11 months stats

My baby is nearly a year old!!!
Far away from the baby book, and almost a week late.

Weight:
was 20 lbs 10 oz on I think Dec. 8 or 9.
Eats:
about the same as last month. Less formula, and still loves his big boy food, esp Cheerios.
Got:
two more teeth. (One is still coming and hasn't broken through.)
Sleeps:
less now. Usually wakes up at about 7:30 and is up two hours in a.m. before taking a nap, and seems to be down to just 2 naps a day, sometimes even less, rebelling against his afternoon nap. (It's hard because he won't sleep and yet acts like a total grump.)
Locomotion:
crawls very well, cruises along furniture and lets himself down to the floor like a pro. Shouldn't be long before he's walking.
Cute stuff:
comes and bangs on the bathroom door when Mama or Daddy is in there, even sticks his little fingers under the door. Loves baths, especially splashing. Wakes up and chatters and squeals in his bed. Loves smiling at people. At church, boogies up the aisle and "hails" anybody who smiles at him. (I.e., smiles at them and lifts his whole arm up and back in an almost regal fashion.) Loves playing peek-a-boo and hide and seek. Basically is just a busy, fairly easy-going, sweet, smiley little baby who scatters sunshine all along his way. :)

Christmas greetings and link to video

I'm about to go email and Facebook this, but in case I don't have someone's contact info or I miss them, I apologize. Also, sorry for the lateness!



I still don't know how to make it playable right on the page, but I did venture out and try YouTube. Family and other interested persons, you can watch Jamie's first Christmas morning here.

Our Christmas Album

The Yarwood clan is postponing most Christmas Day activities until the return of the star of the family next week, so I wanted to give them pics of him to enjoy today!

This is the best we could do with low light, not the greatest camera, and a wiggly baby. :) My fault, I wanted them with the soft glow of the Christmas tree. (If I get time, I'd like to still make an e-card to send to people, and it will have one of these on it, so, sorry to kind of spoil it...)

Santa stopped by and told us the elves were backed up and didn't have time to put all Jamie's toys together, so Jason told him he'd be happy to finish up for him. (Least we could do for free stuff!)

Some carolers came by and treated us to three songs, complete with drums and bells rung enthusiastically by the kids--and this was on the porch, right outside Jamie's room, where we had put him to bed. :) It wasn't a big deal, but he was kind of afraid of his room for a bit after that, so he got to play in Santa's workshop.

Again, obnoxiously bright picture, but without the flash, it just wouldn't work.

Daddy "getting him by the scruff." This is taken from the floor, looking up. (You can see the ceiling fan above him in the background.)

Grandpa Noall and Auntie Janelle

I'm still working on how to get the video on here, because it's big...

We hope you all are having a very merry Christmas!

We Elfed Ourselfs!

I've seen so many of these lately, I had to jump on the bandwagon and share mine. My brother actually made this for us. Watch it here because it seems like I'd have to pay five bucks to download it and put it straight on the page...

Please tell me about your traditions!

Okay, I lied. One more post. I thought of this and got excited.

What Christmas
Traditions do you have that help you remember and celebrate the true meaning of Christmas—Christ Himself, family, love, charity?

Leave a comment or post on your own blog and I'm sure I'll see it. I'm looking forward to seeing what your traditions are!

One more...

...post, and tooth!

Found the third tooth today, right next to the first ones, on the left. I was just so glad to figure out what was wrong with my miserable baby; I was contemplating taking him to the ER!

Anyway, I'm far away from his baby book, so blogging things like this really helps for future record-keeping.

The-Christmas-Spirit

The-Christmas-Spirit

I have to say, this one hit a personal note. I'm sure it's not hard to figure out why. ;)

What-Shall-We-Give?

You know how in "A Charlie Brown Christmas" CB is down about Christmas, unable to figure out how to be happy for it? And then Linus recites Luke, and tells CB that that's what Christmas is all about? It almost seems too obvious, like he really should have figured it out on his own.

Anyone besides me having trouble focusing on that this year?

I think I'm way too distracted by the Snoopys and their lights and display contests, i.e. annoying Christmas carol commercial jingles, endless sales and insinuations that if you don't buy people expensive presents you're a loser, people posting on their blogs how they're beautifully decorating their homes (not that they shouldn't--my pridefulness and envy is the problem on that), etc. Once again, we're celebrating Christmas living in someone else's home. This is two out of three years we've been married that my own decorations and tree stay packed in a box, far, far away. Also, we have very very little money. Very. Plus all sorts of other things I could complain about. So once again, Christmas isn't what I hoped it would be, and I have to sigh, "maybe next year" about most everything I wanted to do.

