It's Official

We're expecting another little sweet-smelling bundle of goodness. New baby is due July 30thish. That happens to be my mom's birthday. We are beyond thrilled and thankful for this new little person to join our family. Go ahead siblings, try to beat that birthday present! ;)

The BEST Thanksgiving. EVER.

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. It has always been a big celebration for my dad's side of the family. And boy do the Gulletts know have to have a great time. We're the kind of family that goes places and takes them over. You know the kind, with matching shirts and all. That is my family. And I proudly still have our 1992 family reunion shirt. :)

In 2002, I was a missionary. Every family wants the missionaries over for Thanksgiving. Let's face it, missionaries make it better. Well, I didn't really want to visit with other families. I felt like my new family members were all the other missionaries. So we came up with the idea that all the missionaries in my zone (plus a few extra companionships) would do our own Thanksgiving. Our preparation day was changed to Thanksgiving so we could enjoy ourselves. We were permitted to be in p-day clothes, watch 1 football game, 1 G-rated movie and whatever we wanted within mission rules. We just had to be home by 9:30pm.

We found a family that let us take over their basement...which was more like a cabin in the mountains. They had big screen TVs, a kitchen, a foosball table, games, comfy furniture...whatever we wanted. Everyone signed up for food, drinks, paper products, etc. It was the best Thanksgiving. I don't even remember if the food was any good. I remember the feelings. We were happy. We were laughing. We were playing. We were relaxed. We were STUFFED. No one was homesick. We felt loved. It was such a great day. We stayed 'til we had to leave. We all cleaned up and left by 9pm. It was talked about all over the mission.

Thanksgiving is still remembered by those same missionaries. We talk about it. We laugh about it. We dream about doing it again.

I'm not sure any Thanksgiving will ever be like that Thanksgiving. And I'm content knowing I will always have my memories.

Former North zone (plus extras) missionaries, today I send pumpkin-roll-thoughts and mashed potato love all over the world. I am thankful for the wonderful memories we shared.

Off the Radar

I haven't really wanted to blog. That's not true, I haven't found the desire to share what's going on. And really I haven't had my camera close.

Things that have happened since Marky's 1st birthday.

Marky started walking. Like took off over night! And he would just laugh the whole time. Now he's way more stable. He's into EVERYTHING! I find him in cabinets, bathrooms, closets, drawers (especially the one under the stove), refrigerators, boxes, laundry baskets, the laundry room, under tables and desks or sitting on the stairs (boxes block him from going up, but he still sits and enjoys the view). Toys are everywhere. Seriously, I found one of my refrigerators unplugged today. The one that holds the frozen treats and extra food--you know I plugged that one back up, quickly. He dances. If you haven't seen the video of him dancing on my facebook page, go there NOW! He's most certainly my kid. It is seriously SOOO fun at my house. He is a blast.

We moved. Kind of a good move. We live four blocks from the shop, two to three block from Taco Bell, Wal*Mart, Publix and El Apache, and about three minutes from my parents. That's my favorite part. Mark comes home every day for lunch. YAY! We're in a different ward (Orange Park 1st) and in a larger (but a lot less expensive) house than before.

Marky started really using his signs and started talking more. He loves to say "HELLO!" He'll try to sign "more" and it turns into "yay." So then, while signing it, I say "More? You want more?" and he'll say "Moh. Yeah. Yeah" while nodding his head up and down. But he is starting to really communicate and it is SO fun to see.

Right before we moved homes, Mark was thinking about moving the shop first. His rent was way too expensive for what we needed, so he looked around, found something for a great price, called his landlord and let him know we were going to move. His landlord came back and offered him a severely reduced amount to stay. So we decided it would be silly to move. However, just after we got settled in the new house, the landlord called back and told Mark he sold the property. So he has to move anyhow. But this is good. We're really excited about the new changes. Best part, between the new house and new shop, we'll be paying about 1/3 of the amount were originally paying.

I have a new calling coming. I've known about it for over a month, and I keep not getting sustained. I get to church, on time (don't faint) and expect it...then BAM! I get smacked upside my head with a whole lot of NOTHING. I kinda think the Lord wants me to be there on time. So I have two new callings: arriving at church on time; and the other. And if I can get then first taken care of, He'll then start me in the other calling.

