a Picture Post

It's Thursday Night. The quiet, stay at home kind which I enjoy so much. Daniel is off at game night, so it's just me and my two gentlemen feline friends. And to celebrate this stay at home night (mostly cause for once I'm not blogging at work), I'm going to share some pictures from my new camera. These are going to be a bunch of random pictures, but since I don't usually have access to them at work, I figured this would be fun. Here we go!

This is the new couch...which as promised, looks huge in our small apartment. Someday it will fit just right in our home!

This is a cat condo we worked on building with Daniel's dad over christmas break. We left one weekend, and came back the next and it was 6 feet tall!

This was our beautiful christmas tree. Decorated from the top half up...mostly cause of two certain pesky cats.

This would be my Wesley cat. He doesn't get to go outside very often, because we don't have a yard. When we take him with us to Daniel's parent's house, he get some supervised backyard time. This was on adventure he was having, and I don't know what he was looking at, but you can tell he's focused.

This is Wesley in his usual position, perched on top of a blanket. That is one of our favorite blankets by the way. I wanted to make Daniel a quilt for christmas when we were first dating, because the silly boy slept in a sleeping bag. He loved this blanket, and it served him well till we got married. Now it's perfect for cuddling on the couch!

This is the finished cat tree in our living room. I had no idea it would get so huge, but the cats love it. Hopefully someday we'll have a larger living space or a basement where it can live. Right now if people came over, I think they'd assume we're crazy cat people...but then maybe we are.

While we're discussing blankets, this is a hilarious incident which happened one day while I was at work. Daniel was trying to be helpful, and do some laundry. This blanket (my senior quilt which I absolutely adore) needed to be washed, and Daniel started the load of laundry. I came home on my lunch break, started to switch the load from the washer to the dryer and found what looked like little bits of paper stuck to my blanket. I thought maybe there was a piece of paper that got mixed in with the laundry, but the more I looked, the more paper there was. It turns out that an entire box of envelopes had gotten knocked into the washing machine, and wen through the wash cycle. I don't know how this happened, but it definitely made for an amusing situation, and turned Daniel off from doing laundry for a while. This is the back side of the blanket. At the time I had it draped over the shower curtain rod, and I was trying to beat off the wet paper. In case this ever happens to anyone out there, this worked for the most part. Then I put it in the dryer, took it out every 10-15 minutes and shook it outside like a parachute. It took quite a while, and a lot of work, but my quilt is as good as new, and there was no lasting damage...just a lot of laughs.

Last but not least, here is the most recent picture of us. A couple sundays ago, I noticed we were particularly matchey, so I had my parents take some pictures of us. I don't love getting my picture taken, but seeing as most of our pictures that we have are wedding/engagement, I figured we might as well give it a shot. Here we are:
I hope you enjoyed this picture post...I'll work on using more pictures, they are kind of fun.

Brought to you by the letter B

It took me a while to realize that I needed a prompt for my next post. That said, I will share my favorite B things.

1. Bath and Body Works. I love anything and everything from this shop. If I ever needed a side job, this would be the first place I'd look. I have a collection of their products which increase my daily quality of living. My two favorite sales each year are their semi-annual events. I use their paper bags over and over again to carry my lunch to and from work. I'll have to take a picture of my lotion collection, because I don't even know how many I have. At my desk at work I have Tropical Passion Fruit, and Mango Mandarin. In my purse, I carry a small tube of Sensual Amber anti-bacterial lotion. On the bookshelf beside my bed I have a bunch of different scents, because let's face it: A girls got to have options. Right now my favorite smell is Dancing Waters. But I'm also crazy about Magnolia Blossom. I love the wall flower plug-in's, the hand soap, body wash, Mentha lip tint...pretty much I'm a fanatic. And I like it that way. If any of you love Bath and body Works as much as I do, what's your favorite scent?

2. Bananas. I like Bananas, but I'm picky about them. I don't like them too ripe, and I don't like them mixed with strawberries. I don't like mixing Bananas with berries, or ice cream or anything like that, but I'll eat it in fruit salad, and I love Banana bread/muffins/pancakes. Weird? Maybe.

3. Babies. I love babies, and right now pretty much I just love other peoples babies, but someday, not too many years from now, I'll have my own babies to love. They'll have big dark eyes and lots and lots of dark brown hair. I know I'll love it.

4. Books. I love finding a book that I can escape with. A book that sucks you right in, and makes you lose track of time. I don't always stretch my reading comfort zone, but it's something I should work on. I love good books like that, but then I always feel like I should pace myself for fear it's going to be over and done with too quickly. I also love children's picture books and chapter books. Some of my favorites today are books that I read in my childhood.

5. Baking. I love mixing ingredients, trying new recipes, experimenting a little, and seeing the end result. Sometimes things flop, but other times they work out. I recently discovered that my pumpkin chip muffins need oil. The applesauce substitute that I tried definitely didn't work. Someday I want to try to make Bagels...which brings me to #6.

6. Bagels. I practically lived off of bagels during high school. Specifically Bagel Brother's Cheese Bagels. I loved them, and haven't had one since I graduated. It may be time to find the nearest Bagel Brother's and have a delicious memory.

