I miss my house. I miss my dog. I miss my own kitchen. Doing a wedding cake in someone else's kitchen sucks. Not going to the gym sucks the most of all. I suppose I could still go to Preformax, but that adds an hour of drive time onto my already stupidly busy day. After this cake is done I am definitely doing it. Because not working out plus snitching on cake equals tubby Celeste. Not good for anyone. I kinda broke down today at Young Women's. I've been all okay about the house and stuff, but I swung by there tonight to pick up some stuff & it's just so depressing. I want my life back. I want to work on my garden & sleep in my bed & do my dishes & mop my floor & wash my windows & grocery shop & all the mundane, tedious tasks that all moms moan about. I want to do them at MY OWN HOUSE!!!! Wah-wah-wah, right? It sucks.
Thank you for letting me vent.
Oh, and guess what is the suckiest ever? Well, might be the suckiest ever. I think Sawyer is allergic to Charlie. Yeah. Her month long cold has been letting up since we haven't been around our dog for 2 weeks. We have an appointment with the allergist next week, I am so scared about this prospect. I would rather put up with a permanently snot nosed child than not have Charlie in our lives. Not even kidding.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
WHOOOOAAAA, NELLY!!!!
k, so San Diego was amazing, just what I needed and wonderful beyond words. Spending time with Jessica & Max is always always great, but add a little Brittany and Owen, a few hours with Rachelle and Tracy and you've got a killer first half of the week. Then all I needed to round it all out was some serious bonding time with my little girl. (But don't tell her I called her that, she's a BIG girl!) It was fantastic.
Thursday was probably one of my favorite days of my entire life. We drove up to Santa Monica along the Pacific Coast Highway and just pulled over whenever we saw something that looked like fun; good surfers to watch, a beautiful beach, a nummy restaurant, whatev. When we got there we parked near the pier because I knew that the park we wanted to go to was somewhere near there, but after walking the wrong direction for a while, then probably almost a mile in the other, we found it and it was... oh... closed. Totally fenced off for some reason. But we found swings and sand and that's about all Sawyer requires to be ridiculously happy. Then there was some mild shopping at the 3rd street promenade (LOVE), but honestly, I was pretty freaking shopped-out thanks to Jessica. I didn't think that was possible. Then we had a lovely dinner at Cafe Crepe and headed back down to our condo in Solana Beach.
I can hardly talk about how good that trip was for me without getting emotional. I am such an impatient person, I've been feeling like I'm way behind on my "life-plan," you know? Most of my friends have 4 kids by now, and not that that is part of my plan, but seriously, my kid needs someone to play with. I want to move on to the next phase of our life. Anyway, just being with Sawyer with no schedule or demands really made me appreciate how wonderful she is. We were able to just really enjoy each other and bond. Totally what I needed, but we were so excited to see Daddy. Daddy makes everything fun. But I must mention that I kick butt at traveling by myself with the kid. I am an excellent packer/organizer. Yeah me.
But then we came home to a house that decided to spontaneously combust while we were gone. Matt was staying with Danny when a pipe in the kitchen burst, and our fantastic neighbors had to rescue our furniture from an inch & a half of water. Did I mention that we just finished the basement like ten minutes ago? Um, yeah. Anyway, it all dripped down there & destroyed the beautiful mammoth couch & Matt's birthday chair & the ottoman and the carpet and the walls and the ceiling. Sad. Sad, sad house. So we are staying at Susie's and I will be adding delightful and destructive pictures, respectively, at a later date.
Anyway, wish us luck in our homelessness. Happy Spring!
Thursday was probably one of my favorite days of my entire life. We drove up to Santa Monica along the Pacific Coast Highway and just pulled over whenever we saw something that looked like fun; good surfers to watch, a beautiful beach, a nummy restaurant, whatev. When we got there we parked near the pier because I knew that the park we wanted to go to was somewhere near there, but after walking the wrong direction for a while, then probably almost a mile in the other, we found it and it was... oh... closed. Totally fenced off for some reason. But we found swings and sand and that's about all Sawyer requires to be ridiculously happy. Then there was some mild shopping at the 3rd street promenade (LOVE), but honestly, I was pretty freaking shopped-out thanks to Jessica. I didn't think that was possible. Then we had a lovely dinner at Cafe Crepe and headed back down to our condo in Solana Beach.
I can hardly talk about how good that trip was for me without getting emotional. I am such an impatient person, I've been feeling like I'm way behind on my "life-plan," you know? Most of my friends have 4 kids by now, and not that that is part of my plan, but seriously, my kid needs someone to play with. I want to move on to the next phase of our life. Anyway, just being with Sawyer with no schedule or demands really made me appreciate how wonderful she is. We were able to just really enjoy each other and bond. Totally what I needed, but we were so excited to see Daddy. Daddy makes everything fun. But I must mention that I kick butt at traveling by myself with the kid. I am an excellent packer/organizer. Yeah me.
But then we came home to a house that decided to spontaneously combust while we were gone. Matt was staying with Danny when a pipe in the kitchen burst, and our fantastic neighbors had to rescue our furniture from an inch & a half of water. Did I mention that we just finished the basement like ten minutes ago? Um, yeah. Anyway, it all dripped down there & destroyed the beautiful mammoth couch & Matt's birthday chair & the ottoman and the carpet and the walls and the ceiling. Sad. Sad, sad house. So we are staying at Susie's and I will be adding delightful and destructive pictures, respectively, at a later date.
Anyway, wish us luck in our homelessness. Happy Spring!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Any San Diegans Out There?
Sawyer & I are going to San Diego next Monday with Jessica & Max and Brittany & Owen, and pretty much the whole point of traveling for me is to find food that is better than anything I've ever eaten before. (and when I say food, I mean cupcakes.) So yeah, who knows of the best places to eat, things to do and shops to shop in the lovely SD? And cupcake shops of course.
We will defiantly be making the trek to Santa Monica for some Vanilla Bakeshop action, but I'm open to suggestions.
Bueller? Bueller?
We will defiantly be making the trek to Santa Monica for some Vanilla Bakeshop action, but I'm open to suggestions.
Bueller? Bueller?
I have a testimony...
...of my new skin care routine.
I have always had great skin, but since having Sawyer I have gotten more zits than I ever did in junior high & high school combined. It makes me a wee bit annoyed. It is physically impossible for me to not pop zits, and therefore I am getting icky scars on my face. Not lovely.
But I recently discovered a few new products that I am in love with and I think it would be rude to not share.
#1- Kirkland Signature Daily Facial Wipes. I always wash my face in the shower, but at night, it's like pulling teeth to get me to take my makeup off, and Loreli Gilmore would be ashamed of me. I have often wished that I could give my face & teeth to Matt & have him take care of them while I snuggled in bed. But guess what, these little buddies fit right in my nightstand & one is all I need to get all my makeup off and have that "just got a facial" yummy feeling. My skin is back to good again!
#2- I am determined to have great skin when I'm 90. Sunblock, check! Vitamins, check! Lots of water, check! Sunglasses to prevent squinting, check! But I recently bought my first wrinkle cream & I am in love with it. It took a few days for my face to get used to it, but now I put it on every night and I totally feel firmer. Get it at Costco in a two-pack for much, much cheaper.
#3- The retinol in the RoC makes your skin more susceptible to sunburn, so be sure to load up on sunscreen in the morning. I especially love this'n. Aveeno Positively Radiant SPF 30 is bueno.
