25 Interesting Facts About Me

1. I never take the first bite of any of the meals I make. I always wait for Ross to try it so that I know if it is gross or not.

2. I don'treally like chocolate, I despise milk, but I could never in my life get enough of chocolate milk.

3. This kind of goes with number 2, but my very fovorite cookies are chocolate chip cookie dough made without those blasted chocolate chips. They just get in the way of the buttery, sugary, cookie goodness.

4. I brush my teeth approximately 8 times a day, and almost always have gum and chapstick on hand. It's not at all about the hygiene for me- it is ALL about the breath. I have serious paranoia about halitosis.

5. My stupid human tricks include touching my nose with my tongue, batting my eye-lashes, and doing the splits.

6. Ross and I sometimes read each other's minds. It gets creepy sometimes. Just yesterday I was thinking that it would be fun to go to Park City with him again without the girls and I was planning in my head a way to surprise him when he turned to me and said, "So we just got a coupon for a reduced rate on a hotel in Park City, and I was thinking we should do our April overnight there." Earlier this week I picked up a movie from the RedBox while I was shopping with the girls. When Ross came home he said that he wish he had remembered to grab a movie he was thinking about from the RedBox. When I showed him the movie I had grabbed he just started laughing. It was the same one- and we had never even mentioned it to each other. Those are just two random examples, and it goes both ways. He is known for bringing home dinner on nights when I am dreading having to cook, and I am famous for having full meals of his desiring prepared- all without any verbal communication. We may be polar opposites- but something here clicks.

7. I had my first baby prematurely with an emergency C-Section without my husband in attendance. Good times! Ross met Emma for the first time when she was 6 weeks old.

8. I used to hate blood and got dizzy at the sight of it. At some point, something changed, and now I really want to become a certified Phlebotimist when my children are all in school.

9. I like my room to be freezing cold when I sleep. This is perfect in the winter, but presents a pretty huge problem in the summer. I melt in the heat.

10. I hope to be a published writer someday. I have a few different manuscripts in the works. Nobody wants them yet- but I think someday somebody just might! Look for my name in print, and then buy whatever it is! :)

11. I get annoyed with happy endings. I am serious. Chick flicks bug me, and any story line that is able to tie up all the loose ends into a complete package and land everyone just where they deserve at the end is far too contrived and predictable for me! I like books with ragged edges, daring plot twists, and truly damaged characters. If I put down a book and feel uncomfortable, conflicted, angry, or concerned, then I feel that the author has done a good job. I like the books I read to take me on a real emotional journey- one that I can relate to. I guess there is something wrong with me, because, for the most part, the happy ending stories tend to bore me.

12. I hate my curly hair. Anyone with naturally curly hair has at one point claimed to hate their curls, and probably still do. People who say, "You are so lucky- I would DIE for curly hair!!" have clearly never had to deal with naturally curly hair. Nobody in their right mind would trade hair that can be combed through just out of the shower as their only real preparation for something that takes washing, products, tweaking, and praying all to look semi-presentable EVERY day!!

13. I have a favorite child. I feel bad about this. To be fair, it changes between the two of them quite often- but there is very rarely a day that goes by that I don't think to myself, "I really love this girl much more than the other one right now!" I felt like a horrible mother the first time I felt that way- but then a few other mothers have come out of the closet saying they do the same thing.

14. I am the reject of my family. For reals- I am a very different creature than anyone else in my family, and I have had some major identity crises over this. I look different, think different (this is the biggest one), act differently, dress differently, play differently, work differently, laugh at different things, desire different things, work for different things, and live a different life. I wondered a lot growing up if I was adopted. For the most part, this doesn't really bother me anymore- but sometimes it can create a wedge between us, and that hurts a little bit.

15. I get headaches a lot.

16. Nothing I have voted for in the past 4 years has passed, except for the election Jason Chaffetz who was pretty much not in a race against anyone except the corrupt incumbant. I didn't even get to vote for Romney in the primarys because I was busy giving birth and stuff. None of the people I voted for City Council got elected, John McCaine certainly isn't our president, and stupid Utah and their stupid voters turned down the private school voucher legislation (really, people- read the stuff before believing a silly sign!). I am wondering how valuable my part in democracy is. . .

17. My husband has epilepsy, and I have to say that watching someone you love have a spontaneous Grand Mall seizure is one of the worst feelings ever!