7. Breakfast. I happen to be married to one of those people who doesn't eat breakfast, but I'm convinced that if he had been raised in my home he wouldn't feel this way. I think it's one of the most uncomfortable things to start the day without a breakfast. Growing up, my dad would have breakfast ready each day of the week. Monday's we'd get waffles- not the icky Belgian kind, but the traditional skinny waffles. Tuesday we had a choice between oatmeal or cereal. It seemed like torture to have to eat oatmeal when I was little, but now I enjoy it. Wednesday we were treated to pancakes, fresh off the griddle (chocolate chip was my favorite). Thursdays were cold cereal days and for some reason, this seemed like a treat at the time. Now I'd give almost anything to have a breakfast menu like I grew up with. As is, I eat cereal pretty much every morning. If I'm really feeling ambitious, or have extra time I'll add some breakfast sausage or an English muffin to mix it up. On Friday we'd get French Toast, and Saturday was rather unpredictable. Some mornings we'd have scrambled eggs with coffee cake, or he would try a new pancake recipe, or something else entirely different or unheard of. My dad like to try new things, and he was an expert in the breakfast variety. Pretty much I was spoiled with the best dad a girl could ask for.

8. Bunnies. When I was a small child, I wanted a pet rabbit. More than anything. I remember in first grade a classmate brought her rabbit for show and tell, and from then on, I knew I needed a bunny of my own. My parents didn't think that a young child needed such a high maintenance pet, so they told me to wait until I was older. For my eighth birthday (which was conveniently close to Easter) we went to a small bunny farm, and I got to choose whichever bunny I wanted. I found a small female cream bunny with brown spots. She was beautiful, and I loved her and named her butter cup. I really ought to hook up our scanner, and post some pictures to go along with this.

9. Boats. I used to get allergy shots in high school, and the doctor's magazine selection was really slim. If I didn't have homework to work on, I browse through Yachting Magazine. I loved looking at pictures of boats with all the amenities. Some of these boats were multiple stories high, and had crazy luxurious features and cost millions of dollars. In high school I had great plans of being independently wealthy when I grew up, and one of the things on my list was a personal yacht. I realize it's a little impractical to have a yacht, but I still think it would be fun. Someday I'd like to take a chartered yacht trip through the remote islands of the South Pacific. I think I'd love traveling this way, and it would be a fun adventure...and a little more reasonable than actually owning a yacht. I had been saving my spare change for this vacation for most of my growing up years, but during our broke married year at BYU-I, most of that change went to laundry and date nights (by date night, I mean we cashed in the dimes and got half price drinks at sonic during happy hour...yum!). One of my favorite summer activities is to walk around the water front and look at boats. Daniel and I love to do this in Gig Harbor with his parents, cause his dad gets so excited and can tell you all sorts of fun facts about boats.

10. Barbeque's. One of the things I love most about summer are BBQ's. I love summer food, especially things cooked on the grill. I love BBQ hamburgers, grilled chicken, steak, pretty much anything. Even hot dogs become more edible when grilled outside. I also love the fresh fruit that goes with a BBQ.

11. Blankets. I love to be cuddled up with a blanket. If I'm at home, and I'm sitting, you bet there's a blanket over me. While this does allow us to save money on our heating bill, it's also so much more comfy. I have a fairly good blanket collection with hand made quilts, fleeces, and throws. I love the variety, and the different warmth factors associated with each blanket. Even during the summer, I like to have a blanket near by. I even have one tucked away at my desk, in case I need one at work.

12. Blistex. One of my addictions is chapstick. I have to put it on before I go to sleep each night, and I have to keep one in my purse. Believe it or not I've cut back a lot, probably because I no longer live in the frigid dessert of Idaho. My favorite Blistex is the light green "herbal answer".

The end. Stay tuned for the letter C.

A story about one of my new favorites and a tag.

On Thursday nights, Daniel gets together with two guys from our ward, and they play strategy games. Most of the time they play till their wives make them come home for the night (usually before 11:00), and then they pick up where they left off the next week. Some Thursday nights I hang out with one of the other wives, but other nights I enjoy a quiet evening in. This last Thursday I stayed in. I made some popcorn, and watched Miss Congeniality (one of my all time favorite classic chic flicks), read for a little while, and then enjoyed some blogging on Daniel's computer. Anyway on to my story...
That night, Daniel came home from Randall's (his friend) house with a great surprise. Randall had sent him home with the first season of Lost. We'd heard a little bit about this series, and contemplated renting it, but hadn't gotten around to it yet. On Friday after a busy week, we were planning on enjoying an evening in with our usual favorite: House. But since we were borrowing it, we figured we'd switch things up and give Lost a try. Snacks were gathered, pajamas were worn, pillows and blankets were collected, and we settled in for the night. We put the disc in, Daniel pressed 'play all' and from the very first episode, we were hooked. Without realizing it, we had watched episode after episode. What felt like only seconds later, was after midnight.

We'd anticipated having a fairly productive weekend, but ended up throwing plans aside, ignoring chores, and getting completely lost, in Lost. Since that fateful Friday night, we've been living and breathing all things Lost. We've been discussing characters like they're old friends, trying to predict what's going to happen next, warning our favorites about impending danger, and losing ourselves in the suspense. Is it silly to be so involved in what amounts to a fictional tv series? Definitely. But it's fun, and I've loved being so absorbed with smoke monsters, and adventures and getting off the island. Last night we finished the first season, and had to run to Randal's to pick up the second and third. We should be all set for the next few days, and I'm going to love it! I'm already imagining what kind of adventures we'll run into tonight.


