Monday, July 23, 2012

Packing, 4th of July Celebrations & A New Career

Okay, So I am taking a break from life at the moment and instead of wasting time reading facebook I am updating the blog. It'll be boring, but at least some record of our life will be written down somewhere. ;)

All righty. I cannot believe that there is only one week left of July. This month passed me by before I even had time to blink!

Let's start with the 4th of July.

It was fabulous!

 okay I'm done.

just kidding. It was such a great day though. It was the first 4th that I have been away from my family, so that was a little different, but exciting too. We started it off by sleeping in. HA! that was smart of us. I have always gotten up early to go run some freedom run somewhere and I have always loved doing that, but I was tired this year and we just slept right on in. See what turning 30 did to us? We are getting lazy in our old age. ;)

We enjoyed the afternoon at a ward picnic, bbq & baseball game. It was so much fun. I just sat and chatted the entire time while Ben and the boys played ball, but it was a great time for all of us. Then we went to our community's celebration. Full of food, bounce houses, shops & all that. The kids were in heaven. The bounce houses were free & some were even water slides so that was super bonus. I think they would have spent all night playing there, but it was soon time to go & do our own fireworks at home. Which we did. We only bought a few, but the kids enjoyed them a bunch. The spinning eyeball ones are the best. Our neighborhood was having a block party so we actually got to watch fireworks from several different people. Then there was the main show (big ones in the sky) it was spectacular. And once that ended our neighbors had purchased a ton of huge ones themselves. It was just as great as the Avalon show, only we had front row seats! We loved it. Just sat on the grass, eating junk food and watching fireworks all around us. It was a kind of perfect night.

Several days later, as we were planning our week and kids go to what when and who could take them and this that and everything else.... we had the week planned. it was booked. We were then making a joke about how long we had been married and we both realized that our anniversary was in just a couple days. We had planned the entire week and had both completely forgotten about our anniversary. oh well. we still love each other. Actually, we're the happiest we've ever been so whatevs. We just laughed about it. We ended up all going out to dinner together and getting a "wedding cake" to eat with the kids. It was fun.

Oh yeah, at that dinner. as we were leaving Ben was carrying Sophie out through the restaurant and out of nowhere she points right at a rather large man and says loudly "fat man! fat man! fat man! fatty fatty!" Ben just about died of embarrassment. I truly don't know WHERE she got that from. I am thinking the boys, because my boys do like to stick out their tummies and call themselves fat. But holy crap, that was embarrassing. Oh and yes, we had a good long talk about calling people names of ANY SORT. Sheesh.

Moving on...

This year has brought on a slow bit of surprise for us. At the beginning of the year one of Ben's childhood friends (Levi Belnap) called him up, telling him about a business idea he had (he is currently in Harvard Business School) and wanted Ben's help with the technical side of it. Fast forward 7 months. They (Ben, Levi &  another guy I don't know) are all business partners, Ben has been working full time at his job here in Orlando, coming home and working several hours on this side business to get things up and running & they now have enough $$ for Ben to quit his job here and just give this (his) company his full attention. So, he gave his two weeks notice, his boss was very very sad and practically begged him not to leave, offered him a good raise, basically what can we do to make you stay, and Ben still quit. hahaha. No, it is good they like him so much. If this thing doesn't go through like they are hoping it will, his boss told him they will take him back anytime. So I'm not worried.  Anyways, starting next week he will be working from home, getting this product working, finished & polished & will be his own boss. I am really excited for him. He has always always wanted to have his own company, be an entrepreneur & he is finally doing it! He is loving this so much and is so happy.  I don't know if he'll ever go back to being just a programmer again. Our new home has a nice big office for him to work in, so that is perfect timing for him to be working from home. Life is full of surprises isn't it? I like this one.