But then, I say to myself, don't I have exactly what everyone, in their heart of hearts, would hope to have at Christmas? Loved ones around me, shelter over my head, food in my tummy, and a testimony of Christ and gratefulness for His birth?

Suffice it to say, I've been in need of some TRUE Christmas spirit. Not the kind you get from cookies or fudge (though my mom has the BEST recipe on EARTH...), or from trees or poinsettias or even driving around looking at Christmas lights. I hope you guys will take a few minutes and watch these short videos, because they helped me to remember the Reason for the season and I would love to share that with you.

I hope I haven't been, shall we say, too honest in this. I don't like the idea of pretending my life is perfect or that I'm never sad just so my blog will be cuter. I also don't like my own complainey attitude and have been trying very hard to be of good cheer, but ya gotta vent sometimes. Life can be really hard and downright sucky sometimes, so why pretend otherwise? Right?

What-Shall-We-Give?

(Does anyone know how to put the video right on the page, not a link?)
(I also don't know how to put a second one in, so I'm putting it in a separate post.)

You gotta see this.

I was blog-surfing today, because, let's face it, there are endless amounts of craft ideas and tutorials to be found when you do, and I found a little project here for the wee ones that blew me away. Take a look. Creative idea, but the details are what I loved.

By the way, I actually WON Erin's giveaway! I never win anything! Woo-hoo!!! :)

Munchkin is waking up. Ciao.

giveaway

My friend Erin does so much cool stuff, I seriously think maybe she's a vampire of the Edward persuasion (as in, doesn't need to sleep. And just so we're clear, that's a high compliment, not an insult...). She apparently gives piano lessons, does wonderful photography, and makes really cute stuff, such as key fobs, nursing covers, and hair accessories.

Check out her giveaway on her blog.

But don't enter, because that would lessen my chances!!! ;)

WHY does it do this?!?

We got bundled up and went on a short walk/ride this afternoon.

Geddaloadathose baby blues!

Craft Bragging: Mr. & Mrs Potato Head

You may have noticed that I follow makeitandloveit.blogspot.com. The girl is practically one of my heroes. I can't believe how many ideas for crafts and sewing projects she comes up with, and how naturally talented she is. Anyway, I saw her post for this and decided that it was one I had to do, too. (Often I just enjoy looking. Got no $$$, and she frequently makes stuff for her little girl.)

These pictures posted in the wrong order. Grrr.

Anyway, the un-exciting pocket on the back for holding all the parts. The girl with the website, Ashley, recommended making it pleated, and I would recommend doing a pleat at the bottom, as well. It's just a lot of stuff to hold. (Mrs. Potato Head's hat doesn't fit at all. I over-stuffed.)

The Missus, where any girl would want to be--by the flowers.

Talk about cheesy. :)

I did like Ashley and just made one potato, with parts to interchange. (They go on with velcro. For guidelines on how to make your own, go to Ashley's post link above.) I have thoughts on more pieces that would be fun, but it took longer than I thought it would (three days in my free time) and I just wanted to be done. I'm thinking I'll give it to Jamie for Easter; he'll probably be old enough to appreciate it by then.

Oh, and the point of the thing is that it's quiet. Since I've been looking for cheap quiet toys for church, I jumped on this one. Using my mom's AWESOME bag of felt scraps that she's collected and kept for probably decades for projects just such as this, plus my purchase of potato and pocket felt for 29 cents a sheet, plus the velcro, plus Mom's batting she didn't mind me using, this probably cost me all of $4. Compared to the Book of Mormon quiet book I wanted for THIRTY DOLLARS, that's pretty cool.

You like?? I can't even give it to my kid yet because he'll just chew on it, so please, leave comments and give me praise! :D

More free stuff

Have you ever looked at Vistaprint.com?

They're a pretty cool printing website, for stationery, business cards, address labels, etc. You can add photos to lots of things. They sent me an ad for a bunch of free offers, and again, I have not been timely in telling you guys about it, but...

I just got two sets of ten really cute thank you/note cards for only $6.40--the S&H. I couldn't resist. (I've always love office supply kinda stuff--it's the writer in me.) They are personalized, on card stock, and come with white envelopes. (You can get matching ones for like $4, which I would have done if 6 measly dollars didn't already hurt.) One set even has caricatures of our family that I designed on their site, including the cats. :)

Even though it says they expire 12/5 and it's after midnight, I checked back and they still have a lot listed as free. It seems to be a limit of two items. There are photo flip books, tote bags, calendars, Christmas cards--they have pretty cool stuff, and a lot of it, as long as you keep it basic, is FREE for a limited time.

