snl weekly

The saddest episode of Weekend Update ever. Can't wait to see what is up next for Amy.

frosty the snowman

Our kids got this wonderful classic for Christmas. The pictures are vibrant and big -- perfect for our littlest one! It even has the music included in the book. If you do not yet own this, I highly recommend it. I read it at least three times a day now. Okay. I'm actually singing it, not reading it, to them. They love it! I'm thinking I may get sick of it before they do. ;)

announcement

If you have your gas oven on all day, then the fire department will show up at 9pm to try and figure out why your carbon monoxide alarm is going off.
Tis true! They come in with all their gear; the whole works.
You should try it.
Just be sure to have treats or something to share. It helps.

i'm skyping

Skype has to be the coolest thing ever. Have you tried this yet? All you need is a webcam, a little computer know-how, friends and voila! With friends and family all over, it is the perfect way to connect. For example, I was able to see what my niece and nephew in London got for Christmas and my kids were able to show them what Santa brought. I was also able to show them the massive amounts of snow outside and our messy house.
Why didn't I think of this?
Maybe because I'm not part of the geek squad and would even think it was possible. But, it is. Possible. Wow. Next up...Wonka vision!

thank you

Dear Jake from the foyer,

I just want to let you know how much I appreciated you helping me clean up my daughter's puke. I didn't even ask if you wanted to help. You came to my aid with paper towels and a big smile. It is always so embarrassing (you will soon find this out) when your son or daughter pukes all over you, especially in public. I don't know of anyone who would voluntarily clean up a stranger's puke. Just be sure to let your mom know you did a good deed today. She will be proud. :)

Sincerely,
Young mom with puke on her sweater

twilight before christmas

I saw this on Annie's site. So, so funny. This is dedicated to all you Twilight fans out there.

sssshhhhhh...

Since I am not very creative in my gift giving or gift making, I decided to fall back on something I KNOW my hubby loves. That is, he absolutely laughs his head off and cannot stop talking about The Office. It is a shared love. We both cannot get enough of the popular NBC show. The office romance between Jim and Pam. The dark secret Phyllis was hanging over Angela's little head. Kelly and Ryan. And, of course, Michael just being...well, Michael.

Here are a couple of the things I recently purchased at the official NBC store. Just so you know, it was hard to choose just a couple things. I love this t-shirt that Dwight wore during the Race for Rabis episode: Kevin is one of our favorite characters. I had to get this for Dan to have at work:

And don't think I didn't get anything for me. I thought I would help Dan out and bought this one for me:

Dwight is the best. Any fun gifts you are giving this season?

living room

Here's a kind of crazy shot of our living room. It still needs much work but we sure have been having fun decorating the house. I guess those boxes can wait. :)

yeah!

The new look! The new title! The new address!! Yes. Lots has changed. Like shedding skin, if you will. When I started this blog, I knew there was much room for improvement. And, as you can see, the time has come for the perfection to show. Like my uncle Kevin would always say, "It is hard to improve on perfection." (He was always referring to himself when he would say that). I do feel like I have got it now. I feel like this is more of what I should have done in the first place. Let's just hope you like it and are feeling me now.

Since I'm pooped from all the hard work and thought I have put into this, I will link you to a great post by Annie called "Oh to be famous..." In it, she talks about all the celebrities my sister T has encountered while in London. It is quite fun to hear about her adventures over there. I'm living a bit vicariously through her since I would L-O-V-E to not only go to London but to live there. Wow. Amazing. And so jealous. Plus, to top it all off, my other sis Boog will be visiting T shortly. AND this will be her second visit to G.B. SECOND!! What would it be like to celebrate Christmas in London? Hm...can't answer that one for you. You know what? It totally stinks to not have an answer for you. G.B. will someday be stamped in my passport. Mark. My. Words.

face lift

I have decided this blog needs a bit of a face lift. Fun changes to come!! I may even change the blog address. Not yet sure on that...will let you know though.

In the meantime, I have a homely confession to make. I bought one of these a couple of years ago from Lands' End. It is the comfiest thing ever!! I even had it monogrammed just to make me feel cooler. For example, tonight when the pizza man came, I answered the door wearing my house coat over my pajamas. Oh yeah. He totally was digging it. I could tell. ;)

if you give a mouse a cookie...

