seven years

We went. We saw. We played. We loved.

Or at least I loved going to Canada for our 7th anniversary! Jarron had a hard time appreciating our "neighbors to the north" and kept reminding me how much better America is. I have to agree that I love my country too, but Canada was fun! Sure people smoke everywhere (a lot of European travelers/influence), people drive crazy and parking is expensive, they like Obama, and American credit cards are not always accepted...But it was culture! Adventure! ROD STEWART in concert! Crepes filled with nutella and chocolate served with ice cream are considered a nutritious breakfast! And it was beautiful. The weather was cool and we even got to walk in the rain with a borrowed umbrella. There are trees everywhere and rooftop gardens all over downtown. We got to see where the 2010 Winter Olympics will be held and witnessed some new construction going on for the event. The city is HUGE and we only explored downtown, never going across the water to its other half. I found it interesting that there are so many Asians there. I hadn't realized that it was a lot like Seattle (which is just south of Vancouver) as far as demographics go. They comprised a lot of the work-force (we even saw a hot-dog stand called "Japo-Dog"!) but also had a lot of money to bolster the economy (they buy their engagement rings at Tiffany.) But as much as I enjoyed the outdoors and sights, my long-awaited concert was the best part! My heart is beating faster as I type about it--I had a fabulous time and would go again in a second. Jarron and I walked from our hotel (only about a mile away) and found our nose-bleed seats in the balcony. Good fortune came our way as the usher felt bad for Jarron and offered us upgraded seats in the second section by the stage!!! (I had gone to get food and the usher helped Jarron find our seats. He asked Jarron if he was attending alone, to which Jarron scoffed and said, "No!" The usher asked him if his wife dragged him along and Jarron anwered in the affirmative. When I got up to our seats, the usher came back and offered the upgraded tickets. Jarron scored big time and made my concert going experience that much better!) Our new seats were great, but we sat by a LOT of older people who yelled at me to "Sit Down!" when I jumped out of my seat as Rod came onto the stage. I had to dance in my seat until my neighbors started to get drunk and loosen up. About half way through the concert, I got to dance STANDING UP (!) with ladies going through mid-life crises! It was amazing. And the best part was that Jarron never said a word or even looked embarassed. He let me dance my ace off and have a great time like he promised he would. I later asked him what he was thinking as he watched me dance and he said, "I just think that people would be surprised to know that you weren't drinking." I love him. And Rod, too. And the drunk dancing ladies. I can't wait to go back and visit the other half of Vancouver, eat somewhere good (I mostly had mozzarella sticks, cake, cupcake, nachos, a pretzel, coke, and the aforementioned crepe the entire weekend. Oh, and the second worst Mexican food I've ever eaten in my life!), and visit the Sid Dickens Studio (the guy who makes the wall tiles I hang in my house. We did, however, buy 4 tiles at a shop downtown where Sid personally delivers his merchanise! My jaw about dropped and hit the floor when Jarron told the shop lady he'd take all the tiles I said I liked. What a great anniversary/birthday/housewarming gift!). Here's to 7 years of being married going for an eternity's worth more.

almost famous

Check out our feature at the newly remodeled Richland Public Library in Richland, WA! It's a terrible picture by all accounts, but maybe it will be a cool memory for the boys. :) What happened was this: The day before we went to the library for storytime (and ultimately had this picture taken), I had been at cubscout day camp all day and went to bed exhausted. So when I woke up the next morning to take the kids to the library, I said to myself, "Screw the shower, screw my hair, screw my outfit, screw getting the boys dressed." But as things tend to happen, it was an ill-fated choice because during storytime, I was pulled to the side by a librarian and asked if me and my "cute boys" would pose for a publicity picture for the "new" library. GRRR. Why didn't I curl my hair?? Or at least WASH it? So they snapped a few pics (I opted not to look at them), mass produced our image and made trifolds for the computer stations when the remodeled library opened a few weeks ago. Shown here is the end result and we have 10 courtesy copies to keep for memory books, etc. All I can say is that I'm moving anyway, so what do I care if my ugly mug is scattered all over? At least the boys are charming (although Jarron detests the 49ers jersey Mayes is wearing!).

a house on Home

A sneak peek at our recently purchased house on Home Ave in Selah, WA! We'll be officially changing our address mid-late September. WHOO-HOO!

training season

Major milestone for Mayes: He peed in the toilet for the first time on Monday (the 20th) and has gone at least once every day since. Crazy!! He's about 2.5 yrs right now so I'm not expecting much and I'm not officially going to undies any time soon. (Unless he insists.) Part of me is a little nervous this won't last...But at any rate, YAY MAYES!

it's (almost) official

No, this isn't a prego announcement. It's better! Jarron and I are 2-3 weeks away from having our Washington State Enhanced Driver's Licenses! Which means that we can use them to cross the Canadian and Mexican boarders and even go to the Caribbean without needing a passport. I am sooo excited to see what Canadians are all about in Vancouver when Jarron and I go to a ROD STEWART concert there for our anniversary this summer!! I will admit, I am a total fan and have a secret crush on Rod. We got our cheap seat tickets in the mail and reserved our 4.5 star hotel (one magical night only) and now the countdown is on for August 8th.

