Texas Rangers

Moneyball the movie.. Have you seen it?

Hubs and I watched it over the weekend and it got us so stinkin excited for baseball season! We're big Texas Rangers fans and go to games every year. Last week we got the opportunity to meet some of the players from our favorite team! It was so cool! And they are such nice, sweet guys... and a little flirty.. And very tall. Ha!

It was so exciting! And now I'm very antsy for this season to start so I can go support Derrik Holland my Texas Rangers :)

a walk down memory lane

Since my parents sold their home, naturally I had to bring all of my childhood things back to Texas with me. As I was going through all my things getting rid of things and deciding where to put everything I came across an old diary. The only diary I've ever kept until I started blogging :)

Let me tell you it is hilarious and definitely something I'll keep forever!

hahaha

First off, you should know that my hubby (Dave aka David in the entries) and I have known each other since we were 10. We went to school together and "dated" in middle school (if you can call that dating).

Even though I know this will be extremely embarrassing I've decided to share some of my journal entries. You lucky ducks! :)

Note: this diary was kept between the years of 1997-2000. Which put me in fourth grade through eighth grade? I think..

The diary.. Yes it says "Stay out, says Taz" on it.. Don't judge!!

October 31, 1998

Today was Halloween and I was a hippy. I got a lot of candy. Tomorrow is Sunday. Well the next holiday is Thanksgiving, can't wait. My mom's b-day is in 19 days. She will be 41. She's getting old like my dad. Well I don't have very much to say. I still really really really like David. On Wednessday we are going to the park for an Egyptian thing. Well bye, Denise

P.s. I like David M :)

May 22, 1999

Today is Terri's track championship. Right now I am listening to Shania Twain. She rocks! I don't love David anymore, he is a little butthole! I love someone named Trevor. he is one fine guy! Tomorrow is Terri's birthday, she will be 18. I will be in 7th grade next year. Well the house is for sale. We will be living in Shadow Mountain. It sucks because I'll go to Snow Canyon.

Denise

P.s. I love Trevor now

November 22, 1999

Hey!

I haven't writen in here for a long time! My mom's b-day was a couple days ago. S.C.M.S. was on fire a couple weeks ago. I think I like David again and Sydney likes Jeremy. He is kind of ugly and way short. Mom and Dad have the flu. It sucks. I don't know what I should name my bird. I am in the talent show and I am singing I Will Be There by Britney Spears. I love her song Crazy, it is so cool.

May 11, 2000

I must be stupid or something cuz I'm going out with David again! But I like going out with him cuz he is so nice.

Get the picture??

Ok so I was a little very boy crazy and a little random. That's what 10 year old girls are like! I read the entire diary in one sitting and it was cracking me up. Dave read it too and now thinks I'm a psycho.. I don't blame him.. Ha! But in all fairness he let me read his diary from when he was 16.. It was interesting! Anyways my wish throughout the diary was that someday I'll marry David, the man of my dreams. Who would have thought that 10 years later I would be married to him!!

Match made in Heaven :)

 My hubby and I in 7th grade while we were "dating"

(don't you love my outfit? haha the socks. Classic!)

Us now.

♥

who came to town....?

The Harlem Globetrotters came to town!

For this weeks date night we went to a Harlem Globetrotters game. Dave and I took Kyson to see them thinking it was going to be a cheesy show. 

Boy were we wrong! It was hilarious and had us laughing the. whole. time.

It was so much fun and I'm so glad we went. Kyson loved it! I loved how they had the crowd involved throughout the entire show. They did autographs and pictures afterwards until the lines were gone. They are such nice guys!

 The MC and Globie. And they did such awesome tricks!

 They could make seriously any shot! Including from the stands.

They were teaching us how to Dougie... And they pants each other... a lot!

We had so much fun for this week's date night! Somehow it started off with me talking in German with a crazy accent... And it had us laughing so hard I was crying and we may or may not have peed a little... We know how to party! Anyways, if you ever get the chance to see the Harlem Globetrotters, don't let it pass you by. It was well worth it!

Kyson turned 3

Saturday was the big day! The day my baby boy turned three and the day I reminisced on the day he was born.

It feels like it was just yesterday that I was driving to the hospital knowing in a few short hours I would be a new mommy. Now my husband is borderline begging me for baby number two.

When Kyson woke up saturday morning he woke up to a very pinteresting surprise..