We own this wonderful book collection and it has been the book of choice the past few nights. This book comes complete with four of the If You Give...series but also recipes, songs and a CD for the kids to read along with. It is great. Just very heavy to hold and read all four stories, which is usually the case. If you have not read any of these delightful stories, you and your child are definitely missing out.

target

I L-O-V-E these cute shoes I just bought from Target. Super cute and comfy for my baby's little soles. Plus, very affordable. Soooooo many varieties to choose from! I also bought these. I had to! I couldn't help myself.

new favorite blog

My sister T introduced me to this blog. It is hilarious. The author started it as a joke; a twist on Mormon mommy blogs. But now ads are paying up to $300/month to advertise on her site because it gets so many hits. Plus, she has cute t-shirts for sell.











I thought of this one for my sisters. :)

I'm thinking this one for me. I feel this way everyday around 5pm. :)

wish list

With not having a clue as to what to get the hubby for Christmas, my mind has been busy thinking of all the things I want for Christmas. SO much easier to think that way. Wow. I will be adding things here for my hubby to pick up on, for me to remember (what do you get the in-laws?) and also to give you ideas, if you are struggling like me. :)

This right now is at the top of my list. It is a calendar board from a'la Board. Love it! It is a dry erase, magnetic chocolate-damask calendar. It comes with magnetic months and numbers. I am thinking it would be perfect in my kitchen. Plus, the phrase, "What? You didn't tell me that! " may become extinct from our household vocabulary. It is a bit pricey but I'm thinking not hearing my husband say, "What?" will be more of a pay off than anything.

cousins

The little niblets had the best time with their cousins this weekend. SO much so that they all ended up, playing in the tub together. I'm surprised that more water was not found outside of the bath. Holidays are the best, not only for the food, but for the fun times spent with family. Thanks again, Giggles and Chaos, for coming up to spend time with us!

arbonne

I am loving the Pampermint Two-step Set from Arbonne. Wow. My feet are loving me right now. How many times can I say loving? I just cannot think of a better word: loving.

Included in this set are the Pampermint FootWork, Foot Scrub and SoleMate, Foot Cream. The foot cream is fluffy, like a mousse, but heavy enough to be a cream. It felt like I was rubbing a Yoplait Whips! on my feet. Divine! The scrub is very gentle and cleansing. I am not sure why I had not tried this before. No more unhappy feet for me.

painting

I'm totally embarrassed to show you pictures of our house right now. FEMA would have to step in and give us aide. Truly, it is in bad shape. I have decided that moving is of the devil. He wants us to be miserable and, so far, mission completed. Well, let me back up...I'm not miserable per say. I just hate anything to do with packing and unpacking. It just does not reach up to the fun level on my gauge.

All I will show you is a picture of one of my favorite things in our house. I have to say thanks to my sister T, again, for it is on loan. She is letting me borrow it until she can come back across the atlantic and get it. (hee, hee).

Not sure why I love it so much. I love the colors. I love the style of the painting. Apparently, T bought it from an artist in SLC.

You can also see our new table (it is awesome) and our new fridge (it is huge) and part of our messy kitchen (it is so, so messy). How long should I expect to be unpacking boxes?

happy hubby

Please don't laugh too hard. I mean it. Stop laughing. This picture was taken ten years ago. TEN. But who's counting? Really. This was the first picture ever taken of my hubby and I. This was a girl's choice dance at the institute. I had actually asked another guy, Mike, who already had a date. I was supposed to be going with a big group of friends and didn't know who else to ask. Mike was a part of our big group of friends and so that is why he was my first choice. Then, I remembered this guy who Mike had introduced me to at church the week before. I asked Mike for his number (is it tacky to ask the guy who said no, for another guy's number?) and called him up. Needless to say, he was not expecting to hear from me let alone be asked to accompany me to a dance. I'm just grateful...eternally grateful he said yes. We had so much fun that night. It was memorable. It was a whirlwind. It was the start to many of the best nights, of my life, to come. Honestly, he had me laughing so hard that I almost peed my pants...several times. Almost being the key word. So I guess you could say he had me at hello. And he had me at, "Don't pee your pants."

