Sick! Sick! Sick!

I am so sick of being sick! I have had a nasty sore throat, headache, fever, and body aches the last three days. I have actually been forced to stay in bed for two days straight! Very frustrating. I'm feeling a bit better today, but I think that's mainly due to large doses of pain medication. :) I am hosting the New Year's Eve party tonight and I have things to do! I'll probably be forced to take a nap later though. :( Luckily I'm on antibiotics and I'm not contagious... otherwise I would have to cancel the party. So, wish me luck and I'll try to blog a bit more about how Christmas went and do some book reviews... cuz I have actually managed to read a few! Yay!

What Do You Think?

Personally, I like it!

Christmas Time!

I love this time of year! I've gotten my Christmas shopping done, wrapped, and organized. My tree and house are decorated (see below!).... Yay for a free tree! (Thanks, Sheri!!)


I went and partied at my mom and dad's to celebrate my wonderful mom's birthday! We made soap and lip balm with my mother-in-law Dori (I really like her!) and my new sister-in-law Hollie (I really like her, too!). We had a blast hanging out together!

Tonight we went over to Jimmy and Molly's and made gingerbread houses with the kids. Well, kind of.... the kids decorated their gingerbread house, we put them to bed, and then we decorated our own gingerbread house. We had a lot of fun!

Well, life is busy and very fun. I hope someday it will slow down a bit, but it's not looking like it will anytime soon..... I miss having time to clean my house, read a book, and relax.....

Fun Busy

I've been busy, but its been fun busy! I've been putting my front room together, organizing a Sub for Santa, taking my daughter to a dental surgeon, going to my brother's wedding, throwing a bridal shower, enjoying a scrumptious Thanksgiving, and entertaining wonderful guests. Its all been good, busy fun! I finished a book called "Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins late in the morning somewhere in there too. Highly recommended! I'll try to do a little bit better in keeping updates as this wonderful Christmas Season begins to unroll! Yay!! I love this time of year! Until then....

A Voice in the Night

I have been so busy at home lately that I haven't had a chance to blog. Sad! I've really missed it! I did get my front room painted and now I'm trying to get it put together. I have been taking pics throughout the process so I'll be able to post them soon. Until then, keep yourself entertained with this story that came from my mom while my kids were in Idaho:

"Last night Corbett danced at the Miss Hillcrest, um, pageant. It was very much like Junior Miss. We got there just when the talents were starting, 14 contenstants. I took Isabel and Breanna. They loved it. In the middle, Duane joined us. About contestant #12, there was a nice lyrical dance. Out of the dark comes this young clear voice, singing all the words to the music that the girl is dancing to.

It was Dolly.

Singing clear and loud, every word."

For your info, "Dolly" is Isabel. That's her nickname. The song was "Fall For You" by Secondhand Serenade. I guessed it the minute I read this story! She is a good little singer and I love listening to her sing. She memorized songs so quickly too!

Well, that's all I have time for today..... better post later..... this week...... hopefully.....

Busy But Good!

It's been a whole week since I posted and I'm trying to figure out what I did all week that would have prevented me.... Oh, wait... It's called life... :)

I don't remember what I did on Monday. Weird. Tuesday was our date night and we went and bought stuff to start painting our front room. We need to prime the walls and the ceiling so we will end up painting everything like 3 times. Annoying, but hopefully the results will be worth it! We also went to Bajio Grill which was very tasty. It started snowing on our way back and by the next morning, we had been dumped on! The probability of me getting my garden done just went way down. And I only had a little left! Oh, well...

Wednesday night we hung out with the kids and played dominoes. After they went to bed, I broke into the painting stuff. I got one wall done. Whoohoo! Thursday night I helped my kids pack to go to Granny's house. Then we went to Pack Meeting were Jacob earned his Whitling Safty Patch, had icecream in celebration, and headed to the Moore's house where I put the kids to bed. My aunt was meeting my mom at the 'half-way point' the next morning and my kids were going with her to be swapped out for her kids. Very convenient for me! So, Jacob and Isabel are enjoying some good Granny/Grandpa and Oma/Opa time up in Idaho Falls. They will be back this Friday and though I miss them terribly, I hope to get a lot accomplished.

