Please, Enjoy the Ride

30, Flirty, and Thriving!

2011-01-05T19:56:00.000-08:00

I've decided to take an idea from one of my favorite people, Michelle Denney, who wrote 40 life stories to mark her 40th birthday. I'm turning 30 this year (and proud of it!). However, as much as I loved reading all of Michelle's 40 stories, I'm starting a bit late and really don't have the literary yearnings to write 30 stories. So, instead I give you my 30 most magical/meaningful moments. (in no particular order!) Enjoy!

1. Saying "I do" to my soul mate.

2. Seeing Indy on the ultra sound, despite all the odds saying she shouldn't have been there.

3. Finally seeing 2 lines on the pregnancy test instead of just the one that I'd seen for over 2 years.

4. Taking a family picture and having it feel complete.

5. Skiing at Deer Valley resort before the lifts open. So peaceful.

6. Hanging out at the gazebo in middle school. (we were so cool!)

7. Watching DMB from the front row in Austin, TX.

8. Driving by myself in my own car for the first time.

9. Realizing that I'd forever be tied to my high school friends because of February 12th.

10. Swimming at night.

11. Watching the sunrise, while sitting on the sidewalk with my future husband. (now current hubby!)

12. Singing "The Lord Bless You and Keep You" in the church at the cluster concerts.

13. My first kiss. (unfortunately, not too romantic... on a school bus with a bunch my friends starring! but still a "moment"!)

14. Seeing Indy's face when she finished her first swim race.

15. Rocking my kids to sleep.

16. Realizing that I was in charge of my life, and my choices.

17. Watching "Watcher in the Woods" in the woods, on a pile of leaves.

18. Watching a lightning storm from the top of a mountain in my jeep.

19. My soccer team winning city champs.

20. Sitting in the middle of a field, in a rusted out old car, with my childhood best friend.

21. Talking in the garden with my grandpa.

22. Every "family hug," every night.

23. Finally learning and understanding, "what other people think about me is none of my business."

24. Stealing the gnome.

25. The Cure concert...

26. Letting "I love you" slip out the first time to Eric.

27. Holding Gage for the first time.

28. Holding Indy for the first time.

29. When Eric sat in my lap and kissed me for the first time!
30. Watching fireworks with my kids.

WOW! Long time no blog...

2010-11-28T07:47:00.000-08:00

So here are a few things you may have missed... (but probably not!)

Gage was born. Indy has been a VERY attentive sister. I couldn't ask for a better helper!

Indy started her last year of preschool! (and she started it in style, as you can see!) Where has the time gone? We went to Lagoon with cousin Cassy. It didn't quite compare to Disneyland from last year, but it was still fun!
Gage got bigger!

Indy had her 5th birthday. This was her celebration on a field trip for school.

HALLOWEEN!!! This is Indy's class on their "Honk for Halloween!" parade!
And Gage still got bigger! (and apparently a little flashier, too!)

She's the Magic

2010-04-27T07:56:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update to the castle story.

We unfortunately (or maybe fortunately, depending how you look at it!) weren't able to make it to the castle that day. (thanks to a lovely unexpected trip to my doc for high blood pressure that lasted 3-ish hours... did I mention I'm SO ready for this baby to come!!)

Indy was of course beyond bummed that we didn't get to go but I told her we'd go ASAP. A day or so later she came to me with this.

"I think there is princesses at the castle. You've just never seen them. I think if you went all the way to the top, you'd see them."

To which I replied, "I think you're exactly right!"

Reality is Harsh

2010-04-23T10:46:00.001-07:00

If you've never seen it, this is the Salt Lake City building. It houses different city offices and I'm pretty sure the mayor's office (I could just be saying that?!?!!) The building is on one of the main roads downtown. Its a road Indy and I take often including every time we go to school.

Since I can remember, Indy has called this "her castle." (Eric and mine castle is the Grand America for those of you that are interested!) She's always wanted to go inside. So yesterday, I decided we would go and take a look inside. I've been there plenty of times, and while its nothing but offices, its still pretty cool inside. Granite everywhere, pillars, brass stairwells. No princesses but still pretty regal in there.

So here's our conversation today:

Indy: did you and daddy dance there when you were married?

Me: no, not there.

Indy: will there be a princess there today?

Me: nope. you know what's actually in there, offices with people working.

Indy: (nothing but a sad look.)

Me: but its still beautiful

Indy: but its not a REAL castle?

Me: it looks like a castle, but no, we don't have a "real" castle in Utah.

Indy: (with tears flowing) but I just want it to be a real castle.

So tell me, should I have just kept my big mouth shut and let her figure it out on her own? I feel like I crushed her dream and took away the magic. Now I can never get it back for her...

We'll see how it goes when we get there. She says she still wants to go. I told her she could wear her princess dress so that she'd be the princess and she just tearfully answered, "no thanks..."

Art For Sale!

2010-02-16T17:54:00.000-08:00

Tonight while I was cooking dinner, Indy came into the kitchen and showed me this picture.

Me: Oh, its beautiful!

Indy: Its for you.

Me: Thank you! (reaching for picture)

Indy: (pulling picture back) It costs $7.

Me: (pretending to hand her some money) Here ya go.

Indy: (still holding the picture back) No, Mom... Real money!

When did this happen?!?!!?

A Soapbox...

2010-01-12T08:42:00.000-08:00

Some of you may or may not know this about me. From the time I can remember I wanted to be a marine biologist until I was a freshman in high school. This occupation was chosen simply because of my love for dolphins. (It was only the realization of how much math and science I would need to take in order to obtain this job that deterred me as a high schooler... come on, I was in high school!)

