Thankfulness

I have this blog I read. I don't know the person, I just found them randomly, and I enjoy her blog, so I check it from time to time. She recently started posting things she was grateful for, and I thought it was a great idea. The plan is that I'll post one thing I'm thankful for each day. I figure it can only help me to realize how truly blessed I am. And maybe it'll help make me a more optimistic person.

Today I'm thankful for: Cloudy days. Maybe it's because they are a novelty here in the land of sun, but they put me in a good mood. They just make me feel all cozy inside.

Baby Clothes

Clark and I went to Old Navy last night to purchase him some new pants, and we saw this onesie. I thought it was cute, and pointed it out in passing. However, Clark lingered, found a 3-6 month size, and asked if we should buy it. So we did. It's the first article of baby clothing we've purchased for ourselves. I thought it was very fitting for Wombsly.

The Twilight Series

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for: A Book Review!

I finally finished the Twilight Series. Oh, where to begin? Well, first of all, I had high expectations for this book. I first heard about it back in August at an enrichment activity. Everyone was raving about it, talking about how good it was, how I just had to read it. So I asked what it was about. "It's a vampire romance." Oh, I , uh. . . . sounds. . . interesting. But I was told not to judge the book by it's description, if you will. Since then it's come up all over the place - everyone I know has read it, it seems like. I put it on hold at the library, only to find that I was #117 on the list. So I fully expected this book to be incredible.

I was somewhat disappointed. Don't get me wrong, it was an enjoyable read, but it wasn't that good. It's just another novel. Something light to keep your brain occupied for a while. And it's a fast read. But there is nothing life-changing about it, and it's not something that I'm going to read over and over again. It was just good, not great.

Just as a warning, I'm going to delve a little deeper into some of my issues with the book, so it might be a spoiler for you if you haven't read it.

The first thing I must say is I am 26, and I do not feel old. Bella has this paranoia about aging, and it cracks me up. The thought of being 20 really bothers her. And 30? Forget it! I recognize that then she'll feel "older" than Edward, but my goodness. He was born in what, 1901? And is there really a huge difference between 17 and 20? But such is the mind of a teenage girl, I suppose. My bigger qualm is how willing and eager Bella is to give up everything to become a vampire. You see her start to realize in Eclipse what becoming a vampire really means, and yet she still wants it with all her heart. My life is obviously quite different from Bella's, but I wouldn't want to be an immortal vampire. I love my family too much. I want to have kids. I don't have a problem with the thought of growing old. And I am not afraid of dying. Part of me just feels like she hasn't fully considered the ramifications. But then again, she seems to fully believe that she can't function without Edward. Which leads me to my next issue.

I think I've become a lot more cynical over the last few years when it comes to tales of romance. Maybe cynical is the wrong word. Realistic? I just don't buy it when people fall head over heels in love within a day or so. It seemed to me like Edward and Bella met, and WHAM! They can't live without each other, so desperate is their love. What on earth is this love based on? Physical attraction? The mystery surrounding Edward? And then the way she completely falls apart when Edward leaves in New Moon. Breaking up is hard. It hurts. But you can get over it. In fact, most people do. You can love someone, say goodbye to them, and continue living. Let's not be ridiculous. Compare what she has with Edward to what she has with Jacob. One seems like an absolute fairy tale, and the other is her best friend. Maybe it's because I chose to marry my best friend, I don't know. But it seems to me that life isn't a fairy tale.

Then again, this is a book. With vampires in it. I guess I shouldn't take it so seriously.

A Quandary

I've had a little cold the last few days, and so I've been sneezing a lot. And I came up with this thought: Is it possible to sneeze in your sleep? Would the act of sneezing wake you up? Or does your body regulate it so you can't sneeze in your sleep? Any thoughts/personal experiences?

Pictures! Oh wait, no pictures.

I had every intention of taking pictures this weekend. I brought the camera. I brought extra batteries. I even brought the battery charger, so there would be no excuse. Unfortunately, I was FOILED, YET AGAIN! I forgot to take any pictures on Thanksgiving, but I thought to myself, no matter, I'll take plenty of pictures of the wedding festivities. I forgot to bring the camera to the wedding dinner, but I thought to myself, no matter, Saturday is the big day, I'll get plenty of pictures of that. So Saturday comes. I brought my camera! I even brought the extra batteries! And I knew the batteries had been charged up, even if it was a few weeks ago. The happy couple exits the temple. I pull out my camera. . . . the batteries die. Well, don't worry, I brought extras! Yeah, those were dead as well. I guess 3 weeks of sitting there wears those batteries right out. LAME! I had even brought the charger, but I only had the car adapter, nothing that would plug into the wall, and we weren't driving anywhere the rest of the day. I was pretty ticked. But oh well, what can you do? I was uber prepared, and it still didn't work out. I am not meant to be a photographer.

