Tender little mercy.

I remember the days when I would go to church and feast on the spirit that I would feel. I looked forward to it every week and would become so excited when I would learn something new in my gospel doctrine class or Relief Society. Truth be told, I don't get that too often these days. It's been about 5 months since Corky has had his calling, which has left me to sit during Sacrament meeting with my two little girls alone. Now I can barely get through a single speaker without hearing "Mom, I want snacks." "Mom, I want to take my shoes off." and "Mom, I need to go potty." (for the 5th time) Or better yet, I hear myself saying in that whisper/yelling tone "Put your dress down so nobody can see you underwear," "Get up off the floor!" "Gracey, please whisper!" "Don't steal your sisters toy, that's not nice!" You get the idea, right! There have been days where I have literally walked out of the meeting in tears because I didn't think I could handle my toddler and infant anymore.

Of course, after the meeting Gracey goes to nursery and if Emily has been fed, Corky is great about taking Emily to his meetings. I still don't get a break. I go straight to primary. We drive from the building we do sacrament meeting to make the Catholic chapel activity room look like an LDS primary room. I set up bulletins, centerpieces, pictures, and chair covers indicating what class sits where. Myself and the rest of the presidency (I am the 1st counselor) have to make sure that each class has a teacher, that each kid has a chair, and that the assigned talks, scriptures, and prayers are ready. Needless to say, not many spiritual experiences happen during that time of chaos which sometimes can be considered "Sharing time."

Amidst all the craziness that was going on with the children today, added to CTR 8 doing sharing time, I had a moment where it was all okay and I loved those children more than I ever had. I looked around the room and saw for a second the greatness that these kids held and I felt very humbled to be associated with them, especially in a leadership position. That feeling of such strong peace and love lifted my spirits in that instant. Not a second later a shoe was thrown and the world around me seemed chaotic once more, but I was so grateful to have had that little tender mercy from our Heavenly Father. It was a breath of fresh air. I feel energized and ready to continue on with this calling that I have been so burned out from lately. Little moments like I had today make it all worthwhile.

What's in the closet??

This morning I got a good laugh because I got to witness Corky experience a small glimpse of a woman's world. Every Friday, his work allows him to wear civilian clothes if you pay $5. It is a fundraiser for activities and events. He usually has important meetings on Fridays or he just plain forgets and so most of the time he ends up just wearing his uniform. This morning he got a phone call from one of his guys reminding him that it is civilian dress day and so that is when my entertainment began. He stressed for OVER a half an hour about what to wear and probably put on and took off 5 different outfits! He then said "I don't know what I am going to wear" and I replied with a "Welcome to my world on a daily basis!" I am definitely a tshirt/jeans kind of gal, but even mixing and matching those can get a little stressful. Two times in that 30 minutes of Corky's turmoil, he said "I am just going to wear my uniform!" Then I teased him for being a slug. (Slug is slang word for somebody who is ridiculously gung-ho army.....and Corky is totally opposite of that!) He didn't want to dress too nicely but he didn't want to look too casual. He had to find that happy medium without looking like he was trying too hard! Again, welcome to my world!

Is it sad that I find pleasure in the little things like that? Even though I know I can be ridiculous for worrying about superficial things like what to wear, it is refreshing to see that it isn't just the females who do that!

*I sure do hope that Corky skips reading the blog today! :) Love you sweetie!!

Just one of those days.

Since I haven't been on here in a while and don't have the time to sit down and blog about everything that I wish I could....here are some pictures from Sunday. It was one of those miracle of all miracles days. We were all ready for church an hour early, no wet hair, no stressing, no looking for the other shoe, and to top it all off it was GORGEOUS outside. So we said "We have a timer on our camera, it seems like a family picture kind of day!"

Check out the bow in Emily's hair. We are finally able to pull one of those off. She can now really be our little girl Emily, rather than our little boy "Ernie." :)

Ladybug Owie?

Friday I was pretty sure that Gracey broke her nose when she stumbled and hit her face on the chair. The big dent in her nose made me a tad bit nervous. My nerves were settled within only a few minutes when her nose didn't bleed and the dent went away. It left a good scab though.

This morning as I was doing her hair before school, she was looking in the mirror. She said, "Mom, do you see my lady-bug owie?" I had never looked at her scab that way but now that she mentions it, it does kind of look like a lady-bug.

