Guess How Old He Is...

Nine years...

Nine years and two days ago (I think that's how you say it) Scott and I were sitting in his car parked in the parking lot of South Jordan Park crying...no, no...bawling.

About one month prior to that Scott was out of town on work. It was a hard time for me being a nineteen year old girl with “many” options, (just kidding) but I had agreed to wait three weeks for my man as he tiled away in Lamoore, California. It was a good time for me to catch up with my best friend, Daiana, and it was a really good time for Scott to miss me. He kept sending my texts like, “Can I keep you forever?” and “I never want to be away from you again?” I distinctly remember one conversation, when we were discussing my grandparents travel plans and I mentioned that they were going two separate places, and he even went so far as to say “we would never go on separate vacations”. Get the picture?

Me being a silly nineteen year old girl was making an equation in my mind (don't we all do this!)

Long work trip, earning lots of extra mullah + sweet texts about forever, and never being apart= (in a "Legally Blonde" tone) I'm getting engaged!

(There was even a woman I worked with that thought he was proposing to me through a text! We as women are such over analyzers!)

Okay so I concocted this plan...

It was genius! (If any of my single friends told me they were doing this I would tell them not to.)

So we got lost in Vegas, and Scott's co-workers were mad about driving all over, wherever we were, to find us. But we found each other and there was some kissing, and hugging, and that was about it! No, "I wanna keep you, blah, blah, blah" The man went stone cold. I wassomad! I then talked myself into he's just uncomfortable in a strangers house, blah, blah, blah, make excuses :)

Then we got home and things were "normal", but it was like those things he said while in Cali weren't said at all.

Oh...but it gets better.

The week after he got home from Lamoore, we went to San Diego, to one of his missionary companion's wedding. I was so hopeful that this would re-kindle his desire to “keep me forever”. Oh boy was I wrong. Things got so much worse that I called my mom bawling on the phone the night of his friends' party-before-the-wedding, and she was ready to buy me a plane ticket home. When I got off the phone I told Scott I was going home, he then got all apologetic, and I didn't go home. Things were a little better, but I was not a happy girl.

Shortly after that trip school started.

I thought...

And I did. We still hung out, but it wasn't the same. About a week or so of this went on. Then one Sunday my Bishop approached me and said “How are you today?” and I. BROKE. DOWN! He then invited me into his office, and I relayed my sob story to him.

“He...blubber...was saying...sob...all these things...blow-nose...and now...blubber, sob...he's acting like he doesn't wanna marry me!! WAHHH!”

My Bishop then advised me to not be so “available”. At that point the Spirit whispered to me...“take a break”. So instead of Sunday-School Scott and I talked, we then finished our church meetings and drove to the park and I told him I wasn't going to do this anymore, and that we were on a break until he figured things out. And we parted ways.

At that point I put my life in the Lord's hands and trusted that Scott would make the right decision. I remember talking to his mom and she was so worried that he was going to make the wrong choice, but I assured her that he would make the right one.

We had an Institute Class together that Tuesday and we both went (although I was really nervous). When the class was over he walked me to my car and handed me an envelope with $200 in it. I was struggling to pay some of my bills because I was a Dental Assistant temp and work was slow. I went home bawling to my mom. She told me to return the money, and tell him that they would take care of me. I did...on his birthday...when I took him breakfast in bed...at like 5:00 a.m. (becauseIhadbeenplanningitforalongtimeandmymomwentwithme) Then I left.so.sad. It had been three days now and nothing.

But I still had hope.

That evening the phone call came. I had just gotten out of Micro-Biology when I got his message that he needed to talk to me, that he wanted me to come over. And I thought to myself its been three days he couldn't have figured it out. He maybe had a job lead or something for me. So I went home, showered didn't really fix my hair or put on make up, grabbed his birthday present and headed to his house.

He had just gotten home from work and was still grubby from laying tile that day. He pulled me into his sister's room and we sat down on the couch he then played this song for me... (Okay don't ask me what is up with the video, I just needed the song and our version is not live and sounds better, but you get the gist. It's pretty and about love)

While the song was playing he translated it into English. He then told me he wanted to “keep me forever.” Then I spoiled his plans and I told him to get down on his knee and ask me right. (His plan was to take my parents to dinner, ask for my hand, then get a ring, and take me to a special spot we had and ask me there, but I couldn't wait)

And now I could go on and on in a mushy gushy tone about how awesome these nine years have been, but not tonight. All I will say is I Love You Scott, and Happy Birthday!

