taking the competition out of marriage

I saw this article and thought it was good advice.  I have the hardest time "doing what is right and good for [David]" when I am tired, grumpy, and/or had a bad day.

/http://drkellyflanagan.com/2012/03/02/marriage-is-for-losers/

Our Latest

David....

• made the Dean's List his first semester of law school and is ranked number 17 in his class of 126. 
• has applied for an externship in the area (we want in-state tuition for the next two years, so we are hanging around this summer).
• has taken up wood carving.
• still let's me cut his hair.
• rewarded himself by buying a new video game. I am just glad that he only plays occasionally.  :)

David's first carving project.

 Deidra...

• is still working as an instructional assistant at Lena Whitmore Elementary (I do Special Ed. math, reading, and writing pull-out groups with mainly 4th-6th graders).
• applied to work for the district as an Adventure Club leader for the summer. It's an after-school program and summer camp program for k-6 aged kids to have a safe, enriching environment on week days.
• is still hoping for job openings in the district, so I can teach next year!
• made some "baby aprons" aka bibs for friends who are new moms. I even made the bias tape on my own. Go me! 
• made some Valentine crafts to decorate our house this month.
• has been doing some card making.

We...

• gave talks in church a couple of weeks ago. Mine was on spiritual and physical preparation and David's was on the courage to stand alone. 
• started participating in ward choir.
• started counting calories and have a workout schedule... We are using www.myfitnesspal.com to track our calories and exercise.
• are enjoying being closer to Moses Lake. It's a 2.5 hour drive.
• got to visit our family last weekend for the long weekend. We loved going to the temple with my parents, visiting the Kofoed grandparents and the Law grandparents, and spending some time with our nieces and nephew.

Happy Valentine's Day!

This is my valentine! :)




 

the week without work

It's true, I didn't work one day this week. I know that sounds really nice and in some ways it was, but in other ways it kind of wasn't.

It started Friday. Our kind friends invited us to McCall to their parent's sweet cabin. We rushed home from school and work and 15 minutes later they picked us up and we were on our way. Relaxing away from home is always nice. Saturday evening my throat started to hurt. Oh no! I am with a friends and their family members and I am sick. I don't want to get anyone sick, so I try to be extra sanitary. The weekend was still very fun... We played lots of Strut, Wizards, and other card games. We hot-tubbed, slept in, watched TV, played pool, and lounged around. Our friend's car couldn't make it up the driveway when we arrived and when we headed down to church on Sunday we slid off the road and got stuck. After we headed back to Moscow we had to go back because we forgot to turn down the heat. Good times! We really did have a fun time and I hope I didn't infect anyone!

MONDAY

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

No school

I am SO glad we had this day off because I woke up feeling awful. My throat continued to get worse, I now had a fever, headache, chills, and congestion. Darn viruses! It was so nice to have my sweet husband home with me to help take care of me. He made me herbal tea and soup. I didn't feel any better that night, so I put in for a substitute and whipped up some quick sub plans and emailed them to my supervisors. 

TUESDAY

Sick Day

David went to school. I stayed in bed. I drank massive amounts of herbal tea. I thought my fever was gone, but then David arrived and crushed those hopes by being realistic with me. I guess it was just wishful thinking. Who like being cooped up in the house?!

WEDNESDAY

Sick Day

Still feeling like death I stayed home again. Luckily for the kids they got the same substitute. This is the day our winter storm started going crazy! As I watched the snow continuously fall ALL day, I was shocked that school was still in session and nervous about the roads. Later that evening we were pleased to find out that it was a SNOW DAY(!!) for David and me on Thursday! My voice was basically nonexistent at this point.

 SNOW!

 Out our back door

 Out the front

 Measuring approximately 13.5 inches

THURSDAY

Snow Day

Although I wasn't feeling fabulous, it made me feel better to have David home with me. My fever was gone and we even got to run a couple of errands! Except the roads were crazy. You'd think that by 2011 a northern Idaho town would have figured out how to plow roads, but you'd be wrong... Part way through our errand run, the ice on the top of our car roof cracked and slid down onto our windshield. It was a lot of ice and I couldn't see anything. David kept driving, but I was nervous so I made him pull over. Bad idea! He cleaned it off quickly, but we were stuck. David dug around the tires with our scraper for quite some time before this nice lady and her two kids stopped and gave us a push. It was so nice! It took probably five tries to get up the hill to our house after that...

