Weekend in Moab

Last weekend, we went to Moab with my dad, Heather, Denver, Nari, and JR (Denver's mom and step-dad). Rode loves hanging out with JR because he says that he gets to do "man" things. He was especially excited for this testosterone-filled trip and his first rock crawling experience. It was a lot of fun, but personally my favorite part was lunch when both of my feet were on the ground :) We actually didn't do anything difficult, but it feels scary when you're driving over rocks and hills where cars don't usually go.

Take a good look at my father's face... I'm pretty sure his favorite part of the trip was lunch too :)

Along the trail where we had lunch, there were dinosaur tracks. It was pretty crazy to see them imprinted in the solid rock.

This is JR and Belle, their little dog. She rode in this basket strapped to JR's chest while he dirt biked along all of the trails and loved it. Crazy!

After our eventful day of rock crawling, we spent the next afternoon visiting some of the beautiful sites in Canyonlands National Park. We went to Dead Horse Point and Gemini Bridges. Dead Horse Point had wonderful views and Gemini Bridges had two red rock arches that form bridges side by side.

Here is my 24 week picture with some beautiful Moab scenery in the background.

Stretchy Pants and Fainting Spells

Warning- This is a long post, but well-worth the time it will take to read!!!

I have made reference to both my brother-in-law's leopard print stretchy pants, as well as my need to take breaks in order to avoid fainting spells when giving talks or presentations. Some of you may be familiar with these stories, but for those of you who aren't, I hope you enjoy!

I have married into a family that is Heber born and bred. Heber is a small town, that I love, but I would definitely say it has it's fair share of big trucks, demolition derbies, rodeos, and small diners where the waitresses have "regulars." One night, when Rode and I were still dating, we were over at his sister's house hanging out. His brother, Rex, came over to visit. I have to say that when I think of Heber and all of the above listed stereotypes of Heber, I think of Rex. Love the guy! This night was no different. He came rolling in, beer in hand, scruffy beard, wife beater, slippers, and LEOPARD PRINT STRETCHY PANTS. I bust out laughing and asked him where he had found such a stylish looking pair of pants. He informed me that they were his wife's, but that he found them to be very comfortable so he thought he would borrow them. HA! But it gets better. In the course of conversation, we asked what his plans were for the night. "Oh, I'm headed over to the bar here in a little bit for Karaoke night." Hmmm, okay, "Who are you going with?" we asked. "You're lookin' at him!" Once again, HA! I love it. Seriously, let's just hope he changed his pants before he headed out to the bar solo.

When I came home from my mission, I was asked to speak in sacrament meeting. Although I had ample opportunities as a missionary to speak in church, it made me particularly nervous to speak in front of my ward on this occasion. I felt like this was the chance to express to my ward everything I had learned over the last year and a half. On the mission when I spoke, it was easy. Everyday was filled with experiences to share about the gospel. I would usually just share one of these experiences, a scripture, and my testimony. For some reason, putting together this homecoming talk was a much greater challenge and by the time I was done with it, I had analogies and thoughts that just weren't as natural for me to share. Needless to say, it was a bad plan to deviate from the successful outline I had used on my mission.
The time came in sacrament meeting for me to speak. I stood up and slowly started into my talk. I started with my first analogy and about half way through it, my mind went blank. I'm not talking a moment of blankness, but an extended period where NOTHING was going through my mind, except for the thought that NOTHING was going through my mind and the fact that I was standing in front of a congregation of people waiting for me to say something! Mind you, it had been about 3 1/2 minutes since I first stood up to speak. I realized at this point I needed to do something to lighten things up. I decided I would just be honest with the crowd. I started to explain that I had given a lot of talks on my mission, none of which were difficult, except for one where I almost fainted. I explained that during that talk, I started to feel a little light headed and then everything started to sound like I was underwater. I then commented that it was a very similar feeling as I was experiencing at that very moment. I knew I didn't have much time before I went down and that in order to spare myself the embarassment of having a full-on fainting spell, I might as well just calmly tell the audience that I wasn't feeling well and that I needed to sit down for a moment. So... that's what I did. I sat down, motioned to the Bishop that he could take a few minutes while I got myself together, and then put my head down to get the blood flowing again.
The Bishop stood and told a story about a man who fainted when giving a talk and then wore a football helmet the next time he was asked to speak in sacrament meeting. I guess my situation could have been worse, right?
I then stood back up, fully realizing that anything that happened at this point needed to redeem my previous attempt at a talk. I scratched what I had prepared and decided that I would just share 3 stories from my mission. I enthusiastically told the first story and was feeling good. I started on the second, and then it happened... the BLANK mind, the lightheadedness, the underwater distortion of sound. I closed my eyes, and quietly said (into the microphone- clearly my judgment was impaired) "Just breathe!" I opened my eyes to see my mother in the back pew waving her hands in the air, motioning and mouthing for me to "SIT DOWN!" At this point, what could I do? I knew I had no other option but to cut my losses and call it a wrap. So... that's what I did. I apologized to the crowd, took two steps back, plopped myself into the closest chair, and threw my head between my legs. My mom rushed to the stand and waved Altoids under my nose. I think one of the Deacon's brought me a cup of water. The Bishop stood and said "Well, we'd like to thank Sister Kane for her thoughts. We're going to go ahead and close this meeting." "THANK YOU!" I thought.
My good friend, Shauna, drove me home following the meeting. I slept for a few good hours, woke up, and just started laughing. What else could I do?! If I couldn't find the humor in nearly fainting two times during my homecoming talk, I would have no sense of "funny". And instead of destroying my self-confidence, I opted for the healthier option of laughing at how hilarious the whole situation was and appreciate it for a good story!

