discovery.COHEED.v-weekend

discovery

the day before valentine's my friend tati invited me to come with her to the discovery gateway center thang at the gateway mall.  i've always wanted to take everton there but didn't know what to expect.  before i sorta thought he'd be too young and not interested in what they had.  but going this time was a great decision. also, tati knew of a deal where if you brought an old jacket or blanket that day they'll let you in for free.  it's a hands on kids museum and everton was in love.

everton was more interested in anything with wheels.

he definitely loved their water play area.

they had a ton more there; like this bird house with a slide as an exit, a ball area, a grocery store, a construction zone, a little farm, and even a good sized play house full of common household items, kid sized of course.

with valentine's being on thurs, brett and i couldn't do much with his work schedule so we had a date planned for saturday.  so on thurday we ate a ton of chocolate and watched downton abbey, our current obsession.

COHEED

then on friday my sister erin and i got to see one of my all time favorite bands, coheed and cambria.  i saw them back in '07 at warped tour and was THRILLED knowing they were coming to the great saltair, which is about 15 mins from where i live.

the concert was AMAZING.  i forgot how much i love the bass speakers pounding in your chest.  i love being in the middle of a hot, cramped, and sweaty crowd while singing along with the singer, and in this case his name was claudio.  he has majestic hair.

if you've never heard of them, this is my ultimate favorite song of theirs...

what a great bonding moment i had with my little sis.  we were both weirded out about the fact that we were at a rock concert together.  we both got scratched up, bruised, our hair yanked, i got kneed in the back, and we woke up super sore the next morning but it was SOOO worth it all.  it was wonderful.

v-weekend

saturday was valentine's date day with brett.  erin was gracious enough to babysit for us (but thankfully her awesome roommate, britnee, was there, erin still sucks at changing diapers)

brett and i went to see les mis, which may i say, is one of the most beautiful movies ever?!?!
afterwards, we went to my favorite sushi restaurant and then got some fro-yo.  we went to the movies and to the restaurant early enough before it started getting too busy being valentine's weekend and all.  it's always nice to spend time with my man without the little man. and thankfully everton did great with his babysitters.  thanks erin and britnee!

everton helped me make red velvet cheesecake cupcakes and helped eat one too.  

this year's valentine's was just fabulous and busy.

i am extremely fond of my husband and my son.

IN LOVE

 "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

3 Nephi 13:21

the Book of Mormon dilemma

february 5, 2013 is the day i finished reading the Book of Mormon for the very first time.

i always knew the scriptures were/are important.  i went to church every sunday as a child and relied on my parents' testimonies to know whether the LDS church was true or not.  i never really had doubts about it.  i started developing my own testimony when i hit the ripe age of 12 and had entered young womens.  there was a time in young womens when one of my awesome YW leaders challenged us to read the entire Book of Mormon.  she gave us a chart and said that when we finish she'll give us a present.  i hopped to it.  i read and colored in the sections of the chart i had finished reading BUT i started to slack off.  that was my problem, i wasn't very good about finishing things i wasn't really into in the first place.  i really started reading just to get the prize.  but i found the scriptures are hard to read.  i was dozing off a lot (most likely because i was reading at the worst times and in the worst places: late at night and warm in my bed.)  i was also having a hard time understanding the scriptures.  they were written wayyyy back when and the writing language is just different.  but shoo, i could knock out one of the huge harry potter books in a few days.  the time came when my fellow young women announced in class that they were done reading the BOM.  the teacher praised them and gave them their presents.  i felt embarrassed being the only one that didn't finish so i raised my hand and announced that i finished reading as well.  i totally lied and i totally still feel guilty about it.  the present was a church music CD and i knew i didn't deserve it, even if it was just a CD.

fast forward to high school, the age where going to seminary was a must for the LDS teen.  seminary back east was at 6 in the morning.  it seriously sucked waking up so early but i sorta liked going to seminary.  it was a chance to hang out with my friends and to be honest, it meant not having to ride the school bus.  i LOATHED riding the school bus.  and i went all 4 years of seminary.  and i remember one of those years (2005) when prophet gordon b. hinckley challenged all members of the church to read the BOM and to finish by the end of the year.  the seminary teacher pulled out a chart with the class' names and she kept track of everyone's progress.  and yet again, i lagged behind.  i  had thought to myself, well there's no way i could finish by the end of the year so why even try?  this time around there wasn't a prize given out but i could see my peers' happiness in accomplishing something the prophet asked us to do.  i just never had my heart into it.  even in school, if we had to write a book report on a book i didn't care about, i would just watch the movie based on said book and called it good.

the college years were full of religious classes that i really enjoyed, i loved hearing my professors' perspective of certain scriptures.  but yeah, still haven't read all of the BOM.  

and then i got married.  and being married makes you completely comfortable with your spouse that you don't feel the need to hold things in anymore and can feel comfortable enough to let your spouse know what you're exactly feeling.  well i can be such a grump and whine about the dumbest things (i know you're so surprised, alyssa?  grumpy?)  being the awesome missionary that he is, brett made me realize the true importance of the Book of Mormon.  when i get in my pouty moments, he would ask, "have you read your scriptures lately?"  and i HATED that question cuz i knew he was right.  when i would read my scriptures i did feel better, not just about our current situation but about life.

