Another week has begun

Another week has begun. Where did the weekend go? It was a great weekend, but went by too fast. One of my friends started a monthly get-together, appropriately named “girls night in,” where about 10 of us women get together at someone’s home to work on our projects, eat, and basically just talk all hours of the night. So on Friday a few women, including me, brought our scrapbooks, one brought some needlepoint, another worked on painting, another was sewing something special to give as a Christmas gift, and one filled out some baby shower invitations. It’s not very often that I feel comfortable with a big group of women, but I have to be honest and say that I had a fabulous time. I saw a side of some girls that I had never seen before. It was great just being able to have adult conversation (which is a must when you’re with a kid all day long) and talk freely about pretty much any topic. Nothing was taboo. Overall, I enjoyed learning about other women’s lives and was happy to find out that other women have several similar ideas and experiences as me. And besides eating and laughing together, I was actually able to make progress on my scrapbook (something I never get a chance to do when it’s just me and Vessel at home) and swap ideas with fellow scrapbookers. Thanks to my honey for giving our son a bath and putting him down for the night so I could go have some fun. :) The host of this month’s “girls night in” decided she wanted to do the pencil test on one of the pregnant woman in the group as a means to finding out the gender of her baby. If you read my “10 unknown facts” post recently, you’ll remember that I’m superstitious, and this little pencil test is no exception. I remember my mom doing the test on me as a young girl, but with a needle instead of a pencil. Oddly, I don’t remember the results. So out of curiosity I had my friend dangle the pencil lead above my wrist and tell me my pregnancy future, if you will, and according to the pencil I’m only having 2 boys. Psh! We’ll just see about that. For one thing, I was kind of planning on having more than 2 kids, and for another I KNOW I’m going to have a girl SOMEDAY. I just have to. Pencil, why do you have to mess with me? Anyway, has anyone ever heard of this pencil test who wouldn't mind sharing their experiences/thoughts on it?

On Saturday a friend of mine who is so sweet watched Vessel for us so Mike and I could attend a temple session. We went with another couple and it was a really good session. In fact, one of the best I’ve had in a long time. And it made me feel happy the rest of the day. After picking up Vess, we went out with the same couple to have some Indian food (Mike’s favorite.) By the time we got home Vessel was so exhausted that he took a 2 ½ hour nap, which was fine by me, because I needed a nap too. I have not taken a real nap in months, and let me tell ya, it felt SO NICE. That night I made spaghetti and meatballs with garlic toast, which turned out okay, but for some reason I can never get my meatballs to maintain their “ball” shape when I cook them. Does anyone have some tips for me? After Vessel was down for the night, Mike and I watched a movie, ate ice cream and snuggled. Don’t get me wrong, I love my kid, but sometimes I really can’t wait for 8:00 to roll around so Mike and I can just have some alone time and talk or so I can finally work on my neglected projects.

On Sunday, Vessel was a demon, and I mean that. The poor kid caught a mild cold plus he’s getting his molars, and on top of that I think he’s having a growth spurt. So he’s been really irritable and uncomfortable the past few days. I know something’s not right when my seemingly mellow, happy, content child is shrieking and whining non-stop all day. It’s like he turned into a completely different person. I had a feeling he was teething again because he’s been drooling excessively and putting his fingers in his mouth, and sure enough I looked at his gums and I can see them starting to bubble up. So right now he’s just one snotty, slobbery mess. The reason I think he’s having a growth spurt is because he’s eating more than usual and it doesn’t seem like he’s grown for some time, (or maybe I just don’t notice him getting bigger because it’s so gradual.) But in any case, if it is a growth spurt, there’s no doubt in my mind that he’s in some pain. As a child Mike would cry and complain about his joints, bones and skin hurting when he was going through a major growth spurt, so I’m sure Vessel could have a similar experience. I hope he gets feeling better soon.

Hooray for Dan! (UPDATED)

*UPDATE*---Here is a video David put together for those who could not be there. Good times, good times.


