Baby Shower #2 and #3

On Saturday I had two baby showers! (How did I get so lucky?) The first one was at 10am, and Faith was a fantastic hostess! (She didn't get in any of the photos, because she was in charge of the camera. I should have noticed and fixed that, but wasn't thinking. All the blood is going to the uterus, you know!) We played a game where you melt candy bars in diapers and try to guess what they are, and also a game where no one can say "baby" or "cute". Basically, we all had five clothespins, and if someone caught you saying the taboo word they got to take one. I lost horribly! :) Lauren won it by about 7 pins or so.

It was crazy! Then we opened gifts.
Lauren made me a teddy bear! Isn't it cute?
Melanie got me a gift card.
Britney also got me a gift card. Also, I have to say that this was the first time I had seen Britney in at least 6 years, so it was so fun having her there!

Heather got me a goodie bag full of all sorts of fun things! It had some white onesies, diapers, a pack of gum, a cute birthday banner that she made, a really soft blanket with polka dots, some shower gel and a loofah, some toys, and I think that was it. Sorry, Heather if I have forgotten something. I appreciate it nonetheless! Also, her Jason always writes Roses are Red poems in cards and he wrote:
Roses are Red
Oceans are Blue
Babies look funny
There's nothing you can do!
But don't worry, they usually grow out of it. .......usually.
We all had a good laugh!

Kaylee got me a cute set of pajamas with duckies on the feet.

Faith went in on a group gift, and got me a travel system! Yay for that!

The second baby shower was at 1pm. It was at the church, and the theme was "What will it "bee"?" There was a really cute cake that Krystal Walch made me that looked like a beehive and had bees on it made with twix bars and marshmallows. It was really adorable! I don't have any photos because I was dumb and forgot my camera. (Ditto on the blood thing again) Devera made me a cute quilt that was yellow and black striped and we tied it during the shower with black ribbon. Her girls, Sheralyn and Madelyn made me a soft yellow fleece blanket with a Winnie-the-Pooh border. We played a guessing game, to see how many of certain types of snacks were in a baby bottle. Shockingly, I won the one with the cheerios in it! I have always been awful at those. Although I was still over 150 off. Oh well! :) They also had a pinata that I had to break. It was hilarious! It took me probably a good ten minutes to break it open, and some of that was without a blindfold! And I had a BASEBALL BAT! It was very well reinforced!

Then we opened gifts!
Carrie Garner and Amy Peterson got me some Dreft (which is sensitive detergent just for babies) and some handmade burp cloths.
Marilyn, Celeste, Natalia and Tatiana Hernandez got me a reall cute Arthur book (that we read out loud, and all had a good laugh about), some cute puppy pajamas that are really soft, and a cute and soft teddy bear.
Dardree and Jessica McClellan got me a cute purple sweater with a bunny on it, some PJs with pink and purple flowers, and a pair of booties in yellow. The shoes are SO tiny!
Alison Pack got me a check, which is always nice!
Krytal Walch got me some Infant Tylenol, a medicine syringe, Bordeaux's Butt Paste, and Vaseline.
Devera, Sheralyn and Madelyn got me the aforementioned blankets. And also they were in charge of the shower. It was loads of fun!

Birthday Fun!!

Well, yesterday was my birthday, and it was a crazy but good day. I guess birthdays are usually like that. It started out with a phone call from Suzanne (who is the choir director in our ward) who was wishing me happy birthday (I'm not even sure how she knew it was my birthday...) and wanted to know if we wanted to go over to play games in the evening. Then I had a meeting, and I got sung to. Then Devera (one of the other Beehive leaders) came over with a card. It was very sweet of her. Then I went to babysit Jack, and as I was getting there, Marilyn (another YW leader) sent me some texts telling me how great I am and also wishing me a happy birthday. Then it all calmed down some. Jason Acosta also sent some birthday wishes my way. Then I got home and I was surprised with flowers and a cool pancake-waffle pan from Williams-Sonoma (shown above) that I have been lusting after for a while. Seriously- delicious. Then we went over to Suzanne's for games and had a great time. It's so fun getting to know people! It was a great birthday!
But of course, birthdays tend to bleed over a few days. It started with my mom's gift arriving about a week ago, which was all sorts of cool spices and a cookbook and some recipes. I might do another blog jst about that. It is oodles of cool spices! Mostly Indian and Morrocan. Sunday, Lauren and Adam came over to hang out with a cake (it had strawberries on top and between the layers- yummy!) and a cute pink sweater, some beads, and a cute zipper pouch she made. Today, I am going shopping with Faith, and she will be getting me a present, but I don't know what it is yet!! It will be so fun!

