Living in our own Little Snow Globe

That really is the best way to describe it. It really does feel like we are in our own little Snow Globe. The scenery is absolutely breath taking, its like Heaven, but frozen over.

We arrived late Tuesday evening. Considering that the kids were up at 6am and slept a total of 20 minutes, things could've been much worse. They were a bit cranky and screamed a few times, but for the most part, we only received a few dirty looks. Oh well. We are here and in love.

I don't think I really believed others when they said its dark here all the time. I thought maybe it would be dusk, but nope, its dark. The sun comes up around 11:00am and settles about 4:00pm. Nine thirty in the morning feels like four in the morning and five at night feels like ten at night. Needless to say, the kids sleeping schedule is pretty screwed up right now.

When the sun does come up, we have tried to get out and explore as much as we can. What we have seen is truly amazing. These few pictures that I have taken will be near our place for the next 6 months. Every tree is COVERED in thick, thick snow. I should actually say every branch is covered in thick, thick snow. My camera does not do justice on the sight this beautiful country has to offer.

The roads are just covered in snow, all the time. They plow here, but it still doesn't completely get rid of it, so it kinda feels like you're off roading all the time. We are in a rental right now and I'm sad to say, Bill got us a minivan. We have already gotten stuck a few times and I refuse to drive because of how bad the roads are, I can't wait to get our 4wd car back!

We are staying in a cozy little 2 bedroom cabin on a lake. I will post pictures of it later. Its fun looking out our window and watching families play ice hockey together or ice skate. We've seen a few men ice fishing as well. Its just so relaxing, peaceful and serene. Bill and I bought some games and we've stayed up the past 2 nights playing them in front of the fire and talking and laughing like we did when we were single. Just a side note, we've done other things too like we did when we were first married (wink*wink).... when its cold and dark outside, the wildlife comes to life inside!!!

MOVING ON........

Anyways, to be honest, I was somewhat dreading this move. I know the dark is going to be hard to get accustomed too, but when I stepped off the plane and breathed in the air, I felt a huge amount of stress come off my shoulders. I can honestly say, I felt I was finally home. This feels like Home to me. This feels like this is going to be the best move for my little family. This is home. Alaska is welcoming me home. Can I say that enough? Probably not.

Taking a lunch break from exploring

My Incredible Discovery

I love my husband, I really do. But I made an Incredible Discovery about him today. Wow, I feel lighter than air and I hope this realization will stay with me for the remainder of our long, endurable marriage.

You know what this inspirational new insight is? Come on, guess. Excuse my language, but I'm just going to say it:

He's NOT an asshole.

Wow, so cool huh.

He's an Engineer.

You may be in awe as I am and asking yourself, "Is she sure?"


Ever since Bill and I have dated, I have always had friends and family ask if Bill does not like them. Bill is not the most social giant out there. He is not a conversation starter and when someone tries to start a conversation with him, he keeps it pretty short and to the point.

Well, to be honest, I've always had a hard time with this. I for one love conversation and meeting new people and because Bill is not this way, I've always worried my friends and family thought of him as a jerk, well because I have thought of him as a jerk.

So, I happened upon a conversation this morning with another Engineer and he described himself as if He were Bill. I was SHOCKED. HE WAS BILL TO A T! Holy smokes, the light went on in my head and I felt relieved. For the first time in my marriage, I realized that Bill is the way He is because he's A FREAKIN ENGINEER!!!!!

So, I found this little personality definition of an Engineer. Read on my friends, read on.

SOCIAL SKILLS

Engineers have different objectives when it comes to social interaction.

"Normal" people expect to accomplish several unrealistic things from
social interaction:

*Stimulating and thought-provoking conversation
*Important social contacts
*A feeling of connectedness with other humans

In contrast to "normal" people, engineers have rational objectives for
social interactions:

*Get it over with as soon as possible.
*Avoid getting invited to something unpleasant.
*Demonstrate mental superiority and mastery of all subjects.

