Summer!

Dear Friends!
In less than a week we will be setting out on a "huge" road trip through ID, UT, AZ, CA, and OR before we move out to West Virginia (for Graduate school!). So amidst all the route planning and budgeting we are also trying to get everything ready to move because we will have an interrupted 9 days after the trip and before we move.  Whew!  It's a challenge but I'm up for it!
In an effort to educate my son, I printed and colored numbers to place on the front steps of the porch so that every time we go up or down we can go through the numbers.  He digs it cause we always end with a big "yay!" so that has been a success.

Mikey loves to spend time outside, which is why I have so many pictures of him on his little adventures.  He is such an observant little booger and quickly learned the word "bug" as it pertained to literally every little thing.  Lint on the floor, "bug".  Mommy's gray hairs, "bug".  The string on the bottom of your pants, "bug".  Fortunately he has learned the difference between bugs that move (in which case, he runs away) versus "bugs" that don't (in which case he stomps on it and tells you to throw it away).  dance, ya know, cause they rhyme and all.  Well now I call them "anties" but he still dances, so I got a picture. When he first saw ants he said, "what's this" (uts dis) and I said "ants" and he proceeded to dance, ya know cause "ants" rhymes with "dance".  So I got a picture of the process.
Montana has had a record-breaking snowfall this last winter and we went 7 months before getting a 70 degree day again so naturally what follows the worst winter is the best spring!  We have all kinds of wildflowers and it is AWESOME!  I love spending time outside with Mikey so I can see the plants grow and blossom and change from day to day.


Along with the growing flowers we've had lots of natural tall grass, which means it's harder to see the snakes hiding.  I've talked with Mikey about staying out of the tall grass and away from the bushes and he often replies with "ssss  ssss" like a snake (yea, he's pretty smart) but proceeds anyway to where I don't want him to go.  After all, to him at this point snakes aren't that scary because he's only ever seen them in his friendly illustrated picture books.  Well today we actually saw a snake slither into a bush and away into the tall grass (I played it cool and screamed "SNAKE!" and waited for my father-in-law to come).  It was a bull snake but acted just like a rattle snake (defense mechanism...wikipedia is right on when it comes to this part) and Mikey and I watched as Papa (a.k.a. snake wrangler) came to our rescue and explored the snakes defenses.  Mikey talked about the snake with a concerned tone for a while after this happened so I believe he'll think twice before venturing into the tall grass or crouching by the bushes saying "sss sss".

Exciting times!

So yes, it has been a while and yes, we have news! We have had a lot going on this past little while and are about to bring in some big changes. 

First the good news, I am officially done with the leveling courses I need to get into a Speech and Language Pathology program!  I've been working on these courses since little Michael was born so this is huge! The bad news, I didn't get into the program. Honestly, I'm not surprised considering they get 200-300 applications every year and only accept 16. Secondly, I only applied to one program because we didn't know at the time where we would be moving this fall.  This brings me to the next update...

We are moving to West Virginia!  Mike, unlike me, was accepted to the masters program at Marshall University and he will be starting this Fall. It was honestly my last pick but we know it is where we need to be, at least for the next two years. Now that we've made the decision and are starting to plan, it is becoming all too real. We've lived in Billings for almost a year and a half, the longest we've lived anywhere, and we have been absolutely spoiled by Mike's awesome, patient, and understanding parents. 

This will make the 5th state and 6th move in our 3 years of marriage so here's to hoping that everything goes smoothly. The hardest thing to plan out is where to live. So any advice or guidance in that realm would be AWESOME! The last two times we committed to a place without physically seeing it first left us a little surprised. 

More updates! My brother Brooks is officially getting married at the end of July!  We love his bride-to-be and are excited to welcome her to the family!  Another brother of mine, Fielding will be coming home from France in just about 8 weeks!  I'm so proud of the work he has done as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and I'm stoked to see him again! (I just realized that every sentence in this paragraph ends with and exclamation mark.)

That's just about it. Now that I have more evening time on my hands (only three more weeks of work!) I'm hoping to make more updates and post some of the stuff we've been up to. Remember to leave us with some moving/home finding advice!!!

What's It to Ya?!

