Which name is worse? Lehi or American Fork?

We are 99% sure we will be building a house in Lehi this year. Loooong story short, we found a lot we loved there and are now in the process of getting qualified (no problem since Ryan has made it his mission to keep our credit rating impeccable) and signing many papers. We put money down on the lot and our offer was accepted this week. This is a big deal for us because we are not usually risk taking people which is mostly good because that's why we have no debt. Our house still isn't sold and we can't afford the new house unless we sell this one. People tell me it's done all the time but it's still scary. We are hoping that we can stay in this home for a long time, like until one of us is dead long. It's close to the freeway so Ryan can hop right on and drive to work in only thirty minutes. I told my brother it's close to Cabela's and he asked me, "If Dad was going to have me running daily errands?" It's also close to the Lehi Roller Mills where Kevin Bacon worked in "Footloose" and where the final dance was held. A friend told me not to buy the girls red cowboy boots. And lastly it's close to much shopping except I won't have any money to spend because it will be paying the mortgage.

Looking west. Nice big trees and Karen thinks she saw a goat in there.

Looking south at the house across the street. Ours will not be that fancy.

The view to the south west.

North east.

Our lot. Hanna is loving that there are horses in "our back yard."

Our house but it will have a three car garage and different exterior colours.

Here is a link to the floor plan. You can click on it to enlarge it.
Home Design

Am I that kind of parent?

Hanna has been having a hard time with school. She has a teacher this year that she just isn't clicking with and this is making it hard for her to be excited about school. Hanna's such a good kid it's almost abnormal. She wants to please and hates getting in trouble. Yesterday Hanna came home very upset because her teacher "yelled" at her. I can't think of anything this child would ever do to warrant being yelled at, so I'm already a bit worked up. I start to question her about it and she breaks down sobbing while trying to get her feelings out. She feels "uncomfortable around new teachers" and just doesn't know this teacher well enough. I finally get that Hanna is scared of this teacher. I think she is a good teacher but she and Hanna just don't work well together. I didn't request anyone this year because I knew they were all good and don't really want to be one of those parents. Hanna had Mr. Craig last year and they are kindred spirits. In fact I know Hanna has a crush on him and once heard her telling Grace she was going to marry him. He's married so I told her it would never work unless she was willing to break up a marriage. I don't know why, but I thought it would be good for her to experience a different teacher and therefor left it up to chance. I'm obviously an idiot. Today I went in early and talked to Mr. Craig and the principal (I cried. Nice.) and Hanna will be transferring to Mr. Craig's class tomorrow. We told her tonight and I could tell she was very happy about this. I'm still worried if I did the right thing. I don't want to be one of those parents who fixes everything for their kids but I know Hanna and I can tell when she is hurting. Being a parent is hard.

Picture if you will

This weekend was fun but I forgot to take my camera so you'll have to just use your imaginations on this one. Friday Amanda (Miss Southern Belle) sent me an email on Facebook asking if I wanted to go to Swiss Days in Midway with her. This was perfect because I was trying to convince Ry to take us to Park City on Saturday to ride the Alpine Coaster. I came up with the master plan of meeting Amanda in Provo, going to Swiss Days with her, sleeping over at her house and then Ryan would meet me in Heber on Saturday. Swiss Days were fun and Amanda played the dulcimer while I yodeled. For dinner, Amanda and I had a sausage, sauerkraut, swiss bread and a scone. The scone was delicious. What is better than fried dough with butter, honey and sugar on it? On our way out we walked by the pie and ice cream booth and I decided I had to have some of that also. Amanda, and other people walking by, were laughing at the enormous scoop of ice cream I got. I think it was half the tub of ice cream. Still, we weren't done and then headed to the Maverick for some chips and pop. Let's just say both Amanda and I were (literally) filled with remorse in the morning. We also were very tired because we stayed up late in our nighties having tickle fights.