So yeah, there ya go. If you have any suggestions, or favorite products, let me know.
it's official: I'm spoiled
Yesterday I had pretty much worked my booty off trying to get our poor neglected house back into some semblance of order. Sawyer & I have been taking it easy this week because we've been sick. It's an annoying kind of sick though, because we aren't like, gonna die, we can pretty much do everything normally, we just have lots & lots of phlegm-friends that come along with us and coughing in public isn't appreciated. But not taking it easy last week did not help us get better & so this week we're staying in as much as possible. Obviously, the house has suffered. It looks like a used kleenex storage facility. There are toys in every possible nook & cranny. Or at least there were until yesterday. It was very very clean when Matt came home. (of course that only lasts for about 20 minutes with a kid, but whatever.) Anyway, Matt was supposed to have been working late & I had some plans to grout our tile while he was gone, and amaze him with a clean, completely grouted house. I left the bags of grout on our stairs in the garage, right where I wouldn't forget about doing it. Unfortunatley, parking cars in our luxury-sized Ivory homes garage requires an advaced degree in Tetris. Everything has to be in the proper place or else things don't fit in at all. Apparently Matt's nice new car overlaps the stairs, and putting the bags of grout where I did caused a bit of damage. Last week I put the stroller in the wrong place & scratched up his front fender. Anyway, when he came home, let's just say that the first thing that came out of his mouth was not "wow, Celeste, this place looks amazing, you must be tired, let me make dinner," like I was hoping. And of course I lack the ability to take criticism without becoming completley defensive and arrogant. Fortuntaley, we're talking about Matt Davis here. He is so incredibly perfect for me & didn't fuel my irrational fire, but looked at things from my point of view & made everything better even as I was turning things all around & being mad and stuff. Anyway, not only is he amazing & un-prideful and sexy, but he's also extremley generous. I got an early Mother's Day present. It's one of those cute little netbooks, a tiny laptop mostly for internet usage! 
I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! There goes my productivitiy, right back down the toilet! I have named him Tiny Little SuperGuy. Which reminds me.
How great is Sesame Street? Besides Kirsten & Kierstin, I don't know who else would come up with the idea to draw a little dude on a cup.
"Hey, let's have him just go through countertops & walls, that'd be cool!"
"Yeah, and what if he sounded like a life-long smoker? Great idea!"
I love it.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! There goes my productivitiy, right back down the toilet! I have named him Tiny Little SuperGuy. Which reminds me.How great is Sesame Street? Besides Kirsten & Kierstin, I don't know who else would come up with the idea to draw a little dude on a cup.
"Hey, let's have him just go through countertops & walls, that'd be cool!"
"Yeah, and what if he sounded like a life-long smoker? Great idea!"
I love it.
Monday, April 20, 2009
ummm p.s.
just in case you were wondering, I've got a few significant news flashes for ya'll:
1- $500 does not actually go as far as it seems
2- I don't care what the commercials say, the Mayan restaurant has in fact NOT improved their food quality
3- having my parents home after 18 months is the BEST EVER!!!!
4- moving my computer to the basement has increased productivity at my house like you would NOT believe! Did you know that it is not actually necessary to get each email as soon as it dings into your inbox? Were you aware that IMDB-ing every movie related question that randomly pops into your head as you clean doesn't really help you get your cleaning done very quickly? Who would have thought?
and
5- I am going to be in San Diego this time next week. :p (that's me sticking my tounge out at you.)
1- $500 does not actually go as far as it seems
2- I don't care what the commercials say, the Mayan restaurant has in fact NOT improved their food quality
3- having my parents home after 18 months is the BEST EVER!!!!
4- moving my computer to the basement has increased productivity at my house like you would NOT believe! Did you know that it is not actually necessary to get each email as soon as it dings into your inbox? Were you aware that IMDB-ing every movie related question that randomly pops into your head as you clean doesn't really help you get your cleaning done very quickly? Who would have thought?
and
5- I am going to be in San Diego this time next week. :p (that's me sticking my tounge out at you.)
Monday, April 13, 2009
I just won $500 at my gym. Cash Money!!!
What would you do if you won $500? I cannot even wrap my brain around it.
a lengthy post about a lot of different things
There are things I've been experiencing that cannot be attributed to anything other than a tender mercy from my loving Heavenly Father, or at least that's how I'm choosing to look at it, (had to (lovingly) throw that last part in for my brother Doug).
People are so kind. I'm learning this. We all have so much to give each other. So many ways to lift one another up. That is why one of Satan's best tricks is to get us to make snap judgments about each other that separate us and cause competitive thoughts or jealousy. At least it's one of the traps I'm best at stepping in.
There is an adorable girl at my gym. I see her nearly everyday. She is everything I'm not; petite, blond, slightly tattooed, yet somehow still classy and sweet and just really tight & toned. I always notice her but haven't really had a chance to talk to her much until recently. She's friends with one of my gym-friends, and now I know her name & enough to say hi. She heard I was expecting & asked about how I was feeling last Friday. Of course I told her that I was feeling quite fine as my uterus had returned to it's uninhabited state. My words seem trite as I try to describe the sisterhood I felt with her as we talked for the next half hour about the pain of our experiences and how we don't understand why these things happen; how we just kind of hold on to the hope that "it'll happen when it's supposed to" is true. Who made that phrase up anyway? I have kept people at a distance so often because of judgments I've passed on them based on their appearances or something I've heard. I have missed out on enumerable friendships and joys because of that. It makes me sick to think about. Also makes me want to knock it the hell off. There are people who stand up in fast & testimony meeting and tell the whole congregation that they love them. There are people who think that those people are on Ecstasy or something. But I know one thing, when gym friend & I had that talk, and she said "I love you", & I said & meant it back, it felt like that was a much more natural state than my normal place of judgment. That felt true. As Billy Corgan says, "there's a love that God puts in your heart." And yes, I did just bust out Smashing Pumpkins lyrics in this sappy post.
MOVING ON
I love that my daughter always just shimmies up to her teachers and holds their hands & loves them. Primary teachers, ballet teachers, swimming teachers, gym day-care teachers. Everyone. She is a little lover.
MOVING ON
You think I can cook? I make wedding cakes, I'd better be able to handle myself in the kitchen somewhat, right? Most of the time, I'm okay. But damn that Adam Lambert. Last week my DVR quit recording right before his performance, and so the next day, as I was making a batch of buttercream I thought I ought to google it and watch it because, although he isn't my pick to win American Idol, he's always worth watching. 20 minutes later I hear my fire alarm going off upstairs. The entire kitchen/front room/entry/dining room is flooded with smoke. Stop, drop & roll variety smoke. I had 2 1/4 cups sugar and 1/2 cup water on the stove that ooops I forgot about. Thank goodness Sawyer was over at a friends because I'm thinking she would have freaked out. Thank goodness it was a nice day & airing the house out was a highly pleasant experience. Thank goodness it didn't actually overflow, so clean up was as simple as throw my favorite pot in the garbage. Pretty ugly, huh?
I stuck a golf club in it to make sure it was dead.
MOVING ON
But other than that little incident, I have declared myself the Golden Goddess of Cake. Let me have just a tiny little brag shesh. This last cake I did I was kinda not excited about because it was pretty plain. Just white fondant and fresh flowers. But can I just say that this was the most perfect fondant application I have ever done? She had me do one tier of foam & that always scares me because the edges usually give it away, but not this one, no one could guess which one it was. YEAH ME!!!! Go look at my cake blog if you want to see.