 It was snowing still when we got home. David quickly ran in to cut up and get all of our newly purchased meat in the freezer. I decided to chop away at all of the ice on our long, wooden staircase up to our doorstep with the snow shovel. I got it all off and cleared away, came inside, took off my coat and boots, and noticed my hands were REALLY red. I thought it unusually red, but tried to ignore it. I used the rest room and my hands started burning! I looked down and they were swelling super fast before my eyes. I was so freaked out! I hurried and got my rings off (thank goodness!) and put my hands under cold water. I slowly turned the water up until it was lukewarm, but not much was changing. My hands were huge, red, and shiny. It was the scariest thing. I tried to call my mom, but she was working. I called my dad and he was busy, but said to just warm them up gradually under water, so I kept doing that. The pain went away and slowly the redness, but the swelling took a lot longer to go down. IT WAS SO SCARY. I am happy to report that my hands are fine now, but I guess winter and I are bigger enemies that I had before thought.

My companion of the week

Later that evening we finished our puzzle of Las Vegas. I think we were dreaming off warmer places... :) Then we started watching a Red Box we'd rented when our power went out. I saw a huge flash of green light outside. It was crazy! We sat in the dark with a couple of candles lit for about forty minutes until it came back on. My school got cancelled again for the next day, but not David's. :(

 Our finished masterpiece

FRIDAY

Snow Day

The power had gone out again during the night, but was back up and going. I woke up able to breathe through my nose! I had missed that so much. haha David told me that he was so glad that I almost had my real voice back because it had been pretty scary. haha

I got up while David was clearing off the car and steps of the new snow and ice and made some french toast and more herbal tea. David ate and got cleaned up. He had an assignment due at 9:30 and class at 10:00. David tried to leave at 8:30, but our private drive hasn't been plowed at all since we've had all of this snow. Thanks property management! We have done our best to keep as much snow out of our walkway and drive, but there are 4 other duplexes on this private drive that haven't been so helpful. David got stuck. He dug around the car and moved a little, but wasn't getting far. At about 9:00 he decided to put chains on the front tires. He was soaking wet, but finally got everything situated and got going at 9:30. I ran him out a dry pair of pants before he took off. I called our property managers and complained about the snow. They assured me that there will be someone out to plow today... So I am going to hope for that and some above freezing temperatures!

Now that I am feeling much better,  I am ready to spend the weekend with David!

Christmas Spirit

I love that this time of year can brighten any situation!

 Here is our tree.. I am not a photographer by any means! It looks like we are loaded with presents, but I will let you in on the truth. There are wedding gifts under there, along with gifts for my parents from all of the children (my siblings), AND I wrap gifts in big boxes so it seems more exciting. :) Now that I am thinking about it, maybe I am setting every gift receiver up for disappointment! haha Oh well, I guess I still have the child mentality that a bigger present is better.

 These are our lovely UGLY Christmas sweaters. We had a ward party with the theme... we were one of four couples that actually dressed up. Living in a college town we couldn't find ugly sweaters at thrift stores. They were wiped clean! David thought up the-half Christmas tree so that when we stand together it makes one-idea. He even sewed on his own ribbons and jingle bells! That was mostly because we procrastinated in making these until an hour before the party!

Merry Christmas!

David finishes his last final of his first semester of law school tomorrow. After I finish work on Friday, we are on vacation!! Woohoo!

Friendship

Growing up I went through phases of friends. My siblings came first, then my neighbor friends, friends from church, and then friends at school. Many friends became close friends and plenty more were just nice acquaintances or situational friendships (just in a certain class, etc.). For the past three years, David has been my best friend. It is easy to stay best friends because we live together by choice and spend time with each other every day. Over the years as things have changed I haven't been the best at keeping up with old friends. I still look back fondly on our relationships and all of the memories we have together. I really enjoyed getting together with a friend over Thanksgiving that I really hadn't seen to in a couple of years probably. It's always nice when you can just pick up where you are and still be good friends. I am REALLY bad at talking on the phone and love seeing what is going on in friend's lives through blogs and Facebook, even though it isn't as good as living in the same town and getting together. I hope to continue to become a better friend. I am still learning.
 After our move to Moscow and having to make new friends here, I have thought about the friendships in my life a lot. We had many great friends throughout our lives, in Provo, and others that have moved to various places all over the country. We have also been lucky enough to make some new, great friends here in Moscow.

Yesterday I received a package from one of our Provo friends. She worked with David and is a true gem. What a fun surprise and nice note! This week we also received some Christmas cards from friends. It felt good to be thought of and to see what they were up to.
I am SO thankful for all of my friends throughout the years. You have each made an impact in my life. I appreciate the love you've shown me. Thank you!

Veteran's Day

I am so blessed to live in the country that I do and enjoy the freedoms that I have. Here is a neat story about my great-grandmother's brother, Gerald Sorensen who served in WWII. http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/belgium/100605/world-war-ii-history-resistance?page=full
What a sacrifice he made in leaving his new bride to serve for our freedoms.