Me and my homies

Shelby, Amy, Jenny, and Jenny

Me and some of my girls went out a couple weeks ago to see "27 dresses" and then to Olive Garden for some delicious food. Well, mostly delicious food. I know what I like, and therefore pretty much know before I go to any of my "regular" restaurants what I will be ordering. I like to go with my fav's because I can never go wrong, and I won't be kicking myself later for wasting an opportune mealtime. I do not like to waste those. They are precious moments in my life. So I of course ordered the Chicken Parmesan which is large enough for two, and I get to take 1/2 home for lunch the next day (YUM!) Shelby and Amy however split the Eggplant Parmesan, and they weren't too happy after that first bite. Duh. Ladies, I could have told you anything with 'Eggplant' in the title is going to be barf. But the restaurant was very nice and took their meal off of their ticket - gotta love restaurants that are so accommodating!! Jenny G. then proceeded to do mock lime/salt shots with her virgin strawberry daiquiri, reminiscing back to her wild teen years - Jen you are so funny, we all had a good laugh at that. I always have fun with you girls! Thanks for such a fun night!!



And by the way, she doesn't really do this in real life. She is a super-fun, super-clean, super-hot mama of three that likes to keep it sober. Only virgins for this girl. Daiquiri's that is.


One of the funniest parts of the night was when Jen was very insistent she needed change for her dinner, thinking she was getting like 5$ back or something. When the waitress brought back 4 pennies we almost died laughing.

Oh, by the way, "27 Dresses" was a very cute movie with the most climactic moment spent with the two main characters belting out the song 'Bennie and the Jets' on the top of the bar - it was a witty, funny love story and we all enjoyed it a lot. I looked over towards the end of the movie and Jenny and Amy were actually crying! You girls.

Whoops

Whoops.

This is what happens when Mom is half asleep on the couch downstairs and it is supposed to be "quiet time." Older brothers and sisters decide to do art projects, and then decide to let the napping child out of his crib. Apparently they didn't think he was tired.

By the way, these markers aren't so much the washable kind.

It's a good thing he's cute. People will be more inclined to look past the blue lips and hands for the next couple of weeks.

Twilight

I forgot to mention one thing in my extremely long list of posts today. We were all sick this week - Bailey missed three days of school, all three kids were up every night, they thought poor Carter had RSV, but luckily, everything is looking up. However, due to the fact that I was holding sick children all day, my house went to pot, dishes piled, laundry strewn, and I emersed my self in the Stephanie Meyer's series. They were so dang good! I read all three books this week and could not put them down. I am now officially obsessed and so so so sad I have to wait until August for the fourth book to come out!

I am also so worried that the movie will not do the books justice. I can only hope. I found this video someone made from utube on a fan site. They took clips from various movies and made it look like a trailer for her series. It is so beautifully done - Chris even went out and bought the CD that has the song "18th floor balcony" because we both liked it so much. I really hope you watch and enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-if9FEaiok

Back in the blogging saddle

Okay, so we all know there is a writers strike going on somewhere, screwing up all my die hard TV watching nights with Greys Anatomy, Housewives, October Road, One Tree Hill, CSI, Medium, (I could go on but I am embarassing myself) so lets just chalk up my absence to my support of those poor underpaid writers. Due to harrasing phone calls, comments, and death threats (I knew my friends love and miss me (sniff) thanks girls) I decided it was high time to get back in the blogging saddle!! I miss all my blogging buddies, and yes, the validation received by those much appreciated comments!! Please, don't hold back! I love you all!

So you say its your birthday (drrrnrrnrnrnrnr) hey, it's my birthday too!

One of my good friends called to sing me that song this morning, and yes, today is the mark of the last year of my youth. My last chance to prove yet again that I can be hot in my 20's, just as all of the movies in popular culture display, of the hot, successful, witty, in-shape 20-something woman. And that is what I walk around thinking I am, until every so often I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and reality sets in. I am a 29 year old mother of three (with the spare tire and stretch marks to prove it) who spends her days wiping bums, scrubbing floors, folding clothes, making meals, and every so often checking out of my day to day routine to see what my DVR beholds for my viewing pleasure. Don't get me wrong. I love my life. It is a good one, no, a GREAT one! I love being a mom, I love being a wife to the hottest babe there ever was, I love my sweet babies, I have the worlds greatest friends (Yes, ALL of you!) and my life is so so so blessed.

So I thought I would make some new-years resolutions, (okay, it's my second chance to start over this year, since I totaly screwed myself with those lofty weight loss goals I set for January by gaining five pounds instead. But hey, before you judge me, I had several pivotal emotional breakdowns during the month of January that could only be consoled by bowl after bowl of M&M's).

1. I am going to express more gratitude this year.

2. I have such great friends, I am going to be a better friend.

3. I will do everything in my power to heal the wounds of my past, and live a more joyful life.

4. I will eat healthier, exercise more, and be lookin fine, while I am still 29...

Happy Birthday to me!
P.S. The only reason I have been able to post the following like 10 posts after this one is because my dear new visiting teacher showed up with home baked bread in tow, and took my children home with her. In addition to the 4 (5? no I think 4) she already has. She just moved here by the way, bless her heart.

Not to mention, I truly do have the greatest friends, thanks for all your phone calls, well wished happy birthdays, lunches planned together, and the 'girls night out' awaiting. My heart is so warmed by all the love! You all are so kind and I admire you all so much! Thank you, thank you!

I don't have any sisters of my own, and am so thankful to have made so many over the course of my life!

