Vacation Envy

Just about everyone I know has gone on vacation this summer, except me. Some of these vacations have been glamorous or exotic, relaxing or exciting, tried and true fun or new unique experiences. I am having a mega case of wanderlust, but no way to satiate that need!


Nope, I won't deny it. I have a bad case of vacation envy.


The only time I have left town and my immediate surroundings has been to go camping.... Aw, camping. I don't like to go, but I feel a sense of obligation to go spend time with family. Can't my family go somewhere with real beds and electricity?? No, they go camping. After only one trip, that word has become like a swear word to me. Ugh. Camping!


Since I can't really escape to an island retreat, I leave you with this song by Weezer that always makes me think of summer and getaways.

click here for Island In The Sun by Weezer

Blue skies and cool evenings

The weather has been really nice lately. Maybe a tad bit hot on some days, but the beautiful blue skies and cool desert evenings make up for it. The nieces and nephews have been over a lot to play on the water slide, and usually all have at least two popsicles while they are here.
My niece in California has decided that if her two big brothers are going to school, then she should be going too! So, she told her mom she was a "pink-grader". That sounds much more fun than any grade of school that I attended!!
Currently, as I type this, Tyler is taking the ASVAB test for the third time. I really hope he does well!! But, all this time we thought his score didn't qualify him to get into the AF, we were wrong. He qualifies to get into the AF, just not the first job he expressed interest in. I told him if he has to do a different job for a few years and then switch, wouldn't it be worth it just to get into the AF? He was supposed to talk to his recruiter about it before he took the test today. I hope he has good news for me when he gets home.
The song I am posting today is sung by a California girl named Colbie Caillat. I like a lot of her songs, they sound like fun summer, beachy songs to me. I thought this video was cute, with all the hidden smiles, and had a sweet sentiment to it. So, here it is ~ "I Do" by Colbie Caillat

Click here for "I Do"

Get ready to put your new shoes on!

I am sick and tired of people venting there crap on Facebook! That's what your sister/mom/good friend/diary/blog is for! I use Facebook primarily to keep in touch with people from the past, or relatives who live far away, I don't want to read about how your dogs tore up your garden, your parenting style is better, or read your paragraph long self-righteous tirade against the medical profession. I am so glad that I am over the whole Facebook craze, and now only check it about once a week. Now my Facebook rant is over! :)

If you know me, you know I love music! Just about every big moment in my life has it's own soundtrack, or a song will bring a specific memory to mind. So, I had this idea of trying to blog about songs that I really like right now. Some old, some new, some old ones newly discovered again. To kick it off, I am going to link (successfully - cross your fingers) a video of Paolo Nutini's song "New Shoes". This tune gets me dancing around my bedroom and thinking about buying shoes, what could be better??

Paolo Nutini "New Shoes" click here

One lousy point!

Tyler took the ASVAB again... but unfortunately he missed passing it by one stinking point. He was pretty bummed out. So, he will take it again this month. Already, he has been studying like a mad man, and I am proud of him for it. He has to get it passed this time or he can't take it again for six months, eeek!

When Tyler didn't pass for a second time, a certain someone (who I will not name), said to him maybe this was the Lord's way of telling him that he wasn't supposed to go into the Air Force. This completely disgusted me. We did not go into this decision, to go into the AF, lightly. We prayed for weeks before we made our final decision, and we have always felt supported by the promptings of the Holy Ghost since we made that decision. Just because you face opposition, does not mean you have made the wrong decision, or that Heavenly Father is necessarily telling you to give up. If, through prayer, you still feel right about something, aren't you supposed to push forward through opposition?? I don't recall anywhere in the scriptures where it promises that our lives will be all sunshine and lollipops just because we make the right decision. I do know, however, that the Lord has promised us that when we make the right choices, he will support us through our trials. Every time Tyler and I pray about the AF, we get the same answer, that it is what Tyler is supposed to do. We will not let the doubts and negative attitudes of others get in the way of our goal.

Eesh! Now that I have gotten my rant out I feel a little better. :) Grandpa and Grandma Hunsaker have been in town visiting. Grandma went to Tacoma to see her daughter graduate college, so Grandpa has been here on his own. He is so funny, he has been pretty out of sorts without her here! Good thing Dad keeps him busy with projects in the yard. Tomorrow we are having some of Dad's family here for dinner, we will see how that goes... why does there always have to be drama??

Poor Ty is working today, he is going to be one tired guy for Sunday. I will have to make sure he stays awake during church!!

Lukewarm Death

My mom always says when she isn't feeling good, that she feels like "death warmed over". I feel so horrid, I am not even warmed over, I am only lukewarm. Thank Heaven for understanding primary presidents who help you find a sub for your class!

Tyler has been preparing to take the ASVAB for a second time this coming Monday. I am so nervous for him and I keep praying and and praying that he will pass this time. The first time he took it, he only missed passing by 5 points... that was definitely a tough blow. So, he has been studying all month and is feeling more prepared for the test. We, along with our families are fasting this Sunday in Ty's behalf. I also called and had his name put on the prayer list at the temple. So, with all the studying, prayer and fasting, I have faith that Tyler will be successful this time. But as in all things, everything is in the Lord's hands.

