A phenomenon I don't quite understand....

It’s time I come clean and announce that I…um…ahem…I’m not a huge fan of the Twilight series. (Please don’t come through cyber space and attempt to change my mind by showing your fangs and biting my neck. It won’t work.)

I will admit that I read all of them, yes, and at times did quite enjoy the story BUT I finished them more out of a resolve to follow through on something I started. I’m weird that way…If I’ve start a story I can’t leave it alone. I HAVE to know what happens, no matter how dull or tasteless it may be. I know, I know…it’s not good, it really isn’t! I should be able to just leave it alone, especially if I don’t like it but, alas, I have wasted far too many minutes of my life “finishing” an episode of Law and Order or Say Yes to the Dress when my original intent was to merely take a 15 minute “veg out” break. Well, the same goes with the Twilight Novels.

That was the reason I finished the books…I just had to KNOW! So I slodged through countless pages of hormonally driven narratives describing Edwards “untidy, bronze hair” and his “piercing eyes” and Jacobs “hot, muscular body” and oh yea…she might have mentioned Edwards, “shimmery, marbled, greek-god” chest a few times. Yes, I did skip a lot…I mean quite a bit! 20-30 pages at a time, multiple times, and let me tell you…it wasn’t difficult to figure out what I missed. It got to the point that by the last book, still hanging on to that obstinate resolves to know how it ends, I asked my mom to tell me what happened in the first 400 pages and I started from there. Good. Choice. I didn’t feel like I skipped a beat.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I think Stephenie Meyer is great and I give her a lot of credit. Heaven knows I couldn’t write one 700 page novel let alone 4 but nevertheless…I am honestly puzzled by the HUGE fad. I mean HUH-UUGE fad!! What’s the draw?

Perhaps I can grasp why pre-teen girl-itos would really dig the cutesy Jacob or maybe even why the hopelessly romantic college-aged twenty-something’s may be enamored with Edward’s mysterious perfection but what really confuses me are all the “twi-moms” out there. I’m not just talking the late 20’s to early 30’s with little kids. I’m talking about the 45 + year old women who, like the woman I saw last Friday, proudly wear their black “Eternally Edward” t-shirt while clutching New Moon protectively to her chest as they stand in line at Walmart desperately asking the checker if he was sure they didn’t sell any customized Twilight heart candy. Maybe someone can explain it to me, but I just don’t get it.

GOAL!!!!

Just a quick shout out. You may be aware that I am a big fan of soccer and oh yeah....Mike is too, I guess :-).

Well, for better worse, we watched the last of the MLS final tonight and it was Real Salt Lake vs. LA Galaxy. For those of you who don't know, Real Salt Lake initially got in on a major stroke of luck (especially as their season had more losses than wins)but once they began the playoffs they have done great. So well, in fact, that they made it to the finals. Now...being the complete underdogs the entire way, the WON!!! HOOHAH, HIP HIP HURRAY! Sure, it did come down to a shoot out but, hey...they still won and put Utah on the map just a little bit more.

So...I am excited! CONGRATULATIONS REAL SALT LAKE!

The Effects of a Bad Night Dream...

This last week Mike and I have had a few issues with coordinating our work schedules so that one of us is home with Andrew. Well, the solution for this Monday and Wednesday was that I would come into the office oober early and leave by 10 to meet Mike and Andrew at the MTC where I would then grab my cute little bundle of snot (serioulsy...poor kid has had a bad case of the nose runs lately) and Mike would go work for the rest of the day. It hasn't been bad at all. I like getting up in the wee hours of the morning, it suits me...I've always been more of a morning person. So last night, I went to bed early (10pm) and set my alarm to buzz at 6 am. Off to sleep I went and then I began to dream....

My entire recollection of last nights sleep involved this incredibly annoying dream where something kept happening to keep me from sleeping. First, my younger brother came into the room and woke me up to say that he needed me to make him dinner. I felt horrible that I forgetten to feed him and immediately went upstairs and whipped up a meal of bacon cheesburger with fries, at which point I too became very hungry and was annoyed that my brother ate all of it without offering me a bite. After that I made him a bed in some magical spare room and he went to sleep, after that I got back into bed then...suddenly Mike rolled over and told me that I needed to email Geico about our car insurance. If I didn't email them right away, they would burn our car! Well, I couldn't let that happen so while Mike went back to sleep I sent an email to Geico begging them not to burn our car.

