The Awesome Page...

Spoiler Alert!

2010-12-15T14:11:00.000-08:00

Check it out! This was the free Christmas Card I was able to make thanks to Shutterfly! They are amazing!

Snowflake Bliss Christmas Card

Turn your pictures into personalized Christmas cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0BZOWLRq3csXGw

Flutterby???? No! It's SHUTTERFLY!

2010-12-10T12:20:00.001-08:00

I first found out about Shutterfly back in 2006 after my wedding. I wanted to create a photo wedding album and looked around for ones that were decently priced but look had a high quality look to them…enter Shutterfly! I was so impressed with the quality that when my sister got married a yearl later, my mom asked me to make a wedding album for her. Not a problem at all! They make it so easy! Even with a demanding full time job and the fact that I am a perfectionist, I was able to have that album complete in no time! Since that time, I have used Shutterfly for many of my personalized print jobs. I have definitely taken advantage of their photo cards. There is just something special about giving someone a card that was personalized specifically for them. The fact that they know you took the time to make something extra special for them shows that you care all the more. Since my husband and I decided to expand our family, the whole Christmas card scene has become a little more important to us than we ever would have previously thought! It is so nice to show family and friends a little slice of the joy in your life at such a joyful time of year. Shutterfly gives you many choices to share your joy! Look here at their Christmas card selection…over 800 different choices! With that many choices, you will have a snowball’s chance in you-know-where of making the same card as someone on your correspondence list. There are so many stylish options, but I think I am leaning toward this one or this one. But above the quality, selection, and great prices, I probably love the excellent no-hassle customer service! There was one time I made some photo cards for Father’s Day. When I received my order, I didn’t get the correct amount of a certain print. At most places the customer would be blamed for the mistake (maybe you didn’t hit “print” on the correct project, etc.), but not at Shutterfly! All I did was call them up and explain my issue and they sent me the correct project, no questions asked! It was great..and timely! But anyway, we are talking Christmas here…I was thinking it would be great to make some special photo gifts for our extended, out-of-town family. Now, let’s be honest, now that we have a baby, no one really cares about me and the Mr. anymore – it’s all about the little man! I am really liking these little snap books! What a great way to carry your most recent pictures in tidy and compact, yet professional –looking book! Ok, enough of that. It’s time to get on shutterfly.com and make some great photo projects!

Wyatt turns 1 year old!

2010-12-03T11:57:00.000-08:00

I am not going to dwell on why I haven't posted anything in over 6 months...I just didn't. Lot's of life changes. Here's to becoming better!

Our sweet little bubba turned one on October 29th! We had a birthday party for him at my parent's house on the 30th...yes, there was a Halloween theme. The guests were allowed to wear costumes, but many did not. Wyatt was a ferocious dragon, but those pics are on my other camera, so I will get those on here one day. He didn't really know what was going on at the party other than there were a lot of people there and he liked that! This boy loves to be social. He never really got any stranger anxiety, which could be good or bad, depending on how you look at it. He wasn't really into his presents, but he sure did like the tissue paper - that was his favorite part! The cake was interesting too...He took a few finger swipes and tasted the frosting. I don't think he really knew what to do. I took matters into my own hands and smashed his hand into the cake...and it was all downhill from there. I think he thought the cake was something to destroy more than something to eat. It was a great day and we were so glad that so many family friends were able to make it - especially his Nammy, Grandpa, and Great Granny all the way from Bishop!

And here are a few pics from the party:

I WANT TO WIN!

2010-11-30T22:25:00.000-08:00

I want to win more than I want you to win, but just for the "thrill of the chase," as it were, head on over to http://www.cjaneanswers.com/p/mix-this.html and try to win this awesome mixer!

I don't have one of these, but would sure like this one! then, maybe, my hands wouldn't get so tired when i bake. good luck to all!

Well, hello mighty blogosphere!

2010-05-26T10:16:00.000-07:00

You wanna know why I never kept a journal? Because I can not consistently update it! Alas, here is my "every-two-month- update. Scroll down and you will find two separate posts. See what we've been up to!

Mother's Day

2010-05-26T10:13:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day was nice. Very low-key. We started celebrating on Saturday because on Sunday we had a nurse coming to our house to take blood and do physical's on us for our life insurance policies. Giving blood and urine does not make for a pleasant Mother's Day.

On Saturday Cameron let me sleep in. He fed Wyatt and took care of him. I slept in until 10am! Wow! I woke up and Cam was making breakfast and there were some lovely lilies in a vase waiting for me. So pretty. I really didn't want to do much that day other than take it easy. On Sunday, we had our physicals and went to church. Cam gave me my gift. He enlisted the help of our friend Lorie to do some hand and footprints of Wyatt and put them in some frames. Very cute!

Wyatt is 6 months old!

2010-05-26T10:05:00.000-07:00

So, that is totally, like, half of a year! I know, right? Weird!

We are a little sad that 6 months has flown by as fast as it has. We try so very hard to soak up every moment...but it's hard when our full-time job can't be playing with our son. Wouldn't that be great, though? I would love to be paid to take care of my kid(s)...or if someone wanted to pay me...but I digress...

I had a little photo shoot the day he turned six months (April 29). We went to the doctor for his check up at 6.5 months. He is about 27.5 inches long in the 75th percentile. His head is also in the 75th percentile, but I forget how many inches. His weight, however, is somewhat puzzling - he weighed 15 lbs. 12 oz. and was in the 10th percentile. The chart showed that he actually lost 2 ounces since his last visit. Totally wierd. But he DOES eat, that much I can tell you.

Wyatt has started eating more and more solid foods. He loves rice cereal. He likes carrots, green beans, mango, sweet potato, peas, and berries. He dislikes banana and pureed meats (ham, so far). We also started feeding him in his booster seat rather than his bumbo. He is too strong to eat from the bumbo, he can scoot it all around the table - not safe!

Wyatt can also sit up pretty well on his own without falling over too much. If he does fall, it's backwards and he lands on his head. We just put a pillow behind him to brace the fall. We introduced the ball to him recently. We couldn't believe that we waited this long to do so! He LOVED it! Of course, that means that Cameron was loving it too. In Cam's mind the fact that Wyatt loved the ball means he will automatically be the best basketball player ever! Yeah, we'll see.

Wyatt also said "mama" the day he turned 6 months. I have 2 witnesses! I told him to say "mama" and right after that, sure enough, he said mama! However, he hasn't said it since. So it was probably a fluke. I am still going to claim it :)

Wyatt also cut his first tooth at 6.5 months! It is his lower front left tooth. Man those suckers are sharp! The right one isn't far behind. I give it 3 weeks, tops.

Pretty much the month of March

2010-03-27T10:25:00.000-07:00

Let's start out with a silly pic, shall we? Well, one evening Cameron was feeding Wyatt a bottle of the good stuff before bed. We usually stop and burp Wyatt half-way through the bottle so that he does not puke the entire thing up (something we learned when he was only about 2 weeks old). Well, Wyatt just wasn't wanting to burp, so we went ahead and fed him the entire bottle. This was a mistake. The moment Cameron went to brup Wyatt, a MASSIVE roar emerged from his belly which was followed by a fountain of frothy white liquid spewing from his mouth, down cameron's shirt, and all over Wyatt's clothes. The above picture is a gem we captured after incident. The picture doesn't do the situation justice.

Can we say satisfied?

Cameron recently put together wyatt's stand and play activity center. wyatt really seems to like it. this picture displays wyatt's concentration face when figuring out how to work those toys.

happy st. patrick's day! on this day wyatt had to get his 4 month shots. this time i chose to break them up and not do so many in one visit. (his first visit was followed by too much crying!!!) he did really well this time and you never would have known that he got shots that day. he weighed in at 14 lbs. 9 oz. and was around 26 inches long. needless to say, he's long and skinny.

we've taken to going on walks most evening that we aren't busy when cameron gets home from work since we have more saylight these days. on thos particular evening it was rather cold and i wanted wyatt to wear this awesome beanie that someone from bishop made. doesn't he look cute?

the ever-awesome bathtime. do pick, or not pick my nose? that is the question...

and probably the biggest news of all is that wyatt tried his first solid foods recently. this picture is of rice cereal we gave him. but his first real solids were eaten one night when cam and i were eating dinner. we were eating some sweet potato bisque and wyatt looked so very interested. so, i gave him a few bites. he seemed to like it and was so proud of himself. so, the next day we went out and got him some rice cereal. the first few bites were funny because he attempted to gag himself, but after a few more tries we were actually able to get some down his gullett. all in all, it was a success and very, very messy. it's time to go buy a few plastic bibs because this is going to be a messy stage!

