Happy Thanksgiving

I'll bet my husband is having a splendid Thanksgiving feast at his parents house with the family. Turkey, potatos, corn, and momma Cheryl's homemade rolls...none of which I get to partake in because I'm too sick to fake a smile and enjoy a tasteless meal. However, I thought I'd make a list of what I can be thankful for, even as I sit on my couch in seclusion.

*I get to wear pajama's on Thanksgiving Day and no one can judge me for that.
*I won't gain 10 pounds by gorging myself
*The only clean-up I have is a pile of tissues...so easy!
*There are fabulous movies on television today

That's all I got and I really want some rolls. Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

The Side Effects From Being a Chick

So I put together this "plan" for a co-worker and I to lose some of our squidgey edges (I mean fat). She just had a baby and wanted to lose weight, and I wanted to support her. Neither of us wanted to do any extreme dieting and then fall flat on our face 2 weeks later. Hence my "plan." It went as follows.

Week 1: Stop drinking the diet soda
Week 2: At LEAST 3 servings of fruits and veggies a day
Week 3: Limit ourselves to 2 treats a week
Week 4: Everything in portion size

I did it all so well. I was on a roll with no diet coke (the elixar of life) and I stayed true to this "plan". I told myself I wouldn't weigh in until the end of week 4 but I felt like I was doing so well that maybe I could weigh in at the end of week 3. And that's what I did. I was only expecting to maybe lose one pound or even 2 if I was lucky. When I got on the scale, I couldn't believe my eyes. I double checked - NAY - TRIPLE CHECKED and turns out I had gained 3 pounds. I was so ticked off I went downstairs to the pharmacy/gift shop at my work and bought the coldest diet coke they had and a some Rolos. And I think my pants fit a little looser today.

Movies!

It's been a weekend at the theater! Friday night we went with Neil and Felicia to see the Michael Jackson movie, "This Is It." Talk about an incredible display of mind bottling talent. Michael Jackson was most certainly a genius in his field. He wasn't just a singer or a dancer. He was an artist and I was blown away at how he was involved with each second of each little detail to this tour he was preparing for. The lighting, the sound effects, the background videos...it was inspiring to see someone have that much passion. The back up dancers and musicains were another story. It was all the best of the best and there wasn't one person in that whole film who didn't have outrageous talent. I left the movie debating if I was truly inspired or completely discouraged that I will never be that passionate about anything in this world other than Diet Coke.

Saturday night, it was Gary and I and Neil. Do you see a pattern here? Most everything we do involve the Larson's to some degree. We're just one big happy Foxboro Family. Moving on, our initial plan was to see "Paranormal Activity" but it was sold out by the time we got there. It's fine though because I didn't want to spend the evening wear wet pants. Plan B was "2012". Ah! Woah! Holy &@#*! and "Run you idiot!" Talk about a suspense! The personal stories in the movie were sweet and heart breaking, and there is always that one selfish idiot that you want to reach through the screen and strangle. I love natural disaster movies like "Twister" and "Day After Tomorrow" and "Deep Impact", but this one out did all of them. When we got in the car to go home we all kept talking and thinking about what we would do when the end of the world comes. It's a thinker!

And can I just take this last paragraph to complain about the nasty guy that sat in the seat next to me??? (Not Gary, the other guy). First of all, there was a couple sitting in his seat and his girl friends assigned seat, which seemed like an honest mistake, but don't think that this large smelling ash tray was forgiving or understanding to them. He practically sat on their laps before they could double check their tickets and move. I was afraid the verbal altercation was going to turn physical but luckily it didn't. Had that yucky man been pushed he would of landed on me and then I would of had to regurgitate all over him. Like I said he was a large man, smelled like stale cigarettes, and his pants were falling off a little. Not the preview I wanted to see before the movie. He relaxed his left leg over into my leg area, so I had to lift up the arm bar between me and Gary and share his seat practically. It didn't end there though. Every time he shifted in his seat, a nasty ash draft came our way and it reminded me that he was there. And then, when he realized that Danny Glover played the President of the U.S. in the movie, he had the most racial, derogatory comments to mumble about it. Then if there was a woman in the movie who was acting panicked or shocked and needed to run, he would yell out "run you #@&*! whore!" Ugh. I hope I never see this miserable human being again.

