Exasperated.

If I had an emoticon that followed me around and floated above my head depicting which emotion I was currently overwhelmed with, today would be Exasperated.

I just googled it. And this is what Google found for me.


But this one was kind of my fave.


Oh yes.

Which, I totally planned on blogging this morning, like early. And if I would have, this blog would be a totally different story. Although, I still plan on getting to that later.

Right now. I'm going to whine and complain about the craziness of my life.

And by that I mean kids.

Today was one of those days where we did a bunch of fun things. Like, we got to sleep in for a little bit and then take an easy morning, hang out at Bible Study and then take lunch to one of our dearest friends who just had a baby. She has kids almost all the same ages as mine and our oldest have been friends since before birth. Or at least immediately after. Anyways, they are besties and it's an unspoken agreement between our two families that my two girls and her two boys are already involved in an arranged marriage.

:)

But then she went ahead and had another boy on us, so what is Stryker supposed to do????

I'm so not happy about it!

Just kidding!!!!

Anyway. Today should have been a super super fun day. Could have been a super super fun day.

Except.

It wasn't.

I mean. It was.... It was when we were arrived at our destinations and I was no longer in charge of my children. But every time in between felt more like I was tearing my hair out then trying to get somewhere, put on a happy face and enjoy myself.

I saw a lot of red today.

A lot of red.

And the whole time I'm thinking to myself, what the H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks am I thinking having ANOTHER kid??????

Seriously! Maybe there was something there with that whole two kid rule thing....

Just kidding.

Kind of.

Because now that I'm half bald and worried I just took years off my life from the stress of today, I'm starting to pros and cons list my children and figure out which ones are going to make the cut and which ones are going to be sent off to close family members because I am apparently too ill-equipped to take care of them!

Just kidding again.....

Kind of.

Again.

It was a rough day.

So rough that when I got to Bible Study and tried to drop Stella off at her classroom and she wouldn't go in and she wouldn't go in, the Helper came out into the hall, got her and said, "Come on honey, you're mommy looks tired...."

Which normally is true. But today I actually looked CUTE! I was all ready for spring and had fun jewelry on.

I even wore a denim jacket, so I didn't look like I was necessarily on my way to a funeral.

Although. My halter maternity dress was still black. So if it was a funeral, it was like a super laid back casual one. Like maybe for an elderly cowboy or something....

:)

Anyway.

Then I get home and Zach takes one look at me. Ok, maybe three or four, and says "I need to go to the store, I'll take the kids so you can have some alone time."

Isn't he the sweetest? I think so.

But seriously. What am I going to do with four kids?????

Let's just hope and pray and really hope and really pray that by the time this fourth little punkin gets here, Stryker will have learned not to crawl on top of the table and dump out three bowls of cereal and milk while I am trying to dress two girls who have become so picky about their outfits they require at least six or seven wardrobe changes a morning while I'm still in my pajamas staring at a clock that is showing me the time we are supposed to have arrived somewhere, not still be parked at home!!!!!

Whew. Big breath!!!!!

That wasn't even the half of today by the way. It has just been something else... Let me tell ya!!!

Anyway! Enough complaining.

Let me tell you something exciting. Something amazing! Something that pretty much made my life!!!!

Ok, that's not exactly true... But I was pretty thrilled with the whole experience.

So. Last night, Zach and I wanted to go on a date. We had this groupon that we've been super excited about using but just hadn't found the right opportunity yet and so we called up my sister-in-law last night and asked her to babysit for just a couple hours whilst we took off for dinner.

When Zach and I go out for dinner, sometimes... Ok, Most of the time we like to go to super, super ethnic places. Like the more Out-Of-America we can get the better!

We love Sushi(I know that's not that much of a stretch...) and Thai and African and Middle-Eastern and authentic Mexican.

And of course Chinese, but not authentic Chinese. Let's get real. We just want our take-out!!! :)

We actually do like authentic Chinese, but nothing compares to Golden Palace. Ok.

However our favorite out of ALL of these is... Indian.

Oh my gosh, I could eat Indian every day of my life and be the happiest girl alive!!! I love to eat it and cook it and experience it. I mean, the best Indian experience I ever have is when I just dive right in with my fingers and make the Phalanges Spoon!!!!

So. Last night was Indian food. At this fantastic little Indian restaurant that is like the real deal. Zach got his Lamb Vindaloo (His fave.) And I got my Chicken Madras Curry. (My fave.) We both got mulligatawny and the naan was just amazing. And Zach drank his King Fisher. While I enjoyed my Chai Tea. My real Chai tea. I mean I could taste the tea leaves. It was that good!!!

I mean, this was a seriously great meal.

But that's not the exciting part....

It's a small little place, so late at night on a Wednesday the only waiter that was there was actually the owner. He is from Southern India and the nicest guy.

So we sit down and he comes over to take our drink order.

Now mind you I'm out on a date. So I am dressed up....ish. And I've got my jewelry on, which is chunky and clunky and probably a little too much anyway.

