Vote for me!

Hello to all my loyal followers. The time has come when I need to call upon you. There is a very important contest going on right now. I am a VERY sore loser and I am losing. I need EVERYONE to go and vote. Since I can not tell you who to vote for, I am counting on you to pick up on my very obvious hint. Please visit the blog ajesplin.blogspot.com and vote for the cake that sets your heart on "fire". Thanks. Please help me win. Good day to you all.

P.S. "fire" was my hint.

My Favorite Thing About Amy

Spring Break

Morgan  and I made a semi last minute decision to take a trip during spring break.  We didn't have very much money to spend so we went to Oregon because it was close and would be a short trip.  We got a hotel on Priceline.com for real cheap and it was supposed to be a decent hotel.

Day one:

We pretty much just drove that day.  Not too much happened except for a blizzard in the Blue Mountain range that we got stuck in.  We made it through though.  We got to our hotel that evening and it was ghetto.  It was scary and a little dirty.  Granted, the entire city was scary and dirty (sorry to people who love Portland but seriously, lets be honesty) but our hotel was in the scary part of the scary town.

Day two:

We went to the Portland zoo.  Even though our hotel was only 15 minutes away, we decided (and when I say 'we' I mean Morgan) it would be more fun to take the tram.  The hotel drove us to the airport where we could load up on the train.  We then spent an hour and 15 minutes on the train, making every stop including one right by our hotel, all the way to the zoo.  It was fun for a little bit but after a half hour the kids started getting restless.  The zoo was great fun.  Wini is a huge monkey lover and could wait to go see the monkeys.

That was the first hour or so of our day.  We have tons of pictures from that first hour but then someone stole our stroller when we went to the bathroom and after that my arms were too full of purse, cameras, 4 coats and holding Wini and Wolfe's hands the whole time that I didn't get anymore pictures from the rest of the day.  After the zoo, we (I mean Morgan) thought we should cut our travel time down and get off the tram early.  That would mean we would have to take a short bus ride back to our hotel.  SSSSSCCCAAAARRRRRYYYYY.  I had never rode a public bus before.  I was so scared and grossed out that I had to squat over my bench so that my bum wouldn't touch the seat.  I also made sure not to make any eye contact but without looking timid.  I didn't want anyone to think I was an easy target.  I was so happy to get off the bus.  We (I mean I) decided after that, that we would just drive our car from now on and not take anymore public transportation.  We ate dinner at a German restaurant that Morgan just LOVED and then spent the rest of the evening back at our hotel.  All in all day two was a fun day.  But it was nothing compared to day three.

To be continued...

I've Got Mine!!

Do you have yours???

I am off to a friends house to watch Twilight.

I am assuming the rest of you are doing the same thing tonight.

Happy St. Twilight Is Out On DVD Today Day!

Contest Is Over. And The Winners Are......

That's right, the contest is over.  I got five comments and now it is over.  The winners are:

1st Place  Amanda

2nd Place  Me (I told you I was competitive)

3rd Place  Rana

4th Place  Jenny

5th Place  Katie

The rest of you get nothing.  Shoulda played my game.  Now I am changing the rules just a bit.  You do not have to continue this contest to recieve your prize but you do have to blog about it (except Rana because she doesn't have a blog.).  The prize is going to be soooo good.

The First Five

I am competitive.  I can't help it.  I HATE to lose at anything.  I don't even let my kids beat me when we are playing games.  I get it from my mom (Sorry mom but it is true.  I see it in your eyes that you hate to lose.).  It can be a good thing and a bad thing.  For example, it is bad when I annoy people with my competitivness but it is good when I beat someone and teach them a valuable lesson....don't mess with me. (J/K)  Anyways, because of this personality trait, I have done some silly things.  One of the things I have done recently is yesterday, when my friend did a blog contest.  She said the first five people to leave a comment get a prize.  I instantly felt that competitiveness running through my blood and left a comment as quick as possible. (I was first to comment, by the way)  Now for the catch.  To recieve my prize, I have to do the same contest on my blog.  I copied and pasted the rules from her blog.

The first five...The first people to leave a comment on this blog will receive something made by me.However there are some limitations.

1. I make no guarantee that you will like what I make. 

2. What I create will be just for you.

3. It will be done this year. (might take a while)

4. You have no clue what it is going to be, poetry, shoes, bags or a little invention of my own. I may bake something and mail it you . Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!

5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange. It may blow your mind!  Here is the catch, if you choose to do this.  You must post this on your blog and be ready to make something for five people too. This will be fun! When you receive the fabulous item I make you, you must post a picture of it on your blog.

