Merry Christmas!

I know it's a day late, but I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!


Just for interest, here's a little history about the rocking horse. I learned something new!

Snowing...Again

I want you all to know that I take snow with me wherever I go. In the last month I have been in 3 states. And it snowed in each state while I was there. Side-note: North Carolina (coastal) and Las Vegas are not known for getting snow. Maybe I should go visit Florida... wouldn't they be surprised?

This picture was taken this morning. There is significantly more snow now. Who knows? Maybe we'll even make a snowman this afternoon!

Nice Guy

Here's a story about the goodness of people.

When packing my house, the packers missed the glass top for our kitchen table, because it was stored behind a dresser and they couldn't see it. No fault on their part. So when the movers came and moved the dresser, the piece of glass was brought into view. The driver's helper said, "No way! He can't take that piece of glass on his truck without it being properly packed!" The driver said, "Wrap it in blankets and when I get to the warehouse, I'll have the packers pack it up." Nice guy. The glass was the last thing (literally) loaded onto the truck.

Well, when they unpacked our things last week, the piece of glass didn't come off of the truck. I didn't say anything because, as a last minute item, we hadn't recorded it anywhere, so I had no proof that it actually existed. And to have that be the only thing we lost... pretty amazing!

Yesterday, a minute after walking in the door from shopping, the doorbell rings. It the driver! Standing on my porch holding the blanket wrapped piece of glass. Apparently, while unloading in California, he came across the glass on his truck, remembered our last minute loading (okay, his last minute loading. I really only watched), and came back to drop it off! Thankfully, Las Vegas was on his route anyway, or that would have been a huge detour. As it is, our apartment is not even close to the freeway anyway, so he made a detour to bring it to us. I have been incredibly impressed with the driver. He's taken his job seriously and always worked to make us, his customers, happy. What a nice guy!

Been a while....

It's been a while since I've posted and a lot has happened. Here's a recap:

Flew with my daughter to visit family for Thanksgiving. My husband drove and met us there. All of my brothers were in town, as well as my grandparents. It was great fun!

Drove to Las Vegas. The nearly 12 hours in a car with a toddler weren't nearly as bad as I had anticipated. She did really well and we made it in one day. Side note: We were able to stop along the way and see my brother and his wife's new apartment (they just moved). I always enjoy seeing people in the place where they live. That way I can get a picture in my mind.

Saw our apartment (where my husband has been living for the past month). It's great, he did a good job!

Had a day to get acquainted with the neighborhood/community. I think my husband took me on the tour so that I wouldn't think that Las Vegas is a HUGE city and want to leave when our lease is up. It was a good plan on his part, and it worked.

Movers brought our stuff. We've been spending our days unpacking all of it and wondering "Why do we need that?" Thus starting a DI pile, that continues to grow as more boxes are opened.

When the boxes are unpacked and life is less chaotic, I'll post pictures.

Packing and Gratitude

Today I'm very grateful for:
1-
Not having to pack myself. I've really enjoyed not putting all of our stuff into boxes. And since it will be the first and the last time that someone else does all of the grunt work, I don't feel guilty for reading my books while they work. It's a little awkward at times, as I sit on the couch and the workers dismantle the lamp sitting on the table next to me, but not awkward enough to get me to help them. The packers are very efficient. In 2 not-full days (9-3:30), with 2 people on the first day and only 1 person on the second day, they were able to pack my 1600 square foot home into boxes. It's very strange to be in my home and not have my "things" around. Occasionally I think, "I'll go get ____" or "I'll just use ____", when really, it's all in boxes that I didn't pack and have no real clue what is in any of them.

2-
Really good friends who are willing to help. My daughter has been, shall we say, confused and bewildered by all of the changes in our home and lives in the last few days. Friends from the ward have offered to watch her and care for her. Friends have also fed us, let us hang out at their homes, offered us the use of their homes even when they won't be there, loaned books, and helped us unload our attic. When I was single and would have friends get married, I would go to their receptions, with a gift, and think, "If all of my friends get married before me, who will bring me gifts?" Well, it turned out that as my friends got married, I made other single friends and they brought gifts to my wedding (as did some of my married friends, not that I want to leave you out). This whole experience has left me with a similar wondering, "If all of my friends are so nice to me when I move away, who will help them out when they move?" and another thought, "How can I ever repay their generosity, when I won't even be here?" They all have been truly great.

