Merry Christmas!

We will soon be flying to Utah and we couldn't be happier! I can't wait to see family and friends, and of course hit the slopes. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas. Make some memories!!!

Howdy folks!

Kids are just fun, aren't they? I just love this one to death. He has grown so much and is interested in everything I'm doing. He also has a fascination with shoes. We usually take off our shoes when we get in the house, and he just thinks they are fun things to suck on. yuck! He especially likes Jared's cowboy boots. He totes them around and it's funny because they are pretty heavy, but he just lifts with all his might and drags them them around all the time. Throughout the day I just smile as I make my "clean up" rounds and find random shoes in random places. Lately I've also found my keys in the garbage, my shoe in his closet, and my brush in his dirty clothes bin. And I thought I was pretty good at keeping things out of his reach. I have now put everything higher and tried to keep shoes in closets. He is a tricky little guy.

I need a new system!

I LOVE Christmas cards. Jared thinks it's so funny when Christmas time comes around and I get the very first Holiday card of the season. I open it up and get so excited. Then, every single day after that I sort through all the mail just looking for those handwritten envelopes. Don't you just love that? Well, anyway I have always just taped the cards to the fridge, but as you can see it's just not really working anymore. Jax's early Christmas present, the Leap Frog phonics toy (which is awesome by the way) is taking up most of the space. So I need some fun ideas on how I can display my cards. How do you guys do it?

Rooney

Thanks to Charlotte for passing this on to me. Andy Rooney is sometimes a little nutty, yes? But this passion and common sense is so refreshing. ESPECIALLY on CBS!!!

Andy Rooney said on '60 Minutes' a few weeks back:

I don't think being a minority makes you a victim of anything except numbers..
The only things I can think of that are truly discriminatory are things
like the United Negro College Fund, Jet Magazine, Black Entertainment Television,
and Miss Black America. Try to have things like the United Caucasian College
Fund, Cloud Magazine, White Entertainment Television, or Miss White America;
and see what happens....Jesse Jackson will be knocking down your door.

Guns do not make you a killer. I think killing makes you a killer. You
can kill someone with a baseball bat or a car, but no one is trying to
ban you from driving to the ball game .

I believe they are called the Boy Scouts for a reason, which is why there
are no girls allowed. Girls belong in the Girl Scouts! ARE YOU LISTENING
MARTHA BURKE ?

I think that if you feel homosexuality is wrong, it is not a phobia, it
is an opinion.

I have the right 'NOT' to be tolerant of others because they
are different, weird, or tick me off.

When 70% of the people who get arrested are black, in cities where 70%
of the population is black, that is not racial profiling; it is the Law
of Probability.

I believe that if you are selling me a milkshake, a pack of cigarettes,
a newspaper or a hotel room, you must do it in English! As a matter of
fact, if you want to be an American citizen, you should have to speak English!

My father and grandfather didn't die in vain so you can leave the countries
you were born in to come over and disrespect ours.

I think the police should have every right to shoot you if you threaten
them after they tell you to stop. If you can't understand the word 'freeze'
or 'stop' in English, see the above lines.

I don't think just because you were not born in this country, you are qualified
for any special loan programs, government sponsored bank loans or tax breaks,
etc., so you can open a hotel, coffee shop, trinket store, or any other
business.

We did not go to the aid of certain foreign countries and risk our lives
in wars to defend their freedoms, so that decades later they could come
over here and tell us our constitution is a living document; and open to
their interpretations.

I don't hate the rich, I don't pity the poor

I know pro wrestling is fake, but so are movies and television. That doesn't
stop you from watching them.

I think Bill Gates has every right to keep every penny he made and continue
to make more. If it ticks you off, go and invent the next operating system
that's better, and put your name on the building.

It doesn't take a whole village to raise a child right, but it does take
a parent to stand up to the kid; and smack their little behinds when necessary,
and say 'NO!'

I think tattoos and piercing are fine if you want them, but please don't
pretend they are a political statement.. And, please, stay home until that
new lip ring heals. I don't want to look at your ugly infected mouth as
you serve me French fries!