But regardless, my love for this animal has never wained. I find them not only beautiful, intelligent and amazing, but also feel that there is SO much more to these animals than meets the eye.

Which brings me to my newest heartbreak... a friend of mine recommended this documentary to me. I checked out the trailers online and was instantly intrigued. Thanks to netflix it arrived shortly at my house.

I have NEVER been so moved by a film. I cried countless times and still get a "butterfly-ish" feeling in my gut every time I think about it.

If you have any appreciation for sea life, or just LIFE for that matter, take the time to watch this. I'm not going to sugar coat it, its not a pleasant, happy-go-lucky film, but its definitely worth every one's time just to learn what's going on.

Oh Yeah... I almost forgot to mention....

2009-12-02T20:33:00.001-08:00

With all the excitement and drama of last week, I just realized I hadn't posted this.

So there ya go!!!

Egg Nog Will Never Be The Same

2009-11-30T14:21:00.000-08:00

For all you mothers out there with more than one child, I'm sure you'll understand where I'm coming from when I tell ya that Indy and I have been having some very "big girl" talks lately.

Talks about how the baby will get out of my body, how they know if its a boy or girl, etc. Today this was our conversation.

Indy: When the baby's here I'll share my cereal with them.

Me: Well, when the baby's born and for a while after, all they'll eat is momma's milk.

Indy: What's momma's milk?

Me: When the baby comes my breast will start making milk for them to drink.

Indy: (with a puzzled look) Will the doctors get the milk out?

Me: Nope, the baby will know how to drink it.

Indy: (still with the puzzles look) huh....

And off we went to school.

Later we stopped at the store for a few groceries. I needed milk and while I was there I saw the egg nog. Since its officially the Christmas season now, I bought some. When we got home I asked Indy if she wanted to try some.

Me: Is it good?

Indy: Uh-huh! Its yummy!.......... Did it come from your boobs?

So I guess somewhere I didn't explain something right....

Disneyland

2009-11-24T10:21:00.000-08:00

WARNING: CONTAINS A LARGE QUANTATY OF OTHER PEOPLE'S VACATION PHOTOS!

read at your own risk!

This photo got posted first because we waited in line 3, yes countem' 3, times to meet Silvermist. She's Indy's VERY favorite!
With Tinker Bell and Terrance

Fawn, Indy's 2nd favoriteRosetta and the "little girls" (that's what these 3 are referred to in our family!)

In front of the Disneyland Hotel

(If you can, make this picture bigger... Indy's face is worth it!)

You know those super-fans that yell and scream, and possibly pass out when their idol comes into eyesite? Well, that was Indy when Minnie walked into the room at the character breakfast. Minnie was great and gave her LOTS of hugs and tickles!

Silly Pluto!

K, so we really only stopped to see Aladdin because there was NO ONE in line, but Indy's smile is too cute not to post this one!

We tried to get her to dance, but she was too in awe at this point I think. We'd only been in the park about 30 minutes and everything was AMAZING!

Don't worry, I'll post more later! (I know you can't wait!)

nuff said!

2009-11-20T22:23:00.001-08:00

This story's too good not to share. It really was one of the moments that I thought, "did I really just hear that??!?!"

Of course I hear fabulous stories from kids all the time at work. Really, to all the mom's out there, you'd be shocked what you're kids hear and where the share it. Just a little FYI, even when they look like they're not listening, they are!

But I digress. I think the most shocking thing about this story is, I'm sure the little girl didn't just over hear this. It was taught to her, which is why I'm still in disbelief.

So I was chatting with "Sally."

Sally: I've seen the Eifel Tower.

Me: Oh, really, that's neat.

Sally: Yeah, but you have to be really careful there, because its dangerous.

Me: Oh, because its so high?

Sally: No, because there are black people there that like to take cute children and give them to people that don't have kids.

Me: Oh! Ok?!?! (trying to mask the shock!)

Sally: I was really lucky I wasn't taken.

And I guess I'm just leavin' it at that!

Halloween!

2009-11-02T20:20:00.000-08:00

This is how Indy woke up on Sunday morning. But what you can't see is the LARGE amounts of eye crusties... I know. Gross!! So Monday was day one of no school.

But wait, the story gets better!

We were at my parent's house a LOT trying to get her costume done. Eric came home from work feeling really crappy on Monday morning. He actually left work, Monday night and headed to the insta care. He called me while I was at my parents and told me he'd been diagnosed with H1N1... Lovely!

The doctor strongly recommended that he not be around me, his pregnant wife.

Even more lovely, huh?!?

So, we were good and followed the advise of the doctors. Indy's doctor recommended keeping her home from school in case she came down with it. So that was day 2 and 3 of no school.

Needless to say, we were both VERY ready for her to go to school today!

Unfortunately, she missed her Halloween party at school, as well as in her dance class. I also missed my most favorite week of work... poo!

BUT! very fortunately, Eric's temp broke on Tuesday night, so we were able to come home on Wednesday! He's still feeling a bit cruddy, but he's on the mend and that's the most important thing! Also, miraculously, Indy and I managed to stay healthy. Now, we just need to hunt down the vaccine before we come in contact with it again!

And best of all, we finished Indy's AMAZING costume! It makes me happy to see her in it! If you ask her who RainbowBrite is, she'll tell you, "She's the girl that colors the world and makes it beautiful!" She's definitely the RainbowBrite in my world!

