My return to blogging, part 1

Hi. It's me. Remember me?? I know...it's been a long time. So long, actually, that I'm almost embarrassed to start blogging again. But I suppose it's time. Especially with all that's happened in the last few months. I'll spare you the excuses and just leave it at saying there was enough going on that blogging moved pretty far down the list and motivation was pretty non-existant.

I also won't try to recap everything that's happened in the last 5-6 months. Most of it would seem pretty lame to talk about this far after the fact anyway (assuming any of it was really blog worthy in the first place). But I'll hit some highlights - mostly those leading up to the big news that I'm sure everyone knows by now...we up and moved to Clearfield.

After 5.5 years as an assistant manager at Wal-mart, Erik decided it was time to move forward, so he started applying for the next level. We knew there would be some openings in both of the Logan stores as well as the Perry store sometime in the fall or late summer, so he started throwing his name in the ring for some other stores for the practice. When those Logan openings came, everyone, including his store manager, assumed he was a shoe-in. But when the decision was delayed week after week, we knew something was up. In the end, some political and personal issues meant Erik didn't get the position.

It was pretty discouraging, but another opportunity popped up pretty quickly. The market HR manager wanted Erik to apply for a position he was having a hard time getting qualified applicants for. Only it was in Taylorsville. Tay. Lors. Ville. For those who don't know, Taylorsville is about 1.5 hours from Logan. Not exactly commutable when he would already be working a 13-hour shift. It would definitely require a move. We were also wary of leaving my super flexible job. Because of some past precedent set by my office, we decided to pose the possibility of working from home. I was already doing it one day a week anyway and had done it three days a week the year Lily was born. My position had changed dramatically from what it had been 5 years earlier, but we figured it was worth a try. Let's just call that day a roller coaster. I ran it by the first person, who thought it was worth a try, and we both posed the option to the others who would need to be consulted. Three of the four were on board and were super optimistic. So I told Erik to go ahead and apply...it was going to happen! About an hour later, I was told it was a no-go. I was crushed to say the least.

Erik could now either withdraw his application and look bad, or we could move forward anyway. So he moved forward. In the end, once again, some political issues prevented his being offered the position, even though he was later told he was their first choice. Having the same outcome after all the stress was really frustrating. But it was almost a relief since I wouldn't have to quit after all. We figured we'd just wait until something a little more commutable came up. About a month later, the Centerville store had an opening. We had decided this was really the farthest he was willing to go, even with a move, and with the outcome of the last two stores, he applied almost planning that it wouldn't pan out. I didn't even mention it to my bosses since I knew my options there. We had crunched some numbers during the Taylorsville interviews and had decided to give my staying at home a try...maybe with the occasional freelance work. This time, he got the job.

A commute to Centerville from Logan was still a little over an hour, so we started looking for houses in Davis County right away. He ended up commuting for about 2 months before we moved to Clearfield, which is not quite 30 minutes away. We closed on our new house two days after Christmas, and I gave my notice after the start of the year. Once he'd been offered the position, I did let them know a move would be coming, but since we would need my income to qualify for two mortgages, I didn't want to make anything official or put anything in writing in case our new lender somehow found out. I knew they were already interviewing for my position since it would eventually be combined with another position they were filling, so I didn't feel too bad about springing it on them even though I'd know for over a month when my last day would be.  In the end, it all worked out. I spent the last two weeks (really about 5 days with the New Year's holiday and only working 4 days a week anyway) wrapping up what I needed to and feeling very conflicted about leaving a job I'd had for almost 11 years.

