I'm baaaaaaackk.......part 3

For Christmas '07 we ended up going to Colorado again to spend the holidays with Mandy's family. Unfortunately I had had an extremely busy December, making gifts for friends and family, and by the time we got there, both Blake and I came down with a lovely cough and the runny/stuffy nose issue. That was super fun. Really the only rough parts of the sickness were difficulty staying asleep and coughing uncontrollably due to dry throat in the middle of the night. Even with all the sickies...we managed to have a great time with the family.

Here are my parents reading stories to the neices- Camille and Callia. They LOVE Papa and Grandma. We also had a great time playing games including dominos, speed scrabble, and Cities & Knights of Catan (my new game for Christmas!)

Indianna loved to sneak into the rocker when her cousin Callia wasn't looking. Perfect place for a sweet little girl.
The girls loved playing with the little kitchen- it made noises for many of the appliances and they just loved that. Callia was always baking up something!
Here was the gorgeous sunset on Christmas Eve- truly a sight to behold.

Blake holding Indianna before a trek out into the snow. She loved the snow and cried when she had to come back into the house!

Here is my mom and I whipping up a new holiday treat I learned how to make this year! Oreo Balls are super scrumptious!!
Callie and Indi were always climbing into my lap to read books. I love reading to the little ones...can't wait till I can read to my own kiddies! I loved being read to as a kid, reading on my own as a kid, and now listening to books on CD as an adult (just kidding. I read mostly any book I have time for)
Here are the girls at their mini table- boy you'd be really suprised at how bent out of shape kids can get if you switch the colored chair they've sat in more than once. Sheesh. How was I supposed to know she'd been sitting in the red chair the whole time?
One of the highlights was watching Callia zoom down the stairs on her bum. It was cute hearing her basey laugh! She sounds EXACTLY like my sister!

I found this super cute plush nativity set for the girls this year and we had a great time having them set up the nativity as my dad read Luke. It's so fun to get the kids involved with the story!

I'm baaaaaackkk....part 2

So- in the midst of December we decided to host a white elephant party with Blake's high school crew and a few others (basically enough until our house popped) and it proved to be quite a night...

First- the Turley's got phased off of the Cardinals frog who sang and waved his arms and bounced his head to "In Da Club". Yeah...that one was a gem. The Cooper's got excited to try out a new workout video with accompanying hot pink and green leotard. Priceless.
And the Hamilton's made the very best chocolate milk with their new motorized pocket blender with snazzy white carrying case including wrist strap. (Do not try blending in soda...you can imagine the repercussions).
Here's the gang showing off their gifts...
Overall- we had a fantastic night hanging out with the crew- doesn't happen nearly often enough, but at least once a year we have a grand old time all together!!

I'm baaaaaaackk.......part 1

Did you think I was lost?? Well...I've missed the blogosphere...It's been over a month since I've blogged and believe me...I've missed it. I guess for myself I need to recap the happenings...since really all who read this have been (for the most part) involved in all of it.

So Dec. 14, 2007 my work (University of Phoenix- University Services division) hosted a Casino Night for our Christmas Party (and if you want to talk PC- it would be the "Holiday Party"). Sheesh...It's Christmas ok...no and, ifs, or buts about it. Here is Blake and I with the Rat Pack. They sounded pretty good for being dead guys. Here is a picture of the 5 total minutes that Blake sat next to me at the dinner table the whole night- (unbeknowst to me- they served lobster with chicken for dinner- and Blake is deathly allergic to shellfish) so he ducked out most of the dinnertime and went to fill up the car with gas, hit up the nearest In 'N Out for dinner and hung around in the hotel lobby drinking hot chocolate. I felt so bad!!
Here are the girls I work with- they are so fun!


The whole night I kept thinking about the episode of "The Office" when they did casino night cause we all got fake money to gamble with and I kept thinking about Kreed stealing the chips so he could win the prizes...well- I didn't steal any chips but I did win $1000 of fake money in craps...I love that game. However I didn't win any of the awesome raffles they had...which was a bummer since I made Blake stay until late into the night...but I had fun. Blake was such a trooper.

True Preparation for Parenthood

So you want to be a parent? Thinking about having children?

Lesson 1: Women: Put on a maternity dress and stick a beanbag chair down the front. Leave it there for nine months. After nine months, remove 10% of the beans.Men: Go to the supermarket and drugstore. Dump the contents of your wallet on the counter. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office. Go home. Pick up the paper, read it for the last time.

Lesson 2: Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their...1. Methods of discipline.2. Lack of patience.3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.4. Allowing their children to run wild.Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's sleeping habits, toilet training, table manners and overall behavior. Enjoy it. It will be the last time in your life that you will have all the answers.

