Home again . . .

Back from Disneyland. It was wonderful. So nice and relaxing . . . and I even got my 10,000 steps a day in! Who would have thunk it!

I have a TON of pictures . . . at least 300 - don't worry, I am not going to post them all. He he! I haven't downloaded them yet so it will have to wait (sorry mom). I wish I could just live in Disneyland. It is real you know! :)

Off to Disneyland . . .

. . . though the odds have been really stacked against us!

Let me just tell you, we just got our car out of the shop (for a spilled milk situation - literally). It had been in the shop for almost two weeks! When we picked it up, the man who replaced our carpets told us that we were leaking radiator fluid or something like that! Knowing that we were going to be leaving on Sunday, Sterling and I decided that we would hurry and get the car into the shop.

This morning, as the sun came up, trying to filter through the nasty polluted clouds of the inversion that we are experiencing, we could hear the sound of Myles coughing like a seal - croup. Ugghh.

Sterling then takes Myles to the doctor (sweet husband) so I can get some work done at home. About an hour later, I receive a call from Sterling telling me that while he was in the doctor's office, someone managed to rear end our car in the parking lot. Nice.

Fortunately, the police were there, taking care of the situation. The driver does have insurance too - so we hear.

And so, on this Saturday night, I prepare for bed hoping that there will be no new surprises come morning.

See you all when we get back!! I am sure that we will have some fun stories to tell. :)

A Truly "Wicked" Birthday!

This past weekend was one of the greatest birthday celebrations that I have ever had!! :) Sterling surprised me by flying us out to L.A. to see Wicked. We also toured around the city, hit a couple of art venues, and even made it to a few of the touristy sites. It was wonderful. It was such a nice and refreshing break. And, best of all, I got to have some time alone with Sterling . . . without our boys (whom I love dearly)!!! Yippee!!!

I just wanted to tell you all how much I LOVED Wicked!! The production was witty, clever, captivating, engaging, and bewitching - he he he! I was instantly taken with the music. What surprised me even more was the fact that the story had a truly great message. I mean, I would have never thought that a simple (yet intricately entwined) tale could leave such a lasting impact on me. I dare say that this play is now officially my #1 favorite!

Without giving away any major details, I wanted to share a few of my personal thoughts on the play. As you may know, Wicked is a tale of Glinda (the good witch) and Elphaba (the wicked witch) and how they came to be in the story, "The Wizard of Oz". Many people told me that this would be the story of how Elphaba became wicked. This is what I was expecting. I mean, after all, she was sooo wicked and mean, right?!

There is a part in the play when the Wizard of Oz says "The truth is whatever people choose to believe" (something like that). This really got me thinking about the perceptions that we develop in our lives - the viewpoints that we choose to settle on. The answers that we choose to be content with. How did we get there? Are we just running and jumping in the giant hole like that guy in the Wendy's commercial? Do we really believe everything that we hear? Or, do we choose to consider every angle of the situation? Do we give other possibilities a chance?

Without getting to deep and confusing everyone with my sudden epiphany (that was always there . . . it just needed to be given a shove in the side) I just have to say that "it is all about perspective, baby!!" I have realized that I need to broaden my perspectives and not always accept the social norm or the simplest explanation. There is often so much more to the story that we need to search out for ourselves, whether it be in politics, relationships, social interactions, etc.

I highly recommend this play. I LOVED LOVED LOVED it!! And don't worry, it doesn't need to be all deep and thought provoking, it can just make you laugh and feel good inside for happy endings!! ;)

Home For Some Good Ol' Nurturing!

Well, Sterling and I managed to survive preparing, flying, and getting to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Sadly enough, I was unable to finish the preschool yearbooks. Sterling had to convince me, at 11:00 pm the night before our flight . . . when I hadn't packed at all, and I was looking at another long night, that the books could wait two more weeks. I am so glad that he convinced me! Even though I am kind of bummed that I have to deal with them when I get home but, they are so close to being done.

Anywho, we are here and it is so nice. Unfortunately, and I don't mean to sound negative, all of the sudden I am realizing how much my body HURTS and how TIRED I am. I don't know if it is because I finally slowed down to take a break or it is because I know my Mama will take care of me. Either way, I am definitely catching up on some R&R.

So, we are all loving it. I am going to have to post some pictures later on. My boys, of course, are loving all of the attention and spoiling. I guess that Sterling and I are going to have to deal with roping them back in when we return home. But, for now it is worth it!

Was It All A Dream?!

Whew! After a week of fast paced adventure, we have finally returned to the home-front for some much needed R&R. We had a blast!! Disneyland was wonderful. The weather was awesome, the crowds weren't too bad, the food was . . .well, it was okay. LOL! (I am excited to eat "fresh" food again!)
Sterling and I had the boys up and running early each morning and pretty much going until the fireworks went off at night. We were exhausted to say the least. But, how can you sleep when there is so much to see?! The only person that really found time for his naps was little Myles. My poor boy, I think that he was slightly overwhelmed by the whole experience as his thumb was in his mouth most of the time. He actually has a blister on his knuckle now!
Asher thoroughly enjoyed the "big kid" rides with Daddy while Myles and I were content to stick with rides like "It's a Small World" and "Alice's Adventure in Wonderland". I will say though that Myles giggled like crazy when we went on the tea cups!
One of the highlights was meeting Mickey Mouse in his house. The irony was that, after waiting in line for 30 minutes, Asher was too scared to even look at Mr. Mouse!! Myles was kind of shy about the whole encounter too. So, when they shoed us through the line, this picture was the best one that I could get.