Presidential Weekend and then some...

2010-02-21T22:32:00.000-08:00

over the long presidential weekend we took the opportunity to check something off our excursion list. we headed out to the santa ynez catholic mission. i have learned, since moving to california, that the coast is speckled with historic catholic missions. cameron and i have made it one of our goals to see all of them together. there are 21 total. we have seen 7. the distance was just long enough that a meal would need to be eaten, so we did what anyone trying to save a buck would - we packed a lovely picnic lunch! we were glad we did. the mission overlooked a small valley. we had gotten a lot of rain in the last few weeks and the hills were so very green! it was a great day and a nice view, to say the least!

while we are not catholic, we find the adoration of the virgin mary always very interesting.

cameron getting ready to made some delicious egg salad sandwiches!

this is what wyatt ate pretty much the entire day. he always goes back for more...

mama can always get a smile out of wyatt.

the pics below are just some randoms from lately...

look dad! no hands!

this is actually from the super bowl. wyatt disapproves of all the "superbowl commercial hype"

"heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey!"

"duuuuuurrrrr"

the cute & clean baby after bath-time. hooded towels are the cutest invention.

Last week photos...

2010-02-10T12:47:00.000-08:00

in these pictures, wyatt is 13 weeks old. cameron and i...we are 26 and 27 respectively.

this is wyatt during bath time. he really enjoys it now! he has found the "baby in mirror" now and last night just stared at himself the entire time.

wyatt just got done eating in this picture. i am attempting to burp him by patting his back. yes, he is sound asleep. this happens often.

this is just to prove that cameron and i still exist. and yes, that beard DID exist, but has since seen its demise

(i.e. he shaved it this weekend)

reading books before bedtime. wyatt now is able to focus on the pictures on the pages. it is obvious which books catch his attention more than other.

this is merely for your viewing pleasure. i just think he looks so relaxed with spit-up all over his face. i, myself, would not be able to handle that type of mess on me!

hopefully i will become better at posting each week with some of our highlights.

stay tuned for more!

3 months

2010-02-01T15:41:00.000-08:00

I will admit it...this blog will probably turn into Wyatts blog with little to nothing about Cam or myself...but that's okay - Wyatt is way more interesting than we are!

So, it's official...Wyatt is 3 months old and no longer a newborn (sniff, sniff)

But he sure is cute and keeps us smiling every day!

In the last 2 weeks Wyatt has had a verbal explosion (as much as a little baby can at this stage). He "talked" quite a bit when he was 8-10 weeks old, but then seemed to taper off and not say much. We think he was just listening intensely. Then all of asudden, bam! He started talking again - and even more so! I tried to upload a video of it on here, but it appears that blogger no longer offers that option.

Here Wyatt is laughing while playing a game I made up (no those are not my legs - they are Cameron's. I taught him the game). Wyatt loves it and it was while playing this game that he shared his first real laugh!

Here his is doing what he loves to do - suck on his hands.

i swear he is going to suck them raw one of these days!

just a cute pic of wyatt. forgive me, i was headed to the gym.

wyatt has finally let us do more than 5 seconds of tummy time with him. look how strong he is! he's getting better and better about sitting like that each time he does it!

we recently attempted to transition wyatt to his crib. he has been sleeping in the pack n' play in our room since birth. the first night was very rough. we thought he would sleep just fine on the flat surface of the mattress without the use of the sleep postioner. boy, were we wrong! not 1 hour into sleep did i hear a strange muffled noise on the baby monitor. i woke up cameron (who didn't hear a thing!) and told him to come with me to check on wyatt. the sound was so odd that i thought someone was in the room with him. we charged into his room and saw that wyatt had scooted all the way to the corner of his crib and had his face smashed in the corner. he wasn't crying or anything but i dread to think of what could have happened if he slept like that! back to our room he went to sleep, but this time we took off the newborn napper attachment. still no sleep positioner was used and he woke up every 1-2 hours. after that night we decided that we would use the sleep positioner. the positioner worked and he was able to sleep for 5-6 hours straight (nothing compared to his 8-9 he slept in the napper!) and didn't wiggle off into the corner of the pack n' play. i think we will try in a week or so to get him into his crib. hopefully he will go back to sleeping 8-9 hours, but who knows!

The new year...

2010-01-14T23:29:00.000-08:00

So, we brought in the new year as hard as any parents of a 2 month old could...i don't think i need go into any detail as to how we did that. wyatt brought in the new year as he came into the last one: a bit of crying and a lot of sleeping.

Wyatt is now 11 weeks old and such a little cutie. He's as calm as can be unless he is hungry or tired. He is also sleeping like a champ - around 8 hours a night! The pictures below are from his 10th week of life.

Our future NBA star: the next white Michael Jordan

Helping daddy on the computer while we were visiting friends and family in Bishop.

Matching Dodger hats...I am sure Cameron would tattoo this picture on the inside of his eyelids if he

had the money or a high enough pain tolerance.

Cute, happy Wyatt. We wanted to get a picture of him in this warm bear outfit before he grows out of it.

This is his blizzard outfit. He actually didn't mind being in this. anyone getting flashes of "The Christmas Story" in their head?

I was trying to make the same face as him by sticking my tongue out. no such luck.

Wyatt had to get his first round of shots to bring in the new year. boy, that was not fun. but the good part is that he got over it and was back to normal in no time. He weighed in at 12 ish pounds and is in the 94th percentile for height. I wonder where he got that from???

All is well in our house. I am still on maternity leave and we are wrestling with when i will return to work and in what capacity. So, any prayers for us are welcome!

...and a Happy New Year!

2009-12-21T17:12:00.000-08:00

Love to you all... A,C, & W

Thanksgiving

2009-12-10T07:24:00.000-08:00

things were a little different this Thanksgiving than most. aside from having a baby this year, it was different because it was the 1st thanksgiving since cameron and i have been married that we didn't travel to one of our parents houses for the holiday. we had a great time. cameron's dad and his lady friend were able to come to us this year and made a complete feast for us. it was truly delish. we were so happy that 1) we were able to spend the holiday with some family; 2) that they were understanding enough to understand how uncomfortable we were traveling with a new baby and made the trek all the way to see us; 3) that they made the entire meal for us! for those who don't know, thanksgiving is my FAVORITE holiday! this year was extra awesome because after watching what i ate for 9 months while pregnant, i certainly pigged out this year and LOVED it!

Thanksgiving day also marked Wyatt's 4 week old birthday! He chose to wear the outfit his aunt erin and uncle donny gave him. i think he made a good choice! we are thankful for him too!

i had to add the pic below because i thought it was funny. wyatt is actually really hungry and was rooting toward my face, but it looks like he is giving a kiss.

Wyatt is here!

2009-11-06T22:55:00.000-08:00

Here is how our little Wyatt Adam Lehman came into the world...

