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Thursday, April 24th, 2008
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12:49 pm - Jennette's Cat
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I've trained my cat to purr when I turn on the hair dryer. Truman used to be terrified of the hair dryer, but also hates being out of the bathroom if I am in there. Each morning when I get up for work she runs to the bathroom and perches on the edge of the tub and bats at the water droplets on the shower curtain while I shower, then hangs around, licks the sink, etc., while I finish getting ready. Whenever I brought out the hair dryer she would freak and want to leave, but then scratch at the door to come back in when I let her out (I keep the door closed so it doesn't bug Tom since it's pretty much crack of dawn). So I got out her brush (which she goes NUTS over) and started brushing her whenever I turned the hair dryer on, and now if I even pick up the hair dryer up she runs over to me and starts purring and rubbing her face all over my arm. Good times.
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12:43 pm - Oh No You Didn't
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A run down of the weather we've had this month:
First week of April: 2 inches of snow
Second: First half of week 50 or so, Friday 60, Saturday 83 degrees
Third: Back to 50 on Sunday, snow by weekend.
Fourth: First half of week in low 40's, weekend supposed to be 70+
Let's pick a season and go with it peoples.
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| Monday, April 14th, 2008
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2:41 pm - Harper pics
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| Friday, April 11th, 2008
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9:59 am - The Goings On
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So not a whole lot is going on, just thought I'd update so Sara wouldn't try to gouge her eyes out from boredom. Here's a rundown:
Harper is over 18 months old! We did some pictures at Yuen Lui a couple weeks ago and will hopefully be getting them soon. They turned out really good, with an especially adorable one of her smelling a flower. Will post as soon as I get them. Her new favorite word is "Ow" which she says mostly when she isn't getting her way (that can be painful), but she also understands the "true" meaning of it, as demonstrated last night when she accidentally picked up her toy too fast and it hit her in the mouth, to which she said, "Ow, my face!" She was also saying it a lot last week when the nurse had to try three times to get a vain to draw some blood. Her doctor was concerned she might have celiac what with all the massive amounts of diarhea and her going abruptly from 90th percentile in height down to 50th percentile. We did get the blood results back yesterday and everything looks fine - thank goodness too because she would be saying "Ow" all day if she couldn't have her bread/mac n cheese/pb&j/etc. She is an all around sweetheart with lots of love to give - last Sunday we were at my parent's celebrating Tucker's birthday and when they were going home she kept going around giving hugs to them again and again...and again. She continues to be obsessed with Little Einsteins, and has lately started crossing her arms and patting her elbows (I assume she is doing the "Allegro" portion of the "Super Fast" patting in which you have to pat your shoulders), then throwing her arms up to the sky and shaking around violently ("Presto"), then running down the hall as fast as she can screaming "BAAAAAASSSS", which I assume means "Blast Off". Other words and phrases she likes: "Where is it?" "Oh, there it is." "Ka" (milk), "Nya" (more), "Outside", "Uh-uh", "Yeah", "Da-yee" (daddy), "Mama", "Mum-mum" (yum-yum), "Baby", "Hello", "Bye", and "I don't know".
Tom and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary, which also coincided with my first night away from Harper. We stayed at the Executive Pacific Hotel in downtown Seattle on 4th Ave for a night and had so much fun. We walked over to Uwajimaya's and had dinner at a super yummy noodle place (Zen Noodle I think), then went to the Hong Kong bakery and walked around Chinatown and back to the hotel. We watched I Am Legend (better then I thought), and stayed up late and slept in late and didn't have to clean up after ourselves. It was awesome. The next day we bummed around Pike Place Market, played at the arcade on the waterfront, had lunch at the Crab Pot, then headed home. It was really exciting to see Harper again, but also really great to get away, even just for 24 hours.
I have discovered the greatest spa in Seattle. It is just a skin care spa, no hair, no massage, just skin! It's on Bellevue Ave just north of E Pine street (Capitol Hill), and I'm totally obsessed with this place. I got all new products and some awesome makeup which I love even more the Bare Escentuals. I will have to do an all new "Top 10". Plus after I went there I got this really sweet "Thank You" card from them w/ a bunch of samples for Tom (they even remembered his name!) and $20 off a facial for both him and me. Awesome. Plus the name is brilliant - High Maintenance Skin.
