10 QUICK things....

10. MY MOM IS COMING TODAY!!! WOO HOO!

9. Book Club this morning....last one underneath the RS Interest Group..so annoying!

8. 2 cakes due this weekend...what was I thinking...I mean we couldn't have known about Grandpa Yarn 2 weeks ago when I agreed to these cakes but none the less...I've got some decorating to do!

7. I am in love with Elodie's new bed...I love looking in her room. It looks so girly and grown up! A little sad.

6. Speaking of in love...I am in LOVE with this new smell called something mango from Bath and Body Works...SO GOOD.. I put it in Elodie's room and it's just one more reason why I love going in there now!

5. Last night was my last night to work till April 12th. I took the whole time off while my mom was here so this will be so fun! As if I wouldn't take the whole time off!! DUH!

4. Christopher's huge presentation this afternoon...good luck hun!

3. Elodie's crying "Mommy, where are you!?!" as I type..just 2 more things...

2. General Conference this weekend...definitely excited.

1. MY MOMMY IS COMING TODAY!! If I don't post again it's because Chris couldn't go with us and I got lost at the airport! ;)

Life comes at you fast....and sometimes knocks you down!

Ysterday was really hard for our family. At about 12 noon we got a phone call from Heath (Chris' brother-in-law) saying that our Grandpa Yarn had a heartattack and was being rushed to the hospital. No one had any details because they were all headed up to the hospital too.....all we could do was wait. We knew that things weren't looking good. Grandpa was without oxygen for a while and the EMT's had to shock him a couple of times....

At about 7pm last night Amanda called Christopher to let him know that Grandpa Yarn had passed away! It's crazy how fast life comes and goes. Just 3 or 4 weeks ago we were up in Snowflake for Anistyn's blessing...Grandpa and Grandma Yarn were there and Grandpa was playing with the grandkids, pushing them on the skateboard, and trying to ride the skateboard himself! Now he is gone! From what we have been told Grandpa's arteries were pretty clogged up....which I thought with the technology of today, your doctor would be able to see with high blood pressure, cholesterol, etc. But apparently not.

This is a completely different experience for us compared to Grandpa Brewer's death last Spring. With Grandpa Brewer he was sick and everyone had a chance along time before he died to accept it. With Grandpa Yarn, this was really sudden and unexpected! Just very sad....

The viewing is Thursday evening and the funeral is Friday morning. Since my mom is coming to town tomorrow she offered to stay behind and keep Elodie here at home. Which is a great idea since at Grandpa Brewer's funeral it was horrible trying to keep her entertained. I know my mom would like to come. She and my dad served in the Temple Presidency the same time as Grandpa and Grandma Yarn. They attended some meetings together and both enjoyed each others company. In fact, my parents met Grandpa and Grandma Yarn long before Chris and I got married and long before I even got married. Anytime I would see Grandpa Yarn he would always ask about my parents and tell me to tell them hello from him. Anyway, mom decided to stay behind and just send her condolences. I'm sad to leave my mom behind but grateful that she offered and is so understanding...I mean, who wouldn't be!

Well, I am grateful for eternal families and the spirit that can comfort our family as we mourn the loss of the Patriarch of the Yarn family. Such a blessing to be a member of the church and have the knowledge that we will all be together for eternity. Grandpa Yarn was a wonderful man and a wonderful example to his sons and grandsons. I know Chris loves him and I'm so grateful that as a couple we were able to enjoy Grandpa Yarn. We will miss him but know that he will be with us as we continue to honor the family name!

Labor of Love...



I FINALLY got this up. My cousin Tania has the exact same frames on her wall to display her scrapbooking layouts. I loved the idea so I got our friend Michael (of Michael and Sarah) to build me the frames. Because they were an odd shape frame, Christopher had to buy a sheet of glass and cut it down to fit the frame. He also drilled the holes (with his new drill I bought him from Costco). I painted the frames and threaded the ribbon and Christopher hung them up. Today my friend Lori, who does the vinyl lettering your starting to see, came over and put this cute quote on my wall. The quote sais "We do not remember days, we remember moments" Love the way it finally came out!! And as a special treat for Tania for sharing, I got her the exact same quote to hang above her frames! I'll see you next week Tania and I will bring it with me!

This little project was definitely a labor of love and thanks to everyone who helped me put this together! I love looking at my layouts now and I love when people come over that they can see my work!

LONG Weekend Update!

So I don't really know where I've been....last week FLEW by so fast!! So I need to start with Thursday....