MOVING ON
My parents come home from their mission in less than 48 hours!!!!!
MOVING ON
Easter is the best. Sawyer loves Easter. She loves bunnies, candy, making cookies, frilly new dresses, finding things & Jesus. What could be better? The Easter Bunny went a little crazy at Ross this year & got her a new swimming suit (too big) and Ariel swim fins & goggles that she wore all day Sunday. The Easter Bunny (and Sawyer) just might be a little excited for their trip to San Diego in 2 weeks. The end.
People are so kind. I'm learning this. We all have so much to give each other. So many ways to lift one another up. That is why one of Satan's best tricks is to get us to make snap judgments about each other that separate us and cause competitive thoughts or jealousy. At least it's one of the traps I'm best at stepping in.
There is an adorable girl at my gym. I see her nearly everyday. She is everything I'm not; petite, blond, slightly tattooed, yet somehow still classy and sweet and just really tight & toned. I always notice her but haven't really had a chance to talk to her much until recently. She's friends with one of my gym-friends, and now I know her name & enough to say hi. She heard I was expecting & asked about how I was feeling last Friday. Of course I told her that I was feeling quite fine as my uterus had returned to it's uninhabited state. My words seem trite as I try to describe the sisterhood I felt with her as we talked for the next half hour about the pain of our experiences and how we don't understand why these things happen; how we just kind of hold on to the hope that "it'll happen when it's supposed to" is true. Who made that phrase up anyway? I have kept people at a distance so often because of judgments I've passed on them based on their appearances or something I've heard. I have missed out on enumerable friendships and joys because of that. It makes me sick to think about. Also makes me want to knock it the hell off. There are people who stand up in fast & testimony meeting and tell the whole congregation that they love them. There are people who think that those people are on Ecstasy or something. But I know one thing, when gym friend & I had that talk, and she said "I love you", & I said & meant it back, it felt like that was a much more natural state than my normal place of judgment. That felt true. As Billy Corgan says, "there's a love that God puts in your heart." And yes, I did just bust out Smashing Pumpkins lyrics in this sappy post.
MOVING ON
I love that my daughter always just shimmies up to her teachers and holds their hands & loves them. Primary teachers, ballet teachers, swimming teachers, gym day-care teachers. Everyone. She is a little lover.
MOVING ON
You think I can cook? I make wedding cakes, I'd better be able to handle myself in the kitchen somewhat, right? Most of the time, I'm okay. But damn that Adam Lambert. Last week my DVR quit recording right before his performance, and so the next day, as I was making a batch of buttercream I thought I ought to google it and watch it because, although he isn't my pick to win American Idol, he's always worth watching. 20 minutes later I hear my fire alarm going off upstairs. The entire kitchen/front room/entry/dining room is flooded with smoke. Stop, drop & roll variety smoke. I had 2 1/4 cups sugar and 1/2 cup water on the stove that ooops I forgot about. Thank goodness Sawyer was over at a friends because I'm thinking she would have freaked out. Thank goodness it was a nice day & airing the house out was a highly pleasant experience. Thank goodness it didn't actually overflow, so clean up was as simple as throw my favorite pot in the garbage. Pretty ugly, huh?
I stuck a golf club in it to make sure it was dead.MOVING ON
But other than that little incident, I have declared myself the Golden Goddess of Cake. Let me have just a tiny little brag shesh. This last cake I did I was kinda not excited about because it was pretty plain. Just white fondant and fresh flowers. But can I just say that this was the most perfect fondant application I have ever done? She had me do one tier of foam & that always scares me because the edges usually give it away, but not this one, no one could guess which one it was. YEAH ME!!!! Go look at my cake blog if you want to see.
MOVING ON
My parents come home from their mission in less than 48 hours!!!!!
MOVING ON
Easter is the best. Sawyer loves Easter. She loves bunnies, candy, making cookies, frilly new dresses, finding things & Jesus. What could be better? The Easter Bunny went a little crazy at Ross this year & got her a new swimming suit (too big) and Ariel swim fins & goggles that she wore all day Sunday. The Easter Bunny (and Sawyer) just might be a little excited for their trip to San Diego in 2 weeks. The end.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
I'm not really going to curse God & die
k, my last blog may have scared a few of you, my feelings that day scared me, I'll admit. Honestly I ran the whole gambit of emotions in a very short amount of time, anger, denial, grief and all that, but now I am at a very nice okay-ness. God & I made up on Sunday night, we're all good now, and he gave me a huge dose of the comfort & peace that I asked for. Seriously, I woke up Monday morning with a strange sense of euphoria and goodness. Everything is gravy. The timing of this birth must be really important in his/her life. Or something, I just hope it all makes sense one day. Its not even so much that I'm afraid I'll never have another baby, I just hate double HATE the process of t r y i n g. "We're TRYING to get pregnant." It just sounds so tedious. (and yes, I know where babies come from, that part isn't the part that sucks.) It's just that each month when Aunt Flo arrives you feel like a total failure. That beeotch sucks enough already without stamping a big fat FAIL on your forehead. I hate peeing on sticks. I hate finding the cutest freaking nursery ideas and not feeling free to act on them. I hate that my daughter prays everynight for a baby in mama's tummy. I also hate that she doesn't have anyone to play with all day except me, and am considering adopting a princess obsessed 3 year old with an outrageous imagination just so I can get things done around here. I just want to move on to the next phase of life. I am retardedly impatient! I think I need to go watch American Idol. That always makes everything better. ...........yummmm Kris Allen.....
Goodnight.
Goodnight.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
the second time around is actually worse....
...who'd have thought that was possible? For the like six people on the planet who I haven't told yet, I was pregnant recently. Friday was our first pre-natal appointment. Heartbeat & all was groovy. Joy! My adorable sister-in-law Jennifer is also pregnant & we were so excited to have babies close in age again. Whatever. This sucks. I'm really pissed off this time around. Is that okay? Is that normal? I'm just mad as hell. At what, you might ask. Name it. My girly parts. Myself. My husband. My daughter. My doctor. God. Not very humble of me, huh? I know these types of experiences are a chance for me to grow closer to my Heavenly Father & Savior if I just turn to them in faith. I'm supposed to learn something with each earthly experience, right? Or else what is the point of all this suckiness? I know this, yet I'm not ready to "make nice" just yet. Thanks to the Dixie Chics for a song that will hopefully get me through this part. Hopefully this part is short & in a few days I can remember that "all things will work together for your good." Actually even as I say that I know that in the past, in my life, when things just seem so not fair & I can't understand why I'm going through something, when I look back at those times years later, I see that the plan of the Father is always greater and more beautiful than anything I could have ever dreamed up on my own. It's gonna be fine.
um... p.s. sorry, if I didn't make it clear, Melissa, I had a f-ing miscarriage again.
