Ten Nice Things

I woke up this morning with the most dreadful feeling: having to get up at 5:30 to drive Justin to the bus stop...
You see, sometimes, on weekends, I'll go pick up Justin in SLC so we can do something fun and we tend to forget to pick up his car on the way back.  We MAY remember on Sunday morning when Justin goes to church and he can't find his car in the parking lot, but yesterday we kept forgetting.  Therefore, I get to wake Andrew up, pack him in his car seat and try to become aware enough to drive home after we drop off Justin.  Bless Justin for waking up this early every day to go to work.  This morning, I woke up to a snowstorm.  I hate, hate, hate, double hate, loathe entirely...SNOW.  But, like my mom used to say, if you say something mean you have to say ten nice things.  So here are ten nice things about today.  Snow is not one of them.

1.  It's 9:45 and I haven't showered.  Nor do I intend to until I come back from the gym.
2.  Cassie is back in town so I get to go to the gym this morning.
3.  Five more days until General Conference.
4.  Katie updated her blog!!  Go look.
5.  I had a Slim Fast at 5:30 this morning, but since I was still hungry, I ate some leftover potato casserole from Easter dinner...last week. :)
6.  I read half the Ensign before realizing my foot was totally asleep because I was sitting on it.
7.  Andrew  had a lot of fun in the bath this morning.
8.  Tonight is FHE and I'm in charge of the lesson.  That means I get to study extra scriptures today.
9.  The printer finally decided to work this morning and out shot the Primary roll I tried to print yesterday.  Better late than never.
10.  I am still relishing the memory of seeing my cousins last night.  Happy birthday, Sam!!  

Random Andrew-ness

Andrew at the window.  I thought he was out of this phase.  I thought wrong.

He really does have blue eyes.

Andrew just waits for me to get out of the shower.  Trying to figure out what the deal is with this chair.

Tiff and Brad

So, Justin has such cool friends, and I love being married to him because I've inherited his awesome friends.  Yesterday, Tiff Player arrived from Kansas to visit, so she and Brad Randall, one of Justin's mission friends, came to see us.  Tiff has become one of my favorite people ever.  She has awesome dramatic dating/life stories.  (She was a sister in Justin's mission, BTW.)  Brad, similarly, has awesome dating/life stories and he is charming...Ladies, single?  He's the one.  He is great.  So, here are some pics of the visitors.

Munchkinland

I forgot to post about this, but we had Carly and Avery and Libs and Eddy to our house on Monday.  I loved it.  We took some snapshots of the cute babies together.  My favorite part about these girls is that every time we get together, I just feel so grateful to have such amazing friends.  Seriously, we've been friends for eight to fourteen years (since we kept adding on as we went through school) and I never get sick of being with them.  I love our differences because I can honestly say that I know more about the beauties of the world because each friend helps me appreciate different things about it!  Thanks, lades and babes for coming!!

Migraine + Baby = Good Husband

You may wonder how I came up with that equation...Well, most of you know that Justin is like the nicest person in the universe (which is why I think it's so weird that we got married), but last night was a shining moment.  I had a killer migraine (throwing up and the whole bit) all day and I was just praying for Justin to come home and make me feel  better, which, of course, he did.  He walked in the door, fed Andrew, packed him up and took him home teaching, came home and put Andrew to bed, went and got dinner for himself (if I ate food, I would die), ate on the floor in the living room so he could watch me, put me in the bathtub, gave me a massage and put me to bed.  Then he got up with Andrew at 1am and fed him.  THEN, when he was supposed to be getting ready for work, Andrew woke up again, so Justin fed him, changed him and played with him and then put him in his swing.  

So, basically, what I'm trying to say is that I heart my honey.  He's so incredible in so many ways, one being that he is a fantastic and selfless husband and daddy.  Thanks so much, hon!!

Easter Funness

While we were in Hawaii, Troy and Jamie had their baby.  Her name is Lucy (for now, Jamie's not 100%) and she's VERY cute.  Observe.

Since we figured the kiddies wouldn't be having an Easter egg hunt and we wanted an excuse to go to see the new little munchkin, we took a little trip to do a hunt with the buddies.

It was a smashing success.

I love how Lauren is always very concerned with the baby.  "Baby sad?  Baby stinky? Baby tired? Baby Andoo?"



And the best part of the trip was, of course, the miserable car ride.  Thank heavens for the monkey.

Tax Returns?

So, Megan and I recently received our tax returns, and we're trying to decide what to do with them. Megan thinks I'm the most boring person in the world because I only want to spend money on investments (i.e., real estate, roth IRAs) and Megan would rather go on a vacation to visit her friends in Arizona, San Diego, or Vietnam (long shot) or Katie in Washington, D.C. So, I'm posting this blog because I want to know what you're doing with your tax return this year. We'll see who wins out.

Hawaii, Part II

So, trying to do pictures first always messes with my text, so after five or six times of trying to post, here's the rundown of what the pictures below are capturing.  I'll try to be brief because I know that these vacation logs are super boring to anyone who wasn't present.

