A day with the family

Today was alot of fun for me, I got to go over to my parent's house and help them put up sheetrock for their new apartment. I learned a really cool trick on how to pull out nails when their heads are all bent out of shape, and I liked watching my brothers Jared and David with my dad. I think now that I am older I appreciate my relationship with my parents more, and see them more as human beings than just "mom" or "dad". After working for several hours we were all pretty tired. Todd and I got the wonderful opportunity to go out to dinner with my parents. Although nothing profound was said, it was nice just to be together as part of our family.

Ben was HILARIOUS! We got him a plate of finger foods from the salad bar. We then proceeded to put the olive slices on his fingers. It was so fun to watch him explore his fingers in a whole new way. He did suck on them for a second, but it seems like everything that went into his mouth also fell out. Whether intentionally or not, I am not sure. He also kind of learned how to drink from a straw. We were giving him water by plugging one side of the straw and then letting the water fall into his mouth. When he started to suck on it to get more water I just filled it up, gave it to him and then quickly stuck the other end into the water cup. He got it! Well. . . at least for a few seconds. Given a few more tries and I think he will have it!

itsy bitsy teeny weeny pink polka dotted table

Way back when. . .ok last October, I received a table from Todd's parents to refinish for some extra Christmas money. My goal, at the time, was to finish the table by Thanksgiving. Yeah. . . it didn't happen. After Todd was laid off and the holidays started creeping closer, the table was placed on the back burner.

After Christmas I set a new goal to have it completed before the open house for Tad and Destiny's wedding on March 5th. I have been working every last minute to complete it on time. After each step I knew I was that much closer to completion. First stripping it of it's old paint, second an after wash to neutralize the stripper. Next, sanding. I hate sanding, but alas after an entire week of sanding to perfection I was ready for the most rewarding step, Staining. Today was the monumental day of staining, or so I thought it would be. I had everything I needed laid out before me, I take the brush and begin. It was a glorious 3 seconds before I realized that something was Dreadfully Wrong. little tiny dots start appearing all over my project like pouring water on a greasy surface. After trying frantically to gently rub it in, or brushing it back and forth praying that it will go away, it did not. After making a few phone calls they say that it would only happen if I didn't do an after wash (which I did) or if I didn't sand it (which I also did). They say that the only way to resolve it is to sand it back down and start all over. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! After waiting 15 minutes for the stain to penetrate to see the true damage, I wipe off the extra stain, and yet another setback. The table is now pink. Not the beautiful mahogany color I was striving for. I am waiting to hear back from a woodworking expert for some guidance on this one. But until then I have itsy bitsy teeny weeny polka dots on my pink table.

wedding plans

Todd's brother Tad is getting married on March 12th. Destiny, his fiance is also Teddy's (Todd's sister) Best Friend. Last week we got the wonderful opportunity to see Destiny's wedding dress at the fitting and alterations session at the store. All the girls on the Wright side came. All in all there were 8 of us, yeah we barely fit in the room, but it was fun to share in her excitement and help her plan her perfect day.

At first I didn't think she wanted me to be a part of the whole thing cause everyone except me will be wearing matching dresses and every time I gave a little tidbit of info I had I felt like it was more of a neusance than a help. However, She came over yesterday and asked if we could spend some time working out her wedding plans cause she has so much to do, and values my opinion. It may sound silly, but I am really trying to be friends with Tad and Destiny, maybe I try to hard, but I think it would be nice to have a few more married friends and I genuinely want to help

Updates on Life

Well. . . as you may remember Todd was laid off from work in early November. We have finally started back on track! We got a job working as newspaper carriers for a local newspaper. On average we will be delivering about 1500 papers a day for 5 days a week! It is alot of work, for both Todd and I, but it will pay the bills, and if we work really hard a bit extra. Todd is also working for a company called Court Ops. They serve summons and complaints for the Third district court. It is a very rewarding job, but very part time. They have TONS of work to do, but you have to be able to catch people when they are home, which is mostly in the evenings and Saturdays. I miss him but it is a good job and we get to hang out in the middle of the day which most couples don't get to do! Last week we got to go to a company party for Court Ops, and it was a ton of fun. It really helped motivate Todd to work even harder and gave me more comfort in seeing the kind of people who work in the company. Almost all of them are LDS, which is really nice to be able to be around people in a rough buisness that can have fun while not being vulgar.

