Shouldie, Moab, and More!

 Heyyyooo! It was Spring Break at the beginning of the month, so we took Aani and Ava to Moab for a couple of days. Good times were had. We drove to Canyonlands NP to the Needles area to do the Chesler Park hike. It kicked our butts pretty good, but it was a beautiful hike the whole way (about 6 miles), with lots of uphills, downhills, some scrambling, and lovely views. Canyonlands is way less popular than Arches, and with it being spring break we thought it was a good idea to try it out. No regrets. Pictures are at the end of the post b/c this blogging platform is frustrating. 

Anyhoo- the next day we drove somewhere in town and Aani and Ava hiked by a river and played in it for awhile and had great times. We went to Milt's for lunch, as you do when in Moab, and then in the evening we went to Arches since the crowds had thinned. Such a beautiful, stunning place. 

Double Arches

Double Arches

Double Double Arches on BeReal

After our Arches adventures, we got back to the hotel. We planned on leaving for home the next morning, but we decided to leave then and sleep in our own beds that night. We left around 10 pm and got home 3 1/2 to 4 hours later. I tell ya what, we're nutty.

The next week I had surgery on my shoulder. I named my shoulder "Shouldie" a year and a half ago, FYI. Shouldie got fixed. They repaired the labrum and rotator cuff, so I've been one-handed for 3 weeks. One more week in the sling, and then PT starts. I can't wait to get some motion going in this arm. I really can't move my shoulder at all, it's pretty weird. 

Here's an awkward shot of the steri strips and my sling. Three tiny incisions and I'm completely debilitated in this arm. The mind can't comprehend.

Nils has been so very kind in helping do things I can't do. He helps me put bobby pins in my hair, and he puts my hair in a top knot before I go to bed. Then he refreshes my top knot so I can go on walks. 

I'm pretty self sufficient now, except for the above mentioned hair struggles. 

So we had a dumb idea. Nils and I thought since I was having shoulder surgery, which isn't fun, we may as well add on to the misery and do the keto diet. So we did that for 10 or 11 days and realized we had no happiness in our lives.We stopped that and went to Leatherby's for ice cream. Happiness restored. 

Addie's taken up knitting, which is impressive on its own, but on this day, she was knitting while lying down. She said it was harder to knit lying down, but she managed pretty well. 

Aani went to prom with her boyfriend Aidan. Or Aiden. I don't know. Anyway, he likes her a lot. She likes him a lot, but it seems like he likes her a little more. He's a nice kid.

Ava's still playing tennis like a boss.

One day Pip started digging in this planter box, searching for a mouse, we assume. She'd pop her head up every once in awhile and it was black. She needed a bath real bad. 

I took Addie to physical therapy today. She has achy joints and we're trying to get to the bottom of it. When it was done and we were checking out, she got really light headed and went pale. She had to lay on this couch for about 20 minutes, but she got pretzels and water from the people there, so it was totally worth it. Just kidding. She didn't feel well for awhile and that was sad. 

Nils and Doug are working on a Will it Print, YouTube channel, since we don't have anything else going on. They printed this shoe and it came out pretty cool! 

They also had a guy from Germany come visit for wall printing purposes and they pretended like this car showroom was their company headquarters. I don't even know what's going on anymore. It's fine. It's all on the up and up, don't worry. 

Hey, it's the Needles at Canyonlands! 

Next time I write, maybe I'll be able to lift up my left arm! 

Have a good one.

March: Maybe it could rain some more.

Hola. We come to you from a month of rain and snow. "We're thankful for the moisture we've received" is a phrase we aren't saying in our house lately. #overit

We were bad at picture taking this month, so I don't have tons of memories, but here are a few pictures that aren't purely utilitarian/super boring:

I always appreciate brainy Skeletor teaching me a thing or two. This made me ELL OH ELL.

Pip: She continues to terrorize us with her naughty behavior, and then she does weird stuff like this and we laugh at her and decide to keep her. She sat up like a human and let me scratch her for quite a long time.

Have I mentioned we're turning the garage into a studio/woodshop? It's been a whole thing. The walls, ceiling and floor are finished, and it's time to move everything in. Hoorah! Next, we get a carport! Hopefully sooner than later! ;) 

Insulated the attack above the garage. Good times indeed! 

Nils and I spent a couple of days in Boise at Click Funnels HQ to meet up with people who are in the same coaching program that we are. We made a few good connections and got to hear form this guy for a few minutes. He's the face and founder of CF, so it's kind of a big deal to people in that world. 

