simplify.

I think I have organized, cleaned, and rearranged almost every room in my house 2 or 3 times this summer. I guess that is what happens when you have too much time off work. :) It's a good thing I have a patient husband. 

I have this need to get rid all the junk in my home. It might be possible that I have gone a little overboard, but I still feel like there is SO much junk in my house. I just don't know what else to get rid of. 

We got a new bed in our room. Before it arrived, I cleaned everything out. I even got rid of our dresser. We have everything in our closet. Kind of weird, but I love it. I took our side tables out, and I love not having them. I also don't like having anywhere to put the baby monitor (yes, I still use a baby monitor!), my phone, and whatever else I need by my bed. Today I finally put it back in there. I still don't like it. 

(Gage would CRY if I was not taking a photo of HIM!)

I do, however, like my new duvet cover and bed. I was afraid it would look terrible with red walls, but it seems to look okay. I am almost excited for it to get cold so I can put the duvet in the cover! 

I decided that our living room was far too cluttered. I love my bookshelf, but I don't like how busy it makes the room. I decided that I would put it in Gage's already tiny room! In order to get it back there, I had to take it completely apart and then reassemble it in his room. It fits along the wall perfectly, but his room is already super small. I love having somewhere to put his toys, blankets, books, shoes, and everything else. So nice! I like it! 

Gage wanted to help show off his room. 

Our living room is still boring and cluttered. I don't know what I want. maybe I just need to paint all the walls white. ha ha. I do need to redo all of our photo arrangements though. I am in the process of printing new photos.

The only problem with our new living room is that the DVD's are where Gage can reach them. That has been frustrating. He will learn though. It may take a little time. 

I have cleaned out the back bedroom a few times and even gave away our spare bed. I really don't know what else I can get rid of in this house. :)

sad day.

We've had a rough two days.

I remember thinking when Gage was a baby that it was no fair that just when he would be able to play with Bruce and love him, Bruce would most likely reach his life expectancy. We figured and hoped Bruce would make it until Gage was two.

This summer has been hard on Bruce. He's been moving slower and you can see he is just getting old. :(

Yesterday Bruce got really sick. He stopped eating, drinking, moving. He's not going to make it. We've shed lots of tears, had lots of regrets for the lack of pictures we have taken, and now we are waiting. We are taking him to the vet in an hour or so (we need help. It's not easy to move a 200lb dog) and I am certain they will euthanize him. He is miserable. His arthritis is terrible and he won't eat anything to take pills.

We are sad. Gage is going to be heart broken (how do you even explain that to a two year old!).

To remember the good days, here is some photos of Bruce!

We love you Bruce! We'll miss you terribly. We could never find another dog to take your place. I wish Gage had more of a chance to know and love you.

randomness.

I can't believe my baby is so grown up.  He tells me all the time, "I'm not your baby, I'm your Gagey!"

School starts in 17 days. That means I start in 15. Two weeks from Monday. I am torn. I am excited to get back to work and back into a schedule and responsibilities, but I hate how busy I get during the school year. I hate working so much. Of course I would rather stay home with Gage, but the bills need to be paid. Over three months without a check and I am so ready to start working again! :)

I LOVE being able to clean when I am in the mood to clean! It makes it MUCH easier to be in the mood. I have deep cleaned/organized every room in my house this summer. Of course you can't really tell now, but I still feel accomplished! I don't love cleaning during the school year. I don't like having a certain time when I have to have things done. It's silly, I know. 

We went to the derby tonight. It was a fairly uneventful derby, which is good, but a little excitement is always fun! Gage was hilarious! I have a video. Sadly, my camera does not get along with youtube, but I will work on it. I didn't get the first heat which is the one where he was freaking out. It was awesome. 

I had so much to say. And now I don't. There may be a randomness part two in a bit! :)

Happy Sunday, friends. 

camping

We love camping. 

When we were first married, and even up until Gage was born, we spent every weekend in the spring/summer/fall camping. The last couple of years we have tried to get out, but our camping trips have been less than ideal. Camping with a toddler is a little bit more of a challenge, but a lot more fun. 

