Toy Giraffe?

Let me start by saying that I have no spatial reasoning. I have a creative mind, and a lot of creative thoughts, but my mind lacks that part that allows you to imagine space. I can't look at a taken apart anything and imagine how it goes, I can't look at an empty gutted house and see how it will look in my mind with walls. I have no sense of measurements and what they mean. With that said, I came across a pattern for a bunch of different animals to crochet while looking for late-night projects and decided it would be kind of cool to challenge myself and give one a try. I picked this cute giraffe and thought, what a cute little toy for the new little baby. I got my yarn, and started crocheting. After like only 3 sleepless nights I had all the pieces done and it was time to assemble. I started sewing together all my giraffe parts, and before I knew it I was holding a 2 foot giraffe...not quite the little toy I was imagining...but cute non the less. I looked at the measurements beforehand that's the funny part, but they meant nothing to me...and I ended up with a 2 foot giraffe nursery decoration instead of a toy. Nonetheless I was pretty impressed with myself!

Get the Yarn!

So I took a break from school until further notice on account of the new baby, and the move back to Utah. Needless to say that has resulted in my having more time on my hands, which I LOVE! That along with the insomnia that I have right now has made it necessary to find ways to keep my hands as well as my mind busy! So of course I decided that a good project would be to make some new little hats for the new little baby! I got out my patterns, my hooks, and headed to Joanns for the rest of the needed supplies. I've been quite the little crocheter these last couple of weeks, and I have to admit that it has kept me very busy and content. The first hat below I crocheted for the new baby, it's Super soft, and very silky, but due to my being a little rusty with the needle I made it slightly big for a newborn. No need to worry though I'm pretty sure it will be perfect for winter! The second hat is one that I made for one of my girlfriends at church. She is due in July and is not finding out what she is having so I made the hat for her in a more "neutral" color but just in case it turns out to a be a girl I crochet a little flower which I hot glued to a little clippy that she can attach to the hat. If it does turn out to be a boy, the flower is removable and she can use it for her other little girl. To be honest I made the second one for my friend and it turned out SO cute that I almost kept it for myself...I managed to pry it away from myself though. Chris told me just to make another one for myself...I'm thinking I will since I'll need to save some projects for the long drive out to Utah. I timed myself on these hats and believe it or not I can do the whole thing with the flower in under 2 hours...NICE! The only thing is that it's turned into a longer list of projects (which I of course LOVE) because the other 3 kiddos all wanted hats made for them too. I've finished one for Lilliana which I will post soon!

What Makes Me Happy?

So I've been thinking that I want to tweek this blog of mine to more focus on the things that make me happy. I've been thinking a lot and decided that these are the things in my life that help me to "Make it Happy" on a day to day basis:

1. My wonderful family

2. Organization (weird I know but it brings me joy when my life gets more Organized)

3. Being a Creative and Crafty Chick

4. Learning

5. Incorporating the Gospel into our family and into my life as an individual

So I think that this blog is going to more focus on these 5 areas, and the things that I do in these areas to make my life happy and to bring more JOY into my life and the life of my family.

Fall

So I LOVE Fall. It is by far my favorite time of year! I love the weather, the leaves, the colors, Halloween (my favorite holiday), my birthday, football, and of course I love the clothes that comes with fall! I love all the sweaters, layering, boots, hats...oh I love it all! I've been dying ever since we moved to Texas...fall eventually comes around but it's known by a different name (winter) and it flies by all to fast! Rarely do the leaves change, I miss so badly our fall drives through the canyon...oh it is so beautiful. :-( I got through it last year by keeping my mind off of it and just trying to not think about what I was missing. But doing that is becoming increasingly more difficult the longer we stay away from home! This entire year I have been so homesick for Utah! Our last trip up there this summer served to just seal in my heart that Utah is home for us and I'm counting the days (impatiently) until we can finally go back. It's especially hard because if our life goes the way we want then that means we'll be away from Utah for a number of years...it's hard. My best friend just had a baby two months ago and it absolutely killed me that I couldn't be there! Between all the weddings, birthdays, showers, holidays and babies, and just everything going on there that I know we are missing out on is so heart breaking! So now on top of everything else we're missing out on another gorgeous Utah fall and Aggie football...

