Monday, November 17, 2008
I Have a Real Life Now
Thank you to everyone who has inquired about my blog, and where the updated pictures are. The reality is, I HAVE A LIFE NOW! This is a fabulous change, and I was so busy relishing it that I just wasn't into getting online and writing about my life, when I was so busy living it! Now that Joe has been home for a few weeks things are starting to calm down a little. Well, I wouldn't say calm really, but at least I am making it a priority to get on here and share the wonderful happenings of my life with you. Enjoy the most recent posts about Jamin's party and Joe's homecoming, and I promise to continue posting more regularly to get caught up on the exciting adventures that make up our lives. Love you all!
The Moment We've All Been Waiting For
October 24, 2008. The Big Day. Jocephus finally came home, for good, from Iraq! He flew in at about 8:15 am, but the Welcome Home Ceremony wasn't until 1:30 so we had to wait a grueling 5 hours to get to see him. Needless to say, it was all worth it. Another member of our ward came home that day too, so we sat with his wife at the ceremony, and some other sweet women from church came to support us and take pictures. Thank you!
The ceremony was short and sweet. It had to be - there were 600 soldiers that came home that day. Can you imagine trying to hold back 600 spouses from their soldiers who have been away for 15 months? Right.
I guess we made it on TV, on one of the news channels. We don't have TV so I didn't even hear about it until a couple of weeks later. But hey, we're famous! Autograph anyone?
Seriously, we are so grateful for his safe return, and we know the Lord was watching over our family during this deployment. It is true that "absence makes the heart grow fonder" but I am so glad he is home because I don't know how much fonder I could get of him!
I know, enough words. You only came for the pictures. Wait no more!
Joe is the last one in this picture. He was first in the second row. Gene Cottrell, who is in our ward, is right in front of him. Welcome Home, Gene!
The ceremony was short and sweet. It had to be - there were 600 soldiers that came home that day. Can you imagine trying to hold back 600 spouses from their soldiers who have been away for 15 months? Right.
I guess we made it on TV, on one of the news channels. We don't have TV so I didn't even hear about it until a couple of weeks later. But hey, we're famous! Autograph anyone?
Seriously, we are so grateful for his safe return, and we know the Lord was watching over our family during this deployment. It is true that "absence makes the heart grow fonder" but I am so glad he is home because I don't know how much fonder I could get of him!
I know, enough words. You only came for the pictures. Wait no more!
Joe is the last one in this picture. He was first in the second row. Gene Cottrell, who is in our ward, is right in front of him. Welcome Home, Gene!
Happy 2nd Birthday Jamin!
Madeline's friend Jamin turned 2 in October, and he had a costume party to celebrate. Jamin is one of Madeline's best friends. In fact, she thinks he is her boyfriend. We have caught them kissing goodbye, and Madeline will even put her arm around him and tell him "I love you." Yeah. Watch out for those teenage years.
Jamin was a surfer for Halloween, so the party had a beach theme. All Madeline's friends were there. It was rad, dude.
Madeline was a Patty Cake Baker. It may be hard to see in the pictures, but I ordered her costume online and I swear the dress looks like it is made for a doll. It took some serious work to even get it on her body. The first 2 times I tried, I couldn't even get it on. I think I stretched it out while I was trying, because I finally squeezed her into it. Once it was on though, the hat said it all - Cutie Pie!
We even made it authentic with a little "flour" on the cheeks.
Classic 2-yr-old party. The kids all wanted to help him open his presents, and then play with the toys before he could even look at them.
Madeline and Haylee are superstars.
This is where she confesses her love for Jamin. Happy Birthday Jamin! I love you, too!
Jamin was a surfer for Halloween, so the party had a beach theme. All Madeline's friends were there. It was rad, dude.
Madeline was a Patty Cake Baker. It may be hard to see in the pictures, but I ordered her costume online and I swear the dress looks like it is made for a doll. It took some serious work to even get it on her body. The first 2 times I tried, I couldn't even get it on. I think I stretched it out while I was trying, because I finally squeezed her into it. Once it was on though, the hat said it all - Cutie Pie!
