The Never Ending Winter

So today was a pretty nice day. I think that any day where I can wear flip-flops without my toes getting cold is a good one, and today definitely qualified. I got Lily some flip-flops over the weekend, and she loves to wear them too. Definitely a momma's girl in that regard. I have even got Matt, who hates toes, to wear them sometimes too. You just have to have the right pair. I am kind of a flip-flop snob. You can buy them for as cheap as a dollar, but I would not recommend it. I have six (6!) pairs of Reef's that I practically live in from April to October. They are the greatest. I did buy a pair of Simple flip-flops at Ross over the weekend as well, and they have treated me well so far. If you have any other kinds that you can't live without, let me know. Anyway, I have been thinking about it because it is supposed to get cold tomorrow. I heard there might even be snow! And it is almost May! Spring, where are you?
http://www.reef.com/

Me with new hair?

Check out this site! It is really funny.

http://www.hairmixer.com

I still fit, right?

We were getting around to some much needed organizing in our house, and I decided it was time to put the baby swing in storage. Well, Lily decided that she wasn't about to let it leave the house without one last swing, so she begged me to let her get in. She looks a little big for it, but she looks so happy...

Sick and Tired

Hi, I just found this picture, and I thought it was sweet. Lily wasn't feeling well, and we were watching "puppies" and I looked over at one point and she was totally asleep. I let her stay this way for a while, because she looked so comfortable and hadn't slept well the night before.

ScrapbookUSA

Okay, yes, I did it. I went to a scrapbooking expo! As we were getting out of the car, I remarked to my friend that this was the sort of thing that I made fun of a year ago. Now, nothing against "scrappers"* but it just wasn't really my thing. But, as some of you may know, since Christmas, when I got a Cricut, I have gotten really gung-ho. As Matt says, it is good to have hobbies. There were still many, many people who are much more serious about it than I am, as evidenced by the ladies who brought huge bags and boxes (mostly on wheels) of stuff to work on while they were there. I am amazed at the talent and creativity of these ladies (and men, as I did see a few there). Maybe someday I will be that good... All in all, we had a lot of fun, spent too much money, and saw a lot of good ideas. Now if I could actually buckle down and start doing things with all this stuff I am acquiring.

*Just a note on scrappers, I was talking to Matt about scrapping, and he said, "What is that, the cool way to say scrapbooking?" I don't really think there is a cool way to talk about scrapbooking (are you catching the lingering ambivalence?) but I did think it was funny that I am picking up some of the lingo! What a nerd!

Here's a picture of a project I made at the Expo. It is an acrylic album put together with the Bind-it-All, a neat little tool that will punch holes through plastic, license plates, CDs, etc, and then bind them together.
*Here are a couple of other make and takes I did.



*I was sad I forgot my camera, otherwise I could have scrapbooked about the scrapbooking convention. How great would that have been?

Colorado the Beautiful

Hi, all! Well, this past weekend, we (my sister, Lily, and our friend Rachel) decided to take a short trip to Colorado to visit Angie, and also Alicia who was in town. It was fun to have the sisters all together again, even if it was just a short trip, and also to have the kids be all together. Lily kept calling her cousins "ba-ba" which means baby or really just about any kid, older or younger. She had a lot of fun being with them. I think she spends too much time with teenagers and not enough time just being a little girl. We were able to go to the Denver Zoo, which I think is really exciting. They have Komodo dragons, which Matt finds fascinating, and I just find repulsive. You can see most of their animals up close and personal, something that the Hogle Zoo is trying to do, but it did give me a pause a couple of times. At several cages they had signs posted that said "These animals are dangerous, stay back" which made me wonder if even if being caged up all they time, they are still pretty wild. A few of the animals looked at Lily like they wouldn't mind having a taste of her. She was fascinated by the gorillas, who she called "Da-da," but she was a bit scared by the huge silverback. When he came into the room (behind glass of course) she jumped into my arms and kept hiding from him. She did sneak peeks at him, though, and was sad when we finally had to leave. Needless to say, we love the zoo, and have an annual pass to the Hogle Zoo here. If anyone would ever like to go, we do have a guest pass, too!








The sisters and the kids!











This was an example of how close the animals were.








Angie and Ellie riding the oxen. I wonder if pregnant pioneer women ever got up on the oxen when they got tired.


*Oh, the post title is because the song "America the Beautiful" was originally written about Colorado. The "purple mountains' majesty" refer to the Rockies. Just a little tidbit I learned while touring the Capitol. Also, the dome is leafed with real gold!

Happy Birthday Lillers!

Our little girl is 2! Happy birthday to you!

Memories, light the corner of my mind!

So, this time two years ago, I was very anxiously not sleeping, getting everything ready for the next morning, when if all would go well, we would be welcoming a baby girl into the world. We were so nervous, but we couldn't wait to meet her. I can't believe my baby will be two in just a few hours!

It's Ladies Night, oh what a night!

So for those of you not familiar with Utah culture, a lot of female-centric stores around the valley have instituted "Ladies' Night" special events during the time of the Priesthood Session of General Conference. I started going to some of them about 5 years ago, when I actually won a prize, and I continue to go every 6 months with the hope that I will win again. Alas, as time goes on, more and more people are finding out about the nights, and my luck has gone down dramatically. And yet, I still go hoping that this time will be different. In addition to prizes, a lot of places will also do free "make and takes" which involve making a craft and then taking it home, hence the title. So, this year my sister Mandy and I signed up for one at Roberts' about 3 weeks ago. We left the house at 4:45, to be one of the first at Deseret Book. When we got there, we found about 15 people already there, but realized the event didn't start for another hour. We saw the free prize for the first 100 people, and decided it wasn't cute enough to warrant standing in line with a very tired and cranky Lily, who had refused to take a nap. We then decided to go to Heartland Paper, a new favorite scrapbooking store. They have a lot of stuff that you can't get at the chains (like Stickles!). They had a free make and take that you didn't have to sign up for, that was pretty cute. We did that and then basically wandered the store waiting for the next make and take to start, and hoping to win a prize. We ended up buying some grab bags (was the stuff inside REALLY worth $20? I have my doubts) and some Big Bird stickers that Lily grabbed a hold of before I could stop her. We didn't win on the number walk, although Mandy thought she did (#8, whoo-hoo!). We then ran over to Joann's, where they didn't have anything), then back to Heartland for another make and take. We also saw a demo of the Bind-it-All, which I think may have to be my next scrapbook purchase. Then it was time to head to Roberts for our class we signed up for. Before we made it down the street, Lily was asleep, which was great considering all the crying, screaming, and running away she had indulged in for the last hour, but I was worried she would wake up crankier. We got to Roberts, and Lily actually stayed asleep while Mandy did the class, even when ladies started screaming right in her ear because they was excited about the possibility of winning a prize. I just got a kit to make later (along with the other hundred projects I need to do), and held Lily while we waited for Mandy. She woke up just as the festivities were winding down, and we left without buying a thing, but with some cute projects. We then decided to stop for some cheap corn dogs, forgetting about the other tradition of men going for ice cream after Priesthood. The window of Ab's showed it was completely full of men in suits, so we had to wait a while for our dogs, but they were worth the wait. And so, our Ladies' Night ended, not to be seen for another 6 months, when I will vow not to get sucked in to all the hype, but I probably will. I can never resist a good deal and the possibility of a big prize!