1996

Check out Mark as a surf bum in his glory days. I keep this picture on my fridge to remind myself how smoking HOT he is. (Are you seeing the tan, six pack abs and the pecs??)

Go on, I know you're having a good chuckle at the dresses. Hey--I won the evening gown competition in that thing. And hot pink is still my second favorite color.

What were you doing in 1996?

Last night at like, 12:30, Mark decided to haul out his high school yearbook from his senior year in 1996. (One of those random things you do when you're up late already and figure why not do something...) His graduating class only had 75 people in it, so it didn't take long to look through. He had a good time showing me the 12 different girls that had crushes on him, the rednecks, the jocks, his old girlfriends, etc. Looking at everyone made me realize that high school dorkiness must really be a universal thing.

I was a freshman in 1996. I was mostly just dancing a lot and trying to keep straight A's. Fairly boring. Oh, the picture above (which I probably shouldn't have posted because it's copyrighted) was the 1996 Hurricane City Royalty. I was in the pageant two years in a row and the second year won second runner-up. We mostly just built a float (which won a big prize but I can't remember what) for the annual Washington County Fair parade and represented our city during the fair. Then we helped put on the pageant the next year. Fun fact: my sister-in-law Lori Murset was also second runner-up in the Miss Hurricane pageant a couple years later. Post a picture, Lori!!

Aahhh, small town life.

Anyways, Natalie has tagged me. I know you're all tired about hearing about me, but what the heck.

3 Joys
* Watching Madelyn learn new things
* Watching Mark succeed and be liked wherever he goes
* Being creative

3 Fears
* cliff ledges
* needles
* fear of getting really sick again the next time I get pregnant

3 Goals
* Finish getting ready to have 8 people come stay at my house in a couple weeks. I have a HUGE to-do list
* Somehow potty-train Madelyn
* To go to bed at a reasonable time (ha!), stop being late to church (ha, ha!), and to refrain from going shopping so much (...who am I kidding?)

3 Obsessions/Collections
* Well, I'm obsessive about a lot of things: cleaning, crafting, shopping, taking pictures, blogging...
* I collect ballet ornaments for my Christmas tree
* I also collect pens, markers, pencils and stickers

3 Random,Surprising facts
* I have a crooked uvula (dangly thing in the back of your throat). A nerve probably got tweaked when I had my wisdom teeth surgery.
* Although I am a clean freak in regards to my yard and my house, my car is always a filthy pig sty.
* I have Achoo syndrome. Also known as "photic sneeze" or "helio-ophthalmic outburst syndrome". (http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=11491) Basically, I always sneeze when I come into bright light. Pay attention next time you watch me walk out into the glaring sun.

Well, that was fun. If Liz, Kelly, Rashahn and Jen want to do it, then I tag them.

Happy Father's Day!

This is Mark's favorite daddy daughter picture.

6-15-08

Just wanted to say Happy Father's Day!!! to all the dads I know, but especially to my hubby Mark. He is such a good dad and I appreciate all he does for Madelyn. She definitely has him wrapped around her little finger! He is always taking her on little outings and playing with her. He is so patient and kind and almost never raises his voice with her (me...well that's a different story because I'm with her 24/7...)

Anyway, he has always been ready and willing to give baths, change diapers, or do whatever. Although he hates to brush her teeth and always makes me do it. And he never washes her plastic bibs when he's washing the dishes and leaves them all for me. But--other than that he's a super dad. Here's some pictures of him in action when Madelyn was a baby. If you ask him, I think he'd prefer to be the one to stay home and take care of her and have me go back to work!

P.S. Yes, she even looks like him. A little girl version of Mark.

Isotopes game

6/11/08

Last night, we got to go to an Albuquerque Isotopes game. They are our resident Minor League baseball team. (For you outsiders who aren't aware, Albuquerque has a long history dealing with the building of atomic bombs. Hence the dorky chemical name.) Mark had a friend of friend who got us free tickets. It was so fun!

They won the game against the "Round Rock Express". At least we think they did because we left after 3 hours. But they were up by about 10 points. Anyways, Mark had been dying to get an Isotopes baseball hat (...he embraces anything dorky and/or chemical. Although "the Isotopes" is an awesome name compared to "Round Rock Express." What the heck is that supposed to mean??), and Madelyn ended up getting a pink hat herself. And a small pink wooden bat, which Mark assures me she won't use to bash in our furniture.

