GOOOOAL!

I learned a valuable lesson the other day. Never let Robert go to Target by himself because he will always come home with something that was not on the list for him to buy. Now that the Spring is upon us, he concluded that Nate needs to learn how to play soccer, so he purchased a soccer goal and little ball. I guess that I should not complain because Nate was so excited to learn to play and even more excited to have Dad teach him. Although, once the goal was set up (which turned out to be the quite the ordeal...Robert is not the crafty type, or the type to follow directions) Nate was already a natural.


Here is a wonderful picture of Robert teaching Nate the finer arts of kicking a soccer ball. Although, I am not sure if Robert was trying to "teach" Nate how to kick, or just avoiding doing his homework. In the end, I think he had more fun than Nate because for some reason he continued to play even after Nate went down for his nap. Maybe Robert should have done his studying rather than getting nostalgic about the glory days and betting me he could kick a soccer ball a quarter mile.





Nate really enjoyed playing with his Dad and he actually was quite good at kicking the ball. By the way, the random kid in the background is Jackson. I was babysitting him and he was the cheering section for the soccer match.







Overall, it was a pretty entertaining day, especially when Nate realized that he was more efficient at scoring goals the closer he got to the actual goal. As the day progressed he got closer and closer until he pretty much took the excitement and challenge out of soccer by kicking from point blank.

Well, I think that today was a success and that Robert's extra shopping at Target turned out alright. I really enjoyed seeing Nate and Robert bonding and I am so appreciative for my husband for his willingness (sometimes too much willingness) to take some time and play with our son. Between the two of us, I am not sure who is more excited. Robert to be able to play with his son, or me being able to see the special bond between a loving father and an admiring son.

Discouraged

I'm trying to take my own advice and be ambitious. I always hit the ground running with all these great intentions and then I start to see what hurdles lie ahead and I get discouraged. I'm working really hard to get my own business going and if I'm being honest I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm totally at a loss sometimes. Just to catch anyone up, my business idea is sort of a consulting business for fitness and nutrition. I plan on writing out monthly calendars of healthy meals (low cal, low fat, high fiber, etc.) along with the complete shopping lists. Also I will be writing out personalized fitness programs to help my clients reach their fitness goals. It will all be online and I will meet personally with each of them to chat every week to check progress and answer questions or concerns. I'm really excited about the whole idea and I think there are people out there who would be interested in what I am offering. So far, I have about 4 months of meals but I'm still in the process of typing them out and then arranging them in a way that makes sense. I want to work up to having a year's worth of meals with no repeats. It's very time consuming and I find myself second guessing everything I'm doing. What do I do to keep my clients long-term? Especially if they are only interested in the nutrition aspect? How do I keep them from getting all my recipes and hard work and not sharing them and taking them as their own? I know there will be people who will just buy 3-4 months worth of recipes and then no longer want my service because they have TONS of work already done for them.

So this is where I'm sitting right now. I haven't even touched the fitness part of it because that's what I got my degree in and I figure it will come together much quicker than the nutrition. I have my questionnaires done for the fitness part, but that's about as far as I've gone and I'm feeling so overwhelmed that I don't know if I'll actually get there. Also, as I'm typing this, I'm wondering, is someone going to wander onto my blog and decide to do exactly the same thing? I guess that's a possibility, but there's always people out there looking for fitness and nutrition help, right? I'm probably babbling, it's what I do best, but I really don't know whether or not to go forward with this. What makes it worse is that Robert is very supportive and really excited for me but he doesn't realize how much time I've put in and so little I've actually accomplished. He's so busy going to class and studying that I don't really talk to him about it cause I don't want him to feel like he needs to help me and take on yet another project that will divide his attention from where it absolutely needs to be.

I don't really know what I'm trying to accomplish in writing all this out. Maybe it will help me organize some thoughts. I just don't know.....help! Even if you don't know me (or maybe don't even like me) I would really love some words of encouragement.

Lincoln Park Zoo

This past Saturday Nate and I went to the Zoo with some friends. Unfortunately the weather wasn't very cooperative. Because it was really foggy and rainy we spent most of our time in the indoor exhibits. Of course, the favorite with Nate was the monkeys. I think Curious George has made him a monkey lover. Anyway, these monkeys (I wish I could remember what kind of monkey) were really active. The baby monkey was all over the place and it seemed like the adult monkeys were just enduring him. That was vaguely familiar to me. :)

The coolest things we saw were the gorillas and chimpanzees. There was a bench for the kids to sit up on and get up close with the chimps. There was one chimp that got right up next to Nate but he moved too quickly before I could snap a photo.
Here is the chimp after he's just left Nate. He was pretty funny. It amazed me how agile they were. There were a couple of teenage girls who had a stuffed chimp and they would prop it up next to the glass and all the chimps would follow it and put their noses to the glass and just stare. It was really fun when they came close enough for Nate and Bennett to get a close up.
Here we are. You can't see the chimps in the background, but I thought it was still a cute picture of Nate.