Check it out here.

It worked?!

It's not the greatest, but it's been a long time since I've put one up at all. Besides, Jason is far away from his boy and needs to see him!

This is one of Jamie's new favorite things. Since this was taken, he's gotten to like doing it way more, way longer, and way louder. :)

Have I mentioned...

...that I LOVE Christmas?
...Especially Christmas LIGHTS??

Free shipping on pics

I know it's a little late for this, but Snapfish is offering free shipping with the coupon code NOV30 until midnight. They only charge 9 cents each for 4x6" prints, so if you want to print your pictures really cheap and have them shipped right to you at no cost (and much cheaper than even Wal-Mart, which is what, 16 cents a print? The shipping is what usually tips the scales for snapfish), go to snapfish.com, quick!

I ordered some pictures to update Jamie's baby book. It will be nice to be more caught up. I wish I could order a ton more, but a lot are on the laptop, which Jason took with him.

I think the email I got said they'll be doing lots of offers this month, so I'll keep my eyes peeled and let you know about any other good ones.

Meow

So Jamie started making this high-pitched noise amidst his normal babbles, and besides thinking it was cute (which applies to most of what he does), we didn't think much of it.

Any long-time readers of my blog might remember our cat, Max. I like to say that he didn't go through puberty because he's little and squeaky. The other day, he whined at us at an octave reminiscent of Mariah Carey, and Jamie looked at him and squeaked back!

So now we make meowing noises to him and he happily makes them back, to us or to Max. So blasted cute. Jamie is also exclusively crawling now, and enjoys Cheerios. It's so cute watching him carefully pick them up and then cram them in his mouth.

By the way, I won't see my husband for over a week and might be blogging a lot more out of boredom and need for distraction--when Jamie's asleep, anyway. The longest Jason and I have been apart since we got married is four days, and only hours since Jamie was born. To all you single mothers out there, or those who have had to be for a time, I DON'T know how you do it and I give you mad props. (You deserve much more!)

I didn't do Jamie's 10-month stats on here. Is there anyone who would actually like me to? If so, please leave a comment and I'll gladly provide. Otherwise I'll just tell cute things here and there.

The 4-1-1

So here's what's goin' on.

We spent a little over two weeks at Jason's parents' house working on his dad's paperwork for his business, and Jason went out and did some fix-it/handyman/construction jobs with him. Cheryl is teaching again, and she said that they're desperate for substitute teachers in that area. So she pushed a few things through more quickly, and Jason will be starting as a substitute teacher ASAP. We came back to Sacramento for Thanksgiving as planned, but Jason will be driving back to SoCal tomorrow to start work, and Jamie and I will follow by plane probably next Thursday. After that, it's all up in the air (even more than usual). Jason will probably work for his dad on days that he doesn't get a sub job, and we don't know how long we'll be there. Maybe awhile. Maybe not long. No idea.

I'm trying to focus on the positive, so here's a list for you:

1. It's not Milwaukee.

2. It's not Rexburg.

3. We do get to have some family and a couple of friends nearby.

4. The weather is almost too nice (the leaves don't even change color--sorry, that's negative) there, but that's much better than being awful.

5. If we stay very long, we'll hopefully get a visit from our friend Jina, who is moving to AZ in Feb.

6. We'll be closer to our friends Rick and Elizabeth in San Diego.

7. IT'S MONEY.

8. If we do stay awhile, hopefully we'll be able to at least get our own apartment, whether we get to take much of our stuff with us or not.

9. We don't have to stay forever. It can be a money-making or education-getting period and then maybe we'll come back. Who knows?

10. Once we get even a small cash flow, we can feel like adults again by paying our own way more, if not completely.

11. This ends my calling in Primary. (I'm not great with kids and I've found that I absolutely stink at trying to teach them the gospel, so if I'm honest, this is definitely a pro. It hasn't been all bad, but it's so stressful and intimidating for me at times that it's a relief to have a legit escape.)

12. We'll get free rent and food from Jason's wonderful parents as long as we need it, so we don't have to worry about finding a place to rent and all the stress that goes with that.

13. The ward there is okay. I like this one MUCH better, and I'm going to miss all my friends a lot, but there are some kind people who have even remembered my name from when we lived there.

