Out of my funk!

Oh man, have I been in a funk or what?

First I was sick and then I got better. And then I had a whole slew of projects thrown at me from all directions: patent drawings for a medical airway device that looks remarkably like a penis (I had to do multiples angles!), a Batman themed logo for a chiropractor (THE BACKMAN!), a Scrubs themed t-shirt design for my sister-in-law, more patent drawings, and blah blah blah.

And all the while, Clark kept giving me papers to sign. You have to sign a lot of papers to buy a house and I was being a brat and complaining that the house was too big and living in a big house was going to make me want to get pregnant to fill up all those empty rooms and I don't want to have to clean a big house that's full of babies and blah blah blah.

And then I realized that if my biggest problems are being too busy and having to live in a big house, then boy, I needed swift kick in the pants. So I went to a Bon Iver concert with my sister, had a fabulous time and came home determined to get out of my funk. And determined to finally edit and post some photos from my cousin Hannah's wedding.

It occurred to me that although I've been looking at these photos endlessly for 10 days now, no one else has seen them so I needed to hurry up and share them. Now I can't possibly include all of them but here some of the highlights...

Photos from the temple.

Photos from the reception venue.

And last, my favorite photos of the happy couple.

Mike and Hannah are insanely happy and I felt like a creepy stalker following them around all day taking photos. But it was lots of fun and it meant I got to spend tons of time with the bride and groom. Thank you guys for letting me stalk you all day!

If anyone is having trouble viewing these, please let me know.

Sneak Peek

I was just going to edit ONE photo (from the 1000+ I took this past weekend at Hannah's wedding) and then crawl back into bed, but I got too excited and edited three instead. I can't wait to feel better so I can get my hands (and my cursor) on the rest of them. And I promise, I have some with Mike looking at the camera. Hannah just looked too gorgeous in these ones to pass up.

So stay tuned for a report on the wedding and many, many more photos. And now, back to nursing my broncs/lungs.

Mission Accomplished

Do you know where your little brother is right now? I know where mine is! He's here.

This morning I flew to Las Vegas, met up with my brother Danny and flew back to Tucson with him. Then we drove out to Ft. Huachuca, AZ. And he didn't run on me or punch me in the face even a little bit. Not that he has a history of punching people in the face, but I was transporting him to an all boys working ranch in the middle of nowhere.* So he wasn't exactly jumping for joy. He was, however, smiling more than usual. He was quiet, probably a little nervous about being in a new place but he seemed proud about where he's been and what he's accomplished. I'm really excited about this next phase in his life. And I'm especially excited that I'll get to see him more often. When I get a chance to visit him, I'm going to visit this, this and this (all in the area). Who knows, maybe Danny will get to the point where he can come with me. That would be rad.

Thank you to everyone who made it possible for me to spend a day doing this- namely my dad and my amazing friend, Emily.

*My apologies to those of you who think the Benson/Sierra Vista/Tombstone area is not the middle of nowhere. But come on now, there are more rattlesnakes than people out there.

Signal Hill Petroglyphs

You know what I love about Arizona?

This.

It's no fall in New England, but boy, do I love a big blue sky over a vast desert of Saguaro and purple mountains in the distance. I love thinking about all the creepy crawlies that live out there... the coyotes, the rattlesnakes, the javelina, the tarantulas, the bobcats, the mountain lions, the scorpions, the mice, the foxes... the DANGER. It's kind of thrilling.

And I love how you can go for a hike (a half mile hike because this little cold of mine has turned me into a huge wuss) and stumble upon some PETROGLYPHS! That's right, prehistoric rock art made thousands of years ago.

It might look like graffiti, but it's not. Not hoodlums, but Hohokam indians. They pecked those designs into these very rocks many, many years ago. And who knows why? It's fascinating. Truly awesome and good old Arizona is filled with them. Is it too outrageous to try and see all the petroglyphs the Southwest has to offer? Maybe.

But it's good to know my family would be obliging if I did try. A big thank you to Clark for making sure both boys AND the dog didn't get eaten by a rattlesnake. He actually had to carry Fergus back down the mountain because he got too hot and tired.

If you know of any other good petroglyph hikes, please share. I can't wait for it to cool down because there's nothing like an Arizona winter.

Go on, check it out. You know you're as excited about rock art as I am...

