Learning Something New

Monday night I signed up for this online course. I've been subscribed to her blog for a few months now, read her articles in Creating Keepsakes Magazine and finally decided it was worth the time, money and new knowledge to sign up. I've got lots of experience with Photoshop's sister software (used to be rival until Adobe bought them out), Fireworks. Years ago I had to make a decision between the two when designing images for websites and I went with Fireworks because of it's integration with Dreamweaver (a website designing software). Now that I do most of my web building with just a text program and code, I find I don't need Dreamweaver as much.

Now that I've become more interested in scrapbooking and wanted to learn the digital-based side, I've found I need to know Photoshop, too. I got the software a few months ago, tried to use it to build some images for a website and became too frustrated to continue. It's not that I couldn't figure it out, I just don't have the patience to muddle through a new learning curve when I've already spent so much time and energy learning the other that works for what I need. But if you know me at all, it's just not good enough to let it go. I need to learn this other software, if just to decide whether I'm interested in digital scrapbooking at all or not. So, on Monday the class starts and we'll see how it goes. I'm excited to be learning something new again!

In order to have you...

Dear Kenzie,

In order for you to come into the world, I...

• started throwing up within a month of your conception.
• didn't stop throwing up until the doctor took pity and gave me meds.
• stopped throwing up most of the time after taking meds, but still felt like I was going to any minute for the rest of my ENTIRE pregnancy.
• gained HUGE amounts of weight, 75 pounds to be exact!
  
• got stretch marks on every part of my body from said weight gain, and not the little kind that fade and gradually get less-noticeable.
• existed solely upon a diet of cold cereal until you were born, sometimes I could handle a sub from subway, too.
• was put onto bed rest after contractions started and wouldn't stop at 6 months along.
• dipped into the depths of depression like I had never before experienced from the beginning until the end of the pregnancy.
• made your poor Grandparents question the sanity of their daughter and son-in-law for thinking I could be AT ALL ready to take on this kind of responsibility with the amount of struggles I had with depression.
  
• had to endure the most terrible rash at 7 1/2 months that covered my entire body, even my fingers and toes. There was nothing they could do to stop it, just wait until you were born.
  
• had to give birth with an epidural that hadn't had time to take effect yet. You came so fast, I was feeling the need to push when the needle was still in my back.
• had to endure above mentioned birth in the most excruciating pain EVER.

Since your birth 7 years ago today, I:

• have found joy in you every day that you've been in my life.
• got to hear my Dad give a retraction to the above-mentioned sanity of his daughter - he gave the most beautiful talk as a Stake President in our Stake about witnessing the miracle of my depression being lifted enough so that I could handle the responsibility of being your mother as had been promised in countless blessings in my life.
• have watched you grow into the mini-version of myself. This doesn't always bode well for our relationship at times, but teaches me every single day how to be a better me.
• have seen your eyes light up in joy at the simplest of life's pleasures.
• have watched you struggle and persevere through the trial of having anxiety and Sensory Processing Disorder.
• have seen you tenderly care for your younger sister and love her like no other.
• have watched you learn new things and become so smart.
• have seen your relationship with your Daddy and see how much you adore him.
• have watched you pray to your Heavenly Father and sincerely believe that He loves you.
• have struggled with your fierce independence and incredibly strong stubbornness, but look forward to the day when these personality traits will help you fight for yourself and the life that you most desire.
• have seen the sweet tenderness and sensitivity of your little spirit and ached for you when this sensitivity has made life so hard you can hardly bear it.
  
• have watched you grow into the most beautiful little 7 year old I've ever seen.

I know that life isn't always so easy for us, Kenzie. We have really struggled this year with getting to a place where we understand each other. You are fierce and strong and independent and stubborn and so, so, so terribly sensitive that life often butts heads with you, far too much I think, for someone only 7 years old. I have cried many nights with your Daddy over how to best parent you, for we love you soo much and want life to be happy and fun and full of joy for you. I know that you were given to us, and me especially as your mother, because I have the capacity to understand and love you like no one else can, but I'm a work in progress. I hope you can see it in my eyes every day how much I love you and that even when we all struggle to understand each other, you'll never, ever doubt that at all.

Happy Birthday, my sweet Kenzie!

Spring Break in Albuquerque

The girls and I got the chance to fly to Albuquerque, NM for our Spring Break. We planned the trip a few months ago and for awhile we got a bit worried we might not be able to go. My brother, Nate and sister-in-law, Heather, had just sold their house and had to find a rental only a few weeks before our trip. If it had been me, the last thing I would have wanted after moving from a 3000+ square foot house to a less than 2500 square foot house is try to fit family into my barely moved-into rental and entertain them for a week. Then again, I'm not Heather. Two weeks is all they needed to squeeze all their stuff into the garage and get moved into their house well enough to live for the next few months while their new house is being built. Unlike Nate and I, who after three years of living here, have yet to "really" move in all the way. So, we went ahead with our trip and had a great time!

I caught the stomach flu a few days before we were scheduled to leave, so getting ready wasn't the high point of my week. The weather was windy and cloudy and so our bumpy plane landing mixed with my already queasy stomach didn't mix well. I continued to fight off that stomach bug and started fighting a sinus infection mid-week as well, but we still were able to have lots of fun. We watched a few movies at home and saw a couple at the dollar theater after the kids were in bed, as well. We spent some time outdoors before the end of the week got too cold. Here are some pics of the girls at the park...

