The Longest Day

Saturday literally felt like the longest day of my life.

Started with a 5am wake-up, since it takes me awhile to shower and get ready. We (Jared, my brother Zach and I) got to the airport around 7, and since we didn't have any bags to check we just walked right in, through security and hit our gate. First flight took off at 8am to Phoenix. Had a layover in Phoenix for an hour, then second flight to San Diego. We went through the long process of renting a car, then we headed to the beach where the wedding was to take place. We were about a half hour early, but we spent some time staring at the water and enjoying the warm weather.

The wedding was... all right. We were involved in the wedding a little more than I wanted to be. I really just wanted to arrive, meet everyone and sit on the back row. That way if I was having a hard time (which I did) then it could be in private and everyone and their dog wouldn't see. But I also wanted to just go with the flow and not make a big stink about it. We all sat in the front row with the rest of the family, we wore our flowers marking us as part of the wedding party and did our best.

I did fine for most of the ceremony. One of the strangest things for me (and if you are not LDS, you may not understand the next little bit), is that here is this man who taught me one way to live my life: get married in the temple to a priesthood holder, attend all your church meetings, stay faithful, live the gospel, obey the commandments... and that same man is now not living that way. He's getting married on a beach to a woman who although is a great lady, is not LDS and the ceremony was performed by a Baptist preacher (who was also a really nice man). The spirit was just not there and that made me really sad. I looked over at my wonderful husband who was such a great sport in coming with me, and my heart filled with so much love because I knew that I was going to be with this man for eternity. My heart just breaks for people who miss out on the wondeful blessings of having an eternal family. I hope I don't sound like a total judgmental freak right now, because that's not my intention. I guess I just noticed the glaring difference between this wedding ceremony on the beach, and my own wedding ceremony in the temple.

I didn't really listen to the ceremony or what the preacher was saying. I'm sure he said some really nice things, I just didn't listen. I was thinking about my hair and how messy it was from being wind and sand blown on a beach. I was thinking about how hungry I was. I was thinking about the warm weather and how much I hate the cold weather. I was also thinking about how my arms, neck and face were going to be a nice shade of red by the time this was over because I forgot sunscreen. Then I started thinking about my dad and that I hope he's happy. I hope he's found what he's looking for. He seemed genuinely, honestly happy to see us. There was no pressure from him, no punishment or mean words for the choice of not having anything to do with him for the last year. I just felt like my dad loved me and was happy to see me. Then I started thinking about my mom and I hope that someday she can be happy again. I hope that someday she can let this all go and find someone to love her and that makes her happy.

When I tuned in again to the ceremony, it was over and the preacher announced "Let me introduce you to the new Mr. and Mrs. David J Hayes" and.... I lost it. And of course, I'm sitting in the very front where everyone can see me, so I'm tryin really hard to contain the crying so no one will notice. Then Zach gave me a big hug and he lost it. So here we are, standing up at the front of this wedding crying our hearts out. I can't speak for Zach, but I was crying because the closure I've needed finally arrived. My parents marriage is over and my family as I knew it will never be the same. I was crying because I missed my dad, and I was finally ready to let the disappointments and hurt feelings go. I'm finally ready to forgive, forget and move on.

After our little "episode", we went and gave our congrats to the couple and had some lunch. We took a few pics, and then the three of us went on our merry way. We were there for a total of 1.5 hrs. It was perfect for us, and any longer would have been tough. Although, we did miss the cake which I'm really upset about! It looked really good. Our first flight on the way home was through San Francisco, where we had another hour layover. Then we hopped onto a puddle jumper with the coolest flight attendant ever, and were home and in our own beds by 10:30 that night.

I did get really sunburned and I was completely exhausted yesterday but the trip was worth it. The goals that I had going down there were accomplished. That's all that matters.

My Beloved

Tahoe, that is. I love my hubby, but this post is all about the greatness of my vehicle. I absolutely love my Tahoe:

Here's why:

1. It's super comfortable.

2. It's huge, so I can sit up high and see out over all the cars. Except when I'm behind a semi. But then I don't feel so much like a small bug that will get squished to smithereens.

3. It has 4-wheel drive. When I have to drive in a blizzard, I just pop that on and can go anywhere I want to.

5. The air conditioning is amazing.

6. It has leather seats. No matter what I spill, I just wipe it clean and Jared will never know.

7. It also has seated seats. My bum stays quite warm, even while driving through a blizzard.

8. It makes me feel rich driving around in it. I put on some super big sunglasses and pretend to talk in my cell phone like I'm somebody important. That way when other people see me they think "wow! she's so put together". When in reality, I'm broke and only get phone calls from Jared.

