"make new friends, but keeeeep the oooold"

A note from my friend, Reba:

I love the journal entry you shared on your last blog entry--you articulated so beautifully that new move in feeling. I hope you haven't been blogging because you're so busy with your new friends. :)

Whahaha Whoo hoo hoo, hawaha snort hawhaw, ho, ho... yes, actually! I am busy making new friends. And here's one of them:


If you also want to make new friends, click HERE for your own step-by-step instructions.

Okay, really. Thanks for the nudge.

Here's what has been keeping me busy.

Sweet Ike's birthday. Another resident's little boy has the same birthday. We had a twin-er birthday party.


In honor of him being one, a list of things I love about him, one for each year of his life:

#1: He's shy, bashful.

Sigh. So sweet when he tucks his head when he catches someone looking at him or talking to him.

In honor of his being in his second year, two things I love about him:

#1: He's rocks out to any music/beat. What a cute dancer---in the customary baby bounce.
#2: He seeks out cracking us up. Whatever he can do to make us laugh, he does it.


For good measure and because eventually he'll be three...

#3: he's so easy to do this to:





Jared and I refinished this old dresser I bought at a thrift store with my priceless friend Sheri. I'm sure when she saw me buy she was thinking, "That's a load of junk," but was nice enough to agree it had potential and recommend I keep it wood rather than paint it. Everyone needs a good friend like Sheri. And, I have to admit that I was embarrassed when we moved and *gasp* people (aka "friends") saw it also probably wondering, "And you are moving this thing how many miles?" I wish I had taken a photo of it "before" because I think the "after" looks pretty good and am quite happy with how it turned out.



Besides making friends, I've been sewing a lot. Made a cute little skirt for Natalie to wear to our ward primary pioneer day activity thing...what are those called? Primary Activity? Anyway, turned out cute but since I don't know how to download the photos on my camera, don't have a photo. You've seen my kids' HP costumes...lots of inquires about the mandrake hat...I sewed that using brown flannel for the base/hat and green glitter felt for the leaves. I don't have a pattern, but you could use any hat pattern and sew on extra branches and cut out some leaves. Right now I'm working on some curtains for my dining room. Hope to get those done next week.


Let's see...for a mental workout, Middlemarch by George Eliot (coupled with my trusty thesaurus) has been on my nightstand, and on the couch, and on the kitchen table, and in the hammock in the backyard, and in my bag, and...also thanks to Reba for mentioning this book. Should I just dedicate this post to her?


Love, love it here. Jared's fellow residents are simply wonderful. We had them over for dinner a few weeks ago. Potluck of sorts and one of them brought these:


Some sort of Vietnamese wraps with peanut sauce. At first I choked because I wasn't prepared for the kick of the sauce or the full on sprig of mint. But who knew shrimp, mint, and peanut sauce would be so good. I want more!!!! Each of he fellow residents are vibrant, unique, sincere, easy-going. I think he's got a good group to work with and I'm looking forward to being part-family for the next few years.

If you ever open a box and see styrofoam packaging, STOP opening the box. As fast as you can remove all children from the area and do not under any circumstances continue. It will explode. Your kids will have the time of their lives, but you on the other hand, well, won't.




Baking some...here are some blackbottom cupcakes with a cheese cake center. I'd rate them a solid B+.

Jared has had some spare time, amazingly enough, and we've had fun just hanging out. Tonight he's been perusing Craig's List trying to convince me to buy all sort of junk. Literally, junk. He likes to watch me roll my eyes---he thinks it's hot. But mostly we just go and do whatever together: parks, visit new friends (actually people!), bike ride, meander new shops, pick fruit.

Natalie took this photo of me. After she saw the photo turn up on the screen to said, "Oh mom. You look delightful."

She's learned to "wait for the click" and usually these are the pictures she takes.

I've been such a baby lately. We watched the new Charlotte's Web today and I bawled at each scene when a new word or phrase appeared. The first one was the worst: Some Pig.

If we weren't renting our house, I'd paint a spider web with the words "Some Kid" over Natalie's and Isaac's beds. So moving. So inspiring on how to treat each other.

Twice I teared up and got craaaazy emotional over Harry Potter (stop reading if you don't want to know any spoiler information!!!!) Dobby's death pushed me waaay over the top after a brief, stunned silence and when Lily and James appear to Harry as he enters the forest, I lost it. Poor Jared was the mystified witness to it all but was stalwart and let me just feel.

Who knows what will hit me next. Please let there NOT be any boxes of free puppies at the grocery store.

One last random note. It's surprisingly religious here. I've been approached several times about religion or simply been invited to church by pretty much strangers, even the guy who came to set up our internet. At first I thought I must look needy, but people also ask me for directions (to which I am completely clueless), so maybe it's because I look nice?

Gotta get to be sometime...

Chao!