Wordless Wednesday

This is why we have children

Sure, we sometimes have rough days, but most of my parenting days are wonderful. Little Miss J has been so cute recently and I want to share a fun glimpses into my parenthood. I love this girl!

1. We weren't introduced until today, but apparently there's a puppy living with us. It's a boy, he's green, and his name is Charky (um, ok). He escaped from view a few times and caused a serious dilemma for my three year old, but thankfully he's safe and sound now. I don't think I ever had an imaginary friend so this to me is priceless.

2. Today was her first trip to the dentist and for the most part, she did pretty well. The lady helping us was so sweet showing Miss J every tool they would use to clean her teeth. Mr. Slurpie became the favorite as she got a kick out of putting it in her mouth. When it came time to clean her teeth they were only able to get four done, which was fine. We'll go back in a few weeks and finish up. I was really proud of her and I even found out that she has ticklish teeth like her mommy.

3. "Mom, if there's anything you need, just let me know." I stopped in my tracks, jaw dropped, and responded with, "well, we do need to clean up your room." Her reply, "oh, ok!!" That was pure heaven.

I'm so blessed. :)

Very happy

A friend just recently told me that they found a buyer for their house. I've been worried that they would have to wait months before this happened because of how slow real estate has been selling in their area. But nope, everything should be all said and done within a month's time. We couldn't be more happy for them! I love when things work out the way you want them too. :)

All for the love of golf

If you’re a big golfer, you’ve probably heard about Ogio. If you haven’t, then you should know that they are a name brand manufacturer for apparel and golf bags. I was just looking through their selection and I love this All Terrain Duffel Bag and its color. Ogio has many products that a golfer would find very useful. Hey, even a miniature golfer like me found some items that I would love to have.

Our beloved prophet has passed

Prophet, seer, and revelator are just a few of the wonderful things about Gordon B. Hinckley, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He wasn't an ordinary man, although he could make anyone at ease being in his presence, but I rather think of him as an incredible and magnificent individual! Through his almost thirteen years as prophet, he has done so many great things for our church including expanding the number of temples in operation.

President Hinckley had an immeasurable and undeniable amount of faith and willingness when it came to serving Heavenly Father. His passion was one that I have always admired and loved. He lived a long and fulfilling life of 97 years and I can only imagine how beautiful the reunion was between he and his wife and he and his Savior. We love you and will miss you President Hinckley.

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
How many times per day do you usually laugh?

*Most days I laugh quite a bit, I'd say around 20 times. My kids can always get me to laugh especially when they talk to each other. They come up with the funniest things. lol

Soup
What do your sunglasses look like?

*They're a cheap black pair that don't fit me very well, but they work. One of these days I'd like to get something that fits better.

Salad
You win a free trip to anywhere on your continent, but you have to travel by train. Where do you go?

*My mom, who has been on a train, said it's not the most comfortable. So, I wouldn't want to go really far away. A trip back to Seattle, WA would be a lot of fun.

Main Course
Name one thing you consider a great quality about living in your town/city.

*We're surrounded by beautiful Idaho mountains and that is a great quality in my book!

Dessert
If the sky could be another color, what color do you think would look best?

*A soft, not blinding, yellow would be nice.

It's not too shabby

There are many days when I ask myself how old my apartment is. It’s not falling to pieces by any means, but so many things seem out of date and/or strange. Like my neighbor, for instance, she has a porch light for a kitchen light. Isn’t that slightly odd? It would be nice if the owners could make some changes when it came to light fixtures and plumbing fixtures. Ohhh, I’d love if they took the baseboard heating out, that would make my day.! But we’ll just have to wait and I see.

Stand out!

Even with the loss of the majority of our income and my husband finding a new job, we’ve still had to keep our eyes open for something else to help pay the bills. Currently I babysit one little girl and I’ve been thinking about taking on another. I’ve even thought about making business cards with my own logo design to spread the word about what I offer. I was surprised how easy this was to do with help from logoyes.com. You can see from my picture below, I choose something very simple. It took me less than ten minutes to get it the way I wanted. There were so many designs to choose from and after I was done, in two additional steps, I created business cards. I thought they turned out rather cute and very professional looking. So if you’re looking to spruce up your business, let logoyes.com help you!

It's a freeze-the-snot-in-your-nose kind of day

I thought about attempting to write something witty and funny but all I have is cold weather and snot. You're thrilled and you know it. ;)

So this morning I wake up and like normal the house is a bit nippy. A few quick flips and the heaters turn on and warm the place up. I get ready and head outside to catch my ride to school and when it happens. You know it's cold when you end up with glaciers in your nose after being outdoors all of thirty seconds. (Note to self, blow nose prior to exiting the house.) It felt around 10 degrees, but a local bank sign declared -5, while some students said it was 10 below zero. It was cold, to say the least.