A week or so ago, my cousin was getting married and we wanted to go up to her reception. We decided to make a family vacation of it. We went up to SLC on Tuesday. We stayed at the SLC KOA. We got out tent set up and our camp all ready. The KOA was super nice and I figured we would really enjoy our stay. It was quite hot outside (upper 90's, luckily we missed the 100+ week) so we decided we'd go to Seven Peaks. We had a great time and wore ourselves out. We went back to our camp and made dinner and tried to relax. I say tried because when I was thinking that camping would be a good idea, I wasn't thinking about the fact that we would be camping in the valley. It was so hot. We had our small tent because we didn't want to bother with the big one. I am sure that didn't help out the heat issue. Around midnight it was still 85 outside. I can only imagine it was 95 in our tent. It was miserable. But, we survived. :) We had used our air mattress a few weeks earlier and it was fine. Turns out, it wasn't so fine. It had a leak... somewhere. So we slept on a half inflated air mattress. It wasn't exactly pleasant, but we survived. :) The people next to us were smoking the smelliest cigars ever. So gross. It really was quite the long night. 

On Wednesday we went to Park City and went school clothes shopping for Dustyn. Good day. Thursday we went to the Hoogle Zoo. We loved the new Rocky Shores! I can't wait to go back. On Friday it was my cousins reception in Saratoga Springs. We were originally going to spend another night and go home Saturday evening. I decided there was no way I could handle another night on that mattress in the 95 degree tent with stinky cigar smoke, so we decided we'd drive home Friday night and forget about our Saturday plans. I can say now, that was a very good choice. 

While we really did have a lot of fun, Our camping trip itself wasn't super great. 

Fast forward to this week. I really wanted to go on a camping trip in the mountains where it would cool off when the sun went down. We decided on Friday that we would go up to Fishlake. We got up there around 2. We knew there was a chance of rain. I wasn't too worried, I mean we do live in Utah. The second driest state in the Nation. (I am always surprised when they play that commercial on TV, anyone else?) We have not had much rain at all this year. When it does rain, it is for a short time and the sun comes out within a minute or two. I can tell you that was not the case this weekend. 

When we arrived at 2:00 p.m. it was raining. And HARD! It rained and rained and rained. We thought about going home but I honestly did not think it would last long. It stopped raining! We went down and told the camp host where we wanted to stay and set up camp! We got everything set up... and it started raining. It rained all day long. The evening brought thunder and lightening storms. I enjoy a good thunder and lightening storm... when I am NOT sleeping in a tent. The lightening was a little too close for my liking. We got Gage in bed. He was feeling quite warm. I figured I would keep my eye on him to make sure he didn't get any warmer. He woke up at 2:00 a.m. screaming. I am sure he woke up the entire mountain. He was still warm so I decided to give him medicine. He will NOT take medicine. It's a huge ordeal. We tried everything we could to coax him into taking it. No such luck. I finally got to the point where I tried to make him take it. That ended in us all having blue sticky medicine all over us. Some how we ended up getting half of it in him and decided half is better than nothing. He eventually calmed down and went back to sleep. We slept until 9:00 am. That is not normal for Gage, but thank heavens. It was nice. AND we woke up to the sun shining! Hooray! Gage's fever had gone down and he was happy. We made breakfast and played around a bit. 

 This was our attempt to keep our tent dry. It worked! Our tent didn't get wet in all the rain.

Gage loved jumping off the rock and exploring. We chose the camp site the farthest away from any roads or any other campers. It was nice to let him wander a bit.

 I love my handsome boy!

 After breakfast, we went out in the boat with grandpa. Gage loved it. He always wants to sit in the "captain's chair" and push all the buttons. Not the best idea. Grandpa is a good sport and lets Gage drive the boat.

 We fished a little bit and Gage even caught two fish! He wasn't about to touch the worms.

 And definitely not the fish!

We hadn't even been out on the lake for an hour when it started to rain. We quickly made our way back to shore (about noon). We went to my parents trailer and sat outside and watched the rain. It was a beautiful day.

We eventually decided to go for a ride so Gage could take a nap. Of course it rained and rained and rained. All day.