Here she is with just 3 (the top 2 on the left are fake) of the 8 pumpkins I carved. I have blisters!

now I need to be done, because I have to pee... again..... :)

The birthday WEEK!

2009-10-24T10:24:00.001-07:00

Well, Indy's birthday was yesterday, but the celebration started a week ago. My hubby was off work last week so we gave her her present. It was this Hello Kitty bike that she saw at the store a while ago and informed us, "It's the one I've ALWAYS wanted!" She LOVES it and rides it almost ever day.

We had her party at the pool. Just a small little shin-dig which was PERFECT! And sorry, with the water and my ditsy brain, I totally forgot to take any pictures! DOH!

Yesterday we went to dance class, which was super fun since she got to wear her brand new tutu that her cousin gave her. She kept saying she looked like a fairy, and she did! Plus all the girls at the little gym, where she takes dance, made a big deal about it being her birthday. She even got to pick the game at the end of class. Lucky Girl!!

Then we met up with grandma and her cousin and aunt to see Astro Boy. It was actually a really cute movie. After was dinner at a restaurant.... Ooooo, FUN!

Now, I just have to bring a treat to school on Monday to celebrate there and we can officially be done with her birthday! Seems like its never ending!

What? No neon lights?

2009-10-01T19:53:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess after two years of trying I just expected a bit more than a pale pink line. But hey, I'll definitely take what I got! (and don't worry, this is the very first test I took. I took about 3 more, you know, just because, :o) and the line definitely got darker!)

So, if everything goes as planned, Indy will be a big sister in May. I suppose its a tad early to be announcing it in some people's opinion, but after waiting two years to announce, waiting a month was KILLER!! Besides, as my friend Summer once said about her pregnancy, I'm a firm believer in the power of positive thoughts, hope and prayer. So keep'em all coming my way, k!

(ps... its also why I'm freakin' out about whether or not to get the swine flu vac. Pregnant women are dying very easily from it....)

MOM!!! I'M TOO HOT!!!

2009-09-17T19:51:00.000-07:00

That's what I heard the entire first game!

But she had fun, looked stinkin' cute in her uniform, and wants to go back next week!

So I can't complain!

better late than never

2009-08-23T22:03:00.000-07:00

Well, I promised this picture to a lot of people about two weeks ago and never actually made it up. So, like the title says, better late than never.

We finally got Indy a big girl bed. I found a KILLER deal on loft beds. (Really, if anyone is looking for a new bed and interested, let me know, I'll get you the number.) She wasn't totally convinced of the idea of getting rid of her old bed and actually cried a bit when we took it out to the garage. But, as soon as her new bed was all put together, that all ended. She could not love her bed more! She plays in her room SO much now. Its quite nice, actually!

So, now we're going to put a curtain across the front of her "fairy house" and add a few decorations inside. She's very excited and has even painted a few pictures she wants to hang up. I think for the first time she feels like it is HER space.

Can you see the happiness in her face? It's priceless!

10 things i love about indy

2009-07-27T21:53:00.001-07:00

1. she pretty much always skips the number 5 when she counts. and she's done it since she first started counting regardless of my corrections.

2. she prefers frozen vegitables over any other kind... and i do mean FROZEN! she gets mad if i heat them up at all!

3. she believes in faries and all lost coins that she finds are gifts from them.

4. lately we've been really working on using "kind words" even when she's mad. it's great because now when i get angry with her (or the dog, for that matter) she reminds me to "use my kind words."

5. i often get the question "are you gonna play with me or not!?!"

6. she completely doesn't understand why she has to clean up her own toys. she gets totally flabbergasted if i tell her i'm not helping this time.

7. she LOVES sushi!

8. she lays it down honest. once, when asked by her little gym teacher... teacher: "this is my new friend 'john.' will you be his friend?" indy: "um, no."

9. her favorite form of artistic expression... coloring? NO. painting? NO. cutting paper into the smallest, most abstract pieces possible? yes... go figure?

10. in indy langauge, the words "under" and "behind" equal the same word, "behunder."

All to herself

2009-07-26T22:03:00.000-07:00

My parents invited us to a last minute camping trip this Pioneer Day weekend. We'd all fallen in love with the SoapStone Pass (where we camped on the 4th) and wanted to go back. Lucky for me and Indy we were able to go, but no one else could. Just me, her, Grandma, and Papa... oh and the dogs!

Needless to say, Indy was in heaven!

We took long 4-wheeler rides, went on hikes, enjoyed the campfire, especially the "fire fairies." (that's what Indy calls the sparks that fly off.) And actually saw LOTS of animals; sheep, horses, cows... They use that land a lot for grazing animals, I guess. We actually rode the 4-wheelers right up to the sheep. Indy got a kick out of how loud they were.

Indy decided she had to wear her sunglasses at night by the fire because it was too bright.

My little HOLLYWOOD!

Ever hear about a book called Fairy Houses? Its a very cute book that Indy loves and its also become one of her favorite activities... making fairy house.

Really, if you have a little girl (or boy, for that matter!) check out this web page. http://www.fairyhouses.com/

Lola liked the fairy house too!

so, what have you been up to?

2009-07-23T20:42:00.000-07:00

PRETTY MUCH THIS!!!

And I'm really not exaggerating! Netflix and free episodes online are MAJOR time sucks!

