Single, Double...now Triple?!

Yesterday I did four loads of laundry.  In one day.  Four loads!  I think that is the most loads I have done in one week in months.  Let me explain...

When I was single and lived in an apartment with five other girls, I had enough clothes to where I only had to do laundry once a month.  And when I did laundry, I would usually only do two loads - one that had my jeans and other clothes in it and the other with my sheets and pillowcases and towels or other things like that.  The washer and dryer were coin-operated and a little pricey where I lived ($1.50 a load for the washer and $1.25 a load for the dryer).  However, since I was only doing laundry once a month, I could get by with only using a roll of quarters once a month.  $10.00...no big deal.  Now, though, the laundry has doubled since I got married...

Jayze and I have been married for almost a year, and not only has the laundry doubled, but the food and cleaning have doubled too.  Now I do at least two loads of laundry a week (okay, maybe it's more than doubled).  I make twice as much food for dinner than I did when I was single, and I do twice as many dishes afterwards too.  It was a little hard to get used to at first, but now it's like second-nature.  But yesterday when I was doing laundry, it hit me.  Once the baby comes, the laundry load is going to triple!  I'll have to wash baby clothes, burp cloths, my clothes more often (because of all the spit-up that is sure to make its way to my shirt and jeans), and who knows what else.  Good thing that baby is going to be cute.  But now I'll get off my little rant and just say...

I am thankful I have a washer and dryer.  Granted, it's not located in my apartment (it's downstairs in the other couple's apartment), but it's not coin-operated.  I don't have to use quarters anymore, and it's absolutely wonderful!  I also don't have to lug two loads of laundry down the stairs, while juggling the laundry soap on top of it all, walk across to the other building, and use the laundry facility there (like I did in our other apartment).  All I have to do is walk downstairs now.  And since I'm pregnant, and it's harder to drag all that laundry down and up and down again, my husband is a sport and helps me out.

There are so many people in other countries who have to wash their clothes by hand and then wait all day for it to dry.  And it's not just single people, but mom's who have more than one child.  Practically their whole day is devoted to laundry just because it takes such hard work and effort.  So what am I complaining about?  I'm going to get a cute little baby that, yes, is going to spit-up, throw up, and poop like crazy (and probably all over my husband and me), but that's okay because sometimes it's the simple things in life I need to be more grateful for.  My baby is more important than all that cleaning up.  My husband is more important than all that cleaning up.  And it's not about the laundry but about the love and service behind it all.  I'm way happy that I can hang up and fold my husband's clothes, and most of the time he'll help out, and we can talk while we fold and hang the clothes.  It's all about time.  And I'm just grateful I have a husband who does help me out.  It's wayyyyyyy better than being single and just doing my own laundry. 

So, all in all, whether or not the laundry is going to triple (and the clean up and food) when we have our baby, and quadruple and so on as more kids come, I'm glad that my husband and I have clothes to wash and dry, and that our baby will too.  Family is SO worth it. 

English Tidbit:  Since working on campus, I take just as long formatting the things I write as I do actually writing.  But...I have found that as tedious as formatting is, I absolutely love it!  It's like having milk with a gooey, moist brownie - soooo much better!  :)

Sometimes we pretend there's a beach close to Rexburg / aka Rigby Lake

Some of Jayze's family came up last weekend, and his sister, NaElle, had the idea we should all go to Rigby Lake.  Jayze and I went with NaElle and her husband, Cody, and their cute little toddler, Crue to Rigby Lake on July 4, and it was so much fun!  I had no idea Rigby Lake even existed, so I was really excited to go back.  It's really laid back, and even though it was really crowded on July 4, it didn't seem crowded.  There was still plenty of room to do your own thing and not feel like you were in someone else's bubble the whole time. 

 Our first time at Rigby Lake on July 4.  You can tell my husband LOVES to take pictures.  I think he was upset I stole his hat.  :)

The sand felt soooooo good!  It felt like a sandy beach - not at all like any lake I've been to.  I'm used to more wood-like lakes.  And even though the water was cold at first, it felt amazing once you got used to it.  Like my cute pregnant belly sticking out?  Baby Flake is getting so big!