I really don't want to go. All sorts of stuff is running through my head, begging to be typed, but what good will it do? I've been trying to think of military wives, pioneers who moved and knew they'd never see their families again, homeless people who don't have food or shelter, etc., etc. This is not that bad. I know. It's just hard. But that's why I'm trying to focus on the positive.

Movie Review: Disney's "A Christmas Carol"

On Friday night, Cheryl watched Jamie so that Jason and I could have a date night. After FINALLY being able to make a little money this week, we splurged: we had dinner AND went to see a MOVIE! In the REGULAR (not cheap) theater!! Not only that, we each got our own plates at Red Robin instead of just sharing one meal! Also, Jason got me a chocolate-covered strawberry at a candy shop. So sweet of him. (Ha, ha.) We did use CostCo movie tickets, though, the two for fifteen deal they have there. Movie prices in CA are so nuts. It was SUCH a nice night! I think we both allowed ourselves to feel more carefree than we have in a long time.

Anyway, I know I'm a dork for doing three posts in one day, but I'm at someone else's house, Jason is off visiting friends, and I'm bored.

We were pretty skeptical going in to see "A Christmas Carol," because the previews really make it look cheesy, like it's just Scrooge flying and falling all over London to make the most of the 3D. Not at all!

We really liked it, for these reasons:

(1) The animation was incredible, and the 3D was really well-done. It was worth paying extra.

(2) The story and language of the Dickens novel were kept very much intact. I expected it to be changed for kids, but it wasn't. We actually wouldn't recommend this movie for very young children, because the ghostliness was almost suprisingly well-done, the story accurate, and throughout, you feel the fear that the ghosts strike into Scrooge's heart much more personally than when Scrooge McDuck or the Muppets have portrayed it.

(3) I loved the music. The score was beautiful, and incorporated lots of Christmas carols, beautifully performed, that actually speak directly of the Savior! (Have you ever listened to the Chipmunks' Christmas music? I love it, but never a religious word. They even change religious ones to stay neutral. Grr.) To hear it actually made me teary.

(4) The actors did great. I was afraid I'd be annoyed with Jim Carrey's ham-iness, like when he did The Grinch, but he just made himself sound like a grumpy old British guy, and he did lots of voices besides Scrooge and I didn't even notice. Also, you can't help but love the goodness in most of the characters.

(5) It was a feel-good movie. I mean, yeah, you have to go through the haunting and face Scrooge's past mistakes with him, but you rejoice with him at the end and want to be a better person, too.

So head over to CostCo, and then to your local theater! :)

Craft Fair Report

The craft fair went reasonably well. I sold just under half of the bows I entered (which was my entire stock), and since a bunch were Halloween ones, I didn't expect them to sell anyway, just wanted to try. Sister Diamond told my mom when she picked up my leftovers for me that they did really well, and that a fair amount of my friends showed up looking specifically for my stuff! So, I don't know exactly who went or what they got, but if you're reading this,

ThAnK yOu!!

I really, truly appreciate it!

So I didn't make a ton of money, but there's still another elementary school craft fair that I plan to enter. Money aside, it's just very gratifying to me that I had fun creating things, truly tried to make them attractive and of good quality, and people--some that I don't even know--paid money for them and will wear them. It's a really nice feeling.

I really wanted to just have this playable right from this post, but I can't get it to work. Check it out anyway. ;) Create

Sweet Memories

When we were driving down here, Jamie was so patient about being stuck in his seat most of the time. It's an 8-hour drive at best, extended significantly with a baby. When he did start getting fed up about four hours in, I broke out a Baby Einstein Travel Melodies CD that my mom gave me at one of Jamie's baby showers, and it helped a little until we could find a place to stop. It's basically classical music that sounds like it's coming from a baby toy, but it's nice.

"Remember when we used to make this drive before Jamie was born, and before we were married?" Jason said to me. "We'd talk, and speculate about what our lives would be like, how things would change. Now we're driving along with a big ol' car seat in the back, listening to little baby babbles and to Baby Einstein music! Things certainly have changed!"

We laughed together, and before I could say it, Jason smiled and said it first.

"But it's a precious change."

It certainly is.

Holiday Boutique

I tried to scan the flier, but it won't work, and Jason isn't here so I can't whine for his help.

Sandy Diamond's 10th Annual

Holiday Boutique

Fri. Nov. 13th 9 a.m. - 7 p.m.

Sat. Nov. 14th 9 a.m. - 7 p.m.

