It's the fourth of July

How can you not love the USA?

 My respect, love and gratitude for this amazing country that I was miraculously born into has grown a ton this last month as we visited Boston.   A post about that trip is STILL coming.   I truly felt the Spirit as I walked through historic fields, churches, houses and other sites.  And the people who built our country!  They became real to me.  How brave they were- it never occurred to me until I was there- at the sites- of how these people were REAL people with real lives and how hard and dangerous that would be to rebel.  I am so so so grateful for their bravery- and their communication with God to know that their declaration for independence was the right thing to do.

My mother worked for the local school district for many years and now I am a teacher.  She and I just had a conversation about how wonderful it is each morning to say the Pledge of Allegiance or listen to the National Anthem.  She says she misses that a lot now that she's retired.  And even though I've only been out for the Summer for a few weeks- I too agreed that I really miss it!

 I always make sure my first hour class is up and at attention when the Pledge starts- and if there is any disrespect or dismissal of the Pledge we do it again.

 It's also awesome as a choir teacher to teach the National Anthem to my singers.  That song is so powerful!  I know it was inspired from each word to each interval that builds to the climax where you can't help but get goose bumps.   I also love how much the students love to sing that song!   They love how it makes them feel when they breathe those powerful words.

On a more modern and perhaps juvenile note- I love the fourth of July for it's Summer purity.  When you think of a perfect Summer day- doesn't it describe the Fourth?   Swimming, barbecue, friends, family, music, sunburn, water, popsicles, and perhaps for others like me- amazing shopping sales!  What a day!  Seriously one of my absolute favorite days of the year.  (Right up there with Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Christmas Eve.)

And fireworks.

FIREWORKS!  I am literally smiling right now at the thought.   I love fireworks sooooo much.   If I could do my wedding over again it would include fireworks.

Anyways- there's my thoughts this Independence Day 2012 at 12:41 am.

Here's a little patriotic tune for the day- sung by a British girl:

A day of no regrets

This has been an extremely busy, fun packed summer so far.

 I'll be posting soon about our week long stay in Boston.

 And each day in between get aways seem to fill up fast!

Today was the first day since spring break (that was last March) that I didn't have to do ANYTHING.

I slept in very late... Specifics are not important... And I've been a total bum.

It's been a great day.

Here's what I did not do today:

I did not purge unwanted items from our office closet:

I did not hand wash our swimsuits and clean the bathroom (it's getting gross):

I did not fix the bed or even open the blinds:

I did not hang Hunter's shirts:

I did not tidy up the spare bedroom that is currently my sew room:

This is the worst one... I did not wash the kitchen floor.  This is the one that kills me a little... I hate dirty kitchen floors.  And it's super hard to see it in this photo, but it's bad.  

I did not do the dishes:

I did not organize my desk:

Or Hunters:

It's all good.  This will all happen next week.  :-) 

Gracie & Ruby

When we got back from Puerto Rico, my best friend Stephanie and her husband Julio were in a predicament where they needed a babysitter for a couple days.  I gladly helped out!  

These two angels are amazing.  I had the BEST time watching them.  I always love when I get to play "mom" and tend children.  It brings such a sweet feeling into our house.  I can see how challenging it will be to do this day in and day out for years and years.  Here are some things I think I'm already catching up on:

- if you don't get up and get dressed and put your makeup on first thing, it won't happen.  And then it's 5pm and you are wearing PJS, smelling of sour milk, sweating and feeling like a bum. 

- you feel better about yourself when you are dressed and ready, but you still smell of sour milk and sweat.  But you feel less like a bum.  

-Sesame Street is the most tolerable children's show.  It's like SNL for kids.  

- Nap when the babies nap.

- Do the dishes and put away the toys only once a day otherwise that is all you will do all day long.

- Plastic bags from grocery stores really come in hand when disposing of a poopy diaper.

- your back and arms hurt at night and in the morning. 

- you bend down more times than you would ever imagine 

- kids really do the funniest things and you are smiling all day long

Gracie napping like a diva:

Gracie- she's bilingual and when I spoke to her in Spanish she looked at me like "how do you know that secret language?"

Ruby- has a reputation of being fussy, but was the PERFECT baby for me.  Thanks, girl. 

I love her profile, chin just like her moms. 

Puerto Rico

So.... we went to Puerto Rico.

My parents who are getting quite accustomed to spoiling us, decided the day school got out that they were taking us to Puerto Rico.  

We enjoyed it.  A lot.  