I Am Unable to Stick to my Guns!

First of all, I should really start taking more photos. I am so bad for not having photos in my posts- so apologies all around. I am a bad blogger. I guess I am just so busy lately, and even though I have oodles to blog about, I never find the time to do it! Here is a quick recap:

Last Wednesday, Jason and I went to see John Bachar with Adam and Lauren. For those of you who don't know (I certainly didn't!) John Bachar is like a super famous climber. He free solos (which is without a rope!) and I think he's a little crazy. But it was cool, they had a raffle and gave away tons of climbing gear. None of us won anything, but it was still fun. Also he had tons of crazy photos, which are always neat to look at. And he held the door open for me, so I guess I have that claim to fame now. For climbers, anyway...

Last Friday- I went over to Faith's house, and we did pedicures! It was so much fun! We also did her two-year-old Grace's toes. I taught Faith how to do flowers, and we did each others' toes. She did an amazing job for a first time!

Last Saturday- It was Jack's 2nd Birthday party. His actual birthday was on Monday, but the party was on the weekend for obvious reasons. Heather and Jason went all out and even rented a bouncy castle. It was kid heaven! Then Heather and I had a great rest of the day doing stuff for free! She had a bunch of gift certificates- which I did feel bad for using, so Thanks, Heather!- and we went to see Monsters Vs. Aliens in 3D (which was Heather's first 3D movie and way fun) and went to Chili's. We also did a little shopping, which was not free. It was a really fun day!

Sunday- Lauren's birthday was on Saturday, but since Adam was working then, she decided to do her birthday thing on Sunday. We had fondue at her house. Fondue is always a blast, and it was very delicious! I especially loved the strawberries in the chocolate. The strawberries were so tasty! I love strawberry season! I have been thinking that I need to go to Costco and buy me a giant thing of strawberries!

Tuesday- Jason and I went to the Small Business Development Center to talk about our business. Everything is going really well. In two weeks, we are supposed to be able to do a proposal or a sales pitch. A little scary, but pretty exciting as well. Also I taught our Mutual activity, and it was a good meaty scripture-y one, which are my favorite kind to teach. And the girls enjoyed it! One actually came up to me and told me that she loves it when I teach the scriptures because I make it so easy to understand! So that made me feel really really good!

I guess that is all that has been going on since I last posted. I promise, next time I will do a whole post for each activity. And maybe even take some pictures!

Oh, the shame!

So it has been over a week since my last blog post. Oh- you say- did you just have a really boring week? Why, no! Actually it was a very full and busy week, so full in fact that I cannot remember what happened before Thursday, so let me start then...
Thursday was Heather's birthday!! (Happy Birthday, Heather!) I thought I would be all sneaky and pretend I didn't know her birthday was coming up and surprise her at home. Because OF COURSE she would be home when I dropped in unexpectedly, right? Like she might have other plans for her birthday! (scoffing) So, I drop by, and, lo and behold, no one is home. Uh-oh! So I called her Jason and asked if he happened to know where she was. I didn't have much hope because he was working, but I was proven wrong. (Yes, Jason, I said I was wrong!!) It turns out she was getting her hair cut! So, I got directions and headed off to the hairdressers. Now Heather had REALLY long hair, and she had 17.5 inches chopped off, and it's still just slightly longer than my hair. It is a super cute hair cut! Then we hung out for a while and when Jason (Heather's, not mine) got home from work we all (minus my Jason who was STILL at work) went to check out this new restaurant called Smoked Apple BBQ (or something REALLY close to that) and it was super delicious! They had a sweet cornbread that was like a coffeecake, with streusel and everything! It was a fun day!
Friday, Dan and Faith plus kids and Jason and I all had a barbecue at the lake. We were slightly delusional about the weather, but we had a good time anyway. We made shashlik (shah-shleek) which is a Russian type of pork shish-ka-bob. It is delicious, although to be fair, not as good as usual as I ruined it by not adding enough black pepper. It was still good, but not quite as tasty. It was super windy and we all lost a few plates. Then they came over for a bit and played a game. And you all know how I love to play games!
Saturday I made some tasty chocolate chip muffins, and today I made some tasty lemon blueberry muffins. Both from scratch- no mixes!! They are both very tasty. Seriously.

