The Watson Five

These are the people I love most in the world. Each one of them adds something different and fun to my life. I am so blessed to call them mine.

I am the WORST!!!!

So, I just checked this blog thinking that it might have been about a year since I last posted anything. WRONG! Try 3 years. Man, I cannot believe how quickly time flies.  Then, it had been so long that I forgot how to log in, forgot what account and password I had used to create this blog, and it has taken me a couple of hours to figure out how to reset everything.  I am SO AWFUL AT COMPUTERS!!!
Maybe That is what I can do when the kids start school next week - take a computer class. I'm sure Shanna will be relieved that I don't call her every week asking for help.

Anyway, I have decided to pick back up and blog again. I just printed a book from Facebook that has all my pics and posts from the entire year. I so love it.  It is like my journal. And reading back on all these posts makes me realize that I should keep documenting my life. I don't keep a regular journal. Never have. But I love having these records and photos to look back on. So here it is. My journal.

Where are we right now in our lives? Here's the brief update.
Lucy is a senior this year, and my heart is already breaking at the thought of her leaving me.
Hannah is a Freshman this year. About to start driving. Help.
Sam is in 5th grade. Plays the Saxophone and wants to be famous so bad he can hardly stand it.
Kelly is still with his job - Ethicon Surgical Care. He loves it and loves the freedom of working at home.
As for me, here's a list of what my life consists of at this moment.
Primary President
Show choir mom and co chair of our first ever Mid Iowa Show Choir Competition.
Wanna be Mialisia wonderwoman.  Turns out I am not so good at Direct Sales:(
Missing the many, many friends who have moved since my last post.  Seriously, I can count on 2 hands the number of people that I love who have moved away. But it is fun to go visit them and have girls trips every now and then!
Still being mom and trying to enjoy them all while I still have them. Thinking about Lucy leaving makes me so sad I don't know what I will do when the time comes.

How Time Flies

Have I really gone since JULY since I posted anything?

Friends, my life has been busy.  You know the drill.  Kids, 3 church callings, lots of home improvement and redecorating projects, babysitting, girls trips, endless errands, the list goes on and on.

I have a list of all the things I need to catch up on, and things to tell you about.  But it will all have to wait just a little longer.  It is 11:00 on Saturday night, and tomorrow is a LOOOOONG church day which includes 2 choir practices, one of which is in Ames.  So for now, I will leave you with a picture that I love from my recent 38th birthday party.

My sweet Hannah organized a surprise party for me (guest list was 4 people long!) and attempted to bake a 2 layer cake for the first time ever!  As you can see, the cake was not a smashing success.  Unless you look at it through the eyes of a mother, and then it is the most beautiful cake ever made!

Photos I Love

Today's installment of "Photos I Love" comes to you from Salt Lake City, Utah.  Home of one of the most amazing women in the world, June Fuller, my grandmother.

This photo was taken at her 90th birthday party.  This was the first time in a long time that so many family members were together in one place, and the room was filled with so many people who came to show their love for this lady.  M Russell Ballard from the quorum of the 12 even came.  He used to be her bishop.  I said to her, "Look how important you are!  An apostle even came to your birthday party!"  Her reply was "Oh, you mean little Russ?  He is a sweet boy."

When we visited her house during summer vacations, she woke us each morning to exercise with her.  We would walk through her Mt. Olympus neighborhood at a brisk pace - no slacking!  Then we'd return home to do whatever aerobics show was on the tv. 

How many grandmothers do YOU know that play golf and bowl on a league on a regular basis?
Well MINE did!  She was incredible.  I think she even bragged about bowling a perfect score once.  It was fun to watch her in action.  She had more energy than anyone I know (including myself!)

When I was in 2nd grade, my sister and I had to go live with her for a semester of school.  She enrolled us in the school where she worked as a lunch lady, and some of my favorite memories ever came from that time.  Even though it was a very troubling time for us, I never felt scared or worried when I was with her.  She took very good care of me and I will always love her for that.

Grandma was very careful not to waste anything.  We have a running joke in our family that we shouldn't throw away our straws, baggies or wax paper because until they melt away we could still be using them!  She taught me how to cook and save for a rainy day.  Her grocery shopping/coupon system was so exact that even though I would like to, I will never be able to replicate it!

When I went to school at the U of U, I stayed many weekends with her.  Several of my friends became regulars at her house and she loved them all as much as she loved me.  She chastised me when I needed it, often with a few minor swear words thrown in for good measure.  Like her favorite "you're such a dumb little s*@#! Why did you spend all of your money on that?  How are you going to buy groceries?"  Then leave me to figure it out, not knowing that my grandpa was slipping me $20s under the table!!

