calling all brides and grooms!!

wedding planning stresses??

check out some wedding planning tips here.

for all you veteran brides and grooms:
what tips would you add?
what helped you the most during the wedding planning stage?

tell me here!

the little terror

don’t let his cute chubbiness trick you into letting your guard down.

behind those big brown eyes, kissable cheeks and goofy grin is a monster waiting to lash out
pretty sure the terrible twos have come early around these parts.

screaming outbursts, biting, and being all around mischievous (while smiling that wicked grin like he knows he’s trouble) seems to be all we’re dealing with these days.

okay definitely not all we’re dealing with.

because on top of the E-monster’s recent crossover to the dark side, me and Adam still have plenty of school work work to stress about

and when i say we stress, i really mean i stress
(and yes i said school work. Adam’s in the Master’s program and i still have one more class til i’m officially done with school. and it’s proving a lot more time consuming than originally anticipated….)

did i mention he bites?
like full on, sinks-his-teeth-into-my-flesh, bites
anywhere he can get a good grip
legs, arms, shoulders, feet, chest.

yes, chest.

i’m pretty sure our neighbors are concerned when every 30 minutes i’m screaming “OW!!!!!!!!!” and then the little E-raptor starts crying.
and only stops crying if he can bite me again.

and it’s only me.
he’s perfectly nice to adam.

of course.

i’m a little scared for when he grows up to be perfectly honest.

can a one-year-old already show heightened signs of aggression?

i’m getting concerned….

 

:::p.s. doesn’t the E-vampire look incredibly fat and chubby in that picture?? even though that smile is all a facade, he’s still incredibly cute. the little trickster….

OCC

adam has become a big American Chopper: Senior vs. Junior fan

so like any fan, he was excited to see the premiere the dr. pepper commercial featuring paul sr. until he heard him say, “it’s go time.”

“that’s not his catchphrase!” adam complained.
“they should’ve had him say ‘i’m getting aggravated!!’”

in all seriousness.

i laughed so ridiculously hard.
i knew he was a fan but I didn’t know he was that big of one

but he really is.

[okay maybe i am a little too]
just in case anyone is also a fan, we’re cheering for paul jr.

is monogamy a thing of the past??

i saw this disturbing segment on the Today Show about a website that helps people cheat.
i have been totally disgusted ever since.

so i decided to put my disgust to good use and write a blog post about for the
Stronger Marriage Blog

check it out here

what is your view of it?
do think it has become more acceptable or less acceptable like the research says?
what are some ways you and your partner have avoided this?

let me know in the comments!

many thanks

i wanted to thank you all for your amazing support.  

i feel good about where this blog is going to take me
& 
i am excited to share my journey with all of you.

i don’t want want to make it sound like i think people should constantly share their personal trials and feelings with the world wide web.
and that is not necessarily what i want to do with this blog.
nor do i only want to post about my trials.

but i feel that if i am more honest with the things i struggle with i will be able to help not only myself but others who may be going through the same things.

i know there are many people out there that are probably having the same thoughts and feelings i have of insecurities and self-worth. and a lot of them, like me, are afraid to voice their feelings and instead feel very inadequate around others.

a lot of it comes from comparing myself to others but the other huge part comes from losing the confidence in my own abilities and forgetting who i truly am.

the song “Let the Rain” by Sara Bareilles (which i like to call “Bring the Rain” because if you know me at all, you know that that’s my favorite phrase since Transformers came out”) has lyrics that explained just how i have been  feeling towards this issue.

And I always felt it before
That the world was filled with much more
Than the drowning soul I've learned to be
I just need the rain to remind me

so i’m gonna bring the rain, people.

and i hope along the way i can help others who may be feeling the same way i feel and we can grow together.

i know it’s not going to happen overnight. and i know for a fact i am going to have good days and bad days. and the perfectionist in me will tell me that if i am having a bad day that means i am a failure and worthless.

but i’m going to try and kick those ideas that have led me to this place where i am now.
and find the joy that i know is inside of me.