18. I put salt on almost everything. A lot of it, too. I like my sodium!

19. I have a dent in my left shin. It is weird. I discovered it when putting lotion on at a friends house one night. There is just a section of my leg that has no muscle, but goes directly to the bone.

20. I had 3 miscarriages before I got pregnant with Sara. It is for this reason that I will most likely never announce a pregnancy of mine until I am well past the 12th week, and even then I will keep it between close friends and family members until I show too much to deny it any longer. When I was pregnant with Sara, the ward didn't know until the RS president asked me point blank in the hall one day, and then announced it during the happy moment in Relief Society. It was awkward, and I was not happy about it.

21. I am OCD. I like things done a certain way, and get bugged when people deviate from my own course. I hate when Ross 'helps' with the laundry, because he messes with my system. I have systems for cleaning, reading, working, playing with Emma, driving, praying, and many many other things. I love to alphabetize things, and have the uncontrollable urge to clean and organize dirty and cluttered spaces. I mean it when I say uncontrollable- ask my mom! :)

22. I will never have a dog of mine sleep in my house unless there is no other possible way for it to survive outdoors. I hate animal fur.

23. I plan eulogies in my mind. This is weird- I know. It started when the son of one of my heroes passed away when I was a senior in high school. At his funeral, his older brother spoke and admitted that he had been planning that talk for a few months- knowing he might need to use it. This broke my heart, and I ached for this family and the loss they had seen coming and had tried to ward off with all their might. I thought about it though, especially since the depth of love that this young man felt for his brother was so apparent in his simple but deep words. Since then, I have tried to think of the attributes and experiences I would talk about with people I love if I were ever to be asked to speak at a function like that. I don't do it in a creepy or apocolyptic way- just in a quiet revery of what I love most about the people around me, and what my favorite memories with those people are. I imagine what life would be like without them, and thank Heavenly Father for their influence on me. Don't think I'm creepy- maybe I should change this one. . . Just know that if I am at all close to you- I have probably planned a speech in my mind about you and how great you are and how much I love you! I am not creepy- please don't get weirded out by this one.

24. I have really good hearing. I can hear the buzz of TV sets and made Ross return a TV once that had a buzz so loud it hurt my head if it was on for more than a few minutes. He never noticed it. I can also hear the ticking of analog clocks, the barking of dogs across town, cars that drive by, airplanes that fly over-head, and whispered conversations (especially ones about me!). I have a sneaky suspicion that this is closely related to my headaches.

25. About an hour after I got engaged, I had to break up with my boyfriend. :)

Books for February

Books for my Job

Macbeth by Shakespeare
I love this play. It is so creepy and vindictive, and yet there are so many colorful examples of comic relief. Nothing is more unsettling- and therefore enjoyable- to me than a good tragedy, Shakespeare style.

Much Ado About Nothing by Shakespeare
I love this play too. I love everything about it, from the title, to the crazy love antics, to Don John's evil nature. I have a special place in my heart for Dogberry's ridiculous nature. Also, how cute is Benadick? He shaved for Beatrice and tried to write her a poem- what a great catch!

Our Town: A Play in Three Acts by Thornton Wilder
This was my first time reading this play. It was lovely. I would love to see this on stage. The simplicity of the plot, and the depth of the characters was totally enticing. I really, thoroughly enjoyed it! Poor George- I cried so much when he threw himself down on Emily's grave. Genius play!

Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
I was a little dissappointed in this book, I have to say. I was expecting to love it, and it was good- just not knock my socks off brilliant. It may be because I had spent the rest of the month flirting with Shakespeare and Wilder, but I found this plot a little contrived- especially their trip to New York, and the characters were lackluster. My favorite scenes were when Carrie was with her sister, but she left there after the first few chapters- lame. to be honest, I could see this plot being a great setting for a porn flick. I can just hear a deep and overly sexual voice setting the scene: " A young talented actress comes to the city looking to make it big. She is willing to do just about anything to avoid heading back to Wisconsin, and there are plenty of affluent married men who are willing to help her. . . for a price." *Cue synthesized sleasy music and dimming of the lights*

Books I Read Without Getting Paid to. . .

Two Times the Fun by Beverly Cleary
This was a short little novel about twins with pictures that Emma and I enjoyed together. We got it from Dana's last book order. I love the dollar portion of those book orders! I am sorry, but I will never stop loving Beverly Cleary!

