Lovin' It!!!

So it finally dumped a load of snow on us here! Call me crazy but I find every part of it thrilling, including the horrible roads. We made a trip to Spokane yesterday to get some stuff we needed and I brought my camera along. Every single one of these were taken while the car was moving so some of them don't quite capture everything. You can click on the pictures (usually) to see more. Here was some of the fun stuff we saw:


This is one of the banks in Colfax. Killer icicles eh?!




These ones are a little scarier. If you look closely you can see they are pulling down on the fabric.




This is one of the car lots in Downtown Spokane. It's tempting to ask if I can test-drive one. HA!





Nick thought this looked a lot like the kind of trees you see in Dr. Suess. What do you think?





Division is usually 3-4 lanes. It was about 2 the entire way and slooooooooooooow.





Some kind of sculpture store on division. I don't know why but this just cracked me up :)

HA HA!

This is right next to the Palouse Highway only a couple of minutes from the freeway in Spokane. If you look closely you can see where people have been skiing down the hill. There is probably a mile stretch with these!





Two and a half hours for a normally one and a half hour trip. Second year molars coming in. She used her thumb to ease the pressure. What a trooper!

And last we have a couple of artistic shots with a combination of snow and fog.

Christmas Favorites

I've been tagged to display some particular Christmas favorites so here goes....


5 Favorite Christmas songs:

1) Anything by "Butter Lungs" (Nat King Cole)
2) O Holy Night-South Park version (I know, I know, but it's sooo funny!)
3) 12 Days of Christmas-Bob and Doug McKenzie
4) Transiberian Orchestra Pachelbel's Canon
5) And all the other Christmas songs out there! (I love Christmas music!!!)



5 Favorite Christmas Movies:

1) Muppet Christmas Carol
2) Holiday Inn
3) Shop Around the Corner
4) Christmas Story
5) The Santa Clause



5 Favorite Christmas Treats:

1) Hot Chocolate (or any kind of chocolate actually)
2) Pumpkin Pie
3) Turkey
4) Carmel Popcorn
5) Gingersnaps



5 Favorite Christmas Memories:

1) My Mom forgot to wrap Naomi's presents one year, so while everyone is opening theirs, she's sitting there absolutely devastated that she hasn't gotten one thing yet. Hers were still in a plastic bag in Mom and Dad's closet.

2) My Mom would let us wrap eachother's presents (A big mistake on their part I think because we usually told eachother most of them anyway) and one year Naomi walked out and told one of the younger ones "Guess what? Your getting a BARBIE for Christmas!"

3) We used to try to find our gifts every year, even when we were kids. We slipped up one year and have it on video. We were opening stuff Christmas morning and I feigned suprise at one thing in particular then told Eleasha to go open hers then went right to where it was under the tree.

4) I loved every Christmas we went to my Grandma White's house. One year in particular she actually made Barbie furniature and I got my first Ken doll from her. Before that wonderful day we were using a Barbie that we cut all the hair off and had permanent marker on her face. She was "Army Barbie" and the love intrest of all the other females we owned.

5) And finally there was what my Mom refers to as "Barbie Christmas". This was the Christmas my Mom let my Dad do all the shopping. All I have to say is "Woah Nelly!!!" Eleasha got a Barbie Mansion for all of our girls to hang out in and I got a Corvette and several other things, not to mention the mountain of Barbie clothes and shoes which we promptly lost.



5 People I Tag:

Sariah
Naomi
Maranda
Eleasha
Carisa

And the winners are....

Everyone of course. When posting the pictures of our gingerbread (or rather grahmcracker) houses, I wanted to see if it was as obvious to everyone else as it was to me. If any of you thought the shape of the tower was....special....then you weren't the only one. I mentioned this to Nick and he told me that's why he added the little room sticking out of the side. ROFL! How could anyone NOT love him?!?! Anyway, sorry it took so long to get back on this. I totally forgot about it until today :)

What I Wish

When I got up this morning this is how I was hoping it would look:







I took this early Christmas morning last year at my in-laws. This is how I hope it looks every winter. I know, I know, it's crazy. But I LOVE the snow, deep snow! I love how it covers up all ugly stuff and makes the landscape glow. If it's going to come, I'd prefer it to start snowing at the beginning of November instead of January. Unfortunately it looks like we may not get much even in January. Some days it feels like the seasons are changing places.



