bookworm

one of the other reasons i haven't been blogging is because i made it to the library all by myself last week! and that means i had time to browse around and pick up whatever caught my fancy. i love reading, and whenever i have a book it's pretty much impossible to get me to do anything but the bare minimum necessary to get through the day.
lately i've been reading:

The Lost Symbol

Freakonomics
Girlbomb
The World is Fat
with a little Marie Claire magazine thrown in.

it seems my choices are kind of all over the place, but i really like mixing up fiction (lost symbol) with biographies (girlbomb) and nonfiction (freakonomics and world). my books are due back soon and i still have a couple more i haven't gotten to yet. so if you're wondering what's up, i probably have my nose in a book.

too lazy to post anything

my blog has been a dead zone for a couple weeks now, and it bothers me. but most days it seems like there are so many other things on which i want to use my downtime that don't require quite as much effort. like sitting on the couch and reading a book. or watching a show from my dvr. there are so many steps involved with posting, like going to my blog and letting it load. and then logging in. ugh, i don't want to have to type in my password! and then figuring out what to write. too much pressure! posting pictures is the most work because i have to upload them to flickr or photobucket and then figure out the size ratio so i can keep the pictures dimensions the same but not let it be too big for the blog. sometimes the editing programs will do that for me but then you have to let that upload and it usually takes more patience than i'm willing to give. and usually after posting i'll find a grammatical error or a word i left out and have to go fix it.
so all in all, i'm just plain lazy.

les pommes

we live about 3 miles from the county line orchard and love to visit often. they have fantastic donuts- iced pumpkin and apple cinnamon, which are two of the reasons i've gained back a couple of those pounds i'd lost this summer, but that's off the subject. you can ride a tractor that drives you through the orchard and you can disembark at whichever type of apple trees that you want to pick from. my favorite is gala, so that's where we went.

also, my new camera is awesome. :)

(and haha, i accidentally titled this post "potatoes" instead of apples. "pomme de terre" means apple of the earth...)

good to know.

these vintage ads are so funny to me! i'll have to find some more, but it's so random what companies thought the public needed to hear.

oh so modern

i'm shopping for a light fixture for my bedroom and am in love with this, which means my husband would despise it. it's waaaay out of my price range of "super cheap" but i can dream, right? i think ikea should do something like this, only at their ikea prices.

boxes & boats & ducks

my parents were visiting this weekend, yay! my mom decided it was time to organize my basement storage, and it went from disastrous to fantastic. we just had a big pile of boxes that were full of random stuff. i really should've taken a before picture. but check it out, everything is sorted and labeled:

also, it was time to test out my new camera! we did so by going down to the lake, where there was a model boat race going on. those things can fly across the water at what seemed like 80 mph. i wish had taken pictures of that part, but i was too busy taking pictures like this:



i love this one.

onto feeding the ducks! this isn't their first time feeding ducks. it's a regular activity at our house whenever we have stale bread.


though this time wyatt seemed more interested in chasing them.

click.

my new toy.
now i just have to learn how to use it!

a certain shade of green

i used to listen to a lot of incubus, and "certain shade of green" is one of their earlier songs. but anyway, this post has nothing to do with them!

i think i finally found a good green for the front door. i have to send a shout out to my mom's best friend tracy for assisting in this hunt for a door color. she is an interior designer and keeps a sherwin williams paint sample book in her car.
this green is just a teensy bit more muted than i was planning on but we're going to keep it, since it looks great with our new charcoal shutters.

the vision i had for the house when we bought it is becoming a reality! on the outside, we've changed the front door, updated the house numbers, attached shutters, painted the formerly green rails black, painted all the peeling green window trim white, ripped out some house-dominating bushes and fenced the backyard.

before:

From a day in the life...

after:


please ignore the dying flowers, i'm replacing them with some mums this weekend.

i like pink...

annoying.

i hate credit cards. yesterday, i noticed that my credit limit on one card had been cut in half for no reason! i know it's been happening all over and there's nothing i can do about it. it annoys me because that hurts my debt to credit ratio, which is a determining factor in credit scores.
also, for no reason at all again, the interest rate on another card jumped up to 25%! we've never been late, never gone over limit, but the credit cards can now increase their interest rate without cause.
it's annoying.

just listen.

i love these voicemails!

they've been floating around the web for awhile

and i finally have to post the link to share in the fun.

this guy is such a crazy narcissist!

click here please!

a room in progress

it's coming along! T said he can tolerate what i brought home, which makes me happy.
it seems the accent color ties it in to the bathroom, using orange and red-orange. that coverlet on the bed is bright orange on one side and red-orange on the other.

our curtains, from ikea of course.
there are tiiiiiiny little orange dots in them too.

and i see that the datestamp on the camera is a year too late!

a little more serious...

most of my blog posts are pretty frivolous, about things like clothes and decorating and fun things i do. stuff that's easy and entertains me most of the time. but today i'm preparing for a talk to give a church on sunday, and i ran into a scripture from the book of mormon that is so important to remember that i needed to put it somewhere where i'll remember these thoughts i'm having.

2 Nephi 9:28–29:

“O that cunning plan of the evil one! O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish.

“But to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God.”

it actually doesn't have much to do with the subject that i'm speaking on, which is "joy in the journey", but it just struck me as something i need to remember, especially while watching the news or reading about things going on in society.

and now, back to work.

birthday dress!

i ordered myself a gorgeous birthday present (i'll be 28 on friday, the 28th) and had to look all over to find the right size! shabby apple carries the dress but was out of the size i needed. i finally found it after some google-ing AND hunted down a discount coupon, bringing it almost down to the price it was on shabby apple. but it's worth it (i hope)! the brand is called Stop Staring and they apparently do magical things to a woman's figure. it's the same brand of dress that my friends and i tried on here. i hope it will be my perfect little black dress.

front door and second day of school

i forgot to take pictures of ashton on the first day of school, so here he is on the second!
he likes eating in the cafeteria and says lunch is his favorite time of day.
wyatt wanted to be in the pic too.
he was trying on some new shorts that morning.

notice the door color in the above picture.
this is was first attempt and i felt it was a little too lime.
neon green, if you will. so i tried again.

now it's too yellow! i'm getting frustrated.
but i did order my gray shutters!

oooh crafty.

i love that i made something into something else! and it was really cheap!
these were three separate panels, originally regular wood color. my mom got 4 of them for $40 on clearance and brought them to me- this was actually her idea! i spray painted them black and will be using them as my new headboard! they're resting on the ground behind the bed and we'll probably raise them up a little and secure them to the wall.

for some reason it looks like one is out of line with the others. it's not. our camera is broken and it can still take pictures but i can't see what i'm taking the picture of!

blue wyatt

this is what wyatt has been doing while ashton is at his first day of school.

i was cleaning up the kitchen, thinking he was playing quietly.
then he ran in to show me.

it was actually a little worse in person than the picture shows.

my daily reminder

i finally put up my "keep calm" print in the kitchen! i kept waiting to find the perfect frame but it never appeared, at least not in my price range. so i just picked up an acceptable one from walmart so i could go ahead a put it up. and we also got a new faucet! T picked it out and installed it when i was visiting my parents a few weeks ago. i was worried about what i'd come home to, but was pleasantly surprised by his choice.

little things like these make me smile. :)
next step: painting all the cabinets white.
i've been putting it off but i know it will make such a huge difference!

biker dude.

my husband bought a motorcycle!
it used to be his dad's and his parents brought it up yesterday.
today T is like a little kid with his fun new toy.
he's already taken the permit test and gotten a plate for it.
i don't quite know how to feel about the situation.
i love motorcycles but am scared for his safety!
i'm planning to increase his life insurance soon, just in case.
he's off riding around so i can't get a picture, but i'll take one soon enough.
if he makes it back in one piece...

blank canvas

i just painted our bedroom and can't wait to start in with the decor! problem is, i can't decide which color scheme to go with. we recently got the new mattress and comforter (T requested plain white) and this is where we are at the moment.

the rest of the room has crappy old furniture, which i will be tolerating until i find something affordably awesome. i love love love the light gray walls, and my style is modern/eclectic. there are too many choices!
i love these pillows on etsy and hope i get them for my birthday...

fishy kids

i was browsing through my camera's memory card, since the screen is broken, and found these pictures from just a couple weeks ago! T took the kids fishing while we were at the clark family reunion. i think they were a little weirded out by the whole experience, or at least that's how they seem in the pictures.

almost 7 years ago!

i was going through some old pictures and found this, probably one of my favorite pics from my wedding. it's before the ceremony, after hair and makeup, but not yet time for the dress.

i felt beautiful that day.

upcoming sister time!

i'm so excited to see chrissi and her cute baby bump.
well, i'm sure it's more than a bump these days!
my sister lives in utah and will be coming to indiana tomorrow night.
we'll leave the kids with my dad and drive to st. louis for a shower
with all our aunts, cousins, and grandmas.
less than 24 hours later we'll be back in indiana for a hometown shower.
it'll probably be the last time i'll get to see her before she's a new mommy.
chrissi rocks and i'm so happy to be her sister!

i heart wicker park (& bucktown)

of all the parts of chicago i've visited, this is my current favorite. it's considered a "hipster" area, though i don't really know what that means. i've seen some weird looking getups, so maybe it means the people who are so painfully trendy that it becomes comical. but anyway, i've visited this part of town twice in the last month or so and have fallen in love.
here are some reasons why:

• blu coral- this restaurant was rated #1 for sushi in chicago. although i didn't eat any sushi i was totally wowed by their beef filet and the creamy ginger dressing on my salad. the service sucked but i'm willing to deal with lazy servers for another taste of the wonderfulness.
• vintage shops- always fun to look at what is hot again. also, there's a store called lenny & me that will buy some of the old stuff (cabinet handles, etc.) from my house!
• the bongo room- we got there just as it opened on saturday, 9 am. i guess they cater to the crowd who likes to sleep off their nights of heavy drinking. completely scrumptious breakfasts, like chocolate tower pancakes. :)
• goddess and grocer- a heavenly little gourmet deli(?). the word deli doesn't do this place justice, but it's a cute little store that sells wines, chocolates, and ready-to-eat goodness like asian sesame green beans and filet mignon.
• trendy stores- such as E3, a place where the owner/ guy who worked there picked out dresses and heels for us to try on. we looked freakin hot, too bad the dresses were a little too expensive.
  
