27 things.

Here is the obligatory 27-things-about-me blog post.  I know I promised to post it last week, but... well, it just didn't happen!  Lots of things are probably not news to many of you because either you know me, or I've mentioned them before on the blog.  Anyway, enjoy!

1. It's probably no surprise to anyone, but I love good food.  I love cheese, I love pizza, I love sushi, I love seafood, I love pasta.  I love soup.  I love good, salty french fries. I also love eating out.  There are only a few things I won't eat: pork & beans and honey... maybe a few others things but I can't think of them now. Don't like either, never have.  I also don't eat pork anymore, because I think I'm allergic to it (but I really miss bacon & ribs) (Incidentally, Garrett says I have an intolerance for it, not an allergy.  Whatever you call it.... it's miserable.)

2. Thankfully, I have forced myself to enjoy working out (see #1).  I definitely enjoy some workouts more than others.  I never seem to get tired of "The Firm" workouts.

3. When I sleep, I get really, really hot.  I don't mean that I look good - I mean that I actually get hot.  Garrett is always cold at night and calls me a "hot rock" because my skin gets so warm.  I hate sleeping in pajamas because I get way too hot and sweaty, even in the winter.

4. Speaking of sleeping, I love to sleep on my stomach and can't sleep very well any other way.

5. I am horrible (horrible!) and doing impressions. Like, voice impressions.  It's pretty embarrassing, actually.  I can't do any sort of accent.

6. I am also horrible at jumping.  I have a one inch vertical, according to Garrett and my brother (and basically my whole family, who likes to make fun of me for this)

7. My most embarrassing moment was when I accidentally started playing footsies with a boy's Dad instead of the boy I was going after. Oh man... I get embarrassed just thinking about it.

8. I've never broken any bones but I've twisted my ankle a few times (but not since I was in high school or middle school)

9. In my 11 years of driving, I've never been pulled over or been in an accident (knock on wood)

10. My first car was a 1984 VW Quantum (same age as I was).  My current car is a 2004 Saturn Vue.  My next car will hopefully be something like a Toyota Highlander, or a Toyota or Honda minivan.  Yes, a minivan!  I never thought I'd want one but those things have it all and they are so family- and kid-oriented.  The seats go into the floor!! The doors open on their own!! They fly!! (okay, okay). Anyway, we're counting on the Vue getting us through another 5-6 years, though, so a new car probably won't happen any time soon.


11. Back to food... I know I said that I am not too picky about foods (I'm not!), but I am picky about expiration dates.  If milk is within 2 days of the "sell by" date (before the date), I will not drink it. If the milk has any sort of odor, I will not drink it.  The same goes for most dairy.  As far as other foods go, I will not eat them past the date.  Thankfully this usually isn't an issue because most of the time we can eat foods before they expire. (Yes, I know I'm crazy about the milk thing.  My brother is the same way though, he is careful about expiration dates).

12. I hate being late when I go places.  I have only been late to Church twice since Garrett and I have gotten married (believe me, I remember when they happened, and the specific circumstances for each time).  Before that, I don't think I was ever late to Church.  To me, being "on time" at Church (and for most other important things) is being there 10 minutes early.  This is a habit I learned from my parents.

13. I love watching sports. both live and on tv.  Sometimes I wish Garrett was as big a fan as I am, but it's okay because he still enjoys watching sports when I want to.  That's been the only hard thing about not having cable this last year - it's harder to watch live tv (although, we find a way if we really want to).  I miss college sports the most, but I also enjoy watching the Pats and the Red Sox play.  And as much as I miss watching games on tv, I don't see us getting cable again any time soon.

14. I don't like taking naps.  They make me tired and groggy the rest of the day.

15. My favorite flowers are tulips, peonies, and lilacs.  I don't like roses very much.

16. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I have gotten fast food through a drive through (me driving, by myself or just me and the kids).  I just never think of it, or if I do think of it, I always determine that it's cheaper to just go home and make pb&j instead.

17. I haven't eaten a bowl of cereal in over a year and a half.  No specific reason... I just don't like cereal that much.  I have forced myself to like oatmeal (because it's healthier).

18. I genuinely enjoy laughing at myself.  My family has a running joke about me that has gone on for the last 3 years.  Most people would probably be insulted by it but I think it's hilarious and I laugh too.  I really enjoy it when other people have a good sense of humor about themselves, as well.  My sister-in-law (bro's wife) is especially good at this and I really admire it (and I love her stories).  Sometime I'll have to blog about it.

19. The left side of my jaw clicks when I chew.  I don't remember when this started, but it really bothers me, and sometimes it hurts.

20. I love jigsaw puzzles, especially Charles Wysocki 1000-piece puzzles. My mom has about a dozen of these and we love doing them together!  I also love logic puzzles.

21. My favorite "party game" is Catch Phrase.  It's such a riot and I have many great memories of playing this game with friends.

22. If I could choose any talent to be really great at, I think it would be singing.  I'd love to be a singer.  I always wanted to take voice lessons at BYU but they were always too expensive.  Maybe someday.

23. I'm a stickler for using correct grammar, both in speech and in writing.  I am always correcting people in my head (or being rude and actually correcting them to their face.  Sorry if I've done this to you. It's pure habit.)

24. I haven't been to a dentist in over 5 years.  We haven't had dental insurance so we just don't go unless it's an emergency.  Bad, I know.

25. Over the last few months, I've noticed some wrinkles on my face, mostly just on my cheeks when I smile.  At first I really hated them, but I got over myself and now they're okay.  I'd rather have smile wrinkles than frown wrinkles! It might have something to do with age, but Garrett says that it might have something to do with the fact that I've lost so much weight since Ellie was born (my face got pretty puffy when I was pregnant!!)

26. Generally, I'm not very sentimental.  I don't have much of a problem getting rid of stuff that's taking up space but not being used.  However, I do have a tin box of all my old love letters/notes, some special cards from close family and friends, and a few other things I just can't part with and probably never will.

27.  One of my very favorite things to do is just sit and chat, especially with all my family together.  Is there anything better than sitting around in a living room together and just talking??  I love it and I wish I lived closer to my family so we could do this more often.

Twenty (+seven)

Today is my birthday.  I got to spend it with my kids, my husband, my parents and other family.

The family singing to me.


Every year I request the same dessert on my birthday - angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream (we also had ice cream for those who wanted it).  We also made Cafe Rio for dinner.  It was a great day.

Lots of people do a "things about me" post on their birthdays.  You know, "27 things about me".  Don't worry, I will be doing one.  Tomorrow.

Good things

We are in Pennsylvania this week.  All the Siebach grandkids are in town so it's been hectic, to put it mildly.  Seven grandkids, ranging in age from 4yrs to 8 months old.  They are all getting along really well and I'm hoping that lasts all week!  If we were giving out "superlative" awards, Ellie would far and away be the winner of "loudest screecher", just FYI.  Oh my goodness, I can't believe such loud screams can come out of such a tiny and adorable little girl.  Abby would win for "most eager to get into her pajamas". That girls loves to be comfy.

(The "perfect picture" is a loose term when it comes to multiple children, as I'm sure most people know by now.  For this situation, we just wanted them all sitting on the couch at the same time.  Smiling and/or looking at the camera was just a bonus.)

Also, my sister Emma had her 25th birthday today.  Shauna surprised Emma with an ice cream cake and it was really delicious.  Thanks, Shauna! (I probably should have gotten a picture of Shauna actually presenting the cake, since she bought it.  Whoops.)

Here we are singing "Happy Birthday".

I love this candid picture of Emma and my mom.

Happy Birthday, Emma!

The latest

Here is the most recent quilt I finished.  It's a baby-sized quilt.  I actually made most of the top a couple of years ago, but I used a cheap-ish white fabric, and I hadn't done the white border around the edges yet.  A couple weeks ago I decided to finally finish the thing, but didn't have any of the same white fabric (I just had nicer stuff). So, I ripped out all the old white fabric and replaced it all with the nicer stuff.  I like how it turned out.  Not quite sure what I'm going to do with it yet.  I would love to sell some quilts someday but just haven't gotten around to it yet.  I should get on that before we move so that we have less things to pack... I have 4 quilts I'd like to sell but I'm so unsure about how to do it or what to price them at that I just haven't done it yet.

I really like this one - I love the blues and greens and the white contrast.

Next on my list (for quilts) is to make some zig zag quilts for the girls' room (alternating white and colors zig zags).  Probably won't get to it until after we move, but we'll see.

Cleaning out my ipod

I finally got around to transferring some pictures from my ipod onto the computer.  Most of them aren't very good quality but they're pretty fun to look at.

