Groat-Diddly-Oats

Double Date

2011-02-24T21:31:00.000-07:00

Today we had a chance to go on a double date with our friends the Busey's. It was very needed and way overdue. My husband and I are in serious need of social lives and we're always glad when the Busey's are willing to put up with us for a while. Although, somehow we always end up talking about labor and delivery and Steph & my experiences with childbirth. Course, it doesn't help that Ben is an L & D nurse on base so we always get a good laugh from his experiences as well. Not that he talks about anyone in particular just to comfort you if you happen to ironically have been his patient at some point in time :0) Course, it also doesn't help that Steph is expecting again so that brings the topic up as well. But we had a great time today. The guys went to the gym for a while then Steph and I met them at the bowling alley where we ate lunch and got a few games in. The kids ran around and loved making us nervous about getting their fingers pinched in the ball machine deal. Took some fun photos:

Love this photo! I actually look pretty cute.

John whooped me of course.

Bella helped us a couple of times.

We got Taco Bell's from the BX. Mmmmm!

Thanks for the fun date!! Till next time.

Losing Weight...

2011-01-30T13:02:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am a fickle friend.

I realize that you've all given up on me/us because you all gave me grief for not ever posting anything new and I tried to be better but only got one post in. So, now I really do have to get down to business and start blogging again. The really etertaining thing is that it seems like half of my blog posts are about writing more blog posts! :0)

To be totally honest with you guys I haven't been very motivated to write any posts because I feel like I have to dig deep to find anything worth writing about. This is a confession because I'm admitting how discouraging I feel our life is lately. If I had a more positive outlook on our lives right now I would probably be sharing every detail of my daughter's life like most great mom's do. But considering that I haven't felt like I could put myself in that category then it really doesn't matter. And therein lies my problem...I am a good mom/decent mom and I realize that so don't feel like I'm really depressed but there have been a lot of things in my life lately that have been wearing on me and making me feel less and less like I have anything blog-worthy. Now that that's out you're probably all gonna worry about me. But don't, at least not a lot--everyone likes to be worried about a little!

So I guess the best I can do at this point is vent...

Let me start off by saying that I have no idea how you full-time working mom's last for as long as you do. Kudos to all of you because I'm definitely not your caliber!! I find that I'm becoming more and more impressed with women like that who seem to have it all together all the time--working, wife-ing, mom-ing...crazy impressive! I feel like I can only be so good one role at a time. Maybe I feel like a phenomenal employee one day (or maybe it could last a whole week), but then I get home and everything else has fallen through the cracks and my baby's eating three day old raisins off the floor that the broom never swept (cause it does sweep all by itself or why else would we always be leaving stuff on the floor, eh?). Or maybe I cleaned the whole entire house, fed the baby incredible food and got her to bed on time. The next day I get to work and have nothing left to give! I've heard that balance is the key and the concept seems clear enough but application is a lot trickier than it sounds. Sometimes I think that in order to balance my life out I'm gonna have to look like one of those crazy guys from cirque du soleil who balance their entire weight on a toothpick. Besides I've never had that great of coordination :0)

I feel that my lack of fervor for life is wearing on those around me and turning me into a person I don't wanna be. Who wants to be around someone like Eeyore the donkey who is always grey and has a lack-lustre outlook on life? Really, at heart I AM a happy-go-lucky type of person but anyone who only met me recently would probably have a hard time beleiving that. I find myself wondering "What happened to that old me?" The one in that photo from a couple years ago looking like I had the world on a string around my finger instead of the one taken recently where I look like I'm carrying the world on my back. Seriously guys, how do I go about emptying the weights that I feel like I'm having to bear lately??

Truly it's a little hard for me to vent like this because I don't want to weigh anyone else down or have you end up beleiving that I AM a depressed person who only ever complains (I feel like that's what I'm doing a lot lately). But I suppose everyone feels like this every once in a while and I'm hoping you can help me turn that frown upside down and feel blog-worthy again :0)

The end...finally right?

*Rachel*

Cascade Triathlon

2010-07-06T20:17:00.000-06:00

Our latest and greatest adventure was John's triathlon at Cascade Lake. We drove up into the mountains to Cascade/McCall area where we spent the day in the sun watching John's race. Bella, John, and I went to a restaurant for lunch where we took a couple pictures, and then walked up to the lake for the race.

Gorillapods, they go anywhere!!

Isn't she a doll?

Daddy and Bella playing during lunch.

I love when these little puffs get stuck on her face, it's so cute!

Okay down to business now. The race consisted of a quarter mile swim in the lake, a 13 mile bike ride, and a 3 mile/5k run. The weather was pretty nice but the participants are all smart enough to know that the lake is going to be very cold so they all have wetsuits. Apparently John was one of the only ones who didn't have a special triathlon grade wetsuit so a bunch of the other guys thought he was a novice. ☺ In fact he ended up being the only one who had a farmer john style, or sleeveless wetsuit. So, here he is making his way down to the shore and the starting line.

He had just stepped on a rock and was trying to dig it out of his foot. Later that night, in the hotel we discovered that it was actually a piece of glass I dug out w/ a needle. Keep in mind this photo was from before the race even started so it turns out that John ran the whole race with a piece of glass stuck in the ball of his foot.

Warming up (or attempting to in the cold water)

Making friends with the winners. Seriously, the kid with the blue stripes on his wet suit won the whole thing and the guy with the red stripes took second place.

And let the mayhem begin...
John said it got pretty crazy in that water and he got kicked in the face a couple times. He said it was a bit scary just because the water was so choppy-it was a little windy that day.

I could spot John out in the water the whole way using my zoom lens but he was easy to see cause of his bare arm sticking out of the water.

These are just dang good photos so I had to post them for bragging rights.

Once the swim is over they have to strip out of their wet suit and get on their bikes as quickly as possible to cut back on lost time in the race. You can see John is starting to undo his wet suit on his way out of the water.

Just about ready for the bike ride.

And he's off!

He said that almost the whole bike ride was uphill and he had to avoid a lot of potholes on the roads so it was a challenging ride for him.

When they finish the bike ride they have to come back to the transition area and park their bikes before they can take off for the last leg of the race which is the run.

And he's off once again!

This is another one of my sweet action shots to show off John's mad athleticism.

Here he is crossing the finish line.

They had sweet big medals at the finish line.

Which Bella promptly chewed on. It's not gold...

(And that white thing in the front is not due to bad photography, that's Bella's foot poking up into the frame. If you know her at all you know she's all about sticking her feet up in the air!)

And that's the end of it!! He did really well and we had a nice time watching him. We were able to drive to McCall, have a nice steak dinner, and stay at a nice hotel that night. We even got to go for a nice relaxing swim while we were there. It was only the second time we've been in a hotel with just the two of us (& Bella now) including our honeymoon so it was really nice. Well, until next time.

