The Stays

Richard and Emily's adoption

2012-01-16T19:09:00.000-08:00

I've known Richard and Emily since I was in high school, (see above-PROM!)and I have to say...they were always people to look up to. They're hoping to adopt, and I wanted to share their information.

I had the chance to talk for a bit with Emily recently, and afterwards I felt so excited for her. She has so much love in her heart for the baby that will be joining their family. You only have to talk to her for a few seconds to know how strongly she feels for this baby she's loving in her heart right now. She also has such love and respect for the birth mothers looking to place their babies. I wish I could jump into my blog and yell at you about Richard and Emily's awesomeness. It's like this: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is a link to their adoption blog:
www.richardemilyadoption.blogspot.com

Please take a look!

David Archuleta? Made me cry?

2011-12-20T09:58:00.001-08:00

I saw this video earlier on facebook and burst into tears when he did. Here is what I know about David Archuleta:

-from UT
-LDS
-American Idol...but I'm pretty sure he didn't win...?

And still I cried! I'm going to be so embarassing to my kids! I loved seeing a sweet boy make a tough choice, but one that will make his life better.

This made me happy. You go, Glen Coco.

James Lifts

2011-11-16T22:34:00.000-08:00

http://www.lukestay.com/images/jameslift.gif

Courtesy of my brother, Luke

New Joisey

2011-11-10T14:29:00.000-08:00

In September, we drove to New Jersey to spend the weekend with Ben's sister and family. We got to meet our newest little nephew and attend his blessing. I have to say, I have adorable nieces and nephews. Seriously, people. They are CUTE! When I was dating Ben I used to tell him I was in it for his brother's kids. We've been blessed with lots of new nieces and nephews since then, and little Sam is perfection, just like the rest.

While we were there, we went to the Jersey Shore and it was SO FUN. It's also the only thing I got any pictures of, which I'm so sad about!

I have been dying to try a deep-friend twinkie ever since Mysti told me about them a few years ago...and my dream finally became a reality. Oh.my.GOSH. It was AMAZING!! I can now cross "deep fried twinkie" off my bucket list.

It turns out James loves the beach, he had so much fun! I can't wait for summer to come back.

Virginia Day of Service

2011-11-09T13:49:00.001-08:00

September 24th was the Virginia Day of Service, so we went out with our church and picked up trash in our area. Here are a couple of pictures!

Aren't my Stay men cute?

Dirty Sneaky Dirty (CUTE!) Raccoons

2011-11-05T12:57:00.000-07:00

Ben had a Scout campout last night, and I was spending the evening getting crafty. It's always creepy when Ben isn't home, and around midnight I got really scared because I heard someone rummaging around our backyard/on our back steps. Turned out it was just a bunch of raccoons. I was so mad at them for scaring me so badly, but I must have watched them for a solid 20 minutes. I took some video because I didn't think Ben would believe me. I was so grossed out that they were touching all of our stuff and running around our backyard, last night I was 200% positive that we would get rabies if we used our backyard again. When I showed the video to Ben this morning, I decided they are the cutest dirty things in the world and I love them. I'm ready to adopt.

Funny how some sunshine and Benjamin change the way I see things. I even likened them to velociraptors at one point last night, and I had my cell phone in my hand (with 911 dialed and ready to press send) because I was certain a 7 foot man with a weapon was in my yard.

p.s-Someday I will post normal things about the actual interesting stuff that we do!

Bob the Builder

2011-09-29T15:29:00.000-07:00

I.LOVE.HAVINGATWOYEAROLD.

James ran in circles singing, "Bob the Builder!" for a rrrrrrreally long time today. It was awesome. :)

First ER Trip...this will be long :)

2011-09-17T05:20:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I had to take James to the ER. (Before you panic-this is not a big deal.) There is a little playground right by our grocery store, and I decided to stop there last minute before running to in for groceries. James fell off the play set and smacked his face right into a plaster suitcase on the ground. (The playground has an airplane theme.)

I immediately scooped him up and saw that I might have a problem. Another mom handed me her baby's burp cloth for the blood and someone else handed me frozen vegetables she had just purchased before stopping by the playground. I couldn't get James to keep the vegetables on his lip, so I tried running through the checklist of things I remembered from first aid training. Haha. One of the moms there was a nurse, and she said I should go ahead and take him to the ER. I gave back the now bloody bag of veggies and completely blood-soaked burp cloth and off I went. (I'm sure those moms threw those out. Ew.)

I stopped by Urgent Care first, because according to their website, they take care of stitches. I walked in and immediately thought something was wrong, because everybody freaked out. Granted, I walked in with a bloody-faced toddler that was screaming and bleeding all over my shoulder...but I kind of thought kids falling and biting their lips should have been pretty standard for them. After kind of yelling at someone behind a desk to hustle, a nurse took me back. She panicked and said she needed to go get somebody else. The next woman comes into the room and tells me that he is going to need surgery to remove a hematoma from his lowerlip and stitches for sure. She said I needed to drive him to the ER, and they wouldn't be charging me. (To which I thought, "GOOD because you didn't DO ANYTHING.") Needless to say, I was not a fan.

On the drive to the ER, James went from screaming to almost immediate silence. When I looked at him, he was slumped over in his carseat with his eyes closed. I had checked his pupils at the playground and they were fine, but I felt really uncomfortable with him sleeping, so I started screaming his name every few seconds. At one point I called my SIL to tell her what was going on, and ask for advice...largely because I was freaking out because he was so hard to wake up.

