Update for the last couple of months.

Ammon had a birthday on March 17th, St. Patrick's Day and he turned 12 years old. He didn't want a party so we just celebrated at home. He's such a good kid, very responsible, very funny and gets straight A's. He goes to school with a lot of Russian kids and does a Russian accent VERY well. He gets shy when I ask him to do it around other people but when he does it's hilarious. He got braces on the day before his birthday and within a couple of days his front teeth were already straightening out. He hasn't allowed me to take a picture of him yet, but I'll get it.

A couple weekends ago, we took the boys and drove down the gorge to Beacon Rock and climbed up a rock. I had never been before and wanted to take pictures so I carried my tripod along with my huge camera bag with extra lens up a 848 foot rock. BAD IDEA! I wasn't in a bad mood when I started, but once I got going I realized I made a huge mistake by bringing the tripod and bag. Anson and the kids took off without me because I was slower...duh...and I enjoyed my time taking in the view and taking pictures along the way. Once I got to the top it was so disappointing. It was only a small area where only a handful of people could fit and then the view of the gorge was blocked by a couple of trees. I didn't even take pictures up there. We went back down and my shoulders were aching and let me tell you - I was sore for a week and a half because of that camera bag. Not fun.

We also had a garage sale last weekend to just get rid of the small stuff and Anson's music/lighting/sound equipment. We didn't even have our dressers, tables, beds, sofas and everything else and we did very well. We had non-stop traffic and at times we had so many people it was overwhelming! Anson couldn't believe that nobody bought this mask...I think he was happy about it and will keep it, unless it find it's way into the donation pile....shhhh.

What else, what else. Oh, Anson Jr. got his learning permit and started driver's ed. I'm not going to lie, it is stressful to be in the passenger seat while a 15 year old boy is behind the wheel and just learning to drive. At least his has until January of next year to practice, practice, practice.

I'm sure there's more but I'm tired, so that's it for now.

I am going CRAZY!!!

I just want to sell, donate, organize, and clean already! I am going crazy because it's so overwhelming to go through everything we've accumulated over the past 16+ years! I just want to get rid of everything now! We have to keep the big items, like couches, tables and beds until July, but I feel like I'm at a stand still! Anson wants to garage sell EVERYTHING, so nothing has left this house yet! I feel that if we don't get at least $5-10 per item then it should be donated. I think that's pretty reasonable and we'll just end up taking it to the D.I. anyway. I'm just trying to save some time! AAHhhh, it's frustrating!!!

Blessings

Anson Jr. came to me over a year ago wanting his patriarchal blessing but I told him to wait until he was a little older. In December he made an appointment with the bishop and then on Sunday we met with the Patriarch.

As soon as I walked in and sat down and before the Patriarch even spoke I felt the spirit so strongly that it was almost hard to breathe. We talked for a little bit, he got to know Anson Jr. a bit and then preceded with the blessing.

I felt the spirit even stronger then before and tears immediately began streaming down my face as the patriarch began speaking. Anson Jr. is an amazing young man and has a great future ahead of him. I feel honored to be his mother. I thought there were a lot of similarities between Anson Sr.'s and Jr.'s blessing and on the way home Anson Sr. expressed the same thing. It was such a great experience. Anson Jr. has been really cute checking the mail for the last couple of days hoping to get his blessing, but I told him it might be a little while. :)

Update: He got it in the mail this afternoon! That was fast!

We're moving....

to Fayetteville, North Carolina y'all!

Anson will be doing his internship there for a year and then we'll move back here. I have done a lot of reading about NC the last couple of days and I'm REALLY excited to move there! There's an island where wild horses run free, lots of shipwrecks underwater and on the beach, Blackbeard's hideout and much more! I cannot wait to get a change of scenery and take some pictures - not to mention visiting New York, Washington DC, Florida and everywhere in between!

We have a Service family reunion at the end of July in Idaho and from there we plan to go to NC. Nothing's set in stone, but that's the plan for now...which means that I will miss my Corier family reunion in August. I think it's more important to get the kids settled and a little familiar with the area before they start school.

I will use this blog to update friends and family while we're gone for that year - so I'm sure that I'll get back to posting regularly again.

Oh, I need to brag about Anson for a second. Last years doctoral students from Ansons school all waited a year to turn in their internship applications and only 4 from this years class including Anson. Many of them had interviews but Anson was the ONLY one from the two classes to get matched! Pretty awesome! He amazes me everyday. I can't wait for this new chapter in our lives! It is going to be a great adventure!

The Oregon Zoo

I went to the zoo yesterday to take some pictures and invited my sister Sarah along and her two kids Kenzie and Chase. We weren't prepared how cold it was and I think we all could have used a heavier coat, a hat, and gloves. We were there for 3 hours walking around and saw most every exhibit. I was a little bummed that there were no zebras or giraffes this time around because I love giraffes. Here are some animals we did see. (Click on the picture to enlarge it).

Watching the elephants feed was the highlight of the whole zoo experience for me. They are so massive, but seem so gentle. Some zookeeper's went into there area, to clean up after them and the elephants got in a line, grabbed the tail of the elephant in front of them with their trunk and walked around their habitat. It was the cutest thing. When the zookeepers finished cleaning, they fed the elephants who would take the grass and bring it to the water, soak it, wring the water out with their trunks, then eat it. It was so amazing to watch them. They are magnificent creatures. It kind of sounds weird, but I felt honored to be in their presence.

And here are some pictures of Sarah, Kenzie and Chase. I LOVED the underwater aquariums!

Etsy!

I have an Etsy store! It's very small right now and I will be adding more things as I design them, but it's finally up and running! I'm sure I don't have to tell you what I'm selling, because you probably already know! Fine, I'll tell you anyway. I'm selling tshirts, hoodies and sweatpants - mostly Twilight related with some Hunger Games mixed in there too. I have some other designs that I've been working on completely unrelated to Twilight so check back often to see what I come up with! Here's the link!!

http://www.etsy.com/people/ParamountPacific

My Birthday!

I thought Anson was going to be at school on my birthday, but since he had his interview in North Carolina he was home. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to spend the day with me because he had a counseling appointment and a massage scheduled.

So when I was planning what I wanted to do for my birthday, I wanted to go to a movie - alone, which, I was kind of looking forward to, then I was going to pick up some flowers, and go out to dinner with Anson later that night. I also wanted to donate blood because it had been years since I last donated. Instead, my mother calls me the night before to see what my plans were and she wanted to see the movie with me. We went to see "Life As We Know It" and we were the only ones in the theater. Then, it turns out we had forgotten that Anson Jr. had an overnight camp out up at Mt. Hood and didn't want to leave the younger two boys home alone, so we picked up some pizza and a movie. I also bought myself flowers which I have really enjoyed! Oh and I don't like traditional cake so I picked up some strawberry cheesecake. I was the only one to have some though, I guess nobody else likes it! More for me right! :)

I wasn't able to donate blood that day - I ran out of time, but I look forward to doing it on Monday!

Here are some pictures of my beautiful flowers!