To blog or not to blog. . .

I think I've proven to be a miserable blogger.  I may (or may not) publish at least one post a year.  I feel I should since I no longer live near my immediate family, and we will be moving every few years to exciting and possibly exotic locations.  Add to that, I have a cute and sometimes photogenic child.  It should be a recipe for blog success. . . Who cares, if no one reads it.  At least part of my life will be documented (I'm also a hopeless journaler).  

So here's my goal, one post and at least one picture a month.  It may be a tall order for me, but I didn't make any other New Year's resolutions.  I'd like to be more goal-oriented, so the blog should provide good practice.

Here goes. . . tomorrow (or shortly after that).

Fall is here :(

Fall is usually my favorite time of year, but this year I'm sad to see the days get shorter. Maybe it's because I stay at home now and cold weather means more time spent indoors. And coats, hats, mittens and the extra time it takes to get out the door when we do want to leave the house. Everything takes longer with a toddler. I think I've finally come to terms with this fact. I don't expect to accomplish much when Josiah is awake. Maybe I have low expectations. . . I just know that if I expect more of myself, I just end up feeling like a failure. Anyway, I'm a bit nervous about my first winter back in MN in four years. I don't feel like we had much of a transition from the heat of summer to the chill of fall. It seems we went from 80s to 50s overnight. What ever happened to the 60s and 70s? The sad thing is I know that 50 will feel like summer come March/April. Here's to hoping that the army sends us to Hawaii some day. . .

Back in MN

I don't know if anyone reads this anymore, but I thought it would at least be nice for Paul to be able to check the blog and see how his family is doing. I don't think I've posted for over a year, so here is a run down on what's new:

-Paul is deployed in Afghanistan assisting with the training of "Religious and Cultural Affairs" officers in the Afghan National Army. He will be gone until sometime next spring (March or April).

-Josiah (who is now 15 months!) and I moved back to MN to be closer to my parents and sister. We love MN, but are missing beautiful Cache Valley, Utah.

-We don't know what will happen with our family when Paul returns. We'll see what the army wants to do with Paul when he gets back.

-I find every excuse not to be home to clean, so while we are pretty much moved into our new place, it's still a work in progress.

-While Josiah is not yet walking (he's really close), he's a busy little boy who loves to explore - especially anything behind a closed door.

We're excited to reconnect with old friends here in MN. I'm also hoping to make a trip to the Washington D.C. area sometime in the next 6 months. Plane tickets are pretty cheap right now, so we'll see what we figure out.

1-2 month Jo Jo pics!

These were taken by Auntie Tay Tay when we were in MN for part of the summer.

We're still alive!

So much has happened since we last posted! Most notably, the speck was born! He is such a delight. Becoming a mother has been a difficult adjustment for me, but things are definitely on the up and up.

Updates

-Paul had his first drill with the army reserves. He is assigned to Fort Douglas in Salt Lake. It was a pretty rigorous drill. On the first day he finished at noon and then went to the VFW to eat BBQ and watch a magic show.

-I hit up the clearance rack in the maternity section at Old Navy. For $35 I got 4 pairs of pants, 3 tops, 1 pair of capris and 1 dress. It was a good day!

-The nausea has died down, but has been replaced by mild headaches. Overall, though, I'm feeling better. I'm starting to get more energy. . .

-Speck is getting bigger, by the end of this week, he/she will almost be the size of a softball.

10 weeks down, 30 to go

So we're pregnant, which is really exciting but also exhausting. I've been meaning to post the ultrasound pictures we got from the doctor two weeks ago, but I forgot how to use the scanner, and I'm too tired to figure it out on my own. That's the story of my life right now. I'm too tired to do anything. We were nervous about the first appointment with the doctor, because that's where we learned that we had miscarried with the last pregnancy. Paul came with me this time. When the doctor came into the examining room, we decided to skip the chit-chat and proceed directly to the US. I laid down on the table, and unlike what I had expected to feel (I had been anxious for weeks), I felt peaceful. I later learned that Paul on the other hand was quite nervous and as the doctor started probing my abdomen, Paul feared that she wouldn't find anything. There were a few suspenseful seconds while the doctor probed in silence, but then suddenly a loud boom-bum, boom-bum filled the room. I felt relief, and Paul started to cry. The doctor told us that our baby appeared healthy and that she doubted we would miscarry at this point. So we are grateful and looking forward to meeting our speck in June. Actually, the baby is no longer a speck, but is now the size of a small plum.

