First dance class...

...was a blast! For Levi's birthday we had dance lessons paid for us. It's done through the community center here in Boise and is 6 weeks long. Tonight we learned how to do the traveling waltz and the boxstep waltz. My head is still spinning, going "1 2 3, 1 2 3" Levi and I were laughing about the fact that we were both staring at our feet AND counting out loud and were still messing up. I'm sure we'll get the hang of it, with lots of practice. Next week we're learning the Foxtrot. I'm so excited!
Thanks again everyone for the wonderful birthday present!

P.S. Somebody should look at building a dance studio that doesn't have mirrors all over the place. Nothing like seeing your fat sweaty butt spinning around at all angles. It's just not kind.

I knew it!

I knew there was something unsettling about the ShamWow guy and now I have my proof! Apparently he beats up hookers!
Check this link out!!
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0327092sham1.html

Giddy

THIS makes me excited!

Just a friendly reminder...

...only 2 weeks until OPENING DAY!! I'm excited for another year of friendly family rivalry and I'm even more excited to see who comes out on top: The team with well-developed, homegrown talent... or the Yankees.
No matter who wins, it's going to be a great baseball season!!




Oh yeah, I almost forgot:

Gnomeo and Juliet

I have the most amazing husband in the whole world. I have a husband who has bought me not one, but two amazing garden gnomes in the last three months.
Today he came in with a big gift bag and said my St. Patrick's Day present was inside. I love garden gnomes and Levi scored major brownie points with these purchases. Heather bought me my first garden gnome and I still have him on my front porch, even with his broken red hat (stupid Boise wind knocked him over and hurt his little head.)I refuse to give him up. He makes people smile when they come up to my door.
Thanks again Levi and Happy St. Patrick's Day to you too!

P.S. Garden gnomes always make me think of The Full Monty. "The man has gnomes in his yard!"
Here's one of my fave scenes from that hilarious movie.
You have to turn up your volume, the sound isn't very good in this clip

Another Good Laugh

First this,

Now the response:

And Dustin's rebuttal:

LOL!!!

As if I needed another reason to love Ricky Gervais! Check out these outtakes from his time with Elmo. So great!

No Title

Ever since we started trying for a baby (almost 10 months ago) I have been through every emotion under the sun. I have felt joy unlike anything in this world and I've felt sorrow so horrible I didn't think I could ever feel any worse.
Right now I'm at a low point because we have yet to conceive since my miscarriage in December. I know it doesn't sound like it's been that long, but it feels like an eternity to me. Every day that goes by I think of hardly anything else than the baby I so desperately want. Every month that it doesn't happen means I have to put on my strong face and keep my head up and I'm becoming exhausted. I'm tired of taking Clomid every month and getting multiple blood tests to check my progesterone (along with spending up to $50 on home pregnancy tests) only to get bad news.
I feel completely helpless because if I can't get pregnant while on Clomid it means I'm out of options. We don't have enough money to do IVF (which can cost up to $4000 each time) and we certainly don't have enough money to adopt. What are we supposed to do? I've only become pregnant once and I miscarried very early on. What happens if I can't get pregnant again or if I keep having miscarriages? Does this mean we just won't have kids? I don't think I can handle that option. Levi is much stronger than me. He told me that he set himself up to be happy if we get pregnant, but tries not to worry about infertility.
I feel like damaged goods. I feel like I did something wrong. I know that's an extremely immature way to think, but I can't help it. I try to look at the positive in everything in life, but infertility doesn't seem to have any positives.
Does anyone out there have any advice for me? I feel like I'm sinking and I don't know if I can continue being disappointed month after month. Any advice would help (except stories about how easy it was for you to get pregnant. For some reason people always tell me that when they hear I'm on fertility drugs. This doesn't make me feel better.)
I know that only my family reads this blog and my family is full of strong women that know how to make it through tough times. Please let me know what to do!
Thanks for listening
Carly

Happy Day of Birth Athena!

I cannot BELIEVE my niece Athena is fourteen years old!! It seems like only a couple of years ago that we rushed down to UVRMC to see the brand new member of our family. Scott and Stephanie were so proud they were practically beaming.
Athena you are such a joy to have in our lives and we miss you ever single day. Have a very, very happy birthday!!!
Love Uncle Levi and Aunt Carly

Forget Dopey and Doc, I'm Grumpy!

