My Little Soap Box

Book Reviews?

2011-02-16T23:23:00.001-07:00

It has been a long time since I have blogged. I am thinking of writing so book reviews for children's book and hosting some giveaways for them. Thoughts? Ideas?

I Got Paid To Shave...

2010-08-10T18:46:00.000-06:00

Not too long ago, I ended up getting a Schick Hydro 3 razor for free from Target (my favorite store). I found out that they were having a 'Try me for FREE' rebate thing going on. So all I had to do was send them my receipt and the upc and the form thing and about 4 weeks later I had a check for $6.99. So essentially Schick paid me to shave my legs this whole week. I bought another razor today at Wal-Mart and paid $0.99 for a razor that normally costs $5.99 so I will be getting another check for $5.99 in a few weeks.

This is the first rebate I have done and it worked out really well. I am looking forward to doing a few more simple ones and seeing how it works out. I will keep you posted on my rebate progress. Share your favorite rebate story below in the comments section.

Major Walmart Win.

2010-08-10T11:21:00.001-06:00

Total before price matching and coupons: $48.96

The Breakdown

Tootie Fruities- $4.12 (one free product up to $5.99)=FREE

Ball-$3.00
2 Pert Shampoos- $0.97 ( 2 $1 off)=FREE

2 Razors- was $6.48- *pm @ $5.99 (2 $5.99 off)= $0.99 ea.

2 Shave gel-was $2.97- *pm @ $1.99 (2 $1 off)= $0.99 ea.

9 Post-Its @ $1 (9 $1 off)= FREE

12 Scotch Tape was $1- *pm-$0.50 (4 $1 off/3)= $0.17 ea.

Grand total (w/ tax): $11.23

Total Savings: $37.73

I think this is the best I have done in a while. Now I just have to hide the post-its and the tape from Charlotte and we will be good for a very long time. And don't worry I didn't even come close to clearing the shelves with all this stuff. I am super happy with these deals. Make sure you are using your school supply coupons right now when all of these 'Back To School' sales are on. Good luck this week guys and let me know about your shopping 'wins' in my comments section. Feel free to post a link to your biggest win of the week.

*pm means price matching.

WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER!!!!

2010-08-09T10:43:00.000-06:00

So I have the results from our fantastic contest. I want to thank everyone who entered and gave me that awesome feed back. The results were randomly chosen by random.org, a random number generator. And the winner is.......

ALANE R.

Congrats. I will be contacting you shortly with information on how to claim your prize!

1st GIVE AWAY!!!! contest ended

2010-08-04T10:49:00.001-06:00

Ok guys! They day you all have be waiting for! My very first giveaway as a blogger! I am really very excited(as if the exclamation points didn't give it away.) Because I have an over abundance of travel sized everything I am making up two kits to give away. Everything you see in these kits I got for free.

This is the Ladies Travel Kit
All for FREE

The Guys Travel Kit
All for FREE!

I know this doesn't sound like a very exciting give-away, but trust me they will get better. Riley and I have taken a vacation to Star Valley, Wyoming. So I will post the results when we get back on Monday. You can enter three times, but each time you need to do a new entry form. The easiest way to do this is to refresh your page. Don't worry that your information will be out there for everyone to see. I am the only one who gets to see it and I will delete it all after the contest is over. Another thing, this is the first time I have used this type of form you when you enter all your info on it just scroll down. If you have any questions please post them on the Facebook page and I will answer them as soon as possible. Good luck and thank you for entering my very first contest!

Facebook Page

2010-08-02T00:47:00.000-06:00

Yes, I think that highly of this blog. I have made My Little Soap Box a Facebook page so you can get updates live in your feed! How cool is that? You should head to the page and like us!

Target Win.

2010-08-02T00:40:00.000-06:00

I do love my husband for being so accommodating when it comes to my coupon fetish. (I love you dear!) Today I went to Target to beat the Monday rush of shelf sweepers. I was very excited about all of the great deals that I even shared my bounty with my family.

there are supposed to be 6 of those first aid kits but I gave 4 away.

The Break Down

Puffy Ball- $1 (Charlotte really wanted it)

4 Shampoo @ $2.50 ea. (2 BOGO) = $1.25 ea.

4 Clean and Clear @$0.97 (4 $1off)= FREE

2 Tide detergent pouches @ $0.97 (2 $1 off)= FREE

6 First Aid Kits @ $0.97 (2 $3/3 off)= FREE

Grand Total (w/tax)= $7.01

Total Savings= $19.06

I would say today was a huge victory for me at Target.

Locks of Love

2010-07-29T12:31:00.000-06:00

I have this wonderful sister in law. Her name is Mrs. Breanne Downs. She grew her hair out for her wedding and then donated it afterwards. You can read her story here. Her persistence inspired me to do the same. So I stopped cutting major length off my hair right after Charlotte was born and just settled into trims from my mother in law every once and a while. Yesterday I finally measured my hair and it was long enough to donated. So off to the salon I went. I ended up donating 12 inches of hair. I was so glad that I could get all of that off my neck and give it to a child in need. So thank you Bre for the great idea. I encourage all of you looking for a new do to consider donating to Locks of Love and the hair cut is free if you go to Great Clips. Below are my before and after pictures.

This was my hair.

12 inches of my hair all braided up.

My new do.

Look how short it is.

Several Shopping Wins and an Update

2010-07-14T22:10:00.003-06:00

I haven't been blogging lately because I have been very busy babysitting a 12 month old little boy. It is really nice for Charlotte to have someone to play with that is sort of her age. She seems to do very well with him. We have been keeping busy and enjoying life. We went to the zoo the other day with Alane and we are planning on going to the zoo in Logan tomorrow. Riley and I are planning a four or five day camping outing for just us. I can't wait.

On to the savings....
Today at Kohl's I spent $18.08 on an Elmo toy and a nice pair of shorts for Riley. I would have taken a picture while they were still in the package and had the tags still on it, but Riley and Charlotte were too excited. Riley ripped the tags off and is wearing them right now and Charlotte is playing with her toy. I did manage to get pictures of them while they were wear/playing with their new stuff.

Kohl's

these are the shorts

These are Charlotte's new toys.

The Break Down

Shorts- was $36- marked down -$17.99

Toy- was $19.99- marked down $3.99

Coupon-$5 off total purchase

Grand total (w/ tax): $18.08

Total savings: $41.01

(like getting the toy for free)

Target

the hair ties aren't supposed to be in there :o

The Break Down

(coupons are in parentheses)

2 Kleenex @ 1.59 ($0.50/2 coupon)- $1.34 ea.

Pamper's wipes @ 2.39 ( $1 off)- $1.39

Dove deodorant 2pk @ 3.99 ($1 off)- $2.99

Nail polish remover @ 1.02

2 Pantene hair spray @ 3.49 ( 2 $2off)- $1.49 ea.

Nivea Chapstick @ 2.49 ($2 off)- $0.49

Off Bug Spray @ 4.00 ($1 off)- $3.00

Grand total (w/tax): $15.06

Total savings: $11.69

Walmart

The Break Down

3 Toothpastes @ $1.50 (3 $0.75 off)- $0.75 ea.

3 Toothbrushes @ $1.50 (3 $0.75 off)- $0.75 ea.

3 Pert shampoos @ $0.97 (3 $1 off)- FREE

Qtips @ $2.97 ($1 off)- $ 1.97

Shaving gel @ $1.97 ($0.75 off)- $1.22

Lotion @ $2.97 ($1 off)- $1.97

Suave shampoo @ $0.98 ($0.50 off)- $0.48

Cookie @ $2.50 ($2.50 off)- FREE

Grand total (w/ tax): $11.88

Total savings: $ 11.48

Those are my shopping wins for the week.

Upcoming Events

I have two major events coming up very soon.

1. I get a chance to host a DJ Hero House Party on July 31st. I will be giving away a free game and turntable at my party. Come enjoy some free pizza and maybe go home with a free game for Xbox 360. Let me know if you need an invite. You have to come if you want to win.

2. I have been very lucky these last few months when it comes to couponing. I have gotten so much free stuff. I usually keep it in a box. right now that box is over-flowing. So I am going to be putting together a travel gift basket and giving it away to one lucky winner. That give-away will happen August 6th. Mark your calenders and continue reading for further information! I can't wait this is my first give-away.

Great Deals!

2010-07-11T18:23:00.000-06:00

I went to Target and Famous Footwear today and got some really great deals. I got a two day coupon from Facebook for "liking" [Famous Footwear]. The coupon was $10 off and purchase of $10 or more. I just hit up Target's Clearance section. Here's a break down of my trip:

Famous Footwear

Sandels-was- $27.99

marked down to -$10.00

after coupon- FREE

Socks-was-$5.99

marked down to-$2.00

taxes-$0.13

Total-$2.13

Target

Green Shirt- was $4.00

now $2.00

Purple Shirt- was $4.00

now $1.50

Yellow Shirt- was $4.00

now $2.80

taxes-$0.41

Total- $6.30

TOTAL SAVINGS: $37.68

I would call that a shopping WIN! And of course all of the stuff I bought was for Charlotte. She even picked out the socks (mainly because she has a huge Elmo crush). My little girl is thrifty already.

2010-07-04T22:03:00.002-06:00

This is my husband.

I love him.

Swag Bucks

2010-07-04T13:57:00.000-06:00

I have a new addiction. Its called Swag Bucks. It is a search engine where you earn "bucks" for searching. I have earned $25 in Amazon Gift cards. We are saving them for Christmas and hopefully having a free Christmas.

It is easy to rack up bucks with the codes the have almost everyday and the special offers and shop and earn. The Facebook community they have is unparalleled. I needed so much help when I started out and the people on the wall helped me so much. I am on my way to an easy $50 in gift cards already this month and its only the 4th. I will most likely hit my free Christmas goal sometime in September or October.

I have posted a referral link below just click on the picture at the bottom of this post and sign up. For every referral that earns 1,000 bucks searching, I also earn up to 1,000 bucks. Its a really easy way to rack up bucks quickly. But please be very careful. This can become very very addictive. I love it so much. If you have any questions let me know or you can click on this link. Penny Pinchin Mom does a much better job of explaining this than I do.

Welcome to your new addiction friends :)

We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Blog Post....

2010-06-21T22:36:00.000-06:00

To bring you this BREAKING NEWS.....

Riley has joined the United States Marine Corps. This information may seem very random and out of the blue for you to hear, but we have been talking about it for a little over six months now. It is something that he has wanted to do for a very long time and I fully support him in this decision.

I know the military life-style is not for everyone. You might be asking, "Well, how do you know it's for you?" Some of you may not know this, but I lived on a military base until I was 8 and my Dad retired from the Army, and when I first moved to Utah I lived on Hill Air Force Base. I love living in a community like a military base offers. The benefits far out way the negative aspects for us. I also know where ever we go the church will be there. I know that I can be comforted by the fact that we won't have to sacrifice our values to travel the world. (plus the health care is amazing!)

I can't wait until we get our first duty station we can get all settled in. But, just so everybody is aware, Riley is not leaving for boot camp for six months. His date will be January 3rd, 2011. When he gets closer to the date I will have an address to post so you can write him. I encourage everyone to write him as often as you can. Remind him that it takes Honor, Courage, and Commitment to complete 13 weeks of boot camp.

I am so proud of the commitment he has made to defend our freedoms and liberties. I am also very proud to call him my husband.

Semper Fidelis

(Always Faithful)

Happy Sunday

2010-06-13T13:20:00.000-06:00

This is a conversation that Riley and I just had. It made me laugh.

Me: "Tomorrow is Michael's birthday."

Riley: "Are we going to call and sing to him?"

Me: "Why would we do that?"

Riley: "We are Mormon. Its just what we do. Its part of our religion."

I laughed so hard when he said this. I love that about my Riley, he always makes everybody laugh.

Mo Free Stuff

2010-06-10T00:51:00.000-06:00

We left our camera charger in PA so this is a picture i took with my phone. Its pretty awful. But, hey, I'm not Ansel Adams. So everything you see in this picture I got for free.
I got the photobook forever ago I just never blogged about it.
The Fisher Price toy and the shirt I got from Kohl's. They sent me a $10 off $10 or more coupon. My total there was $0.63. Sales tax! YAY!
I had $1 off Dawn coupon and a $2 Welsh's coupon. (the juice was gone before I took this picture) I ended up paying $0.24 for that at Family Dollar.
I had two coupons for buy 2 get $2.00 off for the toothbrushes. I only brought one pack home because I donated the other one. $0.26 at Walgreens.
I got tampons and pads in the mail today along with a coupon for a free 18 count pack of pads.
I got the hair gel in the right corner for free at Walmart because I had a $1 off coupon and I paid $0.07 in sales tax.
I go the Sweet Baby Ray's in the left hand corner for free because I wrote them and told them how awesome their BBQ sauce is. I also got 2 $1 off coupons from the for Ken's Dressing.
Hefty sent me a free coupon for their bags because I wrote and thanked them for their travel bags. (they saved a pair of my favorite heels on our recent trip).
I got a free cup of Kraft Easy Mac for playing a game on their website.
I also wrote Bar S and told them how much my husband loves their hot dogs and I got a $5.00 gift certificate from them along with 4 $0.25 off coupons.

So total I have paid for all of this was $1.20. I am going to say that is a money saving win for this week. I have a bunch of free stuff that should be here in the next two weeks. I can't wait. I love that when I go to the mail box, its like Christmas!

Uphill Both Ways

2010-06-02T03:31:00.000-06:00

Do you know that feeling you get in the middle of the night that wakes you from a dead sleep? Something doesn't feel right. What is the first thing you check? Your child (sorry husband). This happened to me in the wee morning hours on Monday.

What I found in Charlotte's crib was a shell of my little girl. Where her pretty little grin was there was nothing but the saddest pout you've ever seen. I picked her up and held her and felt the thing that every mother dreads. A fever. We clocked it at 101.1 and called our on call physician and he said to give her some Motrin and wait it out for at least eight hours. That is what we did. Eight hours later we were sitting in the Emergency Room at Davis Hospital.

*SIDE NOTE*

I hate Davis County Hospital with a burning passion. I had Charlotte there. The day we were set to leave, Riley went to the nursery to get her. They told him they thought I had her. Then they told me she was missing. Wrong thing to tell a new mommy. I lost it and had a panic attack. 15 minutes later some stupid nurse comes in with my child and says, "Found her. Can you sign this please?" It took all I had not to punch her in her ugly face.

