Melarky

Fellow blogger in Cache Valley, Bridge, of seehearspeaknoevil.com is having a photo contest. I apologize for such short notice, but anyone is invited but the deadline is BEFORE SATURDAY AUGUST 30TH AT MIDNIGHT.

Bridge is a great photographer, I should know, she was our wedding photographer, and did a great job. She was also my sister Barbara’s photographer.

The contest theme this time around is “Nature”. I went out tonight for about 15 minutes, walked around, and came up with this. This is located next to the train tracks next to Cafe Sabor. I went through a “No trespassing” sign to get to it. So, fingers crossed, I hope I win. Prize? A ten dollar gift certificate!

Update:Right on! I just found out today that I won! What a super photo-self esteem boost! Check out the other entries!

We didn’t plan on buying a van last week, it just kinda happened. We had planned on selling our Honda Accord privately, but ended up trading it in for a van, after realizing how much we could get for a trade.

We got a 2004 Honda Odyssey. I’m in love with it. I was a little worried about switching to a MAV(Mormon Assault Vehicle), but the Odyssey is a nice one to make the transition from young hip speedster to soccer mom.

I love the silver color, the tinted windows, the dual sliding doors, a cd player and power everything (which I didn’t have in the Accord). I love how easy it is to fold down the back seat and to put it back into an upright position. Wellington is able to climb up into the car himself easily. Mark and I are both very happy with the van, after reading consumer reports, test driving a few other vans, we are happy about our purchase, and would definitely recommend this van to anyone.

Okay, your probably wondering what was with the weird baby announcement picture? I know, I couldn’t think of anything clever to do, and well, baby is on my mind. If you haven’t guessed by now, we purchased a mini van in anticipation of our new arrival in April. Yes, I’m pregnant. So everyone can stop thinking, “Wow, Mel has really let herself go!” and just know that I have a little blueberry sized baby in my tummy.

Part of the party favors for Heidi’s baby shower were funny nose and glasses, and Welly looked so funny in them. I could look at the picture everyday!

I love giving him tubbies in the sink. It doesn’t happen very often though, because it’s never that clean. But I actually did the dishes the other day and scrubbed the sink. He is so cute in the sink, and has so much fun up there scooping water out and putting it in the empty sink.

This is Wellington and his arch nemesis, his cousin Gray. They fight a lot, but when their not they have fun together. But there’s more fighting than fun. This picture was taken right after Welly had moved his hands from over Gray’s eyes, to his neck.

I really was just curious if there were more female or male Melarky readers. My guess is female, but who knows.

Wednesday I went in for my plastic surgery. All went well, and I should be ready to go in on Monday to get my neck bolts tightened. Even though I look a bit like Frankenstein right now, I’m still very happy with how the surgery went.

After considering it for some time, I decided to go ahead and remove six moles (fairly large ones) on my face. I made a post a while back about it (check it out if you missed it, there you can see before pictures). I went to Dr. Isom, a plastic surgeon in town. I went with him, because well, I wanted a skilled hand working on my face.

Mark, my cute hubby, went with me to hold my hand and be a general support. I’m sure glad he came, cause I had the most painful experience. After marking off which ones I wanted removed, he numbed them up. It might have been okay if it was just one, but to have six poked at (in relatively sensitive areas) made the numbing process an un-fun one. I teared up and squeezed Mark’s hand as hard as I could.

When they returned 10 minutes later, I was ready to go. Dr. Isom suited up, put sterilized sheets and gauze on my face so only a small part of my face was visable.

Mark, by my side, watched as Dr. Isom made eye shaped cuts (this helps reduce scaring) around my moles. By the time he was on the third one, Mark said later that he started realizing his face was very cold. After the nurse asked him for a third time if he wanted a chair, he finally sat down next to me. A few more minutes passed, and Mark announced that he was VERY lightheaded (which some of you might be after you look at that picture). The nurse told him to move back, and put his head between his knees.

The nurse got Mark a sucker and some water. He soon felt better and the nurse also felt better, for she narrowly escaped picking 300lbs. up off the floor. Just kidding, she didn’t sigh, but I’m sure she was still glad. I love my Marky, he was such a good husband to stay with me and hold my hand even though he doesn’t do too well with that sort of thing. (Oh, and Mark made me promise to say “Passed Out” not “Fainted”)

Mark stayed on the other side of the room the rest of the time, which I was totally fine with, cause I was so numb that I couldn’t feel a thing, with the exception of some tugging as he stitched me up. I’m going back on Monday to get the blue larger stitches out. The inner stitches will dissolve on their own in about two months. He said it can take up to a year for the scars to really blend in with the face, for it to all smooth out, and to look right. That was fine with me, I can wait.

I was really happy with Dr. Isom and his whole staff, they were so nice. I thought Dr. Isom did a great job and I would totally go back to him or refer my friends and family to him.

Sorry for such a gruesome picture.

For most Mom’s with infants, you might be considering getting the greatest and latest invention-the Bumbo. A Bumbo is a baby seat that can be used as early as six to eight weeks old, as long as they can support their head on their own. It is perfect for keeping the baby safely corralled, it’s supposed to help in proper development of the spine, with its unique ergonomic design it keeps the baby securely in the seat without the use of a strap. The come in all different colors and some models have a teleport feature. Watch the video to find out more.

Even if your not a Mom, this video is worth checking out!

