30 Things Day 1- 20 Random Facts About Me

     I found this cute blog the other day and the author of it did an awesome list of topics to post about. So I think I am going to take a stab at it. I feel like my posts are always about Owen and to be honest, I get a little bored with it so you have to be also. Also, cautionary warning.. these 30 things ask some pretty interesting questions that could come with some very open answers. And if you didn't know already, I'm an open book.

 Here we go, it's going to be fun!!

20 Random Facts About Me

1.  I have my dad's toes. The curl. I have grown to.. accept them for I cannot change them.

2. I have lived in Idaho, twice, California, Oregon (moved there three different times), Nevada (moved there twice) Utah (that's three moves) and Hawaii. That's a total of 12 moves in my 21 years of life.

3. I can get a little (or a lot) nervous driving next to Semi trucks. I seriously speed past them on the freeway just to get around them.

4. I love to rearrange furniture and things in my house. I get it from my mom. 

5. I love MAC makeup. I used to just use whatever they had at Wal Mart, then we moved to Hawaii and nothing worked in that humidity. My friend (a former Disney princess) told me that she uses MAC. I tried it and fell in love! 

6. I played volleyball and softball in high school (and swam for half a season) until my shoulder fell out of place. Then I had surgery and watched my teammates play my senior year, which I thought was the end of the world until I grew up. Funny how that works. :) 

6. I want to travel the world! Fiji, Italy, Switzerland, Belize, Greece, Tahiti..oh anywhere. Hawaii sparked my interest in the islands. Would never live on an island, but would LOVE to travel and see.  

This is just Hawaii, but doesn't it make you want to travel?

7. In high school, I got pulled over SIX times! Two of those got me a ticket(s). But living in a very small town comes in handy, when your friends with the judges' daughter and he also likes your parents. I paid those tickets in chocolate chip cookies. Oh the glory days!

8. I love history. Thanks to my dad we grew up searching for ghost towns and exploring cemeteries. How people use to live without modern day advancements really interests me. How did they do it?!

I wasn't kidding..

9. I'm mildly in love with the 20's era. I love the way they dressed!! Flapper dresses and huge fur coats. That may have started when I was a senior and read the Great Gatsby aka the only book I read in hs.

10.  Not an animal lover or hater (well cats, who likes 'em?) I don't like seeing animals mistreated but I am definitely not going to save one from the shelter. 

11. Hate my church calling right now. I usually try to make the best of whatever I get and it turns out well for me. This is not the case.. I am "the floater". Seriously, they call me that. Isn't that something in your drink? Gross. I am the floater of Primary. I sub for people who don't show up, I keep the bad kids on my lap and I make sure when the sunbeams have to pee, they make it to the toilet. (Okay maybe not the last one)  How do you make the best of that??? 

12. I took piano lessons when I was in middle school (against my will) and quit a couple months into. My mom said I would regret it and.. you thought I was going to say I do. Nope. Still don't. 

13. My mom had to literally shove me into sports to get me to try out and play because I was to nervous and scared. The first day of swim lessons, she pushed me in the pool and the first day of volleyball tryouts she shoved me onto the court. And I thank her for it because I ended up loving it. 

14. One of my favorite things to do is host a party or dinner party. I love seeing people getting to know each other and laugh and eat. Just waiting for a house to start the partying at. :) 

15. Remember those lists we made as girls of what we wanted in a husband? Mine seriously says (from 12 years old) "A hot surfer" and "firefighter". And guess what? I got it!

Told ya. 

16. I tried to make not all of these about Owen.. haha This gospel and Owen make me happy. I can't imagine going through this life not knowing that I get him and Chris for eternity. 

17.  I have only had two jobs. Life guarding and teaching swim lessons. And I loved it. I worked with most of my friends from high school and even though it would get as high as 110 degrees while working, it was still so much fun. Well, I cleaned vacation rentals in Hawaii. That should count for something.

18. I hate scary movies/TV shows. Jeff told me about the Walking Dead and how "awesome" it is. So we watched it and I had nightmares for weeks. Legitimately scared. I still run up the stairs after I turn the lights off in the basement. And I still jump into my bed so the guy underneath it doesn't grab me. Scarred for life. 

19.  I rarely read the news because it freaks me out. When I do, I get so upset, angry and want to do something about it. I let myself get way to passionate about the world news and it almost overcomes me. So I make sure I know what's going on and read the headlines. Then I have to look away. 