My last day was a Thursday. While I was eating cake and saying goodbye, the moving company hired by Wal-mart packed most of our stuff. (Let me give an aside about hiring movers. When you tell people movers will be doing all the work, including the packing, they tell you how lucky you are. And I suppose that's true. It was one less thing to worry about. But that's not in my nature. I did worry. Like I said: I knew my moving date a month out. But I couldn't do anything except think about moving. Being able to pack up and declutter as I went would have been super helpful. I did try to declutter a little, but it seemed ridiculous to pull everything out, trash the stuff I didn't want to take, and put it all back again. Then there's the issue of unpacking. I admit to being a little OCD, so maybe this wouldn't have bothered anyone else. But unpacking was so random. It was a mystery box every time. Sure, they said dishes or living room but one kitchen box had items from three cupboards but no one complete cupboard. Each cupboard was strewn among several boxes. So I guess what it boils down to is there are some things I'd rather do myself...) Friday, they loaded it into the truck (and trashed our carpet while doing it). Saturday, January 12, we moved in. (I will admit, though, that having them bring everything in the house was AWESOME.)

A month and a half later, we're almost completely out of boxes. That's normal, right??? To still have half unpacked boxes?? There's only two or three. Ok...maybe 7. Out of something like 120. Just tell me it's normal.

(Part 2 to follow, hopefully with pictures and what we think of the whole thing and what's happening with the Logan house...)
 

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Our trip to exotic...Canada?

As of July 13, Erik and I have been married 10 years. Yeah...that wasn't a typo. 10 years. To me, that seems like such a milestone. And it's been an amazing 10 years, so we decided to treat ourselves to a fabulous vacation. Since we love cruises and we hadn't been on one in a couple years, we started looking at itineraries. There were the usual, of course. Hawaii, Mexico, the Caribbean, Alaska. And all of them would have been fantastic, I'm sure.

But then we noticed an eastern Canada cruise leaving out of Boston. No, it wasn't tropical. Heck, it wasn't even exotic. And we got plenty of mildly confused looks when we started telling people where we would be sailing. Canada? You mean that country just north of ours that's pretty much the exact same as here? But that was our final decision. We've both wanted to check out Boston forever and we'd already done the tropical thing. As fun as it was, we wanted to try something new. So Canada it was.

Since Boston was a main impetus for the choice, we headed in a day before the cruise left. We actually ended up on a red eye that left Saturday at 11:30p and arrived in Boston at 7:30a on Sunday. Airplane sleep is the worst. Even with the cute shut-eye kits of eye masks and ear plugs. We slept as well as we could and hit the ground running once we landed. Luckily, we were able to check into our hotel early so we could at least freshen up a bit.

We only had about a day and a half before boarding the boat, so based on the recommendation of the front desk, we headed straight to the Quincy Market Place area. It's right near the water and has a ton of shopping and food. It's also right next to Faneuil Hall, which was a market built in the 1700s. So we got to shop and feel like we were learning something at the same time. Always a plus. And we scored some great brick oven pizza at Regina Pizzeria . 

In that same area is the New England Aquarium. Seeing as how we recently set up a tank, it was a must see. We also hooked up with a tour through part of the Freedom Trail and ended up at the Old North Church and then went on to see Ol' Ironsides (USS Constitution) and the Old State House, where we got the real story of the Boston Massacre...as real as it can be, I suppose, considering no one really seems know what happened.

By the time we hit the boat on Monday afternoon, we were beat. Good thing the next day was a sea day, for sure. And remember when I said we wanted something different than the other cruises we'd been on? Well, it was. Usually, the days at sea are spent by the pool in a swim suit reading a book or taking a nap. In between, you grab some ice cream or a drink or some pizza and then maybe take a dip in the pool. For us, it was foggy. And I don't mean a few low thin clouds. We couldn't see anything. It was a little unnerving, really, to be on a boat in the middle of...nothing. So rather than lie by the pool all day, we hit the spa. Yes...Erik, too. It was wonderful!

Our first port was Saint John New Brunswick. Apparently, the big thing to do here is see the Reversing Falls. They have the highest tides in the world, so when the tide comes in, the Saint John River will actually change direction. The thing is, unless you hit the site at both low and high tides, you don't know the difference. Plus, the site to view the falls it across from a refinery. Talk about scenic. While we were there, we were able to see the water change a little, and some rapids started to form, but I don't know that I'd say it was a must see. We probably had more fun wandering around the town and their huge food market. And lunch was amazing at the Urban Deli. Without knowing it, we picked the #1 Saint John restaurant on Trip Advisor. And we whole-heartedly agree. Who knew grilled ham and cheese and club sandwiches could be so good?