• still so many more restaurants to try and stores to browse in!
  

she rocks the gem sweaters

this girl (leslie hall) has random spots on yo gabba gabba (yes, i'm a fan, ok?) and i think she's awesome.

a lakeside family reunion

this weekend was the kickoff to the s******s family reunion in michigan city, indiana. this is my mom's father's family (hence the blurring of the name, for security purposes!)and they meet together every other year in a different location around the country. the last one i'd been to was in boston, about 12 years ago! i was so excited to find out that this one would be held just 30 minutes from my house.

here are some of the amazing beach rentals that are in the community:





these two are where some of our family is staying:




and some miscellaneous beach photos:

so far...

this week has been pretty awesome.
i've been to to the Art Institute in chicago, have seen two movies with my husband (the proposal & transformers), planted some flowers, and sealed the grout in the bathroom.
i've sat around reading books, eaten lots of salads and fruit, hemmed a pair of jeans, walked around on the Magnificent Mile, and thoroughly scrubbed the downstairs bathroom.
i've picked up some new clothes (jeans a size smaller, woohoo!), taken a 5 mile bike ride, listened to MY music all day, gone to lunch with my friend Paige, checked out 3 books from the library, attempted to sand the front door, and created a pair of shorts for ashton out of holey jeans.
among other things.

how is this appealing?

this morning i was folding laundry and watching a SNL that had been recorded on my DVR. then this commercial for "ambien cr" comes on and the words catch my attention. i rewound it thinking it had to be another SNL skit. nope, it's a real commercial.
the visuals are are really peaceful images, like butterflies, and a woman sleeping soundly. but through all this, there is a soothing voice stating these words:

"Ambien and Ambien CR are treatment options you and your doctor can consider along with lifestyle changes. When taking either of them, don’t drive or operate machinery. Plan to devote 7 to 8 hours to sleep before being active. Sleepwalking, and eating or driving while not fully awake, with memory loss for the event, as well as abnormal behaviors such as being more outgoing or aggressive than normal, confusion, agitation, and hallucinations may occur. Don’t take it with alcohol as it may increase these behaviors. In patients with depression, worsening of depression, including risk of suicide may occur. If you experience any of these behaviors contact your doctor immediately.

why oh why would anyone think "that sounds great! sign me up!"? or wait, maybe they should just hand them out at raves.

i'm sure i'll miss them, but...

the kids are at their grandparent's house for the week!

i'm so excited to have some time all to myself.

i'm thinking a trip into chicago to visit a museum.

dinners and movies with my husband.

finishing up projects around the house.

trying to sleep in.

hello flat stomach!

i think more explanation may be needed about the diet i'm on! i didn't do so well with the last post and it probably does seem like some crazy fad! anyway, HCG is a hormone found in the body of a woman when she is pregnant. is seems that in the presence of this hormone the body will USE its stored fat as energy if there aren't enough calories coming in. without the HCG a body would hold onto that fat and go into starvation mode, lowering its metabolism. that's why this doesn't work without taking the HCG, or at least a synthetic homeopathic version. it takes 21 days on the HCG to sort of "unset" my metabolism so it can be reset to keep me at my new weight while still taking in around 2000 calories.
i have one week of weight loss left (which is the 500 calories) and then i'll go on into maintenance mode. in any other situation i know i'd feel deprived while on maintenance, since you still can't have sugar or starch, but coming from such extreme restriction i think i'll feel like i'm feasting!
as of this morning i've lost 11.2 lbs and i feel great. yeah, i get hungry when it's time to eat but it isn't at all like one would imagine i'd feel only eating 500 calories a day. this is because i'm also using around 1500-2000 calories a day of my own fat as energy. oh, but i know that if you cheat or quit in the middle you will immediately gain weight (like 5 or 6 pounds) and it will make you gain MORE weight than you even had to lose. so basically you can't just "try out" this diet, you have to commit totally or not even start.
biggest temptations so far: my favorite homemade white bread at bookclub, cake decorating night at enrichment, and breakfast with friends. those have been the times when i've wondered if it'd be ok to put something in my mouth and chew it up but spit it out instead of swallowing. and that is probably a slippery slope toward cheating and screwing it all up, so i've resisted.
hope that is a better explanation than i gave last time!

...

i have totally neglected my blog. no more excuses, it's time to post. though i'm neglecting the housework to do so! just something quick then!
life right now is good but also kinda sucks. i'll explain. i've been on the "hcg protocol" diet for a week now. and i've lost 7 1/2 lbs. yay! but really, i'm so looking forward to the time when i can eat whatever, whenever. for the last week all i can eat is around 500 calories a day. a strict list to choose from- certain meats, certain fruits, and certain veggies. nothing else. but in 13 days i'll be able to eat ALL meats, ALL fruits, and ALL veggies again, plus add in some fats and oils.
but the benefits are outweighing the difficulties. i'll have lost all my extra pudge and can fit back into my pre-wyatt clothes! just 13 more days of torture. :)

color scheme inspiration

i've been such a bad blogger lately! been a busy bee in other aspects of life.

i've found the inspiration for the color scheme of my house exterior. while my siding is still white, i've figured out what color i want the shutters and front door.
i saw this pic on designmom and instantly fell in love. the grey of the house is what i want for the shutters and the green is perfect for my front door.

losing sleep over twittering

it starts at 3:30 am. the birds in the trees around my house start twittering. no, not electronically, but vocally. and i HATE IT. it's like they think it's morning or something! if the windows are open i have to get up and close them but that only help a little bit. i'm going to have to get a fan to drown it out. wyatt has been having a hard time staying asleep at night too, and i'm betting it is the bird's fault.

it's like a facelift for the house.

next project! getting rid of the old, peeling green paint on all the window trim and repainting it white. went to menards and got paint stripper, gloves, an angled scraper, and the stuff to prep the trim before we prime. i even dreamed about starting this project last night, i'm so excited. and today it's raining. :(

it's going to make such a huge difference!

i'm impressed!

ashton worked really hard for this! his school had a no-tv challenge a couple weeks ago. he'd get a blizzard from DQ if he could go monday thru friday without watching tv or playing video games. every day, several times a day, he made the choice to keep working towards his goal instead of giving in to the temptation of tv. and he didn't really complain either! whenever he said he wished he could watch tv i'd ask him if he'd rather do that or if he'd rather get the prize. he always chose to go do something else, like play outside or with his legos. and he's only allowed to play video games (usually lego batman on xbox) on the weekends- he looks forward to friday night all week- but chose to follow through with the challenge instead. i'm so proud of him!

spring surprises

something fun about our first spring in this house is finding out what plants are growing in our yard! all kinds of pretty flowers and things are appearing. i don't quite know how to care for them all...

pretty things in my yard

i had some fun with effects, of course.

one, one, one

wyatt likes to count but doesn't get very far...



the lens is a little foggy because i had to get the camera out of the car...it was cold in the garage!

produce market

i was driving to the grocery store the other day and passed a little produce market with a sign that read "apples- 79 cents/lb". apples were on my list so i turned around, hoping to get a good deal. not only did i find my favorite apples (gala) for cheap, but they were selling an entire flat of green seedless grapes for $3. the box contained 18 lbs of grapes! the very enthusiastic man working there (possibly the owner) had me break the sticker seal on the plastic surrounding the grapes and check them all out before i bought them. anyway, now i have a whole bunch (get it? haha) of really fresh, really sweet grapes. i've been giving some away and making the kids eat them multiple times a day. maybe i'll find some recipes to use them in. i'm so excited to go there every week and get my fresh fruits and veggies!

ashton's night with the shiny toy guns!

last night was fantastic- ashton and i went to the shiny toy gun's show at the aragon ballroom in chicago. they were opening for all-american rejects.
here's how it all went down: i emailed the band about a month ago to see if they thought it would be an ok show to bring my 6 year old to. he likes their music and i thought it would be a fun experience. they emailed back and invited us backstage to hang out with them! we were "on the list" and everything!
we arrived at the aragon last night and were taken past security and upstairs to their dressing room! it was tiny and very yellow. we felt special, we were the only fans who'd been invited to hang out with them that night.



i didn't want to seem too camera-happy, so i only asked for one group shot. they were happy to oblige. (from top left: sisely, chad, mikey. bottom: jeremy, ashton, me)


jeremy took us over to the balcony area, where we could watch the show from. it's this really old theater with those opera balcony seats so we were watching from above.



the view from our seats




we stayed for a little bit of the all american rejects show but spent most of the time talking to the guns. some conversational highlights: ashton and jeremy compared chest scars (they both have the same one), chad was trying to guess a kid's movie ashton hadn't seen (they seriously talked for about a half hour about movies), and sisely talked to him about how cars are designed to keep the passengers safe in a crash, amongst other things.
chad showed me the damage from going through a car windshield as a child (scars, missing eyelashes, and a crooked nose), jeremy told me about when he got ringworm (nice) and how he was adopted as a preemie, and sisely explained what her deer's head tattoo on her arm meant to her. mikey was pretty quiet but i got to talk with his girlfriend, leilah, for a while.
also, we met jeremy's girlfriend, melissa. she lives in chicago and is a model. she was also "delilah" in the plain white tee's music video for "hey there delilah". she is intimidatingly pretty but was really nice and helpful and made the experience that much better.

on the way home ashton said he wants to do this again! i had to explain that most people don't get to hang out with the band at a concert. i don't think he quite gets how unusual an experience it is!

does this freak out anyone else?

