The White House

Christmas Day!

2012-01-24T21:05:00.000-07:00

We know Cole so well. Danny hung this sign out in the hallway so he'd literally run into it if he tried to enter the living room before us. I was proud of how long he slept in (7:00 I think?) and it was PRESENT TIME. We had 9:00 church and I wasn't about to make Cole sit around and wait like a basket case during church to open his gifts. We spent a good hour basking in the glory of the day and then made it to Church on time!

I have to admit--his reaction was a bit delayed. He is usually a GREAT reaction giver so if he doesn't scream or ooh and aaah over something--you feel like he almost hates it but I think he was just soaking it all in. He was really concerned with what we got in our stockings so we let him help us out.

So glad I captured that genuine hug.

I was VERY surprised to see a large gift under our tree. It's not our style to just surprise someone with an outrageous gift that we shouldn't have paid for...but Danny knew that this has been an obsession of mine for a while now. The Shark Steam Mop. Ahhh, I was a happy girl! He also made a template of a purse online and wrote a sweet poem about how he wanted me to pick out my own purse because it was the only way I'd like it...haha. I love how creative he is. Cole got some AWESOME Neo Tracks that have provided hours of fun for him...and for the life of me I can't think of what I got Danny. Wow, I'm lame. Oh, I did get him the 3rd Season of Parks & Rec. My mind is blank!

After church we headed over to the Whites to spend some time relaxing, opening gifts and...sleeping.

Christmas Eve

2012-01-24T20:53:00.000-07:00

We spent Christmas Eve with the Millers this year and had an absolute blast. It's never quite the same without all the family there (we missed the Kansas Millers terribly) but I love watching Cole play endlessly with his cousins. I know I say this a lot but it is so important to me that he grows up having a good relationship and FRIENDSHIP with them. I'm jealous of people that have that with their cousins. We had a fantastic "breakfast for dinner" which consisted of the traditional Chili Egg Puff, cinnamon rolls, orange juice, and other goodies.

Then we acted out a Nativity that I found and made some adjustments to. I found a "pageant" online that I was able to modify enough to fit our family and the ages of the grandkids, etc. It was a big hit and really brought the Spirit of the Holiday. Ethan and Julia were our narrators and did a great job! We also had a bit of voice over work done by Willie, Amanda, Papa Miller & Gpa Egan. The live actors remaining were:

Raevyn--the Angel

Grace--Mary

Rylan--Joseph

Kambree, Asher & Cole were the shepherds/wisemen

Hannah played a very important role as the "tiger", I believe she was.

After a gift exchange between the Grandkids, we decorated sugar cookies, played Christmas Bingo and enjoyed each others' company. Then we got home and scooted Cole off to bed (after he set things up for Santa and the reindeer).

Christmas Program and Downtown

2012-01-24T20:39:00.002-07:00

I felt a little wierd attending a first grade Christmas Program because I'm too young to have a first grader, right? Cole did great and had a little solo part which I was very proud of. My camera was acting super special that night and took a bunch of crappy pictures so this is what you get:

For some reason, Cole is getting really into winking for pictures--not sure why.

Our trip Downtown.

No Christmas season is complete without a trip to see the lights at Temple Square. we rode TRAX because Cole loves the feeling of riding on a train (it certainly isn't to save money because I think TRAX is a rip-off).

He took it upon himself to be Ellie's guardian. Holding her, hugging her, squishing her, holding her hand and squeezing the breath out of her. I'm sure she just loved it...

Look closely at this picture: Do you see Cole's face? Pretty cool, eh?

I know this photo is out of focus and not that high quality--but there's something about it that I really like.

Pretty Sweet!

2012-01-17T17:44:00.002-07:00

I got a $20 credit to Shutterfly and I've been wanting to make one of these little books for Cole of all his cousins and extended family. Apparently you can preview it :) There weren't a ton of options for editing it (like fonts, and how the pictures were arranged) but considering the fact that I only had to pay shipping, I think this is a cute little book for him. Hopefully I didn't forget anyone or I'll feel like a real fool...

Click here to view this photo book larger

December Part 1

2012-01-16T11:10:00.000-07:00

I have to be honest. This year wasn't a fantastic experience for us at Festival of Trees. I love to go and make a contribution to such a good cause and it is so entertaining but it is getting to the point where it is SO crowded that it kind of takes away the fun of it all. It's stressful to find parking and unless you like being packed like sardines into slowly moving lines--it's not going to be your cup of tea. The bottom picture shows how we ALL felt after just over an hour.

On to...the Miller Family Christmas Party:

Every picture we take with any of my Grandparents means so much to me. I wish COLE would realize how meaningful it would be some day :) I don't think I have any pictures with my biological Grandma Egan because she had cancer when I was born and died 3 days later. I think she was too sick to hold me so things like this are a big deal to me.

The whole fam-damily. (Not a swear, since I spelled damn wrong on purpose).
Ok, now THAT was a swear.

Nate was taking the picture, Mom was home sick and the Kansas Millers are...well, you have ONE GUESS. Boooo on having out of state family. :(

Ugly Sweater Party. Danny was such a good sport :)

Usually we make a big deal out of having a Gingerbread House Contest but this year time just crept up on us and it just didn't happen. So, we did an easy-going one over at the Whites. To simplify and save time, we just used this cardboard box as the structure for the house. You're welcome for the idea...

And...I just really like this picture of my handsome husband.

More to come...

Some things we did in November

2012-01-15T16:35:00.000-07:00

Again, in no particular order:

Made lots of cookies. Some of which were the Best. Cookies. Ever.

Donated a shoe box at Cole's request to Samaritan's Purse. A very worthy cause. We had an update that our box went to a little boy in Mexico. We also sent our family Christmas card/picture and our address if he wants to be Cole's Pen-pal. I remember having a Pen-pal when I was little with a little girl from Japan and it was so cool :).

Did some cleaning. The gloves were my idea. The cat ears? Not so much...

Danny insisted that we put up our Christmas decor a week before Thanksgiving. To all the haters: you can send hate mail to him here: wedontcarethatyouhatechristmas@gmail.com. Here are some of my favorite little items of decor.

Obviously, the tree. I also love the tipping-tree-topper.

Our ever-growing basket of Christmas Books...and electrical outlets.

Watching Cole set up the Nativity under one of our ornaments that looks like a star:

At the first of our marriage, we started gathering Christmas Tree Ornaments each year that represented our year in a nutshell. We might have to retroactively do this because I think it's a fun idea and we just sort of stopped doing it.

2003: Not married--but pretty darn close. A Musical Note since we met in Choir.

2004: The Salt Lake Temple (you can figure that one out)

Also, the Mesa, Arizona temple since we relocated down there in July of that year.

2005: Cole was born

And just some random decorations that I like.

A cute little ornament I made out of salt dough when I was in 3rd grade.

My Aunt Christy is SO creative and has make ornaments for the past SEVERAL years for everyone in the family. We're talking--everyone.

Another favorite from Aunt Christy

Can't forget our snow globes:

Catching up on organization

2012-01-15T16:15:00.000-07:00

I could literally spend days trying to catch up on this blog. Here I sit, home from church because I've got some...how's the PC way to say this--some gastrointestinal problems. It's better this way, trust me. So, I've done the hard part. The photo editing and putting things together. I don't think I have the strength and mental energy to do a lot of explaining and narrating. I don't even think things will make it into chronological order. Dah well. In the big picture--time doesn't really exist. Think about that one for a while...
First, some more of the ways I've simplified our lives through organization: I swear to you I will eventually do all 31 from my 31 days of change...

The 3 ring binder has all of his lego set instructions in pocket protectors. That way he can actually know how to put things together after they've inevitably been torn apart...and yes, we labeled the Lego Box. He forced me, I swear.

Such a simple way to organize all of Cole's floating CDs. (He loves listening to stories or music at bedtime).

Using vertical space to our advantage. Currently obsessed with ways to implement this.

Believe it or not, I've actually added some bins and labels to this. I should take an updated photo for you to see. It's so addictive and Cole LOVES that every single thing has a place. It makes cleaning his room a no-excuse experience for everyone!

The dreaded box full of random puzzle pieces from who-knows-how-many puzzles. Well, now we know how many. We sat and put them all together. Then, divided them up, labeled Ziploc bags and put them together in a bin. This was totally a project he helped me on, too. It was fun for him to help me sort through the pieces. Cole loves "sorting" which comes in VERY handy when organizing.

The closet fiasco. I will NOT be sharing a before picture of this. I have a little bit of pride. Here's my favorite thing about his closet: every thing has a place. Down to his freaking helmet.

Cole wanted in on the organization. How cute is this?

And this has absolutely NOTHING to do with organization but I was just so excited that within a 2 week time frame I got all of this stuff for FREE at work.

4 Free movie tickets

Free Large Popcorn Coupon

$20 GC to Megaplex Theater

5 Discounted discounts to Festival of Tress

$25 AMEX Gift Card for working out

$5 GC to Roxberry (a Jamba Juice type joint in Draper).

Anywho, not a bad haul in 2 weeks :)

2012

2012-01-04T14:00:00.002-07:00

Source: Uploaded by user via RaeLynn on Pinterest

Toothless

2011-12-21T17:44:00.002-07:00

It seems like Cole is the last one in his first grade class to lose a tooth so he feels VERY grown up about it all. He is so excited for the tooth fairy to come. There were some tears when it was "finally time" (like he was having a baby or something) and I don't think he anticipated seeing blood so he was freaking out for a bit but he pulled through after some cheering and positive feedback :)

One more milestone for the books!

The Post of posts yet to come...

2011-12-18T00:40:00.001-07:00

I really need to update this blog. There is so much we have done and for a while I've been feeling overwhelmed and I haven't wanted to blog because I felt too behind. So, as Danny reminds me--"if it's not fun, don't do it." Obviously that doesn't apply to everything in life, but basically he's just telling me that if blogging becomes a burden and I'm not enjoying it, no one is forcing me to do it so I can chill out and not worry about it. So I haven't been. This is just to say "hello" and that I haven't left for good. I've just been having too much fun to stop and blog about it :)

Plus, I finally updated my header and that has motivated me to look at my blog more. I'm such a nerd...

Why didn't they tell him?

2011-11-13T21:01:00.001-07:00

Remember the fantastic (and sadly extinct) posts of "Why didn't they tell me?" Well, we found some rad pictures of Danny that will fit the bill and keep the tradition going just a little longer. Here is the first:

Here is Danny's chance to explain himself:

This was from the all-boys clogging class I was in... I don't know why I have a picture with just me and this other kid, because I know there were a lot of other boys in the class. I seem to remember this being some sort of safari themed number, hence the camo shorts, and I guess the hat was supposed to be the closest thing to a safari-type pith helmet. I have no idea what the song was that we clogged to, though. Apparently we used a stool?

Just a little something

2011-11-11T16:14:00.001-07:00

I loved this quote from General Conference and decided to make a cute, little printable of it. Lots of wisdom in just a few short words...

P.S. This has 5x7 dimensions. If by some weird chance you actually want to use it for yourself and want a different size--let me know.

Welcome to the White House, Noodles!

2011-11-11T14:24:00.001-07:00

This week, our inherited fish gave up the ghost. We thought he'd never die. Cole seemed pretty fine with it until after a few minutes and he explained that he had "a sad feeling in his heart". We talked about things and he seemed okay, especially given the fact that we were going to let him use some of his birthday money to buy a replacement fish that would be HIS very own fish.

Off to Petsmart we went the next day after school and Cole picked out his new Beta fish. When we walked out of the store, he wanted to name it sparkles...but it just didn't feel right (to me, heh). The cafe, Noodles & Co. was right across the street when we walked out and I suggested the name "Noodles" to Cole. He loved it.

So, Noodles is here to stay.

I have to admit that he's got a pimped out little pad here...

We think he likes it juuuuuust fine.

Progress...