But then I notice something while waiting for my class. Everyone at school is talking about how cold it is. There's nothing strange about this except that I had to stifle a laugh every time I heard someone say "man it's cold outside! Do you know how cold it is?" Um, well, no. I actually wasn't outside just a minute ago forcing my legs to walk in a straight line. Nope, I decided to use my Star Trek transporter room that I picked up from a recent trip to a Trekkie convention, which I placed conveniently in my bedroom, and beamed right over this morning. So no, what's the weather like?

The, "I'm so cold," was pretty funny too. Someone would say it and look as if they expected a reply. You're cold you say? We'd better be sure because I haven't been outdoors in the last two and a half minutes, so maybe the weather changed. I see you're shivering, ok. Your face is red and your lips are a tad purple, ok. Now lean your head back and let's check that nose...yep, you're cold. Glad we cleared that up.

Maybe we just don't have anything better to talk about and the weather is our last resort. Or in this case, maybe talking about it warms us up. Or perhaps there's an internal debate over why we feel the need to state the obvious. (I've done it twice today, three times if you include this post.) Maybe it goes back to our childhood...unresolved feelings...hmmm. ;)

Our indoor movie night

Hubby and I decided to have a home date night this past weekend and watch the latest Harry Potter movie. My husband set up our surround sound so that we have four speakers the movie plays through. During some parts of the film, it felt like we had our own home theater seating because of the dark room and loud surround sound. Our little indoor movie night was fun. :)

Do you have the time?

Being a mom and wife and college student, most of my days include me with my eyes half open. One thing that helps, especially during school, is for me to wear my watch. Then I know how much longer I need to stay awake. lol The first day of class I didn’t have it on and I was going nuts not knowing how much time remained. I don't own a fancy FP Jorne watch, but I love the one I have because my husband came up with the design. Plus, it helps me stay awake long enough for lectures. ;)

Meme catch up

Natalie and KailasMommy tagged me for memes that were pretty similar so I'm going to combine the rules a little, which you see below.

1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
2. (A) Share 5 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog; or (B) Share the 5 top places on your “want to see or want to see again” list; or (C) Share 5 things you never pictured being in your future when you were 25 years old.
3. Tag others and let them know!

I've decided to do both A and C since two people tagged me.

My weird/random facts:
1. I'm not a huge fan of shaving my legs but when I do, I usually shave below the knee. (Before everyone runs screaming from the room at how gross that is, yes, I do shave the whole leg it's just not as often.)
2. I won't let my girls leave the house without their hair done or at least a hat on.
3. I won't leave the house without first brushing my teeth.
4. My hair length today hasn't been this long since before I was 6 years old.
5. I enjoy going through labor. (This is probably really bizarre for many people, so let me explain. No, labor is not easy for me and yes, it's very painful and long. But I love the experience and I love the outcome. I can't wait to do it again.)

Things I've never pictured being in my future at age 25 (yay! I can do this one!).
1. Being married - yes, I didn't expect being married before I was 25.
2. Going back to school.
3. Going back to school while having children.
4. Going back to school while having children and wanting more children.
5. Weighing less after having children then before I was married.

Ok, if you're name is below, consider yourself tagged!

Emily
Richard
Gina
Our Seven Qtpies

What do you use?

Think about all the many things you’ve set your TV on. A dresser, the floor, on a small table, the kitchen table, a counter, on a microwave cart and so on. I’ve seen TV’s set on so many things because usually people don’t have enough money to buy a nice entertainment center. We were that way and used whatever we had for our TV. It would have been nice to have one of those tv lift cabinets but we made do. It wasn’t until recently when we gave a friend a bed and she gave us an old entertainment center that we now have something nice for our TV to sit on. We like it much better than what we had.

Girls, we need to get out of the house!

You know what I think would be fun? Going on a cruise with a big group of friends! All my mommy friends and I probably need a break and what better way to get together and relax than to take a cruise. I’ve actually never been on any cruises before, the whole Titanic thing scares me lol, but it still sounds like fun. Besides, cruise ships are better equipped today right? And of course all my friends would be with me and I’m sure we’d survive with our girl power and all. See, now you’re all excited and ready to go!! :)

Ahh, it feels so good

To be 25 for the second day. It's a lovely number don't you think? 25...25...25...It sounds like a nice number anyway. lol It feels like the prime of my life and I'm loving it. There isn't a time before now that I would want to go back to. Looking back on how far I've come and what I've learned, no, I like where I am just fine.

