9/11 Tribute

Back in June, Ben found out from a co-worker, Josh, that he was planning on organizing a memorial stair climb in honor of the 343 lost fire fighters from ground zero on 9/11. Josh had seen this done in Denver last year. It is also done in New York. Ben immediately wanted to be apart of this event. He and his buddy Erik have been preparing for this for the last couple months. Nothing could prepare you though for what it would truly be like. Here is a picture of Ben with Alli and an old Nashville fire truck.
They allowed 343 fire fighters from around the country to register to climb 110 flights of stairs (stories) symbolic to what the 343 climbed on 9/11. The guys wore complete turn out gear, air packs, and some took additional tools or HEAVY high rise packs. The opening ceremony was simple and to the point. They explained why we were there and who we were honoring by being there. All of the fire fighters were assigned one of the fallen fire fighters and wore his picture around his neck on a lapel. I don't remember Ben's but I know his last name was LaForge. It's so easy to see some of these events happening far away and think oh it will never happen to me, but it could...it really could. I couldn't help but think standing there in the level 1 of the garage underneath the Pinnacle building, that this building (under the right circumstances) could fall and I could be trapped by a pile of rubble. How that must have felt...how those fire fighters must have felt rushing in to try to save any and all they could find....knowing their own lives were at risk. I usually don't worry about Ben in his job. I know he is trained and I know "most" of the guys he works with also take their training seriously...so all in all I feel secure in thinking he'll be home the next day...but accidents happen and my husband could be one of the heroes called home early. Memorials like this one day really put in perspective the value of life, the value of family, and the value of the brotherhood that Ben shares with the men that he trusts his life with as they together fight to save the lives of others. Below is a picture of his group (company) that he climbed 110 stories with. All of the fire fighters in Ben's company are from Smyrna's department.

The Nashville Fire Department Honor Guard Bag Pipe Band Set the tone for the day...

Time to suit up

Ben and Erik

Ben's Company

The Pinnacle building isn't 110 stories high so what they did was climb 29 floors and then took a freight elevator down. They did this 3 times. Then on the 4th time up they stopped at the 22nd floor. This was a vacant floor where all the family and friends were waiting and cheering them on from the open door of the stair way! Here is a shot of Ben going up his 1st set of 29 floors.

2nd set of 29 floors...really starting to show how hard this is..

Alli was an INCREDIBLE trooper. We had to be out of the house by 6:30am to get to Nashville and get Ben registered in time. So Alli was up from 6am-12pm. Normally Alli is really showing fatigue by 3 hrs up...this girl was amazing today. I love her. She made it possible for me to go and support Ben in something he felt so honored to go and do. By noon our poor baby had absolutely crashed on my shoulders and most of you know...our baby will NOT sleep on us...so she was tired.

killing time in between seeing Ben climb the stairs.

After 3 1/2 trips up the Pinnacle...our guys were done...and completely exhausted! Ben was so proud to have accomplished his goal of making all 110 flights while keeping all his gear on. Some of the guys had to take gear off due to fatigue and overexertion.

Alli was so excited to see her daddy! We are so proud of him!

Our hero in so many ways!

Love this...

The company

Thank you to all those who give their lives daily in protecting our lives and our freedoms...I mean this for all Fire Fighters, Police, EMS and Military!!

goals

Well this week just flew by. Alli is getting stronger and more confident in her walking. She prefers to walk with her walker but she will sometimes let go of it and take off on her own.

On Saturday Shannon and I made wreaths for fall. Shannon posted hers on facebook. We made them to look like this and this. Ours were made of burlap in black and orange colors. I wanted to do the boo letters as well. Now after making the wreaths out of the orange and black it seems too busy to add the letters covered in scrapbook paper of different halloween patterns. Now if I still want to do the boo letters I could just take some or all of the orange out and make it just like the lady in the link did with the all black burlap. The thing that is keeping me from doing this is the fact that the burlap is MESSY and sheds tiny fibers that smell and seriously annoy you because they get all over you and we felt like we were breathing them all day. So it may just be what it is...Either way it is still cute.