*END SIDE NOTE*

Davis was all that was open and would take our insurance at 10am on Memorial Day. We missed the family picnic and the family. All they said at the hospital was that she had croup (which I knew going in). They gave her a shot of steroid and told us we over reacted and sent us home. (still hate you Davis)

That same night she kept running a high fever. We sat in the steam with her and rocked her and held her and watched Elmo over and over again. Tuesday she looked and sounded a lot worse. She wasn't eating or drinking much of anything. She didn't even want frozen strawberries, which are her favorite. I had to coax her to drink from her bottle and that she did with much argument. She was limp and dehydrated. So we called and were given an appointment for first thing Wednesday morning. We rode around with her in the car from about 4 am to the time of our appointment. That calmed her down a lot.

Riley took her in while I slept. They gave her penicillin that she is allergic to and she got worse. When her temp went up to 101.9 an hour after giving her some Motrin. I called our doctor again and back we went. By this time it is 7pm and she couldn't even stand up on her own and didn't have enough energy to cry. She just moaned. At one point I felt so helpless that I just held her and cried. I hate that feeling.

Our doctor is a really great guy and his nurse is a no nonsense kind of lady. When they saw her and heard her breathing they broke out the nebulizer and did a breathing treatment on the spot. The doctor fixed our prescription issue from earlier in the day while his nurse called and arranged for someone to meet us at our house with a nebulizer we could use at home. We stopped by Target to get our prescriptions filled. After waiting for over an hour, they finally told me that the medicine for her nebulizer needed to be preapproved by our insurance and it would take about 3 to 5 business days to get all the paper work done. We called our doctor and he faxed them another prescription to fill that wouldn't take so long. Mind you this is all at 8pm. The doctor did all of this from his home. With prescriptions in hand we headed home.

When we pulled up to our house the nebulizer guy was already there and we went inside and learned how to use the thing. Charlotte sat down for some Elmo and pebble ice and had another breathing treatment, while we breathed the biggest sigh of relief ever. She is sleeping and I haven't heard a peep from her all night, despite the 90 times I have checked on her so far. The past 36 hours have been an uphill battle and I am exhausted. I have been so worried about Charlotte all this time I didn't think to take care of myself. Now I am sick.

I have to hand it to my cool-headed husband. He is one tough cookie. I tend to get over emotional at the drop of a hat and this killed me. He was so level-headed and supportive. He held her and me at the same time. I admire Riley for that because I couldn't do it. He is the a big part of the reason we are able to make it through these times together. (We also pray hardcore. That helped us in a big way.) I love you, my dear husband. Thanks for all your help. [Partners forever and then some :)]

Thank you to all of you who kept us in your thoughts and prayers. We really appreciated your support and love. Sorry we had to miss out on the Memorial Day fun but we will see you all real soon. I love you all very much.

My Smile for Today

2010-05-23T22:34:00.000-06:00

Vacation Re-cap

2010-05-18T18:21:00.000-06:00

As you all know, our little family went to the great state of Pennsylvania to visit my Dad's family. We left Monday at 6:35am and returned Sunday at 12:55pm. We had a great week. Charlotte got along really well with my Dad and the rest of my family. Riley got to see where I spent my childhood and we visited some of the places that I used to frequent during my youth. Here is the story of our vacation in pictures...

Sleepy eyes right before her first plane ride.

Charlotte was really excited about milk shakes at Bing's Diner

This is a local 50's style diner in my home town.

This is the cradle that my Dad made for me when I was a baby.

Charlotte thought this was great.

Yummy raspberry éclairs at Wegman's.

Wegman's is my favorite grocery store that has the greatest selection

of pastries, breads, candies, cheese and international foods you can't

find anywhere else in the region.

Am I making you drool yet? Look at those cupcakes!

Charlotte in awe of the candy section at Wegman's

The nest day we went to Hershey, PA.

Home of my favorite candy, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

We went on the Great American Chocolate Tour.

It was fun for all of us. Charlotte loved the singing cows.

Who wouldn't want on this street?

This made me smile. I love chocolate.

This is Rita's Water Ice. The best Italian ice ever.

That and the sign is really cool.

Charlotte loved the Swedish Fish flavored ice.

The next day we went up to Jack's Mountain.

Don't get all excited because it is not really a mountain.

Most of the Appalachian Mountains in Pennsylvania are

defined as ridges. This is the highest vantage point in the area.

This is a view of Ferguson Valley.

My Dad, Me, and Charlotte on the top of the "mountain."

That same day we went for a ride in Amish country.

If you [click to enlarge] you will see yellow buggies.

Amish men working on a barn.

[Click to enlarge]

On Friday there was a family BBQ.

Riley got to meet my extended crazy family.

(I love them).

My cousin Michael and my brother Chip.

My Daddy manned the grill.

We had leg of lamb and grilled pork loin.

I have never had leg of lamb that good before in my life.

This is my extended family.

From the left: Aunt Dot (Gma Helen's cousin),

Ruthie (Dot's daughter another cousin), Gma Helen (Dad's Mom) ,

Pop-pop Pat (Dad's Step Dad), Uncle Chad (Dad's older brother).

Our Four Generations.

I am so grateful to be a part of such an amazing family.

My Cousin Michael and his awesome girlfriend Brittney.

Our front porch is the place to be when people are over at

our house.

Charlotte loved visiting Grandpa at work.

She got to smell all of the pretty flowers.

We went to Denny's on Saturday for breakfast.

This is my amazingly talented sister, Sara.

Michael and his girlfriend, Brittney at Denny's.

After breakfast we went to Poe Valley State Park.

We bbq'd and played on the beach and the dam.

I love the dam!

Sunglass sisters.

This is the lake at Poe Valley. It is so pretty.

Charlotte and her Uncle Michael at Poe Valley.

Our family at Poe Valley.

My awesome husband and I on the falls.

Charlotte playing in the sand.

Charlotte chilling at Philadelphia International Airport.

Side note: Dear Southwest ticket lady,

You are a rude and unhelpful person.

I do not like you at all. Thank you for

being entirely jerk-faced. I hope you

had an awful drive home. I hope it was

super congested and you missed an appointment.

Love, Mary.

Flying through the clouds.

Charlotte loved the tray tables.

Home, Sweet, Home. Well...not really this is the Utah Lake,

near Provo.

Mail Call

2010-05-17T15:47:00.000-06:00

Look what came while I was away.

3 samples of Sundried tomato and basil Wheat Thin samples

1 coupon for free hot dogs.

1 coupon for free bbq sause.

A free neti pot with two salt packages.

People, Time, and American Baby (all free)

140 Free address labels.

3 samples of Vanilla Caramel Latte mix

2 samples of Eucerin and a $1.00 of coupon

Maybe I should go away more often...lol

Hello Again...

2010-05-17T13:45:00.000-06:00

Well hello there my fellow bloggers. It has been a week. We got back from Pennsylvania yesterday. What a much needed vacation. We had the greatest time ever but we were so glad to sleep in our own bed. I am going to blog about our vacation and post pictures very soon but not today. I have a lot of laundry to do and mail to go through and phone calls to return. P.S. It was really nice to be unplugged for a week.

The Vintage Pearl

2010-05-07T13:19:00.002-06:00

The Vintage Pearl is having a cool contest for mother's day. Enter here.

Are You Kidding Me???

2010-05-06T19:42:00.000-06:00

Some of you know that the last few days have been really super stressful for me. I am just going to run down my list of current causes for stress:
* I have my period (Yes, I get really agitated when its "that time")
* My wisdom teeth are coming in- apparently I didn't need to have mine removed.
* Charlotte is cutting two more teeth on the bottom.- Mom and baby teething together....yay :'(
* We leave on a Monday at 7am.
* I only have one bag packed and no clothes washed.
* My house is a disaster area.
The icing on the cake:
Somebody stole Riley's wallet from his locker while we was at work. This wouldn't have been a big deal had it been any other week of the year. I know I am glad Riley is safe and all of those things can be replaced and we aren't responsible for the charges that have or might be accrued. I am very grateful, don't get me wrong, but seriously ARE YOU KIDDING ME????? Four days before we are supposed to leave this happens. Worst timing ever. Riley's atm card and licence were in his wallet. We needed both of those for our trip.

Here are some positives about these situation:
-My awesome mother in law is going to hang out with Charlotte for a while before we leave so I can get some packing done.
-My period is only temporary and I will get over being mean.
-I have one bag packed.
-Riley took the day off to get a new licence and he just renewed so he won't have to do that for another five years. That makes me happy.
-They are rushing us new a new atm card.
- The Ogden Police caught the fool that stole Riley's wallet. They also recovered the wallet and its contents. I am so happy about this. I really am so relieved that this joker is in prison and will be off the streets for a really long time.

So yes, yesterday and today were really stressful but we are relaxing a bit more now that we have some resolution to some of our major issues.

Mail Call...Sorta

2010-05-06T19:17:00.000-06:00

So I got an offer in the mail the other day from Target. Set up a baby registry and get a 20$ gift card. Well, we aren't planning on having a baby anytime soon so I set it up for Charlotte. After a certain date they send a 10% off coupon and you can purchase what is on the registry with it. Well I went to Target today to get my free 20$ gift card. This is what we got....

On the right:

Reusable bag

Sushi

Gum

New combo lock

Cereal Snack

and I had $0.39 left over.

I also got the 8 x 11 photo collage from Walgreens. I really do love their freebies. All you do is upload a free pictures and make a collage and enter the code: GOODTHOUGHTS. And when you pick it up it is free. I love free stuff. :)

Three Things....

2010-05-05T15:16:00.000-06:00

These are three things that made me smile today....

My husband is awesome!

Charlotte is hilarious

We painted her nails last night.

She thought that was great.

Getting Ready to Travel

2010-05-05T15:08:00.000-06:00

Our little family is getting ready to travel. I am counting down the days. I haven't started packing. Well...I got one thing packed...

She enjoys suitcases.

Dear Bed,

2010-05-04T01:45:00.000-06:00

Dear Bed,

My sweet, comfortable, warm, loving bed. I adore snuggling in your blankets and hiding my head in your fluffy pillows. I love how you always there for me when I need a nap or when I need somewhere to find covers for a tent. I also love the way you don't get mad at me when I go to bed with every intention of staying there all night, and end up waking up at 2 am and staying up for the rest of the night. I wish I could just fall asleep as easily as Riley does. I miss you Bed, I really do miss you.

Love always,
Mary

Family Photo Shoot Fails

2010-05-03T00:56:00.000-06:00

No explanation.

Ouch.

I thought this was a great idea at the time.

I was wrong.

Bre told us to pose ourselves.

Direction Fail.

Easter in Pictures.

2010-05-02T22:14:00.000-06:00

Getting ready to find some candy.

Charlotte thought the leaves where a little more fun than the candy.

" I need some help Mommy."

"I think I can do this on my own guys. Thanks for the help."

"Yay!"

"I own this egg hunt!"

"GRANDMA STOLE MY CANDY!!!!!!"

"I am ok now. I have my candy."

Easter. Barker style.

"You got my back, Dad?"

"Don't tell Mom I am eating this."

"I just destroyed that candy."

My Birthday in Pictures.

2010-05-02T21:52:00.002-06:00

The sign said, "Don't feed the animals."

Charlotte clearly cannot read.

Three awesome people.

"You can't see me."

Riley made burgers for everyone.

He is undeniably awesome.

This is my thinking face.

"Seriously? None of these gifts are for me?"

Happy Birthday to me!

" You are nowhere as flexible as I am, Mom."

"Watch and learn kid."

Some Privacy Please!!!!

2010-04-30T10:33:00.000-06:00

Do you know what Spokeo is? Neither did I until I read THIS POST over at pennypinchingmom.com. I search my name and my husband's name and it came up with our address and income and intrests and pictures that we posted on facebook.com. I was so creeped out by it. Luckily there was a way to take our listing off of there. I highly suggest you read the post above and follow the directions. That was so scary to know that all the information was available to anybody with internet access.

Mail Call

2010-04-30T10:12:00.000-06:00

The mean mail lady must LOVE me. I say she is mean because she would rather sit in her little truck and honk for someone to come downstairs rather than get up and knock on the door. And she was rude to me when I came outside. That is not the point though, look what I got in the mail today....

Here is a run down of my free stuff:

1. Parent's Choice Formula: This came about four months too late

so I will give it to someone who needs it.

2. A sample of Pampers Cruisers: I don't normally use this brand but

they go in my car diaper bag for those "just in case" incidents.

3. My Snapfish photo flip book.

4. 20 free 4x6 prints from snapfish.com

5. Three high value coupons for Tide and Olay body wash.

6. A sample of Pink Lemonade metamucil: Weird right?

I got it for our first aid kit in the car.

I also got my phone bill, my netflix movie, and a package from thevintagepearl.com, I love that page.

Almost Here

2010-04-27T02:39:00.000-06:00

I am talking about summer of course. I love summer because the sun always seems to shine a little brighter and I seem to be a little happier and I worry a little less. I love the way a fun packed summer day slides into a slow, cool summer night. I think that is the best part of summer.

This summer we have a big front porch with a view of the setting sun. We talked about sunsets during family home evening on Sunday. There were two major topics of discussion I would like to touch on. The first is part of the reason Alane is grateful for the creation. Her thoughts are: "No matter how many times you see the sunset, it is always different and always beautiful." (Sorry if I misquoted you Alane!) I have to agree with her. Riley and I spend a lot of time looking at the sunset, even if we aren't in the same place. When he is working he will call or text me and tell me to look at the sunset. I love how it is painted across the sky so perfectly. This brings me to our second point of discussion during fhe. Riley simply stated, "God must have Bob Ross painting the sunsets now because they seems to be more and more beautiful." I might add to that, the trees are looking a lot happier too. (hehe) God and Bob Ross are a great team, not to say that God needed any help.

This summer we will be taking longer walks and eating homemade popsicles and going to the park. I know that doesn't sound fantastic but it sounds perfect to me. I love a lazy summer and I can't wait to sit on my porch and read and watch Charlotte play. She is already helping me water my plants and picking me dandelions and finding me bugs. She looks so darling with popsicle all over her face. I always say this but I always mean it, "I can't wait to see what she learns next."

