Update II

So our taxes were finally processed last week and we were supposed to close this past Wednesday...then Thursday...then Friday....now maybe Tuesday, but I wouldn't count on it.

Update

Okay so we're currently set to close on the new house on Feb. 20th. Hopefully the IRS will have straightened out our taxes by then (I called them and that is the date they gave me to call back as they should have been processed by then). We've also accepted an offer on our current house and are set to close on it Feb. 24th. So if the Collinsville one is delayed again we may have no place to live! Well actually the people buying our house said they are willing to rent it to us for a month or two if we need to. They are buying it for their daughter who is attending college here...how would that be if your parents bought you a house for college...man, some people with money. Not that I'm complaining. ;) Anyway, so the 20th is a Friday and the 24th is a Tuesday, so that leaves us Saturday and Monday to move (as I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that sort of thing on Sunday). No time to go clean or paint or anything...well hopefully if we close in the morning I can go over and clean that afternoon. Luckily the house is big enough that there should be plenty of room to keep stuff away from the walls while I paint. Unfortunately this means we won't be able to hang pictures for awhile. I hate that. That is one of the first things I do when I move to a new place is hang the pictures so it feels like home. Oh well. Send lots of speedy tax processing wishes to the IRS for us! :)

Le Sigh....

So today I was supposed to be at the new house cleaning. I was going to bring the vacuum, my cleaning supplies, some food for me and the kids, the pack 'n play, Isabelle's blankets/pillow (you know so they can nap), the laptop, some movies for the kids, and some toys. I was going to vacuum the floors first, then sweep out the cobwebs, gather all of the random items left in the house for goodwill, clean the kitchen and bathrooms, take down and wash the curtains, wash the blinds, evaluate whether I need to wash the baseboards, try and get a little closer to deciding on an exact shade of paint for the living room, dining, den, and back bedroom now that the curtains are down and I can see the light better, etc...
Instead I am at home with my kids doing not much of anything. I should probably clean the bathroom today, but that's about it. You see we were supposed to close yesterday. We were supposed to meet at the title office at noon, sign the papers and be done with it. Instead they were still lacking some paperwork by 5 and we found out that the mortgage company was unable to verify our 2007 taxes with the IRS since Patrick just mailed them two weeks ago *rolls eyes* so now the whole loan process is on hold until they can verify that and who knows how long that will take. So now that we're technically in breach of contract if we don't get everything worked out Tuesday (Monday's a holiday) then the sellers could just say forget the whole thing and we'll be back to looking for a house. I can tell you right now that there are no houses as nice as this one in our price range. So now I'm annoyed, even more so since Patrick says he's not sure if he should be annoyed or not since maybe it just wasn't meant to be. I'm annoyed because it got this far into the process and still stupid stuff like this is popping up. If this had happened a month ago I wouldn't have been as annoyed since I hadn't made actual plans at that point. But now that it's so close to getting the house and moving, I had made day by day plans of what needed to be done in order to get the house cleaned, painted and moved into by the first of the month. So now it's all up in the air. Stupidheads. Okay that's all. :)

Doctor Who and the Daleks

Patrick and I have recently been watching the first season of Doctor Who on Netflix. My sister made me watch an episode while they were visiting over Christmas and it was really good so we've been trying to catch up. We're one episode away from season two and it's been great so far. Anyway, Isabelle watched one episode with us called "Dalek" where one of the Doctor's old enemies returns. These are really cheesy looking aliens with body armour that looks like a robot. Isabelle thinks they're awesome. I found this video on you tube and she thinks it's great. :) Enjoy...sorry if you dont' watch the show then it's probably boring .




Here's another one....I like the music on this one...it's kind of celtic-y. ;)

Twilight Spoof

This is pretty funny...if you've seen the movie/know the plot. ;)

It's the Kiera Show!!!

Today (last week now) was our ward Christmas Party. Every year they have some sort of musical program following a big dinner in the gym at our church. For the past two years I've played at either this or the Relief Society Christmas Party. Well this year I was excited to be able to play again...you know since I'm self centered and like it when people applaud me. ;) Well I was originally going to play/sing one song...then the activity committee asked if I would be willing to sing Oh Holy Night again as well as the other song I was planning on singing. No problem. Could I also play the guitar accompaniment for Silent Night? and maybe some instrumental background music while they read some scriptures? Sure, sure....then the other boy who was supposed to play some secular songs for the first half of the program dropped out and they were wondering if it would be possible for me to also play Jingle Bells, Let it Snow, and background for a reading of "A Texas Night Before Christmas". Of course I will! I was very excited to be able to play so much...until I started thinking about how this must look to other people. I mean, is there NO ONE else in the ward that can play an instrument? Or "Okay she sings pretty good, but I didn't come here to watch the Kiera Show." Patrick said I was being ridiculous, but I wonder.

