Late Twenties

I am one of those people who has always declared her birthday as a national holiday. I don't go to school or work or obligations on my birthday, calories don't count chores don't get done and shopping  happens. Well this year I was not feeling it. I didn't even stay up till midnight and dance it out to my designated birthday song (gasp). I fell asleep last night telling Joe that I didn't even care about the next day. I had zero expectations and no requirements.  Now step into Joe's shoes for a minute...he's married to the birthday freak! Every year he has to come up with new ways to surprise and make me happy for my special holiday. He has done pretty well over the years surprising me with great gifts  and concerts and shopping sprees. I know my birthday stresses him out so I thought I was giving him a nice out this year. I was not interested in celebrating my entrance into (gulp) my late twenties. So I went to sleep next to a frustrated husband who had the mother load planned for the next day aka today. My twenty seventh birthday.

I sleepily woke up to an empty bed at nearly ten am this morning. Where was Gemma? Probably down stairs bugging Joe while he worked. I picked up my phone and had a text from Joe which said...happy birthday massage at noon! Ooh a great start to birthday. Gemma and joe walked into my room singing
"happy birthday to you happy birthday to you MOM happy birthday to you!"
Everything is better with kids. It's so true. Next joe made me breakfast as I got ready for my surprise massage! After one of hour of relaxing bliss joe and G met me for lunch...remember calories don't count on your birthday. As I had met joe and Gemma they left in one car and I left in another to aimlessly wander stores alone for an hour or so. When I arrived home Gemma was having a nap, joe was doing laundry and had cleaned the whole house! What a man. By the way...he had taken the day off of work to make sure I could go and do whatever I wanted to do Gemma free. As I laid around the house eating swig cookies and relaxing joe made a steak dinner which he had shopped for and prepared. Sorry ladies he is taken...forever. Because lobsters mate for life...and mine makes me steak on my birthday.
From 6-8 I had adult like obligations such as lessons and meetings. G and joe waited up for me to eat a nothing bunt cake and sing to me. Now joe is putting gemma to bed. The man outdid himself and I'll never ask for my birthday to be skipped again now that I know what he is capable of!

Im not a huge New Years resolution fan but I love goals, change, and challenges. I have many things I would like to improve and change this year. Number one being life style changes. How I eat and maybe add some exercise. I would like to try something new, launch a blog, travel...but most importantly I want there to be some follow through. This is my weakness. I get so passionate and excited about something but then it fizzles and fades like a new year sparkler. So I have tried to make bite sized goals for each month. January included: counting calories and learn about meal prepping and nutrition. February will add vitamins and less sugar. By March I hope to have convinced myself that I can love some form of exercise! This is as far as I have planned. On top of the health goals I have reading goals and religious goals and travel goals...biting off more than I can chew is my specialty. In December I hope to be able to report that something stuck. I hope to report that I no longer eat candy with and between each meal, that I read five great books, that I saw something new, and that I'm stronger and more peaceful.

So cheers to my late twenties. It's going to be good.
Shout out to my amazing loving wonderful husband. I'm the luckiest.

Tattooed Words of a Prophet

I remember the day that President Hinckley died. I went to a predominantly Latter Day Saint High school. The day after he passed away most of my school showed up in church dress unprompted...we just did it to show respect for a man we all loved. When President Monson was called as the next president of the church I sustained him and knew I would follow his counsel but it was a struggle because it wasn't President Hinckley. However, I am one of the lucky ones who had a face to face with President Monson that changed my life.

 Joe grew up in President Monson's home ward. He was his home teacher growing up. When we were dating he drove me by the Monson home on the back of a motorcycle. My mother n law still attended that ward and would report when President Monson would come to the home ward. She said that usually he would sneak in the back and slip back out again. I told her that next time he showed up to text me so I could come to the sacrament meeting.