2011-11-11T11:28:00.001-07:00

I can't show you what the inside of this D.I. purchase looks like yet--BUT the top is getting a bit better. And by the way, the fish tank is now occupied by Halloween clearance candy and a candle because we officially said goodbye to Bart (the fish) this week. Nobody was really torn up about it though...see the next post.

The internal debate

2011-11-11T10:23:00.001-07:00

I still have SO many things I want to blog about. I'm still about a week behind on my 31 days of change posts but I want to move on and post FUN things. I know, I know...my life is so hard. So, I PROMISE I will get to those. I just can't resist other, more fun things first. :) Like this:

Day 26: Allowance

2011-11-04T12:53:00.000-06:00

I don't remember ever getting allowance when I was younger. Not that it was a big deal because I obviously turned out somewhat normal (although I suppose the jury is still out on that). But we'd like to give Cole a greater understanding of the principle behind work, earning money and then the proper way to save, spend and pay tithing. I was scouring the internet for ideas on Chore Charts that included amounts of money the child could earn by doing the jobs. I didn't like ANYthing I found so I just decided to make my own. It's nothing fancy (I just made it in Microsoft Excel) but Cole is very excited about it so we're on the right path!

Cole won't be earning money for the jobs he does on a regular basis (making his bed and smaller stuff like picking up his messes) but I wanted to give him the opportunity to earn money by doing just that--earning it. This allows him the ability to choose the jobs he wants to do and control the amount of money he will make. I haven't decided on the "rules" or numbers of jobs he'll need to do each week. That will require some talking with Danny, but for now, Cole is excited to start doing some jobs so he can start checking things off.

I just printed out the chart on high quality cardstock paper and stuck it in a sheet protector because I'm out of 8.5 x 11 inch lamination pouches (the horror!) so this will do for now. After a job is completed, he can check it off and once he receives the money, we'll erase the check. Easy enough, right? I'll let you know how it goes!

Sorry for the bluriness here...I didn't want to use the flash.

Do you like the happy blue rug in the pictures? That would be the $5 rug I scored at IKEA for Cole's corner. We added an art display "clothes line" and he LOVES it. He has already started rotating out pictures that he wants to display. It is perfect. He also needed some extra lighting since it's a somewhat dimly lit corner. This picture was taken at night so excuse the darkness. Man, we really need to get that table and chair set painted! (Although, it is rather artistic).

Kaboom!

2011-11-04T10:00:00.002-06:00

That was the sound of my heart exploding. Excuse the mess...

Checking in on the Fall Bucket List

2011-11-02T16:32:00.004-06:00

So we're not doing too shabby but we've got to get our bums in gear if we're going to make it. My biggest worry? Making pies and picking apples. Where the heck do I go to pick apples? The grocery store? Do any of my friends have apple trees? As far as the pies go, I guess we do cream pies for Thanksgiving so that will count. In my mind, Fall goes until Thanksgiving (or until the end of November). So we still have some time. I'm not sure a picnic is going to last very long in the cold so that will probably be a pretty easy one to mark off. Bwahahahaha...

And finally...Halloween!

2011-11-02T11:57:00.001-06:00

I have to get up at 5 AM a few times a week so pulling this look off really wasn't hard. I don't know if I should feel ashamed or awesome that I looked so genuinely zombied out--I scared Cole and made him cry. Oops.

I got to be in charge of Cole's class Party and it was smooth sailing with all the help I had. I have to say--I am AMAZED at how well behaved this class is. It seriously blows my mind when I go in to help with centers and they are focused and working. His teacher isn't even a total Nazi, but whatever she's doing is working because it's EASY to want to help out when the kids are so good. Honestly, it was the end of the day on HALLOWEEN and the kids were so well behaved! I'm still in awe about it. Yeah, I made that cute banner you see...naturally I had to laminate it too. Found it on Pinterest. Surprised?

Cole was all over Trick or Treating this year. He was RUNNING from house to house. That's my boy.

Our next door neighbor ended up being Iron Man too which was funny because we had never even talked about it. We ended up walking around with them and ended up at Grandma White's house for fresh donuts.

Halloween was great fun but I'm ready for November. I am exhausted! The Halloween stuff came down when we got back from Trick or Treating :)

It's time to bust out Tom the Turkey!

Day with the Whites

2011-11-02T11:55:00.002-06:00

My besty (yep, just used that word) Val, took family pictures for the Whites last Saturday. We were at Murray Park with the other half of the Salt Lake Valley. There were SO many photographers there it was funny. It's such a great place for pictures. We got some awesome shots and I can't wait to see them. I also ran into a family friend, Scott Harmon (bottom left in the picture) taking pictures for a family. Murray Park is always a hot spot for pictures because it has big, beautiful trees that are just as pretty in the Spring and Summer as they are in the Fall.

(Side note: David Archuleta is from Murray so that's probably why it's so pretty).

Then we went back to the Mom and Pop White's and carved pumpkins, made donuts and ate the traditional sloppy joe dinner. Again, I love traditions. Big or small. Brad had his cute girlfriend Annalyn there and it's nice to have another girl around! The jack-o-lanterns turned out awesome! Danny did the Charlie Brown and spider web ones.

I didn't go near the pumpkins and I actually wasn't much help with the donuts either because I wanted to work on this project I saw on Pinterest. (It's probably better that way because I think I always cook the donuts too long on one side). I was SO happy with how they turned out! I was making them for Cole's class party but soon realized that all my work was going to go unappreciated by the little 6 year-old kids so I stuck the straws on the back of the finished mummy that said "You're my favorite Mummy!" and the kids took them home to their moms. I feel much better about it :) The thought of seeing all the empty juice boxes in the trash broke my heart a little bit so it was better this way.

I ran out of googley eyes towards the end so one was a cyclops (which actually turned out to be a popular one) and a couple had smaller eyes but nobody seemed to mind!

Alice in Wonderland--the Murder!

2011-11-02T11:35:00.001-06:00

I'm not really into murder ('cause most people are) but I'm like, totally, way, super into parties. Sweet. I've never been to a Murder Mystery Party and I'm so glad my friend Stef put it together because I've always wanted to go to one. I got to be the Queen of Hearts and Danny was the Cheshire Cat. I was a beast and he was a creep. :) This party was fabulously put together. So much detail and such good company. I've been blessed with such good friends. (Plus, I wasn't the murderer so that was a plus). I won't tell you who did it in case you ever play it! I think I see another tradition coming on...

Miller Fishpond 2011

2011-11-02T11:27:00.002-06:00

Have I ever mentioned how much I love traditions? Well, I do. It's comforting and fun to have something to look forward to every year and the Miller Fishpond is one of those things. It's fun to get together with family and "fish" for fun little Halloween toys. Grandma Miller does a great job of putting it together every year and making each of the grand kids feel special. My favorite part is watching all the kids get dressed up. We didn't know Asher was going to be Iron Man too. It was a fun surprise :) Isn't it funny how kids like to look the same and adults get embarrassed by it?

Props to Mae who got dressed up too. I guess Brian *sort of * dressed up...

P.S. I am now taking donations so that Scott & Family can move back to Utah. I don't like that they miss all the family stuff. Booo.

His many faces...

2011-11-02T11:20:00.001-06:00

This would all make sense if you could see the hundreds of pictures I have taken on our camera of me taking dorky pictures. Cole has inherited my knack for making silly faces. I found these pics on my camera phone and had to share...

Cornbelly's 2011

2011-11-02T11:18:00.002-06:00

Cornbelly's is such a fun place. When you go with a kid--it's definitely all about them though. We didn't do any of the "big kid" stuff but it was still a blast. Last year when we were there--it was awful having Cole get lost. This year we watched him like a hawk so he couldn't wander off. We were joined by Nate & Fam, Brian and Fam and my Padres. I was so glad my parents were able to make it too. Notice my dad's secret love affair with face paint...

Apparently I really wanted that picture of Danny and I in this post because I put it in 2 collages...

You know what I wish?

2011-11-01T17:17:00.001-06:00

I wish I had the time and creative talents to start a blog where I was awesome at:

photography
typography
interior design
furniture makeovers
organization
cute printables
easy, fun crafts

I am becoming more and more into blogs that are about different types of design. Whether it be internal/external, yards, homes, scrapbook layouts, photography, etc. I have an affinity for all elements of design. I don't know that I'm necessarily gifted with it--but I'm finding that I truly appreciate it. To the point that sometimes it takes my breath away. I think I used to be in a frame of mind that I was too busy to appreciate or enjoy the little things. The details. I'm TRYING to slow down and make things count. Life is too short to buzz through things just to mark something off my list (not that I don't totally make lists just to draw that satisfying line through something I've completed).

I enjoy making tutorials for things that I'm good at. I don't necessarily take the time to DO it very much but I enjoy it. I love taking pictures even with our cheap camera and I love to edit pictures. Imagine what I could do with a killer camera and more free time :) Ahhh, the possibilities. You'd think that with only 1 child--I should have time for lots of extracurricular stuff, but honestly I somehow keep pretty busy. I guess working 30+ hours a week kind of gets in the way of my REAL dreams. Don't get me wrong...I love my job. But I'm not quite as passionate about contacts as I am about ~~more interesting~~ other things :)

I have 10,000 things to blog about and I'm totally overwhelmed. I honestly have to go back to September. I also need to finish up blogging about my 31 days of change projects and then my new ideas and plans. So much to do...so little time...

However, a wise man once said this:

So maybe there's still time for me, yet.

Family Pictures 2011

2011-10-30T11:37:00.000-06:00

This just a sneak peak from our dinky little camera after the actual photo shoot but the good ones will be coming from my friend Val. Just wanted to share :)

Days 21-25

2011-10-26T20:45:00.000-06:00

I know this has taken over my blog so if you're not interested in all this organizing nonsense--don't worry, October 31st is very near :)

Project 21: The Library Basket

Very simple yet it really helps!I think I gave Danny an anxiety attack when I told him we checked out 20 books from the library...but we managed to keep track of ALL of them so this seems to be a good system :) We've used it for 2 rounds of checking books out and both times it has come through for us. Woo hoo!!

Project 22: Stamp Time

Thanks to the Stamping obsession (and I use that word with love) my Mom has, it has kind of spilled over on to me. I have been needing to organize all this stuff for a very long time. I don't have a before picture but here are the afters.

Project 23:

Update on the nightstand. I know this still isn't a nightstand...but it's an improvement. I swapped the table with this drawer unit that was in the office. The drawers were EMPTY. Nice way to waste space! So, even though it still isn't a "real" beside table...it works and it's much easier on the eyes. I ditched the huge lamp and got this for $8 at IKEA. I love that place...

Project 24

Organize them papes! This is the color scheme I'm doing on "my" side of the room in the office so naturally, I had to festivize these organizers. Yes, they were like $1/each and I glued them together so they wouldn't tip over and look awkward.

Project 25: Shoes

There really isn't much to say about this but the fact that I apologize for you all having to see this. It's the reality of the shoe situation here though and this blog is all about keepin' it real.

I packed away flip flops and summer shoes that we aren't wearing frequently.

Want to know a secret? This "accessory" shelf was cheaper than a shoe rack. Sssssssssssuckas!

I have SO many more things to blog about but I have to get up at 5:00 AM tomorrow so I need to get to bed! I've got my list of projects slated for the rest of the month and I have to say that this experience has been one of the best goals I have ever set for myself. I may not have blogged every day but I got SO MUCH DONE and I feel so much more in control of my surroundings. I have to admit though--organization has pretty much consumed my thoughts lately...I wonder if it will wear off...

Must. Share.

2011-10-26T08:39:00.000-06:00

It's unreal to me that someone can be as talented, beautiful, witty and kind as Hilary Weeks. How does she do it? Her new album sounds awesome. I don't own it--but I've heard some clips and if it's anything like this--it's worth buying.

Days 18-20

2011-10-20T14:51:00.001-06:00

I've had some serious fun the last couple days. One small failure (which, in my humble opinion isn't really my fault) and lots of successes. First, let's get the failure out of the way.

