My NEW Car

This is a picture of my new car!! You may be saying, "but you've had that for a couple years now." I have, but I am proud to say that it is all mine now. I just wrote a big check to pay it off and can now consider it officially part of one of my possessions. I have been looking forward to getting this paid off and reaching one of my new year's resolutions of being debt free. I have finally achieved it and haven't felt so free and happy in a long time. I love it and it almost feels like a new car. Anyway, just thought I would share my glad news and proud moment.

History Fest

Here I am at the History Fest. I wasn't looking forward to going, but Terry was so excited. I am amazed that every time I go with Terry and do something that I think I won't like, I find something interesting. This time amidst the many booths of guns and old war items there was one booth of lace making. I headed towards the booth thinking that it was a quilting booth and as I got closer it was this guy making lace and teaching lessons on how to make it. I added a line into this lace, it is almost like weaving using the bobbins that are hanging to go over and under and twist them to make a certain pattern. I have never seen how it was done before and was surprised to see how it was made. It is a very detailed process that takes hours and hours for a tiny strip.

Terry of course went to see the different battle reenactments. We saw one from world war II, which I didn't think was any different than watching grown men play cowboys and indians in camouflage. Terry loved it though and rattled off how neat all the different guns and granades were. We also saw a civil war reenactment which you can see in the background of these pictures. It wasn't too exciting, but Terry thought it was cool to see them in uniform and to see the guns and the different war techniques in action.
This picture shows them shooting off some cannons.

Alida and Aaron Bingham's Wedding

We went to Alida's (Terry's sister) wedding on Friday. It was so wonderful! It is the only sealing I have been to besides my own. It was neat to be able to comfortably sit back and enjoy the ceremony. I liked that the sealer encouraged them to look at each other throughout the ceremony rather than him as he talked. I wished we had done that. I think it made it special for them to look into each other's eyes.
All of her brothers and sisters were there outside the temple. They got some memorable pictures. I love that!
It was the perfect day. It was sunny and not too warm. We had to take some pictures by the tulips in full bloom. They are one of my favorite flowers!
Porter loves to be outside and is getting to love the grass, dirt and rocks. He was gentle with the flowers. It was his first encounter so I don't think it will last long. I set him down and thought that he would pull all the petals but he didn't.
We went to the reception that night and helped out with making sure there was always enough food on the refreshment table.
There was a dance after the formal reception part and made the reception so much fun. I don't think that I have ever been to a reception that fun. Everyone was dancing-young and old. It went on for a couple of hours. I am trying to get Terry to take a couples dance class together. After the fun we had he might be more willing to do it.
We had to decorate the car of course. We used oreos and paint. It turned out pretty cute.

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

So, I have really been looking forward to getting photoshop to help with scrapbooking. I have been saving up my money for months. I had a birthday in January, but had to use the money I got for bills. So, I have been saving up since telling myself that I still need to get myself a birthday gift. Anyway, I finally went and bought it at Office Depot, brought it home, installed it, loaded a few pictures on it and went to make something. Guess what, not enough memory on my computer. What a disappointment. Guess I'll just have to go buy a new computer to go with my new software. The future does look bright though, because we may be getting a computer from Terry's sister. That's not the only problem I realize now even more than ever how much I want a new camera. Does this story remind you of anything-"If you give a mouse a cookie!!" I've learned a lot and am about to give up and take the photo shop back. Because if I don't I might need to take classes on how to run the program or even a photography class. Wouldn't that be fun!

ABC tag

A-attached or single?: Attached

B-Best Friend?: My wife Bethany

C-cake or pie?: tough choice, i'll go with pie.

D-Day of Choice?: Friday its the start of a couple of days off.

E-Essential Item?: glasses/contacts

F-Favorite Color?: Brown

G-Gummy Bears or worms?: Bear, you can bite the heads off and transplant them to different colored bears.

H-Hometown?: Bedford Indiana

I-Favorite Indulgence?: Movies

J-January or July?: July, Independence Day!

