Really bad intentions

Most time I have good intentions, but they come out the wrong way and end up offending someone. However, there have been a few times that I bluntly did something on purpose that was really bad. I'm sure you have, too.

First Story: For Christmas one year, my little brother Bradley got the computer game called Baseball Pro '98. It was a big deal for a 10 year old. He didn't get very many other presents that year because of how expensive this particular game was. Well, that Summer the little twerp told on me when I took a bunch of quarters from my dad's humongous cup-o-change and rode my bike a mile away to Dairy Queen to get a Cookie Dough Blizzard (that's right, I still remember what kind). I was so furious that he was such a little tattle tale that I went into our office, took out his beloved computer game that was safely concealed in it's case, grabbed a ball point pen, and scratched the crap out of it. I'll admit, it felt good. Sweet Revenge!!
Well, obviously it didn't feel that good, because to this day I feel extremely guilty. Even writing about this incident 12 years later, I can still hear Brad in the back of my mind saying the next day, "Dad? Baseball Pro isn't working, can you please come help me?" Ahhhh! I never fessed up! What the heck would you have done if you were 12 and knew that Baseball Pro '98 was going to cost you $60 to replace- or a good 5 months worth of babysitting every single weekend (at the rate I was paid in 5th Ward)? I wasn't about to do that.
Plus, Brad was perfect. He never did anything wrong- so it's not like I could have gotten back at him by tatteling on him later.

Story #2: I told my supervisor that one of my sisters died just so that I didn't have to work over Christmas. Hahahaaaaa! I even faked crying on the phone and everything. I don't know why I couldn't have just quit like a normal person.

Dance

Today was Lillie's first day of Dance class. Her teacher's name is Miss Carly and Lillie loves her. I've been anticipating this day since I found out I was even having a girl! The best part is that her class has just 2 little girls. Talk about affordable one-on-one attention. The class agenda today was learning how to count to 8, learning how to skip (see the below pictures), doing some footwork with their tap shoes, and learning what left and right means. They also attempted stretching when Lillie got up and started running around the dance floor instead. I guess we'll have to practice that...

Our baby girl is 3!

I can't believe I have a 3-year-old! Lillie turned 3 in August, I'm just a little slow at documenting the occasion. We're a little broke, so we had to get creative. I planned a "Tea Party Birthday" themed event for her. Everyone dressed up in their 'Sunday best' and had tea (apple juice), cream puffs, brownie bites, homemade bread and jam, and some overly frosted pink or yellow cupcakes. I made her Birthday banner out of some construction paper, found her pinata for only 3.75 (what a steal), and used fresh flowers and bright table clothes for the table scape. Throughout the month I went to garage sales and DI and found some cute, real teacups and plates for each party guest to bring home as a favor. Budget wise, I came in at about 13.50 for everything. Most importantly, Lillie loved it. She still talks about it!

For her gift from us, Dustin made her this amazing dollhouse! It's to scale for an 11 1/2 inch doll (Barbie). He even made all the furniture! Because most everything was made out of scrap wood, everything only cost us 6.00. I painted it (with the help of my neighbor, Sue) and sewed the bedding, throw pillows, and curtains. She sure is spoiled!

Don't worry, Jack doesn't turn 1 until October 10 (10/10/10!). However, my niece and nephew's Birthdays are only 4 days apart, and Jack is just 2 months younger- so we had a combined 1st Birthday party for the three 1-year-olds. The only baby that ate their jumbo cupcake was Sayde! Andy and Jack wouldn't have anything to do with it, which is a little offensive means I spent forever making those cupcakes!

"No thanks!"

It's September 10th now, and here is my little Jack! 11 months old, exactly. And, not so little anymore. He's a solid 23 pounds, crawling all around, and starting to get a really playful personality. He's still laid back, but a lot more animated now. Oh, and the fohawk is gone. We gave him a buzz cut about 3 weeks ago. 3/8th's on the sides, 1/2 inch on the top. You should see him in his church outfit, he looks like a missionary!

And here's Miss Lillie Jo. Just happy, and living it up the 3-year-old way.

As for Dustin and I, we're still waiting to hear back about Dustin's job interview at the site. If he gets it, it will still be a while until he gets security clearance (1-6 months). If he doesn't, I'll go out and find a part time job, probably at nights so we can get out on our own. I dread working, but I'll do what I have to do to get by! I refuse to be a freeloader!

In the meantime, Dustin enjoys his job. He's been doing tiling, drywall work, siding repair, plumbing, and bids for his office. So, if we ever need to finish a basement, we can save on labor cost!

What's your thing?

So, I'm not sure why I'm so down about this lately, but I really want to have a "thing." Everybody has a thing. Some people are runners, some people are readers. Some are singers, bakers, or fashionistas, or Thespians, or entrepreneurs. Some are handy-man's (Dustin), or car mechanics. Some people are amazing photographers. I'm feeling like I'm not great at anything. I think I'm good at some things, though. I enjoy sewing, cooking, baking, singing, playing the piano, and running. However, there's already a friend or family member that would be considered the best for that particular talent. For example, I love, love, love to play the piano. I also love to sing. But I can think of like, 11 people on the top of my head that are family members or close friends that can do both of those considerably better than I. So... what is my thing? I'm feeling a little mediocre. I know it's just because I'm being dumb and am comparing myself to others, but even knowing that, I'm still bummed about it. And I know everyone will comment saying, "There's always going to be somebody better, so get over it." (or maybe that's what I would post) but it doesn't change the way I feel.

Where should we end up?

