Turning 30 (and loving it!), graduate school, work, and just life in general!

Well well well my friends who read my blog.....The day came January 12 and I turned 30! I look back on the last 10 years from when I turned 20 and I sometimes can't believe how fast it went....and other times I think how did I fit all that in....in just 10 YEARS! Seriously people I am SO excited for the next 10 years of my life! Turning 30 for some can be tough....for me it was the most wonderful day! Well I really should just say week, because it was a birthday week!...I will give you a play by play...so Monday which happened to be the 12, the day I was born I was scheduled to go into the field to work...I wasn't sad because I knew I could go play on the weekend to officially celebrate my birthday, so I got a cake at Lin's, it was a carrot cake...won't get that one again...it was so sickenly sweet...one small piece gave me a stomach ache...we had enough cake for 2 days....I got out of the field and Shad surprised me with a dinner at the new Brazillian steakhouse here in town and it was so good, my favorite was the grilled pineapple. Then on Friday I spent the whole day with my boys...cause I missed them! Saturday Dem and I had plans to go visit Kp in Vegas! So we left Saturday morning and came back Sunday night....We had a BLAST! Dancing, playing games and just having a grand ol' time! A great week! I feel like over the last 10 years I have accomplished so much, I loved playing softball at UVSC (now UVU), I loved being a river guide in Moab, that opened my eyes to so much living in that cool little town and having a cool job like that for the summer! I was able to develop a love for the river which I still love to go and do each summer! (Yeah SKULL hole!) ok....so this draft has been sitting in limbo for awhile so I am going to fast forward a bit.....I found Second Nature after rafting in Moab and really have never looked back...I found Shad along the way and within the last ten years I have 2 amazing boys, have become a great mother and love my life, I am on the cusp of finishing my masters degree and becoming a therapist and I feel like the whole world is open to possibilities...I know there is another baby for sure in the mix somewhere here in the next 10 years...maybe 2 more, but one for sure and overall I am so excited for 30 and beyond! Shad just celebrated his 30th birthday on the 6th, and I surprised him with a little party at Matt's house, his sister was there for that and that was a nice touch....Shad has really began to reconnect with his family and I can tell he is so much happier because of it! He broke out with this viral rash infection, that is supposed to go away on its own....and is feels like he is ready to start working out and playing racquetball again and working on getting 100% on his knee. Tae can't say enough these days...he is talking whole sentences and letting me know when he does or does not like something. He really hates it when his hands are dirty...he has adjusted to me being gone for 4 days a week, and is so excited to see me when I get home, he says....Mommy I missed you and I love you, please give me huggies and kisses....how can I resist....:) Taren is growing like a weed and developing his own special personality, he loves to try and play with Tae, and gets frustrated when they leave him because he is too small...he has figured out stairs so the gates are back up until he figures out how to go down....well we ordered a new laptop, something simple so that we could use it downstairs more, Taren is still in the computer room, so when the boys are down for naps at the same time...there is no sneaking in an blogging when I have some downtime if they are asleep cause Taren will wake up if I walk in....so hopefully I can get to blogging more once that shows up! :) Here are some pictures to enjoy of life in 2009, we went swimming when Shantell and the girls visited...and us playing at the park...and Shad about Taegyn's age...thought that would be fun to share. :)My eyes are doing funny things in some of those photos...oh well.

Christmas 2008!

