Please Help Me Out and Leave a Comment

Alright Designers Extrordinaire! What should I do with this space? I know, I know, I should probably just call over my two brilliant older sisters who can make any space look like a million bucks. Maybe I'll luck out and they'll see this post and comment on it (hint hint). Although I wanted to put this out into the internet space for everyone to help me. I'm lost.


This is where the fish tank used to be and now it's just a wall and a mirror with a shelf underneath it. I've been debating on whether or not to make the frame black rather than the cream-ish and silver that it is (like I need more blandness on my bland walls). I'd like it black for now, but I think in the house that we will one day purchase the cream-ish frame won't look too bad on walls with an actual color on it. Ideas anyone? I could just keep it as the gift staging area.

It Started Out... Well... Not So Great

First let me just say about the previous post that I posted it for everyone's enjoyment but I knew that Connor and Lucy would get the biggest kick out of it. Also! I had a weird moment and pulled up both of those singing sites at the same time and started the horse one first, well the people one just automatically starts singing. It was all going at once! Holy cow! Do not try this. Not only are there just too many voices but the pitches are only slightly different and the rhythms are only slightly off. I thought I was going to be sick. In fact just thinking about it... {shudder}...

Onto the main event!

This morning, if you'll all just bare with me, was not my best morning ever. My alarm spouted off at 7:00 to go work out and I jumped out of bed (it really startled me) to throw my work out clothes on. As I quickly found out jumping anywhere right as you wake up makes for a good fall. And yes, it hurt a bit. Alright, so I get dressed and drive to the gym. At this point I'm starting to feel a little queasy. Yes, all morning at the gym I was not feeling well. What a terrible work out, certainly not motivating. Maybe I'll quit working out. Just kidding, April, just kidding. Long story short, this morning I felt yucky beyond belief and I kept having flashbacks of a couple months ago when I had (what I think was) food poisoning. I just kept hoping it wasn't that.

I thought the day was getting better as my stomach protested less and less as the morning progressed. And it was, until I jammed my toe. Gosh! I hate jamming my toes. It hurts so stinking bad. This was followed by banging my knee AND funny bone on multiple kitchen cabinets.

At this point I decided a trip to the store to get out of this place, that apparently hates me, was in order. Leah and I had some gift shopping to do and we all know, there's no time like the 'present'!

Get it? Gift shopping - Present ... oh I'm so funny ... alright that was pretty bad

We picked up a few items and in doing so not only did I continue to bang my sore little toe on the cart (who taught me how to walk?) but I also banged my nose on Leah's hard little head. Ouch! Okay, so now I decided it was time to eat some greasy food and see if I could purge all this clutziness out of me with all the grease McDonald's has to offer. Alright, that's an overstatement - a WAY overstatement. Well, I sat there at McDonalds' INSIDE of WalMart and thought, "I couldn't even go to a McDonald's with a play place?" Alright, time to leave. Oh, don't forget on the way home I banged my head on the roof of the car.

This post is turning out to be MUCH longer than I had anticipated. So the day was shaping up to be pretty nasty for me. I kept thinking, "Is this what bad karma is? Have I done something so wrong?" Leah and I got home, got inside and started unloading the day's purchases. I told myself that I wouldn't start wrapping presents until all the clutter was off of my bed. Well to get all the clutter off of my bed I had to organize (even minorly) some closets. As I was doing this, yes more things falling on my head, my back, and of course, my jammed toe.

Yep this is me wanting to crawl under a rock until tomorrow morning

Just as a rather large book fell right on my spine the doorbell rings. "Oh please don't let it be someone wanting to see the apartment." It wasn't - it was the mail carrier. With packages! Yes, yes, yes!

And here is where my day starts to look up. TWO PACKAGES JUST FOR ME! I loooove getting packages.

Thank You Katy (and Tyler, Lucy, and Claire) And Thank You Seller: EatMorFood You Made My Day!

So here's what I did to cheer myself up after all the falling objects and cleaning and such. I wrapped presents and opened my packages. Would you like to see?


The front two are for Matt and the back two are for... someone else who shall remain nameless. It's a surprise. Don't you just want to know what's in that present that needs to stay standing up? Oooo, it's a nail biter.

