Monday, July 14, 2008

I've been tagged!

I've been tagged

The rules:
1. List three items in each category
2. Tag three other people you would like to hear from
3. Get to know your friends and family

Joys

1. My family. I love my husband and kids to pieces! They just fill me up inside and give me so much joy on a daily basis! Heavenly Father really understood how to give men deeper joy, when he commanded us to have families. I am so grateful for my family. I feel extremely blessed.

2. Friends. My friends help me to feel like a real person, laugh a lot, and I learn so much from them. I need friends, and part of the reason I love Vegas is my friends. They are my family here.

3. The Gospel. I really believe that every good thing I have in my life is because of my membership in The Church. Whatever sacrifice I have ever made has been repayed ten fold and I know the peace I feel in my life gets stronger and more real, the closer I come to Christ. The same goes for the reverse. When I am feeling anxious, depressed, or discouraged, I usually haven't made the efforts to stay close to the spirit.


Fears

1. My recent fear is that I will lose Justin. I had a dream last week that he died and it felt so real I woke up crying. I felt so relieved to find him next to me sound asleep. I sat there listening to him snore, which usually annoys me!! but it was like music to my ears. He was a little confused that morning when I was so appreciative, and happy to see him!

2. I have a fear of dying, and I am a little embarrassed about this, given that I believe in the resurrection and life after death, but that unknown scares me to death. It stems from my childhood. I could not go to sleep alone, because I was afraid I would stop breathing. I really sympathize with my kids when they are afraid to go to sleep at night. I have to let Justin do the dirty work.

3. My kids drowning. I'm usually not an uptight Mom, but I really become anxious around water. I just can't imagine anything worse. We were up the canyon in Utah, and I was hysterical about the kids by the river. They were also near the fire, but that was manageable for me. I don't know why drowning sounds worse than burning to death! Ok, that's morbid.


Goals
1. Justin has given me full financial control in our relationship, and I want to create such a stable financial profile just to prove I can do it. I sit up at night thinking about college funds, and retirement! It should be under the obsession category, but I really want to make good decisions in this category.

2. After I have this baby I have such a strong desire to be in shape again. I mean triathalon shape! I want a hard body! Come on! I can do it!

3. I want to become really organized and keep a workable cleaning, and living schedule. Anyone that knows me, knows this is an uphill battle, but I am really encouraged by the fact that I have made a lot of progress in this area. I'm sure by the time my kids leave the house, I will have it down pat, and be ready to start a family! Oh!! wait!!

Collections/Obsessions

1. Justin and I have become traveling fanatics. We don't even plan vacations anymore, we just get in the car about two hours after we have decided to take the kids to Sea World, or camping, whatever. It is fun, but I think are spontaneity might be short lived now that the kids are going to be in school. Mary's kindergarten year was our warm up for scheduled living! I really love the prospects of travel. I love watching the travel channel, reading books in settings I want to visit! It really is an obsession!

2. I like to buy the books I read. I am intent on having a large library by the time my kids really get into reading. It is a little expensive but I think will pay off in the end.

3. I love yummy food. Justin and I like to eat yummy food when we can. We are collectors of experiences. Good atmosphere, good food, good music. Is that a collection? or obsession? I don't know! Compartmentalize where you will!

Random facts

1. My family had several nicknames for me when growing up. I was the youngest.
Manz
Manzee
Molney
Molness Jane
Mando
Mando Calarisian ( you know like the guy on star wars
Stinky
Ugly

2. I love to find a good acid/base combo in my snacks. For example: Pickle/glass of milk
green olive with a jalapeno/cheese. You see where I'm going with this. It is very satisfying when I find a good combination!

3. I am the queen of overshare. When in conversations with people, I share far more than they would like to hear. Now, I have taken to warning people before I do it. I have the false notion that it will help them deal with the information they are about to receive.

Ok, I tag Mandi and Anthony, Angie, and Chrissy

Monday, June 30, 2008

Happy July!


