A Place to Write

Originally written 4/15/26 I volunteered to be a “fun” mom tomorrow and participate in “Whose mom is it?” During primary. There will be four moms with bags on our heads and we will answer questions and the kids will have to guess who it is. Problem is the questions are so hard! I’ll paste them here and practice my answers. What’s your “mom superpower” (besides finding lost things)? I think maybe filling out paperwork? I excel at that.  What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever said as a mom? Probably “no more licking your sister’s feet.” How long can you hide in the bathroom before someone notices? I think 15 minutes before they start wondering where I’m at but a solid hour till they find me. What’s your most-used mom phrase? I don’t know. Maybe “Do it yourself?” Have you ever eaten candy in secret so you didn’t have to share? Of course. ⸻ 🍕 Everyday Mom Life Humor What’s your go-to “I don’t feel like cooking” dinner? Chicken Alfredo. Or beans and rice. What chore do you pr...

Originally written 4/21/26 We had another night by the fire at the park. To fill silence, Kaybree told us all her husbands. They include: The boy from Lyle Lyle Crocodile  Jaylin Green or Dillan Brooks from the Suns A boy from the ward who she didn’t want to name. Chad Michael Murray Eisley told us all that Chad Michael Murray was SO ugly, but she liked that guy from Gilmore Girls who Rory went to school with. Tristan. Played by Chad Michael Murray… Then I busted out the blog to share a few stories. Aspen was disappointed that I only had a few stories about her. She told me I need to write more about her.  We returned home and I put Aspen to bed and Kaybree and Eisley took over bedtime. Eisley donned a mask, hat an crown and put on a performance for Aspen, acting out one of the books on her shelf. Kaybree eventually joined in. While Eisley read, Kaybree did what looked like an interpretive dance to the story and Aspen laughed and laughed.  Halfway through the story she tu...

Originally written 3/2/26 Marriage is so strange. You marry someone because they make you better. You discover a new version of yourself when you’re with them and it makes you excited. It makes you happy. (At least it should!) And then a few years down the road, for some reason, they suddenly bring out the worst in you. Maybe they don’t bring it out, but it’s what they are forced to endure. And you have to take a step back and think Why? What has this person done to deserve my worst?  And it’s probably nothing. Maybe they didn’t have time to help with the chore you wanted to get done. Maybe they got the wrong kind of milk at the grocery store. Maybe they were too tired to make dinner.  Brendon and I went away for our anniversary this year. We spent just two days in Prescott. We spent the drive up asking deep, reflective questions and talking no without interruptions. We ate delicious food and we spent hours quietly reading a book together. And I was reminded of the version of ...

Eisley had her first solo babysitting gig tonight. She and kaybree babysat together over the summer and that same family asked if Eisley could babysit for them and Kaybree babysit for their friends while they went to a game night tonight. Kaybree’s job ended up canceling but Eisley still got to go. The kids were already asleep when she got there, so she just had to sit around and wait. The job was supposed to be done at 10:30 but I got a text from the mom around 10:20 asking if 11 would be OK.  “I texted Eisley but didn’t hear back so just wanted to make sure it was OK!” I said yes, of course, but then my mind got spinning. Why didn’t Eisley text back? I sent her a text. No response. I called. No answer. I called again. Nothing.  By then, I knew Eisley had to be asleep and I also know Eisley sleeps like a rock. I didn’t want them coming home to that.  Their house is right around the corner so I walked over and prayed they left the door unlocked. They did! As soon as I wal...

I scheduled my original screening on Friday and had a big mental crash Saturday night. Feels like I can't breathe. I was counting down the hours until I could just get to my appointment. I also couldn't keep the tears from my eyes and finally Brendon noticed. He held me and let me cry and just shrugged and said "We'll figure it out." I know we've always had that relationship. That no matter what comes in our marriage, we will figure it out, but it feels deeper now. Because no matter what happens to me he is for sure stuck with me! Haha Our lives are too deep, too interconnected to ever take a step back. How lovely it is to know he's mine forever and ever. He gave me a blessing and I woke up feeling better. And now my appointment has been pushed back an entire month, to a time when Brendon cannot come with me, and that anxious feeling is creeping in again. But I can breathe through it. Because we can do this. We'll figure it out. 

In May of 2024 I decided to finally do something I’ve been putting off forever. I got some genetic testing done to see if I carry the BRCA1 gene mutation that my half sister, Bethany, does. Bethany had a double mastectomy after finding an unusual lump but we’ve also had an aunt pass away from breast cancer and her daughter had a double mastectomy as a preventative measure.  I learned that I do have the mutation. And then I crashed out and decided I wasn’t ready to deal with that. So I put it off again. A few months later I reached out and asked to be scheduled. No one called me back. This week it came to mind again and I decided I should stop putting it off. So I reached out to the woman who did my testing and asked her again to put in a referral for screening. Then I missed their call.  I called back. "Who do you wan tto schedule with?" "I have no idea. I did some testing, I got results, I don't know what the next steps are." "I'm looking at your recor...