3-
My daughter. When I pick her up from wherever she's been that day, I'm so grateful that we have her. She's a joy, even when she's clingy and constantly asking for Daddy. And it's great to know that she's missed me.

4-
The reminder that things really are just things and that I can live without them (books not included. See #5). When everything is packed, there's no thing to need (really just want) at the moment. It reminds me of Elder Perry's talk at conference. It was a good one!

5-
Books. Really, with nothing else to do, I've been reading a lot. Thank goodness for friends (see #2) who have lent books to me, so that I can have something to do. Without books, I might have actually helped the packers with their job. It would have been completely boring. Another post I'll write about one of the books...

Quiet Book

Against the advice of my good friend (who had made one), I made a quiet book for my daughter to use in church. There are pages with velcro, flannel, animals, shoes to tie, etc. My friend was right. It was a headache to make, took forever, cost a lot and doesn't look at all professional. However, I finished it (9 months after starting the project). If you go online, you can find them for $25. That's less than it cost me to make it. And all you have to do is click a button. And it looks professional. It will probably last longer, too (though I don't know yet). Tomorrow will be our trial run. My husband was a dear and brought up the fact that I would be sad if our daughter ruined it on the first day. He was right, of course.

The point is, listen to your good friends. They're pretty smart people . After all, they chose to be your friend, right? What could be smarter than that?

It's a Boy!

Or will be in 4 1/2 months. I had an ultra-sound and the tech was very sure. So now we have some cute pictures (really, he is a cute, little alien) to hang on our fridge. The cutest is of his feet, posing for the picture. He must have known we were looking.

I Voted!

I voted today! I'm so grateful to live in a country in which I have a right to state my opinion and in which my opinion is counted. Whether or not the candidates I voted for win, I did what I could for them. Although some of them I really had no opinion about, so I just decided which name I liked best or which sent me the least political junk mail. Not rocket science, but hey, I'm not a rocket scientist.

I'm also grateful for the nice man in front of me who let me go before him, so that I could get my toddler in out of the cold (yes, we do have cold weather, even in North Carolina).

And I know it's a little strange, but I'm excited to write in my journal tonight and put my "I Voted" sticker in to mark the day.

State Fair 2008

We went to the State Fair yesterday. I've become a big fan of state fairs (this was my third one). It's so much fun to see all of the cool exhibits, like the giant pumpkins and watermelon, a real life pineapple plant, a man standing in a bee cage surrounded by bees, the animals, etc. I also think the carnival game people are fun to watch. I try to imagine what kind of life they led that brought them to this point in their lives. How many people grow up thinking, "When I grow up, I want to be a carnival game man (or woman)?" The food vendors are great, too. Where on earth could you get so much fried food? My personal favorite is the funnel cake. I'm not brave enough to try some of the others (deep fried snickers, twinkies, oreos, etc), even if I did eat chocolate. We had a good time. There were things for the little ones to do, and we got to see what we wanted to. What could be more perfect?

Private Blog

Just a note for those of you who read my daughter's blog. It is going private. If you would like to be invited to read it, I would be more than happy to add you to the list. Just send me an email or let me know in the comments and I'll get you added.

Announcement

I'm pregnant!!!

Tagged

7 Random facts...

1. Like me friend who tagged me, my husband is the only man I've kissed. There was another time when I was going to be kissed, but I called him by the wrong name and that kind of ruined the moment.

2. I'm an amateur photographer who dreams of someday going professional, and having a people know my name and wanting my pictures to hang in their homes.

3. I really enjoy home decorating. I've never taken a class or read a book, but I like to put colors and art and furniture and accessories together, hoping they'll look like I picture in my mind.

