Top Ten Tuesday - Reasons Why I Love/Hate Costco

I sort of have a love/hate relationship with Costco.  I think a lot of us do.  There's so much great stuff there.  But that's the problem, there's so much great stuff!  It's so easy to go broke.  But I can't break myself of the Costco shopping habit, nor do I really want to! :)

Top 10 Tuesday - Reasons Why I Love/Hate Costco

1. Love--The quality of their produce.  Costco's produce never goes bad on me, and there's plenty of it!  Nothing makes me madder than to buy fruits and vegetables that just go bad within a day or two.  They're expensive!!
   
   
2. Love--The Cafe.  Where else can you buy a hot dog and soda for a $1.50?  And they're good hot dogs!  The pizza's great too. 
   
   
3. Love--The book section.  It's almost like they choose books for me!  I can always find at least one... or two books that I just can't live without.  And their nearly half off prices make it that much harder to leave without them!
   
   
4. Love--The clothes.  This last weekend, I got a new coat, boots and a new shirt all for really great deals from Costco making the store a winner in my book!
   
   
5. Love--The electronics section.  I can't usually afford anything there--we're poor folk--but I love to peruse.  I think I'm a techie.
    
6. Hate--The organization of the food. The isles don't have signs telling you what's where and the organization doesn't make that much sense to me, so I usually go through every isle to find the things I need.
   
   
7. Hate--The selection.  Costco doesn't have a wide variety of choices.  In fact, they almost have no variety.  They carry the one brand of an item, and that's it.  Sometimes they have the Kirkland brand along with the name brand, but not very often.
   
   
8. Hate--The "deals."  As I wrote in #7, Costco often only carries the name brand items which isn't always a bad thing.  Sometimes name brand is better.  But we're kind of fooled into thinking buying in bulk is such a great deal.  Yeah, sure.  You're getting a good deal on name brands.
   
   
9. Hate--The time I spend inside.  I always loose track of time when I'm shopping.  A-L-W-A-Y-S.  It's like time stops for me.  Not a good thing.  And it's especially bad in Costco because of reasons #3-5 (plus the movie section too).
   
   
10. Hate--The amount I spend.  I'm sure this is the same story for everybody.  You go in thinking you only need one or two items and come out with a $100 receipt.  One time I even came out with a $387 receipt.  But that was when I was cooking for a month.  Lots and lots of meat!
    

Top Ten Tuesday - Fall

Like I wrote yesterday, Fall is finally here!  It's my favorite season; it has so many great birthdays and holidays!

Top 10 Tuesday - Fall

1. Nice cool weather.  It's my favorite time to be outside.  I'm neither sweating nor freezing.
2. Warm sweaters.  I love sweaters!
3. Pretty Fall leaves.  I remember when I was a kid, my parents used to take us on a ride through Provo Canyon to look at the leaves.  It's a great memory.
4. Halloween.  I'm not sure why Halloween is my favorite holiday.  There aren't any presents.  It's not about being together as a family, but there is something fun about dressing up and cute scary things.
5. My birthday.  I'm lucky my birthday is in the fall... or maybe Fall is my favorite season because of my birthday.  Either way, I love having my birthday in October.
6. School starting.  I'm not going to school right now and I don't like going to school (too much studying), but it's always exciting to meet new teachers and buy new supplies.
7. Hot Cocoa.  I love hot chocolate and it's cool enough in Fall that I can get away with drinking it without looking weird.
8. Long pants.  I prefer to wear long pants and -- similar to number seven -- it's cool enough in Fall that I can get away with it without looking weird, like I do in the summer.
9. Wrapping up in blankets.  I feel all nice and cozy wrapping up in a blanket and watching TV.  Can't do that in warm weather.
10. Cadence's birthday.  New to my top ten list, Cadence's birthday marks the beginning of Fall.  Now Fall has even more special meaning to me!!!!

Top Ten Tuesday

My friend Kristi and I joked about me making this top ten.  And I couldn't help myself.  It's a little cheesy, but here it is!

Top Ten Things I Liked About My C-Section

1-10.  Not having to deliver nearly 10 pounds of baby!

You Might Be Married to a Handyman If... (Part II)

You Might Be Married to a Handyman If... (Part II)

1. ...you can't drive the 2nd car because it's a dirty, 40 year-old stick shift Ford F-150 that starts in the 2nd gear.
   
   
2. ...most of the gifts you or your family buys your husband are tools or gift cards to Lowes and Home Depot.
   
   
3. ...you have to check your husband for sweat, dust, paint, mortar, grout, etc. before giving him a hug or kiss.
   
   
4. ...you have an extra category of laundry: lights, darks,  and husband's work clothes.
   
   
5. ...there are enough reference manuals in your house to build a house, possibly out of the manuals! :)
   
   
6. ...every time you go to someone's house your husband ends up fixing something, or looks at something they want fixed or redone in the future.  (This one's my favorite because it means people are always happy to have us come over, and/or a job in the future!)
   
   
7. ...your husband's cell phone has dust in every crevice.  He has to wipe it off every time he uses it.  (Amazingly, it still works!)
   
   
8. ...your husband has double sets of callouses on his palms.
   
   
9. ...most of your furniture is or will be handmade.
   
   
10. ...you buy Powerade in bulk.  Big time.
    
    And a Bonus!
    
    
11. ...every time you hold your husband's hand there's something rough or scratchy--a cut, scrape or puncture wound.
    

Top Ten Tuesday - You Might Be Married to a Handyman If...

This is by no means a rag on Derek post.  I love all of these quirky and sometimes inconvenient things that come with being married to a handyman.  I'm lucky to be married to a man who has his dream job and is amazing at it!

You Might Be Married to a Handyman If...

1. ...your husband says something like, "I felt like half a man without my hammer!"
   
   
2. ...you open your fridge and see a giant paint roller wrapped in a shopping bag.  (He was keeping it fresh for later use)
   
   
3. ...you look in the fridge for the butter and find a sponge brush in a sandwich bag.  (Same as number 2, keeping it fresh)
   
   
4. ...your mini-van is a two-seater because of all the power tools.  (This has only happened once or twice.  Usually our van is a four-seater with plenty of room for tools)
   
   
5. ...you find a paint brush drying on the edge of your bathroom sink.
   
