4th of July

I woke up Friday with a swollen eye. It wasn’t red, but it felt like pink eye and was swollen. On a normal weekend I would have let it play out and see what develops, but I didn’t want to miss out on 4th of July fun. So then I spent 2+ hours trying to get an appt at my regular doctor (closed) and then Amazon virtual, but it was being so buggy. I even had Matt help me, but it never worked. Then I checked our supplies and turns out I have a nearly full bottle of drops that are not expired. So I diagnosed myself and started the drops, and by that afternoon, no more swelling or pinkeye feeling. It probably wasn’t pink eye, but I’ll stay on the safe side.

I had an event at the Visitors’ Center that evening and debated going, but since my eye was fine, we headed to the temple. 

It was so hot.  

Our whole weekend had been kind of an unplanned messy one. We ended up leaving for the temple 20 minutes later than we’d planned, but thankfully there was zero traffic and we made the session we wanted to. 

The Family Patriotic Event was lovely. Our old DC North Mission Leaders, the Cookes had planned the evening. They had speakers and a program and for the first time in my 20 years as a navy (reserves) wife I got to stand when the navy song was played. I love a good military medley. 

I was the only comms person there, so I took pictures and recorded speeches. Yesterday I reached out to the military’s public relations handlers for approval on their pictures and received a quote from Brother Cooke and have already started my write up. 

The DC temple was my favorite when I was a kid and if little Michelle could see big Michelle I think she’d be pretty happy. 

Saturday was weird. It was just a weird 4th of July. No one wanted to do the same thing and it was so hot that I didn’t have big feelings either. I had talked to some friends and we worked on coordinating. I would have loved to go to DC and had been planning with Johnna, but they weren’t allowing chairs or canopies or anything on the mall and with security and the heat, we decided no for that. Then Alecia and I talked about plans and Sarah and I talked about plans, but nothing really fit. We went to the ward breakfast and that was fine. We talked about playing games or swimming with the Darrow’s but the girls started Hamilton and how could we leave then. We went to our pool and saw the planes flying their loops for the DC air show. 

Then we came home and showered and played a few games here and then headed to Solomon’s. 

It’s such a beautiful place, we had a nice evening. 

It was looking stormy and there was a lot of lightning and dark clouds brewing. 

We were watching our phones so before the downpour started we cleaned everything up, the Darrow’s hung out in their car and we hung out under the covered porch, and Delaney did handstands. 

It stormed pretty hard for a few minutes and that was that. 

But there was more on its way so they postponed the fireworks. We hung out until just before the next round of storms started and then made our way towards home.

Driving over the Solomon’s bridge was the prettiest it’s ever been. There were fireworks and lightning all over St  Mary’s, it was so cool  

On our way I looked at Facebook and a neighbor posted that there was a deer running around in the neighborhood and I was like, hey! That’s our backyard!

We met up back at the Darrow’s and played games where Alecia and my team lost by one point, so that was annoying. This pic was on Facebook because the storms were really pretty. Just an inconvenient night for them. 

On Sunday President Oaks had asked us to have a unified fast in Gratitude for religious freedom and to pray for parts of the world that don’t enjoy that yet. I love a unified fast, it’s so powerful. 

I subbed in primary with Cyndi and I taught the lesson, which was easy and quick. 20 minute classes are wild!

Matt grilled salmon for dinner and then we headed back to Solomon’s for a second try at fireworks. There was another chance of storms, but we went for it. We met up with Darrows again and this time we got our show. It wasn’t all the way dark, and kind of came in fits and starts, but it was beautiful and we were patient and got the little grand finale after the first bit and it was great. 

Happy 250th America. I’ll love you forever. 🇺🇸 
 

Happy birthday

Adi won $100 from some Italian scholarship group. That was a fun surprise last night! And we’re like, 98% sure it’s legit. 

I love summer memories. Makes me feel like I should do another summer series. And why do so many of my favorite people move so far away???

Matt and I drove to La Plata to have lunch with his mission leaders. 

I was a little salty because their schedule was kinda loosey goosey and instead of them coming to Leonardtown, Matt offered to drive to La Plata. I shouldn’t have been salty at all, because they were wonderful. Kind and inquisitive and it was beautiful to see the bond they still share with their missionaries. And they bought us lunch, and I’m nothing if not a good date. 

D had summer dance and the rest of the crew went to the Henderson’s beach party. They are always so generous with their fun stuff. 

I saw Alecia and Josh holding Emma like this and had wanted to try it with our baby ballerina. Don’t mind Adi’s weird .5. Not too bad for a quick effort.