4. I love fun socks. It has been years since I've worn a pair of plain colored socks. And the socks I wear don't have to match my clothing. (A funny tangent: One year when I was teaching, I learned that my class paid close attention to my socks. They even had their favorite pair - my watermelon socks.)

5. I enjoy cooking. I especially enjoy trying new recipes. My family is very supportive and will eat anything I fix, which is helpful.

6. My favorite flowers are daisies.

7. I haven't eaten chocolate for 7 years, and I plan to not eat chocolate for the rest of my life. (Thanks, Annie!)

I tag Andrea, Heather, Kasey, Cami, Michelle, Marissa, and Hannie.

Exciting and Excitement

Last Friday was the first time that someone came to look at our house (that's the exciting part). I was very careful in cleaning up, making the house look it's best. As I was doing this, I thought that the brownie pan with plastic blue lid shouldn't be left out, so I put it out of sight, in the oven. At the time that I did this I thought, "I'm going to forget that it's in there and start the oven", but did it anyway. I must say, as a biased voice, that the house did look incredible. Well, they came and left and I came home to get dinner ready. We were going to have pasta and breadsticks. So I turned the oven on and started the water boiling. About 15 minutes later, I started to smell an unpleasant odor. At that moment, I remembered that I'd put the brownies in the oven. Opening the oven, the smell of melting plastic assaulted my nose. I removed the offending pan, and cooked the breadsticks, which luckily didn't smell or taste like melted plastic. (That's the excitement part.)

Yard Sale

We had our first yard sale today. I had some teacher supplies that I no longer need, some furniture that won't fit in a two-bedroom apartment, lots of books, and other various and sundry items. I had a figure in my mind of what I thought we could make. We more than doubled it. And we emptied our house of many unnecessary items. And other people were blessed with our junk. And I didn't go yard saling (?) today, which saved us from adding more unnecessary junk to our house. And a friend from the ward offered to take my teacher supplies that didn't sell to a local elementary school that could really use it. And she told me about a used book store in town that will give store credit for books you take in (what could be better than that?). Except when I thought about it, we're trying to get rid of stuff, so I offered to let her take in the books for store credit (which sounds kind of like I'm trying to get out of taking them myself, but really I just wanted to let her get the credit for them. I would have taken them in her name, except I don't think it would have worked). All in all, my first yard sale was a success.

Moving

It's official. We're moving...to Las Vegas. No, we don't have a job or a place to live. But it's a lot closer to family and it's where we're supposed to go. So our house here in North Carolina is for sale (anyone looking to move here? It really is a great neighborhood!). Kind of sad, since it's our first home together, but happy in that we're moving on with life. Definitely an adventure!

Hair Clips

Guys, just a heads up, you're not going to care about this post AT ALL.

Okay, gals, my friend bought some hair clips for her daughter and we were looking at them and thought, "Hmm, we could make these!" So we've been making them. Note: The friend is very crafty and artistic. She's a stickler for the small details (I'm not). So she makes really cute clips. I fee like mine are go-in-publicable and pretty cute. Well tonight, my husband was gone for church calling and so I had some time on my hands. Luckily, I'd made a run to the store today and bought some really cute ribbon (turns out having really cute ribbon is a head start to having really cute clips. Go figure!). I made clips and I think that most of them turned out really cute, and thought I'd show them off.

Tropical Storms

We've now been having rain, off and on, for 3 days. It's good because we need the rain, but it does make for a lake in the backyard. No wonder we have moss growing instead of grass! I'm just grateful that we're on the tail end of the storm. I can't imagine being on the front end. It makes for interesting days though. Trying to time running errands in between downpours. Trying not to make my toddler afraid of thunder when I jump as the house shakes (not that I'm afraid of thunder. It just surprises me and so I jump). Trying to keep the floors clean. Watching the rain come down in buckets.

Cone

I was driving home from VT the other night and was stopped at an intersection. In one of the turning lanes was a large orange traffic cone. A man drove into the turning lane, opened his door, picked up the cone, then drove off straight. I'm not really sure what you would do with a traffic cone. I've been trying to think of creative uses for one. Here's what I've come up with:

-block your driveway during a parade
-wear it as a hat on halloween
-yard art
-home decoration/conversation starter
-bicycle course

I didn't a chance to ask the man what he was planning on doing with his cone, since he drove off, so I'll just have to go with one of my highly creative ideas. If I see a cone hat around halloween, I'll know it was him!