 We went to make sure that our tent was still standing and dry. It was! It was starting to slide down the mountain, but Dustyn saved it.

 Gage wasn't super happy that it was raining... and raining.

Gage wasn't feeling very good. We thought about going home, but we really didn't want to pack up in the rain. He was warm and happy, so we decided to stick it out and hope it would be dry in the morning.

After a long day of rain, we finally decided just to go to bed.

Gage woke up around midnight. He was warm and feverish again. We gave him some medicine and got him back to sleep. With his Jeep, of course! At this point we were wishing we would have just packed up that morning and gone home. The rain was suppose to stop around 5:00 a.m., we could make it!

We laid there and tried to sleep. Gage was breathing so loud. Finally around 1:30, I asked Dustyn, "Are you asleep?"
"No."
"You wanna go home?"
"Please!"

So, we packed up and went home. Everything was drenched. We rolled our tent and tarp up into a ball and strapped it to the top of the Jeep. We shoved everything else in and off we went. It rained the whole way home. There were SO many deer so we drove slow (plus there was a huge ball of tarp on the top of the Jeep). It took us over an hour to get home. I was happy to be home. Of course Gage was ready to get up for the day by the time we got home. So, Gage and I slept on the couch. I think I would take a half inflated air mattress any day. My body was killing me this morning.

It was quite the weekend.
We've had some great memory building camping trips this summer, from one extreme to the other. I still want a good, nice, relaxing weekend of camping.

see mom, I'm strong!

Every now and again, I have the urge to blog! I know, crazy!

We have had a great summer! I am hoping to do a post soon on the highlights.

I hope you are all well and happy! I miss reading blogs.

fast fact friday

Once again, I am slacking on posting to my blog. I have been working so much lately. I have been subbing 3-4 days a week (generally 7:30-3) and then my custodial work (3-6). Once I get home, make dinner, clean it up, bath Gage and put him to bed... blogging is the last thing on my mind. BUT... summer is coming soon! Two and a half months with NO work responsibilities! I can't wait! Woooo!

1.  Do you like to cook?

2.  What's your favorite thing to make?

3.  Do you like cooking for others?

4.  Are you a baker, or mainly a taster?

5.  What food will you NOT cook under any circumstances?

1. I love to cook. I wish I had more time and money to cook the things I really want to cook. I could make a new recipe everyday and be happy. I love trying new things and learning new techniques.

2. The one staple in our house when we are in a pinch or a hurry, pasta with my sauce. Yum.

3. I do like cooking for others. It's always fun to throw a party/gathering. I do have a hard time sharing responsibilities when I am cooking. I either want to do it all, or not at all. I like things my way when I am cooking.

4. Baker, taster... all of the above. I would rather cook something than bake something though. I love to bake, but then I eat it, so I try to avoid it all together. :)

5. I will cook anything. I even cook Dustyn mushrooms *gag* and pork chops. Ew.


I hope things are going well for all of you!

Gage turns TWO!

Man, what kind of a "mommy blogger" am I? Gage has been two for a week and I haven't even announced it to the blogging community.