So the moral of the stories... go to my brother-in-law if I am looking for some stylish stretchy pants and take breaks during talks and presentations. THE END!

Primary Pick-of-the-Week: Megan

This week's primary pick-of-the-week moment is short, but funny. We have two cute little twin girls in our primary. They get along pretty well, aside from their periodic sibling rivalries in the middle of sharing time. Their older sister, Megan, is also in primary. This week, the twins got glasses. I called Josie, one of the twins, up to find something hidden around the room during an activity. I mentioned to the primary that Josie had new glasses, so she was going to be able to find the hidden paper really easily. Megan, her older sister, then announced to the primary, "Yeah, it's because she has a lazy eye!" No filter. Josie had a lazy eye and everyone was going to know about it, thanks to her older sis! I've never noticed a lazy eye before. It's a good thing these kids are all under the age of 8 and really don't care anyway. It could have made for a traumatic first week with glasses!

23 weeks

Sorry we missed 22 weeks- my photographer was out of town. Here is 23 weeks. The baby is growing so big and it is really making it difficult to find something to wear every morning. I can usually pull something together with a few modifications. She definitely doesn't like it when I wear my old pants, though. It cramps her space, and she kicks like crazy to let me know just how she feels about it. I think it may be time to retire the old jeans and embrace the stretchy pants. Maybe I can borrow my brother-in-law's leopard print ones! A story for another day...

One man's trash, another man's treasure...

I decided to swing by the thrift store this morning in order to look for an old dresser to refinish for the baby's room. I didn't find what I was looking for, but I did find this great chair and ottoman. I couldn't pass up the deal. Apparently, Wednesday morning is the prime time to visit Heber's thrift store. It is the first day it opens in the week, so it is well-stocked if you get there early. Unfortunately, I am not the only one who knows this- it was packed when I showed up at 10:30am. I love finding little treasures like these. Now, if I can only find a dresser...

Ticket to Hollywood

Yesterday, I had to present my culminating thesis project to a committe of professors. Essentially, my educational fate was in the hand's of these people. For a split second, I felt like I was in the try-outs for American Idol waiting for them to tell me if I made it to Hollywood or not. Granted my presentation was not any performance that would capture or hold America's attention on national television, the good news is... I made it! It was a case study project, so I reported on the treatment that I have done with two of my students who have autism. Although poor Rode had to suffer through more than a few practice runs of the presenation, he was supportive and helpful, and most of all patient when I was irrationally bossy the night before. I made it through the presentation just fine, with only one break for water in order to prevent a fainting spell (one of these days I will post the story of why Katie should take breaks to prevent fainting spells when giving talks and presentations). It was nice to have a stamp of approval from professors that I respect and to have accomplished something that I have been anticipating for a long time. I feel extremely grateful for all of the help I have had along the way!

21 Weeks

This picture comes a week late, but here is 21 weeks. No pictures of Rode this time... he looks about the same. Today is my 22 week mark. No pictures yet- maybe Sunday.

The baby definitely has feet and arms and she likes using them. We can feel and see her moving around in my stomach. Rode is convinced that we need to get her on a schedule now so that she will sleep through the night when she is born. I told him I didn't think it should be a problem since it's probably really boring for her when we're sleeping. He insists that she probably stays up late in the womb exploring new things, like her fingers. I guess it's possible.