24 Hours Later...

*Don't Worry, No Spoilers*




I didn't end up going to a Breaking Dawn release party on Friday, like I was originally planning, because I went to a late showing of The Dark Knight with Nate and my dad instead (and we missed getting into the earlier showing we had planned on going to because it sold out, but we did get to see a preview for Twilight). So after the movie, we swung by Wal*Mart so I could pick up a copy- at 1AM. Pretty quick in and out of the store since I had missed the big rush, but my dad wandered, so we had to look for him (and his cell phone was still turned off from the movie). We got home around 1:30AM, and shortly thereafter I starting my long day of reading. I was already so tired that I didn't read for long- only until about 3:30AM, at which time I fell asleep on the couch. Saturday was a busy day (birthday party in the late morning, ate out for lunch because Nate insisted), so I didn't get much more reading in until the afternoon, but I was determined to finish the book that night without staying up extremely late. Yes, I neglected about 75% of my parenting duties (I still managed to take a break to help bathe the kids and get them to bed), but since it was a Saturday, and Nate was home, it wasn't too big of deal. I didn't even rush through the book. I felt like I read it at slower than my normal pace, and I still was able to be finished by 1AM. All in all it probably took me around 12 hours of reading time. If I had been able to stay engrossed without so many breaks, I'm sure I would have been quicker, but hey, it is a 754 page book.

So anyway, I liked it. How about you? Now Nate is busy reading it. I doubt he'll be able to finish it in one day, since he ends up with more distractions, but he still won't take long.

*Monday morning edit- I was wrong. Nate did end up finishing in one day (well, 24-hour period). He stayed up reading until 6 this morning to finish and now he gets to work all day on 1 hour's sleep.

St. George- Part 2: Wakeboarding

(Go here for Part 1)

I finally got to try wakeboarding for the first time and I loved it! I really was worried that I wouldn't be able to get up, but I did about 50% of the time, and for a first-timer, I think that's pretty good (especially since the last few times that I failed to get up it was due to my exhausted arms). I had a few short runs and couple really good runs before my arms would go no more. Here are a couple pictures of me in the water:
Just getting in the water

Ready to go

I'm up!

(Justin and Janna have some better pictures. Nate is not anywhere near a photographer, so I couldn't expect much. He doesn't even know how to use the video function on our camera- and it's way easy!)

Nate was able to go wakeboarding for the first time 2 years ago at the previous family vacation (I stayed home due to the recent birth of Mason) and was excited to get to go again. He went out 3 times during the week, but only had the camera for pictures when I went. I shot some video of him, but kept missing his best moves. This is the best video I got:


We went to Sand Hollow Reservoir, which is only a few years old, and it was nice. The water felt great, the surroundings were beautiful, and the boat was relaxing. Some of you may know that I have a slight fear of water, but I didn't once get nervous being on a boat in the middle of the water. It probably helped that none of the kids were with us.
The view:

My Accident-Proneness Strikes Again!

*If you don't like hearing about injuries that involve blood, I recommend skipping this post and averting your eyes from the pictures*

In June, we took a family vacation with all of Nate's family (minus a few) to St. George. Despite the heat, we had lots of fun, but of course I can't do anything without at some point hurting myself, so I decided the 2nd full day there I should drop a cast iron cookie sheet on my foot in the afternoon while I was trying to get my desserts made for Father's Day. Ouch! Almost the WORST.PAIN.EVER! Blood was pumping so hard under my big toe nail that I really felt like my toe was going to explode. I made it to the couch to sit down and prop my leg up, which allowed the pain to slightly subside, and had Nate get me some pain medication. Standing up was torture, sleeping was torture, and laying down was even mostly torture. I lasted until the next morning when I decided I had to get something done with my toe. We went to the Instacare and paid our insane $75 co-pay so that I could get two holes poked in my toe nail to allow the blood pressure to be released. The doctor who performed the procedure kept apologizing to me for causing me additional pain, but I kept insisting to her that it was much less painful than it was before I walked into the room. It was amazing how two tiny holes in my toenail could change my pain level so dramatically. I was able to walk out of there with very little discomfort- nearly pain free! She did give me a prescription for pain meds since sleeping would still definitely be an issue- anything that even brushed against my toe sent pain running through me. I only took the medicine at night and only 6 times, yet I still got addicted enough that it took me well over a week to really start sleeping okay again without it. I've always been cautious with prescription meds, and that just taught me more how important it is to be cautious.