I get to the ER, and the doctor said he bit his lower lip pretty deep and his gums had some swelling/bleeding, but he wouldn't need stitches. Just popsicles and antibiotics. (YAY!!) I was so happy. Take THAT, Urgent Care. He did order a CT scan, because he was concerned about James behavior when we first arrived. He was still being a bit unresponsive. He also wanted to make sure he hadn't damages his hard palate. The lady that gave him the CT scan asked me if he would lay down in the machine completely still for five minutes straight. Um no. They strapped him into a straight jacket thing and started, while I was trying everything in my power to calm him down. He kept screaming, "STUCK IN THE BED!!" and "MOMMY PLEEEEEEEEASE!!!"...After several minutes of failure, a book from my purse did the trick.

His tests came back fine, and after several hours...we came home. I guess he was just super tired from screaming his little heart out. And James ate 3678 popsicles. His lip took a while to...deflate. It had been so puffy that when he would scream, only half of his mouth looked open. It really freaked me out. When we left, the doctor said, "I'm sure I'll see you again, you have a boy."

Sometimes when I'm washing his face after meals he will tell me to be soft because of his boo boo...still trying to milk it. :) He was so awesome through the whole thing, we spent a loooong time waiting there for the results of the CT scan. We set up all of James' farm animals and snuggled on the little bed. He totally loved all of the attention from the nurses.

Now that I have written you a novel about my kid's first trip to the ER.....enjoy your weekend! James and I are heading out now to our community yardsale, and Ben is still at a Scout campout. Happy Saturday!

The Meldrums and Cooties

2011-07-23T20:53:00.000-07:00

Over Memorial Day, we had an awesome vacation with the Meldrum's up to Boston. The Meldrums are much better about documenting their lives than we are, so you can see more about the trip here (thanks for letting us mooch off your post!). We loved getting to spend the long weekend with them, and I am looking forward to the boy's weekend Brett and I will be having in August while his ladies are away--comic book movies, rock and roll, and fatty food!

James learned something new on this trip though despite Avery's contagious smile and playful laugh...girls have cooties!

We thought that maybe he had learned better after he had spent the day with Avery, but apparently not.

By the end, I think he might have gotten it figured out.

Thanks for meeting up with us Meldrums!

Booty Shaker

2011-07-22T13:25:00.000-07:00

Another video, this one demonstrating James' sweet dance moves. He's going to pick up a lot of ladies with these, I just know it. This video was taken a little bit before Easter, and I already feel like he's so different. Don't worry though, his dance moves only get smoother with age. :)

National Zoo

2011-07-12T13:51:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, we took James to the National Zoo. He has porcupines in a Noah's Arc set and loves them. Out of all the animals we talked about seeing before going to the zoo, he kept asking to see porcupines. Our video camera ran out of batteries by the time we made it to the porcupine, but I did get a video of him asking to see porcupines over the awesome tiger. In case you don't speak James, he says, "See some more porcupines? Go see some more."

Here's to you Moms!

2011-05-08T01:53:00.000-07:00

Today is a special day, and I never really know how to celebrate it properly. How can you really show sufficient appreciation to the mother of your child, the woman who gave birth to you, or even the woman who raised the most wonderful girl in the world? Really, mothers today do not get enough credit for what they do, so here's my attempt to at least highlight some of the great things about the mothers in my life:

1) The most beautiful and wonderful mother in the world:

My Rebekah has never wanted anything more than to be a mother. She feels and knows that is her true calling in life, and she is great at it. This is the girl who keeps our family running and has made sure we do not fall apart. She is the queen of budgets, coupons, and the kitchen; she is James' favorite playmate and my best friend; she is a master of home remodeling and has already remodeled a fantastic salon, our basement, our living room, furniture, and is in the process of remodeling our entire kitchen - de-wallpapering, sanding, staining, spackling, and painting all by herself. She is smoking hot! Somehow she manages to make our delicious meals, keep our house orderly, remodel the house, take care of James, be a top notch hair stylist, and be a loving, caring wife all within a day. Let's face it, she puts up with me on a daily basis which is a large feat all by itself and still manages to constantly show me and tell me she loves me. Are we spoiled to have her on Team Stay? Yes. Do I know how she does it? No, I still have no clue. In a place where most people define themselves by their profession, I am proud to say that my wife has the hardest job in the world and she is the best at it. Here's to you love of my life! You truly are the best mother in the world! We do not deserve you but we are so very lucky we have you.

2. The best mother I ever had:

It is not easy to raise a Stay, let alone be married to one. My mother raised six kids, all of whom are healthy and happy. For a number of years she was practically on her own raising us when work took my dad away on business for a couple of weeks out of every month. My mom taught me to be practical, to "get off my duff", to clean and cook, to take care of myself, to always see the other side in an argument or debate, to "not be bothered", to love the Red Sox and Patriots, to gain a testimony of Jesus Christ and His church, to remain optimistic regardless of the circumstances, to live on a budget, to camp in style, to do more with less, to question things that are not right, and to always keep a happy attitude. It seems like nothing ever phases her and she is always happy. My attitude towards life and the world around me largely comes from her, and as I get older, I see more and more the strong woman that she is and all she sacrificed to be the best mom I could have ever had. Here's to you Mom! I do not know how you survived the six kids you were given in this life, but I think the Lord knew the great mom they were going to have who could do better than anyone else at making us who we are today. Maybe you're getting at least some reward with all of these grandchildren you have that think the world of you.

3. The mother who raised the love of my life

My wife is great, and so much of that is thanks to the woman who gave her life in Bern, Switzerland years ago. She carried four children across the world where she had to quickly adapt to new and often scary circumstances though her children never knew it because she was so great at being a loving, protecting mother. She even had to evacuate a country with those children and leave her husband for 6 months while she took care of them on her own back in the US. Truly a strong and courageous woman! She raised her children with a love of history, culture, and people, managed to be both a school teacher and full time mom, and continues to be a wonderful and loving grandmother to my son. She has also welcomed me into her family and has always been very kind and loving to me. Here's to you Mom Terry! Thank you for raising such a great family and allowing me to be a part of it.