And here's what came in those packages:














I won the baby derby for when my niece Claire was born and the candy was my prize. And I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I ordered all the original Batman movies. They may not be the best movies ever but my husband sort of loves Batman. So we had to get them. Looks like we're going be having a great movie night soon.

This Is So Funny

Or am I just easily entertained? Could be. Anyway, go to this website, Make My People Sing, and either you or your kids will be entertained forever. And if it's your kids, invest in some earplugs.

As a side note, I've recently seen this done with 4 horses as well. It's funny too.

Be warned though, whoever plays this needs to have at least a tiny bit a rhythm. Otherwise it's just noise. Okay, it may just be noise anyway.

Of the 31 Days in the Month

This is so silly. I just looked at how many posts I had written this month and I felt bad for the month of July. Only 13 posts (this will make 14) for July when the previous two months had 17? Was July a boring month? Absolutely not! And I really feel bad for the month of April when I only posted 8 times.

Um, I Just Finished Getting Ready For The Day And It's 2:30 PM

Matt, Leah and I have had some great times in the last little while. We have some great friends and some wonderful family that keep up going and keep our lives interesting. This is what's been going on lately.

I love babysitting for my family. On this particular day my sister was up at Girls Camp and her husband needed to work. Well, taking all five of her kids probably would have been a little too taxing on my apartment so I had three of them. Maddie, Fisher, and Logan came over for a fun day while the two older boys went to my brother's house. We had such a fun day. Maddie was a HUGE help and I probably wouldn't have been able to pull the day off without her. What a wonderful 9 year old! Fisher and Leah almost always play well together and Logan slept almost the entire day.


This night we went over the The Gillespies house for dinner and cheesecake and much to my surprise a little 4 Wheeling. Amber and Chris have a 4 wheeler and Amber let us take it for a spin around their neighborhood. As you can see in the pictures it was pretty dusky outside, so I'm sure we didn't make friends with any of their neighbors, but we all had a blast.


Matt, Leah and I really enjoy hanging out with all of our friends and The Millers are no exception. Their 2 boys are so good to play with Leah and Gabby is just a little spitfire. Somehow she didn't make it into any of these pictures, I think she was asleep.


On Tuesday The McGee's welcomed the newest member of the family. Lisa had her beautiful baby boy that afternoon. He really is adorable and Mckenzie is going to be a wonderful big sister.


We kicked off Pioneer Day with Matt's family and a trip downtown. We went to the Clarke Planetarium and later played in the fountains at The Gateway (which Leah would have NOTHING to do with). Matt and I had lunner (lunch/dinner) at The Happy Sumo, a sushi place at The Gateway. It was delicious! Seriously, that was some awesome sushi.


And this is how we ended the day. Fireworks at The Portreys with homemade ice cream and cookies. Everyone had a great night jumping on the trampoline, eating yummy snacks, and of course watching and naming the fireworks (minus Leah who ALSO hates fireworks- unless she's on her grandpa's lap).

Follow Up

My previous post about Picking Up My Brain requires a little follow up. Alright, it doesn't require it, but I'm going to anyway.

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT
So awesome. Seriously, so awesome. Nothing I say will really give this awesome movie the awesome accolades it deserves. So awesome.

OUR FISHES
Matt and I have decided to phase out the fish. Problem isn't keeping the tank clean and Rosie just wasn't our favorite of the three glowfish we bought. It's sad to think that Leah will be losing some of her friends, but we're just getting sick of the tank. It's yucky. See my next post for more details.

WORKING OUT
Thanks to my friend, April, I have officially worked out 5 out of 5 days that we goaled for. I love the elliptical. And I totally give all the credit for me working out five days to April. I wouldn't get my behind out of bed at 7:00 AM (I know, really early huh... I'm just lazy) just to work out if I didn't know she was going to meet me there.

TEETHING
Ugh

KATY,
Jon and Kate Plus 8 is a show on TLC about a family that has a set a twins and a set of sextuplets. Jon is the dad, making Kate the mom. And boy does she put my crazy cleaning habits to shame. Ho - Ly - Cow!

