Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Patience is a Virtue

Last night was the second lesson for one of my piano students. It was the second lesson for a 4-year old, so its bound to be a little unnerving but because Brynnlee was a maniac that made it just that much worse.

Lately she has been crying ALL the time. What happens between 15 and 18 months? I think kids just go crazy. At least mine do. I remember Kaden going through this and already being pregnant. All I kept thinging was "What have I got myself into?"

So basically last night Brynnlee screamed at the top of her lungs while I tried to hold her as she flailed about and give instructions to a patient little girl on the proper fingering postitions for this weeks assignment: SUPER FUN.

Hopefully Jeremy won't be detained at work next week... I think I'm about filled to capacity on my 'patience building experiences'.

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Gamer? Not really.

Since a few of you were shocked by the Ms. Pacman obsession I have I thought I would share that I'm a total Atari and Nintendo geek. That's what I grew up with and what I still like the best. I'm into the classics like Pacman and Super Mario Bros. And then there is Joust.

Joust is a pretty unknown game, as far as I know. But my sister Adrienne and I made a pretty good team and were even able to get to the second "Egg Wave" a few times during our childhood. If you want to check it out here is a link to one of my favorite games growing up. Geeky, yes- but fun too.

http://www.midway.com/classicGames/classicGamePlayer.php?game=joust

Sunday, January 28, 2007

100 Things about Me

1. I love my family.
2. I have a wonderful husband, who is more patient with my many annoying habits that he probably has to be. You are the best Jeremy!
3. I love working in YW's- I don't know what life would be like without it.
4. I like camping, hiking, repelling, snowboarding- all the stuff I NEVER get to do.
5. I hope I don't embarrass myself this summer trying to complete a Triathlon.
6. I love the "Liken the Scriptures" movies, seriously I'm dancing and singing along with Kaden all the time.
7. My best friend April and I once "borrowed" her parents station wagon when we were 14 and ran into the corner of the garage. We learned a valuable lesson about applying new stucco to a house before her parents came home.
8. I wish I was more patient.
9. I hate cleaning my bathrooms.
10. I have braces at 26 years old- annoying.
11. I can play the piano.
12. I used to play the flute, I could probably stil stumble through some songs.
13. I want to learn to play the violin.
14. I love basketball.
15. I wish I could eat whatever I want and be thin (who doesn't).
16. I wish our TV was powered by a treadmill. Two birds with one stone.
17. My favorite ice cream is cookie dough.
18. I want to travel to Italy, and anywhere else!
19. I'm a big of fan of music videos, making my own that is- lip sync of course.
20. My first job was at a shoe store - Factory Brand Shoes in Solvang, Ca.
21. I was born in the 80's! I know its weird for some of you.
22. I have 7 sisters and 1 lonely brother.
23. I was born in California.
24. I grew up in Edgewood, NM - just east of Albuquerque.
25. I love meeting new people.
26. I once stapled my finger while talking to a guy, AND finished the converstation! I was smooth.
27. I played one year of soccer in High School.
28. I never went to prom, homecoming, etc growing up.
29. I still keep in touch with my best friends from High School.
30. I love scrapbooking.
31. My new favorite restaurant is Bone Fish Grill - Bang Bang Shrimp is my weakness.
32. I'm a Rick's College Alumnist.
33. I met some of my best friends in college and I think they are amazing.
34. I have lived in 5 states: New Mexico, California, Idaho, Montana and now Washington.
35. One of my cars in high school was a pink Ford Aspire- that was a confidence builder.
36. I liked New Kids on the Block, Debbie Gibson, Tiffany and many other awesome groups.
37. I wanted to serve a mission to Bolivia.
38. I think road trips are fun.
39. I never went to EFY, but desperately wanted to.
40. I want to go to New York City.
41. I want to see Celine Dion in Las Vegas, but the sand is almost out of that hour glass.
42. I wanted to be Child Psychologist, Neonatal Nurse, or a Mom when I grew up. One down 2 to go.
43. I had good grades in HS, and even made the Dean's List a few times at College.