Love That Dog by Sharon Creech
Emma has always enjoyed listening to poetry. I used to read poetry to her when she was a baby, and it always seemed to soothe her. This was a fun little book about a young boy learning about poetry in his english class at school. It was cute, and I would suggest it to any teacher trying to teach poetry to young children.

Loser by Jerry Spinelli
I know- another children's book. I needed something light after the books I read for my writing job. I loved this book. I really enjoy Spinelli's work. He captures the thought process of unique children so well. The message in this book was sweet, clear, and sometimes a little uncomfortable- like the part in the snow storm- a little intense! I was cheering for the protagonist, and wanted to smack some of the teachers. It was very endearing! A great in-class read (seriously Mom, it is perfect for 4th graders- give it a read and consider it).

Vanity Indulgence

I got a message from my boss today explaining that the guidelines for the lesson plans accepted by the company I work for have just been tightened and heightened. It was a mass e-mail, and she told all of her writers to take a look at the attached example of a good lesson plan so that we would all have a better idea of what would be expected in the future. I clicked on the link, worried that my job was about to get harder, or that I would be asked to re-vamp some of my past work to match the new standards. I needn't have worried. The example was a Daily Lesson from the plan I wrote for The Lord of the Rings about mercy and justice. Yup- MY work was the new standard of excellence! I am feeling pretty haughty at the moment, and plan to reward myself by going to Ogden later today.

Jessica's Give Away

I know I alread did one of these, but I wanted ot try it again when I saw it on Jessica's blog. The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me. My choice. For you.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1-I make no guarantees that you will like what I make.
2- What I create will be just for you.
3-It'll be done by April 19th.
4-You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be poetry or an article on properly cleaning your face before a masque. I may scrapbook something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did it will then win a fabulous homemade gift made by me!

Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it! Have fun playing!

Draper Temple Open House

A couple weeks ago, we took the girls to see the Draper Temple Open House. It was lovely, but I have to say that I was not terribly impressed with the way they organized everything. I am sure they had their reasons, and I can see how they were able to allow more people to go through by setting it up this way- but I was a little dissappointed. I like having tour guides to tell us all the neat facts about the temple and to point out the special details that aren't included in the borchure like stories about the workers and other things like that. I also hated that we had to wait in a church for 2 hours before being taken over to the temple. We are SOO lucky that the girls were behaving well for the most part.

That being said, we had a great time. It was fun and challenging in a way to explain things to Emma in a way that she could understand it all. She loved it. She thought it was the prettiest Princess Temple ever. Also- did anyone else see the Pemberly mansion for sale across the street from the temple? I want that house- especially if Mr. Darcy comes along with it. I would just want him to pop out every now and again to say, "You have bewitched me, body and soul." or "I love, I love, I love you."

Here is Emma and Pinkbunny sitting quietly at the church. Pinkbunny went everywhere with her that day. As I would explain things to Emma, she would then explain things to Pinkbunny. It was pretty much the cutest thing to ever happen ever. "This is where Mommy comes to change into her special temple clothes." "Oh, bunny, this is where Mommy wears her temple clothes and it is really, really special." "Emma, this is where we come to get baptized for people who have died." "Pinkbunny, this is where we baptize you when you are dead and the cows are there."

Sara contented herself with tearing apart my purse and eating my deodorant. In her defense, it does smell like candy, so I can't blame her for trying it.

After going through the temple we went to the Stake Center next door to the temple to have some cookies and wait for the bus. I must say that the Stake who was in charge of this did a FANTASTIC job. The displays in the cultural hall were gorgeous, and there was a grand piano there where someone was playing some lovely and intricate variations to hymns and primary songs. It was the perfect place to enjoy a cokie and ponder on all the things that we had just seen.

There were sister missionaries there to answer questions of investigators, and for once I didn't feel like the sisters were glorified saleswomen. (Have any of you been to Temple Square lately? They are like vultures!) They were respectful and very knowledgeable. I listened to a man who was a little skeptical about the sealing ordinances, and one of the sisters was explaining things to him with flawless clarity. I was impressed with how composed she was as he riddled her with question after question. I think he was impressed with how much she knew and how logical it all sounded. Apparently things that are true tend to make perfect sense when explained well. :)

After our cookies we stopped at Chadders (an In N Out copy-cat that is actually better) to have a burger and some fries. Well, some of us did at least.

