Saturday

Saturday John & I started working on the front yard at about 7 am. We really should have taken a before/after pic--I can't believe how bad it had gotten.

We basically filled our entire garbage can of dirt, clay, rocks, and a little garbage that we dug up. John pulled out this slab of cement. Lovely.



I clipped the bushes and plants, and John weeded and mowed the grass. We replaced the dirt with new potting soil. I think we worked for like 5-6 hours out there (plus breaks and a trip to Lowe's. There are several things John wants to do to the front--like pull out some plants and replace them. Hopefully later in the fall we can have another yard day and buy some new plants/trees.

Hallie was very good the whole time while we were working. Towards the end, she kept saying, "ah done! ah done!" No, sweetheart, we're not done yet!

She was so funny because she kept seeing bugs and she would get scared and whine and point. She was climbing up on John to get away, and eventually she perched herself like this.

Here she is pointing to the mess "meh!"

Awesome Product

My mom got me these amazing hair appliance organizers for my birthday several months back. They are made with a heat-resilient material for curling irons and flat irons. Here's the dryer size hung up in my closet. Very convenient and out of the way.

Here's my big curling iron and flat iron, so now there's room for my other curling iron on the counter. These things are not expensive, and what a great space-saver.

BTW, I actually have another dryer size that I'm not using-- if anyone wants it, $4?

My Baby's a Pro

At eating cherries....

We sat down with a big bowl of cherries and grapes the other day and she went to town. Pih! Pih! Yes, spit out the pit! Her mouth was covered in dark red juiciness that covered her little dog teeth, as I like to call them.

Hallie has this toy bin that she pushes around the kitchen. Then she stands up on it and wreaks havoc on anything that's left on the counters...let's see, wallets, purses, leftover food that has yet to be cleaned up...papers/ads. She's hilarious when she scoots it over to the fruit bowl. Snacking on peaches and plums, peeling bananas, hey, I guess it's a free-for-all--take a few bites, then put it back.

I have been letting her help bake with me lately. She gets so excited when I ask her to stir something or throw nuts or chocolate chips on top. Funny little thing!

Photo Shoot

We had a photo shoot back in June--here are a few of them. Thanks to Steph! She did a great job, even though we were chasing Hallie the entire time. Maybe next time I'll come to my senses and have someone come help us during picture time.

Watching Hallie run away...

Steph was trying to get one of Hallie sitting and us standing, but Hallie stood up too fast.

6 Years

I love you John. Can you believe we've been married

to each other for 6 years?!

What fun we've had.
We got married on July 11, 2003. It was the best day of my life.

We graduated from BYU in 2005--
John in Business Finance, me in Dietetics.

We spent 2 years in AZ while John worked at Intel

and I worked on becoming an RD.

Now we have a baby daughter who we smother with love every day. She's almost 2. Yikes!

Looking forward to more delightful years of marriage with you!

Desperation

If you find yourself desperate like I was last night, do the following:

• Melt 1 cup of chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate/peanut butter swirl chips) and 1/2 cup of crunchy peanut butter in a bowl.
• Then add 3 cups of rice crispies and mix.
• Dump into a square pan and flatten with the back of the spoon.
• Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes or blast chill in the freezer for faster results (yes, I couldn't wait).

These are delicious little treats, super fast, and uses things you probably already have.

ENJOY!

Normalcy

The following quote is how most Americans live:

Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for - in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it. -Ellen Goodman

Copied this from another blog...interesting thought.