Thursday, May 29, 2008

Sara Bear's Cute Piggies

Emma loves doing the little piggies on her toes. She laughs and laughes as we tickle her with the wee-wee-wees. She has us do it about 4 times on each foot before she will go down for bed. This morning I woke up to her little piggies in my face- not the best alarm clock! After I ran through the rhyme a couple of times Sara decided she needed to join the party. Sara started kicking a little bit while we were tickling her and enjoying her giggles, and Emma caught one of her little feet and said, "Oh- Sara Bear's piggies! Cute piggies. This piggy go to market, this piggy has juice, this piggy in the car seat, wee-wee-wee all to my home!" I was laughing so hard! I am not sure where the juice and car seat came from- what a nut.

I also love that she has adopted our nick-name for Sara. When people ask her what her sister's name is she says, 'Baby Sara-Bear'. Emma is our Emma-Roo because she is constantly bouncing around like a knagaroo. We call Sara the Bear because she hibernates compared to what Emma put us through in that stage. Emma even answers to Roo or Roosky alone sometimes. I think that is why she loves the Hephalump movie that Dana let her borrow. Roo is one of the main characters in it. It is so much fun to watch her grow up, but I have to admit that I am feeling rather intimidated at this point. She is learning so fast, and the responsibility I have to teach and nurture her is really settling in. I hope I can keep up.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Mini Vacation!!

Ross and I are really happy with this new ward! The people are so nice and welcoming, and, most of all, they KNOW ABOUT US!!! Last week we had our membership records read into the ward, got callings, got training in those callings, were sustained and set-apart in those callings- all within four days of each other. I am on the Enrichment Committee, and Ross is the Teacher's Quorm Advisor and the Varsity Scout assistant. We are really happy to be so involved so soon- we have missed feeling like a real part of the church! Anyway, because Ross is now in the process of planning a few overnight camping and rafting trips with the scouts, it looks as though we may not be able to take the vacation we were planning to Yellowstone this summer. We hope to still be able to work it in- it will just depend on how much time Ross will be able to take off from work. We decided to take a quick mini vacation this past weekend to Park City just in case we don't get another chance later on. We had a lot of fun, and I will go into detail when I find the cord to my camera. That is my excuse for my blogging lameness as of late.

Now, to make up for this week's survey, I will fulfill a tag I have had hanging over my head for a while now. I am to list 6 quirks or embarrassing stories about myself.

1. I am a sodiumaholic. I LOVE salt. I pour it over everything in large quantities. A lot of my friends have told me that they can't wait for the day when I get high blood pressure and am forced to give up my salt. To that I just say that the only time I have ever had high blood pressure was when I was pregnant with Emma and I knew something was wrong. Most of the time I actually have really low blood pressure- so there!

2. I am afraid of the dark- like a lot! I still have a nigt light, and I HATE going into my garage or basement at night, even if the lights are on. Last night the power went out for maintenance on our block from 12:00-4:00 am, and I thought I was going to have a heart attack! It was so dark- not even the street lights were on. The stars were GORGEOUS, but it was scary! Ross was nice and got a candle lit in the hall as a night light for me.

3. I love long, hot showers, and I mean REALLY long and REALLY hot showers. The shower is my place to ponder and plan and pray. I have gotten a lot of my personal revelation while soapin' it on up in the shower.

4. I have a thing for vampires! I always have for some reason. When I was 11, my dad rented Interview With a Vampire- that vampire movie with Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise (he didn't tell me it was rated R!). That night I had my first. . . naughty dream- guess who was there with those fantastic fangs. Since then, most of my silly fantasies involve vampires. Suffice it to say I am REALLY excited for the Twilight movie to come out, only I am afraid the screen Edward will not be able to match up to my Edward. Ross has accepted the fact that if vampires were real, he would either need to join them or be replaced by them.

5. I have a mini panic attack whenever I hear an ambulance siren. My heart rate gets really fast and I start sweating, and I get short of breath. I am always certain that someone I know is the cause of whatever accident has summoned the siren. Poor Ross gets calls from me all the time making sure he is OK and not riding in the ambulance I just heard, even if I know he is not working anywhere near where I heard it at the time.

6. I have super sensitive hearing. I can always hear what people are saying in their conversations around me. I try to not drop eaves- but sometimes it is hard- especially when I know they are talking about me. I also have a really hard time with the buzz from TVs. You know, when you turn it on and put the mute on, there is that tiny little buzz? Well it is more of a constant screeching for me. Whenever we get a TV, that is one of the major things we look at- or listen to I guess. Some TVs can give me a headache even when the sound is up because the buzz is just so loud. I can also always hear the ticking of analog clocks. I get pretty bad headaches when there is more than one in the room and they are at slightly different tempos from each other.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Clap, Clap, ClapClapClap; Clap, Clap, ClapClapClap; ClapClapClap; ClapClapClap; EFY!!!

