I think Hillsboro and I will get along just fine....rain isn't snow and the temperatures are above freezing. I can handle that.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Hillsboro
I think Hillsboro and I will get along just fine....rain isn't snow and the temperatures are above freezing. I can handle that.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Seven Random Facts About Me
Tagged....Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself....
1. I love living in a big city. My last area of my mission was in Lisbon. Being from a small town I always wondered what living in a city would be like. My first two areas were in small towns and I was so glad when I got the chance to serve in Lisbon. I fell in love with European and City life. In Portugal we lived in an apartment building and there was a bakery, a grocery, a butcher shop, and a couple of cafe's all within a very short walk. You just picked up what you needed when you needed it. I think the main reason people don't like living in the city is because they try and live like they did in the suburbs. You can't go grocery shopping once a week and get all your food, you have to do a little at a time. Even now with children I would love to live in a big city again and one day I would love to live Internationally again.
2. I love watching Hailee's "kid shows." There are some seriously cute "kid shows" (as Hailee calls them) on PBS and Disney. Hailee and I are addicted. We love Curious George, Super Why, Word World and Charlie and Lola. Todd teases me that I like them more than Hailee, and he might be right. I figure it's good bonding time, and they are quite educational. Hailee was reading at three and a half so it can't be too bad to let her watch them.
3. I love BYU Football. I absolutely love watching college football and in particular BYU. I like college football better than professional because they just seem to be playing for the love of the game and not a paycheck. Todd was so excited when we moved to Oregon that we still could get the BYU games, but I think I love them just as much. I don't get as excited about other college sports until March Madness come around, then I'm addicted again.
4. I love Apple computers. I'm sure we will always have a PC in our home, but there will never be time without a mac. I've loved Mac computers long before they became "cool." My first real experience with them was in high school in 1994. I was just beginning my junior year and the yearbook just decided to do everything on the computer. That is where I came in. It was my job to get them going and I really didn't know what I was doing. I think I had used one a few years earlier at a computer camp I went to (I know...I went to computer camp, there is another random thing about me) but really that was my only experience. From the beginning it was just wonderful and easy working with a mac, it was like we were on the same wave length. We kind of had an understanding with each other, and I've never looked back since.
5. I love the rain. Ever since I was a little girl I loved playing in the rain. My favorite was summer storms when we could go outside and jump on the trampoline in the rain and get soaking wet. My mom would open all the windows in the house and would listening to it rain. She grew up on a farm and told me one day that she had prayed and fasted for rain so much growing up that every time it rained she said it felt like a prayer being answered. She passed that on to me and I love watching and being in the rain. I don't think I'm going to mind the rain here in Portland. Besides there are so many cute rain hats, coats and umbrellas. It's like a whole new world of accessories has opened up to me.
6. I hate hospitals. And not really just hospitals, but anything related to healthcare. The problem is I tend to feint at such times. While Todd was in the ICU after surgery I almost passed out twice, luckily for me it wasn't when anyone else was in the room and I was able to recognize the signs and recover from it. It's not something I enjoy at all. It's happened enough that I can now recognize the signs of one coming on so I can sit down before I fall down. I'm worried the first trip I have to take the Emergency Room with a split open head. I might have to call Todd. It's not the blood that bothers me, it's the stitches, shots, and such.
7. I hate drinking milk. I'm fine with milk on cereal or if it's flavored with strawberry or chocolate, but just plain milk is the worst thing in the world to me. I think it started pretty young, my mom said when she put me on infant formula there were just some I wouldn't even drink. She was a little curious at what the difference would be so she tasted them. The one I preferred was sweeter than the others. Today I can drink milk with certain foods, but it has to be cold straight from the fridge and I just pour 1/2 glass at a time. I can't handle it if milk has been sitting on the counter for even 2 minutes.
Anyone who wants to play I would love to see 7 random things about you.
1. I love living in a big city. My last area of my mission was in Lisbon. Being from a small town I always wondered what living in a city would be like. My first two areas were in small towns and I was so glad when I got the chance to serve in Lisbon. I fell in love with European and City life. In Portugal we lived in an apartment building and there was a bakery, a grocery, a butcher shop, and a couple of cafe's all within a very short walk. You just picked up what you needed when you needed it. I think the main reason people don't like living in the city is because they try and live like they did in the suburbs. You can't go grocery shopping once a week and get all your food, you have to do a little at a time. Even now with children I would love to live in a big city again and one day I would love to live Internationally again.