1.  Polynesian Cultural Center - super cool, with super weird food.
2.  Looking at this one sideways, this is the top of Diamondhead Crater...Thanks Justin for carrying the babes the whole time.
3.  The stairs of death on the way up the crater...I thought Sarah would die.
4.  Andrew LOVES the Babybjorn.  He especially likes licking it.  Kind of gross, but what can you do?
5.  Andrew's cuteness at the beach.
6.  Pineapple ice cream.  Yummers.
7.  Ricky...My father in law is a serious crack up.  I tell you, if I hear "HonoRURU" one more time...
8.  The temple was so beautiful.
9.  Andrew eating at the PCC.  He became very versatile on this trip.
10.  On the flight home, Andrew had about enough travel for a while.  He was so sick of his face being covered in an effort to help him sleep that he just started covering it himself.
11.  We got to see our friend Dan at LAX on the way out...He's so awesome and the closest thing to a friggin' rockstar that we know.
12.  Justin and Sean being pulled out to sea so they could surf...They got pretty tired with all that paddling.

Hawaii

 

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Blog Hater

So, I'm feeling a little blog sick right now...Meaning, I got on the computer tonight because Justin is at the church and I thought a good use of my time would be to update about our recent vacation.  I just spent two hours reading other people's blogs.  It's an addiction I can't seem to break.  The sad thing is, I am now just so unimpressed with myself that I don't feel like posting.  Just reading about all the interesting things everyone is doing makes me feel...small.  You know in "You've Got Mail" when Kathleen Kelly says, "I live a small life."  That's how I feel.  But, despite my self-pity, here's one of the "small" things in my life that is one of my biggest blessings.

Andrew has a new fascination with moving things.  And singing things.  He's so sweet.  I love hanging out with the little munchkin all day.  And even though I feel like I'm doing a small thing, he's a great thing, a great little person.  So, here I am, changing my attitude and being happy about my small and oh-so-rewarding life.  

Middle Name Meme

Thanks, Kates.  You know how I love tags.  It gives me something to write about. 

1. You must post the rules on your post before you answer the questions.
2. You need to list one fact about yourself using each letter of your middle name. If you don't have a middle name use your maiden name instead.
3. When you are finished with your answers, you tag one person.

By the way, I had to look up  the word "meme."  I don't like that word.

P - Petri dish.  You may wonder why I chose this.  Well, although science is not my forte (pronounced FORT according to Molly and her dad), I took this class called Microbiology.  It was one of my last credits to graduate, so I took it with Molly and her brother, Mike.  We looked like idiots in that class because...well, we were.  We shared a book, since it wasn't likely that we'd ever use it again, and we grew bacteria in petri dishes.  I thought that part was cool, but the B- part of the class was not as cool.

E - Evolution.  Once I helped my friend Chadwick write a paper about evolution, and from that point forward, I've had 0 interest in the whole concept.  I don't care if I come from a monkey.  I like monkeys.

T - Ticket To Ride.  This is my favorite board game right now.  Justin and I LOVE to play games, and if we ever get a night where we don't have people over, we generally play a round of Ticket to Ride and a round of Rummikub.  And sometimes Scrabble if I want to get whooped.  I hate that Justin always beats me at Scrabble.  It's embarrassing.

E - English.  This is the language I speak.  And I like it.  Also, I like to teach about English.  

R - Rark Rells Rike Retunias.  Only my family will understand that, but when we were younger, someone (Troy, possibly) made up a language.  It wasn't a secret language, since I think most people with a pulse can figure it out, but it always makes us laugh.  The previous statement, "Mark Smells Like Petunias," is a blatant lie...

S - Scintillating.  I'm pretty sure I used this word in a poem once, but I love the word.  I think it's a good description of myself...he he he.  

O - Off-shore drilling.  Once I worked for a company that did seismic testing for oil wells to see how productive the wells would be.  It was an interesting job, but I still know next to nothing about oil.  

N - Nola.  That's my mom's name.  I consider my mom to be one of the coolest people on the earth right now.  She is so wonderful and I love her.  Some would describe her as "the bomb-diggity."

I tag Lara.  She'll probably do it...That's why I chose her. :)

Making Progress

Andrew is doing better with bath time.  I hear of these parents who give their kids a bath before bedtime...That wouldn't work around here.  Andrew would be totally worked up and stressed out.  So, we're morning bathers.  He looks super cute in his alligator towel.  

And speaking of alligators, I've been waiting Andrew's whole life for him to wear this outfit.  It's from my cousins Andrea and Nicolle, and I think it's so funny.  Sure enough, three months has passed and he fits!!

Please note that this side of Andrew's head is going bald because he rubs it all the time with his hand.

I wish I could capture how funny it is that Andrew is very particular about what we watch on TV.  There HAS to be dancing involved, or he loses interest.  We watched "The King and I" yesterday.  (Of course, I'm a sucker for old musicals, so Andrew is going to love them too...)

Her Super Exciting Life

My friend Kathy came over yesterday to visit.  She's up from Arizona for a vacation, and can I just say, she is SO funny to me.  Everything that happens to her is randomly funny.  Or maybe she just appreciates the randomness of life.  She ate dinner with us and I was so glad.  You'll notice her blog connected to mine.  I love reading it because...well, when we were roommates, I had never met anyone with such a unique perspective of life.  Her blog provides that for me.  You're great, Kath!!  Don't forget the hummus recipe!


Andrew seemed alarmed by something going on over in the window...

Our Superstar

So, I think Andrew is awesome in many ways.  Here are a few:

1.  He sleeps through the night.  
2.  He's a trooper when he's sick.
3.  He loves to read the scriptures with me.  It's the cutest thing, when I read out loud he just giggles.
4.  He is a delight to spend a whole day with.
5.  He may not be destined to be a basketball star, but he looks pretty good in his workout outfit.


This is Andrew talking to his monkey.  It's his favorite friend.