Resurfacing

It's funny how sometimes getting sick actually helps you get caught up on things. It's been so nice having Tom home, though so that I could be sick and rest. There's not much you can do from the couch, but blogging is one of them. But yes, Tom came home. We made it through! We survived! AMAZING! Honestly, neither of us were sure that it would ever end. A little recap of the last month or so:

• I moved us to Beaumont on November 6th, exactly a week before Tom would be home. It's been an adjustment, though. Beaumont is definitely not Houston. It'll be an adventure in getting creative with what to do with ourselves, but we're adjusting ok. I was glad that we moved before Tom came, though, mostly because it was nice to pick him up from the airport and just go home rather than having to worry too much about a big 'To-Do' list. We're so happy to have Daddy home.

Team Bogardus

• Three days after Tom came home, we went to Utah to suprise his mom. His dad was in on the whole thing, so that was fun. We hadn't been up there since Logan was five months old, so it was great to see family that we hadn't seen in a really long time. Kristen (my beautiful and wonderfully talented sister) took a bunch of family pictures while we were there. It was a quick trip, but so so fun.
• 
  The day we got back from Utah, we stopped off in Houston to finally get the new car (pictures forthcoming). It wasn't ready to roll off the lot yet, so we had to come back a week later to get it - only to find out that it wasn't ready yet either. So frustrating. Fortunately, the dealership gave us a loaner and then brought our car to Beaumont and dropped it off in our driveway. So, we're the proud owners of a 2007 Mazda 5. It's not so much of a crossover vehicle as a compromise vehicle. I love it and I think it'll be great for a small family with some room to grow. It'll be a while before we worry about that, though.
  We had Thanksgiving here in Beaumont and my parents and cousin and cousin-in-law came out. I was so thankful to have a house full of people to cook for. I've spent so much time alone this year that more than once I found myself tearing up with gratitude for all our blessings. The biggest one, I think, is being sustained and surviving this year. However, as I look back, I think it's been one of the most miracle-filled times too. I'm glad we can do something else now, though.


• Tom started his new job down in Port Arthur. Bechtel is building Shell's Motiva project, so we should be here for two, two and a half years until that's finished. After that, who knows? Most likely we'll go back to Houston, which would be awesome. I'm game for whatever, though. I'm just so thankful to have my family back together again.

Soul Food

I just wanted to share some of the things that make me happy. For anyone who hasn't yet discovered Sissel Kjyrkjebø, you really should.

Count your many blessings

Well, it's official. We're packing it up and moving to Beaumont, Texas on the seventh of November! We've finally got our marching orders, finally found out when Tom is coming home (November 15th!) and finally have a timeline, more or less. I have to say, knowing concretely what needs to happen as well as what my job is makes things so much easier. Not easy, mind you, but easier. I've learned a few good lessons of late, though.

Lesson #1: Sometimes things are hard but that doesn't make them bad. Sometimes they're so hard that you don't know how you're going to do/be everything you need to do/be. However, when we look back in retrospect, we can see how those things really bless our lives.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

These are the apartments that I moved us out of back in June. Moving us by myself was awful and there was more than one time that I sat back and said, "Why am I doing this?!" Now, I can see in bright FEMA-tarp blue what life might've been like had we just ignored those feelings and stayed put. Weathering hurricane Ike was bad enough with no damage to our apartment. Experiencing it with the roof falling in... I can't imagine. The entire roof over our old apartment has been torn off and redone. None of the upstairs apartments are currently inhabitable. Had we stayed, it would've just been me and the boys, trying and failing to keep everything we own from being ruined as water poured out of the ceiling. I feel so blessed.

Lesson #2: The Lord is in the details. Due to hurricane Ike turning Tom's salvage title car into an aqarium (the sunroof leaks), we're in the market for a new car. One word: mildew. Ewwww. Anyway, we've been trying to figure out ways to come up with a down payment because we weren't quite expecting to replace his car so soon. After in incidental conversation with my inspired cousin (thanks Sarah!), we found out that we qualify for a city incentive program to get older cars off the road. The amount? Just what we need for a down payment.

