Be Ambitious

On November 15 Robert celebrated his 27th birthday. It was a Saturday so we got to sleep in a bit more than usual. I whispered to him, "Happy Birthday" and then he looked at me in all seriousness and said, "Honey, I'm old." I just started laughing. I hope he's not old at 27. I am anticipating many more years with him.

We celebrated by getting a babysitter (thanks Cheri and Brett) and going to the afternoon showing of the new James Bond movie. It was pretty good. Kinda weak as far as plot is concerned, but still entertaining. We invited my sister, Liz, and her husband, Jason, to come to the movie with us. It was fun to go somewhere with no kids and act like kids ourselves.
After the movie we invited Liz and Jason back to our apartment for cake.
Robert's favorite birthday cake is the Rainbow Chip cake with the Rainbow Chip frosting. Will he let me make him a homemade cake? No, it has to be from the box. He's very specific with his cakes and this is the only kind he's ever let me make him on his birthday.

He had a little help blowing out the candles (Nate thought it was his birthday again) and then we all had some cake. If you've never had this kind of cake before I'll give you fair warning. A small piece is more than enough. It's so sweet you can feel the cavities forming.
I always let Robert request what he'd like for dinner on his birthdays. This year he chose homemade gnocchi with a vodka cream sauce. Yum! Let me tell you, gnocchi is messy to make! It was fun for me to learn some new cooking techniques, though, and experiment with a new recipe.

Since things are a bit tight right now, as they are for everyone, I wasn't able to get Robert anything too special for his birthday so I thought I would embarrass him a little and list 27 wonderful things that I love about him (listed in no particular order).

1. His laugh. It's very distinct and very infectious.
2. His smile, also infectious.
3. I love his big blue eyes and I hope someday a child of ours inherits them.
4. How hard he works for us.
5. His ambitious nature.
6. His constant wish to learn.
7. His passion for what he loves.
8. How he has to goof around with everything electronic and know all gizmos backwards and forwards before he can just let them be.
9. How he approaches things with optimism.
10. How he always admits he's wrong or that he made a mistake or that he's sorry even though it should be me who's doing it most of the time.
11. How we have to get to movies 30 minutes early, no matter what the movie, for good seats and the previews.
12. How he gives me the time I need almost everyday to take care of myself. He's always worried about my well-being.
13. How he gets along with his siblings so well and keeps in good contact with them.
14. How he respects his parents and still seeks their advice.
15. How he's completely committed to me and Nate.
16. How I see him trying to improve as a father and teacher for our son.
17. He loves the Gospel and his Father and Heaven and Savior and he's constantly teaching me things and surprising me with his intuitiveness.
18. How he loves to travel just like me.
19. How he watches me during mushy moments of shows and movies out of the corner of his eye with a big grin to see if I'm smiling and/or tearing up.
20. How he does dishes for me once a week.
21. How he introduced me to 711 slushies and pop-rocks.
22. How he loves to dress up in suits and ties. (He looks so good!)
23. How he volunteers to watch Nate so I can go out with girlfriends for as long as I'd like.
24. How he holds my hand when he's driving.
25. How he tells me I look nice every time I try to dress up for him.
26. His hair. I tease him about having "McDreamy" hair. It's true though, very thick and wavy. Some of his students even told him his hair was distracting...what's he teaching, anyway? :)
27. How he can still make my heart skip a beat by just giving me a quick call between classes or flashing me his smile.

I know, really sappy, but I love this man! He is everything to me and, at the risk of sounding over-dramatic, I don't think I'd survive with out him. I love him more everyday (I know, cliche) and I am so thankful everyday that I was the one he chose to share his life with.

I love you, Robert, forever.

I realize that Erin is probably going to be upset at me for posting this, but I really don't care because she is awesome and I am proud of her. Recently, Erin decided to join a city volleyball league here in Nampa to re-live her high school glory days. So, she dusted off her knee-pads and volleyball shoes and hit the court like a hammer. Her team was, needless to say, very good. At least compared to the other teams in the league. They were very dominate throughout the season and when it came to tournament time, her team steamrolled into the finals and captured eternal glory by winning the Nampa City League Championship for Division I. Overall, I am very proud of Erin's accomplishment and she has a shiny new plaque and a new T-Shirt proclaiming that she and her team are the champions. GOOD JOB ERIN!