P.S. He did ask my parents for my hand that night.

Oye Vale!

I don't know what it is, but somehow Scott and I are raising two Mexicans. Lilly and Gavin have always had a love of things with a Latin flavor.

I remember when Lilly was 18 months old we were in the car and I was scanning the radio stations. I came across the the Spanish station and continued on, but as the channel changed Lilly said “hey”. I then tuned back into the station and looked in my rear view mirror to see my little girl shaking it in the back seat.

Lilly is also one who has no trouble with spice. There have been multiple occasions where we are eating something on the spicy side and Lilly eats it gladly, when Adelle is complaining of the spice.

And Gavin too! That boy every time we get in the car he requests my Zumba music. But this was the shocker to me. Scott was having a snack and pulled out the chips and salsa.

(Have you tried this stuff? It's soooo good. Not too spicy but it does bite back.)

Gavin then climbed onto Scott's lap requesting chips, and then the salsa or “dip”. Scott was like this is “too hot, spicy” but the boy insisted. Scott relented thinking he was going to start crying because of discomfort but the boy requested “more”.

Sometimes I wonder if these kids should be living south of the border :)

A Father's Fear

There are many things a Father fears. One is when they learn of their daughter's first kiss. Another is when they catch their son wearing make-up.

My husband's fear became a reality yesterday...

Preface: Tuesday afternoon I purchased some new mascara, therefore throwing my old tube away. Which apparently had plenty of mascara left. As I was putting on my new mascara that morning my son came and joined me in the bathroom. Doing his normal duties as I attempt to get ready...Flushing the toilet incessantly with his head peeking into the bowl of the toilet...climbing on the bathtub turning, on the sink, letting it fill up and then splashing water everywhere saying “drink-a-water”...causing mom frustration with his innocence of sanitation and love of splashing...then climbing on mom's lap, as she's blow-drying her hair or putting on eyeliner, saying “sguggle mommy” (can't stay frustrated after that:).

Anyway back to Scott's fear. After he proceeded with his mommy and me in the bathroom duties. He found my old tube of mascara (that I thought I buried in the trash for this reason). I hear my boy saying “eyes, eyes” and I look over and the above picture is what I saw.

And that's how one of my husband's greatest fears became a reality.

*Disclaimer: Scott didn't freak out at all he just laughed. If Gavin was 12 or 13 I think that would be a different story.

Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Okay here's more on the 10 year anniversary of September 11. Maybe I'll just make a whole week of it :) Anyway.

As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (aka: Mormon) I like to claim The Mormon Tabernacle Choir as my Choir. If you are not familiar with the Choir they are AMAZING! So amazing in fact that they are a Grammy and Emmy award winning choir. They were also called “America's Choir” by Ronald Reagan.

Anyway they have a weekly broadcast on television on Sunday Mornings. (I have yet to find how to watch it here in Maryland other than getting the BYU channel on cable.) This Sunday was obviously special and they did a fantastic tribute. (I was able to watch the broadcast on youtube, but because of copyright it was taken down.)

They released the Tribute as a digital album entitled “9/11: Rising Above”. You can download it on iTunes (I did). In your iTunes search put the title of the album and it should take you there. You can also find the iTunes link here: http://www.mormontabernaclechoir.org/

I hope you take a peek and enjoy this beautiful music.

A Blessing to Me

I understand that maybe that this post should have been posted yesterday. I know that this may seem late, but this has been on my mind today. As I have reflected on the tragedy of September 11, 2001, I have realized the blessings that it has brought into my life.

How could any blessing possibly come from that horrific day? Let me tell you.

My dear sweet husband worked so hard to get his college degree. He worked full-time and went to school full-time. I saw my friends' husbands who were in medical school more often than I saw my own husband. We graduated (yes we, I had part in that process) in May of 2008 with a degree in Finance. As many of you know that is the summer the economy crashed and shortly after sent our country into a recession. Scott was struggling to find a job in his field of study that was a good match. But this was all a part of something bigger.