Other things:

I was tagged by my beautiful aunt Cindy, so here we go!

Rules: It's harder than it looks! Copy to your own note, erase my answers, enter yours, and randomly tag some people (including me). Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following questions. They have to be real. . .nothing made up! If the person before you had the same first initial, you must use different answers. You cannot use any word twice and you can't use your name for the boy/girl name question.Have Fun!!

1. What is your name: Alicia
2. A four Letter Word: Alto
3. A boy's Name: Alex
4. A girl's Name: Amanda
5. An occupation: Accountant
6. A color: Amber
7. Something you wear: Angora socks (I had to google this because I couldn't think of anything!)
8. A food: asparagus
9. Something found in the bathroom: Aftershave
10. A place: Alaska
11. A reason for being late: Appointments
12. Something you shout: Ahoy!
13. A movie title: After the Sun Set
14. Something you drink: Apple Juice
15. A musical group: All American Rejects
16. An animal: African Swallow
17. A street name: Alameda (this is the only one I can think of, but it also happens to be by Cindy's house)
18. A type of car: Audi
19. Something scary: Alligators!!
20. Ice cream flavor: Almond Fudge

Pretty much I'll tag anybody who wants to do this!

Also, I think Daniel has fixed my laptop, so I should be able to post some pictures finally! Part of this fix was upgrading the memory, so I'm excited to have a faster, working computer.

And last but not least, we got out early yesterday because of snow, and I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. I had to make up for my lazy weekend which was NOT spent cleaning, thanks to my latest addiction. Thank you for all the tips, and advice, I enjoyed reading all your comments and learning more about you all! I'm glad to know I'm not the only one out there who doesn't find cleaning to be second nature. I think my quest for cleanliness is still a work in progress, but I started organizing things more efficiently, so hopefully with everything in it's place, it'll be easier to keep it tidy.

Help!

One of my goals this year (and every year) is to keep a tidier apartment. I don't know how, but it seems like it gets cluttered so easily. I've tried making cleaning calendars and charts, but these never seem to work out so well. Maybe it's having two cats and a husband with messy tendencies, or maybe it's a lack of cleaning skills on my part. I don't know why this is a constant struggle, but I need cleaning/organization tips. Especially from those who have balanced cleaning with full time employment, daily exercise, church callings etc. I want to know what works for you, and what doesn't? Is there a secret that I'm missing, or was I born to struggle with keeping my house clean? I know I want an impeccably clean living space, but I also recognize that it may not happen (without giving up everything else in life), so how do I find a happy medium? I'd love to hear from any and all with ideas, tips or stories to motivate and inspire me to do better!

A is for Alicia

I know it's totally unexpected to see two posts from me in one week, but I'm trying to do better. My aunt Susan was tagged to write a post about the letter S, and she did such an awesome job, that I'm inspired to do the same. I haven't been tagged so I think I can make my own rules, and the first thing I'm going to do is start with the letter A. I'm going to try to follow through with this for each letter of the alphabet, because after all, that would be 26 ready made post ideas. Can't beat that! So to begin, I will list as many things as I can think of that I like, that start with the Letter A.

1. Apples. I love a good crunchy sweet apple. My favorite variety this year is Honey Crisp. I tried these when they were on sale at Fred Meyer earlier this year, but normally they're pretty expensive. A couple weeks ago while in Tacoma, I noticed the sign on the Tacoma Boys market said they had Honey Crisp apples for $.99 a pound. Imagine my delight when I purchased a bag of honey crisp apples for super cheap. When Daniel and I were at the Tacoma Boys (which is a really neat place, I'm not sure exactly if it's a farmers market or a grocery store or how it's classified, but I love getting good deals there) I also got oranges for $.49 a pound, and grapes for $.99 a pound. I love it.

2. Afternoon naps. Nothing beats a cozy nap in the afternoon. Since I work all day, my only chance for a nap of this variety is the weekend, and now that we have afternoon church, that gets rid of Sunday, so Saturday is now my only day for an afternoon nap. This is sad, but it's ok. I did get a lot of afternoon naps during christmas break, so it kind of makes up for it.

3. April. This is one of my favorite months of the year. I love the beginnings of spring time when the sun reappears, and the flowers bloom. This is also my birthday month, so that also makes it fun.

4. Anticipation. I love anticipation. I've always liked Christmas Eve, and early Christmas morning before all the surprises are up. The giddy feeling of anticipation is so much fun to me.

5. Being Active. I think it has to do with the way my parents raised me, but I love to be actively doing something. On weekends, I have to get dressed and do stuff, preferably relatively early in the day, or I feel like I've wasted my whole day. I also love to be active when it comes to exercise. It feels so good to be physically active...you'd think that would be motivation enough to get to the gym every day...sometimes it's not.

6. Adventures! I haven't really had any adventures recently, but back in June when Daniel and I took our little train vacation, that was my kind of adventure. I still love talking about riding the train, and I'm currently trying to come up with another little vacation we could take for cheap. I looked into flying down to LA for Daniel's spring break and then going on a cruise to Mexico, but when everything added up, it was more pricey than I'd hoped it would be. So if anyone has any affordable getaway ideas, I'd love to hear them!