Sometimes kids can be real turds, and sometimes they leave you notes that make you feel like you're not totally failing at life. 

Life updates: 

NilsyNils: Working hard, trying to figure out the balance of opportunities, what makes sense to spend time on and where to place energy. Is excited about the garage space and being able to do what he wants as far as woodworking and filming. He loves tickling my back every night and doesn't get tired of it at all. I would go so far as to say it's his favorite thing in life. JKJK. I do love him so. 

Katrina: Also trying to balance the things. Eager to make this Click Funnels thing work for us- I'm happy to have met some people in Boise who we can hire to help us with that. Totally unrelated, but my shoulder has been really struggling for awhile, with multiple dislocations in the last several months. It dislocated a couple of weeks ago and I decided enough was enough. I've had an MRI and CT scan in the last week, and tomorrow meet with the surgeon to go over results and see what we can do to fix it. I'm dreading surgery, but I also need to get it done so I can live normally again. We shall see! 

Anders: Exciting things for Anders lately. He started a new job last week doing software development. It pays well and is what he's been looking for for months now, so we're all very thankful. It's remote, so he works from home. Speaking of home, he moved into a townhome yesterday in Orem, so that's a big deal. He sold his little van a couple of weeks ago, and is working on fixing up the mini truck to sell as well. He also placed an order for 7 more vans, so those should be in a shipping container and crossing the ocean very soon. Things are going well for him now, after an extremely difficult year of trial, heartache, and major struggle. Did I mention we're thankful? We're thankful. 

Addie: Exciting things for Addie, too! She took her medical coding certification exam and passed, so she's now a certified professional coder! She's not looking for medical coding jobs at the moment, because she was just offered the job of being the manager of the outdoor pool this summer. She loves the outdoor pool and looks forward to it all year. She'll probably start looking for coding jobs at the end of the summer. We're proud of her for all the things. 

Aani: 4.0 student, works at Mickey D's, goes to mission prep every Sunday, likes a boy named Aiden (who also goes to mission prep every Sunday), calls herself a basic white girl, is fine with her siblings also calling her a basic white girl, loves all things beauty and hair and fashion. Fun to talk to and joke with and we love her. 

Ava: Getter of good grades, player of tennis, player of the clarinet, watcher of YouTube, struggler of room cleaning (still), haver of a good attitude, always down to hang out with mom and dad. She had a band concert the other day, and instead of dropping her off at her call time which is a half hour before the concert, I went in with her. She wasn't expecting that, so when I got out of the car at the same time as her, she was surprised. I asked if she was embarrassed to walk in with me, and she said, "You're my mom, why would I be embarrassed of you?" So I listed all kinds of things I could do to be embarrassing, and I think she really enjoyed the visuals I was providing. 

It's been a good month. A year ago, March was not a good month. It's been a year of challenges, changes, struggle, blessings, heartache, tears, and more blessings. It's weird to have that dichotomy of blessings and trials. That's life, though, ain't it? 

Wishing you a happy April! 

February Whirlwind!

Heyyyooo! Boy oh boy, time sure does fly. It's been a month, indeed. 

The wall printing business has been taking tons of Nils' time. It's good because they're getting jobs and there's lots to do. It's bad because Nils has too much to do already. Doug and Dave are the main guys running this thing, but sometimes there are things only Nils knows how to do. It's been a little nuts for all of them.

We've been getting Spanish and Portuguese language tracks added to YouTube videos, been working on a new website, and trying to stay afloat as usual with all the things to do in life.

Addie finished school and will take her certification exam in a few weeks. She's teaching lifeguard certification classes for the next couple of weeks and will be quite busy. 

Anders' mini-truck and van arrived and he's working on getting them fixed up and sold. The van is especially amazing and he's in love with it. It gives great joy to all who see it, and he doesn't really want to sell it. 

We went to Chick-fil-a one night while it was raining, and this is how they were taking orders outside. Too funny! 

A big mystery was solved in our family. For a couple of years, our car has had a mystery smell coming from the vents and none of us could identify it. For some reason Nils and Ava decided to change the cabin air filter, which requires the removal of the glove box, and they found the filter full of dog food. So the theory is that for a couple of years mice have been transporting Pip's dog food from the container in the garage to the cabin air filter in the Telluride. Disturbing to say the least, but now the Telluride smells normal, and we hate mice even more. 

We took our annual trip to SoCal and Disneyland for our winter sanity. 'Twas pretty great. 

Our last night we had to hit the beach. It was Valentine's Day, so there were an awful lot of couples there attempting romance. It was a little cold for romance, in my opinion. We didn't last long. 