The next day was Halifax. Turns out we were there during the tall ship festival. So while we waited for our tour that afternoon, we stolled the harbor walk and admired the ships. We also had some amazing ice cream (made with PEI blueberries and strawberries). Our tour actually took us out of Halifax to a fishing village called Peggy's Cove. Apparently, the permanent population of the town is about 40, but during the tourist season, it goes up substantially. It is the home of the most photographed lighthouse, which was our main destination. And I can see why. The lighthouse itself is just a lighthouse. In fact, we had a very similar one a little island next to the cruise ship. But the landscape around it was so pretty. Tons of granite right up to the ocean. But remember to avoid the black rocks. Or You. Will. Die. They make sure you understand that black rocks mean wet rocks, which means the ocean might come up and take you with it. While we were there, I snagged a watercolor print from the artist, who happened to be there signing them. I don't think he's anyone super famous, but it's kind of fun to have, especially for only 20 bucks.

Our second stop in Halifax was to the Titanic grave yard. The bodies retrieved from the water were brought to Halifax, and if they went unclaimed or the families didn't want to/couldn't ship them home, they were buried there. There are 121 graves, including a J Dawson and an unknown child who is actually now know thanks to DNA testing. Our guide was great and was able to tell us some stories about some of the people who ended up buried there. Definitely a fun, if a bit morbid, stop.

We had a second day at sea on the way back, which ended up being a lot like the first one. While we were in port, the weather was amazing. But those two days at sea were foggy and windy. But there's always something to do on board, so we managed to stay busy.

We arrived back in Boston Saturday morning, but we'd opted for another day so we didn't have to cram all of Boston into that first day and a half. So during the rest of Saturday and Sunday morning, we finished the part of the Freedom Trail we didn't do earlier, including the Bunker Hill Monument and its 294 steps. No elevator option. Erik ran the first 75 or so but soon realized that probably wasn't the brightest idea. The view was pretty cool, but it's a tiny room with a lot of people, so we didn't stay long to check it out. So we headed back down the 294 steps. Back at the bottom and 588 steps later, I was pretty sure my legs were about to mutiny and stop working all together.

A quick rest and we headed back to the Quincy area for lunch at Saus. French fries and sauce. That's it. I guess that's not true. They had sandwiches, too, but the fries were the thing. We went with the Poutine: fries with gravy and cheese curds. Seriously...it was so good. Then it was a trip to Boston Harbor so Erik could dump some tea in. We also hit the other side of town to see Prudential Tower. It wasn't as impressive as Willis Tower in Chicago, and it's not even the tallest building in Boston. But it had a good enough view that it was worth the trip.

By the time we got to the airport, we were ready to get home and see the kids, who had been staying with Nana and Grandpa Len. But we had a great time. Now we just need to start planning the next one. Maybe we'll let the kids come this time...
 

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To Erik

You are the cheese to my macaroni. You are the horizon to my sky.You are the bacon to my eggs. You are the laces to my sneakers. You are the jelly to my peanut butter. You are the smile to my face. You are the gravy to my mashed potatoes. You are the bubbles to my bath. You are the milk to my cookie. You are the ink to my pen. You are the ketchup to my fries. You are the water to my ocean. You are the icing on my cupcake. You are the Ron to my Hermione.

Nine years already. Happy Anniversary to my best friend.

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Sleepover

As I write this, Erik is sleeping (well, maybe not yet...but he's trying) on Lily's floor under a tent constructed from a comforter and a sheet. It's main supports are a dresser and an easel leaning precariously against the wall. Lily has been asking for weeks to have a sleepover with one of us, but it's always on a night when we have to work the next morning, so the creaky joints and stiff back that would result weren't too appealing.  (Man we're getting old.) There was also the prospect that I'd be wiggling my way out of a tent half awake because that would be the night Timothy would decide to go back to not sleeping. (We've had a blissful sleep week as far as he's concerned, by the way. Blissful!)