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| Saturday, March 15th, 2008
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7:57 pm
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This week was pretty crazy, so I spent quite a few hours last night folding laundry and getting caught up on my TV watching.
American Idol
I love Jason Castro, even though his name makes me think of cutting off cow balls. Actually there are quite a few people this season that I think are really great - both Mormons, the Irish girl, and the Australian guy - although I was SUPER excited for him to sing Across the Universe, and then super disappointed when it wasn't that great (granted I was comparing him to Rufus, but still). Syesha drives me crazy and I can't figure out why the judges all seem to like her so much. She's a great example of why an equal number of guys and girls isn't always the best idea - Danny Noriega should take her spot....well, he might actually be more of a girl then she is, so that might work out either way.
LOST
I don't think any of you watch this, but I am so excited that it is finally GREAT again. The first season of Lost is probably my favorite season of any show ever, then 2nd and most of 3rd I only stuck around for because I couldn't give up hope that it would return (plus I love me some Matthew Fox). Thankfully it has returned this season with "flash-forwards" mixed in with the flashbacks to give it a new twist.
Beauty and the Geek
YES, it's back so soon! I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it on my DVR and it was with great anticipation that I turned it on last night. But wait...what's this?!?! Beauty VS. Geek???? They ruined it! Well I watched it anyway, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I think they purposefully picked really sweet girls this season since they knew they'd be competing against the geeks - after the very first competition every girl was crying when they had to decide on 5 guys to send to the elimination room. And I totally have a crush on Tommy, and NOT just because we share the same love for the sweater vest...there's also his ability to remember multi digit numbers after hearing them once. That's sexy*. I also really like Jason, who is this season's hilarious Jewish Brooklynite (yes, there is one every season). I'm not sure if I will love him as much as last season's (Josh), who had the greatest dance move of all time (I call it the Elbow Shake, and Tom and I still do it all the time), but his tag line IS "One Buff Geek".
Eli Stone
I was reluctant to get sucked into this one, mostly because I have way too many other shows that I watch and I am starting to feel guilty about how addicted I am to TV. But even after all aforementioned shows I still had a giant basketful of laundry left to fold, so I turned on last week's episode (Tom watches it and has been telling me non-stop how great it is). At first I didn't even realize the main character was Jonny Lee Miller, what with the American accent and all (apparently I am easily fooled by this - it took me 4 episodes of House to go, "Oh yeah! It's Jeeves!"* I may not be fooled by a pair of glasses a la Lois Lane and Clark Kent, but if Tom all of a sudden starts speaking with an English accent I might wonder where my husband went and why I'm living with an Englishman). Anyway, he is brilliant and hilarious and I love this show. But I've decided that I can't add any new shows unless I give one I already watch the boot - any ideas?
*And by Jeeves, I mean Wooster, but I just can't get that sexy Jeeves out of my mind.
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| Friday, March 14th, 2008
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3:22 pm - WIP It Good
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I am such a moocher - I keep reading everyone's posts and not providing any reading material myself. It's been so long since I updated that now it seems like I have way too much to update about, so I put off updating, which then makes me have even more to update about...it's a vicious cycle.
Anyway, I've been at my job for almost 4 months now and it's going really great, except for the part where I have to clean up all the messes the last guy made. We'll call him Putty because he talks just like him. So Putty apparently thought it was ok to "round to the nearest 100" even though he is a freaking accountant and that's pretty much blasphemey, and to compound this he never reconciled. I have finally reconciled all our GL accounts and cleaned up any messes there, but one of my bosses still feels some sort of weird connection to Putty and keeps defending him (not that I'm attacking him, but after I tell him that most of the employee's payroll deductions are wrong and he asks why...well there's not much else to say except "Putty screwed up.").
Ok, quick accounting lesson so I can tell you my WIP story:
Companies generally use the accrual accounting method, which means that they generate income when they generate a bill, not when that bill gets paid (when they actually receive cash, which would be the cash accounting method). So if a company bills early, before they have finished the work (which you have to do in an engineering firm because general contractors take freaking forever to pay), the part you didn't actually earn is unearned revenue. On the flip side, when you have done billable work and haven't billed for it yet, it is called unbilled services. This happens when there's any sort of "work in progress" job. Technically the unearned revenue and the unbilled services are both income, they are just put towards a different GL account. Such is the life of Work In Progress (WIP) accounting. It's super complicated and delicate, and most of you probably read the first sentence in this paragraph and either feel asleep or switched over to facebook. It's cool.
