Meet the Fam

These are the people I have called family for the past 4 years. Actually, this is not a picture of my whole dental school family, a lot of my friends have moved on to bigger and better things called LIFE. It's surreal to think that in a few short days we'll all be saying good bye...

good bye to late nights filled with sugar and Carcassone.
good bye to days of sitting out on the lawn chairs with all the girls talking about how we should be inside cleaning and cooking dinner.
good bye to coin operated washers and dryers.
good bye to Paco y Fernando.
good bye to brown water.
good bye to humid summers that make you feel like you're melting.
good bye to the downstairs neighbors who get more than their share of unwanted information about what goes on upstairs.
good bye to an amazing ward family.
good bye to friends, whose friendship I will treasure for always.

hello to the mountains I've missed so much.
hello to Cafe Rio' and my favorite pork burrito.
hello to good restaurants on every corner.
hello to a freeway that has more than two lanes.
hello to a washer and dryer that will actually wash and dry.
hello to old friends.
hello to family get togethers and endless amounts of babysitters.
hello to new friends.
and...

hello to a new life filled with new adventures.

30 Years In the Making

It's been a long and winding roller coaster ride, full of ups and downs, loopty loops, and gut-wrenching dives, but at last we've finally made it! Our adventure here at dental school turned out to be so much more than I could have ever imagined.

I'm not usually an emotional person, but when I saw Nate walking down the aisle to get his diploma I got all choked up. Everything we had been working towards came down to this one little moment. How grateful I am for Nate and all of his hard work and determination, and sacrifices he made for us as a family. I can truly say that I have never been more proud of Nate than when I saw him walk up on stage with our three little kids in hand to accept his diploma.

The kids got to walk up with Nate to receive his diploma. Kaleb of course put on a little show while he was up there.

Nate looking quite scholarly, and yes... purple is his color.

Meet the folks

As for right now, I'm short on words, time, and sarcasm (I know, a first for me). The family is in town for Nate's graduation and to help us with the move, so we've been busy packing/entertaining. I'm not sure how much I will get to posting the next couple weeks since life will be CRAZY, but I will make an honest effort.

As for those of you who have been patiently waiting for the rundown of our move... this is for you. Our little family will be pulling out of Philly on the 28th of may (that's this Wednesday!!!). We will be road trippin' it with my parents. After we get home (if we ever make it home) we will be moving to Salt Lake City where we will be living in my parents basement, because I've always wanted to tell people that I live in my parents basement. Hopefully, we will only have to be with them for a couple of months until we decide what we want to do as far as where we want to live. Nate is working out some details with a practice down in Utah County so odds are we will be moving down there some where. Other than that there's not much info. Sorry to be a little vague on the details.

Until next time....

Birthday Boy!

Nate turned 30 this week and all I can say is that he is getting more seasoned with age grrrrrr (actually, this one deserves a double grrrr) grrrrr, grrrrrr! So in honor of my husbands 30th birthday, I've come up with a list of things that you need to know about him.

• He can fold a tent like no ones business (a trait inherited by his father)
• He likes to freeze everything like, Twinkies, chocolate, cheesecake etc. If it's sweet, it goes in the freezer.
• If it came down to hanging out with me or his friends, Nate would choose being with me. I'm not just saying that, I swear.

• He can put anything back in the box and in its original form. I, on the other hand, fowl foul it up big time.
• He can tie a cherry stem with his tongue in 1.2 seconds. Lets just say, I didn't just marry him for his good looks and charm... wink, wink. nudge, nudge.
• He is one of the most sincere men I know of.
• He is OCD about folding his socks and not rolling them.
• He still opens the door for me.
• He has this one long hair that he’s growing on his back and he won’t let me pluck it. It drives me crazy. He thinks it’s funny. Don't laugh, you'll encourage him.
• Nate is a very tidy person. Even the messes of papers that he places all over the house are organized.
• If Nate were a celebrity look alike his celeb would be Tom Cruise, especially in the movie Top Gun and I would be his Charlie.

• He is a member of the U2 fan club.
• He claims that Dr. Pepper is the nectar of the Gods. I know otherwise. Diet Coke will for sure be the drink of choice in Heaven.
• He can stick 20 large marshmallows in his mouth with out choking or throwing-up (a skill many don’t possess). I do have a picture of this, but I choose not to share it since it looks like he's about to birth a small child out of his mouth. Not attractive... not attractive at all.
• He has some mad ballroom skills.
• As we all know, Nate has the talent of falling asleep any where, at any time, in any place. (I love how he's gently cupping his bum in this one)



• Nate has a twin brother (which means it's his brother's birthday as well. Happy Birthday Dustin!)
• Nate is technically not the oldest since he came out second.
• I like to tease Nate by telling people he’s not the oldest. It drives him crazy.
• Nate is the type of person that needs to schedule being spontaneous into his planner.
• Nate always puts the toilet seat down. (Thank you Kelly for teaching him that)
• When Nate eats chips he organizes them into sizes. Now Abrie has inherited that trait.