10506 Italia Way (Inside) Rancho Cordova

No Early Birds, Please! (No Credit Cards)

Handcrafted Home Decor, Gifts & Decorations

Rain or Shine! Candles! Door Prizes!

Kristina Noall's Bows!!!! (That was on there. Really.)

(Map here. Sorry. It's off Zinfandel, between where Zinfandel hits Folsom, and Sunrise.)

I've also started a website (I felt bad having to bother Robin so much when she has so much to deal with--don't worry, she knows and we're cool). I don't have a lot on it yet, and we're going out of town for two weeks starting tomorrow, so I'll have to work on that when I get back. Maybe I'll even have a giveaway.

http://www.tinasbows.etsy.com/

My good friend Stacy, who was one of my bridesmaids, is getting married in Utah in January. I'm hoping I can earn enough money with my bows to at least partly pay for the trip (just for me; there's no way we could pay for Jason or Jamie to come).

So, I hate to beg, but...if you guys could help me spread the word and drum up some business, I'd be so grateful. Tell your friends, blog about it briefly, Facebook...anything would be appreciated. Thanks so much!

Gotta go pack.

Ugh.

Shoutout to Sis. Morris

At our ward "Halloween" party last Saturday, they had a chili cookoff and lots of cornbread--and the cornbread was AMAZING! I went back for more--it was late, because we were late to the party and then I had to feed little Yoda before I could eat--and there was nothing but crumbs left. :'( I asked a couple people if they knew who made it; they didn't. And since I'm a primary teacher now, I feel rather cut off from adults in general on Sundays, so I didn't expect to find out.

Then today I was blog-hopping, and I looked at Sis. Morris' blog. She's always doing fun projects and posting delicious-looking recipes. Guess what I found?

Cornbread preparations for 150! (Entry from before the party.)

YESSS!!!

Really, I should have known she would be the one who made such deliciousness. She doesn't seem to have comments enabled, so I couldn't thank her there. So, if you see this, Sis. Morris, thanks for going to all the trouble to make that cornbread! And thanks for putting the recipe in cyberspace so I could find it and make that cornbread AGAIN and AGAIN!

On a totally unrelated note, I and about 50 other costume-makers--most way more talented than me--were featured on http://www.makeitandloveit.blogspot.com/, in my case for the Yoda headpiece! I sent in pics for the virtual costume parade she hosted. There are some really funny and creative costumes on there. Check it out! :)

Couldn't wait

Quite honestly, I don't think these pictures came out well at all. (I.e., I think I look bad. Jason and the baby look good.) But still, Star Wars is Star Wars, and Jamie is Jamie, and they're just better when you put 'em together.

Bragging moment: I made the headpiece, and I found the robe (from the costume you can get in stores) at a thrift store for $2! So total cost, instead of nearly $22, was probably more like $5.

WOO!

My bro took some pictures on his camera, which I will steal when he gets back to town on Sunday. But for now, here's some Halloween fun!

Rob let us borrow his quite expensive, collectible, realistic-looking and -sounding light saber, and when we did trunk-or-treating out in the dark parking lot, Jason ended up in a few duels with little Star Wars fans. He also had a nearly-constant entourage of little admirers hovering around him. (Or rather, the light saber did.) All these boys wanted to hold it, have their picture taken with it...so funny. The duels were so dang cute, I think Jason made those boys' day! (And looked cute and sexy doing it, I might add. ;))

Happy Halloween week!

Dedicated to "Twilight" fans everywhere

Click to enlarge.

Less than a month til New Moon comes out!

9 month stats

I forgot to do this yesterday!

Weight: unknown again. I'd say at least 20 pounds.

Height: none. His doctor's appointment is in two weeks, & he's too wiggly to measure by myself.

Sleeps: usually every two hours, takes naps that are 1-2 hours long. Sleeps 12 hours at night.

Eats: too much to name, really. I'm getting baby food in jars for free now, and of the ones he's tried, he's liked all of them. Does not like peas or plain avacado.

Says: Ba ba ba. A lot.

Can: Sit up, clap his hands (not well yet), wave hello (or at least wave), scoot all over the house, get up on all fours and rock forward (very close to crawling), loves to climb over or into low things, gets stuck periodically in chair legs or the bottom of shallow baskets and then starts squawking. Sad, but humorous at the same time. :D

Tagged for the Couples' Quiz--more than you ever wanted to know about us!

♥ What are your middle names?
"Anne" and "Robert."

♥ How long have you been together?
Since June of 2006, married since March 2007.

♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating?
About a month. We were almost best friends during that time. Jason liked me, but I didn't like him "like that" at first.