44. I'm easily addicted to shows on HGTV and TLC.
45. Kaden and I watch "Little People, Big World".
46. I love DVR and its only been 4 days.
47. I have never gotten a ticket, but I have been pulled over many a times (keep your fingers crossed).
49. I still want to take the trip to Europe with my sister that we cancelled when I found out I was pregnant with Kaden.
50. I hate being pregnant.
51. I wanted 5 or 6 kids growing up- now I'm not so sure.
52. I like going to the dentist.
53. I used to have straight hair, I know you wouldn't believe that now!
54. I liked sharing rooms with my sisters.
55. I have a huge scar on my knee from wrecking on my bike when I was 9.
56. I had my appendix out when I was three, then was in the hospital a month later for a secondary infection.
57. I was born on my Grandma's birthday- my name really should have been Joanie.
58. I was going to be named Andrew if I was a boy.
59. I have the cutest kids ever.
60. My family DROVE to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico when I was 11 to see a solar eclipse! One motorhome, 5 kids, and 7 blown tires: Priceless.
61. I want to go skydiving.
62. When I was pregnant Jeremy and I both said we didn't care what we were having as long as it wasn't a red-headed boy. HA!
63. I would love to live in another country for a short while.
64. I wish I had a standup arcade game of Ms. Pacman.
65. I had the high score on most of the Ms. Pacman games in the Rexburg/Idaho Falls area at one point in my life.
66. I have never owned a "brand new" car- and probably never will.
67. I hate paying retail for anything.
68. I love seeing that people read my blog- and comment.
69. I bought a grand piano when I was 17.
70. Growing up our ward used to rent a tour bus and drive to Mesa, AZ for our temple trips. They were awesome!
71. I love music, except for "butt rock", which Jeremy loves.
72. Education Week at BYU was usually the highlight of my summer.
73. I wish I could do my wedding over, only because I often wonder what I was thinking when I was 19- Imagine that.
74. Jeremy once threw my wedding ring away in a Maverik gas station garbage can. It was on accident, and luckily he found it without having to dig too much.
75. I have never hiked the "Y" but I have hiked the "R".
76. I want to be certified in SCUBA diving.
77. My favorite classes at Ricks were Stress Management, all the Humanities classes I took, Ballroom Dancing, Culinary Arts, and Family History with Brother Ladle.
78. I worked as a legal assistant at Credit Union when we were first married.
79. I played on a softball team 6 years ago, it was my first attempt at softball ever!
80. I wish I could snowboard better, especially when I watch X-games.
81. I think it would be amazing to play the organ in the Conference Center, but I think I should learn to play the organ in our building first.
82. I took swimming lessons almost every summer growing up and still can't swim!
83. I love waterskiing and wakeboarding.
84. We have popcorn and Orange Julius for Sunday dinner more often than I like to admit.
85. I love watching movies at home- I really don't like the theater anymore.
86. I once participated in a horse relay with my cousin Carrianne at a local rodeo.
87. I thought it would be cool to be a rodeo queen.
88. I like dancing- country line, swing, ballroom all of it.
89. I like the weekend, who doesn't?
90. Dion's Pizza in Albuquerque is the best pizza ever!!
91. I love playing at arcades.
92. We had the best pirate ship tree house growing up- it even had a zip line and trap door.
93. I liked Mmm Bop by the Hansens.
94. I love camping out with the family at Lake Powell.
95. I participated in a sidewalk chalk art festival in High School and was then chosen to participate in the Santa Barbara Art Festival (in California). It was on Sunday so I declined, but I still think its awesome that I got the invite.
96. I have been composing a song for almost 3 years, and its nowhere near completion, might never be.
97. I wish I had a beautiful solo voice, but I'll settle for my fun singing voice.
98. I like watching kid shows with Kaden and Brynnlee, and having an excuse to do other 'kid stuff'.
99. I have never been to Park City even though we go to Utah like twice a year.
100. I had fun making this list, I hope everyone else enjoyed it too... seriously I could keep going but let's save it for a Girls Night Out!

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Welcome to 2007

The Beck's have finally arrived!

