Betrayed

Last week Wednesday was my day off.  I was getting ready for the day when I dropped something.  I bent down to get it and stood up quickly.  Then, I went to take a step and realized I was in excruciating pain. I somehow did something to my back and I could barely walk.  Sitting, standing, or laying down, everything hurt.  I had been betrayed by my body.

Lucky for me, my brother-in-law is a chiropractor, so he took a look and adjusted me.  (I am so grateful I have family members who are willing to help me when I need something.)  Even after the adjustment, I knew Wednesday night there was no way I could go to work the next day.

Thursday, I woke up initially feeling better.  I had gone to sleep with an ice-pack under my back, and thought maybe I was better.  The moment I tried to move, I realized I was wrong.  So I spent the day re-reading some of my favorite Boxcar Children books.

Though I enjoyed the books, by the end of the day I was thinking of all the things I needed to catch up on at work.  I have so much to do normally, I definitely do not want to fall behind.  And frankly, my coworkers depend on me a little too much.  Lots of things get left undone when I'm not there.  I told my boss I would try to go to work on Friday.

Friday I got up and started getting ready.  It didn't take long for me to realize I couldn't spend more than ten minutes sitting up,  and I was crazy if I thought I could sit up, stand, or walk around an office for ten hours.  As much as I hated to do it, I let my boss know I couldn't make it to work again.

Normally, if I have to call out, I am sick and miserable and in no condition to think about work.   I was frustrated that my body had betrayed me, and though my mind was ready and willing to handle the tasks I needed to take care of, my body was not able.  I wished I worked from home, or was able to bring my work home so I could complete some of my projects.  But as I rested at home, reading and watching a few TV shows on Hulu, I realized how truly lucky I am to be physically able to work.  I am young and healthy.  My body will heal, and is healing.  I was able to work today.

I thought about those people who suffer from an injury, illness, or disability and are not able to heal.  I tried to be more grateful for my circumstances and to not mind the inconvenience, especially since my injury was temporary.

Though my job is not ideal, I have one.  I am grateful I have a decent paycheck with good benefits.  I am grateful I have a job that allows me to take occasional sick time when something like this occurs.  And mostly, I am grateful that I am able to get up each morning and do the work I need to do to keep my paycheck coming.

Babysitting For Fun

This week I got the pleasure of having a little one on one time with my super sweet niece, Brooklyn.

This little munchkin is as cute as they come, but she woke up her nap with a very full and very dirty diaper.  I haven't changed a diaper in at least a decade, and wasn't sure I could handle it when I first opened up that little bomb to discover what was inside.  I used up probably half the wipes getting her cleaned up and nearly put the diaper on backwards.  But we both survived somehow.  I just reminded myself that I would like a munchkin of my own someday so I had to suck it up and take the opportunity to practice my future mommy skills.


And then the little sweetheart spent the rest of the afternoon making up for it.  She is such a happy little girl and has the greatest maniacal laugh.  An episode of Friends was playing on TV while I was feeding her lunch and I giggled at something that happened.  Brooklyn laughed because I was laughing and before we knew it we were cackling like a couple of witches stirring a big black cauldron.









Then the little cutie decided to help me with my laundry and paused to give me an impromptu hug.  I love those.

Brooklyn likes to watch the washer spin the clothes.



I love this little girl!!

That Awkward Moment

Adam and I moved in to a new ward a few months ago.  A couple weeks after we moved in, part of a much larger ward was broken off and added to ours, so we did not get callings right away.

This week, Adam and I were asked to team teach one of the Valiant 9 classes.  The primary is enormous, so most of the classes are split in two.  Even with only half  the 9-10 year olds, we have 13 kids in our class!!

Today the ward had a "meet your teacher" breakfast.  When Adam and I arrived, we were directed to our table and we sat with our kids and watched other children and teachers arrive.

Now I am going to confuse you and back track to ten years ago:

It was the summer of 2002, and I was nearly 19.  I had just graduated high school and began attending young single adult activities.  At one of these activities, I met a young man who at first seemed very charming. I will call him J.  J was friendly and flirtatious, and honestly he was one of the first guys to pay much attention to me.  We started "hanging out" or "dating", whatever you want to call it.  I realized very quickly he was extremely picky.  He didn't like my curly hair or the fact that I weighed six pounds more than him (at that time I was probably the lightest I have ever been and was super cute).  He was short and scrawny, but I liked having someone to hang out with.  He had a brother I will call R who was pretty cool, and I always enjoyed a night when J, R, my friends and I would all hang out.  One night when he was walking me to my door, J attempted to kiss me.  I had never been kissed before, and I don't think I knew what he was up to.  I must have thought he was coming in for a hug.  Anyway, he had never kissed anyone either, and he came at me with his mouth wide open.  He ended up licking my teeth.  I was so surprised and frankly grossed out, I started gagging.  We hung out for a couple more weeks (no more kissing attempts were made) and he finally called it off.  I wasn't surprised and really wasn't hurt when he said he didn't want to date me anymore, so we went our separate ways.  I saw him from time to time, but it was always weird and awkward.  His brother was still pretty cool though, and I imagine we might have been friends.  