Everyone has dark or hard times in their life. I of course am included. A few years back I was having some struggles in life. I was a newly wed and although very happy I had gained weight, so much of life was different, and some other details I will exclude from the Internet. Well on one particular Sunday I was really struggling. I was wearing my least favorite dress and a ponytail. While usually I am a ponytail fan I don't like wearing one on Sunday. I felt heavy and lonely that Sunday and relief society wasn't helping. My phone buzzed and the box on the screen said,
"He's here."
I ran to the car on the while texting Joe to meet me at the car STAT which he did. We drove out to Joe's home ward and there on the stand sat President Monson. As I scooted in next to Joe and my mother n law I couldn't stop smiling. Apparently he rarely sits on the stand and even more rare is that he would speak but on this Sunday he did both. He stood up and bore his testimony on our Savior's love for each of us. That he knew each of us individually and cared deeply about our heartaches and struggles. I couldn't help but let a few tears slip through. It was as if he spoke directly to me.

As the meeting ended Joe grabbed my hand and said,
"Let me introduce you"
We stood in front of the prophet and Joe reminded him who he was and President Monson warmly shook his hand recalling who my husband was. Then Joe turned to me and said this is my new wife Collett. President Monson clasped both my hands in his looked me in the eyes and said
"You are a good one."
He said goodbye and walked away as I stood motionless in complete awe.
I am a good one.The prophet told me so. It didn't matter that I was wearing my least favorite dress and a ponytail anymore...I was a good one. My heart and soul...they are good ones! A good one.

I have joked with Joe that I want to tattoo you are a good one on my arm ever since. The irony is not lost on me. But, I love words...especially life altering ones. This experience was altering for me. I don't doubt myself, I know Heavenly father thinks I am a good one. On bad days when I forget I just remember these five words and I can easily pick myself back up and move forward with happiness and hope.

So last night when I heard news that he had passed away I felt immediately sad just as I had when president Hinckley died. Because he was my prophet and the spirit confirmed it to me through this experience. Don't worry Dad I did not go get my tattoo today although I wanted to. Instead I spent a large part of today reading talks and quotes from President Monson. If I did everything he said I am sure I would lead a very happy and fulfilled life. Perhaps I should throw out my new years goals and rewrite them to include life lessons from president Monson.

I look forward to the announcement of the new President of the church and sustaining him with vigor and no hesitation.

I'm in...Vancouver

For how many times I quoted this line from You've Got Mail, I would have been an easy drinking game. For our Four year anniversary trip, Joe and I went to the beautiful city of Vancouver. I have been to Canada many times. My mom is Canadian and would take my sister and I every summer to stay at beautiful Tie Lake. However I had never seen Vancouver before. My Grandpa Dil loved Vancouver and use to tell me stories about vacationing there as a little boy. Apart from the exciting opportunity to explore a new place we got to do so without G. This was the first time we had ever spent the night away from her. I had a lot of anxieties but quickly got over them once I placed her in the loving doting arms of her Aunts. She had a wonderful time and is still wondering why I am getting her out of her bed in the morning and not her Aunt Delaney!

We spent Friday traveling. But once we landed and got into the rental car I rolled down the window and gulped in salty clean Canadian air. When My mom and I would drive to Canada I use to laugh at her when we crossed the border. Inevitably her eyes filled with tears as she exclaimed "look at the mountains! oh look at the beautiful trees!" I felt a bit like that hanging my head out of the window yelling at Joe to look at the trees! Smell the beautiful air. I can without a doubt say that Canada is one of my happy places. Well, after we checked into our hotel in downtown Vancouver we went for a walk and scouted out dinner. We went to a quiet intimate restaurant called Salmon and Bannock. If you are unfamiliar with bannock bread, it is a North American Native staple. I would describe it as a weighted scone. We ordered homemade birch soda and wild berry soda to start. The menu offered a variety of wild game fresh fish and organic sides. The waitress told us about some of the choices but hesitated to tell us the specials. She said "I'm not sure if you are adventurous but the special would require it." It was as if she had flipped her hair and said oh honey I know you aren't brave enough for this. So naturally I had already decided that no matter what she said next...I was ordering it. "The special tonight is Sea lion".

Well there was no turning back now. Joe ordered a salmon burger. I sat there trying to erase all pictures I had ever seen of a sea lion. Thinking about animal activist groups and vegetarians. It felt like such a contraband choice. But hey, she challenged me! She brought out our appetizer of three variations of fresh salmon: Salmon Mouse, Maple Salmon, and Salmon ceviche. All were delicious. Next came out our entrée. My meal came out in a small dish with pieces of meat covered in sauce. All I can say is it put pot roast to shame and I would not hesitate to order it again.