Lesson #3: Have fun anyway.

So, now I just need to remember all this. We're moving in three weeks - which is very soon. Now I just need to work out the 'To-Do' list for between now and then and get going on it. I know Heavenly Father is steering this ship, though. The perfect place fell out of the sky about a week ago, so we have a place to live.

So, upward and onward! Here we go again!

Memorial City Mall (aka "Candyland)

We needed to just get out of the house today so that the boys could cut loose and have some fun. For anyone who hasn't been to the Memorial City Mall's playground yet, I highly recommend it. It's so nice and even has a security guard to deter kids who are too old or too big (huge pet peeve of mine.) I especially recommend going early in the day (before 11) or there tends to be a pretty good sized crowd. However, it's one of those places that has enough space that even if there are a lot of kids, it doesn't feel super crowded.

Logan, so excited.

Dallin, also excited.

Does Obama speak for you?

I took this test and found it interesting - especially on the heels of a conversation had at Enrichment tonight. (I know, not a political blog, not a polictical forum, etc.) At any rate, you can see how much Obama represents you and your values. So, here you go.

http://barackobamatest.com/

As a sidenote, my result was that I disagree with Obama 92% of the time. Yikes.

Life at summer camp (post by Tom)

The only problem with this summer camp.....too much summer!**

So just a quick story about my shower this morning (blogs are supposed to be personal, right?) Anyway, I got up at 4:30 a.m. to take a shower. That sounds early, but apparently about 4,000 other guys had the same idea - so the water pressure left something to be desired. I would categorize it as maybe a drizzle (if you're from Oregon, you definitely know a drizzle when you see one. If not, just imagine an only semi-continuous, very light stream of water.)

So as I'm doing my best to get wet, wash, and (most challenging) rinse, guy #4,001 turned on his shower, which took things down to a trickle. I don't think guy #4,002 or #4,003 got the memo that the shower was already doing it's best impression of a sharply kinked hose, because once they began their liquid thievery, my shower quickly went from drip...............to zip. Yes, that's right, my poor soapy self is standing under a completely vacant shower head, wondering how long it will take guys #4,001-4,003 to quit hogging my water (and that's assuming guy #4,004 stays out of the blasted shower.) After about 2 minutes, (long enough for my anger to soften into amusement about my predicament,) like liquid manna from heaven, I started to get a drip again, which progressed almost to a drizzle by the time I was done. Now, I can't be entirely sure whether I actually rinsed, or if the soap had just dried during intermission, but I'll take what I can get, so I decided to turn off the shower, and allow others to share in the bounteous blessings that are summer camp showers.

And that, my friends, is how interesting things are in Asab. I'm a stone's throw from the cradle of civilization (okay, maybe an 8-year camel ride) and yet my first blog entry in months is about my weak-sauce shower. Yikes. Sounds like it's time to go home.


**Other side-effects may include dehydration, loneliness, hair loss, indigestion, apathy, sunburn, boredom, weight gain, drowsiness, carpel tunnel, and a poor sense of humor.

Home to Houston

After watching the boys get more and more restless in College Station, I decided to come home today. I'd been planning to stay until Friday or so, but it felt like the right thing to do. Both boys were so excited to come back. Logan spent most of the way either singing the Little Einstein's theme song or listing everything he wasn't going to pee on. (Don't ask me what prompted this.)

"And I'm not going to pee on Dallin's rug!"
"That sounds like a good plan, buddy."
"And I'm not going to pee on Mama's bed!"
"Please don't."
"And I'm not going to pee on my train table!"
"Right, because that'd be gross."
"Yeah, super gross!"

That's my boy. At any rate, it's good to be home. We'll see what the grocery store situation is tomorrow, but for now, we're all happy to be in our own un-peed on beds.

yIKEs.

