It's a Wonderful Life...

Cousins Day

2012-01-27T14:43:00.000-08:00

Kim and James went for a date in Austin yesterday so Alex, Luke and I got to play with the Smiths yesterday. Here are some shots captured with Luke and Packer. (The Girls were at school.)

Here is a shot from a long time ago. I got the chance to meet General Primary President, Sister Wixom at a fireside that my dad was presiding at. It looks like I'm crying because...well I was. We had such a nice chat about Primary and I felt so uplifted by her overall presence that I couldn't help but be teary eyed.

Luke and I are about to go to Sams club to buy Grapefruit.
I get to make a sheet cake tonight.
We get to have Chic-Fil-A for dinner tonight.
Life. Is. Good.

A Very Happy Un-Birthday to You!

2012-01-20T20:40:00.000-08:00

Here he is!
A very Happy Half Birthday to the little Shnookums.
Take 1:
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Our half-birthday celebration at Market Street:
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Month 6 Photo
Take 2:

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A First for Everything

2012-01-15T03:35:00.000-08:00

Seeing as Luke is our first child, we have had a lot of "firsts" around the Parker house:
First full night of sleep,
First smile,
First baby food testing,
First hickey,
First laugh attack,
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Wait, did she just say?...
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Yes, yes I did. First hickey.
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This is my first hickey in my entire life given to me by someone other than myself.
(In college, my roommates and I would sometimes laugh at our inexperience of having or giving a hickey so we would give one to ourselves on our arms-happily surprised every time when a blue and red spot would appear after only a few seconds of hard sucking...I actually think I did this with some of my High school girlfriends as well. I should write an essay on the subject.)
Hickies are quite an interesting phenomenon. But my inexperience with them is some what depressing. I don't even know if I'm spelling "hickey" right!? My spell check keeps wanting me to type "chickey"...

But I digress.

Luke has taken to kissing. It could be because he is being kissed about 648 times a day by either his daddy, myself, or even daring women that can't help themselves. Can you blame them?

Back to the point: Luke has taken to kissing. I have a video of him grabbing my face, pulling it to his and just kissing my cheek-chin area. I can't help but adore every second of it. A couple of nights ago, while watching "Parks and Recreation," I must have not realized the consequences of his incessant sucking. I woke up the next morning with a much brighter version of this:

Look closely. Right on my jaw line.
Alex was mad that we didn't get a picture earlier in the day and he felt that my make up was diluting it. We had to get some record of it, however.

This is a shot showing that the mark goes under my jaw line and onto my neck.
Alex began snapping the camera uncontrollably, hence the giggly smile.

So yes, Cathryn Parker has now received her first hickey.
I just feel a little uncomfortable that it came from my son.
I'll post the video once I figure out how to do that so that you, readers, think it's adorable too instead of (for lack of a better phrase) sick and wrong.

We had another first over the holidays:
I got to meet up with my cousin, Ally and her family.
She has just had a baby herself.
Ally is the closest cousin to my age. When we were younger, I would follow her around, trying to emulate her every move-mood-and beautiful long-blond-hair-toss. (Unfortunately, the latter usually resulted in major neck pain as my hair was never longer than just pass my ears.)
The gist being: I loved my cousin, Ally. Still do.

Brad and I ran down on Christmas Eve for an hour to meet her new baby, Blake.

Chris, Ally's husband, got this awesome candid of Brad while Ally and I were chatting. I think this is how he is feeling knowing that the two of us now have babies. :)

I can't help but start breaking into cheesy yet, fitting songs when I see pictures as shown below.
Songs like, "The Circle of life" from the Lion King,
or phrases from that song from "The Fiddler on the Roof"...goes something like, "Where is the little girl I carried?" (I obviously only know the tune).

Thank-you, Ally for these pictures. Thank-you for being a great cousin. Thank-you for laughing at my stupid jokes and letting me idolize you as we grew up.

He'll go inside someday...

2012-01-13T18:24:00.000-08:00

Cousin Jackson came down for a visit.
We got some great pictures of the two of them.
Here's one of them

For a family resolution we are going to have the Temple be a bigger part of our lives.
Once a month Alex and I will go together,
the other month I will take Luke to walk around the grounds.
Today was Luke's first temple day.
He loved it and I loved it.
Here are some shots from the day.

Mellow

2012-01-05T19:48:00.000-08:00

We had a very mellow evening.

Alex fed Luke Squash.
I decorated Seminary cookies.
I worked on my budget.
We watched Parks and Recreation.
Luke took a nap.
I looked at old pictures on my computer.

Here are some of them:

This is a picture taken at some of our best friends, Shannon and Jared's, wedding. I was terrified to be around Alex who had openly proclaimed his desire to date. If you look close enough, you might just be able to see written on Alex's face, "I'm gonna get you..." Then on mine: "I'm too young to get married!" :)

This is a fuzzy picture of me at Oxford. This is also where many pivotal scenes in the Harry Potter movie series take place. I'm feeling very lonely for England today. Perhaps my constant listening of Harry Potter novels needs to minimize.

Foggy London town...I took this the first day I was there.
I ran to this tower one day after finals.
It took me three hours.
I have never run that long or that far before or since.
It was a very liberating day.

I still love this Generational picture of my Grandma, my Mom and I in front of Trevi fountain. I still have a coin in that fountain somewhere...so a trip back is destined.

Sweet Eloise

2012-01-01T20:45:00.000-08:00

Eloise is my camera.
I love her.
Some of the photos below are edited, but many are not.
She just takes great pictures.
Did I mention I have tender feelings towards her?

We were so happy to go to Utah for Christmas. Alex had surgery two weeks prior and we thought that he would be back on his feet a week later. Unfortunately, he did not heal as quickly as we had hoped and we had all but decided on staying in Texas for the Holidays so that he could mend. The day before, Alex was able to walk around the house and was determined to be well enough to go on the trip.

So we did.
Although we didn't stay as long which is why we weren't able to see everyone. We're so sorry if we weren't able to see you. Please know you are loved and if we had a car and a few more days before Seminary started, we would have been able to spend time with you.

Here are some of the faces of Christmas...but first...Luke turned 5 months over the Christmas break. I feel like he's saying, "Tadah!" in the picture on the left.

The Vance's got Luke this awesome Dinosaur with a bunch of dinosaur figurines. He was quite content for a while, and then I think he got hungry. Thank-you Vances for the awesome gift!

This is how I get Luke to enjoy tummy time. I turn on Backyardigans. It's actually quite entertaining. The two of us get lost in it sometimes.

Merry late Christmas everyone and a very Happy New Year.
Love, Us.

4 Months

2011-11-21T15:36:00.001-08:00

1. Baby Luke turned 4 months yesterday.
I feel like he's saying, "I'm how old!?" in this picture:
The bear looks like he's comforting Luke as well because his paw is on his leg

"So happy together!"

2. It's Thanksgiving break around here. No Seminary. No harp. Just family time. It's really, really, REALLY awesome. We love Seminary and we love Harp, but we also love that we have a week break to recoup.

3. I'm typing unnecessarily loud as to help Luke wake up from a nap that he clearly does not want to. Sorry Kid, Mom needs sleep tonight so I'm going to keep typing really loud. If that doesn't work, your getting lots of smooches on your face.

4. Christmas is just around the corner. Even Alex reminded me that this weekend we would be putting up our tree. I feel like I have so many ideas of how to decorate our house for Christmas but don't know where to begin...and don't have the pocket change to begin it! But alas, we are going to put up what we have got and love every inch of the Christmas feeling in our house.

5. I've watched the Hunger Games trailor like 12 times. I can't stop watching it. It's making me have bad dreams at night though. I can't imagine what my dreams are going to be like after I have seen ALL the death and eery destruction, rather than just a tid bit.

6. We just cut Alex's hair. There is a big pile of his hair sitting on the carpet by the bathroom. I've used the excuse, "Luke needs to sleep..." to not vacuum. But alas, the time has come that I must do it. That pile of hair is glaring at me. I'm going...I'm going.

Happy early Turkey Day!

Be Warned

2011-11-13T19:46:00.000-08:00

Be warned.
We just found out that Luke is a member of the Taliban.
I bet he's the cutest member, though-so that balances things out.

Resist

2011-11-08T20:01:00.000-08:00

Resist.
I dare ya.
I triple dog dare ya.
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Just try and resist smiling after seeing this face.

A New Disease; A new Scent

2011-11-07T14:40:00.000-08:00

I have come down with a new disease.
I cannot stop thinking about Luke.
When he's awake, I'm constantly thinking about what he's doing, if he's happy, if he's hungry, if he's stinky, if he's lonely.
When he's asleep, I do nothing but edit his photos (amongst the other duties I have to get done...) but all I want to do is write in his Journal and edit his photos.
When I sleep, I do nothing but dream about him-one dream he grows up to be a millionaire...the next...a hobo. (Ok I haven't had a dream that he was a hobo-but you get the idea.)
I have Luke-itis.

I love this boy.

I have tons of pictures of this boy.

Here are some of my favs from the past couple of weeks. Or days. Or hours.

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Out of the bath
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There's a new scent around our house...and it is very similar to the scent of everything that produces happiness, excitement, elation, and pleasant hunger.
Pumpkins.
Pumpkins are everywhere around our house.
Here are some of the Thanksgiving displays.

I got the tutorial of how to make those flowers off of pinterest. Unfortunately I am addicted to pinterest so I only allow myself to scan through the pages mindlessly while I am doing the "middle-of-the-night-feeding." It's the only thing that keeps me awake. Aren't they cool though? Super easy and cheap too...

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See I told you I was diseased.
Here's more evidence of Luke-itis.

No, he's not naked-but his diaper is hidden behind his bumbo...and his rolls of fat.

This is by far my most favorite picture of him. Just recently he has discovered his hands. He just stares at them in complete awe as they move around. Just a couple of days ago he started sucking on them. Oh dear. I need to get some work done and stop looking through pictures. Go get yourself a pumpkin candle right now so you can skip around the house, wafting the delicious smell all around you. Oh dear. I sound like I'm in a Disney movie again.

Mia Famiglia

2011-11-05T19:05:00.000-07:00

My family came into town at the end of September.
Yes, I still haven't posted about it.
I stink.

Uncle Bud with Baby Jack Jack and Baby Luke.

I loved this picture of the Smiths oogling over Baby Luke. I didn't know how happy it would make me to have family surrounding him.

Grandpa with Baby Jack Jack on his blessing day.

The Smiths on Baby Jack's blessing day. Don't they look like they should be on the front of an Ensign magazine or something?

Random images of Baby Luke from the past couple of days. I loved this shock look after the flash went off on my camera.

He's starting to have similarities to slytherin house with the usage of his tongue. I'm concerned about his magical future. Perhaps he will turn out to be a good slytherin...like Snape. Lets hope he doesn't have the same fate as Snape.

So here are some other happenings around our Castle:
1. This weekend is Stake Conference. Tonight was the adult session. Considering Luke's schedule, we had to choose between either going to dinner or going to Stake Conference. We chose going to dinner. Of course, upon entering the resteraunt we ran into two different parties that were finishing up their dinner before leaving to Stake Conference. We were caught...red handed. I felt awful. I think I'm embarassed that I felt awful that we were caught when I should feel embarassed that I didn't choose to go to Stake Conference over Palottas. (Although the cheesy bread is practically Celestial in my book.) Either way, we learned a lesson...NEVER skip Stake Conference when you don't have a good excuse (such as in a different country, or sick and dying.)

2. I finished decorating our house for Thanksgiving. I will take some pictures and post soon. It makes me hungry for Turkey and Kim's delicious yams just walking around my house.

3. I have 3 pumpkin rolls in our freezer waiting to be eaten. The first year Alex and I were here, I was asked by a student if I wanted to buy something to help their orchestra raise money. I nonchalantly bought the Pumpkin roll. Little did I know how much happiness that frivolant choice would bring. The second year we were here, I bought another Pumpkin roll without any buyers remorse. We finished it in a weekend though and coudn't find another Pumpkin roll that tasted quite the same. The third year we bought two which sufficed. This year, I was asking when I could help donate money to their orchestra so that I could get my hands on another Pumpkin roll. I bought 3 this year. I don't regret it one bit. I might be glutonous, but I. Don't. Care.

4. It's getting cold here. I have worn my new winter boots two days in a row here. I don't think I look very good in the boots-over-the-jeans style. I'm trying it for another couple of outfits and if I still don't like it, they are going back under the jeans, aight?

5. I have some good food on the menu for the next month or so. Homemade Ravioli, a plethora of soups, freshly made meat-lovers-pizza, Cajun chicken Pasta and a Pumpkin smoothie for dessert. (The last one sounded odd to me too...until I saw what was in it...and I couldn't get the supplies on my grocery list fast enough.) Almost all of my recipes come from pioneerwoman.com. If you haven't gone to her website yet, please do. She will make you smile. She will make you laugh. She will make you love to cook and then want to go take a bath. (Did you catch the rhyme?) I love my husband and baby more than anything, but if there was one thing that brought me pure joy in the downtime of my life, it is cooking recipes that Ree Drummond (the Pioneer woman) has conjured up. Congured up? Conjiured up? Pretty sure it's conjured up.

**Shout out to Ally Shaw. My dear Cousin who had a baby shower this morning in Utah. I wish I could have been there. You will be a wonderful Mother. Just remember that your crazy texan cousin is a phone call away if you need to cry, laugh, complain, etc...

**Another shout out to Kim Green, aka Jemimah, aka Kimo, aka my love. Happy Birthday. I hope you had a wonderful, warm day in California. I'm so glad you were born. :)

Month 3

2011-10-20T15:08:00.000-07:00

I don't need a caption for this post, right?
His cuteness speaks for itself.
Is that prideful? If so, I can't help it-he's so darn cute.
Happy three month birthday, Turkey.