Lesson 3:To discover how the nights will feel...1. Walk around the living room from 5 pm to 10 pm carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly.2. At 10 pm, put the bag down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1 am.4. Set the alarm for 3 am.5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2 am and make a drink.6. Go to bed at 2:45am.7. Get up at 3am when the alarm goes off.8. Sing songs in the dark until 4 am.9. Get up. Make breakfast. Keep this up for 5 years (if you have more than one, you can extend this fun section for years and years!!). Look cheerful.

Lesson 4: Can you stand the mess children make? To find out...smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer. Stick your fingers in the flower bed. Then rub them on the clean walls. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look? Now, you have thirty seconds to try to make everything look clean, because the doorbell just rang; it's the boss and his wife.

Lesson 5: Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out. Time allowed for this--all morning.

Lesson 6: Take an egg carton. Using a pair of scissors and pot of paint, turn it into an alligator. Now take the tube from a roll of toilet paper. Using only Scotch tape and a piece of foil, turn it into an attractive Christmas candle. Last take a milk carton, a Ping-Pong ball, and an empty packet of Cocoa Puffs. Make an exact replica of the Eiffel Tower.

Lesson 7: Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van wagon. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment. Leave it there. Get a dime. Stick it in the cassette player. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Lesson 8: Get ready to go out.Wait outside the bathroom for half an hour. Go out the front door. Come in again. Go out. Come back in. Go out again. Walk down the front path.Walk back up it. Walk down it again. Walk very slowly down the road for five minutes. Stop, inspect minutely, and ask at least 6 questions about every piece of used chewing gum, dirty tissue, and dead insect along the way. Retrace your steps. Give up and go back into the house.

Lesson 9: Always repeat everything you say at least, if not more than, five times.

Lesson 10: Go to the local supermarket. Take with you the nearest thing you can find to a preschool child. (A fully-grown goat is excellent.) If you intend to have more than one child, take more than one goat. Buy your weeks groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys.

Lesson 11: Hollow out a melon. Make a small hole in the side. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone. Tip half of the remaining portion into your lap. The other half just throw up in the air. You are now ready to feed a 12-month-old baby.

Lesson 12:Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street, the Wiggles, Barney, Dragon Tales, Caillou, and Disney. Watch nothing else on TV for at least five years.

Lesson 13: Move to the tropics. Find or make a compost pile. Dig down about halfway in and stick your nose in it. Do this 3-5 times a day for two years.

Lesson 14: Make a recording of Fran Drescher (she played on the show “The Nanny and has that obnoxious voice and laugh) saying mommy repeatedly. (Important: No more than a four-second delay between each mommy ; occasionally, crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required.) Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Lesson 15: Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt sleeve, or elbow while playing the mommy tape made from lesson fourteen above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.

Lesson 16: Put on your finest work attire. Pick a day in which you have an important meeting. Take a cup of milk, and put ½ cup of Raisin Bran in it. Stir. Dampen a towel with this mixture. Now, dump the cup on your shirt and attempt to clean it with the towel. Do NOT change. You have no time. Go directly to work.

Lesson 17: Go for a ride, but first...1. Find one large tomcat and two pit-bull.2. Borrow three child safety seats and install them into the back seat of your car.3. While holding something fragile, strap the cat and pit bulls into their car seats.4. Keep the cat and the pit-bulls from touching each other while driving in heavy traffic.5. While the cat and pit-bulls fight, scratch and squeal, answer an important call on your cell phone. Put on your makeup while waiting at stoplights.6. Run several errands, removing and replacing the cat and pit-bulls at each stop.7. Take the cat and pit-bulls to a meeting. Prepare individual sandwich bags with equal portions of Little Friskies, and Purina Dog Chow.8. Try to enjoy the meeting while the cat and pit-bulls sniff and pull and howl about the contents of the other's bags.

Lesson 18: SMILE...because it is the most wonderful experience of your life!

(I read and laughed at every one of these lessons- as I could relate through being a child, talking with my parents/family with kids/friends with kids, and years upon years of babysitting...and guess what?? Yes, I still want to have kids!) Thanks Heather for posting these fun lessons!

I didn't get a chance to thank you...

Sarah, Kayleen and Diana for my birthday lunch. And to show how crafty my friends are here are the lovelies I obtained for a birthday I wish I never had (29 just means I'm looming on 30 all too soon)...

Kaylo's Pintuck scarf....

and Sarah's tissue holder and Cute book to make felt animals...

both so thoughtful...I'm sorry to not have thanked you before now. I am so greatful for you guys and the amazing friends you are!

Too sick to blog...

I'm finally getting over that lovely bug that had me laying around in pain for 3 days... diarrhea...trapped gas...nausea...luckily- no vomiting. But lets get real- what a WEAK thing to catch. I wasn't even feeling well enough to blog and have missed opportunities to work on Christmas projects and get ahead on my new class for school starting on Monday. Sheesh. I hope the rest of my December turns out much better.