With our midwife's advice, we decided that an induction was in order. Wyatt was measuring rather large (9 lbs. 11 oz. at 38 weeks) on the ultrasounds and they feared that he would have a rather difficult time making his way out naturally. babies only get larger as they approach their due date so praying for his growth to slow or cease was futile. so, we decided that we would go into the hospital at 7:30 pm on wednesday ocotber 28th - 5 days before his due date. cameron and i decided that we would go out to dinner that night for the "last supper" as a couple. i was told to eat a lot of carbs because i wouldn't be eating regular food for quite some time after checking into the hospital. we went to macaroni grill. it was nice, relaxed, and very tasty. i then received a phone call from the hospital at 7 pm telling us not to come in. apparently a lot of women were going into labor that night and they didn't have enough nurses to care for us at that time. we called back at 9pm like they asked us to, and they told us to come in. we got to the hospital and the process began! i had to put on the lovely labor gown and then get hooked up to all the monitors - one to monitor contractions and one to monitor the baby's heartbeat. another nurse then came in to take my blood (never fun). my parents drove in from arizona that night and stopped by to visit us for a while. at around 11pm i was given cervadil. i was told more than likely the cervadil would have to stay in place for 12 hours and may or may not start labor. if the labor didn't come on with the cervadil, then pitocin would be administered (i really didn't want pitocin!). at about 1am my contractions began. at first they weren't that bad. i felt like i had bad mentstrual cramps in my lower abdomen and lower back. cameron and i decided we would move around as much as possible to hopefully help the labor progress. when i went in i had already dilated to a 3 and was 80% effaced. i was pretty excited that i had at least progressed somewhat on my own before going in to be induced because everyone knows that many times inductions fail and then a c-section is the last resort. i did not want a c-section if at all possible. by about 4 in the morning all the "tricks" we were told to help ease contraction pain were failing - walking, massage, breathing, etc. cameron and i decided that we would take an epidural when the pain became too exhasuting, but i TRULY did want to experience labor pains to know what it was like (and i must admit i wanted to know if i could focus enough to power through the pain). by about 6 am i was dilated to a 5 and was ready for some pain relief. they broke my water and i knew there was no turning back! we were having a baby soon! the nurses tried to get me to stick to my birth plan (i.e. wait as long as possible for pain meds) and encouraged me to take a hot shower. i reluctantly agreed and hopped in the shower for about 45 minutes. all i can say is that once the pain reaches a certain point - next to nothing helps ease it. breathing and focusing worked better for me than a hot shower. at 7 am the doctor came in to administer the epidural. i have scoliosis, so i was prepared for it to be tough for him to give it to me. my inkling was correct - he had to stick me 5 different times to get the right spot. it was pretty difficult to concentrate and not move while having painful contractions, but i made it through. once the epidural kicked in i was feeling great! by 8:30 or 9 (i can't really recall) i was dilated to an 8. our midwife, Kathy was great and she was with us since i was dialted to about a 4. she noticed that my contractions were coming rather close together and the baby's heartbeat was behaving a little abnormally from the contractions. she decided we needed to monitor the baby's heartbeat and my contractions internally. both devices were inserted and were used for a very short time. Kathy came back into the room and told us that my contractions were coming too close together for the baby's heartrate to recover. on top of that there was a little more bloody show than she would have liked. with the combination of those things she thought it best to get the baby out sooner rather than later - this meant a c-section - an emergency c-section. at this point none of our family members knew what was happening. the doctor had already been called and was on his way. no sooner did Kathy deliver the news than our room was flooded with people all ready to fulfill the task of getting me to the ER to have a baby. cameron couldn't come into the ER with my right away. while i was alone in the ER, Kathy was doing her best to console me becuase i was naturally scared as this was NOT how we planned on having our baby. i was so scared that the anesthesia was not going to work and i was going to feel everything. my entire body was numb from my nipples down and from my shoulder to my fingertips. cameron was finally allowed to come into the room and held my hand. he was scared and crying and i was scared and cried because he did. i felt the moment they pulled our baby out - i felt a million times lighter! when the baby finally cried it wasn't very loud. i was praying he was ok. cameron was crying and said he was cute. i asked if he was fat and cameron said, "yes." then i asked, "does he look like a wyatt?" cameron said, "yes." it seemed like a million years before i got to see him. once i finally did, i thought he was the cutest baby i had ever seen. i couldn't hold him so i just looked at him and said "hi!" our first meeting was about 20 seconds long and then they had to take wyatt away to the nursery. cameron had to go with the baby, but didn't want to leave my side. at some point cameron called my parents and told them the surprising news and they drove down to the hospital. i was then cleaned up and wheeled into a recovery room where my temperature, blood pressure, and other things were monitored for about 2 hours! the nursery was right next door and the nurses initially said that cameron couldn't bring the baby in to see me. they then bent the rules a bit and allowed cameron to bring wyatt in. i still couldn't hold him because my hands were numb, but boy was he cute! i used to think newborns were rather ugly looking, but wyatt sure wasn't! perfect head, perfect face, and super long fingers and toes! he was born on 10-29 and weighed in at 8lbs 11 oz and was 21 inches long with dark brown hair. once the spinal block wore off and the numbness wore off i finally got to hold our little bundle. he is perfect and we love him so much! i don't even care that our birth was rather rough - we are just thankful that wyatt is here and safe and healthy!

here are some pictures of our babes first few days of life...

one month left

2009-10-07T11:40:00.000-07:00

do i really need to comment on this? let's just say that this kid of mine is pretty much out of room.

and we have a lot of time left for him to outwear his welcome. but...fat babies are the best babies!

Fall

2009-10-01T10:42:00.000-07:00

Fall is, by far, my most favorite time of year. Today, the wind is bowing the crispy leaves around. it's great. the best part is that our wee babe will be born in the fall. lucky him! that is all.

the home stretch...

2009-09-24T07:10:00.000-07:00

i am hesitant to even call this the "home stretch" because i have around 6 weeks left or so, but i feel these last weeks are going to fly by considering how busy work has been.

i compare this picture to the last one i posted. i'm no rocket scientist, but i am drastically bigger these days!

i am still feeling good (aside from waking at 4 in the morning and not being able to fall back asleep) and am still able to exercise almost every day. hopefully that means the baby weight will drop off quickly :)

Cameron's Birthday - 26!

2009-09-24T07:04:00.000-07:00

I am a bad wife-blogger. Cameron's birthday was all the way back in August and i didn't even document it! he turned a whopping 26 years old! We had a small little gathering at our house with some friends from work/church and some college buddies. it was great fun. we ate tri-tip, cupcakes, and other goodies!

we attempted to play a rousing game of catch phrase, but the dodger game happened to be on at the same time. cam has this friend named "dodger dave." hopefully the name says it all, but in case it doesn't - he LOVES all things DODGERS. the man couldn't even function while the dodgers were on t.v. - it was as if nothing else existed. unfortunately, he was on my team and i really like to win at catch phrase. needless to say, we didn't win. i blame the dodgers.

for cameron's birthday gift, i took him to a dodger game. he always wants to go to a dodger game, but this one was a little extra special. we bought tickets in the "all you can eat" pavillion. if anyone knows cameron, you know his affinity for food and the fact that he can definitely pack it in. in this first picture below, he is on his fourth hot dog and i don't think the game had started yet. the price was totally not worth it for an eater like me, but cameron certainly made up for my lack of eating. let's just say the next couple days he didn't feel all that well in the tummy area. he'll tell you it was totally worth it.

shiatsu massage...from the inside.

2009-09-01T14:54:00.000-07:00

so, i am hoping we all know what a shiatsu massage is. if you don't, then i emplore you to consider getting one. i, for one, think they are fab. the more pressure the better. anywho - as you can see from the above picture, there are 2 appendages sticking out of this particular machine. inside those appendages are (what i imagine) 2 finger-like machines that move round and round in a circular motion, rubbing the pain out of one's body.

well, it seems that i have my own personal shiatsu massage going on in my abdomen from time to time throughout the day. unfortunately, this particular shiatsu is not the amazing-please-a-little-to-the-left kind one would get from a machine. the massages i get are always on the right side of my midsecton and never hard enough or rubbing on a sore muscle. if only he would do his shiatsu-thang on the right side of my back from the inside...now THAT would be the spot!

Debut...sort of

2009-08-17T12:51:00.001-07:00

here is an INSIDE look (get it?....inside???...NEVERMIND.) at our wee lad. we had this ultrasound done on friday of last week. we didn't get any super good pics because he was being really wiggly and a bit uncooperative, but that's ok. we were excited for what we did get to see. also, i had the technician confirm that he is, in fact, still a BOY. she was a bit offended that i asked for a confirmation, but there is always errancy with these types of things. anywho - we also found out that we will most likely be getting ANOTHER ultrasound around 36-38 weeks or so, which is cool because at that point he will be good and FAT!

enjoy the bambino!

little Chalupa...er...Chalupo

2009-08-07T09:48:00.000-07:00

so, here is the wee one that has taken over my body. this was taken earlier this week. i haven't posted any pics until now because: 1) we didn't start taking pics until week 21 becacuse there really wasn't much to see in the belly region and 2) all the pics we have taken other than this one i have been in my pajamas with my make-up off and ready for bed (i.e. no post-worthy).

i am pretty sure only the fam cares about the belly because hey, the general public doesn't usually get as excited about people getting BIGGER as they do SMALLER.

enjoy my growing midsection! well, actually, enjoy my expanding body in general (because it doesn't really stop at the midsection) :)

Vacation Part 3 - Arizona

2009-07-12T21:48:00.001-07:00

immediately upon leaving bishop we were in the car headed to arizona. it was the first time we had driven this route and boy, was it a doozy! i know there are longer car rides, but this one seemed sooo long! i think we were driving for nearly 12 hours. and for me, a person who is NOT a fan of roadtrips, this was not an ideal situation!

anyway, once we got to az, we celebrated the 4th, and then we headed up to greer,az with (almost) the entire schumacher side of the family. it was a very nice time and many of us would like to make this a family tradition every summer.

i was lame and didn't take hardly ANY pics...so stupid! this pic is from a bike ride we took with two of my cousins, camra & samantha, and erin and donny (cam too). it was fun, but again i say, not the easiest when you are preggo - it's just so much harder to breathe!
this is a side-of-the-road couple pic. aww...aren't we cute?!

my sis and i - forgive my huge abdomen.

last but certainly not least...this is probably the gem of all gems when it comes to pictures. after we got back from greer, we were able to hang with my brother (who was not able to get off work to come to the cabin). my bro got to telling a story about one time when he tasted the drink "clamato." to sum it up, he thought it was the most vile thing to ever cross his lips. (i don't blame him. just the thought: clam juice + tomto juice = BARF!) anywho...i opened my big fat mouth and said, "you guys should have a clamato drinking contest." because my bro vowed to never drink the stuff again, he changed the contest to be: if cam drank 64 oz. of clamato within a certain time frame then adam would by cameron and i dinner. game on! cameron pulled through without barfing and we got a free dinner. the extra cool thing is that erin and donny came along AND we went to a sushi place that had CHICKEN sushi! i could actually eat it! i was so pumped! i have missed sushi so much! but i digress...

this pic is clearly BEFORE the clamato conusmption began. notice the non-barfy look on cameron's face and the "sucker!" look on adam's face.