There is a second video too….Ready-set-Bumbo II
Bumbo III
and Outtakes

Not only was a cute video, but I loved all the stop motion.

I don’t know why I started to think about this today, but I was thinking about my marriage. Don’t worry, not in a negative way, it’s not “on the rocks”, but I was thinking just how different each marriage must be. How love might mean something different to someone else than it does to me.

Love can be a pretty hard thing to describe to someone, because it’s so complex. There are so many different attributes, and emotions. Before Mark and I were married, the question was asked, “Do you love Mark?” “How do you know you love him?”, and it was hard for me to express in words how I felt about him. I just knew I loved him.

At the beginning, there was a definite strong physical attraction. I thought he was the most handsome guy I had ever seen, and he, well he thought I was cute in my green corduroy pants, butterfly shirt, and beaded moccasins, yup, moccasins.

After we had dated for a while, and got to know each other better. We found we had a similar sense of humor, we had the same religious views, we had similar interests, we found the same things important; a mission, family, an education. We generally enjoyed spending time with each other.

I remember Mark was the first one to say, “I love you”. I knew I liked him a whole bunch but it took time for me to really know. I had to mature, grow and experience before I really knew.

Mark and I dated for about a year before we went through a long distance relationship. In my opinion, distance is a true test for any relationship. Long distance relationships, take commitment, trust, honesty, and communication. I really believe in our case, absence made the heart grow fonder.

When Mark decided that he wanted to serve an LDS mission, we were pretty in love. Even though we both made his mission our goal, it took some courage to actually do it. It wasn’t fun, and two years is a long time for any relationship. We both felt like it was the right thing to do, it would give Mark experiences that he couldn’t get any other way. And being apart made me realize just how much I loved him, how I wanted to be with him and no one else. I wholeheartedly believe that Mark going on his mission has improved our relationship and our marriage. It only makes sense that if your right for each other that experiences like this should make your love stronger.

While Mark was away on his mission, our relationship changed. And when Mark returned, it continued to be different, better I would say. We both matured quite a bit. We were more committed, we understood each other more. We were realistic of each others faults. I wanted to be a better person around him. We thought of growing old together and raising children. I couldn’t see myself with anyone else, the thought didn’t even cross my mind. He was someone I could be proud to be with, he made me more of my real self, a better Melly.

I never had cold feet. I wasn’t nervous at all to marry Mark, it was a natural step, the happiest day in my life. I was more excited just to start my life with him, then to wear the white dress and tiara (although that was pretty fun). It was so beautiful so perfect. It was right. I knew that getting married in the Temple was the right thing to do. And I’m so happy we did.

Click picture to enlarge

Mark and I have been married for almost 5 years now and I still get weak in the knees when he kisses me. We understand each other, we continually sacrifice, and serve each other and in return is rewarded with happiness and joy. Our relationship and love perpetually changes and gets better. I beleive, the person you marry should help you become a better person, marriage should bring joy, and fulfillment.

Now I understand that most of Melarky readers are currently married, but to those who aren’t already or for those young adult readers….

Not sure if it’s Infatuation or love (here are some things to consider):
Infatuation:
Develops rather rapidly
Based on limited characteristics
Based on the emotion itself
Is self-centered
Changes rapidly
Loses touch with reality
Largely outward or physical
Insecure/Insecurities
Jealous/Possessiveness
has unrealistic expectations
lacks positive growth and development
lacks trust
lacks loyalty
lacks commitment
alienats your close friends and family

Love:
Is grown into
Based on the whole person
Focuses on the person with whom you are involved
Is other-centered
Demonstrates a deep commitment to one person
Is a gradual development
Maintains balance of life and priorities
Secure/Security
Trust/Faith in that person
a long-term investment
is honest
compromises
works toward common goals

The house renovations continue for Mark’s parents(a.k.a. Mammy and Pappy). There has been some pretty dramatic changes, since I last posted about it in May. The front landscaping is beautiful. All the crown molding, column’s and new windows and closets look so nice. One of the bigger changes is the family room. It’s all insulated now, has a new fireplace, a new window, and a shelf around the ceiling where there will be mood lighting.

I didn’t get pictures of quite everything because my batteries ran out…but these will give you the general idea. Now, there are lots of pictures, and I kept them relatively big so click the read more link below to see them all. I hope these give far away family members an idea of how the construction is going.

Read more

grammygram.blogspot.com

grammygram.blogspot.com

**I love my husband so much, duh, that’s why I married him. He has a great sense of humor and a high self esteem, a great formula for a little fun-spirited teasing.**

We finally found a helmet big enough to fit my husbands gigantic melon. It took some doing. We scoured every bike shop from Logan to Layton. After buying two different helmets, and realizing that 2xl wasn’t big enough for him, we turned to eBay, a place where you can find everything, even 3xl helmets.

We were a little weary of buying a used helmet, but were pleasantly surprised when we received it. It was in perfect shape, with the exception of the flame stickers it had on it (which were easily removed).

Mark was super hot in it. It fit perfectly on his perfectly egg shaped head (love you).

The helmet looked great with the rare goggles I got him for Christmas last year, all he is missing is a white scarf. Mark and I modeled both the other night and this it the resulting, very patriotic picture.

Mark is such a good sport to let me tease him about his head and helmet size. He really does have a good sense of humor, and I love that he is willing to let me take pictures of him in his new gear and then to post them for everyone to see. I love you Marky and your melon.

Mark is definitely the coolest, hottest scooter enthusiast there is!