So those were the rules.  I just realized as I read through them again that it has to be a homemade gift from me.  Hmmmmm.  That sucks.  Well, I am not even sure if 5 people will even leave a comment for me now.  I am not very creative.  Why did I leave a comment??!!  Now I have all this committment.

Whoops!

I have mentioned in the past that Morgan got me a new puppy for Valentine's Day.  Well, his little puppy hair was getting shaggy so I decided I would give him his first haircut.  I am a cosmotologist (fancy word for hair cutter) and cutting this little guy's hair should be easy.  Apparently it is trickier than I thought.  He wouldn't just sit still and turn when I needed him to like I invisioned in my head that he would.  Instead he kept trying to bite me the whole time.  And even though a number 1 clipper guard may look cute on my boys, it doesn't look so good on a dog.  Before I gave him his hair cut, he was a dark haired dog, now he is gray.  

This is his before shot.  This is the day we got him.  He just had a fresh hair cut.  Oh my gosh he is so cute.  Notice Wolfe's extremely long and skinny legs.
Here he is after.  I buzzed the top of his head really well but didn't get the neck very good.  I was also using a cheap pair of clippers from Ross.  I didn't want to use my human clippers on a dog.
I got the important area though, his bum.  I was having to use baby wipes on him when he came inside after doing a big job because the hair was a little shaggy in that area.
I didn't know what to do about his tail, so I guess I am growing it out....like a poodle.
I didn't touch his beard or eyebrows so his face is still precious (thank goodness).  A dog's eyebrows are sacred.  Notice I didn't cut Teddy's hair.  I did that on purpose.  I am growing his hair out like Orlando Bloom's hair on The Lord of the Rings.  Also his longer hair is cuter in a baseball cap (Teddy's not the dog's).  Anyways his hair cut is ridiculous (the dog's not Teddy's) but I am going to keep trying to do it myself.  It is cheaper.  

Monthly Visitor

I was late but I finally got my monthly visitor.....the flu (you sickos, like I'd blog about that).  Ever since September, I get the flu every single month, without fail.  It is torturous.  I really really really need to get insurance so I can go see a doctor.  I am sure it is something very serious.  I know you are dying to know my symptoms are so I will spill.  First, it starts with a headache.  Not a migraine, just an annoying headache that won't go away no matter how much coke I drink or pills I take.  Next comes the aches.  Now at first, I am thinking I slept on the neck wrong but then as it turns out I just have the flu.  After that is the nausea.  I don't usually throw up (I did in Sept., and Dec.) but I certainly feel like I am going to.  After the nausea is the fever with chills.  24 hours later, I am totally fine.  And then no one else in the family catches it.  Just me.  Strange, strange indeed.  Does anyone else get sick this often?  I am enemic, does that have anything to do with it?  Anyways, it has now been 24 hours and I feel all better.  100% better, in fact.  I am trying to clean up yesterdays messes and feed my kids (they have to fend for themselves while I am sick.)  Tonight, Morgan is going out with friends, I am feeling all better and I am going to have an awesome night of T.V. watching.

Amy's B-Day

Today is my sister Amy's Birthday.  Amy is my most favorite sister that lives in Idaho.  She is also my only sister that lives in Idaho.  It is so nice having her live nearby.  She is very nice and generous and is always a good time.  She is super friendly and can make conversation with any random stranger.  It is a little dangerous actually.  So here are some fun facts about Amy.

A  lways reliable

M  usical genius

Y  MCA is where she works  

She has short name.  There is much more to her than that.  Happy Birthday Amy.

Trick candles are so funny.

With The Times Now

We got a new computer! And moniter! I don't which one I am more excited about! See all my exclamation points! That is how excited I am! Our old computer (and when I say old, I mean OLD) was running so slow that even though we have the super high speed internet, our computer made it run like a dial-up. I took literally 10 minutes just to open Itunes and to sync one song onto my ipod would be over a minute long. I tried a few weeks back to download a movie onto my ipod and and it was two hours to sync it. VERY ANNOYING. Anyways we decided to break down and buy a new computer before this one was completely dead. It is very shiny and pretty and has a nice red strip at the bottom. I also no longer have the gigantic moniter that was so dim I had to close the blinds and turn out the lights to see. Now I have one of those flat screen kind. It is very exciting. Sorry I can't show you any pictures of our new computer (cuz I know you are dying to see it) but I am too lazy to do that right now. Also, I would feel a little bad taking the computers picture when I haven't taken a single picture of my kids since Christmas. I got to do them first even though my computer would never talk back to me or smear poop all over the toilet seat, or make hugh messes everywhere it goes or want me to feed it at meal times. I am not saying I love my computer more than my kids, I am just saying......

