The Joys of Travel?

Allow me to complain? Why, thank you! I think I will. Sometimes I feel like this dude.

Here's why. I used to like traveling/flying a lot. To me, it meant that I was going someplace exciting, going on vacation, going to visit a good friend or going to see family. But now? Traveling means work, work, and slight mental anguish - because now, I have to cart a child along with me. I can't even imagine adding another one or two to the mix, which is most definitely inevitable, right? (Moms with more than one kid - you amaze me!) Anyway, any of you with children know that traveling with a child/children just makes life difficult. Plain and simple. I know Lois is quite mild and I realize that she could be a lot worse, but still. It's hard.

Here are a few thoughts that run through my head while preparing for a trip involving an airplane ride:

1. What if Lois decides to start screaming? What can I distract her with?

2. What if she suddenly barfs on herself? Not like she ever does, but what if? Do I need to pack a change of clothes?

3. Hmmm...what if halfway through our flight, she decides that this is the time she's going to poop? How should I handle that? Do I have a million diapers with me, JUST IN CASE?

4. Do I have enough snacks?

5. Do I have enough books?

6. Should I take stickers? Crayons? Extra paper?

7. Where am I going to find milk in an airport? (It's totally hit and miss.)

8. What cool new toy can I pull out when she's not cooperating?

9. Do I have enough treats? Yep. Still thinking about this one.

10. What if her ears are bothering her?

11. Does she feel hot? Is it a fever? Just in case, I need to bring my tylenol. Naturally.

12. We need at least two hours to get her and all her crap through security, right?

13. Wait, do I have enough snacks?

14. What about toys? What can I anticipate her wanting to play with at that exact moment?

15. What bag is going to be manageable enough and fit all these shenanigans?

16. The flight is right during her naptime. What if she won't go to sleep?

17. By the time we get to our destination, it will be nighttime. Should I bring her pajamas? When should I change her into them?

18. What if she gets stuff in her hair? Do I have a brush/comb to get it out?

19. What if a man/lady in 15B gives me total stink eye? What if?

Well, you get the idea. It's torture! Over and over and over again, I'm asking myself these stupid questions - some of which are totally irrelevant! And it doesn't end until I have landed on destination ground. And then it starts all over again when we go home. The irony of it all is that Lois travels like a champ. I really have no reason to worry. But it seems that the second I don't anticipate something...that something happens! Am I crazy, or are there others out there like this? Why do I obsess like this? And I only have one kid to worry about! Sheesh.

To add to the madness, ever since 9-11, airport security is a grade-A hassle. Thanks to moronic idiots who think it's cool to blow themselves up (and most recently, to a moron who put powder in his underpants in order to blow up a plane but rather blew up his man-parts instead), they had "heightened" security over the holidays. And yes, ladies and gentleman, I was wearing an underwire bra. AHHH! Do let me tell you my horror story.

Flying to San Jose went off without a hitch. The ride back...not so much. I did everything like I normally do: take my and Lois' shoes and jackets off, take my belt off, send through the stroller, my bag of Lois diversions, the diaper bag, my diabetic supplies, the sippy cup, the bottle and the children's tylenol, and then walk through hoping I don't send the detectors into a rage.

But this time, the detector did go off. "BEEP." Oh, no! With Lois in arms, the man asked me to step through again. And then a third time. "BEEP." Again. "BEEP!" Off I went to the holding area to wait for a female TSA worker. And somehow the whole pat down is less embarrassing and violating just because it's a woman doing it? Whatever.

I most definitely gave the TSA lady this exact crusty look.

So there I was, feet spread, arms out - while this woman patted down my entire body, including underneath and between my breasts. In. Front. Of. EVERYONE. Lovely. THEN, to add insult to injury, she started grilling me about my insulin pump that was attached to my upper buttocks and basically asked me to pull my pants down so that she could see it for a second and third time. For reals, I was so annoyed. And in between each time, she asked me if I could remove it, to which I replied that I could not. Hello! Do you speak English lady? Obviously not very well. After I insisted that I could not take it off, she finally let me go.

