Fires

Two posts in two days?! Apparently I have a lot to say this week.

As many of you know, there are a lot of fires raging in the west right now. It's very sad how much has been destroyed. I just found out yesterday that our family was the recipient of a miracle. My niece, Chanelle, was at Girls' Camp in Sanpete County this week. The fire in that area was spreading faster than anyone anticipated, so the fire marshall booked it up there and told them they had 1 hour to evacuate the camp. Just after they got out of the canyon, the entire canyon was shut down. Less than a couple of hours later, the entire camp was burned to the ground.

I talked to my sister yesterday to see how they were doing and she said that so many people are being affected not only by the fires, but also by the lack of rain. People in that area rely on their farms and gardens for their livelihood; even if they don't sell their goods, many can their produce and live off it for the year.

So our family and many people in the state are using this fast Sunday as an opportunity to fast and pray for the fires to stop spreading, for the people in the area, for the firefighters, and especially for rain so no more fires start. And not just in Utah, but in all of these areas that are so dry. I believe in the power of prayer, fasting, and combined faith, so if you would like to join us I invite you to. As you feel comfortable, spread the word. I know there are many worthy causes to pray and fast for, but thank goodness there's no limit on how much we can pray for. :)

Voles

(Although I think this post would be more entertaining with pictures--stock pictures from the internet, not my own photos--I can't bring myself to; it's just not funny yet.)

5 weeks ago: I was out watering our lawn and gave a little scream (that's a lie--it wasn't little) as I saw a little mouse scurry from behind our garden box into our neighbors yard. I made Royce come out and he saw the mouse scurry back in and out the other side of the our yard. Feeling violated and vulnerable, I called my dad and asked him what we should do. He reassured me that they were only field mice and calmed my fears of whether they would destroy our (surprisingly) thriving garden. He counseled us to set traps in our garage and other key points in our house in case they decided to try and move in, but that there wasn't much he could do about them outside since we live next to a park.

4 weeks ago: Our HOA emailed us to say that the exterminators were coming to spray for voles and that they would put poison in holes in our yard and in trenches. Royce asked me if we needed to have them come to our house. I told him no, we don't have voles. I hadn't noticed any holes or trenches in our yard.

3 weeks ago: I was out in our yard, trying to train our tomato plant to go up the vine we've kindly provided for it. Not 6 inches from where my hand was, a mouse came out of nowhere and scurried along the fence. This time I screamed bloody murder. I think everyone in the neighborhood heard me. I told Royce he had to go water the lawn for me, but he said I was overreacting. With my back against our sliding door, I tried watering the lawn, only to see the mouse scurry by again. I screamed, dropped the hose, and ran inside and told Royce I was not going back out there. I told him to go and turn off the hose. He did, and he acted just as nervous as I was; overreacting my foot. (Sidenote, as we were going to bed we couldn't figure out why it sounded like water was running. Finally, I ventured outside again and realized the hose was on, full-blast. I asked Royce if he had really turned the hose off. He said, "Yeah, I turned it all the way off; lefty-loosey, right?" Oh Royce.)

2 1/2 weeks ago: Saturday morning, after waking up early with high hopes of being productive, I discovered that our strawberries, which were looking beautiful and actually growing, had been eaten (my dad lied). After seeing one too many of these guys scurrying by (okay, it was probably just one) I again bolted for the safety of indoors and then spent the next couple of hours scouring the internet trying to figure out how to take care of these creatures, once and for all. I discovered, among other things, that voles and field mice are the same thing (guess we should have had the exterminator come spray). I also read that cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, certain herbs, etc. would make them stay away. I also spent an hour looking for cats on KSL. Once Royce got up, I, tearfully, dramatically, told him how frustrated I was and begged him to go put out the cayenne pepper. He did. Also, as we were running errands we picked up some traps (the kind where you can't see the dead mouse once you've caught it). When we got home we baited them with PB and confidently put them out where we had seen the voles.