It was nice to have Ben at church with me yesterday. Alli was much better behaved during sacrament. Sunday school was another thing though. Ben ended up having to take Alli out for the last little bit. We were discussing 2 Chronicles 29 when Hezekiah reopened, cleansed and restored the temple. So the focus of the class conversation was on the importance of temples and temple worship in our lives. The temple is such a wonderful refuge from the world. I think it's easy to forget how peaceful it is there when you haven't been in a while, and then when you're there you remember, oh yeah, this is what I've been needing and missing. There is so much turmoil in the world that the temple is a very important recharging zone for each and every one of us. Regular attendance is just what we need to give us the spiritual protection and rejuvenation that we need to face the trials of our day, or so at least Ben and I have come to realize. The conversation of the class followed this thought process for a while and these verses were brought up for reflection: D&C 109: (the dedicatory prayer offered at the Kirkland Temple)

22 And we ask thee, Holy Father, that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and that thy ^aname may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, and thine ^bangels have charge over them...

25 That no weapon ^aformed against them shall prosper; that he who diggeth a ^bpit for them shall fall into the same himself;

26 That no combination of wickedness shall have power to rise up and ^aprevail over thy people upon whom thy ^bname shall be put in this house;

27 And if any people shall rise against this people, that thine anger be kindled against them;

This is an additional reminder of the amazing power offered to those who attend the temple in worship...that angels will watch over you and no weapon formed against you shall prosper...who wouldn't want that amazing protection?

Emily then brought this point up...what keeps us from going more frequently? She suggested this: the temple has a fairly open schedule to be able to attend. We can pick the day and time that works in our schedule. So then she asks, what if regular church services were the same way and you could pick a day, any day, various times....would we attend church every week like we do now? We love church, we know it revitalizes us and helps us get through the week....could we find ourselves going a month or months without attending as we do with the temple...She suggested that maybe offering us open flexibility gives us too much leeway. So then she suggested we give ourselves a goal to achieve. Like the regular schedule of weekly church attendance on Sunday, she suggested we set a feasible goal that fits us each individually. So this got me thinking. Before Alli, it wasn't uncommon for Ben and I to attend as regularly as once a week. It was wonderful to be able to go that often. Since having Alli, we are LUCKY to get to go once every couple months. Between Ben's crazy two job schedule and feeling guilty asking for baby sitters, we haven't gone as much as we would like to. I want to set a goal for that to change though. I would love to set a goal to go as often as every two weeks and never go longer than a month between attending. I feel like this is a feasible goal for us. So now its a goal...time to get to it.

Today I'm thankful for:
1. goals...
2. a close temple
3. the hope that fall is coming soon!

Missed this one!

Ben and I got an opportunity to go to the Temple last night. Grandma and grandpa Smith came up to watch Alli. Not 15 minutes down the road, I get a text message from Marilyn, "Alli just walked by herself." Ben and I were like WHAT?? Earlier that day she had been doing this funny hopping thing while on her knees. She had one leg stuck out ready to stand and the other knee bent on the ground. She would throw her arms up in the air and hop. It was as if she was trying to propel herself into a stand. Well this is apparently what she did later that night and then took 4 steps! She did it twice before she went to bed. I hate that we missed it, but at least we missed it for an opportunity to go to the Temple. I tried today to get her to do it again. No such luck. While at the firehall Ben let her go to try to walk to me and she took two steps to me before giving up and trying to crawl. It won't be long now.

Seeking what knowledge you can

Church was good today, but Alli was wild! She did her normal routine of wake at 7am - put her back down at 7:45am so I could finish getting ready. She played in the crib until 8:10am when she fell asleep. I had to get her up at 8:35am to go to church....nuff said...no nap. That's ok, we make do. So we get to church and she is behaving like my good little girl....and then as soon as sacrament starts she is squirmy and wanting to crawl everywhere. If it wasn't sacrament, I would've said go for it. But instead I spent the majority of sacrament chasing her around or trying to confine her to our pew.

I know as a young mom that being able to get much out of church right now may not always happen. I know that my biggest responsibility is to my daughter and I am grateful for that responsibility. So even though I sometimes feel as though I get NOTHING out of church....I still trudge on and go because I get to take the sacrament and show God that I do want to learn even if I am a little distracted. :) So even though I had a huge distraction today without Ben's help to control this distraction....I did get something out of church yay!

The first two talks were on keeping the commandments and I didn't get to hear much from them but I am thankful for the reminder to follow the Lord and keep His commandments. I think the last talk focused on finding joy in life...not sure...too distracted. But what I did pull from his talk was improving how I can show gratitude. I think he was trying to say that by focusing on things we are grateful for, this can help us find joy in our lives. I really want to commit to discovering daily things I'm grateful for. So whether on this blog or in my journal, I'm going to try....try....to keep a regular record of the things that I am grateful for.