As for major vacation plans, we are going to get started early and head to Pennsylvania to see my family in the beginning of May (its coming up so soon). This will be Charlotte's very first plane ride and I will probably act like its my first because I hate flying. People always tell me, "Oh its just like a roller-coaster ride." I don't even bother to tell them that I hate roller-coasters anymore because I get strange looks. I have come to terms with my chicken-ness and I have embraced it. The scrambler is as crazy as I get. Maybe if I am feeling daring I will hope on the ferris wheel. (but not with Riley because he rocks the bucket and I get sick) So yes, I hate hate hate flying. I think sometimes it has something to do with the reason I never went back to Pennsylvania. I was too afraid of the return flight. But this time I will have to gird up my lions (right after I put on my big girl panties of course) and show Charlotte that I am not afraid. I just hope I don't breakdown right after take off in front an Asian family like last time. They looked like they were terrified. You never want to say you have done that more than once. maybe I will do some slow breathing, maybe I will just take a benedryl and have Riley roll me to the next flight in Charlotte's stroller.

Despite the plane ride, I am happy to finally get to show my family where I grew up and where I always feel like a kid. It may be small but it never changes. Well at least in my mind it never changes. Daddy told me they put a new restaurant where the old video store used to be. And Peachey's burnt down out in Belleville. Aside from that nothing much has changed. I can't wait to play in the creek and I can't wait to go to the park and eat a doughnut.

Two weeks seems like so long, but it is coming up really close. I am overflowing with excitement : ).

More Free Stuff!

2010-04-26T23:27:00.000-06:00

I love Einstein Bagels. I also love free things. So one would logically assume that I love free Einstein Bagels. Here is how you get your free Einstein Bagel:

1. Log on to Facebook.
2. Search "Einstein Bagel"
3. Hit the like button
4. Find the "Offers" tab at the top of the profile.
5. Print your coupon.
6. Keep printing until May 2nd because you can print and use the coupon as many times as you'd like.
7. Enjoy the crap out of that free bagel.

Hope you all enjoy this yummy freebie!

Awesome FHE

2010-04-25T23:50:00.000-06:00

Our family starting having a big fhe once a month so we had an excuse to get together. This month I hosted and we all got together and I made dinner and dessert and Riley gave a lesson about the creation. We had a great time and some yummy food (not that I am tooting my own horn, but TOOT, TOOT). Here are some fun pictures.

Chicken Enchiladas and Spanish Rice and Salad

dinner

Double Dark Chocolate Cake

dessert

Then I had the great luck to have a friend that had extra Jazz tickets for tonight. Riley isn't a fan of sports in general so I took Alane and we had the greatest time ever! The Jazz won by the way and if they win one more game they advance in the playoffs ( I think, I don't follow basketball) I accidentally spit popcorn when I got super excited and some of it may have landed in the guy in front of me's hair. We made a three pointer when I was on the way back to our seat from getting popcorn and I jumped up and down. I spilled some popcorn but high-fived a security guard. I had a fantastic first ever Jazz game! Here are some pictures:

DEFENSE!!!

my fun face paint

(yes I am aware that I have a huge nose from the side, I like it though)

Amazing Aeropostale Deal

2010-04-24T18:54:00.000-06:00

I found this great coupon from Aeropostale today went and they were having a huge 50% off sale this weekend. I got to stack the 50% on top of the 10$ off coupon. Here is what I bought....

No each of these shirt regularly retails for $17.50 a piece ($70 total). They were all 50% off making them 8.75$ a piece. I had a coupon for $10 of a purchase of $10 or more. My total per transaction was $7.99 ( I did two transactions). So I saved $54.02!

Please note that the coupon has some restrictions. Here are some of the major ones:

-You have to give them an email address when you use the coupon.

-You can only use one coupon per transaction.

-You can only use one per email address

-You can only use one per person per day.

I used two coupons but I had my husband with me so he gave them his email address and bought it separately. If you want to get something else I suggest taking someone with you. Also, their shirts were not the best deal. They had some pants on sale for $16.99 so that would be cheaper than the shirts. (they just carry my size pants) Good luck finding some great deals guys!

Here is the link to the coupon: If you have an issue with the link just google aeropostale 10$ off coupon.

PYP Blog: $10 off ANY purchase at Aeropostale this weekend only!

More Free Stuff!

2010-04-23T13:54:00.000-06:00

So, if you read my last post, you already know that I love free stuff. In recent post I told you all about the free board book from leap frog. I got our in the mail about a week ago and I thought it was going to be like one of those cheap books you find at the dollar store. It totally wasn't I was so happy.

The book on the left.

I made the other one for free on shutterfly.com. They send me credits for a free photo book every once in a while. I think I have made like four or five in the past year. I just signed up for their email updates.

I also got a free sippy cup in the mail from Juicy Juice today. I love Juicy Juice. Anyway, I signed up here. And they send me coupons for Juicy Juice and they sent me a nifty sippy cup too. Check it out.

Check out some of the links. I get product samples and coupons in the mail all the time. I am pretty sure I won't have to by tampons this month thanks to o.b.., tampax, and kotex. Hope you enjoy your free stuff guys!

Free PICTURE Stuff!

2010-04-23T13:18:00.000-06:00

So I found three free offers online and all I had to pay was the shipping on them. Here is the break down:

snapfish.com:

This is a free 5x7 flipbook and the code is only good for the first 10,000 customers. So hurry on this one. enter the code: ALLYOUMOM in the coupon section in the bottom left hand corner when you go to check out. I ended up paying $1.99 for shipping and if you are a first time user of snapfish.com you get 20 free 4x6 prints too but you have to pay $1.99 shipping for them too. Nine cents a print isn't too bad. I had a little trouble when I made the book the code is for a 10 page 5x7 FLIP BOOK not a 20 page 5x7 photo book. If you try to use the code at the check out with the 20 page photo book it won't work. If you have questions e-mail me or facebook me and I will try to help the best I can.

shutterfly.com:

Shutterfly is offering a coupon code for three 5x7 photo greeting cards. They have some really cute deigns and you can use these for other occasions, not just Mother's Day. I made one Mother's day and two Father's day cards. Enter the code : CARDS4MOM. This code expires on 4/29 so I would hurry up and use it. I paid $1.01 for shipping and that comes out to about $0.34 a card. Much better than Hallmark prices and a lot more personal.

canvaspeople.com

Ok now I have not used this site yet simply because I waiting for our family photos so that I can use one of those. (I didn't mean that as a jab Bre...lol) Now, from what I understand this is a $55 credit so you can use it however you'd like. With the $55 credit it works out to where you can get a free 8x10 photo canvas. I am not sure how much shipping is yet because I haven't ordered mine yet. I read up and I think the total is about $14.95. Not bad as far as I'm concerned. I will give this a try and let you know later how it went for me. www.canvaspeople.com If you try this let me know what you think about the service.

Enjoy your free stuff guys!

Dinosaur Park

2010-04-15T13:26:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we went to the dinosaur park with my friend and her daughter. Charlotte loved it. Here are a few pictures and a video of our fun time at the Dinosaur Park in Ogden.

Zoo Trip

2010-04-12T19:18:00.000-06:00

Today our WHOLE family (by whole I mean Charlotte, Riley and I) went to the zoo. We had the greatest time. We saw so many cool animals. There was a new baby elephant named Zuri. She was sleeping though so Charlotte didn't get to say hello to her, maybe next time.

When we went into the primate house we saw a family of orangutans and they were super fun. We walked into the building and it is kind of dark so we decided not to take pictures so our flash wouldn't scare the animals. But when we came up to their enclosure, there was a couple sitting on the ground in front of the glass. The male orangutan came over and sat down in front of them and just stared at them for a long time. It may have had something to do with the fact that they had ice cream cones. When we walked up I let Charlotte out of her stroller so she could see better. The youngest orangutan came up to her and looked at her for a while and then made a kissy face at her. Charlotte of course squealed with delight and clapped. She thought it was the greatest part of the zoo trip and I am totally inclined to agree with her. I only wish that we would have taken a picture but it is on of those things that will be forever ingrained in my memory.

The tigers were next. We were so lucky to see five tigers playing in their swimming hole and playing with the toys they had. Charlotte got down to look at the tigers and when asked what a tiger says, she replied, "woof, woof." I wasn't going to break her heart and tell her she was wrong. The tigers were all too willing to come up and say hello to us too. One came up out of the water and right up to the glass where we were standing and stared at her for a while. Charlotte loved that. She cried a little when we left them.

It has been a while since we have been able to do something like this as a family but we loved every minute of it. Charlotte went to the zoo once before when she was about three months old and she slept the whole time. I was so grateful that Riley was able to go and see her really experience the zoo this time. Seeing her eyes light up when we saw each new animal made my heart melt. She was so happy and even enjoyed most of her first carousel ride.

I am looking forward to helping Charlotte explore her world in these next few months. She is so eager to learn that it is inspiring. I miss the things she used to do when she was a tiny baby but it is days like today that make me look forward to the future.

[Click to enlarge]

Wedded Bliss

2010-04-11T13:42:00.000-06:00

I realized the other day that I never really posted pictures from my wedding almost six months ago.

So I made a little collage of some of my favorite pictures that Steve took.

(click to enlarge)

Grandpa Read and Anne are really great dancers by the way.

Meet Someone

2010-04-07T07:16:00.000-06:00

When I was in college my minor was Women's Studies. I learned about a great bunch of strong and courageous women. I always found that women played a surprisingly active role in history. When I read stories of these women I get all excited and want to save the world. I just hope that they can inspire you to do something great today.

So today I would like you to meet:

Margaret Mead

Three Things I Learned Yesterday

2010-04-05T09:01:00.000-06:00

1. My family heritage is strong and well documented. On my paternal grandfather's side (Hanawalt's) we emigrated to the United State in 1756 (so before it was the United States). Christian Hanawalt owned a saltpeter mine in Spring Mills, Pa. Saltpeter is something that was used to make gun powder. They used this saltpeter to make gun powder in the Revolutionary War. This makes me eligible to become a member of the Daughter's of the American Revolution.

2. My family history has been traced back to the 1600's in Germany. This basically means I have a lot of temple work that needs to be done for my family.

3. My daughter learned to talk on the phone. I have no idea where she picked that up. I am only kidding of course. She got it from me.

April 2010 General Conference

2010-04-03T22:31:00.000-06:00

"If we have drawn nearer to the Savior, with a more firm resolution to follow His example,

then this conference will have been a wonderful success."

-Gordon B. Hinkley, Liahona Jan 2001, 102-103

Its April. That means flowers are blooming, birds are chirping, and Utahans are still shoveling snow. If you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, then it means that General Conference is here again.

Usually I sleep through Conference because it means that I don't have to get up and go to church on Sunday. But this year I decided that I would actively participate in Conference. My mother -in-law showed me a cool packet I could print out and follow along with. It is meant for youth but I am a beginner in the gospel so it made sense to me to print it out and use it to follow along with the talks.

This year I am doing very well. I did the CTR search, For the strength of youth sudoko, and the Bible anagrams. I'm saving the conference word search for tomorrow. But along with those fun things I wrote down a question I hope to have answered through this conference. As the speakers share their messages I am going to listen for specific impressions or thoughts that will help me answer this question. When Conference is over I will decide on a plan that will help me act upon what I have heard. (I really am not that smart. It was the first activity in the packet.) I like the way this packet is set up so I can easily follow along and take notes and answer questions posed in the packet. It keeps me more focused on what is being said and how I can take the message and apply it to my life.

Another one of the parts of spring that I love is Easter. This year it fell on Conference weekend. So we got to enjoy two awesome events: the Easter egg hunt and Priesthood dinner. I was looking forward to helping Charlotte find candy so I could see her face when she found some (that and Grandma tapes money onto the candy). And I love watching the men in our family get all handsome in their Sunday best and go to the Priesthood session. Usually before they leave we serve them a good meal and when they get home we eat dessert (longest two hours of my life because all the dessert looks so good).

As we were leaving Grandma's house tonight I took a picture of all the men's dress shoes at the entryway. When I looked at all those shoes it made me think of how grateful I am to have some many priesthood holders in my family. You gentlemen do the work of our Heavenly Father. I am so proud to know all of you and so blessed to be a part of your family. I love you all.

I hope everyone enjoys their Easter Sunday and the Sunday sessions.

What the HAIL Happened last night?!?!?!?

2010-04-02T13:34:00.000-06:00

Last night Riley and I were watching a movie and all of the sudden we heard tapping coming from the area around the swamp cooler. I was super confused I thought it was Charlotte in her crib playing. Then, the tapping got louder, like a bunch of rocks being thrown at my roof.

Well, it was hail. I love hail usually it mean there is a thunder storm soon after but not last night. Ri and I went on the front porch and watched it for a little bit and I have never seen hail like that before. So I took some pictures to show you all how cool it was (that and I am a huge dork).

Hail on the roof

On the Stairs

Hail in my hand

Birthday Blogging!

2010-04-01T19:25:00.000-06:00

Today is April 1st 2010

Some people think this is the funniest day of the year

ITS NOT!

Its the best day of the year because....

ITS MY BIRTHDAY!

I turn 23 today and so far have had a great day.

Tomorrow the real party starts...

But enough about me I found some awesome people

that I share a birthday with.

Here is a list:

Otto Von Bismarck

Born: 1815

Clara "Mother" Hale

Born: 1905

Walter Kaufmann

Born: 1907

These are super creative and amazing people.

But I think I forgot someone.....

Ms. Janalyn!

Happy Birthday Janalyn!

Hope you are enjoying your awesome day.

So in conclusion: April 1st is not just a day for pranks, it is an amazing day for a lot of amazing people.

Free Stuff!

2010-03-31T23:11:00.000-06:00

So I was searching for some deals and a ran across some awesome stuff like a free board book from Leap Frog and a free Birthday dinner at Benihana's worth up to $30. Isn't that awesome? It is so worth the two or three steps it takes to fill this stuff out.

Click Here

Dear Qwest

2010-03-31T19:23:00.000-06:00

Dear Qwest,

Thank you for being so stupid and wasting an hour of my time. I would like to think in the nine or ten times that we have talked (each call being over 20 minutes) that you would sense my frustration. But this morning I got a call at 8:45 AM! I do not wake up until nine o'clock not a minute sooner. Now when I listened to the voicemail it said, "I'm sorry but we cannot hook up your service because there is someone else there that has Qwest services and has not cancelled them."