i saw this on my friend leah's blog:



there's a scripture about a bushel of wheat being worth more than a bushel of gold... hmm...

sarah and T's DAY OF FUN!

ok, that's a Friends reference, if anyone gets it.
but anyway, we are on our spring break and my parents offered to take the kids for a few days. we live 3 hours away so i met my dad in the middle to make the switch on monday. this is the first time wyatt has spent the night anywhere without me! i've been enjoying the extra sleep.
yesterday was really fun. we drove up to schaumburg and shopped for home stuff at ikea.
T picked out this print to frame and hang in the bathroom. i was so proud of him! it looks fantastic in there.

then we ventured over to the huge, amazing mall there in schaumburg. there's an H&M, urban outfitters, and anthropologie, so exciting. i spent a good 2 1/2 hours exploring those three stores! and i'm happy to say, all i got were a shirt and a scarf from urban outfitters. but i am so completely satisfied with those purchases that they met all shopping expectations i had for the whole day.
after the mall we drove over to wrigleyville, where we'd seen a restaurant featured on the travel channel's show "man vs. food". these sandwiches looked delish on tv and we figured we'd check it out. these are not my pictures, since we neglected to bring our camera.

they put fries ON the sandwich!

they offer a challenge in which you have to eat three sandwiches in under an hour to get onto the wall of fame. when looking at the sandwiches on the show i though it was no big deal. then i only made it through half my sandwich and took the other half home.

it's been so refreshing to be able to spend time alone with my husband and get a break from the daily parental responsibilities we have. we'll have to make this a more regular thing!

reenforcing his innocence...or his unhelpfulness?

ashton, wyatt, and i were in ashton's room this morning. wyatt grabbed ashton's box of legos and dumped it onto the floor. ashton watched it happen, turned to me, and calmly said,
"i am not responsible for this".

the before photos

the almost after is below...

we knocked out that closet to the left and had to tear down the plaster walls. the one thing they couldn't take out is that little air vent on the floor. it was held down by magic or something and we could not figure out how to remove it!

it only took 4 months...

we're almost finished with the bathroom. n more middle-of-the-night bathroom trips downstairs! my goodness, it's taken a long time, but T's uncle has been fantastic with helping us get it all done. now all we have to do is refinish the bathtub and get a plumber to figure out why the bathtub isn't draining and the hot water isn't working in the shower. then we'll really be done. we still have a little trim to finish on the window too. it's not my dream bathroom or anything but we did what we could with a tiny little budget. the wall color is actually a red/orange called "wet coral" and the picture makes it looks really orange! and i let T pick the color out of the 5 or 6 color swatches i brought home.

i'm still disappointed that i couldn't use the awesome ikea faucet with this sink. apparently most sink tops are made with three holes and this faucet only used one. i would've taken back this cabinet and sink to get one that would fit the faucet but i don't have the receipt fo rthem. so yeah, i was really disappointed. it was my favorite thing about the bathroom. :(

wyatt vader

he is obsessed with star wars! ashton has a couple easy-read star wars books and wyatt is constantly wanting me to "ree!" them to him. basically it's just him pointing at the pictures and me telling him what they are. but still, this happens multiple times a day.

and yep, that's our basement. we'll be painting those walls this week!

nothing much.

it's been so long since i've posted a blog! i'm such a blog slacker. things are so busy here! i've started babysitting a little boy a couple times a week as well as the gymnastics coaching. also, whenever i am on the computer wyatt tries to climb on me and type too. he especially likes to push the button that has a moon on it, which puts the moniter to sleep. and pretty much the last thing i want to do after the kids are asleep is come down to the basement and spend time on the computer when i could be hanging out with my hot husband.
we have been working on the bathroom though. i'll get some pictures up of our progress soon. it's taken a horribly long time to get this thing done. and we've run into some plumbing problems on top of it, so that'll be fun to get taken care of.
right now we're also pricing different fencing options for the backyard. our first idea was to do a nice vinyl since all we have to do is the 80 feet across the back but we're noticing how much more we could do with the money we'd save from going with a wood fence. either way, i'm excited to start making progress on the outside of the house!

secret show photos

you may all be sick of hearing about my favorite band, sorry, but i had to post some pics of the shiny toy guns show! it was sponsored by nbc and i had to win tickets by entering a contest. took me 3 tries but it all worked out in the end. julia came with me again and we had a great time. first off, FREE PARKING. that is basically unheard of in downtown chicago. i had planned on $20 to park. sweetness. they also had a free open bar. it wasn't a huge deal since i am a non-drinker but still, free water! and since the tickets were free that came out to a big $0 expenditure for such a fab night (you know, minus stuff like the gas it took to get there and the new clothes/accessories i picked up) i wish they'd have played some of my favorite songs that aren't singles but i guess i'll have to wait till the next time. in april, when they open for all-american rejects. :)

a slightly new look.

i had my friend effie give me some bangs! you can't see them a whole lot since they're the sideswept kind but here is a picture. i needed something to mix up my hairstyle.

just had to show some love for my ashton too!

wyatt hearts kitties

one of his favorite things in the world right now are cats. he says "dee", for kitTY. he brought the kitty to show me at my friend julia's house. lucky for him she's a very docile animal and was able to withstand all the affection.

25 random things about me

i've been tagged millions of times (yes, i have millions of friends...) and am finally going to take the time to do this! and i'm trying to pull stuff that truly is random, so bear with me.

1. i hate the phrase "with all due respect". it's overused in movies and tv shows and basically means "i'm going to say something rude but please don't fire me for it".
2. occasionally i'll go 3-4 days without a shower. today i'm on day #4.
3. i have a weakness for ben & jerry's phish food ice cream, double stuf oreos, and twizzlers. that's nothing many don't already know but it needs to be included anyway.
4. sometimes i'll burst out singing and dancing while i'm running to music. i try to control it when other people are around but there are times when i can't help it!
5. i love bollywood movies, mostly for the clothes and dancing. i wish there was more spontaneous group dancing in real life.
6. i wish i had a "medium" complexion, dark hair, and blue eyes. i only have the blue eyes though.
7. i love unclogging my husband's pores. he won't let me pick at his face anymore but he will let me use a pore cleansing strip on his nose. i am fascinated by the used strip, with all those little spiky things, and will analyze it for quite awhile.
8. i usually only finish things 90% (if i'm lucky). i cannot seem to finish a project or task 100% completed.
9. i think i have mild attention deficit disorder. i can pay attention if i'm really really interested in something but lose focus in every other circumstance. i was tested for it when i was in high school and was told i don't. i think this is because i was interested on doing well on the test (it was an IQ test) and therefore was able to stay focused.
10. i am super particular about how my laundry is sorted. i get mad if T does the laundry and washes things together that aren't supposed to be. hopefully my new triple divided laundry sorter will help?
11. my favorite shape is a star. i remember talking to a guy about tattoos and told him "if i were to ever get a tattoo (which i would not) it would probably have something with stars. and i like symmetry, so it'd have to be divided equally on my body." after that he turns around and lifts his shirt to show me his tattoos. a star on each shoulder blade. weird, isn't it?
12. i rarely wear nail polish on my fingernails.
13. my toenails are usually painted.
14. i wish i could go to makeup school and become a fantastic makeup artist.
15. i have a very difficult time buying shoes. it's like i think a new pair should fulfill every possible shoe need i may ever have.
16. speaking of shoes, i just ordered a pair of sandals online. they were marked down from $70 to $20. and yes, they may fill every summer shoe need i may have.
17. i love A1 steak sauce. i used to take drinks from the bottle when i was a kid. i still lick it off the plate at home.
18. the water in the shower must be almost scalding for me to feel like it's a comfortable shower.
19. i love love love roller coasters.
20. i broke the pinky knuckle on my right hand during cheerleading practice in 10th grade. it still separates from my other fingers when i bend them.
21. i wish was more creative and crafty.
22. i have no interest in ever owning a boat.
23. i think it would be fun to have another sister. chrissi and i talk about it sometimes. it'd be nice to have another built-in friend!
24. i am usually always late. it drives my husband insane.
25. i hate banana flavored candy.

that was fun but more difficult than i thought it'd be. now you know lots more about me. :)

the obsession continues.

shiny toy guns are having a SECRET SHOW that you have to win SECRET TICKETS to with a SECRET PASSWORD. i actually emailed them to ask if they'd give me tickets but they told me it was so restricted they are only allowed one ticket each. and i guess they're using those for friends and family or whatever. lame. so now i'll be trying to hardest to win these babies. even though i've already seen them twice in the past 4 months.
also, i'm so excited about no doubt's tour this summer! as a longtime no doubt fan (i've even been backstage with them!) i'm stoked for them to start making music together again.
i still want to be a rock star. *sigh*

they like me!

i did get the job! monday was my first day and i just observed and helped out with the level 3's. i'll be there monday, wednesday, and thursday evenings, around 10 hours a week. seems pretty perfect! being in the gym makes me miss the time when i could bend, stretch, and flip at will.

one scary thing- i was wearing stretchy yoga pants and saw myself in the wall of full-length mirrors and was very (disappointingly) surprised! we don't have a full-length mirror at home and the picture of myself in my head was very different from what reflected. soooo i'll have to start watching what i eat these days and making an effort of exercise even though it isn't convenient.

my wyaa

i FINALLY caught it on video! wyatt says "i love you" by saying "ah-low", which may sound like "hello" to anyone else, but i know what he's saying.
also, he seems to be picking up a german accent somewhere. it's so funny to hear him say words ending in a K sound.
he also calls himself "wy" or "wyaa", you'll hear him wanting to see himself on the camera at the end. '

wordplay

this thing from wordle.net makes a composite of random words from my blog.
i wonder if it gives a good representation of me? words taken out of context can paint a different picture.

back into the world of paychecks and schedules

with bills piling up and renovations kicking our budget's butt, it's time for me to get a job! T and i talked about it last night and came to the conclusion that we'd rather have me go work evenings than have him get a second job. i've been thinking about the various jobs i've had and if i'd want to go back to doing them again: server at Outback Steakhouse(s); sales associate at the Coach store; gymnastics coach. i think that's pretty much the whole list of my work experience. not a whole array of skills to pull from but after considering the pros and cons of each different area (for example: restaurants are stressful and nights are late. retail is tedious and you have to be standing all the time) i've decided to go the gymnastics route. and i have an interview tonight for a gym in merrillville! hopefully the hours i have available match the times they'd need me for. wish me luck!

wyatt. purse. lipstick.

when he was finished he put the cap back on and placed it back in my purse.
now that's considerate.

did-it-myself wall art

i actually finished a project. i'm still in shock! and i'm quite proud of my accomplishment. i created these from start to finish AND got them hung up on the wall! T was completely willing and excited to help me hang them (yeah, right) but it got done anyway. they're made of coordinating scrapbook papers and artist canvases and modpodge. i ended up changing my mind about the color scheme of the house (i'd planned on THIS before) and i'm in love with my new choice. the living room looks awesome now! all that's left to do are the curtains!