um... p.s. sorry, if I didn't make it clear, Melissa, I had a f-ing miscarriage again.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
K, really this time, Taiwan
Alright, so my dad just sent out a quick summary of what we did on my trip to Taiwan, so I think I'll just copy that & embellish it with my thoughts & pictures & stuff where I see fit. (Because that's just how lazy I am. Also, I don't have a proper computer chair yet in my office & I'm pretty sure some carpal tunnel is in my future if I don't keep it short.) So here's papa's summation: "Celeste came to visit us and we took her to a few close places that are unique to Asia. 1) Taipei 101 Tower and fastest elevator in the world. (Freaking amazing. There is also one of the best malls there that I never got a chance to shop, and it was Taipei Fashion Week of all things. I was DYING to go to everysingle fashion show they were having, but it didn't happen. :( Really cool regardless.) 2) Wulai waterfall and a Chinese market street. (Beautiful & freaky respectively. Everyone there was telling me how they had the best food there, and yes, some nice restaurants we went to were amazing, but most of what they're proud of is the street vendor food, including chicken feet, chicken with heads still attached, chicken butts (not kidding), snake soup, very small snails, grubs, warm drinks with gelatin cubes that do a darn good impression of ice cubes to the untrained eye, and many other unidentifiable food products.) 3) Zoo and Panda bears. (Also amazing, I'd definitely put the Taipei zoo up there with San Diego, it was fantastic. I thought a zoo might not be much fun without Sawyer to ooh & awe at everything, but apparently I'm still 3 years old when it comes to animals. I thoroughly enjoyed it. When you walk in, they hand you a paper with your appointment to see the Pandas, at that time, you join the other 3000 people in line and are rushed past the pandas by zoo security at a pace that didn't allow my dad to even get one picture of them. It was great though, Chinese people are funny.) 3) (yes, my dad did put #3 twice, he's so stinking cute.) The National Palace Museum; when Chiang Kai-Shek left Mainland China he brought many very old artifacts and artwork. Cooking pots and stuff that is several thousand years old. We also visited his residence (one of many). (I'm not a big museum gal, but this was definitely cool. It was great to see all the craftsmanship and beauty of simple ancient tools, I can't imagine taking the time to make things that beautiful during that time. It's crazy.
4)The Martyrs Shrine; just in time to witness the changing of the guard ceremony. (fanTASTic! When I grow up I want to practice marching 9 hours a day. And wear a mirrored helmet. Seriously these guys were awesome, not a single mistake, and I was looking for them. You can see the train tracks from their years & years of hourly marching.) 5) two very nice Chinese dinners, thanks to our LDS cab driver and the temple engineer and his family. (freaking yum, although I must say that shabu shabu or hot pot dining is much more trouble than its worth in my book.) Sunday while Joyce taught piano, Celeste and I went to the Craft store at the hospital and was able to see some of the great artwork the Chinese do. (and were able to have great talks & father/daughter time, something I forgot how much I love/missed.) We went to Longshan Temple (Taoist) and to Snake Alley. (these were both really, really cool. It was weird at the temple to see people worshiping in such a public setting, there were as many tourists as worshipers, but they didn't seem at all inconvenienced by people snapping pictures of them at their temple. Very odd to me. I kinda didn't like being there for that reason. At snake alley, another famous night market there is this one restaurant that specializes is snake meat products and has a pair of boa constrictors out front to draw a crowd. The snake-wrangler girl was pure entertainment, I didn't understand a word, but she was an awesome show-woman.) Monday we used the High speed train (up to 260 miles per hour. Wish we had those here.) and went to Tainan and saw the forts that was used to defend Tainan, the first Chinese settlement in Taiwan. Tuesday we went to Yeliou on the North shore and saw the Mushroom rocks and other strange rock formations created by the force of tide and waves. (Yeliou was probably my favorite of all. The coast there is primarily sandstone & it is like no other place I've seen or every heard of. I felt like I was on another planet.) Then we continued along the north shore to where the Danshuei river empties into Taiwan strait. Spent some time visiting the many shops there (I had soaked my shoes, socks & bottom part of my pants through at Yeliou, and was kinda miserable until my cute mom insisted on buying me not one, not two, but three pairs of socks. The cute lady who took us on this excursion was so sweet, she emptied her entire package of kleenex from her purse to line my wet shoes with, then we shoved my thrice-stockinged feet in my poor wet old man shoes and I was nice & cozy the entire rest of the night. What a difference dry feet make. And being babied a bit by your mama doesn't hurt either.) and then rode the train home to get ready for her return to the US and our trip to Malaysia. When she went to the airport; we went with her and went to Malaysia." Long story short- my parents are the greatest, Taiwan is awesome & I am so grateful to have been able to go on this trip. My husband insisted, my sisters & neice took care of my girl and I didn't worry about her a bit thanks to them. And my blog-readers told me I was a 'tard if I didn't go. So yeah, thanks for that.
4)The Martyrs Shrine; just in time to witness the changing of the guard ceremony. (fanTASTic! When I grow up I want to practice marching 9 hours a day. And wear a mirrored helmet. Seriously these guys were awesome, not a single mistake, and I was looking for them. You can see the train tracks from their years & years of hourly marching.) 5) two very nice Chinese dinners, thanks to our LDS cab driver and the temple engineer and his family. (freaking yum, although I must say that shabu shabu or hot pot dining is much more trouble than its worth in my book.) Sunday while Joyce taught piano, Celeste and I went to the Craft store at the hospital and was able to see some of the great artwork the Chinese do. (and were able to have great talks & father/daughter time, something I forgot how much I love/missed.) We went to Longshan Temple (Taoist) and to Snake Alley. (these were both really, really cool. It was weird at the temple to see people worshiping in such a public setting, there were as many tourists as worshipers, but they didn't seem at all inconvenienced by people snapping pictures of them at their temple. Very odd to me. I kinda didn't like being there for that reason. At snake alley, another famous night market there is this one restaurant that specializes is snake meat products and has a pair of boa constrictors out front to draw a crowd. The snake-wrangler girl was pure entertainment, I didn't understand a word, but she was an awesome show-woman.) Monday we used the High speed train (up to 260 miles per hour. Wish we had those here.) and went to Tainan and saw the forts that was used to defend Tainan, the first Chinese settlement in Taiwan. Tuesday we went to Yeliou on the North shore and saw the Mushroom rocks and other strange rock formations created by the force of tide and waves. (Yeliou was probably my favorite of all. The coast there is primarily sandstone & it is like no other place I've seen or every heard of. I felt like I was on another planet.) Then we continued along the north shore to where the Danshuei river empties into Taiwan strait. Spent some time visiting the many shops there (I had soaked my shoes, socks & bottom part of my pants through at Yeliou, and was kinda miserable until my cute mom insisted on buying me not one, not two, but three pairs of socks. The cute lady who took us on this excursion was so sweet, she emptied her entire package of kleenex from her purse to line my wet shoes with, then we shoved my thrice-stockinged feet in my poor wet old man shoes and I was nice & cozy the entire rest of the night. What a difference dry feet make. And being babied a bit by your mama doesn't hurt either.) and then rode the train home to get ready for her return to the US and our trip to Malaysia. When she went to the airport; we went with her and went to Malaysia." Long story short- my parents are the greatest, Taiwan is awesome & I am so grateful to have been able to go on this trip. My husband insisted, my sisters & neice took care of my girl and I didn't worry about her a bit thanks to them. And my blog-readers told me I was a 'tard if I didn't go. So yeah, thanks for that.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Taiwan!! (wait, nope, not Taiwan)
I have been too intimidated by this post to begin it much earlier. If I were smart, I would have posted every night while I was there, just so I could remember what we did each day. I'm not that smart of a blogger, I guess. Because when I think back to it, I find myself just overwhelmed at the amazing, once-in-a-lifetime trip that I was so lucky/blessed/spoiled to be able to take. To see my parents so out of their comfort zone, yet so comfortable, was amazing. They are simple people, I've kind of always thought I had them figured out, but seeing them there & all the growth they've experienced individually and as a couple was nothing short of inspiring.