And in other news, Morgan got me a puppy for Valentines day. It is sooo cute. He is a miniature schnauzer. We named him Otto. He has the schnauzer cut and is so funny. Morgan made up for the fact the he didn't really acknowledge me on Valentines Day and lectured me weeks prior about how he HATES the day by bringing him home that night. He pounces around the house and even Wolfe can't resist him. He tries to squeeze him to death. Seriously, I can't leave them alone unsupervised or else he will squeeze him to death. We still have that other dog but he is just not cute anymore compared to Otto. (J/K we still love Duke but he really isn't as cute as he used to be compared to Otto) So needless to say, Morgan has been getting away with things more now that he was the hero of Valentines Day.

And I should mention the fact the Morgan went back school in January. So far he is doing quite well. He is getting 100% on his tests (except for his music class which was the one he took for a supposedly easy A) and he is the jerk who is setting the curve in his classes. I am proud of him for doing so well. Hopefully time will fly by while he is in school.

My big annoucement though is that we are unpacking. We have lived in our house for close to 2 1/2 years now but I just really haven't felt like unpacking until now. I have found all sorts of treasures, things that I don't know how I have gone with out, like my grill cheese sandwich maker and my hand mixer and some nick nacks. I also started hanging up pictures. Hopefully those cock-eyed door to door salesmen will stop asking me if I am just moving in. It is so tacky to assume.

Ramona Quimby

Morgan got me a Pedi-egg for Christmas and my heels were feeling good until they wore out the blade. Now they are sharp as a razor again.

It Was Magical!

It really was, gize. For our Christmas present this year, my mother in law bought tickets for the entire family to ride the train up to the "North Pole" and see Santa Claus. It was super fun. As an extra little bit of magic, it ended up snowing that day just for us. That did make it a little colder than I could handle but the North Pole wouldnot have been the same without snow. The drive up took forever since our van has bald tires and no traction control but we made it. See, I told you we made it. Here we are in front of the wrong train but ours did look exactly the same. Morgan opted to not wear a coat.

We couldn't find Jesse for our earlier photo shoot and by the time he got back to the train, the other kids had scattered off. Here is Jesse in front of the same wrong train.

Wini wanted to go up to the top of the train just like on the movie "Polar Express" and was very rudely told no but the consession lady. Tractor Grandma was trying unsuccessfully to console her.

Here is most of the group. It looks like a few people's entire body didn't make it though but at least we got the concession lady in the very back.

Santa, obviously.
It was too cold for the kids to stand in line to see Santa so the adults stood in line while the kids waited on the train. The picture is actually after we saw Santa but it was a good example of how they waited on the train.

My father in law and his twin brother, Santa, as requested my Santa.

It was tons of fun and something I definitely want to do every year. Thanks Leon and Janie for such a fun day.

BFFs

Growing up, my sister Jenny had a best friend that she was inseperable with. Awhile back she did a blog post to this special, special person and then yesterday I happened across a picture of them together. I figured out how to scan (finally) so now Jenny can have this picture forever.

Her and Big Mamma were so close! We miss you Big Mamma!

Happy World Aids Day, Everyone!!!!

I am so excited that it is December! I started getting anxious and excited for Christmas back in July. Every year I say I am going to be more festive and I never do it but I think this year will be different. My kids are getting older and I am able to do more things with them without having to curl up in a ball and cry afterwards. It is also fun having a 12 year old for Christmas too (Jesse, my pcs kid is the 12 year old for those of you who didn't know). This year I am hoping to be able to ride the train upto the "North Pole" aka Horseshue Bend and see Santa Claus. I am also wanting to do fun things at home with the kids like gingerbread houses and watch Christmas movies together and maybe even go see a Christmas show with the kids. I am way excited. These are all the things I plan to do every year but when the time comes to actually go do it, it sounds to exhausting but this year will be different. Just wait and see.

