the computer is still sick but starting to get fixed thanks to dr. ryan- he is replacing the hard drive himself- yikes. so no fun holiday pictures for now, but we sure did have a great time. colette's first Christmas was very cute and special. colorado was dry and cold but still lots of fun hanging out with the family in the lodge.
resolutions 2013:
01. wake up early most days of the week
02. finish those projects!
03. LISTEN
04. finally make the linen closet tidy and lovely
05. drink more water
i don't have any plans to read twilight...ever. but i do enjoy watching the movies simply because i find them hilarious. hilariously cheesy.
ry and i went to the dollar theater when Up had already been out for awhile. i think i cried almost the entire first half of the movie. SO adorable and touching.
today we went to the doctors to check up on baby girl and how she is doing. hearing her heartbeat is my favorite thing. getting weighed? my least favorite thing- ha!
Attended a good friend's baby shower this morning:
I spent a lot of effort wrapping her gift the night before only to have a grandma point at my tummy and say:
G: "Is this your first baby?"
Me: "Yes I'm so excited!"
G: "Well once it comes you won't have time to do any of that anymore..." (points to my nicely wrapped gift)
Me: "Good thing I'm enjoying my time now huh?"
*All this happening as my friend is unwrapping her gift in front of everyone- good timing grandma!
I just want to know- what gives!? Maybe granny you are just jealous and wish you knew how to wrap a gift cute like that. Almost wanted to say- "Granny you must still have kids at home because your gift looks like it took 2 seconds to wrap."
ooooh.
Sorry I'm having a negative pregnant lady moment- I'm sure you (or maybe later) can relate. But I do think its funny- I love it when other people tell me how my life will be after baby.
Only God knows people! I have no idea and neither does anyone else. The only thing I do know is that it will be different, but I believe that to be a good thing.
Hope you have a great weekend- we are putting up the curtains in baby's room and I pray they will look nice...
it's amazing how desperate you can get when you are running on only a few hours of sleep. luckily i didn't buy more things when i was in the roughest part of my cold/cough of two weeks ago. i kept googling "relief for dry throat" because my throat was pretty much dry as a desert because i could not breathe through my extremely stuffy nose; i came across these sinus cones and decided to give them a try.
what appealed to me was that they are completely drug-free and supposedly worked right away- good for a pregnant lady. it took about 2 days to get to me (not bad) with regular shipping. by the time they reached me however, my cold was still uncomfortable, but not as bad as in the beginning. so i can't tell you how well these could have worked if your nose was completely stuffy- as in no air coming through your nasal passages at all.
when these did arrive i was able to have a little bit of air come through one nostril- still not comfy but better than a complete blockage.
so the question is- did these work? answer- kinda.
the sinus cones helped open up my nasal passageways but since my nose was still stuffy it still didn't really make a huge difference. after about 2 more days when my stuffy nose started clearing up more the sinus cones started to make a bigger difference.
bottom line:
sinus cones worked but for me they were not "magical."
it is nice to have these when your congestion is already easing up- they will help to allow more air so you can breathe easier through your nose. im happy i purchased them, after reading about pregnant ladies getting stuffier noses as the pregnancy progresses i bet they will be used again soon.
you can find more info here
*by the way one set of nasal cones will last for 3 months if worn 24/7
let me tell you a story from middle school. already interested eh? middle school stories usually end up so humorous- sadly this one is not.
in middle school i met a girl named, let's call her wisty. i befriended wisty from a class we shared. wisty was funny, sarcastic and loved to laugh loud. for a while i felt so happy to be friends with her. there was something that i didn't really like about our relationship though... she was kind of mean. not the kind of mean where she would yell at me or something like that, but the subtle mean. you know what im talking about- the small, sly comments that she would sneak into conversations. nope. not good.
wondering about the cute rainbow striped sweater above? my mom and i went to target for fall school shopping before seventh grade started. joy! there was a cute pastel rainbow striped sweater. mom and i agreed- it was adorable. so we bought it and i wore it that week.
wisty had to comment. my memory is not perfect but im pretty sure it went something like this:
"you know that rainbow means gay? that sweater makes others think you are gay."
i rushed to the bathroom and tried not to cry. quickly i took off my, what i thought was beautiful, sweater and stuffed it in my backpack.
i told my mom about the incident and she said not to listen to what wisty said. still, the pretty sweater stayed hanging in my closet the rest of the school year never worn again.
she wouldn't be mean to just me but to others too- frequently behind their backs. the worst part? i started to become like wisty. i started to gossip, be secretive and mean behind others backs. seriously, not pretty. i even became mean to her- even more blunt and rude.
