Letters to my Cows

I'm laughing at this post title.
Oh hey, so before we start I thought I'd let you know we are moving.
I love moving! I love change and i love meeting new people. Im so excited for this new adventure! My adventure is different from most peoples. Youd think a person would start in a small town and want to get out so as they grow up they move to a big city (like in all the movies) mine is quite the contrary.  I grew up in a city of 75,000 (suburb of Chicago, which has like 2 million) then moved to Utah to 48,000 then got married and moved to a smaller town to 18,000 and now for the winner- a small town in Idaho- population? 600. I'm so excited! Is that weird?

The whole process has been a roller coaster but we have been so blessed it is awesome to see the Lord's hand in our lives as he perfectly laid out this plan for us. We are so excited to live somewhere new, but we will miss Utah and seeing our family all the time very much!

We live in such a great place right now, and we have made so many memories in the 2 years we've lived in this house.
I got my first dog, Rusty

my first cows,
my first ducks,

 my first chickens!


I loved playing down by the pond, it was an adventure every time! and beautiful!


We had the BEST neighbors you could ever ask for, on one side a widowed old rich guy who paid us to work for him, and on the other a retired couple who took us in as their own children. I was often told my "Butt" (she didn't say butt) would get kicked if I didn't ask for help from them whenever I needed it. Needless to say we were well taken care of, and we will miss them so much!

Since we are upgrading in houses, and have to make a down payment-(turns out nicer houses have bigger down payments, who knew) we decided it would be best to sell the cows to have some extra money to put down on the new house, which leads us to our point of the post-

Letters to my cows <3

I've read some cute blogs before of girls who write letters to their babies on the blogs, but since I have no babies, and no buns in my oven I will write them to my cows. (just as cute, right?)

Let us begin.

Dear Rhonda,

I liked you. You were our 3rd cow, (after Jack and Daisy, who we only had a few months then sold) you have been such a good cow to us. I loved your cute face and your crooked horn. You were always friendly and would let me pet you. You were our second cow to have a baby! Little Frankie was born in the spring and boy was he cute! Way to go on being one of the cows I didn't hate.
Sorry for all the times I called you stupid,
Love Lauren

Dear Misty,

You are so fat. When you run you look like a hippo. Im sorry I named you after my ginger sister-in-law but your hair matched so well! It seemed to just fit. (Misty LaRue, you do not remind me of a hippo) You were a good cow except I kind of hated your guts because you were so fat and greedy, every time I tried to feed the other cows you would push them out of the way. I have mixed emotions towards you though because you gave us our first calf. Whitey was a doll. For the first few months of her life we thought she was a boy cuz it looked like she had...a thing... which was the only thing on her that was white, except her tail. (hence the name) anyway, one day we saw her potty and realized she was girl. Sorry we were confused about your transgender daughter. No hate.
Love Lauren

Dear Bambi,

You were MY first cow. One day Jon called me and said come pick out the last cow, and I chose you. He thought you were ugly and told me I should've picked a different one, but I thought you were pretty, it looked like you wore make up. You looked like a deer, so I named you Bambi. You gave us our 3rd calf. Watching you in labor was the weirdest thing Ive ever experienced. I felt very bad for you as it you walked in circles, sat down, got up, walked in circles and so on, for hours. Then when your calf Stinker finally started to come into the world he got stuck and I was nervous I was going to have to be seriously initiated into farm culture by pulling him out of your hoo-haw, but like a champ, you pushed that "stinker" out. (slaps knee)
Love Lauren

Dear Rosie,
You weren't really ours, you were the neighbors, but we let you run with our cows. You were a good little cow except sometimes you confused me when you mounted the steers. Not sure what your deal was. I hope you're able to get that one figured out.
Love Lauren

Dear Stupid,
I'm a little sorry your name is stupid, but not really cuz you're pretty stupid. (we still have him) You are penned up in the back yard still because we are fattening you up so you can be slaughtered. I hope you aren't reading this, but you're going to be Karls dinner next month. I sort of like you but sort of don't, mostly because you moo all night long, and don't let me pet you. I JUST WANT TO LOVE YOU BEFORE YOU GET MURDERD. Whatev.
Love Lauren

Dear Idiot,
I hate your stinkin' guts. You make me vomit. You are the scum between my toes.
But seriously, I don't feel bad naming you idiot because you took that name and ran with it. Literally. Remember that time you broke through neighbors fences until you were 4 pastures over? I do, and remember that other time (multiple times) dispatch called me in the middle of the night because you were out on the road, or in someone elses yard? I do. I can't wait till you're a hamburger. WITHOUT CHEESE. that's how much I hate you. you are a psycho and I want to kick you.
Love Lauren

Well, It feels really good to get that all off my chest.

Oh and for the sad news section, the smartest, best dog in the world died the other day.
Jon's dog Jasper, who he's had since he was a pup (12 years ago) got in a dog fight the other day with a pittbull and lost :( It was a rough couple days in the LaRue home. He's buried close to Rusty out at grandmas. We miss you Jasper!!!


That's about all. Although this week I decided to switch things up a bit. I don't have quotes from Jon but I DO have quotes from preschoolers.

"My name is actually cheetah"

"Police officers take children to jail for not buckling up"

What do you want to be when you grow up? "I want to be a princess like my dad"

"I ALWAYS keep my mouth closed at school"

"Im trying to be silly but you aren't laughing."