Ever since I attended EFY when I was 15, I wanted to be an EFY counselor. I was thrilled when I got the chance to clear my summer in 2004 to enable me to apply. I must say that going through that application process gave me a greater appreciation for all of the people working with the CES. It was not an easy process. It started with a rather extensive online application that asked for a lot of practical information as well as questions pertaining to my testimony and my reasons for wanting to be a counselor and what I planned to do to make the experience as good as possible for the youth I would be working with. This was completed in September, and then I played the waiting game.

In November I received an e-mail letting me know that I was wanted for a second interview that would be held in January, but only if my schedule coincided with their needs. It did not say what they needed, it just asked when and where I would be available to work. I sent in that information, and in January I got another e-mail telling me that they wanted to do a group interview with me in February if my reccommendations were good enough. The e-mail then explained to me that I needed reccomendations from my bishop, and one other source. I asked Cory Sackett, one of my old seminary teachers to give me the other reccommendation, but I was afraid that he wouldn't remember me since he has been teaching for over 20 years and has been at a number of schools. I asked him over the phone, and he agreed- but just to make sure he knew who he was writing it for (I HATE form letter reccomendations) I left a picture of myself and a letter thanking him for taking the time, as well as a personal testimony and the reason I had asked him to write the letter for me. I had an experience in his class that really touched me and helped me turn my belief in the book of Mormon into true knowledge. He decided to include my letter to him in his envelope with his reccommendation because he said that the people making the decision would really want to see it as it had really touched him. A couple of weeks later I got an e-mail telling me when and where my group interview would be.

This group interview was really intense. There were about fifteen of us in the group, and we were told at the beginning that only one person from each group would be chosen to be a counselor. After chatting with some of the other people there, I felt like I had no chance because they were really great. In the interview we had to answer gospel questions, tell them how we would respond to different difficult circumstances, and then we had to put together a devotional about 'Saints' and deliver it after five minutes preparation. I did the best I could, but kind of figured that would be the end of the road for me. I was THRILLED to recieve my acceptance and schedule the next week! I got the e-mail while at work, and I ran down to the classroom that my mom helped in to let her know (we were both working in the same school at the time)!

Now, I could only find pictures from my first two weeks, which is sad because the last two weeks were my favorite. I also could not figure out how to flip the pictures to landscape. Just tilt your head or flip your screens if you want to have a better angle to view that figure I lost ;)

I was very lucky to have some amazing co-counselors my first week. It was a really good training experience for me. I also had some really great girls. Our league was Increased Wisdom- which was also rather fitting as I felt like I increased my wisdom in a lot of things. I learned so much about teaching youth- mainly about how deep (and shallow) they can really be. I also got the chance to bear my testimony A LOT, which is something I have never been real good about doing in public. I found that it got a lot easier for me by the end of the week- and I felt so much closer to the Lord. Good times, good times.

This is Micah- my co-counselor and Alison, one of my girls. We were the fire-power in our group! This was my favorite picture to take each week- all the boys pandering for me while I showed off my newly acquired engagement ring.
Derek was a really great guy. He had such a sweet testimony and he was a total gentleman to all the girls the entire week. He was highly sought after whenever the girls needed escorts or dance partners. Alli amd Candace on the left were my girls, and I loved them!! Good girls! Good, sweet, modest, and beautiful girls!

Our league won the Unity Award! This meant that we were pretty much awesome! Our league got very close and stayed close together the entire week. The unity I felt that first week set a good bar for me to try to reach up to for my other weeks.

Here are the mighty counselors- Micah, Amanda (duh!), Erin, and Mark

This is Micah trying to tell David (7'2) what to do. I LOVE that his name is David (cause he is tall- more like Goliath!)


My league the second week was Turn the Other Cheek. Our song was to the tune of 'Hit the Road Jack' and we sang 'Turn the other cheek, and don't you fight back no more, no more, no more, no more. . .' I lost my voice for the last two days of this week, which isn't too surprising considering the average counsleor only ever got about 5 hours of sleep a night, and my 5 hours was usually cut down quite a bit by phone calls with my pesky fiance'. My favorite memory of this week had to do with one of the boys in our group that was VERY negative. He was one of those kids whose mom had sent him as a last resort to get him into the gospel. He was always complaining about how far we had to walk, and he probably said 'This Sucks!' about 100 times a day. When our group was winding down at breakfast one morning the boys started playing that silly game where you put different things in a cup to see what it looks like all together. When they had orange juice, cranberry juice, ketchup, mustard, jelly, maple syrup, whipped cream, and some other stuff, Dustin (the negative kid) dared the other guys to drink it. When they all rejected his offer of five dollars I told him that I would drink it if he promised to go the entire day without complaining, and that if I caught him saying 'This Sucks', I got to make him a drink the next day. He agreed, so I downed that disgusting glop. It was totally worth it though. His attitude really changed, and he was quite pleasant for the last two days.
Cory and the boys all wrote and sang the girls a song before our awards ceremony. It was really cute.
The Amazing Counselors of Turn the Other Cheek- Cory, Jon, Amanda, and Lisa. Lisa is amazing!! The poor girl had to help me give my nightly devotionals the last two nights because my voice was so gone.