Posting

I have come to really like blogs. I think they're a great way to stay in touch, to hear funny stories, to read deep thoughts, and to see pictures of my family and friends. I like reading blogs. I wish my family and friends would post more often. And then I realize that I'm a hypocrite. I don't post very often. I feel like my life is routine and nothing new happens very often, and the things that do happen (like the live cricket I saw in my living room and covered with a tupperware until my husband gets home) people probably don't want to read about. My thoughts aren't deep and all the funny stories are posted on my daughter's blog, since they're all about her. So, please keep posting even though I'm a bad poster. :)

eMusic and Birdhouse

Have you heard of eMusic? It's a music download site. They offered me (and everyone else on the planet) 32 free downloads. So I went for it. The only catch is, they don't have any popular music. Granted, I'm a country fan, so I can't speak for the rock sector, they might have a great selection. Needless to say, I haven't used all of my free downloads. And today, I thought of a non-popular group I like (The Oak Ridge Boys) and they had their gospel music but not their country/folk music. I was very disappointed.

On a different topic, I thought I'd take some picturesque pictures of the birdhouse hanging in my backyard tree. Turns out that it's not picturesque and is basically dilapidated and ought to be disposed of.

Unplanned

I was outside today with my camera in the hopes of taking a few pictures. Here's what I got!!! A bird with feathers ruffled, and then the same bird once again ready to be seen in public. Totally unplanned! But fun. And very cute!

Tagged again!

This is a different kind of tag and thought I'd try it. Happy memories!

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Animals

I think the variety of animals is incredible! So many different species with so many different characteristics. WOW!!! The colors, the sizes, patterns, ... , I could go on and on! Take the zebra and the giraffe. They both have very distinct patterns. Yet, they don't look a thing alike.

















And the colors! Look at the birds and bees. Both very colorful, yet very unique.

Bad Squirrels!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have recently had problems with squirrels eating my ripening tomatoes. This is a major problem. I've called a couple of nurseries to find out what to do about it and they think I'm crazy. They don't actually say anything like that but you can tell by their voice. The two options that I got were to put a pesticide on the container or put up a cage around it. Because my 1 year old is often around the container I opted for the cage. So this morning I got some chicken wire and I built a cage. My husband wants to name the cage Ft. Knox. I can water through it, but when the tomatoes ripen, it will take two people to lift the cage off. If it keeps the squirrels out, it will be worth it!

Club Med

My husband and I just got back from our honeymoon in the Caribbean. We stayed at a Club Med (an all inclusive [except for the massage] resort). We had a tennis lessons every morning, and went sailing, snorkeling, windsurfing, and trapeezing (?), ate incredibly yummy food (white chocolate bread. WOW!!!), saw incredible plants and animals, and spent time on the beach everyday for a week (amazing sunsets, though we only saw one due to clouds). It was a great experience. Here are some pictures:

Watermelon

I am growing watermelon for the first time. And there are baby watermelon on the vine! They are so cute! If all of the blossoms produce a watermelon, we will have a ton! I'll keep you posted.

Pampering

Dear Blog Readers,

I would like your input on pampering yourself. Why do you do it? What do you do? I'm teaching a mini-enrichment class next week and I want to get outside opinions. Please post your comments and ideas!

Thanks!

VIP

Yesterday one of the local army division had their Pass and Review and President Bush came to review them (as far as I can tell, he just walked past them. All ceremony). I'm not saying that I'm a Bush supporter or not; He's the president of the USA and I got to see him. Pretty amazing for a small town girl!

At the ceremony they also had "free-fallers", the division band, and thousands of troops. It was an incredible sight.






Today the division put on a mock airport takeover. They had equipment and paratroopers jumping (or falling, in the case of the equipment) from the sky. Then we watched as they used their training to take over the airstrip.