Gotta love it, okay bye!

 

10 Things I learned from living with a Gangster

Just a heads up. there are no pictures in this one so.. this is usually where I put the book down and go look for another one. BUT if you're feeling ready- go for it.

I've been thinking about this blog post for a while, even while it was happening, but I hadn't written anything up because most of my family didn't know about it, and I didn't want me, or my parents having any "Are you CrAzY?!" phone calls, and I didn't want to give my grandma a heart attack. But... now that it's been a decent amount of time, I figured I'd hash it out. :)
One of the most memorable things that has happened in my marriage so far would have to be that one time when we took in gangbanger and his girlfriend. haha I laugh as I right this because it sounds so funny, but its a true story. I'm obviously not going to go into any personal details about him, or his girlfriend, for theirs, and my protection. (cuz I know ALL them thugz be readin this) jk, but you never know.
I'm sure you're all WhAaaaT? now (we didn't tell too many people about this- for safety, and so people wouldn't think we were psycho, because it wasn't obviously the SMARTEST thing we've ever done.. but we're all alive, no worries- here's the story.

A little while after we were married Jon decided to try his hand at restaurant management, since he can do anything. So he did. One of the gals who worked for him was struggling and had been picking up extra shifts so that she could afford to stay the night at the hotel next to the restaurant. Jon found out about this and called me. Normally we'd both say, good for her for working hard for her and her baby. Well then we found out she was only 17 and then the sympathy card got pulled. So we discussed it and prayed about it and thought it would be okay to let her stay with us for a little bit. We had a whole extra apartment attached to the house so she could still be independent. Well the night we went to pick her up she had a "friend" with her. Apparently they had been helping each other out and she didn't want to leave him stranded so we let him come too. We didn't find out about his gang affiliation until we got home... haha

**I'm going to call the boy mike and the girl Jill.

Jill was bubbly and outgoing, very immature and loud. Funny, but kind of handful, and dramatic. So, a typical 17 year old girl.

Mike was 19. very quiet (at first) very reserved. looked mad a lot. dark eyes, you could tell by looking at him he was very unhappy and his mind was always very distant. Mike was kind of small though, which made him seem a lot younger. So for some reason I was not intimidated by him. Mike opened up to me eventually and I heard a lot of things about his life that seemed unreal. Which, maybe some were, who knows.

Either way, I learned a lot things from this experience and I thought I'd share, you know, in case some thug comes knockin' on your door lookin for a place to stay, you can be prepared. ;)

1. The light of Christ is Real.
As Mike spent more time with me and Jon, and started going to church activities he became a different person, he was so funny to be around, we all laughed and joked all the time and his countenance shown like a weight had been lifted, his eyes were sparkley, not dark like I had seen before. Noticing his countenance becoming brighter seemed obvious when I think back on it now, but as we were living it, it was hard to notice. What was not hard to notice though was when the spirit left Mike.
There was one night Mike and Jill got in a fight (this happened a lot) and things got really bad, dangerous phone calls were made and for the first time I was scared, terrified actually. Not for my life, but for someone elses- mikes friends. (long story) Mike came in the house to use the phone and he looked terrible. His eyes were dark and glazed like he was in a trance, and it wasn't really him. I didn't even like looking at him, and nothing I said talked him out of this mode he was in. I called Jon crying, he was at the neighbors, and like a bullet came flying home and stormed through the door and put the fear of God into "the kids" (as I liked to call them) and we didn't have anymore problems after that. But I will always remember what Mike looked like that day. No light, whatsoever was inside of him and it was frightening. For those of you who aren't familiar with the term "Light of Christ" Search for it here.

2. Satan is real.
If you didn't get that from #1, you will understand it here. We invited Mike and Jill to church every Sunday. They always politely declined, be we always left the option open. I think they came to part of sacrament meeting once, I don't really remember. But Mike had his headphones in the whole time, and they left early. Then they stopped coming. One particular sunday though, after Jill had left, (she ran off one day with some loser, leaving Mike totally heartbroken, which is a wholeeeee other dramatic rollercoaster of feelings from a teenage boy) Mike decided he would come with us. As we walked in, you could tell he was extremely uncomfortable. During the opening song he started getting very anxious and said he was just going to sit in the foyer. Halfway through the meeting I told Jon to go check on him. He was gone for a while so I left to go see what was going on.
As I approached them I just listened to the conversation which consisted mostly of Mike freaking out saying he couldn't go back in there because it was a bad place. He kept having a voice in his head tell him not to go in there, a literal voice he could hear saying that it was bad. He was freaking out because he kept hearing that voice, very clearly telling him not to go in.
Jon explained that that was satan, and we tried to remind him of other feelings he had had that were good feelings, we tried to sooth him but Mike didn't return to sacrament meeting that sunday.
Moroni 7:12 says it perfectly-  12 Wherefore, all things which are good cometh of God; and that which is evil cometh of the devil; for the devil is an enemy unto God, and fighteth against him continually, and inviteth and enticeth to sin, and to do that which is evil continually.

I know through the Spirit, we can be warned, but never will it give us feelings that make us scared or uneasy.

