When it rains, it pours

We have had a lot of pouring around this home in the last few weeks. We have been feeling the blessings of hard work and are so grateful to have such an abundance of them! Want to hear abut just how crazy life has been? Here is a little time line to document the madness:

April 20th: Ronnie graduated with his Masters in Social Work
April 22nd-29th: We were planning to do a big road trip down to NM, then to AZ, and then back up to Utah to celebrate his hard work. Instead, Ronnie's car broke down in the middle of Arizona, we spent the night in a Best Westen in Heber, AZ, waited for over 7 hours in the lobby for our ride to come down from Farmington to pick us and the car up, and go back to NM.
May 4th:-9th : We went back down to NM help out with my sister Brittani's kids while she is in the Bahamas and pick up Ronnies newly repaired car (ps. Babysitting was a blast and deserves a post all of it's own)
May 14th: We sold Ronnie's car (miracle of miracles!)
May 21st: We went to Rock Springs, Wyoming for interviews. Ronnie interviewed for a substance abuse therapy position and I interviewed for a position as a special Ed preschool teacher.
May 22nd: Ronnie gets the job!
May 26th: We go back down to NM and buy a car and take some friends for a little Memorial Day vacation. I guess the third trip in a month is a charm). By the way, our new car is super cute and we are loving it!
May 29th: I get the job!

Quite the month, huh? We are excited to get Ronnies career going and to have our little Wyoming adventure! Did I ever think I would step foot in that state let alone live there? No way! But I have always wanted to live near wild horses so I guess I am getting my wish! We will be moving sometime at the end of June. We will miss being only a few minutes away from family and friends, but just another 2 1/2 hours from Provo is not too far to come visit us country people!

Why do they call it HealthCARE?

So I went to the dr. today. Actually, a couple. Nothing major, don't worry. Maybe just an old injury flaring up, or arthritis. Either way, my wrist is giving me trouble and when it started spreading to fingers and elbows, I caved and went to the Dr.
I'm a bit of a baby when it comes to going to the Dr. I get nervous that they will have to hold their laughs in when I step on the scale and they ask me how tall I am. I always imagine them rolling their eyes when they leave my room and wonder what they write in my chart. I always get the "blood pressure is a titch high" comment and I always want to fire back "You think! I am nervous as Hell!" but I just smile and say "okay."
I know it is another work day for them, but just a smile, sticker, or even a "glad it's you steppin on that scale and not me!" would help me loosen up. When I go into a home for a first time to do my thing, I usually try and compliment the family on something or ask some personal questions to break the ice. I'll even say an ugly kids are cute if it helps the family feel like I care about them personally.
After the check up and blood draw it was off to radiology. Once again, explaining why I'm too lazy to change my last name, when my birthday is, and no, my grandma that has been dead since I was in 3rd grade is not my emergency contact (I think Grandma knew I needed a laugh and snuck that one in their records).
I decided I would try and brighten the radiology dept. up by giving smiles and asking them questions, but they were just polite enough to get the job done and send me on my way.
So now I'm home, ready to begin some patient waiting. Because that is part of receiving healthcare. Being a patient, and trying to embody the title.

Cupid got me good

I get a little obssessed. I was flipping through my photos on my phone the other night, cleaning out all the junk pics and realized I have a rediculous amount of pictures of Ronnie. Sometimes I look across the room and he just looks so Dang cute while he plays stupid games on his phone or cradles his hand in the neck hole of his shirt and relaxes to one of our many shows. I tell myself it is okay because it is practice for when I have kids and need to snag a candid photo, but I don't think he finds it as endearing as I do. So...I thought I would share a few so you can join in on the eye candy!

My how time flies

It isn't too hard to remember adults reminiscing about the days when minutes felt like hours and hours seemed liked days, and hearing the old familiar "time only goes by faster the older you get". I don't feel like 25 is all that old, but I do seem to be having a hard time staying caught up with time. The holidays were so much fun and the New Mexico and California weather seemed to melt away the number on the clock and banish the importance of minutes and hours for a little while. Suddenly, it is 2012, and I feel like I am chasing the hands of the clock, trying to catch up, but ending up spinning circles instead. Do you ever get that feeling? I am hoping that now that we are on our way back into the groove of regular life, I can give my blog a good update, and maybe even include some pictures of our holiday adventures. Let's face it, pictures are what get us to read the words. And how about a goal or two for the year? What are your New Years Resolutions?

A little note from the desk of Mikael

Ever feel like this? Some days I do. Especially the days in December. December is nuts. I love it. I hate it. I need to get used to it. I get the last two weeks off of work which is WONDERFUL, but fitting all four weeks of work into the first two weeks isn't much fun. But it does create for some funny little "oops" moments. Like today, I woke up early for an early morning visit, and to get into the office early to get some things done. Well, I don't function well in the morning. It isn't until late in the afternoon when I glance up into my rear view mirror that is notice how terribly I had applied my make up in the wee hours of the morning! One eye looks ok, but my left eye looks like I let a toddler try and trace the outline of my eye with a black marker! I tried to lick my finger and and smudge it smoother, but I think I ended up just rubbing it completely off. I am sure my face looks lop-sided, but I am too scared to look. Luckily there isn't anyone I am too worried about impressing today. So the One Eyed Make Up monster over here is going to sit back down and work on reports #3,4,and 5 of the day. Husband, if you are reading this, I will need a hand massage and "you look beautiful!" at some point today.