 This was from when we were in D.C. a few months ago.  I can't remember what she was crying about... probably something to do with the fact that her milkshake was gone (we poured a little bit into her cup)

 The girls in their car seats.

So, most nights, I put my ipod on the nightstand next to my bed before I go to sleep.  Every morning when Abby wakes up, she comes into my room and usually just takes my ipod and then leaves again.  She usually goes back to her room and takes many, many pictures of herself and Ellie (she has discovered the forward-facing camera, so she can see herself as she's taking the pictures).  It's always a surprise when I check my photo album later that day.

 One day the girls dumped an entire cannister of oatmeal on the floor.  They loved it.

 And then Ellie pretended the cannister was a shoe (or boot, I guess).

Lunch with Daddy. 

I'm pretty sure Abby was unhappy here because she was trying to clean up the blocks but couldn't because Ellie climbed into the box.  Common occurrence around here.

The rest are pictures exclusively by Abby:

I love this one of Ellie above.  It looks like a sketchy "wanted" image or something.

Pictures

(aren't my blog titles so catchy?)


On my "wish list" is a small digital camera.  Ours broke about six months ago, and when I got a new iPod Touch for Christmas I thought that it would do the trick.  But alas, it doesn't have a flash like the iphone does, so the pictures are pretty "meh" (and that's being generous).  Anyway, all I'm saying is that it would be nice to have a little digital camera to carry around, like on trips especially.  Garrett's big camera weighs a ton and I'm not very good at using it anyway.  So, I'm saving my money for one!  Then I can completely bog down the blog with more pictures.  Don't get too excited.

That being said,  I was able to get a couple pictures taken while I was in New Hampshire a few weeks ago (thanks Courtney!).

My brother's two little boys (with my parents).  They are so cute and so well-behaved.  I just love them.  I am so excited to see them again next week in Pennsylvania!

This is Linda... she was my YW leader and I can't even begin to tell you how much I love her!  She always has such great advice and knows just what to say to make me feel better about anything.  She also makes the best pies, and she made a special blueberry cream cheese pie for me!

Courtney, Sister H, and me.  Sister H is my friend Ashley's mom, and Courtney, Ashley and I were best friends through high school.  Ashley wasn't in town so this was the closest I could get to the "three of us". :)

me, Linda, and Ali.  Ali was my Primary teacher, but don't let that fool you - we're really not that far apart in age.

I wish I had more pictures - some of me and my brother, my sister-in-law, other close friends that I saw.  However, there were not many situations during this trip when taking pictures was very appropriate, nor did I feel like taking pictures too much.

This trip reminded me how lucky I am to have grown up where I did, and how lucky I am to know the people I know.  I had so many great influences there, and I had incredible youth leaders.  I am so thankful for things like Facebook, email, and blogs so that I can keep up with the people I love.  It was so awesome to be able to see people on my trip and know a lot of what they are up to and what's going on in their lives, even though I hadn't seen them in years.  It was nice that so many people knew things about me, too, from reading my blog and through FB.  I am determined that it won't be 5 years before I visit NH again (that is almost how long it had been before this trip).  Maybe one year?  My 10 year high school reunion should be next year, so maybe I'll try to go up there again for that.

Onto the home front.... I can't remember if I blogged about this, but a few months ago Garrett asked me to cut his hair.  It's really easy - he just uses the buzz clippers with a couple different settings (longer on the top, one length shorter on the sides and back).  Part of the "deal" for me to cut Garrett's hair is that he sets everything up for me (puts the right length on the buzzer, etc) and he also cleans everything up afterwards (usually.... I don't mind doing it either though).

This particular time, though, Garrett did not adjust the sizing.  So, when he was ready, I walked over to the buzzer, picked it up, and proceeded to run it down the center of Garrett's hair, from his forehead all the way to the back of his head.  I immediately saw the problem.  Unfortunately, Garrett did too.  Instead of the "6" length (one of the longest settings), it was set on a "2".  Yeah, it was pretty short.  Garrett was pretty annoyed at me for not checking the size first, and I was pretty annoyed at him for not having it ready for me like he always does.

Long story short: he hasn't asked me to cut his hair since.  Nope, Garrett has a new hairdresser these days:

Yeah.

I need to point out, though.... Garrett now cuts his whole head at a "3" length, so.... turns out he likes the shorter cut.

Vindicated.

Sometimes coming up with a blog title stresses me out.

I'm still here.  And I am so happy that March is over.  I think it was the longest month of my life.