7. Animals: Mostly my cat named Wesley. He's my favorite cat. I also have always loved rabbits. When I was turning eight, I was allowed to get my first real pet, and I chose a rabbit and named her butter cup.

That's all I can think of for now. Somehow I thought that this would be a lot easier!

I saw these journal ideas on another blog, and figured it would be a good post. Eventually I'll post some pictures (after all, I did get the camera I've been hoping for, and the pictures have been taken).

Outside my window: It's very grey, and it looks really cold, I'm glad to be inside.

I am thinking: I've been thinking about a lot of things lately. Yesterday I read the transcripts from the Round Table Discussion which was broadcast during the World Leadership Training Meeting in February 2008, and it's really stuck with me. It's so full of truth, and it's one of my favorite things to read and re-read over and over again. It's all about eternal families, and each section is wonderful. For those interested, it's available here. It's a long one, but I promise you it's good. My favorite part is the section titled "Bearing Children in Faith". I love the comparison to paying tithing.

I am thankful for: the wonderful people that surround me. I love living close to my parents and extended family, and Daniel's family. I'm also grateful for the friends we've made in our ward over the last year. It's one of my favorite things to spend time with those I love.

I am wearing: My favorite work pants. I love the pants cause they're the most stylish, but they are not the most comfortable...I'm also wearing a not so favorite sweater. My work wardrobe could really use some touch ups...so could my general wardrobe, but that's a whole separate post!

I am creating: a new post for my neglected blog. If I had a working computer at home, I might post more frequently, but again, my lap top has given up. Hopefully Daniel will get to fixing it sometime!

I am going: I'm already at work for the day, and I'll be here till 5:00. After that Daniel and I are going to the gym (assuming he remembers to bring my mp3 player). Then we're going to go home and have dinner, and maybe watch an episode of House. That's pretty much our usual routine!

I am reading: Right now I'm in the middle of three books. I'm almost done with White Oleander, but it got overly depressing, so I haven't actually finished it yet. Someday maybe. It's sitting on the edge of my kitchen table as a constant reminder that it was left unfinished. I'm also in the middle of John Grisham's The Appeal. This is a little more interesting, and I'm actively reading it right now. The third book is the Book of Mormon. I think I'm always in the middle of that one somewhere.

I am hoping: I'm hoping for guidance and answers as Daniel and I contemplate the big scary decisions of our future. The words of Church Leaders make me feel peaceful and calm (probably why I keep re-reading the article I mentioned earlier). I know there are a lot of decisions to make, ie. house? baby? education? car? etc. and it will all work out, but it's a little intimidating being in the thick of it.

I am hearing: the printer, and other office noises. Blogging at work? You betcha! At this moment, I have nothing better to do. We're past the first two weeks of school (which were crazy busy with overtime etc.), but things will be gearing up again tomorrow, as we start processing student's financial aid refunds. This will be a good thing for us, because for Daniel, free tuition+financial aid= refund!

Around the house: Since I'm not there, I can only assume that right now there's a husband who's studying and two kitties who are most likely sleeping. The house is not spotless, but it's not a disaster yet...After all, it's only Wednesday.

One of my Favorite things: Right now one of my favorite things are Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches. They're healthy and delicious and perfect for dessert!

Plan for the rest of the week: Work, exercise, relax. Friday we're going to visit Daniel's family, and Saturday we're going to the temple. It's going to be a good weekend!

Updates...more later.

Since I've been the world's best blogger over the last month or so...I figured an update might be in order. I just wish I had pictures to complement this post. Unfortunately the camera I've had since my freshman year of college has all but kicked the bucket, and I'm hoping there's a new one hiding in a box under the tree!

We've had a couple fun things happen lately, we got a new couch the weekend after thanksgiving (this is one place a picture would be nice! Assuming the camera I've been hoping for comes in a couple days, I'll add pictures of all these things). The couch looked a lot smaller in the store than it does in our apartment, but it's comfy and we love it.

We also got a real live Christmas tree, and so far our cats have not knocked it over. This alone is impressive, and we've loved having a Christmas tree with all the lights and decorations. It's fun being festive and decorative. This year our tree is themed and probably will be until we have kids who bring home fun ornaments. At that point I'm sure we'll have a hodge-podge tree with lots of colors and shapes, but for now it's red and gold and beautiful!

Another fun update is that we got new cell phones, and new phone numbers. All who want my phone number, or Daniel's should e-mail me, because as much as I love the blogging community and trust those around me, I don't feel good about posting my phone number for all to see. My e-mail is aliavalon17@juno.com. Since we switched carriers, we were able to get a really good deal on cool touch screen phones. It has been a fun upgrade, even though I don't use very many of the features.

One last piece of noteworthy news is that I've had snow days! Obviously most of the US has had snow over the last week, but I have really enjoyed these days off. Last week I had Wednesday through Friday off, and I had yesterday off too. I had to go to work today, but it was 2 hours delayed, and we're going to be getting out early because of more snow coming and in honor of Christmas Eve. It has been so cozy staying home with Daniel and watching movies together. We've also gotten to spend a lot of time with my family playing games and eating together. As inconvenient as it was to have snow from November to May while we were living in Rexburg, it was blissful to have a nice break from work over this past week.