Satan had such a strong hold on Mike, like a chain around his neck. Every time he would take a few steps in the right direction something would go wrong and satan would yank that chain and bring Mike right back to square one. ( the emotional roller coaster that this kid was would put any 16yr old girl to shame)

3. Trust? Not likely.
Mike and Jill were not trustworthy at all, loved them, but didn't trust them haha and they didn't seem to trust anyone either, Mike especially.
 I think we gained his trust eventually, but not until after this funny experience.
-One night Jon was driving mike to a singles ward activity, it was a quiet car ride (Mike had warmed up to me quite quickly but was still a little uncomfortable around Jon) when all of the sudden Mike broke the silence- the conversation went a little something like this-
Mike: Alright man, what's up with you?!
Jon: huh?
Mike: What's your deal man? like are you a cop? are you wearing a wire? just tell me!
Jon: lol what are you talking about?!
Mike: There's no way you're really trying to help us out. No one would do this.  I know you're a fed or something! Just tell me!
Jon: laughing hysterically.

Jon did lift up his shirt to prove he wasn't wearing a wire, just to be sure.

That story always makes me laugh, but reminds me that Mike was SO certain no one would be so willing to help, without having an alternate motive. He trusted us pretty good after that. :)

4. Just because people do bad things doesn't make them a bad person.This one is pretty much a no brainer. But in all reality, if I were to hear Mikes life story, and not know him. I would pretty much say he's a bad person. But since I got to know him well, and see that he actually has a heart of gold, (he just has no idea how to act on it) I was humbled, in learning that he was a good person, he had just made a lot...(LOT) of bad decisions.
5. No grasp on reality.One thing I found really strange about Mike and Jill was their absolute lack of grasp on what real life was like. The idea of having job you go to everyday, cleaning up after yourself, taking care of things, just things that seem like regular everyday-everyone knows- things, was not "normal" for them.  In their mind, if you need or want something, you go..sell.. something... or just take it. If you're hungry, you go buy the $8 sandwich at the deli instead of the bread and lunch meat for half the price to make 10 times the sandwiches, just little common sense things like that. And the idea that our religion was a way life, not just a building we went to on sundays was so surreal to them as well.
It was just interesting to see them examine our lives as something that was totally unachievable, when the whole time we were trying to teach them that it totally was. They wanted to same things we did, what anyone would, out of life, they just had no idea how to get it.
6. They're just kids.Mike's stories he would tell me about all his "buddies"  and the things they've done(after the shock factor diminished) were just stupid. He was just a 19 year old kid who had the same feelings any 19 year old kid would have, he just didn't know what to do with them. I felt such mixed emotions for Mike and Jill, no sympathy for the stupid mistake they made, but my heart ached a little when I would stay up late with Jill talking about how she never got to go to a school dance, how Mike really wanted to finish High school because he knew it was important but just couldn't seem to stay on track. Even if they had post-poned their bad decisions till after they graduated, at least they would have gotten to have a childhood. Jill, Mike and a lot of his buddies were just young and stupid, and they were just kids, but because of their bad decisions they had to be adults before they should've been.

7. Children are a product of their environment.
I have been learning this from the moment I started working in schools- there would be the out of control-attitude ridden kids that I wanted to tie down to their chair to get their attention, but then I meet their parents and it all makes sense. Is that considered judgmental? I don't know, but my views/knowledge of this was magnified after living with Mike and Jill. After seeing and learning about where they came from, I don't blame them for their decisions. I know that we all still have our agency, and we can all choose for ourselves, but when everyday of your life you are surrounded by people smoking since you were a baby, chances are, you're going to smoke too, because that's all you know.
8. People can change.I only believe this because I literally saw it happen. There's a BIG but here though, yes, I think people can change but it IS NOT A ONE AND DONE. Mike changed SO much in the few months he was with us, but just like with everyone, if you don't keep working at something, it dwindles. Unfortunately Mike has (most likely) dwindled because he went right back to his previous situation. Now I can't say for sure that he's gone back to doing everything he was before (I hope not) but you never know. I do know he's not doing everything we WISH he was, but that's okay. At the end of our time with him, he decided to fess up and be a man, he came clean and went to court for the things he'd done.


The main reason I chose to share this was because of the testimony I gained that
9.Heavenly Father loves ALL His children.
This was SO evident during the time Mike and Jill were with us. I don't even know how to explain it, but I could feel the love that Heavenly Father had for the kids even at times when I sure has heck didn't love them. It didn't matter what Mike or Jill had done, I knew he loved them, and I know, at times, they knew too.

It was a whirlwind of life thrown at me in the course of 3 months but I wouldn't have traded it. Jon and I reflect on that time often and it was hard, but so worth it. We even say we miss them sometimes. Not a lot.. but sometimes. haha

oh and of course
 10. "Thas wassup" can be a response to ANYTHING.
Mike said that ALL THE TIMEEEE. at first it was the ONLY thing he'd ever say. He was very quiet, but we would tell him things, and he'd kinda nod and quietly say "thas wassup" eventually we would tease him about it, and say it all the time in gangster voices until he realized how silly it was, needless to say he stopped saying it.


So yeah, that's about all. here's the good stuff-there were a lottt lately.

Quotes from Jon:I was bragging to Jon about how I wouldn't get sick and his response was "Well duh cuz you have the immune system of a........immune system!" good one.

"I smell what you did"

"I love your sonobello body"

"you could be my squaw"

"I need my singing juice"

I asked Jon what he though about the Ombre look for hair..
Me: do you think ombre looks good?
Jon: "if your name is chewbaca and you're in star wars." after I laughed he continued..."I feel like its a look from the 70s that all the ugly girls had (not sure what 70s era he's talking about) I should be a hair consultant. I'd save lots of girls from making really bad decisions!"