Things right now are going okay in Texas, we're trying to have an open mind and focus on the wonderful things going on here, but despite my efforts my mind keeps drifting to that Utah fall...so I finally decided the other day (a decision Chris laughed at me about) that I was going to will it to be Fall here so at least it would one less thing I was missing out on. I decided I'd wear my fall clothes, act like it was fall, believe it was fall, and just generally think FALL. I'm pretty sure it's working. The last two weeks has been total Fall weather (as fall as it gets in Texas). It's been slightly cooler weather, rainy, and fall like. I do see the leaves starting to change and fall and this weekend I'm hoping to put the final nail in the coffin so to speak by putting up all of my fall decorations and doing fall crafts with the kids. I would love love love to see the Utah fall though so if anyone out there wants to email me some Utah fall pics I would be in heaven! (I'll probably blow them up and frame them and hang em' all over my house) I do have my KSL 5 weather calender that I bought for Christmas while we were in Utah and I'm loving the fall pics in there!

But for now I'm thinking happy FALL thoughts and wearing my fall clothes (which sometimes means I have to blast the AC) and missing home but trying to make the best of our current situation! Wish me luck! :-)

5 things that made you smile

I got this tag from a friend of mine's blog. Simple, but I think it's good to take stock every now and then of the blessings in our lives and the simple little things that make us happy. So list 5 things that made you smile today

1. The sound of my babies laughing

2. The text I got from the hubs saying he loves me more and more everyday

3. Waking up to a clean house

4. To see that the rain stopped (for now)

5. The excitement in my kids eyes and the little cheer they did when I told them there was still cupcakes left over from lastnight's party.

I tag anyone who wants to be tagged.

Getting bigger and hating it.

Carson is getting so big lately...
and I'm hating every minute of it! I love watching him learn and grow and become such a little man, and it makes me so proud to see him, but honestly at the same time it makes me want to cry! I love my kiddies at the age they are now! But the more I try and fight it the more it hurts. I'm trying to cope with it and embrace it rather than fight it...it's hard though and goes against everything I know!

My baby turned 4 in June...one more year until he's off to school and that will be a hard day for me! I'm trying to do everything I can to prepare him but mostly myself for that day while at the same time not taking this last year for granted. I've been trying really hard to make this last year so fun-filled and exciting (secretly I'm hoping that way he wont wanna leave me). It seems like just yesterday I found out I was finally preggers with him after trying for so long! Chris and I were over the moon...not to mention my mom as well! I remember I told Chris and nothing could wipe the grin off his face for weeks! My sweet boy has always been such a loving child. Always a cuddler, always wanting to give me hugs and kisses and tell me that he loves me. I dread the day that fades away. I pray it doesn't. Today I told him across the breakfast table that I missed him while he was sleeping and he held up the sign for "I love you" with his hands (because he was too busy eating his cereal) it melted my heart!

It seems like every day he and Lilliana and Landon are doing things to become more independent and I excitedly let them know each time how very big they are getting and how proud I am of them...but all the while I'm screaming inside "STOP IT! STAY LITTLE FOREVER!" I'm praying for strength and courage...but I'm also thinking another baby wouldn't hurt...

One track mind

Anyone else's husband have a one track mind?

Ha ha I know what you're thinking...but that's not what I meant. That is one of my biggest problems in my marriage, the fact that the hubs has a one track mind. In general a one track mind. It seems as if whatever happens to get stuck in that mind of his is the only thing he can focus on, whether it's the Jazz, work, school, dental applications, fantasy football, aggie sports in general, or Glenn Beck and the horrible state that our country is in...whatever it may be, I certainly feel like what its not is me or the kids, or working on our house, or caring about our finances...the list goes on.

We've been together for 8 years and it has always been the thorn in my side when it comes to our otherwise nearly perfect relationship! I'd have to say it is probably the biggest thing that urks me and drives me up the wall. The one thing that never fails to unleash my feiry latin anger and unyeilding nagging and guilt trips. Don't get me wrong I know, because he tells me every so often, that our family and the things that are important to me are important to him, but it's getting him to prove it with actions that is the hard part. It's not even that he doesn't want to do these things...he does, he's alwyas happy to help and to be involved. What drives me absolutely nuts is that I have to push him to action otherwise the thought rarely will even cross his mind.

My hubs would be so content to sit and watch TV all Saturday afternoon, if I ask him to do something with the family he happily will. I guess it's the fact that I have to push him to be interested or involved with those things that are important to me, otherwise while important to him, he thinks saying it and thinking it is enough.