I not only painted this, but I added some cute paper to cover up the holes. I covered the paper with mod podge and sprayed a finishing coat to make everything nice and glossy. Well, when we went to hang it--we noticed that it looked...crooked. I don't know if this picture really shows it--but sure enough, it's not cut exactly symmetrical and that will NOT do. Looks like it was just free-handed and that would drive me crazy. Back to the D.I. it goes.

On to happier news. I have improved the end table "situation" in the family room. The poor thing was so lame. I used stuff we already had around the house and got a cheap-o lamp from IKEA to cozy it up a bit. By the way, that Oquirrh Mountain Temple picture was taken by Danny's brother, Scott. Yeah, you should see the massive canvas version hanging in his parents' home. Gorgeous. Anywho, I see it as a solid improvement :)

Next up: Cole's Craft Corner

I've had this idea for awhile but I knew it would take some serious organization to accomplish because the whole flippin' room had to be squared away. Well, I'm ALMOST there. I'm far enough that I've been able to almost finish what I envisioned. It's a little bland, but I'm noticing a trend in myself. I start out lame--and hopefully after staring at it for a while, I'll make some much needed improvements :)

Before (no joke)

After

By the way, we are going to let Cole help us paint his chairs and desk. I haven't had any problems with him coloring all over his chairs and table up until now b/c at least he wasn't coloring on the wall :)

I knew I'd get some grief from Danny if I put "Cole's Craft Corner" because it seems slightly cheesy. Cole is really pushing for it though. Who doesn't like some alliteration?

I'm not gonna be modest. This was a ton of work. I've been scouring Cole's bedroom because his stuff was everywhere and even the last time I organized his stuff, I found more and more and more...so this was the most logical solution. He loves it! I tried to hang some string across the wall above the desk so he could hang some pictures that he's made but it wasn't strong enough and it collapsed. I might need some wire or something. He loves displaying his artwork and what better place than in his very own corner?

Lastly, (I should have ended with the super cool one) I have been obsessed with labels and I just might label our toothbrushes if I don't stop...I've finally got all my acrylic paint and mod podge in the same place. Naturally, a label was in order.

P.S. I am also obsessed with my laminator. I print things off on nice white cardstock, laminate it, slap some Velcro on the back and attach it to what I'm labeling. That way, if I ever decide to put something else in the container--I just change the label and it comes off easily.

Days 12-17

2011-10-16T16:03:00.002-06:00

I think I gave you a fair warning that suddenly now that I "have" to blog every day, I just don't want to. It's kind of funny, actually. I've been busy though--so I promise to keep up with my 31 days of change! It has actually been SUCH a good thing for me to commit to. It's a snail's pace but I am making huge strides and I am feeling more and more in control of my environment and that makes me feel awesome. I read this today:

"American women spend 55.2 minutes a day looking for things, according to a study Real Simple conducted in 2003. Those 55.2 minutes per day add up to a staggering 14 days per year." - Real Simple The Organized Home.

Wow. It feels like that sometimes. I'm trying to think about how many fun things I could spend my time on if I wasn't wasting it trying to find something! I've seriously been inspired every single day this month. Here are my latest projects:

I'm the Primary Chorister for Senior Primary and I don't know why it took me so long to get organized but this has saved me! I used to just carry a big bag around and have to dig through all my stuff. No. Not effective and not easy. This is SO much better. Plus, now that I'm obsessed with making labels, I got to make a fun one for the container.

I know this doesn't look like a project, but it is. I fixed this lamp (thank you very much) and put it next to our bed and even this looks kind of lame--it is on its way to beauty. I'm thinking about just putting some cute fabric around the edge. Thoughts? Want to see what I was using as a bedside table before this?

This. It doesn't have a lot of surface area and there definitely wasn't room for a lamp. We brought it out to the family room and it now keeps track of our remotes (assuming we actually put them in the basket) and you won't believe how excited I got about the fact that we can put our first-aid stuff in the blue storage basket and keep it hidden). Plus, it matches our couches. Bonus. And finally, the DVD cases on the bottom holds all our movies. It fits perfectly, eh? I was geeking out. I'm still not sure what to put up on that top shelf b/c it's such a small space. But I know it will come to me. Or you can suggest something. Ideas?

First Aid Supplies that were just randomly stuck in a box that had no home. Now they are organized and I know what we actually have and what we need. That's one thing I'm learning as I go--if something doesn't have a HOME, it will float...and turn into a huge mess. I am loving that I'm creating very specific spaces and places for our belongings. We don't have super nice things or matching furniture (except Cole's room, heh) but I can still make our home a nice place to be.

Thank you D.I. for existing

I got this beauty for $20.00 yesterday and even though it's not done, I have a plan for it and I'm excited. It is in a spot that was bare and needed something. Plus, we need all the storage options we can get! I think it originally had doors that closed in front of the big open space because we wanted to move the shelf down so that it was halfway but there are only holes drilled in the front and not towards the back. Hope that makes sense. So until Danny has time to add some holes and we can adjust the shelf to look less lame--here it is for now. It's the perfect place for our stereo and I've got some storage underneath that can be hidden if necessary :) I'm still trying to decide what I want to put there...

Next Up: Party Time

We like to have a good time here. I have a lot of wrapping supplies, decor for parties and other random birthday stuff that I wanted to put together. I started with the basics...

Then added some more stuff (including all the stuff we used for Cole's party which I just realized I haven't blogged about yet...) and slapped a lid on it--and slid it nicely under our bed.

I even have another empty Tupperware container for under the bed and as soon as I get more things from the office organized--it will be filled and labeled :)

I also found the next couple things from the D.I. that I can't wait to utilize. This shelf seems pretty basic, but our office is uber lame. No decor to speak of and that's just not right. Just wanted to show you the before picture because I'm going to try something more than just paint it. Wish me luck!

Secondly, this beauty. I've never owned a bread box...but I feel like it's appropriate now that I'm 31 years old to have one. This one needs some love. But I like the idea of hiding the bread away and decreasing the look of clutter on the counter top.

Isn't it cute?

I have a lot of work to do but just looking over the last 17 days worth of projects, I am really proud of myself for taking on this commitment because it has been very fulfilling and the month is only half way over!

I promised Cole he could play on the computer for a while so I'm going to wrap this up. Later, friends!

Day 11: Hold them pencils

2011-10-12T10:35:00.002-06:00

While sorting through all my paper, I found this fantastic Disney paper that is actually just a giant sticker. I grabbed an empty canister and made a quick pencil holder to put with Cole's drawing stuff. Yeah, he loves it. So easy.

Day 10: Paper

2011-10-12T10:33:00.002-06:00

Sooooooo I have a lot of paper. Probably well over 100 pounds of it. I used to sell it on eBay and then after getting rid of tons of leftover inventory, I couldn't get rid of some of it--it was just too cute. So, it has been sitting in a gigantic box through several moves. I FINALLY sorted through every single freaking piece. All the 12x12 paper is together, all the scraps are together and all the 8.5x11 paper is together! Hurray! It went from this:

To this:

All the 12x12 paper is on the top because it didn't fit in the drawers. I actually have more of it sitting nicely on a dresser that is organized by solids and prints. It feels SO good to have this accomplished!

How did I create the cute little labels? Read here. These were my own creation and I was pretty proud of how they turned out. :)

Better than carving

2011-10-10T21:03:00.001-06:00

I've never been a fan of sticking my hand into a pumpkin full of seeds and guts. This is totally the way to go :)

Days 7-9 Bathroom!

2011-10-09T16:57:00.001-06:00

I've decided that to any not-so-awesome situation--there is always an upside. The fact that we aren't homeowners yet is okay with me because we only have ONE bathroom to clean and keep organized :) And even that I struggle with so...there's the upside!

So even though I'm enjoying all these mini-projects of organizing, I am so lazy about blogging it! Some days I feel like blogging and some days I just don't. Be patient with me if I have a lazy spell. The important thing is that I'm actually doing it, right? Ok, so. Bathroom. Not much to explain except that I still had some things in BOXES from moving and I had stuff I had forgotten I already had. Cool.

I didn't even bother taking a "before" shot of this. It was just some boxes and random stuff so there really wasn't much to see.

I'm trying really hard not to let it bug me that the pictures below aren't perfectly straight ...it went from total chaos of random junk to the bottom tier being for tub (not shower) stuff. The middle tier has tub toys (only toys) and the top is clearly for some beauty. I am always a happier girl after a bubble bath so I'm all about lighting a candle and soaking it up in the tub. Naturally, I had to make it a more organic experience by adding a very realistic plant.

I'm probably the most proud of this transformation. First of all--the handmade car on the top of this cabinet has been looking for a safe place for a long time now. The bathroom might be a weird place to put it but quite honestly, it's safe from little hands that want to make it roll around on wooden wheels that aren't meant to be ridden around on. It's glued to a plaque on the bottom that was made by my Grandpa Egan and I want to keep it safe until Cole is old enough to fight the temptation to play with it :)

I got these organizing bins from Target in the dollar section (the pink and black plastic deals) and I have more that I'm using for my vanity. I'm planning on making some cute labels to go on the front of them but I wanted to get the basic change up for proof that I have actually been pretty busy :)

P.S. I'm not sure why, but that picture of Danny and I from our Honeymoon has ended up in the bathroom everywhere we've ever lived so now it's just a tradition.

P.S.

2011-10-06T11:25:00.001-06:00

This family organization binder is the bane of my existence. Seriously, this thing is a pain! So, it may take some time before I have a picture of the finished product. I have to admit though, it feels good to be working towards it. It'll be nice to have original documents, important medical information and all contact info all together in the same place.

Day 6: Filing

2011-10-06T11:23:00.001-06:00

When we were first married our filing cabinet rocked. I kept up on it pretty good and now...I'm struggling. I'll have a filing fit every 6 months or so until I want to die and then it piles up for another 6 months. Well, we're still not perfect but the good thing that Danny's got me doing now is SCANNING things. If it's something I don't really need to keep an original of, I scan a copy and then SHRED it. If it's a bill or something I want to hold on to for a year or so--I'll file it. I needed to organize the filing cabinet a tad more so I've done some updating. Nothing major but it's simplifying my life :) Up front I've got all the stuff we use very regularly and then after that, it's all alphabetized.

Before

After

Day 5: Labels what's inside!

2011-10-06T11:18:00.001-06:00

There's not a whole lot to say about this...'cause it's pretty self explanatory. Just a small victory over here but I'm counting it! :)

Day 4: Car Kit

2011-10-05T23:48:00.000-06:00

I'm finally getting around to putting a little kit in our new(ish) car :) The old car has a pretty extensive one that takes up half the trunk but honestly, that thing could die at any time and I want to make sure that whoever is in the car when it goes out is taken care of. It's got a full emergency/first-aid kit, some food, tools, a blanket and much more. With our newer car I just wanted something small that would still come in handy when random things come up. I cannot over-emphasize the fact that every car must have some sort of wet wipe :) Anywho, here's a little look-see at the car kit...

I tried to keep it pretty simple since I didn't want it to take up too much room so I included:

Wet Wipes

Hand Warmers

Peanuts (in case we get too far from home and need some protein) :)

Tissues

Chapstick

Super Glue

Razor Blade

Hand Sanitizer

Neosporin Spray

Lighter

Flashlight (with batteries)

Advil

Variety of band-aids

And last but not least, a blank card w/ envelope. Might sound dumb, but I swear there have been times that I wish I had a piece of paper or a card to write a quick note to somebody.

It all fits nicely in this little pencil box which slides conveniently into the glove box of our car :)

Voila!

Day 3: Family Information Binder

2011-10-03T19:54:00.000-06:00

I've been meaning to do this for a LONG time but when I saw this on Pinterest the other day, it really got me thinking about it again.

To read the entire post, click here.

I don't remember how I came cross it--but I found this website that let me download everything you would need to make a binder like this and it's FREE. I love that word. Me gusta. If you're interested for yourself, check it out. Mine is in the works so I'm not done and I don't want to spoil it for you. It's past my bed time and this chica needs her sleep. I'll post the final product tomorrow :)

However, about 5 minutes ago I came across this one from my favorite website and now I want to do this one...crap. For very detailed instructions and printables, click here.