Saturday morning we got up and headed to TJ Maxx in Park City. They have a really good one there if you are ever up that way. I bought a couple of work out pants because it's getting colder in the morning when I run. BTW all that running does nothing when you eat 6,000 calories in one night. As we were leaving TJ Maxx, Lydia threw a huge tantrum because she didn't get all three purses she was carrying around the store. Man, that brought me back and I had to smile. I will give Lydia this, she is a very good screamer. Amanda and Mark should be proud. I then met Ryan and the girls at the Park City Resort and we paid an ungodly amount of money to ride the coaster, which was fun. We had dinner at a great Mexican place, The Loco Lizard, out on the patio. Grace told Hanna at one point that she had a spider in her hair so Hanna jumped up and started dancing around while hitting her head. They're nothing if not entertaining.

Ryan spotted some scooters he wanted to check out in Orem so we stopped at a couple of places to look. Ryan has always had a dream of owning a Vespa or Lambretta but we've never had the money or it's not seemed practical. He's experiencing a tiny mid-life crisis, so I think it's time he got his longed for scooter. We found that we both really liked the Stella but we're holding off until we figure out what's going on with our house/life. When we do get one, we're going to chrome it out and Ryan will get to live out his Mod dreams.

I got my haircut and it's nothing special

I made a big deal about getting something different and then basically did the same thing. I think the bangs would have irritated me, so I opted for some shorter side bangs. I think this might be the last time I see my stylist Chad. It's too hard and expensive to drive to Sugarhouse. If I ever go short again I'll go back to him because I thought he did a great job with my short hair and I trust him. I was messing around with Photobooth today and created a series that I'll call "The Many Moods of Shea's Hair."

My signature thumbs up pose but you can't see the thumbs.

Me being contemplative.

This is what I look like when I'm typing!

I'm looking at the huge Diet Pepsi Ryan brought home for me and feeling happy.

What would happen if Jay Leno and Ted Kennedy had a baby. Ryan and I tried to think of people with big heads and Ryan came up with Ted Kennedy. Good one Ry.

Hanna doing a back bend

No, Hanna is not the child who took gymnastics for a year. Poor inflexible Gracie.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Evie's birthday

Tomorrow is Evie's second birthday. It really is hard to believe it's been two years since my life changed so dramatically. I was thinking about what I was going to post while driving in the car today and I thought of two words that pretty much sum up what happened two years ago...SUCKS HARD. I know that is some eloquent writing but those are the first two words that came to mind. In some really dark moments I used to wish that everyone would experience what we went through but now I know I don't wish that nightmare on anyone. No one deserves to hear that their child will die. I think I've come a long way in two years though. I can talk about her without crying (maybe just tearing up a bit) and I don't think about her every day. If I do think about her, it's not as painful as it used to be. I honestly don't really know what to think about her or the situation at times. Sometimes I find it hard to believe it really happened, that after four miscarriages we finally get our daughter only to have it all go so wrong. I know many have suffered much worse but when it happens to you, it seems like you're being singled out and punished. I don't talk much about the spiritual aspects of her gestation/birth/life or how I've grown or regressed spiritually since because it's much too personal. I will just say that I'm not the same person I was before I had Evie and I don't know if that's a good thing. But tomorrow we celebrate her birth because she is a part of our family and we love her. I'm glad I got to see her move and breath. I only wish she could have been with us here every day because there is nothing worse than not being able to watch a child grow up. It breaks my heart. I wrote Evie's story down when I got home from the hospital while everything was fresh. I wrote this after she was born and we were alone holding her.

"I feel so much peace and love while the three of us sit here together. I know you are nearer to God than we’ll ever be."

Maybe this is why Ryan doesn't send me flowers

One of my favourite Cheers moments.

What my dreams have been telling me

Will Ferrell and I are destined to be together. He's a good dancer and kisser. See you later Ryan!

The end of the world is near and we need to get some food storage.Ichiban and Shreddies are not going to sustain us!

There is a woman in my neighbourhood who doesn't like me. Before we move I'm to confront her and say, "So what's your problem with me?" I'll also say what I should have said six years ago, "Sometimes people in wheelchairs might run into a wall now and then and not on purpose, so give them a break."

I'm supposed to invent a new kind of moss that is yellow instead of green. Now that was an exciting dream!

"It's just that I find Gene's cowbell playing distracting!"