So for the program they had me and the guy doing the readings up on stage in armchairs with festive Christmas throws draped around the back. The were going for a country western theme so the guy wore a cowboy hat and I wore my boots and pretended to be country. For the first half they seemed to think it was a good idea (or the guy did and didn't consult the lady in charge) to have some of his grandkids up on stage with us. This was a little nerve wracking from my perspective having a bunch of kids running around next to me and reaching out repeatedly to touch my guitar. One of the little boys got to close and I accidentally hit him up side the head with my guitar. That was fun (read: stressful). ;)

Anyway, here are the two songs I sang for your viewing pleasure. The second song had some technical difficulties with the camera so it's in two parts, missing about ten seconds in between.

Plus my guitar was out of tune...I tuned it in a cold room and then played in a stifling hot room wich totally messes with the strings...half of which are steel and half nylon (as my nylon ones break I'm replacing them with the extra steel strings I have), but the steel and nylon react differently to heat and this messes with the sound... Also you'll notice I tend to smile when I mess up. That's my tell. ;)

Afterwards one of the men in our ward asked me where I was from originally. When I said Utah he was surprised. He said something like; "How could you sing with that twang if you're from Utah?! I thought for sure you were from somewhere down south like Tennessee or something." I smiled and said something brilliant like; "Nope." I didn't think I sung the songs that twangy...though I apparently played it with alot more twang then I intended. Oh well.

Twilight: Revisited

My friends and I recently saw the movie version of Twilight this past weekend. In preparation for this event, I decided to re-read the first book before seeing the movie. The following are my thoughts on the book the second time around as well as my impressions of the movie. For those of you who haven’t read the book and have no interest in it or the movie, sorry....but feel free to leave a comment regardless.

The Book
Since reading Twilight I have discussed it with many different people. One of the views that surprised me at first was that Bella was a weak-willed push over and Edward was the instigator of an unhealthy and controlling relationship. I did not get this impression when I first read the book. However since I was looking for it this time around, I can totally see how some people would have that point of view. The biggest problem I had with Edward this time was his refusal to acknowledge Bella’s ‘no.’ Let me explain. I recently re-read/skimmed the book “The Gift of Fear” by Gavin De Becker. This book is supposed to be a guide to acknowledging why we fear certain things and how often when we are uncomfortable it is because our subconscious has picked up on something that our conscious mind will not acknowledge. The resulting fear is nature’s way of protecting us. One of the things De Becker talked about in his book were cues that dangerous people often give off. If we are aware and looking for these qualities in a person it may save us from a bad and possibly deadly situation. One of these was if the man refuses to acknowledge your no. The example he gave was a man offering to help a woman whose groceries had spilled down the stairwell. She said no, she had it. He ignored her, with “oh come on let me help you.” He then tried to “help” her by carrying one of her bags. She resisted and he insisted, saying “you know there is such a thing as being too proud.” When she finally gave in it was at that point that she relinquished control of the situation and let him know that she would do whatever he said from that point on. He later raped and nearly killed her. So when Edward repeatedly refuses to acknowledge Bella’s no it puts me on edge.

I was annoyed at the length of their relationship. I know for many Mormons their courtship happened just this fast. From the first or second date/third time they’ve talked they knew that they were “completely and irrevocably” in love with whomever. But I have a problem with people falling in love so fast with so little actual experience with the person involved. So consequently I can’t help but laugh when Bella is suddenly in love with Edward whom she knows little to nothing about. Okay so he’s a vampire who listens to Debussy….well obviously I’m going to fall in love with him! I was again annoyed that she figures out what he is, they hang out for two days and then she’s on the run and he’s somewhere else for the rest of the book. Where is the relationship? They exchange a few pleasantries in class, go out on a date, and suddenly she’s willing to die for him and vice verse?