But tonight was the magical night, and Erik figured that since he was already sore from crawling around on the floor at work for inventory, he might as well make a night of it and sleep on the floor, too, since he'll have the next week of vacation to recover. Way to take one for the team, I know.

So I just wanted to let the entire internet know how much I love my husband and how willing he is to indulge our daughter in something so simple but that will make her so happy and create such a great memory. And she'll remember it...you can count on that. It will be weeks, maybe even months from now, and she'll say, "Hey guys! Remember yesterday when Daddy had a sleepover with me in my room and we built a tent and used the flashlight to read Hop on Pop? Remember that? That was so fun!"

And at least I know that if she's on the floor, there's no risk of hurting herself. Unlike the other night when I peeked in to check on her before I went to bed.

Yes...she's sleeping standing up. Don't ask me how she got into this predicament or how long it would have been before we heard the thud of her falling over. The "Thanks, Daddy" when Erik lifted her a back into bed was the sweetest thing. There are days she makes me want to pull my hair out, for sure. If she's this emotional at 4, what are we in for at 13? But I definitely wouldn't trade her in for anything. I don't think. No...Yeah, I wouldn't. She one adorable little girl and I love her.

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Plain White T's

Looks like February is our month for concerts. Last year, we headed to Vegas for Jack's Mannequin. This year, we stayed close to home for Plain White T's. I LOVE Plain White T's, so when I found out they were coming, it was a no-brainer. And I'm so glad we went. They put on a great show, and we had a blast. And during a surprise change up in where they were singing, we ended up being super close for the all-famous Hey There, Delilah.

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Once there was a snowman

After a couple blissful days of Mother Nature's toying with my emotions by giving us some semi-springlike weather, she went and dumped an obscene amount of snow on us. I wasn't too thrilled. Lily, on the other hand, thought it was fantastic. In fact, this morning, she got herself all dressed, including her non-snow boots and informed Erik that she was going out to shovel. This turned out to be not quite the whole truth and was really just a ploy to get to the park. After tromping through the snow and getting completely soaked, she came back in only with the promise that they would go out and build a snowman once I came home and could wrangle Timothy.

At our office Christmas party, we had a white elephant exchange. We managed to snag a snowman kit. I know...how hard is it to build a snowman and what would be in a kit since the majority of a snowman can't survive in a kit? But it was awesome. It came complete with hat, matching scarf, eyes, mouth, carrot, and pipe. Somehow, though, in the two months since Christmas, we had yet to use it. It seemed like whenever it snowed, we didn't get to the project before the snow had lost it's optimum snowman consistency. So as much as I hate snow, this most recent storm was actually good because we finally managed to use this dang kit.

Even though the forecast said it was supposed to snow today, too, it was blue skies and sunny while we were out, so I carted Timothy along and even Laddie took a few romps around the park...I like to call it frolicking, really, since the snow reached his belly and he had to leap everywhere he went.

In the end, Lily and Erik managed a fairly decent snowman - although the eyes and mouth have already been brought inside because they fell off. I'm hoping we don't lose the rest of the kit before we can snag it all and put it back in the container. You'll also notice the hat and scarf don't match. Lily decided she'd rather use the lid to the container than the actual hat, but it still worked. Plus, she's pretty convinced it's magical. She keeps trying to check on "Frosty" with her flashlight from inside the house. I'm pretty sure she thinks he'll get up and walk away...

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Our Little Olympian

I don't ski. I went once. If you could call it that. About 10 years ago. I spent most of the time on my rear end cursing Erik for letting him talk me into trying it. And the next day? I could barely move. I refuse to go again.

But Erik convinced Lily that skiing is the best thing ever and had her so completely excited about its prospects by the time they headed up to Beaver Mountain this week that I was sure someone's high hopes were about to be crushed, especially since she wouldn't even let them buckle the boots when Erik took her to get fitted for them.

