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'Sup peeps?
How's it going? I am once again going to ask for updates from everyone. No, I'm not going to do it in as many words as last week, but come on. Remember the 'I can't know what you're up to if you don't tell me' thing? Maybe I'll try a little your-own-medicine one of these days… Just putting that out there… xP
First of all, I want to give a huge shout out to Alex Preston! She is my only "follower" on this blog. I can't say I understand why she did it (or even what it actually means…) but I just want y'all to know how much I love her. Alex, you are a beautiful, wonderful, talented person and I am SO blessed and grateful that we're friends! I miss you and can't wait to see you again! Love you, girl!
I love "Pippin". It's an awesome show. Thanks, Trench!
Anyway, this week was probably the most eventful since I moved here. I'll see if I can accurately portray what happened. (Of course, that'll be easier if I can remember more than I currently do… We'll see how it goes.) (Also, I may end up going for a record for the number of ellipses one uses in a blog post. Apparently I'm up to four already, and this is only my third real paragraph. Shall we see how many of those end up coming to play?) Allons-y!
Okay, so Monday. Most of the day wasn't anything too special, but I did end up going to a YSA (that's young single adults, for those that don't know. It's an LDS term for those of us who are 18+ and not married.) FHE (family home evening. Usually done with families, obviously, but can be done with ward or other groups.) activity. It was a multi-ward event, and I went with a girl that lives in the next development or something like that. Her dad is in our bishopric and when they came over to visit with me last Sunday said he thought the two of us would get along. So far, we totally are. I met up with Matice and her friends Robert and Rebecca (the two of them aren't members, but apparently go to a lot of activities and stuff with Matice) and we all drove up together. The activity was in Mountain View, a little over half an hour away, and was a photo scavenger hunt in a 'pumpkin patch'. The patch itself was a bit sad, honestly. It was a few pumpkins in a parking lot. There were a few bouncy castles we weren't allowed to go in; some baby chickens and a mini goat; some "haunted caves" that were little ten foot long tunnels made out of hay bales; and some cardboard cutouts scattered throughout. Like I said, it was sad. But once the hunt started, things really picked up. As I said in my tweet that night, my team was pretty awesome. At least half of them would be really fun to GISHWHES with- that were all trying to figure out how to get extra points and make our pictures cooler and stuff. Also, I'm pretty sure I talked to more guys that night than I have in the past year or two combined. Some of them were really cute, but most of them were from Palo Alto and seemed a bit put off at how far away I lived. Unless they were just put off by me. I dunno. Anyway, the night wrapped up at a ward building a few minutes away with hot cider, pumpkin bread and cookies, then the four of us drove home.
Tuesday wasn't anything too special. I actually don't remember what happened at all, so I'm gonna go with nothing. (I can't keep the days straight when they're happening, much less almost a week later… So sue me.) The only real highlight from this day was the 'Supernatural' episode. HOLY CRAP!!!!!!!!!!! It was REALLY good. Like, I think it's about as close to televisual perfection as you can get. Seriously. Beautiful.
Wednesday was another crazy one from the get-go. Niccole had a doctor's appointment to check over the x-rays she'd had taken on Monday, but they still can't tell if anything's broken or not. She also went to get her teeth cleaned, which surprisingly enough took her half an hour from walking in the door to walking back out. Kelsey gets out of school early on Wednesdays, and we didn't think Niccole would be finished in time, so I was in charge of picking her up. I got the two younger kids bundled out the door but didn't notice my phone going off because they were making a fuss. It was a good thing Niccole got finished so quickly 'cause I was late through it all. If I'd known soon enough I wouldn't have even tried, but by the time I saw the text we were close enough that we went and met them anyway. After everyone got home Niccole sat the kids down to watch a movie while I went out for a job interview. I got it, by the way. I didn't say anything earlier about it 'cause it's nothing big, though. It's just a part time position at a PetsMart in Mountain View. It's a bit of a drive, only part time and doesn't pay much, but at least it's something for now. I'm also hoping Target will call back, 'cause that would make up the rest of my needed funds until I can find something better. Don't worry, I'm still very actively looking, but this will let me have some money to gas my car, pay my bills and start getting ready for STC. Who knows, maybe these jobs are just making it so I can easily go for episode four and then start something bigger and better when I come back. I dunno. After the interview, I went and, ahem, donated for my drug test and then drove over to meet Niccole and the kids at the Apple complex. We went to the corporate store, which is where they sell their apparel and stuff on top of their normal products, then sat and played Eye Spy while we waited for Ryan to get off. Once he did, we got signed in as guests and went to Cafe Macs for dinner. It's a pretty darn impressive place. The food was really yummy, quite well priced, and the atmosphere was awesome. Just one more reason I want to work for them. xP
Thursday was another down day. We did pretty much nothing, which was nice. We knew the next two days would be crazy busy, so we took it easy.
Friday and Saturday were spent getting ready for the ward Halloween party. Niccole was in charge of it, which was stressful enough. She kept getting frustrated at the severe lack of communication she encountered, especially with people from the Morgan Hill Second Ward. (It was a combined activity.) That was all on top of the fact that she and I decided to enter something into the chili cook off. We decided to use the butternut squash recipe she'd found a bit ago. Since the kids liked it as much as they did (not to mention the two of us!) we thought, why not. On Friday we got most of the stuff ready to make the chili, so we spent a lot of time chopping and browning and roasting. I cut so much squash that I got a blister on my middle finger and one of those painful, sub-dermal almost-blisters on the bottom of my index finger. That stuff is REALLY hard! Saturday we actually put it all together (it barely fit in the crock pot and pressure cooker. Niccole says she needs a bigger crock pot.), finished our part of the decorations and worked out the stuff for the trunk. Niccole decided she wanted to set up the trunk like a crime scene, so she traced Asher laying on a piece of paper and painted it black before tracing a 'chalk' outline on it. We got all three kids to make 'bloody' footprints that we cut out and taped in trails away from the body and used police tape and evidence markers from a kit she found. It was pretty great. Set up started at 4:00, though Ryan didn't think we'd need that much time. (the thing was scheduled to start at 5:30.) We pretty much did, though. The turnout was HUGE, and the whole thing ended up being a lot of fun. Niccole did a great job. Wanna know what was funny? We totally won the contest! It was a blind tasting, so the judges had no idea what chili was made by whom, or even who had entered at all (Not all the proffered chili was put in the contest). The bishop jokingly (I think…) said we cheated, but whatever. We got a cake as our prize. It's okay. Not great, but okay. The kids had fun with the trunk or treat, Ryan was recognized as Ash Ketchum after people saw Niccole's Pikachu, and I was only made fun of by one small child for my 'costume'. (I didn't have one. Kelsey decided she wanted to do my hair in 'snakes' and called me a witch. I said I was a homicidal maniac, 'cause they look just like everyone else, but no one who asked got the reference. Of course, she was six, but still…)
Today was a pretty typical Sunday, other than Asher throwing a world class tantrum. It did lead to an adorable moment between him and Ryan, but if you want to see that you'll have to check out my Twitter feed. It's already there. As we were heading out to church, the kids asked if they could go play around outside whilst waiting for their parents, and I said yes. When we got to the yard Browyn started running in circles saying "playing around, playing around, playing around the rosie," over and over. That was adorable, but you can't hear it in the videos I got. Sorry. We played Shrek Uno when we got home, and that was also fun as the kids learned and got into the game. Other than that, the cutest thing that happened is going to be our visual entertainment for the post.
Ryan told the kids after they put their pajamas on we could watch some "Studio C". They really like it, though half the time I really can't tell if they're laughing 'cause they actually think it's funny or because the three adults are. Who knows. Either way, seeing them- and especially Browyn- dance to the theme song is worth anything and everything else that comes from trying to get them to behave. This isn't the best example, but it's pretty good. My favorite Browyn dance move is the little hip-wiggle she does. I think you can see it right at the end. I'm not sure. But it's still cute!