(via)

It was like waking up in Wonderland! He literally came running into our bedroom yelling "mommy daddy, balloons!" It was by far the best awakening I've ever had! And you better believe we played with those balloons all day long.

I made him his favorite breakfast, blueberry muffins and the first half of the day we watched cartoons and played with his new toys from grandparents. My son has a  major obsession with the following:

air planes

cars

trains

helicopters

He's 100% boy!

After his nap we took him to Petsmart to let him pick out his birthday present.

He wanted fish, so we got him some fish!

It turns out Dave and I know nothing about taking care of goldfish. We thought you stuck it in water and feed it.. Oh no there's more to it then that according to the nice employee who helped us! We've got our hands full with these two fish..

So after buying what seems like a hundred different items for this 3 gallon fish tank we were on our way home with the newest members of the Madsen family!

I spy with my little eye.. two gold fish.

Welcome to the family Buster and Mac :)

Once Kyson was done starring at two very boring fish we sang Happy Birthday and gorged that cake!

My birthday boy

After cake we put him in the bath tub for the best bath of his life.

 

shaving cream + food coloring = bath tub paint

 this

 turned into this.

turned into this!

I had just as much fun with it as Kyson did.

We had a fun filled saturday with our birthday boy! :)

Happy birthday Kyson

♥

movie night

A quick post on our weekly date night while my birthday boy is taking a nap.

Last night we stayed home for a movie night date. I finally got to see The Help.

If you haven't seen this movie you need to stop what you're doing and go rent it right now! Seriously I wont mind if you stop reading this post to go watch it :)

One of the best movies I have ever seen! It's so inspirational and really makes you think about the way things used to be and in some ways still are. 

To make the hubby happy I had to rent him a guys movie as well.

I married a geek! He just loves all of the Marvel movies.  And I wasn't opposed to watching a movie with Ryan Reynolds in it :)

We ate junk, snuggled, and I even shed a tear or two but it was just what we needed! Love movie nights!!

Oh and my baby boy turned 3 today! 

Happy Birthday Kyson 

♥

marriage class

Each week we go to this class it gets more brutal towards one another.. and it's hilarious! We learned talked about challenges in marriages and how we can overcome them and better our relationship. Dave and I are the youngest couple in the class and the 'newly wed' couple and I think we're the most normal! It's so surprising how many problems every couple has!! The hubs and I decided we have two main things to work on: communication and time management (because no matter how hard we try or how early we leave, we're always late to everything!).

"If men come unto me I will show them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

We're given weaknesses for a reason. For instance, one of Dave's weaknesses is patience and mine is communicating. I have the most patience in the world and Dave is great at communicating. God gave us each other to help strengthen our weaknesses together!

86% of couples who almost divorced but decided to work through it and stay together said they had a happy relationship five years later.

Thats huge!

People are willing to give up way too easily and forget the covenants they made when married. Marriage is a covenant, not a contract!

You can't change anyone but yourself so it's best to try to improve each day!

I love Dave! We have our struggles and differences just like every other couple and I'm beginning to think that our problems aren't as serious as we thought.

:)

the house that built me

My parents sold their home...

It's extremely bittersweet. I remember everything about that home. 

The day we picked the lot to build it on.

Going with my dad every week to see the progress that was made while it was being built.

Moving in on November 17, 2001 

using the living room as a temporary bedroom while my dad finished building the basement on his own

having a bathroom in my room!

opening the garage door on Christmas morning one year to find a brand new car for me

falling in love for the first time

and sneaking out of my window to be with him on the weekends but making sure to be home before my parents woke up.

working my first job

graduating high school and starting college

every holiday!

developing a love for watching sports on tv

learning to play the piano

flooding the basement (oops)

suffering from my first broken heart

living just a few houses away from my grandparents

growing up!

I have so many memories in that house and am so sad that I'll never step foot in it again! I'm excited for my parents though. They are always wanting to go bigger and better. They are building their dream home now!! With a pool :)

It makes me so thankful for owning my own home. It's such a joy to make a house a home and do whatever you want to it. My home is definitely a fixer upper but it is such a good starter home! I can't wait to see what new house they build this time!

date night

 

 

Date night this week was full of speed, laughter and fabulous weather! It's not often you can wear short sleeve shirts in the middle of January, but this week we're able to. 70 degree weather :)

Anyways once I was finished working I drove home, picked up my boys and we were on our way to Prime Time. We raced on Go Karts (I won) and then we races in race cars (I won). And all for only $20!! I can't believe we've never done this before especially since we live less than three minutes away from it! I loved it, Kyson loved it, and Dave was sad that I kept winning...