But before I get into that, I'd like to brag for a minute about another REEdiculously amazing person- my husband. I don't talk about Matt nearly enough on this blog. I'm not really a mushy person, but he is a pure God-send in my life on a daily basis. While I was in Taiwan, Matt was working his brains out. With the drop in mortgage rates, he gets crazy busy toward each month's end, and this month was no exception. I guess there were a couple of days where he went to work at like 3am, and 6 am on most other days, and came home at 11 pm on others. It was crazy. Well, I had a sneaking suspicion that he would get the carpet installed while I was away, but after hearing about his week, I thought there was no way it'd would happen & I was just setting myself up to be disappointed. When I finally got home though, I could smell the freshly laid carpet as soon as I walked in the door. Yummy! Sawyer and I went down to take the grand tour & were completely floored. I cried. I don't think I could have gotten as much done in a week if I had a flock of midgets to help me. He had the carpet installed, the tile laid, moved all the furniture in storage (half of the garage) into the appropriate rooms, assembled both my cute Ikea desks/shelves, assembled Sawyer's play table, organized all our holiday decorations into the closets in our guest rooms, moved the bed from the guest room upstairs into the guest room downstairs, moved the crib & baby furniture from the basement to the room that will one day be a nursery again, made a beautiful framed chalkboard on the wall in my office, drew a beautiful "welcome home" mural on that chalkboard, (that's the part that made me bawl my eyes out) cleaned out & organized the garage, had my car's brakes changed, left the house very nice & tidy, scraped out all the dead spots in our yard & arranged for our neighbor to give us some sod to replace it. That's a whole paragraph worth of stuff. He is amazing. All this while working like 70 hours. How's that for making me feel incredibly loved and spoiled while at the same time completely inefficient? Oh, and he peeled all the yucky gunk off the counter in the bathroom. (that alone would have been a week's worth of work for me.) Oh and he also got up at 1:30 am for me so he could go online & reserve me a better seat on the plane; on a day he had to get up at 3 am.
Wow, I think that's all I have juice for tonight. I'll post about Taiwan tomorrow. I love my husband. Here are some pictures of the beautiful, finally finished basement.
This is the main room at the bottom of the stairs. I adore this couch. I love that I have a separate cake kitchen! Still need to get appliances & the flat screen, and some blackout curtains.
This is Sawyer's playroom under the stairs, which she is completely in love with. She's actually sleeping down there tonight, it's so cute. 
And don't ask me why, but I get an office. I am super excited to have a room of my own. I am experiencing zero buyer's remorse for these desks either. One will have my computer on it, and the other will host my sewing machine. I feel super cool and spoiled to have this area all to myself.
In my office, I have a little desk for Sawyer to play at while I work, it's pretty much the greatest thing ever, with it's big roll of butcher paper and all. The craft organizer on the wall ain't too bad either. Thank you Pottery Barn clearance!
This is the gorgeous chalkboard I wasn't expecting at all. I was just going to paint the entire wall with chalkboard paint, but Matt had this great idea to frame it, and I freaking LOVELOVELOVE it! What a babe.
This is the furnished guest room. I had a nap down there & didn't make the bed yet. Don't judge. 
This is the as yet unfurnished guest room. We are debating buying ourselves a king size bed & putting ours down there, but I really, really love our mattress & am scared of buying a new one.
And this is the only thing I'm not in love with, the bathroom. I had a picture I'd torn out of magazine & was totally going to re-create it, but I forgot that we changed the cabinet color at the last minute. So when they called to schedule the installation, I hurried real fast & painted this green color so that I wouldn't have to do it with the cabinets installed, but I forgot that we switched up the color & the green isn't working for me with these cabinets. Boo. I'm dumb. So what color should I paint?
Anyway, there's the basement. Brought to you buy Matt. I'll do Taiwan tomorrow. 'night.
But before I get into that, I'd like to brag for a minute about another REEdiculously amazing person- my husband. I don't talk about Matt nearly enough on this blog. I'm not really a mushy person, but he is a pure God-send in my life on a daily basis. While I was in Taiwan, Matt was working his brains out. With the drop in mortgage rates, he gets crazy busy toward each month's end, and this month was no exception. I guess there were a couple of days where he went to work at like 3am, and 6 am on most other days, and came home at 11 pm on others. It was crazy. Well, I had a sneaking suspicion that he would get the carpet installed while I was away, but after hearing about his week, I thought there was no way it'd would happen & I was just setting myself up to be disappointed. When I finally got home though, I could smell the freshly laid carpet as soon as I walked in the door. Yummy! Sawyer and I went down to take the grand tour & were completely floored. I cried. I don't think I could have gotten as much done in a week if I had a flock of midgets to help me. He had the carpet installed, the tile laid, moved all the furniture in storage (half of the garage) into the appropriate rooms, assembled both my cute Ikea desks/shelves, assembled Sawyer's play table, organized all our holiday decorations into the closets in our guest rooms, moved the bed from the guest room upstairs into the guest room downstairs, moved the crib & baby furniture from the basement to the room that will one day be a nursery again, made a beautiful framed chalkboard on the wall in my office, drew a beautiful "welcome home" mural on that chalkboard, (that's the part that made me bawl my eyes out) cleaned out & organized the garage, had my car's brakes changed, left the house very nice & tidy, scraped out all the dead spots in our yard & arranged for our neighbor to give us some sod to replace it. That's a whole paragraph worth of stuff. He is amazing. All this while working like 70 hours. How's that for making me feel incredibly loved and spoiled while at the same time completely inefficient? Oh, and he peeled all the yucky gunk off the counter in the bathroom. (that alone would have been a week's worth of work for me.) Oh and he also got up at 1:30 am for me so he could go online & reserve me a better seat on the plane; on a day he had to get up at 3 am.
Wow, I think that's all I have juice for tonight. I'll post about Taiwan tomorrow. I love my husband. Here are some pictures of the beautiful, finally finished basement.
This is the main room at the bottom of the stairs. I adore this couch. I love that I have a separate cake kitchen! Still need to get appliances & the flat screen, and some blackout curtains.
This is Sawyer's playroom under the stairs, which she is completely in love with. She's actually sleeping down there tonight, it's so cute. 
And don't ask me why, but I get an office. I am super excited to have a room of my own. I am experiencing zero buyer's remorse for these desks either. One will have my computer on it, and the other will host my sewing machine. I feel super cool and spoiled to have this area all to myself.
In my office, I have a little desk for Sawyer to play at while I work, it's pretty much the greatest thing ever, with it's big roll of butcher paper and all. The craft organizer on the wall ain't too bad either. Thank you Pottery Barn clearance!
This is the gorgeous chalkboard I wasn't expecting at all. I was just going to paint the entire wall with chalkboard paint, but Matt had this great idea to frame it, and I freaking LOVELOVELOVE it! What a babe.
This is the furnished guest room. I had a nap down there & didn't make the bed yet. Don't judge. 
This is the as yet unfurnished guest room. We are debating buying ourselves a king size bed & putting ours down there, but I really, really love our mattress & am scared of buying a new one.
