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.

Waiter, There's a Nest in My Soup!

I now know what it is like to live in soup. That's right, soup. It is my personal Dementor and it sucks all the happiness, energy, and any hope for the future right out of me. We have had a wave of humidity here that makes Pittsburgh feel just like Cancun, minus the nice beaches, drunk high schoolers, and bongs-for-sale every where. We have gone to the pool several times this week in order to escape the semi-unbearable armpit that we find ourselves in, but we are often chased away by the predictable afternoon thunder storm. A few days ago we were only in the pool for 30 minutes when a storm roared its flashy head. We had paid $12 for a 1/2 hour of relief, and we walked away feeling it had been worth it.

I am also nesting. Isn't that a nice word for such an event? This is "an uncontrollable urge to clean one's house brought on by a desire to prepare a nest for the new baby, to tie up loose ends of old projects and to organize your world." So says the internet. But it's what I have been doing. I don't think I did this with Claire, but I have definitely been displaying all the signs of a brooding hen- I have been a homebody; I have been obsessed with disinfecting my house; I threw away Claire's old broken, dirty dresser and bought another one; and I have started washing all of the baby's clothes and putting them in their rightful place (the super cute dresser I bought!). Unfortunately, the actual task of getting this house spotless is impossible- first off, I have a three year old and a husband so everyday I have to start the whole cleaning process over from the beginning. Second, working in soup slows the soul down. And third, my body can only take so much anymore. But everyday I do feel a sense of control and accomplishment as I tackle little tasks- collecting little pieces of straws and grass in the hopes of eventually having a beautiful little nest for our baby- too bad the baby has to be greeted by this wonderful can of Pittsburgh soup when she comes.

I leave for vacation in a few days and this is all I have to say for those who will be housing me and my family- I expect the AC to be blowing, blasting, bombarding, so much so that everyone else will have to wear sweaters and sleep with baked potatoes in their beds to stay warm. That's all I ask.

Slicing Off a Finger

I, unfortunately, like to share. Well, except I don't actually like sharing my side of the bed, or sharing a really good bag of candy. But if I ever have a single thought pop into my head, I sure do like to share it. Immediately. To anyone in a .5 mile vicinity. While I do list sharing as one of my top attributes, it, unfortunately, is not always a good one. I get into trouble a lot with my "sharing"- you know the common side effects that accompany such spontaneous regurgitation of thoughts: putting my foot in my mouth; offending; nausea, dry mouth, and diarrhea; grossing people out with my way too personal details; and most destructively, gossiping.

For me, a blog just makes it so I can publish those thoughts to a distance a thousand times fold (by a thousand times, I mean the 7 of you that read my blog [but you guys do live far apart]). In my first post, I made the analogy of my blog to a fairy tale that told of three sisters who were told a secret. I am the sister that can't keep any type of secret in and have to at least share it with the thickets. . . and to my mom, to my friends, to the old lady with purple hair standing in front of me at the grocery store, to my sisters, and all else who may lurk on my blog. So it stands to reason that the more thickets I visit, the more acutely I will suffer from any number of those glorious side effects. So I do what I can to avoid such suffering. And this week, I had to do something drastic, something desperate, something cowardly. Something akin to chopping off my pointer finger to save the nose on my face. . . I edited past posts.

I know. I know what you are thinking- "Oh, the humanity"; "How dare she"; "Boo, whore!" I realize I have violated the sacred law of all journal/blog writing of not going back to change a post once you have written it. Because at the moment, inappropriate as it was, it was honest and true to yourself. If you go back and change it, it's like getting a boob job- no matter how much better you think it makes you look- it's just not the real you and it will never be the real you ever again. I actually had a hard time hitting the delete button on these less than pc posts . I could feel the betrayal to myself. But, if you also recall from previous posts, I am also a milktoast- I avoid confrontation like it's the plague. So while the honorable thing would have been to keep my post as is, and put some backbone behind what I feel and wrote, I edited it. Okay, so technically the honorable thing would have been to not write things that I would feel uncomfortable having anyone read, but apparently honor falls just behind speaking my mind, which falls slightly behind saving face, which falls somewhere behind my amazing ability to load dishwashers full and efficiently, in my list of attributes.

You might not even notice the edits, but that's not really the point. I don't often like to ask questions to reader's on my blog (first off, its so bloggish to end with a question, and second, it implies that I have the gumption to assume that anyone actually reads my blog), but I want to know what other people's take is on editing past journal entries that might tend to embarrass or incriminate (you know the ones that I'm talkin' 'bout).

Dear Void, is it really as big a deal as I feel it is?

Happy Father's Day

I love Cody for so many reasons. He is truly my best friend and there is no one else I would rather spend time with. He makes me laugh, he make me think, and he always inspires me with how passionate he is about everything. He jumps into things full hearted, with the energy and enthusiasm of a child! But one of his greatest traits and one of things I love most about him is how much he loves and adores Claire. They are best of friends- he is always, always playing with her, getting her to laugh harder than anyone else can, and he tells me at least a dozen times a day, every day, how much he loves her. He has helped out with Claire (i.e. diapers, baths, bedtime, etc) since the moment she was born. In fact, before she was born, Cody would wake up in the morning and sing "In the Leafy Treetops" to my belly. I watch him when he is with Claire and I can see how much he enjoys being with her and the happiness he gets as she enjoys the world around her. He is a great dad and a great husband!
Happy Father's Day, Cody.
I love you.

Okay, enough of the mushy stuff- I just have to include these two little tidbits. At church, Claire was in the foyer, dancing around in circles because she thinks she is a ballerina, and she accidentally stepped down the stairs. I watched in horror as she tumbled down the stairs, head over heels. Cody immediately jumped up and grabbed her up, as I started to tear up. I was so, so, scared watching her, in what seemed like slow motion, tumble down. Though she screamed like a banshee, she was all right, just a bit scared and bumped up- we were lucky!

And this picture is for Monica. She helped me come up with the idea, and here is the finished product of what we did today for primary for father's day. You turn it over and you can open up the back of the shirt and there is a little poem. The kids had fun with the project, I think. I thought they turned out pretty cute.