What lies ahead

We officially bought our house today.

Wow!! I can't believe it.

I was so nervous and trembly during the first part of the closing. I almost cried. The former lady of the house, A, the original owner, her daughter and son-in-law were there too. They are incredibly nice people. A wants to visit in the fall to see her garden again. I'm looking forward to learning more about what she has planted. I can't believe she designed and built the home and then lived there for 30 years. Wow, 30 years is a long time. I hope to live there even longer.

She told us 2 dogs are buried in the garden plot. Hum, I may plant our garden elsewhere. She wanted us to know so we wouldn't think we were digging up her late husbands body. Ha ha ha, what a character. AND, she told me to get O a dog. Boy am I glad O wasn't there to hear that. The last thing I need is someone else planting that bug in her ear. She's convinced she's getting a dog anyway. (Truthfully, my heart has softened to the idea over the years. Don't pass out mum)

After the closing, we went to the house. I arrived before LT and I breathed in the scent of my new home. Then gagged and coughed because it REALLY needs some cleaning. It's pretty stale, but I don't care. It's a beautiful place and we love so very much about it. It was nice to have a solitary moment to appreciate the feeling there.

I feel an incredible amount of peace and contentment. I wonder if that is left over from the others that loved living there or if it is my own. Either way, it is mine to plant and sow. I look forward to O playing in the dirt, harassing the goats, gathering the chickens eggs, dancing in her ballroom, doing homework, learning the law of the harvest, camping outside and on and on.

I will be posting more pictures soon. I'm excited to, over time, turn the potential we see into reality.

What a way to start the day.

O came into my room this morning, stark naked. She'd had an accident in her bed. So, I pulled off the sheets and took them downstairs to the laundry. The house was going to be shown this morning so while I was downstairs, I decided to vacuum. Before long, I heard vacuuming upstairs. "Aw, what a sweet girl, she is helping out". I came upstairs to find my sweet girl going to town with the vacuum, buck naked. I laughed and laughed and told her thank you for helping and then asked her to get dressed once she was done.

Before long I heard water running in the kitchen and O was yelling for me to help her. So, I went downstairs to the kitchen to help her and there she was, standing on a stool, in front of the sink trying to do the dishes, still naked as can be. Whatever, she was helping out, so we did the dishes with her naked.

We had family pictures taken today. I can assure you, O was fully clothed.

Here I go

I'm irritable and bothered. I seriously misplaced my patience earlier on this week and have yet to find it again. I think I've used up all of my reserves too. 

I'm bothered by the news articles I've been reading about this upcoming election. This year I made a point of following the Republican candidates.  I'm not republican but I want to know who my options may be. 

I faithfully watched the debates and thought about the topics discussed. I never liked Cain, or Bachman. Huntsman didn't have a chance. I thought about Newt for a while, but the more I learned about his history and paid attention to his words, I decided he was off the list. The only thing I liked about Santorum was he believes a healthy family unit is what will help our nation stay great. I liked most of his comments about social issues. 

I REALLY liked Ron Paul. He seems like, out of all of the guys out there, the least corruptible. I really, really liked a lot of what he had to say. But, I didn't like his policy on drugs and some of his policies on National Defense. AND, I'm not sure he'd be successful negotiating with both sides of the aisle. I'm off and on about Mitt. I worry that he is going to ignore environmental concerns to appease big oil. I think there are many, many positives about him. He really does know how to runs stuff. I was living in SLC when the Olympic games were tagged as being in debt and unaffordable. He came along and managed the games without debt. 

Speaking of debt, Ron Paul and Mitt Romney are the only guys running their campaigns without debt. HELLO AMERICA!!  I'm NOT impressed with Obama, at all. He keeps trying to fix things by spending money. 

Also, why is it one candidate can "evolve" and it's okay, while another candidate is labeled a "flip flopper"? Which technically, he never did. He never "flopped" back. Seriously, words.

I'm starting to get even more bothered, so I'm stopping this and moving on.

So, O graduated from her preschool this past Friday. The program was, of course, cute. 

Here is the class of 2025!!

I really don't know what she's doing here, but she looks thoughtful.

This is how she posed for LT. 

AND, this is also why she will likely have ankle, knee and hip problems later in life. 

What a goofball. 

Here she is with her Rockstar preschool teachers. She loves them and so do I. I'm nervous for Kindergarten next year and she thrilled.

Scars on 45

These guys have a great sound. They kind of remind me of Coldplay, but better. They have a lot more going on with their instruments and vocals. I really really enjoyed their set. I've been listening to their album non stop since the concert and that was 2 weeks ago.

Ingrid. 

I heart her. She was so much fun to be with. 

I would love to see her again.