Ross owed me this. . .

. . . because of his audacity to drink Dr. Pepper in front of me. Cruel!

Why Mommy's Shouldn't Nap: An Essay in Images Depicting the Destruction Caused in a 20 Minute Space of Time in an Otherwise Clean Environment

Caution- some of these pictures hold graphic images of naked bums, overturned buckets of out-grown clothing, little girls wearing their favorite piece of out-grown clothing, and entire closet of toys strwen about in haphazard fashions. Proceed with caution.

Wedding Day Tag

1) When was your wedding day? August 24, 2004

2) What day of the week was it? Tuesday.

3) Did you get married in a church? Kind of. We got married in the Bountiful Temple.

4) How many in your wedding party? 3. My sisters were my bridesmaids since my best friend didn't want to be in the line.

5) How many guests were invited to your wedding? I have no idea. Not many people came, which was actually fine with me.

6) How long did you wait to tie the knot after your proposal? 3 months and 1 week. We wanted to get married on the 3 month mark, but were voted down due to conflicts with the nut harvest in California.

7) Did you register for gifts? Yes, at Target, Gottchalks, and Breemers. About 80% of our gifts in California came from Breemers.

8) Who did you hire as your photographer & videographer? My friend Carrie did the pictures at the temple, and my sister Heather did the pictures at the reception. My Aunt Lara put together a video for us as a gift- but we didn't even know she was planning on that. It was a fun surprise.

9) Did you have a DJ or a band? Nope. I regret that now.

10) Did the father walk the bride down the aisle? No- there was no aisle. Just a pretty altar and an uncomfortable couch.

11) What color were the bridesmaid dresses & groomsmen vests? My sisters had light blue skirts and white shirts.

12) Who was the Maid Of Honor? The Best Man? We didn't have any. Both of the people we asked turned us down. That meant less sewing of ties and skirts though- and they were both there all day, so it worked out just fine for us.

13)What were your colors? Blue and Silver

14) Did the bride have a bridal shower? Yup- 2 of them on the same day. It was awesome, but there was not lingerie which was sad to me. I have made it a point since then to get all my good friends really good stuff just in case I am the only one who does.

15) What type of limo did you get? Oh heavens- this is a story. We had a white limo that we ordered about 4 hours before the reception. It cost a lot of money- about half of what we had in our combined savings at the time. We had to get one last minute because of a silly misunderstanding. Ross sold his truck to his dad for some cash and an old Ford Taurus to cut down on gas money and to help pay for my ring. They had left the Taurus in the parking lot at the Reno airport where we were flying to on their way to Utah. We planned on dropping the truck off at the SLC airport where Joe, Ross's brother, could pick it up and drive it home. We were told AT THE TEMPLE by my sister-in-law that she needed the truck to take something home. She refused to make the drive to the airport to pick it up and said we would have to shell out the money for a limo or a cab at the last minute. It was frustrating and expensive, but I have to say that we LOVED having the limo. We suggest it to all of our friends who get married now. We just wish we had known we would need it so that we didn't have to pay so much money for a last minute thing.

16) What type of wedding gown/tux did you two wear? I wore a wedding dress. It was white and fluffy and pretty. Ross wore a tux from a place I used to work in high school. It was a black 3 button coat, with a silver checked vest and a shiny black tie. (sunset pattern from Tuxedo Wearhouse. Go there- Brent is the sweetest man alive!)

17) How was the weather? It was raining while we drove to the temple, it stopped when we came out to take pictures, then it rained while we drove to the luncheon. Someone loves me!

18) Where did you go on your Honeymoon? Reno. Lame. We went on the real deal a year later to Vegas and San Diego. That is how I can say that Emma was a honeymoon baby.

19) What was your favorite part of your wedding day? Making out in the truck before heading to the luncheon. All the stress of the day and the family members (some of whom were quite rude to me) dissappeared for a moment. We were alone, and we were sealed together for all eternity. We just stared at each other on the side of the road and cried. Then we kissed like we hadn't been allowed to before that. It was beautiful.

20) How long have you been married? 4 1/2 years.

21) What was the most memorable "bridezilla" moment? Finding out that my mom had cut my bouquet too short. It was irreversible, so I just didn't have a bouquet- which turned out just fine because it meant I got to hold Ross's hand all night instead.