2 weeks ago: Voles apparently don't mind cayenne pepper. They ate our entire bean plant; it was over a foot high. Our traps so far had proved useless. They had attracted ants, but no voles. And we definitely have several holes and trenches by now.

1 1/2 weeks ago: I finally called the exterminator and made an appointment for them to come back. Occasionally I would spot one and tried to get Royce to smash it with a shovel, but they were always too fast for him.

1 week ago: The exterminator came and said that the previous exterminator shouldn't have sprayed because of x, y and z, because we're next to a water way and that he was going to talk to our HOA about putting in a barrier. He set out some sticky traps. On my way home from work that day they ran a story on KSL radio about the vole problem in our area and how frustrated residents are that the city wasn't doing anything about the problem.

6 days ago: Royce was home early from work getting ready to go on a trip, and saw them blasting away parts of the hill leading down to the water way (or smoking it or something; I know he said there were little explosions). He also saw them looking at the big green plastic utility looking thing on the city property. When I got home he showed me the many holes going under the green thing and from a distance we could see voles scurrying in and out. Shudder. The green thing is apparently their breeding grounds.

4 days ago: I was talking to my mom about our problem and she told me about the traps they use for mice. She kindly brought some over. (I also looked for cats again on KSL--I don't really want a cat, but it sure would be handy.) That evening, as I prepared to set the traps outside, I saw one right smack in the middle of our yard, eating our grass (usually they scurry along the fence). Totally unaware of me, he came closer to the house and was trying to eat our rubber mulch. I grabbed the nearby shovel, and sneaking up behind it, prepared to smash it. I hesitated several times, and then finally whacked it as hard as I could (with a little cry of alarm as I actually made contact with my target). The little creature flipped over on its back with little legs flailing in the air. It continued to flail for several seconds, not dying. I didn't know what to do. I decided to try and put the little creature out of its misery and so I whacked it again, but it still didn't stop flailing. I dropped the shovel and ran inside, tears in my eyes. I called Royce and told him that he should have been the one smashing it with a shovel. He asked if I was crying, and I said yes, I'm a horrible person, I just killed one of God's creatures, brutally and forcefully. Once he realized that I was genuinely upset he tried to comfort me. After I got off the phone, I tried to not think about it as I made dinner, but I kept thinking about it and bawled. I begged God for forgiveness and asked Him to make the voles go away. Eventually I mustered the courage to go outside and scoop the dead little thing into a plastic sack. Then I went about setting the traps.

3 days ago: Royce came home and by that time we had caught one vole in our traps. I made him get it out of the trap. We reset the trap and washed our hands vigorously.

2 days ago: As I went out into the yard to water, I noticed that we had caught 2 more. Since Royce wouldn't have time to help me by the time he woke up, I set about emptying the traps myself. I re-baited one and reset both traps.

Yesterday: In the morning, it looked like there was one dead vole. I didn't have time to do anything about it though. By the time I got home from work, there were two more that were caught. I gaggingly cleaned up all three.

Today: When I looked out our window, we didn't have any dead voles. But when I went out to open our gate for the exterminators (who are apparently coming to the neighborhood again) I noticed that one of the traps was closed. But it didn't look like anything was trapped (part of the trap was under the fence and not visible). I grabbed the back of the trap to reset it, and screamed and let go as I realized that there was a still flailing vole on the other end. When I let go, it sent the thing partially under the fence we share with our neighbor. I think the flailing vole ended up on their side . . . Sorry!

Tomorrow: The exterminators will have sufficiently poisoned all voles in the area and we will never see another one. Right, right? Shudder. It's so gross and awful, I can't talk about it anymore.

Honest (i.e. TMI)

Someday I'm going to upload all my pictures and blog about all our adventures (since really, that's what the title of this blog advertises). In the meantime I thought I would share my thoughts on a subject which I think about quite a bit: trying to conceive.