Last night we went to the Bates' house because Danny wanted all the family to be there when he opened his mission letter. He has been called to serve in the Guatemala, Guatemala City North Mission! He will report to the Guatemala MTC on February 27th. Mike and I are very happy and excited for him and also very proud.

10 unknown facts about Mike

Ok, Jamie wanted me to post 10 things that people don't know about me. Well, I've gotta say I'm pretty transparent and shallow, so if you already know this stuff you can just give yourself a pat on the back and we'll all move on. Deal? Here it goes:



#1: I am emphatic in my opinion that yellow is a girl color, and no one is going to change my mind.



#2: I wore Jamie's socks like three times in the last week (see, I'm already grasping).



#3: Although I consider myself a relatively generous tipper, I receive NO satisfaction from it. In fact, I do it 100% out of a sense of obligation.




#4: I detest Bic pens. I have to use my "Primary Pen" at all times. I always have an ink/pencil lead refill on hand in case of an emergency.



#5: I don't have the ability to wear business casual clothing. I either have to be in a suit or be totally casual. (sure, I have some khakis, but I don't have it in me to take the next step and tuck in a pink button-down or something).



#6: I follow the speed limit when I'm driving 99.9% of the time and consider it a moral issue.



#7: I hate graduation ceremonies so much that I have only attended one besides mine from high school. I'm not even going to my own when I graduate from the U.



#8: I don't like to bask on the beach. I have to be doing something more exciting or I get really annoyed.



#9: I don't watch sports AT ALL, and I don't care about team rivalries or any of that stuff. I'll play the games, but I can't stand watching it for any period of time.



#10: I have a journal, and I have a crazy mental block from writing negative thoughts in it. I'll complain and whine on the internet to complete strangers, but I'm always totally optimistic when I write in my journal.

So there ya go. I don't know if anyone is going to learn anything useful here, but at least it's done, ne?

Mystery

After my mom passed away I found this quilt in her closet. There are 48 embroidered quilting blocks, one for each state (excluding Hawaii and Alaska) and the state flower. It has a peach background and backing (my mom's favorite color.) It looks like a lot of work went into it. The problem? I don't know who embroidered the quilting squares. It is still a mystery to me. I've called numerous family members to find out if they know. I called my great aunt Ludeen thinking that her mom (my great grandma Jessie) might have embroidered them because I know she made several quilts and embroidered items. I described the quilt to Ludeen and when she told me she also had a state flower quilt with the same kind of pattern that her mother Jessie helped her set, I thought for sure that my great grandma had done it. I then called my aunt Ella (my mom's sister) to find out if she knew anything about it. She told me that her grandma Ames (my great grandma) made each grand-daughter a different quilt top and that my mom's may have been the state flower quilt top, but wasn't sure. I then called my other aunt to find out if she had any information. She agreed that my great grandma Ames had made a quilt top for each girl and that all the grand-daughters just had to finish the quilt themselves (like add the batting, backing, and finish the edges.) I vaguely remember my mom talking about a quilt she needed to finish when I was younger, but I'm not sure who helped her finish the quilt. And I still don't know who embroidered everything. I wish I would've asked my Mom this before she passed away, and my 2 grandmas that would have the answer have also passed away. It's frustrating because it's such a neat quilt and I'd love to know who in my family background made it. Here's my advice: talk to your parents and grandparents now! If you have old things like this, find out who made them, ask questions about your genealogy, take an interest! I wish I would've then, but now it's too late. *sigh*

Here are a few of the quilting blocks:

(Idaho--my state baby! Woot woot!)

The quilt laid out on our bed:

Ghoul's punch

I know Halloween has passed, but maybe you could use these ideas for next year!

For our Halloween party we concocted our own punch and put it in a punch bowl with these "bloody" frozen hands. It was quite spooky, let me tell ya.