Me and my girls!
My third week was really great for a lot of reasons. I only had one co-counselor, which meant our group was really small and very unified. Colby was also my very favorite co-counselor. He was so sweet and funny. We both had the same sense of humor, and we both loved to sing- so our teaching was really the most unified of any group I was in. The League name was Signs and Wonders, which, of course meant that we sang 'I Saw the Sign' by Ace of Base- classic! This week was also really cool because two of the leagues were entirely made up of deaf kids. We learned the sign language for the theme song, 'Stand in the Light'. Our league got the Service award this week for the extra two hours we put in to the EFY service project. Since this week at EFY was one of the smallest, we didn't get as many blankets tied as usual. My group stayed to try and catch them up on the numbers.
My last week, I finally got the league name I had been envying the rest of the time- Beware of Dogs!! 'Who Let the Dogs Out' was a given! This was the best week of all! The funny thing is that I went into it thinkign it was going to be a let down. First of all, I has 14-15 year olds, and the younger groups are known for being hard to get excited. It can be like pulling teeth to get them to show enthusiasm or share personal feelings and insights. Also, it was the first week that I had a group with more girls than boys. Every other week I had been fortunate enough to have even numbers.
The first surprise of the week happened as I was giving the orientation meeting to my girls. as I was talking about all the rules and guidelines, a cute little girl knocked on the door and asked in a Brittish accent if I had any idea where she should be. I asked if she had gotten any sign on her door or if she had a roommate. When she said she didn't I got the other girls started in a get-to-know-you game while I went out in the hall to try and figure out where Abby belonged. It turned out that after coming here from England, she had somehow fallen through the cracks and had not been assigned to anyone. I gladly took her on even though I already had more girls than normal. I really think that Abby is what made this week so great. She was sweet and outgoing, and one of the most complimentary people I have ever met.
The other thing I think made the difference for me was the fact that none of my girls had come with someone they knew. All of them came by themselves, and they were all open to reaching beyond themselves to make friends.
I know this is getting long, so I will just share my favorite moment from this week. Wednesday nights were always the hardest nights to have a successful devotional. We came from games and cheer-offs where they were encouraged to run around and cheer and be as loud as possible. Then we got to the dorms and they were supposed to calm down to have a spiritual devotional about the book of Mormon, and then they got all keyed up for pizza night. As you can imagine- it was usually teh devotional that got cut short.
Anyway, this week, when I sat them all down to start my devotional, I kept it short and sweet, and ended with my testimony that the Book of Mormon is true. I did this every week, but it was different this time. I could feel the Spirit enter that room, and I could see that all those girls could feel it. It was an interesting moment for me. After I was done, one of the girls asked if she could share some thoughts. She was supposed to have given a mini-devotional earlier that day, but had forgotten her paper in her room. She wanted to give it then. Since the pizza hadn't come yet, I was happy to let her. She gave a wonderful thought and bore a very sweet testimony- the first time she had ever done that. After she sat down, another girl stood up and started to bear her testimony. What was usually a rowdy and fun night with pizza and games turned into an extemporaneous testimony meeting. Every single girl stood and bore her testimony, and for a lot of them, it was teh first time they ever had. They all talked about the different things they had gone through and how all the trials had strngthened them. It was really beautiful. I could see the love that they all had for each other- girls who had been complete strangers just two days before. It was really an amazing moment, and I was so grateful to be able to witness it.
Being an EFY counselor was one of the most amazing things I have ever done, and I still miss it to this day. Every year when I see the groups walking around campus, I wish that they would let married girls be counselors. I think that it is an amazing program that blesses so many lives! My testimony grew leaps and bounds as I shared it with the youth. It was really the perfect way for me to prepare for the temple. I know this was long and arduous, but since it is for me and not you- I don't care :)

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Have You Ever. . . (Slightly Edited- My Mom Reads This Blog)

Kicked someone in the. . . well, you know? Yes I have- and he deserved it!! It was not Ross.

Gone on a blind date? No, actually. The closest I got was an 80's GYRAD (get your roommate a date) Dance at BYU-Idaho where I pretended to not know who my roommates were picking for me. However, even if I hadn't known I was going with Jethro, it would not really have been a real blind date because I already knew (and had a crazy crush on) him.

Made someone cry? Yes. Not always intentionally- but not always unintentionally either.

Opened your Christmas presents early? Yes. I am known for my sneaky stealth in Christmas peeking. Ross hates when people ruin a surprise though, so I have to say with pride that I have NEVER snooped for Christmas presents (from him) since we have been married.

Been online for more than 10 hours in a row? Yup. I was on the computer for that long typing up some final papers one semester. I had a lot of English professors that chose to substitute final exams with GINORMOUS final essays. I am GREAT at procrastinating though, and they all came out really good with fantastic grades.

Pretended to be someone you weren't online? Yes.

Eaten food that fell on the floor? Hello- ten second rule!!! Actually, depending on the type of food and the floor it falls on, I usually go by the x+1 second rule.

Been caught cheating? On someone I was in a realtionship with- never happened- so no! On a test or homework- yes, but not since first grade.

Been caught speeding? I have never had a ticket! (knock on wood)

Flashed someone? I do like to play this really fun game where I put my phone in the camera mode, and then flash a picture in Caulene's face. I don't really like it all that much, but Caulene LOVES it, so I keep playing it- for her benefit, not mine!