That being said, it was a wonderful weekend! We had Thanksgiving dinner at the Blockburger residence, and pie at the Anderson abode. We were able to see the Calls, and my good friend Angela. And the wedding was lovely. My mother did a fantastic job of making the bridesmaid dresses, Kim looked beautiful in her wedding dress, the crepe bar was delicious, the cake was masterfully decorated, and we got to see so many people from the Yale ward. I can't think of any major mishaps, which is a good sign. In any event, Kim and Patrick are married! Hooray for them! They really are a cute couple, and they work well together.

Oh, and BYU won. GO COUGS!

Weekly Quote 11/26/07

"Is this where you were the cream of corn?" This is from Hope Floats, which is not a movie I watch very often, but I always remembered this line. New quote up!

On Saturday Clark and I went to the Jubilee of Trees here in St George. For those of you who are familiar with the Festival of Trees, it's pretty much the same thing, only it feels a bit smaller. The proceeds go toward improving healthcare services for children, which is wonderful. According to the website, "In just the past three years the event has generated nearly $1million for the introduction of Newborn Intensive Care, Maternal Fetal Medicine and a 2nd Jubilee Home featuring special suites for mothers and babies." When I saw that, I thought to myself, wow, we are directly benefiting from this event (seeing as I go to the Maternal Fetal Medicine clinic about once a month). So I decided that we should at least go and support them. And it was actually pretty fun! One of the highlights was the Harry Potter tree (they even had a Sorting Hat! And a Snitch! And so many other things! It was cool!). I thought it warranted a mention on the blog.

Also, IT'S THANKSGIVING WEEK! I love this holiday - good food, lots of family, and the kick-off to the Christmas season! And on top of all that, my sister is getting married! Congrats to Kim and Patrick! We're heading up north this evening so we can be there for all the festivities, and I'm just a little bit excited. I'm also excited for the cold weather, how crazy am I? I just miss all my winter clothes, and I want a chance to wear at least some of them before the belly gets too big. Anyway, hopefully I remember to take lots of pictures this week so I can post them on here next week. But for now, I leave you all with the wishes of a Happy Thanksgiving.

Weekly Quote 11/19/07

"We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing;
He chastens, and hastens his will to make known;
The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing.
Sing praises to his name; he forgets not his own."

Maybe I should have saved Prayer of Thanksgiving for this week, but it was in my head all last week. Could be because I had to practice it on the organ for Sunday. New quote up!

Progress

The bump grows. . . .

Prune Juice

I feel Like I've been blogging a lot lately. Apparently I have a lot to say.

Ever since I got pregnant I've been having constipation problems. Ok, that's not entirely true. I've always had . . . a somewhat irregular bowel system, to put it delicately. But pregnancy has exacerbated the problem. And being dehydrated certainly made it worse. Don't get me wrong, being constipated is 10 million times better than being as sick as I was, and it's really not that bad. But I decided to ask the doctor if he had any suggestions for helping things move along, because if there is something I can do, I might as well do it. He suggested prune juice, a common constipation remedy. So yesterday at the grocery store, I purchased some. You hear lots of bad things about prune juice, how disgusting it is, but I've had prunes before, and they aren't SO terrible. How bad can it be?
Pretty bad, as it turns out. It tastes like liquid raisins that have had the sugar sucked out of them. Not good at all. I think it helped, though, so I am going to continue having a small glass a day and see how it goes. And maybe next time I'll buy plum juice instead.

Tag, I'm it.

Well, I've been "tagged" by Alex, so I guess I'm supposed to write 6 things about myself. Nobody said they had to be interesting things, which is a relief.

1) I love grocery shopping. Love it. I haven't been able to enjoy it much the past few months, but now that I love food again, I'm back in action. I love planning a menu, writing a list, and checking the stuff off. Don't ask me why, it's just fun to me.

2) I have never sent a text message. I'm sure I could do it, but then it would cost something like 15 cents since we don't have a texting plan. And it would take me a very long time to actually type in the letters.