FASHION AND APPEARANCE

Clothes are the lowest priority for an engineer, assuming the basic thresholds for temperature and decency have been satisfied. If no appendages are freezing or sticking together, and if no genitalia or mammary glands are swinging around in plain view, then the objective of clothing has been met. Anything else is a waste.

DATING AND SOCIAL LIFE

Dating is never easy for engineers. A normal person will employ various indirect and duplicitous methods to create a false impression of attractiveness. Engineers are incapable of placing appearance above function.

Fortunately, engineers have an ace in the hole. They are widely recognized as superior marriage material: intelligent, dependable, employed, honest, and handy around the house. While it's true that many normal people would prefer not to date an engineer, most normal people harbor an intense desire to mate with them, thus producing engineer-like
children who will have high-paying jobs long before losing their virginity.

Male engineers reach their peak of sexual attractiveness later than normal men, becoming irresistible erotic dynamos in their mid thirties to late forties. Just look at these examples of sexually irresistible men in technical professions:

* Bill Gates.
* MacGyver.
* Etcetera.

Female engineers become irresistible at the age of consent and remain that way until about thirty minutes after their clinical death. Longer if it's a warm day.

HONESTY

Engineers are always honest in matters of technology and human relationships. That's why it's a good idea to keep engineers away from customers, romantic interests, and other people who can't handle the truth.

POWERS OF CONCENTRATION

If there is one trait that best defines an engineer it is the ability to concentrate on one subject to the complete exclusion of everything else in the environment. This sometimes causes engineers to be pronounced dead prematurely.

Now. The reason I decided to write about this was for three reasons.

1- May my friends and family get a better understanding of my husband.
2- May any of you who are married to Engineers be strengthened by the Lord each day.
3- So that I may always remember that my husband is "not a jerk", he's "just an engineer".

I believe when they came up with line "Will you take this man for better or for WORSE", the creator's were referring to the commitment of marrying an Engineer.

God have mercy on the soul of an engineer's wife.

Helga and Thor

Ya, He still calls them those names. I can handle Thor, I even call him Thor. I just can't call her that horrible name.

Anyway. She's just a few weeks over two years and He's just nine months. They are only 16 months apart and some days I want to gouge my eyes out with a spoon.





Paisley is hilarious. Maybe every parent laughs at everything their child does, but she just cracks us up. She is all over the place, she wants to climb everything and when I say climb, I mean CLIMB. I really think she's got so many of Her Daddy's characteristics, not to mention she looks exactly like him!

Thor wants to be just like her, yet he can't stand it when she takes away the attention he gets from others. He is so cuddly! Guarantee, if you want to get Paisley to do something, you have Thor do it first. You want a hug from her? Start loving on Him. You want her to potty in the toilet? You stick him on the toilet. She wants to be like him and he wants to be like her. They scream at each other, they fight, they kiss, she sits on him and pushes him over, he pulls her hair.

As crazy as my days seem to be, I doubt I'll ever poke my eyes out. I really am going to love watching them grow up together.

Cheers to the good old years....

Cheesecake Factory and a little visit to Doctor John's was the perfect activity for a night out with these long time friends.

I'd love to blog about the conversation that existed this evening, but I just don't dare. Between the red wine these ladies had and my water, we were drunk on laughter. I really wish Chan would've pee'd her pants. Maybe next time.

What I love about these girls.

Hez: Always so fashionable and looking like she's ready to walk down a run way. She says the funniest things sometimes, things you would expect to come out of the mouth of a blonde. That's what makes it so funny. Most people expect her to speak Spanish, but she doesn't know a lick of it. Heather is a Cougar, so if you ever want to meet one, let me know.

Chan: HYSTERICAL. If one word could describe her, it would be that. You can bet that anytime you are around Chan you will laugh your pants off, especially when she tells Rena stories and tells them with her eyes crossed. Chan takes no crap from anyone, she is strong and determined and all the while will make you fall on the floor laughing.

Jesse: Gorgeous and has the sweetest personality to match! Jesse is single, so if any of you know of anyone, lets hook her up!!! She has the most contagious laugh and I am sad it took us so long to reconnect!