The up-side is, I can at least pretend that there's a load of snow if I keep all the blinds shut and make my home feel all cozy. Also the roads won't be too bad, but that doesn't matter as much to me, that's half the fun right?! Anyway, for those who DO have snow, please enjoy it for me by building lots of snowmen and sledding!

Earrings!

So I've been making earrings for a while. When I create a new style that I like a lot I usually end up making a few variations and then move on to something new that comes out of my crazy little head. Sometimes my ideas work, and sometimes they don't. Anyhow, here is my current fad:

Santa: Confusion and Torture for Children

We had our Ward Christmas Party last Friday. It was pretty fun with tons of kids. We also had Santa. Why do we do this to kids? Because it's hilarious!!! Nick has decided it's simply an acceptable form of child abuse. Of all the kids, Aviendha's reaction was one of the best. She wanted absolutely NOTHING to do with Santa, including accepting the bag he wanted to give her. Almost all the kids took the bag even if they weren't on Santa's lap. She is the last one on the video I'm posting. Check out the grip she has on Nick's shirt in the beginning. Nick said she was shaking pretty bad while he was trying to get her to sit with Santa, or even just look at him. Anyway, enjoy!

Aviendha's 2nd Birthday

Aviendha is 2 today!!! I can't believe how fast the time has flown by! Here are the highlights of Aviendha's 2nd birthday party we had last Saturday at Nick's parent's house. That first day she was really scared of the My Little Pony we got her seeing it outside the box!

Thanksgiving and gingerbread houses!

Well, after a bit of craziness and fun I finally have the patience to do another post. Thanksgiving was especially fun for us this year. We stayed home with our little family and cooked our own turkey which is still pretty moist (we've been eating it everyday for the last week!). We also put up our fake tree that day and put the lights on.

We also have a tradition of building gingerbread houses either on thanksgiving or the day after. This year we did it the day after because we forgot to get the stuff to make them. We ended up going out Friday afternoon to get our supplies then began building as soon as we got home and put Aviendha down for a nap. It took us till about 10 that night to finish. Aviendha had more candy that night than she did on Halloween and we knew it. Toward the end she was sitting in a chair nearby holding her head and just screaming and screaching in absolute glee over and over again. We were pretty stunned. She was literally bouncing off the walls, or rather everything around her. I can only imagine what that might do to a kid who does that normally!!! She was running from one part of the house to the other, up on chairs, into walls, and in circles. Unfortunately the video camera wasn't available so that is a disappointment. However, I come bringing the fruits of our labor. Can you guess which one is mine and which one is Nick's?



Here we have the leaning tower of sugar induced coma. It has a nice set of shiny double doors, a stone patio, and a little room coming out the side up above. Rapunzel was considered as a guest for the room but the maker decided the hair would be too much effort (or rather not worth it...).



Here we have the rear entrance of the tower with a classy pretzel door for those wishing to escape whatever lies inside. What tower would be complete without what appear to be traffic lights for any...heavy....traffic?...coming in....the back door?...

Next we have the triple decker house of boredom.



This house sports a festive fence and a fabulous archway entrance. Christmas lights give it just the right touch.



What kind of house would be complete without two snowmen complete with candy faces and pretzel arms? Also that stone walkway looks pretty homey and charming. But again, as I said earlier, fairly boring.

So the question is: Which house belongs to who?

Funny stuff!

Fancy Restaurant

Nick took me out on a date this Friday to the fanciest restaurant Pullman has to offer. For those of you who know Pullman you might be thinking it's McDonalds', Pizza Hut, or even Denny's. But it's not!!! Pullman is pretty small and has little to offer by way of eat-in restaurants however there's this place in "downtown" Pullman called The Old Post Office, which, I believe, is actually the old post office. I don't think this place has an official name because couldn't find one. I'd never even heard of it.