   
6. ...you find your husband with a far off look in his eyes.  You ask him what he's thinking about and he says something like, "tile," or "plans for the deck I'm working on," etc.
   
   
7. ...the Parade of Homes becomes a mega-date every year.  (And I love it!)
   
   
8. ...you watch a lot of HGTV because it's "educational."  (It's growing on me.  At least it's entertaining and not vulgar or violent)
   
   
9. ...your garage has some amount of sawdust in it... at all times!
   
   
10. ...your husband can make or fix anything you need!  (Yesterday he started on a great set of shelves for baby stuff.  He's almost finished; all we need to do is paint.  Pretty soon I'll have 5 more shelves to store stuff in!  Yay!)
    

PS: I told Derek he was the subject of today's post. He got pretty into the topic and gave me 12 more things to go on the list. So look for another You Might Be Married to a Handyman If... post next week!

Top Ten Tuesday - Things That Make My Life Easier

So I'm totally copying Amanda's list idea.  I've got different things on my list.  I don't have all the cool things Amanda does!  Two alarm clocks would be great!

 

Top 10 Things That Make My Life Easier

1. The amazing computer network my dad set up.  I help take care of my mom, so during the days I need to be available to her which means that I'm often in her room away from my computer in mine (did I mention that Derek and I live at my parents house?).  My dad's awesome network allows me to access all my files on any other computer in the house (if they're both on), most often my parents iBook.  That means I can do all my fun digi-scrapping and digi-scrap supply downloading from anywhere!  Yay!
   
   
2. My library's inter-library loan system.  My city library stinks.  Really, it does!  I rarely go in there and find what I'm looking for.  So usually I find new books on other blogs and Amazon.com and then request them through the inter-library loan system.  It only takes anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks to get the book to me!  And speaking of Amazon...
   
   
3. Amazon.com.  I love Amazon.com!  I can find just about any book by any author, and then find other books by that same author or other books of the same genre.  And best of all, when I find one that I really like, I put it in my wishlist so I don't forget about it!  It's my main book finding place. 
   
   
4. My mattress.  I have one of those memory foam mattresses.  Best thing we've ever gotten!  It's so good that vacations are almost a let-down after sleeping one night... almost.
   
   
5. Hulu.  There are a million--well, maybe not a million--TV shows that Derek and I enjoy, but we don't always get around to watching them all.  Hulu lets me subscribe to the shows I like AND sends me e-mails when a new show I've subscribed to is up on their site!  Perfect and simple for me.  I don't have to try and catch the newest episodes on TV whenever it is they come on, and Hulu's got all my subscriptions together so I don't have to find them all over the internet!
   
   
6. Netflix.  We use Netflix to get TV seasons.  Most recently was Medium.  Over the last few months we've watched seasons 1-4.  My dad even got into them a bit!  Up next?  I think Alias.
   
   
7. IMDB.com.  Ever watched a movie, recognized an actor, but couldn't remember who he/she was or what else you've seen them in?  In comes The Internet Movie Database or IMDB.com.  Derek is addicted to that site.  He's always got his laptop set up at the beginning of movies so he's able to quickly find any mystery actor! :)
   
   
8. My dirty, old, ugly, off-brand crocs.  I've had them for over a year now, and anyone who's owned a pair of these shoes know the soles wear out long before that time.  But I love them because they're easy to slip on and off for when I'm going to check the mail, move the car, go to the doctors office, etc.
   
   
9. My faith.  I have an excellent religion that makes life's hard times just a little bit easier.  It gives me a sense of purpose: who I am, where I came from, and where I'm going.  Basically, it gives me a plan to live by.  I am proud to say I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 
   
   
10. My wonderful husband.  I don't know what I'd do without him.  He's always so helpful, and he is now even more since I've become somewhat helpless!  He's not afraid to do housework, and he always works so hard!  Thanks Derek!
    
    

Top Ten Tuesday - Ten Slighly Odd Things I Do

The mail came this morning and I have to admit, I got really excited.  Not because I was expecting anything to come, but just because the mail came!  And that made me think.  What other weird things do I do...

Top 10 Slightly Odd Things I Do

1. Go check the mail.  Everyday.  I love it, and I get a little miffed if someone else gets to it before I do.  I'm like a little kid running out there!
   
   
2. Choose which book to read based on how it feels in my hands.  By this I mean if there is more than one edition of a book I'm interested in reading, I'll pick the best sized one.  They're usually the older, hard backed ones.
   
   
3. Read Wikipedia articles.  I don't do this as much as I used to, but I love it!  I love it because the more I read, the more I know.  And the more I know, the more I'll be able to participate intelligently in conversations.  And that's a good feeling.
   
   
4. Check on my flowers everyday.  Sometimes I make a special trip of it, sometimes it's in conjunction with checking the mail.  I only go out to look at how pretty they are.  I don't do any weeding or watering (the sprinklers take care of that).  Well, I guess I do some weeding... once the weeds are way taller than the flowers.
   
   
5. Share odd stuff about myself online.  I taught a mini class on blogging a week ago and realized just how odd that really is!  I got a lot of weird looks from people when I told them what kinds of things were on my blog.  Oh well, I'm comfortable with it!
   
   
6. Download a bunch of digi-scrapping supplies... and then never use them.  A couple months ago I knew I wanted to get into digital scrapbooking, so I found a couple freebie sites and started downloading papers, fonts, word art, templates, embellishments, etc.  The only problem?  I had NO idea how to use them.  But I kept collecting knowing I'd figure it out later.  Then I discovered another problem, hard drive space.  I had unknowingly filled the rest of my computer's hard drive with all my stuff.  I had 25GB of supplies!  Yikes!  Well, I've figured out how to digi-scrap on PSE and I've slowed down the downloading.  But it's still a temptation.
   
   
7. Sniff my cat.  I have never had such a good smelling cat before.  She has beautiful, soft, fluffy fur that always smells so nice and clean.  I am selective about where I sniff her though.
   
