war

i have been at war. i am armed with shovel, spade, rake and trash bags, and i feel as though i am losing the battle with..................................our garden spot.....or the potential of a garden spot anyway. i have bagged 30 large trash bags of sticks, branches, and weeds, this past week. and i am only HALF-WAY done! what the what? i have raged everyday for more than a few hours getting down to what i am praying to be decent earth to grow produce in. BAH!!! i'm glad i didn't join the army.

but on the plus side, we are so blessed that our landlords are letting us use their yard for a garden, i have a better tan in late april than i did last august. i shower twice a day. once in the morning after running and once at night after being outside in the yard all day and nova loves being outside, and while i have anxiously been bagging, shoveling, sweating and pseudo-swearing she has probably consumed 15-30 leaves. she loves them, and i look over from the garden and she is squealing with grass, and leaves coming out of her mouth......crazy nut. hopefully there isn't a lot of protein in dead leaves, or we're in trouble. i'll try to get a picture. i am hoping that by tomorrow the garden war will nearly be over since we need to be PLANTING not PLOWING ASAP. but here is a pic of it at the beginning.....it doesn't do it ANY justice. i made it bigger to give you somewhat of a better idea. (please note the fence. you have no idea how tempting it is just to throw all the crap over it onto the neighbors side......but that would be rude, and seeing that national rude day isn't anywhere in the near future, i bag it in nice large black trash bags.......sigh.......i just know that by the time we get it cleaned and planted, we'll probably move....(which i think is dan's secret prayer, since he doesn't like his job much.)


















and here is a random tidbit -- last friday was national pretzel day. yum. i made homemade pretzels and kind of forgot about them while they were raising....needless to say they were eNoUrmOusLy eNourMous. perhaps i should get a timer. sorry no pics.

my cousin kelsi had a birthday last monday and i ventured to make a cake. she loves moose. meese? hmmm.....anyway, so i did my best in making a moose cake because she is totally an outstanding person......needless to say i am waiting for the foodnetwork to call me to start my own show.















and here are some pics of nova by some of our flowers.....man i love this kid! and some of her getting dressed....

easterz

you know in nacho libre when the priest talks about easterz? i love nacho libre....sigh....when i grow up i want to be him.....i mean really? blue stretch pants? AWESOME!!! anyway, about OUR easterz. it was enjoyable. we had good weather, went to church, went to the park, ate a fabulous easter feast of grilled cheese and tater tots.....who needs ham really? i hate water retention. then we all had a bit of a nap and had the easter egg hunt of our life. ok, not really, but it was pretty sweet. nova has no clue about easter, and could care less, AND chocolate bunnies aren't really part of her diet in the future anYway, but she does like running around on our shoulders and clapping. which is what she did while dan and i did a service easter egg hunt. at the beginning we both wrote down a number 1 service and a number 2 service we would like to recieve. we took turns hiding eggs in our enormous yard and whoever found the eggs in the fastest amount of time won the prize of the other person's #1 service, and the loser received the other person's #2 service. hopefully that makes sense. if not. don't stress. I WON....of course.....8 minutes and 12 eggs seriously. cake. i was like a hawk circling the nest checking for eggs everywhere. ok, actually dan and i both looked like morons running and darting around with a bowl in our hand. i took advantage of the colored eggs and won because of my super strategic placement of the blue egg on the blue bike. high five me! so i owe dan cinnamon rolls and he owes me a trip to the sandy aquarium and or zoo with lunch. sweet! anyway, it was pretty fun and i forgot how much fun easter egg hunts are. you never grow out of that kind of thing. at least you shouldn't have to.

anyway, here are some pics of nova and the eggs. she did enjoy throwing them. and running around the yard clapping. you always perform better when you have a cheering section right? as you can see, nova just wants to touch the eggs. who cares about a picture. this is the best that we got.















also, we are clearing out a garden spot......its a nightmare. more on that later. AND it is april 15th, and it is SNOWING and we have been given a WINTER WEATHER WARNING.....3 words. barf. a. rama. if anyone reading this is going to visit mother nature for the weekend be sure to give her a calender. i think she is confused. april does not equal december. i know that christmas and easter both have to do with the savior, but seriously!

oh and here is the famous magic whisk. nova loves this kitchen utensil. she freaks out every time we pull it out. it is a weird relationship, but whatever makes her happy.