Gone out without underwear on? Yes. Laundry can get expensive for a starving college student, and, well, let's face it- if I ever had the choice of doing laundry or eating pizza (or cheese sticks- thank you Heather!) with my roommates, the pizza usually won out. .

Got into a fist fight? Nope.

Swallowed bath water? Gross- yes though.

Peed in the pool? Anyone who says no to this question is lying!!!!

Thrown up in public? No- I very rarely throw up at all actually.

Been so drunk you can't walk? I have been too tired to walk- does that count?

Broken wind and blamed someone else? Of course. That is one of the many great things about having a husband around. He takes the blame muuch easier than those sisters I used to blame it on! A lot of the time he just assumes it was him anyway- boys are gross!

Done something mean you regretted? Yes.

Played pull my finger? Have you met my father? (That means yes, by the way). What's with all the flatulation questions here?

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Kickin' the Bad Habits!

I have never been a huge fan of TV. I think that in general it is a huge waste of time and I feel that it holds a much higher priority level in most people's lives than it ought to! Turning on the TV has turned into this horrible knee-jerk reaction to any lull in conversation or activities, and it is pretty much full of crap all the time. Ross and I have kind of fought about this hatred of mine ever since we got married because television has always been his way of unwinding and relaxing. I have always had a hard time understanding why he couldn't just unwind with me since we usually have a very short amount of time in the day together. I have alwayas hated wasting that time sitting in front of the tube- ridiculous really! Well, when we moved out to our house, we were no longer the recipients of the wonder that is free cable! Ross and I decided (very reluctantly on his part, I might add) to try a month without television reception to see if we would really miss it. Believe it or not, we didn't. When it wasn't an option, it didn't even really cross our minds. It has been very nice. We watch movies some nights and have signed up for Netflix, but we do not watch TV anymore. To be honest- the one thing I really miss is the news channels- but they all have free websites where I can browse through the stories I really want to know about without having to hear Nancy Grace's voice or hear hours of election projectioning. I feel very satisfied with this new deletion from our lives and I highly reccommend a month without TV to anyone who is looking for a way to increase the spirituality in your home!!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Real Update

Ross has been getting after me for not really journaling our recent events lately, so I will try to quickly relate all of the happenings of the past couple of weeks.

On Friday, May second, Caulene called me up around 11:00 am to tell me that my father was on his way to the hospital. He had come home from work with some horrible pains in his side. When Caulene asked him where they were she immediately recognized it as Appendicitus and sent him off to the hospital. I have to say that the fact that he went with so little prodding is a great indicator of just how much pain he was really in! I get my aversion to doctors from him! He told Caulene to tell Heather and me, but NOT my mom- he didn't want her to worry. When I got off the phone with Caulene I called up my mom at her school to let her know what was happening- my dad never told ME not to tell her :)

Let me just digress here a little bit and say that I have gotten a lot of phlack from my dad and my sisters for doing this! All I can say is that I thought about what I would have wanted if it had been Ross in the hospital. I decided that the little extra worry of knowing what is happening as it is happening as opposed to hearing all about it after the fact would be worth it just on the off-chance that something went wrong- which happens all the time!! I know that it wasn't following my father's wishes, and I know he was the one in the hospital- I don't care. That was an unkind and unfair request to make- and technically he didn't even request it of me until I had already told her!

My mother was grateful to know what was happening- and in NO WAY did she freak out!! So there!! She took it very calmly. She told the office what was happening and then prepared some lesson plans while she waited for her sub to get there. She went to the hospital when she was replaced to find a very disgruntled husband. I knew that my dad would not want her to sit in his room the whole day since he didn't even want her to know, so Ross and I packed up the kids and headed out to keep her company in the waiting room. We spent the day eating lunch, chatting, reading and watching episodes of Scrubs (I found that quite fitting) on my laptop. As he was coming out of the surgery, my mom and I were in the hall as he passed in the gurney. He grabbed my mom's hand and said, "I'm glad that you're here." See- I did a good thing here! When he was out and we knew everything was fine, Ross and I headed back to our house, and I took a much needed nap. I had only gotten a couple hours of sleep the night before due to a nasty migraine.

The next day I managed to continually mess up all day. I was supposed to go to a ward party luau, my friend Carrie's bridal picture shoot, and my friend James's wedding reception. Let me just recap that whole mess by saying all of those things over-lapped, and in my attempt to get to all of them, I missed every single one! Now part of that blame lies in mapquest and the incorrect directions they gave me. Either way, I feel like I let down some of the most important people in my life.

The big highlight of last week happened on Thursday. Ross and I decided to try and seed our back yard. The amount of sod we would need would run us a couple thousand dollars while twice as much seed as we would need ran us around $50. We spent a lot of time and muscle breaking up the desert-like terrain and mixing in some topsoil and manure. We pruned and dunged and watched- what more could we have done for our lawn? Anyway, we are still waiting to see if the seed took- no good signs yet. If nothing happens we will try some more seed in a month or so. If that doesn't work, we will save up for some sod and hopefully get a backyard lawn next year.