*Rachel*

2010-05-03T17:37:00.000-06:00

james and I are starting a new season and we're bringing the family along for the ride. I'm so glad I'm in such freak'n good shape...lol.

2010-04-21T10:08:00.000-06:00

I think she likes the outdoors more than I do.

2010-04-21T09:33:00.000-06:00

she's got the coolest little grin. Even though she really doesn't like that bouncy swing, she loves the camera.

Ta Da!

2010-03-23T22:52:00.000-06:00

So, I'm getting grief from everyone because I haven't updated my blog lately. Blogging and I have had a complicated relationship...off again, on again. Well, I will do better again especially because I have something to actually blog about. Introducing my adorable baby:
Isabella Dawn Groat

Life in the Third Dimension!!!

2009-09-30T15:17:00.000-06:00

We went on a double date to go see Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. We loved it! I think the new 3D movies have been AWESOME!! Of course I can't pass up a chance to take photos in sweet 3D glasses; especially when they're as stylin as these ones are!!

Hey everyone, come and see how good I look!

We don't even need to be in the third dimension to look this good!

Whoa, John it's like I could reach out and touch you...

Stacy's hand is coming right at you...WATCH OUT!!

Well, Hello...

Holy crap, with these 3D glasses on it looks like I have a large bulge in my belly...

Don't act like you're not impressed!

Did I Mention...

2009-09-23T08:27:00.000-06:00

Did I mention that I'm super thrilled to be having a baby girl??
On cloud nine, stoked, jazzed, excited, delighted, psyched,
elated, blissed out, ecstatic...just to
throw out a few synonyms : )

I imagine I may have been feeling the exact same way right now if I were having a boy but I'm not sure. The reason I doubt is because little boys are much less fun to dress. Honestly, who of you girls out there can say you ever had a male baby doll (I don't think Ken really counts either)?? Okay, so I did...but he's (I say is cause my mom still has him) a cabbage patch doll so he's ridiculously ugly to begin with and he really only had one outfit and absolutely no
cute dresses!
Now, don't get me wrong, I've seen my sister dress a baby boy so I know that the idea of a lack of cute boy clothes out there is absolutely false. I've never seen a more well dressed boy than Aiden, and I've come to find out he hardly even wore some of the cutest stuff she found--infant cowboy boots for example. But I have to say that the girl clothes are
really, really, ridiculously adorable!!
I came to this conclusion when I was at the mall yesterday and saw that they had a
sale in the baby section of JCPenny's (just thought I'd bold that for anyone looking for baby sales). Of course, I wandered over there and proceeded to waste at least an hour looking at everything they had out. I was alone and had no one to say, "Ew, look at this one" or "that's adorable!" to/with so I took pictures (ah, the joys of a cell phone camera). The little dresses I found there are what made me decide that this is definitely gonna be way more fun than baby dolls ever were!! If I had my way and a lot more money...my baby would probably be in a cute little dress every single dang day!
And so, since no one was there yesterday the obvious solution to my total lack of estrogen swapping and girlie feedback is to post the photos on the internet and wait for the comments to roll in. Hence, the cell phone photos of the adorable clothes I found yesterday:

I like the little ones with the cap sleeves.

I love green & blue!!

Cute little sun dress!

I'm obsessed with polka dots right now.

Pretty in Pink for sure!

So adorable! A girl can't got wrong with pink & black.

Living on the wild side...Grrr!

These were fancier little silky dresses that were so fun!

Of course you can't pass up the adorable red pea coat!

The Big Five-O Again!!!

2009-09-23T06:16:00.000-06:00

Dad turned 50 about a month after mom did and he decided that since it's his birthday he can wear whatever the heck he wants to to his birthday party. So, here are the lovely photos of him in his kilt...and the rest of the party. : )
Enjoy!

GQ Stance...He looks pretty good for an old guy!

Helping to get the food ready (I was actually in this photo for once)

The party has officially started apparently...

A candle per decade!

Happy Birthday DAD!

Jana & Audrey--So Precious!

The Party People

The Super Cool Party People

Obama made an appearance in his kilt : )

We persuaded dad to do a little pipe performance--especially because he needed to practice his solos for the Highlander Games competition the next weekend.

The best part about dad's performance was watching Collette listen to his music--she loved it!!!

Sweet sporin and kilt belt buckle!

Everyone else "enjoying" dad's music : )

A sweet shot of the kilt. The official Hall tartan and all.

And now you know the answer to the age old question of what a man wears under his kilt...
Under Armour Shorts!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY-O!! LOVE YOU FOREVER!

Another Baby Ticker...

2009-09-03T11:01:00.000-06:00

Okay I found another cute countdown until delivery. It was on my friend's page who is only a couple weeks behind me so I wanted to add another one to mine. Besides it has two versions one has some funny little phrases on the bottom.

And here's the other version with facts along the bottom:

Hmmm...

2009-08-23T19:43:00.000-06:00

This is when I decided that I was OFFICIALLY entering totally new and
unfamiliar territory in life...

This is a photo that I took in the bathroom at our childbirth prep class. It is a picture of the handicapped stall in the women's restroom at the Anderson Center. I was frightened really...look how ominous that machinery looks. I was afraid to get any closer honestly but I had to take the photo so John could see what I was talking about. Okay, so I get that it's a restroom in the hospital and I'm sure it's very convenient for a lot of women but still! A public restroom honestly!! I try not to think about what this entails and that there's a good chance I'll be trying to figure out how to work a pump like this in a month or so but I can't stop myself. I swear, this is the stuff of nightmares! If males had to do something like this I think the world would turn upside down; just think about it boys...
"BREAST PUMPING STATION" UGH!!

I CAN DO THIS & I WILL BE GOOD AT IT...BUT IS IT OKAY TO BE TERRIFIED??

The Big Five-O!!

2009-08-22T14:36:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was mom's 50th birthday and I'm pretty sure we made it a good one. My dad was really sweet and tried very hard to surprise her with a nice gift this year. So, since her spare fridge in the garage had broken a few months ago he decided to surprise her with a new one. That's what she really wanted I think but we did a pretty good job of surprising her. I did all the dirty work so mom would have no idea. I made some phone calls, did some research, and went to the store to buy it. Then, I made my mom some sugar cookies and put wrapping paper and a huge bow on the fridge.

Looks like a huge present huh?

This is when she first came home and saw it in the garage.

She's enjoying one of the cookies I put inside the fridge.

Those are the cookies I made her. Clever, eh?

