Tagged

Maile tagged me a while ago. Sorry I'm a little slow. :)

What I was doing 10 years ago...
Ten years ago I was a senior in high school. I had already been accepted to BYU, but I was in AP classes so I was working like crazy anyway. My best friend for most of high school had stopped talking to me (randomly and without explanation) at the beginning of our senior year, which of course caused drama and I basically hated the first half of my senior year. But by the time February/March came around, I was hanging out with Dave, Brett, Frankel, and Kristen a lot. Which worked out, I guess, because I got really close to Dave, who I'd had a major crush on for the last year and a half (btw, this is NOT the Dave I married). Though I think by February I was crushing on Brett, who asked me to the Prom at the end of March. Ah, the things that were important in high school...

5 Things on My To-Do List Tomorrow
1. Plan meals and make grocery list
2. Shop for groceries
3. Clean the bathroom
4. Clean Emma's room
5. Probably laundry at some point...

3 Bad Habits I Have
1. I am a "dumper," which means I tend to dump my bag, mail, etc. right when I walk in the door. The counter in my kitchen and the dining room table are generally piled with stuff because of this.
2. I prefer to read over most anything else (especially the items on my to-do list). Which often means the to-do list gets pushed off if my current book gets especially good...
3. I buy a lot of produce and fresh foods but rarely use it all before it goes bad...I have good intentions, I promise...

Places I Have Lived
Seymour and Trumbull, CT
Sudbury, MA (zip code 01776--how quaint is that???)
Provo, UT
Cornwall, NY (summer)
Highland Park, IL (summer)
London, England (2 summers)
Washington, D.C. (summer)
New York, NY
Jersey City, NJ

Things Most People Don't Know About Me
I can be really shy when I first meet people, which I worry sometimes comes across as snobby...I never know how to do my hair and I blame this on my mother (don't worry Mom, I still love you)...I am writing a novel (I am only on chapter 3 so none of you will read it for quite a long time, I am slow)...I feel like I more than used up all of my secrets for my 100 things.

If you want, consider yourself tagged!

Austenland by Shannon Hale

Looking for a fun read to spark you out of winter doldrums? This is it!

Jane (what else would you expect the main character in book called Austenland to be named?) is a thirtysomething graphic designer who has been disappointed in love. She yearns to find her own Mr. Darcy (as played by Colin Firth) to pull her out of her funk. Her wealthy aunt, in an attempt to urge her out of this nonsense, bequeaths her with a vacation to Pembrook Park, an estate right out of the Regency period and populated with numerous possible suitors.

You don't have to have read Austen to enjoy this book, but it does help if you've seen the movies (which have conveniently been on PBS lately). The blending of the modern world with Austen will make you laugh.

Trip to Michigan

Two weeks ago, Emma and I were in Michigan for a week. It was freezing and snowed pretty much every day, but we loved it because we got to see my family. My youngest brother and sister had a break from school, so we hung out for a week, going shopping, out to lunch, and playing Guitar Hero III. Low key, but fun!

Emma loved the cool toys that Grandma had stashed in the basement, especially this shopping cart!

With our Valentine roses from Dave, who was stuck at work.

Grandma Feuz rockin' out.

Emma tries to rock out.

Emma liked to watch her Baby Einstein DVDs when she had too much Guitar Hero.

Emma bonding with Grandpa over Baby Einstein.

Emma with her Valentine's present from Mumma and Poppa (great-grandparents).

Playing her favorite, Peek-a-boo.

With Uncle Tyler.

Emma with Shadow, the dog. Emma harrassed poor Shadow for a while, but as soon as Shadow learned that Emma had a tendency to carry around food and drop it, they were fast friends.

Snow Day!

We woke up this morning to find this:


It's the biggest snowfall of the season. Though, that being said: it's really not that bad. I think the snow stopped at about 5 inches and it's currently raining and/or sleeting. The weather people like to call it a "wintry mix", which I think is kind of a copout. People are freaking out like they've never seen snow before and there have been hundreds of accidents.