Game Day, Food, and Misc.

2011-10-17T07:44:00.000-07:00

1. This is what I made for dinner last night. It's called, "Italian Chicken Soup" from thepioneerwoman.com. It is scrumptious. We have three tupperware full of leftovers as well.

This is what I made for dinner last Sunday: I would have to say it is even better than the Italian Chicken soup. It's called, "Cajun Chicken Pasta" from thepioneerwoman.com as well. It's definitely a show stopper in my book.

2. This is what I saw a lot of on Saturday.
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It was Game Day. I went to a church meeting in the morning and so Al and Luke got to spend a majority of the day together. The best part of it is that whenever I tried to feed Luke, change his diaper, or even interact with him-he would strain his head around me to continue watching the games. He is truly his father's son.

3. We had a huge church weekend this past weekend. I played at an interfaith luncheon on Friday, a service project on Saturday and then we had Priesthood Preview last night. I woke up this morning feeling as though I hadn't slept in days. Plus, it's really foggy outside. The weather is mirroring my mood, it seems.

4. Family is coming into town this week. I LOVE when Family comes into town. It seems as though the excitement is even greater now that the family has Luke to play with. Isn't it awesome to have things to look forward to?

5. We are hooked on the TV show, Parks and Recreation. We started watching it on Netflix a few weeks back and can't stop. We are all caught up and are ready for new episodes from this season. Andy is by far our favorite character, Ron is close second and Tom Haveford for third.

Luke's fallen asleep in his swing, the house needs to be cleaned before lessons as well as Primary e-mails sent, menus to be made, t's to be crossed and i's to be dotted. But frankly, I might just snuggle up for another nap. Love you all and hope life is pleasant and as exciting as you want it to be!

"Spooky...Halloween"

2011-10-05T11:52:00.000-07:00

When my nephew, Packer, was first learning to speak he used to leave pauses in between his words (as would be expected). I will never forget how Packer said Halloween. It was never just, "Halloween" it was "Spooooky....(pause) Halloween" (spoken in a whisper). Hence the title of this post.

I have gotten hooked on a couple of craft DIY blogs such as Houseofsmiths.com. I was then inspired to not only get my 72 hour kits ready (because I was listening to conferenc while crafting) but to also decorate my house for the upcoming Pagan holiday. Here's what I've got so far:

PS-I didn't bother applying the "halloween texture" on this next photo that I did for the below images. Forgive me.

These are classy puff balls made out of black and white napkins. They are set atop mason jars and a little vase I got for a dollar at walmart. The filling is black crepe paper and the spiders add a bit of eek to the elegant.

The mantel...

I'm not a huge fan of skulls, but couldn't resist this year because they were on sale. Sheesh-am I easy to buy out or what? The bowl have "pumpkin teeth" the candle holder with the spider on top have "bat hearts" and the bottle with green elixer has "love potion #9" in it. (Yes, love potion number 9 DOES have something to do with halloween. It's potion for heavens sakes.)

I typed up the word, "Spooky" in honor of Packer and placed a really creepy black raven next to it. It's eyes follow you no matter where you are in the room. Indeed, very creepy.

Conference Happenings

2011-10-02T10:49:00.000-07:00

The Smiths are down for a visit.
I've been taking tons of pictures of Baby Jackson.
Here are a couple:

Kaylee, Nat and I made some headbands during one of the conferences yesterday.
To the chagrin of my dearest husband, we placed them on the boys of the casa...including Luke.

Month 2

2011-09-22T19:48:00.000-07:00

Here he is.
2 months old.
I can't stop smiling at this chubby face.

I can't stop laughing at this picture as well-so I had to post it.
He's in the process of smiling, falling and concentrating on Dad's dancing body to the right of the camera. Look at the bears face. Doesn't it look like he look concerned that he's about to be crushed by this chubby boy?

A Thousand Words

2011-09-18T17:06:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you've heard the words, "A picture says a thousand words."
This post is dedicated to such a phrase.

Although he will not appreciate his being the spotlight of a post, I simply had to give each of you a taste into my husbands personality. Alex, a man who hates pictures, actually stopped and began making faces while I snapped away quickly.

I came out from taking a nap and saw Bella here:

I was slightly concerned but impressed when she bravely and ever so gracefully bounded to the couch without creating even the slightest teetering of the harp.

This is my new nephew, Jackson. I love his little scrunched up face and thought the thousand words hidden within this photo begins somewhere along the bounds of sibling love and concern. Don't get me going on that, I could bear my testimony of how much I owe to my siblings love and concern for me.

This is a perfect image of my niece, Kaylee. She got her front teeth knocked out when she was jumping on the tramp with her little brother, Packer. This image, I think, is how I will always remember Kaylee-even when she is all grown. Kaylee, the sweet, girly, candy-loving, make-up wearing, hair styling, giggling Kaylee.

Finally, it was Luke's blessing today.
It was absolutely ideal.
And we actually had a miracle happen: A picture with both Alex and my eyes open? Shocking...I know. Poor baby Luke was exhausted. It's difficult being the center of attention.

For the love of Fall

2011-09-14T10:02:00.000-07:00

There are too many reasons to love Fall:

1. It' football season...and Luke knows it.

2. Even though the leaves aren't changing where I live, I know they are changing in Utah-and I imagine the colors numerous times throughout the day.

3. I get to put my Fall wreath up.

4. Soups are totally ok to cook and eat on a daily basis

5. Pumpkin spice seems to be present in every bakery.

6. I'm in search of a Halloween costume for Luke-I think he might be a bat.

7. Conference is coming around the corner.

8. Lessons are more regular because my students are all back from Vacation.

9. Thanksgiving is coming....which means Christmas is coming.

10. This little boy is growing, he's happy and learning to sleep more!

Ode to Eloise and a Temple Reunion

2011-08-31T16:06:00.000-07:00

I love my Camera, whom I have named, Eloise.
Eloise can take shots super duper fast.
Here are some shots that I took of bug at a time when I'm pretty sure he was having some gas pains...Eloise helped me catch his face going from this...

to this....

to this...

and back to this...

Lastly, I wanted to post a picture of the reunion I had with my Friday morning shift temple workers. I love them so much. They wanted to all get together and meet baby Luke. I thought that I was just meeting up with a couple of the sisters...there ended up being over 18 people there! What a blessing it is to have friends. I love these people so much. Thank-you for the wonderful time my sweet Friday morning shift-ers! Love you.

Month 1

2011-08-28T19:27:00.000-07:00

I'm 8 days late but I got them done. Finally.
Here are Baby Luke's One Month photos.

Just watching a late night show while Alex feeds Luke.
Bella is asleep on one of Luke's blankets.
I'm about to have a Magnum Bar.
Life. Is. Good.

Point and Shoot

2011-08-26T15:44:00.001-07:00

I was debating on whether or not to get pregnancy photos done.
I am not a huge fan of getting solo shots. In fact I feel pretty awkward getting solo shots.
Thank heavens Katie has a way of making her subjects feel comfortable to laugh at themselves and enjoy the moment. Katie is a fabulous photographer. She has such a talent and I hope she knows it. Check out some of her other shots at simplykphotos.blogspot.com. I'm so grateful to have documented how round I was with our first healthy, sweet little boy.

I was 3 days from delivering when these shots were taken. I didn't know it at the time, but it's true. I had high blood pressure and was told by the Doctor not to do anything reckless that might spike it further. So naturally, I fretted all morning about fixing my hair just right, pranced around a field just feet away from an alligator infested lake and then went to Harry Potter 7 Part 2 that evening. Hence...the child coming 3 days later.

Here's 5 for you:
1. I met up with my Temple Friends today after their shift ended. They met me at a restaurant to meet Baby Luke. I had 18 friends from the Temple show up to give hugs and kisses not only to Baby Luke, but to his mother. You know that feeling you get when you walk into your childhood home after not being there for a while? Or perhaps the feeling that you have when you get a nice tight hug from your Mom when you haven't had one in a while...? I had that feeling today when I was with my Temple friends. I miss them. I love them. Thank-you for meeting up today and even more, thank-you for being so welcoming to our Son.

2. Luke's down for a nap and I'm so tired. Why am I not sleeping right now?

3. We have a new nephew coming to our family on Monday. Kim and James are going to name in Jackson. I think Baby Jackson and Baby Luke must have been friends in Heaven. I can't wait to see the two of them grow up together.

4. What is it about Chick-fil-A? It seems that Friday night rolls around and Chick-fil-A is all I can think of. I am going to restrain tonight though-i've got to break this habit!

5. Stop what you are doing right now...(after reading this post of course) and run to the nearest Cinemark to see, "The Help." Yes, the book is much better than the movie, but the movie does not dissapoint. It is a beautiful movie. Yes ladies, even your husbands will like it. It's not action packed, but it has a great message and leaves you feeling happy after watching it.

More to come. I think I might go get a Jamba instead of Chick-fil-A tonight.

Paying it Forward

2011-08-18T21:16:00.000-07:00

I was given tons of advice before and during Baby Luke's pregnancy. By no means are any of the following ideas my own. I wanted to merely share them with any readers who are as "deer-in-the-headlights" as I was when it came to growing a baby in and outside my belly. Its time for me to pay it forward and share these brilliant ideas (again...cannot claim them as my own) so that hopefully they might help someone else someday:

1. Set up a savings account and entitle it, "The Baby Fund." Put 10% (just like tithing) in your Baby fund as often as you pay your tithing and by no means touch that Baby Fund until a baby joins the family. I will admit that after a time, and since it was difficult for us to get Baby Luke, I might have re-named our "Baby Fund" the "Europe Adventure fund"-but it quickly got turned back to the "Baby Fund" after a few days of frustration and lack of faith. We have had to dive into the Baby Fund since Baby Luke has been here, but we don't feel that panicky about it because the absurdly expensive diapers and formula is what the money is there for. Voila...no buyers remorse.

2. Go to the Gym! If you haven't started a work out routine, start one before you are pregnant! During pregnancy-keep going...just decrease the intensity and "listen to your body." I always questioned what that phrase meant. My body seemed to always tell me, "SLEEP!" But I later realized that I could do a regular work out routine as I had before, but had to decrease the intensity and do that same exercise longer. Still released those endorphins (endorfins? endorfyns? whatever...) and I loved the crazy looks I got at the gym. Thank-you to all those that helped me get to the gym while pregnant. I think that helped a lot with the actual labor.

3. Buy your maternity clothes at Old Navy and Forever 21. I bought my Maternity pants at Old Navy and Gap (a nicer pair at Gap and a more day-to-day pair at Old Navy). The style at Forever 21 is perfect for a smaller top and a blossoming middle.

4. Buy this book before buying any baby supplies--even diapers. It is a book made by parents who evaluate all of the baby supplies out there-rating it from scale A-F. Then it provides budgetary advice as well. I am so grateful for this book-it helped me keep within my budget for all of our baby supplies-from bedding to bottles.

5. Real interesting read and gets you pumped up for the 6th week when Colic usually rears its ugly head.

6. FAVORITE BABY BOOK EVER. Yes, some of his ideas are odd-but I have the movie and the book and have used his techniques and yes...they actually work. The movie also comes with calming sound effects that Luke loves as well.

7. Real interesting read again. It's more of an intellectual read but answers a ton of questions I have had concerning his sleep schedule.

8. The somewhat stern, but ever-useful and popular book Baby Wise. Can't have a baby without reading it. Most people I have spoken to say that they do a version of baby wise. We have jumped onto that bandwagon as well.

9. My Favorite Spiritual mothering book. Alex bought it for me a couple Christmas' back. I am reading it at the gym right now and I can't tell you how much I love it. I don't want to get off the eliptical it's that good. It just makes you feel like you are a good person and validates a lot of the exhaustion you feel even as a mother of a 5 week old. I really love it and feel closer to the Savior and Heavenly Father after reading it.

10. Finally, and my most favorite piece of advice given to me was: Write your baby a letter once a week beginning when they are in the womb. I began when I was 18 weeks along simply writing about how I was feeling. Then it evolved to more of a personal journal where I wrote to Luke about my scriputre study, about my thoughts and fears about being a mother, etc...Most importantly I wrote about my growth (spiritual, physical and emotional) during the Pregnancy. It has been so fun to read through them again. I was advised to continue writing to him throughout his life. Right now I have enough time to write him once a week. Perhaps when more children come, I will need to write once a month. I hope that maybe someday one of my letters might help him have the courage to make a good decision, or know how much he's loved.

Thats it for now. It's time to feed him for the last time today. I hope no one is offended by this post. By no means am I perfect at any of these suggestions, but I needed to pass along the advice that was given to me so that it might help someone else someday. It's time for me to pay it forward. Hope ya'll can be patient with my writing in this post...I'm pretty sleepy. Love ya'll.

A quarter of a century

2011-08-14T20:40:00.000-07:00

1. I celebrated my 25th Birthday last Friday. The Smiths came down from College Station on Thursday night, spent the night and gave me Royal treatment (along with Alex, of course) all day Friday. Check out the Fruit Pizza Birthday Cake Kim made for me! She designed it on a separate sheet of paper and then went to work creating this bad boy. It tasted even more wonderful than it looks (which is saying something.)

2. We gave little man his first bath last week. He urinated in the water. He's done that a few more times this past week. I have become very good at dodging his stream of liquid. :)

3. I am living in two realities. My every day life, and the life of Harry Potter. I cannot stop listening to the audiobooks. When I was little I used to pray that I would a) See an Angel and b) Harry Potter world was real. Thankfully the former never happened and to my chagrin, the latter also has not come to fruition. A girl can dream, right?