I had a very fun Thanksgiving. It was my year to go to the in-laws. We took family pictures and ate a tasty meal. On my way home from the in-laws, my mom called and said she, my dad, Erin and Maddie were all going to see Twilight. Of course I wanted to go. I arrived at the theater late and thought it was a bit odd that my mom wasn't sitting next to my dad. The order went: Erin, Maddie, my mom, empty space for me, and then my dad. Hmmmmm wierd. Whatever. So the movie broke down during previews and took an hour to start up again. My mom and I decided to go to the bathroom while they were fixing it up. when we came back I offered her to sit next to dad. She acted kind of wierd and refused to sit by him but I just assumed that it was because she wanted to sit next to Maddie. When the movie started, I then realized how very wrong I was. The first time I saw the movie, when Edward makes his first appearance on the screen, I heard screaming girls. This time all I heard was my dad yelling, "Oh for crying out loud!". While it was just as funny, it was distracting. Instead of hearing giggling girls through the whole movie, I heard my dad's hysterical laughter. At times, I was laughing just as hard because laughter apparently is contagious. He kept asking why Edward was wearing lipstick and if he had autism. I see why my mom didn't want to sit next to him. Don't worry everyone, I still loved Edward and I love the movie. It was very memorable seeing it with him. In fact I even went to see it again two days later. I laughed again the third time because the acting is terrible but it doesn't matter because of Edward.

I had a great weekend with my sisters (Amy, Erin, Jenny, Katie) and the best part of it was that Morgan watched my kids for me all weekend long so I could go out stress free. The games are always fun. We played a few rounds of trivial pursuit. My team won once and the other team won once so it was pretty fair. I love it when that happens. It is so fun playing games with my family. They make me laugh pretty hard. Jenny had some pretty cool dance moves that she was doing while we listened to the Twilight soundtrack over and over and over and over. It was a good time. I hope everyone has a wonderful World Aids Day!!!! Wah waaaaaaah!!!

Twilight

Last night I went to see Twilight at midnight because I just couldn't wait any longer.


Chapter One:
The Experience.

I was more excited to see this movie than I was for my own wedding day (no offense Morgan but you said the same thing about the Fiesta Bowl so now we are even). We arrived at the movie theater an hour and a half early and there was no where to sit. There were 11 in my group and we were supposed to meet another group as well. So they let us go into another theater that had room for us. The theater filled up pretty quick and soon there was estrogen everywhere. Lots of cameras flashing, screaming, and women (not girls) running up and down stairs goofing off. I was so excited. Here we are "flanking it". It took awhile to explain how to "flank it" but after awhile people were catching on.

Of course I wore my Forks, Washington sweatshirt. People were soooo jealous of me when I told them I bought my sweatshirt in Forks.

That is my ticket. I will keep my ticket stub forever. It was the best night EVER!

Chapter Two:
The Movie.

Mt heart was pounding as I waited to see Edward face appear on the screen. Once he arrived, it did not matter that Charlie's driveway was concrete even though we all know it was made of brick or that Billy Black and Jacob did not arrive to Forks on Bella's first day of school or that Bella wore a wrinkley tan skirt to the Cullen's house not jeans or the fact that Edwards bedroom was way too small and a king size bed with feather pillows could never fit in that. All that mattered was Edward. He was so hot with his white face and poofed up hair. His buggy eyes were calling to me and suddenly I was the only person in the movie theater.

What I LOVED about the movie:

Edwards hotness. Edward was so hot.

Bella. She was very pretty. Now I understand why Edward loved her. It was because he couldn't hear her whiney and annoying thoughts and we could in the book but in the movie, we couldn't hear her thoughts either and what do you know? I liked her.

Edward and Bella together. I think they had good chemistry and I enjoyed watching the lion fall in love with the lamb.

I liked that they changed it to have James and Victoria in the movie more. It made it more action-y and also helped build their characters for future movies.

I liked that they left the end open with Victoria for the next movie.

I thought the movie in general was fun to watch and I really liked it. I am in love with Edward all over again.

Now the bad news. I hate to say this because I love him so much and I want to blame everything on Bella but Edward was a little wierd with his eyes. He had crazy eyes. He also forgot to act like a human and blink. It was okay though because he is Edward and is hot. There was one scene that I lost it and couldn't stop laughing.

This is me re-enacting that scene. As you can see I am an excellent actress and Katie is not. The part when Edward was sucking James venom out of Bella was a bit hard to watch. Bella did an excellent job with her part. I believed she was in pain and I wanted Edward to make it go away but with a better expression on his face.

He is so hot.

This is me re-enacting Edwards buggy eyes and head movements. I really should be an actress, don't you think?

So hot!! I love him!! But now I feel depressed. I have that feeling again after I read the book for the first time. Why didn't I marry a vampire??!!! I love Morgan but he has to sleep, eat, shower, and blink....oh wait, I am glad Morgan has to blink. The only way that I got over the books before was to just keep reading them over an over until that feeling went away. Is that what I need to do to get over my movie depression because that could get expensive.

Anyone want to go see it again?