Family pictures 2013

So, on our way to DC (to do our immigration paperwork and visit some family), the craigslist photographer we had booked cancelled to do a wedding. I was so stressed and trying to find a last minute replacement but everyone I contacted was too busy, too expensive, not willing to provide digital copies of the prints etc.

So, we were at the national zoo one day, watching the kids in the play area, me clicking away at craigslist leads on my phone, chatting with Mary E Scott about how she's never surprised when things fall into place for us because that's what always happens, when this stranger walks up to us and starts chatting (jason was wearing a hat from his alma mater) and as I explain what i'm doing, he says he knows a good photographer from church, and gives me her number.

 I call, she's available, willing, the right price, and provides digitals of all pics.  Where does she want us to meet her? Oh, the place we were already planning to be that day. SWEEEET!!!!  Plus she was great, and so talented! Seriously, I need a photographer and a random stranger walks up to me and gives me the contact of one.

My luck is ridiculous! Tender mercy for sure.

A big thanks to Danelle for coming through for us with just 24hrs notice! (she had another shoot that morning in Virginia, but hurried back to do ours!)

 Here are a few of the final products:

And when I say "a few" I suppose you know by now that I really meant... ALL.

... Signed, sealed, delivered!

Well! Jason is approaching the end is his schooling and has officially signed a 3 year contract to teach at a university in....

 DUBAI

 Yes, I know! It's wild! And we are oh so excited to finally have the offer and contract worked out! It's been a dream to take a job living overseas and it seemed far away, but now it's much closer! Hooray! 




But questions, everyone has questions! Feel free to drop me more, while I try to answer some of the common queries.

1. Where is Dubai? Will you have to learn another language? 

Dubai is in the United Arab Emirates, on the Arabian peninsula. They speak arabic, and while I have my heart set on learning some, speaking english is just fine. Jason will be teaching in english. The country actually has more foreigners that natives, so it's a big mixing pot of lots of different cultures, which is one of the reasons we find it so exciting.

2. Isn't that an arab country? Do you have to wear a head covering?

Yes, it's an arab country and Islam is the order of the day, but no, it is not required for women to wear head scarves. As you can see by this sign in the mall, they do have more conservative dress standards, but so do we mormons so this really isn't at all a stretch. Don't wear tank tops or short shorts? Easy peasy.

3. What about church?

Well, depending on which part of dubai the university houses us, there are THREE different wards (church units) we could belong to. And just a hop skip and a jump away in Abu Dhabi, they are about to finish what is to be the first new LDS church building in the area. Pretty Exciting! The temple district is a little broader, and the nearest temple is Frankfurt, Germany. Won't that be a fun temple trip!

4. What about your medical care? 

Don't worry, of course this was one of our first questions! Yes we will all be covered with good medical insurance, and they have plenty of quality medical care. And guess what? My medicine will actually be cheaper there than it is here in the States. Lucky!  

Misc. 

Here's another interesting tidbit! Because of the more conservative culture, kissing or even holding hands in public is off limits! That might be the hardest thing to remember, since I sure love stealing kisses from my one and only. 

Also, I will have to get the "Keep your hands to yourself" song from Yo Gabba imbedded in my psyche! 
Well, that was easy. It will be stuck there for at least a month now. 

... hands to yourself, keep your hands to yourself!  Hands to yourself, keep your hands to yourself... 

A year in status updates

January2013- and turning back the clock from there...
Tonight I saw a black cat tiptoe into my backyard, and i'm not kidding when I report that my first thought was, "Oh, a little panther!" And this is why I know I've been exposed to more GO DIEGO GO than any human should.


This one time when I was little, I poured a bucket of sand into a wasps nest, and learned a valuable lesson, which is why I wont be discussing gun control or politics on facebook any time soon. ;)


Whew, I had a close call this weekend. I almost missed the girl scouts going door to door because I was driving away when they reached my block. Don't worry, I came back and flagged her down. Crisis averted.


Okay, who in BG has creativity, and a working printer (blah, mine is on the fritz!) and wants to do my bidding today to help me get together some props for an awesome super saturday skit??


Currently, the most inconvenient part about rheumatoid arthritis is the weekly injections and daily pills. Can I just tell you, that's a pretty AMAZING place to be.


"When comforting a grammar nazi, I always say softy: There, their, they're"

Deep thoughts from the side of the road (for the 3rd time in 2 weeks): If you can't afford a new car, a AAA gold membership is the next best thing.