**edited to add 1 year old photos**

2 years old

• Gage is one of the funniest boys I know. He makes me laugh everyday. 
• He is always obsessed with something. 
• Always on his list: trucks, cars, Mickey, Grandpa's truck, Chet's truck, the white car, the blue car.
• He isn't much of an eater. I can't tell you what his favorite foods are because he doesn't like/want anything consistently. It's hit or miss. I can usually get him to take one bite of a chicken nugget. That is the only consistency when it comes to food. :) He usually likes eggs, rice, apples, and tomatoes. His new thing is to chew it up and spit it out. Wait, he LOVES MILK! His days is always better once he can lay on the couch, watch Mickey Mouse while drinking his milk. 
• He loves candy/sweets and begs for it. Always. 
• He is a talker. He is always talking. He speaks very clearly and can say most things. He does talk some jibberish that I can't understand, but for the most part I can understand what he wants. 
• He randomly comes up and says, "I love you Mommy/Daddy" all day. He's too cute. 
• He loves to RUN! I do believe it's his most favorite activity. He always begs to run. 
• He has the best dances ever. He has a dance for each of his favorite dancing songs. 
• He loves to jump. It's right up there with running. He is a good jumper and can get some air. 
• He loves to sing. He knows most of the words to these songs and can sing them by himself. 
• Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star (his favorite to sing)
• I Hope they Call Me on a Mission
• I Am a Child of God
• Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam
• How Much is that Doggie in the Window
• I Love to See the Temple (this one is so cute!)
• I Belong the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
• ABC's (he's getting there)
• The Itsy Bitsy Spider
• Popcorn Popping
• Red Solo Cup (just the chorus. He did not learn this from me! ha ha)
• All of the songs in Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Meet the Robinson's
• And plenty of other songs that I am always surprised that he knows.
• He loves to read books and tells us what is in every picture. 
• He knows his basic shapes: Square, Circle, Star, Rectangle, Triangle, Cone, Diamond
• He knows his basic colors: Black, Green, Red, Blue, Yellow, Orange, White, Pink, Purple, Grey.
• He can count to 14 or 15 when he thinks no one is paying attention. If you ask him to count he says "one, two, one, two, one, two". If you can get him past two, he'll keep going. 
• He likes to make people laugh. Once someone laughs, he tries and tries to make them laugh again and again. Of course it works. 
• He loves laughing at himself. He finds things so funny. 
• He loves his trucks and cars. He'll play for hours with them. Unless we are at church. Then he wants nothing to do with them. :)
• He is usually a very kind boy. He hugs and kisses everyone he meets, even if they don't want hugs and kisses. 
• If he sees a group of people congregated together, he'll push his way through the middle of them saying, "sorry, sorry, sorry" as he pushes them out of the way. 
• He always says "please" and "thank you". Sometimes it gets a little out of hand, but I am glad he is a polite boy. 
• If he decides he needs a diaper change, he lays down in the middle of the floor and yells, "I'm poopy" It doesn't matter where we are or what we are doing or in what group of people he is currently pushing his way through. 
• Sometimes we'll call him by a different name to tease him, he'll confidently say, while patting himself on the chest, "The names Gagey!" It's so cute. 
• He loves being outside. Once he's out there, coming in is not an option. 
• He talks back to the TV and answers all of Mickey's question and usually correctly. 
• When he gets mad he SCREAMS as loud as possible. No one has to wonder if he's mad or not. He is getting better at using his "nice voice" to get what he wants instead of screaming. 
• If you ask if he wants to do something (eat, sleep, or what he wants to eat) his answer is always, "nope!"
• He loves to get in trouble and knows how to find trouble. 
• If he hears a noise, he says, "Listen, listen!"
• He gets excited to see pictures of Korin, J, and Gagey. He talks about them all the time. 
• When he knows he is in trouble, he takes off running into his bedroom, slams the door, and gets into his laundry basket. 
• He does not like the camera. I cannot get any of his songs on video. Or anything else. No matter how sneaky I am, he somehow knows! 
• He loves to smell things. He'll say, "Smells good!" or "Smells yucky!"
• I may add to this later as I remember. 

We went to the Children's Museum at the Gateway for Gage's birthday. He had so much fun running and playing all he wanted without getting into trouble. We spent the day with Korin and her family. It was a great day. 

Happy Birthday Gagey! We love you! 

just in case you were wondering

You may remember when I made laundry detergent and dish washer detergent.

I figured it is about time to give you an update. 

First off, the laundry soup. I began using 2Tbsp per load. I love the smell of the soap. Smells so good. When the clothes come out of the washer, they have a slight soap smell. Smells soooo good. Once you dry them, they are free of smells. I love me some smelly laundry. I smell each item of clothing before I fold it, put it on, or put it away. I am a freak. I know. So, I do miss it smelling. I'm strange and I am aware. :) At least I don't smell dirty clothes, right?

At first I didn't think my clothes were getting as clean as I would like them. I was ready to chuck it and go buy some Tide. I decided to bump up the amount a bit and see if that helped. I started using 4 heaping Tbsp and my laundry drastically improved. It is now clean. I finally gave up on the Tbsp and started using a 1/2 cup measuring cup. I just don't fill it completely. 

