31's not old right!?! It can't be.....I'm 31!

So tomorrow is the BIG DAY, the big 3-1!!
I just can't believe a year has gone past.
I'm still trying to get a grip on the fact that I'm the big 3-0 and now the big 3-1 has come up and bitten me in the butt!
Now I know age is just a number and I have plenty to be grateful for and I should be happy with my achievements, which I am you know, I am, I really am.
BUT.............still 31...........come on, can I just wollow in my own misery for a little while? Even if it's just for an hour of my whole 24 hour birthday?
I used to LOVE my birthday's. Then I hit 30 and it's been a little different feeling for me.
I still love having Dru take me out and the cards and attention I get.....................let's not get outta control here......................but 31! Gosh it's, it's, so, so.................OLD.
And I know I know it's not really OLD but like my wonderful friend told me today "it's IS old" She's young and beautiful and honest. And I love that.

But don't we all, in our 20's look at 30 and think it's OLD? Am I the only one here that has ever felt this way?
I would hear someone tell me their in their 30's and just think that was SOOOOO OLD! And look what happend................now I'm in my 30's.
And I think to myself..........wait a second I'M 30, what the hell happend? (Heck for the americans)
Now I'm not a retard. I know how age works, you know one year at a time, that kinda thing. But still my 30's just hit me like a tons of bricks and I'm still not over it.
Now anyone who's in their 30's out there do you get over it?
I hope so cause so far my 30's have been amazing and wonderful, so really there's nothing to complain about except for the number.
The only time I get reminded of the number is when I have to put it in the tredmill or eliptical at the gym.
I'm hitting all the buttons and am like "oh yeah I'm 30 now" (sigh)
So it SHOULD be no big deal. So why do I have this feeling about it?
I must be shallow or something.
I mean I don't FEEL old.
I feel cool and hip and fun and young and beautiful....................so 30 mustn't be too bad and it musn't be as old as what I always imagined it to be.
PLUS look at the most important reasons I have to smile..................all reasons to smile in my 30's.
I'm thinking my 30's are going to be GREAT years. I mean I'll have the rest of my kids, they'll all be young and still love me and think I'm the bees knees. Dru will be going through law school, finished law school, get his first CAREER job. All in my thirties.
The list is endless of what my 30's hold for me.
So really I should embrace my 30's and look forward to it with arms wide open with the wind blowing through my hair at 90 miles an hour.
I'm looking forward to the day when, in my 30's, a birthday comes and I feel the same way I did in my 20's birthdays.
I know I sound ungrateful and I guess I am a little, but after I get over myself I AM grateful.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, SQUASHED BANANA'S AND STEW, YOU LOOK LIKE A MONKEY, AND YOU ACT LIKE ONE TOO.

Over the river and through the woods...

To Grandmothers house we go. Well we are finally home. It's been a long time since I have posted and I thought you all might like a few pictures of our grand trip. We left LA on April 11th and went to Washington D.C. to visit Grandma and Grandpa Dodd. Myles was great on the plane. We were so lucky to get an open seat next to us so he was sitting up like a big boy most of the time. We visited with Bjorn's sisters while in D.C., Kalita and husband Byron, and Birgitte and Husband Justin. Nerisha and daughter Latoya and her daughter Eliza came to meat us all at the National Zoo. It was a great visit with all the family except Ritch. We visited T& C for 5 days then moved on to New York City. We stayed in the city for two nights and had a great time visiting Central park, the Empire State building, the Guggenheim, New York fire museum, Harlem all the sights in New York. We then moved on to New Jersey to visit Bjorn's older sister Ritchenya and son Jason. We stayed with them for three nights. While there we visited Philly for a Star Wars exhibit and an original Philly cheese stake sandwich. We got to see Jason play in a baseball game and celebrated out 5th anniversary. Next we moved on to visit my flight attendant friend Joann and her husband Marc in Connecticut. We had a wonderful time there just catching up and getting to see their new home. We traveled back over the Tapan Zee bridge and made our way up to Boston for the best part of the trip. We had wanted some time to ourself so we built in time in NYC and BOS. We stayed in a fabulous hotel The Omni Parker House in downtown Boston for three nights( home of the original Parker house rolls, Boston cream pie, and the place where the Kennedy's where engaged). We visited the freedom trail sights, went to a game at Fenway Park(my f











avorite part of the entire trip), ate some really great seafood, and had an amazing time there. We visited the ducks in the public gardens. The bronze ducks were the inspiration for the Caldicott winner childrens book "Make way for Ducklings". It was time to move on, back to New Jersey to visit a friends who moved from LA to Skillman. It was a short one night stay, but great to see them. The last trip was back to Washington D.C. for a visit with Bjorn's friend Keshi and his wife Monica. We enjoyed their home and Myles loved the huge screen movie theater in the basement. Myles is the ultimate couch potato. He loves to watch t.v. It doesn't matter what is on. He loves it all. The last day we drove back to the airport and traveled home where we arrived on the 27th of April. Myles and mommy got back on the airplane the very next day to Salt Lake where we would stay with Grandma and Grandpa while Mommy got the low down on IVF stuff. We are trying to have a sibling for Myles sometime in July. Then we headed south for a quick overnight stay with Kristin and Chris. It was a great trip, but man am I tiered. It's a long time to be gone and I think it is going to take me a while to get back on top of everything. Myles was a great traveler, only melting down once the whole trip. Not too bad I think! Hope you enjoyed our travel log. Yep, that's Ella, 18 months old and Myles is almost a tall as she is. He outweighs her though!