December 

I always thought it seemed boring when people (in California) would watch the ball drop and then go to bed at 9pm, but now that I live in the eastern time zone, i'm wishing there was someone dropping the ball right now so I could get ready for bed, and convince the kids they haven't missed anything. I am officially boring.


Lake effect snow is serious business. People on the great lakes should carefully consider sled dogs.


Lincoln was calling out, "Mama! Mama! Where are you?" But on further investigation it turned out to be a narration of the christmas lights calling to each other, the baby blue light was looking for the mama blue light and making plans to jump branches.
           

Santa Claus AND the tooth fairy all in one 24hr period!

Great Christmas Eve: movie with grandma, a big stockpot of zuppa tuscana for dinner with the whole family, making graham cracker houses, and Just Dance of course!
In other new, Christmas came early to our van with Christmas Eve bringing a new battery and distributor, lucky duck!

I'm feeling pretty lucky that our car waited to break down until AFTER we got safely through the big snow storm, and even held out long enough for Mary E Scott and I to finish our christmas prep shopping! And what a nice tow truck driver who gave us, our groceries, our presents, and our live christmas tree a ride home before taking it to the shop. Tender mercy!

November

Jason wanted a variation of our awesome barbie cake, like maybe a cowboy with gigantic chaps, but since we couldn't find a cowboy doll, we went the shark attack route.

Athen, speaking of flamin' hot cheetos, "I tasted them before, they were really hot! They burned my mouth 'till I was 10." Since he's 4, I guess he has 6 more years until the burning subsides.

Ten points for the first person who can guess where in Rexburg I ate dinner tonight.
                Thanksgiving!  

I RUINED our chili for the annual chili cook off. Jason and I spend three lovely hours together picking a recipe, buying ingredients, chopping and prepping everything (which was a blast), then when it was all together I turned it up too high and instead of simmering it, I scorched it. Blast.
Also, any tips for getting the stench of charred chili out of my house would be handy.

October

 Halloween!



The kids helped Jason rake leaves (mostly just giving them rides in the leaf packed sled) while I watched through the kitchen window, making my favorite apple pie. Then later, we all saw an amazing rainbow balanced by a brilliant pink/orange sunset that made everyone stop and stare. All the sarcasm and political snark in the world couldn't produce the depth of feeling encompassed in a few brief but tender moments of regular life.

It seems like not long ago I was coming out of surgery and about to meet my precious little girl and eight years later, here I am I'm spending the morning making my first and probably last barbie cake, and trying very hard not too get too sentimental about just how quickly she's growing.

Brooklyn's baptism! It was a great day with lots of family and friends here to enjoy the baptism, then her soccer game, lunch, and the scout spagetti dinner/cake auction. 

September

Guess what? I did the Cotton Eyed Joe dance this weekend. A slightly less springy cotton eye joe, but it was purely awesome nonetheless. And to think, I didn't even have to wait for the resurrection ;o)

I am now in a really good position to make sure I get into Girls' Camp again next summer, since I am now the Young Womens president. yay! Let the good times roll!
Now, if only I could figure out a way to have the super duper awesome Rayna Viola keep running the thing, while I just stay and play.

August

Movie night! Harry potter and caramel popcorn.

Jason Ratliff, I could marry you a hundred times over. Although, that wont really be necessary since that one time we got married 9 years ago is still good for another gazillion years at least

First day of school!

I really love my kids, so I can only imagine how much more I will enjoy them when they outgrow being complete slobs. But I suppose they will outgrow a lot of the cuteness too, so I guess the obsessive compulsion to create catastrophic messes is the going price for the many fun things about their age.

The weather was just perfect for spending the better part of the afternoon at the park. I love that even though they all played with other kids, they ended up perfectly content playing in the sand with their siblings. Love!

July 

So, I've been so diligent about counting my calories that my Dr asked me if I was indeed taking my steroids (which are notorious for causing weight gain), because of my unlikely steady weight loss. Little victories are SO fun! Totally worth the effort.

This is my plate of birthday goodies! A cherry vanilla poke cake, lemon merangue pie, and pistachio nut ice cream, because who can decide on just one delicious thing. I also had chinese food for lunch and chipotle for dinner, I'm so spoiled!

             

Girls camp was the best ever!

I practically bounced around Kroger tonight, and felt like such a normal human being! Love/Hate steroids. But right then I loved them.