Ahh...after that I laid back in bed. Then, only a few minutes later Andrew began crying and crying and crying and...OH this was real. So I really woke up, went in and made him feel better (as I mentioned before, the poor little boy had snot running down his face and he is getting the last of his teeth so, he just needed a little snuggle to help him on his way.)So, after about 15 real-life-minutes Andrew was ok and I went back to bed. It was 2 am. I chuckled to myself because I was feeling more exhausted than I should have and I realized it was because of my dream. Oh well, I thought round two of sleep would go better.

Then I began dreaming again and...it's like my mind just picked up where it left off. This time I dreamt that Andrew had miraculously learned how to crawl out of his crib and speak perfectly structured sentences and he came up to me and said, "Mom, you are selfish. You shouldn't be sleeping, you should be playing with me." I told him I was sorry and then I got up and began playing kick ball which then morphed into my alarm going off and Mike waking up to tell me that I was late for work and I needed to hurry. At this point I broke down and began crying and telling him it was too unfare and that I actually didn't get any sleep and I couldn't go into work today. Mike, suddenly wearing a NAZI uniform (I'm not kidding, he had a swastika on his right arm), said, "NO, go to work". So off I went.

After that I was suddenly awakened by my real alarm. I turned off and rolled over to process everything. I felt like I wanted to punch Mike...he was a NAZI and I never knew?!? Then I started feeling guilty for being a bad mother, sad that our car didn't actually burn down (it would be nice to get some insurance money for our old clunker)and really, really hungry.

Oh well, I got ready, went to work and now I am having a little break to type this all out. It's funny, I'm now sitting here feeling super exhausted when I got a decent 8.5 hours of sleep. I't funny how big of an impact your mind can have sometimes.

Hmmm...I think I am going to get a bacon-cheesburger for lunch.

I place to rest our heads in bonny Scotland

We got luggage, we got visa's, we got space-saver vacuum bags. We got clothes, we got pictures, we got books...now we just need a place to put it all. Here are some options I found on the web. What do you think?







HAH! :-) I can dream can't I?

A GRANDIOSE POST!

During my little blogging hiatus a lot of stuff happened and I regret not documenting it with pictures. So the following is meant to be that documentation and...really to humor me. However, please feel free to scan on through and I apologize if it's a bit boring. FYI: the following things haven taken place from August to current.

Mike "graduated"! He is officially done this December but back in August he went through the whole walking ceremony! We are so proud of him! This is a picture of Mike and I with Gale--she was one of our employers at BYU and we love her!


This is Mike and one of his Athletic Training professors, Ty Hopkins.


The extended family! Thanks for all the support!


The little family!


My extraordinarily handsome and dashing younger brother left on his mission to Seattle, Washington. He has now been out for about four months and we miss him terribly but I know he is a fantastic missionary. I have never known anyone so well prepared for this step. What an example!!!

This is my other handsome and dashing brother, Steve, with Alan. Yes ladies...he is single! :-)


My Papa...he is a great guy!


Oh! How did that get in here? Me and Aaron, just being ourselves!


The missionary man himself...doesn't he look dapper?


ANDREW! Just some fun, typical Andrew things:

One day Mike and I were in the bedroom putting away laundry and we noticed that Andrew had gotten really quiet. Any parent knows this is usually a bad thing. So we went to the living room to investigate. And this is what we saw: Andrew just finishing a whole plate of brownies that our neighbor had brought over!


Well, since he ate so much junk we decided to give him some healthy tomato soup. But...


It got pretty messy so we let him finish it in the shower. :-)


Andrew is a DADDY's boy no question about it! He will often snuggle with Mike, but heaven forbid if mom comes near. :-)




Andrew loves his duck blanket. He has this routine in the morning where he MUST wrap it around his shoulders and run around. This particular morning he decided to suck on daddy's toothbrush holder too. So much fun!