Let Me Explain - No...There Is Too Much

Alfredo - a cat Gary and I acquired whilst living in the Memory Lane Apartments. We saw other tenants with a cat or two so why couldn't we? Well, then the landlord told us to get rid of him 2 weeks later or else we'd be evicted. And to be honest I didn't care because I hated him.

Milton - I really wanted a dog when I got a house, but then it became clear that there was now way to give him a good life. Smaller house, no fenced/finished back yard, and he would of been alone a lot. So I had my bother sell him to someone else. Sad. Miss him.

Chips - This kitten was pretty gosh darn cute and we got him from a lady in Sugar House. Ew. Devil cat. Hated him. He peed in one of my shoes multiple times, he tore my left ankle to ribbons, and he thought one of our plants was an outhouse. Ugh! So we gave him away, but not quickly enough.

Bruce - I LOVED BRUCE!! He was a stray cat that hung out in our back yard and in the empty lot next door. He was such an adorable, mellow, fat cat that never bothered us to come inside and ruin our house. We kept feeding him just becasue we didn't know if he belonged to anyone and I wanted to make sure he had food. I would also brush him everyday because his fur was pretty long and fluffy. Then one day Bruce went MIA and we haven't seen him for months. Not sure what happened to him =(

Ashes - A lady from my work moved from her house to an apartment where she couldn't take the cat. Because I still had mountains of food and litter left over, I said I would take him and keep him fed. We kept him out in our garage for a while until it was obvious that he didn't like us at all and he was more than likely freaked out that he was taken from his home. Um...so...the neighbors have him now.

Stewie - Now this is a cat I can get on board with. I was at the Nursery Leaders house a few nights ago for a meeting, and when I came out, the cutest cat ever sprinted up to me and looked at me like "well? won't you pet me?" So I did. He followed me to my car, and when I opened the door he hopped inside and just layed down in the passenger seat and pretty much said "k, I'm ready let's go home." So I took him. I don't care if it was right or wrong to take this cat because I LOVE HIM! Anyone who really knows me, knows that I had a cat named Scotty a few years back, who was my little buddy until he had to be put down. I loved Scotty so much and I miss him. It's been almost 2 years since he's been gone. This cat is SO CLOSE to what Scotty was. Such a sweet little guy, so curious, so lovable, so funny, and he adores me and Gary. He lives in our garage and we let him in every day for a while to hang out with us. He loves to touch noses with us and pat his paw on our face. He loves watching the water run out of the faucet, and he loves to hidd under the couch covers. No accidents for him and he's let us know when he needs to go back outside to do his business. I hope this little guy works out.

With all the pets we've had, it's been interesting to see how different their personalities are and what works and what doesn't. Stewie is a cat that makes me love him. I have learned to really dislike cats this year and thought that I would never meet another cat that I loved as much as Scotty, but Stewie fits us like a glove.

And last but not least, I need to give a shout out to our baby Jewish Hampster, Pips who has seen us through a lot of animals, and has been the only one to stick around. She is such a trooper, such a stinker, and she's the cutest little bug of a hampster ever! We love this little thing!

Be Nice

I read this and loved it, so I had to share it. Kind of "soap box-ish" but I'm allowed once in a while!

When you approach a business to ask about something that you've asked about before, do you say "I spoke with that elderly lady over there."?

Can she hear you? If so, why not make her day? Why not say "I spoke with that nice lady over there."?

When you need to describe someone, do you go for the obvious? That fat man that sits up there. That skinny broad that answers the phone. That toothpick who sits in the first row.

Why? It's not fun to be pointed out like that.

Why not start making other people feel good. If you always look at a person, whether he or she is a stranger to you or not, as though they were a friend, you will have a friend. You know why? Because *What goes around, comes around.*

Let's look at it a different way. What if you went to a place of business and there was a lady there *pushing forty* -- and all the others working with her are all under thirty. Way under thirty. She's recovering from cancer. It was a beautiful day, she is wearing her favorite red silk blouse everyone says she looks terrific in, and she's feeling better than she has in a month! Then, you come in and single her out as that *older* lady? Now, she has something negative to focus on.