From Ms. Cindi: Oh my, oh my...can Athen R. get any cuter? Lucia Ratliff, I told the children that teacher Melanie was the author of the book she was about to read. Without skipping a beat, Athen said, "I wonder who the illustrator is?" THEN at lunch, I was sitting with Athen enjoying some of the extra bananas from snack. I commented on good the bananas were and Athen said, while nodding his head in a very knowing way, "yea, they're probably home made"!!!! I cannot take the cuteness of that boy!

Tonight is the annual christmas tree bonfire. That little orange speck is Diego, and by the looks of that pile, it will be quite the inferno.

June

5 lbs away from wedding weight... down 38 lbs total. YAY!

It feels more like summer now that peaches and nectarines are .99/lb. Ah, how I love the fruits of summer!

May

Who says motherhood is a thankless job? Lincoln just came back in the kitchen at least 10 times to tell me "dank ooo" (thank you) for peeling him an orange.

     

April

Athen's cake is ready!   Green eggs and ham was the birthday breakfast of choice!

          

March

I love when Jason gets home from the priesthood session and our pillow talk consists of highlights from conference. Yep, it's pretty much my favorite.

  Celebrity sighting at conference

Extra points of you start singing the following:

!  

Lincoln broke his foot right before the rehearsal dinner, but was walking again 3 days later! yay! Kids are amazing!

February

 I took a little trip down memory lane with the boys this morning and ended up with cholera, a broken leg, and lots of smiles.

January

I take back what I said about prednisone. I woke up today feeling like I might be in my twenties again, so I will just enjoy it while it lasts :o)

You don't even know how many times my psyche has been on the brink of berzerk due to catastrophic messes or what have you. when shortly after offering a desperate prayer telling Heavenly Father that I can't possibly handle whatever it was *viola!* the mormon sister missionaries call, text, or stop by looking for service hours. They came today to help me wash some walls, and stayed for THREE HOURS! Such a blessing!!

News!

Well, Jason is approaching the end of his program, and it's time to look at the next thing on the horizon. You'll never guess, but it's exciting, I promise you! More news to come when we've jumped through a few more bureaucratic hoops.

Hint: Think camels.

Just a quick update about my health: I have been feeling GREAT lately. I forgot how much easier everything is when you feel well. I am really hoping that it's the new medicines kicking in and causing this upswing, as opposed to the double steroids. Either way, I'm doing great, and feeling especially grateful right now. Thanks for the thoughts, prayers, and well wishes!

Shoes On!

Is there anything sweeter than toddler talk? Not for me, not at the moment anyway. I just love how my little guy says, "Dee-do, Mama!" (thank you, mama) all day because it is remarkably similar to another phrase, "Doot-dit, mama" which translates to, "look it, mama!" for when he has anything he thinks is interesting. I wish I had a camera and microphone to just follow him around all day to capture his cute little phrases and faces. I heard that when they were making Monsters Inc, they just put a mic on a little girl and let her roam the studio all week and that's how they got all the adorable little phrases that Boo says. I keep thinking that if anyone in Hollywood needed ADORABLE toddler babbling, my little guy would stop the show with his vocal cuteness! I can't seem to get it recorded since when I pull out the phone the little ham stops whatever he's doing and says, "cheeeeeeeese" which is quite cute, but not so handy for candid anything. Ah well, maybe it will happen, but if not, I hope it is etched in my memory forever!

Another common phrase is "choos-on". Yeah, he is convinced that the word is not Shoes, but Shoes-on. When I think about it, I hardly ever say one without the other. Let's get our shoes on. Can you put your shoes on? Shoes on, please. So every time he sees a shoe he says, "choos on!" Love it. 

on death

Journal entry from yesterday:

