Here's a First look at Our New Arrival!

It is my pleasure to introduce all of you to our newest little boy, Blake. He's scheduled to arrive in April! We've waited a LONG time for this little guy, so needless to say.. we are very excited! He is already sucking his thumb like his big Brother!... Uh oh! :D Mason has been very clear too that he is willing to share his toys with Blake....BUT NOT HIS BLANKY! HA! HA! That's very reasonable, I think!!!!

We are having a hard time thinking of middle names though.... sooo any suggestions would be awesome! :D

Halloween was soo fun this year! Mason was a Scary Spider and Ben and I went as a couple of Nerds!... I know not a big stretch for us! But we were proud of our home made costumes! Yeah for Fall!

Thinking of Summer keeps me WARM!

I know it's a little late in the game for a Summer Recap! But....HEY- It's how I roll! :D I hope you enjoy the slideshow of our goings-ons! COME BACK SOON SUMMER!!!!

This Summer, we went on the funnest trip down to San Diego! We met my Sister, Trysh and her family down there, too! It was sooo awesome to see them again! Mason and his cousin Anissa were INSEPERABLE buddies the entire trip! We had a BLAST and made sooo many GREAT memories! Mason got to ride in his 1st airplane and see the cockpit, as well as- meet the pilot! He dug that with a BIG 'ol shovel! We played at the beaches, hit the San Diego Zoo...and, of course- saw SHAMU! I think I was as amazed as Mason at all the sites to see! Ben and I took a stab at parasailing! It was actually more calming than an adrenaline rush- like I thought it would be! The boat Captain slowed down so we could sink and dip our toes in the ocean.... That was more of a trip 'cause all I could think about was, "...what if JAWS jumped right out just now and swallowed us whole!" :D I'm such a nerd- I KNOW! We had so much fun on our first REAL family vacation! Thanks again, Trysh, for the invite! We will NEVER forget it! (.... or the SUN BURNS! next time we all get MORE sunscreen! HA! HA! :D)

It's True!!!

I've been attacked by the "The computer is too far away from the toilet, so I can't blog" Monster! I told myself I wouldn't fall so far behind whenever we are pregnant....BUT, seriously, who am I kidding?!
Most of you know, that this 1st trimester has kicked my trash! OF COURSE!- we are super excited for our new little addition! BUT, I AM SOO READY for this stage to be DONE! So please, bear with me a little longer as I am starting to feel my head is above the water....Well, my head has BEEN just above the water LITERALLY- for the past 3 months now....but THAT might be a little too graphic for some! :D HA! HA! Summer pics to come- I PROMISE! We did have a GREAT SUMMER!

The Great Closet Overhaul of 2009!!!

I was reading on a friends blog about getting organized and it REALLY inspired me! It's been one of my resolutions this year. Although I'm embarrassed to post these before pics of my pantry and closet, I love the end result -so it's worth it! Hopefully it will serve the greater good and inspire others out there to do the same! :D

My closet ended up being the beginning "project" that truly exploded into a bigger construction zone! The top shelf was ALWAYS a disaster zone before!(As you can see!) The piles constantly ended up merging together and reaching the ceiling making it IMPOSSIBLE to find ANYTHING! Which added to me being late ALL the time! ( another resolution I'm working on FYI! :D) I finally had an epiphany to just add a second shelf, making the 2 foot shelf into TWO 1 foot shelves! BRILLIANT!!!!- Why it took me TWO YEARS to figure that out... I don't know! I enlisted my crew and we got to work! Of course, with ANY project- SOMETHING has to go wrong! For us- We spent two days painting the shelves the WRONG color!... I know it's just a closet- But it really bugged me! We fixed that then everything else went pretty smoothly. Enjoy a slideshow of the process:

HEEEEEEEERE'S THE AFTER SHOTS!!!

I'm trying an new organizational "trick" to help out for next years spring cleaning.... We'll see if it works. I saw it on a home make over show- once you're organized, you hang all your hangers backwards. As you wear and re-hang your clothes up, (hopefully after washing them! :D), you place the hangers on the rod the correct way. After a year, you know what you haven't worn because the hanger is still facing backwards. NEAT, HUH!