And this is the only thing I'm not in love with, the bathroom. I had a picture I'd torn out of magazine & was totally going to re-create it, but I forgot that we changed the cabinet color at the last minute. So when they called to schedule the installation, I hurried real fast & painted this green color so that I wouldn't have to do it with the cabinets installed, but I forgot that we switched up the color & the green isn't working for me with these cabinets. Boo. I'm dumb. So what color should I paint? Anyway, there's the basement. Brought to you buy Matt. I'll do Taiwan tomorrow. 'night.
Monday, March 16, 2009
First Ever Ballet Recital
Sawyer adores ballet, and last Friday was her first ever recital. I cannot believe that just last year we were there to watch Cousin Caroline in her recital. Sawyer was mesmerized by the dancers all night on BOTH nights that we went & then & there I decided that we should try her in ballet as soon as she was old enough. The first few pictures are at the dress rehearsal, her cousin Olivia is also at the same school & she is quite an accomplished little ballerina as well. I am pretty much in love with that last picture of Matt & Sawyer. My sister Carrie & her girls came to support Sawyer, as well as our good buddies, Danny, Jessica & Max, and pretty much Jessica is the reason any of these pictures are any good at all. (Because me and no flash allowed equals tragic pictures.) I sound lame, but I just cannot believe my little girl is this big! I'm so proud of her for fighting her fear of the evil fairy and not freaking out when she came on stage. She just is such an amazing little girl, I think my favorite thing about her right now is how she is so mechanically-curious. She is her Grandpa's girl; loves to see how things work & "fix" things with tools. She is a tad bit whimpy right now when it comes to playing with the neighbor kids, she's not a big fan of jumping on the tramp when anyone else is jumping, has a hard time knowing when people are teasing or not, kind of reminds me of another brown-eyed girl....
Anyway, I'm off to Idaho tomorrow, to drop Sawyer off with her amazing Aunt Jozet & Cousin Janene who will dote on her while I am in Taiwan. I am indescribably excited to see my parents, never mind going to Taipei. I hope I'll be able to not lose anything, not miss any flights, and not kill any flight attendants or innocent passersby while I am in coach for 14 hours. Those are the main goals for the trip. A bit of beach time would be a huge bonus.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Please excuse my rant.
This is for your eyes only; you being anyone not living in Idaho. (Please bless my brother-in-law, Ron doesn't read this, because he will rip me a new one. And he is WAY smarter than me so it won't be hard.) Some of my most beloved people on the planet are Idaho-dwellers, and although is in completely incomprehensible to me, they love it there, they are happy & are raising wonderful, civilized children. Somehow. I don't understand it. I am generally a very tolerant person. Take care of your responsibilities, contribute to society, try to be kind & we will probably get along swimmingly. I am not remotely racist, but I am an Idahoist. An antiIdahite, if you will. And I'll tell you why:
...ahem....
IT'S BECAUSE EVERYFREAKING TIME I AM DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY & SOME YAY-WHO UP YONDER IS GUMMING UP THE WORKS, IT IS ALLLLLWAYS AN IDAHOAN!!!
Phew.
Yesterday I was coming home from Bountiful at 5:30 pm. Not on purpose believe me. Things have been great since the Legacy Highway completion, but I generally try to not drive at that time anyway. Well yesterday just happened to be an accident day. Just past Lagoon. Accident. It's cool though, I'm in the carpool lane. (Also known as the EXPRESS lane.) So me & my fellow high occupancy vehicles are cruising past the poor suckas going two miles an hour. Yeah! Happy driving time. Thumb your nose at other people time. Good time. Wait, what is this? Why has the carpool lane traffic started to slow? There is no reason for this. Luckily I'm in my big beautiful Land Cruiser (thank you Matt!), and can see over other tiny little cars. It appears that there is a small P.O.S. car seven cars ahead that has decided to not make the other lanes of traffic feel badly about the situation they are in. This kind soul would not like to make them jealous of our carpool status, so he's going to go the SAME PACE as the other lanes. Very good-hearted, no?
NO!
Guess where he was from?
Right! (the correct answer is Idaho)
Guess how many people were in his car?
Right! (the correct answer is one)
So yeah. I know they don't have any reason to have express lanes in Idaho, but you have heard of them, have you not? You do have the ability to READ THE SIGNS on the freeway. Perhaps follow what they say next time, mmm-kay?
GRRRRRR!
Thanks for letting me rant.
p.s. I am fully aware that there are children starving all throughout the world. There are awful things that happen to inoccent people everyday. It's a very trite thing that I am complaining about. I know this. Yet I reserve my right to complain about whatever I want. It's my blog & I'll cry if I want to. Whaaaaah!
p.p.s. I also hate that our newest license plate design so closely resembles the Idaho plate. Dumb. Make up your own design, Utah. Stick with the beautiful arches one. Make a pretty Lake Powell one. Do something cool with the Great Salt Lake. I have plenty of ideas, we don't need to steal ideas from Idaho of all places. Geez.
...ahem....
IT'S BECAUSE EVERYFREAKING TIME I AM DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY & SOME YAY-WHO UP YONDER IS GUMMING UP THE WORKS, IT IS ALLLLLWAYS AN IDAHOAN!!!
Phew.
Yesterday I was coming home from Bountiful at 5:30 pm. Not on purpose believe me. Things have been great since the Legacy Highway completion, but I generally try to not drive at that time anyway. Well yesterday just happened to be an accident day. Just past Lagoon. Accident. It's cool though, I'm in the carpool lane. (Also known as the EXPRESS lane.) So me & my fellow high occupancy vehicles are cruising past the poor suckas going two miles an hour. Yeah! Happy driving time. Thumb your nose at other people time. Good time. Wait, what is this? Why has the carpool lane traffic started to slow? There is no reason for this. Luckily I'm in my big beautiful Land Cruiser (thank you Matt!), and can see over other tiny little cars. It appears that there is a small P.O.S. car seven cars ahead that has decided to not make the other lanes of traffic feel badly about the situation they are in. This kind soul would not like to make them jealous of our carpool status, so he's going to go the SAME PACE as the other lanes. Very good-hearted, no?
NO!
Guess where he was from?
Right! (the correct answer is Idaho)
Guess how many people were in his car?
Right! (the correct answer is one)
So yeah. I know they don't have any reason to have express lanes in Idaho, but you have heard of them, have you not? You do have the ability to READ THE SIGNS on the freeway. Perhaps follow what they say next time, mmm-kay?
GRRRRRR!
Thanks for letting me rant.
p.s. I am fully aware that there are children starving all throughout the world. There are awful things that happen to inoccent people everyday. It's a very trite thing that I am complaining about. I know this. Yet I reserve my right to complain about whatever I want. It's my blog & I'll cry if I want to. Whaaaaah!
p.p.s. I also hate that our newest license plate design so closely resembles the Idaho plate. Dumb. Make up your own design, Utah. Stick with the beautiful arches one. Make a pretty Lake Powell one. Do something cool with the Great Salt Lake. I have plenty of ideas, we don't need to steal ideas from Idaho of all places. Geez.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
DANGER DANGER WILL ROGERS
uh, i just found my own personal recession. Go waste some time (and money) here.
Oh My Goodness, Can I Get Some Help Here!