I'm now off from work and ready to enjoy another week of Christmas break. In case it isn't clear, I love having a job where we get snow days and Christmas break days.

Merry Christmas to all, and enjoy the season!

Happy Birthday Daniel!

Happy Birthday to my dearest Daniel!

In honor of this special day where Daniel turns 25, I'm going to share 25 things I love about him!

1. He's always got something funny to say.
2. He gives the best hugs.
3. He cooks delicious deserts.
4. He tucks me in every night.
5. He loves kids and is very good at playing with them.
6. He's a good example of patience to me.
7. He has the world's biggest sweet tooth.
8. He's always up for a date night, or a night in, cuddling and watching movies.
9. He watches Gilmore Girls with me and secretly loves it!
10. He loves grey rainy days.
11. He loves Mexican food and would eat it every meal if I let him.
12. Daniel has big dreams and plans on accomplishing them.
13. He is the most thoughtful guy I've ever known.
14. He loves anything and everything spicy.
15. He loves our cats, and pretty much every other animal. If I die first, he's going to turn into the male version of a cat lady.
16. He gets along so well with my family, especially my little brother.
17. He has strategy game nights each week with his guy friends.
18. He encourages me in everything I attempt, even if it's far fetched, and crazy!
19. He loves me unconditionally even if I can be tricky and difficult sometimes.
20. He's a worthy priesthood holder I know I can count on!
21. He's a swimmer, what's not to love about that!
22. He'll drop anything to help me, or the ones he loves!
23. He's a very loyal friend, and would never do anything to hurt me, or anyone!
24. He lets me call him 'Pup' (I have a well developed theory that guys in general are a lot like puppies. I'll share more about that some other time)
    
25. He surprises me with breakfast, creative romantic gestures (like a Christmas light chandelier which hangs in our kitchen)

So thank you Daniel for being a great husband and always loving me. Happy Birthday, and thanks for having your birthday on a day off, so I can spend the whole day with you!

Possible Opportunity

I may have a very neat opportunity coming up. My sister wants to go to New York City to visit her best friend who is currently attending NYU. Naturally my parents won't let her go by herself, and who better to accompany her, than an me? I think it would be a lot of fun to go, but a part of me is hesitant about being the responsible one on a trip like that. I've never been to a city that size, and being responsible for not only my own safety, but that of my sister is somewhat daunting. I'm sure we'd be fine, and that nothing bad would happen, but I just don't know how well I'd do as a chaperon in New York City. I've wanted to go to New York for a long time, but now that it's getting closer to the actual possibility of doing it, I'm a little anxious. I want to go, and it would be fun, but there's a part of me that really likes being comfortable, and this might be a bit of a stretch in my comfort zone. Not that that's a bad thing... I'm always saying I want an adventure, and this could be it. So far this is my pro/con list, so here we go...

Pros:
I would get to go to New York City (that alone is a treat)
Now is definitely the time to do this kind of thing, because I don't really have much tying me down. I've got plenty of vacation time, and no children to worry about. Daniel could definitely fend for himself for a week.
I would get to spend a week with my sister before she goes off to college and then who knows where.
Getting out of Washington in the middle of February is always a bonus.
I could possibly maybe see Wicked (which would be amazing!)
My favorite movie of all time (You've Got Mail) takes place there, so I would get to see some of the sights.
I have a feeling New York is magical, and I just may find out I'm right.

Cons:
I've never been to NY before, and I'm a little intimidated.
I have a feeling this trip could get quite expensive if I did everything I wanted, but I'm pretty sure I'd set limits...
I'd be gone for Valentines day...which really isn't a big deal since Daniel and I have never once actually gone out on a date on Valentines day. (we're more of the stay home and eat pizza type)

So dear readers, I turn to you (as I often do when I need advice). Would you go? Why? Convince me I'm brave enough to handle this!

Tagged!

My aunt Diane tagged me, and it's a good thing, cause I needed some inspiration for a new post!

5 things I was doing 10 years ago

1. I was in 7th grade at Washington Middle school
2. Going through the awkward hair stage (lots of frizz!)
3. Going through lots of other awkward stages...seems like that's what happens in middle school.
4. I played in Capital Area Youth Symphony
5. I played volleyball for school.

5 things on my To do list today

1. Fix the black skirt I'm in the middle of making. I fed it to the serger and now have to fix it. It was going so perfectly and I was almost done...I'm now taking a break to avoid too much stress/frustration. I'll post a picture when it's finished!
2. Clean out our bedroom closet...get rid of lots of old clothes to good will
3. Get my living room and kitchen presentable
4. Try and get our DVD player to work
5. Enjoy the weekend!

5 things I would do if I were a Millionare

1. Have a baby
2. Buy a house
3. Make sure Daniel gets through as much school as he wants
4. Get a masters degree in Occupational Therapy or Physical Therapy (I'm still undecided)
5. Donate money to church funds and help those around me

5 places I have lived

1. Garden City, Kansas
2. Olympia, WA
3. Rexburg, Idaho
4. Gig Harbor Washington (for about 2 months)
5. Olympia WA (I haven't moved around much at all!)

5 jobs I have had

1. Babysitter Extraordinaire
2. Waitress/server at retirement home
3. Testing Center Nazi at BYU-Idaho
4. Admin. in Financial Aid Office
5. Student Loan and Collections Specialist

5 people I tag

1. Nicole
2. Meagan
3. Natalie
4. Cindy
5. Susan

Rules: Each player answers the question themselves. At the end of the post the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment letting them know that they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person that tagged you know when you’ve answered the questions on your blog.

