A Thanksgiving Birthday

So many things to catch up on. So SO many things to catch up on. But first! 

It was this guy's birthday on Thanksgiving.

My other big brother. I definitely don't let him know how I feel about him often enough. I'm proud of him. That simple sentence doesn't really explain it like I would like it to but, I am seriously so proud of him. He's had setbacks and trials that no one would be envious of. He's also persevered and overcome a lot of that.  (He'll probably laugh or think I'm nuts when I say this but...) I really think he must be one of God's warriors because I tell you, Mr. Lucifer would be happy to bring him down.

A small bragfest...

He's taught me a lot about what it means to be compassionate. He has a big heart and does a lot to care for and include those who others may deem "the little people". 

He has an incredible work ethic- ask any of his former employers. He gets in and gets it done.

He is a big softy. He would rather hang out with little kids than anyone else. He's pretty good at spoiling the kiddos in his life.

He is an awesome cook! As in...I'm completely jealous of his innate knack to be able to throw things together and make it taste delicious.

Happy Birthday, Devan! I love ya! And remember, the people that matter know what kind of person you are and what you are capable of. Keep on keepin' on.

Cruel and Unusual

**This story. This story right here. It will be forever implanted into my memory as one of the funniest teacher moments. It, unfortunately, wasn't done by me but by a co-worker. I will say, though, that she is a girl after my own heart. Enjoy.**

My coworker had two precious little middle school boys blowing spit wads onto her whiteboard and every other in between surface during class one day. Gross, team, gross. Not to mention this teacher is a germaphobe. She gave them a stern talking to and instructed them that they were to come after school to clean her room. She called their parents to let them know that the students needed to stay. The parents okayed it and it was done.

Between the time the students were in her class and the end of school she came to tell me about the situation and asked for recommendations..

Coworker: They need to do more than clean up their own spit wads. What should I have them do?
Me: Make them scrape gum off the bottom of the tables. It's gross, they hate it, and it needs to be done.               They don't generally repeat behaviors after doing the "worst job ever" of scraping gum.
Coworker: That's a great idea! (or something to that effect)

During lunchbreak...

Coworker: I looked under the tables and there was only like one piece of gum...so I maybe chewed 3 or 4 pieces myself and stuck them under the table for them to scrape.
Other teachers:.."You really did that?"...Quiet chuckles....Stunned expressions
Me: That's GENIUS!

Really though. The kids never need to know and I bet that it provided a little more satisfaction knowing that they were scraping the gum she chewed.

I feel like this story is funnier in person. Hopefully you laughed. I told my mom and she laughed hard; and then proceeded to tell the Superintendent about it the next day at work (my mom works at the school district office) because she thought it was so funny. For the record, the Superintendent thought it was funny too.

I also feel like I should put in a disclaimer that I (and my coworker) don't dole out punishments simply as a revenge tactic. Really. I promise.

Dillon Turned Twenty-Three

Happy Birthday to my favorite blonde (a few weeks ago).

 Dillon's birthday is on the most inconvenient of days as it relates to school.  He even told me growing up that his birthday was underwhelming sometimes because none of his friends could go do anything since school started the next day. 

We did some celebrating the weekend before-dinner with friends and a birthday visit from my parents. The day of, I had to be at the school ALL DAY. So a quick, early morning "Happy Birthday!" complete with birthday food (breakfast of champions right there) was all we had time for.

And because Dillon is married to a teacher and middle school teachers have back-to-school night the night before school (Dillon's day of birth), I took his presents with me to the school to be opened between parent visits. What an exciting birthday event, huh?

But he didn't complain, not even when I completely forgot his one birthday request- a Snickers pie. Wife of the Year right here. I did remember eventually (read as: a week later) and made it. He loved it and I was redeemed.

So Happy Birthday to Dillon! You deserve the best of everything. One day, when I'm a SAHM, we'll make sure your birthday is done right.

July Holidays the Delta Way

For the Fourth of July we headed out to Delta. If you ask all of the Deltans, you only do Independence Day right if you do it in Delta. They have all of the typicals..parade, booths/food at the park, and fireworks, but what really tips them over the edge of American pride is the demolition derby.

