Hello Ladies

Sarah, Tabitha, Me, and Michele

A few weekends ago, I was able to get together with some of my High School chums from days gone by.  It was such a throwback to be sitting in the park there talking about our lives gone by. Especially since two of them had 3 and 4 kids, and Sarah and I are just starting out. Such a fun group of girls.  It makes me laugh to remember how we thought we knew everything then, running around with the Miller boys and the Jackman's and Danny and Brandon. What fun memories.

Something's changed.

Things were moving in a perfectly quiet and small direction until about 2 weeks ago. And now my little boy doesn't fit so neatly like he use to. Consequently, my wardrobe has been minimized to 6 shirts, 2 skirts, 1 dress, and 1 pair of jeans. Nice. My love of sugar is back full force, as is my love of Mexican food.  I am lucky to still not suffer from heartburn but sleep will never be the same for me. I really am in dire need of a hair appointment, a personal chef, and a maid would be nice. Doctors still can't settle on a specific due date, alternating from one week to the next, and then back again.

In other news-You'd think I'd misplaced my camera with how much I have documented in the last month.  When I said I was going to try to double my blog entries back in January, what I guess I meant was I was going to cut them in half. I did finish my 2011 Photobook/album and it is Amazing. And I try to show it off to everyone that I meet. Which is a little awkward for them. I also finished crocheting an afghan for the baby's blessing day and I must admit - it too is absolutely amazing. I should have that photographed and documented and blogged. Note to self. Mark is finding more and more success in his new financial planning gig. He is merging out of half of our pool business by the end of the month. And he is not loving that the weather jumped into the 90s almost overnight. He is still in Young Men's, I as Gospel Doctrine teacher. We are still the youngest in our ward - bringing the first new baby in 5 years to the congregation. That makes us sort of well received. And I recently finished my "season" wall which is my new obsession and brings happiness and color all on one shelf into my home.

Hopefully my next blog will be more interesting as this is getting really bad. Luckily, I am no alone in the "abandonment of the blog" syndrome.

Cheers

Memory Lane - Provo, UT

-- I lived in the Campus Lane apartments with some pretty fun girls. For the ward "lip sync" night they wanted to do their Where is the Love number by Black Eyed Peas. Of course they wanted back up dancers. Which is where we come in. Lisa, me and Kaylynn were to create a number to do behind them during the "rap" part of the song, and then we all had a dance during the chorus. So - we did what any truly talented choreographers would do; the head bob. 8 to the front, 8 to the side, 8 to the other side. Repeat. Mix in a hand snap rotation after 2 bob rotations. And we may have accidentally stole the show as the audience thought our dance was far more entertaining than the soloists in front of us. It was really funny.

-- One summer a friend invited myself and 11 other people to accompany him to St. George as he was participating in the Marathon there. Somehow this weekend trip was dubbed "the platonic weekend". He procured his grandparents RV and we all piled in and took a unforgettable trip that was seriously out of control. So fun.

-- I was obsessed with Rascal Flatts. When it comes to music I am WAY behind the curve so the fact that I knew some songs on the country radio was sort of a big deal for me. Part 2 of this story is my job. One of the 2 jobs I held while in school was that of the Cold Food Vending Machine stocker. It was RAD. And I had the absolute best vending partners of all time. One year - my partner was Dallas. He too liked country. And we had a rule that when a rascal flatts song came on the radio, we could not leave the truck to work until the song had finished. It was fabulous. I smile thinking of it.

-- And while we're on the subject of vending. My other partner was Cami. And we had too much fun too. We tried to learn the words to O Canada for our boss and sang it over the radio one day. She had too much money on her food card so she got me Jamba Juice all the time. We, by far, were the most efficient vending stockers you had ever seen; whipping out a machine in 7 minutes flat. (ok, so I made that number up but we were seriously rock stars). We would call in the radio stations during the "winning song" of the morning to try to win. In fact, we would sit in front of the Smith building for far too many minutes trying to get through each morning. Fail.

-- My last vending memory, (I'm telling you, it was a killer fun job). One summer I was assigned the FHP route. yes, the feminine hygiene product route. Cami went home for that summer so I got another route partner. It was a slow route until we were assigned the MTC. And a part of me felt like I was entering the forbidden forest. And it was fabulous. And I had a friend who was in the MTC and we tried to find her room. Fail. But such a fun memory.