During this reading I was also attempting to understand the mass appeal of this book. Don’t get me wrong I liked it and went out and bought a copy. But I don’t see why this book is so different from any other vampire book I’ve read. One thing I think is funny is the scores of people saying, “okay there are vampires in it, but it’s not like a vampire story!” I wonder how many vampire stories these people have read to compare them too. Moving on. I had a couple of different theories this time around. One: It is very melodramatic. Now I was never this way, but I have the impression that most (?) teens are. Everything is a life or death situation, everything matters. Now in this case there really were a few of these, but maybe that’s why the teens could relate. I read something mentioning how didn’t we all remember when we had a crush on someone and our whole day would hinge on seeing them. Our hearts would race and our palms would sweat at the mere mention of their name. This book captures that feeling. Two: Edward is "perfect," or so the totally biased, fighting against the raging hormones of adolescence teenager says. Meyer doesn't seem to go into that much detail of what Edward looks like, but every girl that reads this just knows he's gorgeous (with her own unique picture in her head of just what that entails). Three: He listens to Bella and talks about his feelings. Most guys are not comfortable talking about their feelings like a girl and Edward does this ad naseum. He also spends all of his time asking Bella questions (as if he's more intrigues by the fact that he can't read her mind then by the answers themselves). I suppose most girls would love this. *shrug*

The Movie
Now I must admit that my knee-jerk reaction was; “Wow, that was stupid.” However, I have since thought more about it and discussed it with a few other people and have decided that while it did have its moments, overall I enjoyed it and want to see it again. I had a problem with some of the actors and their acting abilities (Jasper looking 12 years old with that perpetual deer in the headlights expression he has…he is supposed to be this super tough, bad–assed vamp and he looks ridiculous…enough to elicit helpless giggles whenever he comes on screen). Robert Pattinson is incredibly hot, I’ll give you that. However I thought his interpretations of Edwards various expressions were also hilarious. In the book Edward snarls, sneers, laughs, smolders, is cold, hard, unmoving, etc… In the movie it seemed Pattinson had two expressions. First he looks at you straight on, and then from under his impressive (read: big) eyebrows. I think the under the eyebrows look was supposed to be his feral “I’m a deadly animal seconds away from ripping your throat out” look, but it was still pretty funny. Going along with that, the scene where they all jumped in front of Bella in a defensive stance was also pretty funny. I didn’t think they looked at all scary or intimidating like they were supposed to.

I liked Bella for the most part, but Kristen Stewart seemed to come off with an attitude that I didn’t think Bella had in the book. I have seen her in interviews and gotten the same attitude impression from her, so I think maybe that’s just how she is. I didn’t like the diminished roles Jasper and Alice had, but I wasn’t too upset about that.

I thought they did a good job of portraying the teenagers in this the way I remember teens from my high school being; immature (chasing each other with worms) and young looking. I read an article about how that was very different from the sexed-up teen dramas now popular. I don’t know if teens in other places are like the ones in these other dramas, talking about and having sex, maliciously hurting one another and cussing up a storm, but in my home town in Southern Utah where nearly everyone is Mormon, few were having or even talking about sex (that I know of) those that were, were gossiped about (like in the movie the scandal of the vamp couples living together) and there wasn’t much swearing…but much chasing with worms…or the eye from the toad we were dissecting in biology, etc…

I also thought the special effects were kind of hokey (yes I know they had a low budget). In the book the vampires move so fast it’s as if they just suddenly appear across the room or wherever. I thought they would have done good to emulate this by simply cutting from them in one part of the room to them somewhere else…you know in a kind of stop motion thing. Instead they had them move super fast by making them blur. I thought that was pretty funny. Edward’s sparkles were um…interesting, not at all like I pictured it. These movie sparkles looked more like he was sweating and had a light “glisten” in the sun. It was also funny the way all the vamps looked as if they were wearing poorly applied Halloween makeup to make their faces white, and the scene where they all walk into the lunchroom was hilarious. However, all this aside, I still thought the movie was entertaining and will probably find some way to go and see it again. What did you think?

One more thing; was anyone else totally freaked out about how high up in those trees they were? I wouldn’t have let go of Edward. Also; wasn’t Carlisle hot? I know they said he was in the book, but I don’t think I pictured him that way since he was such a father figure. Okay I’m not done…the kissing scene…wasn’t that the funniest thing in the whole movie? Literally 30 seconds of puckered, moving closer… “Don’t move”…..closer… “Don’t move”…closer still…until they finally kiss. *lol* Totally awesome: Edward catching that apple with his foot and his mad driving skills. They said he drove fast in the book, but that was freaking awesome.

