Bed Head

I went to get Natalie out of bed after her nap today and this is what I found...

Definitely takes after her father! =)

While I Was Gone...

Natalie developed a lot of new tricks while I was gone. She's apparently able to say "all gone" and can blow kisses now. She also roars like a lion when you ask her what a lion says and makes elephant and bird noises too. Next trip I'll take she'll probably start dating while I'm away.

Jody (our nanny) has been an AWESOME god-send while I've been gone. She has taken care of baths and taken Natalie to story time and practially narrates every activity of the day to Natalie. I've really noticed the devleopmental changes in her with all of the verbal and creative interaction. In many respects I think Jody is a better playmate than I could be for Natalie since I've got my nose in my work. We love her and are so thankful God provided someone so reliable for this busy time in our lives.


Arizona was nice as far as the weather and scenery goes. It was sunny there the whole time, reaching 70 every afternoon. It was hard being away from Kevin and Natalie, though and I'm looking forward to wrapping things up there. I fly out again next week for a week and then I'm done. Christmas is going to fly by this year - I know it. I'm debating on whether I should go to the trouble of putting up all 3 of my Christmas trees this year or not since it will be for all of 2-3 weeks and I'll be fighting a toddler off of the ornaments during her every waking moment.
Here are a few pics from my trip to Arizona. Pretty - but brown. I like snow covered mountains. Apparently they DO get snow - just not yet.


Grand Canyon view from the plane on the way to my Las Vegas layover. Did you know they have slot machines in the airport there? Weird!



Some pretty scenery pictures around Ft. Huachuca (in Southern Arizona)

Twilight (the movie) ... such a disappointment!

I just got back from seeing Twilight while out here in Arizona. (Because you know I don't get time to get out of the house much at night when I'm at home!) I was horribly disappointed... the movie completely sucked. It was full of so much overacting and lacked plot elements needed to build up the characters and make us "believe" the story... The movie was a complete cheezification of the whole romantic story told in the books! I thought the casting was terrible; Edward and Jacob were totally wrong and Bella wasn't right. The audience was laughing out loud when we should have been drawn in by the story. I'm glad I only paid $6.25 to go see it (a bonus of rural Arizona). What a waste of two hours!!

Its 11pm and I've got to start in on the first couple chapters of the 4th book before I go to bed so I can rid my mind of this pitiful attempt at a portrayal of a great story.

Work, work and more work.

I've been working this week in Sierra Vista, Arizona (at the southern tip of the state). It's a been a 7 day a week ordeal and I have to say I'm SO glad this aren't my normal hours. I head home next Sunday (23rd) and I'm counting down the days. I hate what I've been missing with Natalie and Kevin and am anxious to get back. Apparently she said "thank you" while I was away and Kevin said the other night when we were chatting on the phone that she was blowing kisses to me. *sigh* Bout made my little heart break right in half!


So my sister recommended a book to me and I've literally devoured all 498 pages of it and 563 pages of the sequel within the past few days. There's two more books in the series that are out and I plan to read them before I go home. They are SO good. The book is called Twilight and there's a movie coming out this Friday that I plan on going to see.

This book isn't my normal reading fare - although I haven't had much time when I'm home to read much of anything recently. It's a vampire book and has an incredible love story in it. I (like many other girls who have read this book) find myself totally crushing on the guy character for all of his perfect characteristics. I can't wait to read more and envy the heroine and then I remember... this book was written by a WOMAN. And the guy she's created does not exist in real life. Do you ever notice how "fairy tale" love stories in books/tv/movies are? Do you ever think it's unfair? Because when you have to live the day-to-day life with a crying baby, tugging at your leg while you're trying to make dinner after a day's work and your lovely darling husband is super tired from sitting in a hour of traffic and maybe a little bit grumpy (as you tend to be YOURSELF from time to time) stories like these make you a tad bit unsatisfied with life for a split second. Ok, let me just spell out that I'm very happy in my marriage and very blessed to have such a loving, wonderful and involved husband.

Don't get me wrong...I just think that we (as women) have to watch ourselves in what we allow books/tv/movies to tell us is "normal" in regards to relationships. I remember (when Kevin and I were first married) thinking that he should comfort me and try to console me right after I ripped into him about something because he should see that "maybe there was something else bothing me". This is what I had seen modeled in all of the romantic movies I had seen. The guy had always had an unnaturally soft spot for the girl no matter if she had just tried to run him over with her car. But the natural human response isn't to cuddle up to something that just tore into you and ate you for lunch. And love stories don't exactly show that. There's always a happy ending (well, except for Romeo and Juliet).

