Southern Comfort

Today I officially fell in love with Columbia. I have always loved old things - smelling the pages of old books, browsing through faded cemetery grave markers and especially old homes. Sometimes I see an old home with lots of character and feel like I could just throw my arms

around it. Something stirs deep within my soul when I see a beautiful old home that's been taken care of. And something dies a little when I see an old home falling in ruins. I always wish I had lots of money and could make it livable. I think I get my love of all things historical from my dad.

So far, I've pretty much only seen the areas of Columbia around where we live and around the university. And while I liked it, it didn't really "speak" to me. Today I dropped David off at school and had about 30 minutes to kill, so I decided to drive around downtown Columbia. It was amazing! Main Street is full of old buildings with remarkable architecture. Blanding street has great old homes with remarkable history (I grew up in a little town in Southern Utah called Blanding, so I'm drawn to this street anyway.) The neighborhood is full of graceful homes with their wide porches.

Unfortunately I forgot my camera. I would love to just wander the streets, reading the historical signs (found on almost every corner) and taking pictures. I'm afraid my kids would be bored out of their minds, but I think we'll have to do it when the weather has cooled down a bit. In the meantime, if you want to see some pictures and read TONS of information about historical Columbia, check out this blog. It's more informative than any of the official websites I've found.

Some day when David is graduated and we are rich, I want to live in an old home (fixed up of course) and a big wraparound porch would be a major bonus.

the big THREE - OH!

Today David finally turns 30! It seems like it has taken forever to get to this point. I can't believe he was just 21 when we got married. Now that he's 30, I don't feel like such a cradle robber.

David is a rare breed made up of an old soul and a childlike heart. To prove the childlike part, he chose cold cereal for his birthday breakfast, peanut butter and apple butter sandwiches for his birthday dinner and chocolate chip cookies with milk for dunking in lieu of a cake.

I made him and Jalen Gamecock jammies for his birthday (for some reason at U of H and BYU I didn't think of this until he was graduating, so this time we got it done early). I made Baylie a gamecock barrette, but you can't see it very well.

Unfortunately, I'm not a great seamstress and I bought the wrong pattern. Instead of spending on the right pattern, I tried to wing it. The result resembles Hammer pants without elastic around the ankles.

And now, 30 reasons why David is awesome.

1. He is a long, tall Texan.

2. He is a great dad (when he is home, he is REALLY home).

3. He never raises his voice at me.

4. He always says "sorry," even when it's not his fault.

5. He has big, soft lips.

6. He can sing anything.

7. He is usually singing something.

8. He is an excellent driver.

9. He always carries Jalen so I don't have to (Jalen's heavy).

10. He is almost always in a good mood.

11. He doesn't talk bad about people.

12. He is willing to accept any church calling.

13. He thinks he can do anything if he has enough time and the right tools (and he usually can).

14. He can't gain weight (I kind of resent him for this one).

15. He likes me. (from Baylie)

16. He is a kid magnet - the Pied Piper.

17. He pretends to care about BYU Football and is willing to watch sports with me.

18. He likes toys. (also from Baylie)

19. He always tries to do the right thing.

20. He is a righteous man.

21. He has a nice bum.

23. He has a nice jaw line and a cool part on his face from his cheekbone to jaw (don't know how to describe it).

24. He doesn't hold a grudge.

25. He loves his family (the one he grew up with and the one he has now).

26. He loves my family.

27. He walks with a little skip in his step.

28. He still feels the irresistible urge to roll down any grassy hill he passes.

29. He has a great laugh.

30. He chose me to spend his life with! (thanks, hon.)

Sweet Ride

David never got to make a pinewood derby car when he was a kid. But yesterday a group of guys in our church group had a pinewood derby "no holds barred" competition. David was pretty excited about his awesome car. There were some interesting cars - one was even battery powered! The ultimate winner was modeled after the Magic Schoolbus and weighed at least five pounds.

It was a fun night.

Emotionally Abused

I've come to the difficult realization that I am emotionally abused in my relationship. I get manipulated, browbeat, physically pushed around, etc., etc. By the end of the day, I am exhausted. My abuser always says they are sorry and shows an increase of love and affection, so I'm always happy to forgive them. But there are days when I think I just can't do it anymore.

I am not kidding when I say I am terrified regarding how I will survive the next 15-20 years. If I can't control it now, what does the future hold?

