Our First Dozen Years of Marriage

Twelve years ago today Bud and I tied the knot, after dating for over 5 years. So we've been together about 17 1/2 years total, which means that I've been with him for about half my life!! That's kinda crazy, when you think about it. Half of my entire life!!!

We celebrated our first dozen years last night. Beau & Stacie kept the boys over night for us and we went out to eat at Myron's Steakhouse. OMG! So delicious. Definitely the best steakhouse we've ever been too --- and also the most expensive. The food was awesome, the service was terrific, the atmosphere was romantic -- all around, great experience.

After dinner, we got into the car, looked at each other and said "Wanna just go home?" Sad, I know. It was only like 8:30 and we had the whole night to ourselves. Kidless. And we just went home. Well, we have been married 12 years -- I think that probably officially makes us old now. Haha!

At Last! No More Sittin' the Sidelines

After 4+ years of sitting on the sidelines, we finally got to register Ryan for Little League. I know he's excited, but I think me and Bud are more excited. We can't wait to see him in his little uniform, with his OWN number on his back, and cheer him on from the bleachers.

We registered JD at the same time - but this year he gets to move up to Coach Pitch. No more T-Ball for JD. We are equally as excited about seeing him play at this new level.

Tryouts are on February 2nd - the same day as JD's birthday party. So that will be a busy day for us. More to come on that later. . . .

A NEW CAR!

Look what I got for my anniversary!

Seriously? Yes, seriously. I know. I couldn't believe it either.
Here's how it happened:

For the last year or so, I've really been wanting a new car. Well, not new exactly, but new to me. I get the "fever" off an on, but lately, I've had it really bad. So Bud has been looking around for me to see what he could find. I knew I wanted another Tahoe or Yukon, but I didn't really want to spend more than like $20k, so that meant that it would probably have to be a 2007. I wasn't too picky about the color (hate maroon), but if I had to pick, I'd prefer a champagne color. It had to have a 3rd row seat, and less than 100,000 miles, especially if I was going to do any financing at all. If over that, I wanted it to be cheap enough that I could pay cash.

So Bud was on the hunt. For the last week or so, he'd been sending me links to pictures of Tahoes and Yukons he'd found. I would say "yes, I like it" or "no way." Today he sent me an email with this 2008 Yukon - champagne colored, with a 3rd row, and only 52,000 miles. It was just over $20,000 but I really liked it. We hadn't found anything that new with so few miles and in our price range, so I immediately emailed him back and said "yes, I want it. Let's go look at it tonight." Then I went into two hours of meetings. When I got back to my desk, I had three emails and three phone calls from him telling me to call him right away. When I called him back, he didn't answer (he was at the gym, I figured). So I headed to the gym and when I got out, we finally connected and talked. By this time, it had been probably four hours since the original email. He told me that we missed our chance - that he had waited until he heard back from me, and when he finally did, he called the salesman, only to find out that it had already been sold. The salesman had told him it would go fast, and he was right. Man, we were disappointed. I figured it just wasn't meant to be, and we decided to just keep looking.

On my way home from work, Bud called me to see where I was and that he was still at Beau's. I didn't think anything of it (because he's at Beau's pretty often when I get home). So, when I drove up to Beau's house, I noticed this new Yukon sitting in the driveway. My immediate thought was that Bud had been pulling my leg. They didn't really sell it but they were letting him just "test-drive" it for the night (aka: take it home, let the wife drive it and fall in love, then come back and buy it). But when I got out of the car, he told me that Terry (Stacie's mom) had just bought it. I was like, "What? That's exactly what I want!! Why does she need this big ol' car? She's retired!" The car was running and I asked if she was in it and they said no, that they were just checking it out. Then he told me to get inside and check it out too. I opened the door and immediately got a whiff of that new car smell. It was super clean, not a speck of dirt anywhere. Man, it was nice. Bud told me "get in and see how you like it." I started to, then shut the door and said "No, I don't want to. It makes me sick. I want this car. I'm jealous." Then he said "Happy Anniversary!" Huh? What? Then he said "It's Yours!! Happy Anniversary!" I was totally confused. I kept asking him what he meant, and didn't believe that he had bought it for me until he got the paperwork out of the car and showed me his name on it. Oh my gosh! I'm so excited. I can't believe he got me a car for our anniversary. I immediately thought of those commercials I've seen on TV where the hubby buys his wife a new car for Christmas, and I'm like "Yeah right. Who really does that?"  Um . . . . Bud does. Woo hoo!