She's happily showing my dad the cookies and the wrapping paper since he was gone when they delivered the fridge and I got it all prepped. She was excited. It was fun!
That night my husband, Anna, my dad, and a bunch of my mom's friends all drove down to Glenns Ferry for a dinner theater show. There was a delicious steak dinner after which we saw a comedic show called "Let Him Sleep Til it's Time for His Funeral." Yeah, sounded weird but it ended up being all about this guy who was turning 50 and felt so old--the irony!! It was hilarious! All of my mom's friends were wondering if my dad had planned that out so well but we had no idea it was about turning 50. The theater is actually a really old opera theater and the actors are all volunteers so it has a really nice small town, down-home feel. They made us get up and sing "I've Been Workin on the Railroad" if ever the train went by because it was a tradition(if you don't know it's a tiny, tiny town and there is one train track in Glenns Ferry that cuts across the main road so if you're out driving when a train comes you're STUCK!!). I'm assuming it became a tradition because the tracks are right there so the train is so noisy the actors can't continue with the scene anyway. Also, during the preshow after dinner, the actors made sure to sing Happy Birthday to the audience members. So, my mom had to go up to the front and it was pretty funny. Karen ended up in the front also cause they asked for random birthdates throughout the year.

Mom & Karen being serenaded by the actors from the show.

The actor singing to her in this shot was making a big deal about mom and kept joking about taking her home with him. He was probably close to my age but his character in the play was in his 60's so he was making a big deal about "this young lady." Funny Stuff!

I love Karen's face when the main actor singled her out to sing just to her! Hilarious!
It was very fun and the show was very entertaining. I think my mom enjoyed it a lot so we were all happy.

Happy Birthday Mom You'll
Always be Young to Me!

Our Third Anniversary!

2009-08-19T11:37:00.000-06:00

We celebrated our third anniversary in Boise with a temple trip, lunch, and a movie at the theaters.The temple was really nice and we were able to ask a woman waiting on a bench outside to take a photo of us outside. I thought that would be so nice since that was the temple we were married in exactly 3 years ago.

The pictures are terrible though!!! I wanted to look so nice because it was our anniversary and so I spent extra time worrying about what to wear and getting depressed because I didn't look good in any of my church clothes, you girls all know what I mean--just those days when things could easily spiral out of control...I'm sure you'll all say I look fine but I think I look like a blimp. Alas, it's the sentimentality of the photo that matters I suppose (although I wish you could see more of the temple in the background).

We went to Mongolian BBQ because it's our favorite food and it was extra delicious. John is always jealous of how many noodles I can squish into my bowl--I'm shameless! We visited with my grandparents while we were waiting for the showtime to roll around. Then, we went to Edwards and watched G.I. Joe. I was mad though because we planned our whole day around going to a more affordable matinee showing and the matinees ended at 4pm--our show was at 4:10!! I was peeved and I think I embarrassed John when I complained to the people at the ticket window. : ) We also ended up finding a couple of Geocaches in downtown Boise.

This is my good looking husband walking through capital park as we looked for a cache.

That's me being cute cause I found the cache all by myself (sorry if I ruined it for you).

This is a really cute photo of us on our 3rd anniversary. So nice!
After wandering around capital park and finding those couple of caches we hurried back to the car and decided we didn't need to do anything else fancy so we went home, watched a movie, enjoyed each other's company, and ate ice cream.

(Okay, so if you don't want to be a part of my cheesiness then you really don't have to read the next little paragraph but I had to put it out there and give him a reason to smile)

Happy Anniversary Honey, I love you so much!
Ever since we were twelve years old I've been glad to have you as a part of my life and have been thrilled to watch the depth of my affection for you grow. You are the twinkle in my eye, the depth of my laughter, the reason for my smile, the strength through my trials, and the best thing in my life. I can't wait for more things to add to my list of reasons you
make me who I am, and an eternity of anniversaries to come.
Always and forever!
143!

Early Morning TV

2009-08-01T08:00:00.000-06:00

I have to admit that I’m an infomercial junkie. I got really sick this morning at like 4:30am . Which really sucks since I’m on a vacation with my mom and grandparents and they’re all worried about me now. Luckily however, our hotel room connects to a little sitting room area with a separate tv so they could go back to sleep. So, I’ve been flipping through channels since five this morning and I’ve seen some fabulous infomercials. I now feel I need airbrush makeup as used on the set of desperate housewives, the latest version of the FoodSaver system, the new Kodak ESP all in one printer, the “perfect brownie” pan (I’ve never seen that one before), and the Fein Multimaster tool. Seriously though folks, these are some amazing products! ☺ I know a lot of people really hate infomercials cause they’re so annoying and all of the people are so fake, but I really like to hear about all the cool stuff that’s out there. I think it’s because I just like to see the amazing inventions that people have come up with to solve all of these random problems. Like when someone eats all of the edges from a batch of brownies---no worries because with this sweet new pan every piece of brownie cooks individually so now everyone can have an edge piece!!! Yay! My only question with that one is what if you like the super chewy middle pieces of a batch of brownies? And, who wouldn’t want a wireless all-in-one printer right? Ew, Turbo Jam…sounds interesting. Well, I better go so I could call all these toll-free numbers NOW before all of the amazing deals are gone!

Oh, the joys of YouTube!

2009-07-16T11:17:00.000-06:00

My sister emailed me this video, it's a little creepy...but I laughed so I figured I share it. Especially cause it reminds me of the good old days with those creepy dancing babies and chumba wumba and such...ahhh the 90's!

Fourth of July Fun

2009-07-07T19:07:00.000-06:00

We had an adventurous fourth this year with Kristine. We decided that besides our two family BBQ's we would go geocaching up in the mountains. So we woke up at like 6:30am, got all ready for hiking and such, drove up to the lucky peak area, and found a few caches along the way to the Robie Creek area. It was a lot of fun but mostly ended up being an excuse for Kristine to be able to take her nifty new Jeep on an offroading trip! John kept trying come up with ways to trick her into letting him drive but she wouldn't hear of it! Why she even drove around with her top of for half the trip (okay, nobody panic--that's just me trying to be clever & funny because she took the hard top off of the jeep). When we decided we needed to be done caching and head down to the Groat family BBQ we realized that we didn't really know where we were. We had to stop and ask for directions and then had backtrack to find the right road. It was lucky we had GPS systems though because the main street/road wasn't labeled properly at all. The only way we knew it was the right road (aside from John's GPS map) was the Robie Creek fire station we were told to look for that actually only looked like a little shack and wasn't very clearly labeled. But we eventually found our way down into Boise and drove to Caldwell where we ate and played Rockband with the Groats & the Greens (my sister-in-law's family). That evening we went over to my family house and hung out with friends at the Hall family BBQ. We ate some more, played water balloon volleyball, and then went to my dad's office to watch the fireworks. We also played with a couple fireworks of our own after the parties were over. It was a nice day.