22) What was your most memorable wedding-related mental breakdown? When the sealer called me by Ross's ex-girlfriend's name. . . 3 times!!!

23) What would you change about your day? I would have done it when I wanted, how I wanted and where I wanted. I would have stopped worrying about pleasing everyone else, and reminded them that it was their duty to please me on MY wedding day. I was so stressed about making people happy that I forgot to be happy myself, and I let people walk all over me. Also- I would hire a real photographer.

24) What was your most memorable Wedding moment? Sitting with Ross in the Celestial Room at the temple after doing a shortened veil ceremony. We were there alone for about 20 minutes before being guided to the sealing room. I loved it.

Marriage Tag

1. When is your "engagement" anniversary? May 17, 2004.
2. When is your "marriage" anniversary? August 24, 2004.
3. How long have you known your spouse? It will be 7 years in September.
4. How long did you date/court before you were engaged? We dated off and on for 7 months before he proposed. We were off at the time. :)
5. Where did you meet your spouse for the first time? He sat by me in our astronomy class during the 2002 Fall semester at BYU Idaho.
6. What is your spouse's full name? Ross E. Goodman. He would be mad if I exposed his full middle name on here again. Do some back searching though, and you will find it.
7. Do you have any children? Yups.
8. How many - boys/girls? Two lovely little girls.
9. Do you have any house pets? Not really. We play with the stray cats that come around sometimes. Even Trinket makes an appearance every other week or so.
10. Do you own a house or rent? We own a little house out in the middle of Eagle Mountain.
11. Do you live in the country or town/city? Country.
12. What is one of your favorite activities together? Propriety forbids me to write about my favorite, so I will say that people watching is one of our other favorite things to do. We are really good at being judgemental about appearances.
13. Do you have a favorite vacation spot? I loved our vacation to San Diego so very much.
14. When did you first kiss? After a lovely date to the Cabaret dance at BYU-Idaho. After a night full of wonderfully romantic places to do it (ie: the top of the stadium, the ballroom, under a tree with Christmas lights, etc), he ended up kissing me for the first time in his car parked in front of my dorms. Lame sauce supreme! :)
15. What church do you attend?The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
16. Is this the church you were married in? Nope. We were married in the Bountiful Temple. Some of our family members are still complaining about what a hassell it was to get there.
17. What town is your current address at? Eagle Mountain.
18. Do you work or stay at home? I work from home.
19. Where did you go on your honeymoon? Right after we were married we spent a few days in Reno, and a few hours in San Francisco. We drove a car with no A/C, and we had $120 in our bank account. We used the money we got from the reception and open house to pay for our food. It was pretty lame- but we had fun. A year later we went on our real honeymoon to San Diego.
20. What was the funniest gift you gave when dating? I gave him the best book ever written (The Count of Monte Cristo) which he thought was rather funny. He has yet to read it.
21. How long have you been together?Almost 6 years.
22. How long did you know each other before you started dating?A little more than a year.
23. Who asked who out?He asked me. He made hamburger helper. It was terribly romantic.
24. How old are each of you? I'm 24 he is 27.
25. Where do you each work or go to school? Ross works at a financial advising firm, and I write lesson plans from home.
26. Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple? Right now Emma is refusing to sleep in her own bed, and has been camping out on our floor every night. This makes it hard to enjoy some of our favorite things together alone.
27. Did you go to the same school?We went to the same college.
28. Are you from the same home town? Not even a little bit.
29. Who is smarter? We are both smart in our own areas.
30. Who is more sensitive?Definitely me.
31. Where do you eat out most as a couple? We don't get out too often anymore, but our favorite place is Ruby River.
32. Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? Well, we took separate planes and slept in separate rooms (stupid military) but we spent a lot of time together in Biloxi, Mississippi.
33. Who has the craziest exes? Very definitely me. My list includes a pathologic liar (who jumped in front of a car), a pharisaical Mormon whose mother called me a slut to my face once, 2 cheaters, a guy who grew up in the polygamist colony in Lehi (no joke- I met all 3 of his moms!), and one guy who loved his saxophone more than me.
34. Who has the worse temper? Me.
35. Who does the cooking? Me.
36. Who is more social? Me.
37. Who is the neat-freak? Me.
38. Who is more stubborn? Me.
39. Who hogs the bed? Ross. He also snores and twitches.
40. Who wakes up earlier? Ross. It is hard to get into a deep sleep around him sometimes.
41. Where was your first date? His apartment.
42. Who had more boyfriends/girlfriends? Me.
43. Do you get flowers often? Depends on how much we are fighting at the moment. :)
44. How do you spend the holidays? With our families- usually wishing we were alone.
45. Who is more jealous? I am.
46. How long did it take to get serious? We got pretty serious about 2 months after his other girlfriend dumped him (she was on a mission). Then he dumped me. Then he proposed. Then I dumped my boyfriend.
47. Who eats more? He does.
48. Who does the laundry?Mostly me.
49. Who’s better with the computer? He is.
50. Leave a piece of advice for the other couples. You know that old piece of advice about never going to bed angry? It is total bunk! Seriously! Trying to work out a conflict when you are both upset, exhausted, and beyond all points of reasoning is silly. Sometimes you just have to kiss each other goodnight, and let things cool off over night. Also, always kiss each other goodnight and goodbye- even if you are mad and would rather bite them. There is power in a kiss between people who love each other, and you never know if that could be the last time you ever kiss.