MARCI,
We didn't get a chance to go to the store and check out that teething remedy. Well I mean we went to the store but that particular purchase slipped my mind. I think we're over the worst of it though... I just want Leah's silly nose to stop running.

STEPHANIE,
Yes it really does help to clear my head when I write everything down. I used to do it all the time in highschool and that is the only reason I still have a dayplanner (as 90's as it is). My blog sometimes become this outlet for what's cluttering up my brain. I find that after I write it down I can stop thinking about it... or I can find a better way to solve the problem. Anyone who doesn't do this and finds themselves stressed out or not sleeping because there is too much going on in your head - WRITE IT DOWN! I think it helps, in fact I'm thinking about making it a regular thing on my blog. I really like the release.

AMBER,
Matt and I don't yell, we bicker. We have the same issues they do on a much much much smaller scale, and we figure them out by yelling instead of bickering. I think she only yells because she has to in order to be heard.

We've Done It Again

We're trying to get rid of our fishes. After all the worrying and the death of two of the glowfish we're giving up on aquariums. I love the fish but I WILL NOT clean out the tank and Matt doesn't have time to do it as often as I'd like. Plus our pleco., Problem, isn't doing his fair share of the cleaning. I think he's broken. And Rosie, the glowfish, was the meanest of the three glowfish. I don't like her very much.

Pretty gross huh. I'm sort of embarrassed, but you all have to know the truth.

What we've decided to do is to phase the aquarium out so as not to upset Leah TOO much, she really loves those fish. Then one day it will just be gone... sound familiar Portreys?

To ease the pain however we did get a new fish. Seems sort of backward huh. Well, we've always loved having Beta Fish. They are super easy to care for and really pretty. We really lucked out on this one too. So, no filters to change, no algae to scrape off, just little Flojo and his lilypad plants.

Flojo (in Spanish that means flowy). Leah calls him Ho Ho though. So now Matt

Pick Up Time

It's that time again, time to pick up the garbage cluttering my brain:

* I think it's time for the fishes to go.
* So You Think You Can Dance was SO good last night.
* Woo Hoo for working out two days in a row. Yes, this is a big deal for me.
* Only 6 more hours until we'll be watching Batman - The Dark Knight.
* Which also means only 4 hours until Leah goes to the babysitter, thanks Rick!
* I also think it's time for me to go fold the laundry.
* I don't understand why some adults feel the need to keep up seemingly 'high school' relationships. Not that having relations from high school is bad, but the relationship needs to evolve into an adult one. Remember all that drama from high school? The nice thing is, it can all go away.
* I'm pretty hungry right now, but I probably won't eat because I know if I do I won't be hungry for dinner. Silly huh.
* Lisa only has 5 days left and then I will have another nephew!
* Anyone know of any good teething remedies? Leah's having a really rough time with her most recent teeth growing endeavors. We're talking runny nose, ornery, and fever.
* Sometimes Kate from Jon and Kate Plus 8 really annoys me. She's really crazy about some things. Then I take a step back and look at her and she and I are sort of alike. I hope my habits aren't quite THAT annoying.
* I hope Matt likes his birthday presents... one of them is sort of strange.
* We just bought the Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever, and Batman and Robin DVD's all for the low price of $33. Matt will be so happy.
* Alright, time to do the laundry, for real.

Some times it just feels so good to write things down. Maybe now I can stop thinking about them, except for the laundry part. I won't stop thinking about that until it's done. Lame, huh.

Quizzes Galore!

Alright so I was bored. Really really bored.

What Your Taste in Music Says About You

Your musical tastes are upbeat and conventional. You are an easy going, optimistic person. Family and friends are very important to you. You enjoy caring for and helping other people. You thrive in a tranquil environment, and you do your best to keep things peaceful. You enjoy your life. You have your priorities straight.

What Does Your Taste in Music Say About You?

You Should Play the Piano

You are a true music aficionado who loves many musical style and eras. You find music to be an escape. And you'd like to be relaxed and comfortable when you're making it. You're very innovative, and you have a unique way of knowing what may sound beautiful. There's a strong possibility that you could compose some of your own work songs quite easily. While you have a lot of creative energy, you are also serious and conscientious. Your musical talent needs time, practice, and lots of privacy to flourish. Your dominant personality characteristic: your painstaking attention to detail Your secondary personality characteristic: your natural tendency to be whimsical

What Musical Instrument Should You Play?