But lucky for you all (cuz I'm sure my absence has caused a large hole in your blog-world!), I am officially at a stand still.... no more free episodes of lost on the web. (I'm going to have to figure out how to get season 5. I'm not very happy about this at all!) And the last season of Battlestar Galatica doesn't come out on dvd til Tuesday. So yes, my return may be a brief one!

Other than that, we've been enjoying our summer. I do have to say though, I HATE the heat!! HATE! HATE! HATE!!!!!!!

Indy's been swimming non-stop. She has officially passed preschool level 3. So now she has no where to go. She can't officially go to the next level til she's 6 (only 2.5 more years!!). We'll have to see about that one!

We've done a bit of camping with my parents, and Indy has loved it. That and a week long visit from Grandma Jean (Eric's mom) has made Indy's summer a blast. All though, I do think she misses school and can't wait to get back.

Well, if you don't hear from me for a while, assume I'm searching for Earth with everyone on Galactica or trying to figure out the mystery of the Island!

just time for a quickie!

2009-06-04T16:16:00.000-07:00

Indy still LOVES pretending to be a robot. And I must say, her robot voice has gotten very good! She had a friend over to play yesterday and, I guess they were playing pretend. Indy was, of course, a robot. I was busy doing something else, but I just happened to catch Indy saying this in her best robot voice, "I am a robot. I will enjoy you."
I think I definitely like that version better than the alternative, destroy you!

Flat tires, and wind storms, and sunburns! Oh My!

2009-05-27T20:13:00.000-07:00

Our family always takes at least two major camping trips every year; Memorial Day and Labor day weekend. This last weekend we headed off to southern Utah, to a lovely place called Sand Hollow state park. I'd like to say the ride down was uneventful but, unfortunately about half way down we blew a tire on my parent's trailer. Nice! Every night a wind storm came and blasted through the camp. And in a sand dune dessert, wind storms equal sand storms... eek!

We took a side trip to Zion.
This is Indy's favorite new pose!

We spent most of our time at the lake. It had a really nice sandy beach with tons of smooth rocks to sunbath on. (hence, the sunburn!)Cute cousins!

One of Indy's favorite things to do was throw the sand stones onto the harder rocks so they smashed into sand. After, she'd do a victory dance and say, "oh yeah, I'm tuff!" I actually managed to catch it in a picture!

Look at that cute tushey!!! ;o)

another tutu give away!

2009-05-26T14:05:00.000-07:00

I LOVE me some tutu's! If you do to check out this link to a free tutu giveaway.

http://fairywonderful.blogspot.com/2009/05/who-wants-some-more-ffrrreeee-stuff.html

and if you decide to enter, make sure you mention you heard about it from me! Thanks!

Of Course!!!

2009-05-12T08:57:00.000-07:00

Those of you that know me, know that I'm not a big time coffee drinker. I used to be, but soon decided I didn't want to HAVE to have coffee (or any caffeine, for that matter) in order to function. Mostly, I'm such a weird type of control freak that I don't want a substance to control me... I know, but it makes sense in my mind...

This morning, however, I was completely dragging tail. Just had that, "I can NOT get going" feeling, which wasn't good, because I have lots to do today. So after dropping Indy off at school, I stopped and got a non-fat, iced, hazelnut latte... my FAV! Now, for all you non-coffee drinkers out there, keep in mind that this drink cost a ridiculous $4! I KNOW!!! (yet again, another reason I don't drink coffee on a regular basis!)

So driving home, I decide to savor my tasty, expensive indulgence and make it last through all of my chores. First on the list, water my garden plants. Sounds simple enough, unless your trying to maneuver an ancient, old and stiff water hose with only one had... since my coffee was in the other. I reluctantly put my drink down, take a few steps to the side to get better aim at the next plant. Then it happened... said tasty beverage was knocked over by said stiff, old hose....

Insert explicits here.........

sad, so sad...... so now I'm blogging instead of doing my chores! TAKE THAT STUPID KARMA!

HOLY CRAP! 2 posts in one DAY!

2009-05-05T22:42:00.000-07:00

A-Z of ME
For those of you who have never done this, It's interesting to find out what other people say.. Give it a try! (I decided if I'm wasting this much time, I might as well mutli-task!... blog and facebook in one shot! NICE!)

A- Available:No
- Age: 28
- Animals: YES! more than necessary

B- Beer: on the right day
- Birthday: Jan. 7
- Best Friend: boyfriend: Eric girlfriend: Lindsaylou
- Body Part on opposite sex: eyes and hair
- Best feeling in the world: the smile and excitement on my child's face
- Best weather: a warm rain storm
- Been in Love: yep
- Been on stage? yep
- Believe in Magic: look around, how can you not?
- Believe in Santa: of course!

C- Candy: Babe Ruth
- Color: blue
- Chocolate/Vanilla: strawberry... actually....
- Chinese/Indian/Italian Food: ooo... indian (just cuz i don't get it as often!)
- Cake or pie: oh, easy choice....Beau Brumbels Cake - only (local bakery)( i totally stole that answere from my sis!! ahahaa!)
- Continent to visit: India... and Thailand... is thailand in india??!?!
- Cheese: YES please! the stinkier the better!

D- Day or Night: night
- Dancing in the rain: absolutely! best invention ever... rain boots!

E- Eyes: brown... mostly
- Ever fail a class? nope, i could BS like no other!

F- First thoughts waking up: crap... what do i have to do today.... and i'm i going to get everything done?
- Food: sushi

G- Greatest Fear: the unknown
- Goals: be joyful and grow (and hopefully help those around me to do the same)
- Get along with your parents? Yes sure!