We had to wait about 30 minutes for a table to open up even with reservations because it was Dad's Weekend for WSU. When we finally got in I thought "Hmmm, yeah, it's pretty cozy..." It's Located in a Winery so there was wine tasting going on in several rooms not connected to the actual restaurant but the setting was the classiest thing I'd ever seen: A few leather couches, big open area, dimly lit, warm, a fireplace, different shaped tables and sizes to suit different size parties, and a well dressed staff.

When we were seated and given the menu I had to laugh. The menu was one stiff piece of paper with all things offered on the front and back (well spaced!). Next to this paper menu was another menu, or rather, catalog. Of wine. It weighed a ton! There had to be at least 50 pages in it! We sent those back with the waitress after she gave us our water.

We decided to get an appetizer because they were not what we usually find being offered. We asked the waitress what she thought was the best and got that one. When she first brought it out it looked like cheese cake with pureed strawberries around it. Turns out it was a slice of melted brie with pureed rhubarb around it and a basket of some soft bread to eat it on. The first question I asked was "How in the world did someone decide it might be good to try rhubarb on cheese on bread?" Regardless of my confusion I tried it and to my surprise it was actually really good! It added a nice kick to the cheese! It took Nick a couple of minutes to decide to try it but it won him over as well.

Ordering the Entree was the funny part though...and kind of scary. After the description of the one I wanted to order it said: 26 (in bold). Yep, you guessed it. $26. Woah Nelly! Nick was going all out! The meat I was ordering was also organic. Now, I can't say it was worth $26, but I can say it was probably worth about $18-$20 because of how much better it was than anything at a middle-class range. The potatoes were loaded and absolutely worth it! We also got green beans smothered in garlic, although we didn't get as much of the veggies as we would have liked...Though, in the end, all the entrees were around that same price with only a one or two dollar difference.

We decided that since we probably weren't going to be coming back to this place anytime soon that we might as well make it worth it and order desert. My problem was that they didn't have anything left of what I wanted (strawberry swirl cheesecake...*sniff*). I ended up ordering something called chocolate decadence. It was....hard to describe...hard cakish chocolate on the bottom...chocolate...some cherries(ewww!)...thin pudding syrupy chocolate...ICK! I won't be eating anything that sounds close to a description of that ever again!!! I ended up eating only half of what was already a small portion and Nick gladly finished it.

So, that was our date at a "fancy restaurant" in Pullman. The food (for the most part) was fabulous and definitely several notches above Applebee's. However, my first love is still the White House in Post Falls, ID because it's far cheaper, much garlic..ier..., and has my favorite dish ever!

No matter what we do....

So Aviendha has had a rash for a couple of weeks now because no matter what we try, she finds a way to scratch it once it starts getting better! We tried onesies with pants (that was a joke!). We tried a sleeper....This is her two mornings ago telling me how she took her sleeper off as she reaches down the back of her diaper.




And this is last night, after we put a safety pin across her zipper so she couldn't unzip it. She has pulled her left arm into her pajamas (just figuring that out by the way) and was caught yet again scratching.





We found ointment that helps her not to itch and heals it fast but we have to wait till next week to get it. Till then I suppose the next step is duct tape!!!!

Be Grateful...I think....

I can't say I'm not incredibly disappointed. I was out doing grocery shopping when I heard McCain's concession speech. I was so depressed I rented 3 feel good movies and bought food I wouldn't normally eat (not a good thing to hear while out shopping!).

As I type I feel a nervousness. A discontent. An uncertainty. Like someone just put a bag over my head and is forcing me down a path I was more than simply hesitant to go down.

I don't think the country is going to hell in a hand-basket, not yet anyway, but I do think we will be faced with some dramatic changes that will directly affect the family. For anyone who thinks that the floodgate for the disintegration of the family hasn't just been turned loose on the country, you are in serious denial. Granted, this gate may not open for years, but I promise you it will.

It is official that we live in a country where people DO know what they want. People are NOT apathetic. Lazy, yes. Greedy, yes. Want the "right" to do whatever gives them pleasure and a false sense of happiness? Yes. Delight in trampling the Word of God? Yes. For these reasons we can expect a dramatic change on views of the family and religion which were previously only building slow momentum. With each new generation, in a rapidly changing world, ideals and standards are lost until we are left with something so distorted and convoluted that no one has any idea what high standards/morality means or it's consequences. This is why arguments for them become more difficult to explain, no matter how logically or spiritually you explain them. Our fight for righteousness grows more difficult by the day.