   
8. Peel a grapefruit and eat like an orange.  I'm not sure if this one is odd or not.  I haven't seen anyone else do it and my husband gives me really weird looks every time I come over to the couch with a plastic bag and a whole grapefruit.
   
   
9. I organize my clothes according to color...  but only in the closet.  It's too much work with the folded clothes. 
   
   
10. I talk to my cat.  Sometimes we meow back and forth; sometimes I talk, she meows.  This one might not be just me either, but it sure feels weird when I do it. 
    

Top Ten Tuesday - Traveling

I've got a bit of the traveling bug today, but I haven't the money to do anything about it. Bummer!

Top 10 Places I'd LOVE to Travel

1. Yellowstone National Park:  I've been there many times, but I can't get enough of it!  To me, it's one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to.
   
   
2. Glacier National Park:  I've heard amazing things about this National Park, and the pictures are wonderful! 
   
   
3. Banff National Park (Canada):  I've heard great things about this park, too.  It would be part of the gigantic road trip that would include Yellowstone, and Glacier National Parks.   Oh, and the Ortons too.  They just don't know I'm planning them into my giant vacation yet.
   
   
4. Sokcho, South Korea:  Derek and I lived there for a year and a half.  We didn't really know it then, but it was a major stop for tourists.  Sokcho sits right in between some of the best beaches  and one of the most famous National Parks in South Korea.  10 minutes to either one!
   
   
5. The Trans-Siberian Railroad: Someday, Derek and I will take a huge around the world trip on a budget.  The Trans-Siberian Railroad will be one of the legs of that trip.  We'd like to take the route that goes through China, Mongolia, and Russia. 
   
   
6. Africa, somewhere:  Anywhere in Africa would be fine.  Well, almost anywhere.  Africa's a huge place with so many different cultures and environments.  I think I'd love it all!
   
   
7. The Oregon Coast:  This is another vacation I have planned in my head.  We've heard the Oregon coast is beautiful, and once I saw a picture of the Devil's Punchbowl I knew I had to go!  Maybe we could hitMt. Saint Helens somehow on the trip, too... that might be tricky though.  I don't think it's anywhere near the coast
   
   
8. Arches National Park:  Another National Park I've previously been too, but I didn't have my great, amazing, wonderful camera with me.  We're definitely going again.  Oh!  And I have that cool National Parks passport thing.  It doesn't get me in for free or anything.  I just get to stamp it at every National Park I go to.
   
   
9. St. Johns, Arizona:  This teeny, tiny town is where my Aunt, Uncle and Grandparents live.  They're really the only things in town worth seeing!  They are so fun!  And I've got to see the bathroom Derek remodeled for them earlier this year.
   
   
10. Alaska, the whole thing:  I think I would start with a cruise--they are SO worth it--and then make my own way around to see all the other amazing things in Alaska.  Maybe I could get my blogger buddy Michelle Mitchell from Scribbit to point me in the right directions! :)
    

Top Ten Tuesday - Photoshop Elements

I've been enjoying Photoshop Elements lately. Probably a bit too much.  Just ask my husband how often I talk to him about digi scrapping with PSE.  So today's top ten post is...

Top 10 Things I Love About Photoshop Elements

1. The number of free and not so free resources available.  There are tons: YouTube videos, websites, magazines, books, etc!  I don't have to find a tutorial for a similar program and then try to figure out how to use the techniques in my program. 
   
   
2. Clipping Masks. Alt-click.  What more can you ask for?  A whole new world of template use opened up to me when I learned that trick! 
   
   
3. Blending Modes.  I love all the different looks that these give you.  It makes digi scrapping just that much more personal
   
   
4. Everything is Free Until Printing.  Well, almost free.  PSE isn't free by any means, but I got a really good deal on my copy, and you could pay for fonts, brushes, textures, word art, digi kits and the like, but with sites like Scrapping with the IkeaGoddess, why pay?
   
   
5. PSE is User Friendly.  While PSE isn't exactly easy to use, it is very user friendly.  Once I figured out a few things, other things just came naturally.
   
   
6. Editing Photos IN a Layout.  If the layout still has all it's layers, you can still do some editing to each photo individually.  This is nice because sometimes, you can't tell how much editing your photo needs until it's in with all the colorful stuff on the page.
   
   
7. It's Easy to Upload Fonts.  This is probably true with other programs as well, but right now I only really know PSE.  All I have to do is download the font, install it on my computer, and there it is in PSE!
   
   
8. Adobe Bridge.  Lately, mine has been acting up a little, but I still love it!  Adobe Bridge came with my PSE.  It's an organizer of sorts.  I am a very visual person.  I like to see my choices.  Bridge makes that possible.  AND I can adjust the size of the previews.  Cool!
   
   
9. Brushes.  PSE comes with a bunch of brushes that I'm learning new and really cool ways of using.  It's also really easy to load custom brushes.
   
   
10. I Know How to Use PSE.  Kind of lame, I know.  But I'm one of those people who will always prefer something I know, or something I learned/experienced first.  Even if the alternative is better.  Does that make me lazy?
    
    
    

Top Ten Tuesday - Favorite Games

This week will be quick and easy, but fun!  This week's top ten in no particular order is...

 

My Favorite Games

1. Yahtzee Free For All.  Much more fun than regular Yahtzee.  There are cards (with the regular Yahtzee combinations) and chips for you to go for, and you can steal your opponents' cards too!
   
   
2. Carcassonne.  A great tile laying game.  Derek and I love to play this one, but have had some trouble finding others who love it just as much as we do.  I think it might because there are a million pieces and it's really complicated at first.   Maybe someday...
   
   
3. Blokus Duo.  I've played regular Blokus and got really confused with the size of the board and number of different colors in the game.  Blokus Duo only has two players--and therefore two colors--and a cute mini board.  It's fun and relatively quick.
   
