Why do all the bad words start with "p"

Don't you just love it when people start out an entry with an inside joke. I wasn't even there for this one but this last weekend has made me feel like I was.

Pioneer Day was celebrated Beatty style this year. David and I joined his Aunt Pam and Uncle Ron in Mona, UT to commemorate the event. Really there wasn't too much said about the pioneers, but we certainly had a great time. Due to unforeseen replacement items (like 1 camera being dumped into 1 bucket of paint water) we found ourselves with a bit of a shortage of funds. So instead of staying the night at a hotel, we opted to join the rest of the crew in finding floor space to spend the night on. I was actually looking forward to it. We don't spend too much time around our extended family and I thought this would be a good opportunity to get some 'quality' time in. You know, really get to know each other. I wasn't disappointed.

I've long suspected that I would really like his cousins (the Beatty family crew) if I had a bit more time to spend around them. Well my suspicions were confirmed. What a group! We ended up staying awake till 1 in the morning talking out on the back porch about anything and everything. Even then we would have continued on but a rather large and ugly beetle made an appearance and broke up the party. So much fun though! It was completely worth the hot night in the loft.

David's parents were there too and his brothers and sisters all ended up joining us at some point in time. On Friday we went 4-wheeling. Always an exciting experience to be riding on the back when the driver's not quite sure what he's doing yet. (I love you David) He really only almost seriously lost me only once. Silly me, I was putting my hat back on and assumed he'd wait till I was ready to go before he "punched the gas". I'm only a little sore on the tailbone, but I did stay on.

Saturday brought the Mona Pioneer Day Parade which lasted all of 1/2 hour. My kind of parade. Didn't even have to worry about sunscreen. Afterwards we lounged in the park while the kids played on every blow-up toy made by man, then went back to the house for food and conversation. It really was just a good time. So glad we went.

Also, thanks to all you cousins, in-laws, out-laws, etc. for the support, advice, and experiences shared with adoption. It does my heart good to know that you all are rooting for us and you know what we are going through. It was good to hear your experiences good and bad through out the process. I feel like I could walk through fire as long as you are all around. And for those still waiting just like us (Debbie and Lance) we're praying for you too. Perhaps we'll adopt together and our kids will at least have someone the same age to play with.

Love you all!

Sunday random

- I know that it could be so much hotter outside, but my house did NOT cool down last night! I'm baking! I can't tell you how badly I want to jump in the river to cool down!

- David and I went hiked to White Pine yesterday. Both legs are sore but only one really hurts... how weird is that.

- My favorite character in "LOST" so far is Sayid... I think it's his hair and intense eyes. Jack just bugs me. (we're on season 2)

- I have had scrapbooking stuff on my table for almost an entire month now...

- I have to write a portion of the primary program and I have no desire to even start. Bad me.

- David and I hid from our neighbors last night. Seriously. We didn't open the blinds or turn on any lights. It's not that we don't like them, we just didn't want anyone to know we were home.

- "Chickens in the Headlights" is seriously one of the funniest books I have ever read. I have teared up from laughing so hard many many times.

- Nursery kids love "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" a lot, but rarely can they do all the actions.

- Speaking of which, how many members of the elders quorum does it take to substitute for 3 good women in nursery? According to today's count, 8.

Oh yeah, it's that good

Here's the link, just read the article, I know you'll get a kick out of it.

Pork Barba-coca-cola

Thanks Stef!

A Sudden, Fearful Death

As some of you may have noticed, I seem to be on an Anne Perry kick. My good friend and one time co-worker Katherine got me started on them. Perry writes a series of Victorian mystery novels that I am really quite enjoying. I haven't written a book review on them because well, they're kind of like candy for the brain... not so sure there's really any value to them but I sure do enjoy it.

The stories are set in the 1850s in London. There are two main protagonists along with a few other repeat players to keep it interesting. Monk is a police officer/detective and Hester is a nurse who is forced to fend for herself having neither family wealth to provide for her or a husband. I find the dynamic between the two fascinating. They almost cannot stand each other to the point of loathing due to Hester's strong opinions and willingness to share them, and Monks abrasive manner. Yet at the same time, they find a strange comfort in the very things they hate about each other.

You can actually learn something from these books though. Perry gives a very accurate description of the thought processes in the time period. The idea of women sitting around becoming "accomplished" through embroidery, painting, music, etc. and overall making a solid effort at appearing in all ways unintelligent but beautiful. Nowadays I'm afraid I have a difficult time separating beauty from intelligence. There are definitely beautiful women in this world, but a lack of intelligence detracts from that in my opinion. What are looks if conversation is superficial with no real substance?

On a side note, have any of you seen "Kate and Leopold"? I think the story is really quite cute and semi-romantic if I could get over the fact that Kate (played by Meg Ryan) would never be satisfied in Victorian society even though Leopold was played by the oh-so-dreamy Hugh Jackman. She came from a high powered position where people listened to her and stepped back in time to where women were ornaments in society to be seen and not heard. Seriously, after a while wouldn't you go crazy? Pretty dresses only go so far... besides you had to wear a corset to make them work. Blechk!

David says that's why I like these books so much. He thinks I am a Hester. She has passion to reform medicine and a drive to make it happen. She can thrown propriety to the wind and not think twice if it is in the interest of justice and improvement to the social condition. And she's not afraid to speak her mind to Monk whether insulting or not so long as it gets her point across. Maybe I'm more like her than I thought. Hmm.

All in all, really enjoying the books and highly suggest them for brain candy and a heightened sense of justice and gratitude that we as women today have a voice. The first in the series is "The Face of a Stranger".