I'm not very good at this blog thing, but I won't give up (yet). Does anyone ever read this thing? I know that my mom doesn't. Mari does, bless her. Summer was long. Paul went to Fort Jackson to finish the last part of Chaplain school. I stayed home and worked. I did take a few days off to visit my friend Jessica in Aspen, CO. I had a great time. I also got to spend some time with my extended family. I spent a few nights staying up LATE chatting with my cousin, Christopher, who is now serving an LDS mission. Very fun, but I'm too old to be pulling all-nighters.

Now Paul's back in Logan. He's going to school, working, studying all the time and watching college football. The trees are finally starting to change. I love fall. I shouldn't put this in writing, but I'm really looking forward to the first snow.

The picture above shows what Paul's new dress uniforms look like. We love how the pants don't match the jacket. Thankfully the shiny shoes are still standard.

Catching up

So we haven't posted anything for months. Here's a list of highlights from last fall to now:

December: We spent Christmas in Hawaii! Paul served a mission there about 15 years ago, but we were still able to visit with people he knew, including Mano Capinpin(above), his wife Miranda, and their daughter Sammy. We went for two weeks. The first week was spent between the islands of Oahu and Kauai. We spent the second week on the big island with friends we met here in Logan. They are from the Kona side of the island and went home to be sealed over the holiday. It was wonderful to be able to attend the sealing.

January: Paul started another semester. 12 graduate credits was a heavy load, but being unemployed for 6 weeks helped Paul get ahead in his classes. I'm so proud of Paul. He's such a good student. I call him my little scholar. He has some of his dad in him after all.

January 31: Paul turned the big 3-6!

March: I was on furlough over the spring break at Utah State University. The mandatory time-off turned out to be a good opportunity to go back to MN to visit my family. We had a wonderful time together. Poor Paul stayed in Logan and studied his brains out. My sister, Taylor, and I did some sister bonding. She is a lot of fun.

April: Paul and I fell off the face of the earth. Paul was buried in his studies as the semester came to a close, and I spent a lot of time sleeping because of the two squirts growing inside of me. I knew I was pregnant right away because my body started playing funny tricks on me.

May: Paul and Emily spend their first spring together in two years! Paul was supposed to go to Fort Hood, Texas for an internship with the army for six weeks starting in May. Unfortunately, due to lack of funding, the internship was canceled. Though we miss the extra money that comes in while Paul is away doing his military stuff, it has been so nice to be together during the spring. Spring is by far the nicest season in Logan. The valley is so green (for desert standards). I think providence kept Paul in Logan for another reason. I ended up really needing him later in the month.

May 18th: I went for my first prenatal appointment with the doctor. I was so excited. I had anticipated this appointment for weeks. I had been feeling very pregnant for about two months (we conceived in March), but I was really looking forward to the doctor's confirmation of the pregnancy. I was especially excited for my first ultrasound. I got to the clinic, talked to the doctor, and finally she prepped me for the US. She squeezed some jelly stuff on my abdomen and start to probe my belly. When she didn't say anything for a long time, I became mildly worried. Then the bomb dropped: "It looks like you had twins and they demised." I heard her say demised, but that I had twins blew me away. People like me don't have twins - I was an only-child for most of my life. There are no twins that I'm aware of in either of our families. The only thing that qualified me for having twins is that I grew up in the Twin Cities. It took me a while to process that not only did I have multiples, but that I had lost them. I'm still having trouble coming to terms with this, because as of now, my body still thinks it's pregnant.

Today: Paul and I are doing well. Paul is so supportive and tries to make me laugh. We both look forward to trying again.