As we were on our way out the weather improved. The Sea Lions were out and playing in the water. Nate loves anything that has to do with water.
On the way home the boys were having a great time in the backseat. Bennett is 14 months and adorable. He was laughing with Nate and Nate loved it. Soon it turned into fake laughing and they spent the entire trip home cracking each other up. Kids' laughter always makes me smile and laugh myself. It's so sweet.
So I would recommend going to the Lincoln Park Zoo if you're ever here in Chicago. It's free admission and the exhibits are really good and the zoo is very clean and maintained. We also saw all the big cats and they were very impressive. It was a great afternoon and we have to thank our friends Niyireth and Bennett Strong. We had so much fun with you guys!

Play???

I'm sure that many of you have played guitar hero by now. It's taken the world by storm. It's taken my apartment by storm. We love our Wii but it's hard on the boys to adhere to my mean rules. They have to have all their work done and we all have to play together as a family. Nate has really taken to playing on the Wii. He really can't do much but holding the controllers and the guitar are all that really counts to him.
Usually after we've played the Wii, the next day Nate will go grab his dad's finger and drag him around the apartment and has Robert open every closet and cupboard he thinks might hold the Wii. At every stop I hear, "Play???" and then disappointment because he can never figure out where we keep it (we have to hide it otherwise it becomes too much of a distraction for.....Robert). I've noticed that Nate never comes to me to help him look for the Wii. I wonder why? Anyway, on some days Robert will come to me and grab my finger and follow his son's example and share in the same disappointing result. I know it's only going to get worse once Mario Kart for the Wii comes out in two weeks, especially since you can play with people on-line and Robert's dad and brother are both going to have it. Luckily, Robert graduates soon and we won't feel guilty for playing and not studying. So, for any of you who haven't experienced the Wii or played Guitar Hero I highly recommend it because it's tons of fun for everyone in the family. That says a lot coming from me because I hate most video games. So, "For those about to rock, we salute you!"

Fenway

I found these old photos of our last trip to Boston in September 2007. I don't think I've posted them because it was right after we moved to Chicago. Nate and I landed in Chicago after Robert and his dad drove out the moving truck and literally the next morning we had our flight to Boston.
These are photos of us at Fenway. We stayed with our old buds from Provo, the Wilsons. They were so nice to let us crash in their apartment. We had so much fun with them and wanted to take them to their first Red Sox game at Fenway.
I think we all had a great time. It was fun to see old friends and continue our yearly Boston trip tradition. Now all I have to figure out is how we're going to fit the trip into our busy 2008.

Couples Tag

I got tagged by a good friend and I have to say that I was pretty excited. I love to brag about Robert. :)

What is his name? Robert Ross

How long have you been married? 5 years in July

How long did you date? Technically, 3 months, but we've known each other and been friends for 10 years.

Who eats more sweets? That's a toughy. I used to be good at saying no but now, not so much. If it's candy Robert by far beats me, but if it's a dessert, I win.

Who said I love you first? Me. The punk made me so uncomfortable because I knew he wanted to say it and he knew I wanted to say it but he made me squirm and waited for me to say it first.

Who is taller? Robert

Who can sing better? Me, but not by much. Robert inherited the Ross pitch and tone. :)

Who is smarter? The longer we're married the more I believe it's him.

Who does the laundry? Since our laundry room is in our building and a couple floors down and it's tough balancing all the laundry stuff and chase Nate, Robert washes them and dries them and brings them up to me to fold and put away. I know, I'm totally spoiled and I totally love it.

Who pays the bills? Robert always has. I think he likes the control of it. He knows what's going on so he doesn't stress.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Robert. I can't sleep on that side now even when he's not there. It's too weird.

Who mows the lawn? What's a lawn? When we finally get one (if ever) Robert will be in charge of the outdoor upkeep.

Who cooks dinner? I love to cook! Are you kidding? When I got home from vacation and went shopping Robert had a tear in his eye when he saw all the yummy food and the menu for the next two weeks.

Who drives? We both hate to. Can you say, "Chicago Transit Authority"? If we have to drive I make him usually and he does is begrudgingly.

Who is more stubborn? I'm not the stubborn one. I guarantee I'm not the stubborn one. I don't care what anyone says, I'm not the stubborn one. :)

Who kissed who first? Robert was shot down so many times at first that after a few tries I finally let him. More stubbornness.

Who asked who out first? Robert asked me out first my junior year, his senior year and we went to see Tarzan.

Who proposed? Robert did. There's my stubbornness again. This time he had to say it first.

Who has more siblings? Me, 2 sisters, 2 brothers.

Who wears the pants?No doubt there. It's me. I run this family. All Robert does it laundry and driving occasionally. Maybe someday I'll find a better use for him. No, in all seriousness, Robert is great. I rely on him too much so I'd say we are about even on the pants thing.