We also got the chance to see one of my nieces get baptized. My parents came for that, so we were able to see them, as well. We had a few family dinners and the kids played and played and played some more. Natalie and her cousin, Jordyn were finally old enough this trip to actually spend more than a few minutes together playing and not fighting. All week they called each other "my friend, Natie" or "my friend, Jordy". They played lots of pretend games and watched Ariel together over and over and over again. They had a few minor fights each day, but would always run to each other and hug once they got over it. It is too fun to watch cousins become great friends. Didn't we get any good pictures of them together, Heath? I didn't even bring my camera this time around. Last time it ended up spending the entire time in my bag while I used their camera to take pictures, so this time I didn't bother packing it at all.

The kids loved getting to drive out to their lot to see the new house being built. We got to go a few times, of course, and the kids just loved running around in the mess that is made on a construction site while we moms yelled at them to "be careful!" a hundred times over. Here's a shot of us on the second floor of their new house. Talk about panic attack. They hadn't yet built the stairs, just had a huge ladder set up. The kids begged and pleaded to be able to climb that ladder, so we finally relented. Here we all are...well, except for Heather who is taking the picture...

All in all a good trip! The ride home was less than desirable, but we made it safe and sound...even if it was at 2:00 in the morning. We already miss all the Albuquerque crew like crazy. Natalie asks everyday if we're going to visit "her friend, Jordy tomorrow". Hopefully we can make it back there again in time to see my sister, Jen have her baby and visit this little guy:


My nephew Noah, who provided hours of entertainment to us lazy moms. There's something about a 2...almost 3 year old boy who's insanely obsessed with all things truck to constantly find ways to make us adults laugh.

Maybe the next time we make the trip it will be for a job interview? It's hard to keep hoping after all these months, but every trip there gets my hopes up once again.

One thing I did on Spring Break...

...was this:

I preordered the fourth book in the Twilight Series on Amazon.com. My sisters and I were chatting it up about the series and arguing over the release date. Naturally, I had my trusty little iBook nearby and was able to settle the argument by doing a quick Google search. I had no idea it was set to release so soon. August 2nd, to be exact! I NEVER buy my books. I'm a faithful library-go'er and prefer to put things on hold, but this is one time Nate's just going to have to swallow that charge to our account. Sorry, babe! If you preorder it you can get the hardcopy version for only $15.63. If you bundle it with her other new novel, The Host, you get free super saver shipping. What a deal!

I know many of you might not go this route as you'll probably be at Barnes and Noble or Walmart at midnight buying your copy in hand, but this is a step up for me. I actually get my own copy this way rather than waiting for my name to come up in the hold queue at the library. I can't wait!!

Blogger Toolbar Tip

So, I've been vowing to myself that I can't possibly post something until I finish my new blog template, but obviously that's not going so well. I've been staring at CSS code for the past two hours tonight and CAN NOT figure out what's wrong. My images show and then don't show and then show again and I. HAVE. NO. IDEA. WHY. Really. I keep walking away in hopes that the next time I come back to it, it will suddenly work or at least make sense. Since I can't seem to get myself to blog about our trip to Albuquerque or the sicknesses plaguing my body and my family or even random bits of news throughout my day, I can at least give you a fun little tip I found tonight while working on my blog template.

You know that little toolbar at the top of your blog? I think they call it the BloggerBar. It's really great. It covers up 50 pixels of your template and messes with your head when things aren't working right. It comes in like five colors that, you know, matches every possible web design color scheme you could possibly come up with. Sometimes I like using the search feature, sometimes I find the link to my blogger dashboard a little handy, but beyond that, it just gets in my way. If you host your blog on your own ftp server (please don't stop reading because I used computer speak, you don't really need to understand what I just said to enjoy the rest of this post) you can turn it off in your settings, but who does that anyway? I did for awhile, but then I got tired of server outages (again, please don't stop reading) and decided to switch back to blogger hosting. Since then, I've had to make my blogger templates work with the toolbar. Today was the last straw for me, so when I found this little bit of code to make it disappear I was one happy blogger. If you don't want that little BloggerBar sitting on top of your blog either, just do this:

• Highlight this code and copy it:

#navbar-iframe {
height:0px;
visibility:hidden;
display:none;
}

• Now go to your Blogger Layout section.
• Click on the tab labeled "Edit HTML".
• Scroll down until you see this:
  

body {

• Place your cursor on the line above and paste the code you just copied from me.
• Save Template.

Now view your blog. You should see it *without* that pesky little BloggerBar.
You're Welcome. :-)

Laugh...Cuz You Know You Want To

I just saw this new Mac commercial during American Idol this week. I needed the laugh.

Sorry if you're one of those angry, frustrated Vista users. Can't help but be amused by these commercials when you're on the Mac side of things.

I woke up Wednesday morning with a stomach bug. Yeah, not really the way I imagined spending the week. I'm supposed to be up and running right now. I've got a flight with my girls tomorrow leaving from PDX to Albuquerque. I don't like traveling, I really don't like flying. I don't want to feel sick while I'm doing it. I got myself up and started to work this morning because you know trips don't just happen all by themselves (although I'm convinced my sweet children and incredible hubby thinks otherwise, sometimes). I got two loads of laundry done, a shower in, a load of dishes in the dishwasher and then collapsed. My stomach hurts. Still. Even though I'm not making trips to the bathroom anymore like I was on Wednesday and even some on Thursday, I still feel like I'm going to puke at any given moment. Why? I could use some good positive thoughts thrown my way. I am not missing this trip. I've been looking forward to this trip for a few months and gosh darn it, my sister needs me! So, here's to funny commercials that make you laugh even when you don't feel like it.