Really, really, SUPER BAD day!

What do you do when your day is utterly horrible, and you know the next one after that will probably be just as bad...and the one after that...for about 2 months? If you are a girl:

First, you have a good cry.

Second, maybe eat some chocolate.

But if you're so stressed you can't even think about eating, then you do number three which is to count the blessing you do have. Maybe there isn't much I can do about a particular situation, but at least I have my hubby who loves me, a roof over my head, family and friends, and the gospel that teaches me that even if it feels like Hell on earth right now, the next life will be better than this one. Oh yeah, with the one stipulation that I "endure it well". Even the Telestial kingdom is supposed to be better than this, right?

The 80's Birthday Bash

So we have a friend in the ward who was turning the big 3-0, and his wife wanted to throw a fun birthday party for him. They decided since he was born in 1980, they would throw an 80's themed birthday party. Can I just say, WOW! Though I was very young during the 80's, I remember the outfits well...and the hair...and the makeup. We were the first couple to arrive and it was so fun to see everyone arrive. Each couple brought more fun 80's outfits, hair (wigs), and jewelry. Some of us even bought a lot of our stuff at regular stores because the 80's style is (unfortunately) coming back. Here is a little taste of the 80's...




Jaren's ensemble was complete with with track suit, sweat bands, and mullet wig. Sexy!




My outfit was a lovely neon green mini skirt, black leggings with silver studs, hot pink splatter paint cut-off tee, silver loop belt, lace gloves, ugly makeup, half up side ponytail with matching hot green scrunchy. Don't forget the way awesome and matching earrings that I have had since my 10th birthday. They're back in style! Somebody even asked if I got them at Kohl's...they saw the exact pair.



Jaren and Emily? You mean Studly and Bodacious!




I couldn't help but snap a picture of this fun couple in radical 80's rocker outfits. She is the primary president. He normally shaves his head so it was funny to see so much hair. And I just love the zebra spandex pants.

It was a gnarly party! The outfits were tubular! And the party was even complete with classic 80's music.

What fun people I have in my ward. It was interesting to be at a party with a bunch of "adults" who all had babysitters (except us, of course). I feel old. Hopefully everyone had a totally awesome weekend! Later dudes!

Did that hit him in the head?!

Yes, we have been so busy that I haven't been able to update my blog for a month and a half. I was told today (for a second time) that I needed to update my blog because the unmentioned person was sick of looking at the same thing over and over. I know, I know. Since it has been so long since my last post, this will be a long one. Feel free to read part and come back later to read the rest. Here is just a bit of what we have been up to.

My mom came to visit a month ago. She was here for two weeks and we got more accomplished than I thought humanly possible. If I had as much energy as she did, we probably could have gotten twice as much done. I was exhausted every day not just from her workouts but everything else we did. I was sore the entire time she was here. Jaren insisted we all needed a fun weekend so we drove out to Charleston, SC and it was so gorgeous! Driving downtown with all of the old buildings was so neat. I didn't know we had buildings still standing that dated back to the 1700's. We toured Fort Sumter and also went out to the Magnolia Plantation. And of course we had to go spend some time at the beach so Jaren could play in the water. I was having fun in the water with him until I got ONE little grain of sand in my eye and then I couldn't hardly do anything. Once I got it out back at the hotel I was fine. I was amazed at how much one little bitty grain of sand could bother or hurt you. While she was here we also went to downtown Augusta and toured around a bit. All the while we forgot to get the camera wherever we went. So typical of us. Now I will have to visit those places again just to get pictures! It was great having my mom to help me with projects on the house (inside and out) and the many sewing projects she did for me. :) Thanks mom! Once she was gone though I certainly needed time to rest and recover!

I started my new job working at Fort Gordon as a Financial Technician. It is similar to what I was doing in the Army. I now go to work at 7:30 am which is VERY difficult for me to get ready, pack lunches for Jaren and I, and leave on time. That means a very early wake-up for me. One of the curses of being a woman is that it takes so much longer for us to get ready than it does the men! I wake up far earlier than Jaren and leave a half an hour later. Where is the justice in that? Oh well. I don't know how working moms do it. I come home and don't want to do anything let alone cook and clean. My sweet husband is willing to help out but he is limited to what he can help me with...or what this stubborn girl is willing to let him help with.

Jaren also joined a softball league that had games every Tuesday and Thursday night. There were some good games and some games they just got slaughtered. A couple of games Jaren had some "exciting" things happen. One night in particular they were playing well and it was a close game. Jaren's team was up to bat and he was on second base. The ball was hit and he was off towards third. The opposing team threw it to the third baseman so Jaren would be out and wouldn't be able to get a run but this third baseman (a female) was blocking the base where he was running to. He saw this predicament and decided that in order to avoid a full-on collision to get to the base he would slide. She caught the ball just as he was sliding...right into her. It looked painful! It looked like when he slid, his legs must have taken hers right out from under her so hard that they went out, up and over. It looked like she did a cartwheel in the air! She landed on her back and the ball went flying out of her glove. He certainly wasn't trying to hit her but there was no way around! She got up cursing and mad as a hornet. The umpire even came over to make sure he didn't hit her on purpose. If you are standing on the baseline and blocking the base where 200+ lbs of momentum is coming, you better move or get hit like a freight train. She very easily could have altered her position and still tagged him. Jaren felt really bad for taking her out even if he didn't do it intentionally.

