They aren't that bad.

I went to the glasses place today so I could get some glasses. I occasionally wear glasses. Just when I want to see things. I got into the room where the actual doctor was, and I had my eyes checked out. It seems my eyes aren't that bad. I thought they were going to tell me I was legally blind. I am not. I don't know exactly what my prescription is, but it's just "normal" nearsightedness or whatever it is called when you can see things that are close just fine. Weird. Thank goodness, though. They'll be in the store in 7-10 days. I'm excited to see again. I didn't think I had a problem until I noticed Miaya constantly squinting. She would do it when she saw I was doing it. How sad. And funny.

I am buying the March 2009 Vogue

I love Stephenie Meyer. I think she's great. This article is an excellent one. It's on her.

I am feeling better, and much less sorry for myself today. The sun is shining, I went outside and took a walk with Miaya. I vacuumed yesterday, that made me feel better. :) I am going to clean my house even more today. Excellent.

A few goals.

I have a few goals I want to accomplish this year, and I am already on my way to completing one. There is this website, 43things and I find it to be intriguing. The website is like a place where one can share their life lists. I really like lists. I also like the idea of constantly working on some thing or another. One of my items on my list is to visit 5 new cities this year. My first one this year was Kanab. I love this city and wouldn't mind living there some day. :) So fun.

It's going to snow this week. We are having a young women overnighter in the mountains this Friday, so it will be an interesting thing. It has been feeling like spring at my house for the last week. It snows into May here in Utah, though, so you learn to expect snow for a while, even if it reaches 70 degrees in February. It's only been around 50, and below the last couple of days, but that's really lovely.

I am sick today. I thought I was going to vomit at church. It was quite unpleasant. But I had to go because all the other members of our presidency are indisposed. Thank goodness we have a secretary again. She is my saving grace right now. :) I'm tired, and frustrated. But that's okay. This too shall pass, right?

I'm realizing I am not in a very good place this week. I'm having a lot of self pity. :P Sorry.

Cupid

This was cute. It made me want to buy a Mitsubishi. I am such a sucker.

A Fashion Show

First off, I forgot to post this ever. It is my birthday cake, and that blazing innferno is 26 candles. Heck yes it is. Miriam made me birthday brownies, and I love love loved them. So awesome. On to the coolness: Miaya asked me, that's right, she actually wanted me, to help her put this dress on. I love it. She looks like a flower girl. I love her so much. :)

This is her posing-for-the-photo smile. hahaha. It makes me smile.

I did this

What is all this, you may ask? Well, it is a set of drawers from Ikea. They were selling them for 39.99 on Monday. I thought they would sell out before we had a chance to go there. But at about 8:15 pm on Monday night, we went and picked a couple up. They still had some of each color, except white. We wanted white. So, we went with this black brown color. I like it. It's for Miaya's room.

This is the finished product. I felt very accomlished after having built this. I did it almost completely on my own. Having a office furniture installer as a husband didn't hurt either. :) He was very cool about it. He didn't hover, he didn't tell me I was doing anything wrong, he just let me figure it all out. And he helped me when I asked for it. It was great. :D If you want to feel good about building something, build an Ikea something. The instructions were all pictures, and pretty simple to understand. They even picture what tools to use. I had fun.

Kanab, Utah

We spent the weekend in Kanab, Utah. It was so beautiful. We wanted to leave first thing Saturday morning, but we decided we wanted to get a portable DVD player for the trip. We finally found one at Costco, so we didn't get to leave until like 1pm.

We just looked at our road atlas, and picked a route. :) It was snowing pretty hard here when we left, so we were a little concerned it would be awful the whole way, but thankfully after Nephi, there was nothing. Miaya fell asleep pretty quickly.

We drove through Zions and it was right at sunset. It was soooo amazing. Breathtaking. We didn't take any pictures, because at that point we were just trying to get to Kanab. There were all these huge redrock cliffs everywhere. They looked purple in the fading light. And there was this long tunnel we drove in through the mountain cliff thing. I have never heard of it before. It was really dark and long, and you weren't allowed to stop in it. So cool. There was snow everywhere too. A beautiful contrast.