Andrew playing soccer outside. Once we went out, it was a lot colder than we realized so Mike grabbed one of his work shirts (since he happened to have it in his hands) and put it on Andrew. This lovely ensemble was the result. I think it should be the new wave in soccer uniforms, don't you?


Photo-op! I sure do like these soccer playin' boys!


Dialing on the cell phone--CHECK, Wearing comfy slippers---CHECK. It looks like there is a mini-Mike in our house. :-)


Andrew loves to go swimming. We are so sad the kiddie pool is closed!


Our little professor...pehaps he will follow in his grandpa Moody's footsteps. He sure looks the part!


We had a lot of fun with our garden this year! IT took a lot of work to get it going, but our harvest was fantastic. Here are a few photos from that:

Ahhh...the finished product!


Andrew helping to harvest our cucmbers and beans!


Here is a bag full of vegetable goodies!


I was trying to get a picture of Andrew holding some of our spoils but this was the best I could get. Notice his hand position...he just threw a tomato on the ground where it splattered to bits!


During conference weekend we picked my grandpa's grapes so we could can some yummy grape juice. Andrew was a big help! He picked up all the grapes that dropped to the ground and put them in the bucket


What better way to end a day of harvest than running around...the boy doesn't stop!


There were a few weeks here when the weather got super cold and, yes, even snowy. During that time we tried to do lots of thing to get us out of the basement (I go crazy not being able to go for walks!) So the following are some of our adventures:

Mike was on an indoor soccer team. Andrew and I like to go when we can (sometimes the games are super late). On this particular day, one of the kids that Mike coaches (also named Mike) was there and stayed to watch the game. Andrew loved to follow him around and feel a little more like a "big" boy. Here they are pointing at the action.


One of the main reasons I have loved going to Mike's soccer games is because I get to meet up with friends! Here is Chelsea and Truman Jones, Me and Andrew, & Andrea and Jocelyn Egbert. I sure love visiting these ladies...just wish we could get together more often!


After this particular game, the Egbert's were able to come visit. I think Andrew might have a crush on their little girl, Jocelyn.


There is a pretty great restaurant called,Pirate Island, in Orem by the mall. We decided to check it out one day and it was a huge success! Not only was the food good, but the whole place is decked out in fantastic pirate decorations! However, the best part was probably the indoor playground and arcade! It's perfect for kids...especially squirmy ones. Andrew loved being able to play while we waited for our food! I highly recommend it!

They gave Andrew a pirate hat. He decided that's not what he wanted to be because this was the closest we could get him to wearing it.


Riding a zebra on the carousel


Abandon ship!


Harrrrr, Matey's!


And FINALLY...here is what we have been up to the last few weeks. My gandpa (Papa) went to see family in Idaho and was gone for the weekend so we made sure to take extra good care of his dog, Liza. Andrew especially loved taking her for walks.






We didn't really dress up for Halloween this year. Mike had to work most of the day and Andrew is still a bit young for trick-or-treating. So...my mom and I took him to HeeHaw farms and had a blast!!! Andrew was so funny...he spent most of our time there in awe of the animals and hay bales! We definitely need to go again!

What do you think? Yep...being a farmer suits him!


Grandma Moody and Andrew looking at the fluffy chicken. This chicken was hilarious and I think my mom had some special bond with it. Every time she would cluck at it, it would cluck right on back....hmmm,who knew my mom was the chicken whisperer!?


Potato-sack Slide! WHOO-HOOOOOOO...


HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO....!!!!


Fun times on the Tractor ride!


Ha, ha...remember the one time on, The Office, when Jim suggests that for a party they should have a two-way petting zoo...you know, where you pet the animals and the animals pet you back. These photos sort of remind of that. :-)




Swinging on the horse swing


Thanks for so much fun, HeeHaw's!!!


Well, I believe this ends my huge post! If you read all of this, then WOW! Thanks for hanging in there...if not, phew...I don't blame you. :-)