Thursday, September 25, 2008

High School Tag

1. Did you date someone from your school? yeah

2. What kind of car did you drive? I didn't drive in high school although I had a car? Ok I didn't drive legally in high school.

3. What was the most embarrassing moment of HS? The most? My entire high school career was embarrassing but the nail in the hand at the movies probably tops them . Blood running out of my closed hand...Mr Movie Guy says, "Do you have a rat in you hand?" (A RAT? What kind of a girl do a look like?) No. But I need a tetnis shot and that's all of the story your getting.... (Right Michelle?)

4. Were you a party animal? Not really

5. Were you considered a flirt? Yes.

6. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? Not a chance.

7. Were you a nerd? No. but I felt like I was. lol.

8. Were you on any varsity teams? no.

9. Did you ever get suspended/expelled? no.

10. Can you still sing the fight song? no. but I bet I could if the music played. lol.

11. Who were your favorite teachers? Flem and Mr. Southard.

12. Where did you sit during lunch? Michelle and I ate our chicken sandwiches walking around.

13. School mascot? Wildcats of course.

14. Did you go to homecoming, and with who? Homecoming was always a group thing.

15. If you could go back and do it again, would you? no.

16. What do you remember most about graduation? the finality of it. that my mom embarrassed me. also the cool party.

17. Where did you go on senior skip day? Disneyland

18. Were you in any clubs? yes. s-club, yearbook, journalism.

19. Have you gained some weight since then? yes.

20. Who was your prom date? Denny.

21. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion? I did go to my 10 year. Won't go to another reunion. It was cliquier than high school.


Now I tag.... everyone who reads my blog.

Haunted

Ok, so every site I go to, there is a picture of Obama. My dad needed something he and mom saw on Dr Phil and there was a big picture of Obama. On facebook there was a big ad of Obama. Ok. I get advertising. I nearly went into advertising and my degree is truly an angled advertising-ish degree so I get all that in your face stuff. But enough. I don't want to see his face on every site I go to. It does'nt make me like him any more. The man does not have good ideas for our country, he does not have our goodness at heart. I say take that advertising money and use it in a better way right now. Heck, tell people you are re-purposeing it if you want, to make yourself look good if you need to. But use it to bolster the economy in a way that is going to do some good for someone other than you. I am appreciating the bumpersticker that I saw a few weeks ago tonight in a big way. It read simply, "No-bama."

Once in a while I feel particularly mean spirited. Welcome to that once in a while.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Rug Pulling

Today was such a strange day.

Have you ever had the rug pulled out from under you? In my adult life this has happened just a handful of times.

The last time time was when my parents moved. They moved here with us and this summer they moved to live closer to one of my sisters. I was sad. I was never all for the plan. I still am not completely on board but I am one that thinks people should and are able to make their own decisions so I did support them in that. Although I was sad, I felt it would be a bit of a relief.

I was in no way prepared for the two weeks of tears. The whole in my heart that seemed so endlessly void. I didn't realize that I had become closer to my dad than we had ever been. I didn't realize that I had a friendship with both my parents that no one else could ever fill. The moment I put them on the plane the flood gates opened and they stayed open. If anyone even mentioned my parents, or if I had a fleeting thought, out poured the tears. I ached for them. Ached.

There was nothing in me that wanted to stand up and fight for something different-I knew that wasn't my place. I simply needed to find a way to accept what was to be.

I have that same empty feeling today. And I never would have guessed...

....the event...or how it would effect me.

Last week at church we were told to please be at church, there would be an announcement made that would be important.

Indeed.

I didn't sleep last night. At all. I don't know why. The night before I slept fabulously well then last night I layed there all night long so by morning I was dizzy and going to church wasn't high on my priority list. However, setting a good example for my daughter was. Also, at about the moment I had myself nearly talked into staying home, I remembered the "announcement." So, ok, those two things were enough to get us ready and get us to church, where the rug was pulled right out from under me.

Of course we had all speculated briefly about what might be coming. Our ward is quite small in people although large in area so some thought the boundaries might be rearranged a little. I wondered if we would get a new Bishop. I love our Bishop but I think he's been in for a while. I don't think anyone was ready for the news (unless they had inside information.)

AS they announced that our ward would be completely dissolved, I kep trying to make sence of it in my mind and couldn't. It seemed like foreign verbage. I turned and whispered to Wayne that I didn't understand at which point it clicked and in question form I rephrased to him to see if I had understood correctly...? Surely not. Only I had. And I could not have forseen how it would effect me. I felt like I was being evicted from a comfortable warm home. I have had complaints about the running of the ward lately-I could list them, name them one by one... but I would take them all to stay "home."

