letters to Beth {mcflurry's, library, & sushi}

Dear Beth,
        CONGRATS on winning 2nd place in the ldsliving recipe contest! i feel so proud to know someone famously talented as yourself. i really do think you are the most amazing person. i so wish i could have tried your recipe. my kitchen is dearly missing your cooking escapades. i think i will have to resign to ordering brennan's birthday cake from smith's this year b/c i just don't think i can make anything look like spiderman like you would be able to. i have my strengths, but that i just not one of them. did you just send the recipe in and then they make it and judge it? how does the contest work?

        OH THE CRAVINGS!!! i did not think they were real when i was pregnant with brennan. i lived off of taco bell the first 17 weeks, but only out of necessity. it was the only thing i wouldn't throw up. that and dr. pepper, although i did throw up dr. pepper once. thankfully, it wasn't ruined for me in real life after pregnancy, like orange juice was. phew! i still cannot even stand the sight of orange juice. pity. once i started feeling better with him i never really liked food the entire time, although i did like the taste of plain sour green apples {had one every morning}, which i have always hated unless they are covered in white chocolate and Carmel and oreo shavings. i guess that was a craving. there was also a bout with white peppermint hot chocolates from starbucks. i totally believed i was never going to like food again and came to terms with it. then i had him, started nursing, and got my appetite back. it was wonderful! b/c of all of that i thought women who talked about cravings were just making them up. then i got pregnant with max and HOLY MOLY i stood corrected. burgers, french fries, dr. pepper, apple juice, and blast-o-butter popcorn. everything tasted amazing the entire time with her, but i would just get these intense urges and HAVE TO HAVE THEM IMMEDIATELY. i felt really silly about it. there was one night i even sent sean to arby's for curly fries at 11pm b/c i had seen a commercial sitting in bed and just couldn't get them out of my mind. he was wonderful and brought them home. i ate the entire thing and felt satisfied. it was so weird!!! with this little man currently residing in me it's been dr. pepper, sushi, and most recently {as of last night} oreo mcflurry's. it was 11pm {what is it with my late night cravings???} and i just didn't want to go out, so i found makenzie's half eaten strawberry coldstone ice cream in the freezer from 2 months ago {yes i really ate it}, and the cravings was suppressed. two mintues after i finished it, brennan woke up screaming with a sore tummy. i sang to him until he fell back asleep and was glad i did not go out for my midnight craving. i did however have to stop by sonic and mcdonald's on the way home from the library b/c i remembered how much i wanted a mcflurry and finally figured out the drink i've been thirsting for the past week. so today, oreo mcflurry and a cherry limeade from sonic were the ticket. THE TICKET!

        sean's elder's quorum meeting was cancelled for last night and there is this sushi place down the street that does half price rolls on tuesday nights. he said sushi. i said YES! max went straight for the raw fish tuna one. it made me so proud:) brennan liked the avocado topped one. we let them play with our phones the entire time and actually got to eat AND talk. it was great.

        we have had runny noses and wet coughs around here on and off for the last week and a half. we haven't really been sick yet, and i too thought we were going to get a free pass this winter after last year's stife, but it was not so. it has finally caught up to us. fortunately it doesn't seem to be all that bad. it is a little annoying though b/c just when you think it's gone it will come back the next day with a runny nose or a cough. i almost stopped by whole foods to show them the picture of your echinacea on the way home from the library. we are now proud owners of a salt lake county library card. brennan checked out some robot book and held it the entire way home, while watching the little mermaid {my kids are currently obessessed with the sea princess}. do you think i can count that as reading time??? haha. we did spend and hour and a half reading at the library before, so i feel pretty good about our morning. they also get to make a craft and do dancing with music at this story time. it is so much fun. today the theme was owls. so on the way home i was going to stop at whole foods and show them the picture of your enchinacea stuff, but i just couldn't bring myself to unstrap them both from their carseats b/c they were so quiet and so entertained and so we went to sonic for cherry limeades and then mcdonald's for mcflurry's instead. heaven bless the drive thru and america for having them.  

        i read the carpe diem facebook thing for about two paragraphs, and it just wasn't "gel-ing" with me. so no, i wasn't a fan either. BUT i did read the letter to the mother with one child and really identified with it. i think it's one of those things that cannot be taught. you have to learn from experience. the weird thing i've noticed is that some moms don't get past it even after they've had one or two more. i think there are parts of me that still has part of it left b/c no one is in school or activities yet to keep us busy, but i've got to tell you, i could have little babies like this and be exhausted for the rest of my life. i love that we can wake up in the morning and decide what we want to do. aquarium, children's museum, story time, zoo, etc. i am going to miss the freedom and all of it when the school days begin. i just hope i enjoy every phase as much b/c i have never been so happy. the bad days stink, and my patience is sometimes pushed beyond what i think i can handle, but life is just so simple and i love that part of it. what other time in your life can you go to the zoo in the morning and watch a movie in the afternoon? it's grandiose!

        i finished the book with nicholas and paige. the ending was annoying. i never really felt satisfied with it. don't read it. blah. i did start reading little women, per your recommendation. i screamed out loud when meg's hair {i think that's who it was} got burned off by the curling iron. have mercy, it was horrifying! the book makes me wish i came from a family full of sisters. and it made me wish that i lived in a cabin where my kids would have to entertain themselves with only their creativity, but then we couldn't have afternoon movies, and i would probably be a grumpy mom b/c i do LOVE my modern appliances. i ran the washing machine while we were at the library and i thought how lucky i am to be raising a family where i didn't have to do it by hand. the washing machine, the dishwasher, the microwave, and the television are my appliances that i just cannot do without. i guess the computer too b/c i get extremely irritable when it is having trouble as well.  

        i am so glad to hear that you get a break when bryce is home. that is the true sign of a good man! please come home soon. have you tried the reese's minis yet??? i want you to come over and make a cookie with them for me. very much like the one with the chopped reese's on top that you made before. love you, bryce, and the kids. brennan is begging for the computer and there is nothing else that will entertain him other than trouble at this point.

love,
emily