As for us? We stayed home all day, reading and cleaning with a "Field of Dreams"-like hope: "If you clean it, Spring will come." We'll see. But at least there's not a pile of boxes in the corner of my bedroom anymore. Now I'm just trying to decide if it's ethical to order a pizza. :)

15 Months

Emma went for her 15 month pediatrician visit 2 weeks ago. Here are her stats:
Weight: 21 1/2 lbs.--25th percentile
Height: 31 1/2 inches--80th percentile
Head: 44 cm--5th percentile

Here is a glimpse of Emma these days:
1. She loves to read and often brings me a book to read to her, nudging me if I'm busy doing something else.
2. She's a bit of a selective eater, but she loves eggs, yogurt, bread, bananas, and dried cranberries.
3. She loves to mooch from whatever we're eating, but she especially loves mooching her father's breakfast.
4. She loves to play in her room and is good at entertaining herself.
5. She loves animals and can say the sounds for dog, goose, duck, bear/lion/dinosaur, and snake.
6. She recently learned to play peek-a-boo, and is now fully aware of her role as entertainer.
7. She loves to walk. Her favorite part of the day is walking down the hall and going down the elevator to get the mail.
8. She loves other kids and loves to follow around kids that are older than her.
9. She loves "Baby Einstein" DVDs and will sit still to watch them for as long as I let her! (When I turn it off after half an hour, she signs "more.")
10. She loves to chase and be chased.
11. She has recently become a little Linus and loves to snuggle with blankets.
12. She is down to one nap a day, usually from 1-3 pm.
13. She loves to carry around toys that will fit in her hand, like Fisher Price Little People.
14. She loves to play with her dad and they have their own little games.
She's a lot of fun but she has also become a full-fledged toddler and she can be "adorably infuriating" at times. But mostly she's great and we love her!

Who'd have thunk?

I have tamed 34 inner-city teenagers and even managed to teach them something. I have broken up fights and confiscated chewing tobacco and numerous electronics.

All that to be defeated by a toddler.

It is 5:58 am. I have slept for maybe 2 hours. Said toddler has slept for 5 (three of those hours were from 7 to 10 pm, which I would have taken advantage of if I had known what was coming). She is not sick in the slightest, and seems to be fine, except for random short banshee-like screams. After trying several solutions, I can only assume the screams will be cured by putting her to sleep, which I have attempted approximately 112 times at this point.

THe best part? We have to be on a plane in 12 hours. Sorry Northwest flight 657!

At least she won the fight...

Yesterday Emma went out and came home looking like this...

I told her not to fight with the neighbor kid, but at least she won, right?



Just kidding. What really happened was that she drove this car down these stairs.

She's always been really good with the stairs--in fact, I've never even put a gate up because she never even attempted them until I taught her how to crawl down, and she's never brought more than a little toy with her. Perhaps the car just got too much momentum, or perhaps she is getting to be a toddler daredevil. Either way, after the gush of blood from her mouth, I was glad her only injury was a fat lip. She had a full recovery within several hours.

Why I'm voting for Mitt Romney

1. He's freakin' smart. Seriously. In a field of intelligent, well-educated, successful candidates, he stands out.
2. He has had outstanding success in 3 different secors: private (Bain); public/non-profit (2002 SLC Olympics); and government (governor of Massachusetts).
3. While a Republican governor in a blue state, he balanced the budget (getting rid of a deficit) and instituted a health care program.
4. He's the best leader for a weak economy: he revived several companies while a consultant at Bain, made the 2002 Olympics profitable, and decreased unemployment in MA.
5. His leadership style is to gather a team of experts to study the possible solutions to a problem, and then act on one of them.
6. Though a conservative, he doesn't have strong ties to the Republican party and has experience working with both parties (see #3).
7. I don't get the feeling that he's out to prove anything, unlike some of the candidates.
People can yap about Iraq all they want, but there's no simple solution, and the bigger problem facing America is the economy. Romney has proven his experience making balanced, reasonable decisions, and he is not tied to any interest group.

That's my vote for Super Tuesday. Get out there and cast yours!

Chuck E., Take 2

Today it was pouring buckets out, so we were happy when our friends organized another outing to Chuck E. Cheese. Emma enjoyed running around with her friends, and I enjoyed chatting wtih mine.

Playing skeeball with Asher.