Wellp, that's pretty much it. Questions? Comments? Concerns? I'll be waiting!
(Okay, so the total tally of ellipses was too low for me to actually go count them. I didn't put in nearly as many as I thought I would. Parentheses, on the other hand, are plentiful and abundant. Hopefully they made up for the complete and total lack of cool anything in this post. Sorry?)

Grass Angels

The kids wanted to make 'grass angel pyramids' while at the Apple Complex for dinner tonight. We never did figure out what that meant, but I got this of Browyn making her grass angel. It was pretty adorable. Afterward, she stood up, turned and, after a critical look, said "It's a pretty grass angel," before letting me put her shoes on to go home. Yup.

Silence in Morgan Hill

Hello internet!
I figure that's all I'm writing to, so I might as well address this accordingly. What do you think?
What's up? How's it going? What's happening? How's tricks? What have you been up to? How's it hanging? What- no, I think that's it. I can't think of another one. But, the question remains. I want to know these things!
This week was really quiet. Literally. Ryan, Niccole, and the kids left for Disneyland last Sunday (I think I mentioned that in the last post, didn't I?) so I had the house to myself. Lucky me. It was so exciting! (I once had a conversation with someone [probably from STC- I'm thinking it was either Kasey or Chris, but I don't remember] about how we should have a punctuation mark that could denote sarcasm. We were thinking about using the upside-down exclamation or question mark, though no one knew how to make them. Anyone have any ideas?) Seriously, though, I got bored at approximately 11:00 AM on Monday. And I got out of bed around 9. It was extremely weird to wake up at pretty much the same time as usual out of habit, but not hear the kids playing or their parents trying to get them to eat or whatever. The things we get used to, eh?
So, what did I do all week? Nothing. Seriously. I worked out a bit, though not as much as I should have. I applied for at least 50 jobs, though I probably should have done that more too. I played a bunch of games on my phone. Oh, and I watched all three complete seasons plus the first three episodes (that's all there was so far. Hey, there was a new one tonight!) of 'Once Upon a Time'. That's a good show. For anyone out there that is trying to say "I told you you'd like it!" I never didn't like it. It's just that the last time I tried to start watching I had to do so on Hulu, and I hate Hulu. The commercials drive me crazy, and it's extremely annoying that the more you watch the more ads you have to sit through. Now that it's all on Netflix, however, I finally got around to watching it. For those of you don't that follow me on Twitter (don't worry, I totally don't blame you) the soundtrack is beautiful. I am continuously surprised at that fact, 'cause the theme they play over the name screen thing (you know, where the opening credits used to be but nowadays most shows just throw up the name of the show and get on with things) is dumb. I don't like it. But most of the rest of the music is seriously gorgeous. I want it.
The most exciting thing about the week was also the most terrifying. This house may well be haunted. I haven't decided yet. It shouldn't be, since it's not very old and as far as I know the land is nothing special, but there is a distinct possibility that it is. Almost every single night when the others were gone, I heard things. Not just little things, either. I mean, I heard doors opening and closing, creaks on the stairs and hallway outside my room, bangs like cupboards shutting- all sorts of things. There were at least three separate times where I got out of bed to do a room-by-room-including-closets-and-behind-the-shower-curtain search of the house, I was THAT sure there was someone else here. Niccole's heard stuff like that too, so it's probably not my imagination. Okay, so it most likely is. Or at worst, it's the house settling. But hey, you never know. Especially now as Samhain is approaching- the border between this world and the next is thinning, and things may well find their way through. ooooooOOOOOOOOoooooo. Watch out!
They got home late last night, and I'm pretty sure the two older kids didn't even realize I was talking to them as I helped put them to bed. Today we had stake conference, where we heard from the stake president (obviously) a Laurel, a young family, the Oakland temple president and his wife, the San Jose mission (now I know which one we're in!) president and his wife, and a member of I believe the fifth Quorum of the Seventy. He's from Hawaii, but I can't remember his name. Sorry. It was good, though. A rather simple but enjoyable conference. Afterwards, the kids wanted to show me their pictures from Disneyland, though they got a bit bored since there were so many duplicates and they were all in a weird order. I guess that's what we get for looking at the shared album with everything all the random family members had put together. They really enjoyed telling me some of their stories, though. Then the bishopric, elders' quorum president and Relief Society president came over to 'get to know me better'. That was also a surprisingly fun conversation- not nearly as awkward as I'd been expecting. Then we finished off the evening with dinner and playing the Wii, which is not a common Sunday thing but Asher had really wanted to play Mario Kart with Kyle and it just went from there.
That's it! Like I said, not much happened. I'm going to try and spice things up a bit with an Asher anecdote. This is not from this week, as he wasn't around, but it was pretty darn hilarious. Hopefully it'll be as funny in the retelling. Here goes nothing! (As if that's any different from the rest of my posts…)
So, once upon a couple of weeks ago, I was talking to Kasey, our production manager for STC. We were Facebook messaging (though I've never been sure why we don't just text… Maybe Kasey has a limited plan? Do those still exist?) while I was eating breakfast, and trying to get Asher and Browyn to do the same. Asher asked who I was talking to, and I told him a friend. After a while, and a bunch of badgering, I asked if Asher wanted to see a picture of my friend. He very excitedly said yes, so I pulled up the one I'd sent to Dilee the day after I got here. (At the time, it was a 'look what I'm doing right now!' pic). This is it:

