31

So...I had a birthday, and I turned 31. It really doesn't feel that bad getting older. Maybe it's because I'm over the fact that I'm 30 and from here until 40 it won't be any big deal. Maybe it's because I have siblings, family members and friends that are older and they don't seem old to me...just more awesome. Either way, 31 was no biggie.

On my birthday, Miles came home a little bit early and brought me some gorgeous flowers. I wish I had a picture of them. It was a fall bouquet with sunflowers, daisies, and other flora in yellows, reds and oranges. After he got home, we went out to Eagle Mountain with his parents (who were in town just for my birthday! Ok...not really, but it's nice to pretend) to look at a house we were possibly interested in buying. (More on that in a different post) After that, we met up with Marci, Mitchell and two of their friends for dinner at India Palace.


Our dinner was DELICIOUS! Thank you Mom and Dad Wright! The restaurant also treated me to some yummy mango ice cream. You can also see the remains of the Chicken Tikka Masala to the side. Mmm...my tummy is rumbling just thinking about it.Can I just say that I LOVE the service there? They are always so fast, the food is great, and they are so so friendly. Every single time we have gone in there with Owen, they all seem to gravitate toward him and want to touch him, play with him, tease him, and just over all adore him. It's very sweet and I really love it. One of the women even took him away for a minute to go look at the fish tank. So cute. Here is the host attempting to tie a turban on Owen's head. :)
He wasn't too sure about it...

So Marci jumped in to play peek-a-boo with Owen.We then came back to our place for cake from Magleby's Fresh. Again...YUM! It was a great evening with even more fantastic company. Thank you Wright family for making me feel special!

I also need to give a shout out to my amazing husband. He told me that night that he was giving me a "birthday weekend." He said I would get a small gift on my birthday (the flowers he brought home), something bigger the next day, bigger the next day, and the biggest the last day. I was pretty excited about this. However, his plan did not go as...well, uh, planned. He said that my next gift would be coming in the mail. I waited...and waited...and waited. It didn't come. He told me we couldn't continue on with the gifts because then they would be out of order. So I continued to wait. It seemed it was turning into a "birthday month" (only without gifts every day). Finally he heard from the seller who said she had sent it. That same day, the seller emailed him again and apologized noticing that he had paid for it to be expressed. She said it was in the mail and he had been given a full refund for the product and shipping. Yay!

After all that waiting, I got my present. It was a necklace charm that says Owen, with his birthstone - a diamond. (No, not a real diamond.) I wear it every day. After that, the gifts ensued. Next I got a Blendtec Blender which was totally unexpected and awesome. He got a great deal by getting an employee's discounted cost on the blender. And the last gift was a love letter (my favorite) with coupons good for dates and massages and such. Yay! It was a fabulous birthday and he did a really good job thinking of what I might like. This is definitely a step up from previous years. But we aren't talking about that anymore cause he's starting from a clean slate. :) And I'm loving this new leaf!

62nd Ward Reunion & Playing in puddles

When Miles and I first got married, we decided to go to a married, student ward. We thought it would be nice because when else would we have the opportunity to be in a ward with so many couples our age and in a similar stage of life? To be honest, we didn't actually like our ward at first and it took a long time for it to "grow" on us. We had a really hard time getting to know people, it felt really clique-ish, and we didn't have active callings for almost a year. Gratefully, I was visiting teaching this AWESOME girl, and she was really outgoing and friendly and had put herself out there to get to know a lot of people in the ward. Well, we got lucky enough to be invited to her home for dinner one evening. After that, she apparently thought we were cool enough to invite Miles and I to a gingerbread decorating party. It was because of that party, we got to know some of our best friends in this ward. Anyway...long story short, I learned my lesson. You have to make a concerted effort to get to know others and can't write people off too early. You might be missing out on some really amazing friends.

Ok...so all that to say...after that time, Miles and I got to know a lot of wonderful people over the 4+ years we were in the BYU 62nd Ward. In April/May of this year, they did some major changes to the wards which I discussed previously here. And although we don't all go to the same ward anymore, there are still a lot of us in the area. So after talking it over with some other friends, we decided to do a 62nd Ward Reunion.

Sadly, I don't have any pictures of anybody other than Owen from that day. But it was really great getting together with our old friends and feeling that bond we had from our previous ward. It really was an exceptional ward unlike many others I have been in before. (Except maybe the BYU 148th ward from Wymount).