When I heard this I knew I had reached the point of NO RETURN! (super scary right? Not really) I called back with order number in hand and the phone number the gave me over the phone when I called to have my account reinstated. After waiting for a representative for about 5 minutes my daughter decided to poop her pants. I needed to change it and right when I was in mid-wipe a "Customer Service Rep" came on the line.

"Do you have your account number?"

"Not handy because I am elbow deep in fecal matter. Can I give you my social security number?"

"We really need the account number."

"Well then you can wait....(30 seconds later) Ok here is the account number XXX-XXX-XXXX"

"Thats the phone number they gave you so you can have phone service. We need the ACCOUNT NUMBER."

"Ok well I gave you what I have, I can't give you a number that I was never given."

"Alright, Can I have your social security number then?"

"XXX-XX-XXXX."

"Yeaaaahhh ( I hate that tone)...Looks like the former resident never cancelled service so we can't go ahead and set it up for you."

PAUSE:
Ok We had just the internet through Qwest for about two months and then couldn't pay our bill so they shut it off. Well we paid the bill in full and wanted to restart our services a month later. You wouldn't think it would be so hard. Our landlords have Qwest phone, tv and internet services. They recommended the company to us. Our landlords live downstairs and it is one whole address. If we wanted to make the addresses A and B that would raise the taxes about 100$ a month. That is not an expense they should have to take on for our convenience. I thought that we only need to get a separate phone line and we wouldn't have to have someone come out and do anything at our house. Now that I have that cleared up, back to the phone call:

"Um...yeah we had internet here two months ago and our landlords have internet downstairs. So whats the big deal? Why can't you just turn it on like you said you were going to do today?"

"Well is it two separate addresses?"

"No just one? This wasn't a problem before."

"Um let me talk with regional real quick. Can you hold please?"

"Whatever."

12 minutes later (w/o any hold music might I add)

"Miss? Hello?"

"What?"

"Yeah we can go ahead and set you up for Friday so a technician can come out to your house."

"Why does a technician need to come out to my house?"

"To set up your modem and phone line."

"I already have a modem set up and I have a jack that I can plug a phone into. So just flip the switch and turn it on. And by the way I was promised a Wednesday activation and it is Wednesday and I am not active. It's not my fault that you guys can't get your stuff together and tell me everything that I need to know in one call. You have already wasted almost an hour of my life."

"Friday is really the soonest we can have a technician out there. I am sorry."

"I am done talking to you! Let me talk to your Supervisor."

"Let me place you on hold for a minute."

"But I DON'T want to be on..."

CLICK....(on hold for about 14 minutes this time)

"Ma'am? Hello? Are you there?"

"Yes, I'm here WAITING!!!"

"Well I talked with a Regional Manager and we can have someone out there today."

"(I am about to loose it!) WAS THAT SO HARD???? TELL ME WAS THAT SO FREAKING HARD?? Please explain to me why you had to make my life so FLIPPING complicated today? Do you really hate me? I have a feeling that you got up this morning wanting to mess up my day. I really don't like you. And WHY AM I STILL TALKING TO YOU!!!"

"Is that everything for you today Ma'am?"

"I really don't like you at all."

"You have a great day Ma'am."

At this point I hang up before I really loose it. This guy treated me like a five year old. I hate Qwest and will be giving them a phone call tomorrow to tell them that they suck. But about five minutes after I hung up the phone some bum with a Qwest jacket came to my door and stuck something in my phone jack and told me that my phone line worked now. I guess I am happy they got here so quickly but they were rude. I have a two year contract that I am not too happy about either. Oh well when I call tomorrow I am going to have a list of things that I am not happy about ready before I talk so I don't get off track. So talk to you tomorrow Qwest.

Love Always,
Mrs. Lady

Birthday Collage

2010-03-26T19:35:00.000-06:00

[click to enlarge]

Guess Who's Back.....

2010-03-26T17:31:00.000-06:00

Yup...Its me! I am so excited because I can now be back in the loop! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE blogging and I won't keep any grumpy guses from ruining my unedited fun. So on the the updates....

1. Charlotte is ONE! Ok now most of you know how over emotional I can be. I think some of you even heard it during her blessing. But I did all of my crying and being sad the night before when she was in bed. But we had the greatest time.

2. Riley and I considered moving to Pennsylvania and even found a place to move into in October. We decided that it isn't a great time to move right now. We will talk about it in a few years. A cross country move is very hard.

3. My birthday is next week and I will be the rip old age of 23. There is nothing really exciting about 23.

4. I planted my flowers and in a few weeks I am going to get started on the garden. I am so excited about having a totally organic garden. Sydney will keep with a steady supply of horse poo. I can't wait to taste the peppers and carrots.

5. I am going to do the young women's program this year. (the garden is kind of part of that) If any of you have any young women experiences you think would help me...let me know!

Something new you can look forward to on my blog is a letters section. If you look in my history and see my Dear Vida post, that is kind of what I will be doing. But only on a smaller, less rage filled level. So I will keep posting and keep smiling. I can't wait for the sun to shine on a steady basis so I can get rid of these winter blues.

Well thats all for now.

Its Been Awhile...

2010-03-15T18:41:00.000-06:00

So I haven't blogged in a while because we don't have the internet and frankly I am a little hesitent to say what I really want to say on my blog right now. I am not really afraid I just don't have the time or patience to deal with the aftermath anymore.

A lot has changed in our lives these past few months. Charlotte is one. I am more active in the church, I am getting really into my calling. Riley is working hard and we are just very happy right now.

I think we will pick up blogging again sometime soon.

Party of Six

2010-01-03T12:12:00.000-07:00

We had a lovely New Years dinner with our family last night. Riley's dad and brother-in-law and sister came over to have a post-Christmas get together. We enjoyed some yummy dinner and played some games and opened some gifts. After all of this you can only imagine what my kitchen looked like. We all know I hate doing dishes right? Well I wanted to wash as I cooked but Charlotte had other ideas. But the something AMAZING happened. Breanne did my dishes. I almost cried when I got done putting Charlotte to bed and came out into the kitchen to see NO MESS! Look at what she did:

I was so happy I did a little dance. Bre, you may come over to dinner anytime.

The Pantry Challenge...

2010-01-01T15:47:00.000-07:00

We started a cool challenge to kick-off the new year. Follow our progress on this blog. We are extremely excited about this.

Just Sharing.

2009-12-30T09:12:00.000-07:00

I found this page I think from Alisha's blog. But not only is she very funny but her jewerly is so darling. I want all of her pieces. I just thought I would share something beautiful with you today. I'm off for some fun family time. Today is going to be so much fun! Have a great day everyone. I love you all.

My Missionaries

2009-12-29T19:24:00.000-07:00

Dear Missionaries,

Thank you so much for bringing your amazing spirit into my home when I needed it so badly. I know the Lord works in mysterious ways and he brought you to our door tonight. Thank you so much for your encouragement and support. You are truly doing the Lord's work and I am so proud to have you as my missionaries. Keep following the Spirit's promptings because they will always take you where you need to be.

Yours,

Sister Barker

The Day After

2009-12-26T19:36:00.000-07:00

Well the holiday is officially over but we will most likely be in the Christmas spirit for a little while longer. I was so glad to see how much Charlotte enjoyed opening her gifts on Christmas morning. It was so fun to see how much she liked the paper. I don't think she really enjoyed all of her gifts. But there was one that she totally adores.

Her Molly Dolly

When I opened the doll and gave it to her she gave it a big kiss. She really likes this doll. She took it to bed last night and for her nap today. It is so soft and has the cutest features. This wasn't a gift from santa, it was a gift from her Grandma Alane. This year instead of buying for everyone. We did a gift exchange and Alane got Charlotte and Charlotte go Alane. They loved each other's gifts. Charlotte got Alane a story book all about their first year together. I thought it was very cute and so did everyone else. It was ten million times cooler than two gravy boats and a trash can.

We had a great Christmas morning. We ate Christmas casserole and had some yummy orange rolls and just enjoyed each other's company. It was nice to not be rushed or have to be somewhere at a certain time. In the late afternoon we went down to Grandma Read's and visited with her for a while. Everyone showed up at some point. It was fun to hear about everyone's Christmas morning.

After than we went down to Bountiful for Christmas dinner. We had been eating all day. I didn't know how I was going to fit anything else in my tummy, but like to trooper I am, I ate dinner at Breanne's. We played some games, Jake's family stopped by for a little, we played some more games and then we went home. It was a long day but very mellow. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. I had such an amazing Christmas.

I hope everyone else had a great Christmas celebration too. How did you celebrate? Tell me in the comment section.

Christmas is coming...

2009-12-24T00:36:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. I am so very excited to make soup and hang out with my family. What I am most excited about is spending my first Christmas as a Mommy. I get to stay up late and put all the presents out with Riley and eat all the cookies we are baking for Santa tomorrow.

I am so looking forward to seeing Charlotte's face when she wakes up Christmas morning and sees all of her presents. Most likely she will yell at them. But I still can't wait.

Letters from the Heart...

2009-12-21T17:55:00.000-07:00

Lately I have been voicing my complaints in letter form. Here are few of my most recent letters. All of which came back with return to sender on them.

Dear United States Postal Service,

I was expecting a Christmas present in the mail over a week ago. I wanted to have it all wrapped up and under the tree by now but unfortunately there is no package. I was hoping it would show up today, but alas it didn't. I would like my package tomorrow. If it doesn't get here then I will have to call and complain.

Yours,
Mary

Dear Presents Under the Tree,

I see you. You are sitting there tempting me. You are screaming "OPEN ME! OPEN ME!" and I have resisted. I would like you to stop taunting me right this instant. Thank you and have a nice day.

Sincerely,
Mary

Dear Dishes,

We have been in a long standing battle for months. I am just writing to tell you that I bought paper plates and I do not need to use you anymore. (Unless we have company.) I win. You loose.

Love,
Mary

Dear Inversion,

Please go away. Nobody likes you. You smell and bring bad air quality with you. I haven't seen the sun in a while and the lack of sunshine has been quite depressing. Not to mention you have made me and Charlotte very sick. Oh yeah, and you suck.

With much shagrin,
Mary

2009-12-17T17:49:00.000-07:00

Dear Vida (the cashier at Walmart),

Every week I painstakingly scan the ads and lists of savings online. I do this so I can save money. I can't afford not to save money. So when I bring my list of price comparisons into the store I want what is on my list. I do not bring my ads because you have a book full of ads that your CSM picks out of the Sunday and Tuesday papers. They have this book for a reason. That reason is so I do not have to bring all of my ads. It is a pain in the butt lugging around a notebook full of ads and having to show you each one. Frankly, you should be looking at the ads every week so you know what is on sale and when people are just pulling your big, fat, ugly leg.

So when you tell me that Mars candy bars aren't on sale and you need to see the ad if you are going to give me that price, that makes me a little pissed at you. And then you tell me that you have never seen Progresso soup for under a dollar and you are only going to give it to me because you have a line behind me. Well, Vida/Stupid face, you are an idiot.

You are lucky I didn't make you walk your 17 kid butt over to the csm stand and get that book. You are lucky that I didn't throw a temper tantum and tell on you for being a royal youknowwhat. I had half a mind to take the candy off the belt and throw it on the floor. I didn't do any of these things because it was only candy. I didn't need it. I wanted to use it as stocking stuffers and a pickle gift for my family at Christmas. But oh well. You are rude and inconsiderate. One of these days someone is not going to be as passive aggressive as I am. That person is going to yell at you and make you cry. They might even tell your supervisor and you will get in bigger trouble for being a big meanie face.

Vida, this should serve as an eye opener for you. I am not stupid and I will be back tomorrow with my ad and my extra coupon making the candy bars 15 cents. I will seek you out and make you eat the Walgreens ad. In conclusion, you are stupid and I don't like you.

Sincerely,
Mary

Bittersweet Chirstmas

2009-12-13T00:47:00.000-07:00

My Family

[From Left: Walt (Daddy), Deanna (his Girlfriend), Sara (sister), and Chip (brother)]

When I think about Christmas, it is very hard not to think about family. I love my family so much. For the past few years I have spent Christmas Day alone. Needless to say Christmas and I do not have a loving relationship. It serves as another painful reminder that my family is two thousand miles away.

Now when I say family, I mean my Dad, brother, sister and cousin. I have my own little family right here. That makes this hard. I am so used to just sleeping through Christmas and trying my hardest not to think about it. But this year, like last, I put the tree up and hung our stockings with care. This holiday is not about me anymore. This is about Charlotte. She won't know that her Mommy hasn't seen her Daddy in four years. She won't know that every holiday that passes that I feel further and further away from my family.

This is a very hard thing for me to talk about, I thought blogging about it would be easier, but it has proved to be just as hard as talking about it. I am struggling right now with even posting this. I truly miss my family and I wish they could be here to see Charlotte's first Christmas morning. I wish my Dad would wake us up with Christmas french toast and I wish my sister and I could spend hours under the Christmas tree. But that is not going to happen so I will try to enjoy this season with everything I have because there is only one first Christmas for your child and I plan on making sure she has a great first Christmas...

Guess Who is Nine Months Old Today...

2009-12-10T10:34:00.000-07:00

("Look Mom! No hands!")

BABY CHARLOTTE!!!

You are such a big girl now. I remember the day we first met.

It was the greatest day of my life. I am so proud to be your Mommy.

I love you so much.

Yesterday...

2009-12-09T17:48:00.000-07:00

This are some little birdie foot prints that I found on my front porch yesterday when I was sweeping the snow off of it.

Last night I made some sugar cookie and decorated them.
Charlotte helped.

Oh Shutterfly

2009-11-30T17:15:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to make a stinking book on shutterfly.com because I was given a free code. And if you know me well than you know I love free things. So I am trying to upload the pictures that I want in the book and it is taking me forever and a day. I wish I was smart with the book making like Breanne. But alas, I am not. Shutterfly.com...you will be the death of me.