Day 2: The Junk Drawer

2011-10-03T14:33:00.002-06:00

The dreaded junk drawer. Call it what you will but I'm pretty sure everyone has a "junk drawer". Ours is a handy little place to hide things that we don't feel like dealing with. I was pretty surprised at the array of objects we had in here when I dumped it all out...

I mean, look at this stuff. It's like one of those "I Spy" games. Can you find the following things:

A guitar pick

flesh colored food coloring

concealer

paper clip

single stamp

4,000 chip clips

chapstick

3,000 clothes pins

random key

Okay, so here it is now. Again, just from stuff I already have around. I still think it's important to have a junk drawer :) But at least it can be organized chaos, right?

Days of Change-- Day 1

2011-10-03T14:20:00.000-06:00

How many of you thought I was going to give up on this challenge? Go ahead, fess up. Well, ta-da! I haven't. I'm just a tad late. No biggie. Here was my project for day 1.

The story (there's no before picture)

Cole has a TON of craft/coloring/drawing stuff. My plan is to get the office to a place that we can create a little space in here just for him. "Cole's Corner". I've got it all set up. Cute, eh? So anywho--he has a ton of stuff and doesn't have room in his bedroom for toys, his little IKEA table and all his craft stuff...so the LEAST I could do was organize it and label it all so he didn't have any excuses for just stashing things randomly in different drawers. He seems to really enjoy having it all organized and has kept it all the way it should be :) I do want to mention that I used stuff I already had. I didn't even go out and buy anything for this project. So, things are mismatched and it's nothing worthy of a cute DIY blog, but it works for me. So, here you go :)

I stapled a zip-lock with the "special" markers to the Crayola coloring book because they always get mixed in with the other markers and then it's just pain to find what you need.

Put it all nicely in this container from IKEA (which bugs me because I need to use some Goo Gone to get the stubborn sticker off).

Oh and by the way, there is so much more to organize but this was my start :)

What Cole is like...at 6

2011-10-01T14:49:00.002-06:00

Birthday Interview with Cole 2011

Fall Bucket List

2011-10-01T12:46:00.000-06:00

Here's a little gem I found on Pinterest. I think I can, I think I can...doesn't this honestly just sound fun? It's sounds fairly doable if the weather cooperates. I have to admit, I'm a little concerned about the apple picking and the bonfire (only because I dont' know where we'd do it). So we'll see how it goes!

Some highlights of the day

2011-09-29T09:52:00.000-06:00

More to come but I've got a birthday party to finish planning, work to go to, showering, primping and shopping to do!

For my 6 year old miracle...

2011-09-28T09:59:00.000-06:00

The day has just begun but we have had some serious fun! Cole is off to school and I'm off to pick up some treats to take over to his class. I also get to help out in his classroom today with centers which will be fun! I have a hefty blog post coming so be excited. We celebrated on Sunday with the Whites, today we'll spend as a family with just the 3 of us, Friday is a friend/cousin birthday party (special guests include Phineus & Ferb) and this coming Sunday we celebrate with the Millers!

LUCKY BOY!

How this for random...I was looking at one of my favorite blogs this morning and found these. I can't wait to interview Cole tonight. It's something we've been doing the last few years and I love having a nice little template for it. Very cute.

Best Buddies

2011-09-28T00:27:00.000-06:00

When we found out we were having a boy (like 5 minutes after Cole was born) we were so excited for him to be best buds with his cousin Nathan. They've had their share of drama though. It seemed like for a while they weren't really sure about each other. I'm so glad they've realized how cool the other one is! :) They need to stick together until their cousin Henry grows up because they're the only boy cousins on the White side so far!

I blame Pinterest...or should I thank it?

2011-09-23T10:20:00.000-06:00

So apparently Pinterest is the next big thing. Of course, I cannot be excluded from this. I've been told about it by lots of people but I honestly resisted. I didn't want to get roped into something that I KNEW would abuse my addictive personality and get me to waste time on the computer. So naturally, I joined after a few weeks of seeing the hype grow.

Well. So far this has been a good thing. I've been able to limit my time and I've also been really inspired. Sounds cheesy, I know. I'm discovering that I'm a pretty cheesy person. Take or leave it friends :) (But please take it because I really like my friends).

I've come across a few blogs that have totally inspired me to change. This is what got me to start doing some major organizing in our office. We also have some smaller spaces that need some attention. We don't have a lot of space so I'm trying to find ways to maximize what we have. This is one of my new favorite blogs:

People who know how I keep my house on a regular basis probably think I don't have a clue about organizing or how to keep things orderly. However, let me just say that when I was younger, my room was almost always spotless (and since that was the only thing in my realm of real responsibility I take great pride in that fact). Honest. Ask my Mom. I was always rearranging my furniture, organizing my nick-knacks and re-folding my blankets. Kind of a nerd. At some point along the way, I just lost the motivation to keep it up because I got busier and then I started accumulating more stuff than I knew what to do with. That elephant didn't seem worth biting off even one small bite at a time.

Welp, what better time than now to take a bite? My tastes and styles have changed dramatically (thank the heavens above) and thanks to the internet and blogs like the one above, I have been inspired to make some necessary changes. They seem pretty attainable and dare I say it...fun?

Here's the dealio. I found this challenge on a blog called The Nester (also a great blog for organizing ideas). I want to try it out.

Here's the jist:

A commitment to writing about ONE topic, every day in the month of October. Seems easy enough right? Ha! I do like a good challenge though. (Do you think that 5K was easy for this chubby girl? No.)

My topic? Practical ways to organize.

Nice and simple. One day at a time. One project at a time. No time commitments, no topics I can't handle. I'm just going to do ONE thing each day that will help me organize my life...and then blog about it.

I can do this! Anyone want to join me?

Taking some time to think...

2011-09-22T12:53:00.000-06:00

I'm doing lots of reorganizing and de-junking, particularly in our office (which is currently a dumping ground for whatever we don't have a place for). But no more of that! I'm getting this bad boy organized!

Today I had some interesting finds. In no particular order:

* Our camera!! (I was slightly excited about this, it's the small, convenient one that's been missing for months).

* Journal notes written about my labor and delivery with Cole. Pretty intense. Brings back a lot of memories. You can read them if you want. They are here.

* Some baby clothes that it's time to get rid of. Mostly just teensy little socks, some bibs, blankets and other small things. It's not like I don't want them--we just don't have room to store them! I know this sounds cliche, I really do--but it was like each pair of socks I threw into the D.I. box was breaking my heart a little bit more. My stupid body.

* On the bright side though, I found a letter I had written myself 16 years ago. It was fun to see what my goals were back then and how many of them I accomplished. :) I seriously want to write down a list of things for my Bucket List and start checking things off. Not that I'm worried about dying but I think it's important to have goals!

Goals as a YW

I am such a sentimental person, it seems like every one of these items holds so much meaning to me. I loved going through the camera and looking at the pictures I haven't had a chance to upload. Obviously the journal entries that Danny and my Mom did were pretty important to me, the baby clothes were like ripping my heart out and then the letter to myself from the 14 year-old-me made me smile. Too many emotions for one day! I need to go do something else for a while.

2011-09-15T12:22:00.000-06:00

I swear to you...this was completely unprovoked. Do you think he's trying to tell us something?

What's Cole been up to?

2011-09-08T11:19:00.000-06:00

Reading library books

Laying in our big, comfy bed watching Thundercats.

I love when I catch a picture of him when he's not looking

What else has he been doing?

* Riding the bus like a champ. He LOVES it.
* Actually eating the apples I put in his lunch (this is a big deal!)
* Talking about his feelings and the colors that represent them.
* Washing HIMSELF down in the tub (also a big deal).
* Telling me I'm funny, which I love
* Making up knock-knock jokes
* Obsessively playing golf with his $5.00 golf set from Walmart
* Being introduced to The Sandlot

...and so much more. He is growing up before my very eyes. I try not to be sad about all of his stepping stones but it's hard not to feel a little empty when he's gone all day and we go our separate ways. I know that it's the way things are supposed to be right now but I hope that someday we'll be able to get him a sibling to teach all his knock-knock jokes to! :)

P.S. The other day in Primary, they were watching a video about Christ and after the video one of the Primary Counselors asked the children how they felt after watching it. Cole raised his hand and said "I just feel like looking up to Heaven and saying, 'I love you Jesus'."

31 on the 31st

2011-09-08T11:01:00.001-06:00

It was my golden birthday. Kind of a big deal if you're in to cool things (like I am). It was a great day considering the fact that I had to work.

My trainer decorated my cubicle and got me some snickers peanut butter squares. Um, hi. Then one of the girls in my training class brought us CUPCAKES from the Sweet Tooth Fairy. Holy shnikes. Those were good. I even got people honoring my request to start every sentence that day with "Since it's RaeLynn's birthday..." it was awesome. Even the Associate Director over Rx said it. That pretty much made my day.

After getting off work, I was surprised to see my handsome husband and Cole in the parking lot! We dined at Cafe Rio while I opened my birthday gift. Women, if you want your husband to get you something specific for your birthday, blog about it. Then send them an email with a link to pictures of the exact thing you want. Works for me :) The actual email I sent Danny:

if you want to get me anything with this scent for my birthday, it's totally fine. just sayin'.

http://www.bathandbodyworks.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=secret%20wonderland&origkw=secret+wonderland&sr=1

And boom. Works like a charm...and I'm pretty sure the guys appreciate it too :)

It was nothing over-the-top spectacular but it didn't need to be. I was with the people I loved, I got lots of birthday wishes on Facebook (and as cheesy as it sounds, it actually does make me feel good) and some fun voice messages, texts and emails throughout the day.

Earlier in the week, we had family dinner with the Whites and Danny out-did himself with this beauty:

I'm so lucky to have a man that can whip things like this up.

I have no clue why I looked kind of ticked in this video:

Cole has also sharpened his culinary skills with this masterpiece:

I hate to compare them side by side but...

Isn't he cute though? I love that he wanted to be involved so Danny let him do his own. Genius.

Then the Sunday AFTER my birthday, we celebrated with the Millers and did a joint party for my brother Brian and I (our birthdays are only 8 days apart). Danny jacked his back up and couldn't make it so the cake was nothing special (because I ended up making it). But isn't it super neat-o how the candles spell out "B + R"? Is that inappropriate? No? Just lame? Fine. However, the frosting with homemade and CHERRY. Yum.

Nice tie, Bro.

One of my favorite things about my family is being able to act like a total moron and there's pretty much no judging because everyone else is usually acting like a moron too :)

Licking the frosting. It's tradition.

I love how excited Brian is for me... haha

31 one-dollar bills...(or maybe more, I'll never tell). I've secretly always wanted to pull a long string of money out of a box. Dream come true.

We'll throw this in there to wrap up the post. My Grandpa Egan never smiles like this and I love it! So thanks to whoever took this picture w/ my camera!

I had to remove the last picture I posted here because I KNEW I would be permanently taken out of the family will. (There was ice cream and a parent's open mouth involved).

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO MAKE MY "GOLDEN BIRTHDAY" GREAT!!

A first

2011-08-30T09:23:00.000-06:00

First grade, first time taking a bus to school, first time going to public school after two years with Mom at AHSJ and this is also his first day of school at the new Elementary school. I felt kind of sick watching Cole drive off in that bus...why am I trusting some random stranger to make sure my little boy gets to school safely? I asked Cole if he wanted me to drive him or if he wanted to ride the bus. I shouldn't have given him the option :) I know him well enough to know that he would have picked the bus!

I have been so blessed to be able to be such a big part of Cole's educational experience thus far. I loved being at the same school as him! It was so nice to know his teacher, get to eat lunch with him, see him at recess and in the halls, etc. I felt content knowing he was safe and happy. I know I will struggle with this transition much more than he will. He already knows his teacher, knows his way to his classroom and knows right where to sit and hang up his backpack :) He is READY. And I am a blubbering fool. But do not fear...I signed up to be his room mom so he can't get rid of me...bwahahaha!!