The second time we went (when more of Jayze's family was up in Rexburg), it was windy and the water was colder, but it was still so relaxing and great to be in the water.  I swear, I am a water-addict.  I just wish I was a better swimmer...but that's another story.  I'm just glad I could bob around on one of the tubes Jayze's dad, Shon, brought with them.

It's a good thing I love the water too, because Jayze had the great idea (insert sarcasm here) to pick me up, confidently stride across the beach-like sand (even amongst all my protests and struggles - I find it's harder to struggle when you're 30 weeks pregnant), and dump me in the freezing water.  Okay, to be fair, he didn't actually drop me in, but he did dump me all the way under and then brought me back up.  I came out sputtering and coughing and squealing for him to let me down.  Bah.  At least he got wet too.  :)

 Round two for pictures (before he dumped me in the water):

 Don't mind our super white skin and weird tan lines...we live in Rexburg!  'nough said...

 After almost one year of marriage, still really happy!  And dang, my hubby is so cute!  What a hunk.

And for the grand finale....................................

Katie, you asked for it.  ;) 

Oh, the Irony

Last night I excitedly told my husband, "You should read my blog!"  So he, being the diligent and caring person that he is, read my blog.  And guess what?  Right after I gave my little "English tidbit", he found an error.  Oh, the irony!  That's what I get for complaining about someone's error in a newspaper article and feeling all self-righteous because I caught it and know that it's "always good to have another set of eyes look over a document."  Well, this should teach me to make my husband read over my blog posts before I publish them.  But the lazy side of me probably won't get around to it...

Enough Apologies and the Latest from the Flake Fam

So the other day I was thinking about blogs and how I started this one...almost six months ago.  Six months!  Wow, it's like my journal.  Practically every journal entry I have starts with, "I can't believe how long it's been since I have written in here!  So much has happened, so I'll just summarize since I can't write a month's worth of life in a single entry..."  Welp, I've decided, enough apologies!  Enough sorry's and feeling guilty!  I am a student at BYU-Idaho, and we have a devotional every Tuesday.  A quote from today's was, "The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago.  The next best time is today." (Elder W. Douglas Shumway)  So true!  So, I'm starting today and following President Spencer W. Kimball's philosophy by just doing it.  

 This post may be a little rough, but with practice, hopefully my posts will go a little smoother.  :)

My husband, Jayze, and I have been EXTREMELY busy lately.  But, what's new?  I think life is just going to get busier and busier, and it's best to just cherish each moment.  In just a few weeks we have:

•  Sold our old contract. 
• Packed our entire apartment up.
• Cleaned our old apartment, and I mean the ENTIRE thing.  It was white glove, and we wanted our deposit back, so we spent pretty much all of a Tuesday cleaning.  Baseboards, walls, the stove, behind the oven, inside the oven, above the stove, outside the stove (you get the idea - that stove was a mess), carpet, tile, inside and outside the kitchen cupboards, windowsill, windows, above the doors, the actual doors, the light switches, doorknobs....need I go on?  It would be a lot longer list.
• Moved out of our cute little one-bedroom apartment and into a big, spacious two-bedroom one.  Thank you to our ward and Jayze's sister and brother-in-law!
• Unpacked everything.
• Decorated our new place.  (It's so homey, I love it)

And all this while working and going to school and church callings.  And being pregnant.  But we are now in our new apartment!  I call that a success. 

I'm thinking the format of this blog might change.  I have a few ideas, but we'll see.  For now, I'll go ahead and share an English tidbit in honor of the current title of this blog.

As I said earlier, I'm a student at BYU-Idaho, and we have a newspaper called the Scroll.  I brought a copy home to read, and I noticed in the news section, "Action on key federal mine safety and health rules are is lagging..."

Hmmm, someone couldn't decide between are and is, so why not use both?  Saying I are is in a sentence might make people pay more attention, but still.  Even though I don't very much experience editing, I have learned that having another pair of eyes read a document is always good. 

My super cute husband and me at the campus gardens.  His mom was sweet and took this picture for us.  This is where he proposed to me over a year ago!  What a handsome man - I'm so lucky.