Another treasure!

Look what else I found in my treasure box! Troy and Lexi were the first of my friends to be married. I remember sitting in the relief society room in the Baton Rouge Stake Center, bawling my eyes out. The only other person crying as much or more was Troy's mama. I leaned over to whatever poor soul sitting next to my snotty mess of a self and cried "they're married for eternity!" The idea of being married for eternity was overwhelming (in a good way). I wanted to be like them. I wanted to have that kind of security. Eventually, I would. Funny thing, I didn't cry as much at my own wedding as I did at their ceremony!
Now, almost 6 years later, I still want to be like them. Troy and Lexi are the ideal couple. They've kept the ooglie-googlie-lovey-dovey in their relationship, have a sense of humor regarding life, and are truly one another's best friend. I see how they do thoughtful little things for one another and keep the fun in their marriage and I'm inspired.

Treasures

My brother Kevin had put a few boxes of my things aside. They'd been carried from one house to another to another and to another. Mama suggested that I go through them while I'm here. I found old childrens books that i'm sure Sadie will love, pictures, dolls (a few of which Sadie swiped as I was rummaging through), and a couple of old jewelry boxes that belonged to my mother that she had passed down to me when I was a young girl. Do you remember when trolls were "in"? Think back 15 years ago and you might remember. See the picture above? Look closely and you'll see a hook sprouting out of the troll's head. Yes, you guessed it. This is an earring. And yes, I wore them without any sort of reservation or embarrassment at one point in my life. Next to it, you'll see a ring with a tiny doll inside. This was actually one of my mom's costume jewelry from when she was a girl. I found them both inside one of the jewelry boxes. I remember loving the ring because at first glance, it seemed like an ordinary ring. But upon further inspection, you'd discover the doll. I wore it and felt like I had a secret no one else knew.
Tucked at the very bottom of the jewelry box I found a folded envelope. Inside, I discovered my birth announcement. I had never seen it and it was neat to see. My mom said they took me out of the incubator just long enough to take the picture.

It was fun to rummage through old memories. Everything I pulled out of the boxes had a story attached and if I thought hard enough, I could transport myself back to those moments.

At the start of our trip, I asked Jared to share with me a favorite memory of his best friend.
"Why?" He asked.
"Because we've got 9 hours in the car and I figured I'd talk to you."
"I don't think I want to."
"Why?" I asked.
"Because I'll remember the memories when I need to."
"But what are good memories for if you don't remember them? And if you don't revisit them often, you'll forget. Every moment we live has potential to be a memory and if we don't make it a point to remember the memories we have, new memories will crowd the old ones out."

That's why I like to tell stories about the past. Its why I can't quite let go. Its why I hang on to birthday cards and notes friends passed me in middle school. I love visiting the past. Its how I see how far I've come.

Finally!

A choir of bells are ringing out in heaven: Jared and I went on a date.

My parents watched Sadie and Jack while we went to see the new James Bond. It was the only thing that wasn't rated R and remotely interesting. I wasn't thrilled about it, and challenged the movie to win me over, which it did in the first 3 seconds. Its one of those movies with so much action that it doesn't matter if you can't completely follow the plot because you're so mesmerized by the hard-hitting action sequences.

Afterward, we went to Starbucks for apple cider and warm milk before picking up the babies. Sadie had a good time hanging with Papa J and Jammie. My poor dad works the night shift and usually sleeps till he goes, but with Sadie crawling on his head and chattering away, he didn't get his nap. He didn't seem to mind at all, but that's just Daddy. He'd do anything for the babies.

It was nice to feel like a person and not a job for 3 hours. Not that I don't like my job, (in fact I missed my babies and was delighted to see them smile at me when I returned) its just that its 24/7 and hard to remember that i'm more than milk, diapers, and "Elmo's World," when you don't get a break.

we made it

I made the 12 hour drive across the gulf south with two babies who hate riding in the car without needing a straight jacket in the end. Yay for me!

The key to survival was breaking the trip into digestible bits.

