The Perfect Storm

We love thunder storms. Last night was the best thunder storm we have ever been apart of. We layed in bed, turned off all the lights, opened the blinds, got in spooning position and just watched the sky. For about at least an hour, the sky was never dark. The thunder was so loud! The little bubber didn't even stir, I think these storms lull her to sleep. It lulled me to sleep. I usually try to stay awake during the storms because they are so fun to watch, but this one just kept going and going and before too long I drifted off to la la land. I don't know why I love these storms so much, maybe its the feeling of being nice and cozy in a warm house with the people I love during such a vulnerable event going on outside. The midwest rocks (ask me that in 2 months and I will say the midwest sucks!) My grandma Gladys loves thunder storms. She would have loved last nights. I should call her.

The Story of Our Door Mat...

Our door mat's name is Mary.

We named her after our only friendly neighbor in Overland Park. When we were moving into our one bedroom apartment almost three years ago, Mary was just watching us. At first I thought she was kind of creepy. I mean, didn't she have any thing better to do than watch us unload our Budget van? Soon after though, we got acquainted and we began to love Mary.

She was retired, lonely and probably almost 80 years old. She was the neighbor who I borrowed sugar from. She had a really eclectic apartment, and every time I would walk inside, I just wanted to browse. There were different colors of non matching furniture, pictures from the seventies, and tons of old magazines and newspapers laying around. About ten months after we moved in, Mary announced to us that she was moving. She said, "in the three years I have lived here, you two were the only ones who talked to me." She wanted to move to a place where there were other old folks who would want to play cards and knit with. We were sad, but understood. But crap, who was I going to borrow sugar from?

So the day came, and we said good bye, and Mary was on to bigger and better things. We didn't exchange any contact information or anything. But we did notice that she left her door mat behind, and then we also noticed that we never bought a door mat. Travis and I looked at each other and decided that Mary would want us to have it. So we snatched it and it has been ours for almost two lovely years.

Like I said, we call the door mat Mary because we think it has a part of Mary in it. Every so often we will find it trying to crawl back to the real Mary. After big storms (actually probably just a light breeze), Mary will be located ten feet down the street, or sometimes we will find her all curled up and we will just laugh and say, "Mary, what do you think you are doing?" We will never give up on our door mat because we never want to forget the original owner. Who knows, she could even be dead right now, but her memory lives on right on our doorstep. I just hope Mary (the door mat) survives this week, lots of storms a coming our way.

Funny Man

Did anyone catch Conan's big opening show on Monday? Well I didn't. I fell asleep at 10:25. But I did Tivo it and watch it the next day. Would it be ignorant to say that Conan O'Brien is the funniest man on the planet? If you don't think this man is funny than we don't have the same humor. Who am I to judge though?

I do have to say that I am a bit of a late night talk show guru. I remember the days of Arsineo Hall (does that date me?). I would throw my fists at the TV and hoot and holler just because that was what you did. I didn't really appreciate late night until I was maybe in middle school. Correct me if I am wrong Mom, but I don't recall having a set bed time when I was that old. I remember staying up to watch David Letterman's top ten, then I would go to bed. I loved Letterman. Then he started getting all political and belligerent. So I moved on to Leno.

Leno just reminded me of a nice uncle. He was funny, but I never really laughed too hard. In high school, I had a midnight curfew. When you are a teenager sometimes those late nights contain drama. Maybe the boy I liked didn't talk to me, or my friends were being weird. Instead of going home and crying myself to sleep on my huge pillow, I would wind down with a bowl of cereal while watching Conan. This probably saved my parents millions on therapy (jokes, my teenage years were actually a piece of cake, it was those darn college years).

5 years ago, when they announced that Conan would take over for Jay in 2009, I jumped for joy because staying up till 11:37 pm was tough for me. I can't recall how many times this man brought me to tears. In fact, my cheeks were a little wet watching last nights show, that "twit of the week" bit got me good!