3) While we're at it, I don't really get the point of MySpace or Facebook. I like having a blog, I can write stuff, people can read it, people can comment. I have a Facebook profile, and I just don't know what to do with it. Hooray, I added a map of where I've been! Oh wait, I've been nowhere. It just seems pointless.

4) I like to read. I've been thinking of doing book reviews on my blog, but I always forget. Currently I'm reading Twilight.

5) I bruise like a peach.

6) I hate country music, and yet I love Rascal Flatts. I can't even use the excuse that they aren't really country, because they are VERY country. And I love em.

So there are 6 things about me that you probably already knew, since most people who read this blog (all 7 of you) know me pretty well.

Our Living Room

It's hard to get a good picture of how our living room looks, so I have to use 3 different pictures to get the overall idea. But it's really opened up the middle of the room, which I love. Now I just need more stuff on our blank wall. And I hate the way blogger arranges the pictures, but oh well, we're just going to have to deal with it.

2 Things. . .

First of all, we rearranged our living room. It feels like we have a lot more space, and I love it. It was hard to figure out a way to make everything fit, what with our couch, loveseat, and 3 tables, plus the limitations on where we can put our TV, but we finally figured it out, and it's FANTASTIC. I also measured the furniture in our study, aka Wombsly's room, and I think we can make it all fit elsewhere. If that's what we want to do. Maybe Wombsly needs the computer in her room; she is being born into the age of technology, and she'll probably come out knowing more about computers than I do.

Second, as we walked into the grocery store today, they started playing a Guster song. Yeah, that's right, Guster. First the Golden Corral, now Harmons. This time it was Dear Valentine, yet another lesser known song. And as fate would have it, I was wearing my Guster shirt today.

Weekly Quote 11/12/07

"Oodalalee! The crown! How exciting!" Robin Hood is such a classic. When I watched it the other day, I realized just how many good lines there are in that movie. New quote up!

Wombsly's a She!

In case you haven't heard yet. . . . IT'S A GIRL!!!

Clark and I are SO excited! We keep saying stuff about "our daughter," and "she is kicking me." The ultrasound went well, everything looks healthy and normal (that's always a huge sigh of relief). This picture is my favorite. What do you think? Does she look like an Anderson or a Blockburger? Can you see any red hair?


Someday she'll kill me, but I had to post a picture of the evidence:

As we now have a gender, our search for a name becomes more serious. Especially since we seem to have a multitude of boy names, but only a couple of girl names. We are taking all suggestions, but more serious ones are appreciated. And remember, folks: it has to go with Blockburger. So things that are hard to pronounce or tricky to spell will probably be eliminated. That being said, we really do need more suggestions, so fire away!

Pumpkin Waffles

Last night I actually made dinner. This is amazing in and of itself, it's been a while since I full on made dinner. And I made something new! I found this fantastic recipe for Pumpkin Waffles with Apple Syrup on my friend Danielle's blog. I can't even tell you how great they were, they tasted gourmet, but they were easy! I highly recommend it.

Good Times

As Clark mentioned, we went to SLC this weekend. It was so good to get out of the house and go on a little vacation. And it was so great to see Carrie and Lauren! My one regret is that I didn't take any pictures of them - DOH! But I did get some shots of Kim's shower, so here they are for your delight:

Weekly Quote 11/5/07

"After these messages we'll be right back!" It's just so catchy. And such an integral part of Saturday morning cartoons! Here's a link for your enjoyment. New quote up!

Happy Halloween!

Yesterday was Halloween, a day of candy, costumes, and adventure!

If you're under the age of 13.

Seriously, I don't know what adults are supposed to do on Halloween. If you have kids, you can take them trick or treating. If you're single, you can go to a Halloween party. Except I don't remember attending many Halloween parties, and the ones I did go to were usually pretty lame. But as it turns out, I'm not single, and I don't have kids (yet!), so what am I supposed to do? Can Halloween ever be fun for this group of people?

As it turns out, it can. Last night we went over to the Hunts' place and made some Mummy Dogs (perhaps you remember them from last year). Then we ate popcorn and watched a great movie. And it was quite fun. It didn't really feel like Halloween, except for the Mummy Dogs, but we had a good time. So maybe the trick is to treat (wow, I didn't even mean for that pun to come out) Halloween like just another fun day.