I did discover a lovely new track by Emma Pollock "Adrenaline" that I think you'll love. Download it here. (This link is only active for 7 days so get it while it's hot!)

the constants of today...

a full day of rain...hanging with the girls...missing Blake while on a mini tour with A&A...cuddling with a blankie...diarrhea (yes that's a constant...all day... I'm human what can I say. Yes, in case you didn't know- girls poop too). Shocker, I know.

I love little things...

When I was first introduced to the Kimball family back in 2002- I was able to see a spectacle that is rare...a full on miniature Christmas Snow Village- I'm not just talking a few little houses...I'm talking about 30+ houses including people, cars, trees, lights...a kids absolute dream to look at (which of course includes me too).

I absolutely LOVE little things so my mom-in-law has started a tradition to give me a new Snow Village piece every Christmas. I bought a few extras for Christmas the first year, so now I've got 11 big pieces.

Introducing: Long Haul Truck Stop

Jonathan's Bear Carving Studio
Gus's Drive In (ironically that was my grandpa's name and my 1st piece!)
The Frozen Swirl- everybody loves a good cone!
The Dr. of Snow Village

Habitat for Humanity- yes, even a service project made it to my village!
A lovely victorian home...love the brick, stained glass and Santa's sleigh!
Even the Snow Village needs a pet store...they don't have a Humane Society quite yet!
Even the WT get involved in decorating! Love it!
The camping, hiking and fishing crew! Love those pop-up campers!
Timberlake Outfitters- for all of your canoeing pleasures!
My newest piece- Mighty Fine BBQ Pit. Man I love BBQ!

Here's the big picture...I am going to start needing more tables!
Hope you enjoyed the tour around Snow Village...come back again now, ya hear? (That was in my southern accent...not sure why, because Snow Village really more reminds me of Colorado or Utah...but I guess it could be Texas or something too right?!!)

Tagged...again...

I know Jaime came into blogging a bit later than me (or I, I should say)...but I've been tagged again...and I'm trying to branch out more so here goes...

the rules of tag...
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are TAGGED by leaving a comment on their blog.

Some (not so) interesting facts about me...

1. I have never thrown up in my life. Weird, I know...I wish my steel stomach was as such on the outside.

2. I have a vein in the shape of a heart on my right bicep, my name means "to be loved" and I was conceived on Valentine's Day. LOVE sweet Love.

3. I still laugh when people toot. pass gas. fart. cut the cheese...whatever you want to call it...it still makes me laugh and crinkle my nose. And I am 29. Did I mention I am still childlike?

4. I... like Jaime...love the elipsis...(the 3 dots). They are beautiful as three and break up words better than a space...or a period...punctuation that takes a short runner up...the EX!CLAM!A!TION! M!A!R!K!!!!!!!!!!

5. I love finding new things online through blogs...many times I will have clicked through so many websites I can't remember how I got there in the first place. I have to admit I like getting lost in the WWW sometimes. It's funny when I buy stuff online and couldn't even begin to remember where I got it. I need to be better at bookmarking!

People I'm tagging: Cicily, Jill, Ashley, Natalie, & Cami!

Disneyland day 2- Friday...

Friday I wasn't obsessed with getting to the park right when it opened since I knew lines would be much longer since it was a Friday...so we got there at about 1pm...and ate at TB BEFORE we got there so we didn't go broke from Disneyland prices.

My new hat...don't worry- I won't be wearing it out in public (or probably even the privacy of my own bedroom), but I really liked the blinky lights on the ears...And the fact that they embroidered my name on it for **FREE** (a real treat at Disneyland since everything else costs an arm/leg/first born)...Why didn't someone tell me my part was so crooked?? ...and that adults shouldn't wear pigtails.

My hat and the poster matched so I had to be lame and document that.

When Blake acts like a "goof" he really creates my favorite photos. This is what you call a hard guy that doesn't act like he's the hardest...or the most indie.
Typical Disney pic...I've still never ridden the train in the background...to save my little feetsies!
Jells and Jaxman sporting Pluto and Goofy.