With that, we are moving. So I have been trying to still have a summer vacation, a little bit of fun, started training for a marathon (on week 3 & @ 45 miles a week sheesh!) and triyng to get a little bit of packing done each day. Things are going pretty smoothly, but laundry and dinners just aren't happening. Where the world am I supposed to fit that one in? So, it is frozen dinners & wash clothes as you need them. HA! My house is currently halfway torn apart. Everything off the walls, closets emptied and boxed up. This week my friend Amy Hillis is coming over for a day to help me get everything else boxed up and ready for the truck. She is a good one that Amy Hillis. Love her.

Harrison is still playing Basketball &  is improving @ each game. He scored twice in yesterday's game and actually guarded his man. I was proud of him. James had a swim meet last week, it didn't go as well as his first but he still rocked. He had been swimming for 7 hrs the day before and was just plain exhausted by the time the meet came around. He took 2nd in most things, except the medley, which he took 3rd. It was a rough race, you could tell he was exhausted by the end, but he didn't give up and finished the thing well. I was proud of him.

Sophie is currently obsessed with Ballerinas and all she wants from Santa this year (yes my kids are always planning on what they are going to ask for and it changes throughout the year) is a pair of ballet slippers. I am planning on getting her a little ballet outfit and slippers, assuming she is still loving that in 6 months. My friend Amy has 3 daughters and they are all in dance. And have been since they were tiny. So that adds up to a lot of dance costumes. guess who got most of those costumes a few weeks ago? Yep, Me! Sophie has been in heaven ever since. She plays dress up al day long, looks in the mirror, dances around. I love it. Harrison likes them equally as well. He dresses up and dances around with her too. Funny little boy. James won't be caught dead in any of them.

I have also once again started training for another Marathon. It is in Savannah GA and is on a SATURDAY! That is a big deal here as ALL RACES are on Sundays. So glad to find one on a Saturday that is close enough to drive to. just 4 hrs away. This time around I am trying a new training program with a lot more miles in it. I am already putting in 40 miles a week and get up to 60 by the end. My legs feel good currently, but man, that humidity wears me out quick! I am always disgusted and amazed at just how much I sweat during each run. Seriously, my shoes get squishy/sloshy and it is all from me sweating right down into them. Bad huh? I only have another month or so of the really hot humid weather, so that is a good thing. Counting down to October for nice running weather again.

Anyways, I think that is all for now. pretty darn boring huh? With all that we have still been spending at least one full day a week at the beach, always with friends & it is always a great time. Harrison is now in love with body boarding and never gets out of the water. I love seeing my kids enjoy the beach so much. We went the other evening and it was beautiful. It was nice and cool, the kids built a sand castle, we walked along the beach for a while & just relaxed. That was a good beach visit.

Okay, my chores are calling to me. I must go get the boys room packed on up before they start unpacking things. sigh. I'll post again when I'm moved.

Oh one more thing, we went to the dentist today. NO CAVITIES FOR ANYONE!!! That is a pretty big deal at our house considering the first time we took James @ age 3 he had 11 cavities & needed 5 root canals. And has needed work done almost every time we go. Harrison has yet to have a cavity and this was Sophie's first visit. I told the boys that if they came out with no cavities I'd give them $20. As soon as the dentist told Harrison he was cavity free he said "mom, where's my 20 bucks?". I guess I gotta pay up. ;)



Sunday, July 8, 2012

Summer Awesomeness

Just to keep you all updated on our lives here in FL.... I last posted 2 months ago.
 Since then.

 Portland OR

 Went to Portland for my little brother's (jay) wedding. I went several days early and met up with other siblings to see sight, hang out and just have a good time. The trip was amazing and I had a complete blast the entire time. The trip started out with a bit of a hicup. My flight was leaving at 5 am. Which meant I was leaving my home at 3 am. I was just leaving the house when the airline called to let me know my flight was cancelled and they would be flying me out the next day on a red eye flight with a 10 hr layover in TX. Let me tell you how unacceptable that was. So they got a phone cal from Ben. He was much nicer than I would have been but he was firm that I had arranged to be there that afternoon and that was when hey would get me there no matter what they had to do. They put me on a different airline, there were a few more hiccups even after I got to the airport but once again Ben saved the day and I got to Portland just 2 hrs later than I had originally planned. Not bad considering. I was grateful for Ben and all he did to get me on that plane. :)
Once there I had a smash! You should know I didn't have kids with me, Ben stayed home wih them so I could have a vacation myself. Sweet boy huh? Anyways, my brother James and sisters Becca & Amy all met me there & we were off to have a good time. We got Vietnamese food from an old food truck $5 and very very tasty!! Thn got a box of voodoo doughnuts for dessert. Maple bar...yum my favorite. Then we just walked around downtown Portland until it got dark and headed to our hotel. Stayed up all night goofing off and chatting. It was so great to hang out with my family.