I picked Jared up from work on Wednesday and we drove to his parents' house in Houston for the night so on Thursday, we only had 9 hours left. Houston to Baton Rouge was so familiarly easy since we've made that drive a thousand times and since its broken down (houston to beaumont, beaumont to lake charles, lake charles to lafayette, lafayette to baton rouge). We were able to stop for a little while in Baton Rouge and visit our very dear friends Jamie and Holly and their beautiful babies. I wanted to see ALL of my dear friends, but we had such a limited amount of time. The idea of picking a neutral meeting place and having everyone conviene there crossed my mind, but then I realized everyone was working or in school. We're going to try to catch more friends on the way back since it'll be the weekend.

I can't tell you how fantastic it was to see Holly and Jamie. It felt like the last 7 months closed in and we were right back to not having ever moved away. The babies had grown and changed so much and I was smitten with all of their cuteness. I was so sad to have to leave them...especially without being able to say when i'd see them again.

The drive from Baton Rouge to Florida was even easier. I've made that drive since I was born (well, New Orleans to Florida anyway) and its such a quick drive.

It was so great to see my family. I'm not used to not visiting and I crave them when I don't get to see them once every other month. I'm looking forward to soaking in the moments for the next week!

I never liked cutting hair. I never know which ones to cut.

"Oh no! Oh my gosh....oh, I. AM. SOOOO. SORRY."

Not what you want to hear when someone is cutting your hair.
Those words came out of my mouth and floated the short distance to my poor husband's ears.

"What?! What did you do? What did you do?!" He asked, grasping the sides of his head.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I. AM. SOOOOO. SORRY."

"Oh my gosh! How...wha? What number did you use?" (if you don't know, the lower the clipper number, the shorter the hair.)

"I really thought it was a 4." I cried.

I showed him the "1"

There was a huge gash of hair missing from the side of his head. You could see scalp. My eyes welled up with tears.

"Okay. Lets just think about this." he said in some sort of denial that lead him to believe there was actually something to think about. Like we could consider regrowing his hair or picking up a handful from the floor and taping it back on.

Jack started to cry so I left Jared alone to "think." He sat in the bathroom for a while and I went in to check on him.

"Are you okay? I mean, Jack's getting fussy so we need to finish up."

"There's no need to rush. I just need to think. I mean, do I shave it all off or just wait it out and let my hair grow back?"

"Put a big bandage over it and tell people you have a head injury. Can you wear a hat to work?" I asked.

I left him to 'think' some more and after about 45 minutes we attempted to "fix" things by making the fade shorter. Despite our best efforts, his head looked like a mushroom.
So we had no choice but to shave it.

See, you have to understand the fear in this. Jared has been worried that if we were to shave his head, it might not grow back. I'd like to reassure him that it will, but what do I know? I'm no hair-ologist.

Can you see the part that I originally shaved above his ear? Its not so bad with the rest of it buzzed. Its different, but I still think he looks adorable.

"You have a nice shaped head, Jared."

"Thank goodness." We said together.

"Are you mad at me?"

"I'm not mad at you, sweetie. I just need some time to adjust."

Jared smiled and exhaled. He kissed me lovingly and I felt grateful to be married to such a kind and patient man.

halloween

Halloween night. Our first, real trick-or-treating experience. Last year, we went out with Holly and Jamie, but the girls didn't really know what was going on. This year, Sadie could actually say "trick or treat!"
Here we are with our buds Angela and Brayden. Sadie was a Ladybug (2nd year in a row. hey, it still fit and I felt horribly ill most of last week.) and Brayden was a bumble bee so we had little insects buzzing around us for the night. Jack was a "Jack-o-lantern." He was calm and mellow for his first Halloween. I was impressed! We went over to a neighborhood where several of our friends live and did a little trick-or-treating. Sadie loves candy, but was perplexed with the whole "begging" part. She was really cautious and looked sort of lost. Brayden wanted to eat everything he got RIGHT after he got it. None of this putting it in the bag and saving it for later stuff. And if there were any toys left around the yard or in an open garage, he'd go for it and start playing. It was so funny! Jack slept for a good ways of it. He was a really cute pumpkin!