August Update

2011-08-21T17:08:00.004-06:00

I am in complete denial about the fact that summer is almost over. Not because I'll miss the hot weather but because that means school is starting and my Coleman is starting FIRST grade. I don't remember giving him permission to keep growing up so we need to sit down and talk...

There are so many things up update about. I'm just going to pick in random order because I'm cool like that. I just want you to know that my boys are taking their weekly Sunday nap and I'm forgoing that to update the 'ol blog. You're welcome.

* Danny's grandparents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary!! Danny made a delicious cake for them and we had them cut the cake and feed it to each other. There was a great program put on by his family and it was a great tribute to these wonderful people. I'm jealous of the kind of relationship Danny has with his Grandparents. They have had such an impact on all the people they have come into contact with. They have served either 2 or 3 missions (can't remember right now) and go walking every morning together. His GrandDad is 90!! They are such a good example of how to treat each other and how to love your family unconditionally. Here's a pic of the cake. I took some editing liberties...

Are they not the CUTEST couple ever? I love this picture. I think Gma Anderson is laughing at the "ding dong" joke. It's an inside joke, people. Way inside...

* I have been training HARD at work. I kind of feel like I'm at the MTC. Mostly because I've been in training for 5 weeks and still have 2 weeks to go. It has been so awesome and so overwhelming (only because there is SO much to learn and I'm a perfectionist). I can't believe how lucky I am to work there and how blessed I am to be hired for the position I was hired for. This position I'm training for is more on the "back end" of order placing. It's processing faxes, emails, phone verification with doctors offices, and dealing with more legal/procedural type stuff. It's kind of scary to know that the choices I make every day have to be in accordance with certain policies or I could be violating major laws with serious repercussions :) Thankfully we are trained hard but thoroughly. I trust the people I work with implicitly and I know that their # 1 goal is to satisfy the customer.

* Saturday was my first 5K. Back in June I decided that I was going to do a 5K. It seems like everyone I know has done one except for me. It's pretty trendy to be active and in shape which is awesome. Plus, everyone on Danny's side of the family is dropping weight like nobody's biz so it helped motivate me to action. Danny's sister Amy joined me and we trained during the summer. After starting at 1-800-Contacts, I started training in their gym. So imagine my culture shock when my training was on a treadmill in a freezing cold gym, with a huge fan blowing cold air on me while either watching TV or listening to music. The race day was hot, my iPod wasn't charged so I had no music, I was on real terrain and the sun was beating down on me. Pretty different circumstances but I did it anyway :) It was hard but awesome. I'm slow and I'm not about to brag about my time but I am proud of myself for setting a somewhat lofty goal (for my level of activity and fitness) and accomplishing it. I had found motivation within myself and didn't compare myself to anyone else. The first mile was actually the hardest because I was trying to get used to not having something in my ears. It was basically quiet except for the kids weaving in and out (not awesome). It took some time for me to get into "the zone". I found my pace and was able to be content with my thoughts. I got pretty focused and everything else kind of disappeared. I walked a minute here and a minute there but overall, I'm really happy with how I did. I'm like an ox. Slow but steady. Danny's Dad surprised us and showed up (it was clear down in Provo) and met us along the route a few times. It sounds cheesy but it really meant a lot to me that he drove all the way down there to be supportive. I was seriously encouraged when I saw him so I'm glad he came.

At the finish line, Cole ran out to greet me and busted out with "race me!" so even though I wanted to fall over dead--I sprinted across the finish line. And I beat him. That's right. I beat my 5 year old son. I'm amazing.

Before

Waiting for the signal

Yes Amy, I cropped you out because I knew you'd kill me if I posted this one of you.

The finish line with Cole. (Number 236 is someone I kind of paced myself with and I felt pretty good that I was going as "fast" as her considering the fact that she's so skinny) :)

THIS JUST IN:

The 10K started 10 minutes before us so I can actually deduct 10 minutes from the time shown here. I have to admit, it does make me feel a little better :)

One of my wicked blisters. I need some real shoes.

That's all you get. I swore on my life that I wouldn't put an "after" shot of Amy and I because we both look so lovely. I'm true to my word. You can thank me later.

* This one is super random but I am feeling extremely blessed to be in our ward. I LOVE this ward. This feels like the ward I grew up in. There is a strong spirit of unity and the leadership is solid. I am so impressed with both the YM/YW program and the Primary leaders. I wish we could stay in this ward while Cole grows up. Maybe eventually one of the homes will go up for sale and we can stay permanently. That would be sweet. Honestly though, this is by far the best ward we've been in since we've been married. I am loving my calling as the Senior Primary chorister. It's a difficult calling because it really does require preparation, passion, patience (wow, alliteration) and holy cow another "p"...prayer. (Haha, I seriously didn't plan that AT ALL). I know all callings require that--but honestly I have really prayed about how to connect with these older kids. It's a large Primary and even though I've been a chorister before, each group is so different. I've been feeling like I need to know them individually so today Danny helped me take pictures of every single one of them with a name tag. I am going to make a poster and hang it up in my bedroom. It really is important to me that I know their names. There are so many of them and I know this is the fastest way to get it done. It is so rewarding after a good Sunday (like today) to find something that clicks with them and also to know that I get to help teach them songs that will hopefully strengthen their budding testimonies and lead them down the right path. I love my calling!

What does your breakfast table look like?

2011-08-10T09:54:00.000-06:00

Probably not like this...

Mirror Lake

2011-08-08T09:19:00.000-06:00

Unfortunately our annual visit to Mirror Lake consisted of just one Saturday. It's still just as beautiful though. I know I pretty much take the same pictures every year--but it just never gets old to me.

Yes, that would be a glacier. In August.

This canoe (made by my Grandpa Egan) gets a LOT of attention every year. It really is beautiful.

Seriously...

I don't look scared enough to be on the edge of death...

Fly like an eagle...

2011-08-06T01:43:00.003-06:00

What do you think? Does he like his new full size bed?

The sun came out

2011-08-05T00:11:00.000-06:00

PhotoCredit

I'm feeling much better about life right now than I was in my last post :) That blessing from Danny has made a HUGE difference for me. It's like I came to work on Monday as a new version of me. I was more confident, focused, determined and less stressed. Things are getting much easier and I'm able to not feel as much pressure. After tomorrow, I just have one more week of training before I "graduate" from call center training. I'm actually kind of sad thinking about it ending because I've become good friends with everyone in my training group and it'll be sad to not be able to eat lunch together, take breaks together and get punchy together after sitting in a room for almost 8 hours (it kind of reminds me of being in close-knit district at the MTC). Overall, I am really enjoying it and I have to say that one common thing I'm noticing about people who I work with is this: they are HAPPY. It's such a positive environment! The employees are taken care of (spoiled) which makes them happy, which makes them work hard, which makes the company successful. Win. Win.

I also met with a fitness trainer on Wed and had a thorough fitness assessment done. She (Katie) wrote out a plan to get me ready for a 5K in 2 weeks and then we sat together and made some short and long term goals. I've been going to the onsite gym right when I get off work and it is so convenient. I love having a trainer by my side to make sure my posture is correct when I am doing resistance training and to encourage me to do those last few reps :)

My time with Cole has been so much more precious to me. The time that I have with him is quality time and I'm grateful to be able to come home and read stories before bedtime and say prayers with him before he goes to bed. In the mornings we can usually fit in a game, some legos or dancing. There's almost always time for dancing (especially if it's to Adele).

I can't believe it's August. Just a few more weeks before school starts! That is too crazy to think about. This summer is flying by. Don't get me wrong--I love summer but I'm getting excited just thinking about all the fun things that come with Autumn :)

Baby Steps

2011-07-31T23:28:00.000-06:00

We are chugging right along. And I do mean chugging. After the first week of "wow, I love my job", the reality of our new situation has settled in. I am gone most of the day. I'm kind of struggling with it. My time is suddenly sucked away into commuting and working. I went from having all day, everyday to a few hours in the morning. It's hard to balance that time between spending it with Cole, making time to exercise, clean up messes from the night before and get ready for work. I'm an optimistic person so I know it'll get easier but this has been harder than I anticipated it would be. To make a long story short--before I get to train for the position I was hired for, I have to finish training for the call center. I don't like training for the call center and it has been stressful on me. I have nothing but respect for everyone who works there. It can be stressful and there's a ton to remember and a lot expected of each person there. I'm starting to see why they're so picky about who they hire. Major props to all of them. I'm hoping I can skip the next 2 weeks and get on to where I want to be :) Danny gave me a blessing tonight and I'm feeling much better about getting through the next couple weeks and about being gone so much and leaving Cole during the day...I've been fighting some guilt with that but I know I'm doing it for the big picture and I'm at peace with that.

Yesterday Danny and I went to a cooking class at Thanksgiving Point. It wasn't just a regular cooking class, though. It was sponsored by The Cancer Project and we learned how to make some really easy, yummy HEALTHY foods that are proven to prevent cancer. I have a couple friends who are vegan and while I don't know that I could really commit to eating that type of lifestyle, I do find lots of truth to what they believe. I don't like eating a lot of meat and I do think there's a lot to be said about eating a plant-based diet. If it grows in the ground, it's good for you. (Unless it's poison, right?) Tonight we had fajitas (made from scratch from Danny), a yummy bean/veggie dip and applesauce cookies. We're trying to make an effort to eat more fresh food and while it's hard and I know we won't be perfect at it--it's worth trying. Little choices can turn into big changes so here's hoping for some healthy change :)

All about contacts

2011-07-23T15:15:00.000-06:00

So. I'm working this new job...I love it. I have been 100% impressed with this company from my very first interview. This is the kind of company that people don't leave because they aren't being treated properly. From what I gather, EVERYone who has previously worked there stayed for a long time and speaks nothing but praise about the company and the people there. The employees are downright spoiled...and I am totally okay with that :)

This first week of training has been INTENSE. We've been learning all about the different types of contacts, how the eye works, learning the database (which is semi-complicated) and the major aspects of customer relations. We've had two tests and have lost 2 people from our training class of 18. They take this very seriously. Our welcome packet said that they only hire 5-10% of all applicants so I feel very blessed to be a part of this company.

I'm not going to be working in the call center but I have to complete training for it before moving on to training for the position I was hired to do. After an order is placed, I'll be verifying prescriptions with the eye doctor, working on faxes and releasing orders that have some sort of hangup. I think it's cool that we do that for every single order. The customer service we offer is insane. Honestly, I worked at Franklin Covey back in the day before everyone had electronic devices and I thought we had pretty dang good customer service. This place trumps it. It's impressive.

The one thing that does overwhelm me is the amount of info. we have been learning. It is very fast paced and the training is 4 weeks long! One of my favorite things is that they have an onsite restaurant which is subsidized so the meals are ridiculously cheap (they also have chefs that are the real deal, not just line cooks). Yesterday, for example, I had a veggie burger with tomato, lettuce, red onions and other fixins with a side salad and drink. $1.00. Yep. It's all just payroll deducted so I don't have to carry cash or constantly be swipin' the 'ol debit card. We get free cereal, fruit, drinks of all kinds, rolls, bagels, etc.

There's an onsite workout facility with 4 personal trainers who will do a physical analysis and cater a training program just for you (obv. isn't that what the title means?)

Our trainers are awesome. We get a lot done but we have an awesome time. OH. And I get to wear jeans to work everyday. SAAAWEEEET. Honestly, I am so excited to be working at 1-800-Contacts. One week of training down and 6 more to go! :)

Oh, and thanks to Danny's sister Amy, who is our babysitter :) Cole loves her and I'm totally comfortable leaving him with her. She's extremely competent...and has even done some dishes for us. She's a keeper for sure.

Time to go shopping...

2011-07-18T01:06:00.000-06:00

What do you think?

