Reflections on Turning 30 (Tomorrow)

I found this quote from Lord Byron about turning 30. I think I’m going to ignore it.

I always looked to about thirty as the barrier of any real or fierce delight in the passions, and determined to work them out in the younger ore and better veins of the mine --and I flatter myself (perhaps) that I have pretty well done so --and now the dross is coming.

I turn 30 tomorrow, yikes! Have been dreading this one though. An age marker hasn’t bugged me so much since 27, so I guess that is only 3 years . . . hmmm. Well, never mind . . . I love birthdays, I mean I LOVE them. I think everyone should always have just absolutely fabulous birthdays. I just love having one day that you can revel in yourself. Especially since as a mom that opportunity seems to be getting fewer and far between. And I know that one you should revel with caution, you don't want to revel in your awesomeness all the time; you wouldn't have many friends probably nor would you have time to be one.

What are your favorite birthday memories and/or birthday traditions? 

One of my favorite birthday memories is turning 16. When I turned 16 my mom sent me flowers to school on my birthday and my dad traded appraisals to get me a car. I love that birthday. My parents went crazy out of their way to make me feel loved and special and it is just now as a mom that I get it. Don't you wish you could go back in time and just shake yourself!    

I had no idea then what life had in store for me. I thought I would be a world-famous doctor-astronaut-traveler and be rich and famous. I did not see myself turning 30 in Nebraska with 3 babies and a hubby nor would I have ever thought that it would take me 8 years to get my Bachelor's degree, or that my kids would come so fast (though I'm pretty sure God had a hand in that, he knows me so much better than I do myself) but here is one thing I know as I turn the big 3-0; I am truly content with my life. I love it and wouldn't trade it for anything. I love my husband, my kids, my family, friends and my Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ. I know that I have been looked after and guided and protected much more than I could ever hope to know or appreciate. 

I have had many great and fantastic birthdays in my life but I’m hoping that I can make 30 the best yet. It’s already been pretty fantastic. My mom laughs at me that I’m making every weekend of November a party. She took me to Kansas City last weekend for Time Out for Women (which was incredible in so many ways) and this weekend Sean and I will get to go on a date (and I know what he got me but I’m not supposed to and it’s pretty great). I get to see my brother and his family whom I haven’t seen in a long time on Monday and then next weekend I get some pretty important visitors from Vegas and we are going to Twi-Hard J. It’s pretty fantastic. I’m so blessed.

I love this quote from T.S. Eliot, “We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started... and know the place for the first time.”

I hope that in my next decade and hopefully forever I don’t ever stop exploring.

I'm going to go enjoy the last day of my 20's.

Love,

Apes 

October in Nebraska

October 2011

October was busy for us. It was a really fun month. My parents took us to Vala’s Pumpkin Patch which we have decided is an autumn Disneyland in Gretna (almost as expensive!) It was really fun! We watched pig races and went in the corn maze, launched water bottles out of cannons and went down a super fast slide. The food was great and it was really incredible.

Vaughn finished soccer, sad! Can’t wait for it to start back up again. We made some really good friends (even me J) and Sean had a lot of fun coaching. 

Nic & Angie came to visit us. It was so fun to show them around. We took them to Winter Quarters to the Visitors Centre and Temple grounds. It really is a beautiful place and has such a special atmosphere. The kids always like getting to see the cabin, wagon, handcart and ship replicas there. We went downtown and walked across the pedestrian bridge into Iowa. I couldn’t figure out where everyone was until we saw the Nebraska game on a big screen downtown! We took them to Po’Boys which is my favorite BBQ place in Gretna. It seriously wafts through my window as I drive by it which is usually at least once a day. It is so delicious.

My mom made us lots of good food (thanks mom!) and then she was gracious enough to babysit so we could have a double-date (thanks mom!). It was so good to be with family, Larkin style.

We went to a play at The Rose Theater which is a children’s theatre in downtown Omaha called “How I Became A Pirate.” It was super cute and a really fun thing to do with the kids.  

For Halloween we went to the trunk-or-treat at the Clarke’s farm with our branch and then we trick-or-treated on Monday night with our neighbor-friends Anne & Ty and their girls Mya and Adalyn. It was really a fun night since our neighborhood is great and everyone was out. Steve and his family, cul-de-sac neighbors, hosted a get together for the neighborhood with hot chocolate and s’mores.