Christmas is here! I am so excited to see people open the gifts that I have gotten for them! Today we are going over to my parents house and we are going to open presents together to allow the married couples a chance to have their own Christmas with just their families. We are all hoping that my sister's boyfriend will be there too, cause it is fun to get to know him, and he seems like a pretty cool guy for my sister, which would be AWESOME if he is and things work out! My sister is moving to the Ukraine for 6 months to teach English, I am more excited for her than if I were going myself!

Mobility

This week has been quite eventful for Ben. He has learned how to move! He has successfully learned how to crawl! We are so excited that he is finally mobile, but I am a little nervous now that he is since. . . well, now he can get into things!

Disneyland

Tad with his. . . ."girlfriend/fiance" (ok who knows what they are) goofing off at the disney shop Ben tried to eat Mickey's nose. . . but all in all Ben liked Mickey

We had a blast at Disneyland. We headed out at about 1:00 on Sunday afternoon, and met up with Tad and his girlfriend Destiny in Provo. After loading into Tad's car we were off! Ben was awesome in the car. When we were about 2 hours from Disneyland, We switched drivers and suddenly. . . the car wouldn't go. The clutch went out on Tad's car, so. . . we all crammed into the Tahoe (13 people in all) and made the rest of the journey all snuggled up close! We left Tad's car at a mechanics shop, and called them the next day to ask them to fix it. All in all. . . We arrived at 1:27 am at the Desert Inn. Then we fell quickly to sleep. The next morning at 7 am we ate breakfast at the hotel, and went to discover Disneyland!

It rained ALL DAY. . . well almost. all morning it was drizzly, and we were all brilliant enough to go on splash mountain when it stopped momentarily. Then it began to pour. By 11:00 we were all drenched and miserable, so we went back to the hotel and changed, ate lunch and we were back at it again. This time we went to California Adventure, which was alot of fun since I have never been there. And of course. . . it didn't rain the entire time we were changing and eating, but as soon as we got back into the park. . . we were walking in 2-3 inches of water, the skies were at it again!

My favorite ride was Screamin'. Of course it is a roller coaster, my favorite. Thankfully they have these passes called stroller passes that let you hop right onto the ride after your group goes through so you can ride too!

Ben got to ride the carousel, which he enjoyed quite a bit! He rode a purple otter.

The next morning we picked up a generator that Todd's dad won on E-bay, and we were on our way back home! We stopped in Barstow and picked up Tad's car. We got back at 5 am! Yeah. . . I am tired

the Good, the Bad and the Turkey

The Good. . .
Todd and I have a fun weekend ahead of us and we are super excited for it. Todd's dad is going down to California to pick something up that he bought on e-bay,and since he is going down there he may as well stop and spend a day in Disneyland, right? And why go alone? So, Todd, Ben and I are going to go down with him! It will be Ben's first time at Disneyland, not that he will remember it, but it will be fun for all of us.

The bad. . .
We have a ward Christmas party coming up soon and I am in charge of it. I was so preoccupied with it and everything else going on while I was making some bread dough, that I somehow lost my wedding ring. I am devastated to think that it is truely gone. I never take my ring off, even when I am making dough, but for some reason I did and I have no clue where it is! I have cleaned the kitchen 3 times, searched the garbage, checked the garbage disposal, everything I can think of! I am so sad that I have lost it, and I feel so weird without it on. I am just praying that I find it, and find it SOON! Every time I walk in the kitchen I think of my ring, and I want to cry!

The Turkey. . .
Like I said earlier I am in charge of the ward Christmas party. It has been an interesting experience. We are serving approximately 275 people. I have purchased 12 turkeys, and getting enough volunteers to cook them all took alot of luck and advertizing. I just hope everything goes well since there are a ton of other ward activities going on that day like a food drive and a sub for santa youth activity.

Life is busy but WONDERFUL. . . .I just need to find my ring and it will be almost perfect!