On our third day we finally made it over to "California Adventure". I was so impressed. It was so detailed and elaborate. I regret that we didn't spend more time there although I think that Disneyland appealed more to our little ones.



On our last day in California we decided to take the kids to the beach. Asher had been begging us to go. He loved the ocean. Myles wasn't quite sure what to make of it. I guess that I wasn't as prepared as I thought I was because, I didn't plan on Asher getting into the ocean. I just thought that we could roll his pants up and he would be fine. Well, I sure was wrong!! He got drenched. Unfortunately, we were on our way out of town AND we were out of clean clothes. We tried our best to wash Asher off by the car with some bottled water. I changed him into a different outfit that wasn't too dirty. Because he had no clean underwear, I pulled out his bathing suit to wear under his jeans. As Asher was putting the bathing suit on he innocently asked, "Mommy, why didn't you just let me wear my bathing suit!?" DUH!! I felt like an idiot! LOL!




Finally we were on the road again heading home. We managed to make an overnight stop at Grandma and Grandpa's house in St. George (and do some laundry) which made it nice because our final drive home was only 4 hours long. However, it was not without Myles' intermittent screaming to speed us up! All in all, it was a wonderful trip. I am so grateful that we had the opportunity to go.

M*I*C*K*E*Y*M*O*U*S*E!!

Tomorrow morning, at the crack of dawn (actually, before dawn) our little family is venturing out to California to see Mickey Mouse (as Asher puts it). We are excited for our much needed break. I am so hoping that this will be rejuvenating for me rather then exhausting. I mean, how tiring can it be to have fun?! I hope to have some fun pictures and memories when we get back.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggitty Jig!

Well, we made it! Yes, after being gone for a total of three weeks, the Jacobson family safely rolled into the driveway on Monday night at 11:30. There were a few casualties, like my diet, but other then that, the trip was an awesome break. I am actually rejuvenated as a mother and wife . . . go figure!

I am still up to my ears in a pile of laundry but I am happy to be settling back into the routines of my life. I just wanted to share my new, most favorite CD in the WORLD!! Beck's "Guero" (which, sadly, on the whole vacation I thought was "Wuero" ). I LOVE LOVE LOVE this CD. It captures all of my favorite elements in music along with a little western twang. I am totally inspired by this music to create some interesting digital pages. I will have to post them when I get them done. So, for all of you that are looking for a new CD to get into, I highly recommend this one! A close second is the Joss Stone "Mind, Body, & Soul" CD". She has an incredible voice. I love the mellow, sultry, and hippy sound of her voice. (If that makes sense.)

Well, I am off to switch the laundry over. Catch ya'll later! :)

Ahh Texas!

So we made it here . . . all in one piece! The road trip was not bad at all. We had to make a few adjustments the second day. Sterling, Asher, and I had to adjust to Myles frequent outbursts of just yelling at the top of his lungs! He wasn't much of a traveling companion.

We went through Colorado on the way down. I LOVED it. I LOVED it. It was like the Utah scenery but with more greenery. I would love to live there . . . especially in Vale. I loved the mountains, the rafting, the trails. Humm, maybe someday.

I also saw some incredible scenery on the way to Texas. I wanted so badly to take pictures but it seemed like I was always driving when the photo opps came. So I will write it down so that I don't forget. I loved the hay bales . . . all rolled up in the fields. I loved the old windmills. The kind that have a "fin" on the side. I loved seeing the old oil rigs also. It is so weird because I grew up in Texas but I never appreciated the simple beauty in these objects. Now, coming back for the first time in 7 years, I just love the country style of it all. I love seeing the wide open spaces with the sun covering all of fields. So, hopefully I will be able to take some snap shots on my way home.

Today my mom and I went and got some pedicures. Ahhh, nice. It was so relaxing to sit in the massage chair and have someone else take care of me.

On The Road Again . . .

Yes Sir! In approximately 3 hours we are heading out on the road to Texas. This will be our first official family road trip . . . the dog is even coming. Please shoot me now!

Sterling and I have armed ourselves with candy, movies, toys (unfortunately that play music), and Tylenol. We are hoping that the 24 hour journey will be smooth.

I am so excited for the break. We are going to be gone for 3 weeks! It is a miracle that I could pull my husband away from his business for that long. So, I hope to be catching up on all of my favorite blogs . . . since I will not have the usual distractions of cleaning the house, doing the laundry, cooking dinner, running the kids around, weeding the yard . . . did I mention that I needed a break!? :)

Well, I will have to report on our travels. For now, I should at least try to get a couple of hours of sleep in before we go! LOL!