Happy Hanukkah!!

Last night was the first night to celebrate the festival of lights. It is a great holiday to remind us of the many miracles that God works on our behalf. Here is the story of Hanukkah:

A long time ago, in the land Judea, the Jewish people lived peacefully. They believed in only one God and prayed in a beautiful temple in Jerusalem. But when a Syrian king named Antiochus became ruler, everything changed. He said the Jewish people should pray to many gods, as he did. He said that the Jewish religion was not allowed.

One day, the Kings' soldiers traveled to the Jewish town of Modin. They asked a wise old man names Mattathias to bow down to the a statue of one of their gods. Mattathias refused. This made King Antiochus furious. He sent his men to destroy the Temple of Jerusalem and to punish any Jews who would not obey him. All might have been lost if it had not been for Mattathias and his five sons. They gathered a small band of Jews to fight back. The oldest son, Judah, became their leader. He trained the men to be soldiers, and soon they had a small army. They were so strong they were called Maccabees, the Hebrew word for hammers.
The king's army was huge. It had thousands of soldiers. But the Maccabees were clever. They hid in caves and made surprise attacks. Little by little, they began to defeat the king's army. Finally, after three long years, Antiochus's soldiers gave up.

Judah and the Maccabees marched into Jerusalem. The people took back their temple and began working to make it beautiful again. They cleaned and polished the wood and stone, repaired the walls, and took out Antiochus's statues, and built a new alter. At last, the Temple was ready to be dedicated to God again. It was time to light the traditional seven-candle Menorah, the symbol of the Jews' love for God. The menorah was supposed to remain lit all the time. But the people could only find a small jar of oil, enough to last for just one day. It would take eight days to make more oil. the Jews were too excited about opening their temple again to wait. They decided to pour the oil into the lamp.

The menorah burned for EIGHT whole days. It was a miracle that the oil lasted for eight days, just enough time to make more oil. And it was a miracle that a small group of soldiers could defeat a huge army.
That is the story of Hanukkah. You don't have to be Jewish to understand how wonderful this miracle was to a faithful people. At this time of year, try to look back at your struggles, see how your faith pulled you through and when all was said and done you had been blessed and had witnessed many miracles large and small. Be thankful to your Father in Heaven for those miracles and many more will come to you. I love how Hanukkah and Christmas are thrown together in the same month. The greatest miracle this world has ever known and will ever know was the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ. We need to constantly remember him in everything we do and grateful for his love and sacrifice so we could be forgiven our our follies and be made whole like him. I am truly blessed with my small family and with friends and most importantly with the knowledge of the true and everlasting Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. I love you all and wish you a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy Hanukkah!

Recipe for your eating enjoyment: Potato Latkes-Frying latkes in oil is to remind us of the miracle of the oil that burned for eight days.

Ingredients- 6 large potatoes, 2 small onions, 2 eggs, 4 tablespoons of flour, 1 tsp. of salt, oil

1. soak the potatoes in a bowl of water for about half and hour. then drain and peel.
2.grate the potatoes and onions. put them into a large bowl, pouring off any extra liquid.
3.add the eggs, flour, salt. let the mixture sit for a few minutes to thicken.
4.heat several tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan. drop the mixture by the tablespoon, and flatten with a spatula.
5.when the latkes are brown on the bottom, turn them over. when the other side is brown, remove them and drain on paper towels. serve with applesauce. makes about 18.

Halloween in December

Seriously we haven't had batteries in the computer until now so the pics from halloween have been stuck on the camera until NOW! I know you have just been on the edge of your seat these last few weeks wondering how in the heck our Halloween was and how cute did the kids look. Well this year we had several parties to go to and by the time halloween came the girls didn't want to sweat it out in Underdog costumes. So they started out as their original Underdog costume and then morphed into Suzy Homemaker and a Ballerina Princess. Can you guess who was who? We had a great time carving and decorating and actually painting or faces was pretty fun too. Thanks to Mary Kay was able to use medium coverage foundation for their doggy faces and it was easy to come off too! enjoy the late pics but atleast they are here now.

Jungle Tip

ok so this tip is not for the jungle although i have heard two amazing jungle tips that i will never forget and are very useful. but this tip is for laundering. especially if you are working with snuggle flannel prints for jammies and such. the tip is before you cut the material you should always wash it but you are already know that so the the real tip is when you dry it throw in 24 dryer sheets and then rewash and redry it again. it will come out so soft and cuddly and you won't have to use fabric softener for a long time on those jammies or whatever you made. it has a very vintage soft feel that will make you crave to be wearing or using them all the time. I hope this tip has helped you in your sewing/crafting phase of the year. BONUS: the material is soooooo much easier to cut when you do this. Good luck on all your projects and Merry Christmas. Can't wait to give my girls their super comfy soft cuddly nightgowns this year! picture to follow at Christmas.

I am thankful for.....

1.Buyer's Regret is sweeter than Buyer's Remorse(i regret not getting all the deals but i skipped the remorse by not spending more than we have!)
2.Jeremy's raise
3.Snuggle time with my husband and girls in the morning in our bed.
4.Christmas crafts with my girls like snowflakes, countdown chains etc.
5.End of Thanksgiving break.
6.Eternal Families
7.Atonement
8.Unconditionally loving Heavenly Parents and Saviour Jesus Christ
9.Thanksgiving dinner where I only have to bring some side dishes and rolls.
10.A working phone( ours was broken from wednesday to friday) sure was quiet. I might break it on purpose.