Today

2011-07-17T01:15:00.000-06:00

Saw the last Harry Potter movie with Greg & Angie--AWESOME

Filed my nails (also awesome, but not all-caps awesome)
Had Chick-fil-A for lunch (seriously...awesome again)
Nap (awesome)
Cleaned (got tons done and bless Danny for cleaning out the fridge)
Got Cole some sandals and new church shoes (Shoe Carnival is not awesome...it's annoying)
Mopped, had dinner and cleaned a little bit more (meh)
Planned my music time for tomorrow (phew)
Checked some blogs that made me happy (awesome)
Actually blogged (awesome again).

Thank you *curtsy*

p.s. I start my new job on Monday and I'm nervous/excited/anxious/happy. I don't love that I'll be leaving Cole with a babysitter every day for the first time in my life...but at least he'll be with Aunt Amy. That will make it doable :)

More fun

2011-07-10T19:26:00.001-06:00

I want to try and keep up with the fun of the summer before it turns into all the same thing: training for my new job. This past week we went to Hollywood Connection with our cousins and had a great time.

However, I made the bad choice of letting Cole go on the Dragon roller coaster right off the bat and it freaked him out pretty good. It took some convincing to do the bumper cars (my personal favorite) and some other things but Cole's favorite thing? The miniature golfing. I honestly didn't know how well it would keep his attention but it's amazing how much he loved it if he could cheat :) Oh, and the magician there was pretty fantastic too.

Let's not forget the merry-go-round

And to top it off we ate at the Old Spaghetti Factory ( a family favorite and previous workplace for almost all the Miller kids!) Oh and Mae too! ;)

A friend of mine got free tickets to the American Idol concert and invited me to go. Not only was the concert free, but we got to see it from a suite at the Maverick Center! Let me tell you, that is the way to go if you can afford it!! We got so hyper at the end of the concert, we were dancing all over the place with nobody behind us to bless our hearts or feel sorry for our lack of awesome dance moves.

I didn't get very many good pictures because my battery died so this will have to suffice.

Pia started off the show with a snoozer (seriously). She is just as boring in real life as she is on TV. She's obviously hot and has a great voice but she has zero personality on stage. This might not be true OFF stage but she needs to work on her connection with the audience.

The girls singing a group number. Naima's voice is crazy, awesome. She sang J-Lo's "On the Floor" and easily out-sang Jennifer. She's the one that should have released it. I was really happy with how good it was live...as well as Thia. She's also sleepy to listen to but I love her voice.

I just happened to be trying out a setting on my camera when at the end of an Usher song, Stefano pulled up his shirt and I snapped this quick picture while laughing. I thought he was just going to "flash" the audience until the whole thing came off and then the lights went down all dramatically. OH GOLL. I can't stand to watch this guy...he's madly in love with himself.

I coudn't for the life of me get a decent picture of Paul. I think the lighting was weird the entire time he was on stage...and my camera was acting strange. He was enjoyable. Like, a performer at Disneyland enjoyable but not worth paying a lot of money to see enjoyable. I do like how he doesn't take things too seriously though. Even with the choreography, I could tell he wasn't too concerned with getting everything perfect which made him that much more entertaining to watch :)

Lauren's voice was pretty strained and she was trying really hard to be fun but I think it's something she's going to have to work at. I'm sure by the end of tour (this was their first show) she'll feel more comfortable in front of a large live audience.

James was SO MUCH FUN. I started out not really liking him. He just seemed arrogant and his background story got overwhelming but once things calmed down he was so fun to watch. His songs got the crowd cheering like no one else. He knows how to get people out of their chairs...and I have to say that when he sang his signature (but sometimes annoying) high notes, I didn't mind at all. They were pitch perfect and they were tastefully done. I was really pleasantly surprised with him!

Haley is freaking awesome. The crowd went all nutso for her and she didn't disappoint. Buh Buh Buh Benny and the Jetssssssssssss.

Scotty closed the show like a pro. My personal favorite was when he sang "Gone" and everyone went ballistic...(um, including us). That's when the dancing went into full force. I was laughing so hard I thought I might pee my pants. He is going to make A LOT of money from here on out. I hope he can maintain some of his country charm and hometown values. I like him.

Gettin' our crazy on

Other things worth mentioning:

Guess when most people took their potty breaks? When Jacob Lusk got up to sing.

Guess when I wanted to stab my ears? When Jacob Lusk got up to sing.

It was a GREAT night and even though the parking at the Maverick Center SUCKS, we had fun!

June

2011-06-30T22:05:00.000-06:00

Did a whole month really go by without me posting anything? Basically. Here's what we've been up to:

Swimming with cousins

Playing with Jax (our Landlord's dog)

Biking down the Provo River Trail

Some Girl time up at Snowbird

Cole's annual buzz cut

Danny's 34th birthday

Rae gets a new job (yes, now I have two!)

Bring on July!!

He means business...

2011-06-09T18:54:00.000-06:00

He wants to put this on our front door. That might be OK if it gets me out of doing housework.

It couldn't be more official

2011-06-07T19:15:00.000-06:00

Proof:

In no particular order...

2011-05-31T23:49:00.000-06:00

He is so stinkin' cute.

A note I got on Mother's Day. I love that he reversed the C on his on name.

Probably the WORST picture ever for a couple reasons:

1. Cole hadn't had a haircut for years.

2. His eyes are closed in the group shot.

3. The "photographer" was no more a photographer than my foot is.

4. It was printed on cheapo paper.

5. Seriously--take a closer look. It's freaking blurry.

I do NOT love this picture but I had to share it.

Cole & Henry

2011-05-31T19:10:00.000-06:00

Love this.

What's in a ward?

2011-05-29T16:21:00.000-06:00

Everything. I have been praying for months that this new place would be a good experience for us. I really struggled in our last ward (I know I made it abundantly clear). Having a fresh start is great. I have really prayed for confidence and a desire to meet others and be friendly. It has made such a huge difference. I know that it's not just me though. There is something special about this ward. It was fun to find out that I have a couple friends with family members in this ward. My friend Aubrey's parents are in this ward along with my friend Amy's oldest Brother and his family. Small world! From the very beginning we have felt so loved and included.

The Bishop of this ward is incredible. He just carries the Spirit with him and you can tell with even a little bit of interaction that he is a good man. He is so good at showing how much he cares about each individual person. That is such an important quality for a Bishop to have (in my opinion) and he really shows that.

Last week Danny and I gave talks and we're both glad to have it over with. I somehow flew under the radar for the last 7 years but was finally caught! Actually, I was really happy with the way the talks turned out. We spoke on the divine principle of work, self reliance and tithes. I think speaking in church when your'e new is a great way for the ward to get to know you. Three days later I was called in to meet with the 2nd counselor....so you can guess where that led: Primary! Although I've been in the Primary for what feels like forever, I get to be the chorister which is my favorite Primary calling. I've done it before so I'm glad I've had that experience to help me. Plus, they have different choristers for Jr. and Sr. primary so I'll still get to go to Gospel Doctrine which I'm excited about.

Anyway, I was just feeling really grateful today after coming home from church. Being in a ward where you feel important, loved and noticed plays a big role in your confidence and your desire to be there. I know it shouldn't be that way (essentially your testimony of the gospel alone should compel you to attend church) but some days I just didn't want to go because I didn't think anyone would care or notice if I was gone. Hopefully by magnifying my calling and continuing to pray for confidence and the desire to serve others I'll get to know even more people and feel even more comfortable.

Also, it is BLISSFUL having kids close that are Cole's age. They are good kids and I feel comfortable with him playing in their homes. This is exactly what I had in mind when we were looking for a place to move. Being in a neighborhood in a more stable environment with families who weren't going to be moving every 6 months. We are really loving it here and feel so blessed to have been led here.

Ok, that's all. :)

That's all, folks.

2011-05-27T22:58:00.000-06:00

It's crazy that Cole has finished 2 years at AHSJ. The time has gone so fast and he is such a smarty pants. He is reading great and it's fun when he can sound out a random word and surprise me. I truly believe that reading the scriptures together as a family is helping. We had Graduation this last week with the little ones and even though it's a little silly--he still looked pretty dang cute.

Pretty much lame

2011-05-27T22:39:00.000-06:00

My desire to blog is almost gone. Facebook has made it so easy to share pictures, random thoughts, links, videos, etc. and it's all in one place so while I do sometimes feel like "blogging it out" most of the time I use Facebook to connect my thoughts/pictures with my friends (who use Facebook) and therein lies the problem. I don't like having to "share" things twice. If I spend the time to upload pictures from an event--blogging about it seems cumbersome because it's like doing it all over again. Yes, this makes me sound lazy. Wow.

Even though there is loads to blog about, I feel like I don't have the time to just sit down and spend the time to write everything out, explain, put the pictures, blah blah blah. So essentially I create all this unnecessary stress that makes me not want to blog when the reality is that I don't have to do anything. The expectations are pretty ridiculous. And besides, who reads blogs anymore? It is so 2008. :)

That said, I do want to be better. So while I make ZERO promises, I'll just say that I want to be better and leave it at that. Phew, I am accountable to no one.

Cali Trip Part 5

2011-05-16T09:40:00.000-06:00

Friday

Another travel day. Booo. But after checking out of the hotel we went to Downtown Disney because we couldn't leave California without showing Cole the Lego Store. It just wouldn't be right.

Oh, and some other pics I forgot...Cole was so excited for the 3D show at Bugs Land and I forgot how very 3D it is. He didn't love it. Can you tell on his expression in the top right pic? Heh.

What a FANTASTIC trip. It was so fun to just be gone for a week and be together. I'm so happy we were able to make those memories. I'm hoping it was a big last hurrah before we have a baby. Not an announcement but we're getting closer. I'm so lucky to have Cole and Danny in my life! Can't wait for our next trip!

Cali Trip Part 4

2011-05-16T09:30:00.000-06:00

Thursday

I can die happy now because I've met the true Mickey Mouse. I know all the others are fake. But to meet the real one? Wow. We crammed a lot of stuff into our last day at the Happiest Place on Earth.

Toon Town was a big hit. Lots of fun photo ops.

The picture of Danny and Cole below makes me laugh. Cole is covering up his face from the sun but it totally looks like he hates his life at Disneyland. Look happy, dangit! You love this place! You're happy!

I forgot to mention that on Wed, Danny's brothers took Cole for a few hours so we could go on some "real" rides. Space Mountain is the best ride at Disneyland. It just is. Easily. The roller coaster is a close 2nd with Soarin' Over California a close 3rd. Cole had so much fun with them...I'm glad they were there because I'm pretty sure Cole got bored with us after a few days.

What a FUN day.

Cali Trip Part 3

2011-05-16T09:18:00.000-06:00

Wednesday

This was a "day of rest" for us and we wanted some down time to just relax. We slept in, hung around the hotel for a bit, took our time getting ready and then drove to the L.A. Temple. I love the temple grounds there--I wish we had palm trees in Utah! The visitor's center there is new and it's so cool and interactive. We went in and watched a special movie on the Family in this room that was simulated to look like a real family room and the movie would rotate screens throughout the room.

One of the sister missionaries has a 5 year old nephew named Cole who looks just like our Cole so she was kind of freaking out. I love Cole's face in the picture where she's talking to him. She also mentioned that their area is pretty ritzy. The Playboy Mansion is in her proselyting area. Didn't you know Hugh Hefner was Mormon? :) Also, Aaron Eckhart (known as Two Face in the latest Batman movie) is on the ward roster in her current ward. Kind of funny.

I'm a nerd and took a picture of our rental car. A Dodge Avenger. It's fun to drive a different car for a week. It was a smooth ride.

We had to honor the "stars" by driving by the Kodak Theater (American Idol finales are usually held there) and the Grauman's Chinese Theater place with all the stars on the side walk. I wish we had time to get out and walk around--plus there was no wheelchair around to rent... :) Then we drove around up in the "hills". It's crazy how big some of the houses are. What do these people do to make so much money??? Are they married to their jobs? Do they work as hard as their maids? How the heck do you afford living that lifestyle?