H- Hair Color: dirty blonde (i'd honestly like to call it brown but i really can't... poo!)
- Happy: Try to be but wish i was more often
- Holiday: HALLOWEEN and Independence day (cuz well it's my daughter's day!)

I- Ice Cream: strawberry

J- Jewelry: i try, but i ususally don't suceed!
- Job: mom, and occasionally a spasmatic little gym teacher!

K- Kids: 1
- Kickboxing or karate: i'd LOVE to take karate!
- Keep a journal? i blog??!?!?!! does that count?

L- Love: life
- Letter: T
- Laughed so hard you cried: i have a 3 year old... of couse!

M- Milk flavor: Strawberry!
- Movies: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.... i will NEVER get over how beautiful this movie is
- Motion sickness: yes, my husband says i can't read a stop sign without getting sick!
- McD’s or BK: BK's ususally don't have playgronds... which one do you think a parent of a 3 yr. old prefers!???!

N- Number: 7 (my birthday!)

O- One wish: why wish.... live for today

P- Perfect Pizza: sausage and mushrooms
- Pepsi/Coke: neither... i hate colas.... ice tea, please!
- Piercings: now or then... hahahhaha!!!

Q- Quail: HUH???????

R- Reason to cry: stess
- Reality T.V.: american idol and The Hills (i admit it!)
- Radio Station: usually my ipod but x96 if i'm in a radio mood

S- Song: The Luckiest by Ben Folds (mostly cuz i never thought i would be...)
- Shoe size: 8.5
- Salad Dressing: depends, i get on a kick for a while then change
- Sushi: DE-licious!
- Skinny dipped? no (but i'm totally impressed with my sis's answere!!!)
- Strawberries/Blueberries: strawberries, have you figured that one out yet!???

T- Tattoos?: yep, 4-ish
- Time for bed: depends....
- Thunderstorms: i MISS texas thunderstorms SOOOOO much! gonna have to visit just to hear one again!

U- Unpredictable: my daughter

V- Vacation spot(s): thailand, japan, india....

W- Weakness: a good nap in the afternoon
- Who makes you laugh the most: Indy
- Worst Weather?: scorching hot summers

- X-Rays: oh yes

Y-Year it is now: 2009
-Yellow: what? indy's 2nd favorite color????? (i don't get this one at all??)

Z- Zoo animal: elephants... they're beautiful to watch, i want to ride one, one day.

LAST PERSON WHO…
1. Slept in a bed beside you? eric
2. You went to the mall with? indy, michelle, lauren, carter, and madi, (but it was for the children's museum so i don't know if that really counts.)
3. You went out to dinner with? lindsay
4. You talked to on the phone? my mom
5. Made you laugh? indy
6. Hugged you? indykat
7. Said they loved you? eric
8. Held your hand? indy
9. You spoke with? indy
10. You cried over? eric

hold me closer tiny dancer....

2009-05-05T20:27:00.000-07:00

(I LOVE this pic!)

We were outside today. Indy was in one of her ballerina dress-ups... (which I loved because she hasn't really been into dress-up lately and I've missed seeing her in such cute little digs!)

So this is me looking at the bright side of things. My next door neighbor's lawn is INFESTED with dandelions... and I really mean infested. (now picture me outside every night picking handfuls of dandelions from my yard, trying ever so hard to avoid the white puff balls of seed spreading DOOM!)... but I digress ... amongts the hords of dandelions are a few of these very cute white flowers. I just couldn't help an impromptu photo shoot!

Indy thought this face was the funniest thing ever. She kept saying, "I want my face to be like this." and then she'd make the face. "Was that a silly face, momma?"

Cute Kid!

VIDEOS!!

2009-05-01T15:41:00.000-07:00

I think I may have FINALLY got blogger to post a video! (finger's crossed!) This is a video of Indy swimming. I still find myself thinking "go Indy! GO!" when I watch it! She usually gets all the way to the rope, but I didn't manage to catch the video of it.

Here's another video I took of her the other day. I haven't figured out how to rotate videos, (if anyone knows, please help!) so sorry you'll have to tilt your head to watch. But trust me, it's worth it! Indy has her own little Fisher Price brand mp3 player, which is, seriously THE best thing "Santa" has ever got for her. She's listening to it in this video and watching her shadow on the wall. She didn't know I was taping her, so she was being pretty stinking cute!

2009-04-22T17:48:00.000-07:00

Imagine, if you will, waking up in quite a daze... the kind where its hard to place where you are, and hearing your husband and your 3.5 year-old daughter. This may be fine til you realize its 1am. Now, daddy being up is no big deal, but Indy being up at that time is quite alarming, especially when you realize her voice is quite upset. So I stumble down the hall to see what's going on and find them in the bathroom and when I see Indy I'm terrified. Blood is literally COVERING her entire face and she looks horrible! HELLO!! scare the crap out of mommy time!

Luckily I quickly realized it was just a bloody nose... something that Indy gets on quite a regular basis, but still is alarming everytime... throw in a half asleep mommy and it's not a pretty sight!

THANK GOODNESS FOR DADDY! He totally handled the whole ordeal, got the bleeding to stop, cleaned Indy up, and managed to calm her down. Where's mommy you may ask... trying my hardest to change sheets while half asleep.

We got her back to sleep without much more drama, just a little sad crying, mostly because she was so tired.