We have each other, we're happy and we're close to just about everything. What more could a girl want? Except an island in the kitchen...oh wait, I have one of those now, too. Not a big island, but it has a plug and storage underneath. So its my baking island. And that makes me happy.

New Beginnings

About 5.5 years ago, just after my wedding, one of my best friends from childhood broke up with me. It was so sad. It was a misunderstanding. I haven't stopped thinking of her all these years. I have dreamed about us being friends and doing things together and would wake up sad.

She has recently lost her beautiful mother. I found out through another friend. My heart hurts for her. I was so sad I wasn't there for support. However, I didn't waste another minute. I looked at my phone and her number came back to me. She invited me right over and I went running.

Things we had to catch up on:

Her engagement

Her wedding

Her pregnancy

My pregnancy

Her sweet son born June 2009

My sweet son born Sept 2009

The good things that happened while we were on a break. Some not-so-good things.

Funny thing, I was getting weighed in at an OB appointment and saw her birth announcement on the wall right in front of my eyes. We went to the same office. And not a big office, either. I was thrilled for her and sad we couldn't share those pregnant moments together. We were only a few steps away from each other, and didn't know.

I could never truly describe how happy it makes me to be reconnected with my dear friend. We have a new place to start. My husband is also thrilled, he and her husband were friends, too. Marky doesn't even realize all the good times he's up for. Now our families get to go on double play-dates. I'm thrilled for this new beginning.

Sept 23rd is...

...the day of the Bear; MR. BEAR! First year in review.

And we love him more each day!

Marky, life just wasn't the same without you! Thank you for the joy you've brought. You are an answer to SOOOOO many prayers and beyond our wildest dreams. Happy 1st birthday Baby Bear!

To Whom It May Concern

Dear Organized Bones,

GET IN MY BODY!!!

If you're already there, stop hanging around my funny bone and start getting serious about this organization stuff. This family really needs you.

Thanks,

The Unorganized Queen of CHAOS

Super Soaker

For Labor day we decided to keep it low key. The Clarksons (my sister), Chalmers and Gentles hit up the pool and started our day off right. It was a lot of fun, relaxing and great company. After the pool, we relaxed some more with lunch, naps and plenty of cuddling. No labor today!

Now you see us

Now you don't!

My beautiful sister Cassie and her family

Their super soaker picture

Thanks for coming out to play with us! Hope you enjoyed your day as well!

And happy 40th anniversary to my parents. They got married in high school, have 5 children, 8 grandbabies and lots of love to share. Isn't that awesome?! I love you Momma and Daddy!

Honorable Mentions

Mark has been using our Ninja every day. Sometimes twice a day. I haven't used it once. I clean it but that's it! He is a blending fool, mixing every concoction possible. He let me know he uses it all the time because he's getting his black belt in tastiness. Ninja-the gift that keeps giving.

Saturday we got up early and went to the beach to watch the sun rise. It was a fabulous morning. Never enjoyed the beach so much. YAY for an occasional early morning!

Longboat Key, while not a Key you hear of often (and not south of Miami), is GORGEOUS! The Sun 'n Sea is a great escape. Wow, talk about a view. We looked out our window and what did we see? The Gulf of Mexico staring back at me! We shared a cottage with some of Mark's family that came from Michigan. The Marks and I ate breakfast at this little cafe right on the water. Delicious food, delicious view and delicious company.

I forgot my random thoughts I had. And that's worth mentioning, too.

Birthday Love

I've never felt so much love on my birthday. It has been the best birthday ever. EVER.
I woke up to kisses from the one snuggled up next to me, then realized someone was smothering me from the top too. I opened my eyes to my mom and sister taking me to Waffle House for breakfast. And that's a big deal for me! My little brother, JoJo, his daughter and his girlfriend joined us there. The whole place cheered for my birthday, it was awesome.

