Dear Tanya,

We celebrated your birthday on Saturday.  You slept until 9:30 so we all got to sleep in.  For breakfast you enjoyed an egg and sausage "face" that "Nickle Pickle" made for you. We had a brief visit at the doctor's office to make sure you don't have TB. We don't want you infecting any kids you come around! Happy to report you are TB-free. All the Quinns called to say Happy Birthday. You felt special to have so many people care about you.

You got to go shopping and picked out a new outfit. It matches and everything! Angela had you over for a birthday barbeque dinner then everyone came over for games and cake.



You were SO excited for that cake!



Your favorite present was delivered as a surprise from Tom. You were so happy you started to cry, but you were also sad that Tom couldn't be there with you. It's so cute. You're always saying "Tom is my bestest friend."



You're getting bigger every day!  I need to start giving you more vegetable snacks.  It makes me happy, though, to see what a good eater you are. You aren't picky and eat everything I put in front of you.  You love grilled ham and cheese sandwiches and your eyes light up every time I let you have some Pepsi. You love to be in the kitchen and often say "when I grow up I want to have my own cooking show." I think your love of being on stage in front of big audiences also plays a part in that goal.

You are running now which is a recent development and I get so excited to see that you enjoy it.  You love to swim and get antsy to go to the pool each time the sun comes out.

I'm excited for this year ahead of you. I pledge to be better for you and will help you become your best self.

Love,
Tanya

The Call

Listen to the song I just added to my music playlist. It's the last song on the list. "The Call", performed by Regina Spector. It's the song from the latest "Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian." I really like it and I like the message.

I'm just going to leave it at that. You can ask me about how I feel about the message sometime. Here are the lyrics.

It started out as a feeling
Which then grew into a hope
Which then turned into a quiet thought
Which then turned into a quiet word

And then that word grew louder and louder
'Til it was a battle cry

I'll come back
When you call me
No need to say goodbye

Just because everything's changing
Doesn't mean it's never
Been this way before

All you can do is try to know
Who your friends are
As you head off to the war

Pick a star on the dark horizon
And follow the light

You'll come back
When it's over
No need to say good bye

Now we're back to the beginning
It's just a feeling and now one knows yet
But just because they can't feel it too
Doesn't mean that you have to forget

Let your memories grow stronger ans stronger
'Til they're before your eyes

You'll come back
When it's over
No need to say good bye

Hero For A Night

My brothers and I have another game tonight. I believe our record now stands at 5-2. Our win last week was the stuff of legends; you should have seen it. The other team was obviously the better, and after the first inning they were up 12 runs. Their bats were thunder-sticks and their mitts were a wall of inescapable vacuums. As you can imagine, we were quite intimidated, and all but defeated. But, just as we were about to abandon all hope, something in our defense switched on, and we were able to hold them to only three more runs the rest of the game as we continued to chip away at their gigantic lead. We sat at the bottom of the last inning 15-15 with one out. There was a man on first and third, and I was up to bat. With one out I only had to hit the ball deep enough for the man on third to tag up and make the run for home. This would seem like a very simple task to the average player, but seeing as how I stand just below average when compared to the rest of the league, I was a little skeptical as I stepped up to the plate. While standing there I became increasingly aware of the dumb things we yell from the dugout, things like "good eye" when the pitchers ball drops a foot short of the plate, and is obviously unhitable. But, we say these things to be supportive and to keep our mouths busy, not actually to congratulate our teammate for avoiding a truly crap pitch, that if swung at would bring endless ridicule.

I allowed this mindless banter to drift to the background as I focused on the pitcher. He was my enemy and I was determined to send him home contemplating quiting the game of softball forever. I didn't just want to beat him, but to crush him, humiliate him, and if possible, cause a marital rift that would tear his family apart, leading to a plunge in his work productivity, which would result in his dismissal, causing the loss of his home and friends, leaving him penniless and broken. I didn't know it then, but looking back I wanted all these things. In the end there was less drama than I would have hoped. I didn't wait for the full count, but took the very first pitch within reach. I swung with all my might, and despite separating many of the muscles in my back and pulling my groin, I sensed the ball connect with the bat in what I like to call "the sweet spot." It was magnificent. The ball sored out, out, out of the infield, landing just past the second baseman, in a place I like to call "the hole", a place where "easy outs" turn into singles, a place where mediocre ball player's dreams come true.
The crowd was uncontrollable (by crowd I mean the three supportive wives) as our man on third made an easy run home bringing the score to 16-15 and ending the game. The air was chill, the stars were out, and I glowed like a pregnant woman as I reveled in the taste of the first sports success of my life.

Sincerely,
Thomas

7 minutes in heaven? Try 2 days!

At Disneyland that is. It was by far the best Disneyland experience ever! I went with my sisters: Connie, Michelle and Nicole. Here are a few highlights, and a lot of pictures.