It reminded me of the time when I saw a 90-year-old lady who could barely walk being searched from top to bottom because she had knitting needles in her bag. How stupid! Last time I checked, 90 year olds were not blowing up and/or hijacking planes. Two words: COMMON SENSE. Ever heard of it? Why do all TSA workers seem to lack it? I'm just throwing that question out into the universe because I really need to know.

Anyway, then we had a short layover in San Diego. And I mean short - 20 minutes. We got off the plane and was directed towards our connecting gates, which required us to exit a secure area therefore necessitating a need to go through security again...for a connecting flight! How stupid! Jason and I were freaking out because time was of the essence and we were scared we weren't going to be able to sit together on a very full flight. While we got through without too much hassle and made our flight just fine, it was nuts that we had to go through security again. And I'm pretty sure Heavenly Father knew I couldn't have handled another pat down, lest I'd have an utter meltdown.

Now, more than ever, car travel *when it's a viable option* is very enticing to me. It may take more time, but no space and time constraints are a beautiful thing when traveling with a child. Plus, you don't have to have a random pat down because you've decided to wear a decent bra! Excellent!

Do any of you have horror stories involving flying and/or the airport? Do share! Or am I the only one out there? I'm guessing I'm not, but then again, I might just be delusional!

PS - I still love to go see people, so the hassle is all worth it! Really, it is. This story was written to vent a frustration, that's all. Don't take it too literally!

The Big FIVE!

On December 18th, Jason and I celebrated our fifth anniversary. Come to find out, getting married a week before Christmas tends to put a kink in any anniversary celebrations, but we've had a wonderful five years and life together couldn't be better. There are so many wonderful memories from our wedding day.

Some random memories from December 18th, 2004

1. Jason and I were waiting in the Celestial room forever. The reason was two-fold. The sealing room the temple workers had sent everyone to was not the room we had reserved nearly eight months before (it was too small), which caused a slight freaking out by my mother. Once they moved family and friends to a larger room, to my mother's horror, she realized that some of our wedding attendees (including my grandma and grandpa) were not yet in the room. After some searching, a sweet little temple worker came in and informed my mother that some of our party had gotten stuck in the elevator and were in the process of being lifted out! Of course, Jason and I didn't know what was going on at that time, but it was fun to hear about the slight heart attack my mother had minutes before our sealing. In the end, everyone was there and we were in a big enough room! Thank goodness!

2. When Jason and I kneeled over the alter and I leaned towards him, the zipper popped on my dress! That was just a little bit awkward and maybe slightly embarrassing, but nothing could ruin our special day. Before heading out of the temple, my mother had to sew me into my dress just to make sure it didn't happen again. And it didn't. Phew!

3. It was absolutely freezing the day we got married and by the time our reception started, a thick fog had descended on the Salt Lake valley. Some of our pictures look magical as they have a thin layer of fog rising from the bottom of the pictures.

4. The morning of our marriage, I woke up and couldn't believe that our day had finally come! We had patiently waited 14 months to get married and it felt surreal that all that waiting was finally up and that we were going to get married! It was such a magical day and I could not wait to make it official!

5. Elder Wickman sealed us in the Salt Lake Temple and he shared a few very special stories with us, including the Gift of the Magi. I've always loved that story, but now it has even more significance to me. I'm so glad he was able to marry us! And more importantly, I'm blessed I am sealed to Jason for all time and eternity. Wow! I'm so lucky.

At the San Diego Zoo, Christmas Day 2004

One week married!!