I find myself thinking about death a lot. I think it’s normal, especially for me since I am a pretty dramatic person. I imagine it’s hard for anyone to feel like they have a long healthy life ahead of them when they are in a current state that seems unsustainable. In not even 2 years of rhuematoid arthritis, I have felt my body go from great (thought slightly heavier than healthy, hey I was 6 months out from the birth of my 4th child, c-section mind you, no jumping up and going for a jog) to so very very different. I’m so much slower, so much weaker, so much more frail. It’s not just this, but the fact that it’s a disease that really is linked to higher mortality rate. I just read today something to the effect of people with unresposive RA (which is pretty much what mine has been so far, progress with symptoms, but not with the disease itself)  have a mortality rate similar to that of people with stage VI hodgkins lymphoma, and heart disease that affects 3 valves (or arteries, or something or other of extreme importance). I feel like death is on the table, though obviously it is for everyone, and no one knows when they will die. But I have just been thinking about it so much. It’s not a desire to die, i’m NOT suicidal by any means, I just think dying of some complication is a possibility in my current state.
There’s also the fact that the medicines I am on are highly toxic, and have a history of dangerous side effects. Leuflonamide, the one that’s been added most recently says right in the warning that it’s linked to liver problems, ESPECIALLY if used in conjunction with methotrexate (which I am on), it’s not recommended, although it notes it can be more effective in certain cases. I have to get my blood checked EVERY SINGLE MONTH to monitor my inflammation and RA stuff, but more especially to make sure my vital organs haven’t been damaged by the meds since the previous blood draw from the month before. Which reminds me, I need to go get a lab work tomorrow. I have been paying special attention to the whites of my eyes for the yellowing from liver failure. So far so good.
So anyways, I often laugh at my morbid inner monologue. When people do random nice things for me, I find myself wondering if it’s because God is trying to make my last memories of life especially happy, or that He knows that when I die, they would feel bad for thinking of me and not doing anything. I’m taking more time to try to enjoy the time with my kids, and make sure that they have something nice to remember too, which has been really nice actually. But still I think, “Is it so wonderful because my time is short?”  I have been losing weight, is it because Heavenly Father wants me to have that satisfaction of feeling good about my body since I wont have it for long? Did the YW leaders feel inspired to let me come to girls’ camp even though I’m not a leader, because Heavenly Father knows how much I love it, and wants me to be able to go again before I die. Or even if I don’t make it that long, he doesn’t want me to die feeling rejected from YW camp. You see? I’m sooooooo dramatic.
I think about who will be Jason’s wife, and mother my babies after I’m gone. Last night my kids were talking about much they love one of my awesome single friends, and how they wished she was their aunt, then Athen upped it to wishing she was their step-mom, with was met with emphatic approval. Wouldn’t it be great if she was our mom?!? I knew they didn’t know what getting a step-mom would entail, and I certainly wasn’t going to bring it up. Though I agreed she would be a great mom, and internally sighed that my kids might eventually have very keen knowledge of why a person gets a stepmom. I was told in a blessing that this experience would be short. I don’t know which experience that is really, RA, having trouble controlling my emotion with my kids(which is why I requested the blessing), or my life. Or is it just an eternal perspective thing? I'm going to get old, but it will seen short in the grand scheme of things. I didn’t get a “no you aren’t going to die” answer. Everyone is going to die. No one knows when, and since I don’t know, I should not assume I have a long time to be the mom I want my kids to remember, whether they remember it with me on the earth or not. Shouldn’t we all ‘live like you were dying” as the twangy country song suggests?

NO regrets, dead or alive,  

For the record, I didn't post this to disturb all of my readers, I just want my blog to be an accurate account of my experiences thus far. And after the last post, I'm starting to worry people think I have inhuman optimism. I'm no Pollyanna. I often post about things that are profound or interesting to me, and it's the sweet peaceful conclusions I've come to only after plenty of stressing over things. This is the other side of a coin. I love that life can be so many things all at once. I can love life and feel so lucky, and at the same time be thinking "This is going to kill me , I just know it!". It's all life, its very me, good and bad.

on life.

Tonight I was reading a quote about the principle of compensation, and how all sorrows will be made right 100 fold in the Lord's time, and I thought to myself, "Am I going to be compensated for this time that my body is so inconveniently beset with arthritis?" ( And yes, I'm talking about it again, sorry! Do you feel like you are reading an arthritis blog yet?)   I was surprised at how quickly my thought's answered back, "No". Well let me explain a little more, I am sure my body will be repaired since I plan on having it forever at some point so in it's current state it just isn't eternally sustainable. But compensation, no, that implies some sort of imbalance that needs to be corrected. I don't see my health that way. There's a story there. You see, when my mom was pregnant with me, I got all tangled up in my umbilical chord, but instead of knotting and killing me, it just grew longer and longer. I heard after I was born, they kept it in a jar at the university. Cool, and weird. So anyways, the ultrasounds were a fright! I appeared to have a hand and foot growing from my head, and just looked hopelessly deformed.  The story goes that my parents even got a letter from the Utah governor's office suggesting they abort me since I wouldn't live anyway, and the cost of trying to save me with only a slim chance of success (and even then with only the hope that I'd be a vegetable) would eventually be an astronomical financial burden for the state. If you know my parents (staunch mormon, and devout catholic) you'd know that abortion was out of the question. So the time came for my birth, and there were all sorts of specialists there ready to whisk me away and attempt to keep me alive when I came out... totally fine. Just a little tangled up in a miraculously long chord.  I was born stealing health from where it shouldn't have been.