4. I'm dying to see "The Help." If you are in need of a good book, read it (it will take about a day) and then go see the movie. My sources say that the audience surrounding them stood and clapped at the end of the movie...yes...it was that good.

5. Seminary is starting back up next Tuesday. We had a Seminary orientation tonight that Alex had to speak at. Whenever I see Alex speaking in front of a group and I get the chance to just sit and enjoy his humor, I can't help but think, "What does he see in me?" Is that a normal feeling? I kind of like it because I get giddy to give him a hug and a kiss when he's done. I felt this way tonight. We have been nervous about Seminary starting up again but trust that Heavenly Father will help us and strengthen us. Won't it be nice to not need sleep in Heaven? We will get SO much more done SO much more efficiently.

Here's a close up of the little Tiger. I love him SO much.

PS. Did you know Football season is starting up again? We are so ready to watch our USC Trojans again. They better not disappoint or this little one will get after 'em.

Faces

2011-08-03T17:53:00.000-07:00

I could people watch all day.

Alex and I sometimes play a game on date night where we try to decipher what's going on in the lives of the people surrounding us in the restaurant that evening simply by watching their faces.

Here are some faces around my house this week:

Sorry there are no pictures of Alex and I-Alex has been working and the one picture of myself shows a hint of a double chin. My pride won't let me put it up.

Penny for my thoughts? No need...I'll just tell you:
1. Chicken Salad will always remind me of the three weeks Mom and Dad came in to town to help with little Bubba. We have had three batches of it and I swear mom makes it more delicious every time. Tonight she even made Fresh French bread....mmmmmm

2. We went for our first outing today-can you guess where Dad, Mom, Luke and I went? To see Harry Potter. That's right...the first movie that this young man has seen is Harry Potter. How fitting considering his Mother and her obsession with it.

3. We started watching Psych tonight on Netflix (starting on Season 1 Episode 1)...I love it and am excited to have a new show to watch.

4. I'm going back to church this Sunday. I'm not going to lie...I'm a little nervous to get back into the swing of things but that Scripture in the Philippians keeps coming back to mind: "I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me."

5. We had two Dr.'s appointments this week. Bubba has grown, Mamma has shrunk (some) and permission to go to the gym has been granted! Luke has gained an ounce and a half on average a day. He is getting a double chin and his cheeks jiggle when I kiss them. I love this little man.

6. "We're not talking about that" is a common phrase referencing Saturday morning when Mom and Dad have to go back to Utah. I will use it again now...."We're not talking about that."

7. I bought a new ring at Forever 21. It is huge and very shiny. I wore it to the temple yesterday and got blasphemously distracted by it's glitter and glam. My ol' Generation Girls club from High School would be so proud of me. (Shout out to Tanelle, Liz and Kimo!!)

8. Alex just got home from work so I want to go kiss him. Thanks for reading. We are loving learning how to take care of buddy, live on less sleep and being sustained by Chicken Salad and of course many a prayer.

Here's lookin' at Luke

2011-07-26T17:18:00.000-07:00

Dear World,
We have a son...
We think he is perfect...
Our home has become even more peaceful with him around...
Doors are shut more quietly...
Tones are softer...
There is a constant hum of the washer and dryer...
My camera has become a second limb...
Without further ado-here's lookin' at Luke:

(Sorry-Iphone Picture)

First Bath...yes, I am wearing a "Team Edward" shirt

Below is documentation of little Buddy's ability to poop a jet stream of poop all the way up to Alex's shorts. This ocurred moments after little Buddy urinated in my hand. Alex and I couldn't stop laughing.

First Cousins visit!

Bella has totally taken to Luke. This is their first nap together. She is quite the protector.

The song, "When you're the best of friends..." comes to mind when I see this picture. Luke had spit up a bit (because we fed him too much). Bella promptly came over and began licking it up. (Sorry...kind of gross...but great team work.)

The Day we took little Buddy home.

The morning I was induced. I'm filling out paperwork.

About 3 hours after I was induced I started having uncontrollable shakes. Notice how many blankets they have piled on me? Alex had to hold my hand to keep it steady. We think it was a combination of the meds and my nerves. I'm not going to lie-I was scared.

Little Buddy! (Right out of the Womb)

Loved this artistic shot, Alex-nice one.

Proud Daddy

Proud Grandma

Proud Mommy

Introducing...!

2011-07-20T18:04:00.000-07:00

Introducing...!
Lucas William Parker
6 lb. 4 oz.
19 inches long
Already had two feedings
Loved immensley by Mom and Dad.

What a big day for little buddy

Right after coming out of Mom!

Top 5 Memories from Luke's Birthday:
1. Waking up at 3 AM to do my hair and makeup so that the first time my son saw me, I was feeling and looking my best. What a dork I am.
2. Getting the IV and Petocin started and beginning to feel contractions...and then no longer feeling them because of the blessed epidural.
3. Having "Finding Nemo" on TV as background distraction while I pushed little Buddy out while my nurse with a very southern accent counted 5!....6!....7!.....8!....9!...............(long pause...she totally cheated in the counting) 10!....
4. Holding little Buddy for the first time while Alex and I just cried. We don't deserve this Baby, but we are so grateful for him.
5. Saying a prayer for strength with Mom and Alex prior to the delivery and saying a huge prayer of gratitude after the delivery.

Alex and I are just watching Office re-runs until the next time we have to wake Luke up to feed him at 10:30 PM. What a day it's been. We are so grateful for this little Turkey and will keep you posted. Thank-you to all for the prayers and emotional strength today. You are very much loved and appreciated.

Love Alex, Nunu and Luke

HP Week meets Emotional Pregnant Cathryn

2011-07-10T18:56:00.000-07:00

It is officially Harry Potter Week.
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A week dedicated to my obsession of Harry Potter.
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After Saturday night, I will be an emotional pregnant woman.
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"Why" you ask?
Because I would have just finished re-listening to all the Harry Potter Books
And just finished seeing the final Harry Potter movie.
I'm not sure if I will be able to cope with the loss of hope and excitement for another Harry Potter Movie. Alas, I will enjoy this week while it lasts.

With that as an introduction: HELLO!

Here's 5 pregnant "happenings:"
1. We are having our baby in 17 days. Thats only 16 sleeps. I'm taking a nap every day from now until then. We are super excited to meet this little turkey.

2. Below is a picture of our Hospital "go" bag. I tried to think of anything that I might want or need-including medicine, snacks, toiletries and entertainment. I have been having contractions every night from 5:30 on every 20 minutes and so I have been feeling nervous that I might go even earlier than my inducement date. So far, so good, though.

3. Below my packed diaper bag, babies first outfit home (yes, it's a little bear snuggler) and a binder that I made with the help of some of my Baby books to help track Baby boy Parkers growth the first 10 weeks. Not sure if we will use it as much as I would like, but I have spots to mark down eating, sleeping and bowel movements. Then another spot for important documents and another section for Journaling so we can hopefully find what schedule will make this kid as happy as possible.

4. Here are some random pictures of our bassinet as well our our "Moses basket" that will be his sleeping quarters for the first month or so of his life.

Here's his room!

Alex and I have been practicing swaddling. We are not that good-to tell you the truth. Our friends, Dave and Danielle Ashby came into town from Arizona and introduced us to something magical, "The Swaddler." It is a blanket cover with velcro in all the spots needed to hold the babies body in tight. WE LOVE THEM. We practiced on Elmo tonight...

Once....

Twice....

Even 3 times...doesn't Elmo's mouth just get you?

5. Finally, this is my 35 week picture. Getting slo close!

Now here are 5 non-pregnant "happenings:"
1. I am getting my Troubadour Harp regulated tomorrow (which has never happened in this sweet little harps 8 year life.) Then I am getting my hair colored on Tuesday. Going out to lunch for all you can eat soup and salad at Olive Garden on Wednesday, a Dr.'s appointment with ultra sound on Thursday, hanging out with Austin friends on Friday and Harry Potter on Saturday. It is going to be a good week. Isn't it amazing all the different avenues Heavenly Father provides for us to be happy?

2. An old roommate of mine has just recently had her newborn son pass away. I can't stop thinking about her and her family. I'm not sure why trials happen to some and not to others, but I am praying for them and praying that I will have the strength to handle our future trials just as the Jastals are. Love you, Lisa.

3. I need some good books. Can ya'll please give me some suggestions? Right now I am listening to the Queens English version of Harry Potter. Can you believe we, as Americans, were totally tricked into reading the "American English" version of Harry Potter? Heather, my oldest sister, suggested I listen to the Queens English version, and I love finding the subtle changes. Anyway, I need some good books! Please let me know of any that you think my life would be better for having read them.

4. I have been collecting some Recipes off of two websites. I have loved one forever, and am very excited for the other find (thanks to Danielle Matthews Ashby!) I have been cooking recipes from thepioneerwoman.com for a year or so. I know her style of cooking and love almost all of them. The next recipe site that I love is called ourbestbites.com. I am so excited to try them out. If you haven't gone to these websites-do it. Right now.

5. I'd like to leave on a bit of an uplifting note. I was listening to the Mormon channel a couple of days ago and the Costas were being interviewed by Sherry Dew. Sister Dew told Sister Costa that she and her husband were seen as being a couple that can adjust and flourish in any environment. Sister Dew then asked, "How do you do it?" My ears were immediately open to the answer because this is something that Alex has mentioned that we, as a couple, learn to become more like (flexible and easily adjusted in any environment.) Sister Costa gave wonderful advice by saying, "When we move to a new place, I immediately go to the temple and pray that I will love the people, their culture, their food, their everything. Then I end my prayer by saying, 'Help my eyes to be OPEN WIDE TO THE GOOD AND CLOSED TIGHTLY TO THE BAD.'" I have begun praying for that on a daily basis just for the regular ups and downs of the days and feel that I have experienced a great difference in my happiness for the better. What a sweet thought Sister Costa gave. Maybe it will help you, too?

Alright, It's Sunday night. We've finished our Banana splits, finished planning our week, finishing Harry Potter 5 (the movie) and are about to wrap up the evening. Thanks for reading. I hope each of you have a wonderful week and are able to laugh at our silly-day-to-day happenings.

5 for 5

2011-07-03T20:16:00.000-07:00

Here are 5 pregnant things happening in our lives:
1. Our baby is coming in 24 more "sleeps." I know this because I am being induced on the 27th.
Oh my goodness gracious...we are going to see this babies face in 24 sleeps!
2. I have begun contracting at 7 PM on every 20 minutes. No matter what I do. Although, I think my exercising is contributing to those contractions. I didn't exercise today and haven't had as many. Perhaps....no....I love exercising too much.
3. Speaking of exercising, I was at the Gym at two women an a man were openly pointing at me and laughing as I did a weight assisted pull up with my big baby belly. I wanted to moon them. But I didn't.
4. Still craving dirt. I went to a friends house tonight who just recently got their lawn put in and oh my goodness...the smell of dirt was EVERYWHERE. I loved it.
5. I have our "go bag" packed and ready with all the necessities for the Hospital just in case I go early. I packed up the diaper bag and the car seat is in the car. I feel like these next few weeks are those moments in the movies where the music is increasing in intensity; ladies are biting their nails for fear of what future events are about to transpire; grown men hold their hands full of popcorn still in the air with their eyes riveted to the screen. We'll keep you hanging for the time being.

Here are two of the latest baby belly pictures.

I took this picture as Alex and I were running out the door to church. He was getting ready in the bathroom and to keep him modest, I had to go in our bedroom for the shot so sorry for the light. This is me at 34 weeks.

33 Weeks

Ok now here are 5 things going on in our lives that are NON baby related:
1. We went to see Transformers last night in Imax 3-D. We thought it was a blast. A bit long, but a blast. MUST see it in Imax 3-D though, made the whole experience. That and the fact that I snuck in a zip lock full of watermelon, strawberries and pears. I LOVE FRUIT.
2. Tomorrow is the 4th of July. Fireworks are canceled in Houston because of the rain deprivation. I am thinking of making a cake, throwing it up in the air and trying to grab the crumbs in my mouth for tomorrow nights entertaininment.
3. Did I mention that Alex got his new big screen TV? He's thrilled, I'm thrilled and I think baby is thrilled as he will be watching this season's USC games with his Father on it.
4. We just got back from a weekend get away to Sea World with the Smith clan and Brad. We swam in the lazy river, saw Shamu, got burnt, ate mediocre river walk food, and stayed up late watching gory zombie movies. Once again, a perfect family get-together.
5. I have a date to go to IKEA with Alex tomorrow. I might be slightly excited for it. I don't know what it is but IKEA seems to be some sort of space transport where time stands still and carts are forever and always easy to push. With the constant smell of hotdogs cooking downstairs, I love to walk the rooms and get decorating ideas. Tomorrow we have one mission: Find an entertainment center for our new TV! Right now we have set it on top of our old entertainment center, causing us to have strange back pains because we have to scrunch up our necks and shoulders to be able to see the images. I think both mind and body will appreciate this new Entertainment center.

I will keep you posted with other happenings. Just wanted to post the latest 5 for 5. Love you all and Happy 4th of July!

It's a Baby Shower

2011-06-12T18:54:00.000-07:00

2 weeks ago my friends, Julie and Jenni threw me a baby shower.
We planned it so that my Mom would be in town for it.
I was really hesitant because I didn't want anyone to go over the top or stress out over throwing a baby shower for me. I've thrown a few showers and sometimes I get really stressed out by it. Here are some pictures from the shower. Lets just say it was one of those days where you realize how completely blessed you are by being surrounded by good people.