No offence to anyone with ombre hair ( I think its cute) Jon just has strong hair opinions... lol

and my favorite-
"I wonder how many black kids we would have to adopt before we got one that made it into the NBA"
ah I love him. well that's all..

thas wassup.

Bye!

100 things about me

 

I saw another girls blog that i went to high school with did this and i though it was so fun!  I love finding out unique things about people, it makes them more relatable. 100 was a lotttt to think up because it was supposed to be things that not everyone knew about you, none of the boring,  my fav color is red, (although my fav color IS red, so you really just got a bonus fact) stuff so this took me a while to put together and if you have 3 hours (not really) and a desire to know more about me- here you go!

1.I am not a passionate person. I loved volleyball in high school but I wouldn't say I was passionate about it. I dont get obsessed with or attached to things. (Tv shows, singers, actors) Im pretty unemotional. I have opinions on things but they arent usually things I'd get in an argument over.
2. With that being said,  because I'm pretty passive about most things I kind of am annoyed by people who are overly passionate about things, mostly just when they attack other people's opinions about something because it's different than their own.
3. I dont like contention. Obviously.
4.I used to be deathly afraid of tornadoes. In second grade my teacher showed us the movie twister and it scarred me for life. Every time it rained I would cry and not go to school and then if it rained at school I would make myself sick so I could go home cuz I thought there was going to be a tornado and we were all going to die. That went on to about 7th grade then 8th and 9th the crying stopped but I would still get a stomach ache if it rained. Then we moved to Utah and I totally got over it. I love rain now!
5. I loveee fruit but I don't like fruit flavored things, not like candy,  but like Apple pie or jam? Idk why. I don't like fruit when it's warm.
6. I love looking at pictures of myself.
This sounds sooo self centered but I dont mean it that way haha I wanted to be a model for so long because I loved looking at the photos after they were edited.  I just think it's so cool to see all the different ways you can look with editing and  lighting and styles and its just neat to see myself since I can't see myself on a regular basis?  Idk that sounds sooo weird. Haha but I mean come on this is pretty cool right?

7. I think most babies are ugly. Although some are the most precious adorable things to grace the earth so it evens out. Like this guy

8.I think pregnancy photoshoots are soooo weird. I had a friend tell me they wanted one cuz it made them feel beautiful during a time when they didn't feel very beautiful,  so I can understand that,  but either way I don't want to see your naked belly. Its so weird looking and makes me uncomfortable.  Like, I know I know I've never had a baby so I don't understand,  but my question is-(to lds women) why is it okay to push aside your modesty standards just because you're pregnant?  Would you be taking pictures of your shirt half rolled up if your werent pregnant? Probably not. Oh well, to each their own. Again, just an opinion.
9. Hand-washing has never been a top priority of mine. I dont like hand sanatizer. I never washed my hands when I was little and I believe I owe my kick-butt immune system to that. I'm not really a germophobe, which is funny because jon won't even share a fork with me,  im like you know we kiss right?  but obviously ill wash my hands before I eat if im covered in cow poop.
10. Ive never been hospitalized for illness or even really sick, never had the flu but i have majorrrr anxiety when it comes to illness. Weird that I'm not a germophobe. If I have a stomach ache or headache,  its like instant anxiety that something is wrong which gives me a worse stomach ache and sometimes a panic Attack. Its a vicious cycle.
11. Chaos and Pain/other peoples pain/sufferring also give me anxiety.  I don't watch the news because it makes me sick and seeing other people in lots of pain realllyyyy stresses me out. I could NEVER work at a hospital.
12.I've never had sushi
13.I've never had shrimp
14. Ive never had a lot of things- and this goes to my anxiety about trying new things because what if it makes me sick? I just tried fish for the first time this year. Its frustrating sometimes.
15. I'm a total home body. I would rather sit at home with Jon and watch movies than go on a cruise.
16. I had never shot a gun, rode a horse, ate fish, deer, or elk or rode a 4wheeler until I met jon.
17. If I could eat chicken everyday I would.
18.I find no enjoyment in hiking whatsoever.
19.peanut butter and chocolate ice cream is the best thing to ever happen.
20.I don't think I have a dream job. There's nothing I could picture myself doing forever except being a mom. I have no desire to have a job. Turns out I have to have one anyway.
21.I think headaches are so debilitating. I become worthless when I have one.
22.I don't like unnatural beauty- streaky dyed hair/funky hair cuts, tons of make up, eye lash extensions,  I just think people look so much better like normal humans.
23. I love making people laugh (why I try to make my blog humorous)
24. Unlike a lot of people-I love people!  All types of people!  Some more than others... haha but I love talking to people and making friends.
25.a talent of mine is making friends, people tend to warm up to me very quickly. In good at making people feel comfortable. I have quite a few friends Who don't like a lot of people but for some reason they like me. In not trying to brag I'm just proud of this talent.
26.when I was little I wanted to be an architect. I would build houses and other stuff out of paper. I got a reem of paper and tape for Christmas one year cuz I used it so much.
27.I think 2 year olds are absolutely hilarious.every thing they say is funny. Even even when they throw fits i can't help but giggle. I bet God made them that way so parents don't go COMPLETELY crazy during the terrible twos ;)
28. I really like music, I love dancing and singing and the piano really brings a peaceful feeling to my soul but I would be fine with out it. Music isn't a necessity in life to me.
29. Although I still find Broadway very intriguing. I think it's amazing what some people can do with their voices and how powerful they can be without and editing. I had the opportunity to see WICKED front row at the Chicago theatre (thanks dad) when I was 15 and I'll never forget it!
30. Children with cell phones really bother me. I don't get heated about many things but this is an argument I will have.  I substitute teach so I see kids at elementary and junior high with phones all the time. Kids in primary with phones. And I run the gyms Facebook page and see tonssss of 12-15yr olds posting the STUPIDEST stuff. Okay so I could totally understand if you are a protective and you feel its important your child has a phone then great,  get them a $10 track phone from Wal-Mart that only makes phone calls.  No child needs to text,  NO child needs access to the internet unsupervised and absolutely no child needs the new iphone5s. If I see another 4th grader with one talking about who they snap chatted last night I'm gonna lose it. This is whats wrong with America people! Whoo okay rant is done. Moving on.
31.I cried for weeks when rusty died but didn't shed a tear when I gave Lucy away which really surprised me because we were much closer.

32. I'm the youngest of 4 but was the first married.
33. I think most tv now adays is trash. I love watching the old stuff. Its much more wholesome. Father knows best, leave it to beaver,  different strokes, I love Lucy stuff like that.
34. I've never said a cuss word
35. I don't like flavored drinks,  water all the way. I will sip on lemonade or Gatorade sometimes but I've never been a fan of soda pop. It always gives me a stomach ache and it all kinda tastes the same to me.  I've never even tried mt dew.
36. I've never had an energy drink either,  im afraid it'll make my heart explode.
37.I hear much better with my eyes opened. I'd be a terrible blind person.
38. I really enjoy cooking and seem to be pretty good at it which is surprising cuz I didn't cook much at all prior to marriage.  The mantle of womanhood just fell upon me when I got married. Or I'm just good at following recipes.
39.speaking of food I'm hungry alllll the time.  I have a hard time finishing a full meal so im usually just eating all day long. Which I know attributes to my scronniness. I'm working on it.
40.I don't love summer. I like it and it's lots of fun but I get tired of the heat real quick.  Fall is my time. I love the brisk air and the colors and the seasons changing and the smells and the clothes ah it's so great,  plus fall means winter is coming which I don't particularly love either but I do like it. I think snow is great. I get tired of the cold but a hot chocolate and blanket are a pretty good fix. And then CHRISTMAS! I love xmas but again I don't go overboard. I just loveeeee the holiday season it makes me soooo happy!
41.I moved from a high school in the Chicago suburbs where there were more different ethnicities than there were white people on one year book page to a school in utah that had 3 black girls. They called themselves the 3anigros. (I think this is part of the reason I love all kinds of people, because I grew up with them)
42. I have OCD. Not like i wash my hands ten times,  or i count stairs, or line all my pencils up straight,  its ocd when it comes to picking. I pick my fingernails, fingers,  toes, lips, inside my mouth,  and I pick offmy mascara. Which sometimes results in a few eye lashes coming off and that usually stops me because I love my eyelashes. Idk why I do it. Its not just when I'm stressed its also when I'm bored. If I pick off (not bite, just pick)one fingernail, they all have to come off. This gets really irritating when I just spent 20 Min painting them all. I've tried everything though. I can pick acryllic, gel, whatever nails off no problem. 

My mom used to tell me id have to get shots in my fingers if I didn't stop and not even that worked!  Considering-
43. i hate shots!!! I hate the dr. ,Hospitals, dentist- anything that is associated with sick or pain-im out.

44. I have no self control when it comes to sugar.  If I make cookies Its pretty much guaranteed ill eat half the batch. Unless it's fast Sunday (which I still struggle with) I have no chance. Halloween candy lasted Me a week MAX.  Carton of ice cream?  4 days.
45. I wish I could play the Piano.
46. I don't really like games. Board games. .. video games.  SOME I do though, and get really into. But once I got my limit I'm done. Like 1 maybe two board/card games Is plenty a like maybe an hour of a video game. And it has to be like Mario party. No shooting army gory racing space stuff.
47. I did not cry in the fault in our stars. Or the notebook.
48. I could probably count on my fingers the Times I cried in h.s. and college.  I was not an emotional or dramatic teen at all (youre welcome parents) but then I got married and theres this thing called birth control which does crazy things to women. I stopped taking it after like 6 months of being on an emotional mad woman Roller coaster and I've never been the same.  So sometimes I cry now haha
49. Aquariums are possibly the coolest thing ever.
50. Jon and I really don't have anything in common and we come from like opposite ends of the universe,  but when I think about the term "soul-mate" it really seems to be an accurate description of how I feel about him.