It’s hot like the surface of the sun and I finally feel like I’m making progress on being ready for my interview. I also got like 10 emails for my birthday month. Kohls and RC Theaters and even Lowe’s got in on the action. Happy birthday month to me. 

Ministering

We had a nice inklings at Donna’s this morning. I walked over and then Tracie drove me home. 

Jess was sick, so Adi went and picked Hudson up to give her the day to rest. Adi is her ministering sister and I’ve been talking to the girls and praying about ways to help them be better ministering sisters. This was the perfect opportunity and Adi stepped right up. 

I FaceTimed the boys and we did a scavenger hunt. We each found something yellow, something soft, something we love, etc. It took 10 minutes and was a cute way to stay the engaged Mimi I want to be. 

Huddy has a ton of energy, so Adi walked him to the library and then after lunch we went to the pool. Unfortunately, after less than an hour at the pool, they had to close it because of 💩. Not from our party, thankfully. 

I took D to an appt and ran errands and dropped her at dance and then took Hudson home on my way to pick D up from dance. For a “low key” summer at home, I’m running around more than I’d like. 

Tonight Adi is babysitting and Frankie and Delaney sound like they’re wrestling in the basement and Matt’s talking to his dad. All is well.  

Renegades

It was a lovely summer day. I took Adi to get her meningitis booster and then convinced her to go to the pool with me to make sure she moved her arm a lot. We all did the laundry together which is so much nicer and faster than doing it on my own. One of Adi’s summer bingo boxes was to listen to a book series together, and the girls chose Renegades - which we’ve read before but I, obviously, cannot remember any of it. Bonus of a terrible memory.

My fav podcasters are going all in on Americas 250th and I am loving it! Complete with a news brief from this day 250 years ago. We watched it together and why did it make me weepy. 

While d had dance, I shopped at Aldi and Walmart. For family night *and* a summer bingo square, d wanted to make a dessert pizza. Or I guess, she wanted me to make it and her to decorate it.  

Giant cookie plus homemade hot fudge, plus marshmallow fluff, Oreos, m&m’s, kisses, and sprinkles.

That guy was rich! 

Toy Story

It was a slow and lazy weekend. Honestly, I always need a few days after getting back in town to really get going. I did some couponing and we cleaned the church and Adi babysat Friday and Saturday. 

On Friday I met with Markett and Fran on Google Meets, and I came away more nervous than when I started. I’m sure it’s the adversary, I just feel like the last person that should be doing this interview. I’ve tried hard to suggest the mission leaders at the Visitors’ Center, or the cute sister missionaries serving there. All to no avail. I know the Lord will qualify me as I do my part. That’s been my mantra before, and it will be again. This just feels different because before it was just members i’d let down if/when I messed up. Now if I mess up it will be to “an estimated local population reach of 1 million,” nonmembers. I need prayers. 😩

Anyways. Today after church we had our Disney dinner. This is what our drinks were supposed to look like. 

Before church I steeped some herbal purple butterfly pea flower tea for our drinks. 

This is what our drinks ended up looking like. It’s annoying because a - they were a ton of work, from making tea, simple syrup, a pina colada blend, and mashing and straining kiwi and then b - I used to know how to layer drinks. I feel like I’m doing what I’ve done before, but my results would say otherwise. 

Everything else was delicious though. 

And, drinks aside, this was a fairly easy Disney dinner. 

I think my rocket was supposed to fit in the pizza box, but my pizza boxes were smaller than I thought they’d be. I had planned to serve all the Toy Story dinners in honor of Toy Story 5 coming out, but after the movie ended today everyone voted to watch number 2. So I guess I won’t. 

I wrote my Monday to-do list and it’s a full 3 column long one, so that’s not the most fun, but needful. 

Blog ✅ 

Home

 Frankie and I flew all night Tuesday night. We landed in Denver just after 11 and boarded our next flight by 11:40.

Beautiful sunrise coming into Baltimore. We landed at 5 and I was so thankful Matt was willing to pick us up. I’m terrified of falling asleep driving. I stayed awake chatting with him till hughesville when my eyes couldn’t stay open any longer. When we got home Frankie and I slept till noon. 

Wednesday was our 20th anniversary. It was a straight up nothing burger of a day. To be fair, we took the trip of a lifetime to Hawaii last year and Frankie and I were just getting home, and and and. I want to start giving each other traditional anniversary gifts, and 20 years is china, so I gave Matt a Pacific Northwest plate for his side of the bathroom. 

On Thursday morning I went to the dermatologist, first to the California office where they informed me that my appt was in their Leonardtown office. 🤦‍♀️ Adi had an appt the next day in their California office and I mixed them up. From there I drove straight to the visitors’ center to meet Markette to do a pre-film walk through. While I waited I visited with the missionaries and walked around the exhibits at the VC. I love this gorgeous tree they’ve got displayed in their room about the history of the VC. 