Jason and I have often remarked that life is just so nice together, that we are subconsciously waiting for a big bomb to drop. We are not trying to be pessimists, but we have both had that feeling of, "Sure this is nice, enjoy it, but life doesn't come with a guarantee of pleasantness", on the contrary it is supposed to be the hard part of our existence, heaven is where it's all fair and wonderful, but only after the hard learning process of earth.

So, for a little portion of my good health to expire 26 years after the warranty was up, I still feel like I have been overly compensated already. I'm just saying that if heaven were to really balance the books, so to speak, it wouldn't be in favor of a long heathy life, i'm overdue in that department. It was already ridiculously unfair in my benefit, I can't really ask for more. And yet even with this "hardship" I still get all sorts of help along the way and reassurance that it will be or at least seem like a short time. So there you have it, life's not fair, but it's not fair in my favor so who am I to complain (not that it stops me).

Thankful Christmas Tree

Last Fall, I saw a lot of adorable thankful trees, where families had written things they were thankful for on paper leaves, and taped them to the wall. I wanted to make one, but missed it for Thanksgiving, so ours was a big green thankful Christmas tree. After Christmas, I kept the stack of papers at my computer desk so I could make the list of things the kids were thankful for, and there it sat, and here I am in June going crazy about the clutter on the desk, so I'm finally getting it typed out!!

We are thankful for: 

Pie

Our House

Music

Sunflowers

Disneyland

Diego

The Temple

Computers

Brooklyn

Grandpa

Snow

Church

Preschool

Windows

Hanukkah

Lincoln

Heavenly Father

Baby Jesus

Birds

San Diego

Our Family

Ms. Cindi

A Heart for Love

Grandpa Ricky

Jason

Moose

Dad and Mom

Happiness

Scorpions

A/C

Deer

Grandpa Ricky (again)

Television

And several discernible pictures that seem to be (and very well could be): A three-eyed monster,a butterfly, a hook, and a family. 

:)

Summer lovin' had me a blast...

Well, not so much in the Grease sense of the phrase, but we are LOVIN' SUMMER and HAVING a BLAST! Oh, how I love summer! Here are some highlights so far:

Summer Camp! The older 3 kids have been going to various summer camps here and there and really loving it! I love that they get to do fun things, just be kids, be active, and that they don't have to slow down because of me. I also like the little pockets of one-on-one or at least one-on-two time I get with whoever is not at camp.

 Summer Reading! It's been fun having more time to be at the library, and more quiet time to just read stories. I also love that my kids are old enough to enjoy listening to books that I actually enjoy too. I have many favorite children books, but a person can only stand so much worrying from the little toy clown and toys and dolls, wondering if a train will ever help them get all their goodies to the good little boys and girls on the other side of the mountain. Seriously, that book is forever long. Right now we are all thoroughly enjoying Shannon Hale's The Princess Academy.

 Summer Weather! I love that that sun has come out in full warmth and we can enjoy warm days at the park, cool nights watching fireflies, hot days perfect for going to the Ice Cream Machine, and summer storms to cool it all off. Not to mention that nice summer glow we all have, and getting to unpack the boxes of summer clothes.

 Summer Schedule! I love that a few nights ago when it was bedtime and my kids begged me to let them stay because they found out I knew some swing dance, so they were dying to learn too, I could say, "Well, we don't have to be up early for anything so, SURE! Let's learn how to swing dance!" And I love that they were so excited to show Dad their ever so basic, but oh so enthusiastic swing steps.

 I love the cookouts, and the time with friends, and the many summer birthdays we get to celebrate, and I just have to say I wholeheartedly approve of the whole concept of Summertime! And it is only JUNE! July and August just get better!

Life is a good deal.

I'm feeling sentimental today. It started with having a ridiculously awesome life, but waxed emotional, grateful, and blissfully happy when I caught up on some back reading of friends' blog posts. Sherry in particular. It reminded me of her strength and humor, and how fun it was to live down the street from her. But I can't think of one friend without thinking of scores of others whom I love SO much and am so happy to know. I'm so glad to have lived in so many places( Nine cities all over the US, FIVE just since Jason and I got married) because for every place, there are amazing people that I can't imagine not knowing, and that I count blessed to have spent part of life with. And here we are again in a place where it again feels like home, with friends that I know I will think of often, long after we've moved on.

I've always known the best part of life is spending it surrounded by God's treasures, and knowing that no matter how many you come to love, you will never run out of space to know and love more. Sure life is tricky, but it's a really good deal.