Dinner took about two hours. It was so nice to sit and eat completely unaware of time or any type of schedule. Next we made our way over to Gas town which is the oldest part of Vancouver. Gas town is made up of cobbled pathways, shops, lots of bars, and lit up by beautiful lights. We wandered for an hour or so stopping by a store to pick up Canadian oreos and a Macintosh candy bar (two of my favorite things). What the tourists come to see is the steam clock. It is run by a steam engine, announces each quarter hour with a whistle chime and exhales a puff of steam from its top on the hour. We were lucky to see it chime and puff smoke from the top.

The next morning we woke up early and made our way to Granville Island. We strolled through the public market which must be every foodies fantasy. I had never seen so much amazing beautiful food art in my entire life.

We sampled and tasted as much as we could. I had read the Lee's donuts, and Kaisers Bagels were a must. I was on the hunt for two things, a butter tart and a Nanimo bar. It wasn't hard as both are popular Canadian treats. Back to my summers at tie lake....on Saturdays we would all go to the local farmers market. If you were smart you would stick with my Grandpa Dil because if you did he would buy you butter tarts from any booth selling them. They were his favorite and always remind me of him. As I sat down with my beautiful tart I knew he was there with me. It was a very special experience for me to be in his favorite place eating his favorite treat. 

Next we explored the rest of the island. It is famous for its handmade Broom store, countless theaters and museums, and brewery. I had read that you could not leave the island without going into Rogers chocolates and getting a maple Victorian cream truffle. Joe and I each had one. I made it about one bite in when the sugar coma set in. 

Because we were in Vancouver Joe wanted to meet up with a colleague at the airport. He had a quick meeting so I dropped him off and settled in the car overlooking the city to read my book and eat Canadian Candy. This may sound like a waste of precious site seeing time but it is rare that I find quiet, rain drenched time to sit and read a book. Half way through Joe called to invite me back to the airport for lunch with his work associate. The Vancouver airport is beautiful and large. I am married to an airport connoisseur and have come to appreciate the inner operations of an airport. We had poutine and fish and chips for lunch. Poutine is French fries covered in gravy and cheese curds. It is the definition of comfort food. 

I was officially in a food coma. For our second night in Vancouver we stayed in the beautiful Westin Bayside Hotel. It sits on the border of Stanley Park and the harbor. It was one of the most beautiful hotels I had been in....probably because of its location. We dropped off our bags, grabbed the hotel bikes and began riding through around, over Stanley Park. This is why I came. This Park. Stanley park has been named the best park in North America. I didn't think any park could beat my beloved Central Park...oh but Stanley Park blew it out of the water. We rode along the sea wall and around English bay. We saw the laughing statues, totem polls, swimming pools, and the most glorious trees to be created. I never wanted to leave. I could have spent days there. As I rode along the English bay watching the huge ships I knew if could sit on a bench for hours that I could write a book, think great thoughts, feel complete peace, and be so happy. If I could have any piece of land it would be that park. all 400 acres of it. We stayed as long as we could till darkness settled in and more cold rain. 

these statues are incredible. they are made up of pieces all welded together.

We cleaned up and headed to dinner. I knew we couldn't leave without getting sushi. I love Sushi and have eaten lots of it in many different places but never like the sushi we had. All the flavors were so pronounced. It was wonderful and may have ruined me for other sushi. Again, it was nice to eat slowly, talk and smile at my husband. the harbor reminded me of a beach town. Cute shops great shopping tons of places for dessert. We spent the rest of the night wandering the shops and holding hands. That night we opened the windows in our room so we could hear the rain hitting the waters surface. In the morning we went for a crepe breakfast. Joe dropped me at the airport and I headed home and he headed for Chile. Now I am back In Utah with my G dreaming of Stanley Park and maple Victorian Creams. 