These guys were at the merch table so I grabbed them for a pic.

If all goes well, we will be closing on our house next week. I'm not quite sure it's real yet. I feel good, but pretty mellow about it too. We have a lot of cleaning to do before I will allow ANYTHING into the house. I'm kind of a control freak about bugs in the house. ha ha ha... I'm excited to get out of limbo land. I'm going to be busy cleaning, moving, updating addresses and accounts, and preparing for girls camp all at the same time. At least, I get to finish up June with a week at Girls Camp. It is stressful there, but it is also totally worth every ounce of preparation and stress. I'm really going to miss my girls when I move. They are a handful, but they've endeared themselves to me in their own little way.

On The Nightstand.
Now that my television shows are over for a season, I've spent more time reading. Funny how that happens. I was at the library and picked up two books at random, they are;


The Mostly  True Story of Jack By Kelly Barnhill
It's young adult fiction and I really enjoyed it. It was fun to step away from of the other books I'm reading and escape into a land of magic and mystery.

The Clockwork Universe, Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, and the Birth of the Modern World  By Edward Dolnick
Well, it's interesting and it provides bits of science trivia I can share with LT. So far I've learned about the Greeks understanding of gravity before Isaac Newton explained it.

Backyard Homesteading , A Back-to-Basics Guide to Self-Sufficiency  by David Toht.
I reserved this book and I RELLY like it. In fact, I'd like to buy it so I don't have to keep renewing it from the library. I first checked it out to read about raising goats but there is so much more in there I just want to own it and use it as a reference book as we progress with our land. We are starting with goats to help clear the land. I will prepare a plot of land for gardening this fall and then in the spring we will look at at the possibility of raising chickens, for eggs and meat. And I think, eventually, I'd like to try beekeeping.  Have I mentioned before how excited I am to move to our new place?

Women of Character, Profiles of 100 Prominent LDS Women" by Susan Easton Black and Mary Jane Woodger.
I bought this book because it was on sale and I thought it would be interesting to learn a little bit about LDS women past and present. One thing that is evident in this book is that UT was way ahead of the times when it came to women suffrage and women in politics. I grin a little when I think about all of the haters saying mormons see women as second class citizens. Whatever. Take that haters.

Mother Dearest

My mum is awesome. 

She always complains about any recent picture I post, so I'm posting some oldies. 

I can say for many, many years, I severely under appreciated her. Now that I am older and a tad bit more mature AND a mother, I can really appreciate who she is and how much she loves me. This mothers day, I hope she knows that I love her dearly. Thank you Mum for being the wonderful, generous you that you are.

Pamela Read Murphy

A flower in the teeth and a bottle of milk. 

Ya, I don't know what she's doing either.

SEA WORLD SAN DIEGO

I had to post this picture because our hats are so awesome. 

Plus, my shorts are scandalous!!

Hammy Pammy

Pam-Pam

Nursey Nurse

Pam-a-licious

I'm not sure, but I think that is her childhood pet pig, Hamlet. 

She always spoke fondly of him.

Pensive Pamerson

11 on the 11th.

Happy Anniversary to us!!

We went out to dinner with O tonight to celebrate, and she was really put out that I wanted to sit next to Daddy. The nerve!! We shared memories of our wedding day and laughed. We've experienced a lot in 11 years and it has certainly changed us. And changed us for the better. Here are some of the pictures from our "I Do" day 11 years ago. They are blurry and cheesy, and I love them.


Leightons hair was so long back then. I can't remember the last time he had hair long enough to "flip". We were so stinkin' young.

I love that we chose to get married at the Jordan River temple instead of the Salt Lake one. EVERYBODY gets married at the SL temple, and I'm just not the type of person to do what EVERYONE else likes to do. I'm so glad we went where we went. I was the only bride there that day. No assembly line, no comparing brides and dresses and wedding parties. Just us.

I love that my wedding dress wasn't the typical wedding dress. I love that I didn't have to go shopping for it. I love that it had a flowy skirt. I love that it was comfortable and pretty, uncommon, and one of a kind. (Funny thing about that statement. When we moved into our home in Midvale, our next door neighbor, who is an amazing woman, gave us special names. She was battling cancer and I'm not quite clear on how it all worked, but we became part of her tribe. She named me "One of a Kind" and LT was "Go My Son". She said my name was a very special one and the male "One of a Kind" was her brother. I felt very appreciated for being my own self. )

My parents. I like my smile in this one, so I had to use it.

I love that I arm wrestled with my bff on the lawn at the temple while wearing my super cool wedding dress.

This is the spot where LT proposed to me. It is a really beautiful place, it's too bad you can't tell from the picture. Neither of us knew what we were getting in to.

