So. Much. Random. Ness.

We are in the throws of Spring Break and the weather decided to take an ugly turn. Why, Spring, why? Yesterday, you were so glorious that we had all the windows open, the kids were running amok in the yard, and the sun shined upon my face in such gloriousness that I felt so glorious-i-fied! Now, it's windy, cold, and threatening rain. Boo.

Our oldest is off on an adventure! She's gallivanting with friends during spring break and I get to just stay home and worry and pray that she'll survive and come back to us. This is a good trial run for when she goes to Peru this summer with her Spanish class. And college in 2 years. And a mission in 3 years. Sigh... why do they grow up so fast? I love this girl and I will miss her so much when she moves out on her own.

Life continues to go along as normal. I never have enough time to do the things I want to do and I always spend too much time doing the things that won't help me do the things I want to do --it's really kind of ridiculous when I think about it.

So, we had five birthdays in the past month:
#2 turned 14 years old
#4 turned 10 years old
Then #7 turned 2 years old (wha?!)
I turned 38 years old
and
#6 turned 5 years old

We are all caked out! So many birthdays means our February budget is also much higher. It's insane, but not in a bad way, necessarily, you know? I want the kids to feel loved and happy on their birthdays because we are genuinely glad they were born!

I continue to teach piano lessons. I still want more students, but I'm not too worried. They'll come.

Depression is stupid, but I started taking vitamins and upped my exercise (from hardly anything to almost something) and have been eating healthier, so I feel loads, loads better. Loads!

The toddler girl is now speaking a lot. She is too adorable! She repeats (or tries to repeat) everything we say and it really is cute. I love communicating with her more, now, because I can understand her a lot better.

I remember when life was a lot more simple. Simple in that we could take our kids and, almost spur of the moment, go hiking or camping. We could decide to go out and do some fun family activities and it was easy because our kids weren't busy and they were all little. Now that our kids are growing up, it's become really difficult to find time to do this. We have so many different schedules to juggle, not to mention different opinions about how people want to spend their time, and it means this spontaneous trips and outings have become very few and far between. I mourn for those days, a little bit. I hope we can still squeeze them in as much as we can before all the kids are scattered to their various life-winds.

I was talking with a good friend, yesterday, about how conflicted I've been about my purpose online. Specifically, I was added to some political FB forums, and I'm just not sure if I belong there. I know some women have a great push and desire to be as involved as much as they can in the political process and I've felt I need to be more involved than I have been in the past (which is pretty much just voting, the end), but I just don't think I can spend that much time involved with it. There's so much reading, research, and discussion --I can barely keep up! And then there are women who are doing these things for their jobs --they are speakers, writers, journalists, professors, businesswomen, and volunteers. They are right there, in the trenches, doing all they can to make sure they are involved, their voices are heard, and that our government is focused on the ethical governing of our country. This is great! I'm glad they are doing this! And I know it's important to be civic-minded, but it's just not my calling. I really don't think it is.

So, what is my purpose or calling? Obviously, motherhood (duh), but outside of that, I honestly think I'm doing okay with what I'm doing. I try to stay informed, I question news sources, I write my observations, I ask questions of others, and now that I've started writing for a Mormon audience at LDSblogs, I find myself thinking more about the gospel and how it applies to this society I live in. Maybe this is simply what I need to do. There's no big calling I feel other than to write my thoughts and share information with the few people who appreciate what I write.

In other news, we're coming to Utah in July. We have three family reunions to attend (holy cow, it's gonna be a tight squeeze), but it'll be nice to see everyone. Also, for the first time in 5 years (!!!!) we'll be going to Brandon's family's annual camp out. We are so excited! I hope it all works out well and the dates all line up correctly. We'll see. We have such a rigid schedule to keep if we're gonna get #1 back to Kansas in time for her departure to Peru.

I've read some great essays, lately. Here are some of my favorites:

Here's a story of a couple who planned a wedding in five days!

This is a fantastic blog post about what it takes to be a good Mormon and why it makes all the difference.

This blogger writes about how her mental illness does not make her a survivor (I love this one).

Here is a beautiful, poignant, inspiring, and truth-filled essay about what the point is of every interaction we have with each other. It is so, so, so good.

Happy Tuesday, dear reader!

P.S. Here are two more blog posts I wrote over at LDSblogs:
"Spiritual Tornadoes"
and
"What Do You Know?"

And soon, I'll be sharing poetry over there, so watch for those! *insert smiley face, here*