It's the best month of the year!!

Ok, so I'm probably a little biased, since my birthday falls in this month.  Still I've always loved this month.  St. Patrick's day is fun (Leahy is Irish by the way, so I can take more pride in the holiday)  but most exciting about March is the first day of spring (and Spring Break if you're in school).  I just love, love, love seeing the first signs of life after a long winter.  The Little green sprouts coming out of a snow covered ground; the crocuses sending up the first colorful flowers of spring; the buds beginning to form on the trees, proving that those dead looking sticks survived the chill of winter and are really teaming with life underneath.  All of these things invariably happened in March.  (at least they did in Colorado where I grew up.)  March is when I start itching to plant a garden and start participating in the miracle of life.   It's very exciting!

And my birthday is in March.  And my next child's birthday will be in March too.  Yep, I'm still pregnant.  Not too surprising since the due date is on my birthday.  But Banana Girl came 2 weeks early, so it was possible that this next angel could have been a February baby.  But not so.  She's still in there; and I'm absolutely HUGE to show for it.  I got some stork pictures taken last week.  They should be ready in about a week to post, so stay tuned. 

However, now it's March, my pictures are taken, my midwife is back from her vacation today, my mother in law arrives tomorrow, I'm no longer sick with a cold, and everything is ready for this new baby to enter our world.  Ok, Little One!  You can come anytime you want now!  Really...  anytime!  Sooner would be awesome!  No pressure.  I think I'll take some long walks tomorrow... maybe do a few jumping jacks... no reason.

Random Memory Recorded

Well, this past week, I have no new photos to post, and I can't really think of anything special we did.  We did make a temple trip to Mesa, AZ on Friday and Saturday, which was great; especially since I didn't go into labor while I was out of town.  Otherwise it was a pretty run of the mill week.  So this week, I decided to pull out my list of "50 random topics to blog about" and get some thoughts/past memories down.

This week's topic is "The Story of My Most Serious Injury."  I actually even found an old photo to go with this one, that I scanned into the computer. 

The date was February 9th, 1998 (how appropriate to blog a past February event this month.)  I was in my third year of BYU, and in the first (and hardest) year of my Accounting major.  I was living in the Monticello Apartments with some really awesome roommates and a lot of close friends nearby.  The BYU singles ward I was attending had an activity to go ice skating at a local rink. 

 

Now, I can ice skate just enough to say, "Look, I'm skating" and that's about it.  I can follow the crowd around the circle at a fairly decent pace, but I can't skate backwards or spin, or do really anything other than that.  However, that didn't stop me from trying that day.  I thought it would be fun to learn how to spin in a circle.  Starting to spin was no problem, it was controlling it and stopping that was a challenge.  I probably would have escaped the episode with nothing more than some bruises on my back side, except for one fact: the rink was an outdoor, public rink with very little maintenance done to the ice.  So there were lots of cracks, bumps, and chinks throughout the rink.

 

Well, in my novice efforts to spin, I got some good momentum built up just as the blade of my skate hit one of these chinks in the ice.  My foot came to a dead standstill, but the rest of my body kept spinning.  If you've ever taken a piece of celery and tried wringing it out, you can imagine what happened to my bone.  I remember hearing a popping sound just before I hit the ice.  And then the pain started searing through my lower leg, anytime I tried to move.  I knew I had really messed something up in there.  The worst pain I remember is while they were carrying me off the ice; for not only was my leg broken, but I had a heavy skate attached to my foot, torquing the bone, and the people carrying me off, were also wearing skates, which does not make for a very smooth ride.  Once we took my skate off, the pain didn't seem to be all that bad; as long as I didn't bump anything. 

 

We went to the hospital, got xrays, and then they cut my favorite jeans off (what a tragedy) so they could put on a full leg cast, from my toes to half way up my thigh.  I had a nice (and rare) spiral fracture all up my larger calf bone and a straight fracture across the smaller one.  I ended up in that cast and on crutches for 2 months and then in a walking boot for another 2 months.  Because of the angle of the cast and how it needed to be elevated almost all of the time, I pretty much lived, ate, studied, and slept on the couch in the picture above for those first 2 months.  Once again, the worst part about a broken leg for me, was not the pain, although it did really hurt if I happened to bump into anything, but it was more those times in the middle of the night when I wouldn't be able to sleep because of my leg itching under the cast where I couldn't do anything about it.  Those were awful. 

