Slightly Glittery Vampires

I saw the "Twilight" movie last night. That's correct, I saw it a full day before all of you super fans at a small private screening at a Utah County location that I will not disclose. Neener neener neener. The true injustice here for all of you is that I have not even read the book. I have been meaning to, but I am busy and vampires just aren't my thing.
I am not going to spoil the movie for you by giving away the plot, but I am going to spoil it by saying it sucks. It is just really cheesey and sort of slow. I am going to read the books now though because I want to know what happens next.
BTW- once you see the movie, you will understand the title of the post. Had to be the funniest part of the movie for me.

Belated Halloween

I have been having some camera problems and that is why I am so late posting these. First, my pictures would not upload to the computer. I tried repeated over the last week with no success, and the problem just resolved on its own tonight. I have no idea what was wrong. I just asked Bryce to help me with it and he plugged the camera into the computer and did EXACTLY what I always do, but it worked when he did it! This camera hates me. The other problem is, I can't get any decent pictures lately. I think I may have accidentally hit a wrong button or changed a setting because everything is coming out blurry. Even if the subject is completely still, it seems the camera is responding to seismic activity that not even leaves feel. If anyone knows how I can fix this, please help. Until then, here are some blurry pics of our little dragon. He loved trick or treating and so did we. The weather was amazing and we actually live in a great neighborhood full of adorable trick or treaters. I think we set a candy dispensing record this year. Sure glad we bought the big candy bags at Costco. We had to get two because we bought one way to far in advance and ended up eating the good stuff before Halloween.

These (above) were all at the ward Halloween party.

So excited to go trick-or-treating he couldn't be bothered to put on his hat or take out his Binky.
Blurriness. He was seeing all the kids walking around the street and just wanted to GO!

Dad took the first shift. Isaac looks like such a big boy carrying his pumpkin.

This one is just for fun. I went in and snapped a couple pics during his nap the other day. We put the pillow in his crib to try and get him to start sleeping in one spot in preparation for an eventual toddler bed. Guess it is not working...

What makes you think I had Kool Aid?

That's all. I just wanted to post these because my boy is such a cutie. Have a great day!

Google Image Game

I saw this on a blog that I stalk and thought it looked like fun, and I really didn't have anything to write about. You just put your answers into google image and post what comes up.


Where were you born?

Burbank, CA

Where do you live now?

Arg... I will get used to it someday...

What is your name?

I just had a great Halloween costume idea!

What are your grandmother's names?

What is your favorite food?Want some so bad!!!! I gave up chocolate as of Tuesday. 4 days down.... 10lbs to go....

What is your husband's name?



What is your favorite song?
What is your favorite smell?

That reminds me... I need to go change the laundry...

Favorite Place to Be?

This one is kind of specific. My favorite place to be is a beach/pool combo. Preferably a really nice infinity pool overlooking a beach. I love the beach and the breeze but hate to swim in salty jellyfish filled water.


I won't tag any of you because this actually turned out to be a bit time consuming and I don't want to burden you, but if you want to do it, have fun!

Tagged

My friend Nancy has decided to help me stay on top of my blogging by tagging me. Here is the tag:

All you have to do is go to your 6th picture album folder, pick the 6th picture and post it. After that, tag 5 friends.

Here it is. This was taken last summer. We were trying to get a picture of Isaac with his cousin, Logan. Logan is not the kind of kid that really enjoys other kids touching him, and he was really frustrated with not only having Isaac right next to him, but constantly flopping over on him, since he couldn't sit on his own yet. Poor Logan.

I tag Brandy, Jenny C., Tiffany, Amber, and Andi. Comment and let me know when you post so I can see!

One of Isaac's favorite things to do....

is brush his teeth. Sounds like a good thing for a toddler to like, but he really hates it when I tell him he is done. Anyway, here is some video of him. Sorry about my filthy sink. It is not normally like that. He had a strawberry nutrigrain bar for breakfast that got all over his jammies and when we went in to wash his hands after, some gooby crumbs stuck on the sink and I hadn't had time to clean it yet...

A NEW POST!!!!

Yes, it's me. I'm back. Where to begin.....