So we had a WONDERFUL christmas! My family came up to St. George and spent 2 weeks here it was so GREAT! I took off work for Christmas and I am so glad I did, the week before there was snow up to my knees while I was in the field, I could not believe it, it just kept dumping and dumping snow, so it was so nice to get out of the snow and have a lot of fun with my family. I am so grateful they all made an effort to meet in St. George to spend time together, after the traveling to Texas...yeah 40 hours total in the van with a 2 year old, I was ready to just stay put for awhile. SO Taegyn had a blast opening presents and then opening everyone else's presents, he had cute christmas PJ's and we fit movies, racquetball, dice game and made treats and ate really good food and had wonderful chats and catch up time, it was great to see Spencer for so long and the next week around New Years we had a lot of fun golfing. Overall it was so much fun, Shad had a hard time with working over Christmas and missed out on some of the fun, and next year he will have Christmas off! This next year should be a lot of fun and as I look over 2008 we got a lot accomplished, our house is moving along, we welcomed in Taren into our family and he is so much fun, he is cutting teeth right now so kinda grumpy! Tae is almost 2 1/2 right now and turning from a baby to a little boy, his new favorite toy and movie is Buzz lightyear! He will even say to infinity and beyond and run around the house shooting his lazer. We got him a toy and a costume to wear around the house, he never wants to take it off....I will have to get some pictures of him in it, the goal this year is to finish the bathroom and landing and stairs and build a new bigger shed, tear down the old one, get rid of stuff we aren't using so we aren't pack ratting it up, then making a garden this year and actually getting a yard and a fence so the kids can play in the back and Mony can run around, Shad has fallen deeply in love with her and she has become a part of our family. I am going to look for a graduate program that fits for me and apply and get ready to go to graduate school here in the next year or two, and study and take the GRE.....and Shad will think about getting his bachelor's. We both think if he is going to do it, now would be the time to start fitting that in.....and down the road a year or two we may add one more to our family! So that is us in a nutshell! We love our lives and feel so blessed continually to share it with such cool people! :)

Family Photos in Texas

Make a Smilebox slideshow

So during Thanksgiving we all got together in Texas and went to the botanical gardens to update our family pictures. Kristy's sister in-law Stacey took the pictures and they turned out FABULOUS! Thank you Stacey....so I went through the CD that they sent me and here are a few of my favorites, it was hard to narrow them down, I think I have a top 30....but I am only going to post 10 or so.....I really like how they turned out! So enjoy the pictures and then as far as an update goes here is how life has been lately! I had so much fun in Texas with my family, we spent Thanksgiving there and ate good food, told fun stories, caught up on everyone's lives, played racquetball, and went to movies. I got to see my uncles and aunts and cousins, nieces and nephews and my new sweet baby nephew Rex! He is a handsome boy. Thank you so much Kristy for letting us all invade your space and you did a fabulous job on all the food! Since I have been home I have taken some time to recover from the 40 hours total in the van there and back with a 2 year old, Tae did good for the most part, and he had his moments. I have been back to work and honestly the week back was some of the nicest, warmest winter weather for December. It was a nice treat since come monday it has turned much colder. I feel like winter is finally here. I go back into the field for another week and then I am off for christmas. We are celebrating it here in St. George with Kp, Spencer and mom and dad. It will be great and nice not to travel. I am looking forward to the new year with new goals and things to work toward. This next year I will begin looking for graduate programs and seeing what will fit and take the GRE. Life as always with 2 precious boys is so much fun and we feel blessed! Happy Holidays! OK I can only post one so I made a slideshow! Enjoy!