   
4. 5 Crown, Sets and Runs, Mormon Bridge...  These are all games that we play with Rook cards which makes it easier.  Bring one set of cards and you've got three or more games! (Note to reader: the link for Mormon Bridge goes to a page on Wikipedia with some profanity.  Evidently most people have given this game some colorful names!  But the instructions and rule variations are excellent.  Just don't scroll down to "alternative names."  You'll be sorry!)
   
   
5. Othello.  I stink at this game... unless I'm playing the computer on it's least intelligent mode.  Then I kick butt!
   
   
6. Alchemy.  This is one of those solo, wasting-time-on-the-computer games.  I love it!
   
   
7. Backgammon.  Again, I stink at this game too... unless I'm playing the computer on it's least intelligent mode. 
   
   
8. Scrabble.  This game was a life saver in Korea.  Most all of our students either loved this game, or at least preferred it to studying.  I used it all the time as a bribe.  And since we were in the English words mode, Derek and I would often play it at home, too!
   
   
9. Mario Party.  I am a Mario super fan!  Mario Party on the Wii is one of my favorites because it's so cute and a fun boardgame with tons of fun mini-games!
   
   
10. Guitar Hero/Rockband 2.  I don't think I need to explain this one.  Anybody who's played either of these games love them!!!  Derek and I are so excited because we just unlocked all the songs on each game.
    

PS:  I want to add a shout-out to boardgamegeek.com!  I got most of my references through them and found that they have great ratings, suggestions, and summaries of almost any game!  Check them out!

Top Ten Tuesday - Silly Me!

I'm stealing half of today's post from another post from the past.  I know lame, huh?  But this morning's breakfast conversation led me to a great top 10 post, and the old post fit right in.  So here it is.  Today's top 10 list is...

Top 10 Silliest Things I Thought as a Child

1. I love/loved the smell of matches and candles burning.  One Christmas, in an effort to get a good whiff of a candle, I took a deep breath in and accidentally sniffed it out.  I momentarily froze because I thought that what I had just done could be considered smoking.
   
   
2. Because of a good intentioned but badly executed educational movie on AIDS my elementary school had all of us watch back in the '80s,  I used to think that I could get AIDS by not wearing a band-aid on an open wound.  Subsequently, anytime I was bleeding, I always had to have a band-aid.
   
   
3. Half of my childhood was spent in Utah.  At the time, there wasn't that much ethnic diversity.  The only exposure to African-Americans I had was the Cosby Show.  One day, I asked my parents why Bill Cosby painted his fingernails white.
   
   
4. One day, I asked my dad to blow up a balloon for me.  I guess he was busy at the time, so my mom offered.  I told her that I wanted dad to do it because when boys blow up balloons, they float in the air.  My mom laughed and said that nobody could do that.  That was helium.  I blame that thought on Winnie the Pooh.  I swear there was a scene in one of those movies where Christopher Robin blew up a balloon, tied a string to it, and it floated.
   
   
5. Speaking of Christopher Robin, I thought he was a she for a while.  I think it was because in my mind, Robin is was a girl's name, and even though Christopher was a boy's name, adding Robin to the end of it made it a girl's name.  He also wore some pretty gender neutral clothing.  AND what boy plays with that many stuffed animals?
   
   
6. Because the word for "no" in Spanish is "no," I thought "no" in all languages was no.  I actually thought that for a long time.
   
   
7. When we moved to North Carolina, our toilets were "low flow."  Meaning, they had less water in the bowls.  After living in our brand-new house for a few days, I asked my parents when we'd be getting more water in our toilets.  You see, I had no concept of "low flow," and since our house was just built, I thought that somehow affected the water in the toilets.
   
   
8. As a child, I thought that boys were not full grown until they were as tall as my dad.  My dad is 6'5"...  Most boys don't get that tall.
    
9.  I thought that when my parents went to do temple work, they literally went to the temple and did office work at desks, filling out forms.  (To learn more about LDS Temples, click here)
   
   
10. Since being married to my husband (who grew up in the military), I've learned a lot of things about life in the military.  This morning, we were talking about how there are so many military specific vocabulary terms that non-military people have no clue about. 
    
    One such vocabulary term for me was MRE.  Mind you, I had an idea of what an MRE was.  Desert Storm was a big deal when I was in 1st grade, and I was a pretty observational child.  I had heard that the US government was going to drop food supplies--or MREs--for the troops in Iraq.  So I knew that an MRE was some sort of Army food.   But what I didn't know was what it looked like, so I concocted a grenade-like packaging for the MREs.
    
    Hey, it made sense in my head!  The only other thing I had ever heard of being "dropped" was a bomb, and a grenade is sort of like a bomb...  Sort of.  And it fit the toughness requirement for being dropped from an airplane, AND it was aerodynamic (Derek informed me that when things are falling to the ground, they don't need to be aerodynamic.  I cam back with a witty, "Well, if they're aerodynamic, then they'll fall straighter and hit their targets better!" One point for me, right?).
    
    The really funny part of this childhood thought is since I haven't really thought about MREs since Desert Storm, I never had an opportunity to correct my misconception.  Until a couple of weeks ago when Derek and I rearranged my parents' food storage, some of which was MREs.  But to my credit, as soon as I saw what MREs really looked like, I thought, "well, duh!  Of course that's what they look like!"
    

Top Ten Tuesday - Things I Love about Life Today

 

1. Fun, new recipes: I've been into trying out new recipes the last few days.  The latest were Lime Snowball Cookies and Chocolate Mint Snaps.  Both very delicious!  But maybe I should start experimenting with real food recipes so I don't make my whole household fat!! :)
   
   
2. Crockpots:  Quite a few of the new freezer meals I made a couple weeks ago can be cooked in the crockpot.  I love it!  The only problem I'm having now is remembering to take out the food to defrost a the evening or day before!
   
   
3. My memory-foam mattress:  I love my bed!  It's so comfortable!  Everyone should have one!
   
   
4. Digi scrapbooking freebies:  Why buy digital scrapbooking supplies when you can get them for free?  It takes a bit longer to get a good stash, but totally worth it.  I've got so much stuff now that I had to buy an external hard drive just so my computer would function!
   