As I was driving home thinking about these things I remembered hearing a talk about being grateful for everything by a lady from Germany who lived through WWII in a concentration camp. She spoke of how bad the conditions were. There were maggots, lice, and all manner of uncleanliness. Her mother (I think) told her and insisted that she be grateful for EVERYTHING even the maggots and lice and even though it was revolting living in those conditions. One day the guards came in to rape women in their particular cell. They ended up choosing not to because of how disgusting and dirty they were. If that doesn't change your view on how to be grateful I don't know what does! With this in mind, I've decided to try to be grateful for everything taking place right now, good and bad, because it has the potential to make me a better person even though it may be through trial.

“And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more” (D&C 78:19).

And so for those who dread the next four (maybe eight...) years I would encourage you to be thankful, grateful, and strong for what lay ahead and never to fear because the Lord is on your side.

Family Portrait....for now...

Well, I decided that we're probably not going to get a chance to do a family portrait anytime soon (the way I'd really like). We did a few pictures the same day I did Aviendha's but I'm not a big fan of them. I did also did some pictures of some friends so they snapped this for us with my camera so that I didn't have to use a tripod. Aviendha couldn't sit still for anything so this is as lucky as we got...





I'll post a picture of Aviendha's Halloween costume soon...

Fall Portraits

I finally got around to doing more Aviendha Portraits! She had issues sitting still because we had just gotten done with church and she was tired so our friends were throwing leaves and making her laugh.






Hopefully we'll get some family stuff done but we'll see how that goes with a crazy schedule and stressed out husband!

Speed Racer Review

So I don't know if anyone else has seen the new Speed Racer movie that is now out to rent. If you did and saw it in the theater, I am soooo sorry! There was nothing about the previews that made me even want to rent this movie but if anyone knows my Husband, you know he has to see a movie, even if the entire world agrees that it stinks, just so he can stop thinking about how cool it MIGHT be.

"So how was it?" you ask? Fast, yet at the same time, agonizingly sloooooow. The races were ok to watch because it finally felt like there was something TO watch. There are only a few minutes in a movie of just over 2 hours where there isn't something flashing by or moving quickly on the screen. To get an idea of just what it was like watching this movie, here are some of the comments made in order from beginning to end:

Gailyn: "Ugh! What the heck is going on?!"

Nick: "I don't know, I think they're trying to tell the background story...."

Nick: "Wow, these are some....pretty....bright....colors. I can hardly tell what's what"

Gailyn: "Yeah, I'm having trouble focusing..."

Gailyn: "Dangit, why don't they just hold the freaking camera still?!?!"

Nick: "The colors are so jarring, it's destroyed my suspention of disbelief!"

Gailyn: "Really? Because the whole idea of the movie pretty much did it for me."

(it pretty much continues like this for awhile about color, camera movement, scenes flashing by, and exactly when Nick's suspention of disbelief is turned on and off. We'll skip ahead to the end!)

Nick: "The dialogue is a little on the corny side."

Gailyn: "Wow, this end race is really long..."

Nick: "I was just thinking the same thing, all the color is kind of getting to me. I saw a review describing this as a visual orgy...."

Gailyn: "I think I'd describe it more as visual vomit."

Nick: "Yeah, that pretty much sums it up for me."

Gailyn: "I'm feeling a little disoriented...."

Nick: "I definitely wouldn't have any epileptics watch this! Think about the kind of dreams we're going to have tonight while our brains try to reset themselves!!!"

While this wasn't all, those were pretty much some of the highlights. And it WAS really disorienting. We had to sit for a minute and pull our brains back together after it was over. Mine felt like a puddle outside of my head! Amazingly enough, I didn't have one dream about it that night, but I attribute that to the fact that my brain was in "purge" mode. Other than the visual stuff and corniness, it was a pretty clean movie. A clean movie you couldn't pay me to watch again!