-- My first winter semester there, I was graciously invited to go on a road trip to the grand canyon by the girl who would become my best girlfriend. We stayed in a cabin close to the canyon and although I don't remember the vast majority of the trip, I do remember Chelsea trying to keep Badger awake on the car ride down with her very random break-the-silence question starting with "so Badger...". And when Lauren and I would recap our days events usually ending with a little chant - Zim-Zim-Zimmer; Who's gonna get Ben Zimmer.

-- The second job I had while in school was the BYU Bookstore Custodial job. 4 AM baby. Another sweet deal. While many 4am-ers would say they did not enjoy their job - I totally did. It was a piece of cake. Vacuum the carpets one day, sweep the floor the next. I always wanted to be assigned the garbage route but there was only 1 guy who got to do that everyday. Guess he was somebody special. And again, the team was awesome. We had the best time. So fun.

Weekends

Life is happily moving right along here in our corner of the world. Although most of our daily life is fairly mundane and ritual - there have been a few noteworthy events that I can post just to keep my blog from looking neglected.

Several weeks ago I took a trip up to visit my dear friend and her family in Portland. We certainly enjoyed catching up on each others lives and of course reverting back to our College habits of eating too much, talking for hours, and watching movies. My favorite part of the trip was our visit to the Portland Temple. Simply beautiful and very rewarding. And to top it off, I also ran into another old collage neighbor whom I haven't talked to since we moved out 7 years ago. Kaylynn Boggs - the only girl with my name. :)

A simply delightful trip visiting a simply delightful friend always leaves us planning for another get together soon.

Another fun thing Mark and I did several weekends ago was to visit the Palace of Fine Arts and attend the A Capella Regional competition there. It was just a lovely evening and the Palace didn't dissappoint with a little romance and "mood setting".

We found a park bench overlooking the pond and dome and ate a little picnic lunch. Then it started to rain, and Mark didn't have a jacket, and we were freezing. But we stuck it out anyway because this is what I had planned dang it, and we were going to experience it rain or not! And so we did.

The singing contest was delightful, even if we were the youngest ones in attendance by about 2 generations. But alas, you attend what you like - and clearly we are a little behind our time.

Most of our weekends are just cleaning the house and catching up on bills and whatnot. You know, the usual stuff. So it is always wonderful to have a little something else to fill our scrapbook pages.

Artsy Fartsy

My amazingly talented wife and I have been trying our hand at photography and really trying to get good at all these fun things you can do with it....so I thought I would post some samples to get the public opinion....so have at it!












We like to think we are pretty good! :) We love the new hobby.

Double Standard

Here is your token photo. I don't feel totally confident putting this photo up, mostly because I feel like I pick myself apart in it-yet I love to see others and their token photos. And even a little bitter a few haven't put theirs up yet. So-to break my double standard-here is my 5.5 month update.

- why is it that we count in weeks. It just seems so...pregnancy like.

- and on that note, why does every scientific notation in the world say it takes 9 months to make a baby. Clearly 40 weeks equals 10 months. So..where does the 9 come from?

- I have no cravings, much to Mark's dismay. I find that I am eating the same now as I did pre-baby. Again, much to Mark's dismay.

- I like sleeping on my side like a city likes the plague.

- I am still not confident that I am feeling the "kicking" feeling - and that I am still in the bubbly/butterfly phase.

- We've decided on a name and I've been starting to call him by it recently, which makes it seem so real and yet so weird all at the same time.

- A shout out to my mother's genes for the long torso which makes this whole baby bump thing a breeze.

The end.

Birthday Wishes

Twas that time of year again when I get to take a weekend and celebrate simply because I am alive. And I loved this year's little trip. Mom treated us all to a weekend in Angels Camp; a short little jaunt from our home where there are a plethora of old mining towns for exploration. Plus an infamous Thrifty Ice Cream location just a stone's throw from our condo. Bonus.

Although we spent the entire weekend there, the most pictures come from our day spent in Columbia. It had been decades since my last visit, and it was fun to see mom in her walk down memory lane as she saw her little kids running round the streets that we were on. Hence this picture of Mark and I on the blue wagon. She had a moment remembering all her kids hanging on - so we induldged her with a photo op.

Of coures, one of my favorite things about my mom and husband is how well we all get along. It wasn't quite 10am and we were all in the candy shop purchasing an array of delightful treats to munch on before lunch.

As much as I love history and everything about it, I am certain I would not have been very comfortable in that era - mostly because I am not super comfortable around horses. I like them from a distance, but getting real close sort of freaks me out a little. I'm not sure why. Something about their size and strength against my own. So this picture is sort of a big deal for me. Mom and Mark were ready to saddle up and ride them through town, but I was content with just a little pat and walking away.