Friday night Isaac and I went to a Relationship Date Night/Seminar that my friend Scott Anderson teaches. I've been to it many times before but this was the first time I had gone with someone I was actually in a relationship with. He gears the seminar part towards married couples. It was very good. I enjoyed it! The food needed a little help, but then again, Bro. Anderson didn't have me in charge of it (which he succeeded in getting me to agree to help out in that regard in the future...) He kinda likes me...

Saturday we went Christmas shopping. I had worked on our list all week! We went to Costco, Toys R' Us, K-Mart, and Target. We got about half of it done. Then we met Richard and Hollie for dinner at Cafe Rio (Yummmmm!) then went to their apartment for dessert and games. It was a lot of fun and I look forward to more nights with them like that! We headed home and proceeded to do more shopping on Amazon. We ordered the gifts we were unable to find in the stores. So, now I can say most of our Christmas shopping is done! Now I get to concentrate on all the fun details that make Christmas so amazing! Yay!

Today I slept in, went to church, took a nap, reviewed and rewrote my 'lists',and now I'm writing this post. Lazy day. I so need it! I have a big week ahead of me! Lots of painting, sore muscles, and whatever else is on my list. Should be good! I took 'before' pics of my front room so hopefully I'll get enough done this week to post them....

Later!

Happy Halloween!

Here are all the awesome costumes! We had a great time showing them off! Jacob and Isabel came to my work and went trick or treating up and down the cubicles and brought home over 5 pounds of candy EACH! And of course, we still had to go to Jimmy's ward's Trunk or Treat, my ward's Trunk or Treat, and then hit the neighborhood. By the time we got home that night each kid had over 10 pounds of candy. Way too much! So we went through it and got rid of 4 pounds of "undesirable" candy (like jawbreakers, generic stuff, candy that rips out teeth, etc....) and we still have two huge bags of candy left. *Big Sigh* So we won't need to buy stocking stuffers this year.... (yeah, right!) So if anyone needs/wants candy...please come over!! :)

Something really funny, Isabel out lasted Jacob this year. She went for a whole hour longer that Jacob! She LOVED going to all the houses! She was so cute and very polite!

Finally, here are the costume pictures:
Introducing 'Shadow the Hedgehog!' (If you don't know who 'Shadow' is then click here!)

My goofy boy! One of these days I'll get him to smile normally in front of the camera....

Okay... I am really proud of how this hat turned out! I didn't have a pattern and I made it from a knit hat, two Christmas stockings, and a fleece scarf. :) I impressed myself!

A beautiful Blue Fairy! After a few adjustments to bring in the bodice, the costume finally didn't look like it was about to fall off. Isabel was very happy with the results! She's so cute!

Flying and dancing around!

So Beautiful!! Isabel loved her purple hair and refused to take a bath until I made her take one the next night!

My wonderful friend Melissa dressed up in my pirate costume and I dressed as a 'Pink Lady' with my committee. When I got home, I darkened my eye makeup, painted my nails black, lined my lips in black, applied dark purple lipstick, and put on black clothes. I was a great looking witch!

And last but not least: Luffy!! Heck yes!!

This year's Halloween was a lot of fun. Hopefully next year's will be just as fun, but with less candy!!

Celebrating Fall 1

We have been enjoying the most wonderful weather this week! Our walnut tree decided to shed all its leaves so Isaac raked them up with some help from Isabel... and of course when you have a pile of leaves... you must jump in them! Enjoy the pics!

Helping Isaac rake up all the leaves!

Wow! The pile of leaves is almost as tall as Isabel!

Flying through the air!

Isabel had so much fun jumping in the leaves!

P.S. Halloween pictures will be posted tomorrow night.... :)

Celebrating Fall 2

We had a really fun time carving pumpkins! Here are some fun pics:

Jacob did not like scooping out the slimy middle... but he did it anyways!

Isabel needed some help with her "girl-face" pumpkin.

Isaac was very proud of the design he came up with for his scary pumpkin!

All three pumpkins turned our great!

This turned out to be an awesome picture!!

Well, the last few days have been busy and tiring. But good. Saturday night Isaac and I were up way too late laughing our head off for a great book idea. We got up and hurried to church where we both gave good talks. Then we drove to the Shawn and Christi's house were we enjoyed a scrumptious dinner and great conversation.
Monday we went and voted early and then went shopping and I made the cutest counting jars! Look:


They are for our Halloween Party at work. They are "Potion Ingredients!"

Yesterday was our date night and ward temple night so we combined the two. It was fun and we had some good food afterward at Chili's. YUM!

Well, tonight I finished Jacob's 'Shadow the Hedgehog' costume. I must say, I did a dang good job considering I didn't have a pattern and was going off internet pictures. And you'll never guess that I used 3 Christmas stockings and a scarf! :) Yeah. I surprise myself with brilliance once in a while.... Go me!

I also finished fixing Isabel's costume. Her costume was way too big around the middle and shoulders... I know... that doesn't surprise anyone. :) It turned out way cute and its hard to tell that it wasn't supposed to be that way! Again.... Go me!!

Well, I have exhausted myself these last few days and desperately need a nap... I have no idea when I'll get it. Oh well. Thus is life.....

Halfway

I am officially halfway done with cleaning my garden out! Go me! I'm hoping to get the other half done before the snow sticks... *big sigh* As soon as its all done I will post a before and after picture of my garden. :) And then next year I'll post more "after" pics as I plant and harvest goods in my garden! Yay! I'm actually really excited about it!

So, that was pretty much all I wanted to say. I got some good thinking done while working in the garden. I have to write a talk tomorrow and now I actually have some things to talk about. :) Gotta love a garden to work in to help clear the mind and generate ideas! Yippee!

Okay, I'm done now..... :)

Sick Day 3

Jacob was home sick again today... so I was home again too. I dropped Isabel off, picked up Jacob's homework, snuggled with Jacob for a morning nap (it was so nice!), woke up in time to get Isabel from Kindergarten, came home, showered, made lunch, did some laundry, chatted with my wonderful mom, caught up on computer stuff, and went shopping. I was gone shopping for almost 3 hours. We were so out of food! What took us the longest was Isabel trying to decide what she wanted to be for Halloween. She kept changing her mind and I had to threaten her with no costume this year before she finally settled on one! Crazy girl! And of course it was the original costume she wanted when we first got to the store. *Rolls eyes* We forgot to bring a picture of Jacob's character so we'll have to pick up his another time. His won't be too hard to create.

Anyways, I just had a great day today. I'm ready to go back to work tomorrow, but I'm also very ready to be home full-time. Gotta pay off that darn, ugly car! I will succeed!! :)

Sick Day 2

I'm home again with a very sick boy. He actually sounds worse today. If he keeps getting worse I will have to take him to the doctor! I really don't want to... So, since I didn't have to go to work today, I chose another project to tackle. So, I totally cleaned and organized my laundry/food storage room. It beautiful! I even took some pics! Here they are:



Nice and neat! Now it won't drive me crazy trying to do the laundry! I am really happy with how good it looks! :)

So, I never got to the store last night due to being too immersed in "Brisingr." I have to say it is a great story but an annoying read. If you like details about who, what, and where about the environment... then this is a fabulous book. But, if you are like me, and the details are better spent on the characters and a fast paced plot, then you will have a good time skimming the details to get to the good stuff. Overall, I liked the story and the twists, but not the boring details of what everyone was wearing and who was sitting where and blah, blah, blah....

Well, I've gotten a lot of good organizing done in my house the last few days. I feel so much better! I have one more major organizing project and then I think I will be able to breath a little easier... until my brother moves out! Then I'll have 3 more house projects to complete! :) Yay! Until then, I think its time to focus on my garden again. I'm almost halfway done! *Sigh* Back to work!!