Anyway we are getting into the Christmas spirit in our house. Kind of. I but up our tiny tree and our three stockings and Alane's hos. Last Christmas our apartment was the size of my current living room. so the few decorations we have were enough. Now I have a Christmas cornor. Thats it. I think it is kind of funny. I loved our tree last year because it was all funny shaped and real. Nothing screams Christmas to me more than a real tree in your house. It a totally different smell and feel. It reminds me of a time in my childhood where we used to light real candles on the tree and sit around and watch them flicker on the Christmas tree. Maybe one day when Charlotte is a little more grown up I will put real candles on the tree again.

Alas, Charlotte is getting bigger everyday. She is so smart. She finds everything I try to hid from her and she climbs up on everything now. It is a full time job just to keep her from hurting herself on the things that we can't nail down. Oh well...it bond to get worse before it gets better. I love the new things she has learned. Like hugs. Those are the GREATEST! And when she gets really sleepy she rubs her eyes and lays her head on my shoulder. Nothing makes me smile the way I do when she looks up at me with her sleepy eyes and gives me her "i love you" smile. I don't know how I could make it through a day without that look sometimes.

Riley and I went to our favorite chinese food place tonight (I can't tell you where it is...its our secret in a strip mall). We were able to have a great conversation about this past year. We both agree that this has been the best year of our lives. It has been hard. There were times where we really struggled daily. For a while it seemed like everytime we turned around we were being tested. We also realized that we must have done what the Lord wanted us to do because our blessings are so abundent. The amazing things that have happened to us this year have far out-weighed the bad. I am so grateful for every single person that has offered a sholder or an encouraging word. I know that the year isn't over yet but so far I am counting this as the best year ever. When it gets closer to the new year I will do a top ten countdown of the awesome things that happened to us this year.

I was watching Oprah today and they had Beyonce's sister on there and she had shaved her head. She said it was liberating. I thought about how much maintince my long hair takes and I think I agree with her. I want to cut off all of my hair. But last year Breanne grew out her hair for her wedding and ended up donating it to "Locks for Love." You have to have somthing like ten inches of hair from the spot where you want to cut to the tip. I have a pretty long pony but I haven't measured it in a while. But I think I want to donate my hair. (Thanks for the cool idea Bre)

First Thanksgiving

2009-11-27T11:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Charlotte's first Thanksgiving. We celebrated by enjoying a great meal with family at Grandma Read's house. The food was tasty and I was so happy to be surrounded by family. (We missed those of you who weren't there). I was given the privilage of making a stuffing dish for the meal. I was kind of scared because I don't eat this stuffing because it has sausage in it and I don't like the way sausage tastes (weird right?). Its my Daddy's reciepe and he makes it every year. It is a long grain wild rice with italian sausage, apples, and craisins. I think it went over well. I know Riley liked it because he asked that I pack it in his lunch today. (But then again riley likes food in general).
Charlotte enjoyed trying new things and playing with her cousins. Well not really. She was kind of mean to Ender when he tried to play with her. Well I think this picture says it all...

(Poor Ender)

As you all know Riley and I are married now. We had a great time at the wedding and it was so nice to see people we hadn't seen since Bre and Jake got married. I nearly had a nervous break down because SOMEONE was late to the last rehersal and we didn't get to do a final walk through. Jake calmed me down very well. the ceremony was short and sweet. I was glad because I was starving. I hadn't eaten yet so was ready to get my grub on. We had a fun time, but it was a long day. We were both ready to go home. When we finally left I was ready to fall into my big comfy bed and go to sleep. Riley had other plans (not like that). He told me to pack a bag and get in the car.

If you know me than you know that I hate surprises. I was bugging him the whole way to Salt Lake City. He booked a room at the Anniversary Inn. It was so fun. Our bed was a big italian gondela. The tub was huge and so was the breakfast. We had a great mini vacation.

Tomorrow I will be baptized as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This has been a long time coming. But I don't really talk about my faith with very many people because it is something that is very personal to me. This is a very big step for me and I am very happy about it.

Right now I finally have some baby free time so I am going to stop blogging and take a lovely bubble bath and enjoy the music I just downloaded from the 500 Days of Summer soundtrack.

I should be doing something else right now...

2009-11-21T10:55:00.000-07:00

I am getting married in a few hours and I am blogging first. (I do have priorities) I just wanted to say thank you so much to all the people who stayed until midnight to help us at the church last night. You are awesome. So I am off to get married now....

2009-11-17T18:28:00.001-07:00

I AM GETTING MARRIED IN FOUR DAYS

Breanne is a Genius

2009-11-15T14:34:00.001-07:00

Many of you know my awesome soon-to-be sister-in-law, Breanne. Many of you do not know that she has taken all of our family photos, bridals, and engagements. She really is the best at making us smile and dealing with our crazy antics. (We can rarely all focus on the same thing at the same time.) Anyway Bre manages to capture the best out of us every single time we take pictures. We are so luck to be able to be related to such a talented person. WE LOVE YOU BRE!

Last week she took my Bridals . We took them on the capital grounds and they were so fun. Riley got some picture with his best man Nich. Riley and I took some beautiful pictures together. We took some fun pictures with Charlotte too. It was so super cold on Capital Hill so we didn't take many with her because we didn't want her to get sick. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from that shoot.

(This one was taken by Alane, who is super talented as well. We also love her)

My Music

2009-11-14T15:30:00.000-07:00

When I was in college I had the greatest collection of music. Unfortunatly I have lost a few albums here and there and my sister has claimed some of them as her own. I don't care that she has them I just wish she would send me a copy of them.

I go through music in stages and its funny to look back through my cds or old blogs to see what I was listening to at the time and why. I have alot of fun laughing at myself and the things I thought were important. It also helps me remember the person I used to be.

At one point I was very into gangster rap and hardcore metal music. I thought I was Biggie Smalls when i was 18. Weird right? So I went through and downloaded a song from each one of my favorite artists. I listened to each one to try to decided if I really like them or if its just time to let that album go.

Here is what I found out:
- I still like listening to Biggie and Tupac... It reminds me of Trenton where I spent a good many summers.
-K's Choice is still amazing. They feel like that warm ugly sweater that you put on in the middle of a snow storm.
-Fiona Apple makes me feel so light when I have the weight of the world on my sholders.
-Britney Spears is the greatest cleaning music EVER. I love her. I don't care what you think but I do own every album she has ever made.
-Monica and Mariah Carey are the best when I feel like I am not pretty. They make me want to shower and put on some make-up.
-Silverchair and The Violent Femmes are still my favorite bands ever.

I highly reccommend that you check out one or all of these artists. Thats all I have for now.

Another Update

2009-11-13T16:08:00.000-07:00

So I am finally able to start blogging on a regular basis now. I am very happy about that. As I write my daughter, ever the explorer is sitting in the kitchen ripping up magazines. I don't know how she found them but she seems to run to them every time I put her on the floor.

She started crawling about two or three weeks ago. Can I just let you all know that I hate this stage. She is into everything and everywhere I want her to stay out of she some how manages to get into it. Short of tacking her britches to the groud I am out of ideas to slow her down. She is pulling herself up on things and walking up and down the length of the couch. I really wish she would give me a chance to adjust before she moves on to the next new thing. It really is not fair.

As you all know Riley and I are getting married next week... (OMG ITS NEXT WEEK). I just wanted to say thank you to all the awesome ladies that came to my brial shower. It was so much fun and I am so grateful for all of the amazing gift that you got me. I put them right to work. Ann got me a rice cooker and when I brought it home Riley jumped and did a little happy dance. It was so cute. Grandma bought us a set of knives that were very sharp. I didn't know how sharp until I nearly chopped my finger right off. I got a slow cooker from the Smith girls and I have used it almost everyday this week. I like being able to make dinner when I wake up and then put it on low and when Riley comes home it is all ready. I got a fun apron from Alane and Bre. I love it. It has cupcakes on it and it makes me feel like I am super house wife. Betty Crocker can eat her heart out.

I honestly can't wait to get married. This sounds a little strange but I am a little scared for the whole reception thing. I am not so worried about the ceremony. The thought of a bunch of people in the room there for the sole purpose of Riley and I is kind of daunting. It feeds into the social anxiety that I have. Large crowds freak me out big time. I guess I brought this on myself though. I made the guest list and addressed the invites. Its too late to just have a courthouse wedding now.

We are all moved into out awesome apartment in West Point. Charlotte has her own room and strange as it seems, it was a huge adjustment for me. She had always slept in our room because we didn't have any other place for her. I like to think it bonded us. Riley says it just keep him from getting good sleep. Frankly her sleeping in the next room puts me on pins and needles. I am getting better now that we are into our second month here. I love living out here. It is almost country but we are less than three miles from two Walmarts so I am ok with it.

So that is the latest in my life right now. I have try and pry Charlotte away from the dryer.

UPDATE!!!!

2009-10-30T16:54:00.000-06:00

Well its been a while since I have last blog because we are too cheap to pay for the internet right now. Wedding plans are in full swing and its getting closer and closer. ( I honestly think my head might explode) I have to thank every single person in our family for helping. Bre, You take such amazing pictures and you can really capture who Riley and I are. Alane, how on this green earth do you tolerate all of the midnight calls about centerpieces and three hour conversations about wedding stuff? I don't understand how you do that, you are fabulous...end of story. Alisha, you are so very patient with me....Thank you so much for making out invites so cool.
Oh I wish this whole thing was here already...It would be so much easier to just sit back and just let someone else pay for it and do all the work. (Unfortunatly life doesn't work like that)
Invites are going out this week but here are the details just so you can save the date now

Saturday Novemeber, 21st, 2009
5pm at Grandma Read's Church bulding in the Cultural Hall.
We are registered at Target.

I can't wait to be Riley's wife (although it seems like we are already married)..... Oh boy what a whirl-wind my life is now...

2009-09-23T11:50:00.000-06:00

RILEY AND I ARE GETTING MARRIED.

Oh boy are we excited. We are planning on getting married on Novemeber 20th and we are going to have a ceremony and such. We are going to try and do it on a very small budget (like 20$). We are going to need some help. If any of you are super talented in one way or another let us know. Even if you aren't super talented we would still like to include you in some way shape or form.

We love our family so much and can't wait to share our special day. This is just one of the many steps we are taking to lead us closer to the temple!

THE BIG ANNOUNCEMENT....

2009-09-22T17:35:00.000-06:00

Will be happening tomorrow.

Some lucky people already know.
(for those of you who do: hush your mouth)

For those of you who don't...
I can't wait to spill the beans!

Oh The Drama!

2009-09-19T21:08:00.000-06:00

I am so excited! We are finally MOVING! We are moving down to the street from Grandma Read. This is a great improvement from my scaredness that I had this time yesterday.

We almost thought we were homeless for a little bit. I am so grateful for people who can give our family a chance to get back on our feet. Our family is taking some major steps towards stability. I am so happy for our future.

Grocery Store Pet Peeves

2009-09-16T19:41:00.000-06:00

I enjoy grocery shopping. It is like my little zen. I know I am weird but I could spend hours going up and down the aisles.

Target is my favorite store to go to. They have the best fruit and meat and their store brand of mac and shells is always in my house.

I had to run the store the other day to pick up some stuff for dinner that night and Target is right down the street so away I headed.

Its funny because I like to leave Charlotte at home with Riley and turn up the music in the car and just jam. If you were to see you me, would think I am getting ready to go out on the town not to the grocery store. I get into my little shopping groove. I make sure I have my coupon divider and my calculator and my list. Oh boy am I ever prepared. I get there I select the nice new carts with the rounded edges and without the stuff on the wheels that makes them noisy. (I even take a few little test steps with it to make sure) I swing by the coolers by the registers to grab a water. Now I am all ready for my shopping experience.

Now to the title of this little entry, my pet peeves...

1. Loud Kids- If your kid is screaming "MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMY! I WAAAAAAAAAAAANT THE FRUIT LOOOOOOOOOOOOOPS!" You need to tell you kid to shut up and stop acting like a fat little brat. Seriously, I avoid Walmart for this reason. Every single time I go there some woman has three screaming little snot nosed brats screaming "I WANT. I WANT. I WANT." Moms: you are in charge. You make the rules. Don't let you children walk all over you. Teach them to have manners and know what an inside voice is.

2. Kids Running Around- Parents, if you are so very concerned about your kid talking to strangers and being taken, then why do you let them run around the store like spider monkeys? "Code Adam" was created because the grocery store is the perfect place for child predators to prey. When I was little my Dad had a rule: Keep your hand on the cart or we will go home. He was serious. It only took a few times for me to understand that if I took my hand off the cart we would be leaving the cartful of stuff there and go home. Parents, I highly suggest you implement a similar rule.

3. People Who Don't Know the "Shopping Rules"-There are a few simple rules you need to abide by while you are shopping...the rules of using a shopping cart are the same as the rules that apply to driving. Look both ways before you turn a corner (or you might run over on of those brats), Keep your cart to the right side of the aisle, and pull over to the side of the aisle if you are going to stop in the aisle. If you follow these simple rules you will not incure my wrath.

4. Line Hoppers-You are shopping and now it is time to check out. You and your 75 kids and three cart loads hop into a line that you think is the shortest. Then you realize that the lady in front of you with her 75 screaming kids and three cart loads of food is going to be using wic, food stamps and writing a check. You think this is going to take forever so you go to back your caravan up and go to hop in a shorter line, only to find another person has pulled into the line behind you. You demand to be let out of line and go find another shorter line, only to find a front end full of backed up lines. NEWS FLASH: Had you committed to the line you were in you would be packing up your Chevy Express right now.

5. People Who Leave Their Carts in the Parking Lot- The cart coralle is there for a reason. Please don't make those little 15 year old boys run all over the parking lot in the scorching heat or freezing snow to fetch your cart because you were too lazy to walk the extra 20 feet to take you cart back.

These are just a few simple rules you can follow to not ruin my shopping journey. I hope you take a few of these to heart and apply them during your next shopping trip.

Its Been Awhile...

2009-09-14T17:23:00.000-06:00

Well a few days but still I like to blog regularly. I have been very busy. Not with life but with my head. Well...the things going on inside. I am thinking about my faith and my family's future. I can honestly say that some big things are going to change before the end of the year.

How ominous of me.

The Spoon

2009-09-05T10:29:00.000-06:00

Recently my daughter have formed an attachment. I am not sure if it is healthy or unhealthy but it is an attachment nonetheless. Some babies have security blankets or teddy bears that they hold on to for comfort if they are scared or grumpy. My darling Charlotte (the ever so unique child she is) has a security spoon.