That same night, I was called up by a member of the Compassionate Service Committee to take dinner to one of our neighbors across the street. I know it is silly, but I was so excited!!! We have been pretty underused and overlooked in most of our wards, even with my numerous requests for callings. It was a good sign to me that this ward may actually use me!!!
Oh- we also got our bedroom set delivered that day, I will have to put pictures up later- I LOVE it. Thanks Uncle Sam- it is just what we wanted!

On Saturday, my Grandma and Grandpa Jones came up from St. George to visit with us. It was REALLY good to see them- it was the first time they had met little Sara. We had a great lunch at Los Hermanos and then they came out to see our house.

Sunday was a pretty good day. Ross and Emma made me cinnamon rolls, and I came home from church with A LOT of candy. While I was getting ready to head out to my Grandma Wallace's house, Ross had me open a pound of chocolates from Mrs. Cavenaugh's, and a gift certificate for a couple's massage. That's right, for Mother's Day Ross got himself a massage- so sneaky!! Actually, I told him that I would most likely never be able to do something like that by myself- he was being sweet and he found a way around it. We went and had dinner at Grandma's house, and on our way home, Melissa called us to see if we were home because they were on their way to visit. They beat us there, which meant that I had no time to quickly make my bed and hide the dirty dishes (who cleans on Mother's Day?). They were nice and overlooked the evidence of my poor mothering, and we had a nice conversation while Emma enterained the kids upstairs. They were really impressed with Exfuse, and would like to buy and consume it regularly now! (We know it is true- just admit it!)

This week has gone pretty smoothly aside from the fact that Sara Bear is teething, and has been living up to her nickname!! Our neighbor gave us some teething tablets that have been a Godsend. I only give her one a day when she is the worst because things like that still make me a little nervous even if they are all natural and oganic and all that crap. We are very grateful for them, and I hope this tooth comes in quickly so I can have me smiley little angel back.

Monday, May 12, 2008

Memory, All Alone in the Moonlight


Ross took this picture in October, 2003. He needed an image to mess around with for a project in one of his Communication Technology courses. He later told me (though he swears he has no recolection of it now) that it was the hours he spent looking at this picture that made him want to ask me to Cabaret- which is where our relationship took off. Anyway, when Ross went home for Thanksgiving he was telling his dad about his two girlfriends (player!) and Grant asked to see pictures because, "I have a hard time believing two pretty girls would go for you at the same time." After seeing the pictures he said, "Is there something about you we don't know? Cause they both look too good for you!" Haha- I laughed really hard when he told me that- it made me want to meet his dad!

Oh- and for my Aunt Carrie and anyone else who is a recent member of my fan club :) I have a trunkated reader's digest version of our whole story at:
http://goodmanscorner.blogspot.com/2007/10/how-it-all-began.html
and the story of the first time Ross said he loved me is here:
http://goodmanscorner.blogspot.com/2008/02/happy-anniversary-ross-thank-you-for.html

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Happy Mother's Day!!

My ex is .... a label I could put on more people than I care to divulge at the moment.
Maybe I should ... take a shower while the kids are asleep so that I can get through one without a little visitor throwing ducks at me.
I love ... Ross.
I don't understand ... why I waited all day to try one of the teething tablets that my neighbor gave me for Sara. They worked wonders!!
I lost my ... my tiny little figure- I am trying to find it though.
People would say that I'm ... I really am not sure. I would hope that it would be something nice- or at least true.
I look forward to. . . the couples massage Ross got me for Mother's Day.
Love is ... letting someone vent about something they are frustrated about when they seem silly or trivial in comparison to things you are going through without letting on to that fact.
Somewhere, someone is ... hiding their tears.
I will always ... have Ross- whether he likes it or not.
Forever is ... something I believe in.
I think the current President is ... trying- truly trying.
I woke up this morning ... with a migraine and a very sore shoulder.
Life is full of ... delays.
My past ... is just that.
I get annoyed when ... I have to repeat myself more than twice.
I wish ... I had had some warning before Jim and Melissa saw my house tonight- sorry guys!
My dog ... is dead- she was amazing though!
Tomorrow I'm going to ... have a lot to do- just like any other day.
I have no tolerance for people who ... feel the need to 'one up' everyone in their conversations. Seriously- let someone else have the spot-light for just a little bit!! "Well, I walked on the moon!" (Can anyone name the source of that quote?)
If I had a million dollars I would ... not have to worry so much anymore.
Sometimes I want to ... just run at night.
Home is ... where Ross is- no wonder I was so lost when he was gone.
We are ... needed- evey single one of us!
This weekend ... went too fast and was full of family- just the way I like it.
I understand ... that there is so much that I just don't understand.
If I had a chance ... I would take a day off from being the 'me' I am supposed to be and am trying so desperately to be, and just be me!

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Sara Belle is a Quarter of a Year Old!!

