Happy Halloween!

 Here are a couple of quick photobooth pics of our radical costumes. . . more and much better ones to come.  Hope your Halloween weekend was totally RAD!  Ours definitely was!

BRAINS!

Halloweenish

Yay! for Halloween, when else could I get away with wearing bugs on my face, gutting things, and creating all sorts of creepy items for display?  I don't know, but if I can think of something I'll totally take advantage of that any time of year. 

Miley loves pumpkins.  She loved spotting them places, picking them out, coloring on them, cutting them open, tasting them, gutting them, and seeing them lit up and spooky.  Pumpkins are cool. 

Projects that were finally finished in the nick of time include, the memory canvas which is on display in the entryway for the last few days of October, two spooky books, and the brains!  Dave wasn't fond of the yellow tone, so I opted to spray paint them a little fresher.  He's right, no self-respecting zombie would be hungry for anything formaldehyde flavored.

See the ant tattoo on my nose?  Yeah one of my secret wishes is that I could get my nose pierced.  I'm thinking this is totally profile pic worthy, for the adoption stuff.  ;)

Are you ready to see our Halloween costumes?  Bummer, you'll have to wait another day, or maybe more cause I've got to teach Sharing Time in Primary tomorrow and that just means more stuff for me to do today (I'm totally bringing my poison bottles for the lesson, hee hee). . . pushing back the picture editing a little longer.  Sorry.  You can blame Brit.  ;)  In fact, please do, maybe it will get me off the hook for something/anything else.

it's scary

how much this little girl dislikes cameras nowadays!

I may be smiling in the picture, but I was crying on the inside.  ;)  Now what will I take pictures of?

toil and trouble

I keep meaning to take a little video tour of my spooky decorations, but as of yet. . . sorry nothing.  Here's a shot of our front porch with a few pumpkins, our caged candles and that's my zombie hand wreath on the door.  I didn't make a new door hanging this year, because I loved last year's sooo much and it fits with our costumes for this year anyway.

I added a few new potion bottles to the collection this year, but this one I made to enter into THIS little contest. . .  Introducing my festering pumpkin tonic. . .

It has many uses as indicated on the back of it's handy tag, including but not limited to numbing of the hands, primarily the fingers, which I experienced while creating it.  That's right, it's that potent.  Note to self, and all others who want to avoid my mistakes, don't get gorilla glue on your skin.  ;)

magic

This is how much I love Photoshop. . .

So this is a busy, shadowed, candid from Tiff's wedding, SOOC (straight out of the camera). . . not good.  Enter Photoshop and it's loveliness.

Sorry Davey and Mom, you weren't welcome in the pic.  People and lamp posts gone, tree trimmed.  Colors brightened and shadows lightened.

On second thought, let's get rid of the tree too.

 Now it's time to play with it to add a little interest. . . add a texture and color pop, or a sun flare. . . either way it can find a home in a wedding album now.

This is why I would recommend getting Photoshop and taking a class in it.  It's AWESOME!  You won't regret it. . . unless you don't take pictures or own a computer.  ;)

This also shows why it takes time for me to get pics on my blog.  I'm too anal just to slap them up here without a polish in PS first.

the thing about road trips

. . . They really drive me crazy, but I'm trying to be positive here so we'll see how that goes.

 So we spent last week in Idaho with my fam celebrating my sister's wedding.  A couple pics as proof that they in fact went through with it. . .

 It was delightful and de-lovely.  Tiff hates that phrase.  ;)  Tiff and Josh looked happy and calm even.  Perfect.  It was a great day.  One of those days where even when my daughter is screaming outside the temple because I want to take her picture or just have her hold still. . . I could still feel that pure joy radiating from the happy couple. . . Thanks guys.  We're so happy for you both!

I got to help lace her into that dress.  That was work.  I got to take some of their pictures as well.  That was more work.  It's amazing how exhausting a wedding can be when you're not even the one getting married.  I kept thinking about being in her shoes and couldn't remember how I survived it.  No sleep, all nerves, smiles, and corsets.  I'm glad it wasn't me this time, I wouldn't have survived again I think.  I barely survived as it was, but that I blame on the two-year-old and a little bit on the weather.

