A Touch Of Tyrell

Everett met Santa tonight at our church party. He looked up at him, grabbed a hold of his beard, and then just sat there like they were old friends. No tears, no smile.... just friends.

(Some treasures we got in the mail today.) I went to the optometrist today. I had my very first eye exam. In 2006-2007 I worked for two optometrists in Utah but never actually had an eye exam. I could always read the 20/15 line so I never saw a need to get my eyes checked. Almost 4 years and one baby later I was in need of an exam. It's amazing what pregnancy does to your body. My eyes started to get really blurry during those loooong 9 months and they've never gone back. I was explaining this to the Doc, who politely asked if it was an easy pregnancy... I just said "Hmmmmm, yeah." I didn't want to bore him with the itchy, rashy, stretch-marky details. Jake and Everett helped me pick out some glasses. Jake said they looked good and Everett promised that he wouldn't rip them off of my face or break them. I'm a little bit excited to get glasses. At least I'll be able to see the 20/20 line again. TZVECL... I've had it memorized for all of these...

We made gingerbread houses tonight. Well, I shouldn't say tonight . Monday morning I got the idea and found a recipe online for the gingerbread. I've never made a gingerbread house with actual gingerbread before... so I just picked the first recipe that came up. I made the dough in the morning and we thought about dimensions that night. We made paper patterns, rolled out the dough, and then baked the cut out pieces. The recipe says to let the gingerbread sit out for a day before you make the house... so we finally got to make them tonight. Mine is on the left, Jake's is on the right Although mine does have shingles on the roof and cedar siding (walnuts) on the back, I still think he won. He thinks so too.

I love checking the mail. Really, I do. I especially love when I get something good. Today I ran out to the mailbox (it was raining) and I got a magazine. I randomly flipped it open and it said: "According to a recent study, 56% of women don't have a mom cave- a refuge of their own." Luckily I one of the 44% that does have a mom cave. The following is the anatomy of my mom cave: What does One do in a Mom cave? Craft, sew, blog, dream, read, play.....  maybe one day I'll have you over and we can do it together. Until then, I will be cleaning the camera lens...  

Sunday night we went to the Christmas concert Jake's little sister was playing the piano in. Outside of the church building they had a pretty sweet live nativity. We saw quite a few friends and were able to sit next to some of them. Everett loved all of the attention and once the music started (the opening song was a opera sounding solo) Everett just stared with his mouth wide open. It was so hilarious! After a few songs he just sat back and read the program. I was truly surprised at how content he was. We left early because it was getting late. Everett doesn't do so well when he doesn't make it to bed on time. He ended up going to bed late and woke up 5 times last night. It's hard to do anything in the evening (because he goes to bed at 7) but it's better to stay home and get him to bed so he doesn't wake up all night long. But Christmas is only once a year so we have to enjoy it while it's here!

I think that we all have that sweet spot in our lives that we always think back to and smile. Mine? It was Freshman P.E. We lined up alphabetically on the lines of the gym floor. Right behind me was a boy named Justin Bundy. It was his first year in our small town (graduating class of 63 people) and he fit in perfectly. It's almost like he had been there since kindergarten, like most of us. Our class was small but still had a variety of people. There was the uncoordinated 6'4" shaggy-haired guy, the wrestler that wore white shorts with no underwear, the girls with long nails, the jocks, the smokers, and then there was Justin. We would find our assigned spot on the gym floor and Mrs. Cashio would take roll. (Mrs. Cashio was a little frumpy, very serious, had red hair, meant business, and I think got suckered into being the gym teacher that semester.) While she took roll we did our crunches and push ups. Everyday, without fail, Justin would make me laugh and my...

I have 19 journals. The earliest one dates back to the 4th grade where I talked about school, boys, and recess everyday. I stopped writing soon after I met Jake... because really, who has time to write in a journal when they're madly in love and spending every waking second with their soon-to-be spouse? Prior to meeting Jake, I literally wrote in my journal every day. If there was anything about myself and my past that I wouldn't change, it would be how diligent I was at writing in my journal. I could sit and read through those memories all day. Every time I open up one of those books, I re-learn something about myself or I change my prospective on something. And I'm so glad I wrote about EVERYTHING. It's not embarrassing to read about past relationships or how much I liked someone. Shoot, Jake's journal goes something like this: Jan 29th I met a girl today. She's perfect. Her name is (not mine) ....... May 22nd I'm Engaged!!! To a girl named Tyrell.....