I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home

Glad as I can be! Clap my hands and shout for joy And climb up on his knee.

Put my arms around his neck, hug him tight like this!

Pat his cheeks and give him what. . .

a GREAT, BIG kiss!

MWAH!

Eagle Mountain

I saw a bald eagle today!! I am talking a real, live, GORGEOUS bald eagle flying out in the open sky!!! It was lovely, and large, and such an amazing surprise. He was soaring and screeching with its mate. I assume he was telling her that she looked just fine even if she was not adorned with his lovely white head. She seemed to like that and gave him a playful peck on the bird-cheek all while dancing overhead. I saw them as we were driving into town. I had been told that there were bald eagles living out here and that is why they named it Eagle Mountain, but I never really believed it. This is the first time I have seen our iconic national bird in the wild. It was incredible- and was just what I needed to pep me up before listening to the "We Surround Them" speech by Glenn Beck.

I Would Never. . .

Oh, Heavens. That is pretty much all I have to say. I don't know if anyone else does this, but as I have gone through my life, I have created in my mind a list of things that I felt were disgraceful, improper, and disrespectful. I placed these items in a little filing cabinet in my head that I liked to call "Things I Would Never Do, Ever, Ever, EVER". Well, God seems to have thought that little collection of ideas was rather funny. He has a sense of humor- let me tell you! In the past week or so, I have been put into situations where I have violated almost every single one of those items. I fail.

1. I will never get caught picking my nose in my car by someone I know.
2. I will never take my child out in public before noon in their pajamas.
3. I will never let my daughter play with my phone/camera/ipod/ other expensive elctrical device just to keep her quiet.
4. I will never lie about my weight.
5. I will never let my daughter out in public with 2 different shoes, both made for the left foot.
6. I will never cry about something to a friend that I have not already expressed to my husband.
7. I will never let my kids watch the same movie over and over and over just so I can get some work done.
8. I will never use my child's napping time to simply sit and watch America's Next Top Model episodes on You Tube.
9. I will never chat on facebook when I have a kitchen to clean.
10. I will never leave an . . . 'accident' on the floor without cleaning it up while I take a drive and get nasty fast-food.
11. I will never greet my husband's homecoming with anything but a kiss.
12. I will never allow a chance for my children to catch my husband and I . . . (so awkward!)
13. I will never use my husband's deodorant all week in lieu of fetching my own out of the car.
14. I will never like the scent of my husband's deodorant enough to continue using it all week long.
15. I will never use my eye liner all the way to the point where it is such a small nub that I can't work it in the sharpener.
16. I will never serve piza and chicken nuggets to my children 2 meals in a row. (I refuse to tell you how many times I have broken this one this week.)
17. I will never let my child sleep all night in the car-seat.

Ther are more- but you get the idea. This has been a rough week with Ross going to work early every morning and coming home late every night. Add to this the fact that I am sick, Sara is teething, and Emma is 3, and you can start to get the picture! :) Don't get me wrong- things are good. I am happy, the girls are adorable, and Ross has been successful. I just think that had I not violated all of those "I Would Never's", I probably would not be nearly as cheerful as I am. And I am cheerful! :)

At Last!