Christopher has been talking about purchasing a truck...he has been looking for a while now and we both agreed it was about time we bought a second vehicle. One vehicle has been working for us but we were really just enjoying no car payment more than anything. That died fast as the summer is fast approaching and if we didn't get a second vehicle I was going to be stranded at home everyday of the week.since the ASU bus doesn't run as often in the summer Christopher would have to take the car to and from work. And since he isn't taking in summer classes it was silly for him to get on the ASU shuttle that takes him to campus and then get on another bus that takes him to work....our only other option was to take him to the mall everyone morening and catch a city bus that takes him to downtown Phoenix. I wouldn't mind that but it runs at like 7 in the morning and the mall is about 20 minutes from our house. Not to mention waking Elodie up....doesn't sound like fun to me. So Thursday afternoon I picked Chris up from work and we headed out to this huge used car extravaganza and Chris bought a 2000 Chevy s10...fits us all, fits our needs, and we are happy with our purchase! Christopher is on cloud 9 and it's nice knowing that we both have our own cars again....



Friday was SO fun....I met up with my dear best friend Randa and we did some decorating around her house...I made her this board for her bedroom that sais "Today's Test is Tomorrow's Testimony". Randa absolutely loved it! I also made her this board...

We did this board for a Relief Society craft group. I made one for my house too but in burgandy. So cute! I love them both and so did she! We spent some the afternoon putting her new decorations and then we headed over to the Scottsdale mall to met up with Christopher and have some yummy Paradise Bakery! Love that place...if you have never been and there is one close to your house...GO! It's fabulous. A little pricey for a bakery style resteraunt but the food is fab and so worth it! Believe me! Anyway, after lunch, Christopher took Elodie home and me and Randa did some shopping! Some much needed female bonding at Express, Gap, The Limited...it was great and we were both in need of some new clothes! I haven't been to the mall without Elodie in a long time so it was SO nice to get out of the house and shop without her. Not that Elodie isn't great but as a mom we all need a couple of hours with our girlfriends to make us feel like girls again! You know what I mean! I dropped Randa off at her house around 6pm and headed home. When I got home we decided to run over to Ikea and get Elodie a new bed. We have known for a while what bed we wanted...it matches the dresser we bought her a couple of weeks ago. We just were putting it off because Elodie is still in her crib and hasn't figured out how to climb out yet...and we aren't planning on teaching her anytime soon! But with my mom coming in a few days we decided it was time and we didn't want Mom sleeping on the couch like she has in the past! So we bought the bed....it was a little pricey but this bed is FABULOUS! It serves so many purposes and believe me she will be sleeping in this same bed when she is 16 years old! Atleast that is the plan! It starts out as a twin bed but has a trundle underneath that converts into a king size bed when you open it up! It also has 3 huge, deep storage drawers underneath and will be great for extra bedding, blankets, clothes, books, whatever! I am so pleased with our purchase and Elodie is super excited! (Pictures in just a minute-let me get to Saturday first) So we came home in our new truck with our new bed, which we wouldn't have been able to do in the civic so already the truck is paying itself off! ;) Christopher stayed up late putting part of the bed together and that was our Friday night! Oh and we also found this really cute side table for Randa'a living room at Ikea. She was looking for one at the mall earlier but we got sidetracked by all the clothes...20 bucks and it fits perfect. She had been looking for one and I thought it would be great for her room. We dropped it off on our way home and I was right..she loved it! Randa's cousin Kristy Lee (and our old Ricks roommate) was in town visiting so we stood in the parking lot of Randa's apartment complex and chatted for over an hour! Even Chris had a great time! He's known Kristy since he got off his mission so he enjoys her company too!

Saturday morning we woke and Christopher headed over to the church to help clean up and play basketball! Me and Elodie hung out and cleaned up...I made these cute explosion boxes for a craft day we are doing in Relief Society..need to take a picture so I'll post that later. Stopped by the scrapbooking store and the bow store for ribbon for my friend Brooke. Her baby was being blessed on Sunday and although I made her a bunch of bows..they were all too big. So I made her a new one that fit little Ainsley's head perfectly. Almost too perfectly!
We spent the afternoon putting Elodie's bed together and then headed out to find the perfect bedding for her new bed. And guess where I found it...WAL MART! Of all places...I checked a couple of different places but no one had what I was looking for..until I got to Wal-Mart. Good old walmart..their up there with Costco! ;) So here is the bed in all it's glory! I LOVE IT! And it really brings Elodie's room together so nicely! Love it! Love it!
Her room looks so girly and perfect just for her! I'm also pleased that when we move the only thing we will need to do is paint her walls. I will post some more pictures of her room later so you can get an idea of what it looks like. I also wanted to scrapbook it so I need to anyway!