You know how they say sugar doesn't actually cause rambunctiousness or that bounce-off-the-walls reaction?  Yeah, I believed that until Saturday night at Tiff's SWEET reception (which was adorable too).  Miley was literally shaking with excitement for another bite of cotton candy.  Scary.  Add on handfuls of people who spoil her which meant Dave and I were pretty much ineffectual in the 'let's not put her in a sugar coma' argument.

I was fully prepared to be frozen the whole week long.  I brought layers and a warm blanket to drag with me everywhere.  However, Idaho weather is screwy.  I forgot.  It starts out freezing, gets warm, and then freezes again.  After typing that I'm pretty sure that sounds like normal weather.  Weird.  It was truly weird and annoying to me though cause it changed all day long.  When we left home for Idaho it was 79 degrees (at 8:30 am) and would have been that all day long.  I'm not good with change.  How much do you hate it when I talk about/complain about the weather?  Yeah, I agree.  Lame.  Moving on.

The happy couple had an open house a hundred miles away in Pocatello.  We were totally running late due to some curler issues and nap times with Mie. . . so all I saw of Pocatello was technically only Chubbuck and the church building where they received guests.  Oh well.  Good intentions.  I did get to see my favorite person and that made the drive worthwhile and then a little bittersweet to leave again.  Sad.

We tried out curly hair on the mie monster for the first time on this trip.  Man those spongy curlers work.  It was crazy to see her with curly hair, so I tied them into pig tails to control the chaos.  I'm not sure I got a very good picture because our lovely girl acted like a rock star with paparazzi.  I do have a picture to prove that, but it hasn't come up on the editing block yet.  I'll definitely post it when it does, because it is proof that taking our family picture this year will no doubt be hell on the photographer.  ;)  Love ya Brit.

So did you notice that my brother didn't make this sibling pic?  Yep, he decided to add more to our week by having his baby on the very same day.  Well, Breht did all the work actually.  We missed them in the temple, but on the plus side, it will help Josh remember his anniversary. . . when he has a little nephew to ask when his birthday is.  So between the sealing, luncheon, naps (for me and Mie) and reception we were hospital visiting.  Meeting baby Jett and congratulating his tired and yet thrilled parents.  Sadly no red hair. . . yet.  I hope it will come in that way.  Oh and I didn't even get a picture.  I forgot my camera.  Lame me.

Miley enjoyed holding new baby boy until she realized he didn't do much, even when she poked him.  And she was less than happy when I wouldn't let her hold him and walk around by herself.  This has however, sparked a new interest in her baby dolls (including her giant tinker bell) at home.  They have been loved consistently since we've been back.

Now for a note on car rides. . .

I really can't figure out how children traveled before the advent of portable DVD players.  I don't know how anyone could survive that.  Miley happily watched Tinker Bell 3 at least four times.  Yep, good parenting.

Our two year old could only tolerate one road trip and thankfully that was on the way up otherwise we would have turned around and went back home.  As it was, being naughty on the way home nullified the threat to in fact, take her home.

How come everything can fit so nice in a suitcase and car the first time and turn into 'cram it into where ever it fits' on the way back?

Why is it when you thoughtfully pack everything and then give your husband only two small items to remember to bring that he'll forget them both and then question whether you remembered to bring his socks?  Seriously, socks?  Like we couldn't just buy some more if in fact I did forget (which I didn't).  Umm, hon, did you remember to bring our recommends?   . . .

wedding clip

More about our week in Idaho forthcoming. . . and pictures too!

winner winner

chicken dinner

That's my sis, with her winning design for the Simplot Games!  She beat out her classmates and an ad agency with her poster design!  They'll be using it internationally to promote the event.  We're proud of you Kari!  It looks great!

bullet thoughts

• I forgot how to work my windshield wipers, because I'm so not used to experiencing weather here.
• The dogs like me better.  I'm pretty sure.  I think I can tell.
• I'm still hoping my brother names his baby boy, Bucky.  How funny would that be?  Just kidding Breht.  ;)
• I am three months behind on my scrapbook.  Bad, I know.
• I don't believe in global warming, and I'm seriously iffy on dinosaurs.
• I have a secret goal each day to have more real email than spam.
• I believe I carry a curse with me to any new city we move to that brings record breaking bad weather for a season.  I have evidence, and is the reason I'm afraid we'll never move again.
• I resort to typing nonsensical things that I think or feel in a post when I don't have anything else going on to post about, or I'm too lazy to edit photos for a more interesting post.  Sorry.
• I have to admit, Dave was right, I am clumsy. . . and my hand hurts.
• I watch Pride and Prejudice too much.  Actually I put it on to fall asleep to.  It's nice background noise.  Anyway, one night I was fuming about politics and Dave turns to me and says 'well at least you can vote and own property all on your own, that's more than Elizabeth could do'.  Thanks hon, totally helped.  I no longer harbor ill feelings toward our government.  Perspective, that's all I needed.  ha ha.
• New clothes and soft blankets make me feel better.  I couldn't figure out why Dave wasn't as excited with my new sweater and super comfy new blanket as I was.  I mean, at least with the blanket.  It's pretty awesome.  Nope, I got nothin from him.
• I enjoy watching my daughter play pretend with her Tinker Bell doll.  It's so funny.
• You know how men are bad listeners because they can't listen without trying to fix the issue.  Yeah, I think I have that problem too.  It's annoying.  It takes sincere effort to keep my mouth shut.  You're surprised, right?  That it takes effort, or that I can keep it shut at all?  ;)
• I hate dealing with money, however I don't trust Dave to do our taxes.  I do them every year and that's the one thing growing up I remember thinking I would like my future husband to do for me.  Weird.  
• I don't believe it when people say they don't have an opinion about something.  Doesn't seem possible to me.
• I think a nice layer of dust would add to the spooky ambiance in my house.  Can I reasonably cross off that chore for the month of October?
• Maybe I should push our home study inspection back until November.  ;)
• I missed the first (second, maybe even third, who knows) episode of Grey's Anatomy.  How come nobody told me it was on again?  That's what happens when you get a new stupid DVR and lose all those handy settings.
• Stephens chocolate milk mix tastes like a cold and yummy version of their hot chocolate.  I am so ready for hot chocolate season.  Oooh, and steamed milk!
• I'm already looking for inspiration on what to do for Halloween next year.
• I have this urge to paint something big and bold on our backyard wall.  It's too boring, but I don't know what to do yet.
• My anniversary is next month and it will be a whopping 10 years for my honey and I.  Guess what I've got planned. . .well nothing, but I'm thinking now that I'd like cupcakes, jammies, blankets and a movie on the couch.  Or what I like to call a regular old Thursday night.  Somehow that still sounds good to me.  Oh wait, I forgot about the diamonds.  ;)
• I'm not a bargain shopper.  It takes too much time and I don't have the patience for it.  I pre-ordered some Disney movies from Amazon, because they were supposedly a 'good deal', I don't know why I was sucked in by that, but anyway saw Beauty and the Beast at Costco for the same price yesterday and I'm still waiting to get mine in the mail.  So not doing that again.
• I think bullet points are supposed to be concise and mine surely do not fit that qualification.
• The end.
• There that was better. . .

gonna get married

Today!  Yay! Congratulations!

E2

Pokey, how we've missed you.  I guess, sorta, well probably not, but it's fun to reminisce.

We get to revisit our very first apartment today, Pulling Courts E2, well maybe not it specifically but the area, the town.  We haven't been back there in years.  I tried so hard to find some photos of our first apartment and came up with nothing.  Well nothing that showed more than the carpet or a wall crammed behind our giant heads.  I had to steal the outside shot above from the internet, how sad.