These are in no particular order
Hope you are all ready for Christmas. It feels like a fake Christmas here in California. Where is the snow, foggy windows, silent snow falling nights, crunching snow under boots, snow angels, snow balls, red noses, spinning tires stuck in snow banks, black ice, ice stuck on windows, silly beanies, deliciously hot cocoa and cider, warm glowing candles, carols, ward parties, sweaters and coats, waking up on christmas to play in snow, sugar cookies etc. ? I could go on and on about my love for Christmas in Utah. I miss you UTAH!

Another Pat on the Back

Well once again I am amazing. The Sexiest Man Alive is Hugh Jackman. I can't help but feel partly responsible for this recognition since he was on my Delicious Man of the Month this year. I read his interview and it made me chuckle. I think it is cute that he has been married for 12 years with two kids and loves his wife. I think it is because he lives in Australia and away from most of the crazy hollywood scene. Plus when you work on stage there are alot of weirdos that you just don't get involved with. Most of them being from the "other" persuasion- if you know what i mean. So I was happy to hear that finally someone other than Brad Pitt and George Clooney made the cover. Now you might be thinking" What is Tanya doing, spending her time reading about the sexiest man alive when she could be doing alot of other things like take the turkey out of the crock pot and get it and Emily to school for the potluck, or get Emily ready for school, clean the house, write a better blog post, comfort a whining Emily, take the curlers out of her hair(yes i have multi-colored velcro rollers in my hair) and finish putting her makeup on?" Well I won't lie to you so I just won't answer the question.

Haven't been into the blogging world

If you know me, then you know that i might just get bored with commitment to something other than kids and husbands and friends. So this blogging thing has become a chore and I just sort of put it aside. I don't really have the time to keep it up since school demands more and so do the holidays and parties and laurel activities, birthdays, visiting teaching, people having babies etc. So I am sorry that this little blog with see less and less of me. Until maybe January. I have about 90 more tutus to make for the boutique that is happening the first two weekends in December. Before you know it Thanksgiving will be here with us stuffing our faces instead of the turkey(it is safer and healthier to have dressing on the side and not stuffing in the bird) and then going back to school after a week long holiday and then christmas comes so fast and kids are doing so much in school and since you just don't want to be left out you insist on helping in every class event. Then you realize that you are napping everyday since you are so tired which makes it harder to catch up since you could have used those hours during the day to work on your projects instead of trying to do them at night where you realize you are still tired at 10:30 even though you took a 2 hour nap. does this sound familiar to anyone out there right now at this time of year? How did I go from carefree and lazy to super busy woman and i don't even have kids in after school activities other than going to the park to play?

Snoozin' on the Job

Ok so I got busted for not posting in a couple of weeks. But it seems like this time of year everything speeds up and I can get behind and lost if I don't keep up. I have a zillion things going on including the ten hundred halloween parties, get togethers, trick or treating, trunk or treating, carnivals, etc. You name it and we went. I am sick of halloween and it isn't until tomorrow. I can't wait to take down all the decorations too! That is so unlike me but seriously, this has been a long month. I think it is the heat that is getting me down. I has been in the high 90's for the last month and tomorrow it should be around 80. Come on! I want cold now, i want snow, or the threat of snow that might make us bundle up to trick or treat.

I also have a holiday open house for my MK business the saturday after halloween. I have to get all my gift baskets wrapped and looking super cute so i can sell it all and make some moola for christmas. Plus I just got my curtains up in the master bedroom and i am having some trouble finding the best duvet cover for our bed. Then I am hosting a birthday party the week after that. Jeremy has just finished his first huge project to use as a demo for his new business. We are still looking for a name but I like:
Havesting the Past/Memory Lane. well one of those. It is a video editing company. It keeps jeremy really busy and he loves it. He created a 40 minute video for a birthday present. He will shortly have business cards and maybe a little launch party with the green screen that I made for him. After Thanksgiving, I am selling my tutu's at a boutique along with MK baskets galore. Seriously, I feel like these last few months of 2008 are gonna be crazy. oh yeah and through in the election too. I have been making phone calls for YES ON PROP 8. Protect marriage so I have consumed with that too! I hardly find time to get to the grocery store-you should see our cupboards and fridge. We look like poor college students that only have a tub of frosting and a loaf of bread in the fridge. I just don't have the time. Even now Emily has found me and begun to plague me as I sit and type this here little post. Sorry it can't be more. I have to load up the car with all my basket making stuff for a morning of wrapping and creating. I hope you all are enjoying life a bit more than I right now and just taking it one day at a time!

Who says men can't scrapbook?

Given the proper tools, men can create beautiful, eye catching scrapbook layouts. I guided jeremy only a little bit to give him an idea of what was possible with his photoshop skills and I am pretty impressed with his layouts. What do you think? These are presents for his mom's birthday. I give him 5 Stars!

My totally Awesome Hubby!

SPEED RACER STYLE
Normal Half way done photoshop pic

Jeremy is a wiz at photoshop and i will prove it! Last christmas we took a family pic at his mom's house. Not one picture turned out where we were all smiling, looking at the camera with our eyes open. so he cut and pasted his head, our neice tabitha's head and his sister Amber's head to be looking at the camera with eyes open. Then he changed the color scheme to what i call Speed Racer colors. Super bright and vibrant/eye catching. i love the pic and can't wait to hang it up on the wall for everyone to gawk over. Aren't you impressed??

