Vegas! ! !

So the wonderful thing about working in the school district is summer. Oh I do love spring break, and christmas break, and all the holidays in between... But, nothing beats the two nice long months off for SUMMER!!!

Bring on the heat and swimming pools baby I am ready to lay out and soak it up :)

I am such a lizard, I LOVE the heat. Bentley on the other hand is a furnace, and will have to try to stay nice and cool. 

Good luck with that one honey!

We are going because our jobs here in SLO have little to no hours over summer. (summer school is not as serious as it once was) So when Bentleys friend called two days ago in a pickle asking if Bent could manage his pool business full time just for the summer we were delighted! It was an answer to SO many prayers. Not only were we trying to work out a reasonable budget for the summer, my sweet husband has been missing his family SO SO much. I have taken up all the holidays with my family :) and we get to visit often since we are so close to my parents. 

His family is a bit harder to get to for us... but not this summer. 

We will be to staying with family, able to visit those in Southern Utah with ease! 

AND enjoy the family reunion in late July. 

I will REALLY miss girl friends, the beach, LINE DANCING, and R.I.P.P.E.D. work out classes.... 

But they will undoubtedly all be here when we return! 

Mothers day in the ER

Last weekend I decided to go home. It was mothers day after all, and my mom had just gotten her gallbladder removed, a minor surgery on Thursday the 10th. 

Naturally anyone under those circumstances would go home. 

But to be brutally honest, I didn't want to go up to the mountains... I know that sounds so bad, and I really did feel guilty about how selfish I felt it was to not want to go home (thats how critical I can be on myself). But I have been traveling the past few weekends, a little too much for my sanity. I really needed to slow down and let my mind catch up with the rest of me. I tend to burn the wick at both ends until I burn out. 

However, like I said the guilt among other things was building up so I prayed a bit about how I felt,  what I NEEDED to do, and where I needed to be.

The next night Nicole offered me a lift home since she was going for mothers day and wanted company on the drive. Her time frame was perfect for my work schedule, which is rare, I hadn't come to my own conclusion yet, I still felt unsettled... I knew it was right. 

Heavenly father knew the only way to get me home was to lay the path out for me on a silver platter and make it too easy for me. 

How could I not go home now?

I can not put in to words how grateful I am that I went home. You see, my mom ended up in the ER on saturday night and admitted to the hospital. She contracted a hospital born bacteria  from her surgery. Had I not been home the doctors and my family determined that my mom would not be in great shape. 

This bacteria is resistant to antibiotics, it attacks your potassium and magnesium levels, it COMPLETELY dehydrates you and can be fatal. 

Sounds like a blast right?

The rate at which it took over my moms system was so swift the doctors did not think it was possible, they had only read about it happening that fast before but never seen it. My mom was a first experience for them, and hopefully their last. 

It started off with her having  a seizure like spasm in our bathroom in my arms. An image I hope time will erase from my memory forever. She had just enough energy to call out for me before she went down.

 My family and I are so thankful we will never know what would have happened if I had not been there. My brother was not around, and my dad being a quadriplegic could not do anything from his bed, he didn't have a phone on him unfortunately. 

I have never underestimated the power of prayer. 

I have just never been at the epicenter of an experience like this. 

My testimony is constantly being strengthened and tested. 

We have been blessed with the most supportive, loving friends and caregivers for my dad. We were able to work out night shifts for the rest of the week with caregivers for my dad since I stayed in the hospital with her there for a few nights. I figured at this point, with the number of times I have been in and out of hospitals for dads health/recovery it would be easier.... but if anything this time it was scarier. Not knowing what mom had and watching her suffer, seizure, and hearing the genuine worry in the doctors voice was nauseating. 

I am so glad she didn't have to go through it alone!

When I pray answers don't always come right away, 

rarely actually do they materialize in "my time frame"

This used to annoy me, however after this I have decided that if answers do come instantly it might just be because timing is critical and your next step is crucial. 

I would prefer patience required answers!

I'd rather be granted seasoned patience over time rather than immediate solutions to a lifetime of emergencies. 

Long story short the Clark family is done with hospitals! 

Relaxation: a lengthy post.

Girls weekend was unbelievably relaxing, more so than I had expected. I thought for sure I would come home feeling like I had some hours of sleep I needed to catch up on. After all aren't the hours between 11 and 2 in the morning the best for girl talk? 
Yes, we did have late nights but our days were so laid back as we enjoyed each others company, painting nails, going to the hot tub, massages, and getting to know each other better. There are three sisters, myself included, new enough to the family to have never been to a sister weekend yet! Hopefully this is a first of many wonderful weekends to come over the years. This is a great tradition, I could easily say is one of my favorites. 
I learned SO much about my sisters, two girls emailed all our husbands a survey questionnaire about their wife which was shared with all the girls! Our husbands were honest, hilarious, and so loving. We are all so lucky to be married to a Murdock man. (with the exception of Min who is an original Murdock) I  laughed harder than I have in a really long time, tried an INSANITY work out tape (more on that later), and ate TONS of yummy food.


The first morning I was there Mimi and I went on a walk outside and picked lilacs to flood the rooms with their potency. Mimi has such a tender heart and a keen attention to the smallest details. She wanted there to be a scent we would all adore and associate with out weekend together. It is funny how our sense of smell does that, it is entirely magical. There are lotions that I have that remind me of different summer vacations in the past. Now lilacs will forever remind me of my first Murock girls get away. (and my first massage:)


Obviously, her and I had some time together before all the girls arrived, which was delightful. Having met only last April I have seen her just a handful of times since then. So we definitely needed the face time. Any woman who has been married 45 years and still swooning, given birth 9 times yielding 8 boys and 1 girl, who is not only as cheery as a christmas elf and doing INSANITY work out tapes daily AND will be dancing in Missouri (by the time I get this post up)is someone I certainly want to be around! There is so much to learn from her.  


I am so thankful and feel so blessed to have entered into such a warm family, full of such different sisters. Seriously, we are all so unique and totally different, which the weekend full of surprises and hilarious one liners.

LILACS and Daffodils 

Mins' rasta dreads

Mimi trying on her dancing outfit she got at the thrift store for FOUR BUCKS!

CINCO de MAYO :)

just dance

Trunk george and Mimi, Every branch a family, every leaf the thumbprint of a family member!

Murdock Girls Get Away!!!

It is true, there is a Murdock Girls Get away happening this weekend in Utah at Zermatt! I am so excited that all TEN of us get to spend some Q.T. (quality time) TOGETHER. 

Since Bentley and I are THE ONLY ones that live way the heck out in california we don't get to see his family as often as we would like. I am the newest sister to join the fold, so I have loads of getting to know to do! 
I truly couldn't be more thrilled. I feel so lucky and blessed to be part of such a wonderful family full of beautiful and smart women :) 

I can not believe that I have so many sisters in law now. My entire life, all 21 years of of it, I wished that I had a sister, or two, or three.... and now I have EIGHT!!!! 
And of course our magnificent mother in law, Mama Mimi.

Be careful what ya wish for right?! 

I fly out tomorrow after school. I was able to find flights out os SLO that do not have 4 hour layovers. Hooray :)

This weekend is going to be a blast, I hope it goes by like molasses. 

But when do good things ever take long?

*********

Pictures and stories soon to follow 

XOXO

Sista' Murdock