Four Years

Four years has flown by. Joe and I are MFEO. He keeps me laughing and giddy and I make sure he has a hand to hold every where we go. 97% of the time life with joe feels like all the good parts of a romantic comedy. I'm grateful everyday for his easy going happy demeanor. He makes my life fun.

Growing up I was taught to pray everyday. This is something I hold very near and still do today. Even as a little girl I remember praying for a happy easy marriage. As time went on and I matured I continued to pray for a happy successful marriage. I knew that Heavenly Father would let me know and guide me in the right direction. When joe asked me out the first time I hesitated. I got a very strong feeling and the words popped into my head "make sure you are ready for a relationship because you are going to marry him". I said no and we continued to talk for the next six months. I wasn't ready for THE relationship. After our first date we have been inseparable. I have a very happy easy marriage and I'm thankful everyday for it. We are best friends. He's my lobster. 

Like every couple, of course we have our things. Joe is a Vulcan and very logical. I'm  every Emo song running high on emotions and passions. As time goes by I like to think I've become a little less emotional and a bit more logical and vise versa for him. He makes me calm. 

I love this picture primarily because of Joe's face. He still looks at me like that. I've wanted to put on my wedding dress all day. There should be more occasions for wedding dresses. Dishes and playing with a toddler don't seem like appropriate wedding dress activities. Joe has the best smile because of the smile lines by his eyes. Gemma has them too. It's one of my favorite parts of his face. I know that when those wrinkles pop up he's genuinely happy and smiling for real. He makes me feel like the most important person in the world. 

I'm so incredibly thankful for our happy marriage and wonderful life together. Happy four years joe. Cheers to eternity together. Love you and like you. 

October Gemma Recap

G has become a snuggle bug this month. In the morning she likes to get into my bed and watch a show snuggled up to me. It is my favorite thing. We may have more screen time because of this recent morning ritual but I just don't care. I of course am freezing ninety percent of the time so the extra warmth is appreciated and so wanted.

She has been easier to take out. Stores have been fun with her and eating out has been fun. I hope this new part of her personality sticks. Her only shopping faux pas is the hiding and giggling. Its never scary when she hides because she is laughing so hard. It is delightful and frustrating.

We continue to ride horses. This activity is mostly for me but Joe always comes so Gemma can run around the stables and take a ride with me. It is the highlight for both of us. I keep dreaming of the day when we live on hundreds of acres with horses...like Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban. I should probably get cracking on a best seller novel eh?

Since June Gemma has been going to speech therapy. In a few short months we have her all caught up and she chatters on all day long. The screaming and tantrums are far and few between as we can better understand her wants and needs. Now if we could just fix the aggressive hitting we would be golden.  Not only does Gemma parrot everything we say she also comes up with funny phrases all on her own. She is very polite and says "Thanks mom" 800 times a day.

G is obsessed with my little sister Delaney. Every time the phone rings she runs to it and screams Da-A-Laney! She loves to talk to her and see her. Her other favorite is facetimeing my mom and dad. She likes to dance and run around like a crazy person when they call. Lately she has been asking.."Lady, papa, come party?" Not sure what party she is inviting them to but this has been a frequent request over the last few weeks.  We are always lucky when we get to see the cousins and aunt Rachel and Uncle spock. My sisters are my life line. I'm lucky we love each other's kids.

We were very sad when Joey's brother nick and his wife Sarah moved out of our basement this month. G and I have loved having them so close but are very excited for them and their new house! Our friend from New Jersey has moved in! Gio is a great roommate when we get to see him. His wife and cute baby will be joining the party in January. She is from the Dominican Republic. I am working on my Spanish so please pray for me hahaha.

October is always over too soon. I will miss the pumpkin patches and fall weather. We had fun pumpkin picking with Jason and Leah. It has become one of my favorite traditions. Jason and Leah are some of our closest friends. They will babysit in a pinch, watch our dogs, play games with us, but most of all they love us. It is nice to know we always have backup.

Trick or Treating was a blast. Lauren was right...put on the costumes and just have fun. We looked pretty spectacular if I do say so myself.  I am already planning out next year.

 



Dear October I will miss you. Until next year beautiful friend.

This is Halloween and a Time for Decisions.

