Number 28 for Brandt

Today my hubby turns 28.

I sent him to work with 2 dozen homemade cupcakes with homemade buttercream frosting and finished off with 3 blueberries each. I believe every person should be sent off with sweets on their birthday even if they aren't in elementary school anymore.

And, tonight we will celebrate with a delightful menu he chose for dinner. I am making...

Appetizer: Salad

Entree: Smoked Gouda and Bacon Stuffed Pork Chops topped with Caramelized Balsamic Pears. Fresh Green Beans and Crash Hot Potatoes as Sides.

Dessert: Creme Brulee with a Blueberry Mango Coulis

I actually can't wait till tonight because that means I will be done cooking :) It's worth it though. As you know I LOVE birthdays so I'm glad he lets me do something for him.

Happy birthday Brandt. Glad to have another year with you!

P.S. Thank you Ann for birthing Brandt 28 years ago today. I also believe (now that I have a child) that you should always thank your mother on your birthday.

Canning Specialist?

Back in September or October I was released from my Church calling as Primary Counselor and called to be the Ward Canning Specialist. I have never canned. I didn't know anything about canning. I didn't really like canned food...

This week I made 4 pints of Mango Raspberry freezer jam and 5 pints of Zesty Pico de Gallo. That's right. And, oh my goodness were they delicious.

Tonight there is a Provident Living activity at the church where all the different branches of the Provident Living committee will be displaying their goals and activities for 2010. There is Dehydrating, Emergency Preparedness, Food Storage, Financial Planning, etc.

My booth is canning. I will talk briefly about what I will be doing in 2010, explaining a few things about canning, and people will be able to taste my jam on my homemade bread and sample the Pico with chips.

I am slightly nervous BUT...

I am going to bring sexy back to canning :)

Wish me luck.

Jane's Latest Nap Routine

Pulls herself up into standing position.

Shakes her body back and forth making the rails shake too.

Sits down.

Pulls herself up and does the shaky thing again.

Fast forward to 20 minutes later...

Still doing the shaky thingy.

Starts to cry in the standing position.

Starts to wail in the standing position.

Starts to hyperventilate in the standing position.

Fast forward to 20 minutes later still SCREAMING and standing against the railing.

Stops screaming and sucks her thumb while in the standing position...screams again. (Repeated 5 times)

FINALLY plops backwards onto her bum and promptly rolls over onto her tummy.

Inserts thumb. Cries. Sucks thumb. Cries. Sucks thumb.

Falls asleep 40 minutes after I put her down.



Oh. My. Goodness. I am going to go gray before my 25th birthday.

I love it when...

...My food matches my bowl.

Jane: 8 Months

Wow. I love her.

She has changed so much this last month. She crawls like a mad woman, she is trying (she did it yesterday all by herself!!) to pull herself up, she loves to stand. She is clapping her hands (sometimes on command), giving me high-fives (sometimes on purpose) and saying mama but mostly dada. She LOVES her dada although she beams every time she sees either one of us.

She gets sick a lot just like me and it breaks our hearts. I can't imagine our lives without her. I've got this joy I've never had before. It's really really hard sometimes but oh so worth it... especially when she looks like this...

Human eating lizard experiment gone wrong

I could have an entire blog solely for writing up my out of this world, insanely ridiculous, and bizarre dreams I have every night.

I used to pray every night before I fell asleep that I would have good dreams. It seemed to work when I was a little girl with my Dad kneeling beside me but as a grown up I feel it isn't helping because maybe it's not a priority among continuing to have an income, keeping Jane healthy, etc. So, I've been having wickedly outlandish dreams for the past, I don't know, 4 years?

If you're interested in the title of this post, read on. If not, have a good day.

Night before last:
I apparently signed up to be part of this experiment because I was really smart and could benefit my peers in this project where we would live underground without the rest of the world knowing. We would work on stuff and would live out the rest of our lives underground.