Vacation Summary

I have been on vacation in Idaho for the last three and half weeks. It was tons of fun and really nice to escape the winter of Chicago (although I heard the weather here was really nice while I was gone). It was a very full three weeks and I found myself wondering where the time went.

Easter wasn't too long after I arrived and I was totally stoked to spend it with family and start teaching Nate some things about the holiday. Growing up, my parents didn't really focus on the Easter Bunny or Baskets. We hunted for eggs but there weren't a ton, and we did color our own. As a kid I was bummed that we didn't do a lot of the commercialized parts of the holiday but as an adult I've decided I want to follow in my parents' footsteps and focus on the religious side of the holiday. So after a great day of church we got all the family in Idaho together (that means all of my siblings and their children except for Krista in Las Vegas) for a big Easter dinner. Of course we bought egg dying kits for the kids that were old enough to do it. That was just my eight year old niece, Sydney, and Nate. Notice I took Nate's shirt off because I forgot to pack bibs and I didn't want him ruining his church clothes. I promise we aren't hillbillies. Anyway, we had a great time dying the eggs and Nate was too impatient. Most of his eggs were really light in color and broken because he'd just throw them in the dye.
When I was growing up one of the fun things that I remember doing with all my siblings and my parents on the weekends was going to a local park and feeding the ducks. Mom had a couple of stale baguettes and so Robert and I thought it would be fun to take Nate to that same park ourselves. Nate was hilarious, if the ducks didn't eat his bread he'd run over and pick it up and throw it at them again. Apparently, these ducks do not care for sourdough baguettes.
There was another group of kids and adults there when we got there and Nate followed the example of the other children by chasing the ducks and scattering them. It was so cold that day though, I felt like I hadn't left Chicago. It only lasted about 15 minutes before we adults wimped out and loaded the kids back into the cars. Nate was not happy to go. I am going to take him to feed the ducks here because he loved it so much in Idaho.
The last weekend I was home was General Conference weekend. I wasn't going to attend a session because you can't bring in over-energized children and Nate always fits into that category. I was going to hang out with some friend during the session the my family attended (thanks Seth and Cheyenne), but it turns out that Robert's parents were in town as well and they offered to watch Nate so I could go. So we made a mad rush to the mall to get me a skirt because I hadn't packed anything that was appropriate for conference and ironed out the details with Robert's parents.
It turned out to be an excellent session. We attended the Sunday afternoon session. I was really grateful for the experience and I think I learned a lot. Sandy and Charlie had a blast with Nate and he came back to me with grass stains and rosy cheeks. He has such a good time with them and I'm sure they played as hard as possible to pack in as much fun as they could. Thanks Sandy and Charlie!

I was also kept busy at home by watching my brand new niece, Maggie. She's Liz's second baby and Sydney is her older sister. She was a sweet little thing. I loved watching her figure things out. It amazes me how hard they work to understand their world even when they are that young. Maggie was 6-8 weeks old when I had her so I got lots of snuggling and giggles. Nate loved her, too. He would look around for Maggie when she was down for her naps and shrug his shoulders and ask, "Where's Moggie?"

While I was home my mom got me a job catering a dinner for her school. She's a career placement director at a technical school. The job was for 50 people. We spent a lot of time trying things out at home before putting them on the menu. I can't tell you how many trips were made to Albertson's and Costco. My goal was to make enough at this job to pay off our plane tickets to Idaho. So I spent a ton of time in the kitchen. It was a huge undertaking and took a lot of my days up, but I actually really enjoyed doing it. When the day of the dinner arrived I had everything done but the entrees. I was cooking from 8 to 4 and then I had to get it all to the school and assembled for the dinner. Thankfully, Krista was in town and she was a good distraction for Nate so I got my work done quickly and efficiently. In the end I served a Caesar salad, a tomato and bocconcini salad with basil oil and fresh basil for garnish, and a spinach, fennel and grapefruit salad with a leek vinaigrette, as the first course. As the main dishes I did a sesame ginger pork dish and curry chicken and carrots with lime scented rice as the other dish. I had way too much fun with dessert so there was too much but I did apricot pastry twists, fudge brownies with cream cheese frosting and fresh raspberries on top, key lime bars, and blueberry almond cookies. My mom says that everyone loved the food and that she was asked if I was in business. I'm really not, but my mom said I was. I'm not sure how I feel about that yet. Right now though, I feel like it was a great success and I'm so happy that I did it. I wasn't sure if I could. I was able to meet my goal and I learned a lot. I couldn't have done it without my mom and my sister Krista. They were a huge help.

So there it all is. That's why I fell off the blogging planet for the last few weeks, but I'm back and ready to get at it again. I am so glad I was able to go home for a bit and visit my family and I can't wait until the tables are turned and they come here for Robert's graduation in June.