Solitaire

I play a lot of solitaire...not any special solitaire variety, just plain old solitaire. I win probably 1 out of every 4 times. But today I was playing and a glitch popped up.

Can you tell what's wrong with this picture?

Thank you, Christopher

for...

...putting away the laundry that has been filling the crib for a few weeks now.

...washing the rest of the laundry that was spread around the bedroom and other random places in the house.

...making the bed. Twice.

...putting away all that laundry that you cleaned.

...going to Arby's for breakfast with me this morning when the only thing I wanted to eat was a french dip sandwich.

...going shopping with me, even though it wasn't exciting.

...letting me push the cart the whole time so I could lean on it.

...letting me buy doll stuff for Jane, even though she doesn't really need toys.

...helping me get the budget all worked out, including figuring out a retirement account that we can start now.

...cleaning the living room.

...vacuuming the living room.

...cleaning the kitchen.

...doing all the dishes, even those that didn't fit in the dishwasher.

...emptying the trash in the bathroom that always gets forgotten about when we clean the house.

...unpacking the suitcases that were still sitting in the garage since we came home from Salt Lake last weekend.

...watching Jane while I went to the General Relief Society broadcast.

...taking Jane for a walk to feed the ducks.

...fixing the tv so the remote sensor will now work from anywhere in the room, rather than just that one exact spot from the one couch.

...carrying Jane upstairs to bed, then going up again when she got up and knocked on the door. And going up again when she got up again. And again.

...doing that all today.

...and for taking care of me while I'm pregnant. Only 9 more days!

i love you, christopher

Remember When

June 15, 2002

Chris and I met for the first time in Fairbanks, Alaska. We were both seventeen.

July 23, 2002

We finally admitted to liking each other. Our official DTR (define the relationship talk):

Laura: "So what happens when we go home?" (from Alaska)
Chris: "What do you want to happen?"
Laura: "Well, when I get home, my sister is going to ask if I have a boyfriend and I want to say yes."
Chris: "Ok."

And it was official--we were boyfriend/girlfriend.

August 17, 2002

I met Chris's family for the first time when they came to Utah from Idaho for a family reunion. Yes, our first official date was to a family reunion.

August 18, 2002

We held hands for the first time...and we have the picture to prove it.

September 2002 - April 2003

We saw each other roughly once a month. Chris lived in Idaho and I lived in Salt Lake. We communicated primarily by instant messaging online and long phone calls on Sundays.

May 10, 2003

We went to prom together at a car dealership in Pocatello.

That night was also our first kiss.

June 2003

We both graduated from high school. Yay!

Summer 2003

Chris lived at his grandparents' house in Sugarhouse so we were actually able to see each other almost every day for about two months.

August 2003

Chris started classes at Utah State University...I started classes at University of Utah.

January 23, 2004

A year and a half to the day of when we started dating: Chris broke up with me. We had gone to Dee's for dinner. With the menus sitting in front of us, he looked at me and said, "I'm done. I don't want to do it anymore." And that was it.

I would like to note that that particular Dee's restaurant has since been demolished. I never made it back.

March 2004

Chris called me. He had just broken up with another girlfriend and she was stalking him. He needed advice...so he called me. And that's how we became friends again.

June 9, 2004

Chris left to serve his mission in Norway. I wrote him letters the entire time he was gone--we have them all together in a binder now. We can read them in chronological order.

July 31, 2004

I moved to Logan and transferred to Utah State for their education program.

June 30, 2006

Chris came home from his mission. During the next week, I talked to him on the phone a couple of times. The majority of our conversations were about a girl in Norway who had fallen in love with him and wanted to marry him--he didn't want her but didn't know what to do about it.

July 9, 2006

I had three wisdom teeth removed.

July 10, 2006

Chris called me and asked if he could stop by Logan and say hi on his way down to Salt Lake. I suggested we go to my singles' ward boating activity at Bear Lake.

We went boating, spent lots of time talking in the car there and back, went to dinner at Village Inn (I ate soup because my cheeks were too swollen to chew), then flirted a lot while walking through Willow Park Zoo.