Decisions

So we’re thinking of buying a house and moving to another town. Patrick has had his new job for over a year now and commuting 45 minutes one way (1 ½ hours) each day. This is annoying as we don’t see him as much as we could and the money we’re spending on gas is getting to be a little ridiculous….though with the recent dramatic drop it has gotten much better. Anyway, we’ve been looking at houses a little closer to his work. Unfortunately the business he works for is based out of a little tiny town in the middle of nowhere….with the closest towns also being similarly tiny and surrounded by nothing in the way of shopping and amenities.
So long story short, we’ve accustomed ourselves to the idea of living in the country. I’m hoping it won’t be too big of an adjustment since the children and I so rarely leave the house anyway. Right now we’re considering putting in an offer on this house.


It is located in a booming town of about 1500 (for comparison there are around 120,000 in our current town). There are schools in town (Elementary, Intermediate, and High School) so the kids wouldn’t have to bus into somewhere else, which is nice. But there are maybe ten places of business including two pizza places, a café with random hours, two gas stations, a realty office, two hair salons, and a “custom trading co” store. I’m not really sure what they have in there. Church is about a thirty minute drive, which is a bummer, but there is a Super Walmart and various other shopping facilities about 16 miles away. I also located the closest McDonalds, which is in the next biggest town over (of 3600) and a ten minute drive from our prospective new home.


So the new house is a “Victorian” built in 1920 with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, a living room, dining room, big kitchen (with lots of cupboard space) and a den. There is also an enormous attic that could easily be converted to more living space (we were thinking a couple of bedrooms) bumping the square footage up to about 2500. The two bathrooms are small and dark, which I don’t like, and the kitchen was redecorated in the 80s, which is not so nice, but there are nearly 12 foot ceilings in every room, which is awesome, central air and heat, really well insulated, storm windows, and a detached two car garage and workshop. The house has been on the market for nearly two years now and marked down repeatedly, so we’re hoping the sellers are really eager to get rid of it. There are two magnolia trees in front, a huge pecan in back and a few other smaller ones around the yard. The front of the house has a wrap-around porch and the back has a huge screened porch with ceiling fans. The house does need a little work (though still in far better condition than the last three places we've lived) but can be moved into as is. So we’re thinking of putting in an offer this week and seeing what happens. If everything goes through we’ll be moving sometime after the New Year.

And now for something completely different. Here are a few pics of us this Halloween. We had fun at our wards trunk-or-treat and Isabelle won a prize for most original costume (she was a robot)…oh and in case you were confused; James was dressed as a girl. He didn’t win any prizes. ;)

Remember When

20 Years Ago....
1. I was seven.
2. I was in 3rd grade – Mrs. Bulloch’s class.
3. I was being a naughty girl and shoplifting candy with my friend Brandy.

10 Years Ago....
1. I was seventeen in my senior year of high school.
2. I was busy filling out college, scholarships and Sterling Scholar applications.
3. Worked for my math teacher correcting papers after school for $4.50/hr.

5 Years Ago....
1. I was 22 years old and in Utah with my fiancée for our Friday (the 17th) wedding.
2. Working as a secretary for Texas Women’s University.
3. Had already graduated from WSU with my BA in Anthropology.

3 Years Ago....
1. I was finishing up my last semester at UNT for my MA in Applied Anthropology.
2. I was seven months pregnant with our first child.
3. Renting a huge (to me) house just behind my husbands shop in downtown Denton.

1 Year Ago....
1. We were living in our first mortgaged home.
2. I was six months pregnant with our second child.
3. I was planning a Christmas trip home to see my parents.

So far this year....
1. We’ve welcomed our new son into the family.
2. I’ve looked into Masters/PhD programs with online or distance learning options in Museum Science, though haven’t filled out any applications.
3. Attended our tenth Macfarlane Family Reunion at Bear Lake.

Yesterday I.....
1. Didn’t get enough sleep.
2. Watched “The Nightmare Before Christmas” with my daughter for the umpteenth time.
3. Attended my Book Club…we read “Cry, the Beloved Country” by Alan Paton…very good.