I think this was around Cedar City. Before we got to Zion National Park.

This is up Johnson Canyon, which is inside Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

Dustin and Miaya by Old Paria. I guess there was an actual town here that had been flooded out several times, and eventually everyone left. Frank Sinatra had a movie set built here for a movie he filmed, and a couple of years ago some arsonist burned it down, so there are no buildings there anymore.

Again by Old Paria
We drove down this road, and it was really muddy.

Moqui Cave. This was an interesting cave. It's one of those roadside oddities. Very cool to see once. I doubt we'll ever come here again, unless we're taking someone there to see it.

Hoping

Last week, as I mentioned last week, Dustin found out he had the opportunity to take a few days off. We started his vacation on Wednesday. On Wednesday, we researched many things, mainly to do with tires. My car was in desperate need of a few things, tires included. The jeep was in need of a full size spare. We have 35 inch tires that are BFG Mud Terrains. They recently discontinued the tire we have, and came out with a new version Dustin doesn't like as much. Dustin was checking out KSL dot com and a guy put up just two of these tires for 200 dollars. That is quite a good price considering one tire is usually around 190 dollars. We just needed a spare, so this was a good thing. We also checked into my car getting various things: a full set of tires, an alignment, and anything else we have neglected lately. It's sad, because this is how Dustin's vacations usually go. He is so busy while he is working, that he spends a lot of time playing catch up with home stuff whenever he has time off. :P

Thursday, we ran around and took care of all the researched stuff from Wednesday. We started the day going to a junk yard to get a full size rim for my car, so we have a full size spare. From there we went to Ogies cafe for breakfast. I love that place. Yummy. After Ogies we went straight to Costco to get my tires checked out. We thought I only needed two new tires, but I needed four. Sucks. They were all wearing badly because I didn't get an alignment after Dustin replaced my struts a while back. Oh whale. Live and learn. We were at Costco forever, because we had to wait for my car to be done, so we looked around. We found a memory foam pillow top thingy for our bed for $158 and if you had a coupon it was 35 dollars off. We didn't have a coupon, but Dustin's Mom did, so she brought it to us. We dilly dalllied around the store waiting for them, and then she said that she could watch Miaya. (While we were walking around, Dustin got a hold of the jeep tire guy, so Dustin needed to go and get them in Roy. :P) So we went home to get Miaya's stuff together for an afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa. They spoil her. She was in desperate need of a nap, so they said she could nap over there. It seemed to work out well: Dustin and I would go and get the jeep tire, Miaya would stay at Ray and Rhea's for the afternoon. The jeep tire business was quick, after the 45 minute drive, and no nonsense. Thank goodness. We get back and Rhea (my mother in law) tells us that Miaya just barely fell asleep. It was like 3 pm! oh deer. Oh, and my car also needed an alignment and when they were trying to align it, they found out I had a bad tie rod. So frustrating. They were quick though.

All told, we spend a whole lot of money, we spent a whole lot of time, we spent a whole lot of energy. It was good to get it all done. I am hoping that after all this, the rest of the weekend goes well, and that we might even throw in a roadtrip to New Mexico for good measure. It's almost 2 in the afternoon, so we probably won't leave today. We'll have to see.

Can't Fight This Feeling

The world has gone Valentines Day crazy. And by the world I mean I have. bahahahaha! Okay, that was probably only funny to me. I got a good laugh out of it. But really, today I have been listening to a Valentines Day playlist from playlist dot com. It was just there on the home page thingy, so I clicked on it. At first it was all lovey dovey like Love Me Tender by Elvis, and At Last by Etta James. It then moved into songs like All Out of Love by Airsupply and Hey There Delilah by the Plain White T's. Now the list is right in the middle, and it's playing Tired of You by the Foo Fighters! hahahaha. It becomes more lovey dovey again towards the end. But I like this playlist. It makes me think of the different loves people have out there. Good, bad, angry, sweet, physical, messy, complicated.