 

I want to go back. It was so much fun!

After speeding around the track we went to dinner at Genghis Grill! 

Oh. My. Delicious.

So good! It's a Mongolian Stir Fry type of place. Dave and I have been to a lot of different places like this but this wins the award for the best! Seriously..

This dessert was as heavenly as it looks.

After we feasted we went home and watched movies the rest of the night on our new surround sound! 

It was a great night and I can't wait for next week!!

Who has date night ideas??

marriage

Dave and I were chosen for a marriage class with my church. It's a 12 week course and it's definitely something we need right now! We went to the first meeting this week and were able to meet new people and make new friends. There's a wide variety of people in the class from teachers to FBI agents. And they're all members of my religion so we can all relate. It's going to be such a great 12 weeks!! I told Dave that I wanted to document what we learn each week so we never forget it and maybe help a bloggy friend in need :)

For the first two weeks we're learning about happiness in a marriage. We have our little manuals and lesson plans but seriously only got a page into it cause we just wanted to chat and share experiences.. Who would have thought right?!

"Marriage... No ordinance is of more importance and none more sacred and more necessary to the eternal joy of man."

-President Ezra Taft Benson

Everyone deserves to find love and to be married to the love of their life. So many times we see people settling or not getting married at all. We see even more these days that people would rather move in with a boyfriend/girlfriend and give it a trial run to see if it'll work. And if not, they have an easy way out!

"While every young man and young woman will seek with all diligence and prayerfullness to find a mate with whom life can be most compatible and beautiful, yet it is certain that almost any good man and any good woman can have happiness and a successful marriage if both are willing to pay the price."

-President Kimball

More than 50% of marriages end in a divorce. I was so close to becoming a statistic but made a decision to recommit myself to Dave. We are willing to pay the price and struggle through our hard times and hope to come out stronger. We need each other to get through the day! Marriage forces a lot of people to grow up and mature. The average age a couple has their first child is 34. It's also a fact that people mature a lot faster with kids of their own. I can't imagine starting a family that late in life! I would be so exhausted!!

When I was a teenager fresh out of high school I got my own apartment. Like most teenagers living on their own I was broke. All the time! I had no choice but to move back home with mom and dad. It was horrible! Going from living on my own, making my own rules and doing whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted to having a curfew and all kinds of rules. I ended up getting kicked out for obvious reasons. I was so mad about it at the time but quickly thanked my parents for kicking me out because I was forced to grow up and take things seriously. My relationship with my parents thrived from then on. People are so spoiled these days and don't take being a grown up seriously. It's so sad! Being a grown up can be so hard sometimes but most of the time it's so much fun. Especially when you have a spouse to experience it with. 

It was a great class and I definitely walked away with satisfaction. I can't wait to go back next week! 

date night

A resolution that Dave and I made was to have a date night, weekly! Every single week. It doesn't matter if it's big or small, expensive or free. Since our relationship is still fragile we're doing everything we can to spice things up. So we are making it a top priority to do more together. Last week we went to a frozen yogurt shop called Krave. Mmm so good! And we went to an arcade just to play games. I've never done that before so it was a first, but it was actually kind of fun!

Who doesn't love a photo booth?

This week our date night was very similar.. Instead of frozen yogurt we got ice cream. We like to take risks. We kind of live on the wild side :)

Haha

If you ever go to Coldstone try chocolate ice cream with graham cracker pie crust, peanuts/almonds and carmel.. Seriously SOO good!!

I'm so excited for our weekly date nights. We've definitely started the year off right!

grandparents

Over the Holidays I was able to spend time with my Grandparents (my mom's parents). They are just the cutest people and I have missed them so much lately so I was really excited to catch up with them. My Grandpa is a WW2 veteran and he loves that status. He can talk Dave's ear off about the military and jets (Dave's an electrician on a B-1 bomber). My Grandma just loves talking about inappropriate things... It gets interesting to say the least! I just love them.

My grandparents are both 89 years old. They have six kids of their own, they have 41 grandkids, and 83 great grandkids. They have lived all over the world, traveled even more and are constantly giving back to the community. My grandma overcame skin cancer and my grandpa had shingles for years. They set such a great example to everyone around them. I hope to live as they have lived!

Four generations!!