• Whenever Nate dirties a dish he always washes it, which is a big deal since we don't own a dishwasher.
• Whenever we go to any Italian restaurant Nate always orders the Chicken parmigiana.
• He's wanted to be a dentist since before he could walk.

Nate is truly an amazing individual, who I was lucky enough to get stuck with.

Sometimes a person comes along in your life who you can't live with, but more importantly, you can't live with out. A person that makes you better just by being around them. A person who sees more in you than you do yourself. A person that makes you feel like world revolves around you. A person that completely balances you out. A person that will never give up on you despite your constant failures. A person that is a perfectionist, borderline OCD and you love them regardless because you realize those are things that made you fall in love with them in the first place. And lastly, it's amazing to me that this certain person comes along in your life and out of all the millions of people in the world I was actually able to find my person.

(In my best Austin Powers voice) Nate, you complete me. Happy Birthday!!!

Yo ginjohn81, What's Up?!

You want to know what's up? I'll tell you what's up. I've been way biz to the izzay for shizzle (that's ghetto talk for 'I've been busy'). It seems I have an ever growing TO Do list and I have the fine talent of making things more complicated than they really need to be. The odds are stacked against me for rizzo (that's ghetto talk for 'for real'). So how do I cope with the stress of the big move and my massive To Do list? Well, that's easy. I invite family in town and I hang out with them instead of being productive.

This past week my oldest niece came in town. I had all the greatest intentions of taking advantage of her and using her as cheap labor/babysitter/slave. Unfortunately, I felt too guilty putting her to work and taking advantage of her like that. I know, ME? Worried about making someone be at my beckoned call? Something is definitely wrong with me. Instead we decided to do all the things one needs to do while visiting me in Philly, which consists of; driving through Valley Forge, visiting historic downtown Philly, going to Amish country, shopping at the second largest mall in America, and spending the day in New York City.

I actually was able to sucker Nate into taking us to New York. On this visit to NY we decided to get a little crazy and bring the along. I was a little worried about how the kids would be since I swore I would never take the kids into NY, but they were so completely entertained the whole time. They thought the subway was the best thing ever. Every time we got on the subway Kaleb would cling to the nearest pole and start swinging on it.

On one particular ride on the subway Kaleb started to get a little carried away on the pole, pulling out moves I never knew he had. Then out of the corner of my eye I see this perfectly dressed man in a pink pin striped button up shirt with a grey polo sweater tied over his shoulders just like you see and the movies with really rich people who like to play tennis, and he had coordinating pink converse shoes that even drove Abrie to jealousy. To say the least this man had style... more style than I could ever wish to have. Then I see this GQ man nudge his equally well dressed 'friend' in a playful manner, with eyes motioning in the direction of Kaleb and his new found talent for pole dancing. It didn't take long to put two and two together (I'm quick like that). I hurried and grabbed Kaleb and explained that poles are not for dancing on (well, at least this one's not) they are just for holding onto. It took a lot of self control on his part, but he managed to hold still ending his little free show. I did also see them eyeing Nate a bit, but that was OK. I can't blame them... he is some good eye candy if a do say so myself... grrrrrrr!

So get ready for some picture overload of our adventure to New York City,

The fam. at Battery Park

The fam. on the Statton Island Ferry

Me and my niece, Jessika Nate... sleeping

The subway (after the pole dancing lecture)
Little Italy, waiting for our food

Me, trying to document my extreme muscle control of my upper lip.

As you can see, there were good times to be had by all.

I promise I will be doing an update of our moving situation soon. Inquiring minds need to know dang it...

Oh, and another thing. I swear I had no idea that when I started this blog that my web address was going to be ginjohn81.blogspot.com. I'm cursing the day I put that in there. I got it confused with my email address... I have issues OK. If I knew that it was going to be my web address I would have come up with something far more clever like, ginniejohn81 or theginster or the gin-o-rama, but ginjohn81? Pffft, come on! Who in their right mind would name their blog that?!

Sometimes...

I just pretend to not know what the kids are getting into because ignorance is bliss... or at least having a few extra minutes of alone time is. Another plus is that since I "don't know" what the kids are getting into I technically can't be held accountable for whatever mess they make or trouble they might get into.

This little spot has become Macie's favorite spot in the house. If it's quiet and Macie is no where to be found, she can usually be found here... or in my bedroom closet asleep.