Cupcake Frenzy!!

Me- chomping down on one of those delicious cupcakes! (PS- like the earrings? I'll post them later...)


So, I was having the WORST craving for baked goods lately! I mean, bad! I would be in the grocery store, just drooling over all their day-old stuff. Even stuff I don't really like! So, I thought before I got too bad, I had better make something tasty myself! I went over to Faith's and we had a blast making cupcakes! Her two-year old, Grace, was in candy heaven. Who knows how much sweet stuff she ate! It was loads of fun! Oh- the blank spot was a cupcake I ate. It wasn't very cute, so I didn't feel the need to document it.
Now- a little guessing game for your enjoyment. (And Faith is not allowed to answer, as she already knows all the answers!) What are my cupcakes portraying?
I'll give you a hint to get started. This guy is feeling sheepish. Or maybe guilty.
Hmmm- classics, classics, classics!
Okay- I'll give you one. This one is portraying absolutely nothing. Hey- I'm not THAT creative!
Katie- This one I did Just For You! Oh, and I smeared one of the eyes. But you get it! This one is also my favorite, I think.
The only one, well almost, that isn't a person.
Ahh- the memories!
Anybody watch Cartoon Network?
Umm- this one turned out different than I meant it to be, but I still have a firm idea of what it is.
Okay- this one is a little tricky. Bonus point for anybody who can figure it out!
Her wart fell off. Or rather, one of them did.
Not really sure what this is. Scared red-haired kid? No idea. Maybe he's just dumb. It was my first one -give me a break!

Ho-Hum Life

So, I thought I would regale you all with a lovely tale of my day-to-day life, since I know you all think it is SOOOO fascinating!
9:00- Alarm goes off. I don't want to get up, since I know I have to clean
9:30- Jason gets up.
10:00- I get up and hop in the shower.
10:30- I am dressed, and begin cleaning by sorting the laundry that I did on Wednesday, or maybe Tuesday. I find I do not have enough hangers for all of our shirts. Maybe I should buy some more.
11:00- I start cleaning the bathroom. I put cleaner in the toilet bowl, and promptly forget about it.
11:30- I start cleaning the kitchen. I begin by clearing off the table, and then start the dishes.
12:00- Jason and I fight over who has to sweep and mop. Okay, not a real fight, but still. I lose, but Jason has to clean the living room.
12:30- I realize I am all out of clorox wipes, and I cannot survive without them.
1:00- I take some time to read blogs and do facebook. I have tagged you all in a note, so be sure to check yours!
1:30- After trying to call Lauren all day so I can see if I can borrow her fondue pot, I decide to just head on over to ask her. We decide to take some empty boxes to the trash as well.
2:00- No success with the fondue pot, so we head home. I watch some TV- the Food Network. A little of Everyday Italian, Barefoot Contessa, and Food Network Challenge.
4:00- I call my Mom to get the rules for Oh Heck! I begin getting ready to have Dan and Faith over for fondue. This is also when I discover I forgot to scrub the toilet, so I do that as well.
4:30- Faith and I go to the grocery store to get stuff for fondue. I also pick up some more clorox wipes, toilet paper, and some DELICIOUS 100 calorie fudgesicles.
5:30- We do Fondue! Swiss cheese, then oil, then chocolate. We also have a great time chatting, playing MarioKart DoubleDash and playing Imaginiff.
11:00- I check facebook again, and decide to blog about my fascinating life.
Now don't you all wish you were me? Haha! Just kidding. I have a pretty tame life. At least it's fun, though!