Now, as she wears her T-shirt and carries her plaque around, you can almost hear Unlce Rico voice, "Well, if coach woulda put me in fourth quarter, we’d have been state champions. No doubt. No doubt in my mind. You better believe things had been different. I’d have gone pro in a heartbeat. I’d be making millions of dollars and living in a big ol’ mansion somewhere, soaking it up in a hot tub with my soul mate." Although she did not make the millions of dollars and get her mansion, she did find her soul mate that will always be in the stands cheering for her!

(Disclaimer, Erin does not wear her championship shirt and carry her plaque around and she is really modest about her winning, in fact too modest. She really does not talk about it much and this was the only way that I could get her accomplishments documented. Overall, and I cannot adequately emphasize this point, she is really nothing like Uncle Rico, except for the whole sole mate thing. The league starts up again in January and I will get some pictures of the Ross Hammer in action.)

There are some opinions in here that everyone may not agree with so please remember that I am still a good person with a couple of questions...

So, the election... President-elect Obama... Conservative views... Blowing things way out of proportion here folks...

I, personally, voted for McCain, and even though he did not win, I am still trying to get a handle on the current situation and how I can go forward with the election results. I have to say that Robert and I have had more than a few discussions about where the Presidency of the United States is going (he is a political scientist so even if I wanted to, I couldn't avoid them).

I was sitting in church today, and I LOVE my ward and the church, but I have to say that I really disagree with the way the whole attitude about politics is shifting since the election. Our RS teacher, who I also love and enjoy immensely, got up and proceeded to share how her week had been an awful one and she didn't even want to come to church. I can identify with that one. Sometimes getting to church is more effort than I feel I can afford. She then shared how she watched Music and the Spoken Word and it helped her feel a little better. I was thinking to myself, "Great idea, religious music always helps me better prepare for church." Apparently, the theme of the music this week was patriotic, I didn't actually see the broadcast. She then shared how after hearing the music and becoming emotional she realized that everything is going to be okay with the country. There were heavy allusions in her story to how the election turned out. I think we are all entitled to an opinion, that's what makes this country great, but I really don't think it's appropriate to share them at church. Even the leadership of the church stays far away from sharing their own political opinions. When the election drew near all they counseled us to do was to pray for help in our political decision.

A portion of our lesson went into the signs of the times. We were asked to name a few signs of the times. Of course, the election and all the Propositions came up. Someone raised their hand and said that our government will be hanging by a thread and that it is now, in fact, hanging by a thread. I know that a lot of this is personal interpretation but I think that's very far from the truth. Also, it's not the government that will be hanging by a thread, it's the Constitution. If we were ever close to the Constitution hanging by a thread wouldn't it be in 2000 when the neither the popular vote nor the electoral college played any part in electing the new President to office? Florida's Supreme Court called for a recount but the Federal Supreme Court ruled that unconstitutional because the Constitution states that the President must be decided by January and if Florida reassessed the ballots they would not be finished by January. The result, the Supreme Court decided our President. So either way the Constitution was not upheld. The Constitution was hanging a bit more then than it is now.

Also, the election is over, people! There is nothing you can do now but to hope and pray for President Obama. You never know, he may turn out to be a great President. Remember, no one liked President Lincoln when he took office. I've found in the conversations as of late concerning the election, that not many people have a true understanding of what Obama's platform was and what he hopes to accomplish in his time in office. I think a lot of people would be slower to hate if they studied it all out and tried the get a working understanding for themselves rather than what they've heard from their neighbors or friends or in the office. One of the great things about this day is that information is right at your fingertips. Learn for yourself, try to gain an understanding and you may be surprised what you find. Finally, since there is nothing more you can do on the Presidential front, try to support him. We need to be a country united. If you really want to continue the battle, pay attention to the smaller elections that will be coming around soon and make sure you vote people into those offices that you believe will hold your standards and accomplish the things that you believe are important. After all, aren't the men and women of the House, Senate, and other offices in the nation the men and women that could potentially climb the ladder to run as a future President? In the smaller, midterm elections there are only 30-40% of voters showing up to actually vote.

