Birthday Week Begins in St. George, UT

This past week we've been in St. George, UT, where we met up with some of my family to enjoy their spring break. Noelle and I left before the crack of dawn on Monday morning to make our trek north to meet up the the grandparents for a little R&R.

When we got to the condo, I thought it would be funny to call and let them know we had arrived in St. George, but that we weren't quite sure where we were going. Grandpa Ted gave us the directions for a second time and said he'd meet us outside and to watch for him. Little did he know I was calling from the parking lot. Ha ha! So we started down the sidewalk and as they were looking for us to come from the other direction, got to surprise them a little and that was when Noelle's birthday week began.

First things first, Easter basket. Grandma Kathy put baskets together for the other cousins and brought Noelle's to St. George. It had Elmo eggs and some books, sun glasses, bubbles galore and most important to Noelle, candy. They also brought out a large box which she recognized from the toy aisle at Target. A tickle Elmo. Oh boy! That was from Great Grandma and Grandpa Grow for Christmas.

We hit some Utah originals, like Chuck-a-Rama (Yeah, I like it) and the original Cafe Rio (new location, but did you know it all started in St. George ten or so years ago?) and St. George Pizza Factory.

We drove to Las Vegas and Noelle saw her first full length movie on the big screen, Horton Hears a Who. She did pretty good and was the keeper of the bag of popcorn.

We swam in the condo pool, which I thought would be way too cold, but was surprisingly warm and so much fun, hence the pictures.

But best of all we had a birthday party, which included more bubbles, balls, cute clothes, more Elmo and cake.

Noelle did a great job blowing out the candle too. No spitting or nearly burning her face off, but a nice gentle blow. It shocked me, I don't know why, maybe because I was expecting those other things to happen.

On the way home we stopped and stretched our legs at the Hoover Dam. I had never seen it, so on our way to Utah I was in awe a little, but we looked like such hobos I thought we'd take a picture at the Hoover Dam on the way home. Did you know they are building a huge by-pass across the canyon? That will make the drive a lot faster when its done, but looks a little scary.

We had a great week. Thanks family.

Easter Sunday

Being that our baby really doesn't understand the whole Easter Bunny

concept, we once again opted out of providing her with oodles and gobs of candy on Easter morning. Someday I'm sure she'll ask why she didn't get an Easter basket and then need therapy for not getting one in her early years. I can't wait.

I digress. After church we had an Easter feast with our friends, the Weeks. Given that they have four kids and two understand all about baskets, eggs and especially egg hunts, we were lucky enough to participate. Boo and A hid the eggs and then it was a mad dash to see how many we could find. Noelle was more excited about what was in the eggs than finding more. However, as almost all eggs were found she pointed up at the basketball hoop and said "Purple egg!" Who knew that she knew what purple was? Thanks Weeks' for a fun afternoon.

Playing at the Park with Dad

While I was at my painting class, Noelle and Boo went to the park to play.

Blog Neglect

I am not neglecting my blog, I'm just on vacation in St. George, UT, putting together a collection of photos to post. So stay tuned for a day or two longer and then there will be something good to read. 

BTW... I really love everyone who reads my blog, even those who read without leaving any comments and I find out that you stalk my blog regularly. I love it! I don't have to update you on my whole life the next time I see you and you won't have to ask me my baby's name. You should know my hobbies by now and won't ask what I do in my spare time. (I was asked this recently and realized that the person asking was neither married or had children and probably wasn't reading my blog.)

So to all my fans and not fans, thanks for stopping by, see you soon!

My Newest Masterpiece

For the last two Saturdays I have been taking some painting classes at my local JoAnn's store. Side note: The store by my house is like a Costco for crafting. Kind of crazy even. I couldn't believe having to take a number for the cutting table. And forget going on a Saturday, it ends up being me and all the old grandma's vying for a spot to park our carts full of fabric while waiting for our numbers to be called.

I digress. Back to my masterpiece. Today was the whole reason for taking the classes. I really loved it and hope to pull out my paints again soon so I can make another.

Its called "Bed of Tulips" (not my name, but what the class called it.)

Spider Man and Friends Not Welcome Here

There are many things that Boo told, or should I say warned me about before moving to Arizona. When he initially told me of the job posting for Arizona and I said "You should apply," he turned in his seat so fast and said, "Do you know how hot it really gets in Arizona? Take the coldest day in Boston and imagine that, but extremely hot." In reality, no I really don't know what I'm in for and I am in no way prepared for the day it arrives. Besides not being prepared for that scorching heat, I was in no way prepared for what was camping on my doorstep either. It seems that Spiderman and his friends were having a slumber party and we weren't invited. Not just any breed either, of the black widow kind. SCARY!!!

I'm definitely not open to the idea of letting them crash out at my house and have given them the one way pass back to spidey heaven. The Home Defense works fast.

Please excuse my lame pictures.

Waking-Up

Some people in this world choose to wake-up to the smell of fresh brewed coffee in the morning. For others, if they're lucky, they wake-up to the smell of a nice breakfast being made by a nice mom. Neither of those scenarios were the case for us this morning.

Lately, we've been battling some sort of virus, something very similar to Rotavirus. For those of you unfamiliar with this or similar sorts of viruses, it is highly contagious and is a 'hand to mouth' situation. We've experienced this one other time and it seemed to linger around our house for a good week. It hits the stomach region and causes all things bad that have to do with stomachs and butts. Luckily (knock on wood) I don't seem to get it. Maybe because I wash my hands a ton, or maybe because I was born and raised in a barn-like situation and I'm immune to such things. The latter seems most likely given my childhood (no offense to my parents, but we were kind of feral, just ask the Whipples.)

