I'm happy!!!

Starting this blog up again has been on my mind for a while now. I think I've hesitated because I wanted to define exactly what type of blog this is & what topics I would blog about. Well that was blown away yesterday when I was jogging at the gym and some amazing thoughts came to mind. So for my first post in many years I'm going to write about something I hope to not write about too often but feel I need to share: I have depression. The good news is I'm winning. Just because I typed that I have depression, doesn't actually mean I'm depressed right now. In fact, yesterday on the treadmill I felt like I was on top of the world. And I felt like shouting it from the rooftops! I felt more like me than I have over the last 6 months. Why? Mostly because I've been changing one of my medications over the last 2-3 months and I think I found a winner! If you've ever switched antidepressants then you know it's awful! I had such bad withdrawal this time I told my husband he'd have to put me in a medically induced coma next time I need to change meds. My biggest piece of advice for surviving med changes is to taper slowly!!! I was in a hurry to get on the "new stuff". Taper twice as slow as you think you should! And never discontinue any meds without the supervision of a doctor. 

So why am I sharing all this? Because if I can help or encourage just one person with depression then bearing my struggles is worth it! If you're struggling with depression, get help. Tell someone. Get on your knees & pray for strength. Then go take a nap. When you wake up, do it all over again. And know that I care. I care about you, whoever you are, who thinks her life is worthless or unimportant. You're wrong, you have worth and you are wanted on this earth. 

Okay, done! That's the heavy stuff & I hope to not go there too often. But really a blog about happiness would just be boring if it never talked about its opposite!

On an exciting note: my very 1st American passport came in the mail yesterday!!!!

There I am! Every piece of evidence that says I'm American thrills me! My original family is from South Africa and I was the 1st to get my citizenship almost 3 years ago!!! We're taking the kids on a Disney cruise in March so we needed passports! Yay! I can't wait to fill this little book with stamps and make some amazing memories! The kids passports are cute, but like most Americans, they have no idea how truly awesome they are!!!!

Ode to Joy

Maddy had her 2nd piano recital last night.  She did great and had a good time.  She worked really hard to learn to play Ode to Joy and I am so proud of her.  I can hardly believe she has been playing piano for a little over a year now.  We are really going to miss her piano teacher, Sister Shirley, when we move to Arizona.  Enjoy the video!

Ba-boom, clash!

That is the sound maddy makes after she tells a joke!  Can you hear the cymbals now? (she writes it as "boom! boom! clash!")  So yesterday morning she was busy writing Dan a letter before school ( he was at work finishing the night shift) and she sweetly left it for him on the kitchen table.  This is what it looked like: 

In case you can't read it (she was writing on the soft couch after all), this is what it said (plus my translations):

Dear Papi, (because that is what Dora calls her dad, so why not Maddy?)

I am overdue 4 school! (no explanation needed, of course, isn't every 6 year old overdue for school at 8a.m.?)

Our 1-year-old (Elsie) has a didee ("mom, if I don't know how to spell diaper I can just write didee") radish. Boom! Boom! Clash! (get it? get it? Elsie has a diaper rash!)

Love, Yours Truly (dan couldn't possibly have any other "yours truly"!)

P.S. I changed my name MSB (her initials) to Pam.

Ok, now I know the last part needs a lot of explaining: this is not the first mention of changing her name to Pam (which, by the way, comes from Pam cooking spray, can you see me shaking my head and sighing?) When I ask her why she wants to change it to Pam she says because it is short for Maddy.  Who knew?  not me!  She said it is easier to sing than Maddy.  What is a mother supposed to say to that?  Please tell me! 

A Beautiful Testimony!

I was reading President Uchtdorf's talk in the February Ensign the other day and his testimony of The Prophet Joseph Smith was incredible.  It touched me to my very core and he put into words much of how I feel about that good man.  This is what he knew as a child:

Before I recognized the tutoring of the Spirit testifying to me that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, my youthful heart felt that he was a friend of God and would therefore, quite naturally, also be a friend of mine. I knew I could trust Joseph Smith.

This is my testimony too.  I have always felt this way about our dear prophet, President Hinckley who died last year.  But I know that Joseph Smith was also a prophet of God and as a friend of God, he lived to bless me with the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.

For more information about the work Joseph Smith did to share the Gospel of Christ, please clickhere.

A 5 year old frat party!