 

What did I learn from this experience?  Lots of things: 

 

A little recklessness can cause a lot of pain and trouble later. 

 

Life doesn't stop just because misfortune falls.  I was still in the hardest classes of my college career and they weren't going to wait for me to get better.  I still needed to study my heart out, go to work, and fulfill my callings in the church.  And I'm glad, because staying busy made the time go by much faster and took my mind off of my leg.  It was those times when I wasn't doing anything in the night, when my leg bothered me the most. 

 

The church is really effective at how people come out of the woodwork to help you when trouble falls.  So often, someone would come and volunteer to help me in ways that I didn't even realize would be needed.  And it's OK to accept help from others.  Not only does it help you, but it blesses them to have an opportunity to serve. 

 

The human body is AMAZING in its ability to heal itself.  Truly, what a complex, genius, amazing gift our bodies are from our Heavenly Father. 

 

After a huge setback like this, there is a lot of joy to be found in the small little successes that will follow.  Like only using one crutch, taking a step, or a little hop, or bathing my leg for the first time after the cast came off.  Often tragedy helps us realize how blessed we are in the first place.   

 

Those are the lessons I remember anyway, 13 years after the fact. 

At the Fair

A small fair came to town this week, and since we still had Christmas money from Great Grandma under strict injunction to only use for family fun, we decided to take the girls to the way overpriced, money burning, fair.

There was only one little train ride that Banana Girl was big enough to go on.  So I rode with the girls to the chorus of "Chugga, chugga, choo, choo"  the whole way.  She really liked it.

The Alex took Princess M on the Farris wheel, which she has been dying to ride ever since she saw "Charlotte's Web" and the heroine rode a Farris wheel at a fair.  By the way, that's the same reason she insisted on wearing a dress to the fair as well.  So with her ride on the Farris wheel in a dress, her fair experience was complete. 

Banana Girl got to ride down the giant slide with her daddy too, but the picture didn't turn out for that one. 
Overall, we had a fun time and stayed within budget.  (whohoo!!)

On Saturday we had a getting to know you BBQ with three families that I met recently and we wanted to get to know better.  We're all kinda in the same phase of life as each other and all have kids the same ages (who got along very well together, it seemed.)  It was a great success, and we hope to see lots more of those wonderful families. 

We've also been beginning to look at homes to buy, here in the Sierra Vista area.  We've got our eye on one right now, but need to get some ducks in a row before we can move forward on it.  We'll keep you updated.  Overall, It's been a fun and busy week. 

Valentine's Day

We had a very busy Valentine's Day this year.  Alex was out of town last weekend, but was going to be back in time for dinner, so in keeping with my usual Valentine's tradition, I planned a huge gourmet meal for the evening.  And as usual, most of the recipes were new ones that I had never tried before.  Although, this year, I let Princess M browse the recipes with me and help pick out the dishes for the meal. 

I actually began making things the night before, like the pound cake for the fondue and several of the sauces for the meal that could just be reheated for the actual meal.  I also prepped the dough for our heart scones that I planned for breakfast for me and the girls.  The scones turned out great, by the way, we'll be keeping that recipe for sure. 

After breakfast, and a little clean up around the house, we headed off to the grocery store to pick a few items we needed.  I'm really glad we did, because they just happened to have a clown at the store that morning, painting faces and making balloon animals for the kids; as well as chocolate covered strawberries for samples.  It was a real treat for the girls.  Here's a shot of their cheeks  before they got too smeared up.  

Then we spent the rest of the afternoon in the kitchen.  Princess M was a big help to me this year.  She washed fruit for me, and pretty much made the chocolate dipped, stuffed cherries all on her own, with just a little help.  She had a lot of fun doing it too.  Banana Girl helped me make the mixed berry lemonade (from real lemons and berries).  We made a black raspberry swirl cheesecake (that we actually didn't get around to eating until today.)  We also had cold raspberry soup; sirloin steak with a tangy, chocolate sauce; fontina scalloped potatoes; and a simple mandarin orange, almond salad.  I absolutely loved the way the steaks and potatoes turned out.  Those are definite keeper recipes too.  It ended up being a very nice dinner that even the girls enjoyed. 

We had a chocolate fondue on the menu for dessert, but by the time Alex finally got home from the airport, we had eaten this huge dinner, and cleaned up, it was really late and we were all stuffed.  So the fondue will have to wait until tomorrow. 