Happy Mother's Day!

Kate & Will 4Eva

2011-04-29T20:03:00.001-07:00

Did you watch the Royal Wedding? You can bet your buns I woke up bright and early! You know I had to be there for my BFF Kate! I have had a mild obsession with her since they got engaged, plus I love two people in love making the choice to get married and ride off into the sunset. Ben and I rode off in a Toyota, the royal couple in a carriage, followed by an Aston Martin. Pretty similar, really.

Call me crazy, but my Mom got up early to watch when Charles and Diana were married and I was not going to miss the wedding this morning. I loved it!! I've heard it said that all the fuss is silly and even that it is un-American to wake up just to watch them wed, but I say hooray for love. I was happy to see something joyful on the news and watch a happy part of history unfold.

This dress will be in my dreams forever! I thought it was perfect. Every time I'm shopping I think to myself, "Would Kate Middleton wear this?" The answer is always NO, because I don't think she shops the clearance rack at Target, but whatever. I'm just happy she's keeping it classy.

Today was a happy day, I got yard work done, sanding done, a haircut done, (Sarah H if you're reading this, it was Elizabeth!) people celebrated love, and Ben got home before 5. 5:00, people! I loved it. Goodnight!

Stay Family Current Events

2011-04-10T05:48:00.000-07:00

Here is the low down on what we're up to these days. Be warned-we are boring!

Benjamin:-Ben is working loads of hours right now, which nobody loves, but even when he gets home late and doesn't get to hang out with James at all and he's tired and still has to get up really early and do it all over again...he hasn't complained or been cranky. Not even once. :)

-Ben has been doing all sorts of handy-man things, which I find very attractive! Haha...he's learning a ton on his own and we have skilled family members in loads of different areas, (which helps) and I'm so proud of him for sticking it out. Most of the time I watch him and think, "how is he not frustrated and crying yet?" ...because that's probably what I would be doing.

-Ben has a new car! Yes,ladies and gentlemen, the Stays are a TWO CAR FAMILY now. It is kiiiind of super old, and you would laugh at what we paid for it, but he knows the previous owner and we know it has been well taken care of. It's been a huge blessing to have two cars this busy season. Most of the year Ben rides the bus to work, but with busy season he needs a car. I'm so happy not to be stuck without a car this go around!

-Ben is loving his Daddy role. I have to excuse myself to find some weakness tissue to dry my eyes quite often because I think it's so touching to watch the two of them bond. One of my favorite things to do is sit and watch the two of them play. I love them both so much.

-Ben is serving as the Asisstant Young Men's Advisor (or something) and gets to work with the Priests in our ward. (The 16-18 year old boys.) It means a lot to him to do a good job. And he is.

-GOLFGOLFGOLFGOLFGOLFGOLFGOLF! Warmer weather is rolling in, and the green is calling Ben's name!

Rebekah
-I'm having a lot of fun working on this townhouse of ours. I can't believe we've never posted any pictures of it. I'll try to get on that. Right now I'm working on our kitchen. Wall paper removal proved to be trickier than killing Lord Voldemort, but I'm in the clear now. YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-I turned a room in my basement into a salon, so I do hair while James is sleeping or with a babysitter. I LOVE it so much. Still one of the best choices I've ever made.

-I'm the ward librarian and an activity days leader, which is SO FUN. I love it. I'm in the library with one of my dear friends, Ie Li Z. FYI-it actually does NOT help to kick and wish an evil death upon the copy machine when it jams. For any Virginians reading this, Sr Schiraldi (you know her as Sr Allred) is my Activity Day partner, I'm LOVING IT!! She is just so amazing.

-I am in love with my husband, and I love my son. I feel like I don't have adequate words to tell you how much.

James

-It breaks my heart and fills it at the same time, but he's going to be two at the end of May. I just want to know who pressed the fast forward button on my life.

-James talks SO MUCH. I'm always amazed by the things he can remember.

-If you ask him what song he wants to sing, he will almost always say, "I am child God!". He's also a big twinkle twinkle fan. My favorite is when he makes the diamond with his little fingers.

-James loves to dance around the kitchen with me while listening to Glee music and Justin Bieber. So cultured at such a young age. :)

-He's started pointing out his emotions, which just makes me laugh. Sometimes when he cries he'll say, "saaaaaad" or he'll say, "scared!"

-These are a few of James' favorite things:
-garbage trucks...garbage days are a huge deal in this house
-firetrucks, ambulances, and police cars...if we hear sirens James gets very quiet and whispers one of the three with reverence and respect :) It cracks me up
-FedEx (feggex) and UPS(GPS)
-grapes and strawberries, he generally always remembers to say please when these things are on the table
-vacuum cleaners...this is a long time obsession and if we are at Target or Wal Mart he always asks to go see the vacuums. When we get to the Vacuum area he just says, "whoa."
-singing

That was a lot. Oh well! I hope everybody has a happy Monday.

2011-03-24T11:08:00.000-07:00

I love this!

Office Visit

2011-03-15T10:21:00.001-07:00

James and I met up with Ben for lunch last week, and it was so fun! Ben showed us around his office and then we went and ate lunch together. (I'm pretty sure James was the only toddler within a two-mile radius.) Ben is championing through the dreaded "busy season" right now, and since James goes to bed at 8, Ben can go a few days without seeing him awake. It was so nice to get to see Ben in the middle of the day! I also really liked seeing Ben's cubicle, which had James' face staring back at me on the screen saver.

James looks a little unsure in this picture, and I don't blame him. It was really quiet.

Here are some pictures!