Another fun bit about my mom is her "no reservations" attitude. She will ask any stranger anything, walk through any fence or railing to see whats on the other side, climb rocks, and walk around "no public entry" signs if she thinks what is on the other side is worth a sight. Here is Mark taking after her lead. Mom saw the empty house and walked right through the fence up to the windows and peered right in. We both watched from a distance at first until she started boasting about how neat it all was. So-we both had to get a close up view as well. Funny lady.

A few other things from the weekend that were delightful

* The spa trips

* Movies late at night

* Our "free gift" for listening to the WorldMark presentation

* Sidewinders - dinner one night, encore the following lunch

* Thrifty Ice Cream

* Chocolate Cupcakes-it was fabulously funny the morning we all wanted one before breakfast but didn't want to be judged by the others. Finally, I just went for it and we all laughed that it was what we were all thinking.

* The old numbers psychic who was hitting on mom. She is too nice.

It was just a delightful birthday weekend! Topped off with lots of love from friends far and near. Happy Weekend. Happy Day.

My Valentine

Makes Saturday morning breakfast a celebration. Joins me in TV shows that are less than interesting for him. Welcomes me home with a smile and a kiss every day. Listens to my bizarre dreams every morning. Is giddy with joy about our upcoming arrival. Gallivants across America. Displays signs on enjoyment while visiting the history sites for me. Supports my interests. Participates in my make-believe photography skills. Overdoses on desserts. Shows consistent concern for my mothers welfare. Allows me as many fish tacos as I desire. Surprises me with notes, gifts, flowers, and trips. If there ever was a perfect match for me, it is he.

Another Home Project

I guess its time to come clean to the Internet. You know when you start with a secret and its hard to keep, and then after some time it is really easy to keep, and then there comes a point when someone needs to remind you to tell your secret sometime. Yeah-maybe that doesn't really ever happen, but-I've sort of been keeping something from y'all. Until now.

We've been remodeling one of our spare bedrooms. Making it not so "spare". It started like this:

and then became this.
all in preparation for this:

So-surprised? I can tell you we were! He is expected to join us the 1st week of July. Yeah!

**The words you're all wondering about but aren't totally necessary to read. No-this hasn't been the longest pregnancy ever recorded. Many of you may remember our first announcement back in June of last year. And then missed the memo that that wasn't happening any more, mostly because I didn't announce it. So-here is the short of it. Because of some serious hormone imbalances on my part-we were unable to get pregnant without the help of a fertility specialist-who I just fell in love with. After our first treatment, we successfully got pregnant and were awaiting our first. Sadly, the pregnancy turned out to be a partial molar which had to be removed by D&C. We were told our chances of getting pregnant again were slim-and would probably need another round of fertility treatment in one years time. Heart breaker. Then, the Lord came through again and proved medicine wrong. We were surprised with the news that we were expecting; giving the doctors a bit of a scare that perhaps my partial molar was growing back. Weeks of testing, and now here we are, halfway done and things are looking great! We are so excited and feel very blessed. And above all, know that this little spirit has been waiting to join our family for quite some time. I am sure my dad is patting him on the back, letting him know how good he has it coming to us. (kidding) He sure has been working overtime, my dad. Love him. Love our growing son. So in love.**

The City

In an effort to make our weekends more exciting than house chores and hours of TV, my mom and we decided to take a trip to Oakland to get some fresh air. Mom found that there were some old 1800 replica ships in port so we headed out for a little salty sea air.

The 2 "tall ships" were replicated from old war ships from...a long time ago. Which was fun to get to board and walk around their tiny decks and quarters.

There were several seamen getting the ship ready to sail, so we were lucky enough to get a shot of the 2 of us together! And yes, we are both supporting the cougars. Only because it is the BYU bookstore where our yearly clothes purchase occurs. We're those people.

And as a sidenote-the seamen were a very interesting crew of people. Talk about rough and toughin' it. They looked (and smelled) like they had been in the open waters for ages. It made us wonder at what junction in their lives they decided this was going to be their line of work. Interesting.I was particularly interested in just the architecture of the vessel. Just really neat all the rope work and the masts and sails. Although the clouds were grey and gloomy, it was really nice weather.

A stop at the Oakland Temple on our way home rounded out this rather wonderful day!

Stay tuned for our recent home renovations that has taken us this long to be able to do!

Re-purposing

I am really quite proud of our thrifty new headboard. We've never been real adults with an official bedroom set. Mostly we've just made do with what I've skimmed together from my college days. So - I put my resources together and made us a fancy new headboard. Ideas compliments of "Design on a Dime" from HGTV. (a station I am obsessed with).