We are headed up to Salt Lake for the 4th. I'm actually really excited to go. July is the only time I really get homesick for Salt Lake. You can't beat Utah in the summer. The canyons, evenings, and temperatures are near perfect. This picture we took at Temple Square the last time we were up there. It is so fun to show the kids where we were married. It is a pretty impressive sight. I hope you all have an awesome 4th of July and we will miss all our Vegas friends.
Particularly we will miss the Moores since we are counting down the days with them. They are truly irreplacable in our lives! Who else, but Angie will heighten our learning in Book club? Who else but Angie will give us a variety of cheeses and organic appetizers when we come to visit her home? Who else but Dan would dress up like characters in literature, and add such variety to our lives? They are awesome, unique friends and I am going to miss them terribly. I know they are only 2 hours away, but the reality is it is going to be different without them here with us! We will miss you guys!! I have to give a thanks to Heather for making my blog look so pretty. I even have little quails on the header!!! I am not very computer literate so I really appreciate her in my life, for that reason among many others!
I am skipping around in thought a bunch, but my brother Brad came to visit on his way to California with his family this weekend. As always we stayed up talking and I really love and appreciate him. We remember so many funny things about our childhood together, and talk about spiritual things, intellectual things, and it is awesome to have a brother who has never teased me! (Which Justin thinks is not normal, that I never got teased by a brother)
Anyway here is a picture of my brother taken at Disneyland with his two boys, Mary, and Scott. Love you Brad!

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

I'm on a Roll!



This is awesome! I am on some kind of roll! Two entries in two days! I wanted to get some of our family pics on my blog, because we had a great May. It was a liberating period, not to be sick anymore and we ventured out to do some fun things. My first May highlight is our overnight visit to the Valley of Fire on Memorial weekend. We had such a great time. It was very unexpected, because we hadn't really been desert people, and usually water and trees enhance a campout, but! we were wrong. We did some great little hikes and the temperature was ideal. We will definetly be going back.
One hilarious moment is when the kids were climbing through the rocks and we said "Hello?" because we couldn't see them, and James popped his little head through the rocks and said "Hi!" We laughed so hard. It was perfect comedic timing on his part!

Monday, June 16, 2008

Hello stranger!

It's my first blog back in a while and to ease in slowly, I thought I would answer Angie's tag. Then maybe I can work back slowly into some of our happenings in May and June. My computer is up and running and I hope to be blogging on a more regular basis. It's fun to talk about my husband, because I think the world of him, and love to talk about him.
What is his name? Justin Scott Taylor

Who eats more? It's kind of a toss up, which is sad to say, but I think I eat more often, but he eats more.

Who said I love you first? Justin. It's a funny story because when he said it to me, I was nervous to say it back like some cheesy cliche, so I just said "Really?" That didn't go over well so I said it a few moments later.

Who is taller? Justin (perfect height for me, by the way)

Who is smarter? The long answer to this question is, Justin is tech savvy, very good at Math, instinctive with animals and children, insightful in many ways. I am a better reader, a better communicator, Very right brained. So the answer is we both have very different strengths of intellect that seem to compliment one another.

Who is more sensitive? Me, I'm the biggest baby. It's kind of embarrassing.

Who does the laundry? Me, although not exclusively

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do, although we sometimes switch. It is not set in stone.

Who pays the bills? I do. I'm in total control of the finances. Which we both prefer.

Who cooks more? I do more, but Justin is a fantastic griller, and Mother's day cook.

What meals do you cook together? When we grill, Japanese food, or Sunday dinners.

Who is more stubborn? Justin

Who is the first to admit when their wrong? Me, unfortunately Justin knows this, so he just waits.

Who is more clean? We are both naturally messy people, but I make more effort.

Who has more siblings? Justin, he comes from 8, I come from 5.

Who wears the pants in the relationship? I would say it is pretty equal.

What do you like to do together? We love to road trip and vacation. We go on too many. We love to play tennis together, Eat ethnic food, Listen to Broadway soundtracks to plays we've never seen, and try to figure out the storyline.

Who eats more sweets? Justin

Guilty pleasures? Justin-ice cream, Me- there are too many, the list will go on and on, especially while I am pregnant.

How did you meet? At temple square on my sister's wedding day. He was the videographer shooting my sister's wedding. It was his regular habit to flirt with bridesmaids at the weddings he shot. I fell for it!

Who asked who out first? Justin

Who kissed who first? Justin, but he claims I gave him no choice. We kissed on the second date and he was trying to wait a few more days. He was trying to be respectful.

Who proposed? Justin. He's really great at romantic surprises.

His best feature? His eyes.

His greatest quality? His sincerity. He is always doing everything in earnest. He is not cynical, or satirical. He is always self evaluating and trying to be honest with himself, and others.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Pregnant and Pregnant!