Cali Trip Part 2

2011-05-16T09:01:00.001-06:00

Tuesday

More Disneyland! I had rested my feet a little and was ready to get back to the fun. I love the picture below of Cole standing there watching the Mr. Potato Head robot thingy. It was also pretty much a dream come true for him to see Lightning McQueen in person :) Next summer they are opening a Cars Land which is going to be so awesome. Cole's already talking about it.

Random note: I've decided that the dumbest ride at Disneyland is the Snow White ride. Seriously. They should tear it out and do another Peter Pan ride so the line won't be so long :) Ok, so I have to admit that on day 2 my feet got so bad we rented a wheelchair. Mock me if you will--but it was seriously the only way I could stay. Plus, we got on to the rides quicker :) Heh. Also the Dole whips from the little hut in front of the Tiki Room are to DIE FOR.

I pretty much love the Dumbo ride. I'm cool, I know. I didn't think Cole would dare to move the little guy up or down but he wanted to stay as high as he could the whole time! Who is this kid?? I was the one who wanted to go down so that we could go up and get the flying effect.

California 2011

2011-05-16T00:57:00.001-06:00

Monday

The day we had all been waiting for!! I geeked out and took like 8 pictures of Cole’s first time walking down Main Street. I am only posting 1 so as to lessen my perceived geekiness.

Where to really start? The first ride we took Cole on probably wasn’t the best choice but in the end it was fine. I forgot how…busy the Buzz Lightyear ride is. Lots of sounds and visual effects—he was basically totally overwhelmed but still managed to want to keep going so it couldn’t have been that bad.

If you go to Disneyland and aren’t sure you care about seeing the World of Color…it is worth it! Yes you have to get to California Adventure early in the day to get decent seats but you won’t regret it. It was FREAKIN’ COOL. They basically used fountains of water with projections/fire/fireworks (I think there were fireworks?) and had GREAT music. It kind of stressed me out to think about being in charge of orchestrating something that huge. I’m cool and get stressed out about dumb things like that.

At around lunch time Cole and I went back to the Hotel (I’ll tell the full story in a minute) and Danny was able to hang with his brothers for a few hours and go on the big kid rides :) Cole was just as excited to play in the Hotel pool as he was to go on the Disneyland rides (well for the first 10 minutes) and we had fun getting off our feet. Which brings me to this: I had a horrible flair up of plantar fasciitis which was unrelenting the entire trip. For those of you who are too lazy to click on the link (kidding…sort of) basically I have flat feet with no arch support. If I wear flip flops or sandals for even 1 day straight, I can be ruined. Guess who wore flip flops on Saturday AND Sunday? I’m an idiot. So for the rest of the vacation my feet were killing me. If you’ve ever experienced the pain that comes with plantar facia you know the acute, sharp pain that I’m talking about. Every step is torturous and after only 4 hours at Disneyland I literally couldn’t handle the pain. So the rest of Monday was pretty chill. I tried to stay off my feet the rest of the day and was popping ibuprofen like it was going out of style (judge me, go ahead). I was determined to not let it ruin the trip for me (us).

Cali Trip Part 1

2011-05-16T00:43:00.001-06:00

Are you ready for this? I've decided to break it down so that if you can only handle so much of me and this blog--you can come back another day. See how thoughtful I am? So. Here we goooooooooooooo. Obviously with there being so many pictures, you can enlarge the collages to see them better...

Saturday

Travel days don’t really count as part of a vacation (for me) because it’s kind of a pain to get from the apartment to the hotel. We were sure Cole was going to give us huge reactions to the airplane ride. Not so much. He was more impressed with the emergency instructions pamphlet than looking out the window. Then once the TVs were working—he was a goner. (Dear Jetblue, I love you…a lot). He did enjoy looking out at the sky once we were flying through some thick clouds and he was totally calm about being 25,000 feet in the air. Once I taught him how to force a yawn out to pop his ears he was perfectly content.

Once we landed at the Long Beach Airport it was pretty much what you’d expect…get your luggage, go pick up your car rental and head towards your hotel. We stayed at a nice place that was within walking distance to the park called Desert Palms. When we checked in and got to our room it was not what I expected and looked much different than the pictures on the website. So, even though I just wanted to lay down and take a nap, I went down and very kindly (but firmly) explained that this was not the room we thought we were getting. After looking at another room and not being impressed (because it was essentially the exact same layout) we were given a nicer room in a newly remodeled section of the hotel (at no additional charge). I was glad I said something because we were staying for a week and we wanted to be comfortable!

The rest of the day is kind of a blur…so nothing exciting must have happened. Oh, we picked up some groceries to last us for the week. Very exciting. At bedtime Cole was thrilled to be sleeping on a sofa sleeper. He was giddy with excitement. You’d think the sofa sleeper WAS Disneyland. It was so cute how just the tiniest things can be so exciting to a child.

Sunday

It was glorious to wake up to a balmy 75 degrees instead of a freezing 40 degrees in Utah. We got ready for church and headed over to the closest ward to where we were staying. We stayed for sacrament meeting and then got ready to feel the Spirit at the beach. Three of Danny’s brothers met us at the church and we hung out the rest of the day. I’m sure Cole was a little bored with all the adults around him but he loves his Uncles and I’m glad he gets to spend time with them. It’s important to me that he has a good relationship with his extended family.

I think my favorite beach of the ones I’ve visited is Corona del Mar which is where we ended up going. The water was freezing but Cole and Danny didn’t seem to mind. Cole was thrilled to be covered with sand and I was thrilled to soak up the sun. The beach was beautiful and the rocks and little creatures were pretty cool too.

[BELOW]

This is what I had to work with while trying to get Danny and his brothers together for a picture...

Doesn't Cole look like he's in paradise?

Danny and I have a picture taken in this exact same spot (the family and couple photo shown below) from when we were engaged. A little fun fact for you...

After leaving the beach we found a great park so we could actually sit on the grass in the shade and talk. We had PB&H sandwiches and chocolate cake. Yum.

Spring Concert

2011-05-16T00:24:00.001-06:00

Cole had his Spring Choir Concert this week and was so cute. I recorded one of the songs to share and I love how animated he is. (Even if he IS the only one doing actions at a few different times). He's on the back row and the kids on the front 2 rows are in my class...aren't they SO CUTE??

Moving & Such

2011-04-25T10:10:00.000-06:00

Gosh, where do I even start? I wish I had some great pictures to show because everyone knows a blog post without pictures is kind of lame. Dah well. This is for my peeps (not the marshmallow kind) who are wondering if we survived the move).

We actually planned on moving on Saturday morning but it came down to only being able to have 3 people to help us move which we were a little worried about with us living on the 3rd level of the apt. complex...I knew people were going to be tired and didn't want to injure anyone. heh. So we ended up loading the truck up on Friday night with the help of my Dad, Danny's Dad and Danny's brother Scott and sister Amy. We were also able to recruit some extra help from my teaching partner's husband and her 3 kids. They were like these strong little minions that could sprint up and down the stairs before I could blink. They were such a HUGE help!! I think about 2/3 of the way into the truck getting packed, energy started to die (can you seriously blame them? Think about all those steps?? I felt so bad) and the missionaries showed up. Hallelujah. I loved their enthusiasm and willingness to serve total strangers. Things went really smoothly and the only thing left in the apt when everyone left was our mattress and some cleaning supplies. We slept great Friday night and woke up early to finish up all the little random things.

Getting unloaded went smoothly too. We even had a neighbor come over and bring his teenage son to help us. Willie, Amanda, Danny's brother Brian and his wife Emily showed up along with our Friday night helpers. Moving in was MUUUUCH easier than moving out :) It was done in less than an hour. After the truck was dropped off we had lunch at Gma White's house and then went straight to Gma Miller's house for an easter egg hunt. We packed a lot of stuff into one day but we managed to survive!

I always feel so guilty when we move because I know it's SUCH a hassle for everyone and especially the movers. I feel kind of lame giving people a pastry and a Gatorade for all the hard work they do because I wish I could have taken them all out to dinner to say Thank You.

Danny has worked so hard this past week (so have I...heh) and he was SO tired on Sunday. The truth is, we wanted to sleep all day and just get caught up on our rest...but instead we went to our new ward. We are really excited! Everyone was so great and friendly and there are a lot of little kids really close to our place who are Cole's age which is exactly why we wanted to move (besides having more space). I definitely feel like this is a place we can have a more stable life and give Cole the things he needs at his age and that brings both Danny and I a lot of comfort.

Now that last week is over (I never thought it would come) we are scurrying around trying to get as unpacked as we can because this Saturday we are headed to CALIFORNIA, BABY!! We'll be hitting up the beach, Disneyland and whatever else we feel like doing. This is the best thing to do after a move :) But before Saturday we have soccer practice, a soccer game, a fieldtrip to the zoo, going back to the apartment to clean and turn in our keys, work for both Danny and I and something else I can't think of right now...

So we've definitely got our work cut out for us but we are looking forward to getting away from real life for a week. Saturday can't come soon enough!!

Also, I have a crush on our landlord's dog. He looks like Lassie and is the CUTEST thing ever. Cole is excited to have a dog now :)

Bubbles

2011-04-24T22:07:00.000-06:00

Cole and Ellie were so cute today trying to blow bubbles in Gma White's backyard. Sorry my hand is in the way for the first few seconds. I'd never used danny's ipod to make a video before :)

I'm such a nerd

2011-04-19T20:42:00.000-06:00

But I saw this on KSL and had to take a screen shot (yep, nerd). Please notice the "current conditions". It's 8:40 PM. :)

Forgot to add this

2011-04-18T13:12:00.000-06:00

Just happy to be there

2011-04-18T12:31:00.000-06:00

This video is awesome. You can tell Cole isn't in it for the competitive nature of the sport...he's just happy to be a part of it. I love the little wave in the middle and how he is just trotting around somewhat aimlessly :)

Quotable Cole & I'm a Cougar

2011-04-15T17:15:00.000-06:00

I want to record a few things that won't get written down unless I do it right now (sometimes I post things on Facebook and forget to record it).

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week at school and on Wednesday the kids brought flowers for their teacher. After school, Cole must have taken inventory on my flowers and said "Mom, my teacher has way, way, way more flowers than you do. My class probably just loves her more."

Cole redeemed himself today however, when he said "Mom, you are just so, so, so, so adorable. I could just eat you up."

And my personal favorite which has nothing to do with Cole:

Today I walked in RC Willey and the greeter says to me "Whoa, look out! We've got a Cougar on the loose!" He was also looking at my chest. I am kind of stunned because the only way I use cougar is to refer to an old woman who has a crush on a younger guy or boy. So I was pretty taken aback. Then I looked down and realized I was wearing a BYU sweatshirt. It's a good thing too, or that guy would have been asking for free tickets to the gun show :)

Soccer Practice Take 1

2011-04-11T21:38:00.000-06:00

Cole LOVED his first soccer practice. It's a co-ed team and I was surprised at how aggressive the girls were. More so than the boys on the team...they were also pretty good so we have lots of room for improvement but since this is pretty much Cole's first real exposure to soccer we expected as much.

When we got to the field Cole was constantly asking his coach questions...first they were soccer related and then...not so much. He wanted the coach to see the bottom of his shoes, watch him put one of the cones on his soccer ball because it was his "birthday hat", then wanted the coach to time how fast he could run to the fence and back. Then my personal favorite: "Coach! Look how high I can climb!" Then he realizes that he can't climb down on his own and starts screaming. Don't worry--I saved the day, while sneakily taking a picture while I walked towards him. (Hence the blurriness).

The last 20 minutes consisted of Cole running over to me and giving me random kisses, sitting down on the field while saying "Coach, I'm just so tired" and watching the swarm of children chasing the ball. I think he wore himself out before practice even started by running laps around the cones. We'll have to make sure to store up some of his energy for the actual practice. :)

His first game is Wednesday so this should be interesting!

Had to share

2011-04-08T22:53:00.000-06:00

A little over two years ago we took Cole to Chuck E. Cheese's for his first time. He wasn't loving it and it took some coaxing for him to go on any of the rides. He didn't even love the photo booth.