There is a very complicated reason for my absence, but I will try to explain. Life has been complicated for the past few months. I wouldn't say bad. Life has been pretty good actually, but, well, complicated.
I have been completely swamped with work and Isaac. I have not been a good picture taker at all, and for the most part, I have been behind on work all the time. On top of that, we moved to Lehi 1 month ago. This has further put me behind on work. I don't know if anyone else has this weird personality thing that I do, but I am, and I am coining this phrase, a "Self Punisher". Many people like to pride them self on discipline, but I think I take it a step further. I have been doing it for as long as I can remember. Basically, if my life is not perfect, I am not allowed to enjoy fun things or extras. So, as life became more swamped and complicated, I decided that blogging was a privilege I was not allowed to have until I got completely on top of things and life became perfect. I have actually been doing the same thing with recreational reading for the past couple of YEARS!!! I have tons of books that I have continued to purchase but have not allowed myself to read, and I finally stopped allowing myself to buy them too. Kind of crazy, I know.
Yesterday, I heard Pres. Monson's talk on Sunday morning about enjoying life every day. He referenced a quote from "The Music Man" that really hit home. "You pile up enough tomorrows and you'll find you have nothing but a bunch of empty yesterdays"
I decided immediately that I was going to start blogging, reading, and enjoying life again. It has been a difficult concept for me lately because life just seems put on hold. I feel like nothing can start until sometime in the future. I just think of everything in terms of "when we buy a house" (we are leasing for this year), "When Bryce finishes with his MBA", etc. I have had a sense that our life is not our own right now. Anyway, enough with that. Whatever the case, I am going to start acting like it is ours.
UPDATES:
Our Home.....
As I started mentioning around November, we have had to downsize a lot. We were very blessed to find a home to rent in Lehi. I am actually very happy here, but I have some mixed feelings. Leaving my dream home in Pleasant Grove was not as hard as I thought it would be. I was ready to move on with life and go back to square one if necessary so that we could move forward. The thing that I am having a hard time with is the location. We are WAAAAY up in Lehi, actually north of Thanksgiving Point. Nothing is close by. The great thing is, our new neighborhood and ward are WONDERFUL! It is basically all young families and everyone is much closer together, so Isaac and I go outside to play every day and we always find lots of friends to play with. He is having a blast!
Work
Bryce is still working as an Operations Manager in SLC and is doing great. I am really so proud of him (and not writing this to flatter him because he doesn't read it ;)). Being so much closer to SLC is great. He gets a bit more time with us and we are saving money on fuel.

I am still working from home, but it has become more difficult as Isaac has gotten older. I get most things done when he is napping because when he is awake, he does not like me working. He is such a funny boy. He doesn't mind much if I am working around the house, cooking, etc. but when I go in the office he gets angry because he knows I will not be able to stop and play with him. After one week trying to work and take care of him in our new house, I got on CraigsList and found a babysitter! She is awesome. She lives nearby and has two children right around Isaac's age. So now, 3 days a week for 3 hours a day, Isaac goes to play with his friends. He loves his playtime and I love working (and taking a shower some days) uninterrupted.

Isaac
Isaac is the light of our life. There are so many cool things I want to share about him, but I would not want to bore you with all my kid bragging, so I have composed a short list... :)
Stats
At his most recent appt. Isaac was in the 50th percentile for height and weight, but was in the 98th for head size! This is actually a trend that emerged when he was 6 months old. We love his giant head though. He is a genius for sure!
BFF
Molly, our dog, is Isaac's BFF. He loves to give her hugs, throw her ball to (or more accurately described, at) her, and get her to chase him around. I will get it on video and post it as soon as I can. It is hilarious. He does this squealing laugh that cracks me up. She is so patient with him.
Fav Foods
We have been so lucky to have a boy who loves all food. It is such a fun thing to let him try new things and see his reaction. That has been one of the best things about having a 1 year old. He loves bananas, chicken nuggets (thanks Costco!), orange juice, waffles, and he still loves veggies too, Yay!
Talking
Isaac is still not talking much. It is the last milestone I need so that I can stop worrying! But, he becomes more talkative everyday. He uses a lot of gibberish and his new word is "pop". Not as in dad or soda, but as in Pop, goes the weasel. He has a little Pop, goes the weasel toy and he likes to say, "Pop!" when the weasel comes out. I have heard it is normal for boys to take longer to talk, but I sure hope he starts soon. He does great with signing, though.
Hobbies
Issac asks to watch TV a lot, but then he doesn't actually want to watch anything. If we can get him to watch a show, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is still #1. He also likes Bunnytown and The Wiggles. He loves dancing and he can actually dance along and do all the motions for the Wiggles song, "Rock-a-Bye Your Bear". I explained to Bryce that he is a natural dancing prodigy and we should put him in classes but Bryce said only one in HS to help him with balance for football. Oh well, so much for my dreams of being in the "So You Think You Can Dance" audience for the entire 2028 season.
I would say Isaac's other favorite hobby right now is "taking things out and putting them in". I can best describe this hobby by explaining that he likes to take everything out of the bathroom drawers and put it all in the tub, or take everything out of the kitchen cabinets and put it in the garbage. As you may guess, I am sometimes a tired and grouchy mommy.