So here's to waking up this morning to the fresh smell of pooh. To rinsing it out of Noelle's pj's, and washing all bedding, blankies and things of the like twice. And to wishing Boo anything but a similar experience to his federal court one from the last round of viruses.

Food Critic

We went to a new Greek food establishment just up the street from us, Cyprus Pita Grill. Now if you know me well, then you know that I should have been born in the Mediterranean. I love that kind of food. Eastern European, not so much.

I digress. So this new place has some pretty good food. Not the best I've ever had, but I'd eat it often. Its not Yanni's Greek Express by any stretch of the imagination. (All of you in the greater SLC area should go on my behalf.) However, it seems they have a few operational issues. Where are our drinks? Where is the rest of our meal? Holy cow, can't you wipe off the darn tables?

So for all of the locals reading my blog, give them a couple of weeks, or just order it to go and you'll be much happier. Try the Greek fries or "frice" as it was put on the kids menu. (Said with an accent rice and fries kind of sound the same, but whoops we're in America now.) I should have taken a picture, but my cell phone is ghetto and doesn't have those kinds of features and even if it did I probably wouldn't be able to get it from the phone to my blog. Sorry folks.

Slight Observations

Ok, so maybe I lied and was closer to being finished with this quilt than I said I was. However I'm so glad so that it too can be shipped off to Boston. I really hope little Ben likes it. I promised it wouldn't have cacti on it.

This is one of my favorite patterns as of lately. The second with these same materials and the third of sail boats. Its fairly easy and so gosh darn cute. It reminds me of Boston too. Boy quilts are hard in my mind. I'd so rather put butterflies and flowers together.

Its somewhat therapeutic to see my quilts finished and photographed so that I can inspect them in a way that others do. When I hold them in my hands and look them over I usually go straight for the mistakes and laugh a little. But other people don't look for the mistakes (I hope) and seem really happy to have a 'Rachel Quilt' in their collection. To them I say "You're welcome as long as you use it."

On a different note as far as observation goes, I was laying in bed thinking about my substitute music leading in Relief Society yesterday. Two funny things happened and I know that people caught on. First I didn't look too closely at the music and thought for sure that I was off somehow and would just find my place and start over on the down beat. I did, about four times at least - little did I know that the measure continued on to the next line. How stupid. Then a little less obvious, I led the closing song backwards. It was in 3/4 time and instead of going down, right, up I lead it down left up. Still a triangle. One woman was just staring at me and I think it was because she was trying to figure out what was so strange. By the second song though I had the whole measure issue figured out. I think I just secured my position on the activities committee, won't be called to lead the music in RS anytime soon. Mom, don't be disappointed in my failed attempt at leading music. Beck, I can hear you laughing your head off.

Murmuring

I'd like to take this opportunity to murmur.

A few weeks ago, while my Sissy was in town visiting, a robo-cop took a picture of my car and sent me an early birthday present in the mail. Now I don't think I'm all that aggressive as a driver, however given my experiences of the last few years it was survival, necessity, the essentials to staying alive on the roads of Boston.
I guess I still have a little of that in me. So to celebrate I get to go to a driving safety class and pay the fine. It sucks, I'm not happy at all. And had there not been a website to view myself in the action then I would try to argue my innocence, but since I've replayed the incident several times, I'm sure my attempts would be futile. So happy early birthday to me. They should have just taken away my birthday all together.

In addition to that, we've been asked to speak in church, not for a few weeks though. So now I'm wallowing in my future approach to the pulpit and the anxiety which it causes me. Boo doesn't seem to mind speaking in church and I really don't want resist, I think it only makes matters worse. However I get up there and start talking fast and then I get all sorts of emotional and by the time I sit down I can barely remember what it was I said. Its like I black out. I come from good pulpit people stock. People who get up there ramble on, make good sense of scripture, add in a little antidote, some personal experience and then its all over. Somewhere down the line I didn't get that gene of confidence. So if I start begging for prayers from others I might actually make it through. Thanks in advance to all of you.

Quilting Season

Before moving to Arizona winter has always been quilting season. Really what else is there to do when its frigid out? But now the weather is nice and its making it harder to stay in and work on my quilts. Luckily friends having babies makes me a little more motivated. I don't claim I'll have it done before the baby's born or even a couple months after, but I'll do my best. This is the most recent completion, getting ready to be shipped to Boston. I have a second one with this same material half done (no intended recipient just yet) and two boy quilts which are about 40% done and hopefully will be completed by the end of March or sooner. (fingers crossed!)

Potty Update

So we went through three pairs of panties until I finally decided that it was time to put the diaper back on. As we were getting Noelle ready for bed I told Boo to put her on the potty one last time, and she went!!!! The first time she really peed in the potty. We had a major celebration over pee. Today she's gone twice, once in the big toilet and once in her potty. No poops yet. But the diaper went back on because we had to leave for Kindermusik and park time with the friends. We'll see what happens the rest of the day.

Potty Training

I am a fool for thinking that my child might possibly be ready to potty train? She's crazy about her new potty and thinks panties are fun, but she has yet to actually pee in the toilet or potty and has only had panties on for a total of a few hours. (we're only on the first real day, sort of) Am I giving her too much credit in thinking she's up for this? Am I giving myself too much credit for thinking I can actually do this? Please say a little potty prayer for us!