Frozen Hands: Carefully pour cranberry juice cocktail (or juice of choice) into 2 or 3 clear plastic gloves.* Fill the gloves so that the fingers can move easily. Tightly seal the gloves with rubber bands. Place on a baking sheet lined with paper towels. Freeze until firm. Use scissors to cut the gloves off the frozen hands. If any fingers break off, add them separately to punch. Blood oranges add to the appeal of the punch as well, as indicated by the picture I got from the Better Homes and Gardens website. :)

*Note: Be sure to use gloves without powder. Or, rinse powdered gloves thoroughly before using.

Scaredy Cat Ice Cream Cake

I made this cake for Vessel's birthday party and it turned out really cute!

Ingredients

• 1 15- to 21-1/2-ounce package brownie mix
• 1/2 gallon chocolate ice cream, softened
• 1/3 cup chocolate cookie crumbs (I used chocolate graham crackers, but I think Oreos would've worked better.)
  
• 2 blue corn tortilla chips
• Tropical-flavored rolled fruit leather
• 2 large white gum balls (I couldn't find gumballs so for the eyes and nose I just used fondant dyed with food coloring)
• 1 large orange gum ball
• 3 pieces green apple-flavored twist candy, halved lengthwise (I couldn't find the licorice like it shows on this recipe so I found some sour, gummy candy strings that worked just as well.)
  
• Purchased fondant*
• Yellow paste food coloring
• Orange paste food coloring

Directions

1. Line a 13x9x2-inch baking pan with foil, allowing foil to extend over edges of pan; set aside. Prepare brownie mix according to package directions using the prepared baking pan. Cool brownie in pan completely. Use foil to lift brownie from pan onto a cutting board. Remove foil. Using the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan as a guide, cut a circle from brownie. Place the brownie circle in a 9-inch springform pan (eat remaining brownie scraps or save for another use). I used the remaining brownie pieces to dip in the chocolate fountain later that night. Mmmmmmmm!

2. Spoon softened ice cream over brownie in pan, spreading evenly. Cover and freeze for 2 hours. Sprinkle with cookie crumbs over top of ice cream.

3. For ears, press in blue tortilla chips. For cat eyes, press a small cutout piece of fruit leather onto each white gum ball; press into cake. Add an orange gum ball for the nose. For whiskers, add green twists, trimming as necessary. For mouth, color about 1/3 cup fondant yellow and another 1/3 cup fondant orange. Alternate 2x1/2-inch pieces of the colored fondant on a piece of waxed paper, placing the pieces close together. Roll out fondant to about 1/4-inch thickness. Cut out a "smile" shape; place on cake. Cover and freeze cake until firm, at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours.

4. To serve, remove sides and bottom of pan and place on a platter. Makes one cake (12 servings)

A Walk in the Park

On Saturday we took a walk through a park near Mom and Dad Bates house and took some pictures. Danny, Kathy, AJ, Mom, Dad, and Whitney were all present. I love the beautiful fall season.

My boys.

Vessel's Shindig and Halloween (or the longest post of all time)

So I'm finally catching up on posting. I hate the feeling I get after something special ends. Like last month. All month was such a build up to Halloween & it was so much fun and this time it was even more fun because it was Vessel's 1st birthday on the 28th. All October I was very excited for Vessel's birthday and Halloween and they're both over now and it's a little depressing. I get the same way when the Christmas season ends. But let me tell you a little about the month.