Well, I think that's enough reading for you! Now go do something fun. I promise the next blog with have pictures, which are waaay easier to read, and will be more upbeat.

Gone Fishin'

If you read an old "tagged" post of mine, you know that one of my guilty pleasures in life is watching fishing on TV. What you may not know (but could probably guess) is that I WISH I was a fisher woman (is that a word?)! Something about fishing is just so exciting to me. It's not that I love to eat fish, I like it, but its not my favorite. It's certainly not that I want to touch slimy fish, let alone clean them. I think that is really gross. I don't prepare any meat at home without wearing gloves and I have a very hard time with it. Wow, I just told everyone what a freak I am.... Anyway....

I think it is something about being outdoors in a peaceful environment, the anticipation, and just not knowing for sure what you will get. I just think it is a perfect activity. Still, I have only actually done it once in my life.... UNTIL TODAY!

My wonderful husband knows about my crazy, baseless love of fishing and planned a great 4Th of July activity for us. Bryce found a trout farm in North Ogden. This might be one of the coolest places I have been in Utah! There are three ponds stocked with trout. You simply grab a fishing pole and a bucket, buy some fish food for .25, and head out to the pond. I got a few bites right away, but it took a while to get a trout hooked on my hook thingy. We were all learning. You have to be really fast. When I finally got one, I flung it out of the water with gusto. That fish was huge! I really think he was the biggest one we caught, but Bryce and my mom (who joined us for the event) both think theirs were bigger. It was flopping around vigorously and almost made it back to the water but after a couple good tackles by Bryce, it was subdued and put it the bucket. It still didn't give up though. After my mom caught a fish and we added hers to the bucket, mine actually jumped out. Luckily, I was watching those fishies like a hawk and I promptly alerted Bryce (aka official fish grabber) who put him back in.

The only thing that would have made this day better would be if my son shared my love of fishing. We learned that he most definitely does not. He loves ponds and wanted desperately to swim with the fishies, but as soon as my fish came out, he cried and cried. The fish pretty much terrified him. We tried to show him the fish in the bucket but he would just scream whenever he got near them. I was able to calm him down but this happened again with each wish we caught. Here was our trout count for the day:

Me- 1

Bryce - 1

Mom - 3

Don't interpret my single catch as low fishing skill level. I caught the first fish but spent all the time after that playing with and consoling my little PETA member. Oh well, it was still a cool day and a truly unique experience. I can't wait to do it again sometime. Here are some fun pictures from the day. My mom was trying out her new camera. Mom- you need to fix the date stamp.

Bryce doing what he does best.

Isaac loves to play with my sunglassesMy Mom and one of her fish

This is me with my mom's fish. Mine was a feisty diva and refused to pose for pictures.

I love this picture. They say couples start to look alike. We have matching white legs.

Dead Fish Alert. You looked anyway. It was a bit of a surprise to me, so I will give you a heads up in case you try fishing.. they don't live long in the buckets.

My Summer Cooking Adventures Continue...

And this week I was on a roll! I tried two new recipes and they both were excellent. You have to try these.