I decided not too long ago that I was done fighting so hard. My problem is my pride and Chris's problem is his inability to multi-task or to take initiative. When we very first got married, well like a year into our marriage, I told him the secret to making me happy while getting what he wants, and Chris gave me the secret to making that happen on my end.

My Secret: I will happily let him go out with his friends, go out and play b-ball, golf, football whatever, spend time on the computer doing his fantasy football or looking up his aggie fan sites, watch Glenn Beck, play x-box whatever and he can do it all he wants and I'll get involved to and I'll do so with a huge smile on my face and love every second he's doing what makes him happy just so long as he learns to keep a balance and as long as while he's at home not doing those things he gives me, the kids, the house and whatever is important to me his full attention. (there in lies our problem)

His Secret: I have to remind him. Because, even my wonderfully cute hubby knows, what everyone else knows...he's got not only a one track mind but also a forgetful mind.

I fought this for so long because my pride told me that if I had to remind him to care about the important things to me while it came so easy to me to care about the important things to him than that must mean he doesn't love me as much as I obviously love him.

It took me a few years to finally decide about a year ago that my pride was getting in the way of my being truly happy by getting what I wanted all along.

So, finally we get to compromise. I sat down with my wonderful hubby and we discussed differnt things we could do, tricks, reminders whatever to help him to help me so that we could all around be happier! (that list will come soon...still testing them to see if they are working, but so far so good.)

All About High School Tag

1. DID YOU DATE SOMEONE FROM YOUR SCHOOL?
I did, I dated a lot of guys from my high school, well not a lot but a decent amount. I never went too long without being attached to someone. But Rob Lewis was the one that was the most important to me. Until Junior year and then I started dating a guy who was graduated already and lasted until college.

2.WHAT KIND OF CAR DID YOU DRIVE?
An "aggie blue" mazda protege that I didn't get until the summer before my senior year.

3. DID YOU PASS YOUR DRIVER'S LICENSE TEST YOUR FIRST TRY?
No, I broke too many rules, and the teacher hated me, so I waited until I turned 18, but with a boyfriend, and two older brothers, and friends I didn't need to drive.

4. WERE YOU A PARTY ANIMAL?
Oh yea! Way more than I should have been, but not as bad as I could have been! I grew out of it pretty fast though and never looked back!

5. WERE YOU CONSIDERED A FLIRT?
YES! I was then and some would say I still am, it's fun and it's part of my nature, but I'm head over heels in love with my hubby! I flirt with him all the time:)

6. WERE YOU IN BAND, ORCHESTRA, OR CHOIR?
I was in choir throughout my 4 years in high school! I loved it! I love singing!

7. WERE YOU A NERD?
No... but, I did really good in school, I'm a lucky one who doesn't have to try that hard.

8. WERE YOU ON ANY VARSITY TEAMS?
Yes, JV Soccer freshman to junior year.

9. DID YOU EVER GET SUSPENDED/EXPELLED?
Never.

10. CAN YOU STILL SING THE FIGHT SONG?
My high school one no, college one yes!

11. WHO WERE YOUR FAVORITE TEACHERS?
I've never had a bad teacher my entire life...honestly!

12. WHERE DID YOU SIT FOR LUNCH?
I left campus for lunch.

13. WHAT IS YOUR SCHOOL'S FULL NAME?
Arlington High School

14. WHAT IS YOUR SCHOOL'S MASCOT AND COLORS?
The Colts: White and Green

15. DID YOU GO TO HOMECOMING AND WITH WHOM?
Oh a fun one! Freshman year:Sammy ? Sophomore year:Rob Lewis Junior year:Robbie White, Senior year: John Pennock

16. IF YOU COULD GO BACK AND DO IT AGAIN WOULD YOU?
Maybe, but I'd rather go back and have more fun with my college friends!

17. WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER MOST ABOUT GRADUATION?
It was so long and boring, but my parents were so proud!

18. WHERE DID YOU GO SENIOR SKIP DAY?
Shopping of course!

19. WERE YOU IN ANY CLUBS?
Nope.

20. HAVE YOU GAINED SOME WEIGHT SINCE THEN?
I've had 3 kids since then so that's a given, but luckily it hasn't been that bad, maybe like 8 pounds.

21. WHO WAS YOUR PROM DATE?
John Pennock

22. ARE YOU PLANNING ON GOING TO YOUR 10 YEAR REUNION? Yeah!
Not likely. I don't really have anyone that I wanna see. I already see the people that I'd want to see there.

