Happy Couple

We haven't had a good "couple" picture since David was little (i.e. before Josh was born). My mom was kind enough to take several shots of us so that we could choose the best. These are our top choices. (The slideshow has the others.) Luckily, our gray hairs aren't showing (okay, mine). :-P

Let me just take a second to express my gratitude for Jesse, the best husband I could have ever desired. I noticed his "glow" the first time I met him. He is long-suffering: I am not a patient person; he helps me retain perspective when I lose my cool. He is kind: he still thinks I am beautiful despite the extra thirty pounds rounding out my body. He seeketh not his own: I have to do all his bragging when he wins an award or gets a promotion. He is not easily provoked: when he does get mad, I know it is serious. He rejoiceth not in iniquity: before we started dating, we went to a movie together with our Family Home Evening group; he looked away from suggestive scenes during the previews. He rejoiceth in the truth: I know he loves his Heavenly Father and his Savior every time I see him kneel to pray before bedtime.

I've Been Tagged

So, what do you really want to know about me?

1. My husband calls me a Californian, because I was born in San Diego. However, I only lived there for the first six months of my life and have never lived there since, so I don't consider myself a Californian. (My mom was living with her parents while my dad was at tech school for the US Air Force. My gramps was stationed at the naval base there.)

2. I started at a gifted / talented (GT) preschool while we lived in Nevada, attended GT classes until I moved to Texas (I was disqualified when we moved there for some odd reason). I skipped the end of second grade while we lived in Arizona (before we moved to Texas).

3. I attended the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science at the University of North Texas for my junior and senior year of high school. I was fully enrolled as a college freshman and sophomore those years, took 16 to 19 credits each semester, and lived in McConnell Hall, a dorm just for us minors, on campus. TAMS is considered a high school because we have to take a specific courseload to graduate and so that we can apply for freshman scholarships at the end of our senior year. So, to sum up, I started my freshman year of college at the tender age of 15; I didn't even have a drivers license yet! (Don't act so surprised - you knew I was a nerd!)

4. Despite predictions to the contrary I graduated from BYU before I got married, and I never lived in the "rabbit hutches" (BYU married student housing). THANK GOODNESS!!! Jesse took me to live in Orem (for the last two years we were at BYU) where I was so happy to be "far away" from Provo. (By the way the 23rd is the ten-year anniversary of my graduation from BYU.)

5. I thought I was going to have two black eyes for my wedding. One of my students, a mute sixth grader with autism, proved to be non-compliant and very violent on the first day of school. (Remember I am 5'2" and was only 115 pounds at the time, and although skinny, he was a good two to three inches taller than I.) Among other things, he ended up head-butting my nose twice during that first week, making me fear that I would have black eyes for our labor day wedding that weekend.

6. I have only been medicated during childbirth once, and that was for my last labor with James.

7. I love chocolate - what woman doesn't - but I have been getting snobby about my indulgences. No Hershey's for me; no sir!!! (I will settle for Dove's, though.) I need Lindt's or exotic imported chocolate from Whole Foods (Cinnamon-flavored chocolate is my favorite - okay, addiction - I crave it!) I like to make my own chocolates and have played around with the idea of trying to sell them. Pipe dream, but tantalizing nonetheless.

I tag Monique Shorten, Crystal Mills and Rachel Whetten. Please tell us seven things others might not know about you;).

Me, Myself, and I

So of course I have chosen to post the most flattering picture I have of myself. This was actually taken while I was still pregnant with James. By now, my hair is about three inches longer and I am -- well -- about the same weight, unfortunately. My excuses include: no time to exercise with four children demanding my attention; I can't wake up before the kids because they just wake up with me; evening is either Jesse time or church time or choir time. Maybe someday when all the kids are in school, and I have time to myself. . . .

I love to read, but I have learned to be cautious. I can easily immerse myself in a good book, but I ignore my children and household until I finish it, so I have found it best to read magazines or quick newspaper articles online. The books I have been reading lately are nonfiction subjects such as economics and politics. I can easily put them down and ignore them for a couple of weeks until I can pick them up again. Of course, I did treat myself to the seventh Harry Potter when it came out in July.

I started singing in an amateur choir this fall. Since I have only ever sung in church choirs, I was pretty surprised at the intensity of our first rehearsal. One requirement for membership in the choir is to learn the music on your own time. My week after getting the music was quite busy, so I looked only at the two pieces the director specifically requested we have ready for the next week. Naturally, I stumbled along when he had us sing two or three more pieces that evening. I have since mended my ways and reviewed the music daily, even if it has only been to work out trouble spots on one or two pieces. I will be more prepared next Thursday!

Th-th-th-that's all folks. It's dinner time. And the kids are getting a little crazy from being ignored for half an hour. (Daddy was on the phone while I was writing.)