My Name

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 0 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

I'm not really surprised. Maybe if I had a more common name, it would help!

Camera

Thanks to President Bush, I just got my dream camera... a Nikon D60. It's amazing!!!! I love taking pictures with it and looking at them on the computer. The difference between the D60 and my regular point-and-shoot is huge! And it can do so many things! Luckily, my toddler is willing to be my subject, so I'm getting some good practice - running after the aforementioned toddler. Thank goodness for digital because that way I can take a thousand pictures and delete all of the awful ones, without feeling guilty for wasting money on developing them. To get back to the point, I love my camera and thought I'd share some of the pictures I've taken recently.

"Tagged"

I want you all to know that I don't usually do these. But because it came from my good friend, I will.

3 Joys
1 - My family
2 - Books
3 - Taking pictures

3 Fears
1 - Falling (very different from heights)
2 - Insects (just the nasty ones)
3 -

3 Goals
1 - Run a 10K
2 - Become a photographer
3 - Get a master's degree

3 Current Collections
1 - Salt and Pepper Shakers
2 - Business cards
3 - Recipes

3 Random Facts
1 - I love to try new recipes!
2 - I make bread every week, grinding wheat when needed
3 - I like to fold laundry

Strawberry Jam

I made it. It set up, it tastes good and it looks gorgeous in the jars, which all sealed properly. What more can I ask for?

The Beach

We went to the beach last week. It was supposed to be a 2 hour drive each way. On the way there we ran into traffic (for no apparent reason. I like traffic that has a reason to it: accident, construction, cattle, etc. Something to say "I'm sorry that I'm slowing traffic. I'll move as quickly as I can".) It turned into a 3 hour drive to get there. We found the beach and had a really fun time. The seagulls even seemed to think our picnic was the best!.

Then we drove around Historic Downtown and decided that we wouldn't buy a house there (we weren't planning on it anyway, let's squelch all rumors now. There were a couple of cute houses that were for sale and we stopped to get an information sheet from those convenient little boxes, just for interests sake.) They were cute though! And very close to fun shopping centers! Then we headed for home. We found the road we needed and ran into traffic again. This time there was a reason though. The road we were traveling had been closed due to an air show. Which is a good reason, except that we didn't know any other way to get out of town. So we drove around in circles (literally. We were on the same road at least 3 different times) and finally decided to ask for directions at a Taco Bell. 5 minutes later we were out of town. Driving around town though, we found my street. Isn't it perfect?

Digital Scrapbooking

I know some die-hard scrapbookers. I tried hard to become one of them, but I just couldn't do it. I guess I'm just not OCD enough. Rather than taking the time to measure and cut and match colors I haphazardly put together my books. And they got done, but I'm never thrilled with the job that I did as I look through them. However, that all changed with the advent of Digital Scrapbooking.

I recently purchased a program for this new scrapbooking option and I LOVE IT!!! Using my digital pictures I can put together pages in a snap. Then I can send my pages to a printer and voila! They are delivered to my door in all their finished beauty. (Ok, I have to confess that I haven't yet sent pages to be printed, but I plan to in the near future). It is nice to not purchase all the supplies but to have them all a click away. I highly recommend digital scrapbooking!

Cleaning Checks

To my BYU Friends:

Do you remember cleaning checks? I do. The day of the checks would be completely set aside for the deep cleaning that was necessary to pass inspection. Yet, the boys could sleep in, stack the clutter into piles and pass without a second thought. Fair? Hardly. After many years of brooding on the subject I've come to a conclusion. BYU expected girls to be the house-cleaners and so wanted to be sure that they knew what was required to keep a clean house. It's the only reason that I can see for the complete polar opposites of cleaning inspections.

As I look back now, I'm grateful for the tough inspections. They really did teach me how to clean well. They also gave the roommies and I a good excuse to order pizza once a month (we wouldn't want to get our clean kitchen dirty, after all). And it was much nicer to live in a clean apartment.

But I still wonder about BYU's expectations...