Well, everyone, we made it. After deciding to ride out the storm in Houston because we'd been instructed by local authorities to stay put, and based on the predictions for what we'd face in our area, I felt ok about being there. We ended up going over to some friends' house to spend the night so that I wouldn't be by myself if something went wrong. I've got pretty much a whole wall of large windows and a parking lot that gets standing water in a normal rainstorm so hurricane force winds plus a whole lot of water and me by myself with two babies didn't seem like such a good plan. However, sheltering at our friends' house solved both problems for the most part and didn't require me to drive to College Station, which is an hour and a half drive when the road isn't full of people fleeing imminent catastrophe. At any rate, it was one of the most stressful nights of my life. It sounded like it would if you layed your head next to a freight train as it thundered past. Go figure, though. We took down the boards in the morning and noticed that the air conditioning unit that was just outside the window of the room we were sleeping in had been moved about 2 feet over and knocked on it's side. So, all in all, an intense night. I have a new, healthy respect for nature and will forever more do as much as it takes to make sure we're never in that position again. My parents came up and got us so we could drive back to College Station together, so we're here until the power comes back on at home. They said it could be up to two weeks but there are places fairily close to ours that are starting to come back online, so we'll see. Tonight I'm grateful to be safe, to have a warm bed in a cool house, and that my kids are ok. I seriously feel like all heck has broken loose since Tom left. I hope that we're through the worst of it. I'm exhausted, although that may have more to do with a very intense last couple of days sandwiching one of the most frightening nights of my life. If you ever find yourself in the direct path of a hurricane, get out. You'll be glad you did.

My life soundtrack

This looked fun so I thought I'd give it a shot.

Instructions:
Open your MP3 player
Put it on shuffle
Press play
For every section list whichever song comes up
Repeat to get the full soundtrack

Here’s my soundtrack:
Opening Credits: Michael Buble - Call me Irresponsible
Waking up: Dido - No Angel
Falling in love: Jack Johnson - Bubble Toes
Fight song: Will Smith - Switch
Break up song: Phil Vassar - Didn't You Know She's Gone
Making Up: Erasure - Oh l'Amour
Life’s Okay: James Taylor - Only a Dream in Rio
Mental Breakdown: Kanye West - Stronger (Edited)
Driving: U2 - One
Flashbacks: Rascal Flatts - It's Not Just Me
Happy Dance: Ciara feat. Chamillionaire - Get Up
Regret: Jon Schmidt - Walk in the Woods
Final Battle: Toad the Wet Sprocket - Hold Her Down
Death Scene: Eagles - Hotel California
Final Credits: Harry Connick Jr. - Jill

Anyone out there with an mp3 player - consider yourself tagged :)

Swimming Lessons

Most people put their kids in swimming lessons during the summer. I always thought it would be the logical thing to do, but with the encouragement of a friend - Logan's starting to learn how to swim this fall. The local YMCA has lessons year round and now that I've had a chance to think about it, it seems like a great idea. Spend the fall and winter learning how to swim so that when summer hits, the kid's a pro. At any rate, Logan had his first lesson today and he loved learning how to 'swim like a fish.' I was suprised at how well he did, but I also tried to stay out of sight. He tends to be braver when I'm not around. I think he would've done fine either way, but I spent the time like a goalie tending the net trying to keep Dallin away from the pool. The bleachers we were supposed to sit on were right next to the ten foot area of the pool, just for that added element of danger. Both boys did pretty well, though, and it was a huge success for Logan.

The kids got kind of a cold dose of reality before getting in the pool. However, it was all okay once they realized that it meant the pool came next.

Let's go swim!

Logan was all smiles and really such a good listener throughout the whole hour.

Kick your legs!

Mischief.

Dallin felt a little left out and wanted to go splash like big brother. Maybe next summer (or fall.)

Come on ride the (potty) train! Woot woot!

I just want to share that amidst the setbacks and trials, there is light and peace in the hope of tomorrow. If we lift up our heads and take a deep breath, we can find the strength to try again and know that one day, it will all be ok. How do I know, you ask? Because (dum dum da daaaah!) Logan is now potty trained.

Woo hoo!!!