Our friends Amy and Dan drove up to go to the derby with us. There ^^ is Amy's head. I didn't take any pictures of our lovely sweat drenched faces..mostly for my own vain, selfish purposes. I've come to the conclusion that for the four-hour, hotter than Hades derby to be worth it to me, every participant should be forced to enter with a truck instead of a car. The cars love-tap each other's bumpers just to get points. The trucks actually put in some effort and make powerful hits.

While we were in town we made sure to hit up Dillon's favorite grub place. The Taco Truck (it's really The Taco Shoppe now but started as a truck years ago). We've heard rumors that the cute, little woman who owns the shop is going to close down and move back to California. Dillon has been in a heart-broken panic ever since and has wanted to make sure that we go there every time we're in town.

We drove back to Delta a couple of weeks later for the 24th celebrations (which Delta did the weekend before the 24th...weird??) and to do the summer birthday party with Dillon's family. There are a ton of summer birthdays in Dillon's family so we just lump them all together in one celebration.

While we were there we discovered that Dillon's sister had an extra mattress that was in fantastic shape (she and her husband run a furniture store for her in-laws). We slept on it that night and fell in love (as in love as you can get with a mattress). Our mattress has been causing back aches for months now and that mattress felt like sleeping on a cloud. So we made a deal with Kristin and made a plan with my parents to come back for the mattress later that week.

Really the only reason I felt like including our mattress adventure in this post is because of the following... Riding with my parents in their truck on the back roads to Delta, Dillon and I had this conversation:

Me: Dillon, what does your dad do in the winter? I know he's ALWAYS busy (really I do). I'm just wondering. In the summer he milks cows but plants, cuts, bales (bails?) hay etc. etc. too. In the winter he milks cows and???
Dillon: He does a lot of farm upkeep...fencing, spreads straw...
Me: Spreads straw for what?
Dillon: For the cows to lay on.
Me: Why can't they just lay on the ground?
Dillon: The straw keeps them warm. If they just lay in the mud it makes them cold. A cold teat is a bad teat, DaNae.

BAHAHA. The things I learn. Got it? We all understand dairy cows 101? A COLD TEAT, IS A BAD TEAT. 

A gigantic rainbow over the Milford turbines on our way back home.

Until next time...

Father's Day

Love this guy!

Father's Day we went over to my parents for a BBQ and to give my dad his present. The card we gave him pretty much sums up how I feel...

Seriously. I love that he is my dad and that when people in town ask I can say, "Yeah, I belong to him." I'm proud to be connected to him. Being the only girl, my dad and I have a special kind of relationship. It's the best and I wouldn't have it any other way.

He is such an example to me of strength and of growth. I've watched him become a spiritual giant. There is no doubt in my mind that he loves the gospel and God. His testimony of prayer his faith-affirming. 

He is one of the most loving men I know. He cares about his family, deeply. There is no questioning his love for my mom and I've come to recognize his worrying as simply a dad's love. Even still, when Dillon and I are traveling he reminds us to wear our seat belts. And will often call or text to make sure we got home okay. It's sweet.

His compassion is something so noteworthy. Students from all walks of life love my dad. He holds no judgments and makes them feel valued. He is loved as a football coach. His athletes look up to him. He once cried with my friend who didn't make the drill team when he came to pick us both up from try-outs. All of these, I believe, are due to his compassion and empathy. He truly is a gentle giant.

And in case he doesn't appreciate that I've shared a "my dad cried" story, let me also say that he is a strong, tough man- emotionally and physically. He is not afraid of hard work and to do what it takes to get the job done. He has taught me to get up, wipe the dirt off (so to speak), and keep on keepin' on. 

I love you dad! More than you know.

California Anniversary Trip

So far in our marriage we have been lucky enough to be able to go on a summer trip for our anniversary. For our first anniversary we did a few days up in SLC where we went to a Bee's game, shopped, and ate good food. Our second anniversary we visited Vegas where we hit up some exhibits (Bodies! Go see it!), walked the strip, and miniature golfed.

For our anniversary this year, we saved up for a trip to California centered around baseball and Disneyland. We were there June 10th-13th. The timing was perfect. Dillon was able to get time off from his then-current job and while we were there, he was offered a position at his much improved and now-current job. They told him that he could start as soon as we got back. (You guys! This job! It's such a blessing. It's in Dillon's field of study. He enjoys what he does and the people he works with. He has THE BEST hours of 7-3:30 Monday through Friday. AND he gets major holidays off. We love Metalcraft!)