I have never really liked Halloween. Valentine's Day has and will always have my heart. Dressing up has always felt incredibly stressful for me. I have this horrible mentality of go big or go home. I blame my mom for this in the best way. She always made us the most incredible beautiful costumes. One year she stayed up all night making me a Cats costume out of yarn. It was incredible. She also threw beautiful Halloween parties. The older I get the more I appreciate this as it takes so much time, effort and money to do all these things!

So two weeks away from Hallowen I still haven't decided on Gemma's Halloween costume. I can't dress her up like a princess on principle, so I sit around and stress about it as if I am deciding between something life altering. Oh it's hard to me sometimes. I was bouncing ideas off my two frineds lamenting over my hard core first world problem. Lauren put it to me straight. Dress up. It's fun. Pick a freaking idea and just go with it. So I did. I ordered the damn Queen of hearts costume for G, alice for me and told Joe he was being the white rabbit. Sorry babe. He is the best sport.

So don't worry the Campbell family has Halloween under control. Our neighborhood is fun on Halloween night. We have neighbors who serve hot fresh apple cider from their farm, another neighbor does homemade donuts, and lots of houses go crazy with Halloween decorations. Halloween night to me is Chili, candy, Caramel apples, and a stack of horror movies. Now that we have G we actually need to participate in the holiday so thank you baby Gemma for forcing your Grinch mother out.

This whole costume thing was an eye opener for me. I take forever to make decisions. Especially when it involves buying something. I have had a gap puffer Jacket in my cart for months. I need it. It is a great price. But I have yet to actually get it. This is probably a big factor in the question of why does Collett dress like a homeless person eighty percent of the time. Well after making this monumental costume decision I felt slightly empowered. I realized how good it felt to just choose, do, and conquer. CDC if you will. I have been looking for more and more opportunities to make fast decisions and boy did a big one present itself.

The piano. We have had my brother in laws piano for a few years in our house. The deal was he would take it when he bought a house. Well that day came. He bought a house and took his piano. I cried. I have never lived in a house without a piano (spoiled...like I said..it is really hard to be me). A very gracious wonderful friend gave me their piano. It needed quite a bit of work and would never have a great sound. I was planning on fixing it up and moving it in but this did not feel like a good option to me. My angel husband told me to make a plan find the piano I wanted and do it. So I did. I went to a store I found the piano I wanted and within ten minutes told them to wrap it up and deliver it. I did have a slight panic attack filling out the forms but instead I texted joe, "bought a piano it will be delivered tomorrow." to which he replied "that's awesome Lettie." Big shout out to Brigham Larson Pianos in Orem. I told him I had been without a piano for about two weeks and how tortuous that was for me...again, the drama runs deep....so Brigham said "well the next delivery I have is in two weeks but for your souls sake I'll get it to you tomorrow!" Talk about an understanding guy. Also how grown up am I to be buying a piano?! It is so beautiful and shiny. It sounds beautiful. I keep ducking my head into the living room just to check it out. Tonight while I was teaching lessons Joe sent me a video of G sitting at the piano carefully playing the keys. He wrote "G took me by the hand, walked me to the couch, chose a piano book, then sat down to play the piano for me." Cue all the awwwws. She constantly reminds me that she is watching my every move. I better be making good moves.

I have always preached GUMPTION! Gumption Ladies! (Gumption: shrewd or spirited initiative and resourcefulness). I am a little depressed to discover I am lacking a little gumption myself. Boy do I love self discovery. I may not be an executive of a business but I am the executive of at least two people, two dogs, and one household! So cheers to gumption CDC and less people pleasing! Look out Gap puffer jacket, I'm coming for you!

Ann(e) Said So

"I'm so glad I lived in a world where there are Octobers"
Anne of Green Gables

As previously mentioned I am a summertime girl. Hot days that warm you from the outside inward is my thing. However, I have lived in Utah for almost seven years (😱) and have a love affair with fall. Fall is a beautiful summer chaser. There's a few weeks in between the two seasons to mourn summer and then all of the sudden the leaves change the pumpkins grow and suddenly I remember why I love socks and boots and why I love Utah. I don't always love Utah. In fact I could list out 10 things I passionately detest about Utah at the drop of a hat but I won't because I can see yellow and Orange leaves. Utah puts on a beautiful show in October.