Mike and I debated whether or not to throw a 1 year party for our son. I always said I wouldn't do it because at age 1 it's not like the kid is going to remember it and it's basically all for the parents. But since Vessel's birthday is so close to Halloween we decided to throw a combined birthday/Halloween party as an excuse to socialize with our friends and family. I prepared for it all month. Usually I'm the queen of procrastination, but I started early. It was fun decorating the house. I made jack-o-lanterns, ghosts and bats out of construction paper and hung them up all around the house. I made little ghosties from tissue and hung them from the ceiling, Mike covered our living room with cobwebs, and I handmade a Happy Halloween and Happy birthday sign and hung them in the entrance way. It was nice to get all the decorations done early, not only so I didn't have to worry about them last minute, but also because I actually got some mileage out the decorations by having them up all Halloween season, instead of the day before. Every morning when Vessel woke up and I took him into the kitchen for breakfast he would point at all the ghosts and bats hanging up and would "talk" to me about what he was seeing. It was really cute. We wanted to invite a lot of people to our party, but because we have such a small apartment we thought it would be best to have 2 parties; one for family and one for friends. We had both parties on one day. Talk about stressful! I will never do that again. But with Mike's help everything turned out okay, even though I couldn't relax the entire time. Hopefully other people had fun though. We played a game called "guess the scary movie clip" and my friend Tracy helped me compile a bunch of scary movie clips onto a DVD and it played like a slide show. We also played some other games and we had a costume contest and a pumpkin carving contest. Thanks to all those who were good sports and participated! For food I tried to keep things simple, but really it would've been a lot easier on me if I didn't home make the majority of the food. We had a delicious chicken salad that Mike made which we put on croissants. We had blue and yellow corn chips with salsa and a 7 layer bean dip I made, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, sliced apples with caramel fondue, a fruit platter, a veggie platter, punch with frozen hands, orange dream salad, and soda. Plus I made two cakes, one ice cream cake and a 2 layer chocolate cake. I think cooking was the most stressful part of the party, but it seems like most people enjoyed what we made. Some people from both parties were kind enough to bring a treat to share.

Vessel received a lot of awesome gifts from everyone and I think he was a little bit overwhelmed by all the new stuff and all the visitors. By the time the 2^nd party approached he was so tired he couldn’t keep his eyes open so we had to put him to bed during the middle of it. Our friends Sheldon and Michelle came a little later along with my cousin Amanda and we played a game called “mafia.” It was a really fun day, but also very exhausting!

On Sunday (Vessel’s actual birthday) my dad and Christine came to visit Vessel and we had cake and ice cream and let Vessel open even more presents from Steph, Grandpa Brett and great grandma and Grandpa Hiner. Vessel started walking for real that day. He’s still a bit wobbly and unsure of himself and times, but he let’s go of the furniture or the wall without encouragement from us and takes off by himself. It’s so cute.

Tuesday was the ward party thrown by the Elder’s Quorum. More sugar was consumed. Vessel got to wear his Japanese lion dancer jumper. He had like 3 costumes this year and wore all of them at one point.

Wednesday was Halloween and I substituted for a fellow crossing guard. It was actually fun because all the kids were dressed up for Halloween and I got to see them in their costumes. Mike and I were planning on taking Vessel on his first trick-or-treating adventure, but Mike had class from 6 until 9. He was on campus the entire day, so Vessel and I took him out for a late lunch to give him a break from all his studying. After we dropped him off at school again, I decided to go to the Mount Olivet cemetery which is across the street from the stadium. I used to see it when I rode TRAX to campus and I was always so curious about it. I have a fascination with cemeteries and since it was Halloween I thought it might be fun to walk around and look at headstones. It was the coolest cemetery ever! It was like straight out of a movie or something. It was around 6:00 so it wasn’t dark yet, but the sun was starting to cast long shadows and turning everything gold. The air was crisp and the sky was bright blue. Vessel and I were the only people there and it felt incredible like we were in an entirely different world. I don’t know why it was such a cool experience for me. The cemetery had the biggest, most elaborate headstones I’ve ever seen. I later found out from Tracy that there are a lot of famous people buried there (including historical church figures.) The cemetery was silent except for the crunching of leaves under my feet. As I was walking around I heard more footsteps and was totally blown away when I looked up and saw that I was face to face with a large group of deer. The buck of the family was seriously only 10 feet away from me. There were some doe and fawn as well, and another buck further away from the others. I was a bit nervous because I know that moose can be very aggressive and temperamental and have been known to attack humans, especially to protect their young. So I kept my distance fearing that they might act in the same manner. After we stared motionless at each other for some amount of time, the deer went on their merry way and I continued looking around at the graves. I pulled out my camera phone and took some pictures of the deer, but since my camera uses infrared, I don’t know how to transfer the pics onto our computer, so my apologies that I couldn’t show you all. As I was wandering I saw a huge headstone shaped like the Washington monument and all that was written on it was “Cheesman.” No dates or anything. I saw another one with the name “Gassman” on it. It was awesome. I know it must sound cheesy but I really enjoyed being there at the cemetery. I want to go back when I have more time.