2. I love watching Hailee's "kid shows." There are some seriously cute "kid shows" (as Hailee calls them) on PBS and Disney. Hailee and I are addicted. We love Curious George, Super Why, Word World and Charlie and Lola. Todd teases me that I like them more than Hailee, and he might be right. I figure it's good bonding time, and they are quite educational. Hailee was reading at three and a half so it can't be too bad to let her watch them.
3. I love BYU Football. I absolutely love watching college football and in particular BYU. I like college football better than professional because they just seem to be playing for the love of the game and not a paycheck. Todd was so excited when we moved to Oregon that we still could get the BYU games, but I think I love them just as much. I don't get as excited about other college sports until March Madness come around, then I'm addicted again.
4. I love Apple computers. I'm sure we will always have a PC in our home, but there will never be time without a mac. I've loved Mac computers long before they became "cool." My first real experience with them was in high school in 1994. I was just beginning my junior year and the yearbook just decided to do everything on the computer. That is where I came in. It was my job to get them going and I really didn't know what I was doing. I think I had used one a few years earlier at a computer camp I went to (I know...I went to computer camp, there is another random thing about me) but really that was my only experience. From the beginning it was just wonderful and easy working with a mac, it was like we were on the same wave length. We kind of had an understanding with each other, and I've never looked back since.
5. I love the rain. Ever since I was a little girl I loved playing in the rain. My favorite was summer storms when we could go outside and jump on the trampoline in the rain and get soaking wet. My mom would open all the windows in the house and would listening to it rain. She grew up on a farm and told me one day that she had prayed and fasted for rain so much growing up that every time it rained she said it felt like a prayer being answered. She passed that on to me and I love watching and being in the rain. I don't think I'm going to mind the rain here in Portland. Besides there are so many cute rain hats, coats and umbrellas. It's like a whole new world of accessories has opened up to me.
6. I hate hospitals. And not really just hospitals, but anything related to healthcare. The problem is I tend to feint at such times. While Todd was in the ICU after surgery I almost passed out twice, luckily for me it wasn't when anyone else was in the room and I was able to recognize the signs and recover from it. It's not something I enjoy at all. It's happened enough that I can now recognize the signs of one coming on so I can sit down before I fall down. I'm worried the first trip I have to take the Emergency Room with a split open head. I might have to call Todd. It's not the blood that bothers me, it's the stitches, shots, and such.
7. I hate drinking milk. I'm fine with milk on cereal or if it's flavored with strawberry or chocolate, but just plain milk is the worst thing in the world to me. I think it started pretty young, my mom said when she put me on infant formula there were just some I wouldn't even drink. She was a little curious at what the difference would be so she tasted them. The one I preferred was sweeter than the others. Today I can drink milk with certain foods, but it has to be cold straight from the fridge and I just pour 1/2 glass at a time. I can't handle it if milk has been sitting on the counter for even 2 minutes.Anyone who wants to play I would love to see 7 random things about you.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Sanity Breaks....
Every once in a while I need a sanity break. Some time where I can just do something creative, turn up my music and ignore the rest of the world for a small time. When I was packing to move to Oregon the first thing I did was pack up my scrapbooking stuff, sewing machine, and fabric so I wouldn't be tempted to make projects when I should be cleaning and packing. It was terrible. (Thankfully Deanna invited me over a few times to make cards so I could have a little creative outlet.)
Well since getting here I still have boxes to unpack, but I decided the creating/crafting hiatus had gone on long enough. For me, it helps me recharge and ready to unpack a few more boxes.
This first project Hailee and I worked on together. I got this idea just before we left Utah. These are the composition books you can by for 52 cents at Target, a little scrapbook paper and voila a cute little journal for all of Hailee's creations. Hailee picked out all the paper and helped me glue it all together. It was a good time and a nice break from unpacking and running errands. Hailee loves to color, draw and make notes. I was finding we were going through reams of paper and her beautiful creations were getting ruined and scattered. I love having them in notebooks because it cuts out the floating papers and it keeps them nice and in one place.