23. DID YOU HAVE A JOB IN HIGH SCHOOL?
Not really.

I tag, Jamie, Linda, Joleen and anyone else who wants to be tagged!

Update

So here's an update since my last post. It was a while ago I know, but life gets busy and I had to focus my energies on my sick kids and on school for a while.

The kids are doing better. Landon is fine now, Carson never got sick, and Lilli is almost over being sick. She's feeling a lot better today. So we are happy that they are in better spirits!

I'm freaking out because I need to take my teaching test SOON if I want to be considered for a job next fall, and I'm freaking out trying to find time to study between the kids, Chris, and school. But I'll figure it out.

Oh we are super excited because Chris's little sis just got engaged!! Congrats Carli and Bo!!! They are planning a June wedding so we're trying to figure out how to get out there for that because we wouldn't miss it for the world! We are seriously bummed though that we wont be there for all of the pre-wedding madness! :(

Hmmm...that's all I can really think of at the moment. I'm trying to get this in before my kids wake up! LOL. Well I'll post more later!

Sad Babies...Crazy day!

I have sad babies today! My little Landon is sick! He seems to have some virus that they hope will pass in a few days, it's giving him an awful temperature that is pretty high and it's been a little scary! But we're hoping that it's almost over! Lilli however just tonight started having a fever so I'm fearing that she's starting to go through the same thing.

Monday was pretty hectic for me, Chris was at work and Landon's temperature got up to 105! I called the doctor and they told me to get his core temp down fast and bring him in a little later or take him to the hospital if I couldn't get it to subside. Luckily I was able to get his temp back under control and we made it to our appointment later in the afternoon!

However, I had been wrestling with his temperature all morning, as well as taking care of the three of them and it was only as we were leaving to go to the doctors appointment that I remembered that I had a paper due for my research class and it had to be turned in by midnight. I go to the University of Phoenix so it's all online. (In case you don't know me all that well, I will gather all the research necessary for my papers ahead of time but procrastinate my acutal writing of the paper till the absolute last minute, because that is the only way for me to get out my best writing! I know it sounds crazy, but it's a process I have had since high school, and I have done it the other way and my writing is just garbage in comparison. So now I embrace it and don't even try to fight it!)

I ran back into the house and grabbed all my research materials and a pen and a notebook and headed to the doctors office. I guess it was lucky for me that I was able to drop off Carson and Lilli with my parents, so that Chris could come along to hold Landon. I guess it was also lucky that we waited in the doctor's office 45 minutes past our appointment time before we were even seen.

It was probably funny to see me hunched over with papers everywhere writing away...and I was in such a zone it was amazing! It was a frenzy of writing and by the time the doc came in I had the paper almost entirely written!

I stopped at my parents to pick up the kids, we hung out for a bit and had dinner got home by 8 and my paper was done and posted by 9:30 and everything turned out ok in that aspect.

Landon is now on day 4 of being under the weather and i'm hoping that it will pass soon! I'm worried Lilli is on the same path and I'm just hoping that it doesn't make it's way around to all 5 of us! Chris has been able to be home with me helping me out though due to some bad weather here, so that has been a huge help!

I just hate when my babies are sad! Here's to hoping it ends soon!

Today

I thought this was a cute idea so here goes a few things that are from Today.

TODAY:I finally wrote a Psych paper I've been putting off for 3 weeks. In one afternoon I did the research and wrote the entire 2100 word APA research paper on how my developmental theories align with that of the crossover theorist Albert Bandura. (what can I say I have always done my best work under pressure)
TODAY:I baked a batch of Chris's favorite snickerdoodle cookies with the kids.
TODAY:I had my visiting teachers come over. They are lovely and so nice. I really appreciate them and their time and the lessons they share. I'm thankful for the church and all the ways they enrich our lives.
TODAY:Is kind of a boring day for TV
TODAY:All 3 of my kids were up by 7:30 (usually they sleep in till 9ish)
TODAY:Is surprisingly cold for Texas...I guess it is "winter"
TODAY:I'm really missing my friends in Utah
TODAY:I'm excited about dinner (BBQ sandwhiches)
TODAY:I found the bed spread I wanna buy but can't
TODAY:I really feel like calling my mom and shooting the breeze
TODAY:I've been trying to get caught up on my blogging
TODAY:Kicks off the last week of my Psych class!
TODAY:I started planning what I wanna get Chris for Valentine's Day
TODAY:I started thinking about spring and summer
TODAY:I watched a movie with the kids
TODAY:I played with the kids for a while and just thought about how lucky I am to have a wonderful, happy, loving family and friends.
I tag whoever wants to but again this means especially you Jamie!