K-Kids? Porter 11months

L-Life isn't complete without?: Bethany and Porter, the gospel is a given

M-Marriage Date?: uhhh??? just kidding July 21st 2006.

N-Number of Brothers and sister?: Brothers-1, sisters-4

O-Oranges or Apples?: Oranges vitamin c is good for you.

P-Phobias or Fears?: Not being able to provide for my family

Q-Quote?: "It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

-Theodore Roosevelt

R-Reason to smile?: Life is great!

S-Season of Choice?: Fall, I love the holiday season

T-Tag 3 people: Brad Wynn, Danielle Wynn, Marthea

U-Unknown facts about me: I want to write a book.

V-Vegetable?: Corn, i'm from Indiana what do you expect.

W-Worst habit?: I pick my nose.

X-X-ray or Ultrasound?: Ultrasound, it was an ultrasound that told us we were having a boy.

Y-Your favorite food?: medium rare steak, or ribs smoked in my new smoker.

Z-Zodiac sign?: Libra

ABC Tag

A-Attached or Single? Attached

B-Best Friend? Terry, but that's a given. Porter is a close second.

C-Cake or Pie? Definetley cake.

D-Day of Choice? Saturday

E-Essential Item? It's a tie. Straightener and hair spray.

F-Favorite Color?Yellow

G-Gummy bears or worms? Worms (I would prefer something chocolate though!)

H-Hometown?Ashton-Idaho

I-Favorite Indulgence? Visiting Idaho for at least two weeks at a time!

J-January or JUly? January, It's my birthday!

K-Kids? Porter- 11 months old

L-Life isn't complete without? The gospel!!

M-Marriage date? July 21, 2006

N-Number of brothers and sisters? 3 brothers, 1 sister

O-Oranges or apples? Oranges at christmas time. Apples if there is caramel to dip them in.

P-Phobias or fears? Debt

Q-Quote? I don't know a certain one, but if I could pick a genre it would be those by prophets or church leaders.

R-Reason to smile? It is soooo sunny today! Yeah!!

S-Season of choice? Spring

T-tag 3 people: Terry, Liz and Olivia

U-Unknown facts about me? I don't mind cleaning the bathroom. In fact I would choose that over any job in the house.

V-Vegetable? Broccoli

W-Worst habit? Picking zits :( I know it's gross, but I love to do it!

X-xray or ultrsound? What kind of a question is this?

Y-Your favorite food? Italian! Especially from Johnny Carino's which I haven't gotten to go to in forever!

Z-Zodiac sign? Aquarius

Easter Family Pictures

Porter in his easter outfit. I wish I could have taken a picture by some spring flowers, but we have had nothing but rainy weather here for quite some time. The grass is turning green and the daffodils are coming up though. I am excited for spring. It is my favorite season of the year.

We went to the temple on saturday and had a little family picture. It is always a wonderful experience to go to the temple. We had planned to go to a session, but when we got there it was already full and we even got there early. We had Porter and Kelcy, Terry's niece, was babysitting him. We thought it would be to long to wait to go to the next session, so we did a few sealings. It was good to hear the blessings and covenants given in the temple sealing again and again. I felt a little bad that we weren't doing an endowment session. I just had to remind myself that any part of the work was great and as the temple sealer put it as we left the sealing room, "Thank you for being saviors on Mount Zion for your kindred dead." So simply put, but so inspiring. The best part of all was that it only took like 45 minutes to do sealings and so then Terry and I just went and sat in the celestial room for a half an hour. That was such a treat!! Sometimes I feel like after 2 hours of being in the session you almost feel like you need to enjoy the celestial room, but just don't have the time. This time we had plenty of time to just relax, because Kelcy was thinking we would be gone for 2 hours and we had only been gone for an hour. There was only one other person in there so it was so peaceful! Our temple trip was great!!

