thanks dudes

i think that's a recycled title, but it works for this post nonetheless. i promise i wasn't trying to whine, it was just one of those times when you realize something and have to write it down. i guess if i was a poet, i would've been able to write something profound and meaningful...but, alas, i am what i am and i'm grateful for those of you that wished me late regards. i was happy to get them. on a higher note, as i was perusing some other blogs, i ventured upon one birthday post discussing the joy that comes on a birthday, but also her "resolutions" if you will for the year to come. i guess i learned a bit of a lesson and decided it was time to end the pity party. i will come up with my list and let you know...stay tuned

another "big day" come and gone

so, i usually like to keep this little glimpse into my life pretty light and witty, but i'm feeling a little low and i thought i'd share that with you. it doesn't really make any sense to do such a thing, but i've seen others do it and its worked for them so here goes...sunday was the 29th time i celebrated my birth into this world. i received 4 phone calls, 3 of them consisting of family members. thanks, larissa by the way. you made my otherwise mediocre day. side note-isn't it sad that you reach about 23 and suddenly, birthdays don't really consist of presents and parties and instead are just mostly full of the day to day humdrum stuff you do anyway? maybe that's just me, but anyway...i got a text message or two that night and then went to sleep and woke up to another day which i'm sure was someone else's birthday, but for me, it was just the day after mine. the day that made me realize the point of this rambling post, which is that i've failed as a friend. i guess my severe deficiency in keeping in contact with people has led to their lack of remembering my birthday. it was a sad, sad discovery (there is a better word for what it was, but i'm suffering from a harsh case of pregnancy brain at the moment), but one that will hopefully motivate me to be a better friend. so, to all of you whoe read this blog, thanks for doing so and i will try to recognize all of the exciting happenings in your lives...including the day that only comes once a year for you and should be a very happy day and one that you don't have any worries but to feel special. happy birthday everybody! thanks for checkin in

false alarm

so, apparently i misled several of you (or maybe you just didn't understand such literary genius...kidding) into thinking that i would be discovering the sex of our newest little one this week. sorry, i just had a routine check up. everything does seem to be fine, however, and its full speed ahead...whether i like it or not, i guess. we did get some pretty bad news about andy's business, but i will fill you in as information comes to light. for now, we're headed to utah and then we'll really find out what's on the horizon (as far as if the nursery is going to be pink or blue) when we return in october.

ta-da!!

i don't actually have any sort of magic trick to show you, let alone any pictures...just me saying the famous houdini-esque phrase because i've appeared, as if out of nowhere. i know, i know. its shameful that i haven't posted anything in three weeks, but i have an excuse. i was once again forced into the black hole of internet nothingness because i went to camas to visit the rents for two weeks. for those of you avid fans who have been patiently awaiting an installment, i apologize and here i am once again. in fact, to celebrate my return to the land of high speed, i have spent the last two hours perusing everyone else's blogs...okay, not eveyone's. first of all, i don't know everyone and b, that would take a great deal longer than two hours. anyway...dang i have missed some serious happenings...girls are pregnant, people are buying houses, scrapbooking is happening with reckless abandon, and finally the mullet was removed from a very deserving little boy (i am oh so proud of you, mindy).
for those of you i that neglected to visit during my stay on the west side, sorry i was pretty much a homebody without internet and my phone has decided to be very lazy. by lazy i mean that the battery has given up and is refusing to be the lifeblood of my lovely red krazr. i'm afraid its days are numbered. i will remedy that situation soon and hopefully be back to see you soon (this paragraph is mostly for you, heidi and mary...sorry i didn't call...i pretty much suck). on to brighter and happier subjects, my next doctor's appointment is on monday and the ultrasound to unveil the he or she of the little tike will soon follow. speaking of babies and the names thereof...any ideas? i'm kind of at an impass. i think i've pretty much got the boy name figured out, but if its a girl, i'm at a loss. right now, its between marlo and fiona. both having short versions--lo and fi. i also am fond of claire, stella, sadie, and fenley but all have been vetoed by my adoring husband. anyway, if you have any moments of genius, let me know...and if you decide you want to use whatever name you give me for your own offspring, i won't even care. i'll just be grateful that my child will be called something other than "girl." thanks in advance and au revoir till next time.