P.S. Baylie posed for these pictures.

There and Back Again

From Wikipedia: The American cockroach (Periplaneta americana), also known as the palmetto bug or waterbug, particularly in the southern United States, is the largest species of common cockroach, and often considered a pest. American cockroach adults grow to an average length of around 4 centimetres (1.6 in) and about 7 millimetres (0.28 in) tall. The insect can travel quickly, often darting out of sight when someone enters a room, and can fit into small cracks and under doors despite its fairly large size. It is considered one of the fastest running insects. The adult American cockroach can also fly.

Yep, we have these. On the upside, they were bigger in Texas - but then, isn't everything? Fortunately, we get free fumigation here at the apartments. I've signed up for twice a month.

Moving is hard. It's not just the packing, cleaning, driving, spending, etc., etc. For me, more than anything, it's trying to become myself in a new place with new people. I'm really good at meeting the new person and trying to help them feel welcome. I am not very good at being the new person. I find it overwhelming and intimidating. Our new ward (congregation) is very friendly and everyone has been kind, but I don't feel like I really know anyone. Baylie doesn't have any little friends to play with. I know it is my responsibility to reach out and make this happen, but it is not easy for me. David is much better at it than me. So far he is loving the ward, school and basically everything else.

We finally found a playground with swings. It is right behind our house. It's behind the Methodist church, but they don't care who uses it. I've given up on finding play-worthy grass, but swings are a big plus.

Jalen is expanding his diet. He enjoys mashed potatoes, pizza crust, bread and anything he can get his hands on. Unfortunately, that includes Baylie's hair.

Baylie has become a great little helper around the house. Here she demonstrates using my dishtowel to mop the floor. My mom learned about her cleaning during our recent visit when Baylie changed the toilet paper roll by throwing a new roll into the toilet. She has also started taking off her clothes just because she can (meaning, Baylie, not my mom). This would not be such a big deal if she were potty trained.

Since the kids and I have such limited use of the car, Jalen has discovered alternate methods of transportation. Seriously though, the kid gets around. He's become a speedy crawler and gets wherever he wants to go. Baylie didn't crawl until 11 months, so having a 7 month old cruising around is new for us.

And best of all, we have flight benefits, which allowed us to come home for the weekend and cheer on the T-birds. Actually we went for the third birthday party of Lauryn and Clara, our adorable nieces. It was a princess party, so Baylie was in heaven. She was so happy to play with her cousins for four days. The first one she saw was Camden. When he walked in the room, she ran to him and about knocked him down with her big hug. I admit I got teary eyed.

Probably the best thing about the move is that it's just me and David again, without lots of family. Hard as it is for me, I think it's good for our marriage when it's just us for a while.

My Love Affair With Football

My sister, Tiffani, just wrote an awesome post about football and what it means to her and our family. It made me teary eyed. Football is such a central part to who I am and so many of my memories. I know it's odd for a woman to feel this way, but it's how it is. I went to my first football game when I was just weeks old.

Before David married me, my bishop from when I was younger warned him that he should go to a ballgame with me before the wedding. At his first BYU game, he probably wished he had taken the advice. BYU lost and David looked at me, shrugged and said "Well, you can't win every game." I pointed my finger at his chest and said, "You, shut up!" (I did feel badly about it later.) When we go to a BYU game and then come home and I want to watch more games, he asks "Haven't we watched enough football?" He has become a fan, although Baylie has been to more football games than her dad.

A couple of years ago I was standing on the sidelines of a season opening football game with my dad when he got teary eyed and told me that he just loved the smell of fresh grass, the flag blowing the breeze and the pig skin flying through the air. That sums up a lot about my dad. I remember one time being homesick and finding a stadium where I could just sit for a while. I look for stadiums wherever I go. (The Gamecock stadium is humongous.)

To save money, we decided not to pay for cable or satellite. I really don't miss t.v. much, but I'm having a really hard time not being able to watch football. I'm trying to figure out if I can get games online. It's hard enough not being able to watch Timpview or BYU football, but not being able to watch it on t.v. makes it even worse.

We're in Utah for a few days and I'll catch both the T-birds and the Cougars. Baylie has been practicing the fight song. I plan to absorb as much as possible and hope it holds me over for a while.

Little Drummer Boy