Zoo

We decided to go to the Zoo in Indianapolis as one of our spring break adventures. Terry has been so excited and talking about it non-stop. He looked it up on the internet and had all the sites to see mapped out. He was most excited about the exhibit that let you touch real live sharks. It was pretty fun. The weather wasn't cooperating, but it made for active animals to watch. It was overcast and sprinkled rain a little while. We got to see jellyfish, shrimp, seahorses and the highlight of the ocean life was the sharks. We can now add touching live sharks to our list of exceptional life experiences.

We saw the polar bear swim in the water. We got a view from here and one from down below where you can see them underwater through glass windows.

There were elephants, rhinos, kangaroos and zebras. The anticipation of the whole trip was to see how Porter would react to all the different animals. I thought that him being a dog and cat lover he would be so excited the whole time. I'm not sure if he really loved it. The glass windows that you can look through the water made him nervous. I think he thought that he was going to fall in. Either that or the animals were going to get him.

Porter's favorite I would have to say were the plain old ordinary farm animals. He loved the sheep, goats, horses and cows. He was excited about touching them.

My favorite was the dolphin show we went to. We all left wanting to be dolphin trainers. It looked so fun. The dolphins did all kinds of tricks and were so cute.

Easter

Happy Easter!! We had a fun Friday night coloring easter eggs. The easter bunny came Sunday morning. Porter loved the egg hunt. He wished that he could have stuffed the whole egg in his mouth. He loved his peeps too! Sacrament meeting was great! The bishop had picked excellent speakers and I felt the spirit so strong. I enjoyed being able to spend that whole sacrament meeting time just listening to the testimonies of the resurrection. I also know that Christ lives and that we will be resurrected as well. One interesting thing that was brought up was that the resurrection is an ordinance and priesthood holders will perform that. I guess I knew that before, but had never really heard it in such simple terms. We had a ham and potatoes easter dinner with Terry's parents and Sister and niece. It was a fun and relaxing afternoon. It wasn't very warm and sunny outside though. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pictures.

So whats Terry up to these days?

Well Bethany has encouraged me more than once to write some entries to the blog which I have only done once now. However, I think it is about time to bore you once again. This year has been crazy for me. I started three new jobs. The first is by far the least favorite. I supervise in-school detention and after school at Bedford North Lawrence High School (which is the high school I went to). I get to deal with the kids that are discipline problems, don't know when to get to class on time or like to skip school. It's not that bad but it's not teaching. There are some great opportunities for being able to teach next year with teachers retiring and I am doing and saying everything I can to be able to get one of the spots. The other two jobs are time consuming but I love doing them. I am the assistant coach for the boys swim team at my high school and the assistant coach for the local Lawrence county swim club, which is basically a feeder program for the high school team. The other guy I coach with is the head coach of both the teams as well. We get along great, work well with each other and have fun. It is much different and better than last years coaching experience (check out the blog entry about our sectional win). I have been coaching solid for almost 7 months and now we have a three week break before the club season starts up in April. I am looking forward to getting home at 4 o'clock rather than 8 o'clock and being able to spend more time with Bethany and Porter and with the weather getting warmer hopefully that time will be outside as much as possible.
Well if you didn't know this by now I am a little over weight. When Bethany and I were married I weighed 220 lbs. from then until now I have ballooned to 257lbs. I know, I know, very unhealthy and very depressing. However, I am going to remedy that problem. The school district I work for has gotten together with one of the gyms in town and have started a contest. They have started a biggest loser challenge, much like the T.V. show. there are over 100 contestants. We get limited memberships to the gym and free diet counseling. In order to be in the contest we had to take a health screening and measurements and all that stuff. Needless to say after I was done with all my pre-contest health tests I was very depressed. I dare not share the details in fear of making you think less of me. Needless to say I need a big health change if I want to enjoy life for years to come.
Along with all this I am the first counselor in the young men's presidency in our ward. We have a good scout program and some great boys. All the guys in the presidency are really good guys that I get along well with and we have a lot of fun. This Saturday is the young men's stake basketball tournament and it has fallen upon me to be coach. This hasn't happened because of my superior basketball skills or knowledge but rather because all the other leaders are busy on Saturday. I think it will be fun and we have a really good shot at winning. Well that's whats going on with me. I know there are no cool pictures or anything, lets face it people only want to see pictures of Porter but if your lucky I will find a picture gem and put it on here some time.