Today I.....
1. Took Isabelle and James to Storytime at the library and to a friend’s house.
2. Took a nap.
3. Read the first chapter in our new bookclub book (Key Lime Pie Murder) and have since been inspired to make oatmeal cookies…there are recipes in the book.

In the next year…
1. I’ll probably get pregnant again with our third child.
2. We may finally get around to putting an addition onto the house.
3. Slim possibility that we could sell the house and move closer to Patrick’s job.

In Memorium

Joseph "Big Joe" Quinton

Dec 18, 1977 - Oct 5, 2008

Our friend Joe was diagnosed with stage 4 large cell Lymphoma last January after complaining of a back ache over Christmas break. This past weekend he lost his fight with cancer and was called home at 3:30 am Sunday morning. He is survived by his loving family and friends who will miss him very much. Joe was only 30 years old. Please go here for funeral information and how you can help.

Even though I was better friends with Joe's siblings then with him, his loss is still felt in our household and our prayers are with his family during this time. I am greatful to know that months ago Joe had turned to our Heavenly Father and was on his way back to church and the fullness of the gospel. I am sure he will continue his journey for truth on the other side with family to help him along the way. We'll miss you Joe!

Goals...

I stole this idea from my sister's friend Cardine's blog..well kind of. Hers was a list of goals she accomplised and some she still needed to accomplish from a list she made six years ago. So this can be my starting list...to look back on six years from now....should I still have my blog. ;) So here is a list of random goals I want to accomplish. Enjoy!

• Go to South America
• Go to England - Scotland, Wales, and Stonehenge
• Visit Machu Pichu
• Revisit New Orleans and stay in the French Quarter...NOT at a haunted hotel.
• Go back to Ireland and see all the parts we missed the last time.
• Visit the Pyramids and climb to the top even though it will suck and be way too hot.
• Exercise regularly for at least a year (most I've done is six months)
• Play my guitar and sing at a real venue (ie not just church events)
• Write a book
• Own or work in a bookstore
• Earn my PhD
• Convince someone at church to then call me; "Sister Doctor Kiera"
• Adhere to a cleaning schedule so that I'm never embarassed at the state of my home should anyone drop by unexpectedly.
• Coordinate my husband and my sleeping schedules so that we go to bed and get up at the same time.
• Own and wear a cool leather jacket
• Ride a motorcycle
• Go Scuba Diving with my husband
• Buy a cool house
• Go to all Fifty States
• Vacation in Hawaii
• Visit Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto
• Visit Australia
• Teach a class
• Wear a size 8
• Have FHE regularly
• Read the scriptures as a family
• Go Sky Diving
• Fly a plane
• Learn how to fix cars
• Be able to play piano well enough to play at church
• Get hit on by an Irish guy (yes I know I'm married, it would still be nice)
• Get a job working with ancient artifacts...
• Help restore an old castle

Okay there are probably way more, but I can't think of any right now. So here's my list. :) I've already earned my Masters, gone to Europe and had two of my kids, those were my list before, so I can cross those off. I've also done solo's at church which I've always wanted to do so that's nice. I'll get to work on these.

I don't think we're in Kansas anymore

(View from Patricks parents house in Kansas, courtesy of Merry Photo)


We just returned from a two week vacation at my in-laws in Kansas. We accomplished many great and lofty goals….ahem. Well we (I) watched a lot of tv anyway. Here is a summary of our activities;


Movies Watched:

• Baby Boom – Don’t you love those 80’s “power suits”?



• Clueless – Recently read Emma and wanted to revisit this classic



• How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days – Matthew Mcconaughey is FINE!



• She’s the Man – I love these Shakespeare remakes



• Leprechauns – Well, I watched half of this made-for-tv movie….bad acting and a new interpretation of Romeo and Juliet, only with Fairies and Leprechauns



• Taming of the Shrew – Old version with Elizabeth Taylor…I only watched half as I had recently seen this play at my mom’s house.



• The Spiderwick Chronicles – I thought this looked good when it came out and I was right!



• Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day – This was a cute film, made funnier by my mother-in-laws very real distress over the lead character not getting to eat throughout the entire movie.



• X-Men – Hugh Jackman is also FINE! Though I wanted to see it after watching a preview for the new HBO series “True Blood” starring Anna Paquin…we don’t get that channel and will thus miss it. So sad…maybe when it comes out on DVD



• Sahara – See above Matthew comment. ;)



• Empire Records – This was on tv and we missed the start, but I love this 90’s classic.