I have no doubt that it is the right thing. It's quite logical really. Our ward doesn't have enough people to run it properly, and neither does Haines. And I feel the same as when I parents left, there isn't anything to fight against. It's simply the right thing that feels really really sad.

So the down low is that our ward was composed a number of years ago, before we were in it and looks liek 2 squares that meet only at corners. So now where the freeway divides it now will not only divide up into seperate wards and stakes (how our church divides congregations and organizes church families.) So most of my friends will now go to the other ward. And by most I mean pretty much all except one. (Thats you Kristine.) But I am pretty sure Kristine has family in our new ward so maybe she will feel right at home? I don't know...how are you feeling K?

I feel all kinds of crazy. All over the board. Very sad. A littel excited about new things, but maybe it was so sudden and not my idea...I am mostly feeling sad, like I am losing something. We have al lost are callings and our place.

I am nervous for Allori. She is so shy and just loves her primary teacher, Sister Croasdell. I had a talk with her that Sister Croasdell will only be her teacher for one more week and she seemed ok, but I know her....it won't be ok when we get to church. (I am not being negative-I use swim lessons, dance lessons, etc as a basis for this assumption.) lol. I will work on preparing her. :)

On another note, I will start to focus on the good things to come. There will be new friends, new callings, new activities, etc. Right?

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Giveaways....

...don't post a lot of random things but maybe one of us can win something. The link to her site is:

http://www.myfriendamysblog.com/2008/09/official-bbaw-giveaway-list.html

info is as follows:

If you follow along for the festivities of BBAW at My Friend Amy, you will find many chances to win LOTS of goodies! Like what? Well have a look below. All of these things will be given away between September 15-19. There will be a huge variety of ways to win them and giveaways will be announced constantly throughout the week. So be sure to check in often!


A HUGE thank you to Hachette Book Group, Penguin Group USA, Harlequin, The B&B Media Group, Shera of SNS Blog Design, WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group, Catherine Delors, Pamela Binnings Ewen, Andromeda Romano-Lax, Ceceilia Dowdy, Sormag, Book Club Girl, Savvy Verse and Wit, Cafe of Dreams, Fashionista Piranha, and Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'?.

Daily Raffles:
Monday--Books and Chocolate sponsored by My Friend Amy and Hey Lady! Whatcha' Readin?
Tuesday--Books and Going Green sponsored by My Friend Amy
Wednesday--Books and Coffee sponsored by My Friend Amy
Thursday--Books and Charity sponsored by My Friend Amy and Fashionista Piranha
Friday--Books and Movies sponsored by My Friend Amy

Win a Book Club Girl Hostess Survival Kit!
Do you find it's your turn to host book club and not only do you not know what to serve but you don't know what books to offer up for the next month's selection?! Let Book Club Girl come to your rescue with the Book Club Girl Hostess Survival Kit.

One lucky winner of the kit will receive:

* A basket of cheese, crackers, cookies and wine for up to 12 people
* 5 great book group books to vote on for your group's next pick. And Book Club Girl will then donate 12 copies whichever book is chosen for your entire group to read.
* 12 Book Club Girl mousepads to give out as party favors that night
* 12 Book Club Girl bookmarks to mark everyone's favorite passages
* 12 Book Club Girl coasters to protect your coffee table from all those wine glasses!

TWO SORMAG Goody Bags containing books and more!


A Special Pamper Me Basket from Cafe of Dreams!
From Avon Foot Works
~ Inflatable watermelon shaped foot tub
~ 3.4 FL oz Watermelon Cooling Foot Lotion
~ 3.4 FL oz Watermelon Exfoliating Foot Scrub
~ 12 count Watermelon Effervescent Foot Tablets
~ An ARC of So Long At The Fair by Christina Schwarz
~ A variety of Hot Chocolate and Tea mixes

A pre-made blog template from SNSDesign!

A Subscription to Poetry Magazine from Savvy Verse and Wit!