51.I've never been out of the country.
52. When I was like 12 I had my own talk show that I would record myself with my dad's camera,  it was called indian talk show impressions. Im not going to say any more. Except that I waited till AFTER we were married to show Jon and I've never seen him laugh so hard.
53. I used to have a hamster that I literally think was a schizophrenic. She was so nice and sweet and then randomly one day she started ramming into the side of the cage and doing back flips off her block over and over for hours and if you stuck anything in her cage she was literally on it in .02 second attacking it like a rabid coyote. If that happened to be your finger you would have to bang her against the side of the tank to get her to let go.  Good times with her.
54. I love wrapping presents!
55.  I don't really like onion rings, but I love funyuns.
56. One time I totaled a car swatting a mosquito. Not one of my proudest moments.
57. I hateeee getting in trouble.  Ive never seen my dad mad but I never wanted to do anything to disappoint my parents.  Or teachers or bosses.  Once in 9th grade my teacher told me shut up cuz I was talking and I cried. (One of the times I counted on my fingers) I never had a "rebellious stage" mostly for this reason.  I'm tellin ya, I was a great child. Not perfect,  but great.  Youre welcome again parents.
58.my first kiss wasnt until I was 17
59.I love organizing but I hate cleaning.
60. I love old people.
61. I love dresses. Especially ones from the 50s ooh i wish I could wear them everyday.
62. Soldier home comings make me cry every time.
63. Hot chocolate needs marshmallows.
64. I LOVE smores! They need to be legit though. No substitutes.
65.im a sucker for makeovers. I just love seeing before and after photos. People and houses.
66.I cannot comprehend how someone could be a vegetarian.
67. I can make hideous facial expressions. And I have mastered them.
68. I don't like motorcycles.
69. Ive never been to hawaii.
70. Puppies=happiness

71. I think lip stick is so pretty. Jon hates it haha
72. Idon't think im high maintenance but Girls Eyebrows are a big deal. But im superrr weirded out by guys that do their brows.
73. Although jon looks like a GQ model when he cleans up and wears a suit, I much prefer his rugged, working all day ,dirty hands and boots manly look. Ooh lala!
74. I have a freakish good memory when it comes to lyrics.  I can hear a song like twice and know every word. And I Pretty much remember every song I've heard. I could sing you every song I learned in music class in second grade.
75. I don't get why women compare themselves to others so much.  Just be happy with yourself. Its not hard.
76.im totally not a racist, but I think racist jokes are hilarious.
78. So are women jokes, oh they kill me.
79. I have relatively dry skin but I've never really used lotion. I mean I have it, but im not an avid user by any means.
80. I rarely wash my face.
81. Im fluent in american sign language.
82.I dont wear perfume regularly.
83. I have pretty accurate aim. I played a lot of baseball growing up.
84. I love watching movies.
85. I don't enjoy reading. I dont read fiction books for enjoyment. Ive probably only read a handful of fictions book for pleasure If im going to read something I want it to benefit me. Which is why I mostly only read church related books.
86. Waitressing is the only job ive never gotten bored of, and i've had A LOT of jobs.
87. I like watching sports, but I usually dont really know whats going on. Except in volleyball.
88. Im verrryy skeptical of lots of natural medicinal things.. like oils.. foot zoning, things like that. If it works for you great.
89.im sooooo unmotivated when it comes to working out.
90. I rarely wear jewely
 I always wear my wedding ring and ctr ring but thats it. I will go through phases where ill wear necklaces, bracelets, or earrings, bit its usually just my rings.
91. Sometimes I'll watch a full infomercial idk why.
92. I LOVE to laugh.  When jon and I go on drives we always end up cracking up about something and that laughing so hard tears are streaming down your cheeks is my favorite feeling ever.
93. I could sit and just chat with my family for hours. I love to reminisce.
94. When I was younger I would watch Willy Wonka at every sleepover.
95. I love animals.  Zoos are the coolest.
96. I could quote the entire movie mean girls, dumb and dumber, or hot rod.
97. Ive never spent more than $20 on jeans.  And if you have your wasting your money.
98. I used to really like art. Drawing,  painting,  I was always in art clubs and even was in  an AP art class my freshman year of highschool and then I realized I didn't really love it anymore and I wasn't even very good haha so I dropped out and now I have no artistic skills haha
99. I love to vacuum.
Andddd 100.I used to looovvveeee black people. I was sooo set on marrying one. Jon stole my heart instead but its okay because he's really good at basketball so it's pretty much the same thing.
The end.

Welp, now you know more about me than you ever wanted to!  Lucky you!  Bye bye now!

As of late...

There's no point really in saying it's been a while because that seems to just be how it works now. I don't have a computer and there's no way I'm doing this on my phone so when I have enough pictures and stories to make a post I venture to the library... or work and start hammering out a post.

Since I post so infrequently, there's usually something always different that's been going on.

Many of you know I don't like to stay with the same job for very long. (Not because I get fired!!) Because I get bored, so I quit and go find something else. For some reason I've never had a hard time finding a job so I've got a variety of jobs under my belt. My latest one was offered to me while I was waitressing a table. (This isn't the first time that has happened) *flips hair and pats self on back* So long story short I'm currently the manager of two local Health Clubs. Pretty cool. who knew being in charge of people could be so fun! haha just kidding. But anyway, this job has some perks. Including a free gym membership which includes CrossFit. Which I recently started. So what I'm trying to say is i'll probably be ripped soon.

and by probably, I mean probably not, because I went for a week and then stopped, as all my ex-boyfriends could tell you, I have commitment issues. Except for Jon, he's somehow and exception :)

Speaking of Jon- When he and I first got married I gave him the ol' bait and switch talk about how I was going to make home-made bread (and other baked goods) all the time. Well we hit our 2year mark in June and I've made plenty of treats but hadn't even attempted bread yet. Every time we went grocery shopping he'd always give me the "I thought you said you were going to make bread all the time..." my excuse was that it was too hard because you have to knead the dough and I have the arm strength of a 6 year old girl. (actually to me more accurate a strong 10 year old)<--that's a story for another time.