Salt and Pepper Shaker Shelf

Today I hung my Salt and Pepper Collection Shelves. Granted, I only have 2 sets of shakers so far. And I know it's kind of an odd collection to have. It all started a few years ago when my friend went to NYC and I asked him to bring me back a souvenir. He brought me a set of NY S & P shakers. I thought it would be fun to collect them. So I decided to start. But being a transient teacher at the time, I never had anywhere to put them so I never continued the collection. Now, though, I have space, so I began looking for a suitable shelf on which my collection could be housed. No such shelf was to be found. Hence, I opted to make them. 5 trips to The Home Depot later, I have made and hung my shelves. Aren't they gorgeous?

Personality Test

My personality type:

Practical, traditional, and organized. Likely to be athletic. Not interested in theory or abstraction unless they see the practical application. Have clear visions of the way things should be. Loyal and hard-working. Like to be in charge. Exceptionally capable in organizing and running activities. 'Good citizens' who value security and peaceful living.

Careers that could fit Me include:

Military, business administrators, managers, police/detective work, judges, financial officers, teachers, sales representatives, government workers, insurance agents, underwriters, nursing administrators, trade and technical teachers, (mafia dons).

As decided by:
http://www.41q.com/

Do you think the test is accurate? It's interesting to me how close it is. Maybe though, it's close because after reading it I like what I read. Do the results become me or do I become the results?

Humpty Dumpty

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall,
All the kings horses and all the kings men,
Couldn't put Humpty together again.

Have you ever noticed how every portrayal of Humpty Dumpty is as an egg? Where in the verse does it say that he's an egg? Why not a dish, or a mirror or a porcelain doll? Eggs aren't the only things that can break. And when they do their insides spill out. Why do the pictures never show that? Just an interesting, totally non-important wonderment.

Cleaning

Have you ever made up tasks to avoid something? That's what I'm currently doing. And have been doing ... all day. Yikes! But I really don't want to clean my bathrooms. So far I've finished reading my book, watched Deal or No Deal, talked to my husband, posted on my Quotes blog, checked all of my blogging friends' blogs, played in iPhoto, cleaned the other rooms in my house, talked to my mom... basically the list goes on and on. This post is just another deviation from what I really should be doing. But it's all working. Except that I really do need to clean the bathrooms still. And now I can't think "Wow, I'm glad I cleaned the bathrooms earlier so I can relax now." No, now I'm thinking, "Why, oh why didn't I clean the bathrooms earlier so I could be relaxing now?" Hindsight is always 20/20.

Community Ed.

I went to the local community college today to sign up for an Auto Repair and Maintenance class. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? The purpose of my signing up was to get over my fear of under the hood. Pretty much I'm afraid that if I touch something, it'll blow up on me. Unreasonable? Probably. True? Unfortunately, yes. And it was perfect. 7 Saturday's for 2 hours. No problem with the babysitter, since there's no school on Saturdays. Right during/after naptime, so the baby would be good for the babysitter. So I went to sign up. After driving around the college for 15 minutes, I finally found the building that houses registration. Great! I load up baby and we get inside... only to find out that community ed registration is in a different building. So we get directions to that building and get baby back in the car, drive to the correct building, park in staff parking (hoping I don't get ticketed) and go inside... to find out that community ed is on the opposite side of the building. We get directions to the right part of the building and go through a maze of hallways. This time we find the right place... only to find out that the class has been canceled.

Death...

Did you think I'd died? I hope not. I would hate to be the cause of concern or worry or...you get the picture. To put your mind/heart at ease, I did not die, though our computer did. Now we have a nice, beautiful, perfectly working iMac. And yes, I love it, especially the working part. It has so many bells and whistles (not literally [at least that I know of. There are a lot of things I haven't discovered yet])! Now that I'm up and running again, I am so incredibly happy. You never know what you have until it's gone. And that's the truth (re: pictures, for those of you who know my sad, sad, sad story). But sometimes, what you get to replace the old is even better (re: computer. The iMac is truly great). Hmmm... I'm not sure I want to test the odds on getting better replacements. The point is, I'm once again connected to the world. It's a huge relief. Thanks for missing me. You did miss me, right?