Vacation Part 2 - Bishop

2009-07-12T21:27:00.001-07:00

about a week after we got back from vegas we hit the road again to see cam's family up in the bishop area. cameron said that he wanted to take me backpacking in the high sierra's for my first time backpacking. i said, no thank you. i will go backpacking sometime, but i didn't want my first time to be when i am over months preggo and used to breathing at sea level. maybe next summer. so, we compromised that we would camp at one of the higher elevation campsites and do day hikes and fishing at the may lakes and streams up in that area.

i think we hiked up to this stream and ate lunch here. it was very pretty.

by the look on my face, this is before i had to pee in he woods. fyi - i splashed a little on my shoes... no biggie

this is my little frog that my mother-in-law caught. isn't he cute?!

my MIL's husband has this boat and he let us take it out whenever we wanted. we were pretty tired when this was taken, but it was really nice to go out on the lake and take in the scenery and the cool breeze.

we camped our first night there. it was pretty fun! our site was right by the river and we could hear it rushing all night long. it was great for me because it was basically the "white noise" i am used to lulling me to sleep. the only dowfall is that we slept on an air mattress. it started out great...nice and firm like a real mattress. sometime during the night cam let some air out and after that point my butt kept falling asleep no matter what position i was in. needless to say i got little sleep that night.

all in all it was a great time and i look forward to doing it again. only next time i won't feel so limited due to being preggo.

Vacation Part 1 - Las Vegas

2009-07-12T21:11:00.000-07:00

almost as soon as cameron was finished with the school year we got out of town! one of our favorite things to do each summer is head to vegas. i think we both like it so much because we can go there and just be ourselves. we don't have to worry about being seen by students/parents/colleagues...we can just sorta blend in. here are some pics from our trip...
this car was parked in the valet section and we thought...hey, let's be typical tourists and have cameron pose like a bro in front of a car that we can never afford. beautiful.

we splurged a little bit and went and saw "o" by cirque du soleil. it was a-maz-ing! highly recommended. the show had water, acrobatics, and wierd contumes...a great combo.

spoiler alert...oh wait, my sister already did that!

2009-06-23T15:59:00.000-07:00

my sister already blogged about this, but i am glad to announce myself, that cameron and i are 99% sure that we are having a wee lad join our family in late oct. / early nov. cameron is beyond overjoyed because his visions of teaching him basketball, baseball, and all other boy stuff will supposedly come true (like body parts are the ONLY reason a person can like that stuff...whatev!) anywho - i am just glad that everything checked out okay. he was measuring a bit ahead of schedule...so we will see how big he will be on arrival day.

i am just now starting to show - it all happened overnight, basically. one day nothing - the next...BUMP!

needless to say we are both pretty excited and this whole baby thing is becoming more real now that i can feel him kicking and am getting a bulge in the stomach area. hooray for boys!

Marseilles Dress SHABBY APPLE GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-06-10T14:31:00.000-07:00

Marseilles Dress SHABBY APPLE GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Be sure to enter this contest. Who knows?! You might win! or maybe i will!

This is a super cute and super stylish dress. Click on the link to find out more about the contest!

A Wee Babe...

2009-05-24T19:44:00.000-07:00

IS ON THE WAY!

(for Cameron and I, that is)

i am about 17 weeks currently. so far, i'm not really showing. i just look a bit pudgy. i must say, this is hard to deal with since I am used to being more on the lean side. we will hopefully be able to find out the sex on June 9th. Cameron would love to have a boy first, but says that a wee lass would be "so cute." As for me, I honestly don't really have a preference. I also don't have any intuition telling me one way or the other. I've had some dreams where it's been a boy, and then a girl. My friend had a dream that he daughter was born an alligator, and as it turns out, she was indeed a HUMAN girl.

I never really had the morning sickness. I was nauseous for about 2 weeks or so, but it was nothing that made me dry heave, gag, or miss work. I did have the knock-you-upside-the-head exhasution that everyone talks about - boy is that rough!

Cameron has been so nice through the whole thing and has picked up many of the chores that I used to take care of. Now (thankfully) I have my energy back and am getting excited to embark upon this new chapter of our life together.

I am still doing my kickboxing classes and my running now that I am not so tired. i hope that i can continue those for a good while. although it probably won't keep the weight down, it will at least make me THINK that I am.

Oh yeah, that baby is due November 2.

meez birfday

2009-04-20T19:57:00.001-07:00

because blogger is lame, these pictures are in the reverse order of how i wanted to share them. and also because i am lame, these pictures/post are about 2 months late.

we went to d-land for my birfday back in march. d-land is great because they were letting the birthday kid get in free on his/her birfday. my birfday = saturday = d-land = awesome!

the above pic was at the end of the day. we ate at tortilla joes. it was pretty cool because we were seated at the same table that we ate at the night we got engaged. awwwww!

this awesomeness is on space mountain. i never have a good face for the pic they take at the end, but i think this one turned out pretty good. we look like we are having LOADS of fun.
some nice middle aged couple offered to take our pic so we didn't have to do the one-hand-out-in-front-of-you ghetto pic. very nice of them. snow white's castle. as cameron would say, "booyah!"
first ride of the day - jungle cruise. gotta love the cheesy jokes. btw - this ride is way better at night, we have decided.

and also...nice face cameron.
and i had to buy those terrible sunglasses for 20 bucks at rite aide. i was piiiiiiissed.

How well do you know your Husband?

2009-03-04T15:40:00.000-08:00

Here's a chance to see how well you really know your husband. Cut, paste and fill in the answers, then check with your spouse, to see how right you really are.

1. He's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen? Easpn ANYTHING. 24 hours a day. 7 days a week. it's gets old after a while :)

2. You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad? Vinegarette if they have it. if they don't, then italian.

3. What's one food he doesn't like? He likes all foods other than sweets. He could really care less about them. Cakes, cookies, pie - he'll only eat them if someone worked hard on them and there's nothing else to eat.

4. You go out to eat and have a drink. His drink would be? We usually only drink water. He likes the occasional glass of wine or beer (bleh!)

5. Where did he go to high school? Bishop Union High School. yeah, you've probably never heard of it.

6. What size shoe does he wear? Depends on the shoe. 14 or 15

7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be? sports stuff. also cute things i have given him.

8. What is his favorite type of sandwich? Tri-tip

9. What would he eat every day if he could? Probably my turkey meatloaf and healthy mashed potatoes.

10. What is his favorite cereal? Frosted Mini-wheats or Kashi

11. What would he never wear? Anything cut in the "modern fit" or "skinny style," as i call it. he's too tall and would be fearful of looking like a giant stick.

12. What is his favorite sports team? Lakers, Dodgers, Suns (because of me)

13. Who did he vote for? McCain

14. Who is his best friend? I AM! YAY!

15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do? Take longer than 15 minutes to get ready. he wishes i got ready like a boy sometimes.

16. What is his Heritage? German and Scandinavian

17. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind of cake? German Chocolate or Texas Sheet cake

18. Did he play sports in high school? yeah - BIG TIME basketball player. i guess you have to be when you are 6'9." he also was on the swim team and was pretty good from what i hear.

19. What could he spend hours doing? working out or watching ESPN

20. What is one thing you appreciate about him? he is MUCH more mature than i am when it comes to arguments. there are tons of other things, but this quiz only asks for one :)

LARP in the park

2009-02-25T22:21:00.001-08:00

so, my sister kindly asked me "where is all the new stuff?" she was obviously referring to my blogging skills. oh how the tables have turned! you see, my sister had a blog...that i set up for her. she did not update said blog for almost a year. she FINALLY started updating and has been pretty decent at it. i, however, have been quite terrible at it in the past few months.

anywho - that has nothing to do with this post or this picture other than i am finally updating. that being said, this past weekend cameron's mom was here. on sunday after church i was tired and so i took a nap. cam and his mom went for a walk and had a few stories to share when they returned. ever heard of a little thing called LARPing? i saw it featured on a show once and didn't really believe that it existed. LARP stands for Live Action Role Play. so, cameron and his mom were walking and came upon a park in our neighborhood. you guessed it, they saw LARPers! they do exist. i so wish that i could have seen the event with my own eyes, but i trust their story. LARPers get together and role play as if they are (as far as i can guess) renaissance fighters/knights and damsels. seems very mature and fulfilling.

that's the most interesting thing as of late. thanksforlisteningokbye.

