Snowbird with the Army

Josh and I spent the weekend at the Snowbird Resort in Little Cottonwood Canyon! It was an all-expense paid retreat for the Utah National Guard's 142nd Military Intelligence Batallion. We were so excited to get away for a couple days, and to spend time with some great friends. On Friday night, we attended a dinner and talked the night away with some of our close friends. We were actually the LAST table to leave the room, and were kindly asked to "transfer our group to the nice leather couches in the lobby." Ha ha :) At that point, we called it a night and headed back to our rooms.

We had to wake up pretty early on Saturday to begin the scheduled classes (e.g. insurance, financial planning, anger management, sleep deprivation, etc.), and by 11a.m. I was fighting hard to keep my eyes open! Army briefings are NOT exciting! In fact, they don't even attempt to go that direction, and most of them are briefings the guys have already had! So during lunch Josh and I decided to go take a nap for 30 minutes...which turned into an hour! OOPS!! We walked back downstairs and looked for our friends, who were also mysteriously missing from the class. We found them a few minutes later sitting on the stairs talking away! They simply said, "Uhhhh I think we're done." :) That sounded inviting, so we decided to be done also, and we spent the next 3 hours talking and laughing with them. Much better than class!

Saturday night we went to The Steak Pit with 2 other couples, which was fun, but not too yummy. It was still fun making new friends, and getting to know our other friends better.

Sunday was interesting. We had a short devotional by the Chaplain, who emphasized the importance of marriage, of being there for each other. Then we attended a mandatory Suicide Prevention class. Utah is the 10th largest state for Army suicides! The presentation was actually an interactive video, where the instructor would give us a scenario, then give us 2 alternative actions. We would choose one, then the video would resume and play-out our action, showing us the consequences of our choice. We did well on the 1st video, but our guy ended up commiting suicide the 2nd time! And that's how the weekend ended! We killed our guy! Wait...wasn't the class called "Suicide Prevention?" We didn't prevent it! So apparently we didn't learn a darn thing! The instructor didn't even let us know where we went wrong! What a downer, right? Josh and I went to lunch on the way home, and he seemed bothered. I asked, "What's wrong?" His response? "We killed our guy, and we don't know where we went wrong!" :) He was still thinking about it an hour later :)

All in all it was a good weekend. It's always good to get away as a couple, to re-connect! Josh loved seeing and talking to the guys he just spent the entire year with, and I liked getting to know them better. They are great guys! And as always...it was WONDERFUL coming home to Annabelle! I love that little girl :)

The Tulip Festival

Last Saturday at the Tulip Festival (Thanksgiving Point), the company girls I teach had an opportunity to perform! They did so great, and I was so proud of them! I LOVE dance SO much! I loved being a part of it growing up, in high school, and in college--the opportunities I had, and the friends I made will be with me forever! I wish I could be 16 again, and do it all over again...just focusing on dance though, and not having to entertain other diversions such as boys, classes, jobs, etc. :)

It is definitely different being on the flip side of it all--teaching. But I have loved it! There are weeks when I feel that maybe it's too demanding (i.e. when I have choreography to do), yet when I see how much the girls have grown, and how fast, it feels so rewarding and fulfilling inside. Teaching dance is like having all the fun and great aspects of dance without the pressure :) Nevertheless there are still moments and days when I miss being up on the stage so much I want to cry!

When I stopped dancing after 2 years at BYU, I was ready to walk away. I was burned out physically, emotionally, mentally! I couldn't have cared less whether I stepped in a dance studio again, and I simply quit thinking of it as a part of me. There was a chain reaction of events and teachers which, unfortunately, turned me away from it all. Now that I look back, I wonder why I allowed them access into my dreams, into my confidence, and into my head. I still don't regret my decision to walk away at that point, and to change my major--it was the right decision for me. However now that I look back on it all, and now that I am back in the studio dancing, I realize that NONE of the reasons I walked away were related to dance at all. I never stopped loving dance, and I want to kick myself for allowing a few years to go by without spending any time in the studio.