I had a lot of time for all of that because Markette mismanaged her calendar and thought our appt was virtual. She stayed on the Google meeting and then thought I’d forgotten. She was so sorry she’d mixed things, but heavens knows I’ve done the same, that very morning actually, so I assured her it was fine. But also that I couldn’t come back up to the VC the next day, so we scheduled a Google meeting. 

After that I spend a few minutes with my scriptures in the temple and then changed clothes and went for a run. I thought, how blessed am I to be spotting the angel Moroni above the trees days apart in two different cities. 

It was a long day, but I had prayed to not feel overwhelmed or too tired and grumpy and my prayers were answered. 

So long, Portland

 At Powell’s Books - photo cred: Frankie 

Frankie was off to brekkie and the awards ceremony by 9 this morning. She didn’t make the top 10, but we both agree this was a good experience, we learned so much, and if she chooses to come back, will do so much better. 

I went for a run down the neighborhoods near our hotel. The houses are so cute! Maybe our next house will be an old one. 

I got back, ate my brekkie sandwich and hit the pool at 10 when it opened. I had the pool to myself and I was in heaven. I used to not love the pool because when you’re managing littles you really can’t relax. You’re cold, deal with it. Your hair is gross and tangled, take care of the kids first. You just want to tread your little heart out? Too bad. I came back around to loving swimming - ocean swimming first, then lake, then pool. ❤️ unless there’s jelly’s, then that’s last. 

I showered and finished packing and left our room at noon. Somewhere in my packing I realized I’d left my cheap new sunnies from Towson at the pool. Thankfully they were still there! I do love a free shade. 

And then, I waited. 

Took about 2 hours for Frankie to join me. The hotel stored our suitcases and Frankie and I walked two blocks to the theater to see Toy Story 5, because it was the only one that wasn’t rated R and fit our times. Hooray for 1/2 price Tuesdays!

Back in Maryland this cute 18 year old voted in her first primaries!

We took the light rail to the airport, easy squeezy!

Oh, and we twinned!

We had 2 hours to kill at the airport. 

I got the most delicious order of tillamook cheese curds and tillamook will always remind me of Smilin’ Jack. 

And now, we fly. 

Treading

It was 90° today in Portland, and for those who don’t know, that’s a big deal. Many people here don’t have air conditioned homes and that is miserable. As for the weather, I for one, did not pack well for it. I ended up wearing my skirt all day Saturday, and then my floaty pants all day Sunday, which left me with jeans just a little tighter than when I flew out, ifyouknowwhatimean, and I was not about to wear those on such a hot day. So instead I wore a workout outfit and my nice sandals since they are such good walking shoes . Listen, I’m knocking on 48’s door and I got no one to impress here. 🤷‍♀️

We started our day slowly with a documentary series we’ve been enjoying. As part of the conference Frankie received a $100 gift card for food at the convention center, and she thought she still had $60 left on it, so we headed there for lunch. Turns out she only had $45 left on it, but I’m still glad we spent it. 

We made our way back to our room to drop our leftovers, but mostly because Frankie forgot her bus pass. Then we headed in search of souvies. First was Frey Meyer, which was a bust. Then we headed downtown to the Hello Portland store where we hit the jackpot. 

Next up was Powell’s Books which is the biggest and coolest bookstore I’ve ever seen and where I swore we took more pictures, but I only have this one. 

I found Matt’s anniversary gift there and a cute tiny picture for our travel wall. I was thinking about it and I decided I’d like us to try gifting each other traditional anniversary gifts. We’ve never been big on giving each other gifts, and after not finding anything, I almost called it off, but I found a cool china plate for him to put his toiletries on in the bathroom or a catchall on his dresser. It’s got salmon on it and it’s hand painted and will remind him of the Pacific Northwest. *China is the traditional 20th wedding anniversary gift. 

Frankie has a tummy ache after lunch, but was trying to be a trooper. We hit one more Made Here store and then I took pity on her and we headed back to our room. We were out for about 4 hours and I was pretty tired too. 

We love a glass elevator and checked out the 15th floor as we came back. We’re on the 7th which is not as cool as the 15th. 

I went to the pool to tread water. It’s maybe my favorite way to workout, because I have to be weird. I have a knack for it too, I could tread water for hours. The pool here is 9ft deep and I love not worrying about hitting my feet like at our shallow pool. Frankie went to the pool with friends and we spent some time packing. Tomorrow is the awards and closing ceremony and then we begin our journey home. This has really been a wonderful little trip!