I think most of you know from our 30X30/31X31 lists that we are trying to have a baby. But it's not something I talk about much, except with a few close friends. Infertility is an interesting stage of life, filled with mixed emotions. I suspect that there are quite a few of my friends/acquaintances who are also struggling with infertility or have in the past; some are quite open about it and others keep it very private. I would say we're somewhere in the middle. If people ask us about it, directly or indirectly ("So, are you waiting to have kids?"or "Do you have any kids yet?" are not uncommon questions) we're pretty open that we're trying without success so far. But I definitely find myself picking and choosing what I share based on who is asking. For instance, when our mothers ask us, I have a tendency to be very vague. But when say the Fitz's ask us the latest, we're pretty open, probably since they've been through all this before.

In any case, I thought it might be interesting to share my mixed emotions (as mentioned above) or it might be just way too much information, or just really stale. Who can tell. So here goes, in no particular order:

1. Last night at orchestra rehearsal two girls I've known for a long time were talking about their 4-month old babies. And I was kind of mad. Which is stupid. They're both older than me, both got married later in life, and this is the first for both of them. It is wonderful!

2. Sometimes I worry that people that know we're struggling with infertility may feel awkward telling us that they're expecting. Because maybe I'll have a reaction like I did above. But honestly, I am almost always genuinely happy for that person--the above experience doesn't happen often. I truly recognize that a good thing happening to another person is not an injustice because it hasn't happened to me yet. Plus, I love most kids, so that just means more little babies for me to "ooh" and "aah" at. When I enthusiastically tell you how excited I am for you, I promise I'm not crying in the bathroom two minutes later.

3. Having a baby is not always on my mind. Sometimes I'm just too darn busy to worry about it; between work, mutual, orchestra, cooking, cleaning, etc., there's often not a lot of down time. I don't even always remember to pray for it. I felt a little guilty about that for awhile, but it's not like Heavenly Father doesn't know our desires.

4. I rarely feel sad when my period starts. It's not that I'm not hopeful; but it would just be so out of the norm to be pregnant, that I'm not really emotional to find out that I'm not pregnant. I can think of only two times that I cried when I realized our efforts hadn't worked. I don't remember when the first time was, but I know I was at work. The second time was about a year ago, when we had been trying for a little over a year. We had really made an effort to do everything "right": ovulation tests, good timing, other stuff that doesn't need to be mentioned . . . The day before my sister had announced that she was pregnant. And then my unwelcome guest arrived at my dad's birthday party. See above to know that I was truly, 100% happy for my sister. And little baby "E" is too cute for words. Love her! It was just hard timing. Luckily the sadness didn't last long--30 minutes maybe. A good hug from Royce helped a lot.

5. Speaking of periods (because I know the 2 or 3 guys reading this blog are loving this topic), sometimes I have irrational thoughts such as, "Man, I really wish I was pregnant because then I wouldn't be having these awful cramps that keep me up all night." Somehow I have delusions that I will not suffer from morning sickness once I do become pregnant.

6. Totally random thought here: I hate the term preggers. I hear it everywhere these days! It just sounds so unclassy and unfeminine. When I am pregnant please don't ever refer to me as being "preggers". You can say that I'm "expecting;" maybe that's old-fashioned, but I'm kind of old-fashioned.

7. A few months ago I thought that maybe we actually were pregnant. In that moment, I became absolutely terrified and wanted so much to see a negative result on the pregnancy test. It's amazing how something I want so much can be simultaneously terrifying.

8. Sometimes I feel guilty that I'm so worried about having a baby when I have friends who are still single and wondering if they're ever going to find their eternal companion, let alone have children.

9. Sometimes I look at people with children and feel intensely jealous of their life. Other times, I see people with children and assume that they're jealous of our carefree lifestyle (ok, our lifestyle is not exactly carefree, but it is more free than if we had children). That's probably not the case though. I think most people are pretty content with their state in life, including me!

