Fifty Years Old!

My long Facebook post:

I typically don't tell people when it's my birthday, but as I sit here with only minutes (41 to be exact) left of my forties, I feel the need to point it out. At 3:02 a.m. on October 5, 1967, it will be exactly 50 years since my arrival on this earth. I was the third of 6 children. At the time of my birth, my parents lived in San Jose, California and had a 2-year-old son (Luke) and a 1-year-old daughter (Effie).  I can only imagine how overwhelmed, tired and apprehensive they must have felt once they realized I was coming to join the family. Apparently, I was 2 weeks overdue (sorry Mom), but thanks to the delay, I've been able to spend a couple of extra weeks as a 49-year-old. I'm hoping this decade is a good one, it's certainly starting out on a positive note. The moon is full, which happens to be one of my favorite things and my favorite number is 5 (50 years, 5 decades, born on the 5th, I have 5 kids, etc.). I've lived half a century. Counting leap years, that's just over 18,262 days. That's a lot of days. Some of those days have been awesome, some crappy and a whole lot of those days were somewhere between the two. My fingers are crossed that my oldest daughter who is 9 months pregnant will give birth sometime before midnight tomorrow to my 4th grandchild, a little girl who is going to be named Evelyn. That would be the perfect birthday present (no pressure Kylie, just hoping!). I've been dreading this particular birthday for quite a while and a few days ago a wise person named Jared reminded me that birthdays should be celebrated, not avoided, especially as I get older. I'm not a great housekeeper, I weigh more than I wish I did and my organizational skills aren't the best but I have a lot to be thankful for.

Caleb's baptism

In the top photo, Jared with cousins Braden & Maren (Susan's kids) but don't miss Marissa and Ashley punching each other in the background! 2nd photo, Kylie, Grandma Ellsworth & Marissa. Bottom photo, Caleb & Wesley.

Summer 2009

Jared and Wesley posing with the cupcake creation Marissa made for the 4th of July. Kylie, cousing Tyler and Ashley when we traveled to BYU-Idaho to check out the campus. Kylie is planning on going there in January. The newest addition to our family, Cookie, our chihuahua.

It's about time!!

It's only been about 4 months since my last update. So I've been a little busy!! I'm taking 9 college credits, working, driving carpool, attempting to raise five kids, I have 2 church callings. Is that a good enough excuse? If not, I'm just sorry. It's been so long I forgot my username and password when I went to change things. I had to do some research to remember it. I'll TRY to do better, but I guess we'll see. I'm not making any promises.

100 Things About Me...

I'm going to copy Susan's post and try and list 100 things about myself, if anyone is interested.

1. I'm 5'8".
2. My feet are size 10 (yikes).
3. I weigh more than I wish I did (but I'm not gonna publish how much).
4. I have naturally (very) curly brown hair.
5. I have 3 teenaged daughters
6. and 2 not-teenaged sons.
7. I've been married 21 1/2 years.
8. I'm taller than my husband.
9. I've run two marathons.
10. I go to college.
11. I love history.
12. I like to listen to people.
13. I don't like country music very much.
14. I love to sing to the radio.
15. I like Christmas,
16. and Christmas music.
17. I love babies,
18. especially when I can hold them and give them back.
19. I like repetive, simple, addictive video games (preferably if I only have to push 1 button).
20. I'm not organized,
21. I wish I were organized,
22. but obviously not enough to actually get myself organized.
23. I love my family.
24. I love my friends.
25. I am moderately uncoordinated.
26. Nevertheless, the stake decided to put me in charge of young women's sports.
27. I avoided math for about 20 years.
28. I am way better at math than I ever thought.
29. I actually like math way more than I ever thought possible.
30. I love to read.
31. I have a hard time deciding what my favorite book is but some are...
32. Pretty much anything written by Orson Scott Card.
33. Katherine, by Anya Seton (which happens to be Susan's favorite).
34. Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse.
35. East of Eden by John Steinbeck.
36. Roots by Alex Haley.
37. Which basically means my favorite genre is historical fiction. (I figure you can kill 2 birds with one stone... learn about history and read a good book at the same time.)
38. I'm a night owl.
39. I like to hang out with my teenagers and their same-aged cousins (I'm not sure if they think it's cool or not.)
40. I drive a minivan.
41. I drive a carpool every morning in my minivan.
42. I've never smoked a cigarette.
43. I like to give advice.
44. I wear glasses when I drive and go to church so I don't have to squint.
45. I don't like contention.
46. I love living in the same town as my parents.
47. I don't wear jewelry very often.
48. I have a hard time spending money on myself.
49. I don't own any high-heeled shoes (see #8).
50. I have a love/hate relationship with our cat.
51. I don't really like dogs.
52. I'm looking forward to seeing my sister Susan and her family.
53. I like watching chick flicks
54. and comedies,
55. especially if they aren't offensive.
56. My favorite movie is Dan in Real Life.
57. Sad things make me cry.
58. I don't like it when people point out that I'm crying.
59. But I like to point out when my husband cries over sports.
60. I like to tease my kids.
61. I'm graduating from college (associates degree) at the age of 41.
62. I don't like meetings.
63. I took a golf class in college 20 something years ago and hated it.
64. I don't like going to the dentist.
65. I've only gone skiing twice in my life.
66. I don't mind folding laundry
67. but I hate putting it away.
68. I just found out Ashley hates folding laundry
69. but doesn't mind putting it away.
70. Maybe we can work out some sort of agreement!
71. My favorite candy bar is a Butterfinger
72. and my favorite color is yellow.
73. I'm wearing a red shirt.
74. I'm digging deep here, only 25 more to go!!
75. I've been told I look like my Grandma Effie who died when my dad was 11.
76. Apparently I sound like my sister Amy
77. and my daughter Ashley.
78. I'm a BYU fan.
79. I'm afraid of heights.
80. People's bare feet on my lap annoy me.
81. I love to talk on the phone.
82. I have blue eyes
83. and my eyelashes curl under.
84. I like to make people laugh.
85. If I don't write appointments down on my calendar I forget them
86. and I even forget sometimes when I do write them down.
87. I like to go out to dinner.
88. I like to make Halloween costumes.
89. I don't like to shop.
90. I'm proud of my children.
91. I'm a registered Republican but sometimes lean to the left.
92. I don't have a middle name.
93. I hate to scrapbook.
94. In my next life I'm going to be a perfectionist.
95. I'm married to a yard-Martha (Stewart).
96. I like rainstorms.
97. I don't like sleeping in tents (especially in a rainstorm).
98. I wax my kids' eyebrows.
99. I prefer water to soda.
100. I love to pull wiggly baby teeth.