My second project was one I actually started in Utah 2 months ago before life got a little crazy. Hailee has been really excited about writing and I wanted to have a template so she could practice her letters for the uppercase and lowercase. Right now she just likes writing the uppercase letters. I just print these at costco as 4x6 photos, put them in a photo book and get dry erase markers and let her go to town. It was so fun to turn on a little "Angels and Airwaves" and work on the computer without any distractions for a little while to finish it up. Hailee is an angel to allow me to do that. I really couldn't ask for a better girl. I let Hailee choose the colors of this book and of course it was red. I tried adding other colors, but she liked it just plain red. Funny girl.
Mom you will be glad to see I also added her numbers. Hopefully this will get her excited about numbers. She is reading quite well, but still can't count to 20. She gets all the way to 1o then it goes something like this... "elven, twelve, fourteen, sixteen, eleventeen, twenty." My mom was teasing me that she is going to be in advanced reading, but remedial math when she starts school.
Well since getting here I still have boxes to unpack, but I decided the creating/crafting hiatus had gone on long enough. For me, it helps me recharge and ready to unpack a few more boxes.
This first project Hailee and I worked on together. I got this idea just before we left Utah. These are the composition books you can by for 52 cents at Target, a little scrapbook paper and voila a cute little journal for all of Hailee's creations. Hailee picked out all the paper and helped me glue it all together. It was a good time and a nice break from unpacking and running errands. Hailee loves to color, draw and make notes. I was finding we were going through reams of paper and her beautiful creations were getting ruined and scattered. I love having them in notebooks because it cuts out the floating papers and it keeps them nice and in one place.
My second project was one I actually started in Utah 2 months ago before life got a little crazy. Hailee has been really excited about writing and I wanted to have a template so she could practice her letters for the uppercase and lowercase. Right now she just likes writing the uppercase letters. I just print these at costco as 4x6 photos, put them in a photo book and get dry erase markers and let her go to town. It was so fun to turn on a little "Angels and Airwaves" and work on the computer without any distractions for a little while to finish it up. Hailee is an angel to allow me to do that. I really couldn't ask for a better girl. I let Hailee choose the colors of this book and of course it was red. I tried adding other colors, but she liked it just plain red. Funny girl.
Mom you will be glad to see I also added her numbers. Hopefully this will get her excited about numbers. She is reading quite well, but still can't count to 20. She gets all the way to 1o then it goes something like this... "elven, twelve, fourteen, sixteen, eleventeen, twenty." My mom was teasing me that she is going to be in advanced reading, but remedial math when she starts school.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Moving...
I have to say that I absolutely hate moving. I was excited to be moving, but the actual process of moving is not my favorite. Todd has gotten out of the last couple of moves because of surgery and this time he wasn't even here for the actual move because he was on a plane to Oregon. (He tells me that he really feels bad that he missed everything. I just tell him the next time we move, he gets to do.) That being said I was really blessed to have tremendous help throughout the whole process. (There is no way I could have done it alone.) My parents, my two younger sisters, Todd's siblings (DJ is going to be so glad to come over to my house and not have lists of things for him to do), good friends, and an excellent group from the ward that came Saturday morning to help us move. It was wonderful. Everything went really smoothly.
My dad was great at getting everything to fit into the storage cubes. As a side note, anyone moving out of town ABF storage containers are wonderful. They brought us three, but since we fit everything into 2, they only charged us for 2 of them. It was cheaper than renting a truck and paying for gas, and a whole lot nicer not to have to worry about driving a moving truck.
We had lots of good helpers the day of the move. It went so fast.
Kristen and Emily entertaining the children while the rest of us were cleaning and packing.
Packing up the car Monday morning just before leaving. Hailee had a great time in the trunk. My dad drove with us so I didn't have to drive alone with a four-year-old and a dog. I think Roslynn did the best of all on the 12 hour car ride.
As we were packing the cubes I noticed that they had a 2,500 pound weight limit. Of course that night I had nightmares that they were going to be too heavy and my dad and I would be having to repack them by ourselves Monday morning. When they came to pick them up Hailee and I crossed our fingers that they wouldn't be too heavy. Thankfully they weren't and everything worked out great. They were just delivered here this morning and everything looks great. We have helpers coming today, so we should at least get to start the unpacking tonight and tomorrow.