Sunday was spent going to church and enjoying some relaxing time at home. We had such a great weekend and we are pretty much ready for my mom! Alot to do though..clean and organize so she has a place for everything. Not to mention that we will be gone to Utah all of next week! Fun stuff! I'm excited to see all of our family and friends that live out there. Not excited about the drive and leaving Chris behind. But the company will be nice and Elodie will have her trusty DVD player! Happy Monday Everyone!

KMA Contest Challenge #4

I submitted this layout at the very last minute! It almost didn't happen! This past week has flown by!! More to come about last week......hang tight! -A

Remember this feeling....

So the next time I have the urge to stop at Sonic on my way home from work at 10pm...and Christopher encourages that stop....hopefully I'll remember this post and the way I feel right now...ugh.....soon after I ate I felt all throw upy and I still feel this way this morning! It could be that I'm getting ready for that time of the month and that adds to it....I always feel morning sickiness around that time...AND NO! I'm not pregnant! Either way....Sonic at 10pm...not a good thing...ever again! ;) ugh!

Back to School...

Spring Break is over....Christopher went back to school today..back to late nights and homework! On the upside of that, only 7 weeks left of school! It's crazy how time flies so quickly! Summer is practically here in Az. and it feels like Christmas was centuries ago.

My weekend was pretty much summed up in my cake entry..still realing from that little adventure! Speaking of cake, I got a call from a friends friend who wants me to do a Dora the Explorer cake for her 2 year olds birthday at the end of this month....Sigh...birthday cakes are so less stress than wedding cakes....it's a nice comeback from this past weekend! :)

My to do list is slowing getting checked off today....my meals for the week are planned..lots of scrapbooking projects in the works and almost ready to share..Elodie is napping after a trip to the park this afternoon..that always wears her out! Nothing much else going on......Peace out! ;)

An Elodie Prayer

Elodie is getting so good at saying her own prayers with little or no help from me or Chris....this prayer just happened this morning over breakfast and I had to record it. She said it all by herself and did such an amazing job!!

"Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this day, thank you for our blessings, for our food, for our cousins, for daddy and mommy and ginger, thank you for our stroller, name of Jesus Christ, AMEN!!"


She is so cute!! A few other tid bits...she knows how to put the straw in her juice box all by herself. She can open the fridge and get her pink milk out all by herself. She knows popcorn popping, the wise men, the wheels on the bus, and do as I'm doing! All songs she is learning in nursery and we are singing at home. Yesterday on our way to church we had the primary songs playing in the car. During sacrament meeting she started singing "Follow the Prophet" SO CUTE!!

Saturday mornings conversation:

Elodie has her tiarra on her head.....

Elodie- "Look mommy, I got my tiiiiaaaaarah on my head"

Mommy- "I see that Elodie, and you look so pretty!"

Elodie- "I'm a princess mommy!"

Mommy- "Yes you are Elodie!"

Elodie- "I NEED TO GO TO DISNEYLAND!!!!!"

LOL!!!

We haven't been telling her about Disneyland at all I promise! Wink, Wink!
A few things I must remember!!

Wedding Cake....{huge sigh!}

So I completed my 4th wedding cake yesterday. I've gotten it down pat so that on the day of the wedding there is really no stress for me....besides the fact that I worked on the actually wedding cake from about 8pm to almost 2am Friday night/Saturday morning. I have a pretty good system for my wedding cakes and by the day of the actually wedding my only task left on my list is to fill and ice the sheet cakes...NO PROBLEM! This wedding cake was no exception...stress free and really enjoyable. The bride wanted a small simple cake...brown fondant, cream and red ribbon with red bows. No big deal! Because she was living in a different state and coming to Az. for the wedding we coordinated through email and one or two phone calls. This is not unusual as most brides see a picture of a cake and want an exact replica of that picture.
Anyway, the bride had seen the picture she liked and up until about 2 or 3 days until the wedding I had sent her detailed descriptions of what it was she was going to get. No problem, everything was perfect.
So yesterday I load up the cake and head out to the reception. Usually I like for the bride to be at the reception when I drop off the cake so that I can get feedback from her before the reception starts. And if there are any minor details that can be changed I can do it without an audience. With this particular cake, the bride was still taking pictures when I dropped off the cake. Really no big deal since I was coming back with the sheet cakes and was being paid to serve the sheet cakes as well. I would just talk to her when I came back. So I go home get the sheet cakes and when I come back...all the bows had been torn off the cake with the exception of the center bow. And because the bows had been hot glued on to the ribbon, in the process of taking the bows all, the underneath ribbon had been torn as well as some of the fondant!!! At this point my heart completely stopped beating and I seriously felt like I was going to die!! Literally! My first thought was that someone (probably a kid) came by and decided to be cute!! Not funny! But when I asked the caterer what had happened to the cake she told me the bride didn't like all the bows and had decided she wanted them taken off. Well, instead of waiting for me to come back, "someone" ( I think it was the caterer- but no one claimed they had done it!) decided to do it themselves and in the process messed up the cake!!! I was so mad!! First of all the bride new exactly what the cake was going to look like because she picked out the picture she wanted!! Secondly, I don't care who you are, you don't touch someone elses masterpiece! And to me, my cakes are my own little masterpiece! You don't spend a whole week in cake and 6 hours decorating a wedding cake for someone to come behind you and destroy it! And that may seem melodramatic but to me it was destroyed!