Fergus

Clark says I've been reluctant to "blog the dog" because I don't like him. Yes, we got a puppy and yes, I have been a little reluctant to tell the world for a couple of reasons. First, remember Buckley? Yeah, neither do I. It's sad but he was a little too high energy for our family and when we moved to Tucson we didn't bring him with us. I thought my dogs days were done but then I think about Brody- you know, Brody? Brody who always lingered in the background of our videos, who was the chillest dog around, who was easy and sweet and who may have turned me into a secret dog-lover. Well, when I think about him, I wish we had a dog. And really, I wish my boys had a dog to grow up with.

Well, Clark finally wore me down. I told him I wanted a dog on the verge of death (more relaxed that way) but he brought this guy home instead...

He's a male boxer, fawn, born on the fourth of July. Booker named him Fergus because "like Callie's has, mom" (his aunt Callie has a chihuahua named Fergie that he loves) and also after one of his favorite books. The boys LOVE him, Clark loves him and I'll admit that he's pretty dang cute. Also, he earned points with me by curling up at my feet and cuddling with me during the entire Miss Universe pageant. Too bad Brody is not around to teach him a thing or two.

Close Enough

M: Alright, Booker, now smile.

B: Ok, mom.

M: And Ike, quit eating rocks.

M: Yeah, but Booker, you know... smile.

B: Ok, mom.

M: Right, ok bud. Just regular face, alright? You know, regular face.

B: Yeah, mom. Regular face.

M: Teichert Blaine, do not put things in your mouth! NOW SMILE!

M: Close enough.

California 2009

I think this was my 5th (or maybe 6th) annual beach trip with the Proffitts. Though Clark's family has been coming for years and years. How my in-laws managed to take 11 kids camping for a week every year, is beyond me. But I'm sure glad they started such a fun tradition. This year we had 14 adults and 30 kids (or so I've heard). Each year, we stay at the KOA in various motor homes, tent trailers and tents in sites right next to each other. I wish I had taken more pictures at the campground because I love spending time at the KOA almost as much as sitting on the beach. We eat our meals together, sit around a campfire together and let our kids run wild together. It's heaven.

Here you see our sites... at 6 in the morning. Yes, my boys didn't want to miss anything so they decided that waking up at the crack of dawn all week would be a great idea.

So we took lots of early morning walks. And I made Booker push the stroller the whole way because I was too darn tired. That lady in the background probably thinks I'm cruel. At least I got to see some awesome sunrises.

Each morning, we wake up, make lunches and head to the beach. Because our family is one of the smallest (and because we had already been awake for HOURS), Clark and I were usually the first at the beach- which meant we had the responsibility of securing prime beach real estate for everyone else. We had to tell a nice Eastern European family to quit encroaching on our territory which made me feel awful.

But it was necessary- see, we take up a TON of room. And this year, the beach seemed to be more crowded than usual. Luckily, we only lost one child the entire week (is that right?). Of course, it was mine. Booker wasn't even lost that long and thankfully, he's the type of kid to sit down with a sad look on his face and wait for someone to find him. I feel much worse about losing Greg's flipper than I do about losing Booker. I'm so sorry about your flipper, Greg!

We took lots of walks on the pier where the sights AND the smells were intriguing- think homeless people fishing for their lunches...

And lots of trips to the ice cream store. Teichert loved being carted around in his backpack, complete with sunshade.

He wasn't as thrilled to take a nap each day. This tent-within-a-tent setup made sure he couldn't escape, but it also made for a very hot nap.

This kid ate sand by the fistful.

This guy didn't eat sand but he fell down...a lot. So he was constantly covered in sand, which made reapplying sunscreen somewhat difficult.

And he spent a lot of time thinking about boogie-boarding.

But never did. Maybe next year. In fact, I don't think he fully got in the water once.

Teichert, on the other hand, loved the water.

Booker just preferred to play with his cousins. Or in this case, fight with them. This picture cracks me up. I noticed that Booker and Dax were missing and when I asked Clark to go look for them, he found them in this hole... locked in a death grip. Who knows what the started the fight, it clearly wasn't going anywhere.

I love this shot of my nieces and nephews.

And this one of Brenley, Booker and Trigg.