We had a good time eating, buying hats, walking around, playing on the playground equipment, teaching Madelyn to do somersaults, and generally ignoring the game. Isn't that what it's all about? :)

Check out my Slide Show!

Lend Me Your Arm...

A lot of these were just restrung right from the plastic string they came on, so no designing was involved (in other words, don't be too impressed...)

I have to admit, it's going to be hard to part with some of these, they're so cute!

Thanks, Mom for passing on your crafting gene

6/10/08

So, if you didn't think I was obsessive/crazy before, here is new proof. I have been on a beading kick the last two days (picture Mark rolling his eyes) and here's what I made. 54 bracelets!! Count 'em!! (If you click on the pictures, they enlarge.) It all started out innocently enough. I had a few people I wanted to make little girl baby bracelets for. Then I also had a backlog of beads I had bought months and months ago to make into bracelets for myself, but had never gotten around to it.

The baby bracelets are only 3-4 inches long and so only take about 5-10 minutes a piece. If I have to search around for the right pattern or combination, it takes longer. But all of them are unique. So let's see. If you add it all up...carry the nine...divide by 60...OK, so I was holed up in my craft room for the better part of two days (and nights). But I want you to know I kept up with my chores and everything else I was supposed to do. Really.

If anyone besides Monica, Rachel or Lori wants to step forward and tell me they have a baby girl in need of accessories, then I'll gladly share.

So Many Things...

6/7/08

Hi y'all. It's been nearly four days since I've posted and it seems like forever.

Firstly, I have to recommend that you all take a look at this couple's blog: http://robandamy.blogspot.com
I happened upon it while I was looking for our friends Rob and Amy Shupe's blog. Amy couldn't remember the exact address of theirs, so I was just trying my luck typing in their names. Well, this is not the same Rob and Amy we know, but OH MY GOSH GO LOOK AT THEIR BLOG. They happened to be living in Europe (their last post was a year and a half ago), are LDS, just had their first baby, and every new post is them vacationing in a different country. (Egypt, Italy, Monaco, Spain, Malta, Tunisia, Iceland, Germany, London, Holland, Czech Republic, to name a few.) I am so insanely jealous. I don't want them to know I'm sending all you total strangers to look at their blog, but it really has to be seen to be believed. In my wildest dreams, I could live a month like them. It's just not fair. This woman was 40 weeks pregnant and managed to take a trip to Belgium.

Sighhhhh.....

Anyways, my friend Liz (who has seen the aforementioned blog and agrees with me) tagged Mark to post 7 unique things about himself. Since he is being a party pooper about it, I am going to go ahead and do it for him.

7 Unique Things About Mark

1. He is 1/4 Chinese but over 1/2 German
2. He is the 9th out of 10 children
3. He has very tiny sneezes
4. His favorite thing to do is surf (thanks to growing up near the ocean in North Carolina)
5. He is slightly obsessed with World War II. Since he wasn't around back then, he spends a lot of time as Carbon 31, a soldier on Call of Duty 4 (online WWII computer game), wreaking havoc. He is at level 55 already--the highest you can go.
6. He is a bona fide biology geek.
7. He used to be a phlebotomist and stick people with needles all day. Now he's going to be a PA and continue to get up close and personal with people and their various orifices and such.

So there you go. I want to tag Kev and Lori, since they never responded to my last tag.

OK, so here's some pictures from this week:

Madelyn playing with her new friend Madison Shupe, whose daddy Rob is trying to get into PA school here.

It's cute to watch the girls copying what they see their dads do with their little doctor kit.

Madelyn has a new way of amusing herself--finding some water and drenching her hair. (In this case, water from the washing machine as it was filling up.)

During lunch with Mark's colleagues at a ritzy Italian restaurant downtown, all Madelyn wanted to do was climb all over the landscaping.

Mark's colleague Stephanie said, "I have a Care Bears sticker for Madelyn!" Turns out it was a decal of the Grateful Dead bears. It is now on my back left window.

Apparently, Princess Belle sparkle nail polish is just as exciting for little boys as it is for girls. Connor also opted for Princess Jasmine purple, Cinderella blue, and Ariel pink. If one color looks good, four different ones must be even better.

Connor and Elyse are two of Madelyn's best friends. They are partners in crime. (Minutes after this picture was taken, Elyse threw half the wet sand out of the sandbox...Madelyn got it in the face and was screaming...)

It's good to have friends.

Check out my Slide Show!