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The new Twilight trailer is out and it is dazzling!

Twilight Trailer


Counting down the days until 11-21-08!

Getting Too Old For This

Being in your 30's is just not the same as being in your 20's.

I actually love being in my 30's - I know myself better, I feel like I am wiser and I enjoy the little things in life more. I'm happier.

But I wouldn't mind having the body of my 20's back.

Scott and I just spent 3 days in Kentucky this week working 13-hour days. Three 13-hour days in a row that all started at 5 a.m or earlier.

On the three-hour drive home, to keep ourselves awake, we started reminiscing about our college days and it made me remember how I used to be on the go constantly and be able to function, even thrive, on 4 or 5 hours of sleep. Sometimes less. I remember staying out until 3 or 4 a.m. and then getting up for an early class and not ever feeling exhausted. Maybe I was running on the adrenaline of all the fun I was having.

Maybe adrenaline doesn't work the same when you get older. 'Cause I still feel like my life is pretty fun. OK, not college fun, but pretty darn fun nonetheless. I really like my job and I love working with Scott and the other people we work with. It was a fun week.

But I am pooped. Pooped, tuckered, wiped, exhausted...

But happy.

Black Bean Burgers

I have been bragging about Scott's black bean burgers for a while now, so I thought I'd better share the recipe. They are AMAZING. The combination of flavors is incredible!




2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
2 Tbsp chopped onion
1/2 heaping tsp cayenne pepper
3/4 egg, beaten
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro
1 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
1/2 heaping cup seasoned bread crumbs

Mix first 7 ingredients in food processor and then add bread crumbs and mix thoroughly. Then it will look like this:Make into patties. Lightly coat a frying pan with olive oil and fry.Now this is important - garnish with:
cheddar cheese
mayo
lettuce
tomato
dill pickles
Mmmmmm, yummy!
If you can manage it, be sure to eat them on the patio on a beautiful fall evening with family.

Ducks in a Row

Well, I survived the move. All the furniture survived. Whew! Muchas Gracias to Michele's husband and Melody's husband for helping Scott with the heavy lifting and to those who gave us boxes and helped in other ways. We have awesome friends!

I've spent the last couple of weeks getting my ducks in a row. I'm feeling pretty settled now and ready to get back to every-day life and just regular craziness.

Moving

I have discovered the secret to a (fairly, comparatively, sort-of) stress-free move.

1. Move into a fully-furnished house. Make sure it comes equipped with a hot tub and a 60 inch plasma TV.

2. Take 2 weeks to do it.

We are fortunate and grateful to have the opportunity to live in the home of some friends of ours from church who are in Norway serving a mission for the next 23 months. It's a beautiful home with some great amenities (like the hot tub and TV!) We keep saying that we feel like we are on vacation.

Still, though, I have to move my stuff.

I do NOT like to move my stuff. When you move stuff, things get broken and scratched. (I'm still upset about a scratch my dining table got in our last move.) And since the house is completely furnished, a lot of our posessions are going into storage in the garage. That adds another opportunity for my OCD to come out because everything has to be packed, wrapped, cushioned and protected just right. So, I'm driving Scott crazy with things like making sure all like items are in the same box, double wrapping, double taping, using the same size boxes so that they will stack well, etc.

Then there's the actual moving. Saturday we are planning on moving all the big stuff. The heavy stuff. The stuff where when the guys pick it up you hear things like,

"Ughhh. Ehhhhhhh. Errrrrrrghhhhhhhhh!"

"You got it?" "Wait, wait, it's slipping!"

"Maybe if we tip it this way....Noooooo!"

I have decided that I will be hiding in the bedroom while this coccurs. I just can't watch it.

The last week has been fun - slowly transporting the small stuff and getting settled and then soaking in the spa after not working very hard.

But on Saturday morning, my moving tranquility will be demolished. Hopefully, none of my furniture will be destroyed along with it.

Serenity now!

Shadow Puppets

While waiting for our health screening event to begin the other day, Scott and I took advantage of a projector screen to make some shadow puppets. He had a pretty good swan going, but mine looks more like a dinosaur.

I guess we'll need to practice a bit more and maybe someday we'll be able to do something like this...

Why I Will Choose To Be a Stay at Home Mom

Yesterday morning, about 5 minutes before I was supposed to walk out the door to go to work, Teddy and I went for a little walk so he could do his morning business. After much parading but before he managed to pick out just the right spot to apply his special brand of fertilizer, he turned around and made a bee-line right back to our front door and asked to go inside.

I noticed he was making a little wheezing sound and looked down and saw that he had his eyes shut. As I picked him up he snuggled close and made a little whimper. I became seriously concerned as he continued to keep his eyes closed and squint at me.

Scott had needed to take the car to work early that morning, and Melinda, who had graciously agreed to give me a ride to work, arrived just as I was starting to go into panic mode. Teddy got really excited to see her and managed to open his eyes for just long enough to give her his usual "I am going to MAKE you love me. How can you resist? I'm the cutest dog in the world - LOVE ME!!!" look but then shut them again right away. (Melinda is a self-proclaimed not-a-dog-person, but I know that she really does love him!)

I was really concerned, but with her assurance that Teddy would be fine, I left for work.

And felt worse and worse with every mile that took me further away from my boy.

Soon after I got to my desk at the office, I was sobbing quietly. And googling (which was not a good thing because everything I read had me convinced that he was either going to go into anaphylactic shock and have his windpipe close up or that he had some rare, incurable disease...) and calling vets who of course all told me that they couldn't tell me anything on the phone and that I should bring him right it.

But I couldn't bring him right in! I was stuck at work without a car and I had left my little doggie at home ALL ALONE. Having some kind of health problem. What kind of mother was I?

Pretty soon, my boss was aware that I was upset and had the whole story from me. She gave me her car keys and told me to go home and take care of him. Yes, she is an AWESOME boss.

So, I rushed home, took him to the vet, they figured he had been stung or bitten by some sort of insect and was having an allergic reaction, they prescribed him some doggie antihistamines and by that evening the swelling was gone, his eyes were open and he seems to be just fine.

(Heaving sigh.)

This is one of the (many) reasons why I will choose to stay at home with any children we may be blessed with...

My mom was always home with us. She was always there, no matter what. She never had to drop us off at daycare and go to work. What a HUGE blessing. Whenever I was sick, she was the one there taking care of me. Even now, when I'm sick, I still want my mom. I call her on the phone to get her opinion of my symptoms and to get her home remedy prescriptions. And to just hear her voice. It always makes me feel better.

I want to be able to do that for my kids. I'm glad I was able to be there for Teddy yesterday.

'Cause when you're sick, you just want your mommy.