He has always been able to make me laugh. We have such a good time together and I love him for it. Thanks for being 29 with me. Thanks for always being such a wonderful husband and a father. Thanks for giving me two of the most beautiful children on the planet. Thank you for knowing me better than I do. Thank you for pushing me to reach my full potential. I love you. Happy birthday.

happy birthday

So I know this is a bit late but I didn't want to miss out on an opportunity to wish one of my bestest friends a happy birthday. Dayna is one of those people you want to know...have to know! My life definitely would not be the same if I didn't know Dayna. She is a very tender, smart, loving, ambitious person. I have always looked up to her and wish to be like her. I will never forget being on the dance committee with her in seventh grade and wanting then to be life-long friends. Now we are 29 and have so much more to look forward to. Love you, girl! You're the best!

world on his shoulders

Some of the greatest thinking happens here.

mirror image

Mirror image from Janelle O. on Vimeo.

snapshot

Wednesday, November 19, 8:20pm.

Kiddle no. 1, singing:

"...here comes Mr. Alligator, quiet as a bee..."

Are bees quiet??

"Don't you mean, 'quiet as can be'?"

"No, mom. 'Quiet as a BEE!"

No problem. I won't bother correcting you again. Besides, it is just too cute when you do that.

morning announcement

If you sit and stare long enough at your piles and piles laundry (clean and dirty) and survey all the stuff you have to pack, it is still there when you are done staring. It was an ah-ha moment for me. Pass it on.

moving day

So with tomorrow being our big move, and with there still being so much to do, I thought I would sit and reflect...well, more like waste time. I woke at 4:30 and had a hard time going back to sleep. I could not stop thinking about all that needed to be done today and trying to sort out where to start, etc. It is madness! Truly. It would be nice to have a moving company pack all my stuff...but then again, I wouldn't have a clue where everything was. Plus...not sure I want strangers going through my stuff. I am just so glad we are not moving across country or, worse, moving internationally. I don't know how you all do it! I am struggling to keep normalcy for two kids and move across town.

We have been living at our current residence for over two years. It has been a blessing but also got me itching for our own space. It is hard when you cannot paint or remodel or just move furntiture around to make it your own. Thus, it has been a joyous experience just painting our new place and having new floors put in! Our appliances arrived Wednesday and we are starting to feel more "at home".

New pictures are to come!

you're it!

So I just saw that my cute sis-in-law Julie tagged me. I'm supposed to point out six quirky things about myself. Hmmm...only six? I truly am a nutter. Here we go:

1 - When I set my alarm, it has to end in either a 1 or a 7. So, if I have to get up around 7:30, then I set the alarm for 7:31 or 7:37 or 7:27. I told you I am a nutter. Do you seriously want more?

2 - When I leave a room, I cannot have the light switches in different positions...especially if there are three light switches on one plate. They all have to be down or all have to be up.

3 - If I'm not driving, I always fall asleep in a moving car. It drives my hubby bonkers because he wants to catch up and talk. I have told him several times that it is very hard for me to stay awake...even more so after having kids. It's crazy but the motion just lulls me to sleepy-sleep.

4 - Speratic tap dancing is always fun.

5 - When falling asleep, I have to lay on my left side with my left arm up under the pillow, left leg straight out, right leg bent with toes on my knee and the sheets have to be cold.

6 - I am a control freak. I like to have things done a certain way. For example, I will not let my husband put new sheets on our bed because he doesn't tuck them in the way I like.

the snowman

I loved watching this as a kid and now enjoy it even more with the kids. The Snowman is a timeless tale about a young boy who, with the first snowfall, excitedly runs out and decides to build a snowman. Magically, the snowman comes to life and off they go on an adventure every child dreams of. Definitely worth reading and watching the DVD. Anyone else love this??

snl weekly

If you missed SNL this weeked, you SERIOUSLY missed out. Paul Rudd was the host but Justin Timberlake and Beyonce were also there. Here is JT helping out with Weekend Update and then Beyonce in a very funny parody about her video, "Single Ladies". If you haven't seen her music video, watch it at mtv.com first and then watch this. So, so funny!!

heaven on earth has been found!