20.  I have been through and seen some pretty traumatic experiences in my life that have made my testimony stronger. I think Heavenly Father has thrown me through the ringer because I have taken this gospel for granted. I feel like it's almost like he let's me get a little confident (thinking I can do it on my own) and he says "Umm, no, you can't." And he gives me a trial to show me how important my family and relying on him really is. (I know, total cliffhanger, but I think within the next 29 posts it will be covered).


Feel free to join along with me. I think it's fun getting to know fellow bloggers this way.

Vacation 2013

      My family and Chris and I went up to Oregon this last week to visit some friends.(How do you say that? Chris and I and my family? The family and us?) Our friends, the Skillmans, live on a huge piece of property (with lots to mow) and right next to a little lake, bonus! The deal was, if we mowed the pasture and yard, we could go boating. Luckily the mower is a John Deere riding mower so it got done pretty fast. (I think I just sounded like a red-neck..got done?). We went boating every morning and every night. It was such a blast! Chris had never been to Oregon or boating before, so this trip was full of adventures. He loved wake boarding and got up so easily. If you've ever been, you know it's not as easy as it looks. Maybe you need upper body strength?! :)

     We also ate so well! Mormons are known for their food right? Stacy had planted a beautiful garden and we ate from it almost every meal. Fresh and delicious. I want to plant one next summer. 

     I showed Chris around the town one night. My family used to live there when I was little, so it was pretty fun to go back and look at the places I went growing up. We saw hippies. Some with clothes, some without. And we walked around Lithia Park, it was beautiful. 

Owen had some pretty rough days of running through fields, chasing birds and boating. So he was tapped out when we went boating for the last time.

This is the only picture I have of us. I almost took one when our car broke down in Battle Mountain, NV, UT, CA??  

Seriously where is that?

But Chris wasn't in the mood. haha But we got it figured out and made our way home, it only took about 17 1/2 hours from start to finish. That won't happen again. (Maybe unless it's to Florida to go to the Bahamas..)

Owen's 1st

     My sweet boy turned one on the 19th. Because he wouldn't have noticed any difference, we waited until Sunday when everyone was home to celebrate. I made him a giant cupcake and let him go at it. At first he wasn't to sure what to do with it, so he pushed it over. Then, when he realized it wouldn't growl at him, he started eating. I got some pretty cute pictures. And my parents got him a gigantic puppy from Costco. He loves it! I will say "Where's your puppy?" And he will run to it and hug it. We wanted to name it something to do with a Marvel comic movie so I came up with Jarvis. If you don't know what that is.. I'm not sure we can be friends. (Wink, wink) I promise I'm really not that nerdy, or maybe I am.

Do I touch it?

And his "pup-pup". Man these pictures are such bad quality!

    Happy Birthday Owen!

Our Story

I don't think I've actually written down how the Hendricksons came to be.. So here it is. This is such a long version of such a short story.

      I was a Senior in High School and Amy Davis was my Young Womens leader. One Sunday after her lesson, she asked me to write her brother who was on a mission. At first I think I was excited by the idea and after writing him an email saying "I think your sister wants us to get married", he kinda didn't write a whole lot back. (Would you?)

     A few short emails later, he came home. (April 30th) About a week after he returned home to California, his niece was getting baptized in Las Vegas. Amy wanted to take me so Chris and I could meet. To be honest when we first saw each other, neither of us were interested. We went to a park with the Davis kids before the baptism and that's when the awkwardness started. While walking through the park together with his niece Kiera, she innocently asked "When are you guys gonna kiss?".Cue the awkwardness.. We both looked down and away. He had completely forgotten how to talk to girls and I was a total HS Senior brat.  We didn't even want to sit by each other. Funny how things worked out..

    Amy and Kai invited him to come back to Mesquite with them instead of going home, so he came. We sort of tried to hang out but again, not interested and I had school and work. When we did hang out, we mostly avoided each other and man.. the only word I can think to describe it is awkward. I kept calling him weird (because he was) and he didn't really say anything..at all. So he left back home and life went on.

  Then he called me (with his brother playing the guitar in the background) and we tried to just talk. He kept calling me.. like every night. And I liked it. Him and Ryan (brother) would come up to visit every now and then. June came around and I invited him to my graduation and the after party. He came and then had to go home that weekend. I remember after he left thinking "I should marry him". Then going "What?? Get married?"