You Are Classical Music

You are a somewhat serious person who enjoys studying subjects deeply. Art of all kinds interests you, and a good piece of art can really effect you emotionally. You are inspired by human achievement, and you appreciate work that takes years to accomplish. For you, the finer things in life are not about snobbery - they're about quality.

What Kind of Music Are You?

Your Power Element is Wood

Your power colors: green and brown Your energy: generative Your season: spring Like a tree, you are always growing and changing. And while your life is dynamic, you are firmly grounded. You have high morals and great confidence in yourself and others. You have a wide set of interests, and you make for intersting company.

What's Your Power Element?

You Are a Glazed Donut

Okay, you know that you're plain - and you're cool with that. You prefer not to let anything distract from your sweetness. Your appeal is understated yet universal. Everyone dig you. And in a pinch, you'll probably get eaten.

What Donut Are You?

I'm Just So Pleased

It's a good time of day right now. Leah's napping, I just pulled out some soft pretzels from the oven (yes I made them myself thanks to the stand mixer Matt gave me for my birthday),I checked my blog list and 3 of my sister's blogged and 1 more started her's! Yeah! It really just brings a little bit more happiness to my heart when I read my friend's and family's blogs. Truly.

I hope Tracy doesn't mind, but I think this is HILARIOUS! I don't know if everyone else will like this as much as I do, but he's my nephew and I'm proud of him. WATCH THIS

I Couldn't Help Myself

Please keep in mind as you read this post that this blog is as much of a journal as anything else.



Leah is at such a fun age right now. She's really developing her own personality and showing it off lately.

Matt and I used to teach Leah sign language. Not a lot, and probably not very well, but it was really effective for the purposes we needed it for. She learned probably a total of 15 signs including: milk, sorry, thank you, car, tree, more, etc. It was so exciting to see her learn and use these signs at the appropriate times. And such a lifesaver as well. One of Matt's favorite things to do before bedtime was to go through all her signs. He would say, "Show me... CAR." And she would show him the sign for car. "Show me... SLEEP." And she would show him the sign for sleep.

Lately we haven't been doing sign as much because she has been speaking so well. So it was quite the surprise to me yesterday, when Leah sat down next to me and said, "Mommy, show me... CAR." Of course, I had to show her the sign for car. We went through this a few times and went to our next favorite game. Naming the members of our family. "Mommy say FISHER... Mommy say Logan... Mommy say Maddie..." (as you can see we had recently babysat Fisher, Logan, and Maddie) and on and on until we had named each member of both families.

Onto the evenings events. Matt and I have been watching a show called "I SURVIVED A JAPANESE GAMESHOW." It's sort of stupid, but I have to admit, I do enjoy watching people make fools of themselves. Physical challenges that are supposed to go wrong are hilarious. Anyway, the contestants have been divided into two teams: Yellow Penguins and Green Monkeys. Anytime a Green Monkey or Yellow Penguin would speak they would show a picture of said animal along with the contestant's name. This happened A LOT! And every time an animal would come up Leah would make that animal's sound. All Matt and I could hear was, "Tweet Tweet, Tweet Tweet... Oo Oo Ah Ah..." throughout the show. It was so funny. And of course she continued to do it because Matt and I continued to laugh.

Spiders and Bugs

So I'm not one to really squirm at the sight of bugs or spiders, but this just isn't okay.

As we all know, Leah spent the weekend at my parent's house with a lot of my family. After we came home my dad was telling me that one evening he and the three 2 year olds went on a walk together. All the girls held hands and it was so much fun.

Now I need to preface: Leah is usually pretty reserved about most things. Especially if it's a new activity, Leah prefers to hang back until she sees that other people have tried it out and it's okay to do. I don't know if she does this to determine safety or maybe she just wants to make sure she won't look like a fool participating in whatever is going on.