what's yours is mine and what's mine is ours

this video doesn't really need a whole lot of introduction. let's just say luke is learning how to share...on his own terms, but who's counting?

a new way to play tag...

thanks to devin, i've been tagged in a way that forced me to show you my lack of homemaking skills. actually, i'm impressed to say that i was, for the most part, not embarrassed. the sink was my only problem...well, see for yourself:
1. fridge

2.closet

3.self portrait-you know, you've all been waiting for this one

4.favorite room

get your minds out of the gutter, people. notice the decor-its one of the only rooms that is actually decorated in the entire place. i'm pretty pleased with it, thanks to a couple good buddies and their creative talents. the real reason why this is my favorite place to be though is...

5.kitchen sink-sorry, i just cooked, yeah that's right, i cooked!

6.laundry room...or in our case, laundry closet-beggars can't be choosers my friends

7.toilet-um...i got nothin

8.what the kids are doing...as you can see, i tried to catch him "in the act of something," but he just couldn't pass up a photo-op. i think i'm in for it


9.dream vacation-
its a toss-up between

and

10.favorite shoes-my jessica simpson shoes...i don't like them because of jessica simpson, they just remind me of her; the comfortable shoes that i got for a sweet deal in pennsylvania; and my diesels because, well, they're awesome, am i right?

alright, there you go. more than you ever wanted to know i'm sure, but its time to pass the torch nonetheless. go for it jen, camille, mindy, rissa, and jonah (go for it, buddy...wink wink) have fun!!

kind of obsessed...

no its not with the imminent release of the 4th book of the twilight series...though i'm sure that would be somewhere in my top 10 near obsessions right now (hello? could edward be any more surreal...)anyway, sorry for the excessive posting...i was just reminded by a friend of a song that i'm kind of obsessed with. i know you're wondering, how can you forget about something you have a minor obsession with? well, the ipod has been out of juice for awhile now and we have a new computer so i haven't been able to charge it without erasing all the precious cargo. see, our old computer refuses to start so i can't get my songs off...blah, blah, blah. anyway, i was brought back to the light and i've noticed that some other people do this on occasion, so i'm going to venture into the youtube world and bring to you, by the wonders of technology, the video right here on my blog. its called, "come on get higher" by matt nathanson. i will give a bit of a warning here, however. if you are going to head over to youtube to find another video of his for your own viewing pleasure, be a little cautious because he tends to use some colorful words and phrases at times. this song is safe for the entire family, though. so i hope you enjoy it as much i as do. thanks jen for reopening my eyes and ps leave me a memory already before i disown you!!

we're pretty awesome

okay, okay i'm back. sorry for the absense, i really was just giving all you slackers (Jen, you know you are) that haven't left a memory of me a chance to do so before i distracted you with a new witty installment. anyway, on to bigger and better things or thing i should say...luke. man, this kid is hilarious. i'm going to dedicate this post to someone whose name i will not mention who let me know that my blog wasn't worth her time unless it contained pictures...you know you are too my friend :) so here are some pretty funny pictures of the little dude. as you can see, he's adopted this really ugly red hat that his dad got when he went to toyota friday at silver mountain last winter. what a hottie, right? did i just call my son a hottie?

this was pretty darn priceless. i'd seen it happen on tv a couple times, but this was a first for our house. i went to the gym (finally) and when i got back, andy was on the couch and luke was, well just see for yourself.


aah, good times. i actually missed out on the better picture opportunity. he originally had his head leaned all the way back and his mouth open wide enough to swallow an orange, well maybe a mandarin, but you know what i mean. anyway, when i walked in and saw him, andy was on the phone. i tried to mouth to him that luke was asleep. he freaked out and jumped down into the dining room to make sure he was breathing. it was pretty funny stuff. during the skirmish, luke adjusted and ended up in the position that i documented. seriously, could we get any more awesome around here? yeah, don't answer that.

let the good times roll...

alright, i'm jumpin on the bandwagon...mindy, yet again gave me some inspiration. here's a little way for all of us to remember the good old days and for me to pretend that i still have friends :) okay, have at it. thanks!

