Foto update

If you look back a couple posts you will notice another picture to help with the mystery photo.

the cure had begun

I love children's literature. It is probably one of my favorite genres for reading. I especially love the classics - particularly the Newberry Winners. I haven't read the entire list, but many of the books were in my home growing up and some of them are some of my favorites. The Giver, Maniac McGee, Holes, and Number the Stars are way up there on my list of favorite books. The other night, I decided to pick up one from the Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis (Not Newberry winners, but still excellent reading) - The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

There is a chapter in the book that is very touching to me. Up to this point in the story, a young boy named Eustace has been acting quite awfully on the voyage. He whines and complains and criticizes, and nobody likes him. At one point in the story, he gets turned into a dragon. My favorite part in the book is when he gets un-dragoned. Aslan the lion comes to him and tells him how to do it. He tries over and over again to un-dragon himself, but it doesn't work. He cannot do it on his own. Aslan must do it for him. It is much more painful and deep than when he had tried to do it himself, but when it is over, though he still feels raw and fresh, he is back to being Eustace.

Whenever I read that part, I think of how often I try to overcome my weaknesses on my own. I try and resolve to do better, but somehow, it doesn't work. We need to rely on the Savior help overcome our weaknesses. It is much more painful and deep than anything we can do by ourselves, but its the only way. Sometimes I think that if I keep slipping back into my old ways, it means I'm trying to do it on my own. That's probably true many times. But last night, the following paragraph really hit me hard.

It would be nice, and fairly nearly true, to say that "from that time on Eustace was a different boy." To be strictly accurate, he began to be a different boy. He had relapses. There were still many days when he could be very tiresome. But most of those I shall not notice. The cure had begun.

No matter what, we will sometimes still slip up. That gives me a lot of hope.

If you have not read these books, I would highly recommend them. Although I would recommend not reading The Magician's Nephew first. The order they are in now, though they are chronologically orgainized, is not the order CS Lewis wrote them in and I think it loses some of the magic reading TMN first. I would recommend reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe first and waiting to read TMN until second to last. Just a tip. Enjoy!

I guess I should still be doing homework...

It has been a little while since I posted. Things have been pretty busy this last week. This weekend is going to be pretty bad, and I guess pretty much all of next week will be crazy too, but AFTER THAT I will have a wonderful holiday vacation.

We don't have finals week anymore, we are just supposed to take our finals on the last day we attend each class. I have a couple finals to take on the 14th, my birthday, which is OK because I will be done with that by 2:00pm and will be able to go to a movie or something like that with Erin. So, we will have from the 14th through January 5 ... or 8 ... or some other day in January that is far away. I am not sure what we will do with all that time. Maybe we will get back to the plans we had over Thanksgiving break which were partially thwarted by Erin having the stomach flu on top of morning sickness. That was a bad day, but she is just great now. Promise.

It will be pretty fun not working at Melaleuca over the Christmas break, worrying about time off and all that. I might work as a student secretary for the psych department on campus next semester. I put in my application today and I have a pretty good chance of getting the shift I want. I'll let you know how that goes.

I am going to write my last lab report of my undergraduate experience right after finishing this post. My chemistry lab goggles now officially belong to Ana. She likes them more than I ever did.

Well, I ran out of things to say for right now. I think tomorrow I will put up a slightly different version of the last mystery photo to see if it inspires anyone.

One last thing. Sometimes when Ana is near me and there is music playing I grab her hands and help her pretend like she is playing the drums for the songs. Now, every once in a while, when she hears music she kind of slaps her legs and says "pff, ksh, pff, ksh" (I just realized I have no idea how to effectively write those sounds. If any of you know, educate me, please)

Giving Thanks

I realized that last week passed and in the busy-ness of it all, I didn't really stop to think about what I am thankful for. Today, I was thinking quite a bit about it. I am thankful for:

*The gospel. In particular, for the messages of General Conference and for the opportunity I have to be in the Primary. (1st counselor). I am learning so much from being with those kids and I love them all.

*Mine and Dave's families. Spending time with them last week I realize how great of friends I am with all of them. There is not much I love more than being with my parents and siblings or with Dave's. He has a great family, too. I couldn't have asked for better in-laws.

(Our families at our wedding)

*Ana. She has been so happy the last little while. I love playing with her, seeing her smiles, and watching her learn about the world. Its such a rewarding feeling.