The decision to begin teaching dance was the best decision I made last year. I feel that I have found a part of myself that was missing, and it makes me so happy. When I'm in the studio dancing with the girls, I feel like Robyn :) I feel like myself, the person I was before I was married, before I was a mom, before I had a job. It feels amazing to blast the music, dance until I sweat, and pass along the things I've been taught to an amazingly adorable, kind-hearted, genuine, talented and fun group of girls. I have developed a love for each and every one of them, including my 3 and 4-year old students :) They lift my spirits, and help me feel that I have something to give back for all those years I was taking, taking, taking. I know with all my heart I am in the right place at the right time, with the right people. I am so thankful to be able to do what I love again! I am so thankful that Josh, my mom, and Heather are willing to help me out so I can do this! Thank you!

Smart Beef and Random Ramblings

The past few weeks have been so busy! Life just keeps passing by so quickly! It's like being on a road trip, looking out the window at everything passing you by, and not being able to stop. At times you think, "Hey...that place looks cool, I'd love to get out and walk around for a few minutes." Or, "That restaurant looks yummy, but I don't have time to sit down and eat, and I've gotta keep driving...probably through a Drive-thru!" I am starting to feel too busy, too rushed. I'm getting by ok, and I think I'm fitting everything in, but there's no time left for relaxing or reading. Napping is so far in the distant past I can barely remember what the word means! I know most of us feel like this; maybe this is the life of a wife and mom, and I'm just now figuring it out :) At any rate, I am going to cut back on a few commitments beginning in June--I know it's the right thing to do.

Annabelle is in the CUTEST phase ever! I LOVE that girl SO much! She is beginning to talk and communicate, and it's awesome :) I hate that time is passing so quickly because I want to cherish these days, and somehow make them last twice as long as physically possible. She wakes up in the morning saying, "Mommy! Yummy! Yummy!" I love it. This little girl has changed my life for the good in countless ways. She makes me want to be a better person each and every day, and knowing that she is beginning to model speech and behavior makes me even more aware of the things I say and do. Her vocabulary is growing fast, and some of her favorite words are: Hat, cat, yummy, Jesus, bye bot (bye bye), hi, mommy, daddy, papa, mimi (Minnie), shoe shoe (shoes), juice and cheese :) She loves to act silly, make funny faces, make "Annabelle Sandwiches" (Josh and I hold her between us and squeeze, yelling "Annabelle Sandwich!") She laughs and laughs, and tries to lean backwards into Josh so we'll do it again :) And she loves nursery! As soon as she's free in the hall after Sacrament meeting, she takes off running and knows right where to go :) I love peeking in on her, seeing her eating her little snack, chasing bubbles, dumping water down her dress, laughing at the girl trying to teach them to fold their arms :) She's got so much personality and life that I am constantly inspired and amazed by her. It's so funny how little things like seeing her fold her arms, or blow a kiss, or yell for me to come in and pick up her blankie can make me feel so happy and fulfilled.

I read an article on Yahoo tonight titled something like, "Study Finds that Kids Hurt Marital Happiness." WHAT?! I actually started to cry when I read it. How messed up is this world going to get?! It's baffling! I guess I can't speak for all of you, but Annabelle has only deepened our happiness. I cannot imagine life without her; I would never want to! I know we may not get a ton of date nights or free time, but the trade-off is well worth it. The article saddened me; it saddens me because there are people out there (people who were included in the research) who truly believe that their children made their marriages worse :( So sad.

On a lighter note, I had a REALLY embarrassing moment yesterday! I was going grocery shopping and Josh sent me a text, asking me to pick up a few things for him. Well, he uses predictive text and things don't always say what he thinks they say. He asked me to pick up some Smart Beef. What??? Smart Beef??? I'm not a cook, so I just figured I hadn't heard of it before. I walked up and down that deli counter 4 times, then back to the actual deli meat/cheese aisle where I spent another 5 minutes. Finally I went back to the deli counter and asked the kind employee, "Excuse me, where can I find the smart beef?" He looked at me for a sec, then said, "Uhhh...I've never heard of smart beef; I actually don't think it exists." "Hmmm...ok." I was about to go ask another employee when it hit me that it should've said "roast beef!" So embarrassing! :)