I took our old door from off the closet that was causing more harm than good=Free.

Repainted it so the pink crayon marks and black smudges from the previous owners was gone=Free

Attached it to some 4X4's which I had also painted white-and topped them off with some fence post toppers for the final look=$20.00

Add a new wall color and we're mostly done with my new room. I still need some artwork above the bed which I am in the process of getting together. But overall - I like it!

So there you have it. My twenty dollar headboard made from a door! Thanks to Design on a Dime.

Teenagers and Ice Cream

Teenagers should not be teachers. I'm telling you - in my experiences in the education world - teenagers aren't the best at explaining things clearly and getting things done. I would have to say the fine arts classes are the ones that test my patience the most. Like today - watching the "team captains" try to get the kids started on their new dance was like watching a group of people who have never ice skated, step onto the ice for the first time.

Also-my husband is amazing. While driving home, we were chatting about my upcoming birthday plans, which will include a trip over for some delicious Thrifty ice cream. To which he asks "does that sound good right now?" I said heck yes. And then we missed out turn to our house and went to get ice cream as a spontaneous date day! Oh delightful. And I got Bubble Gum flavor. Because as a kid Lord's Ice Cream parlour had it and it was so delightful. Except I don't like the gum balls in it so I ask for as much ice cream and as little gum balls as possible. And they oblige. And it is delightful every time.

Happy Monday.

Hot Chocolate & Toast

I've been thinking about hot chocolate and toast recently. Weird I know, but being that the temperature of my house equals the temperature of the average refrigerator, anything hot seems delightful. Hence the thought.

So I had some for lunch today. And, as I always do, I dipped my toast into my chocolate. And I was reminded; I grew up with this delicious combination and it has only recently come to my attention that this is not accepted as generally as I thought.

As a younger kid, I remember our babysitter making fun of our family because we did this. Later, my roommates in collage thought I was super weird. And when I married Mark and ate my little snack this way-he too was surprised.

Which made me think it was about time I was public about this. Seriously, dip your toast into your hot chocolate. It is so good. Thats all.

For real?

As I mentioned before, my job assignment is to fill in holes on campus that are last minute needs. Today, a sub didn't show up for a particular assignment; so I was called to the classroom. No biggie-right? Wrong!

How does this teacher even have a job? I have subbed this class before. How do I know this? Because the agenda I wrote on the board from Nov. 7th was still there! For real? His classes have NO respect for the classroom or any adult for that matter. Several stood by the door the entire 100 minute class; eating, texting, and chatting obscenely loud. Many "went to the bathroom" and didn't return. It was the most insane class with no real lesson plans, and no real direction given at all! I just hate when I have to sub in rooms like this. Not so much because it is a bad experience - which to tell the truth it is a nightmare - but more because I don't understand why this type of person has a job teaching and one such as myself doesn't. Really?

Six Tid Bits

1. I am super excited about my new year's resolutions. People who are not resoultion makers I do not understand. It is one of my greatest passions. One of my goals is to tidy up every night before bed. I realize this is a common practice among most family oriented ladies in the blog world. Not so much in the Morrell house. But now my friends - we are new people. Dishes clean and put away, blankets not strewn all over the couches, leftovers actually put away rather than left to spoil. Its going to be a steller year.

2. This time next year I will have completed the Walt Disney World Marathon! Probably not in the 2:40 that the female winner this year did, but I tell you what, me and Katie, and maybe Michelle if I can lie to her about how fun it is going to be enough to make her think I'm right. (cuz lets be honest, the disney part will be smashing fun, the vacation part irreplaceable, but the running part, eh...not so much)

3. My job is AWESOME! I am like a "filler" sub. I go to the high school campus every day, and then fill in whatever holes they may have. And when they have no holes, which is often, I sit in the teachers lounge and scrapbook, read, craft, play games, sleep and get paid. Its awesome.

4. I love the Duggars. Seriously - love their show. I asked for their book for Christmas, and my superman husband got it for me. And I cried. Do you think I've crossed a line?

5. I started bringing my calculator to the grocery store - product of another resolution. And TWICE I had the total bill not only under budget but EXACT! That was a pretty proud moment for me. I've said before, I LOVE grocery shopping, and I am really good at filling up a cart. So - to show some self control and then to be right on the price, it was a big moment.

6. My older brother is kind of my personal rock start. I just love spending time with him. Cuz he is just that amazing.