He Still Gets Me

Once upon a time there was this poor little blog. Its blogger was a total slacker and it often sat for weeks with no new posts.

Yeah, yeah that's me.
Slacker status over here.

Here I am once again about to blog about superficial, mundane, surface stuff. Its all I can do right now which I think is good enough. 

Our new life here is insane.
It's different but we are still so unsettled we haven't even been able to to have everything sink in yet.

Even though we got here in July and had the keys to our apartment about a week later, we didn't start living here at our apartment until two weeks ago. My in-laws went out of the country and we house sat for them. We were finally able to move into (as in actually start sleeping at) our place the night before I started work. Yeah, crazy timing I know. I got hired on at my job about 10 days after we got here but since its a State job I wasn't officially in the computer systems until much later, delaying my start date.

So we have been living here in our tiny little Salt Lake City apartment but I still have boxes full of stuff, our balcony is full of boxes we no longer have a garage for, there is tape on walls waiting to be painted, furniture half-way refinished, bags full of clothes and things needing to be sent to D.I. (Utah's version of Goodwill), and everything is a MESS.

Here's a few pictures though.

The first wall I got fully completed. Right behind our sectional!

Our tiny hallway is halfway finished. One side has the chevron painted while the other is just taped off. 

This is the before, during, and after of my 4$ D.I. find! My new desk chair!

That fabulous fabric? Totally scored that from my MIL's craft room and she scored it from Colorado like 15 years ago. LOVE it!

Now this is directly across from our sectional. That's the dresser Mr. Superman got me for my birthday this year and I LOVED refinishing it. I did a mini-makeover on that lamp and I still love it but I just didn't like it in that corner. I'm really trying to have balance between all of my bright, colorful decor and my vintage, antique, eclectic pieces. I'm also having to just do what I can with what I already have. The lamp I have there now is a lamp we got five years ago for our wedding. It has modern lines Mr. Superman loves (the opposite type of design I'm into) but I like it a lot more now. I just taped it off and did a coat of paint I already had. Voila!

This ugly wicker chest of drawers? I've had it for 6 1/2 years. When I went away to college I inherited all sorts of ugly, unwanted, really old furniture from people. This, I think, came from my SIL's grandma. I've kept it around for years with every single move just because it was great for storing things. I decided to throw some of the same yellow paint I used for the lamp shade on it and it's now residing in the corner by our desk. Eh, it'll do for now.

Our bedroom is my labor of love. I didn't redesign anything from what I had in Georgia because I already love it so much. It's got a vintage/antique French theme going on. The square footage of the master bedroom here is SO much smaller than the square footage in Georgia so its been a little tricky. It's still very much an ongoing project and I have yet to finish painting the edges and refinishing the antique vanity I scored almost two years ago but I will. Someday, it'll all be done and perfect.

So that's it so far. I have SO much left to do including finishing everything that is only half done AND all of the stuff I haven't even started. I've got the guest bedroom, both bathrooms, the kitchen, and the laundry room/closet. After all of that I have a giant list of little things like replacing all of the door hardware, outlet and light switch covers, installing shelving into the closets, stenciling and painting the inside of the closets, replacing the light fixtures, installing custom molding around the bathroom mirrors...

I could go on and on but instead, I'll wrap it up.

I just had to share this last picture.
Every Thursday I get to see Mr. Superman in ABU's and guess what?
It still gets me.

Everything in our lives has changed.
Everything is different.
We moved.
He got discharged.
I'm working.
Our puppy lives with my MIL.

Everything has changed except once a week, I get to see something that makes my heart smile and gives me the reminder of why we are doing all of this. It reminds me that in three years we will once again be an Active Duty family. Every week I get to see my Loverface in uniform and it still gets me.

He still gets me.
Right now, that's enough.