Anyway, every month I generate WIP* reports and go over them in detail with the owner and depending on how far ahead we've billed on certain jobs I will recognize some of the unearned revenue if we believe we will be coming out ahead of budget. Basically I lie to the accounting software and tell it that we're farther ahead then we actually are.
SOOOOOOOOO (I know most boring blurty entry ever), this month we barely billed anything, and we barely recognized any income from when we billed way ahead last month, so not only was our income low, but our unearned revenue from last month took away from our actual income. So our monthly net income was way in the negative. Even though I explained this several times to the owner, he told me to call Putty and have him look at it. Seriously?!?! The guy that cost you thousands of dollars last year by "rounding to the nearest 100", never reconciling, and freaking doesn't understand that when you prepay for something it is an asset that needs to be expensed not a liability that needs to be accrued (I had to explain to him how prepaid insurance works like 500 times on my second day).
So I complained to Tom about it and he said it was because Putty is older then me and he is a man. Lame.
*Totally reminds of the Chandler and the WENIS.
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| Wednesday, February 6th, 2008
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9:07 pm - SHOES
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| Friday, January 11th, 2008
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1:04 pm - The Girl Who...
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Ever since I read the Shopoholic series by Sophie Kinsella, I've secretly hoped to be affectionately referred to as "The Girl Who....." by some group of strangers that sees me on a regular basis. Possibly The Girl Who Wears Nice Shoes, or The Girl With The Cute Laugh (I realize I have a loud and obnoxious laugh and would therefore never be referred to as this, but I can still dream).
Anyway, today I found out that at Pacific Drugs on the corner of 1st and Marion I AM referred to as The Girl Who...only in a moment that probably was not unlike Becky Brandon's (nee Bloomwood) when she found out, after hoping to be referred to as The Girl With the White Coat, The Girl With the Angel Bag, or The Girl Who is Always Kind To Everyone She Meets (among many others), that she was in fact referred to at the quaint gift shop in her parent's town as The Girl With the Ugly Pram. Yes, today I found out I am known as The Girl Who Buys Lots of Candy. Although I can't argue it in sheer truthiness (they have such a variety! Ten flavors of Laffy Taffy, the elusive Jolly Joes, the good kind of cinnamon bears, lemonheads, etc., etc.), it is a little disappointing.
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| Saturday, January 5th, 2008
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5:21 pm - Worst Fear Realized (sort of)
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There is much to update about, with Christmas a few weeks past, a new year, a new niece, etc., etc., but all that can wait. Yesterday, one of my worst fears since beginning my new job was realized. Granted it turned out to be not as bad as I imagined, but still...
I always said I would never be one of those women who walks around Seattle in her posh skirt suit, nylons, and socks and tennies. I remember seeing them while visiting the city growing up and ruthlessly making fun of them with my sister. Well how was I to know how much you have to walk while taking public transportation in this city?? To be precise, it's about 2 miles a day for me. Yeah, heels are not gonna cut it - trust me, I tried for two weeks and could barely walk afterwards. I did end up getting some wellies from Target (cute, but not as cute as the Sperry ones I wanted...but also about 1/3 the price), so I wear those on the super rainy days, but otherwise I have taken to wearing either my pink Pumas or tan Diesel tennies and carrying my cute work shoes in my giant carry-all. In my defense, my tennies are actually really cute. Plus everyone does it - like I said, there's really no way around it during this time of year (in the summer I will wear all my cute and comfy flats that would leave my feet wet and frozen if I wore them now).
ANYWAY, I am always very careful about making sure to put my work shoes in my bag so that I will have them when I get to my office. When I first started doing this I was terrified that I would forget them and have to wear tennies all day with my otherwise sophisicated outfit. Well yesterday I DID forget them! I got to my office, opened up my bag, searched through and realized they were sitting back in my bathroom, 40 miles away. GAH!! Luckily it was casual Friday anyway, so I was wearing sateen cotton khakies, which actually looked somewhat cute with the Diesel tennies. But STILL! Think of what COULD have happened! Just the day before I was walking to my office in my bright pink Pumas with my gray herringbone pants and black cashmere sweater! It would have been a nightmare. Like the ones where you accidentally go to school naked.
