My First Detour

I've finally decided to join the blogging fun. For quite some time I refused to have a blog of my own due to lack of free time, but yesterday I had a good conversation with my friend Hilary that finally made up my mind that blogging was a worthy detour. Hil had a great point. She said that some people commented on how in the world someone could find the time to update a blog on a regular basis. Hil's answer was simple, but totally logical. Taking five minutes of her day to write a blog actually saves her time. She used to spend hours each month writing emails to friends and family updating them on what was new with her and her family. Add that to the multiple phone calls to repeat the same story, and you get a lot of time. Exchange all of this for a blog, and now she only takes a few minutes each day and she has a lot more time on her hands as well as memories preserved that would likely have been forgotten by the time she got around to emailing or calling friends and family.

Hilary has two adorable little girls, one of which is a toddler that does and says the most hilarious things, so she has plenty of funny and memorable stories to write. Even though I don't have children yet, I still have interesting things happen that if nothing else, I'd like to remember. I used to be a regular journal keeper, but that simply doesn't happen anymore, so this blog will hopefully serve two purposes. Keeping my friends and family up-to-date on the happenings in the Dalton family life, and keeping my memories preserved. So, thank you Hilary for showing me the light!

Now, you may wonder why I chose “Dalton Detour” as the title of my blog. Hopefully my little thought at the top helps clear that up some, but I thought I'd expound a bit on that. Most kids have ideas for what their life will be “when they grow up.” That idea changes as we get older, but we all have some kind of plan for the way we want our life to go. When I think back to where I thought I would be by this time in my life, I realize I've definitely had a lot of detours, which have ultimately put me on a different road, but a good one. Even if you asked me 18 months ago where I'd be today, I definitely would not have said on this road, and I can guarantee you, Adam didn't think he'd be here either.

When we got married a little over three years ago we lived in a condo in Bluffdale. About two weeks after we got married I asked Adam if we could get a dog; he said no. Three weeks later was Adam's birthday, and guess what he got for his birthday, our dog Shady! (Can you tell I don't listen to “no” very well). Then seven months later I suggested to Adam that we should look at selling our condo and buying a house. He said no, and a month later we were house hunting, and two months later we moved into our house in West Jordan. What can I say, I'm a very persuasive person. :) Sure there were plenty of times since then that Adam's persuaded me away from my original thoughts, but thankfully he's a really laid back person so we get along great.

The end of 2007 we decided that we should get a friend for Shady to play with, so we got her our playful puppy Rolo (thank you Jarod & Debbie). We figured that if we could raise a puppy and keep her alive as well as Shady, then maybe we might be able to handle a child. All I can say is, wow, who knew a puppy was so much work! There were definitely tears of frustration (at least on my part) and tears of laughter. Rolo is one of the best things that ever happened to us. She is probably the funniest dog I've ever met, and even though she's kind of a brat to Shady sometimes (who is probably one of the sweetest dogs in the world), Rolo and Shady are great friends and they are one of the great joys in our lives.

In 2008, Adam and I started working together for Family Total Health Club. In the beginning of our marriage, I never would have saw myself working with Adam. But now, I can't imagine not working with him. Adam may have a different opinion, but I absolutely love working with my husband. Sure there are challenges, but what job doesn't have challenges? I'm a work-a-holic by nature anyway (get that from my dad), so at least now when I work 90 hours a week, I still get to see my husband. Now if only I could figure out a way to get Shady and Rolo to be able to work with us. Hmmm, I'll have to think about that one.