Some more random thoughts

So my mind is a crazy place. Anyone who really knows me knows that I am the kind of person who has to be going going going like at all times. My mind is even going when I'm sleeping I think that's why I feel as if I never get a good nights sleep. I've got so many ideas and thoughts, dreams, and plans. Don't get me wrong I do give myself time to relax and enjoy life, I'm just not comfortable unless I've got things going on the majority of the time. Any how I thought it'd be nice to just get out some of my random thoughts in an effort to clear some space in my head...probably just for new thoughts. It's therapeutic right?

Happy New Year!
Lately I've been thinking about New Year's resolutions for 2009. I'm happy with my life, and my family but we're not perfect and there is a huge list of things we could tweak, change, add, subtract that I believe would make us a stronger family. So the last couple of days I've been compiling a list of resolutions for the Burt family for the new year. They range from less tantrums for the kids, to less negativity in our house, financial resolutions, to spiritual ones. I think I like having them all written out and in front of me so that I can try to keep us on track. It's a bit of a long list and I know we wont probably get to them all but hopefully we'll get to the most important ones. My plan is to take them one at a time so we don't get overwhelmed. I'm planning to have a FHE and go over our Family Resolutions.

Tough Season of Football
I'm bummed because the none of my "Teams" made it to the playoffs. The Jets, Cowboys, Packers, and Raiders all let me down this season. With my personal hero Brett Favre leading the Jets this season I had such high hopes for them, but alas I guess it just wasn't meant to be. Not even Indy made it in...bummer. I was looking forward to the superbowl, but I gotta admit I'm not all that stoked anymore. I guess I'm rooting for either the Eagles or the Cardinals.

5's a Good Number
So over the last couple of months Chris and I have come to the decision that we do wanna have more kids. Two more in fact! But we both know that right now is not the right time. I gotta say though that with my friends all getting preggers lately I was starting to feel like I wanted to go ahead and jump on the bandwagon. I even thought I might be prego a couple of months ago...but I wasn't and at first I was sad. I'm ok now though. I decided I really do not want to be prego right now! Now is good the way it is besides I've got my hands totally full with my three little rugrats, and school, and work. yep I'm super okay waiting for the right time to have more babies. Chris and I have never been the kind of people who want every aspect of life to be perfect before we have kids, you know be settle, be in a good financial place... We decided a long time ago that if we waited for that we'd never have kids. You're never going to have every aspect be perfect. I mean look at me and Chris we're never settled we move like every time our lease is up, we've moved 8 times since we got married! And we are defiantly never in a good financial place. Instead we wait until we feel like it's the right time, and sometimes we aren't even there but God knows we are and he gives us another baby. (it's good they take 9 months to get here cuz it takes me a while to get on board and ready!)Besides Chris and I fly by the seat of your pants kind of people. But anyways this time it just isn't the right time. This time we do need some time to get things in order and settled. I am thankful though for Chris. He's so wonderful he is happy with whatever makes me happy. I was scared to tell him I think we are meant to have more babies, but he just told me, who was he to tell me no. He'd be happy having 5 more kids if it would make me smile. I love him he's wonderful. And hey now he's on board and looking forward to having more too...but not for a few more years....hopefully. (but if it does happen, we'll manage just like we always do.)

That's all I got for now, I'll post again later...I am trying to be better.

Crazy 8's

Ok so I was tagged this a while back but I haven't been doing to good keeping up my blogs. So my sorry for whoever tagged me comes along with one of my New Year's resolutions:To keep up with my blog!!!

Crazy 8’s

8 Shows that I watch:

Ok so I probably watch way more TV then I should…ok I know I do, but for me and Chris we both are in school full time he’s working full time and we’ve got three kids so it is how we relax! Luckily we have 2 DVR’s so we try to record all the shows we like and after the kids are in bed or on the weekends we’ll watch a few shows together. What can I say, we’re TV junkies!