brett challenged me to read the Book of Mormon for 30 mins a day.  and i did.  i won't tell you exactly how long it took me.  i did slack off for periods of time here and there but i finished.  i had to change my habits so i wouldn't snooze.  i read in the mornings while everton and i ate breakfast.  i didn't have the tv nor my computer on.

there were times when i didn't even understand what i was reading.  but brett told me that it didn't matter, as long as i was reading.  and times that i did understand i got really into it and i read longer than 30 mins.  i noticed that i was a more pleasant person when i read.  everton seemed to not drive me nuts like usual.  i became even more in love with my husband than i already am.  the Book of Mormon testifies of Christ and the miracles He performed here in the Americas.  i feel closer to my Savior than i did before.  and today when i read the last chapter of the Book of Mormon i came across this verse...

"And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost."  -Moroni 10:4

and so i did that.  when i finished the last book in the Book of Mormon, i knelt down in prayer asking my Heavenly Father if what i read was true.  then i felt His spirit pour into my heart like liquid and a confirmation told me that the Book of Mormon is indeed true and that Jesus Christ did live on this earth and died for our sins.  And that through the power of the Atonement we can live as Eternal families in Heaven. and i think that's the best present of all.

i can't tell you how many times i started reading, "I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents..." over the years of my life, or how many times i needed to read the BOM to help me through things i dealt with in my life, but never finished because of pure laziness.  but i sure am glad i finally read it and i definitely plan on reading it over and over and over.   

sorry for the novel.  but i felt it was important to write down all my feelings about the Book of Mormon so that my little gentleman and my future kids can learn to love reading the scriptures and not be slothful about reading like their mother did.

feeling hot hot hot

back when my parents were here a few months ago my mom had a hankering to go to the hot springs.  she bought a KSL deals voucher for the crystal hot springs in honeyville, ut and it was $12 for 6 people.  but we got busy with the holidays and my parents went back home to wv.  sooooo it was up to us to not let the voucher go to waste!  we brought erin and our besties charlene and adam.

holy crap the water felt SOOO good!  i was skeptical because how the freak are we supposed to go swimming OUTSIDE while it's 25 degrees?  but once you're in the water it was like a giant hot bath.  and the steam helped your upper body to not freeze.  everton was in love.  he loves baths so he loved the hot springs.  they had 3 small waterfalls, one was cold water (in case you got a little overheated,) one was super hot, and the middle one was just right.  i know you can get all this in a hot tub but they can get REALLY hot and it think it'd be too hot for everton.

we were super hot, and when i say hot, i mean as in sweaty. 

and check out the creeper on the right. 

everton is just like his daddy, shrivels up once water touches him.

i'm bummed that brett and i never went to lava hot springs up in idaho.  but since we're living out here, hopefully we'll go soon.

and how 'bout the beyonce bowl??  AMAZING.  oh yeah i guess there was some football going on too.  brett and everton just ate chips the whole time.

housewife swag and UT powder

i am in the business of preventing my laziness overtake my wifely cooking duties.  you can say we're still recovering from my parents' stay.  i don't feel like cooking and planning meals.  i secretly wish my mom was still here to cook AMAZING meals for us.  but i am the actual queen of this castle and i need to get my booty in gear and into the kitchen.  so in order to prevent my family's starvation/gross need for crappy fast food i finally got into crockpot freezer meal planning/cookin and i feel sheepish for not doing this earlier.  it used to intimidate me, having to buy what seemed like a million groceries and spending countless hours in the kitchen sweating and cutting veggies.  but i now view it as working really hard one day getting all the meals into bags then spending the next few weeks being totally lazy, well at least, not having to think about what to make for dinner.
and i even price matched on these groceries at walmart.  it was my very first time price matching and i was sweating the entire time at the cash register.  i thought that they would be really anal as to what the ads said or where the ads came from or even the dates on the ads but shoo, the dude never even looked at them.  savin a dolla makes me holla!

i did like having brett at home to wrangle everton while i sorted and shoved food into bags.  he's also the main onion chopper in this house.  i think cutting onions are the devil's work.  they freak my eyes out so bad.

in other news, tooele just got snow infested.

and i just had to take everton out to play in said snow so he's not driving me crazy bouncing off the walls being cooped up in the house.

but he loved being out and about.  thankfully he didn't eat the snow because it most likely came from the disgusting smog air that's been enveloping salt lake valley.

also, with everton being in nursery, i get tickled when the nursery leader gives me everton's latest creation, whether it be a coloring page with a few lines of crayon or this sweet ditty...

cheer up everton, you're in nursery, not prison.

face full o' frosting

my cousin kim invited us to her son landon's 2nd birthday party up in idaho and we thought it was a perfect opportunity to go back to the state chock full of our college memories and of course to celebrate landon's birthday.  it was also a good excuse to see our besties steve and gwen.

everton and i with kim and landon!  the boys were busy stuffing their face with frosting.