10. I don't love advice on what worked for so-and-so to get pregnant. We're not totally uneducated on the subject and have been working with fertility specialists. But if you give me such advice I won't get mad or secretly resent you. I'm sure I've given unwanted "advice" to people before, so I know that since I dish it I can take it.

11. Sometimes I think about adoption. But I'll tell you right now that Royce is much more open to the idea than I am. Whenever I've been on adoption websites I kind of freak out and feel sick to my stomach. I am a total believer that adoption is wonderful! But for some reason right now I have a hard time with the idea of adopting. And I often feel guilty about that.

12. I recently was involved in a conversation about decorating a nursery. I listened and smiled, but couldn't contribute because truth is, I really don't want to decorate a nursery! I can see myself putting in a cute little dresser with something cute on top of it, but no painting of walls or cute animal decals. Realizing that about myself made me wonder if I'm fit to have children.

13. Sometimes when I think about having teenagers I want to throw in the towel all together. It's just such a hard time to be a teenager (so different from when I was a teenager--night and day it seems). I can't decide which would be harder: teenage girls or teenage boys. I really don't want to find out.

14. Overall, I know that this is in the Lord's hands. And that really gives me a lot of confidence and peace. In the meantime, Royce and I are going to enjoy our freedom and travel as much as we can. And maybe even blog about our travels (if you're really, really lucky).

Not the post you've been waiting for

So, almost every day I think about how I need to get my rear in gear and post some pictures from our recent adventures, including (but not limited to) our recent trip to Hawaii. But I still haven't uploaded the pictures to my computer, so . . . that will have to wait.

In the meantime, I'm going to get political (which I apologize for). But, I think it's hypocritical of me to feel so strongly about something yet do nothing to further it. I'm talking about the recent ruling about Prop. 8. I'm sure you've all heard about it. I think it's so easy to throw our hands up in the air and say, "Well, we did everything we could to defend marriage in California, but how can we fight against US judges? Plus, gay marriage has been legalized in other states already so it's only a matter of time . . . "

Well, I believe the fight does not have to be over. I subscribe to the National Organization for Marriage emails and try to read about all the ways they are fighting to protect marriage. When I have the means, they are the one organization (other than The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) that I regularly donate to. With this recent ruling, they are trying to raise funds to take this battle to the Supreme Court. If the Supreme Court determines that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional, it could have dire consequences for marriage in all 50 states. If you feel that you have the means, you can donate by going here (or just search for their website). If you don't have the means right now, just continue to pray for marriage, because that makes a difference as well.

Just finally, I think the words from the Proclamation to the World sum up our responsibility in this regard.

"Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.

"WE CALL UPON responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society."

11/11/11

Happy 11/11/11!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't forget to celebrate (and make a wish at 11:11--both times--if you so desire).

Also, FYI, did you know that in numerology, 11 is considered a "master" number. And did you know that the name Heather adds up to 11 in numerology? Heather Severson also adds up to 11 in numerology. Unfortunately, Heather Rust does not add to 11 (which is a bummer, because most numerologists believe that your first and last name given at birth is what determines your number, but I believe that I am the exception to this rule). The fixation on today's date makes a little more sense now, eh?

Free food

Who doesn't love free food? Raise your hand if you are one of those people. . . . Ok, that's what I thought. Everyone loves free food, especially if it's good free food. Awesome for me, I married someone who is good at hunting down free food. For instance, he signed up to be part of the Carrabba's frequent diners club (which is funny, since he had actually never eaten there) and they invited us to take part in a taste test of some new items from their menu. We also have discovered most of the restaurants with birthday clubs that give out free food for birthdays; since neither of us are big eaters, we usually can share whatever that free meal is (I will just insert a disclaimer here that when a tip is required, we are awesome tippers, even on free food. Just didn't want anyone to assume that we were that cheap).