:D

another one of my favorite Friends moments! phoebe and mike had just gotten married and phoebe went to the (whatever office you'd need to go to) to change her name.

some new year's suggestions

i took a little quiz (from janna's page) about new year's resolutions and here is what it said.

You Should Make 3 Resolutions

Save Money Get a Better Education Take a Trip

What Should You Resolve to Change Next Year?

i completely agree. but. saving money is hard to do when you're trying to renovate a house with money you don't have. and i'd like to finally finish my bachelors (changed my major so many times that, while i had a ton of credits, i never had enough credits in one area to arrive at a degree), maybe i'll look in to that soon. and about that trip, T and i haven't ever taken a vacation on our own. i'd like to remedy that soon! anyone want to give us a few thousand dollars?

ikea fun

i realize i haven't posted out my new living room decor! i'll take pictures once the whole thing comes together but for now i'll just show individual pieces..



these two items do, in fact, match but the color of the online photos makes it seems like they might not.












i don't think i would've liked this rug if i'd just seen it online but it looks great on the floor in our living room.

i hope it's not just a fluke.

T has been getting up before work (around 5:45) and going to the school to run and lift weights in the morning! i had planned on doing that too but if he's on an everyday streak i'll just let him keep it up. i've been wanting him to start doing some regular physical activity for a really long time now and i'm hoping it'll translate to a healthier lifestyle. (and by healthier lifestyle i mean fitting back into regular XL clothes instead of the XXLs he prefers to wear now)
i'd also like to get some gym time in but i'll just work that schedule around his. i don't want to interrupt this newfound interest in exercise!
(and for this picture of the fieldhouse we used some cool feature that spliced together 3 separate pictures. pretty cool.)

link to some of the family pictures

we had so much fun getting pictures taken. our friend, robyn, is a budding photographer and she generously agreed to do our family photos. i was freaking out beforehand because the kids and i all needed haircuts and i was worried we'd all look like ragamuffins (my mom always used that word when i was little and i don't think i've ever used it till now). but it all worked out in the end!
anyway, here are just some of the pictures. let me know what you think!

we FINALLY got some family photos taken.

how adorable is this? more to come...

musical attachments

there's a song on my playlist that i fell in love with the first time i heard it. it's by a band called the gotan project and the song is called "epoca". i think it's a tango. the song brings to mind european streets and high heels and skirts and the color orange-red. anyway, i was surprised and a little dismayed when i heard the song used on a commercial for a dishwasher rinse agent called Finish. now when people hear that song they'll think of a product and not whatever mental imagery it would evoke before. :( and while i'm glad the song is getting recognition, i wish it were in a movie about dancing or romance.
also, i got disappointed when "lazy eye" by the silversun pickups was used in a car commercial. and when "such great heights" by the postal service was used in all the UPS commercials. like, yay for the recognition of good music but boo for the now commercial association.
maybe i'm just too attached to my music.

bedhead.

this is what my hair looked like when i woke up this morning. i like to call the style "medusa".



this gorgeousness is a result of sleeping with damp hair. i went kareoke-ing with my friend jamie last night in a smoky bar and had to shower when i got home. around midnight.
it'd be kinda cool if i could get this kind of wave on purpose during the day but my hair only does crazy waves at night.

merry christmas!

if i sent out cards, this is what i'd want them to be like.
but i'm a slacker so i didn't. therefore, from my blog i'm saying
"merry christmas, friends!
i hope everyone has a happy, safe, and stress-free christmas!"

back at mom & dad's

we're staying at my parent's house for christmas and will be here for about 12 days. they're out visiting chrissi in utah so we've got the house to ourselves! i love their house, especially now that they're done all kinds of updates. their house is stylish yet cozy and they have most comfortable couch i've ever had the pleasure of sitting on. the pictures don't quite seem to do it justice, but now you can at least picture some of where i'll be spending the next two weeks.

ashton's new hat

he looks so cute.

ashton doesn't like the hat, he says it looks funny. he's never had an opinion about his clothes before, other than wanting to wear anything star wars related, so i thought it was interesting that he's starting to care what he looks like.

happy housewife

i can't believe i forgot to post about this! we finally have a dishwasher and garbage disposal. i'm loving how lazy it's allowing me to be, since we made sure to get one that requires minimal pre-rinsing. all previous dishwashers at all previous rentals have been the kind that don't do their job unless the dishes look clean before putting them in. and that's not even worth it.
anyway, i had been looking at a Bosch, since i'd heard they were awesome, but couldn't find any in my price range of "under $500". T found a great Whirlpool on clearance at Lowes, plus it was the floor model, so that was an extra 10% off. we got a $500 dishwasher for around $375. sweet!

i'm just glad that i can put the dirty dishes somewhere other than the sink and not have to either wash them immediately or procrastinate the task till we run out of bowls.

more yum.

another fun thing i like to eat is nutella. i've been taking pretzel sticks and twirling them around in it every night (no double dipping, though). the rotation of the stick is essential because it coats the delicate stick with breaking it. yet another reason i can't seem to shake off those last ten pounds of "wyatt weight"!

destruction

it's the opposite of "construction". and that's what has happened to my bathroom! the renovation can only happen on the weekends, so it'll look like this until at least friday. hopefully then drywall can be put up and we can start with the tiling. we're keeping the old bathtub but i'm planning to have it refinished. i'm glad we have a downstairs bathroom with a shower!

yum

flakety flaky flake

things are very flaky at the moment, literally and figuratively. the first point facilitates the second, but the situation is this: i'm here in columbus with the kids for a few days. we came here to visit because ashton's school had parent/teacher conferences and kindergarten was cancelled from tues- fri. also, T is doing some major renovating in the bathroom this weekend so i thought we'd stay out of his way. my plan was to drive back up today (saturday) because i have to teach the lesson in RS at church tomorrow.
literal flakes: it's snowing all the way up interstate 65 and there is a weather warning about the slick roads.
figurative flake: me, calling the RS president and saying i can't be there to teach tomorrow. i feel terrible, and it goes back to my own insecurities about being seen as unreliable. so, staying here = feeling flaky or driving home = possibly unsafe but fulfilling my responsibility.

and many more to come...

we just gave wells fargo a big chunk of change.
i made our FIRST house payment today! now there's $20 to last us till the next paycheck. awesome.

stl for thansgiving

on our way! it's a 5 hour drive and ashton watched a movie and then fell asleep. wyatt slept the whole time but woke up for a few minutes halfway through. T did not want to be photgraphed. he can be a fun ruiner.



i had lots of fun this trip. we got to spend thanksgiving day with the bartnett side of the family. that's always fabulous because my aunt kathy is a gourmet chef! i braved the mall and did some shopping on friday (jeans half off at express and a pair of awesome boots at nords), and spent saturday with the stephens (my mom's) side of the family. here's a picture of my grandma stephens with all her great-grandkids:
it's really fun now that my cousins have kids the same age as mine. i'm hoping they'll all come visit this summer when our family reunion is in michigan city. they can all stay at my house! we'll even set up some tents in the backyard. and for that matter, anyone else is invited to visit too! :)

the holiday decorating has commenced

i'm so excited about christmas decorations this year! there are a couple reasons for this. 1. i have these really cute window clings (removable stickers) that i got last year from target after christmas at 75% off. 2. i've been waiting until i own my own house to really decorate. my sister thinks i'm an idiot for this but i've never really wanted to put time or effort into decorating a rental, for christmas or in general. it's just one of those weird quirks.
anyway, since it's now officially one month until christmas i decided i didn't have to wait any longer!

i started with my kitchen window!

very proper phrasing.

ashton brought his cereal bowl up to the counter this morning and i heard him say "i don't believe i can finish".

more shiny toy guns!

and this time it was even better. they were playing a charity show at the hard rock cafe in chicago and to get in everyone had to bring 4 cans of food. i went with my friend julia, who'd just started listening to them that very day, after i asked if she wanted to come with me. i hadn't thought i'd be able to go to the show since T was coaching a basketball game that night (and by the way, now he's an 8th grade basketball coach) and i didn't think the timing would work out for him to be home with the kids in time. but it did and we ended up getting there minutes before the Shiny Toy Guns came out. the club was at capacity and julia and i were the very last ones allowed in! we fought our way to the front and got all sweaty jumping around with everyone.

after the show came the best part. i got to meet them! the second picture i was smiling but it seemed to be taking a long time so i tried to say something to julia right as the picture snapped. so i look like an idiot but whatever.


it was still pretty early so we walked 5 blocks in the freezing cold (18 degrees plus icy icy winds) to the afterparty, where we ran into Delta Fiasco, the british band who opened for their show in october. i'm so glad i wasn't embarrased to be a groupie and ask for pictures!

the "lake effect"

this is one consequence of living so close to Lake Michigan! we seem to have skipped right over fall and landed in the middle of winter. it is a little irritating to me, since i love fall but hate winter. i got some pictures of the kids playing in the first snowfall of the year.


