Haiti: Children in Need Foundation

There are few stories in the news that have struck me quite like the Haitian earthquake has. Recently I was in Sacramento where we had a 6.5 magnitude earthquake - it barely made the news. I thought, wow, I thought earthquakes were a big deal, but I guess not. Just a week after I was in California came the 7 magnitude earthquake that has led to complete devastation in Haiti.

I am so grateful to live in the country that I do where we have building codes and plans in action for this sort of thing. The living conditions in Haiti were horrible before the earthquake, which makes it that much more horrible to imagine now.

One issue that has truly touched my heart are the conditions in the orphanages in Haiti. Adoption has always been a topic dear to me, and to think there are children with no caregivers is depressing. Now more than ever, orphanages in Haiti need our help. I have a friend who is part of a local charity down in St. George, Utah who is helping to make a difference for Haitian orphans. Click HERE to watch a video and donate to this charity.

Using My Brain

I've heard many times that humans use a mere fraction of our brain - even really smart humans. That is really sad for the rest of us who struggle in general! Sometimes I feel like I only use 5% from day-to-day, if that. Evidence of this:

• I forgot to change out of my robe before leaving the house
• I drove off with the gas pump still in my car
• Recently I went to the craft store, spent forever in there picking out paper, only to realize I forgot my wallet
• While filling out a form for Ethan's pediatrician, I forgot that ETHAN was the patient, not myself
• I had someone recently tell me they were training to be a nursing assistant, and I came back with, "At least you won't be a CNA, that would suck!" ...then I realized that's exactly what she was talking about
• I commented to a lady that she had 3 beautiful sons. She didn't have 3 sons, she had 2 - one was a girl

Need I go on? Currently I am applying to grad school *Yay!* ..the only bad news is, applying takes a lot of concentration, and I'm just not down with that. Give me a diaper - wham! I'll have it changed. Give me nasty poop-stained clothes, I've got you covered. Ask me to write a personal statement, I have no idea how to sit down and concentrate long enough to do this. Wish me luck, and pray that I can figure out how to use my brain again!

....Can you tell I'm supposed to be writing it right now? Procrastination - my long lost friend.

Prelay Race

How many goals/dreams do you think we have in an entire lifetime? I contemplated this after I discovered my friend Lexie was looking for people to run a Prelay race along with her. I've never even HEARD of something like this, but I thought it sounded pretty neat.

When I was a 16, my dream was to have the hottest guy in school :). When I was 17, my dream was to get into the right college. Then several years later it was to marry the right man (I think we can FOR SURE check that one off). I can tell you one thing about my personal goals: I have never once made a goal that had anything to do with physical activity!

Now getting fit enough to run 6 miles for this Prelay in June will be my goal. For those that know me well, you will recall there was a time I could barely walk, let alone run. Completing this will be a huge personal victory for me, and I'm so excited to accomplish this goal!

What are YOUR goals for the new year?

New Year's Eve Bash

This year we spent New Year's Eve with our friends the Shambaughs and the Kellys. We are early-to-sleep people, so we went over there not expecting to stay up that late - but we ended up having so much fun we actually stayed up to midnight!

Ethan keeping himself busy before we put him to bed. He was such a champ for sleeping at someone else's house!

Billy drank some weird South American drink all night with Jeff Shambaugh...

We are a big deal when it comes to Band Hero - not sure if you were aware of that..

Stephanie showing off her crazy-weird talents. We humored her. She's going to hate me for posting this picture!

Our New Year's kiss. Somehow it got weird.

First Encounter with Snow

We decided to take advantage of the blizzard and see what Ethan thought of the snow. He actually didn't have much of reaction...which was kind of disappointing. His snow suit sure was adorable, though!

Blizzard '09

The blizzard this year has been absolutely crazy! All the Interstates, Highways, and airports have been closed for days, and I have to tell you, it's really irritating. We were supposed to leave on Saturday, but will not be able to get home until Tuesday. Thank you, Mom and Dad for living in the middle of nowhere.

Aside from the annoying travel arrangements, it was nice to feel the peace inside a house surrounded by crazy wind and snow. I forgot how much fun storms are. Below are some shots from our house.

Christmas Morning

Ethan's first Christmas was low-key and so much fun! We didn't even start opening presents until around 10 - which is how it should be. It won't be too long before Ethan gets up at 5am wanting to open gifts.

Ethan couldn't care less about his present.

He didn't mind playing with the wrapping paper though.