How about if someone weighs 200 pounds, he or she just had a successful week after losing ten pounds, and you come in and point him or her out as the fat person sitting over there?

What about the guy who has recovered from polio and walks with crutches. He's had a long hard grind, but he did it, he pulled through. Then, you come in the cafeteria and see *That gimpy guy with the crutches.* Wouldn't it be nice to go out of your way to find something great about him?

Get past the obvious immediately. Think of all the positive things you can. Literally take all the bad, awkward, or negative things, and in your mind, write them on a banner, then visualize that banner going into a garbage disposal. Now, take all the good things and write them on a banner. Make that list bigger and brighter. From now on when you think of that person, you'll see in your mind's eye the big, bright list.
Pass this on. Help others who's first tendency it is to label, which in turn promotes criticizing. Lots of people don't think about the injustice of labeling. Lots of people don't even realize they are labeling. Is that you? If so, you've just learned how to stop it.

I Love Fall!!

Let's kick off Fall with a day out with the girls! Shopping, lunch, crafts, and then Witch-A-Palooza at Gardner Villiage. So fun and so exhasting!Felicia had such a good idea to make our own wreaths. I was pretty sure that whatever I had conjured up was going to be pretty gosh darn unattractive, but I LOVE IT!! This picture doesn't do it justice but really I was happy with the turn out, and I never go easy on myself with my crafty work. I may have already posted this picture last year, but I was very excited that my fall "blocks" stayed in tact for this year. Really they are just paper but they didn't get mushed up! Go Utes! We finally made it to a football game this season! Cold and freezing and lots of fun! And of course we were sitting right next to the most ANNOYING LADY IN THE WORLD!! She was of course intoxicated and the loudest person on the face of the planet. We still had a good time and the Utes won!

Okay so Gary is pretty much in LOVE with Halloween! If society didn't frown upon a 24 year old trick-or-treater, then he would be out there with every other child in the neighborhood, running to beat them out of the best candy! Second best to that was his cousin's Halloween party, so we got to dress up! Or...er...dress down. We went as white trash and at first i was really proud of my costume until I saw Gary in his. Woo hoo! That's the hot stuff there!He also claims that his passion in life is carving pumpkins. He wants to be a full time, professional, pumpkin carver.His pumpkin is this intricately carved cut out of the late, great Michael Jackson.

I'm not near as passionate about pumpkin carving as Gary, hence this sad attempt at carving a fat face. Notice the double chin.

And what is Halloween without watchg a scary movie here and there? I don't do well at all with scary movies. I like the idea of scary movies but my follow through is terrible. However, for Gary's sake, I have watched a couple with him out of the 20 he's had to watch by himself. Let's just say I'm so glad that I don't have to sleep alone!

Happy Halloween, and Happy Fall!! My favorite time of the year!

Meh

I only have couple of items to share.

My best friend in law (Gary's best friends' wife) Felicia is working with me! Everyone loves her! She's doing an amazing job! I should get a finders fee.

I stopped drinking Diet Coke again. Let's see how long it lasts this time. I'm on day 2.

Gary is such a good little worker bee. Work, school, me, friends, family...he does it all. And he does it all so well.

My co-worker Letty makes me laugh so hard everyday that I worry I'll stop breathing.

I miss my friend Kimber...we need to talk more often!

Lame but it's all I've got right now.

Who Knows

I need ideas of how to entertain nursery children through song. Tiny Tim the Turtle is a big hit with the popping bubble at the end, so maybe I could take a little bottle of bubbles and let them chase bubbles? Or let them drink it so they know how Tiny Tim felt? No? Ok. I love my calling, but I don't have babies so what do I really know about them? I know they like props, but there are only so many times I can pull out a paper monkey on a popsicle stick and sing 5 Little Monkeys. I need more! I need ideas! I'm still really new to this, so I'm just doing everything the song leader did before, but I know I can be better than this! I'm just having a mental block. HELP ME!

