I have a Mansion

No, this isn't referring to the game M*A*S*H... and unfortunately it isn't nearly as glamorous as it sounds. I have a "mansion" is the phonetic way of saying that: I have a man chin. Every time I moan that I have a man chin, John asks, "you have a mansion? I want a mansion!" yeah. haha.

So back during my first year of college, for some reason my hormones decided they wanted to be more masculine. I began growing these thick, coarse, dark hairs on my chin. There really weren't that many, but it was still embarrassing, so I shaved them off. I think back somewhere in my past I heard a horrible beauty rumor that if you shave hair off it will grow back darker and thicker. Well, I must be living proof that that's true. Over the years the few hairs turned into a small little forest of hairs, right on my chin. Two little patches, one on each side. Sometimes people would tell me that I had dirt on my chin. What do I say to that!? When I KNOW it's NOT dirt, but I'm mortified that they would discover that it's HAIR! And once I had a college professor who was concerned for my mental and emotional well being and he asked about the dark patches on my chin, believing them to be bruises. That was embarrassing.

To manage this manly growth on my face, I've shaved, plucked, done electrolysis, smeared dirt all over my face so the spots on my chin blend in... nothing has worked permanently. In fact, it's progressively GROWN worse as the years go by. About two years ago I even tried laser hair removal. I endured the zapping pain, the swollen redness of my face, and the smell of fried flesh for a few months in hopes that this would be the PERMANENT removal of these stupid black hairs growing on my face. And after my last appointment, I was ecstatically thrilled that there really was no more of that thick hair growing on my chin! It lasted for about six months, and it really was the happiest time. The feeling of a smooth face... MY smooth face, was heavenly!

Then, slowly, little at a time, the hairs started coming back. Except, I noticed they seemed to be growing in places they weren't growing before. I was getting more of the hairs along my jawline and on the right side of my neck rather than my chin. With more time, though, my chin filled in too. I began shaving them again, always meaning to go back to the laser hair removal place and see if they would zap my face again for free, hoping there was some kind of guarantee. Alas, I became pregnant before I ever made it back to the clinic, and I can't be zapped by lasers if I've got a baby in me. So I'm bearing with it, and it really is horribly obnoxious and annoying. My 6 year old sister likes to pat my face, and along with that comes comments like, "you feel like my dad!" Oh dear. Don't say that, please, don't say that. I KNOW it's true, but just pretend it really isn't that bad, okay? For my sake?

I used to be completely paranoid that people would notice this deep (well, not so deep, only SKIN deep) "dark" secret of mine, but I've gotten over that by now. Obviously, since I'm revealing it to the world. I figured though, that I would write this post so that all of my female friends can know, when they look in the mirror and feel like they're having "one of those days," that their "beauty" problems could be a LOT worse. Just think of me next time you feel like complaining and be extremely grateful that you don't have a mansion.

Nieces & Nephews

This is a shout out to all of our nieces (2) and nephews (8) that: WE LOVE YOU!!! :)

I don't have any nieces or nephews comin' from my brother and sister yet, so these are all on John's side of the fam. John has SIX sisters (he's the only boy) and three of them are wonderful moms of these little kids. Our little Joseph (who is coming in just two months in case you weren't counting) will be my mother-in-law's 9TH grandson and 11TH grandchild. She's definitely reaping all in all the boys that she lacked when she was raising her own kids! And Joseph will be NUMBER ONE grandchild for my mom and she is super excited! Anyway, we do get to spend a lot of time with John's side of the family and we love seeing all the different personalities in the kids and watching them grow.

A few weekends ago we went up north, near Tooele, to attend the baptism of our oldest niece, Sierra. Most of the family was able to be there and be a part of that special day for her.

Here's "the boys" walking to church. We're missing the three youngest ones in these photos, but have no doubt that they are loved just as much. These cousins LOVE when they are able to spend time together and are practically inseparable, as you can see! I'm excited that Joseph will be added to such a loving bunch of cousins!

Earlier this week, John told me about Friday night movies that they show outside on a big screen downtown St. George. On Friday (yesterday) they happened to be showing Horton Hears a Who. Since we needed an excuse to go see a kid's movie out on the town square, we spontaneously offered to take Doug & Diane's boys with us and give them a date night. They were thrilled and we had a lot of fun with their three oldest, Davin, James & Bridger. Joshua went with his parents since he's still a youngin'. It was a fun "date night" for us and the boys had a blast.

Anyway, I sure am grateful to have married into such a wonderful family! John and I have the honor of passing on the "Humphries" name to the next generation and I only hope we can follow in the footsteps of my wonderful in-laws. Here's the to Humphries!!

Dreams Can Come True

So John calls me this morning and tells me about his dream he had early this morning. He dreamt that at work his boss, Randy, says, "Hey John, come here. I want to talk to you for a minute." And then after following him into his office, Randy proceeds to give John a raise. He was kind of bummed when he woke up and realized it was just a dream.

Then he told me that at work that morning Randy said, "Hey John, come here. I want to talk to you for a minute." He followed him into his office and Randy proceeded to give John a $2 raise!

weird huh. :)

Voice Change