   
5. Jessica Sprague's photo editing class:  My poor husband has had to sit through a few of these class videos.  But I love them (and him!) and it's nice that he'll humor me and watch them with me.  He's always impressed with my resulting applied knowledge.  I was lucky enough to find out about Jessica's free class a month or so ago.  I have learned so much and I'm having way too much fun!!!
   
   
6. Family:  My brother and his wife stopped by for a few minutes this afternoon.  I hadn't seen them for quite a while (They've both been sick and I was out of town for a week).  I had forgotten how nice it is to see them!  They really need to come by more often!
   
   
7. Living with family:  This one might seem weird to a lot of people.  My husband and I live with my parents.  It was a decision we made as families when we realized that it was taking a lot more work than one person could do 24-hrs a day to take care of my mom (she has advanced MS).  It's not always super convenient, but there are definitely a lot of benefits and blessings of being with extended family.
   
   
8. Aprons:  Lately, I've been noticing that I've been needing aprons a lot more than I used to.  Probably has something to do with being pregnant.  I guess I'm just more clumsy or more careless than I used to be.  I was getting ingredients all over me!  But now I've discovered the magic of aprons.  No more mess!
   
   
9. Nice weather:  I don't go outside very often or for very long periods of time, but it is really nice to see blue sky, be able to open windows in the mornings, and have a cool breeze when I go to get the mail and newspaper. 
   
   
10. Only 2.5 more months to go!  I've entered the I'm-ready-to-be-done phase.  I'm not completely miserable yet, but I'm tired of the little inconveniences of being pregnant.  Plus, I'm really wanting to see what our kid looks like when she (at least we're pretty sure she's a she) comes out!
    

Top Ten Tuesday - Provo Trip

Derek and I just got back from a wonderful week in Provo with his family, and we're kinda wishing we were still there! So for this week's Top 10 list, I'm listing...

Top 10 Fun Family Memories

1. Derek's new tie.  And book, and hex key set.  Whenever Derek's gone, I miss him a lot.  When I miss Derek a lot, I want to buy him a present.  Gift giving is my primary love language.  Not usually a problem unless he's gone for a long time.  Then I buy him multiple presents.  This time I bought him three.  It was like it was his birthday or something!  He loved all three, but I think he loved his new tie the most.  I found an awesome deal at Costco on an awesome green tie.  He's worn it twice already!
   
   
2. Seeing funny things nieces and nephews do.  For example, one afternoon two nieces and one nephew were discovering the joys of pepper jack cheese.  And of course since it came from a cheese block there were plenty of "cutting the cheese" jokes.  Funny thing was it was the nephew who didn't get the joke.  While the girls were giggling uncontrollably, he was looking confused and saying, "Ok, what part of the body is 'the cheese'?!"  They finally gave in and told him.
   
   
3. A 27 mile bike ride with Doug.  So this wasn't me, obviously.  It was Derek and he thoroughly enjoyed it!  Doug is his oldest brother.  He graduated and left home while Derek was still pretty young, so Derek jumps at opportunities to get to know him better.  Derek came back happy that he completed the ride.  He hardly even seemed winded, and he only crashed once.  It was his own fault, and a little silly so I won't post the details here.  You'll have to hear it from him.  AND he got rid of his watch tan.  He's been trying to do that for months now!
   
   
4. Playing card games.  Daryl and Kim brought a big box full of different card games.  We love playing games.  You might even say we are a game playing people, so we really enjoyed playing with family over the week.  Especially on Saturday night.  Six of us (David, Daryl, Kim, Sarah, Derek and I) played 5 Crowns, and were over the top silly.  It was so much fun!
   
   
5. Running errands with Kim.  One morning, all the grandkids and most of the brothers went on a canyon hike.  I was feeling a little sad because being pregnant, I wasn't able to go.  But then I found out that my sister-in-law, Kim, wasn't going either (she has a 4-year-old) and was going to be running some errands.  Perfect!  I wouldn't be stuck at home and bored!  And boy, did Kaylee--the 4-year-old--entertain us!  It was hilarious!
   
   
6. Blockus Duo.  While Kim and I were running errands, we stopped by a really fun toy and games store called Funfinity.  The store has so much great stuff but sadly is wildly overpriced!  I stood there looking at their great selection of games--any and all of which I would have bought in a heartbeat if I had the money--for way too long!  Finally, I decided I couldn't live without buying Blockus Duo because I knew Derek would love me forever if I gave him that game.  So I got it and he loves it, and I love it too.  I actually won once or twice!
   
   
7. A present from Derek.   While I was waiting for the store clerk to wrap Blockus Duo, who walks in?  Derek!  Good thing she had it mostly wrapped.  I was shocked to see him there and he was surprised to see me as well.  I thought he was still in SLC with his Mom picking up his brother David.  I asked him what the heck he was doing at the toy store (I didn't figure that was a place he normally went by himself), and he said he was there to buy me a present!  How cute is that?!
   
   
8. Going to a Korean Restaurant.  Everytime we're in Provo, Derek and I love to visit the best Korean restaraunt we've been to in the States, Sam Hawk.  This trip, we were able to go with Derek's parents, his brother Doug and two of his kids, us, and our friends Yi and Sarah.  Delicious food and wonderful company!
   
   
9. Playing Mah Jong with Yi and Sarah.  Yi and Sarah are very near and dear to our hearts.  Yi is our oldest and best friend from college and his wife Sarah is wonderful!  We love to spend time with them whenever we can!  On our last trip down to Provo, they taught us how to play Mah Jong, the real Chinese way.  We got together again this week and played.  It was so much fun!  And they brought us some fun stuff back from their trip home to China.  Thanks guys!
   
   
10. All the 4th of July Festivities.  Derek's family really knows how to party!  All day Saturday we had fun things to do.  Saturday morning some of the family went to the 4th of July parade.  Derek and I elected to stay home and make cherry turnovers (yummy!).  Parades really aren't for us... yet.  Our kid's still baking.  That afternoon most of the family went kayaking and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Kim and I again stayed home for the same reasons as mentioned in #5.  We played games and took turns kicking each other's trash.  That evening we had a great BBQ and then we watched the fireworks from BYU's Stadium of Fire.  A great day full of family and fun!
    