-Grey’s Anatomy
-Top Chef
-How I Met Your Mother (along with all the CBS Monday night line up)
-The office
-Brothers and Sisters
-Amazing Race
-NFL
-Dora the Explorer and all the kiddo shows
-Scrubs ( I know that’s nine but I love it)

8 Favorite Restaurants:

-P.F. Changs
-Olive Garden
-Fire House (which they don’t have in Texas…sad)
-Chik Fil A
-Abuelos (mexican restaurant in Texas)
-Chili’s
-Robentinos (mainly for the ranch dressing)
-Tucci’s (holds a special place in my heart…it’s where Chris proposed to me)

8 Things That Happened Yesterday:

-Landon started really talking, saying new words, and repeating the words I said
-I wrote a 2100 word APA style research paper for my PSYCH class.
-I cleaned the house
-I made up a batch of snickerdoodle cookies with the kids
-I stayed up till 2 am watching my recorded episodes while Chris watched the Jazz game he’d recorded
-I balanced my checkbook
-I did laundry
-I worked out

8 Things I Look Forward To:

-Valentine’s Day
-The Super Bowl
-This afternoon when Chris gets home from work (what can I say I miss him when he’s gone)
-Next month when I get our Tax Return (always a happy time)
-Having more children in the future
-Going to Utah this summer
-Finally finding a teaching job so I can finished getting my certification
-The day when Chris finally gets into Dental School

8 Things On My Wish List:

-Clothes
-A new TV for our bedroom (ours just died)
-A new bed spread
-Curtains for the living room
-Skookie pans
-A new computer
-New bed room furniture
-New living room furniture

8 Phrases I Use All The Time:

-“I’m gonna count to 3, 1…2…”
-“I love you”
-“I miss you”
-“Mommy’s gonna get you, you better run.”
-“Hurry someone bring me a diaper!”
-“Good Job! I’m proud of you.”
-“Ok let’s go to time out”
-“Chris pause it for a second one of them is calling me”

So I tag anyone who wants to do it, but I especially tag Jamie!

Some random thoughts.

So I'm just sitting around this evening with all these random thoughts floating around in my head. First of all I wanna brag a little. I was driving out to the store last night and I always pass by this gas station right by our house, it tends to be one of the cheapest in the city, and last night I almost crashed because I couldn't believe what I saw. Gas was down to $1.86!!!! It was so awesome! So it gave me hope that things will be getting back to normal economy wise. Everyone has been so down and everyone I know has been having financial issues. So I'm hoping that things will start to pick up. I know money isn't everything but having one less thing to worry about sure makes me happy! I also was thinking how bored I am lately. I took three weeks off of school to just take a moment and chill, spend time with the kids, and get some stuff in order, but I'm bored having nothing to do. I decided that I'm the kind of person who gets more done when things are crazy and hectic! I work better under pressure. I like to juggle and keep busy. Chris is so the opposite it's funny, but I think we do pretty well to find a balance and compromise. I realized today that with out the pressure of school I did not really get anything done on my list of what I wanted to do. Now I'm in my last week and I bet you I'll find a way to cram it all into this last week...cuz I like it crazy! My final thought for today is that I miss home! Me and Chris want to move back so badly! But we're just not sure it's the right thing to do. We've been doing really good lately to suppress those feelings and move on with life but it's getting harder and harder. It seems like every time we talk to someone from Utah everyone has something great going on that we're missing and desperately want to be a part of! It's a difficult choice because our hearts are in Utah, and if it were just us we'd move but I just can not bear to separate my family from the kids and visa verse. Everyone is so attached and I don't have the heart to do it to either one of them. Carson is torn too. He tells me everyday he wants to be with his uncles, aunts and his grandparents in Utah but I tell him that means we'd have to be far away from our family here and he cries. I miss him having that family around him. They were good for him. Me and Chris like it here in Texas but we feel like our lives are in Utah and we feel like we're just missing everything that's going on there...it hurts. We'll pray about it and see what happens. For now that's all.

Tag times 3
3 Joys
My husband
My kids
Spending quality time together as a family

3 Fears
Not being the mom that my kids deserve
Not being the wife my husband deserves
That in worrying so much about the future that I miss out on the present

3 Goals
To always try to make it happy
To take steps to stregthen our family (spiritually, financially...)
To spend more time together as a family

3 Current Obsessions
Scrapbooking
Doing crafts with my kids
Organizing/cleaning

3 Regrets
I try hard to live my life without regrets. Me and Chris have a mantra, "Make your choice and then live with it and move on." We try to live life like that and not dwell on the past. If I had to pick out a regret it would be:
Not getting my teaching degree when I first went to college
Leaving Logan
Not spending more time with my friends in Utah (Jamie that means you) when I had the chance.