Hello World

Yes, we are still alive. I know I have been WAY overdue to write a new post, but whenever I think I will sit down and write a new one, I always come to the conclusion it will be lame, or I just get too lazy. So here is a little pre-New Years resolution: I, Mikael Webb Squire (yes, I still keep adding that Webb. It just feels a little weird without it still. Like when you go to the grocery store for 4 things, and you walk out with 3 of the things you neded and 15 other things that caught your eye. Then you keep realizing how much you use that one thing you forgot to grab while getting the 15 other way cooler things. That's pretty much my maiden name right now. Tangent over.) Ok, Where were we? Oh yeah, I, MWS, promise to blog more and document even the not so exciting things, even when I would rather curl up with a pickle and watch an episode of 30 Rock. And Yes, Mom, Ronnie loves me even with my blankey and pickle fetish. I knew there was a prince charming out there who would love my weird ways. Lately I have been cutting out snowflakes and finding the cutest holiday decor the dollar store has to offer to make this little place of ours full of Christmas cheer. You might be surprised what great things the dollar store has! I will post pics as soon as I can figure out how to from this silly iPad. Ronnie will be the "entertainment" at my work Christmas party tomorrow and I can't wait to show him off. He will be giving us a little pep talk on getting through difficult times and how to motivate others and be a support for them. I think he will be a hit. I love every little thing about him. Even the endless amount of military documentaries he somehow finds on Netflix.

These Boots Were Made For Walking

***a couple items of business before this post starts... No this is not the post by Ronnie we have all been waiting for. He said he would write it a couple weeks ago and email it to me, but my inbox is still empty (hint hint R) **** This could very possibly turn out to be a long post but I promise it is a quality one Ok, sorry, onto the meat and potatoes It is no mystery that I have a thing for going on walks. (And when I say walks, I mean walks. Not jogs or runs. I despise those.) I am sure I posted about my love for walks on my last blog, but I feel it is a subject worth revisiting. You see, this post has been sitting in my "to post" list and tumbling around in my head for quite some time now, but I hadn't done it yet. Well, here I am, wide awake at 5 am, thinking about it. I think this is the time Ronnie usually gets up to go to the bathroom and then comes back and snuggles back into me, helping me doze back to sleep. I am on my first trip away from him. Suddenly the queen sized bed that was way too small for two just yesterday has quickly become way too empty for me. In a few hours, my sister Chelsey will come wake me up (like the good old days from college breaks home) and we will walk around the neighborhood. Wen will comment on yards, house paint colors, and eventually dive into deeper topics, and most likely end the walk with a laugh that leaves my belly aching. I think I love walks so much because they are always a time of bonding. Whether it be with my best friend/next door neighbor to kindergarten everyday, with new found friends through the streets of Jerusalem, or with the sisters I have grown up idolizing, long walks always were the medium for connections made far deeper than most. Now, you might be thinking to yourself "So how is it that you ended up marrying a man that can't exactly take you on a long walk?" Well, to answer that, let me back up a little bit. My calling in life as an advocate for individuals with special needs (*Ronnie does not fit in this category to me) became pretty clear to me early on in life and was the motivating factor for choosing a degree in Early Childhood Special Education at BYU Idaho. I think it was here that the Lord started preparing me for the man I would one day marry. As I learned about strategies for providing quality services for young children with special needs, it changed how I viewed a lot of things. You see, the best thing I could do for a child with special needs was help them succeed by making an accommodation, or doing things a little differently than usual, but find success in the end. I learned that every person learns and does things is such unique and different ways. My education helped me to be ADAPTABLE. Well, that, and being #7 of 8 kids and the girl that was smooshed between all the boys. You learn to be pretty adaptable when you grow up with that many strong personalities under one roof. Phase two of Ronnie prep academy of life: I remember that towards the end of college, I became fascinated with The Resurrection of Jesus Christ and how it effects are so often over looked. When I did a semester in Jerusalem, The Garden Tomb was my favorite spot and I visited it probably twice as much as I visited The Garden of Gethsemane. It was there that I began to have an understanding and respect for the knowledge I have that Christ was resurrected. In my faith, we believe that Christ atoned for our sins so that we may repent and do good works in order to save our spirits or souls. But, Christ was resurrected and we all receive that gift freely so that one day our bodies will be perfected, or whole again, and our spirits can be reunited with our bodies. Just like Him, we too can live again! You see, without the resurrection, even the Atonement would be void. Since meeting Ronnie, my testimony of the Resurrection has only deepened and made my love for him even more eternal. I am so proud of all his accomplishments and am happy to do things a little differently with him. I consider the walk from our house to our car much more rewarding that the longst walk I could take with anyone else on Earth. I really don't think of his injury much, and when I do, I am grateful for the knowledge I have of the Resurrection and the hope it can bring to all of us. Here is one of my favorite quotes from the apostle Elder Oaks : "The assurance of resurrection gives us the strength and perspective to endure the mortal challenges faced by each of us and by those we love, such things as the physical, mental, or emotional deficiencies we bring with us at birth or acquire during mortal life. Because of the resurrection, we know that these mortal deficiencies are only temporary!" What wonderful news! Doesn't it make you excited? One day, my "emotional deficiencies" won't need chocolate. And best/worst of all, Ronnie will not only go on a nice long walk with me, he will probably turn into a nice, long run.