♥ Who asked who out?
That's kind of a long story. As I came to the realization that I really "liked" Jason, the girl every guy in the ward wanted swooped in and stole him from me. (Well, he wasn't mine yet, but still.) Then, when things weren't going well between them, I moved in. >:D

♥ Who made the first move?
I flirted with Jason with an abandon that I hadn't before after he and Sarah weren't working. He got it, started spending more time with me, and then, while watching a movie, I got tired of games and just cuddled into him. We were together from then on.

♥ Did you go to the same school?
Yes. We met at BYU-Idaho.

♥ Are you from the same home town?
No, just same home state. I'm from Northern Cal, Jason is from Southern.

♥ Who is the smartest?
We're both smart in different ways, sometimes similar ways.

♥ Who majored in what?
Psychology for both--with my minor in marriage and family studies, and Jason's cluster in marriage and family studies, and Spanish.

♥ Who is the most sensitive?
We're both sensitive, but I get offended and upset more easily.

♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple?
Hmm. Probably Taco Bell.

♥ Where is the farthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
Wisconsin. (Exciting, huh?)

♥ Who has the worst temper?
Definitely me. Jason is a good match for me because he's so easy-going.

♥ How many children do you want?
4 or 5, probably.

♥ Who does the cooking?
Me. Jason used to cook for me and even for my entire apartment when he was trying to get me, but that has died now. :) (He does cook turkey burgers when we have them, though.)

♥ Who is more social?
Probably me. It's close.

♥ Who is the neat-freak?
It varies. We both like to be neat, but since we have so little room right now, it's harder to keep things tidy.

♥ Who is the most stubborn?
Ha. I'm stubborn about more things, but Jason is very competitive, and I think that's a form of stubbornness.

♥ Who wakes up earlier?
Lately, Jason has been getting up for the first round with Jamie. I really appreciate it.

♥ Where was your first date?
As I said above, we got together in kind of a weird way. I don't know that we had an official first date, and I like it that way.

♥ Who has the bigger family?
There are mom, dad, and three kids in both our families. Maybe mine, because my parents have three cats. :)

♥ Do you get flowers often?
No. We are po. Flowers are beautiful, but they are expensive and don't last long.

♥ How do you spend the holidays?
Watching Christmas movies and TV specials, listening to Christmas music, eating way too much delicious and non-nutritious food, etc.

♥ Who is more jealous?
Usually me. I don't like hearing about any other girl Jason ever liked, because I want to be the only one, ever. :)

♥ How long did it take to get serious?
Not long. We dropped the L-Bomb (saying "I love you") after a couple of months and had a date set at the temple after four or five. We had some difficulties in between, though.

♥ Who eats more?
Lol. ...Oh, that wasn't rhetorical? Jason.

♥ What do you do for a living?
Keep sucking up to our parents so they'll let us keep living off their living until we can make our own living. :D

♥ Who does/did the laundry?
Both of us. We hate folding it, though.

♥ Who’s better with the computer?
We're each good at different things.

♥ Who drives when you are together?
Jason. He likes to. It's a man thing.

♥ What is "your" song?
I think I decided this, but "The Broken Road" by Rascal Flatts. We also like "Ave Maria" because it was playing when Jason proposed.

I tag: Robin Leach, Christy Ramsdell, Jackie Fisher, Kim Richman, Shara Pack, Heather Petersen, Adrienne Dial...and EVERYONE else who wants to! Seriously, I'd love to read everyone's stories!

And FYI, it's been fun to go back to all the mushy stuff and think about "us" as in two instead of three. Might get you in a romantic mood. ;) Happy Friday!

Couples' Quiz--Blank for your convenience

(As in, if you wanna take it, you won't have to delete my answers.)

♥ What are your middle names?
♥ How long have you been together?
♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating?
♥ Who asked who out?
♥ Who made the first move?
♥ Did you go to the same school?
♥ Are you from the same home town?
♥ Who is the smartest?
♥ Who majored in what?
♥ Who is the most sensitive?
♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple?
♥ Where is the farthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
♥ Who has the worst temper?
♥ How many children do you want? 4-5
♥ Who does the cooking?
♥ Who is more social?
♥ Who is the neat-freak?
♥ Who is the most stubborn?
♥ Who wakes up earlier?
♥ Where was your first date?
♥ Who has the bigger family?
♥ Do you get flowers often?
♥ How do you spend the holidays?
♥ Who is more jealous?
♥ How long did it take to get serious?
♥ Who eats more?
♥ What do you do for a living?
♥ Who does/did the laundry?
♥ Who’s better with the computer?
♥ Who drives when you are together?
♥ What is "your" song?