So while the florist was trying to find some flowers to cover up the mess someone else had made, I could only stand by and accept what had happened! And when I talked to the bride she told me she didn't like all the bows and thought the cake should have been bigger! AHHHHH!!!! This is not happening to me! No matter how much detail you give a person some people are just not pleased! And it's to be expected in this business when you are working with brides! And on a positive note, the bride did like the cake and I got a ton of compliments on it! But I was irritated because I knew what the cake should have looked like! And the worse part is I didn't even get a picture of the cake with all the bows..I had to wait until those stupid flowers were put on it! UG!

The other dramatic part of the evening was that while I was gone, the caterer came behind me and put the wedding cake on these really pretty petastals (which also isn't uncommon as that is part of the caterers job is to make all the food pretty), but in the process of moving the cakes, she took one of my cake stands and put one of her cake stands there instead. At the end of the night when I brought the cake in I noticed that my cake stand was missing..I asked the caterer where it was and she told me she didn't know!!! Well, didn't you move my cake stand to put yours under it??? She told me she didn't know where it was and I should ask the florist!! JERK!!! Why would the florist know where it was??? The caterer admitted to moving it!!! UGH! It gets so annoying when you have people who have been in this business for so long and they think they have the right to move your stuff around as they choose! I mean this lady was trying to tell me where to put my sheet cakes and how many to cut....I don't mind a few suggestions but come on! I'm not stupid!

So I learned a new lesson..which you usually don't learn a lesson unless something bad happens so I should be grateful...I don't know what I could have done about the bride thinking the cake was going to be bigger..she knew how big the cake was going to be....so maybe in the future a more formal sit down description with the bride is in order, also, I won't ever leave the cake unattended. If the bride isn't there then I'll wait for her to get there- which in return will keep anyone besides me touching MY cake! :) And hopefully this won't happen again!
I can't complain about the whole night....I got a ton of compliments on the cake, the bride did tell me everything looked beautiful, the mother of the bride loved everything, and I got paid! So in order to get paid, I should expect that I can't please everyone!!

So the next time you are at a wedding or at some big special event and there is a cake presence. Take a minute and admire it! It really does take a long time to make a cake and every cake designer would tell you that for them, it's their masterpiece! SO YOU BETTER NOT TOUCH!!! I don't care who you are! :)

This what the cake look liked after they tore the bows off of it! It's super shiny because that's the way the bride wanted it....so with the flash, it didn't take the best picture...another tip I learned!! You can see where when they took the ribbon off it tore the rest of the ribbon too....note to self, bring extra ribbon with you just in case! If I would have had extra ribbon then those stupid flowers wouldn't have needed to be added!

The other picture is how the cake looked after the flowers were added. Which I thought was silly because the whole reason the bride didn't like the bows was because she thought it was too much......I just wish I would have gotten a picture of all the cakes with the bows. It looked really cute!

KMA Contest Challenge #3

I actually finished a layout early this week! I can't believe it! The last 2 weeks I've been turning my entries in right before the deadline! I actually impressed myself this week...I guess all the stuff on my plate motivated me to use my time wisely! Imagine that! ;) This weeks challenge was to scrap something that made you laugh! We weren't laughing at the time but our most recent drama in our house was when Elodie put gum in her hair! The funniest part was what she said when she did it...which is also the title of this layout- "mommy, my gum is REALLY stuck and my hair is REALLY sticky!" She is so crazy!

Cake progress is moving along....all my cakes are baked. Tomorrow is filling and icing day. And I should be able to get the fake cakes covered tonight..that would put me way ahead of schedule for tomorrow. I like to have as little to do as possible on the day of the wedding so I'm not stressing out too much....smooth sailing so far...I'm sure I just jinxed myself! ;)

Speaking of cakes, Chris cousin Ann use to work for a bakery...she picked up a bunch a stuff along the way and even did a few fake cakes for family weddings. Anyway, she has decided not to do it anymore and dropped off a bunch of stuff at my house this morning! Enough styrafoam (sp?) to make 4 or 5 cakes! Square and Round cakes! I got hooked up! Thanks Ann!