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| Tuesday, December 4th, 2007
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8:26 pm - All I Want For Christmas....
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Is some Wellies, some gloves, and a giant, heavy-duty-wind-resistant umbrella. This is my second week of working in Seattle, and I love it in spite of the torrential down pours which leave my pants soaking wet from my mid-thigh down, the gale force winds which literally almost send me rolling down Columbia Ave., and freezing my fingers off while waiting for the train in the morning. Yes, I LOVE my job, and I love working in the city, even if it means having to walk a couple miles a day in the lovely Seattle weather (note that in the summer there won't be any sarcasm in that last bit).
By the way, I was wrong in which office is mine in that picture. It's actually this one:
Well I will have to give a run down of my day a little later - I have been up since 3:45am this morning, so needless to say I am kind of tired. But I still need to tell you all about my experiences with the train (including getting to the train, and the somewhat crazy people who ride it), the people I work with (Sara - remember how I said the guy who is training me reminds of someone we went to high school with? I figured it out. Casey Talkington. I will let you think about how hilarious my days are), and all the many glories of working downtown (a lot of these have to do with food because I am pretty much obsessed, but they also have to do with shopping and watching people from my office window when they think no one can see them).
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| Thursday, November 15th, 2007
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4:05 pm - Office Space
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Have you ever been downtown (Seattle that is) and thought how awesome it is? The beautiful historic brick buildings, the huge, posh condo buildings, the market, the shopping, the waterfront, the fact that all this can be found within a few blocks? Have you ever thought of that and then envied the lucky that get to work there? In one of those cute buildings in Pioneer Square? With a nice office and a huge window overlooking Columbia Ave? Well you would be envying ME! Yesterday I accepted a job with FSI Engineers, a small, very successful firm of consulting engineers on the corner of 1st and Columbia. It is the perfect job because it is only 7 hours a day for three days a week, it is exactly what I want to be doing (lots of boring accounting stuff that for some reason I find exciting beyond belief), the people at the firm are amazing, I get to take the train to and from work everyday, and did I mention that I have an office with a window over looking Columbia Ave?? I've seriously been bouncing off the walls since I accepted the offer yesterday.
Here's a picture of the door to my building:
And the side:
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| Sunday, October 14th, 2007
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8:32 pm - KABOOM! And Other Delightful Anecdotes from Philly
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It's been less then a month since I last updated, but so much has happened. First of all, Harper turned one! September 26th was Harper's first birthday, and Erica's 25th. Harper woke up at 7:30am that morning and just knew that it was a special day. I gave her a tiny Happy Birthday balloon which she carried around while I made her favorite breakfast, waffles and cheesey eggs*. Then we dropped Tom off at work and I went over to my parent's house where Harper opened her first birthday present:
After a nice nap (that Harper took, not me...although there are plenty of days that I wish I could nap) my mom, Harper and I picked Tom up from his office and went to Kelsey Creek Farm in Bellevue where Harper saw all sorts of chickens, some 3 month old pigs, some sheep, a goat, and her favorite, a very friendly horse:
Erica met up with us at Kelsey Creek, and the birthday girls bonded:
We had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, then headed back to my parent's for special birthday cake (sorry, can't remember the bakery it came from, but apparently it's a super good one). Here's Erica and Harper stuffing their faces:
It was such a fun day! The next day I took Harper to JC Penny for some 12 month pictures. I had a coupon that was a little too good to pass up, and I figured if they turned out horrible I just wouldn't buy the prints and take her somewhere nicer. But to my delightful surpise they are adorable! And only $3.99 a sheet! Here are some examples:
This one is my favorite. She started walking up to the photographer very slowly, and I could tell she had her eye on the camera lens. She had this look on her face like, "Hmmm, that seems like a really fun toy..." I was, needless to say, very nervous about what she was going to do if she got any closer. I contemplated picking her up before she could do anything, but then the photographer quickly took a picture and this was the outcome!
Taking pictures of a one year old is hard. Really, really hard. Because she is old enough to walk around, but not old enough to reason with, I was constantly trying to get her to stay where the photographer told me to put her. This was the only good one we got of her standing up because she would just run after me (as seen in the picture below which isn't a very good picture, but hilarious nonetheless).