The very next game he played the outfield a lot. He had some great catches and a few almost catches. At one point, the batter hit it so hard that if it went more out than up it would have gone to the fence. This ball went high! Jaren was right there under it and everyone was holding there breath for Jaren to catch it. It looked like he had it! Then from my eyes it looked like it came down, hit the outside of his glove and bounced off. He immediately turned around, ball forgotten and walked away. I thought maybe he was just so mad that he missed it that he didn't even want to go after it. Then people on the bleachers were saying "Did that hit him in the head?!" I didn't think so. They called a time-out for a very short bit to make sure Jaren was all right but it didn't seem like anything was wrong. It wasn't until the third out when they all came in and shortly thereafter that Jaren came out to me on the bleachers while holding an ice pack to his head that I realized it really had hit him. Apparently, right as he was about to catch the ball, it went into the light and he lost it. Instead of landing in his glove it smacked him really hard on the forehead. He immediately turned around and walked away because he was so dazed and knew he didn't have the mindset to pick up the ball and throw it.

He immediately developed a nasty looking bruise (which you can't see in the pictures) and a huge goose egg. He had to stay out for the rest of the game just walking around and holding the ice pack on his head. He was feeling really nauseous and probably had a concussion. I drove home and he ended up staying up until 3:00 am before finally going to sleep since you are supposed to stay awake for awhile after such head trauma. I woke him up a few times after to make sure he was okay. He's had headaches pretty much daily ever since. It's been about two weeks now and they seem to be mellowing out a bit. Poor guy. Here are a couple of pictures immediately after we got home.





Okay so these pictures are nearly identical and certainly don't do the injury justice but you can see the lines where the stitches on the ball cut him. His eye was slightly swollen shut and he eventually got a tiny bit of a black eye on the eyelid but I think it ended up being more internally painful for him. His head is all healed now and the softball games are over.

We also FINALLY got our master bedroom painted (we started working on it a month ago). I did take before pictures of the house and will be posting after pictures with them soon. I would like to wait to post pictures though of the rooms that we've painted until I get pictures on the wall and some decorations in there. They will be forthcoming.

The weather has been gorgeous in the 80's during the day and 50's at night. I think that we'll have nice weather on Halloween! I'll just enjoy these beautiful fall days for as long as they are here. Hopefully everyone is doing well! Have a great week!

Mockingjay Review

I was among the crowd that couldn't wait until the bookstores opened yesterday morning before getting there to buy my copy of "Mockingjay". I was just dying to see how it all ended. I have finished the book and am writing my review on my blog. I realize that most people may not have finished or even picked it up yet so be forewarned that this is a spoiler!

Again, if you haven't finished the book (or started reading it) and don't want to read a spoiler, don't read this review until you have finished the book!!!

Where to start. I must say that I was excited yet apprehensive about this book. I knew it would be more difficult to read than the first two because of the situation things are left in at the end of book two. I like chick-flicks because I like my happy endings. I want everyone to be happy by the end of this book but where a love triangle is involved that is likely to leave the reader unsettled in some way. The girl can't end up with both guys! And with a war, there is bound to be death. I fully realize these things which is why I knew it would be hard to be happy with the way some things in the book turned out.

This book had just as many "didn't-see-that-coming" moments which left you wondering what would happen next and how Suzanne Collins really would resolve everything at the end. As a whole, my opinion of the book is that I certainly did NOT love it. The first two are way better. I felt like everything about the main characters that endeared you to them in books 1 and 2 were completely wiped out. The author just changed them so much that by the end I didn't really like them anymore. I realize that in the book they experience things that would leave any person struggling mentally or change them forever but it was so depressing to see. I hated what happened to Peeta. I also didn't like that Gale becomes so blood thirsty so that the end justifies any means for him. He also just kind of left at the end without saying anything. And I absolutely HATED the fact that by the end I was not a huge fan of Katniss who I've always liked. She even says yes to the new Hunger Games. That goes against everything she stood for in the beginning! And with the death of certain characters, it leaves you mad at Collins for killing them! Two were particularly hard, Finnick and Prim. Really??? Come on! Maybe I'm so mad about Finnick because he had finally gotten his happy ending when...BAM! Killed in a horrifying way and yet with such little mention you almost have to read it again to make sure it really happened. And Prim...she's what the whole story started for. It was because Katniss was trying to protect and save her. If I were Katniss I would have gone all depressed in the end too thinking that everything was all for nothing.

I think the biggest thing that really bothered me about this book is that no matter who takes control at the end, you feel like things aren't going to get better. They're just going to change. I felt like the story was about how terrible humanity is. There were good and decent people fighting but nobody good and decent to be a leader? Even some of the good and decent people don't seem so by the end. The last quarter of the book I couldn't help but feel depressed and empty. Like there was no hope and never was.

In the end the love triangle is resolved and as I had hoped, Katniss and Peeta end up together. I guess that's my happy ending which didn't occur until the last 2 pages of the book. There were so many ways the author could have written this book and I understand this is her book and her world she created. It's just my opinion that her choice of story for book 3 was the worst one. I'm still depressed about the book and don't think I will be reading it a second time like I did the first two.

The series is now tainted for me. I feel like the first two books are completely separate and still unresolved. Maybe I'm deluding myself into thinking that her view of humanity is overly negative and that the outcome in this book is unrealistic. I like to give the human race a little more credit as to the good we possess. Or maybe she's completely right and this is what would happen if there was no second coming after the battle of Armagedon. If Christ didn't come and instead, Panem was formed (after the entire country had been nearly destroyed through war) this is what humanity would be like. If it is, I would hope I was not around to see it. It would be too depressing.