But sometimes getting free food is a little more uncomfortable than just presenting a coupon. For example, we went to Benihana on Royce's birthday because they give you a coupon for $30 of free food on your birthday. That sounds like a lot, but it basically covers one meal (that place is PRICEY!). Since I don't like Benihana much, and since we are a little bit cheap, I just sat and watched Royce eat his meal. Yup. That wasn't awkward . . . oh wait, it was a little (especially since you don't get your own table at Benihana--we were paired with 3 other 20-something couples). But, hey, it's free and we weren't about to pass that up!

And just last weekend, as we were out and about running errands, we decided to go pick up my free birthday burger from Fuddruckers. Only to be disappointed by their sudden closure due to their default on their lease. Oops! We were getting hungry and didn't want to spend a lot to eat (we were banking on eating for free, after all) so didn't know what our next best option was. In our wanderings, we passed this huge car lot and Royce exclaimed, "Hey, I think that's the car sale I heard about on the radio that is giving out free Creamies this weekend!" Awesome! But . . . not so awesome. "What if they try to pressure us into buying a car", Royce lamented.

"Is there any chance you would cave and buy a car?"--Heather

"No, but still. I don't want them to pressure me."--Royce

"Well, why don't we just be straightforward with them and tell them we're not interested in a car and that we just came for the free Creamies. It's not like you're going to see them again."--Heather

"I guess . . ."--Royce

So we went. And, sure enough, as we walked through the tent doors, they had their man on us faster than we could blink. He walked us over to a table and asked, "So, what brings you in today?"

"Well, my wife was excited about the free Creamies so we decided to come in."--Royce

"Those are pretty good, aren't they? So, what kind of cars do you currently drive."--Car man

Conversation continues back and forth between me and the car man about our cars, their years, what kind of payments we're making, etc. He suggests the "great" idea of trading in our 1994 Corolla for one of their cars, and wrapping our payment on our Camry into a single payment on one of their new used cars! Then I would only have one payment!!! I tell him we're not really interested in having a new car payment. Then Royce, bless him, jumps in with "We're not really interested in buying a car. We're really just here for the free Creamies." I about died and laughed at the same time. I couldn't believe he did it! I was ready to cop-out and go with the premise that we weren't sure if we were ready for a new car yet and could we just walk around by ourselves for awhile just to avoid having to admit that we are really just big moochers. But Royce took my advice and ran with it. So after being totally baffled that we were really there just for the free food, the man showed us where the Creamies were and went on his way.

Victory! And not only did we get free Creamies, but Royce also got a free hotdog and a free Sprite. (Please don't judge us--I know we're ridiculous, but I think you secretly wish you had the guts to do it too!)

Buffet of Buffets

I don't remember who mentioned it first, Ryan or Royce. But once they started talking about it, Amy and I knew that they would inevitably find a way to make it happen. Because we are married to dreamers who also happen to be doers. No obstacle will keep these boys from reaching their dreams. Even though we had to reschedule more than once, they kept the dream alive, and even drug us (their kicking and screaming wives) into it. Kayla was talked into the dream a little more willingly, but will probably think twice now before agreeing to one of Royce and Ryan's crazy plans.

You're probably wondering, what "it" is. Well, "it" is the Buffet of Buffets (if you didn't catch that from the post title). "And what is the Buffet of Buffets?" Well, it's this deal where for the price of $45, you have 24 hours to eat at 7 different Las Vegas buffets. Not a bad deal for a weekend away. It practically pays for itself after a lunch and dinner. Which, really, is probably what most people do; maybe they throw breakfast in for good measure. But for Royce and Ryan, if they're going to do something, they're going to do it all the way.

We were well-prepared when the day arrived. Ryan did some research and figured out what was the yummiest at each buffet, how to pace ourselves but still fit in all 7, and what order to go in, not only for convenience of location, but also for the best meal progression. The boys prepared their stomachs by eating late the night before and foregoing breakfast. Apparently drinking lots of water was also supposed to help. The girls ate a normal dinner and breakfast, not planning to gorge ourselves at the buffets.