(Ana in her winter boots and diaper. She loves her boots!)

*Our financial situation. We have been so blessed in this department for so long. Sometimes while I'm figuring out our budget, the numbers just don't add up. We always have more than we expected, and enough for our needs, and even a few wants. What a blessing!

*Mostly, I'm thankful for Dave. As I'm feeling better and his schoolwork picks up, I've been back doing things like before, and I realize now just how much he has been taking care of things the last few weeks while I've felt so crummy. He is such a good man and a wonderful dad and husband. I couldn't have asked for a more forgiving and loving guy. Thanks, honey, for all you do for me and Ana. I love you.

(Fishing fall 2005)

Mystery foto numero 3

It's a little blurry but worth a shot

I would really like a nice SLR type camera one of these days. What are the important things to look for in one of those?

The answer will be posted on Saturday... guess away

I'm back ... again

So, its been a crazy fun week! We left Monday afternoon, spent a few days with my family, including a very yummy Thanksgiving Dinner, and then went to Dave's parents' house until this morning when we came back for our church. Random facts about our week.

*Our camara's batteries died, and we kept forgetting to charge them, so we didn't get any pictures of the week.

*Tuesday we were supposed to go to my cousin's wedding in Salt Lake, but when Ana woke up at 6, I got up with her and ended up throwing up 4 times before 8. We decided not to go. I threw up 2 more times in the next 2 hours. Dave took good care of me, though, and by Wednesday morning I felt as good as...well, pregnant.

*Thanksgiving was great! We saw a lot of family and it was fun to hang out and chat with my sistas. Thanks Mom for a yummy dinner.

*Ana said "Granny" for the first time (That is what all the grandkids call my mom). She also can say "Grandma" and "Grandpa" (Dave's parents.)

*Grandma's Christmas Party was so much fun! We got to see almost everyone, Ana got a new ball and I got a cute Christmas tin and some yummy pepperment Hershey's Hugs.

*Ana ate a whole corndog by herself when we went to lunch on Saturday. I'm gonna hafta keep those around the house.

*I actually am feeling a ton better than I have for the last few weeks. I had been taking 1/2 a Unisom and a B6 vitamin (which my sisters swear by), but I forgot to take them with us and I actually think they were doing more harm than good. The Unisom made me so zonked that I couldn't function. So, I'm gonna kick the habit, and I should be feeling better in just a few weeks.

*I love the Holidays! I'll be the first to say, Merry Christmas!

Talk about border security...

So, I think this may be the best campaign ad ever...

Quick Thought

As I was cleaning up Ana's throw up just as dinner was ending I thought to myself, "This could have been a lot harder to deal with. Amazingly, taco soup looks pretty much the same after coming back up."

I'm back

Okay, technically, I didn't get all of the stuff done on my list. I still need to clean my room and mop my floor. I know what you are thinking - Erin, you had 4 days and you only got 4 things done - 3 of which were done on Wednesday. Its true. Let me 'splain...

Wednesday, I felt pretty crummy, but I still managed to get some of the less strenuous tasks done.

Thursday, I felt really icky. And, Ana came down with something as well. She wouldn't eat anything, and she had the runs all day and I was throwing up all afternoon. Dave had this major test in O-chem, so he was gone most of the day. He still helped me get started on the dishes that night. (Thanks honey!)

Friday, Ana is still sick. Dave took really good care of us, though. He got up with Ana in the morning and let me sleep. Ana threw up on him in the morning and still wouldn't eat anything pretty much all day. She was pretty lethargic. She fell asleep on the living room floor over an hour before her usual bed time and napped again for a few minutes in the evening. (See picture) She had the runs too. But I did manage to get the dishes done (except for a few things.)

Saturday (today), Ana was up at 6:00 am. I tried to put her back to bed at about 6:30, but by 7, she was crying again. Dave got up with her, but she just kept saying, "Mama," and I couldn't sleep hearing those little pleas. So I got up, and she threw up all over. Then I went to our Primary Program Practice, Dave put Ana down for a nap and finished the dishes, and we spent the afternoon watching past episodes of "Chuck" to get caught up with the current episode. Ana seems to be feeling better this afternoon, and she is eating, which is good. I'm pretty tired, and I felt that although my goal isn't completely accomplished, I wanted to blog instead of cleaning up all of our playing cards Ana found earlier this afternoon.