Within the first hour, we got on 4 rides. We then went on all the rides we could possibly want to multiple times, and even a few Nicole wanted, like Alice in Wonderland. I kid Nicole. I love Alice in Wonderland. The longest wait for a ride was 30 minutes.

The second day we went to Disney's California Adventure which is really fun. I didn't know anything about it going in, but loved it all.

Tower of Terror: You're in an "elevator" and you don't just drop; you go up and down and don't know which way you'll go next. It was great.

California Screamin': Normally on big roller coaster rides you slowly start up the first big hill. Not the case! They count down from 5, then SHOOT you across a speedway and up the first hill.

California Adventure is great for families. It's mainly shows and activities. There are Disney characters walking around everywhere. Some of my favorite activities:

Beast's library: you answer questions and Lumier tells you which Disney character you are most like. I am like Dot the Ant from "Bug's Life" and Mrs. Potts from "Beauty and the Beast."

Ursula's Grotto: you sing or act along with a scene from a Disney movie then it plays back with your voice over the original. I was in heaven.

Here are some pictures of our days. I threw in a picture of a "the happiest mullet on Earth."

The Happiest Place on Earth

Here it comes: cheeseball romantic details of my marriage that you may not care about. Guess what? I don't care! I can't help but declare from the blogging rooftops my intense love for my husband, Thomas Arthur Quinn. May 16Th will be our 5-year anniversary and sadly we will be apart. We're spending the summer down in California. That's right, we chose to move to Bakersfield during its peak hot season. We're crazy like that. That's just one more piece of evidence of Tom's love for me. He's willing to MELT all summer long just so I can be closer to my family. In any case, I have come down early to find a job while Tom finishes up some work in Heber.

We will be apart for over 3 weeks, which is the longest by far that we've been separated, and it's killing me. I'm only one week into it and contemplating jumping a train, changing my name to Bojangles, pasting my hair, or someone else's, to my cheeks, all in the hopes that I could safely arrive in Heber Utah just to see him before donning another disguise to return home. Why the disguise? I don't know; that's how crazy being apart is making me!

I'd like now to wander through the wooded glen of mushy feelings. You're welcome to join me. You're also welcome to skip this entire blog entry and go watch something on youtube. To each his own.

Tom loves Waterworld. I love Babes in Toyland. Tom came from a family of all boys, while I came from a predominately girl family. Tom loves Meatloaf. I love to eat meatloaf. Tom loves mountain biking. I never learned how to ride a bike. We are incompatible on so many levels, but I want to tell you how I feel about compatibility. We are not the same, because that would be boring. But we are compatible. We just fit together. We each bring a unique perspective to life. I know Tom has enlightened mine. He continues to teach me, help me discover more of who I am, and patiently helps me become the woman I want to be.

I always ask Tom, "why are you so good to me?" He replies each time, "because I love you." I always know he means it. It's not a competition, and he's not looking for anything in return. I pray every day to find ways to be good to him. He deserves the best, and I want to be my best for him.

Here's a list of great things Tom does, that I don't deserve, but I love:

1. When I say, "oh I'm so thirsty." and we're lying in bed and he was in bed before me, he'll get up and go get me a big glass of ice water, even though I'll inevitably only take 3 sips before falling asleep.
2. He loves me even after I eat eggs. Nothing further.
3. He cuddles with me all through the night.
4. He shops with me, which I don't make him do often.
5. He listens to me as I work things out audibly, even when I don't want an answer.
6. He supports me going back to school before he finishes.
7. He does the dishes. He loves to do dishes. It's crazy!
8. He sings me lullabies every time I ask him to, even though I'm 25.
9. We do tradsies; I rub his shoulders for 5 minutes and he rubs mine for 50.

Here's a list of things that just make me gaga for Tom:

1. His blue eyes.
2. He's so excited for Christmas that he gets up at 4:00 am and walks around the neighborhood, waiting for everyone else to wake up.
3. Whenever he performs: comedy, music, sports.
4. His Christopher Walkin impersonation.
5. His 100% home teaching record, not because it's a record, but because he has a love for and testimony of the work that makes it not work.
6. When he laughs at goofy things I say until he cries, not because they're witty, but because he loves me and I can see it.
7. His family. I met Tom's family two weeks into our dating and just fell in love with them, possibly before I fell in love with him.
8. He holds my hand, even when we're driving in the car.
9. He continues to dream and dream big!
10. His freckles, all of them.

I will be able to bare being away from Tom for our anniversary because I know that we can be together forever. I pray each day that I will live worthy of him. I could be doing the most exciting activity on earth, but without Tom, it's just not complete. I could be doing the most boring, mundane nothingness, but when Tom's there, it becomes the happiest place on Earth.


I love you baby.