My Granddad

I received some sad news yesterday.

My grandfather passed away after eighty years.

I hate to admit it, but I really don't know that much about him.

I was hoping to cross some of those barriers and ask him 

some dying questions that I've had ever since I was child.

Like when was the first time he started taking pictures?

He was very into communication and journalism like me.

It's in my blood.

Did he ever read Hurn or Sontag to inspire him?

Who was his favorite photographer?

I have no idea.

I didn't really see him unless it was a big event in my adult life.

He came to my high school graduation,

my mission farewell,

and my wedding.

All very special to me.

I guess that's one more reason why I look for joy everyday.

Why it's so important for us to spend time with family

and keep in touch.

Life is too short and time escapes.

But if there's one thing that I'll do for him,

I'll take the advice from Tuesdays with Morrie,

when Morrie says, "When I die, you'll visit my grave and 

you'll do the talking. I'll do the listening."

No worries, it'll be my turn to talk

for all the times, we were both

just a little bit too busy. 

I love you.

Smile Date Night

Yesterday, I had a really hard day. I was not happy at all and really stressed out.

I tried laying down and going back to sleep again but nothing was working.

Kevin always calls or texts about lunch time to see how my day is going.

I told him that I was struggling and grumpy but that everything would be okay.

He asked me to e-mail him if I didn't feel better later that afternoon. He was a little concerned because with the holiday, it meant I was supposed to be out shopping and doing something fun.

But instead, I was still in bed and as they say, "When you're in bed, you're dead." 

I was thinking about that while lying there.

Sleep wasn't coming and I had a feeling that I needed to do something, I e-mailed Kevin back.

He left work early and called me the second he left work. He talked to me all the way home and when he came in the door he exclaimed, "We're going out and this day is going to change." 

He held me for a long time which helped my body relax, my best friend was home.

He was right, it was time for my gray cloud to leave.

He took me shopping for new clothes. I ended up with two new cute tops and a skirt. All on sale, which is a miracle in my case. Kevin was so patient while I browsed through stores starting at 9th and 9th to stores at the Gateway. He laughed and smiled the whole way through, like it was meant to be.

From there, Kevin suggested dinner and a movie. We went to our favorite pizza place, Arella's. We got the usual margarita pizza along with raspberry vanilla italian sodas.

The new addition, which is definitely a new favorite, dessert.
I normally skip dessert because I'm too full already but since Arella's pizza is light, I could tackle dessert.
Plus, with a name like "Brownie to the Max" could you really say no?

It was delish.

Kevin and I shared and ate every bite. :)

We went and saw Tangled. It was really funny and we loved the new twist of Rapunzel. 

Not a prince but a thief comes to her tower. That's all I'm going to say because you should see it.

It's Disney's 50th animated movie. That's quite the legacy.

My day changed. I was smiling and laughing all the way through.

I was so grateful that Kevin came home for me.

He brought me so much JOY!

It wasn't a spectacular planned out date or a super expensive date. It was just nice and simple, the way we wanted. It was perfect (as perfect goes).

The more you invest in a marriage, 

the more valuable it becomes.
~Amy Grant

The day I felt I let everyone down

Saturday, was just a hard day. I was really sick and my mouth was hurting really badly. I think I've developed some sort of toothache and probably an infection in my gum. Otherwise, I'm not sure why it would hurt so bad. I broke my tooth back in July and thought nothing of it because it didn't hurt. Plus, while we have insurance, we just didn't have the money to go see the dentist. (I'm almost done paying off the doctor bills) I pretty much forgot about my tooth until it started to hurt.

Sadly, on Saturday it was the day of the big race. I trained for it and everything. Somehow, I just had to catch a cold the week of, miss lots of class, sleep away the days, not update the blog, not finish my homework, not read textbooks, not unpack, not clean and just sleep the time away. I hated it. There's a famous quote from my favorite book. "When you're in bed, you're dead."

I certainly felt like that. My sister-in-law Bethany came over the morning of and must of freaked out by the mess she saw. I bet she couldn't believe the amount of clothes that were everywhere. I did have them organized but the flimsy rack that they were hanging on decided to break. We just didn't have enough time to get a new one.

While they were gone, I did a lot of sleeping and when I woke up, a lot of cleaning. Mostly because I was pretty upset that I have lost Nie Nikon once again in the same week. I found it earlier in the week in a HUGE pile of laundry. So I attempted to search for it once again while trying to organize everything. Second let down, is because I had some amazing pictures of the Nixon family and their garden, which I still plan to share with you (once I find the camera). I just hope it's around the apartment and not in the Comm building.

I literally waste so much time looking for things around this apartment. I think I've lost my mind and I feel so behind on everything. However, I have a plan to buy hooks to put keys and cameras on so I don't lose them. I just don't know where to put my glasses quite yet.

I felt bad not running the race. They had such a great time! Just look how dirty they got. Lexi ran with my team and replaced me. It was nice of her to do that and be covered with mud, literally.

When Kevin came home, there was no sign of Nie Nikon and the place still wasn't that clean. Too many boxes still, if you ask me.

Luckily, I have a forgiving husband and took me out to buy a new rack to hang my clothes on after he came home (and showered, of course). Then he gave me a coupon to Orange Leaf for some frozen yogurt to use after Women's Conference. Good thing too, Jen and I had a wonderful time just catching up. We both had cake batter mixed with red velvet cake, with cheesecake bites on top. Way to end a hard day.

I'm sorry if I let you down. This whole sick thing better end soon.

I also really hope that this teacher has Nie Nikon. I have two classes in the same room. I'm hoping that it was an honest mistake there.

I'm going to the dentist later today, lucky me. First time in almost two years. Poor person who has to clean my teeth. I think they'll have to pull that tooth out. We'll see.