So here I am being indecisive again, and the last time (deciding to go to Taiwan or not) I got some very clear feedback, so I shall resort to asking my blog-buddies again. K, so I get my own little office-land in the basement, right? A space to have my computer, digital scrapbook, sew, make little projects, store cake ideas, hide & wrap presents etc. And Matt is getting secretly getting the carpet installed while I'm in Taiwan, so I'll have to pretend to be surprised, huh? Anyway, it's almost done & we've been looking at furniture. So Ikea is amazing & I have two options that I love for desks for said office-land.
Option A:
one of these snazzy bookshelves on each side of the window with a desk attached to it as per the second picture so I could wheel my little chair to each side as needed
Pros:
-separate work areas for computer stuff & sewing machine stuff
-great amounts of little cubby storage
-you can also buy inserts for the cubbies- drawers & doors and the like for very cute organized storage
-could remove the desk part & have great bookshelves for a different use
-would make good childrens desks for later on if I wanted to do something else with that room
-this configuration would leave quite a bit of open space in the rest of the room for exercise equipment, etc.
Cons:
-not one big flat area for fabric or wrapping paper being laid out
-they'd be all in the corners, facing walls
Option B:
just this one, it's awesome, there is a glass piece on top with about 2 inches between the base tabletop.
Pros:
-I really love the double desktop, increased surface area thing
-the legs would do a great job of holding my CPC & printer
-I could put pictures or little vinyls under the glass for more personalization & cuteness
-can change the table height really easily, like for standing projects
Cons:
-I'd want it kinda in the middle of the room, but with the short side against the wall- would that take up too much room?
-if I did set it up that way, the window would be right in front of the screen causing a ton of glare issues, unless I got some hefty drapes/blinds, which I don't really want to do because I love the light. (or turned it the other way.... yeah, that'd be good. Maybe that's not an issue.)
Okay, I kinda think that this little exercise made it clear that option A is the way to go, but I really for some reason, love option B. So do I go with practical & cool, or okay & love?
oh and p.s. the more expensive one for ONCE in my life is the one Matt loves, not the one I love!! that is such a first it's not even funny.
Option A:
one of these snazzy bookshelves on each side of the window with a desk attached to it as per the second picture so I could wheel my little chair to each side as needed
Pros:
-separate work areas for computer stuff & sewing machine stuff
-great amounts of little cubby storage
-you can also buy inserts for the cubbies- drawers & doors and the like for very cute organized storage
-could remove the desk part & have great bookshelves for a different use
-would make good childrens desks for later on if I wanted to do something else with that room
-this configuration would leave quite a bit of open space in the rest of the room for exercise equipment, etc.
Cons:
-not one big flat area for fabric or wrapping paper being laid out
-they'd be all in the corners, facing walls
Option B:
just this one, it's awesome, there is a glass piece on top with about 2 inches between the base tabletop.
Pros:
-I really love the double desktop, increased surface area thing
-the legs would do a great job of holding my CPC & printer
-I could put pictures or little vinyls under the glass for more personalization & cuteness
-can change the table height really easily, like for standing projects
Cons:
-I'd want it kinda in the middle of the room, but with the short side against the wall- would that take up too much room?
-if I did set it up that way, the window would be right in front of the screen causing a ton of glare issues, unless I got some hefty drapes/blinds, which I don't really want to do because I love the light. (or turned it the other way.... yeah, that'd be good. Maybe that's not an issue.)
Okay, I kinda think that this little exercise made it clear that option A is the way to go, but I really for some reason, love option B. So do I go with practical & cool, or okay & love?
oh and p.s. the more expensive one for ONCE in my life is the one Matt loves, not the one I love!! that is such a first it's not even funny.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Lately.
I've been kind of a boring blogger. This blog is really supposed to be something for me to go back & look at when in the far, far future, I have time to digital scrapbook our lives. It helps me keep track of pictures and funny things Sawyer says & fun trips we take. Because I got crap for a memory. Remember when we discussed the tapeworm? It is a permanent problem. So, after unloading my camera, here is what we have been up to lately.
Matt always comes up with the cutest ideas for FHE. In February we celebrated Sawyer advancing from nursery into Sunbeams! Even Charlie got in on that action, can you tell how much she loves wearing things?
(oh and Matt looks like a robot because he is being one. It is pretty much Sawyer's favorite thing that he does.ever.)
Also exciting recently is Sawyer's upcoming ballet recital. Its on March 13th at 7:00 at Bountiful High. I have tickets if you want. Her school actually puts on very entertaining & well done recitals. But just in case it sucks, her dance is in the first half hour, so you can leave. If you want tickets let me know, it's free. It's going to be a lovely rendition of Sleeping Beauty. And if we're lucky Sawyer will NOT freak out when Maleficent comes on stage. So far its pretty hit or miss when they practice. But she looks REdiculously cute in her costume & adores dancing and her teacher, Miss Kami. (p.s. this is not her costume, words cannot describe her cuteness in that thing.) 
Matt's nephew (and mine too) Jake got his Eagle! He is such a rad kid. When Becky & Craig go on trips we are lucky enough to be able to go be pseudo-parents to their kids, who range from Evan, who is 17 to Isaac who is 7 (?). We LOVE being able to do this. They are seriously some of my heroes. They are the cool kids who rock at sports & always look cute & have brand new cars when they turned 16, but they are also the most down to earth, funny, just purely GOOD kids. They want to do whats right without being mo-mo. They just set they example quietly & still have tons of fun & manage to get into only minimal amounts of trouble. That beauty of a scar Jake has on the back of his head was from a brain tumor removal when he was about 8 I think. Luckily he has been cancer free since then, but I know it was a huge trial & faith-building experience for both he & his whole family. 
Anyway, I love Jake & am so proud of him.
Matt was in St. George last weekend to recover from his crazy month at work. You gotta make hay while the sun shines, but I cannot believe how much he's been working, I think I would have poked my eyeballs out by now if I were him. Matt's boyfriend Danny was also out of town, so Jessica & I attempted to do something fun, but we are old and married boring people now, so fun consisted of me trying to put Sawyer to bed (to no avail) while Jess and Max had Cafe Rio in the kitchen. Max made great strides in his love of dogs, and Sawyer was more than happy to get out of bed and show him how fun it is to have a dog.
I love the little friendship that is developing between them. Max calls Sawyer "oy-yer" and Sawyer loves to steal his toys from him. They see each other at the gym all the time & Sawyer kinda hunkers down to talk to him because she is, let's face it, ginormous compared to a little preemie two year old.
Exhibit A Also, I have renewed my infatuation and amazement at the little thing known as the "magic eraser." It strikes me as very blog-worthy. The amount of crap that you can get off your "clean" walls is dumbfounding. I used one up the other day in a matter of a hallway & an entryway. It was awe-inspiring. No chemicals, yet so much cleaning power. How is it done? Does anyone know? Is it truly magic? I am beginning to think that it is.
Oh, and another thing. I have spent most of my life trying to fight my natural "not-modest-ness". I love bikinis. I think they are like the cutest things on the planet. I would LOVE to design them, with their cute little prints & girly details and fun little pointless strings and embellishments. I would love have been a bikini model, or at least have the body to go along with it. Of course if I did have the body then I probably would have done it & that may have started me down a whole other path that we should not get into. It's hard for me on that first day that Target busts them out for the season, I want to buy every one of them. They're just so fun and stupid. Also the fact that I have a freakishly long torso (they don't call me Thorax for nothing.) makes it way too hard to find a one piece that doesn't give me "four-butt." Thank the Lord for the tankini. Those are cute too, but I have recently found that picking out swimming suits for my daughter provides the same fun and cuteness as bikini-shopping! This is wonderful news, people. I know that was way too long of an intro, but here it is..... drum roll please.... Sawyer's 2009 swimming suit!
