I cried...

...when I heard that the definition of marriage (that was created by Heavenly Father, not man) was changed for ever and states rights were murdered in the same moment.  Today the Supreme Court has decided that gays have the right to be married in all 50 states. They over stepped their authority and decided states have no voice any more.  It doesn't matter if the states have banned it-by vote.  Our state constitutions are completely undermined and our national Constitution is hanging by a thread.  And my heart is breaking...

This week has been historical.  It is the week that people decided that since a crazy racist liked the Confederate flag it should be banned.  Now you can buy a Nazi flag on Amazon, but not a Confederate flag.  Although I don't own or fly a Confederate flag, I am not ignorant to what it actually stands for.  It stands for states rights.  Do some people use it as a symbol for evil? Yes,but that doesn't change what it really stands for. There is now talk about needing to deal with Gone With the Wind because it has symbols of the Confederacy in it. Ya think? It is based in Georgia at the time of the Civil War!!!  Of course it does!  Get over it people!!!  Stop being offended by everything or everything will be taken away from us!  Oh and the General Lee from the Dukes of Hazard isn't okay anymore either.  It is just ridiculous! 

My heart is breaking as we see the the slow death of freedom and democracy in America.  I cried as they read the announcement of Fox news.This is a moment I will remember like 9/11.  We all remember where we were on that day. I will always remember where I was the day states rights and traditional marriage died.  We are witnessing the death of freedom, states rights, morals, and traditional marriage in America...

I could go on and on but I won't.  Part of our country is cheering as our freedoms are dying and their voice seems so much louder than mine right now. 

I am not editing this so if it makes no sense I am not too worried about it.  This is me venting.  This is my documentation of life so that my posterity can look back and say that America was amazing and freedom was real...and I hope they will be saying they are lucky enough to live in a time that they restored all of it!

I still read...

...I just don't write much. These are books 10-16 for me this year (pitiful I know). I enjoyed all of these books (weeks ago).  Ben is timeless, about Laura is charming, Lewis is brilliant (this was a reread), Edith was thought provoking, Dashner fooled me into liking zombie books. The End.

Around here...Lately.

 The same old, same old.  Which is kind of awesome.  We live a no drama life and I kind of like it that way.  Here are (as usual...) lots of pictures with just a few words....

Playing Risk for geography purposes....

Sadie loves pillows.

We are both working hard.  Jake at math and me at coloring...

More geography but this time with my beautiful new globe I got with my birthday money from Nana and Papa.

Jake has come up with an idea for a board game.  So we are making a board game!

Lots of steps have been happening around here.

Pinterest you really do know me.  You suggested I pin this because you though I would like it.  You are right Pinterest.  I do like it.  So much that I already own it. 

Bag of Asian salad that even had the ginger dressing in it for $2.50 at Sam's club...I added chicken and it is now one of my favorite quick and easy meals ever. :)

The Rail Trail Dog Park now has a sprinkler and four pools.  Sadie approves on all the upgrades.  And to the fact that she didn't have to share it with any one since we were the only ones there.

It must be game night if this guy is frying wings!  This was for game three of the NBA finals.  (This should let you know how long ago I should have been posting these pictures...)

The never ending battle to organize every inch of my house continues....

I got an amazing birthday gift from an old friend (and former neighbor.  We built houses next door to each other in Fletcher on purpose) in the mail.

I couldn't decide if I wanted it above the bookcase or the desk, but I decided on the bookcase.


The picture below is of Aaron stopping by to see how the Ward Day of Service was going (which is the picture under the one of Aaron.  We painted a park) after he helped his dad fix the busted water line (it happened again) in their front line.  Isn't he cute?

Our little friend Hailey from church who just turned 8 (and got baptized) invited us to her pirate themed birthday party.  The food and entertainment were both fantastic!

We got to witness the chaos that is candy retrieval after the Pinata busts from a prime spot.

And we got to see another one of our little friends, Omner on his baptism day.  We have gone to 6 baptism in the past month!  These kiddos are so lucky to have such a large class of 8 year olds.  It is great to grow up with lots of friends that have the same beliefs as you!

Hamburgers in a caste iron skillet are the best you will EVER eat.  If you haven't tried it, we highly recommend it.  We like it so much that we had it two nights in a row for dinner.

I mean really...how can you not want to eat that?

I made the guys strawberry lemonade and didn't want to drink all that sugar so I put frozen strawberries in my ice water.  It is another one of my favorite things. 

Jake had a scab on his ear lobe that he accidentally itched off so we put a Yoda Band Aid on it.

That moment when Rere (Riannon who is 17 1/2) realizes just how much taller Jake is than her...It was a Kodak moment. :)

Why have I never posted this?  Or have I...I don't remember.  Aaron was at work when his company was replacing their large flag (the end, which is turned under because the wall isn't long enough, is a little tattered), and he got to take the old one home.  Its new home is in Jake's room.

Life is drama free and good!

Empty.

Every...

...laundry basket...

