Monday, August 25, 2008

Who's belly is bigger?

Brett's....


Or mine?....


Let me clarify why I have a belly so early. I had a BIG dinner and it was night when we took this (for some reason my belly is bigger at night) and I was wearing a tighter shirt. If all 3 of those specifications aren't met, I still don't look pregnant.

Best friend and baby stuff

Here's a synopsis of a text conversation I had with my friend a few weeks ago.

Friend: Do you know what kind you are having yet?
Me: HA! What kind?! Not yet.
Friend: Do you like LeSport Sac bags?
Me: I don't know, I like the ones you have had
Friend: OK

The next week I received a package from this same friend, and guess what it was?! A diaper bag! The cutest diaper bag I have ever seen! Perfect for a boy or a girl, since we don't know what "kind" we are having yet. Oh but that wasn't all that was in the package. She found the cutest onesie, that is orange, my FAV, and some great chicklit novels, that I also love! I love you friend! Hope school is going ok, wish you lived here still.



More Madison High Reunion

Here are more pics from our fun weekend with Brett's old friends.

Jed thought he might need to wear his bluetooth into the reunion so as to not have to talk to people he didn't want to, so he was practicing with Brett.


Jared works at the golf course, so we were able to go hit some balls at the driving range. And that's my almost 29 year old husband acting like a teenager with his friends. I love it!


So daper in this one.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Madison High class of 1998

This last Saturday was Brett's 10 year reunion! We had a lot of fun, Brett more than me, since he knew people and I didn't. I couldn't believe how many kids there were. Everyone had at least 3 kids, which blows my mind. Brett's best friends Jed and Jared came too. We went to the golfing range and hit some balls after the afternoon part of the reunion. Then after dinner there was an adults only party that we went to as well. They showed a slideshow of pics from their senior year... Brett was so cute, but so dorky! They all were. I had forgotten how bad the 90's fashions were.


This is Jed and Brett with their old friend Liz. More pics to come!!

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

24 Hour Shower


Whenever we watch the flip shows on HGTV, I always scoff at the people when they announce their timeline and their budget. "Double both of those" is generally what I say to the tv, but they never follow my advice. And why should they when I don't even follow my own advice. Sure, the floors were put in under budget, but the timeline multiplied by 4. This weekend, my Dad and I tiled my shower and that scenario played out just like the HGTV people.

The old shower came out a lot easier than I anticipated. This added fuel to my optimism that we might truncate our schedule and knock this out in 2 days. For my optimistic schedule to work, Dad and I would have been able to continue to work hanging backerboard while the plumber came to install some new valves. Apparently my optimism also greatly exaggerated the size of our master bath, because there was no way we all would have fit in a tiny bathtub with all the tools he brought. By the way, I'm going to recommend using Quick Response Plumbing & Drain Cleaning. He did a fabulous job at a very competitive price.

It was 9:00 pm on Friday that I realized my schedule wasn't going to go as smoothly as I anticipated, especially since we needed to wait 24 hours after completing every step. From this point to completion, it was mostly intensive labor, but I think it turned out wonderfully. Spending 4 days sweating in a small, dusty room without showering really makes the natural oils build up. I wasn't able to take a picture of myself before I was finally able to bathe, but this is a picture of my bathwater:


I'm glad to have done this just to become familiar with the process. Also, I'm glad I was able to go through this process so I would be able to offer better advice to other tilers other than, "Are you using tile sealant?" Everyone seemed very concerned about whether or not I was going to use tile sealant. Yes, I did. I don't know what it does, or how it helps, but I used it, and thank you for sharing the extent of your tiling knowledge with me. A more relevant question that could have better prepared me for this weekend would have been, "Who is going to be helping you?"





Monday, August 4, 2008

Chi-caaa-go

A few weeks ago I went to Chicago for a business trip. Technically we were in Rosemont, just a few minutes outside of the city. We were there for the Craft and Hobby Association trade show. All the manufacturers put up big booths and display their new products for the next season and the retailers come and put in their orders. It was loads of work, but it was really fun too. I was able to go with my friend that I work with, Hillary. One of the nights we went to the city and had Chicago style pizza (the best pizza I have ever had, EVER) and saw the musical, Jersey Boys. It was 100% enjoyable! Unfortunately we didn't get to see much of the city, but the little bit we did get to see was way cool. I definitely want to go back and explore.






Saturday, August 2, 2008

Maricopa Cabana

Brett's sister and her family drove from their home in Arizona to Idaho for a few weeks. On their way they up to Idaho they stopped to see us. They got to meet Stella and Blake and the kids got see our place for the first time.

Brett thought it was a great idea to give Holland a red popsicle. She was covered in it by the time she was done eating it.


Claire and Brett


Conner, Holland and Claire


Rafe and Jenna


But I'm fairly certain that the highlight of their visit was meeting our crazy neighbor. He's the fat naked guy in the picture, in case you weren't sure.

And yes, he walks around like that.... EVERYWHERE. And he's got 2 very annoying kids that pick the flowers in our garden. I don't like them.

Friday, August 1, 2008

10 reason why I love Idaho

This has been a crazy month. We've done a lot, hence the trouble with posting. Let's start with the post I had planned a month ago. For the 4th of July we went to Idaho to visit Brett's parents. On the way we saw an amazing site that inspired this whole post.

Let us start with reason number 1 as to why I love Idaho.

#1. You see this while on the road driving TO Idaho. Enough said.

Do you need a closer shot? Here you go.

It's a truck, carrying a bronze statue of an elk (Brett corrected me when I said it was a moose, I guess those are things you learn when you grow up in Idaho). Hmmmm....

#2. Idaho is freaking gorgeous! Brett's parents live in Rexburg and they have a large field in front of their house. So this is the view we get to look at. Beautiful!

#3. July 4th parade down Main in Rexburg... nothing funnier. The parade lasted what seemed to be 4 hours, in 400 degree weather. And it consisted of teenagers pushing shopping carts with no signs or costumes. 15 different dance studios with little kids on the back of flatbed trucks, standing around, looking aimlessly at the crowd, NOT dancing. And tractors. Of course there were tractors.


Oh and let's not forget the small children whose parents allow them to run into the street for the candy these "floats" throw out. Never mind the large tractors and tanks and other vehicles that are driving down the parade route.


#4. The women that were next to us while watching this horrible parade. Great hair, great clothes, great legs, great attitude! I wish I had been able to get a better picture of these women, but look closely, you'll get the idea.


#5. My mother in law does a great job of landscaping her yard. The flowers were gorgeous.


#6. We get to bring Stella with us and she loves to run free in their yard and experience all the different thing they have there. This visit she rolled in some cow manure, which was a treat for everyone. Especially since I picked her up BEFORE I realized that she had rolled in it and it got all over my shirt and arms and hands.


And as a result of her rolling in crap, she got to take a dip in the canal. She hated it. I thought it was funny.


#7. Brett has so much fun, especially in the summer when the trampoline is up. He's such a little acrobat.


Stella didn't love the tramp either.


#8. The 4th of July rodeo. It sucked. But it was packed! But we had giant scones with honey butter, making the $8 each to get in and the $6 for the scones, totally worth it!


#9. The fireworks after the rodeo. They sucked. They might as well have been throwing snaps on the ground.


#10. JARED!! He just moved back and we're hoping he stays forever! (Or moves down here to Utah)


And of course, we love to see our family there! But I didn't have any photos of them this time, so they didn't make a number, sorry guys.