extra, extra...read all about it.

team snyder is pictured above. from the left, from the left (-thanks beyonce') we have the jess-meister aka jesse, BIG R aka Roland, Momsy aka Denise, Melis aka Your Bloggin' Author today, A-DOG aka Aaronious aka Aaron, (first row now) Emmers aka Emily, Lizbert aka Lizzy, and Beck-AW aka Rebecca.

dear team,

So many things to talk about today. 1st off, I think we all agree, Aaron has done a fabulous job of keeping up the blog the last little bit while I've been on bloggin' vacation (for some odd reason). Aaron, you are the bomb. Favorite picture posted? Darling little Asian baby. Good work, dude.

2nd off, big thanks to the Snyder family. We had a KILLER time while they were here and I am sad that we're back to the "daily grind." Truly, it was so so so sososoosoooooo much fun while they were here. And we did so many fun things! We went to the outlets in San Marcos, hung out in Austin for a while, they went downtown while I was at work (bummer for me), went to Sea World, ate out WAY too much, and had WAY too much fun! Again, killer time. AND! I loved that EVERYONE in my family could come. It was really and truly wonderful. Thanks Team Snyder. Good times, good times. I'm just going to post these pictures. Enjoy.

lizzy loves the camera. literally. she's quite the poser. and mom, that is a funny face. :)


3rd off, (hey, i'll keep up this outline trend), I don't know if you realized this little tid bit, but I am finished with my 1st trimester! So, crazy, huh? Yep. Pretty nuts. What's even nuttier is that I am beginning to have a little bit of a gut. Apparently this baby is well over three inches now. Nuts! Another weird thing is that I have lost weight and haven't gained. But, all you denise's out there, don't stress. :) The doctor said it is okay and by this point it's not like you are supposed to be gaining lots of poundage. You like that last word, don't you? Yes.

4th off, yes, Michelle Martin Rasmussen, you guessed it. You were the only one. :) I am no longer teaching seminary. I am retired. Or another word that could have applied..."too-tired". Man, I gave it a good effort though. I thought after a few weeks that my body could adjust to the wee hours of 4 o'clock in the morning. I thought that my life could adjust to the few hour prep at the end of the day... let me tell you how each day went:

4:30 ish - Wake up.
5:20 - Leave to seminary
6:00 - Seminary starts
7:10ish - Go home
7:35 ish - Arrived home
eat and do whatever I had energy to do...this was my "get things done" time, laundry, dishes I hadn't done the night before, etc.
8:00 - sleep
8:45 - get ready, again, for work this time
9:15 go to work
6:35ish Leave work
7:00 p.m. Home from work
eat dinner, talk to aaron for a bit, prepare tomorrow's lesson.
8:30 - 9:00 p.m. In bed. Ready to start the drill the next morning.

Let's just say... life, wasn't very...hmmm...good? I loved the kids. Loved loved loved the kids. They were powerhouses! Such great kids. Loved the spiritual aspect of things, new knowledge and growth in the scriptures...but the whole "life" equation wasn't working. Oh, yeah, and remember how I was pregnant during all of that? Ahh...details like pregnancy. Love that.

So, is this me justifying stopping? Yes. Not that I need to, I felt like it was the right thing to stop, but alas, it was very sad. So, after about a month and a little bit, I am no longer a seminary teacher. I am just Melissa now. But, I am okay with that. Are you?

Okay, novel over for today. This is me, back for a minute. Hug. hug. kiss. kiss. to you all (except the stinky boys, no hugs and kisses for you).

It's nice to see you all again.