I loved how the closet turned out that it SNOWBALLED into ALL of the other closets! It took us about 2 months, but WE FINALLY DID IT! Out with the old!!! Which meant BRINGING IN THE NEW... SHOPPING TRIP! HOLLA! HA! HA! :D

Let's Hear It For My Boy!

HE DID IT!!!!

BEN HAS HIS JOURNEYMAN in PLUMBING!! WOOO-HOOO!

He passed with flying colors on his practical exam this week! Congratulaions My LOVE! I'm soo proud of you and ALL you're hard work for our behalf! I don't know what Heavenly Father has in store for us down this road, but I'm so grateful to have a husband as giving and dedicated to life as you!!! This last couple of months has been FULL of ups and downs for our family and you've stood tall and strong. You are my ROCK and always my example of how to be a better person! I LOVE YOU with EVERY FIBER of my soul! And I stand right beside you COME WHAT MAY!!!

ahhhhhhh...... TOUCHE' !

Ben TOTALLY got me back for the mohawk thing! (which by the way- ONLY lasted FIVE days!)
So Ben had been growing out a goatee about two weeks prior for a Cinco De Mustache party. It entails getting together, eating some Mexican... And for all the guys- and some girls I guess??- to grow mustaches! Unfortunately, we couldn't make it do to a one reason after another last minute! Lame... I know! But we heard it was a BLAST and can't wait till next year! Congrats to Eric on winning the big race too, by the way!

So fast forward a couple of days later and.... Ben still has his goatee that is REALLY growing at this point. It has officially reached the annoying point for both of us! .....SO Saturday night, I'm comfy-cozy on the couch watching some t.v. I got my favorite pillow....my blanket is perfectly situated to provide an equal ratio of warmth and ventilation! :D.. You get the picture! I call it my "COCOON SPOT" on the couch. Ben walks in the room and decides to come snuggle with me. And we've been married long enough now that I just don't look at him EVERY time he enters the room! HA! HA! (The "Cocoon spot" also comes with tunnel vision, by the way!) He lays down behind me and after a few minutes... begins rubbing his cheek on mine to let me know that he has shaved! Yeah!!! I turned around but to my surprise...ALL I SEE IS THIS CATERPILLAR ON HIS LIP! I fall off the couch.. at first to get away! :D Then I'm just laughing realizing that Ben has FINALLY gotten his revenge! Well played good buddy! WELL PLAYED! :D

I GOT BORED......

Ben held a meeting for Elder's Quorum at our house last night, so Mason and I tried to hang out upstairs as much as possible so's not to disturb them. . . We ran out of stuff to do! But then I had a FLASH of GENIUS! "LET'S GIVE MASON A MOHAWK!!!" .... YUP, That's right!! And of course, me being a very IMPULSIVE person when it comes to ANYTHING FUNNY!... I jumped right on that! I couldn't stop chuckling to myself, thinking about how I'd just let Mason stroll through the meeting and watch Ben's reaction from afar! HA! HA! I'm such a stinker!

IT WAS PRICELESS! Mason ran down the stairs too fast for me to get the camera and capture Ben's reaction. Ben just got all WIDE-EYED and just kept saying "WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU!?" I'm still smiling thinking about it! TOO MUCH FUN! I think we'll keep it for a week or so... Mason was WAY overdue for his summer buzz anyway! See I'm practical AS WELL as impulsive.... I just like to have a little fun on the way to being practical! :D

Please!.... No "Plumber's Crack" Jokes! HA! HA! :D

WOOHOO! Ben had his graduation ceremony a few weeks ago! We didn't think is was going to be as big and fancy as it was- I was fighting a migraine, and we were running all over the place with errands- so we ALMOST missed it! (that should explain why we are so casually dressed!) I wish we would've dressed up A LITTLE more! HA! HA! OH WELL!

Ben passed his State Written portion test a few days later. Now he is working on his Practical Job portion of his State Licensure. He has to do a job by himself, start to finish, then pass inspection. He's looking like he'll complete that this week!!! So he's in the HOME STRETCH to acheive his JOURNEYMAN!!! We've been truly blessed having moved here! Heavenly Father has held us in his hands and we've felt him opening MANY doors for our behalf!