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

the cat's out of the bag...so to speak

so, (you inspired me adam...i just had to do it) the time has come...i've been contemplating how to break the news on the blog. should i try to be witty or should i cause all of you to pull out your hankie and soak it with your tears because you're so moved by my touching words. whatever, i'm pregnant...again. i would have succeeded in breaking the news sooner, but unfortunately, i've been in a permanent fetal position for the past month and a half, praying for the second trimester to rear its beautiful, un-nauseous head. finally, the days are getting brighter and i have actually ventured outside with luke a time or two to give the poor kid some air. i'm pretty sure i hate my once awesome apartment because i've seen nothing but its walls for the past month. thank goodness for the food network (when i actually want to eat) and so you think you can dance. yay for mormons on reality tv. anyway, there it is. i did it. i broke my first life-changing news on my blog. does this put me in some sort of different category now? is it a good or a bad one? one of life's unanswered questions right there. no need for congratulations or praise, just send money...i mean...

that darn letter c

i was all set to add some much needed updated photos to my blog, when lo and behold the computer decided it was time to check out. what is it with things that start with the letter c? not one, but 3 of our cars have been broken into/stolen...and now the computer is dead. is someone trying to tell me something? i'm sorry for whatever i did to deserve this kind of karma from a letter in the alphabet. i swear i don't think i did anything to it in a past life...oh goodness, what do you do? anywho, here i am again, with no pictures and come to think of it no camera. dun dun dun (sung in ominous, wide-eyed tune as seen on movies/tv when something bad happens). i just realized that our camera is missing. that darn letter c. what is this? some kind of twilight version of sesame street or something? whatever you do, don't send me any canteens or catamarans for my birthday. yikes. what is this world coming to?
to top it all off, andy's Cell phone just gave up the ghost as well. hence, he now totes my lovely red krazr to work with him. maybe we should just put all our stuff in an underground bomb shelter and never touch it. that would be a perfect solution or totally ridiculous.

two words-girl's camp

so, for those of you who have been checking back obsessively, wondering where i am...sorry to disappoint y'all (i'm trying to incorporate this into my vocabulary...is it working?) but i've been in the all-consuming, wonderful though it is, black hole we all know as girl's camp. i know you're all jealous and i truly wish that i could've taken you with me, but alas, our stake is only so big. in fact, us leaders already outnumbered the girls by one. sad, i know, but since they all tuckered out at like 10:30 anyway, i guess you take what you can get. it was a stressful road leading up to the fateful week, as those of you who have had the "pleasure" of hearing me vent, can atest...but all in all, it ended up being quite the little success story. i was lucky enough to be joined by some really good buddies and the showers were usually accesible. testimony meeting only lasted 3 hours (for you ladies that have experienced this last night of camp, you know what this really means) and the food was actually pretty tasty. i remember a lot of chicken, but other than that, i've kind of blanked out on the whole thing. anyway, i'm back and i can't wait to check out all of your lives and see what's happening in the real world.

ps

i wish i could say that these pictures show a result of several children below the age of 2 ransacking my once serene existence. in all actuality, however, this is apparently what your house looks like on mornings when your child wakes up at 6:30 with nowhere to go.

poor little dude...