Fun Slideshow

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Fun times/more fun pictures

So Shad set it up today where the boys are with Matt's family all day today! I am soooo happy, a whole day to myself! I want to for sure get in some naps and go for a run or something and then get in some more naps....really just relax, I have been so tired lately and my weekends go fast! I am looking forward to the 2 weeks off I have for the thanksgiving holiday to go see my new nephew and hang out with family. Really don't have much to say, work is great! I love being out there and mentoring, it is such a cool job, my boys are doing great. They have adjusted well to me being gone and love being with their dad or Cami when I am gone. Tae knows when I am gone I am working......I miss them, but the weekends are great! and I love the smiles and hugs I get when I pick them up! Tae walked up to me the other day and sweetly said, "momma I missed you!" For sure little tears were in my eyes then! Shad and I are doing great, I think the biggest adjustment we have had to deal with is us....and finding time together. We thought it would be the boys when I started working full time, but it is "us time" we miss, it really had developed a sense of appreciation and lately when I am home we just lock ourselves in our house and play with the boys and cuddle on the couch....after the holdiays we will start getting out there more, just one of those times we are being hermitish and relaxing and enjoying time together. I love that I get to see my parents so often and that Kristen lives so close, which by the way Kp it really is lame you only blog once a year....ha ha! anyway so that is life right now, it is getting colder in the field, but I have great gear, so no worries, I am going to be getting some new gear soon so that should be nice! I have had some of my other stuff for sooooo long....Shad got a deer and antelope this year and no elk, but we still have a lot of elk from last year so we are pretty much set for the year with meat. I love that he has gotten into hunting. We always have access to organic wild meat that is soo good for you! Taren has begun figuring out crawling and can get around with this little army crawl and is sitting up on his own. Life is good and I am off to go back to bed, enjoy the pics...

Halloween...The real deal....

Ok I know I posted a Halloween preview, now here are the real deal pictures taken the day of, yes Taegyn had a blast, at first he struggled with the concept of not eating each piece of candy immediately once they were placed in his bucket....however he quickly caught on and each time he got another piece he was thrilled, it happened at each house....trick or treating has NEVER been more fun, I mean I know that is ME saying that, but seriously as much fun as I had trick or treating my whole life, I can't say any of my own experiences with this holiday have ever been as fun as what I saw and experienced that night with my wonderful 2 year old, his faces of delight at each house...sigh...I took mental pictures all night....and Taren did so good in the stroller too....one lady walked by and said...oh what a cute pumpkin....Hello people he is clearly a nemo fish.....:)We went with some of our good friends Josh and Laura so I included a picture of the pretty princess and wonder woman! I really wish I had a picture of Josh...his costume, especially the mask was so great!

More Halloween Preview....

Here are some more, couldn't resist.....

I LOVE my job!

Well there you go, I have started working full time, and so far I absolutely love my schedule and what I do, I get to see both instructor teams and help both, I get to be home every weekend and I get to focus on mentoring which I still really love! So its great, I have been able to spend tons of time with the boys this weekend and it is nice to be doing something for myself and our family during the week. :) I feel really blessed to be able to do this and get myself ready for graduate school here in the next year or two....its even getting cold in the field and its no big deal to me because I only have to weather it for 4 days! And the boys were great with Cami this week, so I think it is going to go well. :) More Halloween preview pictures...yeah Tae wanted to try on Taren's costume...I couldn't resist! :)

Halloween Preview

They don't get much cuter than this folks! Yes my little one is going to be a nemo fish! I had to try it on right away hence the preview pictures....I am going to put his legs in orange sweats and he will wear a long sleeve orange or white onesie so he stays warm! I love it and the best thing, it was $30 and I got it for $10 including shipping on ebay....Gotta love ebay and gotta love dang cutie pie halloween babies! I am glad I still have lots of time and reasons to still enjoy Halloween! :) The others are of my 3 favorite boys in the whole world.....ok there is dad and spencer too and my new nephew rex....but they aren't in this picture...enjoy!

I have been Tagged by Laura....

So this is a new one. The game is you go to your pictures and open up the 4th folder and upload the 4th picture then tell about it!

Ok so this picture was around the time we had gotten a bunch of clothes from Nate, and this lion outfit came with it, as soon as he saw it, he only wanted to wear that, it didn't matter what outfit he had on underneath, lion was over the top, this lasted for weeks, when finally it magically disapeared...imagine that....my favorite was when we went to walmart one day and he had it on, he got all kinds of attention, mind you this was at the end of Febuary so no Halloween in sight...it was great, he was also eating some chocolate in this picture so it looks like it could be Halloween, gotta love cute kids! They make my life so full of joy!