We just had a really great month. It’s gorgeous here in the fall. We feel so blessed to be doing well. Our thoughts and prayers are with all our friends and family. We love you guys

Apes

Sparknotes List

I started a goal earlier this year to read all the books on the Sparknotes list. I started with 1984 then 2001: A Space Odyssey. Then I hit the A's and have read Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt, A&P a short story by John Updike and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Today I started Adam Bede by George Eliot and just had to share this quote from the protagonist Adam Bede:

But t'hear some o' them preachers, you'd think a man must be doing nothing all's life but shutting's eyes  and looking what's a-going on inside him. I know a man must have the love o' God in his soul, and the Bible's God's word. But what does the Bible say? Why, it says as God put his sperrit into the workman as built the tabernacle, to make him do all the carved work and things as wanted a nice hand. And this is my way o' looking at it; there's the sperrit o' God in all things and all times -- week-day as well as Sunday -- and i' the great work and inventions, and i' the figuring and the mechanics. And God helps us with our head-pieces and our hands as well as with our souls; and if a man does bits o' jobs out o' working hours -- builds a oven for's wife to save her from going to the bakehouse, or scrats at his bit o' garden and makes two potatoes grow instead o' one, he's doing more good, and he's just as near to God, as if he was running after some preacher and a-praying and a-groaning.

I know it's long. My BYU professors would tell me to find what I found most important and make it more of a concise quote but I just loved it all.

I'm working on my post about our family reunion trip to Wisconsin and day trip into Duluth, MN.

xoxo

Pearldog

The Drive for the Move

This papyrus font is in part due to the fact that I spent the last two days listening to Rick Riordan’s “The Throne of Fire: Kane Chronicles Book 2” which has saved my sanity I suspect but also has me dreaming about Egyptian Gods…

Well we have been driving and driving and driving. We left at 5 a.m. on Sunday morning and were lucky enough to caravan with Connie all the way to St. George and Pax got to ride with Madison and Emma. It was so nice for her to have some time with her friend. We had breakfast at McDonald’s in St. George then parted ways. (P.S. Connie – Gage LOVES that puzzle)

We drove all through southern Utah and took the turnoff toward Richfield/Salina. We had gas and some snacks but not nearly enough food for what was ahead. If you ever drive this way, stock up. When it says “No Services for 105 miles” Seriously there are NO SERVICES. We had rest areas but NOTHING else. There is a town called Green River after 105 miles in but it looked sketchy to me so we drove onto Grand Junction, CO, which means we actually spent 200 miles w/no extra food. Made for some seriously grumpy travelers. Plus Pax was extra grumpy because she didn’t sleep in the morning like the boys. She finally cried herself to sleep but it was not pleasant for any of us. At Clifton we spent an hour at a McDonald’s with a Play Place. Life. Saving. Driving through Colorado was really beautiful. Drove through the Mountains through Eagle and Vail.

These are from Vail Canyon Rest Stop

We finally made it to Denver around 8 p.m. and I was beyond exhausted. Cried myself to sleep; missing Sean and my friends and just flat out wasted from driving and dealing with the kids in such close quarters all day.  We ordered Rio (the movie) and let the kids watch while I fell asleep.

But a new day dawned. Found out I hadn’t gotten the breakfast buffet included with my AAA discount so we were out of luck unless I wanted to spend mucho dinero on a buffet that I knew the kids wouldn’t eat. So we swam for an hour then checked out, went to Safeway got donuts and snacks and Jamba Juice smoothies. Delish!! Then we began our drive…another 542 miles to my parent’s home in Omaha. We drove and drove.

We stopped at a rest stop on the Colorado/Nebraska border, Julesburg, CO, to be exact which was a stop on The Pony Express. We took pics by the monument.

 We cheered when we saw the Entering Nebraska sign.

Anyways, the DVD player died so that stunk but Pax slept which was miraculous. That girl does not do well in her car seat for a long time. Gage kept saying “Mom, my butt hurts!” Vaughn was so great. Really for what we were doing they were all absolutely amazing. I am so proud of them. Anyways at the NE state line Lincoln was 300 miles and Omaha 342. Very disheartening when I’d already driven 1000 miles. Fast forward many hours and two time zones and we got to Lincoln. We didn’t stop but I got excited driving by Lincoln. Wanted to stop sooo bad but wanted to get to my parent’s home more. Ugh another 50 miles. Kids freaking out. Legs cramping. Butt’s hurting. Have to pee. Finally here. Had to pee so bad I squatted behind the cars into a bush. I have to pee all the time, especially when driving and I’m drinking lots for something to do. It drives Sean bonkers.

So here we are. We miss our Vegas friends but are so excited for this new adventure. I’ll keep you posted.