WORK!!!???

I just thought I would write a little update on how my new adventure of starting to work while raising a family was turning out. I hate to admit it but so far it is wonderful!! Only because I get to work in the best place in the hospital. I am going to work on the Mother/baby unit, but these last few days I have been orienting to different areas first. They like to do that just so you can get an idea of what they do in the other areas related to mother/baby. I spent one day in the NICU another day in the nursery and one day on labor and delivery. My favorite was in the nursery. I just held babies all day long. Can you even call that work and get paid for it too??? I think that I might want to transfer there soon!! Anyway, I really liked all the areas. So far I haven't missed out on anything fun and actually had a wonderful blessing come out of it all. My little Porter got sick on Thursday and I was scheduled to work on Friday. I just didn't know what to do. Donna couldn't babysit because she was going to the temple too. I convinced Terry to take a sick day but was still worried about what we were going to do with Porter after school while Terry went to swim practice. I went to work leaving the mess in Terry's hands to figure out what to do, praying all the while that it would all work out. I went to work and at about 11 am looked out the window and it was snowing and blowing and had already snowed about three inches. You've got to remember that we had had 50 degree wheather before this and thought the snow was done for the winter. All it takes is an inch of snow on the ground for school to be cancelled here. I called Terry and sure enough school was cancelled and so they had to cancel all school functions after school too! So Terry was able to stay with Porter all day. He took him into the doctor's office and he had two ear infections. Needless to say I was soooo grateful that it did work out. I know it may sound simple and such a little thing but at the time I felt like it was the biggest blessing ever! I just don't want Porter to get any less than the best because I am working!

Best husband of the week award!!!

You know you are loved when all your husband can think about is you as he goes to the store to buy potatoes. Terry came home so excited with a little surprise in hand. He went pretty late in the evening to the store and saw this lady taking down the Idaho Potato display. He had the nerve to ask the lady what she was going to do with the extra balloons. She said she could give him one if he wanted. Terry thought it was perfect for me. On the balloon it says Grown in IDAHO. I have to admit it describes me well. My roots are firmly planted. He made me give it a big hug when he got home. He is so funny! Gotta love him though. What would life be like without a husband who did random acts of kindness that made you know that he loved you so much! I love you Terry!Porter is enjoying an orange. He has 4 teeth now at 10 months old.

The Family

This is my handsome boy ready for church. I realized that I dress him up for church, but haven't really got a picture of him all dressed up. This one isn't the best, but he sure gets compliments from all on his grown up boy look. He even took the sacrament for the first time last Sunday. He got his own piece of bread, but needed a lot of help with the water. It was so cute. His latest developement in communication is his ability to shake his head no. He loves to do it. He thinks it is a little game. He also loves to walk while holding your hands. He would gets mad/scared if you let go of one hand or if you quit doing it.

Me and my little buddy. This week on Monday was my first day of work. I have had to do some orientation which has made me go everyday from 8am-5pm. It has been hard, but good since Donna, Terry's mom has been more than willing to tend Porter. I am so appreciative because she not only doesn't mind, but I get the impression that she loves to do it. She loves to teach him new things and play with him all day. On the other side work has been pretty good. I have to sit through classes all day, but they have let us go home early many of those days. Some information is new, but most of it I have heard a thousand times before and think it is a waste of time. I am anxious to start doing the real work that I am going to do.

I got a picture of Terry and his buzzed head. The whole swimming team did and also the other coach. They say that shaving all the hair of you at the end of the season right before the big competition will make you swim faster and hopefully win. I don't think it really helps and even Terry said that it really didn't. It's all a mental thing and hopefully gets you the boost of spirit to do better. State is this weekend and hopefully they do good. I'll keep you posted.

Stars dethrone Jasper to win first sectional crown since 1985!!!