However, I do have some awesome pictures of Owen from our reunion. He, of course, wanted to run around and play. Stupidly, the sprinklers were on and of course he was intrigued. Miles wanted me to watch him and keep him away from them. I told him he would be fine and wouldn't get that wet, as I figured he'd just want to put his hand near the sprinklers. Boy was I wrong...

He ran through them...
He stood in the middle of them...
And splashed in the puddles...
As you can see, he was sopping wet. We basically stripped him down and took him home naked. But hey, at least he had a good time! (And yes...he did happen to get very sick with a terrible fever following this day of playing in the water. But who really knows what's to blame...)
And we had a great time with our friends. We hope to do it again soon!

Skullfish

Miles and I got and lost our first pet in a day. We went to our friend's 3 yo's birthday party. It was circus themed and they had lots of fun games, activities and prizes. One of the prizes was a cute little goldfish. I was hesitant to take it because I was worried I would take it home and it would just die within a day. However, I decided that if I cared for it correctly, I would be able to keep it alive and be a successful goldfish owner. On the way home, Miles lovingly named it Skullfish. Isn't he so cleaver? (And a punk)

When we got home, I got the bowl out that I knew would be perfect for him and washed it. Miles jumped in and said, "You didn't wash it with soap, did you?" I told him I did. He said that it would kill the fish. I told him I didn't believe him and asked how you're supposed to clean it then. He said with a brush and to look it up. So I did. He was right. (Please take note that I was willing to admit I was wrong.) So I started to look up how to keep him alive. Everything I read basically said that goldfish in a bowl = dead. Apparently they need a minimum of 25-30 gallons to live in, and preferably up to 75 gallons. It said that small bowls stunt their growth, which is why they die young. Goldfish can live 20-30 years. I knew I wasn't up for getting a huge aquarium and I didn't want to watch him die. So I decided to take him to my friend's house (who shall remain nameless, so as not to cause any retaliation from extremists), who had also taken a goldfish home and seemed a lot less concerned about whether or not they survived for a long time. She gladly took him in. Although, I immediately knew it was a death sentence for Skullfish...she had her goldfish in a tall, skinny glass (which had likely been cleaned with soap). Yup. Death was imminent. But I left him there and wiped my hands of it, knowing that I would not have to watch him die. Ugh. I sound terrible. I'm obviously an accomplice.

Anyway...moving on. The next day, I asked her if she could take a picture of Skullfish and send it to me. I wanted to have a picture of our first pet. She texted me back and said, "I feel so bad. I hate to tell you but it died while I was at church. Sadly Skullfish is more skull than fish now." (Oh, and she also may have mentioned that she couldn't stop laughing. Uh huh. Hilarious. *weep, weep* And that her fish was still alive, but she flushed it down the toilet with Skullfish.)

So sadly, our first pet is dead. Skullfish is no more. It was fun while it lasted...all 3 hours or so. Hopefully we'll have more success with our next pet.

IUI Attempt #1

...Failed...

At the beginning of the month, Miles and I went in for an attempt at doing a natural IUI. (See this post for more details). It's like any typical pregnancy where you have to wait two weeks before taking a pregnancy test. I was feeling pretty calm about the whole thing. I wasn't holding my breath expecting it to work. I mean, going from doing IVF to get pregnant the first time, it was a miracle that we even have the option of doing IUI, let alone it working on the first try. But of course, there's always a part that holds out some hope. I didn't even take a test. Basically, life continued on as if nothing had happened and my cycle started all over again. I was more sad about it than I expected. I didn't cry. It's hard going month to month and waiting and hoping. But we'll try again in a couple weeks.

9-11 Ten Years Later

I wanted to do something really thought provoking and introspective for my post about 9-11. However, time has gone by and I find that I just want to at least give it recognition if nothing else. I can't believe it has been 10 years. When I watch footage or see newspaper clippings, the feelings come flooding back like it was yesterday.

I was at home, asleep when my phone kept ringing and ringing. My Mom was calling me to wake me up to watch the news. I went to my TV and sat and watched, stunned at what was in front of me. It seemed unreal. Then the second plane hit, right before my eyes. I was pretty much in a daze the rest of the day. I was in school at the time, so I had to get ready and go to my classes. Luckily for me, they were good classes to attend. My first class was a religion class with Brother Bott. I don't remember everything he said, but I do remember that he reassured us and left me with a feeling of peace. My last class was a Relaxation and Meditation class. This was also wonderful to end my day in meditative thought and relaxation.