2011-03-09T05:45:00.000-08:00

This isn't a post about anything, just proof that we're alive. :) Here are some pictures:

Heathen James:

Heartbroken when we had to come inside.

James still has blue eyes, maybe they'll change, maybe not.

Sledding in Boston-James is not a fan.

(I am in love.)

Love that little James-boy profile!

These range from November to now. I'll try to get better about putting up photos and STEAM STAYS updates!

SHABBY APPLE!

2011-01-26T17:19:00.000-08:00

Does anybody own a Shabby Apple dress? I don't. But I do look at their website and drool over their dresses...and if I had oodles of money, (I don't) I would spend it all there. My friend let me know that Shabby Apple is giving away a free pair of earrings to people right now just for posting about their favorite dress. How awesome is that? I love you, Shabby Apple. Here is mine:

Brown and White Giraffe Print Skirt White Shirt Dress- Fifth Ave

I feel pretty just looking at this dress. I love the pleats at the neckline and I dream about running around in this dress and a pair of high to the heaven burgundy heels.

The thing I really appeals to me about Shabby Apple dresses is that they're all modest. It would be so nice to just put on a dress and not have to worry about whether or not I have a clean cami to put under it. (Life is tough.)

Happy Wednesday!

2011-01-17T13:00:00.000-08:00

James' idea of potty training:

My good friends at Poison Control

2011-01-06T17:45:00.000-08:00

I've called Poison Control twice since James has been with us, the second time being yesterday morning. James came up to me saying, "yummy?" like he had put something in his mouth and was starting to rethink it. He was moving his tongue around and I was worried he had found a bug and tried to eat it or something. When I knelt down I noticed a coating of something white-ish on his lip, and then I realized that he had a half empty tube of super glue in his hand. It had been completely full, and upon further inspection, I saw that James had indeed pumped half of a tube of super glue into his mouth. His tongue had a hard coating on it and I could feel it on several of his teeth. Nothing was stuck together though. We don't have internet this week because we're switching providers, (right now I'm using it via Ben's phone) and I didn't have the number to poison control saved into my phone. (I do now...two times needing it finally got me to just program it in.) I called Ben at work and said, "wfinqw!@&^sidINEEDYOUTOLOOKUPTHENUMBERFORPOISONCONTROLoiwjf!!!!#(*& I called and explained, and a very nice man calmy told me that it was no big deal and I didn't need to worry. I just needed to put olive oil on his toothbrush and gently rub the glue off. He assured me that swallowing some would not harm him, he just might have some irritation on his skin. It came off easily and I guess I believed the man when he told me for the 57th time that no harm would come from swallowing some.

What's that, you ask? Don't I watch my child? Yes! He's juuust that good. I had been tickling him seconds before he brought me the bottle. Seconds in which he found the bottle, punctured it with his teeth and squeezed it into his mouth...and then decided he didn't like it but couldn't get it out. He's like a ninja, that one. Speed and stealth.

Has anybody else had to call poison control? Or am I the only one?

So now you know...if your kid eats super glue...olive oil and a toothbrush. Works miracles. Mostly though...just try not to let your kid eat super glue. :)

Happy Thursday!

Debt - the Basics

2010-10-19T18:17:00.000-07:00

So I finally got around to answering your requests to post about debt. This first post is an overview to make sure debt is better understood. I will post shortly about strategies to pay off debt efficiently. Leave any questions or comments on the post, and I will try and respond.

See the post here.

camping trip

2010-09-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

We went camping last weekend, and it was the best.thing.ever. Ben took Friday off and Thursday afternoon we drove to Bull Run Regional Park to camp. This particular campground held special interest for me because it is right next to the First Battle of Manassas. That was where Jackson stood "like a stone wall". Cool, right? I think so. James does too. Anyways...James hung out in the pack n' play while we set up the tent and then we ate our tin foil dinners. I LOVE CAMPING FOOD! We were kind of worried about how James would do with sleeping since he would be in a tent, I was expecting him to wake up all night. We have a four man tent, so we set his pack n' play up in the tent and after dinner, we put him in it and he fell right to sleep. He didn't wake up once...what a champ. Just like his mom on road trips! Ben and I spent the rest of the night sitting by our fire, eating s'mores and talking. It was the best thing in the world and I loved it so much. Here are some pictures of Friday morning:

We had planned on hiking around the battlefield the next day, but we decided to save that for another day when we would enjoy it more. We forgot our pillows at home, so I think James got better sleep than us. We were sleepy...so instead we came home that afternoon and took a two hour nap. Booyah.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

2010-08-09T12:34:00.000-07:00

Today is the day we celebrate the birth of Sarah Katherine Terry Porter, soooo this is a tribute to her awesomeness. Behold:

Sarah and Rachel

Sarah was the Prom Queen at her senior prom

3 Terry sisters-Me, Sarah, and Rachel

One of Sarah's many summer dance camps. One summer she spent several weeks in NYC for a summer intensive...she's such a big deal!

Sarah is the tutu in the middle, isn't she beautiful? She's been about an bajillion different roles in different performances in different styles of dance, including the Sugar Plum Fairy and Odette...so bomb

{Photography credit for the next two: http://kristinaileenphotography.blogspot.com/}

Isn't she crazy gorgeous? I'm seriously so proud of her...she's such an incredible dancer.