I am sick of 'Political Correctness.' I know a lot of black people,
and not a single one of them was born in Africa ; so how can they be 'African-Americans'?
Besides, Africa is a continent. I don't go around saying I am a European-American
because my great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather was from
Europe . I am proud to be from America and nowhere else

And if you don't like my point of view, tough...

Celine and Josh; what a great duet.

I love this song during the Holidays!

shingles stink

So, I've been having one crappy week. Why? One word. Shingles. And you all thought only old folks got that. Nope. I guess you can get it when you're 9 (like I did) and also when you're 27 (which is the case currently)
I always seem to have the "older people" problems anyway,like 3 knee surgeries, knee arthritis, 3 colonoscopies , 1 big pre-cancerous colon polyp, being legally blind without contacts, etc. Well, this time was pretty bad. I have a huge rash on my right lower back, and I want to claw my skin off. I'm also extremely fatigued and have a bad headache. And then, to top off the fun, I am experiencing postherpetic neuralgia. That's just a fancy term for sharp shooting pains all over my area of infection, and beyond.
Overall though, I do have to say that I am grateful for my health. I realize that I have NOTHING to complain about compared to some. I am relatively healthy and just needed a quick venting session.
I just have to say thanks to such wonderful women in my life. The other night I was feeling completely awful. My sweet friend called up and said it didn't matter what I had to say, she was bringing me dinner and that it was final. It made me smile, because she knows me so well to know I would probably not want to inconvenience anyone,and tell her not to worry about it. She brought me dinner and heaven knows I needed the help. Others reached out and called me out of concern and offered to help in any way. I can't tell you how much it meant to me. My heart is grateful for the thoughtfulness and service of amazing friends.

I've Been tagged by Lindsey!

Okay, so here goes......6 facts/habits/random info......

1- I think people already know this, but I'm in a golf video game for Xbox called Links 2003. I was hired by Microsoft my Senior year of college to work in the same studio where Tiger Woods does all his videos. I was hoping to spot him but had no luck. They dressed me up in this Velcro suit with little tiny cameras attached all over me and they tracked my golf swing and mannerisms to a fairly precise level on the computer. It took 3 days to get all the shots but it was a blast. It took an entire day for me to mimik Annika Sorenstam's swing. I'm not an actress so it was hard for me to not just crack up laughing. For example, the main computer/ camera guy told me to swing the club and pretend I just hit the ball in the water and have a huge temper tantrum. He told me to shout and throw the club and slap my leg, etc. I thought this wouldn't be too hard, I mean I've done it before in real life, but acting it was tough. I just kept laughing. Finally we got it right. So, long story short, if you ever play links 2003, click on any female golfer (including Annika Sorenstam) and that will be my golf swing and actions.

2- I'm not sure my son knows his real name because I have this habit of calling him all sorts of nicknames, some of which make no sense and I'm not even sure where they came from. Here's just a few: DooDee, Mr. Sir, bubby, Mr. Wiggles, baby, Jax man, sweetie, sweetness, handsome, mister, goofy, smiley, .......
Oh man I think this needs to stop. His name is cute enough. Now that I think about it, I don't call Jared by his name either.....hm and my oldest brother Lance, I call Lance man, or "brother". My brother Jason is either just "brother" or "Jay Buddy." Tyler is "ty" or "brother". Chase is "Chaser" or"brother". Preston is "bunky" or "brother". My dad is pops. Mom; well, she's just "mom".

3- I am a clean freak. I am an anti-clutter type person. I don't like trinkets. Holiday decor doesn't count, but I just like a clean look, you know? I also have to leave an absolute spotless house whenever I go out of town. I mean it has to be totally disinfected and perfectly clean. I don't know why I've just always felt it must be done.

4- I have 2 toes that are stuck together (again, I think most people already know this). My brother Lance named my two stuck-together toes iggly and piggly. This goes way back to our childhood. If I was annoying him, he'd threaten to cut iggly and piggly in half with a kitchen knife. Scary, yes? I thought so too. To this day he always asks how iggly and piggly are doing.

5- I really want to be on the Amazing Race. Wouldn't that just be a BLAST!!!! I would love traveling all over the world doing crazy competitions and stunts. I'm very competitive, usually in a nice way. I would do it with either Jared or my friend Jeny.