I babysit for a family that makes Gluten-free bread all the time in their bread maker. So I thought maybe if I had a bread maker I'd make bread. Well I found one for $10 on a local classifieds page and jumped on it. I had no idea where to go from there so I just bought the Gluten-free mix the family I babysit for buys and gave it a whirl.

It was so gross. I should've taken a picture. It was about the size of a Cd case and on like 2 inches high. it was kind of funny actually but it tasted horrible. So I gave it to the chickens and tried again, this time using a recipe I found online and low and behold! Beauty! It was very good, especially with a little help from some honey butter and cinnamon!

I still haven't quite mastered it because it got dry pretty fast. But fresh, it was delicious!

Oh well I have eternity to master my womanly responsibilities.

Speaking of womanly responsibilities, my sister-in-law Hannah has been magnifying hers magnificently! She just had the first grandbaby on my side!

Little baby James.

What a thug.

He is so tiny but has huge hands and feet. He will probably be tall.

He's always wrapped In this little bundle and its so cute! I call him a baby burrito.

I think we'll keep him.

My parents are happy to finally be grandparents. (Sorry we're all slackers!) They have some big shoes to fill though, I had pretty awesome grandparents. All of which have passed away except my Mom's Mom. I am very grateful to still have her around but and grateful for the time I was able to spend with my Dad's parents this summer before they passed away not even a month apart from each other.

My Grandpa Harry was one of kind. He was the grandpa that would make up songs about you on the piano, always told you jokes, show you tricks,  and as he got older tell you the same jokes and show you the same tricks you'd heard a million times but still loved them because they were from grandpa.

He had struggled with Alzheimer's  and hadn't been himself  for a long time. It was sad to see him go but I was glad he was in a better place. His sweet wife Leah suffered with cancer for years so although it was sad to see them both go, we are so grateful they can be together again with healthy bodies!

In other news

A while back was national dog day. and we all know I'm all for celebrating that. I was thrilled to take a cute picture to post to instagram of my baby boy copper. I hurried home and was greeted by this, like always. Which I find adorable, but Jon hates. Idk why. might have something to do with the scratches all over the door.

classic shot.

I was trying to get him to just sit still for a picture (why did I bother) and for some reason he thought he was getting in trouble so he went and hid in the bushes. I was dying.

Then we attempted a selfie and I'd say it turned out pretty good.

Well that's all for now!

Quotes from Jon:

"It's not considered cocky if I'm actually better than everyone."

"You smell like a balloon."

Talking about a particularly difficult child-
Jon:I hate him
me: Jon...

Jon:I don't love him very much.

and my personal favorite-
"Unless you're a redhead, I don't know why anyone would ever dye their hair"

Bye!

Families

As I was putting together this blog post I was going through my pictures I noticed they all seemed to be related around the topic of family. So that's what this post will be about! My sister in law Hannah is going to have a baby in 2 months which will be the first grandbaby in my family! Woo hoo! And Jons sister is having a baby on wednesday! Our extended families are growing!    

 As for our immediate family, well here's some exciting news!

We had TWO more calves!

Yesterday, (sunday) Jon had to leave during 3rd hour to irrigate. I got a text from him saying Rhonda calved and Bambi would any minute! I hurried home after church and saw Rhonda's cute little baby calf. We named him Frank. Frankie for now while he's still cute and small.

 ( I couldn't get too close without the Rhonda looking like she was ready to plow me over with her horns.)

Bambi was having contractions which were interesting... coming from a cow. haha But anyway, we thought it would be cool to watch so we brought out some chairs and enjoyed the show.

I felt like watching a calf be born was my true initiation into becoming a farm girl. While we waited, Big delores came to visit and watch with us.

It wasn't until about 2 hours later, of her pushing, then laying down, standing back up, pushing, walking in circles, and mooing that she finally had the calf. It was so tiny! And aside from the whole process totally stressing me out thinking about how uncomfortable it is going to be to have a baby, it was a pretty cool moment! So proud of my cow! (<words I never thought I'd say)

For those of you who saw my insta video, yeah talk about precious.

So it was an eventful Sunday. Then I woke up this morning at 5:30 to some lovely baby moos.

And by lovely I mean extremely annoying, yet somehow I wasn't mad because they were so cute!

I got up and went outside to feed them.

I think Whitey is jealous of all the attention the calves are getting because she got real up close and personal this morning while I was feeding them.

(also I'm not sure if I mentioned this last time, but turns out Whitey is actually a girl... surprise!)

And last thing about our family, as you know we have a murderer on our hands, and so unfortunately Sandra is our lone survivor.

(aside from the fact that Lucy no longer has access to the pond, Sandra is the only duck out of the bunch that can fly so that probably attributes to her survival.)

She's still very friendly and comes right up to me looking for a snack every time I go to the pond.

We probably won't be getting anymore ducks anytime soon....

In other news one of my closest friends Allie, who was my roommate in college got married on Thursday!

Her bridal shower was the first time I'd seen her in months and of course the reunion was splendid!