We even made it authentic with a little "flour" on the cheeks.
Jamin's little brother, Levi, was Squirt from Finding Nemo. Liam, the ninja, was hysterical with him. Levi is about 6 months old (right Christine?) and he was just chillin on the floor. Liam thought it looked like fun to go swim right along side him, so he repeatedly got on the floor and pretended to just swim through the ocean with Levi. So cute.
Another really cute thing about Liam and his ninja costume - his dad taught him what a ninja does, so if you go up to him and ask to see his ninja moves he crouches down and moves his hands through the air like a ninja while making little ninja sounds. He cracks me up.
Madeline spent half the time hoarding these huge balloons and running around the room with them on her arm.
Clearly I need more work on my cake decorating skills. I usually slap on some frosting and write "Happy Birthday" with gel icing.
Classic 2-yr-old party. The kids all wanted to help him open his presents, and then play with the toys before he could even look at them.
Madeline and Haylee are superstars.
This is where she confesses her love for Jamin. Happy Birthday Jamin! I love you, too!
Monday, October 6, 2008
Boston!
My friend Katrina moved to Boston about a month ago to attend Emerson College, and Madeline and I decided to take a mini-vacation to go visit her last week. We had a great time, although it started out rough (long periods of time looking for parking, a parking ticket, nail polish all over the apartment due to Madeline's "pretty nails", virtually no sleep the first night - thanks again to Madeline).
I am not generally a fan of big cities because I find them to be busy, loud, and most of all dirty. Boston may be fairly busy and loud, but it is certainly not dirty. That is easily the most gorgeous big city I have visited. The buildings are almost all brick, and they have very cool architecture. There are a lot of plants, trees, and parks, and everything is well-kept. You can tell there is a lot of money there.
Madeline and I got to experience our first subway ride, eat some famous cannolis, play in the Public Gardens, and do lots and lots of walking around. The biggest issues were the parking, and that there are stairs everywhere so it was pretty hard to get around with a stroller. Apparently no handicapped people live or visit there.
We tried some very yummy new meals (a Parisian sandwich, Frutta, and Formaggio), and really enjoyed the scenery. There is a park along the river called the "esplanade" that we walked along. Each afternoon there were probably a hundred boats out on the river, and the city skyline with the trees and glittering water was absolutely stunning.
If I had to live in a city, Boston would definitely be somewhere at the top of my list - as long as I was rich!
Thanks for the fantastic visit Katrina!
I am not generally a fan of big cities because I find them to be busy, loud, and most of all dirty. Boston may be fairly busy and loud, but it is certainly not dirty. That is easily the most gorgeous big city I have visited. The buildings are almost all brick, and they have very cool architecture. There are a lot of plants, trees, and parks, and everything is well-kept. You can tell there is a lot of money there.
Madeline and I got to experience our first subway ride, eat some famous cannolis, play in the Public Gardens, and do lots and lots of walking around. The biggest issues were the parking, and that there are stairs everywhere so it was pretty hard to get around with a stroller. Apparently no handicapped people live or visit there.
We tried some very yummy new meals (a Parisian sandwich, Frutta, and Formaggio), and really enjoyed the scenery. There is a park along the river called the "esplanade" that we walked along. Each afternoon there were probably a hundred boats out on the river, and the city skyline with the trees and glittering water was absolutely stunning.
If I had to live in a city, Boston would definitely be somewhere at the top of my list - as long as I was rich!
Thanks for the fantastic visit Katrina!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Seeking Self-Reliance
As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints we are admonished to strive for self-reliance, which includes being prepared in the event of an emergency. The First Presidency says, "We encourage members world-wide to prepare for adversity in life by having a basic supply of food and water and some money in savings." This is a fabulous concept; however, it is sometimes difficult to turn this idea into a reality. We all have our reasons - not enough money, not enough space, don't know where/how to begin... the list goes on.