6- Okay, I'm having a hard time coming up with another one. hmmmmmmmm, let me think. Well, I'll just share my most embarrasing moment just because I can't think of anything else at the moment. If you need a laugh, here ya go.
I was on a first date with a really cute guy in high school. He and I ate at a Mexican food joint and then went to a movie. Well, let's just say I've always had stomach "issues" and well, I could definitely feel the Mexican food coming alive. So, at the end of the date we were on my front porch and he had his arms around my waist, and we were just sort of flirting/talking, you know how it goes in high school. All this time I felt the "urge" and I had to use every muscle in my body to avoid a "release". So anyway it was time for the goodbye, and he leaned into me and his arms wrapped snuggly against me, and then, just being goofy, he suddenly tightened his arms around me, pushing my stomach against his and lifted me off the ground.

Well, that's when I lost it. Yep, I farted. It was not "silent but deadly". It was a loud and horribly un-lady like phenomenon. He dropped me instantly because he was laughing so hard. It was hilarious to him and humiliating to me. We both started laughing and couldn't stop. I joked and told him it was his fault for forcing it out of me. He told me it went down as the best date moment in his book. It goes down as the most embarrasing in mine. He was a real gentleman.


I tag you Kari :) 6 facts/habits about YOU!

All I can say is....

His speech was so amazing! Did you guys see Romney's faith speech? Wow. I can't really say anymore.

Little black dress

My brother-in-law is getting married over the Holidays and I have never owned a fancy black dress. What do you guys think about this one? It's from Shabby Apple and I quite like it. I'm a little worried about short sleeves in the winter. Do you think it could work? Has anyone found a little black dress that they love? Please share.

$9 Craft

I wanted to show a picture of my most recent craft project. I got this idea from Martha Stewart (I think)

Joann's has 12 inch paper mache letters, regular price $3.99. They also have really cool metallic gold paint. I used 4 different 40% off coupons on all these items, and found some clearance fabric for $1.

I just covered existing picture frames with the fabric and hot glued the painted letters onto the fabric. Overall it cost me less than $10 and only took about an hour. I may add some batting underneath to give it a better look. As you can see the "y" is sagging a little. Don't you just LOVE Christmas time?!

Rantings......

Last night I watched about an hour and a half of the Republican debate on CNN. The format included questions posted by folks on YouTube.

Here are my thoughts this morning, and just know that I respect other people's opinions and enjoy discussing the issues at hand. So here goes...

1. Ron Paul is pretty much a Democrat. His liberal views on Iraq were so out of place. He looked like a coward to me and belongs on stage with democrats who share his same point of view.

2. Huckabee impressed me last night. I thought his response to the death penalty and also his answer to the question of "do you believe in every single literal word of the Bible" was amazing. He had style points last night, while Romney did not. When asked about the death penalty and "what would Jesus do"? Huckabee gave the best off the cuff answer I've ever heard. He said, "Jesus was too smart to ever run for public office." You had to see it. It was great.

3. Romney needs to answer some questions more specifically. The waffling is not going to help him at this point. I believe the debate between he and McCain over water board torture techniques used to interrogate terrorists was very interesting. McCain just went nuts over this issue. I do give McCain credit for having conviction but he just doesn't seem likable to me.

4. Fred Thompson seems a little weak to me. He just doesn't seem to have the qualities needed to run this country. Maybe he should stick to acting.

6. Romney is a brilliant businessman. He stands strong for moral family values and also has financial smarts as well as good ideas for improving health care. Unfortunately he did make strong liberal statements back in "94 when he was running for office. He said he looks forward to a day when gays and lesbians can serve openly in the Military. He also believed in a women's right to choose. Now he believes the opposite on abortion and has a case of foot in mouth disease when it comes to gays in the Military. On abortion, I admire him for just owning up to this flip and saying "I made a mistake." I think some people will admire his honesty. Others will not trust him. I like Romney as a person, but I am not sure he can beat Hillary.

