What is the opposite of a feminist?

I am a stay at home mom. Most of my days are spent playing with my daughter, running errands, etc. When I go all out (clean the house, cook dinner, and do the laundry) I want/expect my husband to praise me for my work when he comes in the door (which he usually does).

Today I cleaned like a mad woman. I washed/folded 4 loads of laundry, I scrubbed my kitchen floor on my hands and knees, washed all of the dishes, cleaned up the yard, swam and read books with my toddler.  I did my job.

While I was taking out the garbage at the end of my day, I had the thought "I hope Nic notices everything I have done around the house today" when BAM. I was overwelmed with this thought "How often do I thank him when he walks in the door for working and studying all day long. For doing his job."

I am sure everyone reading this is a better woman/wife than I am. How could I have had this so backwards for so long.

Camping

I have been so excited to go camping. We didn't get to go at all last summer, so we are excited to make up for lost time. A bunch of friends suggested Payson Lakes to us. It was a beautiful place and we had a lot of fun. Of course I took tons of pictures, so here you go!

 This is what Sam did for most of our time in the mountains...run!

 Sam did her part to help unload the car

 Exploring with Grandpa & Aunt Kimmy

 New & Improved Smores :)

 My favorite part of camping is always the wildlife!



Samantha's 2nd Birthday

We had such a fun day yesterday celebrating Sam's 2nd Birthday. When she woke up in the morning she opened her presents from Mom & Dad.

 She loves her new dollhouse!

 Then we spent the morning at Tracy Aviary.

The highlight for us was feeding the birds, such a cool experience that I highly recommend.

 Then Nic started his magic on the BBQ for our big family party.

 Here Sam is getting her Birthday Kiss at 5:10pm (the time she was born)

 Sam was so happy when her cousins started showing up.

 These toddlers are so adorable & so much fun!

 Cousins!!

 Thank you to all of our family who made this day so special for Samantha. It means so much to us to have you with us to celebrate.

 The group (minus Uncle David who is taking the pictures)

 Yummy Birthday Cake!!

Sam: Happy Birthday sweetheart. Thank you for bringing us so much happiness and joy. I can't imagine life without you. You are such a joy to be around. We love you. Happy 2nd Birthday.

We are all set for Sam's big day tomorrow!

Busy Week

I am just dropping in real quick. I usually do not have busy weeks, but this one has kept me hopping. Nic and I haven't really seen each other this week and that is so hard. It also makes everything feel more chaotic. I hate when we have things planned every night because it leaves no family time.

Sam's Birthday is this Saturday. I am trying to get everything ready for her party, however without a car it is really hard to run errands and shop for presents. Just another time that makes this 1 car thing extra difficult! I have a feeling this crazy schedule is going to wear on us until the stupid Bar Exam is over.

SO, more to come later. It's just a rare busy week for me :)

I'm Crushed

You know I have been searching for a car. Endless hours on KSL, car dealership websites, looking and searching for a good car at a low price. Nic and I had $3,000 that we had set aside for a second car. We knew it couldn't give us the car of our dreams but we hoped it would get us a good car that would last us a couple of years until we could afford a better one. 

Well last weekend we stopped at several dealerships asking if they had anything that matched our price range. We were either laughed at by the salesmen or were showed pimped out ghetto cars that wreaked of cigarette smoke. I was getting pretty disappointed. 

On our last stop we went to a reputable car dealership here in Bountiful. Nic went in and asked if they had anything and came back with a couple of options. They pulled around a 2001 Ford Escape. Are you serious, it was like the cutest car I had ever seen. It had 120,000 miles on it which was a lot but it was a lot more car than we originally thought we could get for that price. The car had just been traded in, so it hadn't been detailed or inspected. We took it for a test drive and I was instantly in love. It was everything I was looking for in a car..small SUV, great storage space, not to mention the look of it was my favorite. The check engine light was on in the car. The salesmen explained that they would fix anything that was wrong with it, do the inspection & emissions and completely detail it before we got it.

So we bought the car. We paid $3,072 for it and the Kelley Blue Book said it was valued at $6,532. I was ecstatic. I wanted to call everyone I knew. But I held off so that I could drive the car around in person to show everyone in our family. We were disappointed that we would have to wait  until after Memorial Day to pick it up but I tried to be patient. Tuesday came and we got a call from the dealership. They said there was a lot of work that needed done, about $800 worth so it would be an extra day. Nic and I didn't mind because we felt like better they put the money into it then us. Well today we got the call. After doing all of that work they found even more problems on it that would cost over $2000 more. It wasn't worth it for them to put that much money into it. So, we are getting our money back and going home with no car. I feel so crushed I don't even know how to describe it in words. I pictured us in that car. I already put together a bunch of things to more over to that car as soon as it was ready. I am just crushed.

So we are back to square one. I think we are just going to put off buying a car and wait until Nic can get a more permanent job. Hopefully we will have better luck the next time around.

Isn't it a cute car?