Things are going well here. Todd seems to be enjoying his job, he is going to be busy, but he will be learning a lot. Hailee and I have just been recovering from moving so we haven't done a lot. In the next few days we'll be busy unpacking and getting settled. I did drive my dad to the airport all by myself and I didn't even get lost. Hailee was happy to discover that Portland has an IKEA and the zoo, two signs she read on the way home from the airport. Now she just wants to know when we are going to IKEA and the zoo.
My dad was great at getting everything to fit into the storage cubes. As a side note, anyone moving out of town ABF storage containers are wonderful. They brought us three, but since we fit everything into 2, they only charged us for 2 of them. It was cheaper than renting a truck and paying for gas, and a whole lot nicer not to have to worry about driving a moving truck.
We had lots of good helpers the day of the move. It went so fast.
Kristen and Emily entertaining the children while the rest of us were cleaning and packing.
Packing up the car Monday morning just before leaving. Hailee had a great time in the trunk. My dad drove with us so I didn't have to drive alone with a four-year-old and a dog. I think Roslynn did the best of all on the 12 hour car ride.
As we were packing the cubes I noticed that they had a 2,500 pound weight limit. Of course that night I had nightmares that they were going to be too heavy and my dad and I would be having to repack them by ourselves Monday morning. When they came to pick them up Hailee and I crossed our fingers that they wouldn't be too heavy. Thankfully they weren't and everything worked out great. They were just delivered here this morning and everything looks great. We have helpers coming today, so we should at least get to start the unpacking tonight and tomorrow.Things are going well here. Todd seems to be enjoying his job, he is going to be busy, but he will be learning a lot. Hailee and I have just been recovering from moving so we haven't done a lot. In the next few days we'll be busy unpacking and getting settled. I did drive my dad to the airport all by myself and I didn't even get lost. Hailee was happy to discover that Portland has an IKEA and the zoo, two signs she read on the way home from the airport. Now she just wants to know when we are going to IKEA and the zoo.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
In the last five days....
We....
- Listed our condo, showed it three times, and sold it.
- Watched a great BYU game, in which I had to eat several words about the defense. In my defense, the defense didn't play great in the first two games, but they really came to play against UCLA. 59-0 isn't bad at all.
- Had Intel move up Todd's start date by a week. (He now starts 9/22)
- Visit Todd's doctor and hear that everything looks great and that we probably wouldn't need to see him ever again. He also gave the okay for Todd going up earlier than planned. Dr. Shelton has been so fabulous.
- Rearrange moving plans so Todd is flying up earlier and Hailee and I are driving.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
My Girl
It seems the last couple of weeks has been busy with Todd's surgery/recovery, packing, and getting things ready for our move. Sometimes I feel that Hailee hasn't gotten the attention she really deserves, but she has been the best girl. She has been so helpful and so sweet throughout this somewhat stressful and busy time. The other day I asked her to take Todd a water bottle from the fridge so he could take his medicine. I overheard her say. "Here you go dad, if you need anything else just let me know and I will get it for you." Such a sweet girl.
On the 31st of August Hailee was assigned to give her first talk in Primary. And since we are so on the ball lately we were planning it on the 30th. I was a little worried that we wouldn't have time to practice it enough, but she did a fabulous job. She even helped write it. If anyone knows Hailee, they know that she is quite an independent little thing and she likes to do things on her own (hmmm I wonder where she gets that from...Todd). So she decided she wanted to talk about when Jesus was baptized (the topic was baptism) and we wrote it together from there. Here is a video of her doing it at home the next day for Uncle DJ.
She also has LOVED her pink shower cap lately. Her cousin Cambria gave it to her for her birthday and she has been putting it on and then pretending to take a shower in our closet. Complete with telling Todd not to look because she is a "naked girl," even though she has all of her clothes on. She wasn't to impressed with having to shower at Aspen Grove, so I'm surprised that she likes to pretend shower. In fact when we got back from Aspen Grove she exclaimed, "Now I don't have to be a shower girl anymore mom, I can be a bath girl again." Maybe I should have taken her shower cap to Aspen Grove with us. She did inform me as we were getting into the bath yesterday that it was okay to wear her shower cap in the bath too.