 

p.s. do you like how the last post was eli crying and now he’s smiling?? see that contrasts?? i thought it was clever. he’s so cute when he’s not screaming :)

let’s cut the crap

i felt like i haven’t been completely honest with myself or you.

here’s the thing.

i like to blog. i like to read blogs. i like to see what everyone else is doing and how they are doing it. yet most of the time it’s entirely harmful to my self-esteem.

i read about people’s great experiences and wonderful attitudes on life and hilarious stories and think to myself, “why can’t i be like them?”

but then i tell myself, “self, you are being ridiculous! these people aren’t showing their honest feelings on their blogs. so don’t compare.”

yes i say that to myself but i never listen. i compare and judge and feel bad for myself and run off and mope. it really is a horrible cycle.

i wanted to change that blog persona of “let me show everyone how my life is so great and i never have any trials” and made a vow to myself and blogger.com that i would be a genuine, authentic blogger. i would talk about how i really feel, how life is hard, how life is great, how motherhood is rewarding and completely challenging, how most days i want to curl up in the back room and how i totally and completely love my family yet we have major flaws.

i was going to be completely honest. 

but recently i feel like i have broken that vow to pieces.

i have written posts about how things have been so dandy around here and how great it was to graduate and how i am free to be a mother, a wife, and a Daughter of God.

but the truth is, i really struggle sometimes remembering i am a Daughter of God and feeling good about myself in general. and although i may be free from homework, now i’m left to sit and wonder “what the heck am i doing with my life?!?!”

and i bet a lot of the people who read this do as well.

so i want to apologize for pretending, for being fake, and for trying to act like the perfect wife & mother that i know full-heartedly i’m not.

but i’m trying.

oh boy am i trying!

and that’s what i want this blog to be about.

i want to share the ups and the downs, the good and the bad, the happiness and the pain.

i want to be authentic and honest. and i hope to high heavens i never make readers feel inadequate like i have felt oh so many times. (i know it wasn’t intentional to make me feel this way.. but still.)

i titled my blog “and here’s to you, Mrs. Robinson” for a reason. besides the fact that that song was written for a movie about an adulterous woman…. i like the lyrics. this song has always seem to resonate with me even before i met adam. and it hit me even more when literally right after we got engaged it came on the radio. it was always meant to be i guess.

And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson
Jesus loves you more than you will know (Wo, wo, wo)

this is my journey.
this is my life.
this is what i want to share with all of you.

if you’ll let me.

my mom taught me pointing fingers is rude

we found out that Eli really doesn’t like to get pointed at.

we may seem like really horrible parents to make our kid cry, but it was too funny to resist

also i apologize for the horrible camera job. i was laughing so hard i was crying

my angel mothers

“All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother” 
–Abraham Lincoln

i have been trying to figure out how to put into words my feelings about the two most amazing women in my life.

and it has proved impossible.

but i will give it my best shot.

 

my own angel mother:

i cannot adequately express my appreciation towards her and all the things she has taught me. she has sacrificed so much for me and my siblings that i just get tears in my eyes thinking about it all.

as i was thinking about what i wanted to say about her on Mother’s Day, i kept reflecting over this post and how she called herself a “love child.” and that’s exactly how i feel.

my parents always tell me that i was kind of a miracle. my mom had a tumor in her uterus and had to have it removed. although it was not cancerous, the doctors told her that she needed to wait a while before she could have more kids, if she could have more kids. well my parents were too in love to follow orders i guess and soon after my mom became pregnant with me. but after i was born it became apparent that i was probably going to be their last child because of other complications.

i have thought about that a lot these last few days and what a sacrifice my mom made to bring me into the world. it couldn’t have been easy. but she has always showed me it was worth it.

that is just a small example of what my mother has sacrificed for me. not to mention time, energy, her own education, money, moving away from loved ones etc. but she has always taught me that with great sacrifice comes great blessings. even though i still have a hard time believing there is something better in store, i know i can look to my mom’s example and see that it will all be okay in the end.