3 Facts About Me
I love to travel
I am currently in Grad School getting a teaching degree
I make lists for everything and have a wall of lists

3 Annoyances
When my house is dirty or cluttered
That there are never enough hours in the day
People who like to comment on that fact that I have three kids or look at me funny in the grocery store (it's like unnatural to people here in Texas that we are so young and married and that we have three kids...we're like a freak show)

I tag Jamie.

Missing cooler weather

So it's crazy to me how much I've changed in the last seven and a half years. I got married, had three kids, graduated from college, on and on and on.Perhaps the most shocking change however has been my change in climate preference. Anyone who really knows me though that I would rather be hot and sweating then cold, but they also know that I am always cold. No matter what the temp is outside or inside I am always cold! It's a weird phenomenon that stumps everyone who knows me. I grew up in Texas where despite the warm climate I found a way to still always be cold. In the middle of the summer I would were a sweater always. When I moved to Utah after high school I had to buy an entire winter wardrobe because I only had warm weather clothes. Dont get me wrong it gets cold in Texas, but not super cold and not for very long. I remember my college roommate Kayla from Minnesota was astonished at the lack of socks I had because I could seriously wear flip flops almost year round. Anyways I suffered in Utah with the cold. It drove me nuts! The winters were hard on me, but slowly over the six years I was there winter clothes began taking the place of summer clothes and I became a little more okay with the cold weather and the idea of four seasons not just hot and slightly less hot. Though actually Utah only has three seasons because to truly be spring I'm pretty sure you need rain. Anyways, being in Texas this last year has really opened my eyes to how much I changed. We moved in November so it was already to that slightly less hot season and we had our winter gear out, when summer came around and the winter clothes got put away I realized how empty my closet was. I had to rebuild myself a warm clothes stock pile. I enjoyed the summer months that I had longed for in Utah until about September. That's when it really hit me. I began longing for cooler nights, and for the leaves to change and for fall. (My absolute favorite time of year!!!) It never happened, it remained in the 90's and 80s. October came and went flirting with the cold, but it never would stick for too long before it climbed back up into the 80s. Finally just this last week the leaves finally changed in NOvember)though it's still been in the 80s, we've had cooler nights and mornings, and more boughts of cooler weather...it gives me hope that soon it'll finally be winter, though a mild, Texas winter. I also realized that before I would always sleep with the air off at night and a big down comforter no matter how hot it was, I loved being toasty when I slept. Sure I'd wake up sweating, but I loved it. Since we moved here I noticed that I can't stand being hot when I'm sleeping. I crank up the air only at night I can pretty much get through all day with it off and I'm fine for some reason at night I'm like always super hot! It's wierd how much time changes us. I realized how much I miss Utah, and the winters, and the cool nights. Maybe someday we'll get to finally come home!

Apartment Woes.

So we had the worst week last week! Chris had his brother in town and they had taken my brothers and Carson and gone to a Dallas Stars hockey game, meanwhile I was at my parents house working on a project for them. Chris made it home late that night, oh it was last Saturday the 18th, and calls me saying that our apartment was flooded. That he had come home and the master bathroom was flooded with an inch of water and the carpets in the bedroom and all were wet. He called and they told him that a lady on the third floor moved out and broken a pipe when she unhooked her washer from the apartment. They told him that the water had been turned off and that there would be no more water and that it would not get any worse and that the next day they would come and bring some fans to dry up the water. I ended up staying at my folks that night and the next day when I came home Chris greeted me at the door with a look on his face like I've never seen. That moring he and Nick woke up and it was soooo much worse! The carpets over a third of our apartment were soaked up to like the top of the baseboards, the ceilings were dripping, and you could hear the water rushing down the inside of the walls. It was horrible so I packed up the kids and we had to move into my parents house for a week. Needless to say the pipe was broken down farther than they thought, and the water had not been turned off properly. It took the entire week for them to fix up are apartment. We're currently in negotiations with them for some sort of compensation or new apartment. It's liveable now finally but wow it was bad! I'm worried about mold. Anyway it was a tough, trying week, but we made it through it. I'm thankful to my parents for taking us all in for a week. I just realized even more that I am so tired of apartment living!!!! I'm holding on to the hope that someday we will be able to buy a house. Still the problem is that we dont know where Chris will get into dental school so we are scared to buy. We dont want to move and get stuck with a house we can't sell. So someday when we move to wherever Chris gets into we'll finally hopefully buy a house! I can't wait!