This year, we went on a for-real date, with a babysitter and all! It was totally awesome. Our good friends, Lindsay and Boyd, were kind enough to watch Lois. We had reservations at Hacienda Del Sol, a resort here in Tucson and it was total hoity-toity dining. You know, the kind of place where you can't pronounce several entrees and where menu options are like those you hear of while watching culinary shows like Top Chef? Yeah. We played it slightly safe (and didn't order squab or bone marrow!) and ordered a lamb sausage appetizer, a rack of lamb (Jason's choice), a filet mignon (I love me a good delicious piece of red meat!) and ended off the dinner with some decadent chocolate cake. It was delicious. The only down side? They only had Pepsi! Sick. For this hardcore Diet Coke lover, that was a huge deal.

After dinner, we hit up the movies and decided to go see A Christmas Carol. It's such a great story and since it was a week before Christmas, we thought it very appropriate for the season. And the best part was that there were only two other people in the theater with us. We made it home and relieved our awesome babysitters from their duties and called it a night.

A theater all to ourselves!

I can honestly say that I love Jason more today then I did five years ago. He's the most amazing husband and more importantly, is a remarkable human being. He is always reminding me of how I should live my life better. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect man for me. And I'm so glad he's mine - forever and ever. I look forward to my eternity with him and all my posterity. Pretty amazing.

Awww. We may be slightly chubbier five years later, but we're happy and still in love! :-)

I love you, babe.

For Your Entertainment

Happy New Year, everyone! 2010 is among us and we can tell it's going to be a great year! Since there has been some debate lately whether the world should all say, "TWENTY-TEN" or "TWO-THOUSAND, TEN" - we'd like to put it out there that Jason and I will be referring to this year (and all the following years) as "TWENTY-TEN (or eleven, twelve...)" - which I would like to inform you is the best and coolest way to say it. Any thoughts?

And now for some goods. Over Christmas break, we thought it might be nice to take a few family pictures for the history books. I'll let you be the judge of whether or not we were successful...

TAKE ONE

Whoa there. I look rather frightening, Jason's eyes are closed and Lois, well, she's just not having it.

Oh, wait, let's try the ground shot! Yes, that'll be better.

TAKE TWO!

Decent of the parents, but I'm afraid Lois spoiled this one...

Crap! She's trying to get away! Quick! Grab her!

TAKE THREE!

Wow, now I have "surprise" eyes, Jason looks apathetic and Lois looks like she's being punished.

After that last picture was taken, Lois decided to have a mini meltdown and planted her body and face down into the carpet and screamed. Jason and I decided to follow suit.

TAKE FOUR!

I think this will be a nice addition to 2009's history books, what do you think?

Phew! Lois is lucky, because Grandma came to the rescue!

Look at that big crocodile tear. The nerve of us trying to take a nice family picture!

Better luck next year!

Stay tuned for more goods!

Three weeks?!?

Really? Has it really been nearly three weeks since my last post? Yikes!

Well, lots has been going on and I've been in a total blog lull. Combine the two and three weeks passes you by. Crazy. Sorry, dudes.

Some fun things:

1. Tomorrow, Jason and I celebrate five years of wedding bliss. Really, I couldn't have married a more wonderful man. I'm one lucky lady! And get this? We are going on a for-real date. Babysitter, fine dining and entertainment. I think I'm gonna cry!

2. We are heading to San Jose on Christmas Eve to spend Christmas with the Wright clan - and extended Busath family. Very exciting! Still trying to figure out what to do with Lois' Christmas presents. Cart them all the way there and all the way back? Good thing we're flying Southwest. No charge for bags. Christmas miracle? I think so.

3. Working at any retail store during the holidays is totally NUTS. Wait, did i mention it's NUTS!?? I've worked quite a few shifts and I am in awe of some people's manners, impatience and overall rudeness. Makes me kind of want to shout out, "BAH HUM BUG!" But really, what's up with these people? Is it necessary to be rude? I think not.

4. Lois is the cutest child on the face of the planet. 18 months has flown by and we are just eating her up at this age.

5. LOIS STARTED NURSERY! Best day of my life. Really, it was.

6. I'm playing in a string quartet on Sunday for our Christmas program. The problem is that the only time all four of us can practice is at like 9:30pm at night. And our next practice is on Saturday night at 9:30. I think this kind of stinks. Am I right?

