anywho

I am blogging again over at my other blog "anywho."

Just thought I would let you know in case you were interested.

You can read my latest posts here.

Baby Leavitt

Gavin Danny Leavitt

Born April 5, 2011 @ 5:35 PM. 7.6 lbs & 19 in.

We couldn't be more in love with our little guy

Check out some more photos of our sweet guy just a mere 24 hr old at http://www.bellababyphotography.com/. Use the password of 0405babyboyleavitt to view them.

Bro-cation

It’s final. The brothers and I are going on a summer campout. I’ve prodded them several times to give me potential dates so that we can finalize it and decide on a venue. But no, they all have to be slow as tar (except for Mike, he doesn’t count; and Brent has been helpful, too). It’s true, Spencer is in school and Tyler has two whirlwinds in his house to keep track of, but I’m excited and want to get this thing planned. Apparently Marisa is wearing off on me—I never use to plan.

It’s looking like it will happen in mid-June (still trying to sell the wife on that one considering she’ll have a two-month-old baby to take care of all by herself if I leave). If anyone has suggestions on a scenic, high-altitude, fairly-warm location, I gladly accept your suggestions.

I also asked the brothers for suggestions as to what we should name the campout. The only response came from Spencer: “Bro-cation.” Well, brother, you win. Bro-cation it is. Party on, hombres!

Grocery Shopping

I am NOT a fan of grocery shopping.

The entire process takes too much brain power and energy and I just don’t like it. From deciding on the menu for the week, to making the actual list, to buying the groceries and then to packing half the store into your house and putting it all away it is just simply exhausting.

The only small pleasure I get out of grocery shopping is that I have a list and I get to cross things off that list. Crossing things off lists is like a small high for me. I love it.

Recently, while doing the dreaded grocery shopping trip I made two realizations.

1. Being pregnant, shopping alone, and shopping for food is a BAD combination. I am pretty much out of control when it comes to putting things in the cart that WERE NOT on the list.
2. It never fails that after putting said non listed items into the cart, I look to my list in hopes of finding something to cross off.

It wasn’t until the carton of ice cream that I put in the cart and looked to the list that I realized what I was doing. You would think that the disappointment from the lack of a cross off moment would keep me from placing non listed items into the cart, not so.

My conclusion, the cross off high DOES NOT outweigh the pregnancy cravings. My poor wallet is going to have to suffer just one more month before it may get some reprieve.

Blanding/Monticello Trip

This past weekend Danny and I had the pleasure of taking a quick road trip with some of our good friends to Blanding, UT!

You may be wondering why we would choose such a destination for our weekend get-away and our reason was to attend the Monticello temple.

I pretty much stole the idea from Jessica to try and attend every temple in Utah. You know in case we aren't here in say 5 months.

So Danny and I are out to attend all the Utah temples and we now can cross Monticello off our list.

We had a great time checking out the ranch that Danny's aunt and uncle own, riding horses (just the boys, can you imagine me getting on a horse!), the sweet spirit of the temple and just about 8 hours of awesome conversation!

Here are a few pics from the weekend, courtesy of Jessica and Jared's camera.

I’m new to the blogosphere. Sort of. I’ve read plenty of blogs, but now is the time to jump in. No better time than President’s Day! I’ll warn you, I’m not as good of a writer as Marisa, and sometimes I can be dry, but I figure it’s time to start sharing my testimony and perspective of all these adventures Marisa blogs about.

A few weeks ago, Marisa and I watched a T.V. interview of President George W. Bush. Of course I enjoyed it because I’m a nerd like that, but Marisa was uncharacteristically interested too. She consented to let me buy his new book Decision Points.

Out of all my undergraduate classes, I probably enjoyed my class on the Executive Branch the most. The office and administration intrigue me. Amidst all the political books or articles I’ve read on the presidency—and I would have to say comparatively it’s not a lot—I recently finished one of the greatest books about one of the greatest men that lived in one of the greatest periods of history. The book is on the six-foot-six, admired President Abraham Lincoln. The title: Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. The daunting 754 pages seemed like it would never end. But for all you Harry Potter fans, you haven’t read anything until you pick this brick of a book up.

Lincoln’s genius was unprecedented. Although his presidency was flooded with mistakes, he never gave up. At the end of his life, as the war ended in1865, his worry for both Union and Confederate soldiers leads me to conclude that he had Charity—the pure love of Christ. Mathew Holland, in his essay With Charity for All and his book Bonds of Affection, describes how Lincoln’s charitable attributes saved the Union, holding it together amidst a war stricken nation of brother fighting brother. As I finished the book, I came to love Lincoln and his example. He makes me want to try harder, care more, write often, and love broadly. His tall stature isn’t the only thing I’ll remember about him; his character was just as big as the nation itself.

Now it's our turn to develop the sound thoughts, firm characteristics, and loving attitudes that Lincoln and many of our past presidents have exemplified.

Happy birthday presidents of the United States of America!

Date Night

(us in Santa Monica)

Recently Danny and I have been making more of a concerted effort to have a meaningful date night each week. The key word there is meaningful. I think our re-dedication to actually planning a meaningful date night was in part due to the fact that our date nights out are soon going to be limited as well as encouragement from our ward leaders to make time for one another.

We decided to begin switching off responsibility to plan our date nights every other week. It has actually worked out quite nicely. One week you get to decide the evenings activities and the other you get to just kick back and enjoy what has been planned! I have really, really enjoyed the time with Danny and I am truly cherishing these last few date nights before our dating strategy is going to have to change.

Since our re-commitment to dating we have...

• picnicked in our front living room
• attended a "Hoosiers" b-ball game via our T.V.
• put together a crib & a dresser (we make a great team!)
• saw a screening of a movie at the LDS film festival
• tried The Chocolate & enjoyed Olive Garden on a GC

Every date has truly been wonderful. I am coming to love Danny more and more and I appreciate him more everyday. He is the love of my life and I can't wait to experience all that life has in store for us walking side by side, hand in hand as an eternal companionship.