People in Hollywood are weird

2009-01-19T13:01:00.000-08:00

So, i had been wanting to see Wicked for a REEEEEAAAALLY long time. The entire time that i have lived in the LA area, Wicked has been available for my viewing pleasure. unfortunately, i am a cheapskate and a procrastinator also. Long story short, Cameron and I planned to go on a Christmas date rather than spend a ton of money on gifts to eachother. we planned to see the show on Tuesday January 6th. it was the ONLY day we had available to see it. oh, did i mention that the show was ending FOREVER that Sunday? it was now or never.

so here we are at the show. we didn't have physical tickets, because we wanted to see if we could get them for cheap. turns out that the only tickets for sale were $200 a piece. no thanks. so we entered into the raffle. one could win 2 front row tickets for $25 each. worth a shot. it also turned out that there were more people there that night than ever before. our chances...not so good. there were also some really "interesting" people waiting in line to see the show. (notice how i put interesting in quotes. "interesting"...read: WEIRD!) anywho...this lady in front of us had seen the show OVER 60 TIMES! can you imagine what i could do with $50 times 60 shows?! i could buy a LOT of clothes with that money! she said the show "changed her life." hmmm...draw your own conclusion on that one.
so...we didn't win the tickets, but two people who we talked to that night did...and they both had seen the show before. i think we were the ones who gave them good luck. so, instead, we walked around until we found a place to eat at and then we went to pinkberry...and were in bed by 10:30. oh, and we saw Frank Sinatra's star, and cameron was overjoyed.

Christmas / NYE

2009-01-08T10:00:00.000-08:00

Ok, here is a brief snippet of what we were up to over the holidays. cameron was in a wedding a few days after Christmas, so my family came over from AZ (minus adam) to chill with us.

it was a great time and very relaxing. none of us got out of our pajamas all Christmas day! very hygenic!

After the wedding, we headed over to AZ to spend new years. here we are toasting at exactly 12:00. of course we kissed, but i won't gross you out with those.

we also snapped a quick family pic at my parents new house. their house is really nice and make cam and i yearn for the day that we too can own a home. sigh. maybe someday. sorry, it's a little dark.

and this is prolly my favorite pic. of the trip. we visited my friend bert and her baby macey. i have always told cameron that when we have a baby i am gonna get him a baby front pack. i pleaded with bert to play with her baby for a photo op. she kindly obliged. it's a tiny baby and a giant man! whoah! i almost peed myself when i saw the size comparison. for your viewing pleasure.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-20T11:35:00.000-08:00

this is way late, but whatev. at least i try. we went to bishop and had a grand ol' time.

i made a pie for the first time. no one got sick from eating it. point, April!

Anyone interested in making some extra cash?

2008-11-25T09:07:00.000-08:00

my husband and i just joined this wonderful company with the hope to earn some extra money for our life together. let's face it - there are no guarantees in life - even if you have a degree from a wonderful university. it's a company that TRULY wants to better the health of everyone who tries and distributes the product. THIS IS A NO-BRAINER! It's GREAT for stay at-home parents or part-time workers. We want as many friends and families members of ours to benefit from this company for their HEALTH and for their FINANCIAL SITUATION. The company is called Monavie. Check out their website: www.monavie.com It only costs $40 to join the company and you DON'T have to buy oodles and oodles of product! You simply order from their website and have it sent to the people who want it!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE contact me if you have ANY questions or want me to buy you a free bottle of the product. It's worked wonders for countless people - I want you to be one of them.

Mexico Trip

2008-11-08T10:58:00.000-08:00

In October we took a little trip down to mexico for about a week. the occasion for this trip was to celebrate our two year wedding anniversary. we had a great time. we stayed in playa del carmen, which is about 45 minutes north of cancun. neither of us had ever been to the area. we mostly wanted to hang out on the beach and relax. unfortunately there was a little storm called hurricane omar off in the distance and the mexican riviera got the very outskirts of that storm. nothing too bad, just a few clouds and rain here and there. the biggest thing we did was take a trip to the mayan ruins and playa paraiso. we visited tulum and coba. tulum was a mayan city built right on the coast, atop a bluff. it was absolutely gorgeous and very interesting. the mayan people were definitely ahead of their time. coba was in the middle of a jungle. the biggest sight to see at coba was the temple, which we were able to climb all the way to the top. once false step on that climb and one would surely fall to their death. it was quite the climb, but once at the top we were able to see the entire jungle and all the way to the ocean. we got caught in a small rain cloud while we were walking back to our bus. however, we were already wet with sweat so it really didn't matter much. the trip was great and we would definitely return to the area. there were many other things to do that we didn't experience, so perhaps we will be back there in a few years.

Win a FREE handbag!

2008-10-14T16:25:00.000-07:00

ok ladies (or gentleman, if you are so inclined)...who doesn't like free stuff? i know i do. I am entering this contest to win a free handbag from Handbag Planet. all you have to do is enter your email address and pick the handbag you would like to win and see if you are the lucky gal (or guy) to win. Follow this link to enter...http://www.handbagplanet.com/ Good luck guys and gals! i hope we all can win!

Viva Mexico!

2008-09-17T08:40:00.001-07:00

after much hemming and hawing...cameron and i finally decided that we are going to the cancun area for about a week in october. we will be celebrating our 2 year wedding anniversary! our real anny is actually in november, but we work at a sweet church and school that has a random 2 week break in late october, so we can take off without dipping into our vacay...it's rad. our flight has a layover in mexico city...so we are a little worried about that. cameron's dad said that we shouldn't go to mexico because "all white people get shot on sight by the policia." psssshh! we will be fine.

needless to say...we are excited!

Somebody had a birthday!

2008-08-24T16:04:00.000-07:00

it was cameron's birthday a while ago. he turned a whopping 25 years old! he says he's going to have a quarter life crisis, but i think he's full of it :) we had a great time. we had some friends over, learned how to bbq tri-tip (which was sooooo yummy!), had some homemade & healthy carrot cake cupcakes, and went swimming. if anyone knows cameron, they know he is OBSESSED with sports. he thought it was the greatest things that the olympics were during his birthday. in honor of the olympics, we did a little synchronized swimming: wives vs. husbands. the girls had it in the bag. we used the best talent we have: sex appeal. it was a great day!

July 4th...I mean 26th

2008-07-26T10:44:00.000-07:00

So, I am lame and forgot to post about our really fun July 4th experience. Cameron and I drove over to Arizona to hang out with my fam for about a week. It was fun. First, we had all of our family and our extended family rent a cabin up in Greer, AZ. It was absolutely beautiful! The weather was more than 30-40 degrees cooler than the valley during the day. The rainshowers up there - amazing! It reminded me of when i was a kid and would go up to Rock Point, AZ on the Navajo Reservation for mission trips with my church. I always thought they had the best rain storms up there - but Greer has matched it. We did a lot of fishing (my fave), and my brother-in-law, Donny, taught all of us how to fly fish (thanks Donny!)

this is the lodge with one of a few ponds surrounding the area.

Yours truly :)

Cameron wishing he could be a cowboy. He looks more like a farmer with that shirt on.

The first fish I caught FLY FISHING! YEAH!

We also rode horses around the area. My dad is such a tourist with his camera.

This was my first time riding a horse. I was scared to say the least.
What? I didnt want to end up like Christopher Reeves (may he R.I.P.)

I REALLY wanted to wear a helmet, but not many of the fam was down with that - too worried about fashion. So I ask, "what's cuter: a helmet or a breathing tube? "

I never did get the helmet...

Vegas

2008-07-12T16:46:00.000-07:00

Right after Cameron was finished with the school year, we headed out to Vegas to relax at the pool. We aren't gamblers or driners, but we like it there for some reason. So, this year we were able to stay at Paris...it was nice...nicer than we expected. Here are some pics of our room.