Normally I, along with most of the blogging world, use my blog to report on all the fun/good things going on in my life. Today I'm just too grumpy for that. I decided I'd write down all the things that are bugging me at this very moment and hopefully it will be a therapy of sorts.
1. I have a horrible toothache. Toothaches are the worst because you CAN'T ignore them! I made an appointment with the dentist for Thursday morning, but I think by the time it comes around I'll have already yanked the tooth out myself. I have Oragel to put on the gums and the tooth but it just ends up making my tongue numb and then I start drooling. Attractive huh?
2. My house is so messy. It doesn't matter if we've just cleaned it, somehow it becomes a complete pig sty within 2 days of a good cleaning. Grrr!
3. I'm so sick of looking at mothers who clearly don't enjoy motherhood. All day at my work I see people who have procreated and look and act as if they can't stand their offspring and that their children are just one big inconvenience to them. It drives me up the wall.
4. People that come up to me at work while I'm pushing a big cart of books, wearing a nametag and wearing a walkie talkie-type device and ask, "Do you work here?" Yeah, I'm just a customer that likes to push giant carts of books and move tables around. What was their first clue that I worked there? Drives me crazy!
5. My hair. I absolutely detest being a brunette and I went to Aveda today to see how much a color correction session would be and was told it would be $75...PER HOUR!! My hair normally takes 3 hours to take any sort of color and/or bleach. I absolutely can't afford how much they're charging and I'll have to go somewhere else, though they are the absolute best when it comes to color correction. Oh well. Live and learn. Next time I'll remember this and I won't even come close to darkening my hair.
6. There is an odd smell in my car and I can't find it. Playing "Find The Smell" is always a risky, but even after sniffing around like a Bloodhound I couldn't find the source. Hopefully nothing died in there!
7. Paying student loans. Shouldn't I only have to pay if I actually graduated?? I feel like I'll be paying them off for the rest of my life and I only went to UVSC for a couple of years! I have absolutely nothing to show for it :(

Anyways, I do actually feel a little bit better now. Sorry if this post is a buzzkill, I just had to get it off my chest!

P.S. Anyone who says Clomid doesn't make you hormonally insane is a LIAR! Just ask my poor, sweet husband.

Funny stuff.

So ever since Mel Gibson had his little meltdown (you know, the one where he blamed the Jews for all the wars in the world, as well as calling a cop "SugarT**s") I haven't had much use for him. I thought his career was over....UNTIL NOW!!
I have to admit that this is one of the funniest things I've seen in a while:
(as always, push pause on my music player on the right of the page to hear the audio)

Privacy....meh.

I don't especially like having a private blog because, for some reason, I don't feel the need to update it as frequently. I'm thinking about going back to public in a few weeks. We'll see.
This week was both Levi and Eliza's birthdays! On Tuesday we celebrated with the in-laws at Famous Dave's BBQ, which, if you haven't tried it already, is amazing. He scored some great gifts and it was fun hanging out with everyone that night. I need to start planning Levi's dirty 30 birthday party he'll be having next year. On Thursday we went over to Heather's house to have cupcakes and ice cream for Eliza. I can't believe she's 10!! Where has the time gone? While we were there, Heather gave Levi his present from her, my mom and Laurie and we are so excited! They signed us up for 6 weeks of dance lessons to learn everything from the Cha Cha to the Waltz. We're way excited to find out just how uncoordinated we really are :)
Oh yeah, I almost forgot that I have another bookstore story for Nancy. A lady came in the other day that wanted a book that she thought would be in our computer section. She said it was a book that described how hackers can plant a demon in a computer that can be transmitted to your computer. Demons. Hmmmm. Sorry to say we hadn't heard of that particular book. LOL!
Well anyways, hopefully I'll be motivated to update this a little more. I also need to add pictures of Levi's birthday. Sevy and Avery, can you send me the pictures that you took that night? Thanks so much!

Utah Trip

I'm the first to admit that I am horrible at taking pictures whenever we go on vacation, but this may have been the worst. We had such an amazing trip and we hardly took ANY pictures! I didn't get a single one of my mom, my aunts, my grandma, Carl, my nephew Ryan and niece Carlie. Next time I'm down there I'll just walk around with the camera around my neck.
Anyways, our trip was a blast. We got into town late Thursday night and immediately crashed at my mom's. On Friday we went over to Laurie's house and talked her into going to Chadders with us and three of her daughters. (The twins didn't have school that day and Rachel was home because she broke her wrist the night before, which she was NOT happy about. If there is one child that should not have to hold their arm in a tight sling for more than a week it's Rachel. Poor girlie.) So, if you haven't been to Chadders and you live even close to Utah County you need to get on it!! It's a complete knock-off of In-N-Out Burger and it's fantastic. Simple menu, skinny fries, shakes to DIE for. Yummmmmm.
We spent the rest of Friday driving around my old stomping ground and doing a little bit of shopping. My best friend Carl just got home from Iraq (his fifth tour!) and we were able to meet up with him on Friday night at my mom's house where we all watched a movie. Carl is such a scream and it was so good seeing him again! I missed him so much and it's always good to know that he's back in the states.
Saturday was Valentine's Day and I was lucky enough to tag along with my mom and her sisters to Mimi's Cafe. It was a blast and the food was delicious. It was fun catching up with all my aunts. I seriously have the best family.
Saturday was also, of course, Ikea day! We seriously cannot go to Utah without making a visit to Ikea. Carlie and Rachel piled in the car with my mom and Levi and we had a great time. This trip we practiced great self-restraint and walked out with a lint roller, a rug, some organizing baskets and a couple of throw blankets, making our grand total around $28. Gotta love Ikea!!
Also on Saturday we got to visit my brother Scott, his wife Stephanie and their family. My nieces are so big now! What is happening?! It seems like only yesterday that I was baby sitting Athena and Cassidy and now they're teenagers! (They also happen to be the nicest teenagers you'll EVER meet.) Little Whitney is such a doll and any chance we get to hang out with her and her sisters is a delight. Love you guys!
Sunday was a nice relaxing day. We ate a great pot roast (thanks mom!) and watched A New Leaf with my grandparents. That is one of my all-time favorite movies and I haven't seen my grandpa laugh that hard ever. He was crying and stomping his feet, as was my grandma! After dessert we packed up and said our goodbyes. I HATE LEAVING MY MOM and it's even harder when I had to say goodbye to my grandparents :(
The silver lining of having to say goodbye meant that we could go to our friend Melissa's house (Melissa was heather's missionary companion in Canada) where she showered us with baby stuff that she's done using. We scored a bassinet, a swing, a Johnny Jump-Up, clothes, and many, many other wonderful things. I have NO idea how it all fit in the car, I'm just glad it did. Thank you so much Melissa!! It was a blast seeing you, Eric and the little ones. You have no idea how much we appreciate this stuff and it will be so nice having it when we have a little one.
Well, it was a great visit and I'm still not over my homesickness that I always get when we visit Utah. Thanks everyone for a fantastic visit!!
Here are the 13, yes only 13, pictures we took the entire visit :(