Took a ride on Storybook Land...never been on that before...it was the perfect interim for "my feet hurt so effin bad I need to sit for a good 10 minutes"! Plus we got there right when the afternoon parade ended (while they had it shut down) so we got right on when it reopened!
It was like pulling teeth getting Blake into this sleigh. Wish I woulda taken the ears off. I could photoshop it right?
This is Blake's attempt to make fun of me for taking so many pictures...ha, I showed him. See that hand pose...trying to be SO condescending!
Went on the canoe ride...actually paddled...it wasn't really a ride- we did all the work. Now my arms, feet AND butt hurt. Is Disneyland supposed to be this painful? Oh wait, I forgot...it is supposed to help you burn off the Churro and orange Fanta you just had...and that ice cream cone you ate 2 hours ago.
Blake getting physical. He really did want to punch me in the face for making him take so many pics and go on lame rides of my choice.
The Haunted Mansion was all decked out as the "Nightmare Before Christmas". Still haven't seen that movie (this Christmas I will for sure), but the decor looked awesome!
You can also see how soaked Blake got when we went on Splash Mountain...He thought he'd keep from getting wet by standing up after going down that big hill...you can see his theory to stay dry failed...lucky for me I was sitting right behind him and stayed pretty dry.

Blake was freezing by about 6 pm so I made him buy a California Adventure sweatshirt. He was so mad at me for making him buy it. He is such a shirt nazi since he can get most items wholesale through work...dropping 45 bones really hacked him. But he looked cute and I can wear it when he decides he's too indie or too hard for it. Blake had had enough of Disneyland so left with Jaime and the boys at 7pm.

Chels and I decided to stay late into the evening to ride some other rides we liked or hadn't gotten to go on...so first we hit up Big Thunder Mountain Railroad...crazy enough my camera fell out of my pocket sometime on the ride- I didn't realize until a few minutes after we got off the ride that it fell out so we went back to where you exit the ride to see if it had gotten turned in. The worker said we'd wait until the train came back in...crazy enough when the train pulled in Chelsea saw a guy hold up my camera and was about to put it in his bag (what a chump) when I exclaimed "THANK YOU FOR FINDING MY CAMERA!!" I think I caught him off guard when I grabbed the camera out of his hands. I want to give this guy the benefit of the doubt that he was just going to go turn it in to Lost & Found like a saint...but I really think he was thinking how awesome a new digital camera was sounding. Whatever...glad I got my camera back. I got kinda paranoid so left it in my bag the rest of the night!

We then headed back to California Adventure to fast pass California Screamin' and go over to see the rest of the park we'd never explored before. We had some time to chew so we rode the Maliboomer and Mulholland Madness. Not for the light hearted...they took our breath away... you know how you get when you're so scared you can't even scream...you kinda let out this breathy sort of laugh? My throat was killing by the end of the night... but I love the thrill. Of course we had to get in one more ride on the Tower of Terror... you know you are getting chucked when your necklace that gently rests in between your boosoms hits you in the forehead when the "elevator" drops. SHEESH.

We wanted to catch two of our favorite rides before we left for the night so went back over to Disneyland and rode the Matterhorn Bobsleds (my favorite). That abominable snowman scares me EVERY time! It was cool because the fireworks display was going as we were on the ride so we caught some glimpses of some great fireworks!

We saved the best ride for last... Space Mountain (Chels and my other favorite). We also figured out they stopped doing Fast Passes so we had to wait a whole 40 minutes...even with sore knees, legs and feet...it was totally worth the wait. I love the rush! Man, I love Disneyland!!

The happiest place on earth...

All clad in Christmas stuff! Beautiful!

So...the good thing is that I still love being a kid, even though I am now 29. So here's the rundown on Disneyland yesterday... first we hit up California Adventure...

First we rode Soarin' over California (man, this ride is legit) The smells...the air. WOW! Then we actually got Blake to ride the Tower of Terror (even through his fear of elevators)...ran into Sully on the way over...then went to California Screamin' roller coaster- loved it. It was pretty hot out and Blake begged to go on Grizzly Rapids- Chelsea, Nate and I were smart and decided to skip that ride while Blake and Pops went...they got soaked. Glad we skipped it. I hate being wet in jeans.

Hopping over to Disneyland was a blast. We hit up the Mad Hatter's hat shop- posed for some pics..

Then joined Jax, Jaime, Parker and the parents in Toon Town to run around the little "big" things...

Mickey's garden was quite impressive...

then we split off from the kiddos and Nate (my bro), Chelsea, Blake and I rode the Matterhorn- love that Abominable Snowman (scares me every time)! We also hit up Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters (Nate smoked us all in points), we could even email pics of ourselves after the ride for free!then went on the improved Pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones, Jungle Tours, Big Thunder Railroad, then hit up Space Mountain one more time before leaving!

They just happened to be taping a live session of Dancing With The Stars at Disneyland- but I haven't really been watching it- and didn't want to try to beat the crowds, so we lost interest pretty fast. The greatest part about going to Disneyland on a Thursday in the winter is the fact that the longest we had to wait to get on a ride was about 15 minutes. It was great! I highly recommend going in the middle of the week when there aren't any holidays- it made the experience so much better. And also, my feet really hurt last night, but are feeling pretty good today- we will be dealing with bigger crowds today- but at least we got in all the big rides we really wanted to go on yesterday!