     I can't remember who called who that weekend but I remember saying "So I have this feeling we should get married"... (long silence from the other end). It took Chris a couple days, he went to the temple and fasted and prayed (like a true RM). And I just waited. Later that week (Sunday) he called and said that he had been getting the same feelings. And then we carried on a totally normal conversation about work and life, like getting married was no "biggie".

Wednesday of that week he came up to visit again and don't worry, by this time we liked each other. The next day he proposed! To catch up, he got home the end of April, we met for the first time in May and he proposed  a week into June (a week after graduation). All the while he is living in CA and I in Mesquite.. so we didn't get to see each other that often. But it worked.

      The Proposal

      My calling at the time was the Stake Youth Young Womens President. I was in charge of Youth Conference that year. Chris and I had been at The Davis when one of the Stake Presidents counselors called me in to talk about conference. This far into it we had everything figured out so I was clueless as to what we were going to talk about. He sat me down and started going over everything we had already covered. I kept saying "Ya, I know". "Right". "I thought we handled that already". (See? Brat) Then Chris came out of no where, got on his knees and asked me to marry him. Being totally clueless I told him I was in a meeting. Seriously I did. SO embarrassing! Really? Who says that when someone proposes?!

   After Pres. Hafen told me he helped set this up I believed him and let out an embarrassed laugh. I said yes and we hugged and Amy and my mom took pictures. (Thankfully, so I can relive this humiliating moment).

This is my "I can't believe I just said that" face

President Hafen, Chris and I 

     July, Chris continued to come up and visit every other weekend. He even broke down a couple times in the middle of the dessert.. in JULY! True love. On the 11th I turned 18, meaning I could get married without mom and dad's signature! :) My sister and I flew to New York for some last time being single. August Chris and I got to spend a lot more time together. To be honest I didn't do any of the wedding planning. All the credit goes to my mom and Amy for putting everything together!

    Then came the wedding day. It happened so fast! I borrowed a dress, a lady in my ward took the pictures and we didn't have a honeymoon planned. All you can tell it all worked out perfectly.

 I remember walking in the sealing room with him and seeing everyone I love. It was an incredible feeling. Also a feeling of "Well everyone's here, I can't back out now". Kneeling at the alter, I thought, "I don't even know this guy, nor do I love him! What am I doing!?" Talking to Chris afterwards he said the same thing was going through his head. We had a beautiful reception and a funny honeymoon. We helped my parents move to Utah.. in return they got us a hotel room. Very nice. We night have to redo it sometime in the future.

A friend flew from Hawaii to bring us the leis

My beautiful borrowed dress. 

But that's us. And I can honestly say I love him now (don't worry, I have for a while) And he loves me.
And I'm grateful for the support given to us from our families.
 

I bet you didn't know..

My friend did this on her blog and I got to know her a little better and thought it would be fun. So here it goes!

I am... a mom to a busy boy, a Mormon, and a wife to a soon to be fireman.

I want...my sewing machine to work so I can finish the blanket I started last year.

I have...a good life. A supportive, loving husband and a beautiful, happy and healthy boy. (Doesn't mean it's perfect or easy, it just makes it better) 

I wish... we had a job and a house. I want to be a grown up! :)

I hate... how the world looks down on motherhood. And how it makes me feel like somehow I'm not smart enough to get a degree or a job. When in reality motherhood is much harder than getting a degree! This world is so twisted.

I fear... Chris leaving me. That's probably my only fear. If he were to cheat on me and leave. Luckily Chris isn't too outgoing in that getting to know or even talk to other people. 

I search... for friends. I have only come across a few that I really connected with and they live pretty far away. I could use some friends that understand motherhood and how hard it is. It would be nice to really talk to someone about it. Get advice and encouragement. I need friends who inspire me, not complain.

I wonder... if my next kid will sleep.. ??

I regret... being so tactless. Sometimes I have hurt feelings with how blunt I say things. I'm the one who will say what everyone else is thinking. (And things shouldn't always be said)

I ache...when I see people sitting alone. I have sat by them before. (Being blunt can come in handy) I hurt and ache when I see someone alone. 

I always... have a song playing in my head. Like always. It's kind of annoying. 

I usually... change my outfit at least twice before I leave the house. I used to be able to blame it on Owen via spit up or poop but really, it's me. 