Luckily...I was wrong. She LOVED it. Before they went, Erik worked with her on what to do if she fell down. "I jump up and try again!" And it must have worked, because she had a great time. They went with Buzzy and Carson (who is about a year older than Lily). The guys did some skiing on their own while the kids had a lesson and then they did a couple runs with them. She's super excited about going again, and was sure to tell everyone we saw that she went skiing. I see a gold medal in our future... :-)

Now if only Erik could convince her to get on her little snowmobile...

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Halloween

Ok...so Halloween was over two weeks ago. But I wanted to get at least a couple pictures up of our costumes this year for those who didn't get to see them. Once again, we attended the Mullahkhel Halloween festivities. This year, Erik was actually able to go, so for once I got to be the second half of a couple's costume. Unfortunately, I didn't have much say in it if I wanted to follow through on the whole "couple" idea since Erik was pretty set on his costume once I made the mistake of mentioning it. As a result, Erik and I were Ron Burgundy and Veronica Corningstone of Anchorman fame. After several final decisions, Lillian settled on a Lady Bug. And Timothy, not having much choice in the matter, was a Harley Baby.

Lily had a great time trick-or-treating around Wal-mart again this year, and while I'm sure her stash won't satisfy her in the next few years, it was enough to make the kid as happy as anything. Now that she's actually remembering holidays from year to year, it's so fun to see her excitement and anticipation. And to be honest, I'm looking forward for next Halloween because I have an awesome costume in mind that includes Timothy. I have to use him to my advantage while I can. Pretty soon he'll have a mind of his own, too.

And then I'm doomed... :)

And remember, stay classy, San Diego.

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Up the Walls

Me: Were you a good girl today?

Lily: Yep. But Timothy was SOOOOOO sad.

Me: Oh was he?

Lily: Yeah. And he was driving Daddy up ALL the walls.

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Wherein Lily Completely Embarrasses Erik

Erik isn't easily embarrassed. He says pretty much anything that pops into his head, and he can put his foot in his mouth without being too disturbed by it. But apparently, Lily has the ability to completely embarrass him.

This is Dora:

Lily and Erik were shopping yesterday when a Hispanic family, including a little girl about Lily's age, approached the check stand. Lily paid for her books (she's very independent these days!) and when she turned around, she said, in a less than indoor voice, "Look, Daddy! It's Dora!!!"

From what I gather, they made a fairly speedy exit.

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Summer Highlights

So where has the summer gone? It's already September, and I haven't blogged about half the stuff I planned on. I have all these posts semi-started (meaning, I put in titles to remind me to write the posts), but I just haven't had a chance to actually sit down and do the full posts. So here are picture highlights. Kind of like a clip show on a blog... :)

Riverdale Splash Park

My First 29th Birthday

Lily Feeds the Ducks...

...and Laddie is Attacked by a Goose

Camping...

...and Lily Falls in the Creek

Lily Tries Her First Fair Rides...

...and Decides to Hit Lagoon the Next Weekend

That about sums up our summer. I think we did a good job wearing everybody out...

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Pickin' Peas

One reason I've decided Erik is worth keeping around is his desire to get us out and about (because let's be honest: most of the time, I'm perfectly content to sit at home with a good book). Today's adventure involved heading up to Cove and picking some peas.

Seriously. This is what we did this afternoon. Erik found about about a farm in Cove that lets you pick your own peas and then pay what they're worth to you. For some reason, this mention of peas made him suddenly think about the creamed new potatoes and peas dish his grandma used to make (which has never been brought up in our 8 years of marriage). Being the impulsive guy he is, he decided we would be making this dish tonight and we needed fresh peas.

Admittedly, the pea patch (or whatever you would call it) was fairly picked over and trampled. We weren't the only ones who had heard the news about the peas, obviously. But Lily had a great time looking for pea pods and putting them in our bucket. After harvesting a few, it turned more into Lily holding the bucket while Erik and I searched for the peas, and she was always very polite as we dropped them in, saying Thank You every time a new pod was added.