I'm Having an Affair

Let me explain. When I started working in SLC with my friend Candace almost 3 years ago, I was single and I had also just moved to Sugar House with some roommates. I was anti "make my own meals" at the time so Candace and I would go out to lunch almost every day we were at work. She introduced me to Noodles and Company. I was unimpressed at first because I have never been a very big fan of pasta places. I was more of a Subway girl. But the more Candace insisted we go to Noodles, the more I began to love it! In fact, I became addicted to it, and sometimes I would eat their twice a day! I know, that's a little extreme but I had recently been dumped and I needed something else to focus on. And here it is almost 3 years later, Candace and I no longer work together but we still meet about once a week at the same Noodles and Company location in Fort Union. Every co-worker I have had since I started eating there has teased me relentlessly. They don't understand that someone could love Pesto Cavatappi that much to eat there at least once a week. A couple of months ago however, I went in by myself as I sometimes do if Candace is working from home and not in Salt Lake, and the General Manager took my order without even asking me what I wanted, and he knew my name by then as well! He said that he would start giving me free drinks because I'm in there all the time. Could if be that Noodles was starting to love me back just as much as I loved them? Well, today I had to go into work for a few hours, and as I left work, I had the impression that I should stop and eat at Noodles and Company, which was weird because I kind of have a yucky cold and it doesn't make me that hungry. I went anyway. I ordered the usual, and the General Manager was there to take my order. I went to pay for it and he said "it's on the house today." Yay! I asked if it was because I was there every other day of my life and he said "yes." So then I go and sit down (by myself) and wait for my food. He brought it over to me, along with a card called a "hero lunch" card. He said that I was their hero so that meant that I could bring in 5 other people, use this card and we'd all get our lunches for free! I told him about my adddiction to Noodles and how I get mocked for it all the time and he said he loved that I bring new people there all the time! He also told me that I could get my entire office together and bring them for lunch, and if I set it up through him I could get my whole office free lunch as well! That will show them for teasing me all the time!!!! I tell you, it's just a matter of time before they ask me to be their spokes woman and I get to have free noodles for the rest of my life!! I LOVE YOU!!!

Kiss My Grass

The back yard is done! Yay for us! Gary has been so dedicated to getting this done, and he has been working his rear off. Thanks to everone who helped us out!

This is a picture of the battle field that was our backyard while we installed the sprinkler system. Again, nobody was paid to do any of this work, Gary was able to figure it out on his own and we had volunteers from our family and friends and neighbors.
This was the first day of insalling the sprinklers...but far from the last. It's such a HUGE project! Especially when you're working in the middle of the Summer.

Paul helping spread the topsoil along with my parents, my sister, my neices, and Gary's mom and sister. Cheryl also got pizza's for everyone! Thanks again! A picture of the back of our house, the brick path and the green grass!

We're so relieved it's done! Who's up for a barbecue in our fire pit? Umm... but next year because we still have to wait for the grass to set in.

It's Like This...

I refuse to post pictures right now. It requires effort and I'm not feeling very ambitious. You're lucky I'm even blogging at all!

We finally finished the backyard. The brick path, the sprinkler system, the top soil, the leveling of the ground and then putting in sod. All of this was done by hand by Gary. I helped a little....mostly near the end of everything. It was such hard work and a real money suck. I'm proud of him for working so hard making our yard look fantastic. I owe it to him to post pictures which I will do in the future. We had a lot of good helpers in this. My family and Gary's family, but mostly Neil. Thank goodness for him being so willing to work with Gary....he saved me from a nervous breakdown on several occasions!

Summer is over for which I am so grateful! I have never felt so thinly spread in my life. Life is still very busy, but now it's candy corn season and that really reduces the insanity.

I have started going back to the gym (gasp!). It's been really great! I have a lot of concerns and issues with my health and I really want to turn things around. Gary's cousin Breck has really inspired me a lot, and she lets me follow her to the gym twice a week to shadow her workouts. I've been trying to eat healthier as well. You know...eating oatmeal for breakfast instead of a doughnut or two. I still firmly believe that we are all meant to be a certain shape and size, but it won't prevent me from putting forth the effort to be more healthy and feel better. Wish me luck!