I tag Bri, Kp, Mary, Kristy and Cami

Be financially independant in the years to come....Mutal Funds

So I just have to share this cool thing about financial independance...I heard it from my mom and dad awhile ago and it makes so much sense, the sooner the better to start saving, because then by the time your 50 or 60 whenever you decide to stop working the better....ok here it is....
So my mom and dad are pretty much financially independant. They have done it with smart investments and hard work, I love that they get to do pretty much whatever they want when they want and not have to have financial stress. They don't have to stress themselves out when helping out all of us kids and I want that for Shad and I....so here is what they said to do and they have a fantastic financial planner on their side..
So you take a year or 2 and save up about $10,000-$14,000...for my example I am going to start with $10,000. Once you have that starting nest egg you find a or some mutal funds to invest it in....mutal funds are very safe and net typically a 10-14% return. Ok, so now each year you let the interest acrue and the key here is to keep feeding the fund as well with your own money...Try and have it be $500-$1000 a monthly...for some this may be hard so even $100-200 is some. My example is going to use adding $12,000 a year (saving and feeding the mutal fund $1000 month) to the fund along with the growing interest each year to illustrate how cool this turns out by the time Shad and I are 50.
Ok so lets say that by the time Shad and I are 31 we have saved $10,000 to put into a mutal fun and we spend the next 9 years feeding it and letting it grow off interest, I am going to use a 10% return for this example.
Age 32 - $10,000 in + $1000 in interest + $12,000 saved for that year = $23,000
Age 33 - $23,000 in + $2300 in interest + $12,000 saved for that year = $37,300
Age 34 - $37,000 in + $3700 in interest(for the year remember+$12,000 added = $53,000
already if you wanted to stop there we could have a couple of missions paid for...but we don't want to stop so lets keep going...
Age 35 - $53,000 + 5300 in interest + $12,000 saved for that year = $70,300
Age 36 - $70,300 + $7030 in interest + $12,000 saved for that year = $89,330
Age 37 - $89,330 + $8933 in interest + $12,000 = $110,263
Age 38 - $110,263 + $11,026 in interest + $12,000 = $133,289
Age 39 - $133,289 + $13,329 in interest + $12,000 = $158,618
Age 40 - $158,618 + $15,861 in interest + $12,000 = $174,479
So at this point the mutal fund and interest it makes really start working for you, the key here is to up how much you are feeding it each year, so I am going to begin adding $1500 a month so $17,000 a year, the logic behind this is that most of us by age 40 are in our careers and making more, so saving more should be easier...ok here we go
Age 41 - $174,479 + $17,448 + $17,000 saved = $208,927
Age 42 - $208,927 + $20,893 + $17,000 saved = $246,820
Age 43 - $246,820 + $24,682(this is interest acrued for the year remember) + $17,000(and this is what we would save each year and put into the fund) saved = $288,502
Age 44 - $288,502 + $28,850 + $17,000 saved = $334,352
Age 45 - $334,352 + $33,435 + $17,000 saved = $384,787
Ok here Tae would be mission age, on the interest alone, his mission would be covered! :) Lets keep going
Age 46 - $384,787 + $38,479 + $17,000 saved = $440,266
Age 47 - $440,266 + $44,026 + $17,000 saved = $501,292
We are at a 1/2 million dollars here folks....could retire at this age and live off interest if Shad and I decided to be really frugal...it would give us $50,000 a year to live off, and then a 1/2 million to live on the rest of our lives, but lets keep going a few more years...
Age 48 - $501,292 + $50,129 + $17,000 = $568,421
Age 49 - $568,421 + $56,842 + $17,000 = $642,263
Age 50 - $642,263 + $64,226 + $17,000 = $723,489
Ok Shad and I could retire on this easily and live off the interest, we could stop working completely and live off $72,000 a year if we wanted to, kids are in college by now, it would just be us...so living off the interest while maintaining our 3 quarter of a million dollar nest egg, to use for a rainy day....sounds dreamy! But lets say Shad and I push 5 more years....and increase how much we feed the fund to $2000 a month so $24,000 a year...
Age 51 - $723,489 + $72,348 + $24,000 = $819,837
Age 52 - $819,837 + $81,984 + $24,000 = $925,821
Age 53 - $925,821 + $92,582 + $24,000 = $1,042,403
Age 54 - $1,042,403 + $104,240 + $24,000 = $1,170,643
Age 55 - $1,170,643 + $117,064 + $24,000 = $1,311,707
Shad and I stop working....and whala we have over a million dollars as a retirement nest egg and can completely live comfortabley off the interest without ever touching our investment unless we want to, we would be able to live off $130,000 a year, that is a great income and spend the last 50 years or so of our life doing WHATEVER we wanted pretty much....I love the idea and we are working towards it, being financially independant is one of the greatest things I have seen my parents accomplish and it has been a great example. There is so much freedom to it. Now the amounts are going to vary whether smaller or bigger depending on how much you save, and if you can start with more then and feed it with more then some people could retire by 40! And you don't have to invest in mutal funds either, there are other ways to go to save for your retirement, however mutal funds are pretty safe and give a consistent return. :) So there you go, thought all of you should know, start saving now, whether it is $100,000 or $1,000,000 it will be nice to not have to stress out about working or paying for things for your kids or even enjoying yourself when you are older....you got and idea for financial independance, there are a lot out there, so good luck to all, as for me and Shad.....we hope to be in New Zealand on our 30th year anniversary celebrating financial freedom! (ps - colleges and missions and weddings paid for by then as well :) I have known about this for awhile now, and it has been hard to save, so now we can start saving, and get out of debt, and then save even more to build our nest egg, some people could easily have 2 or 3 million depending on how they save and live....good luck to all of you! Thought you all should know this!
ps - always have to throw in cute pictures of my boys....:)