It was such a tragedy, and the effects are still so far reaching into the way our government has changed, how security is different, and of course in the families who lost loved ones that day. The effect on them will be life-long and deeper than anything I can imagine. I am grateful for the country we live in, even in its imperfect state. We are truly blessed and have so many things afforded to us that the majority of the world does not. It was a terrible, awful, hideous, tragedy. But we have risen stronger and have seen the beauty of strangers helping each other and showing love for someone unknown to them. I am grateful that I still remember that day and the bravery and heroism that was displayed...and the lives that were lost.

I will not forget.

Work Trips

Miles is yet again gone on another work trip. He is currently in Florida for three days to present at another conference. I didn't realize that when he started working for this company I would become an occasional widow. Honestly, I can't complain that much. My friend, Shara, is home alone with two little ones multiple times each month. I think I would die.

So far, Miles has had a trip almost every month since April.

April - 2 weeks in The Philippines (training employees at the office there)

June - 3 days in New York (presenting at a conference)

July - 3 days in Georgia (presenting at a conference)

August - 4 days in Connecticut (meeting and interacting with people at the SSI headquarters after the merger)

September - 3 days in Florida

October - 2 days in London (presenting at a conference)

There is also some talk of him presenting at another conference in California in December and possibly even traveling to Australia for an extended period of time (2-3 months - but we're not too sure about that. And if he did need to go, he told his company that Owen and I would need to come along.)

So where does that leave me? Home. Alone. With Owen. And no husband...But not for long!After doing a lot of talking, we decided that we shouldn't let this opportunity to go to London pass us up. It would be pretty miserable for Miles to fly out there, present at a conference the next day and fly home the day after. The jet lag would be brutal. And how awful would that be to not even get to enjoy being in London, England?! So obviously, he should extend his trip. And obviously...I should join him! :D We didn't really want to spend the money, but at the same time, his work will be covering the cost of his flight, plus a minimum of 2 nights in a hotel, so why not take advantage of this opportunity? I love traveling, but it's never going to happen if I don't make it a priority and make it happen. So I think we're going to bite the bullet and do it. Eight days in London with two travel days. It's going to be awesome!

Aunts and Uncles

I thought I'd give a little ode to Owen's Aunts and Uncles. He has a lot of them, and they all seem to love him a lot. Here are some pictures (some from a few months ago) of Owen with his Uncle Mitchell, Aunt Marci, and Aunt Kerry. We are lucky to have so many of them close by. We wish he could see his other Aunts and Uncles more often.
With Auntie Marci who is his #1 babysitter. We sure do love that we can leave him with someone he feels comfortable with and who loves him so much!
This was at Boondocks. Uncle Mitchell helped Owen to play his first arcade game and to ride an arcade motorcycle. (By the way, Owen beat at least two opponents on the fighting game.)And here he is with Auntie Kerry who decided to put him to work cleaning dishes. Ok...not really. ;)Owen sure is lucky to have so many awesome Aunts and Uncles who love him so much!

Christina's Wedding

One of our most favorite cousins got married recently. Marci watched Owen so Miles and I were able to go to the sealing. It was wonderful to be there, feel the spirit and witness the start of an eternal marriage. We are so happy for Christina. And Jackson seems like a great guy! We are excited to get to know him better. They gave us a good show for pictures after they made their exit from the temple.


Here is the proud papa, Steve, with his granddaughter, Emery. She is such a cutie pie!

Later that evening we went to where they were holding the reception for a delicious sit-down dinner. I had to grab a picture of Owen walking with his daddy cause it was so cute.
Owen got his very own place setting:
Auntie Marci did her best to help contain and entertain Owen.
However, it was just too much to handle. Owen either wanted to grab everything on the table or get down and run around and climb up and down the stairs. So Marci came to the rescue and got one of her friends to watch Owen for about an hour so we could enjoy our meal in peace. Afterward, we picked Owen up, took him home for his own dinner and got him in bed. Miles stayed with him so I could go back and enjoy the reception. They had a huge variety of delicious cakes and desserts. It was fun to hang out with the in-laws, cousins, aunts and uncles. It was a beautiful wedding and evening of celebration.