Blog to Book

If you don't read Lacy Finds then you might not know about this great site. I have been worrying about how to get my blog on paper for posterity reasons. I like to think someone someday might find it interesting and funny. Or just funny. So check out this site and get your blog on paper at least for the first year.

http://www.blurb.com/create/book/blogbook?tag=3_sf

Cooking Experimentations

Fri-ta-ta-ta - looks like a souffle, tastes kind of like a souffle, but you cook it and then bake it. It was yummy.

Souffle - It appears to have problems, operator error. I didn't have the right size "souffle pan" for this try and I wasn't willing to buy the whole six piece set just so I could have the 1.5 qt dish. Well now you know what happened because it doesn't look like it rose up, but it really did.

Spritz Cookies - Notice the two tones? Aren't they lovely? Auntie (AKA Tanty by Noelle) came for a visit last weekend and we broke out the cookie press and made the most delightful cookies. I think I'll make them again soon, but not until I forget how much butter it takes.

Balkers Beware

To all who balked at my wish list, I say poo-poo (like the French.) So far its worked out great. Mumsie sent me an early birthday present. My spice rack is in a drawer working almost like a charm. Only problem was that aparently my drawers are not standard length, so now I just need that sander to sand it down a bit. I won't really do that but it would probably work. I just re-arranged a few things and its great. Now I can see all my most used spices at once. No more digging through a cupboard which I'm really too short to see anything. I plan on making a trip to IKEA this week and will see if they have anything from my wish list for extra cheap.

Cooking Phenom

Its really hard to be a cooking phenom when you have inadiquate tools in your kitchen and possibly inadiquate skills. I can sharpen my skills through practice, but honestly there are some kitchen tools that I haven't even heard of. That's why swapmeets are good. There are booths full of stuff that you never thought you might need but secretly might want. This is how I obtained a small spatula and a dough cutter.

I added a "wish list" on the side of my blog of things I might need to make, say a fritata or a soufle, polenta (wish me luck on that.) Its not there to be vain or needy, its just things that might help out at some point and come my birthday or Christmas it will help my husband to not ask me fifty times of what I want or need. He'll only have to ask once since he never reads the blog. Let me know if there is a must have tool in your kitchens that I might not have that I can add to my list.

BTW... I have a cookie press already. Spritze cookies anyone?

My Funny Valentine

When this current picture was taken, I felt so silly. And shortly after we drove up to Maine where I stood and declared that I had an announcement to make... "We had engagement pictures taken today!" Ha, they all thought I was going to say something else. That was the best part. Anyhow, its actually kind of sweet and its not very often that just the two of us get to be together in a picture.

Which brings me to the next part of my story. A long time ago we declared that Valentine's Day was just a big let down. Boo commiserates that floral shops hike up the price of flowers which he is never willing to pay for. And I can never think of something clever and usually give up early in the hunt. I've hinted many times to the fact that Costco sells flowers at a discount all year long. This usually falls on deaf ears and I end up buying the flowers for myself a week in advance and just tell him that they're my "blank" flowers. (Insert any occasion for the word blank.)

So this Valentine's Day season he commented that he hadn't made it to Costco and wasn't sure if he would. Talk about 'anticipointment.' (thanks Sundahls) Anticipointment is the anticipation of something great and then being a little disappointed at the same time. There are two great occasions when this occurs: Valentine's Day and New Year's Eve.
So wallowing in my VD sadness and watching all these great VD surprises on Oprah my door bell rang. First thought was "Man I hope it isn't someone from church because I look like crap." But in reality it was Cupid bringing me my own VD surprise, flowers, even tulips that I love.

Boo got some Dove chocolates and a Tide-to-Go pen. How romantic and clever.

Noelle's Antics

Can you say 'hobolicious'? Noelle came in to see what I was doing on the computer and this is what she looked like. No idea where she found her hat, since we haven't been using it lately, one of my shoes and her pj's. Then as I go to take her picture she pulls a typical move and puts her finger up her nose. It doesn't get much better than that. Earlier she was carting around her goods in her doll stroller, in which case she was looking like a bag lady. Great things to come from her, eh?


This video is of Noelle saying "lasagna." She can't say it without making that face. However, she no longer will perform this trick for us, used and abused as it is.

Birthday Week Continues

We continued the birthday week celebrations on Saturday, Boo's actual birthday, by hiking around Papago Park in Phoenix. We went up to the Hole in the Rock, which was fun to climb around and see the cityscape.

As part of the park there is a tomb of George W. P. Hunt, who holds the record for serving the most terms as a governor in the U. S. From Hunt's tomb you can see part of the Phoenix Zoo. We could see the giraffes walking all around. We might have to visit there before it becomes too hot.

Our celebration continued as we took a driving tour of Boo's old neighborhood in Tempe. I don't think his parents would consider moving there today and probably would have moved away since. However, Boo has fond memories of running all around the area and couldn't believe his eyes at the development of the area. He even swears that he recognized the old man walking up and down the sidewalks.