Sick Day

I called in "sick" today because Jacob sounds like a frog. I think I am getting a preview of what he'll sound like in 8 years. :) Its been a great day! I took a nap, picked up Isabel from school, cleaned and organized Isabel's room (it was a disaster!), caught up on finances, lists, and comics, and now I'm catching up on my blog! And the day isn't even over yet! I still have plans to go grocery shopping, make dinner, water my lawns, and work on some other projects I enjoy doing. It's been a great sick day! :)

Days like today really make me anxious to be home full-time... Look at all the wonderful stuff I could accomplish!! Someday.....

One Month

So yesterday was our one month anniversary... I admit I didn't realize it until my sweet husband came home with flowers and a book! He really know the way to my heart! :) He bought me the 4th "Leven Thumps" book which just came out. I put it on my to read shelf since I'm still in the middle of "Brisingr". We went out for a nice dinner, hit the bookstore, and just had a nice evening chatting and hanging out. I really enjoyed it. :)

Tonight, Isaac and I went down to the BYU Bookstore to join Brandon Sanderson at his book signing. He just released the third and final book in his "Mistborn" series. A series I highly recommend! I'm excited to finish reading them. Anyways, Isaac did all the maps and symbols for this series so he signs the maps when Brandon signs the book. The fans really like having the artist sign their book too! I had a good time chatting with a few people and then getting kidnapped by my wonderful friend Kali for a tour of her new home and delicious Taco Soup (I LOVE Taco Soup!) It was a fun night for me and I know Isaac really enjoyed himself too.

Well, I'm off too sleep. Both of us are fighting colds... mine is losing... I hope!!

I Have an 8 Year Old!

I would loudly exclaim that I am not old enough to have an 8 year-old child except that I obviously have an 8 year-old son. So maybe I should confess that I'm starting to get old? BUT I remember my own mom and other's moms when I was 8 and I remember them seeming so "adultish." I'm so not "adultish!" Then again, maybe my son views me that way.....



Jacob's Birthday Bash was a HUGE success! We had over 80 people attend the baptism and over 60 attend the party. Yeah... we had to go buy more propane, chips, and drinks. But it was a blast and a half!


And look! I got pics!! Well, actually my awesome cousin Becca was in charge of the camera which (I really appreciated) since I had others things on my mind (like throwing a good party!) so then I didn't have to worry about not getting any pictures of my son's momentous 8th birthday. We had family from all 4 sides of his family. :) And tons of friends. It was just awesome and I had way too much fun!

Jacob got some pretty cool gifts, I just have to add. I admit I coordinated most of them (less I had to buy!). He got a lot of fun toys and most important- church and scout stuff! This was his favorite gift... a BIG Bionicle!!


After the party, Jacob and his posse of friends played his new game "Mario Party 8" until I had to send two of them home because they were getting to annoying (to put it bluntly). Then Jacob and his cousin Zach worked on the Bionicles that Jacob had received. It was very quiet for a long time. We spent the rest of the evening with my sister Aprilynne and her wonderful family. We played "Nertz" (a very fun, fast card game) and chatted until they had to go home. Here's a picture of her son Gid eating the leftover birthday cake.... I think its cute!

Anyways. The day was a success. Isabel is feeling tons better. I'm excited to post pics on here now. And now I'm looking forward to sleeping tonight. :)

A First!

Well, I got to ride in an ambulance for the first time today... after I flagged it down.... because I had an inkling that my daughter was in the back.... and she was! Yay! Seriously! It's really funny now that I look back on it, but at the time I was very shaky and worried. I received a phone call informing me that Isabel was having a hard time breathing at school and that her Grandma Ann had taken her to the Urgent Care and that they had called an ambulance to transport her to Primary Childrens Hospital. What mother wouldn't run out of her work shaking and crying? Yeah, there will be lots of questions on Tuesday. So I rode with Isabel to the hospital and we got checked in and they checked her out, diagnosed her with "Croup", gave her a steroid, and then informed me they wanted to keep her a few hours for observation. So, Isabel and I had fun drawing, reading books, eating lunch, and sharing snacks. It was really quite fun! It was like a mother/daughter date! After her observation period was over, Isabel and I headed home and took a nap. It was wonderful. The meds they gave her at the hospital have already made a huge difference in Isabel. She's sounding SO much better!