Deep in Scott's heart he felt his calling was elsewhere. And the memory in his mind of September 11 continued to push him into doing more for his country. After one difficult day for him, and hearing about the difficulty in the economy I told him “we need to find something else”. Something more stable, and something that will make him happy. And it was a huge relief for him as he knew all along that was where he was to be, but wanted me to be happy and wasn't sure if leaving Utah was accomplishing that goal.

As the months passed we were offered a job, and moved here to Maryland. I will admit I was SCARED TO DEATH!!!!!!!!! I've lived most of my life in Utah. I had a couple year stint when I was 4-6 in California, but I was with my parents. That doesn't count. I was completely terrified. I was leaving my Target down the street, my DAYBREAK, the familiarity, my family, my pregnant sister. It was hard. It still is.

But I will tell you this...This move has been good for Scott, it has been good for Adelle, it has been good for Lilly, (Gavin is too young to really know better) but mostly it has been THE BEST THING I HAVE EVER DONE!

I never in a MILLION years thought I would say that. NEVER! But I have discovered so much about myself that I am a healthier, happier me. When I moved here I was 200 lbs, taking Prozac for depression, struggling with my marriage, up to my eyeballs in debt and struggling with being a mother.

I am now stronger...physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I'm 50 lbs lighter, no longer taking medication, almost out of debt, have fallen IN LOVE with being a mom, my marriage is AMAZING, but mostly I feel JOY!

So you can say because of the economic crash that was assisted or even caused by the 9/11 attacks has made my life better in more ways than one. I thank my Father in Heaven daily for my life, and will now thank him for those who sacrificed their lives so that I can enjoy the AMAZING life I now enjoy.

(To many of you, you may think that this is crazy. I do not consider those people loosing their lives a blessing, but I'm an optimist and try to find the good in all things, because it is there. I know it is because I know I have a loving Heavenly Father that I know loves me, and you.)

Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning...

...that September Day?

I don't usually post on a Sunday. Its a day when my hubby's home, and I spend the day not worrying about daily cares. But today I decided to make an exception.

I find myself having a difficult time putting into words how I feel tonight, but I will do my best.

These are my feelings...feelings of a woman who may not know a lot about the War on Terror or how it feels to be directly effected by these events. But that day is very real to me.

Sept. 11 2001-

I was getting ready for work and I didn't have the television on that morning. I was an 18 year old girl (now you know my age:) with "better" things on my mind than the news (i.e. clothes, shoes, boys, my car). I worked for a dentist and when I arrived at work that morning the news was on and I saw the smoke billowing from one of the towers. The first thought that came to my mind was.."Did someone fall asleep at the wheel? How could someone get that far off track?" I was clueless.

That day something changed. I grew up a little. That day I was PROUD to be an American! Over the course of a couple of hours I saw our country come together, and unify. But I was only an 18 year old girl far away from New York, and knew no one hurt or killed by this incident. It wasn't very close to home.

I feel very differently today, 10 years later. Watching our economy struggle brings September 11 home to me. Having close friends who go without seeing their husbands for a year or longer brings September 11 home to me. Knowing men that listen to the birth of their child over the phone brings September 11 home to me. Seeing children talk about their fathers who are deployed with pride brings September 11 home to me. Seeing the victories in the Middle East brings September 11 home to me. Being married to a man who daily protects our freedom brings September 11 home to me.

I am prouder, stronger and more grateful to live in the land of the free and truly the HOME OF THE BRAVE!

I WILL NEVER FORGET!

Yumminess!

My sister-in-law Becky has this awesome blog with tons of amazing recipes. And tonight we tried her Chicken Kebabs and they pretty much ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!

Since I am so privileged to know Becky I thought tonight I would share her with you. Well at least her blog and this recipe.

Amazing Chicken Kabobs

1 lb chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
8 oz small whole mushrooms, stems removed
1 bell pepper (Any color will do I used red)
2 small zucchini, sliced (cut in half if large)
1 small red onion, cut into bite sized pieces (I put these next to the pepper when I skewered them and it was AWESOME!)
1 recipe Zesty Italian Dressing


Zesty Italian Dressing

1/4 c white vinegar
1/4 c lemon juice
2 t sugar
1/2 t salt
1/2 t seasoning salt
1/2 t red pepper flakes
1/4 t black pepper
4 cloves garlic
1 c canola oil
1/3 c Parmesan cheese
3/4 t Italian seasoning

In a blender, combine vinegar, lemon juice, sugar,
salt, seasoning salt, black pepper, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Blend. While blender is running, slowly add oil in a steady stream. Turn off blender and add Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese. Pulse blender 2-3 times to combine herbs and cheese. Remove 1/2 cup of dressing for basting during grilling and set aside.

