a little Penske ride

Wow.  Hi.  I'm back--literally I guess.  I'm back in Utah.  As is evidenced by the pictures below, we packed up our life in Tennessee and headed back West.  I am a little sorry that I didn't stay in TN long enough to really get my southern drawl down.  I thought I'd come home to Utah and pick up right where I had left off, but I found that my experience down south left me with new eyes and a new perspective.  Suddenly Utah looked much more drab than I had remembered it, and the perfectly straight roads didn't hold quite the appeal that I thought they would.  Of course, this was to be expected.  I never realize that I'll miss something until I suddenly don't have it anymore. 

gotta love the Penske truck, everything from the color to the fact that supposedly they give all of their old, worn out trucks to U-Haul and keep the best for us :) 

Goodbye to our first and probably last (for a while at least) home :((  So much for that nice little $7500 tax rebate that we now have to pay back.  

You just can't beat a 26 hour diesel truck ride with a 2 year old. 

But for a brief 3 days we got to join the ranks of diesel truck drivers.  We got to drive where they drive and fill up where they fill up.  It was an honor. 

So, you ask, what brought us back to Utah?  This amazing wedding cake.  No, not really, but the amazing wedding couple--Julie and Oliver did. 

Needless to say, Gracie and Hailey had a great reunion.

And let me just say that I have yet to see a wedding as original as Julie's--an ice cream bar.  It was divine.

No, we are not at a funeral.  Just kidding, Julie, I loved the black dresses.  

Hmmm, looks like something's going on here.  It could be that Gracie's just dancing, or maybe this was the time that they had a little fun in the fountain.   

And perhaps the most notable thing that happened after the big move was Ellie's first step.  She's now a veteran walker and waddles all over the place.  

So, besides Julie's wedding, Utah is the choice of residence for the next few years so that I can get my cosmetology license.  There's no place like Utah to learn the art of A-line hair cuts and partial head weaves :)  So if you're looking for a hair cut of a life time, just call the school 373-CUTS  (Renaissance Hair Academie in Provo) and make an appointment with me.    

Alright, so I guess the next step is coming up with a new title for this blog thing.  I bet you're all really excited to see what I come up with . . . 

a very long post

First of all, this weekend marks a year since I lost my status of a college student.  I do miss it sometimes--not to be able to use the excuse of "too much homework" as for why I don't do the laundry.  I've been considering all that has happened since this momentous day, and thought I'd share a few of the highlights...

1) Not too long after graduation, we moved to Tennessee.  Even though I have a degree in sociology, nothing could have quite prepared me for the culture that I have encountered here in the south.  It is intriguing and endearing to me, but I'm not sure I'll ever be able to fully embrace it.  Try as I might, I just don't think I'll ever master the local ho down shuffle :).   Let that all inspire you to come visit and see just what that is for yourself. 

2)  A few months after graduating, I had girl #2.  I can't believe Ellie is almost a year old.  Being one who thinks sisters are an absolute necessity in life, I couldn't be happier that Gracie has a sister.  I could sit for hours and observe their interactions and witness the beginnings of a great friendship developing.  But of course I can't do that because at this point I'm always pulling Gracie off of Ellie,  changing one or more diapers, or trying to interpret cries and toddler language.  

3) I have definitely lost more hair than I have weight postpartum ;)  But the hair is almost all back, and even getting past the fuzzy, stand-up-straight phase, which makes such a subtle but oh-so-significant difference in the appearance of my hair.  Seriously, if only my body could shed the weight like it did the hair :)

4) It's been rather strange to be completely school-free for the first time in my life.  I find that I don't quite know what I like to do in my free time.  I can't say that I've ever been too pro-active about learning because school has always given me a reason to read and has made it easy to expand my mind.  So I figure I've taken a good year-long break from all of that and in order to prevent my brain from going to mush, here's to a new year of learning and developing new talents!  Maybe I'll come up with some new gadget to post on this blog thing to keep you all updated on my endeavors! 

4)  We no longer live with cinder block walls.  We have upgraded to nicely painted, smooth walls.  But you know, sometimes I miss the cinder block walls because you didn't waste so much energy trying to make them pretty.  It was a lost cause to try to spruce up a 50 year old apartment too much, so you did what you could, then went on with your life.  But I feel like home ownership brings with it this obligation to decorate and clean, and decorate some more.  Ahhh, it really can become so stressful and time-consuming to the non-creative, undeceive type like me.  So here is to being happy with the current state of my home, and being content with a yellow wall instead of a cinder block wall, and then getting on with my life.       

I hope you thoroughly enjoyed all of that wisdom from a college graduate.  Allright, now for some more pictures to make up what I'm sure is one of my longest posts yet.  

I've got to prove to everyone that I'm a fun mother  by posting a picture of Gracie with Easter bunny :). 