The substory to this is that when we were in the agonizing process of applying for EDLs at the DMV (ugh yuck vomit hate gov't agencies), the boys were hanging out at Jarron's brother's house playing with their cousins. Right before we left the DMV, our sister-in-law called to tell us that Cameron broke his toe and was freaking out/screaming/crying. He wouldn't let her ice it, he turned down ice cream, and wouldn't be consoled. Jarron, the more panicy parent, took Cameron straight to the ER and they x-rayed C's foot. Sure enough, his middle right toe has a teeny tiny break, but the more amazing thing is that they discovered a small extra bone in his right pinky toe. Not really surprising since this kid has all the weird stuff (including an extra tooth). Rest assured that he's fine, but during the ride home he was bawling and insisted that we call the police to help since "the police help people who are hurt and could catch the criminal who did this" to him. After a few minutes of this, Jarron told Cameron that we'd help him but he needed to stop talking about his "freaking toe". Cameron retorted (between sobs) that it wasn't nice to talk about his toe like that! You would have thought he broke his freaking head. It's a darn good thing that Jarron knows about the silver bullet to all childhood hurts: Slurpees. Peace restored.

Master Fishermen

First off, Jarron started work on Tuesday. YEAH!! He commutes about an hour each way four days a week but he enjoys the people he works with and the type of therapy he'll be doing once training is over. Before he started, he had about 2 weeks off after graduation in which we moved all of our stuff and spent some time with the boys. I'd like to recount one of the family activities we had:

Last Friday we went fishing at a man-made lake close to Richland with Jarron's older brother and two of his kids. Cameron started to wander around waiting for a fish to bite and decided to poke sticks into the water instead. He was about 30 yards away when, all of a sudden, he came racing around the bend yelling, "I caught a fish! I caught a fish!" Mind you, he had no fishing rod and was all alone so I was skeptical. Low and behold, as he got closer I saw a real, living fish in his hands!! We were all shocked and asked him how he caught it. He said, "I just saw it start to swim away so I stepped in a little bit and got it." Seriously. The child caught a fish with his bare hands. He never ceases to amaze me. So here are a few pics of the incident and a couple of Mayes demonstrating his emerging fisherman skills.

The Palm Springs of Washington

Today Jarron and I took the boys to Yakima, WA (self-proclaimed to be the "Palm Springs" of WA) so we could check out our future hometown. Jarron starts work at the hospital there on Tuesday and we are SO excited to start paying off student loans and save money for a house.

Our itenerary was simple: scout out the local high schools and desired neighborhoods and get a feel for the housing market. We'll see what happens as far as home buying goes--Jarron has already decided on which house he wants and is praying it stays on the market for a (potentially long) while. Aptly, the house is on Trout Lake Court.

I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed Yakima. There are a lot of great parks, newer areas, a charming "historic" downtown (where the hospital is), and great views. I felt a little more at "home" in Yakima with the snow-capped mountain range nearby. I guess Utah grew on me more than I realized. I need scenery in my life!

On a related note (well, not really but it happened while we were driving), Cameron asked me to find his superheroes. "You know, mom...The orange and green ones. One has hair that feels like chocolate and one has a helmet." Help! What in the world is he talking about??

Forget H1N1; I may have Hantavirus.

First, a definition. Then a story.

Hantavirus: Hantavirus is a disease characterized by symptoms that resemble the flu, followed by respiratory failure. Hantavirus is carried by rodents, particularly deer mice, and is present in their urine and feces. The virus does not cause disease in the carrier animal. Humans are thought to become infected when they are exposed to contaminated dust from the nests or droppings of mice.

I thought I would live my whole life without needing to be educated on this disturbing disease, but since I wasn't so fortunate to live in ignorance, you no longer will either.

The back story: WE FINALLY MOVED OUR STUFF OUT OF UTAH!! It is now in a storage unit in WA until we buy a home. (Don't ask when that will be because I have no answer.) Jarron and I left our boys with his sister, Tiffany (THANKS FOR BABYSITTING!!) and headed to SLC to clean out our apartment. We were blessed a million times during this journey and I will abbreviate the details by saying that I am truly amazed at how aware Heavenly Father is of our family. Jarron's amazing(ly strong) friends loaded the truck within a couple of hours and I really didn't have to do much. My only task was to assist Natalie (Jarron's younger sister) in pitching our crappy entertainment center off our four story balcony. All went well.