OH AND MOST IMPORTANTLY: dan and i are going to do a spring music video. (i know---you are all super excited. but we decided we would let those who enjoy the blog decide the song. if you have a preference. let us know! (i know our christmas music video will be hard to beat. but darn it. we'll try!))

and this is just a goofy pic i took....nova needs her eyebrows plucked!

sweet nectar....

our furnace is fixed and my toes are warm.....and i can no longer see my breath. can life get any better? i submit it can not......unless dan maybe brings a pizza home after work.... :)

and just because i get in major trouble for not posting a pic when i blog.....this pic is from kade's baptism

excuses, excuses...in case you care

whoa, i haven't blogged in ages. i guess i should explain where i have been, not that it really matters. the week after our washington trip, we went to idaho for another party. my little nephew kade was baptized, and my little niece jaycie was blessed. it was so fun to be around family, but always a little crazy! that following week dan went to vegas to gamble, ok, JOKING.....he went for CTIA, which is a tech convention for work. my mom came home with me and stayed for a few extra days because she worries about me when i am home alone......which i appreciate even though i'm a big girl. it was fun to have company, and i enjoyed her stay. she came shopping with me and i found some jeans (which i was in desperate need of....i finally fit comfortably into my pre-pregnancy jeans and what happens, the crotch rips (ok, there was already a hole...but still) and the button broke......curses! they have been my favorite pants forever and i was saddened. ANYWAY.....) and nova realized her voice echoed in the mall and was making noise the entire time. it was hilarious and slightly embarrassing at times, but welcome to motherhood right? maybe i can get her back when SHE is shopping for jeans in 15 years....(i can only imagine the utter humiliation she would get if her mother started yelling like a lunatic because the acoustics in the mall were too good to be silent.) anyway, back on track. i missed april fools with dan....i felt bad because i had some pretty sweet stuff planned, but i suppose i'll get the chance in another 11 months.

dan came home, and two girls were very glad to have him back. i hate it when he's gone. we thoroughly enjoyed general conference, and had dan's sisters jana and elisa over on sunday. this week has been full of meetings, the temple, walking to the park, mutual, our internet being down and our furnace breaking. frigid i say. hopefully it gets fixed today. i am sick of being bundled up in mid april. we borrowed a space heater from my cousin and luckily nova's room is nice and warm but the rest of the house is colder than outside and our landlords are in DC for 3 months with work. it is probably more frustrating to them than us.

also, the ward basketball team made it to regionals, and i totally thought we would take the whole thing because we had a really pretty good team. but as it always seems to be with me in any type of finals, districts, region, or championship game, we lost. i think i am bad luck or something. i was pretty bummed. but at least the team that put us out (my cousin's team) won the entire thing. at least it was fun and gave me some good exercise. but really, i wanted the XXL T-shirt that i would never have worn anyway :) haha.

and that sums up my absence. nothing exciting. just the day to day business that fills up my day. oh, i also got my hair cut. TOTALLY love it. i feel free. i feel hip and i use much less shampoo in the morning. AND....i know i am being totally random here, but i just finished the 4th Fablehaven book. if you have NOT read this series, your life isn't complete! it was AWESOME. i cannot wait for the 5th and final one to come out. totally a good read. brandon mull is an excellent writer. its a children's series so don't judge me, but it is a really fun good read that would rock for the kids as well. also, while we were in idaho, my sister in law's mom took some ADORABLE pics of nova. they turned out really cute!



















here are some random videos that will perhaps make this blog more worthwhile. ok, so i thought i was uploading a completely different video and 40 minutes later it is the wrong one. so i'll just leave it. its old, but its still cute. at least the grandma's will enjoy it.

whirlwind week

this last week has been a bit of a whirlwind. it started off last monday where we celebrated dan's birthday a day early. we didn't do anything too crazy, because we were trying to get ready to go to washington to visit dan's grandparents for the week. we ate a transformer cake and opened presents and watched dark knight. the next day we headed off to j-town and the following wednesday we headed to the state of washington. to be brief, here is our trip in a nutshell.