My birthday this year actually went much better than I had anticipated. Kara and Melissa took me out to dinner this past Saturday and we had the best girls night out (we miss you Kara!). Yesterday my husband tried to send me flowers at school (he goal was to embarrass me and it would have worked because I was in the front row of a classroom filled with about 60 students - I would have died) but the lady missed me and brought them by the house. They are beautiful and were completely unexpected; the perfect gift.

I made a Hawaiian Wedding Cake and we invited friends over to help eat it and play games. A few of my family members called and I received some wonderful e-cards from my online buddies. One of my SIL's completely surprised me by sending me three brand new books: Ella Enchanted (loved the movie), Pride and Prejudice (which I've never read but want to and thrilled to have my own copy!), and the Princess Academy. I so excited to start reading!

Long story short, it was the most fun birthday I've had in a long time. Thank you everyone who helped make my day special. :)

Need some lively fun?

Why did I never get into playing paintball? I keep hearing how so many people love to play that I’m thinking I should at least try it. It would be so much fun to get together with a big group of friends, ones that will stay my friends after we play lol, and just go at it. We have at least one place here in town where I know that we can play. My husband would love to go, especially if his brothers came. I can only imagine what would happen if they got together! I know we can rent equipment, but I’d like to have our own at some point. Did you know that you can buy a paintball gun package through pntball.com? Well now you do. Anything paintball , they have it. I love their selection and the free shipping! So take a minute and browse their site.

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
What is your favorite beverage?

*Hmm, that's a tough question because my preferences change. But I'm going to say orange pop. We rarely drink pop and when we do we'll choose a non caffeinated orange. Yummy. :)

Soup
Name 3 things that are on your computer desk at home or work.

*Note pads, pens, and lotion.

Salad
On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being highest), how honest do you think you are?

*10 - I take being honest very seriously and I wish more people would.

Main Course
If you could change the name of one city in the world, what would you rename it and why?

*French Lick, Indiana. I mean seriously, were there not any better names at the time they came up with that?

Dessert
What stresses you out? What calms you down?

*Trying to get pregnant again (I know this doesn't help lol) can be stressful. The best thing that calms me down is my husband's touch. He can rub my back or my arm even and I'll melt. I'm blessed to have him.

Valentine's Day is almost here!

It's true, it's less than a month away. We've been talking about what to do for the holiday and how we will celebrate this year. In years past the main gift items were candy and we decided that we don't need any more. So I'm thinking we might get a fun game or two for the girls to play with. I found some cute ones at KB Toys thanks to CouponChief.com. I'm also thinking about buying some projects from Oriental Trading. They have some great dollar deals that I'm going to show my husband later. I think it will be a fun Valentine's Day for the girls this year.

I can't believe it

My sister was driving with her three month old son in my dad's old pickup, when she heard a loud pop and the engine started on fire. Thankfully she was able to get herself and her son out of the truck before it was engulfed in flames. The police are still investigating what caused it to happen.

My reaction, as you can imagine, was that of shock and worry. It's amazing that my sister and nephew came away unscathed. I'm so thankful to Heavenly Father for blessing them with safety. We knew the truck was in bad condition, but never thought it would explode on the highway. Scary incident.

Monday Muse

I don't know why, but this cracks me up every time I see it. I feel bad for the animation, getting pushed around. And just when you think he and his friends are winning...poor guys. I'd like to say I'm a friendly animator, but I don't animate. But if I did, I would be nice! lol

This is good stuff, makes me laugh. :)

Hey, if it sucks, why not

Have I mentioned our new vacuum? We bought it the day after Thanksgiving at Wal-Mart. It was only $25 and although we were skeptical we decided to try it out. It does work, not the best, but it’s better than nothing. My husband is really good about cleaning all the filters to ensure that it works properly and lasts a long time. I must say though, that shopping for vacuum cleaners was harder than I imagined, but I’m grateful for what we have. When we’re in a better position, I’d love to buy a Dyson next time.

Digital is the only way to go

The other day while I was looking through a large stack of pictures, I decided to throw away the crappy ones. I don’t know why I ever held onto them, but I did. So all the pictures that were out of focus and fuzzy went to the shredder. This is another reason why I love my digital camera, I can pick and choose which pictures I want to keep. I still have a lot to learn on how to use it but I’m getting better. Now that I think about it, our digital camera battery might need to be changed.

But mom, I don't want to go!

