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...