A bit about my amazing past week....

So, last week (well, I guess continuing into this week) was the best week ever! It was just amazing. Let me lay it out for you.
Sunday: We had the most amazing lesson ever in YW (church). I cried over and over. I just really, really felt the spirit and I think it set the tone for the week.

Monday: I finished my Christmas Shopping, which was good enough. But THEN, Jason came home as a surprise! Which was surprising, as I was not expecting him until Wednesday.

Tuesday: I went over to Heather Acosta's, and we made chocolates and had a wonderful time. We also had a delicious dinner of pizza. Which, okay, was not as good as the dinners we usually have over there (as we all share the love of cooking and good food) but I didn't have to cook it after hours of Chocolates. We made almond joys, truffles, toffee, and the following cremes: mint, orange, raspberry, coconut, and cinnamon. I think the cinnamon cremes were my favorite.

Wednesday: We had Adam and Lauren Wilson and Carl Armstrong over for Christmas Eve activities. We watched A Christmas Story, ate Grilled Cheese and Cocoa, and opened presents. I got a Dominos set (Double 15s- sweet!) and a present that I will receive later. Also, I got to open a present from Jason and it was a really nice silky robe. Oooh- it feels so good! Also, UPS called and said they had a package for us that they needed to deliver. I told them our new address, and they said it would be there Monday. But we weren't expecting a package. So what could it be?

Thursday: Christmas morning was fun, as I am sure you can guess. Big gift- a digital camera! Most surprising gift: A wedding band! It was really sweet! Then we went over to Heather and Jason Acosta's for a DELICIOUS prime rib (bone-in) and other tasties. That was more on par with the normal dinners. I can't get over how good it was! Then, we also opened presents with them. I got a game called Partini- which is SUCH a fun game! We played it, and I recommend it to everyone who likes games!

Friday: I went Day-After-Christmas Shopping with Lauren, where I got THREE really cute skirts, a Really cute pair of black heels (FOR FIVE BUCKS!!) and some soap, body butter, and cinnamon-mint lip gloss. Then, Dan and Faith Burk came over! We- can you guess?- opened presents! I got a really good, tear-jerker of a book called The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck, some chocolate covered pretzels, and a gift certificate for Jo-Ann's. We played assorted video games, played Partini (again! SO fun!) and also played a game similar to The Newlywed Game. We also had Pizza. They didn't want to leave, we were having so much fun! They finally had to leave around eleven because Grace (their two year old) was having a total meltdown. After about an hour of "Go? Go?"

Saturday: Jason and I went shopping, and I got a cute case for my camera. I also looked all over for a cute purse, but couldn't find one. So, I went online, but still couldn't find one I liked. Then, I remembered Etsy (which is a site for people to sell handmade items) and found TONS of cute purses. So I found one I liked, and found out I could customize it! Sweet! Then, because my new band was pinchin my finger, and also because I can't wear a band with my ring, we decided to got trade in the band for a whole new ring, which I got to pick a setting, and then put any kind of stone I want in it. So, overall, it was a very customizable day.

Sunday: We had friends over for dinner, and I invented another dish. I also worked on my purse.

Monday: Got the package from UPS- it turned out to be my two free copies of the bead magazine I am in!! Yay!! So, now I have those to show off! (BeadStar, if anyone wants to go buy it. I will probably dedicate a post to it soon.) Also, we got RockBand 2 and played it (it's waaaaaay better than Guitar Hero World Tour), and I ordered my purse. You can see it below. (The inside is also the brown fabric.) I can't wait for it to be delivered! Oh- and I spent my Jo-Ann card, and I also found some fun beading stuff at a hardware store. (Nuts, Washers, and O-Rings). Plus, I found out Jason will probably have this week off as well.