In 2009 Sarah Terry became Sarah Porter and married my amazing new brother, Jayce! They do amazing things, like hike Timp and camp out waiting to take care of people that get hurt along the way. (Jayce is a part of TERT)

Sarah is one of my all time best friends. Even though I'm the older sister, I've learned everything from her. Next to our Dad, she's the most selfless person I've ever known. We talk in movie quotes together, which I really can't do as well with anybody else. She snorts when she laughs, and she makes it look good. I love you so much, bebe. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

P.S-I WILL SEE YOU IN FOUR DAYS. HIGH FIVE...NICE

tricky tricky

2010-07-19T07:11:00.000-07:00

Ben noticed that one of our Wii remotes had gone missing, and we couldn't find it to save our lives. To make matters worse, it was my favorite remote, the pink one. (gasp) I made dinner for a group on Friday, so I pulled out my biggest pot to start cooking. Here's what I found:

Tricky tricky, James. I guess I really have to look EVERYWHERE if I can't find something from now on. Well played, sir.

James' Birthday! (...was over a month ago!)

2010-07-06T06:38:00.000-07:00

We're waaay behind on family events here, but just go with it. :) May 27th was a big day in our little family. James Terry Stay had his first birthday. (So weird.) This post is for James' birthday, so if you don't want to hear me talk about how cool it is being his mom, you should just stop reading and look at the pictures! We drove to Boston to spend time with Mama and Pop Stay on James' actual birthday, so we had a little party at our place on the 26th. Ben (aka THE GRILLMASTER) made some burgers and hot dogs for everybody and James opened up his presents. He got some awesome toys from everybody, thank you all SO MUCH!!! He seriously loves them! We went all out and got him a cardboard box. Yeah...just a box. I stuffed it with packing paper and wrapped it with gold paper, then taped it all up with packing tape so it's basically indestructable. Big spenda! Right now it usually serves as a parking lot for his sweet cars, a drum, and a chew toy. We're just happy he's easy to please. We also got him his cute little swim suit. Picture time:

Delicious cake, recipe courtesy of my rockin sis-in-law, Megan. (Sorry it's sideways.)

My family came, as well as the Schmutz family. Ken Schmutz is my Dad's cousin, and they moved with their six kids to the area nearly a year ago, which has been sooo fun. I don't have any first cousins, so having the Schmutz fam around is awesome. Love them!

Check out the food in this picture. We're just doing our part to keep America healthy.

We thought James would go to town with the cake, but he turned out to be healthier than we are. He wasn't a huge fan.

Aunt Sarah and Uncle Jayce came all the way from UT :-)

Being a parent has blessed our lives so much. I am a huge emotional sissy now, and I blame that on James and Ben. I married Ben in May 2007 and I had James in May 2009 and with those experiences I've become more and more like the women I used to make fun of for crying over everything. My capacity for emotion has increased and I think I feel things more deeply now. One change that caught me off guard is my relationship with my Heavenly Father. Right after James was born, I was holding him and I felt a rush of love for the little person I had been carrying for nearly nine months. I felt scared for the trials he would face and I wondered how he would handle them. I felt the need to protect him and take his difficulties away from him, but I knew that I couldn't. Mostly I knew that I was going to love him, no matter what. Then it felt like my world shifted a bit and I realized that THIS was the love Heavenly Father felt for me. I just felt extremely loved. I felt really stupid, because I'd always known that he loved me, but loving James had changed the way I felt that love. Ben and I have had the most amazing year of our lives with James, and we've been blessed every single day. Happy birthday, sweet baby James. :)

Tax Post on www.afrowhitey.com

2010-06-12T08:10:00.001-07:00

As mentioned previously, I was interested in starting a blog on finances. Rather than dealing with all that is required in setting something up, I am piggy-backing on my brother's website, www.afrowhitey.com, which provides useful tips and tricks for home theater and computer services.

If you're poor and looking for practical advice, it may be worth adding to your reading list. My first post is on Tax Credits vs. Deductions, which is something where every U.S. citizen should probably have a general understanding. You can view it here. After describing what you should consider with your taxes, I give some strategy I used on our personal return.

Leave comments with any questions you have.

Tax and Finances for those making less than six figures?

2010-05-23T17:29:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, I work in tax. With my background and just general desire to make smart use of my money, I have acquired a decent amount of strategies that are useful for this stage of my life: being poor and young.

For those of you who read this blog, I'm curious if you would have interest in tips and advice on taxes and finances in general. There's a lot of cool things you can do while you're poor that I think a lot of people do not realize. I'm not looking to make money off a blog or anything. I just love talking about this stuff as many of you may already know. Here's some ideas that have come to mind:

-Health Savings Accounts (HSA's)
-The Earned Income Credit (EIC)
-Investing for retirement when you're poor
-Tax credits, deductions, and strategy
-Current and proposed tax legislation - whether it's right or wrong, all these bills being passed have tax implications
-How to pay off debt when you're in debt
-Budgeting
-Insurance - Health, Auto, Life, AD&D, Disability
-Anything else you might be interested in...

I was thinking I could even have some guest postings from people I know who have more experience in the field. Honestly, there's so much out there to know that unless you have a background in accounting or finance, you might not really understand, especially if you're still in college or just started in your career. The blog would not just be informational, but I would also give my opinion on what I think most people should do.

Let me know if you have any thoughts or interest. If you are interested, tell me your top 3 areas of interest in order.

-Ben

WeezerTherapy

2010-05-07T09:24:00.000-07:00

Being the #1 fan of an 11-month old means lots of things. Here are a few:

I wear more food than I eat.
Did I wash my hair today? No. Will I wash it tomorrow? Yeah...I guess...maybe...
Some days you get peed on. You just do.