The next day we were playing at The Little Gym when she lightly bumped her nose, setting the whole ordeal into motion once again. Of course, being the middle of the day, instead of the dead of night, I was much more alert and affective. Took care if it, but once again my daughter was covered in blood. Later I was trying my hardest to clean her nose up before she went to swimming lessons. I twisted the wipey up into a point to stick up her nose and get the last of the crusties, (lovely.... I know....) She was quite taken back when I did this and gave me the "what the heck are you doing, MOM!" look. I thought for sure she was going to lose it, but instead I got this, "Mom! I'm not a key whole!"

Seriously, where do they come up with these things!

Don't get too excited!

2009-04-21T21:28:00.000-07:00

So I know it's been a while since I last posted. I'm sure everyone has been holding their breath in anticipation!!! right.... oh well.

I think I'm deep-down resenting blogger because I can't get the stupid thing to upload a video. So I'm taking the defeatist attitude and avoiding it all together!

But we just got a new laptop and I like typing on it. So now you all are sitting there reading "blah, blah blah.... blah" because I enjoy my new keyboard..... kind of a let down... huh!

Sheesh, what a tease. Reading all this only to find out that it really has no importance or significance... not even really a point, huh.

But, then again, you're still reading, aren't you? why? still hoping, grasping at straws really that I might relay some important fact of some interest...

oh, wait.... there is that... oh, nevermind...

there's 2 minutes of your life you'll never get back!

TUTU give away!

2009-03-23T10:24:00.000-07:00

I LOVE tutu's. If we lived in a warmer climate I think I'd let Indy run around in tutu's and leg warmers all day, everyday! So I couldn't pass this up. Check out this blog to find out how you can enter to win too. And make sure to mention that you heard about it from me!

http://fairywonderful.blogspot.com/2009/03/wanna-win-some-fairywonderful-stuff.html

SO CUTE!

these are a few of my favorite things

2009-03-12T10:00:00.000-07:00

For the past little while Indy's entered into the "I want to know everything about everything" phase. She's like a little sponge just craving more and more info to fill it up. Sometimes I'm totally caught off guard by the questions she asks. Yesterday she asked me what held up the clouds. Really, who ever's really thought about that one before, raise your hand! I had to think real quick to come up with an answer that could even possibly be true.... the atmosphere?!!?? (sounds good to me. time to go home and google that one!)

One of her new FAVORITE things are planets. Luckily, we live downtown near the planetarium so we went and checked out the planets. On the day we went she decided Neptune was her favorite, so we took a picture next to it. Usually she talks mostly about Jupiter and its red eye.

We also broke down and got a trampoline. Now we are official Utahans!! Can you see the excitement in her face!

Oh... one more.

Samurai KITTY!

(I was a tidbit bored one night and it made me laugh!)

I have to brag...

2009-02-19T14:13:00.000-08:00

So I've always wished I had an OUNCE of artistic talent that my sister does. She really is amazing and I just have to show off one of the things she's been doing. (Hope she doesn't mind I'm posting this!!?!?!) She made these and some other YW value things for the YW general presidency and I just had to share with all my pals too. You can click on her link (Michelle) if you're interested in purchasing any of these or her other stuff.

Beautiful, huh.

St. Valentine

2009-02-15T21:16:00.000-08:00

I think this has got to be one of my favorite years. Mostly because it's really the first year Indy's really "getting" all the holidays. Halloween and Christmas were, of course a blast. But I really enjoyed this Valentine's a lot simply for the simplicity of it all. Just showing someone that they're your friend. It's a fluffy-happy day!

Indy was looking at one of her High Five kid's magazines the other day and saw instructions on how to make chocolate cover pretzels, one of her favorite treats. She decided she wanted to make some, so I suggested we make the for her friends for Valentine's day. She was so excited and we had a blast making them. She pretty much did everything herself, but she loved doing the sprinkles the most, (of course!) at least until her arms got tired!

She was also pretty dang excited when she got to wear this outfit.... all red, her favorite. That bag is her valentines from pre-school. She was being very patient with me while I made her pose for this picture. She really wanted to be tearing into that bag!

(don't mind my toilet in the background!!! DOH!)

Tip Junkie

2009-02-13T14:46:00.000-08:00

Ever see something really cute and wonder, "I wonder if I could make that?" Well, do I have a blog for you!

http://tipjunkie.blogspot.com/

Really, it loads of fun. I could spend WAY too much time on this site.

shhh... i smell something

2009-02-11T20:26:00.000-08:00

Well, today was anything but stress free. By about 3 I'd all but lost my patience with Indy and was totally ready to call it a day.... and we still had lots to do. I realized at Indy's new swimming lessons that i HATE them and want her out of them asap before she totally regresses in skills, which means I have to somehow rationalize to myself (and more importantly, Eric) that it's ok to pay the outrageous fees for the other ones.... argh!

Then I had to rush home, get my dishes done that had somehow exploded all over my kitchen counter AGAIN! (how does that really happen.... honestly!) The thought of making dinner raced through my mind just as i realized i had to leave to meet Eric at the car dealership. Apparently the 5 hours and 50 BILLION signatures weren't enough... they needed more. I really considered just severing the arm and leg here at home to save some time at the dealership. sheesh....

The whole time i'm thinking to myself.... lighten up... chill out.... have a better attitude (that's what i always tell indy, right?!?!) I was having one of those, man-i'm-being-nasty moments. and it always seems, that's when indy knows i need a laugh.