I will start off by saying that yes, heaven on earth has been found but maybe not in the way that you think. Of course, my little maple leafs are bliss in itself. But, in terms of comfort, heaven has been found. It comes wrapped in lots of springy but posturpedic coils that react to the different proportions of your body. It is also very roomy and large, the width being such that my hubby's wingspan does not disturb my side of peace. Yes, a king-size bed has topped my list of heavenly-earthly things. With the 16th being our 7 year wedding anniversary (can you believe I have been married for seven years? ), times gone by are refreshed in my memory. More vividly are the years (7, to be exact) spent in a full-size bed. The restless nights of a too large pregnant belly kicking my hubby in the back. The snoring and waking and pushing and, "Honey, PLEASE turn over so I can go back to sleep!!" A king-size bed is like the Noah of Arc's. It is the whale to a minnow. It is the lion to the lamb. It is wonderful and definitely a treat unlike any other.

To me, sleep is a priority in terms of my functionality and mood. So when sleep is not attainted at a maximum level, the dams will be loosed and hell will be opened. In other words, you had better watch out!

Having a full-sized bed up to this point has taught me a lot. For example, I have learned how to train my hubby into sleeping fetally all night long (really cuts down on the snoring). I have learned that if I am not deeply asleep before my hubby, I might as well forget sleep all together. I have also learned that if I'm not in bed first, my beloved cold spots (cold sheets are the best to climb in to) are threatened by size 13 clown feet. Though our newly acquired king-size mattress (think Lily Tomlin on the big rocking chair) is at our new house, I have more than my new appliances, carpet and paint to look forward to. Many high hopes for this monstrosity of Sealy proportions. Will let you know how the first night goes...

halloween critters

Though no pumpkins were carved this year (yeah, tell me about it!), we had a blast getting the kids all dressed up and taking them trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. My oldest critter was a bat and the youngest was a ladybug. Definitely the cutest ever. Yet, no matter how many times I tell myself that all that candy will be thrown away, I can never bring myself to do it. Of course, we hide it from the kids. I just need to hide it from myself!

so many backburners, so little time

With all the craziness of buying a house and moving, much has been laid to rest for a time. If you haven't noticed, many posts have been pushed to the wayside with this new burden and overload of stress. So much is to come and much to look forward to. I haven't forgotten about you and all that is in need of being reported. Carpet is being laid as we speak in our house and then our appliances are supposed to show later in the week. In the midst of all of this, we have been trying to keep a somewhat normal schedule for the kids and for my sanity. I just have no idea how people move across the country. Moving across town is barely fitting in with our life demands. To go one more step up that ladder, how does anyone decide to build a home? When does that cross someone's mind as a perfectly normal thing to do? With all the roadblocks we have hit during this process, I have decided to stay put for as long as we can possibly stand it! Not sure I want to go through this again. So, like I said, much is to come. :)

must-watch halloween dvds

Halloween is my favorite holiday! It truly is. Of all time. I think it is due in large part to my birthday being two days before. But I just love this time of year all together, which I have mentioned already.

I always loved going out trick-or-treating and then returning home to hot cocoa and fun Halloween shows on T.V. Yes, T.V.!! Nowadays, they show The Great Pumpkin about three days before Halloween. Why? Well, because if your favorite show comes on the same night, then the network will get too many phone calls as to why The Great Pumpkin was on instead of their favorite show. Therefore, the networks have given up and will not interfere with other scheduled shows. Luckily, when I was a kid, this was not the case.

Here are a few of my favorites from my childhood and also one more recent addition.

Plus, it is fun to show these to my kids and carry on the same tradition and fun holiday memories. A favorite right now at our house is The Great Pumpkin. My son has requested to watch this for the past few days. And it has been great to watch it with him. :)

What are your favorites?

progress update

Here is a progress report on the front room. As you can see, only minimal changes have been made so far. Though, as of tonight, the wood wall paneling is now white with primer and ready for paint.

The carpet is all gone and the pad needs to come up next. We took out the large wood adornment that was next to the front door.

New baseboards have also been added. Though these improvements are minimal, it truly has made such a difference! It is starting to feel more like our house.

dehn rojdehnyu

{happy birthday}

Today starts the last year of my twenties. I am 29 on the 29th. I was told this is my golden year and therefore, I have every right to party hard. I wonder if starting my day at 1:30 am, with maple leaf baby no. 1 puking all over our bed, consitutes as starting things off right. Another memorable part of my day was closing on our house. We are official homeowners! So exciting but also very stressful; such a huge responsiblity but also very rewarding.

