Prostitution???

I am an avid reader of the Washington County Sherriff's Office bookings site. For some reason I love seeing if anyone I know has been arrested and especially to see what people are getting arrested for.

Tonight I found a first for me. The charge is statute 76-10-1303 Patronizing a Prostitute. WTF!!!??? Here? In little ol' St. George!? And the best part is, not only did I find ONE person who was charged with this, there were FIVE men in Washington County who were arrested and charged with patronizing a prostitute in the past 48 hours. (I must admit my first thought was that the charge was to protect the prostitute, i.e., this definition of patronize: to behave in an offensively condescending manner toward.) :O) I guess on the plus side, all of them were at least remotely attractive.

But the real question here is: How the crap did I miss out on the opportunity to participate in these services!? Either as a prostitute to earn some extra cash or as a patron of said community-building services. I wonder, though, if there was even prostitution going on because I saw no woman (or man for that matter) arrested and charged with prostitution. Does that mean this was an undercover job? Go Washington County Sherriff's Department! Way to catch those bad guys.

New

We're finally getting a new camera.
I'm hoping this will make updating the blog easier and I'll do it more. It's easier to tell a story with pictures, you know? And this camera is supposed to be "tough." Hopefully it will hold up in our house. It says it's shockproof from 5 ft. and waterproof to 10 ft. We'll see...

And we're officially on the hunt for a beastly 12-passenger van. If you see any good deals in the $3,000-$6,500 range, let us know.

We're finally getting a new camera.

Dentists and Death

We're headed down to Las Vegas tomorrow morning for a funeral. Crappy, I know. But funerals are slightly better when they're attended by a family member who is pretty famous. I don't want to name drop or anything, but Greg's first cousin once-removed {his cousin's son} sings this song and this one too. Think I should ask for an autograph and a picture while he's grieving the passing of his mother? Yeah, me neither. {Although I'm sure some idiots will!} I just hope it doesn't turn into a publicity/press fiasco with people crawling the walls trying to get a glimpse, you know? At least I've got a good excuse; we're family. :O) I just hope there are funeral potatoes.

Brandon's mother had a brain tumor for years and was not expected to hold on this long. I only met her a handful of times, but Greg always spoke very highly of her. Funerals are sad but at least I know she's in a better place. I am so thankful for my beliefs about the after life and to know that she is doing good on the other side.

I also have dental work that needs to be done on Wednesday so we decided to just stay the night rather than make two trips. Ugh...a funeral and dental work. What a crappy couple of days.

Blah. What a crappy post. See why I don't blog more?

Showers

I'm sitting down to blog just because. I don't have anything I've been thinking about writing so this post may be especially boring and of the rambling type. For some reason lately I hate to shower. Part of it is my detest for mornings, which is most often the best time to shower. Once the kids are up it just seems I don't make time for myself throughout the day {unless it's to sleep. I've got my priorities!} Maybe it's due in part to the pregnancy. It could also be due to my constant struggle with depression. My entire family has suffered with depression at some point and my father committed suicide after struggling with bipolar disorder, among other things, for many years. The frustrating thing for me is that I KNOW what to do to control my depression, or at least alleviate it, yet I don't do it. I had a therapist last year tell me there is a prescription for depression that has no side effects and costs next to nothing. You do five things EVERY day, whether you feel like it or not:

• Exercise {boo!}
• Express your feelings 100% of the time - don't hold anything in
• Service
• Remain social
• Look forward to something every day

It seems simple, right? Wrong. Once the depression has set it, it seems impossible to do even one thing on this list sometimes. I know the two I struggle with the most and slowly I've begun to struggle with the rest. I find myself sleeping days away without actually having done anything productive, including taking a shower.

I do not post these things to cry for help. As I said, I know how to handle my depression and I have an amazing support system to help me through whatever struggles come my way, especially the best friend and support I could ever have: the love of my life. I simply want to put this out there for anyone else who struggles with mental illness and because of shame, embarrassment or fear does not talk about it. I'm talking about it. I'm not less of a person because I struggle with depression. I can be honest with myself and honest with those around me that I have faults and trials that oftentimes seem out of my ability to handle. However, I WILL overcome this specific challenge and triumphant, will offer help to anyone I know who stands in need.

Thanks for the ear...or eye, as the case may be. I told you it would be a rambly post. :O)

Stupid, stupid Blogger

I hate Blogger. Only because it hates me.

I just wrote another AMAZING post that it decided not to publish for me. I even tried to copy and paste it before publishing it and even that deleted it. Grrr. Oh - and it also decided not to simply paste my typed information from Word. WTH!?

So I was rambling about some random stuff and now I don't have the energy to rewrite it. Stupid, stupid Blogger. Anyone else have this problem?

My post I was going to make was a cool one about procrastination, the girls' baptism {minus pictures until Bryan gets them to me because we are still without a functional camera}, me trying to do the easy things in life when they seem the most difficult, and trying to make my blog more like Reagan's Blob because I love hers.

The end.

STOP THE PRESS

...it's a new blog post. {Just for you, Jaylyn!}

I don't have anything interesting to write about other than my new haircut, Greg's new job, our new baby on the way, Hailey having no front teeth, our giant "puppy," the need for a 12-passenger van, and my insomnia, but I'll share nonetheless.