Then for her wedding I wanted to wear one of my favorite new dresses but it's been needing a little adjustment so I whipped out my awesome Christmas present from my parents (that had yet to be opened, woops) and magnified my womanly calling of a wife and did some sewing!

Turned out pretty cute I'd say

Allie looked nice too I guess.

Kidding! she was a beautiful bride and it was a beautiful sealing and a wonderful reception! She married an awesome guy and I'm so happy for her and the family shes starting! 

It was also a neat wedding because it was my first time ever being a bridesmaid for a friend! The Maid of Honor to be more exact! Or matron of honor as Allie liked to tease, since I'm married.. I still don't know if that's the correct term. Oh well it was fun!

Here's the "silly" picture. I guess I was the only one who got the memo.

All in all it was an awesome day and I'm glad I was able to spend it with my huz.

And now it's time for some quotes from that huz of mine-

Quotes from Jon:

Me: Goodnight Jon, I love you
Jon: Night, Love you too.
silence....
Jon: I'm the queen!

Jon: That's trending.
Me: you mean trendy?
Jon: No I mean trending, like it's up and coming to be trendy. Don't you ever read the dictionary?

Jon: You're like my female twin. Minus your work ethic.

Me: There's a difference between being girly, and being emotionally unstable.
Jon: Idk sounds the same to me.



mucho love! adios!

Goodbye Facebook

As most of you may have noticed I deleted mine and Jon's facebook. (mostly mine, considering the maybe 3 times Jon scrolled through the news feed for less than a minute then said "i hate facebook" and turned it off.)

Some of you may wonder why I would do such a horrible thing, and i'm happy to tell you.

Facebook is not a necessity, it's a distraction.

Now you're going to say well so is instagram, so is a blog.

Which is true. But neither of these are a main distraction.

Facebook wasn't taking over my life, or making me ignore my life (jon might disagree with that), but it was still a distraction.

I didn't even use facebook that much but it was liberating to delete it. I literally felt more love for Jon once it was gone.

I know it can be used for good, (but so can lots of other things.) it was just so jam packed loaded with a whole bunch of junk.

 A bunch of stupid, pointless, negative junk.

And I am not a fan of negativity! Not one bit!

I could go on and on about the internet and facebook and celebrities,(it all forms together as one thing in my mind) and blah blah blah but I don't feel like rambling here in the library. (our internet still blows.)

I've been working on a poem that pretty much sums it all up, but it's not done yet, so i'll share that later.

But all in all it was a distraction, like I said, and why on earth would I want to be distracted from such a wonderful life?

I mean seriously, what more could i ask for?
(...Maybe a husband who likes taking pictures, but I wont push it.)

The answer is nothing.
I have such wonder and beauty all around me- I don't need to see 30 pictures of the alcohol infused trip to cancun that a girl in my 7th grade history class took last year with her boyfriend when I can walk out my back door and see this

<--Our first calf!

That last one is my cow. like, my very own cow. her name is bambi. cuz she looks like a deer, duh.

Dear 16..17..18yr old..(from ages birth-19.5) Lauren,

Did you ever think you'd own your own cow? How about 6 of them?

 How about a dog that looks like a drunk coyote/rabbit?

You didn't think you would. Probably because you were so distracted by your 700 facebook friends.

K i'm done talking to my past self, it's weird.

ANWYAY

It's been a while since i've blogged. I must've been distracted. haha

But lots of things have happened! we got more cows, like I mentioned, we celebrated a wonderful Easter Properly, with baby lambs at my grandmas.

Then our annual Easter kickball game at Jon's grandmas.

                                               
                                                                  Our victory pose.
                                                     (no idea if we actually won or not)

And of course some belly comparisons. I'll give you a hint, two of the bellies can be retracted.

It was a successful Easter.

We gave Melissa a perfect 30th Birthday present-

And the perfect mother's day gifts to our mamas- a practiced performance-

                                                            
                                                                     And a free-style.

 

We visited my grandparents in Arizona!

Met the craziest lady there ever was. Her and johnny were bffs.

Ate the most delicious explicitly named costco popcorn.

Then we came home and loved our children.

They love us.

And each other.

Had some one on one playa time.

We even got some turtles! Two, to be exact. We've been wanting some for the pond, and so I found some free ones on KSL, picked them up, and then released them into the wild.

                                                 

Haven't seen them since.

whoops.

And now for the latest tragedy on the LaRue farm...

The death of two of our ducks.

The ducks have gotten very used to us, and the dogs. running all the way up from the pond every time we came outside just to see if we would feed them.

The dogs never took a second look at them. Until one day.

To spare the gruesome details, apparently Lucy is a bird killer.

Which to my non-country educated friends/family- this is bad. verryyyy bad.

Turns out when if a dog kills a bird they crave the blood and guts or something so they'll do whatever they can to get more.. i.e. kill neighbors chickens and such.

So normalllyyyy people will put their dogs down if that happens.

But obviously my heart couldn't handle losing another "child" so Lucy has been converted to an inside dog.

I think she's fine with it.

                                               

But RIP Dennis and Maggie. <3

                                                

Dennis had been through a lot, getting hit by a car, and being attacked by two dogs. He probably lived longer than he should've. But I definitely cried.

Maggie on the other hand, kind of a jerk. Wasn't too sad about that one.

Our current stats:

We have 6 cows, 3 dogs, and 2 ducks.

Oh yeah, and we're still super in love.

                                               

Bye!