• Overboard/Kate and Leopold – Switched back and forth between these. Started with K&L and had to keep changing when the total lack of chemistry between Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman became too unbearable. Overboard was also on and this was an easy thing to switch to since I’ve seen it so many times.

I also watched about 5 episodes of Monk, 3 episodes of Psych, and about 10 episodes of House. These shows rock. We’ve been watching episodes of House on netflix and I have since had two dreams about making out with Hugh Laurie. I thought this was weird ‘cuz I didn’t realize I found him at all attractive. Monk and Psych are really good shows too, but again we don’t have these channels. Moving on.

The last time I visited my in-laws for any length of time I gained ten pounds. At the time they were really big on desserts and treats. Since then my mother-in-law has joined weight watchers and lost thirty pounds. They are eating healthy and fit…so my new goal was to lose five pounds while I was there with all of the fruit and salads that were in the fridge. This was working fine the first week with virtually no desserts (save one lone fat free fudge bar). The second week I broke….

Dessets eaten/made:

• Brownies with Chocolate Chips



• Apple Crisp



• Apple Pie



• Cherry Pie



• M&M’s Cookies



• Cake



• Chocolate Cookies



• Cake Mix Cookies (two kinds)



• Ice Cream



• Ice Cream Toffee Crunch Bars



• Ice Cream Fudge Bars



• Real Fruit Popsicles



• Frozen Lime Stuff with Cream Cheese, Whipped Cream and an Oreo Crust



• Chocolate Muffins (German chocolate on top, fudge brownie with walnuts on bottom)

Mostly we just sat around the house while Isabelle ran amok…we were supposed to go to several museums, two festivals and a Renn Faire. But weather and motivation got the better of us. Oh we (Merry and I) also went and looked at a cool house that was for sale that was haunted. (That wasn’t in the tour, Merry knew the former occupants). It turned out to be a freaking awesome house that we could never afford in a town we would never live in. I just hope it didn’t ruin me for looking at houses actually in our price-range.

We helped Patrick’s sister find an apartment as she gets ready for her new job….that was fun. I’m totally jealous of her being single with a cool job (to her), making real money, her own apartment and her own car. That would be fun to be so independent and self-sufficient. Oh well, those days are gone now.

While there I bought some new boots. That night as I was putting Isabelle to bed and chatting on the phone to Patrick, she decided that my boot was a horse. This is what followed:

Oh yes, and I'm also blonde now....I have been for just over two weeks and already my roots are showing. Oh well. ;)

Isabell-ee the Super Star

Lately Isabelle has started singing along to songs we sing her. This is one we sing at bedtime.

Ch..ch..ch..changes!

I've undergone a few changes this past week....no not that change!

Here are some pics.
Before:

Mid-way:


After:


Well, what do you think?

Breaking Dawn

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars


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What I liked about this book:



Bella and Edward were married and had a baby. Since I'm married with a baby this was easier to relate to then the former highschool angst. I liked that Bella skipped over the newborn stage of vampirism and that she was super strong and helped in the big fight and that they all won out in the end and lived happily ever after.



What I didn't like:



Bella and Edward were married and had a baby. The highschool angst was kind of what the series seemed to be about and this really changed the entire tone of the story to me. It was as if they were no longer the same people that we had been reading about to this point. I know characters are supposed to grow and change, but they seemed completely different to me.



Bella became a vampire. I did like that she skipped over the whole newborn thing, but I was sad for her/Edward because on their honeymoon she had finally decided to stay human for awhile. She was going to attend Dartmouth and see her family at Christmas. Once she got pregnant everything changed and she had to become a vampire or die in childbirth. That kind of sucked. I mean it's nice that she took to it so well, but at that point the book ceased to be about humans at all and became an entirely 'monster' book. I liked having a fragile human main character even if it did mean someone had to save her all the time.



Jacob's storyline. I mean it's great that he imprinted and can finally move on...and I know it would have been silly to continue to pursue this triangle thing after Bella was married, but I really enjoyed that aspect of the books before.



Total immersion into fantasy. This book more than any of the others represented a total immersion into a fantasy world to me. Now if the books start out that way that's one thing, but I liked this series in that Bella still lived in our world and still had everyday concerns such as showering, bad breath and homework. In this book all of that suddenly becomes irrelevant. I guess it's nice to see more fully into the supernatural realm that Meyer has created but I enjoyed Bella's human challenges.