Favorite Things Swap

Here is my picture of the fun things that I received from Abby!

#1- A pack of hairstuff.

#2- Way Cute little crafty notebooks. (Abs, did you make those yourself?)

#3- Red lipstick and red nailpolish.

Thanks so much Abby! I love them all. My nails are currently painted and I have already dug into the hair stuff!

Calling all Chili Cooks!!!

Every year, they do a post-wide chili cook off. Each unit, brigade, battalion, or basically any group here at Ft. Irwin does one. Guess who was put in charge of finding a recipe to represent Corky's battalion??? Me. Problem....I cook chili but it is usually just from a packet of seasoning then add a can of kidney beans and meat. I am in need of a great chili recipe, preferably beef chili, to enter. I am asking ANYONE who is reading this to either post a link, email me a recipe, or leave it as a comment. It would be so appreciated and I would make sure that you got full credit for it....especially if it is your original recipe.

Tortilla Soup

Tonight I made a horrible, horrible dinner....not tortilla soup, but a Shrimp with red sauce over pasta! I followed the recipe exactly but I couldn't gag it down. It had everything I like it: tomatoes, mushrooms, shrimp, pasta, yummy herbs. But no, it was gross! I am going to be going and making myself a PB&J here in a few minutes. I am usually quite proud of what I cook and for some reason tonight's dinner is really getting to me. For that reason, I am posting what I cooked up Monday night for dinner! It is so incredibly good that I can't get enough of it. Tortilla Soup!! I froze half of it so that we can have it again at a later time because the batch is so big. Before I made this the first time (about a year ago) I did my research because I wanted to get it just right. So this is my version of tortilla soup, inspired by about 5 different recipes. You HAVE to try it. It is so easy, basically open up a bunch of cans, add a few other ingredients and there you have it.


Tortilla Soup

2 cups of cubed chicken breast
2 Tablespoons of olive oil
3 or 4 garlic cloves
1/2-1 cup onion (depends on how much you like onion...I love it)
4 cans of condensed chicken broth
1 can of water
1 28 oz. crushed tomatoes
1 4 oz can of diced green chilis
1 can golden or white hominy
1 can of corn
1 can of black beans, rinsed
1 teaspoon of cumin, and then a few more shakes (i really like the cumin flavor)
1 teaspoon of lime juice (I didn't have any and it didn't make a difference)
1/2 teaspoon of chili powder
garlic powder to taste

I cooked the chicken, set aside. Saute onion and garlic in some olive oil. Add the chicken, soup, water, tomatoes, chilis, hominy, corn, beans, cumin, lime juice, chili powder, and garlic powder. Bring it to a boil. Reduce heat and let it simmer for 40 minutes or so and it is DUNZO! The key is in the cumin. Just keep tasting it to how you like it. I like to really taste it.

Serve it with all sorts of fun toppings. For example: sour cream, tortilla, tortilla chips, cilantro, green onions, Colby jack cheese, (or any kind of cheese really) I am sure avocados would be super but haven't ever done that.

Seriously, make this soup! Put half of it in a zip lock and freeze it and you have a fabulous meal all ready for you for another time. You won't regret it.

UCLA vs. BYU

We went to the UCLA vs. BYU game yesterday in Pasadena and it was a ton of fun! Crazy though, we were cheering for UCLA! My good friend Andrea married the quarterback and so we were rooting for him! The weather was great, the girls were great, and just getting out of Ft. Irwin for a day was great!

It was funny being surrounded by UCLA fans. Of course, they didn't know we were LDS and they kept yelling things like "Sit down and go to church!" or "Boo-Y-U!" (which by the way was a pretty lame attempt at jeering!) We weren't cheering against BYU, just not really for them. (Corky just said I am rationalizing myself for all those BYU fans out there reading this!) We will cheer for BYU at every other game, just not this one. So of course we were pleased with the outcome! It was a really good game and like I said, the girls were troopers! We especially had so much fun hanging out with our friends after the game and catching up a little.

p.s. To my soccer girls...we were at the Rose Bowl. Quite the memories there, right? The good old World Cup? I could almost see Brandy Chastain running around, waving her shirt around!

Happy, Happy Birthday!

Today was Corky's birthday. He is the BIG 2-8!! You know, its kind of funny to me that he is 28. It doesn't seem that old to me now, but I remember when my mom was 28 years old....and I sure did think it was old then!

