Easter 2012

 {The day before Easter, I walked to Rewe with my girls to get some flowers for our dining room table. I was thinking more like Lilys or something but they only had this or dark roses left to pick from. This sweet little plant ended up winning!}

Have you ever had a holiday that wasn't stressful or hectic? If so, you are my hero! I think in most cases, holidays tend to get a little crazy with all the hustle and bustle going on - even when you try to prevent it from happening. I would love to say that our Easter was amazing - and in ways, it still was! Friends joining us for dinner, talking to family on the phone and knowing the true meaning of why we celebrate Easter was the amazing part! The not so amazing part however was so many of us waking up in bad moods which lead to a few disagreements throughout the day and tears shed, it being really cold outside and kids not cooperating for a few pictures and Landon hurting his finger which resulted in us missing Sacrament meeting at church. You know, just normal daily stuff. :) But we definitely made the most of it and did what we could to still have a fun and enjoyable day as a family. In order to do this though, we had to simplify some of our plans which turned out being a huge blessing! Us girls forfeited painting our nails and doing them another day instead. We didn't dye any Easter eggs. And I didn't make homemade cinnamon rolls. And a few other things. Simplicity at it's best! I don't like a lot of stress so this was nice to cut some fun things out of our normal Easter festivities and be okay with it in order to have a calm and functional family. A baby keeps things busy and us on our toes a lot anyways.

The kids woke up to find their Easter baskets. We ate breakfast and then got ready for church. Landon sliced his finger pretty bad on what I have no idea and it took quite a bit of time to get that sucker to stop bleeding! And just in case anyone was wondering....a band-aid and a 12 month old does NOT mix too well. That band-aid didn't stay out of his mouth or on his finger for very long! I know, surprise surprise! :) So as I mentioned, we missed Sacrament meeting. I was completely bummed about this to be honest. I love being able to take the Sacrament and hear the speakers and testimonies shared. Especially on a day like today! It was so easy at this point to have everyone hang up their Easter clothes and stay home but I still had to be at church to teach a primary class. Andrew's Sunbeam class actually. My friend teaches his class but her and her family were on vacation so I gladly accepted to fill in and teach for her. We may have missed Sacrament meeting, but boy was it nice to still be able to go and attend Sunday school. It completely lifted my spirit to be there, to see so many friendly faces and to teach 3 wonderful three year olds (which the little girl was the only one to stay in her seat! This also doesn't surprise me! :) Hard age for little kids to hold still in their seats longer than 2 minutes. In fact....not a lot surprises me anymore these days)! :)

Once we got back home, we found out that the Easter bunny had stopped by while we were at church and left a ton of eggs throughout the house. (AKA: John got upstairs faster than the rest of us and planted eggs as fast as he could)! :) We figured that if we hid them any sooner, let's say last night? Jocelyn would have had a field day. That girl sneaks sweets any chance she can get! So back to the Easter egg hunt. Kids went crazy racing around the house. Aubrey was generous and helped the others find some that she had already spotted. Or even gifted a few of hers to them. She's so sweet and helpful! Landon threw one of his recently developed tantrums on the floor! Haha!! With him being child number four, it doesn't get to me like it used to with the others. Now we're like, "be my guest....acting like that is not going to get you anything!" :) He then crawled (and sometimes walked) around and found some low to the ground eggs which Aubrey quickly opened and broke up some Robbins Eggs for him to devour. He was happy after that! Honestly, who wouldn't be? It was pretty fun watching them search and find their eggs.

We then changed over into some comfy clothes, put Landon down for his afternoon nap, kids played and helped tidy up for our company and John and I got things started with the dinner. Ham, homemade mashed potatoes + gravy, mixed vegetables, rolls and a salad. Our friends, another Marine Corps family, brought a delicious cake and some drinks. Their kids are close to our kids' ages - for Jocelyn and Andrew anyways. Their daughter is going to be in Kindergarten with Jocelyn this coming year and their son is a year or so younger than Andrew. (They also have a baby that is about 10 months younger than Landon who will one day be buddies together!) All four of them got along really well like they did when we got them together for the first time at the playground a few weeks ago. Their family is super nice and are expected to be here as long as we are. We're pretty happy about that! :) I'm not sure how I did it, but I managed to forget to take a photo of all of us adults. But the kids are plenty cute, so they make up for me forgetting! :)

As the night began to wind down and our company left for home, we made a few calls to family to wish them a Happy Easter. This 9 hour time difference can be quite hard to reach everyone! We didn't get to talk to a lot of them which made us sad but we at least got to talk to a few. Got the kids into their pajamas, talked about the real meaning of Easter (Got some strange looks from Andrew like: "What? It's NOT about candy and the Easter Bunny?" And this one came from Jocelyn: "Is the Easter Bunny real or fake?") and then we watched an Easter video on the churches website called "He Is Risen." It was a good end to a sort of not good start to the day. I am very thankful for my Savior, Jesus Christ! That he paid for our sins and died on the cross so that we may all live again. That He was resurrected. That He lives and loves us and wants us to be happy! I have so much to be thankful for!