    And a bonus!  It's really hard to limit it to 10 great memories!
    
    
11. Going to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house.  My sister-in-law, Becca, was able to get us all tickets to the temple open house.  Yay Becca!  It was a great idea!  The temple was so beautiful and it was special to be there as a family to experience it.  I was a little disappointed though because at one point Elder L. Tom Perry walked right past us and we didn't even notice!  The ushers had separated the line so that something could get through.  They didn't tell us what. When a group of people started to pass us all we thought was, "Well, that's not a wheel chair," and turned back around so that we weren't staring at a bunch of strangers.  Little did we know Elder Perry was in that group!  Darn!
    

Top Ten Tuesday - List of Gratefuls

I'm sort of having a pity part for myself today.  And yesterday, and probably all week!  Whenever my husband and I are apart for a significant amount of time, I always tend to flip out irrationally during the first and last few days.  We're on the home stretch now.  We'll be back together on Sunday!

So to fight this week's blues, today's Top 10 List is...

The Top 10 Blessings I Am Grateful For

1. I've had minimal discomfort during this pregnancy.  I had zero morning sickness, and so far the aches and pains of a growing baby have been minimal!  I am really grateful for this blessing because I am such a wuss!
   
   
2. I am grateful for my cat.  She's just the right balance of lap cat and stay far away from me cat.  Plus she's cute and playful.  Really entertaining!
   
   
3. I'm grateful that Derek's got work right now.  It really stinks that he's far away and I wasn't able to go with him, but I am glad that he's able to earn money for us.  There are a lot of people who aren't as lucky.
   
   
4. Air conditioning and ceiling fans are a huge blessing!  Like I said before, I am a wuss.  I don't handle extreme temperatures very well, especially hot weather.  And I hate to sweat.
   
   
5. I am grateful for a healthy body and a sound mind.  Taking care of my mom has really reinforced this.  There sure seems like a lot of little things to complain about, but this experience of caregiving has really taught me that I really don't have anything to complain about!
   
   
6. I am grateful that my cat's puke is easy to clean up.  I'm not grateful that she does puke, but when she does, it's an easy clean-up which is good because she always chooses the carpet (why not the linoleum silly cat?), and this carpet belongs to my dad. 
   
   
7. My flowers are growing and beautiful!  I planted Moss Roses again this year, and they are doing great!  The tiny starts are filling out and the blossoms are gorgeous.  It's so pleasant to see them every day.
   
   
8. Good books are a real blessing in my life.  I've learned quite a bit of what I know from reading.  And reading is a great way to "escape reality."  At least for a little while.
   
   
9. I'm grateful for alarm clocks.  A simple thing, but I would never wake up on time.  A friend of mine once told me that everyone has an internal alarm clock, and that if you look at the time before you go to bed, think seriously about what time you want to wake up in the morning, and then really believe it, you will wake up at that time!  I could do all of the steps except the last one, really believe it.  I was always too worried about over sleeping.
   
   
10. I have the best friends!  One of my friends is going through an especially hard time right now.  She's been out of town helping take care of her sister who just passed away this morning.  I really wish I could be doing something for her right now, but she's too far away at the moment.  I guess praying will have to work for now.   Would you all pray for her, too?
    

Top Ten Tuesday - Dreams

Here are the top ten weirdest dreams I've been having lately.  I think they have something to do with me being pregnant...

1. Derek also being pregnant.  But the weirdest part (as if a man being pregnant isn't weird enough) for me in that dream was that he got pregnant after me, had the baby before me, and had a c-section and was such a wuss about it!
   
   
2. Other friends (female) being pregnant when they actually aren't.  Not too weird, but I just don't usually dream about people in detail like that.
   
   
3. Saying a "bad" word in front of a bunch of children in church.  And the word wasn't even that bad!  But "fart" sure got an extreme reaction from all the kids and other adults who were passing by in the hall in my dreams
   
   
4. My alarm was actually a chipmunk maniacally laughing at me.  Not the alarm clock, just the alarm sound.  And in my defense, even while awake it does sound a little bit like that.
   
   
5. I was an aspiring pro chef.  My business partner got in to trouble somehow by cooking something wrong for a celebrity client and there was some chance of legal action and even jail!  Since I was her business partner, I was in danger too so I asked Rachel Ray for help.
   
   
6. My cat turned into a white Persian cat (which isn't too far of a stretch, she does have long hair).  And she learned how to open doors to get outside and run away.  I had to keep an eye on her 24/7 so she wouldn't get lost.
   
   
7. Derek, Bucky Katt, Willow, and I went to Space Camp--which was run by BYU--in space.  They also had a swim team that my friends tried to get me to sign up for.  There were only two problems with that.  I didn't swim very well at all, and I was 5 months pregnant (both also true in real life).  My friend tried to refill Willow's litter box with ten inches of grass instead of litter, and then my mom started having some issues at home so Derek, Bucky and I decided to fly home.  We bought one-way tickets from space to home.  Once we got home, we worried about the price of airplane tickets back to in space Space Camp and then decided that it wasn't worth it anyways...
   
   
8. I was friends with the Fantastic 4, except they weren't the original Fantastic 4, they were Dr. House and his team.  And I was like Peter Petrelli who could mimic the powers of people around me.  I saved Dr. House because I knew the radiation that gave them their powers would come again.  But not in the kitchen.  So I took him in there just before the radiation came.
   
   
9. Derek was fighting for my honor against the evil Nephites and the Decepticons. 
   
   
10. Metal detectors.  Something to do with metal detectors.  I'm not sure what.  All I know is that I woke up thinking, "Using a metal detector is legal!  They had the advantage earlier, so now I can use one."  I have absolutely no idea what I was looking for or who "they" were.
    

Top Ten Tuesday - Books

This list idea is probably not very original, but I love to read them on others' blogs.  I'm always looking for something new.

Top 10 Books for This Week

1. Funny in Farsi, Firoozeh Dumas.  I love memoirs!  They're all the info of a biography with the ease of reading of a novel.  This one, and it's sequel (#2) are written by an Iranian woman who basically grew up in California.
   
   
2. Laughing Without an Accent, Firoozeh Dumas.  I just started this one last night... at 2am.  Not a good idea!  It was so hard to stop reading, but I knew I had to!
   
   
3. The Thirteenth Tale, Diane Setterfield.  Even though this book was WAY different from any other book I've ever read (it was like ghost story meets mystery), I enjoyed every minute of it.  It was also full of fun quotes on reading.
   
   
4. In the Land of Invisible Women, Qanta A. Ahmed.  Another memoir that I LOVE!!!  This book is written by a American educated, Pakistani-British female doctor who goes to work in Saudi Arabia.  I loved it because she wrote honestly about life in Saudi Arabia as a "western" woman.  Very unbiased, and very positive!
   
   
5. A Train to Potevka, Mike Ramsdell.  My in-laws gave me a copy of this book in March and I started reading it right away.  I got about halfway through, but then inconveniently left it at their house!  I have no idea how that happened because I have a very specific memory of putting it in the car.   Oh well, I can start again.  Thanks again Mom and Dad C for the book!
   
   
6. The Sister, Poppy Adams.  I also started reading this book last night at 2am.  I was just beginning to get sucked in so I knew I needed to put it down so I could sleep.  I'm excited to read again today!
   
   
7. The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster.  My 6th grade class read a play out loud in class that was based on this novel.  Why English teachers think we need to read plays aloud goes way over my head.  It's just boring!  But nevertheless I was really into the story so I went and found the book.  I think it's written for kids, but I still love it.  It speaks to the ESL teacher in me, and it's fun to read!
   
   
8. Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky.  I've started this book twice... and haven't been able to get past the first few chapters.  It's not light reading, and that's what I'm into at the moment.  But I'll pick it up again.  I loved Tolstoy, so I'm hoping that someday I'll love Dostoyevsky!
    
   
9. What to Expect When You're Expecting, Eisenberg, Murkoff, and Hathaway.  My friend Tanya lent me this book way back in February.  I hope it's still okay for me to have it! :D  It's been a great resource for me especially since I've had almost zero exposure to pregnancy.  I know nothing about it, but I'm learning more everyday! Thanks Tanya!
   
   
10. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen.  This book is always on my list whether or not I'm actually reading it, which I'm currently not.  I love it because as I read it, I feel really smart and like I'm dipping into a guilty pleasure book at the same time!
    
    

Top Ten Tuesday - Rain

It's raining here this morning, and it's lovely.  Rainy weather is my second favorite type of weather.  Partly cloudy is my first.  It comes in at second only because I have to carry an umbrella and wear shoes when I go outside.  But anyways, in honor of the wonderful rain, my Top 10 list is...

Top 10 Reasons Why I Love Rain!

1. It cools down the air.  I'm a cool weather person, so when it rains in the summer I am VERY happy!
   
   
2. The great smell.  I love the smell of pending rain, present rain, and past rain.  They're all great!
   
   
3. The calming sounds.  Rain is sort of like the ocean for me; a continual soothing background noise.  Even when it's pounding on the roof in the middle of the night!
   
   
4. It makes all the natural colors stand out.  I love how after the rain stops, wood and dirt look browner, grass and leaves look greener, the sky looks bluer, and flowers are just that much more beautiful!
   
   
5. It interests my cat.  Currently, my cat is going back and forth between the two open windows in our bedroom.  She'll stay at one for a couple of minutes, watch the rain, then switch to the other, watch the rain for a few minutes, and back again.  It's pretty entertaining.  It's like the rain is different through each window!
   
   
6. It waters my flowers so I don't have to.  Watering the flowers is one of those little things that I needlessly stress over.  I don't stress that much over it, but I mean come on!  How hard is it to water flowers?!  Especially when our yard has sprinklers!
   
   
7. Sometimes it gives me an excuse to go shopping.  I have this weird idea in my head that rainy days are good days to go shopping.  For anything.  Don't know where it came from, and rain doesn't usually fit in to my regular grocery shopping schedule, so it doesn't happen all that often.
   
   
8. It gives me an excuse to open my windows, if the rain isn't falling in the direction of my windows.  And luckily for me, I can usually open them without getting rain inside.  Ask me about the time the rain came in through the brick in our house in North Carolina.  That's a fun story!
   
   
9. Sometimes there's thunder and lightening.  I was never one to be afraid of thunder or lightening as a child.  Except for one time when after a particularly loud peal of thunder, one of my wizard troll's eyes lit up (it was one of those that you squeezed the tummy and the eyes would blink).  That freaked me out!
   
   
10. The sound of the birds after rain.  Maybe I just don't notice them before it starts raining, but it seems like more birds are out and chirping after a storm. 
    

Top Ten Tuesday - Being Woken up in the Night

Last night around 2:45am I was rudely awoken by my cute furry animal. That in turn inspired this week's top ten list...

Top 10 Things I Hate to Be Awoken By

1. Willow getting stuck behind our bed.  This is what woke me up early this morning.  We have a massive bed and headboard with an empty space behind it.  When we set it up, we didn't get it completely against the wall so Willow can jump behind it, but can't always get out.  Lately, she has been so when she jumped back there just as we were going to sleep, I didn't worry too much about it.  She would figure it out.  NOT SO!  About 4 hours later (2:45am), I woke up to loud thumping and scratching sounds.  She was stuck.  The only problem we have with our bed is that it's too heavy to move.  But if you move the mattress out a bit, there is an opening to the space behind the headboard.  Problem solved!  But we both had to get up, get out of bed, and move the mattress.  It's a good thing Willow's so cute.  When we moved the mattress, she just sort of looked at us like, "what took you so long?" and then took her time getting out!
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Getting elbowed in the head.  Sometimes, when I roll over in bed, I smack my forehead on Derek's elbow.  He often sleeps with his arms behind his head.  Luckily for me, it doesn't usually hurt.  I don't do too many sudden movements in my sleep.  It just wakes me up.
   
