I did it! Woo-hoo!!!!

May 22, 2009
I graduated!!! Hooray!!! It only took four long years, a baby, and $16,000 but I finally did it!!! I can now officially put MPH behind my name (even though I've been using my new credentials for over a month)!!!

Nothing makes you feel worse

May 21, 2009
Nothing makes me feel worse than shopping for a swimming suit. Seriously, my self esteem plummeted off a cliff tonight. When I stopped nursing my boobs sort of shrunk, worse than before! So my swimming suit doesn't exactly fit. The problem is though, I can't find one that fits my chest and my gut. Just because you have a big gut (not to mention butt, legs, arms, etc), doesn't mean you have big boobs. But the worse part is, I still bought one that I knew was most likely going to get returned. Maybe buying one makes me feel like I still have my 19 year old body - when swimming suit shopping was actually fun. Then the realization sets in and I end up back at the store at 20 minutes before closing returning what I bought. I guess the only positive thing about this is a renewed desire to get in shape and lose 15 lbs. We'll see how long that ambition, ok let's be honest disgust, lasts.

Curb Appeal Part 3

May 20, 2009
Our "curb appeal" project is moving slower than I had hoped. We still haven't finished the new flower beds yet but with getting home late from work the past few days and Jeff in charge of Pearl and dinner, we decided to take it easy tonight by admiring the Columbine that is in full bloom throughout the yard. Oh, and did I mention that we also spent two hours weeding?

It's not a mitt... don't you know anything about baseball?

May 19, 2009
Nothing says baseball more than getting nacho cheese all over your face, climbing up and down the old wood bleachers while telling your mom "I'm a monkey" (those were Pearl's exact words too), cheering for the wrong team, wearing your dad's baseball glove, and coming home injury-free. I'm still going complain to the Stake that no one wore a helmet or face mask though.

Curb Appeal Part 2

May 18, 2009
Part two of the "curb appeal" project entailed re-potting the flowers on the front porch. Yes, re-planting them. The only flowers I can keep alive all summer are petunias, and if I'm lucky a grass and some lobellas mixed in. Pearl and I actually started the planting on Friday, hoping to impress Jeff with our new found green thumbs. But I soon realized I was going to cut it close with having enough potting soil to finish 10 pots. So trying to be frugal and avoid buying another bag, I thought I'd just not use as much soil in the pots. After all I had great ambitions to grow flowers that would just spill over the sides of the pots anyway, so no one would even notice, right? Wrong. Jeff got home from work and promptly figured out what I had done and told me that we'd have to re-plant them with more soil. So, tonight I spent the evening carefully taking the flowers out of the pots, adding more soil, and then re-planting them. I just hope they survive my green thumb.

Sidewalk chalk festival

May 17, 2009
Every year Main Street gets a makeover with sidewalk chalk and every year we take a leisurely stroll, along with half of the city, to see all the cool art. It really is amazing what artists can do with chalk... our drawings don't look anything like these. Pearl wasn't too amused until we saw a giant drawing of Dorey, Marlin, and one of the sharks from Finding Nemo. She was so excited and kept pointing at them and shouting "Nemo!" then asked us if we could find more Nemos. Jeff and I really liked a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, but the rule is only one picture per day. Hopefully it doesn't rain anytime soon so we can continue to enjoy these works of art for a few more weeks.