Sunday school....oh sunday school....Emily Halverson...I think I love you. No really, I love her lessons. She is always so prepared and so close to the spirit. She teaches with such conviction. Anyway, 1 Kings 19 and 2 Kings 5-6....again Alli was a bit of a distraction but I know the lesson was mostly about how to share the gospel. We talked about the example of the servant who said, "oh if only there was a prophet in the land, then the king would be healed of leprosy." How amazing her faith was....that even in the office of servitude she could think of her master and share her faith that she KNEW that if they could believe and call on the Lord, that the king would be healed...

And yet it was a side comment that really threw me today. Emily was explaining how she and her husband were brainstorming about what keeps us from being able to fulfill certain callings (so to speak) in life like sharing the gospel...and she and Jared came up with this thought: "If your calling feels to heavy to bear, maybe you are trying to do too much on your own." Wow. I needed to hear this. I am sometimes too much of a type A personality. Sometimes (don't lie Heather)...ok most the time...I feel I am better off to do things myself because then I know they will get done right (or at least the way I want them done). The main calling that sometimes weighs heavily on me is that of motherhood. Especially on those days when Alli is crazy or tired or just doesn't feel good for one reason or another....and all I want to do is sleep or have a little selfish me time, I feel so worn out and don't feel like I am able to get any motivation to get anything done. This has bothered me a lot lately...my fatigue has been extreme. I feel like a complete slug some days. I feel like these days outweigh the days I'm productive. I remember the days of working; I remember the days in high school when I had 4 hours of homework, band practice or softball practice, and I had been up since 4:30 for seminary but somehow I managed to do everything and be everywhere all at once. I needed this gentle reminder that I'm not required to go it alone. God is with me. He is there to lift me up and help carry my burden; whether that means give me the strength I need to get through a rough day with Alli, or help her rest well so I can rest or just help change the spirit in the home so that the burdens do seem like burdens at all.

So today I am thankful for:
1. My Heavenly Father and his gentle reminders that he is hear, he does hear and know us, and we are not alone.
2. A nice summer breeze...even if it has a sting of humidity....its still a breeze which is better than none at all.
3. A good long Sunday nap for Alli, so I have time to ponder on the things I've learned today.

My 2007 Mazda CX-7 Grand Touring

After being contacted by Paul about starting my new job, we knew we would eventually need to get a second vehicle. It would be pretty difficult (without help from our wonderful family) to make it work on one vehicle. So we set an ideal budget and decided to start looking around. We found some good options but nothing floored us. We grew to really like the Nissan Muranos. They are really good little cars. We had a horrible time finding something in our price range though that wasn't 100,000 miles. I also test drove a Dodge Nitro....believe it or not...I liked it. It had its own flaws and well...we decided against it. So we kept looking....and looking...and looking...to the point I was tired of looking. So I gave up on the idea for a bit, knowing we weren't in a hurry to get a vehicle just yet. I knew something would come around. Then yesterday Ben wanted to go get the new wheels and deals that was released. We looked through it and Ben found a Kia Soul and jokingly told me this was the car for me. I was pretty adamant against anything Kia. I looked at it later and said, you know...I kind of like how it looks. To me it looked like a bigger version of a mini cooper. It had extremely low miles for a 2010 and was $500 away from our budget, so we said hey lets go test drive it...So we did...wow...disappointment!! The car had no guts!!! It fought to go up the hills and turns around hickory hollow. Yeah no thanks. While at the dealership Ben saw the Mazda CX-7s on the lot and said they looked nice. I told him that I had seen some before when we first started looking but nothing in our price range so I kept looking. He wanted to look inside and then he test drove one. I think he was pretty sold on the vehicle after that. It drove much like the murano, had many of the same luxury features of the murano but for a newer car it cost much less. We thanked the salesman for his time and went home to do some more research. Not long after we got home, Ben found my car...It had been sitting at the BMW dealership off 100 Oaks for 7 weeks with no takers. This car was pristine. They had reduced the price $3000 trying to sale this car! We were in love with it before even taking it out on the road. I test drove it since I hadn't earlier....WOW...the turbo in this car is awesome. I'm going to have to watch it on interstates. Anyway, we love it, here it is. (Oh and thank you to all the family who has offered rides and support while we were at one vehicle and the offers to take me to work if we didn't get a vehicle before that. It was greatly appreciated and we love you all.)