I really do have the most unique friends, I feel very fortunate to have so many wonderful friends in my life.

Let The Goodbye's Begin....

This is the worst part of moving, saying goodbye.
Our nights are filling quickly with the many loved ones we have to see before we take off.

Last night I had a night out with a few of the greatest gals from my ward. I really, REALLY love these girls and I will miss them like crazy. When we go out we have nights filled with great conversation and laughter.

There are so many wonderful qualities about each of them, but I am just going to pick one or two that stands out the most to me.

Mindy Lou Who- I love her witty sense of humor and her obsession with food.
Joni Boloni- I love her strong testimony yet I love that she thinks outside the box. Oh and I love her laugh and her beauty mark.
Cyndoll- I love that she NEVER speaks bad about anyone and I love her tight 80's fitting jeans that she wears in public.
Dlish- I love her beauty, inside and out. She is the "True Beauty". Oh and I love her belly dancing dvd and her love of skulls.

The list could go on and on about these girls. They really did save my life this past year, living in Salt Lake. There are friends you have from childhood that you hold close to your heart, and then there are friends that you meet along the way that make your heart expand even more.

These girls have expanded my heart and even helped strengthen my testimony. They are so accepting of everyone and they will never know how much they have blessed my life. Our last Girls Night Out Together was spent at The Porcupine Grill and then Quick Wits. What I will remember about this night is this:

1. Nacho's that were bigger than Mindy's head.
2. Dona's most exciting news.
3. The most disgusting Caesar Salad I have EVER tried.
4. The beautiful photograph from Cynthia.
5. Joanette's laughter that made me almost pee my pants.
6. Sexy Wrangler Butts from The Mama's Boys.
7. Umm quirky looking dude that seemed to crush on Cynthia.
8. Drew and his hot side burns and mustache
9. Laughter, Laughter and more Laughter.
10. The cowboy fiddler and his moves that were oh so wrong, yet oh so right.

Cheers to the BEST GIRLS NIGHT OUT EVER!!!!

Alaska Here We Come....

We've always dreamed of ending up in Alaska. We just never believed it would happen in the 3rd year of our marriage. Here's a brief update on how things have just "fallen in to place".

Glacier Bay, Ak. 2002. I lived and worked here for five months and fell in love at first sight. I always knew I would come back, just didn't know when.

Seward, Ak 2008. Honeymoon. I would say "enough said", but well, since we took our honeymoon six months after we were married, we didn't spend the whole time in the cabin. Our honeymoon quarters were not your typical bride and groom quarters. We had a space heater, bunk beds and a bucket too pee in. We spent as much time as we possibly could enjoy every aspect that Alaska has to offer. Bill fell in love with Alaska and I fell in love all over again with this beautiful piece of God's land.

So, on the train ride when we met her, it wasn't any surprise that they exchanged numbers. Her husband owned an engineering firm and Bill just happened to be looking for a job. He was already interviewing and interested in a position that would move us to Colorado, so her husband told Bill to keep his number in case he was ever interested down the road. Bill went ahead and accepted the Colorado position.

As many know, Bill has been on the road for the past 2 1/2 hears. I've essentially been a single Mom this whole time. Its been exhausting, its been challenging and its been nothing I ever expected I'd have to go through in the beginning years of my marriage.

I know its been hard on Bill, but he just hasn't expressed it as much.

A few months ago Bill finally got to a point where he felt he could be "open" to other opportunities. One Saturday he had to take an emergency trip to Wyoming and so the kids and I went along for the drive. We discussed different options and I asked Bill if He had this individual's information in Alaska. He said he has tried finding the contact info for him, but had lost it. Subject was dropped.

On Monday, Alaska had sent Bill an email, basically offering him a job. Ever since, everything has fallen in to place for us to take the offer. Let me repeat that, EVERYTHING has fallen in to place for us to take the offer.

