Happy Birthday Laurie!

Your present is in the mail as we speak, so here's something else that you can have today (and by "have" I mean "look at"):


HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LOVE

XOXO
SHIRTLESS HUGH JACKMAN

Cuties!

Normally I'm opposed to the idea of the paparazzi, especially when there are kids involved. I can't imagine my niece and nephew having flashbulbs go off in their face as they walk to school and, even though the parents did choose a lifestyle that involves being in the public's eye, I think kids should be off limits.
That said, I'm going to backtrack and say, "Thank heavens for the paparazzi!" If not for them I wouldn't have been able to see the Brangelina twins, who are the most adorable things I've ever seen in my entire life!!!
Aaaghh! I want to bite their cheeks! So friggin' cute. As if I needed one more thing to make me more babyhungry :)

(Laurie, apparently Sydney's version of Justin's mustache is VERY en vogue right now. Even Brad Pitt is rockin' it!) Click here to see Sydney's portrait of my brother-in-law Justin

My week in pictures

Overall, I had a pretty great week. Here it is in pictures:

Working on a tip from cousin Nora, we were able to get discounted airline tickets on this...

...to go here...

...to see them play:


This week, I also got to say these 2 words a lot:

It was my niece Carlie, my brother Scott and in a couple of days, my sister Laurie's birthday. Yay!
At work I have been a...

and I enjoyed my day off today and I did a lot of this...

Also this week, Levi found a great deal on pants and got 2 pairs for $9.99 each at:

I'll never understand why guys clothes are so much cheaper and ALWAYS on sale at places like that. It's totally unfair.
In closing, the only real downer about this week was the crappy weather.
Can't wait to get rid of this...

and get some of this...

Opinions needed!

About every 3 months I get to a point where I want to do something totally different with my hair. Last time I went to the salon I came home with bangs and darker blonde hair. I love the bangs (it's actually easier to do your hair with bangs and I don't use as much makeup since I don't have to put any on my forehead. Score!) but I can't decide what color to do. Last time I went darker it was a disaster, but only because the color I wanted wouldn't work with my stripped, bleached hair.
I'm thinking of going super-dark but I can't decide!
Here's what it would look like:
(This is Diablo Cody, the writer of Juno and I think she's adorable)

What should I do?? I need to make my appointment for next week because my roots are getting out of hand. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks!

Answers

Time for the movie quote answers. Between Heather, Laurie and Scott there were only a few that remained unanswered.
Here you go:

1. Juno
2. Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone
3. Fargo
4. Goodfellas
5. Christmas Story
6. The Departed
7. Death at a Funeral
8. Fever Pitch
9. Chocolat
10. Dumb & Dumber
11. Amelie
12. Better Off Dead
13. Anchorman
14. Breakfast Club
15. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
16. The Bourne Identity
17. The Bourne Identity
18. What's Up Doc
19. Shaun of the Dead
20. Sixteen Candles
21. The Godfather
22. Caddyshack
23. The Lord of the Rings (Fellowship)
24. Mr. and Mrs. Smith
25. Gladiator (and Pineapple Express, coincidentally)
26. Dodgeball
27. Toy Story
28. Casino Royale
29. Raising Arizona
30. The Goonies

Movie quiz time again!

My brother Scott is the master of movie quotes. He recently put up 30 quotes on his family's blog and I was able to get 20 of them, which I think is pretty darn good! He threw down the challenge and now I'm determined to come up with 30 equally hard quotes.
Anybody can play, just list your answers in my comments and NO CHEATING!

1. "My mom uses color safe bleach."
2. "It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends."
3. "So, I'm tendin' bar there at Ecklund and Swedlin's last Tuesday, and this little guy's drinkin' and he says, "So where can a guy find some action? I'm goin' crazy out there at the lake." And I says, "What kinda action?" and he says, "Woman action, what do I look like?" And I says, "Well, what do I look like, I don't arrange that kinda thing," and he says, "I'm goin' crazy out there at the lake," and I says, "Well, this ain't that kinda place."
4. "Just... ya know... you're funny."
"Funny like a clown?"
5. "I can't put my arms down!"
6. "How's your mother?"
"Oh, she's on her way out."
"We all are. Act accordingly."
7. "Why are my hands so big??"
8. "Where do the Sox rank in terms of importance in your life?"
"I say the Red Sox... sex... and breathing."
9. "I see a cranky old woman too tired to play games."
10. "If I know Mary as well as I think I do, she'll invite us right in for tea and strumpets."
11. "You mean she would rather imagine herself relating to an absent person than build relationships with those around her? "
(hint, number 11 was spoken in French)
12. "This is pure snow! Do you have any idea what the street value of this mountain is?"
13. "I'm gonna punch you in the ovary, that's what I'm gonna do. A straight shot. Right to the babymaker."
14. "Answer the question Claire!"
15. "He'll keep calling me, he'll keep calling me until I come over. He'll make me feel guilty. This is ridiculous, ok I'll go, I'll go, I'll go, I'll go, I'll go."
16. "How could I forget about you? You're the only person I know."
17. (same movie as #16) "I work alone like you. We always work alone."
18. "How would you like to swallow one sandwich d'knuckles?"
19. "We'll take the car. Go to Mum's. Kill Phil, grab Liz, go to the Winchester, have a nice cold pint, and wait for all of this to blow over. How's that for a slice of fried gold?"
20. "The girl freaked. She had a hissy. She thinks you're the cats meow!"
21. "Mikey, why don't you tell that nice girl you love her? I love you with all-a my heart, if I don't see-a you again soon, I'm-a gonna die."
22. "Gambling is illegal at Bushwood sir, and I never slice."
23. "Even the smallest person can change the course of the future."
24. "Your aim's as bad as your cooking sweetheart... and that's saying something."
25. "What we do in life echoes in eternity."
26. "Here at Globo Gym, we understand that "Ugliness" and "Fatness" are genetic disorders, much like baldness or necrophilia, and it's only your fault if you don't hate yourself enough to do something about it."
27. "What if Andy gets another dinosaur? A mean one? I don't think I can take that kind of rejection."
28. "It doesn't bother you? Killing all those people?"
"Well I wouldn't be very good at my job if it did."
29. " Biology and the prejudices of others conspired to keep us childless."
30. "Do you remember the time we were going to get your teeth fixed and we spent all of the money on Francis's toupee?"