I was ten minutes late to the shower (which was at 10 AM) because I was having a bad hair day.
As I pulled up, already 25-30 people were waiting inside.
I wanted to sit down and cry right then and there.
I knew that I had friends and people that cared about me, but its always really uplifting when you get to see them all in one spot in support of you. So, with out further ado-Thank-you ladies for a perfect shower, and more importantly for your wonderful friendship.
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Diaper Cake

Buffet with muffins, keish (sp?), fruit, crackers and cheese and...

DIRT CUPS! (Because I am craving dirt...I thought it was quite clever.)
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Here are some pictures of some of the ladies that came that day. I wandered around taking pictures with my camera to avoid crying out of pure joy of seeing everyone take time to be there.

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Here are some commonly seen facial expressions at the Shower duirng the present opening:

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This one too...(I'm trying on my new nursing cover...probably not appropriate.)
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Love this bib
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Look at my Moms face! I can't tell if she is yawning or screaming. Then I look like I have a major double chin. Ah well, guess its to be expected with a child in the womb.
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Thank heavens for Diapers
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I love this picture of my Mom
She was just as emotional as I was.

Close up of the Diaper cake

How I felt the entire shower:

We came home after the Shower and organized all the clothes on the bed just like we used to on Christmas morning. There were at least two layers of clothes covering the bed.
These are my neices and nephew, of course. I love them. I love them a lot.

Speaking of loving a lot: This is my dear sister, Kim. She's pregnant too (if you couldn't tell.) We love being pregnant together. I am particularly grateful because we have both entered the "emotional stage" of pregnancy where crying is a daily ocurrence so we often call each other at night asking, "So what did you cry about today?" Often its about ketchup getting on my shirt, or buying the wrong garment tops, or appliances not working, but because I have someone to share the annoyance with (both with said disaster and the emotions in general) I feel like I might not be such a disease or someone to be avoided at least. I love my dear Sister and can't wait for our boys to be buddies. We rub our bellies together a lot to try and get our boys to recognize that their cousin is close by and that they are destined to be best friends...just like in the movies.

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Now here's me catching up on the week by week growth:

Week 28

Week 29

Week 30

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So sad that I haven't posted these images earlier. Hope each of you have a wonderful rest of your Sunday. I also hope that the Mavs lose because Alex is getting pretty heated about Miami playing so...awful. I'm going to go get us some icecream to try and distract him from his misery.

Love ya'll.

Confession

2011-05-31T08:26:00.000-07:00

I have a confession to make.
I have taken pictures of my 28 and 29 weeks progression
But I don't want to post them because...(shameful look)
I don't have any new pregnancy clothes to show off that you haven't seen before.
Lame, right?
The past two Wednesday's I have tried to put something new together but to no avail. So I have thrown on an old maternity shirt, captured the shot and gone on my merry way. So sorry. I am riding the bike right now and my energy is quickly declining or else I would run grab the chord and hook the pictures up right now. Instead-I will type up a list of 5 things going on in our life right now:

1. It was Memorial Day yesterday. Alex was supposed to go out and work but as I sat in my Den working on Primary, I peered outside and saw Alex raking up leaves in the backyard. He worked out there for 4 1/2 hours and filled around 16 bags full of leaves. I cleaned the house, including cupboards, drawers and shelves (nesting stage, you see) and then Alex BBQ some burgers and hotdogs. Don't be shocked-but I had two Cheeseburger and two hot dogs. Baby liked it at first, but then I was really uncomfortable. NEVER will I overeat like that again. Still, enjoyable before the pain started.

2. My mom comes into town this Thursday. Can't tell you how excited I am to see her. She's one of those people that you can do absolutely nothing with but leave the conversation a better person for having been in the same room as her. Love, love, LOVE her.

3. I had a guest Harpist come and teach my Harp students masterclasses last week. It was amazing how much I learned. The kids loved being praised by another person and it seemed as though they soaked up all of her good criticism. Couldn't help but smile when after so many months of me saying something like, "High thumbs" or "Do this fingering"-once they heard it from this guest harpist it as like, "Wow what a novel idea!" Silly students.

4. I have a baby shower on Saturday. My friends Julie and Jenni are throwing it. I can already tell that they have gone to too much work putting it together. I just hope I can show how grateful I am that they would take the time to do it. I really do get awkward when all eyes are on me, but hopefully I can appease the awkwardness with gratitude. Speaking of baby shower, people have asked me what I need for the baby. I look at them with my jaw dropped and say, "I have no idea, what DO I need?" What are some of your favorite baby gifts that have been most useful?

5. A trip to Hawaii is in the balance. Alex's friend, Luke is getting married in September (yes, only a month past when the baby will be born) and Alex really wants to go. Of course, I love Luke and Heather (his Fiance) and would love to see them and again, of course, who can turn down a trip to Hawaii? We are hoping to find cheap tickets and a non stop to Mauii so that we don't have to take a puddle jumper and face the terrifying aspect of death by small plane. Not sure how I feel about traveling with a baby but can't help but think, "Let the adventures begin!"

Thats it for now. Pictures to come soon. Hope all is well with everyone and that each enjoyed a wonderful Memorial day!

Oh, Baby!

2011-05-17T13:15:00.000-07:00

I went to the Doctor today.
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They took pictures of our baby...
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And here he is!

Just had to show him off a bit.
Don't you love his little mouth?

27 Weeks

2011-05-11T18:23:00.000-07:00

We are officially entering the third trimester! BAH!
I was thinking how strange it is that I take a picture of myself with my iphone every Wednesday.
Even more strange...there is a little boy growing in my belly.
See!?

Here's how we have decorated his room.
The theme is "Vintage Varsity"
I got the canopy thing at Ikea for $10.
I think it's got to go when the baby comes.
It's just not boyish enough.

Here's whats on his dresser.
Whats going to be hilarious is if he grows up to be a scientist after we have done all of this sports brainwashing!

Here are 5 other things going on in our lives besides the baby.
(I sometimes got sick of hearing about peoples pregnancy's after a while and just wanted to talk about life outside of the baby world. I suppose thats rude thinking-but alas, its the truth.)

1. I love Wednesday nights. Why? Because I am done teaching Harp lessons for the week (which I love doing but it can be tiring) and because it is the beginning of American Idol saga for the week. On Wednesday morning I have been trying to get Alex and I pumped up for the evening show by blasting a previous Idol Favorite on my Iphone while he gets ready for Seminary. This morning was Hayley's, "Could have had it all." To say that I get giddy watching this show is a huge understatement. Whats even better is its an even bigger understatement when you watch Alex watch the show. I love him.

2. One day last week, I decided to make 6 meals and freeze them for when the baby comes. (Only baby comment-promise.) After making them and sitting down after a good 5 hours of cooking and packaging, I realized that the baby wasn't coming for 3 more months. Hm....So I took out one of the meals and we have slowly been eating them in variations on a weekly basis. I finished the last of the Taco meat today and was so happy to know that Sweet and Spicy Chicken is next on the menu.

3. I have a great need for new Gym clothes. Undershirts are torn, pants are too tight around the waist and make me grumpy, sweatshirts are ripped. Yes, I look plain ol' white trash. Gonna head to Target this weekend, I think.

4. I have to tell you a secret. When Alex leaves for Seminary and I climb back in bed to sleep for another couple hours, there is something that happens every morning that makes me so unusually happy. Starting in the left corner of my ceiling and gliding eerily across the room is the reflection of someones headlights turning left on our street (probably heading to work.) For some reason, I absolutely love knowing that this individual is out and about and I am still safe and warm in my bed. I've just discovered how cruel that sounds. That's not it at all. When I was younger, I used to be afraid to fall asleep because I thought that I wouldn't wake up. A solution my dear Sister Kim came up with (to help me ease into sleep without a struggle)was as follows: She would stay awake and work on homework or write letters to her boyfriend while I fell asleep. When that blessed event came, she would slip into bed herself. I think its that same feeling of comfort that I have when this complete stranger drives by my house every morning at 5:30. Thank-you complete stranger, for bringing me so much joy so early in the morning.

5. Finally, Alex bought me a yoga tape for Mothers Day. I got dressed to do it last night after lessons but instead of participating in the stretches, I sat there in complete hysteria, with jaw dropped, listening to the instructor whisper instructions through the TV at me. I suppose you have to have a certain sense of Maturity when doing yoga that I have yet to gain. Why must they wear those tight one piece body suits though? I swear you can still breathe when wearing normal sweat pants and a t-shirt.

Deep thoughts, right? Love you all.

Massive Sensory Overload

2011-05-06T09:41:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my dear brother, Brad, I finally figured out how to put my IPhone photos on the web. So here is my ever growing baby belly beginning at...

Week 19...

Week 20...

Week 21...

Week 22...

Week 23...

Week 24...

Week 25...

Week 26...

I have been feeling really good the entire pregnancy. I started having the "Jimmy leg" this past month so I have to get in the tub and burn my legs before bed so that I can sleep without my leg spasming...but besides that this baby has provided little to no discomfort.
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I have been craving dirt latly. Flat, yucky, dusty ol' dirt. Yum....something is wrong with me.
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This baby's favorite thing that I eat is Cheerios with fresh cut strawberries. Literally ten minutes into eating he will start to kick like a mad man. I suppose the kicking could be showing dislike for the cereal as well. I am going to hope not.
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Bella wouldn't come inside last night. It was 2 AM if you can imagine the following scene: I am sprawled on the kitchen floor having a staring contest with this feline sitting comfortably (and stubbornly) on the back porch. Finally, after I got myself to the bathroom to blow my nose, she pranced on in and started purring. I wanted to bark at her like a dog for taking so long. I couldn't get back to sleep after that so I spent the night in the baby room writing in my journal by flashlight. Not sure why I did it by flashlight...just felt more mystical that way I suppose.

Alex and I have had colds this week. I found this picture wandering around my I Library and couldn't help but post it. You know when the respect of your husband just goes sky high? He has been just as sick (if not more) than I and yet he has gone to work every day this week and has been kicking pest control sales toosh. This was a picture from our London date that he took me on the Christmas before I went to London. He is such a dream boat.

He took me to the Museum of fine Arts last Saturday for a date and then to our favorite Italian restaurant...resteraunt....restaraunt...I never remember how to spell that. He is super excited about baby boy coming. I can't blame him, the latest ultrasounds of this baby are really cute. :)
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You know when you are sick and you just want your parents? Thats how I have felt today. I miss them. This is a pic of my dad and I on the London Eye. He is such an awesome Dad. Alex is a lot like him, and I'm so grateful for that.
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Something on the lighter side: Did you know that Magnum Bars are in TEXAS NOW? This is a pic of some of my favorite girlfriends from London eating Magnum Bars on our way to see, "A Midsummer nights dream" in an outdoor theatre. I nearly began to cry when I saw the sign for Magnum bars at Wal Mart. I have had at least one every single Friday for the past three weeks. Thank Heavens for Magnum Bars.

Just missing my Mom, like I'm missing my Dad. I get to see her next month though so that should be a blast. Love you, Mom.

A Prophet

2011-03-06T17:20:00.001-08:00

This month in Sharing time, we are talking about Prophets. Today we had enough time for the Primary kids to write letters to President Monson. Here were some of the letters that were written. I have edited some of them and of course, have the permission of the kids to share them with ya'll. I've been grinning from ear to ear ever since reading them and couldn't help but post some of them:

Daer President Monson,
Is it hard being the Prophet? I love your talks in Conference and am excited to hear one! I live in Texas. I can move my ears just like you!

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Dear President Monson,
If it is scary giving a talk in conference I'm sending you this letter so you won't be scared. Hope you like it.

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Dear President Monson,
I will follow you, because Heavenly Father told you what to tell us to follow. I know you know what to tell us is right, because Heavenly Father is right. Without Heavenly Father telling you what to do we would not know what to do.

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Thank you for teaching us that Heavenly Father is real and that He keeps his promises even if you do bad things.

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Dear Thomas S. Monson, I'm so, so, so, so, glad to learn the Gospel from you. I might become a Bishop in the future.

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Dear Thomas S. Monson,
Thank-you for teaching us about the Gospel. We're all glad because of you.

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I am grateful for a Prophet. I'm also grateful to have made it through the first Sunday in our new building without any run aways or hide-aways! We were so blessed in Primary today and I can't help but share it! Happy Monday to you and get pumped for CONFERNCE!

Something Special

2011-02-16T19:11:00.000-08:00

It's a special day
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Alex and I have been married for 4 years...today
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We are so happy to announce:
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Little boy Parker is on his way!!
He is due August 10th and we are so pumped.
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I told my students this week by decorating cookies with frosting and BLUE sprinkles as shown below:

Here's our little boy!

My belly is starting to show.
I'm sleepy most of the time.
All I want to eat is Pizza.
And I can't stop grinning from ear to ear.
We are so pumped.

Nothing defeats this feeling...at least today

2011-01-30T16:11:00.000-08:00

I made this for dinner tonight:
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It's BBQ Chicken Pizza
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It was a huge success.
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Nothing defeats this feeling...at least today
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I got this unbelievable delectable recipe from Ree Drummond aka The Pioneer Woman.
She helps me with my monthly menus.
Today she helped me find pure happiness as I listened to Alex say, "Wow..." and "Wow" and yet another, "WOW!" Yes...nothing defeats this feeling.

I made the dough in my mixer that I have named Bo. Then the cheese dripped down into my oven and I stunk up the whole neighborhood. (Seriously I had neighbors come by because smoke was wafting out of my house.) But then I cut it up in slices and served it with a side salad. You know on that show, "Shopoholic" when the girl describes the joy she finds in shopping? I get that with shopping of course, but I think I get that a little with Cooking. Particularly when I like the recipe and how it turned out.