The Sappy One

Lately I have been reminded of how quickly life goes by. If we aren't careful, we miss out on important moments or even worse, the small, mundane moments that would have led to wonderful things. It's no surprise I've been thinking about time and life and what the important things really are. This year and especially this last month and next few months to come are chock full of huge changes and accomplishments.

I've talked about my family a lot on here and I've shared about my little brother. He's such a crazy kid that I just love to death. His name is Aaron but for the last ten years or so, I've called him Butch. I don't even remember why but its how it is.

Its kind of funny for me to think back at growing up with him and what it was like when he joined the family. See, I was the youngest of five kids for six years. There's my sister who is ten years older than I am and then 3 brothers and then there was me.

For six years.

My baby brother was born at home in 1994 and we didn't know if he was a boy or a girl. I remember being allowed to stay up super late (for me anyway) with my other siblings and we all just sat in the living room waiting and waiting. My dad finally came out at 8 something PM and said, "Well, its a boy!" I have no idea what all the other reactions were but me... I was sitting on the arm of the couch and I slapped my hand to my forehead, fell backwards on to the couch and while crying yelled, "Not ANOTHER one! I wanted a SISTER!" 

Since he is the baby of the family, he was pretty spoiled and during his toddler, 5, 6, 7, years, we had major issues with each other. Sure, we could play nice but for a long time, I felt persecuted by this little brother of mine. Throwing fits and fibbing to get me in trouble. I guess now I know how my older brothers felt about me! The older he got the more we could do stuff together and not tear each others heads off.

Lucky for me this kid has never held a grudge against me. When he was four (I think) I accidentally dropped him on his head which got split open and he needed stitches. Nice right? When he was a little older, I can't remember how old, we were at a park with our cousins. One cousin and I were babysitting the younger ones and off in our own la la land talking. Well all of the sudden I see my brother running towards us with his hand over his mouth and blood POURING all over the place. It seems he thought he was Superman and had jumped from the top of one tube slide to another but he missed. Instead of his hands and feet finding traction, his front tooth caught the plastic, dug into it and decided to stay put while the rest of him fell to the ground. His PERMANENT front tooth ripped straight through the bone and gums, root and all. Long story short, I'm lucky he wasn't kidnapped by the lady who was driving by at the time, stopped to see if we needed help and my cousin and I in all of our older sibling smarts put my brother and her little sister in this lady's car and hoped they'd be waiting at the house when we managed to get down there with the other kids and strollers. Yeah, that part of the story has been kept secret between my brother and I until now.

He has had more accidents that required stitches, plastic surgeons, and doctors than everyone else in our family combined. He once tried to pick up a rock that had landed in a bed of coals but ended up picking up a coal and his poor hand looked like it had wet tissue all over it for weeks. His finger went through a belt sander and he didn't have a finger tip or fingernail for a long time. I don't think anyone kept count on how many times his face met the pavement and the pavement won. His head met a church pew on more than one occasion and after a while, seeing his face without cuts, scratches, and scabs was like seeing Big Foot.

During my 'troubled teen' years, he always asked me if I was okay and would be the first to offer a hug when I got done having sit downs with my parents. Whenever I got hired to take care of neighbors animals while they went out of town, he's the only one who would help and not demand some of the money I made. He also was the only one at the dinner table who'd help me out on the 'green bean front'. See, I HATE green beans. More than any other food but growing up, we had to eat every bite of food put on our plates or it was early bed time and no dessert all week. No matter how I tried to eat them, I'd gag, spit them out or end up making myself sick because those things are NASTY! For my brother, he hated pasta. Well, he loved green beans and I loved pasta so as soon as my parents left the table and had their backs turned to us, we'd swap plates really quick, finish each others food, and switch plates again.

Super stealthy.

For a few years, this brother of mine and I were the only two children left at home.

My sister Amber got married when I was 9, then there was Justin who got married in 2001, Ryan who went on an LDS mission and then was living on his own when he got back and Jared who is two years older than I am and left on an LDS mission when I was a Junior in high school. That meant it was just Aaron and I at home with our parents. One year, our parents took us to San Diego and we went to Sea World and Legoland and a bunch of other places. We had SO much fun. That little brother of mine had definitely grown on me.