Ok, it's not that bad, but I wouldn't mind having another week off before going back to school. We've been sick twice over break which stopped us from getting more done than we wanted but that's how things happen sometime. We did pay fees yesterday and finished buying our books. I managed to buy the wrong book for one of my classes but thankfully my husband noticed and we bought the right one. That would have been awkward come Thursday. lol

I've been worried about our Tuesdays and Thursdays because they're our craziest days. We realized we'd be making four trips to and from school with our schedule. But a wonderful friend just called me and said she could save us two of those trips! That's a huge blessing! Plus, we have a neighbor who is willing to take the girls for a few hours when our classes overlap and all I need to do is babysit for her in return. So no babysitting fees there.

Everything is falling into place and I know this is right for us. All we're waiting on now is a job then we're set. Hubby has had one interview and we're hoping he hears back this next week. Keep your fingers crossed!

Glasses

I don’t mind wearing my glasses, except for the fact that they are somewhat mangled. lol I think the girls got to them once and bent them so now they sit weird on my nose. I’ve been thinking about getting a new pair and I like some at Great Discovery: www.ZenniOptical.com. The have a bigger selection than the place I went to last and that’s a big plus. If you need glasses, this is a place to shop!

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
What is your middle name? Would you change any of your names if you could? If so, what would you like to be called?

*Darlene - I think it suits me. Although, I don't like the controversy that comes with who I was named after. My family has mixed feelings on this and it's annoying.

Soup
If you were a fashion designer, which fabrics, colors, and styles would you probably use the most?

*First, I would want to make jeans and then shirts you can wear to church or anywhere else. Why? Because those are the two hardest things for me to find. As far as fabrics go, the jeans would be levis of course with khaki. The shirts, probably cotton/polyester blends and I would make sure they were all pre-shrunk so people would know that what they bought is what they will get. With colors, I'd like a nice variety but nothing too dramatic. Styles - modest and beautiful would be a must. No hipster jeans and no short shirts for crying out loud.

Salad
What is your least favorite chore, and why?

*Taking out the garbage. I don't mind doing anything else, but this is my least favorite. Thankfully, my husband does this most of the time. I'm so blessed. :)

Main Course
What is something that really frightens you, and can you trace it back to an event in your life?

*The wind and I have never been friends, but it is getting easier. The reason being, when I was younger we had a fire pit my dad and brothers would always let it die out on it's own. Since we lived in the country, there was always a good wind and I worried that it would spread the fire. Once we did have a big fire in our field out back, which was not the result of the fire pit, but the wind made the fire go almost up to our house. But like I said, I'm not as "afraid" of it now as I used to be, but sometimes when it gets really loud, I get uneasy.

Dessert
Where are you sitting right now? Name 3 things you can see at this moment.

*In our office and I can see a bookcase, the changing table, and a box of Kleenex.

I'll admit it

The other day I was singing the alphabet with the girls and by accident I got the letters mixed up. Yes, I know perfectly well the right order, but I've been sick so I blame that. :) My husband on the other hand, was trying to be funny and sent me this email:

"It has been recorded that on January 7, 2008 Michelle was heard singing the ABC song. It was also recorded that the order of the alphabet has changed from 'qrstuv' to the now widley accepted 'qrstu..y.' This is a courtesy email to inform you of the change. Have a good day."

So maybe I've lost a few marbles, but hey, at least I admit it right? LOL

Grab your putter

We had one of my husband’s nephews for Christmas this year. He and his brothers are avid golfers, so we gave him a bunch of golfing tees, which he loved. I don’t know where all he’s actually golfed, but I imagine he’s played on a number of courses. His family takes vacations all over the place, including California and Washington. Although I don’t know if he’s actually been to any California golf courses or Washington ones, for that matter, but maybe. I need to tell him about americangolf.com and how he can schedule tee times online for as little as $9. He’d probably enjoy that.

Computer help?

I don't know why, but every now and then my computer goes bezerk. The one problem that I dislike the most is when I click on the comments for a post here at my blog and a new window pops up, the window is so small I can't read half of what people write. Or if I'm on someone else's blog and they have those word verifications, I usually can't see the whole thing so I can't comment. There's not an option to make the window bigger and it won't let me scroll over. Usually this type of thing fixes itself within a week or two but this time it's stuck. Does anyone know what I can do to fix it? It doesn't just happen with blogger, but other websites with pop up windows. It's frustrating and I'd like to fix it if I can. Thanks!