On the way home, she asked if she could open one. Figuring we'd be vacuuming up peas once we got home, I gave it to her. She opened the pod like Erik had shown her, and to my surprise, she stuffed them in her mouth. Not one at a time of course. No. She shoved the entire pod's worth of peas in and started chewing. Since she's recently developed a reluctance to eating vegetables with dinner, I was amazed at her eagerness. Once she realized she had a quite full mouth full of peas, however, it was a different story, and she wanted to spit them out. I didn't have anywhere for her to spit them, though, so I told her she'd have to chew them up and swallow. Which she did. But she didn't want to eat any more once we got home. I figure at least she got vegetables in her today so I win.

So for our dinner tonight, we were able to enjoy creamed new potatoes and peas made with peas that less than an hour before had still been attached to the ground. Pretty fun, really. And I promise you, we'll be heading back up to Cove before the summer is over...

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The Zoo

On Wednesday, I had to go to Salt Lake to help with a meeting for work. Since we'd been talking about taking Lily to the zoo for a couple weeks, we decided this would be a good time to do it, so Erik and Lily met me in Salt Lake once I was done and we headed up the hill.

It turned out to be the perfect day. It rained the day before and the day after, but we had nice weather and it wasn't too hot. There was so much to keep Lily's attention that it didn't take much convincing to move her along to the next animal. The biggest problem we had was when she wanted to drink from the lion-head water fountain for 20 minutes straight and kept asking to go back to it. But we could usually interest her in something else and she'd forget for about 10 minutes or so.


We got to see the cute new baby elephant, Zuri, and Lily made sure to say goodbye to all the animals as we moved on to the next. She even offered the crocodile a lick of her sucker. We also got a very close look at an orangutan when it sat down right in front of the window and started pulling faces for everyone.

She's developed some weird phobia about bugs, though. She asked to take the Siberian Lynx home with us, but there was a bug on the glass of one of the tiger habitats and she had a melt down. And it was on the other side! Wild cats with big sharp teeth? No problem. A box elder bug? Mortal enemy.

The last thing we did was stop at Discovery Land, complete with playground. The girl loves a good playground; what can I say? Unfortunately, our day ended when she shot off the end of a slide like a bullet and landed square on her butt pretty hard. But always the friendliest girl in the room, she was sure to say, "Bye everyone" through the tears as we wheeled her away in the wagon to go home.

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Life...

My blogging frequency has recently gone down the tubes, and I apologize. It looks like I'm lucky if I get two or three posts a month lately. It's not that nothing's going on, really. I feel like we're super busy, but most of our activities are those run-of-the-mill life activities - nothing too exciting.

But in case you care about those run-of-the-mill activities, I thought I'd give a little update. Plus, it may be the only reason I find for posting something in March. :)

Of course most of my thoughts lately have been on our McBean (my nickname for now) due to arrive in four measly months. Yes that's right: we've passed the half-way mark of this pregnancy. The first couple months were not all that enjoyable for me, I'll admit. With Lillian, I only got a little queasy if I didn't get dinner on time. This time around, I was queasy pretty much all day. Eating would make me feel better, but then I was eating ALL the time, which is probably why I found myself giving in to maternity pants way sooner than last time. And the mood swings!?! I think I spent an entire month snapping at Lily and Erik both, but hopefully they've forgiven me. I'm feeling great now, and the doctor says everything looks fabulous. I'm getting antsy to get started on the nursery, but Lily's room has to be done first.


As you can clearly see from my previous post, we recently found out we're having a boy. It's been so helpful for me to be able to call the baby "he" rather than "it." We aren't anywhere close to a name choice yet...in fact, we've barely talked about it. I suppose we'll have to before too long. Or we could just let Lily have her way and call him Boots. Lily went to the ultrasound with us and behaved remarkably well. She kept asking why I was up on that big chair, so we'd remind her to look at the big tv on the wall. "Oh yeah..." was her response. It took some convincing since she was sure she was going to have a little sister, but now she's "so excited to have a baby brother!!!" Her words, not mine. We'll see how she feels once he's here. :)

I've been feeling McBean move for a while now, but in the last couple weeks, he's really stepped up his game. Mostly focusing on perfecting his trampoline skills on my bladder. He was so active last night, I actually attempted to let Erik have a feel. But of course, all activity ceased as soon as Erik's hand headed my direction.