Here's a cute one of her doing one of her favorite things (of course this was also before she learned KABOOM from Elena).
Harper and I surprised Heather and Elena for their birthdays early this month, which was a great adventure. It was Harper's first plane ride, and (obviously) my first with a child. Of course being in first class made it much easier, but now I can never go back to coach. Ever.
Here are some cute pictures from our trip:
Ammon, Elena and Harper at the Game Piece Park in Philadelphia. As you can see, Elena is excited to be there and can't stand just sitting on her dad's lap while there are all these giant game pieces just waiting to be played on. Like, say, a giant domino:
After the giant game pieces we met Heather, who had just gotten off work, at Love Park:
The water was dyed "pink" in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but as you can see it looked more red then pink. Although with the fountain going and all the air bubbles I'm sure it would have looked pink, but it was turned off for a band playing on the other side of the fountain, which Elena was totally enthralled by:
There is a cute little park a few blocks from Heather and Ammon's home, so Harper and I walked there a couple times to play on the swings, which she really loved:
Their neighborhood is beautiful, with lots of lovely gardens, old stone and brick houses, and lots and LOTS of squirrels. Despite the sticky heat (95 in October!), I loved walking around the blocks and picking out which houses I loved the best.
But Harper's favorite part by far was playing with Elena. Elena taught Harper some pretty awesome new tricks, including KABOOM, which is basically falling down on your butt and yelling "KABOOM!" Harper couldn't get enough of it and was constantly Kabooming onto all sorts of things (the couch, a pillow, the bottom stair, and since we've been home, Scout). About two months ago Harper also started "talking on the phone", which in and of itself is adorable and hilarious, but she also has this special voice that she uses only while she's on the phone. It's much deeper then her regular voice and she always starts out by sayin "Heddo, heddo," which I assume is "Hello, hello". It's also a very urgent voice, as if what she is telling the person on the other line is extremely important. While we were there Heather and Ammon got new phones (see pic and explanation from Heather's blurty), so their old one was available for play. Here is another cute picture of Harper and Elena walking around the house talking on their phones to eachother:
Here is Elena blowing out her birthday candles (her face has a bit of a glow from some play makeup that her and her cousin Eva were playing with. I believe this was after Heather tried to wipe some of it off - you can see that Eva still has a lot of it on her lips):
And here is Harper thoroughly enjoying her birthday cupcake:
I had such a great time visiting them, it was sad to leave. Luckily I will be back after Heather has baby #2 on February 13th (hehe), and Elena reminded me before I left to "make sure I bring Tom next time."
Although it was sad to leave Philly, it was also great to be home. Tom had cleaned the entire house - really, it was spotless, I was quite impressed. It was really a lovely surprise. Harper was excited to be home so she could play with all her new toys that she got for her birthday, and to wear her new dress to church today:
After I put the bow in her hair I set her down and said, "Look how pretty!" Tom and I oooh-ed and ahh-ed over her, and she just knew how cute she looked. Later on when I was giving her a bath she kept putting her bathtub letters and numbers on her head and saying "Teee!" I think she was putting "bows" in her hair and saying "Pretty". So cute.
*She still likes waffles, but no longer likes cheesey eggs, or any sort of eggs.
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| Monday, September 17th, 2007
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3:50 pm - An Update for Heather
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Ok, this will have to be quick because right now Harper is sitting next to me in the office shredding a magazine to bits, but I wanted to do an update so Heather won't go crazy.
It has been raining for the last three days and I am slowly starting to go back on my last post...I just really don't know about this whole no sun thing. I wish it could be cold enough for Harper's cute fall clothes but still sunny.
Last Saturday (not two days ago, the Sat before) Tom, Harper and I went to the Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend. It was so fun! Harper loved the water (of course), and the weather was really beautiful. The only bad thing, or just weird thing really, was all the insane street performers on EVERY corner. I seriously don't remember Port Townsend being so hippyish, but my mom said it was always like that. Anyway, there was this one woman in particular who was wearing this long, white dress that looked like it was made out of gauze, her face was painted white, and she was holding a twig that was painted red. She was just standing there, and every once in a while she would change positions. We had to drive around town quite a few times to find a parking spot, so I kept seeing her over and over it was starting to creep me out. Then when we finally did park, we walked past her and she was doing this insane dance move and shrieking/singing. There was a woman standing in front of her (wearing socks w/ Birkenstocks) with her hands pressed together close to her mouth (like a little child praying), and she was bowing to the white lady and crying. When I walked past them I noticed that there was a small wooden sign next to the white lady advertising her dance studio. After we had past her I shook my head and said "Nigel would be so disappointed."