Would I trade it for anything? No. Never. I don't think I can emphasize NO enough. That being said, some days it's kiiiind of hard to feel like a girl. Enter, WEEZERTHERAPY. One of my all time favorite loveloveLOVE things is when Ben sings to me. The louder the better, full on belting. (Anybody remember Brown House karaoke parties?) Up until a few months ago, my favorite was "Baseball" by Ozma. It's been replaced by...THIS:

The Prettiest Girl In The Whole Wide World, by Weezer. Today I had macaroni noodles smushed into my hair by sweet baby James. I don't care though, because Ben thinks I'm the prettiest girl in the whole wide world. So suck oooon THAT, macaroni noodles. :)

Flying Baby

2010-05-02T15:22:00.001-07:00

Happy Sunday! :)

2010-04-18T17:07:00.000-07:00

James has a new best friend. And it is James.

He LOVES being around other babies, he'll usually start cracking up when he sees them. Babies at play group, the park, the grocery store, church...and in the bathtub. He loves his reflection in the overflow drain, it's so funny. (Overflow drain-is that even what that round thing is called? Oh well.)

Tax Man

2010-03-24T09:31:00.000-07:00

Alright, the only point of this post is to brag shamelessly about my husband. As of yesterday, Ben has officially passed all four sections of the CPA exam...on his first try. The CPA exam is a beast of a test, given in four sections, taken to become a Certified Public Accountant. I AM SO PROUD OF HIM! It reminded me of a conversation I had with my Aunt when Ben and I were dating. After I told her a little bit about him, she said, "So...he's a...rocker accountant...?" (followed by some laughing) Yes, yes he is. It's that rock star geekery that just makes me weak in the knees. :) Anyways, Ben is super relieved...and I am obviously really proud.

2010-02-23T10:03:00.000-08:00

Here are two videos of the James-man. They were taken within the last two weeks, and he's already changed so much. It's nuts. He's been pulling himself up to stand on the coffee table and couches. He's also taken a huge interest in our stairs, which I don't appreciate. ;-) His favorite place to hang out would be the kitchen cabinets, he loves getting into them. Watching him grow is the most amazing thing. I know that sounds so corny, but whatever. It is. There's a reason parents get all sappy and cheesy about their kids! :) I love life.

The land of Snow-bama

2010-02-09T15:49:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we received around 34 inches of snow (slightly less as you go further east into D.C.). School is canceled for the week and tonight we are expected to get another 12-18 inches. That could be over 50 inches of snow... Global Warming? Beats me, but this is crazy. Since I have been trapped in the house, I figured I would update the world with pictures.

Here I am shoveling after the first down pour of over 20" we had on Dec. 19. I thought this was pretty bad. We didn't have the ability to use one of our parking spots for about 2 weeks.

Here are some fun Christmas pictures we took in our backyard after the December snow. Notice our lovely tree acting as a backdrop.

This is a picture from the same spot last Saturday morning. The snow was just over halfway done at this point. You can't tell but its still snowing through the next few pictures.

After some much appreciated help from my neighbor Bill, we managed to get the tree to look like this. We only lost a few feet on the top, don't ask me how only the top broke.

Here's a view from the back of the tree. Look closely and you'll notice the series of rope tied to keep it upright. Hopefully that will make it last through the additional 12+ inches we'll get tonight.

Finally, some play time with James walking on the sidewalk. We still have not gotten him a snow jacket so this was the first time he went out in the snow. Needless to say, he wasn't out for very long.

I'll try and post if we get any other fun pictures after tonights snow. The snow plow piles are already over 8 feet tall, so it will be amazing to see how they handle another foot of snow fall. We've really had to re-evaluate our food storage practices which have been non-existent up until now.

The Entire Box of Candles

2010-01-29T05:11:00.000-08:00

I'm 24! January 21st was my 24th birthday. I love it. I got to use all of the candles in the box...and I blew them all out so I'm pretty sure that means I will definitely get my wish. In fact, I made two for good measure. I figured this would be the year to double it. I'm going for two wishes every year I use a full box. So...bring on 48! I had the best birthday ever, filled with Red Robin, presents, James, and Ben-Jammin. My Dad was so sweet and took us to dinner...and my sister, her boyfriend, and my brother came over the next day to make my birthday last TWO days. (Best idea ever.)

This is the chocolate satin deliciousness. And my 24 birthday candles, baby.

I got a bunch of free wrapping paper and told Ben the only stuff I didn't want to use was some creepy kitten/puppy stuff. Guess what he wrapped my presents in?

I love my husband. I love my sweet baby. And I love every birthday I get to celebrate with them. Here's to 24.

What if Mommy is a bigger baby than the baby?

2009-09-28T10:25:00.000-07:00

James had his four month appointment today. Second round of vaccines. James loved them just as much as he loved the first round, which was not at all. I have spent my entire life harboring an intense dislike for needles. Shots make my insides squirm. I thought it would get better in the last year, being poked a couple of times in the hospital when I delivered James, drawing blood for life insurance purposes, drawing blood for a couple of doctor's visits while pregnant...I figured I would get used to it after having it done so many times within a nine month period. All I have to say is GROSSEEWYUCKAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. That is generally what runs through my mind at various times in the 24 hour period leading up to a shot for me. Still. Ben has been sweet enough to sacrifice his hand to my nervous deathgrip on more than one occasion so that I have something to hold on to during a shot. (I love him.) It's entirely mental. I don't think they hurt, they just make me want to run away.

When James got his first round of vaccines Ben was able to be there so I got to hold James right after the shots were over and didn't have to see them. This time I went in on my own, determined to suck it up. We got the first part of his appointment done, which included James peeing all over the examination table as if to say, "I know whats coming and this is how I feel about it..." Then it came time for his vaccines, and the next thing I knew they were over and I was able to pick him up and comfort him. To be honest, I still couldn't actually watch the needles, I just held his arms out of the way and kissed his little forehead while he cried though them. However, I was right there holding him while she stuck him. I know that sounds pathetic, but I'm not joking...I hate shots. For me, it was amazing. So BOOYAH GRANDMA! I just have to laugh because I'm realizing over and over that in certain situations it's the baby raising the mommy. Here's to James, for helping his sissy-pants mom get over something she's always been terrified of. And he's only four months old, I wonder what he'll be teaching me by six months? :)

As of today, James is in the 90th percentile for both weight and height and 75th percentile for head circumference. He's getting so big, its rediculous. I love watching every minute of it.

