Books + Day 13 + Introducing "Me Quotes" (Hurray!)

"The habit of reading is the only enjoyment in which there is no alloy; it lasts when all other pleasures fade." -Anthony Trallope

It's wonderful to find a book you read in the past and read it again. It's funny; you get something new out of a book each time you read it, not because the book has changed, but because you have. That's what I think, at least.

Hello, my friends. The last few days have been alright. I missed our ward for the second week in a row because we were asked last minute to speak in Greenfield. THAT was a long day, because it takes an hour and a half to get there, and we rode with someone else who had to be there an hour before church started, then church is three hours, then we had to stop somewhere for a half hour on the way home. *sigh* My talk went well, though, and the boys did alright during the drive, so there really isn't so much to complain about. :)

Other than that, life has been blessedly normally. I've been babysitting the girl I watch every once in a while, the boys are learning new ways to drive me crazy every day (in good and bad ways), and I've been reading a few good books.

I need to play catch-up on that.

First: Books!

The other day, I finished the 4th and last book of the Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa. I admit, when I first read the synopsis of the first book, The Iron King, I wasn't sure if it was going to be something I would really get into. But I liked it a lot! Obviously enough to read the rest of the series, plus the Iron Legends (Iron Fey 1.5, 3.5, and I still need to read 4.5). Anyway, I recommend it. Overall, 4.5-5 stars.

Next, Timepiece. It's the second book of the Hourglass series by Myra McEntire. I've been meaning to read it for a while, seeing as it came out in June and I read the first book last year, but I've been a little busy! I liked it a lot! I thought it was interesting that the book was written from a different point of view from the first one, and although I think I liked the first one better, I definitely enjoyed this one as well.

Last, but not least (at least for this entry), I finally read the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. I thought the books were extremely well-written, and Katniss was a very likable and realistic heroine. I also was really happy with who she ended up with - no spoilers here though! - although in general I wasn't a huge fan of the ending itself. I've realized though, after reading the series, that I'm not sure I'll ever read them again. It was a bit too depressing for my taste; it wasn't happy enough. I know, I know, it's good to have books that could imitate life well if the reality of the book were to really happen, but I like for my books to stray from reality just enough to make for a happy ending every time. *sigh* Am I weird?

Second: Day 13!

I've been neglecting that 30-Day Blog Challenge... I started it all the way back in May, and I haven't been writing a whole lot since then. When I have updated, at least recently, I've forgotten to do it...

Anyway, Day 13 - Three confessions of your choice

I'll just go ahead and make these three secrets.

Secret #1: I've never understood people who like to work out. They always talk about how good they feel afterward. I can probably count on one hand how many times I've "felt good" after I've worked out. I'd have to have 100 hands to count the times I've felt terrible after I've worked out. I guess Working Out and I were never meant to be... Haha.

Secret #2: I crack my knuckles. A lot.

Secret #3: I've never been on a real diet. Sometimes I tell myself to eat something a little healthier, or sometimes I tell myself to scale back on the treats a little, but to be honest - Food + Me (unlike Working Out!) were a match made in heaven!

I've also decided I'm going to put funny/interesting things I said on my old blog as Me Quotes on here, maybe just before my secrets. I'll also put the date they came from, and have the link back to the entry it came from, that way you can read it in context, if you'd like.

By the way, if you read this whole thing, congratulations! You are officially probably bored stiff. Haha.

Me Quote: "I get to finish my laundry and clean the house! Woot Woot! I can't believe how much fun I'm going to have today! I'll be dancing with the vacuum cleaner, and having races with the dust we'll be stirring today! I'm so excited. Not. (Saturday, 12 June 2004)

Time it is a'flyin'

"The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time." -Abraham Lincoln

Thank goodness, because I'd miss my boys growing up a little bit every day.

And to prove that time is going quickly, this kid right here is 18 months old!

I can hardly believe it! Time has seemed to pass so much faster this time around than it did for Andrew.

I'm actually a little late, since he turned 18 months almost a week ago, but oh well. He hasn't changed too much in a week.

I took him to his 18-month checkup today, and he's now 28 lbs 4 oz (75th percentile), 33 3/4 inches tall (75th percentile), and his head circumference is 19 1/2 inches (90th percentile). So, his head is big, just like Andrew's, but otherwise he's growing big and he's healthy! Hurray!

I'm not sure how many words he can say at this point. A lot! Let's just name a few for fun: ball. Basketball (definitely his longest word). Hi (and he says it to EVERYONE). Bye. Banana. Broccoli. Dog. Thank you. No. Baby. Mama. Dada. Papa (his word for Grandpa). Blanket. Outside. I'm sure there's more, but I can't think of them at the moment.

He loves to run and play. One of his favorite things to do is go up and down and up and down the stairs. He would do it all day if I let him! He also LOVES playing with his brother, which usually means taking Andrew's toys and running away so Andrew will chase him. He is so funny.

He will eat just about anything. There are things he won't eat, but it usually just depends on his mood. He loves chocolate sandwiches (a piece of bread with Nutella on it), bananas, grapes, and just about any kind of berry. Out of our two boys, he's definitely our better eater. We frequently end up giving some of Andrew's food to David because Andrew won't finish his food and David will still be hungry.

What else do you want to know about my handsome boy? If you're curious to see how David and Andrew compare at this age, HERE is Andrew's 18-month update, and HERE is the blog with his 18-month stats.

Secret: I'm not a huge fan of the color orange. Unless it's a melon-y orange. Then it's pretty. I can't wear orange though - it makes me look awful! It really doesn't go well with my skin tone.