Pictures from the weekend

Daniel and I had a fabulous weekend, the only downside was that we were so busy! To start off the weekend, I went with Rachel to get a manicure. She went to homecoming this weekend, and needed somebody to go with her to the salon...obviously it wasn't a problem to join her! It was her first time getting a manicure or pedicure, and I think she liked it, I know I always do! Then later Friday night, Daniel's parents were driving up from Oregon and stopped by to take us out to Dairy Queen where we ran into my parents on their Friday night date.

Then on Saturday, we ran all over town getting costumes ready for the big Halloween party that night. We were planning on going as a frog and princess, but when nothing was working out for either costume, and we found ourselves in the middle of Goodwill, and Daniel had an idea, and there was no putting it to rest until it was carried out! Daniel decided we would go as an old couple...but not just any old couple, He wanted to be the Grandma, and I would be the grandpa. He found the perfect dress to wear (which isn't that easy considering Daniel's six-four, a little larger than the average grandma) and I had my makeup bag ready for him. Here are the pictures from our evening:

I never thought, or even wanted to see my husband like this! I'm glad it doesn't happen regularly!

I wish there had been shoes large enough to fit this grandma's feet!

My mom's attempts of making me into a grandpa...

Yes, these pictures are a little scary, and very wrong, but we ended up having a lot of fun at the party, and will definitely remember this night.

On Sunday we had the Primary Program, and it was stressful! I sat in the very front row on the stand with 4 energetic little sunbeams. Daniel had the easy ones in the second row. By the end, the two on the end were jumping off their chairs yelling hy-yah each time they were supposed to stand up to sing. I guess it's to be expected with sunbeams, but I sure felt like everybody was watching me wondering why I didn't have control over my class. They were all so cute though, that it was hard not to laugh at them. We ended up having a very laid back class with coloring and matchbox cars, and leftover goodies from primary. I think they enjoyed themselves and felt good about their program. Then last night, one of our littlest sunbeams left us a delicious loaf of garlic-herb bread and a thank you note. We were visiting my parents, so we missed him, but it's really sweet of him, and totally makes me love teaching those energetic adorable little boys!

Random updates

Daniel and I were in charge of the cub scout activity for all the boys this last week, and we had to make a quick stop at the store for refreshments on the way to the church. We were in a hurry, so we didn't want to waste time wandering around trying to find what we were looking for. Daniel found a store helper (I don't know what the official title is) and asked (this is a real quote) "if they had any of the cheap boxes of doughnuts that taste like crap and are waxy" Without missing a beat, the store helper replied "Oh, you mean Hostess?" That was exactly what we were looking for, and we were quickly on our way. I especially loved that the guy knew exactly what we were asking for, even though the description Daniel gave was some what abstract.

Life as of late has been very busy. I feel like we're on the go most nights each week, running around town and getting things ready for various church activities. Time is going quickly though. I love my new job, and really hope that I'm able to stay permanent here (Saint Martin's instated a hiring freeze which allowed me to begin my new position, but only as a temporary placement...hopefully everything will end well with that) Daniel's still doing well in his classes. He's in Economics, JAVA and C+. They're on-line this quarter, so the lucky boy doesn't have to take the bus this anymore.

And now for an update about future plans with regards to moving not. I'm sure some of you are still mildly interested if nothing else, So...(insert drum roll here...) After lots of thought, prayer, and pro's and con's, we have decided that Daniel will attend Saint Martin's for their spring semester. He'll get free tuition there, plus some financial aid. This is a deal that's hard to turn down, and since he's still finishing up some classes that will transfer when he goes to the more specialized program at UW-Tacoma there's no reason to pass this up. So things are looking good in Daniel's educational future. Hopefully everything will continue to fall into place and go smoothly for him.

We've got a couple Halloween parties coming up, and for days we've been stewing over what to dress up as. I thought we'd make a good John McCain and Sarah Palin, but Daniel disagreed. It was also tempting to go as Bella and Edward from Twilight...Daniel would make a good vampire...but again he disagreed. We finally settled on dressing up as a frog-prince and princess. I've got to get to work on figuring out these costumes! The first party is 2 days away! We'll make sure and get some pictures to share!

5 Unknown Facts About Yours Truly!

I've been tagged by my dear Aunt Susan, and I'm supposed to share unknown facts about me. I don't think of myself as a super private person, but I'm not exactly an open book either. Here goes:

1) When I was younger, I always wanted curly hair. I was totally jealous of cousins, friends or anybody who's hair curled. Then somewhere between 12 and 18 (the glorious years of puberty) my hair underwent a drastic transformation. It went from being smooth and straight to really uncontrollably frizzy to wavy to curly. I'm still in awe sometimes that I have curly hair. You wouldn't think it would still be surprising as it was pretty slow going to get to the end results, but it is.

2) My dream job is to be a floral designer. I took a floral design class my very last semester of college just for fun, and as a way to de-stress from the other 18 credits I was taking. I ended up loving that class, and if it hadn't been my last semester, I would have changed my major and done the floral design program. I don't know if it would have changed where I am now, since I'm not using my psych. degree at all, but it would have been fun to work with flowers each day!