Apple Pickin' Time

Warren Family Christmas Picture 2008
Bobbing for apples
jeremy looks so happy to be picking apples!
Sweet Sisters down on the apple farm
So for fun this past weekend we drove all the way to Yucaipa to pick apples out in Glen Orchard. Jeremy had gone out there as a kid and they have a few farms where you can get pick the apples right off the tree and also visit a small pumpkin patch. We went with Grandma Carol, Auntie Amber and little cousin Emerald. It was quite chilly and a bit windy, but that didn't stop the thousands of people from visiting Apple Country. It was insanely crowded. There was no parking and very outrageously priced to buy apples and press cider. So we bought a meduim-sized bag to put our apples in. It was a lot of fun watching the girls do something out of their normal everyday life(picking apples as the super market is ordinary) and learn the importance of eating healthy and reaping what you sow. These trees were 98 years old and still bearing delicious WineSap apples. I am eating one right now and lovin' it. Take that McDonald's!

Really....How tall is Sarah?

Sarah and Emily next year

This is just a quick post since Emily is late for school. She is busy watching Underdog and can't tear herself away to make it to preschool. Some of you have known that Sarah is extremely tall for her age. She is always looking down to kids her age and talking to them like they are 2 years old and don't know anything. Well she had her Kindergarten check up this summer before school with all her shots and everything and guess how tall she was? Let's see the average height for a 5 year old is.....3 feet and 6 inches. Well my darling sarah is 4 feet tall. Yes I did say that correctly. She measures up at 48 inches in height. That is 6 inches taller than the average bear. I call her my amazon woman. She will soon turn into Xena Warrior Princess and her little sister will be Gabrielle with her blonde locks and strength. Emily is almost as tall as Sarah was at the age of 2 1/2. Emily is about 36-37 inches in height which puts her just under the average height of a 5 year old. Some how that got my good looks and jeremy's height and this formula creates disaster during the teenage years. Tall and beautiful....they better marry rich men like Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley.

Back from Tucson

Jeremy with his Grandpa and Grandma


The girls with GGrandpa Warren and GGrandma Phyllis


Well we pulled a fast one and left for Tucson on Friday afternoon and got back Monday morning at 1 am. We thought we would visit Jeremy's grandfather who is 92 and still kicking. The girls had a blast and I didn't mind the heat. It is better than here. Plus Jeremy did some family history or oral history if you like. We brought the vidcam and recorded grandpa and all the questions that Jeremy and I put together. You never know how long someone at that age will live. Sarah and Emily showered him with hugs and kisses and kept him up late with their quacking, barking, meowing etc.

On another note our computer is sick and one of the fans pooped out so I am not sure how often I will be able to update this bloggy blog. We are trying to keep it off as much as possible until we can scrape and save enough money for such luxuries. We are finding it harder and harder to stay afloat and have some kind of savings. It isn't easy living in California and we can understand why everybody works including moms. We are a rare commodity as a single income family. But I love being with my girls even if I am getting some white hairs already in my young age!
After the weenie roast with all the Warren cousins!
Emily is having a fit and crying. Good shot!

To SPEED or Not To SPEED.........RACER!!!

Ok so most you have not seen the movie Speed Racer. That is my guess since it didn't stay to long in the theater and maybe it just didn't look like your "type" of movie. I thought the same thing. But then I watched it for fun yesterday. Oh man, I was on the edge of my seat with all the race scenes! whoooooooeeeeee! That movie was great. If you want some fun, bright, silly, action, a tiny bit of romance and a monkey, then get out there and rent this movie. I was skeptical but I was laughing too. It was great with all the flashing lights and total 70's feel. I loved it! Tired of the same old movies, either too much of a chick flick or just plain horrible with the acting and screenplay? Speed Racer is a great change from that played out Hollywood scene. I didn't actually know that the boy's first name was Speed and his last name Racer. I just thought they called him that cuz he drove super fast! Anyhoo the boy is cute to boot! Go and watch it with your hubby or friends and you won't be sorry you took my advice!

First Day of Fall? Where?

So I hear talk about Fall and the oncoming winter. I think it is crazy talk. How can there be snow falling and lots of rain already? I am still sweating in 90 degree heat and avoiding the outside during the day. I am still sweating on the walk to and from school. I am still sweating at night when it says it is 80 degrees in my house and all the windows and doors are open at 10pm trying to cool us all off. This is crazy. I want my Fall and Winter. I want rain and lots of it. I want snow and so much snow that I we can't leave the house for a day or two. I am tired of constantly sweating without it making a difference on the scale. That would be different. Then I wouldn't mind all the sweating but nothing doin'. I want to see the trees change and leaves fall. I want to see that first night of snow and wake up to perfect powder in the morning, totally undisturbed, whispering to you to come and touch it and play. Where are you fall and winter? (insert sobbing here)

Bedazzled

So I started running again. WOOHOO!! I think that it is working although all i feel is pain in my legs the morning after. they need a morning after pill for that. anyhoo i sweat....alot. more than you can imagine. to the point where it is dripping off my ears, down my cleavage. well not just dripping but full on running stream of sweat from my head down. so yesterday i came inside, it was about 10:30pm(supposedly it is cooler outside but you could have fooled me) and i go upstairs to tell Jeremy that I am back. He looks at me and his face just gives himself away. It says "holy crap Tanya that is pretty gross." So he says to me, you're all pink. Well I started talking to him and the whole time is just staring at the sweat and finally says " whoa babe you better get in the shower." at that point i just start laughing and say " this is me as brenden fraiser in Bedazzled when he is the basketball player." We both just start busting up cuz that is one of our favorite scenes. I am sure you are thinking that can't be right. No way someone can sweat like that. Well either I have some weird hormonal thing going on or I have an awesome cooling system for my body. Plus so much sweat and running put alot of stress on my body and now i have a cold sore. All for the sake of losing a couple of pounds. well not a couple more like 30.

