I'm Having a Pity Party & You're Invited!!!

Debbie Downer ain't got nothin' on Tara the Terror...Let's see where do I begin? This is a true venting session, so I will begin with my husband...

1. Wesley. Oh Wesley. He's such a good man, but (you knew a conjunction was coming) he is completely obsessive. We've watched the first season of Storage Wars at least ten times. No exaggeration. I CANNOT WATCH ANOTHER STORAGE WARS EPISODE!!! I might throw myself off the balcony if I have to hear Dave say yuuuuup one more time. Wesley, it's high time you learned the difference between loyalty and obsessive compulsive disorder. (He does have both, for the record.)

2. I mopped the kitchen floor twice last week. And it needs to be mopped again. Now, you may think, oh gee, Tara, you only have 124 tiles to mop and most people have quadruple that amount. I have just not accepted the reality that I need to clean everyday and get over it, or just lower my standards of cleanliness.

3. Sometimes I really wonder if Heavenly Father is looking down on me laughing, thinking that haha the joke's on her! When I compare my life to others (which you know we're not supposed to do, but we know we all do it from time to time) I really have to look up to the big man in the sky and question, "Is there no justice in this life?" And don't assume that I think I deserve more than others, it's not that, I just wonder if some people ever have to struggle. Remember when Plato said, "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle"? Well, the world wide web has really made me question whether Plato really knew what he was talking about. All I can do is remind myself of the quote, "I hope your life is as perfect as it seems on Facebook." And let me add, "And on your blog." I mean come on people, get rrrrreal!

4. I pay my child to go to bed and stay in bed. We're high rollers around here. It's almost like money grows on trees. We pay Scarlet 3-5 cents a night if she stays in her bed all night. I am so sick of the nighttime routine. Anyone who has had to share a room with two little ones who wake each other up constantly can feel my pain. And no, I don't have the heart to lock them in their rooms and let them cry it out.....yet.

5. Here's a debate you can help me settle, one of Wesley and I's biggest disagreements right now is when the kids act up during Sacrament meeting at church. He thinks Ivy needs to be taken out every .5 seconds. He's like the Noise Gestapo. Even if the girls calmly whisper to each other, its dagger eyes from Dad. I mean one squeal out of Ivy and he's pacing the halls with her. I say, yes, she is at a difficult age for church, but if we take her out at the drop of a hat, then how will she ever learn to sit reverently? Also, we serve in Nursery so Sacrament is the only spiritual upliftment I get, so I wanna stay and try to listen. Wes gets to go to institute a couple times a week at school, so he already gets more upliftment than me. So, I say if he wants to take the Ivy boob out he can. You might be thinking that oh, well Wes probably wants to be out roaming the halls too. Maybe he can check his phone while he is out there, or chat with some friends. Well, no that would be incorrect. He is out there with Ivy resenting me the entire time, and the fact that I didn't jump up first to take Ivy into the halls. He then comes back into Sacrament meeting after five to ten minutes and practically throws Ivy at me causing a whole scene. So, what do I do? I take Ivy out and resent him! We're definitely stuck in the drama triangle with this one! And of course, everyone around us can see we're fighting! Did I mention we're at church? I can really see how it would be easier to just not go!

Please sisters, let's get back into this blog! I need something other than sugar and TV to look forward too!!!

Yes, It's That Week!

What week?  Sister's week or brother's week if you're on facebook.  Or maybe it's breast cancer awareness week?!  You can make it whatever you want on that site.  It's crazy how fast stuff goes around on that thing.

No ladies, it's that time of the month.  Sorry to be so personal, but if I can't get personal here, where?  Okay, okay.  Now I feel like all I'm doing is complaining on this blog, but I know you can relate!  (Well. most of you!)  Sorry guys.  No, I'm not sorry!  Keith told me yesterday that I could take my whatever emotions and attitude and pack it up and send it to Zimbabwe!  Ha ha!  I said, "I would love a week vacation every month in Zimbabwe!"  Are you with me ladies?

Maybe I'm just really feeling it because it is only my second cycle since Jesse finished nursing and I'm feel. ing. it.  And I'm eating it too!  Can you say comfort food?!  Wendy's Frosty, chocolate shake, finishing off the ice cream straight from the container, breakfast burrito, and don't forget a good bean and cheese burrito!  Yeah, it's been that good.  And talk about emotional.  Good Morning America almost made me cry this morning with their over done story on a rescued sea turtle.  Crazy!

Ugh!  Don't even talk about my skin!  And all of the things that have been happening around here.  (Looks like we'll be moving, again, soon!)  I want to be excited and happy about it but, I just can't.  Tell me it's just this week and I will feel better in a few days!  Please!

Hello?!? Anybody Out There?

Hello! Is anyone out there?

I sure miss this blog, I was reading back on some of the old posts and it made me want to get this thing going again. What happened? Where did we go wrong? Was it just kids, life, moving, summer, pregnancy, work, depression, or lack of creative thoughts that made this blog get off track?

Does anyone even care?

I miss having an outlet or something to look forward to and connect with. Summer's over, school's back in session, we're all moved in (minus Aliece, again, maybe) so let's get it together and start writing again. Please!

Are you with me?

(Share the love even if you're not a sister so then maybe my sisters will feel like this is something they want to start doing again. :) Thanks! Of course maybe everyone is glad we stopped and in that case we'll take the hint and just let a sleeping dog lie (is it lay or lie? I may never know).

Wright Brother (Vaughn) Writes

Over here. Who cares if it was a year ago? It might make you think...