I think the late night arrivals from our dear husband and father for the past 4 months have paid off as we saw him read the front page of the sports section of the newspaper this Sunday morning. He read in a loud voice and tears in his eyes the wonderful news that was given to the world this morning that BNL won the sectional title.

The paper reads: Bus ride to Jasper secional: $75. 14 nylon spedos:$150. Two water-logged sets of coching attire (shirt, tie, slacks, and dress shoes): $250.
First Bedford North Lawrence High School boys IHSAA sectional title in 24 years: Priceless.
In other words, the BNL boys swimming and diving trip to the 2008 IHSAA Jasper sectional finals Saturday was well worth the cost. After an intense-and at times breathtaking -battle, the Stars detrhoned perennial powerhouse Jasper. 312-306, for their first xectional title since theeir 1984-1985 campaign.
After four lead changes and trailing by several points, Taylor Sanders boosted BNL with a sectional and school record time of 59.92 in the 100 yard breast stroke...gave the Stars a slim advantage with only the 400 yard freestyle realy remaining in the competition.
Silence fell, however, when Jaspertorpedoed its way to decisive win in the realy that left everyone unsure as to which school had captured the sectional crwon. After several dynamic minutes of tabulation. BNL was announced champion and the entire team (including shirt and tie donning BNL coach Marc McCay and assistant coach Terry Tlustek) plunged into the pool and celebrated the victory!!

It was good to hear how excited both coaches were for their boys that they had worked so hard with all season. Mark McCay also won coach of the year. It was a good accomplishment and I am happy for Terry and the swimming team.

Ice Storm

Its crazy to think that I grew up in Ashton Idaho where it is notorious for freezing wheather, but have never experienced what I did this week. I lived through an ice storm. It was my first one. I had heard about them, but never really knew what they were about. We looked outside on Tuesday morning and the world was covered in a sheet of ice!! It was amazing. It almost looked like snow on the deck, but when you stepped on it it was as hard as a rock. You could literally ice skate in our driveway or anywhere for that matter. School was closed for two days straight. I loved it. It was almost like having a normal family again. Terry was home and so we had breakfast, lunch and dinner together as a family for both days. We played monopoly and Lord of the Rings RISK. I am sad to report that I lost every game. AGGHHH!! I couldn't believe my horrible rolling of the dice luck. Anyway despite the poor losing streak we had a fun filled two days.

Porter is growing still (I think)!!? We went to the doctor's office today and he had lost weight, about a half a pound. He got taller though. I've got to feed that little busy body more!! Anyway, he weighs 16 lbs. 4 oz. He only has one bottom tooth on the left side and one on the top coming in. He loves to crawl everywhere and pull up on everything. He has figured out how to climb up the stairs so our latest investment was a gate. He loves to click his tongue and he does it all the time. He loves grown up food. It doesn't matter if he just ate a ton of food of his own. If he sees someone with food he'll crawl over to you, climb up you and grunt until you give him some. It is crazy. He just learned how to play patty-cake and I can't believe how fast he learned. Kids are amazing.

I got offered a job and I accepted. I am going to start working next Monday. I am really nervous and stressed out just because of all the details of getting Porter taken care of and the routine taken care of and also because I am going to be working in an area that I haven't really worked in before. I am going to be working in Mother Baby, dealing with the mother's who have just given birth and the newborns. I am excited for that!

Highlights from our Idaho trip

Our trip to Idaho was a wonderful break that we enjoyed with everyone. Our original intention to go to the Rexburg temple dedication was postponed due to President Hinckley's funeral. We will just have to go to the Rexburg temple on our next visit. We had fun everyday spending time with family and friends.Of course many of our days were filled with playing games. There was no school for a full week, so we had lots of time to fill.

One of the major highlights was to be able to see Marianna play in her basketball district tournament. She played so good and we all cheered really loud. She had quite the fan club as you can see. It was Mary's idea to get the cousins to wear Marianna's nickname Merna across their shirts as they cheared at the game. It was a rare occasion to see it spelled correctly though. Most of the time it was ANREM, NAMER or RENAM. Anyway it was the thought that counted and Marianna loved it!!