Highlights from March:

My BYU Cougars made it to the Sweet Sixteen (but let's face it, they really should be playing in the Final Four tonight).  Along those same lines... is anyone's bracket even decent anymore??

We drove to Florida to go house hunting, and left the kids with my in-laws.  It was so wonderful to be with Garrett by ourselves for 2 days, and I really fell in love with the city we're moving to (well, the parts I saw anyway).  I'm excited to be moving to a college town.  And come on, it's hard not to love any place where it's 75 degrees and sunny in March.  Yes, I know the summers will be brutal but I survived in Georgia so I think I'll be okay.

We made on offer on a cute little house in a nice neighborhood.  It has a great big fenced-in backyard with a wooden play set, a brick patio, and a screened-in back porch.  It also has a concrete half-basketball-court in the backyard which would be perfect for the kids to ride their bikes/scooters on.  AND it has really nice dark wood floors AND white cabinets in the kitchen (my fave).  It really is a cute little place, even if it's a bit smaller than we wanted.

Lowlights from March:

You know the house I just swooned about (above)?  It might not work out, for a number of reasons.  Long story, not worth rehashing.  I'll share all the deets once this thing is all over. (Mom & Dad, "deets" = details)

Someone who I have loved and admired my whole life passed away in mid March.  It was very sudden - he was sick but not many people knew he was sick, so it was very unexpected.  He was a close family friend (and I suppose you could even call him family, since his daughter is my sister-in-law).  He was also my Stake President (ecclesiastical leader) throughout my youth.  Thankfully I was able to fly to New Hampshire, and I even had the great honor of singing with a small group at his funeral.  It was difficult (and continues to be) but I keep thinking about all the work he is doing on the Other Side and how lucky they are to have him there.  It's just hard though and I have been struggling with it.

(*I must say, though.. I was able to spend some time with my brother & sister-in-law, who are awesome, and my 2 adorable little nephews.  They are soooo cute, I couldn't get enough of them.  I miss them.  And I also saw many people in NH who I love and miss so much.  Gotta get up there more often.)

Anyway.... March dragged on and on, between all the traveling and the emotional roller coaster I had.  Now, every time I check my email or my phone rings, I have a sinking feeling in my stomach because I'm nervous that our Realtor will have more bad news waiting for me about the house, or it will be our mortgage company saying they need more obscure paperwork sent to them (they asked for Garrett's transcripts!  really??) or there will be a bill for the inspections we had done on the house (still waiting for that one... hopefully won't be more than $600.  It makes me sick that we spent that much money on a house we might not even buy, and that we'll have to spend that much more before buying any other house, which - again - who knows if we'll buy it).  I am just so ready to close on a house.... ANY house.  I just want to stop thinking and stressing about it.  I thought that buying a house would be fun but it's anything but. (**Aren't I the greatest whiner ever??**) :)

The thing I have to keep reminding myself is that this is just a stepping stone.  We will be there for 4, maybe 5 years.  We aren't buying our dream house here.  It shouldn't be this big a deal!  At this point Garrett wants to rent but it's way too expensive to rent a house and I really don't want to live in an apartment for 4-5 years... plus, apartments are pretty pricey anyway.

On that miserable note.... Let me leave you with some pictures, because these girls make me smile every day and they keep me on my toes!  And let's face it, blog posts without pictures are boring.

We tried to make Jello jigglers:

It didn't turn out so well:

But we still ate the pan clean:

She was sitting cross-legged on the table.  How cute is that??

Things I'm looking forward to:
*putting house buying behind us (hopefully it'll all be over soon.  Well, it HAS to be.  We roll out of here on June 24 and I darn well hope there will be an empty house waiting for us in Florida.)
*making Cafe Rio for dinner tomorrow night and eating with friends (this will be my first attempt at the recipe.  I'll let you know how it goes... I'm using chicken instead of pork though since I can't eat pork anymore.  Hope it works.  On second thought... it's probably not a good idea to invite friends over for an "experimental recipe".  Oh well.)
*going to Pennsylvania and seeing my parents, grandparents, and also seeing my SISTER and her 3 adorable kids.  CANNOT WAIT!
*going to Utah in June for my other sister's wedding!  Hopefully Garrett & kids will be coming with me but that's still TBD.
*watching more Prison Break on Netflix, slowing but surely.  Yes, sadly we finished "24" (*sniff) but Prison Break is proving to be a sufficient replacement.  Not as good as "24", but still good.