It's got me thinking...

We just got back from seeing The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which, if you haven't seen it already, is AMAZING and I highly recommend it. In the movie, the character of Benjamin Button kept a diary of his entire life and it's from this diary that his story unfolds. One of the central themes of the movie, at least in my opinion, was the theme of life and death and how the two cross each other's path. Maybe it was the thought of mortality combined with the scenes unfolding from his journal, but I realized that without writing anything down, nobody will have a record of my memories. I know this sounds obvious, but I never really thought about it until tonight. People will be able to speak about how they knew me as a person, but nobody will be able to explain my memories unless I record them.

So, this has all been a long-winded way of saying that starting tonight (yes, TONIGHT!) I will be writing in my journal every night before I go to bed. Even if it's just a list of the things I did that day, it's better than the nothing I've been doing. I can't believe all the great events that have happened that I've never recorded. I'm sad that there are probably lots of funny stories and strong emotions and memories that I just never bothered writing down and now they are lost. I just can't let that happen anymore.
I never make New Year's resolutions, but this may be the first one that I am going to do everything in my power to meet. I hope that this time next year I'll have a journal filled with stories and memories and I can rid myself of this anxiety :)

PS: If you need more incentive to see this wonderful movie, look no further than this picture. Me-Yow!!

Rachel being Rachel

Anybody who knows my seven year old niece Rachel knows she is one of the funniest human beings out there. Not only is she funny, she's also fiercely loyal and at the same time caring and sensitive. She fell in love with Levi when she first met him and for years she said that he was her boyfriend. Rachel was born a teenager. She may have at one point been an infant, but none of us remember it. As far back as I can remember she was cracking jokes and hanging out with all the adults. Anytime I need a good laugh I just call Laurie and have her put Rachel on the phone.
With that preface, this picture she drew me is all the more funny. As many of you know, my mom and everyone in Laurie & Justin's family are die-hard Yankees fans, while we here in Boise are Red Sox fans (yes, the two families CAN coexist!) This has always been a sore spot for Rachel and whenever we see her we like to tease her and ask her if she wants to wear my Red Sox hat or if she wants to put up our Red Sox flag. She huffs and puffs and tells us, in so many words, that the Red Sox suck. But, like I stated earlier, Rachel is a sweetheart and has a heart of gold. When she heard I had a miscarriage she took to her paper and crayons and made me a nice note. The message is sweet, (it was written in a light color so it's hard to see, but it says "I am so so so so sorry you had a miscarriage.") but the anti-Red Sox, pro-Yankees drawings all over the note are what makes this note special. This is a classic case of Rachel being Rachel.

Dirty Paws!

We have a very cute dog wash place near our home called Dirty Paws and my niece Eliza and nephew Wilson have been dying to take Morty there. The place has eight or nine stations that include a large tub, all sorts of shampoos and conditioners, lots of brushes and a doggy drier that actually looks and sounds like a vacuum and scared Morty to death. We used to take Lola there and she LOVED it. She used to get out of the her tub, shake off and then have a bout of the "crazy runs" which is where she would just get a burst of energy and run back and forth and around and around in a big circle to demonstrate how happy she was.
Morty, while he seemed to actually enjoy the dog wash, was not nearly as thrilled with it as Lola was. He was a good sport though and the kids had fun washing him and brushing him until he was sparkly clean.
Thanks Wilson and Eliza!

Thank you family.

As many of you know, Levi and I have been trying to have a baby for some time now and we received great news on Christmas Day that we were most definitely pregnant, about 5 weeks along. This was fantastic news and seeing Levi cry with joy is something I will always remember. A few days ago I found out that the baby did not develop and I will be having a miscarriage. This was the most devastating news and I honestly haven't cried that much in my entire life. Without dwelling on the sadness of what happened, I found that I was surrounded by so many great people that all care about Levi and me so much. Within hours of finding out the bad news I had received phone calls and texts from just about everybody in my family and even received chocolate cake (thanks Heather!) and flowers (thanks Laurie!)
I've never felt so blessed to be a part of an amazing family and I really don't know what I'd do without them. If it weren't for all those expressing their love and support for us, I'd still be in bed filling up snotty tissue after snotty tissue. Thank you all so much. There just aren't words to express how much I appreciate you all.
As far as trying for another baby, we'd start trying again today if it were possible. We're both very, very anxious to try again and I'm more determined than ever to bring a healthy, happy baby into this world. Nothing is going to stop us. Thanks heavens for Clomid and other fertility drugs!
My sister Heather posted a blog that included these wise words, "If there were no night, we would not appreciate the day, nor could we see the stars and the vastness of the heavens. We must partake of the bitter with the sweet." I know that because of all the pain and sadness, it will be just that much more rewarding when we actually leave a hospital one day with a baby in our arms. Until that day I will not lose any hope and will continue to go in the direction we know we're meant to be.
I love you all,
Carly