Father Paul

BCGs: Birth Control Glasses - standard military issue


It's been a long time since we last posted. I guess our lives are pretty boring. One development that we are excited about is Paul's increased military activity. He attended basic training this summer and claims he liked it. He'll continue with his chaplain training next summer.

Food Storage

Uncle Sam almost bled us dry, so I've tried to be creative in coming up with ways to save money. Now I have to boast about my ingenuity in the kitchen with our food storage. The first food items pictured above are homemade crackers made with wheat my mother gave us when we got married. Paul's mother has a really nice wheat grinder, so now I make my own flour when we go down for visits. I made the crackers with Parmesan cheese and Italian spices. They taste pretty good. The second food item is an enormous bag of beans. I never realized how expensive canned beans are compared to dry beans. I soaked a big pot last night, and when I cooked them today, it took 3 large pots to do the job. We're having neighbors over for dinner tomorrow, and I'm going to make a Mexican-style chili (of my own invention - hopefully it will turn out). I'll freeze the rest of the beans to save for future meals. The last food items pictured are cornbread muffins. I used three items in my food storage to make these beauties: honey, milk powder and wheat. I read somewhere that milk powder works well in baked goods, and I've learned that it's true. I've also been making some pretty good chocolate pudding with all the milk powder we've got. My mother gave us several boxes of food storage items when we got married. It's not until now that I've actually started to use them. I've enjoyed discovering yummy recipes that call for ingredients we have in our food storage. Thanks mom!

My little namesake (kind of)

While we were in Texas, I met my niece Kamryn for the first time. She is an absolute doll. She seemed to like me alright. After all, her middle name is Emilie. (That's how I spelled my name when I lived in Germany.)

I Love TX

These are pictures from our spring break trip to TX. First we have Paul and Emily at a Lamborghini dealership where Paul's brother works. We were thinking about maybe purchasing that car. Next, we're pictured at the seawall in Galveston. We wanted to fly a kite, but then a storm rolled in as is shown in the next picture. The last picture is of our lively nephew, Alex.

Wishing it were spring (break)

Here are a few more pictures from my trip to the East Coast. On the top is a picture of a Chinese take out place in a mall in D.C. Back in the 50's, my grandfather had a restaurant by the same name (China City) in Provo, UT. The other pictures are of members of the Burton family; I stayed at their place in Baltimore for a few days. The furry one is Einstein, and pictured below him are his parents, Dan and Elizabeth. I had a great time with all three of them.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

A few St. Patrick's Days ago, my sister called me up and informed me that she's Irish - so it would follow that I must have some Irish in me, too. Who would have guessed. I hope you're wearing green today, Taylor. I think my favorite St. Patrick's Day memory is when my mother made me green eggs for breakfast. It was a school day, and a hot (and green) breakfast was unexpected. It was certainly a pleasant surprise.

Spring Break is Over

Tomorrow it's back to the grind. Though Emily worked a few days over spring break, it was nice that Paul had a break from his classes. We both took short trips out of town. Emily spent a few days on the East Coast to visit with friends and family. Paul flew to Houston, where Emily later joined him to see Paul's big brother Richard and his family. We also had the opportunity to visit with Emily's cousin Larissa and her family, who have recently moved to Houston. We really enjoyed spending time with everyone. It was hard to say good-bye (to family, friends and the warmer weather).

Pictured above: Tamika and Emily in front of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C.; Mei and Emily right before bed in Mclean, VA; MN friends Dan and Lizzy (and Emily) at dinner in an Italian restaurant in the Little Italy district in Baltimore; cute cousins Jade and Lex in Houston; our nephew Garrett (pictures of his siblings to come) right before school in Houston

Beginnings

Well, we did it. We finally jumped on the blog bandwagon. Though our lives aren't terribly exciting, and we don't have any adorable children whose pictures we can post, we thought because we are so transient it might be nice if we had a blog. Currently we are living in Logan, UT where Paul is a student at Utah State University. He's in training to become a chaplain in the army. We're hoping his career will lead our family to some adventures - well, at least something a little more adventurous than Logan. We do like it here. Emily's becoming acquainted with cowboy culture.