House Tour (the main floor anyway)

Here it is. 

Every house looks (almost) the same.

 I hated that idea before we went house hunting, but this house is a dream come true for us! 

The Entry-way from the stairs

A view of the living room and dining room from the entry-way

The living room. 

The dining room. 

 Kitchen and hallway/buffet area. 

Family room. 

My mantel. 

I wanted to change it up from the typical clock above the fireplace. I think I really like this set up. 

 We donated our computer chair to the missionaries in Illinois when we moved because it just didn't fit in our truck. I'm still on the hunt for a cute chair I can paint and re-upholster. 

 (my mom has requested a look at our street)

 It's a very nice, quiet neighborhood. I feel very happy here!

The psychopath inside...ME!

We are all moved in and settled in our house!

Scott and I are machines and we kicked our butts and were completely done in 5 days! 

(I still have some pictures to hang in the kids' rooms)

Unfortunately, I think all that hard work affected me more than I thought it would.

We had a great day of fun in downtown Atlanta and I was commenting on how good my RA has been the last few days, then, at 3:30 in the morning it struck. 

I thought I was having a heart attack. 

I had so much pain and I couldn't breathe, I was afraid I was going to pass out so I woke Scott up just in case I did loose it and he called 911. 

Then began my worst  nightmare:

My heart actually calmed down before the EMT's arrived and when they did I told them I was fine and sorry for the inconvenience. They didn't accept my apology and started poking me and putting stickers all over my chest. My blood sugar was good. My heart rate was good for a minute and then it picked up again...163 BPM's. That was all the information they needed and they dragged me into the ambulance, put in an IV and took me to the hospital. 

 When we got to the hospital it was chaotic. There were several people in my face and they were doing all sorts of things and suddenly I felt awful. I told them I was going to pass out and I was gone. 

I had an amazing dream that I can't even describe and suddenly was shocked by bright lights and faces screaming at me. Apparently I had a seizure while I was out. 

Never done that before. 

So, I was admitted to the hospital and transferred from the ER to the Cardio whatever, whatever wing where I waited and waited to have a lot of tests done. Those took about an hour and a half and I waited several more hours for them to tell me that I'm healthy as a horse and to send me home. 

The doctor told me it was most likely an anxiety attack. The last time I had an anxiety attack was before Scott deployed. I didn't realize they could wake you from the deep of sleep but I guess it can. 

Last night when I got home the panicked heart racing and shaking came back. 

A hot bath and a Priesthood blessing from Scott helped me settle down, but it took several hours of controlled breathing before I finally fell asleep. 

My kids were good this morning and let me sleep unitl 9:00!!! 

I feel fine now that I got some good rest and even went to Costco today! 

I just feel so dumb to have gone through so much just to find out I'm just mentally unstable. 

Really, if we didn't have such amazing health insurance I probably would go into a coma thinking about all those bills I conjured up. 

A house tour will be coming soon! 

Mud Run

Scott and his buddies created a team to run in a 5k mud run yesterday. 

(David, PJ, Andy, Mike, Scott)

 At the last minute my friend Kara decided it would be fun to run, and being the good friend that I am was not going to let her do it alone. 

Here I am duct taping my shoes on. 

At first I thought it was a silly idea, but that very first step into the mud I was so grateful I had that tape!

This is a picture I stole from my friends facebook. 

She strolled down the trail to get some good mud pictures of her husband. 

This is an idea of what we were doing:

My friend Kelly (who's husband was on Scott's team) was kind enough to take on the task of caring for all 10 children! Whoa. Then our other friend (wife to Mike) came with her 2 kids and helped with the rest. 

They had to wait patiently because it took Kara and I 44 minutes to finish. 

I couldn't believe how much it slowed me down and wore me out. 

Might I add that Kara just had a baby 8 weeks ago? 

Yeah, she's a rock star!

 I had just got done telling Lydia not to hug me because I was all gross, but Henry didn't listen. 

Sheesh - I love those kids!

We really didn't get that muddy, mostly because it reeked like poo and I avoided it at all costs. 

Then they sprayed us down with a firetruck on the last stretch of the run. 

The manly men. 

Scott ran to the finish, then ran back and finished with Kara and me, then ran back and finished with his buddy. Seriously - he's such a show off. 

 But I love him and his skinny legs. 

We found a house!

This is the beautiful home we will be living in while in GA. 

We were so lucky to get this house. It was a major breath of fresh air after all the dumps we had looked at before hand. 

Now I feel like I can move on. Georgia here we come! 

Mother/daughter activity

Last week I did a mother/daughter activity night for my Faith in God girls.

There was an ice cream bar:

 We had a little "get to know your mom" activity:

Made bracelets:

 And my sweet friend Mandi came and did a little photo booth for us:

It was a lot of fun and it was nice to remember that I do love throwing parties. 

Too bad we'll be just moving into a new house for Gracie's birthday. 

There's always next year...

We're breaking records!

I think this blogging break is a record for me. 

I have two great excuses!!

1. Back when Scott's parents were visiting we went to the zoo. I was super excited to take a picture of the baby elephant and in a moment of dumbness I practically threw our beautiful camera at the cement below. 

RIP dear camera. 

I have yet to convince Scott to replace it for me. 

2. I just haven't felt like blogging. So there. 

Here is what we've been up to the last few months:

(All pictures courtesy of my dear friend Kara.)

We attended the "setting up" of a traveling circus. 

We watched the elephants put up the "big top"! 

Henry's been playing Soccer.

Lydia has been playing too - only Kara doesn't go to those games because she doesn't have a kid that old. 

 This boy just melts my heart!

Lis, Kat, me, Kara, and Kelly

Girls night out to the Cardinals game...

only we couldn't get in. They said it was sold out, but it may have been just because only one of us actually wore Cardinals attire. 

Kat gave us some baseball history lessons. 

That is a statue Stan the Man.

Don't ask me to tell you what his real name is.  

Since we couldn't get into the game we had an impromptu baby shower for Lis who is due any day now!! 

You know, just in the last few weeks have I felt like I really finally belong here. 

And now I'm leaving...sniff, sniff. 

Nauvoo

Scott's parents came to visit and since Nauvoo is (relatively) close we took a couple of days and headed north to visit. This was my first time to Nauvoo and I spent the majority of the time in the hotel bed because I had strep, though I didn't know it at the time, and I was miserably sick. 

All these pictures were taken by Scott because I was in bed. I have to say he stepped up his "photography game". 

On our way home we drove to Carthage Jail. 

This is the room that Joseph Smith was martyred in:

 I was feeling so awful, but it was still a very spiritual experience to be there. 

If you're thinking, what in the heck is Nauvoo? What is Carthage Jail? Why would people go to visit?

Go HERE. And HERE. 

The girls desperately wanted these bonnets from Nauvoo and have been wearing them ever since. 

(literally, Gracie wore hers to school!)