Asher looked at it for a minute, then very seriously asked, "Why is he so old?" 

I was shocked, of course, and couldn't help but laugh. I told him Kasey isn't old, and asked why he thought that. Asher just did his little one-shoulder shrug and replied "I don't know." I relayed the thought to Kasey, we laughed about it, and shortly thereafter ended our conversation. 

A bit later in the day, I was again talking with Kasey. Asher, of course, asked who I was conversing with and I said it was the friend I'd been talking to earlier, and that I was apologizing for what his earlier comment. He was interested, so I asked if Asher wanted to say anything to Kasey. I'd just found the audio message feature thing in the Facebook Messenger app and figured it would be a good way to test it. Asher said he wanted to, but couldn't think of anything to actually say. I told him he could think about it, and that I'd help him send something when I came back inside. I left my phone on the couch as I went into the garage to help Niccole switch the laundry (this was in the first week of her injury where she was wearing her sling, so she couldn't do it on her own.) When I got back, not three minutes later, my phone was in a different position and Asher had run off. I looked at it and realized he had sent something to Kasey without me. I pressed play, and to my utter astonishment, he had said "I only said that 'cause you look so fat!" Again, I couldn't help laughing, and in fact almost literally fell on the floor. Niccole, of course, was curious, so I explained everything to her. She also laughed, but was also horrified. I spent some time again apologizing and relayed her assurances that she's 'raised her kids better than that'. Kasey thought this new part of the conversation was even better than the last, and said "Nothing for her to worry about! I thought it was funny as he**" (Sorry to edit, Kasey, but you never know who's going to read these. Or something. xP) Asher then sent another audio message that simply said "I'm sorry," to which Kasey replied "Aww, very sweet. Apology is accepted and we are now friends." Asher's reaction to that?

All in all, it was a very funny day. (That wasn't the only filter-free kid moment we had. Niccole and I are trying to figure out how to teach the kids to think before opening their mouths.) It was definitely one of those things where you feel like you probably should get mad, but you're laughing to hard to do so. Of course, we talked to Asher about why you shouldn't just say stuff like that, 'cause it might hurt people's feelings, but seriously. Hilarious. Thanks for being such a great sport about it, Kasey!

Pics from this weekend!

The view of the city from the party site. The Blue Angels were flying around in there somewhere, but I don't think you can see them in this pic. Sorry.

Giant slide the kids wanted to go on. I'm not sure if this or the glass house was their favorite thing. They were both pretty funny to watch. :)

Sunset over the city.

The kids with their face paint and balloon things. Kelsey's face paint was called 'frozen' and her balloon is Elsa; Browyn has peacock paint and an Olaf, and Asher's is Spiderman and a sword. Sorry it's a bit blurry- these kids are impossible to photograph if they don't want you to do so!

The sunset as seen down through this street on the base.

Today while waiting for their parents, the kids went outside to play a bit. This is them using the leaves to fly (as Asher is demonstrating) while being bat spies. Or something. (They were going on 'bat missions', and they meant the secret type as opposed to the spiritual type.) You never can really tell with them.