I knew I was forgetting someone on Monday! It was my own daughter- good job Mommy! Sara turned 3 months old on Monday. Sara is a wonderful baby, and has filled our home with so much love and joy! She is a beautiful girl who loves to sleep, eat, and smile! I have never known a baby to spit up as much as she does, but I have also never seen a baby who smiles as much as she does! She is always grinning from ear to ear, and she has the CUTEST little baby giggle I have ever heard. Lately she has been getting very vocal. She makes lots of cooing and ahing noises- so cute! I am so grateful for what a sweet girl she is. I was sure I was going to have another Emma on my hands when she was so active in the womb. I love Emma- she is amazing and SOOO smart, but she was a really difficult baby. It has been quite the relief to have Sara be so calm and layed back- not to mention that she sleeps at night!! We love our little Sara Bear so much and are so glad that she is ours.


Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Aunt Caulene and Cookie Cake

Emma has been doing very well with her potty training lately. She has been pretty good with having no accidents when I put her on her potty with a movie on (the only time she gets to watch movies), but this week I decided to try and take it to the next level. I am waiting for her to tell me when she needs to go. I still take her pants off so she is just in a shirt and panties when I know she is right around her normal time frame to go, but then I let her play like that and cross my fingers hoping she will get herself to the potty. When she does, (she hasn't missed yet- knock on wood) she gets an extra special treat of her choice. This usally consists of some cheesey chips (Doritos) or half a cookie, or even a muffin at one point. Yesterday, however, she decided that she wanted to call her Aunt Caulene. I tried ot talk her out of it knowing that Caulene was at work at the time, and I even offered her some of the chocolate ice cream that I usually save just for Daddy. She would have none of it- she just wanted to "Tell Caween I'm a big girl. Call Caween and say I poopoo on the potty!" So, I called her up, and she graciously listened to Emma babble on for a minute or so about how she was a big girl and did her poopoo on the potty and she wanted Caulene and Dana to come and blow bubbles with her. It was really sweet of Caulene to be so patient- Emma really loves her!

Today for her special treat she said she wanted a cookie, so I pulled down the keebler chocolate crap (I mean chip) cookies that Ross brought home (somehow things like that always seem to pop up in the pantry when I ask Ross to pick something up from the store on his way home), but Emma did not want one of those. "No, mommy- I want a good cookie! A Mommy cookie. Me and mommy make some cookies yummy- OK? Yeah!" I got out my cookbook and decided to make some bar cookies since I didn't really want to take the time to roll out individual ones (lazy alert!!). When I pulled them out about 15 minutes later, Emma got all excited and started dancing around the kitchen singing "Cookie cake! Yay!! Cookie cake!!" I wish every meal I made got this kind of reception.

Monday, May 05, 2008

Memory Monday: Edition 1

First of all- Happy Birthday Heather (yesterday)!!! How weird is it that my little sister is 22? Happy Cinco De Mayo!! We celebrated with some great Mexican food and some fried ice cream! It was fabulous! And finally, (I think. . . I hope I'm not missing anything) Happy Anniversary Sophia and Brian!

One of my friends has a cute thing she does on her blog, and I have decided to go ahead and do the same on mine. you knwo what they say, immitation is the sincerest form of flattery! Every Monday she digs up some old pictures from her childhood or other early years and shares a memory. Not only is this rather entertaining and a great way to learn new things about her, but it is also a good way to record some of the things that may otherwise go forgotten.

Since I decided rather late in the day to do this, I didn't have time to rummage through my big box of photos and choose a really good one, so for the first day, I will suffice with something I found in my e-mail inbox from Ross.

Ross and I had a pretty weird start in our courtship for a lot of reasons, but one of the hardest for us to get around was the fact that after only 2 months of dating, I went back to Utah to earn some money (as a detention lady- mwahaha) and left Ross all alone in Rexburg. This meant that we both took turns every two weeks or so to make the four hour trek to see each other. The last time Ross came down to visit me before we broke up was a really great visit (which was actually a big part of the breaking up drama). It was conference weekend, and we got to spend a lot of time together. We talked about a lot of things that neither of us had really shared with anyone before (and haven't since) and we shared a lot of insights with each other while listening to conference. Somehow, in 2 short days we got closer than we had ever been before. I finally felt like he was letting me in and letting go of Erin. I finally felt like this crazy pipe dream of a lasting relationship with him was going to be realized. It was a really beautiful feeling- euphoric in a way I had never experienced.

This was also the weekend that Ross was introduced to one of my Aunt Lara's greatest forms of art- her cookies!! I have yet to make a batch that measures up to hers in his eyes. I do have a sneaky suspicsion that I have beat her a couple of times, but Ross wont admit it so that I will continue to keep trying.

Anyway, this picture was taken of us while we wandered around Sundance and played the question game. This is really how we got to know so much that weekend. We just took turns asking each other random questions. Some were silly- like 'What cartoon character would you date?' and 'What cereal box would you want your face to appear on?' while others got a lot deeper and more meaningful- like 'What is your greatest non-physical fear?' and 'How would you cope with losing your spouse?' I know that it was this weekend that led to our breakup, but I also firmly believe that had it not been for that weekend, Ross would not have cared so much about us remaining friends after he dumped me. Keeping that friendship alive is, in a very real way, the only reason we are together today. Believe you me, I had a lot of other options, and most of them would have led to MUCH less complicated courtships (and probably marriages as well). I suppose the old adage was true- we are both still alive after all the stuff we have had to deal with, and I like to think that I am stronger for it. I love Ross with all of my heart and I feel so lucky that he finally chose to be with me. He is my best friend and my greatest hero, and on top of all that, he has a nice bum! ;)

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Survey Sunday- Week One!!!