It has lasted 3 months and I am sure it will last another. Not too shabby, especially since I am using far more than the suggested amount. And, I am okay with that. :) (Maybe my loads are larger than who ever came up with that amount? Who knows) I do a lot of laundry (at least for us). I would guess I do 8-9 loads in a regular week. Seem like much for 3 people? I agree. But, I am a freak. :) 

So, am I going to keep using it? Yes! Not even for the cost. I like the way it cleans my clothes. I love the smell of the clothes when they come out of the washer. (You can bet that I smell each item before I put it in the dryer)

The dishwasher detergent. Where has this been all my life? Seriously. I have never had cleaner dishes. Ever. I must have been using the wrong (expensive) detergent all this time. Again, I use 2 Tbsp instead of the suggested amount because I am weird. My dishes are never greasy. (Previously a huge problem) They are clean. I haven't found a dirty dish since. (I do clean them before I put them in the dishwasher. Ha ha) The only problem? The detergent gets HARD and fast. Even if it's sealed and moisture free. Not a big deal with the results. Will I keep using it? YES! I haven't even dented the soap. I am sure it will last me a year. We run a load at least once a day, often twice a day. And, I use more than suggested. A bonus? My dishwasher is cleaner! All of the hard water that was on the heating element is slowly going away. The stains from the old detergent? Gone. Nice. 

If you are considering trying it, I'd say go for it. :)

Fast Fact Friday

I guess I am boring too, Shelby, because my answer is "no" to all of them.

Questions:

1. Scuba diving?

2.  Bungee jumping?

3,  In a helicopter?

4.  Sky diving?

5.  Cliff jumping?

Fast Fact Friday

Thank you Shelby for reminding me.

We are still as busy as ever around here, but life is about to get a little less stressful! We are almost done with the yearbook. I just have to work on the index and then we'll have it. I am so excited! I am glad to be done with it for a few months, before we start back up again!

I can't say I am very good with movies, but we'll give it a whirl!

1.  What was the last movie you saw in the theaters?

2.  What was the last movie you watched at home?

3.  Who is your favorite movie star?

4.  What movie can you watch over and over again and not get sick of it?

5.  What movie will you never watch again?

1. Um... I am thinking it was Breaking Dawn Part One. While I liked it, I found it so disturbing. The special effects were too good. :) Looking at Bella made me ill. I kind of would like to see it again, just for fun.

2. Meet the Robinson's. Seriously, Gage loves it. He begs for it. :)

3. It seems to be what ever actress/actor I am watching at the moment. I am guessing in a few weeks it will be Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson. ;)

4. Blue Crush (and many other romantic comedies)

5. The Lord of the Rings. All of them. Kill me now. I slept through an entire movie in the theater. Best nap I ever had.

Can you tell that movies are not my thing? Weird, I know.

Fast Fact Friday (late, of course)

Shelby even texted to remind me that it was Fast Fact Friday. I was excited! I was going to do it the minute I got home. Instead? I packed, got in the car and drove to St. George so that I could attend my Uncle and Aunts sealing. Their beautiful daughter was sealed to their forever family. I love adoption. I may or may not have sobbed while I was sitting in the Temple listening. I was remembering the feelings of the day Gage was sealed to us. What a blessing. Saturday was an amazing day and I am so thankful I was able to attend. So happy for you guys! Love you!

It was so great to catch up with family that I don't see often.

SO here we are, fast fact friday!

Questions:

1.  How do you like your chocolate?

2.  What dessert or treat can you never say "no" to?

3.  What is your favorite meal?

4.  Which food do you dislike the most?

5.  What do you think is the healthiest thing in your pantry right now?

1. Chocolate. Hmm... that is a tricky one. I have a love/hate relationship with Chocolate. Most of the time, I don't love it. Other times, I just want chocolate. I could never go out and buy a candy bar and eat it though. Ew. I do love chocolate covered pretzels, but I am very picky about them too. Chocolate shakes are my favorite, but they cannot be creamy. I do not like creamy. I usually have to have something with my chocolate. No plain chocolate here.

