We took Friday through Monday Memorial Day weekend and drove to Tahoe with our friends!

We had such a great time. We took lots of naps, didn't set any alarms, got lots of sun, and enjoyed all the beauty. We also ate some great food! If you're ever in South Tahoe and are craving good BBQ, go to Fox and Hound...if you're craving pizza go to Vinny's. Both are small little places, but good food and good service with friendly faces. Do NOT go to Heidi's. Terrible food. Terrible service. No friendly faces anywhere. 

The only thing even semi wrong was that we seemed to come across a lot of unfriendly people. Some were local, and some were tourists. We were like what the heck? What is wrong with people? 

Anyways, whether you're a tourist, or local, be happy and friendly.

I felt like this through the whole weekend...like I could do anything and then when I tried failed miserably. Like trying to save Whitney when she slipped and almost fell, and trying to carry too many things up three flights of stairs...and with the higher elevation I seriously felt like there was no oxygen anywhere. There was one time that I had to pee literally every 10 minutes. I think we learned our lesson, no more vacations this far along. Pregnancy is an uncomfortable blessing.

Had some crazy cravings for pizza, and root beer floats, and grilled cheese...oh my goodness. And the baby movements! Some were terribly painful, and others were just plain cute. Like being able to feel the baby's spine, and watching a foot mosey on across my abdomen. 

I have 10 more weeks. Starting to freak out just a little.

 Eldorado Beach

 Room from the balcony

Sunset

Lake Tahoe is HUGE!

Such a great weekend away. Good for the body, mind, and soul.

Mother's Day

Was wonderful. 

We got to spend time with some of the most amazing women in our lives.

On Sunday, Sister Ensign gave a wonderful talk with her husband. I wanted to share with you some of the things they said, and some of my other thinkings about mothers.

She said that the nature of mothers is to nurture. She talked about how there are so many different kind of women in the world, and some are mothers and some aren't. But almost every woman feels the need to nurture. We hear a crying baby or child and want to hold and comfort it. We see someone doing something they shouldn't and want to smack them upside the head. We see someone suffering and want to ease their pain. Even if you're not a mother, that doesn't mean you can't be a mother in other ways...to be a mother is to nurture isn't it? I've known many people that can be classified as nurturers, if done right. Teachers, doctors and nursers, other medical people like physical therapists, coaches...whether you're nurturing children or adults it doesn't matter. When you are nurturing you're fulfilling a role as a mother. 

She also said we have so many women who are cruel, who are hard, who are selfish...we need more women in this world who are kind, and loving, and giving...we need a little more nurture.

Brother Ensign shared the sweetest story about this father who was reading a book to his son. This book had no words, so you made up the story from the pictures. His son kept correcting him, saying things like "that's not a jacket it's a coat" or "that's not a limb that's a branch". The father asked his son why he was so adamant that the pictures were certain things when there were no words? The son said "because mom said that's what they were". The father took a forceful yet playful tone and asked "who is the authority and has the last word in this house?" The son answered quickly "you are"...The father asked "and do you know why?"......he answered "because mom taught me". He didn't know it because his father was dominant or forceful in any way, but because his mother taught him. That touched me in a way I can't explain. Mothers have such a responsibility to teach their kids, whether you're saying it or showing it.

Last mother's day I was wanting desperately to get pregnant. I had just graduated and wanted to move onto the next step. I was so frustrated, and upset, and angry at the world. It took me forever to get over it and learn to let go, to be okay with what I had, and be happy for everyone else having babies. 

This mother's day was very different. Some people made the argument that I wasn't a mother yet. Robbie said that baby boy was alive and well in there, and just because I wasn't changing diapers yet doesn't mean I wasn't taking care of him, which made me a mother. 

Then I thought of all the people that I look after and try to care for. I have a husband, who I desperately try to take care of and make sure he's healthy and happy in every thing he does. As President Hinckley said, I strive to have an anxious concern for the comfort and well-being of my husband and to serve him as he does the same for me. I try to look after my siblings. I try to look after my friends. I really love and enjoy teaching my students. I have a fish, a cat, and a dog. The dog was the hardest: training her all day every day for the first 6 months or so, and then continuing to enforce what I've taught her, sometimes it feels like I've got a toddler who can't speak. I try and take care of some people at church...

The more I thought about it, the more I realized I love to nurture and take care of people. I love being a mother. 

It's not always easy, I guess it's never really easy. There is so much that I've learned over the past few years on how to be a better mother..like patience. When I say I've learned, I don't mean I learned that you need patience, but that I've worked on improving and increasing my patience. 