The truth is that this little place was a hole.  Which is probably why I didn't bother taking better pictures of it.  It was our little hovel of a first place that I'm proud to say we decorated the crap out of, to hide it's awesome 70s/grossness.  The fridge was green to match the amazing green wood paneling in the living room, and the green linoleum in the bathroom.  The carpet was a trendy gray/formally-brownish shag, classic.  It was so tiny too.  The walls were pretty thin as well.  We became well acquainted with our neighbors that way.  I remember one night being awoken by someone coughing, so we called them to see if they'd like some cough syrup.  I guess we could have just yelled it through the floor, but it was the middle of the night and we weren't thinking. 

We survived there for four years while we finished school.  I'd say we never looked back, but I guess that's what I'm doing right now.

Since we probably won't be back in this area until. . . actually I can't foresee another reason to be here, so I guess that means I need to go and haunt all my old residences (a grand total of four) and take pictures to make Miley look at and reminisce with me about my good ole college days.  I'm sure my camera pointed at their windows will totally creep out the new tenants too. . . that will be fun.

under my nails

This is what my hands look like after working on our Halloween costumes. . .

Nice huh.  There goes that manicure.  Yeah right, like I get manicures.  That investment would last maybe a whole part of a day before I destroyed it doing something.  A smart person would have worn gloves, but I hate having my senses dulled at all, especially when I'm working.  Here is the sacrifice I made to touch our costumes in this messy process.  This evidence will probably be with me for awhile.  I think I dyed my nails black.  Oops.  I should do this for a werewolf costume, right?  Maybe next year.  Nah, werewolves are almost as lame as vampires, I wouldn't go there.

Good news my inorganic brain kinks have been worked out and now I have seven healthy brains and five halves all prepped and ready to detail.  Yay.  I'll take pics of the finished product.

I've got my house spookified, with just a few remaining projects yet to be completed.  I'm thinking I'll give ya all a tour shortly.  How are your Halloween preparations coming?  I don't know why, but I feel compelled to ask my readers questions in every post lately. . . or more likely rhetorically because there is a significant lack of answering said questions.

tales from a shopping cart

We were doing a little shopping in the outside world recently.  A lady and her little girl wander into our aisle.  I'd say the girl was 2 or 3.  She had a binky in her mouth so I'm kind of tempted to say under 1, but she was also walking so. . . whatever.  She looked up at Miley sitting in our cart and said 'Baby', speaking as clearly as one can with a pacifier jammed in your mouth.  Miley took offense.  She said 'No' rather boldly, and the lady laughed.  Miley looked to me to back her up on this.  I agreed.  Someone with a binky in their mouth cannot pass judgment on others.  Mie was only partially satisfied with my answer, so she shouted down the aisle, 'hi Baby', back at her.  Take that binky kid.

Mie asks to ride in the basket of the cart sometimes.  Yes it's one of those little pictures, you know where it shows a big circle with a cross through it along with all the other dangerous positions that shopping carts provide.  Yeah yeah, sometimes I let her anyway, and then constantly say 'sit your bottom down.'  Fun times.  Well, she was sitting there quietly I was looking at a shelf for something and when I turned back to her she had built a good sized tower of our future purchases.  Including cereal, big bottles of juice, etc.  Whoa.  Shortly thereafter it toppled.  Now I respect the little pictures a little more.

Miley has to say hi to almost everyone we encounter at stores. . . and if they say hi back she likes to think that means they want to have a conversation.  The problem is that people will then wait for her to be done talking to them before they leave.  They'll just keep on smiling and nodding, which of course makes Miley keep on talking. . . forever.  And then I have to be the one to say 'honey, shush'.  Nice.  (This happens at restaurants with the waiters too, I'm sure they expect a big tip for spending so much time chatting with our kid).  Luckily this doesn't happen all the time, most people are rude and just walk away from her.  ;)

Sometimes Miley gets glimpses of people through the shelves.  This is enough of a 'sighting' to require a greeting called to them.  One time this nice little lady said hi back, but Miley would lose sight of her and then seconds later see her again and say hi. . . again.  I didn't count how many times this happened, but that nice little lady greeted her back each time.  I'd say it was like watching tennis, but actually the rapidity of it was more like ping pong.  I finally had to stop looking in that area so she would stop the incessant repetition of her favorite greeting. . . hi. . . and stop bothering that lady.  Yes, I took the escape plan instead of the plan where I say, 'honey stop talking to them'. . . that kind of sounds weird to strangers I think.