On Sunday we had the best cake ever - Lindy's Coconut Cake. This was a learning moment and I'd like to share with you all. In this recipe it calls for "Cream of Coconut." So being the dilligent little cook that I'm trying to be we stopped by the grocery store to pick up the last few ingredients we needed. I marched to the ethnic section to get my cream of coconut and all they had was coconut milk. Well surely that wasn't what I wanted but I bought some anyway thinking that I would get home, Google it and find I could use this instead. WRONG! Not the same. I went back to a different store which had no better options for me. Again, I searched the web to find that indeed they were different. There are four varieties of coconut products to be confused with; coconut water, coconut milk, coconut cream and cream of coconut. The first three can be used for each other if that is your only option, however cream of coconut is that goodness used for pina colada drinks. This is not the site I originally found but it does a good job explaing and telling you where you might find such things. http://www.sonic.net/~alden/Nondairy.html So for a third trip, Boo went back to the store and looked in the liquor section (or for those without liquor sections in your store, where the marquritas flavor mixes might be) and found it. Definitely not the same.

Two Quick Things and Then I'll Be Out of Your Hair

Earlier today I picked up our dry cleaning, no big deal. Since Noelle was asleep I thought I'd try out the drive-thru option. I've always wanted to try that, but never have. So I pull up and the sliding door is open and the cheery lady tells me she'll be right with me. As I look through the door to answer I notice that she's totally workin' it. You know what I mean? Butt out, tight jeans, some plummers crack and serious muffin tops. YIKES! I just couldn't help but to be caught in one of those mini seizures of staring off into space and thinking about how funny and sick that was. Poor lady.

The second thing is that I'm currently in the middle of making my first ever souffle. Obvisouly not for the faint of heart. I'm a little scared and mad at the same time. I see on my recipe that it calls for some cream of tartar, but can't find when or where I'm supposed to use the cream of tartar. Finally, Boo comes in clicks around on the recipe and finds that its supposed to help my egg whites stiffen. So lame, why the heck couldn't they tell me that before? Don't they know I'm an amature? Linda T. always says "If you can read you can cook." I can read and can't really cook, especially when a recipe from Gourmet Magazine leaves out the part of the cream of tartar as a helpful hint. I'll let you know how it goes.

Birthday Weeks

Its not official, but I think we have begun the celebration for Boo's birthday week. You all might be jealous to know that at our house we celebrate for an entire seven days surrounding the actual birthday. Whoever's birthday it happens to be gets to choose when they want to start it and then it ends a week later. I'm not sure why we started this? Maybe because Boo wanted seven days of nice wife or maybe because one of us was feeling jaded by our childhood and needs to make up for the difference by celebrating our birthday for an entire week. Probably both.

Since Boo can't find his head with both hands because he's been so busy with work I have decided that it started already and we'll celebrate through to next Tuesday. This gives him a few days prior and post that we all have to be nice and give him preferential treatment.

As a part of the birthweek celebration I jumped online and found a great web site that helps you plan meals for as many days of the week as you want and then compiles a grocery list so that you have everything you need for all of those meals. http://www.oneclickdinners.com/ LOVE IT! The first two meals have been successful - Jamiacan Jerk Chicken with special rice, beans and sweet potato stuff and tonight was Chicken Keiv with lemony asparagus and the left over rice concoction.

It was so good Noelle wouldn't touch it. Which I don't understand because she's a good eater generally. I even sat at the table with her for a long period of time, post dinner to see if I could will her into eating some. Not a snowball's chance... So I told her if she doesn't eat her dinner than she could go to bed and she said "Okay Mama." Without much incident she went to bed, however around 11pm decided she was done and wasn't going to lay down. Boo is a major softy and spends a long time trying to calm her and nicely ease her back to sleep. Me on the other hand, I rule with an iron fist. I guess that method of parenting is a little premature for my not-quite-two year old. Ooops, lesson learned.

PS. - I probably should have tended to the crying toddler since it is Boo's birthweek.

My schmoopy

What is his name? Boo
How long have you been married? So long he's not sure if its ten or less.
How long did you date? Technically... 3 months, but he tracked me for longer than that.
How old is he? Almost 32
Who eats more? Ooooo...tough to say, but guessing by size, he does.
Who kissed who first? Boo kissed me, but I was sick and then he got sick.
Who said "I Love You" first? I probably did. He was probably still dumping all his other girl friends.
Who is smarter? Boo's a know-it-all lawyer and I'm a know-it-all wife.
Who is taller? Boo, but don't be fooled, the inseam of his pants is the same as mine. He'll tell you that its different for men than women, but inches are inches dude.
Who sings better? This question makes me laugh a little.
Whose temper is worse? Mine. Boo says that I go a little "I-Rach" sometimes when I'm crazy. Makes my brothers laugh.
Who is more sensitive? Boo's feelings are pretty sensitive, but I'm more emotional.
Who does the laundry? I do about 80%, but if he needs underwear and I don't then he can do a load, we both equally hate to fold laundry
Who does the dishes? Me, 70% and Boo 30%
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? If you're laying on the bed it's me and since we got a new bigger bed I don't even know that there is a left side to the bed.
Who pays the bills? Me, but really they all are automatic for the most part.
Who cooks dinner? If we want to eat before 7pm I do. But sometimes I run out of ideas and so I leave those days up to him.
Who drives when you are together? Boo
Who is more stubborn? If you've read any of my sibilings blogs you'd already have the answer to that. Duh, me.
Who's parents do you see the most? His came to Boston more, but its pretty even.
Who proposed? He did, however I did ask him on a date first.
Who has more friends? We're both fairly social people so its a tie.
Who wears the pants in the family? We each take a leg and try to walk together.

Sugar and Spice - Naughty and Nice

Here are some pictures of Noelle being a ragamuffin and climbing on the table playing with the citrus fruits that the new landlady brought us. Notice the windup. Noelle and Treyden poked holes in said fruit, but I'm sure its still good.