SHOUT OUT TO MY GIRL PEEPS!!

Thank You Thank You Thank You for all my girls who listened to a very long hour "join Mary Kay" phone call. I really appreciate it and just to show my appreciation, all my products are 50% off for you all! Plus shipping is always free. Don't be shy about it either. If you don't want anything now just let me know when you do, and if I have it I will send it your way! Love you so much for doing that for me!

Why do I hate taking my kids to public play places?

Because all the other little sick brats are there spreading their germs all over the fun, interactive learning toys. Well just this past friday we went to the L.A. County Fair(pictures to follow another day and time) and had a blast. That night we get home and the Croup starts which, in turn, begat Conjunctivitis. Poor Sarah was so sick yesterday with the coughing, fever, runny nose, stuffy nose, and goopy, sticky goop pouring out of both eyes. The poor girl couldn't hardly see anything since it was so mucusy. We had to get up every 2 hours and wake her up to clean her eyes out. It didn't help that Kaiser doesn't have after hours nurses on the phone so we relied on the power of the Priesthood and Jeremy gave her a blessing. By morning, her eyes had crusted over just a little and the mucus was completely gone. I gently cleaned the last of the crust off her lashes and the swelling went down tremendously. She has some red puffiness under her eyes making her look like she is going through some serious withdrawls(probably from candy) but the fever is gone and she is almost back to her sass-mouth ways. I am so thankful to have the Jeremy and his worthiness to hold the Priesthood and be so willing to bless us when we need it. I don't think we could have survived the night had we solely relied on Kaiser to take care of our little Sarah. I have a firm testimony that our Father in Heaven is watching over us and is more than willing to bless us when we are worthy of it. I know that he can never say no to little ones since they are so dear to his heart just like Sarah and Emily are so dear to mine.

DMV....Take 4

So I finally became a California citizen this past week. It only took 4 trips, countless hours, running over curbs in the parking lot, and bloody fingers from prying off the plates with a dime, to get my license and register to vote. I know why they take so long too. Not only are they short staffed since the Gov. won't hurry up with budget, but they also want to know your life story too. My lady wanted to know how many kids I had, where I met my husband, what i have been doing these last 10 years of my life, why i moved to CA, etc. It was crazy. My simple 10 minute appointment turned into almost 3 hours of the DMV not including the many other hours sitting and waiting and then having them close the testing center an hour early just as I was getting in that line. WOW! I would be angry and cranky too working there. I did get to speak Russian with a sweet lady who acted like a sour puss until I got up there to get my picture taken. I can spot a Russian person a mile away so I just dove right in with my awesome russian skills. actually they aren't so awesome but she smiled and was happy just to hear her own language at work. I got her to laugh and be a little bit silly and it made me happy and I know she was happy too. So in the end all my long hours fighting to find a seat and wait with children to be called it turned out to be a huge relief to be all done and settled as a CA resident. The next day the battery died stranding Jeremy at work and Kragens Auto Shop. Thanks a lot California.

What does Matt Damon Know?

I AM A TOOL
Seriously folks. Why do celebraties with no political experience think they have the right to go on national news and say to the public what a joke it is for Palin or McCain to run. I personally will not disclose who i will vote for at this time but who the h-e-double HOCKEY sticks does he think he is. I love him in the Jason Bourne movies but would i take political advice from him? Hell no! All he does is act and jump on the propoganda wagon for (N)O-bama. He said that she was a joke but just a few months ago wasn't a woman running for president? Palin is just in this as a vice-president. I think the Dems are feeling the heat and need something to slander others with. His big thing was "Do we really want the hockey mom(by the way he forgot she is govenor of the largest state in America) with her alaskan folk ways to run our country, assuming McCain passed away in his first term? This guy is nuts. Next thing you will hear is that he is a Scientologist. I guess he doesn't know anybody over the age of 50 that is still living let alone 70. The sad thing is that other people are blindly following what he says or any other celebrity for that matter when it comes to politics. I don't need Oprah or anyone else to tell me how to swing my vote. PS i bet Palin can kick is butt from Alaska to Boston! Chicken!

Sarah's First Day of School!

She was ready for it too. Sarah jumped out of bed at 6:30am, got dressed in her cute jeans and white shirt, ate her oatmeal, do her ponytails and got Emily excited about walking to school. We went out to get in the stroller but alas the wheels were flat and the pump was broken so we all walked the mile together and Emily half walked the mile back. While at school there was an orientation for all kindergartners in their respective classes with the teachers. There were only 11 students and most of them spoke ESL. It was kind of funny but they were all so cute and eager to learn. The kids got to take a tour while I was informed about school lunches and the curriculum etc. and I did ask if they dressed up for Halloween. The answer was NO and I was shocked that such an American holiday was rejected by the district. Well we won't be going to this school next year! Actually I was really impressed with Mrs. Coleman and her classroom and I had no fears and knew Sarah would be safe and learn alot this coming year. I didn't cry and neither did Sarah since I was too busy telling Emily to stop whining about going home. When I picked her up it was like going to school was normal and nothing was different. We had fun walking home, knowing that the following day the stroller would be fixed and no one was gonna be held in the scorching heat and humidity again! Enjoy the pics of Sarah and Emily as they embark on a new journey with school this year.