The Music You're Given

Hey y'all!
How's it going? I hope well. The biggest problem about trying to update people through blog is that I don't ever get responses, and therefore have no idea what's happening with anyone else. You should let me know! Just 'cause we don't live close to each other, that doesn't mean I don't care all the sudden. I totally do. In case you were wondering.
Anyway, this week. What happened this week? Not much really. Monday and Tuesday were pretty slow. The only real highlight in there was, of course, the 'Supernatural' season ten premiere. Holy crap! I absolutely love that show. Like, a lot. It's so good! And it was fun (overall, though they will tell you I got rather frustrated during the whole ordeal) watching and talking with Randilee and Hayley. I miss you girls! Can't wait to talk again on Tuesday. 'Reichenbach', I'm lookin' at you!
Wednesday we had the missionaries come over for dinner. There are a companionship of elders and one of sisters here in the ward, though apparently the sisters cover two other wards as well. Whew, they're busy! We had wetback, which was of course extremely tasty, and I was surprised to find out Ryan was unsure if I liked it or not. Hello! I guess he hasn't been paying attention at any of my birthday dinners. Ever. Oh well. :) Talking with the missionaries was fun, and it totally made me miss my mission. Watching the elders give their slightly awkward but still good thought, seeing the light that only full-time missionaries have- yup. I miss it. I did, however, made loose plans to go out with the sisters some time. We exchanged numbers and they said they will 'go find the one Korean in Morgan Hill so we can teach them', and (maybe possibly as a joke. I wasn't sure) said they wanted me to teach them some Korean. Either way, I'm very excited to help them.
Nothing much happened on Thursday either, and the only real thing we did on Friday was GAFIA. It was a Relief Society activity where our and the other Morgan Hill ward got together to do crafts. Niccole wasn't interested in any of them, as they were all really- as in painfully- simple, but she'd told someone she could help lead one of the crafts if need be, and dragged me along. It wasn't too bad, and it was nice to 'Get Away From It All' (I found out during the thing that that's what it stood for. Niccole's friend apparently emailed one of the ladies in charge to figure that out, and she told me.) for a bit. Of course, we were hoping to get home before midnight, but when the thing wasn't even scheduled to end until 11 and of course a bunch of sisters had to keep going and make it really hard to clean up, what can you do. We didn't want to leave all the older ladies to clean by themselves.
Saturday, yesterday, was pretty crazy, though it probably shouldn't have been. The whole week Niccole had been working on getting everything ready and packed for their Disneyland trip, and it all came to a head yesterday. The morning flew by somehow, I got roped in to helping with nail art (I know, right? Apparently I didn't do too bad, though, and the only nails I was completely responsible for were Browyn's. Who actually cares what a two year old's nails look like, huh?) and then we all jumped in the car to run a few errands before heading to Ryan's work party. (If you follow me on Twitter, you've heard a tiny bit about this, so sorry if it's a tad repetitive.) It ended up being farther than Ryan thought- last time he'd looked it up he remembered being told it was in San Jose, but it definitely wasn't. We ended up at Alameda Point, which is an old Navy base. The base has been closed and turned in to an assortment of other things. The particular place we went to was a wine storage and tasting facility that had been put into a couple of old fighter maintenance hangars. To make it even cooler, it was on the water just across from San Francisco, so we had a really cool view of the city and the Bay Bridge. There was a carnival set up, complete with face painting, rides, several bouncy castles, a magician, a guy making balloon animals and things, and a bunch of food trucks. The trucks, ice cream, games, cotton candy, and cupcakes were all available for free, and while we of course didn't imbibe, every guest over the age of 21 were allowed three alcoholic drinks for free. Seeing as how we were practically in a winery, there were a lot of choices for those who wanted to try them. Think that's cool? There was more! The Bay area is currently in the middle of Fleet Week, during which there are a bunch of different Navy-related events like art shows, ship tours, etc. Yesterday the party occurred during the air show, which featured (among other cool things) the Blue Angels! Of course, they're not quite as cool as the Thunderbirds, but hey. You take what you can get, right? ;P It was so cool! Watching them fly around the city, under the bridge, into and out of the fog- even if the rest of the party had sucked (which it didn't!) that in and of itself would have made the drive worth it. We decided to stay late enough to watch the sunset behind the city, which was really pretty, and Niccole and I have decided we're gonna take a trip up there some day soon to take pictures around the old base. (I found out Niccole really likes military history, and we both were geeking out over the location pretty much the whole time. Ryan was amused and confused, but we're just gonna go without him.)
Today we headed out to church, and after sacrament meeting Ryan, Niccole, and the kids left for Disneyland. Browyn still didn't get that I wasn't going with them, and got rather sad about it. (Then again, she also kept trying to go to nursery while we were waiting for their parents to be ready to leave, so I'm not sure she really understood much of the situation anyway…) I've only had the house to myself for about nine hours now, but it's already weird. The quiet, the stillness- it's rather odd. I might end up going crazy this week. Like, for real. My only plans are to start exercising again now that I can more or less breathe and put in some serious hours job hunting. Since I don't have any money, I don't think I'll be leaving the house at all except to check the mail. It's gonna be weird. Hopefully I'll get used to not having the kids around (though I don't want to get too used to it, 'cause then I might hate it when they come back. :S) We'll see.
That's it! That's my week. Nothing really happened. I hope you didn't fall asleep too many times while reading this. To try and make it not a complete waste of time, I do have a thought I'd like to share. It came from a mixture of the Relief Society lesson (isn't it crazy how much Satan tries to get you to leave the days you really need to hear something?) and, surprisingly enough, a 'Bones' episode.
I've been trying to get caught up with 'Bones' lately. I have loved the show since Aleta introduced me to it, but as per my usual got behind. So, when I got home from church and had nothing else to do, I sat down to watch some. At the end of one episode, Booth and Bones are at home (if you haven't seen any 'Bones' the last few seasons, spoiler! They live together. [Don't worry, they got married this season so it's okay now.]) at the end of a long day and, of course, a trying case. Booth turns on some music, a rather slow, low country-ish song, and wants to dance with Bones, but she says the song isn't good for dancing. Booth says it's a fact that if the song isn't a good one to dance to, you just dance slower, and Bones disputes that. Booth then says "Sometimes, you just have to dance to the music you're given." That line, coupled with the lesson we'd had about Elder Bednar's talk from the April conference about bearing your burdens, really hit me.
At times, this life totally sucks. We face challenges, we are given burdens, we go through something we don't think we can handle. Like Alma's people in Mosiah, we are occasionally burdened so much that we stumble under the weight of the cross, or we get stuck in the snow like in Elder Bednar's story. Sometimes, the song just doesn't seem to be anything we want to listen to, much less dance to. But, though we may want to with everything we have and are, we can't usually change these circumstances. Alma's people couldn't free themselves from captivity; Elder Bednar couldn't move his truck; we can't cure illnesses or magically create jobs or brush off emotional problems. The thing is, when that's the case, we're not supposed to. We're not supposed to change the song- we're supposed to dance anyway. You can also think about the saying (I don't remember where it came from) "Life isn't about learning to stop the storm; it's about learning to dance in the rain." (It's something like that.) Even if you have to dance "really, really slowly" as Bones said, there is always some way to move to the song. There is always some way to keep going forward, though it very well might include dropping to your knees. After all, "When life gets to hard to stand, kneel". There are hands waiting, both seen and unseen, to help bear the burdens. Like the Lord did with Alma's people, like He did with the Hebrews and the Saints during the Restoration and His disciples in His time; as He has always done and will always do, He will be there to make us strong enough to bear our crosses. He will send His angels to help us along. Sometimes those angels are our friends and family, sometimes they are unseen beings that doubtless still bear some of the weight. He may not take away our trials, our challenges, but He will make sure there is a way through them. He may not change the song, but He will help us find a way to keep dancing. Whatever your song, never stop dancing. If you need a partner to help you feel out the steps, I'm here. I hope you all know that.

