A Year in Review

So 2008 was a pretty good year for my family. I have seen this done before, and I figured I would join in the fun! What you do is post the first sentence of the first post of every month as a review for your year. Since I didn't start THIS blog until mid-March, I figure I will take January thru March from my Myspace Blog (where I USED to do all my blogging...). They will be accompanied by a bit of a description since you can't go back and satisfy your curiosity by reading the blog.

January:
My Result: Orange- You're a bold, confident orange. (this was that "what color crayon are you" test)

February:
So Saturday, Lil is sitting on her bed with a piece of paper and a pen. (she had written the word P-u-p-p-y all by herself)

March:
So most of you don't know this, but I have been hard at work planning a surprise birthday party for Joe. (this story was so awesome! Joe almost screwed up his own surprise party- I went from plan A to plan F before the party was over!)

April:
Lil was very proud of her work of art.

May:
8 things I’m passionate about:
1. My kids.

June:
Have you ever noticed that most people don't blog about being in a funk?

July:
So yesterday I noticed that my littlest rascal had some interesting marks on her leg.

August:
Joe and I get to go see Dave Matthews Band!

September:
So, this weekend has been a busy one!

October:
Not sure what happened, really.

November:
Yes.

December:
Thanksgiving was okay.

And there you have it! (Though I can't help but think it may have been more of a review to just use my blog titles for those posts. It better summarizes what the blogs were about...) I'd love to see all of you do this too! It was fun!

8 Wonderful Years

So I am a day late in posting this, but I totally blame Joe for that! :) He took me away for an overnight trip to Armstrong Mansion. :D

Yesterday Joe and I celebrated our 8th Anniversary! I am so grateful for my wonderful husband and all he does for me and the girls. He is such a great man, and I feel very privileged to be his wife. As a way of commemorating the last 8 years, I am gonna list 8 things about him that I admire.

* Joe is loyal- even when things aren't going well, and even when its a detriment to his own well being, or situation, he will continue to be loyal to those who have gained his trust.



* Joe is a spiritual giant- He loves his religion and lives it well. He is well versed in scripture, and serves in his callings without hesitation or complaint. He leads a life worthy of the priesthood he holds.



* Joe serves others- if someone he knows is moving, he will be there to help, when people (both in the family and out) call with computer problems, he is right there to help them out. He never expects payment, and he never expects favors in return. He serves and help others because it is the right thing to do.



* Joe is a great daddy- his love for the girls is so evident in his face and his demeanor. He has now written a letter to each of his girls, and both of those letters brings me to tears. He is so sweet with them, he plays with them and teaches them, and cuddles with them. He is their favorite jungle gym and pillow all in one. He adores his girls, and they, in return, adore him.



* Joe is a great husband- his love for me is evident in the way he treats me. He knows me so well that I rarely have need to explain my feelings to him. He helps me with so much around the house. He does laundry (all the time), dishes (some of the time) and helps clean the rest of the house (as needed). He also is quick to realize when I am having a bad day and either make dinner or offer to take us all out. :D Really- I consider myself truly lucky because he not only does all this, but he does it better than me!



* Joe is smart- he is a special kind of smart though. He never ever makes others feel dumb. He has this way of making complicated things sound simple. He is a natural at fixing and building things. He can look at something and understand it.



* Joe is funny- my very first impression of Joe was that he was very animated (kinda like Jim Carry). He always makes me smile. His laughter is infectious, and I enjoy his sense of humor. Even on the worst day, Joe can make me smile.



* Joe is working toward a healthier life- he wakes up at a RIDICULOUS hour (like 5:30) so that he can work out each day before work. He is trying to eat healthier, and is choosing low fat and no fat foods over the rich and fattening stuff. He has cut a lot of salt out of his diet (that's a hard one for me) and doesn't drink any soda. He is doing this all to improve himself. When we eat out he looks for the healthier alternatives such a fish (ick) or lightly seasoned chicken (as in- not covered in cream sauces and the likes).