Harper will be ONE in a week and two days. We're having a luau for Harper on the 29th, but I have no idea where yet. The weather is supposedly going to get better, but we really shouldn't risk having it at a park. Suggestions??
Now on to pictures. The first four pictures are a photo journal of the various places Harper has put/shoved her small rubber ducky.
( What's in my shoe? )
( Harper watching Little Einsteins )
( Already mastered the 'Look Back' pose... )
( Let's watch TV )
( Tom's favorite boat at the Wooden Boat Festival )
( HA! )
( Look how curly!! )
( Playing w/ the camera case )
( Talking to Scout )
( Feeding Scout )
( Being adoarable )
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| Saturday, September 1st, 2007
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4:43 pm - Also...
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I forgot one MAJOR thing I am looking forward to: NO MORE SPIDERS!!!
And one more thing: Tom's 10 year reunion - he's SO OLD! Haha.
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| Friday, August 31st, 2007
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9:59 pm - Looking Forward
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For the first time in my entire life I am looking forward to fall/winter. Usually the end of August is really depressing for me as the summer ends and I have about six months worth of dreary, gray, ugly skies ahead of me...ok that is still depressing, but it also feels like this year there are a lot of things to look forward to. Here are a few things I am excited about:
- Harper's 1st Birthday!! Tom and I are taking her for pictures on her actual bday, then maybe out for some other fun things, then we are having a luau the Saturday following her bday.
- Tom and I starting school together. We have decided to try for some financial aid/grants and will hopefully start some classes in November.
- Wearing all my cute fall/winter clothes that I didn't fit into last year.
- Dressing Harper up for Halloween and going trick-or-treating!
- All the other holidays - last year were her firsts, but this year she is quite a bit more aware. It will be fun.
- Harper's new, super cute fall/winter clothes (size 12-18 months - she's so big!)
- Tom not having to worry about watering the lawn all the time.
- Scarves
- My mom's Thanksgiving dinner.
- Tom's 29th bday. His last year of being young, hehe.
- Hot chocolate (that's chocolate not cocoa. Sara, you created monsters).
Obviously there will be things that I miss about summer. Like the sun. But have you seen Harper's Ugg boots?? I can't wait! (Thanks Erica, they will fit her perfectly).
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| Thursday, August 16th, 2007
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9:38 pm
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There is much to update about. First, since it has been over a month since I got back, I will update about our trip to Utah:
June 29th Tom, Harper, Erica, my parents and I rented a van and caravaned down to southern Utah with my brother, his wife and the boys. Harper did ok, but no where near as good as she did on our drive down in Feb when she was 4.5 months old. Being slightly over 9 months, she did NOT want to be stuck in her car seat for 15 hours. I felt terrible taking her out of her seat to change her at a rest stop, then having her scream when I put her back in. But a portable DVD player and Baby Einstein really were miracle workers.
We went down for my Grandpa Tucker's 80th bday, and we got to Brian Head about an hour before the party began (we drove 15 hours to Sandy the first day, 5 hours to Brian Head the next). The party was so much fun, and it was great to see some cuzzies that I haven't seen since I was a little kid. And, of course, great to show off Harper. The nights at Brian Head were nothing short of hell, as there was no AC and it was record-breaking heat. Harper's crib could only fit right next to the window with the fan blasting on her, so she pretty much didn't sleep the entire time. But during the day she had tons of fun playing with the boys and swimming in the pool. We all had fun during the day - we rented a 4 wheeler for a day, played games with JoAnna's kids (these were probably Tom's two favorite parts of the whole trip), walked around Cedar Breaks, and one of my favorites things was spending time with my sister in law and getting to know her better. Erica and I had so much fun with her. We also spent the 4th of July there, and let the record show that Harper does not like fireworks.