I'm including this preview so you can get an idea. The colors aren't as bright but the pace of the preview is just about what you get in the movie minus a few parts here and there!

I HATE politics....

So, I was filling out my ballot today and looking up measures before I vote on them when I stumbled upon something called "Ballotpedia" which was pretty useful. I looked up a few things, then, as an afterthought I decided to check out what it had to say about California's Proposition 8. It's so disheartening for me to look at the direction the people of our country are going. I also found another reason for me not to vote for Obama. Turns out he's against Prop. 8. For anyone who hasn't read Sariah's post I'm including a couple of videos (one with Elder David A. Bednar and one directly from the church) that I think do justice to the gravity of the situation. I just hope everyone sees the potential direction this country could take with a man who would describe this proposition as "the divisive and discriminatory efforts to amend the California Constitution".

Weekend Away

Well, once again we went up to Nick's parents place for the weekend. Aviendha had the best time playing with her favorite Aunt! She also used more words this weekend than I think she ever has before. She was a non-stop chatter-box! Nick and I got new phones finally, so for everyone who I talk to you won't be cut off anymore! I also spent a bit of time with my Mom who is not doing well. She could barely swallow her saliva and spent several times (as my stomach churned) choking. She asked me to have Nick come down and give her a blessing. It was a simple blessing of encouragment and strength. The spirit was strong and I was once again grateful for the priesthood and being married to a man worthy to hold it! I also read several chapters of "Finding Peace, Happiness, and Joy" by Richard G. Scott, an amazing book for anyone who hasn't read it! Unfortunately my time with her wasn't as long as I had hoped because both days she wore out rather quickly. The rest of the time was filled with some charged political discussion with his parents so you can probably guess how exciting that was! Although we are all voting for the same guy there was some misunderstanding when it came to talking about Fox news. While I admire that there is at least one broadcast that is conservative, I can't feel good about how dirty they fight for it and how much more "entertainment" there is about it than legitimate, truthful news. All news stations are of that same quality at this point in order to compete and so I tire of having to sift through all the garbage and half-truths. Anyhow, it was a pretty good weekend but I'm glad to be back home :)

Yellow Journalism! PLEASE LOOK!

I was looking for something to explain a little of what Yellow Journalism is to people. Now, while you can find it in virtually ALL mainstream media to one extent or another, Fox reigns supreme. To understand a little of what yellow journalism is watch the clip and video so that you can understand what it is you have to sort through (not just on FOX) whether you are liberal or conservative. I encourage everyone to dig for legitimate facts in regards to the up and coming election!
The Return of Yellow Journalism... and PART 2 is the short clip and
OUTFOXED: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism is the video. Also for some background on when, where, how, and why it started you can visit Wikipedia.

Last Night's Debate...

I don't know how many people tuned in to the debate last night but of the 3 I thought it was the most entertaining to watch. I LOVED the up front questions that were asked like about mudslinging, how their VP would do as President, and so on. I know Obama has been credited with smooth-talking but the way he talks, for some reason, has been annoying me more and more. It irritates me more every time I hear his voice and speech pattern. While I do lean way more toward McCain my issues with listening to Obama have less to do with what he's talking about than how he presents it. I realize I'm probably the only one who feels this way and I'm not quite sure what about the way he talks that irritates me so...

From the beginning I've found I can see through the "eloquence" (as McCain put it) and have been able to see when he's answering a question to please everyone without really answering it (he does this A LOT). For instance when he was talking about tax cuts and how "95%" of the people would have tax cuts that pretty much appeals to EVERYONE but where's the detail in that? He just made a very general statement without really elaborating on that but making it feel like he did. And so I found it conflicting that he wanted to give tax cuts to virtually everyone and at the same time has plans to spend more money....either he's going to tax big business A TON!!!!! or there's something pretty faulty with that plan (or both!!!). Here's some info on this discrepancy: Obama's 95% Illusion. In this they say: "of the McCain campaign is why it has allowed Mr. Obama's 95% illusion to go unanswered." I do find this a good question! Anyhow, this is just one of many many things that haven't been put into detail for the public, but when put as generically as Obama puts them, sound awesome.