BOOKS
Mistress of the Revolution by Catherine Delors
The Moon in the Mango Tree by Pamela Binnings Ewen
The Spanish Bow by Andromeda Romano-Lax
John's Quest by Cecelia Dowdy
Confessions of a Contractor by Richard Murphy
Acedia & Me by Kathleen Norris
The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell
The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks
The Book of Lies by Brad Meltzer
Supreme Courtship by Christopher Buckley
A Tale Out of Luck by Willie Nelson with Mike Blakely
The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent
When Will There Be Good News by Kate Atkinson
An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken
Exit Music by Ian Rankin
The Smart One and the Pretty One by Claire LaZebnik
Gunmetal Black by Daniel Serrano
Isolation by Travis Thrasher
The Miracle Girls by Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt
Every Freaking! Day With Rachell Ray by Elizabeth Hilts
Dewey by Vicki Myron
The Shiniest Jewel by Marian Henley
Keep the Faith by Faith Evans
The Book of Calamities by Peter Trachtenberg
A is for Atticus by Lorilee Craker
After the Fire by Robin Gaby Fisher
Mike's Election Guide by Michael Moore
War as They Knew It by Michael Rosenberg
Fixing Hell By Col. (ret.) Larry C. James
Wild Boy: My Life with Duran Duran by Andy Taylor
The Last Under-Cover: The True Story of an FBI Agent's Dangerous Dance with Evil By Bob Hamer
Border Lass by Amanda Scott
Insatiable Desire by Rita Heron
Hungry for More by Diana Holquist
Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee
Trespassers Will Be Baptized by Elizabeth Emerson Hancock
He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not by Trish Ryan
Never Surrender by General Jerry Boykin
Dream in Color by Congresswoman Linda Sánchez, Congresswoman Loretta Sánchez
Beyond Belief by Josh Hamilton
Cobain Unseen by Charles R. Cross
Doing Business in 21st Century India by Gunjan Bagla
Branding Only Works on Cattle by Jonathan Salem Baskin
Launching a Leadership Revolution by Chris Brady, Orrin Woodward
How to Hear from God by Joyce Meyer
Knowing Right from Wrong by Thomas D. Williams
Pope John Paul II: An Intimate Life by Caroline Pigozzi
Pure by Rebecca St. James
He Loves Me! by Wayne Jacobson
So You Don't Want to Go to Church Anymore by Wayne Jacobson and Dave Coleman
Move On, Move Up by Paula White
The Rosary by Gary Jansen
Shoot the Moon by Billie Letts
The Choice by Nicholas Sparks
Right Livelihoods by Rick Moody
by George by Wesley Stace
The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold
Trunk Music by Michael Connelly
Hollywood Crows by Joseph Wambaugh
Dead Boys by Richard Lange
The Gifted Gabaldon Sisters by Lorraine Lopez
Sisterchicks Go Brit! by Robin Jones Gunn
Beyond the Night by Marlo Schalesky
With Endless Sight by Allison Pittman
Harlequin Titles: To Be Announced

Many other blogs are giving away books and prizes for BBAW as well! You can see the links to all of these giveaways here.

Interested in gaining entries into the daily raffles? Post this complete list on your blog with links and you'll earn two extra entries!

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Seeing double




We have a new baby. Its kind of like having twins. So far...so good! Israel is 9 weeks younger than Josiah. He will have his 1st birthday this month. (Josiah turned 1 in July.)

Celebration

My sweet sisters sent me money to go to a nice dinner for my birthday last week. We went to the Elephant Bar because my favorite desert is creme brule and I know they have a fabulous one (shown below.) Wayne and Allori gave me flowers! I had to take a picture! The flowers were a HUGE surprise. I LOVE flowers and they are scarce these days. :) Notice I am not in any of the pictures...Allori is the only other person that thinks to take pictures and although I think that is great (kind of) they are generally not the most flattering, if my head is even included. lol. Oh and the silly picture of Allori is her saying, "mmmmm!" She was quite pleased with our dinner! She is the appreciator of quality eats. I have some fun gift cards to spend too! That is always fun! Thank you everyone for your sweetness! I love you too!









Frustration

We have all had it. One of those moments when you are trying so hard to do something that just isn't working, you just want to scream! Unfortunately this picture does not do it justice but I couldn't let his stay there longer than to take one quick picture! Allori was in the tub and Josiah thinks anyone who runs a bath that isn't for him should go straight to time out! He will scream and hyper ventilate and bow his head in utter disgust, even slide to the floor as he is crying if someone is not allowing him into THEIR bath. Apparently he figures any bath is his bath. Anyway Allori was bathing and was about to get out so I removed Josiah's diaper and told him he could go get in. I planned to follow him in and put him in the tub momentarily. I could hear him fussing and assumed that he was doing so because I was taking too long and he wanted in the tub. I asked Allori why he was fussing and she verified my assumption. "He is trying to get in!" So I went in to help him get in and here is what I found




The picture really does not explain what we found. I burst into laughter. "Wayne come here and bring the camera!" Josiah's feet were about 2 inches off the floor and his face was very close to the bubbles. He felt "stuck!" I guess he was willing to go in head first, only he got in that far and then had no foot hold! In the picture it looks like he is touching the floor, but he isn't! (And I couldn't let his stay there any longer, but it was so funny! And when I saw he had dipped his face in the bubbles we had to get "the rest of the story." Sorry about the baby porn. It was too cute to pass up!