It was all fun and games until I found something I apparently wasn't supposed to. I tried to hide it but they kept coming after it. Then, all of a sudden, the lizards, all of the lizards started growing. They started growing and becoming strange looking and started attacking people for no reason. People just tried to ignore it but I knew there was something up.

One day when I was hitching a ride somewhere in "Underground Myrtle Beach" I heard some people were going to a movie "upstairs". I didn't go because I was too scared to pass through the valley of strangely erotic and snappy lizards. While everyone was gone they started attacking the humans who stayed. I fought and fought to save myself and others. It was difficult but we managed to keep them at bay while their numbers grew.

Everyone else came back to the underground world and a few of them lost their lives while passing through the now overgrown valley of lizards. I wanted to leave but I didn't want to be the only one who would give up. Then, one of the guys I knew decided he had had enough as well. I asked him if I could come with him and he said, "Are you ready to leave now?" I said, "I just have to go get my bag and then I will be ready." He acted like he didn't even want to wait for that so I hurried to my room to get my bag. Then I realized I had to pack my toiletries. Then I had to pack a drawer I had missed. Then I had to find my shoes. I finally finished after what seemed like 20 minutes. I caught up with him and he was a little frustrated I took so long. He turned and started walking in the direction of the valley. Right then I remembered... MY BABY!

I have a baby! I have to go get her. I asked him to wait but he said no. He said if I caught up with him I could finished the trek with him but that he had to leave. I was angry but had to go get Jane. I ran to her. I couldn't believe I had forgotten her through all of this. There she was on my parents old water bed. Her stuff was everywhere. I had to pack it. I thought, "But wait, that's going to be at least 5 bags and I don't have luggage. I'll use trash bags. But wait, Delta charges $20 a bag! Ugh! What am I going to do!?!" I decided to pack up as much as I could in one bag and I started running with bags and baby in tow.

As soon as I got outside I noticed the next and final uprising of human eating lizards had begun. I was too late. I started running. They ran after me. They ran after everyone. People were being eaten alive. I had to get out of here and protect Jane. One of them jumped on us and I killed it before it could hurt us. I was bitten on the leg by another. I killed that one. I had no idea what would happen to someone if they were bitten because no one survived an attack. I didn't care, we had to keep going.

I saw the guy I was going to leave with far away in the distance. He was opening the hatch. He had made it. "If only I had left with him... I couldn't have left my baby!", I thought. What was I going to do?
A van pulled up. It was Hurley from Lost. We jumped inside. There were 3 other people. They were dressed like Amish people and were eating licorice. We sped off. So many people were dying. So many lizards.

We kept driving.

It had gotten dark but we felt safe.

Then I woke up.

Yikes. I like waking up. I don't like dreaming. If I go gray it's going to be because of the stressful dreams I have.

Clipping coupons

I let Jane help me clip coupons. She's a good helper.

Trial and Error

When your vehicle only goes in reverse it can cause some problems.






When Jane first became mobile she could only scoot backwards. I found her backed in under her crib, backed in under the shelf in the closet, and once, when I was brushing my teeth, she backed herself under my bed. It was kind of frustrating to her but you gotta learn eventually right?

At first she was not happy that I wasn't helping her. I felt like those parents who feel guilty about taking pictures of their kids when they get into a mess and then I laughed and realized... She's ok. I can laugh and her, take a picture AND THEN help her out. She'll never remember this.

See, in the end it didn't matter.

Now she can crawl wherever she wants so now I've got to get those mishaps on camera.

Ashamed so don't judge...

I just started watching the first part of the new Bachelor. For those who have seen it... answer me this...

How on earth is that pilot 31 and still single? He keeps saying nice guys finish last. He may be a nice guy but not a nerdy, not so cute nice guy. Is anyone as confused as I am? He seems perfect....

Yes, my hubby is out of town which is when I watch these kind of shows.

+2

2 other things from 2009...

I lost the contest to my sister Anna. It's okay. I have retired after a long winning streak and finished with a house I think was worthy of 1st place.

We saw Avatar in XD 3D. Oh. My Heavens. Mind Blowing. Awesome. Totally worth the moolah. Wow.