Winter Is Coming

I have mixed feelings this time of year. I love football, I love Halloween, I love the State Fair (mostly cause I feel better about myself after going), but man I hate knowing that summer is coming to an end. I don't like back to school time either. My daughters are super excited to be going to preschool again, and all I can think is "You'll learn soon enough". It's not that I don't like learning. I love to learn. I dig finding out about new things. I just don't give a crap about algebra. I've been out of high school for 20 years, and never once have I thought "Man, I just wish I knew how to figure out what A is".
There were also a lot of books we had to read that were classics, but really weren't. The Good Earth is an example. What a waste of a book. I love to read books, I read most days (I listen to them on Audible. Yes, that counts as reading). It's not that I hated school. OK, I hated middle school. I went to Union Middle and I shudder each time I see it. I loved high school though. I went to Hillcrest. I loved it mostly because I was really involved in a lot of things, and I tolerated the actual school work I had to do.
I do like the fall, I just wish winter didn't come after it. If we could skip fall straight to spring, I'd probably really dig it. I just really don't like winter. That's what this rant is all about. Salt Lake in January is a horrible place. This year we will be in Disneyland at the end of January, so I'm pretty stoked about that. It will be Mirinda's second time and Priya's first time. We've been watching walking tours of Disneyland on youtube. That sounds weird, but there is something so soothing about watching someone walk through the park and hearing the music, and pointing out to my girls the different places in the park. I'm not a huge fan of Disney movies, but I do love Disneyland. The girls are way excited to go. We're also going to Universal, mostly for me. I may or may not buy the girls quidditch robes. And of course everything needs to be Gryffindor, because we're a Gryffindor family.
I'm glad my girls are excited to go back to school, and I really try to not take away from their excitement. They should be excited to go and learn things, and I really do want them to learn as much as they can. I think I just dig being out of school because now I can learn about things I want to learn about, not things that I have to learn about.
We've started the moving process. It's not too bad. We had to downsize a lot to move into the apartment. On Monday we started to pack, and I could tell Priya was having a difficult time with it. She was really clingy, and wanted to be held. I couldn't figure out why she was acting that way, until I put myself in her shoes. Many times with adopted kids there's a fear that their caregiver is going to go away, because it happens so often. Mirinda had some major separation anxiety, and still does at times. I picked Priya up, and explained to her that Mommy, Daddy, Mirinda, and Priya were all going to move to a new place, and we'd all be there together. I asked her if she wanted to see her new room, and she was excited about it. It did help the situation. Both of these girls just amaze me. They have had such a hard start to their lives, but you'd never know it. They're happy to be here, and love being with each other.
I get the statement a lot that we're strong to have adopted them or whatever. It is truly the opposite. The choice of adopting these two was a purely selfish decision. We wanted children so badly, tried to have one and lost him, and then decided to adopt. These two girls have brought so much joy to our life I can't quite comprehend it. I guess in the end it was the good kind of selfish decision, but we're the ones that are blessed to have them, not the other way around.
Some of you were curious, we are moving to South Jordan. Amy's parents are going on a mission and we're moving into their basement. It's hard to leave the area we currently live in. We've lived here for nearly 13 years. We love the area, we love the ward, and we love the friends we've made here, but it's a new adventure. Incidentally, we have a leather love seat, tan. If you want it, come and get it. Just don't break in please.
My recommendation for this week is Brigham City peaches. If you've never gone up there to buy peaches, you should. It's an hour drive, and you can go to Maddox while you're up there. Go to Paul's Patch, and get some Elberta peaches. They're absolutely amazing. Buy a box of them, and freeze or can them. This time of year is amazing for local produce. Don't miss out, cause soon enough it will be cold and all that's available are root vegetables.
As always, thanks for reading! And let me know if you want the love seat!