So, I'm only somewhat of a slacker. I am going to get the floor mopped tonight after Ana goes to bed. Next week is a busy week and I want the house to be really clean before we leave so that I don't come home to a mess. It feels good to finally be caught up with the dishes, and to have a clean bathroom. Those were the main priorities. So, now I'm going to enjoy my time checking out your blogs. Happy Blogging!

Diaper and Boots

She is starting to have opinions about her wardrobe...

There he was

So, I went to Broulims this morning to buy some orange juice and a few other things since Erin wasn't feeling well. It was fun. Ana went with me in her pj's and a hat. Anyway, as we walked out of the store we saw the guy from my business 101 video. For those of you who are very interested in details I have marked his approximate position, using my ms paint skills, on the following photo.

So, I couldn't remember his name for sure. I think it is Seth. I was going to stop him and ask him about the video - you know if he even remembers it, maybe wants a copy of his fine work. I didn't ask him. It took him a little bit to realize he knew me when I said "Hi" on my way by. He also had a girl with him, I just couldn't bring it up so I had to keep walking.

its time to get down to business

I have set some goals for myself. Over the couple weeks, since I've been sick, I've totally let my house go. It is getting bad. So, I told myself I'm not going to blog again (or play Cubis) until I'm done with the following list. And to be accountable to all of you, I'll mark my progress marking it when I get it done. Wish me luck.

1. Get all the laundry put away (done)

2. Do the dishes (done - thanks Dave!)
3. Mop the kitchen/dining room floor
4. Clean the bathroom (done)
5. Clean up our bedroom
6. Put all the stuff on the entertainment center and computer desk away (done)

Luckily, I have an awesome husband who has been great about helping me out lately. He helped fold the laundry this morning and he vacuumed the front room, and he almost always gets Ana out of bed and fed in the mornings, which is great! So, I'm not alone. Maybe you'll hear from me sooner than I think.

Go ahead and play

This is a fun questionnaire that I saw on my friend's blog. It was pretty fun to think about.

~How long have you been married? 2 1/2 years
~How long did you date for? 2 months to engagement, 2 1/2 more to marriage.
~How old are you? 23
~Who eats more? Who can eat more - Dave. But I probably eat more throughout the course of the day right now because I have to be eating constantly and he's gone a lot.
~Who said I love you first? Me
~Who is taller? Dave by more than a foot.
~Who sings better? I do, but I still really like Dave's tenor voice. (I've just had more practice)
~Who is Smarter? I think Dave is, but he just disagreed. We both do really well in school, but he just knows so much stuff about all sorts of things.
~Who has a worse temper? I do - definitely
~Who does the laundry and the dishes? Me.
~Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? We switch it up. We are cuddlers, so whatever is comfiest.
~Who pays the bills? Me
~Who mows the lawn? I always wanted to do it growing up, but I'm sure if we ever have a lawn, Dave will do it most of the time.
~Who cooks dinner? Me, unless we're having Taco Soup.
~Who drives when you are together? Dave. Very, very rarely I will if he's studying in the car or I just picked him up from class, but I don't really like driving when he's a passenger.
~Who is more stubborn? Dave says, "we could both argue about this all night and neither would give up their side."
~Who is the first to admit they are wrong? See last question. Neither one of us is ever wrong.
~Whose parents do you see more? Its probably about equal. We don't really keep tabs. We like them all.
~Who proposed? Dave.
~Who is more sensitive? Well, I cry over everything right now, but I'm pregnant. Dave always teases me that I didn't cry at our wedding. He's a pretty sensitive guy, but I'm probably more sensitive in general.
~Who has more friends? Dave knows so many people, but I have more close friends.
~Who has more siblings? I do. I'm one of 9, Dave's one of 7.
~Who wears the pants in the family? We're pretty equal.

Play if you want to. (Dave you can play too on your blog. We can see if there are any differences.)

Excitement

I don't really get excited very often. Well, I get excited enough but I never jump up and down or anything like that. I don't laugh out loud nearly as often as I think something is funny. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy laughing and do it quite often but maybe I am just wierd with what I laugh at. Erin says that every time we go to visit my parents she sees more of my dad in me. I remember my mom would always buy him funny birthday cards and be annoyed when he would just read them with a straight face and say "thanks".