And for the sugary part, Noelle tromping around the house in her princess shoes with her new purse that she loves.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

We have been learning all about cars and trains at our house. Our little friend Treyden has been giving us a lesson and all sorts of vehicles. He knows which are which and can even imitate some of them. He was especially fond of his trains that he brought to our house. He imagined that almost every thing was a tunnel and even pointed out that my arched doorways are shaped like a tunnel. Boxes and picture frames make good tunnels too. We introduced him to some train songs from Kindermusik and he's so darn smart that he knew them all after just a few days.

All aboard?! Yes we were. We visited the McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park in Scottsdale. I have to say that for parents with train enthusiasts this is the place to be. Free admission to go and hang out and climb on trains and play in the park, and only a couple bucks to take a ride on their train -kids under 3 FREE! That's actually the best because I only had to pay for myself. We also got to ride the Merry-go-Round that is sponsored by the Scottsdale Charros - you know, the Mexican cowboys.

It was fun to have the Stringham's here for a visit. It was a nice contrast between having a little girl vs. a little boy even if he did try on some princess shoes and play with the beads. Noelle had to learn to share, although we haven't exactly mastered that skill it was good practice to have a friend here to learn with, and he was really patient with her. (they both had their vices)

Most of all it was fun to watch Noelle follow him around and have a friend to be mischievous with. Some of the things they found fun were the toilets, sitting on the table and stabbing the fruit with pencils, rocks, rocks and more rocks, buckets and bubbles. As a side note, our entire backyard is rocks and I had muffin tins with rocks in them, purses with rocks, buckets with rocks, rocks in shoes and I'm sure I'll find more. Its pretty funny.

We hope the Stringham's will be lured to the sunny south and become a permanent fixture down here. As for now we hope they have fun building a snowman at their house. Thanks for a fun week.

Why do I always have to be so smart?

So I think I've done a pretty good job of fixing things around here. You'd think a brand new house wouldn't need much fixin' but gee whiz.
It all started with the dryer. How in the world was I going to make my three pronged plug fit in the mis-shapen four pronged plug and how many times would I try before realizing it really wasn't even the same shape? So Boo took the cord off the dryer, drew up a diagram of the outlet and told me to take it to HomeDepot and ask them to come up with a solution for me. So me being the smart shopper that I am with unattached dryer cord in hand asked the greeter where I would find such tools. He directed me to a general electrical section where I once again tried to match my plug with a new outlet switch because clearly someone had installed the wrong thing. I noticed that the HD was selling new cords. Well clearly I wasn't the only person with this problem because why would they mass produce something like this and sell it here. But it was different enough that I didn't feel confident in mine or Boo's skills to reattach this new thing to our dryer. I asked a couple more people who made it quite clear as to why the other guy was demoted to greeter and one of my fellow smarties explained in detail what I should do. Leaving the HD quite confident, I called two electrical experts that I know and asked them and got the same answers. When I got home I had to use some of my expert drill skills to get a bolt off the dryer, attach the new cord and then call expert #1 as I pushed the button to see if it worked just in case I got shocked and he would have to be the one to notify the authorities that I had indeed failed at the task. Luckily I was victorious.

Getting Unpacked and the Hired Help

Packing stinks, but unpacking stinks more. We have almost everything put in its place, with the exception of my clothes which are still in boxes. Yes its true, I'm living like a hobo out of my suitcase still. So is Noelle because I haven't unpacked her clothes yet either. I'm kind of a one room at a time person. Today however is the day to get Noelle's room in fully working condition. All of her furniture is in and the stuff to be stored is all nicely put in the closet but the "important" things like clothes, are still in the boxes. But not for long.

Auntie holding her sign in front of our house

"Will work for airline ticket, God bless"

Auntie came and helped us get almost everything unpacked and organized. Most of all we got all of the pictures on the walls. My new best friend is the 3M picture hanging Velcro strips. If you haven't tried them, I would highly recommend this alternative to putting holes in your walls, especially if you're temporary like we are. We also got a couch and a bed frame from the co-worker neighbor who is already moving, which looks good in our house. (some of you are thinking, but what about the couches you scored the good deal on? I'll get to that in a later blog.) So now we have a place to sit and sleep. So come on over.

Living room/ great room - two views with our kitchen table in the background

Guest bedroom and second bathroom

Besides unpacking, this weekend we also attended our new ward. We thought we were going to get lucky and have a later meeting time, since we had 8:30am in Belmont until we moved, but no we still have that same great time here at our new ward. Also, I don't think I've been in such a large ward, ever. So many families that it was the welcoming wagon that greeted us, it was more like, "Oh a new family, great now they're really going to split the ward, again." Probably not really what they were thinking but it wasn't the same. In relief society they had me stand and introduce myself and as I was standing there the RS president asked for my phone number, ok now I'm not all the private of a person if I have blog, but I hesitated. Then as I'm blurting out my number the next thing I say is "Call me" - read like you're reading your year book from high school.

Its Official

Well its official. We live in the southwestern version of the sticks. What is the sticks you ask? Well when you're living in New England that is the place where people live when you can't find their house or they just live really far away from almost everything. This is sort of the case however there are no sticks to be found only cacti and sagebrush. So would this be referred to as the dirts or the sticks as in "That cactus has hurty sticks on it." I still can't be sure. I haven't reconciled the fact that I really live here. We'll be getting our furniture on Monday and maybe by then it will feel more like home. For now I will call it my vacation home because my heart is still in New England and it keeps me from being overly sad.