so the weather here in the lovely "lilac city" has been less than cooperative for little boys that desire to frolic away their boundless (and when i say boundless i mean utterly endless) energy outside of the confining walls that make up the apartment. Lucky for this little guy, we dug up his rainboots so he can at least walk to and from the car when we absolutely have to brave the elements. As you can see from the picture though, now all he wants to do is wear the boots, even if its just one at a time, and look longingly out the living room window at the world going on without him. the scene is almost enough to make a mother cry, but almost being the key word because instead, i just look at him, laugh a little to myself, and take advantage of poor kid's trauma by snapping a picture of him. sorry luke, i wish i could make it stop raining...i really thought i did by leaving the west side of the state. i guess we'll just appreciate the sun when it does come out, right? yeah, how do you explain that to a one and a half year old again?


no, my son does not represent the lollipop guild. i know you're all thinking it :)

no, he didn't just smell something foul, this is his new pose for the camera. apparently its a smile...in a forced, mom you've made me smile way too many times this past year kinda way.

movin on up...

thanks to mindy for getting her background from this cool website and for putting the link on her site so i could get one too. thanks buddy. mine was getting old and lame. i don't really have much else to say except that i've been a total slacker since the 13 mile trip through you know where. now, my lovely relief society arms and ponch are rearing their ugly heads yet again. i am happy though. our place makes me smile and luke gets more hilarious by the day. the rain could definitly cease and desist, but other than that, life is pretty darn happy.

you asked for it...

after much anticipation--here they are: pictures of the little dude himself. since i've been less than stellar about putting photos on here as i go, this is going to be somewhat of a collage if you will, of the boy we call luke. enjoy...oh and by the way-i might have misled some of you into thinking that i live in an actual house now. its not quite a house, its more like an apartment. alright, alright-it is an apartment, plain and simple, but it is a palace compared to the other hole that i lived in previously. i also wanted to say thanks to all the encouragement after my little run. i appreciate it and maybe i'll do it again someday thanks to all your nice words...if you're a betting person, i wouldn't in this case :)

favorite form of transportation. see photo at top of page :)

one word: aah

sometimes the rice gets away from the guy, what can we say?

my mission is to get a cuter picture of this. luke has discovered his pockets...and it is seriously the cutest thing you have ever seen. no, really, it is

gram and luke at the lake...i know, i know...aah is word that comes to mind yet again

the day has FINALLY come!!!

no, i didn't get the gold medal for the uneven bars...that's still in the works...but i did move out of the nasty shoebox that i called home! this past week, andy graduated from college (insert finally here as well) and we moved our little family and our not so little belongings up to the northside of spokane. its so great, i'm almost tempted to put pictures of the place on this blog...i know that no one is really interested in seeing pictures of a bunch of a white walls, but it just makes me so happy. luke can actually go outside and touch grass instead of merely walking out onto the 40 year old balcony that was covered in who knows what. don't worry, no need to call cps, he's totally germ-free now that we have a carpet i can feel good about walking on in bare feet and two whole bathrooms that haven't had mold growing on the walls for the last decade! yay (feel free to clap, i currently am). well, that's about it for excitement here. i like to get rid of it all at once as you can see. andy graduated, family came to visit, huge move...oh and i ran 13.1 miles on saturday, but i'll discuss that later. there was a trip to ikea in there somewhere too, which as everyone knows is definitly blogging material.

back from the dead...or lack of computer

so, for those of you who are still checking this site to see if i've enlightened you in any way...i'm back after a long hiatus of sick children (well, child i guess), a sicker husband, and an even sicker computer. it crashed, but has come back from the dead, thanks to a computer genius with very large dogs and an eye for "corrupt files." a couple of fellow office fans just launched their own site so i thought it was time to revisit mine.

thanks dudes

well, consider my spirits lifted. you rule

sheesh...

dang! what does it take to get a comment out of you people...sheesh, i thought a sappy plea for one would do the trick. wrong again. well, i guess if you're reading it, that's good enough for me. thanks again