This is not just any spoon. It is one of Alane's wooden cooking spoons. We gave it to her a while ago with one of Alane's cooking pots. She loves to bang out some wicked beats. Anyway so She chews on the spoon and sucks on the spoon and gets mad when we take it away.

Alane and I took Charlotte to Temple Square the other day and she had to bring the spoon. Needless to say she feel asleep all cuddled up with the thing. She just loves it.

There are several downsides to the spoon....

I am afraid she is going to grow too attached to it. She already has such an attachment to it. But she is young enough that if I put something loud and shiny in front of her she will be distracted long enough for me to grab the spoon and hide it for a while.

Also she uses it as a weapon against diaper changes. When she has it in her hand and I try to change her diaper she smacks me across the knuckles and boy does it hurt. She also hits people in the head with it. Yesterday she had hold of my friend's kid's hair and was hitting him in the head with the spoon. I know she doesn't know any better because she is very young but I let her know hitting is not ok.

Not only does she hit other people, she hits herself. In the face mostly. When Charlotte gets really excited she moves all of her limbs really quickly and doesn't stop. Its kind of really funny. She looks like she has so much excitement in her that she is going to explode. When she hits herself in the face she doesn't cry. We won't even know until we pick her up and look at all the red marks on her face. Poor kid. Maybe if she smacks herself real hard she will get it....

Until then we are closely monitoring her spoon time and limiting it. She will eventually grow out of it... I hope.

I Do Bird-like Things

2009-09-02T22:49:00.000-06:00

I started a Twitter account. I figured that I should give it a try. I will give it one week before I decide if I love it or leave it. I am not so sure so far. I don't get it.

If you "tweet" you should "follow" me. My name is theunutahmom if you have it. If you don't that is ok.

Dear Mother.....

2009-09-01T22:26:00.000-06:00

Last night I had a dream that Charlotte wrote me a letter outlining her wishes and needs as the almost six month old that she is. I don't remember much of the letter but I am sure that it went something like this...

Dear Mother,

I am writing in regards to my daily wishes and concerns. I have included a list (below) that if you follow it will lead to my happiness and eventually yours.

1. Please make sure my bottle is luke warm. I don't like it cold nor do I like it hot.

2. Please make sure every toy that makes noise has fully charged batteries.

3. Most likely I will not play with anything that doesn't make noise so don't try to slip in anything educational.

4. Everything will be in my mouth at one point in time so make sure that everything is disinfected.

5. I do not like getting out of the bathtub so please my bath last as long as possible.

6. I also do not like being lotioned up. So please stop.

7. Have plenty of green beans and apples on hand. I like those the best.

8. No squash. Ever.

9. I know rice cereal is not green beans. I'm not stupid.

10. Please wear lots of dangly jewelry. I like to play with it.

11. Do not complain when I pull your hair. You put it in my face silly so it is your fault it is getting pulled.

12. I am going to drop things and at some point I will break things. Just be glad I haven't broken anything of value yet.

13. I am not a fan of my carseat, most likely I will never be. So get me out of it asap.

14. If you put something pretty in my hair, I will pull it out and try to eat it.

15. Please do not take me out of my jumpy until I am darn good and ready. I will let you know when I am ready.

16. Bedtimes and naptimes are to be taken when I feel like it. Remember you are on my schedule.

17. Your phone is now my toy. Get used to it.

18. I am not a hot potato so please stop passing me around like I am.

19. No more shoes. I only kick them off. They are pointless.

20. Just because I can hold my bottle up doesn't mean I want to.

21. I am going to drool. I will soak through my onesies so please carry an extra.

22. New people are scary. Please stay with me when I meet someone new.

23. I will wake you up at 6am and I expect to hear no complaining.

24. I will be dropping toys on the floor. You will pick them up in a timely fashion or I will scream.

Thank you for taking the time to read this list. I hope to see all necessary changes are made promptly.

Kindly
Charlotte

Oh The Things She Can Do

2009-08-28T13:05:00.000-06:00

My little baby is growing up and fast...If you know me then you know this is scary for me. And as usual I cried about it. I always cry about her learning to do grown up things. Its not that I want her to stay a baby forever. I will eventually be ok with her growing up. (Maybe) I just wish she would do it a little slower.

Anyway....she has learned to sit up all by herself and learned to help Grandma cook. She is such a big girl.

those are the blocks that Riley made for her.

Cooking Grandma Read's Birthday cake.

I know I can't slow down her growing up because she shows me time and time again that she will do things in her own time. I am so proud of all the progress she has made so far. I just wish she would stop calling me "da da" though.

Hallelujah?

2009-08-27T14:23:00.000-06:00

As most of you know I am crazy. But it is not just in my head. I swear... When I was pregnant my doctor decided with my history of depression that I should be on some sort of medication. Now she didn't do this just because she was some crazy pill pusher. She wanted to make sure that I had every tool that I needed to deal with post pardum depression. I am not going to lie, I still dealt with the baby blues a little but I know it would have been much worse had I not been medicated.

"Where is this going?" you ask. Well on with the story....

I have taking a liking to Cherie Call. Her music seems to touch me. A while back Alane explained to me what "feeling the spirit" was all about. When I listen to her music I feel the spirit (most of the time).

Today I was running around doing some errands (ie. spending too much money). I felt out of sorts and decided that I need to center myself with some music. I grabbed the first cd I could find and it just happened to be a mix I had made with Cherie Call and Hilary Weeks. I popped it in and started singing. After a while I started to cry. Then I thought to myself, "Am I feeling the spirit or did I forget to take my medication?"

When I do not take my meds it takes a newborn diaper ad in Parents magazine and I am in tears. So that was a totally valid question for me to ask myself. Well, I am afraid to say that I forgot to take my meds this morning.

Sorry God...I'll listen to it again now that I have taken my meds.

Temple Square and the Family...

2009-08-23T21:45:00.000-06:00

Today's field trip was to Temple Square. Alane, Breanne, Jake, Riley, Chalotte and I went. I have always loved Temple Square and it makes me feel at peace and safe for some reason. We met two sister missionaries. One from Sacremento and one from Ohio. They are sweet and so charming. The one from Sacremento was on a signing mission.

In our family we have some people who know sign language. Well everyone in my family knows sign language except me. Bre and Riley took classes in high school and know enough to carry on a conversation. Alane knows some signs and so does Jake. I know how to ask when dinner is and where the bathroom is. That is really all you really need to know right?

Anyway, the sister on her signing mission bore her testimony in American Sign Language. Even though I only caught a few signs but I could feel the spirit coming straight from here. It was so beautiful. I was so moved.

Now as perviously mentioned, I hate being sprinkled, moistened, and/ or wet in anyway shape or form. It was sprinkling at the temple and I feel bad but I had such a hard time paying attention to the sister missonaries because I was trying to avoid being rained on. But when we were inside I listened intently. They were very smart and passionate.

Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.....

"Excuse me sister, could you say that a little louder please?"

On the west side of the Salt Lake temple there is the image of the Big Dipper. It is there because the Big Dipper points to the North Star. Sailor used the North Star for hundreds of years to find their way home. It is a symbol of guidence. I never knew it was there.

Oh yeah the best part was at the end of our little tour. The one of the sister's said, "You guys were the best family we have had today. You are awesome!"

Nothing like a little confidence boost, thanks sisters.

Take A Hike!

2009-08-22T22:17:00.000-06:00

Where I am from that phrase is used in a really rude way. "Go take a hike you jerk!" Here its not rude, its a past time. I have been dragged up and down adams canyon several times. Everytime I enjoy it a little more. Well I want to go up again and the last time I tried I quit in the middle because I was too tired to lug my large behind up that canyon. So to better prepare I figured that I would start walking so I could prepare myself a little better and maybe be able to go up a little further and annoy Riley a little less.

I love living in Layton because of all of the amazing places to walk. A few of my favorites are; Layton Park (across from Layton High), the bird sanctuary (they have a long boardwalk that is awesome at dusk), and now Jensen Nature Park on Bluff Road.

We went to Jensen Nature Park today and we took Charlotte and the stroller and went all the way around. It has to be a good three or four miles around the entire thing. I was a little scared but I wanted to push myself so I can go up the canyon in the fall. (and maybe loose some weight in the process...maybe...no promises) It was a good time for Riley and I to talk about our day and to just be with each other. Charlotte got to see some cool stuff when she wasn't sleeping. We saw a mud duck and a horse and a mouse and then she fell asleep. I think I will have to take her on stroller walks more often because they put her right to sleep.

She thought the horses were the best...

Speaking of sleep I am finally back on a real schedule so let me keep to it by going to sleep now.

Little Things

2009-08-21T09:23:00.000-06:00

I am a very unique person. I love myself for that. I have always been a little weird but over the years I have learned to embrace it, maybe even be proud of it. I do weird things, I have weird habits, and even weirder still, I love them. Here are a few of the things that make me special....

-I like egg whites, not because they are healthy, but because they just taste better to me.
-I am prone to road rage, so I would rather let Riley drive.
-Lukewarm water is gross. (Sorry Grandma Read) I like it from the fridge or all iced up
-I also enjoy margerine. I know it is bad for me but butter tastes weird and doesn't spead unless it has been sitting out for three days.
-I like to read and watch tv at the same time.
-I will go out of the house in just about anything (expect for my underpants) with my hair just about anyway.
-I forget to take my make up off before I go to sleep because I normally don't wear it.
-I love parenting advice but I also love the option of not taking that advice because frankly I am the mom you are not.
-I think that putting dirty dishes in an empty dishwasher is the best. I hate stacked dirty dishes.
-Folding towels is fun, I could do it all day.
-I turn the water on when I go to the bathroom.
-I also don't like to wash my hands in the bathroom, I wash them in the kitchen.
-Tube socks on anyone make me angry. THEY ARE UGLY!!!
-I know that I have a baby monitor, but I go check on Charlotte regularly because I don't like to rely on it, that and she needs a kiss every so often.
- I don't like bugs, dirt, or being stinky, but I don't have an issue not shaving my legs for a few days.
-I hate getting sprinkled, misted or sprayed unless I am in water clothes and ready for it. I hate being wetted without permission.
-I don't care what time it is, I always want to sit down for dinner.
-A clean kitchen is not complete without the counters wiped down.
-The smell of ciggerettes makes me want to throw up.
-I wish that I could have ice cream for breakfast everyday.
-I take a sip of water before I take my pills because I can't swallow them without water in my mouth.

Those are just a few of the things that make me tick. Have a great day.
-

What A Day!

2009-08-20T18:15:00.001-06:00

I have had an awful day today... But I am glad that I have such a loving family to come home to. They comfort me and support me when I can't do it alone. I lave them so much.... Now to tell you about my day.

I woke up early (10 am is early ok) to go hang out with my friend and her family. We were going to crusie the mall and get some exercise while we window shopped. Fun times right? Well, I woke up with Charlotte. I changed her and dressed her and got her all ready to go. I put her bumbo on the floor in the bathroom by the tub. I started doing my hair while playing with her in between layers. I handed her linkys and went to work on my head. The next thing I see is her arching her back in her bumbo. Thats normal for her, she does it all the time. Thats why we don't put her on the table anymore. I thought she would be fine on the ground.

Then it happened.....
She arched her back and fell backward and hit her head on tub. She started screaming even worse then when she got her shots. I was so scared. Nobody was home. I was all alone with a screaming, hurt baby. I had no clue what to do. I picked her up and held her close and put a cool washcloth on her head. After her binkie was skillfully inserted and she she calmed down, I started crying. Nothing makes me more upset than when she is in pain. I know it was an accident but in my head I was thinking, " I am the worst mother in the world to not pay attention to my baby," "I shouldn't have put her in the bathroom at all with me." "I should have waited until someone came home to do my hair." "I let my vainity get in the way of being a good mother."
I cried for a good two hours. After Riley comforted me and convinced me that we didn't need to go to the hospital because she was not hemorraging in her brain. ( I have a tendency to over worry, I thought a little bump on her head was a tumor two days ago) She is fine aside from the huge goose-egg on her head and nose. I have never been more scared in my life.

Now that was just begining of my day. I went to the mall, even though I probably shouldn't have. I ran into an ex boyfriend. This was not a great relationship. It did not end well and he was the last person I wanted to see. In fact, if I never saw him again. I would be happy. Now, the mention of his name makes me upset. Just imagine what seeing him did to me. I had a panic attack. I had to leave. I appologized to my friend and I went home. I came home and Riley gave me a huge hug and made me feel so much better. I love him. He is the best at making me smile through my tears.

I am home now and Charlotte is all cuddled up with me and has sleepy eyes. What a day!
Riley you are the best.

Oh My My My....

2009-08-19T23:04:00.000-06:00

(Alisha, I highly suggest, for the sake of your stomach, that you don't read this.)

My darling Charlotte. I love her. I think... I am not so sure after today. Well, I mean I love her of course, she is my little girl. She just grossed me out beyond belief today. I have to let you know a little something before I tell you the story:

She wiggles. Not a little. A LOT! She does this thing on her back where she arches and scoots. She looks like a little inch worm. Sometimes it is kind of cute. Just not during diaper changes or when I am dressing her. Any other time I like it. So she scoots and its kind of annoying but kind of cute. Now to the story...

So I am changing her diaper today and she had poopooed and it was way stinky. (to those of you still reading...thank you) Before I changed her diaper I got her bath all ready for after the diaper change. So I wasn't planning on putting another diaper on her. BAD IDEA!!! Apparently she wasn't done and it ended up on the carpet. At this point I am gagging. Things like this don't usually make me gag but cleaning this off the floor was aweful. Thank goodness Alane was home to help me because I would have been cleaning up my owm vomit too. It was the grossist thing I have ever experinced.

She is sleeping right now and she looks so beautiful. That girl sure know test me though...

My Life From A to Z (at least today)

2009-08-14T20:27:00.000-06:00

To preface this entry I want to let you know that I am unstable. Laugh if you must but it is a medical fact (this week anyway). I have had about a years worth of emotions all balled up into a ten hour period. Thats enough to make anyone unstable, not to mention someone who is normally a few fries short of a happy meal. So, with that being said..enjoy.

