Tagged

My friend Emily tagged me so here are my answers!

1. What is the color of your toothbrush? PINK

2. Name one person who made you smile today. my grandma

3. What were you doing at 8 am this morning? talking with my mom on her bed

4. What were you doing 45 minutes ago? putting Charlie back down to sleep

5. What is your favorite candy bar? Oh goodness, it depends on my mood. Milky way, kit kat..

6. Have you ever been to a strip club? What kind of question is this? No, I haven't.

7. What is the last thing you said aloud? love you

8. What is your favorite ice cream? CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DOUGH, VANILLA WITH FRESH BERRIES

9. What was the last thing you had to drink? WATER

10. Do you like your wallet? LOVE IT. VERA BRADLEY clutch wallet in hope garden print. Tony gave it to me for my birthday last year.

11. What was the last thing you ate? CEREAL

12. Have you bought any new clothing items this week? Actually, yes. A new white skirt and red and white polka dot earrings

13. The last sporting event you watched? maybe one of the world cup games? not sure

14. What is your favorite flavor of popcorn? buttery

15. Who is the last person you sent a text message to? Tony

16. Ever go camping? Yes

17. Do you take vitamins daily? No

18. Do you go to church every Sunday? Yes

19. Do you have a tan? Nope, but I burn evenly

20. Do you prefer Chinese food over pizza? I am a pizza lover.

21. Do you drink your soda with a straw? I love to drink with a straw

22. What did your last text message say? I don't remember....

23. What are you doing tomorrow? flying home

25. Look to your left, what do you see? picture of Christ

26. What color is your watch? I don't wear a watch. I just use my cell phone to know the time

27. What do you think of when you hear Australia? beaches, Nicole Kidman

29.Do you go in a fast food place or just hit the drive thru? mmmm...depends

30. What is your favorite number? 16

31, Who's the last person you talked to on the phone? Tony

32. Any plans today? Spend time with family

33. How many states have you lived in? California, Nevada, Washington, Colorado, Utah, Arkansas

34. Biggest annoyance right now? Allergies

35. Last song listened to? Together, Jack Johnson

36. can you say the alphabet backwards? No way

37. Do you have a maid service clean your house? No, but I wouldn't mind that!

38. Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time? Flip flops or my tennis shoes

39. Are you jealous of anyone? No

40. Is anyone jealous of you? I don't think so

41. Do you love anyone? Yes

42. Do any of your friends have children? Quite a few of them do

43. What do you usually do during the day? take care of Charlie, clean

44. Do you hate anyone that you know right now? Nope

45. Do you use the word 'hello' daily? Yes.

46. What color is your car? Silver

48. Are you thinking about someone right now? I'm hoping that Charlie is still asleep

49. Have you ever been to Six Flags? No, but I've always wanted to

50. How did you get your worst scar? having my gallbladder removed

There you go :)

Charlie and I are in Utah visiting my family for the week. We're having a GREAT time! I'll post pictures soon.

6

Running Update

On Saturday I ran 6 miles. Yes, 6. I have stuck to my little half marathon training schedule and it is paying off.

Back in January, when I started jogging, 2 laps had me huffin' and puffin'. Yesterday I ran 60. That's what I like about running... Progress is easy to see.

Mr. Troublemaker

Backyard Swimming

Over the Fourth of July weekend, we bought Charlie a little pool for the backyard. I swear it has been overcast ever since then! Overcast and muggy :( We haven't used it since...until today!


This morning it was FINALLY bright and sunny, so during Charlie's morning nap I got out the pool and filled it up. Once he was awake, it was overcast again, but we were going in that pool no matter what. I was not about to bring in the chairs, dump out the water and put that pool away.


Charlie had a great time. He loves to splash and crawl around the edge of the pool.
He's getting so big! Did you know he is going to be 9 months old next week? I can't believe it.

The two of us are making a trip to Utah to visit my family next week. We are going to miss Tony so much, but I am so excited to see my family and friends there!

Any suggestions on how to make a smooth flight with a 9 month old?

Temple

Yesterday we were able to attend the temple together. It was such a wonderful experience. It had been so long since the two of us were inside together. This trip was a blessing and made me realize how important the temple really is. It was a bit of a sacrifice to get there, but I'm so glad we were able to go!

In order to go in together (Tony & I), we did a kid-swap with a family in our ward...which meant we had to be there for 3 sessions--one for them to go in, one for us to switch & one for us to go inside. We agreed to meet at 10 so we were up at 4 AM & on the road at 5 AM.

Luckily Charlie was so happy when we woke him up. I had to take a picture while Tony was filling up the car with gas.that little smile just melts my heart

I guess 5 AM is his happy time?

Charlie slept for several hours until we stopped for breakfast. Then back in the car for the remainder of the drive.