Throughout the day, Princess M had a lot of fun making homemade Valentines to put in our new love mailboxes that I made Alex build for me before he left, and that we painted together on Saturday.  She checks them every morning and throughout the day to see if her flag is up, signalling a special delivery in the box.  It's been a fun new tradition, that I'm contemplating keeping available throughout the year. 

So anyway, we had a lovely Valentine's Day, a very yummy dinner, and we so excited to get our daddy and husband back from his work trip.  I think though, that next time I'm 8 months pregnant on Valentine's, I need to back off on the menu.  My back was killing me by dinner time and my feet are still sore even today.  It was tasty though.  (I'll be posting the recipes on my recipe blog later today.)  Hope you all had a great day as well!

Gratitude

Of course they never turn the gas back on when they originally plan, do they?  We ended up having 3 days and 2 nights, without gas in our home, with temperatures as low as 50 degrees.  Now 50 degrees outside doesn't sound like anything; but 50 degrees indoors all day and night is downright cold.  The outside temperatures actually dipped down into the teens here (killing many of the local cacti around town.)  Yesterday, we finally got our gas turned back on, and to celebrate we heated up the house, baked dinner in the oven, and I made a batch of orange marmalade on the stove; complete with canning and everything.  It was lovely. 

Today in fast and testimony meeting, there was a theme of love for the gospel and how it brings people together in service and watching over each other.   The city proper didn't loose their gas, but about half of our ward lives outside of the boundaries of where they stopped servicing.  Some people even lost their water service too.  So there were a lot of calls and offers for help this past week all over the ward.  Made for a loving and grateful meeting today. 

One thing that really stuck out to me through this ordeal was the power of gratitude.  We started a nightly tradition in our home around Thanksgiving time last year.  Right before dinner or night time prayers, we all mention something for which we are grateful for that particular day and then we thank Heavenly Father for each of those things in our prayer.  Well, it's February now and we are still doing this (nearly) every night.  It's wonderful!  and I was really impressed by some of the things that were mentioned during those days when we were the ones in need, and probably justified in thinking about the things we had lost or wished for.  Over the last couple days, my family was grateful for warm blankets; for the space heater we just happened to buy our last winter in Colorado springs (because you can't buy one now in Sierra Vista.  Hardware stores are all sold out,) for neighbors who look out for each other; for Daddy getting to stay home and play with the kids all day; for hot cocoa; and for the opportunity to give our gas to those up north in blizzards who would be much worse off than we were if they were the ones that had to do without. 

There's something about gratitude that makes trials easier.  We didn't even really feel like it was we had it all that hard.  Gratitude brings perspective, that it could be sooooo much worse.  We could have lost our electricity too, or water.  At least we even had a home to be cold in, rather than being homeless in the streets.  And with gratitude we were able to realize all the wonderful things we still had, and still enjoyed.  All in all, we passed the time quite pleasantly, while having a small adventure together.

I'm grateful for gratitude. 

and for the nice hot bath I was able to relax in after the gas was turned back on.

Even Here In Arizona

I was talking to my sister on the phone today and hearing about how they have been snowed in for the past couple days with this massive blizzard that seems to be stretching from sea to shining sea this week; and I couldn't help but chuckle a little thinking, "The rest of the nation shuts down with snow, but here in Arizona, I just put on a sweater to go outside.  There are definitely some perks to living here." 

Well, it seems the joke is on me.  The excessive demand for heat in the northern states due to this blizzard has overtaxed the natural gas supplier in Texas, who has decided that our gas company here in Arizona is lowest priority on the list, and is not delivering as contracted.  The result: I may need just a coat to go outside tonight, but I also need a coat to sit at my computer and type this.  We have no gas, which means, no heat, no hot water, and no cooking.  And thanks to clean air laws about building here in Sierra Vista, only the oldest homes have real wood burning fireplaces.  (not ours.)

It makes you realize how dependant we are on society to survive.  I've always wanted a wood burning fireplace in my eventual dream home, because if the power goes out, so goes the gas fireplace.  But after today, I've modified that to an old fashioned wood burning stove, so if the gas or electricity goes out (or both for that matter) you can still heat the home AND still cook a hot meal or heat water.  Survive. 

So all you lucky people, huddling in your snow packed homes and waiting out the storm; count your blessings:  You still have a warm home. 