Came home, relaxed a little. Got blindfolded and carried away to my surprise bowling birthday party! Mark called everyone he could think of the night before and while I was at breakfast. It was so fun. And let me tell you, I'm super hard to surprise. My 19th birthday there was a HUGE surprise at my apt that my super swell roomie arranged. And that's one of the few surprises I've had in life, other than getting pregnant!

Later we had everyone over for dinner. We ordered chinese from the tastiest place around these parts and some ate pizza and we had a great time. We ended the night with a Carvel ice cream cake, a regular cake, ice cream and ice cream sandwiches. WOW!

I got my hair done, a pedicure, makeup money and a makeup gift card, a frizz control hair product, 2 jars of Vegenaise, my very own portable hard drive to store pictures (cause I have a gazillion) and a Ninja for my kitchen. And best of all, I got to be a Mom! The gift that keeps giving.

It was such a great day. I have to say, I am one lucky girl! Thanks to all my family and friends (Yep, that's you) that made my day MEGA special for me. And a super special thank you to my sweet husband, Mark. You surprised me! And I love you SOOOO much! BEST. BIRTHDAY. EVER!

Pictures to come

These are a few of my favorite things

Things are a little rough (understatement of the year) in my financial world. We have a lot coming up that we're just not ready for. All we can do is our best and realize the opportunity at hand for learning and making memories.

And while we are surrounded with "issues" my birthday is coming. At times like these, I try to do as my favorite caller Julie Andrews says and think of my favorite things.

I love makeup. And by love, I mean LOVE. The smell, the feel, the colors, the textures. I love to test new colors and combinations on my hand while walking through Sephora or Ulta or Mac or wherever.

Cruises. I love cruises. Relax when and as much as you want. Eat when and as much as you want. Sleep when and as much as you want. Play when and as much as you want. Seriously, who doesn't love this idea??

Facials. Have you ever had one? They are GREAT! So relaxing, so refreshing, so rejuvenating.

Being spontaneous. Completely and irresponsibly spontaneous. "Let's go to lunch in Orlando or Savannah" "Hey, I found tickets to NYC, want to go??" "Watch out Disney World, here we come!" "

Roller coasters: the thrill, the excitement, the speed, the screaming, the ups and downs. Wash, rinse, REPEAT!

A good night of bowling. How fun is bowling? We used to make up silly rules like "if you don't get a strike, you have to dance" or sneak into the computer scorekeeper thing and change each others' names to some type of inside joke, to encourage a strike/spare so you can see what it says. Then laugh super hard at "Guacamole with Flies" or "Imfittintagoonabootarunwhichu" flashing across the screen.

That's better. I simply remember my favorite things, and now I don't feel so bad. :)

Thanks for indulging me.

right place, right time

Saturday night we had our Girls Camp Graduation/Awards ceremony. Don't get too excited, I feel it was a slight flop.

Anyhow, I was taking the trash out to the dumpster as a mother was walking to her SUV. Her husband, two sons and daughter had been waiting.

Older son stands out the door and shouts:

"Mom, Dad doesn't want to go now. You need to come do whatever it is you do, to make him do it."

Smart kid!! I laughed so hard and said under my breath "well, she can't do that with you kids in the car!"

Talk about being in the right place at the right time.

SYTYCD

If you don't know what that means, It's time for TV Talk. Today's subject is So You Think You Can Dance.

Things I love--DANCE. Especially some great routines. I love the great hip hop routines, super sizzlin' ballroom numbers, bollywood, contemporary, jazz, weird routines (anything Sonja), whatever.

Things I don't love or things I hate:

1. Mia Michaels as a permanent judge

2. The 3rd judge doesn't rotate anymore

3. There is NO hot tamale train

4. There were more guys than gals

5. Mia Michaels as a perm judge

6. Some of the 2 guy duos

Last week, Alex's duo with Twitch was AWESOME! This week, the African dance between Billy and Jose was just awkward. Really really awkward. If there are two guys that are dancing masculine together and its awesome, then great. But when one dances feminine because he's already feminine...I can't handle it.

I need Mary Murphy back. I have a severe love for ballroom and Mary Murphy needs to be there as the expert. Sometimes I think Mia and Adam don't know the lines for ballroom exactly. She could put them in their places.