Our fun-filled early-anniversary trip

Day 1: 
Our first day was all about the Braves vs. Padres game at Petco Park. (We've gone to a Braves game every summer since we've been married and are going to try our best to keep up the tradition). My parents let us borrow their Chevy Impala (for the low-price of Disney souvenirs) for the trip because its gas mileage is awesome and because its air conditioner actually works (important for this heat-hater). 

Fun fact: I don't love car rides. I have a propensity for car-sickness that is ridiculous. This restricts me from any time passing activities except for listening to music and car games like 20 questions (big thriller, that one :) ). That being said, my attention span reverts back to that of a three-year old. Soooo, to break up the monotony of the drive we stopped in Primm- a random cluster of shopping outlets, a casino, a hotel, and a giant rollercoaster.

 Dillon likes to try on shorts sans dressing room

We hopped back in the car and had planned to be to the game an hour early so that Dillon could try and get some signatures. Well, our handy-dandy GPS had other plans. We were about 6 miles out from Petco Park (You know, the point where the GPS really, really matters. Because, especially in California, if you miss your exit, no big deal, just drive another ten miles and take 13 different on and off ramps all just to loop back and miss your exit again, sucker) when it stopped working. It had the cute little blue car driving on a blank tan canvas of nothingness.

I quickly plugged in my parents GPS but theirs informed us that the satellites were down. So I whipped out my iPhone and plugged in Petco Park. Somehow, I hit a wrong button because the phone thought I wanted instructions from Petco Park to our house. We failed to realize this until it informed us we had 50 miles until our next exit (obviously that didn't make sense, we were only 6ish miles away from the park). Shoot! So I re-plugged it in, we got on the right path, and made it about 3 minutes before the game started. 

These things tend to not bring out the best in either Dillon or I. I panic and he gets frustrated and we both get ticked off at the other, until we reach our destination and then laugh about it all because "Hey, we got here and remember how it's our anniversary trip? It's all good." 

We watched the game surrounded by a mix of Braves fans and Padres fans, ate some awesome food, and took pictures.

And in case any of us decided to try to hop the fence, this guy was there to guard it with his fierce intimidation. All 5' 4" of him. 

Day 2: 

The rest of the trip was all about Disneyland/California Adventure. We did three-day park hopper tickets and decided that is the way to go- less stress to hurry and hit everything, time for naps and swimming, favorite rides are easily repeated etc.

We woke up late, took our dear sweet time getting ready, and headed on over to the park. Dillon had never been so he let me take the lead (I've only been twice, but I guess that still beats zero). I convinced him to hit up Toy Story in California Adventure first (top left) because the line for that one gets crazy long. I came out victorious (my score is in red-top right). Booyah! (He spanked me in Astroblasters the next day, but we don't need to talk about that).

The bottom right is a picture of the Toy Story soldiers putting little kids through "boot camp". So cute.

 The bottom left portrays Dillon's fear of heights. We were on the Ferris wheel. He hates going slow and being up high. I made a deal with him that I would only make him go on the Ferris wheel once if he would only make me go on The Tower of Terror once. (I know most people enjoy that one but, every time, I immediately regret that I didn't strap myself down in five or so sports bras. Everyone around me screams because of the drop. I scream because I nearly lose an eye. Kidding...kind of).

Lunch- THE best corn dogs.

Cars Land! This part of the park was fun and looked exactly like Radiator Springs. However, the race car ride had a 3 hour wait. No.thank.you. 

Dillon picked these out for me. He's so flattering. I think I've somehow buffaloed him though. 

Don't mind my sweat-stache. It was hot and humid to the max.

Bug's Life. Because it's inside and you get to sit for a minute.

In between all of that we managed to hit all of the big highlights. California Screamin', Grizzly Rapids, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Pirates, Indiana Jones, Haunted Mansion, and so on. Around 5 o'clock we were beat and so tired. We decided to eat at the Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney then head back to our hotel for swimming. I think we both fell asleep around 8:30. Hoorah ha.