Tact is not something I was naturally born with.  Working as a speech aide in a public school has taught me to think before I speak.  But sometimes I wish I could just let 'em have it.  "Your kid won't get better unless you work with them outside of school!"  But I'd prefer to keep my job.
A few months ago Mike and I were out on a date and we swung by the mall so Mike could check something out real quick.  I parked by the curb and saw a young woman in her early 20's dragging her child, a boy no more than 5 years old, by the arm.  He was screaming "Ow! Ow!" as most kids would in that situation.
When they arrived at their ride, parked along the opposite curb, the woman intentionally swung her arm holding the boy and the boy's head banged into the side of the car.   He then stood there crying, holding his head.  She proceeded to swear at him, picked him up, and plopped him into the car.  Having been in Rexburg, Idaho for such a long time (often called a "bubble" keeping us from harsh realities of the world) I was appalled at this mother.
Mike got back into the car and I told him what I saw.  The mother was still struggling to get her son buckled up and Mike said, "well do something about it."  The thought had crossed my mind but I get so nervous in confrontations, plus who was I to tell her what was right and wrong...right?  Well I don't know what got into me.  I rolled down the window and said, with what I thought was a sympathetic look on my face, "Try to be more gentle.  He hurt his head."  The look she shot me was the classic "who are you to tell me!" look.  I cowered back in my seat as she approached the car yelling at me, telling me that I have no idea what kind of day she's had, that her kids are brats, and so on (you can throw in your own profanities to make it more accurate).  I honestly thought she was going to reach through the window and slap me.
She was right though, I really had no idea what her life is like, what kind of crap she had to deal with today, or her children's degree of normal behavior.  I felt horrible for being "that" person to critique another woman's parenting.  I quickly responded by telling her that I was just worried because he hit his head on the side of the car (and it wasn't a tap) and she responded with, "So what if he did! He had it coming!"  Oh.  Well, then I felt like calling child protective services and turning that woman in!  I don't care who you are, what kind of day you've had, or how bratty your kids are, no one "deserves" abuse like that!  Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-spanking, but I do believe that it shouldn't be done out of anger.
But really, where do you draw the line?  I understand having screaming kids in the grocery store because you don't give them what they want, or kids throwing tantrums while collapsing on the floor screaming bloody murder in the middle of the mall because they want to walk where they want and not have to hold your hand (yea, been there).  I understand it isn't necessarily the parent's fault.  But by golly I draw the line at injuring your kid in public and saying that they "had it coming".  Who's going to speak up for the kid?  What would you have done?  Do you think there's a better option?  Should I have just kept my mouth shut and minded my own business?
All in all, what's done is done but it did bring the question to mind, where do you draw the line?

Just a Quick Rant

A Facebook friend of mine recently posted about all of his amazing friends.  He has friends running for Miss America, America's Got Talent, and plenty of actors/actresses, body builders, and people who are "living their dreams".  One of his other friends commented, "why are you friends with me again?" to which he responded, "Control Group".
I've got nothing against what he said, I know part of his response was just to be funny and I'm sure he finds that all of his friends have value.  Right?  I will however take the opportunity to remind myself that I AM living my dream!  I remember being in my 7th grade English class, the question for our writing exercise was where we would see ourselves in 10 years.  My response brought laughter from my classmates.  I wanted to be married, have kids and be a stay-at-home mom.  That was what I wanted. That was my dream.  Sure I thought about stuff like becoming a professional actor or an awesome teacher that changes lives, but when I looked at what I would have to sacrifice to become those things, it didn't seem worth it to me. To some people, it is completely worth it, and maybe that is what's right for them.  But then I think about what I sacrificed to become a wife and mother...TOTALLY WORTH IT!  Essentially it's the kind of thing in which you need to sacrifice your self to be successful at.  *Soap Box*  People that look at motherhood as a hobby or side job simply don't comprehend and appreciate the amount of influence they can have.  Women that look and lust after what men have don't comprehend and appreciate the power that comes with what God has given them, as women.  Okay, I'm off my soapbox.  All in all, I am living my dream.  It's right for me.  It brings me more happiness than any kind of public or earthly position or accomplishment could ever bring me.  Charles Schultz had it right, "Happiness is anyone and anything at all that's loved by you." ("You're A Good Man Charlie Brown").  I feel extremely blessed to know that the things that will really make me happy in this life will give me joy for eternity.  You can't beat a dream like that.  To me, that is amazing.

Family Update

Summer flew by entirely too fast!