love my cuz.

our fam bams.

when everton first got his savory and sugary cupcake he plopped himself on a chair and chowed down.  that's pretty much the moment he was looking forward to since we got to the party.  we're so glad we came and partied with landon and were able to hang out with the filipino fam from idaho.

then whenever we go to idaho we HAVE to hang out with steve and gwen.  and they were graceful enough to let us stay with them for the 3 day weekend.  and we got to meet their newest addition, baby zeke!  he made me so baby hungry.  he's about 7 months and is possibly the most chill baby ever.

and i was so surprised at how much everton wanted to take care of zeke.  he tried holding him (with me actually holding zeke,) and would give him his bottle.  it just touched my heart feeling that maybe everton does need a little sib and that he could help out with him.  and then everton proceeded to throw a phone at zeke's face.  well, with everton's face in that last pic i think our next kid needs to sleep with one eye open with everton around.

as much as i griped and complained about living in idaho, it will always have a special place in my heart.  i mean, that's where i had some of the best times in college (at least for an LDS girl who doesn't drink,) it's where i met and was proposed to by my husband, and let's be real, it's where we made everton!  we also made some of the greatest friends we could have in this life.

now we're back in tooele.  brett goes to work while everton and i are cooped up in the house.  with the super dry weather and the heater constantly on, brett and i have been getting bloody noses like crazy.  we really need a humidifier...

oh, and scary story of the day-everton sharted himself and i went on to clean his booty.  scary enough huh?  the deed was done and i threw away the diaper.  then while lunch was cooking, everton and i were hangin out on the couch and i glanced to the floor and there i saw it.  a boulder sized turd sitting on one of the puzzle boards.  i was and am still mortified.  it bewildered me, did everton undo his pjs and diaper and drop one in the living room?  did a dog break in?  false to both.  i realized that the fecal matter must've fallen out of the diaper while i was cleaning everton.  ehhhhhh it still makes me cringe thinking that everton could've been playing with it or doing who knows what to it...

*shudders*

also, HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my awesome sis kyla!

she's going to be popping out a baby boy in june!!  it'll be excellent, another kid for everton to wrassle.

energetic everton

hey get down from there!

don't touch that!

what are you doing??

don't put that there!

put that back!

let go of my hair!

don't put that in your mouth!

stop throwing things!

these are the phrases i often use on a daily basis.  my everton used to be what i thought was the perfect child, that is, till he learned the true power of what his arms and legs can do.  every piece of furniture is a mountain he must conquer.  every small object must pass the test as to how high and how far it can be thrown.  and eating?  maybe everton used to be an excellent eater, blissfully unaware that the green bean or carrot is a superior form of nutrition.  but now, he'll take a lick and then give me a look of, "what in the h-e-double hockey sticks are you trying to feed me woman?"

today was especially a tough day.  my parents have gone back to wv so i don't have the luxury of handing off a wild everton to my mom or dad to coddle while i go sit in a corner rocking back and forth.  i was not expecting the terrible twos until he was actually two!  i have moments thinking, "how the crunk am i supposed to have more kids when i can BARELY handle ONE??"  or i ponder, "how in the world do people have more than one kid??"  OF COURSE we plan on having more and i get too dramatic when talking to brett feeling that there's no way i can have another one when everton still doesn't talk!!  i have my "i suck as a mom moments."  i need to stop watching as much tv as i do and play more with everton.  i read a lot with everton, well maybe it's not enough.  if i read more, then maybe he'll say more words...blah blah blah.  it's hard not comparing kids with my friends or random people i see at the store.  i try to love everton as much as i can and tell him that i love him just as much too.  i try to feed him at least somewhat healthy as i can because i honestly don't want to contribute a child to the nation's obesity epidemic.  i try to discipline him as i can for his age, but let's face it, when i'm trying to put him in time out or let him know that what he just did isn't very nice, he looks at me with those big brown eyes with a slight smile on his face and my heart melts and i have to hide my face in my hoodie so he doesn't see me crack.

darn that kid.

so anyways, my cousin's wife rachel just shared this article on facebook.  and holy crap it was meant just for me, i know it. it's called,

  'why you're never failing as a mother.'
this was my fav part, "You are in the trenches when you have a baby. To the untrained eye it seems pretty straightforward and easy -- you feed them, you bathe them, you pick them up when they cry -- but it's more than that. It's perpetual motion with a generous layer of guilt and self-doubt spread on top, and that takes its toll."

amen to that.  there are a million.5 things i didn't know going into motherhood and i know for sure there's a million more things i'll learn as i go on.  everton is my treasure and i keep telling myself that there's no perfect time to have another kid.  i'll never be a perfect mom and i'm trying to keep that in mind.  as the author eloquently put it, 

"We live in a time when we can Google everything, share ideas and expose our children to amazing opportunities, but anyone that implies that they have it figured out is either drunk or lying (or both), so don't be too hard on yourself."

all i can do is my best, even if that means letting everton make a pigsty out of the living room or slipping him some ice cream because he looks really cute enjoying it. 

 now i gotta go clean the pink crayon chunks from everton's teeth.