So sorry.

I want to apologize to the five of you who read my blog. You've probably been thinking I'm a big slacker and I don't love you anymore, but I swear I do! I've got a lot on my plate at the moment and I'd love to tell you all about it, but I just can't at the moment.

Anyhoo, the hubs, Bubs and I are going to the lovely city of Santa Barbara tomorrow. Dill's grandma and aunt live there. It is seriously heaven on earth. I haven't been in over 3 years, so I am very excited. I'll have lots to talk about when I come back, I'm sure.

Ciao, bellas!

Potty training.

We've officially embarked on a potty training mission.

Day 1: So far, one accident, two successes (both #1).

I think I've lost my mind ...

Baseball.

Life is like a game of baseball.

Sometimes, you see the ball coming and have time to react. Maybe you catch it in your mitt (or throw your arms over your head and scream like a little girl -- that's what I'd like to do most of the time).

Sometimes, it hits you square in the head and you're thinking, "What the...?" and then you need an ambulance.

You can't always control what's thrown at you and you can never control how it comes, but you can control how you'll react after the pitch.

I choose to learn something from the unexpected baseballs in my life.

So this is what I have learned this week:

1) Sometimes, you can pray and pray and pray for something and think God is never going to give it to you. And just when you think He's forgotten about you, it happens. Lesson: Never give up on God.

2) An victim of abuse is likely to believe their abuser loves them more than their own family members do. Lesson: Love the victim any way. They will come around.

3) Some people react to being caught in the wrong by directing hatred towards a scapegoat. Lesson: If you're the scapegoat, don't respond.

4) Things don't always end up how you plan. Lesson: Don't set your plans in stone.

5) Sometimes, the dental hygienist forgets about you while you're in the chair. Lesson: Speak up, or sit there until the dentist happens to find you 45 minutes later.

Multivitamins.

This could very well be the secret to life...

Hey, all you people out there.

Do you ever feel like you are exhausted for no good reason? Do you have problems sleeping at night? Do you commonly feel like bodily excrement (aka poop)?

Then, maybe you should be taking a multivitamin.

I posted a while back about how I started working out regularly as part of my internship in motherhood. I am proud to say I am still doing it and still seeing (and feeling) positive results. So, the admonition still stands -- get off that chair and get movin'!

However, I recently started feeling pretty horrible during the day, even with exercise. I was too tired to get up in the mornings (even at a reasonable hour), was restless at night, and needed a nap during the day. I got lots of headaches and generally felt horrible. What the heck was wrong with me? I wasn't pregnant (don't worry; I took a few tests to confirm this), and I was pretty sure I didn't have a debilitating disease of some kind.

And then it hit me: I am not getting enough vitamins.

We eat relatively healthy around here. I always make it a point to serve fruits and vegetables throughout the day. We eat whole wheat bread and all that good stuff. We snack on carrots and cheese sticks instead of chips and crackers. We rarely have sweets.

But, even with a decent diet, my body wasn't being nourished properly. And boy, it was trying to tell me. Practically screaming at me, really. What to do?

I remembered when I was pregnant with Bubby, I wasn't very religious about taking my prenatal vitamins. In fact, I took them for the first 5 weeks and then stopped. A few months into the pregnancy, I developed an iron deficiency. So, I couldn't stand longer than 5 minutes without getting dizzy or blacking out. Not an exaggeration, sadly. If you knew me during that time, maybe you remember me passing out on a few occasions. It was not pretty.

A blood test confirmed I was, in fact, anemic (!). I felt so bad for letting it get that far. Anemia. My poor baby. All because I just didn't want to swallow that son-of-a-biscuit horse pill every day. How dumb was I?

My doctor recommended taking 2 Flinstones' vitamins (chewable!) and one slow-release iron pill every day. Amazingly, I felt better right away. No more passing out! No more exhaustion. No more dizziness. I could function again. Too bad I suffered nearly 30 weeks before realizing this.

Fast-forward about two years, and what do you have? A non-pregnant woman who feels much like a blob of jelly with a headache.

So, I went to the store and picked up some Flinstones. I've been taking them for about a week and you know what? I feel better again! I can wake up at a normal time and I don't need a nap during the day. Headaches stopped. I'm cured!

Flinstones are great because they are chewable (I think they taste rather like SweetTarts candy). No swallowing necessary, which is great if you have the World's Most Sensitive Gag Reflex like me. And they're not really that expensive.

If you want to be SuperMom (or SuperDad; I don't discriminate), start taking a multivitamin. You'll realize you can do so much more than before! You'll be happier. And you might start looking prettier too.

Do you know what today is?

Today is Tuesday. Which means absolutely nothing. I just thought I would inform you, in case it means something to YOU.