John & Kristine found a few caches on the side of the road on our way up there.

Yay for Geocaching!

It was really pretty outside as you can see.

I rode in the backseat of the GeoCache Mobile! Sweet!

Baby's first caching trip!

John is about to go find another cache...

We never found this one but we sure looked!

We even forged a small creek to see if it was hiding under a bridge.

Sweet waterproof shoes!

I actually look pretty good in this photo...probably cause it's from the shoulders up.

Kristine taking her top off...geocachers gone wild!

Keep on a rockin' me baby!

Waterballoon volleyball craziness... (team one)

John and Eric teamin' up.

(Team two)

John in full storytelling mode.

Judging by Karen's face it looks like I just said something embarrassing (not a first...although my mom is still smiling in the photo so it couldn't have been too bad)

My lovely mother and my lovely Karen!! La la la!

The gang at my dad's office watching the big Mtn. Home fireworks show (and for once that's not sarcasm cause they actually went all out this year!)

A sweet photo I took...ahhh, sweet shutter speed control!

Julie and my mom.

Another sweet photo of the fireworks.

An oh, so lovely photo of me lookin like a fatty...but I am holding a sparkler so I'm happy!

John & Jake lighting fireworks--John decided it was too windy so he was going to light them in the mailbox to avoid the wind
(don't worry I put an end to that thought before it got outta hand)

John lighting the little racecar firecrackers we bought...I love fireworks!

The End!!

Baby Bump

2009-06-29T10:15:00.000-06:00

Okay so this countdown is so much cuter than that last one (no scary looking fetuses). So I put this cute one at the bottom of my blog if you want to join us in our countdown you could just scroll down there every once in a while.

Fetazoid Countdown

2009-06-22T12:12:00.001-06:00

P.S.

2009-06-18T17:45:00.000-06:00

Yes, I am a cheater. Some of you have been asking why my April posts are just barely showing up on my blog. Well, to answer your question, it's because I cheat. There's an option when posting where you can change the date and time of your post...so there you go! Roughly translated, I am a slacker but I make it look like I'm not : ) So, basically, I didn't announce anything about my baby on my blog until June sometime but I wanted it to look like I was on top of things. The information is still all accurate though, I really did have my first appointment in the beginning of April and all that. I know, I'm silly, but I also figure that if I ever slurp my blog (send it to a publisher and get it turned into a hardcover book like shutterfly) then it will all be in chronological order according to how it occurred in my life. That's when my blog serves as more of a journal than anything else. Hence, you have to pay attention to my blog cause you never know when you'll find a new post! : )
Mystery solved!

Funny Stuff!

2009-06-18T16:35:00.000-06:00

You gotta love America's Funniest Home Videos, and of course "Charlie Bit My Finger" is just classic! I can't wait til we can make funny baby videos of our own. I'm sure she'll be a riot!

Tutus & Tiaras!

2009-06-10T12:34:00.000-06:00

We had our 20-week ultrasound on Monday and we got to see our little baby wiggling around while the tech lady checked on all the vital organs and such. Of course, she also did a little checking on the most vital organs ; ) We found out that a few parts seem to be missing and we're 95% sure that we're having a baby GIRL!! I'm jazzed! I think John is excited too but I'm not very good at hiding how ecstatic I am at all. Before we had her check neither of us had any idea what our baby might be--I didn't have any dreams about him/her, I wasn't convinced one way or the other. Although, when I was rereading Breaking Dawn on my break at work one day I remember thinking that it would be so nice to have an adorable little girl and I kinda had a little feeling that's what I would be getting. I even remember telling John I thought she might be a girl that night and I couldn't explain why when he asked. Actually, I always wanted to have a baby boy first so I could give my kids an older brother like I always wanted. Then, I secretly started to really want a girl and I like my older sister better than any old brother so I'm happy. YAY! Besides, this means I get to claim all of the princess dresses my mom has been collecting for like the past 5 years or so! : ) And baby girls' clothes are much cuter right now anyway--bows, leggings, tights, tutus, dresses, nailpolish, sparkles and so much more! Dress up here we come!

Oh Baby, Oh Baby!!

2009-04-20T16:07:00.000-06:00

Okay, so I think the word's out but I'm feeling like it's my turn--and way overdue--to make the announcement without anyone else stealing my thunder. I say stealing my thunder because if you know me, you know that I'm a bit of a drama queen with a flare for the creative. As a result of this flare I tend to get these images in my head of just how the big moments in my life should go, and when they don't go the way I thought they should I tend to get a little frustrated. So, here's me stealing my thunder back...except now that I've set myself up for some amazing creative announcement...I can't think of a special way to do this. So, here's my amazing creative announcement:

I'm PREGNANT!!

These are photos of our baby! We had our first doctor's appointment and my first ultrasound on April 6th and found that I'm about twelve weeks along. We didn't do a test or put two & two together until the beginning of March when I was about 7 weeks pregnant. We celebrated after the appointment with a bottle of sparkling cider. Everything is going well and I've only felt a little sick so I've been pretty lucky. We're very excited and we can't wait for this addition to our family although we know a lot will change : )

2009-04-17T10:05:00.000-06:00

Okay, so I remembered some other things I would love to have for my birthday. I would really love to have everything organized in my life...but it hasn't happened because I really have no place for everything. I would love to have a house with more room to actually put things away because since I'm OCD nothing gets cleaned up when it doesn't have an actual home. So if you choose to you can save me from myself with some scrapbook organizers. These are some that I like:

This is a really cool little rack thing that spins and has clips so you can attach your stickers and things. I think the cool thing about that is how you can see everything you have instead of having it hidden so you know what you need to use.

Same thing but just for ribbons---I actually don't even know if I would use this one as much because I don't really have any ribbon but I'd like to, so...
Obviously this isn't an organizer but I really want one of these. I have a feeling that I wouldn't take as much advantage of it as other people might but I consider myself to be kinda crafty, so I think I'd come up with some cool things that I could bind. It basically lets you spiral bind almost anything which could be fun (Stacy just got one from "the easter bunny" and I'm pretty jealous).

I think that all of these things are on amazon.com but I'm sure you could find them anywhere.
Oh yeah, I'd also really love some great movies like Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, To Catch a Thief, Gigi, Disney Hercules (I love that movie and I'm pretty sure they have it at Target right now), and other classics like Frank Sinatra Movies, ew or Notting Hill because I still don't have that one. I also would really love a nice new set of pots and pans because mine suck!!! But that's asking a lot...

Happy Easter!

2009-04-13T19:23:00.000-06:00

The Easter Bunny found our house and we got these cute baskets. I also decided to make some sugar cookies randomly and I had some really big bunny cookie cutters so I made some ginormous cookies. (They weren't as good as Grandma Sharon's at all in case anyone was wondering)

After church was over we ended up going to Ben & Diana's house for dinner and it was delicious! I love Amanda's coconut cream pie!!!!!!!

There they all are, eating and such...

And there I am, EATING and such...

Me and Old Man Tevis just chillin, and EATING pie.

And, of course, Reggie's hanging out too!! : )

2009-04-13T10:44:00.000-06:00

Okay, I know my birthday is in two days but...here's my little wish list, I guess...

We loved this movie.

I would love a cute little journal, any other fun new movies, or some of the classics like Oklahoma or some Carey Grant classics, also, I've been watching the food network and I'm really interested in getting a snazzy food processor. I'm thinking of getting into healthier foods and trying some stuff with hidden vegetables--I wouldn't mind getting the "Deceptively Delicious" cookbook for my birthday. Um...I can't really think of anything else...I guess it would be fun to get some fun cricut cartridges and/or new scrapbook stuff. Of course I'll be needing some new clothes and stuff like that : ) so whatever anybody wants to get me I'll be happy--I'm easy to please. I would love a Wii Fit, or a Mario Kart for the Wii, or Wii Rockband or stuff like that but that's a lot to ask for. Well, I have to go to work now but if I think of anything else I guess I'll add it.

My Husband, the Storyteller

2009-04-10T17:16:00.000-06:00

I was really busy the last couple weeks of March and upset with my job cause they kept scheduling me to work on Sundays. So John helped me out by teaching my Primary class for me so that I could leave half way through church for my stupid job. He didn't really do anything fancy but of course all four of my nine year old boys absolutely loved him telling his stories about his time in Costa Rica (even though half the time I prepared my lessons for hours and they hardly seemed interested). He was having fun telling his stories, like he always does, and they were eating it all up. I gotta say he's quite a stud, my husband! Check out that grin at the end of this clip when he realized I was video taping him...mmmmmm...so nice...that's the grin I fell for...Oh, sorry...
Continue...

My Birthday Present is Coming Soon:

2009-02-23T18:27:00.000-07:00

Custom Countdowns & MySpace Layouts

Valentine's Week

2009-02-15T18:51:00.000-07:00

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

This year for Valentine's I was very spoiled. My husband decided to be super sweet and make the holiday last all week (and yes, I am using my blog to brag and rub it in because I have an amazing hubby). Well, first of all he gave into my craving for cable tv and got us a cable internet deal but then he decided to get me something everyday of the week. He started with roses and a box of cute chocolate dipped pretzels. It was kind of funny because he said he bought the trio of roses that looked the "least dead" and assumed they would last me the day but figured they'd at least get me through the day. But they've lasted all week and they still look great!

See how gorgeous they are!

Then, on Tuesday I found Twilight on my pillow with a gift card to a massage place in town because I've never had one before and he knows I've been wanting one since I've heard how amazing they are. That was exciting. Then, of course I got New Moon on Wednesday with another cute note in the cover and a handmade coupon for dinner and a movie which expired that night--so we had a fun night in that evening. Finally I got Eclipse but he said he couldn't find Breaking Dawn anywhere so that was the end of it until Valentine's day.

So, on Valentine's day he surprised me with big plans and wouldn't tell me where we were going. He just told me to get ready cause we were going on a double date with Jarom & Stacy but that I needed to wear/pack my swimsuit. Of course I had no idea what that was all about because it was freezing and close to snowing that day. But we got in the car and I gave John the Mp3 player that I got him and we drove for like 2 1/2 hours to Lava Hot Springs. It was fun! We were swimming and it was snowing : ) I overheat really easy so I didn't last long but it was still a lot of fun. We wandered around town looking at the little shops, got a pizza and had a fun lunch then drove home and watched the bucket list at our house. It was a fun weekend and I felt very romanced and spoiled--lucky I guess is the best way to describe it. He's great!!

John pretending to be surprised & ecxited about his new toy.

The cool guys hanging out in the hot pool.

I had to post this one because John was flexing his muscles so he'll be happy I showed them off.

Ah, the beauty of the hot springs, Stacy in a coat & Jarom in swim trunks...

Of course we had to stop by the sword shop...

By the Power of Gray Skull!!!

(If you weren't born in the 80's and need an explanation go here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiUrTHYVLP8)

I HAVE THE POWER!!!

Third Time's the Charm!

2009-02-13T15:37:00.000-07:00

Ah, Twilight...I had a hott date with Stacy last night at the $3 Theater. We thoroughly enjoyed our evening making fun of Spider Monkeys and Flying Squirrels. I took my camera.

Fact:Camera + Icees + Cotton Candy + Sour Patch Kids + Butterfinger Hearts

= Silly Photos

+ Lots of Giggling

We're having Valentines dinner together on Sunday night too. It will be a very romantic fondue dinner. Then, I think we'll have a craft day--felt pins, canvas squares, paper shirts, scrapbooking, ric rac headbands, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. : )

I also hope to get the band together again sometime soon. We haven't had a rock fest in a while. Perhaps we can try out some new tunes and I can test out the new guitar. Schweet!!

That's Why They Call Me Mrs. Farenheit

2009-02-04T19:55:00.000-07:00

So, I was at work yesterday taking money for the chamber luncheon and just going about my day when a wave of nausea hit me and I really started to feel queasy. I figured well maybe it would pass, but I got back to my desk and still felt like throwing up and like I was just getting sicker. I gnawed on a nasty chewable pepto bismo that Stacy just happen to have (luckily), but it didn't really get any better. In fact I started to feel sicker--pepto may cover nausea, heartburn, indigestion, and diarrhea, but it clearly doesn't work for chills and fever like symptoms.

So, after an hour or so of that I finally gave up and went home where I watched a couple movies and tried to get warm without success. It turned out, that I was running a fever of about 101.6 or somewhere in there. Which clearly explains my fever-like symptoms! DUH! I really couldn't get warm all afternoon though even with three blankets on--I finally got smart after a while and plugged my heating pad in.

I took a few ibuprofens before I went to bed though and I think that helped break the fever in the night. I woke up feeling quite a bit better, drained but better; not knowing whether it would hit again this afternoon, or whether I was deathly contagious I stayed home from work today. I basically lay around all day but when I got a couple of bouts of energy I folded some laundry and ran a load of dishes. I hate sick days--they're so boring!! Such a waste of a day off work!!

Well, I will be back to work tomorrow wishing I had an excuse to stay home...it's funny how we always want whatever we don't have right at the moment. Fickle, fickle, fickle!

P.S. If you're wondering about the title of this post just know I really like Queen songs.