looking back i am not happy with the way i acted and wish i could go back and tell myself to not be that way. luckily, in high school i made the choice to change. not perfect, but i definitely improved.
wisty had lots of struggles. struggles that had more things that i didn't fully understand. wisty dealt with body image issues, divorced parents and other things that i just don't know about.
i should have been a better example to her. had i acted instead of being acted upon, maybe our friendship would have been better. instead of letting all the negativeness engulf our group- i could have let positiveness
be stronger.
lesson to be learned? don't be a mean girl. it's not the right thing to do and it's just not nice.
hope you have a thoughtful thursday.
still sick! my cold has become less intense (yea!) but now a strong cough has come :( ...but i think i am healing slowly but surely.
im already anticipating spring- can't wait to plant a new garden!
hello there. i promise i have not been ignoring ze blog but i have been so sick recently! i think i deserve the stuffiest nose award- literally cannot breathe through my nose. sleeping has been so difficult.
turns out that little cold from a few days days ago has morphed into scary monster cold- my nurse doesn't think its a sinus infection as of now so i got to try some new medicine that will hopefully give me relief and get me on track to recovery. but its terrible. seriously not fun. i have never been super sick before, so this is quite a change.
thank you to friends who have come to the rescue with advice and things to help me out.
can't wait to feel normal again! well at least as normal as i can while pregnant haha.
not feeling radiant today, under the weather- not from morning sickness though (yea!)- trying to take it easy. so excited for the nursery of little miss. nothing fancy but im just excited to get everything in order.
first resolution of this year?
tackle all my "stuff"- organize it, give it away, whatever- as long as everything has a place. any organizing tips? i always love learning about that kind of thing. never gets old.
happy new year friends. funny how things tend to go opposite of what you plan- this has been one busy holiday season! did not get around to a Christmas card this year- ill put more effort for Valentines Day :)
in the midst of all the busy-ness ry and i feel especially blessed for all the happenings of this year.
here are a few fun events of 2011 (in no particular order):
01. our first house
02. our first serious garden
03. baby! we are already falling in love with little miss
04. our first "pretty" couches- (white ikea ektorps! haha)
05. my brother left for his mission (awesome!)
wishing you a happy, healthy and creative new year!
i have had a very strong craving for pumpkin chocolate cookies, then i thought to myself what about pumpkin hot chocolate? ooooh. when i googled pumpkin hot chocolate i came across this recipe and a fun blog called cookies and cups. super cute name. can't wait to try this out! maybe i will make it as i wait for trick or treaters tonight.
a pet peeve i wanted to discuss: teenagers trick or treating without a costume. WHY?! if you are going to go trick or treating you should wear a good costume! thoughts on this? i wanted to hand out apples to those teens who failed to dress appropriately, but ry said we better not or else we might get egged or TPeed. fabulous.
update on morning sickness: it is getting better, but sometimes i still get quite sick with nausea. funny how the only thing that will make you feel better is food when food is what you want to run away from. i crave menchies frozen yogurt with strawberry crunches. wowie. ry and i went to menchies for the first time friday night and im in love. its just super cute. my favorite flavor? peanut butter and the tart original. not that great together, but so good by themselves. ry and i don't eat a lot of sugar (besides with this pregnancy lol) so when we go out to frozen yogurt we share a cup and only put a bit of each flavor that appeals to us. maybe people think we are weird but i suppose its better for us and less expensive. win-win.
hope you try out this hot chocolate! im planning on it :)
2 1/2 cups milk
1/3 cup hot cocoa mix (no marshmallows)
1/4 cup canned pumpkin
1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp. vanilla
pinch of salt
whipped cream or marshmallows optional
In a medium sauce pan over medium low heat whisk together your milk and hot cocoa mix.
Add your canned pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice.
Heat until desired temperature is reached.
Pour into glasses and top with whipped cream and/or marshmallows and a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice.
this song has been stuck in my head since i first saw this movie
i love it
when i think of tangles i think of the mess in my house, spaghetti, play dough and hair
today is a busy day filled with more attempts at arranging the casual living room
vacuuming (my least favorite chore)
and doing piles and piles of laundry
hope you have a happy busy tuesday!