We also took a chance and went to a show. We of course wanted to see Cirque du Soliel. Well...there are a lot of Cirque shows there. We picked one. Don't see Zumanity unless you want to feel uncomfortable for 2 plus hours. By the way, the Drag Queen host of the show says hello. But we got dressed up and went to Sushi and that was fun.

we also did a lot of walking and found a lot of weird things...perr usual for a Vegas trip. For instance. take a look at this awesomely ugly and nightmare-inspiring doll that i wouldn't wish on any child or grown adult to EVER receive. I hope my child does not look like that.

Fashion Lover's Delight!

2008-05-23T07:29:00.000-07:00

you all need to check out Steve & Barry's. It is the most amazing apparel store for the fashion and price conscious consumer. most people who are bored enough to read this are probably youngish, newly marriedish and living on somewhat of a budget. well, if you don't fit that description - then i hate you. and you suck. just kidding.

so, last weekend cam and i were at good ol' Birthuation. the last day we were there we hit up Steve & Barry's. usually this store lives by the rule that nothing in the store costs over $19.98. well, i am sold on getting any new item of fashion for under $20. to our delight, this particular day we walked in and right before our eyes was a sign nothing short of heaven on earth

EVERYTHING IN STORE $8.98 OR LESS!

now, usually when one sees a sign of this magnitude it ends up being some crappy clothes that are all in the sizes that no average human can fit into. NO- THIS WAS NOT THE CASE!

they had cute stuff, that fit me. for cheap.

and to make matters even more heavenly, cam looked over at me and said, "whatever we do, let's just not look at the total when we get to the register. let's get whatever we want."

if any of you know my hubs - he is NOT a fashionista, nor is he one who justifies buying new clothes just to look as if he cares about his appearance. i almost peed myself at his reaction.

we bought an entire summer's (and fall and spring) worth of clothes and spend around $300 (about 50 items - shoes included!).

you all need to check it out. cute, non-sluttish clothes for an inexpensive price. what more could a young-budgeting-her-pennies-girl ask for?

Birthuation

2008-05-16T16:00:00.001-07:00

i can't wait for this weekend! it is basically here, but tomorrow is the day that cameron and i are going down to orange county for a short r and r break. we owe this jaunt of vacay to none other than tim tatum and his fiance lesley. tim is graduating with his master's tomorrow and lesley is having a birthday. they are calling the festivus "birthuation." i totally love it. i have big plans of hitting up laguna beach to soak up some rays...maybe hitting up "Sprinkles" for a cupcake or two. i can't wait to see some old friends. as Borat would say, it's gonna be "very niiiiiiiice."

Cam & Ape go to Washington...

2008-05-04T18:30:00.001-07:00

so, way back in the middle of April we took a little trip to DC with some students from our church and school (we were chaperones). it was an awesome time! every american citizen should take a trip there at least once in their lifetime. the trip was too amazing and inspirational to put into words, so i will share a funny story that happened the day we arrived in DC followed by some pictures from the trip.

soo... it began when we had to be at our church at 6:30 in the morning to head for LAX. Our flight left at 10:40 am - no big deal. so, we get on the plane and fly over to DC. 4.5 ish hours later we land. we get off the plane and it's about 7:00pm. we hear that our bus that is to pick us up is running a tad behind - about 30 minutes. we think, this is not a probelm, we will just think of something to keep the students entertained. 30 minutes is washington DC is not the same amount of time as it is in the rest of the country, because our bus didn't come until 3 hours later(or so). we find out that the bes had a flat tire and it needed to be changed. ok, we think, that makes sense, it must be difficult to change a tire on a vehicle of that size. so, the bus that picked us up was a DIFFERENT bus than the one we had told we were getting, so we load up our luggage and ourselves and head for the restaurant for dinner...it's about 9:30pm...oh yeah, and they didn't feed us on the plane. we are a tad famished. we are a bit excited to eat, but we find out that the restaurant is another hour away. so, we put on our brave/no-complaining faces to be good examples to the students - bad attitudes are contagious and we didn't want that. finally we pulled up to the Old Country Buffet...and we STUFFED ourselves. in the state of being fat and happy, we load that bus that we originally were sopposed to be picked up from with airport and headed to our hotel...2 hours away! we couldnt' believe it - this was the longest travel day in history! so, we pop in a movie hoping it will put the student asleep. we get to the hotel and realize that our luggage is not there yet - it was on the other bus that RESCUED us from waiting at the airport while the other one was getting its tire changed. at this point it's about 1:30 in the morning. the kids are tired, so we send them to bed and the adults wait up for the luggage. it's finall arrived at about 2:30 am. we are happy and looking forward to sleeping at this point. so, we drop everyones bags in their hotel rooms, get ourselves ready for bed, and climb into bed at about 3am. then........................THE FIRE ALARM GOES OFF! the entire hotel is evacuated. we stand outside for about 1.5 hours more, trying to entertain ourselves. cameron ended up sleeping on the grass at one point, i tried to take pictures of the firefighters. it ended up being a faulty alarm - NO FIRE! we head back to our rooms, it's about 4:45, and the alarm goes off AGAIN! this time for only 10 minutes, no evacuation needed. the sandman finally came and was with us until our wake-up call at 6:30am. it was a great way to get rested before a long day of walking...non-stop. needless to say, nothing else went wrong with the trip. and in total we walked about 30 miles in 4 days. not too shabby.

from top to bottom, left to right: 1)atop the lincoln memorial w/ washington memorial in background; 2)lincoln memorial; 3)iwojima memorial; 4) mt. vernon w/ potomac river in background; 5)space underpants (hehehehehe); 6) standing in the very center of washington dc - capital building; 7)FDR memorial (awesome!); 8) in front of the white house - the pope was coming that day, security was high; 9)wwII memorial; 10)george washington's house - mt. vernon; 11)pretty flowers that were all over washington; 12) arlington national cemetary; 13&14) how tall we are in $100 bills; 15)national cathedral; 16&17) the lovely fire truck from the first night; 18-20) colonial williamsburg

total randominity....

2008-04-25T15:21:00.000-07:00

so...did anyone else think that The Office was totally random last night? Cameron and I were trying to figure out what any of that had to do with anything. It started off well...Michael getting gum stuck in his hair and D-wight (as Jim calls him) giving him a penaut butter scalp massage.

But then...I don't know what to say?! So, Ryan is on drugs...so?!?! Ryan is a fruitloop (and by the way, according to the internet quiz i took, he is the character I most resemble...sigh).

Are the writers at a loss for their plot already? No, this cannot be. I deduce that they do, in fact, have their act together. But, last night's episode was a filler episode. There MUST be greater things around the corner (i.e. next Thursday). If not, then I boycott that show. Whoah...just kidding.

Cold Mountain

2008-04-03T09:41:00.000-07:00

As some of you know, I am the Youth Director at our church. This past weekend was our high school snow/ski/snowboard trip to Mammoth Mountain. Let me tell ya, it was a cold one. I can't post any pics of the youth they went (to prtoect their innocence) but here are a few of Cameron and I looking ridiculously cold. Okay, it's pretty much just me looking ridiculously cold.

Happy Easter!

2008-03-24T10:57:00.000-07:00

Ye old 26th Birthday...

2008-03-10T13:33:00.001-07:00

Ah yes, this past week April turned 26. Birthdays are as good a time as any to get out there and do something...so, that is what we set out to do. On Friday we made an attempt to be spontaneous and just get in the car and drive to a restuarant that we never heard of and eat there. We put our name in at this place called Dakotas. It was a steakhouse - it's prolly delicious. Well, we take a a gander at the menu and realize that there is no logical reason that spontaneity or our appetites should dwindle the amount in ou pocket books, so we left. We walked down and ate at the Corner Bakery Cafe and spent under $20 on sandwiches, salads, and soup. Not too shabby. Then we went home, got in our jammies and ate some cake. This is how excited April was...

The next day we were still in the mood to get out, so being the good Republicans we are, we headed out to the Reagan Presidential Library. It was a great time and very educational. We decided we want to be more like Nancy & Ronald in our lifetime. So, we couldn't help but snap a few pics of how we might take a page out of their book...

April decided that she should dress more like Nancy. The woman had amazing style, grace, modesty, and an extreme devotion to her role as the wife of the President of this country. If only all First Ladies would emulate her. It is a shame that we were just children when they were in the White House. Our memories of them are next to nothing. We only have what we read in books and what was captured on film.

Cameron has begun his quest to be more like Ronnie by learning to pose like him. I guess he is taking the baby step approach here. But more important than posing like Ronnie, Cameron has decided to be a Dodger fan like Ronnie. This by far was his favorite picture to pose for.