Okay, fast forward back to today.  As I was watching the people coming and going, I noticed a man who looked super familiar sitting at a table across from mine.  It took me a moment to place him, but I thought he looked an awful lot like the bigger and bulkier R.  Each table had the teachers' last name on it, and when I read his, I pointed him out to Adam. I nearly ran up to reintroduce myself, but then I realized things were always kind of awkward with his brother.  And if I made friends with R, he might mention me to his brother, or I might end up crossing paths with J, so I decided to leave things alone and pretend like I didn't know him.

I did my best to get through the activity without making eye contact with R or his wife, even though they are teaching the second half of the Valiant 9 class.

After the activity was over, the teachers gathered in the primary room for a training meeting.  They had us go around the room and introduce ourselves.  When they got to this man's wife, she introduced them both saying, "this is my husband J".  I was floored.  This was not the harmless R, but his brother the tooth licker!  Scrawny J had gained a bit of weight, so I had mistaken him for his brother!  I was mortified!!

Adam wasn't much help.  I was hoping since I hadn't meant much to J he would have forgotten all about me. But Adam says you never forget your embarrassing kisses, so he says J will remember me.  Boo.

How does this happen to me?  Of all the wards I might  move into, of all the callings I could get, I end up sharing one with a guy I would much rather forget???  Back then, I was still transitioning from awkward teen to confident co-ed, and he really messed with my self-esteem.

My plan is to pretend that I don't know who he is.  If he doesn't seem to recognize me I am going to let him think I don't recognize him.

Now I have to figure out what I have done that has so upset the Karma gods.

Hey Everybody...

I was recently reminded that I haven't blogged in a while.  To be honest, I have been feeling like I didn't have time for blogging, and that I didn't have much to say.  I still feel like I don't have a lot of time, but I recently realized that I missed it.  I miss writing.  It's a great outlet for me and I need the practice.

2012 has brought a lot of changes.  Some are good and some are not so good.  I am trying to count my blessings and stay positive.  The truth is that I am very blessed.

Adam's birthday is this Saturday.  I have been working on creating an album of our honeymoon photos.  I took hundreds of pictures during our honeymoon.  I went through and picked some of my favorites and then edited them.  I most definitely did not inherit my aunt's amazing eye for photography, so I have to rely on some digital help.

These are a couple of my favorite shots.  The one on the right is of the Eiffel Tower in Las Vegas where we spent the night on our way to California.  The one on the left is just before sunset on Huntington Beach.



Going through our honeymoon photos reminded me what an amazing time we had.  We were so blissfully happy that week.  Each picture reminds me of how I felt at that time.  It was so comfortable being Adam's wife.  I was so nervous and stressed in the weeks leading up to the wedding.  Suddenly, we were married and it was as if we had always been together.  I felt like I had found my missing piece and I was finally whole.

Every time I see a picture of Adam I am reminded of how much I love him.  I am so grateful to have him in my life.

For Christmas this year, I attempted to draw sketches of my nephew Richie and my niece Brooklyn for their parents.  I haven't drawn anything in years, and I forgot how much I enjoyed it.  I think that is what made me miss writing.  I enjoy the creative process.  I like the feeling of making something.

I don't particularly care for the cliche of making a new year's resolution, but I do think I'd like to give myself a challenge.  I think a good challenge for me is to focus on my creativity and give myself outlets.  Whether I start sketching or writing or both, I need to express myself more.

What happens when you plan a weekend getaway and your car breaks down?

You buy a new one of course!!

Adam and I had planned a little anniversary trip to Houston a couple of weeks ago.  We got in our car (which had been giving us problems the last few months... but we thought it was fixed) and started the long drive to our destination.  We were so excited to get out of DFW and have a little adventure, but 2.5 hours from home (and about 2 hours from the hotel) our car decided to give us a little scare.  We were afraid to try to continue to Houston, and not sure we could make it home, but we were able to get back safely. We were both disappointed to miss our mini vacation, and Adam was finished trying to fix our Ford Taurus, so the next morning we headed to a local Volkswagon dealership that had a great deal on some of their vehicles.  After 5 hours of paperwork (we knew what we wanted when we walked in... how long would it have taken if we had to pick a car and haggle on the price?? I don't even want to know), we drove away with our lovely new Jetta!!

I made the mistake of telling Karen that the car color is called "candy white", because she felt that sounded like a stripper name.  It kinda does actually... But now the name Candy is stuck in my head...  And here she is:






Isn't she beautiful??