Picture Time!

"A picture is a poem without words." -Horace

I haven't posted pictures since the beginning of July. Or, rather, I haven't posted pictures of my boys since then. Let's see if I can remedy this!

One day, we went to the library while Jason was at a physical therapy appointment. He started trying to train for a half marathon, and hurt his knee. We got done at the library quickly, so we played outside the physical therapy building for a while.

What a cute boy!

Jumping!

One time, we were at my parents' house, and David found this and put it on all by himself:

Haha, of course there would be a random slip just laying around...

Before leaving for our trip out West, we went with Jason to one of his interpreting jobs on the East side of Columbus, near the airport. We dropped him off, then found a close local park to play at.

A big-kid-sized swing that you buckled into? Andrew was in heaven! He doesn't like normal big-kid swings...

That face gets me every time!

Then we went on our trip to Washington/Utah. Here are some pictures from that adventure:

We went to San Juan Island as part of our first family reunion, and they had an alpaca farm on the island. David walked right up to the alpacas and said, "Hi!"

We went to a place called Deception Pass. It was gorgeous! David liked throwing the rocks into the water.

On the way down to Utah, we stopped at a gas station that said, "Welcome to the Middle of Nowhere!" on it's front window. This was just inside the door.

This was also right inside the door! Haha! There were also two tumbleweeds right next to each other: a massive one that said it was an Idahoan tumbleweed, and a small one that said Utahan tumbleweed. Hilarious.

Playing on the grass outside the Logan, Utah, Temple.

We stayed a couple days in Logan, Utah. We saw the play "My Fair Lady" while we were there, and needed to get a babysitter to watch the boys. There's a story behind our babysitter:

Jason served his mission in El Salvador. While there, he taught a family and baptized a young man. This young man is now engaged, and his fiance lives in Logan, Utah. Because Jason kept in touch with this guy, we were able to get his fiance to watch our boys during the play! We took her, her sister, and her mom out to dinner afterwards. Here we all are at Firehouse Pizzeria:

The girl who watched our boys, Annette, is the girl in the black and white checked shirt.

We went to Salt Lake for another family reunion. Part of the reunion was an adult-only dinner. We needed another babysitter. Good thing my younger sister lives in Salt Lake! She cut Jason's hair, trimmed Jason's sister's and mom's hair, and cut Andrew's hair too. We left the boys in good hands.

Carrie's apartment recently had a dryer break down, and they weren't sure what to do with it initially. Well, they figured it out: make additional counter space in the kitchen, and provide some laughs in the meantime.

Yes, that IS a huge teddy bear butt sticking out  of the dryer door, thanks for asking!

On the flight back to Ohio, we gave David a chocolate-y granola bar. You think he liked it?

It's a little blurry, but he wouldn't stop moving! I think the chocolate gave him a buzz...

My dad picked us up at the airport, and we got some lunch on the way home. We turned around when we pulled into a parking spot in front of our apartment, and this is what we saw:

He was just a little sleepy... :)

We haven't been up to much since then, so if I've taken pictures since we've gotten back, I'll post them some other time.

Secret: I think I may be OCD about keeping pictures straight on the wall. Or the fridge. Or anywhere. Even growing up, my walls were covered with posters, but they were straight and it bothered me if they weren't. I recently downloaded a leveler app on my iPhone so I can make sure all the pictures hanging up on my walls are straight.

Musings of a Tired Lady

"The statistics on mental illness are that one out of every four Americans is suffering from some sort of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they are ok, it's you." -Rita Mae Brown

Oh yeah, it's definitely me! Haha, a random quote for a random post.

Holy smokers, it's been nearly a month since I updated my blog last! That's a long time!

Well, for two of those weeks, we were gone in Washington and Utah for family reunions. It was fun! I love spending time with family members we don't get to see a lot of during the year.

Andrew's still potty training. And doing terribly at it. I often wish there were people out there for hire that were professional potty trainers. Haha. I would pay just about ANYTHING right about now to just have this whole thing done. People say that out of the whole of parenting, potty training and teaching a kid to drive are the things they hate most, and now I totally get it. And when it comes to driving, even though I have no experience with teaching it to my kids yet, I think that the whole potty training thing is going to be much more hated in this house.

Ugh.

I've been kinda reflective lately. Not only did I find that old blog I told you about, but we had two different lessons about journaling at church in Young Women's in a row, so I've been on a journal-reading kick. I've read through two of my old journals, spanning from 1997-2001. I was so boy-crazy! And I was embarrassing. And socially awkward. FOR SO MANY YEARS! And really, I'm still socially awkward. But seriously. I wish someone had taken me under their wing and helped me! I keep thinking that I wish I could go back in time and do everything completely differently! But I also keep thinking that if I did that, I wouldn't be where I am now, with the people I love so much.

David broke his glasses the day we left for the family reunions, so we super-glued it back together in the hopes that it might last for two weeks. (Bear in mind that he'd only been wearing the glasses for a week and a half at that point, and they were already broken...) They lasted another day or two that way, and then they broke. Then we lost the earpiece. So those glasses are no more. :( We just got him some new ones late last week, but they're too big and won't stay on, so we need to get them adjusted.

Can't life slow down? There's only so much I can do!

Alright. Sorry about complaining/ranting/rambling a bit. Sometimes you gotta get those feelings out, right?

I'll post some recent pictures later.

Secret: I wish I could get a hold of some of my ancestor's journals. I would love to read about what their lives were like. I find that so interesting!