Mexican Muffin Tops

Check out one of my new favorite blogs: mexicanmuffintops it is super funny and embodies all mexi women around the globe or well mostly in the US and Mexico. I had fun reading this one. I have seen many just this morning at Sarah's new school and had no one to laugh with me about it. The teacher was sporting a really cute one this morning! The vid had me in tears by this dude, MUFF, and his comments about his blog!

Last Day of Summer

The view from the Shake Shack
Ruby's Crystal Cove Shake Shack
I can't believe that the time has finally come for summer to end for us and school to start for Sarah and Emily. Where has the time gone? Just two days ago I brought Sarah home from the hospital and just yesterday I brought Emily home. Now they are big enough for Kindergarten and preschool. Sarah will go to morning class everyday from 8-11:45am and Emily and I will head over to preschool from 8:30-11:30am MWF(i am repeating myself because i have this fear that tomorrow i will wake up late and sarah will miss the first day of school-so bear with me on the repetitions) We will still swim everyday until it gets super cold and try to hit up the beach as much as possible. Which reminds me of last night at Crystal Cove in Newport. We decided to eat at the Crystal Cove Shake Shack for dinner and watch the sunset over the Pacific Ocean, and it was magnificent and romantic. Yes i did run into Marissa on the beach doing Crack, and then I saw Lonnie die eating massive foam from 18-footer tsunami waves. Well I took Sarah and her cousin, Tabitha, down to the water and the sun was almost set and we just wanted to get our feet wet. Well they got wet and took sarah's flip flop too. She was crying and I was the heroic mom running into the water and waves to save the shoe. I get out pretty far when i notice the wave challenging me so i booked it back to safety all the way getting wet in my capri jeans while the whole beach was laughing and i was roaring with laughter myself. I didn't catch the shoe so I tried a few more times searching in approaching darkness of the night and waves and found it floating up with each wave. So I did rescue the shoe. I had too. We had to walk back up all those stairs and then up PCH with no lights so I wasn't about to just let the ocean swallow up another poor, lost shoe. Oh it was funny alright. Jeremy just missed it by a minute but God and the witnesses on the beach watched this brave mom, with hot mother bear fire in her lungs, beat the ocean last night.

College Sweethearts

Justin Furstenfeld with Stephenie Meyer

Still in love after 10 years!


Waiting for Stephenie Meyer

Sweet little Mya Moo!

So when I went to Ricks way back in 1997, I didn't have a roommate. I was a single, wacky girl heading off to a Junior College. When I did get there I had an apartment with great girls. Four of the girls roomed with each other, so they knew atleast one other person. I was paired up with the Canadian girl that I just couldn't connect with or figure out. I won't go into details but it was not what I had expected to get out of a roommate. January hit in 1998 like a snow storm when Sarah MacDonald blizzzzzzarded her way into my life for eternity. It has been 10 1/2 years that we have been in love and Be-Fries and I did get to spend a blissful week with her and her family. Lucky for me, we stayed up laughing, crying, comforting each other and constantly praising one another. I couldn't have asked for a better example of Christ in my life so readily available to me. I look up to her and want to be like her when I grow up someday.
While I was in Warshington, lauging myself away, we did some boating, some laughing, some guitar hero, some Twilight, some book signing, some laughing etc. You get the picture witht the laughing part. I just wanted you all to see how awesome she is and see some of the Stephenie Meyer concert that we had fun at. Well i had fun embarrassing her with my outbursts. She still loves me and forgives me for being too wild. That is why I love her so much. She doesn't judge me and just loves me for me.

Still in my nightgown

Ok so it is Thursday morning and close to noon and i am still in my pj's. The girls got dressed hours ago, in fact they dress and redress themselves all day long changing outfits. Me, I just lounge around when i know we have zero plans and way back in my mind i know that school starts next week so i better live it up in the nightgowns and mismatched jammies. Soon i will have to rise at 6 am everyday to walk sarah to school at 7:30am and then walk back with Emily to enjoy preschool mommy and me classes every MWF from 8:30am to 11:30am and then walk back to the school to pick up sarah at 11:45am. Everything is about one mile so add that up to 4 miles of walking atleast 3 times a week and on TTH is only 2 miles a day. so that will be great exercising for me and the girls. i hope i slim down a bit so i can look beautiful with my Mary Kayand have a rockin' body! That is my dream for the new school year. We'll see if it happens. As for now, we still have family in town and our life is not back to normal yet. Tonite cousin Tabitha will be spending the night with us and keeping the girls busy so i can do whatever. Wish me luck!

Hot Rod.......Online

So if you, like many Americans, have not watched the very funny HOT ROD then you are missing out on a real treat. It is Napolean Dynamite meets Happy Gilmore. The cast is loveable and hilarious too! There are many reasons that don't have any real explanation to them but they just sort of happen and the dialog really cuts me up to pieces. When you watch it once it is like eating Lays Potato Chips. You can't eat just one. Well, you can't watch it just once. I find myself thinking about it periodically throughout the day and just laugh to myself. You also can't help fall for the cutest Jew boy in the world....Andy Samberg. Who would win in a fight? A grill cheese sandwich or a taco? you tell me.