Here's my toe!
The first picture was taken before I went to the doctor, the second was taken shortly after getting home (and my camera wasn't cooperating, so it's blurry), and the last picture is from yesterday (three and a half weeks after I injured it).



I will lose my toenail, which will be gross, and my toe is still extra-sensitive to touch. The kids have kindly stepped on my toe about 50 times in the last few weeks and even Nate has done it a few times.

So the funny thing is, I had briefly considered letting Nate's dad poke the holes in my toenail to save money, and that same day I hurt it there was an episode of like "Deadliest Catch" or something on Discovery Channel and one of the men on that show smashed their toe or thumb and did the whole hole-poking thing, so we even had a mini-lesson in what to do. I'm glad I went to the doctor, though, because I was given instructions for proper care of my toe and some good meds (despite the addiction thing- the ibuprofen just wasn't hacking it).

Virginia- Home Sweet Home

After finding a smashing deal on Yahoo! Travel, I had the opportunity to fly out to Virginia last week for a weekend visit. My high school has been celebrating it's 40th anniversary all year long, and this past weekend was their big events for the celebration. Although I had originally planned on going to their evening gala event, the cost of tickets persuaded me to skip it and just go to the daytime school showcase. One of my best friends, Joanne, and I spent Saturday morning/afternoon roaming the halls of our high school and checking out performances by the theatre and music departments. We chatted with a couple of our old teachers and saw a few familiar faces. We also got to eat lunch in the cafeteria (although not the questionable school lunch food from our high school days). All it cost was $6 for the lunch (which, considering the amount of food they gave us, was a great deal). It was fun roaming the halls again, and seeing how little has changed (umm, they painted the lockers a different color, but that's about it). My sister managed to make it to the school showcase right before Joanne and I left.

Here's some shots of the school:
(Main Lobby, Cafeteria, Path up to the athletic fields, Football field)


And my graduating class' contribution:


I also got to go out to dinner twice with some old friends- Rob, Matt, Paige, Duff, and Joanne. It's always fun when we all get together. It's just a shame that two of the gang (Becky and Melanie) ended up not making it out to DC.

Since my sister was so late to the showcase, and lacking her family, we made plans to meet at my favorite ice cream restaurant for lunch the following day. Here are some pics of her kids, Gabe and Isabeau:


And here are Joanne's kids (Tyler and Jaiden):

(All a little dirty from their ice cream)

It was a great weekend. Definitely strange to be away from the kids for so long and to get on a plane all by myself and have a peaceful flight. But, that said, I was still happy to get home and see Nate and the kids. I even ended up keeping Jefferson home from school yesterday just to spend some extra time with him (he may have been a hair sick).

A BIG THANKS to Joanne for letting me crash at her place while I was in town and driving me around (even though I know she won't actually read this- she just looks at the pictures).

Virginia Here I Come!!!

On Tuesday, I came across a great deal on airline tickets to DC ($196 round trip, including taxes and fees), so I quickly talked to Nate about me taking a weekend trip to Virginia in April, and after a little bit of pleading, he agreed that I could go as long as I arranged caretakes for the kids for while I am away. Yea!!! I am so excited. I had been looking for tickets for awhile and as the date I wanted to go for drew nearer and nearer, the less I expected to get to go, but suddenly this deal showed up and now I have a plane ticket! My high school is celebrating it's 40th anniversary and there is a school reunion and a couple other events and even though I didn't LOVE high school, I didn't hate it either and I thought it would be fun to go. It will be weird to be away for the kids, by myself, for that long (4 days) but I know I'll still have lots of fun.