Yes, I am a copier...

I'm borrowing Heidi's idea of keeping a list of the books that I read over 100 pages. I'm not going to set a specific number to read. I mostly just want to see how many books I read. Ever since Joseph, I haven't been reading as much. I can also share the fun books that I read with everyone.

Merit Badge Progress

First thing... on Thursday night after posting, Mitchell reminded me that my look-a-like is Amy Adams. I think if anyone was able to act as me, it would be her.



Second, a few months ago, I posted about a women's merit badge book that Mitchell gave me and the goal I'm working on. Well, this past weekend, I finally "shopped my closet". I also went through it again and got rid of all the clothes that don't fit right or that I feel ugly in. Now I don't have very many clothes. I'm not as small as I was before I got pregnant with Joseph, but I haven't really done much shopping since he was born, so I've been trying to squeeze into old clothes and I'm tired of feeling strangled all the time. Now I have a very long need/want list compiled. In order to get all of these things, I'm going to follow the steps in the book. First, I'm going to organize a clothing swap (I'm going to do it as a Relief Society/Young Women's activity). Then I'm going to window shop and look for the best deals on the things I need. Then I will slowly buy everything that I need. As side parts of the goal, I'm reworking my makeup techniques and I'm going to get a haircut. I'm trying to wear makeup more often and do my hair more often. If any of you feel like reading it, here's my shopping list:

• 4 short-sleeved everyday t-shirts
• 5 long-sleeved everyday t-shirts
• 2 pairs of jeans (and eventually 3 more to replace the ones I have that are too long for my legs)
• 1 black turtleneck sweater
• 1 jean jacket
• 1 "little black dress" (a modest version, of course)
• 1 suit, I want a pink houndstooth pattern with a skirt (I'm probably going to have to make it myself)
• 2 white shirts, 1 short- & 1 long-sleeved
• 1 fancy dress
• 6 pairs of exercise pants, 2 long & 4 short
• 4 long-sleeved exercise shirts
• 4 undershirts; pink, brown, navy blue, cream
• 1 black belt
• 5 pairs of capris or shorts
• 1 black purse
• 3 pairs of winter pajamas
• 2 pairs of summer pajamas
• 1 pair of knee-high boots
• something 40's or 50's inspired (there's a beautiful dress that I want to make to fulfill this, I want to do the long-sleeved version in red)
• something really brightly colored (maybe yellow, I've never had many yellow things)

The last 3 items are my style wishes that I chose as part of the goal; things that I've always wanted. The bold items are things that I've gotten already. It's kind of a lot and I'm not planning on getting it all right away. This Friday I'm going to the Sephora store and I'm going to play with all the makeup. It's going to be fun.

Just wondering, what are some of your style wishes?

Look-a-Like

I'm going to get in on the fun since everybody else is doing it. I've never really been told that I look like any celebrities, but Mitchell and I frequently discuss who would play us (and the people we know) in a movie made of our lives.

I have gotten Amanda Bynes a few times. There is somebody else that Mitchell and I decided would play me, but I can't remember who right now! I'll post it when I remember.

Mitchell has been told many times that he looks like Gene Wilder, especially when he lets his hair and sideburns grow out. He also has a crazy sense of humor like him.

Snow Days 2

I couldn't get the videos in the last post, so here they are.

Snow Days

Virginia Beach almost never gets snow. The last real snow that we had (meaning that it stuck and was more than 1/2 inch) was in 2004. But really early Saturday morning it started snowing and it kept snowing and snowing and snowing until we had around 8 or 9 inches! Mitchell had to work anyways (he was sick, too), but nothing bad happened even though he was driving a lot. All but Sacrament Meeting was cancelled on Sunday, but we didn't go because Mitchell was still sick and I didn't want to drive in the snow. School was cancelled on Monday, too. There's still snow on the ground, but it's finally starting to melt. I was reading a story in the newspaper about how the Boardwalk was plowed before any of the streets were. That's just plain stupid. I'm not going to say anything more about that because I'll get annoyed. We bundled Joseph up really well on Saturday afternoon and took him out to play for a few minutes. He loved it. He also loved eating it. Here's some pictures and a couple videos.

The view from our front door

Our car buried under snow

Joseph all dressed for the snow

Me setting Joseph down to play

Joseph trying to plow his way through the snow

The Sick House

We have been sick at our house for what seems like forever. That is a major part of why I didn't post for so long. Early on the morning of the 14th, I woke up to Joseph's burning hot forehead. His fever was about 102 degrees. I spent that whole day rocking and holding him. He didn't want to do anything. I could tell he felt very sick. I finally called and made an appointment because Tylenol wasn't even really putting a dent in his fever, but they soonest they had was for the next morning. He had no fever the next morning and was feeling much better. He was still a little congested and had a little cough. The doctor said it was probably just because he was cutting 4 teeth. That was on Friday. On Monday, I started to feel stuffy and really exhausted. By Tuesday morning I was definitely sick and Joseph was feeling sick again. We both continued to get more and more sick for the rest of the week. Friday and Saturday were the worst for me. Joseph started running a low fever on Saturday evening. Mitchell woke up Sunday morning with a cough and Joseph was still running a bit of a fever. I was starting to feel better, but we all stayed home from church. Joseph's cough kept getting worse and he continued to run a fever. He also had a lot of trouble sleeping. Mitchell stayed sick, but I got better. I finally called Joseph's doctor again on Tuesday and made an appointment for Wednesday morning. His cold had developed into an ear infection. We got some antibiotics. I'm all better now. Joseph is finally starting to get better. Mitchell was getting worse the past couple days, but he said he's starting to feel a little better now. He's out working in the snow now (the snow will be tomorrow's post), but luckily delivery driving isn't very physically trying. It's been pretty frustrating being sick for so long. It seems like it's been forever even though it's only been 2 weeks. But Joseph and Mitchell are finally on their way to being healthy again.

Fire!

One evening about 2 weeks ago, I unintentionally did something that upset Mitchell. Then he felt like I wasn't sincerely sorry because of something I said. And to top it all off, I was so exhausted that I fell asleep before we had worked things out all the way. The next morning, I put Joseph in his high chair with some food and some bacon in the oven (I think it tastes better that way, plus it's easier to cook). I realized that Mitchell was still really upset. I went into our room to have a very teary talk. The timer for the bacon went off, but I was so upset I didn't notice. After a couple minutes, Joseph started to yell because he wanted more food. Mitchell told me to go finish feeding the baby. When I walked into the kitchen, I saw bright orange flames in my oven and my baby was in his high chair less than 2 feet from the oven. I immediately started to panic. Mitchell came in and took control of the situation, but he was so distracted by my panic that he wasn't even thinking clearly. He grabbed some baby blankets to protect his hands, put a couple sweatshirts on, and pulled the baking sheet with the bacon out of the oven and carried out the front door. Then he poured a big pot full of water on the bacon. Steam and grease shot everywhere, but he was okay. He then remembered that you should never use water to put out a grease fire (it was a few hours later that he remembered that you should use baking soda). He got me calmed down and then we started trying to clean up. the oven was all black with smoke, the cabinet door across from the oven (which for some stupid reason is unfinished wood) soaked up lots of oil and is ruined, smoking hot grease dropped on our carpet and melted little spots into a trail from the kitchen from the door, and my beautiful baking sheet that I took extremely good care of because it was a Christmas gift was scorched and warped. We are going to have to replace the carpet and the cabinet. I have to line my baking sheet with foil everytime I use it. But are very blessed that I found the fire when I did and that no one was hurt. It was a very stressful and exhausting day.