My first trip back to Costco tonight...:} I'm ready to recommit myself and Chris will be with me! LOL! I should scrap about my love obsession with Costco! That would make for a funny layout!

Surviving Motherhood....

I took that title from my cousin Tania...it's been one of those last couple of days for me as a mother...ya know, trying to keep my head above water hoping I don't screw up royally!
Elodie is now 2 and 6 months old..exactly two and a half as of the 3rd of March...and she has officially hit the MINE stage! I don't care how great your parenting skills are, or how much time and attention is placed on your child...believe me they will all go through this stage! I, myself, have learned this the hard way as I thought "NO!" "Not my child!" many times before. It's not something you can prevent and as of now I am struggling to find ways to... tone it down if you will!

We had a playdate yesterday with a friend in my ward (Audrey, I have mentioned her a few times before). Audrey and her husband wanted to attend the temple and since we swap babysitting with them I told her I wouldn't mind watching her 2 kids (Ryanna-4 in April and Owen-4 months) Elodie and Ryanna play nicely together but on strict conditions and constant supervision. None of this playing nicely in Elodie's room. At Ryanna's house is a different story as none of those toys belong to Elodie so the "MINE" doesn't work as effectively! Unless you count the fact that Elodie calls everything mine at Ryanna's just to get under her skin! She's a smart cookie! ;) And remember that Ryanna is almost 4 so she understands the sharing process..she is more into the tattling stage right now! I can't wait for that one! ;)
Anyway, as soon as Ryanna stepped in the door Elodie started....My MOMMY! My KITCHEN! My BALL! And this isn't the first time...we started meeting at the park in our subdivision everyday (since the weather is GORGEOUS right now!) and I had been bringing Ginger (she is still on a diet and needs the exercise!) but Elodie was so territorial over Ginger that I had to stop bringing Ginger! She would completely forget about playing because she was so concerned about where Ginger was...and the other kids just wanted to pet Ginger and be nice..it didn't matter, Elodie would flip out....MY GINGER!! A couple of times we left the park early because I just couldn't deal with it any longer! I was frustrated, Ginger, was confused, and Elodie had down right lost it!!
And as a mother, I make an effort to make time so that Elodie can have playdates and enjoy being outside! So it's frustrating when she takes those opportunities and ruins them for EVERYONE! And I know, she is only 2 but how far can that excuse get you?


Christopher has been reading "Seven Habits for Highly Effective People" and in the book it talks about parenting styles. He sais that until children learn ownership, they can't properly grasp the idea of sharing....once they understand that something belongs to them, then they can let someone else use it knowing that it will come back to them. So until that happens, forcing a child to share is using a bullying or manipulation ("you'll do this or!") style of parenting! Obviously those aren't the style of parenting we want to use. Christopher sais that until she understands we are suppose to simple distract her or take her out of that element (why I took Ginger out of the equation!!) YEAH! How long ago was Stephen Covey's kids 2! ;)

So back to yesterday....we struggled through "MINE!" and "She's not sharing!" for about an hour or so and I was the referree the entire time! And even over silly stuff. Ryanna would find a piece of paper, Elodie would say "My paper!" UGH! But after a little while I guess Elodie figured out that Ryanna was going to be around for a while so she started playing nice. And it's definitely rewarding to see her want to share or graps the concept of taking turns. We went outside for a little while and were blowing bubbles. The girls were taking turns so nicely both saying things like "Okay, Ryanna it's your turn" or "Elodie go ahead!" It was super sweet and I guess the good outweighs the bad. Just thought I would share that although in all my pictures of Elodie she looks perfect...she has her flaws, as do we all! ;)

Any tips on how you deal or dealt with the MINE stage pass them on! I'll try anything! :)

Here are a few pics I caught of the girls yesterday while they were actually being friends! I'll need to refer to these pictures often to protect my sanity!

Wanna here something funny?

Christopher is working with the Schneider's all this week! Being an intern at C&B has it's advantages during the semester...Christopher can focus mainly on school and when he goes to work he only does what is available for him from other engineers. During the week he works about 4 hours a day and it's the perfect amount of time to keep him busy. Well, apparently that isn't the case during Spring Break (summers will be different as C&B know Christopher will be working full time-atleast I hope for Christopher that this week isn't a sign of things to come-eck!).....he got to work this morning at 7am and the first of the engineers didn't roll in until after 9am! And even after they started rolling in he didn't have anything to work on until after 10am! Which means he sat at his desk for 3 hours before he got work! Christopher is type A big time and this didn't sit well with him. He called me and was like I can't sit at my desk and do nothing for 8 hours! It's not worth the extra money! Sorry hun!