So on the brighter side, the things I really like about my community are the citrus trees loaded with oranges and lemons. It looks as though our new landlord plans to put a lemon and grapefruit tree in the backyard as he finishes the landscaping. Also, our new house is pretty nice. Bigger than anything we've experienced this far and it has its own attached garage. So what this means is that you should all come and see the trees and my house. I'll post some pictures soon.

Moving Trucks, Boxes and a Happy New Year

We're in that limbo state currently.  You know the one... you have no official address, Christmas is over but you haven't celebrated New Year's yet. Just a constant state of loafing. I knew this moment would come too. I told several people that I just had to get the stupid trailer loaded and once it drove away everything else would be pie in the sky. It was true, however the events leading up to that were C-Razy!

Moving events rarely go off without any hitches. Or in our case on the first round there was no un-hitching to be had because the first truck from ABF (which was incredibly late) pulled up and attached was a very long flatbed trailer with one single cube on it. We had talked about doing cubes in our original plan and had decided that even four cubes probably wouldn't be enough for us and where in the world would we have put four cubes anyway? So needless to say, we told the driver, "We didn't order no stinkin' cube." and sent him on his way. So now our volunteer helpers were helpless and said to give them a call when the real trailer finally arrived. About an hour later it did and like an army nearly all our helpers returned to pack the trailer, un-hitched. 

Side note: We lived on a dead end so the traffic was fairly calm, however as our truck driver was trying to park a 28' trailer in a tight spot it seemed that every Tom, Dick, Harry and Sally wanted either in or out of the circle. It was a damn traffic jam to be precise.

I digress.

I kind of like the cleaning process, however realized that I had packed my scrub brush and all I had left was the toilet bowl cleaner which I planned to throw out. I'm sure the bleach killed anything that was on the brush as I used it to scrub some hard to reach surfaces. Also after I had cleaned all of the bedrooms, I needed to occupy Noelle and gave her a little bag of snacks which she and her little friend Eleanor dumped in her bedroom closet and were flicking through the space in the bottom of the doors. Boo came into the kitchen where I was cleaning and asked, "Did you see what they're doing in there?" Well duh, of course not because it wouldn't be happening. He thought it was funny to see little fingers flicking goldfish crackers out from under the doors and to hear two little girls giggle at the idea. I however was freaking out because I no longer had my trusty vacuum to clean up small crumbs and the thought of washing the floors again was not a pleasant one. However it obviously wasn't the end of the world because here I am blogging about it.

We finished the last bit of cleaning just as the ABF truck came to reattach the trailer and take away all my worldly possessions. I know that's all they are but I'll sure be sad it for some reason something happens to that trailer. 

Side note: One of our neighbors who might be missing the social skills part of her brain, just couldn't get over "how much stuff" we had. She just kept telling us how she couldn't believe we'd filled up that much of the truck. Only half really. 

So now we're just awaiting the arrival of Boo's parents and brother who will conclude their holiday travels in Maine here with us as we ring in the New Year. If anyone has any suggestions for celebrating with a 20 month old let us know. 

 

Christmas Talk

Last Sunday, Boo and I were assigned to give talks as part of our ward's Christmas service and as a kind of goodbye to our fellow friends in the ward. But seeing as how Mother Nature took over early Sunday morning our church cancelled all of its meetings. Needless to say my Christmas talk was for naught. So I thought I would post mine onto the blog to share with a broad audience. I did share it with the crowd we had dinner with later on Sunday night. Keep in mind that its rather short given that the choir planned to take up a large portion of the meeting. So this was my six minute talk. (I'd post Boo's talk but he wouldn't even share it with the post dinner crowd, so I'll leave it up to him to decide.)

Christmas evokes different images for everyone. Some think of silvery white yards decorated with plastic Santas and festive lights. Others may think of family come and gone, large feasts, or that favorite gift. My Christmas memories begin to swirl as I start thinking of my Christmas lists, lines at the post office and any dreaded traveling. Best described as a catatonic state; characterized by muscular rigidity and mental stupor, sometimes alternating with great excitement and confusion.

As a child our two day celebration went as follows:
Go to grandparent’s house for Christmas Eve party with Dad
Dad delivers us to Mom’s where we read the Christmas story from the New Testament, open one gift before going to bed and pile all four kids into one room so that Mom has ample space to spread out her workshop to finish any gifts or sewing projects.
We’d wake up at some dreadful hour and yell from the other room “Can we come out yet?” as if we might self destruct the minute we cross the threshold. Being the youngest I was usually sent out on covert missions to inspect what Mr. Claus had left and return and report on my findings, only to ruin my sister Rebekah’s big Christmas surprise of a Ken doll she’d asked Santa for.
Around 7:00am we usually emerged to our tree lit living room to begin our day. By 8:00am we would call Dad to let him know we were ready to be picked up and continue the day’s journey. We would hop around from one place to the next, opening gifts and enjoying them only long enough for them to get lost and have to leave.

After getting married not many things changed. Ryan and I found ourselves setting an alarm to get up early enough so we could spend some time together before starting the day. By the third or fourth Christmas we had it down to a science; we’d allot a set amount of time to each set of parents as not to “dine and dash” but so that we felt we were giving equal amounts of time to everyone.

Christmas was loosing its spirit, or had I never really had it to begin?