This picture tells me several things,

1. That my child slightly resembles that of a homeless child.
2. That I should probably feed my kids more often.
3. That it was probably not a good idea to leave the knife out on the counter.
4. That if I were to pass out unconscious on the floor at least my kids would not starve.
5. That it's good to have kids who are self sufficient, but not too self sufficient.

A woman with 3 kids walks into a Blockbuster...

Sounds like the beginning of a joke. Trust me it's a joke... anytime I walk into any store with my 3 kids it's a joke. No so much ha, ha funny. More like you are out of your mind crazy, why would you take 3 kids anywhere, type of funny.

First of all, when the kids have you out numbered 3 to 1, that's a bad sign. Second of all, if you go into a store and don't bring along your stroller, that's a bad sign. Third of all, when you walk into a movie store and the kids think they have free reign over every movie in the store, that's a bad sign... especially for the people who get to work at that movie store. Pretty much what I'm getting at is that this little outing wasn't any different than any other time I go out.

The kids, to me, were normal, happy, somewhat well behaved, and perhaps just a bit overstimulated from all the potential trouble they could get into. I was standing at the counter getting a movie for the kids with Abrie standing at my side while the other two were, ummm... somewhere in the store. An older lady walks up to stand in line and looks at Abrie, then looks at me, "My what a sweet daughter you have." I smile and say thank you. Then Kaleb runs up to me with an ice cream in hand, "Mom, Mom... can we buy this, pleeeaaaase!!". The lady looks at me again, "Oh, and you have a little boy as well. I'm sure they keep you busy." I respond with my usual response, "Yep, they keep me busy alright". Just then Macie runs up to me with a slew of movies and gummy worms, "Mommy, I want gummies, peeeaas!!". Then the lady says to me, "Wow, is she yours too?!". My first response was going to be, "Nope, I just like to carry around extra kids with me everywhere I go. Sometimes they just happen to call me Mom", but since sarcasm is SCARcasm (or so I've been told) I resisted the urge and just settled with, "Yep, she's mine too." This is a moment where I wish I had a shirt that says either, "Yes, I know what causes pregnancy" or "I'm just multiplying and replenishing". The lady looks at me with an exhausted look and says to me without hesitation, "Three little kids?! I would kill myself if I had three little kids." I wasn't quite sure how to respond to that one. I'm still not sure. I ended up looking at her with a half smile and saying something random (and slightly inaudible) like, "Oh, ya... kill myself... ha, that's a good one". Then I turned around, grabbed my 3 little yay-hoo's, and headed out the door laughing to myself.

Why was I laughing to myself? I'm not entirely sure. I think it was a combination of her comment mixed with my response... "Oh, ya... kill myself... ha, that's good one" (seriously, I need to be a little bit more quick witted). The whole thing just kind of struck me as funny.

Having 3 kids is definitely not easy, but it hasn't driven me to the point of suicide. Partially crazy?... yes. Suicide?... No. Brain dead?... Yes. Suicide?... No. Stretch marks?... maybe... OK, yes. Suicide? No. Less than perky "sisters"?... Unfortunately, yes. Suicide?... No. An eternally messy house?... Yes. Suicide?... No.

The point is, having kids is no easy feat, but for every negative there are millions of positives and all of the negatives can be easily replaced by a positive. For example; being partially crazy... there's medication for that. Brain dead... do a sudoku. Stretch marks... no problem. Never get naked, then no one will ever see them. The "sisters" aren't as perky (or as my friends like to call them **rocks in socks) ... they have surgery to fix that. An eternally messy house... hire a maid.

Truth be told, I am loving being a 3 kid Mom. I have embraced all of the good and bad that comes along with it. And all of those backward glances and awkward comments I get from people just make me laugh, because they don't know how good I have it. They don't know that I get to be woken up at 6:30 in the morning to sweet kisses by my little early riser. And they don't know that after those moments of chaos and tantrums I get to hear the sweetest little voices say, "I am sorry Mommy". And they don't know that I live for the loads of hugs and kisses I get each day with little dirty hands and messy faces. And they don't know that I have all the free entertainment I could ever want. And they don't know that these three little kids are what makes my life worth living.

So to the lady in Blockbuster I guess my response to her, "I would kill myself if I had three kids" statement, would be that's unfortunate... very unfortunate. You haven't lived until you've experienced trying to wrestle with three kids in a public setting and trying to keep your cool. It's awesome!

**I must apologize to my husband, Father in law, and brother in laws for my rocks in socks comment. I'm afraid they will never look at me the same way again.

What Is True Love?

True love is cooking with onions when your husband loves them and you absolutely hate them.
True love is saving the last bite of your favorite dessert for your husband because you know he loves it just as much.
True love is posting pictures of your poor, unsuspecting, overworked, sleeping husband... multiple times.

