coming & going

my friend kate booked her flight for california! i'm glad that she will be joining us again at disneyland this year. she will be with us for 2 days, and it should be lots of fun. i missed seeing her the last time i was in salt lake, so i'll get to make up for it on this trip. i wish that her fiance jason could also come, alanna had such a blast with him last year. here is kate and malcolm on our trip last year. malcolm was only 8 months old. i love this photo.

later today, the kids and i will be heading to the "mountains" in the southwest end of nc. we will be spending time with my parents, and my aunt and uncle, who are all visiting from utah. we are excited for this trip (minus all the driving involved). but a little sad that danny wont be with us. we will be gone for 6 days. autumn in north carolina is just gorgeous. i'm not sure if the leaves have started to change enough yet, for it to look like this photo, but i'm sure it will be beautiful out there no matter what. i <3

photos from the weekend

thursday night we met some friends from out of town for dinner in cameron village. afterwards we walked around and looked at the closed shops windows. malcolm liked the creepy baby heads on this local storefront door

on friday we went to target to get some diapers, and to check out their new halloween stuff. we also browsed through the shoes, and malcolm insisted on trying these (ladies) boots on, haha! he already tried them on a couple of weeks ago. alanna wants a pair, and apparently he wants them too, haha

on saturday evening we went downtown to "bugfest" at the nc museum of natural sciences. alanna loved holding the bugs. here she is with a giant praying mantis

on sunday since the weather was so nice out, we decided to visit a new park that we'd never been to. it was really nice (except for the crazy mom who was there with her kids, and was acting like a 4 year old. sooo annoying). there were two large playgrounds, and some nice paved walking trails along a lake and through the woods. this is the only photo from all weekend with me in it, haha

we spotted this dear literally like 5 feet from us, right off of the trail. there were two of them, and they ran when they realized how close we were. malcolm tried to take off after them, it was cute. he was sooo excited to see them, and kept pointing back into the woods looking for them. it was pretty rad

my big boy making his way up the playground on his own

this was the view of the lake from a watch tower we climbed up

and some playtime on the second playground

9

i finally got to take alanna to see the movie "9" today. we both really wanted to see it last week on 9/9/09 when it opened, but our schedule that day just didn't allow it. better late than never. we both really liked it! it was a little scary and at times pretty intense for being a completely animated feature. the visuals were awesome. and i even cried a little. but i cry a little during almost every movie, so that isn't saying much, haha. the story was predictable, but i thought it was sad and cute, in a dark and creepy sort of way. totally my kind of movie. and the music was done by danny elfman, which is a plus. i would not recommend this for younger kids. alanna is almost 13 and has grown up around my liking of all things creepy (remember i love tim burton, who co-produced this film, and also the nightmare before christmas, etc.) so she appreciated it as much as i did. if you like those kinds of things as well, be sure to see this movie before it leaves the theaters.

(i almost forgot, the theater we went to totally sold vegan cookies too! bonus! <3)

i <3 ellen

i am a stay-at-home mom, so i watch daytime tv (no, not soaps). we don't have cable (thank goodness), so my viewing selection is pretty limited. but there are a few programs that i really love to watch, like oprah. and especially the ellen degeneres show, which is my favorite. i love how positive and upbeat she is all the time. i love her sense of humor. she is witty, and isn't afraid to be herself. she always has the best guests, many times they are not celebrities, but just normal people. and i love how she loves to help others. she is very generous, and donates so much to many different causes. plus she is vegan! booyah!

i never really watched her show before, until i had malcolm, since i was usually at work. but after he was born, i was stuck at home, and she really brightened my days. after i had malcolm i spent a lot of time at home alone with him, and i was still adjusting to life with a newborn, and it was really hard. the ellen show really gave me something to look forward to each day. i know that might seem lame, but it's true. then when malcolm got a bit bigger, we started dancing together at the start of each show, like she and the audience does. we still do, and he loves it! i don't watch it every day, only when i happen to be home at 3 o'clock. but when i do, it makes me laugh, or smile, or sometimes (okay, maybe quite often) cry.

this week has been the premiere week for season 7. on tuesday, after picking up alanna from school, i just happened to catch the end of the show. and it totally reaffirmed why i love her! how amazing is this?!

halloween time!

disneyland.com has just updated their website for this years halloween time celebration! here is the link. can you tell that i am really excited for this years trip!? haha. i love how they count down the days until the promotion starts. we will be there in only 20 more days! last year the site featured mickey and friends in halloween attire. this year it is a bit more spooky, and features the disney villains. which i think is great. i've been trying to have my photo taken with the queen of hearts for the last 3 years, so here's hoping that this year i will score one with her. the site says they're adding a new halloween themed fireworks show, and also some ghosts and scary music to the inside of space mountain (this ride makes me wanna puke, so maybe i will take some motion sickness medicine so that i can check it out?). anyway, there are also some cute crafts that you can print out for the kids. check it out, if you are interested. disneyland, we'll see you soon! (and you too jeanie!)