   
3. The extreme need to pee.  I've gone through cycles in my life where I've woken up at 3am every morning needing to pee.  I always go back to sleep easily, and those cycles are usually only a couple of weeks or so and come and go.  Since being pregnant, that cycle has returned although it's not quite as regular.  But there's nothing worse than waking up and having to BOLT out of bed to make it in time! :D
   
   
4. The doorbell rings.  Not the front door doorbell, a battery operated one we had for my mom when she needed us and we weren't in the room.  It's not usually a problem... just when she rings it over and over again at 1 o'clock in the morning!
   
   
5. A cat puking.  I've posted about this before.  It's disgusting and you have to be fully awake to take care of it.  Yuck!
   
   
6. The broken alarm going off.  We sort of moved to my parents' house in in stages.  So we didn't have all our stuff from the beginning.  One of the things it took a couple of days to get was our alarm clock.  In the mean time, we used one of my parents' old ones.  It had some weird sort of short in it making the horrible, obnoxious, beeping alarm sound every night at midnight whether it was set to be on or not!  Gahh!
   
   
7. Willow sniffing my eye.  It's fairly disconcerting to wake up to an odd, tickling, blowing sensation on one of your eyelids!  It's even more disconcerting to then open your eyes and have a big, blurry kitten nose in your eye!
   
   
8. Having no blankets or no sheets.  I'm just as guilty as Derek is on this one.  It's no fun to wake up cold without blankets, or for me it's even worse to wake up with blankets but no sheet!  There's definitely a texture difference between the two!
   
   
9. Being too hot, or too cold.  Similar to #8, but this is when you have both your sheets and/or blanket and you're still waking up feeling uncomfortable.  It's especially bad when you have all the covers on and you're too hot.  You take them off, fall back asleep, and then wake up again, but this time you're too cold!
   
   
10. Sleep talking... in a foreign language.  This one is more funny than annoying.  I actually kind of like it when Derek sleep talks because usually I make a mental note of what he says and I tell him what funny things he said the next morning.  Unless he's sleep talking in Korean or Japanese.  I know enough of each to tell the difference and just maybe at the time be able to tell what he's saying, but in my stupor of sleep I can't remember for the life of me the next morning.
    
    

Top Ten Tuesday - Things I'd do in the Mornings

The weather is so nice and cool right now!  It's been a bit hot the last couple of days, so I'm really loving it.  Today's list is the 10 things I'd like to do in the cool morning IF I got up early enough...

1. Take a walk around the neighborhood. This on is self-explanatory.  It's too hot during the day to enjoy a walk, so mornings are best.
   
   
2. Read a book outside. I saw a commercial for Werthers when I was a kid.  There was a lady sitting outside on her porch with a bowl of Werthers candy and a book.  For some reason that was really appealing to me even as a kid (The book part, not the big bowl of Werthers.  I could never understand why one woman would have a huge bowl of Werthers!).  I remember even thinking that that was what I wanted to do when I was grown up!
   
   
3. Mow the lawn.  So this one is not so much me, but my husband.  But it does seem like something I would do in the morning... if I did it.
   
   
4. Do yoga on the back patio.  I have a nice, covered patio in our backyard, and it's fairly private.  This one could be fun!
   
   
5. Gardening.  I'm not sure how into gardening I'll ever get, but I'm trying to get my flowers to grow right.  The next step is planting vegetables or even fruits.  Someday!
   
   
6. Grocery shopping.  This one seems weird because it's not actually outside, but I really HATE loading up the car when it's hot!
   
   
7. Meditate.  I've never actually tried, unless you count when my mind wanders off during my personal prayers... oops!  But I've heard really good things about it.  Supposedly it relieves stress.  Couple that with the relaxing outdoors, and I've got a winner!
   
   
8. Have a breakfast cookout.  My favorite part of camping is cooking; either over a fire or on a portable stove.  Either way, it's outside when it's not too hot.  The only downside of camping for me is the sleeping outdoors and the sub-par bathrooms/showers (if the campground has any).  Maybe I should invest in an RV?
   
   
9. Open all the windows to let the house air out.  This one I usually get to because our house has great shade over the front window and the back window.  The air coming in stays cool for a lot longer once the sun comes up.
   
   
10. Yard Sale-ing!!.  I've been a yard sale junkie this season... a picky yard sale junkie.  Our house is already stuffed with stuff, but we still need some baby things, and they are so CHEAP at yard sales!
    

Top Ten Tuesday - Blogs I Love

 

Today's Top Ten is...

Ten blogs I look forward to reading

1. 5 Minutes for Books.  All of the "5 Minutes for..." are great blogs but I especially like find new books to read. 
   
   
2. Cake Wrecks.  It cracks me up to see how shoddy of a job some people do, don't get fired, and still get paid for it!  Totally against my work ethic--I think I'd curl up in a hole and die if I ever did something like some of those wrecks--but it's funny to see all the same!
   
   
3. Scribbit. Michelle is awesome!  Her blog is great and she's really good about e-mailing you back when you ask her a question.
   
   
4. The Pioneer Woman.  I think this blog is on everyone's list of favorite blogs.  I think I'm addicted to her "Black Heels to Tractor Wheels Story."
   
   
5. The American Bedu. I am a Cultural Geographer.  Okay, so I sort of made that title up, but in Geography you can do that!  I love to learn about where people live and why they do what they do.  The American Bedu is an American woman married to a Saudi man, living in Saudi Arabia.  She writes very positively about the cultural differences between the two countries.  I love it!
   
   
6. The Remodeling Guy.  I don't remember how I found this blog, but I really like it!  It's fun to see the remodeling projects that he features on his blog.
   
   
7. Overheard in the Ward.  This site may not be funny to you if you're not LDS or at least familiar with the LDS Church.  It cracks me up!  Funny what kids (and grown-ups) say!
   
   
8. Scrapping with Ikea Goddess.  This girl is good!  She makes it so easy to find free digi-scrapping stuff!
   
   
9. Overstuffed. I don't remember how I found Lara's blog either, but her writing style made me feel like we were best friends already.  She's also great about commenting on my blog! :)
   
   
10. Any and all of my friends' blogs.  Yes reader, that means you!