And have I mentioned that Gary is adorable? Someone asked me today if I have ever been loved so much that it's "too much". My answer is Gary. It's never too much. Thank goodness I never have to wonder how my husband feels about me.

Lastly, when did life get so darn busy? Why do I feel like there is a million things to do, and then when I have time to get to them I'm so overwhelmed that I can barely function!? And then NOTHING gets accomplished. I know everyone is so busy and that this is how life is...I just wish I could do it all with a little more grace. Sigh. Any suggestions or helpful tips to lower the anxiety is greatly appreciated. Peace out!

Special Olympics - Golf

Another fantastic experience! This time for Special Olympics we did a golf tournament! It was a beautiful day and I had the best team ever! Here is Ellen and I. She is one professional putter! She was so positive and supportive to the other golfers all day. She has an identical twin sister but insists that she is the best looking of the two!

And then there's David! Sweetest guy ever. He didn't talk much but he smiled constantly. I teased him a lot all day which he LOVED! The squirrels at the golf course were monsterous, so I teased him for feeding the squirrels cheeseburgers and being responsible for how fat they were. He just giggled!
I love these kids so much! I can't think of a better way to cheer me up after a stressful couple of weeks!

Please Let This Summer Be Over

3 weekends in Bear Lake
1 weekend at the Green River
1 weekend at Lyman Lake
1 weekend in St. George
1 weekend in the Uintah's

Total = 7 weekends away from my home this Summer. 7 times that I have loaded and unloaded my car full of luggage and sleeping bags and tents and junk food and coolers. I'm not saying those weekends were not fun or that I didn't have a good time, I'm just done with this Summer. I want to stay in my own home for a whole weekend and spend time with Gary and not have to share him with other people. It's time for a new season!

Very Proud Again

Here is the 2nd music video that Neil has directed. The band is called Ace Enders and a Million Different People. The lead singer and the bass guitarist are from the band called Early November. It's one of Neil's favorite bands and they he was so flattered when they chose him to direct this music video. The story line isn't his, but all the film work was done by him. Gary spent a good deal of time on the set and it's amazing how much hard work goes into one of these things. Good job Neil we are proud once again!!

Update On Nothing

Blogging hasn't seemed neccessary lately because we don't really have a lot to say for ourselves. Life has been busy this Summer that's for sure! There have been a lot of weekends away from our house camping with the families, and luckily we don't have anything else planned for a while! I have missed my hampster and I have missed my house! No need to go into lots of detail about what's up, and maybe I'll blog about the Summer's adventures eventually, but here are some note worthy items for now.

- Gary and I start school in less than 2 weeks! Bye-bye free time!

- I have taken on a side job, apart from my full time job, to help out my father in law with his business. So challenging but so fun!

- Gary's parents have given us a washer and dryer so now we don't have to haul our laudry off to our parents house each weekend!

- We both received callings in our new ward. Gary is a ward missionary and I'm the nursery music leader.

- We finally have grass in our front yard, and once I stop hyperventilating about the cost, we'll put the back yard in too.

- I now believe in UFO's...don't judge

- My brother has moved in with us the past month. He's always been one of my favorite people and he's been a good house guest.

- I decided that I'm happiest when I'm in the woods and haven't looked in a mirror for 3 days.

One Whole Year

July 11th is the day of free slurpees at 7-11, but also the day that Gary and I celebrate our anniversary!! It's been a fantastic year and Gary's the coolest dude in the world. There is no one else I'd rather be with!

Places we have been in the last year

Washington DC
Baltimore
Hershey, PA
Bear Lake
St George
Las Vegas
Arizona

Things we have done

Bought a new house
Been through 3 random pets
Kept our hampster
Not had babies
Found fantastic jobs
Learned to ride a rip stick
Golfing
Rock Climbing

There is so much more we want to do and accomplish, and there are more places to travel to and things to see. I'm glad we get to do it all together! Love you Gary!