The cousins had fun playing together. Even though Porter is the smallest he did pretty good holding his own. He got his pacifier stolen countless times. It didn't bother him though he would just crawl around on Grandma's floor and find something to put in his mouth instead.

We even got a wrestling match in. It was fun to watch Sam be the coach. I mainly went to see a few other people from Ashton that I wanted to say Hello to.

Marianna was fun to talk to and tease. She is so wonderful. We talked about college and boys, the play and upcoming Junior Miss. She is doing great and she loves being a senior. I told her that I was jealous of her high school fun. It just reminds me of that fun time in life of high school and college. I also told her that I was amazed at what a good babysitter she is. She just takes care of all the neices and nephews with ease. I think that is so neat.

We had a girls night out and went to a movie. We had so much fun together. My mom and Marianna came too. We took and afternoon and made a little cousin craft where we decorated a clothespin and made a scrapbook page and clipped it in it. It makes for a cute little photo stand.

One of the big highlights was to have Monica come. We can't believe she made it and she almost didn't. She drove from Salt Lake to Ashton in the storm of the century. She had practically made it there, but 100 yards from our house she ran off the road. Luckily she was close enough she could walk to our house and then Sam came and got her out. She is so fun to talk with. Especially when we get to listen to her boy drama.

We were sad to come home, but know that we will be back soon for Marianna's graduation!!

Happy Birthday to Me!!

My birthday was on Wednesday and it was wonderful. You know you are loved when you get 20+ cards/phonecalls/emails/happy birthday songs sung to you in one day. It really was a great day. I went out to lunch to Casa Brava a mexican restaurant with all of Terry's sisters and sister-in-law. It was so much fun. Donna watched the kids while we went. Then Terry took me out to this really nice Italian restaurant in Bloomington. We dressed up a little and really felt like we were living the high class life. It was fun to be there just the two of us. Terry was so cute. He wanted to surprise me and had done some looking around and talking to everyone to pick just the right place. He did good and I almost think it is my new favorite restaurant. Needlesstosay we won't be going there very often due to the price, but it was fun to do for this special occasion. One of my other favorite things was a little scrapbook card/album from Tania with a few pictures of me and Miller and Dallin. It is soooooo cute! As I remember back I can't believe that I was there when both of them were newly born. I'm glad that we have had other special times too throughout their growing up years. It is really a treasure. Anyway, I mainly wanted to write about my birthday to thank everyone for their friendship and love. Thanks for remembering me!!

Picture time

Just wanted to share Porter's 8 month old pictures with everyone! He is so handsome!

Just an update!

I have applied for a few jobs and had an interview. My interview was to possibly work in the OB unit of the local hospital on the Mother/Baby side. We'll see what happens. I have mixed emotions about starting working. I've put it off for quite sometime and now think that it would be good for me to work just a couple days a week, just part-time. I have loved being home with Porter everyday. I am also grateful that if I do work there are so many willing to help out and babysit Porter. Mainly Terry's mom, Donna, she is retired and has helped out so much with babysitting Porter already.

Terry is loving swimming, but is now counting down the weeks of when it will be over and he will be able to spend more time with us. He is also starting to apply for jobs for the next school year. Hopefully he will get a teaching job.

I am most excited about the upcoming week when I will be going to Idaho to enjoy some much needed family time that I didn't get over the holidays. I am going to go to the Rexburg temple dedication and attend a session there to before I come home. I hope I can see Marianna play some ball at her district basketball and have a wonderful time with the anticipated cousin craft with all the girls.

All Boy

Porter loves dogs! I can't believe how much he enjoys them. Most kids I think would be scared of them, but he just wants to grab them and let them lick him and everything. On Sunday Alida's fiance Aaron brought his dog to stay the weekend, when we went over there Porter was in heaven with his dog Mali. We were in the other room when we hear a loud giggle from Porter. Katelynn and Sam were playing fetch with the dog and it just made Porter laugh. Every time the dog would jump up in the air Porter would let out these big belly laughs. It entertained all of us for quite a few minutes.