We played outside while we waited for our friends to finish and switch with us. It turned out pretty good, but it was hard having to be outside for 2 1/2 hours. Both Tony and I were dripping with sweat. Our temple shares a parking lot with a church building, but they don't open it, so we got to enjoy the WARM weather. I understand not wanting to open the church building because then a local member has to be inside supervising, but holy cow that would have been nice! We read books, ate snacks & lots of water and kicked around a soccer ball with their four boys.

Finally it was our time! Whoo hoo! Happy to be in the temple and the air conditioning :)

We had a wonderful time.

Don't worry, he's not dying of heat here. I sprayed his hair & face with water to cool him off :)

On the way home we had to make a stop at The Cheesecake Factory. Every time I go I walk away saying, "that was the BEST thing I have ever eaten." Well I'm serious. I had the best thing I have ever eaten yesterday. If you go, order the chicken bellagio....basil pasta with two deliciously breaded chicken breasts, slice of prosciutto on top, with a light arugula salad on top of that. It was so good I almost cried. Really.
Of course we HAD to get cheesecake so we finished our meal with a slice of brownie sundae cheesecake. Seriously, why isn't there one of these restaurants closer to us?!!!

It was a great trip. I'm so glad we were able to go. I imagine in the next 5 years a temple will be built near us. There are just so many members here! I wish I would have taken more opportunities to attend the temple when I lived in Utah. However, the plus side is that we had to plan in advance and were looking forward to this for many weeks. It was nice to have a whole day dedicated to going.

Southern Living

Everyone once in a while I'll have a moment where I stop and think, "ok, where am I again?"

This morning Charlie and I went grocery shopping at Walmart. While we were in the parking lot, a man stopped to talk to Charlie and said (in a thick southern drawl), "Well gooood mornin'! Have you been Walmartin'?"

Walmartin'? A verb for shopping a Walmart? I got a good laugh out of that all the way home.

There are lots of things I love around here.

I like how I feel as if I'm good friends with cashiers.
It's similar to when you get your haircut and for some reason you spill your whole life story to the stylist. That's what it's like every time I go shopping.
There are random people out there that know all the little details of Charlie's birth, his sleeping habits and what he likes to eat, where I grew up, the church I go to, etc.
I've been given recipes for different ways to cook cabbage (some questionable), labor advice, sweet comments & sincere compliments.
I know their children's names and ages, where they grew up, what they like to do around the area.

People are just so friendly.

I love the farms, pasture lands, barns and unique old homes.

I love how everything is GREEN. It is breathtaking.

I love finding wild blackberry bushes and picking so many that I'm not quite sure what to do with them.

I love the small town feel. Walking around town square with an ice cream cone, going to farmer's markets & friday summer night concerts there.

It's just different. I don't know how else to describe it, but I like it.

4th

We are having a GREAT 4th of July weekend! It's so nice to have Tony home on a Monday.

My mom made this 4th of July banner for me...thanks mom :)

On Friday, we went on an adventure to the drive-in theater. I've heard people say they take their babies to the movie theater all the time & others say don't do it. This was our in-between to see a new movie. We saw Toy Story 3 & Prince of Persia. Charlie did pretty well. He got a little fussy towards the end of Toy Story, but so did I. I cried and cried when Andy was leaving for college...I never want Charlie to grow up...He slept through the second movie though.I would say the night was a success!

Before we went to the movie, we had picked up a couple new toys for Charlie. This little car...
which converts into a walker/pusher kind of toy and a kiddie pool for the backyard! I'm so excited for this! We're going swimming this afternoon :)

On Saturday, we had plans to go to our ward pool party but that was canceled because of rain. It was a gloomy day! We took up an offer to go blackberry picking at a member's home in our ward. Free blackberries? Yes please. Tony and I picked in the rain while Charlie slept in the car. It was quite a fight for the berries we got. Those bushes are thorny! The next day at church, the lady whose home we were at brought us a big bag of frozen blackberries. We'll have to make a cobbler or something out of them. As for now, we've been eating them on vanilla ice cream. So good...On Sunday, we went to church and had dinner with a family in our ward. One of their sons is in my sunbeam class. It was so nice of them to invite us over! We had hamburgers and hotdogs--the perfect food for the fourth. When we were getting ready to leave, the boy in my class ran up to me saying, "WAIT, don't we need to say a closing prayer?!" What a cutie!
After dinner we headed straight to the park to see the firework show. We met up with our friends Taylor & Megan. We played phase 10 until the show started. Thanks guys :)

Both Tony and I were really worried about Charlie. I thought we'd probably have to leave halfway through the show, but we were pleasantly surprised! Charlie LOVED the fireworks! In fact, I think he sat more still through them than I have ever seen him. He was in awe.
It has been a late night weekend. Poor Charlie is way off of his usual schedule so hopefully we'll get back to normal soon :)

P.S. the 4th is my father-in-law's birthday. Of all the holidays, this has to be the best one for a birthday! Happy birthday dad! We love you :)

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!