Especially my family!

Happy Easter!

Date Night @ CineStar

Once a month, John and I make it a priority to have a date night. 

More often would be nice, but at least we are making progress.

It used to be once a year (slight exaggeration but not by much!) so once a month...

is GOOD!

Tonight, we decided to go downtown to see The Hunger Games at the theater. 

John reserved the couple seat - two seats side-by-side that do not have an arm rest in the middle. Pretty comfy!

We got there a bit too early for the show and had been shooed away to come back not any sooner than a quarter till it began. The theater was packed with people so that was fine by me to leave for awhile so we could get some fresh air and talk. We wandered across the street to an underground garden. It was pretty and very quiet!

While it's still new for us to get out, just the two of us, it was really nice to just be. No tending to our children's needs, no interruptions, no diapers to be changed or mouths to feed. I can't help but still think of them on our night out alone. We try not to have the conversation be about them but it's hard not to have it that way at times. They are a huge part of us! But the long pauses of "I don't know what to say" sort of gets old. It makes me realize that while this "once a month together alone" is nice, we might just might need to up it to another date night a month so we can connect and talk more. Twice a month...will be BETTER! :) Not only does a full time job keep John super busy but so does a full evening of homework while taking on-line courses. We hardly get a break!

It's so hard to find the time for us to connect.

But it's important -

so somehow, someway we'll make it work!

We made our way back to the movie theater, bought some popcorn, gummy bears and soda and found our assigned seats. The movie was good and intense and at one part in particular, I grabbed John's arm and scared him more than the movie itself scared him! Ha! Too funny. I seriously wanted to make a bee line for the door but I kept telling myself, "It's just a movie...it's just a movie!" Besides, I didn't think it would be appropriate to ditch my date! ;)

We hopped back onto the train and made our way back home -

happy to have had a night to ourselves!

Next movie, I want to see this: 

The Lucky One! 

I have read and have loved every single one of Nicholas Sparks' books so I'm really looking forward to this one - especially with it being about a Marine.

A Real Friend

{Found image on Pinterest}

As I've gotten older and have moved to a few different places in my lifetime, I have learned who my true friends are and who my true friends aren't. And that really is okay when all is said and done...because you can't be friends with everyone! You can be friendly to everyone, of course! But some people you click with better than others. Or you may have more in common with than others. I am also okay with having a few close knit friends vs. a million. Moving around has it's perks but one of the downfalls of moving frequently is having to leave the good ones behind to venture out to the unknown to find new ones and well, that can be downright hard! And sometimes unbearable! Some days I want to throw the towel in and say "FORGET IT! It's just not worth my heart being crushed a thousand times putting myself out there to meeting people that end up hurting me." Sometimes I feel that I have enough friends and don't need anymore. It's hard when you realize when a friend wasn't really a friend at all - the pain and sadness that usually comes along with that realization. Growing up, I had more guy friends than girl friends for that reason alone: I couldn't take all the drama and the heart ache. I still feel that way today. But, along with the few rotten eggs you run into and the pain they may cause, I believe it is worth it when you extend yourself and end up meeting and forming healthy relationships with the good eggs. After all, you can't very well love and appreciate the good eggs so much without coming across the bad ones. 

I'm so grateful for my husband - who also happens to be my best friend! I couldn't have asked for a better man. He amazes me and always makes me smile and laugh. He's always there for me (as I am for him) and I never ever have to question his intentions as they are honest and sincere. I was having a rough time the other day and I'd like to share a little of what I wrote to him:

"Thank you for being my constant and true love & friend in a lifetime of pain and let downs around me. Thank you for loving me, believing in me and finding me. I know life gets busy and some days just down right hard and unbearable - but because I have you, I know I will make it and be stronger for it. I would be lost without you. Thank you so much for taking care of me and our family. You are amazing and I can't think of a better person to be with than you! You are my hero!!!!"