Superbowl Sunday

2009-02-02T23:15:00.000-07:00

We went to Steph & George's house for their superbowl party. It was great because our church doesn't end until 4pm. So, by the time we had dinner and finished baking the cookies that I wanted to take to the party it was already half time. Now, you might be thinking we were bummed about that, but we were thrilled. It still took half an hour to get to Rexburg which meant that we only ended up having to watch about 10 minutes of actual football. YAY!!

You see neither John, nor I are very big football fans obviously. This way we got to see all of the best parts which in this case were really lame and included a very anticlimactic ending. Although, I will admit that I'm bummed we missed some pretty sweet superbowl commercials. Especially that we didn't get to see the 3D ads and I also missed the new transformers movie preview.

But the highlight of my evening was getting to hold 5 week old J.P. (I think that was his name--Sorry!!). He was so tiny and so cute!!

Everyone was so surprised to see him awake, not feeding, and happy. I merely explained to them that this was nothing new, I have a strange way with babies. We have a thing for each other. His mom decided that I was the "Baby Whisperer" and after all these years of trying to figure out how to describe my baby magnetism I was quite happy to finally have a fitting title for the phenomenon. Yes, I am the Baby Whisperer!

When the superbowl was over they ended up changing the channel and finding out that the Wipeout show similar to MXE was on. I was trying to get George to take a good photo of John and I but obviously George didn't block the TV well enough to get John's attention for this shot:

This last one ended up pretty good though because we made fun of John enough that he had to look for at least one of them but you can tell he's still laughing.

Oh, yeah, they forgot to turn the channell back in time to see the beginning of that sweet hour long episode of the office so we didn't actually get to watch it that night. But they lent me their laptop so I could catchup on a couple of the important episodes I had missed from the past couple of weeks.By the way, I still haven't seen that episode of the office so don't say anything!!

The End!

Good Ole Eastern Idaho

2009-02-01T00:02:00.000-07:00

Well, I was having a kinda crappy morning the other day because I woke up to this...

and remembered that meant there would be more of this everywhere...

Then, it was so windy in the afternoon that my dumpster lid was blowing in the wind like crazy (you can't really tell from this picture but I'm pretty sure that it's being held open by the wind).

But, I have to say that as much as I hate the cold here and as much as I really don't love Eastern Idaho, I gotta admit that I love the beautiful sunsets here.

This one was especially beautiful and I just happened to have my camera so I had to get out and take a few shots at the park before my chance was gone. It was pretty! Like the sky is wearing rosy blush.

J-Rom & Steez's Big Move

2009-01-31T23:00:00.000-07:00

Today John and I helped fit a camel through the eye of a needle. Okay, not really, but basically the same thing--We moved all of Stacy's stuff, oh yeah--Jarom's too, over to their new apartment.

This is the moving crew working very hard...

The truck:

Stacy's D.I. Pile : )

A load of crap : )

My all time favorite photo of Jarom & Stacy:

Okay, you've got to scroll down through the next photos like a flipbook so you can get the real feel of what's going on here. This is good!

I scared Stacy so much she was out for a while...nearly wet her pants really...

Stay Classy Edward!

2009-01-13T10:54:00.000-07:00

Okay, my husband wants to go see Twilight tonight because I finally got him to read (well, listen to) the book and he actually kinda liked it. But because I'm planning on going with him to see the movie again I've kinda had Twilight on the brain and I saw Robert Pattinson in the Yahoo news this morning when I checked my email at work today and I gotta say that I'm still not in love with him like I should be with Edward. When I saw the movie the first time I thought "well, he kinda grows on you...especially in that one scene when he's being so casual and smiles all cutely at Bella..." and... (I'm sure you can imagine how the rest of that train of thought went considering that I am a girl ; )

But, as I was looking at more photos of him again, I still look and my automatic first impression is "There is no way he's Edward!!!" I am sorry to all those who cast him but---No Cigar!!! I just don't agree with him in the role of Edward Cullen. For one thing I think that Robert is only really adorable when he smiles. Don't get me wrong, I think he can be plenty steamy (yes I did youtube videos of him when I first heard that he was the actor cast as Edward) but I just think he's not very attractive when he's being serious. His serious face is not that hott and that is just wrong because Edward is serious all the time and still looks like he's chiseled out of marble with the face of a fierce angel. Sorry, but I am pathetically among the crowd desperately in love (the fictional, sappy, girlie, fake kind of love of course) with Edward and can't stand that they did him wrong in the movie.

The other thing about Pattinson that I really have an issue with is a matter of interpretation about Edward's actual character, but I just assumed he would be more classy. More dapper or old fashioned in a sense--kind of like a slightly updated newsie (Christian Bale still holds a special place in my heart for that one). For one thing, I accidentally misread his character when I first read the books and thought for some reason that he had darker hair and so of course it's hard for me to change my first idea of his looks. But, in my head he seemed like more of a Tom Cruise (far & away version of course) than a sloppy kid. I know I'm wrong with the hair color but I still think that Edward holds onto his old fashioned tendencies a little more than they showed in the movie--he was born in the early 1900's for heaven sakes!!! I don't know about anyone else but I just think that he of all people would hold onto a little bit more of the old fashioned looks.

But the reason why he was on yahoo news was his lovely new haircut. Personally I think he looks more like Edward's character than he did with his tangly wild hair but lots of people are freaking out apparently. He got in trouble with all the movie directors and such because he obviously has to have similar type hair for New Moon when they start filming in March. I read an interview he did a while ago when he told the interviewer that he didn't get why everyone in America thought his hair was such a big deal. He told her that he wanted to cut it off but I never thought he'd actually follow through with that threat. I think it's quite funny actually! Here's a snapshot:

Anyway, that's my rant on Edward and the reason behind it along with some photos for your entertainment. Over and out!

An Update!

2008-12-17T22:47:00.000-07:00

Okay guys, here it is, an update! You've all been asking for one for a while so I finally am doing it. Happy? Well, I'm doing it but I have no idea what to write about except for the fact that I almost just spelled write "right" so that pretty much shows how my life is going right now. I'm busy and I'm losing my mind. I think that my college education is already slowly slipping away and it's only been four or five months. At work we have been sold out and completely booked with Christmas parties so I've worked a little extra and things have been more stressful than ever with the staff. Not to mention that I've still had to prep a primary lesson and go to my own Christmas parties. By the time this week alone is over John and I will have gone to 4 Christmas parties--both our work parties and two of our friends' parties. And, three of them are white elephants which means that I will have been to WalMart at least once every night this week as well buying stinkin white elephant junk and last minute food/party items. Not to mention the extra house key I had to go get cut because I can't find my house keys. That keyring also has my office keys on it meaning that when I got to work today I didn't have a way into my office!!!! CRAZINESS!!! But I am very pleased with the way things are going with Scentsy. I am loving the product myself and it seems like everyone else does too. I'm also excited by the prospect of having a little extra fun stuff on the side (not that I need more to do) and an excuse to party with my friends. I've had my first two parties this month and I'm really looking forward to January because I'll be having a couple more parties. John started working at Kohl's too because he wanted a way to make extra money for the holidays too. But he works there after his other jobs which means that he doesn't get home until about 12:30 at night and I haven't been able to go to bed before he gets home. I am enjoying his discount though. We are both really looking forward to the holidays though--so much so that John's already given me most of my presents--but we are both very excited to see family and especially for James' wedding. This is a long post and you probably won't read it anyway because there aren't any pictures but oh well, at least I gave the people what they wanted.