*went to target this morning for the Missoni collection- i saw 3 ladies with their carts not just full but exploding with Missoni goodness- guess i should have woken up earlier!
hi there! we are happy to be home minus the tornado that danced through our house. we had a great time visiting with family in mexico. pictures to come tomorrow. it was a great way to enjoy the last bit of summer- even though it rained most of the time (no sunburn-yea!). unfortunately, i am under the weather and trying to get as much rest as possible right now. too bad since cleaning and cooking seriously needs to happen.
today on my twitter feed i found the new lancome fragrance ad featuring emma watson. lancome fragrance ads tend to be cheesy, but i still love them. happy wednesday!
the months of august and september always fill me with joy. the thought of fall leaves, school starting just around the corner, crayons & college ruled paper, a new outfit, and apples (weird i know).
love that my new calling at church is achievement day assistant. i get to help plan the activities for the 8-11 year old girls- they are just so cute! next monday i will be doing a hair activity (scheduled for the first day of school) to give the girls some fun ideas for the upcoming year.
recently, i have been feeling extremely blessed (i should be thinking/feeling this way all the time!). ry and i are looking forward to making some changes in the house and in our lifestyle to just improve. i cannot be more happy that i married a man that prefers to help me clean or do a house project over anything else. for me, that has been a huge blessing in our marriage.
sometimes, i take this for granted and i don't want to anymore.
i used to be so concerned with relationships that were not really important. in the end, i think its the relationships that i have with my spouse and family that will really count. not that i don't love my friends because i appreciate them more than they probably think.
i know that i can be a better and more loving wife than i thought i could be.
cheers to knowing that we can improve
it's just a matter of making that change.
have a great weekend!
im off to a wedding and spending time with my family
this video made me sad. and made me think about sunscreen!
its time for prevention!
sunscreen is the one thing you should not be forgetting with all the fun outdoor activities you have planned for the summer, here are some of my favorites
*the only time i stray away from using sunscreen is when i plan on getting photographed. the sunscreen will give you a strange glow that will make you look ghostly in photos.
** put sunscreen on first. it should be in direct contact with your skin. not layered on top of some other product. unless its acne treatment- that would be the first to be in contact with your skin, then sunscreen. (this is all based on what i have researched on my own and my own routine)
for everyday (throughout the whole year, not just summer):
Clinique Super City Block Oil-Free Daily Face Protector SPF 40 ($18)
i love this as an everyday face and neck sunscreen. this is not a moisturizer! the color is a flattering nude shade-not Casper white- and has a nice thin consitency. its just right for everyday.
Eucedrin Face Sensitive Skin Everyday Protection Lotion SPF 30 ($8)
a great moisturizer & sunscreen mix. and its cheap. yippee! the texture is nice and light- it sinks right into my combo skin quite nicely. highly recommend. i do not think it is moisturizing enough for the wintertime though. it fits the bill for spring/summer, but winter/fall needs a bit more moisture.
for outdoor activities:
Aveeno Continuous Protection Sunblock Lotion with SPF 70 for Face ($10)
the texture of this sunscreen is great for the face. not greasy and not too thick. however, i do notice that when i layer my foundation and concealer over this sunscreen i have a "ghost glow." a little bit of blush and/or bronzer fixes the problem. i deal with the "ghost glow" for good sun protection. and no funny sunscreen smell, although i must admit the smell of sunscreen brings back good memories of my childhood.
Aveeno Hydrosport Sunblock Spray with SPF 85 (more info here)
wonderfully thin, not greasy, not too shiny. its awesome! it blended into my skin nicely and did not just "sit on top" of my skin. a great option for outdoors. (have not tested this swimming yet).
Coppertone Sport Sunscreen Continuous Spray SPF 70+ ($9)
another great option that i used a lot while swimming. this has a more shiny finish to it but i felt like it stayed on my skin pretty long. the smell is stronger for me, but it's not bothersome.
these are so great! they get the ears and nose perfectly- and they don't rub off as fast as other types of sunscreens. i also like using on the tops of my hands and feet. its also great to throw in the beach bag or your purse. i know its not a moisturizer, but i would like to start using it as a cuticle balm to keep dryness out and protect from the sun of course.
i only remember getting burned once in my life. my best friend and i went to the beach like most California girls do and go boogie boarding and swimming then lay out to get tan. well, all we did was get burned! haha. i never thought i had the type of skin to get burned.
well, when i went home that evening my dear mother lectured me for a long time.
no more sun.
lots of sunscreen.
carry umbrellas when you walk home from school.
yes, most of the days that i did walk home i carried umbrellas to block the sun.
to this day i have my mom to thank for my suncare vigilance. she is a great example to me. she doesn't look her age at all either. she tells me it's because she stayed out of the sun and wore a lot of sunscreen. i believe her and hope to age as well as she is. no i am not going to tell you her age because she would get really upset at me!
hope this little list helps you on your way to blissful sunscreen happiness! good luck friends!