Huh?

Today I stopped by a gas station that is just a block from our house to grab a snack. I walk in, grabbed my bag of puffy Cheetos and go to the register where two employees are talking, one a 20-something male and the other a 20-something female. They were on the topic of this last Friday the 13th and the guy asked me if my 13th was a good day. I said the day was fine and asked them how theirs was. The girl proceeds to say, "Mine was great, except for when my husband threw the gas can at my head."
Come again????
She must have seen my shocked face because she quickly said, "At least it wasn't a full gas can, you know?"
I looked from her face to the guy's face and he looked completely unsurprised. Maybe she tells him stories like this all the time and he's tuned it out. Who knows.

Sometimes the world can be wonderful, yet strange and sad at the same time.

Awesome sister

My sister Heather is amazing. As I have mentioned in a previous blog she pretty much rocks. One more example of her awesomeness is the quilt she made Levi and me when we bought our house. The colors in it are exactly the colors of our walls and furniture throughout the house. The picture doesn't do it justice, but the purples next to the yellows in the quilt are unbelievably beautiful. We have a wall in our house that looks like it was made to have this quilt hung on it and now that it's up there I will never, ever take it down. The coolest part of the quilt can't be seen in a picture, but she she sewed our names into the quilt and they run the entire length of it. Amazing huh!?

Love you Heather!

***oh yeah, thank you for your email addresses, there are still a lots of yours that I need. Once you posted them in the comment section I deleted the comment so your email address wasn't out there in the general internet public :) I'm becoming ultra cautious and I'll privatize the blog within a couple of weeks.***

I hate to do this....

I think I'm going to have to make my blog private. I really hate the thought of doing that, but it's time to take that measure. Please send me your email address (you can either post it in the comments or send it to carlyjgates@yahoo.com) so I can add you.
This sucks and hopefully I won't have to be private forever, just for the time being.
Thanks!

I've crossed over to the dark side.

This week has been a fun week. I dyed my hair a dark, reddish-brown on Friday and I'm still getting used to it. Heather really likes it, which makes me feel good. It is very hard to get used to and I still freak myself out when I walk past a mirror. I think that once I'm accustomed to it I'll grow to love it. We'll see.
Levi's sister Sevy came home from Sweden this week. It's awesome having her home and I can't believe a whole year has gone by since she left. We met up with her and Avery and Levi's parents to see Slumdog Millionaire again. If you haven't seen it already...GET ON IT! It's the best movie out there.
Work has been crazy busy and every day I come home totally pooped. Levi's work has also been picking up, which is such a blessing, considering how much they've slowed down since the economy took a dump. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that he stays busy.
Other than that, it's been a fairly uneventful week. I'll post again if/when something exciting happens. :)

Happy Birthday Ry-Guy!!!

My little soy boy nephew Ryan is 13 today!! It seems like just a few days ago that he was putting chocolate chips on his head and calling them his, "Ha-Hat!" and throwing his arms in the air above his head to show us what a "Big Boy" he was. When he was a little boy he would also let you know that his birthday was on "Feathermerry 4th." We used to make him say it all the time.
Anyways Ryan, I hope you know how much we love you and we're so proud of the young man you're becoming. Love you!

More LOLs

When talking about Superbowl commercials, I can't BELIEVE I forgot the best one EVER!!



And here's the sequel, just as funny!

Super Sunday

What an exciting Superbowl! It's nice when I don't necessarily care about either team and can just sit back and enjoy the game. Here are a couple of ads that I thought were great:

As funny as these were, nothing can take the place of my all-time favorite Superbowl commercial: