Lillie & Lola

First things first, it is my niece Lillie's first birthday today! She is THE cutest little birthday girl. And she just learned how to walk yesterday (or the day before, but yesterday is when it counts because that's when C & I got to see it via video chat.) I love her. And we get to go see them in Denver in just 3 weeks!! Woo!

We had a fabulous Christmas break this year. I would share the details of it all, but I feel like I owe you a little bit of an explanation regarding the 6 week blogging hiatus.

(And, by the way, thanks to all of you who asked me if/when I was going to post again! I had no idea so many people actually cared enough to say something! Sure boosted the ol' ego, and in a second, you'll understand just how much I needed said boost.)

Let's start with the basics. I heard back from UVU about my dream job on Friday afternoon. They offered me the position during one of the best days of my life (more on that later.) I accepted. We then went to a concert in SLC, on the way home we learned of a huge storm scheduled to hit around 3am, so we left for AZ at midnight and tried to beat out the storm. We made it to Beaver, got a hotel, and stayed in front of the storm all the way down to Arizona.

The actual Arizona part of the trip gets its own post and will come soon. (Mostly because I can steal pictures and some story from my Sister-in-law's blog who did a fabulous job capturing the details. :) )

The explanation, though, of why I haven't had any time to post on here begins on the drive back home. We stayed in Queen Creek a couple extra days because we could. And because we saw no reason to jet back up to Utah. We left on Wednesday for Flagstaff. We were already on the road by the time we heard that the Department of Public Safety was advising people NOT to drive to Flagstaff. And thus, we spent 5 hours on the freeway and a stand still. We watched High School Musical 3 and had some really great conversation (You know you married the right guy when 5 hours STOPPED on the freeway goes by quick because you're laughing and talking and eating and singing.)

My parents wanted updates about how the drive was going. When we had stopped for a few hours, they called DPS and asked what was going on. Turns out they were taking small groups of cars and letting them follow a snow plow to get them into town. (It reminded me of the sneaky scene in 101 dalmations, the original animated one.) We just had to wait our turn. We also found out later that we were about 100 yards from the cut off of them forcing us to turn around and go back to Phoenix.

It was our turn to move, but our little 2 wheel drive car was stuck in the snow and sludge that had built up in those 5 hours. Solution, my gorgeous husband gets out of the car and pushes us, on the freeway, I drive and he hobbles up to the passenger side and does the awkward shuffle-jump into the car, so I don't have to stop moving. :)

We followed the snow plow for a while and tried to stay with it, but sure enough it was getting dark and I had to go slow. I am quite good at driving in the snow, and both our nerves were pretty calm. It was nice to have C there with me talking to me through the whole thing. It's funny how complimentary he gets when his life is completely in my hands.

"You're doing great, babe."

"You're doing so so so good."

"We're close, we're gonna make it. You're so good at this."

And then we hit a patch of ice and slid off the road. It wasn't too bad. We were just in a snow bank. We were also only a couple miles from Flagstaff. My first thought was, "Oh that could've been so much worse. I'll call my dad, they'll bring the truck and get us out of here. It'll all be ok."

And then we get rear-ended. Bad. I hit my head HARD on the head rest. Burst into tears and completely freaked C out. Although, looking back on it, I love when that protective instinct comes out in him. The first thing out of his mouth was, "Are you OK? What happened? Where did you hit your head? Is it bleeding?" etc. I love him.

No blood, just a big lump and I can only imagine it was bruised.

I didn't even think about the fact that our car could be wrecked. But sure enough, it wasn't driveable. The entire back end was crumpled up. The cop called a tow truck. Shortly after, my parents drove up. My dad and C started unloading the car. Our suitcase was smashed underneath the trunk that wouldn't open. Somehow, my brilliant father got our massive suitcase out. I still don't think it should've been possible. Just knowing the space it needed to go through. AND he got it turned 90 degrees while the rest of the trunk was full. Very impressive. My mom showed up with extra gloves, a blanket, and a plate of spaghetti with sausage. Parents are the best.



This was the last time we ever saw Lola. (Bless my mother for being awesome and stubborn enough to get out of the car and snap this picture amidst scoffs from the less-understanding males.)

A few hours later and we tried to sleep. Insurance and trying to find a car that could get us back home to Utah took up the next couple days. But, being stranded in Flagstaff wasn't too bad! We got to spend a few unexpected days with my family and even celebrate New Year's. I don't think I've ever been able to spend an entire day with my sister Alyssa and nothing to do but make cute headbands and silhouette projects.

So, overall, that wasn't too bad. Our car was totaled. The check should be coming in a bit. (This is also a bigger blessing than it originally appears. The new job is within walking distance from our house and we can live with 1 car for now, which means that entire check will go toward Operation: Baby Call) We borrowed my grandma's car to drive back to Utah.

Flash forward 10 days. I woke up, got ready for work, got in the car, drove the 4 minutes to work, and as I'm turning into the parking lot I broadside a car coming the other direction. In. My. Grandma's. Car.

2 car wrecks. 3 weeks. All bad.

Double the insurance.

Double the chiropractic visits. (We're still pretty messed up, but definitely getting better.)

Double the feeling of complete idiocy.

Double the deductibles.

It's all just awesome.

I really have no one to blame but myself. I can't believe that happened. But C was once again only worried about if I was OK. My Grandma demanded that I stop crying and told me I was way too precious to her for me to be crying over a car. My mother (who probably should have been angry with me) just reminded me that she, too, wrecked two cars in one month and therefore something like this is probably genetic. My Dad laughed at me and just said, "Kristin?! What's wrong with you?!" (He's stellar at timing. He actually got me to laugh with that question. 5 minutes before I don't think laughter would've happened.)  And I reminded myself that my older sister Lindsay once wrecked the family suburban into the family truck. She wrecked 2 cars within seconds! I at least spaced mine out by 10 days. :) (Thanks for making me feel better Linds!)

So there you have it.

At least for now. There are PLENTY of other things I should tell you. :)

P.s. For those of you who have been kind enough to pray and fast and send hopeful thoughts our way, thanks for keeping us in your prayers. I promise to update you as needed.