And also, Sawyer would like to show you her Pinocchio cleavage tattoo.
This will no doubt be the first of many, just don't tell Matt. (clarification: first of many 2009 swimsuits, not cleavage tattoos.)
Matt always comes up with the cutest ideas for FHE. In February we celebrated Sawyer advancing from nursery into Sunbeams! Even Charlie got in on that action, can you tell how much she loves wearing things?
(oh and Matt looks like a robot because he is being one. It is pretty much Sawyer's favorite thing that he does.ever.)
Also exciting recently is Sawyer's upcoming ballet recital. Its on March 13th at 7:00 at Bountiful High. I have tickets if you want. Her school actually puts on very entertaining & well done recitals. But just in case it sucks, her dance is in the first half hour, so you can leave. If you want tickets let me know, it's free. It's going to be a lovely rendition of Sleeping Beauty. And if we're lucky Sawyer will NOT freak out when Maleficent comes on stage. So far its pretty hit or miss when they practice. But she looks REdiculously cute in her costume & adores dancing and her teacher, Miss Kami. (p.s. this is not her costume, words cannot describe her cuteness in that thing.) 
Matt's nephew (and mine too) Jake got his Eagle! He is such a rad kid. When Becky & Craig go on trips we are lucky enough to be able to go be pseudo-parents to their kids, who range from Evan, who is 17 to Isaac who is 7 (?). We LOVE being able to do this. They are seriously some of my heroes. They are the cool kids who rock at sports & always look cute & have brand new cars when they turned 16, but they are also the most down to earth, funny, just purely GOOD kids. They want to do whats right without being mo-mo. They just set they example quietly & still have tons of fun & manage to get into only minimal amounts of trouble. That beauty of a scar Jake has on the back of his head was from a brain tumor removal when he was about 8 I think. Luckily he has been cancer free since then, but I know it was a huge trial & faith-building experience for both he & his whole family. 
Anyway, I love Jake & am so proud of him.Matt was in St. George last weekend to recover from his crazy month at work. You gotta make hay while the sun shines, but I cannot believe how much he's been working, I think I would have poked my eyeballs out by now if I were him. Matt's boyfriend Danny was also out of town, so Jessica & I attempted to do something fun, but we are old and married boring people now, so fun consisted of me trying to put Sawyer to bed (to no avail) while Jess and Max had Cafe Rio in the kitchen. Max made great strides in his love of dogs, and Sawyer was more than happy to get out of bed and show him how fun it is to have a dog.
I love the little friendship that is developing between them. Max calls Sawyer "oy-yer" and Sawyer loves to steal his toys from him. They see each other at the gym all the time & Sawyer kinda hunkers down to talk to him because she is, let's face it, ginormous compared to a little preemie two year old.
Exhibit A Oh, and another thing. I have spent most of my life trying to fight my natural "not-modest-ness". I love bikinis. I think they are like the cutest things on the planet. I would LOVE to design them, with their cute little prints & girly details and fun little pointless strings and embellishments. I would love have been a bikini model, or at least have the body to go along with it. Of course if I did have the body then I probably would have done it & that may have started me down a whole other path that we should not get into. It's hard for me on that first day that Target busts them out for the season, I want to buy every one of them. They're just so fun and stupid. Also the fact that I have a freakishly long torso (they don't call me Thorax for nothing.) makes it way too hard to find a one piece that doesn't give me "four-butt." Thank the Lord for the tankini. Those are cute too, but I have recently found that picking out swimming suits for my daughter provides the same fun and cuteness as bikini-shopping! This is wonderful news, people. I know that was way too long of an intro, but here it is..... drum roll please.... Sawyer's 2009 swimming suit!
And also, Sawyer would like to show you her Pinocchio cleavage tattoo.
This will no doubt be the first of many, just don't tell Matt. (clarification: first of many 2009 swimsuits, not cleavage tattoos.)
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Everything is fine, thank you.
Well I made it through the day, and with the exception of the hour where I thought that for sure Matt was lying dead in a gutter somewhere, no one is dead, no one broke up with me, no one wanted to kill me (that I know of), and Sawyer & I had a really fun time together. And I had some birthday cake ice cream. Bonus. My throat is feeling better and I was able to go to the gym today and American Idol was entertaining and Jillian is the new Bachelorette, so it was a good day. Thanks for the crossed fingers and all, ya'll.
Monday, March 2, 2009
D-Day
Tomorrow is my bad day. March 3rd has started to make me a bit anxious each year. When major things happen, there is a huge chance that it will be on March 3rd. Take for example:
* 1997 - found out that my high school boyfriend was cheating on me. Not just any old run of the mill cheating, no sir, sleeping-with-his-boss-at-Hollywood-Video cheating. Classy, huh?
* 1998 - I was just reading in my journal from that day & let's just say that I was a smidge depressed. Very self destructive thought patterns. Its amazing how long I've actually been dealing with that crap without realizing it.
*1999 - Somehow made it through with no major drama.
*2000 - Had to call off my first wedding to Jared a week away from the date. Moral issues. Sucky. He was sooo mad at me for being honest with my bishop. Nice. Any other person with a brain in their head would have realized at that point that perhaps this person is not who I would like to be married to. Not me. Nope, we rescheduled for June.
*2001 - Kicked Jared out, began divorce proceedings.
*2005 - Found out I was pregnant with Sawyer, but that's a good one.
Geez, nasty March 3rd drama has decreased significantly since meeting & marrying Matt. Three cheers for Matt! Perhaps I should drop the stupid March 3rd superstition. At any rate keep your fingers crossed for me tomorrow, k?
* 1997 - found out that my high school boyfriend was cheating on me. Not just any old run of the mill cheating, no sir, sleeping-with-his-boss-at-Hollywood-Video cheating. Classy, huh?
* 1998 - I was just reading in my journal from that day & let's just say that I was a smidge depressed. Very self destructive thought patterns. Its amazing how long I've actually been dealing with that crap without realizing it.
*1999 - Somehow made it through with no major drama.
*2000 - Had to call off my first wedding to Jared a week away from the date. Moral issues. Sucky. He was sooo mad at me for being honest with my bishop. Nice. Any other person with a brain in their head would have realized at that point that perhaps this person is not who I would like to be married to. Not me. Nope, we rescheduled for June.
*2001 - Kicked Jared out, began divorce proceedings.
*2005 - Found out I was pregnant with Sawyer, but that's a good one.
Geez, nasty March 3rd drama has decreased significantly since meeting & marrying Matt. Three cheers for Matt! Perhaps I should drop the stupid March 3rd superstition. At any rate keep your fingers crossed for me tomorrow, k?
Sunday, March 1, 2009
The Greatest Picture of the (second) Greatest Dog Ever.
Warning: Do not click on this link if your throat is really, really sore and you want to die every time you cough, laugh, breath or talk. (Like me today.) Its the laughing that will be problematic. This is my brother & sister-in-law's huge great white Pyrenees dog, Lando (yes, named after a Star Wars character) and he is hilarious. Oh, and their baby, Hanne is pretty cute too. Just don't misuse appostrophes in your comments because Stacey will kill you.
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