Always,
-Megan

P.S. Yes, I know there were a lot of different quotes in there. That really shouldn't surprise you by now. If it does, sorry. Either way, just know (as stated in the disclaimer from my first post) I am not eloquent. I don't know how to say things, but I can find others that do. Deal with it or find a different blog. ;)

Bred to Endure

Lookit! Three posts (technically, though I'm not sure I actually count Browyn's videos.) in two days. Woah! No, this won't be common. Don't worry.
ALSO, I'm not sure if this is in my first set of disclaimers, and even if it is I think I need to put this specifically here. THIS POST WILL CONTAIN QUITE A BIT OF RELIGIOUS STUFF. No, I will not be shoving anything down anyone's throats or telling you what you need to believe. That is not even kind of my place. I will, however, be talking about some of my beliefs, how I know what I do and what it makes me feel. If that is going to make you uncomfortable, stop reading now. I'd really prefer this post doesn't ruin any kind of friendship we may have, especially 'cause in my mind it's going to be a generally positive piece. Thank you.
Now, on to it.
The title of this post comes from the lyrics of a song in the "Lord of the Rings Musical". I know, I know, I talked about that yesterday, but hey. All I really did was mention it. However, as I laid in bed for far too long last night, listening to the songs over and over, unable to turn them off, I started thinking about this one song, mixed with a few things from Conference. So, I thought I'd let y'all know about it. (You know, I like saying 'y'all'. For a few reasons. First of all, it's just something I've said for a long time. It didn't even start with Kaylee, believe it or not. In this particular context, however, it makes me feel like I may actually be writing this for someone else. On the other hand, I can't decide if I actually want anyone reading this… Oh well. xD)
Anyway, I want to put the lyrics in here so you know what I'm talking about. The song is called "Now and for Always" (<- that's a link to a YouTube video of the song if anyone wants to listen to it. I definitely recommend doing so!) and it goes a little something like this:

[SAM]
Sing me a story of heroes of the Shire
Muddling through, brave and true
Stubborn as bindweed and tough as old briar
Never too showy or grand
Year after year they persevere
Now and for always
Harfoots who planted, and Stoorfolk who ploughed
Bred to endure, slow but sure
Fallohide blood in your veins makes you proud
Sturdy and steady they stand
True to their aim to stay the same
Now and for always

[FRODO & SAM]
Sit by the firelight's glow
Tell us an old tale we know
Tell of adventures strange and rare
Never to change, ever to share
Stories we tell will cast their spell
Now and for always

[SAM]
Sing me a story of Frodo and the ring
Fearless and bold
[FRODO]
Tired and cold
[SAM]
Sword at his side
An Elf-blade called Sting
Crossing a miserable land
Wouldn't retreat, just followed his feet
Now and for always

[FRODO & SAM]
Sit by the firelight's glow
Tell us an old tale we know
Tell of adventures strange and rare
Never to change, ever to share
Stories we tell will cast their spell
Now and for always

[FRODO]
Sing me a tale of the bravest of them all
Comrade and guide, at my side
Stouthearted Sam who wouldn't let me fall
Holding my life in his hand
True to the end, no finer friend
Now and for always

[FRODO & SAM]
Sit by the firelight's glow
Tell us an old tale we know
Tell of adventures strange and rare
Never to change, ever to share
Stories we tell will cast their spell
Now and for always