My Man...the love of my life!

So I was tagged so here goes.

What is your husband's name? Christopher Gary Burt

How long have you been married? Six wonderful years this December, but we've been together for seven.

How long did you date? Before we got engaged we dated for 9 months and by the time we were married we'd been together for 15 months. Short by some standards, long by others it depends who you talk to. For us it was perfect! We knew each other pretty well and there weren't many surprises after we got married! We both went in knowing what we were getting into...and we still went through with it...that's true love!

How old is he? Chris just turned 28 in April.

Who eats more sweets? Chris does for sure! No question!!

Who said I love you first? Chris did, it's actually a sore subject for him, I wasn't ready to hear that and it took me off guard so I didn't know how to respond so I just said "Thank You." And it took me a few days to be able to say it back to him.

Who is taller? Chris is taller. I'm 5'2 so everyone is pretty much taller than me.

Who can sing the best? Oh it's gotta be me! He's not bad though.

Who is smarter? Wow that's tough. I'd never say either of us was smarter than the other. I'd say we are equals. I'm smarter at somethings, and he's smarter than me at others, generally my weak points are his strong suits and visa versa so we compliment each other well.

Who does the laundry? Oh for sure that's me...Chris is actually banned from doing any laundry! I don't trust him to wash my clothes or anyone else's for that matter!

Who pays the bills? Without question it's me!!! Chris is not good with money! He lacks the fundamental part of the brain that can responsibly deal with money. When I met him his finances were a mess! He never learned how to budget or be responsible for money. So it's me all the way. To give him credit, he is getting better.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I sleep on the right side of the bed, however it changes every time we move to a new apartment. It's not really a matter of a preference to a side of the bed it actually deals more with which side is closer to the bathroom. I used to have to sleep on the side that was farther away from the door, but for three years I was pregnant and had to get up frequently in the night so it became more about which side was closer to the bathroom and to the kids when they would wake up in the night.

Who mows the lawn? Well we still rent so luckily neither of us do, but when we finally do have a house it will not be me that's all I know...maybe I can get one of my dad's guys to mow my lawn.

Who cooks dinner? During the week I do mostly, but Chris never expects me too if I don't start it he will. I plan out the meals for the week ahead of time so he knows what to make. During the weekends he'll usually cook or else we go out.

Who drives? Chris does I hate driving I get lost everywhere I go and then I end up crying...so it's just easier for him to drive!

Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Oh that is Chris for sure he's good about that, he'll even admit he's wrong when I'm the one in the wrong for the sake of not arguing anymore. We can never stay mad for longer than an hour it's just not worth it to be unhappy...you've got to Make it happy! I've been trying to do better though about owning up to my faults.

Who kissed who first? You know I'm not sure, I think it was a simultaneous thing we both just went in for it. I still remember it, it was great! Shh...it was on our first date! But in all fairness it was after an Aggie football game and they won!

Who asked who out first? I had to make the first move here. I asked Chris out to an Aggie Football game. But I mean I gave him pleanty of opportunities to step up and make a move...the boy moved to slow for me, so I finally pulled the trigger! Luckily he likes a strong woman!

Who wears the pants? I wear the pants for sure! Chris would not even begin to wish he wore the pants. He's a very carefree kind of guy who likes to have a minimal amount of responsibility on his shoulders. He takes care of the necessary essentials for the family and I handle the rest, but he gladly helps me out with whatever I need and he's always there for me!

What happend?

So I hate that now I've become this person who cares about how I look. Not like I never cared, I mean I was always presentable and I pride myself on being cute, but in the way like I never used to be unhappy with my body. I was never the girl who was like oh I look fat, I'm ugly, I'm weird or whatever. But now sadly I am that girl...I mean in my defense things have changed, and pregnancy has left me with the fact that I don't weigh what I did when I got married, I do have a little belly I can't get rid of no matter how hard i try, I've got this little bit of skin under my belly that's just been stretched and now is just there, I've got stretch marks like everywhere places I didn't even know I had stretched in pregnancy, and my boobs, let dont even get started. Having three kids right smack in a row without having time to heal, and even then I'm sure, has definently taken it's toll on my body! I mean Look for real! Granted I know it could be worse and I've seen worse. I know some people are like what is your problem, but for me personally I'm not what I was and it's hard. Any how i'm learning to come to terms with it, and I've added a section called "A few of my favs." it's a list of links and products that I love so take a look and enjoy.