And here are a ton of photos. Like I mentioned before, I lost a bunch. And that included one of my brother-in-law Dan that I promised would make the blog- will an honorable mention cut it? I'm so disappointed, but at least I have some photos to remind me all tremendous fun we had. Can I start a countdown until next year's trip?

La Jolla Seal Colony

I think I've been so reluctant to blog about our vacation to California because it will mean that it really is over- long gone until next year. Plus, I was stressing over giving a talk in church yesterday and throwing a birthday party for Booker on Saturday, but now that all that is over, I'm out of excuses.

I'll start with our quick trip to the La Jolla coves and seal colony. Apparently, it's a man made cove that was intended to be used by children but eventually the seals took over. We saw a good number of seals, including the cutest little baby seal. Then we tried to get Booker to check out some of the caves but he was having none of it. Maybe next year.

Same slideshow here.

Coming soon...

to a blog near you- a report on our awesome vacation to San Diego complete with tons of photos but sadly, not all of the photos I took because I lost several to an overly full laptop hard drive. Grrrrrrrr, my insides hurt thinking about those lost photos.

Anyways, I'll return to my usual blogging frequency as soon as I get back into the swing of things, namely learning how to shop, cook and eat vegetarian (Clark's idea, not mine). Tips?

Peace Out Arizona

and your ridiculously hot weather.

Tomorrow we are leaving for the annual Proffitt beach camp out in San Diego. And I am so freaking excited. I've spent all week gathering, washing, packing and stressing about how on earth I was going to fit a week's worth of camping gear in our car.

And since I probably would have lost sleep over it, Clark and I decided to pack up the car tonight instead of tomorrow. Amazingly, everything fit (with the help of our roof rack and our mad space-utilizing skills). Even the Elmo potty made it! Unfortunately, the best spot for it was between the boys (don't worry, I thoroughly disinfected it before putting it in the car).

So we'll be taking a little blogging vacation because of our real life vacation for the next 10 days. See you on the other side!

I wish...

Booker didn't love cous cous as much as he does.

The Perfect Poori

When I was growing up, our family ate Indian food like other families ate macaroni and cheese. I don't ever recall a Saturday morning filled with pancakes or waffles, but we did eat a lot of pooris with laughing cow cheese for breakfast. All the time in fact.

So when my sister said she was coming to visit and she was bringing ingredients to make pooris, I was thrilled! They turned out perfectly even though you're technically supposed to used chapati flour (she used whole wheat instead). I couldn't taste the difference.

*Marie left me half of the dough and I just finished frying them up. They're burnt, deformed and flat. Plus I set off the smoke alarm and burned my finger. Come back, Marie and make me lots of pooris!

Think Pink Pride

So just when you thought I couldn't possibly neglect my children any further, I went and opened a t-shirt store. Now before you get in a tizzy, it was really easy and pretty much anyone with 5 minutes of free time can open an online t-shirt store. Making the designs is the hard part but that's what Saturday mornings are for (and Friday nights- sorry, honey).

I can't take credit for all the slogans but I did have Clark run a search to make sure I'm not going to get sued. "Early Detection is Protection," "When Life Gives You Lemonade," and (my favorite because it's so dorky) "BRCAn't Stop Me" are all Margaret originals. In fact, I just found out that "When Life Gives You Lemons" was selected as a featured product and will appear on the Zazzle homepage under Today's Best. Woot woot.

Hopefully this will increase traffic to my store because all profits will be donated to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. If there's a shirt you'd like to see, please leave a comment. I'll continue to add shirts/products so keep checking back.

Anyways, without further ado please visit my store.

And for the record, I don't have any control over the cost. You can, however, customize each shirt which increases or decreases the overall cost.

Yes, these are fake...

Maybe I've jumped on the breast cancer band wagon a little too much, but I heard this funny slogan and I immediately wanted to make a t-shirt with it. My mom hasn't had her double mastectomy yet (let alone reconstruction) but when she does, I hope she will wear one of my shirts! I'm even thinking about having several printed so she can give them out around the cancer ward to other breast cancer patients/survivors. Problem is, I can't decide which design I like best. Help me out blog readers and leave your vote in the comment section. Which one should I print?

Design 1

Design 2

Design 3

Grace

I took this picture a few weeks ago while visiting my brother at UNI. It makes me happy. It makes me sad. It makes me wish there were more opportunities for Booker and Ike to read I Spy books with their Uncle Danny.