Over the last few years we have been given a lot of grief over our stone age ways of "taping" shows with our VCR as our friends smugly paused and then fastforwarded live television with the help of TiVo and DVR. Well, the cable guy left and a freshly installed DVR is sitting atop my VCR. Now we can proudly say we have joined the rest of country by stepping into the 21st century.

I no longer need to search through unlabled blank tapes to find the latest episode of the many shows I try to keep on top of. Today I even threw out one of our "tapes"- mainly because Brynnlee had pulled out some of the ribbon and was using like a purse, but its progress.

I'm really hoping that it wasn't the tape with last night's episode of LOST, but I guess I'll find out tonight as I watch my LAST "taped" show. If it so happens that LOST was on the purse tape- anyone DVR it last night??

It's A GIRL!

My sister finally got the confirmation that she is indeed having a girl. After my sister's dream about the baby and Melissa just KNOWING she was having a girl- the news is finally official. We are excited to get another girl in the family so Brynners isn't the odd girl out, even though Jeremy tried incessantly to convince them it would be a boy.

Congrats Meliss... thanks for calling, Jerk. I don't know why I'm even saying that- SHE NEVER READS MY BLOG. I'm not even sure she knows I have one. But that's ok, she's my sister and I will love her if even if she doesn't care about my dorky ramblings.

Monday, January 22, 2007

Waiting to get thin

I got to the gym at a spry 4:55, a few minutes before they actually open. Usually an employee is already there and a few early birds are hitting the machines pretty hard. Today it was completely dark and there were a few cars with people waiting in the parking lot. Well, I too waited and waited and waited.

Finally at about 5:10 I got out of the car and called the posted number (you know the one to call in the unfortunate event that the gym isn't opened at 5) and they said they would get someone out there soon. I waited for about 5 mins, and figured I was only wasting my time. Who knows when someone would acutally get there to open the doors to Broadmoor Fitness.

So my last ditch effort to shed some pounds before my weigh in today was thwarted. But rather than be discouraged I came home and popped in a pilates tape I haven't seen for a few years. While it wasn't the treadmill/bike combo I have been trying to sport it was probably better than going back to bed.

The upside of this sob story is that I weighed in 5 lbs lighter than last week. I guess all those nights of being hungry might be paying off. Only 15 more weeks to go!! I think I can do it.

Thursday, January 18, 2007

We're all Grownups right?

As most of you are aware, we spent this last weekend at my aunts house in Seattle. She is the inspiration for my red bathroom. She has had a red bathroom long before they were the trend and from then on I wanted one too.

In her red bathroom is the craziest lightswitch plate I have ever seen. If I remember it right, I believe some of her girlfriends bought it for her. I think it is so funny, and seriously laugh to myself everytime I go in there and turn on the light.

After laughing all weekend and wondering if I was a total nerd I decided I needed to blog it for the rest of you to see. What do you think? Would this make you crack up too?










Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Loose Lips Sink Ships

Friday before we left for Seattle Kaden had a dentist appointment. Kaden has been to the dentist before, so I wasn't too worried about it. He did great. Sat still, opened wide, jumped through all the hoops- he's such a champ.

Towards the end of the appointment Kaden got to choose out a new toothbrush and flosser. They talked about brushing teeth and flossing. The hygenist asked Kaden if he brushed his teeth and if I helped him. This was his answer:

"My mom brushes my teeth. And I get to do it when she has to go potty!"

Yeah, that's totally embarrassing. Its not really that big of a deal, but it still was a little akward. I'm glad the entire office staff has a sense of humor there!

Nothing like the loose lips of a three year old to sinking any sense of dignity you might have had.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Discontinue use if you feel dizzy, faint, pain or shortness of breath

I love the warnings they post on exercise equipment.

Today marks Day one of the Biggest Losers Challenge for me and the rest of the family and friends. I got up at an eye stinging 4:45 am and joined all the other determined folks at the gym. I was seriously saddened by the way your body falls out of shape so quickly, and by quickly I mean 7 months. I wasn't going terribly fast on the treadmill but the computer kept slowing me down to keep my heartrate on target. It was kind of pathetic, but a good way to ease back into the world of exercise. I'm back on the bandwagon and hopefully I'll be there to stay!