Things I'm grateful for today:  1.We have one electric space heater, so we can warm up one bedroom tonight for us all to sleep in.  2. We have an electric Cocoamotion that will heat up 4 mugs worth of water to the perfect cocoa/cider temperature.  and 3. I didn't pack away ALL of our cold weather clothes, when we moved out here. 

Don't worry about us.  We'll be ok tonight.  The radio predicts gas to be restored sometime tomorrow.  Let's hope they're right. 

Temple Visit

Can you believe January is almost over?  Only one day left until February.  Princess M has been begging to put up Valentine's Day decorations, and I've been putting her off by saying not until February.  I don't think I'll be able to get to the 2nd without covering the whole house in hearts. 

Then end of January, means the end of my turn at teaching preschool every Tues & Thurs.  Yea!!  I taught my last class last Thursday and am looking forward to just dropping M off at someone else's home for the next couple months.  It wasn't hard really, and the kids were a lot of fun; but it was just a constant "To Do" on my mind all Jan & Dec; that I am glad to have gone now. 

Especially glad it's over because February is the last month before I'm due to bring this new princess into the world.  And I'm starting to feel it too.  It's time to cut down on the "To Do's" and concentrate on getting ready for this little girl to take center stage.  I had a little hiccup last week at my mid-wife appointment, that didn't really scare me per say, but that made me think I was going to have some additional challenges to overcome with this one.  Due to a malfunctioning blood glucose reader, we began to think that I had developed gestational diabetes.  After a day of buying supplies and groceries, and looking up diabetic diets to get this thing under control, so I wouldn't have to be transferred to an OBGYN, my midwife discovered the error in the tester.  And after a couple days of self testing my glucose levels before and after meals with my new (free after rebate) blood/glucose tester, I can now sit here in front of my computer, eating ice cream and drinking my fruit and sugar tea confident that my body is still processing sugar just fine.  I could have stuck to that diet for a month and a half if I had to; but as it is, I'm very grateful I don't have to; because I really do love my carbs.  (and my sugars too for that matter.)

Speaking of carbs, we just had one of the most amazing desserts yesterday at P.F. Chang's.  It seems that every restaurant has their version of a double or triple layer chocolate cake that just looks heavenly.  However, I'm always hesitant to get it because it's such a gamble whether it will be really moist, rich, and wonderful like it looks, or dry and disappointing.  More often than not, they seem to be the latter, so I usually resist the temptation.  Well we gave in at P.F. Chang's yesterday, and not only was the cake moist and wonderful, but it was also laying in a bed of deliciously tart raspberry sauce and garnished with wonderful fresh berries.  Really, it was amazing.  It's a good thing we don't have that restaurant here in Sierra Vista, or I would be there all the time just for dessert.  If you live near one, you've got to give this dessert a try.  Mmmmm.  Suddenly, my fruit tea seems a little bland. 

We were there yesterday actually, because we were in Phoenix for Friday and Saturday, visiting my Aunt and Uncle and attending the Temple.  The Mesa Temple really is gorgeous I must say.  It's so majestic and stately, especially being one of the older, large temples.  We couldn't help but chuckle a little at the inscription in the stone above the front doors that said "The Arizona Temple."  At the time they built this temple, there's no way they could have foreseen that there would, before too long, be many temples in Arizona.  Especially at with the new smaller temples and the ability we have now as a church to bring them to the people at a much quicker pace.  No, this was one of the first, grand, very large, and majestic temples; and they probably thought it would be "The Arizona Temple" for a long, long time.  It really amazing to see the intricate and ornate details that went into these earlier temples.  I don't really know the history of the Mesa Temple, but it must have taken some time to build.  It's gorgeous.  And as with any temple, it's always so rejuvenating to "come home" to the temple and escape the world for a few hours.  What a marvelous blessing we've been given!

It was also really nice to spend a little time with my Uncle Wayne and Aunt Sue too.  They're so gracious in opening up their home to us; and my girls love them already and are looking forward to visiting again.  And I must say I'm so envious of her growing season too.  Not only does she get a wonderful climate in Phoenix for growing her own oranges, lemons, pomegranates, and almonds, during the summer, but she gets a nice long winter garden season too for broccoli, and spinach, carrots, etc.  She never has to stop growing things for the winter.  I've always admired how self-sufficient, and healthy they have become with their use of the space and time given to them. 

Well, my ice cream is gone, and my tea has gone cold.  This post must be more than long enough for one day.  Goodbye January...let's make room for a month of hearts and valentines.  (I think it's going to be a lot of fun this year!)