Super bowl party

Any excuse for a party! Okay, so I did have to mentally prepare myself for the four hour marathon of a football game that I am not particularly interested in, but truth be told, I didn't actually watch any of it. We spent the afternoon with these guys:

These are our friends the Ball's. Aren't they cute?

The boys in the ZONE

Me and BB

Bailey, Jake, Carter, Jaxon and Cannon Ball (Yes, Cannon Ball). The kids

had way too much fun for their own good. Bailey and Jake

LOVE Jaxon and Cannon. They are some cute kids!

We of course ate too much food. It was good though. And I spent my time neglecting my friend all the while making these for my card club:

Wedding Bells

We went to Salt Lake last weekend for these two love birds..

Aren't they too cute?

My handsome little brother and me. I love you my little Rabi.

His beautiful bride, Jen. I love you too Jen.

The whole fam damily in front of Mt. Timpanogas temple,

which is absolutely BEAUTIFUL by the way. Wow, we don't

get too many pictures with all of us together.

BFF's

While in Utah for Dave's wedding, we got to see some of our BFF's from washington, the Yancey's! We love you guys! They took care of our three holy terrors while we went to Dave and Jen's sealing. We always have a good time with the Yancey's, its like coming home. They were our neighbors in our first apartment when we were all newlyweds. We couldn't believe that we had members of our church living right next door! Holy cow! Now all of my neighbors are in my ward.

I'll have you know, she is one of the cutest, funnest, funniest girls I know. She always makes my hair look cute, she knows how to decorate, and she always smells good. I love you Jen!

The two little buddies Chris and Dale. They are so funny together.

One of my fav. stories with the Yancey's happened a long time ago when we were neighbors. It was Chris's birthday, and I had bought like two bags of clothes for him from Old Navy, and had nowhere to hide it from him in our little apartment. So I of course asked Jen if she could hide them at her house for me. Well, Dale saw two bags of men's clothes in their spare bedroom and asked who they were for. Jen of course said, "Oh, those? They are for Chris." And Dale was all "What?!" and Jen was all, "Yeah, you know, for his birthday." And Dale was all "WHAT?!" And then Jen just started laughing when it finally occured to her that Dale thought that SHE had bought all of the clothes for Chris herself. HA HA HA! I laugh about this everytime it comes up!

Dale and Jen, we just love you guys.

Happy Birthday Bailey!

Happy Birthday !

So this one is 6!!

Happy Birthday Bailey Anne! You are such a joy to me. It seems like you were placed in my arms just yesterday. I longed for you. I dreamed of having a sweet baby girl, but I never would have guessed it would be this good. You have an infectious smile, a warm personality, a gentle spirit, a strong sense of right and wrong, and a valiant heart. You are such a great big sister. You are so helpful to mommy. You are so patient, and fun loving, and I admire you so much. You are such a blessing to my life, to our home and to all you encounter. I am so lucky to be your Mom!!! I love you so much!

love, Mom

Bunko!

It was girls night at JG's and we had a Bunko par-tay, let me tell you. So hey, where were you?

Thanks for putting this together Jen. We needed a fun party girl like you to begin it all!! We all had such a great time together, and now we are never going away...

Me and Jenny looking especially hot in this particular photo

(I am starting to think that I have alot of friends with the same name as me)

Me blowing on the dice, because coercion helps you win, don't ya know?

All of the fun girls that came, in two consecutive shots.

These are the cute prizes JG got - lots of valentines day decorations - good job JG.

We missed you if you didn't come! We are going to do it every month, so if you weren't here, I'm inviting you now, so you better come next time!

Latest card

This was the card I made for January's card exchange.

Tubing

We went tubing with my brothers over Christmas in Logan Utah. About 10 minutes from my brothers, their is this housing development with beautiful homes, and their own neighborhood park. We all had so much fun together. Bailey and Jake braving it at the top of the hill

My crazy little brother Dave actually went down this hill, but the picture does not do it justice.

Our family

My big brother Rich, stacy and 3 of the 5 of their kids

My sister in law Brianna and baby Tiara (missing, my brother Aaron and 2 more of their kids)

Me and my sweet big baby Carter

Dave and Jen, posing engagement style

This guy would not wake up for about 20 minutes. I even layed him on top of the snow, but to no avail. He likes his zzzzz's. Plus, he couldn't put his arms down, so maybe that was the real culprit.

I love seeing my brothers and sister in laws. I have a ton of CUTE neices and nephews, but I really can't post each picture individually. But I still love you kiddo's.

After Christmas Haul

So I have never actually done the after christmas thing, but after the serious haul I made this year, I will be hitting the after christmas rush forevermore. Me and JG got up at the dang crack of dawn to some serious snow on the ground. Chris didn't want me to go, but there was no stopping the shopping monster within. So I rolled out of my driveway at 5:15 AM with the snow a-comin down, and picked up Jen. I couldn't even pull in her driveway because there would have been no escaping. Any how, long story short, here are a few of the pictures of my house finally decorated AFTER Christmas from my thrify purchases:

Okay, so I'm gonna stop with the photos, because now it just seems like I'm bragging. Sorry. But I got such a great deal on stuff, and I was in dire need of real grown-up decorations. All of my buckets were from the days of newlywed life, and it was high time to bid them farewell. I did get gifts for all of my activity day girls for the year for only $1.44. I was so dang proud of myself.

Because I was a first timer, I had to call the afterchristmasqueen herself for advice. One of my BFF's Emily had lots of great advice on what stores to hit. We shopped by phone together, so we were together in spirit. JG and I had my minivan packed to the brim, so had to call it quits. We had so much fun, and I highly recommend this experience to all.