7. One last comment on Romney. He was interviewed this morning on CNN and the interviewer told him that people want him to give a speech about his faith. He said so many people are not Mormon and thus don't understand the complicated religion and that Romney should make a national speech about it. Um, this is ridiculous. You don't see that with any other candidate. Not everyone is Catholic either and you don't hear people asking those candidates to give a speech about Catholicism to "educate"the people. If people want to understand about Mormons they should do research themselves. It isn't hard to educate yourself about it with all the many resources available. Ignorance is a scary thing.

8. Okay, Giuliani. He's a tough one. I do not agree with people who say he is using the events of 9/11 to gain office. I believe him to be sincere when he talks about that event and his strides to safeguard this country. I just don't know about his moral values. He leans a little left on issues like abortion. I'm still trying to figure him out.... I didn't really appreciate his comments to Mitt about immigration, I thought he was acting unprofessional and didn't make a strong impression.

9. Illegal immigration. This seems to be such an important issue. I just don't know what to think. What do you say to a family who comes here searching for a better life? What if they are law abiding and work hard to support their families. What if they learn English and pay taxes. Should children be denied education and advancement opportunities because their parents are not here legally? Jared got to know one of the custodians at the Medical Center a couple years back. He learned that this man was from Mexico, and that he came to America alone in search for a better paying job so he could support his family. He lives in a run down little apartment and sends most if his paycheck to his wife and 3 children in Mexico. Sadly they have been apart for 5 years. Jared said he is a kind soft spoken man who speaks English, pays taxes, and works hard doing a job that most Americans refuse to do. What is to be done in this case? It's a tough one.

10. I think that's all the politics for now. As you can see I enjoy a healthy dose of politics.

What do you guys think about the issues?

Turkey Coma!

Guys, is anyone else feeling a little bloated?

Flying Feather Fun.

Happy Thanksgiving! I had a blast running in the race this morning with my friend Jeny and 2500 other running enthusiasts. It was pretty chilly, but very fun. After the race everyone received a nice shirt, a medal and a nice bottle of wine; Jeny received two because she happily accepted mine. I am so happy she joined me in this race. She's the best.

This was a great way to start Turkey day and I am going to make this a tradition. So, wherever I'm living I will always find a fun race to do on Thanksgiving morning. It felt great getting a workout in early so I could enjoy the day and feel zero guilt as I stuffed my face with yummy food and lots of pie. mmmmm. pie.

I had a wonderful and quiet day with my family and I am so grateful for them. I hope everyone had a thoughtful and thankful day.

I'm ready to tackle!!!!

This official Buckeyes helmet weighs just about as much as Jax does. We are pretty pumped up about college football around here. GO BUCKS!!!

No success with VS

I was so excited yesterday when I glanced outside and saw the UPS guy pull up and head to the door with a big box. I was less excited when I saw the box up close. It looked like it had been taped together by a 4 year old; it was ripped halfway open, and was completely dented and dirty all over. I opened it my cutting the one little piece of tape holding it together and found the sweaters in their own plastic bags, and everything was there so I didn't think much of it. I tried the sweaters on and I was bummed. This brown shirt that looks so cute in the picture looks nothing like that on me. I like my shirts to be a little form fitting, like in the picture. In reality it was fitted through the neck and shoulders, but was loose and boxy in the torso. BUUUUUmer.
So, the next sweater fit a little better, except it was defective. It had a torn piece of material near the neck. Sadness. So, I called the retail store to see if they'd take it back. Nope. I thought that might happen. So I called customer service and talked to a really nice lady named Alice. It was a very friendly conversation, and I told her about the box, and about the material on the red sweater, and the wrong fit with the other one. I then asked if I could return the sweaters and that the shipping fee be waved to send them back. She said no problem at all, she'd be happy to do that for me. She restored my confidence in customer service. So I didn't get the sweaters, but that's okay. Pretty soon I'll be hanging with my Mom and we can shop til we drop (which isn't very long in my case:)
I am going to Utah in exactly 32 days, 8 hours and 4 minutes........

Digital Dilemma....

