things i love

i love presents under the tree. and i am in shock by how many are under there.

the siblings in my family decided to draw names this year. (or i convinced them to) so instead of buying for everyone, i was buying for one...yet somehow there are more presents under the tree than probably ever before.

oh yeah, that's right...i have a child now.

i love my favorite canadian, shelley. thanks to her it's Christmas on my fridge too! and even though she tries to deny it, she obviously loves me too. sending magnetic cute manger scenes to someone is a true sign of love.

when you're out on your own

if digital television is supposed to be so great, then why did this keep happening when i was trying to watch gilmore girls??

Christmas comes this time each year

(which happens to be my most disliked line from a Christmas song)

this time of year means one thing (among all of the important things). shad asking me what i want for Christmas but not being willing to get it for me. i say, if you don't plan to get what i want, don't ask.

but i digress.

while shad and i were dating, i often spoke of my love for animals, and more specifically for cats. i've always been a cat lover, from a very young age. just ask my mom. and the whole time i lived at home growing up, i had a cat...or two. that's just how i rolled.

shad however, was not a cat lover. and often spoke of that. so when things got more serious between us, we would often "fight" (we've never officially fought) about whether or not we'd have a cat in our marriage. i, of course, said YES we will. while he emphatically said NO we won't.


that is, until one fateful night, shad walked me to my car. and there, standing beside my car, undearneath the glow of the moon, he lovingly told me "you can have a cat when we are married." "promise?" i asked. "yes, i promise." he replied. i was sold. i'd marry him!!


fast forward to a couple nights ago. when he asked me the yearly "what do you want for Christmas" question. i responded...."a cat." to which he responded "no, we are not getting a cat." to which i responded "yes we are." to which he responded "no, we are not." to which i responded "you promised." to which he responded "no."


and last night, shad again asked me what i wanted for Christmas.


i declare, boys will say anything to get you to marry them!!

hee haw

i think shad and i will draw names for Christmas this year. i hope i get him, because i already have the perfect gift picked out.

it's not who we are but what we do

i'm a person that plans in advance. plan.plan.plan. that's what i do. write things down, make lists, know what will happen way before it's due to happen. in fact, i plan so far in advance that i know what my son will be for halloween next year. a chicken. that's right, i already planned that out.
yeah, either that or i found this costume at burlington coat factory a few weeks ago for 5 bucks. yeah, it's one or the other.

gracias

i would like to publically thank jo-ann fabric and crafts for having their Christmas stuff already marked down 60% so i could add these cute little items to my holiday decor for a fabulous price.

taggity

"On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me..."

1 embarrassing moment: every time someone talks to me and knows my name and i have no idea who they are and what their name is

2 best friends: shad and LoW

3 things you buy regularly: diapers, milk, cereal

4 places you want to go (and might actually REALLY go): germany, hawaii, ireland, the beach

5 goals for the upcoming year (that you might actually do): make dinner regularly, take more pictures, finish painting the house, finish decorating the house, grow my hair out (c:

6 things most people don't know about you: unless i know you pretty well, i dont want you to stand close to me. i love buying holiday decorations, i'm not shy, i was engaged before shad, i want to be crafty, i was in musicals in high school

7 things you would never say: "i love tomatoes", "i dont want to go on a date", "no thanks, i dont like pie", "i love my current haircut", "family schamily", "no, don't come visit", "changing diapers all day long rocks!"

8 things you love about the Christmas season: family, decorating, Christmas trees, egg nog, giving presents, my moms Christmas morning breakfast, the music, baking

9 things you say to your kids: "you're stinky", "you're so cute", "go to sleep", "i wuv you", "why are you crying?", "use your big boy words", "shhhhh", "its ok", "that was a short nap"

10 things you do a lot: blog, laundry, shop, take pictures of baby j.t., watch tv, talk on the phone, cut baby j.t.s finger nails, change diapers, sleep, eat

11 things you would rather not live without: shad, baby j.t., family, friends, the mall, ice cream, computer, music, pumpkin, my car, heat

12 people to tag: cindy, LoW (even though we are still warring), jess, melissa, shelley c., chira, erin, morgan, lauren, chris, megs, paige

wmd and date night

as you all may know by now (and if not you can read HERE) LoW and i are in the midst of a civil war. so in an effort to keep her off of my land (ie. blog) i'm bringing out the big guns. LoW hates when people post pictures of feet. so i've gone one up and posted a whole video of feet. that should keep her away for awhile.

now that that's taken care of...

the plan: secretly find a babysitter for little j.t. so i could take shad on a date with just the two of us.

the problem: my friend who offered to do the job got sick.

the solution: my nice cousin, chris, was completely willing (thank goodness!)

i told shad not to make plans saturday night. (not that he would have any other plans.) we left the house with little j.t. and drove over to my cousins house. along the way he was asking if we were going somewhere that he had to be social (heaven forbid) or if we were going out with my cousins. so i dropped off little j.t. at my cousins house and we were on our way. but my mind was full of thoughts.