The next day we went for a great run along the river, hiked Multnomah falls. That was simply amazing!!! Jay and his fiancé Emilyanne (yes we have the same name and there are now 3 Emily's in my family oh and we love love her) came along with us. That night my other brother Jeremy came into town and we all met for dinner. It was one of the finest dinners. We just chatted and laughed and ate more than we should, everything a vacation should be. Once again we stayed up all night laughing and chatting.
Throughout the rest of the trip we....
- Went to the coast cold, 100% gorgeous...with haystack rock and the mountains falling off into the ocean, the white trim houses on the hillsides. So beautiful
 - helped get things ready for the wedding and dinner. - attended the wedding at the LDS Portland temple. It was beautiful & I love seeing Jay so happy.
 -more fun with family, more food, less sleep.

 Before I knew it was time to go home. I was sad to say goodbye to all my family as I won't be seeing them for another year but I am grateful that I got to see them & spend time with them this year. Oh and I fell in love with my little nephew rocky. I could eat that kid up.

 Okay after Portland the kids finished up school. James passed with flying colors, excellent grades & made honor roll for the 4th time this hr. good job, I'm proud of you. Harrison on the other hand....his teacher is concerned abounds ability to be in 1st grade. He is 100% awesome in math. But the reading is just coming so slowly. Sooo we are working with him all summer to get him up to pace with everyone else and ready for 1st grade. He is doing well and I think he will be okay.

 In June....we went on a family trip to the north Georgia mountains. They aren't like Utah mountains. Highest point is 4700 ft, but they were simply gorgeous. So much green and lots of waterfalls. We rented a cabin for a week and it was heaven. It was in its own little secluded spot. A stream ran next to it, the kids went tubing and fishing the entire time. There was a great fire pit, s'mores every night :) :) there was tons of running and exploring room for the kids. We also had a grill and a hot tub. Nice. The cabin wasn't huge but big enough and had everything we needed. Full size kitchen, 2 bathrooms, 3 bedrooms. 2 screened in porches with rocking hairs, picnic table and even a Ping pong table. It was awesome.

We spent the week hiking several waterfalls, going to historic little towns eating the best fudge ever, stopping by an orchard and getting fresh ga peaches and peach ice cream. Soo tasty. We played card games drank hot chocolate, made tinfoil dinners, shish kabobs & had the greatest time ever.

My favorite things though were:
 -swinging with Harrison in the hammock hr after hr just talking about everything.
 -hiking with Sophie and listening to her sing "you are so beautiful to me!" over and over.
 -Ben discovering that he loves to fish. He fished 80% of the time we were there. :)
-playing UNO with the kids every night
-enjoying the peace and beauty of the mountains every day.

 We were all so sad to leave, none of us wanted to. Harrison decided we need to move to GA. But the time came and we drove on home.

 Since then and even before then, we have spent days at the beach, pool, swim practice (James is on the swim team and he rocks!!) basketball practice (Harrison is living his dream) he literally pranced down the court he was was so excited. His first game he made a three pointer, go Harrison! And at James first swim meet he took first in 2 events and 2nd in one. He is amazing to watch.

 This month is filled with moving!!! We are moving a little less than a mile away into a home with a backyard! Yay!!! We are actually happy where we are but our landlords are moving back so we must go. The new home is super cute though and will be good for our fam. Okay that is all for now. And it is a lot!!! :) :) :)