3) I want to have a baby. I can think of a million and one logical reasons why it isn't a good time right now, or why we can't afford one, or why we should wait etc. but it doesn't change the fact that that's what I want to do. I really have no drive to progress in the business world, but it looks like I'll be holding my own for a couple more years until Daniel is done with school. At least I enjoy my job. Who knew collections could be fun?

4) I have never had a cavity. This is pretty trivial, but I think it's all because I had an excellent pediatric dentist. We got to play Nintendo in the waiting room, and each appointment we'd get prizes, and every 4 appointments without a cavity we'd get a cool "look at me I'm cavity free t-shirt" It made a lasting impression, and I feel very strongly about oral hygiene.

5) My dream vacation is to travel on a private yacht around the remote islands of the South Pacific. I can't think of anything more relaxing and enjoyable than a vacation like that. Before college, I was saving all my spare change for this trip. I had maybe $20 in change, but then ended up using it for laundry money. I guess that's what college is about, and it really wouldn't have gone very far anyway. I think it's time to start over and save my pennies...which brings me to another unknown fact about me: I hate touching money. Especially pennies. They make my fingers smell dirty and feel gross. Certain types of keys do the same thing. I always feel like I need to wash my hands after touching things like that. Perhaps it's a touch of OCD or something...

I'm pretty sure that was a good selection of unknown facts about me. If you've got any questions feel free to ask...I understand that inquiring minds need need to know!

Zip Codes

So far I'm really enjoying my new job. There is still a lot to learn, but I like the people I work with, and it is a new challenge. I will have significantly less free time (which will hopefully make the day go by more quickly) once I'm fully trained, but for now, I've still got some extra time on my hands, which leaves me opportunity to play one of my favorite games. This is a made up game, but it is still fun. On MSN, there is a weather link. One of my favorite things to do is punch in random five digit number combinations and see which ones are real zip codes. When my random numbers actually locate a real city somewhere, I get to see where it is, and what the weather is like. I also find out about towns I never knew existed. Has anyone out there heard of Tom Bean, Texas? or Whatley, Alabama? I hadn't either, but now I have. Try it sometime...if you enjoy random facts, and trivial pieces of information, this game may be for you!

My Sister the Superstar, Cubscouts, and Pizza

My sister Rachel had a soccer game on Tuesday, and while I wasn't there (because I was at cubscouts...more on that later), I got to read about it last night. I will also be going to her home game tonight to cheer her on!

The Olympian posted an article all about the game. Here are a couple highlights:

"The Cougars also had multiple scoring opportunities as the game progressed, only to see them stopped by Olympia’s goalkeeper, Rachel Green."

"Prior to her senior year, the 5-foot-5 Green was a three-year member of the junior varsity team, and got her first varsity experience during the second half of the Bears’ state playoff game against eventual-champion Eastlake last season. She finished Tuesday’s game with eight saves...
“That game goes to her,” Effland said. “It should not have been a shutout, but Rachel stopped those shots.”

I always knew my sister was a good goalie, but it turns out she's proven herself capable of a lot more! (She isn't however 5-foot-5, but you didn't hear that from me!)


Now, about cub scouts. Daniel and I were asked to be Den Leaders for the Wolfs (8 year old boys) in our ward's cub scout program. I always hated going to pack meetings for my brothers, and couldn't believe we had to do cub scouts in our ward. I kept dragging my feet and complaining while Daniel was a surprisingly good sport about it. Well, on Tuesday night, we had our first Den meeting. I went, I helped, and I even wore the shirt. Yes, Daniel bribed me, but I still wore the dreaded khaki shirt with who knows how many patches and emblems (This shirt was found in Daniel's parent's attic (I'm not sure who's it was originally, because I would never in a million years go spend money on a new presentable scout shirt!) Anyway, all in all, cub scouts wasn't nearly as bad as I'd worried it would be. It was actually kind of enjoyable. The kids played some get to know you games, and really the eight year old boys weren't nearly as sweaty/sticky/hyper/stinky as I thought they would be. They were actually kind of cute.

Lastly, we've been on a pizza making kick lately. Our best creation this far is our Pesto Delight. (I just made up that name). It has pesto (obviously) with mozzarella, Colby jack, Parmesan and olives on top. It's really quite delicious and it's fun making our own pizzas. Anyone who wants to try it can come over and we'll make pizza for you!

Wonderful Thursday!

A couple weeks ago I ordered a new mp3 player off of Woot! Since then, I've been waiting patiently for it's arrival and today it came. Daniel was home when it was delivered, and I gave him permission to hide it so it would be even more fun to get it. When I got home from work, he gave me a clue word. The word was "flower". All of a sudden, I realized how many floral things we have in our apartment. The couch we inherited from my grandma is floral, the quilt on the other couch is floral, and I have dried flowers and my wedding bouquet used as decorations all over. I started looking in the likely places but didn't find an mp3 player anywhere. I then noticed a couple things out of place in the kitchen and looked inside the bag of flour (really hoping it wasn't in there). I then checked the big cupboard under the sink, and this is what I found:














Apparently my subtle hints about the roses at Costco have paid off. It was a nice surprise and totally made my day. I love my mp3 player, and it came with some fun music already on it. It is refurbished, so I don't know if they forgot to wipe the hard drive or if it's sample music. Either way I'm pleased.