There is just something about finishing your day off with a good laugh. I hope Conan stays true and lives a good long life as the late night king... I just appointed him to that position but hopefully you will agree, if you don't than your humor is LAME (and if you took offense to that, then this post is probably really making you mad)!

Memorial Day

We wanted to remember all the soldiers out there:

Avery can army crawl better than we can. This girl is BUSY! Ya always gotta keep one eye on her. Is it bad for her to suck on cords... just kidding, we are working on the baby proofing.

Memorial Weekend Checklist:

• 3 BBQ's- check
• Double scoop of ice cream from Baskin Robbins- check
• Waking up early on Saturday morning to play soccer- check
• Sleeping in a tent in the Oman's backyard- check (well kind of, they only lasted till 3 in the morning, I lasted till 4 in the morning and Trav made it till 5:30 in the morning)
• Taking a moment to talk about the soldiers and the military- check
• Weekend chores- Oops

I feel like the Summer has been officially kicked off. Gotta work on the tan a bit though. Happy Summer!

A half a year

Avery had her first unbirthday. She got 3 shots. I will save you all the jibber jabber saying how we can't believe how fast its gone, and how much we love our baby... although it has, and we do.

She weighed 14 lbs 12 ounces at her visit and was 26 inches long. So she is in the 50TH percent for height and 30TH for weight.

She is eating cereal and veggies right now. This was the first time we fed her carrots

Here are her six month pictures taken by the one and only Matt McFarland; flew all the way from Utah for this ham.

Feast

Sometimes blogging is feast or famine. There is usually not too much going on and I have to really think hard about what to post. Warm weather brings many festivities and I'm having a hard time picking and choosing what to write about. Well, I'm just going to do one ginormous post about them all. I justify not journaling by making a book out of this blog every year, so that means I have to include all important things so that my posterity will know that we lived fairly decent and exciting lives. That was your warning.

Travis's "rotation"

I guess this is what you do on your "medical rotations" these days. Trav was lucky enough to rotate with a doctor who is lucky enough to afford a small airplane. He took Travis and the other med student up one day. I prayed really hard that they wouldn't die. Apparently a couple of months ago, the doctor forgot to land with his landing gear and landed with just the belly of the plane. Hmmm.... made me a little nervous, but he remembered this time and they didn't die and Travis had fun.

The Doctor

The View

It makes me think that one day after all the whopping student loans are paid off, and all the other bills, that we could possibly afford a small plane? I think I'd rather have a nice house boat in Lake Powell with a sweet speed boat. Maybe we should just focus on getting past being poor for now.

Cinco de Mustache

Since we are clearly Hispanic, we decided to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Hey, I really am a quarter Puerto Rican, but I guess that has nothing to do with Mexico. I'm sure some Mexicans celebrate the 4Th of July so I can justify celebrating their holiday. Oh how we long for Cafe Rio out in these parts. For those of you who don't know what Cafe Rio is, it is kind of like a Chipotle but 100, that's right 100 times better. My friend Krista got her hands on some of their recipes. So we attempted to make Cafe Rio pork and rice and all that other good stuff. I feel we did Cafe Rio and for that matter, Mexico, justice that day as the food was amazing! Along with the great food, we had a mustache shaping contest. No I did not participate, but Travis did. The boys grew out their 'staches for a week or so. I couldn't wait till the day came because I felt like I was living in a neighborhood full of molesters. The contest included two categories; best shaped mustache and best attempt. Guess who won?

Trent (guy in blue) won for best shape, and poor Chris (guy with yarn mustache) won for best attempt.

Family Photo

This man is the love of my life?

Starting Young

It was the most beautiful day, so Travis came home from his "rotation" (see above) and declared it a Royals night. No, not red carpet or black tie affair, the Kansas City Royals baseball game. I was a little skeptical to go because Avery goes to sleep at 7 pm and the game started at 7 pm and the gal loves her sleep and will bark at you if she isn't getting it. We went anyway, with Chris our yarn mustache wearing neighbor (again see above). She was actually an angel. Fortunately she took a snooze in the fifth inning and I think that saved us. And the Royals actually won... even killed the Mariners. It was a really fun action packed game.

I had to put a bow on her so people didn't think she was a boy.

Nap Time

Thanks for making me go Trav. I never wanted to be the type of person to stop doing fun things just because I had kids. That is a lot easier said than done. I wasn't that thrilled to go to the game. But it was fun and worth it and made me remember my goal of "being cool" even after kids (was I cool before kids?)

Inaugural Mother's Day

What a glorious day? Who invented it? I told Trav all I wanted for Mother's day was a clean house. Instead he got me a bike! Actually, Avery got me the bike. OK he won, I think I was just being a martyr about the clean house thing. I was thrilled and shocked. I kind of just started biking and now I'm excited to really get into it. He even got me biking gloves, a bike speedometer and a water bottle holder. What the heck is he going to do for next year... even worse what the heck am I going to do for Father's day? I loved my first mother's day. I got breakfast and dinner made for me, special treatment, nice text messages and of course the best gift is just having my healthy baby girl, not to mention her cute and thoughtful dadda. Sorry, this is getting cheesy. Here is the bike.

I also wanted to mention my cute mom. She is the nicest and sweetest person. She will always have a good conversation with any one and ask the most random questions. She thinks everything is "interesting." She loves to learn. She loves being a grandma. She just graduated this last week from the University of Utah in Psychology. She had a 3.9 GPA and was the teacher's pet. We give her a hard time a lot because she studies like a loon, but she really worked hard and we are so proud of you. Love you mom.

And I wanted to mention what a great mother-in-law I have. Kathryn is such a good grandma. She is always the first to volunteer to watch all 6 grand kids, all at the same time. Scary! She is always wanting to be with her grand kids. She is an amazing cook and gives really great advice!

Whew... that was long but now my great-great grand kids will know that their great great grandpa can grow a sweet mustache. Things have been really fun lately. This is the best time to live in Missouri right now, minus the crazy tornados, but as long as your not in their way life is good right now.

Had to try it

Travis thinks I'm a masochist,

(def. gratification gained from pain, deprivation, degradation, etc., inflicted or imposed on oneself, either as a result of one's own actions or the actions of others, esp. the tendency to seek this form of gratification)

and after doing this sprint triathlon I may agree with him.

It was bloody hard!

Given, I didn't really follow a training schedule but I figured, hey I work out, I can handle 4 laps in the pool, a 13 mile bike ride and a 3.1 mile run.

That is called precockulation,

(one who is cocky before attempting a feat they have never ventured. ex) starting a softball game with the notion of striking out every batter, strutting to the mound like you own it, when all of a sudden you have thrown the first pitch and the ball lands over the center field fence... Mandy?)

Okay, it wasn't torture, but I was bright pink and out of breath when I finished.

The race was at the Ft. Leavenworth army base. It was fun. I have never really been on a base before. The not fun thing about it was that it was crawling with hills. They say Kansas is a very flat state, but not this part of Kansas.

To sum it up in a nutshell, Travis, Avery, my neighbor Rachael and I left at 6:20am for the fort. We got there kind of late, but made it just in time. Actually we had a lot of time to burn because we signed up late and therefore we had to start the race last. They space everyone out 15 seconds to start the swim. I was number 261, so had to wait about an hour to start the race. My heart was pounding because I really didn't know what to expect. I knew my worse event would be the swim, but it wasn't too bad. It was really quick. Getting out of the pool is a very unique experience because you feel really woozy, you have to run to your bike practically naked, then you have to get all your stuff on. Putting on more clothes made me feel a lot better! I felt great on the bike. Probably because I borrowed one of the nicest bikes ever. I covet that machine! It actually did all the work. I had a great time on the bike... even with all those crappy hills. So going into the run I was totally pumped! Running is my forte. I was so going to kill everyone. That is when the precockulation occurred. As soon as I got off my bike, I could have sworn my legs were made of green jello. I couldn't believe how weak I felt. Suffice it to say, I manned up and finished the 3.1 miles, but it wasn't delightful at all! The thing about these sprint triathlons is that it literally is a sprint. With a marathon, you can pace it because you know that you will be running the whole time, but with this race, I felt that there were 3 short events so I didn't really pace myself. I was breathing pretty hard for most of it.

