At Worlds End

I’m glad the world didn’t end today.

There are a lot of things I want to do before the world ends.

In fact, there are a lot of things I’d like to do before this day ends, but I probably won’t be able to do them all. Working full-time is kind of time suck. Oh but don’t worry, I have a GIANT list of projects to do…someday…when I have more….time.   (You’re all probably laughing right now: when the heck does she think she’s ever going to have more time?) 

Back to the things I want to do before the world ends.  Some of them are awesome and some much less so.  Many of them have to do with travel. I’ve got travel fever (I’m saying that like the ‘I’ve got cabin fever’ quote on Muppet Treasure Island. Because I’m weird).

Christmas is coming. This is our 3^rd Christmas together and the first Christmas since we’ve been married that I haven’t been in tears trying to arrange schedules between two families while trying to squeeze some of our own family traditions in there somewhere too.  I think part of the reason is because I haven’t really had time to think much about our own family traditions and I guess by now I know what to expect as far as other family stuff.  It’s relaxing not to be stressed about it but sad that I haven’t had a chance to really carry out our own family stuff. I think that’s why I’m having a hard time feeling like it’s really Christmas.  There’s snow now, so that will help.

I get to sing on Sunday with a harp as my accompaniment. This will be a first for me. It’s super cool.

Peace, love and harmony to you all this Christmas season. 

Here are some kind of ugly pictures of us. Funny, in both instances we're eating food. Neighhhhhh, i'm only here for the food. (name that movie)

My work Christmas dinner.

Eating at Gloria's Little Italy.

 

Miracle and Halloween

We had a real life miracle happen in our family this last week.  My sister is pregnant with twins and got an ultrasound last week that showed that baby B (or the one that will come out last) had VSD (ventricular septal defect); basically, a hole in her heart. The hole was so large that the Dr. said there wasn't really a chance that it would close on its own like some VSD's do.  It was also at greater risk of having Down Syndrome or Trisomy 18 because she also had cysts on her brain last month.

My sister would probably need to get amniocentesis (which has a small risk associated with it for the babies) to know for sure whether the baby had a chromosomal disorder, and she'd need to visit a cardiologist to learn what this hole meant for the baby now and once she's born.

We had a family fast (learn more about fasting here) for baby B and for my sister's family as they learned more and made decisions. We prayed for them and I know I at least prayed that if possible, the Lord would close up that hole.  Some of my nieces and nephews even participated in the fast with such great faith and determination it was so inspiring.

My sister visited the cardiologist about a week after the ultrasound where they found the hole. When the cardiologist did another ultrasound he searched and searched and couldn't find a hole. He said if there is a hole, it's so small that it's not really something to be concerned about. And the heart definitely did NOT look like a down syndrome heart or as if it had any other abnormalities.  The cardiologist will do an echo cardiogram when the baby is born just to make sure, but he was really positive about the situation.

We all know that this wasn't coincidence or a mistake on the part of the first Dr. Mom and my sister saw that hole and now it's pretty much gone.  That's a real life miracle and a sweet blessing that came in part because of the combined prayers and fasting of many faithful people. I can't wait to tell my children about this and teach them the blessings that can come from prayer and fasting.

I was Merida for Halloween (from Brave) and my dear Watson was originally just one of the Brave guys...but it kind of morphed into Bravehart as more and more people thought that's what he was :).

Takin' a Break

It was so nice for us to take a break this weekend and have some us time. Here are the dets: (deats?)

Day #1
Stayed in Park City at a cute little condo I found for way cheap (under $60)

Ate dinner at El Chubasco's.

We are weird.

Their salsa bar was amazing. I got adventurous and tried the black salsa of death.  It tasted like mud and dirt someone scraped off a tire after a rain storm.

Day #2
Drove to and stayed at Beaver Creek Lodge, just 12 miles south of Bear Lake. On the way we stopped at Smith and Edwards outside of Brigham City. That store is amazing. The sign on their building says "we've got everything you need.....if we can find it" and that was the truth. It's huge and filled with all sorts of cool stuff.