Gazit

After watching season 8 of American Idol, our dear sweet hampster Pips became obsessed with Adam Lambert. She started doing her hair different, walking different, and even speaking to us in a scream-o voice. However, the biggest lifestyle change that Pips made to mirror Adam Lambert, was to convert to Judaism. Pips has gone Jewish. She has now changed her name to Gazit and she wears her religion proudly upon her housetop.
We have agreed to support her decision to change her faith, and we let her practice peacfully. Shalom!!

Blue Bird Inn

Gary and I stayed at the Blue Bird Inn while in Bear Lake this weekend. (No room at the cabin) Talk about the cutest place ever! It's everything you would invision a bed and breakfast to be set in the mountains by a lake. And talk about the NICEST people ever who own it. I didn't want to leave! It was so comfy and peaceful and warm. I must go back!

This was the first thing we saw as we pulled in. These carvings are PART of the tree, not in addition to. So talented whoever did this.

Beautiful Lake View!

Snacks everywhere you turn!

We stayed in the Bear Room. Roar.

Crap!

I'm not trying to overshadow the death of Michael or Farrah, or steal Jon and Kate's thunder but I too have suffered a loss. After many months, many dollars and many hours in a salon chair to become blonde again, I am back at square one. I choose not to disclose the details at time, but here I am, a brunette.
I know, I know....I'm still foxy....

Hard Labor

Once we knew we were getting a house, Gary had visions of our back yard with a brick path and a fire pit. He found very inexpensive bricks online (1,000 to be exact, about 5,000 pounds worth). He bought the bricks before we had even moved into our house, so we had to store them at the warehouse at his work. Well, once we moved in, we had to figure out how to transport the bricks from the warehouse to our house. We each have cars, no trucks readily available, so we had to haul bricks day by in the trunks of our cars for two weeks. I thought that was the hard part...stupid me. Gary designed, drafted, and manually labored on this brick path, with about zero to little help from me. I am so proud of him! He measured, and dug, and shoveled and lifted and had so many blisters on his hands each day, but he kept going and going and going. Now it's done and it looks AMAZING! It will look even better with the grass!

The butt load of bricks

Such detailed work

Worked right through the gloves!Good job Gary it looks amazing!

EAT A DOUGHNUT!!!!

The lack of respect from some teenagers these days is APPALLING!! I stopped at the mall after work on Thursday to do a little bit of shopping, and my first stop was at the new Forever 21 at the South Towne Mall. I was alone, minding my own business, looking at a fantastic looking skirt when I took a step back and slightly bumped into the skinniest, blondest, tannest, most obnoxious 15-16 year old girl ever! Before I could get out an "oh, excuse me," she hollers out "watch it fat ass!!" The only response I could come up with on the spot was to holler back at her to "eat a doughnut!" Then I walked away and she continued to bad mouth me to her friend. I would of gone and eaten a doughnut myself but the food court doesn't serve doughnuts and I'm not the biggest fan of them anyway, so I went and got a pretzel instead.

What A Day!

It all started at around 7:30 in the morning. Gary got up to go help Neil with the music video for Ace Enders. (YAY NEIL!) And I got ready for...everything else. It was such a good Satruday! I first called my sister Stacey to see if she wanted to hang out with me. Her and I never hang out just the two of us, so it was so fun to go get manicures and pedicures together. She had never gotten one and she loved it! I went for purple toes. I'm strangely proud of my feet.

Then I met my buddy Sommer and her son Cooper for lunch at Rumbi. I was SO hungry, but I kind of lost my appetite when they brought out Coopers hamburger with a dead lady bug on it. Ew. I think Cooper thought it was a garnish, but I took the insect burger back for a new one.

Onto Barnes and Nobel, one of my favorite places, and I bought a new book which I will review another day once I've read it. And just to get it out there...I love self help books so...sue me. This one is called Positive Energy.

Now that Gary and I are in our new house, it was time to go spend the gift card that Momma Cheryl gave me for my birthday to Tai Pan. YAY!! So I think I spent about 2 hours wandering around Tai Pan, and then I ran out of money. I think I'm now addicted to that place.

Here's what I bought for my house, in it's proper place.

