Friends

The kids and I just got back from a great day! We got to visit some old friends that we hadn't seen in a long time. And, no, I didn't take out the camera. I did better than usual--I actually took it on our adventure, but I need to be a better blogger and take more pictures--for you!

Anyhow, we met about 4 1/2 years ago when we lived next door to each other in an apartment building, here in town. I had to move soon after due to the presence of my run-in with a certifiable crazy woman...that is a whole other post! We have been able to keep in touch after several moves and now we are living about 30 minutes away from each other. I'm so glad they live so close! I have trouble finding "bosom friends".

We let the kids play and we just talked for 3 1/2 hours! It was really nice. We are planning to have them come visit soon, so that they can see our new house, too!

I hope we can always keep in touch. I just love her and our sons are great friends, too. (The girls are too young to care beyond that day!)

Love Journal

Many of us use a blog as a journal, me included. It is a great place to keep things as long as you back it up, to make sure it doesn't get erased. I haven't had this happen, but I know many who have. I also love to write in a paper journal. I've done it off and on since I was about 10 years old. I love to be able to go back and see what I was thinking (or not thinking) about. I also like to be able to get the memory boost. I have a horrible memory, but if I know about when something happened, I can go and hope that I wrote about it. It is really fun to look back at the same time in different years to see how my life was changing.

Captain Marvelous and I started a "Love Journal" several years ago. It is a place for us to write love letters to each other and leave them on the pillow or somewhere the other will find them. It is a great way to remember how we feel about each other and read about how much we love and appreciate each other. Just as long as we don't loose it for several years!

Explanations

I keep seeing my profile and since I just did a list of random things describing me, it might be fun to explain them. When you don't have anything to talk about (other than pregnancy and whining about my weeds) why not talk about myself. You know you are just dying to know!

Tirzah--This is my real name, only spelled more "correctly". My mom wasn't sure how to spell it, so she didn't spell it this way. Too bad the internet wasn't around then. Now, you can look up names and get alternate spellings as well as sound files of pronunciations. She found it on Ben Hur. I still have goals to first watch the whole movie from beginning to end (thanks Netflix) and second to actually read the book someday. Tirzah was Judah Ben-Hur's sister.

Daughter of God --It is so important for each of us to know where we came from and if we know that we are each truly children of God, then we should have a better understanding of what life is all about.

Wife--I love being married. I've been married to my best friend for a little over eight years and they have been wonderful years! We really work well together and are still very much in love!

Mother--I am mother to two, almost three wonderful kids! They make me smile and I hope I am doing a good job of helping them along in this life!

Sister--I have 3 siblings, two brothers and one sister. We are so different from each other. I don't get to talk to my brothers very often, but I talk to my sister at least weekly online!

Friend--I hope I am a good friend. I've never been very good at having close friends that I can hang out with. I'm more of a talk your ear off on the phone kind of friend and wish I could find that "bosom friend". I usually have tons of great acquaintances that I love but not someone I can just "be" with. (Other than My Man!)

Singer--I love to sing! In school and church, I have always been involved in choir. (Except when there wasn't one.) I love to belt it out to 30s and 40s jazz! I haven't been as good at performing at church and things lately, but I love music and I plan to do better with sharing my talent!

Grower--I love to watch things grow. Plants and children are my favorites. It is so fun to watch the changes and developments as things start small and grow into fully developed things/creatures.

Book-a-holic--I love to read! I usually have some kind of book in my hand (or on my night stand). This pregnancy has fried my brain, though and it has been harder for me to sit down with books that require much thought!

Lover of SPRING--Having grown up in Florida, there really is only one season--summer. There is full-on summer and mild summer, but there really isn't a winter to be mentioned. I love the change of seasons, especially when the spring comes and the world comes back to life!

Horticulturist--I didn't know what to go to school for until my husband pointed out that I loved plants and should try to study that. I thought it was a great idea, so I went and got a bachelor's degree in horticulture. I loved it and I still do!

Crochet-a-holic--I am addicted to crochet. If I need something, I usually try to find a way to make it by crocheting. So many things can be done with crochet. I just love it! I've been doing it since I was 12 or 13 and I hope I never have to stop! Carpal tunnel syndrome has halted me a bit, but I have been able to do it, again!!

Mormon--I was raised as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I love it and I have a testimony of it's truthfulness. It is the Truth and it is a wonderful way to live. There are so many things trying to pull us away from God and from our families in this world. The Mormon Church is a way to strengthen myself and my family and bring us closer to God!

Dog owner--I didn't have a dog until about two years ago. We got one for my graduation present. I think I'm still not used to her....

Thinker--I crave thinking things through all the way. I'm sure it drives people crazy, too because the way I do it is by talking. I have to talk the situation out for a while before I figure out a good solution. Sometimes I'll talk something out with someone and then have to go back later and talk more to give the real solution!

Doer--I like to get things done. I'm still a procrastinator, but when things need to be done, I'll get them done...It may just take me a while to get to it! ;)

Floridian by birth--I was born in Orlando, Florida and lived there until I was 21. I always hated the climate and told my mom that I wanted to live somewhere else. She thought I'd fall in love with another Floridian, but she was wrong...