Happy Birthday Corky! Love you!

Classic Me!

I know what you are all thinking "Whoa! 3 posts in 3 days for Morgan...that is some kind of record!" Well this post is sort of pointless. All I care to do right now is showcase another example of why Heavenly Father made me a blonde! (so that I would have an excuse I guess) I just finished my morning walk/jog. As I am putting my stroller away in the garage, I go to click the brake on. Wouldn't you know it, the brake was ALREADY on!! I went 3.2 miles with the jogging stroller brake on!!!!!! I am not kidding, at about mile 1 I thought to myself "This stroller seems heavy today!" But do you think that I had the brains to check the brake? There goes about 2 years of tire life, right? Doh!!

Since I got a better workout, does that mean I can eat more sugar today??

All about him...and us.

1. Who is your man? Corky Travis
2. How long have you been together? We met 6 years, almost to the day. (Sep. 8th, to be exact. )
3. How long dated? We dated for 1 year and 9 months. The last 6 of those months we were engaged.
4. How old is your man? 28 on Friday
5. Who eats more? I do. My metabolism is faster these days! :)
6. Who said "I love you" first? He did, on the phone I think.
7. Who is taller? Corky, by 3 inches.
8. Who sings better? I sing the high notes, he sings the low notes.
9. Who is smarter? Corky...no doubt.
10. Who's temper is worse? mine. But that makes it sound like I have a bad temper. I don't really, only slightly. He doesn't at all.
11. Who does the laundry? I do.
12. Who does the dishes? We put our own dishes in the dishwasher throughout the day, but he does the dinner dishes and cleanup. He's awesome!
13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Corky (if you are both laying flat in the bed, he is on my right. (I am closer to the bathroom))
14. Who pays the bills? He makes the money, we both pay the bills. Whoever opens the bill then we just put it in the computer right then.
15. Who is better with the computer? Him for sure.
16. Who mows the lawn? Corky
17. Who cooks dinner? Me. Unless we are grilling, that is his thing.
18. Who drives when you are together? Corky
19. Who pays when you go out? Who ever is holding the cash.
20. Who is most stubborn? Me for sure.
21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? He will for sure, if he ever is wrong. Usually he isn't. (which means I need to be better at admitting when I am wrong.)
22. Whose parents do you see the most? Used to be mine, now I think it is a little more equal since we don't take nearly as many trips to SG.
23. Who kissed who first? He kissed me first, but I forced him! :)
24. Who asked who out? He asked me. 2 weeks after we met. Oh...the memories!
25. Who proposed? He did.
26. Who is more sensitive? I cry more so deos that mean me? If that is not what that means than I would say we are both the same.
27. Who has more friends? I do, only because I am better at keeping in touch with people than he is.
28. Who has more siblings? I do.
29. Who wears the pants in the family? Definitely equal.

What am I thinking?

I just sat here at my computer for 1 hour and 30 minutes and caught up on my celebrity gossip, fellow blogger's websites, headline news, and then more celebrity gossip (to make sure I didn't miss anything). My girls have been sleeping for an hour and a half and that time to me is precious! I could have had the entire house clean and completely recovered from our weekend trip....but no! I am the QUEEN of getting sidetracked! The other night, Corky and I put the girls to bed and I came downstairs to fold the laundry that was in the dryer. Do you think I did that? Nope. I sat at the computer and listened to music for 2 hours!! 2 hours and 10 minutes to be exact. The bright side is that I found some great new British artists that I will be adding to my itunes library!

Anyway, as I finish up writing this entry I hear my little Emily waking up from her nap....with Gracey most likely waking up shortly as well. My precious moments of alone time are coming to an end. I was about to write that my play time is over, but that is not entirely true. Now the play time is just beginning as I go to play with building blocks, leggos, play-doh, and baby dolls.

Finally!