Confused? Me too. :)

2. Most. Seriously. I love dessert. My favorite is probably ice cream or an oreo shake. Okay, so as I sit here and think, I am picky about dessert too. I won't eat most baked goods (besides cookies, I love cookies). Apparently I am just plain picky.

3. Favorite meal would probably by my chicken parmigiana. Again, I am picky. I won't eat any Italian food unless I make it. If we go out to eat, I would never order pasta. Pizza is hard because I am a pizza snob.

4.  Mushrooms and yucky ham. (Yes, there is a good ham. Before this, I never thought as myself as a picky eater.)

5. Um... probably flax oatmeal. Or something like that. :)

Fast Fact Friday (Tuesday)

We all know my blogging habit is lacking. Especially since my camera phone no longer works. Sad day. (I can get a new phone in three months. I will start back up then! :)

My favorite friend Shelby posted a Fast Fact Friday on her blog. Perfect way to remind me to blog, right? Shelby will remind me! (right, Shelby?)

So here we go!

Week 1 Questions:

1.  How long have you lived at your current residence?

2.  What is the exact shade of your favorite color?

3.  How much sleep do you get at night?

4.  Have you ever been able to do the splits?

 5.  What is your favorite breakfast?

1. We have lived in our current home for just over 7 years. I don't mind our house, but I do hope that someday we can upgrade to something a little newer and a little larger. If all else fails, I would like to add on and maybe invest in city sewer. Someday. :)

2. My favorite color? Black. It's the only color I like consistently. We are hoping to paint our house this summer. A dark grey (almost black), white trim, and a yellow door. I am excited about that. I hope it looks good! We've had the plan for two years and haven't painted anything yet. It better happen this summer! I already bought the yellow and the white back when.

3. I generally go to bed around 1:00 a.m. Sometimes much later. I hate going to bed. If I have to work, I wake up at 6:40 a.m. If I don't, usually it's 7-7:30 a.m. Lately I have been going to bed at midnight. I've been exhausted.

4. Um... no. I have always been really flexible though. Maybe I could have if I would have tried. ;)  I always did really well in the flexibility test in Fitness for Life. It made up for my terrible scores in running.

5. I love breakfast foods. This is hard one. I love breakfast burritos, eggs and toast, hash browns, german pancakes, bacon, pancakes, waffles. I basically love all breakfast foods, as long as I make them. :) (Except sausage. Ew)

Well, that's it for this edition of Fast Fact Tuesday. Make sure you remember to remind Shelby to remind me to blog, okay?

feb 15

This is what my wednesday's look like.




What about yours?

I haven't given up...

on blogging yet.

My camera on my phone is no longer working... so there goes my photo a day (for now). I was enjoying that!

We have had a really busy couple of weeks. I have been working far too much (ha ha) and it most likely will continue for the next couple of months. It's that time of year for teachers to take time off, apparently. Today has been spent trying to catch up on my house. We won't talk about how long the dishes had been sitting in the sink. But, the laundry is done and it's not even Laundry Monday, so just maybe I will find some time next week.

Gage has been crazy funny. The kid keeps me laughing. That is a good thing, otherwise I might be crying. Oh the life as a parent of a toddler. I do love it. I am, however, thankful for bedtime. (That means lots of kisses! ha ha!) He has become so affectionate. He is a complete Mommy's boy and the cutest trouble maker around. I don't know how toddlers learn so much so fast, but he amazes me everyday with everything he knows. He never stops talking and singing. He looooves to dance and I wish I could get it on video. It's the best. He is completely camera shy though and it is nearly impossible to get a photo or video of him. He loves to help and even more he loves to make messes. He cannot stand it if we do not get up and throw the diaper in the garbage the moment we take it off. It's a HUGE deal to him. He makes sure we do things just how he likes them. ;) If we don't, he makes sure we know about it. He says HI to everyone we meet or walk by and then follows up with a BYE as we continue walking. The kid has more personality than I know what to do with and I love it. Never a dull moment.

So that's it for my random thoughts. I hope to try again soon. :)

jan 31

Another exciting evening of cleaning completed. Phew.

jan 27, 28, 29, and 30th!

Bed head!


Gage is a very giggly boy.

And so handsome! 

And he even loves his "ma-ee-o"