Utahan by love--I met my husband online and we fell in love fairly quickly. We met and got engaged. Now we've been married for 8 years and it is strange to think that that is how we met! I love the weather in Utah. I love cold better than hot weather, so this suits me fine! And the heat here isn't so bad because it's drier than Florida by far!

List maker--I love lists. They make me feel in control. I have to know that everything is taken care of and done! Lately, most of my lists are in my Palm Pilot and help me keep myself and family taken care of!

Purse collector--I love purses. I should have probably written bags, since I really don't like to have to carry a purse. I'd rather have a little wallet or very small purse. I also love totes and other bags. I have several. I like to be able to switch from a large bag to a small one depending on what I am doing or on my mood.

Play-doh sniffer--I love the smell of Play-doh. I don't know what it is. It has a mild and comforting smell. It reminds me of children and childhood. (This is one of the big reasons I wanted to explain my list-it kind of makes me sound like some kind of weird addict!)

Shoe hater--I actually love shoes, but they rarely fit my huge feet, so I guess I have a love/hate relationship with shoes. I love to see cute shoes on other people and wish I could wear them, so I hate them! I especially hate shopping for shoes!

Crafter--I. Love. To. Make. Things. It doesn't matter if it is food, clothing, toys, blankets. It doesn't matter what the medium is. I love to learn new things. I love to crochet, knit, sew, cook, make hair bows, I want to learn to quilt, the list goes on. I just like to be making things.

Morning person--I don't do well after about 9 pm and I love to get things done before noon. I like to be up early and think of all the things I've done when it is only 8 am!

Political Moderate--I grew up in a very, VERY Republican home, but now I am a lot more moderate. I tend to lean towards the left in a lot of ways, but I still like a lot of the Republican views as well. There is rarely a candidate that really suits me. I think both "sides" have good things going for them and it shouldn't be (and really isn't) just one way or the other.

Well, that's it. I hope you enjoyed this little installment of the mind of Tirzah!

Ourstory.com

I found a neat site! It's called Ourstory.com. It's free!!

You can set up a timeline or answer questions about your life. It is really neat, because it allows you to remember and record your personal, family, love, baby or any other type of history that you'd like! I just found a cookbook on there as well! You can include pictures, memories, dates, etc!!

You can even share your timeline on your blog!

It looks really neat! Go check it out!

I am a freak!

We were going to get some groceries and I saw one of the ugliest insects I have ever seen. (That is saying a lot, because I took an entomology class and got to study lots of icky insects!)

So, anyway, I was carrying Belle and trying to avoid the flying maniac. It landed on my shoulder and I became a flailing maniac. I put Belle down and tried to get the thing off. I was screaming like a...okay, like a girl! It was not pleasant. It finally flew off. I don't know what the thing was. All I know is that it had huge black poky things coming off of it!!

Aaron proceeded to make fun of me for acting like such a freak-show. It was quite the spectacle. There were probably people thinking I was schizophrenic... Oh, well. At least I didn't get stung...I wonder if it could sting. I am getting the willies just thinking about that thing.

Tirzah--How I got my name

Okay, so my name is Tirzah, but it isn't spelled that way on my birth certificate. When my mom was a girl, she watched the movie Ben Hur. Judah Ben Hur (the main character, played by Charlton Heston) had a sister named Tirzah. Long story short, she was imprisoned for years for a crime that she didn't commit and that wasn't really a crime in the first place and contracted leprosy. She then had to live in a leper colony with her mother. She is healed by the blood of Christ, due to her faith. My mom really liked the story and the name. She didn't know how to spell it and so she didn't spell it the way it sounds. I found out a couple of ways to spell it (Thirza being the other) and I have been using it in unofficial ways since then. I really like my name. A lot of people think it is Teresa and so I am called that a lot. I don't really mind it as long as people don't do it on purpose. I am used to it. The one thing I always wanted was a middle name. My mom couldn't think of one that would sound good with my name and that wouldn't "mess it up". In high school, I learned that I could pay to legally give myself a middle name. I spent lots of time thinking about it and asking for suggestions, but I guess it is really hard to find one that does go. My mom was right. So, I never chose one and I have used my maiden name as a middle name. I'm okay with that, now. But, I definitely wanted all of my children to have middle names. Many people here in Utah think that girls don't need middle names because they are just going to be married and use their middle names. I totally disagree and I want to give my kids, middle names. Aaron's idea is you can give your kids' middle names that you'd never give as a first name, but that you love anyway!

Oh, it is a goal, someday, to read Ben Hur!!

7 Years Today

Today is our 7th anniversary!! It is pretty handy to be married in the year 2000. You don't really have to worry about figuring out the number of years you've been married...if you have trouble with that sort of thing.

This is one of our engagement pictures. This is my favorite picture of us together.

