Carpeted kitchens and brain explosions

Today was one of those days where I really badly wished that I had anything but carpet in my kitchen. Anything!

I was shaking my protein shake in a hurry to drop Spencer off at school and pick up Jack's prescription when the lid popped off and that protein shake exploded all over my body and clothes and hair! And all over our orange carpet, and all over the counters and cabinets and into the two open drawers. I laughed for two seconds with Spencer but then somehow that small little protein shake explosion triggered a much larger explosion in my brain. Because I now had to clean up the mess and get in the shower and throw my clothes in the wash. And then I needed to do the dishes and clean our disaster house and speaking of house, I needed to find housing in Alabama and find out when and how we are going to move and OH MY GOSH we are moving in a little over a month!!! And I need to sell stuff and start packing stuff and find new health insurance and what if we can't find jobs in Birmingham?! And what if Spencer's tuition is more expensive than we thought?! And what if we can't actually afford this?! And OH MY GOSH we are moving in a little over a month!!!

Spencer never knows what to do when my brain explosions trigger. Most of the time, he awkwardly and hesitantly pats me on the arm or on the back and says, "Are you okay?" Um, does it look like I'm okay?! And how are YOU okay?! Why aren't YOU stressed out?! This time, he avoided that question for a while and just kindly asked, "Do you need a hug?" To which I quickly responded, "No!! I need you to do the dishes and clean our disaster house and speaking of house, I need you to find housing in Alabama...." And my brain exploded all over again.

I dropped Spencer off and as I drove to Walmart's pharmacy, my scattered brain continued to be scattered. Because here's the thing: I am all for adventures. I just need adventures with a plan. I like knowing the who/what/when/where/how of adventures. But sometimes marriage and motherhood make adventures a little more tricky and a little more out of my control.

I took a deep breath, said a little prayer, then felt that familiar quiet voice:


Since when has your plan and your timing ever worked out? Haven't you learned by now that My plan for you is so much better than your plan for you?


I picked up Spencer from school and once he realized that I had come out of my funk, he told me that even if we were on an all-inclusive relaxing cruise, I would find something to stress out about. I agreed with him.

Tonight, I dropped a bottle of sesame oil that shattered onto the kitchen carpet. I took a deep breath and sopped that oil the best I could out of that darn orange carpet.

And that was the last explosion of the night. 

Since everyone else is talking about it...

Oh, The Hunger Games! Our Hunger Games plans fell through. I was so sad last night when I was feeding Jack and reading everyone's rub-it-in-my-face facebook status about seeing it. We were just about to start our regular Friday night routine since having Jack (bath, bedtime, Shark Tank and popcorn, then bed around 10 or 10:30), when I  issued my last desperate Hunger Games cry for help on facebook: Anybody wanna come watch Jack so we can go to the the Hunger Games tonight?! He'll sleep the whole time!!!...?  And then miraculously, my dear friend responded within a minute!!! So at 6:45, I found myself frantically driving around Logan from theatre to theatre trying to find a showing that was not sold out. Three theatres later, I got our tickets from the old run down theatre at the end of town and the rest is history. We had an amazingly wild and crazy night at the Hunger Games, weren't home until 12:45, and we felt lively and young and spontaneous (at 12:45!!!) and it was just so fun. 


Have you read this Hunger Games/Twilight comparison? Oh, it's funny.

Did ya hear?!

We are moving to freakin' Birmingham, Alabama!! Spencer got accepted to the dual MBA/MHA program at UAB. I never thought in a million years that I would live in the south but I am thrilled beyond words that we have a little more direction in our life.

Today, we found out that we will most likely be moving at the beginning of May, which is earlier than we originally anticipated. We looked at the cost of moving, and did you know that those darn Uhauls are so darn expensive?! So expensive that I am pretty sure that our stuff's value is less than the cost of that darn Uhaul. We may just sell or leave what we can't fit into our car.

My text message conversation with Spencer this afternoon went as follows:

Spencer: What are you stressing about? There is nothing stressful in our life!

Me: I'm stressing about how and when we are going to move and then I remember how we haven't found an apartment yet and then I think about how our savings is draining and how I need to find a job and then I realized I should start packing for Arizona and then it circles around again. There's too much in my head and speaking of head, it hurts from singing high pitched songs to Jack.

Spencer: That hurts my head just following that!

So if ya'lls know how to git from Utah to Alabama for cheap but without hitchhiking, suggestions would be appreciated! 

Can I end this post with an unrelated picture?! K, Thanks.

A "my husband is the best and it's his birthday" post

The first time I met Spencer was when we gave talks together in Sacrament meeting. Cute, right? We sat next to each other and I tried to make conversation before the meeting started. He wasn't very friendly. I asked him all those small talk-y questions like where he was from, what his major was, and where he went on his mission, but he gave me short answers and did not ask me one question in return. Somewhere in my questioning, I found out that he was a thrower on the track team at Utah State and then I got it - he was one of those guys. He was tall, dark, handsome, and a complete jock who thought he is was the center of the universe. We never spoke again for another two months. He later defended himself by saying that he was still weird from his mission and that he was too busy checking out all of the girls in the congregation.  

When I finally got to know Spencer though, I realized that my first impression of him could not have been more off. It turns out that there is way more nerd in him than jock. Way more. Here are a few recent examples:

1. Our weekday evenings typically consist of quality time on the couch together. As I blog stalk, Spencer watches the dumbest shows ever - MythBusters, Man vs. Wild, Gold Rush, you name it - shows that truly cannot hold my attention for more than 30 seconds. But it gets worse... he actually TVOs America's Funniest Home Videos. Unfortunately, I am not even kidding you.

His favorite show of all is Dual Survival. My mom calls the show Dumb and Dumber. That man has watched each episode at least five times over and I just don't get it. Why would you ever want to cut your own arm open and then have someone set it on fire!? And an even more important question, who would want to watch it?! They do other dumb things, too, and it's just so... dumb.

Spencer basically worships Cody Lundin, one of the guys on the show. Once, when he was on Cody's website, he excitedly explained to me that for just $1,970, he could go survive in Northern Arizona's wilderness with Cody for a week! No shelter! No sleeping bags! No food! No water! All for just $1,970!

2. Spencer once told me that he wished he had more clothes like my dad... enough said.

3. For his birthday this year, he wanted a moccasin kit. A moccasin kit! Apparently he had one when he was a little kid in scouts and loved them. Luckily, the only moccasin kit I found online were those same scout moccasin kits and they didn't have his size. Real bummer. So instead, I went a little less nerdy I think? and got him this, which is actually an accessory that my dad sports on most evenings. Who knew it could be for more than just camping?

4. To celebrate his birthday yesterday, we played racquetball and watched our new favorite show, Shark Tank. It must not be a very cool show because it airs on Friday nights and even though it's on it's third season, the first season isn't even out on DVD yet. But I even love it, and just stay in denial that we are losers when Spencer pulls out his calculator as we watch.


So on a scale from nerdy to jock, I would say Spencer is right in the middle, and that's just the way I like it!