Miley will say hi to anyone.  If you want attention drawn to you, take my daughter shopping.  It's interesting to see who replies back.  I think she's doing some sort of social experiment.

everyone is normal

. . .until you get to know them.

I've got the word normal stuck in my head.  I don't know why.  I think it has to do with all the adoption paperwork stuff.  It's hard to understand who someone is merely on paper.  It's slightly frustrating and complicated.  At the very least it should involve some sort of origami or pop ups.  ;)  I don't want to appear normal and boring.  Sadly, LDSFS doesn't offer that kind of awesomeness in their profiles.  Nor does the internet.  Not that I'd want it to be infected by the stupid 3D craze.  Oh that is getting old.  I guess it's my challenge to show us as genuinely as possible without, I don't know, scaring people away.  Tricky.

For that matter, this blog is probably ripe with misunderstanding.  You never know how you're coming off to others.  Dave never usually reads my posts before they appear here, but I usually ask him afterward. . . you know, if I went too far or come off wrong.  Not much I can do after it's public and all, but good to know nonetheless.  He's not really the best judge though, because well, he knows me, like for real.  Did that sound 80s to anyone else?  Halloween is totally affecting my brain right now.  Totally.  ;)

I get a lot of questions about our family and adoption too.  People are curious about our 'normal' life.  Well, let me tell you our life is our kind of normal.  We don't fit the mold of people who produce their our genetically similar offspring.  Our life is different.  It will always be different.  Not better, not worse, just different.  I think it is assumed that at some point after you adopt a baby you'll morph into or maybe it's simpler than that, maybe it's automatic that you'll be normal like most other families around you.  Not so, we'll always have different issues to confront.  It's normal to us.  This surprises people.  I guess it's still kind of a novelty to have the family we do.  You can't ever understand other people's lives unless you've lived it. . . and I don't know how that is possible without some sort of sci-fi script involved.  Which is probably why I still get a lot of questions and will forevermore I assume.  I'll have to wrap that into our kind of normalcy too I guess.

I don't know.  I can't explain the complexities of this.  The only thing I know is that I'm not really fond of the word normal.  I don't like to use it, even though I have a number of times already in this post.  ;)  Oh well, no one is perfect, or normal as far as I can tell. 

So what do you think?  You think you know me from this blog?  Do you think I can pull that off on the millions of forms I have to fill out for the adoption stuff?  Are you too bummed out by this post, that wasn't funny or had any photos, to even read this far let alone comment?  

You know how first impressions are the worst to prepare for. . . you just can't, it has to be unplanned and natural. . . well that's like the antithesis of this process.  We're planning a first impression on paper/internet, how awkward is that?  I guess what I would like most would be to come off as anything but normal.  The office has very good intentions and tries to smooth out your profile to be the most likable to the most amount of people.  Just normal.  Boring.  Which means they ask me to erase anything they find will put someone off, the originality or even the big words.  I get why, but I'm not looking to attract attention from everyone.  We're looking for the right birth-families for us.  The not normal ones.  ;)  Like last time.  Sorry guys, I totally threw you under the bus there.  But if it makes you feel any better, that's why you're perfect.  ;)  

That's the plan.

raindrops keep falling

. . .everywhere. . . and we very much miss the nice-sit-in-the-sunshine kind of weather.  I think Nilla may have had enough of watching water after this week inside.  

Miley loves music.  I was trying to think of as many songs as I could that had the word rain in them. . . to sing to her last night.  What do you think. . . how many can you come up with?