After much debate between my current office and the office I will be working for next, we finally established a start date. I'll start my new job on the 15th, so until then, I'll be enjoying my free time at work. After that, I may be a little busy, and won't have ALL DAY to look at blogs. We'll see how it goes. We're having a going away party for my boss at tomorrow, so I'm going to be making some cookies tonight. Happy Friday tomorrow!

New Job

It has been too long since my last post, but mostly because there has been a severe lack of excitement when it comes to our lives. There is one thing that is worthy of mentioning, and that is my new job. I applied for a different position (still with Saint Martin's) a couple weeks ago, and had an interview last Thursday. It turns out I was the top candidate, and the office I will be working for is excited to have me, and I'm excited to join them. My new title is Student Loan Specialist. This will have to do with what I've been doing the last year, but will include additional responsibility: including billing, and in-house collections. Along with this responsibility comes a larger desk, my own filing cabinets and...a pay raise! I probably won't get to start for a couple weeks because of internal complications (the transition isn't perfectly seamless on both ends, but it will work). So wish me luck as I move from one side of the building to the other, and from giving money to taking it. I'm sure I'm going to get yelled at, but I'll also get the satisfaction of turning delinquent accounts over to collection agencies. This could be fun!

Today is a special day.

Today is a special day. It marks the two year anniversary of when Daniel and I got married. There are many things I remember about it and I love looking back and remembering the happy moments. Here are a few highlights:

The sealer told us that it was crucial to our happiness to say "I love you" at least 100 times before we were 50. (I'm pretty sure we took care of that during the first week...maybe two)

I felt like a princess all day with my dress and tiara.

Daniel had roses for me when we got to our hotel. The next day we used them in my bouquet.

Daniel knew how much breakfast meant, so he had my favorite breakfast foods ready for me.

My wonderful uncle Don drove my grandparents all the way from eastern Washington to Portland. I will always be grateful for this, especially since it was the last time I got to see my Grandpa alive.

Before we all left the dinner after the wedding, my Grandma Brinkerhoff said quite loudly (but surprisingly innocently): "Alicia, now the next time you two come over, you can share a bed."

My Grandma Green flew in from Idaho (After she said she'd never fly again!)

My parents stuffed my childhood stuffed animal "Thumper" in my suitcase as a stow-away.

There are a lot more memories and things I could share, but these highlights are enough for a blog. I loved Daniel then, and I still love him now. Enjoy some pictures!

Parenting

This past weekend Daniel and I watched our two and a half year old niece Emma, and I have to admit, the whole parenting thing is a lot harder than I thought it would be. Emma is by no means a difficult child, but it was almost exhausting trying to keep up with her. Perhaps it's different when it's your own child, or when you've had it since it was a baby, but jumping in head first with a toddler was a lot of work.

Yesterday we were at the point where we were ready to send her back, see her in a couple weeks, but never babysit again, (and rethink having children ever). The funny thing, is that as soon as she left, we missed her and felt like we were missing a new part of our family. How does it work that we were so ready to be done, but the moment she was gone we missed it. She drove us crazy for a few hours, but one sweet hug and we were all hers. Is this what parenting is? Moments of complete adoration intermixed in the chaotic happenings of life? I know babysitting for 48 hours is a lot different than parenting, but I think I got a glimpse this weekend, and it was an interesting mixture of experiences and feelings.

Normalcy

I've been in a bit of a blogging rut as of late. There hasn't been anything really blog-worthy going on in our lives, so there has been a distinct absence of posts.

There are however several small things that I will use to make this post an attempt at interesting.

I have been crocheting. A lot. I've gotten half way through a baby blanket I'm making for a friend, and I'm about a foot maybe more into a regular sized blanket for me. I've gotten into this crocheting thing mostly because I've also gotten into Gilmore Girls. I know I'm about seven or eight years too late, but Rachel had borrowed season 1 from a friend, and while house/Pippin/garden sitting for my family while they're vacationing, I have been watching episode after episode, finally understanding why everybody loves that show. I now need to see if I can track down season two so I can finish my projects.

I have also been enjoying my parents garden. Their blueberries are perfect right now, and I LOVE having access to fresh fruit!

Daniel and I were called to teach the sunbeams class at church. This has been an interesting experience to say the least. Yesterday was our second class together, and I feel so inadequate as a teacher. I have no idea how to teach squirmy little three year olds (even if the topic is just "I'm thankful for my ears"). Especially when they're all boys...and when there are seven of them. It was somewhat more chaotic than I thought church would be, but I guess that's expected.

All in all, we're doing well. Daniel is still enjoying his classes, and being in school. I'm loving my summer work schedule. Last week the Dean was gone, and the Director began her cross country road trip, so the assistant director gave me a very flexible schedule which involved me leaving 2-3 hours early most days last week. I've also got a flex day tomorrow, so Daniel and I are planning on meeting his dad at Intel for lunch. I've heard they have an excellent cafeteria...and we're going to discuss Daniel's options about whether computer engineering or electrical engineering would be a better choice for the long run. I tend to tune out most of the conversation when they get talking about things like that (it gets a little too technical and over my head) but I should probably try to pay attention tomorrow.

Enjoy the sun, and stay tuned for more posts this week (hopefully)!