Back to the story: Dad was telling me that on this walk Leah was the first to find the bugs and just pick them up. I was pretty astonished, and sort of in disbelief. Not that my dad would lie to me, but really? My Cautious Little Leah, picking up bugs? Last time Leah saw a spider (it was out by the car) she screamed liked a banshee and literally ran for cover underneath the car. I'm not even kidding!

So, I didn't really believe it until yesterday morning when I heard Leah say, "Spider!" Oh she was so happy! I looked over just in time to see those cute little fingers reaching over to grab the thing. She really doesn't care about creepy crawlies anymore. Huh! When did that happen? Maybe she had a good talk with my little sister, Katie, who loves all things living. She cried if she ever saw a spider smooshed by a shoe in our house growing up. Once again, I'm not exaggerating. We love this about Katie, but I would like Leah to grow up knowing that another option to picking up a spider with your bare hands and taking it outside is to smoosh it with a shoe. Preferably a heavy bottomed one. Flip flops don't really cut it... maybe if it's a really small spider.

It's All In The Details...

WEDNESDAY, 2ND:

Happy Birthday to me!
Matt surprised me at home with lunch, a present, and flowers. The present was a game called WACKEE 6, it is so much fun. It was a great day and I spent it trying to get ready for the vacation we were about to take. After dinner Matt gave me another present: A STAND MIXER! I think he just wants me to make more cookies.

THURSDAY, 3RD:

Happy Birthday Tyler and Emily!
Matt had made arrangements for Leah to stay with my parents and sister months ago. Little did he know that my brother and his family would be staying there as well. My parent's house was bursting at the seams with 12 people staying there, including three TWO year olds and one infant. Matt and I drove to St. George in the afternoon and finally arrived at about three or so.
We swam for the rest of the day and later that evening saw HANCOCK.

FRIDAY, 4TH:

Happy Birthday America!
Matt and I spent the day in Las Vegas. We love Las Vegas.
(I think my cousin had her baby this day too, CONGRATULATIONS MIRIAM AND MARC!)

SATURDAY, 5TH:

Matt and I spent all day shopping and swimming and just hanging around. We found some great deals at 'The Outlet Malls in Zion'. Later we went to see Les Miserable at Tuacahn. This was the highlight of my trip, after I got used to hearing Jean Val-Jean in a higher tenor range anyway.

SUNDAY, 6TH:

Oh, time to drive home.
As glad as we were to be on vacation, we were really excited to come home. We found, upon arrival at my parent's house, that my sister Lisa made a really good substitute mom for Leah. Even today Leah is still asking for, 'See-sa'. Thanks Lis!
(Another cousin had her baby this day, CONGRATULATIONS KAREY AND MATT!)

Yes, it was a great vacation. Just enough time and now I'm ready to get back into
the swing of things. Leah is adjusting to being back at home. And Matt and I are
just glad we aren't tending to sunburns in 112 degree weather anymore.

What A Good Weekend

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

A Nice Surprise

Hey! Look what Matt received in the mail yesterday! Wahoo!
Of course this diploma followed a letter that we received a few weeks ago stating that upon further review Matt was not eligible for graduation. Blah blah blah. It was a simple clerical error, but not one that a recent graduate needs to see. Thanks University of Utah for giving us a heart attack.

Do you think I can Photoshop that red seal into blue? Just kiddin'!

I'm proud of you Matt!

Happy Birthday Melanie

You know, a funny thing happened over the past year. I started this blog (Melanie told me that it was "(my) blog" and that she wouldn't be posting on it. Then slowly it became "her" blog and I don't remember the last time I posted on it. Well, today I am going to post. For those of you who regularly visit our blog you already know, it's MELANIE'S BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just wanted to take a second and express my gratitude today.

You are a great wife and mother. I couldn't ask for a better friend. You constantly amaze me with your enthusiasm and joy for life. I can't express how grateful I am for your support and love while I went through school and work. Thank you for being the greatest blessing in my life.

I love you.

Rice Field Art

Rice field art in the country of the rising sun. Each year these guys make new images on their field by planting rice in different patterns making various images. They use different sorts of rice for color. The result is amazing as you can see. It’s a pity they only last as long as it’s time to harvest the rice.