Have you ever wished for a place that would give you an informed subjective opinion about any question that pops into your head? Are you tired of the lackluster responses given by your magic 8 ball? I have found the perfect solution for anyone who wants a moral advisor with just a touch of sarcasm and wit. The next time you need a moral compass of sorts, go to www.BrittanysBlessing.com Enter your idea or question, and she will get back to you with whether or not your idea has her approval or 'blessing'. It is pretty fantastic- thank me later!

Emma Turns Three

Emma had a lovely birthday last Friday. She was spoiled rotten all day long. From the moment she woke up to the moment she finally went to sleep, she got everything HER way. It was fun! I sure love this little girl even if it does hurt my heart to admit that she isn't my baby anymore. I love you, Emma-Roo, and I couldn't be more proud of the sweet, sensitive and smart little girl you are becoming.

We started off the day with Krispy Kreme donuts and hot chocolate for breakfast. The donuts were a week old- but she didn't care! :) While Ross went to do something boring- I mean, important- at the bank, Emma and I ran across the parking lot to see the animals at PetSmart. Can someone please tell me why the cats over there are always big enough to eat me? They are sweet, but GINORMOUS!

The little rodents were all especially entertaining that day. All the wheels were spinning and the ones that were sleeping were at least kind enough to choose a resting place in plain view.

We went to Deseret Book for a minute after we watched some puppies get shaved. I wanted to see if they had any good sale items for Ross's birthday (yes, I know it is 6 months away- that is how I do things!). As soon as we walked in, one of the cute ladies that worked there greeted Emma, and she responded with, "Hi- it's my birthday and I am 1, 2, 3, 7, 8!" They rewarded her with a cookie- a really good cookie!

After stealing cookies from Deseret Book, we let Emma ride on the back of the cart at the store (for the very first time- truly exciting!) where we picked up some last minute items for the party. I LOVE that she is still young enough to help me choose her presents and still be surprised when she unwraps them.

We had lunch at Los Hermanos. She was NOT thrilled with the singing. They were quite loud and they scared Emma. They all thought she was adorable though- which she was.

We like going to Los Hermanos for birthdays because they are really good at keeping the free chips and salsa coming (and the salsa is fantastic), they give a hearty helping of free fried ice-cream for birthdays (even for 3 year old girls who don't like the singers), and we get a free specialty drink when Ross wears a shirt with their logo on it. The portions are also HUGE which means Ross, Emma and I can all share a chalupa and be full. That means we get more free stuff than what we end up actually paying for. That's my kind of birthday meal!

We like the Peachy Rico- althought we are wondering why it was so pink instead of orange this time. . .

Sara had a good meal of whipped cream and refried beans. I guess that means we really split our meal four ways. I deserve a medal for my cheapness! :)

After getting home and having a nap (we all napped for a little while), our family came over, and we commenced with throwing balloons around again. Good times!

Dana brought her best friend, Kassidy- who is pretty much a sister at this point. She is lovely, and I was thrilled to see her.

Emma picked the Costco cake with the most icing globbed on top of it. It is times like that when I KNOW she is my daughter. I like a little cake with my icing, thank you very much.

See that piece in the middle with the sun, rainbow and cloud? That was SOOO my piece! :)

Emma and Max had no need for plates.

Melissa tried to restrain him- but that Max is a sneaky little kid! he sure is cute though.

Brookie helped Emma open her presents. She was so excited to find that Princess dress.

My mom got her a princess backpack with a matching sleeping bag and water bottle. She was THRILLED.

Dana helped with the presents, and Heather manned the camera, so I was free to spend the rest of the party snuggling with Ross.

Max wanted to take home the books he got for Emma. He is seriously so cute!

Caulene confiscated some balloons to cut down on the craziness.

Emma got a lot of pretty dresses and shirts. They were all so cute! We are even keeping one of the dresses set aside for her Easter dress. Emma is loved- thank you everyone who came!

We got Emma a swimsuit for her birthday. Don't judge us, but it is a two piece. It is a perfectly modest one though. We liked it because it covers a lot of her back so she won't be quite as susceptible to sun-burns. Also- it is cute.

Sara and Max were really into those caterpillar books.

Lovely, Dana!

We had chicken nuggets and pizza for dinner.

Carrie and Nate came out as well. It was very nice of them to come out a second time in such a a short amount of time.

At least he isn't flipping me off in this one. . . :)