9. The biggest reason of all... IT IS FINALLY PAID OFF!!!! That's right folks, we are now the proud real owners of this beautiful vehicle pictured above. We made our last payment today, and the title will hopefully arrive sometime next week. We went out for sushi to celebrate no more car payments for awhile!

Yay for us! *pats herself on the back*

A Few of My Favorite Things

My new friend Amy did this over on her blog, and I thought it was a cute idea! Kind of a random picture story of things I like. So here are a few of my favorite things today:

Have you seen the post on my book blog about this book? I loved this book. I just got done reading the ending again (for like the third time this week) and it's just as good the third time around, as it was the first. It's in the same category as Twilight, and I would have to say... I liked Shiver better. Blasphemy! I know. I love Twilight, so that just goes to show you how awesome this book is. Check it out from the library (or even better, buy it cause you know you're going to want to read it over and over again!) and take a look.

Apparently my skin hasn't gotten the message that I'm not a teeanger anymore, and it can be normal now. Ugghh.. so frustrating! I've been using this for the last three years, and it works great. It's not perfect, and it's a bit pricey, but when I can't go to the dermatologist for perscription medication, this works in a pinch. And I'd rather use this and have my skin be semi-normal than the awfulness it is without it. Plus, they just came out with a new body wash and it's fantastic!

I love pumpkins. I actually bought one this year at Wal-Mart (who knew they were so cheap?) and put it right outside my front door. And then someone stole it! I was so upset. Halloween is my favorite holiday. Not because I like the scary aspect of it, but because of the cuteness factor. And of course, we can finally buy pumpkins.

I am totally in love with this movie. Mostly because it has Ryan Reynolds in it (who is soooooo dreamy), but it's also  really cute story. Have you seen it? Did you like it? Plus it also has Isla Fisher who is pretty adorable.

I've been doing this work out for the last two weeks and it's awesome! I've lost four lbs already. I love it because I can roll out of my bed and stroll into my living room and work out. It's like having a personal trainer come to my home. The workouts are really good. Best I've ever had! It's about $120 to buy the set, but it's totally worth it (or you can find someone who already has it and burn it from them.. which is what I did). If you're interested, go to http://www.beachbody.com/

This is absolutely my favorite store ever! I love it because it's simple. I'm not a style guru, and sometimes have a hard time dressing myself. I can go into this store and everything goes with everything else in the store. And black and white will never go out of style! So every piece I buy will last and will always look stylish. Alas, it's quite expensive. Someday I will be able to shop in the actual store and not just on the clearance racks!

Okay, I couldn't get the picture any bigger. That's what I get for saving pics off the web. While Jared was gone in Iraq, he bought me this Dell lap top so that we could talk to eachother through IM and web cam. Believe it or not.. it's red! It makes me happy every time I look at it.

*sighs* Can't we all just be thin like that? If only. I was introduced to these Downeast Basic Wonder Tee's by my in-laws. Being LDS we have certain clothing guidelines. Basically, I try to be modest. And these Tee's are a huge help! They are cap sleeved and I use them as undershirts. That way I can still wear my regular ol' shirts, and everything is covered. If you are LDS and outside of the state of Utah, I highly suggest these. They're amazing and definitely expand your wardrobe! I can't live without them, and wear them everyday. They come in a variety of colors and are only $10 bucks! Go here for more info: http://www.downeastoutfitters.com/.




And that's all I can think of right now. I'm off to go do laundry, clean the bathrooms and get my hair cut.. yay! Later today I'm going dress shopping. What does one wear to her dad's second wedding, where she hasn't seen or spoke to him in a year and hasn't yet met the woman he's marrying? I'm drawing a blank.

Coming Up This Week

My dream is to someday have an actual website. Where all of my pages are actually linked on one site. That way whether I post on my craft/home site or my book site, it'll show up on your blog reader as being updated.

Until then.. I'm going to try doing a "Coming Up This Week" post on this main blog, so that you all will know what I'm posting on my other pages. We'll see how it goes. I'm not putting dates to anything, because I know I won't follow them. So the time frame is a general going-to-be-posted-sometime-this-week type deal.

All Things Crafty

I'm starting my series of before pictures of my apartment. I've taken pictures of all the rooms, and I'm going to share what I want to accomplish in those rooms. Then when the rooms are finally all complete, I'll do the same tour again, but it'll be the finished product.