All in all, I got myself a pretty amazing husband. And besides all that, he is HOT. Well, at least I think he is... :) Happy Anniversary Joe. Thank you for making the last 8 years the best years of my life. I LOVE YOU!

A Moderately Good Christmas

I previously mentioned Joe being home with the flu- turns out I was wrong... he had food poisoning. Poor guy! Having had a bout of Food Poisoning this summer, we were absolutely convinced that was what he was (and kinda still is) suffering from. As of Christmas Eve he had not quite recovered completely, but was well enough to join in the festivities at my mothers house. We packed an overnight bag for the whole family, and went to my mom's for some pizza, games, and a nice little lesson on the true meaning of Christmas.

We had all sorts of fun and ended up not getting to bed til nearly 1 am. As Joe and I were headed to bed, we found Lilia had wet her makeshift bed. Not a good sign. About 10 minutes later (she is cleaned up, and settled into our bed with us) she informs me that she thinks she may need to throw up. So to lessen the damage of Grandma's house and bedding, I pull out towels, blankets and a couple pillows and I bed down with her on the floor in the TV room (closest room to the bathroom, and big enough to stretch out on the floor). It was a restless night for me, but Lil (thankfully) didn't toss her cookies.

That next morning after coaxing my brothers awake, we head down to start the Christmas morning frenzy. It went well and we got all the best reactions from Lilia. She got some dress up clothes from Joe and I, Little Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty and Tinkerbell from Santa, scarves, mittens and hats from Grandma and a few other small toys and trinkets from my brothers. Lacey scored some pretty good gifts too. Joe was thoroughly surprised with his new Wii (from me) and games (from my brother and mom). Well, about 10 minutes after we had finished unwrapping gifts, I was making breakfast in the kitchen, my mom was settling Lil in to watch her new movies upstairs and Joe and my brothers were setting up the Wii downstairs in the basement. Lil didn't eat breakfast, and sure enough a few minutes later she finally did throw up. Poor girl ended up with the flu. Luckily it was a 24 (or less) hour bug, she felt much better by early evening. And she got to watch all her movies at least once (between sleeping bouts). Joe and the boys played the Wii most the day (which was fun to watch) and Mom and I played with Lacey and kept Lil hydrated (all the while watching our movies and calling family to wish the Merry Christmas).

We came home around 5 or so and by 8 Lacey was sick. :( Poor thing had a pretty bad night. At about 1:30 I found Joe back in the bathroom with the flu too. Seems that as of now, I am the only survivor. Good thing Joe (though tired) felt much better when he woke up. Lacey is doing better too. Though none of the three are up to 100% it seems they are all past the worst of it. Good thing too, because Joe has made plans for our anniversary, and the two of us are supposed to be disappearing off on our own for the night... Here's to hoping I don't get this little bug tonight!

All in all, minus the sickness, it was a nice Christmas. Now if I can just get the family all healthy again... Hope you all had a great one! (Sorry for the lack of pictures, I took the camera, but forgot to use it!)

Thoughts on snow, kids, and clever parenting...

Yesterday we woke up to our first true snow storm of the season. Snow was falling pretty hard and heavy most of the day. Out in my neck of the woods we usually get less snow than the big cities that flank us, but for whatever reason, that was not the case this time. While my mom (just south of us) raked in a good 8 inches, my MIL (just north) got MAYBE two inches if that. Now us? We got somewhere near 15 inches. Possibly more. (!!!) And of course, I took some pictures of my neighborhood all covered in white:







Poor baby Jesus- he is under there somewhere!



Even my swing- sitting against the house, on my covered porch got a few inches!



Much thanks goes out to my WONDERFUL Neighbor(s) who helped UNSTUCK me last night. Joe was sick with the flu, and had stayed home from a family party. As I arrived home with the girls at almost 11:00 pm, I found myself stuck in my own DRIVEWAY! It took me and Mindy a good 20 minutes to move my car 6 feet! Wow- talk about some deep snow. I wish they would plow the alleys (a majority of our neighborhood has their garage doors in the alley...)!