Okay all you digital camera owners out there! I need your advice. I currently own an Olympus digital camera. I'm really struggling with it. I am not happy with the shutter speed, which I can't seem to improve. The delay before the picture is really causing me trouble. It's a great camera for outdoor scenic shots, but if your target (mostly Jax) is moving then almost all the pics come out blurry. So, I am considering a change. I need some advice on a good digital camera that takes a fast shot, and one that takes good pictures of kids. I don't really need a lot of frills, just a good camera that takes a quick shot. What kind of cameras do all of you own? Would you recommend it?

Growing.

Our little preemie. He was just so tiny in his car seat.

This cover was a lifesaver last winter. He looked like he was in a little spaceship or something.

14 months, and definitely too big for his infant carrier, so.....

To the convertible seat. He loves facing forward and I love not straining my back to get him in and out. He's getting so big.

Testing....123.....learning how to use this thing.....

Retail Therapy!

So, I usually don't shop online because I always have to try stuff on first before I commit to spending money (which I don't really like to do in the first place.) Also I just hate paying shipping. It seems like even if you get something on sale you still have to add in the shipping which stinks.

I digress.

I bought these sweaters from VictoriasSecret.com because they just seemed like "me" sweaters. They have really cute clothes. I am finally letting go of some old sweaters I've had since high school that fit weird and just aren't cute anymore. My good friend recently told me about how you can google promo codes to get discounts and boy was she right. I googled promo codes for VS and there were tons from a place called Retailmenot.com. I still can't hyperlink on my blogs (some help again here)

I used a code for free shipping, $15 off, AND a free lip gloss kit. Awesome huh? So anyways I hope these fit, because if not I'll have to pay to ship them back. Arrrgggg. This is my overly thrifty side coming through.

P.S Thanks Lisa for helping me figure out the whole picture thing. It was so simple I felt a dork for not figuring it out myself. You're awesome :)

bloggers, help me out

Okay, so I am pretty new at blogging and would like to know how to do all the fun stuff. Such as

1. How do you post a picture of something you see online, such as an item of clothing from gap.com?

2. How do you put YouTube videos as posts? I try the page element thing but it just brings up 4 video options and I can't get the one I want.

3. Why do I always have to log in when I want to get to my own blog? Annoying. More annoying is it's probably something that is so easy to fix, I just haven't figured it out yet.

So, all you bloggers let me know how I can do these things. I am a novice when it comes to computers. Thanks guys!

Sunday

Our typical Sunday begins with Jared getting up at the crack of dawn to get ready for meetings. Jax and I wake up and get ready and head to the church alone. It's pretty fun; we sing church songs, usually primary songs in the car on the way. People may look at me funny but that's okay, Jax loves it. When we get to church we typically sit near the back, because of Jax's tendency to get ultra wiggly. Jared sits up on the stand, and has ever since before Jax was born. So that is why today was unusual. Today was stake conference and I had to speak. All right I should word it better. I was afforded the rare and wonderful opportunity to tighten the screws on my public speaking abilities. Better?
So, naturally I was a little nervous as I sat up on stage with the stake presidency and other people I didn't know very well. But as I looked down at the congregation I saw my sweet baby and wonderful husband sitting in the front row. Jax was smiling and giggling. I had prayed so hard that I wouldn't be so nervous that I'd completely flake out. I stood up, and glanced at my family and as soon as I said "Good afternoon brothers and sisters...." my fear was gone. I was able to speak with confidence. Wow, our Heavenly Father really does answer prayers. And he gives us amazing families so that we can all strengthen each other through this learning process we call life. Isn't this gospel amazing?

mamma called the doctor and the doctor said...........................

NO MORE MONKEYS JUMPING ON THE BED!
This is what I heard tonight as I checked in on the boys hanging out with each other. It cracks me up to hear how he does all the fun voices when he reads to Jax. I love my boys.

Raindrops on Roses...............

These are a few of my Favorite things:

Food:
Fruit smoothies, whole wheat toast with organic strawberry jam fromTJ's, chicken enchiladas, graeters chocolate almond coconut ice cream (seasonal during summer, bummer)

City:
San Francisco, Boston, Budapest, NYC, Moab

Funny person:
Kevin James, Seinfeld, Dwight (Office), my brother Jason.