sitting on our newly de-uglified front step! my dad and T were able to take the weird wagon spokes and wavy stuff off the storm door (look!) and now i no longer drive by and think "i hate that door".

peace, quiet, and television

i've always been a wee bit jealous of those moms with kids who take 2+ hour naps. wyatt usually takes a 45 min- 1 hr nap, once a day. usually enough time to take a shower and get some makeup on. this week has been a joyous one indeed, for wyatt has been sleeping the ENTIRE TIME ashton is at kindergarten! more than 3 hours! it's been wonderful to have some time to myself. some time without someone asking me questions! or wanting me to get them a snack! or running to me in tears because they just hurt themselves! and on that note, i'm off to watch The Mentalist and fold some laundry. uninterrupted.

chrissi's housewarming gift

remember those scrapbooking papers i said i'd like to use in my house? well, my sister made me an adorable wall hanging with them. she came to visit this weekend and brought these in her suitcase!

we hung them on the wall of the landing between the sunroom and the kitchen. i know it's hard to picture but it's the place where we take off coats and shoes. chrissi is so awesome.

lovely lovely lights

before:

after:

thanks for the electrical help, dad! and thanks for the fabulous style, ikea!

doing a little catch up!

halloween

we were invited to a halloween party this year! i'm so happy to have found a fun group of friends up here. i love parties, especially ones where i get to wear a costume. i had wanted to go all-out and do something awesome but T refused to be anything except a football coach. quite a stretch, wasn't it? i wanted us to match so we borrowed some gear from the locker room. hopefully it was the first and only time T's ever been attracted to a football player!

and here are the kids on halloween night! we went trick or treating with our friends, the andersons. ashton was a ninja and wyatt was a dragon, though he didn't leave the hood up for very long. their neighborhood was giving out handfuls of candy at each house so we have a pretty good stash.

relief.

the world is as it should be. T is at work, wyatt is sleeping, ashton is at school, and i am using my brand-spanking-new computer to get on the internet! happy day indeed. it was so weird not being able to google, mapquest, or wikipedia anything i needed. and i lived in a constant state of nervousness not being able to check my bank account or make sure i'd paid my bills.
the search has begun for the cord to connect my camera to the computer. i thought i'd packed it in the box labeled "computer stuff" but it seems i was mistaken. i know it seems like yet another excuse for not posting pictures (and a convenient one, as my house is a bit of a disaster and not photo-ready yet) but i promise to look all day for it.

life without the internet

it's a little annoying to have to go to the library just to check my email. it's strange to realize how dependent i am on paying bills online and getting information about whatever i need information on. in the next few minutes i'll be researching dishwashers, since our house is without one. i want one that i can put plates into without having to rinse them until they look clean. maybe even one that requires no pre-rinsing at all! exciting thoughts, for sure.
it's also strange not to be able to keep up with my friends through their blogs daily. i feel pretty disconnected from everyone. please don't write me off as a bad friend because i haven't been able to know what's going on with you!
also, not being able to upload pictures is a crappy thing. good thing we haven't been able to do anything too major to the house yet. ;)

tediousity.

tee-dee-oss-ity. it's my new word and it describes basically all the aspects of moving. like, i am overwhelmed by the tediousity of moving every single item in my possesion from one location to another. actually, that sentence used to be true. as of now we are totally moved into the new house! woohoo! we don't have internet there yet due to a strange phone call to my internet company where i was transferred 4 times (even once to a call center location in india, for sure) and told there were "no available circuits in that area". so here i am at the lake county public library, living it up with filtered internet and all! it's not such a bad deal though, it was one of those days where i was ready to run from my children, screaming "i can't take it anymore!". no specific cause, it was just that there was a lot to get done today and i was alone with the kids without any sanity breaks from 6:00am to 6:30pm.
anyway, as much as i'd like to be posting pictures of our awesome new living room walls, i have no way to upload pictures onto the internet. i'll work on that.

shiny toy guns concert!

last night was my Shiny Toy Guns concert! the venue, Angels & Kings, was really small and there were only about 100-125 people in the crowd. my friend from high school, mary (audrich) cvelbar came with me. it was a sold out show and lucky me, i was in the front row! you can probably tell how close we were from the pictures. it was amazing!






i was rockin out and got pretty sweaty during the show! also, i scored a set list and later (after this picture) got it signed by a couple of the band members. and can you see the black streak in my hair? i got some temporary extensions put in for fun.

apparently i'm quite self-absorbed.

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!
she doesn't look all that good here. is this the actress from the movie?

can you tell i love color?

i've been searching for a color palate for my new house. this comes from a scrapbooking store website but seems to be just what i'm looking for. it should work with the couches and dishes i already have. it's a little retro, which suits to house, and i'll be using the patterned paper in my newest decorating project (more details to come). i hope i can find a rug to coordinate! ikea here i come!
also, i'm infatuated with this one but maybe down the road, when i have money for a total furniture redo.

an interview with ashton

i've seen this going around some of my friend's blogs and thought i'd join in too. i asked ashton all these questions and here are his answers, word for word.

1. what is something your mom always says to you? i don't remember. no you can't have that, no you can't have that. three times.
2. what makes mom happy? when i listen
3.what makes mom sad? if i don't listen
4 how does your mom make you laugh? makes funny faces and surprising me.
5. what was your mom like as a child? blonde hair and she always has smiles and she was a little bit short.
6. how old is your mom? 16
7. how tall is your mom? about 40 feet
8. what is her favorite thing to do? play hide and seek and go to sleep with dad.
9. what does your mom do when you're not around? play with wyatt and she cleans up the house.
10. if your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? um, a famous rock star. or a famous cook.
11. what is your mom really good at? cleaning up the kitchen
12. what is your mom not very good at? jumping to a tree and getting an apple
13. what does your mom do for her job? i don't know. to keep people's kids safe.
14. what is your mom's favorite food? shrimp. (what? no way!)
15. what makes you proud of your mom? to play a game
16. if your mom was a cartoon character, who would she be? she would draw the pictures and write the words and you would see it on television
17. what do you and your mom do together? we play Sonic together
18. how are you and your mom the same? we both have blonde hair
19. how are you and your mom different? you are a girl and i'm a boy.
20. how do you know your mom loves you? because you taking care of me.

for the most part his responses are pretty logical. ugh, and now i smell like dog food because in the middle of this i had to go clean up the water/ dog food fiasco that wyatt had created in the kitchen.

a friday flashback

my aunt rhonda came over to style our hair for our first day of school- 5th grade for me and 1st grade for chrissi. we thought we were the most stylish girls in the school!

more decor dreams

these are totally out of any possible price range i could ever dream of having, but i'm still imagining sinking into one to watch aforementioned tv shows. in a kid-friendly fabric, of course. possibly a dark grey/ taupe? from zgallerie.

what i do in my downtime.

*and by downtime i mean from 8-10 pm. that's always a joyous time for me because the children are asleep!
i'm so excited that the fall shows are starting!

here is a list of what's on my dvr:
Heroes

Chuck

Lipstick Jungle

Brothers & Sisters

Desperate Housewives

90210

Privileged

Fringe

The Mentalist

Pushing Daisies

America's Next Top Model

and coming very soon:
Valentine
Kath & Kim
The Ex List
Crusoe
My Own Worst Enemy

a not-so-mellow yellow.

my friend ashley did this and it made me wonder what color i'd be. better watch out, purples!

You Are a Yellow Crayon

Your world is colored with happy, warm, fun colors. You have a thoughtful and wise way about you. Some people might even consider you a genius. Charming and eloquent, you are able to get people to do things your way. While you seem spontaneous and free wheeling, you are calculating to the extreme. Your color wheel opposite is purple. You both are charismatic leaders, but purple people act like you have no depth.

What Color Crayon Are You?

through the decades...

getting tagged makes me feel special.

it's taken a few days for me to have even a few minutes to be able to do this tag, but here we go!

first, i had to take a picture of my kids and myself right at this very moment. ashton was eating his lunch and has carrots in his teeth.

wyatt has a stomach bug (puking and diarrhea, fun times!) but still looks handsome.

i have very little makeup on and haven't showered yet today.
my kitchen sink. pretty boring. but i do love my bath and body hand soap!

my fridge. oops, forgot to do a picture of the inside! i'm sure no one really cares what i have in it. i'll tell you a few things: orange juice, reddi-whip, yogurt, and lunchmeat. there's lots more but those are pretty much staples.

ah, here's the closet. i figured that the best place to put the dirty laundry would be in the closet. so it looks a little (or a lot) crowded in there.

my favorite place in the house- my bed!

the toilet. nothing special there.

my favorite shoes.

this is not part of the tag, but i wanted to show you the cute bath-grip stickers i have on the kids tub. love em!

and that's all!
hmmm. i think i'll tag julia a. (yay, your first real blog post!), kris m., katie c., and allie l.

oh yes, it will be mine.

this poster will be going in my new house. the color hasn't been finalized, but i'd love to keep this in mind as the day goes along:

more new house pictures

pic #1
here's T standing in our fabulous backyard









pic #2
next we've got a shot of the house from the back. that little extension is a sun porch!













pic #3
view from the sidewalk, but you can't see the garage. it's off to the right.









pic #4
the park and soccer fields across the street.

great potential, don't you think?

for some reason i can only post this one picture. so that's what you get for now! just looking at it i know i want to change the window trim to white, take off the storm door, paint the front door, and probably add some shutters. and get rid of some of the excessive shrubbery. those are first on the list! i'd like to change the stair rails but that can wait for awhile.
i'm still in shock.

we got the house!

it's called a fruit loop!

the thought of owning a house has put me back on decor-watch, even though it would mean i'd have less money to spend on frivolous things than i already do. :(
that being said, i think this fruit bowl is super cool.

possible homeowners?