Chicken Piccata

I love Chicken Piccata. While I was browsing http://www.foodnetwork.com/ for a different recipe, I stumbled across this recipe from "The Barefoot Contessa". It is absolutely divine and surprisingly simple. We enjoyed it with some almond rice pilaf (Near East, best rice in a box on earth).

2 split (1 whole) boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 extra-large egg

1/2 tablespoon water

3/4 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs

Good olive oil

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, divided

1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons), lemon halves reserved

1/2 cup dry white wine

Sliced lemon, for serving

Chopped fresh parsley leaves, for serving
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
Place each chicken breast between 2 sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap and pound out to 1/4-inch thick. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.
Mix the flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper in a shallow plate. In a second plate, beat the egg and 1/2 tablespoon of water together. Place the bread crumbs on a third plate. Dip each chicken breast first in the flour, shake off the excess, and then dip in the egg and bread crumb mixtures.
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan over medium to medium-low heat. Add the chicken breasts and cook for 2 minutes on each side, until browned. Place them on the sheet pan and allow them to bake for 5 to 10 minutes while you make the sauce.
For the sauce, wipe out the saute pan with a dry paper towel. Over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter and then add the lemon juice, wine, the reserved lemon halves, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Boil over high heat until reduced in half, about 2 minutes. Off the heat, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and swirl to combine. Discard the lemon halves and serve 1 chicken breast on each plate. Spoon on the sauce and serve with a slice of lemon and a sprinkling of fresh parsley.

Italian Meatloaf

Sorry no picture. I will take one next time I make this. Here is the story though. I HATE meatloaf. There is something about mixing ketchup with meat and then calling it food that just makes my stomach turn. I don't think I have eaten it since I was a kid and even then I am sure I hid most of it in my mashed potatoes or slipped it to the dog. However, Bryce loves it and has been wanting some for, probably the duration of our marriage. Poor guy, he is so patient. I went looking on the Internet for a recipe that would somehow be palatable for me too. I found this recipe on about.com. It caught my attention because it lacks ketchup and onion chunks. Instead, it uses Marinara sauce, some seasoning, and just a bit of dried chopped onion. I also love that it is a slow cooker recipe. It is great when I can get dinner cooking during Isaac's nap instead of in the evening when he is tired and hungry. This recipe was a hit with BOTH of us. I did find it slightly salty though, so I will leave the salt out next time.

INGREDIENTS:
2 pounds extra lean ground beef, or Laura's Lean Beef
2 cups soft bread crumbs, loosely packed
1/2 cup spaghetti sauce, your favorite
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons dried chopped onion or 1/4 cup finely minced onion
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried Italian herbs, crushed, or use a mixture of oregano and basil
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons spaghetti sauce
2 to 3 slices Mozzarella cheese, about 2 to 3 ounces
PREPARATION:
Fold a 30-inch long piece of foil in half lengthwise. Place in bottom of a slow cooker with both ends hanging over top edge of cooker. I also put a piece of crumpled foil in the bottom to keep the meatloaf out of the fat.

The foil strip will make it much easier to remove the meatloaf when it's done.
In a large bowl, mix ground beef with bread crumbs, 1/2 cup spaghetti sauce, egg, onion, salt, garlic powder, Italian herbs, and pepper until well blended. Shape into a loaf. Place in slow cooker. Spread 3 tablespoons spaghetti sauce over the loaf.
Cover and cook on HIGH for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or on LOW for 5 to 6 hours, or until juices run clear. Top loaf with cheese slices, overlapping, and continue to cook (turn to HIGH if necessary) for 15 to 25 minutes longer.
Use ends of foil to lift out meat loaf and transfer to a serving platter.

I have a baby and

A giant box of packing peanuts....

C'mon, tell me you would have done anything else!

Our Son turned One- Fun!

I am WAAAY behind on blogging once again. Its certainly not lack of motivation or writers block. This time, it is lack of TIME! Life has been crazy lately and between work, church, and family, there is just not a lot of down time. If there is, I choose sleep!

Isaac's birthday was great. I decided to get cake creative for the first time in my life. When you see the images to follow, please just remember FIRST TIME-NOT AN EXPERT, that is why it looks so strange.