Now here is my acceptance speech: I would just like to thank the Washburn's for letting me borrow the most kick A bike, my butt will be sore for weeks because the seat is as narrow as a toothpick. I would also like to thank Rachael for beating me by 50 seconds... She beat me in the swim and run and I nailed her in the biking... but it came down to the transition times and that girl can change her clothes and put on her shoes faster than me! I would also like to thank Amy Elmore for just being Amy Elmore. It was so fun to have my running buddy back even though she started an hour before I did, I could feel her presence. I would also like to thank the YMCA for allowing me to work out and feel a little bit ready for this race, oh and for watching Avery while I do it. They have the best child watch! I would also like to thank my pink Saucony running shoes. I fear that your time is running out (pun intended). There have been many miles of tears, laughter and pure joy. I will never forget you. And last but not least I have to thank Travis and Avery. The most rewarding part of the whole thing was knowing that Travis and Avery were there rooting me on. Trav was going to do the race but he forgot to train at all so opted not to do it. But he was still there the whole time taking pictures and watching our little girl. I loved crossing the finish line and seeing him and her there. Next year babe!

I really had a great time!

Me and Rach before the race

I was saying hi to Avery

Finishing the bike

Rach, Amy and me after the race... I match my shirt

Its only been a week...

I'm just a tad behind these days. But better late then never. We had a great Easter! But man, why oh why does every holiday include stuffing your face full of good food and candy? I just can't say no to it so I comply to the stuffing of the face. Oh well, I don't think there is a holiday for awhile so we should be good!

To kick off the holiday we did our annual dyeing of the egg contest with the Graham's. This year we had two special guests.

Andrew is a definite potential suitor for Avery

Britney won again this year... she's pretty talented with those eggs

We missed the Orson's this year

Saturday was filled with many festivities. We went with the Hastings to the local outdoor mall, Zona Rosa, to see a parade and the Easter bunny. When we got there, we realized the whole Kansas city metro had the same idea. It was so crowded! Plus we were late so we missed the parade. The line to the Easter bunny was ridiculous so we decided to skip out and go to Walmart to see the bunny.

This hare was the skinniest Easter bunny I had seen in awhile. Avery was pretty indifferent to the bunny so we snapped a shot, grabbed a five dollar footlong sandwich and were off to the next activity...

...which was the town home Easter egg hunt. You are probably thinking that we are nuts because Avery is 5 months old and doesn't know the difference. You are probably right, but once you have a kid its almost like the fun holiday spirit comes back... also we wanted free candy. I didn't take any pics of this, but we snatched Avery an egg in the hunt.

The next morning, which was Easter Sunday, we slept in a bit then had breakfast in bed. We ate our eggs we dyed along with yogurt, peaches and granola. MMMM....

We then went to church for a really good meeting... well we think it was. Avery is starting to become a huge distraction during church. She gets so loud when she is excited and screeches. She is also rolling everywhere, so we have to be on our toes. We did manage to pawn her off on our neighbors for a while and we did hear a great message.

When we got home from church, we realized that the Easter bunny had visited. We found our hidden baskets. Trav helped the Easter bunny with my basket and vise versa. He got me some hand weights, candy (kind of a contradiction), a movie, and a hot cocoa mug that I needed. I got him some candy, some church socks and thongs.

Avery was a good girl and she got a toy, some bubbles and some barley. She's been munchin' on that stuff all week long!