Mike had the opportunity of a lifetime to go Alaskan fishing with some guys from the ward.  In preparation for the loads of fish they were expecting to bring back, they collected all kinds of Salmon recipes.  One the first day Mike's dad caught the first fish of the trip, Salmon of course.  Little did we (or they) know that it would be the only Salmon they would catch.  Mike himself was getting mighty discouraged that he had yet to catch any fish by the 4th day.  The night before the last fishing day, he told me that he had come to grips with the fact that he would come home fish-less.  However, on that last day, he caught two fish!  Yay!  We were so excited for him.  So they came home with loads of crab and a few fish.  Definitely enough to last a while.  They had a great time.

A week before Mike left for Alaska we had a milestone in the Emett house.  Little Mikey said his first word!  I had been working hard to ingrain "mama" and "dada" into his receptive and eventually expressive language so I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of the first word.  Well, one morning while I was rocking and cuddling with him he pointed to something on the ground and said his very first word.  They say a baby's first word says a lot about their priorities and what they hold important, naturally I wanted to hear "mama" or "dada" but I cannot deny the word that came out of his mouth.  It was as clear as day, I couldn't interpret it any other way... as accurately as possible for a child, he pointed to something on the ground and said, "book".   Now, anyone who knows my husband, especially if you're friends with him on goodreads.com, will not be surprised and will know that little Mikey has surely been blessed with his daddy's love for books and reading.  I'm really proud of my little guy.

To make me even more proud... watch this video to see what he did, just the other night.  I had to catch it on video because Mike was at work and I wanted him to see it firsthand.

So as you can tell, little Michael has been busy reaching milestones, Mike has been working and got to have a little vacation, and I had a wonderful time with my little family over the Summer.  Now, it's over (bummer!).  I'm subbing (part-time) for another Speech Aide at a different school until November and my (online) classes started up on Monday (also part-time) so we're busy, but not too busy.  I know where my priorities lie, family is always #1.

Pretty soon Mike will be getting ready to take the GRE and we'll both be getting applications together for graduate schools.  So if you have any tips or tricks to either of these processes, we'd love to hear them!!!

P.S. brief weight-loss update.  I've lost 15 lbs, last week I started hitting the gym before going to work (this means waking up at 5:30am on those days) and I'm still keeping up with drinking 2 liters of water a day.  Things are going well!

Such a LOSER!

It's been a while since I've updated you on my weight-loss journey and I'll tell you why...FAILURE!  That's what it's been, a complete an utter failure.  I keep telling myself, "this time I'm changing for real!" and I work my butt off to lose 5 pounds. Then I get lax aaaaand gain it all back.  Just call me the yo-yo.  I have honestly lost and gained the same 5 pounds at least 12 times, that's enough to make a small person!  I could have been over half-way to my ultimate goal weight by now! 

So, here's the good news.  After having the time of my life on an Alaskan cruise (and gaining 8lbs of savory food and sweet dessert) I decided not to join any more weightloss groups.  Just me, on my own.  I realized that I have to do this for me, not for a money prize, or to be the #1 loser for 2 months only to take a week or two off before the next round and wreck all my hard work.  I have to do it for ME.
The results... I've lost 11 pounds since the cruise.  Whew!  Ten of those pounds were in the last two weeks.  (insert "Wow" and "You go girl!")  To be honest, I only consciously changed one thing about my lifestyle but it had kind of a domino effect.  My goal was to drink 4 liters of water a day.  As I did this, I noticed a lot less snacking, naturally wanting smaller portions, less of a desire for junk food (it helped that I put crystal light into 2 of the liters), and *TMI ALERT* more regularity, if you know what I mean.  It's been awesome! 
I look forward to keeping up with my water intake.  I want to focus on it hardcore so it's written on my bladder and then I'll add the next step EXERCISE!!!

I'm a Pinterest girl, in a Pinterest world

Pinterest!!!  Now, you either associated those exclamation points with excitement or dread.  Funny how that works.  Most women associated it with excitement and most men, dread.  I think those of us Pinterest users can agree that it is a marvelous way to share and get ideas pertaining to pretty much anything in life. 

Those husbands of Pinterest users can agree...your wife has been infected.  She's got the Pinterest bug.  The big question on my mind lately has been this: Does Pinterest do more harm than good?  Pinterest has, in fact, launched to the top of social media interest.  Marketing teams around the world are looking to studies that say 80% of Pinterest users are women and that 1 out of every 4 women use Pinterest, and they are realizing what an amazing tool Pinterest can be!  At the same time, a simple Google search can come up with many articles about how Pinterest affects your self-esteem, how addictive it is, and how it sets you up for failure.