So, here we are, just weeks away from starting this sudden dream. Nothing has been packed, because I'm scared and I'm sad. This goodbye is going to be the hardest goodbye I've had to have. I don't want to leave my friends and I certainly don't want to leave my family.

But, Alaska is going to give Me a husband and Alaska is going to give my babies a Father. If that's all Alaska gives me, it will be worth it.

I hope being a bit more faithful on this blog will help my family and friends experience the adventure with us.

Motherhood=Exhaustion=Crankiness=Joy

Wow. I'm exhausted. Purely, utterly, exhausted. I am also Cranky. Purely, utterly, cranky. But somewhere in the midst of the tiredness there is an unmeasurable amount of joy. I absolutely love my babies and I love the man I made my babies with!

Paisley is now 18 months. Where has the time gone? She is an absolute blast but she is now becoming an absolute little terror! A cute little terror that makes everyone around her laugh. She is all over the place, I feel like I can't keep up with her. She loves to climb on to everything and everyone. It is a bit surprising to see her little 20lb body reach new heights. It really appears like she is too small to climb, but she is most certainly daddy's little rock climber.

Paisley LOVES men, its quite terrifying actually. She will go to any man, any age, any where! I hope this is not a sign for her teenage years! It really goes to show how much she trusts and adores her daddy. I don't know that I see a bigger grin than I do each weekend when she see's Bill. If she has been cranky with me, she is an absolute angel when her daddy arrives home! Her favorite time with Daddy is hanging out in "his" chair and cuddling, while watching tv. She has become a huge fan of Shrek and Ice Age. She is so animated and excited, its more entertaining to watch her, than the movie!

I love my Paisley girl. She is such a huge part of my heart and when I get my break each weekend, I miss her and can't wait to see her smile. She has such an adorable little language, her gibberish never gets old! My tiny little ball of energy is the light of our lives!

Oh McKoy, my sweet, smiley Boy McKoy. What a difference he is than Paisley. I don't remember Paisley smiling as much as McKoy does! I look forward to my mornings because I know when he wakes up, I am going to get the biggest smile of the day! His smile just doesn't radiate from his mouth, but through his eyes! He is so gentle and so sweet and puts up with so much as Paisley smothers him and hugs him and wants to carry him and climb into the swing with him. He hasn't been the best sleep until the past few days or so. He wants to be awake and watch everything going on around him. Even when he is nursing, he wants to smile more often than he wants to suck. He is already catching up to Paisley in weight. He is over 13 lbs, just 7 lbs away from his sister. He's a chunk and an absolute delight to have in our home. He is definitely a Momma's boy and I'm not going to complain one bit! Everyone told me there is a special bond between Mother and Son and now I understand. I feel such an amazing amount of closeness to both of my babies.

They bring so much joy into our lives and we are so grateful we have been blessed to bring them into our family so easily. I love my life. Its never perfect, but its mine.

McKoy 2 months old

Paisley 18 months

Welcome to our World baby McKoy

William McKoy Price: Born March 13, 2010 at 6:22am. He weighed 8 lb 3 oz. and really wanted to get here.

Here is his story.

At 34 weeks I was put on "house arrest" by Karen, my midwife. I was having contractions every 3-7 minutes, dilated to a 3 and 70% effaced. Things were quite stressful. Bill was traveling a lot for work and I was terrified he was going to miss the birth. What was I going to do if the middle of the night came and I went in to labor? What was I going to do with Paisley?

I had so much help from my Ward, it was amazing. The Relief Society President, Julie, just happens to be my visiting teacher. She was on top of things so quickly. I had several new friends from the ward volunteering their time and energy to help me, no matter the day or time! One dear friend even printed up a 6 week schedule for me so that I knew where she would be if I couldn't get a hold of her!

Anyhow, I had decided I wanted to go natural with this pregnancy early into the 2nd trimester. I had heard of Hypnobirthing from a few people and looked in to it. Bill and I took a four week class on this style of birthing and I knew its what I wanted to do.