If I can make it-you can make it.

Here's the link for the recipe:http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/03/cpks-bbq-chicken-pizza/

Made the list

2011-01-23T14:39:00.000-08:00

I love this woman...

Who is she?
Corrie Ten Boom
Leader of "God's Underground" in Holland during WWII.
Her book, "The Hiding Place" has made the list of books that I will read every year.
The other books consist of and do not include my favorite church books:
The Guernsey Literary and Potatoe Peel Pie Society
The Hunger Games Series
I capture the Castle
At least 3 or 4 Harry Potter Books

I admire her so much. If you haven't read her story, get to it.

I'm sorry I don't have any pictures of Alex and I to post.
Things with us are going well.
I have a very strong desire to see if there is anything good playing on Masterpiece Theatre.
I'm going to check it out now.
Promise to have pics soon.

Our December

2010-12-18T18:41:00.000-08:00

We have had such one memorable December. The following pictures are not in order (unfortunately I lose patience trying to keep the pictures in order...) but they do depict some of our December happenings:

(Below) Alex and I went to New Orleans for our Christmas trip this year. We had heard lots of good and plenty bad concerning New Orleans and decided we needed to go to decide for ourselves. We loved being down in the French quarter eating Beignets while sipping hot chocolate. However, after being invited to come be a "special guest" in a night club on Bourbon street over 5 times in less than 10 minutes, we decided that we had better head a different direction.

As simple as it sounds, the highlight of my trip was heading to our hotel early and falling asleep at 9:30 while watching Harry Potter 5-then sleeping in until 8. Yes, sleep is divine.

We went on a Hurricane Katrina tour as well as a swamp tour-this is Alex and I holding Marshmallow (the pet Alligator of our tour guide.) As odd as it sounds-I felt a fondness to the little critter. Look at Al and I-we look so happy with that little lizard!

Jumping ahead-Alex and I pretended it was Christmas tonight. We went to our favorite resteraunt, Palottas, and then came home and opened presents while listening to Frank Sinatra Christmas. I was shocked and completely stoked when I opened a present and found this:

And this...

Not her-but I think she is so cute. Plus I took this picture with my new 85 mm lens. I love my cat

Alex got us all 6 Harry Potter movies! We are not obsessed, just loyal.

Here's another pic of Al holding Marshmallow the alligator.

Here we are in the square of the French Quarter. Yes, we were freezing. The guy taking our picture really enjoyed playing with Eloise (my camera)-he kept asking us to pose somewhere else so he could take more pics with her. I love you, Eloise.

Early December I had the Studio Harp recital at the Nativity in Kingwood. We had 15 harps there. It went AMAZINGLY but needless to say after 10 minutes of conducting the ensembles, those curls that you see on my head-were deflated. Nevertheless it was a perfect recital and the students were almost as proud of themselves as I was.

There you have it. We leave for Utah tomorrow. We are so excited to spend time with friends and family. I hate to say it but I am kind of excited to have an early Christmas-hopefully when the actual day comes I will be able to feel more of the Spirit of Christ than the spirit of presents-which is something that I would like to have gained....oh....10 years ago. :)

Ever get that feeling where you're simply happy? That's how I'm feeling right now. It sometimes feels so natural to be happy considering the blessings we each have (not just speaking of myself or Alex but you as a reader as well.) Sometimes my blessings are blockaded by worries or doubts...but tonight...they are in clear view and I am simply...happy. Merry Christmas everyone!

Eloise

2010-11-25T19:52:00.000-08:00

For Thanksgiving, my sister Kim and her family came to stay with us. They agreed to let me take their family Christmas card photo yesterday. Eloise, my camera, has been an absolute gem this weekend. Here are some of the shots that Eloise got this weekend.

Kim got a candid of Al and I...

All Smiles...

2010-11-22T19:26:00.000-08:00

My friend, Katie Mitchell, is teaching me the art of Photography. As practice, she let me take her family pictures for her upcoming Christmas card. I am in the process of putting her pictures on a CD so she can edit them in Lightroom-but found three of my favorite that I wanted to show. Keep in mind, none of these are edited one bit. I love them all the same though.

So Thankful for Harp

2010-11-17T13:33:00.000-08:00

At this very moment a student is walking to my door for a lesson. I wanted to post these pictures though from our last group lesson. I love them.

An overdose of Butter Beer

2010-10-25T07:05:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a Brother-Sister Weekend in Florida. Of course the entire reason for going was to be able to go to Harry Potter World. I nearly began to cry when I saw this...

And this....

And an overall view that looked like this....

Brad had a convention down in Florida so he bought me tickets to go see Harry Potter world so that we could hang out. He is such a good Brother.

We went to Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios, Magic and Animal Kingdom. I am pretty exhausted but on a complete Disney high.

If you are planning a trip to Disney world-here is the must haves: Get to Islands of adventure right when it opens so you can get in line for Harry Potter and the forbidden forest. The ride broke down when we were on it and I got sick hanging sideways and face forward-but besides that it was fantastic.
-Get us much Butter Beer as possible-preferably FROZEN. The top was so frothy it got stuck on my lips. Yes, its that amazing.
-Eat at the 3 broomsticks. It is not amuzement park food-I had ribs, corn and baked red potatoes. It was such comfort food and I loved it.
-Spend as much money at Honedukes as possible and try the pastries-particularly the Pumpkin Pasties-they will change your life.
-Don't wait in line for a wand...it's just silly
-Ride both Dragon challenge roller coasters-they are different but together, absolutely wonderful
-Did I mention you should drink TONS of butter beer?
-Get a fast pass for Space mountain-there are no windows in the waiting line and it stinks like wet, sweaty people
-Scare the people in the car next to you on the Haunted Mansion-lots of laughs
-Eat as much Mickey ear icecream bars as possible
-Eat at the Tuma Tuka buffet at the Animal kingdom. Its the best curry I have ever had.
-Did you notice most of my thoughts are based on food?
-Don't ride on Thunder mountain directly after someone has thrown up-and if you do, don't look at it.
-Don't ride on Rick Saw falls-you will get soaked.

Theres just so much more to tell but I have to go. I'm getting my hair done-hooray! Thanks Bud, for a fantastic weekend.

No Words

2010-10-01T19:19:00.000-07:00

There are no words. I have not blogged in months. I am doing it now.

I helped in the Houston Harp Festival this year. These are the kids that we taught:

I love this shot of all of them playing. It was really fun to see that many harps in one spot again.

Then I had a birthday. I am officially 24. I feel old-but still healthy so can't complain. I think I wear Pink every birthday dinner.

Oregon Coast with the Parkers was beautiful. This scene was outside our Beach house

A candid shot. I'm eating, and Alex is looking at a Map. Both respectively typical.

We went to Minnesota to see Aaron (a mission companion and roomate of of Alex's while we were dating.) We met his beautiful girlfriend, Lucinda and had a blast riding bikes around downtown before seeing the USC game.

Golden Gophers!

We went to the Mall of America the night before the game and guess who Cathryn spotted?? 6 USC PLAYERS!! Alex was shaking he was so excited to see them. He ticked off a ton of information about them and all below were honored to have a picture with this USC Football officionato. (Sp?)

Aaron and Lucinda at the game-USC won of course

Alex and I after the victorious USC game

I'll try to keep ya'll better posted. Things have just been crazy around here. I'm watching the BYU game with my parents and my sisters family. Pretty much feel like I am as happy as a slice of thick creamy pumpkin pie....alla mode....with caramel on top....and a drizzle of chocolate.

Baby Shower Pictures

2010-08-02T10:51:00.001-07:00

Here are the baby shower pictures! Brittany, Colleen's Sister-In-Law has amazing talent organizing baby showers. Here are the mint brownies with individualized Carli tags!

The below picture shows the pink and green garland made by Liz Bonner in honor of baby Carli. Pretty amazing...

These bags held chocolate covered pretzels, taffee and other delicious treats.

Baby Shower, Wicked, Scarlett and a new recipe...

2010-07-26T20:02:00.000-07:00

I have a friend named Colleen. She is due with their first baby, Carli, at the end of August. We threw a baby shower for her on Saturday. It was fantastic. Pictures to come.

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Alex took me to see Wicked on Saturday night. I wore pearls and felt like a movie star. We then stocked Glinda as she came out of the stage door after the show. She and Bach really hit it off as they walked to their cars. (For those that haven't seen the show, Bach is a munchkin who is in love with Glinda but Glinda doesn't give him the time of day.) Well this Bach got a hug from Glinda and a nice long conversation alongside her vehicle with a Utah license plate. Thats right, you read correctly-Glinda is from Utah. Pretty sure she's Mormon...WOOT!

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Alex requested...I repeat requested to watch Gone with the Wind last night. His cool points shot threw the roof and I loved every minute of it.

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I have a new recipe that I made tonight that I HAVE to share: It's from the website crockpot365.blogspot.com and it's called, "Meatballs in Peanut Chile Sauce." Warning: THIS IS SPICY...and SO tasty.

40 already cooked meatballs (frozen or fresh)
2 tablespoons chunky peanut butter
1 cup canned coconunt milk (I used light, it was fine. If using regular, shake well and include the cream on top)
1 tablespoon red chile paste (jarred, in the Asian cooking aisle)
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons white granulated sugar

The Directions.

I used a 4 quart slow cooker. It's okay to use a 6 quart, but decrease cooking time by about an hour.

Put meatballs into slow cooker (frozen is fine). Add peanut butter and coconut milk. Drop in a gollop of red chile paste, then add fish sauce and sugar. Stir as well as you can to combine---it won't be perfect because the peanut butter will still be clumpy. No worries.

Cook on low for 4-6 hours, high for 2-4, or until peanut butter mixture is fully melted and the meatballs are heated throughout.

Serve as a hot appetizer, or over long grained basmati rice as a meal.

*ENJOY!*

So...Gone with the Wind, huh?

2010-07-05T18:16:00.000-07:00

I finally finished "Gone with the Wind" today. I had to stop reading it because one of my favorite characters was dying and putting me in a bad mood. Then I finally picked it up again and couldn't stop 'til I finished it. Someone should warn you how it ends. I cannot believe it. My jaw is still dropped. I'm gonna watch the movie this weekend and literally CAN-NOT-WAIT.

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I canned more Salsa today...I can't wipe this grin from my face...

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Woops-better head, Bella the cat has brought in a tree beetle that makes this really loud terrifying noise. She is trying to muffle it by sitting on it...poor thing. Sometimes I wonder if I am living in a jungle with all of the strange creatures that Bella drags in everyday-but then I remember, it's those bugs that are helping me bring home groceries each week. Keep 'em comin' Bella. (Can you tell I am talkin' with a Souther drawl...? It's that darn "Gone with the Wind" rubbin' off on me.)

Jersey Boys, Eclipse, Change, Salsa and Jackson

2010-07-04T07:29:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning with the sun glaring in my eyes. I was wondering whether to choose to be in a bad mood or a good mood. Alex rolled over and happily stated that while I was sleeping for an extra hour than him, he had found us tickets to go see Jersey Boys in San Antonio at the end of September. This settled the matter for me, and I have felt in a good mood all morning...
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At group lesson on Tuesday, one of my students asked if I was going to see the midnight showing of Eclipse. I said, "OF COURSE!" She later said, "I hope you have fun tonight!" It took me a minute to realize that Eclipse was playing THAT night so I ran and put my Edward t-shirt on and hit the road.

What did you guys think about Eclipse? I don't mean to be so vain and focused on things that don't matter, but Bella looked-well-like a stoner to me in this movie. Edward was a better actor, however. At one point in the movie, I envisioned what all of their conversations would sound like without music in the background...it was pretty comical. But Jacob, oh sweet Jacob-I loved him in this movie.

I loved the movie, but I most especially love going to hang out with Jen and Julie from down the street. The two of them together are so refreshing and completely a blast to be around.

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There has been a lot of change in our family the past month. Stacey and Tom, my Sister and her hubby, have moved to Southern Cal. It's so strange to me that they are not in their home in Layton! After talking to her, I can't help but think of our move to Texas and how nervous I was. We had such a great transition here and I can't help but shout out a "Thank-you" to all you Texans who have helped Alex and I feel so welcome. We LOVE it here, and mostly because of the people who surround us.

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I made Salsa yesterday...then canned it...I've been hearing the lids pop...and it makes me smile.

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Here are some more images of Jackson! Nothing says "Happy 4th of July" better than shots of good ol' fashion country.

Shame, New Recipe, New Book, Jackson Hole, and Jam

2010-06-24T11:59:00.000-07:00

First, shame: I can't tell you how many times I have wanted to blog...and just haven't.
I can't tell you how many pictures I have to post....and just haven't.
I can't tell you how excited I am to show you the pictures below...and just have!

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I have a new recipe for you: It's called Green Pepper Chicken and I got it from "365 days of Crockpot cooking." Here goes:
Take 4 Chicken breasts and lay in the crock pot
Cut up 3 large Green Peppers and place in crock pot
Cut up 1 large yellow onion and place in crock pot
1 Teaspoon Pepper
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 tablspoon Basil
1/4 cup water
COOK for 5 hours

Take chicken out of the crock pot and cut in bite size pieces
Take juices/peppers and onions and place in blender
Blend until smooth
Place chicken and blender contents back in crock pot
Place 1/2 cup sour cream in sauce and cook for another 20 minutes

Place crock pot contents in tortillas with rice, black beans, corn and salsa...VOILA!
It's not the most aesthetically pleasing meal, mind you-but still deliciously fresh.

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I have a new book that might spark your fancy. It is called, "The Message." I got the book from my Brother, Brad, who has excellent reading taste. I want you to be the judge of it's validity however, as it is a true story of a man's visit to the after life while he is in a coma. It's sold at Deseret Book and as I was reading, I saw a lot of truth and logic in his description of what life is like after death. It has helped me feel a lot more comfortable with death and it has also helped me want to do Geneology SO BAD.

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Alex and I got to spend time with my family in Jackson Hole! I used to go there every year as a kid but then we got all spread out and had the cabin to play out so we stopped going as often. My oldest Sister Heather is in Boston, my second oldest sister is moving to L.A. tomorrow with her family, and my third older sister is moving down here the end of July, so this was going to be the last big reunion for a while. I got to spend the entire week with my family while Alex met me for the last 3 days we were there. (Too busy with work to come for the whole time....but I was glad for any time he could get away.) We stayed at Teton Village, went to the Bar J, hiked Jenny's Lake, saw Bears, Moose, Elk, Deer, Antelope, Ate Milk Shakes, and my most favorite of all-TOOK TONS OF PICTURES!! Here's a preview....many more to come:

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I'm officially a Mormon Girl. I MADE HOME-MADE JAM! Below are the spoils of my creation: Strawberry and Peach Jam. I am finding every excuse to eat a piece of Toast or a Peanut butter and jam sandwich. (Evil Laugh.)

Deals to Meals!

2010-06-08T08:15:00.000-07:00

Deals to meals is doing a Bosch Giveaway! At church we are having a number of different meetings on emergency preparedness and I am going crazy trying to get everything ready for Hurricane Season. We are supposed to have 4 large Hurricanes this season. I'm doing my best to get stocked up on Food Storage and am saving up for a Wheat Grinder and a Bosch. Check out their website at: dealstomeals.blogspot.com. They've got great ideas-i'm excited to explore more of their website. Check them out!

What an Interpretation

2010-05-18T11:03:00.000-07:00

Take a look at this image. I have it as the background of my computer and usually my students peer over at it while I'm getting Garage Band up and ready to record one of their songs. I really love it, it's very Rembrandt-esque. What do you think the picture is trying to portray?
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One of my students, a budding Concert Harpist, took one look at it and said, "That's a nice Pirate Ship."
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I couldn't help but post this absolutely wonderful moment that made the rest of my teaching day so much more enjoyable.

The Barn

2010-04-17T12:58:00.001-07:00

I found this really awesome barn on my drive yesterday. Still working on some editing but I like this one so far. It makes me want to sing the National Anthem or something....

Left to Tell, and the Texan Country and Picturing Spring

2010-04-15T17:44:00.000-07:00

All, I apologize for being "off the radar" today. I felt so great yesterday and decided to get a ton done, but I think it caught up with me today. My somewhat vain attitude has kept me in doors or out in my backyard where no one can see my chipmunk face. While soaking up that last bits of sun on my porch, I decided to finish reading this book:

We all get in ruts every once and a while. We all feel like crap (forgive my french) every once and a while. If you feel like this and are ready to stop feeling like that-then this is the book for you. I was shocked how quickly I was sucked into the story. Not only did she describe perfectly the amount of pain and suffering she and her family as well as the rest of her Tutsi tribesmen endured, but she also perfectly described God's love and the power of Forgiveness. I kept thinking how grateful I was that I didn't have anyone that had killed my family that I needed to forgive, but rather I could learn from her experiences and try to inculcate them in my own. The strongest point that I took away from this book is thus: Create a goal, envision yourself doing it with as much faith and hope as possible, pray to God that it will happen if it be His will, and finally, let God work miracles in your life. I feel so embarrassed at my trials after reading this book, but know that Heavenly Father loves me just as much as he loves Imaculee (the author of "Left to tell") and that my trials are just as important to Him as hers were/are. I feel like a Spiritually enriched person after reading this book...can you tell? I loved it and can easily give it a 4.5/5 stars. (4.5 because at times it got so sad that I had to put it down to think about something silly like Gilmore Girls or string cheese or something.)
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Now on to less serious things: I took time to do some tweaking on some of the pictures that I took along the country roads of Texas yesterday. Here's what I got out of my sweet Eloise (my new camera, of course.) Let me know if I tweaked too much or too little. I won't get better unless I know these things...

This is a field that I found and thought immediately of Katie Mitchell taking Bridal shots of someone here...Katie-this picture is for you! I hope you can take a Bride or a family or someone there and take their pictures amidst the Blue Bonnets...it was gorgeous.

Finally, I had to post some of my recent Camera class assignments. We were asked to create a "painterly canvas." Being an art history major and having been nearly drowned in hundreds of different artistic styles, I have discovered that I L-O-V-E impressionism. I never really did until now, when I am trying to create an impressionistic shot on my own while expressing emotion and at the same time catching the light (gosh, I sound like such a granola don't I?) Anyway, here is my Painterly-Impressionistic approach to Spring:

Another assignment was to catch the Enchantment of the Ordinary. We were to find everyday ordinary jobs, and see the extra-ordinary in it. My teacher found heart shaped objects made from soap scum on her shower handle. No such luck for me. As I was making my bed yesterday, I began playing with Bella who customarily jumps underneath the sheets to tease and pounce on my hands anytime they come near. I then realized: Voila! I am making a bed (ordinary) and Bella is entertaining me, making me smile and giggle (extra-ordinary!) Here are some shots that I got of her under the sheets:

I love this look of panic that she has when ever she sees an object moving. It's as if she can't help herself-Must....Pounce....NOW!

Another two assignments was to be able to catch the light in a subjects eyes as well as catch your family pet in the act of enjoying Spring themselves. I asked Alex if I could take his picture and try and catch the lights dancing across his eyes...you can imagine how he responded. He gave in, but unfortunately he has an unfavorable talent of closing his eyes during pictures. Then along comes Bella and look at her go! What a great model I have! I was laying on the grass taking pictures of the sky when she came and jumped on my belly and I caught these candid shots. Look at that sun glinting off her ever excited and Spring-stimulated eyes! (One day, I will take pictures of Human children, but for now it is just our cat-child that I have and I will shout it off the roof tops how unabashadly in love with her I am!)

Another project was a self portrait. This is what you can see me doing around town a lot lately. I told Alex that I wish that I could sleep with the Camera around my neck and wake up with it ready to take instant pictures of the world around me. I love this Camera a bit too much. Alex drove me around town last Saturday so that I could take some pictures. Here was my self portrait, without getting any of those awkward-trying to be GQ- pictures that I have seen at our Student Gallery. If you get a closer look, my face is shaded on the left-dividing my face into light...vs....dark....Could it be that this new Camera hobby could be creating an evil side that must be kept in check or else it will take over my entire being? Only time will tell...

Wisdom Teeth and a Preview of Many great things to come!

2010-04-14T20:04:00.000-07:00

Alright, this is quite humbling but for my dearest Mother, I thought I would put a couple of pictures that Alex took of me after I got my Wisdom teeth out yesterday. I look so out of it-and my cheeks are twice as puffy today as they are in this picture-but hey-here I am world-at my...well not my best-but at my most vulnerable state.

Alex making me smile but it is hurting way too bad!

Finally: I am so excited to introduce my new friend, Eloise. She is my beautiful new Rebel T1I Canon camera that I bought before I found out how much my Wisdom teeth were going to cost. I hate to say it, but I'm so glad that I bought my camera before we found that cost out. :) She is a beautiful camera. Here is a preivew of many great things to come out of sweet Eloise:

Percy Jackson and a Group Photo

2010-04-10T11:25:00.001-07:00

I just got an e-mail from my friend, Stacie, with these pictures. Thought I would post them. We invited our fellow Percy Jackson Obsess-ees (The Cheney's) to go see the movie...when was that? December? Either way, we had dinner at our house with Props: The Hats were for Annabeth's invisibility cap, a little bit of alluminum foil to snack on in honor of Grover and ball point pens that magically turn into sharp swords to KILL! Although the movie was not quite up to par with the books, we had a blast critiquing and philosophizing about future movie mess ups. Thanks for the great movie night Cheneys!

For Easter we had the Cheneys, the Mitchells and a new couple that just moved into our ward, The Greens over for dinner. As I was sitting at the dinner table, I coudln't help but think how awesome it is to have friends. We have wonderful friends in the ward pictured and not pictured below, Thank-you, thank-you thank-you for being so accepting of our Parker quirks and loving us anyway. We love you all and are so grateful for you!

Easter, Look up, Well Grounded and Just Move

2010-04-05T17:42:00.000-07:00

We had friends for Easter dinner yesterday. I got this cute Brown Paper flower bag idea from Martha Stewart and I was so excited about it that I thought that I should put a picture of it on the blog. Inside the bag are Easter goodies as well as a spiritual message, as it is the Spiritual side of Easter that I am trying harder to be focused on...rather than Chocolate.

Here are some more shots from my camera class. I was assigned to look up, try to catch dimension through the clouds no matter what weather. Thankfully I waited long enough that the sun started shining through the clouds this afternoon.

The next assignment was to take a picture on the ground-the assignment was called, "Well Grounded." Here are the shots I came up with. I know, I know, the ring next to natural beauty is a bit much, but I love my ring so much that I couldn't help myself.

PS-I got in trouble with a security guard for taking this picture. I was in a "richy" area of town where supposedly if you walk on the grass they flip out...woops! I felt like a rebel.

Finally this last image was taken to fill the asisgnment entitled "Morning Vignette." We were assigned to take a picture of a morning routine...after getting Alex out the door for Seminary, we meet at the gym to work out 1. To try and look good and be healthy...2. So that I don't die of blood clots. (Both very motivating reasons-which is why I do it everyday.)

Picture Spring

2010-04-04T14:24:00.001-07:00

I started my photography class, "Picture Spring" with my sister, Heather this past week. Our first assignment was to picture a "New Beginning." Here's what I got so far:

I think I am only supposed to post one picture on our Student Gallery site, but I don't know I just wanted to show all of them on the blog. These were taken with just my little Point and Shoot camera. I'm really excited to play with my new Camera that is coming this Friday. In honor of my Point and shoot, I wanted to discuss it's origins. I went to school in London for a semester. After completing the semester, my parents and Grandma Atwater came to pick me up and we toured Europe. One evening in Florence, a young boy came to the dinner table with a sign saying, "Please feed me." He placed the poster on the table and I gave him rolls. Little did I know that the poster on the table was his little "trick" to sneak my camera which was laying comfortably and openly on the table. I was heart broken. We still had a week left of our European tour so the next day, my dear Father took me to a camera store where I found this beautiful Point and Shoot. I love you Point and Shoot. I need to name you point and shoot...how about P.S.

Ok here are some shots from our second assignment in Picture Spring. We were assigned to pick up our camera and walk 30 steps in a direction and take a picture. I might have made a 90 degree turn along the way to get these shots, but it really was 30 steps. So here goes:

I have more assignments to be done, including some great shots of Bella and our Easter table decorations (Thanks Martha Stewart.) I will keep you posted, but please let me know what you think about these pictures-it's the only way that I will know how to get better! Love you all and Happy Easter!

Blog Face Lift

2010-03-14T08:52:00.001-07:00

I don't think anything is as wonderful as doing a Blog Face lift...and liking what it looks like. :) Thanks for being patient with all of the changes-I get bored really easily. Hope you have a wonderful Sunday!

No Rhyme or Reason

2010-03-07T08:15:00.000-08:00

This post is perfectly titled. There is absolutely NO rhyme and NO reason in the presentation of this post, however, I must show off each picture equally.

My Mom and Dad came to visit and so we got some projects done around the house: such as this lovely wreath. It totally pops out at you when you are driving on the road-I love it.

These guys have started hanging around my tub which can only mean one thing: THE SALES GUYS ARE COMING! It's time to kill some more bugs....(evil smile)...

I got glasses! I don't wear them all the time, just when I am teaching. My eyes were dilated when I picked them out so I am glad that they look decent (no Audrey Hepburn, but hey it will work.) I also found an AWESOME lady to do my hair down here and she actually charges you what she says she will charge you! SHOCKER! :) I think she is fantastic. Her name is Natalie and she works at ULTA right next to World Market for you ladies that are still in search of someone that doesn't live in Utah.

Continuing with the house projects, mom made me seat cushions for the Dining room. We also picked out awesome table settings while she was here because a lot of my plates had broken over the past few years. I will take pictures of those and put them up soon. I now have serving dishes as well that I can be proud of-(Thanks Jenni for the inspiration!)

My biggest projects was thus: I bought myself a cheapo sewing machine at Wal Mart and it works perfectly. Mom re-taught me the basics of sewing and we made the following while she was here: This Giraffe was meant to be the first of many to whom I would give out as baby shower gifts. However, it was a much bigger project than anticipated so instead we came up with a diaper basket cover which will be just as personable but without as many screams. So I am keeping this Giraffe, named Dot-she has become Bella's new friend.

We then made this table runner-which is reversable and has red (twall? sp?) on the back of it...

With two matching pillows-the other pillow is on the other side of the couch.

We also got BIG BIG news this week. My sister Kim and her husband James and their kids are moving down here to go to A & M!!! We are so excited to have them so close. I still can't believe that we are going to have family in Texas. Go Aggies, go aggies!

Alex went to Utah this past week for recruiting so I got to get caught up-or at least attempted to get caught up on Gilmore Girls. I can't tell you how much I love this show. My sister, Heather, got me hooked when we lived with them in Boston. I love, love, LOVE the show.

Finally, this is the image shown on the internet site that I go to for my PHOTOGRAPHY CLASS! My sister, Heather, (as afore mentioned) and I are taking this class called "Picture Spring" at Big picture Scrapbooking. One of the shutter sisters is teaching it and I am so excited. The class starts April 1 and is $30.00 and you can have any type of camera (which is perfect for me because I am still saving up for my Celestial camera...for now my telestial camera will have to do. :)) So get ready to see some images of a Houston Spring on my blog! Woot!

