the worst two years & august blues

last sunday marked the twoiversary of justin's mission homecoming. how WEIRD is that? he has been home [now] longer then he was gone. sure doesn't feel that way. those two years were the worst for me and the best for him - okay, not completely true. missing him was the worst. in fact, after you get over

the worldwillneverberightagain-ihateboys-myheartwillnotgoon-beingsingleagain-thisistheworst feelings,

 i really had the best time. luckily my life sort of started over again by going away to school [for the first time, no one knew justin and no one knew meltin] and justin was able to have this amazing experience, serving and helping so many people come to know the gospel. his mission turned out to be the best thing he's ever done and the same thing for me. but it was the worst going through it. now i see so many missionary girls [ie: the suckers who wait for their men to come home] and i try to talk them out of it, but i know i'll have no such luck. success stories are few and far between [granted, caitlin & i were the exception- thanks for teaching us that 'he's just not that into you'] so it's better to enjoy your life one day at a time, not two years into the future.

how justin changed
-justin learned he could speak spanish. so those years of studying in school were really not for nothing [except they were. take that CCSD/UNLV- the church taught him a foreign language in 4 months, something you couldn't do in four years]. mrs. o'brien would be so proud.
-he found out he could eat anything. and i mean anything [dog, bugs, armadillo]. watch out burt the conqueror, he's coming after your job.
-he met many of his closest friends, including the boy our baby is named after [okay that's not true- but he was the first landon we both knew so we got the idea from there. in history books, i'm going to say i named him after michael landon from bonanza and little house on the prairie. or landon from 'a walk to remember'. or landon pigg the singer. or landon donovan the soccer player. take your pick]

as you can tell, i couldn't wait to lose this dead weight

how i changed
-i learned to move my left hip while dancing, a feat previously impossible for me. but i'm afraid i've started regressing again. discovered this at my last yoga session when the teacher started laughing at my attempts. talk about a self-esteem push for the giant whale in stretchy pants.
-accepted that yoga pants + sports bra do not make acceptable attire. except again, i've somehow regressed to this. now when i get home i'm lucky if i wear any clothes at all. it's this giant alien in me, causing me all sorts of discomfort, and let's be honest, it's in my blood to enjoy being naked.
-i discovered i could be funny. i've always been cynical but i discovered i could do it in a comical way that didn't make my mother cry anymore. who knew? not my brother. every time i see nate he is starstruck by my wit [that might be a slight exaggeration]. it's like he forgets, sees me, then discovers he likes hanging out with me or likes reading my blog. don't worry- justin just discovered this a few weeks ago and has already forgot.



look at the prettiest little girl
in the world! i'm such a proud
fairy-mother



in totally unrelated but on my mind news, i am seriously feeling some post-july, august blues. so far the summer has been so exciting, with an event each month- you know, something to get me through the 8-5. may we vacayed in san diego for lynsey's graduation, june justin came home and we saw my besties in cedar. july saw the birth of abbigale mae tappana and the death of the harry potter movies. and now august? blah- you've got nothing going for you. no baby showers, no baby, no house. it's just the worst. if august was something else, it'd be a scalding hot turd on a blanket of ants with voldemort feeding rotten yams to it while kicking kittens & updating it's facebook status every 2 minutes. that's how much i hate august.

i can't go on any trips [$] and even if i did, i can't stand too long without puffing up like a macy's day float and can't miss any work. i swear this baby has decided he doesn't want to cook any longer. not that i'm about to go into labor, he's just done growing. i swear i'm the same size i was a month ago! my baby showers are in september because heaven knows i'll be going stir-crazy then. it's just the worst. i'm feeling an incredible urge to kick, stomp, then lay on the ground kicking and screaming but alas, if i got down on the floor on my back, i'm about 83% sure i wouldn't be able to get back up again. yes, i've become a beetle.

worst. so fans, do the world and me a favor and do something awesome this month so i can blogstalk and live vicariously through you. please.