I've been fortunate for the most part since moving here. I have met and become friends with a handful of some really nice and friendly people. With that said though, I have also come to find a few "friends" actually turn out not really earning that worthy title. It's really made me pause and think of what a true friend really is! To re-evaluate some relationships in my life that were becoming toxic and I had to make the decision to end it knowing that letting go of the negative would give me peace again. To realize that not every friend in your life stays a forever friend. In some cases, wonderful friends end up being situational friends. Friends that you had during a certain time in your life that you lose touch with for one reason or another when one of you moves away. Or friends that you needed to have during a hardship and were a blessing but you both went your separate ways when life dealt you a different hand of cards to play. Then there's the friends that no matter the time and distance you've had between the two of you, you can pick right back up where you left off as if time stood still and years hadn't gone by. So thankful for the internet (not something I say a lot!) and being able to stay connected to so many friends and family that live afar. How lost I would feel without those wonderful friendships in my life even if they don't live around the corner anymore! It was really hard getting close to another Marine Corps Spouse that happened to also be my downstairs neighbor for a few months just to watch her up and move away 2.5 years earlier than planned (we moved here around the same time) BUT thankfully she's considered one of those forever friends that no matter where we are living, we will always stay in each other's lives!

So thank you to all my REAL friends! For being there for me as I have for you. For the good times and the laughs we've had; for the hard times and the hugs we've shared. You are loved and cherished and I hope you know that you are so very important to me - no matter how far away we live from one another! How much you are missed!!! What I'd give to see you more than we do and to have lunch together or take our kids to the park or go on a trip to the beach together! (Or in this case, Paris!!!!) :)

A REAL friend makes life more bearable!

Quite simply, to have a friend...you need to BE one! :)

General Conference Weekend

Two times a year, we have the honor to hear from our living Prophet and many other great leaders - to uplift and inspire us to be grateful, do better, feel blessed + encouraged, to hear the things we are needing to focus and work on and to know more about the Lord, our Savior, Jesus Christ and how to become more like Him. I absolutely love hearing and taking in all of the great messages! It wasn't always this way though. Not that I didn't feel it's importance growing up and listening to 4 hours of talks x 2 days. But being young, well, it's hard to sit still and listen for that long of a time. Even with quiet activities and snacks. It still IS sometimes hard to sit that long even today. But as I get older, I realize it's importance more and more and yearn for it even greater as each general conference comes around. It really is a spiritual feast for me! My brother made a good point when we were exchanging emails a few weeks ago....I hope he doesn't mind me sharing his great comment: "There have been some really great messages.  Its always easy to listen to the talks and feel inspired, but then the difficulty comes when we try to apply what we have learned and felt.  Changing isn't very easy." It's so true though! He hit it right on the nail. Change is difficult to do. Especially when it comes to important changes!

This conference, I had big aspirations to make the usual homemade cinnamon rolls. It just wasn't in the cards of things to do though so we settled on some store bought ones. It wasn't as satisfying that's for sure but it was food and that's how it goes sometimes! After breakfast and a few other things got done around the house, the kids and I spread out some blankets and pillows and set up the computer to watch and listen to conference from the comfort of our own home. Thankfully Landon was taking his nap during the morning session. I don't think we'd hear very much otherwise. I'm very flexible with the younger kids but it's hard to keep them interested and sitting even in the same room without making a run for it! I wanted to print them off some conference packets and activities to keep them interested and focused but they're still just a bit too young for it. Jocelyn is just now learning to read, so hopefully when next conference time rolls around, she'll be ready for it. I at least ask them to sit and listen to the Prophet speak. Aubrey and I can listen without much difficulty (unless said kids are whining or hungry or bored or tired or....you get the idea!) I used to sit and take a ton of notes but have found a love for the Ensign's conference edition where I can highlight and take notes there. Of course if I feel inspired by something I hear, I'll write it down but I found it to be too repetitive to write down what they say when I can read and see it in the Ensign magazine a month or so later. I think it also has something to do with three little ones? Not having the means to hear or the time to even write? Hmm...yeah, I'm pretty sure it's mostly that! In fact, for the Saturday afternoon session, the kids scattered and became uninterested. I found the time to listen as I folded laundry and went for a walk. To end our beautiful conference weekend, we made a great feast and huddled around the table as a family - this time to feed our hungry tummies (with some Ziti, corn on the cob and rolls - it was delish)!

This conference also had soooo many wonderful talks given. A lot about families which I loved! And so many uplifting words of comfort and inspiration. In fact, many talks were instantly quoted not even a day later! How wonderful is that? We really do have some amazing leaders and people very much in-tune with the spirit of the Lord. I can't wait to get the conference edition of the Ensign in the mail so I can study and apply the messages in my life. So I can learn to be better and do better for me and my family! And as always, I look forward to next conference - already!!! :)