A Month Filled with Fun

Ok, I am literally the worst.  I know that I am a month late on this.  I promise I have thought of writing every day but my goodness, I just have had so much happen and my life has been so busy and I just haven't had the time, or the energy to write.  So here I am, April 2, STARTING the post that should have been posted last month, which really covers the month of February! Guys...for real.  Sorry.  But hey, I'm getting it done, and then you will have the next post shortly after.  (Cross your fingers that I do write it pretty quickly after.)

Week 1:

WHAT A GREAT WAY TO START THE MONTH!  You guys.  I have a lot happen and it was all so fun.  I had my last followup appointment with Dr. Poulsen about my knee.  He cleared me to do all the exercise I wanted and said my knee is really looking great!  HOORAY!  I jumped right on to my exercising routine again and have been feeling really good!

On Thursday night, before I left to go to swim state, I looked at my cat, Pharaoh, and I got really solemn.  He was going and I could see it.  Poor kitty was so sad, tired, hurting and he just wanted to be loved.  When I called him over, he just looked over at me.  After the state meet, Scott picked me up to take me home.  He and the girls had spent time at Gigi and PopPop's while I was at the meet.

 As we were packing up to go home, my dad text me to tell me that Pharaoh had died.  Scott and I told Melia when we got in the car.  Scott then told me that Melia had a chance to pet him and tell him goodbye before they left home.  As Scott was packing the girls up to go, Pharaoh was laying on the garage floor.  He got my parents and they brought him inside.  He laid on the kitchen floor for a little while, took a little walk around the house, then laid down and went to sleep.  My poor kitties.  I miss them all so much.  But I am so happy that Pharaoh doesn't have to be in all that pain anymore and that he, Wolffie and Loki are all together again.  ALL PETS GO TO HEAVEN!

On Thursday and Friday of this week, the swim team had state! Best.  Experience.  The first day, our team atmosphere hadn't really clicked, but our swimmers did really well.  Our boys took the medley relay, we had best times and we were getting excited for the next day and the really fun races.  We came out of the meet ahead, but close.  On Friday, the atmosphere was totally different.  Our team was ready, they were pumped, and they knew what they had to do.  Our team piled onto the end corner of the pool and cheered the whole day.  The splits were great, the relays were INSANELY awesome and we had a few upsets!  Boys went best times, relays went best times, people moved up in the ranks and we were having a lot of fun.  Our boys ended up winning all three relays, which is pretty much unheard of, we had our girls smash it out on the relays as well and at the end of the day, our boys WON!  Oh my heavens, this was almost two months ago and my heart is racing like I am still there.  It was so much fun!  We all got thrown into the pool, celebrated, took pictures and just partied.  We went to dinner afterwards and the whole team was just pumped up.  I couldn't talk normally for a couple days because my throat was so sore but it was all worth it!  Obviously, I still get really excited when I talk about it.

Donna also flew out this week, I believe it was on Friday (I was focused on state haha) and that was really fun to have her here.  She stayed for a good two weeks!  It was so fun and she got to spend a lot of time with the girls.

Week 2:

The day after state, we went to Courtney's for another mystery dinner with some of her friends.  It's always an interesting experience to do those haha.  The scripts are so funny, but it is always fun.  We made Cowboy Salsa to share, and a TON of it, and we got to take most of it home again.  Always a thrilling leftover to have.  It is seriously one of our favorite snacks.  SOOOO GOOD!

On Tuesday, Valentine's Day, Scott and I had dinner reservations in Holladay.  My parent's watched the girls for us while we went out to dinner.  It was a lot of fun, the food was pretty good too.  We probably won't go back haha.  Honestly, the food was about as good as Olive Garden's, but way more

expensive.  One of the waitresses was obviously ticked to be there and our server was good, until we were ready to go and it took him like a half an hour to bring us our check.  That wasn't cool.  But Scott and I got to spend a lot of time together, out of the house.  It was a good evening together.  Really good evening.  