Movie:
As you can see I'm bad at choosing just one favorite of anything. I like so many movies, and this list changes like the wind. Here's a few classics:

Tommy Boy, The Burbs, Life is Beautiful, Sound of Music, While You were Sleeping, The Prestige, Indiana Jones series, Miss Congeniality, The Natural, Hoosiers, Hitch, Christmas Vacation.

Sport:
Okay this is easy. Golf. I also love Skiing, Running, Biking, and Basketball. I just love being outside.

Type of Music:
Country. Also Bon Jovi. I love him. Seriously. Love him.

Time of year:
FALL! I absolutely love this time of year. The leaves, the crisp air, OSU football, making smores out in the fire pit, you name it.

Gift I've ever received:
Jared has surprised me with some great gifts. Probably the best was the time he surprised me with a trip to San Francisco and took me to an LPGA golf tournament. It was fun watching Annika Sorenstam play a stellar round.

Childhood memory:
Oh boy, growing up with 5 brothers will get you more memories than you bargain for. I guess one great memory is the winter of 1993 when we had about 5 feet of snow out in our yard. You could jump off our roof and land in the snow and it didn't hurt one bit. So for hours my brothers and I jumped off the roof and played in the snow. We also dug tunnels through our entire yard and it was our amazing snow packed maze. Looking back now I'm sure it was a little dangerous but you never think of those things when your little.

Job:
Well, I liked working for Novartis, good paycheck and all. But I'd have to say my funnest job was working at Uinta golf. And also driving the range picker at the golf course when I was 16. Fun times.

Restaurant:
Well, for fast food I'd have to say In&Out Burger. Unfortunately they don't have those in Ohio. But that makes it my favorite because it's such a special treat. I also love Carrabbas and the ginger crusted salmon from the Fish Market. Oh, and of course Cafe Rio (also not in Ohio)

Item of Clothing:
Um, let's see. Probably my new running shoes from Front Runner. They are so comfy. I also love work out clothes, fuzzy socks and over sized cozy sweatshirts.

Christmas tradition:
I loved going to the Nutcracker with my Mom when I was younger. We'd go every year. I also loved how my oldest brother Lance would always be the first to wake me up as he was so excited to tell me it was Christmas morning. This usually happened at about 5AM as my Dad always grumpily reminds us. Isn't that the best feeling when you're little? Christmas Eve FINALLY passes and you have these excited wild butterflies in your tummy as you and your siblings tip toe into the family room with the sparkling Christmas tree to find what Santa brought . I'll never forget how amazing Christmas was growing up, and still is.

Guilty pleasure: hmmmmmmmmm, okay I'll spill: Diet Coke.

Work of Fiction: Count of Monte Cristo. Great book.

What are a few of your favorite things????

Wanna Run?

http://www.theflyingfeather.com/

I signed up for this race and I'm excited to run on Turkey Day. Hey Ohio friends, want to join me? I NEED a running buddy for this!

Look! It's a Teenage Mutant "Injured" Turtle

See my Bandaid? I scraped my forehead and needed my first bandaid.

See, I'm a cute turtle

Not to be confused with Ray, who is a tortoise

See my cool shell?

My friends Lori and Avery

Isn't this the cutest elephant in the world? This is Jax's friend Ashley. Adorable.

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Love the Leaves

Well, I wanted to get some pictures of some really bright leaves, but they didn't stay colorful for very long this year. Jax had fun playing in the big pile of leaves in our backyard. I just love taking walks during this time of year and hearing the leaves crunch under my feet. Don't you just love that?

duct tape

I love that Jax enjoys books so much. He can sit for such a long time just turning the pages and feeling the textures, and he especially loves lift and flap books.

Sometimes, however, he can be a little rough on his books

Take "Goodnight Moon" for example. He loves this book and we've read it together every night for 13 months. So, he was a little perplexed to find that the first few pages mysteriously fell off while he was turning a page. "no problem" I thought.....

I've got duct tape

It may look a little sad, but as you can see he still wants to read it. I guess I could just buy him a new copy, but this one has charm, don't you think?

I tried it!

