His friends call him CEO

I lovingly refer to him as my Husband. Because, well, to put it simply, I love him. We've been married for almost 2 years and I still feel like we're learning new things about each other. What a wonderful adventure we have had so far... Shawn is ambitious. He has goals and I am confident he will achieve them. One of his co-workers the other day mentioned that he thought Shawn had grown up too fast. I partially agree. [maybe because I get to see the little kid side come out when we're at home together] Shawn works 40, maybe 50 hours per week, but he thrives on it. But he also goes to school. he is slowly but surely making his way towards a degree while working full time, so that when he graduates he will be debt free. I can't help but love and respect that. Unfortunately, this life style doesn't leave much time for "youthful" activities. Not to say we don't have fun or a have good times together--we do. I love the memories we've made, and can't wait for all of the future ones that will come our way. I guess, well, I've been impressed with Shawn's amazing-ness lately. I wanted to blog about it. This last Sunday I got to watch my husband pass the Sacrament. As this is not something I normally get to see [or have not really ever seen] it was a humbling experience. How grateful I am to be married to a man who honors his Priesthood, who wears a crisp clean white shirt to church on Sunday and does not hesitate when asked to participate. Right now, I can hear Shawn talking to a long time friend who is now investigating the gospel. This friend has been calling a lot more lately, but I don't mind, because I inadvertantly get to hear Shawn's feelings on the gospel...and I love it. Shawn is oh-so-handsome, and his love for me is the most adorable thing. Ever. His friends might call him the CEO, and he quite possibly could be one some day, but he will always be my Monkey.

I just Blogged via TEXT! [This Rocks!]

So, I just saw the option to blog by texting from my phone. I couldn't help but give it a shot- I guess we'll see how it goes!

Spring Time Fun

I'm a little late to have a "Happy Easter" title, but I thought I'd blog about all of our adventures of the past week.

Shawn survived his Grand Canyon Backpacking trip-returning just in time for Easter Sunday. I made an Easter basket for us (with the encouragement of my friend Carla). It turned out to be really fun! I didn't get to hide it with clues, but I did make Shawn find the basket using the old Hot and Cold game. (in my opinion it was almost as good as Christmas)
We also had the opportunity to frost sugar cookies with our friends J & Heather. I didn't get any pictures of all the super cute cookies. There were Ducks, Bunnies, and Eggs--here is a picture of the only cookie left, after Shawn and I had eaten all the others.
My sister Julie invited us to dinner last Friday. It was fun to play with my niece and eat a good home cooked meal (I now have a new dinner idea-Navajo Tacos-they were delicious). Emilee was so funny. She has started posing for pictures. I asked her to pose for me, but she refused and turned around.
She said she would only pose for her Daddy's camera. So while she was posing for her Dad I snapped a picture. Look at how cute she is!!
Then on Saturday and Sunday we played Bocce Ball. It is quickly becoming one of our favorite outside games, so if you ever want to play give us a call (and we will challenge you to a duel).
Ahh. What can I say-it's been a great week. We love Spring!

Did I happen to mention that I have an Amazing husband?

The Case of the Missing Sock

A few weeks ago Shawn did the laundry and he lost my sock. One sock came out of the 2 loads of laundry without it's partner...but this was no ordinary sock! It was a cute colorful pair of socks that Shawn's Mom gave me for Christmas. I usually just wear plain white ankle socks, but she got me these cool wool socks that have blue toes and a fun pattern. I really like them, and they keep my feet super warm, especially during the cold winter months. You can imagine my distress when it was snowing last week and I couldn't wear the socks, because I only had one. I looked everywhere--in the hamper, in the other hamper, in the washer, in the dryer, next to, behind, and all around the washer & dryer, in the front room, in our bedroom, under the bed. You name it. I just don't loose things, ever. I was seriously ready to cry. I resigned myself to the fact that I might not get to ever wear the socks again and came to two conclusions: 1. It would show up sometime in the future (because I don't believe washing machines/dryers eat socks) or 2. It was stuck in some hose in our washing machine and we would experience some super explosion when it clogged the hose completely. Still, devastated that Shawn lost my sock. (Because I firmly believe it is his fault my sock became lost)


Yesterday Shawn found my sock!! It was in the sleeve of one of his long sleeve shirts and he presented it to me in the first moments of my waking. It was fabulous! I'm so happy he found my sock, and that the case of the Missing Sock has be solved. :) Ahh. I love him. And I am quite enjoying wearing these socks today...