I'll also share my experiences of hanging pictures for the first time. I've never done it, but Jared is out of town and super busy with his job so I'm suckin' it up and doing it myself. We have nothing on the walls and it's driving me crazy. Maybe I'll also tell you about the time I attempted to hang a curtain rod all by myself. Talk about disastrous...

All Things Tasty

I've got three recipes coming your way this week! One stir-fry recipe for dinner, and then two dessert recipes. Everything is of course, absolutely delicious.

All Things Print

I'm posting my review for the next BWB book we just got done reading. I'm actually posting it tonight. I've got a few recommendation posts coming up this week as well. Just things I've been reading and would suggest. I'm also going to do a post about my top 10 favorite books up until now. I can't say of all time, because I might read something later on down the road and the list might change. Now if I can just narrow down the list to 10....

Hope this helps!

Something Major

My parents are divorced.

There, I said it. It's not that I'm struggling with the divorce or anything, it's just not something you bring up in polite conversation.

Hey! How the heck are ya'?

I'm so glad you are doing great. What a lovely dress you are wearing!

Oh, this ol' thing? I've been wearing this for years. It's amazing it still fits! But since I guess it's a circus tent, it'll fit no matter what size I am.

Soo.. my parents are divorced.

See what I mean? You just can't pop it out into the conversation. It's awkward.

My parents have been divorced for almost seven months now. Divorce is rough. Even going through it as an adult, it's tough. No one ever wants their family to break up. I know that in some cases divorce is necessary. When there is abuse or extreme infidelity sometimes it's better to just cut ties and move on. I believe it's unhealthy to stay in a relationship where those types of things exist. There was no abuse in my family growing up. Emotional maybe, and there was certainly neglect but nothing that we couldn't overcome. My parents needed to get divorced. They were married for 24 years and it was time. They were both miserable, unhappy and mean. They just couldn't be the best versions of themselves when they were with eachother. So as hard as it is to have my family break apart and go through emotional turmoil, I honestly believe my family is better off this way. Truly.

This past weekend, I not only found out my dad has been dating someone seriously, he is now getting remarried. I wigged. Seriously. I found out at work and sat in front of my computer all day repating "Oh...my...gosh" over and over. Sometimes in my head, and sometimes out loud. I spent the day going through the range of emotions: shock, disgust, anger, sadness.. Then I read a funny post by PW and like that *snaps her fingers*, I was over it. So what he's getting remarried? It was bound to happen someday. On October 24 I'm going to have a step-mother and three younger step-brothers. Not only am I accepting of the marriage, I'm actually going to the wedding. Talk about progress! I haven't talked to my dad in roughly a year. Not a peep. It's going to be weird to see him. My lil' brother Ethan and I are just going down for the day, cause I think that's all I can handle. We don't want too much progress here people.

Good thing I've jumped onto the weight loss band wagon. You know I can't go down to San Diego to a wedding on the beach lookin' like a blimp. It's just the way life is.

Picture Motivation

It's super cold here (40 degrees this morning!) and I hate it. Seriously, we only had two and a half months of summer this year. Now it's back to jeans and sweatshirts and scraping my car in the morning. Grrr...

What also frustrates me is that I can't fit into any of my pants from just last winter! It appears I've gained ten lbs. since then. Go me. Being the cheapo that I am, I just stuff myself into them instead of buying a new pair.

This picture was taken maybe a month ago when I went to breakfast with my Grandma, who was in town:

AAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!!

Whew. Okay. I just had to get that out. That was seriously my reaction when I first saw this picture. LOOK. AT. ME. I can't even stand it. Do you ever have those moments where you see yourself in a pic and just almost pass out from the horror of it? Literally, I just snapped. Not in a bad way, but in a "I'm now going to use this picture as motivation and finally, finally bust my butt and lose those 30lbs" kind of way. I put this same pic up on my fridge, so that when I'm scrounging around for a snack, I pick fruit instead of cookies. I bring this with me when I run on the treadmill, and when I feel like I can't go anymore I look at the pic and push myself just a little bit more. Just one more minute. Just one more half mile...

That is one thing I've always appreciated about going to the gym. I see other women there that just look good. And because they look good, you can tell they just feel good. My gym membership ended, but I've been doing p90x and running dilligently for the last two weeks. I've only lost about 2lbs., but I've lost a few inches. My love handles to hang over quite so much. Now, instead of looking at the other people working out around me for motivation, I'm using this pic. It's working.

What's your motivation?