Movin on Up!

2008-08-03T18:35:00.000-06:00

We have officially moved to Idaho Falls and we live in a little town house in a great little spot. It smelled really funny for some reason--I'm pretty sure the people who lived here before had hamsters or a bird or some other small animal who poops in sawdust. The landlord said that he cleaned the carpets but I'm not sure if he really did because it stank. I finally got it to smell mostly normal now that it's slightly lived in and I bought some airfresheners. Now it smells like Hawaiian breeze with a slight hint of poopy sawdust! : ) No, seriously though, there were a few things that I was disappointed with at first but now that I've cleaned most of it and we've unpacked a lot of stuff those quirks have grown on me a little. I really like the kitchen because there's a lot more space to breath in, but unfortunately that breathing room may be due to the fact that there is a little less counter space. I love the pantry and HALLELUJAH there's a garbage disposal and I don't have to accidentally clog the toilet with grody old cookie dough because I had no where else to dispose of it (don't ask, don't tell!) But the fridge is a little funny because it has wheels and it moves every time I try to open it. And, so far I've had to use our dinky little card table instead of a real one--which is fine, I love you honey! : ) Also our bed frame/headboard thing broke in the move so our bedroom is looking pretty empty too. But it's starting to feel like home so that's good. At this point in our move I dream of Genie, no really! I just wish so badly that I could snap my fingers, cross my arms and nod, wiggle my nose, or whatever other magical gesture there may be to get my house to be amazingly clean and decorated. I want a cute house that feels like home but as you can see from my lovely photos, I've got a LONG ways to go!

This is my little front room when you first walk in.

This is the left corner of my kitchen where all the stuff isn't piled up at the moment!

Here's my cute little half-bathroom between the kitchen and front room.

This is my upstairs vanity area which connects the two bedrooms (kinda odd I know)

This is the bathroom/shower that is behind the vanity area. I got them unpacked first out of everything in my whole house--necessity can lead to great things! : )

Jelly-Stone Park

2008-07-30T22:50:00.000-06:00

West Yellowstone!!
Okay, I know I'm still back-tracking here but I want to get caught up so I can be up to date. The day after graduation John and I went to Yellowstone with my family. Becca, Aiden, Chris, and my parents were all loaded in the van in time to make it up there for a 2pm matinee of Oklahoma at the Playmill. As most of you know I am in love with that play and could probably act out every part for you myself. But I had never been to the Playmill and had heard that it was a lot of fun so I figured graduation was a good excuse to take a little trip over there.

The play was well done and the little theater was really cute and had a nice atmosphere because it was such a small little box theater. It was hilarious because my dad decided to rename it the "moulin bleu" because it is a mill and looks a lot like the moulin rouge in Paris (and from the movie). So, those of you who know my dad know that he likes to keep a good thing going and he was making cracks about if this was a burlesque version of Oklahoma with some topless dancers and maybe a little bit more action in the dancing underwear girls scene (during the many a new moon song). And we kept laughing which only encouraged him and we were basically calling it the moulin bleu all afternoon and of course we were saying it with ridiculous french accents. Here it is so you can get the full mental image:

While we were watching the play my nephew, Aiden, was being pretty well behaved and walking back and forth in the aisle. Then he tripped over himself and whacked his face on the chair-back in front of us and bounced on the chair seat behind him. Then of course he started wailing in pain and my sister had to squeeze out of the tiny, box-theater row. After a few minutes of him still screaming my dad went to check on him in case he hit his mouth or something like that. They had to take him all the way out of the theater and walk along the sidewalk until he could calm down because it turned out that he got a nice shiner. There was a gash next to his right eye and he looked pretty pathetic. This is a cute/pathetic photo of his little shiner:
After the play John met up with us, he rode his motorcycle up, and we ate at a delicious fifties style diner that unfortunately was out of garden burgers : ) My sister was all excited because they had them on the menu but then they were all out of them and she was moody the rest of the evening. It was entertaining. There was a toy train that chugged around a rail on the ceiling too and Aiden loved it. I had an amazing chicken sandwich and we ordered some great malted milkshakes. I love fifties diners if only for that reason alone; I love malts! If you don't know this about me already, I'm obsessed with photos so here are some fun ones of my family at the diner:

John and I

Mom & Pop

Becca & Aiden

The Crazy Boys

On Sunday we went into the park and hiked around looking at all the geysers. My dad and I were mostly being obsessive photographers and spent at least ten minutes at every spot worth taking photos of. When I get them edited and everything I'll probably put them on my website or a photography blog when I start one. But here's a sample:

We got back to the hotel pretty late that evening and decided that we really didn't get enough time in the park and especially that we hadn't seen enough animals. So we decided to wake up really early Monday morning (I know you guys are laughing because you don't think my family could wake up and be anywhere early) and go back in for more photos and hiking around. Dad really wanted to see some good buffallo herds and such. We made it in by 6am and did some nice little hikes to some cool water falls and saw quite a few buffallo. We even saw a bear way far away that some park rangers had pinpointed in the telescope. It was fun.

Mr. Buffalo

In front of one of the pretty water falls.

Sweet Rapids

Really Pretty Water Fall

That was yellowstone!
The End!

Graduation!!

2008-07-25T19:18:00.000-06:00

I finally graduated from BYU-Idaho after what seemed like forever. In reality it didn't take me too much longer than average to finish my degree. I earned a bachelors of arts in communications with a minor in French. I am glad it's all over with but am not quite sure what to do with myself...well, technically I could be unpacking but who wants to do that. Here are some photos of my graduation which was on July 18th 2008.

That's me by the pretty little Y-of-I made out of carnations.

That's me giving my valedictorian speech. : )

Really pretty flowers in front of the podium...

"Look Jay-chel Grampa's taking a picture!"
Me, my siblings, and my nephew

The ones who got me there!

Me, my hubby, and my sweet mother-in-law.

Me with one of my favorite teachers.

Most of the AVM Girlies!

Like mother like daughter.

Without him I wouldn't have made it either
Although I gotta admit he was a distraction occasionally : )

Everyone but Kyle made it over for the big event.

