable. But Avery witnessed it and for the rest of the night kept pointing at Aidan and saying "A-nun. (insert sound of a barf reenactment. With full facial drama and tongue protrusion)." Then he'd stare back at me and nod, like, Whoa. Aren't you still as freaked out by that whole thing as I am?

Anyway, I've digressed. Today's list is:

10 different places we've lived in 10 years

1. Orem, UT

2. San Jose, CA

3. Provo, UT

4. San Diego, CA

5. Chandler, AZ

6. Cambridge, MA

7. Garland, TX

8. Mesquite, TX

9. Jackson, MS

10. Heath, TX

OK, I'll confess. In order to get 10, I had to list Orem because we lived at the Residence Inn for the first week and a half after we were married before moving to San Jose. Did I mention that it was during our finals? Now that's romantic! When anyone asks us where we went on our honeymoon, we say "The BYU Testing Center."

Ramblings: In Case of Emergency

On the 15th of this month, Jeremy and I will celebrate our 10 year anniversary. I have already planned one of his presents, and even if he reads this, it's OK because he won't remember it in a few minutes.

He will unwrap a medical alert bracelet that reads:

*Allergic to clothes hamper. Must remain at a distance of at least 30 feet. *

*Will forget head if not attached. If it cannot be found, just ask wife--that's what I do. *