grateful

things that i am grateful for today:

1. diet caffeine free coke (great taste, less filling)
2. computers (how else would i blog and blog stalk people)
3. papermate felt-tip pens
4. extra strength tylenol

introducing....

Augustus

yesterday we picked up augustus or "gus" for short. he is a boston terrier and is 12 weeks old.

lots of snow

part of our front yard:

it is hard to see in the picture, but the front of our house is white-washed with snow.

the front door... covered in snow. notice the snow drifts.

celebrity hair

at the office today, one of my co-workers had a celebrity hair makeover done for her. so i decided to see what i would look like with some celebrity hair. i've posted a sampling of some below. there were a ton of different hairstyles to choose from, and some of them i actually like. if you want to do it, go to instyle.com.

one day

one day i would like to build this house. it is nothing really elaborate, but i like the layout. there would be a couple of modifications like making the mud room and pantry bigger. of course there would be a basement with a similar layout - bedrooms and a couple of bathrooms, a kitchenette, a large storage area and a separate food storage room with a ton of the shelves that i posted about a few days ago.

stupid cupid

i am not a huge fan of valentine's day. it's not that i don't believe in love or blah, blah, blah.... and it's not because i never have a valentine (i have had one for the past 8 years). i don't scorn those who love the holiday. spread the joy and love i say, just don't ask me to join in.

do i really need to have a day spelled out for me when i should tell people that i love them and i am glad they are in my life? isn't that something i should be doing everyday?

nathan and i.... we've never been big valentine day celebrators. the only "big thing" we've done is the year after isaac was born, nate's parent's watched the boys while we bought filet minon and lobster tails and cooked them at home. i made baked potatoes, homemade horseradish and cheesecake for dessert. we sat in our little kitchen and ate by candlelight. the dinner was good and of course the company was excellent.

i remember making valentine cards for each person in my class when i was in elementary school and for the other kids in the neighborhood. i remember pain stakingly selecting each candy heart to go in the envelope. i had to be sure that an "i love you" or "kiss me" heart was not put in an inappropriate envelope. then we would go drop our cards on people's door steps, ring the door bell and run away. (i wonder if it ever occurred to us that as soon as they opened the card they would know who it was from...) anyway, it was fun.

so maybe i can make this holiday about my kids. we'll make the heart-shaped sugar cookies, and I will help them put together their valentine cards. i want them to have memories like i did.

so what is it that i am trying to say? i am going to try a little harder. not a lot harder, but a little harder. i changed my blog layout to be more valentine-friendly. i actually got a "happy valentine's day" thing to hang on my front door, i got valentine cards for the kids, and i even thought about getting out my heart-shaped cookie cutters. now if i could just get JEN to give me her yummy pink sugar cookie recipe, i'd be set. (jen, it's the one that you put the flavoring in...)

anyway, even though i may dislike the day, i love my valentine....

it is with the best of intentions...

that i would really like to have this storage rack. lets just set aside for a minute that it is 3.5 times more expensive than a normal storage shelf.

if i had this in my basement, my world would be much brighter and my pantry would be less cluttered (the wooden shelves wouldn't be sagging -- read: about to break). i really feel that if my food storage area were more organized, i could single-handedly feed the world in a crisis.

my thoughts

i have been avoiding this post. not because i don't know what to say, it's quite the opposite. so, rather than trying to relate all of the feelings that i have, i will leave it at this: even though i never met president hinkley in person, he was one of my dearest friends and i will miss him deeply.

new camera

nate's dad got me a new camera. this past year has been a terrible one for me as far as breaking things goes. i broke nate's camera's lens (i bought him a new and better one...thanks adri), i broke my camera, i broke some of the trim off of our trailer, i washed my cell phone in the clothes washer, and i broke several random things around the house (random might not be the correct word here....) anyway, the point is that i broke my camera and have been without an easily portable camera for some time.



yesterday, nate came home from his dad's house and said that he had a surprise for me.....

A NEW CAMERA JUST FOR ME!

anyway, it is a canon powershot A720 IS and is much better than the one i previously used. i tortured everyone at work today by taking their pictures for our work blog. they all love me... i am sure of it.

just livin'

whenever people ask me what we've been up to, my reply is always the same... just livin'.

anyway, here are some pictures of us, just livin'

amelia just livin' ......

mere moments later, the drama ensues....

isaac, just livin'

jared, just livin'