As far as Lily's life, she still finds some way to surprise me everyday. She picks up on everything, and the stuff that comes out of her month seems way too old for a three-year-old. We've been working on getting her new room situated. The furniture has now arrived although it's still haphazardly placed in the room. After much debate between Erik and me, bedding was chosen. Lily was involved in the choice a little since we let her choose the actual color - she went for blue. We also picked up a couple storage shelves/bins in an effort to keep the clutter at bay (HA!). Last night, we picked up the paint, so once I get that done, we can get everything in place and move her in. She is WAY excited to sleep in her new big bed...which was quite obvious when I was woken the other night at 2 am to be told she wanted to be tucked back into her new bed rather than her current bed. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that actually sleeping in the new bed is as appealing as she thinks it is now.

After a break, she's started gymnastics again and is absolutely loving it. The kid has way too much energy, so it's nice to give her a productive way to release some of it while snow is still covering our park. I'm thrilled it's starting to melt so we can start doing some outdoor activities. I think she'll finally be able to reach the pedals on her tricycle, and we need to get some time in on the Plasma Car.

Erik is still plugging away on overnights. We thought he would move to days April 1, but it looks like that will be pushed back to the middle of May. We were looking forward to having that change and were even counting the days, so to hear it will be another 6 weeks was disappointing. But at least we can still see the light at the end of the tunnel. He hasn't been able to do nearly the amount of snowmobiling he wanted this year although I don't think any amount would have been enough.

I'm also just doing my thing at work. My job changed a little around October...nothing really drastic, but it's been different, so it's been kind of nice. I was able to take a trip to Phoenix for a staff meeting and meet up with Dad, Elizabeth, and Cassandra for a few hours. Not to mention enjoy some glorious sun.

But that's really about it. See why I haven't blogged? Not much going on, and this sounds remarkably like a Christmas newsletter...sorry. Hopefully items of interest will pick up soon. At least I know I'll have two posts showing kid rooms once they're all done. And I do have a post about redoing our floors. Problem is I have yet to take a good after picture. I'll get right on that since it's actually a pretty entertaining story.

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Vegas Birthday

This weekend, Erik and I headed down to Las Vegas for a concert...Erik's birthday present to himself. In all my 28 years, I've never been to a concert. You know...other than the occasional band/orchestra/choir/symphony type one. So I was super excited to be able to say I'd actually been to a real live concert. Of course, when we told anyone we were seeing Jack's Mannequin, we'd get very confused looks accompanied by a, "Who?" But that was ok.

We arrived in Vegas Friday morning about 10 am and headed to House of Blues to pick up our tickets. It was then that we realized the concert started at 5 pm...much earlier than we expected it would. So we didn't get as much time to wander the strip as we had hoped. But we still had a great time with stops in the Coke and M&Ms stores, lunch at the Harley Davidson Cafe, and several trips on the monorail. As a side note, each trip on the monorail required singing part of the following:




Our only real disappointment for the trip was not taking a real camera with us to the concert. We had totally planned on it, but House of Blues has a no camera policy. After a little internet research, we determined they're actually pretty strict about the policy with several people having their cameras confiscated. So we decided not to risk it. And we SO should have. Not only did people bring cameras, they didn't care AT ALL. I watched one guy get wanded before coming in, which included pulling a camera out of his pocket in front of the security guard and then putting it back in. We were able to get some pictures with Erik's phone, but they aren't great, and of course, I didn't think to get any of us actually at the concert. Major bummer, but at least the concert was good. Although we could have done without the opening band that opened for the opening bands. Had we known the actual good stuff wouldn't start until 6:30, we could have seen a few more sites.

Even though we didn't get good pictures at the concert, we did manage to snag a picture of what we're calling the Jack's Mannequin tour bus. Even though we have absolutely no proof of any kind, it made us feel sort of special...


