My HIMYM finale thoughts. SPOILERS. DUH.

Seriously guys, I'm gonna spoil the crap outta this episode. You have been warned.

WHAT THE ACTUAL FREAKING CRAP JUST HAPPENED IN THAT EPISODE?!

So... Barney and Robin are divorced and Barney is a scumbag again but then wait woah never mind he's a dad! Oh and Ted and the mother are perfect and so freaking cute but then wait no she's dead! And guess what? He's just gonna go right back to Robin. Because that's who he always loved anyway. So this isn't really the story of how Ted met the mother .. at all. It's a Ted and Robin love story?! ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!

I can barely form my thoughts into coherent sentences, so I will list my grievances in bulleted form. Because a bullet is what I feel like shooting at my TV right now.

• So you built an ENTIRE season around one wedding and then have them get divorced in the NEXT episode?! Are you kidding?
• They have built up Robin and Barney for so many seasons. I finally started to love them together. I really can't get over it.
• The show is called "HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER." Not "How I Met Your Step Mother." Or "How Your Mother Died So I Could Be With Robin." Or "How I Ruined Kaitlin's Life in 42 Minutes." The entire show has literally been leading toward the moment of them meeting. And it seemed like a footnote in a different story. It was awful.
• All those fun and exciting and special moments, like the yellow umbrella, seeing her ankle as she ran to her room, finding out tiny details about her or how they met.. they're all ruined. Why would they matter at all if she's not even the ending to his story.
• This whole time we thought Ted was telling this story of the mother for his children. So they could really see how much he loved her. But nope, it was just to see if they were cool with him dating Robin.
• Robin screwed Ted over time and time again and shattered his heart into a million pieces, and she gets to be with him?
• THIS IS LITERALLY THE WORST LOVE STORY.
• Why even involve the mother at all? Why did we have to get to know her so well if she wasn't the ending?
• Barney just becomes a douche again? Remember how they spent 3 seasons making him a better person?
• Barney falling in love with his daughter was one of the only sweet moments in the entire show. But still, why does he even have this illegitimate child? That was seriously OUT OF NO WHERE.
• Using this ending literally changes the entire show. I have never seen a series finale do that. It changes the way you watch and view the characters and every single episode. I feel like the whole show was a lie.
• The whole thing was so rushed, it was insane. They spent an entire season covering ONE weekend, then shoved an entire seasons worth of material into ONE episode! If they really thought it was necessary to go with this ending, they should have introduced it over the course of several episodes. It should NOT have been some stupid twist surprise. It's like all they cared about was shock value. That's not something I would expect from this show.
• Marshall and Lilly are the ONLY redeeming part of this show in my eyes. And they hardly had a real part in the finale.
• I didn't want them mom to die. I had a feeling it might happen, but it broke my heart. I could have accepted it, if it had had some depth and meaning to it. But it was as if it was no big deal.
• The mother's death was so rushed. There was no real chance to process it. Maybe she really was the love of Ted's life and he only goes back to Robin because he is lonely, but we get no sense of that. She's just gone and Ted is just moving on.
• The whole last few minutes were so rushed, there was no time for goodbye. No final shot of the gang all together. Just Ted, and that stupid effing blue french horn.
• When you tell us for 9 years that Ted doesn't end up with Robin, how are we supposed to be okay with them ending up together?
• The whole episode was rushed and it sucked and didn't even have the feel of a How I Met Your Mother episode. I could have coped with that if they hadn't destroyed the ending to one of my favorite shows. Seriously. Can't even deal with it.
• I have never seen a show take what it has built for 9 years, and destroy it. I hope the writers are happy with it, because I can't imagine too many fans are.

Obviously, I'm not pleased. I have been watching this show since it's third season aired, and all I have waited for was to meet the mother and see Ted and her live happily ever after. There was a million ways the show could have gone, and I believe the chose the worst. I would have preferred Ted live out his days sad and alone. SERIOUSLY. Maybe it will all be revealed as some awful April Fool's joke. Probably not though.

I have to end with a picture of the only good thing left in the show.

Round 2...

Oh, guess what?

Looks like there's a wee one growing in my uterus again!
This nugget will be joining us at the beginning of October.
We could not be more excited!

Family weekends = Heaven

It was a great weekend in Idaho!!

We left Friday to go visit Nathan's family.

We hadn't seen them in forever and I wanted to throw a mini celebration for Nathan graduating from LDSBC in a few weeks.

We got there Friday night and, of course, stayed up way too late talking. But we always do. And I always love it.