Apple Hill

Here's where we went today!

Except, you might not guess it, since there are no apples in the pictures. :D

But I was so excited to get some pictures of Jamie in a pumpkin patch! I'm no professional, but I like the way they turned out. Pumpkin patches (or displays of picked pumpkins) make such good autumn picture backdrops. Oh, and props to my mom, who knitted the adorable sweater he's wearing. I picked out the buttons, and the yarn, which matches Jamie's beautiful eyes. Yay me. :)

And may I just say, Boa Vista Orchards apple cider from Apple Hill is like instant, delicious autumn in your mouth. (They should be paying me.)

"In poverty's vale, or abounding in wealth"

Usually I feel a little sad that I don't have sisters, but at the General Relief Society Meeting broadcast a couple of weeks ago, I remembered that I have millions of sisters, all over the world.

I was just thinking about it again tonight, and I wanted to share how much it meant to me to be gathered with women throughout the world to hear wise and uplifting counsel, and to strengthen each other to face our challenges.  If you missed it, I highly recommend watching it online, and may I suggest that there is a spirit present when you actually go to the stake center to watch it--sitting with your sisters, knowing that millions are listening to it in other stake centers at the same time, singing the hymns together--that's hard to get by reading or watching it later.  Try to get there next time--you won't be sorry!

One of the hymns sung was "How Firm a Foundation," and there were some particular lines that meant more to me than they ever have, given our present situation.  As I sang, I felt the Spirit bring incredible warmth to my heart, and I knew that no matter our circumstances, the Lord watches over my family, loves us, and is aware of our trials.  I could hardly finish the song.

If you're like me, and maybe hadn't thought too hard about the words of that song before, maybe you'd enjoy listening to it now. (After clicking the link, select "words and music" on the top left-hand side of the page if you want to hear it sung.) Read through the lines, and remember that they're from scripture, that it really is the Lord speaking to every one of us, reassuring us. 

I hope and pray that maybe I felt prompted to post about this for a reason, that someone out there will listen to this beautiful song and get the lift they needed--I sure did, and I'm grateful.

Picnik

I've had all sorts of headaches trying to share pictures of Jamie with people tonight. I ended up messing around with Picnik, a photo editing program I've discovered. (The first picture hasn't had anything done to it, it's just cute.) Maybe I'll write a review on it when I get to know it better. For right now, I've stayed up too late!

Slicing and Dicing

Folks out there with babies: have you seen these?Disposable washcloths. Get them wet, and the suds are built in.

A friend gave us some before Jamie was born, and I admit, I thought: "How wasteful and frivolous. What's wrong with just using baby wash on a washcloth?" Well, what's wrong is, it's not as easy. It seems like you have to pour it on there like three times to get a good lather. But these are a bit expensive compared to the old-fashioned way. So here's a way to feel better about giving yourself a break:

Cut them in half!

Some regular scissors are all it takes. Babies are small. They don't need a lot of sudsing. Now we get 40 baths from a box and don't feel so bad about spending $3-something!

Same with these. My mom bought some and didn't like them, so I took them off her hands. It's hard to see in this picture, but there are only 28 in the tub. That's not even enough to cleanse once a day for a month! What the heck, Aveeno?!

Slice and dice.

Unless you have a really large face, you don't need the whole pad. It lathers nicely. I've been cutting mine in THIRDS, in kind of a peace-symbol pattern. It makes the luxury last a little longer. And if I ever buy more, I can look at the high price and tell myself they'll last me much longer than Aveeno intended.

Muah ha ha.

Go see what might last longer if you get creative with the scissors!

And lemme know if you find anything good. :)

Just to lighten the mood...

Is it wrong to gush about how darling my own kid is?

Okay. I'll just keep it to myself, then.

:)

Please send job leads this way.

Jason is still looking for a job here in the Sacramento area. The search isn't going well, hasn't been since we've gotten here. I never talk about it because it's depressing and scary. For all of you who live around here, if you would please keep your eyes and ears open for any opportunities that could be good for him, tell whoever's offering (if it's your work or your friend or whatever) that you know someone who would be great (because he will work his tail off at whatever opportunity he gets), and let him or me know so he can jump on it, we'd really appreciate any networking we can get. Anyone you want to tell that he's looking for a job and to keep him in mind, please tell them. Anyone those people want to tell, they can go for it! California is not an easy place to get a decent job right now, and we're stretched pretty thin.