Place cut-up chicken in a ziploc bag (I used the quart size) and pour a little less than half of the remaining dressing in. Place in refrigerator for 2-3 hours or until ready to use.

Place chopped veggies in a baking pan (or if your fridge is always as full as mine, put them in a gallon size ziploc bag) and pour remaining dressing (except for reserved 1/2 cup) over the veggies. Set aside.

If using bamboo skewers, soak in water for about 30 minutes.

When chicken is done marinating, skewer veggies and chicken. Make someone help you so it goes faster. My chicken pieces were pretty small...I got about 4 pieces of chicken on each skewer. I made 12 skewers total. We ate 2 skewers per adult, but next time I'll do three.

Preheat grill to medium heat and cook for 10-12 minutes, turning at least once. I turned mine several times. They smell amazing while they're cooking, and taste even better!

*I always marinate stuff in ziploc bags, my fridge is always too full to accommodate another dish or two. When the chicken and veggies are done marinating, just dump them into dishes to makes assembly easier.

*Mushrooms and zucchini get a bad rap. They are simply amazing when they're marinated and grilled! Don't leave them out.

As a side she suggests Lemon Rice and MY OH MY I DO TOO! The rice melts in your mouth with a zing!
BON APPETIT!

Name That Price!!!!

After my Costco run yesterday the G-man and myself had some time to kill before naptime. And you remember in my last post about how I'm a shop-o-holic? Well Costco is close to the mall in these parts so I thought I'll go see what I can see. And I saw the above sign and just had to check it out!

One of the first places I stopped was the denim wall because I need a second pair of jeans for the fall, and I love the way the Sweetheart style fits because it covers my hiney like no other jeans do. Well their denim was of coarse 40% off making the jeans like 17 bucks and some change!

Then OF COURSE I had to check out the Clearance section because that is where the deals are! So I mosied on over to a section of purple and grabbed this beauty.

(Terrible picture I know. And WOW cheesy! Next time I'll just take a picture of the shirt not on me. It took me forever to get that shot)

And guess how much it was? No...really...guess.

$10? Lower

$5? Lower

$3, $2, $1? Lower, Lower, Lower!!!!

Want me to tell ya?

$.30...yessiree that is a decimal between that dollar sign and that three. That cute tee shirt cost me thirty cents! Whahoo!

Now you wanna know what one does with a 30 cent tee shirt? Weeeellllllllll...(Okay that's not my exact tee shirt, but you get the gist)

Purple tee 2 by kimbur featuring a hurley hoodie

...a turquoise hoodie and with matching shoe would be cute...

Purple Tee by kimbur featuring a fringe necklace

...or maybe jeans and a long necklace...

purple tee 3 by kimbur featuring sterling silver jewelry

...yellow and purple were made for each other...

Purple tee 4 by kimbur featuring grey leggings

...but this is what I think I'm going to do with it!

Now head on down to your local Old Navy Outlet and see if you can find a $.30 shirt :)

HAPPY SHOPPING!

Shoot!

Watch out Cameron Diaz! The next "Charlie's Angels" Movie is MINE!!! (Oh please I hope they don't make another cheesy "Charlie's Angels" Movie) Recently Scott and I rediscovered "Date-Night" (what a difference a couple of hours without kids can do for you marriage!) Anyway so for our date we went to the indoor range, and shot. Something my husband LOVES to do! To tell you the truth I went along with it because I know how much he loves it, and let's just say we go shopping A LOT on our dates. (I'm a bit of a shop-o-holic:) So it was definitely his turn to do something he wanted to do. On our way to the range I'm thinking "Oh this will be fun la-di-dah" and then we got to the range, and I could hear all those gun shots, and my blood ran COLD I tell ya! ICE COLD!!!!!!

Analysis: Why Kimbur's blood runs cold when she hears a gun shot.