I was appalled to find out that he wouldn't pass a bill to help partial birth abortions where the child could survive. That right there is late term abortion without giving a child a chance who may have one!!! That disgusted me right there and one of the main reasons I absolutely will not be considering him AT ALL.

I will put in that McCain also has some pretty big flaws in his plans as well, but lesser flaws I feel.

I also liked McCain's answer for fuel more than Obama's and have researched the facts of it prior to the debate. My husband and I are sad that they have refused to do more nuclear energy thus far. Obama's plan was, again, vague but sounding good, trying to appeal to the "making better cars" without really answering the question. McCain's plan for basically working toward not relying on other contries at all for our fuel and/or energy needs in the future was a much better idea and a little more specific. Admittedly though, they both require seeing beyond what is coming out of their mouths...UGH!

So aside from seeing through Obama's sound good ability, I just can't stand listening to him talk!!!!!!!

Copyright Infringement

So I got some older pictures developed after fixing them and making them look a little softer. When I went to pick them up the guy said "Uh...there's a note on here that I'm supposed to check the copyright on all of these..." I just looked at him rather blankly and thought about what pictures I was getting done. Admittedly the only one I didn't take (even though I was in half of them) was my wedding picture, but even that one didn't count because our buddy Clint pretty much did them for free and gave us all of them. I also did all the photoshop work on it too. So I tell him all of them are mine and explain my interest in photography and so on and so forth and that he can look at them if he wants and I'll explain each of them. He said "Na, I don't need to see them. I believe you. You can probably guess what most of the pictures look like that come through here. Consider it a compliment!" So anyway, I thought that was kind funny but I don't think by any means that they look super professional. Here are a few that were developed they don't look quite as stunning this small :(

Accidentally turned of comments....

Sorry to anyone trying to comment, didn't realize they were turned off!

Feeding a hungry kid...

Right now we are fighting a bad diaper rash our girl has from eating dairy and wheat. I think I'm going to go crazy! ...more likely I already am... Nick thinks Aviendha will get over her allergies after a few weeks of not giving her these things (ROFL). I'd like her to avoid them completely till she's 5 or 6 and man is it hard! It stinks that I can't just make her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch, or any sandwich for that matter. Don't get me wrong, they have bread, she just won't eat it. I wouldn't eat it. It's dry, heavy, and not even close to tasty. Luckily I found a good pancake mix for her so breakfast is MUCH easier. We also have been giving her Quinoa some mornings which has some better stuff than wheat anyway. The hardest part (besides lunch) is finding some good healthy (filling) snacks. It also doesn't help that she's becoming particular about this category and is refusing some things I feel better about feeding her. Anyway, I guess I'm just complaining. It wouldn't be quite as hard finding something for myself because I would know what I wanted, but with Aviendha it's guesswork for a category that can get pretty expensive if she ends up not liking it, or her tastes change. I guess in the end I'm hoping this won't last long!

Crazy Fun Weekend

Well, we had a crazy busy weekend. Saturday was filled with so many errands Aviendha missed her nap. Luckily she does not get cranky when she's tired! Yesterday was my first Sunday as a nursery worker which was insanity but fun and actually pretty funny. I had the lesson which was of course impossible to give but there were 3 older children who were very attentive so it gives me hope! Apparently the other workers think it was the best lesson yet but they were a couple of guys who weren't quite the master handlers so I'm not sure that counts... One kid ended up with a big mess coming out the back of his pants (if you know what I mean) and luckily it took us about 15 minutes to find one of his parents. All in all though, they were pretty good kids! Later last night we decided to take some pictures as there hasn't been one of me in a few years and I wanted one with my little cutie. Nick declined being in a picture because he feels he needs a serious haircut (and I think I agree). He did join in a few but lets just say it was not in the spirit I had hoped for!

Soooooo Delicious!!!!

So these are my new love: French Truffles. Can I just say: Mmm mmm mmm mmm mmm! Found these at Costco when we were looking for something to help boost my iron. Just 5 of these babies contain 45% of your daily requirements. At least that's what the box says :) Either way they are pretty good especially for how much you get! Don't get me wrong, I'm still taking my regular iron but this is a nice treat without feeling too guilty. (Don't worry Green & Black's, I still love you just as much!)

