Florida Vacation-Day 4

The tail end of a dolphin with our heads

Ellie and Kim all wrapped up. Those ponchos served us well!

Sea World in the pouring rain...maybe I have said enough already.

No, it really was a good choice for pouring rain. My favorite activity of the day was the dolphin show. I don't remember what it was called, but it was so fun to watch the dolphins. Amazing animals!

We came home and warmed ourselves up. Jackson and Ellie had fun singing and dancing and performing for us the rest of the night.

Florida Vacation-Day 3

Documentation of the pouring rain!

Elli and I building with the Lego

Loungin' on a rainy day

Luckily we had decided to take a break from the fun on Thursday. I woke up on Thursday morning to rain pouring outside. What happened to the sunshine? I guess when they say it is going to rain in Florida, they mean it. So unlike Utah. So instead of enjoying parks, we enjoyed each other's company. We slept in and then headed to Downtown Disney. We got to play at the Lego store and it make me think of Kevin...miss him. I also found a few treasures for the kids at school. We will see what they think about some delicious Disney World taffy when I return.

After our excursion to Downtown Disney, we came home and played hide-and-seek in the dark, ate some food, and watched American Idol. It was a nice break day.

Florida Vacation-Day 2

All of us in front of the magical castle...truly magical!

Jane and I hangin' out at the Jungle Cruise

To clear up some confusion, no, Eric did not travel with us. He happened to be at the SLC airport at the same time we were. He was headed west and we (obviously) were headed east.

On Wednesday, the weather was beautiful, so we got up early and headed to Disney World. We rode some rides, saw some shows, ate some chicken, got some sun, enjoyed Dole Whip (YUM!) and overall had a terrific day. Disney never disappoints. We all really liked Buzz Light Year, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, and my personal favorite, Space Mountain.

**Pictures to come later.

Florida Vacation-Day 1

Being silly before we took off to Florida.

The Blakes and I headed to Florida yesterday. Brock and Jackson were on a different flight than Kim, me and the girls. It was a long day, but we made it. Highlights of our traveling day:

Visit with cousin Eric made time go by much faster.
We are SO much stronger after carrying a 2 year old, 6 month old and 6 bags. (Yeah, you do the math. Did we have enough hands?)
1 kind gentleman who graciously helped us when we really didn't have enough hands. Wait, isn't that what a stewardess is for?
Plastic cups and paper as entertainment when there was nothing else to play with that made noise.
Beauty and the Beast and Sleeping Beauty and a lap top also saved the day.
2 very good little girls.

Today we spent our time at Disney World. More to come on that later...

Nothing Much

I haven't posted in forever. Mostly I haven't posted because I don't have access to the internet at home. SO inconvenient. Maybe someday I will care enough to do something about it. I also haven't had much time to anything other than school.

But, here is what's new in Tera's life:

I am working my tail off at school to get ahead because FLORIDA, HERE WE COME! Kim and Brock invited me to go to Florida with them. They had to twist my arm (okay, not really) to get me to go with them. Just praying for warm weather next week!

Because of said vacation to Florida, I have been trying to get ahead. I spend most of my life at my school. I even took on the responsibility of teaching the 4th graders during the after school program. Such fun!

So ready for spring. I keep wondering if the warm weather this week is just a trick. Oh, wait! This is Utah. Of course it's a trick!

Keeping up on my goals to eat fruits/veggies everyday, exercise as often as possible, and drink more water. It's amazing how much better I feel when I am taking care of myself.

Lots of fun in 6th grade. If they aren't the most social group of kids ever...but I think they are awesome!

Keegan is doing fabulous. I am a little worried about the recent earthquake in Chile, but I know the Lord will protect my little bro! He has grown so much in only 3 weeks.

Feeling the need for a change, but I am not so sure what that change should be. Rearrange the furniture, take a different route to work (wait, that was already forced on me), change my hair color, change my wake-up time. I just don't know!

Well, until next time!

My Brother

This is my handsome brother. I just love him. He is headed to Chile to serve a mission in less than a month! Keegan is always trying new things. Guitar, golf, wake boarding, snowboarding...all of these hobbies prove he is also a bit daring. He is also so helpful. In the past year I have always been able to ask him to help out, and he (almost) always says yes. From mowing the lawn to putting together a new "toy," I can call on him. He is also a gentleman. (He did have five moms, so did he have any other choice?) Gentlemen are very hard to come by these days. I like to think that it had something to do with growing up in a family of girls, but who knows?! I am so grateful for him. He is going to be such a blessing to the people of Chile, just as he is a blessing in our family. I am sure going to miss him!

Left Behind

Have you ever had the feeling that you are running as fast as you can, but you can't seem to catch up to "it," whatever "it" is? Many times you feel like you are almost there, but you still fall short? As I was trying to distinguish my feelings over the past couple of months, (and possibly my entire life) I came to the conclusion that no matter what I do, I can't catch up or pull ahead.

Examples:

I cannot sleep in. I have never really been able to sleep in. Even as a teenager, when my sisters were sleeping until noon on Saturday, I would be up by 8:00. My conclusion is that I am always fearful of what I might miss out on. Someone going somewhere that I want to go. Some task that could have been completed in that hour I decided to sleep. Not being able to have those few minutes of reading my favorite book because I slept too long. I know it is crazy. But now I know why sleeping in is so difficult for me. I am afraid of being left behind.

When I was making a decision about what to do for college, where I would go, I had a difficult time of it. All along I thought BYU was the perfect fit for me, so that was ALWAYS where I was going to go. I got accepted to BYU and Ricks, but I was still so sure that I would go to BYU. The month before school started I made the decision to go to Ricks instead. That was one of the hardest decisions I ever made because I was going to be away from family. But I knew that was where I needed to be. In a sense, I would be left behind, forgotten. (So far away! Really pathetic, I know!)

These feelings of being left behind have occured throughout adulthood. When I was longing to get married and I turned 20, 21, 22 and still didn't even go on many dates, I felt left behind. Everyone was getting married, but what about me? Even sister number 3 was getting married before me. Once again, left behind.

Then I really did get married and didn't feel like I was trying to catch up. I briefly felt like I was in line with everyone else (whoever "everyone else" is.) Quickly after getting married I had those feelings of running and trying to catch up with having kids. No luck there either. Like I said, doomed to always trying to catch up.

Then Kevin died and the feeling of being left behind took a while to come back, but it is back, and with a vengence. I guess because Kevin is gone, and so many things that I was to do and be were with him. Maybe I feel that in some way, he was going to help me catch up and make it.

Well, the cycle continues today. Professionally, spiritually, physically, personally. Always running as fast as I can, but never being able to "catch up." I guess it is my lot in life, something that I am going to need to try to overcome. I know that a big part of the problem is that I am always comparing myself to other people that seem to have the perfect life. I know that no one's life is perfect, but for some reason, right now, I have a sense of dread that I really am being left behind. It is really fear, fear of what lies ahead. But maybe, each day, I can take a small step towards changing those feelings.

This sounds so depressing, but it has really been a turning point. Now I can make a change for the better, set some goals, improve myself, and get out of this feeling of being left behind and trying to catch up. Because I will never be able to catch up with everyone else. Maybe I can be content with where I am at in life and enjoy the ride (or run)!