The lodge we stayed at was awesome. They had a lounge where we played foosball (my dear Watson won), and the manager said we might hear some Elk bugleing at night (is that what Elk's do? Bugle?)  We didn't hear any though.

Ate dinner at La Beau's in Garden city - chicken cordon bleu sandwich: AMAZING!

The next morning we went Horseback Riding across from the lodge.

Our guide took pictures of us while she was bouncing around on her horse...so some of them ended up blurry :).

Day #3
Drove to and stayed at The Blue Heron Inn in Rigby, Idaho. On the way we stopped at Pepperidge Farm and got some Gold Fish!

The Blue Heron is a cute little bed and breakfast that some friends of ours own: a couple that my dear Watson lived with while he was a missionary.  This place is so beautiful and I think you ALL should go stay there for a night or two.

The backyard. 

The front yard.

We dug rocks out of a hill and built them into a fire pit, we learned how to make a bed - hotel style and fold bath towels and rags into cool shapes. We also learned how to make eggs Benedict and actually really enjoyed eating it.  We ate dinner at a cool golf shack along the river, and looked at the stars through a big telescope.We saw a bald eagle, lots of cows and cute little kittens!

I drove in to Rexburg and saw the temple and a little of BYU-Idaho...and Walmart.

We watched the BYU game and then drove home!

It was so fun for us to spend time together without the stress of our every day lives.  I love my dear Watson and I loved this vacation!

We're in love.

You'll Never Guess...

They're baaaaacckkkkkk!

Caught 2 mice yesterday in the pantry :(. Running total is 25.

Meanwhile, I'm back to this:

I don't look like that when I run.
I'm just doing 1- 2 miles three or four times a week.  I'm building up slowly so I don't do anything bad.  It feels great to run again.

We're heading here this weekend:

and a few other places too. 

We'll do a little bit of this:

Only we won't wear that silly hat.

And a whole lot of this:

Eating in general, not just eating pasta.

Can't wait!!!

Cheerio

The worst  part of my day is when I eat the last bite of my late night bowl of yogurt burst cheerios. The only thing worse than that is the last bite of my late night bowl of apple cinnamon cheerios. mmmmm.

I have a great idea what I want to do for our Christmas card this year but it's going to require a lot of snow. So....I need it to snow.

No ideas ticking about our Halloween costumes yet though. Its gotta be GREAT.

We went to the Brigham City temple open house with my sister and her family. The whole experience took 3 1/2 hours. We went on Labor Day and apparently so did everyone else in the state.  It was beautiful though and when it was all over my nephew said, "Thanks for letting us come here!"  He had such a good attitude even though we were standing around for EVER.

I think I have a fear of all natural disasters. What's that called? I found myself cuddled up right next to my dear Watson during a thunderstorm last week. I got up to go to the bathroom and when lightning struck right in my front yard (I swear it was) I turned around and ran back in to bed and got under the covers.  I was preparing my mental list of items I would grab if our house caught on fire, or where I would go for safety if there was a tornado.  Neither happened though and I made it to the bathroom before anything bad happened.

I've got to go brush my teeth now so I don't eat another bowl of cereal.

Allergic to Air

My dear Watson went to the allergist last week.

This is what he's allergic to:

Corn. (This happens to be corn straight from our garden!) 

Peanuts

Eggs

Peas (but we already knew that)

Oats

Almonds (we already knew this too)

Chicken

Seriously?  Sheesh. He might as well starve to death.  It turns out he's the MOST allergic to almonds, then peas.  Everything else  scored low on the allergic-to test, so the doc said he could go on a diet totally clean of all those foods if he wants, then slowly introduce them back into his diet one at a time. This would just help him see if he can pinpoint one that bothers him more than the others. His allergies to these foods might be linked to his eosinophilic esophagitis and the esophageal spasms he has had for much of his life.

He already decided what kind of diet he wants to go on: no rye.  He thought that should be easy enough.

The doc is pretty sure the crazy allergic episode my dear Watson had last month was due to the infection from strep throat. It won't happen every time he gets strep, his body just reacted weird to it this time.  We probably don't even need an epi pen.