All in all, it was a pretty amazing week, don't you think? I can't wait for tomorrow!

Jason's Christmas Party plus an Extra Adventure!

Last night was Jason's Christmas Party. Faith (who's husband Dan works with Jason) and I decided to carpool together, as the party was in Vernal, which is about three hours away. So, she came to pick me up with her two kids and we headed out to Vernal. We had a great time chatting, and before we knew it, we were there! So, we went to the Christmas Party, which was fun. We ate dinner at a place called Stockman's, and they have INSANE portions. No joke, each dinner would have been better suited for at least three people. And then, Faith, Dan, Jason and I decided we would split a dessert. Because, surely, four people can handle one dessert, right? But- no. Four people cannot handle one dessert at Stockman's. It was like a half gallon of ice cream with four full-size eclairs on top, all smothered in at least one can of whipped cream, and then a whoel jar of fudge topping poured on top. It was leaking over the platter it was on. Then we did the White Elephant gift exchange, which was funny. They like to get joke gifts, so it was pretty good. Well, it was about 10:30 at that point, so Faith and I decided we had better head out.
Everything is going fine, until all of a sudden, there is this weird clunking sound. It appears we have a flat tire. At 12:30 at night. On top of a mountain. So, Faith and I get out to see which tire is flat. Me, being the blonde I am, I was looking at the back tire. For some reason, I was expecting the wheel to be at the very end of the car. Why? I have no idea. But I start freaking out, and I am like "Oh my gosh! The whole wheel is gone!" Faith immediately comes over, and points out the tire, which is a mere foot from where I was looking. To be fair to myself, we didn't have a flashlight or anything, and it was really dark. So we determine that, yes we do have a flat tire, and open the trunk to get out the spare and the jack. But, they are stuck in the trunk! (I will take this moment to point out that neither of us had changed a tire before.) I was pulling and pulling at the jack, and it would just not come off! So, Faith calls her husband and figures out how to get the stuff out of the trunk, as well as a basic set of instructions. So, we start jacking up the car, and after a while, the car slides off the jack. Which, of course makes me scream, since I was the one doing the jack, and Faith is terrified that I have been killed or something. But, we are all okay. We just have to start all over. By this time, we have been out for about half an hour. Faith was wearing a long sleeve thin sweater and some stiletto heel boots. I was wearing a thin sweater, thin dress pants, and shoes made of eyelet lace. Neither of us had a coat, and I wasn't even wearing socks. It was FREEZING!!! Seriously, we thought we were going to have to chop off our toes. Especially since we had not yet even got the car jacked up. Yikes! So, eventually, the car is up enough. I was tired. So, we turn to the task of getting the hubcap off. No visible screws. I tried to pull it off, but it was on pretty good. So, poor Dan gets another phone call asking how to take off the hubcap. It turns out, you just pull it off. But, man, it was on there! The other side of the tire iron had a chisel tip, so we wedged it in there and tried to pry it off. After both of us trying for quite some time (and probably a few dents in the car- Sorry, Faith!) we finally get it off. Now, for the lugnuts. Keep in mind, that we have no light. It's the middle of the night on the top of the mountain, and we are on a slope. And her kids are screaming bloody murder. We couldn't get the lugnuts off! Arrrgh!! Faith was voting for calling a tow truck, but I am too cheap, so we just kept working at it. Finally, it starts to loosen! Yes! One down, four to go! One by one, we get them off. All of them are as hard as the first one. So, now we can pull the tire out!! Only, since I was lazy, the car was not jacked up high enough. So Faith jacked up the car while I pulled on the tire, until finally, it comes off! From there, it was pretty easy. But, we were still freezing! But- I now know that I can change a tire in the worst conditions! I didn't even freak out because it was just us two, vulnerable women, and two kids under the age of three. I am Woman, Hear Me Roar!