I'm VERY proud of Ben! I LOVE YOU MOSTEST!!!!!

DRAT!

Her name is Roxy and she has a home that loves and missed her! It's been fun Roxy! Maybe she'll run away again! :D

A Wonderful Easter and Unexpected Company

We had a Fantastic Easter! The day was absolutley gorgeous outside! The Easter Bunny found us and brought Mason a new toddler table/chairs, a game and a some summer outfits! Very stylish EASTER BUNNY! :D Mason is showing us the ART of looking for easter eggs under the couch!

On my way to church, I swurved to miss a wet, little fur ball! Those who know me, know I don't pick up stray dogs... but this little gal was aiming to get hit pretty quick if I didn't do something! So I stopped and she ran away of course! But I still felt like I should do something- Mason and I ran home, got a towel and a pizza to lure her in. She had mud caked all over her. Needless to say, we didn't make it to the majority of church- but I felt I was teaching an important lesson to Mason. Ben, having already been at church for meetings, was getting pretty worried that we weren't there yet. So he came looking for us and joined our little secret mission! :D She's a cute little gal after we cleaned her up! And Mason can't get enough of her!!! She's been fun!

We're looking for her owners of course, but let's just say- that she's growing on us if we can't! So let us know if you know where she belongs.....or name suggestions! :D

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!

One of My FaVoRiTe Things!!!

I don't know why I LOVE this, but I do! One of my favorite things about Mason is watching him eat an apple! Call it CrazyMommaLove! He gets so focused...and his little nose crinkles up... It just makes me smile- like watching a monkey in the zoo trying to figure it out! It's one of those things that makes me realize he's not a baby anymore!!! Just thought I'd share~

It's AMAZING what a Little Professional Help can do!

FINALLY treated myself to the hairdressers for some highlights and a cut. She cut A LOT of the bulk out of it! ... Why didn't anyone TELL ME that I looked like that!!!

BEFORE

AFTER

I'm Ready, Mr. Director!

Here I am enjoying a very INFORMATIVE pamphlet....

BUT WAIT!!..... Whose that on the cover?!
Yes, I've finally hit the BIG TIME! ...Sort of?!

At work- they were redoing the "Mammography and You" pamphlets, that we hand out to patients. They wanted to showcase our NEW DIGITAL machines. (They FREAKIN' ROCK by the way!) And yours truly was picked to play the part of "The Tech"... GOOD THING I've done LOTS of rehearsing for this BIG BREAK! I was told that Matthew McConaughey and I were going to have a close up as well, but then he had to cancel at the last minute...Something about being stuck surfing somewhere...Go figure! But, I DID get my own trailer!... "No- not realy....BUT- you can imagine if I did!" :D ( Points to whomever can name THAT movie... Aren't you glad this is an INTERACTIVE blog experience! HA! HA!)

It was a fun time FULL of laughs! The photographer kept saying, "just smile at the "patient" like you would in REAL life!"

To which I replied, " I DON'T just stand here and smile AT the patient in REAL LIFE!"

...But doesn't Jane, our "patient" here, look like she's having fun! She's one of the RN's I work with...We're BFF's now! :D

Theres a reason I haven't posted a picture of myself in a while...... :D


APRIL FOOLS!!!!!!! No- I'm not pregnant and quit asking when we'll have another one! HA! HA! HA!

Happy April Fool's Day

Ya'll know me as a jokester! I LoVe a good prank! Especially ones that involve a LOT people watching! Here's some pretty funny pranks- I hope you enjoy!:D








ANd who doesn't love THE OFFICE!!! I especially love the Jim vs Dwight pranks! Those two cRaCk me up!


And PLEASE REMEMBER TO PRANK RESPONSIBLY!!!!! :P

In Honor of the Twilight DVD Release...

I'm sorry! I saw this and HAD to LAUGH! HA! HA!..... Sorry again- Still Laughing! HA! HA!

By the way- I liked Twilight.... UNTIL the 4th book! ...NOT SO MUCH!