More fun pictures

Lots of fun in provo....

The Winds of Change......

Well I feel like I am about to turn a huge corner on my life....great and fun changes are coming my way! I have decided to start working full-time starting October 13. I love that Second Nature Entrada has created a job for me that works for me. I get to work Monday-Thursday in the field and do mentoring, I will be available to both instructor shifts so they can all utalize my skills out in the field and then I will come out fairly early on Thursday by 11 or noon and spend a half day in the office updating the field directors on the instructors and talking about instructor development and then doing my own paperwork! I love the schedule and feel so blessed that the company I have spent so many years working for appreciates me! I know I will have to adjust to working every week, but 4 days on and 3 days off is better than 8 days on 6 days off. I am so glad my hard work there has paid off, now I get to do a job I love and within a year Shad and I are mainly debt free except for the home! How cool is that! and then when I decide to go to graduate school here in the near future, I won't have to work if I don't want to because we will be financially set! What a great blessed life we live.....so I know I will miss my boys, I always do! However, the great thing and why I feel even more blessed is that when they are not with me, they will be with Shad, and if they can't be with either of us....they are going to be with my dear sweet cousin Cami! Yeah...so no matter what they are with family. She has said she would be willing to watch them the days that Shad is going to be working and I am gone, so overall they will only have to spend 10 days a month in daycare, and that daycare is pretty much cousin FUN! How lucky did I get! Ok its not luck...just blessed, I am truly grateful! So that is the plan, work for a year, get out of debt, find a graduate program, take the GRE in the next year and get ready to eventually get my masters degree and become a therapist. I feel like I am moving towards my personal legend. Each step along the way has held so many wonderful lessons and I get to continue to grow and learn about myself. Whoohoo for life and learning! I have some long term plans and a desire to have my own center for healing, eventually go to massage therapy school and some other things, and I used to be in such a rush to get there and now I find myself savoring my time and living more in the present. I know I will get to where I want to be as long as I let the Savior be an example and let Heavenly Father guide me to continue to heal myself and be an instrument in his hands. I love the gospel, I love my sweet unconditionally loving family who continues to support and be there for me...I am humbled often at the love and gratitude I feel for them, what a gift and blessing they have been and are in my life. I am excited to see my new nephew this thanksgiving season, I got the time off for that...don't want to miss seeing his beautiful face...he will be born on Oct 9! Yeah! So like I said what a great life, as the year begins to wrap up I feel so blessed and so excited to move forward with all the great things this adventure on earth has in store for our family! Thank you to all my friends and family who share this wonderful journey with me! I love ya!