"what if he starts crying and crying and is so upset and there's no one familiar around to comfort him and he won't stop crying. and then he won't eat and then he keeps on crying and is inconsolable and chris is miserable the whole time?!?!" what if? what if? what if?

he was completely fine the whole time. in fact, he didn't even miss us!!

and shad and i were able to "enjoy" our fuddruckers. (the place i refuse to go any other time because i don't like their food and that is still the way i feel) and we were able to do it with no fussy baby who we'd have to keep putting a pacifier in his mouth. and we didnt have to eat as fast as possible. in fact we were able to just sit there after we were done eating.

it was great. i've mentioned before that my parents instilled in me the importance of still dating after you are married...and i believe in that now more than ever!

make a list

poor thanksgiving. stuck smack dab in between halloween: the "holiday" kids get a bunch of candy, and Christmas: the holiday kids get a bunch of presents. i feel like thanksgiving, for most, has become the redheaded step child of holidays. which seems ironic since thanksgiving is the one we are supposed to think about the things we are thankful for. but i often wonder how celebrated it would be if people didnt get the day off. and it doesn't help that the stores have Christmas paraphernalia for sale before they even get all of the halloween stuff put away.

if it wasn't for the fact that Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Jesus, i think i'd boycott it and only celebrate thanksgiving.

and i hate to admit it, but i've given into the Christmas hype over thanksgiving. all the way back in august i told shad i couldn't wait for Christmas. he of course assumed i was excited about Christmas because i wanted presents. but that wasn't true at all. i got all giddy just thinking about decorating our house and the smells and the food and the music and being with family and the reason for it all. plus i can't wait to put up the big pre-lite Christmas tree we bought after Christmas last year.

there i go again. Christmas.Christmas.Christmas.

so to get into the thanksgiving spirit, i thought i would make a list of things that have made me thankful this year. there are so many things...and the year isn't even over yet.

so in order, starting with the most exciting.

1. our sweet little baby being born healthy and cute.
2. my parents, shad's parents, and tamara and elayna and bennett actually came to visit us.
getting to go to vegas and slc to visit shad's family, and going to s.c. to visit my family.
3. pumpkin pancakes returning to ihop.
4. buying our first home.
5. jim and pam getting engaged.
6. getting a new car.
7. going to the beach
8. finding out several of my friends are pregnant.
9. surviving.
10. getting to move out of the noisy basement apartment.

so, with that said...i urge all of you to think about the things you are thankful for, and try not to take those things for granted. and wait until after thanksgiving to put up your christmas decorations. and buy me lots of presents shad. oh...did i say that out loud. i mean...presents aren't important.

the end of an era

well, LoW has made no effort to come to a truce and take my suggestion (and others) of us doing a video together. which i think would be best for all involved. so it looks like this war we are waging won't be ending. it's sad. she's been more than a sister, she's also been a friend. but no more.

so i've made this video in mourning...in loving memory of what used to be, but is no more.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

we've got a civil war on our hands

brace yourselves people, things are about to get ugly! and i don't mean this kind of ugly:

i mean this kind of ugly:but before i explain... LoW, LEAVE! now!!! i granted your wish, now you grant mine. i didnt listen in on your conversation, so you need to do the same for me. this doesnt concern you. so back away!

ok, so the other day i called up LoW to have a fun sisterly conversation. because we are fun and we are sisters. while i was chatting away a funny sonic commercial came on.

i LOVE the sonic commercials just as much as i love sonic! obviously my love for sonic runs very.very. deep. i do, after all, drive hours just to partake in sonic goodness! (remember that for later)

so i tell LoW my plans to remake a sonic commercial for blogging entertainment. i tell her how many moons ago, my friend shelley and i were at sonic and were going to do one then. and how shad and i needed to travel there now to make one. yes...travel. one hour there and one hour back. because that's how much i love sonic and thats how much i wanted to remake a commercial. that's how dedicated i am to sonic. and i deserve to do something for them!

you will not believe what she said! she said, and i quote: "i should get nolan to do one." nooooooo! just because her son likes to do videos doesn't mean she should steal my idea for him! yes, i know its not really my idea. i know that many others have probably had this idea. WEVER, i didn't tell them about my desire to do it before they decided to do it! nor am i related to them.

and you will not believe what happened next! she texted me, that very night, to tell me that they'd made the commercial!! to which i responded, and i quote: "jerk." because the definition of a jerk is "a sister who steals your idea when you requested that she not steal your idea."

so back and forth we went until finally she said she wouldn't share it! now, i hear tell that she thinks we should have a face off. that she should share hers, and i should share mine, and we should let the people vote for whose is funniest.

first of all, she's just setting herself up for failure with that idea. second of all, i love sonic more!! she's said many a times that she doesn't understand my huge love for them that i'm so willing to drive hours for them. third of all, if she really wanted to be part of it, why couldn't she wait one measly month and we could have all done one together? 4 heads are better than...just hers and nolans. fourth of all, i don't accept her offer of seeing "whose is funniest." fifth of all, until this is all resolved in a way that i'm happy with...her memebership has been revoked.

tell me you agree with me. tell me i'm right people.

ok, i'm done now. sorry to drag you into this war.

uhhhh...

FAQ

there are some things i've been wondering lately. i've made a list so maybe you can help me find the answers.


1. now that the kids in high school musical have graduated, will there be a college musical?

2. i love jeopardy, but why does it have to be the way it is? i mean, i understand that its a question and answer game show, but if someone says to me "what is poppa johns?" i'm not going to say "stop at the arches on US highway 41 for some chicken selects here" as an answer. why can't the contestants just say "poppa johns"? why must they put it in question format?

3. what is it about getting married that makes your once attentive boyfriend a husband who doesn't listen to you?

4. why do the doctors on the talk show the doctors wear their scrubs and doctors coats? they aren't in their doctors office or the hospital. do they think this makes them more legitimate and believable? it's not going to make me trust them more just because they are wearing doctor gear.

5. why don't managers at stores (grocery stores, shoe stores, department stores) have a rule that employees can't smoke by the entrances of the store? if they want to smoke, fine. but why do i have to walk through their cloud of death to shop?