Why:

- I'd never been in the Atlantic Ocean.  It's warm, but not hot, and in PR it's SUPER clear. 

- Snorkeling.  Best coral I've seen yet.  Tons of fish, clear water.  

- Hotel right on the beach.   The hotel was amazing and had so many perks.  My favorite was the private beach where they'd set up chairs and umbrellas for their guests and serve you food and drinks to your seat on the beach.  

- Reading the Hunger Games trilogy on the beach.  

- Watching and hearing the waves from our room.

- eating coconut shrimp from a bar IN THE POOL. 

-  hot tub. 

-The food and culture on the street.  Especially Old San Juan.  Google this place to see how old it is.  And so rich in history.  

- Being able to practice my Spanish, and then being able to give up and speak English to anyone.  Everyone's bilingual.  I'm so jealous.  

- going to Church and loving the Gospel where ever it is.  And the generous family who took us back to our hotel.  

- pretty much getting a full body spa treatment from the saltwater, sand and humidity.

- sunburns that turn into semi-tans. 

- the fact that I didnt' see a Wal-Mart during my stay

- virgin Pina Coladas. 

-And of course, being with my wonderful family.  The trip was relaxing, stress free and fun.  And that's because I have the best family ever.  

Thank you Mom and Dad!  You are the best.   

Our hotel.  Two pools and that's the beach right there.

The Castillo de Cristobal in Old San Juan

Snorkeling.  See how calm the water is????

Mis padres at the Castillo

View from the castle.  It was a fortress during war.

Us:

From the fortress looking out into the Caribbean Sea. 

Now looking the opposite way into Old San Juan.

View from our room.

The streets of Old San Juan

Our first third anniversary

On May twenty- ninth,  Hunter and I celebrated our third anniversary!  

Go us.  

Here are my top three favorite things about Hunter:

1. His love and commitment to the Gospel.  This is first and foremost even before his love and commitment to me because this is why I married him!  Because of his love of the Lord, I know he will always love and respect me! Because of his testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we have the same morals, beliefs and goals in life.   Basically, we're on the same page.

2.  His love for me and us.  I put both me and us and I think that means more.  Hunter is SO PATIENT with me and my selective OCDness and my impatience with everything.  Yet, he doesn't take my crap which I love- it helps me calm down and grow in my weaknesses.  Hunter is always up for a hug or a conversation.  He supports me in all I ever do from setting up for parties to laughing at my crazy stories from being a teacher- laughing with me and holding me when I cry. And he loves us- nurtures our marriage in so many ways.  

3. His distaste in country music.  This means so much.  First, on our first date as we were chatting it up in the car we discussed music right away- as it is one of my favorites in life.  He quickly made it clear that he did NOT like country music.  At that moment I knew we would be together.  

Secondly, because of this dislike- Hunter has personality traits and views on society that I love and that I agree with.  It's hard to explain.  But if you know what I mean, you know what I mean.  And if you don't, you probably like country music.  

Okay now that I've offended my country-music-loving friends.....

The Third Anniversary is celebrated with leather.  (To find what each year's gift is  See here.)  

Hunter went traditional and awesome with this large leather photo album:

But the coolest part was he printed EVERY picture we have of us or one of us that we've taken since we got married.  And in this digital photo age, I'm super happy that we have hard copies of all these photos now.  

And then for kicks he gave me my favorite Burt's Bee's product with a charming note that says "I hope this will help your woman leather."  haha

I had issues trying to find something leather for him.... not sure why.  But I ended up getting him a waterpack that he's been wanting for a long time and definitely needs now that he's in Scouting.  He was quite excited.  

But then to cover my bases, I found this leather scented car freshener and attached it to my homemade card made with brown leather colored paper.... it's a stretch, I know.   

I love you, man. 

NYC from my iPhone

Went to NYC with the incredibly talented, hilarious, most awesome high school kids, chaperones and director. Hadnt ever seen this city from a completely tourist view. But I learned so much about new York that I would never have before. And it was a blast.

The wonder week

I haven't been blogging despite all my free time recently because of Spring break.... All hunter and I do is play solitaire- each on our own devices and watch the wonder years on Netflix. Really.

And we may have stayed up till 5 am Thursday night doing just that.

I was telling jenny tonight that Hunter and I do this so much that anytime I play solitaire now I think of Winnie and Kevin. By the way this show has made me cry a lot, and the music is one of the best parts.

We only have one and a half seasons left so... Yeah.