Anyone that knows me, know that I am rarely without my handy dandy cell phone. It's just a part of me and I feel totally naked without it. Well, today I went to work "naked." Of all days to forget my phone at home... really... it was horrible! I couldn't call anyone because most of the people I would call have long distance numbers. So, I called people from Jimmy's phone while he was there and then had to call my brother at work for the rest of my calls. I don't have my husband's phone number memorized and its long distance so I had to call my brother who got the hospital's number from caller ID, I gave him Isaac's number that I had gotten from Jimmy's phone (ironically enough!), and then he called Isaac to tell him what was going on and give him the number to contact me. I thought it was hilarious! By that time, things were good and settled down so I was out of panic mode. The whole lack of phone was an adventure inside an adventure. Pretty funny!

Tonight, I got to see some of the Chrisman relatives that I miss and love. We hung out for a while, had a great dinner made by Molly, and they got to meet and chat with Isaac. Overall, a very fun and renewing experience. :)

Well, I'm exhausted from my crazy day and I'm excited for tomorrow! I want to post pics of tomorrow so hopefully that will give me the motivation to figure out how to post pics here.... hopefully I'll remember to take some!!

Trimming Away

I did a ton of trimming today. I trimmed my grass, I trimmed some trees, and I trimmed some weeds from my garden. I still have a ton to do to get my garden prepped for spring, but every little bit helps! I now have a massive pile of tree branches in my drive way and almost 4 bags of yard stuff! Hopefully I'll fill some more tomorrow!

Jacob gets to go to his first Cub Scout meeting tomorrow. He's just a little excited. The cub leader came over tonight to talk to him which I thought was really nice. She seems to be a really fun leader! So, one more thing I get to work with Jacob on!

We decorated our cubicles at work today. We strung spiderwebs all over and put up some fun bats. We called it "The Batty Cave". Very appropriate. :)

Well, that is it for today. I'm excited to be out working in my garden again tomorrow.....

Starting Things

So, today I came home with the resolve to get started on stuff that needs to be done on my yard (there's a lot, but it will be worth it!). And I did! I chopped up and bagged all the tree branches my mom had cut off while trimming my trees (She did a fantastic job BTW), I filled in some holes left in my yard from taking down some really ugly and old trellises, I pulled most of the big roots out of my front flower bed (stupid ivy had grown into trees!), and I planted the two trees that I had bought on clearance (heck yes for $5 trees!). So, I feel pretty darn successful! Tomorrow I need to spray my lawn with some weed killer so it will soak in before it rains this weekend. Hopefully it won't take very long cuz I'm supposed to be helping my friend Kali clean her old apartment. We'll see if that still needs to happen....

I am also started to catch up on "Heroes". I love that show! There is a ton going on this season and I'm excited to see how its all gonna work. Its got a lot of crazy, dark, and some disgusting scenes already...... should be good!

I started something else today....but I can't tell what it is..... but I'm excited for it!

Tomorrow I'm gonna hopefully start a new book. I am going to read "Brisingr" and hopefully it will be a good read. Took long enough to come out!!

I like starting things....I really hope I'll be able to finish all the things I'm starting.... Wish me luck!!

Fun and Stress

What a weekend! I had family and friends over and we partied till we dropped! We celebrated my dad's birthday.... HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!! And we are just going to do it all again next weekend due to it being my son's birthday this coming Saturday. Good times ahead!

Well, I had such a busy weekend that I didn't get a chance to write about the book I finished reading. It is called "Gone" by Michael Grant. I really enjoyed it!! It is about how all the kids in a small town cope with having everyone 15 and older suddenly disappear. And some of them left, have super-powers. Very cool. I loved the characters and I think the author did a great job at guessing how these kids would react and manage themselves under these extreme circumstances. He put some great twists in there that really made this story unique. Anyways.... I highly recommend it!

I've been trying to not get stressed out about my potentially gorgeous yard. It's very over grown and there's a lot of work that needs to be done and I just don't seem to have a lot of time to do it. *Big Sigh* Luckily, my mom has been helping me see how I can do little things to slowly get it to where I want it and she has helped me to have a "vision" of what I want my yard to look like. That has helped a lot! Its hard to plan steps to get somewhere when you don't know where you're going! So, I now have a plan, and hopefully in a year or so, most of the plan will be accomplished! I took some pics so I can do before and after comparisons. As soon as I learn how to post pics on this blog, I'll post them.