The Mary Kay Way!

Ok so most of you know that when i Like or Dislike something i am very vocal about it and become very passionate about my opinion of the thing, person, place etc. Well I was reintroduced to Mary Kay and rekindled the love I had for her products. So I decided that since I love it so much that I would start my own business selling Mary Kay. No pressure on you guys. I just wanted to share my news about being my own boss and do share something that I love. I have a website that you can check out if you are brave and do your own virtual makeover. MK is not about makeup it is about taking care of your skin. I have noticed a difference with my own face and i love it. visit and have fun. if you know of someone looking to try it out or needs a consultant i would be more than happy to help. P.S. Mary Kay is at the same level as MAC, Chanel, Clinique etc. The best part is not having to deal with people behind a counter that don't know what they are doing or make you up like a clown/hooker. That is another reason why I chose Mary Kay. Everybody deserves to be pampered!

To Yak Town and Back

So I have been not so good blogging lately. Well as most of you know i was partying in SeaTac and Yakima for a good week. Flames were rekindled betwixt Sarah and myself while we laughed our way into an oblivion. It started out with my first time in an airport cafe where i ordered a business lunch all by myself, followed by missing my first flight to Oakland, followed by taking the next flight out which put me in Vegas walking around tyring to find the B shuttles so I wouldn't miss my flight to Seattle. Once on the plane i was sandwiched between a 12 year old reading Breaking Dawn (who, by our conversation) had not actually read all the words and missed very keys parts of the book. This i scolded her for and on the other side of me was an older lady who was sick but managed to wolf down a giant burrito that smelled the like poop. she kept licking all her fingers with rice on them and talking to me with her mouth full. I did keep the girl in a fit of giggles the whole time and actually scared her by banging on the window of the aircraft. then the landing gear sounded off and the girl screamed on the plane. i was hysterical. she was cracking me up. the lady said i did a good job keeping her busy while on the plane. My luggage was already waiting for me since i missed that flight earlier so i didn't have to wait for it. I only had to wait for sarah and brad to show up and take me back to yakima. well during my wait a lady stopped me for a donation to help homeless kids and i couldn't resist. so they finally found me and we laughed our way home. i think that laughter should fill gas tanks. anyhoo we didn't get there until 1 am and finally feel asleep. i was awoken by her cutie pie girl MYA who i fell in love with instantly. We had a blast all weekend watching HOT ROD and laughing about the world's worst bus driver. you have got to check it out on youtube. it is the funniest thing i have ever seen in my entire life. we went to the lake and knee boarded since that was all we were brave enough to do and i was pooped after that. We enjoyed a BBQ at the MacDonald's currently under construction house and got annoyed at the the neighbor's dogs that look like rats and smelled like horrible piles of poop. Andrew was there to keep the giggles going and little Hannah won my heart with her cute little smile. I made a T-Shirt that said "Howling for Hotties" as a wolfy nod to Jacob Black and the Twilight crew for our final night together in seattle for her Breaking Dawn Party. Justen Furstenfeld was there and he did a very good job with his acoustic renditions of his songs. otherwise i would probably have left the theater if he did it any other way. Stephenie was a sweetheart and very down to earth. I took an easy liking to her and enjoyed talking with her or at her when she signed my book. Just so you know, I asked her if she did her Visiting Teaching this month and she said her sister had moved so she didn't have anybody currently. I told her to come on over and we would talk. She was very sweet and genuine. After that we headed back to our hotel that was conveniently next to the airport so we could catch a shuttle and see me off on Wednesday morning. Parting is such sweet sorrow. I needed to see my family again but i was loathed to leave sarah. She has been such an amazing inspiration to me. I want to be just like her when i grow up. Maybe next time she will come and see me and my crew. but i will let you watch a bit of the concert and laugh at some of our pics from our fun vaca. enjoy and just know that we are just a couple of goof offs having as much fun as we can have!

My Hiatus

I know most of you are disappointed in me for not keeping up for a few weeks. well i have a good excuse. I was in Warshington for a week falling in love with my college sweetheart again. Sarah has been there for me through and through like a true blue juke box hero. I was fortunate enough to marry a man who knew that Sarah and I were a package deal and that he would have to share me. So i don't know much time right now to relive our antics because i have tons of stuff to catch up on here at home with the little lassies. Lots of house work too! oh that is my favorite thing in the world. when you come home from vacation and the whole house needs to be redone from top to bottom. back to life. back to reality.

Dodger Dog... Foot Long!

Dodger Stadium

Check out the view. I love it!