I don't own this book yet, but I borrowed a few recipes from it and gave it a try.
Lately Jax seems to be on a food strike. He seems uninterested in food and it's really starting to concern me. He loves 4 foods and that's about it; smashed bananas, french toast, mac & cheese and buttered toast. He won't really touch anything else. So the other day I decided to "sneak" some pureed carrots and cauliflower into his mac & cheese, and guess what? He gobbled it up. I simply steamed the veggies , threw them in the food processor, and mixed it in with the mac & cheese. It was really simple. So now I'm going to see what I can sneak into his french toast. Hopefully this food strike will pass once his sore teething gums are feeling better.

It's Raining Pumpkins

Gotta love the Fall!

My Guy

I've been tagged to share some info on my guy so here goes:


1. Who is your guy? Jared

2. How long have you been married? 6 &1/2 years

3. Where did you two meet? In therapy.....................Oh, you might be wondering what kind?
Physical therapy. He was the PT assistant and I was the patient.

4. What did you do on your first date? He picked me up in his cool black Acura, wearing a very hot black leather jacket and wearing Swiss Army cologne. Yummy. We went and saw "Meet the Parents" and had a good laugh, then we talked all night. I just realized something. He no longer has his Acura, no longer wears that cool leather jacket and hasn't worn cologne since our wedding. hmmmmm interesting.

5. Who made the first move? Me. I leaned. (name that movie) I leaned and he liked it.

6. What do you admire most about him? He has so many amazing qualities. I guess to name a few: He would do anything for anyone. He really cares about people and cares about keeping real close friendships strong. He loves Jax and I so much and it really shows. He can be really funny and charming when he wants to be :) He is brilliant. He seriously knows so much it's amazing. If anyone needs a lifeline or shout out someday call him up.

7. Do you like to travel together? We travelled like maniacs before we had our sweet little guy. We've been to Budapest Hungary, Ireland, Mexico, Canada, the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas, and lots of places in the good old USA. We love San Fransisco, Boston, NYC, Washington DC, Maine, Pittsburgh, Jackson Hole, Lake Powell, Moab, Niagra Falls, Mountain Green, you name it. Can you tell we love getting out of town?


8. Favorite foods? He loves anything healthy and not fried. He won't eat red meat. He loves my brownies and Chocolate chip cookies. If those were the only two treat options for the rest of his life he'd be happy. He also loves Carrabbas and Mama Mimis's pizza.

9. What's his favorite TV show? Well, he doesn't have much time for TV, but he is pretty addicted to LOST. I had a hand in that. He also thinks Dwight is hillarious on the OFFICE and occassionally watches that. He also loves ESPN, the Discovery Channel and Animal Planet.

10. Favorite Music? country, classic rock.

11. Favorite recreation activity? He loves to be outside. Hiking, water skiing, road biking, golfing, running, snow skiing, scuba diving. You name it he's done it.

12. What is his dream job? Well, I'd like to think it would be in medicine, but it's not. He wants to be a farmer. Next question :)

13. What are his idiosyncrasies? Um, too many. Next question :)

14. What does he do that makes you laugh? Oh lots of things. He does one amazing Golam impression (Lord of the Rings) and it scares me so bad it makes me laugh. He also does the childhood game where he copies everything I say. He usually does this if I'm getting bugged over something small and meaningless. I start laughing and then it gets worse because he then copies my laugh to a T and I just end up laughing so hard my stomach hurts. Then there's always the chicken dance. Funny stuff. He also makes Jax laugh all the time and I love that.

15. If you could tell him one thing it would be? That he is my best friend, and an amazing father. I love him and I will forever.

Oh What Fun to Be a Witch!

A big thanks to my crafty friend Stephanie for hosting such a fun and creative evening. Everyone came decked out in their own creative witches hats. I decorated mine with colorful flowers. I am standing next to the winner of the creative hat contest. Liz's hat sparked with lights and fun ribbons. Oh the creativity. I wish I could catch a little of that this season. This was a very fun night filled with fun friends, great Halloween decorations and a carmel apple bar. Need I say more?
FUN

Why can't money really grow on trees????

Jared and I are flying home to Utah for Christmas because his brother is getting married on the 27th. Definitely happy news.
The bummer news is that we can't find any flights for less than $480 a piece, and that is with one layover. This is crazy! Is anyone else traveling for Christmas? Any luck out there with fares? Jared thought about driving, but then we decided that may feel like cruel and unusual punishment. Oh, the holidays.