So a few hours later Christopher calls and sais he was leaving..which was really exciting for me as he said he wasn't planning on working more than a 6 hour shift each day....I mean he has to have some kind of spring break vacation right? But he wasn't coming home. Apparently, Christopher called the Schneider's up and asked if they could use some extra work this week? And of course they said YES! Come Back! :) And it worked out nice for the Schneider's because one of their interns took the whole week off! Some people apparently like to actually vacation during spring break! I mean who ever heard of that!?!

So instead of being at home around 1pm everyday..Christopher is spending a couple of hours after C&B with the Schneider's helping them out. He is still home around 3pm or so so it's not that bad for me.....1pm sounds alot better than 3pm though! It is nice though that he can call the Schneider's up and get some extra work done for them..and get paid for it! There they go being so nice to us again! I know they would love to have Christopher back...but Christopher is dead set on staying away from specializing in one specific field of engineering!

So that sums up our Spring Break for the week..Christopher at work, me and Elodie at home, Me at work 2 nights this week, a wedding cake on Saturday, and hopefully we can squeeze in something fun sometime this week! Our friends are at Disneyland right now....grr...I can't wait for our Disneyland trip....only 6 more months to go! :)

Weeken Update

Well, it's Monday again and like always the weekend flew by!! I worked Friday night but was off Saturday....we thought it would be a quiet one until we got a call at about 10am that Chris' family was in the valley for the weekend. They were planning on coming this next weekend but at the last minute changed their mine. No Biggie....

We headed out Saturday morning to look at some townhouses in downtown Phoenix. They are putting in a light rail that will run right pass thes townhouses Christopher had seen and will drop off right at the front door of his office building. Ideally we would like to be close to the light rail so Christopher doesn't have a long commute to work and we don't have to buy a second vehicle. We are loving the no car payment right now and want to squeeze as much out of that benefit as we can! ;) These townhouses Christopher has seen were advertising from the low $120's so we thought we would check them out for purchase either at the end of May or at the end of the year. We are in no hurry to purchase right now but the more we know the better off we will be when we do make a purchase. I'm not all for the idea of buying a townhouse as it won't give us much space and we won't have access to a backyard for Elodie. Our intentions if we do buy a townhouse is to live in it for a year or 2 then either sell it or rent it out as an investment. I'm not completely sold on the idea but Christopher is all for it!

So we get out there and the townhouses were just recently built so they are gorgeous! BUT, we would need a 2 bedroom atleast and the largest one they had was a little over 1000 square feet (cringe!) and it's $250,000!! $250,000!!! Of course they advertised their lowest priced townhouse at $120 but we should have known better. There is a reason everyone lives our where we are now and commutes in to the city...It's because you can buy a house that is 2000 sq. feet with a yard for the same price! We took a look at the model anyway and it was definitely nice but small...would work for just the 3 of us but what happens when number 2 comes along? All things to think about! And I hate the idea of buying something now and then being stuck trying to sell it! I would much rather buy something (A HOUSE!) that I know I will live in for the next 5 or so years!! I'm willing to meet Chris somewhere but I'm just not all for this. My options at this point are have Christopher commute an hour each way and be in traffic with lunatics but own a house OR live closer into town in a smaller house with no yard but have Chris home in like 20 minutes each day and not have the stress of driving in traffic everyday? What would you do?

After that little adventure we headed further into town to eat lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. Neither one of us had eaten there before so we were excited to try something new. I had delivered a cake there once but obviously didn't stay for the food! It was super good! After lunch we stopped by Christopher's office building to see where he works. Picture this...a 30 floor building..Christopher works on the 22nd floor and their break room is on the 8th floor! Funny huh? I walked in the building and said to Christopher "We aren't at the Schneider's anymore!"
It was nice to be able to see where Christopher is always spending his time! He is still adjusting but really likes the experience he is gaining there.

After that we met up with Chris' family to go to the Arizona Science Center to see the new BodyWorlds Exhibit...if you have heard of it it is totally awesome! REAL bodies that have been frozen and displayed for everyone to see...I don't do the exhibit any justice. It was super fascinating and crazy to see! The body is an amazing thing and it was educational to see close up. We even saw ALL the stages of a baby, all the way up to 40 weeks! ...I've seen it in a book and the posters at my OB's office but never in real life! It was kinda sad thought because you know that these babies were someone's! And they all looked perfectly healthy..made you wonder what went wrong! It was wild and I definitely recommend it if it comes to your area! Note to anyone: Don't bring a stoller (we didn't thank heavens, it was packed and I don't know how we would have gotten it throught) and don't go on a Saturday afternoon! :) We waited forever! Thankfully Elodie is the best toddler ever and she was amazingly patient and good the entire time!