An Update

So, a few of you have asked about an update on the adoption process. So, here it is.

Come to find out there is a whole schload of stuff to do. Here's what we've gotten done so far.

1. We've paid our thousand $$ (OUCH) and I'm certain that next week I'll find out that I'm pregnant due to Murphy's law. We thought about waiting another week just to make sure, but decided to tempt fate into acting out and paid it anyways. (k, I really don't think it's going to happen but before letting go of the check the thought did cross my mind... and that was just letting go of it to give to my husband. He's the one that actually took it to Family Services. And yes, he did the classic "hold out the check but don't let go when it's being taken" thing. He didn't even plan it, it just happened.)

2. We've gotten every hard copy we can with the exception of the copy of the sealing certificate from the temple. Yes, we could take a copy of the one we already have except for that unfortunate incident on our wedding day. You know how they always give the certificate to the mother of the bride for safe keeping... well that's probably the opposite of what should have happened. Yep, we have no idea where it is. So the temple has to get another one ready and we have to track down signatures.

3. We've got a chunk of our online stuff done. Questionnaire's, financial statements etc. Mostly waiting on David to get his stuff done. He's quite the perfectionist.

Speaking of David, he's actually started to blog again! It's kind of weird and I'm not used to it, but I'm glad he's doing it. He's spoken of becoming a writer but is struggling to find his voice. Nothing like putting everything about you on the web to help find your voice right!

That's about where we sit right now. On other things, my hat goes off to all the people out there who have ever been the president of some church organization... I really had no idea what kind of stuff would start popping into my mind and random times of the day and night. I don't like being in charge of everything! I feel like my mom. Like I stepped into the bishop's office and came out 10 years older. Bleck.

That's it for now. Perhaps if you are all lucky I'll post again before another week is out.

Casualties of War

Okay, so it wasn't really a war, just our Robbins family reunion but there were casualties still the same. I will give them to you in order of the fall.

1. One of our camp chairs gave up the ghost at the Friday night hot dog roast. Apparently it just couldn't handle the heat.

2. My blue shirt that I really really love, well.... one of the activities was t-shirt painting. I had no intention of painting a shirt but apparently I didn't need to. My cute niece Nessa showed me hers that she was ever so proud of and in the process globbed silver paint on my sleeve.

3. My nephew, Wes, is just over 1 and walking around like a champ. He is in a grabby stage and was in the general t-shirt painting area. His favorite past time was finding things and dropping them into the bucket of water used to rinse out the sponges for said painting. Well, my sister heard a kerplunk, thought it sounded a bit bigger than a sponge and took a look. What did she fish out of the dirty paint water you ask? My camera! Now you know why I have no pictures of the deceased.

All in all it was a fun time though. It is an excuse to upgrade our camera though we hadn't planned on doing it quite so soon... Not so sure where we're going to get the money to do that, but...

Positive highlight: So, I assigned my little brother to covertly start a water fight for the reunion (it's nice to be in charge). I ended up with a few cups poured over my clothes, splashed in my face, etc. Well, David was feeling pretty good about himself because he had successfully avoided the water fight. I thought about remedying the situation, but decided against it as I didn't think he had a change of clothes and we were leaving soon. Well the little braggart told me he did but he just didn't want to get wet. Famous last words. I made an excuse to get all the electronics off of him and told Alex to "get the job done". One large bucket later and David was just as wet as me! Ain't that love!

In Common

What do a nursing mother, an avid reader, and someone who drinks a lot of water have in common?

Yep, the women’s restroom in the Taggart Student Center.

Not to be mistaken for ordinary, this restroom offers relief for a variety of women and their needs. It’s deep black faux-leather couches offer the average person a place to sit back, kick off your shoes and read a good book or even take a quick nap.

During certain times of the day your R&R can also be accompanied by the soft swish swish coming from the ‘lactation station’ as resident employee pumps.

And don’t forget the flush of the toilets and the crank of the paper towel dispenser!

As an added bonus the wall-mirror lets you know whether you look your best or need to straighten a few loose strands.

Yes indeed, a restroom fit for royalty.

The Leap

Well, we've decided to take the next step in the child-getting process. That's right, we're filling out the adoption papers. I've had this inner debate on whether or not I would make this all public or not. But then I remembered that my life is pretty much an open book so why put off the inevitable?

Last Thursday we met with LDS Family Services and got the 'scoop' on adoption. It must be a good thing because David and I both had to hold back tears. I would say that there was something stuck in my eye, but how weird is that that it would effect both of us?! So I'll fess up. It really got to me. Not in a sad way, but it an oh-so-special way. So much of that way that we could hardly wait to come home and start filling out the papers and online profile.

Our case-worker said it usually takes about 4 months to get approved. My initial thoughts were "wanna bet? I'll see your 4 months and do it in 2 tops!" Then we started on the paperwork. It really is pretty intensive. Sure you have to get birth certificates, marriage documents, criminal background checks, but that's almost the easy part. There is a huge on-line section that has all sorts of in-depth questions that have to be answered. It's one thing if you are just putting in quick answers that 'will do' but quite another when you realize that someone will be making judgements on whether or not they give their child to you based on your answers. No pressure right. But it's definitely becoming quite the experience.

It's gotten me to think alot about family relationships and even our own personalities. How we interact with each other, how we get along with our own brothers and sisters. It's a lot to think about. Makes it difficult to know what to say.

But long story short, that is where we are at. I still say 4 months is a long time, and let's face it, school starts up again in August and I won't see my husband till December for all intents and purposes. Gotta get it done now!