Here are just a few details about Jason:

• Speaks very good Spanish, almost fluent
• Bachelor's degree in psychology
• Very good with people, has leadership experience
• Hard, honest worker
• (I'm not looking at his resume--there's more)

The ideal job would be something in Human Relations, even if it's just as an assistant or something, but anything decent is welcome. We really appreciate your help!

****************************************************

And on a sidenote, can I just say that I hate the pressure I feel from our situation to make money off my silly bows, to put together an adorable website to sell them (trying to compete with all the myriad of adorable websites that ALREADY sell hair accessories), with cute names and fonts and packaging and labels and I don't even know what else...I do enjoy making them, but the prospect of trying to sell them--and everything that goes along with that--just makes me scared and tired. Ideally, I'd rather not deal with it. Or I'd rather have a steady income anyway, and just do it for fun. But I've spent a good deal of money on ribbon and other supplies, and I'm afraid I won't make any of it back...

I've never been the entrepreneur type. I never realized how hard it is to try to put your product, and by extension, yourself, out there and try to get people's patronage. It makes me feel...vulnerable?

Okay, I need to go to bed. Sorry for the complaining, but I needed to get it out.

Life is still really good, and I do believe it will get better, that we'll be able to get back on our feet. I'm just at a point where it kind of feels like it will never happen. (Hey, maybe that means the miracle isn't far off.)

Buy our bows!!! (Why beat around the bush?)

Okay, remember when I showed you pictures of the bows I learned how to make in Idaho? And remember when I told you about Robin's bow site,

http://www.bbnbows.com/?

Well, she is very kindly letting me try my hand at the oh-so-popular bow-making (and selling) business! These are some of the ones I've made that she'll be putting on her website for me. There's one on there so far, the witch korker. There are also a few more varieties that I didn't take pictures of before I took them to her--light pink and turquoise of the pansy flowers in the fourth picture, a pair of mini korkers (like the last picture) made with black and orange-with-black-polka-dots ribbon (for Halloween), etc.

So I just wanted to shamelessly advertise on my blog, because it's free, and let you all know that yes, I've jumped on the bow-making bandwagon. It really is fun. So if you see something here that you like and would want, lemme know and I'll either ask Robin to post it or we can do a shady backroom deal. ;) Also, we're both open to custom orders if you need something that isn't on the site!

I'm a total novice at this. Robin's showing me the ropes, and I'm honored that she's sharing her talent and creativity with me. See Robin's blog to check out her sweet introduction of me on her site. (She knows how to make me blush! :))

Also, I'm going to be selling bows and maybe a few other things at a local craft show in November. More details and subliminal messages about that when it gets closer...

Please feel free to spread the word to anyone you think might be interested. Thanks!

Toofies!

Is that how you spell that?... They're there, on the bottom.

That's just what we call them in my mom's family. Finally got him to open up and show off those pearly whites! And the other pic is when he's being a monkey, using his feet for stuff. So darn cute.

Funnel Cake

See the recipe here.

I did like the commentors (?) suggested and added vanilla. Overall, it was tasty, but so greasy. I'm not a health nut, but sheesh, I just can't eat like that anymore! This will be a "once in a great while" treat. And, thanks to my parents' frying pan where all you had to do was plug it in and turn the knob to the temp you wanted, it was so easy!

I know we're all spoiled in the world of internet tutorials with pictures of each step. Sorry, I'm too lazy for that. Don't worry, it's not hard to figure out. :)

Two minutes after the last post...

...I went to allrecipes.com.

I will not be paying a gazillion dollars for your overpriced funnel cake, California State Fair.

So there!

Little help here?

No idea who these folks are. Love Google Image search.

I want to go to the California State Fair.

Why?

Well, it's something to do, and if you really try, it's probably possible to ignore the appalling capitalism and have a good time.

And I want funnel cake. State Fair has funnel cake.

But I don't want to pay for it. The fair, I mean. I've accepted that I must pay the $56 (roughly) for some funnel cake with strawberries on top. (Well, I'll still get mad about it when the time comes--does that negate my acceptance?)

I don't want to pay $60 for two "unlimited rides" wristbands to save $24 on admission when I have little to no interest in their rides. I'm no mathmetician, but I know that ain't right.

I'd be totally okay with, like, buying a meal somewhere or donating something to some cause and getting free admission passes that way. (Aren't I the philanthropist.)

Holla back!




You know, it can't be that hard to make your own dang funnel cake...