1. First thing you wash in the shower? My arms- no it is not weird Sue- unless we are both abnormal, (which, let's face it, is a very real possibility!)

2. What color is your favorite hoodie? Gray. I says "Flute Section Leader, BYU-Idaho 2002

3. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again? Absofreakinlutely- it is one of my favorite things to do!

4.Do you plan outfits? Sort of- I have a system of choosing what to wear that ensures that I use every piece of my wardrobe so that I get good use out of things that I pay money for- I am an OCD freak! I know this- I am working on accepting it!

5. How are you feeling RIGHT now? I chose to do a survey that I found on a friend's blog (NOT website- that is for you Brittany) because writing about my fiasco filled weekend would be too emotional for me right this very minute. I think I let down a lot of people who I really care about in the past few days, and the worst part is I REALLY tried to be there for all of them and just failed at most of it.

6. What's the closest thing to you that's red? The garnet necklace that Ross got me for Valentine's Day.

7. Do you say aim or a-i-m? I haven't used AIM since high school- I usually say IM.

8. Tell me about the last dream you remember having? Well, the last one I remember is a little. . . innappropriate, but the one I had before that was pretty entertaining. My mom was trying to decide if she wanted to take a job at BYU-Idaho (where I was a dean, of course) and I was showing her around. When I was going to take her to the class she would be teaching in (the top floor of the Spori- where I used to model for the art students) she decided to take the fire escape route just to make sure she could. This route was a rock climbing wall on the west side. When she got to the roof, she slipped and fell to the ground and cut up her head. I called 911 only for them to remind me that I am a doctor and could do it myself (duh!). So I pulled out my first-aid kit and sewed up her head with dental floss (sound familiar to anyone here- that story really stayed with me!) and she got up all better (with a new outfit) and went to her interview, which I was holding. I gave her the job, and then she ran out into the hall where I was waiting to hear how it went. I was thrilled for her! We decided to go to a restaruant (The Hard Hat Cafe- way overrated!) to celebrate, and I was serving us. I was a little slow with the drinks, so I decided not to give me a tip. This made me really mad because I had just been through a really rough day, what with stitching up my mom and interviewing her. I decided to go home early and complain about the day to my mom (who I apparently lived with in my old apartment in the Village) who was very understanding. Anyone confused by now? Welcome to my crazy and intense night life- my dreams have always been very vivid and realistic and I almost always remember them. I have to avoid graphic movies and tv programs because those images quite literally haunt me in my dreams.

9. Did you meet anybody new today? Nope.

10. What are you craving right now? A slurpee or Jamba Juice or snowcone- this is a common craving for me that rarely gets fulfilled.

11. Do you floss? Yes, about 3-4 times a week.

12. What comes to mind when I say cabbage? "Thought I smelled cabbage!"- Nigel Powers

13. When was the last time you talked on aim? AIM? High school. MSN Messenger? Friday afternoon.

14. Are you emotional? Haha! I am a girl through and through. While I operate with a very logical mind, I tend to hit many different extreme emotions throughout the day. My tear ducts have also been known to go into overdrive with every change in emotion- mad, sad, happy, nervous, etc. Mike Bishop once told me he loved how my "tears are connected to your heart- I can always see when something has touched you."

15. Would you dance to the taco song? Most likely.

16. Have you ever counted to 1,000? Maybe- I doubt it.

17. Do you bite into your ice cream or just lick it? I bite it with my lips- does that make any sense?

18. Do you like your hair? The Color? Yes, the Texture, NO! I hate my curlyness!

19. Do you like yourself? What's not ot like?

20. Have you ever met a celebrity? Yup. The most recent ones were Fred Willard and Corbin Bleu at the Stadium of Fire.

21. Do you like cottage cheese? Not even a little bit!

22. What are you listening to right now? Ross snoring.

23. How many countries have you visited? 8- USA, England, France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Germany, and Amsterdam.

24. Are your parents strict? Not really. They had a pretty strict curfew (the Spirit goes to bed at midnight) until we graduated from high school, and then they let us "govern ourselves". I think we all did/do pretty well.

25. Would you go sky diving? Yes.

26. Would you go out to eat with George W. Bush? Yes. I think if he weren't around all the media buffoons that get him all flustered, he could actually be quite personable. If they were there, he would still be entertaining in that whole How-Did-You-Ever-Convinvce-Me-To-Support-You-In-Your-Crazy-Dream-Of-Leading-The-Free-World-Twice-In-A-Row kind of way.