After talking to a person yesterday who has traveled the world doing remarkable things, I felt enlightened. He said, "You're so lucky to be here in the Northwest. You can go to the beach, the mountain, the river, the lake, go hiking, eat at incredible restaurants- everything is at your fingertips." It's true, though. Everybody thinks of Portland or Seattle as cities with too much rain. Well, have you ever visited? Sure, it rains for 5 months during Winter, but because of the moisture, it's beautiful, like, stunningly beautiful for the other 7 months. Plus, just because it's rainy outside doesn't mean it's not sunny! And if you think about it, almost everywhere has a long period of "unwanted" weather. For example, when we lived in Las Vegas it was unbearably hot for 6 months a year. We had to stay inside! In Idaho, it snows for 6 months a year. So, in the NW it rains.
Wow, that was a tangent!

Anyway, the point is, after that conversation I haven't been able to stop thinking about all the choices I have. Dustin and I have the agency to raise our family wherever we want. We've been assuming that Idaho Falls is the perfect place for everyone to grow up. Now I'm not so sure.
First of all, before I start offending all the South-Eastern-Idahoans, I do have to say that Idaho Falls is a great place to live. For starters, there are tons of lakes, camping sites, beautiful mountains, and the best perk- our families. Our closest friends and family members live there. Lillie and Jack have cousins galore to play with on a regular basis! It's an amazing circle of support.

My only complaint is the lack of diversity. While I love being surrounded with people who have the same values and beliefs as I, I secretly miss all of the crazy, sometimes weird liberals that Portland has to offer. It's a breath of fresh air to go to a restaurant and observe how the world is (and also be the only table not drinking). I feel like there are plenty more opportunities to "stand out" and speak up about when I believe in. I love the idea of living in an area packed with more culture and hilarious bumper stickers than Idaho Falls. Plus, out here sidewalks and curbing come standard- a rare feature in SE Idaho.

Now, this doesn't mean we're moving to Vancouver, Washington for life. It doesn't have to be here. It could be Georgia, or Long Island, or DC, or conveniently Seattle. The only state I wouldn't consider is California (for reasons that WILL offend certain persons).
Obviously I will go wherever the work is. Currently Dustin's job is primarily located in Portland and we're residing in Vancouver. And, right now Dustin is waiting to hear back from 2 job interviews that are both located in Idaho. I would love for Dustin to get either job in Idaho- but if he doesn't, then we won't live there right now.

The truth is, I'm afraid of settling down. I feel like there are so many other places that would be fun to live in, so why Idaho?
But then again, why not Idaho?

The Flour Inncident

The day after arriving in Vancouver, I ran out of the room for about 2 minutes and came back to find this. Only 5 lbs of white all-purpose flour for me to spend the next 2 hours cleaning up. Enjoy!

Oh boy, it's a long one.

I thought you all would be interested to know that Elmo is getting potty trained. Because of his interest in this feat, he's also getting thrown in the washer quite often.

June was busy. I'm anticipating July to be even more packed with various events. June consisted of a few Birthday's, our anniversary, camping, Brycen's blessing, swimming, getting 2 teeth, Father's Day, and the never-ending trial of potty training. Here are a few (well, a lot of) pictures. The descriptions will be below the photograph.


To start June off, I found out that Jack loves getting his head scratched. Like, drools and zones out for minutes at a time. Here's Angie doing what Jack loves best.

For Julie's Birthday Party, Alli and I got together and made these cupcakes. Julie eats popcorn almost everynight and is an incredible bowler. The mini popcorn cupcakes are made simply out of white and yellow marshmallows. The bowling pins are a regular-sized cupcake with a mini cupcake stacked on top, then a doughnut hole stacked on top of the mini cupcake. To get the smooth finish we melted white frosting then dipped the assembled cupcakes.

For our 4th anniversary, we dropped both kids off at Aunt Dana's house for the night and took off camping. We both love camping, and both loved the idea of not spending hardly any money for our anniversary. Let me tell you, it was memorable. We were able to go see some waterfalls in Swan Valley, make s'mores, go shooting, and hike to some natural hot springs in the river around midnight. The more negative parts were coming in contact with the following: a million red carpenter ants, a snake, some ground squirrels, 15 mosquito's in my face at all times, a bat (that flew into me then flapped its wings in my hair), a very close skunk that Dustin threw a rock at, and a hiking trail-o-beetles. By the end of the night I was bawling.

Shootin' the 22.

Did I mention that we forgot firewood? After searching for a few minutes, Dustin took off his shoes, crossed the stream, and climbed up a cliff to retrieve a dead tree. What a man.

Here's the hot spring we soaked in for a while. It was pretty awesome.

To make up for the crizzapy camping attempt, the next night (Friday) we went to a quaint little restaurant in Idaho Falls called The Snake Bite, then met up with Eric Harker (who happened to be in town) for a night of bowling.

The top score is Dustin's, then Eric's, then mine.

Jack is always really happy and smiles on command. Here he is after a delicious dinner of peas and applesauce.

And... Jack finally got his first tooth at the late age of 8 months! Then 4 days later he got his second one.

On the last day of June, we picked up Alyse and went to the splash park in Rexburg. The girls had fun chasing each other around, Jack was very focused on the water, and I attempted to get a tan.

On July 1st, we packed up and headed off to Washington for a little while. Although we missed the Freedom Celebration in Idaho Falls, we had a very entertaining show put on in the cul-de-sac by our neighbor, Eric. After several unsuccessful attempts to blow out the street light with roman candles and large explosives, we sat and watched the guy get a little drunk and yell out each name of every firework about four times. The finale was entitled, "Kings Ransom! King's Ransom! King's Ransom, everybody! King's Ransom!!"