The car has a look of luxury to us...without the price of it.

Eek # 9

Alli and I were sitting in the truck tonight waiting on Ben to come back (he was getting dinner from 5 Guys) and I realized that Alli looked like she had yet another tooth! Sure enough on the bottom right she is getting one of her big teeth in. This might explain some of the cranky sleeplessness lately....or not...but anyway we're excited because this means she'll soon be able to start chewing food so much better.

Well we've been hard at work lately painting the house. We've painted the spare bath upstairs a pretty green color. It looks very close to Alli's bedroom. This wasn't on purpose but it all works out. We painted it based off a color we liked from our bathroom towel set. Well when it was color matched...it didn't get matched close enough so it looks horrible with the towel set...but we still love the color and it goes well with the set of towels we had from the other bathroom....

So next we painted our master bath a really pretty serene blue color. I love it!!! I need to figure out what to do as far as towels...I'm thinking white and grey/silver....not sure. We'll paint the master next...Not looking forward to moving all our bedroom furniture for this...but it does give us an excuse to do a good deep cleaning...
Today we had painters come and paint our stair way. We knew we wouldn't be able to do that with the high ceilings. The painter was our neighbor down the street (Wall Painting - Scott Wall). They did an awesome job! They are probably going to also paint our downstairs rooms as well because they will be able to get it done so much quicker than we can with Alli bug running around. The color in the main living area and hallway is a pretty chesnut golden brown color. It's warm and inviting. We like it. Here is a picture I took with my phone when they finished. Excuse the bad lighting. Now that the paint is up, we think we are going to need to paint the hand rails white. The current stain on the handrails is going to clash something horrible with the chesnut.
I almost forgot there's more to update on. My former boss Paul contacted me this past week and said it's go time...which means, the job he's been promising me for 2 years has finally come to fruition. The only difference this time is that now I'm a full time mom and I don't want to job he and I initially discussed so when I quit 8 months ago, Paul asked me if I would be interested in part time day work running the MSLT studies. I said to check with me when they got all the kinks worked out and I'd let him know. I never thought it would really happen because they've been talking about it for 2 years and it was only just talk. Well they finally got everything worked out and they are putting a lab in Murfreesboro at the new hospital in an adjacent building. So Paul contacted me about 2 months ago and offered me the job. I said yes depending on pay. He said he'd get back to me. So this week he offered me a $2 pay raise from what I was making when I quit (which is pretty much what I was hoping for since I'm part time and won't be on their insurance, etc. etc.). So I said sounds good...let's go. So now I have to go back through all the ridiculous hospital orientation hiring process. I imagine the lab will be opening in the next month or so. Marilyn is looking forward to getting to watch Alli once if not twice a week...I'm looking forward to being able to help bring in an additional $1000 a month if not more. When we sold my car and worked off one vehicle this summer we were able to knock out SOOOOOO much debt. It was a true blessing and this part time job will help us kick out Ben's truck payments. We will probably have to get me a car soon after starting my job but we will see how long we can go without having to do this. Anyway...that's life as we know it. Fun times...

Is Silence a Bad Thing??!!??

Yes, if I walk into my garage and I hear nothing....it is a very bad thing. I walked into my garage this afternoon to get something out of the freezer for lunch and that's why I heard....silence. Normally we have a box fan running just to keep air circulating, and the freezer is also running....this afternoon, neither were running....I saw on the floor by the freezer a liquid had pooled slightly out in front of the freezer....ugh...not a good sign. I knew at that point that I had just lost a lot of money in food. Sometimes the outlets in our house will shut off if they get too much of a surge of electricity. It has happened a couple times to the outlet in the garage where the freezer is plugged in but we've always caught it in time to not have had to loose any food. Unfortunately, this time was different. Absolutely everything was thawed. Thankfully, it was all still very cold but not frozen enough to be able to refreeze the meat. So my day turned into a cooking day. I had to cook all of the meat I wanted to save so that I could then safely re-freeze it. So I cooked 12 chicken breasts....
and 3 pounds of hamburger meat.
yeah rahhh...
Unfortunately I did have to toss a bag of tilapia, bag of veal steak, steak, and pork chops. I just couldn't cook it all. I also had to throw away some meals in a bag (since there was so much water, strawberry juice, blood...etc in the bottom of the freezer)....

I'm so glad that it is all done and over with. We're going to have to keep an eye on that freezer...I don't want to have to go through that again.