PART 1:

Last Friday, Corky and I decided that it would be the last day for Gracey to wear diapers. We had the weekend to try and work her into using the toilet so we figured it wouldn't be too bad. She wanted NOTHING to do with the toilet, needless to say we were cleaning up and doing lots of laundry. It wasn't as bad as I expected though which showed me that she would be able to use the toilet when she chose to. She would hold it very well for the most part. We figured after so many accidents, she would get tired of it. We tried bribing with all sorts of stuff but she didn't care. I kept remembering so many people say "when they are ready, you'll know" Well, when my child is verbally communicating to me by saying "Mom, I am going to go to the other room to poop in my diaper" then I figure she is able to sit on the toilet to do it. Another piece of advice that was given to us was that once you choose to take her out of diapers, don't go back. So we stuck to our guns and sure enough, Monday morning she started going pee in the toilet! Hallelujah!! I finally saw light at the end of the tunnel. We haven't had a peeing accident since then (except for at night) and she is finally pooping on the toilet too. Woo Hoo!! What did the trick was getting a bunch of dollar bin toys and wrapping them individually. When she went to the bathroom she got to pick one to open. She loved it and even though there are still 2 or 3 presents to unwrap, she isn't even asking anymore. It really has been great! I joked to Corky though the first days of success that what we will save in diapers....we will pay in dental bills for all the candy and treats we are bribing her with!

Of course we expect accidents to continue as we all get the hang of it, but we are so happy that she is done with diapers. I really wanted her to be done by 3 years old and lucky for all of us, she is 2 and 3/4!

PART 2:

Before church on Sunday, I put Emily's hair in a ponytail...if you can even call it that! I took it out immediately! I took her into Corky and said "I bet you didn't think you had a unicorn for a daughter!" She didn't seem to mind it but I was afraid that it was pulled too tight and would hurt her. I guess we will just stick to headbands for now.

PART 3:

Corky and I have both had our little stints of sinus problems the past few months. I had a sinus infection in July and it totally stunk. I have never had sinus problems before but I think the desert is finally taking its toll on the both of us. Anyway, I am pretty sure that I have another sinus infection, or something close to it. Corky too. Well I really hated the anti-biotic that they put me on. It made my throat really sore and dry and it made nursing really difficult too. SOOO, I splurged and ordered a Neti pot. I saw it featured on "Oprah" a while back and then a follow up on it, people swore that it changed their lives. These people who had sinus issues their entire lives we claiming that this little thing helped them tremendously! Corky and I used it for the first time tonight. We already feel a little better but it will probably take a few days for us to really feel the difference that we are hoping for. I kind of got the giggles because I was a little nervous. I really hate the "water up the nose" feeling but as long as I was concentrating on breathing out of my mouth it wasn't bad.

Very interesting....actually! Enjoy the sexy picture of me using the Neti pot for the first time.

Sometimes...just for fun I like to dress my baby girl up and pretend that she is a boy!

JUST KIDDING!!!

I bought this shirt for Gracey when she is young and she definitely was able to pull it off because she had so much hair. By the time she was 6 months old, I could pull all of her hair into pigtails. Emily, not so much! She of course will be wearing a headband this evening because a baseball tank top doesn't really scream girl!!!!

Happy Birthday Grandma Joyce!!

Today is my mom's birthday! I hope she had a great one! She is one absolutely awesome lady! My siblings and I are have been so blessed to have her as our mom. She has always be easy to talk to, so understanding, and the best example to us. She is a great wife, a great mother, and a truly remarkable friend!

My girls love her so much. You should see Gracey light up when we talk to Grandma on the phone! It is fun to watch how much she loves her grandkids also!

Thanks Grandma, you're the BEST! We love you!

Gracey, the pre-schooler!

Today was a milestone for our little Gracey! She is now a pre-schooler! I know that its only pre-school, but it is so fun to watch her grow and do new things. We are incredibly fortunate to be able to have her be in the California Head-Start program. Usually there is a waiting list for higher enlisted and officers children, but luckily this year they added a few teachers so I believe that anyone who signed their child up was approved! She will go 5 days a week from 7:45-10:45am. As we were looking into the school I thought to myself "she is going to be in school for so long...why I am starting her so young?" Then I snapped out of it and realized that we really needed to take advantage of this opportunity while it lasts. It is government (california government I think??) funded organization so it is free! Her teachers seem great and we think she is really going to enjoy this. We don't expect her to be reading by the end of the school year or anything, but at the very least she will be playing with kids her own age for at least 15 hours a week! I won't pretend either that I won't absolutely enjoy having only Emily for 3 hours a day! I am excited to see what I can accomplish when I only have one little tyke to take care of for a few hours.

Here are some pictures of Gracey. She seems to be growing right before our eyes!

100+....not happening tonight!