Utah also offers an endless supply of fall activities. Every picturesque fall thing you see in a movie or read in a book is available. Last year we had so much fun pumpkin picking drinking hot chocolate watching my collection of scary movies and baking. Joe has come to terms with the reality of our butter bill once fall hits. It settles back down around March. I'm not even a huge pumpkin flavor fanatic but I'm a huge fan of a warm kitchen at every possible second during fall and winter time. My favorite thing though is Chili and cornbread. We eat it all fall long. It smells good it feels good...Its a must.

Growing up in Arizona "fall" months were my absolute least favorite. Picture high school collett in September with a viola or violin overflowing backpack absolutely jammed to its breaking point MUN file folder full of research and MUN cash box. Now picture me walking all over our outdoor school in 100 degree weather. I was sweat soaked  10 minutes after arriving at school. Fall isn't really a thing. The cactus stay green the rocks stay brown and the sun keeps shining. As my mom would say "just one damn sunny day after another." So imagine to my absolute delight seven years ago when I experienced a real fall. The turning of each season has got to be one of the most spectacular magic tricks. It never gets old and I can't imagine living somewhere without all four ever again.

Tomorrow I am going to drive through the canyons with Sam Smith and Norah Jones....some old jazz music. Fall demands Jazz and slow love songs. I have been making playlists and CDs since the beginning of time. I have a song for everything. Each season gets a new playlist each year. I am still working on Fall2017 but so far its aces. The best part of my Fall drive will be stopping by the Provo bakery for Pumpkin donuts and saying hello to Campus. There were so many wonderful parts of being an English student at BYU but fall was the best. Fall semester was always better than winter semester. Reading every single assignment was actually enjoyable because a cozy blanket hot tea a book and fall go together like Lucy and Ethel. Sometimes when I'm behind on the dishes and I have sung Twinkle Twinkle Little star more times than I can count I start missing those college days. Hell, today I was missing high school days. I was driving along, happily running errands when I was hit by a tidal wave of nostalgia. How did I become a wife and a mother? I was 15 a week ago! Why am I not home with my mom? I  don't care how old you are but sometimes the only thing that can help is your mom. There doesn't even have to be anything wrong. Today was one of those days. I just needed my mom! It must be true that as we age we continue to think young. It is a beautiful and yet horrifying thought to me. Last week when I was fifteen I figured when I was the mom I would know everything and be able to make bread perfectly but I could not be more wrong! When does the know how for being a grown up kick in? Sometimes I feel like I have all my ducks in a row and I cling to those days wanting to take a snap shot of it's pure perfection to hang on the fridge because it is so much easier to remember the times when I fail and my ducks throw a rave in my living room instead of marching along in a row.

I started writing this yesterday. When I woke up this morning I woke to the news of the horrific Las Vagas Shooting. I do not even know how to resond to this. I have been thinking about it all day and I just feel sick. I have to raise a sweet tiny girl in this world where some people find it necessary to shoot up a country music concert. As of yet the authorities cannot uncover any reason behind the shooting. That is the worst part. It was just havoc. I hate senseless acts of terror and violence. I worry about raising children frequently. It's one of my anxieties. How do I do it? I read this blog once that said "I worry about raising my children in this world but then I look around and see other people just like me teaching their kids about kindess and goodness and magic." I wrote it out and hung it on my mirror for a long time, It is so easy (especially for me) to be consumed by fears and anxieties but as long as I remind myself that I'm not the only mother alive who believes in dance parties, long walks, chcolate chip cookies, ethics, kindess, glitter,  books, saying thank you and fall. There are so many just like me and so many better than me. I bet I could list fifty right now.

So as this day ends I cling to my faith over my fear and my love of fall. I'll drink my Starbucks Hot chcolate with whipped cream and pretend the calories don't count because it makes me so happy. I'll kiss up Joe and Gemma extra tonight and let Sookie sleep on the bed. I end this day so grateful for all my strength and glitter. I'll worry about my faults tomorrow.  I'll take my fall drive and show Gemma the yellow trees. I hope she feels the magic of fall.