Buffalo Wing Thing

2008-07-20T19:32:00.000-06:00

I've decided that one of my new favorite foods is the Buffalo Wing Thing pizza from Craigo's. It's kind of a funny story too because I was in a group for school and I told one of the group members that "I could have a hot and steamy love affair with that pizza." He laughed--who wouldn't :)--and told me that was ironic because he invented that pizza. Apparently at Craigo's they let their employees be creative with pizza toppings and sauces and such. So this is my shout out to James Rognon (not that he'll ever see this) the father, and creator of the most savory/delicious/scrum-diddly-umptious pizza I've ever had in my life! Ok, so that was a little over dramatic but I really do love that pizza!! I'll explain food-critic style:

The buffalo wing thing pizza is a brilliant combination of two classic American foods--spicy buffalo wings and pizza. The thick Craigo's crust is a perfect palette for this masterpiece which begins with a healthy slathering of barbecue sauce. This savory sauce is joined by deliciously melted mozzarella and warm tomatoes. Finally the creation is topped with the piece de resistance: the buffalo wing. This sweet and spicy combination sends the taste buds into a delighted frenzy urging for more, and before long an addiction is born bringing the cravings and withdrawal pangs along with it.

I know, being a food critic could have been my calling in life except I hate fish. Oh well, I'll have to stick with blogging about amazing foods.

Now that you know about my love affair with the buffalo wing thing pizza it is plain to see why I took my family to Craigo's for dinner the night of graduation and here, of course, are the photos to prove it:Aren't we so cute?!

Just chattin it up!

Ah, look at all those tasty Pepsi products.

num, num, num, num delicioso!

Notice how there aren't any more pictures after the food came...

Groats at BYU-I

2008-07-20T19:00:00.000-06:00

Right before graduation I got a chance to hang out with my in-laws before my family came up. They came to help Jarom and Stacy pack up and move to the new house but we got to spend a little time with them too. Kristine even got to stay for my graduation which was really neat. But, after I finally finished my last final ever and turned in my website I got to go play with them for a while. We went geo-caching of course because it's Kristine's favorite new hobby. It is pretty interesting and can be a lot of fun. All my nieces and nephews especially love it and they made her an easter egg hunt using coordinates on her gps so they could geo-hunt all of them. But we found a couple nearby and got to go trekking around and trying to be sneaky around all the muggles--yes, that is what they call non geo-cacheing people! : ) I took some photos of us walking around and then Jarom showed us the little garden he planted in his gardening class so it was a lot of fun.

Looking for the cache...

Jarom resting up after all the hard work it took to find the cache.

And of course, the classic photo posing in front of the BYU-I sign.

This is Jarom's little garden from his class. He had to take a moment to stop and smell the flowers...ah...so lovely.

Here is Jeff in the middle of a very classic Jeff Groat explanation (note the stance and serious expression).

Jarom still being giddy about how lovely his flowers turned out...

Now, Kristine is busy explaining something--sharing her master gardening skills.

Jarom examining his tomato plants

Like father like son (note the stance and serious expression)
: )

The Joy of Animation

2008-06-12T11:58:00.000-06:00

Today I decided that I really like it a lot when inanimate objects have personalities. May seem creepy so call me crazy, but when a sponge can walk and knives are watching a slasher film I am highly entertained. This is very Gilmore Girls of me I know but I find that life is much more interesting when you can interact with all of you kitchen appliances--"Well hello Mr. Toaster, how are you today?...Oh, no that's fine I have crumby days every so often too."
I found this clip that is one of my new favorites: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NM7flaAWJ_c

This may be one reason why I really like claymation--especially from the eighties. Better Off Dead for example has a classic claymation scene you should check out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyxBh3C5kvo
(if you wanna see the whole movie because you thought that clip was so amazing and you're in the mood for a great 80's flick, don't worry I can loan it to you sometime)
And of course you can't talk about claymation without reminiscing about the great California Raisins. This one's a classic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOQO5lq6bNk&feature=related
And of course, you've got your celebrity appearances:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HEyGY--IIw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PNPw5ozU0U&feature=related

Photo Junkie!

2008-05-29T11:09:00.000-06:00

Lately I've been taking a lot of photos and editing them in photoshop mostly because of my class requirements. But now I'm addicted! I am going to be editing for life and I'm pretty sure that I'll get the shakes if I go too long without photography. So, here are some cool websites I've found that have fed my addiction: www.brusheezy.com; www.dafont.com; and www.deviantart.com
They're pretty sweet!

Blogging again! I know, you missed me!

2008-05-15T11:49:00.000-06:00

So my cool friends were showing off their super sweet blogs and I got jealous so I decided to come back to my blog. It almost didn't want to take me back but I told it I was so sorry and I would never leave it again and we made up. Hence I am writing a new post. Really, I don't know why I should write anything because my life is boring. However, one little tidbit is that the jeep wouldn't sell so we figured we should be using it while we're still paying for it. So it's back! Yay! But then, the window on the driver's side broke and wouldn't roll up and it started to rain so John took it back to I.F. for a doctor's appointment. I feel very stranded without a car because John has been driving to I.F. for work but I tried to ride my bicycle yesterday and about died! I'm way outta shape! Otherwise the only thing going on is stress from school and a slightly new job as server at a catering place for their banquets. BLAH!

One Goodbye is Never Enough!

2008-03-28T15:53:00.001-06:00

Yesterday we drove to I.F. and dropped my jeep off at the car dealership because we're trying to sell it. Hopefully they can sell it for us by the end of next week or so--parting is such sweet sorrow! I only had the jeep since like November or so but I did like it. If we stay in Rexburg I will definitely miss the heated seats. I loved those things!! It had a cool sound system too but to be honest it was too much of a hassel to really take advantage of the 6 cd changer. I had to get out and open the trunk and kind of climb in to get to the loading cartridge so I could change the cd's around. When we cleaned everything out yesterday a couple of Christmas cd's were still in the cartridge. One day I'll have a cool car though! We don't have that many pictures of my other little black car so I wanted to take some farewell photos of the little guy.

Well, it's adieu to my v8, all wheel drive, only meant to be driven by a real woman, jeep but I think I'll live.

BLOGGING!

2008-03-26T12:09:00.000-06:00

I am posting my first ever real, genuine blog! Can I just say that blog is an especially strange, funny word. Blog, blog, b-log...hmm. I can't even imagine if like a drunken or drugged person were to try and say that word (especially "blogging"). Hi-Larious! I should put that on my phone's answering machine "Sorry I can't get to the phone right now I'm probably busy blogging so post your message after the beep and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks!" :0) Well I am off to class but I am now officially a BLOGGER!! Yay!