Last thrusday was Mormon Night at the Dodger Stadium to watch the Arizona Diamondbacks and Dodgers rough it out with so many mormons watching! At first we had decided that the girls would stay home with the babysitter and we would go with family or friends-whoever wanted the extra tickets. well the babysitter decided to go to girls camp without telling us so we were forced to bring the girls. lucky, nobody else could come and use the extra tickets. It was meant to be that the girls would come and enjoy this american pasttime. driving to Dodger stadium wasn't too bad except we were late and didn't get there until the bottom of the 2nd inning. We missed the first pitch thrown by L. Tom Perry! I truly wished we had seen it. But the girls had a blast. we were so high up but it was perfect. We looked down on the players from behind home plate so it was super easy to see everything. not like sitting out in the field where everything is so darn hard to see. the adults had dodger dogs-they are a foot long!(my first time ever) and the girls munched on an icecream sandwich and cracker jacks. It was fun to be with so many LDS people. There was no smoking, alcohol or swearing. just a bunch of laughter and cheering. We sang "Take me out to the Ball Game" during the 7th inning stretch and Sarah was so excited to actually sing a song that she knew and loved. In the end the Dodgers lost by one run and we all went home unhappy that our team didn't win. I am by no means a Dodger fan but i am a fan of baseball. It was a very fun night for all of us!

Breaking Dawn

No time for posts. I need to finish this book so i can get back to my normal life. No spoilers here.

Flash Back Friday

February 2006
I haven't looked through our archived pics in a long time. This month I think I am finally baby hormone free since i have had some changes that I won't go into detail here. But I was looking back at when Emily was a baby and sarah was so much littler. Amazing how time flies. I love it when we take naps together. We all get so cozy and snuggly, even in the smallest places. like a rocking chair!

jail bird

In case you didn't hear, sweet and adorable Shia LeYumyum is in trouble with the law once again. While driving under the influence, he managed to roll his car and destroy it. While at the hospital they booked him for the DUI and now has substantial head, hands etc injuries. All I know is that he better not "mark hamil" his face up! He has such delicious potential. It is so lame to hear about the drunk driving escapades of hollywood. Why do they each think they can drive while under the influence? Somebody please tell me why they do this! It's like Hollywood has brainwashed them into thinking that drinking and driving is ok and that they are above the law and everyone else so it must be impossible to be drunk and drive.

When Grandma comes to Town

Can i just tell you all how great it is when grandma comes to visit? Let me tell you it is pretty great! sarah is busy torturing grandma Judy with juliann on the couch sleeping in her glasses(?) and emily still asleep on the floor upstairs. so wonderful. nobody crying or begging me to play doggie with them. I am ready to take a shower-something that i don't get to until the late afternoon. Grandma keeps everything and everyone in line with no nonsense while i sit back and relax and enjoy my few days of freedom. Thank heaven for grandmas!

Wow.....memories.......all alone in the moonlight.....lalalallaaalllalaaalalala

Memory Tag

Indulge me...

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember. You can leave one about the kids orJeremy, too.

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's very funny and heartwarming to see the responses.

Back..... to Ikea ( say like Back.... to the Future)

So we made the date, got a babysitter, and headed out to eat at the cafe in Ikea and walk around again to see if we were impressed to buy anything. While walking around we came to a room with a tv and a woman was screaming. it was the Sci-Fi channel and they were wearing christmas lights on their head in a brain experiment and what i gathered was one guy had on the lights and another guy was freaking out yelling "get out of my brain" over and over and then screaming more and the next thing you see is his head bursting open and blood is all over the glass window on the door and then it shows the evil guy with the lights looking like he is psycho (which he is) and then it cuts back to the dead guy but this time they show his BRAINS all on top of his busted open head! I couldn't believe they had this channel on in Ikea. this was a family place. I turned around and told jeremy(who was watching and laughing...i laughed too and then i was disgusted when i saw the brains) and i said " that is totally unacceptable and inappropriate. I will tell them in their little suggestion box." He, Jeremy, of course said "please let's just go we don't have much time." But i ignored his pleas and wrote them that luckily i didn't have my children with me or else they might have seen that show while walking around. and i also told them that it was keeping me from buying their products and furniture. along with the fact that everything is made in china or india except for the packaged food. So i guess you could say this was strike out number 2. Shame on Ikea.

IKEA

Saturday night was the first time i set a foot in Ikea. I was shocked at how huge it was. well of course it had to be huge, they had full apartments in there all decked out in plastic and pressed wood to sell us for outrageous prices. jeremy and i were laughing all the all the people down in the check out. We couldn't imagine there big bodies on the small beds. i did witness a girl drop a soft serve yogurt from her cone right in front of the register and I was laughing so heartily. I probably shouldn't have laughed so hard. but the place was comical. i told jeremy that we should go on a date to IKEA for a couple of hours and pretend to live in every room. we did find a cute dresser but i think we will pass on the paneled wood look that has a nice sheet of white paper on top. I really didn't think that it was the MOST amazing store in the world. most of the time we couldn't find our way out and got lost to the car. and sometimes they didn't have adequate explanations in english to tell us what the heck the product was. I also told jeremy that only Swedes should work at this store. How many of you like IKEA products?

History Lesson for my little children

Ok so many of you are confused as to who, exactly, is Guy Fawkes. Well there was such a man living in England from 1570-1606. He died pretty young. Well he was a member of a Roman Catholic revolutionaries opposed to the new Protestant rule. The Gunpowder Plot was a plan by these men to blow up parliment and destroy the new protestant regime. While guarding the gun powder, his plan was foiled and he was captured. He was dressed as if he was ready to flee in a moments notice. When he was brought before parliment and questioned about all the gunpowder he was defiant and replied "To blow you Scotch beggars back to your own native mountains."(I like this guy. he gots moxy!) So he was tortured by special request of King James the First(the filthy beggar) and refused to give way any names of his co-conspirators until he saw others that were captured or heard they were dead. On the 31st of January 1606 he was to be hanged, drawn and quartered but he cheated death's plan by jumping off the scaffold and breaking his own neck before the fun began.