I really think that all of this fraudulent representation of real love and our society's mantra of "if it feels good it must be right" leads people to a lot of unhappiness in their pursuit for fulfilment in that "perfect relationship". Let's face it folks, no relationship is perfect - like on the movies. And although Edward Cullen (Twilight) and Mr. Darcy (Pride and Prejudice) are dashing and seemingly perfect, they were created BY women and FOR women. Real relationships take grit, tears and hard work to get the seemingly effortless love that happens in a 2 hour movie. But I tend to think that all that hard work is what makes the love that much stronger in the end. That's my story...and I'm sticking to it.

Update: I was listening to my iPod tonight and this song struck me as fairly appropriate for this blog entry...especially the chorus. Fast forward to the 53 second mark if you're impatient.

I've Been Tagged

I'm really slow at blogging sometimes, so I'm just now responding to a tag I got on Nov 4th from my friend Heather.

Okay, here are the rules:
Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their name as well as links to their blog.
Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. I ALSO wear socks to bed all year round.


2. I've had laser eye surgery twice and I still wear glasses. Thank you, pregnancy.


3. I'm addicted to panini sandwiches. I bought a panini maker off of Craigslist and I make them all the time. Fresh mozz, pesto, roasted red peppers, turkey and a little Tuscan Sunset seasoning blend from Penzeys all on a rosemary olive oil bread... I'm in heaven.


4. I'm not big into movies. I generally feel they're a waste of time and generally have to be doing something else during them. This drives my husband crazy.


5. I can't stand heart jewelry. If my husband would have proposed with a heart-shaped diamond I would have said no. =)


6. I can't curl my tounge or roll it or flip it over or any fun tricks. It's very boring.


7. I moved to Baltimore from Springfield, MO with 11 boxes to my name about 7 years ago. That's the cheapest move I'll ever make.

I now tag....

Miriam
Angela
Angie
Katie (have you had that baby yet?)
Kera
Jill
Rachel

This Weekend and the End of the World.

Well, it was a packed weekend - but I got a lot accomplished. You know that list that you have in the back of your mind of all the projects you'd like to finish but you really keep putting off? I always have a list of say 10 or so things on that list. This weekend I actually finished some of them and its a huge sigh of relief.

Totally Exciting List of Things Lauren Did This Weekend...

• Painted the living room - the same color. It kinda sucks because no one (including my husband) really will notice, but I did get rid of the many nail holes and smudge marks that were driving me crazy.


• Hemmed and hung new curtains in the living room. We've really had none the past year and our living room was a total fishbowl.


• Finished Natalie's baby scrapbook, chronicling the first year. I already am anticipating the next kids' book is going to be a slide-the-pictures-in-the-slots album. I mean, I aspire for more, but shall I just be honest with myself???
  


• I got started on painting some furniture I bought for Natalie (a little table and chairs). Granted it's not done, but I started.

I HATE painting. So these projects are ones that I've been putting off for some time.

What do you put off???

So if you're still with me and not asleep about my to-do lists... yeah for you! I'll switch gears now and get some of you fired up and may lose the rest.

What do you think about the end of the world?

Do you think it's coming? Do you think it will happen in our lifetime? Do you WANT to think about it? I don't. I try not to. I'd rather just not think about it and live my life now because, seriously, what am I going to do about it? I mean if something happens where the whole world goes to war and is obliterated by nukes, then what good is it really going to do me to think/worry/fret about that now?

And if you're a Christian, what do you think about this? This has come under recent scrutiny in our house. Do you think it's a sign of the world government in which the anti-Christ will rise up? I don't like these discussions. I feel like some things are just inevitable. And if I'm alive to see them, then I'll deal with them as they come. But surmising whether something IS a sign or ISN'T a sign is just that to me... surmising. I know that seems to some like just "sticking your head in the sand" but maybe that's just how I deal with the thought of potential death, destruction and mayhem.

How do you deal with stuff like this???

So I'll leave you with a few pictures of Natalie and me this weekend. While I feel like I'm constantly attempting to keep her from killing herself (falling down the stairs, grabbing knives out of the dishwasher, flushing herself down the toilet, etc), this is a really fun age.


Here's a picture of Natalie "reading" Good Night Moon...upside down. She's SO serious sometimes.

Well, it's FINALLY done.

The house is finally painted and we're happy with the color. It's just our FIFTH choice. Seriously, we went through that many quarts to pick a color. I definitely don't have an eye for color when it comes to looking at a little swatch - but this you already know.

So here's the final result. We have both resolved to never paint this house again. It will either mean us moving before the house needs it again or it will mean we'll just cave and buy vinyl siding.

Oh, and see that sign in our yard? No, we did NOT have a very good night last night. Grrrr.