Day 3: 

This day included repeats of just about every ride (excluding the Ferris wheel and Tower of Tower) plus a few of the smaller attractions we didn't get to yet.

Inside Indiana Jones, outside Space Mountain, and lunch in the Blue Bayou. The Blue Bayou is a restaurant that is inside the Pirates ride. I don't remember noticing it on previous trips but as we rode past we decided to eat there. It was on the pricey end but the food was great and the atmosphere was really fun.

Outside of It's a Small World- quickly deemed Dillon's least favorite ride.

Some of our picture-during-the-ride highlights. Dillon's faces are the best (plus the girl in front of him on Space Mountain. That face = glorious)

We played hard this day and used our fast passes wisely. We watched the fireworks show (seen below with a nice silhouette of a stranger's Mickey Mouse ears) and then hit our favorites a few more times before the park closed.

Day 4: 
We reserved this day for souvenir shopping and relaxed meandering. We woke up late, again, missing our Magic Morning (What can I say? We like our sleep). We made one more valiant effort to go on the race car ride in Cars Land but the fast passes were completely gone...for the rest of the day...at nine in the morning. And the wait? You guessed it. Three hours. We'll try again on our next go around.

We did however go to Splash Mountain multiple times because Dillon decided it was his favorite. We also hit up some little kid rides because the wait was only five minutes when we walked by (the day before the wait was AT LEAST forty-five minutes for both of them).

The Little Mermaid and Winnie the Pooh. Cute and totally worth the five minute wait but no way would we ever, ever, EVER wait forty-five minutes to go on them. Parents, hold out until there's a lull. I promise.

From there, it was mostly about visiting the shops. Plus my ankles were swelling over my shoes (I'll get to that shortly).

 Dillon's "I'm a Pirate" face

 His chosen souvenir- a build-your-own light saber 

 I love that he picked this and that he's a kid at heart

My chosen souvenir

We called it good early in the day, happy with our overall experience and headed home in the late afternoon.

My ankles that basically turned into cankles by the third day of Disneyland and then blistered. Another fun fact, I'm allergic to the sun. Photodermatitis. It's a thing. I haven't worried about this particular ailment for a while because I sunscreen diligently, with hardcore 90 spf+ sunscreen. This trip I sunscreened everything properly, but my ankles. And they did not appreciate it. Lesson learned- Sunscreen every little bit of my albino skin that might possibly get a peek at the sun for days in a row.

When all said and done, a great anniversary trip with the best man around and a few entertaining stories to add to our repertoire.

Summer Lovin'

Sweet summertime. I'm all about summer break. I love me some time off and some fun havin'. BUT I hate hot temperatures and feeling hot, haaaaaaaate it. If I could take my summer break from October to December that would be fabulous. 

Really, though.

That being said, I still love summer break, sweatfest and all. Here is a rundown of our summer events and activities (some of which will get their own post because, ya know, they're a big deal).

Shopping! Dillon is such a good sport and accompanies me quite often to Maurices (since it is one of about two clothing stores in Cedar). Every time, a sales lady asks for my name and puts it on the dressing room door while Dillon and I anticipate how they might end up spelling it. This girl wins.

We hit up Disneyland for an early anniversary trip. (Dillon's first time!)

Dillon got hired at Metalcraft, a company in Cedar that designs and builds jets and jet parts. He's a stud.

We celebrated Father's Day and our actual anniversary with good food and good people.

We did some babysitting.

My baby-holding hottie. Heartmelting, no?

We took a quick trip to Vegas with the Britos. I think I've met my Vegas quota for at least a decade...(not that I've gone that much but it's grungy, and FREAKING hot all.of.the.time.)

A little hat shopping at the Vegas Outlets

We've frequented the Pastry Pub. This sandwich is superb. They only have it as a special for a little while but Dillon and I order it year-round. If it's not the special, though, the workers somehow have no idea what we're talking about. "Chipotle sandwich?? Whaaa? Are you making that up?" So we decided to take a picture that way we can break it down for them upon our return.

Our dog, Alice, has been bitten by the runaway bug. We've had to find her four times, in the last week- only one of which involved the pound.

We've also made sure that Delta trips have made it into the rotation, especially for the Fourth of July.

And last, but not least by any means, I've taken plenty of summertime naps to recuperate from all of the fun.