OK, so maybe that's not a sign of true love. But it is a sign that my husband truly loves me despite the fact that I find humor in posting these pictures at his expense.

True love is letting your husband win Settlers, when you totally have it in the bag.
True love is resisting the urge to stay in you pajamas all day, but instead taking a shower and getting ready, because you realize it's important to still look somewhat desirable to your husband. (I'm still not quite there yet).
True love is birthing 3 of his kids.
True love is folding your husbands socks just the way he likes them. Whoa! I got a little bit ahead of myself. I guess in order to have clean socks to fold you actually have to do the laundry.
True love is doing the laundry.
True love is supporting your husbands addiction to Dr. Pepper.

Now to REALLY define true love,
True love is driving into the city so you can be your husbands *clinical boards patient.
True love is laying in a chair for the majority of the day with your mouth propped open.

True love is trusting your husband who is about to stick a needle in your mouth to give you an injection.
True love is trusting that your husband (who is about to give you a shot) will not take advantage of his new found power over you and use it as payback for all the pictures you've posted of him sleeping on the Internet.
True love is letting your husband place a rubber dam over your mouth while drool is seeping out the sides, and your tongue is flailing around trying to find a comfortable place to lay, and you nearly choke on your spit because it's really hard to swallow with your mouth propped open..(Try it. Right now. Open your mouth and swallow. Not so easy, huh! and not so pretty either.)

True love is standing up and walking around with this thing in you mouth when it looks like you've just stepped out of some horror movie. Then standing in line (with mouth still propped open mind you) waiting to be seen by 3 other doctors who will be grading Nate's work. Mean while, drool still seeping, tongue still flailing, spit still chocking.
True love is when your husband finally removes the rubber dam and he gently wipes the drool away from your glistening lips. (I tried to make that sound as romantic as possible. Either way you look at it, it's just not that hot)
True love is when your husband is still willing to kiss you after he's seen the drool seeping, the tongue flailing, and the spit choking. Let's just say, they don't call him Dr. Feelgood for nothing.

*Last weekend marked the last and final test that Nate will ever have to take for the rest of his life! It's been a long time coming, but I think we are finally there.

The Next Best Thing Since The Padded Bra

Well, maybe it's not the next best thing... but it's close.

This post is for those of you who have a moderate to severe addiction to blogging. The ones who are saying, "Ha, me addicted... to blogging?! Pffft, right.!" are the ones who have the problem. It's OK, denial is the first stage in admitting you have a blog addiction (BA). Denial is usually followed by anger, bargaining, depression, & acceptance. As you have probably noticed, the stages of BA are pretty much the same as the stages of grief... except I have taken the liberty to add one last stage to BA. After you have reached the sad realization that you are in fact a victim of BA the next very important step would be Google Reader. I share this with you only as a friend and fellow blogger. Your time management is very important to me. I only use Google Reader out of convenience, not because I have an addiction to blogging. Me, addicted... to blogging?! Pffft, right! Clearly I'm not addicted to blogging. I could totally live without it. As you can tell, I myself am in the early stages of dealing with BA.

So how can Google Reader be the next best thing since the padded bra? Well, I'm not quite sure. I guess it offers support and it holds your "friends" all in one place. And it keeps you "up" to date on all the blogs you follow.

OK, so that was kind of a long shot. And OK, my husband is going to have another reason to be embarrassed by me when he reads this. But seriously, if you want to save on some time instead of clicking from blog to blog only to find that people haven't updated, then you should really consider buying a new bra or signing up for Google Reader. (In this case Google Reader would probably be the more effective choice.)

Last Week It Was Snow Boots...

This week it's Superman.

I went to go help out at Kaleb's school yesterday and he insisted on wearing his new Superman PJ's. I was opposed to the whole wearing PJ's to school thing, while Kaleb on the other hand thought it would be the best thing ever. So we compromised. He had to wear whatever pants I picked out and he got to choose his shirt... his Superman shirt.

As I've said before, some days you just don't fight it. You pick and choose your battles and I wasn't about to pick a fight with Superman!

It's a Spring Thing

Hi. It's me. The slacker blogger/friend /housewife/mother/daughter/sister/person (I think I covered it all). I have been very unmotivated as of late. Some would call it lazy, I would call it productively challenged. So this is going to be a short, but sweet post. I'm just trying to catch up on all the mucho exciting events I haven't had time to write about.

So I've been trying to stay somewhat social and I decided it would be fun to try and hit Philly's Cherry Blossom festival... which really isn't much of a festival at all. Nope, no party streamers, no jugglers, no cotton candy... no nothin'. In my opinion it doesn't really qualify as a festival at all. Regardless of the non-festiveness it was still incredibly awesome!