The rest of the week, I prepared to Melia's birthday!  AHHH!!  She turned 3!  My heaven's, I don't even know where the time is going.  We had two parties for her; one on Monday with her little friend, Carter, from the ward and Courtney's kids.  My cousin Karlie brought her two boys and Lauren was going to come with her boys but they woke up that morning with fevers.  Melia was pretty disappointed about it when I told her, but was over it pretty quickly when everyone showed up haha.  The kids played some games, danced to music, did a Moana island craft, did a pinata, had cake and opened presents.  Oh my gosh.  They were all here for like an hour and half and it was the most energy filled hour and a half I have every experienced!  Kids are crazy!!  But it was so much fun and Melia totally loved it.  A few hours after her "friend party" we had dinner with the family.  Dallin, Matt, Donna and my parents all came down for Hawaiian chicken sandwiches and cake.  Melia got to open more presents and she just fell in love with everything she opened!  Silly girl.  She is so grateful for everything.  Melia got from her friends, CandyLand, a handmade Poppy hair headband, some Trolls tattoos and some skittles.  From grandparents she got a boatload of clothes, a Spiderman costume, and Elsa dress, some painting paper, a learn to write paper pad and from Dallin and Matt, a Doc McStuffins costume.  From Mama and Papa she got a toy phone, a trace your letters book, Spiderman socks and a Spiderman blanket.  If you couldn't tell, Melia loves Spiderman, Elsa and books.  She is a very well rounded child!  She brings so much light into our lives and we love her so much.  Melia loves to sing, is obsessed with Moana, superheros and is eager to learn.  She can write her name by herself (with a backwards "e"), loves to draw her family and friends.  Melia's favorite color is red, her favorite animal is a Rhinoceros and she loves to play soccer.  Melia loves going outside to run, swing, ride her bike, scooter, drive her car and do just about anything.  Melia is stubborn, bossy and knows what she wants.  She is very determined, wants to finish everything through and loves to play hide and seek.  Melia has a heart bigger than anyone I know and just wants everyone to be happy.  She is a little drama queen and can argue like she's gone to law school.  We love her with all that we have.  Melia loves her sister Ellie, loves her Mama and Papa and she always makes sure that we also follow the rules.  We are blessed to have her in our lives.

A few days after Melia's birthday, we registered her for preschool *sobs*  OUR LITTLE BABY IS GOING TO PRESCHOOL THIS YEAR!  She is very excited and I am pretty sure she's going to just blow everyone away with how much she already knows, how much she wants to learn and how quickly she learns.  I am so, so excited to see how she does with school.  That doesn't mean I won't be an absolute wreck when I drop her off the first day, but we will see, I guess.

Ted also flew out for the weekend and we got to spend a day with him at Gigi and PopPop's house.  Melia had a lot of fun with him there and so did Ellie.  They played in the play room under the stairs and Melia got to play ping pong as well with Pop's help! 

Week 3:

This week was short, but fun.  My dad's birthday was on Tuesday.  We tried out his new camping gear on our Sunday dinner.  It was delicious.  My dad is funny when he cooks, he always complains about something in the dish.  I suppose when you cook it, you know what you're disappointed with.  I'm rarely disappointed with food my parents cook.  It's always delicious.  So there, mom, stop complaining that you can't cook either ha.  On Wednesday, we went to a fundraiser for the Yong Women in our ward.  Every year they hold a spaghetti dinner to raise money for girl's camp.  They also do a bake sale and I made some cupcakes for it this year.  It was a lot of fun to do that.  There was one kid who, upon paying for and picking out his cupcake, took a huge bite and instantly said, "Oh my gosh!  This is so dang good!"  That made me really happy haha.

That's really all that happened for this month.  It was a lot all packed into a short amount of time and we definitely kept on our toes the whole month.  As a more personal note, I have struggled the last month or so really hard.  Anxiety got the better of me and I couldn't function. I wasn't myself and I felt like I was totally lost.  Because of this, I started taking medication for my anxiety the last week of this month.  Scott has been so kind and understanding and I have had many friends help me through this unpaved path.  I have learned through this experience that you never know what someone else is feeling.  I tried my best to put on a brave face when I was out of the house, when really, I was crumbling on the inside, dreading every moment I wasn't at home.  Socializing became a horror to me, I got so overwhelmed at home that I would call Scott in tears and I would lock myself in our bedroom for hours after Scott got home from work.  I wouldn't do chores around the house, I wouldn't get myself ready and I wasn't myself around the girls.  I have been really nervous to open up about this part of my life and I think that has also made it worse.  I was only able to open up to Scott about it, and it wasn't until an old friend of mine started posting her stories of anxiety and depression that I felt comfortable enough to reach out to her to ask questions.  That was a godsend for me.  I didn't know what to do and I refused to call my doctor to set up an appointment to talk about my anxiety even though I knew it was crippling me, because I didn't want to (face the issue, admit I was struggling, etc).  It has made a world of difference for me to just reach out and talk about it, so I want to encourage anyone reading this to do the same.  If you are hurting in any way; anxiety, depression, OCD, whatever your struggle is, find someone to talk to.  Hash it out with them and go from there.  Reach out, step out of your comfort zone.  That single step was the step I needed to then get medication, make a plan to manage my stress, and get further help.    It is what allowed me to really Keep Moving Forward