I love this song. I have since the first time I heard it. In case you didn't get it/don't know the story, this comes at the point where Sam and Frodo are heading towards Mordor by themselves. They stop for the night, sit by the fire, and Sam is trying to cheer Frodo up by talking about their home and the people there. Then, Sam falls asleep and Frodo turns his thoughts to his closest and most trusted friend, who has stayed with him through more than anyone could ever ask. The lyrics come pretty much word for word from "The Two Towers", and in my opinion are some of the most beautiful ever penned. I'm going to tell you a bit about why.
One of the lines that hit me the hardest last night, as I was digesting all I'd heard throughout the day, was "bred to endure" (hence the name of the post.) I absolutely love that line. I started thinking that my family fits into that category pretty well, and then broadened it even further. (This is the point where I'm gonna start mixing religion with lyrics, in case you care. There's still time to close this window!)(PS, chances are this is going to ramble and zig zag and quite possibly be really confusing. I promise to try and bring it all back eventually) The human race has been 'bred to endure'.
We have a literal Father in Heaven, who knows and loves each and every one of us. He wanted to find a way to allow all of us, His children, to learn and grow and become more like Him so we could feel the full happiness and joy He did. He came up with a Plan wherein that could happen. Long story short, that Plan involved us coming down to this world that He created through His Son, Jesus Christ, just for us. Here we are to learn, grow, and experience all kinds of things so we could, hopefully, return to Him in His Kingdom. We were sent here to go through trials and tribulations to help us mature and reach our infinite potential. This whole process was started with the Fall of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, which Elder Richard G. Scott (modern-day Apostle of Christ, like Peter, James, and John in the Bible) said "made possible both feelings of happiness as well as sadness. We can understand peace because we know turmoil." In Eden, Adam and Eve knew no hardship, no pain, no heartache. Because of that, they couldn't understand contentment, relief, or joy. Without the bad, there can be no good. Trials help us grow, help us appreciate the good, help us feel love and gratitude for our Heavenly Father. We were told before we came to this earth, in what the LDS people call the pre-mortal life, all about the Plan. We knew what kinds of things we would have to face, and we accepted the risk. We came to "[muddle] through, brave and true" and to stand "sturdy and steady". Our adventures are rarely actually "strange and rare", but each person's story and situation is unique to them. The Plan is universal, but the way we go through it is specifically tailored for each and every one of us. I know, with every fiber of my being, that our Father in Heaven and Eldest Brother, Jesus Christ, know us all personally and individually. They know what we need better than we do. They give us the trials we need to continue to improve ourselves and lift those around us, so we can all collectively come closer to Them. That should be our ultimate goal, as it is Theirs- "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." (Scripture found in the Pearl of Great Price, book of Moses chapter one verse 39).
At times, this life can be extremely difficult. There are periods and situations where we may, like Frodo, feel like we can go no further. Our strength has been exhausted, we are "tired and cold", and we can't take another step. We encounter the "rapids of life" (Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles) and fear we will be thrown out of the raft and drown. We sometimes question why we are here and what kind of God allows terrible things to happen. Fortunately, that same God is a loving, perfect Father and made sure we would have help.
In the pre-mortal life, when we accepted the Plan, we also joyfully sustained the appointment of a Savior. Heavenly Father knew we would need help to become clean, as well as someone to show us the way. Jesus Christ was chosen and did exactly that. Today, President Thomas S. Monson, the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and prophet of the Lord, spoke about Christ leading the way for us. He said, among other things, that "Jesus walked the path of disappointment… the path of temptation… [and] the path of pain." He did not, however, give in to the temptations. He did not falter under the weight of disappointment or wallow in the pain of life. He "wouldn't retreat" as He crossed what some would call a "miserable land". He showed us the way through these tough parts, as He also "walked the path of obedience [and] … prayer". President Monson said we should "stand up bravely for our beliefs" and "let our lights shine so others may see them". As we, like the Lord, stand "sturdy and steady"and stay "true to our aim", we will be led through the darkness. This was spoken another way this weekend by Elder Lynn G. Robbins, a member of the Quorum of the Seventy (another organization, as seen in the Bible, set up in the Christ's Church to assist and teach the members and others around them). He said we need to know, at all times, "which way [we] face". He quoted C.S. Lewis in saying "Courage is the [face] of every virtue at the testing point". We can all have courage through the knowledge that as we run down the rapids of life, the Lord is right there with us, facing the same way and shoring us up against the power of the water. I know these things to be true.
Do you know what else I know? We all have Someone who is "true to the end, no finer friend now and for always", Someone who truly does hold our "life in [H]is hand". Another member of the Seventy, Elder Carlos A. Godoy, said it this way: "The Lord has a plan for us. He knows us. He knows what we need most, usually better than we do. We have to trust Him". Our Savior, Jesus Christ, knows us each perfectly. He knows our personalities, who we are, who we want to be and who we can be. He knows how we feel every minute of every day. He, through His Atonement, has felt all our joy, our suffering, our sorrow and our contentments. He knows what we need even when we don't, and He will give it to us. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency of the Church, spoke about this yesterday. He said "God cares about you. He will listen. And He will answer your prayers. It will be in His time and His way, but He will answer". Oh, how great a hope that gives us! God, our Heavenly Father, and the only Perfect Being to ever walk this earth know what is happening to and with us all the time. They count the hairs on our heads. They laugh when we do, cry when we do, love when we do, despair when we do. They want what is best for us. They will not, however, push us to do something we do not want to do. They will prompt, They will plead, They will open doors and pour out the Spirit show us truth and to lead us to those that can help us along our way, but They will not coerce us or force us down a path we do not wish to pursue. As much as it may pain Them, Heavenly Father and our Savior will let us choose our own way, regardless of whether it leads us back to Them. However, I know if we walk the path Jesus laid for us, if we follow His ways, we will obtain the greatest blessings of all- even everlasting life with our eternal family. I hope this for myself, my family, my friends, and everyone that ever has or ever will walk this earth. Who wouldn't want peace, happiness, joy, and fulfillment to last forever?
That's it. We were "bred to endure". We were put here to be "heroes", though I definitely prefer to be "never too showy or grand". I know we have been shown the way and given the choice to persevere minute by minute, day by day, "year by year". We have been asked to share the truths we've been given, to "tell … an old tale we know"- and we do all know it. We may have forgotten who we are and where we come from- it wouldn't be much of a test if we remembered it all- but deep down, every human being will recognize the truth of their Father's love. As we lift each other and endeavor not to let others fall, we will grow ever closer to the Lord. He is always with us. He always will be. I know these things. I hold them dear in my heart, and through them I hope. I hope for things to come, I hope for myself, I hope for others, I hope for eternity. Now and for always.