Then Jarron and I headed to Idaho Falls to fetch a fridge and piano from my parents. I had been SO excited to finally have the piano in my possession and had spent hours convincing Jarron that it was worth the trouble and expense to keep it for our future home. He grumbled, complained, finally admitted defeat, and was ready to move it into the truck as soon as we got to my parent's home. I asked my mom for a dusting cloth and cleaner and started to wipe down the piano before I would let Jarron load it. (It had been stored in the garage for the past few months and was quite dirty.) Then I opened the fall board that covers the keys and saw some sticky yellowish gunk all over the white keys. I grimaced and thought, "What the crap is all over my piano??!" Then I pushed the fall board all the way back and found a freaking DEER MOUSE huddled in the high notes!! I spent the next few seconds screaming my bloody head off while my half-lunatic mother attempted to PET the vermin! Screaming commenced (solely on my part) until my mom found her wits and shooed it out. She then assured me that it hadn't been there long because there wasn't much excrement. (Is that supposed to relieve me?) I had enough of cleaning and left the rest to my mom. Jarron and I measured and rearranged the truck while we waited for my mom to finish. When I went to check on her progress, she told me that she had lifted the top board and found a NEST and TWO MORE MICE. (Not to mention, a LOT of poop.)

More screaming.

My good mother cleaned it out the best she could and then we loaded it onto the truck. She promised to pay for professional cleaning, but I am now wondering if I can stomach keeping my dear, infected piano. It wasn't until later that evening that I learned about hantavirus. A Canadian report said that only 6% of all mice studied were found to be contaminated. Relieving? Not really. This was a Canadian report and the incident I am worried about happened in America. I will let you know if my health fails within the next 5 weeks (potential incubation period for hantavirus). And YAY if it doesn't, but then there's always the swine-flu. Ain't nature fascinating?

PS--anybody in need of a piano?

JARRON PASSED HIS BOARDS!

'nuff said.

birds and bees: TAKE 1

Cameron learned a new, interesting, and fun fact from [name withheld for privacy]. He came up to me today and asked, "Mom, you know 'UTERUS'?" I said, "Um, you mean 'generous'?" He said, "No. UTERUS. With a 'T' sound. YOU-TER-US." Now that I was certain about what he was saying, I replied, "Oh, uterus? What's that?" Then Cameron educated me by telling me it was where babies grow and the uterus keeps them from falling out before they're born. Baby genius? No! He had a scientific discussion with [name withheld] about why older women can't have babies!

Oh, they grow so fast....

there and back again

Last Thursday, I ventured back to Salt Lake City from Washington. And when I say "I", I really mean my lone self with my two boys. It was a business trip, really; I apologize for keeping it on the DL but there was little pleasure to be had. I spent my time getting our apartment "move-out ready", doing paperwork for various things, paying money to greedy institutions, and taking care of last minute errands before we say good-bye to Utah forever. The few highlights were seeing Jarron's younger sibs (thanks to Rory and Cambria for watching Cameron!!) and briefly visiting a few friends. Other than that though, it was work, work, work. I do feel more resolved about our move to WA though; I had previously felt some sadness about leaving Utah. Staying a few nights in our apartment curbed those negative feelings--I will NOT miss the pigeons that roost and warble and poop on our balcony, and nor will I miss the 5 flights of stairs or sharing walls/floors/and ceilings with other people. But since I made this trip alone without my helpmeet, I need to toot my own horn and share a few road trip stats. So here goes:

Number of:
sick people: 3 (yes, the boys and I were virus ridden)
double ear infections: 1 (Mayes)
rock chips: 2 (and State Farm doesn't cover those, costing me $31.95)
partial tumbleweeds found stuck under the car: 3
miles driven: about 1500. give or take.
times the gas light went on: 1
minutes waiting in a rest-stop bathroom while Cameron decided if he still had to "go": 45
calls/texts from Jarron while on the road: 4
stops: one each way. My kids were awesome (or else I was just mean)

movies played: surprisingly, only three each way

Average speed: we'll say 84+

Top speed: 95 (accidentally and briefly reached three times)

times I wished I had cruise control: dozens (my driving is a little erratic)

hours each way: 9+

The worst part about driving was the WIND on the way back. Nothing could prepare me for the tornado-like gales of eastern Oregon/Washington. My muscles hurt from trying to keep our car on the road and I have yet to receive a full-body massage. This Wizard of Oz weather does not cut it for me.