Anyway, I thought I'd share the story of how I met my husband, today. I was in Florida and my sister had been in a car accident. She needed help with housework and she needed company. So, I left home and went to stay with her for a while. She had gotten into making a lot of friends online, on an instant message system. She taught me how to use it and I started talking to people. Well, I had put in my profile my age and that I was LDS. Anyway, one day I was online and I got an instant message that just said "Hello" (I think). I said "Who are you?" or something equally rude. Amazingly, we kept talking. Aaron was in Utah and his sister had been making new friends online. She helped him learn the system and when he did a search for a female who was LDS and between the ages of 18 & 25, he found me! Thanks to the Internet and our sisters, we met!

Well, we kept chatting online and eventually called each other on the phone. We sent videos to each other to show our lives and that was fun.

So, we met online at the end of May 1999. At the end of September 1999, I flew out to Utah to meet Aaron. There was a big debate about who would come with me. I was going to take a big burly cousin or my dad (also big and burly), but I eventually talked everyone into letting me go alone. After all, we were meeting in the airport. I think there are probably still friends worried that one day I'll end up dead in the desert... But, I am just fine. Back to the story: We met at the airport and all the way to his parents' house, we couldn't stop laughing. I think that it was just too weird to be together. We knew each other better than most people who had known each other for four months. All we had was talking, so we talked a lot. We knew a lot about each other! We got engaged while I was out here and I went back home a few days after coming. Aaron flew out to meet my family in November and I moved out to Utah in mid-December. We wanted to get married over Christmas break, but his mom talked us into waiting. I'm glad she did, because it would have been really weird. We still needed to get to know each other in person and get used to being around each other before we got married.


Well, the first part of March 2000, we flew back to Florida and had a pre-honeymoon at Disney World. Then, on March 14, 2000, we got married in the Orlando Florida LDS Temple!!! We flew back to Utah and went on our honeymoon to southern Utah and Zion National Park!

It has been a wonderful 7 years! We have gone through some really challenging experiences, but we did it together and have grown closer with them. We have had some really wonderful experiences. We have two beautiful children! We have such a great relationship. We talk a lot. We spend all the time we can together! I love Aaron so much! I am so thankful to have him in my life. I don't know where I'd be without him!

Here are the lyrics to "our song". It is kind of funny, since it is from You've Got Mail. The words are really fitting for how we met and are. (I couldn't find an audio code for it.)


Carole King - Anyone At All

Funny how I feel more myself with you
Than anybody else that I ever knew
I hear it in your voice,see it in your face
You've become a memory I can't erase
You could have been anyone at all
A stranger falling out of the blue
I'm so glad it was you
It wasn't in the plan,not that I could see
Suddenly a miracle came to me
Safe within your arms I can say what's true
Nothing in the world I would keep from you
You could have been anyone at all
An old friend calling out of the blue
I'm so glad it was you
Words can hurt you if you let them
People say them and forget them
Words can promise,words can lie
But your words make me feel like I can fly
You could have been anyone at all
And that's what catches me when I fall
I'm so glad it was you
You could have been...

Here we are now!

The funny thing about us meeting on the Internet is that neither of us had really been online like that before and we aren't really stuck on the Internet, now. We have lives and interests outside of online. Many times, the image of people who meet online is that they are pretty much online all the time. It was just where we needed to meet to find each other. I sometimes wonder what would have happened had we met in person first...

Icicles

I grew up in Florida, so this cold weather is relatively new to me. We have had negative temperatures for a week or so, now. Icicles have been forming and it reminds me of "winter" in Florida. As a child, if we thought it might freeze overnight, we would turn a hose on and let it spray on a tree or something, hoping for icicles in the morning. We rarely got them, but when I see them, for real, I remember trying to create them ourselves.


I thought the ice surrounding the blades of grass was really cool! Luke wanted to stomp all over it. I made him stop until I could at least take a picture.

I also LOVE snow. I don't like driving on it, but I love to watch the snow. When it is floating through the air, I think of a song we used to sing in high school choir. I don't know what it was called, but it had a phrase that said, "Snow is falling, gently falling through the frosty air..." I didn't really understand that fully as a kid. Now, I have experienced it. I know it is a simple thing, but I just love to see snow. I wonder if I will ever lose that. I never saw snow until I was 21! I had been to places where it would snow, just not at the right time of year.

Oooooh, Aaaaaah...

A couple of years ago, Aaron, his sister, Luke and I, went to look at neighborhood Christmas lights. She had Luke "Ooohing and Aaaahing" over every light we saw. This year we took the kids and I got them started on it again. Even Belle was saying it. It was adorable.

Thanksgiving

I have lived across the country from where I grew up for about seven years. I email and talk to my family a lot and so it isn't a big deal most of the year. For some reason, Thanksgiving is the time of year when I miss my family most. We would always get together for a huge family meal. Most of the cousins, aunts, uncles, Mom, Dad, brothers, sisters and Granny all are there. We talked, played and of course ATE! Granny makes this wonderful stuffing with mushrooms, bread crumbs, and chicken giblets. My husband thinks it is foul, but it is awesome. I miss that and the ham. Here we have really yummy turkey, but ham waits for Christmas. I think a lot of it is that Thanksgiving was the time of year that we always got together and spent a lot of time together. I really love my home and family here, but Thanksgiving time is still a bit tough for me.