At the first buffet in Harrah's, we were all enthusiastic and ready to give it a good go. We filled our plates and even went back for seconds. Once I found out about the cotton candy station, I was done with real food. I easily downed 4 or more (it would have only been 3-ish if they hadn't switched colors right before we left).

The second buffet at The Imperial Palace was supposedly the worst of the 7. But we managed to find food that was appetizing enough, and again, we went to town. We made a friend, Frank, who showed us how to do a buffet the right way. His plate was loaded high with nothing but shrimp--his motto: figure out what you like, and stick to it. To give our stomachs time to digest everything, we played a competitive round of Bananagrams in between bites.

We were losing steam when it was time to meet Ryan's high school friends at Planet Hollywood. I was even surprisingly unenthusiastic about the possibility of more cotton candy. But not wanting to make them feel awkward while we watched them eat, we did our duty and got food. Lots of food. I don't know where we put it all, but we packed it away. The good conversation helped dull some of the pain. A break at the Bellagio fountains (and a pit-stop for Royce and me) seemed to help too.

With no one left to impress, we pitifully put a few things of dessert on our plates at Caesars Palace. Tired and stuffed to the brim, we ate a couple of bites but were unimpressed. Ryan and Royce tried to keep the enthusiasm up, but we were a hard crowd.

Anxious though we were to get home and to bed, it was time for the weigh-in. The results: Royce was up 4.4 pounds and Ryan 6. Not bad for one day!

After a good night's rest, we all felt a little less sick, but definitely not hungry. Our first destination was The Paris--my plan was to eat one crepe and maybe a pastry, but that went out the window once I was standing in line faced with delicious looking little waffles and made-to-order crepes. I ended up eating 2 crepes, several mini waffles, bacon, and . . . probably something else. Kayla and Royce got a plate of 5 different varieties of breakfast potatoes; apparently some of them tasted like soap.

After eating way more than we anticipated, we headed to The Flamingo. We unfortunately didn't have the luxury of a 2-hour break in between each buffet like we did the previous day because we had to get on the road before it was too late. I don't remember eating anything at The Flamingo, though I probably did. The food was affecting my brain by that point. Really the only memorable thing about it was the view of the atrium with live flamingos dotted throughout.

And then it was on to numero 7. This was the one buffet in Vegas I had actually been to before--The Carnival Buffet at the Rio. The food there is supposed to be the best of all the Vegas buffets--I don't think I can be called on to be a reliable judge, because nothing really tasted good at that point. The lines were pretty long, so maybe it's true. They did have some good gelato, so that was a bonus (as every other buffet was falsely advertising their ice-cream to look like gelato). But I can honestly say that I never want to eat there again. Been there, done that.

Final weigh-in: Ryan was up 4.4 pounds from his morning weight, up 6.2 from his starting weight the day before. Royce was up 4.8 pounds from his morning weight and up 4.6 from his starting weight. What an accomplishment!

After all that, it was time to head home. We said our goodbyes on the parking terrace of The Rio, quickly giving obligatory hugs so we could all pile into our cars to wallow in uncomfortable misery. Royce and Kayla at least got to sleep through the first part of their misery--I valiantly stayed awake, suffering in silence. (A little dramatic, huh. I actually didn't feel too terrible--I didn't each much other than at The Paris. Plus, I should point out that Royce drove about as much as I did on the way home, so I really can't complain.)

Postscript: In case you ever decide to attempt the Buffet of Buffets yourself (or if you ever decide to go to just one buffet in Vegas) here are our ratings.

Harrahs: 2 3/4 stars out of 5
Imperial Palace: 1 1/4 stars

Planet Hollywood: 3 1/2 stars

Caesars: 2/12 stars
Paris: 4 stars
Flamingo: no rating, but overall consensus indicated it would have been low
Rio: no rating, but overall consensus indicated it would have been middle-high