And last, but certainly not least, we were reminded that it is a marriage, after a devotion to God, that should be priority in a couple's life. All throughout the Reagan library, it was very evident, andeven documented that Ronald and Nancy put their faith first and their marriage second. It's nice to know that people in the publice eye who undergo much scrutiny can have a strong marriage. We don't see many positive examples of marraige in the media these days. So, we posed for our own cute pictures while at the breathtaking hill overlooking Simi Valley, CA. It was a good birthday.

Wasting time with the ABC's

2008-03-05T16:52:00.000-08:00

• A
Are you available? married, but i still like to date the hubs.
What is your age? 25
Astrology sign? pisces

• B
Do you know anyone named Brian? yes - indirectly
When is your Birthday? march 7th - THIS friday
Ever been stung by a bee? no - i am deathly afraid of bees.

•C
What is your favorite candy? gum
What color is your car? brownish gold

• D
Do you daydream? i wish...
What's your favorite kind of dog? puppies - any dog that's a puppy

• E
Have you ever been in the emergency room? no
Ever pet an elephant? i rode and elephant once.
Ever swam with sharks? nope - i would rather take the chance on NOT being eaten by one.

• F
Do you use fly swatters? can't remember the last time
Does the number four have any significance? no

• G
Do you chew gum? always
Do you like gory movies? no

•H
How are you? my mind is spacing right now. i think it's because i have too much work to do and i don't know how to accomplish it all.
What's your height? 5'8"
What color is your hair? brown

• I
Have you ever ice skated? yes - and i am not very good at it.
Ever been to Iowa? i don't think so

• J
Favorite Jelly bean? i really do not like jelly beans
Do you wear jewelry? wedding rings, earrings for sure

• K
Who do you want to kiss? the hubs
Have you ever flown a kite? yes
Do you think kangaroos are cute? not really

• L
Are you laid back? sometimes yes, sometimes no.
Lions or tigers? they are both nice to look at...from afar.
Do you like black licorice? no

• M
Favorite place at the Mall? forever 21...or anyplace i can find a deal
Favorite movie? i dont really have one

• N
Do you prefer night or day? night
Do you have a nickname? yes...there are a few of them

• O
Are you an only child? no - 2 younger siblings

• P
Do you know anyone named Penelope? no
Favorite flavor of popcorn? i dont like popcorn

THERE IS NO Q???

• R
Do you think you're always right? honestly...usually i do think i am right. bad, i know.
Do you watch reality tv? sometimes.

• S
Do you prefer sun or rain? the sun for sure!
Do you like snow? in small increments

• T
Time to go to sleep? 11-12 at night

• U
Can you ride a unicycle? if i practiced enough i am sure i could ride one

• V
Did you ever watch Veggie tales? only in sunday school sometimes.

• W
What's your worst habitt? chewing gum
who is your best friend? cameron
who do you like? people that are cool and interesting

• X
Have you ever had an x-ray? yes, many

• Y
Do you like the color yellow? yes i do. it is a happy color
Do you yell when you're angry? rarely.

• Z
Do you believe in Zodiac signs? no

•Lasts:
Last dream: i dreamt that i took 3 pregnancy tests. 2 were positive and one was negative. it was so odd.
Last time you cried: i can't remember
Last person you hugged: cameron
Last night: meeting at church, school science fair
Last person you rode in a car with: cameron

april is blacker than night...

2008-02-13T15:03:00.000-08:00

What's Your True Color?

My Result: Black

Your color is black. The color of night. Serene and mysterious, black conjures up images of elegant evening gowns, dashing tuxedos, and gleaming limousines. Traditionally a symbol of success, black also represents power and an uncompromising demand for perfection. Not surprisingly, you tend to set challenging goals for yourself and do whatever it takes to achieve them — your strength of character is second to none. This unfaltering determination, along with your natural elegance, impresses people. But keep in mind that your personality might be intimidating to some. Try to temper your demanding side with a little softness — trust us, it won't kill you. Overall, though, black is the color of professionalism and achievement, which means it's clearly the color for you.

What are you? http://web.tickle.com/rd/50651/color/index.jsp?testname=colorogt&resultid=G

my life isn't worth living

2008-01-26T16:04:00.000-08:00

i miss you. i even signed up for DVR service because of you. and because of the writer's strike i am not going to be seeing you anytime soon. please come back. i beg you. i love you.

we still heart blogging

2008-01-22T14:16:00.000-08:00

don't worry. we are not dead. we just don't have internet at our house right now. we thought we were paying legitimately for internet, but we were acutally stealing someone else's wireless signal. maybe they found out about it because theire connection was ridiculously slow??? now our laptop is just a dumb old computer. computer's aren't that cool without the internet, i have found. but do not fret. just a few short weeks and you can hit up our www dot and hear about our Christmas. who cares if we are a little late. our peeps gotta know!

I've been Tagggged...

2007-12-07T10:37:00.000-08:00

So, I will attempt to write 6 things about myself that you may not know...

1. I am afraind of the dark, shows about ghosts, shows about devil/demons...etc.
i can't watch the show ghosthunters because i get the creepy crawlies when i have to go to bed at night. I can't go from one room to the other in the dark. I must walk in the light and turn on the light in the next room before i enter it. I also sleep with the light and/or tv on - this has been an issue of great dispute in my new marriage.

2. i am obsessed with right angles. call this OCD, but i do not like it when things are askew. crooked pictures on the wall - the world is coming to an end! if you are hanging a group of pictures on wall -they better be EXACTLY the same distance from one another...PERIOD!

3. i can't finish a glass of water. or any drink for that matter. i always leave a little bit in the bottom. in my head, there are always little things, amoebas, dirt, etc flaoting in the bottom of the drink - and i dont want that crap in my body. no sir.

4. i thought i was TRULY going to marry justing timberlake when i was younger. I really thought that if he and i met we would surely like eachother and then get married. i dont think i ever told anyone. but tis true.

5. i can't make up my mind on anything - when i am buying something, where i want to eat, yadda yadda yadda. YET - i get so pissed when other people can't make up their minds. yeah, i know.

6. i have an assymetrical face. left side is better - right side sucks. i always try to be on the left in pics - so sue me for not wanting to look retarded.

Thanksgving in Bish...

2007-11-27T20:11:00.000-08:00

This Thanksgiving we headed up to Bishop to see Cameron's fam and gorge ourseles with them. it was a good little time. it was warmer than most years (says cam: damn global warming). we got to house sit at one house - so we had an area all to ourselves. we were able to get to know cam's mom's husband, doug, a bit better. we went out to the hills and shot some guns - no big deal - i impressed everyone with my sharp-shooterness. we also hit the links. it was my first time and i did pretty good! i think i hit the ball about 100 yards. it's a pretty awkward feeling sport. i think i will probably do it again. all the boys were impressed. we also hung out with some of cameron's old friends from high school who came home for the holidays. all in all it was a great, but short, trip.

Erin Got Married!!!

2007-11-27T19:43:00.000-08:00

Inside the Bridal Dressing room at the Wright House - Mesa, AZ
Outside the Wright House before the wedding.
Erin and I looking awkward.
Erin and her new in-laws: Don & Sandy Grace.

It was a great wedding and my sister looked amazing! I am glad she found a great guy with a good family! I am thankful I got to be a part of it! Plus, our anniversaries are 4 days apart - now we can take trips together! yee-haw!

An update on the last month...

2007-11-26T08:32:00.000-08:00

I am apparently way bad at keeping this thing updated...to my own detriment.

Anywho...a LOT has happened in the last month. I guess we should start out with the fact that Cameron and I celebrated our ONE YEAR wedding anniversary! yee-haw! we had so much fun going up to san luis obispo to the wine country. i had never been there. cameron surprised me with the entire trip - he made all the arrangements himself! we rode the train up there (very scenic, cheap, and one of you doesn't have to be exhausted from driving). we stayed at a downtown apartment, went shopping, ate at a GREAT steakhouse, did wine tasting (i couldn't handle that much wine..ek), and visited Hearst Castle. It was great.

Here is a taste of what we did...

PRETEND stuck our tongues on pre-chewed gum in Gum Alley...tasty. Gorged ourselves at the Far Western Tavern in Guadalupe, CA. YUMMY!
Stared at kelp on the beach. fun.
Gawked at the gaudiness of Hearst Castle (this is the front of the Main House).

Nice cathedral, pal.
Posed in front of the Vineyards. aww...

Modeled at one of the old doors of the Catholic Mission. don't worry - i won't quit my day job.

we decorated pumpkins at the farmer's market a few blocks from our apartment.

All in all, it was a great trip - and a great way to put a cap on the first year of our marraige.

2007-11-02T15:50:00.000-07:00

The results are in...

after much debate and comtemplations, Cameron and I ended up being NONE of the ideas that I listed on my blog. Call me a liar? Perhaps. But, that's what happens when I dont know how to sew. Damn my domestic inept-ness.