For all these reasons, and more, I cherish this photo of me and my grandmother.  She is such an important part of my life and I know that I am who I am today because of some of the lessons I learned from her.

Once Upon A Time.....

This is where it all started.  A tall skinny boy named Kelly Watson moved to Albuquerque when I was 15.  Was it love at first sight?  Um.....NO!  He had on white skinny jeans and a pink plaid shirt the first night we met at a church dance, and he made no real effort to be friendly to me.  (In his defense, I think I was wearing a vest and a BOW TIE that night.  Gotta love the 80's!!)

We did not hit it off for quite a while.  The boys and the girls were constantly feuding about a woman's place in the world, and the only words I used to describe him at that time were names of various animals of the 4 legged variety.  This lasted nearly 2 years.  Not exactly a fairy tale beginning.  But then one day, the tide turned.

It was Sunday.  I had gone to prom the night before and according to tradition, was wearing my prom dress to church.  I had to speak that day, and when I looked out on the congregation, Kelly winked at me.  I thought he was messing with me - trying to get me to mess up or something.  But later on when he passed me in the hallway, he said "You look pretty today".  WHAT?????  I had no idea what was going on.  Up until this, we hadn't really had a civilized conversation.  I was flustered, but intrigued!

The next Friday, the phone rang.  It was for me.  It was Kelly Watson.  He asked me to dinner. I was totally shocked.  I said yes.  Here is where I should probably mention that I had a boyfriend, but when suddenly faced with the option of a date with Kelly, I had to go.  I mean, what was happening?  Did he take some magic potion that had turned him from an ogre into a prince??? I had to find out.  So I accepted and off we went.   Now I will switch to the short version of the evening's events.  It could take hours to give a full account!

*We had dinner at a 50's style diner called Yesterdave's.
*We then rented Lethal Weapon at Blockbuster and went back to my house to watch it.
*When we got there, my BOYFRIEND had called and threatened to come over and beat Kelly up if   he didn't leave.
*Kelly, unaware of said boyfriend, was not pleased and left immediately.
*I got on the phone and into a 3 hour phone conversation where boyfriend was threatening suicide if I broke up with him.  I broke up with him.  He survived.
*Next day, I went to see Kelly to apologize and see if he would forgive me.  It went a little something like this:
     K:  Why didn't you tell me you already had a boyfriend?
     J:  Because I liked you and wanted to go out with you.  But I broke up with him right after you left.
     K: So you're not going out with him anymore?
     J:  No.
     K: So you can go out with me now?
     J:  YES!

And the rest, as they say, is history!  The next day, Sunday, we were sitting by each other holding hands at church, and people who had witnessed the hostility between us for the past 2 years were in shock!  There are still friends of my family who can't believe that we are married.  I can.  I have loved him from that very day until now.  We had lots of on-again-off-again moments, and we survived being separated for 2 years during a mission and college.  There are many funny, happy, not so happy (Senior Prom!!),  sweet and memorable stories that have made up our history.  Now that we are 30 somethings, we have been together more than half of our lives.  We have spent more years together than we ever spent without each other.  I have the life I always wanted thanks to the boy in the white skinny jeans.

I love you Kelly!  Happy Anniversary.

What a Difference......

This was the scene on February 20 of this year.  Just 7 short weeks ago:

 

The final, unwelcomed winter storm that made our spirits sink.  The unrelenting, grim, and merciless icy cold grip of winter to which it seemed there would be no end, went out with over a foot of snow and the roar of our shiny new snowblower!

When the snow finally melted and the sun came out to play, so did we!!!

Hooray for spring!  Hooray for outside play time!  Hooray for green grass and tshirts and sidewalk chalk!  Hooray for sunshine!  I'd almost forgotten how beautiful you were.

Ode to the Sun

Sunshine, sunshine, where have you gone?

I've forgotten how it felt

to play outside, instead I hide

inside - wishing the snow would melt.

Oh, how I long for bright blue skies

and temps above the TEENS!

I need your rays, and warmer days,

Instead of WHITE we need some GREEN!
 

My mood has been sour, my house a mess

my energy at an all time low.

My boots and my sweats really need a rest.

I JUST CANNOT TAKE MORE SNOW!!!

Sunshine, sunshine, PLEASE come back!

Drive all the gloomies away.

We're bored and we're cold - This is getting so old!

We all need to get out to play!