7 Years

2011-04-07T00:56:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure why 7 is considered a lucky number when it comes to gambling but I know it's lucky for me in love. I've been married to my best friend for 7 years and they've been the best 7 years of my life. Someday I want to tell "our story" with details so that I can remember how things all came together but here is a recap:

10 years ago in January we met and became friends. We hung out and went on one date which we both figured was a little bit pointless...nothing was going to happen there. Moving on...we were just friends. Neither of us saw a potential relationship.

9 years ago I went on a mission and we didn't have any contact but I remember coming home and wondering where he was and if I'd ever run into him again.

8 years ago I came home and we ran into each other at the SLCC Taylorsville Institute of Religion where we first met. We were singing in the Sounding Joy choir and it was mostly by chance that we both ended up in there just one more semester. We started casually hanging out while I moped about all my post-mission woes. After a couple weeks of hanging out we realized that there really was something there. Something awesome. Danny was my favorite person to laugh with (he still is). He laughs at nearly everything and makes everyone feel like the funniest person alive but the truth is--he's the funniest.

We started dating in November of 2003 and got engaged at the end of December. It was a whirlwind 6 weeks! We had a 3 month engagement and were married April 7, 2004 in the Salt Lake Temple.

I always knew growing up that I was going to marry someone who I was really good friends with. Sure, every girl fantasizes about being approached at a wedding reception by a dapper young man telling her that she looks prettier than the bride (no? Just me? Fine). Awkward. But I really knew that it was going to be a friendship that just grew into love. I can honestly say that when we first met I wouldn't have ever thought "I'm gonna marry that boy". But I think that's what makes our story so cool. It was unexpected yet perfect.

This week I stopped by the Institute building to walk around and reminisce. It was so fun/emotional (seriously) to be in the same places and re-experience some of the same feelings I had when we were falling in love. I remember the stairwell where I was sick and Danny came and checked on me after a Sounding Joy performance. I remember yet another stairwell where I sprained my ankle and instead of just laughing (like another moron did) he helped me. I remember kissing in the parking lot when he'd walk me to my car. I remember the classroom that we shared our first institute class together. I remember that he was always a gentleman and opened the doors for me. I remember sitting at the piano in the choir room and watching him play (and starting to fall for him) and I remember VIVIDLY being left alone in the chapel one day. Our friend Christian was on the stand with us after rehearsal and we were just hanging out when suddenly he decided to take off and even though I was terrified and ticked off at him for leaving us alone, I managed to only trip ONCE off the steps. I remember catching glances of him looking at me and getting butterflies because I knew he had a crush on me. I remember hanging out after the Friday Forums and seeing him at the Institute Dances.

Danny and I always say that we were MTB (Meant to be) because while I don't really believe that there is only one person for everyone, I SERIOUSLY believe that we absolutely had to marry each other. We've both known that from the beginning. In the long version of our story--you can clearly see Heavenly Father pushing us towards each other (along with literally all of our friends).

I know it sounds trite to say that I love him more every day but I don't really care. It's true. We've laughed together, cried together, anticipated great things together and mourned together. Laughing together is by far the best :) Danny's the best thing that has ever happened to me and I thank God that he was put right in front of me, several times (I'm kind of slow) but I figured it out eventually!

I love you Danny!

Freebie Download

2011-04-05T22:45:00.000-06:00

This is something Danny and I created for my Kindergarten class. Tomorrow is our 100th day of class and I just figured if anyone else out there wanted a copy, they could have one. It's great for teaching how to count to 100 by 10's. It's also great for having them use their imagination :) Enjoy!

100 Day Booklet

My Spring Break...

2011-03-27T23:08:00.001-06:00

My Spring break was going to be a full week of crazy fun. Instead it turned into cleaning and organizing our apartment to get ready for the unexpected move. But you know what? It's going to be worth it! Besides, after the move we're off to Disneyland, so I can handle it!

We are looking for someone to "take over" our lease here. They'll technically be signing their own lease but I don't know what else to call it. Here's a link to the craigslist posting. I'll also just copy and paste the actual posting right here on the blog. We're the only 2 bedroom apt available in the entire complex and we were told there's a waiting list for the 2 bedrooms so I'm not worried about finding someone...but we'll do our part to get the place leased :)

We are looking for someone to take over our lease at Stonebridge Apartments. It will be available the first part of May. This has been a great place for us to live, we just need a bigger place now. We are the only 2 bedroom apartment available in the entire complex so this will go quickly. Our apartment has 1 bathroom and a huge walk-in closet with a little vanity. It's roughly 1,000 sq. feet. Some of the great things about living here:

Washer/Dryer Hook-ups
Laundry Facility
Dishwasher
Disposal
Patio/balcony
Walk in closets
Covered Parking
Exercise Room
Close to Shopping & Freeway
Tennis Court
2 Playgrounds
Basketball Court
and the most important...A POOL!

We're on the 3rd floor so we have an awesome unobstructed view of the Wasatch Front. We're also big fans of the extra storage closet out on the patio.

The deposit will be paid to the office and is $225 OAC or $350.

Contact RaeLynn at 801-803-4028 to come take a look or email me with questions. If I don't answer, please leave me a msg. I will be at work and may not be able to pick up immediately but I will call you back when I can.

Thanks!

Some news...

2011-03-25T20:58:00.001-06:00

Even though there is a LOT going on right now, I'm not sure how much I care to blog about. One thing is certain: we are moving. Again. I swear we just got unpacked...It was very unexpected but very welcome. We've been squished into this apartment for a year and while it has definitely served its purpose and helped us get back on our feet, we are ready to feel a little more settled. We're also ready to have a third bedroom.

I've been feeling like Cole needs a neighborhood to play in and a more stable environment to surround him. Apartment life isn't great when kids get older and we found an A-MA-ZING deal which totally landed in our laps. We weren't really even looking, per se. We'll still be in WeJo which we're cool with and we'll be pretty close to Gma White which is awesome...also 3 houses away from a new community park. Hello. Things have been running smoothly so far, we just need to get someone to take over our lease...breathe...everything will work out :) We're moving in less than a month and spent the entire day at IKEA, cleaning, organizing, taking pictures of our apartment and getting ready to list it on the usual sites (KSL, craigslist, etc.) We're going to start showing our apartment next week so if you know of anyone who is looking, send 'em on over :)

One thing I did want to show (because we are so proud of it) is the fact that I took the advise of one of my friends (thanks Jenn) and took down our vertical blinds to get rid of the "motel" feel and got some cheap curtains at IKEA. It makes the room so much more cozy and homey. Danny trimmed and hemmed the curtains and THEN put them up all while I was organizing Cole's room which took an eternity. It was a battle getting him not to see some of the stuff I wanted to give away to D.I. and we had to compromise on a few things. Overall, I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Behold the beauty:

Cole's room turned out pretty cute too :)

Countdown Check-in

2011-03-25T20:44:00.001-06:00

Let the Countdown Begin

2011-03-25T20:42:00.001-06:00

Meeting the Prophet

2011-03-14T00:02:00.000-06:00

This was typed a week ago and posted today.

We had something very exciting happen to us today! Our newest little nephew was being blessed and we went to my BIL's homeward for the blessing. He just happens to be in the same homeward as President Monson. We were hopeful that he would be attending his home ward today even though it obviously doesn't happen much. We got there a bit late and while Danny was parking the car, I took Cole by the hand and stood in the back of this MASSIVE chapel looking for a place to sit. The overflow was full and the chapel is so big that I couldn't even see if there might be a spot on the front row. I looked across the stand to see if President Monson was sitting up there but I didn't see him so I was immediately a little disappointed but right after that feeling, I felt the Spirit really strong and I heard someone say "Do you want to sit here?" I looked over to see President Monson sitting on the back row of the chapel with enough room on the pew for us! I was so glad to not only find a place to sit but to sit right next to the Prophet! Cole and I climbed over him (I'm SO grateful I didn't step on him in my heels) and he immediately smiled and made sure we had enough room.

I pulled Cole up on my lap and told him that he was sitting next to the Prophet and Cole's eyes were as wide as saucers. He just stared at him with a half smile...and then President Monson wiggled his ears which REALLY caught Cole's attention as he just continued to stare and then he asked "how are you doing that?" President Monson smiled and told him he was magic. Then Cole (while still staring) asked "But where is Thomas S Monson?" It was too funny. He also got a high five by his HUGE hands. He is large in stature!

Danny arrived a few minutes into the meeting and sat for the rest of the time next to the Prophet. Yes, they shared a hymn book, yes they had casual conversation about Cole staring at his cousin. He (the Prophet) noticed Cole staring at Ellie (his cousin) and commented that Cole was really interested in that "cute little blonde girl on the back row" and when Danny informed him that she was his cousin, he responded with "Oh, I just thought he was growing up!" :)

As we sat there, I thought all the celebrities and seemingly "important" people in the world who I could be sitting next to at that moment and how if I was sitting by a "celebrity" I would probably get flustered and nervous (because I'm a nerd) but being in such a close proximity to the Prophet is like sitting in the Temple. I felt calm and peaceful. He radiates the Spirit and he is so unassuming and humble.

It didn't take long for Cole to warm up to him, draw him a picture and go over to show it to him

President Monson asked for a pen and drew the picture below (however, let it be noted that Cole turned the horse into a unicorn and added a tire swing to the tree as well as some additional fencing). Then he colored it with the only 2 crayons we had that day...

Picture this: Cole with both of his hands on the Prophet's knees pouring over this picture that is being drawn. It could have been a typical scene between a boy and his grandfather. I'm so grateful to Danny's brother for sneaking out his iPhone during the meeting to take some pictures. It was for posterity so let there be no judging :) He also got a couple short video clips!

I couldn't stop thinking about how many people will never have the opportunity in this life to meet a Prophet of God. It was one of those experiences that you don't want to end because you know it will never happen again. Not many 5 year olds can say they've had that kind of exchange with the Prophet and it was so fun to watch Cole experience that. It was such a neat experience and I hope I don't forget the way I felt. It's made me want to be better. I know I'll probably never be as righteous as he is but I can strive to have the Spirit with me in my life the way he does. Just thought we'd share what it was like to meet such a wonderful man!

Goodbye February...Hello March

2011-02-28T12:50:00.001-07:00

I am not ONE tiny bit sad to say goodbye to Feb. Not even for a second. Valentines was fun and all and I threw a fun couple's party to celebrate but I am so done with Winter. March feels so much more springy to me, even if the weather is horrible--I think it's partially a mental thing. Ok, have I established that I am so glad tomorrow is March 1st? Okay, good.

I have been MIA in blog-land for a while and it's not for lack of having anything interesting to say, I just haven't taken the time. Let's see if I can sum up what Jan. and Feb. looked like at our White House:

JANUARY

Our inherited fish dies and then seriously comes back to life. Dang thing won't die.

I am in pre-midlife crisis. I chop all my hair off and love it.

Cole starts teaching the discussions in the foyer of our Church building. Seriously.

This one needs to be large.

FEBRUARY

Cole still dresses up as a Pirate (from his Halloween costume over a year ago) and wears the hat funny.

Cole earns a personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut for reading all the month of January. We combine it with an Iron Man party that we made up to him because we didn't let him go to an Iron Man birthday-themed party and it literally BROKE his heart...and the guilt killed us.

We add a new family member

Cole and I play hospital and I wrap his leg up nicely so that he can rest his head on the Book of Mormon. Osmosis...it's all about osmosis.

We celebrate a wonderful Valentines Day. One of my very favorite days of the year.

We adopt twins and thank the Heavens above for a good tax return because after 7 years of marriage of no washer and dryer, we deserved one, dangit.

I cut my hair a little shorter and go a lot more blonde...and I LOVE IT.

Cole has some fun with our camera

I blog this all up and call it a day...got some laundry to do in our new babies!!

My low quality camera

2011-02-22T21:28:00.001-07:00

took this adorable picture. I have shorter and BLONDer hair now and I love it! Who knows what I'll do next :)