After some good times at Brian Head we headed back north to Provo to spend some time with more family. We had more fireworks at the Bartholomew's (Harper still didn't like them - not even from inside through the window), and I got to meet my cousin Janet's two little boys Leif and Anders. Probably one of the cutest things I've ever seen is Tucker and Leif introducing themselves. It went like this:
Leif (to Tucker): I'm Leif, this is my brother (pointing to Anders).
Tucker: This is my brother! (Pointing to Alex, sounding very excited to have something in common)
Tucker: Hey, how old are you??
Leif: 5
Tucker: Me too! High five!
They high five. It's great.
Tom and I got to go to his sister and her husband's court date to officially adopt their baby boy, which was really great. The judge was such a sweetheart, and afterwards put his robe on McKay (my nephew) and took pictures. The next day they were sealed to him in the temple, and the day after that he was blessed. It was a really special weekend. Especially because that was also the weekend of Harper's first steps! Yes, her first steps were on a very lucky day, 7-7-07!
Here are some pics from Utah:
( Tom, Harper and I with Grandpa )
( Tucker reading to Harper )
( Brian Head )
( Alex, Tucker & Benjamin at Temple Square )
Now a little more about Harper, cuz I'm a mom and all I really want to talk about is my kid. She is great. She is growing and changing so much everyday, it is so much fun. A few months ago I started teaching her the different parts of the face, and she very quickly picked up "nose", and soon after "mouth". If I say "Where's my nose?" (or one of her favorite games, "Where's Grandpa's nose?"), she quickly points to my (or Grandpa's) nose. She does the same for mouth, and has been doing it for quite some time, and within the last couple of weeks she has started to point out eyes and ears. Just this week though, she's decided that it is really hilarious to grab my mouth when I ask where my nose is. I say "Where's mama's nose?" and she pinches my lips and laughs. She loves playing with Scout and petting Truman (Oliver typically stays away unless he feels she needs protecting), she walks all the time now and is even trying to run, and she LOVES Little Einsteins. She also bops her head and claps to music. I've been trying to get it on video, but it's really hard because whenever she sees the camera she just wants to play with the lens. Oh and every morning Scout runs in to her bedroom with me when I go to get her after she's woken up (it's so cute, he shoves his nose through the slats in her crib and wags his entire body), and this morning she said "Hi Dow!" About 3 weeks ago I slowly started working worth her to put herself to sleep for her naps and bedtime. It was really hard the first two days, but she did really great after that, and now I just lay her down in her crib, give her Grover and her blankie, kiss her goodnight and she goes to sleep! Some nights she will start to cry when I leave, but she is asleep in literally 30 seconds, I never have to go back in there. It's so awesome.
Here are some pics from the last little bit:
( Harper in her high chair )
( Harper playing the piano with Alex and Tucker )
( Harper ready for church )
Last Saturday we went to the beach with my parents and Benjamin:
( Scout at the beach - probably his favorite place in the whole wide world )
( Benjamin frolicking )
( Harper playing in the sand )
( Tom building a sand castle )
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(4 comments | comment on this)
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| Saturday, July 28th, 2007
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7:33 pm - Harper the Walker
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| Monday, July 16th, 2007
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10:07 am - bliss
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I hate bliss. Not the state of being, but the face and body product line, as in www.blissworld.com. But DON'T go there, you will be tempted, but their stuff doesn't work! I used to always get their catalog and a few years ago I ordered a butt load of stuff that promised things like "smaller pores" and "unclogged pores", and....well ok, so I got a ton of stuff to help my pores and that's pretty much it. But I can't help it, the pores on my nose are extremely stubborn. Anyway, they did not deliver.
But I did also get this foot cream and these crazy socks with this weird rubbery type stuff on the inside that helps your feet soak up the moisture (you wear them to bed after putting on the lotion). I'm not really sure why I even bought these items since they were expensive and I have never had any problems with dry feet. Not even when I was in gymnastics and I would literally dip both of my feet into the chalk bin so as to not slip off the beam. As a side note, this didn't actually work - after landing a back hand spring both my feet slipped to each side and I crotched the beam hard-core. It hurt so bad I ran (limped) to the bathroom and cried. However I was stubborn and tough, so I went right back out to the beam. But then when trying the same move I landed on my shoulder and did most of the flip to the side of the beam and landed on my butt on the floor. It was more embarassing then painful. I told my coach that I wouldn't be doing beam anymore, and luckily he agreed with me.