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Life and Virtues

My MIL sent me an article this morning and I thought it was so uplifting. I wanted to share just a few thoughts from it with you all. If you want a copy of the entire article, email me. I would be happy to pass it along!!

Life is hard. Marriage is hard. Family life is hard. And all for a purpose. Not one of us is at home on this planet; we are all away at school. In speaking of the plan of salvation, mortality, the second estate, is often referred to as the second act. It is a fact that “living happily ever after” is never written into the second act of plays, but rather it is reserved for the third act. The third act in this “play” is eternal life, where we will live happy ever after, if, during this life, we endure to the end in good cheer.

Being of good cheer is a virtue. Cheerfulness is a condition, more of the mind than of circumstance, and is worthy of cultivation. Mothers who are of good cheer impart courage, confidence, optimism, hope, and faith in the Lord to their husbands and children. Cheerful mothers draw family members to them. The entire family tends to thrive in an environment that is both spiritually and temporally cheerful.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Ok... I'm redundant redundant

I'm just putting out another post for the Biggest Losers contest. It really has been my theme lately. If you want to participate I need to know by Sunday night, becuase Monday we will be doing our weigh in and collecting the entry fee. I have invited those of you who showed interest to join the blog. So check your inboxes and if you don't have an invitation and want to join please feel free to email me. It is open to anyone and everyone!

Tuesday, January 9, 2007

The Metal I Loathe

Since I didn't get the ticker functioning the way I wanted I'll just get the post out there and move on.

At my last appointment I asked Dr. Sinha how long he thought I had on my braces. He gave me 3 different dates. So I will have them off in 8-10 months, a year at the most. So maybe August, possibly October and worst case scenario would be December. I'm just excited to start 2008 with slick teeth! I can't wait (even though I should becuase its still a ways off)!!

Sunday, January 7, 2007

I'm glad you are excited

There has been a lot of excitement about the Biggest Losers contest!! We are giving all contestants posting rights to the blog, so if you want to participate give me your email and we'll get you set up. I have already sent out a few invites to those who have said they are in, so check your inboxes. We are hoping to weigh in either Sunday or Monday any opinion on this?? Go ahead and start posting to the toomanyrolls blog and we'll get started. Good luck!

Saturday, January 6, 2007

Weight Loss Anyone??

My sister-in-law Kristen decided to host her own version of Biggest Loser. Jeremy has set up a blog to track progress and give suggestions, etc and are we are officially inviting others to join.

We will have an official start and end date, and are thinking we'll chip in $10 as a "deposit" and at the end give the winner a cool gift card. So if this sounds like something you would be interested in email me or check out the blog... its located on the side bar.

www.toomanyrolls.blogspot.com

PS Brad Johnson the human water log is exempted from this competition, but anyone else feel free to join the endeavor.

Friday, January 5, 2007

Ticker, Ticker, what a Tricker...

Ok. Sorry for the confusion.

I thought it would be cute to display a ticker for my countdown to a slick, braces-free smile. I had a few problems. First off it wouldn't fit, and then meltdown central with kids came my way. I wasn't able to adjust the ticker so I just left it, not even thinking twice about it.

Later on I get the call. I wonder to myself why Tiffani would be calling at 8:30 on a Friday night, probably just to tell me how much my friendship means to her, really I was totally flattered.

"What's the ticker on your blog for? Are you pregnant? I just talked to Kim and she wondered if you were too. We thought you might be since the countdown starts with 9 months. "

Seriously. It went that way- I'm not sure Tiff even paused for a breath!

In short- No I'm not pregnant. Sorry to disappoint. I just started something and didn't quite get it finished... which tends to happen a lot more these days.

The up side is I got a comment on my blog. Maybe I should make fake pregnancy tickers more often, it might help the traffic or excitement on this lagging blog.

I love you Tiff, even if you just call to see if I'm yaking my brains out with baby #3.

Thursday, January 4, 2007

Costco: You are dead to me, at least in the diaper world...

I just found a great deal, and thought I would share with all my faithful blog readers. After having the discussion with Karen recently about the cost of diapers at COSTCO rising slowly, I started some research.

