Filler

Isn't' she lovely? Claire is the queen of dressing up- she changes her clothes about 12 times a day, mostly putting on different dresses or her princess nightgowns. This is her lounging in her princess tent, lavishly feasting on grapes. Do you think she is spoiled?

And now I have a bit of a quandary for those who are interested. Decorating is not one of my strengths. I had been looking for months on what to put on top of our TV armoire in our living room. I didn't want anything to busy, and last week I found these beautiful apothecary jars for a good deal, so I bought them. But what, if anything, do I put in them? Any suggestions?

I have included a per- spective picture so you can get the gist of my decorating color and scheme.

Thanks to all of you have much better decorating sense than me.

Kalai

I swore I would never post music to my blog, but I thought this was a worthy exception. This is one of our favorite musicians and one of Cody's good friends. When Cody was in college he was one of Kalai's managers. He had some good times and some good stories with him.

Congrats Kalai!

40 Things You Probably Don't Care About

I may have done this before- it seems vaguely familiar. But since I have been tagged and since I don't have any other inspiration to write a post, I willing acquiesce to Michelle's request.

4 jobs I've had: Employment Counselor, High School teacher, Service Desk Attendant (I like to refer to myself as a professional gift wrapper), and Demolition crew member (at the BYU library).

4 movies I can watch over and over: You've Got Mail, Emma, Pride and Prejudice (definitely the A&E version), and Sweet Home Alabama. (I have a shocking lack of variety when it comes to movies, apparently)

4 favorite movies: Clue (always and forever), You've Got Mail, P&P, and. . . hmmmmm, I'd have to say. . . . Ocean's Eleven. . . I think. How is that for decisive?

4 places I've lived: I have this image of myself as a fearless, experience traveller, who has seen different parts of the world and experienced so much more that I actually have. For instance, writing this list of places where I have lived, I don't even have four different cities to put. And to make it more obnoxious and seemingly silly is that they all start with a P. There is nothing like alliteration to make your world travels seem somewhat juvenile: Pasco, WA; Provo, UT; and Pittsburgh, PA. Say that three times fast.

4 favorite TV shows: The Office, 30 Rock, and the occasional Dateline or 48 hours mystery. Other than that TV makes me want to pull my hair out.

4 favorite reality TV shows: The only one I like is So You Think You Can Dance- and boy do I love it!!!! Its the only show I currently watch and it is one of the highlights of my week. Was anyone else surprised to find out that Wade isn't gay? Oh, and my favorite dancer is Sebra.

4 of my favorite places I've been: The Oregon Coast, Gettysburg, NYC, Provo Canyon (such great memories)

4 favorite foods: Real buttermilk pancakes, cinnamon rolls, fresh Red Vine licorice, and steak

4 websites I check daily: Blogs, every one's blogs, which is more than 4. I also check MSNBC everyday. I like to check out the entertainment gossip, he, he!

4 favorite hobbies: Gardening, Reading, Badminton, and Card Making

4 friends I'd like to tag: Carrie, Jana, Jess, and Amy

Oh the Places You'll See

I am back. From vacation, from recovery, and from Harry Potter. I think officially I am back in the swing of things, and on the top of my list is to update my blog. I apologize beforehand for this entry, because its going to be one of those boring catch-you-up-on-my-vacation posts which have no real juicy details or wit. But if you keep reading, then I know you do really care about me. . .

We first vacationed in Utah where we visited Cody parents and his family. Cody took a separate plane than Claire and I, so I was a bit scared that flying solo with Claire would result in me eventually banging my head repeatedly against the plexiglass airplane windows, but I am happy to report that Claire did really well on the flight and we made it to SLC without a concussion of any sort. It was hot, hot, hot in Utah, but thankfully Cody's parents are a firm believer in blasting the AC! Loved it! We had a good visit with the family. Some highlights for Claire are all the animals she saw while we were there- Max, the bird; the coy fish in the pond at Cody's parents house; Mygraine, the cat; and the ponies that Grandpa Nelson took Claire to visit. If we ever couldn't find Claire at Grandma's house, we knew was probably sticking herself halfway in the cat house trying to get the cat out. You can say she smothered the cat with affection. Claire also had so much fun playing games with Grandma Nelson- the morning we left, she was wandering around, looking for grandma, saying she wanted to play a game. She had a great time.

Cody was able to go fishing (shocking, I know) for a couple of days and according to him he had smashing time. While he was away, I was able to visit with my old freshman roommates. Liz and Angie came over with their cute kids and we had a good time reminiscing and catching up. I don't have a picture, but you can look here for a pic Liz took. My only regret about Utah is that I wasn't able to see all my friends that are still there, but maybe next year. . .

Cody and I were able to go on a date while we were in Utah, a rare occurrence for us, and we went to a Kalai concert. It was really fun to catch up with Kalai and Sarah and also to see him perform again. He has some great new music.

After a week in Utah, we packed out bags and headed to the wide open basins of Pasco, WA. As I walked into my parents home, I was greeted by a sign, beautifully created by my nieces, that heralded me to my surprise baby shower. My sister's had thrown together a little baby shower with my family. We played a rousing round of Match Game and ate cinnamon rolls (courtesy of Tiffani and they were excellent). What more could I have asked for? I was very touched.
The next day we headed out to the beautiful North Cascade Forest to go camping at Lake Chelan. I haven't been camping in years, so I was pretty excited. Camping was one of my favorite things to do as a family growing up. This is the place where I will omit mentioning all of the whiners who weren't willing to cowboy up and stop complainin'. I had a great time, though it was hot (100 degrees), but that just made the lake feel all the more perfect. We spent the mornings eating yummy breakfasts (my favorite part of camping) and the afternoon's playing at the lake, and the evenings, sitting around the lanterns (nobody wanted to make a fire- too hot and smelly). The highlight of the trip was the treasure hunt my mom made for the kids. It was pretty cool- there was an authentic pirate map, swords and hats for all the kids, a message in a bottle, and a real buried treasure on the beach! As a side note, I would like to thank Ben for teaching Claire how to kill and how to die. She does it all the time now! I, of course, don't have any pictures of our vacation to post, but my sister posted some here.

We had a great time, we miss everyone, and I am already looking forward to when we can trek west again. My very favorite thing was seeing Claire play with all our nieces and nephews. She still talks about all of them.

We have been home for a week now, we still don't have our car seat back from the airport, and I am finally back to my normal sleeping schedule. The highlight of my week home so far, is that I went, like the real nerd I am, to get Harry Potter at midnight on Saturday and finished it by Monday morning. Loved it!! And I revel in the fact that I am such a nerd about it.

And for the last and final random note, this morning I cried while watching an Avril Lavigne music video. And that's all I have to say about that.