and it will always be worth it.

my angel mother-in-law:

i will never be able to fully and eloquently express all the feelings i have toward my mother-in-law. (all good i swear!)

i have been thinking about how scared i was to have a mother-in-law when i first got married because of all the horrible stories you hear about in-laws. but i can stand here and tell you that i have never once felt that way toward my mother-in-law.

i have never felt more accepted and loved than by her. from the very first time i met her she has always made me feel welcome and that i was of great individual worth. it’s an amazing thing to meet someone who can make you feel of worth in all aspects of life. i hope everyone gets a chance to meet someone like that someday because it has truly changed my life.

with my parents moving to the Marshall Islands while i was pregnant with Eli, it was a really hard transition for me to not be able to pick up the phone and call my mom whenever i wanted or having a place to call home over the holidays. but i never felt lonely.

i was able to grow much closer to my in-laws and developed a deep connection with them. i was able to turn to them at the times where i felt like i really needed a mother and they were there for me. to me they are not just in-laws. i call them mom & dad just like i do my own parents. they are my family and always will be. to me its like i have my birth family and my adopted family, they are both very real and love me just as much.

 

happy mother’s day 
to my moms and all the other moms out there.

whether you bore children, raised them or have influenced them in any way, i celebrate you and all you do to help the rising generation.
you are all amazing women and i love you!

just the two of us...

After celebrating our 2nd wedding anniversary, I'm starting to feeling the "newlywed-ness" wearing off as we start piling on more responsibilities as parents and future careers. To fix it, I found about a great website to help reignite the spark. Read about it here!

Hoppy Easter!

in true Mrs. Robinson fashion, i am late in posting about another holiday.

eh, gotta stay true to myself i guess!

here’s what we did for Easter:

saturday night my little family dyed Easter eggs

 

and we made a special one just for the E-man’s first Easter

 

and one to celebrate our True Blue-ness and big graduation

 

we woke up to a big bucket of candy that the Easter Bunny left us. Eli had to share with us since he can’t really eat the treat yet. but he sure loved the plastic eggs!

 

 

sunday was really special because we got to spend it with Adam’s side of the family. it was so nice to have them come to church with us and play with Eli in the hall and stay home with him when he needed a nap so that we could attend all of the church meetings and actually listen. this hasn’t happened in like…. 12 months! ha. his whole life.
seriously what a difference it makes!

i also had the opportunity to sing Consider the Lilies in church with two other women. i hadn’t sung in my ward before so i was super nervous! i organized the group but then i totally second guessed myself and was freaking out a little bit before we had to sing. like freaking out to the point where i was emailing my group telling them i was going to ask someone else to sing my part. i’m glad i decided to stick with it though.  it turned out really beautiful and i was happy to be a part of it. thanks Whitney, Hannah and Camille! (if you even read this…)

HAPPY BELATED EASTER!
hope you guys had a wonderful holiday as well

fact: bears eat beets

and so does the E-man

   

like seriously loves them something fierce.

isn’t he the weirdest??

read all about it!

new Stronger Marriage Blog post

here.

what do you think?

will you take the questionnaire?

what did you learn?

brought to you by the letter U

adam showed me this when i came home from zumba the other day.

i basically peed my pants.

1, 2, 3, 4, tell me that you love me more

4 years ago, I met Adam for the first time
{and instantly clicked}

 

3 years ago, I had been dating Adam for almost 5 months and we thought we were saying goodbye for the summer
{and then we spent the summer together}

     

 

2 years ago, I made the best decision of my life and was sealed  to Adam
{for time and all eternity}

 

 

1 year ago, we welcomed a bouncing baby boy into our little family
{and felt our capacity to love grow tremendously}

 

and today, we are still as happy if not happier than we were when we knelt across the alter
and we count all the many blessings we have with each other

we are not without faults and everyday isn’t perfect
but because we choose to do all we can to show one another our love for them, we feel as though it is becoming perfect

and we still have {eternity} to do more, learn more and become more perfect with each other