Tagged: A sprint down memory lane and then some

Thanks, Megan. I will, however, say that it's been fun going through my old pictures!

10 years ago...


It was August of 1998 and I was getting ready to start my first official semester at BYU. I'd gone to Provo two weeks after graduation because I was antsy to get up there and start my new life as a college student. My mom even came up to start on her master's degree that summer, so even though she wasn't living with me, she was close by to help the transition into college and answer questions like how to grocery shop with a plan. In my very brief amount of time at BYU, I'd already dated a couple of guys, earned seven credit hours and moved into a different 'apartment.' Do Heritage Halls count as dorms or apartments? I didn't want to spend all year in the basement of Rogers Hall. Anyway, long story short - I'd made the most of my summer.

5 years ago...

I had just moved into Crestwood apartments by myself, for the first time. (I think I'm part nomad.) I had always moved with people before but had finally reached a point where I was ready to go off on my own a bit. Of course, it helped that my sister had graduated and was ready to move on from BYU housing, whereas I still had a year to go and therefore had to live in BYU housing. At any rate, I had just moved in and went to my new family home evening group where I met this really cool guy.

Eight months later, we were engaged.

Two and a half months later, we were married.

That was a good year.

5 months ago...

Five months ago we were feverishly packing in happy memories, taking a trip to San Antonio for some quality T&K time, and celebrating Dallin's first birthday. We were, on the whole, trying to get ready to embark on what has been the most singularly difficult experience of my life thus far: Tom being on the other side of the planet for six months. He left on April 7th and it's been really something ever since. I'll spare you the details that have been left un-blogged, but suffice to say, it's been hard.

5 things on my to-do list tomorrow:

1. Try, once again, to get my house clean. It's been an uphill battle since Tom left a few weeks ago.


2. Talk to my sweetheart. Tom is my anchor and definitely keeps me from coming unhinged on those days when I'm really on the brink. The rest of the time, he's my puzzle piece that fills in the gaps and makes me whole. And he makes me laugh. And I love him. Have I mentioned that him being gone is hard?


3. Finish the laundry.


4. Get to the grocery store. We're dangerously low on cold cereal, which is a major staple in Logan's diet.


5. Find something fun to do. We've been home a lot lately and it's time for something fun.

5 things people don't know about me...

1. I was the New Year's baby in Las Vegas of 1980 - like, I got all the free stuff and was featured in the newspaper, etc. I was beaten by two boys, but since they were born to parents that were illegal immigrants, I got all the prizes. As a kid, I'd always thought it was kind of lame that I'd gotten 'a year's supply of diapers' as one of the prizes. As a mom, I think that's awesome.


2. My childhood hobby was showing dogs. I even showed my siberian husky, Loki, in the Nevada state show. I still have my ribbons that we won.


3. My biggest vice is frozen chocolate chips. I have to not put chocolate chips in the freezer for storage or over the course of a week or so, the bag will disappear. Handful by handful.


4. Dallin and I both nearly died in childbirth. I didn't realize how serious things were until the doctor explained things to me later. I'm very, very grateful that we're both here and ok.


5. I'm related to Butch Cassidy.

5 bad habits...

1. I bite my nails. You can tell how much I've been reading lately by the length of my nails. I don't conscieously do it - but over the course of a book, I'll bite them all off. The Twilight series was murder on my nails.


2. I stay up too late. Every day I wake up in the morning and swear that I'll get to bed earlier that night, but somehow 10:00 hits and I've got energy to burn. Suddenly it's midnight and I know I'll have a 7:00 a.m. wake-up call and I'll do it all again the next day.


3. I beat up on myself. I have very high expectations of myself and have a hard time forgiving myself when I don't measure up. I'm working on this one.


4. I have a thing for crunchy cheetos. They're probably the most un-natural food on the market, but I think they're spiked with heroine. Mmmm.
5. I tend to be late. Things always take longer than I think they will, including getting myself and my kids ready to go out the door. I haven't given up though! Punctuality and me - we'll be tight one of these days.

5 places I have lived...