Who doesn't have 10 or 15 extra min.....

Well here we go....I am home in Provo, I still call it home because it is where I pretty much grew up, I am by myself here in my parents house, my mom and dad went up to Idaho Falls to a wedding, and Shad went up with Shantell to Boise to visit Shaylor and Jackie....we were all going to go, but me and the boys are sick, and I don't want Jackie to have to deal with Rowdy being sick because of us....so here we are alone at the house and I love doing absolutely nothing, I woke up at 10, fed the boys breakfast, we played and then we all took naps, Tae is still asleep while I blog right now and Taren is in his bumbo....hanging out with me....ok now he is back down for a nap and Tae is up....that is how it goes sometimes, I put one down the other gets up, then I get Tae down and Taren gets up, sometimes I am lucky if they both go down at the same time....like today, I got to sneak in a nap. Anyway that is the point of my title....whenever I put Tae down for a nap or to bed, if I just walk in there and set him in the pack in play or crib, he always cries for a little bit, but.....if I take 10 or 15 min and we sing some songs and say a prayer together...he goes down and not a peep, not crying at all....so I have been committed to make sure that I take that time before putting him down to sleep, because come on...who doesn't have 10 or 15 min? It helps us bond and spend quality time together, and now Tae sings the songs with me, and if the songs have hand gestures like popcorn popping on the apricot tree or itsy bitsy spider, he does them with me I love it! He says new words everyday, he will be full on talking before I know it. He still wants to do everything with Shad, it is constantly "where's daddy" and "no mamma, daddy help.." Shad became his favorite overnight, what can I say I am out of the club, I don't have the right parts....on another note Taren is about done nursing, we do it once in the morning and once at night and my milk is getting lower and lower, I can hardly pump anything....it always happens sooner than I want it to, this happened with Tae around the same time.....I have taken supplements this time with Taren to try and increase my milk supply, and it has helped, but now I just can't get him to nurse enough to keep it going, so I am going to stop, we made it 6 months and I am happy about that, I wanted to go 8 months with Taren, but oh well. He is eating more solid food these days I would say it is 40% food, 40% formula and then 20% nursing. I switched Tae to raw milk when he was between 8-10 months and he has done great on it, so I only plan on using formula for Taren till he is about 8 or 9 months old and then I will transition him to raw milk as well. Redmond farm really has the best, even though it is hard to get, it is worth it. Taren is rolling all over the place and will figure out sitting up and crawling soon, it is fun to watch him grow up. Shad's knee is getting a lot better, he still has to be careful, and it is really stiff sometimes, but it is slowly getting more mobility and he bikes a lot with Mony to help it keep strengthen, he will be going on hunts soon, hopefully he is successful with all 3, then our freezer will be overflowing with organic wild game once again, we still have a bit of elk, and it will be nice to have it full again. I am planning on working full time soon, just trying to see what my options are first and what will fit best for me at Second Nature Entrada. We want to be debt free by the time I start graduate school. Well there you go that is our family in a nutshell and what has been happening. :)

and I am over it.....

New moods...new songs....so I am over it and moving on, it feels good. I have been consistently going to the gym these days and am loving it, my body is changing and it feels good to get into shape, I have been great with my nutrition as well. Life is good, what can I say, I am in between working for a little and just enjoying being home with the boys, sleeping in, having great times with friends and family...what more could you really ask for in life?