I am not... patient. I don't have patience for anyone who is inconsiderate. But I am learning, Owen may or may not be a HUGE part of that.           

I am grateful.. for the gospel. I may not read my scriptures everyday or always do my visiting teaching. But I'm grateful for the Relief Society friends I've made. It's like wherever I go, I instantly fit in. I'm apart of this cool club. It really helped out in Hawaii. 

I sing... to Kelly Clarkson a lot... 

I never...read books for fun. Actually that's a lie, I read the Hunger Games in a day when I was pregnant. And that will probably never happen again. (Never say never right?)

I love... hearing Owen's laugh. Chris can make him laugh sooo hard. To be honest, the first time I heard O laugh, I cried. Lame, I know. But seriously I am in love with it. He only has a few teeth in the front so it makes it even more adorable. For that small moment, all seems right in the world. 

I like...snorkeling. In Hawaii that was my happy place. I could go look at the colorful friendly fish and just think. Here, I like riding my bike.( Did I mention my parents got me one for my 21st?) And Chris and I bought a little trailer so Owen can ride with me. I love it. 

I sometimes...finish the projects I've started. Probably should get better at that. But this man I'm raising is.. I was going to say active but that doesn't even begin to cover it. He is in need of raising. 

I miss...sunsets over the ocean. Not quite the same here in Utah. 

I cry... all the time. I didn't use to be this way. In fact, I hardly ever cried. Now is a different story. I can cry at the drop a hat. I bawled my eyes out when the military-dad-coming-home-to-his-daughter commercial came on. And then I was over it. Hormones maybe?!

I am not always... on time. I used to be pretty good at it. But after O came around I found it a lot harder to get places on time. I know it's all about priorities and planning ahead but I am still learning. 

I lose...my temper driving around here. I hate it when people are driving and texting, or talking on the phone, or eating, or really doing anything but driving!

I am confused...at the worship of  Jimmer.. ya he's good, but seriously? Talk about false idols. 

I need...someone to tell me I'm doing a good job every once in a while.. sometimes everyday. haha I need someone to tell me that they have struggled too because sometimes it feels like I'm the only one. Even though obviously I'm not. 

I should...do the laundry. But oh how I detest it. I think I wouldn't mind if I only had a load or two a week. And we all know that's not even possible. It NEVER ends!

I hope... my husband and kids see me happy. I want to have a fun life, serving and playing. 

So now you know a little about me, why don't you give it a try. It's a little bit harder than I thought it would be. 


Just because he is perfect! 

Pinhole Press

I keep saying I'm back but...I kind of have a love/hate relationship with my blog. I hate that it takes up time (when I actually post something) but I love being able to write/type/talk and keep a journal of our life. I guess that was my way of saying I really want to keep blogging but it will happen when I'm not chasing Owen. 

We've done some fun activities so far this summer. While Chris is busy at work, we go play! We went to the Hogle Zoo and the Living Aquarium last week. I have maybe three pictures combined. I don't have a camera yet. Dang it. But Owen loves to look at animals and had a blast at the zoo. We also got the Pass of All Passes which includes the Seven Peaks Water park and lots of other game center places. We are so lucky to live in a place where there are so many things to do and see. I would not know how to entertain my kid if we lived in Mesquite. (Props to you moms who come up with things to do everyday!!)

We went hiking up the Grotto. Oh how I don't like Owen's hat. (So creepy)

 We also met up with some old friends that we lived with in Hawaii for a picnic. Owen could not contain himself! He loves pizza!!

 I have an overload of pictures coming. I know that should not make sense since I just said I don't have a camera. These were taken from Chris' awesome phone and I am just now getting them.

I found this site on Pinterest called Pinhole Press. It's wonderful! I wanted to make a family picture book for O but didn't want to hand make and take a lot of time on it so I opted for this. All I had to do was put the pictures and names in. So, so cool!! Check it out!!

Some of these pictures are a little old but I still love it and so does Owen. (Can you see the teething baby marks on the top left?) 

Chris' parents

My ma and pa

Our missionary man!

Becca no longer has braces. YAY!

Shannon was probably 9 months pregnant when I started the book. 

So now we are missing baby Issac.

Pinhole Press.com! It cost me about $30..including shipping and handling. So worth the money! This is the one thing he will look at for longer than five minutes. It's great for sacrament meeting.