We were going to head to the Shark Aquarium the next day, but it didn't open until later in the morning, and we didn't want to get home too terribly late, so we nixed that and headed to St. George for some outlet shopping. We decided we could have totally used another day of vacation, but it was still way fun and worth the long drive. Not to mention the GLORIOUS weather!

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Winter Fun with Daddy

I have a Christmas post planned, but there are so many pictures to sort through still. But to tide you over...

Erik and Lillian took advantage of our fresh snow today. This was quite the contrast from last year. The one time I attempted to get Lillian in her snow pants, snow boots, coat, and mittens, we were outside for a whole 2 minutes before she decided it wasn't for her. Today, she and Erik spent some time sledding (they took turns pulling) and throwing snowballs. Laddie even got in on the fun.

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Obviously not my kid

Yesterday, when Lillian woke up, Erik asked, "Guess what??" In a very interested whisper, she asked, "What?" back.

Erik: It snowed!

Lily: It did? I want to see!

Erik held her up to the window to see the disastrous white stuff that fell during the night that means the end of my life as I know it. (A tad too dramatic? Sorry.)

Lily: Oooooo! I LOVE snow. Oh no! I don't have snow boots!

Erik: We'll have to buy you some, I guess.

Lily: Yeah. Let's do that! (her new favorite phrase) Mommy doesn't like snow.

You got that right, kiddo. But I guess I should just be happy that this year, she's actually excited to see the snow because last year, she wouldn't walk on it. All all. Not one boot-covered toe was ever to touch that cold white stuff. So taking advantage of the excitement while we could, we went out last night and bought some adorable snow boots, trying very hard to keep her line of sight away from the Dora the Explorer ones. Amazingly, she did see them and put them back when we asked her to. Maybe she'll turn out to be an obedient child after all.

Now I guess all we have left to get is the small snowmobile she suddenly thinks she needs. (Daddy's is too big. She needs a small, pink one.) I'd say Erik's brainwashing her, but I was there when that phrase (I need a small one.) came out of her mouth. All on its own. Completely unrehearsed. That and her small motorcycle because Daddy's is too scary and loud. You should have seen the pure joy on Erik's face.

There's got to be some of me in her somewhere, right? Right? I mean besides the OCD. Anybody???? Sigh.

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Random blogging

Because I've been lax in my blogging recently and because nothing else is really going on, today's post consists of random bits of...stuff.

First of all, how about this adorable picture of Lily and Erik in their ties. No cute story. No funny explanation. Just a cute Fred Flintstone-ish tie that was just too cute not to share.

Second, I have to brag about how brilliant my child is. And isn't that really the point of any mother's blog and the right of every parent? I thought so. I'm sure every parent totally thinks the same thing about their kid, but mine's the real deal. ;) The other day, Lillian looked at my shirt (which happened to say Wal-mart) and said, " There are lots of A's on your shirt." I guess two is a lot to a two-year-old. But that's not the point. The point here is that she knew there were A's there at all. So I asked her to find each letter. AND SHE COULD. I was amazed. I guess I shouldn't have been since she's ALWAYS asking which letters are what while we read and she plays her ABC Zoo game online. And she's been singing the alphabet for while now. But she got every single letter right. All of them. Of course when I tried to show Erik, she got every single one wrong. But the other day, I let her tag along while I ran into the office for a bit, and while I put together some meeting materials, she played her game. When she got bored, I tried to drag it out just a little longer by asking her to find letters. Once again, she got them all right.

Erik and I, especially recently, are constantly asking each other if the average two-year-old should be able to do the things she's doing or if we are just easily impressed. Whatever the truthful answer is to that question, we're amazed every day at the little person she's becoming, and I'm looking forward to seeing her continue to develop.

My last random topic for this post is Lily's vocal performance debut:



Thanks, as always, for reading my ramblings. :)

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Where's Erik's Hazard Pay???

What's great about this is that Erik recently had an employee who threatened to bring a gun and shoot everybody. Needless to say, he no longer works for the company...

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

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