No I'm not talking about a frat party that lasted 5 years, but rather what a frat party would look like if it was hosted by 5 year olds!

So I was sick all weekend.  We're talking flat-on-my-back-kill-me-now sick. Seriously, sicker than i have been since I've had kids.  So what happens when you get a semi-comatose mom, a dad working night shifts, and three kids stuck at home all weekend?

This is what you get:

half drunk sippy cups everywhere...

fruit snacks under the bed, in the bed and stuck to the covers...

the stickiest floor all the way from the sippy cups to the open bottle of gatorade...

half eaten pop tarts on the couch, the floor, and everywhere in between...

Apparently, Levi and Elsie found the stash of fruit snacks and brought them to me in my state of semi-consciousness and I opened them, ALL of them!  They must have thought they had died and gone to heaven! (Or just mom died and left a snack opening zombie behind!)

The best part was on Monday morning when I just couldn't get the kids ready for school, we waited for Dan to get home from his night shift and he took them to school a little late.  At 9:15 am I hear a loud insistent knock at the door.  I drag myself out of bed to see the termite inspection guy here.  I had totally forgotten about our appointment!  He had to inspect the ENTIRE HOUSE!  I was mortified!  All I could do was say I had been sick all weekend and tell him I was going back to bed while he did his thing.  There was no amount of apologizing I could do that would make the mess disappear.  He even had a flashlight people! Imagine a flashlight tracing the piles of crumbs that float toward the baseboards as the kids run through the house with whatever snack their dying mother just gave them! I could have died, except I thought I already was dying so instead, as I climbed back in bed I felt the smallest smile creep over my face at the ridiculousness of it!  I even felt a tiny tingle of relief that it was out of my hands and there was no point in scrambling to clean anything.  So for once in my life, I let it go and didn't give another thought to the stranger with the flashlight climbing over the piles of laundry to inspect my bathroom!  It was quite liberating actually, but don't worry, it will never happen again!

I made it up, mom!

I know, I know, I am totally behind on my blogging but school is under way and yadda, yadda, yadda...

I just have to tell you this joke Maddy told Dan today while she was practicing her spelling homework:

Maddy:  Why was Tigger looking in the toilet?

Dan: why?

Maddy: Because he was trying to find Pooh! Get it? Pooh! Hehehe!

Me: (trying so hard not to laugh) Maddy, where did you learn that joke?

Maddy: I made it up, mom.

Dan: (rolling on the floor laughing with nothing to say but looking pretty proud of his daughter for telling her first dirty joke)

Me: sigh...

10 years!!!

Dan and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary today and it was fantastic! Not because we gave each other amazing gifts or had a huge celebration but because it feels good. It feels good to know that 10 years ago we knelt across the altar in the Salt Lake Temple and promised to love and care for each other for eternity. And 10 years later we love each other more than ever, we are better at caring for each other and we have developed a deeper understanding of the eternal nature of marriage. The picture above is one I took last month while we were visiting Utah and went to Temple Square to see the lights. It was amazing and so uplifting. So I had this picture enlarged (after adding the details about our anniversary) and framed for my gift to Dan. I love the Christmas lights on the trees!
We went to dinner tonight at the Chart House on the Riverfront in Jacksonville. The place was deserted and we got to enjoy a quiet, relaxed dinner together. It was simply perfect.

So after 10 years, here's a little description of Dan & Christy as a couple and individuals:

He's a doctor and she's a doctor's wife, they are lovers of education, devourers of Jack Reacher novels and haters of cigarette smoke. They love being garage parkers. She is anal and he is laid back. He is a quoter of the Simpson's and she rolls her eyes. They are temple recommend holders and grateful recipients of our Savior's Gift. They are lovers of sunshine and haters of snow! He hates neck ties and she thinks he looks great in them. They are suckers for kids saying please-please-please! She thinks he is the funniest guy ever and he IS the funniest guy ever. They love to snuggle with three kids in a king size bed in the morning, but not in the middle of the night. She hates to cook and he doesn't mind. They dream of traveling and serving a mission together. She loves taking pictures and he pretends to love looking at her pictures. They love Macs and not Microsoft. She loves scrapbooking and he lovingly tolerates all that comes with that hobby. He is a runner and she runs to Target. He dreams of playing golf in the PGA and she is his biggest fan. Together they make each other better, a life of love and laughter.