27. Would you throw potatoes at him? Certainly not!

28. Is there anything sparkly in the room you’re in? I have a two year old girl- what do you think?

29. Have you ever been in a castle? Yes- we got to tour a few of them in Europe. My favorite was the one in Switzerland where Lord Byron was held prisoner. It had one of the first indoor bathrooms. It consisted of a double seater (aww- they could even relieve themselves together- for cute!) that was placed directly over a big hole to the GORGEOUS lake.

30. Do you rent movies often? We signed up for NetFlix since we decided to not get real TV reception.

31. Who sits in behind you in your math class? I never have to take another math class again in my whole life unless I want to- not likely!

32. Have you made a prank phone call? Not that I can think of.

33. Do you own a gun? Nope.

34. Can you count backwards from 74? This is a lame question- yes.

35. Who are you going to be with tonight? Ross. Emma will most likely join us around 7:00 am though.

36. Brown or white eggs? White. My mom used to tell us that the brown ones were 'wheat eggs' because we HATED wheat bread. I am not sure why though- I LOVE it now.

37. Do you own something from Hot Topic? No- Ross and I will not support institutions that are aiding the spread of loosened values and ridiculous behavior.

38. Ever been on a train? Does Trax count? I got my bum slapped on the tube in London- Mind The Gap!

39. Ever been in love? A couple of times. . .

40. Do you use a cell phone? Exclusively- we haven't had a land line since we got married.

41. Are you too forgiving? No, I am pretty good at holding grudges.

42. Do you use chap stick? Yes- all the time.

43. What is your best friend doing tomorrow? Well, Ross is going to work, and then to FHE with us. Carrie is probably going to work and then working on wedding plans with Suzy and Nate. We will probaly chat online or talk on the phone somewhere in there as well.

44. Can you use chop sticks? Proudly- yes!

45. Ever have cream puffs? Ah, yes! I have been lured into many affair with the fickle complanionship of the pastry world!

46. Have you ever seen The Butterfly Effect? The movie- no. The phenomenon of having one very small thing have a lasting effect on a plan, a day or even a relationship- yes, many times!

47. What was the last question you asked? What are you thinking? Ross and I ask each other that question a lot- but in a nice way. We are both genuinely curious as to what the other has going on in our fascinating minds :)

48. What was the last CD you bought? Ummm- Wicked? Oh wait, no- it was Jeckyl and Hyde!

49. Boys or girls? What is this question? I am a girl. I prefer to hang out with boys, and I prefer to vent frustrations to girls. The boys are easier to stay level headed around, and the girls understand my emotional instability.

50. What is your bus number for school? I HATED taking the bus in high school. My kids will get cars to drive when they are old enough because I STILL feel emotionally scarred from my lack-of-vehicleness. I didn't have a car of my own until my Junior year of college when I bought one for myself despite my entire family telling me that I was stupid to make the purchase. I was not stupid- it was a great purchase and wonderful little car!

51. Is your hair curly? Naturally, yes. Currently, no.

52. Last time you cried? I don't wanna say. . . not too long ago though.

53. Ever walked into a wall? All the freakin' time!

54. Do looks matter? Yes they do.

55. Have you ever bought anything from Pac Sun? Nope.

56. Have you ever slapped someone? Haha- yes!

57. Favorite time of the year? This is a tough one. I like Spring when the weather cooperates enough to actually let some flowers bloom. I LOVE the fall with the temperature and the amazing colors. I also enjoy Christmas time with a nice blanket of snow on the landscape.

58. Favorite color? Red

59. Are you sarcastic? Maybe a little bit ;)

60. Do you have any tattoos? No

61. The last person you held hands with? Sara Bear- she is mesmerized with hands!

62. Do you sleep with the TV on? No.

63. Where was your default picture taken? The Riverwoods

64. Do you hate or dislike more than 3 people? Yeah- I am serious about that grudge thing. I don't think any of those actually break into the level of hatred though. I do have a lot of hate in my heart for people who do horrible and disgusting things, ie: terrorists, sexual predators, Nazis, etc.

65. Do you like your life right now? Yes.

66. How often do you talk on the phone? Not too much.

67. What is your favorite animal? Owls or frogs

68. What was the most recent thing you bought? Half of a black dress- Tracie bought the other half for me (thanks for the gift card!).

69. Do you have good vision? Not as good as I think I do. I hate wearing my glasses, and I do just fine without them- but it is amusing sometimes to put them on and see just how much I am missing.

70. Can you hula hoop? Quite well actually!

71. Could you ever forgive a cheater? Been there, done that! No- that is NOT refferring to Ross in any way.

72. Do you have a job? Does being a mom count? I also get about $50 and a couple dvds every month from various online survey companies.

73. Can you handle the truth? I'm tough, I can take it!

74. What are you wearing? Wouldn't you like to know! ;)

75. Have you ever crawled through a window? Many times- keys are overrated!

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Yummy!

At this moment in time, I have 9- count them- 9 different bodily fluids on me from three different people.

1. Pee- from Sara
2. Poop- from Sara
3. Puke- from Sara
4. Drool- from Sara
5. Tears- from Emma
6. Snot- from Emma
7. Blood- my own from a nice paper cut
8. Sweat- my own from going up and down the stairs 37 different times today
9. Breast milk- my own :)

I am MORE than ready for Ross to come home!