Our February Song

2010-02-15T18:16:00.001-08:00

In honor of three fantastic years together, I thought I would post some pictures of...well...us! Tomorrow is our 3rd Anniversary and I can't help but be a bit nostalgic of such a perfect day.

Our Engagement Photo

Smoochie Face

Disneyland!

Portland Oregon

Modge Podge of 2008

Alex took me to one of our Texas favorites, Saltgrass Steak house tonight. (Notice the sign says "Texas to the Bone!") We celebrated tonight because tomorrow I have to teach and he has to go to work, so we celebrated tonight. We love you February 16th-Thank-you for a perfect Wedding Day and for wonderful Anniversaries lived and yet to live.

Visiting Teaching and PBS

2010-02-09T04:56:00.000-08:00

I found a new website that I love. We all love visiting teaching, but why not spice it up with some visuals!? I found this website through sugardoodle.net and it is completely dedicated to visiting teaching crafts and ideas. The link is: http://www.visitingteachingblog.blogspot.com/. If you go to it, you can get the pattern for the craft below as well as perfectly understandable instructions on how to create your own!

This month's message is learning to manage our resources wisely. The visual is to help our sisters to "tighten their purse strings" and help them stay on top of their money matters.

After cutting out the pattern and pasting it to a piece of cute scrapbooking paper, I placed two pieces of velcro on the inside of the flap as well as on the front face as you can see above. You can also see that a quote from the Visiting teaching message is on the flap of the purse. Isn't this Visiting teaching blog (as previously mentioned) amazing!?

Inside the purse are 5 "coins" that have suggestions from Elder Wirthlin on how to stay on top of your finaces. The lady on the Visiting Teaching blog glued these on actual gold coins, but I couldn't find any and I wanted to keep the price of supplies low...so I just cute it out on paper. It is suggested that as you visit teach you dump out all of the contents of the "purse" and discuss each point while putting the coins back into the purse.

Here's the rest of the lot! Aren't the scrapbooking pages I found pretty? Go Wal Mart!

FINALLY-I owe all my admiration and respect to PBS Master Piece Theatre and to my sister, Heather, for introducing me to it. I absolutely loved this version of Emma and thought that Emma, herself (as shown below), was brilliant. So, in honor of this wonderful program and in honor of this magnificent version of Emma, I declare myself to be a newly welcomed and loyal companion to Master Piece Theatre.

Book Worm

2010-01-30T12:49:00.000-08:00

I am obsessed with Audiobooks. I read (or I should say, "Listen to") at least one book a week usually. (Go to audible.com if you would like to get into Audio books. I love it because I can listen to a book as I clean, cook, drive, e-mail, etc...) It's not necessarily something to be proud or ashamed of, however, I am one of those people that go from Book blog to book blog trying to find good reads. So, in hopes of stopping your book search, I would like to begin writing just a bit about the books I read. Not all, but definitely the noteworthy books. First i'll mention some of the other books that I have read this month and you're welcome to search them out. They were not my favorite, but still-good reads.
1. "All Creatures Great and Small" by James Harriot. This is a book that has a compilation of great Veterinarian stories combined to make the life of, well...James Harriot. Some of the stories are hilarious. Actually most are. I really enjoyed listening to it, but it's not necessarily captivating. Perhaps it's a good book to listen to when you are baking or doing something that requires most of your attention, then you can chime in when a particular story grabs your attention.
2. "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day" by Winifred Watson. I thought this book and the narrator were hilarious. There are some parts that are a bit risky which is why I am not writing an actual review on it. But, very entertaining. It's about a woman, Miss Pettigrew, in her 40's who goes from job to job. She is sent to be a governess to a young woman's house whom we later discover doesn't need a governess but rather, a maid. The young woman, who is actually quite a diva, adopts Miss Pettigrew, to be her new pet. Excitement at every corner, money, men, entrigue, etc.
3. "City of Thieves" by David Benioff-I tried this book, but had to stop after about 30 minutes of listening to it because it said the "F" word every other minute. It was a bit upsetting. Pretty cool story though, if you can edit out those words. I'm too weak-I would have that "word" in my head for days if I had listened to it any longer.
4. "River Secrets" by Shannon Hale-I enjoyed the third book in the Bayern series, but didn't love it. It's about Razo who I always loved, but never really bought into. Still, just a cozy read and a safe one at that. (I jumped intot his book immediately after City of Thieves and felt completely at ease knowing the "f" word wouldn't jump out at me anywhere.)

NOW-On to the actual book review deserving all praise and admiration:
5. "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" by Jamie Ford-

This book is not necessarily a page turner like "Hunger Games" or any of the Twilight series, but it's still captivating. It is a story of a 12 year old Chinese boy named Henry who lives in Seattle during WWII. He meets 12 year old Keiko, the only other Asian in his "American School." The two become friends as they keep each other safe from back-alley bullies who await them each day after school. Eventually prejudice towards the Japanese after Pearl Harbor becomes too great and the Japanese in Nihomachi (Japanese town in Seattle and other areas of the United States) are forced to enter Internment camps scattered throughout America...Keiko and her family among them.

The story then fast-forwards 40 years when Henry is now widowed with a son, Marty. Henry, now wife-less decides to take a walk down memory lane when an object of Keiko's is found in the Panama Hotel in downtown Seatlle. (Many of the Japanese hid their belongings in this Hotel to keep them safe while they were away at the "Camps.") Marty and Henry bond as they try to find any clues that can help him find Keiko.

The story then rewinds when Henry was 12 (in the 1940's) to explain that Henry and Keiko's relationship becomes that of dearest friends and eventually they fall in love. Henry fights to find Keiko and her family in the nearby intenrment camp. They are reunited for a short time and then once again, separated. Their loyalty to each other remains strong through weekly letters, but eventually the letters begin to slow. Henry, heartbroken after writing to Keiko weekly for 2 years, decides he needs to move on with his life. Their relationship is completely cut off leaving the reader heartbroken and completly mistified that a love story could be quite so tragic. What will ever become of their forbidden and seemingly impossible love story?

Have I sparked your interest yet? :)

On Top of the World

2010-01-22T16:20:00.000-08:00

These are the pictures from our Cruise over the weekend. We took off from San Diego and spent a day in Ensenada then back to San Diego with our Sales team from last Summer. It was crazy and fun and completely out of control...Our Cruise Ship-The Elation

The picture I tried to take of Mary and Phil in front of a wooden steering wheel and got totally yelled at by the Photography-"NO PERSONAL PHOTOS!"

The Guy in charge

I'm totally with him

The Crew at our first dinner-so happy after singing Journey with the Piano Lady

The inside of our Cruise ship looked exactly like that LDS painting of the Great and Spacious Building...cringe...

Getting ready for Volleyball-I looked over this deck an hour later and saw Dolphins!

Pastels!

Chris and Rachel and BABY!

Phil needing his SODA!

Mary and Phil-so happy...

Formal Night

The guys before the "Family Show"

I told them to look at the Camera as if it was the hottest thing in the world...did pretty well

Shy...

Getting ready to 4-wheel in Ensenada!

Nick's crazy moves!

Prepping

Man Power!

All of us on the beach!

Below is a picture of the gross pharmisicts that wanted to sell our guys really cheap drugs and well...other products.

The Bitter Sweet

2010-01-10T20:08:00.000-08:00

I had to say good-bye to the Primary today. It's so interesting to me that members give so much of themselves, dedicate all they can to their church callings and then one day...POOF...you're asked to do something else. But that is the beauty of our church! It's a miracle really, that people even agree to callings! But they do...and they do it the best they can...and then they are asked to do something else. Am I the only one that thinks that this "Circle of church callings" is amazing?? So there goes a beautiful experience of working in the Primary and here comes an adventure in Relief Society.

I asked the Senior kiddos to take a picture with me after class and here's what we got. Love you!

Christmas Card

2009-12-26T13:33:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to post a picture of our Christmas card this year. I wasn't able to send one out to everyone either because I couldn't get your address or because I ran out of cards so here ya go! I'm sorry if this is tacky but wanted to post it so that everyone could see it. It's our first Christmas card and we are so excited about it. Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and we wish you a very happy New Year!

Sweet San Antonio

2009-12-16T20:25:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Alexander Luther Parker, we have just returned from an AMAZING few days in San Antonio. We have been planning this trip for a while now and it has already come and gone. We stayed at the Courtyard on the River Walk which looked a little like this except with some more Christmas lights:

We ate at Casa Rio our first night and listened as carolers drifted by on boats along the river. We then went to go see New Moon. Alex didn't like the "kissing parts," but for the most part he gave it a thumbs up. The next day we got up and exercised to get our appetites going. After shopping along the river walk we came back and got ready for our fancy dinner and the Lion King. I have had my eye on this dress for a long time. After coming back home from our last trip to Utah, my mom surprised me by buying it and sending it to me! It is from Shabby Apple and I LOVE IT! It is made of black silk covered in a layer of lace. Then to top it off a ribbon wraps around the center and voila, I felt like a million bucks.

Alex and I went to Morton's Steak house for our fancy dinner before going to Lion King. Alex got a delicious steak and I had this unbelievably tender chicken. We just felt like Royalty. Our waitor was really cool too and taught us proper etiquette. We stuffed ourselves and loved every minute of it. Well except for the part where they brought a live lobster out and while its poor claws here flayling around, the waitor decided to tell us exactly how they would cook the Lobster if we chose to order it. I made it my mission to save that poor lobster...until the lady in the table next to us ordered it....and then I never saw it again.

After seeing the Lion King! I am so glad that Alex loves me and wanted to treat me like a princess. I think it goes without saying that we loved every minute of it.

Just a Couple More

2009-12-06T19:00:00.000-08:00

Katie finished our pictures this weekend, so I thought I would post some that will not be on our Christmas card. That way you can still get a little surprise when our cards come. Hope you enjoy them because we love them. Again, check out Katie's photography at Simplykphotos.blogspot.com. She is extremely talented...

Family...isn't it about...Time?

2009-11-28T09:37:00.001-08:00

I had a bit of an epiphany yesterday while leaving Galveston Island...I have a family that loves me enough to spend money, time and energy to come and see Alex and I in Texas! It was just a really neat feeling. Of course, I know my family loves me but it's amazing to me that I have family members that are willing to come and see us. I know my two oldest sisters want to be down here, too, and circumstances just don't allow for it-but just knowing that all of my siblings want to be together is so fun. I am so grateful for Family-and yes isn't it about...TIME? (Swallowing the throw-up from such a cheesy line)

So Kim was the head-honcho in terms of getting the meal ready and she TOTALLY pulled it off. It was delicious. It was our first Thanksgiving in our house. Last Thanksgiving I played at an old folks home where they had my name wrong down on the program and Alex was consistantly called Eric or something. (So not the best experience.) Check out the deliciousness of this turkey. Please note that we got our Turkey at Wal Mart, price matched it from H-E-B and ended up buying a $21.00 turkey for.....DRUM ROLL....$5.37!!! It was amazing. Thank-you big fat Turkey for giving your life for us...you were so yummy.

There is a story with this next picture. After Turkey dinner we went to Market street to go see the pretty Christmas tree and take a big group picture. I handed my camera to a passerby and this is the result:

Then I handed it to another passerby about 5 minutes later and this was the result:

We then went to Kemah boardwalk and rode on the Mystery train, Pharoh's fury the Airplanes and even the death-defying Kemah Boardwalk BULLET!

More to come I am sure...Happy Thanksgiving all-I'm gonna go put up my Christmas tree!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas Cards!

2009-11-15T18:58:00.000-08:00

Katie Mitchell has done it again! She has taken our nerdy selves, and made these beautiful pictures in preparation for our Christmas Cards. Here are the first three pictures that I have gotten a glimpse at. Check out her work at simplykphotos.blogspot.com. Stay tuned to see the final product...and yes, we took our family pictures with our sweet Bella! Notice the special collar I got for her...it has a large pink flower. :)

Death in Ashton Gardens

2009-11-07T19:18:00.001-08:00

For all those gals who have an intensely terrifying and nearly paralyzing fear of spiders-this post is for you...

I was asked to play for a wedding ceremony at a new Wedding Reception center called, "Ashton Gardens." The location itself was beautiful, however it was in a section that was very "forest-y", which I thought quant at first...no longer. (Dun dun DUN!)

The Prelude was fine, I felt comfortable and although the procession of Bridesmaids, parents and grandparents wasn't as smooth as I wanted it to be-it was over which I was grateful for. After the Bride was handed to her hubby-to-be, I set my Harp down getting ready to listen to the Preacher when to my absolute HORROR I looked down and next to my bench is a spider just like this one:

I was up at the front of the room and couldn't move quickly or else everyone would have seen me. I began staring at it intently, even trying to get up the courage to smash it with my pointy toed shoes, but alas-that paralyzed feeling took over and I could not move!! I thought that if I glared at it long enough it would gain the sense not to come near me. I then heard the Preacher say that Ave Maria will accompany the Unity candle lighting-In my mind I said, "WHAT!? DONT YOU KNOW THAT THERE IS A SPIDER TRYING TO EAT ME OVER HERE?" Well of course I nodded and peeled my eyes away from the Spider giving one last killer stare and began playing. I stopped the song early (but smoothly) because I thought I felt something on my leg. There was nothing there, but the spider was now trying to crawl onto my purse. I had my legs lifted for the remainder of the Ceremony and even avoided parts of the songs that I played later on that had pedal changes so that I could stay as high away from the evil critter as I could.
I think it came home with me in my purse somewhere because after I saw it crawling towards my purse, I never saw it again...darn thing.