Here's a video Ben took yesterday of James giving some very manly giggles. Enjoy!

Pictures and quick update

2009-08-02T19:21:00.000-07:00

Sorry we haven't updated in a while. We updated our picasa album with some new pictures that can be seen by clicking here. They start with Rebekah's graduation from Bon Losee, but here are some highlights.

Here Rebekah is happily clocking out for the last time. This was a week and a half before James was born.

Here's our "Big Papi" as Crystal calls him. He'll be a Red Sox fan for life I'm sure. I prefer to call him "Big Poopy". He weighed in at his 2 month check at a little over 12lbs. I don't remember the other stats but he was in the 75% for weight, 50% for height, and 70% for head circumference. We don't generally realize how chucnky he's getting except when we look at pictures.

On Sunday we blessed James. It was a little intimidating to be honest, but the Spirit was very strong. My parents, Crystal, Rachel, David & Talia & Kathryn, Bobby, and Rebekah's parents were all their to show him their support and love. We loved seeing all of them and getting to spend time together. We love them all and are grateful that James has such great examples to look up to.

The move out here was crazy, but I had great support from my old roommate Dave. His parents were so kind to let me crash at their place again. We drove straight through from Omaha to Virginia. My other roommates (Jeff, Brett, Jon, and Lowell) joined up with us for our scheduled brocation in DC for the fourth. We had a great time getting together and hanging out. It was great to catch up with everyone. Until next time! You can check out a little rock out session on facebook Brett, Jeff, and I had while we were together.

My awesone cousin Jason also came out for a visit. We got to go downtown a few times and see almost all the sites and also got an extra special treat by going on a sweet trip to Gettysburg, PA to truly see all that happened there. It was great to have him out here for a visit and we hope to see him and his family again soon.

My father-in-law was kind enough to take me to a Nationals game in their incredible new ballpark. I know it wasn't Red Sox, but I truly enjoy America's past time. We had a great view of downtown where we were. Other than that I've decided to dedicate full time to studying for the CPA exam. I'll be taking my first section Aug. 12 (BEC). Rebekah has been working on projects around the house and is hoping to get certified very soon to start cutting hair out here.

Baby video, pictures and Ben's summer update

2009-06-15T21:26:00.000-07:00

This is a video edited and narrated by Rebekah.

Click HERE for a link to more photos for those interested.

As far as an update on my summer goals. 1) Studying for the CPA exam hasn't happened yet. I have been accepted by the Virginia Board of Accountancy to sit for the exam, and I have gone through the tutorials on how to get started. I have decided to wait until Virginia to start really studying. The next unit is scheduled to start mid-July, so that's my new goal.

2) Watch 24...DONE! All 7 seasons baby! We're actually caught up to date because the 7th season came out on DVD half way into our blockbuster pass we had for a month. Pretty sick, we know, but it really is addicting. It brings to mind something about "wasting the days of your probation", but with our schedules out of whack thanks to the new family addition, it's been a nice filler.

3) Beat Call of Duty. Probably not gonna happen. I have played a little Wii but I keep getting drawn into Madden '08. Good stuff. Haven't played in about a month or more.

4) Play golf. The last day I was supposed to go golfing was the day James was born. My friend Neal and I were supposed to go to this great course in Midway, UT. Some other time. My friend Ian and I should be going sometime soon as well. I have gone enough to feel satisfied though. One of the places we're looking at in VA is right by a golf course and apparently you get a discount for living in the town. We'll see if that works out.

Other than that I have worked a couple times with a friend at church who owns a landscaping business. It's been nice to pick up a little work and get a work out at the same time. The pays not great, but it's beats what I get paid for watching 24 ;)

Rebekah looks great! She's been getting out more and more and feeling better every day. I'm really proud of her. I never knew recovery was as difficult as it was. She's amazing!

That's it from us.

If you don't get sick of baby photos...

2009-05-28T20:45:00.001-07:00

My brother Jesse came to the hospital and was kind enough to use his photo skills to take some pretty sweet shots. Thanks Jesse! There's a lot, so reader beware.

Baby James Photos

Also, I uploaded a video that's about 7.5 minutes long that basically details what went down on James's birthday. Nothing gross or revealing...at least in my opinon.

It's a boy!

2009-05-27T19:30:00.000-07:00

James Terry Stay was born today around 4:30PM weighing in at 7 lbs. 6 oz. Both he and mom are doing awesome. We got to the hospital this morning a little after 8 and all went pretty smoothly. He's got a pretty decent cone head, but he's still pretty cute.

Rebekah woke up this morning at 3:30AM and thought she peed her pants. She changed and went back to bed only to wake up two more times with the need to change her pants. She woke me up at 7 telling me what had happened. I was planning on leaving for golf at 8 with my friend Neal, and she still encouraged me to do so. I told her no and that we were going to the hospital, and we compromised on calling them to make sure. The hospital was pretty sure her water had broken and insisted on bringing her in. I cancelled golf though the man at the course apparently didn't think I had a good enough excuse.

It all went well. He's doing great!

The end of an era and start of a new one

2009-05-01T12:26:00.000-07:00

I started BYU in Fall 2001. That's right folks, 8 years ago. Check out the original 6 in 2310 Whitney Hall.

Now I have finally graduated with both my Bachelor's and Master's of Accountancy with an emphasis in Tax. Here I am with the woman who made the last three years so much easier to bear and the parents who got me here.