Elodie had a birthday party to go to for her friend Isaac so we split up and headed back to our house. Isaac lives in our subdivision.....it was a fun hour....after that we headed back out to meet up with Chris' family at Outback for dinner! We forked out some major dough this weekend. Between Hard Rock Cafe', the exhibit, and Outback I won't mind never eating out again! It makes you sick to think how much money you can spend at a resteraunt! Thankfully it's not something we do every weekend and it was a special occasion with Chris' parents in town. We justified it that way! :)

Sunday was our treat at church..we only had to go to sacrament. It was crazy to have all that extra time to relax at home..by the end of the day it didn't even feel like we had gone to church that morning.

Now we are into Spring Break. Christopher is working full time this week and it will be so nice to have him home at a decent hour. I always get spoiled when he doesn't have school..then I get a slap in the face when he has to go back...one more semester..one more semester! Our friends Derek and Audrey (Derek is in his last semester of law school) are trying to talk Christopher into going to law school! AH! Not a chance.....Christopher said the money was swaying him! Could you imagine! 3 more years of school! Cringe! I couldn't do it! I would die!
On that note..have a great week!

Keeping Memories Alive Contest Challenge #2

Challenge was to scraplift a KMA designer's layout...this is what I came up with about Elodie and her obsession with pink milk....I love non people layouts!

You mean Costco isn't perfect?...

Today is hard to handle! :) My love affair with Costco has a glitch...all this time I have felt like Costco is perfect...love everything there, RAVE about it, feel excited about going, and good when I leave type of relationship. But as of today, I think me and Costco need some time apart. "He" has disappointed me and I need a moment! :)

A couple of days ago, Christopher's birthday to be exact, I bought Peter Pan at Costco for $18...I would have probably shopped around but I ALWAYS think Costco has the best deals so I didn't both checking Wal-Mart or Target.....day after I stop in at Target and see that Peter Pan is $15....GASP!!...what?!?...someone has it cheaper than Costco? My first thought was to return my Peter Pan and buy it at Target but then I thought my time was worth more than $3 so I decided to suck it up and forget about it. Then I get home and I find my Costco coupon book and see that there is a coupon for $5 off any Disney DVD....YEA!!!...Costco is cheaper than everyone else! Na,Na,Na,Na,Na!!!

So I call Costco and they say SURE bring the coupon in and your reciept and we will reimburse you! Woo Hoo! My time wasn't worth $3 but it was definitely worth $5!! :) Off to Costco I go today with my reciept and coupon book. Wait in line, explain my situation to the cashier and all I hear is something about can't return it, not valid for "New Releases", Peter Pan is a New Release...blah,blah,blah,blah!

I left feeling cheated on! Disappointed in my favorite place! My time was worth zero to Costco!
So me and Elodie went to Sonic for a drink for a pick me up! She loves their cherry limeades and calls them "cherry limolades" SO CUTE! I can't deny her a cherry limolade! :)

Only time will tell what will happen to my relationship with Costco...hopefully "he" will apologize and we can live as if this never happened! I will keep myself posted! :) Happy Friday Everyone!

Top 10

10. Spring is here..it is so GORGEOUS outside....this is really the reason why we all love Arizona..the weather is fabulous this time of year!! Summer is around the corner though and I hate to think about those long hot days. We will definitely be spending alot of time at the pool this summer!

9. Been taking Elodie to the park with Audrey and Ryanna...we are all starting to get a really nice tan!

8. Had to turn on the air conditioner when we got home from the park. I think it was mostly because we walked to and from the park and I was going at a pretty good pace pushing a stroller! I was burning up by the time I got home!

7. Christopher's first day 29. I think he had a pretty good birthday. Elodie and I bought him the movie Peter Pan..it came out on his birthday so it was meant to be. We also got him an ice-cream cake from coldstone..yum-o. We invited Derek and Audrey over for a slice and we all watched American Idol...

6. This year I think the Boy American Idols are better than the Girls....

5. My mom is coming to visit!! YEA!!!

4. Bought new wood frames and pink paint for Elodie's room..I've been painting!

3. We found out through an email from our Bishopric that we only have sacrament meeting on Sunday....is it wrong to be excited? :) There are 5 wards total that meant in our building and 2 of those wards are getting new boundaries. Those 2 wards are meeting together right after our sacrament meeting so they need all the space and parking. We have to leave immediately after sacrament meeting....crazy huh!

2. I work tonight..first night back since last Tuesday....my paycheck on Friday is going to stink!

1. Going to the temple with Randa tomorrow morning...should make for good times!

Exciting News!!!

My mom just emailed me and she has FINALLY gotten her ticket to fly out here for a couple of days! We are so excited to see her! She is flying in on March 28th and will be with us until April 11th! Woo Hoo!