i'm still sort of in shock. i can't believe what we did last night. we actually put an offer in on a house! not this house, of course, but a little starter home on a really great street. here's how it happened. we were driving to the new high school that is still under construction. we took a roundabout way that we've never taken before and passed a cute little house with a "for sale" sign on the way. we hadn't planned on looking for something to buy until the spring but with all the flooding around here i'd been thinking that it would be a good time to see which houses were watertight, you know? so i called the realtor and he got us a showing for that night. we liked it but found out there was already an offer on it. so, we called the realtor's finance guy and started the approval process that night (tues.). that went well, so we went ahead and signed the papers on the offer last night! it's been a bit of a whirlwind.
a little about the house-
it was built in 1955 and looks like it hasn't been updated since! but that just means that everything we do would be an improvement, and i think it'll be a fun challenge. all the things that can't be changed are perfect- the location, yard, and structure. i'll post lots and lots more details if the deal comes through. i don't like getting my hopes up though, and we won't know if they've accepted until later today. aaah!

feeling a little nostalgic

this was my YSA (young single adults) group from back home before everyone started leaving on missions and getting married and stuff. i think it was in 2000. sometimes i miss the days when all of us would get together all the time, before we had to be grownups every day. it's fun to have such good memories to look back on!

concert alert!

i just found out the SHINY TOY GUNS will be playing in chicago in october! i want to go and i want someone to come with me. anyone around here love them like i do?

setting him up for success, don't you think?

i found this on a blog about professional cakes gone wrong and just had to post about it. what the heck are this kid's parents thinking? are they just hoping their son will grow up to be a gang member? he's on the right track!

so sari

i've seriously wished for an occasion in which to dress up in a sari. they're so beautiful! and when i saw a commercial on the disney channel for a new cheetah girls movie i had major wardrobe envy. theirs aren't exactly traditional but it's a close enough for a movie. i realize i could never pass as one of Indian descent but couldn't i just start wearing saris anyway? the one on the left is gorgeous.

good advice from SNL

as a boredom/ anxiety/ any excuse shopper, i need to watch this video every day. (thanks, janna!)

that being said, my birthday is tomorrow! please prepare numerous gifts and festivities.

it's got an edgy feel.

i have a hot new hairstyle! this is the shortest it's ever been, at least in the back, but i'm loving it. it's been thinned out a LOT because i have a ton of hair and it's a little strange feeling so little weight on my head. T says he likes it, so that also makes me smile.
i think i've been closing my eyes a little in pictures lately. gotta watch out for that.

playing in the Crown Fountain

Millenium Park is right in the middle of downtown chicago and it has some very interesting things to do and see. our first stop after getting off the train was the Crown Fountain (or "the fountains", as we call it, because there are two). the kids had a grand old time.

south shore train ride

i love love love my stroller. but taking the train made me realize that i need a "travel-friendly" stroller as well, because it was really hard getting two kids and a huge stroller up the steps onto the train and then finding a place where we could all sit together. but anyway, the ride is about an hour long and only cost $6.65 each way. not a bad deal to not have to fight downtown traffic!

pretty to me

i LOVE these fabric panels! i saw them on a style blog and she said she found them at target so i'll have to go look. but she also said they were on clearance so i'm scared they'll be gone. doesn't match anything in my house but i'd totally redecorate around them. any ideas on other stuff that'd go well?

our initial attempt

our playgroup at church went the chicago last week and we were so excited! we got to hang out with some of our new favorite people, julia, landyn, and bryce anderson and explore a little bit of millenium park. top left photo is of me and julia on the train, top left is ashton and landyn being tough, bottom left is a bit of the sculpture garden, and bottom right is ashton playing in the kid's activity center. unfortunately, my camera died after these pictures. luckily, we went back yesterday! more on that soon.

too tired after a fun day

i told myself i'd blog about today's trip into chicago but i have laundry to fold and dinner dishes to wash and i'm too tired to do those either. however, i promise that tomorrow i will post a new blog with lots of pictures. feel free to bug me about it throughout the day though. especially you, chrissi. :D

not cool, kate.

what is with the boring haircut? it looks like what my mom had in the early 80's. (sorry mom, but it wasn't a good look on anyone.) i'm so disappointed in fashion these days, especially with the so-called "trendsetters" who are wearing icky things.

homemade pizza, sarah style

guess which side is mine.

more teeth and less sleep.

wyatt is getting 3 molars right now! all at the same time! they don't seem to be bothering him but maybe that's why he's been waking up at exactly 5:40 am these days? i really hope it isn't his internal clock making him wake up. i just can't take it! so sometimes i will check on him, then come back to my room, turn my fan on high, and put earplugs in my ears to get another hour of sleep. sometimes he falls back asleep, sometimes he doesn't. that's bad, huh.

cute movie alert

i usually don't like independant films (even though i keep trying!) but this one was really enjoyable. Ira & Abby was totally worth the 2ish hours i spent watching it. just wanted to share!
(oh, and judith light, of "who's the boss" fame, is in it. it was fun to see her again.)

ashton's newest injury

thursday night we decided to grab some jimmy john's and eat our dinner at the park. ashton fell down on the playground and ran up to us crying, saying he fell and bumped his chin. i hugged him and said something like "oh, there's no blood, you're fine!", then shooed him back towards the slides. well, today his chin looked like this:

it looks like he colored it with a marker! and since he's on blood thinners (for his heart) it'll take forever to go away. poor guy!

and now i need a nap.

here's the rundown of last week:

last wednesday the kids and i drove the 3 hours from hobart to columbus to visit our family. T had work and football so he didn't come until friday evening. i spent the next day getting ready for a garage sale at my parent's house. there was so much stuff to sell! i had overhauled and decluttered our whole house as we were moving and stored all the unwanted items in my mom & dad's third garage. i should've taken a picture of it all! anyway, the sale was on friday and it went better than i could've imagined. extra cash is always nice!
after that i went to get my hair trimmed and the color touched up. and yes, my hair is a normal color again! thank you, audrey scott! she brought it back to a blondish brownish color right before we moved.
that evening my mom took me, ashton, and wyatt out to dinner and to old navy to get ashton some new school clothes. thanks, mom!
and later that night T and i went to see the new batman movie, "The Dark Knight". i was really impressed (as was everyone else) with heath ledger's role as the joker. there was no trace of heath in there! it was amazing how well he got into the character. but it was also quite violent and i'm not going to let ashton see it, much to his dismay.
so, saturday we went to the Louisville, KY temple with my husband's family. my brother-in-law, temkai, will be leaving on his mission to San Bernadino, CA in three weeks so this was a pretty big deal. T's grandparents and some of his aunts and uncles and cousins came to town for the weekend and we took family pictures that night. and seeing the pictures made me realize how badly i need to lose the rest of my wyatt weight!
sunday was nora's (my sister-in-law's new baby) blessing. she is probably one of the prettiest babies in the world. she must take after her mom. :)
monday morning started for me at 3:30 am, when i got up to leave for the American Idol auditions in Louisville! i waited in the line for about 3 hours, during which the humidity made my hair look puffy and ridiculous instead of smooth and stylish. the tryouts were held in a big arena and, with thousands of people looking on, i was one of the first 10 people to audition. no simon, randy, or paula, it was just in front of some producers who do the initial cuts. i was pretty sure i wouldn't make it to hollywood (i'm a good singer, but not strong enough to impress the judges), but i figured i'd at least give it a try. i've realized i need to do more things in my life that are out of my comfort zone, just to have more experiences. so, no surprise, i wasn't invited to hollywood. but it was still fun to have tried! here are a couple pictures from the AI auditions-

so much to write, so little time!

i had a pretty interesting weekend but haven't had time to write about it. hopefully i can catch up later! stay tuned.
and ew, i just found a dried up piece of rice stuck in my hair. from yesterday. "mom of a toddler" proof right there.

rental house pics!

(as requested by my friends!) here is our office/ playroom. there are cabinets and bookshelves all along the left wall and shelves along the right. it comes in really handy for us because i get to keep all the toys up and out of the tornado reach of the kids. i doubt this room will ever really stay clean though, it seems to be a dumping ground for papers, bills, and anything we don't know what to do with.

wyatt's new tat

this occured while i was getting dressed and ready for the day. my husband is teaching our children all the important things in life, obviously.

oooh, miss niecy!

i've become addicted to watching "Clean House" on the style network. i've found myself tivo-ing it just about every day and watching it when i fold laundry or something. it's totally gratifying watching these cluttered houses get all spiffed up.


and i love Niecy Nash!
she always looks adorable and i want
her wardrobe for my very own.

new ward, new calling.

my little family is back together again! ashton was staying at his grandparent's house in columbus all last week and was brought back on saturday by my mom. it's great to have him back but it was really nice to have such a chilled-out week with wyatt.
yesterday at church i was asked to be the 1st counselor in the Relief Society! (for any of you who aren't lds, the RS is the church's women's organization) i'm supposed to do a little 10 minute presentation about myself next sunday, as well as speak in sacrament meeting. i'm excited though, i just didn't expect to be in a presidency. i figured i'd start out as a sunday school teacher or something. but i guess i'll have to step it up and learn how to be an adult with a grown-up calling!

wyatt being wyatt

this is for all the people who miss seeing their little wyfry. wyatt shows off his new cleaning skills, gives a mild version of "funny face" and attempts to play with the dog. this is my day, all day, every day!

every time i hear this song...

another one of my favorite Friends moments! (thanks for the reminder, stacey!)

electronic energy

i was all set to go running yesterday when T got home. i had the sports bra on, my hair was up, and my shoes were tied. then i realize i don't know where my ipod is! oh no! i spend 15 minutes looking around the house, checking every possible spot before resigning myself to the fact that my darling was nowhere to be found. and i had lost all the motivation that was so abundant just 15 minutes before. i cannot find the will to exercise with out music. MY music. it keeps my mind occupied and entertained while my body is struggling to find its next breath. and it totally heightens the endorphin rush when the perfect beat comes on. but i will keep searching, because i know it's around here somewhere! and when i find it you know i'll be wrestling myself back into that sports bra, putting my short hair back into weird little ponytails, and slipping my feet back into those running shoes. until then i'll be doing Yoga Booty Ballet in my living room. namaste.