Unfortunately, it didn't get me too far. But Jeremy pulled through and found that Amazon.com has diapers, and he even found a coupon! I kind of knew this but really, buying diapers from Amazon? Who knew...

Anyway as an example the sz 3 package of Huggies which has 144 diapers is priced at $29.99 which used to be Costco's price. AND right now if you type in the code HUGGIE30 when you checkout at Amazon you get $30 off a $99 purchase of Huggies diapers or pullups. AND there is free shipping available on most orders at Amazon. My shipping would have been over 47 dollars, but since I don't need all my diapers tomorrow I chose the supersaver shipping offer: FREE!

I bought four packages of Huggies diapers today with the total being about $98!! That's amazing! At least I thought it was. Let me know what you think.

Costco forget your $3 coupon, you may have met your match!

Wednesday, January 3, 2007

Alicia's Blog... it was so funny I had to share!

New Years Resolutions....A Poem, by Alicia Leppert

For my first resolution, I want to lose weight.
Having a waistline would really be great.
Second I'm going to stick to my budget.
My platinum Visa? I won't even touch it.
I'm going to work out an hour each day
I'll wear my bikini on Oprah in May.
I'll read the scriptures from cover to cover
When I've memorized one book, I'll just start another.
I'll have dinner ready each evening by five
McDonald's revenue will soon take a dive.
I'll go to be early and give up my naps
(I swear I just heard a "yeah, right" and a laugh.)
I'll play with my kids each an hour a day
I'll throw the t.v. and their movies away
Once that's all accomplished I'll fly to the moon
then solve worldwide hunger and violence, real soon.
So let's be realistic and freely admit,
that six weeks from now, my clothes still won't fit,
I'll be in the drive-through at old Mickey D's
with my Visa in hand to avoid bounced-check fees
I'll be up long past ten, and take three hour naps
while my kids sit there watching Boots, Dora and Map.
I will try the scriptures, at least a few books,
then maybe my failures will be overlooked!

Tuesday, January 2, 2007

Wedding Pictures!


The Happy Couple



All the girls.... and one boy.

"Say stinky feet!"




Dance, Dance, Dance


The Most Amazing Backdrop EVER!
Breanne's dad made this backdrop, it resembles the Columbia River Temple. They didn't put the steeple on top, but you can see it peeking out from the middle. The arches are exactly like the ones at the temple, but you can't really tell in the picture. I told Steve (her dad) he should rent it out. He said he would love to and would even deliver it. So... if you want an amazing backdrop you know where to find one!!


Monday, January 1, 2007

The Wedding and the New Year

This weekend was really busy, with Jeremy's brother getting married. Everything went smoothly and the reception was fun. The kids looked adorable in their dresses and ties, and the couple wasn't too shabby either. Kaden has found his new calling in life - a photographer. He hasn't put his camera down for the last three days!! Thanks Uncle Mike for finding a blue one in Oregon!

New Year's Eve brought more family to our house. Betty and Fred came up with Scott and Carol-Lynn, but with a pooped mother of the groom they left at about 9:30. Jessica and Luke stayed with their kids until about 12:30, just long enough to ring in the New Year. Amazingly enough, Howie (who is a week younger than Brynnlee) made it to ring in 2007 and didn't even take a snooze on the 20 min. drive home. What a trooper.

Kaden was excited to stay up late and cried when we told him it was really time for bed. He kept telling us there was "only one more race on Cars." This morning he came into our room and the first thing he asks is:

"Mom, is it Sunday?"

No, it's Monday.

Can I finish watching Cars?

Needless to say he watched it twice before we went to Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner.

After dinner we went to go see Night At The Museum. I should use that term lightly since I only made it about 30 mins into the movie before Brynnlee had a meltdown and we spent the next hour and a half roaming the halls. She was crying and screaming so loudly that two different times theater employees came down the hall and confirmed with me that everything was ok. Yeah, if sitting in the hall with a fit-throwing child is ok- then I'm wonderful. Hey, its only New Years Day 2007 once! Hope you made the best of yours.