After the dealership, we grabbed some drive-thru (ugh!) and indy suddenly got real quiet. she said, in a whisper, "shhh, do you smell that mom? i smell something coming... it smells like it's coming closer." clearly, she doesn't understand smelling and hearing are two very different things, (maybe we should work on that!) but it still made me laugh and forget about how crappy the rest of the day had been. aren't kids great!

A new place

2009-02-04T19:24:00.000-08:00

Today was Indy's last day at the pool she started taking lessons at. I have to say, I'm quite excited for her to start at her new pool. But I still got all nostalgic, just because she started here when she was only 18 months.

Can you tell how much she loves swimming? I can never get her to smile like this for pictures. We always get there early and its so hard for her to wait her turn. It really is amazing to me how swimming just clicks with her. In all of her other activities she's what people would call a "free spirit." You can tell her what to do, but she'll decide when and IF she's going to do it. But with swimming she's totally on the ball and she can never get enough. She always wants to keep trying, even if its a brand new skill that's hard.

I actually remembered to get the pictures of her jumping off the diving board. Who's proud of me!!! I hope her new pool has a diving board, but I don't think it does.

25 random things...

2009-02-03T21:43:00.000-08:00

25 RANDOM THINGS:

here's a fun little thing to do if you've got some time. (its a repeat for anyone that my have read it on my facebook.)

1. i still cry every time i watch the movies Brokedown Palace and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
2. if i weren't a stay-at-home mom, i'd absolutely love to be a florist. (even though i have NO experience in it!)
3. i feel much calmer when i'm organized, but i tend not to be...
4. i really want to be more organized because i feel like i could accomplish much more in a day.
5. i'd have about ten times more pets in my home if my husband wasn't so sensible!
6. i prefer salty snacks over sweets.
7. the walls of my bedroom are orange.
8. i deep down love that indy is so sassy and strong willed. i hope she always is.
9. i have a great garden but can't keep house plants alive.
10. i'd really like to only plant pumpkins next year (because i LOVE PUMPKINS!... more than a normal person should....) but i'll probably plant some veggies to be sensible........
11. i don't have a middle name and i like it that way.
12. i just made a goal to run a 5k in april.
13. i have a soft spot in my heart for The Cure.... always.
14. i've always wanted to visit Thailand.
15. i love cold weather and would take it over hot any day. good thing i live in utah!
16. i'm very stubborn when i'm passionate about something.
17. i love baking bread and wish i could do it as well as my grandma did.
18. i want to start swimming laps. exercising in the water just wouldn't seem as tormenting. i love water!
19. i'd pick yard work over house work any day of the week.
20. i always hated reading when i was in school, now i always have a book to read.
21. i am NOT a homebody. i love to be out and about.
22. i love Salt Lake City because its so easy to be out and about.
23. i never thought i'd love Utah. i never wanted to live here.
24. i wish i were more self disciplined.
25. i try to not have addictions of any kind (ei. caffeine, liqueur, food, hobbies) because i don't like the thought of something having that control over my life.

Finally!! a new post!

2009-01-31T16:02:00.001-08:00

Wow... I know it's been forever... sorry. Well after Indy being sick for a whole weeks it's definitely been fun to get out of the house lately. I'm really enjoying all our little outing with friends.

I had to share this picture. We were at the children's museum and apparently Indy and Olivia were on their way home from grocery shopping. Whew... tuff work!
Indy and I went up to the downtown library for the Chinese New Year celebration. I wanted her to see the dragon dance. But the stupid people started it 15min before the time on the web page, so we missed it! Lame! But we had fun just being at that amazing library. Really, if you've never been, it's something to see for sure.

Ramble, Ramble...

2009-01-06T23:51:00.001-08:00

Maybe its because it's the night before birthday, or maybe the new year, but its almost one in the morning and i can't sleep because of all the silly thoughts rambling around in my head. So, why not blog about it... feel free to skip this post. So why post this at all, because i think i feel that if i don't share, or send out to the universe, (or whatever you want to call it) what i've learned the past year, what's the point in my going through the heartache of learning it all.

I realize now that this past year or so i've become so preoccupied with one goal that i lost site of what was really so important in my life. Something that is supposed to be a joyous event began to suck the joy out of my life. I began to try to force a piece into a puzzle so hard that i almost completely forgot about the beautiful picture the piece would help create. And now looking back, i wonder if the piece even belongs in my puzzle at all. I finally see that whether or not that piece fits in, i have a wonderful life as is. I blindly got mad, and angry when i couldn't get what i wanted. i thought that i must be doing something so wrong. but i was just looking at it all wrong. i realized i needed to stop getting mad. it was serving no purpose. and instead see the lesson i was given. I could, so easily, have nothing. I was losing what i had right in front of me, because i just wanted more.

As i've come to this realization, i feel blessed. i know now that what i have been given has been nothing more than a miracle. This past year has proven that.

ramble.....

And, we're done!

2009-01-05T14:14:00.000-08:00

If you're like me, you can't wait til the week after the holidays. Don't get me wrong... they're fun, but I'm just very glad when they're done! We did do some fun stuff this year. Zoo lights was lots of fun and I'm sure we'll do it again next year.

We spent Christmas Eve at my parent's house. We made cookies for Santa with Cassy and then opened presents from that side of the family. And of course the jammies! We spent Christmas Day with Eric's family. Indy got to meet a new friend from Oklamhoma, McKenna, and they had a blast. We also ventured out to go sledding. I, of course, forgot my camera, but hopefully someone in their family will send me copies soon.

I want to do that again!