Greg's working at Turning Leaf Wellness Center again after parting ways with University of Phoenix at the end of October. It's been a rough ride financially so far but we're hopeful for the future. And we've still got our eye on China - it's just a matter of finding a job, obtaining 9 passports/visas, finding a place to live, and paying $1,000+ per plane ticket. Oh yeah, and the dog.

The new baby is due in August. We're not finding out if it's a boy or a girl until we can see with our own eyes. :O) This new baby is requiring we get some new wheels. We thought briefly about getting a suburban, but we would FILL it. No sense in never having the option to take someone else with us and worrying about trunk space when we travel. So...we're going to get a beast of a van when we get our tax return. Hooray!

Our "puppy" is now 9 months old and HUGE. She's grown about as tall as she will get but will continue to put on weight and get even heavier. Not that we lift her anyway. Our chiropractor would frown on that. She's a great protector of our family and we don't feel like killing her all the time anymore...potty training has helped immensely with that.

I can't sleep and that's why you're blessed with a new blog post. I would put pictures of my new haircut and the dog up but Blogger is being stupid and telling me the link to add a picture is broken. :/ Check me out on Facebook to see the updated look.

Peace out.

If anyone doubted "Chuck" as his name...

As Janet so eloquently put it in her Text to me:

"Balloon + Sucker = BEST DAY EVER!!!"

This kid makes my day...almost as much as my Wifey (and the other five Kiddlets and the Pup).

His latest game to play with Janet is when she prompts him to say "Ma Ma", he replies with a grin and a perfunctory "Da Da!"

What a kid!

Addiction

Does anyone else find themselves completely addicted to the Internet? Not like the "oh-I-spend-too-much-time-on-the-Internet" addicted, but the "if-I-don't-get-my-fix-I-think-I-may-kill-someone" kind of addicted.

I need help.

And yet here I sit on the Internet of all places, hoping to find that help. I've looked into a free online timer but haven't had any luck. Anyone have suggestions for Explorer?

Change

...no, not diapers although we do plenty of that around here.

I'm just wondering if ayone else is tired of looking at the bloody Band-aid. So I think it's time for a change.

A quick update is in order. Half of my children are now in school. The girls started 2nd grade at George Washington Academy, a local charter school (and by local I mean a 45- to 50-minute drive round trip). C.J. has not been accepted yet but is 2nd on the wait list for the 1st grade. He's still at Coral Cliffs about a block away. They're all loving school so far and Anthony and Jamie seem to enjoy being at home with just us again. Chuck is "crawling"...if you can call it that. He gets from point A to point B, albeit in a really amusing fashion. He looks sort of like a seal or a walrus as he scoots on his belly, pushing with his left foot and pulling with his arms. I'm not sure he'll ever decide to crawl on his hands and knees before he walks! He's also pulling himself up on furniture, emptying the dog bowls on a regular basis (soaking himself and the floor in the process) and entertaining us all. He's got 7 teeth and loves to eat Kix.

Stefanie moved back in (our former nanny who moved in with us in March and promptly left in May for 3 months!) and we've sure loved having her back, even if she misses home. She starts her 2nd semester in the elementary education program at Dixie on the 24th. Schatzie has enjoyed having Noli around to play with. Noli tolerates her puppy antics pretty well most of the time.

Everything else is pretty much the same. Greg's new calling in church is being a ward missionary, which he seems to be enjoying the most of any calling so far. He's working hard at University of Phoenix and thinking about getting back into the master's program after a short break for my schooling.

I'm still the primary chorister in the ward and I'm really enjoying preparing for our primary program in October. I'm still doing birth stuff (and LOVING it!) but wish I could get my classes more full of pregnant couples hoping for a beautiful natural birth.

We had a fairly laid back summer. We went camping a few times although we attempted camping more times than we actually camped. We went to the Barton family reunion in Panguitch. We played at the splash pad for park day on Tuesdays, at popsicles, went swimming...man, we had a pretty boring summer! We did get to go up and see Greg's side of the family when Michelle was in town, the one time we get to see them during the year. We went to the Hogle Zoo on that trip and the kids really enjoyed seeing all the animals.

Ok...it's late and I'm rambling. But I thought I'd drop a little update. No promises on keeping the blog current but check me out on Facebook for more current happenings.

You should see the OTHER guy!

Ok, so I know that I never make posts anymore...but I figured what better way to come out of Blog-world seclusion than with a cool Band-Aid picture!?

"What the...?" Y'all didn't think I could read minds did you? Here are some details about the strange/funny/disgusting/interesting picture above.

I got in a fight with a piece of wood this weekend...and came off the clear victor! The only drawback to said battle...is that often times the damage dealt in violent situations is not completely one-sided. I was chopping the wood to pieces, and was out-smarted by pretending to be so tough...but when I sent the killing blow, it split open so easily that the axe went right into my finger...darn SMART wood.

This is an actual Band-Aid taken from the actual Ou'ie (spelling still under debate...but the way I see it, if we have come to the point of arguing over the correct spelling of made-up words then we have too much time on our hands). My efforts earned me a box of kindling wood, and 3 stitches. This afternoon as I was changing the Band-Aid, I saw the Smiling Anomaly letting me know that my wounds are nothing serious.