selling some jewelry

our trip to california and disneyland is coming right up. 3 more weeks to be exact. so i've been listing some more items on ebay today to help me raise some extra spending money. i've done really awesome so far in avoiding using my credit cards to fund this trip. and i'm hoping to keep it up.

i have a bunch of amazing pairs of gauged earrings that no longer fit in my lil' earlobes (they've shrunk), and i can't really sell them on ebay, since i have worn them. they are all very clean, and in like new or very good condition. and they could easily be autoclaved if necessary. i would like to find them good new homes, so i'm taking offers. the photos don't do them justice... it was hard getting good ones without using a flash, and the flash kinda washed them out, so i'm sorry that the quality isn't great. these were all purchased at either blue boutique or koi piercing studio in salt lake city. let me know if you are interested in any of them. or please let your friends with stretched ears know. thanks!

these are solid sterling silver with jade inlay. handcrafted for me (i special ordered them). they are not quite a 2 gauge at the thickest part. they measure just under 2" in diameter. the jade is a bit darker than pictured, and they are a little heavy. they are beautiful. i paid over $200 for them! yikes!

these are surgical stainless steel. 4 gauge. they measure 3" in length and 1" across. they are a bit heavy too. this photo makes them look a little scuffed, but they don't really show that in real life.

these are also surgical stainless steel. 4 gauge. 1.5" x 1.25" spirals.


these are handcrafted solid sterling silver. the stones are an off white-ish moonstone. not quite a 2 gauge at the thickest part. 1.25" in diameter. these are very pretty. i paid over $100 for them.

these are dichro pyrex glass plugs. double flared 0 gauge. the pinkish color is called "salmon", the center is clear, and the backs are black.

dichro pyrex glass plugs with nautical stars. double flared 0 gauge. navy blue and silver. cute!

these are hand carved solid jade plugs. double flared 0 gauge. about 5/8" in length, and 1/2" across. hollow center inside of the flower. the green is darker than pictured.

and these are solid surgical stainless steel. 0 gauge plugs (no flare) with cute lil' engraved heart shapes!

i think i have a few more pairs of ear jewelry that i haven't photographed yet. i also have a few pieces of pnut jewelry too that i would like to sell... but i might just list them on ebay. anyway, leave a comment (or email me) if you want to give these babies all the love that i can no longer provide. <3

this week

so september started out with a bang. literally. on tuesday, malcolm was bouncing around on the couch like he normally does, but then fell off face first into the corner of the coffee table. yes, the exact same corner that split his eye open in april. ugh. luckily this time wasn't as bad, and it didn't require a trip to the ER or any stitches. it only bled for a minute, and he got over it pretty quick.

we went to costco later that afternoon, and he let me play dress-up with him. they have some really cute halloween costumes!

what a ham!

he was over this pretty quick too, haha. "get me outta this pumpkin!"

friday night, the kids and i went to first friday at artspace downtown, to check out garretts latest art show. this was his amazing display!


of course we had to take some photos in the holes

today we went to the flea market at the fairgrounds. they have it every weekend, and the stuff always changes. it's fun to just walk around and look at all the old treasures. here is danny browsing through some records

we loved this huge old wagon full of old ornate pieces of metal. little statues, giant keys, doorknockers, flying pigs, aunt jemima's, mr. peanut, etc. very cool stuff!

we also went grocery shopping, and look what is already in front of the store! this makes me very happy. i <3 autumn sooo much!

tonight i made pesto linguine for the very first time...

...this was the very first time i've ever had pesto. and i'm sorry, but YUCK! i didn't like it at all. neither did alanna or malcolm. he ate 2 bites, and then refused to eat any more. i though that maybe i had made it wrong, even though i followed the directions exactly. but when danny got home, he loved it and said it tasted great. he told me that "one mans trash, is another mans treasure", haha. good thing, because what a shame to have made all that food, and have noone want to eat any of it.

i also made a loaf of banana pecan bread. it was delicious! i think i should just stick to baking <3

2 more weeks

two weeks from this weekend, my mom and dad (and my aunt and uncle) will be in north carolina! i can hardly wait. i miss them so much. alanna does too, and she is oh so very excited.

we will be spending a few days with them in asheville, and we will be visiting this fabulous estate again, along with some other great sites. the weather should be prefect too. it's already dropped to the 80's, and the humidity is almost nonexistent. oh man, i love this time of the year!