I also had so many phone calls, emails and messages wishing me a happy day. I got some very cool presents as well. Of course, getting a home on my birthday is at the top of the list. This was delivered to my door this afternoon:

Yes, he is the best ("Those are not from the hot house." "I must confess I picked them from a nearby field...") I also got this very cool book from my sis:

Such a great day. Now all I ask is 10 hours of uninterrupted, peaceful sleep.

maple leafs are my favorite

I love my Maple Leaf (i.e. Canadian hubby) because he let me sleep in this morning. He got up with the kids and fed them breakfast. I love him because, after church, he let me take a nap while he got the kids lunch AND put the clean dishes away. He also gave me my little maple leafs...what more can I ask for? He's the best.

the swedes are geniuses

I have decided that the Swedes know what they are doing. IKEA rules. I love all their styles, the way there are different rooms set up for ideas and creative thinking. AND they have the exact table I want...for hundreds less than the other store I had mentioned. Plus it is extendable. Wow. I am so excited.

We have picked out paint colors as well. Will post more about that later. Am I considered a coward for being scared to paint my own walls?

snl weekly

Tina Fey's skits as Sarah Palin have been great. But Amy Poehler steals the show with this rap. I just can't believe she can rap like that while pregnant. I could barely breathe while walking up the stairs when I was pregnant...especially when I was far along. My Maple Leaf hubby and I could not stop laughing. Enjoy.

prioritizer

In the midst of the craziness we like to refer to as "buying a house", I am realizing more and more of what a prioritizer I am not. In handling my day-to-day activities, I usually just make a mental list in my head of what I am needing to accomplish. Then I go about my day, tra-la-la, and accomplish as needed. BUT with life getting hairier and hairier by the minute (and I'm not referring to my upper lip...though I am trying to scientifically prove the connection between dense/dark facial hair and age), I am finding that actually writing down a set plan would be very, very helpful.

My sweet Canadian hubby (whom I will refer to as the Maple Leaf...oh yeah, we are now talking in code) is so good at thinking through everything. Sometimes...actually, most of the time, it drives me nuts because I want to be the one in control (did I mention I'm a control freak?). Plus it is so hard for me to admit that his way is better.

So now...I need to be making a master plan for each day/overall weekly. Let's take the laundry, for example. If I decide that Monday is the day to wash all the whites. Then I can plan to throw the laundry in at 9:30. Then pull above-mentioned laundry out of the washer and into the dryer at 10. Then plan to fold the laundry with ML later that night and use such time to also talk about our day, what is happening the next, etc. I really think this helps me focus on a specific task instead of just saying, "Today is laundry day and there is so much laundry to be done, it is overwhelming. So I will just sit and watch laundry pile up because I'm too lazy to do it OR if I do it all, then I will be too exhausted to tackle anything else today."

Please tell me I'm not the only one thinking about such things.

mrs. mcnosh and the great big squash

Mrs. Nelly McNosh has a problem: the minute she plants a squash seed, it begins to grow at an alarming rate. Soon the squash is terrorizing the neighborhood. Mrs. McNosh stops the squash by plucking it from its stem and then tries to figure out the perfect use for a great big squash. The illustrations are cheerfully bright and enhance the rhyming, rollicking text. It is infectious and a very fun read.

snl weekly

This was so, so funny!! I had to post this for my weekly SNL clip.

cool site

After mingling with some new neighbors tonight, we found out they have started up a business of their own selling shelf stable milk to the masses. Their website is called Milk on the Moove. It is so very cute and smart! Gossner's has been a staple of Cache Valley since -- who knows when!! They are a cheese factory but has also produce this awesome shelf milk in all varieties of flavors! Unfortunately, it was only sold locally. Well, not anymore!! Some favorites are the rootbeer flavored milk, strawberry and chocolate, of course.

new house: room 1

The time has come!! It is time to decorate my new house. How desperate am I to have this sucker decorated? Enough to have gone to every talk show site (especially Oprah...Nate Berkus...pray hard!) and apply to have a room/house makeover. BUT since we know that is very unlikely, I will just have to put myself to work and figure things out. I am commissioning you to help me out on this though. I am not creative enough or cool enough to put things together and not have it look like a Muppet mish-mosh. So, let's get started.