A- Accidents. Today I saw one accident happen and almost got into another not even three hours later. I am still shaking and a little scared.

B- Bed. I miss my bed. Well, sleeping in my bed. I haven't been sleeping well these last few nights.

C- Crafting. I am not a crafty person in general, but I try. Two of my former co-workers are having baby showers. I love to shop for baby stuff but since they are one right after the other I figured that I would buy small stuff and craft the rest so I got some bath stuff and thougth "I'll through it in a basket and sticka bow on it and call it good. I forgot to get cards, so I made a card then ended up not even putting the stuff in a basket but i wrapped it all pretty in celephane and put a bow on it. Needless to say that is too much craftiness for someone like me. Thank goodness Alane was around to supervise or I might have exploded and I'm sure nobody wants to pick little pieces of Mary off a bottle of baby lotion.

D-DUH!!! So in my infaninte wisdom I decided it was a good idea to burn a cd of lullabies for the girls baby showers. Who doesn't love lullabies? I myself have become a little obsessed with them. So i taped on of the gift reciepts inside of the cd cover for one girl and for the other I stuck it in her card. Well after i wrapped it all pretty like, I realized that I stuck the cd in the wrong gift so Now my friend Melissa is going to have two gift reciepts. Only one of which belongs to her. Duh Mary!

E- Eden. We are going to Eden tomorrow to see the balloon festival. I am really excited to go i have never been to one before. I am just thinking that they should reschedule. I would like to sleep in so if they could change the start time from 6am to 6pm that would just be grand. Now who should I talk to about making that happen? (just kidding)

F-Frazzled. Today I feel just pulled in ten million different directions and I still have so much to do that is not going to get done. I am just frazzled. If you could see my hair right now you would know what I mean. But I wouldn't want to scare you so I won't show you a picture of it.

G-Gratitude. A long time ago some very wise person, I say wise because its just way more polite to say that then to say old, anyway this wise person told me that if I went through my day with an attitude of gratitude my day would not be so bad. I didn't do that today and I was sitting here wondering why I had a craptastic day and I realized I forgot to express my gratitude to all those around me. Don't I feel stupid. Thank you Alane for helping me be crafty. You are certainly the craft queen. Riley, thank you for hugging me today after my traffic mishaps. I love you for knowing what I need before I do. Charlotte, thanks for laughing today it made me smile.

H-Happiness. Charlotte is my little bundle of happy. Without her I am sure my day would have been worse.

I- Indigestion. I am glad I don't have that today.

J- Judgemental. I have been rather judgemental lately and it is unfair. I should be more accepting. It is fine and dandy to say these things but practicing them is a whole different thing. Tomorrow is a new day and I will be putting my mean thougths aside and waking up with nice things to say about people tomorrow. (I hope)

K- Kindness. Memo to self: be kinder to people. (please see above.)

L- Love thy neighbor as thyself. I know this is a commandment is second only to loving the Lord but am I am being tested? How can I love my neighbors? Well namely one neighbor (Lumpy Head). He is so annoying. I wish I could find it in my heart to be more patient with him, but all I want to do is tell him to go inside and shut up because 12:30 at night is not playtime.

M-Moody. I think that sums it up very well. I am moody today.

N-Negative. I am glad that I am able to point out what I did wrong today but I also need to give light to the positive things I have done today. I helped a friend. Listened to another. Gave without remorse. And did my best to think before speaking.

O-Oops. To the lady I cut off at Fort Lane. I am sorry, that wasn't very nice of me.

P-Please and thank you. That is what I focused on today. Riley say I forget to say please and thank you a lot. I do but I said it a lot today. "Please get you mini van of terror out of my way you crazy lady." "Thank you for not using your turn signal jerkface." That works right?

Q- Quest. I have been on a month long quest to find a new church dress. I have failed again today in my search for a new church dress. It will happen soon. I can feel it.

R-Red Robin. Oh my that place was cold. I loved my server though she was really nice and efficaint.

S- Sword fights....should not happen in the kitchen, someone always gets hurt.

T-Target. Oh my. I looked for an hour for Target brand diapers in a size two in the big pack. I swear I saw them yesterday (yes I was there yesterday). Also I was a little miffed that I had to wait forever for someone to tell me that they don't come in a big pack. An hour is too long. I was semi-patient. I didn't complaine and I wasn't rude. That lady was actually pretty nice. Now I just wish they came in bigger packs.

U- Unsettled. My thoughts are very unsettled tonight. I figured blogging about them (in alphabetical order of course) would help. It has to some extent but I think when Riley comes home from work and I talk to him, I will feel more settled.

V- Very hungry. I am very hungry right now and that bagle Alane is eating looks so yummy I might steal it. But after I steal it I will cut in half and apply butter to both side and microwave. ATTN: Alane guard your bagle with your life.

W-Wonderful. I always feel wonderful when I get hugs. Especially if they are Riley hugs. And as usual I am left feeling wonderful yet again. Thanks honey. :)

X-Xenophobia. This is a fear of strangers. I have this. I do not like strangers I especially strangers that touch my child with out asking. I wish people would keep there child touching hands to themselves and not touch my baby.

Y-Yawns. I have plenty of those as I wind down this blog. I am tired and have to get up early tomorrow. Very early. Like six am early.

Z-I have no idea what i could possibly write that could pertain to my day that has the letter z in it. So good night.

Oh My Gosh!!!

2009-08-10T20:12:00.001-06:00

My baby is five months old today...she is getting so big. She most definatly has my attitude. I love my big girl.

Lumpy Headed Neighbor...

2009-08-09T23:30:00.000-06:00

I love my neighborhood. It is so quite and calm and our neighbors are nice and I love the guys that live on the third floor. They have a baby that is a few days younger than Charlotte and he is adorable.
There is only one thing that I cannot stand about our little living situation.....
OUR LUMPY HEADED NEIGHBOR BOY
For the sake of being somewhat polite we will call him "Lumpy." He has this huge lumpy head on top of two little stick like legs. In general he looks like a candy apple. Not only is he funny looking, he is obnoxious too. Now, normally I like to keep my mean thoughts to myself, but today I have to vent.
I will just give you a run down of him and his situation. He is an only child of a single mother who works during the evening and sleeps in the daytime. She has her parents watch him when she is not there. But he is four years old and his sleep schedule is the same as his mother's. That means his playtime is at 10 o'clock at night, during mine and normal people's sleep time. He also has no manners what so ever and doesn't understand what boundries are.
Now my mother in law is a very tolerrant person. I try to follow her example and love my neighbor. She tries to be polite to this little boy, but as hard as I try I can not find it in my soul to be as tolerrant. I wish I could be more like her in that aspect.
We live on the bottom floor so if you stand on the grass by the trees you can see right down into our apartment when the blinds are open. He thinks that if the sliding glass door is an invitation to stand on the ledge of our balcony and scream for Alane. She will say hello, I will close the door in his face and he will stand outside and continue to talk to a closed window. So I will close the blinds. He also thinks it is ok to throw his scooter down the metal steps at midnight. He screams at the tops of his lungs way after quite hours.
Last night he decided he to ring our door bell over and over again at 11:30 at night. Alane and Charlotte were sleeping. I opened the door and told him to stop. His mom opened the door and asked if he was making trouble. I told her what he did and she didn't seem to care. Five minutes later he was back outside screaming again. What kind of person has that little respect for their fellow man?
I am not rude or mean to him. I am short and curt. I don't know what to do about this. I would like to be able to enjoy my evening without having to be inturrpted by some little kid who doesn't know how to follow rules or be polite. What should I do? Just put up with him keeping my baby awake? Or should I write his mother a letter and ask her to make sure her son is quite during quiet hours? Or should I report her to the office? Any suggestions?

Tolerable Tuesdays...

2009-08-04T15:33:00.000-06:00

Every Tuesday we here in Hidden Cove are visited by a lovely bunch of people. The grounds crew. They do such an awesome job at what they do but....

They peek in our sliding glass door every Tuesday.
Its creepy. I don't know whether to wave or close the blinds.

It almost gone...

2009-08-04T10:47:00.000-06:00

I usually dislike summer. I think it is the heat. Heat and I do not mix. Regardless, I have had an amazing summer so far. I am so very sad its almost over. I had some awesome experiences. Pioneer Day fun, 4th fireworks, Crown Burger and the Marshlands. It was/is a blast. But something unexpected happened....

I had a summer romance...

Last summer was something special for Riley and I. We were learning about each other. I had so much fun and fell so deeply in love with him. A year later, I find myself falling for him all over again. He still holds doors open, kisses my forhead, and picks flowers for me. I am so proud to be the lady on his arm...

Its funny because I thought we would fall into a groove. You know that comfortable place you find yourself and your spouse. We haven't. He keeps me on my toes and I keep him on his. Granted, our life is no picnic but some how he manages to make it all a little easier.

I know this all seems mushy but just looking at him makes me so happy and oh my, when he smiles at me, he melts my heart. Nobody has ever made me laugh through my tears before, but he seems to do it every time. And no matter how mad he gets at me, he still manages to keep an even tone. ( I can't say the same for myself)

I guess he just is the applesause to my porkchop.

Pioneer Day Round Up

2009-07-26T20:16:00.001-06:00

On Friday Charlotte and I celebrated our first Pioneer Day together. We had an amazing day with the family. Alane, Breanne, Jake, Charlotte and I went to the parade in Salt Lake City and saw some awesome floats and got to show our appreciation for our amazing men and women in uniform. I was so surprised that we had to get there so early but then again I realized that it was going to be super hot and by 10 o'clock in the morning. Being an Easterner that kind of thing didn't cross my mind. We sat on the east side of the street under the shade of a big tree. We at our breakfast and snacked. I really enjoyed myself minus our stinky neighbor (see the last post).

Grandma Alane and Charlotte at the parade.

After the parade the five of us headed down to Woods Cross for lunch in the park. It was such an awesome park. There was a shady area where we ate a big sandwich and pasta salad. Yummy, yummy. We all played on the jungle gym and the swings. we took a lot of fun pictures. There is a buffalo in the park and Alane had the fun idea of taking pictures on it. Well just so everyone is aware that thing is so very hard to get on. It is so slippery and with some help each of us made it up on to the buffalo and got our picture taken. Well, of course I had to be the odd one out of the group. Everyone managed to get off the thing without incident. I got down and my foot slipped on the tail and ended up falling off and rolling head over tails onto the grass. I wasn't hurt but I was awful embarrassed. Somehow whenever I hang out with Jake and Breanne, I always make a ding dong out of myself...lol. Oh well. I guess thats what you get when you get me.

Me falling off the buffalo and Charlotte not caring.

The only thing bad about this day was that Riley had to work in the morning. Well after we got home from the parade and picnic Alane, Charlotte and I took a nap. All in our respective beds of course. Riley came home from work and we decided to find some fireworks. We ended up going to Ogden to see the fireworks at the Raptors game. Well the game wasn't over so we decided to sneak in and see the fireworks. We caught the last two innings and fireworks. I was surprised that they weren't set to patriotic music. They set the fireworks to Phantom of the Opera. Riley found that amusing. I thought the fireworks were so cool, but they were loud so I had to cover Charlotte's ears. She stayed awake through these fireworks and thought they were so mesmerizing.

All in all, I had such an amazing Pioneer Day. I had never really celebrated it until this year. I learned a lot about the spirit of the pioneers and I also learned a lot about the long, arduous journey. I am so grateful for the pioneers. They suffered so much so all of us could live in this beautiful valley.

Go Stink Somewhere Else Please

2009-07-24T19:38:00.000-06:00

Mrs. Breanne (I can call her an Mrs. because she is married now) was so nice a saved us some awesome seats at the parade in Salt Lake. When we got there our blankets were all wrinkled up and ashed on and for some reason we thought it was the guy next to us. Maybe it was the billowing smoke that gave him away.

Our stinky neighbor must have been drinking all night long because not only could he not form an entire sentence, but he also smoked like a freaking chimney. Being a former smoker I should be the last person on this earth to complain about cigarette smoke. But I will. I hate the way it smells. I always have. I hated the way I smelled when I smoked and I tried to avoid people when I smoked. Now that I no longer smoke the smell of it makes my head ache so bad. I hate it and normally I yell up a storm at the offending party.

Today I felt it was not appropriate to yell because I was with with my family and creating a fight was totally unnecessary. So I sat and dealt. But that was not the last of stinky neighbor, he proceeded to tell his kid to go wave at the pretty ladies and told Henry B. Eyring that he was going to meet him to do shots later. I have to hand it to him, he was awful good at cheering and clapping.

I would describe him physically but on the off chance he knows how to use a computer I will not. Lets just say he proved to be almost as entertaining as the parade.

My Family...(I guess)

2009-07-23T15:50:00.000-06:00

So this is my family, I love them. They make me laugh and support me when I need it and basically they are pretty awesome. I made a collage of all the goofiness of my family. They are the best. :)

This Seat is Saved

2009-07-22T22:14:00.000-06:00

So I have noticed this summer that seat saving is the thing to do. I like to go to the event about ten to fifteen minutes early to get a good seat. I think that is fair.

When we went to the fireworks and Mel told me they were allowed to set at 3 that day. We went a good two hours before they started and there were so many people saving seat. Behind us someone had marked off an area with caution tape and the people next to us were saving three blanket spaces for three people. Those three people ended up sitting on one blanket. I would have been nice to not sit on top of each other.

Well I was on ksl.com yesterday and they said that people could start setting up chairs at 8pm. Alane told me people camp out over night and have all nighters. That to me is crazy. Why would you camp out? Its a stinking parade!

In PA someone would either steal your chairs and throw your blanket and caution tape in the trees. Apparently thats what they do in Bosie, ID too. Oh well, when in Rome...

Put Your Shoulder To The Wheel....

2009-07-20T01:03:00.000-06:00

Today we were invited to Breanne and Jake's for and awesome dinner and some good ol' fashioned FHE. Being of the non-Mormon persuasion, I like to keep an open mind and try to learn something new during events like this and church.

Before we began, Jake asked me to say the prayer. I always feel a little weird saying a prayer in front of people frankly because I feel that pray is such an intimate and personal thing. (and Riley makes fun of me) I just have a hard time sharing it. I like to think about it like underpants. Some people are totally content washing their underpants and hanging them to dry on the line in their backyard. Then their are people like me, who like to dry their underpants on little racks in their bedroom with the door close in case we have guests. Anyway, so I said; "I'm sorry I don't feel comfortable praying in front of large people."