To make a long story short. I had spent weeks and weeks practicing my hypno therapy at home, but I just couldn't relax myself enough to get in to it. I would get all ansy and itchy the minute I would lay down to concentrate. Though it was difficult, I still tried to do it at least once a day. I was just so stressed with Bill being gone, that I was losing sleep and gaining anxiety.

After weeks of stress, contractions, and no sleep, Karen decided she would strip my membranes for me. Again, I had heard that this did not work for most people. Never the less, Karen told me to pack my bags and on Mar 12th, she would strip my membranes at the end of the day.

(Key note: another added stress was the hour drive to Ogden Regional Hospital to deliver the baby. I loved my midwife so much, I had decided in the beginning to go with her. I didn't realize the stress this hour would cause me.)

So, we packed our bags. Bill was home, Paisley was with us and we were quite hopeful. My 4:30 appt came, she stripped me twice in 10 minutes and told us to go watch a movie and give her a call. We went and spent time with Courtney and Layna, grabbed some dinner and then walked around the mall.

I called Karen at 9:00, my contractions were coming every 6 minutes. She told me just to go home, normally if it was anyone else, she would send to the hospital, but with me I had been contracting so long she didn't seem too alarmed by it.

So, we go home. I hit my pillow around 10:30 and at 3:30 woke up to some pretty painful contractions. They were coming every 4-6 minutes at this point and so I waited a whole hour just to make sure they were consistent. Boy, were they consistant!

So, we hop back in the car with Paisley grinning from ear to ear at four in the morning. She was stoked for some reason! At this point, the contractions started to get very painful, I couldn't even talk through them. Bill would get up to 90 mph and I would tell him to slow down, then a contraction would come and I'd tell him to push on the pedal!

We get to the hospital at 5:15, Bill is waiting for Tom to come and pick up Paisley and I head up to labor and delivery. I get to the front desk and they tell me they have paperwork for me to fill out. I tell them I can't wait I need a room. They rush me back and I demand an epidural. Nurse checks me. Tells me its too late, I'm already dilated to a 10. I tell the nurse I am ready to push and she tells me I can't, I have to wait for Karen.

Bill plugs the headphones into my ears, loads my hypno therapy stuff and BAM I instantly relax. Karen gets there and I am still relaxed. No screaming, No loud noises, nothing but heavy breathing.

Now comes the time its okay to push. The back pain was so unbearable that it was really awkward for me to push. Normally you are suppose to bear down, but with each contraction I wanted to push up. I could tell Karen was concerned and something told me I need to do exactly as she says or else I would end up getting a c-section.

So against everything my body tells me to do, I do the opposite. I push like I gotta poop and sure enough it worked. One hour after I reached the front desk, our little boy was born. And it felt INCREDIBLE!!

Come to find out, the reason the pain was so harsh in my back, was because he was born posterior. But I did it. All, naturale. Any other births will be done the same way. I was up and moving around and feeling so great within the hour.

McKoy is such a good baby. He latched right on and nurses pretty well. He is sleeping great and I only have to get up once during the night to feed him. He truly is another perfect little baby. He is now 9 days old and we just love him. Paisley adores him. She wants to hug him every chance she gets. She gets all giddy when I change his diaper or nurse him.

I feel very lucky, I am now a Mother of two beautiful children. And a big THANK YOU to my wonderful husband. You had so much faith in me and knew I could do this natural. Thank you for loving me and believing in me and pushing me to do this. You make me so happy, so so so very happy!

Going from THIS to THAT to HER to HIM

So you wait 29 years, 5 months and 1 day to get married. Add an additional 40 weeks on top of that and you finally get HER, your first little baby. It really is everything you imagined it would be. Both, marriage and having a baby. It was something you felt like you had to go through Hell to find, but you know it was well worth the wait and ride through Satan's territory to get there.

So. Now, you are married 2 years, 2 months and 30 days. You have a 15 month old child and you are 37 weeks pregnant with your second, a baby boy. But Who am I besides this person who has been an incubator for two little children.

Yes. I'm a Mother. But, is that it?