an update on our first week

so, we rented a uhaul to get all of our stuff up here and it was freakin $300. :( but when we got here there were 10 guys from the football team to help unload so it made it lots easier. i must be getting old because one of the guys called me "mrs. clark"! anyway, the house was pretty grimy when we got here so my wonderful mom helped clean the place up. wyatt even helped too!
it took all weekend to get it sparkling. oh, but both the toilets had those cheap squishy seats that i hate so i had to go to lowe's for a more acceptable one. what is it with the padded seats? they're significantly less comfortable than the hard ones and they just look tacky. maybe it's an old-person thing.
a few days after moving in wyatt woke up with a rash all over his body! it was actually worse than you can see in the pictures. but it didn't seem to bother him and when i took him to the doctor they said it was just a reaction to the amoxicillan he'd been taking. so no big deal. but for a few days he looked like a little leper.
on thursday we ventured into chicago with some people i'd met at church. they had planned a mom's group trip to the Museum of Science and Industry and we tagged along. i was so excited to get out and see some of the fun things chicago has to offer! but it was a free admission day and the place was so packed that it was hard to really enjoy the exhibits. i'm totally a museum person and can spend all day reading every little sign.
friday night we were invited to a party for the head football coach's 2 year old son. the kids had a great time playing with all the other kids there and we got to hang out with some other coaches and friends of the mccormicks. and i scored some numbers for future playdates!
yesterday at church we randomly ran into kyle k, one of T's distant cousins who was a visiting speaker in our new ward! turns out they only live 15 minutes away. he invited us over for a bbq that night where we met his wife and kids and some friends from their ward. they have a 5 year old son who is into all the same things that ashton likes, so they had a great time. and after dinner we all played Dance Dance Revolution! they have it on wii, which is a little different than the one i'm used to, but it was a fun night. and kyle's wife, barb, says she wants to go sing karaoke with me sometime soon! i'm so excited to have made some friends here already.

ugliest bathroom i've ever seen

this is the master bathroom of the house we're renting. it's even worse in person! they've got pepto-bismol pink walls, a sponge painted ceiling, and a lighthouse border around the top. luckily we can paint it and put up new fixtures. and that cabinet has got to go! i'm so judgmental. but i like my surroundings to brighten my mood, you know?

the long-awaited vacation pics!

i FINALLY have internet at our new house! and i FINALLY have a chance to post some pictures from our vacation to orlando. but our camera's battery kept dying so we only have pictures from random sections of the trip.

here is my cute ashton playing in a tree outside our hotel.

me, chrissi, ashton, and wyatt all waiting in line. ashton didn't want to smile for some reason, he's getting to that age where they think it's cool to be uncooperative in pictures.
i thought this was a cute shot- ashton walking with his daddy and uncle ben.




a rare picture of me and T both smiling.


sarah in china (at epcot. not the real china)!

some cool chinese acrobats


our condos! actually, these are the ones across the lake, but ours look just the same. i love staying here.

water water everywhere

every time it rains i think of this song from sesame street:


it's been raining a lot this weekend! our city, as well as many cities along interstate 65, got completely flooded by numerous downpours. highways were closed, houses and streets were flooded, and people were stranded away from their families! the kids and i were stuck at my parents house saturday night without electricity while T was stuck at his parents house (where we are staying till thursday) with his little brother. i'm sure the xbox got lots of use that night!
the water has gone down now but it was pretty chaotic for a few days. and sad for all the families that lost their homes and pets!

we are back from vacation! but more on that later, when i can upload some pictures. we have no home to go to though, so we are crashing at T's parent's house. but we've found a place in hobart to live, a 3 bedroom house to rent. we'll be loading up a uhaul next weekend and embarking on our new adventure!
so that's it for now! i know, it's quick and boring. sorry, friends!

i just want to throw it all away.

i have been packing like a maniac the past few days! well, that's what i think but T would beg to differ. anyway, we decided on monday to try to be completely packed and out of the house by saturday! the deal is, there is a family who is staying at my in-laws house. they've been trying to find a place to buy/ rent in the area and haven't had much luck. we met them last weekend and told them we were moving out and the owners of our house didn't have anyone lined up to rent it yet. long story short, we're leaving on vacation sunday (florida! for a week! woohoo!) and they'd like to be in the house as soon as possible. we'll pretty much be trading places with them, as we'll be staying with my husband's parents after vacation until we find a place to live up north.
but back to the packing thing. i am the slowest, most methodical packer i've ever met. i like to have everything categorized and in a box with similar items. and i like to sort as i pack, keeping bags for garage sale items nearby. also, the labeling must be detailed enough that i can remember what is in the box without having to look inside. totally not T. he throws everything and anything in a box and labels it with a generic word, like "kitchen". we've had a few spats so far.
but we've put a whole bunch of stuff into my parents garage in preparation for the garage sale (including lots and lots and lots of clothing. i've decided to let go of everything i haven't worn in the past 2 years or things i've been waiting to see come back in style from high school.)
and we're also packing for vacation! so i've got a florida suitcase; a bag of clothing for the two interim weeks between vacation and the move to hobart; a box of summer clothes that i'll wear after the big move; and various other vacuum-sealed containers of clothing. and that's just for me! i have to do the same for both kiddos too.
so life kinda stinks right now. i had been hoping to go to this awesome bead shop in town and create a "dabby reid"-style necklace to go with my cute vacation dress but it seems that project will have to wait awhile. but i hope i can still fit in an airbrush tan before i go! you know, so i don't blind the other poolside vacationers with my glowing white legs.
but wish me luck! encouragement in the form of a comment will go a long way in brightening my busy day.

wow, it's pretty accurate!

other than the "thrifty" part...

What Your Fridge Says About You

You like to be surrounded by things you love. You aren't exactly greedy, but you can be materialistic at times. You tend to be a fairly thrifty person. You splurge occasionally, but you're mostly a saver. You are a very adventurous person. You love to try new things, and you get bored very easily. You try to be responsible, but you don't always succeed. Your heart is in the right place though. You are likely to be married - and very busy.

What Do the Contents of Your Refrigerator Say About You?

celebrity boyfriends

a few of my friends have listed their celebrity dream boyfriends and it seemed fun! so now it's my turn! (based solely on superficial traits)
in no particular order other than who came to mind first:
1. henry cavill

2. steven strait

3. paul walker

4. jared leto

5. jesse metcalfe

6. tyson beckford

8. ashton kutcher

9. enrique iglesias

10. hayden christiansen

11. brad pitt

12. josh duhamel

14. wentworth miller

and my most recent addition:
15. david cook

oh yes, and some alternates are:
ryan phillipe

rob lowe

channing tatum

i'd better do some hard thinking before i get this list laminated. don't want to leave any potential boyfriends out!

crybaby wyatt

i am sitting here listening to wyatt cry in his crib. it's been about an hour. he wants to be nursed back to sleep but i want him to learn to fall back asleep on his own. he's a year old! he should not be waking up 2 and 3 times a night! i feel so bad though. my heart breaks a little more with every sob. he is one headstrong, dramatic kid.

wait, is that silence i hear? i think so! i just hope he doesn't start wailing again right in the middle of my REM cycle, like usual. you know, the deepest point of sleep? the time when you don't even remember you have children? a rude awakening for sure.

it feels a little like halloween.

this week has one big hair disaster. let's review.
tuesday:
-went to a different stylist (we'll refer to her as "K") since my aunt in st. louis who normally does my hair wasn't available.
- tell "K" i wanted auburn hair. ask her if she needs to fill my very blond hair before we go darker (which i know you need to do when going from light to dark). "K" says filler is already in the color. i think, 'hmm, that doesn't sound right', but didn't speak up since i'm fairly non-confrontational.
-hair turns a raspberry-orange color and is chopped at quite aggressively with a razor and some thinning shears.
-almost cry but instead pay the $70 and leave
-call next day to let her know that it isn't what i expected. she agrees to redo color on friday.
friday:
-tell her i want "a reddish brown so natural it looks like it could've grown out of my own head".
-leave with burgandy hair. feel a bit goth. no tip for her.
-this is what it has become after 3 washes. bearable, but definitely not what i has expected! and it's 9:30 pm and i'm in my pajamas, so don't judge me on my (lack of) style. and surprisingly, the hair color looks better in pictures than in real life.

they're sparkly!

these are my adorable new shoes! i've been trying to find some cheap flats that are cute and comfy and nothing was to be found. so i went to nordstrom, the place i should've gone all along, and found these lovelies! they even have a little heel so they flatter my short, stubby legs a little better than flat flats. i'm hoping to get them in bronze also but it'll take awhile to save up. these weren't cheap. and yes, another example of this. :P

kicked in the face

by his own father!
it was an accident, of course,
but ashton left that part out when he told everyone at school about it.
i'm surprised no one called child protective services!

i love this picture!

wyatt walking

wyatt has been walking since march 26th but we just got a new camera that takes video! so this clip is from the end of april and i'm just now getting around to posting it. he walks like a little orangutan, with his arms up in the air!

submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society...

one of my very favorite things as a kid was the Nickelodeon show "Are You Afraid Of The Dark?". chrissi and i watched every saturday night growing up and it always scared the pants off of us (but i'm a chicken as it is). i've been trying to think of the scariest episode and can't remember all of them. there was one where a kid started playing a pinball game and ended up stuck inside it, being chased by a big silver ball for all eternity. another one was about a family of vampires who keep blood in a cooler in their basement. ooh, they're coming back to me now! there was one about an adopted girl who was really an alien, and another one about a vampire that comes out of the movie screen at a theater. they didn't all end on happy notes either. anyone remember these?
anyway, i'm so excited because i just found out that they're on DVD! i can buy them and watch them whenever i want! also, there are shows like "Alex Mack", "All That", "Clarissa Explains It All" and "Salute Your Shorts". i'll spend the next few years buying up all the shows i watched back in the day. happy happy joy joy! :D

gimme!

do you think my husband will mind if i wear this shirt?

en fuego!

in the middle of the night i hear what sounds like gunshots. not terribly surprising, given the ghetto neighborhood i live in, but it's enough to make me look out the window. i look out the side window to see a car in flames! it was about 3 houses down but i had a pretty clear view of what was going on. i tried taking pictures but somehow couldn't get a clear shot. still, it was something quite out of the ordinary!

we're moving!!

we took the job at Hobart! we'll be moving up there mid-june. we didn't even wait to hear back from the job here. i'll post more about it later though. :D

i'm as cultured as a pearl.