For our last Christmas as Utah residents, Ryan and I organized a Sub-for-Santa for one of my Sunbeam’s family. He was the youngest of three boys being raised by his dad who was doing the best he knew how. Luckily for Ryan and me we had friends who rallied around and made it more than a kind gesture, but more of a miracle. It was a lesson in charity and truly brought us great joy to see people who showed their gratitude through their humble actions the following Sunday at church.
King Benjamin prophesied of Christ’s advent and ministry in this manner:
“For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay, and shall go forth amongst men, working mighty miracles…” (Mosiah 3:5-8)
Born into circumstances that were unconventional, birthed in a stall surrounded by animals, yet his purpose on this Earth was beyond the comprehension of all living things. Christ’s birth was a miracle.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come; Let earth receive her King! Let ev’ry heart prepare him room, And Saints and angels sing. (“Joy to the World,” Hymns, number 201)

Besides the hustle and bustle of Christmas day, I usually enjoy putting out our Christmas decorations and setting up my tree. I have a system, and as long as Ryan brings the boxes down from the attic he doesn’t have to help, which he enjoys. I put out our nativity and I rearrange all the characters as I imagine it might have been on the night of Christ’s birth. Then I rearrange them again, because I don’t think the “wise men” made it there fast enough to have a front row seat. But after 20 or so days of decorations, just before Christmas I’m usually ready to put it all away. I think to myself, “My heart is not in this.”
President Hinkley reminds that:
“Christmas is more than trees and twinkling lights, more than toys and gifts and baubles of a hundred varieties. It is love. It is the love of the Son of God for all mankind. It reaches out beyond our power to comprehend. It is magnificent and beautiful.
It is peace. It is the peace which comforts, which sustains, which blesses all who accept it.
It is faith. It is faith in God and His Eternal Son. It is faith in His wondrous ways and message. It is faith in Him as our Redeemer and our Lord.” – President Hinkley, Dec 1997
What peace sustains us through the holidays? Or better yet through the year?

When I think of peaceful Christmas nights, I’m reminded of my Santa-suit-wearing Dad, who equally possesses the same decorating vigor as Clark Griswold, sitting in a dimly lit living room longingly gazing at the lights on the Christmas tree, listening to Christmas hymns and carols. I’m not sure what he’s thinking about. Maybe his lists of people to buy for and the stops he’ll be making on Christmas day. Whatever it is, I sometimes imagine that maybe he’s thinking about what it may have been like the night the Savior was born. Or what it might be like if our world really could have peace and joy. For a single moment he has found peace in the season.

While searching for my own peace and joy – or was it peace and quiet, I can’t be sure? I could hear in the background some music from the single Christmas CD that has yet to be packed.

“The Child, the Child, sleeping in the night He will bring us goodness and light He will bring us goodness and light”

I thought for maybe the first time how profound these words are. “He will bring us goodness and light.” Christ has and does bring goodness and light. Christ’s light shines in many of those around us. We have received his goodness and light though friendships, dinners and helping hands.
Christ’s goodness has manifest recently in the blessings our family has received. Christ’s goodness is what brings me peace this holiday season.

Box Slide

As you can see from the picture, we're gearing up for the big move. We're getting stuff packed and clearing off shelves and clearing out cupboards. But what else is there to do with a pile of boxes in the middle of the living room? Make a slide, of course.

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

I really shouldn't be posting to my blog at this current moment because I have a mental list of things to do that is ten, no maybe more like fifty miles long. However since this is only one of my many creative outlets, yet it allows me to communicate with many people at the same time I thought, "What the heck."

In anticipation for moving I feel like I can't even find a place to start packing in our house until I finish about four sewing projects, give them to their respective owners and then I pack all that crap up and start in the guest room. However this is ever so difficult because for the next two days I'll be devoting my precious time to LL Bean shoppers as I wrap up my quick stint there. (I would have never taken the job had I known I was moving.) However I have given myself a deadline of Sunday night to have all projects complete and out of my house.

With my fifty mile list looming we will be having a Grinch style home these holidays as well. I tried to have a Christmas tree but it was so lovely yet undecorated that I felt like I needed to give that six fingered baby to someone who could love it more than I knew I would. So thanks to the Sorensen's who came and took it home to their family. I just can't fathom digging out all my holly-jolly decorations just to hurry and pack them back up. Good thing Noelle is still little and will not remember back to the year of no Christmas tree. Thank goodness we'll be going to Maine for Christmas so that it doesn't turn out to be the Christmas of no Christmas's'.

So off I now go to finish aforementioned sewing projects so I can then clean off the futon which needs to be photographed so it can be posted to Criagslist and then the real fun can begin.

By the way, did you know it gets really hot in Arizona? I had no idea.

We're Moving!

I should have just put the title to this post as the Winds of Change: part deux. So where are they blowing us? Arizona. Yes I can feel the warm winds now. Actually I can't feel anything because I have frostbite from the cold arctic air that moved in to New England today.

Boo has accepted a job and will still be working in real estate and using his degree in ways other than litigation. Hooray! I think that makes him happy? His offices are in Peoria, AZ and we're in the process of finding some where to live near those offices. We're especially excited to be close to friends we haven't seen for a while, but at the same time extremely sad to leave the friends we've made while living in Mass.

We'll be packing up and heading out the first week of January. So don't plan to come and visit until at least March. I think February is already booked. ;)

By the way, since telling people we're moving to Arizona, I found out its really hot there in the summer. I had no idea. Doi!

Elfed

We've been Elfed. Click here to see.

November Wrap Up

Well now that we're winding down to the end of the month I figured I should tell you about our holiday and weekend in Maine. (sorry no pics for the big events.)