This and That

I had a little freak out session earlier this week about buying our house. Are we really ready to buy? Do we know what we are doing? Am I ready to give up my kitchen?

This weekend, LT is taking a SANS course and I am going on the High Adventure trip for our Stake YW. Woot.

I ate 4 donuts yesterday and I feel fine.

I LOVE my green smoothies. I've decided Kale is my green of choice. It's more affordable than spinach and it is better for me. I've noticed that as long as I drink my smoothies everyday, my sugar cravings kind of go away. There is hope for an addict like me.

I went to a Kina Grannis concert. It was awesome. I love being tall because I could see over everyone. Then again, most of the people in the front were short. I didn't really get there early, but I ended up with only 3, very short, people in front of me. I got some great pictures and okay video. I want to see her again. She chatted a lot with the audience. I love that, it makes the concert experience so much more enjoyable.

I'm going to see Ingrid Michaelson in a few weeks.

I really want to see Matt Nathanson. Most of his shows here have been on Sunday. Grr

I cut my hair short. I like it. I'm sending a braid to a friend on her mission. It should make her laugh. She always told me how much she loved my hair and now she can have some. I even made her a hair clip with my hair glued onto it. ha ha ha. I crack myself up.

We've reserved 2 goats. We will pick them up in June. O wants to name one of them Tommy. Okay.

O's pre school held their annual art auction last night. It's a fundraiser where the kids have their artwork on display for their parents to buy. Yep, I have to buy my daughters work. Last year O valued her piece at $50,000. This year the price was a little more complicated. It was something like. "8 dimes and 20 dollars. You have to use 2 dollars to make the 8 dimes and 20 dollars." I love that kid.

Yesterday O called my dad, just because. SHE wanted to talk on the phone. Anytime I picked it up to talk to him she told me I was interrupting her. Okay.

O is still obsessed with "The Phantom of the Opera". I gave the "Highlights" CD and she plays it nonstop. She likes to go for the high notes. It's pretty impressive.

Our 11th anniversary is this Friday. 11th on the 11th. Woot. I want to go on a date on Saturday. Because I want to go to a girls night on Friday, is that bad?

One of my friends confided in me that she was so tired, one morning she tried to shave her armpits with her toothpaste. In her defense, her toothpaste is in a pump like her saving cream, and her baby isn't sleeping through the night, but even so, that is just funny. I laugh imagining the slight tingle all day.

I bought a Kirby vacuum for only $200. I'm so excited because I totally scored on the deal. They are ridiculously expensive new. The only thing that needs to be fixed, is, it smells like dirty socks when it runs. I've taken it apart and cleaned just about ever nook and cranny. I think I'm going to go to the Kirby store and just get a new bag. BUT, even with replacing the bag, you can't beat that deal. I'm excited to suck all of the crap out of the basement carpet in our new house and shampoo it too.

One of my friends went to the temple to receive her endowment this week. I took care of her little dude while she was there. She dropped him off while O was at school. He was really reserved and quiet with me, but once O came into the picture he was way more excited. On our drive home from pre school, I told O my goal with E was to get him to laugh and to get him to babble. I'd tried tickling him, but it hadn't worked. So, she reached over in the car and tickled him. He laughed and laughed. It made me happy to see her so happy to get him to laugh. I have some cute video of them playing in our fort.

We have started boxing things in the house so that means O has been playing with our boxes. We read a book from the library called, "Not a Box". O's imagination has been running wild. Well, it always runs wild, so it has been in overdrive. We used 2 large wardrobe boxes to make a fort. I think later on today or sometime this weekend we'll add 2 more boxes and take over the entire living room. Why not, huh? She's having a blast, AND she can color on the walls and it's no big deal.

After I returned from TX, I left the very next day for a fun weekend in Harrisburg, PA. I went to Time Out for Women. It's the third time I've been to one and they never disappoint. This time I went with some friends from my ward, L and her two daughters V and R. We had a really good time. At one point on the drive there, L, who was driving, was laughing so hard she had to wipe tears away. It was a sign of things to come. Several times I had to wipe tears because I was laughing so hard. The presenters were great, the messages were great, and the company was great. It was an overall perfect way to end a thoughtful and exhausting week.

I recently finished "Heaven is Here" by Stephanie Nielson. I've heard bits and pieces of her story over the years. It was nice to read about her entire experience. I liked that she was real about her experiences with being burned, recovery, her depression, her stubbornness and her desires for her family. I cried a few times while reading it.

Here is one of our little guys. He is only 2 days old in this picture.

The one that is the boy is ours. Ya, I don't know which one it is.

 Me and the R girls at Time Out for Women.

Kina Grannis

Serious Kina

Kina Grannis

Happy Kina