Thank goodness that I know a good Pest Control Guy.

Me and Martha....alright alright....Martha and I

2009-10-24T20:11:00.001-07:00

Since I have stopped working at the Harp shop, I have made monthly "task" lists consisting of medium to large projects that I would like to get done within the month. (Obviously). Located near the bottom of October's list is: "Complete a Martha Stewart craft." I have never been that crafty. My girlfriends in high school were brilliant at it: painting on blank canvases, scrapbooking, decorating, etc. I was never to into that stuff but ever since President Uchtdorf's talk about the gift of Creation, I have decided to pick it up. This past week I created two baskets of greenery to place on Skaunces (sp?) at Alex's office, as well as these lovely packaged creations:They don't look like much in this picture, but I think that they actually do look pretty cute. Martha Stewart and I became great friends this past week as I followed her step-by-step process of creating "Glitter Frosted Pumpkins." Ever since I became a founder of the Generation Girls in High School (1 of 4-Liz Woolley, Kim Green and Tanelle Hansen being the others) whose slogans went something like this: "Some girls have glitter running through their veins", "Think Pink" and "So I'm hot...Let's Date." (That one didn't work out so well for us)-I have an unnatural draw to glitter and couldn't pass this project by.

I wanted to explain how I did and just how much a I made these babies for because it might just be something that you would like to hand out to your friends and neighbors. I am planning on handing them out to my Visiting Teachers and Teachees and possibly, if I get up enough courage, my next door neighbors that I still haven't met.

OK-So Wal Mart is selling baby pumpkins for 77 cents a pop. I bought 10 bringing my project total to around $8.00. Next Martha instructed me to get Elmers glue and a paint brush, glitter and wire-bringing my project total to $17.00. Finally, I decided to add some leaves on to the pumpkins and found some that wouldn't be missed on my fake tree in my entryway.

So now to the process: Take your brush and dip it in Elmers glue-cover the pumpkin entirely with glue. I tried being nice and smooth and having barely enough glue on there so it wasn't splotchy-it actually worked better when I just slapped it on there. So don't think so much and just jump right in. Before the glue dries, sprinkle glitter over the tops of the pumpkins letting gravity pull down other glitter particles down the sides. Let the pumpkins dry over night.

Tie green wire around the stem of the pumpkin and wrap the wire around a pen or pencil tightly. Release and undo wrap slightly-mess with it until you like how it looks. Finally, get your hot glue gun and add a little greenery. I added a drop of glue to the wire to make sure it stayed on the Pumpkin stem as well.

I kept three of the pumpkins for myself to make a centerpiece in my Harp room, but here is an idea on how to wrap them for presents in a cheap yet cute way: Wrap the pumpkin in Ceranwrap and tie it with some left over Fallish-type ribbon. TADAH! Add a little customized Holiday tag and your set.

You can barely see the wire that I got, it was a little too thin-but it still works. Also, I wanted to add an ode to my sweet little camera. This is the camera that my Dad got me in Florence after a little boy stole my camera at dinner. (Grr...) It has nothing spectacular about it, except I love it because I got it in Europe, BUT look what kind of picture it just took. I thought that my camera did such a good job.

Another Close up-yet another great effort Camera

Centerpiece shot

Centerpiece shot 2...Thanks for reading. Please don't think that I am being prideful or anything in this post. The only reason that I am excited is because I can actually READ directions from the incredibly talented Martha Stewart, and now I have got to spread it to the world! Hope you enjoy the rest of this Halloween Month.

Shapes, Hospitals and Bugs

2009-10-05T18:24:00.000-07:00

First of all, I had a thought while watching Conference yesterday. What if I made shapes out of my pictures? So I did just that. Not sure if I like them though. Anyway-our Harp studio had another FABULOUS hospital performance. Of course, my camera acted up so I only have two shots-but two shots gives you an inkling of the amount of support that I got from these wonderful parents and students. They did so well and had fun even! We had a great turn out and made a group of Hospital members really happy.

The next weekend was Women's conference. I grabbed a bunch of ladies and took them to the broadcast for some good ol' fashion ladies time. We listened to church music on the way there, but on the way back I busted out a CD that my sister made which was dedicated solely to Bella and Edward, since New Moon is so soon! We stopped off at Sonic on the way home, I take that back, we stopped off at a GHETTO sonic on the way home. We decided to try and eat outside in this patio like space when one of the sweet pregnant women, Tara, squealed and began to breathe heavily. I thought for sure her water had broken! I began thinking, "Ok stay calm, carry her to the car, take her to the hospital, help her breathe in and out, a couple pushes here and there and boom, you can be a delivery doctor!" Thank Heavens for me, not so much for her-a GIANT beatle landed in her straberry slushy. After that happened to a few of the other ladies, we decided to hop in the car and flee from the attack of the Sonic Bugs. Thanks ladies for the good times. (Sorry again Lea for not asking the waitor guy to take another picture of us so that your head wasn't covered up!)

Mission Possible

2009-09-27T19:21:00.001-07:00

I wanted to share the big news. I had asked my Bishop if it were possible that I become an ordinance worker at the temple, even though I was the age I am. He said it was possible, but I thought that once they accepted my papers they would take one look at me and tell me to go start having children. :) Quite the contrary actually! I went to the Houston Temple on Tuesday and met with President Bradshaw, the temple President, who said they needed me to start on the Friday morning shift. At first I was disgruntled because my parents work the morning shift at the Bountiful temple, beginning their day at 3:30 AM. Thankfully, I have to be to preparation meeting at 7:30 and I begin my morning shift at 8 AM finishing at 12:30. I had my first day this past friday and MAN...It was baptism by fire. I was running left and right trying to keep up with these sweet older ladies. I don't know how they do it actually. They even have a name tag for me and three people asked me for directions, making me feel like such a natural.

It has been such an interesting week though. I feel so peaceful and calm and so grateful to be in an enviornment as wonderfully sacred as the temple. I learned so much just on my first day that I can't help but be itching to get back there this next Friday to see what else I am gonna learn. Just pray I don't do something completely blasphemous-I do have a very light hearted personality that could get me in trouble one of these days.

So as of now, my Friday destination is...
The Houston Temple

Sales Guys, Parents and Home Improvements

2009-09-23T19:27:00.000-07:00

We have just finished our second summer of Reliant Pest Management. We had a really fun group this year, wtih lots of personality-that's for sure.

We love you Sales Guys! Thank-you for all of your hard work-can't wait for you to come back for yet another year of Parker specials and incentitives! (That one's for you Rich).

Now on to a completly different topic: MY PARENTS CAME INTO TOWN. They came to witness my first attempt at leading the kids in their Primary Program. I was so nervous about it, but it went so well. Mom explained the Primary program as one of the many miracles of the church. I now understand that and have complete appreciation for that statement. While they were here we did a lot of eating out, cleaning, shopping and just hanging out. We loved every minute of having them here and can't wait for them to come again. Love you Mom and Dad. PS-There are no pictures of Steve Randall, my dad, because he refuses to be in pictures-even being the wonderful man he is...darn him. :)

Also when Mom and Dad were here, we re-decorated this room. Stacey, thank-you for your great advice on getting these mirrors. I LOVE them. Mom and I had a lot of fun hanging the skaunces (sp?) and greenery in particular. After Mom and Dad left, I broke down and bought myself a dining room table that I had been saving up for. We love it and it fits perfectly in this room. Our first night that we set it up, I went and got us Chic-Fil-et and we ate it on our new fancy dining room table. :) It is so fun to walk by and see that in our dining room instead of a big empty room. My students like it as well, they have a spot to sit now instead of sprawling on the floor. Welcome to our house perfect dining room table!

Mom, being the amazing woman she is, told me a hidden talent that she has which is staining doors and banisters and she did just that for our castle. Doesn't it look beautiful?

I don't know if I ever posted pictures of our new couch that we bought a while ago. So here you go. Stacey, thank-you so much for your rug-it looks perfect in here.

Remember when...

2009-09-12T20:26:00.000-07:00

(Begin reading with a dreamlike distant look in your eyes...)Remember that time that I blogged about our trip to Island Park? Oh you don't? That's because I NEVER DID. (I'm lame.) So while I sit watching the USC game with Alex and my PARENTS (that's right they are in town, and I will blog about their visit soon...) let me fill you in on a couple of pics from Island Park:

We took an afternoon at Grandpa Woody and Grandma Wanda's cabin that the Parker's spent a lot of time at during the Summer months. Jamie caught some shots of Alex and I that I wanted to put on the blog. BUT FIRST-take a gander at our old school pic that was taken in downtown Island Park. Note: This was all Sande's idea (Alex's mom) and frankly, we all loved EVERY minute of it...including Alex who got to wear an awesome hat and a fake gun.

It's a Birthday!

2009-08-12T21:21:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to thank everyone for their birthday wishes. It is so fun to hear from you and I am so grateful for you. (I'm especially glad that YOU are glad that I was born, because that sure makes our relationship more uplifting.:) Now on to the Birthday details: I am 23. 23! I don't feel much different than when I was at my 13th birthday party, but nevertheless, here I am...a 23 year old. My birthday celebration began yesterday when a delivery man handed me a dozen (at least) yellow roses from none other than my parents. They have nicknamed me "The Yellow Rose of Texas", which I find cute. Then around 10:30 that night I was visited by a family that takes Harp lessons from me that wanted to give me 4 deliciously scrumptious soaps from bath and body works. Thank-you Mann family! I went into work today where my co worker, Reba, brought in icecream and mix ins to make an "in-shop-Coldstone." (She remembered that Alex and I go every weekend, practically.) My boss, Mary, gave me a much coveted basket that she got at Garden Ridge which I will put to good use tomorrow during Harp lessons. John gave me my paycheck and all signed a singing card. After work I headed home for a hot date with Alex. He took me to Palottas, my favorite Italian resteraunt where we enjoyed Mozerella garlic bread, Spaghettini Carbonara and an entry entitled, "The Big Al"-no joke, Alex loves it. Alex then surprised me with a final gift for the day: A Samson G-Track-audio recording system! This will enhance my CD recording nearly 90%. I am so dang excited. Of course, I can't get it set up so I will be going tot he MAC store tomorrow, but hey, I am an owner of a professionally marked Microphone...yeah I feel like a big deal.

Cathryn's gone Business-y

2009-08-03T06:08:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post some images of my new business cards that I had Simply K Photography produce for me. Katie picked out the font and everything and did F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S!

Please forgive Maura

2009-07-26T18:01:00.001-07:00

We are getting ready for the Primary Program that is taking the stage on September 13. We've discussed having just the sunbeams and Primary 5 class sing something all their own, the song of choice: "To think about Jesus." The song goes as follows:
"It shouldn't be hard to sit very still, to think about Jesus his cross on the hill AND ALL THAT HE SUFFERED AND DID FOR ME, it shouldn't be hard to sit quietly. It shouldn't be hard even though I am small, to think about Jesus...not hard at all."
The line that is in all caps is the line of focus for this story. I sat in the Primary 5 class with four little kids, all of them attentive and excited to learn this new song. After learning the first two lines of the song, I showed the picture below to represent the line "And all that he suffered and did for me." Curious to know what these little kids knew about the atonement I asked, "What do you think Jesus is doing in this picture?" Without hesitating, a sweet VERY quiet girl named Maura spoke up: "Ooh Ooh! Jesus is saying, "Heavenly Father, please forgive Maura." The teacher and I began to cry. I can't help but be so grateful for that sweet little lesson and pray that Jesus is saying, "Heavenly Father, please forgive Cathryn."

New Blog

2009-07-24T05:49:00.000-07:00

Everyone! I have completed my blog face lift! Thanks to Jamie Lee Parker at parkermoments.blogspot.com, and her excellent teaching ability (as well as her background) I have a brand new look. Check her out for great scrapbooking ideas! More pictures to come later!

Island Park Cabin

2009-07-20T20:43:00.000-07:00

A tender moment of Al and I outside of our Cabin in Island Park-caught by Jamie.

We went to Island Park for the Parker Family Reunion this year. This is my handsome husband in front of the cabin that Grandpa Woody and Grandma Wanda built, also the cabin where Alex would do boat racing growing up, where Brig burned her bum, and where many walks to Shotgun village occurred.

Birthday and a Pink Rodea

2009-07-19T16:42:00.000-07:00

Alex and I just got back from a trip to Utah and Island Park to see both the Randall's and the Parkers. Our first item of business upon our arrival was to scarf down some Cafe Rio with the family as well as celebrate dear Mother's birthday (she still looks around 39 to me).

Then...the girls went shopping and upon discovering that the theme of this years' Oakley Rodeo is "Real men wear pink," we knew SOMETHING had to be done. This is what we came up with:

Yes, not only pink but HOT pink on sale American Eagle shirts that even my dear Father is wearing!!! In fact, we asked them to pose and my dad leaned down and kissed Brad on the cheek! The Horror!

Candid shot-I honestly think they all look really cute...

At the Rodeo...sad to say we were some of the very few wearing pink at the "Real Men wear Pink" Rodeo Night. However we wore that Pink boldly, and hotly I might add.

The sweet kiddos-miss them already...

Transformers!

2009-07-10T22:05:00.001-07:00

Alex and I took the sales guys out to the Imax theatre to see Transformers-Here are some shots that we took after the show. Thanks guys for working so hard so that we could make the movie incentive!

Just the sales guys (and their girlfriends, wives and dates)

Just a close up

A sweet little lady on the right wouldn't leave Danielle alone-everyone thought Ava was so cute-who can blame them...?

Cool guy glasses are present