*nova traveled better than expected.
*nova and dan loved riding great grandpa hope's horse, chief. i on the other hand REFUSED to get on.....deathly afraid of horses.....
*nova got super sick while we were there.....sigh.....
*i ate fish sticks.....haven't had them since i was 5....still don't like them.
*skipped rocks in the lake....yes, grandma and grandpa hope live on a lake....why did someone not tell me this? i would have brought my swimming suit!!!!
*played mormon bridge with grandpa hope and uncle brad and aunt mel.....totally the highlight of the trip and i came to the conclusion that grandpa is hilarious, and it made me contemplate what i will be like when i get older. (if you played the game, you know that in each round there is a color that is called 'trump'....grandpa kept calling it 'trunk.' hehe....

and thats about it. we ate and visited and just chilled most of the time. the drive back was rough for me.....i struggle with long drives, but we made it home safe and sound. we returned to jerome on saturday night and made the last leg of the trip to p-view on sunday.....nova was NOT excited to be back in her car-seat and was REALLY sick of her toys.

anyway, it was a good fun trip filled with lots of snacks, many miles, and good company, so i guess you could conclude a good time was had by all. plus we had a portable dvd player in the car.....what more could you ask for? (besides nova sleeping the whole way there?!?!?)

since we have been back i have tried to stay home, and nurse the nov-ster back to health and keep her as far away from the car seat as possible because we are making yet another trip this weekend to rigby for a blessing and a baptism......hopefully nova has short term memory....unfortunately i don't and i am not looking forward to the drive.

also we had a sweet activity for mutual the other night....napoleon dynamite night--my girls won the dance off......WAHOO!! and i was pretty proud of my super sweet attire...dan on on the other hand was embarrassed that i was wearing stretch pants.



















here are some pics of the trip.

nova looking rad as ever in her carseat.














dan on a horse.....what?














nova and grandpa hope on chief...seriously, click on the pic and see the look of happiness on nova's face.....its great!














nova and great grandma hope

dr. suess and confessions

happy birthday to dr. suess

it's its been a long time since i blogged,
we've done much, including jogged.
and to honor dr. suess's day of birth,
we had a party....what on earth?
we wore great hats, except for our child,
she didn't like hers....she tore it up wild.
we ate green eggs and ham...and toast.
it was great fun, not to boast.
we are indeed glad for days like these,
and we will repeat next year if you please.

so despite the weird poem, we have had a busy few days. monday was dr. suess's birthday and we had a sort of party.....dan got home late from work and nova was practically in bed. but at least it was attempted right? i tried to make a sweet cookie stack dr. suess hat with red and white frosting.....it looked bad....but it still tasted pretty good! here are a few pics we took...seriously i took like 9 pictures of nova trying to get a her 'hat on.' she was NOT impressed and after 9 failed pictures the destroyed hat went in the trash......and of course dan was a good sport with his super sweet paper sack hat......and yes we look a little possessed in this picture.



















yesterday nova and i ran errands and spent the afternoon outside.....she LOVED it.






































and i have a confession......i do not want to make it, but, i must. i am ashamed.......AND embarrassed and i hope you don't think less of me. but i watched the bachelor......ugh. i can't believe i just admitted that to friends and family. i know its a dumb show and its addicting, and to shorten my spiel.......BLAH! i am disgusted with what happened and even more disgusted at myself for allowing myself to be sucked in to the stupid-ness and drama of it all......WHAT THE CRAP!!!!! that is all i had to say at the end. after the conclusion, i sighed and told dan as he was NOT interested in what i was watching that i really thought the couple was cute, and that they were going to be really happy together, only to find out 10 minutes later that it was all for naught and he dumped her on national television.......again.....WHAT THE CRAP??!?!?!?! and THEN 10 minutes later after the once proclaimed 'love of his life' was dumped and carted off in a limo he started oogling over the girl he dumped 6 weeks earlier.......again...WHAT THE CRAP??!?!?!? i will never name a child jason. he has forever destroyed the name.....not that i really liked it to begin with, but you know......and i am mad at the message the media sends to everyone about love. thats why so many people give up. thats what you get for watching stupid television........

drat

lately my blogging has been less than interesting. normally i can think of something clever to write....but not as of late....could be lack of sleep, fighting a family cold, no time, or perhaps i am losing my creative and clever brain cells and i am just not as funny as i thought.......drat. at any rate, here are some pics, perhaps the clever, funny ideas will return soon....

nova and i constantly listen to music all day. she loves it. here is nova and dan dancing before dinner.














nova being polite for the camera......














and.....no more pictures please.....