1. Las Vegas, NV


2. College Station, TX


3. Provo/Salt Lake, UT


4. Denmark


5. Houston, TX

Tag 5(ish) people...

Hmmm. Bethany, Jennifer, Kendra, Tommi, Alisha and Sarah H!

You know your husband is gone again when...

In the less than one week since Tom went back to Abu Dhabi (not Hobby Lobby - I have to keep clarifying for Logan) we've:

1. Had a pretty major bleeding incident in Target (Dallin smacked his lip on the cart in Target. Not good.)
2. Had surgery (Dallin again. He had to have tubes put in his ears. Not a huge deal, but still.)
3. Gotten hit by a hurricane (Bracing ourselves. Hopefully it won't be that bad.)
4. Tried and failed for now with potty training. (Sorry, not failed - just didn't succeed.)

Why? Because this is how we roll.

Part 2

Sorry about the continuity issues. We had lots of fun while Tom was home and packed well over three months worth of fun into two quick weeks. We celebrated Logan's third birthday with a fun (and low-key!) birthday party, went to the circus, saw Dark Knight and Wall-E, experienced the Downtown Aquarium, cheered for the Astros from the rafters of Minute Maid Park, took a road trip to College Station, ate at all our favorite resturants, laughed until it hurt and just enjoyed being a family again. Opposition is a funny thing because the good always wins. Tom's back in Abu Dhabi now (not Hobby Lobby) and it's hard to have him gone. It's like a sip of cold water on a hot day; refreshing but so not enough. However, I'm happy knowing that when we get done with these next three months, we're done. We are doing ok and I'm so grateful for the support network I've got. Without you all, I'd be a basketcase. For now, on with the adventure. Enjoy the pictures! Blogger's having issues so this isn't going to look how I want it to, but you get the idea.

I'm so glad when Daddy comes home!

So, I've been off the radar for the last couple of weeks because (dun dun da DUM!) Tom's been home! That's right, folks, we survived fourteen weeks of him being gone. Fourteen! During that period we managed to get diagnosed with food allergies and completely overhaul the way Logan eats, find a new apartment, pack the house and move (which sounds much easier on paper), visit the Emergency room, after hours doctors office, and doctor with five ear infections (four for Dallin, one for Logan), get major car repairs done, celebrate Mother's Day and Father's Day, and several other things that I'm not remembering at this second. We've been a little busy. In a way, it's been good though. I haven't had time to sit around and feel sorry for myself. But at last, the blessed day came! We went to the airport and waited for about an hour while Tom's plane came in and he got his luggage before we saw him. Logan passed the time by driving Dallin around in the stroller. I passed the time by trying to keep him from permanently crippling anyone.

However, as I was looking up every minute or two to see if Tom was coming through the arrival gate, Logan opened the door to the emergency defibulator in one of the corners. A very loud alarm went off and he was cowed enough to just hang out after that.

Yeah, I was that mom. People were openly laughing at me, so I'm aware of it. I really couldn't care less, though, because Tom arrived about a minute and a half after that. I intended to take pictures and all, but it didn't work out. There are some moments when picture snapping is just not a priority. Anyway, so thus began the most fun two weeks that I've had in who-knows-how-long! We managed to pack in so many great things into our little break.

Daddy wrestling matches

Fifteen bucks well spent

Happy 4th of July on the 5th, everybody! We finally got moved and a week later, most of the boxes are unpacked. I'll wait to post pictures until everything actually looks how I want it to, though. We had a fun day up in College Station. I was super excited to break out this:

Otherwise known as, the best $15 I ever spent. There's even a shower of water that comes out of the top into the pool (hence the hose). I found it on clearance at http://www.improvementscatalog.com/. Logan and Dallin splashed and played for about two hours! Two!

It was super fun and they had a blast. Unfortunately, we didn't get to stay for fireworks. Both boys were pretty tired. However, I did get to enjoy my own personal show all the way home to Houston because lots of people were firing them off in the middle of nowhere! Next year will be even more fun with Daddy home.