"Your clothes may be,
Beau Brummell-y,
They stand out a mile..."

i was flipping through the channels one night and came upon an old silent film called "Beau Brummell". intrigued, i started watching, figuring i'd be bored soon. turns out that it totally rocked! it was absolutely spellbinding the way these actors told a story without spoken dialogue, using exaggerated movements and facial expressions to get the story across. the main character was played by John Barrymore, the grandfather of Drew Barrymore. i see the resemblance. anyway, this Beau guy was apparently a real person who was a trendsetter socialite in 19th century England. and he was a catty brat who died of syphilis.
all in all, i feel like i've expanded my horizons. how many people can say they've watched a whole silent movie by choice? um, i can. yeah, that's right.

a little help from my friends...

i'm loving this dress but am unsure of how the color might look on me. i'm super fair skinned and don't usually wear this color. but i think it's super cute! there are free returns but still... i need some input, please!

the bane of my existance.

boys never have to grow up, thanks to xbox!

i laugh just thinking about it!

one of my favorite Friends moments.

he's 2 for 2.

2 interviews- 2 job offers! one from hobart, the school near chicago, and one from east noble, a small school in a small town. we already declined the offer from east noble (i think i'd go crazy in a small town) and are pretty set on accepting hobart. well, i'd say 98% sure. right now T is at an interview for the job here, at columbus north, where he's been coaching football for the past 5 years and recently did his student teaching. i think we're ready for some changes and an adventure but there are many things to consider. moving is scary!
one bad thing- it was 20 degrees colder in hobart than it was in columbus. i really hope a 3 hour drive doesn't make THAT much of a difference!

exciting times for us!

as T's last semester of school is winding down he has been applying for positions all around the state of indiana. it's pretty exciting to imagine what our life will be like in a new place: meeting new people, maybe buying our first house. it's a little scary too. we've been living pretty comfortably here in columbus with both sets of grandparents nearby, as well as T's aunt sylvia and uncle randy and their kids.
at this very moment T is driving to hobart high school, 30-ish miles outside of chicago, for his very first teaching job interview! they seem very interested in him, especially the football coach. he's called T to talk football at least 5 times in the last 24 hours. a brand new building for the high school is under construction, as well as a new fieldhouse and sports facilities. if things go well i'll go up for the second interview to scope out the area and see if it's somewhere i'd like to live.

and everyone can come visit and we can go see "wicked" in chicago!

what my parents really did in mexico...

they danced la cucaracha

my super short spring break (parte dos)

here is what went down last friday, our last day in st. louis
-visited my mom's mom, grandma stephens (oh, and we took her to baskin robbins the night before too.)
-went to nordtrom & cpk with my dad's mom, grandma bartnett
-the bartnett side of the family had a pre-birthday party for ashton! spiderman cake and all.



random thought: there used to be a family newsletter printed up every holiday and quite a few years back this picture of my grandma graced the cover of the thanksgiving issue. and yes, she's wearing a paper bonnet. this legendary picture has recently been enlarged and given a permanent home in their kitchen.
we left at 9 pm that night and drove the 5 hours home. but it only took us 4 hours.... i wonder how that happened??

my super short spring break (parte uno)

our original plan was to be there wed.- sun., but as we were driving through illinois we got a call from T's sister Tashina. she was flying from utah to indiana to surprise us for the weekend! we didn't want to miss out on that so we came home late late friday night.
here are some highlights from the trip
-i got my hair done by my aunt amy (she has a salon in st. louis and charges insane amounts for her services. but luckily she does my hair for free!)
-we went to the zoo! fun times were had by all.

i'll have more about the trip tomorrow, but it's late now and i'd like to go to bed. but i'll go ahead and post this so my sister will have something to look at tonight. :)

just a few updates.

- we're going to st. louis for spring break! my extended family all live there so i'm excited to visit them. we're planning on going to the zoo (it's free!), the science center, and whatever else catches our attention.

- wyatt is standing on his own for about 5 seconds at a time! it won't be long before he takes his first steps.

- T is starting to apply for teaching jobs! mostly all in the state of indiana but a few around texas. we think we might want to be in san antonio in a couple years so we're keeping it in mind. but it's almost unbelievable that he'll actually be a real, paid teacher in the fall.

- ashton will be 5 in less than two weeks! and it's hard to believe that i'll be the mother of a 5 year old. i'm ancient.

no idea what to even call this one!

this post is because i just blog-stalked a couple girls in knew from ricks college. i left them each comments and am wondering if they remember me! but i don't have many pictures of myself on my blog so i'm posting this picture, hopefully this'll help them out a little. it's from the summer of 1999 and yes, that's me in the red shirt! i can't believe that was 9 years ago.

it's fleur-licious!

i've been looking for some new bedding online and i am totally loving this quilt from urban outfitters! it's a little outside my regular "pottery barn-ish" comfort zone. i don't think T will go for it though, it's probably a little too girly. but i think it's wunnerful! please disregard the crumbling wall behind it.
ooh, and this is beautiful too.

and i like this as well!

captured on film. er, memory card.

getting T to be in a picture is next to impossible, so i had to be all sneaky-like. but finally, proof that he actually IS home sometimes! and he plays with the kids too!

interesting combo

ashton said to me recently

"when i grow up i want to be half doctor, half astronaut, and half zombie".
i told him that half only works when there are 2 things and that he'd have to be part doctor, part astronaut and part zombie. then he said that he also wanted to be a scientist. so we'll add that to the list too!

hap(py) birt(hday) t(o) m(e)

happy half birthday to me! i'm exactly 26 1/2 today. that's why the title is only half of each word, get it? yes, it's a little weird. the only reason i remembered is because today is my friend Sarah Bennett's birthday and we are 6 months apart, to the day. so what am i going to do on this kinda special day? well, my day started at 5 am when wyatt woke up crying. i'm trying to teach him to fall back to sleep by himself, so he cried for an hour and a half before i finally gave in and nursed him back to sleep. by that time i was wide awake and figured i should stay up instead of trying to fall back asleep for half an hour. i would've just been mean and grumpy when ashton woke me up at 7. so showered, dried my hair, made chocolate chip muffins, and put on my makeup. all before 7:30! this is some sort of record for me. i'm usually still in my pajamas with unbrushed hair and glasses on when i drop ashton off at preschool at 8:30. i think they were surprised to see me looking like a human being today!
the rest of my half birthday should be pretty productive as well. i have a ton of energy for some reason. if you have a chance, go leave "sarah b" a birthday message, even if you don't know her. she's the coolest girl, she'll love it. come on, it'll be fun!

do sweet potatoes come out of carpet?

this is what wyatt was doing while i was putting away the groceries.

next time won't you sing with me?

A- Attached or single: attached

B- Best Friend: my sistah

C-Cake or Pie: ooh, a toughie! such indecision! ok, um....key lime pie.

D- Day of choice: any day T is home

E- Essential Item: cell phone

F- Favorite Color: honestly depends on my mood. i've been buying lots of red things lately, so it seems to be red. but that's probably seasonal, since it's around v-day. usually pink, or some form of blue-green.

G- Gummi Bears or Worms: mini-bears. in neon colors.

H- Hometown: columbus, indiana

I- Indulgence(s): sleeping in, yummy food, expensive jewelry & clothes

J- January or July: so totally july. i despise the winter, unless i get to snowboard. that's seriously the only way i enjoy cold weather.

K-Kids: 2 boys, ashton and wyatt

L-Life is Incomplete without: my fam (duh)

M- Marriage Date: september 14, 2002

N- Number of Siblings: 1, christanka harris

O- Oranges or Apples: really good oranges, but only if someone else will peel it and make sure to get all the white stuff off for me.

P- Phobias or Fears: falling to my death, spiders, having my body constricted (like being wrapped up in a blanket, not like by a snake)

Q- Quote(s): monica gellar, (rubbing her stomach and smiling) "mmmm, it's good!"

R- Reason To Smile: my kids, a good book, a beautiful day, seeing my hubby naked, running into old friends (but only if i look decent, otherwise it's no fun), a bath with an endless supply of hot water

S- Season: late spring & early fall, both have perfect weather

T- Tag Three : eh. whoever.

U- Unknown Fact About Me: i refuse to wear "peep toe" shoes. my second toe is unusually long and will poke out of the hole and look ridiculous.

V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: there's not much i won't do for a good steak.

W- Worst Habit: i'm really lazy and will procrastinate all the live long day.

X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: lots of ultrasounds, especially with ashton. x-rays on my foot the summer before 6th grade and my right hand during sophomore year.

Y- Your Favorite Food: can't decide. i'm in love with pf chang's beef and broccoli, outback salad, and

Z- Zodiac: virgo

totally attainable

i've been making a list of some things i'd like to do in the next 10 years. wanna know what is on it?
- visit the Smithsonian






- take surfing lessons






- see a Broadway show in NYC






- be a contestant on a game show




- attend a taping of Oprah






- compete in a triathlon






- finish my bachelor's degree





- run a mini marathon





that's what i have so far, but it's still in progress. i'll add to it as something comes to mind.
and i'd love to hear about the things you'd like to do!