Well, I guess I am far enough along in this joy of a pregnancy to announce that yes, in fact, I am pregnant. I am 8 weeks along, and the last 2 weeks have been a bit rough. I am trying to focus on the positive side of things, but the reality is, mentally I am trapped on a rollercoaster of nausea, and am grateful to get my kids teeth brushed these days. We went on a trip last week, and I tried to have fun! It was spring break for Mary and we went down to Kingman, Arizona, and Lake Havasu City, Arizona. You may ask yourself why these 2 cities of no consequence? They are a part of Justin's territory, and we visited them last fall. They are fun little towns and we like to swim in the hotel pool, and go out to eat! Where are the pictures you might ask? Well, the camera is in Justin's car, and he drove himself to the airport yesterday morning, as I was not getting out of bed in my morning sickness state to drive him. At this time there are no happy Easter pictures, and spring happiness. We are in sheer survival mode. I do feel blessed because my March schedule was very full and after the company left this weekend(we had some of Justin's family in town) my schedule is wide open for me to just put my head down, breath in and out for the next 5 weeks until I can possibly function again. I knew this was coming! It is no surprise, and I am just trying to remember the bigger picture here. It is fun to read others' blogs and see life go on. It honestly helps me. I like to watch the discovery channel, and the travel channel, and think of far off places and future dreams. I probably sound so dramatic, which I am prone to from time to time, but pregnancies are probably the biggest test of my faith. I know Heavenly Father just wants to know how important it is to me to have these little spirits. So I'll hope to see you all in May or so when I come out of the fog!

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Stale Blog??

My blog is officially stale. You know like week old chicken that needs to be taken out of the refrigerator! It's OK, it's OK I'm still alive, and kicking. I have just been doing way more than I possibly have time for. I love having a full life, and would never complain about enjoying projects, kids, and all that we have to do. The ward Relief Society dinner has kept me especially busy, and all I can say is my friend Heather is a jewel. She has been helping me a ton! She has many talents and resources at her finger tips, all of which she is never stingy about sharing. I just am sitting here so grateful for her help, on the eve of the big event. I hope it will turn out to be a special time for all who come. The church is amazing in that we all have to flex our muscles and use our talents to help create, rather than to sit passively by and watch others do for us. We all are such better people because we have to contribute. We have to be the leaders, as well as followers, and we learn so much more this way. I am grateful for this time to be in charge, and I will be equally grateful to be able to follow next time.
I also want to say that my little son James is the sweetest kid. He has been melting my heart lately with all of his new words, and his fun sense of humor. He is an amazing little spirit, and I am so grateful he is in our family. With all he put me through in my pregnancy, I am happy to say he is worth it. Loves to my baby!!

Monday, March 3, 2008

My life in a nutshell!

So, I'm just sitting here on Monday morning. So worn out I can barely function. Most think Monday morning is just time to get up and go go go! To start the week. Sometimes, for me, Monday is a big let down from a crazy weekend. It started Thursday night with Justin heading up the stake basketball activity, where he played in the first game and refereed the next two. He was wiped out to say the least, but he was really happy because they had a great turn out. Next was Saturday morning 7am when the painters showed up! and yes! My spanish isn't totally worthless!. By the end of the day I was speaking spanish to my kids. The best thing was that Scott kept going up to the painters, making conversation, and he counldn't figure out why they weren't saying anything back! They would just smile at him. "What's your name?" no answer, "Are you painting?" again no answer. Finally I explained the deal, and he started saying "Hola!" "Gracias!". It was awesome! Scott is alot like me, in that he loves to talk to anyone! He approaches the world like everyone is his friend. I understand him for that, because I have always been that way. I see the people in my world, over the tasks that need to be done. Sometimes this drives me crazy, but most of the time I enjoy my perspective, and use it as a gift, that I've been given. None of us can function alone. We all need love, support, and friendship. I can't survive without good friends. Speaking of good friends, it is Betty Taylor's birthday today! So everyone who reads this and knows how genuine, kind, and just awesome Betty is... give her a call today!
Anyway, James also got sick this weekend, and for 2 nights he has been restlessly sleepinig on top of my head! Justin finally found more rest in the guest bedroom. Justin's Mom and her husband also stopped in and stayed the night Saturday eve on their way home from helping Monica get packed up to move from California to Maryland. They came to sacrament with us, Justin took James home who had a high high fever, and I stayed with the kids. I had a meeting Sunday eve. Monday morning has come and it's not pretty! It is 11:00 am and I am still in my pjs, of course now James is sound asleep, and I am fighting to stay alive, with Scott and my day! Love being a Mom!!!