It would be nice

Having a second car I mean. Our neighbors just bought one because their other died a few weeks ago. It was funny because my neighbor told me she was going crazy not being able to go anywhere while her husband was in school. She said she didn't know how I did it all the time. I told her when you don't have the option, you manage. lol Their new car looks really nice and has one of those car spoilers on the back. We've thought about getting a second car, especially this semester, but that idea flew out the window as of yesterday. We'll manage for now. :)

If things get any worse

I'm going to need a a lot of ice cream. With school not ending the why I wanted, then finding out Kara is moving, then my MIL having a stroke (which is not completely uncommon for her but, still unsettling), and now my husband losing his unemployment six months earlier than we were told. Yeah, I'm about ready to curl up into a little ball and cry. Today sucks.

Need some extra cash?

Thankfully we were able to stick to a budget this year for Christmas but I know some people who went a little overboard. If you're one of those people and you're now finding yourself short on cash, payday loans may be an option for you. I wouldn't go out right now and get a loan just for fun money, but if you need cash to pay bills or feed your family, then that's different. Christian Faith Financial wants to help you take care of those needed expenses until you can make it on your own.

I've started my to-do list

I found all of our pictures from the last five years and I've organized them into groups. I figured the easiest way to group them would be in chronological order with a few I'll take out and put in the girls' albums. Why, early in our marriage, did I feel the need to have duplicates of every picture? Sorry, but I think that was dumb on my part. No wonder working on these picture has been so daunting, with all the duplicates it seemed like a mountain of work. But now I have a Wal-Mart bag full of throw away pictures that will meant my shredder's doom. Yay!

I'm glad we now have a digital camera too. Even though I haven't been into digital scrapbooking, it's still nice to be able to pick which pictures I want and which I don't. That was the smartest investment we've made this year. So, now I need to print off the digital pictures we want to add to books, then I'll throw them all in, and viola! Ahh, it's nice to see and end in sight.

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
When was the last time you received a surprise in the mail, and what was it?

*A refund from the dr. I knew it was coming, just not when, and it showed up right before Christmas. :)

Soup
If you could have a summer and/or winter home, where would you want it to be?

*I'd love a second home in Ireland.

Salad
Pick one: pineapple, orange, banana, apple, cherry.

*Hmm, it's a toss up between pineapple and orange.

Main Course
Describe the nicest piece of clothing that you own.

*It's sad to say, but I don't own any nice pieces of clothing. The "nicest" thing I have is my wedding ring and that's fine with me.

Dessert
If you could forget one whole day from your life, which day would you choose to wipe from your memory?

*Yesterday. My husband let me sleep in and I ended up having one of the worst nightmares I've ever had. I can't shake the images out of my head and I'd like to.

Join me by going to Friday's Feast home.

Playing the piano

My mom gave me some of her old piano books along with another book and note cards that teaches someone how to play. I can play the top hand fine, but I don’t have a clue about the bottom hand. With Piano lessons & piano chords I know that I could learn to play better. Any help would be great in my case. That’s why I like playpiano.com because they offer a free email newsletter on piano chords and progressions. You can even purchase piano lessons on DVD but there’s never an obligation to do so.

Do you know what day it is?

It's January 2, 2008. January 2!! Which means I only have twelve days left before school starts again. Where the heck did the time go? Last week my husband and I were saying how slow the week was going and how nice that was. And now it's already Wednesday of this week!

There are so many things I want to do before school starts again. I need to tackle our last five years worth of pictures and put them in books for starters. My husband is going to teach me a few things on the guitar and I wanted to maybe even pick up my clarinet again (yikes!). What I need is a day to day list because I'm forgetting everything I wanted to do. I better go get one started before I run out of time to do anything.

Oh, and for my friend Gina who did start school today, good luck friend! I'm praying you have a wonderful day!

Secure your business

Whether you’re a financial institution or retail outlet, or any other business for that matter, take a minute to look at what Pragma Systems Secure Server has to offer you. This is a private corporation located in Austin, Texas and they want nothing more than to help your business be as secure as possible. With their technology, which can easily be integrated, you can choose from a Telnet Server, SSH server, and they even offer services for those with wireless handheld devices.

Just randomness

My blog has been pretty random this year and more so the last few months. I saw that Kara did this post and when it made me smile, I figured I would make a similar post. So here you have it, the titles of my first post from every month in 2007:

January
"Ick"

February
"What were they thinking Thursday"

March
"Smoo's Desserts"

April
"Planting season"

May
"Dead Week"

June
"Friday's Feast"

July
"Camping 101" (This one still makes me laugh)

August
"Summer reading"

September
"My first 5k"

October
"Moving along"

November
"With heavy heart"

December
"Do you have snow?"