Browynmon Part 1

These are some of Browyn's Pokemon impressions. The first one is Pikachu, the second is Totodile. They're both adorable. That's all there is to it. 

I wish these things had word counts. Wait, no I don't…

Heya peeps!
First of all, just so's ya knows, I am listening to the 'Lord of the Rings' musical whilst writing up this post. (It's part of an ongoing theme that will probably be at least mentioned in here somewhere.) That fact will most likely affect my writing, in at least that it will be take me longer than it should as I keep stopping to sing, but it may actually end up changing the content of this post too. If you read something even more random than seems normal with what you know about me, assume it a lyric. (Yeah, that's it. Random stuff is lyrics… xP)
아무튼 (yay, Google let me type that today!) on with the post. I was planning on writing this up on Sunday or Monday at the latest, since I'd already been gone over a week and figured someone might be a little curious about what had happened in that week. (Or not. I don't know.) Obviously, that didn't happen. The reason for that will be explained shortly. I have decided I still want to type something about the move out here.
Arg! It was pretty crazy. Aubrey and I left the house in Alpine at about 8:00 in the morning. Somehow, we didn't end up leaving Salt Lake until almost 11:00. I still don't really know how that happened. We stopped to borrow something from Kyle, but that didn't take long. Then we decided we wanted Gandolfo's, but even with having to circle Temple Square three times to try and figure out parking, it shouldn't have taken us two hours. The sandwiches did take longer than usual to be cooked, but we just grabbed them and left. Like I said, it doesn't make sense. Whatever. Though we were late, we finally got on the road. We were out past Tooelle when Brandon called and said he wanted to take me to lunch before I left. Seeing as how I already had, I felt bad, but I'm still pretty sure I told people I was leaving Friday morning… (Love you, DonDon!)
Did you know, the end of the world is right near the Utah/Nevada border? Aubrey and I went through it. There was like this huge bubble of nothingness all around. The salt totally looked like snow, there were heat mirages when it was way too cool for them, and we drove through an odd almost-smoky-but-possibly-fog-but-maybe-not haze for a good 45 minutes. It was pretty creepy. It's no wonder they filmed Pirates there. It's perfect for any of Johnny Depp's hallucinationdreams.
Most of the rest of the drive was pretty calm. It was strange, being on such a short trip. Aubrey and I kept forgetting we were only going to be driving for about 12 hours. I haven't done that in a long time. I will say, though, the sunset as we were driving through the mountains in was GORGEOUS. (I know that big ol' fire up there is devastating and I really hope it gets completely contained soon, but it did wonders for the view!) Then came the stupid part.
We stopped in Sacramento for dinner. Somewhere along the way we decided we wanted Taco Bell, 'cause duh, so we found one and after a short debate choose to go inside to eat. We'd been getting to the point where we needed to stop for gas, but as we were leaving I thought, "No, we'll just get it later." There was a point in about half an hour where we were going to turn off I-80 onto a different freeway to head south for San Francisco, and I'd been thinking for some time we'd just top off there, so we kept going. We were trying to use Gas Buddy to get directions to all these stations in the general Travis AFB area, and though it was giving Aubrey some trouble, I knew we'd be exiting soon so I moved over to the far right lane and started slowing down. It wasn't long after we'd reached the lane that there was a big bump, and the car started acting up. Aubrey asked if we'd done something to the tire, to which I replied better that than engine trouble. We managed to get off the freeway and into a shopping center parking lot. Turned out, we had blown a tire. Pretty badly, too. To make a long story slightly shorter, we ended up having to unpack most of the car to get to the spare and get rid of a box to get the car repacked around the too-big-to-properly-close-the-compartment real tire, only to find out the spare was flat and I couldn't drive on it. We found some flat repair foam stuff in the Safeway, but didn't feel comfortable driving the remaining should-have-been-at-most-two-hours-but-would-get-bumped-to-over-three-cause-we-can't-go-over-55-on-the-spare leg on it, so we (thanks to Daddy) got a motel room. (Ryan did very graciously offer to make the five hour round trip to help us fix the spare, but we didn't want to make him do that.) We'd stopped for dinner at about 7:30, pulled into the parking lot around 8 and finally got into the hotel a bit after midnight. It was a long, frustrating few hours that made me want to swear more than I think anything else in my life (and if you know all the crap I've had to deal with from the district lately, you'll know exactly how much that means). However, at one point, Aubrey turned to me and said she knew this had to happen to us in order to literally save our lives. If we hadn't been trying to stop for gas, if we'd been in the far left lane going 80 as we had been for the past ten hours, things would have been a LOT worse. Who knows what would have fallen upon us in the next while. Aubrey told me, and I know, that our mom was allowed by Heavenly Father to help us survive that night. Thanks, Mom.
The next morning, we took the car to the Les Schwab that was literally next door to the motel to replace the tire. They told me the other two (I'd just gotten one of them replaced for our Vegas trip) were looking pretty darn bald and should probably be replaced, but I haven't done that yet. Don't worry, we made it anyway! After a more than satisfying breakfast of Crack Pancakes and repacking the car for the third time (we took most of it out so the tire guys could get to the spare compartment) we finally got here! We pulled up at around 1:00 PM, approximately 17 hours later than planned. Woo hoo!
The next night we ended up going to dinner with Kasey Shafsky an his wife Laura. Kasey is the production manager for STC, and pretty darn awesome. I'd met Laura twice before (once at a convention, where I saw her a few times over the three days, but I don't know how else to count that) and Aubrey had met her once. We went to a really yummy Chinese place, then got some ice cream and went back to their house to hang out. We also got to meet the girls! Sadie and Echo are very sweet. Echo apparently took a liking to me and kept trying to climb up on my lap. Next time I go there, when I'm not in a dress, I'll probably let her. I love puppies!