I go from THIS to THAT to HER to HIM

Where are the days I felt like GINGER and not just MOTHER and WIFE. Don't get me wrong, being a Mother and a Wife is huge, but where did my identity go?

Going from Single-hood to Motherhood was NOT as easy a transition as I had always believed it would be. I've felt lost these past two years trying to figure out my new role as His wife and Their Mother. I am now on a mission to be Ginger again.

I am done trying to "play a role". I am back to just "being Ginger".

Somewhere in this midst of this thing called Motherhood, its hard to find the time to get dolled up and feel like a princess, like on your wedding day. So, my first step?

Took a day to get pampered. Pedicure? Check. Hair colored and cut? Check. Girls night out? Check.

Now comes the next step. DO NOT CARE WHAT OTHERS THINK OF YOU.

This will have to be done a day at a time. I can do it. When I was single I really had such great confidence and its slipped tremendously since I've been married. But its time to get that confidence back and not worry.

The only approval I need is from God. As long as I am right in his eyes, nobody else's eyes matter.

So here's to the journey of getting my "spice back".

I've missed you.

Pregnancy Blues

Thirty five weeks pregnant. No sleep. Exhaustion. Sore. Fat. Anxious. Lonely.

He works all the time, he travels all the time. I feel like a single Mom. I lay awake next to him at nights, resenting his job for not allowing us to have a normal life. This isn't how it should be. But what is a normal life?

Gone are the Brady Bunch days. Gone are the nights we go to bed together, have breakfast together, have dinner together. Gone are the weekends of family time.

We live in a world of busy, busy, busy. Work, work, work. Live to pay the bills and get out of debt.

He provides for the family.

She raises the kids and keeps the house tidy.

In the midst of what he does and what she does, somehow you make time for each other. But 5 min here and 5 min there just doesn't seem to cut it.

I want the Brady Bunch life. I want more family time. But who really gets that anymore? I'm scared. I'm terrified of bringing another of God's spirit's in to this world. This busy, crazy, scary, exciting world. This world whose view on the importance of family has greatly diminished.

With the hardships of the economy comes even more demands from Fathers. More demand of their time away from home. More demand of their sleep time and more demand of their energy.

I've got the Pregnancy Blues. I don't see an end in sight for this single mother feeling to go away. He will keep on traveling and he will keep on working and I will keep on feeling like a single mother. If the Pioneer Women did it, I suppose I can too. But for now I just want to sulk and have a pity party with Me and my enormous tummy.

I Love You Everyday, Not Just Valentine's Day

Didn't get anything sexy. Didn't get anything romantic. A simple kiss and the words "I love you" completely sufficed.

Do we have the perfect marriage? No, but you are here. You love me. You love your daughter and you provide.

Your absence is not easy. But if things were so easy then I wouldn't appreciate you the way I do. I wouldn't miss you the way I do and I wouldn't be grateful.

You have given me everything I have ever wanted in the past two years. Everything. I know at times I forget and lose sight of the vision we had set when we got married, but you always bring me back to reality. You help me realize that its okay that life isn't perfect, that We aren't perfect, and that our marriage isn't perfect. You level me and I know I level you. You are my equal. You are mine forever. I am so grateful you chose me.

You sacrifice for me far more than I sacrifice for you and I acknowledge you for that. You put my needs above your own and I need to see our future through your eyes, not just mine. You are a wonderful Husband and even more so, a wonderful Father. I love the way her face lights up when she see's you at the end of the day. That big smile, the twinkling eyes and the jibberish she uses to say "Finally, you're home".

You are so deeply loved. So deeply, incredibly, amazingly loved.

Back to Blogging Therapy

Its been 9 months since my last post. I had all the reasons in the world to quit blogging. Waste of time. Unsafe. Blah. Blah. Blah. When it comes down to it, I miss it tremendously. I miss following my friends and families lives. I miss writing down milestones of my daughter. I miss writing down memories of my amazing life. I am so looking forward to being in tune with your lives again.

So here I go with my journal writing and boy do I have much to catch up on!