I'm not one to celebrate Valentines Day, usually. I can't think of any specific Valentine's Day at all, except the one that I worked at Flower Patch. That wasn't very fun. Lot's of people (mostly men) coming in and buying flowers. Their attitudes where anywhere from rushed to completely pissed to easy-going to excited. It was quite an experience. I'm just going to take the opportunity of Valentine's Day to let everyone whom is special to me, that they are.

This weekend, though, we may be going for a little road trip. I'm excited. Dustin has the rest of the week off after today, so we are going to do SOMETHING. :) And he has Monday off too! That was a nice surprise. (President's Day) We started with the idea of just going to Fish Springs for the day on Saturday, and then I thought about Moab, and then Dustin suggested Blanding and Monticello. And then we started getting crazy and throwing New Mexico around! hahahahahaha. We will have to see. So we might just go somewhere for the day, or we might spend a couple of days somewhere. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that quite a few hotels allow dogs, at no extra charge. Pretty cool. :)

It's 1:10 pm and Miaya has already had a nap! I'm pretty excited. I hope this is the start of another beautiful rountine. (:

The Bridge Builder

The Bridge Builder

An old man, going a lone highway,
Came at the evening, cold and gray,
To a chasm, vast and deep and wide,
Through which was flowing a sullen tide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim;
The sullen stream had no fears for him;
But he turned when safe on the other side
And built a bridge to span the tide.

“Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim near,
“You are wasting strength with building here;
Your journey will end with the ending day;
You never again must pass this way;
You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide—
Why build you the bridge at the eventide?”

The builder lifted his old gray head:
“Good friend, in the path I have come,” he said,
“There followeth after me today
A youth whose feet must pass this way.
This chasm that has been naught to me
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be.
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend, I am building the bridge for him.”

Will Allen Dromgoole

This first came to my attention when President Thomas S. Monson quoted it in the January 2008 Ensign. Then yesterday, Dustin's grandpa, Ward, spoke in sacrament meeting. He too quoted it, and I love this poem. It's great. We are all bridge builders.

What a day.

Today was quite a day. It seems our daughters terrible twos are in full swing. She's a sweet kid, really. Church was quite trying for Miaya today. We all got to church at around 1 pm. As we are looking for a place to sit, Miaya says she doesn't like it. I completely understand: 1 pm is her nap time. She is very difficult when she wants to sleep, but can't. We went to sit somewhere and Miaya stayed right where she was in the back of the chapel. I said to her: "Miaya, come on. We're sitting over here." She says: "I don't like it." And then a lady in our ward smiles and says to us "Looks like you have a 2 year old." It was in a nice way, not in a what-a-bratty-kid way. Then when the foot traffic emptied between Miaya and us, she runs to me and starts crying. I knew why. She felt we had abandoned her. Even though she was the one who refused to come along. Poor kid. Then came sacrament meeting. She fought with me the whole time. First, Dustin was asked to bless the sacrament, so he left to go and sit up at the sacrament table. Miaya was devastated. So dramatic. Then, at various times throughout the meeting she was screaming, crying, laughing, and she was even quiet for a bit.

After sacrament meeting, our stake president came up to us and said "Is she always such a handful?" and Dustin said yes. Then President Gillette said "She's a cutie, that one." Oh deer. We think she might be teething. She has been various levels of angry all day. We just put her to bed, and she is all snuggled up in bed.

Before she went to bed, Dustin asked her what sort of story she wanted him to tell her. She said one about a boy! What a hey?!?!? hahahahahahahahahahaha. It made me chuckle. Dustin then told her that she wouldn't have any stories about any boys until she was 30. And even then they would all have to be cleared through him. The end. hahahahahahaha. He may have a difficult time when she starts dating.

I enjoy

I thoroughly enjoy these videos. Enjoy.