Next mother's day I'll have a little one in my arms, instead of kicking my ribs and making it impossible for me to breathe. I'm so excited to add this little boy to the list of people I try to nurture. 

To all the women who are anxiously engaged in nurturing others, whether it's their own family or others...Happy Mother's Day. And thank you, for your sacrifices, for your time, and for your constant efforts to better yourselves in order to be the best example you can be. 

I'll always be grateful for the woman my mom is. Because of who she is, and how she raised me, I am who I am today. Robbie wouldn't be the man I love if it wasn't for his amazing mother...They wouldn't be the women they are if it wasn't for their mothers...

Thanks moms :)

Christmas, Valentines, and Birthday Presents

I always get upset when I see commercials on television around the holidays...they are always for really really expensive gifts. Like a new car, or super duper lingerie (who wants to see a commercial for that?). All I can think of is for goodness sake, who can afford these things as gifts! 

This Christmas was particularly odd, some people gave Robbie a hard time for not getting me a gift! We tried to explain that he was getting me a gift, just that it wasn't built yet and it couldn't fit under the tree...and we wouldn't want to put it under the tree just to move it outside anyways.

I'm all about practical, and sincere...and thoughtful.

For Christmas Robbie got me a gift that keeps on giving.

 Raised garden beds. 

Last year the only thing that grew in our awful Fresno clay soil was zucchini. Each box cost $25 to make, and $80 for really good potting soil from the Riverside Nursery on Golden State between Shaw and Herndon (if the 10 commandments hadn't told us not to swear, I would swear by this nursery. It's fabulous!) 

Needless to say, I love my gift. Sure, I didn't get them at Christmas, but that didn't matter. It was thoughtful, sincere, and showed that he really loved and listened to me. He knew what I wanted, and he went and got it. Yes, a nice piece of jewelry would be wonderful, but that's the great thing about gifts. Sometimes you just want something a little more practical, and showing each other that we're responsible not to go out and spend our money foolishly is one of the ways we show each other that we love one another. 

I always think of that story of the man and the woman, it always makes me cry. They were very poor so she sold the only thing she had, her beautiful hair, to buy her husband a nice chain for his pocket watch. He sold the only thing he had, his pocket watch, to buy his wife beautiful combs for her hair. Now their gifts were useless. 

Sad that they weren't a little more practical.

Sometimes surprises aren't good at all.

For Valentines day and my birthday I got $100 to go and spend at the Nursery to decorate the front yard with.

I ended up spending $99.78

He was so proud of me that I had stayed in my budget, and the fact that he was happy with me made me ecstatic.

 It doesn't look like much...some lithidora, african iris, dwarf starbursts, daffodils, and dahlias. $100 doesn't really go very far...which is why I got plants that would keep giving. I really don't know what it is about annuals but I don't like them, I don't like that after all of that hard work they wouldn't come back next year. Perennials on the other hand are much more...to my liking. 

Again, they didn't come on the actual day, but should that really matter?

Here's some of the finished products.

My garden so far

 Broccoli, cantaloupe 

 Lettuce, strawberries, carrots, green beans

 Broccoli and cantaloupe today

Lettuce, strawberries, carrots and green beans today

My front yard a couple of weeks ago

The dahlias hadn't sprouted, but they are planted in between the daffodils. The dwarf starbursts will grow outward like a small bush. 

 The african iris behind the japanese maple will grow out, the blue lithidora will also grow out like a small bush, about 1ft high and 4 ft wide on all sides. Eventually, there will be more flowers (different bulbs, I'd like to add tulips to my daffodils and dahlias, and some others. I love bulbs) there in the front of the maple.

The rose bushes have really grown in the last couple of weeks, so this picture doesn't do them justice. The lithidora should connect together, so it should be a 1ft tall lithidora hedge with roses coming up to the window so when you look out the window you see a wall of roses :)

It will take time...years probably. But I'm excited. I love my presents. Every time I walk outside into either the front or the back yard my heart just smiles with joy. 

So I guess what I'm trying to say, is it doesn't matter how much money you've spent, or if the gift comes on the exact day it's supposed to. What matters is that the gift was thoughful, and somehow shows how much you love the receiver. And that it's practical. Sure a new car might be nice, or a pearl necklace, new phone, etc...but spending money you don't have or could be better spent elsewhere? Creating any kind of financial stress on you or your marriage? It isn't smart, and it isn't wise. So next time the holidays come around, be more thoughtful and practical. 

I hope you like my gifts too!

*I don't know if the words I've chosen have adequately expressed what I've been trying to say. I wasn't thinking of anyone in particular, mainly the commercials that try and get you to buy really really expensive gifts that aren't practical...