Now, you all know the only thing large about Jake and Bre is Jake. And that is large in the sense of "holy canolli that dude is tall." I have a tendency to misspeak and mispronounce things a lot. I can also be a little awkward in conversations where I have no clue what is going on. With that said back to the story.

I have a love for our Heavenly Father and I try walk a path that will lead me closer to him. However, I know as much as I knew when I was eight about the bible and the people in it. I know even less about the Book of Mormon, D&C, and the Pearl of Great Price. In our lesson we talked about how we went from one stage of God's plan to another and what those stages were. At least I think that is what we talked about.... I was so confused and when Jake asked me questions its not that I didn't want to answer them. Its just I didn't know how. I am pretty sure that you can't say, "Yeah I know who that dude was he wasn't down with G-O-D." or "Judas is just a meanie." But I did. I felt like a ding dong because Jake's lesson was very well researched and well put together. That guy knows his stuff.

So after a series of me putting my foot in my mouth, I just closed it and listened. You can't very well listen with your mouth open. I learned some new things and enjoyed my evening with my family. I can say with a sound heart there was only one bad thing that happened today. That would be the digustingness that is my baby. I won't get into it because it made me gag. Oh yeah and I can't get this hymn we sung in church out of my head. "Put your shoulder to the wheel, push along, push along...."
(I hope it gets stuck in your head too)
All in all it was a great day.

Lewistown

2009-07-18T23:28:00.000-06:00

If you have ever seen the movie "Finding Neverland" With Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet, you will know what a fantastic, and uplifting movie it is. In the movie, Neverland is not a physical place, but an idea. A place where you go in your head to find some bit of happiness. It got me to thinking about my own personal Neverland.
As some of you know, I am not originally from Utah. I am a proud Pennsylvania native. When I moved here, this place was so awfully foreign to me. After a few weeks I wanted to go home. I hated the way people drove, spoke, and were so darn crafty (that still kind of bothers me). Finally one day I simply couldn't take it. I broke down. I went to my bed and cried. Then I found it.
My Neverland. A place where nothing changes and everything is simple. Only my place is real. I longed to be in that place again. Its called Lewistown. On the map you will find it somewhere in between State College (Home of the Penn State Nittany Lions) and Harrisburg (the state capital). Its the proud county seat of the thriving metropolis that is Mifflin County.
Growing up, I was so ashamed to move from the big city of Trenton, NJ to backwoods BFE Lewistown, Pa. I was mad to have to leave my friends and family I grew up knowing. I grew to love Lewistown. It has that small town charm because it is, well a small town. I just found out that the 2000 census listed the population at a little under 9,000 residents. I think its funny to hear that number because I feel like I know almost everyone in that town. They are either someway related to me or one of my friends that I have known since the third grade. This story is one of my favorite for explaining how close my town is; My best friend Lacey Yetter and I met in Girls Scouts when we were both eight years old. She and I are still friends to this day. But, back to the story. We were playing one day in the trees in my front yard when Mrs. Fisher (my next door neighbor, a widow) had a visitor. It happened to be her brother, who just happened to be Lacey's Grandpa. She jumped out of the tree ran over to hug him and my dad went over to greet him as his cousin. In some distant way my friend Lacey and I are related....weird right?
Anyway, my Neverland is just such a place. I walk down the road in my bare feet not worried about glass or litter. I run around in my yard and not worry about someone stealing me. I go to my dad's garden and steal a green pepper from the vine. My bed is always fluffier than a cloud and my dad's cat is laying in the dry sink in the dining room. I go out on the front porch and find my dad drinking some of his home brewed iced tea. All of my cares slip away when I snuggle up the front porch with a book and a blanket. I watch my neighbors go for walks with their kids and their dogs. That is my Neverland.
I know Neverland is supposed to be imagined but this place is real. So real I can taste the tea and the whoopie pies. It is not my house anymore. But it will always be my home. And the neighbors have all grown older and so have their kids and their dogs. My friend Lacey is getting married next year and my dad is getting more gray. But in my mind that place never changes, it is the same as the day I left.
One day I hope to be able to take my family there and show them the glory of simplicity.

Just So You Know....

2009-07-15T15:10:00.000-06:00

So lately Charlotte has not been feeling so well and She has never been sick before so I am learning. And yesterday my friend asked me what I have learned so far as a new Mother and I had to think long and hard about it. Well I came up with a list of things. Most of which are common sense but I have very little of that so as I ask my daughter everyday, please bare with me. I know she will survive in spite of all I do. I just hope one day she will learn to thrive.

1. Clipping baby nails in a bouncy chair or moving car is not recommended AT ALL!

2. Playing rock, paper, scissors over diaper changes is pointless. You will have to change you share of nasty, stinky, horrid diapers at some point in time.

3. She does not care what you say as long as you talk to her, if you don't she will get offened.

4. Naptime for her is your time to get something done. (Charlotte is sleeping right now)

5. This is not a good lullaby:
Rock a bye baby
Its time for your nap
Now close your beautiful eyes
And shut your big trap.

6. Don't take too many pictures.- I love having memories of our baby saved forever but I realized that everytime I take out the camera or pick up my phone she looks at it and smiles. That is one overly trained kiddo.

7. Picture Messaging everyone in you phonebook everytime you take a new picture of her doing something funny is annoying. (Sorry guys)

8.Putting baby in her bouncy in frount of the tv is not as fun for her as it is for you.

9. Playing airplane after a meal is just a bad idea for all involved.

10. Short nails and best for her and you. I have scratched her so many times and she does not enjoy it.

I have learned so much more but those things just seemed more important to me than everything else.

Poor Baby

2009-07-13T19:38:00.000-06:00

So my darling Charlotte has been feeling not so well the last few days. She was fussy and not drinking a full bottle and had a runny nose. She wasn't happy in general. So after a not so happy weekend, I called the doctor and had them change her four month check up to today...

I forgot she was getting shots today.

I realized it right after I rescheduled the appointment.

Shots are more stressful for me than they are for her. Of course she is the one who is lassoed, held down, and then brutly attacked with five needles. But I am the one who has to hold her and then listen to her scream and see her cry real tears. Its just simply aweful. Last time Alane went with me and helped me out. I still had to hold her down. This time Riley was able to go with us. THANK HEAVENS!!! The cute nurse (i.e. brutal attacker) came in and started to put the bandaids out on the table. I took this as my cue to leave. I went and sat in the waiting room and was ok reading my O magazine. Then I heard this blood curtling scream. I started to cry. Someone asked me if that was my baby. I nodded and got up to go back to the room.

My poor baby was in tears as the cute nurse tried to shove some drops down her throat.

Before all this evil our friendly british doctor told us that she had grown another inch and now weighed in at 12 lbs and 12 ounces. (she really just needs to stop growing altogether) He also told us that she was growing at a great pace but there was one little problem,

SHE HAS SOME REDNESS IN HER LEFT EAR.

This scares me. I had issues with ear infections all throughout my childhood and at the age of eight I ended up with tubes in my ears. Riley had the same issues. He had to use a sippy cup at the age of six months because his ears couldn't take the pressue sucking a bottle created in his ears. He eventually had to get tubes in his ears too. I just hope Charlotte doesn't suffer the same way her parents did. But they caught it early so we got some antibiotics so we could nip in the butt (or is bud, I always thought it was butt, whatever). So now we are given the aweful task of trying to shove amoxicillin down her throat. She does not like this at all. She spit up two doses and finally managed to get down the third dose down. She was covered in her own medicine and not happy at all. Next time we will give her a dose she will not be wearing anything but a diaper. I hope that works. I know she will be a ball of sicky, strawberry mess. I will just have to hose her down.

I just hope she is feeling better soon. I am just glad they gave us almost three times what we needed. That pharmasist is a genius...

FINALLY!!!! An update.

2009-07-06T10:24:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was Charlotte's blessing day and while we were at Grandma Read's, I was told (quite forcefully) that our blog needed some updating. So here is an update from April until now. We have moved from the aweful Layton Meadows to um...limbo. We thought we had all of our ducks in a row, but one duck decided that he didn't want to be in a row. Anyway we are stayinng with a family memeber until we can find a place that will fit our needs for a price that will fit our budget. It seems like an aweful thing to have no privacy or feel like you are invading someone's space, but I feel like we have grown a little closer as a family because of this move.
Ok Blessing Day. Sunday we were so very privliged to see Charlotte blessed by Grandpa Read. I cried of course. And then we were so fortunate to hear Jill's testimony. I cried again. Then we went to Grandma's for brunch and I cried on the way there.
I have been crying a lot lately. My daughter is growing up so fast. I am just so afraid I am going to open my eyes tomorrow and see her leave for college. Then I would really cry. I want her to go explore the world, just when I am ready for it. She is starting to roll over and grab at her toes and jabber. I am very excited for all of that stuff, but she made me a promise that she would stay tiny forever. (I think she might have lied) Soon she will crawl and then walk and then run.... This is just an evil process.
Over the Independence Day weekend we did a lot. Bre, Alane, Charlotte, and I went to the over crowed framers market in Salt Lake and I had an ok time, I was just being overly protective of Charlotte. It was the first time we went anywhere in public with her in a stroller. I was very nervous. We found a lot of cool crafts and foods. Then we went to the fireworks and had an amazing spot. Ms. Breanne took some really cool pictures. I was so glad I got to spend some time with the Pickups. Those little girls are the best. Our friend Nich joined us with his dogs. It was so good to see him again.
What else....
I can't think of much else so I guess that is it for now. I will hopefull be able to keep this updated more often. We love you guys.

What Can Brown Do For You.

2009-04-25T19:55:00.000-06:00

UPS Airlines

Just in case you need a laugh:

Remember it takes a college degree to fly a plane,

but only a high School diploma to fix one; a reassurance to those

who fly routinely in their jobs.

After every flight, UPS pilots fill out a form, called a 'gripe sheet, which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft. The Mechanics correct the problems, document their repairs on the Form, and then pilots review the gripe sheets before the next flight.

Never let it be said that ground crews lack a sense of humor. Here Are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by UPS ' pilots (marked with a P) and the solutions recorded (marked with an S) by maintenance engineers. By the way, UPS (apparently) is the only major airline that has never, ever, had an accident.

P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.

S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.

P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.

S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

P: Something loose in cockpit

S: Something tightened in cockpit

P: Dead bugs on windshield.

S: Live bugs on back-order.

P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent

S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.

S: Evidence removed.

P: DME volume unbelievably loud.

S: DME volume set to more believable level.

P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.

S: That's what friction locks are for.

P: IFF inoperative in OFF mode.

S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.

P: Suspected crack in windshield.

S: Suspect you're right.

P: Number 3 engine missing.

S: Engine found on right wing after brief search

P: Aircraft handles funny.

S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right and be serious.

P: Target radar hums.

S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.

P: Mouse in cockpit.

S: Cat installed.

And the best one for last....

P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.

S: Took hammer away from midget.

WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR 'U' ?

Well, Aren't You Special

2009-04-18T00:14:00.000-06:00

I have had a not so great day. Things just keep seeming to end up on my plate. I guess it comes with growing up.
When I thought my day was a complete bust and I was going to crawl back into bed and sleep the rest of it away, I remembered something one of my friends used to tell me all the time...
"You need to embrace the bad days so you can really appreciate the good days."
So I decided to put my happy pants on and make today better. I realized that I had several invitations from my friends and family. Alane asked if we wanted to see a play, and Riley said we would go. I am so glad I got out of bed and decided to go!

The play was put on by a group of special needs people and their helpers. Our cousin, Chase, is passionately involved with this group and was in the play. I was a little unsure of how it was going to pan out, but it was AMAZING! This group did such a great job and the audience clapped and cheered the whole time. It wasn't a play in the traditional sense, it was a bunch of songs that different groups danced to and sung. The louder the audience got the more animated and excited the players got. You could see how excited and proud these people were. They worked so hard and did such an amazing job. I was so impressed to see how each person was included, regardless of their degree of handicap. I was very touched by how supportive the audience was. I didn't hear a single negative word or a laugh that was harassing. I enjoyed cheering those guys on. We took Charlotte, hoping she would sleep and not fuss and wow did she surprise us. She slept through the entire play while the whole audience clapped and screamed around us. That girl can sleep through anything.

My Little Soap Box

Book Reviews?

I Got Paid To Shave...

Major Walmart Win.

WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER!!!!

1st GIVE AWAY!!!! ***contest ended***

Facebook Page

Target Win.

Locks of Love

Several Shopping Wins and an Update

Great Deals!

Swag Bucks

We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Blog Post....

Happy Sunday

Mo Free Stuff

Uphill Both Ways

My Smile for Today

Vacation Re-cap

Mail Call

Hello Again...

The Vintage Pearl

Are You Kidding Me???

Mail Call...Sorta

Three Things....

Getting Ready to Travel

Dear Bed,

Family Photo Shoot Fails

Easter in Pictures.

My Birthday in Pictures.

Some Privacy Please!!!!

Mail Call

Almost Here

More Free Stuff!

Awesome FHE

Amazing Aeropostale Deal

More Free Stuff!

Free PICTURE Stuff!

Dinosaur Park

Zoo Trip

Wedded Bliss

Meet Someone

Three Things I Learned Yesterday

April 2010 General Conference

What the HAIL Happened last night?!?!?!?

Birthday Blogging!

Free Stuff!

Dear Qwest

Birthday Collage

Guess Who's Back.....

Its Been Awhile...

Party of Six

The Pantry Challenge...

Just Sharing.

My Missionaries

The Day After

Christmas is coming...

Letters from the Heart...

Bittersweet Chirstmas

Guess Who is Nine Months Old Today...

Yesterday...

Oh Shutterfly

First Thanksgiving

I should be doing something else right now...

Breanne is a Genius

My Music

Another Update

UPDATE!!!!

THE BIG ANNOUNCEMENT....

Oh The Drama!

Grocery Store Pet Peeves

Its Been Awhile...

The Spoon

I Do Bird-like Things

Dear Mother.....

Oh The Things She Can Do

Hallelujah?

Temple Square and the Family...

Take A Hike!

Little Things

What A Day!

1st GIVE AWAY!!!! contest ended