I'll be honest I haven't been around a whole lot of gun shooting in my life. (Honestly Kimbur not many people have.) I think this is the third time I've held a loaded weapon, and the first real time I've shot one. (Okay I've shot skeet twice and I shot a handgun once, really like one or two rounds) But everytime a hear any kind of gun shot, real or fake (thinking movies here) it scares the beejeebies out of me because those guns can kill! ("Guns don't kill people. I kill people." What movie what movie? Okay maybe I shouldn't joke about that.) Also when Scott and I were first married there was a drive-by-shooting on our street. You heard me a DRIVE-BY-SHOOTING! (Analysis over)

So I seriously had to do this self talk thing. "I'm in control of the gun. I'm not going to hurt anyone. Noone is going to hurt me. No you don't walk out on the range to set up the target." You know things like that. (Okay maybe I'm a little crazy.) Then Scott put that loaded weapon in my hand and I WIGGED!!!!!!! In my head I'm thinking "I can't do this, I can't do this, I can't do this" I was seriously on the verge of the verge of tears. Then I says to myself "Self" I says "You can do it. You are in control" And I did it. And apparently I'm pretty good :)

Me with my target and no make up :)

This was my best target. You see those holes? There's even one on the bulls-eye! Wait..what did you say? Oh yeah there are TWO! I have to give all the credit to the hottest teacher IN-THE-WHOLE-WORLD! Just look at how strategically he holds that bullet and check out those muscles. Stay away ladies he's MINE :)

He taught me all the cool little tricks that he knows and if he wasn't so patient I would have been all over the place. And let's face it holding a loaded weapon in your hand is kind of scary, and my man knows what to do! So I thought I better listen.

And since we were going with kind of a manly-theme we went to Buffalo Wild Wings. Because wings are a MAN'S food, spicy wings that is. (Bytheway highly recommend the parmesan-garlic its my fav non-spicy and then we had two new flavors that rocked, Jalapeno, and Thai Curry.)

Now go grab a target, a hubby and a gun an go on a date. (Just kidding about the target and gun part unless you want to, but seriously GO ON A DATE!)

Btw the quote is from Happy Gilmore. The scary big guy at the tournament wore a shirt that said that.

Blurrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

I'm back!!!!!! (and I think busier.THAN.EVER.!)

These last six months have been a blurrrrrr, but I'm so glad to be back in my little blog world. (If you have been following me and have seen random pictures of clothes/objects/accesories/etc, you will have to excuse my Polyvore addiction:) What's Polyvore you ask? Well...it explains it a bit here. But let us focus here... blurry six months.)

Okay here we go. "Six Months In A Minute" (spoken like world news in a minute)

-Brother, Sisters, Nephew came

-Got Zumba licensed

-Scott went to Ireland (and Minnesota, but that's not quite as cool. He did see the Mall of America though)

-Discovered Katy Perry and re-discovered my love for Maroon 5

-Also discovered its ok to listen to sexy music (more on that later *wink)

-Brother got mission call to Little Rock, AK (go south!)

-Had three photoshoots (one of which was kind of a wedding, a family shoot that needed to be finished by.the.end.of.that.week, the other I'm still working on...oops)

-Went to Myrtle Beach forthefirsttime (LOVED IT!! READY TO MOVE THERE)

-Saw Fireworks at the White House

-Reached my 50lb mark!!!!

-Fell in love with the show "Switched at Birth"

-Waiting for "Make it or Break" it to return (ABC Family would you get on it?)

-Went to Utah (Now that was a blurry vacation...couldn't tell you what we did...oh yeah...said "see ya later" to my brother for two years as he went off to the MTC!)

-Gavin started potty training (We have yet to finish his training though...hmm)

-Girls went to school (Yes that girl is plural. I have two girls in school now.)

-School starts at 8:00 a.m. :(

-Had an 6.0 Earthquake

-Experienced a Hurricane 4 days after the Earthquake (It was more like a tropical storm for us)

-I have done NO projects in my house! (I'm not kidding. Today was the first time in whoknowshowlong I cleaned my fridge)

Couple O' Pics...

Boogie Board Queen and Who needs swim trunks they just chafe!

Bada Bing Bada Boom...

that's "Six Months In A Minute."