7. Lois is talking more and more. Here's a list of all the words she says often (in her own way, of course): Shoes (atta girl!), bye bye, hi, cheese, more, please, all done, mamma, dadda, bah-bah (bottle), wah-wah (water), Jesus, nose, mouth, eye and we can get her to also say Stella (her cousin) and a few other words like thank you every once in a while. She does the signs for bath and play often. She definitely knows what we're saying and talks up a storm (in Lois language, of course) all day long.

8. She also makes animal noises for the following; kitty, dog, cow, pig, bird and tiger. Everything else (horse, goat, sheep, etc) is a referred to by a drawn out cow sound or a growl.

9. She knows where her eyes, nose, ears, mouth, cheek, hair, fingers, hand, toes, feet and belly button are.

10. Yes, Lois is a GENIUS! She makes this mamma proud! :-)

Hope this gives you something to digest while I try to get myself out of my blogging lull. Hopefully it will be sooner than later!

Good night!

P.S. I just have to share this random, yet funny story with you about a woman we helped today. We were serving Pannetone French Toast (sooo delicious!) and this particular lady was very excited to take some pannetone bread home with her and make these french toast for her dinner party that night. Once she got home, she began to make them and ran into trouble and called in a frenzy wanting the number to our employee who was making and serving the french toast earlier that day. We politely told her that we could not give out an employee's phone number. She yelled at me saying, "But I have company coming over!!! I need her number and you're going to give it to me!" For reals, she yelled at me and told me what I was going to do. So, I offered to give Ms. Jane (our delicious cook) a call and said if she was willing, she could call her back. Jane, the nice woman she is, called this lady back. (I know, she's too nice.) And Jane called back to report.

Do you know what this lady was doing??? Dipping her bread in the egg mixture and then putting them (all wet and soggy) in her TOASTER. Her toaster!!! Holy cow. We about lost it with laughter. I'm sorry, but really? A toaster? She's lucky she didn't burn her house down.

Okay. I get an honest mistake. But when we were serving them, she was clearly cooking them on a griddle, not a toaster. (And Jane said she was standing there for about 15 minutes.) Where on earth did she get that idea? I have NO idea. Oh, wait. Yes I do! It's because they are called french TOAST. Ah! But we did get a good laugh out of it and I'm glad her dinner party worked out okay -- after we enlightened her about the whole toaster ordeal. Awesome.

Gratitude

It's important to express gratitude, but I don't think I do it nearly enough for how incredibly blessed I am! My heart is always full of gratitude daily and today, I'd like to share a few things that I am grateful for in my life. On this beautiful Thanksgiving holiday (and all those days in between) I'm grateful for (and not limited to):

This dude. Because he's my eternal companion, best friend, father of my child, and so much more.

This dudette. 'Cause she fills my life with joy, love and new life experiences - and because she's my sweet child and I grew her.

All these dudes and dudettes. I'm grateful for amazing parents and wonderful brothers and sisters-in-law who love me unconditionally and make my life so full! Life without family is like life without water! Today, I'm especially grateful for them because I am missing them like crazy.

And this cool dude and dudette. Because they are wonderful people, wonderful parents-in-law, wonderful grandparents and wonderful examples to me. And because they raised an incredible man.

And this dude and dudette because they're so much fun among other things!

My Savior, Jesus Christ and the knowledge that He lives, that He suffered for my sins and conquered death through His resurrection. I would be nothing without Jesus Christ.

For a knowledge of the restored gospel which is true and everlasting, and a loving Heavenly Father who is the same yesterday, today and always and guides our lives here on this earth. Personal revelation, prayer, my testimony, a living Prophet and apostles and the Book of Mormon & Bible - I'd rather not live my life without these things!