Lilia has been all sorts of cute this year as we prepare for Christmas. She was absolutely convinced that snow meant Christmas morning. She has been begging me since yesterday to let her open her presents. She is still in dance, and she LOVES it. She practices everyday, and is getting very good at certain parts of dance... other parts, not so much. I can't seem to get her to loosen up while in position one. The teacher told the kids that they have to hold their hands like they are holding a beach ball. This is Lil in position one:



Lacey has recently hit the ever popular stage of stripping down to naked any chance she gets. It has been all sorts of fun keeping her in clothes. As cute as it is to watch her wander the house in naught but a diaper, it is also frustrating to try and catch my Popsicle child and re-dress her. Especially difficult is pajamas. I used to go check on her after she falls asleep to find her wearing only a diaper and shivering. Which meant waking her up to re-dress her. She has learned to open snaps, zippers, and remove pants. The only thing truly safe on her is a t-shirt. So THIS is how I solved the problem!





That's right! I slap a t-shirt over her jammies now, and sure enough she stays in them all night long! YAY!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas. Be safe, and warm, and happy, and well.

Tagged again!

Here's a gooey, romantic game of tag. Here's how it works: I will answer questions about Joe. At the end of the post, I'll tag 3 people and post their names. Then, those three people can do the same thing on their own blog and so on and so forth.

What is your husband's name? Joseph
How long have you guys been married? 8 years next week
How long did you date? Been together 1 year and 25 days
How old is he? the big 3-0
Who is taller? Joe
Who can sing the best? Joe
Who is smarter? It depends on the topic, but mostly- Joe.
Who pays the bills? I do
Who does the laundry? I wash and dry, he folds
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? When you are looking at the bed... me
Who mows the lawn? The neighbor :)
Who cooks dinner? More often than not, me- but he CAN and does cook on occasion.
Who is the first to admit when they're wrong? Whoever IS wrong.
Who kissed who first? I think he would say I kissed him first, but last time I checked, it takes two to kiss...
Who wears the pants? We both wear pants, but he wears the important pants.

I tag three people! :) You decide if you are one of those three...

100!

So... this is post #100 for me, so I thought I would celebrate that with 100 of my favorites. (No worries, this is more for me than anyone else, I won't be offended if you don't read it... but the last 10 are favorite pictures...)
PEOPLE
1. Joe
2. Lilia
3. Lacey
4. Family
5. My In Laws
6. The Gospel
7. God
8. Jesus Christ
9. My Ward
10. Friends

TV
11. Biggest Loser (yay for Vicky NOT Winning!)
12. Heroes
13. House
14. Lost
15. Eli Stone
16. Ugly Betty
17. Pushing Daisies
18. The Closer
19. The Office
20. Chuck

BOOKS
21. Scriptures
22. Harry Potters
23. Twilight Saga
24. Fablehaven Series
25. The Giver
26. Bruce Coville books
27. Anita Stansfield books
28. Robert Langdon Series (Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons)
29. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants books (I know- but they were good!!)
30. The BFG

MOVIES
31. Harry Potters
32. Mary Poppins
33. Pete’s Dragon
34. White Christmas
35. Cutting Edge
36. First Wives Club
37. Con Air
38. Court Jester
39. Better Off Dead
40. Down Periscope

HOMEMADE FOOD (ask if you want any of these recipes)
41. Honey BBQ Ribs
42. Butterscotch Yams
43. Nik’s Ham and Noodles (I was surprised at how unbelievable this tastes!)
44. Mindy’s Crock Pot Chicken Burritos
45. Mom’s Tacos (or Enchiladas)
46. Natalie’s Oatmeal Bread
47. Rachel’s Gingersnaps and Pumpkin Dip
48. Banana Slugs (homemade breadsticks)
49. Stroganoff
50. White Chili