First room of choice: the front living room.

Okay. So very Napoleon Dynamite-ish (like Kerry would say). I could definitely leave things the way they are and apply to have our house be the site for the next movie OR make it look very modern/cozy/awesome.

Your job: go crazy! Tell me everything and anything you are thinking...paint colors, furntiture styles, decorating, etc. How should the room be arranged? Would you recommend a TV in the corner? Where can I get some cool slip covers? Oh. And have fun! ;)

snapshot

Sunday, October 12

9:05am (walking in late to church).

M: "Hey! Someone swept up the waspspspsps! Where'd they go? They are gone. Dad! The waspspsps! They are gone!"

D: "Yup. They are gone. Let's go. Open the door."

M: "Yup. Gone. Holy CACK!"

D and I trying to not to break our serious church faces and control uncontrollable laughter: "Mmmph...hhhmmmp...hhhmmpp...hahahahaha!"

arbonne

The About Face Lash Colour mascara from Arbonne is wonderful. It actually picks up and clings to even the tiniest of eyelashes. Some I didn't even know I had show up when I put this on. This product is a combination of a colorless primer agent that conditions and preps lashes, and a mascara that offers water-resistant lash coloring. This formula won't irritate lids and offers extended wear that is easy to remove. It comes in two shades and is simply the best.

turbo this

So I was up at 1am, flipping channels, when I became a victim of infomercials. You all have been there, right?

I know it was 1am and I should have been sleeping but I just could not stop watching Chalene and her Turbo Jam Enterprise. Honestly, I am bored of the plain old running, elliptical, run-of-the-mill aerobics classes. I have been wishing there was something with more of a dance routine mixed in (I could be on one of these commercials) and then I saw Turbo Jam. Of course, if you put your mind to anything, it can happen (i.e. if I set aside 30 minutes-an hour each day to work-out, I'm sure I could lose weight). The point is: I am bored of the same old.

I am soooooooo tempted to give this a try. I want to know if anyone else has tried this/seen this and what you think. :)

snl weekly

Oh. My. Goodness. Dan and I could not stop laughing during this skit. Did anyone else catch this on Saturday night?

house hunt

Now that our house hunting days are over (YEAH! we will soon be homeowners!!!!), the flipside is now starting the renovation process. Updates will need to be done to our home because it is an older home (built in 1965). Luckily, the home is in great shape and doesn't need a lot to be done right off the bat (translation: we wish we had more money). But trying to pick out colors of paint, carpet and furniture is a task. Once we have the keys in hand, we will be able to look at each room more carefully and decide what to do. Until then, I have been having fun looking at furniture on the internet. I love this:

I love the idea of a round/oval table. Plus I love the colored chairs.

Potterybarn and Restoration Hardware are definitely favorites. I am sure there are so many other awesome furniture companies out there that I have no clue about. Any suggestions?

Also, stay tuned because I will be taking pictures of different rooms in the house and asking for your help on how to decorate, paint, etc. It will be fun to do before and after pictures. We will just have to see how far our money can stretch. :)

autumn

This is my favorite time of year. There is a crispness to the air, the mornings and evenings are cooler. Pumpkins and all kinds of squash are abundant. School is in session and, like Meg Ryan says in You've Got Mail, "I could have bouquets of freshly sharpened pencils". There is just something about the newness of it all, the transition from summer to fall, and I just cannot get enough of it. Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. The Pumpkin Walk, corn maze, leaves changing colors. And, last but definitely not least, peaches. They are in full bloom this time of year and we definitely take advantage of that! What you are looking at now is considered liquid gold among my family and close friends. These are at the top of the list of high commodities. Plus canning them is half the fun (eating them is the other half). I love to can peaches with my mom. I know I could probably do it myself but it is way more fun to do it with her. Admittedly, she does most of the work, but it is always great to hear her stories of canning and doing this exact thing with her grandmother. That in itself is liquid gold.

fall festival

We had so much fun at the fall festival. I was really impressed by all the activities and booths set up for us and the kids.

Of course, the hay bale jump was the favorite.

Even the hubby got into it.

The corn maze was fun but we got lost a lot. So here is a pic the hubby took while one of us looked at the map and the rest just stood around, sweating.

This was also a favorite among the kids. Wish I had something like this to drive around the neighborhood.