Honeymoon. Okay I know the author is LDS and these are "teen" books, but come on! All this build up to them finally having sex..will they be able to? Will he hurt her? and then...NOTHING! I don't think of myself as voyeuristic or anything, but I found this very annoying to be constantly getting nothing but morning after scenes.



All the other vampires. I really liked how Meyer showed there were so many other covens and went to the trouble to give each of these new vamps a personality and hints of their own storyline. What I didn't like is that this is apparently the last book and we may never know more about these vamps than this. If she was going to introduce fully developed characters at this point she should be willing to continue the series with some of them playing a bigger role.



There's probably more if I think about it, but I'll stop there. So overall I did enjoy the book. I felt it was a bit of a departure from the other books, but I still enjoyed reading it and had difficulty putting it down this week, as my children can attest. ;)


View all my reviews.

Why I'm a Stay at Home Mom (SAHM)

I’ve often told people how I never planned to be a SAHM and have always planned to work. I believe this decision was greatly influenced both by my mother who worked our entire lives and by my patriarchal blessing which admonishes me to: “Continue to seek an education that you may be able to gain for yourself a source of livelihood that will be helpful to you as you raise a family. You will have the financial ability to help sustain the family as they grow and you will be able to help supply their needs as they progress here upon the earth.”

When Patrick and I were dating he asked me if I would be willing to support him if he stayed at home. I told him that if that was his plan he better tell me now because I did not want to be in that sort of position. My dad stayed home with us while my mom worked, and though I now realize it was a blessing to be able to have at least one parent at home I still have had a very hard time respecting my dad for his apparent laziness and willingness to live off of his wife’s hard work. I then asked if Patrick would be willing to support me if I stayed at home. He said of course. I told him I would probably be bored out of my mind and he said that ‘children are never boring.’

Fast forward a couple of years. I am nearing the end of my master’s degree and pregnant. The plan was that I would finish school a month before the baby. I would then nurse for about 7-8 months before returning to the workforce. Well, those seven months came and went. I felt like the baby needed to nurse longer and it would be difficult if I was working. I also didn’t find any interesting jobs online or in the paper that I felt would be worth the hassle of daycare. I had read several articles about how many two income families would actually be making more money if one of the parents were to stay at home and watch the children rather than paying for daycare.

When we were visiting some of Patrick’s armour associates in Chicago we stayed at this one couple’s home. They had a three year old and three month old. Both parents worked and the children were in daycare. This was because the wife could not stand to be home all day alone with the babies, not because they were in dire financial straits. I could totally understand her point of view, but as I observed their family interactions it kind of soured me on the idea of the whole daycare/work thing. They would get their kids up at 6am, feed them and get their bags ready for the day. They dropped them at the daycare by 7:30am so they could make it to work by 8. The children were picked up around 6pm, fed dinner, allowed about and hour of play/family time and then put to bed by 8pm. Making it a grand total of three waking hours the parents actually spent with their children. I thought this was deplorable. I didn’t see how the children could be at all influenced by their parents when they never saw them. So seeing this situation also put me off of going back to work for a while.

I finally stopped nursing when Isabelle was 14 months old. Two months later I was pregnant. I didn’t see the point of getting a job when I was pregnant as I’d just have to quit (most likely) a few months later. I didn’t see that anyone would want to hire a pregnant lady knowing that they’d only get me for a few months. Plus all the jobs I was looking at had some lifting and stair walking and driving all over, which I wouldn’t want to do while pregnant. Then I had the baby…and now I’m nursing and can’t leave. See it’s a vicious cycle.

So now I’m a SAHM. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be doing as one. I don’t really like playing with my kids and they, well Isabelle at least, spend most of the day in front of the television while I do my best to ignore them while still providing for their needs. This is why I think they’d be better off in daycare sometimes. In daycare they’d have structured activities including learning time, which they don’t have here. They’d also get a chance to interact with other kids their age, which Isabelle loves to do. But I’ve heard how expensive daycare is and I’ve never seen a job that I qualify for that I might actually enjoy while paying enough to put the kids in daycare. So I’m thinking that maybe when they start school or something I’ll either get a cool job or possibly work on my PhD and be a college professor. That may be cool ‘cuz I’d get summers and holidays off and it wouldn’t be a 9-5 all day job since I’d probably only have a couple of classes I taught so I could still be home for the kids. I’m just hoping my blessing didn’t mean that something horrible is going to happen to Patrick and I’ll have to support the family. I’m leaning towards not as it says I will help supply their needs, implying that someone else will be doing this as well.