RESTAURANT FOOD
51. Crème Brule (it was fantastic at Maglbys, but anywhere works)
52. Café Rio (or Costa Vida) Smothered Pork Burrito with black beans and mild sauce
53. The Madarin’s Orange Chicken
54. Olive Garden’s Breadsticks with half and half dipping sauce (you ask for half marinara half alfredo sauce and mix them together)
55. El Pollo Loco’s Flan
56. Roxberry Juice’s Orchard Harvest (with raspberries instead of blueberries)
57. Sizzler’s Ribs (better in my opinion than even Tony Roma’s)
58. Joe’s Crab Shack’s Coconut Shrimp
59. Spaghetti Factory’s Mizithera and Browned Butter
60. Chili’s Chips and Salsa

SMELLS
61. Fresh Baked Bread
62. Petracore (the smell that is given off from the cement when it rains)
63. Freshly bathed baby (preferably in Baby Magic)
64. Apple desserts baking (though I am not fond of apple desserts, I do love the smell)
65. Cucumber Melon (Bath and Bodyworks)
66. Boiling Milk (I dunno- something soothing about the smell…)
67. Craft Stores
68. Joe’s aftershave lotion
69. Bounce Fabric softener
70. Book Stores

SONGS
71. Sing Along by Dave Matthews and Blue Man Group
72. Little Drummer Boy/Peace On Earth by Bing Crosby and David Bowie
73. Finger Tips by TMBG
74. All of Les Miserables
75. Step In Time (on Mary Poppins)
76. The Way by Fastball
77. One Week by Bare Naked Ladies
78. Inside Out by Eve 6
79. Gonna Be by The Proclaimers
80. YMCA by The Village People

RANDOM STUFF
81. Lilia’s smile when she is NOT trying to smile
82. Lacey’s smile when a camera is trained on her
83. Lacey’s cuddling
84. Lilia’s “ideas”
85. Songs in a minor key
86. The annual primary program
87. My girls laughing together
88. My nieces singing the Happy Birthday song (cha-cha-cha!)
89. Family Reunion
90. Either daughter trying to make the other one smile (as long as its not during bedtime)

PICTURES (I have way more than 10 favorites, but these rank pretty high up there... and they are in no particular order)
91.

92.
93.
94.
95.
96.
97.
98.
99.
100.

Allergies?

So as some of you might know, I went in for allergy testing this week. And the results are in. I couldn't help but share a few of my more odd results.

Now first off, I was tested mainly for my allergy to metal. And boy am I ever allergic. The dermatologist was a bit alarmed at my reaction to Nickel. Which is a pretty common metal. But- most of my other allergies are minor. Though the dermatologist made it a point to warn me that they may be slight now, but the more I handle the items I am allergic to the worse the allergy will become. So now- on to my allergies!

The proper name for the items I am allergic to are:

Nickel
Wood Alcohols (Lanolin)
Ethylenediamine Dihydrochloride
Cobalt Dichloride
Mercapto Mix
Tixocortol-21-Pivalate


Now these items are located in some pretty common items! Like I mentioned before I am pretty severely allergic to Nickel, so I really need to avoid things like Zippers, buttons, watchbands, anything less that 18-ct gold (platinum and 18-ct or higher gold should be fine), scissors, keys, coins... yeah- that sucks. The doc said if I can help it, and I am gonna have prolonged contact with any of these items I should wear protective cotton gloves... why cotton you ask? WELL- it seems one of my lesser allergies is a key ingredient in rubber! I am mildly allergic to rubber gloves! Amongst other rubber items...

Some other items I should avoid due to allergies?
Cosmetics such as foundations, powders, blush, mascara, LIPSTICK and CHAPSTICK, etc.
Most lotions
Pet shampoos
Hair removal products (like Nair)
Cement
Bricks
Cobalt based paints
DENTAL IMPLANTS (such as the one I need next month)
Vitamin B12
most forms of natural rubber
wetsuits
neoprene
hydrocortisone creams
Prednisone
Steroid:groub b and group d2
Desonide (read: Desitin)
ear, nose and eye drops

And that folks, is how SCREWED UP I AM! :) I can't help but laugh at a good portion of these allergies. Mostly because everything on this second list is just a mild allergy. I don't react too bad, at least not yet...

Awesome! :)