Oh yeah, she also got a new Easter dress... or a hand me down from Anabelle, but she didn't even notice! Here are some cute pictures.

We then went to the Hastings for some amazing dinner. Brandi cooked a bird and some other great food for us. We loved every bite!

To finish the great day we put our baby to sleep and watched one of the best movies ever... Ben Hur. Don't knock it till you watch it. Its a great Easter movie if you have 4 hours on your hands... we had to watch it in two days. Charlton Heston really outdid himself as Judah Ben Hur. I think we should name our son Charlton. Charlton Charles. OK I'm done.

I just wanted to say how great Easter feels. The weather is getting warmer and it just reminds me of a new beginning. I think of Christ and the resurrection and how we all have a chance to have new beginnings every day because of him. Hope everyone had a great Easter.

Leave it to my husband...

to go out in the middle of the night to get me some Theraflu and come back with six boxes of cereal. "They were on sale." Thanks Trav for going out and saving your wife. I know you were tired! And thanks for putting Avery back to sleep in the middle of the night. Being sick sucks!

Love 'em

So Allie and Erin came from far away to see me. They were my roommates in college. It seems like there are many different chapters in life you go through, high school, college, working, etc. Once you pass those chapters sometimes its hard to go back because you have moved on and grown. Well that is not true with these girls. We pick up right where we leave off. I was going to write all about our visit, but mostly we didn't do much. We honestly hung out and laughed and reminisced and ate and went out a little. I would rather "spotlight" these two girls.

Erin:

The first time I met Erin was the day she was moving into our Provo apartment. I was really intimidated by her because she was really pretty. That intimidation quickly went away after the first week because we went running early in the morning and she got what we call "runner's poo." I will spare you the details, but all I can say is she quickly became my friend after words. I remember that Erin could not write a paper for school. Don't get me wrong, she is a smart girl, it was always just a mental block. It usually took her a stressful 24 hour period to write a one page paper. This is because she would do anything but write the paper. She would hang out, go out to eat, clean, etc then we would find her awake at 3 in the morning scrambling to finish. Erin always had dates, every weekend. Every boy would fall in love with her and she was too nice to break it to them that she didn't like them so they would keep asking her out and she would go! This girl broke a lot of hearts! She has taught me a lot! She will alway listen to your opinion and is probably the most thoughtful and helpful person I have ever met.

Allie:

This girl is hilarious. She lives for awkward moments. She was a ballerina at UVSC and we would make fun of her because no matter what we were doing IE: watching TV, eating, etc she would be sitting in the most ridiculous position with pointed toes. She always loved to make movies and has some pretty bad black mail in her possession. She taught me the "Beat it" dance and I taught her Eminem's "Loose yourself" dance. Al loves little kid food. Her meals would consist of marshmallows and peanut butter. Sometimes she would look like a 40 year old woman. It would happen when she worked long hours, after going to school, had not showered for a couple of days, had pink eye and had to wear her big glasses and sweats. We loved it! Allie will always sincerely laugh at your jokes, even if they aren't funny. She is always fun to be around.

Thanks for coming to visit me. The really cool part was that we flew in a professional photographer to take our pictures.

Matt, Allie's husband decided to drop in on the fun. Sorry you were the fifth wheel Erin... he he actually Travis was in heaven to see Matt. He loves this guy! We missed John (Erin's husband). I have to shout out a special thanks to him for all the grunt work he does lifting heavy bags for Frontier Airlines which allowed these girls to be able to fly here. He is an amazing photographer. (dude you totally owe me, do you know how many hits I get on this thing... jokes)

Oh and I have to mention little Kate. She is Matt and Allie's little daughter and Avery's potential BFF. They were cute together.

The Lego exhibit is coming in town this Summer. You know that plus the KC BBQ and the local Red X can't keep the McFarlands away for too long. And Erin, I will come visit you soon in San Fransisco... I'm praying for that marathon.

Can't wait till the next trip!