I have been one of those people with great intentions of being prepared for emergencies. Until now. Now I actually am one of those people prepared for emergencies. Okay, maybe I'm not totally prepared, but I definitely have started taking steps in the right direction. I owe all my successes to the fabulous blog "Safely Gathered In", where Hannah and Abs have taken the time to help us poor, clueless folks take baby steps in becoming prepared.
What has seemed so overwhelming (for all of the reasons listed above) now seems totally do-able. They simply break down the various components, particularly related to food storage, and help readers to slowly but surely gather the needed items, and know what to do with them, should the need ever arise. They follow a weekly schedule with different types of posts:
Monday - inspirational thought to to motivate us to follow this important commandment
Tuesday - items to gather for the week; I love this day because it is so straight-forward. They already did emergency car kits piece by piece each week, and now they are working on 72-hour kits, as well as items for a 3-month storage each week, and longer term storage items each month
Wednesday -bonus postings; extra recipes, tutorials, guest postings, or whatever they feel like posting
Friday - Food Storage Friday! Each week they make a recipe using only food storage items (usually focusing on how to use the long-term storage item of the month), and they include detailed step-by-step pictures as well as the recipes. It always amazes me how appetizing these foods look; I am actually excited about trying pretty much every recipe!
Saturday - roundup, where they post links to other related articles, websites, or ideas they found during the week
If you can't tell, I am obsessed with this site. Why is it always easier to do things when someone tells you exactly what to do? I mean, I could easily take a list of items for a 72-hour kit and split it up into weeks, but for some reason it seems much simpler if someone else is telling me what to get. There are several more things that I love about this site, but I will stop gushing and if you are still interested you can check it out and see for yourself!
I have been one of those people with great intentions of being prepared for emergencies. Until now. Now I actually am one of those people prepared for emergencies. Okay, maybe I'm not totally prepared, but I definitely have started taking steps in the right direction. I owe all my successes to the fabulous blog "Safely Gathered In", where Hannah and Abs have taken the time to help us poor, clueless folks take baby steps in becoming prepared.
What has seemed so overwhelming (for all of the reasons listed above) now seems totally do-able. They simply break down the various components, particularly related to food storage, and help readers to slowly but surely gather the needed items, and know what to do with them, should the need ever arise. They follow a weekly schedule with different types of posts:
Monday - inspirational thought to to motivate us to follow this important commandment
Tuesday - items to gather for the week; I love this day because it is so straight-forward. They already did emergency car kits piece by piece each week, and now they are working on 72-hour kits, as well as items for a 3-month storage each week, and longer term storage items each month
Wednesday -bonus postings; extra recipes, tutorials, guest postings, or whatever they feel like posting
Friday - Food Storage Friday! Each week they make a recipe using only food storage items (usually focusing on how to use the long-term storage item of the month), and they include detailed step-by-step pictures as well as the recipes. It always amazes me how appetizing these foods look; I am actually excited about trying pretty much every recipe!
Saturday - roundup, where they post links to other related articles, websites, or ideas they found during the week
If you can't tell, I am obsessed with this site. Why is it always easier to do things when someone tells you exactly what to do? I mean, I could easily take a list of items for a 72-hour kit and split it up into weeks, but for some reason it seems much simpler if someone else is telling me what to get. There are several more things that I love about this site, but I will stop gushing and if you are still interested you can check it out and see for yourself!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
New and Improved
I got my hair cut today! I have been thinking about it for some time, and I finally decided to take the plunge as a little birthday present to myself. After all was said and done, I cut 8-9 inches off. Wow. But I like it, and it is a good change. My hair had gotten really long, about half-way down my back, and now it is... well, take a look for yourself.
Nothing too crazy as far as the style goes, but pretty drastic length-wise. In fact, I had to have the stylist cut more off after she was done because she had left it longer than I asked, thinking I would freak out when I saw how much hair was gone.
Nothing too crazy as far as the style goes, but pretty drastic length-wise. In fact, I had to have the stylist cut more off after she was done because she had left it longer than I asked, thinking I would freak out when I saw how much hair was gone.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
The One and Only
This is a pretty fun and interesting website that gives you facts about your name. How many of you are there? Leave a comment!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)