We celebrated our first ever Thanksgiving with no family. We planned to make our annual trek to Maine and be with our family up there, but Boo thought he would have to work on Friday so we made arrangements to feast with some friends in our neighborhood. We split up the cooking which was a great learning experience since I usually just chop a few vegetables and then watch the process from the sidelines. But instead I made my own cranberry sauce, which was so fulfilling - for some reason to listen to the berries pop open and then to watch it all turn to the most beautiful color of red was all I need to be convinced that there is no satisfaction from canned cranberry sauce.
We had an interesting experience with our turkey however. (not one of my items to cook) Our friends decided to try out the ever-so-popular frying method. After much research and advice they thought they were set. It smelled great when we got to their house, but for some reason it didn't heat up enough to "fry" so it basically boiled in oil. Luckily some other friends had an extra turkey that they were willing to donate to our cause. We ended up eating the meat from both birds and both were really tasty.
Later that night I was processing the holiday while trying to sleep and realized that of all the things I was supposed to take and seems to be a Thanksgiving staple, I totally forgot. STUFFING! I forgot to make the stupid stuffing. We had so much food that we didn't notice. So i guess we'll be eating stuffing as a little side dish for the next few months.
Now we're in Maine enjoying the weekend playing games with lots of cousins and watching movies. We were sorely outnumbered for the Utah vs. BYU game and were so sad to see such a sad display of athletics. Its not often that we get to see a game on TV and then to watch them lose is pretty sad. Then to add insult to injury with a bunch of BY-Pooh fans. Lame.
The upcoming week will provide a nice kick-off to the holiday season as I assemble my Christmas cards and attend the annual wreath making party with the church. We're still trying to decide how to decorate our tree so that Destruct-O Noelle doesn't get the best of it. I think the antique glass ornaments will have to wait a few years.

THankSgiviNG

Sometimes I like to be a complainer and decide for a while that I don't want to be thankful for anything, because picking up my house everyday isn't fun to me, and I'm not always thankful for the stuff I have. And then sometimes I'm not thankful that my local grocer is giving away free turkeys if I earn 20 stupid turkey points because I always fall short and never get the dumb thing and end up saving scraps that do me no good and are still in my purse well after they have expired. And sometimes I'm not thankful for my car that needed repairs exceeding our expectations and costing four times more than we planned.

But then I remember that even if I hate picking up books every single day and shuffling crap from one room to the other, I am thankful to have a roof over my head and room for my guests when they come. And that I am thankful that I have a car at all considering this time last year we had only one car and Boo had to take it to work most days. And I am thankful for people who call out of the blue to offer me their extra turkey points so that I can have a free turkey. I'm really happy for these reasons of thanksgiving. I hope all my blog stalkers find things to be thankful for at this time of year too! Happy Thanksgiving.

BTW.. That is my favorite tree in all of Belmont. Well at least it was when I took the picture although we still have some amazing colors just up the street. Fall in New England is the best.

Video of Noelle Reading in Her Easy Chair

Well I guess third times a charm? I have tried to post this a couple other times but it wasn't working right. Anywho, this is a little ditty I put together of Noelle reading. She pretty much will sit on whatever is her height and usually clears out the bookcase daily. Her voice is pretty funny too. If you listen closely you can understand what she's saying, a little bit.
To view this video click here.

Organization and De-Cluttering A House

That was the topic for today's parenting class or "mothering" class that is held for the three wards that meet in our building. Every month they have a member who might have an expertise in a particular area lead the discussion.

Our discussion leader had some great credentials and some great ideas, however how is a person or people like myself supposed to get over the fact that it just might be genetic? I don't know why - my mom is the MOST sentimental person I know and like some people she saves outfits from 35 years past because they have some kind of attachment to a special event in her life. Great. Fine. But don't pass that on to me. (BTW.. you should listen to the broadcast from NPR about "Too Much Stuff" - Click on the link to listen.

I have the desire to be greatly organized and have my Rubbermaid bins all labeled and sorted, but the truth is I don't. I even have spaces in my house that are catch-alls. More than one - more like four (that I can either see or think of off the top of my head.) I would like to think of them as spaces of good intentions. "I intend on sending that baby gift to Lacy, but every time I repack the box it doesn't get sent and I have to pull out the outfit because by now her baby has outgrown it."
"I intend on sorting through Noelle's clothes and putting the overly used ones in the goodwill box and the rest in the attic, but the bin sit in her room where I occasionally open it and remember that I was going to do something with it."

Maybe its that we just have to much crap?! Ah ha - that's more likely the case. Because like one or more of our parents we too see the value of free stuff that might be useful to us someday. And who knows what it might be useful for, but heaven knows I'll have it. Like the computer monitor that we will NEVER use again since it takes up the entire desk, but Boo says we paid good money for it and its a "really good" monitor.

On to the next point, which is that we may possibly be moving to a less expensive/ more efficient apartment. Its absolutely magnificent because its all brand spankin' new and we'd be the first to occupy such space. But where will be put all our stuff? The idea is to move and save some money and be happy and hopefully someday purchase our own space. (even if real estate prices are going down, we still won't be able to buy a square to squat on.) But what will we do if we can't have all our "stuff?" How much will we be able to store in those nice walk-in closets? I guess we'll have to get rid of it - oh please let us get rid of some stuff. I'm not moving that monitor one more time.

I'd like to hear anyone's thoughts on this.
Here are some links from the class that may also be helpful to any of you.
Ineedmoretime.com
The Container Store
Organize.com
Organizeit-online.com
Organized-living.com