But he looks me over and says "Oh wow, that looks like it's from India, is it?"

And I start mentally calculating which piece of jewelry most looks like an Indian piece. But then he specifies by nodding to my nose ring.

.........

And I say excitedly.... Not from India, but it is from Sri Lanka!!!!!

And he does his bobble head shake thing and says, "Basically the same thing!" So then he gets super excited and I get super excited and then he takes a picture of me to show his wife.

Or. At least that's what he told us he was going to do with it...

But, this made my WHOLE night! Because first of all, I did get it done in Sri Lanka but I had NO idea you could necessarily decipher between my nose ring and any other nose ring done in the US.

And second of all, because I went through so much pain and hell to get the ring that it just made me so grateful somebody could actually tell it was from another country!!!!!!

It was really exciting for me.

Zach tried really, really, really hard not to roll his eyes, but I was on cloud nine!!! :)

My nose ring is probably one of my most favorite parts of me... Although it's not really a part of me, but you get the idea!

When Zach and I were engaged for three whole, long months, I took off for six weeks of that to go work Tsunami Relief in Sri Lanka.

It was an amazing experience and I met so, so, so many wonderful people, I just can't even tell you! i just had the best time. And I actually got to help people to, so it was great.

But the best part of it all was developing all the friendships that were created over there.

One of those relationships was with the sweetest family in the world. Seriously, they were soooo amazing! And the dad was a jeweler in the local area. So, whilst I was engaged, I ended up having him make a ton of jewelry for me. He made all my bridesmaid gifts which were pretty little garnet necklaces, he made my mother several pieces, and he made Zach and my wedding rings.

Needless to say we became very, very close.

So. Because I don't wear diamonds and Sri Lanka was a huge, pivotal part of why I choose not to wear diamonds or support the industry, my wedding ring is made with white sapphires.

And as a wedding gift, because we had become so close, the jeweler, Mr. Fahir, took me to get my nose pierced. It's custom in some Southeast Asian families for brides to pierce their nose and so that was a gift that Mr. Fahir wanted to give me.

It is a white sapphire to match my wedding band.

And that is why it is so special to me.

But. Let me continue the story because how I got it is even better. In fact, how I got it is the reason I will never, ever, ever take it out. I will be buried in it. Trust me.

So, he asked me to meet him at the local doctors office/clinic to get the ring done. And I took a friend with me because she had pierced hers before and I felt like I needed moral support.

I mean, I didn't get my ears done until I was 18. Which was totally my dad's choice, he said if I wanted anymore holes in my head I'd have to pay for them myself. And in Nebraska you can't legally pierce anything on your own until you're 18... So anyway.

My ears were rough because then I ended up being allergic to tons and tons and tons of earrings.

Ok. Moving on.

Heather went with me and I'm asking her what happens and she's like, well first they'll numb the area and then stick a needle through it and then thread the ring.

I'm like, ok, sounds easy enough.

So we get to the office and the doctor proceeds to disinfect the nose ring and my nose and that's it.

Heather's like, "Ok, where's the needle?"

Nobody answers.

And Mr. Fahir is there too, assisting the doctor.

They mark my nose and start to examine everything and Heather's like, "UMMM??? Where's the needle???"

No answer.

I'm mildly freaking out at this point, but I don't really know what to expect, so I keep my mouth shut.

Then. The doctor takes the nose ring, which is actually like an Earring Stud, it has a back and everything, and presses it against my nose.

No numbing stuff. No needle. Just the dull earring metal and my skin.

I'm like. Uh......

And then he presses in. And presses. And pushes. And shoves. And all but hammers that earring into my nose!!!! Yep, dull earring to tender skin!

Oh my word. Talk about pain.

And then it gets stuck about half way through and the doctor backs up and Mr. Fahir and him start examining it and walking around my head and talking about their options and I have to literally bite my tongue to keep from screaming, "JUST PUSH THE DAMN THING THROUGH!!!!"

Oh, lord, it was so painful, I just can't even tell you!!!!

Finally, they get the ring through my nose and there was like this popping sound when the back broke through the interior of my nostril... Oh good grief. But then they have to wrestle with my nose again to get the back on it!!!

Needless to say, my nose swelled up so bad it completely swallowed my brand new piercing. And I don't know if you have seen my nose ring or not, but it's like an earring stud. It's not anything like the tiny little barely there things, girls in the States get. Mine is a honking piece of jewelry. Completely swallowed up by one side of my nose!

Before child birth it was like the most painful experience of my life.

So more than this sweet reminder of a wonderful family I came to love while in Sri Lanka, it is a badge of honor, a battle wound and I wear it proudly!!!

And now I know for sure that it actually looks foreign!!!!!

I'm just so excited about that I can't even tell you!!!! :)

I went with my sister in law to get hers done while we were in Colorado.

She didn't even feel it go in.

Yep.

I'm a little bit resentful!! :)