Meet Walter

This is our new dog, Walter! He is a one year old Great Pyrenees, Australian Shepherd mix. We decided to get a dog from a local shelter instead of a breeder because of a) cost, b) he's already housebroken, and c) shelter dogs need homes too! We think he's pretty cute. And so far he has been a sweetheart. Ernie still isn't sure what to think about him, and barks at Walter a lot. Hopefully he will warm up to him soon! Although Walter is a year old, he is still considered a puppy, and believe me, he acts like it! Everything he thinks looks or smells interesting goes into his mouth. He usually will drop whatever it is when I ask him to. He also puts himself to bed at night in his kennel. We don't have to shut the door, he stays in there all night. Walter loves to put his big fuzzy head in your lap and have you scratch his ears.
Two of our nieces and a nephew have come over to meet him, and they all loved him. As soon as the kids came in, Walter laid down on the floor so they could love on him. When Coco was leaving, she didn't say good bye to anyone but Walter.
So, if you are in need of some lovin' from a big fluffy cream puff named Walter, come on over, he will be happy to oblige!

Easter is on it's way!

It's true, Easter is on the way. Wanna know how I know this? Well, besides looking at any current calendar, something else happened today that signalled the approach of Easter. Yes, today I saw my first Cadbury Creme Egg commercial of 2011. It's official now! Easter is just around the corner! Hahaha, I know it's kinda sad, but seeing that commercial today made me excited. I love me some Cadbury Creme Eggs! Anyone who says different, well, I don't know who you are!
Had a great conversation of the phone with my sis today! I always love catching up with her. She makes me laugh so much!
Tyler and I are slowly, but surely, filling out our adoption papers. I knew there would be a lot of paperwork, but this paperwork is intense! They want to know everything under the sun about us, from descriptions of our siblings, to the name of our first pet. Ok, I exaggerated that last one. I know they just want to be thorough, and give the birth parents a lot of information to make their decision off of. It's a huge decision they are making! At the same time, I feel like I am auditioning to be a prospective parent. It puts a lot of pressure on you to say just the right thing in your profile, because if you don't, it could impact how quickly we adopt. So much pressure!! I just have to try to relax and rely solely on faith and prayer.

Our first appointment

Tyler and I are so excited for this week because we have our first official, sit-down visit with LDS Family Services! Yea!! This is step number two on our road to adoption. I am so anxious to sit down with the counselor and ask him all my questions. I have decided that during the week I need to write down the questions that pop up, or I will forget when we get to our interview! And I want to make sure I get all my questions answered!
Tonight we had my nieces birthday party, and that was lots of fun. Plenty of family, good food and fun to be had. I absolutely love and thrive on time spent with my husband and family, so it was a great night. I made her a crocheted stuffed panda, and she loved it. I am making a couple bears for some baby showers, so I will have to post pictures. I want to start making them to sell to people, I think that would be fun. I love doing crafty, artistic type stuff, and if people would pay me too, that would be way awesome!
Next week Tyler is going on a ride-along with a member of our bishopric who works for the Richland police department. Apparently any citizen can go on one, so take advantage of that! Ha ha, maybe not. Tyler is going on this ride-along because he is applying to several local police departments, and this will give him a kind of preview of what he would be doing. I am so psyched for him!
This week is turning out to be one of those weeks where you think you don't have much going on, then you turn around, and every day is jam packed. But, this is good. One of my goals for 2011 is to just do more, be less idle. (I hope I am not inadvertently inviting chaos into my life! :) )

My boat trip to Australia

I found this posted on a blog I enjoy reading. The blog is written by a woman who is LDS and a mother of two adopted children. I find her blog to be really inspiring and uplifting and I loved the sweet sentiment of this article. So many people take their "flight" to Australia for granted, or anguish over their "boat trip", but it truly is just all about the beauty of Australia. I have posted a link to her blog, so you can read it for yourself and understand what the heck I'm saying! :)

http://growingupsara.blogspot.com/2010/11/great-analogy-from-dear-abby.html#comment-form

A new year, already??

I don't know about the rest of you out there, but 2010 seemed to pass faster than 2009! Family visited, we travelled, big decisions were made, we turned in our adoption application. So many great and wonderful things happened, but at the same time, I can't help thinking about the things I wish I had gotten done.
Now it is 2011, so weird to type, and a chance to do or not do all those things I didn't do last year. I guess that is one good thing about the New Year, it refocuses me on the year to come.
2011 has already started out with a bang, I've had a sinus infection cold thing since before Christmas, and I was reassigned to the Sunbeams. I am really going to miss the kids from my CTR 5 class, but this will be a new adventure!
Tyler has decided to go in a completely different direction for his career, so 2011 will be about helping him achieve those goals.
I will add more of my plans for 2011 throughout the month of January, as for now, my sinuses hurt too bad to think!