2008-12-04T16:35:00.000-08:00

Indy's been in swimming lessons for a good solid year now and she loves it. She's a little fish. I think she'd swim everyday if I let her. A few months ago she finally worked up the courage to try the diving board (with the help of a bribery of her own pack of gum?!? OOOooo!!!) and now she's HOOKED! Everytime she comes up, the first thing out of her mouth is, "I want to do that again!" I think she even manages to spit it out before she even actually takes a breath! If I ever actually manage to remember my camera, I'll snap a few pictures of her in mid air. But for now, here's a couple under water pics that are stinkin' cute! I LOVE the lips!!

Christmas Starfish!

2008-11-30T15:30:00.000-08:00

I decided we needed new ornaments for our tree this year, but I didn't want to just go spend a bunch of money on a bunch of pretty things to look at for just one month of the year. So I'm pretty excited that I came up with these cute ones.... and of course, like always, I wanted to show everyone! Here are the first few I've done.Indy glued the sparklies on the star and called it her starfish. I told her its not a starfish, it's a Christmas star. Now she's deemed it her Christmas Starfish!

Free BABY LEGS?!?!

2008-11-08T20:05:00.000-08:00

So another thing that I completely adore are baby legwarmers. Indy has far to many pairs than anyone really ever needs. But I love them and Indy loves wearing them. At home she normally prefers to wear panies and a shirt and durning the winter the leg warmers are great.

Well, http://www.babysnazz.com/contest/ has a great contest going on. You can win 20 pairs free. So if you love baby legwarmers as much as me, check it out.

I AM A ROBOT

2008-11-07T21:49:00.000-08:00

This is such a funny picture I just had to share it. Indy was playing with her lego's and after dumping them all out (like normal) she decided the box made a GREAT robot costume. (She's still not quite over Halloween...) I don't know where she got it, but lately she loves robots. She says in her best monotone voice, "I am a robot. I am a robot."

Let It Snow!

2008-11-06T08:24:00.000-08:00

I have to admit. Fall is my favorite season and it seems that here in Utah we get jipped on fall. I am not ready for it to be full-blown winter yet, but I really did enjoy the snow yesterday. Indy woke up and as soon as she finished breakfast, asked to go out and play in the snow. So, 20 minutes later, (thanks to all the snow clothes.... sheesh!) out we went. Of course, the first thing she did was eat it. We had a long talk about the difference between CLEAN snow and DIRTY snow.... hopefully it made sense to her.

I tried to show her how fun it was to make a snow angel. I don't think she really got it. The snow wasn't deep enough yet to really see it, and the snow fell in her eyes while she was laying there. I said, "want to do it again?" She said, "No, I don't bery like it."

She couldn't wait to build a snowman. I think it's more like snow-mini-me, but she was happy about it. Soon we ended up adding bunny ears to make it "Snuggle Bunny." That lasted for a while, until she decapitated it. I asked why she took off its head and she said that the snowman didn't like it.... just smile and knod!!

And apparently, my dog, who I can barely get to leave the couch, normally, turns into SUPER DOG when it snows! I've always tried to teach her to catch things when I toss them to her. She pretty much just lets it hit her in the head... Toss her a snow ball and she's all over it! She chases them down, jumps and catches them in her mouth! Who knew?!?

a little heads up

2008-11-03T20:06:00.000-08:00

I'm still completely figuring this out as I go. I just spent the last few days trying to get a stinking slide show on here... to no avail. Anyway, I hope to get better and quicker at this darn thing, so just keep checking back. (if you really enjoy our adventures that much?!?!) Oh, and by the way, some of you mentioned that you couldn't post a comment. I fiddled around with the "comment" sections, so try it again. You never know, I may have actually figured something out!?!

Oooo... scarey monsters!

2008-11-03T19:15:00.000-08:00

I absolutely LOVE Halloween. It's the one holiday I always make sure to decorate for. I even thought I was being all crafty and ordered Indy's costume about three months ago. She insisted she wanted to be a zebra. Fast forward to about 3 weeks ago and she's now insisting she wants to be Princess Jasmin. OK, lesson learned... don't jump the gun on Halloween costumes!OH! Sweet Candy!!

Lola was a pink punk princess.

I was so excited to finally have my own garden to grow our own pumpkins in. I've actually decided next year we're cutting out some of the other veggies so we can plant more pumpkins. Pretty soon I'll have my own pumkin patch! I still ended up getting a few at a pumpkin patch, but a girl can never get enough pumpkins, right?!?

I think I might be passing my pumpkin-holic disease onto Indy

Ewwww, pumkin guts!!

Indy's was the mad one... are you surprised!?!?

We had so much fun trick-or-treating. I don't know who got more attention, Indy or Lola. We pretty much only made it around one block because Indy thought that everyone wanted to have a conversation with her. At one especially scarey house, Indy told me and my mom, "you got get my treat!"

Happy Birthday, Cheeky Monkey!

2008-10-28T20:34:00.000-07:00

Indy had her 3rd birthday party at The Little Gym and am I SO very thankful it was not at my house! Other than the fact that Indy was completely glazed over (thanks to no more naps!) it was a blast. I'm thinkin' a small party sounds great for next year... but don't quote me on that!
Three little monkeys...

Quick HIDE!!

Well, here we go!

2008-10-28T20:28:00.000-07:00

I've officially been sucked in. I guess since I enjoyed reading so many other's blogs, maybe someone might actually be interested in what me and my family are up to. After all, it's never really dull when you've got a three year old. Hope you all enjoy the ride!