So what's my point? The President has been decided. Although you may not agree with the popular vote and the electoral college, it was done Constitutionally. It's not the end of the world and it's not the end of the United States. The only question I have that I haven't been able to get a clear answer on is; is all the uproar due to the fact he's a Democrat or that he's African American? I hate the race thing, but no one can anwer that for me thus far. I realize this may only be an issue because of the region I live in (very conservative and mostly white) but I think it's very progressive and great that so many people can feel that they are sociologically represented in government when they have not been before.

So, don't judge me too harshly. I know some of you are going to really, shall we say, dislike what I've shared, but that's what's great about the United States of America. Besides, now I can say that I have worked out with the President of the United States!

Halloween is so much fun when you have young kids! I had such a good time last night. I had been sick the night before and all day, but there was no way I was going to miss Nate's Halloween. This year we are lucky to be near family and friends so we had people to go with and they knew all the great places to go trick-or-treating.
Nate was Obi-won again. He was Obi-won last year, too, but that was in Chicago so I figured I had a bye for this years costume.
Unfortunately, for Robert, we didn't have any excuse to dress up with Nate so before we went out trick-or-treating he put on his Darth Vader costume that he inherited from his dad. I'm usually Princess Leia (not with the bikini, think white dress) but didn't feel up to getting all dressed up for a picture. Nate wanted nothing to do with his dad once the mask got on. I wanted a picture of Obi-won hugging Vader or sitting on his lap, but this was as close to him as Nate would get.We went to my sister Liz's house first to get started on the night. Her girls were so cute! Sydney, her oldest, was a pirate and Maggie was a sweet little Ladybug. Nate is infatuated with his cousins so it was perfect to go trick-or-treating with them. Thanks Liz and Jason!
Of, course we had to do all the picture posing wit the kids and stuff before we took off. They look great don't they?I had to throw in this little close-up of Maggie. I love those cheeks!As previously mentioned, these cousins can't get enough of each other.

The weather was so perfect and it was great spending the night with Robert. He usually teaches nights so I get pretty lonely at night. I even got to hold his hand a little!
This was the first year that Nate actually got the concept of Halloween. We did a ton of walking and I'd ask him if he was getting tired or if he wanted me to carry him for a bit and he was say emphatically, "NO!" It was all about the candy and running up to the doors with Sydney.Sydney was terrific. Most of the places we went had really long walkways up to the door so she would take his hand and direct him up to the front door. I loved standing back and watching. I could even hear them say, "Trick-or-treat!" and "Thank you!" They are really good kids.
We found that as the evening progressed, Nate decided to sit down on the ground every time he saw the camera. I am not sure if he was tired of walking and needed a break, or if his plastic pumpkin was getting too heavy to carry, but without fail, Nate always managed to sit and take a break when he saw us taking a picture.

After we managed to maximize the amount of candy we were able to get from strangers, we went to some more familiar homes, homes that actually let us inside. We made a stop at Grandma and Grandpa Kunz's house where Nate's sugary treasures grew exponentially. Grandma gave him another pumpkin full of more candy, little canisters of play-doh, a skeleton straw, and silly string. It was quite the haul and, needless to say, Nate was on sensory overload. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Kunz

So, after all was said and done and people were no longer willing to have kids ring their doorbell, we went home to look at the fruits of our labors. Nate did very well for himself for his first real trick-or-treating experience. After he paid the modest Parental Candy Tax, he has quite the stash of candy to eat over the next few weeks. Nothing like eating a bunch of candy for the next few weeks to condition our bodies for the binging of Thanksgiving! Happy Halloween everyone!