In 2006 when I graduated from high school, he was in 6th grade.

The night before graduation we were in my room talking and he asked what I planned on doing. At this point, I was involved with an older guy I'd been dating for a long time. I hummed and hoed around that question because my plans involved what was up to that point, a secret plan to marry this guy and move out. My baby brother in all his 12 year-old wisdom told me to make sure that whatever I did, I was happy.

Wow.

I've never told him this and I don't know if he even remembers that conversation but a few months later, when I was finally brave enough to break up with the guy I was 3 weeks away from marrying, who had been anything but good to me, its that little piece of advice that helped me the most.

Thank you Aaron.

I am so glad he joined our family. I love that even though I'm older and married and 2,000 miles away, we still have an amazing relationship. He calls me all the time just to talk and it makes my day, every single time. We can talk about anything, talk about everything and he really is one of my very best friends.

My baby brother graduates from high school today. I can't hardly believe that he is old enough for that to happen... Or maybe its that I can't hardly believe that I am old enough for that to happen. My heart hurts really bad that I can't be in AZ to watch him walk across that stage, towering over everyone and get his diploma but I think he knows how much I wish I could be there.

I shared this on Facebook last month but I just have to share it with all you Lovelies too.

I have THE most amazing baby brother in the world!! For the last five years he has been learning to fix airplanes, build airplanes, and fly airplanes all while attending junior high and then high school. He's maintained a high GPA, applied to and got accepted at BYU Provo AND got awarded a half tuition, four-year scholarship.

All while working 40-70 hour work weeks he carries on a fantastic social life, takes online college courses, and attends high school. He has saved up the $10,000 it costs to serve an LDS mission, paid for himself to go to Washington D.C. and several other trips with his school, and he pays for all of his own stuff. 

He is the sweetest guy I know and is incapable of doing a single unkind thing. He was Varsity Basketball Captain, earned his Eagle Scout, and flew across the country in a plane he built. He has been working his butt off to earn his pilot's license which he'll have done by August, just shortly after graduating high school. 

He's ridden bulls, hiked the Grand Canyon, and he recently added another life accomplishment to his list by JUMPING OUT OF AN AIRPLANE AT 13,000 FEET!

It's all true too.

This kid is someone who is fearless, kind, sincere, and sticks up for his beliefs. Now that I have been writing this and crying for the last two hours, I'll wrap it up. Mr. Superman keeps laughing at me and telling me I'm acting like a mom.

 

 

He's six years younger than me, six inches taller than me, a little quirky, a lot crazy, an authentic cowboy and has done more in his 18 years than I could even think of in my 24. 

I'm sure if he were to ask me for advice I'd be at a loss. He's much wiser than I ever was and the only piece of advice worth giving to him would be his own words he spoke to me six years ago.

"Make sure, whatever you do, that you're happy."

Butch, you do me proud brother! I love you! 

 

How To Be The Perfect Wife

Him: Do you want to sort laundry before I go to the Post Office?
Me: Did you seriously just ask me if I wanted to sort laundry?

SILENCE

Him: Do you want to know why I just asked that?
Me: Hmm...
Him: Do you know how I know it needs to get done?

SILENCE

Him: Do you know what I wore to work yesterday?

SILENCE

Me: What?
Him: I had to wear an ABU top with A1C stripes on it. (He hasn't been an A1C for 6 months)
Me: Epic fail.
Him: Not on my part! Go sort laundry.
Me: Yes sir. In five minutes.

Sometimes I'm terrible at the whole domestic thing. I guess I just need to keep reminding myself of this.

Bahahaha!
Yeah right.

Run, Forrest! Run!

Sometimes our awesomeness out does itself. 

My niece Jalen Rose makes my heart smile.

Its okay, go ahead and be jealous.