And then we got engaged.

July 14, 2006

Chris moved to California to work a job he had set up with one of his mission companions. Of the ten weeks we were engaged, he was gone for five.

September 21, 2006

I forgot to brush my teeth...

...and we got married.

Sealed for time and eternity in the Salt Lake Temple

Happy Anniversary
love you much

Much-needed Relaxation

Our third anniversary is on Monday, and Chris and I were able to go down to Salt Lake for a much-needed escape from our rather hectic day-to-day. Everything seemed to come together just right to give us the break we needed. We dropped Jane off to spend the night at my parents' house, then we headed out for a night with just the two of us.

First on our list of celebration activities was my all-time favorite restaurant. I LOVE the Old Spaghetti Factory. And, as luck would have it, our waitress was amazing. She knew exactly what to do and exactly when to do it--I don't think we've ever had such a perfect waitress. It was lovely.


Besides my parents being available to babysit, the other blessing in our favor came by way of my sister. Deborah earned Employee of the Month at her job working for Discovery Gateway Children's Museum, and part of her prize was a free night's hotel stay. When Chris fixed her water pump a while back, she gave the hotel stay to us as a thank you. And I say, Thank you Deborah!!


We went swimming. Oh. My. Goodness. I'm less than a month away from having a baby--meaning, I'm hugely pregnant. Being in the pool was heavenly. It was so nice to be able to move without any pain or great effort. And I could breathe! I'm glad I finally caved and bought a maternity swimming suit. It was so worth it. I highly recommend a trip to the pool to anyone who is having a baby.


Amazing-ness #2 of staying in the hotel: king size bed. We have a queen size bed at home, which is generally just fine. But sleeping in a king size bed when I'm as big as I am? It was great to be able to roll over without feeling like I caused a small EarThQuaKe for Chris.


And here's a picture of me because it's only fair. I don't think I look too pregnant in this shot, but you can still tell...right? I hope I don't just look fat.

This weekend getaway was exactly what we needed. The escape from school, work, and parenting was just enough to recharge our batteries and get us set for the next two weeks--until we have a baby and start a whole new level craziness.

Thank you again Deborah and Mom!

But wait, there's more!


Following our apparent tradition, after our adventure with the hotel, we stopped by Chris's sister's house so Chris could fix her car. Luckily, it was a quick and cheap fix.

While Chris and Brenda fixed the car, I opted to stay inside and chill with my family. I took the chance to play a little Rockband--I like trying, but sometimes it's a little intense to play with people who are really good. I enjoyed having the chance to play by myself for a while...and then I was done.


These are my brothers, Bill and Michael. They are both really good. I've never seen anyone play the drums like Bill--and he said he's actually better at the guitar. I didn't watch that, but if he's telling the truth, he's got to be pretty darn good.


Jane always has fun at Grandpa and Grandma's house. Her favorite activity of the day was cleaning. She managed to use up an entire box of wipes throughout the course of the afternoon.


Cleaning wears anybody out, right? It's been a long time since Jane has fallen asleep on my lap. It was nice, although it did make it harder to breathe...

How was your weekend?

P.S. It turns out that I didn't have the flu. I was only really sick for about 16 hours. My doctor said the intense nausea and stomach pains were a side effect of the kidney stones. Because things are getting that bad, my doctor has decided to induce me a week early. Yay! Hopefully it all works out as planned...

I have the flu.

just shoot me now.

A Moment away from Miserable

Life in our house lately has been, in a word, miserable. My health is getting worse and worse the longer I'm pregnant, Chris has a majorly intense school load this semester (and that's with only 11 credits!) and Jane has apparently decided she no longer needs naps, which doesn't help anything.

Just because I need a little pick-me-up from one crappy week before we head into the next, I thought I'd share some of Jane's more endearing moments from the past little bit. (By the way, endearing was a vocabulary word in my class this week.)

o + o + o + o + o + o

With all of my being way sick and in pain and Chris endlessly working on homework, we've been watching a lot of movies at our house. Needless to say, Jane is getting better at actually paying attention and catching on to a few things that happen in the movies.