Good Stuff.

Sometimes I go through periods where I feel pretty confident in my small talk abilities. Other times I feel like my tongue and brain just aren't working right and I can't think of anything to say, or I just stumble and blabber on and on which is worse. Can anyone relate?

Stephen Covey would say to "sharpen the saw" so I decided to try it. These are a couple great books on sharpening conversation skills. Give it a try.

Someone's being quiet in the kitchen.....

Oh, well that explains it. Maybe there is something to the claim that Tryptophan in turkey makes us sleepy.

Random 63

1. My favorite treat is pumpkin pie. Costco makes a great one.

2. I have 5 brothers and no sisters. My mom and I are "tight" (as my little brothers would say)

3. My dad has an amazing heart and there is no better Dad out there. Period.

4. I have many mean thoughts about Hillary Clinton.

5. In my opinion she's just not right in the head

6. I get into politics big time, and I love talking with my mom about the issues

7. I hope Jax is a Republican

8. Although that word these days doesn't mean what it used to

9. I desperately need new jeans but I don't like to shop, so I've been avoiding it. I need my mom's inspiration in the retail department.

10. I miss her

11. I can hit my driver 280 yards.

12. But I have the yips with my putter. My brother Preston calls me "3-putt"

13. I played college golf

14. I loved every minute of it

15. Except the time I fell in the lake..... humiliation

16. Pop rocks, you know the candy....those were pretty fun when I was younger

17. I wanted to be Punky Brewster when I was 11. Boy, she was the coolest.

18. I am addicted to LOST, the OFFICE and Glen Beck. That's about it TV wise.

20. I could watch Sound of Music over and over again

21. And the Burbs. Funny stuff

22. I love to road bike in Ohio

23. I haven't been on my mountain bike since my sophomore year of college

34. When I was in Moab Utah

35. And almost died. Yep, 2 more feet off that ledge and I would have plummeted 400 feet into the Colorado River. YIKES!!!! Beware of the single track on Porcupine Trail and don't brake too hard.

36. I've had 3 colonoscopies. Enough said

37. I've had 3 knee surgeries.

38. I've had 3 fainting episodes

39. Did anyone notice I jumped from 23 to 34, I just realized it myself :)

40. Jared wanted to spell Jax's name with 2 x's. Jaxx.

41. I thought that was lame

42. His name is spelled with only 1 x because I insisted and threw a slight fit. Sweet victory.

43. I LOVE Christmas time and absolutely love Christmas music.

44. Especially from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I get goose bumps

45. I've only had my nails done twice in my life.

46. Once for my wedding

47. And the other just before my first interview with Novartis

48. I should get my hair done more, but I get lazy. I average once every 6 months or so.

49. I am low maintenance

50. Jared doesn't realize how good he's got it :)

51. We budget every penny

52. This is mostly good and sometimes it's pull- my -hair -out annoying

53. I love being a mom and it's the most important job there is.

54. I should feel proud to spend each day rearing my son to be an honest, loving and proud Republican.

55. Sorry all my Democrat friends :)

56. I love the smell of of my kitchen after I've disinfected it and used Ajax in the sink.

57. I like to vacuum strangely enough, it makes those fun lines through the carpet.

58. I also enjoyed mowing the lawn when I was younger.

59. Same reason, fun straight lines ( and getting a good tan)

60. In high school, I was burned so bad in a tanning bed I won't ever use one again.

61. I was a dumb teenager and decided my pure white skin needed 30 solid minutes

62. My skin peeled off in sheets. It was agony.

63. I guess I'd better go and cook dinner. Maybe chicken and smashed bean burritos. So Yummy

Easy Flannel Board Project

Jax loves the flannel board activities during story time at the library, so I decided to make him one. It's as simple as:

1. Buy an art canvas, or plywood in desired size. I bought this art canvas at Joann's for $5

2. Staple flannel to the canvas. There are probably other ways to attach the flannel but this one worked great for me.

3. Cut out some fun felt shapes, letters, etc. Sky's the limit.

4. Put in front of a sweet and adorable baby :)

5. And have fun. Easy does it.