It's been almost 9 years since my last new car. I know I didn't really NEED one. Dave Ramsey would kill me if he heard me say this, but I really really WANTED one. And now I've got it. Yay! I can't wait to drive it tomorrow.

But now . . . . what the heck am I gonna get Bud for our anniversary?

JD's 1st Basketball Scrimmage

JD started basketball a couple months ago and this week he had his first scrimmage. It was so cute watching him. He really got into it and seems to really enjoy playing basketball (hey -- anything but football, right?).

Here he is during his 1-hour practice before the scrimmage.

You could always find him right in the middle of the action during the scrimmage. He never got to shoot the ball, but he did steal the ball from his opponent a couple of times. The coach kept him in for the entire game. Poor little JD, I kept catching him holding his sides. He was getting cramps from running. I guess he needs to do some conditioning if he's going to play the entire game! LOL!  JD's team ended up winning 6-0. 

As soon as we got in the car, JD took off his shoes (said that his feet were "stinging") and went to sleep. He was worn out!

And Ryan stayed entertained during the practice and game as well. Here he is, playing basketball on the sidelines.

What Do You Celebrate?

Can I just have a brag moment? I'm so proud of JD - his loving heart, purity and sheer confidence. I was cleaning out his backpack before he went back for his first day of school after Christmas break, and this is what I found:

He said that some kids in his class told him he shouldn't have written "Jesus's Birthday."When I asked him why, he said they told him that it's not a good answer. He should have written that he celebrates Christmas. What was his response to them? "I just told him that I do celebrate Jesus' Birthday, and that's why I wrote it." I told him that I'm so proud of him for sticking to what he believes in, for not letting people change his mind, and that it's great to be a little different.

The word "Uncommon" keeps coming to mind. Our church youth group wears a navy blue shirt that simply says "Uncommon" across the front --- encouraging students not to be afraid to be a little different than the crowd. My 6 year old is just that, and I'm so proud.

2013 Resolution: To Be Perfectly Imperfect

It’s the New Year and as most of us do on the first day of each New Year, I’m going to make a resolution. Not the quintessential resolution like losing weight or eating healthier (although I will try to do those too), but I’m going to do something to improve my spiritual and mental health.

At the risk of sounding really silly or pitiful, I’m just going to put it out there. In 2013, I’m going to strive for LESS PERFECTION. I’m going to accept myself for who I am, allow myself to be who I am, and be comfortable with that. So I want to cut myself some slack and ease up on the perfection expectation – as a wife, as an employee, as a friend, as a woman, as a Christian, and as a mom. I’m not PERFECT, and if that’s my expectation for myself, I’m sure to fail.  I’m not trying to be pitiful or silly or anything else – I’m just realizing that I’ve been trapped inside my head, and it’s time to get out.

I’ve allowed my perception of what others think of me to run my thoughts. Even though I might say “I don’t care what people think,” I am actually totally concerned about what they think. I worry about what they think about a lot of things, but most of all, I worry most about what they might be saying about my parenting. I know it sounds crazy! Even as I write this, I’m thinking “This is Crazy!!” But it’s the way I feel. I want to be so perfect at everything; I especially want to be the perfect parent – the most important responsibility with which God has entrusted me. As most parents know, parenting is by far the hardest job in the entire world. The only people who would disagree with that are people who are not parents. The “best” parents in the world are people who plan to be parents but have yet to have children.  From the outside looking in, raising “good” kids seems so easy. Bud and I are no different – we had it all figured out too, until we actually had kids and learned what it was all about.