I had forgotten all about this photo until I got an email today. It's an email I get every week- a newsletter from the rehab center where my sister got sober. Somehow I got on the mailing list and I never bothered to take myself off. I usually skip over it but today I decided to read it and I liked what I read. It's an excerpt called "Perfectly Broken" from comedian, author, speaker and recovering addict Mark Lundholm:

I have a chemically challenged anatomy, a drug resistant soul and a penchant for guessing incorrectly when it comes to the betterment of others… and I talk to myself as well. Because I am terminally self-centered, there are certain symptoms I display: I am spiritually retarded, emotionally invisible, financially irresponsible, socially phobic and almost pathological when it comes to lying. And that “almost”? That is my saving grace! See, there is a slim window of truth I gaze through every morning I wake up. It is the slightest chance that, even with my character defects, broken moral compass and natural ability to sabotage success, I can adjust my perception, manipulate my attitude and walk in the light of health, happiness and hope. I am a recovering drug addict; a product of incarceration, information, education and transformation. These have given me an umpteenth opportunity to avoid ending up in the morgue hopeless, helpless, ruthless, and toothless. I am alive and well. Doesn’t seem fair.

If life was fair, I would have been doing forever in prison or buried in my own filth in some alley right now. Fortunately, life is not fair and that simple slice of grace has allowed me more time to discover the truth about a disease that has plagued mankind since the very first cry of a newborn child. Addiction can walk safely among us because it will disguise itself as confidence or focus or passion or persistence. Beautiful words for a brutal condition. In truth, addiction is energy without grace. It is a boundless force of nature that erodes the human heart, wisdom and humility that balanced people seem to use to avoid becoming a willing participant in a lifestyle that says “Me first, second, last and always! You?... Never!”

Most people have a credo of live and let live, or follow the golden rule. Most. The rest of us confuse tools that become weapons and the irresistible arrogance of imagining we can out-think a physical disease. Hint: try using willpower, IQ or spirituality to stop diarrhea! Some things in life you just have to surrender to, adjust to, just to survive. I am no longer the willing victim I was in my addiction days of cocaine, speed, alcohol and other clever chemical pursuits. I have been taught by other recovering individuals that addiction to anything… money, power, work, smoking, food, golf, computers, sex, shopping… is treatable. I have been liberated by the knowledge that my liabilities as a practicing addict can now become finely tuned assets that allow me to deftly navigate the foreign terrain of relationships, employment, success and excellence. I am allowed on a daily basis to make a 180 degree rotation toward health even though my primary nature is flawed and my first thought is always wrong. That is my heritage, not my legacy. “First thought wrong” say relapse, dabble, delay, decay, dissolve, destroy and disappear. My second thought (or tenth if I am off my game that day) is “What?! Again? How has that worked for you in the past? Yeah, that’s what I thought!”

Oh, I still talk to myself. But these days I do it when no one else is around AND I have deeper, lengthier, healthier discussions. Energy with a little grace.

I'm not going to pretend that I know the first thing about addiction, but somehow that excerpt resonates with me. It gives me hope. I hope that there will continue to be a "slice of grace" for Danny. I've seen how grace (and a helluva lot of hard work) transformed my sister's life and I hope/pray/beg/plead that he can have a similar outcome.

I guess I'm glad life is unfair and illogical. By all accounts, Danny should be in a morgue hopeless, helpless, ruthless and toothless. But he's not. I know where he is tonight and I'm pretty sure he still has all his teeth.

Today, I am thankful for grace.

The Stadium of Fire Fireworks

We ended our day of festivities by heading out to the field behind my parents' house to watch the Stadium of Fire fireworks (but not before we made the baldies take a picture together- check it out below). We sat in the dark and listened to the Jonas Brothers perform America the Beautiful and oddly enough, Sweet Caroline. The fireworks, as usual, were fantastic. It sprinkled a little bit at first but cleared up in time for the finale. The best part? I didn't have to sit in terrible traffic afterwards to get home. I just walked inside and went to bed. It was a fantastic day made all the better because Clark was there with us. I can't believe that one year ago we spent the Fourth celebrating in Tucson. Time sure does fly.

Same slideshow here.