We needed two cakes of course. One for guests to enjoy and one for Isaac to destroy. For the smash cake, a filled a few ramekins with red velvet cake batter:

I used the remaining batter to make cupcakes. And I am sure you already get the idea, but here is what I did next.

For the guests cake, I found some instructions for a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cake on http://www.playhousedisney.com/. Here is my interpretation:

I forgot to put the blue frosting in the windows. Oh well. Pretty gross looking huh? Isaac's friends and well wishers were kind enough to choke it down with some ice cream:).

Isaac provided most of the entertainment of course!

After a quick bath, it was time for gifts. Like they always say, Isaac was a lot more excited by the box then the gifts. Good thing he had friends to who all wanted to help open them!

All in all, it was a fantastic day. In fact, Isaac said it was his best birthday ever! Thank you to everyone who celebrated with us here and in spirit.

It's a Party!!!

Or, a little gathering..... or something.....

Isaac is turning 1 year old on Saturday! I can't believe it. This has been by far the busiest, and most fun year of my life. We should definitely celebrate!

I am not entirely sure how to organize a proper party for a 1 year old, but one way or another, it is sure to be a cake smashing good time! This, by the way is your official invitation:).

What: Mr. Man's (aka Isaac's) 1st Birthday Shindig
When: Saturday, May 24th 2008 3:30 PM
Where: Our House (call me if you need my address. I probably shouldn't post it on the www....)
Why: Because you love Isaac, Cake and Ice Cream, Kids, and mingling with new and interesting people, and maybe even showing off your WII Sports and Guitar Hero Skills, and run-on-sentences, and.... sorry...

So give me a call and let me know if you will attend. We would love to see you, especially if we haven't seen you in a while. 801 867 8477.

Sacramento

So Ashley's comment a couple posts ago reminded me that I need to offer a little update on my life. I haven't done this because things are still so up in the air with so many things, but we have been able to figure out a couple of things, so here goes.

After a lot of thought, consideration and prayer about the job thing, Bryce and I both knew that it would be best for everyone (especially Isaac) if I stayed home to be his mom. The trouble was that we still knew that one income just wouldn't work. I continued to look for and interview for positions, hoping that the right thing would finally come along. I wanted to somehow get an offer that I felt great about, even though it would mean Isaac going to day care. Not necessarily a money thing, just a good fit.....

I actually wound up with a few offers. That almost sounds snobby. I don't mean to sound that way. I know there are a lot of people who have a hard time getting a job. But, its true. I got a few offers, and they were pretty good. I just didn't get a good feeling about any of them though. Neither did Bryce. The last offer I got, I actually did feel good about. I liked the company, the pay, and most importantly, the co-workers. Everything seemed to fit, and although I still didn't feel good about leaving Isaac (who would feel good about that?), I think I finally felt ready and that this was the offer I was waiting for. At the same time though, my father in-law called with an offer from his company that would allow me to work PT from home doing HR/Benefits/payroll for his company. That is the ideal situation. I am so lucky to have this opportunity to help my family with extra income and still take care of my son. It was a little hard to turn down the other offer, but I think I made the right choice.

There will be more adjustments to be made in the months to come. We will almost certainly be moving to a smaller more affordable place closer to Bryce's work, and probably looking for a more fuel efficient vehicle. We have made a lot of sacrifices, and there will be more to come, but I think that we are headed in the right direction.

So, last week Isaac and I went to Sacramento so that I could spend some time in the office getting set up for my new position, and Isaac could spend some time with his Grandparents and his Aunt Jennie. We had a wonderful time. Isaac had some mommy issues as this was his first time really being away from me for more than a 3 hour stretch. He did great with Grandma all day, but when I would get home in the afternoon, he did not want to let me out of his sight. He is doing better now that we are home, but I think separation anxiety is just something we will be dealing with for the next few months as part of his age.

Isaac Playing with Aunt Jennie. We loved going on walks with her every night!

Grandma Barnett has the best toys!

Isaac got to open some birthday gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Barnett early. He especially loved his new books. As you can see, he is also a proud Jazz fan. It is required of all family members. On this particular day, he was supporting D-Will in an at-home victory over the Lakers. Isaac is disappointed that the Jazz are out of the playoffs, but he is already focusing on next season.