Today we watched The Lion King. When Simba first meets Timone and Pumba and learns how to eat a grub, Jane repeatedly pointed at the screen and said, "Ew, gross!"

Hopefully that means she won't eat bugs.

o + o + o + o + o + o

Jane's newest fashion statement: Dad's dirty socks.

Chris often leaves his socks lying around on the floor of whatever room he happened to be in when he decided to take them off. Jane has become quite adept at finding them and putting them on herself. She'll wear a pair of Dad's socks all day if we'd let her.

o + o + o + o + o + o

And my personal favorite: Sacrament Meeting today.

Jane has learned how to "sing." At least, she makes very high-pitched shrieking noises either while playing the piano or when anyone else is singing. She took the opportunity at church today to show off her amazing vocals during the intermediate hymn: Master, the Tempest is Raging.

Background reminder: I am now the ward chorister, so I was on the stand conducting the music when this happened. Jane was watching me most of this time.

She was all situated on the bench, hymnbook open on her lap, "singing" at the top of her lungs. She also had her arm going full speed, conducting as well. That's funny enough by itself. But it was LOUD. Just about everyone in the chapel could hear her, and those sitting close by could see her as well. From the stand, I could see more than three rows worth of people desperately trying not to laugh--and mostly failing.

And from the stand, seeing that many people laugh and hearing my daughter take part so enthusiastically in the hymn--well, it made me laugh, too. And it's really hard to sing and laugh at the same time. I kept conducting, but I missed more than a few measures of the song while I tried desperately not to laugh.

The best part, though, was how serious she was the whole time. As far as she knew, she was only doing what you're supposed to do during a hymn: sing.

Garden Drive

It's all about the story, and those things with the best stories usually come with at least a little bit of character...

My sister Lisa and her husband Christian recently bought their first house. Yay! This particular house came with much more than it's fair share of character.

Let's start in the front yard. If you're really into weeds, this is the yard for you.


And if weeds don't float your boat, how about bushes that overtake the driveway?


Ok, ok, I know that weeds and overgrown bushes aren't really a sign of character. How about handprints on the fence?


Is that red paint? or maybe...

And venturing inside, we come upon the living room. Half tile, half carpet, with lovely red and yellow paint


to compliment the authentic Chinese characters adorning the window treatments.



The hallway first brings a view of this door: any guess what room is behind it?


And the winner is...

Did you guess right?

The bathroom looks an awful lot like a bathroom, but don't overlook those small touches that give it a homey feel.



There are two bedrooms: the black and blue bedroom that belongs to Dalton,


and the black and brown (yes, brown) bedroom that belongs to Lisa and Christian.


I don't know that black and brown would have been my first choice, but the colors to compliment the linoleum nicely.


If you look closely, you can see the quality paint job that is characteristic of the previous owners.


Moving on, we see the kitchen


and if you turn around quickly without blinking, you'll see the dining room.


Continue walking past the cork wall,


and you'll enter the family room, complete with family


and its own walk-in closet.


It's always nice to have your own laundry room.


And who doesn't want that extra... ... ...room? I believe the current intention is to use this room as a shop/storage room.


In case you're in there and you get lonely, just look up and you'll find a friend.


And if you need a shower but the bathroom is just too far away, grab the curtain from the window


and head out through the sliding glass doors. You're all set to take a shower!


While you're there, take a moment to soak in all the grandeur that is the backyard.


There's the deck,


the shed,


the permanently locked brick something building,


the irrigation ditch,


the sprinkler control box,


and the traffic cone, just in case.


And if you get hungry, take your pick:







Now, I know that I've poked fun a bit at the house and all its character, but I am excited that Lisa and Christian found a fun house to fix up and make their own. While it's not the most appealing at first blush, it definitely has a lot of potential. I'm excited for the follow-up post when I can show how they've redone everything.

I think Dalton is excited, too.