We ended being a Greek God & Goddess. Zeus and Hera. I am not much for store bougt costumes...meh...

In this picture you will see grapes in my hand. What is missing is our matching gold goblets that I am CERTAIN gods and goddesses drank out of. ..ENJOY!

Oh, and everyone else better post their pics!

If only I was born a computer person...

2007-10-22T21:45:00.000-07:00

I would look like this...

oh wait..this is what i look like in real life. except i dont get a snazzy breakroom.

halloween, halloween, this is halloween!

2007-10-15T10:10:00.000-07:00

amigos - if you dont know, i work at a church. most churches have some sort of family event on/around halloween that is intened to be fun for the family but also a time in which parent and child will undoubtedly know that they all can enjoy themselves amongst the realms of safety. blegh! ok, that being said - i am in cahrge of this bad-boy of a party. this month marks the third year of my reign. well, we are forbidden from wearing scary costumes. ok, well when you are a girl you can totally do "unscary" but you can rarely do "unslutty." here marks my problem. church party + slutty costume = unemployment for april.

so, my friends sara, rachel, and i were perusing the internet yesterday after church and these are the things we came up with (oh - forgot - the husband wants to do a couples theme, so that's another added difficulty.)

this would be great to do, easy, and cheap - no sluttiness here.

from this crew, perhaps thurston & lovie OR gilligan & mariane/ginger. potential for sluttiness, but could definitely be adapted.

this would be awesome - david & goliath. i would be david, cam would be goliath. i would run around trying to kill him all night with my slingshot. of course we would have to make a nice cosmetic bruise on his forehead, for effect.

this is the winner in my eyes - dog & beth chapman from "DOG: the bounty hunter." i think this might be their wedding day or something. nevertheless - i dont know how to BE Beth minus the enormous boobies and the mile long cleaveage. any thoughts? any thougths? of all dreams i have dreamt - this one is, by far, the greatest and most glorious of them all.

RIP my big boob-ed halloween dream.

good ol' fashioned girly fun!

2007-10-09T20:24:00.001-07:00

i am turning out to be quite lame at posting in an up-to-date fashion, but at least i try.

nothing really exciting other than a few weeks back i headed to AZ for my lil' sisters bridal shower and bachelorette party. a good time was truly had by all!

here are a few pics...

this is erin with her mouth full of bubble gum. turns out she doesn't know donny as well as she THINKS she does :)

toilet paper brides - classy.

all the girls gussied up!

erin is out of control.

this was pretty funny. i came all the way from cali with the same shirt she planned to wear on this day. we didn't plan this.

sister power!

there you have it. not a lot of details, i know. but you know what they say - what happens at the party, stays at the party. just kidding - we kept it all under the "good clean fun" category.

Whaddya know!

2007-10-01T15:05:00.000-07:00

Which Office Character Are You?

You are Ryan. You are extremely smart and perceptive, and it irritates you to no end when inferior people try to tell you what to do. Sometimes, though, your critical eye makes you come off as aloof and bitter to others, and it may take awhile for people to get to know you.

Redneck Weddin' Pics...

2007-09-23T20:47:00.000-07:00

This is me and my new boyfriend, Wiley. He is 3 months old. I am in love. This is NOT my baby.

This is Cam and I - obviously

This is Doug & Steph cutting their purty weddin' cake. Notice the carribeaner hanging off his belt loop.

You should be scared of us...

2007-09-23T19:47:00.000-07:00

ok...so it certainly has been quite a while since i have posted (thank you bert), and i am most certain that my blogs have been surely missed by the two couples who i know are fans(sarcasm). well, you see, cam's mama got re-married back on september 8th. it was a great time, but you must know that it was quite the redneck affair. steph & doug (cam's mom & step-pop) got married up at rock creek lake in california. let's just say that steph didn't wear any shoes...and doug had his carribeaner (sp check) hanging on the belt loop of his dusty jeans. i am not hatin' - just trying to paint a picture. not only was that weddin' redneck, but a lot of cameron's family is redneck. his uncle glen is prolly the worst of the bunch. he was raised up in the high sierras (as was all of cam's fam - basically mammoth, ca). somehow, he has a really thick cowboy accent - and he's the only one in the fam who talks like that. it truly is a beauty of a dialect, but oh-so contemplative. point is - glen is a redneck and likes redneck things...particulary GUNS. i have fired a good ol' shotgun in my day, but nothing compares to this gun that glen let me play with... M-15s - no big deal.

2007-08-28T17:02:00.000-07:00

You Are An ENFJ
The Giver
You strive to maintain harmony in relationships, and usually succeed.Articulate and enthusiastic, you are good at making personal connections.Sometimes you idealize relationships too much - and end up being let down.You find the most energy and comfort in social situations ... where you shine.
In love, you are very protective and supporting.However, you do need to "feel special" - and it's quite easy for you to get jealous.
At work, you are a natural leader. You can help people discover their greatest potential.You would make a good writer, human resources director, or psychologist. How you see yourself: Trusting, idealistic, and expressive
When other people don't get you, they see you as: Bossy, inappropriate, and loud
What's" Your Personality Type?
You Are An ISFJ

The Nurturer
You have a strong need to belong, and you very loyal.A good listener, you excel at helping others in practical ways.In your spare time, you enjoy engaging your senses through art, cooking, and music.You find it easy to be devoted to one person, who you do special things for.
In love, you express your emotions through actions.Taking care of someone is how you love them. And you do it well!
At work, you do well in a structured environment. You complete tasks well and on time.You would make a good interior designer, chef, or child psychologist.
How you see yourself: Competent, dependable, and detail oriented
When other people don't get you, they see you as: Boring, dominant, and stuck in a rut

What's" Your Personality Type?

The legend is true!

2007-08-26T21:24:00.000-07:00

ok dudes, so i thought the following was pretty awesome. on saturday cam and i were shopping at the mall. it was saturday, lunchtime, two days before school starts. starting to get a visual? if the answer is yes, then you are prolly visualizing a lot of people. go you for being a good visualizer. anywho - we live in oxnard. oxnard is a town that has is primarily populated with hispanice people. no biggie. well, there has always been this joke that you should, "never give a sharpie marker to mexican women." well, i always kind of laughed and said, "oh, that's just silly! no one would really use a sharpie on their face! pssshhh-aw!" and this just so happened to be a joke shared with me by mexican people, so no one can say i am being prejudiced. anyhow, back to the mall. so there we were, walking out of Anchor Blue. which also happens to be next to a Claire's Boutique. Just as we are passing Claire's - I see a Latina goddess embodying the legend of the elusive Sharpie. It truly looked like this...she was a vision in an oversized Dallas Cowboy's jersey! Come to oxnard! shall be a grand ole time!

DOG the Bounty Hunter!

2007-08-14T11:49:00.000-07:00

I must admit that i love the show "DOG the Bounty Hunter." I really could not tell you why. Perhaps it is for the crazy hair DOG seems to have created. Perhaps it is the white-trashness that i see. Or maybe it is because of the tender side of Duane "DOG" Chapman that i love. Everyone should watch this show. Another interesting thought of mine (at least to me) is that this show takes place in Hawaii. I have never been to Hawaii, but I always thought that it MUST be glamorous. But Dog and his fam are anything but - and i still love them so. Here is a picture of Dog's wife, Beth...

Jet-setting & vitamins

2007-08-13T16:22:00.000-07:00

so, as it turns out, i am very tired. i have been running around this blessed country of our for the past three weeks. because of this and the different time zones, my sleep schedule has been a bit out of whack. we just started school at the church where i work and things are in full swing. this is not so easy when one is exhausted. anywho - - i must give props to my husband for making me take vitamins. i believe that if it wasn't for vitamins that i would be a lazy sack of flesh unable to move and work and be productive! so, kudos to cameron for not taking my "no's" for an answer and double kudos to the maker of vitamins!

Negative People

2007-08-07T14:11:00.000-07:00

So, here we are getting ready for another Academic year at the Church & School where I am blessed to work at. We have been in two REALLY LONG staff meetings the past two days - which has been difficult coming off of two weeks of about three hours of sleep per night. It also happens to be the beginning of my third year at this joint, and the past two have been a bit rough and tiring. We have had some MAJOR staff changes for the upcoming year. It is so amazing how a few toxic people with negative, sarcastic, and pompous demeanors can change the entire tone of a staff. I feel that we no longer have to endure those negative energies and am looking VERY forward to what this year will bring. This is a lesson to me and to everyone that we should watch what we say and how we say it. If it is meant to tear someone down, then don't open your mouth. 'Nuf said.