 ..in the house was empty.  If only but for a moment.  They were all empty.  And the ones that were filled with clean clothes were emptied too.  There is one load left in the dryer...and to be honest there is another load ready to wash again now (Aaron played basketball last night, while Jake learned the basics of fencing, and while I helped clean a rental home for a friend that is getting ready to move into it...all sweaty clothes that need to be cleaned today) but for a few miraculous moments all the laundry was done.  Even more miraculous:  I did it all.  I went back into the laundry room.  No snake has been found and no changes to keep them out have occurred but I will go broke if I actually pay Jake a dollar for every load (except his own because he has to do it) like I did for a couple of weeks because I was being a wimp.  I still am a wimp but I am being brave...and fast!  I can put a load in and either put it in the dryer or in a basket to put on the line (depending on what it is) really quickly.  I am in and out. 

And boy howdy clothes dry fast on the line now because it is H-O-T, hot here!  It is humid but not so much that the clothes won't dry.  How cute is our little path to the storage room under the house (I still need to take pictures) that I don't really go in since there was a snake sitting on the light switch that I almost touched a few months ago?...It is really just a glorified crawl space because the house is built on a little hill. I hate snakes.  But I love that for a moment all the laundry was done....See I told you miracles really do happen!

Miracles do happen....

 On what was our official last day of school (we will be working on some stuff over the summer but we are done for the most part...are we ever really done though?  No this is education. Never really done) I woke up and walked out to this:

These are the words I posted along with this picture on Instagram:

I woke up today to find Jake had already started school....On his own. No one told him too...If you don't believe in miracles let this be your confirmation that they are real and can happen in your life too! ;)

 

A Real RIP...

Elder L. Tom Perry passed away on May 30th. He was 92 years young! He was an Apostle for our church and one of my all time favorites.

Bittersweet...I will miss his talks at General Conference so much! His words always touched my heart as the Spirit testified of the truthfulness of what he was teaching. It is a tender mercy of the Lord that he didn't suffer long and that he is now home in Heaven with loved ones who passed on before him. Families are forever! I know Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ where waiting to welcome him home into their presence....

RIP Burt...

Check out this cool car!  Where did I see it you ask?  In the parking lot of our mechanics (the day after my birthday).  Burt is officially (we thought so one other time but he pulled through) out of commission.  Something is wrong with him...I don't really know what...Something about the transmission but it isn't the transmission...He's dead.  Unless of course you want to just drive around town at 25 mph since he won't shift to the next gear.

The price to fix him is $900, which is about what he is worth.  All this means that "Old Reliable", the Jeep's new name (Jake renamed him..her), is out of retirement...and our fancy car is getting lots of miles on it while Aaron drives it for work.

He is temporarily driving the fancy car.  Just until we figure out what he is going to drive for work.  Old reliable isn't "put 100+ miles on me a day" reliable.  Plus no air conditioning...Not fun in the South in summer...which is here.  Humidity.  Heat.  We are living it right now.  To which I say "YUCK". 

Although we are very sad that Burt is deadish (some mechanic may be able to fix him and get a few more miles out of him)  we really can't complain.  For 1998 free handy-me-down, we got a whole lot out of miles out of him. 

  So, Burt has taken over the retirement spot in the drive way. Old Reliable is no allowed in the carport because of the oil he spills but he taking us around town.  Aaron is off driving around in my (don't you love how I went from ours to mine?) fancy car in his dusty work boots with the AC pumping in his face.  And on a completely different note...our house is kind of adorable.

Don't worry.  My fancy floor mats are being protected from Aaron's dusty work boots.  I found some cheap rubber floor mats to catch all the work site dirt until my baby can be returned to me. :)  It was Aaron's idea and I think it is genius.  I do love that Southern red dirt...just not in my fancy car....in this amount.

So, Burt will be going on Craig's List (with absolute full disclosure of his issues) and we will see if someone (most likely a mechanic who can fix it himself.  The part is only $30 but you have to take out the whole engine to replace it.  Labor costs a lot) wants a really cheap car they can fix and drive around town a little bit.  Old Reliable will be driven, only when absolutely necessary because it is too dang hot to be rolling with no AC in South Carolina right now (it is supposed to be 98 degrees on Monday...we started summer late but it is here now!...boo).    Stay tuned for news on a new (to us-it will be old I am sure) car...we are working....

Yes I Do....

Day 31: 39

 This is actually the night before but it counts.  Jake and Aaron took me out to dinner (to the Olive Garden..we decided we won't be going back.  The food isn't as good as it used to be, it is really expensive, the service was not great, it is loud, they rush you, and they didn't give us our Andies Candies that are supposed to come with the receipt) and gave me my gifts.  I got just what I wanted: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in hardback.  I have it in paperback but needed the hardback to complete my collection.  They have new covers and I have been worried I may not be able to get the old version...but I did!  Plus I got a bonus gift: a $25 gift card to Barnes & Noble!

My guys are the best. :)

  And here are the moments that followed....These are blurry but too good not to post...

                                                 Life is good when your family is crazy.
Oh..here are the only pictures that we took on my actual birthday:

My chorister in Primary brought me a lemon raspberry cupcake. It was delicious.

  I knew what we were having for dinner when Mom asked me for one of my salad dressing recipes and my (really the Pioneer Women's-the only one I use) recipe for fruit pizza. :)

And here is an unattractive picture of me.  The first one of me at 39.  I am about to start looking really different in my pictures...