So on the 5th of November, called Guy Fawkes Night or Bonfire night, there is much merry making with fireworks to remember the man and plot that almost destroyed parliment, possibly something that could have changed England's rule forever. This holiday is celebrated worldwide by places where there was british rule and even here in America. In utah you can go to the bonfire in Highland( i know this because of the Scottish Association and they invite me every year) and you can burn effigies. There is also a menu associated with this holiday. You can go and read more about this time in history on Wiki-Wikipedia. There is a poem and other verses about this man and that fateful night:
Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t'was his intent
To blow up King and Parli'ment.
Three-score barrels of powder below
To prove old England's overthrow;
By God's providence he was catch'd
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, let the bells ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!

I hope you enjoyed this history lesson. I suppose we should have a test at the end of the semester. But chances are I will cheat and look it up on wiki-wikipedia too! I hope you consider this holiday as a fun opportunity to learn more about other countries and their history and celebrate too. Happy Holidays!

Have you thought about the holidays yet??

With school starting next month for our little sarah and my sister-in-law buying her pattern for halloween already, i have started to pull out christmas books and started thinking about costumes. Is this crazy or will i just be really prepared and not rushing at the last minute? I love halloween but i feel this HOA will really dampen our decorating skills since they have a ton of stupid rules. we can decorate one week before the holiday and that really just does not give us the month long feel of witches, skeletons, mummies, spiders etc. and the same with christmas. what is so wrong with decorating shamelessly and tacky for a full month before and after? so with that in mind i am thinking of my costume. tell me what you think of this one.
Guy Fawkes

and the #1 reason to use an ashtray is...........

WARNING Adult Contentwait, back up. let me start from the beginning. Yesterday Jeremy had secretly planned out an amazing date that can rival an anniversary. But he did it just cuz we needed a break from our new life here and from the kiddleywinks. So we decided on a restaurant that did not live up to its "fine dining" label. It was called Pomona Mining Co. It really did use to be a mine. We were laughing at all the decorations. They really have little overhead. It is all gravel with rusted up troughs and trailers, plus you eat out of really classy pie tins for the salad bar and drink from mason jars. plus the servers wear suspenders, jeans and flannel shirts. How is this considered "Fine Dining" when everyone dresses like Po' Folks?
After dinner i thought we were going home. Boy, was i wrong. wrong by a long shot! Jeremy turned right instead of left and i reminded him that he was going the wrong way but he said " it should just lead us back to the freeway". I scoffed. So we were bending around the hill and came upon a national park entrance and i was saying "great you have to turn back now, it didn't lead to a freeway." so he turned right again looking for a place to turn around or so i thought. then i saw a sign, "Puddingstone Hot Tub Resort". I started laughing and said "ewwww that sound like boils and blisters and all kinds of diseases waiting to happen." So Jeremy pulled in making like he was gonna turn around and then parked and stopped the car. I looked at him like "what is going on?" he just smiled that old devilish smile at me and i started laughing! He had reserved us a tub overlooking the lake. It was kinda ghetto but it was private and he balloons, cider and a teddy bear in the tub club house waiting for me. This was just a date. so we shimmied out of our clothes into swim suits that he had packed secretly and we slid into a very relaxing hot tub. so we were watching the sunset and it was so amazing and then all of a sudden, i had to go to the bathroom. there were no bathrooms anywhere and i was not about to trapse up to the lodge in heels and my swimsuit like some plus sized Miss America. atleast the sun had gone down and i was wracking my brain trying to think how i was gonna relieve myself. standing over the giant potted plant didn't work for me. so i spotted the ashtray. you can imagine what happened next. it took 4 full ashtrays to get the job done. After each cup i had to dump it into the plant pot. Jeremy was laughing the whole way through it!

the 'Stauche

Ok seriously this picture and time period in my husband's life kills me. Every guy does it i think especially once they graduate from BYU. No facial hair for as long as you are at school means growing as much or as little as fast as you can for a goofy mustachio or beard or flavor saver or chops, or goatee or whatever, maybe the abe lincoln style beard. Jeremy jumped on this bandwagon but it took longer than we expected for it to come to fruitation. He had a nice beard going but decided to show up to his first day on the job nice and baby faced. So while shaving he stopped and asked if the mustache was working for me. Well just looking at the picture you can tell it was not working for anyone. maybe if it was thick like his dad's was and looked normal i would maybe not say no as quickly but that!i was actually loving him a little less when i had to tell him to shave it off all the way. you be the judge and tell me if i was over reacting or justified in my decision.

my little mini me

Sarah is so funny. she does things that she doesn't even know reflect what i did in my youth. i am sure she will love to hear me say " you are just like me when i was your age!" wow i hated to hear that. i remember posing like this but not till i was in college on the counter tops at ricks. she is starting early to love to the camera and look so cool doing it too.

When summer gets hot and boring....

Have a FASHION SHOW!! Not just any fashion show, but one that involves mom's clothes and destroying her closet! Wow you can tell that we get bored when the heat kicks in to high gear. yeah, nobody told me it was gonna be 101 degrees STILL at 5pm everyday. Also you need to spend plenty of time standing in front of the mirror examining yourself and how good you look in someone else's clothing. Don't be afraid to look older either or compliment yourself at how thin you look when the clothes are hanging off of you too!