Marry Me

Her Morning Elegance

Something I'm proud of

Melisa and I were talking the other day, just as we always do when we get together, and she noticed something in our daughters. Although Victoria is only 3 and Miaya is only 2, they are already strong little ladies. It might just be girls in general that are already strong at such a young age. I'm not sure. I think it's just that we Toutai women are just strong women. :D What do you guys think? Mamma is a very strong woman, so we had a very strong example all growing up.

I have never thought of myself as an independent woman. I depend quite a bit on Dustin. I think I metioned that in a recent blog. But I can do a lot by myself. I am a stay at home Mom. I love it. I feel blessed to be able to stay home and raise Miaya, and have the life that we have. I love that I am able to make that choice. That it's not just expected or just not an option. I commend all the women out there who work each day with kids at home. I only did it for like 6 weeks, and it was really hard for me. Anyway, I'm totally getting off topic.

I am proud that my daughter is already strong. I love that she can say no when she doesn't want to do something. I love that she already feels she can express herself without being reprimanded. We try to get our families to understand that when she says no, she shouldn't be pressured into stuff. If she doesn't want to hug someone, she doesn't have to. Obviously there are times when she insists she doesn't want to do something, it's more difficult. (example: "I don't like it" referring to anything, but usually vegetables, naps, or coming back inside) But I'll take it.

A few things

Just a heads up: the next paragraph may be somewhat creepy. Don't read it if you are uncomfortable with funerals and such.

Over the weekend, Dustin's parents were telling us about a new thing in funerals and such. You know how everyoine is going green? Well apparently you can now have a green funeral. I have to say the idea appeals to me. I am probably a bit morbid in the fact that I think about such things all the time. I already know I want my funeral to feel like a celebration, and not a sad affair. For a long time when I was younger, I wanted to be cremated. And have my ashes scattered over the pacific somewhere. I have decided now that I would like to have a green funeral. They bury you in a biodegradable casket, and instead of being embalmed, you are frozen. Eventually you decompose like people used to long long ago. Sorry if that creeped you out. It doesn't bother me. Much.

You may ask why it came up at all in conversation. Well, sometimes such things just do. Dustin's Aunts father passed away last week, and so we went to his viewing last night. I don't like such things. Dustin wanted to go, and so I supported him. He does stuff that he doesn't want to do all the time, just for me. He's pretty awesome.

Anyway. My car is fixed, and runs much better. Dustin is so good with cars and such. The starter turned out to be bad. So we got a new starter on Saturday, and Dustin put it in on Saturday. It was such a beautiful day. Dustin opened the garage and I put a bunch of storage into it. I have quite a bit more room in my closets in the house now. The back room is almost empty. Sort of. Saturday was such a productive day. The sun was shining, the air wasn't too dirty, and it was almost warm. Miaya and Moose played outside while Dustin and I were working on our projects. We let Moose be outside with us, and she didn't bolt. We were pretty excited. I can take her to do her business without a leash, and that is progress. :D

We drove to Whistle Wok to "test my car" after fixing it. Not really. We just love Whistle Wok, so we went to American Fork just to get some good Chinese food. Yum. Miaya was being naughty. I wanted to take a pic of her shenanigans, and she hid from me. I laughed and laughed.

Miriam and Daniel are now in New Mexico. They left on Friday. I just got off the phone with her, and they'll get the internet next week. Awesome. I am so excited for them, and hope New Mexico is amazing. That's a place I've always wanted to go.

I went shopping with Melisa yesterday, and I found some GREAT jeans at Old Navy for $13.99. I love them so much. Oh, and for those of you in the area, Shade Clothing is having a sale this week somewhere in Pleasant Grove. The address in on the website, I think. I love their shirts, and so I am going. woo hoo. Okay.

The Superbowl was on Sunday. I really really wanted the Cardinal's to win. They didn't. But it was an awesome game, wasn't it? That fourth quarter had me on the edge of my seat. Great game. Miaya played with her cousin Paige. They had a blast.