We then spent the weekend enjoying a mock-camping trip where we built a fire in Jake's parents backyard, went fishing the next day, and even managed to dye some eggs while we were at it.  

These next few pictures demonstrate an ongoing activity around here--mowing the lawn.  I don't know if it's such a good idea to have almost an acre of land when you don't have a riding lawn mower.  It took hours, spanned over a few weeks to mow all of the lawn.  So by the time we finish, it rains for a couple of days and it looks like we haven't even mowed at all.  But my theory is the longer the grass gets, the more satisfying it is to cut it.  

Ellie is especially a good sport to sit in her stroller for hours and watch us mow the lawn.

Gracie's first picnic outside.  She loved it.  

And of course, Happy Earth Day to everyone.  Hah, last weekend we went to an Earth Day festival in Nashville.  It was quite entertaining to mingle with so many earthy, tree-hugging type people.  Practically everyone brought along their dogs, but we decided to bring our children instead :)  

I'm not quite sure how funnel cake made its way into an organic, all natural, earth friendly fair, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.  It was actually my first, and surely not my last experience with it.  mmmmmmm.

And if you'll look closely, you'll notice Ellie's black cheek.  That's right, not a black-eye, a black cheek.  It's pretty unique.  She fell off a chair (as a matter of fact, the very chair she's sitting on in the picture).  

the solution to all of my problems

Okay, so we decided to not go through with the purchase of the sweet orange van, but I am seriously considering purchasing this gadget: 

The Key to Waking Up Refreshed
Why is it so hard to wake up to a normal alarm clock? Because a normal alarm clock can't detect where you are in your sleep cycle - a continuous cycle from deep sleep, to brief almost-awake moments, and back to deep sleep again. Occasionally, your alarm may catch you at an optimal, almost-awake moment and you wake up feeling refreshed, but usually you grope for the snooze button waking up tired and groggy.

Wake at Your Perfect Time
SLEEPTRACKER^® puts an end to that tired feeling. Once you set its alarm window, it monitors your body and continuously looks for your optimal waking times so it can wake you at just the right moment. Imagine not feeling tired in the morning and getting a few extra minutes out of your day.

introducing...

So, what do you all think of our new van? 

recent happenings...

Well I have bit more time today because church was cancelled this morning.  Yeah, not only do they cancel school at the drop of a snowflake, but church also.  The only reason why I was excited was because it meant that I didn't have to go through the inevitable frustration and stress of trying to get Gracie, Ellie and myself to church on TIME, which is something that I am still trying to figure out how to accomplish on my own since Jacob is always gone early to meetings.   But in case any of you are starting to get a little jealous, my stalwart husband just suggested that we attend the Fairview Branch this afternoon.  

Gracie and Ellie making the most of their Sunday morning.  Probably the only time in their life when church will be cancelled!

And here you see that we had a visitor!  Katie showed up on our doorstep the day before Valentine's Day.  Next to Jacob proposing to me, this tops of the list of shocking moments in my life.  It was as if distance was suddenly obsolete, and she was just stopping by to say hi.  She came just in time to babysit so that Jacob and I could go to the local ho-down (literally.)  The culture here is so interesting to me, and if you want some good enteretainment, just stop by a local country dancing venue--it's hillarious.  But that's a whole different subject--well not entirely, because that morning we took Katie to Hickman county's very own weekly radio show where there is good music and even better southern accents.  

Pretty much, Katie took over all of the domestic duties.  It was great.  She cooked, cleaned, and baby-sat.   

Of course Gracie and Ellie never wanted to be far from the special visitor.  

It was pretty much the funnest week that I've had in a long time.  There's nothing like a visitor to justify yummy food, special outings, and late-night talks!  If anyone else wants to show up on my doorstep, you're more than welcome!

Now for a few more pictures of Gracie and Ellie's latest tricks and activities...

This is Ellie being a little bird.  Whenever we put something in our mouth, she has this cute little way of opening her mouth and trying to get a taste.  Here she has succeeded in getting a lick of the pretzel. 

Jacob's eagle scout skills came in handy.  He was able to to construct a horse and cart-type scenario, which entertained Gracie and Ellie for a record amount of time before either one of them starting crying.

Sometimes Gracie acts so silly.  I really don't know where she comes up with some of her faces, or her hair for that matter (hmmm, maybe she gets it from Jacob).  She also has a great sense of style, as you can tell from the inside-out shirt.  

Ellie, though, still just smiles sweetly for the camera.

This is our friend Becky who got baptized last week!  She's been investigating the church for about 9 months, and suddenly last Monday we got a call that she had decided to get baptized that night!  It was so exciting, and it always puts things into perspective when somebody gets baptized.

I told you, Gracie has some great poses for the camera.  Especially after she dresses up in Ellie's clothes.  

And finally, who can resist cuddly babies in fuzzy footies?