So I have been totally out of the blogging loop these past few weeks and I am going to pay for it....when I get a minute or two of course!! I signed into my google reader (which I love so much) and it says I have over 100 new blogs to catch up with!! Huh?? Not even going to try tonight. I will post some collages of me and my family from the past few weeks. It has been eventful. We went to Universal Studios, St. George, Beaver Mountain, and Arizona. We had such a nice vacation. About half of the time was spent camping and so it was GREAT to get out of the heat. I didn't even want to come home to the 100+ tempatures. (look at that...another "100+" to tie into my title!)

Anyway, though this blog looks big because of pictures it is actually really short. Let the pictures tell the stories. I will insert some thoughts here and there I suppose.

This was our fun trip to Universal Studios. Corky and my sister's friend, Skyler, were chosen to participate in the Fear Factor show. Lots of fun!!!

Then when we were in St. George, Corky and I decided to take the girls to the Bluff Street park. Started fun, ended not so fun. Gracey got 2 staples in her head from the dome....from doing flips like you see in the picture. Watch out for nuts and bolts! The blood freaked her out the most. We used a diaper to soak most of it up at the beginning. The picture in the car was on our way to the ER. She was a trooper. By the time we got the hospital, she was laughing and telling the nurses "I was at the pawk and bonked my head on a scwew!"

The next big thing she did was got a hair cut! 7 inches!! I still need to take a picture of her holding the braid we saved from the hair salon!
One of my favorite parts of our trip was being able to see so much of one of my best friends in the world! Sara C. was married last week and Corky and I had a great time visiting her and her husband Chris. Wasn't Sara the cutest bride ever??? I LOVED the HOT PINK sash and shoes!

Straight from the wedding and luncheon, we drove to Arizona to go camping with some of Corky's family. We had a blast. I love to camp and believe it or not, I loved the rain we experienced the entire time. I guess not the entire time because it obviously isn't raining in any of the pictures....but you know what I mean. (whoops! another collage landed itself in there but I am too lazy right now to correct that)

So I guess that is our vacation. Maybe now that I am home I will be a more consistent blogger. Haven't I been saying that for a few months now? Someday, maybe! :)

chopped it off!

Today, Gracey and I went to the hair salon down the road and....brace yourselves...got her hair cut!!! I am talking CHOPPED OFF! A good 7 inches!! That is a ton of hair, especially for a 2 1/2 year old. She looks like she is 5 now and she completely loves it. When we say something about her new hair-do, she puts her head back and just shakes her hair. Her long hair was so gorgeous, for about an hour after I blow dried it and curled it, but she is such a tomboy that it is in snarls pretty quickly. This will make life much easier for all of us I think. I took a picture with my camera phone so the quality totally sucks but you get the idea. I will post before and after pictures possibly tomorrow. (maybe tonight if I decide to do that instead of read HP #7)

p.s. Gracey also will get staples taken out of her head tomorrow. She had a run in with a screw at the playground last week. All is well, she just has a little temporary hardware in her scalp!! :)

shameless plug...

For anyone who reads this, is in the St. George area, and likes Stampin Up products, my mom is hosting a pary tomorrow night (Wednesday). I am a demonstrator for the company and am LOVING it. Stampin up features products and supplies for cardmaking, scrapbooking, and other crafts. I am also doing another workshop Thursday night in St. George and if you would like the information for that, I would be happy to pass it on. The projects that we will be doing are really cute, really simple, but lots of fun to do. Let me know and I will email you all the information (i.e. time, address)

Nothing big... just a fun one.

Today has been so fun. My sister, Bailey, and her friend Skyler are here for a visit. Tomorrow we are going to go to Universal Studios and will hang out there for the weekend. I will be MIA in the blogging world for a few days. (like I post a lot anyway) Meanwhile, here are few recent pictures of me and my girls.

Gracey, she is my tomboy with a purse! Anywhere we go, she has to make sure she has her barbie cell phone with her but she will gladly put it aside to dig in the dirt, climb a rock-wall, or throw a rock.

Emily is my cuddle-bug. She is such a sweet little thing and we can already tell she will be a sensitive one. If she hears Gracey cry (or whine) she gets that cute little "shelf" that makes you want to just buy her a car right then and there.

Doesn't that big grin just make your heart melt? I am not talking about mine....Emily's, duh! Just kidding!
(By the way, the sepia tone does wonders for covering up ginormous pimples on the chin!)