So I guess I’m a SAHM because I haven’t found the right job to take me away from my family and because I’m too lazy to look too hard for one…and daycare is expensive….oh yeah and the prophet said my children would benefit from it. I really admire those women who love to be SAHM’s and look forward to the day when they can just have babies and revel in their company. I am not one of those people and I don’t know if I ever will be. But in the mean time I do try to be a good mother even though I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be doing most of the time having no example but my father to fall back on….and his was not an example one should strive to emulate. So I guess I try to read the blogs of other SAHM’s and listen closely to the other women at church to hear what I should be doing and fight against my instinct to ignore them and do my own thing all day. So any of you SAHM’s whose blog I read, feel free to post about how your day goes to give me a better idea of what a typical SAHM does with her time. :) Hope that answers your question Tammy.

Skip to my Lou

We were having lunch the other day and Isabelle was being crazy. I started singing Skip to my Lou because she kept saying she wanted to 'run and skip and play' (a line from her potty training book). She soon started singing along.

Also, that morning when I came into her room to get her she had managed to find her swimming suit from the top drawer of her dresser, take off her pj's and put it on. She refused to put on real clothes and wore her suit all day.

Our fridge...

My sister just posted a blog about her fridge, so I thought I'd do one too. Here is one of the front (more later).

This is the side of our fridge...there is a petroglyph magnet from Kolob National Park, two church magnets...one with a cool looking leaf on it. An Arizona magnet from the last time we drove to Utah with a thermometer on it. We wanted to see how cold our house was in the winter before we got central air/heat (45-47F). Then there are some "spa" word magnets from Patrick's mom, one with the kids doctors office info, a dominoes coupon/calendar one...a germany castle one holding up some coupons for free pizza and a haircut and one with emergency numbers. The big paper in the middle is our monthly budget. I whited out the numbers...

Here are some pictures Isabelle did in nursery. One magnet is of a Beluga whale we got at the aquarium in Chicago, the other has all of our USAA phone numbers on it.


I really like the front of our fridge just for the cool magnets. Starting from the top left corner, there is a cool square tile-looking magnet from Istanbul that says something in arabic on it (it's the same sign as on all the cool arabic coins my dad has...my opinion for translation is; 'there is but one god and allah is god and muhammed is his prophet'), to the right is a 3-d magnet from the mounds at Cahokia, Ill. The main mound there was one of the tallest man made structures in the world at the time, which is pretty cool, we stopped there on our honeymoon. Below and to the right of this is a can opener magnet from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum in Cleveland, OH (also from our honeymoon). These three are holding up appt cards for doctors appts we have coming up. To the left is a landscape magnet from Seattle that we bought at my sisters wedding. It's holding up a poem I wrote for Patrick once shortly after we got married. Below and to the right is a chimpanzee magnet from the Hogle Zoo in SLC, UT.

Now the right side...a beer mug from Heidelberg, Germany, one of the Alamo and Riverwalk from San Antonio, a Minnesota State magnet (not as cool looking...Patrick picked it out by himself). Below this is a magnet from Ireland that we bought. On it there is a sign that says "Guinness is good for you" these were all over Ireland, I thought they were pretty funny. In the middle is James' birth announcement, held up by an Elvis magnet with hinged hips so he dances when the fridge opens. We got this in Memphis on our honeymoon. Lower right corner is a pic of Isabelle held up by a Chicago magnet and lower middle is another church magnet that says; "What manner of Woman ought ye to be?" or something...

On this side is a calendar magnet from the waste collectors telling what day garbage pickup is and when they're moved for holidays. This seems to hold true for mail collection as well so comes in handy when you're not sure.

So there you have it, our fridge. What's on yours?

Cute girl

So you've all heard my stories of how my kids (well Isabelle anyway) don't have hair? Well since my mom cut it in March it's been growing! Today we put it in pigtails for the first time and it looks so cute. Here are some pics so you can see for yourself. :)

Pretty Isabelle

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Happy Birthday Grandpa! Love two little Thadens.

Baby Thaden in Army Greens for Grandpa's Birthday.

(Sorry the video is so dark, you may have to lighten your screen to see it properly)