Moving on. The rest of the week wasn't anything too special really. It's all been day-to-day stuff, other than taking Aubrey to the airport. That was sad, but she couldn't exactly stay now could she. Other than that, though, not much. I've been helping Niccole with the kids, getting Kelsey to and from school, trying to corral them when we go out, and keeping them more or less in line at home. I've applied to a few more jobs, most of them at Apple, and Ryan referred me for one of them. I'm hopeful I'll hear something about that soon. I've also started working out with Niccole every morning (if anyone is looking for a good program, I recommend Turbo Jam from beachbody.com . It's a fun one for sure) and we've been having fun experimenting with new recipes. That was pretty much it for last week.
As for why I didn't post sooner, here it is. On Sunday, I was tired. I know, terrible excuse, but hey. I don't know exactly what it is, but regardless of how long I sleep every night I wake up feeling like I haven't slept in a week. That makes me gratefully take what I can get at night, and I've been trying to go to bed shortly after the kids. Of course, that hasn't been as early as it should be lately… Anyway. I figured, 'hey, who cares? Chances are no one is reading this anyway and I'll just post tomorrow. No one will even notice.' Then came Monday.
Everything started out normal enough. We got up, got Kelsey to school, and did our Cardio Party Mix workout. We did a bit of this and that, with Niccole working starting to work on her Pikachu ears and me pretending to be helpful when I really have no idea what to do when it comes to anything crafty. I played a bit of Wii with Asher and Browyn, though true to form Browyn just ended up going back and forth between cuddling with me, sitting on my legs and asking me to finish her races for her. We had lunch, then Niccole went to pick up Kelsey while I told the younger two we would turn on a movie and snuggle until Mom got home. (That's how we usually try to get them to take naps. The kids hate doing it, but still very much need them.) We were just getting to the pick-a-movie screen when Ryan called and asked what was going on. I told him nothing, and he said "So you haven't heard?" in that tone that makes you want to ask "Who died?" He told me Niccole had fallen and was saying she needed to do to a doctor, which she never does. Not for herself. I got the kids ready to go, then Ryan told me Niccole was getting a ride home so I should just wait. A friend from the ward brought Niccole, Kelsey, the bike a trailer home, then took the kids so I could take Niccole to the InstaCare in Gillroy. We spent about an hour and a half in the waiting room before she got called back, then I was there for the rest of the Dr. Oz episode while she was getting x-rayed and stuff. Again, trying to keep the story short, she may or may not have broken her wrist. She went to an orthopedic doctor on Wednesday to try and figure it out for sure, but he said he doesn't think there are any breaks on the x-rays. Unfortunately, there are a couple of bones that don't really show up on said x-rays, so they may be broken and he just can't see it. She's been given a nice sturdy brace and a follow-up appointment in three weeks to see what they can see. If it's not getting better by then, they may have to do an MRI to figure it out. Here's hoping.
Niccole and I are both pretty sure, though, that I wasn't supposed to have a job yet. If I had, it would have been a lot harder to not only get her to the doctor on Monday, but for everything else to have happened this week. Ryan and/or I would have had to take a lot more time off work (he stayed home on Wednesday to go to the surgeon with her) and she would have had to do a lot more on her own, which is hard enough without these particular children. I'm hoping, however, that this means as soon as things have calmed down a bit to the point where I'm not so needed (where she can at least fold laundry or open a bottle by herself) that I will start getting interviews and stuff. Don't worry, I'm still trying to look, I just haven't had any time to apply to more jobs this week. Again, that should come soon.
Well, that's about it for what I've been doing. The only other real recurring thing is Lord of the Rings. Did you know the Santa Clara valley has an awesome library system? You can go to any of the I believe six libraries in the valley, check something out, and return it at the same or a different location. You can reserve stuff from any of the libraries, and they'll pull it to the one you request and have it there at the entrance ready for you. They have TV shows, movies, and video games as well as books to rent. When we went last week, Niccole and I found the Lego LOTR game and decided to give it a try. It has been a BLAST, but it made us really want to watch the movies. We started with 'Fellowship' last night, much to Ryan's chagrin. He wasn't there for too much of it, but he still had to hem and haw when he was. That all, of course, led me to listening to the musical now. If you don't know it, go look it up on YouTube. It's beautiful!
The other cool thing this week has, of course, been Conference. Yay Conference! I just love it. Today's sessions were awesome, even with all of us getting distracted by the kids and other things. *aHEM, Aubrey, I'm looking at you! xP* Seriously, though, it was just great. I don't have my book with me, and will probably talk more about it after tomorrow's sessions, but I really liked the 'Which way do you face?' talk and President Uchtdorf, of course. Not to mention Elder Holland. Can't do wrong with him, eh? Anyway, like I said, more on that later.
Okay, I was going to try and put a cute story or three from the kids in here, but this is getting ridiculously long even for me. This is why I want to try and post once a week- so I don't drown y'all every time. Sorry. I will, however, be posting a video (or possibly two. I can't remember if it has a split in it) of something absolutely adorable that Browyn has started doing lately. If you want, you can check it out. Of course, I'll have to figure out how to post a video first… Wellp, we'll see how that goes. If anyone made it this far, I say unto you, KUDOS! Again. Unless you didn't get through all of the last post, in which case you only get kudos once. You can still have the plural though. Getting this far definitely deserves more than one kudo. A singular kudo is just sad.
No really, I'm going now. Love you all!

P.S. I don't think I threw in any random lyrics! Yay! Although, I did technically only get through I think six or seven songs in the hourish I've been typing 'cause I keep repeating them. If you'd heard it, you wouldn't blame me! Plus, I somehow accidentally made the YouTube playlist stop automatically playing the next song and can't figure out how to put it back… Help? Anyone?