I'm also grateful for so many other things namely good food, for shelter over my head, for Jason's job, for our good health and strength, for my citizenship in this great country, the United States of America, for technology that helps me stay connected to aforementioned dudes and dudettes, for my education and knowledge, for wonderful friends who make me laugh and giggle, for sunshine and warmth, for good books, for creativity, for good music and my musical abilities, for my agency, for pretty things that make me happy...

Well, you get the idea. I'm grateful for a lot - for so many amazing things that make up this colorful patchwork quilt called my life!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Now go eat some turkey!! Bon Appetit!

Picture Diary

Utah was a lot of fun! Here are some more pictures of things we did while hanging out in the homeland!

We went to Wheeler Farm in Murray, UT. Lois loves the animals! She kept "mooing" at everything. She has perfect "moo" form. Look at those lips. Totally awesome...

Checking out the pigs...

...and they were GROSS! But Lois thought they were pretty intriguing with the flies and all.

*Notice how far away I am from them & Lois. They stunk like mad. The pigs - not Lois.*

Can you see that crazy chicken in the background with the blond mohawk? He was our favorite. I think Lois liked him, too.

Mammasita and me

Halloween night saying goodbye to G&G Wright! Notice the big piece of candy in her mouth! Yummy!

Grandma and the candy mouth

Taking a bite!

Here she is driving grandpa's new truck!

Vroom, vroom!

All of Jason's beautiful aunts (and cousin) and mom

Jason and his sweet grandpa

While we were in Utah, my brother blessed his little girl, Phoebe. She looked beautiful in her little gown! And Raleigh gave her a sweet blessing.

Lois looks so grown up in this picture. I can't believe how big she's gotten! Seems like it was just yesterday that we blessed her.

My two younger brothers with J

"We look good, don't we?"

Don't ask me what they're doing in this picture, but I love all the hand prints on my mom's oven door. It was a favorite spot for these two rascals.

Enjoy your Thursday!

One Year Older - And Wiser, too!

Happy Birthday, Daddy-O!

Today, my dad turns the big 6-0, and I just wanted to let him know how much I love and appreciate him in my life! My dad has always worked hard for our family and set a good example for us to pattern our lives after. He's always been a worthy Priesthood holder and has lead my family in the path of righteousness. He made a great choice by marrying my awesome mother, and together they raised successful children who love them and love the Lord.

Here's a few things about my dad that I think are way cool. My dad is super-duper smart and is basically a walking dictionary. Go ahead. Ask him. He knows the definition to any word in the English language and has impeccable grammar. He was always correcting us growing up, something I am very grateful for! He's well-read and knows a little bit about everything and a lot of stuff about many topics. I love how he gets riled up about Darwinism and Global Warming and can talk for hours about it. I love that my dad speaks his mind. My dad's one heck of a water skier and snow skier and has quite the adventuresome spirit. Still at age 60, he can out-ski most 20-year-olds. He's brilliant in the subject of law and has spent his life honing those skills throughout the world. He completely fluent in Japanese, meaning that he speaks, writes, reads and understands everything about that language. How cool is that? In addition, he knows quite a bit of Mandarin Chinese and some Spanish. My dad has traveled the world and has a two-inch thick passport to prove it. In fact, he's actually in Japan right now - on his birthday! Gotta love that dedication! And I love that my dad lives "young." He's young at heart and it shows. Simply put, I love my daddy. Always and forever.

Me and my dad when I graduated from BYU

...the day I got married. Isn't he so handsome?

Look at that handsome lad! I think this is right before my parents got married or shortly after.

Silly dad

Grandpa to three granddaughters...

Me and my dad at the Grand Canyon

My dad would play the "jumping game" with us and we l-o-v-e-d it. It was our favorite. Definitely some of my fondest memories as a kid.

Dad, I love you! Thank you for being so awesome and for helping me along my way in life. I am grateful to have had you there at all the major milestones of my life thus far and look forward to the many more years ahead of us! Life is good.

So, on this beautiful Veteran's Day, I wish you a very happy birthday! Eat some sushi and enjoy your "second homeland" today. You deserve to have a wonderful day!!

We love you!