But I feel the need to update my blog for y 'all, my 10 readers. Since I'm sure you're dying to know how Utah went.

Utah was fine, surprisingly. Very humid (also surprising). Luckily, it did not rain on the happy couple's day. It was actually perfect.

The Happy Couple, in front of the Mount Timpanogos LDS Temple.

Ah, look how skinny and carefree they look. Don't worry, kids. Someday, you'll be fat and broke like the rest of us. C'est la vie.

I kid, I kid.

Ok, no I really don't kid.

The bride looked radiant and the groom ... looked like my twin brother. Actually, some people thought I was the bride's sister. Do you see the resemblance? Even her own father thought we looked alike. Except for the fact she's about 6 inches taller than me. Not kidding about that, either.

All in all, it was a lovely weekend. But, my wedding ring is still in Utah. Why, you ask? Because I took it to the jeweler from which it was purchased 3 1/2 years ago to have it cleaned, re-plated and tightened, and I wound up paying $60 to have the prongs re-tipped.

Am I gullible? Probably.

I shall be seeing my Precious in about a week. If it makes it through the mail, that is.

Sadly, I have no pictures of myself during the blessed occasion (or anyone else, for that matter). I should be getting some soon. I know you can't wait to see how fierce I looked.

In the meantime, I thought I would show you the current state of my no-poo pixie cut:

Still fab.

While in Utah, I (nervously) allowed my brother (yes, the groom) to trim the back of my head, and it actually turned out awesome. Go free haircuts! But, I think I'm going to have to get a real haircut soon. At least a trim.

I think I've been without 'poo for a little over a month now. I kind of lost track. I don't miss it a bit. I do the baking soda/vinegar wash once a week and wash with Suave Naturals Coconut every other day. And it's AWESOME. I've never felt so free in all my life. I hardly even need product now. My hair is naturally amazing. A little hairspray works great.

So, that's my life at the moment. Kind of boring, but could be spicing up in the near future ... More on that later.

Going back to Utah.

This time, for a wedding.

My own twin brother's wedding.

I have mixed feelings about Utah. I love the mountains. I love the foliage, the flowers, the trees. I love the unique "mom and pop" restaurants and boutiques. The abounding creativity. The friendly people. The simplicity.

I do not love the crappy freeways, the lack of proper zoning, the ditches alongside the sidewalks (what Utahns euphemistically refer to as "gutters"), the potholes, the scorching sun, and the eyesores which line the freeways.

And there's something about Utah -- Provo, more accurately -- that stirs up a great deal of anxiety in my soul.

Perhaps it's the all-too-fresh memory of ascending the treacherous hill to the Grant Building to take tests I was never fully prepared for (except for that music fundamentals test on which I scored a 96%). Or maybe it's the recollection of reporting to the newsroom at 7 a.m., dressed to the nines, when all was dark and quiet and other students snoozed away. Or maybe, it's the thought of walking on slick, icy sidewalks with a frozen face, surrounded by vast whiteness and a cold so thick I couldn't breathe.

Alas, BYU has its dark days for me. The darkest of which I like to call First Trimester From Hell.

I don't know about you folks, but I tend to closely associate my memories with my senses. Which means, whenever I walk into the Cougareat, I feel an uncanny urge to throw up.

Don't even ask me about the downstairs bathroom in the WILK (dry heaves).

And when I hear the music of a gamelan? I hearken back to the hours in World Music Studies, when I could barely lift my head off the desk for fear of wretching all over the classroom and its occupants. My stomach churns.

Keep in mind, I still had a job to do and classes to pass. All whilst my head was in a toilet.

My time in Utah was one of the most challenging periods of my life. College is hard enough without the added stress of pregnancy and motherhood. Throw those buggers in the mix, and you'll find yourself on your knees begging for mercy more often than not.

Granted, I willingly accepted the challenge. I chose that path of my own free will. But did I know what I was getting myself into? Never. I don't think anyone truly does. "What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to conceive."

But I digress. Most of what I see and experience in The Beehive State conjures up awful memories of pain, nausea, exhaustion, and more pain.

However, there are two sights in Provo which gladden my heart above all others (even those in Ari-ZION):

Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, where I gave life to the most beautiful child that exists, and...

The Provo Temple, where my soul often journeyed for respite and serenity.

While I will likely never live in Utah (mostly because I despise the snow), I cannot deny that it holds a special, unique place in my heart. The bad times, I'd like to forget. But part of me wonders if I'd appreciate where I am now if it had been easier.

And I don't think I would.

So off I go, to Salt Lake International, to partake of joyous wedding festivities and drink deeply of memories past.

Hopefully, I won't throw up.