Saturday we woke up and relaxed and hung out.
We played with Heather for a while. She was so excited that Nathan and I were coming.
Her care taker told us that she had been talking all morning about us coming.

We started getting ready for Nathan's BBQ when I got a text from my sister-in-law, Amanda.

She was asking what we were up to, and was jealous that we were having ribs without her.

As I was reading everyone the text from her, she came walking in the back door with Brad, her husband, and my two nephews! 

We were all stunned! No one knew what to say!

They live verrrry far away; down near Vegas. It was so unexpected, and the best freaking surprise!
I seriously think we all just stood there with our mouths open for several minutes.

After the shock wore off, we were very ready to eat. 

We scarfed down the most delicious meal.

Then we talked and Nathan opened presents.

 After our late lunch, we relaxed outside. 

The weather was beautiful, and it was fun to play around with the boys, and just watch them be crazy. 

Heather joined too! She was in a fun mood.

We sat out there for hours. It was perfect.

 Grandpa crawled on the ground. Kalvin enjoyed it.

Then we enjoyed cheesecake for dinner. 

Funny thing is, cheesecake is me and Amanda's "thing." We both love it so much and are always talking about it and eating it together. (One time in the summer of 2009, we were on a family vacation in the mountains, and we paid like 10 bucks for these mini cheesecakes at the local grocery store). It's like I knew she was coming. Her voice led me to the cheesecake isle.

Some of us took quick naps and played around while Amanda and Brad ran out to get us even more food and snacks. Then we saw an amazing sunset.

Megan, Shawn's girlfriend, came over and we had a pretty intense game night. We introduced our new favorites game, Bang, to the family. We devoured more chips and salsa than should be legal, and I won the amazing round of spoons. I am very proud of myself. 

We played with the boys (more like they performed tricks for us) and then we had dessert. Because we hadn't eaten enough that day. The night ended with a few episodes of the office, and staying up way too late talking. It really was a perfect Saturday.

Sunday was church and more laying around and more eating. We played more Bang and I spent a long time playing outside with the boys. We were sad to leave. I love that we live close enough to the Merkley's to do weekend trips, but they just go so fast!

Luckily, Brad and Amanda stopped by SLC on their way back home on Monday! We got some dinner at City Creek, then went back to our place. The boys had a blast playing with Lady. It was nice to see that she is really good with kids. Clark ran a string back and forth across the apartment forever and laughed hysterically every time he ran and Lady chased it. We also watched How I Met Your Mother. I HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS!!!

This post was a million years long.
I LOVE MY MERKLEY FAMILY!

noteworthy things going on

• I have become obsessed with cooking. It's strange. I have always made Nathan dinner each night (sometimes it's me pouring him a bowl of cereal), but lately, I love trying new recipes! Guys! I am actually cooking the things I pin!!! Sunday night I made potato soup from scratch and it was the most delicious thing I have ever made. I am still bragging about it to Nathan. I hope this lasts.
• One night Nathan and I were all ready for bed and about to turn tout the lights when I mentioned I wanted a butterfinger and he said, "Good because I really want some Chips Ahoy cookies! Let's so to target!!!" So we ran in, a couple minutes before it's 11 pm closing time and got our treats. We scarfed them in bed then passed out. My life is so glamorous. 

• I only have 3 more IEPs to do this year!
• I got two different job offers to teach at a high school next year. Weird.
• Two if my students got into a very heated debate the other day about whether or a not a rectangle can be considered a square. It was awesome to see them rationally think out arguments. There were visual aides. It was spectacular.

•  Lady is as cuddly as always. She loves to sleep right up against my bum. Apparently it's very comfortable. She also loves fuzzy blankets. She a little spoiled brat. And I love her.

•  Nathan and his older brother, Austin, have been working on so much music lately and it makes me excited! They were in a band together for years, but now Austin lives in DC. They have been sharing filed back and forth and it's magic. Here's their first song. I dare you not to dance. It's so freaking catchy. They will have 2-3 more news ones really soon!
• One night, while casually having dinner at Village Inn, R. Kelly came on the radio and I sang along with "I believe I can fly." I mentioned to Nathan how this song will always remind me of Space Jam. He then uttered the 6 words I never thought I'd hear. " I have never seen Space Jam." I literally couldn't believe it. WHO HAS NEVER SEEN SPACE JAM?!! So we watched it ASAP. I was thinking it would be weird as an adult, but the magic holds up.

 

• One time we sat at the park and ate chicken nuggets while we watched people run. But I didn't feel bad. We have been eating 3-4 bags of grapes a week. So it evens out, right? I love grapes. Seriously. 

•  Oh hey, have I mentioned we love our cat?