Anywho, I used the lotion and weid socks once, then they went into the depths of one of my bathroom drawers along with several other once-used products that I'm not really sure why I bought. Last year for my mom's birthday I was even tempted to give the lotion and socks to her since she likes foot care products - I was 8 months pregnant and it was about 180 degrees outside, and I didn't feel like going shopping. However I decided against it...not because it would be tactless, gross, and rude, but because I convinced myself that someday I would need them. Which, incidentally, is why I also have all the other things in my bathroom drawers...and under my bed...and in my closet.
But I was actually right! Someday has come and I do need them! I'm not sure if it was the dry Utah air (I believe they actually measure the humidity in negative numbers there) or what, but my heels are all dry and cracked. So I got all excited and pulled out the rubbery socks and lotion, but they didn't work! I used them two nights in a row and the next morning my feet looked and felt exactly the same. Last night I used the first step of the Mary Kay Satin Hands (that really thick pink stuff) and regular socks and they look much better now. Stupid bliss! I also hate them because they don't capitalize the first letter of their name. Why not??? It's a proper noun!!!
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(8 comments | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, July 10th, 2007
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4:32 pm - Product
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We just got back into town last night from a trip to Utah for my Grandpa's 80th bday. It was lots of fun, but good to be home. But more on that later - right now I have some serious list-making to do.
As Sara requested, here is a list of my must-haves:
1. Joico JoiWhip mousse - this is a new one for me, but seriously the best mousse I've ever used. And I've used a lot. No silicones, which is a must for my hair (and most curly hair), and the alcohol is plant derived, which is actually good for hair. A little goes a LONG way, which is perfect since I have to use it everyday (also cuz it's freakin' $15).
2. Bare Minerals foundation and short kabuki foundation brush - the first of many items from Bare Minerals...
3. Bare Minerals full coverage concealor brush - you can use it with the concealor powder, or your foundation powder. Covers everything! Esp. love it under the eyes.
4. Bare Minerals eyeshadows - can be used dry or wet and as liners. I especially love Sublime, Pebble, Bare Skin and Sugarplum.
5. Cell Renewal Systems 10% glycolic complex gel - I use it day and night under my moisturizer and I don't know how I lived before I discovered it.
6. Chi ceramic hair dryer with diffuser - There is a definite difference in pictures of me before I bought this dryer and after. I tried to save space last year on our trip to Hawaii by not bringing it - I will never make that mistake again.
7. Shaving Solutions shave oil - up until a couple weeks ago this totally eliminated any and all razor burn and bumps. Seriously amazing stuff - Tom also uses it on his face. Not sure what happened a couple weeks ago - I know my skin got extra dry in Utah, so maybe that is it.
8. Certain Dri - you use this deodorant and night and wash it off in the morning - NO SWEAT. I'm not kidding, it is amazing, especially for us shweaty people (thanks to Heather for introducing me to it).
9. Ouidad Deep Conditioning Treatment - Best thing in the world for curly hair. I have a soft bonnet dryer that attaches to my hair dryer, so I put the deep treatment on, then a shower cap, then the soft bonnet, and turn on the hair dryer to low for 20 minutes. Makes my hair soft, defined and frizz-free (no kidding).
10. OPI Nail Envy - it is freakin' expensive for nail polish ($16), but makes your nails super strong and shiny.
11. Cell Renewal Systems AHA Scrub - makes my skin sooooo soft.
12. Blinc mascara - aka tube mascara. This stuff is insane. Instead of putting paint on the lashes, it creates a tube around it that dries and is semi-permanent. When you want to take it off you get the tips of your fingers wet and rub, rub, rub, then pull the tubes off (it is REALLY easy to get off as long as you rub enough first). This stuff does NOT budge until you take it off. I've gone swimming, cried, sweated, even showered - it stays until I want it to come off, and taking it off is still super easy. I love no racoon eyes!!
I'm sure there are more, but right now I can't think of any. I just ordered some Ojon shampoo, conditioner, and deep treatment, all of which I've heard amazing things about, so I'll have to let you all know about that when I get it.
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, June 26th, 2007
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7:21 pm - Some Doozies
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