That night Gavin and Tracy got me some tomato soup from the soup kitchen (My favorite!) and we ate dinner together. Then Tracy went with me to take Vessel around the complex for his first trick-or-treating experience. We loaded up on enough candy to last us the next month or so. As Tracy, Vessel, and I were walking back towards our building Tracy said she saw our kitchen blinds close. It freaked me out A LOT so we made Gavin go investigate and it ended up being Mike all along because he got home from his class earlier than expected.

Well, that’s how the party and Halloween went down. Sorry it took me so long to post it! Hope you all had a very festive Halloween season like we did!

The sign I made.

Witches night out at Gardner Village.

Vessel and his aunt Kathy dressed up as an 80's aerobicizer.

Opening presents with Daddy's help.

Vessel with cousin AJ the tiger.

Vessel poking cousin AJ in the eye. I thought this picture was hilarious.

Jenny the prom princess, Karen the hula girl, David the dark mysterious figure, Danny as Jason Vorhees, Steph the army girl and Mike the skull head guy. (Danny won the costume contest at the family party.)

Karen and Mom Bates.

Vessel's ice cream cake.

Chocolate fountain courtesy of the Greens!

Sheldon the hideously ugly doctor.

Scott, Shanna, and Gavin the construction cone. (Gavin won the costume contest at the friend party.)

Casey and Helen the hippies and Sophie the baby rabbit.

Vessel opening some gifts on his actual birthday.

Vessel as a Japanese lion dancer.

Jamie the witch, Vessel, and Shanna as a magical fairy/butterfly.

Vessel and Kyler the frog at the ward party.

Vessel the lion on Halloween night.

Vessel next to Tracy's lantern of Jack Skellington.

Who is that scary little boy?

More about Tori

I never really wrote about how I won tickets to see Tori Amos in concert next month. For awhile now I've been hearing about the concert on the radio. I was listening to Parker's show while I was on campus waiting for Mike to get out of class and some girl called in and won a contest. She had 3 prize options to choose from, and one those options was Tori Amos tickets. She chose something like English Beat instead of Tori. I was like, "you bonehead!" But then I realized there were still Tori tickets available! So I tried calling 101.9 The END to score some tickets for myself. After several attempts I finally got through and spoke with Parker. I told him I was a huge fan of Tori's music and asked how I could get my hands on some tickets. He got my information and told me there would be tickets waiting for me at the station! I didn't have to do anything but be totally excited and gregarious. I didn't have to be caller #10 or name the last 20 songs played, I just asked for tickets and I got tickets! So technically I guess I didn't win them. That must sound totally lame, right? Oh well. I talked to Parker for about 20 minutes about random stuff. He told me I sounded very cute (his exact word was adorable...aawww) and invited me to come into the studio and talk to him when I went to pick up my tickets. I went in there this past Tuesday and got to hang out with him in the studio for awhile. Do you want to know the coolest part? I get to be in a drawing for a chance to win a piano lesson from Tori herself!!! If I actually got picked I'd probably throw up from nervousness. Thanks Parker, for totally making my day!

10 Unknown Facts about Me, Jamie

I got this from Sophie and hope that other people will do it as well so I can learn more about everyone!