Before anyone gets their undies in a bundle, let me tell you, I have discovered a crafty, DIY, homemade everything kind of side that I didn't know I had.  Over the years, I've tried to find "my thing".  Some people are runners, some are dancers, photograpers, health nuts, savings savvy,  artists, athletes, academics, etc etc. The list goes on!  Truth is, I never found anything that I could really call a hobby.  I've been into photography since I was little (my first camera was a 110mm that my mom got me at a garage sale) but comparing myself to others has made me feel some pressure to be the kind of "better" that requires time and money I don't have.  I did band in school, I loved it, but renting/buying an instrument...again, time and money I don't have. Anywho, there's my back-story.

Pinterest has allowed me to create things I never thought I could!  Everyone needs an outlet like that.  It is in our very nature to create!  Here's an awesome and inspiring video about that. 

I wanted to know more about what some of my friends thought of Pinterest so of course I took my question to none other than...Facebook.  Natalie said, "Pinterest can be a motivator or an idea creator. Many times when I've tried and failed at doing a craft or something else from Pinterest, I find myself creating my own way of doing things and learning something in the process. Self discovery maybe?"  I totally agree!  Self-discovery!  

There are many pro's of Pinterest.  It promotes creativity, going outside of your comfort zone to try new things or recipes, finally figuring out how to wash pillows or fold fitted sheets, cute and inexpensive date-night ideas, how to talk to your teenager, an obscene amount of work-out ideas, and the list goes on.  Pinterest has a lot to offer.  Sharing web sources and resources with friends and acquaintances, collecting and collaborating ideas or experiences, etc, etc!  My friend Rachel says that she's developed and enriched many of her talents from Pinterest!

So what's the downfall?  It can be overwhelming to say the least.  There's a lot there!  Katie summed it up quite nicely when she replied, "I feel the same about Pinterest as I do about Super Saturdays. I feel uncrafty, untalented, and its just a bunch of show-offs."   Natalie says, "I feel as though Pinterest is a giant site full of unrealistic expectations. I feel as though it could potentially be damaging to our feminine youth because of the appearance of perfection in all things that it portrays."  And I agree.  Here's why...

With the recent celebration of Mikey's first year in the world I decided to try several pins.  The cake mashing photo shoot, cute one year pictures with the number 1 and a single balloon, the sugar cookie tower cake with fruit in between the layers.  I was gonna do it all!  Well, I quickly got overwhelmed with how completely imperfect everything turned out and really, I was kind of depressed.  "Why couldn't I do it right?  I'm messing everything up!  Now his one year birthday has come and gone, it's too late now!"  This caused me to think about getting so caught up in the Pinterest world.  There are many blog moms (like this one) out there that have daily picture perfect posts, and who wouldn't want that!?  Twenty years ago, even just 10 years ago, you only saw that kind of stuff in the magazines.  Now, it seems like everyone knows someone who seems to have a Pinterest perfect life. But what about the rest of us!?

This is my belief: Pinterest, like most things in life, can be used for good, and can be used for evil.  It's easy to get wrapped up in it all.  So here's some tips from some of my friends.  These suggestions have been helping me to purge some of my Pinterest boards and have urged me be a little more careful and conscious of what I'm pinning.

• "I get on, look up a recipe for play dough (or whatever), pin it, get off an make it. That's the only way to survive pinterest. Get in, and get out."
• "I try to do two new recipes each week from the site...I don't take anything on it too seriously so I'm not discouraged by it. I look at things and laugh, ain't nobody got time for that."
• "I decide based on what I need in my house, or what I think I can actually do."
• "I think everyone should pick one talent or so at a time. You'll go crazy trying to be a master chef, learn crocheting, take up fashion blogging, and do papercrafting as well. And when pinning a recipe, click the link. Read the comments. Has anyone actually MADE the recipe? What advice do they give? Google the recipe or craft too-does it pop up on a pin fail site? If you stay realistic and do your research, it's actually really cool what you can learn." 
    
  I'd love to hear more about how you survive Pinterest, what you use or don't use it for, and what tips you might have for a recovering addict or newb.

p.s. all images came from Google under the searches "Pinterest" and "Pinterest fails"