Alex is a great dancer. Possibly my favorite. The two girls that are left, I think they are both good dancers. Kent is my other favorite guy. Jose is kinda like Russell from last season...very happy but not nearly as good. AdeChike is ok--the judges are really hard on him. I really don't care for Robert or Billy.

But seriously, I do LOVE me some dancing TV. Just ask Mark...cause he hates it and thinks I watch way too much dancing TV. But please people, dance on!

Memorial weekend

Yep, you read that right. Memorial weekend we took Marky out for his first swim. He's had many since then...but my computer took a puke and Mark's had these pictures on it!

We took him in our neighborhood.
This one cracks me up--he was SO happy.

Momma's personal favorite...no clue why. :)

Marky loves to splash....

We splashed into Uncle Jason's pool for Memorial Day

We had such a great time. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to post pictures from his first swim.

3/4

9 months is 3/4 of a year. And that makes our Marky 9 months old or 3/4 of a year, whichever you prefer. Can you believe it? I sure can't. Time has flown by. And in the past three months, he has learned so many new skills and has two ridiculously cute teeth.

Let me first tell you that I pretty much didn't put this gorgeous boy down for about 5 months. So he's had to learn to do everything recently.

Marky loves to: take a bath, raise one eyebrow at new people, play, army crawl (the knees are finally starting to come along), eat, reach for things/people he wants, play with remote controls, wave to pretty girls, use/eat cell phones, visit Mammaw and Pappaw, play with kitchen utensils, pull himself up, chase Cami the bulldog, laugh, jump, swim, pull down DVDs, sit himself up, kiss Mama, play with Daddy and bring joy to all those around him.

This is part of the loving to eat part

Here he is with Mammaw out in Idaho last month

He is happy to be outside

I can't get enough of these right-out-of-the-bath pictures

This was at the cemetery, he was there to bring smiles to family members

This little guy has been SO much fun. I can't imagine life without him. We have truly been blessed and we thank our Father in Heaven for him each day.

Thank you sweet little man for making us a family.

Feeling Anxious

When I was 12, I didn't want this time of year to come. I never wanted to go to Girls Camp. I knew it would awful. Well, then I fell in love with it: the feelings; the atmosphere; the sisterhood; the SPIRIT!

I have only missed one year of camp, and that was because I was on my mission. In fact, I even received my mission call at camp! It was super cool--LDS Movie cool, if you ask me.

I now have an official calling in the camp program. I reluctantly said yes because the spirit. My anxious feelings come with making choices for my sweet baby. Marky is still nursing. In my head, I was going to be fine putting him on formula. However, I have decided to change my diet, Mark has changed his diet and I'm thinking we want the same for our baby. And let's face it, I'm not sure I'm willing to stop nursing yet. So how do I leave him home for the week without enough milk? When I pump, I express maybe 1-2 oz. Now, I could sneak him with me (without permission) but I'm not sure that's what is best for him either. When he gets hot, his eczema gets worse. Then you add the bugs with a little dude and that's not very nice either. I have a friend that lives 10 minutes from camp (seriously) who kindly offered to keep him during the day for me and she would bring him to me at night. Which is beyond sweet...but I don't want him to feel abandoned. All of this is making me feel anxious and unsure I've made the right decision. Help me OB1 Kenobi, you're my only hope!

Testimony of the Book of Mormon

I read on FaceBook that today, May 3rd (no, I'm not in a time machine) is the Book of Mormon/YouTube challenge. You can read more about it on FB. I watched it and was reminded why I love having Prophets and Apostles!

I love this book and I KNOW it's words are true. There is great power in simply holding it.

Enjoy!

6 Month Pics

I wanted to quickly post these to share them with you.

He really is worth the wait!

I love how tickled he is in the pictures

He's a total flirt. This was his Easter outfit...until my husband said he looked like a Mexican and proceeded to call him Hector.

Again, completely tickled

Rolling around in one of the most beautiful afghans ever!

Doing his push-ups

What he does best...suck his fingers

This is one of my favorites...this is what I am blessed enough to see every day. My sweet baby playing on the floor in pure delight. It's the best!

Such a little man isn't he???