We are also planning a trip up to Utah for a couple of days. It will be a really fun road trip, especially since I haven't been up to Utah in FOREVER!! We are thinking that we will leave on Monday, April 2nd and stay the whole week until Friday or Saturday. I would like to be back in Arizona for Easter.

I am so excited to see my mom and Elodie is super excited too!

Happy Birthday Christopher! BIG 29!!! I can't believe it! I still look at you as if your fresh off your mission! Hope you have a great day! I love you! Lacey

Registration Day!!

I can't believe Christopher registered for classes today! His last time to register for classes! Next semester is our LAST semester in school! This semester only has 9 weeks left!! It has really gone by so fast. It is so exciting! It's unfortunate though because Chris' school schedule next semester is going to be exactly like this one. Work every day for about 4 hours, Monday and Wednesday afternoon classes until 6pm. Tuesday and Thursday morning classes and work until 5pm. Long days...but obviously not long enough because this semester has really FLOWN by!!
We've decided to stay in this house until after graduation. The only reason we were anxious to buy our house last year was because Chris was working for the Schneider's. Now even though Chris is planning on staying with this new firm we aren't exactly in any rush to move! Moving is the least of our worries! Christopher wants to buy a townhouse closer in to downtown so we can be closer to work. But unfortuantly it is still pretty pricey to move in closer...it's obvious why people were moving out here! We will see how the market pans out closer to the end of the year. Obviously I would much rather buy a home but for financial reasons I can see where buying a townhouse would be better. We will see.
It's exciting that we are really starting to see the end of the tunnel! I'm so proud of Christopher!
P.S- Happy Birthday Eve Chris! :)

Weekend Update

We were up in Snowflake for the weekend...we left Saturday morning, stayed in a hotel, and left Sunday evening. Amanda and Heath's new baby Anistyn was being blessed on Sunday and we were so happy that we got to be there for that. She is so tiny! It's crazy how fast you forget how tiny they come into the world!

This was the first time we stayed in a Hotel when we went up to Snowflake and I think we finally caught on to something! We usually stay at Grandma Brewer's House but with the weather as cold as it has been and the fact that Grandma's bedrooms are FREZING! We have learned our lesson the hard way! Lots of sleepless nights with Elodie!

We all got a good nights sleep in the hotel (Elodie snores! We never knew!) and it was nice having our own space to retire to! :)

Another lesson learned the hard way is we FINALLY got Elodie a dvd player for the car! She does pretty good but it is a 3 hour trip and the last hour or so is super hard for her....for all of us really! It was so nice to pop in a Strawberry Shortcake or Charlie and Lola and have Elodie occupied for an hour or so..it makes for a nicer trip for all of us and we can't figure out why we didn't get one sooner!

Amanda and Heath got Christopher a birthday cake while we were up there. Since none of Chris' family would be down for the big 29 they did it while we were up there. It was funny because they put trick candles in the cake! Hee! Hee! :) Christopher figured it out pretty quick but it was still funny!

Anistyn looked so pretty in her blessing dress and we enjoyed our trip with family! I know Christopher's parents are coming down in 2 weeks but I'm not sure when we will get back up to Snowflake!

Happy Family!

Elodie loves the new baby! She kept giving her kisses and asking to hold her!It was really cute but not convincing enough to have a second baby! :)

Proud Parents....they say they are done but one can hope they keep the spotlight!

She is SO cute in her sweet little dress! So frilly and girly! And the bow adds the nicest touch! :)

Cousins!

Kolton (12) Anistyn (7 weeks)

Elodie Marie with no shoes on...I bought her a new pair for this dress and when we got to Snowflake we realized that the shoes were 2 left feet! GRR! And the girl at Payless even looked at them!! She went to church with no shoes! :)
Atwood Kids: Kolton, Aubrey, Bridger, Brenner, and Anistyn

Keeping Memories Alive Challenge #1


I did this layout for a challenge I entered at keepingmemoriesalive.com. The challenge for last week was to scrapbook a high school picture using your school colors. I struggled finding a picture I wanted to use and after digging forever and making my mom email me some pictures I chose this one. This picture was taken on graduation day in my parents backyard. My journaling was all about how much I loved high school and wasn't ready to leave. But if I hadn't of left I would have never experienced all the other wonderful things that I've gotten to do. I'm still learning to deal with change.....I usually prefer my comfort zone and hesitate to try something new.....so far something new has always been a great ride!

Did this layout for a sketch challenge on the Memories 2 you website. I only used supplies that I had on hand and I think it turned out great. It's not often that I can actually sit down and scrapbook something without feeling the need to run to the scrapbooking store. It's almost more rewarding to complete a layout with supplies you have on hand....that's a challenge in itself!

Almost ready to print more pictures...I love scrapbooking!