10. I’m superstitious.

Yup, you won’t ever see me opening an umbrella indoors or walking under any ladders, folks. I’ll never say “Bloody Mary” three times, or chant “red rum” or let a black cat even come near to crossing my path. I avoid spilling the salt and breaking mirrors at all costs. Even though I’m superstitious….

9. I have a fascination with cemeteries.

I love walking around to the different headstones and reading about the people, like when they were born, when they died, and the other things that might be written. In high school I attended a writing camp where we went on field trips to cemeteries like every day, so maybe that's when it all started. A lot of kids were inspired to write about death and stuff. (Chris, remember those fun times?) So, I like cemeteries and I kind of wish I could make contact with a ghost or something. That would be SWEET.

8. I love to dance.

Really, this is true. When I was younger I wanted to be on one of those clogging teams, but my parents didn’t have the money to enroll me in clubs and stuff outside of school. In junior high I tried out for cheerleader and it wasn’t really my niche. I just assumed the dance team would be kind of similar, so I never even went for it. But I wish I would have now, because I think I would’ve liked it a lot. In college I took a social dance class and I fell in love with ballroom and swing and cha-cha. Mike and I took a dance class together last spring and it was quite fun. Every time I see Dancing with the Stars I get so jealous because those people look incredible and I wish that I was them! I’ve just never really had the opportunity to pursue dancing seriously. *sigh*

7. I love infomercials.

It doesn’t matter what the product is, I will get sucked into wasting an hour of my time watching people demonstrate how “simple and easy” it is to use and listen to the “unpaid” testimonials, and blah blah blah. I also have an incessant urge to buy whatever I see on T.V. even though I know it’s a load of crap. Commercials have the same effect. When I was little my parents told me that when the T.V. was on I would stop what I was doing to watch the commercials, but when the show came back on I would go back to playing with my toys. It’s like that to this day….

6. I associate numbers and letters with colors.

So, this might be odd to some of you but perhaps some can relate. Letters and numbers are color coded in my mind. For instance, A is always red to me. Maybe because as a kid I had flash cards and the “A” card had a picture of a red apple. Not really sure if that’s the reason. But let’s see…E is blue, L is purple, H is orange, I is yellow, V is green, 1 is red, 6 is blue, 7 is yellow, 8 is green, etc. etc. Another thing I just realized is that in my mind, numbers are in circular staircase. Like “1” is at the bottom and as the numbers get bigger they wind up the staircase. When I’m in a math class and I have to add or subtract numbers in my head I have to go up the staircase in my mind to the specific number and take it to the next number to be added and then go to the sum number…..am I making any sense at all?

5. I can’t eat clam chowder.

I like clam chowder, but apparently it doesn’t like me. I’ve had a few unpleasant experiences with it. Even the Manhattan style clam chowder that’s red is a no-no, which I unfortunately learned while living in Japan.

4. I love stinky food.

The stinkier the better; especially really strong cheeses, yeasty breads, curry, vinegar-y foods, cauliflower, etc.

3. My toes go in order from biggest to smallest.

Unlike SOME people whose 2^nd toe is longer than their big toe. :)

2. I still wear clothes from high school.

I’m not a fashion expert, but I think it’s safe to say that I’m NOT on the list of the 10 best dressed females in America.

1. I love to be organized.

This is where I get a little obsessive compulsive at times. Like all my clothes have to be facing the same direction in the closet and they are grouped by color. All my scrapbook pages are organized by color, my pictures are all in chronological order, I have an inventory of everything I own from CDs and books to movies and DVDs. I make list upon list of things I need to do, things I have done, things I need to buy, things I have bought, etc., etc. I feel like I need to have some amount of order in my house and everything has to have a place. I can’t stand clutter. And yet, I collect things and I can’t help but hold on to everything I’ve ever been given. I guess I’m just going to need a really big house for storing all my stuff to keep it organized and to avoid clutter.