I called Cheryl to let her know that I spent her money, and she asked me to stop by and show her all that I got. Little did I know that DeeEll had other plans for me. I ended up helping plant their garden for a while. It was fun though, I like planting flowers!

So, now that I got all that done, I was finally able to stop by the set of the music video. Neil and everyone looked like they were working their butts off! We're so excited for him!

Gary played an extra in the office scene.Here's Will on the left, Ace on the right. By the way, Ace said I could be part of the band, but then seemed to forget about it when they all started playing together. I'm really excited to see the final product!

WTF??

Sometimes on Sundays at the Fifield's, Hali and I like to find excuses to go downstairs to the basement and play dress up in momma Cheryl's Halloween boxes. We never try to be cute by any means, but this time was so far beyond ugly that it rattled my brain. Try not to gag. HAHAHAHA!!!!!

Animal Update

Gary and I finally moved into our house on the 4th of this month and love it love it love it!!! It's so nice I can't even deal with it! There are pictures to come, but I want to wait until I have things a little more in order and decorated.

So...sad news. After discussing things over with Gary, we decided that getting my baby puppy Milton wasn't the best idea anymore. We didn't have a back yard set up for him to play, no fence or dog run, and it wasn't fair to have him cooped up in the house alone all day. I probably cried like a human infant for 83 hours, but I know it's for the best.

SO! Because Gary and I love animals so much, we needed an alternative solution. Enter Chips, our new baby kitten!

Now we have Pips and Chips! So far, hampster and kitten have gotten along, but I'm going to watching like a freaking hawk! Chips is pretty darn cute and cuddly, and super sweet. At this moment he's sleeping on Gary's feet. So cute!

Feed Me

There are times when I wish the chub under my chin wasn't so noticible when I smile for cameras, and times that I wish that my arms were idential to Jennifer Aniston's. I wish the clothes that I wore a year ago weren't so difficult to pull on and that I could still shop the in the size 6 area. (long ago!) I know I'm not the only one who feels this way. It's obvious that there is a big issue with size and image in our world. I'm a very sensitive person so I can't help but get discouraged when I don't measure up to other women who are considered "perfect."

A few weeks ago I made Gary take me shopping at Barnes and Nobel. I love books and I love buying books and I love reading books!! I didn't have anything in particular that I was looking for, but I came across a book called "Feed Me." I was intrigued so I sat down and started to read. It wasn't a novel and it wasn't a self help book. It was a compilation of essays written by all types of women from all walks of life. They share their views on food, why they love it, why they hate it, and how it affects their lives. Some are heart breaking, some are hilarious, but mostly they are all very insightful.

One of the essays I found very interesting was about a lady whose daughter suffered from anorexia, and her experience of becoming healthy again. When her daughter was rail thin, she would receive endless compliments on her figure, even though her face was sunk in, her hair unhealthy, and her emotional state in ruins. Once she started gaining weight, the compliments stopped even though her skin was healthy and glowing, and she was much happier than ever before.

Since reading these essays, I've come to be more accepting and proud of my physical appearance. I've become less uptight about what I eat, and I have actually been eating healthier. I haven't lost weight but I haven't gained it either. I don't compare myself with others the way I used to and I'm even a little more focused on being more healthy. Life is too short to stress over our physical flaws and we were all made the way we are for a reason, and we're all beautiful!

I'll get off the soap box now.

So Proud!

This is a music video that was directed, filmed, and funded by our great friend Neil. He has such a passion for film and really wanted to do this project as something to put on his portfolio. I couldn't believe the hard work and detail that went into this video, and I think it turned out simply amazing! Gary even has a couple roles in the film. He plays the dead guy and the cop. So cute. But give it a look. Good job Neil! We're so proud!

http://vimeo.com/4202766

Come On In!

A tour of our new house The kitchen, sans fridge

It's connected to the living room with these cute little arches leading into the bedrooms and bathroom

The master bedroom and bathroom. My camera sucks so I couldn't get any good angles of the room...so it looks really small

The master bathroom

Cute arch over the tub and shower

Biggest walk in closet of my life! This picture doesn't do it justice

So there you have it, a little taste of our new habitat