We will be back in a few weeks to move all of our belongings. Again, it will be fast and furious and we wont get to see anyone (unless you want to help carry stuff down the said 5 flights of stairs...). Now it's time to unpack and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

bubble trouble

Amidst running errands today, i parked along a street to address some envelopes, etc. before going into the post office. I turned around when I was finished to ask the boys if they were ready to go inside only to find a string of GUM running from the side of Cameron's head (translation: stuck in his hair) to his lap. OMG. What was he thinking? I'm not sure. All I know is that he frequently asks me to put glue on his hands so he can scale walls like Spiderman. Maybe he was planning on using the gum for some future edifice mounting? *sigh* So I pulled as much as I could out of his hair and told him that we still had to go inside the post office. Cameron started crying and asked what people would do to him/say when they saw that he had a wad of gum stuck in his hair. I told him they wouldn't do/say anything and got him calmed down. (He is uber-sensitive.) Then he thought it was hilarious that his hair stuck out and kept trying to admire it in every window we walked by. He now has a small bald patch where I removed it but he doesn't want me to buzz his head to even it out. Aye de mi. At least he's a boy and not a girl. (sorry, no picture as I had no camera on me at the time. rats.)

let the games begin!

WE ARE HERE! (in washington, that is.) Jarron finished his internship on Friday in Sandy, UT. We drove to WA on Saturday. He started his final internship today (Monday) here in Richland. I have scattered our things throughout my mom-in-law's house and haven't organized a thing. I have already spent $100 this morning at a new gym membership and haven't even started buying groceries, toiletries, etc. But I don't think I have ever felt this care-free during a major life change. Ever. Is that a good thing? I'm hoping so because one of my resolutions is to 'chillax' more. But one thing that will never change is my sentimentality for the past. So to honor the sappy side of my character, I will share with you the reasons why I am both Glad and Sad to leave SLC, UT. And it begins:

UTAH is AWESOME because:
1) family. i already miss the younger half of the mitchells. and i'll miss out on seeing the next generation start going to school there.
2) SO MUCH TO DO. the downtown SLC library is a tourist spot in-and-of itself. and i never made it to the observatory on the top floor.... :( And our favorite park (in Heber) may never be visited by us again. *sniff sniff* I will miss being able to walk most everywhere I wanted to go.
3) friends. i have made a million friends over my 10+ year stay in utah and have moved away from all of them (or they left me for other frontiers). thank goodness for blogs and facebook!!
4) General Authority sightings in random parking lots and having Stake Conference in the church's Conference Center (with the Prophet and his apostles being the speakers, of course). What an experience to be so close to the world's finest.
5) it was my first home during my adult life where I ventured out on my own, received a university degree, met mi amore, started my family and began raising my bebes. and although the boys will probably forget all about apartment living/living in poverty, I won't.

UTAH ANNOYS because:

1) i absolutely HATE the heated school/religion rivalries. read: the polarization of LDS/non-LDS residents causes too much friction and anxiety. I was actually afraid to wear my BYU sweatshirt in SLC.
2) the INVERSIONS. Winter is not my favorite season anyway, and when you add pollution problems (bad air trapped in the valley under cloud cover) it gets more than cold. It gets disgusting.
3) debt debt debt. that pretty much characterizes our personal finances during these educational years. and if we stayed and accepted a job there, we would never have been able to pay off our student loans, buy a home, etc.

But enough of reminiscing about my recent past. It's time to start chapter 6 of my life. Let's do this thing! (and start making money in the process!)

i've lost the (internet) connection

What's better than free internet? Seriously, not much. Fie to the neighbor who moved out with the unsecure line! ok, ok I know I was being seriously spoiled by them, but it hurts to have something so great taken away. But all will be well soon because we are in the process of MOVING TO WA where I will be able to keep up on the blogging, banking, facebooking, researching (shopping purposes), etc. at my mom-in-law's house. (Thanks, Mimi!) I feel so unconnected to you all lately.....

Signing out for about two weeks,

Dani

WA bound!

As my first official order of blog business, I am informing the world that Jarron accepted a job last month! He is graduating from the UofU with his doctorate in Physical Therapy and will graduate the end of April. He starts his job mid-May at the outpatient clinic for Yakima Regional Hospital in Yakima, WA. Congrats, JoJo!! It truly is a "dream" job on paper, so we are hoping for the best. We will be leaving UT the end of this month (the lovely month of Feb) so he can complete his final internship in Richland, WA before graduation. We're finally moving up and out!!

it's about time

WELCOME to my new blog. It seems as if wasting time on facebook is not enough; not enough of you are on it! So now I'm a blogspotter so I can keep more stalkerish tabs on my friends. (You, for instance.) Here we go!