Xoxo

Apryl

Teeth Whitening

I have an amazing husband; he loves to do nice things for me and before we move he made appointments for us to get our teeth whitened. I was trepidatious but excited. I dislike the dentist but I have always been self-conscious about my teeth color. I asked him if it would be painful and he said he didn't think so. Well, it is. I went in for the Zoom and they cleaned my teeth first so the bleach would work better then they took me to a different place where they put something in my mouth which she had to put oil on my lips to get in my mouth since apparently it is small and then she did something to my teeth and said I had to go through four 15 minute sessions with a UV whitening thingy on my teeth. At least I got to watch a movie, 17 Again to be exact which I think is so cute. Anyways, halfway through the first session my teeth start to hurt, bad. You know that feeling when your teeth hurt from eating something super cold? Well times that by 10 and on all your teeth. I didn't know until after the first session that I had 3 more. I had to hold still which got really difficult. Sean went before me and came in halfway through my 2nd session and held my hand for a few minutes. Not until I was done did I realize how much he must have been hurting while he comforted me. I mean it isn't unbearable pain and maybe I'm weaksauce but it did hurt. You get what they call "zingers" where all of a sudden a certain spot will flare up like a contraction. I made it through all 4 and thought it would get better when she took that thing out of my mouth but it didn't. It was pretty steady uncomfortableness as I drove home. I got to go to dinner with my mother-in-law and Angie, Kim and Sara and when I took that first drink of ice water, ohmygosh my teeth stung! So I can't have anything dark for the next 24 hours as the bleach has made my teeth like sponges and it would make them not as white, but it is also like a constant tingling pain in my teeth and I can't sleep. So I'm up writing and looking for homes in Lincoln and watching TV. BTW I love summer TV :) 

P.S. It was worth it, my teeth look great :)

xoxo

Moving Log June-July 2011

So we’ve been thinking about leaving Las Vegas for awhile; mainly motivated by the chance for the kids to live for a few years next to my parents and the crappy educational system here in the valley and the heat. But also we wanted a change for Sean career-wise. So Sean began his job search almost a year ago and we looked and when we didn’t find anything we expanded and began applying all over the country. Still nothing came. We, well at least I, began to doubt whether we should leave, maybe we were supposed to stay here and I was surprised that I would be okay with it. We have, had, a life here. We have friends and our kids have friends and we have family; all very difficult if not impossible to leave behind. 

Then we hit June 2011. Sean got an offer from a company he had audited for PBTK and he had to report it to his partners because they were a client. Then he also got a call to interview in Incline Village at Lake Tahoe. Lake Tahoe seemed an amazing opportunity and a chance to live somewhere beautiful but we just didn’t feel good about it. Sean had scheduled a trip to Omaha to go job hunt a while back but almost backed out when these two jobs were on the table but we decided he should go anyways and who knows what would happen. He interviewed at a few different places. He was impressed with the businesses, people and a little intimidated by the landscape (He freaked out about all the corn and how fast it grows.) Then on Friday he went to Lincoln for an interview with Crete Carrier. It went better than he could have hoped but was forced to move it along quickly due to what was going on here in Vegas. So we fasted and prayed and prayed and prayed again to know what to do; mostly whether if he did get an offer if he should accept it....and then it happened Monday afternoon. The offer came through with a salary and benefits we couldn’t pass up and we both felt the Spirit testify that this would be a good move for our family and so here we are a few days from leaving.

I feel mixed emotions and I have since we decided to go. This is something that I thought I wanted but when it really happened I was sad...and happy. It is so bittersweet. I mean I was so happy about finally getting a chance to live by my parents and getting out of Vegas but also so sad to leave friends that are like family to me and family that I have come to love so much. 

And so I have spent the last week with my friends going through the stages of grief. Yes, I know there is facebook and email and Skype but it isn't the same as park dates and Bachelorette nights and pedi's and birthday dinners and Sunday dinners and cousins playing together and all the laughter. I have been so blessed to have these friendships and I hope and pray I don't lose them. I hope they know how much I love them and will miss them. I know that is all a bit mushy but there it is. 

I am so excited though too. My dad called me on the 4th and told me he had bought grandparent passes for the zoo! How adorable and just the thing I needed to hear. I am so excited for my kids to have more time with my family. 

I think this job will be so good for Sean. It'll be so great for him to have a new challenge. I'm so proud of him. He works so hard for us. He's flat out amazing. He's also a super packer. :)

I'm leaving Sunday. I sit in my home and it's filled with boxes. I pray that I can find us a home quickly since I've not had much luck online. I am also weak sauce when it comes to calling and talking to people. I guess I'll have to woman-up. 

So here goes.....wish us luck  

xoxo