Good news: beans are grouped with peas since they are all legumes, but the doc said he could slowly start introducing beans back into his diet if he wants to!  I don't know if he does because beans, beans are good for you heart, the more you eat em the more you.....you know.

Weary Not

Our stake president spoke at church today. He works for the LDS Church doing something or other that allows him to be in close association with many of the Apostles and General Authorities. He was asked to provide some consultation on the musical selections for President Monson's birthday celebration which happened last night (Aug. 18th).  He asked President Monson's secretary of 40 years and other office staff if there was a favorite song of President Monson's that he absolutely loved.  All the secretaries smiled hugely and said there was one song that he loves so much that all his office staff had to learn it, because whenever he is feeling down, or sometimes when someone is visiting or just for fun, he'll call in his secretaries (mostly all older women) to sing this song....."and we can't sing" they said.  They knew he would count it a special blessing to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing it at his birthday celebration.  The song comes from the old Deseret Sunday School song book, and these are the words:

If the way be full of trial; Weary not! 

If it’s one of sore denial, Weary not! 

If it now be one of weeping, 

There will come a joyous greeting, 

When the harvest we are reaping—Weary not!

Do not weary by the way, 
Whatever be thy lot; 
There awaits a brighter day 
To all, to all who weary not! 

(“If the Way be Full of Trial, Weary Not,” Deseret Sunday School Songs (1909), no. 158)

Hearing the words to this favorite song of our Prophet, was an answer to a prayer I've had in my heart lately.

My sister had a miscarriage at the beginning of the year, and then got pregnant again and just learned she's having twins! She's told me that before she found out about the twins she was praying that no matter what  happened she would be okay with it and know that it was Heavenly Father's plan for them. She was saying this prayer thinking she might miscarry again....she had no idea the prayer would end up needing to be said to help her cope with the news of twins! 

I've been thinking about that a lot lately and how strongly she prayed to accept whatever happened as Heavenly Father's will. I often find myself pleading with the Lord...okay, almost begging, that something I want or hope for will come to pass. They are always righteous things mostly dealing with our future as a family.  I realized I pray very seldom that I will understand that whatEVER happens is Heavenly Father's plan.  I already know that He won't leave us hanging. He'll provide a way for us and a good life for us full of blessings if we are righteous and faithful.  

Hearing the words to this hymn helped me remember that I have no need to weary when things don't go my way or the way I hoped. Whatever my lot is, a brighter day awaits me if I'll weary not. I've been trying to remember to pray, like my sister, that I'll know whatever comes our way is Heavenly Father's plan for us. 

Our first harvest of the season!

My office won our division Olympics. The flag is in honor of our boss Bill who has a mustache. This is my co-worker, Jenny.  

Porter Party 2012!

The student employees in our office basically work in a call center where they get calls all day long about Admissions, Financial Aid & Scholarships etc.  They often refer customers to website or email addresses where they have to spell out the web address or email address. You know, A as in Apple, B as in Ball.  The other day I heard one of the students say, "yeah, it's Z as in xylophone".  I laughed really hard on the inside. 

I was watching Jimmy Fallon's primetime music special on TV the other day, and I decided he is probably pretty fun to hang out with.  My favorite people to hang out with though, are my siblings.  They are so fun.  We have a lot more fun together now than I ever remember as kids because our age differences are pretty big in some cases.  

This was our first ever legit Porter Family Reunion...also known as Porter Party (hence the port-a-potties on our t-shirts).  

Here's a little glimpse of all the fun we had. 

Making Bows and Arrows

Talent Show -- Dancing!

Talent Show - Teletubbies

Talent Show - Synchronized Swimming

Talent Show - Singing and wrapping cars in Caution tape.

Talent Show - Singing!

Talent Show - Mario brothers show.

Talent Show - Balloon head dancing to Bop to the Top (High School Musical). This is my dear watson and me if you can't tell. 

Ta da! My balloon popped :(

Talent show - banjo, ukulele, guitar and singing. 

The WHOOOOOLLLLLEEEE fam

Waiting for 4 wheeler rides.

My oldest niece and our reunion mascots (owls)

Me and Han getting ready for the 5k.

We're off!

Minute to win it!

Glow dancing!

Fire works!

I love my family.