A Lesson in Humility

Today started out wrong. I was experiencing what I like to call the 'post Conference blues'. I might be imagining this, but the Monday after General Conference is THE hardest day for me. It's down right horrible. I'm in a bad mood and it seems nothing goes right. So it was today. I was sad. This morning I was so sad. I didn't want to do anything. Totally one of those climb 'back in bed and pull the covers over your head' kind of mornings. I don't consider myself a quitter, so I got up and went to work, but had a sour attitude all day. Shawn had purchased tickets to a benefit concert for tonight...and even though bands/musicians I liked were going to be there, I didn't feel like going. I would have to rush to get my work done so I could hurry home. I started to think, maybe Shawn should just go, or call one of his friends to take my ticket because I am just not in the mood for this! We didn't really get to eat dinner-I was feeling ugly and gross-but we went.

I am so glad we went.

The concert was called, "Living for Eden" and it was a benefit concert for Paul Cardall. It was amazing. Paul suffers from a congenital heart disease. Last year his heart started to fail and he was put on the organ donor list...to await a heart transplant. He is still waiting.

The sole purpose of the concert was to raise money to help Paul and his family (his wife and little girl Eden). ALL of the proceeds will go to them. The concert was sold out, they had a silent auction before hand with some super cool items. [I think we seriously considered putting in a bid for the basketball signed by all the Jazz players for the 08-09 season, but decided we couldn't afford it] People could make donations and buy raffle tickets. The high school where it was held was PACKED. Performances from Kurt Bestor, Ryan Shupe and The Rubber Band, Peter Breinholt, Colors and more. My next door neighbor's son Michael Ferguson [who I've know basically my whole life] even played the piano for Colors! It was wonderful.

It was such a humbling experience for me. All I day I had been in a bad mood--over nothing. Over stupid little silly things...that won't even matter tomorrow or in a year. All these musicians came together to create a beautiful experience to help their friend... Because he wants to watch his little girl grow up. Because he feels music inside his heart and right now he doesn't have the energy to compose it. Because he wants to help all the little children who suffer from similar problems that he is experiencing and he feels lucky enough to have lived to be 36, unlike some of the children he has met...who may not live more than 1 year. Although there were some definite tear-jerker moments, the focus was on celebrating life. I loved it. I'm not even sure I can explain it, but I am so grateful for my life. For my husband. For my family. For my health. For the beautiful earth. For the temple and its promises. For good people [that I now know are still out there]. Sometimes I think I get so caught up on the negative, on what I'm missing, on what's wrong...I don't notice or appreciate the important little things...and they pass me by.

I learned a lot tonight, in my heart, in the best of ways. My favorite part of the concert was the very end when Paul got up with his wife & little girl and thanked everyone...and then played a song on the piano. It's basically the only song he has written in the past 7-8 months. There was so much emotion, and so much spirit in that song...I cried. The song touched my heart. It was beautiful, and although I don't know Paul at all, well, I hope he gets that heart and lives a long full life.

...I hope I do too...

"Just don't know what to do with myself"

So Shawn has been out of town, but he gets home in roughly 2 hours. I'm super excited! But, I don't know what to do for the next 2 hours until I have to go pick him up from the airport. I've cleaned the bathroom, done the dishes, I'm in the process of doing the laundry, I've watched enough TV to last a life time and I don't want to watch another minute. So...the moral of this story is, well, the title. I "just don't know what to do with myself". I could clean more, but I'm sick of it. I don't want to spend the next 2 hours checking his flight status every 5 minutes...Any ideas? [Not that anyone I know will be up and checking my blog at 10:20pm to give a suggestion haha]