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Dreamin of the beach....







I Love my family! I think they are so cute! I love watching Allori's cute little Allori legs run while her top half stays still and her bottom half runs so darn fast and she does it so daintily but looks like she could take on a soccer ball anytime too! Josiah is so his own person. He fits right into our family. He has decide when exactly he is ready to get into the sand or water, and don't be trying to put him in before he is ready now...uh huh. Yeah, he didn't get the memo that he is just 13 months old and not a teenager. This could be a fun ride. But seriously he fits in so well, personality-wise sometimes, while we were in San Diego, I was talking to my cousin Jesse pictured in the top picture about this...and I told him, you know, I think he fits in so well, that no one will even be able to tell that he isn't Wayne and my son. What do you think? (I think he nearly spit out a drink or something...?) hehe. So, here are a few more photos from our beach trip. I am now certain that we will need to live at the beach again in our lives so I began a dream board today with that info on it. What did you all think of Allori's boogie boarding? Pretty tough for a 3'er eh? We were all very proud of her! She is so amazing to me. I have to remind myself that she is three and that she really is developmentally three. She is just so stinking cute and fun and good that it is easy to think she is older and can do more than what we should expect of her. And sometimes I think, why do I need to have another baby, I have Allori? :) But at other times I want to have those experiences again, of growing a child in my person and there just isn't anything like delivering them and holding her (him) for the first time and those first months together and the continual bond you create. Life is so amazing. I am so glad Wayne is my partner in this one. He is a diamond in the rough, I tell ya. Josiah calls him "Da." :) And he is all about being a Daddy's boy. He will settle or me if Da isn't home but if Da is home, he would really prefer I just not even touch him (Seriously, he will push my hand away if I try to pat his back or something-but he is totally fine with getting cuddles all day.) LOL. I tell you, his feistiness could easily be linked right up my maternal line.....hahahahaah

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

The Beach


Here are my cute kids at the beach. Allori LOVED it. Josiah thought it was fine when he wasn't grumpy. Allori found lots of shells and boogey-boarded like a champ. When she fell she would get right back up. Wayne would let her go as you will see and my cousin Jesse would stand toward the shore to catch her. I would stand somewhere in the middle in case there was an incident. In the video below-the first part of it their is a faker wave, so watch it for a second if you want to see her "catch" a wave. At the end, when she falls, I am holding Josiah, videoing and trying to dig her out of the ocean when she tumbles without dumping the baby or the camera and was successful at all three I will have you know!

Monday, September 1, 2008

Connection

Ok, I normally wouldn't post a Happy Birthday to myself, but Wayne and I have had a "moment" that deserves to be shared and it the best Birthday gift ever! A little background.

There have been numerous times in the 5 + years that Wayne and I have been married that I have wondered and even in the heat of a moment asked him, "have you met me?" (LOL) thinking he should know me better than a circumstance seemed to show.

Our first year of marriage was bliss. We worked together and lived together, of course, and I think this allowed us to build a really strong bond. When I stopped working in order to stay home with the baby and we moved to Modesto and Wayne got a different job that he liked less, I still felt we were as close. But when we came back to his family business (and I did foresee and prophesy this happening) that changed. I think he feels bad about himself when he is around his family and that rubs on how he treats me. The move here was 3 years ago and more than half our marriage ago and I felt he suddenly forgot who I was, what I liked, what was important to me and of course you can imagine the things that would do to the close bond we had.

Well.....much to my surprise.....and this has never happened to us...EVER....twice this week we have had moments where we were either thinking the same thing at the same time, or he knew what I would want. Not something close, but exactly.

A couple of days ago I talked to him about something we needed to do and he had been thinking the same thing at the same time. A little thing, but thats never happened to US before. I have had that experience with lots of other people but never my husband. It felt HUGE!

And....today is my birthday. My sisters sent money to him as a surprise to take me out to a nice dinner or lunch. (So sweet!) I have talked about going to The Elephant Bar but we have not gone to this one. We went to the chain in Modesto, but we have lived here 3 years now and haven't gone to this one. There are several other restaurants I would also like to try here that we have not yet tried. So this morning he told me about the gift and asked where I would like to go and I chose The Elephant Bar. He smiled and said he told Tawni that I would probably want to go their. :) Yeah! He does know me! That feels like the best birthday present ever! Such small things, but when you feel like no one knows you....that feels like a HUGE thing, no?

I love my Wayno!