And a few friends in the program: Ian K., Jonny boy and the whole class.

All in all it's been a great experience. The amount of school work I actually did has seen a dramatic decline over the last two years since the junior core to the point where I had 3 classes this last semester where I never opened the textbook. Oddly enough, I am still happy I bought the textbooks for use as future reference in my career, so it wasn't a complete waste.

From here we are in sort of a limbo between Provo and a real job. I have accepted a full time offer with PricewaterhouseCoopers in their tax practice. After trying to pull some strings, I failed to get my start date pushed forward and thus will be unemployed until October 19th when I start with them full time. Until then I will be studying and sitting for hopefully at least 3 of the 4 CPA exam sections and possibly getting a temp job in Virginia.

We are still here in Provo until the end of June when we will move out to live with my wonderful in-laws once again in Ashburn, VA. They have been so kind to let us stay with them until we can get ourselves settled out there. I think they are just letting us come because they want to spend time with the upcoming grandson they will have ;)

I am working at the Law School for another week. From then until the end of June I will be at home studying for the CPA exam and taking care of my awesome wife and her growing tumor. Besides studying for the CPA exam at least 3 hours a day, my goals include the following: watching multiple seasons of 24, beating Call of Duty: World at War, finding all the stars in Super Mario Galaxy, and packing moving everything back east. Lofty goals, but I think it's plausible!

Here are some things that have been happening lately.

First, Sarah, Rebekah's sister, got married to an awesome man, Jayce Porter. They are a great couple and we're so excited to hang out with them.

We got the chance to play an awesome game of guesstures with them and 2 of my sisters over easter. Jayce has a great FBI impersonation. You should ask him to demonstrate if you see him.

Here's Rebekah doing something for the camera...I think it might be a victory dance, but from what I recall, I don't think she was ever on a winning team. I love that woman!

How to get kicked out of the family:

2009-04-16T19:59:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago my sister-in law Michelle came in to get her hair colored. I was under the impression that she just wanted to be strawberry blonde until I showed her the color book and she pointed to a bright red-purple shade and smiled. I'm talking carnival colored. We had a chat about how she might not be able to take tests at BYU if I did that shade on her blondes, and she decided to go with a dark brown-purple. After a solid 15 minutes of me asking her if she was POSITIVE about it, (all the while crossing my fingers that she would do it) we got started.

By this point, I think I had asked Michelle about 230754 times if she thought her parents would disown me. She just sat there knitting and smiling and saying, "Naaaaaaaah...". After the color finished processing we gave her a quick trim and voila:

Blonde Michelle is now purple-haired Michelle. Can I just say that I am so excited that Michelle wanted to do somehting fun? I LOVE HER VIOLET HAIR. She works it like a rock star, and yes, she is still testing-center approved. :) It was such a huge change and I love it I love it I love it. So far I'm still allowed to be a Stay. As Michelle reminded me, Ben has had his hair red, orange, blue, green, and various blonde shades. (Bishop Meldrum loved that about Ben's youth.)

Greetings from the wife...

2009-04-05T20:12:00.000-07:00

HI! Despite what you might think after Ben's first post, I'm not actually anti-blogging. I've just been procrastinating making one because I didn't want to have to worry about updating one. I've been working around 50 hours a week at school so when I'm home, updating a blog is pretty low on my priority totem-pole. I'm glad Ben took the time to set this all up!

A quick update on the life of Team Stay...

We are in our last stretch here in Provo. Ben is taking classes at BYU, where he'll finish this month with his Masters of Accountancy. (He really likes taxes...) He's rrrrrrreally excited to be done and I'm so proud of him! I'm finishing up at Bon Losee, a cosmetology school here. I LOVELOVELOVE IT. Ben graduates in April, I graduate in May and we're expecting a son June 8th. Also...we plan on moving out to the DC area at the end of June/start of July. We're tired and more busy than we've ever been, but couldn't be happier! :)

I'll try to update this more often, we'll see how it goes...

p.s-As far as Ben's last post, I should just throw something out there. Benjamin is a dirty liar. As far as we know, I only have one baby in there. April Fools :) Sorry Sarahbearah!

A surprising OB visit

2009-04-01T11:34:00.000-07:00

This morning Rebekah went in for a visit and the Dr. did another ultrasound just to be sure everything was ok and the baby was doing ok. However, the tech soon discovered that we shouldn't be worried about the baby, but rather...the BABIES!!! This is what she found!

It's hard to see (which is probably why it wasn't caught earlier), but the tech pointed out Twin A and Twin B. We're going to have twin boys! Both seem healthy and fine and are still growing strong. We are really excited about this, but we know it will be a lot of work.

For those interested in our baby registration:

We have finally registered. We decided to go to Babies R Us which has most of the bigger things we were looking at. A lot of the items we registered for are available at various stores. For clothes, anything funny, related to rock and roll, or sports is great. I suppose extremely cute would work too, but let's think manly here. I personally like this Weezer onesie and we think these pacifiers are pretty funny particularly the "bad to the bone" one and the "born to rock" one. You may not agree with our tastes, but hopefully we'll have a girl later that can be dressed as cute as you'd ever want.

We are bloggers...

2009-03-01T14:23:00.000-08:00

Much to Rebekah's disappointment, we have officially formed a blog. We've always used the excuse that we'll do it once we have kids, but since so many people have been asking to see pictures of pregnant Rebekah, I have forced her to do it earlier. We don't know how much we will post, but at least we're starting somewhere. So here's some pictures of Rebekah and her belly. She's due June 8 with a little boy.

The next 2 images are the view Rebekah now sees when she looks down, notice no feet anymore. That's what 26 weeks pregnant does to you.

-Ben