After her bath I was brushing her hair and was surprised with how much it's grown in the last year. It's probably grown 8 inches. Hailee loves her long hair and gets terribly offended if we even mention trimming it. She also likes it to be left down, in the summer I usually tried to keep it in braids to keep it out of her way, but she likes it to be a little wild. I'm not sure when I'm going to convince her to cut it, but for now she doesn't complain to much when I have to brush it and that is saying a lot because when it's down and wild it get really tangled since it's curly as well. So for now we'll just let her keep growing it. I have to say it has taken 4 years to really get much hair, so I am really enjoying it as well.
On the 31st of August Hailee was assigned to give her first talk in Primary. And since we are so on the ball lately we were planning it on the 30th. I was a little worried that we wouldn't have time to practice it enough, but she did a fabulous job. She even helped write it. If anyone knows Hailee, they know that she is quite an independent little thing and she likes to do things on her own (hmmm I wonder where she gets that from...Todd). So she decided she wanted to talk about when Jesus was baptized (the topic was baptism) and we wrote it together from there. Here is a video of her doing it at home the next day for Uncle DJ.
She also has LOVED her pink shower cap lately. Her cousin Cambria gave it to her for her birthday and she has been putting it on and then pretending to take a shower in our closet. Complete with telling Todd not to look because she is a "naked girl," even though she has all of her clothes on. She wasn't to impressed with having to shower at Aspen Grove, so I'm surprised that she likes to pretend shower. In fact when we got back from Aspen Grove she exclaimed, "Now I don't have to be a shower girl anymore mom, I can be a bath girl again." Maybe I should have taken her shower cap to Aspen Grove with us. She did inform me as we were getting into the bath yesterday that it was okay to wear her shower cap in the bath too.
After her bath I was brushing her hair and was surprised with how much it's grown in the last year. It's probably grown 8 inches. Hailee loves her long hair and gets terribly offended if we even mention trimming it. She also likes it to be left down, in the summer I usually tried to keep it in braids to keep it out of her way, but she likes it to be a little wild. I'm not sure when I'm going to convince her to cut it, but for now she doesn't complain to much when I have to brush it and that is saying a lot because when it's down and wild it get really tangled since it's curly as well. So for now we'll just let her keep growing it. I have to say it has taken 4 years to really get much hair, so I am really enjoying it as well.
Monday, September 1, 2008
A Perfect Day for Picnic
We woke up this morning to torrential rain, so we were really surprised by this afternoon when it turned out to be a beautiful day. Because of the rain the weather cooled down, the sun was out and there was a light breeze to keep things nice and cool. When Hailee went outside she declared "It is a perfect day for a picnic." Hailee picked out all the food. There were apples, yogurt drinks and her new favorite addiction....Macaroni and Cheese Crackers. What a perfect picnic.
Hailee packed the picnic bag all on her own and picked out the best spot. She is getting too big.
The lovely assortment of snacks for out picnic.
Hailee and DJ enjoying yogurt drinks.
After the picnic Hailee decided it was time for a race. So DJ and Hailee raced back and forth.
At the end of this race Uncle DJ picked Hailee up and he got in trouble.
Hailee spend the next 20-30 minutes wrestling with him. Hailee has quite a bit of Todd in her so when she gets going, she goes to win. It's really funny to see her transform. She is all girl and princesses until it comes to wrestling with her dad or DJ (or really anyone that will wrestle with her).
No rest for Uncle DJ, it takes a lot to wear Hailee out.
Hailee packed the picnic bag all on her own and picked out the best spot. She is getting too big.
The lovely assortment of snacks for out picnic.
Hailee and DJ enjoying yogurt drinks.
After the picnic Hailee decided it was time for a race. So DJ and Hailee raced back and forth.
At the end of this race Uncle DJ picked Hailee up and he got in trouble.
Hailee spend the next 20-30 minutes wrestling with him. Hailee has quite a bit of Todd in her so when she gets going, she goes to win. It's really funny to see her transform. She is all girl and princesses until it comes to wrestling with her dad or DJ (or really anyone that will wrestle with her).
No rest for Uncle DJ, it takes a lot to wear Hailee out.
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