The funny thing is, I know this, but it still bothers me when I feel like I’m being judged and falling short of expectations. But I’ve finally just realized that I am confident I’m doing the very best job I can as a parent. Am I a perfect parent? No. Will my kids behave perfectly? No. But am I doing the most perfect job I know how? Yes. And because of that, my kids are perfectly not perfect. And that’s ok.

I’ve realized that I’m proud of myself as a parent. It’s not easy. It’s the most difficult, challenging, ever-changing and sometimes frustrating job I’ve ever done. At the same time, it’s the most wonderful and rewarding job I’ve done. I have two little boys who love me unconditionally. They can totally be themselves around me, even if “being themselves” means acting up a little bit. At the end of the day, they always give me a kiss goodnight and tell me that they love me. And in the morning, I’m the first one they run to when they wake up, bursting through my door, asking me if they can lay in bed with me. I get hugs and kisses, and “what’s for breakfast?” questions because they know I’m here to take care of them, and they have no doubt about my love for them.

I’ve decided that’s enough for me. I really don’t care what other people think of me as a parent. All that matters is that I’m doing the very best job that I know how to do, as imperfect as it is, and I love them with all my heart. They love God, they love our family, and they trust me 100% to be their mom. That’s what matters. Nothing else. And that’s just PERFECT for me.

 

 

Christmas Tornado

Ryan has coined the phrase "Christmas Tornado" and I just love it. How did he come up with it? Well, a few days before Christmas, the boys were painting on blank canvases. JD likes to draw actual pictures, but Ryan just likes to mix up the colors and cover the entire canvas with whatever color the combined paints creates (which is usually black or brown). So he was painting and scribbling all over the canvas so carefully, and he asked "Do you know what this is?" We said "no" and he said "It's a Christmas.......tornado." It was the most perfect description of his picture. And ended up being the perfect description of our house on Christmas Day.

The boys got just about everything on their Santa list this year --- JD got a Nintendo 3DS XL, which he's been asking for now for over 2 years. Ryan got a LeapPad (a kids' version of an iPad I guess). They got pocket knives, a Wii (well, that was for all of us), and a new go cart. Yes, a go cart. I can't believe Santa got that for them either.

They had fun finding the go cart too. Santa left clues in the form of a scavenger hunt so they went looking all over the house for their new toy.

It started in the middle of the Christmas Tornado.

There was a clue hidden in my rock collection.

And one in the freezer.

One in the bathtub.

And on their dry erase board.

Then finally --- the garage is where they found their grand prize!!!

JD Gets His First Buck!

This post is a little late -- sorry, the Holidays get the best of me sometimes and I get a little behind on lots of things, not just blogging. My house is still in complete shambles after the Christmas Day festivities.

Anyway, JD took his first shot at a buck a few days before Christmas. They were sitting in a blind at Kory Keller's ranch in DeHanis. JD saw an 8-point buck, took aim and fired Bud's 30-06 rifle. The rifle kicked so hard that it threw JD back, and he missed the buck.

Ever since JD shot and missed that buck, he's been itching to go back and try again. So on December 26, 2012, Bud took both boys out to his parents' place to give JD another shot at shooting his first buck. They had seen a nice buck a couple days before that, so Bud took them back to see if that buck would come back out. And sure enough, it did. About 10-15 minutes after the feeder went off, he wandered out. Using the same .243 that Bud used to kill his first buck almost 29 years before, JD aimed and fired, dropping that buck in his tracks. Or as JD says, "I dropped him in his socks!"

I don't know who was more excited -- Bud because JD killed his first buck at a younger age than he did, using the same gun that he used. Or JD because he finally did it, and now he can tell his friends.

Here is JD's first buck -- a 10-pointer!!! Some men hunt their whole lives and never kill something this big. We're so proud of him. The meat is currently being processed into sausage, and the head is waiting in line at the taxidermist to be mounted. I guess we're now going to have a deer head on our walls.