Aani created this amazing collage, which Anders described as "brain rot". Disagree. 

We always do single rider on the Cars ride. You get on so fast that way. I was in this car with a bunch of strangers, and the little girl in the back was freaking out the entire time. Like unreasonably hysterical. When I saw this picture at the end, it was the greatest gift to me because when she was screaming bloody murder, I was chuckling, and now I can remember this moment forever. 

Anders and Aani searching for Anders' wife. She wasn't in Star Wars, unfortunately. 

Throwback to when Nils did a picture that gave me three legs. 

Hey Anders, maybe you could try to look like you're part of our family. *Anders takes another step away from us*. 

My favorite ride by far. Nils hates it. 

We went to Knott's Berry Farm for the first time ever. It was great! It made our love of Snoopy grow a great deal. They have the craziest roller coasters there and we had a fun day. 

And, of course we had to hit up Wahoo's. Yum yum! 

I could probably live in Southern California and be happy. Except for the taxes and politics and cost of living. But give me that weather and the vibe any old day! 

I think that's all I have. Here's to a banner March! 

January Things

Let's start things off with a moment of silence for my water bottle. I've been dragging this thing around for who knows how long and it's served me well. I left it on an airplane and now it's out of my life. I liked this cute sticker, so that's what I'm sad about. RIP, water bottle. I hope you're loving your new life on that airplane. 

I know I've said it before, but Instagram has my number for the funnies. I laugh and laugh. 

Nils left his passport in his pants pocket when we got home from Europe, and it got washed. We had a work trip to Mexico at the beginning of this month, so we had to drive to LA so he could get a same-day passport. We left on Thursday, got the passport on Friday, drove home Saturday. We did some LA things like sitting in traffic, going to the observatory, looking at the Hollywood sign, and having cheesecake with Shiloh and Brian and kiddos. 

Then on Monday, Nils and went to Cancun for a YouTube training. I didn't want to go, and the night before we left, some of our children were melting down. Then I melted down. 

Then next morning we got on a plane and flew to Cancun. Then I decided to enjoy it. It was 85 degrees, which helped. We stayed at a nice resort with great food and that helped. We saw YouTube people and that helped. While we were in Cancun, Utah was getting pounded with snow every day, and I felt sad about that so I would drink a pina colada and that helped. 

Birthday month. Birthdays were pretty lackluster this year due to travel, but that's fine, because look at my cute husband. 😍

We got in the ocean in Cancun, and it was angry. I got thrown around a lot, and sand got in my ear. A couple of weeks later, I basically went deaf in one ear, so I went to the doctor. They spent an hour cleaning out my ears. I think they must have really loved that. I know I did! But wow, I can hear now!

New Year's Eve partay at the Marriotts! Food, friends, and bunco. Good times. 

One of the YM leaders got free Jazz tickets for the boys. What a bunch of lucky kids. Then they were able to get free pizza somehow. 

We're hoping this year has good things in store. We have lots of plans to move forward with business ideas and diversifying income streams. 

Anders has been working a contract gig and is working on getting a full time job. It's been rough. He also has a mini-truck import business that he's been working on for months and that's getting real. His first truck should be arriving any day. He's working hard at getting well and is feeling a bit better at the moment.

Addie is done with her course work for medical billing and coding certification and just has to take her exam. She's looking forward to not going to school (she hasn't had any breaks since she started this program her senior year of high school). She's still working at the indoor pool doing various things. Head guard, teaching lifeguard certification classes, etc. We'll see how quickly she'll start looking for medical coding jobs. 

Aani is still working and Mickey D's and likes it. Wrapping up her junior year and planning her future. She wants to do hair and is planning on hair school next year. We're trying to convince her to get on the YouTubes with the hair stuff. 

Ava has been doing some work for us and is living her best 8th grade life. She was able to earn enough money to buy Nils' old AirPods Pro, so she's happy about that. 

Life feels crazy and busy and full. Yesterday someone texted Nils to ask him if he had lunch plans, and he said that he and I were having a taxes day (true). Then I said I needed a taxes day lunch, so off we went to Jimmy John's. You know how I love an unwich. 

Things Nils and I love:
 
• Costco trips 2-3 times a week

• Jimmy John's

• In-n-Out

• Staying up late

• Going on walks

• Planning and strategizing

• Watching shows at night, but lately I don't have any shows I like. So Nils watches shows and I read or fall asleep. 

Cool list, amiright? Well, thanks, January. You were pretty okay this time around.