When Seasons Change

I love when the seasons change, I think because I get bored easily with the same old sunny weather or gray skies. This summer wasn't anything special for me (I never got to go camping!) so I'm extra excited for (hopefully) a ton of snow and freakish weather this winter. I do love freakish weather...thunder/lighting storms, hail, lots of wind, snow storms, rain, ice, fire, tornado (still want to see one of those!). I love the change of pace they provide, keeping people on their toes. This is from last January when the icicles were fat and long and the snow on the rail we got in just a couple of hours, SO AWESOME!













While I do love all seasons, this is just me getting excited for change again. I love the leaves and the feeling of fall, how chilly it starts to get and how suddenly your house starts to feel so cozy and inviting. Fall just makes you to want to start decorating your house and make it even cozier. Even more exciting to me is the prospect of less parties because of the frigid air. Although that didn't seem to pose a problem last year for our downstairs neighbors who had a kareoke party (with their door open) loud enough to wake up the entire complex and the next street over. Yes, life here is grand :) I garuntee you as we go into each season I'll be bored with the one before. I think that's why I could never live in New Mexico or anything like that. Or Florida or the midwest for that matter because who wants to switch trailers every year when your current one is wiped out? Not the kind of change I'm talking about! Plus I could never enjoy Christmas if I didn't have snow! Anyway, yay for fall!!!

Despair Demotivators

There is a site my husband and I like (courtesy of Nick's co-workers). It is Despair.com, a rather amusing site for some pretty ironic depressing stuff. They make these fun little things called "Demotivators" in which the one about blogging is particularly funny. You can visit it by going here: http://www.despair.com/blogging.html. In particular, you have to read who it's perfect for and follow the links. Another favorite of ours is http://www.despair.com/government.html.

Some of the photos I've taken:

Finally Found My Way Here!

The last 2 years have been...well...nuts! My energy has been sapped since the end of my pregnancy with Aviendha combining with seriously off numbers with my thyroid and iron. Luckily we figured out what was wrong last December and it has taken about 9 months to correct everything without having to go on any thyroid medication which ironically made me tired anyway when I took it in the past. Plus half my hair fell out which no female can feel good about :). So, with those things under good order my weight is slowly making it's way back to normal and my energy is going up in turn. Recently we purchased a Wii specifically for the Wii Fit which in just 1 week has done wonders for the both of us! There is a rather amusing game, and my favorite, which is Hula Hooping. Right now my family will be smiling and nodding because we are all excellent hula hoopers. Nick, sadly, is not and he can't come close to any of my scores which makes me rather delighted (in a devilish way!) considering how competitive he is!










Aviendha has hit some great growth spurts which finally has put her out of the 7th percentile and into the 35th. Poor kid still has very little hair though. I've had to resign myself to letting her wear lots of pink because she is more frequently being mistaken for a boy. She is also very fond of "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" of which she mostly just knows knees and toes :) She is also a climbing fool which scares the beejeebers out of me! The other day she was climbing on something and fell head first to the floor. It wasn't a long fall but there she was balanced on her head with her body bent backwards (her feet pointed towards the top of her head. I about died right there as I ran to her. She didn't stay in the position more than a couple of seconds but I thought she wouldn't be able to walk after I picked her up. She had a look of shock on her face the whole time, she never cried or got upset, she just stared at me like there was something wrong with ME. It obviously didn't scare her much because she's back to climbing onto everything she shouldn't. Aside from the scary stuff she knows a ton of words but ofcourse we can't get her to say anything on demand. Two days ago she was pretending to sneeze and then after a few times she said "Bess Ewe!" (bless you) something I say after everytime she sneezes. Funny thing is she rarely says things more than 2 times with the exception of "Hi" and "Doggie" and her new favorite "Ewwww, yicky!".










I recently took some pictures of a lightning storm we had here. This one is better than the first time I tried. It looks real red and hazy because the preceding winds kicked up A LOT of dirt. Unfortunately I could not catch any of the really good stuff because it started raining.