Latest and Greatest

So I thought I hadn't posted a decent pic of Yuki lately for your viewing so here she is.
Now am I just bias or is she not the most cutest little thing!?!
Who couldn't love that little face!?!
I gotta tell ya I'm loving having a little girl in the house hold.
She actually snuggled me the other day!
I couldn't believe it.
Masaru's not a snuggler and so Dru and I had kind've gotten used to not getting too much of our snuggles on with our kids. Yuki didn't seem like she was the type either.
THEN the other day I was hanging out with my mate, Trissy, and Yuki totally started cuddling into me and sucking her thumb. It was a great feeling.
THEN she did it again on Sunday with Dru. Man he was in seventh heaven.
If you don't already know Dru is a snuggler from way back.


When he found out we were pregnant, one of the first things he said was "I'm going to get lots of snuggles"
Well it didn't really turn out like that.
Masaru gives us hugs for sure but KEEPING him there is a different story.
He's too busy I think.
But we're in luck, at least for this week, as Yuki has been giving us cute little snuggles right before we put her to bed.
It makes you feel so grateful to be a parent. There's something about that snuggle or hug from your child that melts your heart.
I think you think, in the moment, that your child is the most perfect thing on the earth.
And even out of the moment I guess too, even amongst the chaos that happens.
Our kids are so beautiful.
Kids are so beautiful.
What would we do with out kids?

Oh say can you say

So I was coaxed into teaching Junior Achievement for Graham's class this year. It is an optional supplemental program that schools can use that teaches kids about community, the role of government, business, and money. Ryan says I need to learn how to say "no," but I think this is a fun program and I like to be involved with the kids in school and extracurricular things when I can. I told him I am perfectly capable of saying no when I want to.

Today was the first of five 1/2 hour lessons. Graham, as usual, had several remarks that caused me to wonder, where do they come up with this stuff? At the end of the lesson I pointed out a donut shop on our large poster containing numerous businesses and said that when I came back on Wednesday we would be learning about business and focusing on this donut shop. The kids immediately said, "Are you going to bring us donuts?" I said that I didn't know, perhaps I would need some donations. To which Graham called out, "you mean "donut-ations?"

The Disclaimer

I didn't mean to leave everyone hanging. To be honest, there is no big ending to this saga. But unlike someone I know, I won't name names, I'm not going to make anything up just for the sake of making my blog seem more interesting! Anyway, here's the ending.
Apartment hunting was the least exciting thing I've done in a long time. The thought of moving from our house into an apartment nearly half the size is quite depressing.
I started the hunt with student housing, my comp who attended law school at U of I told me that the 3 bedroom units are quite spacious and come with free high speed internet and cost 600 a month. A bargain considering a two bedroom flat in Salt Lake is 900 a month and no internet.
But they were full. So full that they weren't taking a waiting list anymore. Huh, that sucks.
So I started into the "private sector" where my luck was not too much better. The first two management companies I called had nothing available. Mmmm. It was now snowing, which had nothing to do with apartment hunting, but it seemed to make the mood of the whole thing all the more hopeless.
The next call was better, units available and only minutes away to show them to me. So far so good. The units were new, 2006, but less than spacious. 2 bedrooms, I was thinking more like 2 three quarter bedrooms. Where's the rest? I thought. Nope not behind the door. Not in the closet. Huh, I think our king size bed will take up the entire room. A whole new meaning to "I have a condo with wall-to-wall" instead of carpet, my bed will be wall-to-wall! The kitchen has a dishwasher, disposal, 2 feet of counter space, and a fridge. and the price, 640 a month plus utilities, phone, and internet. The price is ok, but I think we'll have to invest in some Japanese furniture.
I'll have my people call your people!
Maybe an old house would be better. My sister has a nice little, but spacious, house in a college town. It works for her, maybe it could work for us. I start stalking the streets. Lots of signs with numbers, but no one on the other end of those numbers, just machines. No luck.
I head back to the Bellwood lecture reception, surely there's food there. And there was. Nothing looked that great, but they had pineapple, my fav. I load up my tiny plate with pineapple and a couple of m&m cookies. Not bad for mainland pineapple!
Back to the Inn, I'll try again tomorrow.
I met with the financial aid office first thing in the morning. Good news! I only have to borrow 40 trillion dollars over the next three years! But at least I qualify for all the federal loan programs.
I found a place to live, well...sort of. I found a brand new complex of apartments and went into the office to inquire. Its low income housing, sign us up! "technically" I've only been working since March 25 (when we got back from NZ) and will stop working in August, so we're under their 28,500 a year limit. wahoooooo! 2 bedroom, 975 sft, dishwasher, hookups, disposal, car port, more than 2 feet of counter space, 535 a month. The catch? small wait list. 5-6 are coming available sometime in the summer. So fingers crossed we get in.
All in all, I think the trip was a success and worth every sky mile Shauna and Mas donated for the trip!
It wasn't as exciting as the last post, but if you kept reading after the disclaimer and were still disappointed, its your fault!
Til next time