What?!?!? Has it really been a year already???!!?!

One year ago today I married my Prince Charming.

I won't say that everything has been perfect, but it has been better than I imagined.  

Everyone says the first year is the most difficult.  Adam and I were talking about that the other day.  I guess being married and learning to live with someone else was harder for him than it was for me.  But he hid it well.  

Most of the time we have fun just being together.  Sometimes we are busy with work, school, and our ridiculous commutes.  (Fort Worth traffic bites....)  But we always try to take time to just be together.  

I guess the biggest adjustment for me has been realizing that somebody wants to spend time with me.  Even if we are busy with separate projects and can't really chat, Adam likes us to be together.  

Another thing that is weird/neat and will probably change as the years go by... We don't fight.  We disagree and we have misunderstandings.  We get frustrated and sometimes don't communicate like we should.  But we don't yell.  Adam is an incredibly patient person, and I've matured a bit over the years, so we both take a few minutes to think about what we want and what we are saying and then end up talking through our disagreement.  Most of the time we both want the same thing.  We just have different ways of expressing ourselves, or different ideas of how to reach the same goal.  

This year has also introduced me to aunthood.  I know that marrying Adam made me an aunt to his nieces and nephews, but somehow, there is a different feeling when the baby is the child of your sister, or born after your marriage.  I am in LOVE with these two cuties.  I just have to figure out how I am going to groom them for their wedding in 25 or so years.  ;-)  Richie is on the left with the stuffed dog I gave him for Christmas... I know I am a nerd but I think it is so cute to see him play with a toy I gave him.  Brooklyn is on the right.  This little munchkin gets cuter everyday.  

It is so cute how attached Adam is to baby Brooklyn.  I love watching him with her.  (Of course then it makes my baby clock tick louder than ever.. )  

Being married to Adam has brought new adventures.  We started off on a honeymoon in California.  (AMAZING!!! I didn't want to come home.)  We then got to go to New Orleans.  We moved to Fort Worth (bad idea...), and we are going to Houston this week to celebrate our first year together.  He makes me watch movies I wouldn't on my own.  Which I mostly like.  And I've tried several new foods and even a few old ones I'd given up on.  I even eat hamburgers on occasion.  

All in all, it has been a wonderful year.  I am looking forward to the next one and all the ones that come after that.  

Wow.. So much change in just two weeks!!

It is crazy how everything happens all at once.  Baby Richie is almost two weeks old already.  We just moved to Fort Worth (and are still unpacking...).  I just started another term at school.  I am pretty excited because even though I know it will be as tough as all the ones before, I have a teacher that taught one of my classes last fall.

Life is hectic, but life is good.  Especially now that this little one has joined the world!!

I love this picture of the new Heasley family.  They're a good looking bunch!!

My New Nephew Has Arrived!!

I am so excited I cannot stand it.
Rich Tyler Heasley was born 4 weeks early at 12:16 am.  He weighs 4 pounds 11 ounces and is 17.5 inches long. I am so bummed that it will be a couple of months before I can go visit him but I am glad that he and Karen are doing well.

Richie spent the night in the NICU but he seems to be doing just fine.

Richie: If you ever read this, I want you to know you are loved. You have an awesome family and amazing parents. We are so excited to have you join us. I love you so much already.

Swamp Tour

This past week found us in New Orleans, LA.  We were visiting Adam's grandparents and his parents and sister Christy and her family came too.  We had a great time.  I have so many pictures since we were pretty much go go go all the time.  But we enjoyed a swamp tour where we got to watch alligator feedings and even got to hold a baby alligator.  Now I kinda want one....

Maybe I'm remembering wrong but I thought the guide said his family had been doing this for 3 generations.  Our guide takes in alligators as rescues and lets them live on his swamp.  He pretty much leaves them alone except they know his voice and when he comes he brings chicken and marshmallows.  So the gators are very interested in the boats which is fun because then you actually get to see them.

This is Christy's son Parker with the baby alligator.  I caught him before he could say "no cheese!"  He does not like having his picture taken.  But he is so cute!!

Christy took a picture of me with the baby alligator.  Thanks for sharing, Christy!!

To my dear sister

Happy Birthday!!!

I have three best friends and they are all members of my family.  One of them is my sister.  She is always there to lend an ear when I need to talk.  She is smart and funny and I love our rare late nights laughing and talking and watching Doctor Who.  It's too bad we have to travel a couple thousand miles for a little sister time.  I miss Karen like crazy.  Nobody gets my sense of humor like Karen does.

I am so proud of my sister.  She has married a great guy who really loves her and treats her like a queen.  And now the two of them are about to give me a nephew.  I am so excited I can barely stand it.

I hope this day is absolutely fabulous for you Karen.  You deserve a day of relaxation and celebration.

Have a fantastic birthday!!!!