Mini Book Review (sort of)

Room

By Emma Donoghue

I had this book on hold for about a million years at the library (I'm not much of a book buyer since I'm (a) cheap and (b) I generally don't ever read books a second time) so after waiting forever for this much hyped and anticipated book I was needless to say quite disappointed.  It's a hot book right now on book club lists, getting talked about by everyone and so perhaps I had built it up a little too much in my mind.

The basic premise is this:  A woman has been held captive in a single underground room since she was 19, is repeatedly raped by her captor and while there gives birth to a son who is now 5 years old and the narrator of the story.  I guess this was the main drawback of the story for me.  I found it dreadfully boring and slow to have it told through a child's perspective. 

I am the kind of person who finds stories like this extremely fascinating when they are in the real news and apparently this story was inspired by one of those cases, so I thought I would like this story a lot more than I did.  But, to be honest I didn't even read the whole book, hence the title of this post.  I was so bored in the beginning I sort of skipped to the middle and then skipped some more to the end just to find out what happened and get it over with. 

I don't know if it's because I just would have preferred to have the story told from a grown-up perspective or just that the kid kind of drove me crazy with the way he spoke.  I mean, I get it, it's the only world he's ever known and his mother did a wonderful job raising him considering the circumstances but it just didn't resonate with me at all.

I would love to know what you thought about this book if you've read it already, I'm beginning to wonder if I'm the only person who doesn't think this book is all that and a bag of chips.  I guess I'll just stick with the true life stories from the news to satisfy my morbid curiosities.

The Grass Isn't Always Greener, But I Promise It's Better

It took me moving out of Arizona to realize why I love it so much. Which basically is a total cliché, but hey it’s true. Our parents are natives and their parents are natives and their parents are native, so to say we are from Arizona is kinda an understatement.

When I first moved away to Mississippi, it happened to be a particularly rainy summer. I thought I’d be excited about that. I mean come on; it’s a requirement, all Arizonans LOVE the rain. However, after two weeks of nonstop rain in the cold (meaning 50-60 degrees, I told you I’m from AZ) weather, I was so sick of it! And then it hit me, my heart only belongs to Arizona’s rain. She had me at monsoon. (Swoon.) I love how the calm, blue sky gets suddenly temperamental and turns to shades of blue, gray and steel. The swirling dust suddenly becomes a rowdy student being called to settle down by the teacher. And the smells of that settling dust as it becomes wet with gloriously pure rain, I tell you if it came in a perfume I’d buy it. The rain brings just enough cool and clean to make the desert sparkle better than Windex.

Speaking of perfume, where the heck is the Arizona Orange Blossom Perfume? Is there no sweeter scent in this world? We go through those horribly, freezing winters ;) and then spring blesses us so kindly with the orange blossoms. That’s how Arizona is, constantly blessing the lives those who live there.

When someone talks about how the desert is bland and ugly, it’s like peeing on my cornflakes. Are you kidding me? Have you seen the sunsets? Do you not recognize God and beauty when you see it? There isn’t a more beautiful sight. The way the vibrant shades of pink, yellow and orange fuse together, it’s more delicious than butter melting on a blueberry muffin. Have you not seen the Grand Canyon? Me neither, but still I’ve seen pictures, and that place is majestic. Have you ever been up North? Greer, AZ? Aka the most gorgeous place on earth? Its beauty is sacred and spiritual. I love it so much one of my girls is named after the place. And what about when a Suarro blossom blooms? Do you not understand a miracle when you see it? Those cacti are the most resilient plants ever, and then they still have it in them to produce a blossom? Talk about strength. I see the beauty in that.

Let me tell you, I live in LA right now, of course LA is known for their traffic, but no one mentions how bad their freeways totally suck. Hellloooo, Arizona’s freeways! I’d drive them any day! Especially when they can take me places like Last Chance, Hobby Lobby (not one in LA), Carolina’s, Tia Rosas, Pete’s, Neilsens’, Costa Vida, El Charro, Gecko Grill, and the list goes on and on and on. The food…don’t even get me started…my stomach is growling…that is a whole other post…
 
Here is some extra proof how much I love AZ, in case you didn't believe me. This pic hangs in our living room:

In case you can't tell, on the outer edges are all the places Wesley and I want to visit someday; yet in the center where my heart is, where I want to end up...Arizona. Now, if I could only convince my husband...

We LOVE These!

Woo-hoo!!!  Thank you Unilever for finally bringing these to the US!  I was first introduced to Magnum Ice Cream Bars 12 years ago when Keith and I visited Portugal.  While there I learned first hand that in the US, we have less than impressive candy bars.  Kit Kat Bars, for instance, are made by Nestle in Europe and have a better quality chocolate.  More chocolate - not over loaded with sugary waxy-ness.  Thank you for keeping the same European goodness with the Magnum Bar!  (So good that Keith kept a couple of the wooden sticks as souvenirs with the date and location when we enjoyed them in Portugal.)

Move over Dove and Haagen-Dazs!  Magnum is the real deal!  A thick, rich, Belgium chocolate shell surrounds the creamy vanilla or chocolate ice cream.  One will definitely satisfy your chocolate and ice cream cravings.  We have had the Classic, Almond and Double Chocolate varieties thus far in our house.  (Note: Do not eat the Double Chocolate just before bedtime!)  I am looking forward to trying the double caramel.  I found them at Wal-Mart for about $3.40 for a box of 3.  Keith bought a couple boxes on sale at Basha's for $3.99.  Watch for coupons, I've heard they're out there.  This is my new stash.  Sorry kids, I'm not sharing!