Later!

Differents

My sweet husband and I went on our first date tonight as a "married couple." It was different. Not a bad different, just different. For instance, we went out for sushi and as we were talking about what to order, he asked me if it was in our budget to get three rolls instead of just two. That never happened before. Also, when the check came, I signed it and I kept the receipt instead of him. That also had never happened before (he was such a good guy to date!). It was different.
And it wasn't just the money thing, it just felt different. We didn't have to have "trying to impress you" conversations. We just chatted. We didn't have to constantly be seeking ways to touch each other. We just enjoyed the closeness. It was a really nice different!
After diner, I went shopping for a new bra (coupon + gift card = new bra!) and Isaac got to help me pick it out. We browsed styles and colors and then when the lady escorted me back to the dressing rooms, she told Isaac he could join me. He was happy to oblige and enjoyed giving his opinions on how the different bras looked on me. It was definitely different picking out a bra, on a date, with a guy in the room with you. A fun different!
We made our way over to the bookstore and wandered around picking up books that looked interesting, weird, and terrible. Something we both enjoy doing. We finally headed home and for the first time after a date, we got to go into the same home and stay there. I like going home with my husband! Its a very pleasant feeling.....a good different!

Adventures in Bread Making

Okay! I did not attempt rolls last night. I was running short on time so I decided to do biscuits instead. They were so good! I basted them with olive oil and sprinkled garlic salt and italian seasoning on top. They were really fluffy too! After dinner I decided to make bread. I only had white flour so white bread is what I made. I found a basic recipe and started throwing in the ingredients...until I got to Powdered Milk. I don't have any powdered milk. Hmmmmm....so my brain started thinking of other things that could substitute powdered milk. I came up with powdered potatoes! So I added the requested amount of "powdered stuff" and continued adding and mixing the ingredients together. Well, after adding everything, the dough looked really dry. So I added some milk! That looked a little better, but it was still pretty crumbly. I've seen others make bread before and it just doesn't look like that. So, I was getting ready to add more milk when I realized, "Duh!" the milk is COLD! Yeast doesn't grow in cold temperatures, thus the reason you store it in your fridge. So I added some warm water and it started looking a little better, except that the warm water was now leaking out the sides due the the intense sloshing that was going on in the bowl. Well, I just let it mix and after about 20 minutes, I hesitantly checked it. Whoa! It actually looked like bread dough! Amazing. I tested the 'elasticity' as I had seen my mother do....I really couldn't tell what I was testing for. Oh, well! I did the test! Next, the recipe said to let it rise for an hour. So I waited about 40 minutes. It looked bigger. I poked it and it started to deflate so I figured I was good to go! I took the extrememly sticky dough out of my Bosch and tried to shape it into loaves so I could put it into pans. They weren't pretty. I kept having to pull the dough off my hands and fingers! Again it said to let rise for an hour, but after 20 minutes, my dough was about ready to spill over the sides! So I popped them into the oven and a bit later.... Da Dum! Bread!! Yay! I tentively tasted it and it was surprisingly really good! And moist! So, I'm very proud of myself and my first attempt at making bread with my new Bosch! Hopefully many more loaves will come out of it...

New Blog

Well, here is the first entry to my new blog! Yay! I figured I have a new husband, a new house, a new name, and a new life so I should start a new blog!

I've been back from my honeymoon for a week. I have accomplished much this week! I rearranged my kitchen and bathroom, unpacked two closets, cleaned out my room, gone through all the wedding gifts and cards, planned and executed a birthday party for my new husband, and managed to get my lawn mowed yesterday. I still have a lot to do this week, but I feel better now that my upstairs living space is somewhat organized.

I also purchased a Bosch and a Wii this last week. Both have been used and enjoyed and I'm looking forward to learning how to use both! I think I'm gonna attempt some yummy rolls tonight....