A typical exchange after reading such a card:
-did you think that was funny?
-yes
-well then why didn't you laugh
-I don't know (followed by a fake chuckle)
(sometimes followed by a real chuckle at himself or situation)

Anyway, Erin sees more of him in me these days and I am ok with that. I like him. Here is a picture of him working in the garden. My mom sent it to me while I was on my mission... I need to get some more pictures I guess.

Today I wanted to write about a few things that I am a little excited about:

We get a week of for thanksgiving from school. We are going to a wedding, visiting my mission president, visiting an uncle I haven't seen for a while, spending Thanksgiving day with Erin's family and a couple days after with mine.

I really want to go fishing this Saturday, it's been a while

I would also like to catch a fish when I go on Saturday, it's been a while for that too

I have already purchased a couple things for Erin's Christmas present(s)... I would love to go into more detail but I know she will be reading this

Ana is cute, another baby is coming in June

We are going to spend Christmas morning with my parents this year, first time since being married

Ana found a few minutes amusement yesterday...

She walked into the front room and brought me the almost empty roll of wax paper. This is what I found a few minutes later. I didn't actually catch her sitting there, but it wasn't long before she returned to the fun!

All I have to do is swing and I'm a hero...

Ana wanted to hear some music and dance today. We had a good time with this song. The video isn't too bad either.



Good times. A more substantial post coming soon...

At the doctor

Wow, two posts in one day. I had my first doctor's appointment today. Everything looks great. What a relief! We saw the little heartbeat and everything. They did set my due date back a few days (which I figured would happen). I'm due June 15. So, I'm about 9 weeks along. Dave thought (or ate least joked about it) that we were gonna have twins. But there is only one in there and it looks good. Yay! If it goes like it did with Ana, I only have about 3 or 4 more weeks of feeling icky. I hope its not longer than that. I'm tired of being sick.

Cards

Our ward does a card club. I just joined for this month and actually it was the last month its going on, but it was fun to do the cards for this because it was both thank you and Christmas. We meet and exchange cards that we all made. Strangely enough, I had a doctor's appointment so I just dropped my cards off. Here are the cards I made.

The Christmas one is a little different than I envisioned, mostly because my sewing machine wasn't working and I didn't feel like trying to figure out what was wrong, but I still like them. Then I see the ones the other girls make and I'm not very creative, but its still fun to do them. I usually have a simpler style then others.

Cool Socks

Ana wanted to wear my socks for a while today.
We let her. It was pretty funny.

Triscuits - heart healthy

So, was that just too easy?

Don't worry, I'll keep practicing...

Mystery Foto 2

I know this is what you have all been waiting for...

Here you go:

Guess away!!!

a little random

*pregnancy brain is starting. last night while dave and i were playing "5 crowns" (a card game), i dropped a bowl of salsa and it got all over dave. then as i was sitting here, i spilled my water and my salad within about 5 minutes of each other.

*Ana can say "key" and "coat." she learns new words every day. its really cute.

*this weekend is stake conference. i always like it, but i'm having a hard time getting going before 12 or 1, so we'll see how it goes tomorrow.

*dave cleaned up the front room and vacuumed tonight. that was nice of him.

*i still need to do dishes and some laundry and clean the laundry room tonight. how fun!

*i better go get busy.

*here is another pic of Ana playing outside the other day.

Happy Halloween

Ana is still a little young for trick-or-treating, but our ward didn't do anything for Halloween, so we decided to have a Halloween Party with a few friends. We dressed up, played the Wii and ate good foods like little smokies and chips and salsa. It was really fun! I couldn't find our camera, so I'll have to wait for my friends pics to show my costume, but I got Ana dressed back up this afternoon and let her play in the leaves. (Can you belive its November and its not snowy?) Her hair doesn't look quite the same as it did last night, but as soon as I get a picture from our friends, I'll post it and you can see mine and Dave's costumes, too. (I like any excuse to dress up.)

I made Ana's skirt. Its supposed to be a poodle skirt, but I decided to do a flower instead. I was dressed up 70s, and I was trying to convince Dave to do another decade, but he wasn't up for it.

After the photo shoot this afternoon, I felt good enough to go for a walk, so I bundled Ana up in her coat and walked down the street. It was cold, but really refreshing!