Answers

Everyone,

A while a go, I asked people if they had any questions for me. Here are a few of my answers.

Brandy asks: do you and Juice get much alone or "date night" time now that you have Butterfly?

Yes and no. Because we are sticklers about Butterfly's bedtime (7:30pm), we get a few hours after she is in bed to hang out. Lately, it's been mostly watching tv or Juice will play on the computer and I will read. We do try to get out without Butterfly on a date occasionally. I have a girl from my church who lives close and is happy to have the money. Mostly we either go to a movie so there has to be something we want to see in order to use her. We also swap sometimes with Vinny's parents (Butterfly's best friend). Mostly, those are temple trips (picture) but they don't happen much anymore since Vinny's mom is pregnant. It would be nice to have family around to help out watching Butterfly, but we do just fine with our church friends. I am just glad we have them otherwise I think I would go crazy!

Valinda asks: Besides marrying Juice what was the defining moment of your life? If you had picked the other choice what do you think your life would "look" like now?

There are a lot of moments in my life that I feel are defining. But I guess the one that changed me the most was going to college in Idaho. I feel like in Idaho, I finally solidified who I was going to be. And that person was fun but also serious and thoughtful. I basically got straight A's in college and gained an academic scholarship. I remember my first year in college I took a class about music and art for a general ed credit. The class had a 2 disk CD of music that we had to memorize the composers and time period, plus the names of all the songs. I listened to it while I slogged through French. I listened to it walking around campus. I listened to it going to bed at night. And when the final test came, I missed one question on an painting. I got a 98% in the class, and that was my first experience of the teacher telling me he had to fail someone because I did so well. Talk about guilt! But it happened in astronomy, zoology, an English class called cowboy literature, and my animal restraint class. The teacher of the music and art class (Vaughn was his first name...can't think of his last name!) told me to not be ashamed of my abilities but to really push myself to become greater at what I can do. And just because I can study and put in the effort, I should be rewarded, while the other person should have worked harder. I think really at that point I realized that I could do great things if I chose to and put in the effort. So I do.

More answers later!

Safire